Rap/country collabs not new

(CNN) -- Everyone seems to be buzzing about "Accidental Racist," the new musical collaboration between country singer Brad Paisley and rapper LL Cool J -- but this is not the first such tag team from those two genres.

Rap and country have intersected before, though not as controversially as the current pairing: "Accidental Racist" has touched off a firestorm for its subject matter and complaints that the song just isn't that great.

Time's James Poniewozik wrote "Country star and hip-hop star, trading lyrics and sharing billing for peace. Don't pre-judge! Don't assume the worst of people! What's not to like?"

"Oh God, so much," Poniewozik wrote. "The sappy ballad arrangement that sets up the confounding metaphors ('The red flag on my chest is somehow like the elephant / In the corner of the South / And I just walked him right in the room') and clunky lyrics ('I wasn't there when Sherman's March turned the south into firewood / I want you to get paid, but be a slave I never could')."

"The basic misrepresentations of history, such as describing Reconstruction as mainly being when 'they ... Fixed the buildings, dried some tears.' The seriously questionable assumptions about the Starbucks employee dress code: ('Just because my pants are saggin' doesn't mean I'm up to no good' / 'Don't judge my do-rag')."

A CNN commentator named Robert said of was "awful."

"It's not even about racism -- it's about stereotypes, based on how a person dresses. Not all white people wear cowboy hats and not all black people sag their pants. That presumption alone is racist."

Country music star Jason Aldean dealt with charges that he was "ruining country music" when he paired up with rapper Ludacris last year for the single "Dirt Road Anthem." At the time, a blogger from SavingCountryMusic.com discussed the tune in a piece titled "The Destruction of America's Distinct Musical Dialects."

"Negative connotations in media about redneck culture are making many people in rural areas flee from their native habits to adopt customs more indigenous to urban locales, giving rise to country rap with artists like Colt Ford," the writer stated. "Jason Aldean's country rap 'Dirt Road Anthem' was the best-selling song in country music last year for example. At the same time, the power of pop country is causing similar gentrification in suburban and urban zones as it encroaches into areas it is not indigenous to either."

LL Cool J's proud of 'Accidental Racist'

Aldean took to Twitter to defend his choice of musical partners after the public railed against him.

"They were bashing the fact that I had him out there and said that I was ruining country music and all this kind of stuff," the singer told reporters at the time. "That's when I went on (Twitter) and said, 'You know, if you don't like what I'm doing, nobody's forcing you to listen.' I just decided to fire back, which I never do."

Opinion: Don't be offended by 'Accidental Racist'

Tim McGraw joined forces with Nelly in 2004 for "Over and Over," a song which cracked the Billboard Top 10. While McGraw said he enjoyed working with the St. Louis rapper, he said he didn't consider the song part of his usual genre.

"It ain't nothin' country about this song," McGraw told MTV. "But it was fun to get in there and sing with him," he said, adding, "People are really liking the song."

More recently, Nelly joined country duo Florida Georgia Line for a remix of their song "Cruise."

Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson seemed like more of a natural fit -- if for no other reason than their both high publicized love of a certain plant.

Nelson sings "Too many pain pills, too much pot/Tryin to be somethin that I'm not - Superman! Superman/Tryin to do more than I can, I got a little outta hand/I ain't Superman - know what I'm talkin' 'bout?" The rapper follows that up with a little bit of singing himself.

One of the most famous songs never released came courtesy of the queen of the crossover, pop/country star Taylor Swift. In 2009 she transformed into gold chain wearing "T-Sweezy" for a spoof duet with rapper/producer T-Pain during the Country Music Television Awards. They paired up to perform "Thug Story."

Via: Rap/country collabs not new

Why so few women in late-night TV?

(CNN) -- With Jimmy Fallon's takeover of "The Tonight Show" destined for 2014, there's the tiniest glimmer of hope that NBC will do something different with the vacated seat on "Late Night."

For once, maybe we'll see something fresh, something other than the established white-guy-in-a-suit-sitting-behind-the-desk tradition that's held on since the show debuted in 1982.

Longtime TV critic Ken Tucker indulged in the wishful thinking, asking on Grantland if he "may really spit in the wind and suggest that maybe, finally, for the love of God and Totie Fields, maybe it's time (once again) to give a woman a chance behind the desk?" Rather than traditional stand-up comics, Tucker hoped to see Paget Brewster, Julie Klausner, or, hope against hope, Amy Poehler, even.

But none of those women was among those named in the gossip surrounding the proceedings -- and the one woman who was, ever so tentatively, mentioned by the New York Post's Page Six, Tina Fey, was said to be "too busy" for the nightly grind.

That left Seth Meyers -- Fey, Poehler and Fallon's "Saturday Night Live" co-star -- carrying the bulk of the speculation that he'd move to "Late Night," along with rumors that Alec Baldwin might be in talks to join the post-prime-time lineup. It's thereby signaled another round of the now time-honored question, "Where the (bleep) are the ladies in late night?"

Since "The Tonight Show" began in the mid-1950s, the genre has largely been a man's domain. Yet the absence of women in that arena seems all the more conspicuous lately, as ladies are leading a variety of successful comedies in prime time, and Fey and Poehler have won near-unanimous accolades from press and viewers alike after they pulled in 19.7 million viewers at this year's Golden Globe Awards.

That alone could silence those digging up the long-ago answered question of whether women can be funny to a broader audience. But then again, being funny is just the half of it, says Joan Rivers.

The comic legend broke through to host her own late-night program, "The Late Show," in 1986 after being a consistently successful guest host on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show." She told CNN that she knows she has two things she needs to be a host: "I'm a tremendous fan, and I think I'm very strong," Rivers said.

To be a woman and a late-night host, "you have to be extraordinarily strong without them seeing you be that," Rivers continued. "You're a lion tamer. You have to be in total command, but you still have to be feminine, and you still have to be funny, and you still have to be inquisitive -- it's a very tough thing, and it's tough for women because you don't expect a woman to take control. Still."

In Rivers' perspective, another woman will crash through the "crass ceiling," as Vanity Fair called it in 2008 -- it's just that the right person hasn't come along yet. Perhaps that could explain why we've been ruminating for so long on the conspicuous lack of women leading late-night shows.

The same inquiry was raised almost 10 years ago when CBS was searching for a replacement for "The Late Late Show's" Craig Kilborn. At the time, the network noted it was considering Michael Ian Black, D.L. Hughley, Craig Ferguson and Damien Fahey.

When Fallon was first tapped to take over for Conan O'Brien on "Late Night" beginning in 2009, the position was such a lock there didn't seem to be much point in speculating about which prominent witty woman would make a strong fit.

Back in 2012, before NBC confirmed it was moving Fallon into Leno's job, Variety noted that while there were some women holding high-ranking production jobs, they still weren't commanding much of a presence in front of the camera, on cable or broadcast. There was Bravo's "Kathy," hosted by Kathy Griffin, and E!'s "Love You, Mean It" with Whitney Cummings. But both series were canceled this year.

The one standout is Chelsea Handler, E!'s late-night mainstay who's been with the network since 2007 and has expanded her role into the show "After Lately."

But Handler, 38, has expressed little interest in ever leaving cable.

"I like how quickly it goes by," Handler told "Late Show" host David Letterman of her E! program on Friday. "I like that I don't have to rehearse, because I'm not good at memorizing things, and I like that I can just say whatever I want, I can curse and say things and they just bleep me. It's not like being on CBS."

It's true that broadcast late-night programs have lost some of their sheen over the years as competition has increased and the manner of consumption has shifted. But their gravitas is still there, said Martha Lauzen, the executive director of San Diego State University's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. Symbolically, at the very least, having a woman included in the running for such a position still matters.

"I think it matters whether they're on the shortlists of 'Who do we want to carry on this tradition in late night?' It is important that women are included and are given some of the same opportunities that the men are," Lauzen said. "Perception is reality. I think the perception is still that a network show is higher in status than a cable show, and that those higher status positions remain reserved for primarily white males."

With that perceived status, Time magazine's James Poniewozik has said, comes "a kind of passive-aggressive nerd power," but "it's power all the same."

"It's a relative handful of jobs, yes, but late-night comics are the unelected legislators of America: they mock the mighty and audition Presidents," Poniewozik wrote in 2010, reflecting on the question of whether women are being left out of the medium. "When late-night shows began, male-dominated comedy reflected society's power balance. Now guy humor is an increasingly isolated preserve of omega-male movies and geek-aggressive TV shows piped into man caves."

And yet, he said, "it may hold out longer than business or law, but culture can change too."

Rivers, for her part, is similarly optimistic.

"It's going to happen. It will happen. Cream rises to the top," she said. "I know it sounds stupid, I've never seen someone who has the talent who did not eventually get what they deserve in a good way. It may be a little harder, but ... I think (the networks are) desperate now. The only negative thing is that they're so desperate they're not giving people a chance to grow. Fallon was given a chance to grow, and I wonder, if he had been a woman, if they would have allowed that. I just have a feeling they wouldn't have been quite as generous in the time allotted to him to totally come into his own."

But again, it goes back to her point of finding someone fortified to withstand such a test.

"It's a very special art, a very special talent, and you have to be very strong," Rivers said. "You have to be a great talker, a great listener and you have to be a fan. And they just haven't found the woman with all that yet. But she's out there."

Via: Why so few women in late-night TV?

Seth Green: 'Sexy Evil Genius'

(CNN) -- For nearly two decades, Seth Green has been one of the busiest actors in Hollywood. Not only has he lent his voice to "Family Guy" each season as Chris Griffin, but he's also the creator and voices behind Adult Swim's stop-motion animation show, "Robot Chicken," which is slated for a seventh season later this year.

He's not slowing down anytime soon. This week, he can be seen co-starring in the new indie drama "The Story of Luke," which opens in select theaters nationwide and on video on demand, as well as in the film "Sexy Evil Genius," which hits video on-demand today. It was also recently announced that Green will star in "Dads," Seth MacFarlane's forthcoming live-action comedy on Fox.

CNN recently spoke with Green about Hollywood's digital revolution, nostalgic television and if we can ever expect to see that rumored Austin Powers sequel.

CNN: "The Story of Luke" centers around a guy with autism who's trying to get a job and get a girl. What's been your connection to autism before this film?

Seth Green: I don't know that I've had too much of a personal connection. I've met autistic people and I've seen the different ways Hollywood has portrayed them over the years. "The Story of Luke" is based on an amalgam of characters that (writer/director) Alonso Mayo met. He wanted to tell a story from the inside of a character who was unaware of something that's different about them. Luke knows he's special because he's told he's special but he doesn't understand that there's limitations to what he can aspire towards. My character is the opposite of that. He's someone on the autistic spectrum who's consistently been told that he's only there to serve as guilt and empathy for anyone that's neurologically typical. So he's become bitter and isolated.

CNN: In the last 10 years, you've embraced many different media in getting your work out there. Your new film, "Sexy Evil Genius," is being released on video on demand and iTunes. Is Hollywood dragging their feet in terms of getting content to fans? Is this something you think about?

Green: I think about all of that stuff. It's just evolution and the more you try to keep something as you predict it, the faster it will slip away from you. We're in a day and age where anyone under 20 doesn't even understand the concept of "convergence of media" because it's already converged. To most teenagers or people under 25, the portal to which they watch their content is inconsequential. Whether it's a phone or a tablet or a TV or a movie theater, it's really about the content.

I look for the best ways to reach the right audience for whatever project it is. Most of all, I concentrate on making the content as good as it can be. That way no matter where or when or how someone is watching it, they're still offered the same experience. I'm sure people felt the same way about the steam engine. "Why are we building all these railroads?" We're kind of arrogant enough to believe that where we are is the pinnacle of evolution and that there aren't going to be massive cultural changes. My goal is to make content for the rest of my life and career. To that end, it's just about being smart and staying current.

CNN: It was recently announced that you're starring in "Dads," Seth MacFarlane's live action sitcom. What can you tell us about the show?

Green: The show is about two lifelong friends who started a successful video game company. One of them is married with kids and their father lives with them. The other best friend, me, is sort of this serial dater, perpetually breaking up with people. His father left when he was very young and now through circumstance, his father moves in with him, too. You have these two lifelong best friends, living with their dads, who one way or another, have failed to take care of themselves. Peter Riegert is my dad and Martin Mull is Tommy Dewey's dad. My character is a miserable guy who hasn't figured out how to make himself happy. He wakes up every day hating himself. It's going to be a really funny thing to play. Especially with a character like that, trying to humanize him or even (make him) sympathetic -- that's going to be a fun challenge.

CNN: Is it raunchy like "Family Guy" can be?

Green: It's a multicamera show. Alec (Sulkin) and Wellesley (Wild), the guys who wrote it, have been talking about "Family Ties, "Golden Girls" and "Cheers." Shows like that, where all the characters are grounded in reality, where there's a lot of emotional potential, but funny because it's about real life. That's what we're all aiming to do: use this medium in a provocative way, the way the shows we grew up on did.

CNN: Rumors have floated around for a while about an "Austin Powers 4" film. Is there any traction around that?

Via: Seth Green: 'Sexy Evil Genius'

Celebrity 'swatters' beware

Los Angeles (CNN) -- "Swatting" pranks have sent police rushing with guns drawn to a growing A-list of celebrity homes in recent weeks, but new tactics, technology and a proposed law could bring the dangerous hoaxes to an end.

Russell Brand's Hollywood Hills home was the latest target Monday afternoon. A 911 caller told a Los Angeles Police Department emergency dispatcher that a man with a gun was in the house.

"A number of officers from the Hollywood Division" were sent to Brand's address, LAPD Detective Gus Villanueva said.

To get to Brand's home high above Sunset Boulevard, police cruisers sped up the narrow, winding street past the homes of Halle Berry, Herbie Hancock and many other celebrities.

Officers must approach the scene with guns drawn, not knowing what is happening inside the house and expecting the worst.

"It's a very high-risk response," Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said. "The problem with crying wolf is that sometimes it's not false, so we always have to respond accordingly but cautiously."

Among the LAPD, the Sheriff's Department and other local agencies in the Los Angeles area, it has happened about a dozen times in recent months. The actors and musicians targeted would make an impressive red carpet: Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, the Kardashians and Tom Cruise.

A 12-year-old boy was sentenced to two years in juvenile detention after he admitted last month that he made fake emergency calls that sent police to Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber's homes last October. "The comments of the call advised that there were individuals inside the location with guns and explosives, and that several people had been shot," a police statement said.

Boy admits 'swatting' Kutcher, Bieber

Dozens of emergency personnel rushed to Kutcher's home on October 3, 2012, only to find workers inside and no emergency, police said. Kutcher, who was on the set of his TV sitcom "Two and a Half Men," also rushed to his home.

Catching swatters who spoof a telephone number so that an emergency dispatcher thinks a call originated from a celebrity's home will get easier as technology and tactics improve, Whitmore said.

These prank calls earned the nickname "swatting" because law enforcement agencies sometimes would send SWAT teams to respond to the false emergencies.

Law enforcement agencies are "making advances each day" in their ability to track the calls to their origin, he said. Along with new technology, investigators have analyzed the calls to learn how to identify them. "We're getting better at knowing what is and what isn't a hoax," he said.

When Rihanna's Hollywood Hills home was swatted last week, the dispatcher suspected it was a hoax, so just one police patrol car was initially sent, LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said.

"We figured it was a swatting," Smith said "We really low-keyed it compared to how we've been."

LAPD officers are being trained on "what to be aware of and the possibility these are swatting calls," Smith said. "We're training dispatchers to be able to recognize certain distinct characteristic of these calls and maybe change the way we dispatch them so they don't draw as high a profile response."

The rash of swatting incidents spurred the sheriff and other law enforcement chiefs to push for tougher penalties for those convicted, Whitmore said.

California state Sen. Ted Lieu has introduced legislation to require a mandatory 120 days in jail for anyone convicted of swatting, Whitmore said. The swatter would also have to repay police for all costs, which would probably be several thousand dollars, he said.

"This is not a panacea, but a step in the right direction," the sheriff's spokesman said.

Via: Celebrity 'swatters' beware

'Mary Tyler Moore' cast still tight

(CNN) -- In the wake of her cancer diagnosis, Valerie Harper is staying firmly in the present.

The 73-year-old actress, who revealed in March that she has terminal brain cancer, told reporters on Thursday that she's been staying busy, including working on a "Mary Tyler Moore" reunion episode for the TV Land comedy "Hot In Cleveland."

"Working on the show has been great," said Harper, who is still beloved for her role of Rhoda Morgenstern on "Mary Tyler Moore" and its spinoff, "Rhoda."

"I don't have a lot of bad symptoms, and they may be down the road, but I'm not thinking of down the road -- I'm thinking just about today," she continued. "And I'm thinking of this moment, and getting my lines right so I support my fellow players and serve the audience, who are going to see this really funny show."

TV Land has announced that Harper will be joined by her former co-stars Mary Tyler Moore, Cloris Leachman and Betty White, who stars on "Hot In Cleveland" along with Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malock.

In the episode, which is set to air this summer during the fourth season of "Hot In Cleveland," White's character, Elka, will try to get her old bowling team back together along with Mamie Sue (Georgia Engel).

Their group, the Gorgeous Ladies of Bowling (or GLOB) includes Elka, Mamie Sue, Diane (Moore), Angie (Harper) and Peg (Leachman). The team fell apart years back after a championship season.

Although they're playing different characters, the old chemistry is back in effect, Moore said.

"We still are ourselves, and no matter where you put us, we're going to continue to be ourselves and interact as only you can when you've been together for a long, long time," she said. "Almost any scene we ever did, we could look into each other's eyes and be comforting and uplifting for each other."

Their time together was filled with laughter rather than tears, Harper said, and White noted how positive Harper has been.

"Well no one can tell you, isn't it true?" Harper responded. "... No doctor in the world can say (whether it will be) three months, six months. They can say that's what our experience is, but every case is different. In some people, it's five years, it's 13 years. It's interesting."

Unlike other shows, the "Mary Tyler Moore" crew is a cast that still has a bond, White added.

"We're all very grateful for the fact that we love each other and we've always gotten along. Just think if had been one of those shows where we don't speak. That wouldn't have been any fun!" the 91-year-old star said. To fall in once again with a cast filled with women, after her time with "Mary Tyler Moore" and "Golden Girls," has been a treat.

Via: 'Mary Tyler Moore' cast still tight

Snipes released from prison

(CNN) -- Actor Wesley Snipes has been released from a federal prison where he was serving a three-year sentence after being convicted on tax charges in February 2010.

The release to a supervised residential location in New York occurred Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons told CNN.

Snipes, 50, who starred in the "Blade" action movies and "White Men Can't Jump," had been serving time at a federal prison in Pennsylvania. A jury convicted him of willfully failing to file tax returns for 1999, 2000 and 2001. Snipes was acquitted of felony tax fraud and conspiracy charges.

Via: Snipes released from prison

Halle Berry on pregnancy

(CNN) -- Halle Berry is talking about becoming a mother for the second time at 46.

"I feel fantastic. This has been the biggest surprise of my life to tell you the truth," said Berry in an interview with CNN's Alina Cho. In the interview, Berry spoke about her work with designer Michael Kors and the U.N. World Food Programme to fight hunger.

The Academy Award-winning actress and fiance Olivier Martinez are expecting their first child together.

"I thought I was kind of past the point where this could be a reality for me. So it's been a big surprise and the most wonderful," the actress said.

In the interview with CNN's Alina Cho, Berry said she did not know if she was having boy, as some other media outlets have reported.

Berry has been engaged to Martinez, 47, a French actor, for more than a year.

Via: Halle Berry on pregnancy