A judge dismissed rape charges against “Barbershop” actor Anthony Anderson on Wednesday, saying testimony by his accuser was some of the most “incredulous” he has ever heard.

Judge Anthony Johnson said the woman’s testimony at a preliminary hearing did not produce probable cause to let the charges stand.

A rape charge also was dismissed against co-defendant Wayne Witherspoon.

Anthony, the rotund comic co-star of “Kangaroo Jack” and the original “Barbershop,” and Witherspoon, an assistant director, have been in Memphis filming a movie.

The woman, who was seeking a job as a movie extra, said Anderson and Witherspoon attacked her July 27 in a trailer on the set.

Testifying to the judge, the woman acknowledged having sex with both Anderson and Witherspoon over a period of several days before the reported attack. She said those encounters also were forced but she didn’t report them.

Anderson and Witherspoon refused comment on their lawyer’s advice as they left the courtroom.

Paramount Classics is acquiring distribution rights to the documentary “Fade to Black,” a portrait of hip-hop star Jay-Z.

Under the deal, which sources said is nearly final, the film will roll out Nov. 5. The acquisition could mark a change in direction for Paramount Pictures’ specialty film arm.

The Paramount Classics label, headed by co-presidents David Dinerstein and Ruth Vitale, has concentrated in the past on acquiring art-house fare, with an emphasis on foreign-language features.

“Fade,” which focuses on the rise of hip-hop star Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, should appeal to a potentially wider audience. The docu, directed by Pat Paulson and Michael John Warren, focuses specifically on Jay-Z’s November concert, which earned a street rep as a once-in-a-lifetime event. The film also looks at the star’s background and the recording of his “Black Album,” which the rapper has said is his last musical outing.

Tom Freston, Viacom Inc. co-president and co-chief operating officer, suggested last week that Paramount Classics would be taking a new direction, telling an investor conference that the label needs to become more competitive with other studio specialty film divisions. He also said he wants the studio to target younger and urban audiences.

“Fade” is pitched toward those audiences, but rather than viewing it as an immediate response to Freston’s remarks, sources familiar with the deal said it has been in the works since the summer.

Insiders have speculated that Paramount may launch a new specialty label under the Viacom banner devoted to genre fare like Sony’s Screen Gems. Others are betting that Paramount Classics will remain but will be forced to undergo executive changes. Neither Dinerstein nor Vitale was available for comment.

Freston again addressed the studio’s overall outlook Tuesday in New York at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, saying it is closing deals “with all kinds of talent.” Paramount will skew movies to a younger audience, he reiterated, while it develops more specialty films, which he called a “great source of future growth.” Viacom’s strategic plans will be presented to the company’s board of directors next week, he said.

Jay-Z’s friends and colleagues who appear in “Fade to Black” include Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, R. Kelly, Foxy Brown, Pharrell, ?uestlove, the Illadelphonics, Damon Dash, Rick Rubin, Slick Rick and P. Diddy.

Jamie Foxx is the latest star to have his bedroom life become public after a Las Vegas construction worker discovered a box of 90 sexually explicit photos featuring the actor. Mark Pithian, 40, says he found the pictures — which allegedly depict the actor in sexual situations with an unidentified woman and by himself — in the garbage outside Foxx’s Las Vegas home.

Pithian claims that on Wednesday, Aug. 4, two men, “Lamont” and “Greg Chambers,” entered his apartment and demanded the “naked pictures” of Foxx, according to a Las Vegas police report on website TheSmokingGun.com,

At the time, Pithian denied having the photos, which led the men to argue and then begin throwing furniture at him. Pithian, who was treated for minor injuries at Sunrise hospital, is currently trying to peddle the revealing photos through an agent to the tabloids.

The 36-year-old Foxx’s film credits include in “Any Given Sunday,” “Ali,” “Breakin’ All the Rules” and “Collateral,” in theaters now. He next stars in the Ray Charles biopic “Ray,” which opens nationwide on Friday, Oct. 29

Namco America has filed a lawsuit against rapper Lil’ Flip and Sony Music Entertainment for copyright infringement, over the rapper’s hit song “Game Over.”

In a lawsuit filed in US District Court, Southern District of New York, Namco alleges their copyright was infringed upon, when sounds from the game “Pac-Man” and “Ms. Pac-Man” were included on “Game Over” and the remix to the song.

Lawyers for Namco were tightlipped about the details of the case.

The lawsuit alleges the sampled portions of the songs were never cleared and cited that the song contained references to guns, drugs and profanity.

Sources stated that Namco is seeking millions in damages, with some stating the amount could be as high as $10 million dollars.

“Game Over” is taken from Lil’ Flip’s platinum selling double album U Gotta Feel Me.

Read More: All Hip Hop

Rick James may have died of “natural causes,” as his label announced the day after his death, but a Los Angeles county coroner’s report released Thursday confirms the singer’s last few days may have been anything but homeopathic.

The coroner’s office officially ruled James’ Aug. 6 death “accidental,” but also noted that no fewer than nine drugs were found in his system, including methamphetamine and cocaine.

As E! exclusively reported Aug. 7, James was spotted just days prior to his death at a Hollywood party using cocaine, and many of his friends privately were concerned that the former “Superfreak” was back to his partying ways before his untimely death.

James and his family had maintained that the R&B/funk star successfully kicked his cocaine habit and was sober after years spent battling a crack addiction.

The “Give It to Me Baby” singer spent time in a Los Angeles jail during the mid 1990s for a 1991 crack-fueled assault and had said in past interviews that his time behind bars had convinced him to stay clean.

In addition to cocaine and crystal meth, the Los Angeles county coroner’s report noted the presence of seven other drugs found during the autopsy–specifically Xanax, Valium, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Digoxin, Chlorpheniramine and Vicodin. No single drug was found in quantities that would establish lethal quantities, hence the accidental death ruling.

Lil’ Kim’s bodyguard was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his involvement in a 2001 shootout outside the office of a New York radio station.

Suif Jackson (a.k.a. C-Gutta) was sentenced on Wednesday for firing a gun at least 20 times during the shootout. Jackson, who admitted to his involvement, was handed the lengthy sentence because of a series of prior convictions for gun-related crimes, according to The Associated Press.

Kim is scheduled to stand trial on February 28 on charges of lying to a grand jury about the same incident (see “Lil’ Kim Pleads Not Guilty, Released On $500,000 Bail”). The rapper was indicted in April for telling the jury she was not present at the time of the shooting and did not know at least one of the suspects involved. She pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in New York.

The shootout took place in February 2001 when Kim and her entourage left the office of radio station WQHT-FM (Hot 97) as Capone, of rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga, and his companions were arriving (see “Shooting Rattles Radio Station After Lil’ Kim Visit”).

One man, Efrain Ocasio, was shot in the back by Jackson during the altercation. Jackson’s lawyer reportedly claims his client believed he was firing in self-defense against a member of Capone’s group.

Jackson will finish a state prison sentence which ends August 7, 2006 for an unrelated incident before beginning the federal sentence.

Sep. 7, 2004 – Chicago rapper Twista, known for hits such as “Slow Jamz” and “So Sexy,” was hurt in a van crash that killed a member of his security staff, state police said.

Twista, whose real name is Carl Mitchell, was treated and released from a hospital in Erie after the van in which he was riding veered off Interstate 90 just after 4 a.m. Monday and rolled over in the median, police said.

Another man in the van, Arthur Dixon of Chicago, died after he was taken to a hospital, authorities said. Five other men in the van were hurt, none seriously, police and hospital officials said.

The van was headed from Syracuse, N.Y., to Chicago when the crash happened, said Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook.

Police were investigating how the van veered off the road in a construction zone and into the median, where it rolled over.

A decision on whether to file charges won’t be made until at least Wednesday, said county District Attorney Brad Foulk, who declined to say what caused the accident.

“It’s a miracle that any of them survived because all of them, except for the driver, were ejected onto the medial strip,” Foulk said.

The driver, identified by police as Otis Bankhead of Chicago, was the only person in the vehicle wearing a seat belt, Foulk said.

Mitchell, 30, was originally known as Tung Twista and was listed in Guinness World Records in 1992 as the fastest rapper in the world. His “So Sexy” was eighth on Billboard’s latest list of hot rap tracks; “Slow Jamz” went to No. 1 on the Billboard chart earlier this year, and the album “Kamikaze” sold more than a million copies.

Twista had been scheduled to appear in Albany, N.Y., on Monday, but the show was canceled so another rapper on the bill, LL Cool J, could be with his wife after surgery, according to the Web site for Albany’s Pepsi Arena.

Seven years ago, a vain and jaded baseball star (Bernie Mac) retired from the sport as soon as achieving his 3,000th base hit, and his place within the select group who have achieved that distinction. Now, however, after three of those hits during his time with the Milwaukee Brewers have been disqualified, the Hall of Famer returns to the game, playing once again for the Brewers, to play a few more games and get back to the 3,000 mark, but along the way, he discovers that the experience renews his love for the sport, reminding him what it was like to be a young boy obsessed with the game, as he finds himself imparting some of this knowledge to a young rookie he mentors.

Opens: September 17, 2004

Rated: PG-13

When Todd Anderson (Storm P) is chosen as the #1 professional basketbal draft pick and signs to play for his home team, the New Jersey Nets, for $30 million, he finds that his newfound wealth means his relationships with the people in his life is bound to change. This becomes evident when he decides to throw the sort of family/neighborhood cookout his family has always had during the summer at his new house in a stuffy white neighborhood, which means that there’s going to be more than one type of culture clash, between his new and old friends, and those who like him for him, and those who like him for his money. The event is timed to coincide with Todd’s first endorsement deal announcement, which only accentuates the difference between his roots and his newfound fame. Watching over the proceedings is the neighborhood association’s security guard (Queen Latifah), who’s there to make none of their rules get broken… although that is certainly guaranteed with Todd’s rowdy family and friends in attendance.