BREAKING: Eddie Murphy Drops Out As Academy Award Host

BREAKING: Eddie Murphy Drops Out As Academy Award HostThere goes the Tower Heist contingent of this year’s Oscars. Less than a day after Brett Ratner resigned as producer of the 84th Academy Awards telecast following a series of controversial remarks made while promoting Tower Heist, his star Eddie Murphy has forfeited his spot as this year’s host.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences made the announcement Wednesday morning via press release which included the following statement from Murphy:

“First and foremost I want to say that I completely understand and support each party’s decision with regard to a change of producers for this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I’m sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job.”

The actor was pulled on board to host the Oscars by his Tower Heist director as both a marketing ploy for the comedy — which premiered to lackluster box-office figures this past weekend — and as a means for what many fans hoped would be a Murphy comeback. When the notoriously press-shy actor was pressed to speak about his upcoming hosting gig during Tower Heist promotional interviews, he either shied away from the subject or joked that he would be the worst Academy Awards host in history, leading some to speculate that the actor was not as excited to host the telecast as Ratner was to use Murphy as an Academy Awards-long Tower Heist advertisement.

Either way, both Ratner and Murphy have dropped out of this year’s Oscars giving…

Source: http://www.celebrities.com/celebrities-gossip/breaking-eddie-murphy-drops-out-as-academy-award-host/

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Herman Cain's Latest Accuser -- Stifler's Mom?!

Here's Herman Cain 's fourth accuser of sexual harassment, Sharon Bialek, at her press conference on Monday ( left ) -- and Jennifer Coolidge , aka Stifler's mom from the " American Pie " franchise ( right ). We're just sayin'.

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Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/11/07/herman-cains-latest-accuser-stiflers-mom-jennifer-coolidge/

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Tyler the Creator -- Smacked in the Face with Flying Bottle [Video]

Tyler the Creator -- the guy who won the 2011 MTV VMA for "Best New Artist" -- took a serious blow to the head last night ... when a moron fired a bottle at the rapper during a concert ... and connected.  Tyler was performing in Austin, TX -- when…

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Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/11/07/tyler-the-creator-bottle-face-attack-austin/

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Language Barrier With Conrad Murray Jury?

Filed under: Conrad Murray, Exclusive, Celebrity Justice, Conrad Murray Trial

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English was not the only language used in the jury deliberation room in Conrad Murray's case ... this according to a relative of one of the jurors ... and there may have been a language barrier in the juror room.

We're told at least 2 of the jurors began discussing the case in Spanish during the 8-hour deliberation. 

A relative of one juror -- we'll call him juror A -- tells TMZ ... another juror -- juror B -- had "some trouble" understanding some of the testimony.  During the deliberations juror A had to translate the testimony into Spanish to juror B.

In the questionnaire jurors were required to fill out, the first question read, "Do you have any difficulty reading, speaking or understanding English." 

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A spokesperson for the court tells TMZ ... no juror ever requested a court-appointed translator at any time during the trial or deliberations.

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Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/11/09/language-barrier-conrad-murray-jury/

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Rihanna -- K.O.'d by Flu Virus in Sweden

Rihanna is currently hooked up to an IV drip in Sweden ... and has canceled a performance scheduled for tonight ... blaming the whole thing on a case of the flu. Rihanna was scheduled to perform in Malmö, Sweden -- but a rep for Live Nation claims…

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Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/10/31/rihanna-hospitalized-sweden/

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Steven Tyler Performs -- Black Eye, White Teeth

One day after Steven Tyler slipped and broke his face in a Paraguay shower, the rocker hit the stage in Asuncion last night sporting two new teeth ... and a gnarly shiner under his right eye. Tyler's rep claims the singer was dehydrated from food…

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Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/10/27/steven-tyler-performs-aerosmith-photo-black-eyes-white-teeth/

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