Despite what celebrity website mediatakeout.com is reporting, Atlanta pop star Usher’s divorce from wife Tameka Foster Raymond has not been finalized, according to attorneys familiar with the proceedings.

The performer filed for divorce from his wife of less than two years in Fulton County in June. The Website claimed  that the divorce was finalized so quickly due to the singer’s “iron-clad pre-nup.”

Buzz opted to check on the status of the case by contacting Atlanta attorney Randy Kessler who has been representing Foster Raymond in the divorce.

“No comment, sorry,” replied Kessler.

One potential reason for that?

Kessler hasn’t represented Foster Raymond since July, according to Atlanta lawyer B.J. Bernstein. She emailed to inform Buzz that she, along with Kevin Ward of Schulten Ward and Turner are now representing Foster Raymond in the case. Writes Bernstein: “The case is still pending and not final.”

Bernstein is perhaps most celebrated in legal circles for going all the way …

Continue reading Usher, Tameka divorced finalized? UPDATED »

Aug. 28: Country singer Billy Grammer is 84. Actor Ben Gazzara is 79. Actor Sonny Shroyer (”The Dukes of Hazzard”) is 74. Actor Ken Jenkins (”Scrubs”) is 69. Actor David Soul is 66. Singer Wayne Osmond of The Osmonds is 58. Actor Daniel Stern is 52. Actress Emma Samms is 49. Actress Jennifer Coolidge is 48.Country singer Shania Twain is 44. Actor Billy Boyd (”Lord of the Rings”) is 41. Actor-singer Jack Black is 40. Actor Jason Priestley (”Beverly Hills, 90210″) is 40. Actor J. August Richards (”Angel”) is 36. Singer-bassist Max Collins of Eve 6 is 31. Actress Carly Pope (”Popular”) is 29. Country singer Leann Rimes is 27.

Continue reading Celebrity birthdays »

Bill Emerson speaks at Celestine Sibley's memorial in 1999. Photo: AJC archives

We don’t envy the speakers selected to eulogize Atlanta reporter and editor William Emerson, Jr. Saturday at his funeral set for 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta.

After all, the Newsweek bureau chief and Saturday Evening Post editor was an incomparable orator. We were sitting in a pew at Celestine Sibley’s memorial service in August 1999 as Emerson paid tribute to his dear friend. He took us on a dizzying emotional roller coaster where laughter freely mixed with tears. By the time the pimento cheese sandwiches and tissues were distributed, we were spent, filled with fond recollections of the veteran AJC columnist.

And Emerson backed up his speaking abilities with some equally amazing writing. We managed to dig out a copy of Emerson’s eulogy for readers today. As he concluded his remarks that hot August morning 10 years ago, he told the packed church: “Celestine will live on in the …

Continue reading Remembering William A. Emerson Jr. 1923-2009 »

This week’s top-selling tomes at Eagle Eye Books in Decatur:

1. “South of Broad” by Pat Conroy

2. “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett

3. “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” by Muriel Barbery

4. “The Girl Who Played With Fire” by Stieg Larsson

5. “Dead Until Dark” by Charlaine Harris

— Compiled for Buzz by Eagle Eye’s Charles Robinson

Continue reading High Five from Eagle Eye Books »

Former Buckhead resident John Mayer's 2001 Atlanta mugshot.

Mere hours after John Mayer issued a challenge on Twitter to find his mugshot, both thesmokinggun.com and TMZ.com located it.

In Atlanta.

The challenge began Wednesday night when the former Buckhead resident and Twitter addict noted on the social media website that he too was once popped for the driving without a license, the charge Fall Out Boy singer Patrick Stump now faces in Los Angeles.

Mayer tweeted: “Challenge: If Harvey Levin of TMZ can produce my mugshot, I will donate $25,000 to the charity of his choice.”

Levin’s people initially came up empty. Then Mayer tweeted perhaps one too many clues when he taunted on Twitter: “Hint: In the first half of the Naughts, in the Home of the Brave.”

As Buzz readers will recall Mayer made his home here at the time.

On Thursday afternoon, Levin told Mayer to crack open his checkbook after TMZ.com found and posted Mayer’s Atlanta mugshot from a May 26, 2001 arrest for …

Continue reading TMZ unearths Mayer’s ATL mugshot after Twitter challenge »

Just when things at Buzz Central were getting a little too quiet (it is late August, after all), comes word of a brand-new bitch slapping contest concerning —who else? — “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

Kim Zolciak has taken to her website under the headline  ”Atlanta Magazine: Screw Off” to announce a boycott of the upcoming “Housewives” cover story in the September issue of Atlanta magazine describing it as “disgusting and manipulating.”

Zolciak claims she was “inaccurately portrayed” in the cover story written by Amanda Brown Heckert.

Since Buzz Central happens to have an advance copy of said story, let’s take a quick looksee to see what could possibly have set off the weave-whacked, aspiring vocalist.

Oops.

The headline of the story?

“Trashionistas: Sound the Sirens! Just try not watch the train wreck that is The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

Oh, my.

Here’s the lead of Brown Heckert’s profile: “Five pretty Georgia peaches, plump with collagen and ripe with ambition, sit as …

Continue reading Zolciak calls for boycott of ‘Housewives’ Atlanta mag cover »

Aug. 27: Cajun-country singer Jimmy C. Newman is 82. Bluegrass singer-banjo player J.D. Crowe is 72.Actor Tommy Sands is 72. Musician Daryl Dragon of the Captain and Tennille is 67. Actress Tuesday Weldis 66. Singer-bassist Tim Bogert of Vanilla Fudge is 65. Actress Marianne Sagebrecht is 64. Actress Barbara Bach is 62. Ex-porn star Harry Reems (”Deep Throat”) is 62. Guitarist Jeff Cook of Alabama is 60. Actor Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) is 57. Guitarist Alex Lifeson of Rush is 56. Actress Diana Scarwid is 54. BassistGlen Matlock of The Sex Pistols is 53. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams is 47. Country guitarist Matthew Basford of Yankee Grey is 47. Bassist Mike Johnson (Dinosaur Jr.) is 44. Percussionist Bobo of Cypress Hill is 41. Actress Chandra Wilson (”Grey’s Anatomy”) is 40. Bassist Tony Kanal of No Doubt is 39. Actress Sarah Chalke (”Scrubs,” second Becky on “Roseanne”) is 33. Rapper Mase is 32. Actor Aaron Paul (”Breaking Bad,” “Big Love”) is 30. Guitarist Jon Siebels of …

Continue reading Celebrity birthdays »

Christian singer-songwriter Matthew West

Christian adult contemporary artist Matthew West will entertain baseball fans at Turner Field with a complimentary concert after the Braves take on the Cincinnati Reds Sept. 6.

The Dove Award-winning singer-songwriter is perhaps best known for his huge 2008 single “You Are Everything,” later awarded a Dove Award  ”Song of the Year.”

The concert is presented by Mississippi College. The ball game is set to start at 1:30 p.m. and the concert will follow appropriately 20 minutes after the final out.

Fans can purchase advance tickets by going to www.braves.com/tickets or calling 1-800-745-3000.

Continue reading Matthew West booked at Turner Field Sept 6 »

For a measly $30, music fans will be treated to a reunion of rapper/ restaurateur Ludacris and heavy metal drummer Tommy Lee this weekend.

The pair arguably became reality television’s oddest couple when they participated together in Discovery Network’s Planet Green popular “Battleground Earth” eco-centric series.

On Saturday night, Luda welcomes Lee to his Midtown eatery Straits for a fund-raiser benefiting his Ludacris Foundation. The after-party will happen from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. after Lee’s final encore with Motley Crue at the Aarons Amphitheater at Lakewood.

To score tickets, go to www.straitsatl.com/rsvp.

Continue reading Ludacris, Tommy Lee to reunite for charity »

YouTube poster Chris Crocker Photo: PhotoBucket

Remember Chris Crocker, the Britney Spears uber fan who pleaded with the world on YouTube in 2007 to “LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE?”

He’s baack.

The emotional, follically endowed young man has posted a new clip on the video-sharing website to proclaim his love for “Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member and pot stirrer Kim Zolciak.

In the 2-minute, 11-second second clip (thus far viewed by 6,239 er, fans), Crocker proclaims the weekly Bravo train wreck and scourge of the city’s chamber of commerce department, his favorite on television.

In his role of amateur sociologist, Crocker also points out the inherent racism demonstrated on the show with its oft-played weave-yanking scenes on downtown streets.

Of the show’s breakout member Nene Leakes, Crocker says: “Your heart is is the right place but your mind is in the wrong place.” He’s far less generous to co-star and budding fashion designer Sheree Whitfield.

The clip ends with the creepily …

Continue reading Chris Crocker has a new cause: ‘Leave Kim alone!’ »