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Sounds like rocker John Mayer made an appearance at the Cheetah this week – for a buddy’s birthday bash.

Zac Brown Band member Clay Cook celebrated a birthday on Wednesday. He is 33. His Twitter feed and Tumblr and Foursquare updates indicate his pal Mayer made it to Atlanta to join in the fun.

“John Mayer makes you do crazy things,” Cook tweeted toward the wee hours of Wednesday morning. That post linked to this tumblr photo of what some of you kindly pointed out is not an admission ticket to the Cheetah but currency to use once inside. (Thank you for that!)

Mayer used to be a prolific tweeter but nixed his Twitter account a while back. Remember that’s how he alerted fans to an impromptu appearance at Eddie’s Attic last fall. Here’s the story the AJC posted about that at the time.

The account is now back, but doesn’t include any tweets. Instead it links to a blog that hasn’t been updated since December.

- Jennifer Brett/The …

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Tyler Perry went a little Madea at a Beverly Hills press conference promoting his latest movie, when the matter of Spike Lee came up.

“I’m so sick of hearing about damn Spike Lee,” Perry said during the press conference, according to Box Office Magazine.“Spike can go straight to hell! You can print that. I am sick of him talking about me.”

Perry’s remarks were referencing Lee’s criticism of Perry’s work.

“I am sick of him — he talked about Whoopi, he talked about Oprah, he talked about me, he talked about Clint Eastwood. Spike needs to shut the hell up!”

The Box Office Magazine account went on to say that Perry voiced frustration about other comments about his films.

“I’ve never seen Jewish people attack Seinfeld and say, ‘This is a stereotype,’” he said, according to the Box Office Magazine report. “I’ve never seen Italian people attack The Sopranos, I’ve never seen Jewish people complaining about Mrs. Doubtfire or Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie.”

The report also said …

Continue reading Tyler Perry: Spike Lee can “go straight to hell” »

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Diddy tops the Forbes list of wealthiest hip-hop artists, with a fortune of some $475 million. Jay-Z comes in second, weighting in at a nifty $450 million.

Both artists have expanded well beyond music, with fashion and beverage lines, book deals and restaurants rounding out their vast empires.

Here in Atlanta of course is Diddy’s restaurant, Justin’s, in Buckhead. Jay-Z is said to be in talks to launch an upscale airport lounge at Hartsfield-Jackson, and recently met with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. Here’s the story we posted about that at the time.

Forbes applied the same rigor to compiling the hip-hop list as it does in tallying the globe’s richest billionaires, “valuing current holdings, looking at past earnings, leafing through financial documents and talking to a bevy of analysts, attorneys, managers and other industry players to find the nitty-gritty details.”

Only hip-hop performers, as opposed to recording giants such as Russell Simmons, were considered for …

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The movie adaptation of Ayn Rand’s doorstop of a book, “Atlas Shrugged,” didn’t exactly set the box office on fire during its opening weekend, but metro Atlanta audiences evidently liked it pretty well.

The Week magazine reports, in an article titled “Atlas Shrugged’ the movie: Dismal failure or cult hit?“, that the movie opened on 300 screens and took in about $1.6 million. (It cost $10 million to make.)

The Week says cites the metro Atlanta screening, which “took in $53,832 on Friday and Saturday alone,” as one of the more successful hauls. Libertarian talker Neal Boortz hosted a Friday night screening at the Regal Medlock Crossing Stadium Theatre, to which about 200 fans won tickets.

“For the most part, the acting is good,” Boortz told our colleague Rodney Ho. “Some people are going to say the actors are a little two dimensional. But the characters are that way in the book. They are all business in the book and in the movie.”

The book is Rand’s magnum opus, the deepest …

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Farah Fakir Cook and Kimberly Evans Paige served as co-chairs of the gala celebrating the Atlanta chapter of Jack and Jill of America's 60th anniversary. Photo by Jennifer Brett, jbrett@ajc.com

The Atlanta chapter of Jack and Jill of America celebrated its 60th anniversary Saturday night with a splendid gala at the Piedmont Driving Club.

“We are truly going to celebrate tonight,” event co-chair Kimberly Evans Paige told the packed ballroom. “We have doubled our expectations in terms of our financial objectives.” (The event had aimed to raise $60,000 and did so, twice).

Themed “Creating a Legacy of Literacy,” the gala benefited the Jack and Jill of America Foundation as well as The East Lake Foundation and Raising Expectations. All three organizations offer educational programming for young people.

“Once a child has a love of reading, they are well on their way to educational excellence,” Paige said.

Her co-chair, Farah Fakir Cook, talked about her Jack and Jill …

Continue reading Jack and Jill celebrates 60 years in Atlanta »

AJC file photo

“Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member Kim Zolciak and her guy Kroy Biermann celebrated the impending arrival of their baby with a shower over the weekend.

“Huge thank you to my love Kim Zolciak for such a special and wonderful baby shower for our son!” Falcons player Kroy Biermann tweeted following the festivities.

Fellow Falcon Coy Wire was among the guests.

“Enjoyed a Lovely evening at the baby shower Kroy Biermann and Kim Zolciak,” he tweeted. “An enchanting couple. Blessings to you!”

Zolciak posted a thank you to “Gail and Hester from Wedding Soiree” for the bash. (Hmm. Wedding Soiree?)

The gossip site Media Take Out posted numerous photos. Click here to see them. Other “Housewives” in attendance included Phaedra Parks and Kandi Burruss but Media Take Out said NeNe Leakes, Zolciak’s frequent sparring partner, did not get invited.

Chances are whoever leaked the pictures will be barred from future fetes.

“Wow I invite a “friend” to the shower and she …

Continue reading Kim Zolciak’s baby shower »

Photo by Arthur Butler, Urban Poshture

Oscar and Emmy award-winning actress Jane Fonda and Oscar-nominated actress Gabby Sidibe attended the screening of Fonda’s least-favorite movie on Sunday evening.

The film, a documentary called “Jane,” was made when Fonda was 25 and on the verge of a nervous breakdown following her short run in the ill-fated play “The Fun Couple.”

“You can’t know how painful this is to me,” Fonda said after the screening. But she thought discussing her journey from frightened young thing too scared to say “no,” to the strong-willed woman she is today would make for a powerful fundraiser for her charity, the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention. The event raised nearly $70,000.

“It’s unusual that we have concrete proof of how far we’ve come,” she said. “You can get your voice back. You can become something. You can become yourself.”

Inviting Sidibe to join her just made sense, Fonda said, given her starring …

Continue reading Jane Fonda, Gabby Sidibe team up for charity screening »

BFFs Lance Bass and Holly Firfer caught up this week while he was in town for a "Drop Dead Diva" appearance. Photo by Jim Lesti

Former boy band singer Lance Bass was in town this week for a guest-star gig on Lifetime’s “Drop Dead Diva,” which is filmed in Peachtree City.

He joins Paula Abdul, who returns in her guest role as a dancing judge, and country crooner LeAnn Rimes, who guest-stars as a celebrity in trouble, on the roster of “Drop Dead Diva” drop-ins for the upcoming season.

The former N’Sync member is friends with DDD creator Josh Berman, and we’re told he will play a “casting director” in the episode.

Bass stayed at the W in Midtown and caught up with his buddy the ubiquitous Holly Firfer, who can be seen HLN, heard on Star 94 and read in The Atlantan these days.

- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com

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