Lawsuit claims Spears owes producer money

Orlando, Fla. – Britney Spears’ former manager has sued the singer for more than $15,000, alleging the pop star has failed to pay for work he helped produce.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Orange County Circuit Court on behalf of Johnny Wright, the music manager behind New Kids on the Block, ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys. Wright and his Wright Entertainment Group managed Spears between 1999 and 2003, but the lawsuit cites a contract that would have kept payments coming to the group until February 2008.

Spears has allegedly not made a payment to Wright since December 2006.

The lawsuit brings two counts against Spears for breach of contract and failure to report accounting records to the management company. It said she failed to provide an audit of money she earned that is subject to commission as well as pay commissions and portions of tour revenues.

Meanwhile, court papers released Thursday in Spears’ custody dispute with Kevin Federline show she spends lavishly on clothes and entertainment, and doesn’t save or invest any of her roughly $737,000 monthly income.

Although she’s often photographed eating fast food, Spears declares she spends about $4,758 per month dining out. Meanwhile, she spends zero on education, savings and investments and gives $500 a month in charitable contributions, the documents said.

She has to pay her ex-husband $15,000 per month in child support and $20,000 in spousal support. Spousal support will end Nov. 15.

Jay-Z to take over Hip-Hop Nation for week

New York – Jay-Z is taking over Sirius Satellite Radio’s hip-hop channel – for a week.

The 37-year-old rap mogul will debut as host of Jay-Z Nation on Monday, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. said Friday. He will take the helm at Hip-Hop Nation channel 40.

Jay-Z’s latest album, “American Gangster,” will be released Tuesday. The CD takes its title and inspiration from the new movie co-starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe about Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas.

“Jay-Z is one of the pre-eminent creative forces in the music industry,” Sirius executive Scott Greenstein said in a statement. “Over the last decade, he has truly changed the face of hip-hop and music culture.”

Ferguson unsympathetic to Mills McCartney

New York – Sarah Ferguson, no stranger to unflattering coverage in the British press, can empathize with Heather Mills McCartney, but doesn’t have much sympathy for Paul McCartney’s estranged wife in her battle with the media.

Mills McCartney, who is going through a bitter divorce with the ex-Beatle, went on a tirade this week against the British press on talk shows in London and the U.S.

Ferguson said she can understand Mills McCartney’s frustration.

“It’s quite difficult when you’re in it – when it’s right in your face,” the Duchess of York told The Associated Press on Thursday night. “But there’s always a reason for it, so maybe you have to change something in yourself.

“It’s give and take. … If you are on the public stage, it’s your public stage. Otherwise, don’t be on the public stage. That’s what I really think. If you’re on it, accept it, if you don’t want to accept it, get off it.”

Led Zeppelin reunion show postponed

London – Led Zeppelin fans awaiting the rockers’ reunion will have to wait a little longer.

The band’s first concert in two decades, scheduled for Nov. 26, has been postponed until Dec. 10 after guitarist Jimmy Page fractured a finger, organizers said Friday.

“I am disappointed that we are forced to postpone the concert by two weeks,” Page said in a statement.

“However, Led Zeppelin have always set very high standards for ourselves, and we feel that this postponement will enable my injury to properly heal, and permit us to perform at the level that both the band and our fans have always been accustomed to.”

Suspect arrested in case at Winfrey school

Johannesburg, South Africa – A former employee of Oprah Winfrey’s school for disadvantaged girls in South Africa has been arrested on charges of abuse and sexual assault, police said Friday.

A police spokesman, Supt. Lungelo Dlamini, said the 27-year-old woman, a dormitory matron at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, was arrested Thursday by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offenses Unit.

“Several charges, including alleged assault, indecent assault, criminal injury and soliciting underage girls to perform indecent acts, are being investigated against her,” Dlamini said.

At least seven victims have submitted statements, he said.

The woman was being held by police and was expected to appear in Sebokeng magistrate’s court, south of Johannesburg, on Monday, he said.

A&E network pulls ‘Dog’ series from schedule

Honolulu – Television bounty hunter Duane “Dog” Chapman’s show has been pulled from the air indefinitely by A&E, two days after a private phone conversation in which the reality star used a racial slur repeatedly was posted online.

A&E officials said the series, one of the network’s top-rated programs, has not been canceled.

Chapman, 54, has been under fire and accused of being a racist ever since the private conversation with his son, Tucker Chapman, was posted online Wednesday by The National Enquirer. Chapman used the N-word repeatedly about his son’s black girlfriend.

At least two advertisers have pulled out from the show and civil rights groups have called for the show’s cancellation.