04:01 AM EDT 10/15/2009
Ashanti
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Ashanti to Ease on Down the Road in The Wiz
Originally posted 04/30/2009 12:00PM
There's no place like home – provided you've been to Oz. Ashanti will soon be taking the trip, by starring in a very limited Manhattan stage engagement of the 1974 Best Musical Tony winner The Wiz, reports Broadway World.
The singer-actress, 28, will mark her stage debut as the Toto-toting Dorothy in the soulful version of the The Wizard of Oz, which originally starred Stephanie Mills on Broadway and, in the 1978 movie, Diana Ross. This version runs June 12 to July 5 at the New York City Center, as part of the Encores! Summer Stars series.
Though she's new to the New York stage, Ashanti is no stranger to the role. She played Dorothy in the 2005 TV movie, The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.
– Christina Tapper
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Nelly Admits He and Ashanti Are 'Serious'
Originally posted 11/03/2008 06:30AM
Whoa, Nelly!
The rapper – who has kept mum about his romance with Ashanti for years – is finally ready to dish.
The key to their below-the-radar relationship, he tells PEOPLE, is that they both love to have a good time.
"That's the thing between me and her, we just like having fun," he said Sunday at Las Vegas's Lavo club, where he was celebrating his 34th birthday.
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Ashanti Opens Up About 'Good Friend' Nelly
Originally posted 06/16/2008 06:45AM
Ashanti has been famously secretive about her relationship with rapper Nelly. But she broke her silence (a bit!) Sunday night, after a sterling rendition of the National Anthem during game five of the Lakers-Celtics championship series.
"Me and Nelly, we're good friends. We kick it – hang out a lot," the 27-year-old told PEOPLE. "The industry is very hard, so it's good to have fun and lighten it up."
As for those persistent rumors that she and the rapper plan to get hitched? Holding up a ring-free left hand, she told reporters, "Oh no. Noooo! No engagement." Then she added with a wicked smile, "But definitely in the future. Ha! Ha!"
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Ashanti: I'm Not Slamming Nelly in My Video
Originally posted 04/17/2008 07:45PM
Is sexy songstress Ashanti's new video for her song "Way That I Love You" a kiss-off to rumored boyfriend Nelly? After all, in the video, a knife-wielding Ashanti gets sweet revenge on a cheating ex.
Ashanti says, "It's not!" She explains, "I wrote that record last summer ... The song is just about real life. It's for every woman who has gone through it."
But that doesn't mean the songbird hasn't experienced the heartache of a good relationship gone bad due to infidelity. "Definitely," says Ashanti, who turns to Mary J. Blige's "Not Gonna Cry" to help her through breakups. "It's a rude awakening when you get used to being happy, but it's a part of life. I didn't kill the person!"
T.R. Knight, Janet Jackson Lend Voices to Anti-Hate Video
Originally posted 03/11/2008 11:55AM
T.R. Knight, Portia de Rossi and Ashanti are just a few of the celebrities that have lent their voices – and support – to a new anti-hate video for Logo, prompted by the murder of 15-year-old Lawrence King, whom friends say was killed because he was gay. "Imagine if wearing makeup or a dress could get you killed," de Rossi says at the beginning of the powerful clip. Adds Ashanti: "When you see someone being made fun of for who they are or how they look, do something about it." And Janet Jackson adds a poignant coda at the end, saying, "None of us are safe until all of us are safe."
Permalink | Filed Under: Ashanti, Janet Jackson, T.R. Knight
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Couples Watch
Originally posted 02/05/2007 06:00AM
• Ashanti and her rapper beau Nelly, dining at Beverly Hills eatery Mastro's Steakhouse. The two feasted on steaks and colossal onion rings. "They were laughing and smiling and having a wonderful night," an observer tells us.
Permalink | Filed Under: Ashanti, Jimmy Kimmel, Ken Watanabe, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Nelly, Peter Sarsgaard, Sarah Silverman, Toni Braxton, Tori Spelling
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Ashanti Cancels Show After Cousin's Death
Originally posted 04/17/2006 07:00AM
Ashanti cancelled a performance headlining a Divas concert in Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday after a drunken teen driver killed her 20-year-old cousin and personal assistant.
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Paris & Stavros's Wild Night
Originally posted 12/05/2005 01:00AM
Though she's normally a fixture on the West Coast club scene, Paris Hilton recently hit the New York City party circuit with boyfriend Stavros Niarchos during a whirlwind night out.
Permalink | Filed Under: Ashanti, Paris Hilton
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Ashanti's Surprise Birthday Party
Originally posted 10/19/2005 06:00AM
Ashanti thought she was going out for a simple dinner with her family to celebrate her 25th birthday. But instead the R&B singer (whose b-day was Oct. 13) was treated to a surprise party with an all-star guest list of 500 – including her rapper boyfriend Nelly, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Naomi Campbell and Ja Rule – at New York City hot spot Glo.
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Romance for Ashlee Simpson
Originally posted 07/23/2004 06:00AM
Those Simpson sisters, they share everything – including aspiring pop star Ryan Cabrera. Twenty-year-old Cabrera, whose debut album hits stores next month, is opening for Jessica on some dates of her Reality tour … and he's also dating younger sis Ashlee, 19. "I'm with Ryan," she told us at the release party for her own CD, Autobiography, at New York nightspot PM this week. The 5-month-old pair recently reconciled after a brief hiatus, she said, because "we like each other too much." Ashlee, who is finished with her role on The WB show 7th Heaven (though she may go back for guest spots) and is pursuing a movie career, told us she had hesitated to get into the music biz. "I was more shy (than Jessica) about singing," Ashlee says. "I never really knew I could do a record. It's something I always really, really wanted, but I didn't know because I kind of felt like that's her thing, I don't need to do that. But I really wanted to – so I just did it." The two sisters are planning to share something else this holiday season: Their father, Joe, tells us that Ashlee will join Jessica for a duet on her Christmas album.
Permalink | Filed Under: Ashanti, Ashlee Simpson, Ryan Cabrera
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