Entertainment Briefs

‘District’ actress Lynne Thigpen dies
Lynne Thigpen, who co-starred in the CBS drama “The District” and won a Tony Award in 1997 for her portrayal of a black Jewish feminist in “An American Daughter,” has died. She was 54.
Thigpen died Wednesday night in her Los Angeles home. She had been in good health and the cause of death was not immediately known, network spokeswoman Beth Haiken said Thursday.
Production was shut down on “The District,” which stars Craig T. Nelson as Washington, D.C., police Chief Jack Mannion. Thigpen played Mannion’s secretary, Ella Farmer.
“I’m in shock. She was a wonderful actress and a friend,” Nelson said in a statement.
“The beauty, compassion and talent that you saw on the screen was not just superb acting, it was the very essence of this wonderful woman,” said John Wirth, the drama’s executive producer. “We will miss her terribly.”
Haiken said the 20th episode was in production this week; two more episodes were planned for the season. She said no decision had been made about how Thigpen’s death would be dealt with on the show.
Thigpen, who was born and raised in Joliet, Ill., and made her home in New York, had a distinguished stage career and also worked steadily in films and television.
In 1997, she received the Tony Award for best supporting actress for her role as a black Jewish feminist in Wendy Wasserstein’s play “An American Daughter.”
Thigpen re-created the role in the 2000 TV movie version of the play.
She also was nominated for a Tony for her role in “Tintypes,” and won Obie Awards for “Jar the Floor” and “Boesman and Lena.”
On TV, she portrayed the chief in the PBS series “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?” and “Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?” She also appeared in the series “thirtysomething” and “L.A. Law” and the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations of “Night Ride Home” and “The Boys Next Door.”
Her film credits include “The Insider,” “Shaft,” “Random Hearts,” “Lean on Me,” “Tootsie” and the recently released “Anger Management.”
Lawsuit Against Def Jam Records and J-Lo Co-owned Club
According to published reports, Def Jam Records and the Conga Room, a club co-owned by Jennifer “J-Lo” Lopez, were slapped with a civil lawsuit by the mother of a shooting victim who was killed there. On Thursday, October 17, the man was shot and killed in the popular Latin dance spot also co-owned by actors Jimmy Smits and Paul Rodriguez. The club is in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles.
The mother of the victim alleges the club owners, nor Def Jam, provided ample security at an album listening party for LL Cool J held there. Beverly Jackson, mother of victim Jerry Bonds, filed a wrongful death lawsuit and seeks damages from the parties responsible for the event.
Jerry Bonds, who was considered a suspect in the murder of Tupac Shakur, was slain at the club at approximately 11:45 p.m. 
When Bonds was shot on the second floor of the Conga Room, police claim there were between 200-300 occupants in the building.
The murderers escaped the crime scene without being identified.
Police have no description of the gunman and did not recover the weapon, believed to be a semiautomatic pistol.
Despite the suit, Def Jam has maintained that they, as a company, were not an official sponsor of the event and that the party promoters used the label name and artist without permission.
“While we have not seen the complaint, this was not a company-sponsored event,” the company said in a previously issued statement.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Bonds was rumored to be a gang member in the Southside Crips, the group accused of killing Tupac Shakur. Later, he was sued by Shakur’s estate in connection with the wrongful death of the
D’Angelo Settles Out Of Court
Reclusive R&B superstar D’Angelo settled his case with a woman who claimed the singer spit on her during a traffic incident last year. On Nov. 18, in Richmond, Va., a woman claimed that D’Angelo cut her off in traffic and then spit on her when the two wound up at the same gas station. When police attempted to serve a warrant on the singer at his home in Richmond, they reportedly had to spray pepper spray on him to do so. Due in court in Va., this week, the singer pled no contest to obstruction of justice charges, and settled out of court with the woman. 
Whether his next album, once tentatively titled James River, will see the light of day in 2003 is unclear. The singer is no longer collaborating with Roots drummer Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, his former musical director, who was instrumental in the making of 2000’s Voodoo.  (Voodoo went on to receive two Grammys).
D’Angelo is currently recording new material with frequent collaborator Raphael Saddiq, a recent Grammy winner himself. The singer’s label, Virgin, has no release date scheduled. 
Latifah Excited About Oscar Gifts
The only thing Queen Latifah wants more than an Oscar is a gift basket.
“I’m looking forward to (getting) that basket. I can’t wait to see what’s in it. I don’t care how much money you have, free stuff is always a good thing,” she told AP Radio.
Organizers for the Academy Awards (news – web sites) are providing a look inside the $20,000 gift baskets for Sunday’s ceremony. Godiva chocolates, leather handbags, candy-colored pens, hair products, perfume, and holistic skin moisturizers are among the items.
Wallace ‘Is Not Feeling’ Lil’ Kim
On the heels of her “B.I.G. Night Out” celebration, Ms. Voletta Wallace, mother of Biggie Smalls, has expressed extreme disenchantment with Lil’ Kim, a protegee of her son.
In a VH-1 special, associates of Lil’ Kim alleged that the female rapper was physically abused by Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace. Also, Jermaine Dupri, CEO of So So Def and executive at Arista Records, charged that the Bad Boy star also pulled a gun on Kim. 
“All this stuff, black eyes, pulling guns…that’s a little bit much. If my son had pulled a gun on Lil’ Kim, I wish he would have blown her brains out,” Ms. Wallace stated in a recent interview with radio personality Wendy Williams. 
“Right now I’m not feeling Lil’ Kim.”
Wallace declared she had an adverse physical reaction upon hearing the sensational allegations against her son. “I wanted to puke. I had a headache the whole night,” she said.
While Kim never actually made the allegations in the special, Ms. Wallace spoke of Lil’ Kim’s selfishness as it pertained to Biggie Smalls.