No prenup? Then no wedding and no marriage!  The Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin caved into family pressures and canceled her upcoming summer wedding to long-time beau, Willie Wilkerson. Franklin’s sons did not want her to get married because they were worried about their place in her life and her fortune. Wilkerson and Franklin have been dating for close to 25 years. He felt he didn’t need to sign a prenup, but her sons and family felt differently. In the end, she caved into family pressure. The wedding has been called off, and now everyone is wondering if she will continue her relationship with Wilkerson. Look for Re Re to be one of the headliners of The 2012 Essence Music Festival taking place July 6^th, 7^th and 8^th in New Orleans. Also on the bill are Fantasia, SWV, Keyshia Cole, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Charlie Wilson, Raheem DeVaughn, Vivian Green and Stephanie Mills.

Randy Jackson is firing back at his ex, Alejandra Jackson!  Alejandra had two children by Randy then turned around and married his brother Jermaine and had two kids by him!  This incident caused major strife in the Jackson family. Alejandra has been using Katherine Jackson and her family by living off of them all these years.  Randy says he wants his ex to stop sponging off the Jacksons. It’s been going on for two decades and enough is enough!  Randy owes his ex $600,000 in back child support. Randy is fighting this claim because he says he struck a deal Alejandra back in 1993. He claims the deal is she could live in the Jackson estate, and he wouldn’t have to pay child support.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson is also making headlines. Last week, published reports came out claiming he wasn’t paying child support for his 12-year-old love child. Years ago, Jackson had a child outside of his marriage with his jump off. Karin Stanford got her face cracked when she thought Jackson would leave his wife Jacqueline and marry her. Stanford claims Jackson owes her $12,000 in back support, and says he gives her money when he wants to. Jackson claims he has been paying his child support.

Everyone wants Vanessa Bryant!  The very rich ex-wife of Lakers Superstar Kobe Bryant has been offered a deal by VH1 to be the new star of the L.A. version of their Basketball Wives reality franchise. Will Vanessa take the offer?  She was just awarded $75 million and three mansions from Kobe Bryant, who cheated on her for years. They didn’t have a prenup! Will Vanessa cash in again and be a reality star?

Is the Seal-Heidi Klum breakup a publicity stunt to help him sell albums?  Sources say Klum can’t deal with Seal’s volatile temper.  He is frustrated with his recording career, and Klum the supermodel is the breadwinner with her millions. They have three kids together and Seal adopted Klum’s oldest daughter. Seal refuses to stop wearing his wedding ring. Could he be in denial? If he divorces Klum, will he go after her money?

High altitude got the best of Actor/Comedian Tracy Morgan. He collapsed at the Sundance Film Festival. Morgan has been ordered to rest after being hospitalized. Doctors are worried about his health since he was a recipient of a new kidney last year.

The 84^th Annual Academy Awards is February 26^th. The show will air on ABC, and Billy Crystal is hosting. The movie The Help has nabbed four nominations including Best Actress for Viola Davis, Best Supporting Actress for Octavia Spencer and Best Picture. The Help is also dominating the Screen Actors Guild Awards with four nominations, including Best Ensemble Cast, Best Actress (Viola Davis) and Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer). The SAG Awards take place on February 26^th.The Help just won the Black Critics Award for Best Picture.

Is Whitney Houston Broke? Houston is said to be having financial problems. She can no longer perform live and never wrote any of her music. Sources close to the superstar are shutting down reports of her being in financial trouble. Houstonwill be starring in the remake of the 1976 film classic Sparkle with Jordin Sparks. Houston is being urged to write a tell-all book about her life. The music business, the drugs, how the excesses almost killed her and her life with her ex, Bobby Brown, would all have to be in the book. If she tells the truth, the book could be an instant bestseller with copies in the millions!

Star Jones is coming back to The View! Jones left the show in a firestorm six years ago, but she’s returning to the show as a guest in February. Jones will be discussing heart disease as February is Women’s Heart Health Month……. and ratings sweeps month.

Funeral services are set for Singer Etta James, who died last week at the age of 73 of complications from leukemia. James was best known for her songs Something’s Got A Hold On Me, Stop The Wedding, Tell Mama, and her signature piece, At Last. The public viewing takes place Friday and the funeral services Saturday with Reverend Al Sharpton eulogizing the singing.

Princess Carter arrived in the world last Saturday amid lots of fanfare. Blue Ivy Carter is the newest addition of Jay-Z and Beyonce. The superstar couple are now parents. Jay-Z is already rapping about his daughter in a song called Glory. The baby was born natural and the first pictures could get the couple up to $2 million.

Terrence Howard and the cast of Red Tails are on the latest issue of Ebony magazine. The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is coming to the big screen on January 20^th. Producer George Lucas of Star Wars fame spent $58 million of his own money to make sure the movie got made. Howard is in the midst of a nasty divorce with Michelle Ghent. Ghent has made some shocking allegations against Howard. She’s saying he threatened to kill himself and begged her to kill him. Ghent also says when they were in South Africa on a movie shoot he threw her across a room and threatened to throw her off a balcony. Ghent married Howard in 2010. The marriage hit a snag immediately with Howard claiming his wife was a racist monster and that she threatened to have him killed.

What do you do when you have two women and three kids depending on you? Well, if you’re Antwaun Cook, you start your own business. Cook is the married baby daddy of Singer Fantasia. They had a son last month, but he is still married to his wife and they have two kids of their own. Cook is now a bail bondsman. He has the Free Yourself Bail Bonds business named after one of Fantasia’s hit songs. His slogan: Get Off The Hook With Antwaun Cook!

Mark your calendars for Monday, February 13^th. It’s The 5^th Annual BET Honors. Gabrielle Union is hosting the show, and honorees include Spike Lee, Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder and Mariah Carey. Special musical guests include Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle and Common. In the next few weeks, you are going to see Gabrielle Union everywhere. She is on the latest edition of Essence magazine with her sweetie, Basketball’s Dwyane Wade. She is starring in the Tyler Perry movie Good Deeds, which opens in theatres February 24^th, and she’s also starring in the new Steve Harvey movie Think Like A Man with Kevin Hart, which debuts March 9^th.

Congrats to Oscar Winner Halle Berry, the third time may be the charm for her. Berry is engaged to be married to Actor Olivier Martinez. They met on the set of their movie Dark Tide. After previous marriages to Baseball’s David Justice and Singer Eric Benet, Berry said no more marriage. She has a three-year old daughter Nahla by Model Gabriel Aubry. Berry, 45, is sporting a diamond and emerald engagement ring. No wedding date has been set.

Is NeNe Leakes from The Real Housewives Of Atlanta ready to leave reality TV? Leakes just landed a recurring role on FOX’s TV show Glee, and she did a guest starring role on BET’s The Game. Sources say she is tired of the fighting and bickering on the reality show and wants to do more respectful work.

Don Cheadle has a new show on cable’s Showtime called House Of Lies. He talks about it in the latest issue of Jet magazine. Cheadle is on the cover.

 The new season of American Idol kicks off January 18^th. Will this be the last season with Host Ryan Seacrest? As the show enters its 11^th season, producers want Seacrest to take a pay cut. He gets $45 million a year for the show. Sources they could get someone for $3 million, and that if the show could go on without Simon Cowell, it could certainly survive without Seacrest. Don’t cry for Seacrest though. He’s a producer, does a radio show and entertainment magazine show. He’s a busy guy.

The marriage troubles continue to play out for Idol Judge Jennifer Lopez and her hubby Singer Marc Anthony. Since their separation, they have moved on to other partners. J-Lo and Anthony are 42 and 43 respectively, and they are both dating 24-year olds. Lopez is dating her back up dancer and Anthony is dating a Venezuelan model. Let’s hope their busy love lives don’t affect their three-year old twins.

The Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin is finally talking about her mystery illness. Franklin says she had a tumor removed. She says that she lost 85 pounds, but she has already gained 20 pounds back. Franklin says she is working on losing it as she prepares for her summer wedding to longtime beau Willie Wilkerson.

Look for ReRe to also be one of the headliners of The 2012 Essence Music Festival taking place July 6^th, 7^th and 8^th in New Orleans.  Also on the bill is Fantasia, SWV, Keyshia Cole, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Charlie Wilson, Raheem DeVaughn, Vivian Green and Stephanie Mills.