Wardrobe designer sues Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton has been sued by a wardrobe and costume designer who alleges the Grammy-winning singer wrote him a bad check and still owes him $15,000 for work on a Las Vegas show.

Anthony Franco filed the lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming the sultry R&B singer had agreed to pay him $35,000 to design the entire wardrobe for the "Toni Braxton: Revealed" show.

Franco says he received a check, but it was returned for insufficient funds. He alleges Braxton and co-defendant Liberty Entertainment Inc. put a stop-payment on the check.

Franco claims he was eventually paid $20,000, leaving an outstanding balance of $15,000.

Braxton is best known for such hits as "Breathe Again," "You're Makin' Me High" and "Love Shoulda Brought You Home." She has starred on Broadway in "Aida" and "Beauty and the Beast."

Braxton's show at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas began last August.

Braxton's publicist did not immediately reply Tuesday to a message left with her agent, Ben Bernstein, seeking comment.

Timberlake, Beyonce top VMA nominations

Justin Timberlake and Beyonce lead the pop parade of nominees for the MTV Video Music Awards with seven nods apiece, it was announced Tuesday.

Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" was nominated for video of the year, as was Timberlake's ambitiously cinematic "What Goes Around ... Comes Around," which co-starred Scarlett Johansson. Also competing in the category are Amy Winehouse's "Rehab," Kanye West's "Stronger," Rihanna's "Umbrella" (featuring Jay-Z) and Justice's "D.A.N.C.E."

Timberlake was also nominated for male artist of the year and "most earth shattering collaboration" for pairing with Timbaland for "Sexy Back." Beyonce was nominated for female artist of the year and for her collaboration with Shakira on "Beautiful Liar."

West landed five nominations, including male artist of the year. He has often appeared prickly about losing awards, and on Tuesday he was still sore over being snubbed last year for his Evel Knievel spoof video "Touch the Sky." (In 2005, he did win best male video for "Jesus Walks.")

"I come to win. I don't come to lose," West told MTV Tuesday on "TRL," where the awards were announced. "I think there's some really strong competition this year."

Rihanna also received five nominations, propelled by her hit single, "Umbrella," which is up for "monster single of the year."

Also nominated for male artist of the year was Akon, T.I. and Robin Thicke. Rounding out the nominees for female artist of the year were Fergie and Nelly Furtado.

Amy Winehouse, whose album "Back to Black" was her second disc but her first released in the U.S., was nominated for best new artist. She received three nods, including female artist of the year. In the best new artist category, Winehouse will compete with her compatriot Lily Allen, as well as Carrie Underwood, Gym Class Heroes and Peter Bjorn & John.

Up for best group are Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, Linkin Park, Maroon 5 and the White Stripes.

The 24th annual VMAs will be handed out during a live two-hour show on Sept. 9 in Las Vegas at the Palms Hotel and Casino. Only eight categories will be awarded on the broadcast. Performers will include Kanye West, Fall Out Boy, Amy Winehouse, Chris Brown, the Foo Fighters and Rihanna.

Timbaland will serve as "maestro" for the night, booking the show's acts.

"By me being maestro," said Timbaland, "I am the show."

Farm Aid sets New York City lineup

There's something to be said for consistency — go to Farm Aid and you see John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Neil Young and Dave Matthews.

For this year's inaugural show in New York, they'll be joined by Counting Crows, the Allman Brothers Band, Montgomery Gentry and the Derek Trucks Band, among others, Farm Aid announced Wednesday.

The concert will be held Sept. 9 on Randalls Island, an island just east of Manhattan.

"I've always felt we should do it in New York because New Yorkers consume so much food," Mellencamp told The Associated Press. "I think everyone was kind of waiting around for an invitation and we finally got one."

Nelson, Mellencamp and Young organized the first Farm Aid in 1985, figuring one year would be enough to convince the government to adopt policies to help family farmers.

"We were naive," Mellencamp said. Farm Aid, which has raised more than $30 million over the past two decades, has evolved into an organization that helps small farmers in financial crisis and promotes organically raised foods. Farm Aid hopes next month to have the first major concert with all local, family-farmed food served.

Farm Aid has been reaching out to the big cities recently. Last year's concert was in Camden, N.J., just outside of Philadelphia, and Chicago was the host in 2005.

Nelson and Young have performed at every show, with Mellencamp missing only one when he was recuperating from a heart attack. Matthews, who performs this year in tandem with guitar wizard Tim Reynolds, has been on the bill regularly for more than a decade.

Guster, Matisyahu and the Ditty Bops are among the newcomers this year. The Ditty Bops have just completed a green-themed tour where they rode bicycles to different venues across the country.

Warren Haynes and the Supersuckers are also on the bill.

"If people eat, they should come and support Farm Aid," Mellencamp said.

Peter, Bjorn and Kanye

Kanye West will perform with Peter, Bjorn & John in Sweden later this month, it has been claimed.

The rap superstar is understood to have invited the Scandinavian pop group to be his backing band at a festival in Gothenburg on August 11.

Both acts are on the bill for the Way Out West gathering and are expected to perform the trio's breakthrough hit "Young Folks."

Meanwhile, Peter, Bjorn & John have confirmed plans to re-release "Young Folks," with remixes from Beyond The Wizards' Sleeve, Phones, and Diplo.

Spears accused of threatening paparazzi

Britney Spears threw a baby bottle and threatened two photographers after they took pictures of her leaving a Las Vegas spa, the photographers said in a statement Tuesday.

Spears yelled "I am going to kill you!" and cursed at Andrew Deetz, a photographer who says he was beaten by Spears' bodyguard on Thursday, according to a statement released by Deetz's lawyers.

Deetz, 24, is preparing to sue, his lawyers said. The other photographer involved was Kyle Henderson, 23. They both work for a celebrity photography company called Flynet Pictures, which sells to such publications as People and US Weekly, according to Daniel Kogan, a spokesman for Deetz's lawyers.

The men were taking pictures of Spears, 25, as she and her children — 22-month-old Sean Preston Federline and 10-month-old Jayden James Federline — left the spa at the Wynn Las Vegas casino-hotel around 11:30 a.m., accompanied by two bodyguards.

One bodyguard, Cesar Julio Camera, 37, pushed Henderson against the wall until Wynn security intervened and asked Henderson to leave, the statement said.

As they were about 30 paces away and walking in the opposite direction, Camera attacked Deetz from behind, threw him on the ground and punched and kicked him until security pulled him off, it said.

Afterward, Spears ran toward Henderson but was stopped by security, and then threw a baby bottle at him, it said.

Then, in front of several other hotel guests and bystanders, Spears threatened to kill Deetz and said he should get a restraining order against her because she was going to kill him or hire someone that would, it said.

Camera also told Deetz on July 23 outside the Lisa Kline boutique in Beverly Hills, "I have unfinished business with you," the statement alleged.

Spears' lawyer Gary Stiffelman declined to comment.

Wynn Las Vegas released a statement confirming that Spears stayed at the hotel and left on Thursday, but also declined to discuss the confrontation.

"We respect the privacy and do our utmost to maintain the anonymity of our guests," it said.

Las Vegas police issued a summons for a charge of battery to Camera, the only person cited. He could face up to six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted.

Stiffelman's office would not relay messages to Camera seeking comment, and The Associated Press was unable to find a phone number for him.