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LaBelle Countersues, Claims Cadet Hurled Racist Slurs Before Beating

Patti LaBelle has filed a countersuit against the West Point cadet who claims that she ordered her bodyguards to viciously attack him outside Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport on March 11. The R&B diva's lawsuit accuses Richard King of drunkenly instigating the incident by hurling profanity and racist slurs and attempting to force his way into her SUV, reports the Houston Chronicle.

The altercation was captured on a security camera. Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

LaBelle's legal petition, filed last week in Houston federal court, is her first response to King's lawsuit, which he filed earlier this month. In her lawsuit, which seeks actual damages and litigation costs, LaBelle says an inebriated King launched the verbal and physical attack without provocation. When Zuri Edwards, 37, LaBelle's son and driver, told King he was addressing his mother, the lawsuit says, the military cadet hit him in the face.

The suit says LaBelle and her staff believed they were in immediate danger and responded with "the degree of force that was necessary." King was taken to a local hospital with a concussion.

King's attorney John Raley, dismissed the lawsuit as "the same false story they told the police. We have the surveillance videotape, which speaks volumes, and neutral eyewitnesses who will testify that Richard was brutally assaulted without provocation," Raley said.

The 23-year-old West Point senior  and football player said he had a few drinks on the flight to Houston but denied he was intoxicated.

The altercation between King and LaBelle's entourage was captured on a security camera, but no sound was recorded. Two men and a woman, members of the LaBelle's staff, are seen pushing and punching King, and slamming his head into a concrete pillar.

King suffered a concussion and was "suspended for a year from the football team, effectively ending his football career at West Point, reports CBS Sports. "As if all that wasn't enough, King was also sent into active duty."

In the video, LaBelle does not leave the vehicle until after King was taken away by ambulance. As blood lays splattered on the pavement next to her, LaBelle poses for pictures with a Houston police officer. The lawsuits have forced the Houston Police Dept. to reopen an investigation into how the incident was handled, reports KTRK.

Not sure how the cadet hurled racial slurs at Patti LaBelle if she was unseen and behind tinted windows. Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

VIDEO: Patti Labelle Sued by West Pointer Over Bodyguard Attack

R&B legend Patti LaBelle is being sued by a West Point cadet who claims he was beaten by her bodyguards for standing too close to her luggage.

The singer, her driver and three of her bodyguards are among those sued by Richard King. The assault outside Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport on March 11 was captured on video surveillance. The footage shows King violently punched in the face.

Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

The 23-year-old senior was waiting for a ride outside one of the terminals while on spring break from West Point, reports the AP. King says LaBelle "lowered the window of her limousine and gave a command to her bodyguards."

The limo driver and a bodyguard claim the man was intoxicated. "The investigating officer also noted in his report that King appeared to be intoxicated and smelled of alcohol. King [said he] had a few drinks on the flight to Houston but denied he was intoxicated."

King was a player for the Army football team. The cadet has been suspended for at least one year and ordered to go on active duty.

In the video, LaBelle does not leave the vehicle until after King was taken away by ambulance. As blood lays splattered on the pavement next to her, LaBelle poses for pictures with a Houston police officer. Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

WATCH: Nona Hendryx Performs "Transformation", Labelle Medley

In case today's dime-a-dozen "divas" aren't hitting your music fix: The fabulous Ms. Nona Hendryx performed at Damrosch Park in New York City's Lincoln Center. Noan performed a brilliant acoustic set including  "Transformation" and a Labelle medley. Nona still has it and performed near Albany the week before.

Hendryx is best known as one-third of the iconic group Labelle. In 2008, Hendryx, Sarah Dash and Patti LaBelle reunited for Back to Now, the first new studio album in more than 30 years from the group. The ladies performed at the OUT 100 Awards that year and brought down the house. In related news: Patti LaBelle will join the cast of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! in September.

Too bad she didn't perform "Do What You Wanna Do." Now THAT would be ferosh. Watch the fabulous Miss Nona Hendryx WHEN YOU JUMP ...

Diva Alert! Patti LaBelle to Join Cast of "Fela" in September

Bill T. Jones' Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! is closing in January but going out with a bang. Patti LaBelle will join the cast on September 14 as the title character's mother, Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti.

"After seeing the show, I was struck by the choreography and work of Bill T. Jones, and the passion and joy that overflows from the stage," Ms. LaBelle tells Playbill. "Fela’s mother, Funmilayo, was a strong, truly inspiring woman, and I am so privileged to be able to pay tribute to her on the Broadway stage."

In June, Bill T. Jones won his second Tony for Fela! The iconic choreographer is the co-creator, director and choreographer of the musical based on the life of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, known for creating pioneering Afrobeat rhythms. Fela! was nominated for 11 Tonys and won for Best Choreography, Costume Design and Sound Design. This fall, Fela! is scheduled to be produced in Lagos  and London.

Get your tickets now. The children will turn out for Ms. Patti.  Watch some of the music and Jones discuss Fela! WHEN YOU JUMP ....

Labelle at the "Out 100"

Photos by Rae Votta

Go behind the scenes and backstage with Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendry and Sarah Dash as the legendary Labelle performs at the 2008 Out 100 Awards. Darian Aaron uploads some video of the performance and notes there were a few technical problems with the sound system—"And Ms.Patti wasn't shy about addressing this onstage"—but says the evening and performance was "fabulous."

Patti Labelle tells Out.com the group never made a "conscious effort" to pursue a heavily gay audience. "Our conscious effort was to pursue a great sound and a great look. And it just so happened that gay people followed, and thank God they did. They’ve been in our lives, in my life, forever. .. . The only plan we did consciously make was to look outrageous so that people would come to our shows [and say,] 'Oh, look at those crazy ladies.' But once they’re there, they’ll see we have something to say."

On Stage: Labelle Performs [Out.com]
Back to Labelle [Out.com]

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First Listen: "Roll Out" New Single From Labelle [R20]

First Look and Listen: "Roll Out" New Single From Labelle

They're back. Take a look and take a listen.

The reunion of Nona Hendryx, Patti LaBelle and Sarah Dash has been decades in the making. Here is your first look at the cover art for Back to Now, the first new studio album from Labelle in more than 30 years.

Get into the lead single Roll Out. (Quicktime and Windows Media) The midtempo track is a little more R&Bish than some of Labelle's best known work but the signature voices, bassline and crescendo ... it's all there. The track was produced by and features Wyclef Jean. Lenny Kravtz and the incomprable Gamble & Huff produce other tracks on the new album.

The Back to Now cover art is signature Labelle. The pioneering 60s and 70s rock-soul-funk trio was best known for their glamazon costumes and meteoric concert staging—the ladies sometimes used heliocopters to make stage entrances—and their international hit Lady Marmalade. (No discussion allowed of the "remake" from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack.) That wasn't our favorite Labelle track. Does anyone remember Messin' With My Mind? The bassline on that song is killer and Patti and Nona are screaming into the stratosphere.

Back to Now drops October 21. Look forward to some Rod 2.0 exclusives such as CD giveaways and an (crossing our fingers) interviews with the ladies.

News: SCOTUS Limits Discrimination Claims, Patti LaBelle, Sakia Gunn

· An absolutely scathing review of Patti LaBelle's appearance at Black Gay Pride: Before a cameo by Jennifer Hudson, Patti performed two songs, "barely a half an hour on stage" and "set a new low for doing the bare minimum. It was a near-insulting tossing of a musical bone, especially to a paying crowd. Perhaps she’s not much in the mood for concertizing after her gospel tour was canceled earlier this year."

· Voting 5-4, the Supreme Court rules workers cannot sue "under a federal job-bias law to claim they are underpaid because of gender or race discrimination that occurred years earlier."

· For the fourth year in a row, HIV cases in Cleveland have increased. "Officials are especially concerned about the number of AIDS diagnoses in black and Hispanic males under age 30 in the past three years."

· White House nominates Robert Zoellick, former U.S. Trade Representative, to head the World Bank.

· An op-ed in The Chicago Defender on the 2003 murder of 15-year-old Sakia Gunn in Newark. "[She] is only one of many young black women who have been assaulted because of their sexuality...These crimes against Gunn, the 11 year old girl with an innocent crush, the 22 year old church-goer and others are crimes against our entire community; we must always demand justice for the survivors."

News: Wolfowitz Resignation, Falwell Funeral, Patti LaBelle

· Japanese and European finance ministers will not challenge Washington's traditional appointment of an American citizen to run the World Bank. The outgoing president, Paul Wolfowitz, was forced to resign after numerous clashes with staff and sponsor nations, most recently, arranging a promotion and hefty pay raise for his girlfriend. Formerly, Wolfowitz was the number two man at the Pentagon and one of the architects of the Iraq War.

· Thousands will attend the funeral of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell except for most prominent Republican politicians. GOP presidential hopefuls John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore will be no-shows and "the White House is sending Tim Goeglein, a mid-level aide, to represent President Bush."

· Right-wing harpy Ann Coulter on Falwell: "He exuded Christian love for all men, hating sin while loving sinners. This is as opposed to liberals, who just love sinners."

· Congress expands access to early anti-AIDS treatment for the low-income, HIV-positive.

· Patti LaBelle will perform at her first ever Black Gay Pride this Memorial Day in Washington DC. She explains her lasting appeal to the Washington Blade: "Maybe because I’m the original drag queen with the hair and the crazy costumes. Maybe it’s a way of people seeing that you can be yourself and be accepted. I’m sure not gay, but I’m out.”

Patti LaBelle at DC Black Gay Pride

You may remember that this time last year, Patti LaBelle was embroiled in controversy over her decision to perform at the Easter Services of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. The performance made waves because Patti LaBelle's core fan base has always been black gay men and the mega-church is headed by the rabidly anti-gay Bishop Eddie Long.

It's been a rocky year but apparently the fences are mended. Promoter Darryl Wilson is bringing Patti to Washington DC's Black Gay Pride. "This is Patti LaBelle's first time ever performing for a black gay pride event," Darryl notes, calling the event "history in the making." LaBelle will perform at 202 DC on Sunday, May 27.

Meanwhile, the diva will be honored this weekend at the 18th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York with the Excellence in Media Award. Should be a stellar show—Whoopi Goldberg will host and former NBA player John Amaechi will be in attendance.

Whoopi Goldberg to Open GLAAD Awards [Brdwy World]

202 DC [club]

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