Britney Spears Backed Out of Timberlake Duet, Diddy Denied Fireworks Display, Spice G

August 23, 2007, 03:14 AM

• Britney Spears reportedly skipped out on a scheduled recording session with her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake. The duet, which Spears would have recorded in a separate studio to avoid confronting JT, was supposed to be produced by Timbaland, almost guaranteeing Spears would have the comeback hit she needs to reignite her music career. Instead, she canceled her studio time at the last minute and has since refused to record the Timberlake-penned song.

• Officials in East Hampton have denied Diddy permission to have a fireworks extravaganza to coincide with his famous Labor Day “White Party.” Diddy planned on having $100,000 worth of white fireworks set off, but town officials said Diddy's soiree conflicted with another scheduled fireworks show.

• MTV's TRL goes PC: The music network has been slyly editing the lyrics to Sean Kingston's smash video “Beautiful Girls,” changing the word “suicidal” in the chorus to “in denial.” MTV explains their actions by saying they do not take suicide references lightly. Thankfully, they're still cool with gangsta rap, mindless Laguna Beach offshoots and rich girl sweet-sixteen celebrations.

• The Elvis Presley-owned handgun that was stolen from the Elvis After Dark museum in Memphis was found in a portable toilet near the exhibit. Insert “shooting the shit” joke here.

• The album cover for the Spice Girls' new Greatest Hits collection will use £1 million worth of gems to spell out the word “Spice.”