As soon as the news broke that 50 Cent was facing domestic violence charges, the star rapper denied the allegations and as expected he plead not guilty when he appeared in Los Angeles court on Monday (August 5).

Fif appeared in court, dressed in a dark-colored suit alongside his attorney Scott Leemon, who delivered the not guilty plea on the rapper's behalf. In fact, 50 didn't say a word in the almost four-minute video which was posted to TMZ earlier Monday.

Judge Bernard Kamins told the rapper that he must adhere to a criminal protective order which prohibits him from coming within 100 yards from the defendant Daphne Joy, who has been reported as the mother of 50's second child — a child that he hasn't publicly acknowledged. Fif was also ordered to surrender any firearms that he may own.

The "Candy Shop" MC was hit with the domestic violence charge on July 3 after Joy alleged that 50 kicked her and destroyed property in her Toluca Lake, California, condo on June 23. First the rapper took to Twitter dismissing the claims "look billy jean your not my lover," he wrote.

When police arrived on the scene, 50 was not present but they did find broken chandeliers and furniture and clothes strewn all over the floor, along with a broken TV and lamp. The damage was estimated at $7,100.

On July 5, his attorney issued a statement to MTV News declaring Fif's innocence. "Curtis Jackson denies these allegations as made against him," Leemon said. If 50 is found guilty of these ...

Lady Gaga is speaking out against Russia and its government — again. This time, however, she's not standing up for music collective Pussy Riot and their imprisonment, but for an issue closer to home: LGBT rights and a new national law that could result in charges against Mother Monster for supporting those rights on stage in Mother Russia.

Monday (August 5) Gaga took to Facebook to post the following message of support for LGBT youth in Russia: "Sending bravery to LGBTs in Russia. The rise in government abuse is archaic. Hosing teenagers with pepper spray? Beatings? Mother Russia? The Russian government is criminal. Oppression will be met with revolution. Russian LGBTs you are not alone. We will fight for your freedom. Why didn't you arrest me when you had the chance, Russia? Because you didn't want answer to the world?"

In June, Russia passed a federal law banning "homosexual propaganda" among minors — a law designed to protect the youth of the country from what it considers harmful influences. Those who speak openly about LGBT issues among youths — even those from other countries — face fines, jail time and deportation.

Gaga and Madonna are currently being investigated for coming to Russia last year on the wrong visas. Visas aside, reports speculate that the real issue with Gaga and Madonna's appearances in Russia is that they both spoke openly about gay rights onstage. Vitaly Milonov, the politician who wrote St. Petersburg's law banning gay propaganda, is leading the efforts to charge the singers.

"Tonight, this ...

Ever since Drake brought "YOLO" into the lexicon in 2011 via his song "The Motto," teens and adults alike have adopted the acronym — "You Only Live Once" — as an excuse to do dumb things with zero consequences. Director Jason Pollock, however, recently redefined — or, rather, clarified — its meaning during a Drake-themed high school graduation speech that pumped the kids up almost as much as Drizzy himself could.

Pollock, creator of a social media project calledUndroppable that seeks to curb high school dropout rates, went to Schenectady High School at the end of June to unleash his Drake-inspired wisdom. Pollock is currently compiling videos featuring kids from high schools around the country for inclusion in a documentary produced by Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun and "Anchorman 2" writer/director Adam McKay.

The director put three "Drakeisms" — "YOLO," "No New Friends" and "Started from the Bottom" — in terms applicable to the grads' lives. No, Pollock wasn't promoting rampant bad decision-making with an easy "YOLO" out — he was bringing out the wisdom in Drake's words, he said.

Here are Pollock's definitions of the Drakeisms:

"YOLO: "[It's] about doing as much as we can every day to try to help our community because we only live once," he said in the speech.

"No New Friends": "[These are the] few people in your life who you grew up with and truly know you, and they are your real friends."

"Started from the Bottom": This served as the speech's tear-jerking show-closer, hitting the closest to home and telling the assembled students that "each ...

After hooking up for the Rat Pack-inspired, black-and-white clip for Justin Timberlake is returning the favor and was spotted filming scenes for Jay Z's "Holy Grail" video in Los Angeles.

It's hard to glean what the actual plot of the video will be based on the photos, but it does look like it will take place after sunset.

is featured on Hova's latest album release, Magna Carta Holy Grail, which he dropped last month.

In addition to hooking up on Justin's The 20/20 Experience (and the subsequent "Suit & Tie" video), both Timberlake and Jay are currently out on the road on their Legends of Summer jaunt, where they perform "Holy Grail." The trek wraps up on August 16 in Miami.

Timberlake and Jay have been busy pumping out videos off their latest album releases. Last week, Timberlake released his video for off The 20/20 Experience - 2 of 2 slated for release this fall. Meanwhile, last Friday, Jay dropped the artsy clip for shot by Mark Romanek at Milk Studios in NYC.

While Jay's "Holy Grail" video is guaranteed to have some star power thanks to Justin, "Picasso Baby" also had some celebrity wattage in the form of cameos from performance artist Marina Abramovic, Alan Cumming, Taraji P. Henson, Fab Five Freddy, Judd Apatow, some of the cast of "Girls" including Adam Driver, Wale, fashion designer Cynthia Rowley and Rosie Perez.

Kanye West says his instincts have led him to "complete awesomeness at all times," and August 25 will be no different when the enigmatic rapper, producer and creator takes the stage at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

On Monday (August 5), MTV announced that West will return to the VMA stage as a performer for the seventh time to deliver his Yeezus track "Black Skinhead."

'Ye first rocked the VMA stage in 2004 with a medley of singles that included "Jesus Walks," "All Falls Down" and "Through the Wire" all from his debut album The College Dropout. At the conclusion of his 2013 VMA showing West will tie Madonna for most Video Music Award performances.

West's last Video Music Award performance was in 2011 when he and his Throne partner-in-rhyme Jay Z gave us a fire-filled rendition of "Otis" that included a ton of pyrotechnics. To celebrate 'Ye's announcement, MTV Jams and MTV Hits will both run an hour-long video block dedicated to the G.O.O.D. Music head.

Yeezy will join Lady Gaga, who will perform a new single from her upcoming album ARTPOP, while additional VMA performers will be announced as the big show gets closer.

Check out epic photos from Kanye West's past VMA performances!

It's sure to be an exciting show with Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis leading the nominations with six apiece, including a face-off in the Video of the Year category for their respective videos for "Mirrors" and ...

As Katy Perry's gold truck continues to make its way across the United States, the pop princess has unleashed yet another teaser for her upcoming single release,

Days after Katy confirmed the single's catty title and release date (August 12), the singer has dropped yet another short that proves she's out to put her Teenage Dream days behind her.

After setting her "California Gurls" wig on fire last Friday, the singer has thrown a little funeral for her former era in a teaser released Monday (August 5). In the clip, a priest reads off a funeral prayer as mourners (including two young women in "California Gurls"-esque purple wigs) gather, crying.

On top of the white casket, beside pink flowers, is a memento from Katy's last album: candy cane spinning wheels. As everyone around her seems visibly distraught at the service, Katy is there as well, but feeling something else entirely. The camera pans to her, she removes her sunglasses and gives the camera an "over it" smirk. And much like the mystery of what's inside that gold truck, Perry didn't reveal what's inside that casket either.

Fans are eagerly waiting to learn what's inside that sparkling gold truck. So far, it's made stops in Las Vegas, Missouri, Arizona, California (where it made its debut), Colorado and, most recently, Kansas. No word yet on when she will make the official reveal.

While she might be putting her Teenage Dream days behind her, she certainly isn't against working with the same team who helped craft some of that album's biggest hits. Perry ...

NEW YORK — She's ushered the phrase "aha moment" into the dictionary and created a sanctuary for damaged celebs under the banner "fix my life." So it wasn't surprising that Oprah Winfrey sounded like just the person to bring some calm to the chaos that has become Lindsay Lohan's true Hollywood story.

But can Oprah "fix" Lohan, a once-promising movie star who lately seems to spend more time in rehab than running lines? On a warm Sunday afternoon at the stately Waldorf-Astoria, the talk-show guru was promoting her upcoming film "Lee Daniels' The Butler," and she told MTV News "you asked me at the right time" when we wondered why she was hopeful about the actress, who's nabbed a reality show on Winfrey's network, OWN.

"I just interviewed her [Saturday], and I was deeply moved by her desire to move forward in her life at this time," Winfrey said, before adding, "And I asked her, 'What's different about all the other times, 'cause it's been six times [in rehab] now, so what's different about this time?' "

Winfrey, who released a teaser for her August 18 sit-down with Lohan on Monday (August 5), wouldn't reveal the 26-year-old's response to her pointed question. Yet she was firm in telling us "I believe the answer," even invoking her own very human (and public) struggles with weight loss.

"I really do believe that she's ready," Winfrey continued. "This is what I want to say [to] everybody who wants to judge: Everybody has been in places in their life — how many times ...

Last week, Panic! at the Disco drummer Spencer Smith came clean about his battles with addiction and his struggle to stay clean ... and now, he's talking about when those issues began: during the recording of the band's 2008 album Pretty. Odd.

In an exclusive interview with MTV News, Smith admitted that he started mixing alcohol and drugs partially in an attempt to channel his creativity ... but also to cope with the pressures of following up the Panic's massive A Fever You Can't Sweat Out debut. But, as he'd learn, what he thought was a quick fix was actually the beginning of a long fall.

"We weren't completely confident in what we were doing, and the reality set in of 'Oh God, we could just be this one-hit wonder, that could be the one record people remember us for.' It's more common than not; and I remember just being so stressed out," he said. "And then there's the whole idea of 'Oh, this makes you more creative.' It allows you to forget of their stresses outside of what they're focusing on, and they're able to [focus] for a brief period of time ... but then, 8 hours later, when everything wears off, you're almost in a worse place."

He'd continue to spiral for more than two years, becoming hooked on prescription medication after his father was diagnosed with ALS, before bottoming out with a pair of hospitalizations. During that time, he also managed to hide his addictions from his bandmates, and perfected the art of maintaining a very shaky ...

The hunt for the Batman has begun.

A new story in The Hollywood Reporter features a list of six actors that are supposedly the names already getting early consideration for the role of Bruce Wayne in Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" sequel that will find Batman and Superman facing off. The short list includes names like Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin, but comes with two caveats. Apparently, the script by David S. Goyer is not yet finished, and Snyder has only just started looking for actors.

But with such a wide variety of actors on the list, some clearly have better odds than others to eventually suit up as the new Batman, so we broke down the names to give you a better idea of how likely it is that we'll see them as the new Dark Knight come summer 2015.

Josh Brolin
The Hollywood Reporter cited two sources that claim that the "Gangster Squad" lead actor is currently the frontrunner for the role of Bruce Wanye in the "Man of Steel" sequel. Since his big comeback role in "No Country for Old Men," Brolin has had a difficult time establishing himself as a leading man — "Jonah Hex" and "Gangsters Squad," both from Warner Bros, failed to finds audiences — so the studio would have to trust in the power of the character and look past the actor's box office record. But Brolin throws himself hard at every role, so there's no doubt that his Batman would be a fierce one. Odds: 3 to 1

Ryan Gosling
One of these things is not ...