COURT TV: THE MUSICAL

Kiss founder and bassist Gene Simmons and actress Shannon Tweed, his longtime girlfriend and the mother of his two children, have scored a court victory against a former employee. The Los Angeles Superior Court has dismissed a suit against the couple brought by Paula Valladarers, their former nanny and housekeeper. Valladarers accused them of wrongful termination and racial discrimination. "We never thought anyone we treated like family would sue us," Simmons said. "Besides, she knew about my tongue and codpiece. Hell, the whole world knows of my codpiece."… A witness testifying in an assault case against Stanley "Flesh-N-Bone" Howse contradicted statements he made to police and said the rap star never threatened him with an assault rifle. "No way," Tarrance Vickers said Monday before Superior Court Judge—and former Stooge—Darlene Schempp. "I didn't say none of that to any of the officers." Howse was charged after a Dec. 26 incident in which he allegedly brandished the weapon after arguing with another man over Howse's girlfriend. When Vickers, the man's brother, tried to intervene, Howse allegedly drew an AK-47 out of a baby crib, inserted a magazine, pointed it at Vickers and then chased the two brothers, prosecutor Shellie Samuels said. Vickers disavowed just about everything police said he told them. "Everybody knows you don't keep an AK-47 in the baby crib," he said. "That's where you keep your stash."… Pirate CDs and cassettes cost the global music industry $4.1 billion last year, the IFPI revealed at a conference Wednesday in London. Pirated product amounted to about 1.4 billion cassettes and 500 million CDs, or "one out of every five CDs sold worldwide," according to IFPI chairman/CEO Jay Berman. "After leaving the RIAA, I hoped I was giving this shit up!"… Rapper Black Rob is back in jail, the same place he began his music career writing lyrics. The latest star on the Bad Boy Records label was put in the slammer Wednesday (6/13) by a Manhattan judge after he surrendered himself to authorities. He had been out on bail on a weapons possession charge and, when he failed to show up in court last month, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. The hip-hop star — whose real name is Robert Ross — was held without bail, according to Gloria Montealegre, a spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney. She added that when Ross was arrested May 21, he had been out on parole on a prior conviction and said he might have to serve the last five months on his old sentence. Ross is next due in court Aug. 29. Unless his lawyers can get him out soon, he may miss the rest of a national tour due to end June 24 in Philadelphia. "We're a little disappointed," said a Bad Boy spokesman. "Parole violations don't boost sales at all. We wish Rob had aimed higher."