By Antracia Moorings
Fighting Back: According to The Associated Press, Jay Z and one of his business partners filed suit this month in Manhattan Federal Court against Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, claiming that a nightclub opened by Big Papi in his native Dominican Republic infringes on Jay’s 40/40 club concept. The $5 million suit accuses Ortiz of naming his Santo Domingo club Forty-Forty--a reference to 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in one season--in hopes of drafting off the popularity of the chain of 40/40 clubs owned by Jay in New York, Las Vegas, Chicago and Atlantic City. (Ortiz has stolen only 10 bases in his career and is not a member of the elite 40/40 club of baseball players.)

“David Ortiz is fully aware of plaintiff's Manhattan 40/40 club, since he had been a patron there on several occasions before he opened his infringing Forty/Forty club,” the lawsuit states about the slugger, who often comes to bat to the strains of Jay’s “Hey Papi.”

The suit is seeking $5 million in damages and asks for Ortiz to stop using the 40/40 name. The New York Daily News quoted Jay’s lawyer, Peter Raymond, saying that the similarly named clubs are not a mere coincidence. “David Ortiz was at the club at least twice, and certainly knew of it,” Raymond said. The suit claims Ortiz visited Jay’s club when the Red Sox were in town to play the Yankees and was there during the All-Star Game celebration as well. The suit reportedly also includes photos of Ortiz partying at 40/40. 
Front Row Seat: See Erykah Badu up close and personal when she takes her act on the road. Her Out My Mind, Just in Time tour, named after a track on her new album, New Amerykah, Part Two: Return of the Ankh, kicks off in Baltimore on May 22. It wraps up on June 24 in Las Vegas. According to a press release, the show will have a number of revolving opening acts, including N.E.R.D., Bilal, Janelle Monáe and the Roots drummer ?uestlove. After her own solo outing, Badu will also play at Lollapalooza this summer and several dates on the revived girl-power music festival Lilith Fair, along with singer/songwriters like Sarah McLachlan and pop princesses Selena Gomez and Ke$ha.  And as if that weren’ enough to keep the singer busy, it’ also been announced that she will join fellow soul child Maxwell for two shows on his tour. 
Green Light: Chris Rock is hard at work developing a biopic about the comedian Richard Pryor. “Marlon Wayans is going to play Richard Pryor,” Rock said. “And we are just waiting for the green light from the studio, pretty much.” Though he struggled with multiple sclerosis and was on the verge of death, Pryor himself handpicked Mike Epps for the part in the comedian’s final days. But four years after his passing, news broke that the film had never gotten off the ground with Epps and that Marlon Wayans would instead be playing the role in the movie, titled “Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?" “Marlon Wayans screen-tested for it, and it was amazing,” Rock said of why Wayans got the job, comparing his upcoming performance to what is largely considered Marlon’s best movie. “If you ever saw him in ‘Requiem for a Dream,’ you know how dramatic he can be.” 
Briefly: The music of Michael Jackson is being developed into a Cirque du Soleil show that will premiere in 2011 in Las Vegas. According to Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil, Jackson was a fan of Cirque and they began talks back in 2004 about the possibility of incorporating MJ’ music into an arena show.

Finally: President Barack Obama will be providing a special introduction to the History Channel’s 12-hour, six-night series, “America, the Story of Us,” covering 400 years of U.S. history.