Comedians Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Dick Gregory were among hundreds who gathered in Washington D.C on Monday to award comedian and social activist Bill Cosby with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

The 72-year-old actor, writer and television producer was lauded not only for his comedic genius but for also “breaking down racial barriers and stereotypes.”

From the Associated Press via BlackAmericaWeb

Cosby has won other major awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. Still, the Mark Twain Prize is special, he said, because Twain was the “quintessential American writer — because he held his language and his love for words in perfect American form.”

The tribute will air Nov. 4 nationwide on PBS. Cosby insisted the performances at the tribute be free of profanity and that the show reflect his emphasis on education.

A federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles alleges Chris Rock stole the concept for his upcoming documentary “Good Hair” from another filmmaker.

The Associated Press reports that Regina Kimbell through court documents calls Rock’s project a copycat of her film, “My Nappy Roots.” She is suing for $5 million in damages.

Kimbell is seeking an injunction to halt the screening of ‘Good Hair’ until the issue is resolved. The movie is set to open Friday in several markets and throughout the country on Oct.23.

RadarOnline has a copy of the deposition Rock gave to the Federal court in an effort to block the injunction. Rock admits to meeting with Kimbell but denies stealing her concept.

He said any injunction against the debut of his film will cause irreparable harm to his film and his image as an actor and producer.

Chris Rock Has Woman Trouble – Again
The woman who once filed a paternity suit against comedian Chris Rock that never held up in court has lodged another civil action. This charges the 44-year-old funnyman with first raping her, having her hounded by a private investigator, and then dissing her on Howard Stern’s radio show. Monika Zsibrita, with whom Rock admits having a couple dinner dates – and ultimately sex – calls Rock a “monster” and says that he ruined her life. “My side has never been out,” she said outside the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Rock and Zsibrita met at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills about a decade ago, during the time Rock says he was estranged from his wife. She soon announced that she was pregnant and that Rock was the father, and filed a paternity suit. Two DNA tests proved that Rock was not the father. “Someone who was not pregnant with my child claimed to be pregnant with my child and requested large sums of money for this,” he testified at the time, noting that he had hired private eye Anthony Pellicano because he thought Zsibrita was flimflamming him. In the latest suit, filed in August and unsealed Thursday at the request of Zsibrita, the 36-year-old, married, stay-at-home mom says that she is merely trying to clear her good name. She said that she never asked for money from Rock, but that he gave her several checks totaling less than $18,000. She said she is not a gold-digger: “I am not a poor girl. I don’t need to date people for money.” In addition to Rock, she names as defendants Beverly Hills and three police supervisors. The monetary damages she is seeking is unclear.

Tyrese Gibson’s Wife Says, ‘Where’s the Money?’
Actor Tyrese Gibson’s ex says she won’t walk away from the marriage broke, RadarOnline.com reports. In her response to her husband’s divorce declaration, Norma Gibson said that it would be unreasonable for her to be expected to leave the marriage “a single mother with no family or friends, with effectively no funds whatsoever, to simply walk away from potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars simply because it is Petitioner’s position she must do so.” She goes on to say that “the short length of the marriage, which Petitioner cites ad nauseaum, is irrelevant – how much money Petitioner earned during the short marriage is the relevant issue. He earned roughly $800k during the 10 months of marriage.” She also rocked Tyrese for allegedly failing to visit their daughter, Shayla. “Persons in the entertainment industry always seem to have a fascinating ability to characterize their life choices as somehow different, more important and not a matter of choice, but a ‘requirement,’ entitling them to special rules and considerations,” she said.