"For nearly two years Mr. Benabou devoted himself completely to ensuring Mr. Bieber's personal safety," Benabou's attorney, Ilan Heimanson, wrote in a statement. "Mr. Benabou deserved, as does any employee, to be treated with respect, dignity and in accordance with the law. Unfortunately, he was not."
Employees deserve to be treated with respect and dignity? Where does that guy work?
Tattle's only question: How does a bodyguard allow Justin Bieber to repeatedly punch him in the chest?
DC Reunion
Destiny's Child ( Beyoncé, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland) is getting back together for a new song.
The R&B trio said Thursday it will release a new track called "Nuclear." The song is the group's first new offering since 2004.
"Nuclear" will appear on the ballad compilation album, "Love Songs," out Jan. 29.
"Nuclear" was produced by Pharrell, who cowrote the song with Williams.
Let's see . . . the album drops Jan. 29. The Super Bowl, with halftime performer Beyoncé, is Feb. 3.
Any bookmakers taking bets on a Destiny's Child Super Bowl reunion?
* Add Fantasia to the growing list of musical acts heading to New Orleans during Super Bowl weekend.
Sherri Shepherd, host of "The View," and gospel musician Kirk Franklin are hosting the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration with additional performances by Donnie McClurkin, Marvin Winans and Bishop Paul S. Morton, of New Orleans.
The NFL-sanctioned event is in its 14th year and will be held at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans on Feb. 1, a Friday.
Dozens of local acts will perform all weekend on stages spread along the Mississippi River and in downtown Jackson Square.
The gospel celebration will include a performance by this year's NFL "Players' Choice" hip-hop Christian artist, Lecrae, as well as the NFL Players Choir, comprising about 40 current and former players.
The show, sponsored by American Family Insurance, will be taped in front of a live audience and syndicated for television broadcast.
TATTBITS
* Congrats to Jeffrey and
Christina Weiss Lurie, who, in their roles as movie producers, have been nominated for another Oscar.
"Inocente" will vie for the gold statue in the category of best documentary short.
It's the story of a 15-year-old homeless, undocumented immigrant clinging to her determination to become an artist in the face of a bleak future.
In 2011, the Luries' Screen Pass Pictures won a best-documentary Oscar for "Inside Job."
* The late Amy Winehouse has
been nominated for a BRIT Award, joining acts such as Emeli Sande and Paloma Faith in the running for best British female act.
Winehouse - who died in July 2011 of accidental alcohol poisoning - was eligible as a result of the release of her "Lioness: Hidden Treasures" album.
Sande, Mumford & Sons and Alt-J led the nominations for Britain's premiere music awards, with three each.
Other nominees include the Rolling Stones, up for best live act against Coldplay, Mumford & Sons, Muse and The Vaccines.
The 2012 Brit awards will take place Feb. 20 and feature performances by Muse and Robbie Williams.
* A misdemeanor driving charge
against retired TV movie critic Gene Shalit is set to be dismissed in Massachusetts.
The mustachioed Shalit, 86, was cited in October, after his vehicle struck a utility pole and came to rest against a house in Lenox. Shalit, who lives in nearby Stockbridge, wasn't hurt. He told police he had fallen asleep.
Just like he did at "Showgirls" and "Ishtar."
* Tyler Perry is offering a
$100,000 reward for information
in the decade-old case of two men who went missing after separate encounters with a sheriff's deputy in southwestern Florida.
Perry joined the Rev. Al Sharpton and Ben Jealous, of the NAACP, at a news conference Thursday in Naples to discuss the missing-person investigations of Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos.
Santos and Williams disappeared three months apart in the Naples area in 2003, after crossing paths with Collier County Sheriff's Deputy Steven Calkins. He was never charged but was fired the next year.
Perry says that the media is not paying enough attention to missing-person cases involving minorities.
* The "Fifty Shades of Grey"
erotic trilogy is being issued Jan. 29 in hardcover.
The novels were released last spring in flaccid cover.
- Daily News wire services
contributed to this report.
Email gensleh@phillynews.com.
