ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

POP/ROCK

Prosecutor vs. Puffy: A prosecutor in the New York weapons possession case against Sean “Puffy” Combs said Thursday that the rap mogul’s girlfriend, actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, did not exonerate him before the grand jury, a statement Combs’ attorney denounced as “outrageous” and “baseless.” Assistant Dist. Atty. Matthew Bogdanos said at a hearing seeking an increase in Combs’ bail from $10,000 to $150,000 that Lopez “testified twice before the grand jury and she did not exonerate the defendant.” Bogdanos also alleged that Combs had offered his driver, Wardel Fenderson, $50,000 to say the gun was Fenderson’s. Benjamin Brafman, one of Combs’ lawyers, meanwhile, said Lopez “completely” exonerated Combs and accused Bogdanos of “injecting Lopez into this . . . and using her fame to fuel issues that have nothing to do with this.” In a public statement, Lopez has said she did not see Combs with a gun. Combs was indicted Jan. 13 for gun possession after police said they found two loaded 9-millimeter guns in his car after a Dec. 27 nightclub shooting.

*

Funeral Plans: Saturday’s funeral for rapper Christopher Rios, a.k.a. Big Punisher, will feature performances by Wyclef Jean, DMX, Cypress Hill and other top rap and hip-hop artists. The Bronx service, which will follow a two-day wake, is being organized by rapper Joseph Cartagena, also known as Fat Joe, Rios’ best friend and recording partner. Several television screens will be placed outside the funeral home to accommodate the thousands of fans who are expected to show up. Rios, who weighed nearly 700 pounds, died of heart failure due to extreme obesity on Monday. A publicist for both Rios and Cartagena said Cartagena, who is also known for his girth, has gone on a diet after the death of his friend. “It shook him up,” the spokesman said. “We all want him to lose weight now. This can’t happen again.”

TELEVISION

Diversity Post: NBC on Thursday appointed a vice president of diversity to oversee efforts to increase the number of people of color employed at the network. Paula Madison, who will also keep her current post as vice president of WNBC in New York, will report directly to NBC President and CEO Bob Wright. The appointment of Madison, who is African American, is part of the network’s agreement with the NAACP and a coalition of minority advocacy groups to bolster multiculturalism in front of and behind the camera. Wright also created a five-member council to ensure that diversity initiatives will be implemented throughout the network.

*

Taking Action: Legislators in Kentucky have adopted a resolution asking for an apology from CBS late-night host Craig Kilborn for his jokes about tornado-ravaged Owensboro. The resolution says lawmakers are “deeply aggrieved at the lack of compassion” shown by Kilborn, who they said called the state “Kensucky,” and joked that replacement trailer houses were on their way to those made homeless by the Jan. 3 tornado, which caused an estimated $70 million in damage. A CBS spokesman said Thursday: “We certainly regret if we added to the pain of their tragedy in any way.”

*

Bryant Gumbel’s Idea?: “Inside Edition” Deborah Norville will shed the pampered life when she spends five days behind bars in a North Carolina penal facility that bans all privileges, including television and magazines. The syndicated show said that Norville, who begins the assignment on Saturday, will “live as an inmate, stripped of all freedoms and creature comforts,” rising at 4:30 a.m. daily and submitting to searches and other aspects of the jail’s regimen. However, there will be one difference between Norville and her fellow inmates--she’ll be followed by a camera crew that will record a daily video diary for next week’s “Inside Edition” installments, seen locally at 2:05 a.m. on KCBS-TV. Syndicator King World calls the effort “the ultimate challenging assignment for any journalist,” noting “Deborah will be tackling difficult circumstances in order to demonstrate the jarring effects of losing one’s freedom.” Norville, meanwhile, told USA Today she is unhappy with the assignment.

QUICK TAKES

Fox Family Channel will debut “Budgie the Little Helicopter”--a British children’s series created by Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York--on Monday at 9 a.m. as part of the cable channel’s weekday preschool programming block. . . . Cuban American actor Andy Garcia will play jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval in an upcoming HBO movie on the life of the Grammy winner who defected from communist Cuba in 1990. According to the Miami Herald, Garcia has been taking trumpet lessons from Sandoval to prepare for the role. . . . Critical favorites Macy Gray and Moby will perform at Rock the Vote’s 10th annual Patrick Lippert Awards, Feb. 22 at the House of Blues. Recording Industry Assn. of America President Hilary Rosen will receive the group’s Founder’s Award. Tickets are $150. . . . A man who had allegedly terrorized Brooke Shields for the past 15 years pleaded innocent Thursday to stalking and weapons charges. Mark Ronald Bailey, 41, has two prior convictions--one for trespassing at Shields’ New Jersey home in 1985, and another for making a terrorist threat against her in 1993. . . . Due to scheduling conflicts, the Beach Boys have rescheduled Sunday’s 5 and 8 p.m. Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza concerts to May 14. Tickets from the original date will be honored at the rescheduled shows.