Quick Takes - June 7, 2011

Dre settles ‘Chronic’ suit

Dr. Dre won’t be behind the microphone at a federal courthouse after all: The rapper settled a lawsuit over damages from unauthorized online sales of his album “The Chronic” a day before trial.

Attorneys for the rap superstar, whose real name is Andre Young, filed a notice of settlement in a Los Angeles federal court late Monday afternoon.

He had been expected to testify during the weeklong trial, which would have decided whether Young was entitled to 100% of the profits from online sales of the rap album, which also helped launch the career of Snoop Dogg.

No details of the settlement, which is not finalized, were filed with the court.

—Associated Press

Supreme Court snubs Snipes

The Supreme Court has turned away the latest attempt by actor Wesley Snipes to get his conviction and prison sentence on tax charges overturned.

The high court refused Monday to hear an appeal from Snipes, convicted in 2008 on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file income tax returns.

Snipes, who started a three-year term in a federal minimum security prison in December, has appeared in dozens of films, from “White Men Can’t Jump” and “Demolition Man” in the early 1990s to the blockbuster Blade trilogy.

—Associated Press

Music mementos to be auctioned

The iconic red leather jacket that Michael Jackson wore in the “Thriller” video will go up for auction this month in Beverly Hills along with a large group of items from other pop musicians including Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Madonna, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Steven Tyler and Nirvana.

Jackson’s “Thriller” jacket has a pre-auction estimate of $200,000 to $400,000, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Shambala Preserve in Acton, which houses the two Bengal tigers the singer kept at his Neverland Ranch.

Among the other music memorabilia in the auction to be held June 25 and 26 at Julien’s Auctions Gallery are the glove Jackson wore to an American Music Awards ceremony, a Presley TCB necklace, a jacket Bruce Springsteen wore during his “Born to Run” tour and the wool cape Ringo Starr wore in the Beatles film “Help!”

—Randy Lewis

Marclay wins Venice art prize

“The Clock” — the art installation piece that uses snippets from films and television to keep real 24-hour time — has earned its creator, Christian Marclay, the Gold Lion for best artist at this year’s Venice Biennale.

Marclay is a California-born artist and composer who has explored notions of synchronicity among music, film and video in his works. “The Clock” runs for 24 hours and features a montage of clips from such diverse films as “High Noon,” “Titanic” and the Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie “Eraser.” Times shown on screen in “The Clock” are synchronized with real time.

“The Clock” is on view through July 31 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which acquired the work this year.

—David Ng

Sean Kingston recovering

A publicist for Sean Kingston said the “Beautiful Girls” singer was breathing on his own and walking in a Miami hospital Monday, more than a week after he crashed his watercraft into a bridge off Miami Beach.

Joseph Carozza said his client’s condition has been upgraded to serious. He’d initially been listed in critical condition after the May 29 incident.

—Associated Press

‘Shore’ heads back to Jersey

The cast of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” will return to New Jersey to tape the fifth season of the reality series after the cast says ciao to Italy.

MTV’s parent company, Viacom, said that production will begin in Seaside Heights this month.

The fourth season, taped in Florence, Italy, is scheduled to premiere Aug. 4.

—Associated Press

Repin painting sets sale mark

Christie’s auction house said it set a world auction record for Russian artist Ilya Repin with the $7.4-million sale Monday of “A Parisian Cafe.”

“A Parisian Cafe” is the Russian master’s largest oil painting. It depicts a traditional Parisian cafe scene.

Christie’s said the piece — painted in 1897 — had been in a private collection since 1916. It did not identify the buyer.

—Associated Press

Finally

Back to soap: Josh Duhamel, who starred on “All My Children” before going on to the prime-time series “Las Vegas” and films such as “Transformers,” will reprise the role of con artist Leo du Pres in August, ABC said.