Mel B, a k a
"Scary Spice," is threatening to sue British men's
magazine Loaded. She says the new issue's cover photo,
which depicts the singer in her altogether — save for
some bees discretely swarming over the naughty bits —
was digitally manipulated without her approval. And from what
her estranged husband's been telling the papers about a boob
job coming between the happy couple, Mel knows a thing or two
about having her bosom altered.
Scary insists that she wore a bathing suit during the actual photo shoot. "Loaded have airbrushed my bikini out and I am suing them," she told the British TV show Smash Hits. "I've got picture approval and I don't like it. It's not a good look, so they're getting it."
No official word yet on what Loaded plans to do to make Scary call off the dogs. However, her spokeswoman told U.K. tabloid The Sun, "We've been assured Mel will be getting an apology." (But what we want to know is, were the bees real?)
Regardless, bad press is better than no press at all, and Scary has not one, but two, new records to promote. The British release of her debut solo album, Hot, was bumped to Monday, Oct. 9, after officials at her label, Virgin Records, realized that the original release, Oct. 2, would put it in direct competition with Radiohead's Kid A.
The Sun quoted a source at Virgin as saying, "We don't think she'd stand a chance against Radiohead after the success of OK Computer, and it would have been suicide to go head to head with it."
A month later, on Nov. 7, the Spice Girls third album, Forever, hits U.S. stores. Written and recorded over the past 14 months in London, Los Angeles, and Miami, the disc features contributions from producers Rodney Jerkins and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, among others.