Billy Dee Williams returns as pitchman for Colt 45 malt liquor

JUST BECAUSE an item is short, doesn't mean it isn't satisfying.

Billy Dee Williams is returning to television to pitch Colt 45 malt liquor.

Thanks to thewrap.com for giving Tattle a head up.

Williams, as smooth as a sheet of ice but hot enough to melt it, was a spokesman for Colt 45 in the 1980s, touting the brand with the tagline, "Works every time."

Of course if you looked like Billy Dee did in the '80s you didn't need malt liquor to do any work for you.

"I've enjoyed my long association with Colt 45, and it's my pleasure to, once again, support this iconic beer," Williams said of the new campaign. "I've always found Colt 45 to be a high quality and deeply satisfying beverage. This new campaign gives me the opportunity to speak to a wider audience and remind people that this classic product is here to stay."

It took Harper Lee more than 50 years to release a novel after the incredible success of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Now 29 letters by the late author are going up for bid from L.A.-based Nate D. Sanders Auctions.

The reason Tattle cares? In one of the letters the notoriously private writer trashes the Trump Taj Mahal.

"The worst punishment God can devise for this sinner is to make her spirit reside eternally at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City," Lee wrote to friend Doris Leapard in 1990.

The Taj is now owned by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, though it still bears the name of the Republican presidential frontrunner.

The letter was listed with $750 minimum bid. The top bid was $1,209 as of Monday afternoon.

Lee died earlier this year at 89.

* He's been a rapper, actor, singer, entrepreneur, record producer, clothing designer and mentor on The Voice. Now Sean "Diddy" Combs has taken on a new job as the founder of a charter school in Harlem.

Combs announced Monday that the Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School will open in the fall. The school will be overseen by Capital Prep leader Steve Perry, who founded Capital Prep Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., in 2005.

Combs and the board have hired Orlando, Florida-based educator Danita Jones as the school's principal.

Combs says creating the school is "a dream come true."

Combs was born in Harlem and grew up in Mount Vernon, N.Y. He attended Howard University, where he dropped out after two years but earned an honorary degree in 2014.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the school will focus on social justice and teachers will be called "Illuminators."

"Illuminators literally . . . coparent," Principal Jones said.

The school will start with grades six and seven, but eventually teach grades 6-12.

* Beyonce, Jay Z and daughter Blue Ivy attended the annual White House Easter egg roll on Monday.

The Washington Post says Bey dressed in a spring-y ensemble of a white lace skirt and top paired with towering white platform heels. Jay was in a blazer-and-T shirt. Blue Ivy wore a fluffy white fur (hopefully faux) coat, pink sneaks and bunny ears.

Post sources say the family was there to support Chloe and Halle Bailey, who performed. The teen singers reportedly signed a five-year deal with Bey's management company, Parkwood Entertainment.

* Being a guy who wants his name above the Tidal, Kanye West vowed to never release his new album, Life of Pablo, on Apple Music.

But appleinsider.com reports that the album track "Famous" will now be available for streaming from Apple Music.

The flip-flop shows Kanye may actually be serious about a future career in politics.

- Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

gensleh@phillynews.com
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