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All Rights Reserved Chicago Sun Times February 18, 2008 Monday Final Edition HEADLINE: New R. Kelly controversy?; Singer's camp says ex-publicist just wants cash BYLINE: Bill Zwecker, The Chicago Sun-Times BODY: A new controversy -- again with sexual innuendo surrounding it -- is swirling around Chicago-based R&B king R. Kelly. But over the weekend, I found out that much of this may be connected to an attempt by a former Kelly employee to snare a big financial settlement from the Grammy winner. It all started when George Daniels, the husband of ex-Kelly publicist Regina Daniels, dissed Kelly on a Los Angeles radio show last week. George Daniels accused Kelly of having an "inappropriate" relationship with his daughter, Maxine -- who Daniels claimed the rapper had known since she was "a little girl." The implications were obvious, given that Kelly still is battling charges (which he continues to deny) that he had sex with a Chicago girl who was in her early teens and videotaped the encounter. First reported by the TMZ gossip website, the L.A. radio interview got a quick response Friday from Kelly's camp. Referring to Daniels' "adult daughter," a Kelly representative issued a statement alleging that the couple had "no problem with the relationship -- indeed they encouraged it -- while Ms. Daniels was on Mr. Kelly's payroll." Regina Daniels, who is the young woman's stepmother, had been Kelly's publicist until being fired last year. According to a source inside Kelly's camp, she was terminated "for cause ... for being totally incompetent" -- a charge Daniels denies, insisting it was due to a disagreement over how to market Kelly's image. According to Kelly's current spokesfolks, it was Regina Daniels who vigorously pushed Kelly to attend her stepdaughter's 21st birthday, plus gave his private cell phone number to Maxine and told her to call him. - My Kelly camp insider says this is all about the fact that Regina Daniels has been seeking "a healthy six-figure settlement" from Kelly "to go away quietly. . . . When she learned she wasn't going to get it, she and her husband decided to go this route as a way to collect." JOINING 'PARK': Veteran actress Elizabeth Pena ("La Bamba," "Rush Hour") has just been cast as Alfred Molina's wife -- and mother to Freddy Rodriguez, John Leguizamo and Vanessa Ferlito -- in "Humboldt Park," which just started filming in town. COMIC CAPERS: When Jim Carrey guested on "Oprah" to boost his upcoming "Horton Hears a Who" (airing at 9 a.m. today, repeating at 11 p.m. tonight, WLS-Channel 7), the funnyman joked about visiting all of galpal Jenny McCarthy's Chicago hometown stomping grounds, including "where she had her first kiss." To make sure he'd permanently alter those memories, Carrey joked, "I'm going to put my scent all over them." "Gonna raise your leg?" quipped Oprah. - Now that the TV writers' strike is settled, "Saturday Night Live" duties have forced Darrell Hammond to drop out of the Resurrection Health Center's Monarch Ball March 1 at the Chicago Hilton & Towers. His replacement as the evening's headliner will be Chicago's own Bob Newhart. SEEN ON SCENE: Ricki Lake -- here boosting her childbirth documentary, "The Business of Being Born" -- was spotted buying a hot Niki Lohan dress at the Jake boutique on Southport. . . . Rapper and former "Celebrity Fit Club"

contestant Biz Markie challenged his diet by dining hearty with popular Chicago spinmeister DJ Whiteshadow at David Burke's Primehouse, before heading to Manor for a live gig. AWWWW...: Chicago police officer Tony Spatafora Jr. got creative last Thursday, arranging to propose to girlfriend Vicki Socha in the Broadway in Chicago suite at the LaSalle Bank Theatre -- just prior to seeing "Jersey Boys." GRAPHIC: Photo: Scott Gries, Getty Images; R. Kelly, performing here at New York's Radio City Music Hall in 2006, has been accused of having an "inappropriate" relationship with his ex-publicist's stepdaughter. The singer denies it, saying the girl's parents encouraged the relationship. ; LOAD-DATE: February 19, 2008