WYCLEF DRAMA

Looks like Wyclef needs to keep the home front under control while he works on his community service. The NY Daily News reports:

Two women rumored to be linked romantically with Wyclef Jean are fighting back.

The hip-hop star's former manager, Lisa Ellis, has told the FBI and the Department of Justice that she believes someone at Sony Music illegally disseminated a nude photo of her.

We told you last month that the photo in question caused Wyclef some trouble at home when his wife, Marie Claudinette, found it on his cell phone. According to sources, Claudinette flew into a jealous rage and demanded that her husband fire Ellis.

Ellis insisted her relationship with the former Fugees singer has always been strictly professional. She also maintained that she resigned - because, according to a friend, Wyclef "wasn't listening to her advice."

Ellis looks great in the black-and-white portrait, taken by photographer Mark Baptiste for an art book he's planning, but she's furious that someone e-mailed it around the music industry.

"It's a cybercrime," she tells us. "It's a felony. It's a stolen copyrighted [image]."

Ellis suspects that the shot was leaked by a person or persons at Sony Music, where she used to be an executive vice president.

"I don't have the photo myself," she says. "Mark did not send the photo out. I am being attacked for no reason."

A Sony Music rep declined to comment.

Ellis is also shooting down a rumor that, back when they were talking, Wyclef gave her a horse.

"I got my horses on my own," says the life-long equestrian. "This fantasy drama is [bleeping] b—s—."

Meanwhile, Zakiya Khatou-Chevassus, the vice president of Clef's Yele Haiti Foundation, is knocking down allegations that the charity paid her a disproportionate salary because she was his "mistress."

A tax declaration obtained by TheSmokingGun.com reported that Khatou-Chevassus received $105,000 in 2008. Gawker.com quoted a source who said Khatou-Chevassus' pay was three times more than that of program director Suzie Sylvain, who was "actually keeping the organization running."

According to Gawker, five sources claimed Clef was "involved romantically" with Khatou-Chevassus.

Brushing off the report, the Grammy winner tweeted: "Donkeys spread rumors about me I dont Respond cause I'm the master that leads them to the Well to drink the Water."

A Yele Haiti spokesperson declined to discuss whether or not Wyclef and Zakiya indeed had a thing, but insisted that her salary was justified, especially since Sylvain reported to her.

"We need to stop talking about Zakiya other than to praise her managerial skills," said the rep for the charity, which reports raising $9,139,324 for relief activities since Haiti's January earthquake. "She is immensely proud of her professional collaboration with Wyclef Jean, and with members of his family, including his wife, Claudinette. Let's get back to work."

RIHANNA FINALLY HITS OPRAH

Rihanna finally hit Oprah today. Luckily it wasn't for the Breezy foolishness. Instead she joined Wyclef Jean in support of his Haiti relief efforts. She covered Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” I actually enjoyed her rendition, but then again I like that island girl swag she has.

WYCLEF ANSWERS QUESTION

Wyclef answer questions around poor bookkeeping for his foundation Yéle Haiti.


In a tearful news conference, Wyclef denied allegations he profited from his organization Yéle Haiti, his foundation to help the country recently devastated by an earthquake.

"Did we make mistakes? Yes. Did I ever use any of Yéle's money for personal benefits? Absolutely not," the emotional musician told reporters Monday in New York. "Yéle's books are open and transparent, and we have been a clean bill of health by an external auditor every year since we started."

TheSmokingGun.com reported last week that Jean had used $410,000 from the foundation to pay for rent, production services, and Jean's appearance at a benefit concert.

Hugh Locke, president of Yéle Haiti, offered to provide past tax forms to insure that the organization has nothing to hide. And tax experts tell CNN it's routine for individuals to charge their own charities as long as services are being provided in return.

Charity Navigator, which evaluates non-profit organizations, also notes that Yéle Haiti filed three years worth of U.S. taxes late. "Charities are often not especially timely in filing these documents," the group says, "but this is beyond late."

Locke acknowledged that was a mistake. "We should have been on top of it," he said. "We were not."