Not that he was offering, but thank God I didn't hitch a ride with Ike Turner last night after the BMI Pop Awards in at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

Just minutes after I was corralled into a group photo that included the infamous musician and newly minted porn star Ray J, Turner was arrested and thrown in the slammer. According to the Los Angeles Times, he was held without bail at a downtown jail until today after police pulled him over last night at about 11:45 p.m. for speeding and discovered he had an outstanding felony drug warrant. He was reportedly released this afternoon because the warrant was invalid. I put in a call to Turner's manager. I'll update ya if I hear from him.Meanwhile, the awards themselves-the night recognizes outstanding songwriting and publishing-were a hodgepodge of boldfaced names. Attendees included Lisa Loeb, Foo Fighters, Nickelback, Katharine McPhee, Daniel Powter and, for some unknown reason, Desperate Housewives hunk Jesse Metcalfe.Ray J, who is Kim Kardashian's costar in a sex tape that recently hit stores and may be Whitney Houston's current flame, chatted with Eric Benet (you know him as Halle Berry’s ex-husband who has been plagued by reports of sex-addiction issues). They exchanged numbers. I can only imagine what they have to talk about.Britney Spears' short-lived fling, megaproducer J.R. Rotem, was also there. I have to admit that he's, well, sexy. The guy cleans up nice, if you ask me.During the Bee Gees tribute, I commented to a friend that it was a shame that Barbra Streisand couldn't be there to perform "Guilty" with Barry Gibb. But then seconds later, BMI president and CEO Del Bryant surprised the Saturday Night Fever legends-they were honored with the Icon Award-with a phone call from Ms. Babs.

Unfortunately, she couldn't be there because she was stuck in a recording studio working overtime to finish her next concert DVD before she embarks on her European tour. But she wanted to make sure to congratulate them.She reminisced, "Barry, can you believe it's been 27 years since we made 'Guilty'?"

Oy.

Marc Malkin 'E'

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