Lady Gaga, Beyonce Make Forbes’ 100 Most Influential Women List

Beyonce and Lady Gaga are now two of Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women, among the dozens of billionaires, politicians and moguls also listed.

The pop powerhouses join Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in the magazine’s list of Celebrity Power Women - thanks to, among other outstanding accomplishments, platinum-selling albums and philanthropic support. (Beyonce worked with the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, and Lady Gaga served as the spokeswoman for the MAC AIDS Foundation.) Makes sense, since with more than 200 candidates in the running, Forbes boiled down its criteria to just three metrics: “money, media and impact.”

Is the news surprising? Okay, not exactly. Here’s why.

Earlier this month Jay-Z and Beyonce topped the magazine’s list of Highest Paid Celebrity Couples. Plus, according to Forbes itself, Lady Gaga raked in $52 million over the past year, falling only second to Lopez in earnings. What is interesting, though, is these Influential Women have teamed with other Influential Women. As Forbes notes, Beyonce whipped up a “Get Me Bodied” remix - “Move Your Body” - and accompanying video for Michelle Obama‘s “Get Fit” campaign. And Lady Gaga invited 2005 Power Women inductee Oprah Winfrey to the kick-off event for her Born This Way Foundation.

What do you think of the latest Forbes list ? Let us know in the comments below, or on Facebook and Twitter.

Nicki Minaj Debuts “Pink Friday” Fragrance

It was only a matter of time before Nicki Minaj released her own fragrance, and that time is now. The rapper (and potential American Idol judge) has premiered her debut perfume, “Pink Friday”, which comes in the shape of not a starship, but of Nicki herself - wig and all.

“I am so excited about my fragrance debut, and am proud to partner with Give Back Brands [the same company behind Justin Bieber's "Somebody" fragrance] for such a personal project,” said Nicki. “I have always been a huge fan of great fragrances; this is yet another extension of my creative expression and I can't wait to share it with the world. I designed this scent and bottle with my Barbz in mind; I know they will love it!”

The rapper made sure that her debut fragrance had that special Nicki Minaj look to it - and what’s more “Nicki” than loads of cleavage and pink wigs? ”I was determined to have my signature pink bob,” Nicki tweeted about the look of the bottle.

So what does it smell like? When one of her Twitter followers asked, Nicki replied, “Like angels playing.” Well, there ya go.

“Pink Friday” will be released late September.

nicki minaj is red hot on 'today'

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Rihanna Dropped By Nivea For Being Too Sexy

Rihanna‘s endorsement deal with skincare brand Nivea has been cut short. The “We Found Love” singer has appeared in a series of advertisements for the brand in celebration of its 100th anniversary, and the company even sponsored her 2011 tour. But Stefan Heidenreich, the new head of Nivea's parent company Beiersdorf, has found no love for Rihanna, and has dropped her as the face of the brand.

“The advert starring Rihanna was a no go,” he told the German media. “I do not understand how to bring the core brand of Nivea in conjunction with Rihanna. Nivea is a company which stands for trust, family and reliability.”

We’re not sure how RiRi’s public persona goes against the values of “trust, family and reliability”. What he probably meant to say was, “Rihanna is unashamed of enjoying sex and has a healthy, confident attitude about her body, and for that she should be punished.”

Rihanna, as usual, has run out of fucks to give, tweeting out a photo of Heidenreich with the statement, “No caption necessary.” Also: “Poor dat,” more than likely tweeted sarcastically. And then she went back to enjoying her never-ending vacation, because brushing drama off her shoulders is what RiRi does best.

Though her deal with Nivea helped propel her onto Forbes‘ list of the wealthiest celebrities under 30, we doubt Rihanna will suffer financially, since Vita Coco and Armani are more than happy to be associated with her untrustworthy, anti-family, and unreliable face.

[Via MTV Rap-Fix]