Will.i.am is being sued by a company claiming  he has bailed on a deal he made to hock a clothing line.

I.Am.Clothing (that's the company) claims will.i.am inked a deal in 2010, for the Black Eyed Pea's name to be used for marketing the threads.  The singer also agreed to help design and market the schmattas.

The company believes will.i.am was obligated to lend his name to the line through 2016, but the singer's position is that the deal is already over and out.

So the company wants more than $2 mil from will.  Hey, shirt happens.

Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am and gold medal winning British heptathlon Olympian Denise Lewis both showed up to the Burberry fashion show wearing the same coat in London on Monday.

Question is ...

Will.i.am (right) from the Black Eyed Peas posed with another member from the group who isn't Fergie while at a premiere of a documentary movie earlier this week.

The question is...

"Black Eyed Peas" frontman Will.i.am was rushed out of the London Hilton on Park Lane moments ago ... after the 28-story building caught fire, engulfing the hotel in smoke. 



So far, no word on how the fire started ... and no immediate reports of injuries.

The London Hilton is EXTREMELY popular with the rich and famous ... as it's located very close to Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace.

Story developing.

Akon and Will.i.am are going toe-to-toe over Michael Jackson's new album -- and this battle is going to be an all out ... sensible discussion? We'll see about that.




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Akon not only disagrees with Will I.Am's criticism that the release of the new MJ album is "disrespectful" ... Akon believes Michael would have WANTED it to come out.


Akon was at LAX yesterday ... and told us that working with Michael on the song "Hold My Hand" was a "dream come true ... it was epic."

As for Will's comments, Akon says he "honestly disagrees" ... adding, "I don't see anything disrespectful about it ... these albums would have come out if [MJ] was alive or dead so I think this helps to keep his legacy alive."

Based on all the fans who rated the song a 10-out-of-10 on our poll ... we think the public agrees with Akon.

Black Eyed Peas front man Will.i.am wants no part of the new Michael Jackson album -- because he feels the entire thing goes against everything Michael stood for.


Will.i.am tells EW, "Whoever put it out and is profiting off of it, I want to see how cold they are ... He just wasn't any ordinary artist. He was a hands-on person. To me it's disrespectful. There's no honoring."

His biggest issue, it seems, is using unfinished MJ tracks -- something he feels the King of Pop never would have stood for: "Michael Jackson songs are finished when Michael says they’re finished ... Maybe if I never worked with him I wouldn’t have this perspective. He was very particular about how he wanted his vocals, the reverb he used ... he was that hands-on."

It's worth noting ... the album is put out by Sony, through Michael's estate. So Michael's kids are the ones who stand to make money off this.  

Will.i.am's quest for justice may have finally paid off -- TMZ has learned cops just arrested a man accused of stealing a bunch of the rapper's stuff ... including the very iPad that helped crack the case.


Law enforcement sources tell TMZ a 22-year-old male turned himself in to authorities yesterday in connection to a series of motor vehicle break-ins in the L.A. area -- including the pilfering of Will.i.am's Bentley.

We're told the man is accused of running a one-man crime wave that netted roughly $25k worth of loot -- including $17,000 worth of Will.i.am's property ... including his iPad.

As we previously reported, cops are crediting Will for helping crack the case -- after he used the built-in tracking system in the iPad to help locate the perp's whereabouts.

Crime solving ... there's an app for that.

Will.i.am went on a furious hunt for justice after some scumbag broke into his Bentley last week and now cops say Will's detective work -- aided by his iPad -- may have brought down a one-man crime wave.


As TMZ first reported, some bad guy made off with over $10,000 worth of the rapper's jewelry and personal property -- including a sleek new iPad -- when he broke into the Black Eyed Peas member's ride ... which was parked in the Hollywood Hills.

But according to law enforcement sources, Will had a secret weapon -- he used his iPad's built-in tracking system to locate the thief's whereabouts ... and then forwarded the info to cops.

We're told police already got most of Will.i.am's stuff returned to him and are this close to arresting the perp -- who's currently on the run.

Will.i.am's ride got boom boom pow'd in the Hollywood Hills Monday night -- according to law enforcement sources, bad guys broke into his Bentley and jacked over $10,000 worth of stuff.



TMZ has learned the Black Eyed Peas star made the shocking discovery himself and called the police to file a report. According to sources, the loot included jewelry and several of the singer's personal items.

We're told cops are hot on the trail of the bad guys -- and some of the stolen property has already been recovered. 

Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am is so 2000 and late ... and got snapped inside a "Back to the Future" DeLorean sports car in L.A. on Monday.



No word if he made it to the clock tower in time.