Ruben Settles Flava Fight

It's been a good week for Ruben Studdard. First, his album Soulful debuted on top of the charts; then, the Velvet Teddy Bear took care of some legal distractions.

The reigning American Idol champ agreed to shelve his lawsuit against hip-hop clothing maker 205 Flava Inc. for allegedy using his famous mug to sell their signature jerseys. Studdard figured 205 Flava had made $2 million off his fame.

"Ruben Studdard and 205 Flava Inc. have resolved their differences, and [American Idol's U.K.-based parent company] 19 Entertainment will begin marketing 205 Flava products," Studdard attorney Byron Perkins said in a statement. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Studdard said he approached 205 Flava to supply him with jerseys for the show in a nod to his hometown, Birmingham, Alabama, whose area code is 205. He wore the threads for several weeks, before ditching the jerseys for the final episodes. In his suit, Studdard said the company, sans permission, kept using his image to promote their clothes, including a photo on its Website of him performing on Idol.

But Brothers Frederick and Will Jenkins, owners of 205 Flava, disputed Studdard's account, claiming they had cut a secret deal with Studdard to wear their duds while competing on Idol in exchange for a kickback, all in violation of show rules.

Speaking to the Birmingham News, the siblings said they were pleased the two months' of negotiations ended with a mutally acceptable settlement.

"I think it will be okay in the future. I think some great things will come out of it," Frederick Jenkins told the paper. "I never had anything against Ruben," Jenkins said. "I can say that...it's a blessing he's doing well. And he continues to do well."

Jenkins refused to reveal how much money was involved, but said it was enough so "all of us can live."

Indeed, Ruben is living large right now. In addition to a Grammy nod this month for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his single "Superstar," Studdard's Soulful sold a whopping 417,000 copies in its first week to open on top spot of the Billboard album chart.

Still, Studdard's opening-week figures aren't quite in the same ballpark as his Idol runner-up, Clay Aiken, whose Measure of a Man sold 613,000 copies upon its release in October to also debut at number one. It has since moved 1.7 million copies.

Speaking of Clay, the spiky-haired popster graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Saturday, receiving his B.A. degree in special education in an afternoon commencement.

The ceremony had sparked a mini-furor over tickets. The school initially limited the number of guests each of the 593 graduating students could invite to keep rabid Clay fans from overrunning the festivities. All told, about 9,000 people attended the commencement, with some shelling out as much as $100 a pop to see Clay crowned.

When his name was called and Aiken walked to the podium to accept his diploma, the crowd mostly cheered though there was a smattering of boos as well. He was then asked by Chancellor James Woodward to address his fellow graduates.

The ever-obliging Clay (he was just named one of the "Ten Best-Mannered People of 2003" by the National League of Junior Cotillions) called his graduation "more special to me than a lot of the things that have happened to me this year, because what happens here today says something to people. This is a day that makes for all of us a statement...how important it is to persevere and continue to work and strive to succeed."

Aiken is making the most of his trip back to his native state. On Sunday, his Bubel-Aiken Foundation hosted a charity ice-hockey event for disabled children at the RBC Center in Raleigh. On Monday, he's slated to perform the national anthem and some of his pop hits at the arena during the Carolina Hurricanes' game with the Dallas Stars