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Barbie Unveils Diwali Doll Celebrating the Festival of Lights: Here’s Where to Pre-Order It Online

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Barbie released its first-ever Diwali doll on Friday (Oct. 4) in collaboration with Indian fashion designer Anita Dongre. The Barbie Diwali doll commemorates the annual celebration popular in Indian culture and known as the festival of lights (the word Diwali means “row of lights” in Hindi).

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Barbie’s Diwali doll ($40) is dressed in a festive, Moonlight Bloom set with a choli top, floral Koti vest and lehenga skirt adorned with dahlias, jasmine and Indian lotus symbolizing strength and beauty, according to a press release sent to Billboard. The doll accessorizes with golden bangles and shimmering earrings.

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Barbie Diwali Doll by Anita Dongre Wearing Festival of Lights Look

“In celebration of Diwali, Barbie and I are both encouraging fans around the world to celebrate the beautiful heritage of Indian fashion and culture,” Dongre said in a statement. “My brand has always been driven by a mission to empower through fashion, and as the ultimate symbol of women empowerment, partnering with Barbie to create the Barbie Diwali doll couldn’t be a more perfect alignment of our values.”

“We are dedicated to reflecting the stories young girls see in the world around them through Barbie, and we couldn’t be more honored to partner with renowned Indian couturier Anita Dongre to create a doll that furthers this mission,” said Lalit Agarwal, country manager, Mattel India. “Through the Barbie Diwali doll, Barbie is thrilled to showcase India’s vibrant cultural heritage on a global stage while continuing to celebrate the power and beauty of diversity.”

Diwali is one of the biggest Hindu celebrations, held in India and other countries around the globe including the U.S. This year, Diwali will be celebrated on Oct. 31-Nov. 1, however Diwali celebrations have been known to last for multiple days.

Barbie’s Diwali doll will be released on Dec. 13. The doll is up for pre-order at Amazon and Mattel Shop and will also be available at Walmart and Target.

For more Barbies and Barbie merch, check out the Juan Gabriel Barbie Doll along with other musician-inspired Barbies and the Barbie x Stanley collection.

Dolly Parton Announces $1 Million Donation to Aid Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts

Dolly Parton is stepping up once again to help those in need. The Country Music Hall of Famer appeared at a press conference at a Walmart parking lot in Newport, Tennessee, on Friday (Oct. 4), and revealed that she is donating $1 million of her own money from her personal bank account to aid those impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

Also, she will add another $1 million donation to relief efforts through her various business enterprises, such as Dollywood and Dolly Parton’s Stampede.

“I’m sure a lot of you wondering where I’ve been,” Parton, 78, said during the event. “Everybody’s saying, ‘Where’s Dolly?’ Well, I’ve been like everybody else trying to absorb everything going on, trying to figure out all the best ways to do this.”

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She added, “I look around and I think, ‘These are my mountains, these are my valleys, these are my rivers…these are my people, and this is my home…I just want you to know, I am totally with you, I am part of you, I love you.”

The total of $2 million donation will be made to the Mountain Ways Foundation. ALso on hand during the event was Walmart U.S. president/CEO John Furner, who said that the company, as well as the Walmart Foundation and Sam’s Club, would be pledging upward of $10 million toward relief efforts.

Parton is no stranger to helping those in need. In 2021, she donated toward relief efforts for those impacted by the catastrophic flooding in Middle Tennessee. In 2020, she donated $1 million toward vaccine research at Vanderbilt University, which aided in funding Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. In 2016, she launched the My People Fund, aiding families in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge whose homes were destroyed wildfires.

In 1995, she launched the Imagination Library, which sends one book per month to children from birth through their first year of school (she founded the Imagination Library in honor of her father, who was unable to read).

DDG Announces Halle Bailey Breakup, But Says They’re ‘Still Best Friends’ | Billboard News

DDG announces that he and Halle Bailey have spilt, but says that they’re “still best friends” and will continue to navigate co-parenting their baby boy, Halo.

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DDG and Halle Bailey are going their separate ways. DDG announced that the couple has split with an Instagram Story post. “After much reflection in heartfelt conversations, Halle and I have decided to go our separate ways. This decision was not easy, but we believe it’s the best path forward for both of us. I cherish the time we’ve spent together and the love we’ve shared.” Despite the split, DDG maintains that they will remain best friends and will work together as they navigate this co-parenting journey. They were swarmed with breakup rumors in April and allegedly unfollowed each other on Instagram and took down some of the photos they had together in the same month. Halle opened up about the severe postpartum depression she was experiencing as a mother.

Halle Bailey
“So honestly, I have severe, severe postpartum and I don’t know if any new moms can relate, but it’s to the point where it’s really bad. It’s hard for me to be separated from my baby for more than 30 minutes at a time before I start to kind of freak out.”

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DDG and Halle are requesting fans understanding and support as they figure out what’s next. They welcomed their son Halo in late 2023.

What’s Your Favorite New Music Release of the Week? Vote!

With October just starting, it’s already been a busy month for new music.

To kick things off, LISA dropped “Moonlit Floor,” after she debuted it live at Global Citizen Fest last month. The song interpolates Sixpence None the Richer‘s hit “Kiss Me,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998. The single was on the group’s self-titled album, released in 1997.

Coldplay dropped their 10th studio album, Moon Music. The project is led by LP’s first single, “feelslikeimfallinginlove,” as well as follow-up tracks “All My Love” and “We Pray,” a collaboration with Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna and TINI. Moon Music also features two more collaborations, Ayra Starr on “Good Feelings” and Jon Hopkins on the title track. 

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Rich Homie Quan’s first posthumous LP hit streaming services, and Forever Goin In is loaded with 35 tracks. The album features assists from Skilla Baby, Lil Tjay, 2 Chainz, Plies, Sukihana and more. The Atlanta rapper died on Sept. 5 at 33 years old.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. This week’s releases also include Finneas’ For Cryin’ Out Loud!, the Joker: Folie à Deux soundtrack, Toosii’s Jaded, James Bay’s Changes All the Time and many more. Check out our Friday Music Guide here, and let us know your favorite by voting below or here.

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Jeff Shuman, Pioneer of Genre-Specific Mini-Festivals, Leaves Live Nation

Festival creator Jeff Shuman has resigned from Live Nation, abruptly ending a successful three-year run that saw the 40-year-old launch a half-dozen festival brands, kicking off a race with rival promoter (and Shuman’s former partner) Goldenvoice to conquer the red-hot post-pandemic mini-festival market.

During his relatively brief run at Live Nation, Shuman built the company’s nostalgia-heavy lineup of one-day mini-festivals — events like the nu-metal and hard rock-driven Sick New World festival; the R&B-heavy Lovers and Friends and Fool in Love festivals; and the gangster rap-focused Once Upon a Time in LA.

Those events — part of Live Nations’s highly successful move into mini-festivals at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic — generated tens of millions of dollars in sales for Live Nation. Shuman briefly became the most successful concert promoter at the company, often besting the AEG-owned Goldenvoice on its own Los Angeles turf.

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(Neither Live Nation nor Shuman returned messages seeking comment for this story.)

But Shuman often clashed with company officials, and in recent months faced several costly cancellations including the shutdown of the Lovers and Friends festival in May in Las Vegas due to dangerously high winds. The costs of the cancellation, coupled with weaker-than-expected ticket sales for Fool in Love and the Latin-focused Bésame Mucho, which is set to take place in December at Dodger Stadium, ultimately led to Shuman’s exit.

“He was a complicated guy,” said one Live Nation executive who didn’t want to speak on the record. “He is extremely private and largely a ghost that you never see or hear from until he hucks a grenade in the room. He’s not afraid to pick a fight with anyone and didn’t have many allies at the end.”

Shuman would book dozens, sometimes hundreds, of artists for one of his genre-specific mini-festivals and work with artists like Usher or System of a Down to curate lineups that were heavy on nostalgia. The inaugural When We Were Young Festival in 2022, headlined by My Chemical Romance and Paramore, focused on late 2000s emo, punk and alternative, with 68 bands performing for more than 60,000 fans in a single day. That single-day event, initially scheduled for Oct. 22, 2022, was then repeated on Oct. 23, 2022, and then again on Oct. 29, 2022.

With tickets priced between $225 and $325, When We Were Young grossed more than $50 million in ticket sales over three days, far outperforming expectations. But the festival business is highly susceptible to the risk of severe weather, and a few hours of dangerous wind, rain or heat can cause an event’s cancellation. Those cancellations can trigger customer refunds, artist kill fees and costly lawsuits that quickly eat away at profits, even if those losses are partially covered by event cancellation insurance.

Since joining Live Nation, Shuman has faced several weather cancellations, including the costly cancellation of the 2024 edition of the Lover and Friends festival.

Shuman’s events have also seen sales slow as ticket prices rise — the 2024 edition of the When We Were Young Festival, headlined by My Chemical Romance, sold out the first day, Oct. 19, but still has plenty of tickets available for the Oct. 20 edition. GA ticket prices for this year’s festival start at $336 plus fees, with GA+ tickets priced at $521 + fees and VIP tickets selling for $618. That’s up from 2023 when tickets were priced at GA $249.99 plus fees, GA+ for $419.99 and VIP tickets for $519.99.

Where Shuman goes next is unclear, but he likely won’t return to Goldenvoice, where he worked from 2015 to 2020 after Live Nation purchased the Observatory in Santa Ana, Calif., which he booked for several years. Shuman’s exit from Goldenvoice reportedly followed a series of financial disagreements that left the two sides on bad terms, kicking off a rivalry between them when he headed to Live Nation.

“The fact that he’s quit both AEG and Live Nation means he doesn’t have a ton of options,” said one source who has worked for both companies. “There are other companies that create festivals, but Jeff’s festivals each had $8 to $12 million dollar budgets and he’s going to have a hard time finding someone else that can write that kind of check.”

‘Tia Mowry: My Next Act’ How to Watch the Reality Series Without Cable

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Tia Mowry is taking on life after divorce. The actress and mother of two lets fans inside her private life in a new reality series, Tia Mowry: My Next Act, premiering tonight (Oct. 4) on WETV.

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The eight-episode reality series dives into Mowry’s life after splitting from Divorce in the Black star Cory Hardrict, and how she embarks “on a fearless and fierce journey of self-discovery post-divorce.” Mowry, one-half of the twin duo Tia and Tamera, married Hardrict in 2008. The couple, who share two children, divorced last year.

“I came into this world with a twin and right after that, I went into a 22-year relationship, so I have never been alone in my life. It has been quite a journey,” Mowry shares in the first episode.  

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The reality show is executive produced by Mowry, Adam Griffin, Erin Richards, Dionne Harmon, Madison Merritt, Elaine Metaxas and Jesse Collins.

Keep reading for ways to watch and stream Tia Mowry: My Next Act.

How to Watch Tia Mowry: My Next Act

Tia Mowry: My Next Act premieres on Friday, Oct. 4 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on WETV. New episodes will also be available to stream on AllBLK (available on Prime Video).

If you don’t have access to cable, there are a few different ways to stream cable channels and two of the best options are Philo and DirecTV Stream.

You’ll get a free trial with either DirecTV Stream or Philo, but there’s a slight difference in packages and pricing. For starters, Philo is free for the first week and only $28 per month to stream over 70 channels.

For cable lovers who like to watch reality shows, movies and more on networks such as WEtv, MTV, ID, TLC, Lifetime, TV One, AMC, BET and OWN, Philo is a perfectly affordable option and the app works well.

DirecTV Stream offers over 90 channels, a free trial for five days, local channels and cable networks. Plans start at $80 per month.

Both DirecTV and Philo have mobile apps that you can access from anywhere around the world (use ExpressVPN or another VPN option to stream the show internationally).

Watch a sneak peek of Tia Mowry: My Next Act below.

Black Vendor Gets Into Struggle Scrap At Trump Rally, Xittter Throws Shade

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A fight between a Black vendor and white vendors at a rally for Donald Trump in Michigan caught the attention of social media, who chalked it up to the tone of the event.

On Thursday (October 3), the crowd waiting to hear former president Donald Trump outside of a venue in Saginaw, Michigan waiting to hear former president Donald Trump wound up being bystanders to a brawl between a Black vendor and white vendors selling memorabilia. The incident took place at 10:20 A.M. at the Ryder Center for Health and Physical Education at Saginaw Valley State University. It was captured on video by Anna Liz Nichols, a reporter for the Michigan Advance, who shared it in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

According to reports, the fight stemmed from a verbal argument and led to the Black vendor being pummeled while he was on the ground by the two white vendors as the crowd of 1,000 rally attendees looked on. It was confirmed by the Associated Press that the fight involved only vendors and no one else from the crowd. “The Trump campaign reports that all of the individuals involved in the altercation were vendors, none were attendees and all were ejected from the premises,” a spokesperson for the campaign team said in a statement via text message.

The incident caught the attention of several people on social media, some of whom initially thought that it was a fight between supporters of the former president. It didn’t go unnoticed by some who noted how the Black vendor wound up not faring too well in the fight, with some commenting that he shouldn’t have even been present. The rally in Saginaw is another event critical for the Trump campaign in a battleground state as early voting for the November presidential elections has begun. Ohio Senator JD Vance held two rallies in Marne and Auburn Hills the day before, and Vice President Kamala Harris is slated to hold a rally in Flint on Friday (October 4).

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Jaden Smith Details How Sadness Inspired His New Music: ‘The Process is Me F–king Crying in the Studio’

Jaden Smith is on a “rainbow swag mission,” three years since he’s released any solo music, as his recent sorrow pushed him back to the studio.

“Roses” kicked off Smith’s next era in June and he followed that up with “D.U.M.B.” on Friday (Oct. 4). Short for “Deep Underground Military Base” and built around a hypnotic chorus, Smith gets candid about his disdain for hurting those around him while trying to navigate love and manage his relationships in the digital era.

Smith will release another two songs on Oct. 18 with “Gorgeous,” a pop-leaning love letter to women, and “The Coolest Part 2,” a sequel to his signature 2012 track. The four-pack will be packaged as 2024: A Case Study on the Long Term Effects of Young Love, his first project since 2020’s CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3 (he released a deluxe in 2021). The vulnerable, genre-blending EP will explore “young love and really just the mental landscape of young people right now dealing in a world with social media,” according to the 26-year-old multi-hyphenate.

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Smith’s relationship with model-singer Sab Zada has been the subject of plenty of social media chatter and tabloid fodder in recent months. Instead of responding to rumors surrounding his love life, however, Smith has elected to turn to music. “I don’t need to convince people of stuff as far as what’s going on with me in the world and I just put it in my music with how I feel and my experiences of what I’m going through,” he tells Billboard on a video call while walking around the woods of France as he’s in town for Paris Fashion Week.

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Check out the rest of our interview with Jaden Smith as he details his upcoming mini-project, young love, his plastic furniture company and more.

Billboard: What’s inspiring you creatively these days?

Jaden Smith: Honestly, I’m so sad that it’s put me into a corner where I can’t do anything besides make music. That’s why I decided to release this next project. I kind of found my inspiration in making these mini-projects that are a couple of songs and I think kind of just put off a vibe and gets people like, “Dog, I really like this mini-pocket where he’s catching a very specific vibe for like four songs.” Then kind of moving on. 

A Case Study on the Long-Term Effects of Young Love. Explain to me that title and how tough it is to put your relationship into music?

It’s just about the case study of young love and really just the mental landscape of young people right now dealing in a world with social media, dealing in a world with internet and how that changes mental health and what people are talking about doing and feeling. How that psychologically affects people long-term in ways that it didn’t past generations, because we didn’t have the technology, access to the world that we have. It’s a snapshot of that for myself. 

What was your recording process with these songs?

Very long-term — songs I’ve been working on for other albums that didn’t make it and needed more time to figure out exactly what I wanted to do. This has been over the course of three or four years. Literally, the process is me f–king crying in the studio, and then like, singing in between when I can make words happen. That’s really the process. I’m going through emotional things, dealing with those experiences and feeling overwhelmed. Like I don’t know what to do, but that’s when I get into the studio. 

So this is a good creative outlet for you.

Yeah, and my fans are people who go through these extremely emotional situations. Emotional people tend to like my music. That’s who I do it for. 

What have you learned about young love?

That it hurts in stages, and then it’s very serious. If it’s something that lasts a long time, it can create long-term psychological effects and defects in people when they go through adulthood, then goes on to affect their generation and families. It’s just a topic of something I wanted to bring up. Every time you make a song title and an album title, you have the opportunity to bring up a topic and think about something and pop an idea into people’s minds, and that’s what I wanted to pop into people’s minds this go-around. 

Is it tough when so many people can comment on your relationships and everything you have going on, even if it’s not true? How you can push back against that?

It’s not even so much you have to push back against it as much as you just have to deal with it. The way I deal with it is by making music. I don’t need to convince people of stuff as far as what’s going on with me in the world and I just put it in my music with how I feel and my experiences of what I’m going through. 

In an older interview, I saw you explain how you try to tell your story without straying toward anything that could be considered misogynistic lyrics. Is that something you have to battle?

Yeah, that’s a current battle that I’m battling with myself. I just don’t like to say certain words that I don’t feel are useful for me personally. Not that I don’t like to say it, I say all different types of things in my normal life, but I just don’t like to rap it, because I know that everybody’s listening and my mom and my sister and everybody don’t say s–t. It’s a growing battle.

In the process of me making this album, this is the first time that I’ve ever gone out of my way to have girls in my music video in a way that makes sense for me and a way that I would do it, because I would always get wrapped up in the way everybody else does stuff. Now I’m starting to find the way I want to do it. I’m going through a thing, a time and a moment with me right now. I don’t even know what it is, but I feel it in the world even when I walk outside. I’m just trying to put whatever’s happening with me into the music. 

I saw when you announced the project it was on your dad’s birthday. Was there anything to that?

No, I didn’t realize that. I probably should’ve thought about that.

Have you played the music for any of your family members? Is that a typical practice for you?

I have played them the songs. I usually don’t play them the music. 

Let’s start with “D.U.M.B.,” which was my favorite. What was your process with that one?

That s–t is super duper old. I’m rapping about s–t that happened long ago. I went in there and I made it. I just be rapping sometimes, man. Sometimes it makes sense and I was like, “Oh, the concept of this song makes sense.” Sometimes you just receive it and it’s like, “This is already a song. All I have to do is rap on this.” It’s amazing. Sometimes you gotta really think hard and sometimes they come to you straight away. That’s what was happening with me. 

“Gorgeousis another track coming.

I wanted to make a pop song. It’s really just about my love for the opposite sex, my love for women and how that has evolved to where I am now in my life. That’s my love letter to the opposite sex and all women around the world. 

What made you want to do a sequel to “The Coolest?”

I just had to remind everybody because they’ll forget. Then they’ll meet me and be like, “Yo, what the hell is this?” Remind everybody again — that’s what that was. That song’s so old. I’m glad to be back at it. It’s an awesome experience. I’m just trying to master my own mind. I’m trying to have less thoughts. I’m trying to master my thoughts. 

How was working with your dad and Russ on “Work of Art”?

That was fun to do. That was tight. It was fun to perform. That was an amazing experience. 

Do you have any goals for the rest of the year?

Yeah, I’m trying to get this recycled plastic furniture company off the ground. A circular economy for used trash to produce park benches or I think drywall is probably the best. Using old clothes and denim as insulation. Recycling clothes through the circular economy. Companies — that’s my biggest thing. That’s what a lot of my raps are about. Circular economy, recycling plastic.

I read you go to the movies a lot by yourself. Is that something you’re still doing?

I watch everything. I watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice but I watch everything. Every single movie that comes into the theaters. 

Is this going to develop into an album?

After I release this mini-project, I’m on a swag mission. I’m on a rainbow swag mission and I’m just trekking through. Wherever the mission takes — that’s where I’ll be. If I get this plastic furniture company off the ground, I have no idea what happens next. It all depends where the wind blows, how sad I am. 

Diabolical: Fashion Nova Releases BBL Drizzy Halloween Costume

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Fashion Nova x BBL Drizzy

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It’s about to get real spooky out there. Fashion Nova has released a BBL Drizzy inspired Halloween costume.

As spotted on XXL Magazine the popular fashion brand is getting messy at Drake’s expense. This week they announced their BBL Booty Butt Pad Costume. While the item is just an accessory that adds an obvious padding to your backside, the model is dressed similar to Drake in the “8AM In Charlotte” video. The look-alike is spotted wearing a black hooded sweatshirt that says “Papi” across the chest. Additionally, he has mock grills in his mouth, his braids are out and are styled with colorful hair clips.

The term BBL Drizzy is a product of the 2024 Rap war that originated with some back and forth disses between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. In the song “Push Ups” Champagne Papi also made reference to Rick Ross which prompted Rozay to respond with “Champagne Moments”. In a follow up Instagram Live he infers Drake had plastic surgery and referred to his former collaborator as “BBL Drizzy”. From there the term gained even more popularity when producer Metro Boomin released a “BBL Drizzy” instrumental and offered a $10,000 prize to the performer who recorded the best song.

Fashion Nova has since removed the Drake look-alike from the costume listing. You can shop the butt pads here.

A Timeline of Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton’s Relationship

From meeting on The Voice to saying “I do” and beyond.

From the moment their paths crossed on The Voice in 2014, Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton were destined to become one of the music world’s biggest power couples.

Such was the case even in spite of the differences in their upbringings and musical styles, as well as the fact that both parties were married to other people prior to their relationship. The California-raised “Hollaback Girl” singer started out as a pop-rock frontwoman for No Doubt before embarking on a career as a pop superstar. Along the way, she married Bush singer-guitarist Gavin Rossdale in 2002 and welcomed three sons with him — Kingston, Zuma and Apollo — before splitting in 2015.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma-born Shelton found fame as a cowboy hat-wearing country star, breaking out in 2001 with his hit “Austin.” He was married to Kaynette Williams from 2003 to 2006 before wedding fellow Nashville titan Miranda Lambert in 2011, four years after which they’d get divorced in 2015.

The stars would finally align later that year, when Stefani and Shelton got together over a year after they first met as co-coaches on NBC’s leading singing competition show. The years that followed would find the couple documenting their sweet dates, anniversaries and funny moments on social media, hitting red carpets and working on songs together and getting engaged as Stefani and her boys welcomed Shelton into their family.

From their first encounter to walking down the aisle, Stefani and Shelton’s relationship is one for the books. Keep reading to see a comprehensive timeline of their high-profile romance below.