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01 May 2024

NYC’s Ortiz Funeral Home Chain Accused Of Finessing Grieving Families

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One of the most popular funeral homes in New York City will have to defend their name in court. Ortiz Funeral Home is being accused of using predatory tactics on their clients.

The Gothamist is reporting that the eight location chain is accused of taking advantage of individuals who just lost a loved one. On Monday, April 29 the New York City Department Of Consumer And Worker Protection filed a lawsuit claiming that the company regularly uses “deceptive and opaque business practices intended to keep pricing information and options obscured, in an effort to charge these consumers seemingly-random amounts for its services, often resulting in price swings of thousands of dollars for the same service.”

The DCWP states that since 2019 over 48 consumers have have filed claims to the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission about Ortiz Funeral Home. Some of the umbrages include failing to prepare the body as agreed to, deceptive pricing tactics when it comes to their caskets and even refusing to reveal where the remains are located after multiple requests from the family. Additionally, some families had to wait upwards of three weeks before receiving the cremated ashes.

DCWP Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga expressed that her team is taking the matter very seriously. “I can’t even imagine, already being in such a painful time and then not knowing where your loved ones’ remains are,” Mayuga said in a statement. “There’s a number of violations that they committed, and so we’re seeking restitution for consumers and really urging anyone who has experienced similar deceptive practices by R.G. Ortiz to reach out to us immediately.”

Representatives from Ortiz Funeral Home have yet to formally respond to the matter.

01 May 2024

Cher Reveals The Very Practical Reason She Dates Younger Men: ‘Men My Age… They’re All Dead’

Cher totally gets that it’s a fun parlor game to make jokes about her dating much younger men. But the joke is on you, because the 77-year-old ageless pop wonder has the very best reason for romancing men half her age.

“I’m really shy when I’m not working and kind of shy around men,” she told Jennifer Hudson on Wednesday (May 1) on the singer’s daytime talk show. But here’s the real kicker: “And the reason I go out with young men is because men my age or older — well, now they’re all dead — but before they just never, they were always terrified to approach me and younger men were the only ones that…”

“They’re bold,” Hudson helped her out, with mother of two Cher laughing, “Yeah! Raised by women like me!” The topic came up because the “Believe” singer has recently been linked with 38-year-old music exec Alexander “A.E.” Edwards. Cher went Insta official with Edwards in Nov. 2022 with a pic of them holding hands. When asked if he was her “new man,” she posted a smiling emoji, shutting down haters comments on their 40-year age gap by saying “love doesn’t know math” then doubling-down on that emotion in January after posting another snuggly shot captioned “Love is Love.”

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She also confirmed that she’d once turned down a date with Elvis Presley, also for good reason. “It was because I was nervous and I knew of the people around him and it wasn’t that they were bad people, it’s just that I was kind of nervous of his reputation,” she explained.

Cher also talked about how she still has it so together at her age, giving her mom credit for good genes, saying “I stole my mom’s voice and used it to become Cher.” She also revealed that Tupac Shakur is now one of her favorite artists. “I was so taken aback by the depth of the words,” she said of the late rapper she was introduced to by Edwards.

The interview also touched on which of her songs are her favorite — yes “Believe” is on the list — and what she would be if she hadn’t become who she is. “I can’t think of any other profession that I would have been good at,” she said as Hudson suggested stylist or model; Cher noted that she modeled for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar at the beginning of her career, which late husband Sonny Bono didn’t like because he was “really, really jealous.”

Watch Cher on the Jennifer Hudson Show below.



01 May 2024

Face the Music: The Time to Support the Fans First Act Is Now (Guest Column)

Ticketing for live events is not only under the Justice Department’s microscope but front and center for music fans across the country. This focus places our industry at a crossroads. We can either stay with the status quo, in which events are egregiously expensive and funds go to resellers rather than artists and venues, or we can use this moment to support reform that benefits the broader live event ecosystem.

For too long, fans, artists, and venues have been caught in an unchecked marketplace riddled with speculative ticketing, deceptive practices and exorbitant price gouging. 

But all is not lost. We have an opportunity to establish guardrails that protect fans, create trust and promote a healthy live event industry. 

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The Fans First Act is the right bill, at the right time. If passed, this important bipartisan legislation will bring much-needed enforcement and transparency, prohibit deceptive websites, disclose resellers, and ban speculative ticketing. That is why we call on Congress to pass this important legislation and move it to the White House for signature.  

The Problem

To understand why we need the Fans First Act requires a full understanding of the problem and how we got here.  

Fans find themselves in a perfect storm. Amid inflation and an unpredictable economy, they face bots, brokers and skyrocketing prices for live experiences (concert ticket prices have increased by 35% since 2019), according to Pollstar. While fans are eager to see their favorite acts and artists live, too many cannot.  

Music festivals are a prime example of live events looking to adapt to the current economic environment of increased costs for fans (tickets, travel/lodging and food) and rising production fees. Unfortunately for fans, this means canceled events. This year, manyfestivals have been canceled as organizers look to consolidate and adjust to rising fees and economic constraints.

Dig deeper into the fan experience and we find that many fans’ first engagement with live entertainment is through a reseller on a secondary ticketing site, sometimes posing as the actual venue.  

Fans are often asked to cough up well over $500 for a decent ticket on the secondary market, and that’s for real tickets. A buyer has no sense of clarity about the primary ticket seller. For example, Seattle fan Kerry Dellisanti had her own dream crushed when her $895 nosebleed ticket for a Taylor Swift concert turned out to be speculative (fake). Her friends ended up enjoying the show without her.  

Fans across genres and localities are frequently deceived by fake tickets. Many book non-refundable travel and hotels for concerts they think they have a real ticket for, but they’ve been scammed.

Everyone is losing in this environment.  

Unscrupulous brokers and illegal bots have been increasingly detrimental to consumers. As they resell tickets at the highest possible price, it’s having a direct impact on the full ecosystem of live events, harming fans, artists and venues alike.

Sky-high profit margins for the secondary ticket seller means fans are seeing fewer shows and spending less on venue concessions and merchandise that sustain organizers and artists. When fans show up at a venue with a fake or overpriced ticket, the predatory seller who defrauded them is nowhere to be found. It is the venue owners, artists and small businesses who are left to pick up the pieces of this unchecked ticketing ecosystem.  

The Solution 

Our industry is at a crossroads. Cater to the resellers and brokers who have no investment in the concerts? Or swing the power of the live performance industry back into the hands of fans, artists and venues?

We call on Congress to pass the Fans First Act. Fans, artists and venues are the lifeblood of the live entertainment industry and their experience should always be at the forefront. The time is now to give the industry back to the people who make it tick and get back to what makes live events and music so important — and what fuels local economies across the country. 

The connection. The experience.  

Julia Hartz is co-founder, CEO and executive board chair of Eventbrite. 

Stephen Parker is executive director of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). 

01 May 2024

Here Are the 2024 Radio Hall of Fame Nominees

Crook & Chase, Diane Rehm, Larry Elder and Richard Blade are among the well-known radio professionals who are nominated for the Radio Hall of Fame. Howard Stern, who has long had a love/hate relationship with the institution, is not among the 24 nominees announced today by The Museum of Broadcast Communications. The nominees were chosen by the Radio Hall of Fame nominating committee, with input from the radio industry and listeners.

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More than 900 industry members will receive a ballot on Monday, May 20, to cast votes for up to six nominated individuals. Voting runs through Monday, June 3. The top six vote recipients will gain induction as part of the 2024 Radio Hall of Fame induction class. The two additional inductees that will make up the eight-person induction class will be selected by the Radio Hall of Fame nominating committee.

The eight Radio Hall of Fame inductees for 2024 will be announced on Monday, June 17, and will be honored at the 2024 Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 19 at the Omni Nashville Hotel in Nashville.

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Dennis Green, co-chairman of the Radio Hall of Fame, said in a statement: “The 2024 nominees to the Radio Hall of Fame represent one of the most diverse group of talents we have honored.”

Kraig T. Kitchin, co-chairman, Radio Hall of Fame, added: “I encourage each industry member receiving a confidential ballot to participate in the selection of this years’ inductees.”

The Radio Hall of Fame was founded by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. The Museum of Broadcast Communications took over operations of the Hall in 1991.

The 2024 Radio Hall of Fame nominees to be voted on by an industry voting panel are (alphabetically by first name):

Bert Weiss

Big D & Bubba

Big Tigger

Bob and Sheri

Bob Stroud

Crook & Chase

Dede McGuire

Diane Rehm

Free Beer and Hot Wings

Funkmaster Flex

Jaime Jarrin

John & Ken

Johnny Magic

Kid Leo

Larry Elder

Laurie DeYoung

Lee Harris

Lincoln Ware

Mary McCoy

Matt Siegel

Mojo in the Morning

Phil Hendrie

Richard Blade

Shelley “The Playboy” Stewart

01 May 2024

Marc Anthony Launches ‘Muevense Radio’ Channel That Will Explore More Than 3 Decades of His Music

Marc Anthony is the latest music star to launch his own channel on SiriusXM.

On Wednesday (May 1), the salsa icon launched Muevense Radio, which will air for a limited time through Thursday, May 31, on the SiriusXM app. Additionally, it will be available to subscribers on SiriusXM channel 107 now through May 14.

According to SiriusXM, Muevense Radio — taking its name from Marc Anthony’s latest album, which he released April 26 — will feature stories shared by the hitmaker and give “insight” on his expansive career. The channel will explore more than three decades of Marc Anthony’s music, from his timeless classics to his new album, and will also feature music from “his influences and favorite artists,” a press release states.

Muevense Radio’s launch will be marked by a SiriusXM Town Hall special that will feature a chat between Marc Anthony and songwriter-producer Julio Reyes Copello. The episode will be hosted by producer Sergio George, one of Marc Anthony’s longtime collaborators, at the SiriusXM Miami studios. The Town Hall special will air Friday (May 3) at 2 p.m. ET on Muevense Radio, with rebroadcasts throughout the weekend.

The SiriusXM channel comes on the heels of Marc Anthony’s new album, which is a testament to the singer’s knack for crafting salsa anthemic hits. In all tracks, except for “Ojalá Te Duela,” a ranchera with Pepe Aguilar, Marc shines solo putting centerstage the festive rhythms that have defined his career.

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“A new Marc Anthony album is always cause for celebration, and it speaks to the timelessness and consistency of his voice and his musical collaborators that at any moment you can turn on any radio station and within the same commercial-free music block, hear a song he recorded last year next to a song he recorded 30 years ago,” Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote in an essay about Marc Anthony’s new album. “He is our Sinatra, and when we hear him, we also hear the echoes of all the unforgettable moments in our own lives.”

01 May 2024

Stray Kids, Olivia Rodrigo, Jung Kook, Charli XCX & More Among Gold House’s A100 List of Asian Pacific Leaders

Gold House revealed its annual A100 list on Wednesday (May 1), honoring the 100 Asian Pacific leaders who have most significantly impacted American culture and society in the last year, and some of today’s biggest music stars have made the list.

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Stray Kids, Charli XCX, Steve Aoki, Jung Kook, Keanu Reeves, Hayao Mayazaki, Dev Patel, Bella Poarch and many more are all honored this year under the list’s Entertainment and Media category. Olivia Rodrigo and Jason Momoa are among the entertainers in this year’s A100 Hall of Fame inductees, while HYBE Chairman Bang Si-Hyuk will be honored as a Gold Legend. Up-and-coming New Gold honorees include ATEEZ, Laufey and more.

The third annual Gold Gala event will take place at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles on May 11 and, as previously announced, the night will feature a performance from 2023 A100 honoree Saweetie, who will receive the first-ever Billboard Gold Music Honor at the event, recognizing her boundary-pushing musical accomplishments. In addition, the cast and creators of Emmy-winning Beef will receive the Gold Icon Honor for their groundbreaking representation of the Asian American experience, while Wicked star Cynthia Erivo will be given the Gold Ally Honor for her work to advance inclusive representation in front of and behind the camera. HYBE founder Bang Si-Hyuk will be bestowed with the lifetime achievement Gold Legend Honor and Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary will be celebrated with the Gold Generation Award.

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“This year was special: Asian Pacific leaders had a record number of records broken while building a more inclusive tomorrow for all, particularly in new avenues like AI. Gold House is honored to celebrate so many new and established leaders who are committed to both equity and excellence,” said Bing Chen and Jeremy Tran, CEO and COO of Gold House.

The Gold Gala will be followed by the inaugural Billboard x Gold House Founders Party, which will feature a headlining set from producer/DJ Steve Aoki, as well as a performance from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 winner Nymphia Wind, a karaoke room presented by Rakuten Viki and an additional set from DJ Hu Dat.

The full A100 list and the Selection Committee can be found here.

01 May 2024

Melissa McCarthy Laughs Off Barbra Streisand’s Ozempic Comment: ‘I Love Her!’

You don’t get to be one of America’s most beloved comedic actors without being able to take a joke. Case in point: Melissa McCarthy was asked by a TMZ photographer on Tuesday (April 30) how she felt about Barbra Streisand seemingly commenting about her taking the weight-loss drug Ozempic and she was all smiles.

“I think Barbra is a treasure and I love her,” McCarthy reportedly responded to the paparazzo’s question about the incident, waving off a follow-up about whether the pop superstar/director was out of line with the quip. Asked if she thought the 82-year-old Streisand was “out of line” with the quip, McCarthy said “oh, please.”

The minor dust-up was kicked off when McCarthy posted two pics on Instagram on Monday of herself at the Pastels Center Theatre Group gala with Hairspray director Adam Shankman. “Pastels only to honor the incredible @matthewbourne13 at the @ctgla gala last night with this fella @adamshankman !!” she wrote in the caption. “Thiiiiis much closer to my dream of dancing on stage ???.”

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Streisand commented, “Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?,” a question some fans speculated the movie and music icon left thinking it was a direct message to McCarthy instead of a public comment that everyone could see. Ozempic is a diabetes drug that has been repurposed as an anti-obesity treatment that has exploded in popularity among influencers and celebrities over the past year as many stars have suddenly revealed much slimmer profiles.

Streisand quickly deleted the comment and posted a mea culpa on her X profile, writing “OMG – I went on Instagram to see the photos we’d posted of the beautiful flowers I’d received for my birthday. Below them was a photo of my friend Melissa McCarthy who I sang with on my Encore album. She looked fantastic! I just wanted to pay her a compliment. I forgot the world is reading!”

McCarthy sang a duet on the classic Annie Get Your Gun tune “Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better),” on the 2016 Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway album, which also featured team-ups with Anne Hathaway, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Seth MacFarlane, Jamie Foxx and Antonio Banderas, among others. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (Streisand’s 11th, and most recent, to hit that mark) and received a Grammy nod for best traditional pop vocal album. 

According to TMZ, since the album’s release Streisand has made a habit of posting comments on McCarthy’s posts.

01 May 2024

RZA Breaks Down His Vegan Lifestyle, Says “We’ve Been Taught A Lot of Myths”

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The RZA talked extensively about his meatless lifestyle in an interview, encouraging others to “let your natural body speak for you.”

The RZA has always been a reasoned mind on certain subjects, especially so when it comes to living a vegan lifestyle. The leader of the Wu-Tang Clan first started his meatless journey in the mid-1990s, dropping red meat as he recounted in his memoir The Tao of Wu: “I felt like an idiot — I would surely be able to come up with ideas of what to eat instead of dead meat? I thought to myself ‘I live, my flesh lives. Why would I want to eat something that’s dead?’ Starting from this day, I ate to live.” He would then cut out chicken and fish before dropping eggs and other dairy products from his diet. He spoke about that at length in a recent interview meant to encourage others to follow suit.

When asked about eliminating red meat in light of the current conversations about the environmental concerns about its production, The RZA replied: “For me, it was consciousness. It was just the awareness of life itself. It became almost illogical, almost unethical. Why does the animal have to die for me to live? And then learning that our digestive system really has a hard time digesting red meat. As I became more conscious, it started to make less and less and then no sense to eat a dead bird. To even eat a dead fish.”

Expounding further, The RZA stated that “We’ve been taught a lot of myths” when it comes to eating red meat. The 54-year-old artist also talked about the evolution of the Black community’s position. “For the Black community, health has been a struggle, from obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, all these different things that have plagued our community for some years,” he said. “I think as generations kept growing, you start seeing us drop certain things.

The RZA ended his interview with words of encouragement for those looking to take up a meatless lifestyle to help save the planet from the effects of climate change. “Start with one day a week at least. Moderate yourself. I didn’t go cold turkey. It took me years to get to veganism,” he said before adding, Let your natural body speak for you. But if you’re thinking about helping all of us, helping the world, at least knock out a couple of days a week.”

01 May 2024

John Mulaney Netflix Special To Feature Flea, Beck, Weezer, Jon Stewart, Warren G & Many More

The title of stand-up comedian John Mulaney’s upcoming six-part Netflix series says it all: John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A. The series that debuts on Friday (May 3) is part of the annual Netflix Is a Joke Festival, which will take place in Los Angeles from May 2-May 12 and the streamer describes the series as a “comically unconventional show” mixing special guests and field pieces in which Mulaney “explores the city of Los Angeles during a week when every funny person is in it.”

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While the festival will feature sets from some of the biggest and best stand-ups around, Mulaney has pulled together his own eclectic group of special guests for his live series that ranges from rock and hip-hip legends to scientists, journalists and movie directors. Among the musicians on tap for the series are: Beck, Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Ray J, Joyce Manor, Los Lobos, Warren G, and St. Vincent.

In addition, he’ll welcome fellow comedians David Letterman, Nate Bargatze, Jerry Seinfeld, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Mae Martin, Earthquake, Jon Stewart, Patton Oswalt, Stavros Halkias, Sarah Silverman, Ronny Chieng, Tom Segura, Bill Hader, Luenell, Hannah Gadsby and Cedric the Entertainer.

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Other guests include seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, Citizens for L.A. Wildlife representative Tony Tucci, hypnotherapist Kerry Gaynor, lawyer Marcia Clark, director John Carpenter, journalist Zoey Tur, actress Cassandra Peterson and Dr. Emily Lindsey, the assistant curator and excavation site director of the La Brea Tarpits and Museum, plus others. The series will air live beginning on May 3 at 10 p.m. ET and from May 6-May 10 at the same time.

Check out the poster and teaser video for the Everybody’s in L.A. below.

01 May 2024

Bankroll Freddie Found Guilty Of Multiple Gun & Drug Charges

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An Arkansas judge just changed life for rapper Bankroll Freddie. He’s been found guilty of multiple gun and drug charges, stemming from an 2022 arrest.

According to THV11, the “Drip Like This” rapper was found guilty of one count of marijuana possession and distribution, possession and distribution of a controlled substance, one count of firearm possession in furtherance of drug trafficking, and using a communications facility in the furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. The ruling was filed earlier this month by the U.S. District Court in Eastern District Arkansas.

Though the Quality Control rapper was found guilty of the aforementioned charges, he was also cleared of numerous other charges that he was slapped with back in November of 2022 when he and 45 other associates were arrested as part of the federal investigations.

THV11 reports:

On Nov. 9, the Department of Justice announced three federal investigations that resulted in 45 arrests.

The operation focused on two gangs, the Every Body Killas (EBK) and the Loady Murder Mobb.

Freddie Gladney III, better known as Bankroll Freddie, was arrested along with 34 EBK members which included his father, Freddie Gladney Jr.

Officials at the time said that the gang members “voluntarily and intentionally conspired” together to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, meth, and marijuana.

Gladney III faced several drug charges related to the possession of cocaine and marijuana.

No word on what kind of prison time Freddie is facing, but given the gravity of the situation, we doubt he’ll be given probation or time served.

What do y’all think of Bankroll Freddie’s conviction? Let us know in the comments section below.