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The Diddy trial continues to produce shocking revelations. A woman testified Diddy dangled her off a balcony.
As per Variety, Bryana “Bana” Bongolan took the stand at the disgraced mogul’s federal trial. The fashion designer recalled an incident from 2016 when she was at Cassie’s Los Angeles apartment. She explained the two would frequently work on fashion designs while using marijuana and ketamine. One morning she heard a loud knocking on the door and instructed her girlfriend to hid in the bathroom; Bongolan headed to the balcony to “act natural.”
She says Diddy gained access to the apartment and immediately rushed to her. Bryana says he “came up from behind” her and “lifted me up and put me on top of the rail” of the balcony. An irate Diddy then told her “You know what the f*** you did.” She explained that she tried her best to not be overtaken adding “I was trying not to slip and pushing back on him,” she said. “I was scared to fall.” Bongolan says he then threw her against some patio furniture prompting Cassie to come from her bedroom and yelling at her former love interest. “Did you just hang her over the balcony?” she asked. Cassie then let Diddy know Bongolan’s girlfriend was hiding in the bathroom, which made Diddy leave immediately.
Bongolan claims she suffered injuries from the ordeal including bruises and neck pain. “I have nightmares, and I have a lot of paranoia, and I used to scream a lot in my sleep,” she explained. She went on to detail another time she had a negative encounter with Diddy specifically a time she was with Cassie in Malibu. She claims Diddy came really close to her face and said “I’m the devil, and I could kill you.” Bongolan admitted she was under the influence of cocaine during that time in Malibu.
Diddy’s lawyer Nicole Westmoreland crossed examined Bongolan and picked apart her testimony pointing out that Diddy was attending a charity event the day on the East Coast when she claims he dangled her off the balcony in Los Angeles. In November 2024, Bongolan filed a civil lawsuit against Diddy, which is still pending.
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Progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez publicly endorsed New York City Councilman Zohran Mamdani for mayor, boosting his chances ahead of the Democratic Party primary being held later this month. She made her endorsement during an interview with the New York Times, which was released a day after the first debate between primary candidates was held Wednesday (June 4).“Assemblymember Mamdani has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “In the final stretch of the race, we need to get very real about that.” Her comments underscored the situation that the progressive candidate Mamdani faces; he currently trails behind former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in polling, which has many in the city concerned that a repeat of 2021 could occur where the left were fractured, affecting the ranked-choice outcome in favor of current Mayor Eric Adams.“Even if the entire left coalesced around any one candidate, an ideological coalition is still insufficient for us to win,” the Ocasio-Cortez stated. “We have to have a true working-class coalition.” Ocasio-Cortez’s other ranked choice endorsements were to rank City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams second, citing her “genuine inroads and connections” with the Black and Brown communities in Queens and the Bronx including her district. City Comptroller Brad Lander would be ranked third on her ballot, followed by Scott Stringer and Brooklyn State Senator Zellnor Myrie.Mamdani learned of the endorsement shortly after the debate ended. “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a once-in-a-generation leader who has led the fight for working people in Congress. In 2018, she shocked the world and transformed our politics. On June 24, with @AOC’s support and this movement behind us, we will do the same,” he said in a statement. It comes at a time where supporters of Cuomo are zeroing in on areas they feel Mamdani is vulnerable, such as his public support of the Palestinian people in Gaza as well as his past support for shrinking the police force and his self-identification as a socialist.
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A court battle over the future of online lyrics is getting heated.
Months after LyricFind accused Musixmatch of seeking to monopolize the market for providing lyrics to streamers like Spotify by signing an “unprecedented” deal with Warner Music, the rival is striking back – demanding that a federal judge toss out the case entirely.
The lawsuit claims that Musixmatch violated federal antitrust laws, but in a motion to dismiss the case filed on Thursday, the company says all it did was beat a competitor.
“LyricFind, unable to convince WCM to do business with it instead, has filed this meritless antitrust suit … hoping it can obtain through litigation what it was unable to win in the marketplace,” the company’s lawyers write. “Stripped of buzzwords and hyperbole, the core of LyricFind’s Complaint is simply that WCM chose Musixmatch instead of LyricFind.”
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The legal war between the two lyrics providers kicked off in March, when LyricFind accused Musixmatch of engaging in unlawful conduct that had “eliminated competition and raised prices.”
At the center of the case is an agreement that MusixMatch struck with Warner Music. LyricFind claims the major labels have historically licensed their vast catalogs of lyrics on a non-exclusive basis, allowing firms to compete for the right to provide them to streaming services. The lawsuit says the new deal with Warner was instead an exclusive deal that allegedly shuts out competitors from offering the music giant’s lyrics — an “unprecedented” approach.
“Musixmatch’s goal was simple: make sure that Spotify, and other [streamers], have no choice but to obtain [lyrics] from Musixmatch despite its higher fees — a plainly anticompetitive result,” the company’s attorneys wrote at the time. (Neither Warner Music nor Spotify were named as a defendant in the case or accused of any wrongdoing.)
But in Thursday’s response, Musixmatch said it had done nothing wrong, arguing that antitrust laws are designed to “protect competition, not particular competitors.” The company said LyricFind had turned to the courts simply because it was “angered” that a customer had cut ties.
“LyricFind’s alleged injury flows from WCM’s lawful decision to end its relationship with LyricFind, which means that LyricFind would have been injured regardless of whether Musixmatch or a different firm was appointed as WCM’s agent,” the company’s lawyers write.
“Nor has LyricFind plausibly alleged how it is foreclosed from competing in the marketplace: the Complaint is conspicuously silent on the duration of the agreement, and contradictory and implausible allegations about the actual scope of exclusivity defeat any plausible claim of substantial foreclosure.”
A rep for LyricFind did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
Source: Lego / Lego
Last year, LEGO surprisingly teamed up with Pharrell to bring to life his biographical documentary in the animated Piece By Piece, and now, the iconic toy company will continue their relationship with Hip-Hop as they’re now collaborating with the legendary Run-DMC and the Global Girls Crew.
In an effort to spread an uplifting message to the young girls today who’ll become the women of tomorrow, LEGO and Run-DMC have teamed up to remix their classic 1983 hit “It’s Like That.” And with the help of the Global Girls Crew, turned it into a girls’ anthem for 2025. Starring the likes of DJ Livia, drummer Nandi Bushell, singer Pink Oculus and Chinese alt-pop artist Cacien, the visuals to “She Built That” features both live-action appearances from the aforementioned artists and LEGO versions of themselves as well as the iconic group, Run-DMC.
Looking to inspire young girls to take the initiative and chase whatever dreams they may have for their future, the song and video are sure to be a hit among parents who not only want to encourage their daughters to blaze their own path in life, but also show them what old-school Hip-Hop sounded like and how influential it still can be today.
Check out the video to “She Built That” and let us know what you think about the joint in the comments section below.
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Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Sabrina Carpenter torches a former flame, Lil Wayne continues to surprise, and Addison Rae makes a grand debut. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild”
Although Sabrina Carpenter still has multiple hits from her Short n’ Sweet era hanging around radio, she’s returned more quickly than expected to eviscerate an ex: “Manchild,” which Carpenter created with her collaborative cohorts Amy Allen and Jack Antonoff, functions as a colorful, country-tinged bookend to her No. 1 hit “Please Please Please,” allowing the pop star to take down the man she begged to not embarrass her with lines like, “Why so sexy if so dumb?”
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Lil Wayne, Tha Carter VI
Hip-hop may have changed around Lil Wayne since he kicked off his mega-selling Carter series more than 20 years ago, but Weezy accounts for that evolution on Tha Carter VI — which features relatively new stars like Jelly Roll and BigXThaPlug — while also remaining a singular voice in popular music, capable of warbling a Weezer hit (“Island Holiday”), placing his voice next to Andrea Bocelli’s (“Maria”), and, of course, stringing together gonzo rhymes for minutes on end.
Addison Rae, Addison
It’s time for the doubters of Addison Rae’s musical chops to be bid adieu: on debut album Addison, the former influencer turns in a tour de force of personality and pop know-how, breathing each syllable and gliding over every synth riff with enough detail to give the listener a glimpse inside her world, and the confidence to sell her artistic vision.
Turnstile, Never Enough
Even though Turnstile represents one of the biggest hardcore breakthroughs of the past decade, their long-awaited new album Never Enough is not a hardcore project — instead, the Baltimore quintet experiment with horns, synths, song lengths and sonic textures on the follow-up to 2021’s Glow On, although the head-banging hooks remain immediate enough to satisfy longtime listeners.
Mariah Carey, “Type Dangerous”
As she’s returned to the top of the Hot 100 for multiple years in a row with her holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey has concurrently tinkered with her traditional approach to rhythmic pop, and “Type Dangerous,” a sultry new R&B single that samples Eric B. & Rakim’s “Eric B. Is President,” finds the legend continuing to innovate instead of resting on her laurels.
Ed Sheeran, “Sapphire”
Ed Sheeran continues to explore different musical cultures on “Sapphire,” a free-spirited new anthem that, like recent single “Azizam,” looks east for inspiration: with backing vocals and sitar from Indian superstar Arijit Singh, the song doubles down on the growing trend of South Asian production reaching Europe and North America, in the name of a type of love without geographical boundaries.
KATSEYE feat. Ice Spice, “Gnarly (Remix)”
KATSEYE’s recent single “Gnarly” leapt off the speakers with an irresistible audacity upon its release, and now that the song has gone viral for the global girl group, Ice Spice has gleefully hopped aboard to compare herself to LeBron James in his rookie year and sneak in some brand promotion (“No soda, the ceiling is Starry!”).
Editor’s Pick: Little Simz, Lotus
The creation of Little Simz’s excellent new album Lotus may have been tumultuous — ““I got to a point where I lost my sense of purpose,” the British rapper recently told Billboard — but the result is on par with her 2021 breakthrough Sometimes I Might Be Introvert in terms of lyrical dexterity, and with even more luxurious production — these grooves, combined with Simz’s nimble delivery, are worth sinking into for hours.
The Academy of Country Music held a round of layoffs on Thursday (June 5), with approximately one-quarter of the staff impacted, Billboard has learned.
“Coming off a successful 60th ACM Awards week and renewal with Prime Video through 2028, the Academy implemented a strategic staff realignment in an effort to support its future business and growth initiatives, resulting in the elimination of five staff positions across various departments including communications, marketing, events and community relations,” the ACM told Billboard in a statement. “We thank these individuals for their dedication and contributions to the work of the Academy.”
ACM staffers who were laid off include Alexis Bingham (coordinator, events), Lexi Cothran (senior manager, communications and strategic initiatives), Jesse Knutson (director, publicity and media relations), and Brittany Uhniat (manager, creative and content production).
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Prior to joining the ACM, Knutson joined the ACM in 2022 and previously worked in television news, including time at Nashville’s NewsChannel 5 (WTVF). Bingham served as an intern at the ACM before joining the staff full-time in 2021. Cothran joined the ACM in 2024, and previously worked for PR companies including Shore Fire Media and Sweet Talk PR. Prior to joining the ACM, Uhniat served as creative coordinator at Resin8 Music.
Nearly a month ago, on May 8, the Academy of Country Music celebrated the milestone 60th annual ACM Awards, which aired on Prime Video from the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas. Ella Langley, Lainey Wilson and Alan Jackson were among the night’s biggest winners, with Wilson taking home her second ACM entertainer of the year trophy. Meanwhile, Langley won five trophies and Jackson was feted with the inaugural ACM lifetime achievement award. The 60th anniversary ACM Awards was hosted by Reba McEntire.
Meanwhile, the ACM also recently announced that the organization and ACM Awards producer Dick Clark Productions (DCP) had cemented a deal with Prime Video for the ACM Awards to continue on Prime Video for the next three years, running through the 63rd annual ACM Awards ceremony in 2028.
The first part of the new Billy Joel documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, premiered at the Tribeca Festival in New York on Wednesday and it featured a section about one of the most difficult periods in the 76-year-old singer’s life. According to People, the film co-directed by Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin delves into a dark incident early in Joel’s career when he attempted suicide two times after having an affair with a former bandmate’s wife.
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“Bill and I spent a lot of time together,” Elizabeth Weber says in the documentary about the affair she had with Joel when he was in his 20s and she was married to the singer’s best friend and Atila bandmate drummer Jon Small. She says in the film that the affair was a “slow build” until Small, who had a son with Weber, suspected something was going on and Joel fessed up to the affair, telling him, “I’m in love with your wife.”
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Joel — who did not attend the premiere after cancelling a summer run of shows due to a recent diagnosis of the brain condition normal pressure hydrocephalus — says in the film that he felt “very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker. I was just in love with a woman and I got punched in the nose which I deserved. Jon was very upset. I was very upset.”
The brawl marked the end of Atila and the pair’s friendship, with Weber leaving Small — and later reconnecting with Joel, to whom she was married from 1973-1982 — and the singer spiraling into a dark period of drink and depression. “I had no place to live. I was sleeping in laundromats and I was depressed I think to the point of almost being psychotic,” Joel says in the film. “So I figured, ‘That’s it. I don’t want to live anymore.’ I was just in a lot of pain and it was sort of like why hang out, tomorrow is going to be just like today is and today sucks. So, I just thought I’d end it all.”
Joel’s sister, Judy Molinari, was a medical assistant at the time and she gave him some sleeping pills to help him get some rest. “But Billy decided that he was going to take all of them… he was in a coma for days and days and days,” she says: “I went to go see him in the hospital, and he was laying there white as a sheet. I thought that I’d killed him.”
The singer said he was “very selfish” at the time and recalled waking up in the hospital determined to end his life again. Molinari said her brother drank a bottle of the furniture cleaner Lemon Pledge, with Small driving him to the hospital after that attempt. “Even though our friendship was blowing up, John saved my life,” he says of his former bandmate.
“He never really said anything to me, the only practical answer I can give as to why Billy took it so hard was because he loved me that much and that it killed him to hurt me that much. Eventually I forgave him,” Small says in the movie. Joel later wrote the song “Tomorrow Is Today” for his 1971 Cold Spring Harbor album, in which he delves into his despondent feelings at the time. “Oh my I’m goin’ to the river/ Gonna take a ride and the lord will deliver me/ Made my bed, I’m gonna lie in it/ If you don’t come, sure gonna die in it,” he sings on the track.
At Wednesday’s premiere, Lacy shared a message with the audience from Joel in which she said “He will be back. Billy wishes he were here tonight, and he asked us to convey his greetings to you all. He said ‘getting old sucks, but it’s still preferable to getting cremated.’” Billy Joel: And So It Goes will stream on HBO in July.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
Hey man, what’s happening?” LaRussell says exuberantly as he walks down the street on a bright Wednesday morning in the Bay Area.
The passerby who just shouted hello will be the first of several to call out greetings to the 30-year-old rapper as he ambles through his hometown of Vallejo, Calif. “Hey!” “What’s up, brother?” “Hi!” he calls back to them like a particularly neighborly sort of mayor — if mayors wore fuzzy hats embroidered with the face of Winnie the Pooh.
“I walk each morning, and no matter if I’m on this side of Vallejo or the north side where my mom lives or wherever, people are excited to see me,” he says, “because I mean something to this place. I’m someone who really made it who went to the same schools.”
LaRussell isn’t just a local, but a local celebrity — one who has created an innovative, community-focused infrastructure to nurture and forge his artistic independence. He has endeared himself to fans with not only his breezy, conversational flow — delivered over groovy production on an astounding 40 albums going back to 2018 — but also a business model built around sliding scales that allow them to bid on everything from merchandise to concert tickets to royalties to the chance to hang with him and play pickleball.
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“In the beginning, I had zero dollars, so I didn’t really need checks and balances. If you gave me a dollar, I was richer than I was prior to that,” he says. “As that elevated, I started finding ways to make it make more sense.”
LaRussell’s success is centered on him being both immensely charming, with a wide and frequent smile that’s certifiably megawatt, and prolific. He says it’s never taken him more than 15 minutes to write a song, and songs come to him frequently, creating a lot of material to monetize. “The universe really gives it to me,” he says. As an independent artist, he has the freedom to determine his own release schedule, which so far in 2025 has included dropping five albums.
“The way labels treat artists where they can only release so much music at a certain time, it’s like you’re telling someone to stop doing what they love and not feed their family,” he says. “Music just kind of oozes out of me. It’s what I do when I’m sad, happy, stressed, so being independent allows me to really cater to how I feel as a human.”
LaRussell
Jessica Chou
LaRussell releases music through Good Compenny, his label and company that’s based in the creative compound he has built in Vallejo. The sprawling space offers rooms and tools for recording, content creation, photography, merch shipping and more, with construction currently underway on a storefront that will sell all things LaRussell, including his first book, Limitless: The 10,000 Shot Theory, a hybrid memoir/self-help tome he calls “a book about life” that has sold thousands of copies since he self-published it in 2023. Upstairs from the work facilities, an eight-unit residential complex houses him and his family, along with a crew of engineers, videographers, managers and protégés like fellow rapper Malachi.
Here the vibe is familial and the ability to create is always just a few doors down the hall. LaRussell equates this hub to building “a store in a place that didn’t have a store. I didn’t know what people liked, but I knew what I loved and what I needed.”
While he considered decamping to New York or Los Angeles earlier in his career, “because you think all the infrastructure is there, so you have to move there to succeed,” he was broke, so moving wasn’t an option. “That encouraged me to build my platforms and my independence here,” he says of Vallejo, a city of roughly 122,000 north of Berkeley. And “here” happens to be a place where he’s now part of an esteemed hip-hop lineage: Vallejo’s native sons also include E-40 and Mac Dre.
Now he’s literally making change in his own backyard through a series of performances he and his team host at the compound, where music, food, drinks and bounce houses for kids are all part of the package for a suggested donation of $100 (though the team has accepted much less; those who can’t afford to pay more are subsidized by those who can).
LaRussell says he doesn’t tour in the traditional sense, although he does perform more intermittent dates “all throughout the year” at venues nationwide ranging in size from 200 to 2,000 capacity. He says intimate spaces “are preferred” — like the NPR Tiny Desk concert he did with a crew of 10 musicians and singers last November that has aggregated hundreds of thousands of views.
LaRussell photographed May 13, 2025 in Vallejo, Calif.
Jessica Chou
For live shows, he accepts almost any ticket offer. “I like everybody to be in the building,” he says, noting that most people do pay more than the minimum, with several tiers of preset ticket prices also listed for most of his shows in traditional venues. The system is roughly the same with merch: His team screens all bids and sends counteroffers if the initial sum is too low. In 2024, Kickstarter recruited him for the Let Me Hold a Dolla campaign, which encouraged people to donate a buck to him en masse. While he initially thought he would decline the offer “because I really go out and work; I don’t like asking for handouts,” he ultimately decided it was OK to ask for “the bare minimum of support.” The campaign ultimately raised $39,423 from 713 backers, with those who donated getting rewards like early access to music, entry to a backyard show and a chance to spend a day with LaRussell.
Collaborators can even bid on LaRussell features, and he has been known to record 10 or 20 in a day. “The minimum I’m getting for a feature is like $500,” he says, “so if I do 20 at just the minimum offer, I’m making 10 grand that day.” Selling portions of his song royalties to fans also generates income: His catalog has 100.2 million on-demand official global streams, according to Luminate.
His proverbial open-door policy to all aspects of his career naturally also leaves him open to the interesting opportunities that come walking in. When one backyard show attendee later became the head of marketing for the San Francisco Giants, she recruited LaRussell to record an anthem for the team to be played at its home, Oracle Park. He wrote the song, “Nothin Like It,” immediately after getting off a Zoom call discussing the project, then “sent it back to the marketing team in like five minutes.” He’s currently working on more music, another book and a comedy in the style of Chappelle’s Show.
But even as his projects expand beyond Vallejo, he knows his wider success is rooted here: Staying part of this community means that as he champions the city, it champions him right back.
“You don’t just see me online rapping,” he says, continuing his stroll through town. “You see me with the kids and in the public. You see me as a human before you see me as a rapper. I think that feeds a different type of support between me and my base.”
This story appears in the June 7, 2025, issue of Billboard.
No billionaires bickering here — just your regularly scheduled edition of Executive Turntable, Billboard‘s weekly roundup of promotions, hires, exits and everything in between across the music industry. Let’s get to it…
Veteran touring executive Leslie Cohea will join WME’s Nashville office in mid-July as a partner and music touring executive. She comes to the agency after 10 years at Sandbox Entertainment, where she served as global head of touring and played a key role in guiding the careers of artists including Kacey Musgraves, Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Midland and Little Big Town. Before playing in the Sandbox, Cohea spent nearly a decade at AEG Live/The Messina Group, focusing on touring and concert promo and producing national tours for biggies like Ed Sheeran, Dave Matthews and Eagles. Named a Billboard executive of the week in 2023, Cohea will report to WME co-heads Becky Gardenhire, Joey Lee and Jay Williams.
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iHeartMedia announced that Scott Hamilton shifted from his role as principal accounting officer to a consulting position, effective June 2. Subsequently, Michael McGuinness, the deputy CFO since 2019, was appointed as the new accounting chief. Hamilton has served in senior accounting roles at iHeartMedia since 2010 and previously held leadership positions at Avaya and PwC. McGuinness joined iHeartMedia in 2019 and brings prior experience from The Hain Celestial Group and Monster Worldwide. In its SEC filing regarding the change, iHeart emphasized that Hamilton’s transition is not due to any dispute with the company, including issues related to accounting practices or financial reporting.
Big Loud Records appointed Lauren “LT” Thomas as senior vp of radio promotion. Thomas joins Big Loud’s fellow svp of radio promo Tyler Waugh, with both execs reporting to evp of radio promotion Stacy Blythe. Thomas previously served as svp of promotion at Sony Music Nashville, where she led promotion efforts for RCA Nashville and Columbia. Prior to her role at Sony, Thomas worked for five years at Phoenix country music station KMLE-FM. –Jessica Nicholson
Melanie Johnson is PPL’s first-ever director of transformation, a role created to lead a company-wide innovation initiative aimed at expanding PPL into the global leader in neighbouring rights royalty collections. Reporting to CEO Peter Leathem, Johnson will leverage her extensive experience across publishing, labels, DSPs and tech — including roles at Audoo, Utopia Music, Facebook and Sony/EMI — to enhance royalty distribution through amped-up technology and data systems. Her appointment comes as PPL reports over $375 million in collections for 2024. Johnson also serves as vice chair of Music Minds Matter and has been a trustee for the Ivors Academy Trust. Leathem said Johnson’s “commercial thinking, paired with deep industry knowledge” will be a great asset to the UK collective management organization.
Oak View Group welcomed Donna Freislinger Huffman as svp of global procurement. Reporting to CFO Ade Patton and president of premium experiences Josh Pell, Huffman will lead initiatives to streamline procurement, boost cost efficiency across OVG’s global footprint. Her responsibilities also include advancing supplier diversity and sustainability. Huffman brings over 20 years of experience from roles at United Airlines, Vanderbilt University and Hillrom, with a “track record for transforming sourcing organizations and driving enterprise-wide value,” said Patton.
Riser House Entertainment expanded its team with three key hires at the Nashville-based label and publisher. Alex Heimerman joins as vp of streaming and strategic partnerships, bringing experience from UMG Nashville, Red Light Management and The Trenches. Hayley Irvine becomes product manager, overseeing project execution after roles at BMG/Broken Bow Records. Eliza Charette steps in as project and label relations coordinator, supporting artist campaigns and operations, with priors at Madison Square Garden and Big Loud. All three report to Riser House president Jennifer Johnson and label manager Megan Schultz. “At Riser House, we don’t just chase trends — we build legacies,” said Johnson. “As our roster grows with some of the most authentic artists in music, it’s only fitting that our team grows too.”
NASHVILLE NOTES: Marketing agency Results Global launched a new four-person digital and social media division, led by Katrina Maddox, formerly head of digital at The HQ. Joining her are Lindsey Parrish, previously a marketing manager at MV2, and Tess Schoonhoven, who served as social media manager at Venture Music. Rounding out the team is Conner McEuen, appointed as paid media manager after his role as a paid social strategist at Zero Gravity Marketing … Bobbii Jacobs launched Wildflower Entertainment Group, a multifaceted company specializing in artist management, development, brand partnerships and talent booking. Alongside it, she introduced a sister venture, Backstage Access Presents, which focuses on curating VIP fan experiences. Jacobs brings extensive experience to the new ventures, having most recently served as partner and president at Forefront Networks.
IMAGINE, a Berlin-based creative studio specializing in music-driven storytelling, opened a new office in Paris as part of its European expansion. Marie Gleiss has been appointed head of expansion, and Maxence Janvrin joins as business development manager, both bringing deep ties to the City of Lights’s cultural scene. The duo will help advance IMAGINE’s mission of building brand connections through music-first strategies. Co-founder Shai Caleb Hirschson emphasized that music has the ability to foster brand recall and drive more than just clicks. “We’re not here to slap a jingle on a logo,” he said. “We create sound-first strategies that move people, inspire loyalty, and generate long-term brand value.”
Betsie Becker is officially the executive director of Berklee NYC, following her interim leadership since September 2023. Over the past two years, she has been instrumental in growing the campus’s leadership team, enhancing academic programs, and deepening community partnerships. Her achievements include appointing Merrily James and Daniel Pembroke to key roles and strengthening collaborations with NYC Public Schools, Carnegie Hall’s B-Side program and the Fashion Institute of Technology. Becker joined Berklee in 2019 as assistant vp for global program development and co-led the institution’s COVID-19 response. Her previous leadership experience includes roles at Juilliard, Decoda and Ensemble Connect.
Top Drawer Merch, a Los Angeles-based full-service merchandise company, appointed Claudia Peña as director of live events. In this role, she will lead the creation of immersive, attendee-focused brand activations at festivals, tours, and pop-ups, merging storytelling with commerce. Peña, founder of festival beauty brand Lunautics, brings experience in luxury retail and experiential marketing. Her hire follows Top Drawer’s success with events like SLANDER and Insomniac’s Starbase Festival.
BET has enlisted top talent to appear on its 25th annual BET Awards show, which will air live from Peacock Theatre at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Monday, June 9, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET.
Comedian Kevin Hart is set to host the show. It’s his second time fronting the ceremony, having previously hosted in 2011.
Lil Wayne, Teyana Taylor, GloRilla, Playboi Carti and Leon Thomas are set to perform. GloRilla is one of this year’s leading nominees, with six nominations, including album of the year for Glorious. Playboi Carti has one of the most successful albums of 2025; Music (which was released after the eligibility period for the 2025 BET Awards ended) topped the Billboard 200 for three weeks in March and April.
Four top stars — Mariah Carey, Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg and Kirk Franklin — are set to receive the Ultimate Icon Award.
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Living legend Stevie Wonder joins the list of presenters and participants, along with Busta Rhymes, Ciara, Quinta Brunson, Kerry Washington, Keke Palmer and more, Billboard can exclusively reveal. Other participants include Tyler Perry and LeToya Luckett-Coles and Devon Franklin from the cast of Divorced Sistas, a spinoff of the BET comedy series Sistas. The spinoff is set to premiere on BET+ on June 10.
As previously announced, BET will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of its music video countdown show 106 & Park with a special tribute. 106 & Park aired on BET from 2000-14. There are reports that a reboot of the show will premiere by September.
Kendrick Lamar leads the 2025 BET Awards nominations with 10 nods. Doechii, Drake, Future and GloRilla are tied with six nominations, Metro Boomin earned five, and SZA and The Weeknd are tied with four each.
Connie Orlando — evp of specials, music programming and music strategy at BET — serves as the executive producer for BET Awards 2025, with Jamal Noisette, svp of tentpoles and music community engagement, for BET. Jesse Collins Entertainment is the production company for the show, with Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay also serving as executive producers.
Performers
Lil Wayne
Teyana Taylor
GloRilla
Playboi Carti
Leon Thomas
Ultimate Icon Award recipients
Mariah Carey
Jamie Foxx
Snoop Dogg
Kirk Franklin
Presenters/Participants
LeToya Luckett-Coles (Divorced Sistas)
Devon Franklin (Divorced Sistas)
Tyler Perry
Keshia Chante (106&Park Tribute)
Terrence J (106&Park Tribute)
Free (106&Park Tribute)
Julissa Bermudez (106&Park Tribute)
DC YoungFly
Big Tigger (106&Park Tribute)
Crystal Renee
Busta Rhymes
Ciara
Tyler James Williams
Quinta Brunson
Drew Sidora (Cast of Run)
Marques Houston (Cast of Run)
Annie ilonzeh (Cast of Run)
Erika Pinkett (Cast of Run)
Erica Mena (Cast of Run)
Ken Lawson (Cast of Run)
Claudia Jordan (Cast of Run)
Kerry Washington
Deon Cole
Druski
Kai Cenat
Mariah the Scientist
Keke Palmer
LaLa Anthony
Diamond White
T.I.P.
Xavier Smalls
Ashley Nicole Moss
Cam Newton
Stevie Wonder
Tichina Arnold
Tisha Campbell
