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10 Jan 2024

Bulge Wars: Safaree Posts Workout Video Mocking Wiz Khalifa With Package On Display

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Safaree is trending on X this week and as it happens, it’s never for a reason one would readily expect. The reality television star posted a NSFW gym video mocking Wiz Khalifa and fans online believe they’re having a bulge war.

Earlier this year, Wiz Khalifa, a known gym rat who trains in mixed martial arts, posted a bench curl video in his typical workout shorts with fans noticing that “Little Wiz” was able to be seen in full color through the gear. While it didn’t seem to be an intentional choice, fans made a bit of a commotion but moved on from the moment quickly.

However, Safaree, who operates an OnlyFans page, posted and deleted a video of him doing a similar workout with his goodness and mercy showing through his pants, and fans were taken aback. On OnlyFans, Safaree called his video the “Wiz Khalifa Workout Challenge” although we doubt the Pittsburgh rapper signed up for this particular footrace.

On X, formerly Twitter, the comments are a little lusty with some wondering how Safaree’s ex-girlfriend, Nicki Minaj, managed the, ahem, equipment for the years they dated. Others are calling the former Scaff Beezy corny for doing so while some ladies are saying that his corniness is part of the appeal.

Check out the reactions below. Naturally, we can’t share the video but it’s out there if you’re looking hard enough.

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Photo: Getty

10 Jan 2024

*NSYNC’s Joey Fatone and Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean Hitting Road Together for 2024 ‘Legendary Night’ Tour

Joey Fatone and AJ McLean are crossing over. The *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys members announced on Tuesday (Jan. 9) that they are hitting the road together in March for an eight-date joint tour they’ve dubbed “A Legendary Night.”

In a post announcing the one-of-a-kind outing, Fatone wrote, “This is going to be fun!!!! @aj_mclean my dude … here we go!!!!,” with the BSB singer responding, “LEGENDARY [sign of the horns emoji].

The outing is slated to kick off on March 15 at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, CA and hit the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, CA before moving on to the East Coast for gigs in Wallingford, CT, Boston and Newark before wrapping with a trio of shows in Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and Jacksonville, FL. Click here for details on the artist pre-sale and general on-sale, with the latter slated to kick off on Friday (Jan. 12) at 10 a.m. local time.

According to a release from promoter Live Nation, the tour will find the old friends teaming up to perform choreo, their beloved 1990s and early 2000s hits accompanied by a seven-piece band and “intimate conversations of never-before-told stories from their time on the road.” The singers, both 46, booked the tour after performing together at a gig dubbed “Joey Fatone & Friends — Welcome to Tampa 90s Party” in September; they also previously shared the stage in 2021 during Fatone’s “The AFTR PRTY” Las Vegas residency, which featured the *NSYNC member performing with McLean, Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men) and McLean’s BSB bandmate, Nick Carter.

In an Instagram Live chat hyping the tour on Tuesday, Fatone promised fans that the new dates will be a “crazy” twist on the previous team-ups, with plenty of songs from both men’s groups, as well as some tracks “that never really hit on albums or records” and some throwback 90s tracks. The show will also include a “wheel of songs” segment in which they’ll spin and sing different tracks ecah night. “Obviously a blast a lot of fun,” Fatone promised.

“You guys are in for one hell of a show,” McLean added, noting that fans will know “every song,” while teasing that he will also be performing a couple of his new tracks.

Fatone reunited with his *NSYNC mates at last year’s MTV VMAs in a surprise moment that preceded the release of the defunct group’s first song in 22 years, the Trolls Band Together single “Better Place.”

Check out the “A Legendary Night” tour announcement, teaser video and dates below.

March 15 – Temecula, CA @ Pechanga Theatre

March 16 – Rancho Mirage, CA @ The Show at Agua Caliente

March 21 – Wallingford, CT @ Toyota Oakdale Theatre

March 22 – Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues

March 23 – Newark, NJ @ New Jersey Performing Arts Center

March 28 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ AuRene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts

March 29 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live

March 30 – Jacksonville, FL @ Florida Theatre

10 Jan 2024

Selena Gomez Taking Another Social Media Break: ‘I’m Focusing on What Really Matters’

Selena Gomez is taking another social media break. According to People magazine, the Only Murders In the Building star posted an Instagram Story on Tuesday (Jan. 9) detailing her latest social rest in an attempt to focus on “what really matters.” The Story was accompanied by an image of of boyfriend producer Benny Blanco goofing around with two unidentified young children as Gomez announced, “I’m off social media for a while. I’m focusing on what really matters.”

Gomez announced a similar social time out in October due to what she dubbed the “hate, violence and terror” around the world, adding, that “people being tortured and killed or any act of hate towards any one group is horrific” and that “ALL people” need to be protected, “especially children.” That post came weeks after Hamas militants stormed into Israel and murdered more than 1,200 Israelis and took 240 hostages in the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, kicking off a three-month Israeli military response that has reportedly killed more than 22,000 Palestinians.

Gomez did not specify what prompted her latest social pause in Tuesday’s comment, though it came shortly after she took to the comments section on Insta to respond to rumors about the viral Golden Globes moment she shared with pal Taylor Swift at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards. The rampant, gossipy speculation about what the two women were discussing reached such a fevered pitch that Gomez felt it necessary to explain what she, Swift and Swift’s seatmate, Miles Teller’s Wife, Keleigh, were discussing.

“Was Selena Gomez Gossiping About Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet at Golden Globes?” asked an E! News headline on Instagram, to which Gomez responded: “Noooooo I told Taylor about two of my friends who hooked up. Not that that’s anyone business.”

Gomez previously announced a social pause in Feb. 2023 — telling followers on TikTok “I’m too old for this” — after telling InStyle in Jan. 2022 that, “Taking a break from social media was the best decision that I’ve ever made for my mental health.” At the time the singer/actress who currently has 429 million Instagram followers explained that she’d created a system “where I still don’t have my passwords. And the unnecessary hate and comparisons went away once I put my phone down. I’ll have moments where that weird feeling will come back, but now I have a much better relationship with myself.”

10 Jan 2024

B.G. Reveals That He Spoke To Lil Wayne After Dissing Him On New Record

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B.G.

Source: @new_bghollyhood / Instagram

Things still seem to be very spicy between the Hot Boys. B.G. says he and Lil Wayne spoke after dissing his band mate.

Last week he released a song with Finesse2tymes titled “Gangstafied” where he took some very pointed shots at Tune. “My n***a Weezy steady touring, but he’s b***h and it’s showing / I’m still a living legend, don’t act like you didn’t know it” he rapped. XXL Magazine is reporting that the newly free MC has spoken to Wayne as per a video he shared to social media on Sunday, January 7.

“I talked to my little brother last night. Shout out to shorty. Still my little bro. I love my little bro. Sh*t be complicated sometimes. But, you know, Gizzle gon’ do what Gizzle does” he said. “I’ll tell a n***a I love him and call him a b***h all in the same sentence,” B.G. added. “So, if you ain’t like…you know…this family business. Shout out to my little brother Weezy, too.” Now that the Hot Boys all free men (Turk was released from prison in 2012 after serving almost nine years in prison) it is clear to the public that team has some issues to hash out before a formal reunion can happen.

In September of last year Birdman announced he is working towards a Cash Money Records reunion tour. But when asked why he did not roll out the same red carpet for Turk as he did for B.G. he made it clear that the two aren’t always on the same page. “Honestly me and Turk ain’t have a relationship before he went to jail” he said in an interview with Live Bitez.

You can see B.G. discuss his conversation with Lil Wayne below.

10 Jan 2024

A$AP Rocky Pleads Not Guilty In A$AP Relli Shooting

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Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles - January 8, 2024

Source: MEGA / Getty

A$AP Rocky appeared in court in Los Angeles to plead not guilty to the shooting of A$AP Relli ahead of an upcoming trial date.

On Monday (January 8), A$AP Rocky appeared before Judge Karla Kerlin in a Los Angeles courtroom to enter a plea of not guilty in the shooting of his former friend and collaborator, A$AP Relli which took place in Hollywood in November 2021. The rapper, also known as Rakim Myers, was accompanied by his legal team of Joe Tacopina and Sarah Cohen. After entering the plea, A$AP Rocky left the court and had no comment for reporters waiting outside. “We have a lot of evidence that we have a strong suspicion the prosecutors don’t know about,” Tacopina said to the press outside of the courthouse.

A$AP Rocky had been arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in April 2022 in connection to the criminal incident. A$AP Relli, also known as Terrell Ephron, alleges that A$AP Rocky fired a gun in his direction twice, injuring him when the bullet hit him in his left hand. Surveillance video of the incident which included timestamps of the gun being fired off camera, along with testimony admitted to the court last November compelled another judge to rule that there was sufficient evidence for a trial to proceed. A pre-trial hearing has been ordered to take place on March 6. 

A$AP Rocky is facing two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and one count of personal use of a firearm. In a statement to Rolling Stone, Tacopina defended his client and said of A$AP Relli: “He’s a failed associate — ex-associate — of Rocky’s, and he’s jealous. He was trying to get money from Rocky. He wanted Rocky to support him. He made it clear. There were repeated attempts where he tried to ask for money in lieu of not causing problems for Rocky. That’s what he said. We have all this memorialized in text messages and otherwise, so it’s an extortion.”

10 Jan 2024

Merlin Unveils 2024 Board, Prioritizes ‘Meaningful, Sustainable and Value-Driven Member Growth’

Merlin, the global digital licensing agency for the independent music industry, has unveiled its new board – one that doesn’t feature co-founders Martin Mills and Michel Lambot.

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The new board comprises leaders from the indie sector in 12 different countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania, and includes six new faces.

Exclusively revealed by Billboard today (Jan. 10), Merlin welcomes new board members Golda Bitterli, VP of sales, Revelator (Israel); Jeffrey Chiang, director of global business, Fluxus (South Korea); Fer Isella, founder and CEO, limbo music (Spain); Irina Lipczyk-Kolakovska, digital distribution lead, e-muzyka (Poland); Simon Wheeler, director of global commercial strategy, Beggars (U.K.); and Megan Jasper, CEO, Sub Pop (U.S.).

They join returning Merlin board members Pascal Bittard, founder and CEO, IDOL (France); Marie Clausen, managing director North America, Ninja Tune (U.S.); Tom Deakin, head of EMEA, AudioSalad (U.K.); Chris Maund, COO, Mushroom Music (Australia); Carlos Mills, founder, Mills Records (Brazil); Louis Posen, president & executive director, Hopeless Records (U.S.); Michael Ugwu, CEO, Freeme Digital (Nigeria); Darius Van Arman, co-CEO, Secretly (U.S.); Horst Weidenmueller, CEO & Owner, !K7 (Germany); and Justin West, president & CEO, Secret City (Canada).

Van Arman is reappointed as chairperson for a second term, having first joined the board in 2015, and playing an “instrumental” role in guiding the organization’s strategic direction, reads a statement.

Additionally, Jennifer Newman Sharpe, general counsel, Exceleration, and Dorothee Imhoff, CCO, FUGA, are appointed board advisors this year.

Merlin’s board is elected from and by its membership, which represents tens of thousands of independent record labels, distributors, and rightsholders, including K7!, Because Music, Beggars Group, Better Noise, CD Baby and Downtown Music (including FUGA), Exceleration, and many others.

In the upcoming year, explains Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota in a statement to Billboard, the organization “is committed to fostering meaningful, sustainable and value-driven member growth.”

Its mission, “to support labels and distributors who invest in artists and their unique cultural contributions. By associating with members who invest in high-quality music around the world, Merlin aims to strengthen its network, while offering unparalleled access and benefits to our members, and enriching the global music landscape.”

Sirota and Merlin also pay tribute to outgoing board members Martin Mills (Beggars), Merlin co-founder, board member and former chairperson, and Michel Lambot ([PIAS]), Merlin co-founder and board member, two giants of the independent music community whose “long-standing leadership” helped members “around the world own their independence.”

Also, Sirota points to the completion last year of the initial build of a Data Warehouse, which should enable Merlin to make “significant strides in data, analytics, and insights to further advance our mission and our members.” In 2024, “we will now start to provide actionable insights derived from our collective data,” he adds. Part of that plan includes expanding Merlin’s data and insights team, which in time should “deliver insights that help our members make informed decisions and foster growth.”

10 Jan 2024

Olivia Rodrigo Open to Acting Return: ‘I Love Movies, I Love Telling Stories’

Olivia Rodrigo is open to going back to the start. The “Vampire” singer who got her start as a kid and teen actor on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Bizaardvark told Variety magazine at the Academy’s Governors Awards on Tuesday night (Jan. 9) that she’d totally be up for a return to acting if the right part came along.

“I love movies, I love telling stories,” said the singer. “I really want to do a coming-of-age thing maybe before I’m actually of age. Maybe I am of age already,” added the star who turns 21 on Feb. 20. “I just love telling stories, whether that be in a song or movie, that’s really something that really excites me.”

Rodrigo was at the Awards show to hype her The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes soundtrack song “Can’t Catch Me Now,” which has been shortlisted for this year’s Oscars; nominations slated to be announced later this month. The singer — who won the best new artist Grammy in 2022 for her debut album, Sour — has six Grammy noms this year for her sophomore album, GUTS and also said she’d totally be down for recording a duet with one of this year’s best new artist nominees, Noah Kahan.

“I think he’s so great and he’s very inspiring,” she said of the “Dial Drunk” star, crossing her fingers and adding, “One of these days.”

While she waits for that dream to manifest, Rodrigo is gearing up to kick off her GUTS world tour on Feb. 23 in Palm Springs, CA, with The Breeders, Chapel Roan, PinkPantheress and Remi Wolf slated to open on select dates.

10 Jan 2024

Spice Up Your Life? Mel B Confirms ‘Really Good’ Spice Girls News Is Coming Soon

Thirty years after the Spice Girls formed, triggering a wave of Girl Power that spread the globe, the classic lineup will reunite for a project.

Though details remain under lock and key, founding member Mel B let the news slip out during her appearance on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna.

When asked about the chances of a Spice Girls reunion, Mel B (real name Melanie Brown) told Hoda Kotb, “I’ve been saying it forever. But now we’re actually going to be releasing some really good news in about a few weeks that involves all five of us.”

A reunion isn’t a sinch, she continues. “There’s five of us, five separate diaries, we’re all parents.”

The famous five is, of course, Baby (Emma Bunton), Posh (Victoria Beckham), Ginger (Geri Halliwell-Horner), Sporty (Melanie Chisholm) and Scary Spice (Mel B) – an outfit that landed No. 1s on both sides of the Atlantic during a hot streak in the late 1990s.

Will Spicemaniacs be satisfied by what’s to come? Apparently so. “100%,” enthuses Mel B. “And it’s going to be the gift that keeps on giving, without saying too much about it. I’m going to get myself into so much trouble.”

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The Spice Girls assembled in 1994, and had a global phenomenon two years later with their debut single, 1996’s “Wannabe.” The catchy track logged four weeks at the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1997, and is one of the group’s nine U.K. No. 1 singles. “Wannabe” is still powering along, passing one billion streams on Spotify over the recent holiday period. The Brits’ debut LP Spice spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and 15 weeks at the summit of the Official U.K. Albums Chart (followup Spiceworld logged three weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. in 1997).

It takes something special to gather the girls. The last time all five performed together was for the London Olympics in 2012, though the pop act hit the road for a tour in 2019, doing so as a four-piece without Victoria Beckham.

The Spice Girls did reunite in 2022 for the occasion of Geri’s 50th birthday, an event that doubled-up as the 25th anniversary of their Spiceworld, their sophomore album. Geri had left the group in 1998 to embark on a solo career, but returning to the fold in 2007 for the Return of the Spice Girls Tour.

Reunion talk aside, Mel B used her stint on the Today with Hoda & Jenna couch to discuss her return to the America’s Got Talent judging panel, her MBE, her book, her forthcoming wedding and the Royal Mail’s special collection of Spice Girls stamps. “It is massive,” she says of the new stamp issue. “For the Royal Mail, it’s usually the Queen, and the King” on the stamps. “And now it’s the Spice Girls.”

Watch the interview below.

09 Jan 2024

Martha Henderson, Leading Entertainment Industry Banker, Is Set to Retire

Martha Henderson, the banking star who had a major role in City National Bank financing the entertainment industry over four decades, and whose expertise has seen her repeatedly honored on Billboard’s “Women in Music” and other power lists, is set to retire.

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Currently serving as vice chairman of entertainment banking at City National Bank, Henderson will step down on Feb. 2, 2024, ending her 40-year tenure with the organization.

Los Angeles-based Henderson joined City National in 1983 from Wells Fargo, where she launched her career in its private bank unit serving the entertainment industry.

With Henderson at the helm, City National’s team serving the entertainment industry now provides financial expertise to more than 90% of entertainment business managers, according to a statement from the bank, plus more than 50% of all Broadway shows, and upwards of 80% of the country music industry in Nashville.

Also, she created a team to serve the needs of Latin entertainers, expanded its business to New York, Miami, Atlanta and on Music Row in Nashville, and more.

“Martha is an institution at City National and I am grateful for her extraordinary service,” comments Kelly Coffey, CEO City National Entertainment. “Her decades of leadership and the profound impact she has had are felt throughout the organization.”

As she prepared for retirement over the last several years, explains Howard Hammond, CEO, City National Bank, Henderson “invested herself in ensuring the continuing entertainment banking leadership team is well prepared to support our clients,” singling-out experienced teammate JaHan Wang, executive vice president of entertainment banking.

Henderson’s financial wizardry hasn’t gone unnoticed outside of the bank. Billboard named her to its “Power” list in 2023 and 2022, and recognized her in its “Women in Music” list of the most powerful women in the music industry for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018.

Separately, Variety named Henderson in its “Women’s Impact Report” as one of the most important women in Hollywood, doing so in 2016, 2019 and 2020, while Barron’s profiled her as the most powerful banker in Hollywood in 2017.

“Among the career highlights I am most proud of is the opportunity I had to grow and develop the next generation of leadership at the bank to continue our focus on serving clients,” comments Henderson ahead of he departure. “I’m confident City National’s unwavering dedication to the industry will only grow.”

09 Jan 2024

Bet: Adam Driver Says He Has No Interest In Filming Another ‘Star Wars’ Movie

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Source: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty

It’s been almost a decade since the Star Wars franchise was reintroduced in its last trilogy The Force Awakens. While fans had many bones to pick with each film, most of them pretty much agreed that Adam Driver taking on the mantle of main villain was a mistake, respectfully.

As it turns out, it seems like the man himself didn’t enjoy filming the projects much, which is probably why he looked annoyed during most of the films. According to Variety, Driver recently appeared on the SmartLess podcast and spoke about his time while filming the Star Wars trilogy. He admitted that it was an “exhausting” experience and that he wouldn’t be interested in reprising his role as Kylo Ren in any future projects.

With Disney+ churning out Star Wars spinoff series—which feature cameos from some Star Wars OGs— and rumors about a new Star Wars film trilogy in the works, Driver bluntly stated: “I’m not doing any more” filming related to anything going on in a galaxy far, far away.

Variety reports:

“You’re done because the character’s done?” podcast co-host Sean Haynes asked as a follow-up question, to which Driver responded: “Yes.”

“‘Star Wars’ was way more exhausting for me … I made it more exhausting than it should have been,” Driver added. “I hadn’t quite figured out the momentum of a set that was that big before. All the things I had worked on were pretty small and moved pretty fast … The director sets the pace of the set. I don’t like to control that. I have to adjust. Spike Lee and [Steven] Soderbergh shoot really fast. For me that’s not comfortable, but it’s there movie and their film so I adjust.”

Can’t say we’re heartbroken over the news. No shots.

Continuing to talk about how his character arc changed over the course of the trilogy, Driver says that Kylo was supposed to get more evil and darker with each passing film as opposed to becoming a conflicted anti-hero who didn’t know if he was coming or going.

From Variety:

“I had an overall arc in mind that [J.J. Abrams] wanted to do,” Driver said.

“His idea was that [Kylo’s] journey was the opposite journey of Vader, where Vader starts the most confident and the most committed to the dark side. And then by the last movie, he’s the most vulnerable and weak. He wanted to start with the opposite. This character was the most confused and vulnerable, and by the end of the three movies, he would be the most committed to the dark side. I tried to keep that arc in mind, regardless if that wound up not being the journey anyway, because it changed while shooting. But I was still focused on that.”

A lot of fans always felt that Kylo Ren shouldn’t have taken off his mask so soon and rode that look out Darth Vader style until the very last film. But alas, he revealed himself and his origin quick-fast in the first film, and it was all downhill from there.

Now that Daisy Ridley’s follow-up movie to The Rise of Skywalker is in the works, we doubt the production team will be contacting Driver for some kind of ghost cameo. Especially because he seems to have no interest in returning to the franchise whatsoever.

Truth be told, we doubt fans even want to see him again. Just sayin’.

What do y’all think about Adam Driver not wanting to return to the Star Wars franchise? Will y’all miss him or nah? Let us know in the comments section below.