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09 Jun 2023

HHW Gaming: Kill Confirmed, Activision Confirms Pulling Nickmercs’ ‘Call of Duty’ Skin Following Anti-LGBTQ+ Tweet

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Source: Activision / Call of Duty / Nickmercs

FaZe Clan member Nickmercs learned swiftly that spewing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric will cost you.

Spotted on PC Gamer, Nickmercs got his Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone skin pulled by Activision after he posted a headass anti-LGBTQ+ tweet.

In response to a tweet from CharlieIntel, a Call of Duty-focused website, which speculated that that was why Nickmerc’s skin was suddenly missing because of his comments, the Call of Duty Twitter account did confirm his skin is no longer available.

“Due to recent events, we have removed the ‘NICKMERCS Operator’ bundle from the Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone store,” the tweet begins.

The tweet in question from the FaZe Clan member, who has 6.7 million followers on Twitch and 2 million on Twitter, was a reply to a tweet from eSports broadcaster Chris Puckett highlighting a clash between anti and pro-LGBTQ+ demonstrators at a school that was voting to decide if it should recognize June as Pride Month.

“They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue,” Nickmercs said in his problematic tweet.

Outrage quickly followed after Nickmerc’s tweet, with Puckett himself responding, “Who is this ‘they’ and what terrible act is everyone afraid of?” he inquired. “I think/hope the goal of most of ‘them’ is to reduce child suicides. This is done through acceptance and removing the stigma of feeling/being different.”

Per the website, Nickmercs said he would not delete the tweet or apologize in a stream, claiming he does not resent the LGBTQ+ community.

Riiiiggghhht.

Bigots Are Big Mad

As expected, Actvision’s decision garnered plenty of reactions from gamers. You got the usual suspects who claim they will now be boycotting the company and popular video for taking the right stance.

Welp, it looks like they will have to stay mad because Nickmercs skin is no longer available, and there are no signs it is coming back.

You can see more reactions in the gallery below.

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Photo: Activision / Call of Duty

1. LOL, you won’t be missed on the COD battlefield

2. Another hater

3. Another loser who claims to be an ally

6. Y’all know what he meant

7. The lack of comprehension

9. Are y’all okay?

09 Jun 2023

Blueface Accused Of Robbing The Phone Of Woman That Chrisean Rock Assaulted

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Atlanta Black Pride Weekend Pure Heat Community Festival

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Blueface’s relationship with girlfriend Chrisean Rock may be as toxic as they come, but that doesn’t mean he won’t put his freedom on the line should the moment call for it.

According to TMZ, Blueface might’ve earned himself a robbery charge due to some actions taken by his ride-or-die, Chrisean Rock. TMZ is reporting that they’ve come across a police report that alleges that Chrisean Rock and her entourage assaulted a woman at the Palms Casino on May 29 in Vegas. The woman told Rock that she was a fan of hers and after congratulating her on her pregnancy, revealed she didn’t care much for her hubby, Blueface. “F*ck him,” the woman allegedly told Rock.

That was enough to warrant a universal beatdown from the pregnant Rock and her crew.

TMZ reports:

According to the report, Chrisean didn’t appreciate the verbal jab at her man, and punched the woman in the left side of her face. Cops say Blueface then snatched her phone, put it in his back pocket and mockingly said, “This is mine now.”
Officers say the woman was able to retrieve her phone from Blueface, but claims another man in the entourage clocked her with an uppercut!!!
During the melee, Blueface allegedly kicked the woman in the face and chest until security intervened … and Blue, Chrisean and co. fled in a Dodge Charger.
A Charger?! All that ice and the man rolls around in a Charger?! No getaway Benz? Aight, to each his own.Still, in all seriousness, authorities are reviewing the surveillance footage along with the video on the phone of the woman who was assaulted. And if this proves to be true, it could make matters worse for Blueface who was recently arrested on an attempted murder charge for a shooting that went down outside a Vegas strip club just last year.Next reality show Blueface and Chrisean Rock end up on might just be Love After Lockup or something.

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09 Jun 2023

Playing ‘Violently Misogynistic’ Music At Work Can Violate Sex Discrimination Laws, Court Says

A federal appeals court has issued a first-of-its-kind ruling that says blasting music with “sexually graphic” and “violently misogynistic” lyrics in a workplace could violate federal discrimination laws.

Reviving a lawsuit against an apparel company that played songs like Too $hort‘s “Blowjob Betty” and Eminem‘s “Stan” at a Nevada warehouse, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday (June 9) that the music had potentially created a “hostile or abusive environment” for female employees.

“Blasted from commercial-strength speakers placed throughout the warehouse, the music overpowered operational background noise and was nearly impossible to escape,” the appeals court wrote. “In turn, the music allegedly served as a catalyst for abusive conduct by male employees, who frequently pantomimed sexually graphic gestures, yelled obscenities, made sexually explicit remarks, and openly shared pornographic videos.”

The employer, S&S Activewear, argued the music didn’t constitute illegal bias under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, partly because it had been equally offensive to both men and women. And last year, a federal trial judge agreed, calling the case “fatally flawed” and dismissing it on those grounds.

But in Wednesday’s decision, the Ninth Circuit called that an “absurd interpretation” of the statute — and one that would create a “gaping hole” in discrimination law for any company that chose to be an “equal opportunity harasser.”

The appeals court said it was the first time it had ever ruled on the issue of “music-as-harassment” under the Civil Rights Act. But the judges said that sexist songs should be treated no differently than other situations where a workplace is “polluted with insult and intimidation.”

“[Female employees were] forced to tolerate the music and the toxic environment as a condition of continued employment,” the court wrote. “Whether sung, shouted, or whispered, blasted over speakers or relayed face-to-face, sexist epithets can offend and may transform a workplace into a hostile environment that violates Title VII.”

Importantly, Wednesday’s ruling does not say that S&S definitely violated the law; rather, it says the allegations against the company could have merit if they are eventually proven, and thus that the case should not have been dismissed so quickly. The case will now return to a lower court for more litigation and an eventual trial.

An attorney for S&S did not immediately return a request for comment on the decision.

The case was filed in 2020 by Stephanie Sharp and seven other women who worked at S&S’s Nevada warehouse. As examples of the music they were allegedly forced to listen to, they cited  “Blowjob Betty,” including its lyrics about a woman “who dies because of swallowing semen in her windpipe.” They also cited “Stan” and its lyrics about “placing a pregnant woman in the trunk of a vehicle and then driving the vehicle into a river … for the purpose of drowning her.”

Though the songs at issue in the case were mostly hip-hop, Wednesday’s ruling reviving that lawsuit was careful to stress that it was not targeting rap music specifically.

“It is beyond our purview to pass judgment on the appropriateness of music in the workplace writ large,” the court wrote. “Nor is it our objective to ascribe misogyny to any particular musical genre.”

In a statement to Billboard on Friday, lead plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Mausert said he and his clients were “very pleased” with a ruling that used “common sense” to reach the right result: “This opinion will prevent a lot of sexual harassment at a multitude of workplaces,” Mausert said. “It is well written and is pretty much a tour de force of Ninth Circuit law.”

Read the Ninth Circuit’s entire ruling here:

09 Jun 2023

Billboard 2023: The Covers

2023 was a year of rising stars, Latin domination and breaking the mold, and Billboard’s cover stories reflected just that.

The year of Billboard covers kicked off with Paramore, who had just reunited as a band to release their first album together in six years, This Is Why.

Over the course of the year, superstar rappers like Youngboy Never Broke Again, Lil Yachty, 50 Cent have graced the cover, as did rising rap sensation Ice Spice. Over on the dance front, Kaytranada posed for the Pride issue, while Kaskade and deadmau5 appeared on the SXSW issue.

It was also a big year for Latin couples, as both Lele Pons and Guaynaa as well as Rosalia and Rauw Alejandro showed their love for a Billboard cover story. Women also dominated the scene, as the 2023 Woman of the Year SZA and all of the Latin Women in Music honorees were featured on covers this year.

Billboard‘s Pride cover featured a special shoot featuring Maren Morris dressed as Willie Nelson, posing alongside drag supesrtars Sasha Colby, Eureka O’Hara, Landon Cider and Symone.

See below for Billboard‘s 2023 magazine covers.

09 Jun 2023

Indictment Against Trump Unsealed, 38 Criminal Charges Revealed

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The Department of Justice has unsealed its indictment against former President Donald Trump, revealing lurid details of the federal government’s allegations that he withheld classified documents and obstructed attempts to retrieve them.

On Friday afternoon (June 9th), prosecutors for the government unsealed the 49-page indictment covering their allegations against Trump and his aide, Walter Nauta taking classified documents when he left the White House on January 20th, 2021. It stated that the documents contained information on “United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.” The actual number of counts in the indictment amount to 38 in number, with the first 31 covering each document as charges of willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act.

The indictment alleges that Trump kept those documents in plain sight throughout his Mar-A-Lago golf estate, including in a bathroom, a shower, and a ballroom. One photo in the indictment shows a box of highly classified documents that had spilled onto the floor of one of the storage rooms at the Palm Beach estate. It also contains details of evidence that the former president shared a “highly sensitive” plan of attack against Iran with guests at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club last July, including a recording where he described the information as “highly confidential” while admitting that it was not declassified. 

Adding to the mounting evidence are the allegations of Trump’s activities in obstructing the Department of Justice, including “providing to the F.B.I. and grand jury just some of the documents called for by the grand jury subpoena, while claiming that he was cooperating fully.” Nauta’s involvement was the source of a heavy federal investigation, particularly as it was discovered that he was caught on camera moving the boxes of sensitive information out of Mar-A-Lago with a maintenance worker before the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search there last August.

Special Counsel Jack Smith is slated to release a statement concerning the unsealing of the indictment at 3 P.M. from his office in Washington D.C. Trump, meanwhile, is expected to attend campaign events in Georgia and North Carolina on Saturday (June 10th). He is slated to appear in federal court in Miami, Florida next Tuesday, marking the first time an American president has appeared in court in such a situation.

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09 Jun 2023

Jerry Seinfeld & Jim Gaffigan Are Doing a Joint Comedy Tour: Here Are the Dates

Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan are hitting the road, and this time, they’re not just going out for coffee. After first meeting in 2016 for an episode of Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, the two comics have now announced plans to team up for a four-date joint arena tour.

The stint will find Seinfeld and Gaffigan performing shows Nov. 3 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Nov. 4 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, Nov. 10 in Chicago and Nov. 11 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. local time for each venue next Friday (June 16) via Ticketmaster, according to Deadline.

“Jim and I met doing Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and have been talking about doing this for years,” Seinfeld said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “We finally made the schedules work out.”

Indeed, the two first crossed paths and bonded over their similarities on the talk show’s eighth season. Seinfeld picked up Gaffigan in a 1977 Volkswagen Camper Bus, and they went out for pastrami at the 2nd Avenue Deli in New York City.

The tour follows the lead of similar joint endeavors by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, Kevin Hart and Chris Rock and more pairings. The news comes as Seinfeld gears up for the release of his upcoming Netflix comedy Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, which also stars Gaffigan, Melissa McCarthy, James Marsden and Hugh Grant. Gaffigan, meanwhile, has his tenth stand-up special coming out this year.

“I’m so excited to help out this unknown up and upcoming comedian who many may have never heard of,” joked Gaffigan of the four-date trek in a statement of his own. “I know it will be an amazing bunch of shows.”

09 Jun 2023

Moneybagg Yo Announces Larger Than Life Tour

Moneybagg Yo is ready to hit the road this summer for his upcoming tour, Larger Than Life. 

Announced Friday (June 9), the “Wockesha” rapper will go on a multi-city trek beginning in Orlando on Aug. 3, and continuing throughout various cities including Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles. Then, he will conclude his 23-city trek in his hometown of Memphis on Sept. 30 at the Fed-Ex Forum.

Joining Bagg on tour for select dates will be Finesse2tymes, Sexxy Red, Luh Tyler, Big Boogie, and YTB FATT. Tickets are available to the public on Tuesday (June 13) at 10 a.m. local time and can be purchased here. 

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Last week, Bagg released his long-awaited mixtape Hard to Love. The 20-track project includes features from Future, Lil Durk and GloRilla and also singles such as “Sticky,” “Ocean Spray” and “On Wat U On.”

Bagg initially had plans to drop his mixtape earlier, but quickly changed his mind when Taylor Swift announced that her Midnights (Til Dawn Edition) would drop the same day. Instead of sulking over the announcement, Bagg took to social media and posted a video of him singing Swift’s “Lover” before delaying his mixtape by a week. “I just got the news my little baby Taylor dropping tonight,” he said. “I ain’t gonna lie, you know how I feel about Taylor, so I think I’m gonna push Hard to Love back just a few days. Ya’ll be patient with me, man.”

Check out the dates for Bagg’s Larger Than Life Tour below.

09 Jun 2023

This Verizon Bundle Offers Netflix, Showtime & Paramount+ for $25.99 a Month

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Streaming has taken over our TVs and smart devices, but having so many streaming options can add up over time. Thankfully, Verizon is offering a bundle that can save you up to $70 a month.

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Through Verizon’s myPlan +play, you can enjoy Netflix, Paramount+ and Showtime for only $25.99/month, offering up to $70 of savings per month (based on the monthly costs of Netflix and Paramount+ alone). To be eligible for the deal you just need to be a Verizon mobile, 5G Home or LTE Home Internet customer. And Verizon offers deals on a multitude of entertainment all in one place.

“With partners like Netflix and Paramount+ with Showtime on +play, we’re leading the industry in offering customers the content they want, with never-before-seen bundles they can’t get anywhere else,” Erin McPherson, chief content officer at Verizon Consumer Group said in a statement. “And now with +play as a perk offered with myPlan, we’re looking forward to even more customers taking advantage of the savings we have to offer. This marks a milestone for both Verizon and the streaming industry, and we’re grateful and excited to be in it with these partners.”

Verizon +Play

$25.99/month

What is +play? Consider it an all-in-one platform for tracking your subscriptions and payments as well as discovering new entertainment. You can also choose to add other streamers to your myPlan such as Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, AMC+, NFL+, NBA League Pass, Max, Netflix, A+E Networks, Starz, Duolingo and more — with additional platforms planned to be added throughout the year.

What’s streaming on Paramount+? The platform is home to a myriad of exclusive shows, movies and sporting events, along with live access to local CBS channels (when you subscribe to the Paramount+ Plus Essential plan). Paramount+ starts at $4.99/month after a free trial for the first week.

Some of the original shows on the Paramount+ roster include Joe Pickett, iCarly, 1883, 1923, RuPaul’s Drag Race AllStars, New Moon Rising, The Family Stallone, Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New World.

Showtime features shows and movies that you’ll be able to enjoy through the Verizon deal or a regular subscription for $11.99/month. The list of shows include Yellowjackets, Vice, George & Tammy, WACO: The Aftermath, Billions, The Most Dangerous Man The World Has Ever Known, Billions, Couples Therapy, The 12th Victim, The Affair and Dexter: New Blood.

Netflix plans start at $6.99/month. The streaming giant carries tons of must-watch shows and movies like Fubar, Queen Charlotte, Never Have I Ever, Manifest, You, Stranger Things and Love Is Blind.

09 Jun 2023

Taylor Swift Breaks Record for Most Adult Pop Airplay Chart Top 10s With ‘Karma’

Taylor Swift rewrites the mark for the most top 10 hits in the history of Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay chart, as “Karma” climbs from No. 11 to No. 8 on the list dated June 17.

The song, released on Republic Records, becomes Swift’s 28th Adult Pop Airplay top 10, surpassing Maroon 5 for the record (dating to the chart’s start in Billboard’s pages in March 1996).

Swift first reached the region with her initial entry on the adult top 40 radio-based chart, “Teardrops on My Guitar,” which hit No. 6 in March 2008. She had most recently added to her top 10 total with “Lavender Haze,” which rose to No. 4 in April.

Notably, Swift has notched at least one new Adult Pop Airplay top 10 each year starting in 2012. That 12-year streak is the longest active run on the ranking and is tied for the longest in the chart’s archives; Maroon 5 posted at least one new top 10 annually from 2010 through 2021.

“Karma” is the third Adult Pop Airplay top 10 from Swift’s 2022 album Midnights, after “Anti-Hero” became her ninth No. 1, reigning for a personal-best nine weeks in December-January, and “Lavender Haze.”

Here’s an updated recap of the acts with the most Adult Pop Airplay top 10s:

  • 28, Taylor Swift
  • 27, Maroon 5
  • 20, P!nk
  • 16, Kelly Clarkson
  • 16, Katy Perry
  • 16, Ed Sheeran
  • 14, Justin Bieber
  • 14, Goo Goo Dolls
  • 14, Train
  • 13, Matchbox Twenty

As previously reported, “Karma” vaulted 27-2 on the June 10-dated Billboard Hot 100. After it first logged a week in the top 10, at No. 9, in its debut frame last November, concurrent with the No. 1 Billboard 200 debut of Midnights, the song hit a new Hot 100 best following the May 26 release of its remix with Ice Spice, and the wide premiere of its official video May 27 (at midnight each day); attendees at Swift’s May 26 concert as part of her The Eras Tour at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., saw the clip even earlier at the show, while Ice Spice joined Swift on-stage for a live debut of the remix.

All charts dated June 17 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, June 13.

09 Jun 2023

Friday Music Guide: New Music From Sam Smith & Madonna, Rosalía, Niall Horan, BTS and More

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, Sam Smith gets “vulgar” with the Queen of Pop, Rosalía stays active in the studio, Niall Horan presents his latest solo vision and BTS salutes ARMY. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Sam Smith with Madonna, “Vulgar” 

As “Unholy” became the first Hot 100 chart-topper of Sam Smith’s career last year, the Kim Petras collaboration doubled as their most unlikely hit to date, its sweaty electro-pop chants a far cry from the elegant vocal showcases that made Smith a superstar. “Vulgar,” then, represents a logical next step into that sound, as well as an exciting proposition as a Smith-Madonna team-up: a throbbing, purposely provocative banger that challenges all haters (“Say we’re ridiculous, we’ll just go harder!” Smith and Madge declare in unison), the single uses backlash as fuel, lets Madonna flip off the world, and potentially gives Smith another club-thumping hit.

Rosalía, “Tuya” 

Although Rosalía released her acclaimed MOTOMAMI album a little over a year ago and has been traveling the world in support of the full-length, the Spanish superstar has continued one of the most prolific recording periods of her career with a handful of one-off tracks, as well as her RR project with Rauw Alejandro. New single “Tuya” crystallizes her sonic aspirations: the slithering track mashes up reggaeton with the Japanese instrument koto underneath Rosalía’s trademark vulnerability, showcasing an artist who continues to expand her profile but refuses to rest on her laurels.

Niall Horan, The Show 

Three quarters of a decade removed from the last One Direction album and three albums into a subsequent solo career, Niall Horan has, at long last, settled into himself. After 2017 debut Flicker kick-started his solo artistry with some surefire radio hits (“This Town,” “Slow Hands”) and 2020’s Heartbreak Weather featured a handful of sonic chances (“Nice To Meet Ya,” “Put a Little Love on Me”), The Show, Horan’s best album to date, tells us what type of long-term career he wants to fashion by splitting the difference and achieving consistency.

Click here to read a full review of Horan’s new album.

BTS, “Take Two” 

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of BTS, a group that revolutionized the reach and perception of Asian pop artists in North America and around the world — and as their downtime continues and various members score solo hits, the collective has offered fans a reflective new single that hopefully sets the stage for their second act. The best moments on “Take Two” involve two BTS members harmonizing, their voices intertwined as they croon about youth and their shared gratitude; the solo projects have been satisfying in recent months, but the power of a fully aligned BTS remains singular.

J Hus feat. Drake, “Who Told You” 

If “Search & Rescue” — a downbeat single, released in April, about wanting to be saved by a monogamous relationship — served as Drake’s springtime smash, “Who Told You,” a new team-up with British rapper J Hus, may very well become his summer hit, an upbeat, Afrobeats-adjacent take on the idea that too-cool-for-school guys need to report to the dance floor, too. Drake changes up his flow to match his collaborator and beat, but still relies upon his tough-guy charms and melodic rap skill set, making “Who Told You” a throwback to his guest spot days of yore, when he was assisting artists like Rihanna, 2 Chainz and French Montana on party hits.

Janelle Monáe, The Age of Pleasure 

After spending so much of her recording career constructing narratives and multilayer concepts, Janelle Monáe wants to party on new album The Age of Pleasure, a well-deserved celebration that may also be the most front-to-back satisfying listen in her catalog. Although the ambition of her previous projects remains, it’s pointed at straightforward R&B grooves and immediate pop hooks: songs like the boisterous “Champagne Shit,” swaying “Water Slide” and sexually charged “Lipstick Lover” invite the listener to get lost in their sensual worlds, while Monáe acts as a tour guide to her beautifully messy desires.