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Trending on Billboard This week, Billboard’s New Music Latin playlist — curated by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors — features fresh new music including Maria Becerra’s third studio album Quimera, Tainy and Karol G’s melancholic reggaetón “Única” and “LA FKN VIBRA,” a first collaborative effort by Sebastian Yatra and Xavi. Explore See latest videos, […]
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Don Henley and his longtime manager Irving Azoff have won dismissal of a lawsuit over their ultimately unsuccessful prosecution of three men for allegedly trying to sell stolen, original lyrics from the Eagles’ 1976 album Hotel California.
Rare book dealer Glenn Horowitz sued Henley and Azoff for malicious prosecution in February, alleging they manipulated New York prosecutors into charging him and two other innocent men. The criminal case was thrown out midway through trial last year, after Henley belatedly produced evidence relevant to whether or not the Hotel California lyric notes were truly stolen in the first place.
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Henley and Azoff say they did nothing wrong and that the collapse of the criminal case was merely based on a technicality. A judge in New York court sided with the duo in a Nov. 10 order dismissing the malicious prosecution claims as legally deficient.
“There was ample probable cause for the DA to bring a case against Mr. Horowitz; indeed, a grand jury indicted Mr. Horowitz based upon the DA’s independent and years long investigation,” wrote Justice Kathleen Waterman-Marshall. “The dismissal of the case at trial after complainant Henley produced documents — none of which were found to exculpate Mr. Horowitz — did not result from any bad faith conduct on the part of the defendants and, thus, does not change this result.”
In a statement to Billboard on Friday (Nov. 21), Henley’s attorney Dan Petrocelli said, “The only malicious prosecution was Horowitz’s own lawsuit, which the court promptly and rightly dismissed.”
Meanwhile, Horowitz’s lawyer, Caitlin Robin, told Billboard that they will appeal Justice Waterman-Marshall’s decision. Horowitz also has a separate malicious prosecution lawsuit still pending against the city of New York.
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The debacle stems from the work of journalist Ed Sanders, who was hired in the late 1970s to write a book about the Eagles. Sanders spent time at Henley’s Malibu home while working on the manuscript, which was never published — and, according to the rock star, Sanders stole his handwritten Hotel California lyrics in the process.
The lyrics resurfaced in 2012 on an auction site. Sanders allegedly sold the papers to Horowitz, who in turn sold them to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia auctioneer Ed Kosinski. Henley complained about the auction listings to various criminal authorities, and Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinksi were indicted in New York in 2022.
All three men maintained their innocence, arguing that the lyrics were never actually stolen. The trio instead claimed Sanders legally obtained these notes from Henley in the course of writing his manuscript, so it was completely bogus for them to be charged with criminal possession of stolen property.
The case against Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinksi went to trial in February 2024, with Henley and Azoff both testifying. But things were thrown into disarray when, weeks into the trial, Henley handed over 6,000 pages of documents that he’d previously withheld under attorney-client privilege. These documents included emails discussing Sanders’ unpublished manuscript.
Lawyers for Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinksi all complained that these late disclosures had prevented them from fully exercising their right to prepare a defense and cross-examine Henley on all the evidence. As a result, prosecutors dropped the charges mid-trial.
Justice Curtis Farber, who oversaw the criminal case, criticized Henley and his lawyers for using attorney-client privilege “to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging to their position that the lyric sheets were stolen.”
Henley’s lawyers strongly disagree with Justice Farber’s characterization of the events. They say Henley had the absolute right to invoke the sacred attorney-client privilege, and that nothing in these documents would have weakened the criminal case against Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinksi.
This argument appeared to sway Justice Waterman-Marshall, who said during a hearing in the civil lawsuit last month that the “dismissal was based upon the inability of Mr. Horowitz’s defense to be presented with certain information, but there’s no finding that that information was withheld by Mr. Henley or any of the defendants for an improper purpose.”
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The U.S. Coast Guard reportedly announced it will now view swastikas and nooses as potential symbols of hate crimes under a set of new guidelines set to go into effect in December. Given the racially charged nature of swastikas and nooses, the symbols will now be forbidden from use amongst Coast Guard members and could be used to make a connection to hate groups under workplace harassment guidelines.
The U.S. Coast Guard raised concerns with reports going wide that the symbols would only be seen as “potentially offensive” despite their storied histories as symbols of hate for Nazi and anti-minority groups. The wording, which naturally concerned some and raised eyebrows, was clarified by way of a memo on Thursday from authorities at the law enforcement agency.
“The Coast Guard does not tolerate the display of divisive or hate symbols and flags, including those identified with oppression or hatred. These symbols reflect hateful andprohibited conduct that undermines unit cohesion,” read a portion of the memo.
The memo also added, “Divisive or hate symbols and flags are prohibited. These symbols and flags include, but are not limited to, the following: a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups as representations of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, anti-semitism, or any other improper bias.”
Also in the memo, displaying the Confederate Flag in any way is also prohibited. A press release explaining the measure can be found here.
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Trending on Billboard HARDY cracks the top 10 of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for a fifth time as “Favorite Country Song” surges 12-7 on the list dated Nov. 29, up 17% to 20.5 million in audience Nov. 14-20, according to Luminate. The track, which HARDY cowrote alongside six others, including Nate Smith, reaches the region […]
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Bunnie Xo is headed to the slammer, and she’s taking fans with her. As revealed on the Friday (Nov. 21) episode of her Dumb Blonde podcast, the host — who is married to Jelly Roll — has to turn herself in to serve time for unknowingly driving for years with a suspended license, with everything apparently tying back to a minor driving incident from half a decade ago.
Broaching the subject with her characteristic bluntness, Bunnie broke the news to listeners by saying simply, “You guys, I’m going to jail.”
“Why would I not tell the internet this? I tell the internet everything anyways,” she continued, laughing. “So, uh, your girl got in trouble with the law.”
The YouTuber went on to explain that she was recently pulled over by an officer who, after running her information through his system, informed her that her license had been suspended over an unpaid ticket she’d gotten in 2020 while driving home from a family vacation in Alabama. “Do I remember getting this ticket?” she said. “Absolutely not.”
Bunnie said she immediately paid off the the ticket once it was brought to her attention, assuming that her license would be automatically reinstated as a result. She was wrong.
Cut to a few days ago, Bunnie was once again pulled over for speeding — a charge she jokingly said she could not “confirm or deny” — during which time she was informed by a different officer that her license was still invalid. “He’s like, ‘Sometime this week, you need to go down to the jail and book yourself in,’” she recalled on Dumb Blonde, emphasizing that she’d had no idea the entire time that she was committing an “arrestable offense.”
“I got my lawyer on it, whatever,” she added. “It looks like your girl is gonna have to go book herself in. If I do — you guys have seen all my past mug shots — I’m going in glammed the f–k up, baby, and I’m going to vlog it.”
As Bunnie touched on during the podcast, this isn’t the first time she’s had a brush with the law. Earlier in November, she shared seven mugshots from her past arrests on Instagram, including one from when she was 26 and was taken into custody after “soliciting an undercover cop on a casino floor.”
“I’m not ashamed of these photos,” she wrote at the time. “They remind me who I used to be, & how far grace has carried me.”
In the comments, Jelly Roll — who recently shared a video of himself tearing up over his new Grammy nominations and shaving off his beard for the first time in years — praised his wife. “I would have never became the man I am with out you,” he wrote at the time. It was your story that inspired mine, it was always you I was trying to be like.”
“While people talked about us, judged us, wished on our downfall, we just stayed the course and believed what God had for us no man could take away,” added the country star, who has also been open about spending time in and out of jail when he was younger.
Watch Bunnie explain why she’s turning herself into jail below.
Also: UMG’s hospitality venture partners with the UN to drive music tourism, “It Feels So Good” singer Sonique signs a catalog agreement with Armada and more.
11/21/2025
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Want to watch Sling TV, but on the fence about fully committing to a monthly subscription? The popular streaming platform is now offering affordable ways to tune into your favorite live TV programming without the pressure of long-term commitment. Introducing day, week and weekend passes, Sling is now offering users a way to opt into the streaming service with instant, 24-hour access to live TV, sports and entertainment for a very affordable $1 (normally $4.99), which means you save up to 80% off.
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The Sling $1 Day Pass deal is a limited-time offer running now until November 30, so act fast before the deal is gone forever.
The new passes will have three subscription offerings, highlighted by its day pass package, giving fans the ultimate flexibility to watch what they want, when they want, and then opt out. Here a breakdown for each offering:
Day Pass: pay $4.99 for an instant 24-hour access period to Sling TV. Ideal for tentpole live events, key sports games, trending shows, or awards nights.
Weekend Pass: pay $9.99 for weekend access to Sling TV. This pass is for those looking lounge and binge watch their favorite shows or catch the lineup of football games all weekend long. Sit back and relax knowing Sling TV has you covered.
Week Pass: pay $14.99 for weekly access to Sling TV. Pick and choose based on a week’s worth of upcoming programming.
“This launch is about putting control back in the hands of the fans, whether it’s tuning in for college football, professional sports, award shows, or a spontaneous movie night, all without having to sign a long-term, binding contract,” said Seth Van Sickel, Senior Vice President, Product and Operations, Sling TV in a press release. “With college football just around the corner, our new Day Pass offering is all consumers need to win on game day, for just $4.99.”
Along with the launch of Day Pass, subscribers can also add Sling Extras, add-on channel packages. These add-ons offer a way to customize your channel lineup by category. Current Sling Extra packages include, Sports Extra, News Extra, Entertainment Extra, Hollywood Extra, Lifestyle Extra, Heartland Extra and Kids Extra. Fans can add Sling Extras to their passes for $1 for Day Pass, $2 for Weekend Pass and $3 for Week Pass.
Browse and sign up for each new Sling pass in the link below.
From Tim McGraw to 50 Cent, here are all the musicians Swift references across her 12 studio albums.
11/21/2025
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Observers of the indictment against former FBI director James Comey were astounded after interim U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan revealed in a Virginia court that she didn’t disclose both counts of the indictment to all of the grand jury. The admission – which could lead to the case being thrown out – led to Halligan being thoroughly ridiculed and calls for her to be disbarred.
Halligan admitted that her office only showed the details of the final indictment to two members of the grand jury. But the foreperson signed off as if all grand jury members saw it in full. Comey’s attorney, Michael Dreeben, argued that the admission means that “there is no indictment,” going on to argue that the case was initiated at the behest of President Donald Trump due to his animosity towards Comey. District Court Judge Michael Nachmanoff set a deadline of 5 p.m. for the Department of Justice to respond to the developments.
Former MSNOW host and lawyer Katie Phang posed a question in a BlueSky post based on Halligan’s admission: “OMFG…Did Halligan just gin up a new second indictment, sign it, and present it to the judge???”
The aftereffects shocked legal experts. Former U.S. Attorney Ty Cobb, who served in the first Trump administration, suggested for Halligan and Attorney General Pam Bondi to be disbarred over the gaffe in a Fox News interview.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, political commenter Mike Nellis roasted Halligan and President Donald Trump, who called for the indictment to be made. “The Comey case has been such an embarrassing s–t show for Trump. The grand jury rejected the indictment, so Halligan just had the foreperson sign an altered version. That’s illegal, and it means the case will be easily tossed. Idiots.”
Legal expert Marcy Wheeler opined on BlueSky that the indictment could be tossed as a result. “The indictment almost certainly goes away…Lindsey skipped the critical step of actually presenting charges to the grand jury.”
Democratic Representative Ted Lieu of California blasted Halligan who he referred to as “an embarrassment” and the Department of Justice in a post on X, formerly Twitter, calling for her resignation.
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Bad Bunny’s influence has left a permanent imprint on popular culture. Now, Yale University has decided his impact is important enough to study indefinitely.
As per Newsweek, the prestigious Ivy League institution will continue offering its course dedicated to analyzing the Puerto Rican superstar’s career. Originally launched in April, “Bad Bunny: Musical Aesthetics and Politics” breaks down how the “MONACO” artist not only commands global fandom but also embeds political, cultural, and social commentary throughout his music. Topics explored include Puerto Rico’s threatened cultural identity post–Hurricane María and ways Bad Bunny has corrected mainstream misconceptions about the reggaeton genre.
The class’ popularity took Professor Albert Laguna by surprise — over 120 students attempted to enroll. Still, he intentionally kept the course small to maintain meaningful discussion. “I prefer small classes to develop the conversation, the connection between the students,” he told El Nuevo Día. Laguna also confirmed he plans to keep teaching the course as long as Bad Bunny remains relevant.
The timing is notable. Since being announced as the Super Bowl LX halftime performer, Bad Bunny has faced loud criticism from detractors who claim he’s unworthy of the spotlight. A petition opposing the NFL’s decision has already surpassed 100,000 signatures.
