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16 Nov 2022

Harry Styles Hit in the Eye With Skittles During Los Angeles Concert

Harry Styles can’t seem to catch a break during his live shows. Continuing what seems to be an unfortunate fan tradition, Styles — while performing “Kiwi” from his self-titled debut LP at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Monday night (Nov. 14) — got an eyeful’s worth of Skittles thrown at his face, and as a result covered his eyes.

A disgruntled fan who caught the moment on camera took to Twitter and wrote, “whoever the f–k threw a solid object at his eye, u literally ruined kiwi bc he wouldn’t open his eye for the whole song.” Another worried fan, who shared video of the moment slowed down, wrote, “like are you joking?? look how hard he recoils hope your eye is okay @Harry_Styles.”

Thankfully, Styles appears to be okay — not only did he continue with the rest of his concert, Styles’ backing bandmate Pauli the PSM shared an update about his condition during an Instagram Live DJ set later in the evening. “H came through, confirming his eye is okay,” Pauli said, adding, “But do me a favor, don’t throw no more Skittles on stage.”

Styles appeared to also have a good sense of humor about his injury. Tuning into Pauli’s Live, he commented, “See you tomorrow AVEC eye patch.”

This is far from the first time the “Watermelon Sugar” singer has had objects thrown at him while performing. During an August show of Styles’ Madison Square Garden residency, a fan threw multiple chicken nuggets on stage, and in October, a fan threw an unidentified object that hit him in the groin area.

See the tweets regarding Styles’ Skittles-induced eye injury below.

16 Nov 2022

Neil Young Explains Spotify Beef to Howard Stern: ‘Why Would I Keep it on There When It Sounds Like a Pixilated Movie?’

Neil Young got candid about why he asked that his music be removed from Spotify earlier this year on a Wednesday morning (Nov. 16) interview with SiriusXm’s Howard Stern. The rock icon who has staked his reputation on doing things his way explained to Stern that his objection to being on the streamer was two-fold: the famously exacting guitarist/singer thinks Spotify audio quality is not up to his standard, and he was angered by the COVID conspiracy theories spouted by Spotify’s allegedly $100 million podcast star Joe Rogan.

“I woke up one morning and I heard somebody saying there was some scientists saying something about COVID, or some doctors and they were saying something about COVID and how many people were dying in hospitals and misinformation,” Young said, adding that he immediately thought about the nurses and medical professionals who were “distressed” by what they’d heard on Spotify; Young never specifically mentioned Rogan by name in his comments.

“And I listened to it and they were saying he purposely is saying this stuff that he knows isn’t true about COVID and people were dying,” he said of the misinformation on Rogan’s show about medically dubious COVID therapies. “I just called up my management and said, ‘We’re out of there. Get me off.’ And we’ll be fine, and it was a little shocking because they know all the [streaming] numbers. Who cares? You know, who cares? What’s his name? [Spotify CEO] Daniel Ek? He cares about money.”

Young said he knew Ek initially had good intentions with his service, because they’d met and he [Ek] seemed to be “coming from a good place. But then it just turned into money, money, money, money,” he said. When Stern asked how much money Young left on the table by yanking his tunes from Spotify, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said he didn’t know and didn’t care.

“I knew I was gonna do fine. There’s Amazon, there’s Apple, there QoBuz, those are three streaming services that play hi-res,” said Young, who has long fought against what he considers the low-quality fidelity of everything from CDs to digital files. “I think in the digital age we should be able to listen to great stuff, the best that we can get out of digital… Because you’re living off the music, why not pay it some respect and make it sound as great as it does.”

Young said he wasn’t surprised that more artists didn’t join his crusade against Spotify. After Young requested that his catalog be removed from Spotify in January — citing the spread of vaccine misinformation on the Joe Rogan Experience — he wasn’t entirely alone. A handful of artists including India.Arie, Nils Lofgren, Failure, his former CSNY bandmates Graham Nash, David Crosby and Stephen Stills and Joni Mitchell eventually joined his leave-taking.

“The way I look at it, that just turned me off and I made an instant decision — I didn’t think about it at all — just take my music off, we don’t need it. We’ve got all these other places,” Young said of his request. “And it sounds better at the other places. Why would I want to keep it on Spotify when it sounds like a pixilated movie?”

When it came down to it, Young said, he made it very clear: you can have “that guy” or you can have me. “So they chose to have that guy because they’re making millions of dollars off of him and they’ve just given him a whole bunch of money and that I would just eventually roll over and be back,” he said of what he suspected the streamers’ fiscal calculus was. At press time Young’s music was not available on Spotify and he told Stern he’s “never going back there, or anywhere else like it. I don’t have to, I don’t want to. I don’t crave the airplay like that. I don’t really need it, I don’t want it.”

A spokesperson for Spotify had not returned a request for comment at press time.

16 Nov 2022

Steve Lacy’s ‘Bad Habit’ Hits No. 1 on Radio Songs, Pop Airplay Charts

Steve Lacy continues his good fortune with “Bad Habit,” as his breakout hit rises to No. 1 on Billboard’s all-format Radio Songs chart and the mainstream top 40-based Pop Airplay tally (dated Nov. 19).

The song crowns the former with 67.9 million audience impressions, up 18%, in the Nov. 4-10 tracking week, according to Luminate.

“Bad Habit” is the fifth Radio Songs No. 1 in 2022 by an artist in a first visit to the chart, joining Nicky Youre and dazy’s “Sunroof”; JID’s “Enemy” (with Imagine Dragons); Latto’s “Big Energy”; and Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves.” All five songs also drew buzz on TikTok, reflecting radio’s notable acceptance of key viral hits on the platform this year.

Just one rookie, Olivia Rodrigo, ruled Radio Songs in a first visit in 2021 (“Drivers License”), after three did, via two hits, in 2020: 24kGoldn and iann dior (“Mood”) and Gabby Barrett (“I Hope,” featuring Charlie Puth).

This year marks the most No. 1s by artists in initial appearances on Radio Songs since 2014, when five acts also led on their first tries: Tove Lo (“Habits [Stay High]”), Meghan Trainor (“All About That Bass”), MAGIC! (“Rude”), Nico & Vinz (“Am I Wrong”) and Iggy Azalea (“Fancy,” featuring Charli XCX).

“Bad Habit” topped the all-genre, multi-metric Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in October. It also led Rhythmic Airplay for a week earlier in November. It pushes to a new No. 4 high on Adult Alternative Airplay and has hit No. 11 on Adult Pop Airplay and No. 27 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay.

The single has also led the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs charts, having become the first to dominate all five rankings (dating to October 2012, when Billboard’s main genre-based song charts adopted the Hot 100’s methodology).

“Bad Habit” is from Lacy’s L-M/RCA Records LP Gemini Rights, which debuted as his first top 10, at its No. 7 peak, on the Billboard 200 albums chart in July. The song has drawn 607.8 million in radio audience and 353.6 million official streams and sold 25,000 downloads in the U.S. from its release through Nov. 10.

The Compton, Calif., native previously reached Billboard’s charts as a member of The Internet and then via collaborations as a soloist alongside acts including Frank Ocean, Tyler, The Creator and Vampire Weekend.

Lacy recently told Billboard of his greatest career success so far, “I’m just grateful. It still doesn’t feel real yet.”

16 Nov 2022

Here Are the Best Reactions to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Ticketmaster Mess

Swifties across North America will forever remember Tuesday (Nov. 15) all too well. After an unprecedented number of fans visited Ticketmaster in the hopes of buying presale tickets for Taylor Swift‘s 2023 Eras Tour online, the company’s website experienced mass outages and extreme delays that caused some to wait for several hours in a virtual queue, just to walk away empty handed.

Naturally, people had some thoughts. Even before the whole debacle was said and done, droves of Swifties took to social media to air out their frustrations with Ticketmaster in hilarious posts, videos and homemade memes. Someone, for example, photoshopped the company’s logo over Tay’s face in the “Anti-Hero” music video, captioned with one of the song’s lyrics: “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me.”

“Taylor swift walking onto stage with no one in the audience, because that ticketmaster queue never did move,” quipped one fan, sharing a photo of a concert arena, completely empty except for one single person in the audience.

“Being stuck in the ticketmaster queue really has you wondering how different your life you be if you never listened to Our Song on the radio in 2006 that one time,” joked another.

Ticketmaster shared a statement shortly after 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, about three hours after the East Coast venue presales began. It said that the company wasn’t prepared for the “historically” large demand for tickets, and postponed presales for West Coast venues and Capitol One cardholders scheduled for later that same day.

Many frazzled Swifties felt confused as to why so many presale codes had been sent out if the site wasn’t ready for them all to be cashed in, and couldn’t resist cracking jokes at Ticketmaster’s expense. “Raise your hand if you have ever been personally victimized by ticketmaster,” wrote one fan, quoting Mean Girls and sharing a screenshot from the film.

See more of the best reactions to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour Ticketmaster crisis below.

16 Nov 2022

JoJo Siwa Slams Candace Cameron Bure For ‘Hurtful’ Exclusion of LGBTQ Characters at Her New Network

After Candace Cameron Bure’s latest interview, JoJo Siwa is calling out the Full House actress’ comments as nothing more than a straight flush.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday (Nov. 15), Siwa slammed Bure’s comments in a Wall Street Journal interview where the Fuller House star said she wouldn’t include LGBTQ couples in upcoming Christmas films on her conservative-leaning network, Great American Family. “Honestly, I can’t believe after everything that went down just a few months ago, that she would not only create a movie with intention of excluding LGBTQIA+, but then also talk about it in the press,” Siwa wrote. “This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.”

In her interview with the Journal, Bure spoke about her new executive role with Great American Media, in which she will produce and star in a series of Hallmark-style Christmas films. When asked in the interview about whether she would include LGBTQ characters in her work — as Hallmark did for the first time earlier this year — she said, “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.”

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Siwa was not the only person to call Bure out on her exclusionary comments. GLAAD issued a statement from their president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, in which she called out Bure’s intentional ignorance. “It’s irresponsible and hurtful for Candace Cameron Bure to use tradition as a guise for exclusion,” she wrote. “If GAF’s plan is to intentionally exclude stories about LGBTQ couples, then actors, advertisers, cable and streaming platforms, and production companies should take note and seriously consider whether they want to be associated with a network that holds exclusion as one of its values.”

Ellis also added that she was open to having a conversation with Bure on the topic. “I’d love to have a conversation with Bure about my wife, our kids, and our family’s traditions,” she said. “Bure is out of sync with a growing majority of people of faith, including LGBTQ people of faith, who know that LGBTQ couples and families are deserving of love and visibility.”

Siwa was also joined by actress Hilarie Burton, who called both Great American Family and Bure “disgusting” for their anti-LGBTQ comments. “Now they’re just openly admitting their bigotry,” she wrote. “I called this s–t out years ago when [CEO Bill] Abbott was at Hallmark. Glad they dumped him. Being LGBTQ isn’t a ‘trend’ … There is nothing untraditional about same-sex couples.”

This is far from the first time that Siwa and Bure have had words in public — earlier this year, the former Dance Moms star claimed that Bure was the “rudest” celebrity she’d ever met in a viral TikTok, with Bure later explaining that she had declined to take a photo with a then-11-year-old Siwa.

Check out Siwa’s Instagram post below.

16 Nov 2022

Billy Ray Cyrus Confirms Engagement to Singer-Songwriter Firerose

Following weeks of speculation by fans, “Old Town Road” singer Billy Ray Cyrus, 61, has confirmed that he is engaged to wed Australian singer-songwriter Firerose. Rumors swirled last month after both Cyrus and Firerose posted photos on social media that depicted Firerose wearing what looked like an engagement ring.

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Cyrus and Firerose confirmed the engagement to People, noting that Firerose moved into Cyrus’s Tennessee home during the summer. Cyrus proposed in August.

Firerose said that there was no traditional proposal — no ring or getting down on one knee.

“Billy looked at me and said, ‘Do you, do you wanna marry me?’ And I was just like, ‘Of course I do. I love you.’ He said, ‘I love you. I wanna make this official. I wanna be with you forever.’” Firerose later selected a diamond and designed her ring.

Cyrus and Firerose first met on the set of the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana 12 years ago and stayed in touch over the years.

“Our friendship was so solid over the years,” Firerose told People.

During the early days of the pandemic, they began writing songs together and in July 2021, they released the song “New Day.”

“She plays all of her own instruments and writes her own songs. We began sharing music, and it just evolved,” Cyrus said.

“Billy confided in me a lot of what was going on in his life,” Firerose added. “I was just the best friend I could possibly be, supporting him.”

“There was sickness and death, and hard times,” Cyrus said of how the pandemic impacted his life. “All of the sudden, the life that I’ve always known as a touring artist didn’t exist anymore. A moment of so much change. And at the same time, Firerose, who had been such a light of positivity, such a best friend. And then when we began sharing the music, it just evolved more into, as musical soulmates, to soulmates, happy, pure love that to me, I didn’t know could exist. Again, we’re musicians, first and foremost, both of us. And we found this harmony, and this rhythm, this melody to life.”

The new relationship follows Cyrus’s split from his ex-wife, Tish, in April, after three decades of marriage. Tish placed the divorce filing, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the cause. TMZ reported that according to court documents, the couple had been living apart for the past two years.

Billy Ray and Tish later provided a statement to People, saying, “It is after 30 years, five amazing children and a lifetime of memories, we have decided to go our separate ways — not with sadness, but with love in our hearts,” the statement read. “We have grown up together, raised a family we can be so proud of, and it is now time to create our own paths. We will always be family and look forward to a continued and loving shared experience as friends and parents. We have not come to this decision lightly or quickly but with so much going on in the world, we wanted to provide some clarity and closure, so we can remain focused on what is important…With Love and Hope… Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus.”

16 Nov 2022

WME Parent Endeavor to Pause New Hires Until End of the Year

Amid a broader economic downturn, Endeavor — the parent company of assets like agencies WME and IMG, sports league UFC, events firm On Location and online gambling platform OpenBet — is pausing new hires through the end of the year.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter by phone while attending an RBC Capital Markets investor event, Endeavor president Mark Shapiro said that the firm will put in place a hiring freeze until 2023 but noted that the Beverly Hills-based conglomerate will be backfilling positions. The Endeavor executive emphasized that no broader cost-cutting would be instituted and travel/expenses, bonuses and spending would not be subject to review at this time for the company’s roughly 8,000 employees.

“The state of the business is strong, but we have to be responsible given the time of the year and the national economic environment,” Shapiro told THR.

The Endeavor exec stressed that the move was being made from a position of strength, as the firm — unlike other Hollywood giants — has been insulated from economic headwinds like those impacting advertising-reliant companies. And the time frame for the hiring pause, as the holiday season approaches, arrives at a typically slower cycle for major agencies, which tend to mostly close up shop in the last couple weeks of the year.

“We need to really be prudent, we’re in — or walking in — to a recession,” Shapiro said about the hiring freeze during a panel moderated by RBC’s Kutgun Maral. “There’s a lot of fear out there, there’s a lot of fearmongerers. And we just need to keep a lean cost-structure, frankly. As tight as we can have it. And hiring over the holidays does no good, you’re just giving them vacation anyway.”

Shapiro added during the panel that, “at a time like this of uncertainty, we need to be conserving cash and just working on the balance sheet.” The Endeavor exec forecast that the focus in 2023 would be more free cash flow — a profit metric showing an ability to fund operations without outside financing — and expanding margins in each business unit.

But the hiring freeze does arrive as Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal and others are instituting belt-tightening measures, including cutting back on spending and staff reductions. Disney CEO Bob Chapek warned in a memo to staff on Nov. 11 of “limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze” while layoffs have been ongoing at the David Zaslav-run Warner Bros. Discovery, impacting multiple divisions including CNN, whose chief, Chris Licht, forecast in late October that restructuring will “accelerate” and will result in layoffs and budget cuts.

On Nov. 10, Endeavor disclosed its third-quarter earnings, with its WME and IMG representation unit seeing revenue fall year-over-year to $388 million from $664 million — due to the sale of 80 percent of Endeavor Content to South Korea’s CJ ENM as part of a deal with the Writers Guild — even as the core agency business made strides. Meanwhile, the company’s owned sports properties, like UFC, saw revenue gain from $288.5 million a year ago to $402 million in the third quarter this year and its events unit stayed about even year-over-year with $440 million in revenue for the frame.

Overall, citing foreign exchange rate changes, Endeavor posted a loss for the quarter of $12.5 million compared to a gain of $63.6 million in the same time frame in 2021. During an earnings call, Endeavor chief Ari Emanuel noted “our business continues to perform well despite the macro headwinds,” and touted comedy bookings as well as growth in music touring, experiences and demand to attend live events.

“Spending habits have shifted, but our company has a presence at every point on the purchase chain,” Emanuel added. “During COVID people were buying stuff, and post-COVID, they are more focused on experiences, and we are the benefit of that side of the equation.”

Since Jan. 3, the first day of trading this year, stock in Endeavor has fallen about 34 percent, from 34.81 a share to 22.92, while the New York Stock Exchange Composite Index has dropped about 10 percent.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.