Author: djfrosty
Page: 61
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KeKe Palmer had what normally would be a top media grab in the likes of a Jonathan Majors sit-down interview. However, considering the controversy surrounding Jonanatha Majors, Keke Palmer has elected not to air the episode after public backlash.
As spotted over at The Daily Beast, Palmer was set to have Majors on her Baby, This Is KeKe Palmer podcast with an air date of April 8. The episode was teased on the show’s website and a quick video clip of the recorded chat made its way around social media.
Titled “No Easy Answers: Accountability and Moving Forward with Jonathan Majors,” it appears that the accountability some might be seeking from Majors is sorely lacking. The observation of the clip is that Palmer didn’t dig deeper into Majors’ mindset and the incident that occurred between the actor and Grace Jabbari.
Fans online gathered to decry Palmer’s decision to interview Majors, who is back to starring in films after appearing in Magazine Dreams. Many of them also noted that Palmer was involved in a domestic violence incident and wondered why she would give Majors a platform.
Instead of Majors, Palmer is now promoting an interview with Kash Doll as the next episode of her podcast.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: Eric Charbonneau / Getty
KeKe Palmer had what normally would be a top media grab in the likes of a Jonathan Majors sit-down interview. However, considering the controversy surrounding Jonanatha Majors, Keke Palmer has elected not to air the episode after public backlash.
As spotted over at The Daily Beast, Palmer was set to have Majors on her Baby, This Is KeKe Palmer podcast with an air date of April 8. The episode was teased on the show’s website and a quick video clip of the recorded chat made its way around social media.
Titled “No Easy Answers: Accountability and Moving Forward with Jonathan Majors,” it appears that the accountability some might be seeking from Majors is sorely lacking. The observation of the clip is that Palmer didn’t dig deeper into Majors’ mindset and the incident that occurred between the actor and Grace Jabbari.
Fans online gathered to decry Palmer’s decision to interview Majors, who is back to starring in films after appearing in Magazine Dreams. Many of them also noted that Palmer was involved in a domestic violence incident and wondered why she would give Majors a platform.
Instead of Majors, Palmer is now promoting an interview with Kash Doll as the next episode of her podcast.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Eric Charbonneau / Getty
KeKe Palmer had what normally would be a top media grab in the likes of a Jonathan Majors sit-down interview. However, considering the controversy surrounding Jonanatha Majors, Keke Palmer has elected not to air the episode after public backlash.
As spotted over at The Daily Beast, Palmer was set to have Majors on her Baby, This Is KeKe Palmer podcast with an air date of April 8. The episode was teased on the show’s website and a quick video clip of the recorded chat made its way around social media.
Titled “No Easy Answers: Accountability and Moving Forward with Jonathan Majors,” it appears that the accountability some might be seeking from Majors is sorely lacking. The observation of the clip is that Palmer didn’t dig deeper into Majors’ mindset and the incident that occurred between the actor and Grace Jabbari.
Fans online gathered to decry Palmer’s decision to interview Majors, who is back to starring in films after appearing in Magazine Dreams. Many of them also noted that Palmer was involved in a domestic violence incident and wondered why she would give Majors a platform.
Instead of Majors, Palmer is now promoting an interview with Kash Doll as the next episode of her podcast.
—
Photo: Getty
Khalid is the latest person to not be able to get Sabrina Carpenter‘s ultra catchy hit “Please Please Please” out of his head, and to rectify that, he posted a buttery smooth cover of the track Wednesday (April 9). In the short clip shared to his TikTok, the R&B-pop star films himself while sitting at […]
Record executive Kevin Liles is asking a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault in the early 2000s, arguing there’s zero evidence for the “salacious” allegations because they are “entirely false.”
In a letter to the judge filed Tuesday, attorneys for the 300 Entertainment founder say they’re planning to file a motion to dismiss the case, which alleges that Liles harassed and sexually assaulted an unnamed female employee while serving as the president of Def Jam Records in 2002.
“During his storied career, Mr. Liles has never faced a single accusation of sexual impropriety,” his attorneys write. “That is, until plaintiff filed this patently false and untimely lawsuit some twenty-three years after the alleged conduct purportedly occurred.”
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Liles’ lawyers say the Jane Doe’s lawsuit contains only generic accusations and almost no specific details to support her allegations – an omission that they say is “not surprising as the claims are entirely false.”
“Beyond these threadbare assertions, spanning only three paragraphs, plaintiff offers zero factual bases for her salacious allegations,” his attorneys say “This court need not credit Plaintiff’s threadbare recitals and ‘defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me’ accusations.”
Liles served as president of Universal Music Group’s Def Jam Recordings and executive vice president of the Island Def Jam Music Group from 1999 to 2004. After a stint at Warner Music Group, he co-founded 300 Entertainment in 2012 with Lyor Cohen, Roger Gold and Todd Moscowitz. The label, which quickly gained recognition for developing hip-hop superstars like Megan Thee Stallion, Migos and Young Thug, was acquired by Warner in 2021 for $400 million. In September, Liles announced he would step down from his role as chairman and CEO.
The case against Liles was filed in February by a woman who says she was hired as an executive assistant at UMG in 1999. She claims that Liles began sexually harassing her shortly after she was hired, which then “escalated” into groping. In an alleged 2002 incident, Doe says he assaulted her after she rebuffed his advances.
“Kevin Liles proceeded to physically force himself on top of [Jane Doe] where he began to sexually assault and ultimately rape her despite her continued protests,” her attorneys wrote in their complaint.
But in Tuesday’s response, Lile’s attorneys say those allegations are woefully insufficient, arguing they lack the kind of basic facts required to bring legal allegations in court. They say Doe “does little more than simply assert in conclusory form that Mr. Liles assaulted her.”
“Plaintiff offers no detail whatsoever regarding the nature of the purported assault she suffered,” they write. “She fails … to explain when these purported acts occurred, where in UMG’s offices they occurred, identify a single person she reported this information to, or who was present.”
As for the rape allegation, Liles’ attorneys say the case is similarly lacking: “Like the other specific details she fails to provide, plaintiff does not offer a specific time, how she came to be in contact with Mr. Liles who she neither reported to nor worked for, or anything other than the conclusory assertion that she suffered an assault.”
Beyond the alleged deficiencies in the case, attorneys for Liles say the case should also be dismissed for a simpler reason: That it was filed well beyond the statute of limitations. Doe’s attorneys sued under a New York state law that created a one-year window to file such cases, but did so after the deadline to bring them: “Plaintiff failed to assert any claim against Mr. Liles whatsoever during that one-year window, and it has now closed.”
UMG, which was named as a co-defendant in the case, also filed a letter Tuesday saying it would seek to dismiss the case. The music giant’s attorneys have similar protests about time limits, but also argue more broadly that they cannot be sued over alleged actions by one of its executives.
“UMGR cannot be held liable for the alleged actions of Mr. Liles,” the company’s attorneys write, referring to UMG Recordings. “Assuming he had engaged in the conduct alleged, UMGR is a music company and the alleged conduct was indisputably not in furtherance of any business of UMGR.”
The full lineup for the Billboard U.K. Live takeover at The Great Escape (May 14-16) in Brighton, England, has been announced.
In March, it was announced that Mercury Prize winner English Teacher would headline the The Deep End venue as part of the Billboard U.K. Live experience on May 16. The takeover marks the inaugural Billboard U.K. Live event, and will precede the launch of the upcoming U.K. Power Players list and in-person event at SXSW London in June.
Now, additional names have been announced to join the headliners, including a variety of rising indie bands and artists including Daffo, RabbitFoot, Courting, My First Time, Westside Cowboy and RIP Magic.
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Daffo, the moniker of Brooklyn-based artist Gabi Gamberg, recently released single “Quick Fix” and will tour with rock artist Blondshell in the coming months. Liverpool-formed group Courting released its third album, Lust for Life, Or: ‘How to Thread the Needle and Come Out the Other Side to Tell the Story’ in March, while London collective RabbitFoot will play at The Great Escape for the first time.
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They’ll be joined by Parlophone-signed band My First Time and Westside Cowboy, whose debut single “I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You)” was produced by English Teacher’s Lewis Whiting. RIP Magic, recently described by The Guardian as “London’s buzziest buzz band,” will open the stage.
The Deep End venue is part of The Great Escape’s beach site located on Madeira Drive. Fans can gain access to the show via a TGE wristband subject to the venue’s capacity. The full festival schedule will be released on April 15 via TGE’s free mobile app.
The Great Escape festival is held on an annual basis every May in the seaside city of Brighton, and spotlights emerging and rising talent from the U.K. and Ireland as well as international newcomers. Across four days, an array of artists perform live at the city’s vast network of independent venues. There are also industry panels, networking opportunities and more in its extensive program. Tickets are on sale now from the festival’s official website.
This year’s lineup will feature appearances by Pete Doherty, Rizzle Kicks, Jordan Adetunji, Chloe Slater and more. Previous performers at the festival include Adele, Charli XCX, Stormzy, Fontaines D.C., Sam Fender, Billie Eilish and more.
Billboard U.K. Live @ The Great Escape Lineup and Stage Times
English Teacher (22:15-23:00)
Daffo (21:15-21:45)
RabbitFoot (20:15-20:45)
Courting (19:15-19:45)
My First Time (18:15-18:45)
Westside Cowboy (17:15-17:45)
RIP Magic (16:15-16:45)
Seeker Music has partnered with Blackheart, the independent company founded by Joan Jett and longtime collaborator Kenny Laguna, to acquire what is described as a “substantial share” of Jett’s publishing and recorded music rights, it was announced on Thursday. This collaboration aims to enhance the Joan Jett and the Blackhearts catalog, with plans for releasing unreleased music, reimagining classic albums and launching new campaigns tied to her global tours.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2015) has left quite a mark on rock music with hits like “Bad Reputation,” “Crimson and Clover,” “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” Formed in 1979 following the breakup of The Runaways, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts have achieved eight platinum and gold albums and nine Top 40 singles, including her sneering hit “I Love Rock ‘N Roll,” which topped the Hot 100 for several leather-clad weeks in early 1982.
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Seeker Music, founded in 2020 by M&G Investments and led by Evan Bogart, manages a diverse catalog of over 15,000 copyrights, including works by artists like Run The Jewels, Jon Bellion, Christopher Cross and others.
The partnership between Blackheart and Seeker Music represents a full-circle moment of sorts, connecting two storied rock and roll family legacies. Carianne Brinkman, Laguna’s daughter and the president of Blackheart, and Evan Bogart, son of legendary record executive Neil Bogart, who signed Jett to his Boardwalk Records, are key figures in this collaboration.
“Seeker joining forces with Joan, Kenny, Carianne and Blackheart isn’t just a partnership, it’s a personal, powerful reunion… reigniting a legacy and carrying the torch forward with the same rebellious spirit that ignited it,” said Evan Bogart.
Kenny Laguna, Steven Melrose, Joan Jett, Evan Bogart and Carianne Brinkman.
Brandon Young
Brinkman and Laguna echoed Bogart’s sentiment on the serendipity of the collaboration.
“I can’t imagine a better partnership that is at once completely new but a return to a shared legacy that began with the belief in Joan Jett and the Blackhearts,” said Brinkman.
Laguna added: “It’s too coincidental to be a coincidence, so I am so overwhelmed to see how fate brought Carianne and Evan Bogart at Seeker together 58 years after I had my first hit with Neil Bogart.”
The partnership was negotiated by LaPolt Law, P.C., and Reed Smith, LLP, with support from Seeker’s chief creative officer Steven Melrose and Blackheart’s head of distribution and operations Hubert Górka.
“At Seeker, our celebrated creative and innovative approach to catalog means that our focus is on super-serving Joan’s current fans, whilst growing her fandom year on year – essentially taking Joan’s music into millions of new homes globally,” said Melrose. “For a catalog as expansive and legendary as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’, we’re working on plans to release incredible archival moments, activations around her best-selling global tours, reaching new fans through global and cross-genre campaigns, and creative re-releases of beloved albums utilizing new platforms around the world.”
The companies did not disclose financial aspects of the deal, nor the specifics of the “substantial share” of the acquired catalog.
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Source: Getty Images / Keri Hilson / Beyoncé / Ester Dean
In 2009, Keri Hilson did the unthinkable and took a shot at Beyoncé on the remix to her smash hit “Turning Me On.” In 2025, she is now claiming she was forced to sing the song that Ester Dean wrote and is now apologizing for.
We have long forgotten about Keri Hilson coming for the queen years ago, but here we go again, revisiting a moment that definitely should have never happened.
Keri Hilson is gearing up to release her new album, We Need To Talk, which features her latest single, “BAE. “Ironically, the singer/songwriter is doing a lot of talking.
During a recent interview on The Breakfast Club, Hilson revealed the backstory to the shenanigans that took place 15 years ago at the height of her career. She gave the morning show the details of the song’s shady lyrics and revealed she was “forced” to get in the booth and spit those eye-rolling-inducing bars that many believe led to her career losing steam.
Keri Hilson Regrets The Moment
“It’s a regret. But not in the way people think,” Hilson DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God. “That’s a song I actually didn’t write. Those are not my words. I was on tour, [and] Polow [Da Don] wanted me to do a remix to ‘Turnin’ Me On.’ He produced the record. Because I was on tour with Lil Wayne, I wasn’t able to lay anything down. He had been on me for a couple of weeks, [saying] we need to do a remix.”
On the song, Hilson rapped, “Your vision cloudy if you think that you’re the best. You can dance, she can sing. But she need to move it to the left, left. She need to go have some babies. She needs to sit down, she fake. I ain’t turning it off, I’m stay turning it on. Go ‘head and tell these folks how long I’ve been writing your songs. I’ve been putting you on, just check the credits, h*e”
Hilson further explained how Polow Da Don invited Ester Dean, an unnamed songwriter at the time, to contribute on the record.
“He played it for me. Meanwhile I’m thinking I was coming in to write a remix to ‘Turnin’ Me On.’ Automatically, I was like, ‘I’m not saying that.’ That was my position. I’m an athlete. I am competitive. But I’m not nasty, I’m a finesse player. I don’t look at things like that,” she explained. “My album wasn’t out yet, I was told it’s not coming out if you don’t do this. I was super young. I felt I had no choice […] I’m still protecting everyone involved. I’ve been eating that for years.”
Ester Dean Outs Herself As The Song’s Writer
It didn’t take long, but Dean revealed herself as the writer on the record, responding to a commenter who speculated she was the contributor, “And did! It was a hit!”
While Dean was initially proud of the song’s accomplishments, she would later take to her Instagram account to apologize for Beyoncé’s bashing lyrics and their impact on Hilson’s career.
“I submitted a lot of verses for that remix –– one got picked, and it was co-written with Keri. Looking back, it was childish and didn’t age well. I see how it hurt people, especially women and I take full accountability,” Dean wrote in her IG Stories post. “I’m sorry for my part in it. Growth is real, and so is this apology.”
Hilson has interacted with Beyoncé since being forced to diss her on the song, revealing to the morning show that Cowboy Carter crafter introduced herself to her and was gracious. “I appreciated it. I feel like she understood what happened, what had transpired and there was a bit of healing in that moment when we met. I take her as a very intuitive kind of soul, as am I.”
As you can imagine, social media has thoughts on the matter. Ester Dean is catching most of the flack. You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. Well damn
6. Interesting
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The Trump administration is reportedly in the early stages of planning an elaborate military parade to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States Army on June 14. What has some questioning the move is the fact that President Donald Trump turns 79 on that same day.
CNN reports that, according to two Defense Department officials, the Trump administration is floating a preliminary plan to hold a lavish parade to honor the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser confirmed to local outlet Washington City Paper that her administration is in talks with the White House regarding the parade.
“I haven’t been directly involved in it yet,” Bowser said to a throng of reporters, according to CNN. “I understand that – I think it was Homeland Security, maybe the White House – reached out to our special events task force, which is what most people wanting to do a parade do in the district. So, I would say it’s at its early stages. Yes, they have reached out. I don’t know if it’s being characterized as a military parade.”
In 2018, President Trump floated the idea of a military parade that would’ve cost north of $92 million and cost up to $21 million in public safety measures to control the parade. At the time, Trump wanted the parade as a display of America’s military might, but canceled the plans after the high costs and resistance from Mayor Bowser ended the elaborate parade.
Plans for some sort of acknowledgement of the Army’s anniversary were well underway before Trump won the election last November, yet a parade was not on the docket. Should this plan go ahead as envisioned, the parade will begin at the Pentagon in Arlington, stretching from the Northern Virginia city to the White House.
Outside observers are naturally wondering if this celebration would indeed take place on Trump’s birthday, and the enormity of the costs, along with the potential damage to D.C. streets from the heavy tanks, is also a concern.
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Teddi Mellencamp says that her dad, John Mellencamp, is being proactive amid her cancer battle, with the rock icon apparently already making arrangements for her burial in Indiana.
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On the latest episode of her Two Ts in a Pod podcast with fellow Real Housewives star Tamra Judge posted Tuesday (April 8), Teddi revealed that she and her father had a very frank conversation related to her recent announcement that her cancer has advanced to stage 4. After she was first diagnosed with melanoma in 2022, the reality star shared in a February Instagram post that the cancer had metastasized to her brain.
“Yesterday, my dad calls 11 times in a row,” Teddi, who starred on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for several seasons, told Judge. “Finally, I answer, I’m like, ‘I’m in the bath! Let me live a little, let me enjoy.’ He goes, ‘I just want to make sure you’re going to be in our group family mausoleum.’”
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In response, a shocked Judge said, “He did not.”
“Yes he did,” said Teddi, who shares three children with estranged husband Edwin Arroyave, laughing. “I said, ‘I have kids, so where are they gonna go?’ He’s like, ‘Well, there’s going to be the top five, and then we’re gonna have little areas around it, and then that’s where everyone’s going to get buried.’ And I go, ‘Do I need to make this commitment right now?’ And he goes, ‘Well you’re doing your will right now, so you may as well put it in there.’”
The podcaster went on to confirm that the family mausoleum is in Indiana, where th “Jack & Diane” singer lives. “You’re going to have to visit my grave there,” she told Judge.
Teddi also joked that she started “making demands” on the call with her famous Grammy-winning father, noting that she wants a phrase a total stranger said to her recently etched on her gravestone: “Hot girls never die.”
Billboard has reached out to John Mellencamp’s reps for comment.
The TV personality has spent the past couple of months recovering from a February surgery, during which doctors removed four tumors from her brain. “I am so grateful for the incredible surgeons, doctor and nurses who made my surgery a success and my recovery process comfortable,” she wrote in an Instagram update shortly afterward. “The laughter, support and patience of my kids, my family and my closest friends is one gift with which words cannot properly express my gratitude.”
She’s also been undergoing radiation and immunotherapy to treat the cancer, which has also metastasized in her lungs, she revealed in March. Stage 4 is the most advanced form of melanoma, according to the American Cancer Society.
Amid her fight against the disease, Teddi has kept followers updated on her treatments and how she’s feeling on Instagram. On the latest episode of the podcast, she also opened up about how her family is coping, saying, “A lot of people ask me that: How are the kids doing?”
“They’re doing really well, I mean, Edwin’s for sure had to step up,” she added. “We’re really lucky that we have two nannies that we can rotate in and out. My dad also had extreme worry about me because there’s certain times where I don’t feel good, so I have a lady that comes and helps me at night.”
Listen to Teddi open up about her conversation with her dad about burial plans below.