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In today’s episode of Nah, Seriously, It Might Be Time To Give Up On Yeezus, Kim Kardashian reportedly cut short a meeting between her daughter North West and North’s father, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, because she learned that two accused sex traffickers would be attending that meeting.
According to TMZ, Ye — who is already drowning in controversy surrounding his most recent bigoted tweet storms, including one in which he called the younger children of Jay-Z and Beyoncé the R-word — invited incel advocate and pseudo-alpha male Andrew Tate, and Tate’s brother, Tristan Tate, to his and his daughter’s studio session, which is why Kim had to pull the plug. After all, it’s hard to call yourself a good parent when you’re inviting two men who still have pending sex trafficking cases to a meeting that includes your 11-year-old child.
In 2023, Andrew, Tristan and two others were charged in Romania with human trafficking, rape, and forming an organized crime group.
Just Wednesday, Ye was on X claiming his ex, Kardashian, is a “sex trafficker” who is using their four children, which he tweeted after Kim sent a cease-and-desist notice to him, attempting to block the release of the track “Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine,” which features North as well as a clip of Sean “Diddy” Combs, according to the New York Post.
So, just to recap: Ye accused Kardashian of being a “sex trafficker” and using their children in her alleged activities. Meanwhile, Ye is out here inviting accused rapists and sex traffickers to a studio session with his daughter, who is featured on a song that also features Diddy, who is currently drowning in sexual assault allegations among other heinous alleged crimes. (It’s also worth mentioning that Ye and Diddy recently bonded during a recorded prison phone call.)
It’s almost as if when it comes to Ye, every allegation is actually a confession.
From the Post:
Kardashian, West and their legal reps met with a mediator to discuss West’s recent social media tirades, which included everything from him confessing he’s a Hitler-loving Nazi to him selling swastika T-shirts.
Discussions also briefly touched on the Tate brothers, TMZ adds.
The controversial brothers arrived in Florida on Feb. 27, after which Florida’s attorney general opened a criminal investigation.
Last week’s hearing also touched on North’s involvement in West’s new song.
The outlet adds that the rapper agreed not to release the track during the meeting, but went back on his word over the weekend.
The Post has reached out to Kardashian’s and West’s reps for comment.
After releasing an audio clip of the song on X, Kardashian has reportedly been receiving advice from her legal counsel on filing for sole custody.
West alluded to taking a similar approach.
It’s wild how Ye keeps voluntarily putting all his family business in the street as if he truly believes he is the one who comes off as sympathetic. Like, bro, you’re fighting your ex-wife for custody and control of your children while keeping the company of accused rapists and sex traffickers.
Something is really wrong with Donda’s son. It’s sad.
Country music stardom wasn’t in Megan Moroney’s plans. Though she wrote her first song at age 19, Moroney studied marketing and accounting at the University of Georgia. But in the end, that turned out to be just the preparation she needed for a career in Nashville.
“I guess because I grew up thinking I was going to be an accountant, I didn’t know much about the industry and what rules I should even be following,” Moroney, 27, says today. “There is definitely a bit of, ‘I’m going to do whatever I want to do.’ ”
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So just two months after the Georgia native released her debut EP, Pistol Made of Roses, independently in July 2022, she chose to put out another song not on the EP: “Tennessee Orange,” a ballad of a star-crossed romance between fans of two rival SEC football teams.
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At first, Moroney doubted her decision. “You spent every dollar that you have making this EP. Why would you release another song that’s going to take away from these songs?” she recalls thinking. But when Spotify offered to add a new song by Moroney to its Fresh Finds playlist — provided that she gave them one — the timing seemed perfect. “They are a huge platform, and that’s free marketing. Football season’s coming and I’ve got this football song. It made sense.”
That “football song” soared into the top 20 of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, and on the strength of that success, Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records signed Moroney in November 2022. With the labels’ help working it to country radio, “Tennessee Orange” reached the top five of the Country Airplay chart and has now been certified triple-platinum by the RIAA.
Selkie top, Nadri jewelry.
Tracy Allison
For the relatable songs on her debut album, 2023’s Lucky, and its follow-up, 2024’s Am I Okay? (which debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200), the self-described “emo cowgirl” drew on influences like John Prine and Emmylou Harris — but filtered them through the lens of a 20-something navigating life and love, such as on the mean-girl takedown “I’m Not Pretty” and the introspective “No Caller ID.” And Moroney’s marketing background keeps coming in handy: She’s connected with a wide audience thanks in large part to her innate branding acumen — using different colors to signify each new album era, for instance — and off-the-cuff use of social media.
“I like to create worlds around albums,” Moroney says. “I feel like my fans would be very upset if I didn’t continue that. I’ve been writing a lot, and I have a couple of colors in mind [for upcoming music].”
Last year, Moroney toured with Kenny Chesney and won two coveted industry honors: the Country MusicAssociation’s new artist of the year and the Academy of Country Music’s new female artist of the year trophies. And as she continues to amass commercial wins (her catalog has registered 2.1 billion official on-demand streams in the United States through Feb. 20, according to Luminate) and begins work on her next album, Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music Rulebreaker is still fearlessly following her creative impulses.
“I’m sure the next album will have a few emo cowgirl songs, but overall, I’ve been shocked at myself,” she says. “I’m still in the creative process, but it’s been happier than I thought.”
Dolce & Gabbana dress, Camila Cabello necklace, Nadri earrings and rings.
Tracy Allison
You have built a relationship with your fans through social media from the get-go. Why was that so important to you?
I think social media and the direct me-to-fan interactions is how it’s all blown up so quickly. I recently teased a song I had literally just written while I was in the islands. I was like, “I’m in the middle of the ocean and this song is such a vibe. I’m just going to post it.” Because I can share so much of my life and share songs quickly and react to what they like, I know what they like, so then I can put it out. And sometimes my life is just straight up boring, and I’m like, “Sorry, guys!”
How else have you broken rules in your career?
I’m definitely not putting myself in any kind of box. I love country music, and all the instrumentation [on my songs] is country, but I’m not just thinking about being in a field with trucks. With branding “Tennessee Orange,” I made the cover [art] on my phone. I have control of my social media. There is no “You should do this or you should wear this.”
Who, to you, has been a rule-breaker?
Artists that are true to themselves. Dolly [Parton] did her own thing. Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves — especially when Kacey was coming up, her songwriting opened the door for conversational, universal lyrics in country music. For me, that was the first artist where I’m like, “Can you say that in a country song? OK, cool. If she can say it, I can probably say it.”
Megan Moroney photographed on February 25, 2024 at The Paper House in Nashville. Selkie top and bloomer, Malie shoes and Nadri jewelry.
Tracy Allison
Last year, you performed with Tate McRae in Nashville. Do you feel a kinship with women pop artists?
The pop girls, I love their music. Tate and Olivia [Rodrigo] are amazing. I was so surprised, honestly, when I sang with Tate how much crossover our fans [have]. I was a little nervous to go out in front of Tate’s crowd. Even though it’s Nashville, I was like, “These people are going to be like, ‘Who is this girl?’ ” But fortunately, everyone freaked out, and so that made me happy.
For other artists who want to break rules, what advice do you have?
Trust your gut and make decisions based off you and your career alone. Don’t bring another artist’s success into how you think you should operate. It’s OK to take risks, too.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Cameron Brink shares what Tyler, the Creator DM’ed her, Ben Stiller is inviting Travis Kelce & Taylor Swift to a courtside Knicks game and more! Keep watching for the latest news in sports and music! Tetris Kelly: Gelo continues his come-up, Ben Stiller invites Taylor Swift to a Knicks game, and Cameron Brink reveals what […]
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Big Drip is in big trouble. Fivio Foreign, the Brooklyn drill rapper, is facing some serious heat after his arrest on January 18, 2025.
According to TMZ, the rapper has been quietly locked up for a few months now. The rapper, born Maxie Lee Ryles III, is locked up in a New Jersey jail right now, hit with five charges: unlawful possession of a weapon, terroristic threats, and aggravated assault. These charges come from an incident on New Year’s Day in Edgewater, NJ.
According to reports, things popped off when a woman asked Fivio for a jumpstart for her car. Instead of keeping it chill, Fivio allegedly pulled a strap on her, pointing the gun and saying, “If I see you parked in front of this building again, there’s gonna be a f****** problem.” The situation escalated fast, and before long, Fivio was taken into custody.
Now, the charges he’s facing are no joke. Fivio’s been putting on for drill music, gaining mad traction with hits like “Big Drip” and linking up with heavyweights like Kanye West. But now, these legal issues are hanging over his head, threatening to throw off his whole career. If convicted, he could be looking at serious time behind bars, which would mess up everything he’s built in the rap world. Fans are watching closely to see how this all plays out—whether he bounces back or the case takes him off track.
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Tesla is continuing to face record numbers of protests and, at times, vandalistic acts at dealerships around the country in response to Elon Musk’s government-gutting DOGE efforts as he heads the agency. The electric automotive giant saw itself trending on X, also owned by Musk, with observers taking note of a recent recall of Tesla Cybertrucks and reports of $1.4 billion going missing.
As seen on CNBC, Tesla is moving to recall over 46,000 Cybertrucks because of a faulty exterior trim panel that has the potential to detach while driving, prompting valid safety concerns. The outlet adds that the recall is for a part on the truck known as a cant rail and all trucks manufactured between November 2023 and February 2025, as the company confirmed in a filing to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this past Tuesday (March 18). The company says that if owners are in possession made in that time frame can take the vehicle to a service department to have the cant rail replaced free of charge.
This recall comes as a new report from the Financial Times notes that $1.4 billion in funds have seemingly disappeared, and the timing couldn’t be worse for Tesla as stock prices continue to sink while Musk spends much of his time heading DOGE and ordering unpopular cuts and firing to essential government services in a bid to halt fraud and waste. Further, global protests against the brand have marred its image as a leader in the EV space with other companies making gains as the market landscape shifts in other directions.
On X, formerly Twitter, there are reactions to Tesla’s stock numbers, the missing funds, and the decrying of vandalism and protests. We’ve got those listed below.
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It’s that time of the year again! Although the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers already played a pair of games during MLB World Tour 2025: Tokyo Series, the rest of the teams in Major League Baseball begin their play on the field starting on Thursday (Mar. 27).
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And to celebrate MLB Opening Day, HEYDUDE is offering a collab with Major League Baseball on the brand’s Wally Funk style. The “game day-ready” shoes feature some of the pro league’s most popular teams, including the L.A. Dodgers, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and others. Men’s and women’s styles and sizes are up for grabs, including shoes for walking around the ballpark and tailgating at stadium parking lots.
Shoes go for $74.99 per pair, and with steals like this, you can expect sizes to sell out quickly. Made with a textile upper with an easy-on lace system, the HEYDUDE x MLB Wally Funk shoes are lightweight and flexible with removable foam insoles in each shoe. A pair is also easy to clean and wash.
Below, ShopBillboard rounded up a mix of HEYDUDE x MLB shoes for men and women that’ll help you celebrate MLB Opening Day.
HeyDude
HEYDUDE x MLB Dodgers Wally Funk
HeyDude
HEYDUDE x MLB Astros Wally Funk
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HEYDUDE x MLB Red Sox Wally Funk
HeyDude
HEYDUDE x MLB Yankees Wally Funk
HeyDude
HEYDUDE x MLB Cubs Wally Funk
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HEYDUDE x MLB Braves Wally Funk
HeyDude
HEYDUDE x MLB Rangers Wally Funk
In addition to providing you with stellar shoes, HEYDUDE has also garnered celebrity approval from the likes of Sydney Sweeney, Jelly Roll, Travis Hunter and others.
The footwear brand has debuted a mix of collaborations that received praise and admiration from fans of entertainment and sports. Some of the more recent collections include exclusive pairs of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Collection and Houston Rodeo shoes, as well as college football styles and an official NASCAR collab. Learn more about HEYDUDE here.
Want more? Shop even more colorways, styles and collaborations at HEYDUDE.com.
For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.
Celine Dion has not yet fully re-emerged from her three-year battle with debilitating Stiff-Person Syndrome. The rare neurological disorder that caused the singer painful, uncontrolled muscle spasms that made it hard to move and were so intense that they sometimes broke ribs has kept Dion mostly off-the-radar since she announced her diagnosis in 2022.
But after a few recent high-profile gigs in which she dipped her toe back into performance, Dion looked fit and feisty this week in a video with her three sons, René-Charles, 24, and twins Nelson and Eddy, 14, from the golf course. In the clip, Dion rips what sounds like a killer tee shot as one of her boys yells “YES ma!” from off camera.
“You like that one?” Dion says enthusiastically, flipping up her driver to play some air guitar in celebration, shaking her hips and goofing off while displaying her nimble moves as the voice off camera assures her, “that one was so good!”
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“I had a beautiful day with my boys out on the course,” Dion wrote in the caption. “Getting back into the swing of things!! [heart emoji],” she added, along with the playful shout-out for feedback: “PS: @pgatour, how’s my swing?”
Dion’s battle with Stiff-Person Syndrome not only impacted her body, but also caused spasms in her vocal cords that she has said made if feel like “somebody is strangling you,” leading the singer to postpone all of her 2023 and 2024 tour dates. She began her slow re-emergence into the spotlight at last year’s opening ceremony for the Paris Summer Olympics, where she wowed crowds, followed by a surprise set at the City of Hope’s 2024 Sprit of Life Gala in October and a November appearance at the “1001 Seasons of ELIE SAAB” event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Last Saturday, she also marked International Stiff-Person Syndrome Awareness Day, sharing a clip in which she talked about the rare disorder. “I want to remind you: no matter what challenges or conditions you face, you are not alone. Please hold onto hope, because it will guide you through the hardest times,” Dion wrote alongside a clip of her discussing her Celine Dion Foundation’s $2 million gift last year to establish the Endowed Chair in Autoimmune Neurology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Check out Dion’s swing below.
The Guns N’ Roses drum seat didn’t stay empty for long. Just a day after announcing the departure of their longest-tenured stickman, Frank Ferrer, after 19 years, the hard rock stalwarts revealed who will take over on Thursday (March 20).
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And while he’s not (yet) a household name, Isaac Carpenter has the perfect CV to back up the core trio of singer Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan on their upcoming Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things Tour, which kicks off in South Korea on May 1.
The 45-year-old Washington state native performed in a GNR cover band in high school called .22s and Tulips, before that act transformed into the group Loudermilk, which got signed to Rick Rubin’s American label while the guys were still teens. Following the band’s dissolution, Carpenter played drums in AWOLNATION for a decade, and also spent time playing with McKagan’s side project, Loaded, as well performing and recording with Adam Lambert, Barbarians of California, A Perfect Circle, The Exies, Ours and Black Lab, among others.
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Carpenter will kick off his GNR era with the band for their 2025 tour, which will hit stadiums and festivals in Europe, Asia and the Middle East this summer.
Guns announced the “amicable exit” of Ferrer on Wednesday (March 19), thanking their longest-running drummer for “his friendship, creativity and sturdy presence over the past 19 years, and they wish him success in the next chapter of his musical journey.” Ferrer joined Guns N’ Roses in 2006, taking over from Bryan “Brain” Mantia, who had joined in 2000. Ferrer’s last appearance with the band was at Mexico’s Hell & Heaven Metal Fest in November 2023, which is also the most recent live performance from the GNR.
Check out the band’s first official photo of Carpenter below.
What better way to celebrate the release of your love-drenched debut album as a couple than go on The Tonight Show to prove how good you are at lying to each other? Well, that’s exactly what Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco did on Thursday night (March 20) when they fêted their collab LP I Said I Love You First by playing a round of “True Confessions” with host Jimmy Fallon.
Spoiler alert: they are adorably bad at lying to one another.
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The couple had other business to discuss on the show, of course, including a re-telling of the tale of Blanco’s elaborate engagement plot, which Selena said she almost ruined because she was exhausted after a long day of work. Gomez, who wore a flattering, off-the-shoulder black velvet dress and heels, and Blanco, dressed in a bedazzled, ripped jeans and an equally sparkly pale purple short-sleeved shirt and black cowboy boots, said she had no idea that Blanco was going to propose back in December because the day it happened she was wiped from work.
“We had to do a lot of promo for the album, so I woke up and I was very confused on what was happening, where we were going, because it seemed kind of far,” Gomez said. “I’m kind of a little grumpy. I really am tired. This is too far. So then I tell him, ‘after this shoot I’m going to go hang out with my friends.’”
Blanco said that sent him into panic mode because getting engaged is the “craziest thing” in the world. “It’s like, right before you’re gonna tell someone you’re gonna be married to them forever, they’re like, ‘show me how good you can lie to me!’” Blanco joked. “It’s the hardest thing in the world!” Blanco said the cloak-and-dagger arrangement made for the “scariest week of my life.”
When Fallon predicted the music at the wedding would be “amazing,” Gomez said they are “definitely not planning exactly at this moment,” but that she will for sure leave the music portion of the big night to Grammy-nominated producer/songwriter Blanco.
The pair, of course, also talked about the album, which Gomez described as “an exploration of each other’s present, past and future. The music was very fun, but cathartic, because we got to know each other on a deeper level.”
Earlier in the episode during the lying game, Selena tried to convince Blanco and Fallon that one time her dog ran away on set and Paul Rudd found it. Blanco was immediately skeptical about the tale, asking what year it was, to which Gomez snapped, “what are you, Judge Judy?” Showing off his deep knowledge of Sel’s dog history, Blanco expertly poked holes in her story, leading the singer to complain, “He knows it’s a lie. I told you backstage I’m going to be terrible at this!”
Nobody fell for Fallon’s dumb claim that he almost ruined Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown’s last year by showing up uninvited, especially Blanco who asked, “Who is Millie Bobby Brown?” After proving his expert sleuthing skills, it was Blanco’s turn to lie, pretending he starred in a Burger King commercial as a kid. He put on a good face, but Gomez immediately wondered, “I dunno… why wouldn’t you have told me that?”
Watch Gomez and Blanco on The Tonight Show below.
When Jennie posted the long-awaited trailer announcing her debut solo album, Ruby, she was on a plane heading to London. “It’s hard for me to stay longer than a week in one city,” she confesses — while in the car en route to yet another flight (this time from Los Angeles back home to Seoul).
Jennie chose the commanding “Zen” to soundtrack the album’s January trailer, particularly highlighting the lyric “In the dark I grew,” a sentiment that echoes throughout Ruby. “To me, that song is the core of this album,” she says. “So it only felt right to begin this journey with it.”
The album, which is entirely in English and arrived March 7, was preceded by singles “Mantra”; “Love Hangover,” with Dominic Fike; and “ExtraL,” with Doechii; and its other features — including genre-spanning artists such as Dua Lipa, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis — further illustrate Jennie’s wide-ranging taste and global appeal. As a jet-setting artist with a devoted worldwide fan base firmly in place thanks to her role in history-making K-pop act Blackpink, Jennie is determined to build upon that on her own. (She released Ruby on her independent label, OddAtelier, in partnership with Columbia.) “It feels like my power as a superhero,” Billboard‘s 2025 Women in Music Global Force says. “It drives me to put more great things out there and work hard.”
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Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.
You already have a global fan base thanks to Blackpink. How did that benefit you on your solo journey?
If anything, I’m reintroducing myself to the world with this album. I’m throwing myself out there as if this was the very first time — that’s the commitment that I told myself. So I don’t think it changes so much for me.
You’ve adopted the middle name of Ruby Jane. How did that inspire the album title?
I was contemplating until the very end. I didn’t name [the album] Ruby because it’s a part of my name. To me, Ruby speaks to me as the curtain call of a play, where I’m opening this new chapter of… I don’t want to say new life; life is life, but a different stage in my life and I’m welcoming everyone in. I don’t necessarily see Jennie, Ruby, Jane as three different alter egos of mine. That’s just who I am, all in one.
Annakiki dress.
Songyi Yoon
You released a lyric breakdown of “Love Hangover” in Korean. Why was that important for you to do?
I love the fact that I’m Korean, so I’m just showing my appreciation and giving back the love that [my Korean fans] give me, and I wanted them to understand my music and myself better since this is an all-English album. And I know that they want to be more interactive with me in both languages.
What lyrics on Ruby best sum up how this journey has felt for you?
There’s a song that speaks to me in that sense called “Starlight,” and I think it’s a beautifully written song about how I felt for all this time. It’s a personal song.
Dua Lipa is featured on “Handlebars.” Tell me about that friendship.
I’ve known Dua for a very long time now. I went to her first show in Korea. We’re already good friends, [but] it was our first time doing a song together. That itself was a new experience for us to see each other in a different way, and we just had a great time.
Jacquemus top, David Koma pants, AREA hat.
Songyi Yoon
Between you two, who do you think travels more?
Honestly, we both work hard.
Behind the scenes, you have a strong team of women helping run your label. Why was that important to you?
I consider it to be important to work with people that you share good energy with, and I naturally started to gravitate toward empowering women. I’m still working hard to become one of those women that I look up to myself.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
