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Going Dark MAGA and meddling with global politics isn’t good for business. Elon Musk can attest to that, as Tesla sales continue to slump not just in the United States, but also in Europe.
Spotted on The Verge, Tesla as a company is taking a tremendous hit in the European car sales market, and Elon Musk can look no further than himself as the reason.
According to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, Tesla is experiencing a significant decline in sales in Europe, with figures for the EU, UK, and European Free Trade Association falling 49 percent year-over-year in April, while sales of battery electric vehicles rose.
The EAMA reports that Tesla registered only 7,261 new vehicle registrations in April, a steep decline from the previous year, which is concerning for those in Tesla corporate or as an investor, given that the company has just launched an updated Tesla Model Y, one of the more popular models globally. It has also flopped, failing to lure in more customers.
The website reports that all of the company’s current misfortunes can be linked back to numerous factors, including Elon Musk’s decision to align with Donald Trump, his unsuccessful DOGE efforts, his involvement in global affairs, and more.
Per The Verge:
Despite Musk’s optimistic talk about the Model Y’s sales prospects, Tesla’s brand crisis appears to be deepening. And it’s not because European consumers are souring on electric vehicles; in the first four months of 2025, new battery-electric car sales grew by 26.4 percent, to 558,262 units, capturing 15.3 percent of the total EU market share.
Tesla’s falling fortunes can be chalked up to several factors, including rising competition from domestic manufacturers and Chinese rivals, and Musk’s efforts to slash federal spending for the Trump administration as part of DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk’s political meddling in the EU, where he came out in support of Germany’s far-right party ahead of that country’s elections, appears to have done Tesla few favors as well.
The latest financial woes for Tesla come after Musk claimed that he would be taking a step back from politics to focus more on the business, but will somehow stay involved with the Trump presidency throughout Felon 47’s current term.
While Musk’s popularity among Democrats and Liberals was in the toilet due to his glazing of Donald Trump and embracing MAGA, the Republicans who were fans of the billionaire have also gone sour on him.
A Reuters/Ipsos Poll revealed that 58 percent of respondents held an unfavorable view of Musk, compared to 39 percent who viewed him favorably.
Musk’s business woes are currently being celebrated on his platform, X formerly Twitter, which he allegedly sold to xAI.
You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
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NPR, the longstanding public broadcasting network, is standing up to President Donald Trump’s war on the media after filing a lawsuit this week. On Tuesday (May 27), NPR and three Colorado public radio stations filed a lawsuit stating that President Trump’s executive order to cut funding for the network and PBS is unconstitutional.
In a report from the network, NPR, Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio, and KSUT filed a suit in a District of Columbia court alleging that Trump’s sweeping executive order to end funding to the entities is a violation of their constitutional right to free speech.
“It is not always obvious when the government has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment. ‘But this wolf comes as a wolf,’” reads a portion of the lawsuit filing. “The Order targets NPR and PBS expressly because, in the President’s view, their news and other content is not ‘fair, accurate, or unbiased.’”
President Trump, White House budget director Russell Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Maria Rosario Jackson, the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, are all named as defendants.
“The Executive Order is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press,” NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher added in a statement.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss is overseeing the matter. The same judge is also overseeing a similar case with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) also suing President Trump.
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Photo: Brooks Kraft / Getty
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Months after photos of Victoria Monét getting cozy with Stormzy went viral, the “On My Mama” singer is reflecting on her romance with the rapper.
While hosting Monét on her Baby, This Is Keke Palmer podcast posted Tuesday (May 27), Keke Palmer first brought up the topic of Stormzy by recalling how the English-Ghanaian hip-hop star had been gushing hard about the singer-songwriter at the Met Gala earlier in May. “I said, ‘You know my girl, Victoria,’” Palmer said as Monét blushed. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, you know, she’s amazing.’”
“Yeah, he’s a really special guy,” replied Monét. “I have so much respect for him, and I got to learn more about him by dating him.”
The Grammy winner went on to say that she “fell deeply, so deeply,” for Stormzy before recalling how photos of the pair — which surfaced in October, less than a month after Monét announced her split from John Gaines — went viral before she and the rapper were even official. “We didn’t even get together yet,” Monét reflected.
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“The first time that you saw us in that viral picture, that was the first time of us really hanging out hard in his city, so I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s everywhere before we’re even starting,’” she continued. “So that was interesting to navigate … We would have wanted to announce on our own time, when everything was official. But that was just the beginning.”
“We had a blast together, we had such a great time,” added Monét, before seeming to hint that she and the “Vossi Bop” artist have since called it quits. “I think there’s mutual respect there and support, no bad blood. Always love.”
Billboard has reached out to reps for Monét and Stormzy for comment.
Monét and Stormzy’s romance followed the former’s September statement confirming her separation from Gaines, with whom she shares 4-year-old daughter Hazel. Noting that they’d actually split 10 months prior to the announcement, the vocalist wrote at the time, “Though we still completely adore and respect each other, we are not a couple anymore.”
Stormzy also announced a breakup shortly before his relationship with Monét, revealing that he and TV host Maya Jama had split in July.
The interview comes about seven months after Monét dropped the deluxe edition of her breakthrough album Jaguar II, featuring collaborations with Usher and Thundercat. The LP originally reached No. 60 on the Billboard 200 in 2023 and won best R&B album at the 66th Grammy Awards.
In April, Monét teamed up with Davido for new track “Offa Me.” She is also gearing up to publish a children’s book titled Everywhere You Are, which arrives June 25.
Watch Monét discuss her relationship with Stormzy on Baby, This Is Keke Palmer above.
Source: Jason Koerner / Getty
Fivio Foreign’s 2025 has been anything but smooth, as the Brooklyn drill rapper has spent the entire year behind bars following a weapons-related arrest on New Year’s Day.
However, there may finally be a glimmer of hope for the “Big Drip” artist. According to the New Jersey Public Information Office, Fivio pled guilty to one count of making terroristic threats, specifically, a third-degree charge involving a threat to commit a violent crime. Originally, Fivio was facing a far more serious legal battle with four additional charges looming over him, including unlawful possession of a weapon and aggravated assault.
However, his attorney, Adam Lustberg, shared with TMZ that those charges are likely to be dropped in light of the plea deal. The incident that landed him in jail reportedly began when a woman asked Fivio for a jump-start for her car. She told police that instead of helping, Fivio pulled a gun on her, leading to his arrest by Edgewater Police. Since then, the rapper has remained in custody, awaiting legal resolution.
Lustberg says the hope now is that Fivio will receive probation at his sentencing hearing scheduled for August. Given the time he’s already served — nearly eight months behind bars — there’s a strong chance the court will consider it sufficient punishment, opening the door for a possible release. For a rapper who’s spent much of his career building momentum, this could be a crucial step toward getting his life and music career back on track.
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Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani both performed at Monday night’s 2025 American Music Awards. Shelton made his AMAs debut with a run through his patriotic anthem “Stay Country or Die Tryin’,” and then returned later to introduce a medley from his wife Stefani. The No Doubt singer and solo star opened with her recent country-tinged […]
Ab-Soul was largely seen as a neutral player in the ongoing Joey BadA$$ versus the entire West Coast beef that’s going down, but it appeared that the back-and-forths were done with. Ab-Soul emerged with a new track addressing the war of the coasts while also throwing a shot towards DJ Akademiks that sparked an expected response from the media figure.
Ab-Soul recently joined Big Sean and JoeyBad$$ two weeks ago in a Red Bull Spiral Freestyle, where the Black Lip Pastor spoke directly to Badmon’s salvo against the West Coast. However, Soul also showed his alignment and respect for BadA$$’s Pro Era team and kept things strictly rap.
Since that time, a barrage of songs from Soul’s TDE labelmate Ray Vaughn, Hitta J3, Az Chike, Daylyt, and more. Joey got backup from the likes of his Pro Era colleagues Nyck Caution and CJ Fly, along with jabs from Generation Now’s Kai Ca$h among others.
The new drop from Ab-Soul was produced by Low The Great, who has a project with the aforementioned Az Chike, and Python P, whom Soul has worked with on previous tracks. The first half of the new joint finds Soul rapping in an aggressive double-time flow at a lower register than we normally hear him, conversational in tone as he dissected Daylyt and Vaughn’s battle bars and their assumed flaws.
In the second half of the song, Soulo ramps up the energy and lets it be known that while he has love for Pro Era, it’s still very much Carson and TDE for life for the lyricist. In this half, Soul raps that he’ll smack Akademiks when he sees him, setting off an entirely new thread to this coastal conflict.
Ak, talking to his fans on stream, fired back with the threat of death towards Soul, saying, “If you ever raise a hand on me, it’ll be your last day on Earth, n*gga. You’ll join Nipsey, King Von, and Pac. All of y’all gonna be having a good time.”
Fans on X caught wind of DJ Akademiks issuing the grim warning towards Ab-Soul and dropped off some choice words. We’ll share the reactions from all sides, along with the track in question, below.
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Photo: Gilbert Flores / Getty
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K Music has signed a worldwide admin deal with Kobalt, the company announced on Wednesday (May 28). The agreement was done via the indie label’s K Music Publishing; Kobalt will administer future output and select tracks in the company’s repertoire.
The strategic partnership with Kobalt aims to provide K Music Publishing with the global reach and resources to “further elevate its artists, expand their presence worldwide, and drive continued success in the evolving music industry,” according to a press release. Founded in 2019 by Alfredo Becerra, Leonardo Soto and Carlos Santos, K Music is home to música mexicana star Luis R Conriquez.
“Freddy, Leo, and their team have built in K Music a modern music company infused with a passionate entrepreneurial spirit embodied by the music of its artists,” Nestor Casonu, president of Latin America for Kobalt, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to welcome K Music Publishing into the Kobalt global family.”
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“We are excited to join the Kobalt Family,” added Alfredo Becerra, CEO of K Music. “This partnership is a significant milestone for K Music and K Music Publishing. We look forward to the incredible possibilities that lie ahead. This deal is not just about securing the intellectual property of our songwriters but about offering new pathways to the talented creators we represent, helping them break through new markets, and achieving even greater success.”
The deal includes Conriquez’s runway hit “Si No Quieres No” with Netón Vega, which scored the Sonora-born singer-songwriter his first Hot 100 entry. K Music — previously Kartel Music — also includes acts such as Joel De La P, Tony Aguirre, Dinamicos Jrs, Novillos De La Sierra and Said Norzagaray on its roster.
“Kobalt partners with companies that are reshaping the future of music,” said Tere Romo, Kobalt’s senior creative director for Latin America. “K Music has consistently demonstrated its ability to discover and develop groundbreaking talent in the música mexicana community. This partnership marks an exciting new phase for both of our companies and we’re thrilled to support K Music Publishing as they continue to push the boundaries of the genre and bring their incredible artists to a global audience.”
K Music Publishing was represented in the deal by Christopher Navarro, partner at Singh, Singh & Trauben LLP.
Sueños Music Festival in Chicago was full of the hottest latin stars, including Shakira, Peso Pluma and El Alfa! We take you inside the two-day festival and run through everything you might have missed. What was your favorite part of Sueños Music Festival? Let us know in the comments! Narrator:Sueños Music Festival in Chicago took […]
SEVENTEEN is headed for some big changes, as most of the boy band’s 13 members are currently serving or gearing up to enlist in the South Korean military to fulfill their mandatory service to their country.
But that doesn’t mean the group mates have any plans of putting their musical evolution on pause. In a Hollywood Reporter profile published Wednesday (May 28), the members of the K-pop phenomenon revealed their game plan for the next couple of years as Jeonghan, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino complete their civic duties, from dropping solo music to reuniting stronger than ever at the end of their service. (Joshua, a U.S. citizen; The 8 and Jun, who are Chinese citizens; and S.Coups, who is exempt due to an ACL injury, are the only members who are not required to serve.)
“This is something that has been inevitable for us all along,” Hoshi told the publication of enlisting. “We have been prepared. We have a lot of projects that we have discussed with [Hybe] very thoroughly up until now.”
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First thing’s first: On Monday (May 26), SEVENTEEN dropped new album Happy Burstday, featuring a solo song performed by each member, in addition to three full-group tracks. The move to showcase their individual capabilities before enlisting was intentional, priming each bandmate for more opportunities to explore music even as everyone else in the group is pulled in different directions. It’s a strategy not unlike the one used by BTS over the past couple of years, with all seven of the “Dynamite” singers dropping solo music at different points during their own enlistments ahead of their upcoming post-military reunion this year.
“Up until now, we’ve mostly focused on our group promotions,” Hoshi continued. “We would like to show more of our individualities, each of the members’ personalities and capabilities, so that when the time comes and we get back together again as a group, we‘ll be able to showcase ourselves as a better SEVENTEEN.”
And while nine of the members carry out their service, group leader S.Coups said that he and the other three bandmates plan to “stick together and make something great to showcase to the fans” in the meantime.
“We understand that the fans are very sad that some of us are going to be away, but among ourselves, [we] don’t consider this to be a really huge deal because we know that we are going to stay together,” added Woozi. “We should consider this as quite a long preparation phase for the next album that’s going to be even better and greater.”
According to THR, the nine eligible bandmates must enlist in South Korea before they turn 30. Jeonghan and Wonwoo, who are 29 and 28, respectively, are already serving.
SEVENTEEN is also similar to BTS in that the former’s military shift will come right at the height of the group’s popularity. As announced by Billboard on Wednesday, the “Super” band is the top K-pop group and No. 3 overall on the midyear Boxscore charts, grossing $120.9 million and 842,000 tickets sold on tour in 2025.
The interview also follows a three-year run of six top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. But according to S.Coups, SEVENTEEN — even in spite of its upcoming challenges — is just getting started.
“We are ready to reinvent ourselves,” he told THR. “We are standing at a new starting line, preparing for a new path ahead and ready to blaze a new trail.”
Kings of Leon have pulled all of the band’s U.K. and European shows for the summer following Caleb Followill being involved in a “freak accident.”
The frontman announced the news on Wednesday (May 28) via an update posted across social media. Taking to Instagram, he shared that he underwent emergency surgery recently after breaking his foot.
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“Hello to everyone out there, especially our European fans who are coming to see us this summer,” the singer and guitarist began in his video message. “Unfortunately I regret to inform you that those shows will have to be cancelled due to a freak accident that happened the other day. I broke my foot pretty bad playing with my kids.
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“It’s pretty gnarly and I’ll spare all the details. But we’re fortunate enough to have some great doctors here in Nashville that gave me emergency surgery. I’m on the mend, but they told me that I can’t be on my feet, travelling, or anything for the next eight weeks or so. That’s a big bummer.”
Moreover, he added that the band was planning on previewing some unreleased material during the now-canceled gigs. Followill also reassured fans that he and his bandmates will continue trying to work on new music over the coming months.
“We were so excited, we’ve been preparing for this tour for a long time… We’ve been in the studio recording, we have a bunch of new songs, we were going to debut a few of them on this run,” Followill said. “We had a lot of exciting things planned and now we’re going to have to pivot and find a new way to continue the work that we’ve started.”He concluded: “I’m very excited for when we do get to show you the stuff we’re doing, and in the meantime we’re going to do whatever work we can while I have these limitations. Exciting stuff is coming, I know this isn’t the message anyone wants to hear. It’s certainly not the message I want to be sending, but it’s going to be all right. Hopefully, we will see you all soon.”
The Tennessee-formed four-piece were set to perform in Cardiff, Wales, and Lytham, England, this summer beginning on June 29. The former was a slot at the Blackweir Live series, and the latter was part of Lytham Festival, where acts including Justin Timberlake and Alanis Morissette are also set to appear.Other affected gigs included Southsea’s Victorious Festival, Mad Cool Festival in Madrid and Belgium’s Rock Werchter. Rescheduled dates are yet to be announced.In an official statement, the band also shared, “Kings of Leon are updating fans that Caleb Followill has recently sustained a serious injury, shattering his heel and requiring a significant emergency surgery, that will prevent him from traveling and performing.”
“The anticipated recovery process is expected to take eight weeks, under strict guidance of expert orthopaedic specialists,” it continued. “The band regrets to report that they will need to cancel all upcoming U.K. and European festival headline shows in June and July of this year. Caleb took to social media today to detail his injury in a heartfelt apology to all the fans.”The sibling act’s last full-length effort arrived in the form of 2023 LP Can We Please Have Fun. The record reached No. 35 on the Billboard 200 upon release, and hit No. 2 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart. The band is set to resume touring on July 18 when they support Zach Bryan at his show at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey.
Watch Followill’s announcement about his injury below: