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A Los Angeles judge ruled Monday that there is enough evidence for A$AP Rocky to stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator outside a Hollywood hotel in 2021.
Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar made the ruling at a preliminary hearing, after hearing roughly a day and a half of testimony. Rocky has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
The 35-year-old hip-hop star, fashion mogul and two-time Grammy nominee is in a relationship with Rihanna, with whom he has two young sons.
Villar said “the totality of the video and testimony” shows there is sufficient evidence for the defendant to go to trial. She emphasized that preliminary hearings have a much lower evidence standard than a trial.
Rocky, sitting in the courtroom, showed no visible reaction.
“We’re not disappointed, not surprised, we expected to go to trial, we’ve been planning for trial all along,” Rocky’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, said outside court. “Rocky is going to be vindicated when all this is said and done, without question.”
At the first day of the hearing, which resumed Monday after a long delay, Terell Ephron testified that he and Rocky, a friend since childhood, had belonged to the same collective of musicians and artists at their New York high school.
He said their relationship had started to go sour and resulted in the standoff in Hollywood on Nov. 6, 2021, when he said Rocky first pulled a gun on him, and in a later confrontation fired shots that grazed Ephron’s knuckles.
Tacopina established while questioning a police detective that seven officers who searched a sidewalk and street about 20 minutes after the shots were allegedly fired found no evidence of the shooting, and that a pair of 9 mm shell casings in police possession were recovered by Ephron, who returned to the scene about an hour after the standoff.
Tacopina played body camera video of the officers, who searched the ground for about 10 minutes. Ephron, who first went to police to report the incident two days later, turned over the shell casings, which the detective said had no recoverable fingerprints on them.
Prosecutors showed a separate video from near the scene where no people are initially visible, but what sounds like two gunshots can be heard. Then a man comes running around a corner, then slows to a walk. The man’s identity is not clear in the video, but LAPD Detective Frank Flores testified they have established it is Rocky.
Flores testified under Tacopina’s questioning that no 9 mm pistol was recovered when a search warrant was served on Rocky.
Prosecutors showed a still from surveillance video showing a man in a hooded sweatshirt whose face is not visible holding what appears to be a gun, along with another image from the same video showing the face of the man in the sweatshirt, with no gun visible. Flores testified that the combined images led them to establish it was Rocky.
Tacopina, who is also representing Donald Trump in his New York criminal case and others, pressed the detective on the weapon, suggesting police had no way of knowing whether it was a loaded or even real gun.
“That gun or whatever it was was not tested, right?” Tacopina asked. “No, it was never recovered,” Flores said.
Tacopina asked, “You’re not sure if it’s an operable gun or a non-operable gun or whatever?”
“Without having it, I can’t tell you whether it’s operable,” the detective replied.
Tacopina also tried to cast doubt on the minor injury to Ephron’s hand, questioning why he waited until he returned to New York to seek medical treatment.
He showed the detective a photo of the scraped fingers and said, sarcastically, “It’s a miracle he survived that shooting.”
The judge admonished him, one of several times she told Tacopina to change his tone.
Rocky was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in the case in April, and charged in August. He arrived in the courtroom Monday morning wearing a dark suit, sunglasses and a face mask, after spending the weekend at the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix auto race, where he had a prominent role as Puma’s creative director in the clothing brand’s partnership with F1.
He has released little music in recent years, and has become better known as the romantic partner, fellow fashion influencer and co-parent of Rihanna, with whom he had a second son in May. His first two studio albums in 2013 and 2015 both went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Rocky also became an unlikely cause for then-President Donald Trump, who said he was trying to get the rapper freed and returned to the U.S. when he was jailed after a brawl in Sweden in 2019. He was found guilty of assault at trial but was given a “conditional sentence” that meant no additional jail time.
In California courts, preliminary hearings like these are a sort of miniature version of a trial, with only a judge deciding whether sufficient evidence exists to move forward. The standard of proof for doing so is far lower than what’s required for criminal guilt.
Grupo Frontera has signed a management deal with Habibi, Noah Assad‘s management firm, Billboard can report. Raymond Acosta, director of talent management at the company — which also includes Karol G on its roster — will lead Frontera’s management team.
The deal comes seven months after Frontera and Bad Bunny‘s massive collaboration, “Un x100to” — an irresistible cumbia, norteña track — peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also up for song of the year at this year’s Latin Grammys.
Over the past two years, Grupo Frontera — previously managed by Victor Ruiz — went from local McAllen, Texas, band to a música mexicana global force. Composed of Adelaido “Payo” Solis III, Juan Javier Cantú, Julian Peña Jr., Alberto Acosta, Carlos Guerrero and Brian Ortega, the group broke out last year thanks to its tejano spin on Morat‘s 2019 single, “No Se Va.” The inventive cover scored the norteño group its first entry on any Billboard chart, ultimately peaking at No. 3 on the Hot Latin Songs tally (dated Nov. 12, 2022).
According to Raymond Acosta, Habibi was approached by Mexican hitmaker Edgar Barrera — who’s penned and produced for Grupo Frontera — and Alberto Acosta of Frontera after seeing the impact “Un x100to” had. “I asked Noah for an opportunity to get to know and study Mexican culture,” Acosta explains. “Because for me, identities are very important. One of my role models is Mr. Angelo Medina, he was the manager of José José and Emmanuel. He was the one who taught me [that] when you’re going to cross the pond, you have to know where you’re going.”
Grupo Frontera released its debut album, El Comienzo, via Barrera’s BorderKid Records label. The set bowed and peaked at No. 3 on the Top Latin Albums chart. In the past year alone, the group has placed eight songs on the Billboard Hot 100 — including “Que Vuelvas” with Carin Leon, “Bebe Dame” with Fuerza Regida and “Frágil” with Yahritza y Su Esencia. They have a distribution deal with Believe and own their masters.
“If you want to be the number one manager, your artists have to be number one,” adds Acosta. “I’m fulfilling my dreams by fulfilling the dreams of others. I think that’s the beauty of the management part. [At Habibi,] we don’t copy-paste marketing plans. That’s why when you see all the projects, none of them look alike. And seeing everything that is behind Frontera, the personality of each one and what they are doing, motivates us a lot.”
Additional reporting by Leila Cobo.
Chinese music streaming company Cloud Music’s revenue fell 16.3% to 1.95 billion RMB ($270.4 million) in the third quarter, the company’s controlling shareholder, tech giant NetEase, announced on Thursday (Nov. 16).
Gross profit margin of 27.2% was almost double the 14.2% seen in the prior-year quarter and about even with the 27% gross margin in the second quarter. Cloud Music attributed the higher gross margin to the gain in subscriptions and cost control measures.
Through the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, Cloud Music had revenue of 6.6 billion RMB ($806.1 million), down 11.1% year over year. Gross profit almost doubled, to 1.5 billion RMB ($205.8 million), while gross profit margin (as a percent of revenue) also nearly doubled from 13.2% to 25.5%.
Cloud Music, which spun off from NetEase in 2021 and trades on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, said it “considerably strengthened its music-centric membership monetization and further improved profitability.” The company also pointed to its premium offerings that include “expansive content and innovative features.”
Investors appeared to focus on the drop in revenue rather than the other metrics and developments. The news sent Cloud Music’s share price down 12.6% to 82.25 HKD ($10.55) on Monday (Nov. 20).
Because Cloud Music’s unaudited results were released as part of NetEase’s third-quarter earnings report, the company released few metrics and did not say exactly how many subscribers it acquired in the quarter. Three months ago, Cloud Music announced it had 41.8 million subscribers on June 30, up 11% from 37.6 million a year earlier.
While music subscriptions have been on the rise, the social entertainment side of the business is faltering. In the first half of 2023, Cloud Music’s social entertainment business declined 23.8% year over year due to a crackdown by Chinese authorities over livestreaming features that can be used for illegal gambling. Social entertainment accounted for about half of Cloud Music’s total revenue in the first half of 2023.
Tencent Music Entertainment has also suffered a sharp drop in social entertainment revenue while growing its music subscription business. While its music subscribers grew 20.8% to 103 million and subscription revenue jumped 42% in the third quarter, its social entertainment revenue fell 49%, causing total revenue to fall 10.8% to 6.57 billion RMB ($900 million).
Cloud Music third-quarter financial metrics:
Revenue of 1.95 billion RMB ($270.4 million), down 16.3% year over year.
Cost of revenue of 1.42 billion RMB ($196.9 million), down 29% year over year.
Gross profit of 525.7 million RMB ($73.5 million), up 61% year over year.
Sony Music Publishing ruled the Top Radio Airplay, Hot 100 Songs and Country Airplay publisher rankings for its third consecutive quarter of 2023, and Warner Chappell Music surged to No. 2 on the Hot 100 Songs chart — the first time it has held the position since the Hot 100 ranking began in 2019.
For the period spanning July through September, all of the big three publishers benefited from shares in the Afrobeats radio hit “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez. Sony also benefited from stakes in “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen, which hit No. 5 on the Top Radio Airplay chart, and Taylor Swift’s surprise hit “Cruel Summer,” which reached No. 3 on the quarter’s Hot 100 Songs ranking, four years after its initial release due to its placement as the opening song of Swift’s The Eras Tour.
Last quarter, Tracy Chapman’s Purple Rabbit Music publishing company broke into the Hot 100 and Top Radio Airplay charts (ranking No. 7 and No. 10, respectively) for the first time, thanks to Luke Combs’ cover of her 1988 song “Fast Car.” This quarter, her market share as a publisher/songwriter grew even higher. Chapman finished the quarter as the top songwriter on all three charts, propelling Purple Rabbit Music to No. 5 on Top Radio Airplay and No. 6 on both Hot 100 Songs and Country Airplay.
But she wasn’t the only self-published songwriter to make the charts this quarter. As the sole writer of “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Oliver Anthony Music’s publishing company, Christopher Anthony Lunsford Pub Designee, placed at No. 8 on Hot 100 Songs with a 1.49% market share, surpassing such top 10 perennials as Downtown and Reservoir. Like Chapman, Anthony is the sole songwriter of his breakthrough song.
This is the first time that two independent songwriters have broken into the Hot 100 Songs chart at the same time.
Warner Chappell rose to No. 2 on the Hot 100 ranking for the first time in 19 quarters. Previously, it often ranked third or fourth. “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen, “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez, and 49 other Hot 100 Songs hits accounted for its strong showing of 18.18% of the market share. The publisher held steady in third place on the Top Radio Airplay chart with 15.87% of the market share, and ranked second on the Country Airplay chart with a 26.2% share.
Universal Music Publishing Group took second place on Top Radio Airplay — where its song placements increased to 52 from 49 in the second quarter — and third on Hot 100 Songs. Combs’ “Love You Anyway,” No. 3 on Country Airplay; “Cruel Summer”; and “Calm Down” were UMPG’s highest-ranked songs.
Kobalt held fast to No. 4 on both Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 Songs but slid to No. 5 on Country Airplay behind BMG. The latter publisher’s share in Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor” helped it edge past Kobalt’s 4.59% market share with 4.93%.
BMG and Big Machine Music both climbed in the ranks on the Country Airplay charts this quarter. BMG rose from fifth to fourth ranking, thanks to its share of 12 songs on the chart this quarter, including Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor.” BMM climbed from eighth last quarter (2.57%) to seventh this quarter (2.97%), thanks in part to Luke Bryan’s “But I Got a Beer In My Hand.”
Concord finished 10th on Top Radio Airplay with 1.37%. That percentage might rise in the fourth quarter due to its acquisitions of Round Hill Music and Mojo Music & Media in September. If Concord’s third-quarter market share was combined with those of Round Hill and Pulse, which Concord also owns but lists separately, it would have finished at No. 5 on Top Radio Airplay with 4.96% and at No. 7 on Hot 100 Songs with 3.1%.
Rounding out the top 10, Reservoir fell to No. 8 on Top Radio Airplay with 1.82%, though it improved on its No. 7-ranked second-quarter share of 1.62%. It rounded out the Hot 100 Songs top 10 with 1.17%. Hipgnosis (1.76%) and Downtown (1.44%) finished at No. 9 on Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 Songs, respectively.
Additional reporting by Ed Christman.
The leaders in perhaps the largest known YouTube royalty scam in history, Jose “Chenel” Teran and Webster “Yenddi” Batista Fernandez, have been ordered to pay more than $3.3 million in restitution to their victims. The amount is just a fraction of the $23 million in total royalties the two fraudsters siphoned from mostly Latin music makers, including Don Omar, Julio Iglesias, Prince Royce and Anuel AA, from about 2016-2021.
In total, the duo’s company MediaMuv fraudulently claimed to be the rights holder of over 50,000 sound recording and composition copyrights. Proceeds from this scam were then used by Batista and Teran to fund their lavish lifestyles, including Lamborghinis, real estate, diamond-encrusted jewelry and other luxuries, until their indictment in November 2021. They were indicted on 30 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
The two will split the $3.3 million they are ordered to pay back to victims; one source explained that the money will be paid out slowly each month after their release from prison. Earlier this year, Teran was sentenced to nearly six years in prison and Batista was given four years.
The court is ordering Teran and Batista to pay just a small sampling of the many songwriters and artists who are owed royalties as a result of the scam. It stipulates that Regalias Digitales — a rights management firm that represents a number of the victims — is owed nearly $1.4 million, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) — which also represents many of the victims — is owed more than $1.2 million, Jose Luis Perales is owed $153,000, Los Caminantes is owed more than $149,000, Nancy Ramirez is owed more than $100,000, Vagon Chicano is owed $98,000, Grupo Mandingo is owed $67,000, Grupo Ladron is owed almost $56,000, SPARX is owed $49,000, Don Omar is owed nearly $21,000, El Ojo is owed $15,000, INAMU — Argentina’s National Institute of Music — is owed $11,000 for its catalog of artists, Pappo is owed almost $2,000 and La Renga is owed over $700.
The latest court document reveals that Reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny was also a victim of Teran and Batista’s false royalty claiming, which they conducted under the company name MediaMuv. The thieves stole $500 from the star, which they have been ordered to pay back.
Representatives for Regalias Digitales and the RIAA did not respond to Billboard’s requests for comment.
INAMU told Billboard it learned of Batista and Teran’s scam from its partners at AdRev, a digital rights management firm that is now part of Downtown Music. At the time, INAMU was working with AdRev to collect royalties on behalf of its catalog, and the organization subsequently got in touch with prosecutors. The Argentinian institute — which controls the rights to a recorded music catalog that includes Leon Giaco and Seru Giran — no longer works with AdRev.
AdRev was also a business partner of Teran and Batista. Over the course of the duo’s five-year scam, AdRev helped claim the duo’s royalties. To date, AdRev has not been accused of any wrongdoing by prosecutors, and Batista admitted to sending three falsified contracts with companies that “purportedly” managed artists to AdRev “for the purpose of deceiving [AdRev] into allowing [MediaMuv] to continue [its] fraudulent operation.” However, a previous Billboard investigation into the $23 million scam revealed that AdRev executives were warned of Teran and Batista’s suspicious ownership claims on many occasions but continued to work with MediaMuv despite those emails.
After Uruguay’s parliament passed a bill that changes the country’s copyright laws, Spotify issued a statement on Monday (Nov. 20) saying that it “will unfortunately begin to phase out its service in Uruguay effective January 1, 2024, and fully cease service by February.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts […]
Each year dozens of primary ticketing systems hit the market, and rarely do any last long enough to generate significant attention or revenue to survive. Lyte is the likely exception.
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See latest videos, charts and news
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That’s because founder and CEO Ant Taylor has a proven track record of innovating the ticketing space, starting with its Lyte ticket exchange allowing fans to sell tickets to one another, directly driving the price of tickets down on the secondary market. In his new bid, Taylor is launching the Lyte Returnable Ticket, which allows buyers to return their tickets for a refund, funded by Lyte, along with tools for fair market pricing and simplified ticket buying tools integrated into the platform.
“Event creators equipped with data intelligence and pricing solutions don’t just increase their revenue potential—they also pave the way for more fans to have richer, more transparent ticketing experiences,” says Taylor. “With the Lyte Returnable Ticket, we’re putting fans first by providing a world-class experience, and generating more demand for creators.”
Lyte is the first platform to upend the industry standard policy of no refunds and no cancellations for ticket purchases. Fans gain early access, dedicated support lines, and exclusive tickets unavailable to other ticket holders.
Lyte’s current ticketing partners includes Australia’s music and arts festival Lost Paradise, Madrid’s MadCool Festival, the Association for Volleyball Professionals Pro Tour, and event powerhouse ReedPop, owner of PAX and numerous Comic Con events.
Lyte’s demand-first ticketing platform is powered by SmartPricing and SmartFulfillment, a powerful ecommerce engine with a history of outpricing scalpers and giving event creators total control of the sales experience for fans. Lyte’s SmartPricing feature dynamically prices tickets at fair market rates.
SmartFulfillment introduces an intelligence to who gets tickets by empowering event creators to decide which fans are fulfilled first. Fulfillment logic can prioritize group orders, repeat buyers, local fans and more, giving true priority treatment to event creators’ best customers beyond stressful, finite early access windows. Lyte’s platform also includes a Subscribe and Request buying interface, enabling fans to request tickets months in advance to avoid painful on-sales. The new experience helps creators sell out earlier, with 95.7% of requested tickets converting to tickets sold.
Mexican music star Espinoza Paz has signed a global deal with Virgin Music Group, Billboard has learned. Born Isidro Chávez Espinoza in Sinaloa, Mexico, the prolific singer-songwriter is known for his deep and emotional songs penned for other artists – such as Jenni Rivera and Banda MS – and for himself. Explore Explore See […]
Microsoft snapped up Sam Altman and another architect of OpenAI for a new venture after their sudden departures shocked the artificial intelligence world, leaving the newly installed CEO of the ChatGPT maker to paper over tensions by vowing to investigate Altman’s firing.
The developments Monday come after a weekend of drama and speculation about how the power dynamics would shake out at OpenAI, whose chatbot kicked off the generative AI era by producing human-like text, images, video and music.
It ended with former Twitch leader Emmett Shear taking over as OpenAI’s interim chief executive and Microsoft announcing it was hiring Altman and OpenAI co-founder and former President Greg Brockman to lead Microsoft’s new advanced AI research team.
Despite the rift between the key players behind ChatGPT and the company they helped build, both Shear and Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said they are committed to their partnership.
Microsoft invested billions of dollars in the startup and helped provide the computing power to run its AI systems. Nadella wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was “extremely excited” to bring on the former executives of OpenAI and looked “forward to getting to know” Shear and the rest of the management team.
In a reply on X, Altman said “the mission continues,” while Brockman posted, “We are going to build something new & it will be incredible.”
OpenAI said Friday that Altman was pushed out after a review found he was “not consistently candid in his communications” with the board of directors, which had lost confidence in his ability to lead the company.
In an X post Monday, Shear said he would hire an independent investigator to look into what led up to Altman’s ouster and write a report within 30 days.
“It’s clear that the process and communications around Sam’s removal has been handled very badly, which has seriously damaged our trust,” wrote Shear, who co-founded Twitch, an Amazon-owned livestreaming service popular with video gamers.
He said he also plans in the next month to “reform the management and leadership team in light of recent departures into an effective force” and speak with employees, investors and customers.
After that, Shear said he would “drive changes in the organization,” including “significant governance changes if necessary.” He noted that the reason behind the board removing Altman was not a “specific disagreement on safety.”
OpenAI last week declined to answer questions on what Altman’s alleged lack of candor was about. Its statement said his behavior was hindering the board’s ability to exercise its responsibilities.
An OpenAI spokeswoman didn’t immediately reply to an email Monday seeking comment. A Microsoft representative said the company would not be commenting beyond its CEO’s statement.
After Altman was pushed out Friday, he stirred speculation that he might be coming back into the fold in a series of tweets. He posted a photo of himself with an OpenAI guest pass on Sunday, saying this is “first and last time i ever wear one of these.”
Hours earlier, he tweeted, “i love the openai team so much,” which drew heart replies from Brockman, who quit after Altman was fired, and Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer who was initially named as interim CEO.
It’s not clear what transpired between the announcement of Murati’s interim role Friday and Shear’s hiring, though she was among several employees on Monday who tweeted, “OpenAI is nothing without its people.” Altman replied to many with heart emojis.
Shear said he stepped down as Twitch CEO because of the birth of his now-9-month-old son but “took this job because I believe that OpenAI is one of the most important companies currently in existence.”
His beliefs on the future of AI came up on a podcast in June. Shear said he’s generally an optimist about technology but has serious concerns about the path of artificial intelligence toward building something “a lot smarter than us” that sets itself on a goal that endangers humans.
It’s an issue that Altman consistently faced since he helped catapult ChatGPT to global fame. In the past year, he has become Silicon Valley’s most sought-after voice on the promise and potential dangers of artificial intelligence.
He went on a world tour to meet with government officials earlier this year, drawing big crowds at public events as he discussed both the risks of AI and attempts to regulate the emerging technology.
Altman posted Friday on X that “i loved my time at openai” and later called his ouster a “weird experience.”
“If Microsoft lost Altman he could have gone to Amazon, Google, Apple, or a host of other tech companies craving to get the face of AI globally in their doors,” Daniel Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, said in a research note.
Microsoft is now in an even stronger position on AI, Ives said. Its shares rose nearly 2% before the opening bell and were nearing an all-time high Monday.
The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP’s text archives.
Shakira agreed to a deal with Spanish authorities on Monday (Nov. 20) on the first day of a $15 million tax fraud trial in Barcelona that could have resulted in a significant prison sentence for the singer. According to the Associated Press, after maintaining her innocence for five years, the star agreed to a last-minute agreement, telling the presiding magistrate, José Manuel del Amo, that she accepted the agreement reached with prosecutors.
Shakira answered “yes” to confirm her acknowledgement of six counts of failing to pay the Spanish government 14.5 million euros (about $15.8 million) in taxes between 2012 and 2014. Under the agreement, Shakira will receive a suspended three-year sentence and pay a $7.6 million fine.
In a statement shared with Billboard, Shakira said that throughout her career she has always strived “to do what’s right and set a positive example for others. That often means taking the extra step in business and personal financial decisions to procure the absolute best counsel, including seeking the advice of the world’s preeminent tax authorities such as PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, who advised me from the start, and subsequently Ernst & Young Global Limited.”
Unfortunately, she added, despite those efforts she said Spanish tax authorities pursued a case against her, “as they have against many professional athletes and other high-profile individuals, draining those people’s energy, time, and tranquility for years at a time.”
Shakira said she was determined to defend her innocence at trial where her lawyers were confident she’d prevail, but decided to finally resolve the matter with the “best interest of my kids at heart who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal well-being in this fight.”
According to the AP, the trial that would have included more than 100 witnesses over the next few weeks adjourned after just eight minutes. In July, prosecutors said they would seek an eight year prison sentence and a fine of $26 million for the 46-year-old singer, with the case hinging on where Shakira lived during the period in question. Prosecutors alleged that the star spent more than half of that time in Spain and should have therefore paid takes on her worldwide income in the country despite listing the Bahamas as her official residence; tax rates are much lower in the Bahamas than in Spain.
“I need to move past the stress and emotional toll of the last several years and focus on the things I love – my kids and all the opportunities to come in my career, including my upcoming world tour and my new album, both of which I am extremely excited about,” Shakira wrote in the statement. “I admire tremendously those who have fought these injustices to the end, but for me, today, winning is getting my time back for my kids and my career.”
In July 2022, Shakira turned down a deal offered by prosecutors to settle the case, saying at the time that she “believes in her innocence and chooses to leave the issue in the hands of the law.” The singer’s spokespeople had previously said she already paid all that she owed plus an additional $3.2 million in interest.
Shakira’s defense team said in November 2022 that she had not spent more than 60 days a year inside Spain during the period in question; they said she would have needed to have spent half the year in Spain to be considered a fiscal resident. Her defense argued that she was away from Barcelona for long stretches due to a 2011 world tour and spent time in the U.S. when she was on The Voice.
Prosecutors disagreed, with the judge writing in 2021 that he found there was “sufficient evidence of criminality” for the case to go to trial. In a separate investigation, Spanish state prosecutors charged Shakira in September with alleged evasion of 6.7 million euros in tax on her 2018 income. Spain has cracked down on soccer stars such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over the past decade for not paying their full taxes; both were found guilty of evasion but avoided prison time after their sentences were suspended.
Shakira (born Shakira Esabel Mebarak Ripoll) has two children with Barcelona soccer star ex Gerard Piqué; the couple lived together in Barcelona before ending their 11-year relationship last year.
At Thursday’s 2023 Latin Grammy awards, Shakira performed “Acróstico,” an emotional, open letter to her children and gave a shout-out to her fans all over the world at the awards show in Seville, Spain. “I want to share this Grammy with my colleagues with whom I have had the pleasure of working and learning,” the Colombian singer said in acceptance speech for best pop song (“Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vo. 53”).
“With my Latin audience in Spain, in Colombia, in the United States, in Latin America. The Latin public that has taken me to the highest heights, those places I dreamed of since I was a child and to whom I owe everything,” she added. “I also want to share this with my Spanish public who has been with me through thick and thin … who have never stopped giving me love and support for a single day. I will never forget that. This is for you.”