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British pop star, Ed Sheeran, is taking the infringement lawsuit filed against him by one of the writers of Marvin Gaye’s hit, “Let’s Get It On,” as an insult.
The singer took the stand and threatened to quit music if the court ruled against him in the case which alleges that his hit “Thinking Out Loud” contains elements of Gaye’s hit. “If that happens, I’m done, I’m stopping,” he told his lawyer Ilene Farkas while under oath, according to The Daily Mail.
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‘I find it really insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish it,’ the ‘Shape of You’ singer added.
Sheeran is being sued for $100 million by the heirs of Ed Townsend who co-wrote the 1973 hit with Gaye.
The case has been quite a spectacle, with, at one point, Sheeran taking to the guitar to play an acoustic version of the song for the jury. In Manhattan federal court last week, lawyers for Townsend’s heirs played a video of Sheeran transitioning seamlessly between ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and ‘Let’s Get it On’ during a live performance.
They likened the mash-up to a confession that he had ripped off the song.
But in court on Monday, Sheeran said he and many other artists frequently perform ‘mash ups,’ and that he had on other occasions combined ‘Thinking Out Loud’ with Van Morrison’s ‘Crazy in Love’ and Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You.’
‘I mash up songs at lots of gigs. Many songs have similar chords. You can go from “Let It Be” to “No Woman No Cry” and switch back,’ he said.
‘And quite frankly, if I’d done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that,’ he added.
Musicologist Alexander Stewart is an expert witness in the case and he argued last week that the first 24 seconds of ‘Thinking Out Loud’ were similar to the beginning of ‘Let’s Get it On.’ Stewart said in court that they ‘have the same harmonic rhythm’ while pointing out melodic similarities in the verse, chorus and interlude.
The British rocker has been combative on the stand pushing back as he explained the process of writing the song in 2014 as a collaboration with a songwriting partner named Amy Wadge. He maintained, “I draw inspiration a lot from things in my life and family.”
The Townsend family is being represented by famed civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump.
If Sheeran is found to have ripped off elements of the song, a second trial will likely be held to determine damages.
It’s worth noting that when Sheeran’s hit, “Shape Of You” was released in January 2017, Sheeran, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac were as the song’s only songwriters. It was not until fans pointed out the similarities between the song and the TLC hit, “No Scrubs,” that producer Kevin “She’kspere” Briggs, Xscape stars and songwriters, Kandi Burruss and Tameka Cottle-Harris were added to the credits.
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It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
Word on the street is that Cher, 76, and Alexander “AE” Edwards, 37, have ended their May-December romance. According to TMZ, they were also never even engaged despite multiple reports to the contrary.
Sources close to the former couple tell TMZ they ended things a few weeks ago, though it’s currently unclear what led to the relationship’s collapse or who first decided to end it.
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The musical icon fueled rumors that the couple was engaged when she shared a photo of a massive engagement ring on social media around Christmas. She also later told the paparazzi that they were engaged, but it seems they were just having fun.
According to People, the couple met last September during Paris Fashion Week. Edwards has reportedly helped her with new music and supported her last year when she lost her 96-year-old mother.
Cher is considered the “Goddess of Pop” with a phenomenal career that spans five decades. The “Believe” singer is one Tony away from being an EGOT winner–considered the grand slam of the entertainment industry. She was formerly married to the late Sonny Bono and Greg Allman; she has a son with each.
Edwards is an executive at Universal Music Group and was previously linked to Amber Rose with whom he shares a son, Slash.
They couple was spotted on the red carpet together earlier this year.
Page Six reported:
Cher and the music producer looked smitten as they wrapped their arms around each other for photos. They both flashed cheerful smiles and flaunted their love for all to see.
Both wore head-to-toe Versace for the occasion, of course, with Edwards looking cool in all black; he paired a button-front jacket with a knit polo and dress pants, while the Goddess of Pop went glam in a metallic blue leather jacket embellished with studs and crystals layered atop a matching bondage-style catsuit and platform boots.
The couple’s loved-up outing marked the first time they walked a red carpet together, hinting that they are more serious than ever.
Welp. Grand opening, grand closing.
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Much like the song from her latest album, Beyoncé is heated over the Internal Revenue Service which claims she owes them $2.7 million in unpaid taxes.
According to reports, the singer filed a petition on April 17th protesting a decision by the I.R.S. to serve her with a tax bill demanding that she pay $2.7 million dollars in conjunction with a Notice of Deficiency back in January 2018 over the matter. The documents of Beyoncé’s motion include her stating that the I.R.S. committed multiple errors in reviewing her taxes from 2018 and from 2019. The full detail from the agency’s billing claims that the singer owes $805,850 in taxes and $161,170 in penalties for 2018. For 2019, the estimation was $1,442,747 in taxes plus $288,549.40. The interest added to those figures totals $2.7 million.
“We are working with the IRS and anticipate that the matter will be resolved shortly,” said Michael C. Cohen, an attorney representing Beyonce’s legal team. The singer notes in the petition that if there were discrepancies that occurred, she should not pay the penalties because she “acted in good faith”. The petition also alleges that the I.R.S. disallowed multiple deductions related to her business income, including utilities, insurance, management fees, legal services, and professional services for both years. An example presented by the lawyers in the petition state that the I.R.S. disallowed a charity contribution of $868,766 the singer claimed as an itemized deduction. The charity itself was unnamed.
Beyoncé has donated to numerous causes in the past and present. She created the BeyGood Foundation in 2013 to assist communities with mental health, education, and disaster relief among other issues. She and her husband, Jay-Z, have also jointly made charitable contributions. The most publicized in recent times was tied to their appearance in a new campaign for Tiffany in 2021, where a pledge of $2 million was made to Historically Black Colleges & Universities.
The news comes as the 41-year-old is on the verge of embarking on a highly anticipated world tour for her latest album, Renaissance. The tour is already projected to earn $275 million, which will add to her considerable net worth of $500 million.
Beyoncé also counts her Ivy Park streetwear brand in her portfolio, which she fully acquired in 2018 through her Parkwood Entertainment company.
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In an interview, Smokey Robinson reveals that he and fellow Motown Records legend Diana Ross became involved with each other despite him being married.
The singer was the subject of a lengthy interview while doing a promotion for his latest album. Gasms. As the conversation turned to how Robinson met his first wife, Claudette Rogers, he was first asked if he ever had a fling with Aretha Franklin who he grew up with in the same Detroit, Michigan neighborhood. When he responded no, he was asked about Diana Ross and he confirmed that they had an affair for “about a year”.
“I was married at the time,” Robinson said. “We were working together and it just happened. But it was beautiful. She’s a beautiful lady, and I love her right till today. She’s one of my closest people. She was young and trying to get her career together. I was trying to help her. I brought her to Motown, in fact. I wasn’t going after her and she wasn’t going after me. It just happened.”
The “Cruisin” singer then detailed how the two split. “After we’d been seeing each other for a while, Diana said to me she couldn’t do that because she knew Claudette, and she knew I still loved my wife’ Robinson said. “And I did. I loved my wife very much.” He and Rogers would remain married until 1986. Representatives for Ross didn’t respond to requests for answers.“I learned that we are capable of loving more than one person at the same time. And it has been made taboo by us. By people,”
The 83-year-old went on to say how the situation helped him gain a greater perspective on love. “I learned that we are capable of loving more than one person at the same time. And it has been made taboo by us. By people. It’s not because one person isn’t worthy or they don’t live up to what you expect – it has to do with feelings,” he said.
Robinson’s dalliance with the “Inside Out” singer was also motivation for a funny moment in the interview, where he’s told about a rumor that he and Ross were the actual parents of the late superstar Michael Jackson. “They say Diana Ross and I had Michael? Oh my God! I never heard that one, man! That’s pretty good. That’s funny! That’s funny!” When asked if Ross has heard it, Robinson said he would call her and ask.
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NBA Hall-of-Famer Dwayne Wade recently cited how Florida’s policies against the LGBTQ community played a factor in moving his family from the state.
The former Miami Heat superstar sat down for an interview on the latest episode of the Showtime series Headliners with Rachel Nichols. Nichols asks him about the hypocrisy of state politicians who are big fans of his but vocally support policies against LGBTQ individuals and their families. “That’s another reason why I don’t live in that state,” Wade replied. “A lot of people don’t know that. I have to make decisions for my family, not just personal, individual decisions.”
Wade is the father of his fifteen-year-old daughter, Zaya, who came out as transgender in 2020. She was granted a legal name and gender change in February at the end of a lengthy legal battle with her mother, Siohvaughn Funches. “I mean, obviously, the tax [situation] is great. Having Wade County is great,” he continued. “But my family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there. And so that’s one of the reasons why I don’t live there.”
The 41-year-old, who’s married to actress Gabrielle Union, is also father to 8-year-old son Xavier Zechariah, 20-year-old son Zaire and daughter Kaavia James, 4. He cites his father as a major influence on his own parenting in the interview. “I tell my dad all the time, I’m just a mirror image of the way he loved us and the way that he accepted not only myself and my brothers but other kids in the community that didn’t have father figures,” Wade said. “And so I don’t know any difference. And so yes, I had to educate myself and yes, I had to get a better understanding. And yes, I had to lose some friends along the process, but I never wavered on loving my kids and trying to find space to get the chance to understand them,” he concluded.
The revelation by Wade comes weeks after Governor Ron DeSantis signed more expansive elements to a bill that has come to be known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law for its highly restrictive policies including bans on classroom education on gender identity and sexual orientation. DeSantis is currently locking horns with Disney over their opposition to his agenda, recently nominating a board that oversees the entertainment giant’s district of theme parks. That board, however, was stripped of its powers after being elected.
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It’s officially been 10 years since Chance the Rapper burst on the scene with his record-breaking, Billboard-charting mixtape Acid Rap. Over the next few months, Chance will honor the project through a series of can’t-miss live events, pop-ups, merch drops, and special music releases.
Chance will also headline an Acid Rap Ten Year Anniversary Show on August 19, produced by Live Nation Chicago’s United Center. Rapper and record producer Saba will be the show opener.
Tickets and VIP packages will be available starting with an Artist presale beginning today, Wednesday, April 26. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning Friday, April 28 at 10am local time at livenation.com.
Tickets for the show are selling fast.
In the first event to mark the occasion, Chance is returning his single, “Juice” to its original glory and format, available worldwide for the first time ever across streaming services this Sunday, April 30.
The Chicago native is also releasing new merch to celebrate the occasion available on his website starting this weekend.
When it dropped on April 30, 2013, Acid Rap was heralded as “Best New Music” by Pitchfork and Rolling Stone called it one of the “Best Mixtapes of 2013.” Across fourteen dynamic tracks, Chance’s lyrical prowess shines bright as he spits heavyweight bars over psychedelic, soulful, juke-filled beats, encapsulating the sound and feel of Chicago. Top Chicago-based and national artists including Vic Mensa, Childish Gambino, Twista, Action Bronson, BJ The Chicago Kid, Ab-Soul, and Noname lend their talents to the project. In 2019, Acid Rap hit DSPs and catapulted to #5 on the Billboard Hot 200, cementing Chance the Rapper’s role as a voice of a generation.
The anniversary is just part of an exciting year for Chance as he prepares to release his next body of work, Star Line Gallery. The project sees Chance intertwine the worlds of art, music, and cinematography through a series of interdisciplinary works in collaboration with fine artists from The Continent and The Diaspora. The resulting pieces redefine the notion of ‘album art’ and are compelling conversations and meditations on Black life.
Star Line Gallery works “Child of God” (collaboration with Gabonese artist and painter Naïla Opiangah), “A Bar About A Bar” (collaboration with Chicago-based painter Nikko Washington and filmmaker Troy Gueno), “The Highs & The Lows” feat. Joey Bada$$ (collaboration with Gabonese photographer Yannis Davy Guibinga), and “YAH Know” (collaboration with Chicago-based visual artist Mía Lee) have been showcased at art institutions around the world including Expo Chicago, Art Basel, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), The Art Institute of Chicago, and Los Angeles’ Museum Of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
Fans are also loving him on Season 23 of NBC’s The Voice, where he is the first rapper to serve as a coach.
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One thing Gen Z is gonna do…is tell more than they should. LSA women’s basketball star Angel Reese is sharing who slid in her social media DM’s after her historic NCAA Championship win earlier this month.
Reese and teammate Flau’jae Johnson stopped by the Breakfast Club to talk about their win as well as other ways their lives have changed since the win.
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According to Complex, Reese revealed that Drake and Future have slid into her DMs. “You said two that you need to stay far away from,” Charlamagne tha God joked.
The 20-year-old forward clarified that the multi-platinum rappers just offered congratulations. “They just congratulated me. It’s all congratulations,” she said with smile.
Still, the idea earned a few more jokes from The Breakfast Club hosts. “Then Drake gonna say, ‘Yo, you know I got a basketball court at the crib?’ Did he say that yet?” Envy asked. Reese and Johnson exchanged a knowing glance and broke out in laughter, while declining to answer the question.
Reese became a national sensation after leading her team to the NCAA championship beating Iowa. However, questions about her sportsmanship by mimicking the “You Can’t See Me,” dance led to vicious and racist attacks on social media. Rapper Tony Yayo, who first popularized the gesture, took to her defense.
“Any kind of sports, talking trash is a part of the game,” Yayo told TMZ Sports. “I mean, it was for the championship game. It’s competition. Even when I’m playing 2k — if you playin’ in the game, with video games, we get excited. You know?”
Yayo continued, “It’s just a dance. I don’t take nothin’ personal. It was a dance I created because I was trying to hide from the police. But shout out to all them people — John Cena, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark — and definitely Flavor Flav. But Angel Reese? You know, she took the ‘U Can’t C Me’ dance to a whole ‘nother level.”
The gesture first popped up in the series when Iowa’s Caitlin Clark used it against players from South Carolina. She was praised as “passionate.”
Reese, also known as Bayou Barbie, is one of the NCAA’s highest-grossing NIL players with a value of over $1.5 million.
She also talked about getting praise from fellow LSU baller, Shaquille O’Neal saying that his support sometimes put “pressure” on her, an idea that the NBA legend brushed off.
On his podcast, O’Neal said of Reese:”She’s probably the greatest athlete to ever come out of LSU sports. You heard it here first. Man and female,” O’Neal said on the latest episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq.”
“Because, guess what? She delivered. She delivered that package. See, a lot of us got the package, and we still got the package in our truck. She delivered that package. So, you know, there’s a lot of names you could throw around — men and women — but she’s probably the greatest athlete.
“Some people are going to exclude it to women athletes. I’m not doing that. She’s the greatest athlete to ever come out of LSU.
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Charlamagne Tha God has made a request for a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from a sexual assault case, claiming that there is a lack of evidence.
According to reports, The Breakfast Club host and his legal team filed a motion requesting the dismissal of a lawsuit against him by alleged victim Jessica Reid. The lawsuit, filed last year, accused Charlamagne of “willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously engage in penile/vaginal intercourse with a fifteen-year-old female child” when he was 22 in Charleston, South Carolina. Reid stated that the host spread “false, insulting” claims about her when he came forward about the 2001 incident, including calling her a “groupie.”
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“[Alleged victim Jessica Reid] has persisted in broadly disseminating her unsubstantiated claims, ignoring that the South Carolina Solicitor in 2018 declined her request to re-open the case due to a lack of evidence while confirming that no basis existed to bring sexual assault charges against Charlamagne,” the motion reads. “Witnesses had attested to the fact that Charlamagne had already left the party when the alleged assault occurred.”
The 37-year-old pointed to him telling his side of the story in his book, Black Privilege, calling his depiction of the incident “wrong, hurtful and defaming.” She is seeking unspecified damages and a full retraction of his statements. In the lawsuit, Reid alleged that she met the shock jock through a mutual friend, and attended a birthday party thrown for him at the Short Stay Naval Recreation Center on June 8th, 2001. She would allege that she imbibed a drink given to her by Charlamagne, which left her dizzy to the point of collapse. It was at that moment two other men had taken her upstairs, where she was assaulted. She alleges that Charlamagne also assaulted her afterward. Reid previously claimed that her mother actively blocked her from cooperating with law enforcement officials who were investigating the incident.
Charlamagne Tha God would be indicted on the charges of “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” and criminal sexual conduct with a minor in 2001 but would go on to accept a plea deal the next year that was offered by prosecutors due to lack of evidence. He would eventually be sentenced to three years probation.
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The rumor mill is swirling after Nelly and Ashanti were spotted holding hands following the boxing match between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia, where the two were together ringside, according to Page Six.
While the duo have not confirmed that they are seeing each other again, fans are already celebrating on social media.
“Awww. Nelly and Ashanti are back together I’m here for it. They both aged beautifully,” one wrote.
Even fellow celebs got into the mix with fellow rapper Bow Wow writing in the comments section of an Instagram post from The Shade Room.“Yo mo! I know we not seeing eye to eye either really but from lil bro to big bro STOP PLAYING AND MARRY THIS WOMAN BRO!” fellow rapper Bow Wow wrote in the comments section of an Instagram post from The Shade Room. “You like 50 sit yo old ass down this your queen.”
The couple has been romantically linked on and off since the 2000s and this isn’t the first time that fans have hoped for a reunion. In December 2022, the pair performed their hit, “Body On Me,” in front of an audience where they were smiling and grinding on each other on stage. Later that month in an interview with Andy Cohen, Ashanti said she was surprised by the positive reaction from fans.
“My reaction was, ‘Wow.’ It was a lot of comments and a lot of people wanting that [us back together],” she said at the time, “What I will say is, we’re in a better place. You know, ’cause before, it was like [mimics fighting]. But we’re cool now. Yeah, we have some conversations, you know. So it’s cool.”
Cohen pushed the subject asking, “But you’re not getting back together?” The singer struggled to find words, simply responding, “I mean, I don’t…”
Fans on Twitter are celebrating the possible reunion with one making comparisons to the rekindled relationship between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez which finally resulted in their marriage more than a decade after they broke up.
One user said that there was one person who really deserves the credit for the reunion.
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The issues mount for Jonathan Majors as it’s been revealed that other victims alleging that he abused them have come forward with their claims.
According to reports, there are multiple victims who have come forward and contacted the Manhattan district attorney’s office, resulting in their cooperation with the investigation into the Creed III actor. Majors is set to appear in court on May 8th for a hearing related to his arrest on March 25th in the Chelsea neighborhood on multiple charges of assault, strangulation, and harassment. The D.A.’s office has refused requests for comment.
“Jonathan Majors is innocent and has not abused anyone. We have provided irrefutable evidence to the District Attorney that the charges are false. We are confident that he will be fully exonerated,” Majors’ attorney Priya Chaudhry said in a statement released to the press after the news broke. The news comes after the 33-year-old actor was dropped by his management firm, Management 360, and public relations group The Lede Company earlier this week leaving WME left representing him along with Andrew Bourke, his crisis publicist, and Chaudhry’s husband.
Another element to the March 25th incident ties in with Majors’ prominent role as the supervillain Kang the Conqueror in the recent Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, as the victim apparently also worked on the movie. Disney has not offered any comment up to this point. Majors has already filmed for the second season of the Disney Plus series Loki and is signed for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty slated to be released in 2025.
While his Disney roles seem safe for now, Majors has experienced some tough losses as the U.S. Army removed him as the face of their new campaign last month. The Dallas area native was also removed from being featured in a campaign by Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers set to launch on Friday (April 21st). In addition, the actor and fashion house Valentino “mutually agreed” that he would not attend the Met Gala, and he has also stepped down from the Sidney Poitier Initiative for emerging filmmakers and from the board of the Gotham Film and Media Institute. Executive director Jeffrey Sharp relayed the news to members of the latter group on Wednesday (April 19th).
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