election
After what has felt like the longest election season in American history, Cardi B is sweating the results already. The “Bongos” rapper took to X just after midnight on election day (Nov. 5) to share her anxiety about the too-close-to-call battle between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and twice impeached former President Donald Trump.
“I don’t know why I’m nervous for tomorrow,” tweeted Cardi, who appeared at a Harris rally last Friday in Milwaukee where she gave a passionate endorsement of the candidate vying to be the nation’s first female President while slamming convicted felon Trump’s stance on women’s rights. Cardi said in her post that she was so twisted up in knots about Tuesday’s vote that, “I feel like I’m running for president.”
Meanwhile, Rihanna — who was born in Barbados and is not a U.S. citizen eligible to vote — posted her own pointed message to fans about what’s at stake on Tuesday. “When protecting p—ies and firing p—ies can happen all in one vote #votecauseicant #TanSuitSeason,” the singer wrote alongside a pensive video of her staring out a window while wearing sunglasses. The comment appeared to be a reference to Harris’ vow to protect women’s rights to make choices about their own bodies in the wake of the repeal of Roe v Wade under Trump’s watch thanks to his appointment of three conservative Supreme Court judges.
Rihanna also had jokes, captioning her clip, “POV: me trying to sneak into the polls with my son’s passport #votecauseicant” Rihanna and partner Harlem native A$AP Rocky have two young sons together.
The stars are among the many A-listers who have lined up behind Harris in her bid to deny convicted felon Trump a second term in the former reality star’s third White House run. At the Milwaukee event, Cardi made it clear why she’s on team Harris. “I take seriously the call to show up, to speak out, and to share a message that’s been on my heart for a while now,” she said. “Like Kamala Harris, I’ve been the underdog, underestimated, and had my success belittled. Women have to work ten times harder and still face questions about how we achieved success. I can’t stand a bully, but just like Kamala, I always stand up to one.”
Harris made her closing argument in Pennsylvania on on Monday night at an event that also featured Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey, Ricky Martin and the Roots on a night when music stars stumped for her in swing states across the country. At the same time, Trump made his final pitch in Michigan as well during a two-hour speech in which he called former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a “b–ch,” once again obsessed about his crowd sizes — while lying about the attendance at Harris’ rallies — as his running mate, JD Vance, referred to Harris as “trash” at an event in Atlanta.
See Cardi and Rihanna’s tweets below.
I don’t know why I’m so nervous for tomorrow… I feel like I’m running for president 😫— Cardi B (@iamcardib) November 5, 2024
Jennifer Lopez and Maná are set to appear at a Kamala Harris rally and concert in Las Vegas on Thursday (Oct. 31).
The Puerto Rican superstar will speak at the event about the importance of voting and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz, while the Mexican band will perform, according to the Harris/Walz campaign.
“These artists and public figures are trusted voices for millions of Americans, who listen to their music, follow them on social media, or otherwise are inspired by them,” a press release states. “The Harris-Walz campaign believes that by using their voices to lay out the stakes of this election, it will further encourage and mobilize people to go vote.”
Part of the “When We Vote We Win” series, the rally aims to mobilize young and nontraditional voters ahead of the last day of early voting in Nevada on Friday (Nov. 1).
Both Lopez and Maná have supported the Democratic candidate or Democratic causes and have been very vocal about the importance of voting on this election.
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Only last Sunday (Oct. 27), the singer and actress amplified Harris’ message about her commitment with Puerto Rico by sharing a video of the VP on her Instagram Stories, after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made a racist joke at a Donald Trump rally in New York City, where he called the U.S. commonwealth a “floating island of garbage.”
Meanwhile, Maná has been a strong supporter of Democratic causes over the years, particularly related to immigration reform and other Latino related issues. “The way Trump expresses himself about Mexicans and the Latin community is incredible,” the band’s leader, Fher Olvera, tweeted in Spanish following a 2016 presidential debate. “Like a lot of people have perceived it, he is a racist.” The Mexican band also celebrated President Joe Biden’s 2020 win, writing on Twitter (now X), “Values won over perversity. There’s unity in diversity.”
Las month, the band even pulled its 2016 Nicky Jam collaboration “De Pies a Cabeza” from music streaming platforms following the reggaetón star’s endorsement of Trump. “Maná doesn’t work with racists,” the band wrote in Spanish on Instagram. “For the past 30 years, Maná has supported and defended the rights of Latinos around the world. There is no business or promotion that is worth more than the dignity of our people. That is why today Maná decided to remove its collaboration with Nicky Jam on ‘Pies a Cabeza’ from all digital platforms.”
Chappell Roan hasn’t endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for president, despite the pop star’s longtime advocacy for trans rights and the LGBTQ+ community.
The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer-songwriter weighed in on the 2024 election in a profile published by The Guardian on Saturday (Sept. 21).
“I have so many issues with our government in every way. There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone. There’s problems on both sides,” Roan explained.
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She added, “I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote — vote small, vote for what’s going on in your city.”
She says she most wants to see a change in trans rights in the U.S. “They cannot have cis people making decisions for trans people, period,” said Roan.
While Roan’s quote to The Guardian resulted in backlash on social media from fans who expect her to publicly endorse Harris over Donald Trump, given Harris’ pro-LGBTQ+ stance, the quote alone can easily be taken out of context. Roan has been clear about her values in words, performance and actions.
On tour, Roan invites local drag artists to be her supporting act, and as The Guardian reports, “For every U.K. tour ticket sold, £1 goes to the LGBTQ+ rights charity Kaleidoscope Trust, and at the merch stand in Manchester there are signed risograph prints selling for £100, with proceeds going towards aid for Palestine.”
Over the summer she declined an invitation from the White House to perform for a Pride event. She actually wanted to show up and protest the Biden administration’s involvement in Israel’s attacks on Gaza instead of being paraded as a performer, she told Rolling Stone. Her publicist, concerned for her client’s safety, talked her out of it: “You f— with the president and the government, your security is not the same, and neither is your family’s.”
At Gov Ball she dedicated her song “My Kink Is Karma” to the administration. “We want liberty, freedom and justice for all,” she said. “When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.”
In August Roan urged people to make their voices heard, telling Rolling Stone, “Right now, it’s more important than ever to use your vote, and I will do whatever it takes to protect people’s civil rights, especially the LGBTQ+ community. My ethics and values will always align with that, and that hasn’t changed with a different nominee.”
“I feel lucky to be alive during an incredibly historic time period when a woman of color is a presidential nominee,” she added. Harris, meanwhile, has featured the Roan’s music in her campaign, including the song “Femininomenon.”
Stars including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish,
The upcoming elections in the United States in November will be profoundly important, with consequences for the economy, foreign policy, technology and perhaps even democracy itself. From a music industry perspective, though, there just isn’t all that much at stake. After two decades of change, the industry has found a new business model in the U.S., in the form of paid subscription streaming, and there’s only so much a new president could do to either improve that or screw it up. Most of the industry’s policy priorities involve either legislation (which any president would almost certainly sign) or in-the-weeds rulemaking procedures.
You certainly don’t get this sense from artists and executives, most of whom support Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president — and generally tend to vote Democrat. This probably comes from their personal politics — Harris doesn’t have an extensive track record on intellectual property policy or other issues important to the music business, although she was seen shopping for vinyl and appears to have excellent taste. (Make America analog again!) For all the disdain they get from media executives, Republican presidents have often been better for it, since they tend to reduce taxes, regulation and barriers to mergers. Same goes for legislators. Most music industry executives might not care for the politics of Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), but she’s certainly helped their business.
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Which candidate would be better for any specific business isn’t entirely clear because, at a time when the world is growing more complicated, U.S. politicians seem to offer fewer specifics on complicated issues. Both Harris and former president Donald Trump seem to be running more on who they are than on what they plan to do. (Based on Trump’s comments at the National Association of Black Journalists event in Chicago on July 31, he seems to want to run on who Harris is, which says far more about who he is, and not in a good way.) Some of this seems inevitable — Trump likes to change his mind and Harris only entered the race after President Joe Biden dropped out of it on July 21. It might just reflect an increasingly tribalized electorate.
The music industry’s biggest issues have remained bipartisan, though, and they seem to occupy a rare demilitarized zone between parties in which politicians who don’t normally agree on much come together. The quintessential example is copyright, which often unites Republicans who favor property rights and Democrats who want to support the arts. The most complicated and important part of the 2018 Music Modernization Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), who may not agree on much else. (In 2018, they shared their “Summertime Heat” playlist with Billboard.) This year, the NO FAKES Act brought together Blackburn and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), among others.
The industry’s traditional opponent on strong copyright is Silicon Valley platforms, which had a lot of power under former president Barack Obama. (Months ago, I saw Obama talk about the dangers of online misinformation without mentioning that he did little to regulate the platforms it’s on.) Biden, who has been a strong supporter of copyright, has been more skeptical of Big Tech. Now venture capitalists and technology companies, who tend to vote Democrat but favor libertarian politics, are courting both parties. Reid Hoffman and a group of 100 venture capitalists have announced their support for Harris, while Trump’s choice for Vice President, J. D. Vance, sometimes seems to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of arch-libertarian Peter Thiel. The next president will inevitably be asked to deregulate artificial intelligence at the expense of the rightsholders who own the works it will be trained on — the only question is who it will be. Investors will also push to legitimize cryptocurrency — or at least reduce the legal barriers to pretending that it’s an investment instead of a high-end pyramid scheme.
The other big issue these days is antitrust law, which the Biden-appointed Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan is trying to strengthen. The immediate issue is the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, but more aggressive antitrust enforcement would also make it harder for the major labels to buy catalogs and companies. Although constraining the majors could make it easier for smaller companies to compete, it could also reduce the number of potential buyers they might attract. And although Republicans have traditionally wanted to weaken antitrust law, some populists now see it as a tool to reduce the power of platforms like Google.
The next president’s ability to help or hurt the music business may come down to putting copyright provisions in trade treaties, which doesn’t really resonate with the public. AI initiatives could matter, too. More AI legislation will almost certainly follow the NO FAKES Act, but that debate mostly sets different businesses against one another. (The NMPA recently asked the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to adjust copyright law, but that’s not going to happen so soon.) It’s harder than ever to pass federal legislation, and the president can only do so much to help.
The music business will also try to get wins on smaller issues — whether it’s legal to train an AI on copyrighted content and how much involvement of AI makes a work ineligible for copyright. These are the kind of subjects that require position papers rather than strong rhetoric. But we may not see those until 2025.
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Source: White Dudes For Harris / White Dudes For Harris
The latest call for support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the presidency by white men has over 67,000 registered.
On Sunday (July 28), the latest group to show their support for Vice President Kamala Harris and her bid for the presidency in November began to mobilize, calling themselves “White Dudes For Harris”. They announced that their first virtual meeting would take place on Monday (July 29), and that to date they expect over 67,000 to attend based on the RSVPs they received. A late update says that over 80,000 will be attending the call, set to take place at 8 PM Eastern time.
The response also netted $325,000 in donations to go to the presidential campaign for Harris. The “White Dudes For Harris” call will feature a tremendous list of guest speakers, which include such actors as Star Wars icon Mark Hamill, The Avengers’ Mark Ruffalo, Josh Gad, and The West Wing’s Bradley Whitford along with comedians Paul Scheer, Adam Conover, and Thomas Lennon. The call will also feature some of the major voices in the Democratic Party, which include a potential candidate to be Harris’ pick for vice president, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler. Other notable figures include North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Maryland Congressman Steny H. Hoyer, California Congressman Adam Schiff, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Additionally, activist David Hogg will also be in attendance.
The “White Dudes For Harris” group has been a remarkable addition to the many groups who have mobilized since last Sunday (July 21) when President Joe Biden decided to drop out of the running for re-election and endorsed Vice President Harris to be the Democratic candidate. The motivation to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump at the ballot box in November is high among the group, who want to disassociate themselves from that base of white men who have traditionally voted Republican in large numbers. “White Dudes For Harris” looks to add to the historically significant fundraising total that the Harris campaign has brought in, which was estimated at $200 million.
In 146 days, Americans will head to the polls to decide the next president and cast their votes for countless other national and local races and initiatives. Now, several music nonprofits are looking to make the industry’s presence felt on Nov. 5 via the launch of a new voter engagement coalition, Music Votes. Composed of […]
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Elon Musk has been accused of spreading misinformation about the 2024 presidential election by the White House, causing concern.
As the 2024 presidential election season is getting into full swing, the White House and the campaign team for President Joe Biden have alleged that Elon Musk is purposely sharing misinformation about the election on X, formerly Twitter, and preventing actual fact-checking. “It is profoundly irresponsible to spread false information and sow distrust about how our elections operate,” said Biden campaign manager, Julie Chávez Rodríguez, to the New York Times, adding: “It’s even more dangerous coming from the owner of a social media platform. We will continue to call out this recklessness as we carry out President Biden’s commitment to protecting our elections.”
The statement is the first direct accusation by the campaign, and it marks another point of contention between Musk and Biden. Musk has been openly contemptuous of President Biden after his Tesla electric vehicle company was excluded from White House events. Since his acquisition of X, the tech billionaire has implored those following him on the social media platform to vote Republican.
Harmeet K. Dhillon, a lawyer representing former President Donald Trump, said that the moves made X “a much better place for conservatives,” praising Musk. Musk has also dismantled X’s system for flagging fake election content, stating that it amounted to election interference in addition to amplifying false claims of undocumented immigrants voting in American elections.
The defiance by Musk is still present, even as advertisers have registered complaints that allowing such disinformation and content would further harm democracy in the nation. These same charges have been levied against X by the European Union, which filed a report late last year noting how in comparison to other social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, instances of election interference content were high on X.
Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive at X, has been steadily refuting Musk’s claims of removing the integrity team, pointing to the Community Notes feature and saying there will be expansion. Stephen Richer, the Maricopa County, Arizona county recorder, still has his concerns over Musk’s behavior. “Whether it’s President Trump or Mr. Musk talking about this and keeping it very much a top-of-mind issue, that can potentially make our lives more challenging,” he said.
Katy Perry raised some Katy Kats’ eyebrows on Monday (Nov. 7) when the singer posted a thumbs-up picture from the voting booth in California in which she is smiling after voting for longtime republican-turned-democrat Rick Caruso in the bruising race for Los Angeles mayor. “I am voting for a myriad of reasons (see the news) but in particular because Los Angeles is a hot mess atm,” Perry wrote in the caption, which featured a series of hashtags, including one hyping billionaire real estate developer Caruso while adding the lengthy “#doyoubutjustuseyourvoteok.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, Caruso cut into Rep. Karen Bass’ lead in the days leading up to Tuesday’s (Nov. 8) vote, after spending $26 million on attack ads that sowed doubt about the six-time congresswoman, who the paper said had garnered “overwhelming support” among the city’s strong liberal voting base; the Times noted that Caruso had spent nearly $100 million on the race to date.
Perry — who performed at democrat Sen. Hillary Clinton’s DNC gathering in 2016 — joined Kim Kardashian, Snoop Dogg, Gwyneth Paltrow, new Twitter boss Elon Musk and Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt in backing Caruso, a move that rubbed some commenters the wrong way given her past support for reproductive rights; Caruso has donated to anti-abortion organizations and politicians in the past and reportedly pledged $1 million to support abortion rights proposition, but has yet to donate any of those funds.
The businessman-turned-politicians has also been criticized for his time as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for USC during the time that gynecologist George Tyndall was allowed to leave the university in the face of dozens of accusations of sexual misconduct. The L.A. Times reported last month that investigators questioned Caruso in 2020 about what information the university had about Tyndall and that the candidate “refused to answer many questions, on the advice of USC’s legal team.”
Diplo headlined a Caruso-sponsored get out the vote campaign event on Friday at the El Rey Theatre along with Sofia Reyes; the event was put on by Billboard parent company Penske Media Corporation.
While Perry turned off comments on her socials, that didn’t stop a slew of unfavorable reactions to the post about Caruso, who changed his party affiliation a month before entering the race. A spokesperson for Perry had not returned requests for comment at press time.
“This just shows you just how bad things have gotten. That a celebrity would not only vote R — but then publicly post it is something else. You could say the energy is shifting,” read one reaction, with another commenter writing, “katy perry tweeting out a pro-choice video while voting for rick caruso would be objectively hilarious if it wasn’t painfully dumb.”
“As much as the right try to spin it, Katy Perry voting for Rick Caruso is not an indication of anything other than a rich white woman voting for a fake democrat who will ultimately have no effect on the quality of her life but will worsen the lives of many others,” read a fiery tweet. One person weighed in by focusing more on the candidates than Perry’s celebrity. “Katy Perry voting for Rick Caruso for LA Mayor is incredibly disappointing,” they wrote of the seeming missed opportunity to support the candidate who could be the city’s first female mayor. “Please vote Karen Bass a community oriented politician not a businessman with a redundant platform on homelessness and and a history of donating to anti-choice orgs and initiatives.”
Caruso went viral last month after a mayoral debate when he insisted he wasn’t white, but Italian, which he equated with being “Latin.” The odd answer came after an anchor from Telemundo noted that the city’s next mayor could be either “an African-American woman or a white man,” to which Caruso replied, “I’m Italian,” a statement that NBC news said drew “harsh reaction, from scorn to mockery.”
Some of the comments aimed at Perry got a bit personal, with a fan asking why the singer voted so “openly” for Caruso, besides her claim that L.A. is a “hot mess.” “You have a voice. You don’t owe it to anyone but I’ve followed you through all your political stands,” they said. “We marched in the same Women’s March together.. what’s the logic?”
Bass has also garnered support from some A-listers, including John Legend, Steven Spielberg, Ariana Grande and Donald Glover, among others.
Check out Perry’s voting photo and some of the reactions below.
Katy Perry voting for Republican Rick Caruso for LA MayorThis just shows you just how bad things have gotten. That a celebrity would not only vote R — but then publicly post it is something else. You could say the energy is shifting. pic.twitter.com/CHhcVa1W1L— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) November 7, 2022
katy perry tweeting out a pro-choice video while voting for rick caruso would be objectively hilarious if it wasn’t painfully dumb. https://t.co/n6JehiZqpa— Kyler Bondura (@KyKobra) November 8, 2022
As much as the right try to spin it, Katy Perry voting for Rick Caruso is not an indication of anything other than a rich white woman voting for a fake democrat who will ultimately have no effect on the quality of her life but will worsen the lives of many others.— Travon (@Travon) November 8, 2022
Y’all, Katy Perry voting for Rick Caruso should be the least surprising thing that happens today. She grew up in Santa Barbara, her parents were local televangelists, she came from money and is a millionaire. What did you think she was gonna do?— Malynda Hale (@MalyndaHale) November 8, 2022
When Katy Perry, Chris Pratt, and other LA millionaires say they’re voting for Caruso because he’ll clean things up, they’re not talking about helping people or alleviating poverty. It’s about bleaching the existence of poor people from their sight lines by any means necessary.— Jesse Mechanic (@JMechanic) November 8, 2022
Katy Perry voting for Rick Caruso for LA Mayor is incredibly disappointing.Please vote Karen Bass a community oriented politician not a businessman with a redundant platform on homelessness and and a history of donating to anti-choice orgs and initiatives— Pat Lovelace (@patluvlace) November 8, 2022
don’t listen to the kardashians or katy perry— don’t vote for rick caruso— DO vote for karen bass any celeb you see propping up rick caruso is an alleged class solidarist, permitting a wolf in sheep’s clothing against actual progress to further warp our society’s current state.— PARODYGIRL (@BIBLEGIRL222) November 7, 2022
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