Legal News
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Legendary rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. might have been rivals in life, but they’re now united in copyright litigation.
A pair of photographers who snapped separate photos of the late hip-hop stars are teaming up to sue Univision for copyright infringement, accusing the broadcaster of using the images without permission in a web article about “Unsolved” murders.
“Plaintiffs sent a letter to Univision, demanding that it cease and desist all publication and display of the Subject Photographs,” write lawyers for the photographers in their Wednesday suit. “Univision has failed to meaningfully respond, necessitating this action.”
The case was filed by the estate of Chi Modu, a well-known hip hop photographer, over a black and white picture of Biggie looking into the camera in his trademark Coogi sweater and sunglasses; and by Dana Lixenberg, another acclaimed photog who has snapped pictures of Iggy Pop and Steely Dan, over an image of Pac in a bandana and sports jersey.
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Attorneys for Modu’s estate and Lixenberg say Univision stitched the images together and used them as art for a 2018 article reporting that a trailer had been released for a USA Network documentary series called Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.
Though Biggie and Tupac have both been gone for nearly 30 years, Wednesday’s lawsuit is just one of many recent intellectual property battles over the two iconic rappers.
Modu’s estate filed one of them, suing Universal Music Group in 2022 for allegedly using a Tupac photo in a blog post. Then last year, Shakur’s own estate threatened to sue Drake for using an AI-generated version of the later rapper’s voice. And in February, Biggie’s estate filed a lawsuit against Target, Home Depot and other retailers over allegations that they sold unauthorized canvas prints of the famed “King of New York” photo. Coogi even got in on the action in 2018, suing the Brooklyn Nets after they released a multi-colored jersey that were “inspired by Biggie” and paid homage to the Brooklyn-born rapper.
In one case, Biggie’s estate sued Modu himself, claiming the photographer had illegally authorized the use of his photos on commercial products like skateboards and shower curtains. In 2022, a year after the famed photographer passed away, a judge ruled that such merch likely violated the rapper’s likeness rights. The case ended in a settlement last year.
Reps for Univision did not immediately return a request for comment on the new lawsuit on Friday.
Free music streaming service AccuRadio has filed for bankruptcy, citing $10 million in debts to SoundExchange and failed settlement talks in the organization’s lawsuit against the streamer over unpaid artist royalties.
AccuRadio, an ad-supported platform that describes itself as “the only online music streaming service curated by human beings, not algorithms,” sought bankruptcy protection in a Wednesday (May 14) petition to the federal court in its home city of Chicago.
The bankruptcy petition says AccuRadio owes $10 million to SoundExchange, the nonprofit that collects and distributes royalties to record labels and artists. SoundExchange sued AccuRadio last summer, alleging the streamer had an undisclosed amount of unpaid royalties dating back to 2018.
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AccuRadio contests those claims, saying it’s been a “consistently reliable SoundExchange licensee for the vast majority of the past two decades.” The company put out a press release Wednesday, blaming its bankruptcy on failed settlement talks in the litigation.
“We were led to believe that our latest proposal would be accepted by SoundExchange with only minor modifications,” wrote AccuRadio’s founder/CEO, Kurt Hanson. “However, eventually SoundExchange altered its position and rejected that proposal. We were extremely disappointed that we couldn’t reach a negotiated settlement.”AccuRadio’s bankruptcy petition says the company has less than $1 million in assets, while its liabilities total $10.5 million. In addition to the $10 million SoundExchange debt, AccuRadio says it owes more than $400,000 to royalty collectors BMI and ASCAP.
The streaming service has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This means that rather than fold completely, AccuRadio hopes to restructure, pay off its debts and continue operations in the future.
“Filing for bankruptcy protection wasn’t an easy decision, especially since our revenues have been consistently improving and we have returned to profitability,” says Hanson in the AccuRadio press release. “But we are confident that AccuRadio will emerge from it healthier and more resilient and will continue to be an outlet for human-curated music that our listeners desire and cherish.”
AccuRadio has been around since 2000. According to the company, it offers more than 1,400 ad-supported, curated music channels free of charge.
Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura faced cross-examination Thursday (May 15) from defense attorneys, who showed jurors huge numbers of her emails and text messages in an effort to prove she was a willing participant in so-called “freak-off” sex shows.
Ventura, an R&B singer who dated Combs for 11 years, is at the very core of the case against him, in which prosecutors say Combs physically abused her and coerced her to partake in the freak-offs — drug-fueled sex with male escorts for his entertainment.
After two days of direct testimony in which Ventura told jurors that she felt she had no choice but to take part, she took the stand Thursday to face questions from Combs’ lawyer Anna Estevao, according to the Associated Press and the New York Times.
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Much of the day was spent asking Ventura about emails and texts to and from Combs — some romantic, others sexually graphic. In one, she told Combs she was “always ready to freak off”; in another, she told him, “Wish we could have fo’d before you left.”
“Yes, at the time, I wanted to make him happy,” Ventura said at one point.
Combs was indicted in September, charged with running a sprawling criminal operation aimed at facilitating the freak-offs — elaborate events in which Combs and others allegedly coerced Ventura and other victims into having sex with escorts while he watched and masturbated. Prosecutors also say the star and his associates used violence, money and blackmail to keep victims silent and under his control.
It was Ventura’s civil lawsuit, filed in November 2023, that first raised allegations against Combs. Her case, which accused the star of rape and years of physical abuse, was quickly settled with a large payment from Combs, but it sparked a flood of additional suits from other alleged victims and set into motion the criminal probe that led to his indictment.
At opening statements on Monday (May 12), defense attorneys told jurors that Ventura and other women had consensually taken part in the sex parties. They admitted that Combs had committed domestic violence during their “toxic” relationship and had unusual sexual preferences, but that he had never coerced her into participating in his “swinger” lifestyle.
In questioning Cassie on Thursday, Estevao seemed intent on establishing that both she and Diddy had planned the elaborate events: “I’m too excited,” Ventura told Combs in one message from 2017, near the end of their long relationship.
When asked about those texts, Cassie seemed to push back on that suggestion, saying the things she said in the texts were “just words at that point.” That echoes her testimony from earlier in the week, in which she said the freak-offs left her feeling “humiliated” and “disgusting” but that she felt compelled to keep doing them.
The questions also focused on the complexity of Ventura’s relationship with Combs, including messages that seemed to show a loving relationship between the pair. In one, from 2010, she wrote: “Going to sleep now so it can be tomorrow faster and you can be home. Love you!!!”
Ventura confirmed as much in her answers: “I had fallen in love with him and cared about him very much.” She also admitted that she sometimes felt jealousy toward Combs over his numerous other romantic partners — another key message that the defense is seeking to relay to jurors about the couple’s relationship.
Ventura is expected to complete her testimony on Friday (May 16). After that, prosecutors will continue to call other witnesses, including a second alleged freak-off victim identified by the pseudonym “Jane” and an alleged employee victim identified by the pseudonym “Mia.” According to NBC News, prosecutor Maurene Comey said that Dawn Richard, formerly a member of the Combs-formed girl group Danity Kane who sued him for abuse in September, was expected to testify next. Defense attorneys will then have a chance to call their own witnesses. A verdict is expected by July 4.
The housekeepers suing Smokey Robinson for sexual assault have now filed a police report, leading the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to open a criminal investigation on top of the bombshell civil claims filed against the 85-year-old Motown legend.
Lawyers for four anonymous housekeepers, who alleged in a $50 million lawsuit earlier this month that William “Smokey” Robinson Jr. repeatedly raped them over the course of nearly two decades, confirm in a Thursday (May 15) statement to Billboard that criminal authorities are probing the claims.
“We are pleased to learn that the LA County Sheriff’s Department has opened a criminal investigation into our clients’ claims of sexual assault against Smokey Robinson,” say attorneys John Harris and Herbert Hayden. “Our clients intend to fully cooperate with LASD’s ongoing investigation in the pursuit of seeking justice for themselves and others that may have been similarly assaulted by him.”
Robinson’s lawyer Christopher Frost says in his own statement to Billboard that the housekeepers’ claims are “manufactured “ and motivated by “unadulterated avarice.” Frost notes that police did not launch a criminal probe unilaterally; rather that the Sheriff’s Department is required to investigate because the women filed a police report.
“We welcome that investigation, which involves plaintiffs who continue to hide their identities, because exposure to the truth is a powerful thing,” Frost says. “We feel confident that a determination will be made that Mr. Robinson did nothing wrong, and that this is a desperate attempt to prejudice public opinion and make even more of a media circus than the Plaintiffs were previously able to create.”
The Sheriff’s Department did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.
Robinson, who’s currently on a legacy tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of his album A Quiet Storm, was accused in the May 6 civil lawsuit of forcing housekeepers to have oral and vaginal sex in his Los Angeles-area bedroom dozens of times between 2007 and 2024.
The singer’s wife, Frances Robinson, is also named in the lawsuit. The housekeepers say she did nothing to stop her husband’s abuse, despite knowing that he had a history of sexual misconduct and had previously struck settlements with assault victims.
The lawsuit also says the Robinsons paid their employees below minimum wage, and that Frances Robinson created a hostile work environment replete with screaming and “racially-charged epithets.”
Smokey and Frances Robinson have fiercely denied the housekeepers’ claims, saying through Frost on May 7 that the “vile, false allegations” are merely “an ugly method of trying to extract money from an 85-year-old American icon.”
A judge has quickly shut down an attempt by Justin Baldoni’s attorney to use the It Ends With Us litigation docket to accuse Blake Lively of extorting Taylor Swift, saying the filing is improper and “transparently invites a press uproar” without providing any relevant information for the federal court case.
The order, which came down from Judge Lewis J. Liman on Thursday (May 15), strikes Baldoni lawyer Bryan Freedman’s letter from just one day earlier in which he claimed that an unnamed source told him Lively had asked Swift to delete text messages and threatened to release private communications unless the pop star voiced public support for her sexual harassment and retaliation claims against Baldoni.
Lively’s legal team was quick to deny the allegations as “categorically false” and “completely untethered from reality,” saying such claims have no place on the court docket. Judge Liman agreed a few hours later, writing that Freedman’s letter “is improper and must be stricken.”
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“The sole purpose of the letter is to promote public scandal by advancing inflammatory accusations, on information and belief, against Lively and her counsel,” the judge wrote. “It transparently invites a press uproar by suggesting that Lively and her counsel attempted to ‘extort’ a well-known celebrity. Retaining the letter on the docket would be of no use to the court.”
Judge Liman wrote that under governing case law from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, federal court dockets should not be “co-opted” to “promote scandal arising out of unproven, potentially libelous statements.”
“Counsel is advised that future misuse of the court’s docket may be met with sanctions,” Judge Liman wrote.
Lively’s representatives celebrated the decision Thursday, with a spokesperson for the actress saying in a statement, “It took the court less than 24 hours to see through Mr. Freedman’s irrelevant, improper and inflammatory accusations, strike them, remove them from the court and warn Mr. Freedman that further misconduct may be met with sanctions.”
Freedman did not immediately return a request for comment on the ruling.
Swift’s reps have not commented on the Lively extortion accusations, but they forcefully criticized Baldoni last week for dragging the pop superstar into the It Ends With Us litigation by way of a subpoena.
“The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet,’” said Swift’s spokesperson at the time. “Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”
Lively alleges in the case that Baldoni, her co-star and director on the movie released last summer, sexually harassed her on set and then orchestrated a public relations smear campaign to retaliate against her after she complained.
Swift was brought into the fray when Baldoni countersued Lively for defamation and claimed that the actress leveraged her relationship with a “megacelebrity friend,” presumed to be Swift, to bully her way into more control of It Ends With Us.
Baldoni’s legal filing included text messages concerning an alleged meeting attended by “Ryan and Taylor,” seemingly referencing Swift and Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds. In one message sent by Lively, the actress called Swift and Reynolds her “most trusted partners” and compared them to the “dragons” in the show Game of Thrones.
“The message could not have been clearer,” Baldoni’s lawyers wrote in the countersuit. “Baldoni was not just dealing with Lively. He was also facing Lively’s ‘dragons,’ two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who were not afraid to make things very difficult for him.”
A group of legal scholars say Drake’s lawsuit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” is “dangerous” because it will have a “chilling effect” on hip-hop and encourage prosecutors to use rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases.
Filed in January, Drake’s case claims that UMG defamed him by releasing Lamar’s scathing diss track, which tarred the Canadian rapper as a “certified pedophile.” He says that millions of people took that lyric literally, severely harming his reputation.
But in a legal brief filed in the case on Wednesday, a group of professors from the University of California, Irvine School of Law say that Drake’s argument is “not just faulty—it is dangerous.”
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“Drake’s complaint rests on the assumption that every word of ‘Not Like Us’ should be taken literally, as a factual representation,” professors Charis E. Kubrin, Jack Lerner, Adam Dunbar and Kyle Winnen write in the court filing. “[We] urge this court to recognize the danger that assumption poses.”
Diss track lyrics are a creative artform that are understood by listeners not as “factual arguments or a series of news reports,” the professors write, but as “hyperbole, bluster, and demonstrations of disrespect” that are “designed to entertain and impress their audience.”
The professors warn that the consequences of endorsing Drake’s literal interpretation of Kendrick’s lyrics would extend far beyond his case – including to the long-controversial practice of using lyrics as evidence in criminal cases against rappers.
“When courts ignore rap music’s history and artistic conventions, the effect is to deny rap the status of art and instead to flatten lyrics into literal confessions or statements of specific intent,” write the UCI professors. “This problematic treatment has introduced racial bias and unfair prejudice in countless criminal cases [and] has created a demonstrable chilling effect across the industry.”
The use of rap music as criminal evidence has been widely criticized, both because it threatens the right to free speech and can sway jurors by tapping into racial bias. One empirical study – authored by Kubrin and Dunbar – found that listeners who viewed violent song lyrics responded more negatively if they believed they came from a rap track than if they were told the exact same lyrics came from a country or heavy metal song.
Over the past few years, the practice has drawn backlash from the music industry and led to efforts by lawmakers to stop it, including a landmark California statute. But it has persisted in high-profile instances – including Young Thug’s gang case in Atlanta and briefly in Lil Durk’s federal murder-for-hire case.
Moving to dismiss Drake’s lawsuit, UMG has argued that Lamar’s lyrics are “rhetorical hyperbole” — the kind of statement that might sound bad but cannot actually be proven false. Since defamation only covers false assertions of fact, statements of hyperbole can’t form the basis for such cases.
In making that argument, UMG has pointed to Drake’s own public support for a 2022 petition criticizing prosecutors for using rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases. That letter, also signed by Megan Thee Stallion, 21 Savage and many other stars, criticized prosecutors for treating lyrics as literal statements of fact.
“As Drake recognized, when it comes to rap, ‘the final work is a product of the artist’s vision and imagination,’” UMG’s lawyers write. “Drake was right then and is wrong now.”
A rep for Drake’s legal team did not immediately return a request for comment on the arguments made by the professors.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura wrapped up her direct testimony against the rap mogul on Wednesday (May 14), telling jurors that Combs threatened to blow up Kid Cudi’s car and revealing the dollar amount of a bombshell settlement that set off the sex-trafficking probe.
Ventura, an R&B singer who dated Combs on and off for 11 years, is the star witness in Combs’ criminal trial. She’s been on the witness stand since Tuesday (May 13), testifying that Combs physically abused her and forced her to have sex with male escorts during drug-fueled events known as “freak offs.”
In her final day of direct testimony, Ventura reportedly told the jury that Combs became enraged when he discovered she was dating Cudi (Scott Mescudi) in 2011, according to The New York Times, which also reported that Ventura testified that Combs lunged at her with a wine opener and threatened to release freak off videos and hurt both her and Mescudi.
Ventura also said that Combs threatened to blow up Mescudi’s car, the Times reports, and that she soon broke things off with Mescudi out of fear.
“Too much danger, too much uncertainty of what could happen if we continued to see each other,” Ventura reportedly testified.
Ventura alleged in a November 2023 civil lawsuit that Mescudi’s car did, in fact, explode in his driveway a short while after Combs’ threats. Combs has not been officially linked to the incident.
Ventura’s civil lawsuit, the first major public accusation against Combs, was also a key topic during her final day of direct testimony. Though Combs settled with Ventura after a single day, the case sparked the criminal probe that led to the current trial and a deluge of other civil sex abuse lawsuits against Combs.
The dollar amount of Ventura’s settlement was kept confidential and long unknown to the public. But according to the Times, Ventura revealed for the first time during her testimony Wednesday that the settlement amounted to $20 million.
Ventura is scheduled to undergo cross-examination by Combs’ lawyers starting Thursday (May 15). The trial could last up to two months total.
Justin Baldoni’s lawyers claim Blake Lively asked Taylor Swift to delete text messages and used “extortionate threats” to try to get a statement of support from the pop superstar in the It Ends With Us legal battle — accusations, attributed to an anonymous source, that Lively’s lawyers say is “categorically false.”
The salacious allegations come in a court filing Wednesday (May 14) from attorney Bryan Freedman, who represents Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios in litigation with Lively over dueling claims that include allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation and defamation.
On Monday (May 12), Swift’s longtime lawyers at the firm Venable told a judge that Baldoni sent them a subpoena for no good reason. Now, Freedman claims he actually does have a good reason: he wants to dig into accusations from an unnamed source that Lively tried to engage in “witness tampering and evidence spoliation” to get Swift on her side in the case.
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“The Wayfarer parties’ counsel are informed and believe, based on information from a source who is highly likely to have reliable information, that (i) Ms. Lively requested that Taylor Swift delete their text messages; (ii) Michael Gottlieb of Willkie Farr, counsel for the Lively defendants, contacted a Venable attorney who represents Ms. Swift and demanded that Ms. Swift release a statement of support for Ms. Lively, intimating that, if Ms. Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively’s possession would be released,” writes Freedman.
“The Wayfarer parties’ counsel are further informed and believe that a representative of Ms. Swift addressed these inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats in at least one written communication transmitted to Mr. Gottlieb,” Freedman continues. “It is those communications that the Wayfarer parties seek to obtain by way of subpoena, as they would evidence an attempt to intimidate and coerce a percipient witness in this litigation.”
Freedman’s letter does not identify his anonymous source or explain how this person allegedly came to know about Lively and her attorney Michael Gottlieb‘s communications, nor does it cite any evidence. Freedman did not immediately return a request for more details.
Gottlieb quickly released a fiery statement denying the claims on Wednesday.
“This is categorically false,” Gottlieb writes. “We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality. This is what we have come to expect from the Wayfarer parties’ lawyers, who appear to love nothing more than shooting first, without any evidence, and with no care for the people they are harming in the process.”
Gottlieb adds that his team “will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct here.”
Reps for Swift did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday. Swift’s camp previously criticized Baldoni for trying to drag her into the dispute, saying she had no involvement in It Ends With Us and that her name was being thrown around to “draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”
Lively alleges in the case that Baldoni, her co-star and director on the movie released last summer, sexually harassed her on set and then orchestrated a public relations smear campaign to retaliate against her after she complained.
Swift was brought into the fray when Baldoni countersued Lively for defamation and claimed that the actress leveraged her relationship with a “megacelebrity friend,” presumed to be Swift, to bully her way into more control of It Ends With Us.
Baldoni’s legal filing includes text messages concerning an alleged meeting attended by “Ryan and Taylor,” seemingly referencing Swift and Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds. In one message sent by Lively, the actress called Swift and Reynolds her “most trusted partners” and compared them to the “dragons” in the show Game of Thrones.
“The message could not have been clearer,” Baldoni’s lawyers wrote in the countersuit. “Baldoni was not just dealing with Lively. He was also facing Lively’s ‘dragons,’ two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who were not afraid to make things very difficult for him.”
THE BIG STORY: A little under 18 months after sexual abuse allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs were first made public – and 8 months after he was indicted over them – the once-powerful rap mogul headed to trial this week on felony charges that could put him behind bars for life.
When things got underway in the courtroom Monday, I was sitting just rows behind the now-gray-haired superstar as prosecutors accused him of years of criminal conduct – centered on claims that he coerced longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura and other women to take part in drug-fueled, marathon sex sessions with male escorts called “freak offs.”
The start the trial, which is expected to run for eight weeks, was something of a circus. News crews filled the plaza outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan as a line of spectators wrapped around the block – so many that they eventually filled the entire large courtroom and two overflow rooms. Professional “line sitters” were charging $350 for a spot closer to the door; one person waiting in line, there at the crack of dawn, told me that he didn’t want to miss the “trial of the century.”
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To catch up after the first two days of the trial, go check all of Billboard’s coverage:
–On day one, both sides made their opening statements to the jury. Prosecutors said Combs had used his power for decades to “feed his every desire” — and they almost immediately played an infamous video of him assaulting Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, said the women had consensually partaken in Diddy’s “swinger lifestyle” and that the star cannot be convicted merely based on weird sex, a “toxic relationship,” or even domestic violence: “We take full responsibility that there was domestic violence. Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.”
–On day two, Ventura took the stand. The star witness in the prosecution’s case, Cassie told jurors that participating in “freak off” sex performances “became a job” for her and left her feeling “humiliated.” But she said she felt she had no choice — at times because she was in love with Combs and wanted to please him, but also, later, because she feared blackmail, physical violence or other blowback: “He was a scary person. He would be violent.”
If you need a general catch-up on the Diddy case before the trial goes any further, go read our explainer on everything you need to know – or our deep-dive analysis in which the prosecutors from R. Kelly’s highly-similar case explain how this one might go. You can also read about the many, many lawyers involved in the Diddy debacle.
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
Other top stories this week…
TAYLOR GETS SUBPOENAED – Taylor Swift was hit with a subpoena formally dragging her into the legal drama between her friend Blake Lively and Lively’s It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni. The subpoena, filed by Baldoni’s lawyers, is certain to be opposed by Swift’s lawyers after her reps blasted the filing: “This document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”
HER LAWYERS, TOO – Speaking of Taylor’s lawyers: Her longtime outside law firm, Venable, was also hit with a subpoena from Baldoni’s attorney. The filing specifically name-drops Douglas Baldridge, a Venable partner who’s worked with Swift since 2013 and recently returned to the firm after a stint as her general counsel. In legal filings this week, the firm formally opposed a filing that it described as a “fishing expedition” by Baldoni and his lawyers: “Venable had nothing to do with the film at issue or any of the claims or defenses asserted in the underlying lawsuit.”
LIL DURK DENIED BAIL – Days after federal prosecutors dropped Lil Durk’s rap lyrics from his murder-for-hire case, his lawyers argued that the new “watered-down” charges dramatically weakened the case against him and supported his push to be released from jail ahead of trial. But a federal judge then refused to release him, citing a report that Durk has been using other inmates’ jailhouse phone calls, thereby showing a “disrespect for the rules.”
HALLE RESTRAINING ORDER – A Los Angeles judge granted a restraining order to Halle Bailey against DDG, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her 1-year-old son, after she claimed that he had attacked her multiple times. In legal filings seeking the order, Bailey alleged that in one incident, her ex (Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr.) pulled her hair, slammed her face on the steering wheel and chipped her tooth.
DRAKE v. UMG UPDATE – Weeks after Drake updated his libel lawsuit against UMG to add gripes about Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance of “Not Like Us,” the music giant again asked a judge to dismiss the entire case. In doing so, UMG’s lawyers said the new claims about the halftime show are what the case is really about: “Drake’s attack on the commercial and creative success of the rap artist who defeated him, rather than the content of Lamar’s lyrics.”
SMOKEY ROBINSON ALLEGATIONS – The legendary Motown singer and his wife were hit with an explosive new lawsuit, seeking $50 million in damages over claims that he repeatedly raped four housekeepers over nearly two decades. Robinson’s lawyers strenuously denied the claims, calling them “vile, false allegations” and “an ugly method of trying to extract money from an 85-year-old American icon.”
BAD BUNNY COPYRIGHT CASE – The reggaeton superstar was sued for infringement over allegations that a track from his chart-topping Un Verano Sin Ti (“Enséñame a Bailar”) featured an unlicensed sample from a song called “Empty My Pocket” by a Nigerian artist named Dera. The lawsuit claims the issue was raised with Bunny’s reps, but that they’ve “turned a blind eye” and “stonewalled” efforts to properly clear the sample.
ANOTHER SAMPLE DISPUTE – British singer-songwriter Bakar and his viral track “Hell N Back” – featured in millions of TikTok videos – were hit with a messy new lawsuit over the song’s prominent use of a sample from Robert Parker’s 1967 R&B track “I Caught You In A Lie.” The case claims Bakar and Sony Music cleared the sample, but did so with the wrong rightsholders who have been making “false claim of ownership” to Parker’s song.
DATA BREACH AT iHEART – iHeartMedia was hit with a proposed class action from subscribers after publicly disclosing that several of its radio stations were hacked months ago, exposing Social Security numbers, financial information and other personal details. The company says it “immediately implemented our response protocols” to contain the hack, but attorneys for the subscribers say iHeart waited four months to tell subscribers about it.
LIVE NATION AT SCOTUS – Live Nation asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling last year that said the concert giant couldn’t enforce “opaque and unfair” arbitration agreements against ticketbuyers. That ruling – a scathing critique of Live Nation’s approach – showed improper “judicial hostility,” Live Nation warned the justices, and will create “massive uncertainty” over how such clauses can be used and enforced.
(DIDN’T) GET THEM TO THE GREEK – The Grammy-winning band The Kingston Trio sued a Los Angeles music attorney for fraud, claiming that he lied about having an “inside track” to book the folk group at the Greek Theatre last summer. The group says the lawyer, David A. Helfant, charged them high fees but didn’t actually have any secret mojo to get them booked at the legendary venue. Helfant denied the allegations, saying they were “completely without merit.”
FLORIDA DRAG LAW ICED – A federal appeals court has upheld an injunction blocking the state of Florida from enforcing a law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis that would restrict drag shows in the state, ruling that the statute likely violates the First Amendment’s protection of free speech: “The act wields a shotgun when the First Amendment allows a scalpel at most,” the court wrote.
WEEZER WIFE CHARGED – Author Jillian Lauren, the wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, was officially charged with two felony counts following a bizarre shootout with police at her Los Angeles home last month. The charges are serious (discharge of a firearm with gross negligence and assault with a semiautomatic firearm) but less than she initially faced when booked on suspicion of attempted murder following the April 8 altercation.
Halle Bailey has been granted a restraining order against DDG, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her 1-year-old son, Billboard can confirm.
TMZ was first to report Tuesday (May 13) that the 25-year-old singer/actress had filed a police report against the 27-year-old streamer and rapper and requested court-ordered protection, claiming he had attacked her multiple times.
In court documents obtained by Billboard, Bailey alleged “things got physical” starting in January, when DDG (real name Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr.) came over to pick up their then-13-month-old son Halo and she initiated a conversation about scheduling his visits.
Bailey claims that as she was buckling Halo into his car seat in the back of Granberry’s car, he yelled, “Get out of my car, bi—.” At that point, she alleges, Halo started crying, making her nervous to leave the baby with him in his agitated state. When she stayed in the car, she alleges that Granberry pulled her hair, slammed her face on the steering wheel and chipped her tooth. After they arrived at Granberry’s family’s house, Bailey says she told his family what happened and left the baby with them.
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Bailey attached photos of her alleged injuries, including her chipped tooth, to the restraining order request.
In the docs, Bailey went on to detail two more alleged incidents of abuse: one in March, which she says she filed a police report over, and one this past weekend, when she says Granberry accused her of vacationing with Brent Faiyaz in a series of texts while she was on a Mother’s Day trip with their son and her mother.
Granberry announced the couple had split in October 2024, ending their two-year relationship.
“This decision was not easy, but we believe it’s the best path forward for both of us. I cherish the time we’ve spent together and the love we’ve shared,” he wrote on his Instagram Story at the time. The following month, Bailey shared in a since-deleted X post that she felt “extremely upset” when Granberry brought Halo with him during an “unapproved” appearance on Kai Cenat’s live stream. She later backpedaled, writing, “maybe i did overreact…. i know that halo is always safe with his dad. i just don’t like finding out with the rest of the world what my baby is doing.”
Shortly after those tweets, Granberry came to Bailey’s defense in a YouTube video in which he implored negative commenters to leave her alone, citing her transparency over her struggles with postpartum depression. “When situations like this happen, I try to handle it with as much grace as possible because Halo needs her. I need her,” he said at the time. “We need each other to try to create a childhood that’s safe, fun and memorable for him.” But in March, Granberry aired his grievances over their custody issues in a song titled “Don’t Take My Son.”
In the restraining order request, Bailey also requested permission to take Halo with her while she travels to Italy to film a movie, where she will have family and a traveling nanny to help care for him. She also asked the judge for a cease-and-desist order to prevent Granberry from “posting and/or streaming on any and all platforms about Halo and/or me. He is a YouTube and Twitch Blogger and creates a fan frenzy by making false claims about me. This has caused me to feel afraid and victimized. His fans then threaten me. I am often scared for my life and Halo’s safety.”
A hearing has been set for June 4 over whether a more permanent restraining order should be put in place.
Representatives for Bailey and Granberry did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.