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A judge on Friday (July 14) set a trial date for two men charged in the killing of rapper Young Dolph in a daytime ambush at a bakery in Memphis, Tennessee.
Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith are scheduled to stand trial March 11 in the fatal shooting of the Memphis-born rapper, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee said during a hearing.
Johnson and Smith have pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder in the November 2021 shooting of Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr. A motive for the killing has not been disclosed.
The 36-year-old rapper, label owner and producer was buying cookies near his boyhood home in Memphis when he was gunned down by two men who drove up to the bakery in a stolen Mercedes Benz, authorities said. The slaying rattled Memphis and shook the entertainment world.
Two other men have been charged in the killing.
Jermarcus Johnson, the half brother of Justin Johnson, pleaded guilty June 9 to three counts of accessory after the fact, and he could testify at the trial.
Jermarcus Johnson acknowledged that he helped the two suspects communicate by cellphone after the killing while they were on the run from authorities, and that he helped one of them communicate with his probation officer after the killing.
During questioning by prosecutor Paul Hagerman, he also acknowledged taking possession of car from Justin Johnson. The car was not the one tied to the killing, Hagerman said. Jermarcus Johnson also identified a photo in which Justin Johnson was wearing the same clothing as one of the two shooters accused of gunning down Young Dolph the day the rapper was killed.
After Jermarcus Johnson’s plea hearing, Hagerman said he had no role in the actual killing of Young Dolph, but that he was one of “multiple players” who did things connected to it.
Another man, Hernandez Govan, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and conspiracy in the case. He is accused of arranging the killing. Govan has been released on bond.
Young Dolph was known in Memphis for his charitable works and his success as an independent musical artist and businessman. Young Dolph had been in the city to visit a sick relative and hand out Thanksgiving turkeys at a church when he was killed.
After his death, Memphis named a street after him and the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA honored him during a game. Murals of the rapper have been painted around the city and a pop-up museum featuring him was opened earlier this year.
The bakery, Makeda’s Homemade Cookies, became an impromptu memorial site for the slain rapper. It was closed for months after the shooting, but has since reopened.
Though Jimmie Allen and his wife Alexis Gale announced their separation in April, the country singer told People on Thursday (July 13) that they’re still working on their marriage.
“The divorce case is still pending, as my wife and I are working to resolve things together as a family,” he said.
Allen also clarified an earlier comment he made in which he said he was waiting to respond publicly to two lawsuits filed against him alleging sexual assault because he wanted to “fix my family first.” “What I meant by ‘fixing my family first’ was making sure their mental health and stability are OK in light of these hurtful, false allegations,” Allen told People. “I took some time off to be with my wife, kids and friends, to ensure everyone was OK.”
On Thursday (July 13), Allen filed two countersuits in Nashville federal court, lodging his first formal responses to the two abuse lawsuits, which have resulted in the once-rising country singer/songwriter being dropped from his label and removed from festival lineups, among other professional repercussions. The first case claims he repeatedly assaulted an unnamed “Jane Doe” on his management team; the second claims he assaulted another woman in a Las Vegas hotel room and secretly recorded it. Allen’s countersuits claim that one of the women defamed him and that the other illegally took his cell phone.
In a statement regarding the new filings, Allen told Billboard that he had “engaged with a legal team to proceed with an appropriate course of action,” saying he had done so in order to “protect my reputation and refute these claims that have caused severe damage to my family, mental health, and business.”
“As the son and brother of rape victims, and the father of daughters, these false claims are extremely hurtful to me and everyone around me,” Allen continued. “These false allegations have caused me to lose a vast number of business and endorsement opportunities that I worked extremely hard for. These false allegations have also not only harmed me, but have caused severe financial damage to my band, my team, and their families.”
Allen and Alexis Gale wed in 2020 and are parents to daughters Naomi Bettie and Zara James. (Allen also has an older son, Aadyn Allen, from a previous relationship.) When the couple announced their split in April, they also revealed they are expecting another child.
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.
This week: Lady Gaga defeats a lawsuit claiming she owes a $500,000 reward to a woman convicted over the 2021 gunpoint robbery of the star’s French bulldogs; Kanye West faces another lawsuit about allegations of unsafe conditions at his Donda Academy; Diddy makes new racism accusations in an unsealed version of his tequila lawsuit; and much more.
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THE BIG STORY: Lady Gaga Doesn’t Have To Pay Her Dog-Napper
When Jennifer McBride sued Lady Gaga in February, demanding that the star pay out on a $500,000 reward she’d offered for the return of her stolen French bulldogs, McBride left out one very small detail: that she herself had been convicted of a crime over the violent 2021 robbery.
McBride was one of five people charged in connection with the Feb. 2021 gunpoint dog-napping, in which Gaga’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was shot and nearly killed. Though she returned the dogs days after the incident and claimed she’d found them tied to a pole, police later connected McBride to the thieves and she eventually pleaded out to one count of receiving stolen property.
But in a chutzpah-laden civil lawsuit, McBride claimed that Gaga made a binding “unilateral” offer to pay the reward in return for the safe return of the dogs, citing media reports that the offer would be paid with “no questions asked.” McBride said that regardless of her role in the crime, she had simply held up her end of a valid contract.
Gaga’s attorneys begged to differ, arguing last month that it would be absurd to allow McBride to “profit from her participation in a crime” even if she had eventually returned the dogs: “The law does not allow a person to commit a crime and then profit from it,” Gaga’s lawyers wrote.
In a ruling on Monday (July 10), Judge Holly J. Fujie agreed with those arguments, dismissing the case. To find out why, go read our entire story, which contains a link to the judge’s full written ruling.
Other top stories this week…
MORE DONDA ACADEMY ACCUSATIONS – Kanye West was hit with another lawsuit about allegedly unsafe conditions at his Donda Academy, including the bizarre accusation that the school lacked windows because the embattled rapper “did not like glass.” The case came months after a separate case that claimed the rapper fed students only sushi and that he was “afraid of stairs.”
NEW CLAIMS IN DIDDY TEQUILA CASE – An unredacted version of Diddy’s lawsuit against Diageo revealed new details about his allegations that the spirits giant unfairly treated his DeLeon Tequila as a “Black brand.” Among the new accusations was a claim that Diageo developed a watermelon flavor despite Diddy’s protests about the racist history and negative connotations with watermelon in brands aimed at Black consumers.
DABABY DROPPED FROM ‘LEVITATING’ CASE – The rapper was voluntarily dismissed from a copyright lawsuit accusing him and Dua Lipa of ripping off their smash hit “Levitating” from a 1979 song called “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and a 1980 song called “Don Diablo.” The rapper had been named because he was featured on a popular remix of Lipa’s smash hit, which spent more than a year on the Hot 100.
CHALLENGE TO TIKTOK BAN – TikTok and a group of five users asked a federal judge to block Montana from enforcing its first-in-the-nation law banning the video-sharing app from the state, warning that the law is unconstitutional and could cause irreparable harm if allowed to go into effect in January.
ARETHA FRANKLIN ESTATE BATTLE – A jury in Michigan decided that a handwritten document created by singer Aretha Franklin in 2014 and found in her couch after her 2018 death was a valid will, overriding a 2010 will that was discovered around the same time in a locked cabinet.
A document handwritten by singer Aretha Franklin and found in her couch after her 2018 death is a valid Michigan will, a jury said Tuesday, a critical turn in a dispute that has turned her sons against each other.
It’s a victory for Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin whose lawyers had argued that papers dated 2014 should override a 2010 will that was discovered around the same time in a locked cabinet at the Queen of Soul’s home in suburban Detroit.
The jury deliberated less than an hour after a brief trial that started Monday. After the verdict was read, Aretha Franklin’s grandchildren stepped forward from the first row to hug Kecalf and Edward.
“I’m very, very happy. I just wanted my mother’s wishes to be adhered to,” Kecalf Franklin said. “We just want to exhale right now. It’s been a long five years for my family, my children.”
Aretha Franklin was a global star for decades, known especially for hits like “Think,” “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Respect.” She did not leave behind a formal, typewritten will when she died five years ago at age 76.
But documents, with scribbles and hard-to-decipher passages, emerged in 2019 when a niece scoured the home for records.
In closing arguments, lawyers for Kecalf and Edward Franklin said the fact that the 2014 papers were found in a notebook in couch cushions did not make them less significant.
“You can take your will and leave it on the kitchen counter. It’s still your will,” Charles McKelvie told the jury.
Another lawyer, Craig Smith, pointed to the first line of the document, which was displayed on four large posters in front of the jury.
“Says right here: ‘This is my will.’ She’s speaking from the grave, folks,” Smith said of Franklin.
Kecalf and Edward had teamed up against brother Ted White II, who favored the 2010 will. White’s attorney, Kurt Olson, noted the earlier will was under lock and key. He said it was much more important than papers found in a couch.
“We were here to see what the jury would rule. We’ll live with it,” Olson said after the verdict.
The jury found that the 2014 version was signed by Aretha Franklin, who put a smiley face in the letter ‘A.’
Olson said there still could be discussions with the judge over whether some provisions of the 2010 will should be fulfilled.
Franklin’s estate managers have been paying bills, settling millions in tax debts and generating income through music royalties and other intellectual property. The will dispute, however, has been unfinished business.
There are differences between the 2010 and 2014 versions, though they both appear to indicate that Franklin’s four sons would share income from music and copyrights.
But under the 2014 will, Kecalf Franklin and grandchildren would get his mother’s main home in Bloomfield Hills, which was valued at $1.1 million when she died but is worth much more today.
The older will said Kecalf, 53, and Edward Franklin, 64, “must take business classes and get a certificate or a degree” to benefit from the estate. That provision is not in the 2014 version.
White, who played guitar with Aretha Franklin, testified against the 2014 will, saying his mother typically would get important documents done “conventionally and legally” and with assistance from an attorney. He did not immediately comment after the verdict.
The sharpest remarks of the trial came from Smith, who represented Edward Franklin. He told the jury White “wants to disinherit his two brothers. Teddy wants it all.”
Kecalf Franklin sat near White during the trial but they did not appear to speak to each other.
“I love my brother with all my heart,” Kecalf said outside court when asked if there was a rift.
Aretha Franklin had a fourth son, Clarence Franklin. He lives under guardianship in an assisted living center and did not participate in the trial.
The FBI — yes, that FBI — just called on Swifties specifically to report federal crimes. And honestly? Resorting to a fanbase of millions who are well accustomed to decoding easter eggs and compiling evidence about their favorite singer’s next move isn’t the worst idea if you’re trying to sniff out bad guys. In a […]
A Michigan judge narrowed the issues Monday in a dispute over Aretha Franklin’s estate, saying the only task for jurors is to decide whether a 2014 document handwritten by the Queen of Soul and found in couch cushions can be accepted as a valid will.
The stipulation was made by attorneys for Franklin’s sons before a jury was seated in Oakland County Probate Court.
Franklin died in 2018 at age 76. But five years later, the music superstar’s estate remains unsettled. A son, Ted White II, believes a 2010 handwritten will should mainly control the estate, but two other sons, Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin, are in favor of a 2014 document.
Both were found in 2019, months after Franklin died. The 2014 document was under cushions at Franklin’s home in suburban Detroit.
The brothers sat shoulder to shoulder behind their lawyers in Judge Jennifer Callaghan’s courtroom. Another brother, Clarence Franklin, is under a guardianship and apparently is not participating in the trial.
There are differences between the documents, though they both appear to indicate the sons would share income from music and copyrights, which seems to make that issue less contentious than a few others.
The 2014 version crossed out White’s name as executor and has Kecalf Franklin in his place. Kecalf Franklin and grandchildren would get his mother’s main home in Bloomfield Hills, which was valued at $1.1 million when she died but is worth much more today.
For five years, Aretha Franklin’s estate has been handled at different times by three executors, known under Michigan estate law as a personal representative. A niece, Sabrina Owens, quit in 2020, citing a “rift” among the sons.
The last public accounting filed in March showed the estate had income of $3.9 million during the previous 12-month period and a similar amount of spending, including more than $900,000 in legal fees to various firms.
Overall assets were pegged at $4.1 million, mostly cash and real estate, though Franklin’s creative works and intellectual property were undervalued with just a nominal $1 figure.
A Los Angeles judge says Lady Gaga is not obligated to pay out on a $500,000 “no questions asked” reward for the return of her stolen French bulldogs — at least not to a woman who was criminally charged over the violent 2021 incident.
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In a ruling Monday (July 10) reported by TMZ, Judge Holly J. Fujie dismissed a breach of contract lawsuit filed by Jennifer McBride, who pleaded no contest in December to receiving stolen property in connection with the gunpoint robbery in which Gaga’s dog walker Ryan Fischer was shot and nearly killed.
McBride had argued that Gaga’s offer of a reward was “unilateral” — meaning she had to pay up no matter the circumstances. But in Monday’s decision, Judge Fujie reportedly agreed with arguments from Gaga’s attorneys: That a criminal like McBridge could not “profit from her participation in a crime.”
Neither side immediately returned requests for comment on Monday.
McBride is one of five people charged over the Feb. 24, 2021, gunpoint dog-napping of Gaga’s bulldogs, Koji and Gustav. Prosecutors say the singer was not specifically targeted, and that the group was merely trying to steal French bulldogs, which can be worth thousands of dollars.
James Howard Jackson, the man who shot Fischer during the robbery, took a plea deal in December and was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
Days after the attack, it was McBride who returned the dogs to police, claiming she’d found the animals tied to a pole and asking about the reward. While police initially told the media that McBride appeared to be “uninvolved and unassociated” with the crime, she was later connected to the robbery and charged with one count of receiving stolen property and one count of being an accessory after the fact. In December, she pleaded no contest to the property charge and was sentenced to two years of probation.
But just two months later, McBride was back in court again — filing a civil lawsuit claiming she deserves the credit for returning the superstar’s bulldogs. The case argued Gaga made a binding “unilateral” offer to pay the reward in return for the safe return of the dogs, and that McBride had taken her up on the proposal by flipping on the men who actually committed the robbery.
“Plaintiff accepted defendants’ unilateral offer by contacting defendants, and delivering Lady Gaga’s bulldogs to defendants at the Los Angeles Police Department,” McBride’s lawyer, K.T. Tran, wrote in the lawsuit. “Plaintiff has fully performed her obligation under the unilateral contract.”
But Gaga’s attorneys quickly moved to end the case, arguing last month that it would be absurd to allow McBride to “profit from her participation in a crime” and “rewarded for her role in the conspiracy.”
“The law does not allow a person to commit a crime and then profit from it,” Gaga’s lawyers at the firm Gibson Dunn wrote in their filings. “This principle applies with extra force in this case because the theft of Defendant’s dogs was facilitated by a violent gun crime that left one man nearly dead.”
DaBaby has been dropped from a copyright lawsuit accusing him and Dua Lipa of ripping off their smash hit “Levitating” from decades-old songs.
In an order Monday (July 10), a Manhattan federal judge granted a request by lawyers for L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer to voluntarily dismiss the rapper from their case, which claims Lipa’s massive hit infringed their 1979 song “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and their 1980 song “Don Diablo.”
The accusers did not explain why they were dropping their case against DaBaby (real name Jonathan Lyndale Kirk), who featured on a popular remix of Lipa’s song. But they made clear that the case would continue against Lipa herself and music companies involved in the song: “For the avoidance of doubt, plaintiffs maintain and do not hereby dismiss their claims against any other defendant in this matter.”
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An attorney for Brown and Linzer declined to comment on why they had dismissed DaBaby from the case. An attorney for DaBaby did not return a request for comment.
Brown and Linzer’s case, filed in March 2022, was one of two federal copyright lawsuits filed in quick succession over “Levitating” — a massive hit that spent 77 weeks on the Hot 100 and was named the No. 1 Hot 100 song of 2021. The case claimed the melody that starts just a few seconds into “Levitating,” when Lipa sings “If you wanna run away with me,” was a “duplicate” of a similar passage featured in the two earlier songs.
The other “Levitating” case, filed just days earlier by a reggae band named Artikal Sound System, claimed Lipa had lifted her song’s core hook from their little-known 2015 song “Live Your Life.” But the band dropped that lawsuit last month, just days after a federal judge cast serious doubt on whether Artikal could prove that Lipa ever even heard their song.
Though Brown and Linzer’s case will continue against Lipa, they could be facing a similar ruling soon.
Last summer, Lipa’s lawyers made the same arguments as they made in the Artikal case, saying the two accusers could not prove that she had ever had “access” to the earlier songs — a make-or-break requirement for any copyright lawsuit. Brown and Linzer’s attorneys have countered that their songs had millions of listens on internet platforms, giving the “Levitating” writers ample opportunity to hear them.
A ruling on that question is pending.
The Las Vegas Police Department has concluded its investigation into the alleged incident between Britney Spears and a member of NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama’s security team. In a statement to Billboard on Friday (July 7), the LVMPD said it had wrapped up its probe into the alleged battery that took place on Wednesday in Las Vegas and concluded that “no charges will be filed against the person involved.”
Spears filed a police report after she claimed that she was stuck by a member of Wembanyama’s security team while trying to greet the player in a Las Vegas hotel.
According to TMZ, which first reported the news, Spears was having dinner with husband Sam Asghari and two friends at Catch at the Aria Hotel when she saw the San Antonio Spurs No. 1 pick and wanted to take a photo with him. When she tapped Wembanyama on the shoulder, Director of Team Security for the Spurs Damian Smith reportedly pushed her, hitting her in the face and causing the singer to fall to the ground.
Smith then reportedly apologized to Spears, saying he didn’t recognize the pop star at the time of the incident, with the “Piece of Me” singer reportedly accepted the apology. Afterwards, however, Spears decided to file a police report alleging battery. TMZ reported that law enforcement checked the Aria Hotel’s security footage, which reportedly showed Smith pushing Spears’ hand away from Wembanyama, causing her own hand to strike her in the face before she fell.
Billboard reached out to Spears’ team and the Spurs for additional information and comment on the incident, with neither responding at press time.
On Thursday Spears posted a note on her Instagram explaining her side of the story. “Traumatic experiences are not new to me and I have had my fair share of them. I was not prepared for what happened to me last night,” she wrote. “I recognized an athlete in my hotel lobby as I was heading to dinner. I later went to a restaurant at a different hotel and saw him again. I decided to approach him and congratulate him on his success. It was really loud, so I tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. I am aware of the players statement where he mentions ‘I grabbed him from behind’ but I simply tapped him on the shoulder. His security then back handed me in the face without looking back, in front of a crowd. Nearly knocking me down and causing my glasses [to fall] off my face.”
Wembanyama issued a statement to the Associated Press in which he claimed that Spears “grabbed me from behind,” and that he didn’t know it was the singer until hours later. “I just know the security pushed her away. I don’t know with how much force but security pushed her away. I didn’t stop to look so I could walk in and enjoy a nice dinner,” he said.
Spears added in her statement that, “I get swarmed by people all the time. In fact, that night. I was swarmed by a group of at least 20 fans. My security team didn’t hit any of them. This story is super embarrassing to share with the world but it’s out there already. However, I think it’s important to share this story and urge people in the public eye to set an example and treat all people with respect.”
After Britney Spears filed a police report claiming she was hit by a security guard for NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, her husband Sam Asghari has shared his thoughts on social media.
TMZ broke the news Thursday (July 6), reporting that Spears and Asghari were having dinner at the Aria Hotel when she saw the San Antonio Spurs’ No. 1 draft pick and wanted to take a photo with him. When Spears tapped Wembanyama on the shoulder, Damian Smith, director of team security for the Spurs, reportedly pushed her, hitting her in the face and causing her to fall to the ground, Spears’ report claims.
“I am opposed to violence in any form, especially without justification in the defense of yourself or someone else who is unable to defend themselves,” Asghari wrote via Instagram Story on Thursday. “Self-defense can be unavoidable, but the defense of any woman, especially my wife, is not debatable. I consider my reaction subdued considering what occurred, and I hope the man in question learns a lesson and changes his disregard for women.”
Asghari ended the note with a message for Spears’ fans: “Thank you for the support.”
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told Billboard when asked about the incident, “On July 5, 2023, at approximately 11 p.m., LVMPD officers responded to a property in the 3700 block of Las Vegas Boulevard regarding a battery investigation. The incident has been documented on a police report and no arrest or citations have been issued.”
Spears herself spoke out on Thursday as well, addressing Wembanyama’s claims after the fact that the pop star “grabbed me from behind” and “security pushed her away.”
“Traumatic experiences are not new to me and I have had my fair share of them,” Spears wrote on Instagram. “I was not prepared for what happened to me last night. I recognized an athlete in my hotel lobby as I was heading to dinner. I later went to a restaurant at a different hotel and saw him again. I decided to approach him and congratulate him on his success. It was really loud, so I tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. I am aware of the players statement where he mentions ‘I grabbed him from behind’ but I simply tapped him on the shoulder. His security then back handed me in the face without looking back, in front of a crowd. Nearly knocking me down and causing my glasses [to fall] off my face.”
Billboard reached out to Spears’ camp and to the Spurs organization on Thursday and has not heard back as of press time.