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24 Jul 2023

Jessica Simpson’s Company Is Suing A Small Apparel Retailer Over ‘Jessica’ Brand Name Dispute

Jessica Simpson’s company is suing the owner of a small online apparel retailer called “Jessica’s Everything Shop,” claiming the woman rejected a settlement that would have allowed both Jessicas to “live and let live” and instead tried to win a cash payout.

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In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, lawyers for the singer’s With You LLC say Simpson and her apparel collection have “always coexisted” with other women named Jessica — specifically name-dropping Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel and many other famous women with that name.

But Simpson’s lawyers say that Jessica Tirado and her “Everything Shop” have been improperly trying to secure their own exclusive trademark on “Jessica” without a surname — a step they say would cause “consumer confusion” and allow Tirado to unfairly sue Simpson over her longstanding use of the name.

When they reached out to resolve the problem without litigation, Simpson’s lawyers say they were met with an unreasonable demand for a “monetary payment to Ms. Tirado.”

“[With You] has a policy that it does not make any such payments, inasmuch as doing so invites ‘troll  plaintiff’s attorneys’ to file claims against WY, believing that WY will, in each instance, pay monies,” Simpsons lawyers wrote in their Thursday (July 20) lawsuit.

Tirado’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday. A lawyer for With You LLC (a holding that owns Simpson’s trademarks and other intellectual property) also did not return a request for comment.

Simpson, 43, initially launched The Jessica Simpson Collection in 2005 with a partnership with shoe designer Vince Camuto, eventually growing into a company with a reported $1 billion in revenue by 2014. In 2021, after part-owner Sequential Brands Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Simpson spent $65 million to win back complete control of the brand.

Tirado’s website, meanwhile, currently hosts a store featuring “create your own” t-shirts with custom designs. One features an image of from the film Hocus Pocus with the text “Turns Out I’m 100% That Witch;” another features an image of Santa Claus with the text “Bitch Better Have My Cookies.”

In last week’s lawsuit, Simpson’s lawyers say they first flagged Tirado after she applied in 2021 at the federal trademark office to register the full name of her brand — “Jessica’s Everything Shop *JES*” — as a trademark for an online apparel store. But they say they tried, at first, to hash things out peacefully.

“Before taking any action with respect to Ms. Tirado’s trademark application, WY sought to work out a ‘live and let live’ … arrangement that would allow Ms. Tirado to proceed with her exploitation of her name ‘Jessica Tirado’ in a way that would never impede WY’s activities,” the lawyers for Simpson’s company write.

After such talks were unsuccessful, Simpson’s company filed a formal opposition at the trademark office, asking the agency to deny the application. In a copy of that filing obtained by Billboard, lawyers for Simpson’s company warned that consumers were likely to confuse the two “Jessica” trademarks.

In last week’s lawsuit, Simpson’s lawyers said that a lawyer for Tirado then responded to that opposition filing with a demand of his own.

“Ultimately, Ms. Tirado engaged legal counsel to represent her in the opposition, who responded and indicated that Ms. Tirado was willing to settle the matter with WY, but only if WY was willing to make a monetary payment,” Simpson’s lawyers wrote. “When Ms. Tirado’s counsel made clear that the matter would not settle absent a payment, and he began to run up legal costs … WY was left with no alternative but to protect its position by filing this lawsuit.”

Thursday’s lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages, as well as an injunction forcing Tirado to “phase out” her use of the “Jessica’s Everything Shop” name over the course of three months.

24 Jul 2023

Harry Styles Reflects on Love On Tour Following Final Show: ‘Greatest Experience of My Entire Life’

Harry Styles wrapped up a mammoth tour over the weekend, closing out nearly two years of shows with a finale in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

And following his emotional goodbye on stage, the pop star shared a lengthy thank-you message on Instagram to the millions of fans who attended. “It’s been the greatest experience of my entire life,” he wrote in a Monday (July 24) note on his Story. “Thank you to my band, and all the crew who made the last few years so special. It’s been an absolute pleasure.”

“To everyone who came out to see us play, thank you,” Styles continued. “I feel so incredibly full and happy, it’s all because of you. You have given memories that will last a lifetime, more than I could have ever dreamed of.”

Deemed one of the 10 best-selling tours of all time, Love On Tour kicked off — after some delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — in September 2021. More than 4.5 million fans came out to see the show, and the trek brought in nearly $600 million as of a week ago.

The global tour started out as support for Styles’ sophomore record Fine Line, which came out in 2019. When Harry’s House arrived in May of 2022, his shows refocused to serve both albums.

“Thank you for your time, your energy, and your love,” the “As It Was” singer added. “It’s been an honor to play for you, I hope you had as much fun as I did.”

Styles concluded, “Look after each other, I’ll see you again when the time is right. Treat People With Kindness. I love you more than you’ll ever know.” Signed, “-H.”

But that’s not all the Don’t Worry Darling star left his fans with. Styles also shared a video on YouTube and Instagram full of clips from various Love On Tour stops, including shots of the singer traveling to the stage in his infamous box, as well as footage of fans interacting with each other and telling stories of friendships made in the audience.

“To the most inspiring people I know,” Styles captioned the video on Instagram. “Goodbye for now. Love On Tour forever.”

Watch the video above.

24 Jul 2023

YNW Melly’s Murder Case Ends In A Mistrial

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YNW Melly death penalty Florida

Source: @abennettphoto / Amy Beth Bennett

Looks like YNW Melly can count his lucky stars as the “Murder On My Mind” rapper just avoided not only a lengthy prison sentence, but even the death penalty as a jury couldn’t come to an agreement over the murder charges levied against him.

According to NBC Miami, Judge John Murphy was forced to declare a mistrial in the double-murder case against Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, after a jury of his peers failed to reach a unanimous decision. Charged with the 2018 murders of 21-year-old Anthony Williams and 19-year-old Christopher Thomas in Miramar, Melly stood trial for almost three weeks, but after two days of deliberations, the case ended with a hung jury.

NBC Miami reports:

The jury did ask the state and the judge if they could review some of the evidence again but after a few hours and a lunch recess, the jury was unable to find a decision, forcing the judge to order a mistrial.

According to Cornell Law School, A mistrial occurs when a jury is unable to reach a verdict and there must be a new trial with a new jury or there is a serious procedural error or misconduct that would result in an unfair trial, and the judge adjourns the case without a decision on the merits and awards a new trial.

“Our system doesn’t work without getting people from the community to come in here and listen to the facts of the case and make decisions,” Murphy said.

Demons was all smiles after the judge sent the jury home. Before the jurors left, Murphy addressed them.

“You gave us the time and you put your best effort to see if you could bring this case to a resolution, unfortunately, it wasn’t able to happen but I want to thank you again for your time and consideration of the case,” Murphy said.

Demons is a helluva last name to have during a double-murder trial. Just sayin’.

Prosecutors alleged that YNW Melly and Cortland Henry aka YNW Bortlen were riding in a jeep on Oct. 26, 2018 when Melly opened fire on both Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas, killing them both. Melly was facing the death penalty over the allegations but has seemingly avoided such a fate. Henry is set to stand trial separately as an accomplice in the shooting later this year.

Though prosecutors say the shooting was gang related, Melly’s defense attorney’s say that wasn’t the case as Melly and the victims were “close friends.” With Melly seemingly out the woods, the defense and state are set to return on Friday (July 28), to discuss what next steps will be taken.

Should be interesting to see what kind of agreement is reached now that a jury couldn’t convict.

What do y’all think of YNW Melly’s hung jury? Let us know in the comments section below.

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24 Jul 2023

Labrinth Shares What’s on His Playlist | Billboard News

Labrinth chatted with Billboard News and shared what is on his current playlist.

Labrinth:
I’m Labrinth, and this is my playlist.

The songs that will be on my party playlist:

“Bad Mama Jama,” one of my favorite records.

“Get Down” by James Brown.

“Family Affair” by Mary J. Blige.

My workout playlist would be nothing because I really don’t work out. If I was going to work out, I would have [sings] “Take it to the limit … the limit.”

My date-night playlist would have to be [sings] “Slowed down. I just gotta get to know you,” because it’s an old-school banger. From Donell Jones, any record from his first album, and you got to have some Al Green, man.

My chill playlist, you wouldn’t even like it — it’s just whale music. I don’t even … it’s just random meditation music, that’s my chill music.

I’m not even going to tell you my throwback playlist because it’s pretty much everything I just told you.

Watch the full video above!

24 Jul 2023

Go Time?: Drake Blasts Elliott Wilson Over Interview Critiques

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Tidal X Rock The Vote Benefit Concert

Source: Arturo Holmes / Getty

After being criticized by Elliott Wilson for avoiding rap media to only speak with “outsiders”, Drake clapped back on social media.

On Monday (July 24th), DJ Akademiks shared a clip of the Rap Radar Podcast host doing an interview with Trippie Redd at the Rolling Loud Miami festival over the weekend. The Certified Lover Boy rapper seized the opportunity to hop into the comments of the post, which was shared on Instagram, to add a little shade to the situation.

“Lol man shits on not coming to his platform for a second time and now Elliott 10 toes doing Yes Julz run up interviews at Rolling Loud,” he wrote, also adding laughing emojis. “Just admit the youth took over big dog.” The former Editor-In-Chief of XXL didn’t take long to acknowledge the comment, and to hint at a possible retort in line with his reputation for being outspoken with his perspective as one of the leaders in the field. He shared a screenshot of the comment on his Twitter account with the caption, “Oh, it’s go time? Cool.”

The Honestly, Nevermind rapper has been upset at Wilson since the 52-year-old journalist called him out for pointedly avoiding Hip-Hop media outlets in the wake of his interviews with Caleb Presley of Barstool Sports and TikTok personality Bobbi Althoff. “Moment of clarity: No disrespect to Lil Boat,” he wrote in a tweet that’s since been deleted. “Yachty’s convo with The Boy was comfy and had some cool moments. I was more so clowning the comedy shenanigans with outsiders to our culture. It would be great to hear Drake speak to us again. Even if it ain’t me.”

Drake last appeared on the Rap Radar Podcast with Wilson and Brian “B Dot” Miller in 2019, shedding some light on his artistic journey in a two-hour discussion. Wilson’s critique comes as the Toronto artist has also drawn criticism from Ebro Darden of HOT97 and Apple Music 1, who chided Drake for throwing shade at Childish Gambino’s hit “This Is America” during a show on his current tour while not speaking on issues. 

“Drake doesn’t have to,” Ebro wrote on Twitter. “Nor should he if he doesn’t feel it. But to say “This Is America” is overrated and over awarded when that song came at a time when people needed someone to say something. And he doesn’t feel the need to. That’s all.”

UPDATE: 2 Dope Boyz founder MekDot has been dragged into this feud, or whatever you want to call it.

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24 Jul 2023

Billie Eilish Mourns Beloved Dog Pepper: ‘I Will See You Again Someday Sweet Girl’

Billie Eilish is mourning the loss of her best friend. On Sunday (July 23), the “What Was I Made For?” singer shared that her family dog, Pepper, died recently.

“Pepper. My life long best friend. I will see you again someday sweet girl,” Eilish wrote, captioning a series of childhood photos of her with family spending time with Pepper throughout the years, as well as a recent photo of her crying with the beloved dog on her last day. “You made it 15 years you f–king beast. :’) I love you. Rest easy mama, i’ll miss you forever. This is a really hard day.”

Eilish also posted more childhood photos that featured Pepper throughout the years and called her dog “a girl’s best friend,” and wrote additional goodbyes. “Goodbye my angel. I’ll see you soon,” she captioned some of the images.

Friends of the pop star extended their well wishes in the comments. Lauren Jauregui wrote, “sending you lots of love.” Gracie Abrams said, “Love you so much bil im so so sorry,” while Demi Lovato also added “I’m so sorry” with a sullen face emoji.

Eilish’s brother, Finneas O’Connor, also wrote a message regarding Pepper’s death on Instagram Stories. “Sweet Pepper. Our dog has, at the ripe old age of 15, transcended her mortal form,” he wrote, sharing his sister’s post to his feed. “A good, good dog who gave our family so much love and was loved by us all in equal measure.”

See Eilish’s post below, as well as her and Finneas’ Instagram Stories here and here before they disappear.

24 Jul 2023

Rebranding Fail: Elon Musk Kills The Twitter Bird & Replaces It With An X, Gets Clowned In The Process

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X Is Not A Hi With Twitter Users, Elon Musk Gets Clowned Again

Source: Dan Kitwood / Getty / X / Twitter

The masterclass in successfully ruining a good thing continues with the worst attempt at rebranding ever. Elon Musk has officially got rid of Twitter’s iconic bird logo and replaced it with an “X.”

“X,” or whatever the hell Elon Musk is trying to shape the bird app into, is here. Over the weekend, the Tesla chief announced the name change was officially coming and starting today. It is officially here.

If you log onto Twitter.com via desktop, you will see the new logo in the top left corner where the Twitter bird used to be. Also, if you type X.com, you will be redirected to the Twitter website.

To keep the stupid rebranding going, Musk shared a photo of the bland “X” symbol projected on the side of Twitter’s headquarters early Monday morning.

Musk left the explaining of what precisely this rebrand is all about to Twitter; oops, we X’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, who tried her best to break down this asinine decision.

“It’s an exceptionally rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression,” Yaccarino begins her tweet. “Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square.”

She continues, “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”

Uh, okay.

Twitter Users Are Still Baffled At The Decision & Are Clowning Elon Musk

No surprise, Twitter OGs are reacting to the name change negatively and are vowing to continue to call X its original name, Twitter.

They also see this as another opportunity to clown Elon Musk, and we don’t blame them because this is one of the dumbest executions we honestly have ever seen.

We’re always here for a Phony Stark, aka Elon Musk dragging. You can see more reactions in the gallery below.

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Photo: Dan Kitwood / Getty

1. Accurate

2. Behold, a masterclass in headassery.

24 Jul 2023

Watch Taylor Swift Laugh During This Revenge Song at Her Seattle Concert

She can’t even sing it with a straight face. Taylor Swift dusted off one of her best revenge songs at her Seattle Eras Tour show on Saturday (July 22), during which she had to take a pause to let out some maniacal laughter.

Singing “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” — which has long been rumored to be about her feud with Kanye West, now known as Ye, and Kim Kardashian — as the night’s surprise song, the 33-year-old pop star got all the way through to the bridge without stopping. Then, at the lyric “Here’s to you, ’cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do,” she paused playing completely, taking her hands off her guitar and letting out an uproarious “Ha!”

Swift then took a full 20 seconds to cackle, leaning on the microphone stand for support as the crowd at Lumen Field joined in on the laughter. “I can’t even say it with a straight face,” the singer-songwriter eventually resumed. “This is why we can’t have nice things!”

One fan video from the performance featured Swift’s mom, Andrea, singing along in the audience to the lyric, “Here’s to my momma, had to listen to all this drama,” which the “Anti-Hero” artist sings just before the big laugh.

To be clear, the laughter was all part of the performance and is even featured on the original track, released in 2017 as part of Swift’s Reputation album. But the Grammy winner did take a significantly bigger pause in the Saturday acoustic performance than she does on the recording.

While “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” is rumored to be about the rapper and his now ex-wife, it does contain what are probably the most incriminating lyrics tying the track back to their clash with Swift. “It was so nice being friends again/ There I was giving you a second chance,” she sings. “And therein lies the issue, friends don’t try to trick you/ Get you on the phone and mind-twist you.”

Ye and Swift first fell out in 2009 after the former notoriously stormed the VMAs stage upon the latter’s victory for best female video, taking the microphone and interrupting her speech to declare that Beyoncé should have won instead. Swift later penned “Innocent” about the Yeezy founder and the two reconciled, although things fell apart again in 2016 after Ye released his “Famous” single featuring the lyric: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/ Why? I made that b—- famous.”

Kardashian proceeded to leak video footage of Ye telling Swift about the song before its release over the phone, but Swift maintained she was never made aware of the second half of that lyric, which she took issue with, saying on social media that the clip was “edited and manipulated.”

Flash forward to present day, and Swift is fresh off the release of her most successful Taylor’s Version re-recorded album yet, with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) surpassing 715,000 album unit sales in its first week. She also has two more stops on the U.S. leg of her blockbuster Eras Tour — Santa Clara and Inglewood — before she’ll take the trek global.

Meanwhile, Ye recently lost his billionaire status, with many of his brand partnerships cutting ties following his antisemitic hate speech and endorsement of “White Lives Matter” earlier this year. Kardashian filed for divorce from Ye in 2021.

Watch the moment below:

24 Jul 2023

TikTok Sleuth Appears to Find Jim Crow Era News Story in Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That in a Small Town’ Teaser

Jason Aldean dared his audience to “Try That in a Small Town” — so one TikTok user decided to take him up on the offer.

In a TikTok posted on Saturday (July 22), former minor league baseball player Danny Collins did a deep dive on one of Aldean’s promotional TikToks for his controversial song released back in May. Zooming in on a newspaper article in the background of one of the video’s shots, Collins found that it appears to be a piece pulled from a since-discontinued small newspaper from Mississippi.

Finding the original article in an online archive, Collins shared that the clipping used for the video looks to be from a 1956 issue of The Petal Paper in Petal, Miss., in which a public relations consultant for the NAACP wrote to the publication’s editor P.D. East, commending him for using his platform to ridicule white supremacists and criticize the Jim Crow era policy of segregation in schools.

“Never have I seen anything that startled me as much as the March 15 issue of the Petal Paper with its incredible ridiculing of the White Citizens Council crowd. I’m referring specifically to the full-page as I assume you wrote headed, ‘You Too, Can Be Superior,’” the letter read. “I hope I am not congratulating a dead man. This must have taken courage and I hope you are still with us.”

Collins goes on to read portions of East’s response letter, in which the editor detailed being called an “N-lover,” losing subscriptions to his paper and being “bothered and harassed” continually by citizens of his town. In a 1971 column written for The New York Times, East further detailed his experience, saying his open criticism of school segregation led to him losing every subscriber of the Petal Paper, and at one point receiving three death threats in a single week.

In closing his TikTok, Collins pointed back to the accusations against Aldean of including thinly veiled racist dogwhistles throughout his song’s video, saying that the inclusion of this letter to East in the promotional clip felt very on the nose. “Why would this happen to Mr. P.D. East? Because he tried that in a small town,” Collins said. “He challenged the Southern, racist establishment. But let Jason Aldean tell it … and this song has ‘nothing’ to do with race.”

Billboard has reached out to Aldean for comment.

Billboard broke the news on July 18 that CMT had pulled Aldean’s video for the song from their airwaves. In response to the criticism of his song, the country singer shared a comment across his social media accounts, claiming that the accusations of racist songwriting against him were wrong. “There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage,” he wrote. “While I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music — this one goes too far.”

“Try That in a Small Town” was written by Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Michael Allison.

Check out Collins’ full TikTok below:

24 Jul 2023

Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’ Hits One Billion Streams on Spotify

Britney Spears is officially the member of the Spotify Billions club. The singer scored her first billion-streaming song on the service on Sunday (July 23) when her beloved 2003 banger “Toxic” reached a billie.

This would normally be the spot where we refer to Spears’ latest post on her Instagram account, but Brit deleted her Insta again over the weekend, shortly after the release of her new single with will.i.am, “Mind Your Business.”

The page went dark on Saturday and remained offline on Monday (July 24) in the latest example of Spears, 41, shutting down her social media accounts with no warning; in the past they have typically come back on-line within days, or weeks. The stealth mode came just as Spears released her first new music since last year’s hit collab with Elton John on “Hold Me Closer”; before that Spears’ most recent release was her 2016 album Glory.

The third collaboration between Brit and the Black Eyed Peas rapper/producer is a bouncy club track with a minimal beat that seems to be a broadside against those that can’t stop sticking their noses into Spears’ private life with the no-reading-between-the-lines refrain, “Mind your business b—h.”

The song dropped with just one day’s notice, more than a decade after the pair first worked together on the 2012 single “Scream & Shout.” The song also reprises the iconic phrase from “Scream & Shout” in which Will says the tagline, “You are now rockin’ with Will.i.am and Britney, b—h.”

While Spears has not announced a new album to go with the seemingly one-off single, she did recently confirm the upcoming release of her memoir, The Woman in Me, which is due out on Oct. 24.

Listen to “Mind Your Business” below.