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12 Mar 2023

Adele Reacts to Shakira’s Fiery ‘Music Sessions Vol. 53’ Performance on ‘Fallon’: ‘Her Ex Is in Trouble!’

Adele caught Shakira‘s live collab with Bizarrap on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and had some thoughts about it — which she shared with her own audience in Vegas this weekend.

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Shakira brought her latest global hit, her Bizarrap-produced, post-breakup diss track “Music Sessions Vol. 53,” to Fallon’s late-night show Friday night (March 10). The Colombian star delivered a fired-up live take of the personal track, closely surrounded by fans.

On Saturday night, Adele interacted with her own fans at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, one of whom happened to name Shakira as one of her favorite artists when Adele asked.

“Oh, I saw her performance last night on Jimmy Fallon … Oh, her ex-husband’s in trouble!” Adele said with a cackle. (Slight correction: Shakira and her ex partner Gerard Piqué were together for 11 years and have two children together, but they were not married.)

In her interview with Fallon on Friday, Shakira said that she knew the song — which throws jabs at Piqué and his new love interest, and has broken 14 Guinness World Records — would be a hit.

“I started to feel it in my body, you know,” Shak said. “I usually have this visceral sort of physical reaction to music.”

Hear Adele chatting about Shakira, and watch the performance of “Music Sessions Vol. 53,” below.

12 Mar 2023

Country Radio Seminar: A Year After Major Wakeup Call, Broadcasters Plot Their Future

A year ago, Country Radio Seminar (CRS) gave broadcasters a wakeup call.

With the 2023 edition of the conference, it should become clearer if the industry is facing a new day head on or if it simply hit the Snooze button.

Panelists in 2022 lamented a four-year decline in listenership, a drop that overlaps with a system in which singles often take over 40 weeks — sometimes as much as 60 weeks — to run their course. By contrast, labels are increasingly gearing their marketing plans to streaming platforms that expose wider arrays of music and target individuals’ playlists with greater specificity. On the final day last year, Country’s Radio Coach owner/CEO John Shomby gave a TED Talk-style presentation that chided broadcasters for a nagging sameness and called for a committee of radio and music business executives to figure out a reboot.

As Country Radio Broadcasters revs up CRS again March 13-15, that chat continues to echo in the agenda at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Shomby’s CRS Music Committee — which generated 60-70 respondents in its first hour, according to CRB executive director R.J. Curtis — has been segmented into four overlapping subcommittees that will likely make their first reports in an upcoming CRS360 webinar. Meanwhile, the CRS presentations include several topics that address the issues that have brought the format to a crossroads — “Radio & Records: Redefining the Relationship,” “Just Effing Do It: The Rewards of Taking Risks” and “Fred Jacobs’ Fred Talk: The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be.”

“CRS should be a reality-check moment,” Curtis says. “I don’t believe our purpose is to just shake each other’s hands and high-five and congratulate each other on another great year because not every year is great. We’re facing a lot of different challenges, and I think it’s important for us to own them and figure out how to solve them.”

Country music has a long history with radio. March 2022 marked 100 years since Fiddlin’ John Carson became the first hillbilly act to perform on-air, on WSB Atlanta, and Jan. 4 represented a century since country was introduced on the medium west of the Mississippi River, via The Radio Barn Dance on WBAP Dallas-Fort Worth. Still, the genre never had a full-time station until KDAV Lubbock, Texas, debuted in 1953.

Radio ultimately became the primary method of exposing the genre’s new music. It went largely unchallenged in that position until streaming took hold this century. The new medium operates differently — pressing a Skip button allows a streaming listener to skirt individual titles while still listening to the playlist, whereas skipping a song on the radio requires changing stations. To preserve listenership in this era, programmers generally relied on safe measures that had worked previously, cutting the size of playlists and/or hanging on to proven titles for longer periods of time. Those solutions tend to pay off in the short run, but over the long haul, they can discourage extended listening among the most passionate music fans. 

“They’re just afraid of making a mistake,” says Shomby of programmers’ dilemma. “It’s like a football team that just hands the ball off to one guy and he runs up the middle, and then you hope that somebody opens up a hole. There’s no [taking chances] — there’s no throwing any long passes, you’re not doing any double reverses or anything like that. You just run left. And that’s kind of the way I feel like our industry is at this point.”

Actionable Insights Group head of research Billy Ray McKim was among the attendees who signed up for the CRS Music Committee last year after Shomby’s presentation.

“Plenty of people talked about it for days and weeks, and I continue to hear people refer back to it,” McKim says. “He managed to tie a bow on it.”

McKim is now overseeing the subcommittee studying the life cycle of songs, generally aiming to speed the march of singles through national radio charts and energize the format. The issue is complex.

“There was this idea that we would spend a year and find a finite solution and move on,” says McKim. “What’s become even more clear through this process is there isn’t a simple solution. So I think that this committee will continue to live and evolve.”

Changing aspects of the industry will get center stage through much of CRS. Digital streaming, for example, has a full day of convention programming. CRS also offers a panel on “expansive inclusion” and an examination of evolving demographics in “Okay Boomer! A Conversation With Gen Z.”

CRS will continue to offer some familiar elements. Garth Brooks and Kenny Chesney will be the focus of keynote artist Q&As, the annual research panel presents insights from a 700-song auditorium test, and the closing New Faces of Country Music dinner will feature Jackson Dean, Priscilla Block, Jelly Roll, Nate Smith and Frank Ray. 

That latter event will include recognition of a new wrinkle in the convention. The last of CRS’ founders, Charlie Monk, died Dec. 19, and this will be the first year he is not at the seminar in some form or fashion. New Faces is expected to honor his influence, which is particularly fitting this year. Monk’s ability to process the past and anticipate the future should provide some inspiration for the industry as it moves forward: the “Mayor of Music Row” counted classic singer Frank Sinatra as his favorite artist, but often said his favorite single was whatever was No. 1 that particular week.

“He didn’t get stuck in one particular era, and that’s very evident by the amount of people much, much younger than him that called him a mentor and a friend,” Curtis says. “He sought out younger leaders in our format. He benefited from their knowledge and their way of doing business, and I think it was really impressive.”

Country music’s relationship with radio predates even Monk’s arrival. Programmers’ goal during CRS will be to create some forward movement for a platform that is still regarded as a key means of exposure for even the newest generation of talent.

“I come across a lot of young artists, and they still have that dream to be heard on the radio,” says Shomby. “I mean, it doesn’t get them as excited to have a song playlisted on Spotify as it does to hear their song on their local radio station. So there’s still something there that creates a passion for the format.”

Subscribe to Billboard Country Update, the industry’s must-have source for news, charts, analysis and features. Sign up for free delivery every weekend.

12 Mar 2023

Lil Yachty Announced as ‘SNL’ Musical Guest With Host Quinta Brunson

Lil Yachty has been confirmed as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live for April 1, while Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson will be hosting.

SNL made the announcement during Saturday night’s Jenna Ortega-hosted episode, on which The 1975 performed.

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But will the show go on as planned? April 1 is the date that post-production editors at SNL, represented by the Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700), have threatened a potential strike over pay and benefits.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a source close to the contract negotiations said NBC pledged to have a deal by the end of March.

Before Lil Yachty’s schedule appearance on SNL, he’ll perform at Billboard Presents The Stage at SXSW on March 16, presented by Doritos. Read his recent Billboard cover story here.

See the April 1 SNL lineup revealed below.

12 Mar 2023

Morgan Wallen’s ‘One Thing at a Time’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With a Half-Million Units

Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated March 18) with 501,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending March 9, according to Luminate. It’s the largest week of 2023 for any album by units earned, the biggest since Taylor Swift’s Midnights debut with 1.578 million (week ending Oct. 27, 2022; chart dated Nov. 5, 2022) and the largest week for a country album since Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) opened with 604,500 (week ending Nov. 18, 2021; chart dated Nov. 27, 2021).

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A hefty 76% of One Thing at a Time’s debut-week total was powered by streaming activity. The set’s 36 tracks collectively generated 498.28 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. in the album’s first week – marking the fifth-largest streaming week ever for any album, and the biggest ever for a country album.

One Thing at a Time was released March 3 via Big Loud/Mercury/Republic Records and is the follow-up to Wallen’s chart-topping effort Dangerous: The Double Album, released in January 2021. The latter spent 10 weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart and ranks at No. 6 on the latest list — its 110th nonconsecutive week in the top 10. It now solely has the second-most weeks in the top 10 in the list’s 67-year history, surpassing 109 weeks for the soundtrack to The Sound of Music. (The original cast recording of My Fair Lady holds the record for the most weeks in the top 10, with 173.)

One Thing at a Time was preceded by the release of nine songs from the album as far back as April of 2022. Four of those tunes topped Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart: “Don’t Think Jesus,” “Thought You Should Know,” “You Proof” and “Last Night,” the lattermost of which has reigned for four weeks running (through the most recently published March 11-dated ranking).

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new March 18, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on March 14. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of One Thing at a Time’s 501,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 382,000 (equaling 498.28 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 36 tracks), album sales comprise 111,500 and TEA units comprise 7,500. The album’s sales were powered by its digital download option (87,500; available as both a clean and explicit edition) while its double-CD (explicit only) sold 24,000. On the final day of the tracking week, the digital album was also offered in two alternative cover variants in Wallen’s official webstore for a discounted price. The set was not commercially released in any other formats.

One Thing at a Time has the second-largest week of 2023 by traditional album sales for an album, after the debut frame of TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation (152,000; chart dated Feb. 11). One Thing at a Time has the largest sales week for a country album since Red (Taylor’s Version) sold 369,000 in its first week (Nov. 27, 2021, chart).

As noted above, One Thing at a Time captures the fifth-largest streaming week ever for an album. The four largest streaming weeks for albums, by total streams earned, were all also debut frames. Drake’s Scorpion leads the pack, as it collected 745.92 million clicks for its 25 tracks in the week ending July 5, 2018. Scorpion is followed by the opening weeks of Drake’s Certified Lover Boy (743.67 million for its 21 tracks, week ending Sept. 9, 2021), Taylor Swift’s Midnights (549.26 million for its 20 tracks across its standard and deluxe editions, week ending Oct. 27, 2022) and Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (513.56 million for its 16 tracks, week ending Nov. 10, 2022).

Certainly, the fact that One Thing at a Time has 36 songs helps its first-week numbers — as streaming activity for the chart is measured by taking the number of streams generated by each song on an album and adding them up to one overall total. Had the album been shortened to a length comparable to Drake’s 25-track Scorpion, it still would have had a big streaming figure. The top 25 most-streamed songs on One Thing at a Time generated 397.93 million on-demand official streams — which would made it the 10th-largest streaming week ever, and still the biggest among all country albums. Had One Thing at a Time’s tracklist been even shorter — as short as Drake and 21 Savage’s 16-track Her Loss, it still would have had a robust, but not quite as eye-popping, streaming start. One Thing at a Time’s top 16 most-streamed tracks collectively generated 294.65 million on-demand official streams — which would have ranked the set among the top 20 biggest streaming weeks of all time, though still the second-largest streaming week for a country album (behind the debut of Swift’s Red [Taylor’s Version], with 303.23 million for its 30 tracks).

In the last 12 months, One Thing at a Time has the most songs on its streaming album of any No. 1 on the Billboard 200, save for the 44-track Encanto soundtrack — although most of those 44 tracks are score and instrumental cuts, and the vast majority of the album’s streaming activity has come from the set’s nine focus songs, including the ensemble smash “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” Including Encanto, in the last 12 months, the average tracklist length for the streaming edition of a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 has been 19. If we remove Encanto from the math, that average falls to 18. In the last 12 months, only four No. 1 albums have had fewer than 12 songs — and all were K-pop projects, powered largely by CD album sales, not streams.

A few last notes about Wallen… he is the first male artist with back-to-back country No. 1s on the Billboard 200 since 2019, when Thomas Rhett notched his second No. 1 in a row with Center Point Road, following Life Changes in 2017. Further, Wallen has the largest week for any country album by a male artist since the Billboard 200 began tracking by equivalent album units in December of 2014. In fact, only one country album has posted a bigger week in that span of time — Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version), with 604,500 units in its debut week in 2021. (Country albums are considered those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.)

Notably, since the Billboard 200 began measuring by equivalent album units in December 2014 (transitioning from an album sales-only methodology to a blend of album sales, SEA and TEA), only nine acts have registered a half-million units in a week for an album (with some having done so with multiple albums). They are: Adele, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift and Wallen.

As No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, SZA’s SOS holds in place with 82,000 equivalent album units earned (down 5%). The set previously spent 10 nonconsecutive weeks atop the list. Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito falls 1-3 in its second week with 60,000 units (down 36%).

Kali Uchis achieves her first top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200 as Red Moon in Venus debuts at No. 4 with 55,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 28,000, SEA units comprise 27,000 (equaling 35.49 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The mostly-English-language project is the artist’s first album release since the breakthrough success of the mostly-Spanish-language single “Telepatía” in 2021 (from her last album, 2020’s Spanish-language Sin Miedo [Del Amor y Otros Demonios]). That track spent eight weeks at No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs (her first leader there) and marked her first top 40-charting hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at No. 25 and spending 25 weeks on the list). Red Moon in Venus includes guest turns from Omar Apollo, Don Toliver and Summer Walker.

Six former No. 1s round out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200: Swift’s Midnights is stationary at No. 5 (48,000 equivalent album units earned, down 1%); Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album is a non-mover at No. 6 (46,000, down less than 1%); Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains is steady at No. 7 (40,000, down 4%); Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti rises 10-8 (39,000, up less than 1%); The Weeknd’s Starboy holds at No. 9 (35,000, down 13%) and Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss rises 11-10 (34,000, down 5%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

12 Mar 2023

Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band Announces Postponement of Two U.S. Concerts Due to Illness

Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band has postponed two U.S. concerts “due to illness,” according to a statement from the group.

The Boss took to social media over the weekend to announce that his legendary rock band was forced to postponed concerts at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Sunday (March 12) and MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y., on Tuesday (March 14).

“We are working on rescheduling the date so please hold on to your tickets as they will be valid for the rescheduled show,” Springsteen tweeted in separate posts.

Further details about the illness were not provided.

E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt addressed the postponements through Twitter on Saturday (March 11), responding to a fan who was concerned about the group’s health.

“No need to be anxious or afraid. Nothing serious. Just a temporary situation. We will all be back in full force very soon,” Van Zandt wrote. The guitarist also clarified that the concerts were “postponed” and will be rescheduled. “We don’t cancel,” the guitarist tweeted to another fan.

Earlier this year, Springsteen was forced to perform without three of his E Street bandmates after they had to bow out of the group’s Dallas concert on Feb. 10. Both Van Zandt and violinist/singer Soozie Tyrel had tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of their the American Airlines Center concert, while Springsteen’s wife, singer/guitarist Patti Scialfa, was also absent from the stage for undisclosed reasons.

“We got a few members missing tonight — Stevie Van Zandt – COVID, Soozie Tyrell — COVID, Patti Scialfa… But goddammit, we’re gonna give Dallas the best show they’ve ever seen,” the rocker told the crowd at the top of the show.

Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band’s next performance is scheduled for Thursday (March 16) at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The group will perform in North American arenas through April before heading to Europe and the United Kingdom in early May.

See Springsteen’s postponement announcements below.

12 Mar 2023

Cher & Boyfriend aka Amber Rose’s Ex Make Red Carpet Debut

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FASHION-US-VERSACE-ARRIVALS

Source: MICHAEL TRAN / Getty

Cher is clearly living her best life. The renowned singer, 76, was spotted kissing her boyfriend, Alexander “AE” Edwards, 36, during their red carpet debut at the Versace show at Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 9. 

Yeah, this is the same AE who was dating Amber Rose, and infamously cheated on her with multiple women. Back in late 2021, he even took to Instagram to plead for his family back.

Well obviously, Rose held fast and now AE is entangled with the famed singer who is over twice his age. You can’t make this stuff up.

Reports Page Six:

Cher and the music producer looked smitten as they wrapped their arms around each other for photos. They both flashed cheerful smiles and flaunted their love for all to see.

Both wore head-to-toe Versace for the occasion, of course, with Edwards looking cool in all black; he paired a button-front jacket with a knit polo and dress pants, while the Goddess of Pop went glam in a metallic blue leather jacket embellished with studs and crystals layered atop a matching bondage-style catsuit and platform boots.

The couple’s loved-up outing marked the first time they walked a red carpet together, hinting that they are more serious than ever.

The couple has yet to confirm rumors of their engagement, though.

See photos of the happy couple in the gallery. Also, AE probably doesn’t want the smoke with the OG if he’s caught finagling with any side chicks—just saying.

1. Versace FW23 Show – Arrivals

Versace FW23 Show - Arrivals

Source:Getty

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 09: Alexander Edwards and Cher attend the Versace FW23 Show at Pacific Design Center on March 09, 2023 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

2. Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles – November 02, 2022

Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles - November 02, 2022

Source:Getty

LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 02: Cher and Alexander Edwards are seen on November 02, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by joce zerojack/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

3. Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles – November 02, 2022

Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles - November 02, 2022

Source:Getty

LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 02: Cher and Alexander Edwards are seen on November 02, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by joce zerojack/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

4. FASHION-US-VERSACE-ARRIVALS

FASHION-US-VERSACE-ARRIVALS

Source:Getty

US singer/actress Cher and rapper Alexander Edwards arrive for the Versace Fall/Winter 2023 fashion show on March 9, 2023, at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP) (Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

5. FASHION-US-VERSACE-ARRIVALS

FASHION-US-VERSACE-ARRIVALS

Source:Getty

US singer/actress Cher and rapper Alexander Edwards arrive for the Versace Fall/Winter 2023 fashion show on March 9, 2023, at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP) (Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

12 Mar 2023

South African Rapper Costa Titch Dies After Collapsing at Ultra Music Festival in Johannesburg

South African rapper Costa Titch has died after collapsing onstage at Johannesburg’s Ultra South Africa music festival on Saturday (March 11). He was 28.

The family of the rapper, whose real name was Constantinos Tsobanoglou, confirmed the tragic news in a statement posted Sunday (March 12) on the artist’s Instagram account.

“Death has tragically knocked at our door. Robbing us of our beloved son, brother, and grandson,” the statement reads. “Constantinos Tsobanoglou (28), whom South Africa had come to love and idolize under his stage name ‘Costa Titch.’ It is with deep pain that we find ourselves having to acknowledge his passing at this time.”

His loved ones continued, “As a family, we are faced with a difficult time as we try to make sense of what has befallen us and ask that we be afforded the time and space to gather ourselves. The Tsobanoglou family thanks you for the love and support you have given to our son, and may you continue to uplift him even in spirit. Please keep us in your prayers and uplifted in the Lord.”

An official cause of death was not given at press time.

Videos circulating on social media show Titch collapsing briefly during his Ultra South Africa set at Johannesburg’s Nasrec Expo Centre on Saturday, then standing up to continue his performance before losing consciousness once again and being rushed off to the side.

Ultra South Africa organizers tweeted a statement on Sunday following Titch’s death.

“Costa was a galvanizing voice amongst South Africa’s amapiano scene — a talented rapper, dancer, singer, songwriter, collaborator and friend to the festival,” Ultra South Africa’s statement reads.

Titch, a rising star in the South African musical style amapiano, was signed to Akon’s Konvict Kulture label. The rapper recently collaborated with Akon on the single “Big Flexa,” from Titch’s 2022 album, Mr Big Flexa.

Titch won best collaboration and best remix at the 2020 South African Hip Hop Awards for his song “Nkalakatha,” featuring Riky Rick and Kiernan “AKA” Forbes. In early February, AKA was shot and killed outside of a restaurant in South Africa.

See the statement from Titch’s family about his passing below.

12 Mar 2023

Tiger Woods Calls Cap on Ex’s Alleged Oral Agreement Jig

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Celebrities Attend The 2022 US Open Tennis Championships

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Tiger Woods is once again in some messy relationship drama. The iconic golf pro is denying his ex-girlfriend’s claim that they had an oral agreement that she could stick around for years after he cut her off.

By now, you may have learned that their “break up” is the stuff of legend. The ex in question, Erica Herman, was allegedly and infamously instructed to get ready for a short vacation, only to be dropped off at an airport and told the relationship was kaput. Upon trying to return to the home they shared for the past five years, the locks had been changed. 

Cold world.

Per current celebrity relationship standards, and despite a signed NDA, she is suing Tiger Woods for a cool $30 million and insists she is supposed to be allowed to stay another five years in the crib she was unceremoniously booted from.

However, Woods is insisting there was never any such agreement in place.

Reports TMZ:

Tiger’s lawyers are challenging Erica Herman, who claimed in her lawsuit Tiger promised to support her and let her live in his house for at least 5 more years in return for services (she did not specify) — this before he broke up with her a few months back.

According to legal docs, Tiger’s lawyers said (BTW the house is partly owned by a trust)  … “During their relationship, Mr. Woods invited Ms. Herman to live with him as his guest in the Residence. Mr. Woods never negotiated an oral tenancy agreement with Ms. Herman. Nor was there ever a written tenancy agreement between Mr. Woods or the Trust, on the one hand, and Ms. Herman, on the other hand. Mr. Woods never transferred to Ms. Herman any ownership interest in or rights of possession to the Residence.”

That sounds like lawyer speak for “GTFOH.”

Tiger’s lawyers also assert that Herman’s story that she was driven to an airport was also a tall tale. They say that Tiger actually hooked her up with a stay at a luxury resort and enough cash to get her own place.

Herman is also claiming the NDA isn’t valid due to a sexual assault. That allegation is a separate case that Woods’ lawyers have yet to address.

Expect this to only get uglier.

12 Mar 2023

Lady Gaga to Perform at 2023 Oscars After All

Lady Gaga will perform “Hold My Hand” on the 2023 Oscars on Sunday (March 12) after all.

Variety first reported the surprise reversal. Oscars executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss stated that Gaga would not be performing during a press meeting with the Oscars creative team on March 8. He implied that the Oscars team and Gaga had mutually decided to pass because of the demands of her co-starring role in the Joker: Folie à Deux, which is currently shooting.

“We have a great relationship with Lady Gaga and her camp,” he said at the time. “She is in the middle of shooting a movie right now. Here, we are honoring the movie industry and what it takes to make a movie after a bunch of back and forth… It didn’t feel like she can get a performance to the caliber that we’re used to with her and that she is used to. So, she is not going to perform on the show,” Weiss said.

With Gaga now on the bill, all five of this year’s best original song nominees will be performed on the show. The other performers are Rihanna (“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Sofia Carson and Diane Warren (“Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman), Stephanie Hsu, David Byrne and Son Lux (“This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once) and Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava (“Naatu Naatu” from RRR).

This will be the first Oscar telecast in three years to include performances of all five nominated songs.

Two years ago, all five songs were performed, but on a pre-show. That move was seen as disrespectful by many in the music community. Last year, Van Morrison declined to perform “Down to Joy” from Belfast, so only four of the nominated songs were performed on the telecast.

This will be Gaga’s fourth performance on the Oscars. In 2015, she performed a medley of four songs from The Sound of Music to honor that film on its 50th anniversary. In a memorable Oscar moment, Julie Andrews came out at the end of Gaga’s performance and the two stars embraced.

In 2016, Gaga sang the nominated song “Til It Happens to You” from The Hunting Ground. In 2019, she and Bradley Cooper sang “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, which went on to win the award. The staging of “Shallow” was memorable, with Gaga and Cooper stepping up from their front-row seats to take the stage.

“Hold My Hand,” which Gaga co-wrote with BloodPop, has thus far peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 (in June). The song may reach a new peak following the Oscars. Both of Gaga’s previous Oscar-nominated songs reached new peaks following the telecast. “Shallow” shot from No. 21 to No. 1 on the Hot 100 the week following the Oscars. It had previously peaked at No. 5. “Til It Happens to You” had failed to make the Hot 100 when it was first released, but entered the chart at No. 95 following the Oscars.

The most dramatic example of a televised performance reigniting a Gaga song came after she headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in In February 2017. “Million Reasons” re-entered the Hot 100 at a new peak, No. 4, following her performance. The song had previously peaked at No. 52.

It was a coup for the Oscars to book Rihanna and Gaga, two of the hottest singers on the planet, on the same show. But then, when Oscar calls, even the biggest stars usually say yes. Beyoncé opened last year’s show with a memorable performance of “Be Alive” from King Richard. Such other superstars as Adele, U2, Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Sam Smith, Justin Timberlake, Sting, Elton John and Billie Eilish with Finneas have performed nominated songs on the Oscars in the past decade.

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the 95th Oscars will be held Sunday (March 12) at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

12 Mar 2023

‘SNL’ Pokes Fun at Oscars Pre-Show, References Infamous Slap, Ariana DeBose’s BAFTAs Rap & More: Watch

Ahead of the 2023 Academy Awards, Saturday Night Live hilariously mocked the red carpet segment of the Oscars pre-show during the iconic sketch comedy show’s cold open on March 11.

The eight-minute skit opened with SNL‘s Marcello Hernandez and Heidi Gardner portraying Access Hollywood hosts Mario Lopez and “Maria Menounos or Kit Hoover” interviewing a wide range of celebrities on the red carpet ahead of the Oscars in Hollywood.

“We are so excited to have been standing outside the Dolby Theatre for almost 153 hours,” Hernandez’s Lopez said. “But it’s all worth it to ask Angela Bassett if she really did the thing.”

After referencing Will Smith‘s infamous slap of Chris Rock during last year’s Oscars, the hosts welcomed the ceremony’s new head of security, former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson (played by Kenan Thompson).

“This year, to make sure nothing crazy happens, the Academy hired a new head of security: notoriously calm and sane person, Mike Tyson,” Gardner’s host said.

When asked about the Academy Awards’ new security measures, Thompson’s Tyson replied, “This year, all the nominees have been given tasers, all the seat fillers have been given guns and Jimmy Kimmel has been given a flamethrower.”

Next up on the red carpet was legendary actress Jamie Lee Curtis (portrayed by SNL‘s Chloe Fineman), who praised Ariana DeBose‘s show-opening musical medley at the 2023 BAFTA Awards.

“What Ariana DeBose did at the BAFTAs was fun. It was by far the best live rap performance I’ve seen all year. It was incredible,” Fineman’s Curtis said.

DeBose received backlash on social media after performing an original rap in honor of the female nominees at the Feb. 19 awards show in London. During the rap number, the West Side Story star named-checked famous actresses like Bassett, Curtis, and Viola Davis.

The 95th annual Academy Awards takes place at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater on Sunday (March 12). The show, hosted by Kimmel, airs at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC.

Watch SNL‘s “Oscars Red Carpet Cold Open” skit below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes as well.