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25 Oct 2022

The Legal Beat: Cardi Wins Trial Over ‘Raunchy’ Cover — Plus Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus and More

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: Cardi B avoids millions in damages by winning her trial over a sexually-explicit album cover, Jay-Z files a lawsuit to escape his Cognac partnership with Bacardi, Miley Cyrus quickly settles a case over an Instagram photo of herself, and much more.

THE BIG STORY: Cardi B Wins Trial Over ‘Raunchy’ Album Cover

It was all over pretty quick.

After nearly five years of litigation, it took just four days of trial and 90 minutes of deliberation for a jury to clear Cardi B of wrongdoing in a lawsuit filed by Kevin Brophy, a California dad whose back tattoos were unwittingly photoshopped onto a “raunchy” Cardi album cover.

Brophy sued in 2017 for millions in damages, claiming he was “devastated, humiliated and embarrassed” by the cover of her 2016 mixtape Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1. The image featured Cardi staring directly into the camera with her legs spread wide, holding a man’s head while he appears to perform oral sex on her.

Here was the problem: While the actual man in the image was a model who had consented to the shoot, a giant tattoo on his back belonged to Brophy. Unbeknownst to Cardi, a freelance graphic designer had typed “back tattoos” into Google Image, found one that fit (Brophy’s), and photoshopped it onto the model’s body. It apparently didn’t occur to him that he would need anyone’s approval to do so.

When the trial kicked off last week, Brophy testified that the image had been a “complete slap in the face” and had caused him “hurt and shame.” Then on Wednesday, Cardi herself took the stand — repeatedly sparring with Brophy’s attorney (A. Barry Cappello of Cappello & Noel LLP), demanding “receipts” to support the allegations, and accusing him and his lawyers of “harassing” her in hopes of scoring a settlement.

In the end, jurors were clearly swayed by the arguments from Cardi’s lawyers (Peter Anderson of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and Lisa F. Moore of Moore Pequignot LLC). Among other defenses they raised, their primary argument was pretty simple: That nobody would have recognized a relatively unknown man based merely on his back tattoo, and that he had little proof anyone did.

After the verdict, Cardi took to Twitter to celebrate her legal victory: “I just won this lawsuit …Im soo emotional right now,” the superstar wrote. “I wanna kiss Gods feet right now …..IM BEYOND GRATEFUL!!!!”

Other top stories this week…

HOV WANTS OUT OF BOOZE BIZ — Jay-Z filed a lawsuit seeking to end his involvement with D’Usse Cognac, a brand he currently co-owns with spirits giant Bacardi. The rap mogul’s lawyers claimed that Bacardi is legally required to buy out his half of the business, but that the company is “lowballing” and “stonewalling” him to get a cheaper price. The lawsuit said Jay-Z’s move to exit D’Usse came amid “growing concern” about how Bacardi was running the company, including supply chain failures and an unwillingness to change prices.

HEDLEY SINGER SENTENCED FOR SEX ASSAULT — Singer Jacob Hoggard, the former frontman for multi-platinum pop-rock band Hedley, was sentenced in Canada to five years in prison for the sexual assault of an Ottawa woman. The sentence came after a June verdict that found Hoggard guilty of sexual assault causing bodily harm of a woman known only as “JB” during a 2016 incident in an Ontario hotel room. Hoggard could have received as much as 14 years, but prosecutors sought only six to seven years. His defense attorneys asked for three to four years.

ONE ASTROWORLD VICTIM SETTLES CASE — Attorneys for the family of Axel Acosta, a 21-year-old man who died at the last year’s Astroworld music festival in Houston, announced they had reached an agreement to resolve their legal case against Live Nation and Travis Scott, one of the first known settlements in the sprawling litigation over the disaster. But sources close to Scott quickly said he had not been involved in settlement talks, and no formal notice was filed on the court’s docket, leading to uncertainty about what had actually happened. Even if a deal is struck by Acosta’s family, thousands of other alleged victims are still seeking billions of dollars in damages from Live Nation, Scott and others, claiming they were legally negligent in how they planned and conducted the event.

CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST LIL DURK — Prosecutors in Georgia told a judge that they would no longer pursue criminal charges against the Chicago rapper (real name Durk Derrick Banks) over a 2019 shooting in downtown Atlanta, citing  “prosecutorial discretion.” Along with the late rapper King Von, Durk was arrested way back in May 2019 on accusations that he was involved in gunfire near the popular Atlanta restaurant The Varsity, which left a victim with a non-fatal gunshot wound to the thigh. More than three years later, prosecutors insisted “probable cause existed for the defendant’s arrest” but that “the decision of the District Attorney at this time is not to prosecute.”

MILEY CYRUS ENDS INSTAGRAM CASE — Just a month after it was filed, Miley Cyrus settled a copyright lawsuit that accused the star of violating copyright law by posting a paparazzi photo of herself to Instagram. Such allegations are a bizarrely common legal problem for celebrities, and over the past few years Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Emily Ratajkowski, LeBron James, Katy Perry and others have all faced similar cases. Like Miley’s case, most of the lawsuits quickly settle. That’s because it’s actually a pretty cut-and-dried legal issue: Photographers own the copyrights to the images that they take, and using those photos without a license constitutes infringement. Unfair as it might seem, appearing in an image does not give a celebrity co-ownership of it, nor does it give them a right to repost it for free.

MUSIC HACKER GETS TWO YEARS IN PRISON — A British computer hacker who stole unreleased songs from Ed Sheeran and Lil Uzi Vert was sentenced in the UK to 18 months in prison. Prosecutors said Adrian Kwiatkowski, 23, hacked the artists’ cloud-based accounts and sold their songs on the dark web in exchange for $147,000 in cryptocurrency. The case was actually sparked by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which linked the crime to Kwiatkowski and then handed the case off to British authorities.

25 Oct 2022

Kanye West’s Longtime Engineer Andrew Dawson Donating Royalties to Jewish Organizations

Kanye West longtime engineer Andrew Dawson is promising to donate his royalties for good, following West’s recent espousal of hate speech.

In an Instagram post Tuesday (Oct. 25), Dawson pledged to make donations from his royalties to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as well as Jewish and Civil Rights organizations.

“I have a resume I am proud of that represents decades of supporting the voices, visions, and creativity of talented artists,” Dawson wrote. “However, recent events compel me to be a supporter of more important voices at this time.”

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According to Dawson’s post, he has already made two donations.

While Dawson did not name West as the specific reason for the donations, the organization’s mentioned all support groups that West has recently targeted with hate speech. In recent weeks, West has worn a shirt that read “White Lives Matter” and made numerous antisemitic comments, which has led brands like Balenciaga, Gap and Adidas to distance themselves from the artist and entrepreneur.

Management for Dawson declined to comment further on the post.

Dawson has worked as West’s primary engineer for nearly two decades, beginning with West’s debut studio album, The College Dropout, in 2003. He has worked on eight of West’s albums, securing Grammy wins for 2005’s Late Registration, 2007’s Graduation and 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Dawson’s last credited work with West was the song “Heaven and Hell” off 2021’s Donda.

Record producer Mike Dean — who has also worked with West since The College Dropout — reposted Dawson’s note and commented on the image saying, “Careful tho. Those royalties will shrink. Sucks. He’s hurting all his collaborators too.”

Over the course of his career, Dawson has worked as an engineer, producer, mixer and co-writer on many popular albums. He has worked with Destiny’s Child, Common, John Legend, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Beyonce, Teyana Taylor, Childish Gambino and Linkin Park, among others.

This week alone, West was also dropped by his agency CAA and producer MRC scrapped a documentary on the rapper.

Check out Dawson’s post below.

25 Oct 2022

A Timeline of the Consequences Kanye West Has Faced for His ‘WLM’ Shirts & Antisemitic Hate Speech

Kanye West is facing very public reckoning. The “Hurricane” rapper made headlines at his Yeezy Paris Fashion Week show on Oct. 3 for wearing a shirt emblazoned with the phrase “White Lives Matter” on its back, and featuring Black models in the shirt. The phrase is one that was adopted by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, and the rapper has been facing backlash from both fans and celebrities online.

But the controversy did not stop for there for Ye, who has doubled down on his comments on Instagram and later took to Twitter to use antisemitic rhetoric in his posts, then continued to amplify his hate speech in interviews. The reaction from the public was swift, with several companies — including The Gap, Balenciaga, and more — terminating their relationships and brand deals with the rapper.

Forbes has also reported that Ye has lost his billionaire status after Adidas announced Oct. 25 that it was dropping his due deal, and that the brand does not tolerate hate speech. The move, according to the publication, now puts Ye’s net worth at $400 million and resulted in his removal from Forbes‘ billionaires list.

From brands and scrapped documentaries, to airplay declines of his music catalogue and more, here are the consequences Kanye West has faced due to his “WLM” and antisemitic remarks.

25 Oct 2022

Taylor Swift’s Most Dazzling Music Video Jewels, ‘Bejeweled’ & Beyond: See the Photos

When Taylor Swift arrived to the 2022 VMAs red carpet in a crystal-draped Oscar De La Renta mini-dress, fans were quick to point out its striking resemblance to a scene from her “Look What You Made Me Do” music video. Sure, it could have just been a coincidence — but Swifties know that there’s usually more than meets the eye when it comes to the music industry’s queen of Easter eggs.

So what could be the story behind the look? Ahead of the awards, the Internet was abuzz that this was Swift’s subtle way of sharing that reputation (Taylor’s Version) would be the next album in her lineup of re-recordings. But an announcement of her third re-record was nowhere to be found that night. Instead, the pop star threw a *swift* curveball, revealing that her next project would actually be her 10th studio album, Midnights.

With the arrival of the 13-track set (or 20 tracks on the 3am Edition) on Oct. 21, fans will now agree that the dazzling drip was almost certainly a tribute to “Bejeweled,” her second song from the album to be given the music video treatment. Covered in gems and rhinestones — and including cameos from Laura Dern, the HAIM sisters and Dita Von Teese — the video does exactly what Swift declares: “I can make the whole world shimmer.”

In honor of her newest visual triumph, which she self-wrote and directed, Billboard went back through her catalog of music videos to find the moments where she shimmers brightest (including “Look What You Made Me Do,” of course). Check them out below.

25 Oct 2022

Dita Von Teese Says It Was a ‘True Pleasure’ Working With Taylor Swift in ‘Bejeweled’ Video

Dita Von Teese opened up Tuesday (Oct. 25) about what it was like to dance with Taylor Swift in her magical music video for Midnights album cut “Bejeweled.”

In the fairytale-inspired clip, the famed burlesque performer plays the Fairy Goddess to the superstar’s Cinderella, and even performs alongside the superstar in giant matching martini glasses covered in Swarovski crystals.

“I had a wonderful time working with Taylor’s stylist Joseph Cassell on creating the costumes with Catherine D’Lish, and coaching Taylor on the act… and what a delight to perform alongside her for the video!” the famed burlesque performer said in a statement. “Taylor’s generosity radiates in all that she does. I’m deeply touched by her kindness in acknowledging not only me, but burlesque, an American art form to which I have dedicated my life. It was a true pleasure to share my martini glass act with her.”

For her part, Swift dished on recruiting Von Teese for the role in her sit-down Monday night (Oct. 24) on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, saying, “One of my favorite performers, who I think has been so influential in pop music, I’ve nicknamed this character not the Fairy Godmother but the Fairy Goddess … and that is played by Dita Von Teese, who I think is one of the most iconic performers and it’s so exciting to see her do what she does in this.”

The “Bejeweled” visual also features cameos by the likes of Laura Dern as Taylor’s villainous Step Mommy, HAIM as her cruel stepsisters, Pat McGrath as the queen and Jack Antonoff as the prince the singer ghosts by the end of the narrative in favor of the keys to the castle.

Revisit Von Teese’s martini glass dance with Swift in “Bejeweled” below.

25 Oct 2022

2022 World Series Schedule: How to Watch & Buy Tickets Online

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For the second consecutive year, the Houston Astros will return to the World Series, this time facing off against the Philadelphia Phillies. Game 1 of the 2022 World Series will be held at Houston’s Minute Maid Park and will air live on Fox on Friday (Oct. 28) at 8 p.m. ET.

Game 2 is slated for Saturday (Oct. 29) at Minute Maid Park. The series heads to Philadelphia for Game 3, which will take place on Monday (Oct. 31) at Citizens Bank Park. The Fox pregame show will begin at 7 p.m. (for Games 1-6) and at 6:30 p.m. ET, if the series makes it to Game 7.

Click here for the full 2022 World Series schedule. Keep reading for how to watch details and more.

How to Watch & Stream the 2022 World Series

All games in the 2022 World Series will broadcast live on Fox and on MLB.TV. And there are multiple ways to watch, or stream, games live and on-demand.

For starters, a TV antenna might be one of the easiest ways to watch Fox, but if you have cable or satellite, check your local listings for channel information to watch the series beginning Friday.

On a tighter budget and don’t have cable or local channels? Streaming providers are a nice option. When it comes to sports, Fubo TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV, DirecTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV and Vidgo all have affordable streaming plans.

Baseball fans who join DirecTV Stream, Vidgo or Fubo TV will receive a free trial for up to a week, while Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV offer budget-friendly plans ranging from around $20-$70 a month (and ExpressVPN allows you to stream from outside of the U.S.).

Where to Buy Tickets to the 2022 World Series

There’s no shame in watching the World Series from home, but nothing compares to seeing the action in person! Be prepared to spend at least $600 though, and that’s on the low end of the price spectrum.

Tickets to World Series games in Philadelphia are priced at more than $3,000 — the second-highest rate in a decade, per CNBC.

World Series tickets are available at Ticketmaster, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek and StubHub, but prices vary depending on the ticketing outlet and the date and location. For example, passes for Game 1 start at $621 on Ticketmaster, compared to $567 on Ticketsmarter and $560 on Vivid Seats, while other games might have a higher price point despite being later in the series.

2022 World Series Tickets

$from $560

According to a tweet from SportsCenter’s Kevin Negandhi, Vivid Seats expects Game 4 to be the “hottest World Series tickets since 2017” (the Astros won the World Series that year). Tickets for Game 4 start at $1,133 on Vivid Seats and $763 on Ticketmaster (fans can also visit MLB.com to register for tickets).

A possible Game 7 could send prices up even higher — especially for Phillies fans, as 2022 marks the first time that the team has made it to the World Series in over a decade (the Phillies won championship titles in 1980 and 2008). The Astros, meanwhile, have advanced to the World Series four times in the last six years and won once.

Click the buy button above to purchase tickets to the 2022 World Series and visit MLB Shop, Fanatics and Dick’s Sporting Goods to stock up Astros and Phillies gear to wear before, during and after the championship series.

Need a new TV to watch the World Series and other sporting events? Click here to shop early Black Friday deals on TVs and other must-have electronics.

25 Oct 2022

Spotify Q3 Revenue Up 21.4% to $3B as Subscriber Growth Beats Estimates

In the third quarter of 2022, Spotify revenue improved to 3.04 billion euros ($2.98 billion at the Sept. 30 exchange rate), marking an increase of 12% at constant currency and 21.4% as reported, the company reported Tuesday (Oct. 25). Subscription revenue grew 13% (22% as reported) to 2.5 billion euros ($2.46 billion) while subscribers improved 13.4% to 195 million — 1 million ahead of guidance. Led by podcasting, the company’s ad-supported revenue grew just 3% at constant currency (19% as reported) to 385 million euros ($378 million).

Spotify’s gross margin of 24.7% — which is 50 basis points below guidance — was slightly better than the 24.6% registered in the second quarter, but it was still two percentage points lower than 26.7% in the prior-year period. The company attributed the decline to its spending on non-music content and product enhancements, increased publishing rates and an adjustment to prior-period accruals. Those negative effects served to offset a favorable revenue shift to podcasting and continued growth in Marketplace, Spotify’s hub for artist services.

Spotify shares fell 6.7% to $90.54 in after-hours trading.

Financial metrics 

  • Revenue: 3.04 billion euros ($2.98 billion), +21.4% y/y, +13% at constant currency
  • Gross margin percentage: 24.7%, down from 26.7% in Q3 2021 
  • Operating loss: 228 million euros ($223.8 million), down from 75 million euros operating income in Q3 2021 
  • Average revenue per user: 4.63 euros ($4.55) 

Listener metrics 

  • Subscribers: 195 million, +13.4% y/y 
  • Ad-supported monthly active users: 273 million, +24.1% y/y 
  • Monthly active users: 456 million, +19.7% y/y 

This is a developing story.

25 Oct 2022

‘The View’ Hosts Defend Taylor Swift’s ‘Fat’ Scale in ‘Anti-Hero’ Music Video

Following the release of Taylor Swift‘s vulnerable “Anti-Hero” music video on Friday (Oct. 21), the star received some backlash, with critics accusing her of being “fatphobic” due to a scene in which Swift steps on a scale that reads “fat.”

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However, on Tuesday morning’s (Oct. 25) episode of The View, the hosts took to Swift’s defense, noting that she is expressing her personal experience with body image. “They missed the point,” Sunny Hostin said. “For someone who’s an artist, she gets to have agency over her artistry. She was describing a personal experience, and quite frankly, it’s a personal experience a lot of women experience. I’ve experienced it, and men. You get on the scale and you’re a perfectly normal weight and all you see is fat, all you see is, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m five pounds heavier than I should be.’”

Whoopi Goldberg urged critics to “just let her have her feelings,” and not to watch the video if don’t like it. “Why are you wasting your time on this?” she continued. “You all want to say something about Taylor Swift, leave her a– alone!”

Goldberg concluded by calling out “our society” instead Swift. “You can never be just what you are. Everybody wants you to be something more, be less this, more that, and it’s what people do to each other on social media,” she said.

Swift has previously opened up about personal nature of “Anti-Hero,” calling it “one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” as she’s never “delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before.”

“I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized,” she continued. “Not to sound too dark, but I just struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person — don’t feel bad for me, you don’t need to. But this song really is a real guided tour through all the things I tend to hate about myself; we all hate things about ourselves.”

Watch The View segment below.

25 Oct 2022

Taylor Swift Hits the Elusive Million Mark by Making ‘Midnights’ an Inescapable Event

The early numbers are in for Taylor Swift‘s Midnights, and while it was safe to assume her 10th studio album would be a hit, fans might not have predicted just how big it could be.

According to initial reports to Luminate on Monday, the album earned more than 1.2 million equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first three days alone. With that news, Midnights has the biggest week for an album, by units, since Swift’s own reputation in 2017 and is already the year’s top-selling album, year to date.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith discuss all the circumstances that allowed Swift to reach that elusive million mark again, from the curiosity surrounding the album and the awareness campaign that included a prominent Thursday Night Football teaser to the positive word-of-mouth from early listeners and dozens of collectible (and clock-building) variations.

Listen below to hear all about it:

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Sam Smith and Kim Petras hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “Unholy” — the first chart-topper for both acts — and how Lil Baby captures his third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with “It’s Only Me.” Plus, listen to the show for even more early numbers from Swift’s blockbuster album-release week.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard‘s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)