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A group of Los Angeles’ key promoters and venues are coming together to raise money in the wake of the fires that have devastated the city over the last eight days.
L.A. Gives Back: Fire Relief will happen Jan. 29 at The Bellwether in downtown Los Angeles. The show is being organized by IHEARTCOMIX, Brownies & Lemonade, Another Planet Entertainment (which owns The Bellwether) and Teragram.
The show — the lineup for which will be announced in the coming weeks — will raise money to support victims of the fire, along with first responders and animals. One hundred percent of the funds raised will go to charity.
The Jan. 29 show marks a special edition of L.A. Gives Back, which typically takes place during the holiday season to raise money for charitable causes in the city. Previous editions have featured artists including Zedd, Bonobo, Madeon, Flying Lotus, Tokimonsta, Boys Noize, A-Trak, JPEGMafia, Louis the Child, Tim Heidecker & Weyes Blood, Eric André and more. The event series has collectively raised over $250,000 for L.A.-based charities and initiatives.
This show is a new addition to a growing list of benefit shows to support victims and first responders of the wildfires, which have claimed at least 25 lives, killed countless animals and destroyed or damaged roughly 12,300 structures in the city since Jan. 7.
“There’s nothing the IHEARTCOMIX team and I care about more than our Los Angeles community — it’s what made us who we are,” IHEARTCOMIX founder Franki Chan says in a statement. “Over the past few days, it has been extremely painful to witness so many close friends, family members and colleagues lose their homes. Even more heartbreaking is knowing the road to recovery will be long. In moments like these, we believe it’s our duty to channel our best talents to support those in need. L.A. Gives Back has always been that vehicle for us, so we hope this event will make a meaningful contribution in providing some relief to our community.”
“The devastation Los Angeles has endured the past week from these wildfires made it clear we had to do something,” the organizers of electronic dance events company Brownies & Lemonade say in a joint statement. “L.A. Gives Back has been our longstanding event series focused on providing aid to our city and we’re so happy to bring it back for this crucial moment to provide wildfire relief for our city.”
“Los Angeles is home to a vibrant independent creative community,” adds Casey Lowdermilk of The Bellwether. “We’re proud to open our stage in support of our neighbors who lost everything in this disaster.”
LA Gives Back Fire Relief
Courtesy Photo
Harvey Mason Jr., CEO, Recording Academy and MusiCares and Tammy Hurt, chair of the academy’s board of trustees, held a webinar on Wednesday (Jan. 15) to tell Academy members of their plans for the Feb. 2 show and other Grammy Week events.
Mason also released a press statement in which he explained the rationale for going forward. “We understand how devastating this past week has been on this city and its people,” Mason said. “This is our home, it’s home to thousands of music professionals, and many of us have been negatively impacted. So, after thoughtful consideration and multiple assurances from state and local elected leaders, public safety agencies and with support from our incredible artist community, we have decided to go ahead with the Grammy telecast and some select events. Grammy Week 2025 will not just be about honoring music, it will be about using the power of music to help rebuild, uplift and support those in need.”
The academy also released a revised (they used the term “condensed”) 2025 Grammy Week event schedule. As previously announced, the 67th Annual Grammy Awards telecast on CBS will continue to be held on Feb. 2, “but with a renewed sense of purpose: raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honoring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours.”
The academy’s decision to go forward with the 67th annual Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, despite the wildfires that have devastated parts of the city, has been controversial.
Even before the Grammys announced plans to go on with the show, Lucas Keller, president and founder of Milk & Honey Management, announced that he was cancelling Milk & Honey’s popular Grammy party. “It would be tone deaf to celebrate and I hope all other companies will follow suit,” he wrote on his Instagram Story.
Many followed Keller’s lead. Just hours after the Recording Academy announced that it planned to go ahead with the telecast, Universal Music Group (UMG) announced it was canceling all of the company’s Grammy-related events, including its artist showcase and after-Grammy party, and will instead “redirect the resources that would have been used for those events to assist those affected by the wildfires.” Within 24 hours, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment had also canceled plans. BMG and Billboard also canceled party plans.
Many executives not based in Los Angeles expressed concern about taking up hotel rooms that may be needed by evacuees and planned not to attend.
In their messaging, the Academy is stressing the philanthropic angle. They note that each event on the schedule “will have a fundraising element.” Clive Davis’ & the Recording Academy’s legendary pre-Grammy gala – which most simply refer to as “Clive’s party” – has been rebranded for this year as Clive Davis’ & the Recording Academy’s Pre-Grammy Fundraising Event. The academy also made sure to include the word “charity” in the name of another of its most exclusive events — the MusiCares Persons of the Year Charity Gala.
The revised schedule for Grammy Week events is as follows:
Since launching the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort to Support Music Professionals last week, the Recording Academy and MusiCares have raised and pledged more than $2 million in emergency aid to music people affected by the wildfires.
This is the third time in the last five years that the Grammy telecast has been impacted by outside events. The 2021 and 2022 shows were both postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 show was bumped from Jan. 31 to March 14. The 2022 ceremony was pushed all the way from Jan. 31 to April 3, and its location was moved to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas due to scheduling conflicts with the Crypto.com Arena.
The Recording Academy has yet to announce the host of this year’s Grammys. The announcement was expected last week, but has been delayed to avoid stepping on the news about whether the show was going to proceed or not. The announcement is expected soon.
The Recording Academy had first announced Feb. 2 as the date for this year’s telecast last May. Dates are not easy to move. For one thing, the Oscars, the oldest and most heavily covered awards show, are set for March 2.
The Grammy telecast will be produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy for the fifth consecutive year. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins are executive producers.
Beyoncé is the top nominee for the 67th annual Grammy Awards with 11 nods, followed by Charli XCX and Post Malone with eight nods each, and Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar with seven nods each. Final-round voting closed on Jan. 3 at 6 p.m. PT, so the outcomes will have been sealed for weeks before they are finally announced.
Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley may have had one of the most talked-about celebrity relationships pop culture has ever seen, but only a rare few got to observe the couple up close — one of them being actress Riley Keough, the “Now What” singer’s daughter.
And in a conversation with Alex Cooper on a Call Her Daddy episode posted Wednesday (Jan. 15), the 35-year-old Daisy Jones & The Six star shed some rare insight on her mom’s romance with the King of Pop. “The one thing I know is that they were in love, and that their love for one another was genuine,” Keough told the podcast host. “Everything else I don’t know, because I wasn’t there for it.”
Lisa Marie — Elvis’ only child, who died at 54 years old in January 2023 — shared Riley and late son Benjamin Keough with first husband Danny Keough. The “To Whom It May Concern” songwriter was later married to Jackson from 1994 to 1996, after which she wed Nicolas Cage (2002-04) followed by music producer Michael Lockwood (2006-21), with whom she shared twin daughters.
While speaking to Cooper, Riley also reflected on how her childhood changed when the “Thriller” singer — who died in 2009 — entered the picture. “Our life wasn’t crazier,” she said candidly. “That already existed: the press, the crazy, the paparazzi and all that.”
“I think when she saw Michael’s life, there were things he had that she didn’t have,” continued the Under the Bridge actress. “Before that, she was with my dad, and their life was very simple. She didn’t have 10 million assistants. She didn’t need all that, and I think that changed.”
“There was a lot of closing down things for us,” Riley added of the time period. “It was kind of the only way our family could do things, like if we wanted to go to a toy store, something like that, or ride rides.”
On a more serious note, Riley also addressed the allegations of child molestation her onetime stepfather faced during his lifetime, about which she said she “was never told anything” when she was a kid. Jackson was acquitted on all charges of child molestation in his 2005 trial – with his estate also continuing to emphatically deny all abuse allegations made against him — but two men named Wade Robson and James Safechuck have continued to claim that the superstar sexually abused them as children in civil lawsuits and in the 2019 HBO docuseries Leaving Neverland.
“I think it just was what it was,” the actress said of the controversy, noting that she’s never sought out more information on the matter since becoming an adult. “We didn’t know anything. We didn’t know about the allegations. We had no awareness of that.”
Listen to Riley Keough talk about her mom’s relationship with MJ on Call Her Daddy below.
The Eagles have pledged $2.5 million to FireAid, the Jan. 30 benefit concert for Los Angeles fire victims to be held at Intuit Dome. There is no word whether the band, who is in the middle of a residency at Sphere in Las Vegas, will play the show. The event, billed as “an evening of music […]
Just 72 hours after launching an emergency fund to support families who’ve lost their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires, Paris Hilton announced on X on Tuesday (Jan. 14) that her 11:11 Media Impact nonprofit has raised $800,000 for relief efforts. “Thank you. This community is incredible,” she wrote. “Help me reach my goal to continue supporting those impacted by wildfires in LA.” Click here to support the fund.
Last week, Hilton revealed that she’d lost her home in Malibu, posting video of the burned-out shell of her family’s house. “This house wasn’t just a place to live— It was where we dreamed, laughed, and created the most beautiful memories as a family,” she wrote. “It was where Phoenix’s little hands made art that I’ll cherish forever, where love and life filled every corner. To see it reduced to ashes… it’s devastating beyond words.”
Days later, she said as a mom of two she could not imagine the “pain and fear of not having a safe place for your babies,” in announcing the fund to support displaced families with young children. She pledged at the time to match the first $100K and then personally contribute $100K to the effort that will help families through the emergency relief organization CORE, including short-term housing and hotel stays for displaced families, as well as supporting local animal shelters.
Hilton also chronicled her volunteer work at Baby2Baby and the Pasadena Humane Society this weekend. At the latter, she agreed to foster a little dog named Zuzu. “As an animal lover, I am heartbroken by those who have lost their furry friends or have had to give them up due to being displaced,” Hilton wrote. “🥹 I want to do my part and take care of Zuzu and I encourage others who are able to to reach out to their local shelter to see how they can support them!”
At Baby2Baby, Hilton said she and her team helped pack essential supplies for babies and young children.
The historic fires have killed 25 people to date, with the two largest blazes burning nearly 40,000 acres to date. Officials warned that expected high winds on Wednesday (Jan. 15) could hinder efforts to contain the two largest fires, the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire, which are, respectively, only 18% and 35% contained.
A number of resources are available for those who have lost their homes or need assistance in other ways. The MusiCares and the Recording Academy Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort will help music professionals impacted by the crisis, with a combined pledge of $1 million to kick off the efforts. People who have worked in the music industry for more than five years may qualify for immediate assistance, including up to $1,500 in financial aid and $500 in food vouchers.
See Hilton’s post below.
Ever since its release in 2015, Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” has become a musical representation of hope for anyone overcoming obstacles or struggling with tragedy.
As the wildfires in Los Angeles continue to devastate the city, Platten took the stage at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on Monday (Jan. 13) to perform her hit before the playoff game between the LA Rams and the Minnesota Vikings. “It was such an emotional night. It was so much bigger than me and the song,” she tells Billboard of the moment, which served as a tribute to victims of the fires as well as first responders who are risking their lives to save their city.
Platten and her family are thankfully safe, and were able to return home after a precautionary evacuation. “My heart breaks,” she says. “We know friends who have lost their houses, friends whose schools have burned down. It’s horrifying, and it’s been a really scary experience.”
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During her “Fight Song” performance, Platten switched up the line in the song’s first verse — “I might only have one match/ But I can make an explosion” — to a fitting and more appropriate lyric given the circumstances: “We might have been knocked down/ But I know we’ll keep going.”
“I feel really incredibly grateful for the whole night,” she says. “We can do so many things with tragedy. We can mourn together, and we can cry together — but then there are also times to be strong together. What I felt on stage was, ‘May this song touch people like medicine, may this song be healing.’ I did feel feel a reverberation and an echo in the stadium of that hunger for hope in the midst of darkness. Sometimes music can do what words can’t.”
Platten hopes to continue her message of hope as she embarks on her Set Me Free tour, which kicks off on March 17 in Denver, Colo., and hits multiple cities including Los Angeles before wrapping on May 9 in Orlando, Fla. “It’s freedom, and it’s earned joy, not superficial way of celebration,” she says of the upcoming run of live shows. “It’s the kind of joy where you’ve been through some shit, and you’ve seen pain and you’ve seen tragedy, and you are choosing to stay strong and resilient. We’re all going to sing and dance, but we’re also going to cry and feel our feelings. Hopefully, the whole tour gives people permission to feel everything.”
Watch Platten perform “Fight Song” before the Rams and Vikings game below.
The members of O-Town are making sure the public knows they have zero ties to Sean “Diddy” Combs amid the disgraced music mogul’s ongoing legal battles.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Tuesday (Jan. 14), bandmates Erik-Michael Estrada and Jacob Underwood alleged that their brand has suffered from false perceptions that Combs was involved with O-Town simply because the producer worked on separate seasons of Making the Band, the reality show on which the boy band got its start.
“We make a living touring and can’t afford to have [bookers] Googling us to find the latest Diddy clickbait,” Underwood told the publication.
“Of all the bands in Making the Band, we’re the only one not tied to him,” he added, noting that he’s never met Combs. “The more people confuse us with a Diddy band and post our pictures with his story, the more it goes against us.”
O-Town first formed on the inaugural season of Making the Band, going on to chart three songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and tour with Britney Spears at the turn of the millennium. Combs later became involved with other iterations of the reality TV show in the early 2000s, working with different groups such as Danity Kane, Da Band and Day26.
Decades later, Estrada, Underwood and bandmates Trevor Penick and Dan Miller are still going strong as a group (without original bandmate Ashley Parker Angel), while the Bad Boy Records founder is currently awaiting trial in prison on charges of sex abuse and racketeering. The accusations against him — which Combs has repeatedly denied — are sprawling, and O-Town says that having Making the Band in common with Combs has lost them lucrative deals, even after all these years.
For instance, O-Town’s agent, Matt Rafal, told THR that a large gaming company dropped the band from a year-end party billing due to confusion over the matter. “The offer was pulled due to the perception of the group being attached to Diddy,” Rafal said. “We made it clear O-Town’s Making the Band had no association with Diddy, but the company worried guests may be confused … Since the Diddy news, we’ve received questions and hesitancy from several talent buyers, especially for soft tickets like fairs and theme parks, as well as city-funded events.”
“I wish people looked at Making the Band and went, ‘Making the Band was O-Town and it was the pioneering brand for music reality television in the States,” Estrada added, calling the show “the blueprint” for programs like American Idol. “Unfortunately, the actions of one man have tainted the reality, which is four individuals who met on a reality show and are going strong 25 years later.”
Estrada also said that he did attend some of Combs’ parties in New York back in the day, and that “there was always a salacious energy” at the events. “He encouraged people to dip into their wild side, but I never witnessed anything firsthand,” the boy band star told the publication. “Gratefully, I can look my fiancé in the face and swear I never attended any after-hours version of a Diddy party.”
The “All or Nothing” singer also noted the irony of another disgraced music mogul’s associations with O-Town and Making the Band: Lou Pearlman, who spearheaded the series and managed O-Town, the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC before he was convicted of running a half-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme in 2008. The businessman died in prison in 2016 while serving his 25-year sentence.
“We’ve already had a Lou and now we’re dealing with a Diddy … it’s the MO of our career,” Estrada said. “Despite the steep climbs, we’ve generated a successful national tour with Pop 2000, had families, done other projects and strengthened our bond with fans, so when noise like this creeps up, we’re in good standing with the people who matter most.”
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are among the lucky few who have been able to return home amid the fires that continue to devastate Los Angeles. The Cravings author, who has been sharing resources for fire victims via social media, took to her Instagram Stories on Monday (Jan. 13) to reveal that she and her […]
Amidst the L.A. wildfires, The Weeknd has delayed his Hurry Up Tomorrow album drop and canceled its accompanying show, while Beyoncé paused her announcement that had been scheduled for Jan. 14. Keep watching to see the events that have been delayed or canceled due to the ongoing wildfires. Tetris Kelly:Beyoncé pauses her big announcement as […]
Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs claim in new legal filings that key evidence disclosed by prosecutors — videos of the alleged “freak off” parties at the center of case — show only consensual sex and “fundamentally undermine” the charges against him.
In a motion filed Tuesday (Jan. 14), the star’s lawyers say they must be given more expanded access to the videos because they amount to “exculpatory evidence” — crucial material that must be handed over to a defendant if it can help prove their innocence.
Far from the “sensationalistic media reports,” Diddy’s attorneys write, the videos at issue “unambiguously show that the person alleged in the indictment to be Victim-I not only consented but thoroughly enjoyed herself.”
“There are no secret cameras, no orgies, no other celebrities involved, no underground tunnels, no minors, and not so much as a hint of coercion or violence,” lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo writes. “Far from the government’s lurid descriptions, the videos show adults having consensual sex, plain and simple.”
The arguments came in a motion complaining that prosecutors have only given Combs’ lawyers limited chances to view the tapes, rather than handing over actual copies. Now that they’ve seen them, the star’s lawyers say they need full access so they can use the videos as central evidence in their defense: “Mr. Combs is entitled to put this evidence to use for trial.”
At times, Tuesday’s filing sharply criticized the government’s case, arguing that prosecuting Diddy for partaking in the “clearly consensual sex” captured on the tapes was “both sexist and puritanical” — a means of policing the behavior of consenting adults behind closed doors.
“The government’s theory perpetuates stereotypes of female victimhood and lack of agency,” Combs’ attorneys write. “The prosecution reflects a paternalistic view that the government is here to protect women, who cannot be trusted to make their own decisions about sex, and are not capable of consenting to sex that the prosecutors view as outside the norm.”
Combs was indicted in September, charged with running a sprawling criminal operation aimed at satisfying his need for “sexual gratification.” The case centers on the elaborate “freak off” parties mentioned in Tuesday’s filing, in which prosecutors say Combs and others would allegedly ply victims with drugs and then coerce them into having sex. He also stands accused of acts of violence and coercion aimed at keeping victims silent and compliant.
A trial is currently set to start on May 5. If convicted on all of the charges, Combs faces a potential life prison sentence.