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After Selena Gomez posted an emotional response to the Donald Trump administration’s recent immigration raids, a user identifying as politician Sam Parker called for her to be deported in a post on X — but the singer-actress isn’t fazed.
On Instagram Stories, Gomez dismissed the Utah Republican — who Ballotopedia says ran unsuccessfully for United States Senate in 2018 — by writing, according to People, “Oh, Mr. Parker, Mr. Parker.”
“Thanks for the laugh and the threat,” the Rare Beauty founder added in the post, which has since disappeared from her Story.
Billboard has reached out to Gomez’s rep for comment.
The Only Murders in the Building star’s words come in response to Parker taking to X to call on the U.S. government to “Deport Selena Gomez” after she posted a video on her Story Monday (Jan. 27) of herself crying over the arrests of nearly 1,000 people deemed to be national security threats by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the weekend. “All my people are getting attacked, the children,” Gomez said in the clip through sobs. “I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something, but I can’t. I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise.”
The Texas-born star later deleted the video from her Story and wrote, “Apparently it’s not ok to show empathy for people,” according to People.
Gomez has long been a strong advocate for the immigrant community. In 2019, she produced the Netflix docuseries Living Undocumented, which told the stories of eight families who faced potential deportation under the first Trump administration. She’s also spoken about how immigration has shaped her own family’s history, detailing how her aunt and grandparents crossed the Mexican border to start their lives in the U.S. before she was born in a 2019 essay for Time.
“Over the past four decades, members of my family have worked hard to gain United States citizenship,” she wrote at the time. “Undocumented immigration is an issue I think about every day, and I never forget how blessed I am to have been born in this country thanks to my family and the grace of circumstance.”
Cardi B delights in surprising and confounding us. Case in point: on Monday (Jan. 27) the rapper announced on X, “sooo….. i got my butt crack pierced.” Naturally, fans had a lot of questions, with one asking, “that’s possible?,” while another said simply, “you WHAAAAT.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest […]
Sometimes, it’s about all the small things — but when it comes to helping out Los Angeles in a crisis, Blink-182 is going above and beyond. On Monday (Jan. 27), bandmates Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker announced a one-night-only charity show at the Hollywood Palladium supporting wildfire relief efforts amid the ongoing natural […]
Selena Gomez broke down in tears on Monday morning (Jan. 27) in an Instagram post in which she promised to do anything she can to help undocumented Mexican nationals in the midst of the new Trump administration’s nationwide crackdown on undocumented non-citizens.
According the People magazine, the Texas-born singer whose grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico without proper documentation posted a since-deleted Instagram Story in which she weeped alongside the caption, “I’m sorry” and a Mexican flag emoji. “All my people are getting attacked, the children,” Gomez added in the video that can be seen here. “I don’t understand. I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something but I can’t. I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise.”
President Trump began his second administration last week by vowing to unleash a nationwide immigration crackdown. CNN reported that over the weekend nearly 1,000 people the administration deemed national security threats were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers along with agents from a variety of federal agencies including the FBI, DEA and U.S. Marshals Service in Chicago, Atlanta, Puerto Rico, Colorado, Los Angeles, Austin, TX and elsewhere.
People said that in another since-deleted Instagram Story, Gomez wrote, “Apparently it’s not ok to show empathy for people.” According to reports, TV doctor Phil McGraw joined U.S. border czar Tom Homan in a highly choreographed raid in Chicago in which the daytime talk show host asked some detainees where they were from and whether they were legal citizens.
At press time a spokesperson for Gomez had not returned Billboard‘s request for further comment on the singer’s posts.
Gomez, 32, has been a strong advocate for the immigrant community before, including producing the 2019 Netflix series Living Undocumented, a doc that told the story of eight families who agreed to let film crews follow them as they faced potential deportation under the first Trump administration. At the time, Gomez slammed what she dubbed the Trump team’s cruel treatment of immigrant families, including its widely criticized separation of children from their families.
“I can’t even imagine what these kids being separated from their families are going through,” she said in February 2020. “It’s something that is going to traumatize them for the rest of their lives. And it just seems animalistic.” In October 2019, Gomez also penned a poignant essay for TIME magazine, in which she wrote about her aunt and grandparents crossing the border into the U.S. from Mexico.
“In 1992, I was born a U.S. citizen thanks to their bravery and sacrifice,” she wrote. “Over the past four decades, members of my family have worked hard to gain United States citizenship. Undocumented immigration is an issue I think about every day, and I never forget how blessed I am to have been born in this country thanks to my family and the grace of circumstance.”
The flurry of raids have mostly drawn praise from Trump’s MAGA followers and Republican lawmakers, while officials in some states have decried the actions. NBC reported that Newark, NJ leaders and immigrant rights activists complained that ICE agents entered the back of a business in the city and arrested three workers without proper documents, while also detaining and questioning employees who are U.S. citizens.
Among other tactics employed so far by the Trump camp as part of its immigration crackdown are the shutting down of the CBP One asylum app, the clearing of the way for immigration authorities to make arrests in schools, churches and hospitals and a rush of active duty troops to help build border barriers and escort people onto removal flights.
Snoop Dogg has been feeling the backlash after his performance at the Crypto Ball at Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this month, and he appeared to clap back at the haters during a recent Instagram Live.
Snoop seemingly addressed the comments on Sunday (Jan. 26) while sitting in a car and sparking up. “It’s Sunday I got gospel in my heart,” he said in a video posted to his Instagram. “For all the hate I’m going to answer with love, I love too much.”
He continued to fire: “Get your life right, stop worrying about mine. I’m cool. I’m together. Still a Black man. Still 100 percent Black. All out ’til you ball out or ’til you fall out.”
Snoop wasn’t the only rapper in attendance, as Rick Ross and Soulja Boy also pulled up to the Crypto Ball in Washington, D.C., while Nelly performed at the Liberty Ball on Jan. 20.
He’s seen plenty of vitriol in his comments section on social media, as many have called him a “sellout.”
Over the weekend, Snoop addressed how he deals with the negativity while joining the R&B Money Podcast.
“You ‘gon deal with hate when you get to the top, no matter who you are. How do you deal with that hate? Do you answer it with hate, or do you answer with love and success?” he said. “Me, personally, I answer it with success and love. That’s my answer to any hate and negativity that comes my way, ‘cause it’s the strongest force that can beat it.”
Actor Marlon Wayans also came to the Death Row legend’s defense during a recent interview with 101.1’s The Wiz. “I know Snoop, and I know Snoop has always been a real one … I’m not gonna allow for public skewering,” Wayans said.
Snoop Dogg was previously very critical of Donald Trump, and he appeared to change his tune following Trump’s pardoning of Death Row co-founder Michael ‘Harry O’ Harris, who was behind bars on attempted murder and cocaine trafficking charges, before the twice-impeached president left the White House at the end of his first term.
“That’s great work for the president and his team on the way out,” Snoop Dogg reportedly said in 2021. “They did some great work while they was in there and they did some great work on their way out. Let them know that I love what they did.”
More recently, Snoop stated he had “nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump” during an interview with the U.K.’s Sunday Times.
Evan Rachel Wood issued a strong statement supporting survivors of domestic and sexual assault following Los Angeles County DA Nathan J. Hochman’s announcement last week that his office would not file domestic abuse and sexual assault charges against her ex-fiancé, shock rocker Marilyn Manson.
“My lawyer and I were advised by the Deputy District Attorneys and the Sheriff deputies who investigated the case that there was compelling evidence to support our claims, but that the statute of limitations prevents many of those crimes from being prosecuted,” Wood wrote on her private Instagram on Friday, according to People magazine. “We always knew that the statute of limitations would be a barrier, which is why we created the Phoenix Act so that other victims wouldn’t have to experience this outcome.”
Working with legislators and domestic violence survivors, Wood helped write the 2019 Phoenix Act, a California law that extended the statute of limitations for domestic violence felony crimes from three to five years. She was among a number of women who accused Manson (born Brian Warner), 56, of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, allegations the musician has denied.
On Friday, Hochman said his office decided that that statute of limitations had expired on any domestic violence charges against Manson and that they could not prove a sexual assault charge in court. In a statement, Hochman said prosecutors, “recognize and applaud the courage and resilience of the women who came forward,” thanking them for their “cooperation and patience… While we are unable to bring charges in this matter, we recognize that the strong advocacy of the women involved has helped bring greater awareness to the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault,” Hochman said.
In her statement, Wood — who had alleged that Manson “started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years” — added, “Unfortunately, the Phoenix Act cannot help in cases which occurred before it was passed, but I hope this shines a light on why it’s so important to advocate for better laws. Evidence of violent crimes should not have an expiration date. I am grateful for the work law enforcement has done, and I am endlessly proud of all the survivors who risked everything to protect others by speaking the truth.”
Game of Thrones actress Bianco accused Manson of abuse in 2021 and reached an undisclosed settlement with the musician in 2023 after alleging that he had “used drugs, force and threats of force to coerce sexual acts” and had “locked Ms. Bianco in the bedroom, tied her to a prayer kneeler and beat her with a whip that Mr. Warner said was utilized by the Nazis.”
Bianco also issued a statement following Hochman’s ruling, writing on Instagram: “Whilst I am deeply disappointed by the decision of the District Attorney to not bring charges in the case against Brian Warner, I am sadly not surprised. Within our toxic culture of victim blaming; a lack of understanding of coercive control, the complex nature of sexual assault within intimate partnerships, and statutes of limitations that do not support the realities of healing; prosecutions face an oftentimes insurmountable hurdle.”
She added, “Once again, our justice system has failed survivors. Not the individual prosecutors and detectives who worked for years on this case, but the system that made them do so with one hand tied behind their collective backs. Seven years ago when I was faced for the first time with that failure, it set me out on a journey of advocacy and activism, but with that came a very clear directive. My healing and peace could not be reliant upon the outcome of a desperately broken system. I know the truth of what happened to me. It sits deeply rooted in my belly, unshakable, mine. No-one and nothing can take that away. And so to all the survivors reading this, who are being hit by yet another piece of stinging news and feeling hopeless or discouraged, let me remind you: you know your truth also. Let that be your anchor, for it is stronger than the bars of any prison.”
With truth as her guide, Bianco vowed to continue fighting for justice reform and to “shine our light onto dark realities of sexual violence and intimate partner abuse, so that we can not only understand it, but end it.” She also had a blunt personal message to Warner, writing, “By you dragging me through hell, I discovered the unstoppable force of my own power. I learnt how strong, and brave and bold I really am. I emerged as a Phoenix from the ashes that you left of my life. You also know the truth, and may you endeavor to find peace with that.”
Manson has strongly denied all the allegations, at one point filing a motion to dismiss the case filed by Bianco, in which he accused her of “cynically and dishonestly seeking to monetize and exploit the #MeToo movement.” He also filed a defamation lawsuit against Wood, claiming she had “secretly recruited, coordinated, and pressured prospective accusers to emerge simultaneously” with false allegations against the rocker. Wood denied the counter-allegations and Manson dropped the suit in November 2024, agreeing to pay $327,000 of her legal fees.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
Jewel is defending her polarizing choice to perform at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Inauguration Day ball while apologizing to those whose feelings she may have hurt in the process. In an Instagram video posted Friday (Jan. 24), the singer/songwriter explained that her appearance at the politician’s “Make America Healthy Again” event four days prior had […]
Marilyn Manson will not face criminal charges from Los Angeles prosecutors following a four-year investigation into allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault, the city’s District Attorney said Friday.
Nathan J. Hochman, elected in November, said his office had decided that the statute of limitations had expired for any domestic violence charges against the rocker (Brian Warner), and that they simply could not prove a sexual assault charge in court.
In a brief statement, Hochman said prosecutors “recognize and applaud the courage and resilience of the women who came forward” and thanked them for their “cooperation and patience.”
“While we are unable to bring charges in this matter, we recognize that the strong advocacy of the women involved has helped bring greater awareness to the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault,” Hochman said.
In a statement to Billboard, Manson’s attorney Howard King said: “We are very pleased that, after a thorough and incredibly lengthy review of all of the actual evidence, the District Attorney has concluded what we knew and expressed from the start – Brian Warner is innocent.”
Manson has faced a slew of allegations of sexual wrongdoing over the past several years, including from his ex-fiance Evan Rachel Wood, who alleged that the rocker “started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years.” He also faced claims from former assistant Ashley Walters, model Ashley Morgan Smithline and two Jane Doe accusers.
Manson has denied all of the allegations, and many civil lawsuits filed against him have since been dropped, dismissed or settled. He later sued Wood for defamation over her accusations, but a judge dismissed much of the case in 2023. Manson eventually dropped the case in November and agreed to pay Wood $327,000 in legal fees.
In early 2021, Los Angeles County detectives said they were conducting a criminal investigation and eventually served a search warrant on Manson’s West Hollywood home. The identities of Manson’s accusers in the criminal case have not been disclosed, but Game of Thrones actor Esmé Bianco publicly shared last year that her allegations against him were part of the criminal probe.
In October, then-District Attorney George Gascón said that “new evidence has emerged within the last few weeks” and that his office was pursuing “new leads” that would add to the “already extensive” case file they had amassed. But just weeks later, Hochman was elected.
An upcoming Michael Jackson biopic is delayed due to a recently-revealed, decades-old legal agreement barring any portrayal of the family of one of his abuse accusers, according to a report by the news site Puck, requiring costly re-shoots of key scenes.
Michael – a musical biopic from director Antoine Fuqua starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role – was delayed in November by studio Lionsgate, pushing the movie’s 2025 release back from April to October. No explanation was offered at the time.
Now, according to the Thursday report by Puck, there’s an answer: Filmmakers have been forced to scrap key portions of the movie because they would potentially violate a legal contract reached with the family of Jordan Chandler, a then-13-year-old boy who accused the superstar singer of molestation in the 1990s.
In the agreement, Jackson’s team reportedly promised not to dramatize the Chandlers in any capacity. That’s a huge problem, according to the report, because the Michael script portrays Jackson as a “naïve victim of the money-grubbing Chandlers” and features a scene of the boy’s father “threatening to leverage his son’s accusations to ‘destroy’ his ex-wife and Jackson’s career.”
A representative for the Jackson estate did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
The existence of the agreement with the Chandlers was not disclosed to filmmakers until after shooting was completed on the $150 million film, according to Puck. Estate executor John Branca reportedly informed producers about the problem around the time that the Financial Times reported in September that the estate had paid out hush-money to other accusers in never-before-reported settlements.
The estate is reportedly funding the necessary re-shoots to the movie, and the filmmakers will seek Lionsgate’s approval for a revised script and shooting strategy for “as early as this week.” Lionsgate is reportedly “hopeful” about the October release date and producer Graham King is “confident that his team can fix the movie.”
A source with knowledge of the film’s production told Billboard on Friday that re-shoots are already scheduled and that the movie’s ultimate release is not in jeopardy, but declined to go further into details.
Jackson, who died suddenly in 2009, was never convicted or held legally liable on any accusation of child molestation, but is still dogged by such allegations. Two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, continue to claim Jackson sexually abused them as children, spending the last decade pursuing civil lawsuits. And their allegations were amplified in 2019 by HBO docuseries Leaving Neverland, which laid out their claims in disturbing detail.
The Jackson estate has always vehemently denied all such claims, pointing out that the singer was acquitted in a 2005 criminal trial and arguing that his accusers are simply seeking monetary gain from an artist who cannot defend himself because defamation law does not extend to dead individuals.
The allegations have not dampened the value of Jackon’s legacy. Though the estate was nearly $500 million in debt at the time of his death, it has since generated billions from royalties, theatrical productions and other revenue streams – including a recent $600 million deal to sell half of his music catalog to Sony Music.
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have joined more than 20 other property owners in suing the City of Los Angeles and the L.A. Department of Water and Power, claiming the city’s decision to “drain” a local reservoir left firefighters without enough water to fight the devastating Palisades Fire that destroyed their home.
In the complaint, which was filed Tuesday (Jan. 21), Pratt, Montag and their co-plaintiffs accuse L.A.’s Department of Water and Power (LADWP) of making “the conscious decision to operate the water supply system with the reservoir drained and unusable as a ‘cost-saving’ measure,” leading hydrants in the Pacific Palisades to “fail…within a span of 12 hours” because the tanks that fed them were not replenished by water from the “empty” Santa Ynez Reservoir.
The lawsuit cites multiple public officials, including Los Angeles County Public Works director Mark Pestrella, for allegedly acknowledging the failures that led to the fire’s uncontrolled spread through a heavily populated area. It claims that “Defendants also designed the water system for public use such that it would not have enough water pressure to fight an urban fire” despite knowing the region was prone to destructive blazes.
“LADWP and City of Los Angeles had a duty to properly construct, inspect, maintain and operate its water supply system,” reads the complaint, filed by attorneys Peter McNulty, Brett Rosenthal and E. Kirk Wood. “The Palisades Fire was an inescapable and unavoidable consequence of the water supply system operated by LADWP and City of Los Angeles as it was planned and constructed. The system necessarily failed, and this failure was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiffs to suffer the losses alleged in this Complaint.”
A key reason for the city and the LADWP’s failure, according to the suit, was its stated decision to leave the reservoir “empty for nearly a year” in order “to seek contractor bids rather than using in-house personnel to repair” it.
“This stated public purpose was far outweighed by the substantial risk posed to Pacific Palisades by wildfires,” the complaint continues. “The degree of damage that resulted from the Palisades Fire far outweighed any benefit that could have been realized by outsourcing and delaying repairs to the Santa Ynez Reservoir.”
Montag, Pratt and their co-plaintiffs are seeking damages including “costs of repair, depreciation, and/or replacement of damaged, destroyed, and/or lost personal and/or real property” and “loss of wages, earning capacity, and/or business profits or proceeds and/or any related business interruption losses and displacement expenses,” among other relief.
The City of Los Angeles and the LADWP did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.
Pratt became a ubiquitous presence on TikTok earlier this month after his and Montag’s home was destroyed in the massive Palisades Fire, with the reality star encouraging fans to stream Montag’s 2010 album Superficial to help them recover from their losses. Thanks to those efforts, Superficial and its songs have appeared on multiple Billboard charts. This week, the album notched a No. 54 debut on the Billboard 200 with more than 15,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. the week ending Jan. 16, according to Luminate, with more than 3.5 million on-demand official streams in the tracking week and 12,000 downloads sold.
Since breaking out on Jan. 7, the ongoing Palisades Fire has burned more than 23,000 acres, destroyed more than 6,000 structures and killed 11 people. It is now 72% contained. A second blaze, the Eaton Fire in Altadena, has burned more than 14,000 acres, destroyed more than 9,000 structures and killed 17. That fire is now at 95% containment.