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Donald Trump has taken to social media to accuse Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen and more for participating in an “illegal election scam” during Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign. Keep watching the video to see what the president had to say about the celebrities who participated in Kamala’s campaign. What do you think of Donald Trump’s accusations? […]
Daniel Williams, former drummer for Ohio metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada, died Thursday morning (May 22) in a San Diego plane crash that also killed music agent Dave Shapiro from Sound Talent Group.
The two men were among six total who died after the plane clipped a power line in a San Diego suburb, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration, sparking intense flames that scorched several homes, destroyed dozens of vehicles and forced the evacuation of more than 100 people.
While no one on the ground was killed in the crash, all six individuals aboard the flight died. Three of those dead, including Shapiro, worked for Sound Talent Group, a company official confirmed.
The flight was reportedly piloted by Shapiro, a popular music agent, flight instructor and owner of the Sound Talent Group booking agency and Velocity Records label. Prior to taking off, Williams even posted several photos to Instagram of himself boarding the flight with Shapiro and sitting in the cockpit.
The Devil Wears Prada confirmed Williams’ death on their Instagram page, sharing several photos of Williams and Shapiro together.
Shapiro’s Cessna 550 jet crashed 2 miles south of San Diego’s Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport at 3:45 a.m. PT, according to the FAA statement. Flight data shows that the aircraft had taken off from Teterboro Airport, near New York City, late Wednesday night and briefly stopped to refuel in Wichita, Kansas, before continuing on to San Diego.
“Shapiro was a founding member of the National Independent Talent Organization and on Thursday, NITO officials released a statement sharing its members condolences,” the statement reads. “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dave Shapiro and his two colleagues. Dave was a visionary in the music industry and a founding partner of Sound Talent Group. His passion, dedication, and unwavering support for artists shaped the careers of countless musicians and helped elevate the live music experience for fans around the world. As a founding member of NIT0, Dave was instrumental in the initial formation and funding of the organization and assisted countless of our peers successfully navigate the pandemic shutdown of live music. Our sincerest condolences go out to Dave’s family, friends, and everyone at STG. This is a monumental loss to our community.”
The Devil Wears Prada charted two top 10 titles on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart during Williams’ tenure with the group: 2010’s Zombie EP and 2011’s Dead Throne. Over on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart, they have two No. 1s among 11 entries: 2009’s With Roots Above and Branches Below and 2010’s Zombie EP. The band formed in 2005 in Dayton, Ohio, as a Christian metal group. Williams exited the group in 2016.
Kid Cudi took the witness stand Thursday (May 22) in the sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, telling jurors that he believes Combs broke into his Los Angeles house and later torched his Porsche with a Molotov cocktail out of anger over his relationship with Cassie Ventura.
The “Day ‘n’ Nite” rapper (Scott Mescudi) was a much-anticipated witness in the criminal trial of Combs, who’s accused of coercing Ventura and other women into participating in drug-fueled sex shows known as “freak-offs.” The trial closed out its second week on Thursday (May 22) and is expected to continue for at least another month.
Mescudi was photographed arriving at the Manhattan federal courthouse in a leather jacket and smoking a cigarette. According to reporting from CNN and the Associated Press, he began testifying in the morning and told jurors he briefly dated Ventura in 2011.
From the stand, Mescudi said Ventura, an R&B singer who dated Combs for 11 years, became very scared when the music mogul learned about her new relationship in December 2011. He then claimed Combs broke into his L.A. house while he was at a hotel with Ventura, and that items were moved and his dog was locked in a bathroom when he returned.
Combs allegedly tried to talk to Mescudi after this incident, but the rapper said he ignored the mogul’s texts: “You broke into my house, you messed with my dog, I don’t want to talk to you,” Mescudi testified.
Ventura claimed during her marathon testimony last week that Combs had threatened to blow up Mescudi’s car out of anger about their relationship, and, in her 2023 civil lawsuit against Combs, said that shortly after Combs issued these threats, Mescudi’s car was blown up. Mescudi seemed to confirm this, saying his Porsche 911 was torched in his driveway in early 2012.
At one point, the jury was shown a photo of Mescudi’s burnt-up luxury car. “It looks like the top of my Porsche was cut open, and that’s where the Molotov cocktail was put in,” Mescudi testified of the photo.
Mescudi later said he met up with Combs to discuss their differences after the incident, and that Combs acted “like a Marvel supervillain” during their meeting. He added that Combs promised he wasn’t responsible for the car explosion, but Mescudi said he believed Combs was lying.
Combs has not been officially linked to the car explosion — a point that Combs’ attorneys emphasized when cross-examining Mescudi. Defense attorney Brian Steel suggested that DNA collected from the car was identified as belonging to a woman, though Mescudi responded that he never heard from authorities about this.
Steel did get Mescudi to confirm on cross-examination that Ventura confided in him about physical abuse from Combs, but never mentioned sexual abuse. This supports the defense’s argument that while Combs committed domestic violence, he never engaged in trafficking and that all of his sexual encounters were consensual.
Mescudi posted a video on X thanking fans for support after departing the courthouse.
Also on Thursday, the jury heard additional testimony from Combs’ former assistant George Kaplan, who said he quit in 2015 after witnessing the rapper’s violent treatment of Ventura and other girlfriends.
“The central reason that I left my job as Mr. Combs’ assistant was that I was not comfortable or aligned with the physical behavior that had been going on,” said Kaplan, who began his testimony on Wednesday (May 21). Notably, Kaplan was granted immunity after initially being reluctant to testify.
A parade of other witnesses also briefly took the stand on Thursday. This included Ventura’s former makeup artist, Mylah Morales, who said she saw Ventura with extensive injuries after an argument with Combs in 2010, plus a hotel employee and a computer forensics agent.
The trial is off for the next few days and slated to resume on Tuesday (May 27).
Combs was indicted in September, charged with running a sprawling criminal operation aimed at facilitating the freak-offs and using violence, money and blackmail to keep victims silent and under his control. (Read Billboard‘s full explainer of the case against Diddy here.)
Once one of the music industry’s most powerful men, Combs is accused of racketeering conspiracy (a so-called RICO charge), sex trafficking and violating a federal prostitution statute. If convicted on all of the charges, he faces a potential life prison sentence.
Talent agent and Sound Talent Group (STG) owner Dave Shapiro, 42, was among those killed in a fiery plane crash in San Diego, Calif., in the early morning on Thursday (May 22), according to a statement from his agency.
“We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends,” said a spokesperson for Sound Talent Group. “Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today’s tragedy. Thank you so much for respecting their privacy at this time.”
Shapiro and two other STG employees were killed when their 1985 Cessna Citation reportedly crashed around 4 a.m. on Thursday (May 22) in the Tierrasanta neighborhood. Billboard is not naming the two other victims at this time at the request of company officials, who are trying to notify family members. The plane was also carrying other passengers who have not yet been identified, officials tell Billboard, noting that there were no survivors.
A well-known music agent, Shapiro launched STG in 2018 with Tim Borror and Matt Andersen following successful careers at the Agency Group and United Talent Agency. His roster includes Sum 41, Pierce the Veil, I Prevail, Set it Off, Story of the Year, Silverstein, Parkway Drive and Eve 6. He also operates the Velocity Records music label, whose roster has included Thursday, Concrete Castles and Craig Owens.
Shapiro was also an avid pilot with more than a decade of flying experience and was the owner of Velocity Aviation, through which he offered pilot instruction. Known around the music industry as an adventurous spirit, Shapiro’s aviation website describes his thrill-seeking lifestyle and pursuit of adrenaline.
“From BASE jumping to aerobatic flying, Helicopters to twin engines, flight instructing to furthering his own education, doesn’t matter to Dave as long as he gets to be in the sky,” the website reads. At one point, Shapiro even housed the San Diego office of STG in an airplane hangar alongside some of his aircraft.
Besides aviation, Shapiro was a lifelong supporter of independent music and hard rock, punk and indie acts that didn’t fit within music’s mainstream. With the launch of STG, he and his partners paved the way for the launch of nearly a dozen independent agencies in the years that followed.
Ye’s (formerly Kanye West) time spreading antisemitism is over, according to the rapper. The embattled rap mogul claimed on X Thursday (May 22) that he’s turned a new leaf and that his time with anything associated with antisemitism is “done.”
“I am done with antisemitism,” he wrote to kick off a series of posts. “I love all people. God forgive me for the pain I’ve caused. I forgive those who have caused me pain. Thank you God.”
Ye has been vocal about having visitation rights with his children, and it appears seeing his kids on a FaceTime call has inspired him.
“I simply got a FaceTime from my kids and I wanna save the world again,” he wrote. “Share peace. Share love.”
Back in October 2022, Yeezy wore a shirt proclaiming “White Lives Matter” at his Paris Fashion Week show, then days later posted on social media he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people,” which set off a chain reaction of businesses and entities such as adidas, Balenciaga, Universal Music Group, Gap and more cutting ties with Ye.
The rapper apologized to the Jewish community with a post on social media in Hebrew in late 2023. Fast-forward to 2025, and Ye’s continued to spew antisemitic remarks as part of plenty of explosive X tirades, which also featured praise for Hitler and other forms of hate speech, as well as his attempt to sell a T-shirt featuring a swastika on his website in February, a move that the Anti-Defamation League criticized, writing on X, “There’s no excuse for this kind of behavior.”
But Ye wasn’t done. “I love Hitler, how what b–ches,” he wrote in March, followed by “I’m a Nazi.” The rapper has since claimed he’s not a Nazi and is now waving the white flag on antisemitism as well, though recent actions appear to show the opposite.
Earlier in May, Ye attempted to release his “Heil Hitler” track, but claimed the controversial single was “banned” from all digital streaming platforms. “Heil Hitler by Ye has been banned by all digital streaming platforms,” he wrote on X while calling out the double standard he sees in streaming censorship. “While Rednecks by Randy Newman remains streamable They’re literally keeping the n—-s down.”
He’s since released “Alive” — featuring YoungBoy Never Broken Again — a song that Playboi Carti on Thursday (May 22) slammed. The “Magnolia” rapper alleged in a since-deleted social media post that Ye used an unauthorized sample on the track.
The embattled rapper’s concert scheduled for May 31 in South Korea was also canceled due to “recent controversies” swirling around him.
See Ye’s posts on X about ending his antisemitism below:
God forgive me for the pain I’ve caused— ye (@kanyewest) May 22, 2025
I simply got a FaceTime from my kids and I wanna save the world again…— ye (@kanyewest) May 22, 2025
The winner of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest is speaking out against the war in Gaza and Israel’s inclusion in the global music event. JJ, who won the competition May 17, said in an interview published Thursday (May 22) that he would like to see Israel banned from next year’s contest.
“It is very disappointing to see Israel still participating in the contest,” the singer told Spanish publication El Pais, according to Reuters. “I would like the next Eurovision to be held in Vienna and without Israel.”
Billboard has reached out to Eurovision Song Contest for comment.
The global songwriting competition bills itself as “a non-political event,” with its rules noting that participating broadcasters are expected to take any necessary steps to ensure that their delegations and teams “safeguard the interests and the integrity of the ESC and to make sure that the ESC shall in no case be politicized and/or instrumentalized and/or otherwise brought into disrepute in any way.”
JJ — a classically trained countertenor — won this year’s event with his song “Wasted Love,” which combines opera with techno. The artist born Johannes Pietsch is Austria’s first winner since drag queen Conchita Wurst won in 2014.
Snagging second place was Yuval Raphael of Israel, who earned the runner-up position with her “New Day Will Rise” anthem and also won the viewers’ votes in the finale. (When jury votes were taken into consideration, they put JJ in the No. 1 spot.) According to the Associated Press, while Raphael had much public support in the form of voting, she faced pro-Palestinian protests that called for Israel’s ouster from the competition over the Israel-Hamas war. The current war started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked several locations in Israel, including the Nova Music Festival near Gaza — which Raphael survived — killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage. Since then, the Israeli government’s military campaign has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians in Gaza, Reuters reports.
Raphael coming in second prompted some countries — including Spain, Ireland, Belgium and Iceland — to question the voting, with some requesting an audit, the BBC reported on Wednesday (May 21). Organizers have since said that the votes were independently verified.
In his El Pais interview, JJ also said that the vote-counting system needs to change to better improve transparency, Reuters reported.
“It is important to emphasize that the voting operation for the Eurovision Song Contest is the most advanced in the world and each country’s result is checked and verified by a huge team of people to exclude any suspicious or irregular voting patterns,” ESC’s director Martin Green said in response to the questioning of the vote counts, according to the BBC. “An independent compliance monitor reviews both jury and public vote data to ensure we have a valid result. … Our voting partner Once has confirmed that a valid vote was recorded in all countries participating in this year’s Grand Final and in the Rest of the World.”
The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is set to be held in Vienna, Austria.
Kneecap band member Liam O’Hanna has been charged with a terror offense by London police after he allegedly waved a Hezbollah flag onstage, according to the BBC.
The charge comes about six months after the alleged incident, during which the 27-year-old Irish musician — whose stage name is Mo Chara — is said to have displayed the flag during his band’s gig at the O2 Forum on Nov. 21, 2024. The London Metropolitan Police only learned of the alleged offense in April, when a video of the concert surfaced online.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese Shia militia that the United States has designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization, is banned in the U.K., with the BBC reporting that it is illegal to express support for the group. The same goes for Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization that Hezbollah has backed amid the former’s ongoing conflict with Israel.
O’Hanna is reportedly due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18.
The update is just the latest development in a series of controversies for Kneecap, which made headlines in April for ending its Coachella set with the following message displayed onscreen: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F— Israel; free Palestine.”
While some criticized the Coachella message, some fellow musicians — including Massive Attack, Pulp and Fontaines D.C. — expressed support for the group in an open letter. The Belfast trio has been one of the most outspoken voices in the music world in supporting Palestine amid Israel’s war on Hamas, which began Oct. 7, 2023, when the terrorist group killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 250 more. More than 53,000 Palestinians have since died in the violence, according to The Associated Press.
Kneecap again drew criticism when footage of the group allegedly calling for the deaths of British MPs (members of parliament) in 2023 resurfaced online in April, shortly after London authorities announced that they were assessing a video taken of a band member appearing to say “up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” Around that time, Kneecap released a statement: “Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah,” the band wrote. “We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation’s history. We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever. An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action.”
“We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual,” it continued. “Ever. An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action.”
Jurors at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex-trafficking trial heard testimony Wednesday (May 21) from a psychologist about abusive relationships and from one of the hip-hop mogul’s former assistants, who was granted legal immunity before he took the stand.
Midway through the second week of Diddy’s trial, prosecutors called Dawn Hughes, a clinical psychologist who also testified at the sex abuse trials of disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly and NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere, as well as in Johnny Depp’s civil defamation case against Amber Heard.
Hughes is one of many witnesses already called by prosecutors, who claim Combs coerced longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura and others into participating in drug-fueled sex shows known as “freak-offs.” Defense attorneys have said the events were consensual.
On the stand, Hughes said it’s common for victims of abusive relationships to stay for years because they feel trapped: “They experience a tremendous amount of shame, humiliation, degradation,” Hughes told the jury, as reported by CNN, before later adding that victims often use substances to “numb” themselves.
Later in the day, the jury heard from George Kaplan, a former assistant to Diddy who was subpoenaed to testify, according to NBC News. After concerns that Kaplan might invoke his Fifth Amendment right to not testify, prosecutors granted him immunity so that he could do so without concern of prosecution.
Kaplan testified that part of his job was setting up and cleaning up rooms for freak-offs, after which he would often find liquor bottles and baby oil strewn around the hotel rooms. He said he understood that Diddy’s reputation had to be closely safeguarded: “Protecting him and protecting his public image was very important and that was something I was very keen on doing,” Kaplan said.
Combs was indicted in September, charged with running a sprawling criminal operation aimed at facilitating the freak-offs — elaborate events in which Combs and others allegedly pressured Ventura and other victims into having sex with escorts while he watched and masturbated. Prosecutors also say the star and his associates used violence, money and blackmail to keep victims silent and under his control. (Read Billboard‘s full explainer of the case against Diddy here.)
Once one of the music industry’s most powerful men, Combs is accused of racketeering conspiracy (a so-called RICO charge), sex trafficking and violating a federal prostitution statute. If convicted on all of the charges, he faces a potential life prison sentence.
During the first week of the trial, Ventura herself spent four days on the stand detailing how Combs allegedly controlled and physically abused her during their 11-year relationship. She said the sex parties left her feeling “humiliated” but that she felt she had no choice but to participate.
Defense attorneys maintain that Ventura and other women consensually took part in the sex parties. They’ve admitted that Combs had committed domestic violence during his and Ventura’s “toxic” relationship and had unusual sexual preferences, but that he had never coerced her into participating in his “swinger” lifestyle.
While cross-examining Ventura, Combs’ attorneys showed jurors huge numbers of text messages and emails between the couple — some romantic, others graphically sexual — in an effort to show that Ventura was a willing and, at times enthusiastic, participant in the freak-offs.
The trial will continue Thursday (May 22), first with more testimony from Kaplan and then from rapper Kid Cudi, who will likely be asked about an infamous incident in which Combs allegedly set Cudi’s car on fire as payback for dating Ventura. Cudi, a surprise witness, was originally going to take the stand on Wednesday, but his testimony was postponed.
Bruce Springsteen is doubling down on his stance that the United States government is “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous,” even after his remarks on the subject at a Manchester concert infuriated President Donald Trump last week.
One week after criticizing the Trump administration during a speech at his European tour kickoff show in England — leading the twice-impeached POTUS to launch into a series of vitriolic posts targeting him on Truth Social — the Boss has released a Land of Hopes & Dreams EP featuring a recording of the address as its opening track. “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” he says in the audio snippet. “Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against the authoritarianism, and let freedom ring.”
The rocker then dives into 2001’s “Land of Hopes & Dreams,” which is also the name Springsteen’s ongoing tour.
In addition to the politically charged speech, the six-track project also features live takes of the musician and his band performing “Long Walk Home,” “My City of Ruins” and “Chimes of Freedom” in Manchester. There’s also a three-and-a-half-minute recording of Springsteen once again critiquing the state of American politics later in the show.
“In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain that they inflict on American workers, they’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and moral society,” he says in the clip. “They’re abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom.”
The EP comes shortly after Trump responded to Springsteen’s onstage remarks by calling him “highly overrated” and “dumb as a rock” on Truth Social, adding at the time, “This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare.’”
Later, the billionaire accused the “Born in the U.S.A.” singer — along with Beyoncé, Oprah and Bono — of taking part in an “illegal election scam” for Kamala Harris, alleging that he accepted an undisclosed payment from the 2024 Democratic nominee to endorse her for president. (Campaign finance records do not support this claim, and Harris’ campaign has denied paying any artist for their support in last year’s election.)
Trump still hadn’t let the matter go as of Wednesday, when he shared an edited video of himself golfing — and appearing to hit and knock over Springsteen with his ball — on Truth Social hours after the Land of Hopes & Dreams EP dropped.
But despite Trump’s counters, Springsteen hasn’t ever backed down on his firm stance against the president’s policies. The E Street bandleader has long been vocal about his beliefs, telling The Atlantic in 2020 that he believed Trump — who in May 2024 was convicted of 34 felony counts in a hush money trial — to be a “threat to our democracy.”
Also in 2024, Springsteen proudly endorsed Harris and played at a number of her campaign events. He also appeared in an advertisement for the former VP’s campaign, telling viewers, “This election is about a group of folks who want to fundamentally undermine our American way of life … Donald Trump does not understand this country, its history, or what it means to be deeply American.”
President Donald Trump is once again letting his distaste for Bruce Springsteen be known after the musician slammed him and his administration during two recent concerts.
This time, an altered video Trump shared via his Truth Social platform on Wednesday (May 21) shows the commander in chief in a red Make America Great Again cap as he takes a big swing and hits a ball on the golf course as onlookers cheer him on. The video then cuts to a scene of The Boss walking on stage during a concert, as a white dot representing the golf ball suddenly sails into the shot, hits the musician in the back and knocks him down as audio of onlookers clapping and saying “nice shot” plays. Trump did not caption the video, but also shared it on X.
Billboard has reached out to Springsteen’s reps for comment.
This latest dig at the 20-time Grammy winner comes after Springsteen spoke out against the twice-impeached president on his ongoing tour. “[America] is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” the rocker, who endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, said during his first Land of Hopes and Dreams Tour in Manchester, England, on May 14. “Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against the authoritarianism, and let freedom ring.”
Trump, who in May 2024 was convicted of 34 felony charges in his hush money trial, responded in a lengthy Truth Social post on May 16 calling the artist “dumb as a rock” and going on to insult his talent. “This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare,’” Trump wrote the same day he also insulted Taylor Swift, who also endorsed his opponent in the election. “Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”
Springsteen continued his criticism of the president during his May 17 show in Manchester. “In my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now,” the musician told concertgoers. “The majority of our elected representatives have utterly failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American.”
Those same comments from his two concerts are included in a new six-track EP also titled Land of Hopes & Dreams, which arrived on Wednesday.
Since the back-and-forth, the president has called for investigations into Springsteen as well as other stars for allegedly joining in on an what he calls an “illegal election scam” he claims was orchestrated by Harris’ campaign. In May 19 Truth Social posts, Trump accused The Boss, Beyoncé, U2’s Bono as well as Oprah Winfrey of illegally accepting undisclosed payments to appear at the former VP’s rallies and endorse her. FactCheck.org previously disproved those allegations when they first surfaced in 2024.
After Trump initially insulted Springsteen and Swift on May 16, the American Federation of Musicians International stepped up to defend the artists. “The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada will not remain silent as two of our members — Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift — are singled out and personally attacked by the President of the United States,” Tino Gagliardi, the organization’s president, said in part in a statement that day. “Musicians have the right to freedom of expression, and we stand in solidarity with all our members.”