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Karol G gave a lengthy response Monday (Nov. 11) to the criticism her new song “+57” — featuring J Balvin, Feid, Maluma and other Colombian acts — as it faces backlash over lyrics that some have construed as sexualizing minors.

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Her post comes four days after dropping the reggaetón track, which brought together Colombia’s biggest hitmakers, also including Ryan Castro, Blessd and newcomer DFZM. Produced by Ovy on the Drums — Karol’s longtime producer — and co-written by Keityn, the song, even before it dropped, was being labeled as a new anthem for Colombia.

But shortly after it was released on Thursday (Nov. 7), the song’s lyrics received criticism online, with some people pointing out its over sexualization of minors. (In one line, they mention a woman who’s been a “mamacita,” or “hot mama,” since she was 14 years old.) Rolling Stone En Español published a column titled “The Disaster of +’57′” and the Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (ICBF) issued a statement saying that the song “reinforces the sexualization of children in our country” and that it “does not contribute to our fight against commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.”

Trending on Billboard

Karol wrote in her Instagram Stories that as artists, they are exposed to public opinion and that the song’s lyrics were taken out of context. She began her message by pointing out that she has always been grateful for her fans’ support and those who “know my project, the intentions of my work and the causes close to my heart, those that move me, that I am passionate about and for which I work every day with love and responsibility,” she continued. “I do care about my people and I am a person that every day I look for ways to get involved in projects where I myself can extend my blessing and impact in a positive way the lives of many people.

“As artists, we are exposed to public opinion, and to the individual interpretations of people who like us and people who differ with what we do. I feel a lot of frustration for the misinformation that has been given, about the false posts that I have supposedly made and deleted from twitter, an account that I have not used for more than six months. In this case, unfortunately, the lyrics of a song, with which I sought to celebrate the union between artists and put to shine my people … were taken out of context. None of the things said in the song have the direction they have been given, nor was it said from that perspective but I listen, I take responsibility and I realize that I still have a lot to learn. I feel very affected and I apologize from the bottom of my heart,” she added. It’s worth noting that Karol doesn’t sing the line about the “14 year old,” but rather some of the men on the track, yet she’s the one apologizing.

Feid, Balvin and Ovy on the Drums have all reposted Karol’s post in solidarity. “Queen, we are with you,” Balvin wrote. “You have given us so many wins that this doesn’t take away from your greatness, we’re here unconditionally.”

Karol ended her post once again thanking her fans for “their unconditional love and support.” She concluded, “I value it very much, and the artists who participated with me in the song, I keep in my heart the beautiful energy with which we worked that day.”

Two election-related tracks head up Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart dated Nov. 16, as Tom MacDonald and Nova Rockafeller’s “Goodbye Joe” debuts at No. 1 and a new version of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” with Drew Jacobs opens at No. 2.
In the week ending Nov. 7, “Goodbye Joe” sold 12,000 downloads in the U.S., according to Luminate. “God Bless the U.S.A.” sold 11,000.

“Goodbye Joe” is MacDonald’s fourth Digital Song Sales No. 1, following “Fake Woke” in 2021, “Ghost” in 2023 and “You Missed” this July. Rockafeller’s previous best was alongside MacDonald and Brandon Hart on “No Good Bastards,” which peaked at No. 15 in 2021.

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“Goodbye Joe,” which also debuts at No. 1 on the Country Digital Song Sales chart, finds the pair celebrating the upcoming end of President Joe Biden’s term in office after he withdrew his candidacy for a second term in July. Former President Donald Trump won a second term on Election Day, Nov. 5, four days after the song’s release.

“God Bless the U.S.A.,” meanwhile, is a rock redo of Greenwood’s 1984 patriotic single, which hit No. 7 that year on Hot Country Songs. He’s joined by Jacobs, who previously reigned on Digital Song Sales as part of a cover of Blake Shelton’s “God’s Country” alongside State of Mine in 2021.

In addition to its No. 2 bow on Digital Song Sales, “God Bless the U.S.A.” bows at No. 1 on Rock Digital Song Sales, marking Greenwood’s first leader and Jacobs’ second, following “God’s Country.” It also starts at No. 2 on Country Digital Song Sales. Greenwood’s original “God Bless the U.S.A.” led Digital Song Sales for a week in July 2020.

Concurrently, the new version of “God Bless the U.S.A.” debuts at No. 28 on the multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. In addition to its song sales, the tune earned 371,000 official U.S. streams. “Goodbye Joe,” meanwhile, starts at No. 49 on Hot Country Songs, with 1.6 million streams in addition to its sales.

Both “Goodbye Joe” and “God Bless the U.S.A.” were released Nov. 1, capitalizing on the then-imminent U.S. presidential election. Greenwood’s solo original version concurrently re-enters Digital Song Sales at No. 13 (3,000 sold, up 267%).

All Billboard charts dated Nov. 16 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

One of the suspects in the investigation into the death of Liam Payne broke his silence over the weekend in an interview with an Argentinian media outlet. Three people were detained last week in connection with Payne’s death on Oct. 16 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the One Direction singer and solo star died after falling from a third-floor balcony of a hotel.
Speaking to journalist Guillermo Panizza for Telefe Noticias, 24-year-old waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz admitted to partying with Payne, but denied supplying the 31-year-old singer drugs; to date, Argentinian authorities have not revealed the names of any of the suspects that have been detained and Billboard has not been able to independently confirm that Paiz was one of them.

Paiz said he met Payne twice before the singer’s death, but insisted, “I never supplied Liam with drugs. Liam’s first contact with me was at my place of work.” He said they swapped info and then got back together later that night, with the report including pictures of the two men together. “We got together there and he showed me some of the music he was going to bring out. I’ve heard people saying he was taking drugs, but the truth is that when he got to the restaurant where I was working he was already under the effects of drugs and he didn’t actually eat anything.” Paiz said the two men communicated via Payne’s secret Instagram account.

Trending on Billboard

When the two men got together a second time at Payne’s hotel on Oct. 13, Paiz — who reportedly has lost his job in the wake of the investigation — claimed that he spent the night partying at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, alleging that the singer was doing cocaine while Paiz smoked pot. “We took drugs together, but I never took drugs to him or accepted any money,” said Paiz, who added that his home has been searched in the probe, but that he has not yet been questioned by investigators.

Paiz also said he doesn’t know who the other two unnamed suspects are and that he does not know what happened to Payne after he left the hotel room. Click here to watch the interview in Spanish.

Last week, officials in Buenos Aires released Payne’s body to his family for repatriation to the U.K. and a press release from the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s office No. 14 revealed the final results of toxicology tests on the singer. According to a translated copy of the report, in the 72 hours before Payne died after falling from a three-story hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he had “alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants” in his system.

The results of the autopsy concluded that Payne’s death was caused by “‘multiple trauma’ and ‘internal and external hemorrhage,’ the result of the fall the musician suffered from the balcony of the third-floor room of the hotel in the Palermo neighborhood where he was staying.”

Additional reports concluded that the injures Payne sustained were caused by a fall at the hotel from a height and that “self-harm of any kind and/or physical intervention by third parties were ruled out.” Authorities also reported that Payne did not adopt a “reflex posture” to protect himself from the fall, which led to the conclusion that he “may have fallen in a state of semi- or total unconsciousness.”

The three people detained so far were charged with abandonment leading to death and the supply and facilitation of narcotics.

A misprint on the packaging for Wicked character dolls manufactured by Mattel led consumers to visit an adult website, rather than the movie’s website, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Mattel issued an apology for the error on Sunday (Nov. 10). The web address listed on the doll boxes in question is wicked.com, instead of Universal […]

The federal judge overseeing Sean “Diddy” Combs’ racketeering and sex trafficking case has denied his request for a gag order against his victims and their lawyers, ruling the demand “unprecedented” and “unwarranted.”

Attorneys for the embattled rapper claimed last month that “inflammatory extrajudicial statements” from victims and their attorneys were hurting his chances of a fair trial, but Judge Arun Subramanian ruled Friday (Nov. 8) that such “an extreme remedy” would threaten free speech.

“The court has an affirmative constitutional duty to ensure that Combs receives a fair trial,” the judge wrote. “But this essential … requirement must be balanced with the protections the First Amendment affords to those claiming to be Combs’s victims.”

“The unprecedented relief that Combs seeks on this motion is unwarranted,” the judge added.

Combs, also known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, was once one of the most powerful men in the music industry. But in September, he was indicted by federal prosecutors on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking over what they say was a sprawling criminal operation aimed at satisfying his need for “sexual gratification.” If convicted on all the charges, he faces a potential sentence of life in prison.

Last month, following the latest wave of civil abuse lawsuits against Combs, his lawyer asked Judge Subramanian to issue a sweeping gag order, claiming the lawyers behind the civil cases had made “shockingly prejudicial and false allegations” about him.

“Mr. Combs has a constitutional right to a fair trial, free from the influence of prejudicial statements in the press,” his attorney Marc Agnifilo wrote in the Oct. 20 motion. “These prospective witnesses and their lawyers have made numerous inflammatory extrajudicial statements aimed at assassinating Mr. Combs’s character in the press.”

But in Friday’s decision, Judge Subramanian ruled that the order Combs was seeking was “incredibly broad” and would have “sweeping First Amendment implications.”

“Not all alleged victims will be participants in this case, and a blanket restriction on their speech will silence individuals who may never have anything to do with the proceedings here,” the judge wrote.

The judge said he had “already taken steps to limit what can be said publicly” about the case and was “open to other tailored proposals that will help ensure a fair trial.” He also said Combs could take specific actions in the various civil lawsuits he was facing if the lawyers in those cases misbehave. But he said he could not do anything close to what Combs was seeking.

“A gag order … is an extreme remedy to be issued only as a last resort,” the judge wrote. “What Combs seeks goes even further.”

Separately on Friday, Combs’ lawyers also renewed their request that he be released from jail on a $50 million bond while he awaits trial. That request has been repeatedly denied since Combs was arrested, but the new filing cited the fact that former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries — another high-profile defendant accused of sex trafficking in New York — was immediately released on a $10 million bond after he was arrested last month.

“The government recently successfully requested pretrial release for two similarly situated defendants, including a CEO accused of sex trafficking dozens of young men, including through witness intimidation,” Agnifilo wrote in the new motion. “The conditions of release requested in Jeffries pale in comparison to the conditions proposed by Mr. Combs here.”

Electronic music producer Bassnectar is asking a federal judge to dismiss a long-running civil lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing three underage girls, arguing that all three alleged victims lied about their ages and had themselves instigated the relationships.

In a motion filed Monday (Nov. 4) in Nashville federal court, attorneys for the DJ (Lorin Ashton) argued that the case did not need to be decided by a jury because the discovery process — the investigation of evidence during a civil lawsuit — had revealed that there was no merit to the allegations.

“Discovery has confirmed that when each of the plaintiffs first contacted defendant, they lied about not only their ages, but also their level of education, as well as their work and life experiences,” his lawyers write. “Each plaintiff admitted to deceiving defendant into believing that she was over the age of eighteen.”

Ashton’s lawyers also say the discovery process has also made “crystal clear” that the DJ “never forced — in any way — plaintiffs into having a sexual relationship with him.”

“To the contrary, the record demonstrates that the pursuit of a sexual relationship between the parties was instigated by Plaintiffs, each of whom was always free to continue it or end it,” his attorneys write. “Plaintiffs simply cannot prove that they were coerced or that they felt that they had no other choice but to engage in a sexual relationship with Defendant.”

The filing comes more than three years after the three women — Rachel Ramsbottom, Alexis Bowling, and Jenna Houston — filed their lawsuit, accusing Ashton of using his “power and influence to groom and ultimately sexually victimize underage girls.”

The lawsuit, which accuses Ashton of sex trafficking, child pornography and negligence, claims that the star would invite minors to his shows, bring them to a hotel room and provide “large sums of cash and other items of value” in exchange for sex.

Last month, Ashton’s attorneys moved for “summary judgment,” meaning the judge would rule on the case without submitting it to a jury. They cited, among many other arguments, that state law enforcement had investigated Ramsbottom’s accusations and federal authorities had looked into Houston’s — and that prosecutors had declined to file charges in both instances.

Responding to that motion last month, attorneys for the accusers blasted Ashton for seeking to dismiss the case, claiming he had made damning admissions during depositions, including “knowing full well” that Ramsbottom was under 18. They also argued that he had clearly “groomed” them in such a way that facilitated the abuse.

“He entered their teenaged lives as a famous celebrity, engendered their trust, and made it such that his withdrawal of affection or the threat thereof, which the plaintiffs now understand to be abusive, caused each to continue their interaction with defendant,” their lawyers wrote at the time.

With Monday’s reply from Ashton’s attorneys, the case is now in the hands of the judge, who will decide in the coming weeks or months whether to order a jury trial or dismiss the accusations. Attorneys for both sides declined to comment.

Countless fans are upset with Nicole Scherzinger following a comment she made on Russell Brand’s recent Instagram post, which appeared to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election.
Though the Republican president-elect wasn’t mentioned by name in the comedian’s post, Brand did share a photo of himself smiling with a red “Make Jesus First Again” baseball cap — which appears to be inspired by Trump’s famous “Make America Great Again” hats — and wrote “God Bless America” in his caption Tuesday (Nov. 5), the same day the former reality star secured his second term in the White House. In a since-deleted comment, the ex-Pussycat Dolls frontwoman wrote, “Where do I get this hat?”

Billboard has reached out to Scherzinger’s reps for comment.

It isn’t clear whether Scherzinger simply wanted to praise the hat’s religious message or if her comment was intended as an endorsement of Trump, but Brand has been famously outspoken in his support for the polarizing twice-impeached POTUS. In recent years, the Hop star has shifted from acting to a career in conservative political commentary, and immediately after his post with the hat, Brand — who is English, not American — celebrated Trump’s victory on Instagram by writing, “DONALD TRUMP HAS WON THE ELECTION.”

At a time when many of Scherzinger’s peers have been sharing their disappointment over Trump’s win against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, many fans have taken the former X-Factor judge’s comment on Brand’s post to heart. “Nicole Scherzinger being a trumpie was NOT on my bingo card,” one person tweeted Thursday (Nov. 8).

“If Nicole Scherzinger had really posted this, it had to be the most unbelievably stupid career moment I have ever seen,” another person wrote on X. “It took her 20 years for people to take her seriously & she just ended her career high momentum.”

Other fans, however, expressed wanting to give the “Where You Are” singer the benefit of the doubt. “I don’t think this is Nicole Scherzinger coming out as a Trump supporter—I think she is just an annoying christian,” one person tweeted, while another user wrote, “Nicole scherzinger might be a trumpie but she may also just be Christian and stupid.”

The controversy comes amid a career highpoint for Scherzinger, whose performance in Broadway’s ongoing Sunset Blvd. has earned her both critical praise and an Olivier award. The artist has also been generating Tony buzz, and the show’s soundtrack recently debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart.

In a recent interview with Billboard, legendary composer and Sunset Blvd. maestro Andrew Lloyd Webber praised Scherzinger’s talents as “one of a kind.” “I don’t think there’s any singer I know who can interpret and act through music in the way that she can,” he added. “I mean, I’ve known some very, very great ones, but she’s absolutely extraordinary.”

The sweeping electoral victory of Donald Trump will change the U.S. government, and the country itself, in ways that no one can yet predict. So far, though, it appears that the music industry will not be affected as dramatically as other businesses.

“I don’t think there will be that much of a change,” said a senior executive at one of the major labels. Partly that’s because music, and copyright, are no longer the hot-button issues they were a decade ago. And partly that’s because, at a time of increased partisan rancor, copyright is one of a few genuinely bipartisan issues, according to a half-dozen executives. Because it brings together Democrats who tend to look favorably on the media business and Republicans who believe in strong property rights, passing legislation often depends more on building a coalition of legislators from both parties.  

There are no music companies in Trump’s crosshairs, at least from his own public comments, and he tends to look favorably on entertainers, even when they tend not to return that respect. Indeed, right-wing Republicans have been far more critical of media companies and online platforms than of major labels and movie studios.  

The most immediate music business issue before the government is the Department of Justice antitrust case against Live Nation Entertainment, which seeks to break up the company. Trump will appoint a new attorney general to replace Merrick Garland, and that appointee will almost certainly replace Jonathan Kanter, who runs the antitrust division. The future of the case will depend on Kanter’s replacement, and several music executives and antitrust experts said that it’s hard to predict how that person will proceed.

“We congratulate President-elect Trump on his election,” said a spokesperson for Live Nation Entertainment. “Live Nation is proud to help bring joy to fans through concerts, sports and other live events. We look forward to working with the incoming administration to continue driving the positive impacts our industry has on American jobs and local economies.”

Several executives without direct knowledge of the matter speculated that, for optics reasons, the DOJ would be less likely to drop the case than to pursue a low-stakes settlement, but all of them made clear that there was no way to know.  

Right now, the big issue in the music business is artificial intelligence, and the industry has been lobbying for the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act, which would protect the voices and likenesses of human creators. The bill was introduced in the Senate in July and the House of Representatives in September. It has sponsors on both sides of the aisle, including Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). (One might presume they do not agree on much else.) The industry is going to push to pass it in the “lame-duck” Congress, before the end of the year, but it will conflict with other priorities, and several executives said that would be a long shot. Otherwise, it will be re-introduced next year, and the changes in government are not expected to affect its chances much.

Some of the policies Trump has said he will pursue, such as tariffs for imports, could be bad for U.S. business on a broader level. This could make physical goods more expensive, especially merchandise, such as T-shirts. It could also make CDs and vinyl more expensive, although only by so much, since they could also be manufactured in the U.S.

It is also possible that changes to the tax system could affect catalog sales, as well as the desirability of songs and recordings as an investment. But it is unclear how much taxes will change — and other economic factors, such as interest rates, are likely to affect investment calculations more.

A press release from the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s office No. 14 in Argentina has revealed the final results of toxicology tests taken in the wake of Liam Payne‘s death. According to a translated copy of the report, in the 72 hours before the former One Direction singer and solo star died after falling from a three-story hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he had “alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants” in his system.
The report said that the toxicology report findings have already been shared with Payne’s family, and that they found that he had “only traces of polydrug use” based on “the complete toxicology tests on urine, blood and vitreous humour, carried out in a very short time.”

Trending on Billboard

The officials who carried out the autopsy concluded that the 31-year-old star’s death was caused by “‘multiple trauma’ and ‘internal and external hemorrhage,’ the result of the fall the musician suffered from the balcony of the third-floor room of the hotel in the Palermo neighborhood where he was staying.”

Three additional reports on requested by a prosecutor also confirmed that the injures Payne sustained were caused by a fall at the Casa Sur Palermo Hotel from a height and that “self-harm of any kind and/or physical intervention by third parties were ruled out.” In addition, authorities reported that Payne did not adopt a “reflex posture” to protect himself from the fall, which led to the conclusion that he “may have fallen in a state of semi- or total unconsciousness.”

Specifically, “the lack of defense or self-preservation reflex in the fall, together with other relevant data from his consumption, allow us to conclude that Liam Payne was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall.” The prosecution said that, as such, they were able to rule out the “possibility of a conscious or voluntary act on the part of the victim, since, in the state he was in, he did not know what he was doing nor could he understand it.”

A frantic 911 call placed by staff shortly before Payne’s death included a description of a guest who was “overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol” and “destroying [their] entire room.” By the time police arrived, Payne had already fallen and died at the scene due to his injuries

Prior to the release of the results, investigators reportedly found a number of illicit substances in Payne’s body at the time of death, including a recreational drug called “pink cocaine,” a mixture of substances that often contains ketamine combined with MDMA, methamphetamine, cocaine, opioids and/or psychoactive substances.

Payne had been candid in the past about his struggles with addiction. In May 2023, he celebrated 100 days of sobriety, saying at the time, “I feel really, really good, and support from the fans and everything has been really, really good. So, I’m super happy.” In 2021, Payne also discussed his substance use issues on the podcast Diary of a CEO podcast, detailing a struggle with depression and substances during the chaotic 1D years.

Police raided the hotel last month and reportedly seized a number of items, including computer hard drives and CCTV footage from hotel cameras.

In addition to the news on the autopsy results, the Thursday press release revealed that three people have been arrested and charged in Argentina in connection with Payne’s death after “illicit conduct was discovered,” leading to the charges of abandonment of a person followed by death, supply and facilitation of narcotics.”

The three were described — but not named — as a person who “accompanied the artist on a daily basis during his stay in the city of Buenos Aires,” who was charged with abandonment of a person followed by death, which carries a potential sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison. A second person was described as a hotel employee who “must answer for two proven supplies of cocaine to Liam Payne during the period he was at the hotel” while a third, also a “drug supplier,” has also been charged with supplying narcotics.

The probe into Payne’s death included the analysis of more than 800 hours of video footage from security cameras in the hotel and on adjacent public roads, as well as a forensic extraction and analysis of the contents of the singer’s cellphone, including calls, messages, chats and social network data. Investigators also looked over a record of Payne’s orders at the hotel bar/restaurant to determine who had visited him and their food/drink “consumption habits.”

Police also extracted several gigabytes of data from cell phones belonging to hotel reception and other witnesses who voluntarily offered to corroborate their statements.

Lizzo has a message of positivity for followers following Donald Trump’s election win this week.  Two days after Election Day ended with the twice-impeached former POTUS securing his second term in the White House, the 36-year-old musician shared a video on Instagram captioned with a simple rainbow emoji Thursday (Nov. 7). In the clip, only […]