nsfs
Page: 64
Spotify has removed the music and profiles of several Russian artists who support the Ukraine invasion and have been sanctioned by the European Union and elsewhere in the West, Billboard has confirmed. The removals were first reported by The Moscow Times. âPlatform Rules clearly state that we take action when we identify content which explicitly […]
In June 2022, Jeffery Williams, the rapper professionally known as Young Thug, said from jail: âI always use my music as a form of artistic expression, and I see now that Black artists and rappers donât have that freedom.â  Â
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Rap is the most important musical development of the last half-century. It is a Black art form that reflects, comments upon and helps define the American experience. Like other artistic expressions, rap lyrics are often fictitious and hyperbolic; they cannot be assumed to be autobiographical. And like famous surrealist painters, some rappers combine their experiences with flights of imagination, leaving the audience to decide what is ârealâ and what is not. Other rappers write wholly fictional accounts without labeling them as such â sometimes for commercial appeal. As Young Thug explained to XXL Magazine in 2016: âI started doing a thuggish style ⊠I started to make cool trap music ⊠Them songs have made millions of dollars but them songs are not me.â  Â
Just like other artists, the creators of rap music are protected by the First Amendment; as such, they are entitled to create ambiguous art that does not separate fact from fiction.  Â
Unlike other types of artists, however, rappers find their art used against them in criminal court, as overly aggressive prosecutors charge rappers with having committed the alleged crimes depicted in their lyrics. It seems the ultimate rap battle is between the First Amendment and the Sixth Amendment â pitting the freedom of expression against the right to a fair trial. The racial injustice of this tactic is obvious. Directors of horror and action movies are not forced to defend themselves in criminal court against allegations that their films depict actual events. Nor must the creators of country or death metal music justify their songs to a judge or jury as fiction â no matter how violent their lyrics may be. Only rappers are singled out in this way.Â
Hearteningly, the music industry and the social justice community have joined forces with lawmakers in opposition to this egregious prosecutorial overreach. For instance, California amended its rules of evidence to place additional burdens upon prosecutors who seek âto admit as evidenceâ of criminality âa form of creative expression.â In New York, proposed legislation similarly seeks to create a presumption against admitting evidence of a defendantâs creative expression in criminal trials. And, at the federal level, the Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act), seeking to shield artists from the misuse of their lyrics in both criminal and civil proceedings, has been reintroduced in Congress. This bill has support from groups such as the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), the Recording Academy, the Black Music Collective and SAG-AFTRA. All of these pieces of legislation aim to safeguard artists from prosecutors who want to use their creative expressions as evidence in criminal trials â ensuring rap artists enjoy the benefits of both the First and Sixth Amendments of our Constitution.Â
While these efforts are commendable, a significant loophole remains within the domain of criminal conspiracy prosecutions. A conspiracy is a crime where two or more people agree to commit an unlawful act, and someone in the conspiracy takes an affirmative step â or âovert actâ toward the act. While the actual and proposed California, New York and federal statutes would make it harder for prosecutors to use rap lyrics as evidence of a crime, they do nothing to prevent prosecutors from alleging that rap lyrics themselves are an element of a crime â specifically, the so-called âovert actâ element of a conspiracy crime. Additional legislation is urgently needed at the state and federal levels to prevent this from happening.  Â
Conspiracy charges are darlings of prosecutors because many criminal conspiracy statutes permit the government to charge each alleged conspirator with all crimes committed by the conspiracy, so long as the alleged conspirator: (1) knowingly and willfully joined the conspiracy; and (2) committed an âovert actâ in support of the conspiracy. Thus, by alleging that a rapperâs lyrics constitute an âovert act,â a prosecutor can seek to hold that rapper criminally responsible for crimes that the rapper did not even commit but rather were committed by other members of the âconspiracy.â In other words, rappers can be charged with and convicted for other peopleâs crimes merely by virtue of rapping. This prosecutorial tactic is literally criminalizing rap music.Â
The ongoing Young Thug/YSL trial vividly illustrates the urgent need for legislation banning this tactic. In that case, the prosecution has charged the defendants under a criminal conspiracy statute, Georgiaâs Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) law. The grand jury indictment characterizes YSL as a gang engaged in criminal activities, with the Grammy-winning artist purportedly at the forefront. To link various defendants to the alleged âconspiracy,â and thus to ensnare them into the defendantsâ seats at trial, the prosecution has alleged that specific sets of rap lyrics constitute âovert acts.â On their face, these lyrics are a mode of artistic expression, involving clever wordplay and other forms of humor. Lyrics cited by prosecutors include the following:Â
âRed just like Elmo but I never fâinâ giggleââ Jeffery âYoung Thugâ WilliamsÂ
âWhere you from, Iâm from Bleveland, throw your set upâ â Wunnie âSlimelife Shawtyâ Lee Â
âI shot at his mommy, now he no longer mention meâ â Jeffery âYoung Thugâ WilliamsÂ
Without legislation preventing these or other rap lyrics from being charged as âovert acts,â prosecutors will continue to use them to bolster their cases. We call for the music industry to unite with its allies to press for the introduction and passage of such legislation. Until that happens, the music industry and its allies should press candidates running for district attorney to promise not to prosecute rap lyrics as âovert acts.â Moreover, and until new legislation passes, criminal defense and music industry attorneys should advise their clients about the risks of prosecutions for merely creating rap, however outrageous and unfair that may be. Otherwise, rappers will continue to navigate a precarious line that could see their lyrics construed as a crime, undermining the fundamental principles of artistic freedom and raising urgent questions about racial and creative justice in the courtroom. Rap artists should not have to choose between their First and Sixth Amendment rights.Â
Jeffrey Movit is a civil litigator in New York and Los Angeles whose practice areas include copyright, trademark, defamation and entertainment law. He has been called the âlawyer to the starsâ by the New York Post, and he was named by Billboard magazine as one of the âTop Music Lawyersâ for 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Priya Chaudhry is a nationally-known, award-winning criminal defense trial attorney who routinely handles high-profile, high-stakes criminal cases. With nearly 50 jury trials in 25 years of practice, The Hollywood Reporter named Ms. Chaudhry as one of the â25 Power Lawyersâ it recognized as âHollywoodâs Troubleshooters.â
Awais Arshad is a criminal defense attorney at ChaudhryLaw, a Fulbright Scholar and barred in multiple jurisdictions, including New York, England & Wales and Pakistan.
The Sean âDiddyâ Combs fallout continues in wake of the leaked Cassie assault footage and mounting sexual misconduct lawsuits against him. Diddy has maintained complete innocence in the sexual misconduct and sexual assault lawsuits against him, and he continues to deny all of the allegations.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
According to the Miami Herald, the Miami Beach Commission revoked the Diddy Day recognition dedicated to the Bad Boy mogul on Oct. 13. He received the honor courtesy of Mayor Philip Levine at a REVOLT conference in 2016.
The decision to rescind the recognition was made on Wednesday (June 26) âwithout discussion.â Diddy has been a staple of the Miami Beach Star Island community where he owns a mansion, which was raided by federal agents alongside his L.A. estate in March.
Earlier in June, Diddy returned his key to New York City after a request from Mayor Eric Adams. Combs sent the key back to Adamsâ offices after the mayor received letters asking for it to be sent back to City Hall, and Diddy obliged on June 10.
âI strongly condemn these actions and stand in solidarity with all survivors of domestic and gender-based violence,â Adams wrote at the time in the letters.
Howard University also rescinded an honorary degree that was awarded to Combs and ended a scholarship program in his name following the release of the disturbing video involving Cassie. CNN released surveillance footage in May of Diddy physically abusing Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel outside an elevator bank from March 2016.
Diddy apologized for his behavior, which he says he was âdisgustedâ by, but ended up deleting the video when clearing his Instagram account last week.
âI was fâed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses,â he said in the since-deleted clip. âMy behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. Iâm disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, Iâm disgusted now.â
Cassie and Diddy dated on-and-off for over a decade from about 2007 through 2018 before calling it quits for good.
The âMe & Uâ singer filed a sprawling lawsuit against the famed music executive in November accusing him of rape and physical abuse during their time together. The two parties quickly reached a settlement less than 24 hours later. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Find a photo of when Diddy was presented with his own day in Miami Beach here.
Diplo is facing a civil lawsuit accusing him of violating ârevenge pornâ laws by sharing sexually-explicit videos and images of a former romantic partner without her permission.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
In a complaint filed Thursday in Los Angeles federal court, an unnamed Jane Doe accuser claimed that the DJ (real name Thomas Wesley Pentz) recorded their sexual encounters and shared the materials with others on Snapchat âwithout plaintiffâs knowledge or consent.â
âPlaintiff brings this action to recover for the emotional and physical injuries she endured because of Diploâs actions and to make sure no one else is forced to suffer the privacy invasions and physical and mental trauma she felt and continues to feel to this day,â the womanâs attorneys write.
In her complaint, the woman claims she had consensual sexual relationship with the DJ from 2016 to 2023. During that time, she says she occasionally âgave defendant Diplo permission to record them having sex, but never gave him permission to distribute those images and videos to third parties and reiterated that he was not to record them without her explicit consent.â
âPlaintiff trusted defendant Diplo and believed that he would respect her wishes to keep their sexual images and videos confidential and that he would not record them having sex without her consent,â her lawyers write.
But last fall, the woman says she was contacted by someone claiming to be in possession of images and videos of âplaintiff and defendant Diplo having sex.â She says the materials, allegedly shared over Snapchat five years earlier, depicted her âgenitals, buttocks, and face,â as well as her voice.
After the incident, Jane Doe says she reported Diploâs actions to the New York Police Department, which later âissued a warrant for defendant Diploâs arrest for dissemination of intimate images and/or videos depicting Plaintiff.â
In an email to Billboard, the NYPD confirmed that a report had been filed and that there was an active investigation, but declined to comment on the claims of an arrest warrant: âThere is a criminal complaint on file for unlawful dissemination for a suspect with the name of Thomas Pentz which is currently being investigated by NYPD detectives.â
In 2022, when Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, lawmakers created for the first time a federal law banning the disclosure of âintimateâ images without the consent of those depicted in them. The lawsuit accuses Diplo of violating that provision, as well as an earlier revenge porn law enacted by the state of California.
Both representatives and an attorney for Diplo did not return requests for comment.
Diplo was previously accused of revenge porn by another woman. In 2020, he was sued by a woman named Shelly Auguste over claims that he had distributed nude photographs of her without permission. His attorneys called it a âsmear campaignâ and sued her back for stalking, trespassing, and distributing private materials. That litigation is ongoing.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off Thursday night (June 27) in their first debate ahead of Novemberâs general election, and among the audience of voters tuning in to CNN were a handful of musicians and celebrities taking to social media to weigh in.
Most active among them was Bette Midler, who was a vocal critic of Trumpâs first term and stuck to her guns in a string of posts on X (formerly Twitter) throughout the debate.
âAll my friends are taking their blood pressure medicine now, preparing for the debate,â Midler tweeted ahead of the face-off. âI wonder how many TV screens are going to be broken tonight?â It remains to be seen whether Midlerâs TV will stay intact on Thursday, as her posts called out Trumpâs âastonishingâ comments. âEvery word out of his mouth is a lie. Every single word.â
Midler made her stance even clearer with this tweet: âThe Worst President In The History of The United States. The absolute worst, Donald Trump, now and forever.â
Outkast rapper Big Boi kept things a little briefer in his X posts, typing âWTFâ and a red-faced, wide-eyed emoji during the debate.
The first presidential debate ahead of the 2024 general election aired on CNN and was moderated by the networkâs Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
All my friends are taking their blood pressure medicine now, preparing for the debate. I wonder how many TV screens are going to be broken tonight?â bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 28, 2024
My God, the way this fucker lies. Itâs just astonishing.â bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 28, 2024
Fear and grievance, ad infinitum. The best environmental numbers! Jesus Christ. Every word out of his mouth is a lie. Every single word.â bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 28, 2024
Hahahahahahahaha! Trump is hilarious!â bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 28, 2024
âI have the biggest heart!â Tell that to the Gold Star families and the Muslims you banned!â bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 28, 2024
Lies lies and more lies. Remember this bastard is the one who destroyed Roe. He goes back to immigrants. Guess thatâs heâs go-to when he canât think of anything else.
â bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 28, 2024
The Worst President In The History of The United States. The absolute worst, Donald Trump, now and forever.
â bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 28, 2024
We were doing very well with addictionâŠwe bought a dogâŠâ bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 28, 2024
Hahahagahahah I took two cognitive tests!!!â bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 28, 2024
âI wasnât really going to runâ THE BIGGEST LIE SO FAR!â bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 28, 2024
WTF
â Big Boi (@BigBoi) June 28, 2024
đł
â Big Boi (@BigBoi) June 28, 2024
Debates are not governing. They are about televised theatrics. Biden is accomplished at governing. He is experienced and has accomplished a great deal.https://t.co/H7miKQKXMj
â Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) June 27, 2024
This debate is deplorable.đ€Żâ Nia Long (@NiaLong) June 28, 2024
Without a fact checker that puts up facts on a giant screen behind them, this debate is useless . #Debates2024â Vinny Guadagnino (@VINNYGUADAGNINO) June 28, 2024
This is the most stressful debate Iâve ever watched and my parent was a nominee against Obama. #DebateNightâ Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) June 28, 2024
DEBATE NIGHT IN AMERICA! Sweet Jesus! The networks are packaging this as entertainment, like a boxing match, and selling democracy down the river. It’s a shame.â Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 28, 2024
My God, this Presidential debate proves that we need younger presidential candidates.â Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) June 28, 2024
SXSW will no longer engage in partnerships with the U.S. Army or weapons manufacturers, the event announced Wednesday (June 26). âAfter careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model,â reads a statement posted to the SXSW website. âAs a result, the U.S. Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of […]
Diddy scrubbed his Instagram account clean last week and he faced backlash for deleting his apology video to Cassie. Among those criticizing Sean Combs for the âfoolishâ move is ESPNâs Stephen A. Smith, who ripped the embattled music executive.
âYou deleted all the videos from your Instagram account including the one I just showed,â he said on the Tuesday (June 25) episode of Stephen A. Smith Show. âIf you had a million photos, if you had a million videos, and you decided to delete 999,999, thatâs the one you shouldâve kept up if youâre sincere.â
Stephen A. continued: âAnd I know that youâve been taking a lot of hits, and thereâs been shrapnels of criticism all over the place aimed in your direction. Not that it wasnât deserved ⊠Although one could argue, the ex that you hit had to deal with a hell of a lot more than you had to deal with in terms of the criticism.â
Smith just couldnât understand how Diddy or his PR team thought it would be the right move to delete the Cassie apology video when public perception was not on his side.
âDelete everything else â not that,â he claimed. âDonât you want people to know that you were contrite? That you were incredibly sorry? That you have profound regret for the egregious actions that you were caught on camera committing?â
The boisterous First Take host added: âBy deleting the video, you throw all of that out the window. The possibility of the very few people that would ever believe that really having a reason to continue to believe you.â
Fans noticed Diddy cleared his IG account last week, including the apology video in response to footage of him physically abusing Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel. CNN shared the March 2016 video in May, and it showed Diddy dragging Cassie across the floor of an L.A. hotel elevator bank.
Diddy said he was âdisgustedâ with his behavior in the apology video that was shared on his Instagram account. âItâs so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,â he stated. âI was fâed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. Iâm disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, Iâm disgusted now.â
Cassie accused Diddy of rape, physical abuse and more in a sprawling lawsuit in November. The two parties â who dated on and off from 2007 to 2018 â would settle the dispute less than 24 hours and terms were not disclosed. The disgraced star has also since been accused of sexual misconduct in several other lawsuits; he had previously denied all allegations.
Watch Stephen A. Smithâs full rant on Diddy below.
[embedded content]
Diddy is looking for a clean slate. The Bad Boy CEO has scrubbed his entire Instagram account, which included an apology to Cassie following the disturbing video leak of him abusing his ex in a L.A. hotel. The mogulâs 20 million followers noticed Diddy had deleted all of the posts from his account earlier this […]
Ty Dolla $ign is defending his Vultures 1 collaborator, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West).
The âOr Nahâ rapper is the latest Billboard cover star, and he opened up about working with Ye on their recently released joint album. When asked if he feared Vultures wouldnât perform well due to Yeâs string of controversial behavior, Ty shrugged it off. âYe is the best artist of this generation, besides me, and I donât give a fâk about what people were talking about. I know my nâ. Heâs one of the best people Iâve ever met,â he said. âJust with my analysis of how it goes with him, he goes all the way to the top. And something may happen and heâll say [something people find offensive] â and then people [get] right back, you know. Because this sât is undeniable.â
Ye has had a long string of controversies over the past few years, making headlines at his Yeezy Paris Fashion Week show in 2022 for wearing a shirt with the phrase âWhite Lives Matterâ on the back, in addition to featuring Black models wearing the shirt. The phrase is one that was adopted by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, and the rapper faced backlash from both fans and celebrities online.
He also came under fire after a 2022Â tweet in which he announced he was going âdeath con [sic] 3 on Jewish people.â Ye then repeatedly shared antisemitic hate speech, even going so far as to praise Adolf Hitler, a main leader responsible for the systematic murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust. Yeâs controversies have since cost him several lucrative deals, including one with Adidas.
Elsewhere in the interview, Ty discussed the making of Vultures, which arrived after much delay in February 2024. âJapan was hotel rooms, Italy was hotel rooms. Then we got Sting to let us use his [Italian] villa. At first we were just recording in the living room, recording by the pool, setting up recording equipment out there, and then we found out that thereâs an actual recording studio there. [âŠ] Itâs a very expensive album, I will say that. It would make for a crazy documentary.â
The duo are currently gearing up to release the albumâs delayed sequel, Vultures 2. âWe got all the songs. Basically, itâs just like, âHow can we get it there? How can we go bigger than the first album?ââ Ty said. âCertain people will probably expect you to just do the same exact sound, but that soundâs already out.â
Read the full cover story here.
With Chris Brown performing on another arena tour across New York and New Jersey, Fat Joe thinks itâs time to âmove pastâ Brownâs legal history and give the singer his flowers.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The Terror Squad boss hopped on Instagram Live over the weekend, where he claimed that the culture would be looking at Chris Breezy on the same level as Michael Jackson if it werenât for his 2009 assault of Rihanna, Brownâs then-girlfriend.
âIf Chris Brown never got into the controversy with Rihanna, we would be calling him Michael Jackson right now,â Joe declared. âNot like Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson. Heâs the most talented singer, artist, performer, hitmaker of our time. Thereâs nobody even close to Chris Brown. And itâs time we move past it, itâs been 20-something years. That I know of, thereâs no more incidents. Man, we gonna let this lifetime go by without saying the truth?â
Since Brownâs 2009 assault on Rihanna, he has faced various legal issues, including punching a man in the face in 2013, for which he pled guilty to simple assault; being accused of punching a photographer in 2017, with the charge later dropped due to âinsufficient evidenceâ; ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran being granted a restraining order against the singer after she accused him of abuse; and more.
Continued Fat Joe: âWhen the truth is an unpopular decision, everybody gets scared to say it, they get canceled. Especially famous people. The streets, they know what it is. The streets always know to tell you the truth. The streets still bumping R. Kelly. Heâs in jail, he did terrible things. They still bumping R. Kelly.â
Fat Joe went on to come to Brownâs defense while declaring him the âKing of R&B,â and said he was âa little kidâ at the time of his assault on Rihanna.
âSo what Iâm trying to say is, itâs a shame weâre lying and weâre giving up to the king of R&B. The king of music,â the Bronx native added. âWe thinking he could battle Michael Jackson, thatâs all Iâm trying to say. If you really look at his body of work, you look at all his hits, you see what he does ⊠You remove from your mind that we donât like it. We donât like that he had a controversy ⊠He was a little kid 20-something years ago.â
The âLean Backâ rapper is seemingly referring to the February 2009 felony assault of Rihanna, which took place when Chris Brown was 19. The singer was arrested for physically abusing Ri in a car before a Clive Davis Grammy Awards party; he pleaded guilty to felony assault in June that year.
Billboard has reached out to Rihannaâs reps for comment.
Brown reflected on the night in his 2017 Welcome to My Life documentary. âI look back at that picture and Iâm like, âThatâs not me, bro, thatâs not me.â I hate it to this day. Thatâs going to haunt me forever,â he admitted.
CBâs still on the road for his 11:11 Tour, which will head north of the border for dates in Montreal and Toronto before returning stateside next week with shows in Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Watch Fat Joeâs share his thoughts below.