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As Los Angeles prepares to rebuild after the devastating wildfire crisis this month, Flavor Flav is spearheading an important cause: supporting Black families who have been displaced in the disaster.
On Monday (Jan. 20), the Public Enemy rapper shared in a video on his socials revealing that he has partnered with GoFundMe and the Black Music Action Coalition to streamline a donation site benefiting Black households affected by the Eaton fire in the Pasadena/Altadena area. Contributions will be spread out across more than 700 families listed in a database compiled by Community Aid Dena, AFROPUNK and WalkGood LA.
“This is Flavor Flav in the building,” the musician says in the clip. “It’s been inspiring to me, seeing a lot people coming together right now, lifting each other’s spirits.”
“There’s not enough being done for the Black families and the communities,” Flav continues. “Come on, y’all. Let’s make L.A. strong, baby. Let’s help those in need.”
At press time, the hip-hop star’s fundraiser has already raised nearly $30,000. Donations can be made on the GoFundMe website.
Flav is just the latest musician to champion charitable efforts in the two weeks since dangerous wildfires first broke out in Pacific Palisades Jan. 7, after which more blazes quickly erupted in other parts of L.A. Countless buildings, homes and possessions have been destroyed as first responders struggle to extinguish the remaining flames, while 27 people have been reported dead so far, according to CNN.
Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Beyoncé’s BeyGood Foundation are just a few of the other big names who have boosted various organizations serving victims of the crisis while making sizable donations of their own. Doja Cat unveiled a line of custom merchandise with proceeds benefiting those in need, and Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo and several more stars have signed on to perform at FireAid, an upcoming charity concert benefiting Los Angeles’ plans to rebuild.
In the wake of the crisis, the “Shake Your Booty” musician also found a way recently to support Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, who reportedly lost their home to the fires. In a TikTok posted Jan. 14, Flav danced to the Gossip Girl star’s 2009 single “Somebody to Love” featuring Robin Thicke and told fans, “Stream @LeightonMeester ‘Somebody to Love’ and use the song in yo TikTok’s.”
He wrote in his caption, “Starting to hype up my girl Leighton Meester and help her family recover from the fire.”
See Flav’s announcement below.
Jhené Aiko is the latest star offering support in the midst of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. Over the weekend, the “Sunshine” singer announced that she and her wellness brand, Jhenetics, are sponsoring free massages for the first responders from the L.A. Fire Department.
“Thank you to our first responders, those who have spent days away from their families, working tirelessly to protect us. We hope this small gesture of gratitude makes a difference during these long shifts,” Aiko wrote in an Instagram post featuring a series of slides of the Jhenetics team working on first responders.
The post also shouted out LAFD Foundation and the other massage therapists who contributed to the effort from Manly Handz mobile spa.
Aiko is one of the thousands of Angelenos who’ve lost their homes in the midst of the two-week spate of deadly wildfires that have killed 27 so far and destroyed more than 12,000 homes and other structures while burning more than 40,000 acres to date. On Jan. 9, Aiko revealed that her home “burned to the ground with all of our things inside. She confirmed that her two children she shares with Big Sean — 16-year-old daughter Namiko and two-year-old son Noah — were both safe.
“Lord have mercy 🙏 Thankful we still have eachother 💙 starting from scratch. My heart is so heavy 💔,” she wrote at the time, adding, “praying for everyone this morning. those who lost their home, those who lost their life’s work, those who lost their life. praying for my city. praying for the wild life and lost pets. praying for the world 💙.”
The L.A. area continued to be under a red flag warning for the potential spread of fires due through Tuesday morning (Jan. 21), with officials warning that the destructive Santa Ana winds could whip up again as more than 41,000 residents remain under an evacuation order.
In addition to Aiko, others who’ve talked about losing their homes include Paris Hilton, Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, Mandy Moore, Diane Warren, Miles Teller and many more.
Among the many charitable contributions and relief efforts launched to date is the upcoming all-star FireAid Benefit Concert at the Kia Forum in L.A. on Jan. 30 that will include appearances by Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, a reunited No Doubt, Katy Perry, Jelly Roll, Sting, Stevie Nicks, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews, Green Day and many more.
The Music Sustainability Alliance announced Friday (Jan. 17) that its Music Sustainability Summit is being postponed amid the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires. Originally scheduled to happen on Feb. 3, the event will now be held on April 16 at L.A.’s Solotech Studios, the same location where it was originally set to take place. Programming for the […]
Live Nation’s Crew Nation nonprofit is stepping up to help music workers impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires.
The Crew Nation Global Relief Fund is committing $1 million to assist performing musicians, live music crew and live music industry workers affected by the recent wildfires in Los Angeles, it was announced Friday (Jan. 17). Live Nation established Crew Nation in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that limited work for live event professionals.
Crew Nation has opened applications for grants up to $5,000 for individuals currently employed within the industry who are facing displacement expenses due to mandatory evacuation orders, damage or loss. Those seeking support can apply for Crew Nation Fund grants here.
“L.A. is home to so many who help make live music possible,” said Live Nation Entertainment president/CEO Michael Rapino in a statement, “and Crew Nation is continuing its core mission of helping this hardworking community through unforeseen hardship.”
In addition, Live Nation is supporting impacted employees from its Los Angeles headquarters with direct relief through its Taking Care of Our Own program.
The live industry giant is also working alongside competitor AEG and the Azoff family to produce and promote FireAid, a benefit concert set for Jan. 30 in Los Angeles. The concert will take place at both the Intuit Dome and the neighboring Kia Forum, with performers including Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Jelly Roll, Gwen Stefani, Tate McRae, Rod Stewart, Sting, Stevie Nicks, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Green Day, Gracie Abrams, Joni Mitchell, Lil Baby, P!nk, Stephen Stills and Earth, Wind & Fire, with more to be added.
FireAid will be broadcast at select AMC Theatres and via Apple Music and the Apple TV App, Max, iHeartRadio, KTLA+, Netflix/Tudum, Paramount+, SiriusXM, Spotify, SoundCloud, Veeps, YouTube, and Prime Video and the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch. Viewers will be able to contribute to the fundraiser as they watch.
Since Crew Nation’s 2020 launch, the nonprofit has helped get assistance to more than 16,000 crew globally thanks to a $10 million contribution from Live Nation, supplemented by $8 million from artists, fans and industry partners. Anyone looking to support live music artists and crews through the L.A. wildfires can donate to the organization here.
Tekashi 6ix9ine has filed a lawsuit against LA Fitness, claiming the gym chain is legally responsible for a 2023 “violent assault” in which he was attacked in the sauna at one of the company’s South Florida locations.
In a complaint filed Wednesday (Jan. 15) in Florida court, the controversial rapper (Daniel Hernandez) says LA Fitness owes him more than $1 million in damages over the March 2023 attack by three assailants, which he says left him hospitalized.
Attorneys for Tekashi say the gym failed to prevent the attack, including by “failing to implement reasonable security measures” and taking other steps that might have stopped it.
“As a direct and proximate result of the negligence … Hernandez was brutally beaten, assaulted and robbed, suffered bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering,” his attorneys write.
In the days after the incident, three men — Rafael Medina Jr., 43; Octavious Medina, 23; and Anthony Maldonado, 25 — were arrested and charged with carrying out the attack. According to court records, both Medinas quickly reached plea deals with prosecutors and were released on probation; the charges against Maldonado were later dropped entirely.
In his lawsuit Wednesday, Tekashi said the assailants were members of the Latin Kings criminal gang — and that LA Fitness should have had measures in place to prevent entry of “affiliates of violent gangs” and people with “aggressive and dangerous propensities.”
“Defendant … knew or should have known that LA Fitness was located in an area where crime statistics, including violent crime, had increased substantially in recent years,” his lawyers write. “Defendant had a duty to adopt and implement reasonable security measures commensurate with all attendant circumstances, including the prevalence of criminal activity.”
A representative for LA Fitness did not immediately return a request for comment.
The 2023 attack was hardly Tekashi’s first dust-up with criminal gangs.
Once a rising star in the world of hip-hop and social media, Tekashi was charged in November 2018 with federal racketeering and murder conspiracy charges over his involvement with a New York street gang called Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. Prosecutors claimed the gang “wreaked havoc on New York City” by “engaging in brazen acts of violence.”
But just a day after being arrested, Tekashi cut a deal with federal prosecutors to flip on his crew in return for lenience. Taking the witness stand during a 2019 trial, he offered detailed and frank testimony about his involvement in the gang and his former gang mates.
Under the deal with prosecutors, Tekashi was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of supervised release. The sentence was set to run until July 2020, but Tekashi was released early, in April 2020, after his attorneys argued that the coronavirus pandemic posed an increased risk to him because he has asthma.
Tekashi recently spent another month in prison after prosecutors accused him of breaking the terms of his supervised release.
Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Lil Baby and more are gearing up to perform at the FireAid Benefit Concert to assist victims of those affected by the L.A. wildfires. Keep watching to see who else performing and how the funds will be used. Tetris Kelly:Musicians like Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Jelly Roll and more are set […]
JP Saxe is using his platform for good. The singer-songwriter is gearing up to release his new song, “Safe,” on Jan. 24, and has transformed what was going to be a single release show into a benefit concert for the thousands of people affected by the devastating Los Angeles fires. The “NY for LA” show […]
Ethel Cain‘s posts about the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson have sparked outrage from a panel of Fox News hosts, who likened her words to “terrorism” and are calling on fans to “boycott” the singer.
On a recent episode of the network’s The Big Weekend Show, panelists Jason Chaffetz, Jackie DeAngelis, Anita Vogel and Guy Benson opened a segment about the “American Teenager” singer’s comments by summarizing what she wrote on Instagram Stories Jan. 10. In addition to using the hashtag “#KillMoreCEOs,” Cain had said that peaceful protesting is no longer enough to solve corporate greed in the United States and posited, “It’s simple, you make them fear for their lives and hit them in the only place they hurt or nothing will ever get done.”
But the 26-year-old musician’s words were several steps too far for the Fox commentators, with Benson calling her message “sick” and “depraved.” “The message there is violence is the answer,” he continued. “You know who used that exact same mentality, that type of language? Terrorists. That is actual terrorism, what she’s talking about here … This should be a very clear black-and-white moral issue, and it is scary to see how much support that type of sentiment has gotten.”
“It’s absurd, it’s gross,” agreed Vogel, who then brought up how Meta previously banned Donald Trump from its platforms following the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. “Are they going to remove this woman for calling for murder?”
“People need to boycott her,” added DeAngelis, with Chaffetz saying, “I hope people call her out for this.”
Billboard has reached out to Cain’s reps for comment.
The “Crush” artist’s posts — and Fox News’ response — are part of a broader discussion that’s played out since Thompson was shot and killed on a New York City street. Suspect Luigi Mangione was taken into custody shortly afterward and is now facing state murder and terror charges, to which he’s pleaded not guilty. He’s also facing federal murder and stalking charges; if convicted on the murder charge, he could face a death sentence.
In addition to her incendiary hashtag Jan. 10, Cain had also shared a post quoting former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich’s assessment that institutions such as the NRA, Big Oil and insurance companies contribute to corruption in Congress. In Reich’s words: “Money in politics is the root of our dysfunction.”
“I genuinely mean what I say. Corporations giggle at protesting,” Cain had added at the time. “Why would anyone ever willingly come down off their throne that they’ve spent years building off the suffering of their fellow man? … It seems quite straightforward to me. ‘Violence is never the answer’ wrong. Sometimes it is.”
Two days prior, Cain released her highly anticipated album Perverts. It followed 2022’s Preacher’s Daughter.
The Black Music Action Coalition, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are announcing their third annual BMAC x Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Music Maker Grants. Presented in association with ASCAP and Wasserman Foundation, the grants will be awarded at a ReStore and ReBuild L.A. fundraiser on Jan. 29. Proceeds from the Los Angeles-held event will […]
Selena Gomez is giving back amid the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. In a series of Instagram Stories she posted on Thursday (Jan. 16), Gomez is seen volunteering by helping separate and distribute sandwiches to those who have been displaced by the tragedy. “Grateful for these individuals,” she wrote over one of the clips, which featured […]