Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin on Sunday (July 3) denied allegations that led to a restraining order against him, with police noting that he has not been charged with any crime.
Police said Saturday that a judge had issued the order against Martin, but authorities trying to serve the order were unable to find the singer in the Puerto Rican town of Dorado, where he lives. The order was filed under Puerto Rico’s domestic violence law and police spokesman Axel Valencia said he could not provide further details, including who requested the order.
Martin said in a tweet that the order is based on “completely false” allegations and that he will face the process “with the responsibility that characterizes me.”
“I appreciate the innumerable gestures of solidarity and I receive them with all my heart,” he wrote.
He said that since it was an open legal issue, he could not comment further.
Representatives for Martin earlier issued a statement and described the allegations as “completely false and fabricated.” It did not name the representatives.
“We are very confident that when the true facts come out in this matter our client Ricky Martin will be fully vindicated,” they said in a statement shared with The Associated Press.
El Vocero, a Puerto Rico newspaper, said the order states that Martin and the other person dated for seven months. The report quotes the order as saying they broke up two months ago, but the petitioner says Martin did not accept the separation and has been seen loitering near the petitioner’s house at least three times.
“The petitioner fears for his safety,” El Vocero quoted the order as saying.
After being found guilty by a jury in federal court, Christian County Representative Dr. Tricia Derges has resigned from her position in the the Missouri House of Representatives.
Derges was found guilty on 22 charges, including wire fraud, prescribing medication online without a valid prescription, and lying to federal investigators.
Investigators accused the local doctor and Nixa resident of frauding the government out of COVID-19 funding after having already charged her patients.
Investigators also found evidence that Derges was advertising stem cell treatments that did not contain any stem cells.
A sentencing date in the case has not been announced.
Derges began representing the Christian County and Nixa area in 2020. Her resignation took effect immediately, and was confirmed on July 2.
As Australia’s touring space heats up, the Red Hot Chili Peppers will bring their own fire with a coast-to-coast stadium tour. And on this occasion, Post Malone will make the long haul.
Produced by Live Nation, the trek will start Jan. 29, 2023 at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, before heading to Sydney’s Accor Stadium (Feb. 2), Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium (Feb. 7) and wrapping-up at Perth’s Optus Stadium (Feb. 12).
RHCP will play their career-spanning hits, according to LN, alongside tracks from their new album Unlimited Love, which marks the return of guitarist John Frusciante and a reunion with producer Rick Rubin.
The visit will also serve as a homecoming for bass player Flea, who was born in Melbourne, the second stop on the tour.
Unlimited Love, the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band’s 12th studio album, dropped in April of this year, and blasted to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the ARIA Albums Chart.
In Australia, Unlimited Love gave the Chilis their seventh leader, following Blood Sugar Sex Magik (April 1992), One Hot Minute (September 1995), Californication (June 1999), By The Way (July 2002), Stadium Arcadium (May 2006) and The Getaway (June 2016).
Posty is also fresh from a new album release, Twelve Carat Toothache, his fourth. Following its release last month, the album peaked at No. 2 on the official charts of the U.S. and Australia. His previous albums Hollywood’s Bleeding (2019) and Beerbongs & Bentleys (2018) both debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart in the week of release.
The general onsale begins next Monday (July 11) via livenation.com.au, while presales are available from Wednesday (July 6).
Red Hot Chili Peppers With Post Malone Australia 2023:
Jan. 29 — Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Feb. 2 — Accor Stadium, Sydney
Feb. 7 — Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
Feb. 12 — Optus Stadium, Perth
Britney Spears’ lawyer is claiming that the singer’s former business manager Tri Star Sports and Entertainment played a “substantial role” in establishing her 13-year conservatorship and received at least $18 million from it.
In a new filing obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Spears’ legal representative Mathew Rosengart asserts that Tri Star and its employees, including founder Louise “Lou” Taylor and Robin Greenhill — who served as the singer’s business management team from 2008 through 2020 — were directly involved in facilitating the conservatorship.
The company and Greenhill, which was hired by Spears’ father and former conservator, Jamie, have previously stated they had no role in the process.
“Contrary to Tri Star’s public position and Ms. Greenhill’s November 4, 2021 sworn Declaration in which she stated that ‘in early 2008, Tri Star had no role in Ms. Spears’ affairs,’ Tri Star’s own internal emails (obtained from a third-party) demonstrate that Tri Star’s Lou Taylor played a substantial role in Ms. Spears’s affairs prior to and in the early days of the conservatorship, ‘in early 2008,’” the filing states.
The legal documents reference a series of emails allegedly sent between Taylor, Jamie and his lawyer, Geraldine Wyle, regarding the establishment of the conservatorship, which took place in February 2008. (Jamie was terminated from his role as Britney’s conservator in September 2021.) In one of those alleged emails sent by Taylor on Jan. 17, 2008, it’s written that Andrew Wallet, appointed to help the singer’s father manage her estate, and Tri Star “would serve as co’s” with Jamie.
The filing also asserts that Taylor was “an intimate friend of Mr. Spears, to whom Mr. Spears then owed at least $40,000,” and that QuickBooks software provided to investigative consultant Kroll Associates, Inc., indicates that “Mr. Spears and Tri Star obtained more than $6 million and $18 million, respectively, from Ms. Spears’s Estate.”
Kroll was hired by Rosengart to investigate Tri Star’s conduct as it relates to the singer’s conservatorship.
“Tri Star, Lou Taylor and Robin Greenhill have all denied that Tri Star was involved in the creation of the Conservatorship, no doubt aware that such involvement — shortly after it extended the generous loan to Mr. Spears — would call into question not just the exorbitant fees paid to Tri Star over the years but also the motives for placing Ms. Spears into a 13-year conservatorship in the first place,” Rosengart writes in the filing.
In a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter, Tri Star’s legal representative Scott Edelman called the allegations in the filing “materially misleading.”
“As all the evidence makes abundantly clear, the conservatorship was set up on the recommendation of legal counsel, not Tri Star, and approved by the Court for more than 12 years,” Edelman said. “In fact, Tri Star was not even the business manager for the conservatorship when it was established. Cherry-picked excerpts from emails cannot change the facts, which is why this nonsense will all end once and for all when records are unsealed.”
Rosengart’s latest filing is in response to Tri Star’s motion to quash a request by Britney’s legal team that Tri Star and Greenhill comply with subpoenas for depositions and documents. In a letter to Edelman included in the opposition to the motion, dated Nov. 2, 2021, Rosengart requested that the company provide the total fees it took from Britney and/or her estate between 2008 and the present. A copy of any business management agreement between Tri Star and Britney or her Estate was also requested.
The communication addresses that Britney’s former business managers had failed to produce financial information to the pop singer, along with failing to produce both emails and text messages related to the placement of listening devices in Britney’s bedroom, the iCloud mirroring of phones that were used by the singer and revenues either received or taken from Britney and/or her estate.
Rosengart asserts that Tri Star has failed to provide the requested information for over six weeks from a Sept. 15 communication sent by Rosengart on the grounds that Tri Star has “no fiduciary duty” to provide the requested information.
THR has reached out to Jamie Spears’ attorney Alex Weingarten.
Kate Bush’s reign over the U.K. singles chart is set to end, with LF System on the brink of claiming the title.
The Scottish electronic act’s club-filler “Afraid to Feel” rises 2-1 on the First Look chart, which ranks singles based on sales and streams from the first 48 hours of the chart week.
If it holds its course, the disco number would give the duo their first-ever leader.
After three weeks at No. 1, Bush could lose her crown when the chart is published late Friday (July 8). “Running Up That Hill,” her reanimated hit from 1985, drops to No. 4 on the chart blast, behind Harry Styles’ “As It Was” and George Ezra’s “Green Green Grass,” respectively.
This week’s highest new entry could belong to Paolo Nutini, the Scottish singer and songwriter whose “Throughout The Echoes” is on track for a No. 23 debut. Lifted from Nutini’s fourth and latest album Last Night In The Bittersweet, “Echoes” would be his eighth U.K. Top 40 hit, and his highest-charting single since 2014’s “Scream (Funk My Life Up)” hit No. 12.
Nutini’s sophomore album Sunny Side Up (from 2009) and Caustic Love (2014) both hit No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, and he’s amassed 8 million global album sales, and 8 million U.K. single sales, according to Warner Music, his record label.
Harry Styles is right at home atop the U.K. albums chart with Harry’s House (Columbia), which enters a fourth non-consecutive week at No. 1.
With Styles holding onto top spot, veteran prog-rock outfit Porcupine Tree enjoys a career high with Closure / Continuation (Music For Nations), their 11th studio album.
Having led all titles at the midweek stage, Closure / Continuation bows at No. 2, for the English band’s first U.K. Top 10 appearance.
Until now, the rocker have made just two appearances in the U.K. Top 40, the best a No. 23 peak for 2009’s The Incident.
Also on the latest Official U.K. Albums Chart, there are Top 10 debuts for a string of U.S. artists: Chris Brown’s Breezy (Chris Brown Entertainment/RCA) bows at No. 6; Conan Gray‘s Superache (Island) starts at No. 8; and Luke Combs blasts to No. 9 with Growin’ Up (Sony Music CG), for his first appearance in the Top 10.
Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” enters a third week at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, with a market-leading 7.3 million audio and video streams over the seven-day cycle, the OCC reports.
If “Running” can extend its reign into a fourth week, it’ll match Bush’s all-time streak, set by her breakthrough hit “Wuthering Heights” back in 1978.
Released in 1985, “Running Up That Hill” has been given a second life thanks to Netflix’s hit sci-fi series, Stranger Things, which last week dropped the final episodes of season four.
Meanwhile, Scottish duo LF System shimmies 3-2 with their summery dance anthem “Afraid to Feel” (Warner Records). It’s a new peak for the pair, comprising Sean Finnigan and Conor Larkman.
Further down the list, Beyoncé is on the bounce with “Break My Soul” (Columbia), which lifts 21-4, for her 20th solo U.K. Top 10 appearance.
The highest new entry on the current frame belongs to Drake with “Sticky” (OVO/Republic), new at No. 30. The Honestly, Nevermind release is the Canadian rapper’s 75th U.K. Top 40 hit.
Just weeks after BTS announced its hiatus, Jungkook makes a U.K. chart appearance with Charlie Puth’s “Left and Right” (Atlantic). It’s new at No. 41.
Harry Styles‘ concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, was called off Sunday (July 3) after a gunman opened fire inside a shopping mall near the venue, killing three people and critically wounding three others.
A 22-year-old Danish man was arrested after the shooting at Field’s, one of the biggest shopping malls in Scandinavia, Copenhagen police inspector Søren Thomassen told reporters, according to The Associated Press. Police said there was no indication that others were involved in the attack, but the investigation is ongoing.
Thomassen said the victims included a man in his 40s and two “young people.” No further details were given.
Styles, who was scheduled to perform Sunday night at Copenhagen’s Royal Arena as part of his Love On Tour, released a statement on Twitter that evening.
“I’m heartbroken along with the people of Copenhagen,” Styles wrote. “I adore this city. The people are so warm and full of love.”
“I’m devastated for the victims, their families, and everyone hurting,” he said.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t be together,” he wrote. “Please look after each other.”
See Styles’ tweet below. He is scheduled to resume his tour in Paris on July 5; a full list of tour dates is available here.
I’m heartbroken along with the people of Copenhagen. I adore this city. The people are so warm and full of love.
I’m devastated for the victims, their families, and everyone hurting.
I’m sorry we couldn’t be together. Please look after each other. H
Hollywood’s abortion-rights advocates have gone into overdrive — and opened their wallets in increased and creative ways — to support reproductive rights after the Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling that overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade.
Supporters, led by a $1 million donation from Lizzo and Live Nation, are amping up their giving to both long-established advocacy organizations and on-the-ground groups (especially ones that are helping women gain imminent access to healthcare), while using their celebrity and influence to inspire further giving. As pro-abortion advocates ramp up their donations, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with a showrunner, a manager/producer, an engagement officer at an entertainment law firm and the leader of an advocacy group for women in Hollywood about what organizations right now they are supporting in the battle for abortion rights.
“Hollywood has been coming together to support leading organizations like the Center for Reproductive Rights — which argued Dobbs before the Supreme Court — in preparation for this moment, and some incredible leaders have emerged,” says Hannah Linkenhoker, chief engagement officer of entertainment law firm Johnson Shapiro. The center counts actresses Elizabeth Banks, Amy Brenneman, Lisa Edelstein, Aja Naomi King and Busy Philipps as members of its ambassador council, while producer Heidi Lindelof is a board member.
“The Center has really created a powerful community in Hollywood,” continues Linkenhoker, “and that community has driven funding, exposure, messaging and more to impact the movement for reproductive rights and abortion access.”
Many entertainment industry insiders are also donating to the venerable Planned Parenthood, including Ellen Goldsmith-Vein of The Gotham Group, who calls the nonprofit a “trusted resource for women for over 100 years.”
Lizzo has been vocal about her support for Planned Parenthood. Within hours of the Supreme Court ruling, the Grammy-winning superstar announced that she will be donating $500,000 of the profits from her upcoming tour to the organization, which offers reproductive healthcare to women across the country. Live Nation, the sponsor of the multi-date tour, has agreed to match Lizzo’s donation, making the total a substantial $1 million.
This week, Olivia Wilde led an online discussion with doctors from Physicians for Reproductive Health, an organization she has supported for many years. Many stars also are joining in protests springing up across the nation, including Philipps who was arrested at an abortion-rights protest in Washington on Thursday, June 30, and Jodie Sweetin (Full House and Fuller House), who was recently shoved by police at an abortion rally in Los Angeles. Additionally, Sweetin sponsored an Instagram fundraiser, which raised $5,000 for Planned Parenthood.
“Our activism will continue until our voices are heard and action is taken,” Sweetin said in a statement. “This will not deter us; we will continue fighting for our rights. We are not free until ALL of us are free.”
Other entertainment industry figures have taken to social media to help raise funds. Showrunner and writer Liz Meriwether (The Dropout, New Girl) recently hosted an Instagram fundraiser for The Brigid Alliance, raising over $6,000 in donations.
“When the leak came out in May, I donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds, which is an incredible umbrella organization that funds many smaller local groups who do the on-the-ground work of getting people the care they need,” Meriwether tells THR. “Now I am also donating to Brigid Alliance, because it directly funds all travel and logistics of people trying to get to abortion care, and demand on the group has skyrocketed. I’m also donating to the Plan C organization, which provides medication abortion through the mail to anyone seeking it.”
Debra Messing has shared information on The Brigid Alliance and Apiary for Practical Support, a nonprofit national technical assistant hub for the organizations that provide practical support to people seeking abortions. And Bon Iver is sponsoring a match program for The Brigid Alliance, matching donations up to $22,000. Linkenhoker is also supporting Keep Our Clinics, a fundraising campaign to support independent abortion clinics, which provide the majority of the abortion care in the U.S. and are more likely to be located in states that are working to outlaw abortion. Abortion could be outlawed or severely restricted in more than 20 states this year in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling (around five states now have bans), which will lead to many women traveling to states that allow abortion for reproductive healthcare.
Ariana Debose, speaking with Jimmy Fallon this week, said that she’s focusing her funding efforts on making “a difference on a local level, so I’m trying to find abortion funds in my community that I can support so I can help anyone with a uterus.” In its YouTube clip of DeBose’s appearance on the show, The Tonight Show shared a link to the National Network of Abortion Funds with its fans.
And entertainment figures including Whoopi Goldberg, Chelsea Handler, Ireland Baldwin and Laura Prepon are sharing and resharing their personal stories of abortion, while encouraging support for reproductive rights.
Other Hollywood insiders are coming up with unique ways to engage their followers. BoJack Horseman showrunner Raphael Bob-Waksberg offered up a lottery — pledging to give five Twitter followers signed scripts of their favorite BoJack Horseman episode if they emailed him proof that they had donated to an abortion fund.
Some celebrities have focused their attention on political action and the upcoming midterm elections. Julia Louis-Dreyfus took to Twitter and vowed to match $10,000 in donations to 11 pro-choice candidates for state legislatures where abortion rights are on the line in the upcoming midterms. She also vowed to match $10,000 in donations to 80 local abortion funds.
July 9 may also see a Hollywood contingent show up in Washington, D.C., when the Women’s March sponsors an abortion-rights protest in the nation’s capital. It’s sign-up page provides a box that participants who are willing to risk to arrest can check.
Industry organizations also have banded together to provide their members with information on resources and reputable places to donate. “We created a list of resources that includes what different entertainment companies are doing for their employees and then also general resources,” says Kirsten Schaffer, CEO at Women in Film, which advocates for women in the entertainment industry. “A lot of them are abortion funds … like ARC Southeast, Northwest Abortion Access Fund, Midwest Access Coalition, Fund Texas Choice. People had abortions scheduled and their abortions were canceled, and so now they need to get out of state to make that abortion happen. And that’s what these funds help them do.”
Schaffer says she has seen a positive reaction to Women in Film’s list of resources, which includes a link to support the National Network of Abortion Funds. “People are applying to our newsletter which connected to the resources that they really appreciate the care and concern. And also, they appreciate the access to the resources,” she says.
Amid the flurry of giving, supporters of abortion rights in Hollywood caution potential donors to make sure that their funds are going to legitimate organizations. “Use your network to verify credibility, check the organization’s non-profit status — look at their 990s, look them up on Charity Navigator, look at their board of directors to make sure they are reputable,” says Linkenhoker.
And since supporters of abortions say their battle to restore access across the country will no doubt be long, strategic giving is seen as the way to go by many pro-choice advocates.
“Right now, I am donating to groups making an immediate impact on people currently seeking an abortion, and then I will make another round of donations to political action groups and voter mobilization groups who will be fighting in the long term,” Meriwether says. “This will be a long fight fought on many different fronts, and I think everyone who supports abortion access needs to be prepared for the marathon. The most important thing is to stay involved and active — as my friend Rebecca Traister wrote beautifully in The Cut, ‘Despair is poison.’”
BigHit Music, the South Korean record label, says it is going after “malicious postings” related to K-pop supergroup BTS – and is looking to fans to supply intel to aid in the crackdown.
On June 29, BigHit released a note on social networking platform Weverse warning that the company had recently filed “additional criminal complaints against postings with personal attacks and defamation,” using new information provided by fans and collected through its own monitoring activities.
The Weverse note came two weeks after BTS shook up the pop music world by revealing that the seven-member boy band was taking an indefinite break to pursue solo projects. The group’s fan group, known as ARMY, has lashed out on Twitter against journalists in the U.S. for their portrayals of the group’s break, which was originally translated by BigHit parent company HYBE as a “hiatus” on the video of a dinner where band members discussed the issue. (“We’re going on a hiatus now,” Suga said in Korean.)
While ARMY is well-known for criticizing online posters who make unflattering comments about BTS, toxic cyberbullying is real in Korea — and has been attributed to several high-profile suicides, including in the K-pop world.
BigHit says that one poster uploaded posts containing “insults against [BTS]” using dozens of different IP addresses on DC Inside, a South Korean internet forum. “We have been monitoring these types of malicious postings and filed criminal complaints against the poster for all the postings with malicious comments,” the company said.
The label says it has found other defamatory postings with “extremely malicious and delusional content” and initiated legal proceedings against the posters. “The complaint we have filed includes platforms not mentioned in this notice and we would also like to inform you that we cannot reveal every detail of the content of the complaint to ensure a proper investigation.”
BigHit described their Weverse note broadly as an “update” on its activities to protect BTS. “Our company regularly initiates legal proceedings against perpetrators of malicious activities related to BTS, including defamation, personal attacks, sexual harassment, the spread of groundless information, and ill-intentioned criticism,” the label said.
The company has refused to settle cases, noting that “the accused of an ongoing investigation recently attempted to settle the case but there will be no settlement nor leniency… our policy of no settlement and no leniency remains in effect.” BigHit urged fans to make continued use of a hotline (protect@bighitmusic.co.kr) to report any cases of abuse.
Tension Over Criminal Defamation and Cyberbullying
In South Korea, unlike in the United States (on a federal level), defamation is a criminal charge — and speaking truth is not always a defense. “Openly false facts” under South Korea’s criminal code can result in up to seven years in prison. But if the court finds that a defendant made true statements with the “intent to commit defamation” and not out of “public interest,” then a defendant can still be convicted and sentenced to up to three years in jail or a fine.
Criminal defamation creates an atmosphere of constrained expression. A defamation law like South Korea’s, which “does not adequately distinguish between truth and falsehood, can act as a powerful tool of repression,” says Pen America, a free expression advocacy organization. International groups like the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression have repeatedly called for decriminalization of defamation around the world because of how it can limit free speech.
In the entertainment world, the threat of defamation charges has often led South Korean media outlets and blogs to self-censor – with gossip publications withholding celebrity names when they report on salacious news. And in recent years, following high-profile suicides, news portal sites have removed the comment sections only for entertainment stories.
Despite more protective laws for targets of potentially defamatory speech, South Korea has been under pressure to crack down on cyberbullying after a series of high-profile suicides.
In 2019, actress and singer Sulli was found dead at 25 after receiving online abuse for years. She rose to prominence as a member of girl group f(x), beginning as a trainee for K-pop company SM Entertainment, and later became known for her outspokenness about her struggles with mental health issues, cyberbullying and even her romantic relationships.
After taking a break from music in 2015 to focus on acting – SM Entertainment said in 2014 that she was “suffering physically and mentally from malicious and untrue rumors spreading about her” – she hung herself on the second floor of her home in Seoul.
The suicide prompted several celebrities to call for better support for those in the K-pop industry.
Then this February, influencer Cho Jang-mi, 27, known as BJ Jammi on YouTube and Twitch, was found dead at her home, with a person claiming to be an uncle writing on Twitch that she had been suffering from severe depression due to online hate speech “and rumors,” Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
Cho had been accused of making a hand gesture in one of her videos implying she hated men; she had appealed for bullying that branded her a “man-hater” to stop.
Her death came a day after Kim In-hyeok, a 28-year-old professional volleyball player, was found dead. He had pleaded with people to stop sending hate comments and spreading rumors online about his appearance and supposed sexuality.
Days after news of Cho’s death, a petition was posted on the South Korean president’s website calling for punishment for YouTubers and online commentators who spread rumors or hate speech about Cho. In just a few days, it had been signed by almost 150,000 people.
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