Month: December 2022

Jordin Sparks had the pleasure of sitting next to Pete Davidson and Emily Ratajkowski’s recent date at a New York Knicks game and now she’s spilling the tea.

“I was trying not to be all up in their business,” the singer told E! News at the 36th annual Footwear News Achievement Awards on Wednesday. “But they sounded like they were having a great time. And we bonded over the fact that it gets kinda awkward when they have to put the camera in your face and show you to everybody. … They were really nice, and I was really happy to sit next to them.”

The American Idol champ also offered her opinion on why Davidson’s latest romance with EmRata is such a hot topic, saying, “It’s always really fascinating which couples we pick to just blow up. I think they’re really sweet. I think they look good together … I think they’re having a good time and it’s cute. Plus, they were front row, so everybody got to see them.

“From what I heard, they were laughing, they were having a great time,” she continued. “So I think it’s off to a good start.”

Most recently, Sparks competed on the recently wrapped 31st season of Dancing With the Stars, coming in ninth place with partner Brandon Armstrong behind eventual winner Charli D’Amelio and runners-up Gabby Windey of The Bachelorette fame, Wayne Brady and RuPaul’s Drag Race legend Shangela.

Earlier this month, the “One Step at a Time” singer also released her latest collaboration “DNA” with Maurice Moore.

Selena Gomez fans who have not yet seen her Apple TV+ documentary My Mind & Me or the fans who want to relive it are in luck: On Thursday (Dec. 1), the multi-hyphenate shared a film version of her documentary’s accompanying title track, which features several intimate scenes from the film.

The video kicks off with Gomez sitting down at a grand piano, softly playing the keys to the song. Snaps of her recording the track, in addition to snippets of her traveling, performing live in concert and interacting with friends, fans and family, go in quick succession until the video’s end.

“My mind and me/ We don’t get along sometimes/ And it gets hard to breathe/ But I wouldn’t change my life/ And all of the crashin’ and burnin’ and breakin’, I know now/ If somebody sees me like this, then they won’t feel alone now/ My mind and me,” the 30-year-old sings on the chorus of the introspective track.

Gomez spoke with Billboard at the red-carpet premiere of the documentary and revealed that she initially hesitated to release the project on more than one occasion.

“I was going to release this documentary multiple times and it never really felt right,” the star said. “Then the pandemic hit and a lot of people started having conversations around mental health, the isolation, people feeling depressed or anxious — never feeling those feelings before but have now. I just hope that this will carry on to something like a conversation that people will use to help later on.”

Watch the film version of the “My Mind & Me” video above.

Cardi B dropped by The Breakfast Club on Thursday morning (Dec. 1) and dropped some crumbs about when to expect her next studio album.

When Cardi called in for Angela Yee’s last day with The Breakfast Club, host Charlamagne Tha God asked if the rapper had a release date in mind for the highly anticipated follow-up to her Grammy-winning debut album Invasion of Privacy, which she released in April 2018 via Atlantic Records.

“I have no choice, I have to put it out,” she replied. “I have like a couple of songs that are like definite, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on with me. I need to just make up my mind and put it out.”

DJ Envy gassed her up by saying since “every record you put out went No. 1” (for the record, Cardi has five No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 so far), it’s time for her to put out more music. But the “Up” rapper still feels like the new project is “missing something. I gotta put it out, I gotta put it out next year,” she said, revealing a timeline.

Charlamagne threw out the idea of releasing it on April 6, 2023, to coincide with Invasion of Privacy‘s fifth anniversary, and it sounded like Cardi could be up for it. But time will only tell when exactly to expect her sophomore studio album.

Earlier in the interview, when Charlamagne asked why Cardi was calling in today, she woefully responded, “Because Angela Yee is leaving.” Back in August, Yee revealed she was leaving The Breakfast Club to host her own nationally syndicated daily show, Way Up With Angela Yee, which will launch on iHeartRadio. Cardi topped off her farewell with an a cappella performance of “Until We Meet Again,” the closing theme song from the Playhouse Disney series Out of the Box.

“You’re such a huge part of the show too,” Yee told the chart-topping MC, who’s been a guest a handful of times. But Cardi might be expanding her role on The Breakfast Club as soon as next year: Charlamagne suggested she fill in as a guest-host during the week leading up to her album release date. “Ooh that would be fun,” she replied.

Watch the entire interview below.

Brittany Aldean’s Balenciaga merchandise is getting kicked to the curb.

The wife of country singer Jason Aldean took to Instagram on Wednesday to share her disdain for Balenciaga amid the fashion house’s controversial ad campaign that depicted children holding teddy bears wearing bondage gear and paperwork from a Supreme Court decision on child pornography.

Aldean uploaded a photo of herself taking out the garbage, which included two clear bags filled with Balenciaga items. “It’s trash day,” Aldean wrote, tagging the brand.

The post from Aldean garnered applause from her followers, including husband Jason. “Show em how to ‘walk the walk’ babe!” he wrote to his wife, alongside clapping emojis. Brittany also got support from some fellow country music wives, including Brittney Kelley, wife of Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley, who commented “Same”; HARDY’s wife Caleigh Ryan who wrote “YES HAHA”; and Russell Dickerson’s wife Kailey Dickerson, who said “Yes mama.”

The holiday campaign that launched on Nov. 16 received so much backlash that it prompted the fashion house to release a statement condemning child abuse. “It was never our intent to include it in our narrative,” the brand wrote on Instagram, with comments turned off. “The two separate ad campaigns in question reflect a series of grievous errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility.”

The photographer of the ad, Gabriele Galimberti, also issued a statement on Instagram, writing that he “was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither [choose] the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same.”

Balenciaga filed a $25 million lawsuit against North Six and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins, accusing both parties of taking part in “inexplicable acts and omissions… malevolent or, at the very least, extraordinarily reckless” in the campaign.

While Aldean is receiving praise this time around, over the past few months, she’s stirred up some controversy of her own. The 34-year-old found herself in hot water when she took to Instagram in August, writing alongside a glam video, “I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life.”

She was called out by several musicians, including country superstar Maren Morris, for the transphobic comments. “It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie,” Morris tweeted.

Morris was labeled a “lunatic” by Fox News host Tucker Carlson following the feud, and the country star ended up making and selling T-shirts with the phrase “Lunatic Country Music Person.” She donated the funds to the Trans Lifeline and the GLAAD Transgender Media Program, raising more than $150,000.

Shakira and Ozuna’s bachata collab “Monotonía” simultaneously tops two Billboard airplay charts, as the single jumps to No. 1 on both the Latin Airplay and the Tropical Airplay charts (dated Dec. 3). On the former, the song sends Bizarrap and Quevedo’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52” to No. 3 after its four-week reign.

“Monotonía” rises to No. 1 with a 6% gain in audience impressions, to 8.2 million, earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 27, according to Luminate. On Tropical Airplay, it ascends from the runner-up slot and sends Manuel Turizo’s “La Bachata” to No. 2 following its nine-week lead, the second-most in 2022, after the 10-week domination of Romeo Santo’s “Sus Huellas.”

“Monotonía,” along with its music video, was released Oct. 19 via Sony Music Latin. It earns Shakira her 17th champ on the all-genre Latin Airplay, while Ozuna collects his 30th leader. Let’s look at the scoreboard:

Notably, on Tropical Airplay, “Monotonía” becomes the second collab by two non-core tropical acts to top the chart in 2022. Previously, Rosalía and The Weekend ruled for two weeks with “La Fama” in May. Plus, out of the 12 tracks that hit No. 1 on the tally in 2022, Nio García, Maria Becerra, Camilo, Wisin and Justin Timberlake — also not core-tropical acts — have all dominated at least for one week through a collaboration with tropical artists. Further, both Camilo and Manuel Turizo have also hit No. 1 as soloists.

Here are all the No. 1s on Tropical Airplay in 2022 so far:

Elsewhere, “Monotonía” holds at No. 8 on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs chart for a second week after its No. 3 high (Nov. 5-dated ranking).

The second annual ASCAP Foundation Silent Auction launched Thursday, Dec. 1, with donations supporting music education and talent development programs throughout the country.

The auction items include an autographed vinyl copy of Olivia Rodrigo‘s album Sour, an autographed collection of Selena Gomez beauty products, dinner with Ashanti, a personalized video from The Chainsmokers, an autographed Fender guitar from Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, a bottle of bourbon signed by Chris Stapleton, a hat signed by Alan Jackson, VIP tickets to a show by DJ Steve Aoki in Las Vegas, and more.

The auction, located at charitybuzz.com, will run through Dec. 16.

“For nearly five decades, The ASCAP Foundation has fulfilled ASCAP’s mission to support aspiring music creators at the most fundamental level, by funding music education and talent development programs in schools and communities across the U.S.,” said Nicole George-Middleton, The ASCAP Foundation Executive Director, via a statement. “We are thrilled to host our silent auction for a second year and hope that music lovers everywhere will join in to support The Foundation and land some one-of-a-kind holiday gifts for their family and friends.”

Other donors include Broadway legend Stephen Schwartz, Shawn Mendes, songwriter and writer advocate Paul Williams, country artists Carly Pearce, Old Dominion and Kelsea Ballerini, actress-author Diane Keaton, NBA champion Kevin Durant, Universal Studios, Nightbird Studios and legendary musician-writer-producer Quincy Jones.

The ASCAP Foundation launched in 1975 and is dedicated to supporting American music creators, through encouraging development via music education, talent development and other programs such as songwriting workshops, grants, scholarships, and community outreach programs.

Up-and-coming country singer Jake Flint died over the weekend, just hours after getting married.

Following the tragic news, rumors regarding his cause of death started circulating via Instagram on Tuesday that claimed his death was linked to his COVID-19 vaccination record — a claim that Flint’s representative Clif Doyal is now denying.

“I am the official publicist for Jake Flint and his family,” Doyal shared in a statement to E! News on Thursday (Dec. 1). “I can verify from them, and from my own personal knowledge, that Jake Flint’s sudden and tragic death was not related in any way to the COVID-19 vaccine. Pending an official autopsy report there will be no further comment.”

Flint’s cause of death has yet to be revealed, though Doyal did share that the singer died in his sleep on Saturday morning.

Brenda Cline of Route 66 Entertainment, Flint’s manager, was the first to share the news of his death via Facebook: “With a broken heart and in deep grief I must announce that Jake Flint has tragically passed away. I’ve tried several times today to make a post, but you can’t comment on what you can’t process. The photo below is when Jake and I excitedly signed our artist management contract. That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship and partnership. Jake was even more than that to me, I loved him much like a son.”

The country singer’s wife Brenda also shared that she was in mourning, writing, “We should be going through wedding photos but instead I have to pick out clothes to bury my husband in. People aren’t meant to feel this much pain. My heart is gone and I just really need him to come back. I can’t take much more. I need him here.”