Month: March 2023

Nick Cannon addressed his history of anti-semitic comments and what he learned from the public backlash over them in a new interview that published Friday (March 24).

Speaking to All Hip-Hop, the host of The Masked Singer reflected, “I’m going to be super honest with you, man. That process was a growth moment for me, on so many levels as a man,” after the reporter lumped his past remarks about Jewish people in with similar antisemitic rhetoric from the likes of Kanye West and Kyrie Irving.

Cannon cited his podcast Solutions: To Hate or Not To Hate with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, as a way he’s shown growth on the issue. He said of the podcast: “It’s really talking about the equation of our two communities from two different perspectives. We voice our side, or the perspective as a Black man, and then he voices his side from a Jewish man. Just even that alone is helpful and educational for both communities. And again, because that’s the thing, we can sit up here and be enraged, but if we don’t engage, what are we really doing, if we can’t even learn from one another? And clearly, we all know the issues, we all know the tropes, we all know the stereotypes.”

The singer-actor also said he’s “no longer about just talk.”

“I’m really putting my money where my mouth is and my energy to where my heart is,” the father of 12 said. “To me, that situation says, ‘All right, I’m done talking. Everybody talk. Let’s figure it out, let’s solve it. What’s the problem?’ The next people who say something in front of a microphone can have an understanding of what it is, so they don’t stumble and fumble and have to lose opportunities or get so-called canceled and all of that stuff on the next go around. Really, it’s just about bringing people closer together. Ultimately, nobody’s monolithic, but we’re all one organism that allows this thing to keep pumping.”

Back in the summer of 2020, Cannon perpetuated controversial conspiracy theories about Jewish people on his now-axed podcast Cannon’s Class during a conversation with former Public Enemy member Professor Griff.

While he issued a public apology at the time, he was fired by ViacomCBS from his long-running MTV improv show Wild ‘N Out. (The media company has since resumed its working relationship with the star.)

Shawn Mendes got a little too much sun on his recent trip to Mexico. The 24-year-old pop star posted a series of photos from his time in the country Sunday (March 26), including a couple snapshots showing off his buff upper body glowing a painful-looking shade of red.

One of the captionless photos shows the “Señorita” singer from the front, laughing off the sting of his scorched skin. Another shows him in the same spot, facing away from the camera, the outline of a tank top temporarily stamped on his back.

Mendes also shared photos of the sights he explored in Mexico City, including the pyramids of Teotihuacan, a street musician and a cluttered bookstore. The sunburn photos definitely got the most attention from friends and followers though, with One Republic’s Ryan Tedder commenting, “Protek that skin bruhhhh.”

The Grammy nominee’s brush with strong UV waves isn’t the first time he’s faced the elements recently. Shortly after the winter holidays, he took an underwear-only dip into an ice cold river and posted a video of the adventure to Instagram.

The musician’s trip to Mexico comes just a few days after he denied rumors he’s dating Sabrina Carpenter, with whom he’s been photographed a couple times in the past month or so. “We are not dating but I think we should talk about Tommy Hilfiger probably more than Sabrina,” he reportedly told RTL Boulevard during an interview about his recent Tommy X Shawn Classics Reborn collection with the designer.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has enlisted a pair of his celebrity friends to help spread the word about his family’s new multi-million dollar effort to fight back against an unprecedented wave of antisemitism in America.

People reported that the 81-year-old billionaire is investing $25 million in a multi-level campaign to fight antisemitism through his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS), teaming up with the Patriots’ former QB legend, Tom Brady, as well as rapper Meek Mill to help spread word about their efforts.

The Foundation has been promoting stories about efforts to combat anti-Jewish hate on its social feeds and is launching a campaign with a blue square emoji that Kraft said he hopes will “educate all Americans” on the rise of hateful acts against Jewish Americans. “What’s happening in America today, it is a big part of my life,” Kraft told People. “There’s been work done that shows that 50% of Americans do not realize that antisemitism is any problem, and the Jewish population is roughly 2.4% of the population in the US but yet receives over 55% of the hate crimes.”

Kraft said the American Jewish community — which numbers approximately 7.6 million per most recent estimates — needs the help of “all Americans” to combat the highest level of antisemitism in the country in a quarter century; the ADL recently reported that antisemitic incidents increased 36% in 2022.

The Patriots owner said he’s already reached out to recently re-retired QB Brady about the blue emoji symbol in advance of the new campaign’s launch. “He and I are still very tight and he will be using this blue emoji when we kick off again,” Kraft said, noting that he hopes the emoji will become a “symbol of solidarity” that will help fight anti-Jewish hate and other forms of discrimination.

Mill — who has received funding from Kraft to build his REFORM Alliance to push for parole/sentencing/probation reform — is also on board with the team owner’s cause. In fact, People reported that Meek (born Robert Rihmeek Williams) will fly with Kraft to Poland next month, where the NFL boss will lead the this year’s annual March of the Living event that takes thousands of visitors on a walk between the remains of concentration camps in the country.

The billionaire said he wanted Meek to join him in Poland to “see what went on” in Holocaust death camps. “So when I tell you there are 15 million Jews in the world today, what happened 75, 80 years ago with the killing of 6 million, they would’ve represented 60, 70 million people today,” Kraft said. “And it is really horrible.”

Check out FCAS’ YouTube video for its #StandUpToJewishHate campaign below.

Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time notches a third straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 1). The set earned 209,500 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending March 23 (down 19%), according to Luminate. It debuted at No. 1 with 501,000 units, then tallied 259,000 in its second frame.

In the last 12 months, only two albums have exceeded 200,000 units in each of their first three weeks: One Thing at a Time and Taylor Swift’s Midnights (which surpassed 200,000 in each of its first four weeks).

The last album by a male act to spend its first three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 was Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, which also spent its first three frames atop the list (Sept. 18-Oct. 2, 2021-dated charts).

Further, in the last 10 years, only two country albums have clocked at least three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and both are by Wallen: One Thing at a Time, his last album, Dangerous: The Double Album (10 weeks at No. 1 in 2021). (Country albums are considered those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.)

Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 chart, U2 collects its 13th top 10-charting effort, as Songs of Surrender debuts at No. 5. The retrospective sees U2 revisiting its own catalog, re-recording and re-interpreting familiar hit songs from the band’s career. Among the tracks including on the project: “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “One,” “Pride (In the Name of Love)” and “I Will Follow.”

Plus, U2 becomes only the fourth group with a newly-charting top 10 title on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and now the ‘20s.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new April 1, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on March 28. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of One Thing at a Time’s 209,500 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 23, SEA units comprise 194,000 (down 17%, equaling 256.13 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 36 songs), album sales comprise 12,500 (down 41%) and TEA units comprise 3,000 (down 12%).

SZA’s chart-topping SOS climbs 4-2 on the Billboard 200 with 72,000 equivalent album units earned (though down 5%), while Swift’s former leader Midnights jumps 6-3 with 61,000 units (up 31%) following her Eras Tour launch on March 17. Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation falls 3-4 in its second week with 49,000 units (down 59%).

U2’s Songs of Surrender debuts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with 46,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 42,000, SEA units comprise 4,000 equaling 4.99 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise 500. The retrospective re-records project is available in multiple editions, including a standard 16-track edition, a 20-track deluxe and a 40-track super deluxe (with the latter divided into four 10-track chapters named after each band member: Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr.). Sales were also aided by a dozen vinyl variants of the album, including exclusive editions sold by Amazon, Target and independent retailers.

U2 is the fourth group to achieve a newly-charting top 10 album on the Billboard 200 chart in the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and now the ‘20s. The quartet joins AC/DC, Def Leppard and Metallica.

Rounding out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 are five former No. 1s: Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito (5-6 with 45,000 equivalent album units earned; down 15%); Dangerous: The Double Album (a non-mover at No. 7 with 42,000; down 2%); Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (holding at No. 8 with 40,000; up 3%); Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (10-9 with 38,000; up 12%); and Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (9-10 with 37,000; up 1%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

Kelly Clarkson has officially announced the title of her upcoming post-divorce album.

The 40-year-old pop superstar and television personality shared the exciting news through social media on Sunday (March 26), revealing details about the album’s title, Chemistry, and assuring fans that new music will be arriving very soon.

“I’ve been working on this project for close to three years now. I wasn’t sure I was going to release it, but I am. The album is called Chemistry,” Clarkson said in a video on Instagram.

“I was trying to find a word, it might be one of the songs on the album, but I was trying to find a word that really described the whole thing. I didn’t want everybody to think I was just coming out with some ‘I’m angry,’ ‘I’m sad’ — just one or two emotions. This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship.”

The Kelly Clarkson Show host added, “That whole relationship shouldn’t be brought down to one thing. There’s the good, the bad and the ugly kind of thing going on. Chemistry can be a really amazing, sexy, cool, fun thing, but it can also be very bad for you. So that’s why I named it Chemistry, I thought it was the perfect title to describe the entire album.”

Clarkson did not reveal a specific release date for Chemistry, but said the album is “coming out soon” and noted that new music from the forthcoming release is “coming out even sooner.”

The songstress said in a September 2022 interview with Variety that she had been working on new music in the wake of her separation and subsequent divorce filing from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock in 2020.

“My producer and I were laughing yesterday because I was like, ‘Remember that time we wrote, like, 25 songs in a week?’ A lot of those are the ones that are on the album,” Clarkson told Variety. “I literally wrote most of these almost two years ago. Then I told my label, ‘I can’t talk about this until I’ve gone through it,’ and it’s just taken some time to do that. That’s one of the reasons we’ve done a lot of Christmas stuff the past two years — because I was like, ‘Well, that’s happy!’”

Clarkson’s most recent album, the holiday release When Christmas Comes Around, arrived in 2021. Prior to that, she dropped her eighth studio album, 2017’s Meaning of Life, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

The singer’s upcoming Chemistry album was reportedly inspired by the “emotional journey” she went through during her tumultuous split with Blackstone, with whom she has two young children.

“I hadn’t really been working hardcore on an album until I needed to. I was just very busy,” Clarkson said of the album, which will be released on Atlantic Records.

“There were so many jobs, and I’m a single mom — well, even with being married, it’s a lot, trying to fit kids’ schedules in and all that stuff. But then the whole divorce thing happened, and I needed to write it. And then I didn’t know if I was going to release it, because you can be very angry in that state of mind. So some of the songs, they definitely cover the gamut of emotions; there’s everything on the album. It’s almost like the arc of a relationship, because the beginning is so beautiful and so sweet, and then it evolves. And sometimes it doesn’t evolve how you want.”

Watch Clarkson’s Chemistry album announcement on Instagram below.