Month: August 2023

Despite being in the midst of one of the best selling tours of the year, there are some people who are not fans of Taylor Swift. Emily Ratajkowski was one of them — that is, until she saw the pop star live and in person.

Ratajkowski sat down with Troye Sivan for the July 25 episode of her podcast, High Low With EmRata. During the pair’s talk, the two started chatting about Swift — Sivan once performed alongside Swift during the Reuptation Tour in 2018 and have been friends since — and Ratajkowski revealed that there was a point in time which she was not a fan of the singer or her music.

“I was not a Swiftie and now I’m like, ‘You know what that means? That means I was a misogynist that I didn’t f–k with Taylor Swift,” she told Sivan. “I went to her concert and I was like, ‘This person is an incredible songwriter, an incredible performer, and anybody who says anything else? Like, they have issues. And actually maybe not a very sophisticated palette.’ … If you don’t like Taylor Swift, then, like, you don’t understand things.”

Elsewhere during the podcast, Ratajkowski and Sivan spoke about their sexuality, with the “Rush” singer revealing that the online queer community online thinks he’s “some crazy power bottom.” Clearing up the rumors, Sivan said, “I think sometimes people are just surprised, maybe if they go on a date with me, and I’m like, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m not a bottom.’”

As for Swift, the pop star is slated to continue the final dates of The Eras Tour in the United States, which includes six dates at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium (Aug. 3-5 and 7-9).

JoJo Siwa is the proud owner of a tattoo. The Dance Moms alum revealed on Tuesday (Aug. 1) that she took the plunge and got a special number inked behind her left ear with two people in tow for support — Raven-Symoné and wife Miranda Pearman-Maday.

Siwa showed off photos of her getting the tattoo — which read “1031” in delicate text — via Snapchat, while Pearman-Maday shared snaps to her Instagram Stories of Siwa and the That’s So Raven star at the tattoo table. On of the posts read, “bb’s first tattoo.” 

On Snapchat, the 20-year-old explained the meaning behind her new ink. “The official meaning [of] 1031 is how many days my first concert tour lasted, but then ’03 is the year that I was born,” she said. “Three is a significant number, but I can’t say why yet,” she added. 

Siwa also explained that she developed a fast friendship with Raven-Symoné and Pearman-Maday. She also shared it was originally going to be the married couple getting tattooed, but Siwa felt the urge after seeing her friends go for it.

“Here’s the tea: Raven and Miranda have become two of my best friends, and they are going to get a tattoo today. I’m going with them to watch them and support them,” she said before getting her tattoo. “However, we all know I want to get 1031 behind my right ear. I’ve known it for a long time. Today might be my day. I don’t know. I might do it. I really might do it. Raven and Miranda are convinced that I’m going to do it.  I am 99% convinced I want to do it. I’m just undecided on the font.”

Watch Siwa show off her new tattoo here.

Music icon Beyoncé graced New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium for the latest stops on her bombastic Renaissance World Tour on July 29 and 30. Featuring a bevy of stunning high-fashion costumes, show-stopping vocal performances and a pair of dance numbers from Grammy-winner Blue Ivy Carter, the tour is yet another triumph for the superstar. And on Tuesday (Aug. 1), multimedia mogul Oprah Winfrey took to Instagram to sing Queen Bey’s praises after attending Sunday night’s show.

“I have never in my life experienced anything like that. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t scream, I was in awe,” the legendary talk-show host said. “I am in awe of that kind of talent, that kind of synergy, what it takes to do that, that kind of expression, that kind of anointing. I mean that is a thing that’s coming straight from a source that creates the planet. That is like the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever seen. The most extraordinary show I’ve ever seen.”

Oprah took in the Renaissance World Tour alongside Gayle King and Tina Knowles, with other celebrities such as Madonna also in attendance. Beyoncé’s MetLife shows fell on the one-year anniversary of her Billboard 200-topping Renaissance album. Her seventh solo studio album, Renaissance spawned two Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits — “Break My Soul” (No. 1) and “Cuff It” (No. 6) — and won four Grammys including best dance/electronica album.

In a Monday (July 31) Instagram post, Oprah, King and Knowles sang and danced along as Beyoncé performed a lively rendition of the Grammy-winning “Break My Soul.” “I have never in my life experienced something as transcendent as Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour,” Oprah wrote in the caption. “The dancers, the production, the musicians, and the team in front and behind the scenes, all perfectly align to create a renaissance in today’s world. You must see it.”

Check out Oprah’s awestruck Instagram posts below:

Offset and Cardi B have weathered their share of adultery rumors — some of them false and some of them very, very true — but in a recent interview, the Migos rapper revealed that he’s ready to officially put all of them to bed.

Speaking on the Way Up With Yee show, ‘Set confirmed that no, his wife didn’t cheat on him, in spite of what he alleged in June in a quickly deleted Instagram Story. Shortly after he posted it, Cardi shut down the accusations on Twitter Spaces, but public concerns over their relationship still lingered.

Fortunately, the couple is doing just fine, as confirmed by the “54321” rapper in the interview. And, explaining why he posted the accusation in the first place, he shared that the drama all stemmed from an argument he and his Bronx-born spouse were already having behind the scenes.

“So that post, to be honest, me and her, that’s my wife, I love her to death,” he said. “We going back and forth. And if you’ve got a New York woman, you know she’s a pit bull at the mouth.”

“She get crazy at the mouth a little bit, and I was really lit that night,” he continued, confessing he’d been drinking quite a bit of tequila at the time. “We was going back and forth and I’m like, ‘Watch this.’ And it’s like she got a crazy mouth, but I love my wife at the end of the day and she crazy, man … We’re crazy for each other.”

When asked if he thought it was necessary to publicly take back his accusation, Offset replied, “The delete is enough. At the end of the day, them people don’t be really knowing what’s really going on with us for real.”

The musician’s sentiment echoes the message of “Jealousy,” his new song featuring — who else? — Cardi B. On the track, the couple takes turns slamming those who speculate on their relationship, with the “WAP” rapper at one point quipping, “They’re too worried ’bout me and my n—a/ You should worry ’bout the n—a yours sleep with.”

To be fair, though, Offset and Cardi — who share 5-year-old daughter Kulture and nearly 2-year-old son Wave — have certainly given fans a lot to talk about over the course of their marriage. The former reportedly cheated on the latter, and Cardi filed for divorce in 2020. (The filing was dismissed less than two months later after the couple reunited.)

Offset got real about the reasons why he was unfaithful to the “Up” musician in his Way Up interview, sharing that his infidelity was partly fueled by his drug and alcohol use. “When I did do that, I was in a different space,” he admitted. “I was young. I had just got married. I’m getting a lot of money. Really it was communication.”

“We had got married and our communication was good, but it wasn’t understanding my wants and needs and vice versa,” he added. “Sometimes it feel like you bump heads when you’re not communicating. I was making bad decisions and I was really realizing it was affecting my family … but all my growth, why you think she love me how she love me? My growth, I done showed I’m not gonna do this. I’m a real one. I ain’t gonna keep playing with you. It’s heartbreaking, it’s wrong.”

Listen to Offset open up about his relationship with Cardi above.

Beginning Tuesday (Aug. 1), popular New York City restaurant Sei Less will launch its special menu in honor of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Paying homage to celebrated songs, albums and musicians in the culture, Sei Less created unique appetizers, entrees, desserts, and cocktails as a prix fixe meal for $50. 

“We’re incredibly grateful for the hip-hop community’s support of Sei Less, so we wanted to find a special way to express our appreciation and honor the hip-hop artists that have pushed the culture forward,” Sei Less founder Dara Mirjahangiry tells Billboard. “Since we’re a New York City restaurant, we intentionally wanted to pay homage to a multigenerational group of New York City hip-hop artists that have played an integral part in our success. But at the end of the day, we’re thankful for all the artists that have dined at our restaurant and we’re proud to celebrate such an iconic anniversary for hip-hop.” 

Some of the meals consist of the “Unforgettable,” an ode to French Montana that is a crispy rock shrimp appetizer and a favorite of the Bronx rapper at the restaurant. Another dish is an entree, a nod to Cardi B’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “I Like It,” which is an order of Beijing chicken, a previous meal she had while dining at the establishment. On the dessert front, fans can devour the “I Know What You Want,” a double chocolate mousse with chocolate sauce honoring Busta Rhymes, or “The Last Temptation,” a vanilla creme brulee with raspberry and yuzu meringue saluting Ja Rule. 

Fans can also enjoy two premium-shelf VIP cocktails named after prominent albums from Jay-Z and Diddy for $50, respectively. Dubbed The Blueprint and The Saga Continues, each drink caters to the artists’ liquor brands D’USSE and Deleon. 

The extensive list of celebrities who have frequented the NYC hotspot ranges from Kanye West, Cardi B, Diddy, Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Future, Fat Joe and NBA superstar James Harden to French soccer star Kylian Mbappe. 

Check out the HipHop50 menu below. 

As Tim McGraw prepares to hit the road in 2024 for his Standing Room Only Tour featuring Carly Pearce, the singer and 1883 actor is speaking out about the troubling trend of concertgoers throwing items onstage at artists.

“I think it’s terrible,” McGraw told CNN in a new interview. “I mean, you could really injure somebody and you could miss and hit somebody in the audience and injure somebody. What happens if somebody gets hurt? Then it ruins the show for everybody … if somebody can’t continue performing.”

In recent months, a rash of such incidents have occurred. Kelsea Ballerini had a bracelet thrown at her that hit her in the face. Kane Brown and Morgan Wallen have each been struck by boots that were thrown onstage. Bebe Rexha was hit in the face by a cell phone, requiring her to get stitches. Cardi B recently retaliated by throwing her microphone at a concertgoer who splashed a drink on the singer.

McGraw added, “I’m used to soft goods being thrown at me. And that’s fine, but don’t throw anything that’s got any heft to it that’s gonna hurt somebody. I just think that it’s just not appropriate to do. Everybody’s there to have fun and there’s just no need in any of that. Hopefully it doesn’t happen, but I’ll try to stay calm if it does.”

McGraw will launch his Standing Room Only Tour in March of next year, and is preparing for the release of the tour’s namesake album, McGraw’s 17th studio project, in August.

“I wanted this music on this album to reflect life in general and be life-affirming and positive,” he said of the music the album contains, noting that much of the album was crafted during the pandemic. “I wanted the music to sort of reflect that, living the good life and being the best person that you can be and knowing we all make mistakes, but you wake up the next day and try to be a better person.”