Janet Jackson announced that she will release a new album in 2022, and that a new single will arrive by the end of this year via her label, Rhythm Nation Records.

Jackson offered no additional details about the forthcoming single, although she did reveal production credits for the album, which will be her first since 2015’s Unbreakable. The album will find her reuniting with production/songwriting duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, as well as collaborating with Darrel Randle, Ralph Johnson (a founding member of Earth, Wind & Fire), Siedah Garret, and Marcel East.

The news comes in advance of the release of Janet, a four-hour documentary that chronicles her personal life and career that arrives in January via Lifetime and A&E. She executive-produced the documentary alongside Randy Jackson.

The Ben Hirsch-directed two-part film will include archival footage, never-before-seen home videos, and celebrity interviews, including chats with Missy Elliott, Paula Abdul and Mariah Carey. It follows Jackson and her family following the death of her father Joseph, the patriarch of the Jackson dynasty who died in 2018. Jackson also discusses her 2004 Super Bowl performance with Justin Timberlake, the death of her brother Michael Jackson, and becoming a mother.

Jackson was originally slated to release her 12th studio album Black Diamond along with an accompanying tour in 2020, but both were postponed due to the pandemic.

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Britney Spears announced on Sunday that she was engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Sam Asghari, three months after she told a Los Angeles judge that the conservatorship that has governed her life since 2008 was robbing her of the ability to make personal decisions.

Brandon Cohen, a talent manager for Mr. Asghari, confirmed the engagement on Sunday night.

“The couple made their longstanding relationship official today and are deeply touched by the support, dedication and love expressed to them,” Mr. Cohen said.

Ms. Spears and Mr. Asghari each shared posts on Instagram to announce the engagement and to show off Ms. Spears’s ring.

Mr. Cohen said a New York City jeweler, Roman Malayev, designed the ring.

The engagement came just days after lawyers for Ms. Spears’s father, James P. Spears, wrote in a filing, “If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance.”

Ms. Spears gave a statement in her case in June, sharing that she had been drugged, forced to work and prevented from removing her birth control device.

“I just want my life back,” Ms. Spears said. “I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive. I don’t feel like I can live a full life.”

In her statement, Ms. Spears said that under the conservatorship she was not able to marry or have a child.

“I want to be able to get married and have a baby,” the singer said. “I was told right now in the conservatorship I am not able to get married or have a baby.”

In a highly contested legal battle, Ms. Spears in July filed to have her father removed from his role as conservator of her estate. Mr. Spears initially pushed back on the request, but announced last month that he would step aside and work with the court to assure “an orderly transition to a new conservator.”

Mr. Asghari is an actor who has worked on a number of movies and TV shows, including the Showtime series “Black Monday.” He also works as a fitness trainer.

Mr. Asghari told Men’s Health in 2018 that he met Ms. Spears in 2016 while working on a music video for her song “Slumber Party.”

Ms. Spears has been married twice before. In 2004 she married Jason Alexander, a childhood friend, for 55 hours.

Later that year, Ms. Spears married Kevin Federline, a backup dancer, actor and rapper; they have two sons. Ms. Spears filed for divorce from Mr. Federline in 2006.

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When The Pussycat Dolls announced their reunion back in 2019, fans were hopeful that the group had turned over a new leaf. The girls seemed more bonded than ever in interviews, there were promises that all five of them would get a chance to sing (and not just frontwoman and "featured artist" Nicole Scherzinger), and their first new release in over a decade teased the impressive choreography the group was known for in their heyday.

Sadly, things have never been smooth sailing in the Pussycat Dolls camp, and their reunion is no exception. Following several COVID-related delays and a seriously weird music video for 'Santa Baby', reports have now emerged stating that Scherzinger is being sued by Robin Antin, the group's mastermind and manager.

The lawsuit relates to the deal that was made in preparation for the group's reunion tour, in which Scherzinger agreed to accept 49% of Pussycat Dolls Worldwide's shares and profits for the tour in exchange for her participation. Antin, the CEO of Pussycat Dolls Worldwide and the creator of the group, apparently "only agreed to transfer the shares to Scherzinger based upon Scherzinger's promise to perform as part of the reunion tour".

While she initially agreed to the terms of this deal, Scherzinger has since reneged on her commitment to the tour, and is now demanding full creative control over the show and a larger share in the group's business. Scherzinger is now demanding 75% of Pussycat Dolls Worldwide and "final decision-making authority" over the group's output, and is threatening not to participate in the tour until her demands are met. "Tour dates were planned but are unable to be confirmed because of Scherzinger's extortion," Antin's lawyers stated.

The court case has grown to include more than just PCD, with tour promoter Live Nation now asking for a refund on their $600 000 investment into the shows.

The lawsuit will surely throw a wrench in the group's plans to reunite, which were already delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reuniting for the first time in late 2019, the group released comeback single 'React' as promotion for their concert tour, dubbed the Unfinished Business Tour, and teased more music to come, with many fans expecting a Greatest Hits album to match their tour. Naturally, the tour dates were pushed into late 2020 before being rescheduled for 2021, and fans have heard no news regarding rescheduled dates since March of this year, all of which are currently listed as "To Be Confirmed".

Is Nicole within her rights to demand more money as the frontwoman of PCD? Or is this more of the diva behaviour that we've long suspected of her? Let us know in the comments below!

After years of delay and teasing on social media, ABBA have officially reunited, announcing the new album Voyage out November 6th.

Although the Swedish pop group sang “Me and I” at a private gala in 2016 — their first time performing since 1986 — this marks their first time officially reuniting in 40 years. Ahead of the release, they dropped the reflective ballad “I Still Have Faith In You,” with a video montage of the group throughout the years.

In addition, ABBA will also perform a digital concert on May 27th, 2022 — which they first announced in 2016. Made through George Lucas’ Industry Light & Magic, Abba Voyage will take place at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s arena in London. General tickets are available on September 7th.

“It’s been a while since we made music together,” the band said in a statement. “Almost 40 years, actually. We took a break in the spring of 1982 and now we’ve decided it’s time to end it. They say it’s foolhardy to wait more than 40 years between albums, so we’ve recorded a follow-up to The Visitors. We simply call it Voyage and we’re truly sailing in uncharted waters.”

“It’s hard to say what’s been the most joyful thing for me with this project,” Andersson said. “If it’s the involvement in creating the concert together with everyone or being back in the studio together again after 40 years. I think hearing Frida and Agnetha singing again is hard to beat.” Added Anni-Frid Lyngstad: “Those first sessions back in 2018 were such fun, and when Benny called and asked if I’d consider singing some more I jumped  at  it!”

39 years after the release of their last album, ABBA are set to reunite this week to announce a new hologram-led tour and the release of their first new music in decades.

The supergroup has launched social media profiles for their new project entitled ABBA Voyage, which fans presume will be the name of their new tour. First announced five years ago, the tour won't feature the group members themselves who are all in their 70s, but life-like holograms known as "abbatars" who will replicate the band's appearance from their heyday. Set to launch by spring of 2019, the tour has been delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic but is currently scheduled to take off in 2022.

Along with a tour, the group have also reunited in the studio to record new music. In 2018, the foursome announced that they had recorded two new songs together entitled 'I Still Have Faith In You' and 'Don't Shut Me Down'. Since then, however, the band has continued to create new music together, with Benny Andersson confirming the existence of a third song in 2019 and Björn Ulvaeus stating in 2020 that the group had written eight new songs together with five of them being recorded so far. 

At least one of the songs will be released as a single, with Ulvaeus stating in 2020 that a music video costing £15 million has been produced for the track staring the abbatars. Some of the tracks will also feature in a TV special entitled ABBA: Thank You for the Music, An All-Star Tribute, which fans anticipate to be released alongside the new music.

With the ABBA Voyage social media accounts teasing an announcement for 2 September, fans won't have long to wait until all becomes apparent.

Formerly one fourth of the most successful girl group of the 2010s, Jesy Nelson made waves last year when she announced her official departure from Little Mix due to mental health reasons. Now, she's opening up about her reasoning behind leaving the group in her first big push as a solo artist with The Guardian - and it sounds like the decision wasn't entirely hers.

Speaking about whether her mental health issues made it tough for the other girls over the years, Nelson said, "Of course. Course. We’ve all had our own problems. But it’s never nice to be around someone who’s down and doesn’t want to be there. As much as I needed to come out of it for myself, I didn’t want to keep putting three other people through that as well."

And when asked specifically about the lead-up to her ultimate departure, Nelson went into even more detail:

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"I was having these panic attacks out of nowhere. I couldn’t understand what was happening. It got to the point where I thought, this is too much – I need to come out of this now."

Nelson has been calm, but starts to cry. “I did the music video and had a panic attack, and it was pretty mental that day. God, I haven’t really spoken about it and I’m getting upset. Sorry.” She brushes her tears away. “After the video I just got back in a really dark place and ended up back in hospital. That was when my mum said, ‘No more.’” The tears are still falling, and she grabs another tissue. “I had already decided. Then the girls spoke to Mum and said, ‘We think Jesy should come out of this now. She has to look after herself.’” So in the end it was their decision as much as hers? “Yeah,” she says. “Yeah. I know there are people who think I’ve let the other girls down, and that I’m so selfish, but I do think there comes a time in life when you do have to be selfish and look after yourself, and it was really affecting me mentally.”

“Certain people on my team didn’t care.” She comes to a stop. “I’m not talking about the girls. There were people on my team who knew how I was feeling and didn’t give a ****. They just weren’t bothered.” She means management? “Yep. There was an energy when I walked into a room. I felt there were certain people on my team who just didn’t want me to be there.”

But although times may have been difficult between her and the other three girls, Nelson is confident that the group will have continued success without her. “I reckon they’ll look after their babies, go off and do their own things for a while, then make a comeback together. I think they’re just as sick as a three. They’re still doing it for girl power. I still love them to pieces. They were like my sisters.” 

Long-lost sisters, perhaps. When asked if she still keeps in touch with the girls still performing as Little Mix, Nelson responded in the negative. “No, not as much. Not now. I think we all need time. It’s a big thing that’s happened. What I’ve said about a million times is that I never said I’m coming out of the band to never be in the public eye again. I said I’m coming out of Little Mix because I could not deal with the pressure of being in a girl band, not that I can’t deal with the pressures of being in the spotlight or being famous.”

Time will tell how her solo career turns out.

After 13 years of a conservatorship which she has said has left her "abused" and "traumatized", things are suddenly moving very very quickly in Britney Spears' efforts to reclaim her own independence.

Just a week after a well-publicised court day in which she addressed the conservatorship publicly for the first time, and four days after her co-conservator Bessamer Trust officially quit, Britney has now made it known that she has no plans to return to music anytime soon.

While she has yet to discuss her plans publicly, Britney's longtime manager Larry Rudolph (who, incidentally, she alluded to several times during her court hearing) has revealed the news in a letter he sent to Britney's co-conservators - her father Jamie Spears and the controversial Jodi Montgomery. As well as the bombshell about her retirement, Rudolph's letter also elicited other tidbits of information, including the fact that he hadn't talked to her in over two and a half years until today - an interesting point given that her record label has released several songs under her name in the last year alone.

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James P. Spears and Jodi Montgomery, as co-executors of the estate of Britney Spears:

It has been over 2 1/2 years since Britney and I last communicated, at which time she informed me she wanted to take an indefinite work hiatus. Earlier today, I became aware that Britney had been voicing her intention to officially retire.

As you know, I have never been a part of the conservatorship nor its operations, so I am not privy to many of these details. I was originally hired at Britney’s request to help manage and assist her with her career. And as her manager, I believe it is in Britney’s best interest for me to resign from her team as my professional services are no longer needed.

Please accept this letter as my formal resignation.

I will always be incredibly proud of what we accomplished over our 25 years together. I wish Britney all the health and happiness in the world, and I’ll be there for her if she ever needs me again, just as I always have been.

Larry Rudolph

While we're somewhat reluctant to trust anything that Britney allegedly said that we're not hearing from her very own mouth, Britney's plans to retire haven't come as a total surprise to fans. Last year, her son Jayden stated in a controversial Instagram live that Britney may never return to performing; and in her own Instagram posts, Britney has said that was unsure if she would ever return to music again.

Still, the news is a sad moment for Britney fans who have supported her recording career for the last 23 years.

Your thoughts?

Mariah Carey made headlines last year with the reveal of Chick, an alt-rock group she created at the peak of her fame in 1995 which went undiscovered for years. Now, she's made headlines again with the reveal that the band may return - with an unlikely frontwoman.

Mariah initially created Chick during the sessions for the Daydream album in 1995, inspired by the likes of female rock singer-songwriters such as Blondie and Pat Benatar. At the time, the harder, grungier sessions made a welcome respite from the highly controlled, perfect image that Mariah had cultivated during her R&B work. "I created an alter-ego artist and her Ziggy Stardust-like spoof band," Mariah stated in her book. "My character was a dark-haired brooding Goth girl [a version of her, Bianca, showed up a few years later in the ‘Heartbreaker’ video] who wrote and sang ridiculous tortured songs."

During her months of sessions at New York's Hit Factory, Mariah made enough material as Chick to release an entire album with the group, entitled Someone's Ugly Daughter. Sadly, record label executives refused to release the album, believing that it would negatively impact her image and chart success. Mariah ended up removing her vocals from the album and replacing them with those of her friends Clarissa Dane, and the album was released to little fanfare back in September of 1995.

While Mariah has mentioned several times that she's continuing to search for a version of the album with her own vocals included, a new interview podcast has cast doubt on a Mariah-led version of the album ever being released at all. Speaking with Questlove on his Questlove Supreme podcast, Mariah mentioned that she now has someone else in mind to take over the role of frontwoman.

"I actually [have] been having conversations with someone, I'm not going to name, about doing another version of Chick, some of those songs and writing couple of new ones," Mariah revealed. "And I'm asking you now, if you will write those with me or at least like explore it because she's a young 16-year-old girl, who is very famous, and she's perfect for this. [...] She's an actress, but she wants to sing as well. And we've already had conversations about it and I'm planning on, hopefully, working on it this coming month."

While Mariah didn't reveal any solid information about who she had in mind for the role, fans minds immediately jumped to Stranger Things star and Carey-bestie Millie Bobby Brown. Brown ticks the boxes as a sixteen year old actress who wants to get into singing, and her close relationship with Mariah (she recently appeared in Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special on Apple TV) means that it's likely she's the one in mind for the project.

But the question remains: can she sing? Check out a little acapella moment from an interview a few years ago and let us know what you think:

In news that proves that World War III is just a phone call away, Billie Eilish has been announced as the singer for the theme to the upcoming James Bond film, No Time To Die.

Adding her name to the exclusive list of Bond singers fronted by the likes of Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Blondie, Nancy Sinatra and Adele, Eilish will become the youngest singer to be chosen for the honour, and arguably the one with the most to prove.

The choice of Eilish aligns with the new, modern Bond film the producers seem to be trying to make. No Time To Die will feature the first female 007, and a script re-write courtesy of Killing Eve's Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Aligning with this modern Bond is the theme song's announcement, which in typical millennial fashion happened over Twitter.

No word yet on how Lana Del Rey is handling this news, but we can't say we're not disappointed.

Your thoughts?

Britney Spears has been all over the news recently, despite - and perhaps because of - a conspicuous absence in the public eye. Whether it's news of her scrapped shows, talk of her father's illness or the leaking of her unreleased music video for 'Make Me', Britney fans have had a lot to talk about - and without Brit herself around to clear the air, rumours have started running wild and the #FreeBritney hashtag has officially gone viral.

One particularly interesting story comes from the Britney's Gram podcast, who recently claimed to have been contacted by a lawyer with insider knowledge of Britney's current conservatorship, which apparently reaches as far as forcing her into taking specific drugs and admitting her into a rehab facility against her will. Of course, none of this information has been confirmed by anyone in Britney's team, but Britney's Gram claims to have confirmed their source's legitimacy and his story does seem to add up.

This particular story begins on January 5th, when Britney announced that she was putting her Domination Vegas residency on hold for the foreseeable future while she put her "full focus and energy on her family". According to a press statement released by Britney's team, Britney's father Jamie had recently suffered from a spontaneous rupture of the colon and was admitted into surgery, staying in hospital for 28 days. While Jamie was apparently home and expected to make a full recovery, Britney had decided to postpone the tour while she cared for him.

Several months later, on April 3rd, it was reported by TMZ that Britney had checked herself into a mental health facility approximately a week prior, and would spend a total of thirty days inside the facility. According to the outlet, Britney was "distraught" over her father's poor health, and needed to take time out to look after herself. Again, Britney alluded to the news in an Instagram post: a strange move considering that most rehab facilities ban personal mobile phones. 

Britney's alleged visit to a mental health facility became even more difficult to believe when, four days ago, she was spotted out in Los Angeles getting her hair done. While we didn't originally have any proof to confirm that she was out in public, a recent Instagram story from Hannah Kirkelie can officially confirm it.

Now, an unnamed source has contacted Britney's Gram to provide the alleged truth behind this story. According to the unnamed source, who until recently worked as a paralegal at a large-scale legal firm dealing with Britney's conservatorship, the public has been lied to since January.

According to the source, Britney was looking forward to starting the Domination residency in January, but was stopped short by Jamie when he discovered that she had not been taking her regular medication as prescribed. Britney was taken to her regular psychologist who suggested another type of medication; but when she refused this as well, Jamie gave her an ultimatum. Britney was told that she must either take the medication and continue the residency, or cancel the shows and live medication-free. Britney called his bluff, and the show was cancelled, with Jamie allegedly saying "Blame it on my illness".

Several days later, Britney was spotted (for the last time in months) at an In-N-Out drivethrough with her boyfriend Sam Asghari. According to the source, this was significant as driving for Britney is not allowed and is considered a "no no" by her team. Jamie, allegedly colluding with Britney's manager Larry Rudolph, used this as an impetus to send Britney to a mental health facility, with no timeframe specified for when she'll leave. Britney had no influence in the decision, and allegedly told her father she did not want to go. She has been in the facility since January - several months before her team said she had entered.

Allegedly, this move was so shocking that a key member of Britney's team resigned as a result of it. Since 2008, Britney's life has been meticulously handled by her conservators: her father Jamie, who makes $150 000 a year in the role, and a lawyer named Andrew Wallet, who apparently made $420 000. Upon learning of Britney's forced entry, Wallet apparently feared disbarment and was confirmed to have resigned as conservator on March 4th, leaving Jamie as the sole person in charge of Britney's mental health.

What's even more interesting about Wallet's resignation is the fact that Britney herself filed a motion with the court on the same day: the first time she's done so in the eleven years of her conservatorship. Sadly, because the court records are sealed, we have no idea what was in them.

If true, the story paints an incredibly sad picture for what life must be like as Britney Spears. The idea that Britney is being forced to take drugs against her will is tragic, and the fact that she is taken away from her work and family with forced visits to mental health facilities is even more horrible.

Still, as someone who's dealt with family members and their mental illnesses before, there is a possibility that this really is all for the best. If Britney truly is totally uncontrollable and manic without her medication, it would make sense that she would be forced by the courts and her carer to take it. Hopefully this is something that will be resolved during the months that Britney has spent at the mental health facility - after all, she should be looked after by trained professionals who will surely know if she requires medication or not.

Still, there's a lot we don't know about the case. For one thing, we still have no idea what's being kept in the sealed court documents that Britney herself submitted. For another, if Britney has really been locked up against her will for all this time, how did she sneak out to get her hair done? There's also been rumours she's been in the studio with Danja recording music, and snaps of a hand that many assumed to be hers feeding her boyfriend cake on Instagram for his birthday - how did she get to see him if she was trapped away?

Regardless, the fact that this is quickly becoming a hot news story is only a positive thing. Even if this really is a con that the lawyers, judges and psychologists are all in on, they'll be treading a little more carefully now that the media is watching them more closely.

Listen to the full episode of the Britney's Gram podcast below, and don't forget to tell us your thoughts in the comments!

Cardi B has come under fire recently after video footage of her bragging about drugging and then stealing money from multiple men on an Instagram Live session has gone viral.

In the video, an emotional Cardi rampages her way through a story of hardship and triumph, dropping the bombshell as evidence that she'd earned her money on her own without help from others. "I had to go, 'Oh yeah, you wanna fuck me? Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's go to this hotel,'" she stated, before saying, "And I drugged niggers up and I robbed them. That's what I used to do."

The backlash was so huge that Cardi was forced to respond to the drama on Twitter herself, saying:

Although it's still early days for this news story, it's still interesting to see the differences in how people perceive Cardi's actions versus those of male celebrities who have done similiar things. Bill Cosby's career was effectively destroyed after his multiple instances of using Quaaludes to have sex with women were revealed, yet Cardi so far seems to have come through her controversy unscathed. We'll be fascinated to see if she'll be able to hold onto that Pepsi endorsement deal if this story takes off.

Your thoughts?

Back in the early 2000s, Lizzie McGuire was the show that defined an era, and the one that made a star out of Hilary Duff. With it's relatable coming of age plotlines, age-appropriate but non-condescending humour, and obsessive love of scrunchies, the show was a cultural phenomenon to match the likes of great sitcoms like Full House or Saved By The Bell, and it quickly developed a devoted fanbase that rushed home from school everyday to tune in.

That's why it might be hard to believe that the show actually only lasted two seasons. Granted, there was 31 episodes in the first season and 34 in the second (which lasted three whole years), but two seasons was short even for a Disney Channel show. Even worse, the show was never even given a proper series finale or an official cancellation order. Instead, Disney had Lizzie make the move from TV to film with 2003's The Lizzie McGuire Movie, where Lizzie travelled to Rome to become a popstar and find true love. At one point, the film was meant to have a sequel, but when negotiations broke down between Duff's representatives and Disney over pay the film was forced to act as an impromptu series finale, with fans never really learning what happened after Mcguire returned from Rome.

That's why it's all the more exciting that Lizzie McGuire may officially be coming back to our TV screens once more. In a recent interview with ET, Duff hinted that the show may be making a long-awaited return to TV - but cautioned fans not to get their hopes up.

While we have little news on what the series would be about or who would return to co-star as of now, it's plausible that Lizzie could even return to the Disney Channel as early as next year. A similiar timeline worked for That's So Raven spin-off Raven's Home, which returned to the iconic channel just a year after it's announcement.

This isn't the first Lizzie McGuire spinoff that's been in the works. Back when the show first ended, it was reported that Hilary was set to reprise the iconic role in an ABC spinoff where Lizzie goes to high school, but that too was nixed after Duff and Disney couldn't come to an agreement on her salary.

Later on, there was a pilot shot for a show called alternatively Stevie Sanchez or What's Stevie Thinking?. Set to follow the story of Miranda's younger sister Stevie after she moved to Australia so her parents could work at a zoo (who even came up with that?), the show was set to feature the Disney debut of a young Selena Gomez in the titular role. Like the high school spinoff before it, Stevie Sanchez never made it to air.

Your thoughts?

Back in June, we reported that Dr. Luke's legal team had demanded that Kesha hand over a group of select texts between herself and Lady Gaga as evidence in their ongoing defamation trial. According to Luke, the texts were proof that Kesha had defamed his name publicly by spreading three intentional lies about him: that he had raped her, that he had given her drugs against her will, and that he had also raped Katy Perry.

Up until now, those texts were under lock and key. But thanks to the transparency of the New York legal system, they have now been uploaded online for anyone to view as they please. The original document is online and is probably worth a look just for the sheer bizarreness of watching two major popstars texting like twelve year old girls, but if you don't feel like scrolling through pages of digital information you can read the full transcript below.

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Kesha: I’m really upset with Katy perry

Lady Gaga: 

Lady Gaga: Did u do something

Lady Gaga: Sorry I meant her

Kesha: she could bring the whole thing to a head

Lady Gaga: Did she

Kesha: but she won't

Lady Gaga: Oh right

Lady Gaga: Yeah that is tough

Kesha: she was raped by the same man

Kesha: it's sick

Lady Gaga: She is probably really afraid to lose everything

Lady Gaga: U are really strong standing up to him, she's not as strong as u yet

Lady Gaga: Have u talked to her?

Kesha: your right. I need to find sympathy and empathy for her. she's so mean. it's hard.

Lady Gaga: Do u want me to see if I can talk to her

Lady Gaga: I know she's mean

Kesha: are you friendly with her ?

Lady Gaga: NO

Lady Gaga: Omg NO

Lady Gaga: She makes me angry about shit by I just try to have empathy for her

Kesha: ugh I mean I know why she's not coming forward. you are right and very insightful.

Lady Gaga: I mean

Lady Gaga: She probably hasn’t even accepted it yet

Kesha: maybe. it's not my battle

Apart from confirmation that Kesha was indeed under the apprehension that Luke raped Perry - an accusation that both Perry and Luke have both vehemently denied - the texts also brought to light the fact that both Kesha and Gaga at one point considered Perry "mean". While Gaga has always shrugged it off in interviews, the rivalry between her and Perry is well-documented, meaning her claim is pretty unsurprising. But Kesha's negative opinion is a little more confusing, because as far as we know the two were always good terms, with Kesha even appearing as a background extra in Perry's breakthrough music video for 'I Kissed A Girl'.

Not long after the documents were released online, Gaga took to her social media of choice to retract her claims, countering that Perry is "truly a kind soul" and that her past opinions were a result of "differences w/ each other".

And it wasn't long before Perry responded with a Tweet of her own, attesting to the fact that there was no bad blood between the two whatsoever.

Conspicuously absent in the Twitter love-fest was Kesha, who kept quiet about the whole situation. Although it would be easy to suggest that Kesha still holds a grudge against Perry, it's just as likely that she's been advised by her legal team to keep quiet on the issue given that it's part of an ongoing case.

Either way, we have to wonder what exactly happened in the past that would lead both Gaga and Kesha to consider Perry "mean". Was it really just the fact that Katy wasn't coming forward about her alleged rape, or was there more to it? We were always led to believe that Taylor Swift was the snake of the music industry, but maybe there was another side to the story we haven't been let in on.

Your thoughts?

Mel B is having a big year, with the recent announcement of a Spice Girls reunion being the cherry on top of serving as a judge on America's Got Talent and hosting the British version of Lip Sync Battle. But it wasn't that long ago that it seemed as though her life was completely falling apart.

In an excerpt from her new autobiography, Brutally Honest, Mel has opened up for the first time about her drug addiction, and the time when she tried to take her own life with almost 200 aspirin that she had saved up over years.

According to Mel, her addiction to cocaine started soon after she began work as a judge on The X Factor UK - but it wasn't the pressures of the show that had her dependant. Instead, it was the pressures of living with her husband at the time, Stephan Belafonte, that had her using. "I’d started using cocaine to get me through the run of the show," she writes. "To get me through living with Stephen, which felt like neurotic claustrophobia."

Admitting that she took up to six lines of cocaine each day, with at least two every morning, Mel says that the drugs were a form of self-medicating. "It numbed my pain. It lifted me up enough to be ready to fire on all cylinders and forget about everything but the show." Despite this, Mel said that she never had to take drugs while filming, saying that she was on a natural high due to the fun nature of the set.

Addiction was only the start though, with Mel claiming that the years of physical and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of Belafonte even left her suicidal. Later in the excerpt, Mel says that she tried to take her own life with 200 painkillers, before Simon Cowell and her daughter intervened to save her life.

Mel says that she was feeling "ugly and detested" by her husband who she alleges had a "library of sex tapes" containing her, and that she even wrote suicide notes to her children before taking the pills.

Shortly after consuming them, however, Mel realised she'd made a mistake and told herself she needed to get to the hospital for the sake of her daughters. Feeling herself losing consciousness, she attempted to leave the house but ended up dizzily slamming into a door.

The accident led to bruises that would be seen on the X Factor live shows, but Mel B blamed her absence and the injuries on a mysterious "stomach ulcer". She says that she deliberately wore a sleeveless dress and no wedding ring to show that she was "proud" for her bruises to be seen, and as a "fuck you big time" to Belafonte.

Mel was seen with bruises during the X Factor live shows, but says she was "proud" of her injuries

Mel and Belafonte, a film producer, were married in 2007 and divorced last year after a decade of married life. They had split years earlier among a very public battle in which tales of their sex life, respective drug and alcohol addictions and incidents of domestic violence made headlines.

Via: Billboard.com

Like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry or Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera before them, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato are two stars who have been compared to each other from day one. Their stars have risen simultaneously, with the two appearing in sister shows on the Disney Channel and starring together in the Disney Channel Original Movie Princess Protection Program; and their respective transitions from child star to mature artist have paralleled each other pretty neatly.

And now, the two have another thing in common: their recent successful completion of rehab programs, if for unrelated reasons. The pair recently departed their respective facilities within two days of each other, with both making it out just in time to vote in the American mid-term elections.

Gomez, who was home and happy by November 8th, first checked into rehab in October. At the time she was described as being in a "despondent and emotional" state, a mood which stemmed from a hospital report focused on her low white blood cell count. A low white blood cell count is one of many symptoms of lupus which leaves the body open to infection and unable to support it's immune system. Allegedly, Selena overcame her breakdown through DBT - dialectical behaviour therapy - which focuses on teaching patients mindfulness, healthy communications and behaviour, and measured emotional responses.

On the other hand, Lovato - who was out of rehab in time to be spotted out in Hollywood by November 3rd - was hospitalised for her ongoing alcohol and drug addiction. Lovato first alluded to a relapse with her June single release 'Sober', before an incident in July forced her to be hospitalised. On the 24th of that month, Lovato was found unconscious in her bedroom and rushed to hospital, spending two weeks there before going to rehab. In an Instagram post made shortly after checking in, Demi stated, "I have always been transparent about my journey with addiction. What I've learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet."

Via: Gifer

Although Selena and Demi's personal relationship has been very up and down since they met at age seven - mostly thanks to rumoured spats with Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift - we can only hope that their shared experience in rehab will bring them closer together. With so much in common, it would be silly for them not to lift each other up during their darker moments and keep the girl power spirit alive.

Your thoughts?

In another entry into the official compendium of "things that would have been weird AF in 2008 but are totally fair game in 2018", one hit wonder Sinead O'Connor has announced that she has converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada’ Davitt.

The woman formerly known as O'Connor, who is most famous for her hit single (and go to karaoke song) 'Nothing Compares 2 U', made the announcement via Twitter where she described herself as an "intelligent theologian".

Several days later, Davitt posted a photo of herself wearing the hijab simply with the caption "happy" - an interesting choice given her well-publicised battle with depression over the past decade.

Davitt is no stranger to controversial religious choices. Her career largely ended back in when she took the stage at Saturday Night Live to sing a cover of Bob Marley's 'War' and ended the performance by tearing apart a photograph of Pope John Paul II. It makes us wonder why she'd make the switch from one religion which is so troubled to another.

Either way, I guess we have to think Lindsay Lohan for paving the way.

Your thoughts?

Predicting who will take the iconic stage at the Super Bowl Half Time Show has become par for the course in recent years, and predictions get more and more exciting each time the NFL ups the ante with another superstar musician. This year brought us Justin Timberlake's lukewarmly received set during the Half Time Show, and the year before brought Lady Gaga's record breaking display; and if new reports are to be trusted, it seems as though the NFL has already chosen who will take the stage this year.

According to reports from The New York Times, Maroon 5 has been confirmed to play the Super Bowl on February 3rd, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. The news comes three years after frontman Adam Levine told Howard Stern that the band was on a "short list" to play the show, saying, "We very actively want to play the Super Bowl."

If they do end up taking the stage, it's likely Maroon 5 will perform hits from all six of their platinum-selling albums, as well as any new material they'll undoubtedly release to capitalise on the publicity. There's plenty to choose from, ranging from early hits 'She Will Be Loved' and 'This Love' to diva collaborations like 'If I Never See Your Face Again' with Rihanna and 'Moves Like Jagger' with Christina Aguilera to later R&B tinged songs like 'Payphone' and 'Don't Wanna Know'. It's already been hinted that Cardi B, who collaborated with the band on their recent hit 'Girls Like You', will take the stage along with Travis Scott.

What are your thoughts on Maroon 5 as Super Bowl performers? Are they iconic enough to take the stage, or should Britney have been called back? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!

Rick Genest was far from an A-list celebrity, but he was well known enough that shock waves were sent through the world when he died of an apparent suicide last week.

According to police sources, Genest was found outside of his apartment in Montreal on Wednesday after falling from his balcony. Although police initially classified his death as a suicide, there has been concern from family and business colleagues that this ruling may have been premature.

"The circumstances are quite mysterious and the pieces of the puzzle just don't fit together perfectly," said Karim Leduc, Genest's manager. According to Leduc, Genest would frequently lean against his balcony to smoke, and family members believe that is what led to his fall.

Lady Gaga, who had originally sent out several Tweets in sympathy with Genest, later apologised for jumping the gun when it came to her own judgements.

“The suicide of friend Rick Genest, Zombie Boy is beyond devastating,” she originally wrote. “We have to work harder to change the culture, bring mental health to the forefront and erase the stigma that we can’t talk about it. If you are suffering, call a friend or family today. We must save each other.”

Later, with those Tweets deleted, she apologised for her previous comments and sent condolences to Genest's family.

Genest, also known popularly as Zombie Boy, rose to fame in the fashion world when he walked the catwalk in Paris and Berlin fashion shows, but his first introduction to the mainstream came when he starred in Gaga's 'Born This Way' music video. With later acting roles in films such as 47 Ronin and TV shows like Silent Witness, Genest would go on to recieve a Guinness World Record for most insect tattoos (he had 176), and another for most human bone tattoos (139). He was 32 years old when he died.

In news that will disappoint James Bond fans everywhere, it was revealed today that the most overrated artist of the millenium Dua Lipa has recorded the theme song for the latest entry in the popular series.

Although the 25th installment of the franchise starring Daniel Craig has yet to even start filming, it seems that director Danny Boyle has gotten a head start on the music for the film, most likely so that composers can begin fleshing out how it will interact with the rest of the soundtrack. And to general surprise, it turns out that the UK's latest export Dua Lipa has taken on the role of belting out the highly regarded theme song.

The news was inadvertently revealed by Years & Years member Mikey Goldsworthy, who let it slip in an interview with BBC Radio 5. Speaking of the coveted placement, he stated, "I thought they'd ask us to do the theme song, but alas, I think it's Dua Lipa doing it."

After being questioned if he had exclusively revealed the news, he replied "Am I not supposed to say that? That's what I've heard. I feel bad now, maybe I've ruined everything. Well hopefully, then we can do it!"

As most will know, the list of singers who've contributed tracks to the series is hugely impressive, and spans from legends such as Madonna and Paul McCartney to lesser known cult acts such as Sheryl Crow and Garbage. In recent years, however, the Bond team has come under fire for some of it's musical decisions. While Adele's 'Skyfall' was generally well received, tracks such as Jack White and Alicia Keys' 'Another Way To Die' and Sam Smith's 'Writing's on the Wall' have been criticised by many for not living up to the high standards set by previous musicians.

These criticisms come amidst news that several high profile artists have had their themes for the series discarded. Amy Winehouse was set to record a theme song with Mark Ronson before her legal troubles made it impossible; Shirley Bassey, who remains the only artist to have recorded more than one theme for the series, had her Quantum of Solace cut 'No Good About Goodbye' scrapped; Radiohead's Spectre demo was similarly shunned; and Lady Gaga and Elton John's rumoured duet for the series failed to eventuate.

With all that said, we have to wonder why producers would rub salt in the wound choosing Dua Lipa as a candidate. Lipa is best known for her sleeper hit 'New Rules', and although she has a decent voice her lack of stage presence and versatility makes us question how she's going to be able to pull off the kind of belter that Bond requires. Given that Lana Del Rey is out somewhere in Hollywood with nothing to do but wait for her current sugar daddy to drop dead, we have to question why she wasn't called to the table.

Your thoughts?

It's hard to believe that it's been four years since Kesha launched a lawsuit against her onetime producer and continued manager Dr. Luke, and that even now in 2018 the full extent of that lawsuit is only just becoming apparent. Because while Kesha's lawsuit against Luke was dropped several years ago, Luke himself was quick to launch a counter-suit against Kesha which alleged that she intentionally defamed his name to the tune of ten million dollars.

Luke's suit is based on three alleged falsities that Kesha stated about him in various outlets. One is that he raped her, and another is that he gave her drugs against her will. But up until now the third falsity has gone unknown. With it's reveal today, Luke has made the whole suit even messier by  dragging two other A-list popstars into the suit.

We learnt a while ago that Luke's team had asked Lady Gaga to turn over her text messages with Kesha to the court as evidence, and now we know why. According to Luke, Kesha told Gaga in a series of text messages that Luke had raped not only herself, but Katy Perry as well.

The allegation is an interesting twist in the tale of deceit. If Luke's claim is correct - which still isn't a sure thing, as context could account for a lot in this case - then the truth of the matter between him and Kesha comes down to this very text. If she was telling the truth about Katy, it's likely that she was telling the truth about her own experience; if she was lying, her credibility is entirely wasted and there's no reason she couldn't have lied about her own abuse.

Of course, the only person other than Luke who knows about the alleged Katy Perry abuse is Katy herself. For the record, Katy has never said anything about Luke raping her, or said anything negative about Luke at all for that matter. When it was noted that she hadn't worked with him for her Witness album, she simply stated "I had to leave the nest".

Katy has apparently been deposed for the case, but it's so far unknown what she's said. We do at least know why Luke chose the figure of $10 million for the lawsuit, however; according to him, that's the amount that he lost out on when he wasn't able to produce Katy's albums due to the lawsuit.

So tell us: what are your thoughts on this absolute mess?

Demi Lovato is facing backlash online following a "prank" that hoards of her fans are describing as sexual harassment.

In a since deleted tweet Demi made on Sunday, she responded to a question from a fan asking about the best prank she's ever pulled. Demi replied with a story which involved her hiring a prostitute in Vegas to "surprise" her friend Max by walking into his room and touching his genitals without permission.

It didn't take long for the tweets to start rolling in, with Lovato being accused of sexual harassment and insensitivity by hundreds of her onetime fans. In response, she returned to Twitter to apologise for what she called a "simple mistake", and to imply that she too had been abused.

The song which Lovato refers to is 'Warrior', a track off her 2013 album DEMI. While fans have speculated for a while that it may be about her abusive father, the revelations of sexual abuse give a new twist to the lyrics, especially those in the bridge:

Quote

There's a part of me I can't get back
A little girl grew up too fast
All it took was once
I'll never be the same
Now I'm taking back my life today
Nothing left that you can say
'Cause you were never gonna take the blame anyway

While we sympathise with Demi, we wonder how she could make a mistake this obvious. "Pranks" about sexual abuse didn't warrant blinking up until a few years ago, but in the age of #MeToo and #TimesUp it's incredulous how she could not only organise the situation in the first place, but tweet it to millions of people afterwards.

For the record, even though Demi described the "Max" in question as freaking out, he seemed totally unbothered by the prank in hindsight.

What do you think of Demi's Twitter drama? Was it a harmless prank or something more sinister? Let us know in the comments down below!

When Tidal was first launched back in 2014, it was promised to be a new kind of streaming service: one that promoted artists as major stakeholders and gave them a fair amount when it came to royalties. But Tidal never quite took off in the way it was expected to, and it wasn't long until stories of severely dwindling profits and corruption began to emerge from the Jay-Z fronted service.

Back in 2016, fans were left scratching their heads when Tidal claimed that Kanye West's latest album, The Life of Pablo, had been streamed 250 million times on it's platform in just ten days. This was despite the fact that Tidal only had 3 million subscribers at the time. According to calculations, that means that every Tidal subscriber would have had to play the Kanye album over eight times a day.

Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv looked into this phenomena in early 2017, and published alleged internal reports which stated that Tidal had been deliberately inflating their subscriber figures. According to them, the service in fact only had around 850 000 subscribers when they were claiming 3 million.

And now, a year later, DN has published yet another exposé of Tidal, this time claiming that subscriber figures weren't the only numbers being falsified. In a report published earlier this month, DN claimed that Tidal deliberately faked listener numbers for at least two of their major players (Beyoncé and Kanye West) by several million, and in turn gave royalties to those two artists at the expense of others who deserved them.

DN's report was based on an internal hard drive they received, which contained "billions of rows of [internal TIDAL data]: times and song titles, user IDs and country codes". They claim that the numbers in this hard drive match exactly with payments received by record labels. The newspaper approached several Tidal subscribers to verify the data, including Tiare Faatea who is listed as having played tracks from Beyoncé's Lemonade 180 times within 24 hours. Faatea denied the statistics; as did Geir Rakvaag, who apparently played tracks from Pablo 96 times in one day, including 54 times in the middle of the night.

In their article, Dagens Næringsliv collaborated with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, who determined that there was a manipulation of data which involved using genuine accounts to play more than 150 million The Life of Pablo tracks at 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on set days. “According to the logs, every single user supposedly listened to a large number of tracks at precisely the same second in time,” they said. A similiar method was utilised for Lemonade.

While buffing up play counts isn't the worst thing in the world, the fact that Tidal based their royalty payments on these falsified figures is definitely cause for concern. In 2016, Tidal paid Sony Music $2.5 million for Lemonade royalties and €3.2 million in royalties for The Life of Pablo. This is money that should at least in part have gone to other artists on the streaming service, including Madonna, Alicia Keys and Daft Punk.

Tidal has strongly denied all all of Dagens Næringsliv's claims, but we highly doubt this will be the last we hear of the saga.

Your thoughts?

Rita Ora recently released the third single for her long awaited second album 'Girls', and not everyone is happy about it.

'Girls', which is a collaboration with Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charli XCX, is an ode to girls kissing girls, with a chorus that reads, "Sometimes I just wanna kiss girls/Red wine, I just wanna kiss girls". The song, which Ora has described as an "empowering anthem", seems to be as much a celebration of femininity in general as it is about actually falling in love with girls. "These past few years I've been so inspired by all the strong women I've seen who aren't afraid to be themselves. For those who aren’t afraid to rule the world, this is our anthem," she said. "And of course, thank you to all the fellow boss women who so kindly graced this song with me — each representing who they are and where they are from."

Despite Ora's words, however, it seems that not everyone has taken the song in the vein in which it was intended. Kehlani (aka the girl famous for attempting suicide) and Hayley Kiyoko (aka the girl from The Stunners who isn't Tinashe) both took to Twitter today to express their dissatisfaction with the song, with both artists appearing to think that the song set the LGBTQ community back by years.

In typical SJW fashion, Kehlani made a series of Tweets that were not only vague and incomprehensible but also pretentious and holier than thou.

"every artist on the song is fantastic, and very much loved and supported by me… by all of us. but this isn’t about talent. it’s about choice," she stated. When a follower pointed out that she'd written a similarly themed song called 'Distraction', she seemed to state that she was above criticism. "let’s get into it my love. i didn’t write distraction about needing a woman to be a distraction because i wouldn’t take a woman seriously because i am not queer. i wrote about wanting a distraction from my career, but not having enough time for a relationship. and don’t make this personal."

In a lengthy Twitter tirade, Kiyoko echoed Kehlani's statements in a similarly obnoxious tone.

Quote

It’s important for us artists to use our platforms to move the cultural needle forward, not backwards. There is a new song that came out today featuring a handful of well-known pop artists that has me overwhelmed with thoughts. I literally have a knot in my stomach right now. To be clear, I fully support other artists who freely express themselves and applaud male and female artists who are opening up more and more about their sexual identities.

But ever so often there come certain song with messaging that is just downright tone-deaf, which does more harm than good for the LGBTQ+ community. A song like this just fuels the male gaze while marginalizing the idea of women loving women.

I know this wasn’t the intention of the artists on the song, but its the lack of consideration behind these lyrics that really get me. I don’t need to drink wine to kiss girls; I’ve loved women my entire life. This type of message is dangerous because it completely belittles and invalidates the very pure feelings of an entire community. I feel I have a responsibility to protect that whenever possible.

We can and should do better.

As someone who was pretty against Katy Perry's 'I Kissed A Girl', I have to say that for me the only offensive thing about 'Girls' is the quality of the lyrics. But what do you think? Check out the song and sound off below!

Katy Perry and Taylor Swift's infamous feud started thanks to the opening of Katy's Teenage Dream Tour back in 2013 - and it ended today with the opening night of Taylor's Reputation Tour.

You might recall that the impetus for the entire five year feud was that a select group of backup dancers, who had worked regularly with Katy, decided to leave Taylor's Red Tour to join Katy's Teenage Dream Tour, where their skills were apparently being put to better use. Taylor decided to take this move as a slight against her and held Katy personally responsible, and spent the next few years dropping shade into her interviews about an "unnamed female artist" who sabotaged her tour.

Things came to a head with the release of 'Bad Blood' in 2014, which Perry clapped back at with last year's diss track 'Swish Swish'. Katy seemed to extend the hand of forgiveness shortly after that single's release, but it wasn't until today that things really seemed to be coming to a head.

Swift recently posted an update on her Snapchat story which showed her receiving a gift on the opening night of her tour. The present contained a literal olive branch (a symbol of letting things go), a handwritten letter, and some very Perry-esque stationary which leaves no doubt in our minds who sent the gift.

While we don't know exactly what the letter says, fans have deciphered the phrases, "I've been doing some reflecting on past miscommunications and other feelings between us...", "deeply sorry", and "clear the air".

It seems like the feud may finally be over. Knowing how these two interweave their songs with their personal lives, we wouldn't be surprised if a collaboration was in their future.

Your thoughts?

Sia's been pretty quiet on the music front lately (at least by her standards), having only released a few collaborations since her Christmas album last year. But things are set to change soon with the announcement of a new super group in which she has one third ownership.

According to social media posts, Sia is set to team up with frequent collaborators Diplo (who she worked with on 'Elastic Heart') and Labrinth (who she duetted with on 'To Be Human') for a new project entitled LSD. Do you see what they did there?

Following Sia's first post about the group releasing a song this Thursday, fans initially thought the pairing may be a one time thing.

But Colombia Records CEO Ron Perry has since hinted that the collaboration may be ongoing, referring to the upcoming song only as a "first single".

While we don't yet have details of the song's title or the vibe they'll be going for, the visuals we've seen so far hint towards a psychadelic North Indian vibe, possibly in a manner similiar to Diplo's Major Lazer collaboration with MØ, 'Lean On'.

What do you think of the unlikely trio? Are they set to be a dream team, or will grouping up make it harder for each to find success as solo artists? Let us know in the comments down below!