The federal sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs is winding to a close. Jurors have seen all the evidence, and a verdict could come soon now that the disgraced music mogul has officially decided not to take the stand in his own defense.

Combs has been on trial for over a month on the bombshell charges that he used violence, money and blackmail to force women to participate in drug-fueled sex shows called “freak-offs.” The rapper, who maintains his innocence, could face a potential life sentence if convicted on all counts.

Prosecutors rested on Tuesday (June 24) after a Homeland Security agent finished testifying, the New York Times reports. The government has built its case with videos, text messages and dozens of witnesses – most crucially, singer Cassie Ventura and an anonymous women known as “Jane,” both ex-girlfriends of Combs who testified that they were coerced into participating in the freak-offs.

Combs’ lawyers did not call any witnesses of their own and spent less than half an hour reading text messages into the record before resting the defense case as well. Combs opted not to testify, a common decision made by the majority of criminal defendants due to the risks that come with opening oneself up to cross-examination.

As is typical in these situations, Judge Arun Subramanian asked Combs himself to confirm that he had personally chosen not to testify and understood the right he was forfeiting.

“That is solely my decision,” Combs said, adding as an aside to the judge, “I wanted to tell you, thank you, you’re doing an excellent job.”

Though Combs’ lawyers didn’t call witnesses, they’ve made the case throughout the trial that the rapper’s sex parties were entirely consensual. The defense presented this perspective through intense cross-examination of Ventura and Jane, focusing on text messages where the two women seemed to convey enthusiasm for Combs’ freak-offs.

Defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro reiterated this argument while making a motion for acquittal as a matter of law to Judge Subramanian on Tuesday. According to CNN, Shapiro acknowledged that Combs was “regrettably violent” towards Ventura but said domestic violence is not the same as sex trafficking.

“A person in Mr. Combs’ position clearly would’ve understood that, on the contrary, she enjoyed the sexual activity and did not feel coerced,” Shapiro said.

The judge reserved his decision on the acquittal motion. Such motions are rarely granted, but useful for defense attorneys who want to build a strong trial record for appeal.

Jurors get a day off now, as the lawyers are slated to spend Wednesday (June 25) hammering our legal instructions with Judge Subramanian. Closing arguments are slated to begin Thursday (June 26) and last for at least an entire day.

The judge will then have to read his lengthy legal instructions to the jury, a process that often lasts multiple hours. This means deliberations could start either late in the day Friday or Monday morning – though how long it will take the jury to agree unanimously on a verdict is anyone’s guess.

Offset is looking to get into the “Good Graces” of Sabrina Carpenter after naming the pop star as his current celebrity crush.

The Migos rapper stopped by Complex, and magician Anna DeGuzman had Set think of his celebrity crush before narrowing it down to the woman being an artist. Offset didn’t appear to know any of her songs when asked, but said, “I feel like, artistically, like she got it all together.”

DeGuzman handed Set a piece of paper with her correct guess of “Sabrina Carpenter” written down, which boggled the rapper’s mind. “How you get this right? She just guessed this, that’s crazy,” he replied in shock.

Plenty of fans hopped into the comments, stunned at Set going with Sabrina as his pick, while others figured this could be a publicity ploy for an upcoming collaboration between the pair.

“Lmao this press for a collab or something? They must be doing a song together,” one person wrote. Another added: “Anyone is his type!”

A fan proposed the idea of Cardi B inviting the “Espresso” singer into the mix to team up on her Am I the Drama? album. “Imagine a Sabrina /Cardi collab,” they said.

Carpenter has only worked with one rapper in her career to date, joining forces with Saweetie in 2019 on “I Can’t Stop Me,” while Set has dabbled in pop as he notched a collaboration with Madison Beer for “Hurts Like Hell.” When the Migos were together, the ATL trio aligned with pop stars like Katy Perry and Justin Bieber.

Cardi B filed for divorce from Offset last August and the proceedings remain tied up in New Jersey court. The Bronx rapper has since moved on and is currently dating NFL star Stefon Diggs.

As of press time, Carpenter had yet to publicly react to the video. Watch the clip below.

Contemporary Christian music group Newsboys has reportedly been dropped by its record label, Capitol Christian Music Group, after recent allegations of sexual assault and drug and alcohol abuse were brought against the group’s former lead singer, Michael Tait.

In a video taken during the group’s performance at Elevate Music Festival at Highlands Church in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Sunday (June 22), Newsboys bandmember Adam Agee told members of the audience, “We’ve been dropped from our record label. We’ve had radio stations pull our music. We’ve been canceled by promoters and venues all over the world.”

Agee was joined onstage by his fellow bandmates Jody Davis, Jeff Frankenstein and Duncan Phillips as they addressed the fallout that the band has experienced in the weeks since.

“A few weeks ago, our world was rocked by the devastating news about what…that confession and what that double life really was,” Agee said. “We were shocked because in January, he had mentioned a few things about substance abuse, and some personal struggles he was having at home when he wasn’t on the road, but never anything of the magnitude of what we read and what was reported and never anything, ever, just anything that could have ever made us think that he could possibly be a danger to others or anything like that.”

Agee added, “He was our brother…he was a friend to our families…it just has been devastating for us. Our families have felt like our names [have] been dragged through the mud because of all this, and it’s really, really hurt our kids.”

Representatives for Capitol Christian Music Group have not responded to Billboard‘s request for comment. For the label, the group released the albums Stand in 2021, World Wide Revival Pt. 1 in 2024, and World Wide Revival (Deluxe) in May.

Tait abruptly exited the band in January, just before the group’s Worldwide Revival Tour dates for 2025 were set to begin. Earlier this month, The Roys Report issued the result of what it called a more than two-year investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse, along with drug and alcohol abuse, that had been brought against Tait. That report included accounts from three people, each claiming that Tait groomed and sexually assaulted them while on tour or at Tait’s home. The accusers alleged that the incidents took place between 2004 and 2014, while the report cited other sources that claimed Tait had also been involved in drug use.

The Newsboys issued a statement on June 4 regarding the allegations against Tait, urging others who have been impacted to come forward and saying, “We are horrified, heartbroken and angry at this report and in many ways, we feel as if we and our families have been deceived for the past fifteen years.”

On June 10, Tait broke his silence with a lengthy Instagram post in which he said, “Recent reports of my reckless and destructive behavior, including drug and alcohol abuse and sexual activity, are sadly, largely true. For some two decades, I used and abused cocaine, consumed far too much alcohol, and, at times, touched men in an unwanted sensual way. I am ashamed of my life choices and actions, and make no excuses for them. I will simply call it what God calls it– sin. I don’t blame anyone or anything but myself. While I might dispute certain details in the accusations against me, I do not dispute the substance of them.”

Tait also said in the statement that after his departure from Newsboys, he spent six weeks at a treatment center in Utah.

This month, The Guardian also published the results of a separate investigation in which multiple persons also came forward with allegations of sexual abuse.

Following the allegations, some radio stations, including CCM radio giant K-LOVE, pulled Newsboys’ music from their rotations, with a representative for K-LOVE telling Billboard in a statement, “We are aware of the allegations against Michael Tait, former frontman of the Newsboys. As the investigation proceeds, our thoughts and prayers are with all those involved. There are many factors that go into radio programming decisions, including the curation of playlists. At this time, there are no Newsboys songs in our rotation. We have rested Newsboys and DC Talk from our decades’ streams online.”

Last week, CCM festival Kingdom Bound announced that the group Passion would be replacing Newsboys on its festival lineup. In a statement on Instagram, organizers for the festival stated, “In recent weeks, concerns have come to light regarding allegations surrounding The Newsboys. After prayerful reflection and discussion, our team, alongside our Board of Directors, has made the decision to move in a different direction from the band for this year’s festival. While these situations are never easy, our heart is to create a space that honors Christ and encourages every person who walks through our gates. We ask that you join us in praying for everyone affected, as well as for the band during this time.”

In the two days following Sly Stone‘s death on June 9, streams for the Sly & the Family Stone catalog skyrocketed a whopping 685% compared to the stream count on June 8, the day prior to his passing — though his estate won’t reap all of those royalties, as Stone sold off a good chunk of his music intellectual property rights to music asset investors. 

The Michael Jackson estate, which acquired Stone’s publishing catalog back in the 1980s, cemented its global ownership in a 2019 deal that saw it acquire a majority interest in songs eligible for revision/termination rights for Sly & the Family Stone’s catalog in the U.S. At the time, sources suggested that deal left Stone with an undisclosed minority stake in his publishing catalog. 

For the Jackson estate, the 2019 deal allowed it to retain ownership of Stone’s songs — for which Stone had begun filing copyright termination notices in anticipation of his U.S. publishing rights coming up for reversion — beginning in 2024. (U.S. Copyright law allows creators of music released beginning in 1978 to file termination notices and regain U.S. ownership of their songs and/or masters after a 35-year period, while music recorded before 1978, like most of the Stone catalog, is eligible after a 56-year term.) Notably, if Stone had followed through on those termination notices and not sold the U.S. rights, the Jackson estate would still have owned Stone’s publishing rights outside the U.S. — although there’s currently a court case challenging that interpretation of copyright law.

Subsequent to all that, the Jackson estate sold 50% of most of Jackson’s recorded music assets to Sony Music, in a deal that included the Stone catalog. Meanwhile, the writer’s share of Stone’s songs was acquired by Primary Wave in 2018.

Sly & the Family Stone’s sales and streaming activity was meager in the days preceding Stone’s death, with hardly any album sales and averaging some 217,000 daily on-demand streams. But from June 9 through June 15, album consumption units increased to more than 1,000 units daily, or a 505.7% increase. Within that, on-demand streams jumped to 901,000, a 314.3% increase, according to preliminary Luminate data.

Looking at the band’s numbers on a weekly basis, in the six weeks before the week of his death, the catalog averaged less than 2,000 album consumption units a week, but in the week of his deal and the following week, his catalog activity averaged nearly 7,000 album consumption units, or an increase of 316.6%. Meanwhile, streams increased from an average of about 1.47 million streams per week in the six weeks prior to his death to an average of 4.9 million on demand streams, up 231%, for the week of his death and the subsequent week ending June 19.

Sly & the Family Stone’s catalog has averaged about 68,000 album consumption units annually over the last three years in the U.S. Within that, it averages about 73 million streams annually, while global streams, including the U.S., come in at about 136 million, according to Luminate. Consequently, Billboard estimates that the band’s catalog brings in about $1.2 million annually, but considering the catalog also enjoys a lucrative stream of synchronization uses and even samples, it might even be generating between $1.5 million and $2 million annually. It’s unclear what’s going on with Stone’s recorded masters royalties, but it’s likely the other band members are still being paid their share of Sly & the Family Stone royalties from the band’s records, as is Stone’s estate.

On the other hand, Sylvester Stewart (Stone’s real name) was the solo songwriter on all of the band’s recordings, except for the occasional cover song. Billboard estimates that the publishing royalties from the masters and other publishing licensing generate about $700,000 a year off his masters, but when cover versions, samples and synchronization are also added in, Stone’s publishing catalog probably generated about $1 million to $1.5 million annually over the last three years. As Stone was the sole songwriter for the band, all of this publishing revenue flows to the Jackson estate/Sony Music, while the writer’s share of royalties goes to Primary Wave.

Van Toffler, who helped build the VMAs into a pop-culture phenomenon, is returning to the show via a multi-year deal with his studio, Gunpowder & Sky. They will serve as producers of the 2025 show, which is set for Sept. 7, alongside production company Den of Thieves.

Toffler’s mission, according to a statement, is “to bring back the edge, spontaneity and punch that made the VMAs the most talked-about annual event.” The plan is “to supercharge the show from a single night into a week-long, multiplatform celebration of music and music videos leading up to the main event.”

CBS will present the 2025 Video Music Awards for the first time. The show will air live coast-to-coast from UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., on Sunday, Sept. 7 (8:00-11:00 p.m. ET/5:00-8:00 p.m. PT), and stream on Paramount+. The CBS broadcast will also simulcast on MTV with a one-hour live pre-show to air across Paramount Media Networks.

In the run-up to the 2025 Video Music Awards, MTV plans to air a week of 24/7 music videos, both classic and current across MTV2, MTV Live and MTV Classic. Past VMA winners and top MTV personalities will return to curate and spotlight their seven favorite music videos of all time.

“The VMAs have always been where music and spectacle collide, and no one embodies that spirit more than Van Toffler,” Paramount co-CEOs Chris McCarthy and George Cheeks said in a statement. “Bringing Van back to the VMAs, along with Gunpowder & Sky, is about reigniting the rebellious soul of the show with a week-long music immersion and delivering global moments that are impossible to ignore.”

“We’re not just producing a show,” Toffler said in a statement. “We’re launching a celebration of music that spans one week, every screen and every generation. Music has always been the heartbeat of the VMAs, but the show’s soul comes from its willingness to break rules, embrace unpredictability and reflect the times. This is about honoring that spirit while blowing open what’s possible across every format.”

Toffler, 66, joined MTV in 1987, six years after the network’s launch. He was president of Viacom Media Networks Music & Logo Group at Viacom from March 2008 to April 2015. In January 2016, together with Floris Bauer and Otter Media, he formed Gunpowder & Sky, a digital content company aimed at millennials.

Gunpowder & Sky (where Toffler is CEO) has built a portfolio across film, TV, VR, podcasts and digital series. The company’s credits include Audible’s Words + Music, Spotify’s Drawn & Recorded, Amazon’s Seismic and YouTube’s Released, as well as documentaries on artists ranging from Sheryl Crow to Lil Peep and films such as Her Smell, Lords of Chaos and Hearts Beat Loud.

The 2024 VMAs delivered its biggest multi-network audience in four years (up 25% year-over-year) and ranked as the most social VMAs in history, with 66.7 million social interactions.

Megan Thee Stallion hosted last year’s VMAs, which aired on Sept. 11, 2024, from UBS Arena. Taylor Swift was the top nominee with 12 nods and the top winner with seven Moon Person trophies, including for artist of the year and video of the year for “Fortnight,” a collab with Post Malone. Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” won song of the year, en route to a Grammy win for best pop solo performance.

Toffler and Gunpowder & Sky join an already-stacked lineup of pros heading up the 2025 Video Music Awards. The show is executive produced by Bruce Gillmer and Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic. Barb Bialkowski is showrunner. Alicia Portugal is co-executive producer. Jackie Barba is executive in charge of production. Wendy Plaut is executive in charge of celebrity talent. Lisa Lauricella is executive in charge of music talent.