Sabrina Carpenter is setting the record straight after some critics accused her of taking inspiration from one of the most controversial stories of all time: Lolita.

In the comments of a recent TikTok, the pop star denied that she’d ever seen the movie Lolita, much less referenced it in a 2024 photoshoot for W Magazine. The original poster had compared one picture from the spread — featuring Carpenter lying on her stomach in a grassy lawn as a sprinkler goes off behind her — to a very similar still from Adrian Lyne’s 1997 film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel, which centers around a middle-aged man who becomes sexually infatuated with a 12-year-old girl.

The user who drew the comparison wrote that the supposed reference was “gross,” but Carpenter replied, “i’ve never seen this movie.”

“it’s never been on my mood board and never would be,” the Grammy winner added.

The clarification comes as people online have been recirculating the W photoshoot in light of Carpenter’s newly revealed Man’s Best Friend album cover. Featuring the musician on all fours as a man grips her by her hair, the artwork has been slammed by some critics as objectifying and regressive for women, though others have argued that it’s harmlessly tongue-in-cheek or even an empowering embrace of sexuality.

Amid the discourse, people have also pointed out similarities between the Lolita movie and a special Man’s Best Friend vinyl — which displays a painting of her lying on a bed as a man in a suit dotes on her — available on her website. Both the Lolita book and film have been heavily criticized for decades for romanticizing pedophilia.

But as Carpenter said in her comment, Lolita has never influenced her visuals. It’s not the first time in recent history she’s shut down criticism of how she presents herself; in her June Rolling Stone cover story, the Girl Meets World alum also addressed certain people who accuse her of only singing about sex in her music.

“It’s always so funny to me when people complain,” she told the publication. “They’re like, ‘All she does is sing about this.’ But those are the songs that you’ve made popular. Clearly you love sex. You’re obsessed with it.”

Carpenter announced new album Man’s Best Friend earlier in June, less than a year after her last album, Billboard 200-topper Short n’ Sweet, propelled her to superstar status in 2024. The new LP was led by a single titled “Manchild,” which recently debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100.

In celebration of the feat, Carpenter wrote on her Instagram Story on Monday (June 16), “I can’t tell you how much this means to me … Thank you eternally for listening.”

Universal Music Group has formally notified the European Commission of its intent to acquire Downtown Music Holdings for $775 million, triggering a regulatory review.

Although the deal falls below the EU’s usual thresholds for antitrust scrutiny, authorities in the Netherlands and Austria referred it to the commission, which now must decide by July 22 whether the acquisition raises competition concerns or can move forward.

Downtown Music Holdings owns several key pieces of independent music infrastructure, including CD Baby (direct-to-creator distributor), FUGA (B2B distribution), Songtrust (publishing admin) and Curve (royalty/financial services). If approved, the acquisition would significantly expand UMG’s influence in the indie sector, complementing its recent majority stake purchase in indie label group [PIAS]. The deal was first announced in December by UMG’s Virgin Music division.

The proposed deal has set off alarm bells among indie labels and legal experts, who fear it’ll reduce market competition and consolidate UMG’s power. Critics argue that independent artists and labels using Downtown’s services may be forced into UMG’s ecosystem, risking their autonomy and facing potential data privacy concerns.

Competition law expert Amelia Fletcher has written to EU competition chief Teresa Ribera, urging the commission to block the merger. Fletcher argues that independent artists and labels using services like the ones under the Downtown umbrella would face a tough choice: stay and risk becoming dependent on UMG, or leave and face high switching costs with limited alternatives. Fletcher calls the deal anti-competitive and urges the commission to scrutinize it closely. “It is vital that this anti-competitive process is stopped,” Fletcher writes.

In a joint statement released late last year, indie leaders including Noemí Planas (WIN), Richard James Burgess (A2IM) and Darius Van Arman (Secretly Group) criticized the move as a consolidation of power that undermines the independence and diversity vital to musical innovation. They urged regulators to block the deal, warning it represents a broader trend of market dominance by UMG.

The commission could respond by launching a deeper investigation or requiring UMG to make concessions, such as divesting parts of the acquired business. UMG aims to close the deal in the second half of 2025 but must first obtain approval.

Nearly a decade before contemporary Christian music (CCM) star Brandon Lake was headlining arenas, topping Billboard’s Christian Airplay charts and winning Grammy Awards, he was a young church worship leader in Charleston, S.C., who just wanted to record an album — and took an unorthodox route to making that happen.

“I did a GoFundMe campaign. I said, ‘If you pledge a certain amount, I’ll tattoo your name on my leg,’ ” explains Lake, 34, as he sits across from me onstage in the sanctuary of Seacoast Church, the Charleston megachurch where he began leading worship as a teenager. He taps his left leg: “So I have 22 last names of folks who donated tattooed on my thigh.”

In 2016, he released the result of that campaign, Closer — and since then, his songwriting skill; gritty, full-throttle vocals; and willingness to address sensitive topics like anxiety and mental health in his music have made him one of the biggest stars in the CCM world. He has released four more albums and dominated Billboard’s Christian music charts, landing 43 entries on Hot Christian Songs, including 2023’s 31-week No. 1 “Praise,” recorded with the collective Elevation Worship.

But though he remains deeply committed to the Christian market, Lake is also looking beyond it. He recently earned his first crossover hit, making his Billboard Hot 100 debut in November 2024 when the raw, soulful “Hard Fought Hallelujah” bowed at No. 51. In February, he teamed with country hit-maker and fellow ink aficionado Jelly Roll for a collaborative version of the song.

“I just wanted to share this with somebody who really gets this story, who’s lived it,” he says of recording the song about hardship-tested faith with Jelly Roll. “Now to see him carrying this song and how we carry it together and it’s impacting so many lives — that’s the goal.” He adds, “We’re in a perfect time for this kind of collaboration to happen… The truth is, all of us are just as messed up — it’s just some of us are good at hiding it and putting a mask on. Everyone’s on a journey.”

Lake’s Hot 100 debut comes as CCM is having a major moment on the all-genre chart. “Hard Fought Hallelujah” and Forrest Frank’s “Your Way’s Better” appeared simultaneously on the chart this year — the first time in more than a decade that two CCM songs were on the Hot 100 at the same time. The last time a non-holiday song recorded by a primarily CCM artist reached the Hot 100 was Lauren Daigle’s “You Say,” in 2019.

Those breakthroughs occurred amid an overall rise in consumption of CCM over the past 18 months. According to Luminate, in the first half of 2024, sales of track-equivalent albums, streaming-equivalent albums and on-demand audio for the genre grew 8.9%, with CCM ranking as the fourth-fastest-growing musical genre after pop, Latin and country. The music’s broadening sounds, as well as increased collaborations between CCM and secular artists over the past several years, have helped CCM songs become more heavily integrated into mainstream playlists: Spotify has noted that during the past five years, CCM experienced a 60% growth rate globally and a 50% growth rate in the United States on its platform, as artists previously confined to the genre started to penetrate mainstream spaces.

That strong upward trajectory owes in large part to a new generation of CCM artists such as Lake, Frank, Josiah Queen and Seph Schlueter. They relish crossing genre lines: Frank’s music, for instance, is more rooted in pop and hip-hop, while Lake’s songs anchor worship lyrics aimed at church congregations in a range of sounds including rock, blues and country. And they are also digital natives who have been intentional in harnessing the power of social media and streaming to widen the genre’s audience; a viral TikTok dance clip, for instance, gave Frank’s “Your Way’s Better” a major streaming boost.

Lake was among Luminate’s top five CCM artists in the first half of 2024, and his star has only risen since then. During his appearances at CMA Fest, held June 5-8, a social media clip of him and Jelly Roll performing “Hard Fought Hallelujah” earned over 1 million views, while a clip of the audience singing Lake’s hit “Gratitude” a cappella during a separate CMA Fest appearance earned more than 3 million views in just over 48 hours. The success of “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” in particular, has put Lake — and his faith-centered message — before broader and more mainstream audiences than he ever dreamed of: performing on American Idol, joining Jelly Roll onstage at Stagecoach in front of 75,000 fans, playing the Grand Ole Opry and CMA Fest.

From the start, collaboration has been key to Lake’s success. Closer was circulated in church and worship music circles, leading him to some of his first songwriting connections, like Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Nate Moore and Maverick City Music co-founder Tony Brown, with whom he co-wrote Cobbs Leonard’s Grammy-nominated 2019 song “This Is a Move.” Other early co-writes included team-ups with worship music collectives Maverick City Music, Bethel Music and Elevation Worship; all helped Lake expand his sound. Alongside more traditional-sounding worship anthems, his 2021 album, House of Miracles, included the soulful rock song “I Need a Ghost.”

Later that year, Elevation Worship’s “Graves Into Gardens,” co-written by and featuring Lake, topped the Christian Airplay chart and was certified platinum by the RIAA. “That’s when the floodgates opened,” he recalls. “I was getting calls from everywhere, asking me to do a concert or do collaborations — I can’t even remember how many collabs I’ve done, songs I’ve written with other people that were like, ‘Let’s just do it together.’ ” At the time, Lake notes, he didn’t even have a manager. (Since 2021, he has been with prominent CCM management company Breit Group.) “I literally kept all of my dates I said yes to in my Notes app,” Lake explains. “My manager now has that framed, I think, because of how much we’ve grown. I learned so much being around so many of my heroes.”

In 2023, Lake cemented his solo hit-maker status when “Gratitude” topped Hot Christian Songs for 28 weeks. Since, he has continued notching solo and collaborative hits, including “Fear Is Not My Future” with Maverick City Music and “Love of God” with Phil Wickham. (He’ll tour arenas and stadiums with the latter this summer.) And on June 13, he released his fifth studio album, King of Hearts, on Provident Entertainment.

Sonically, the album finds Lake deepening his exploration of diverse genres, including country (“Daddy’s DNA,” “Spare Change”), gospel (“I Know a Name,” with luminary CeCe Winans) and hard rock (“Sevens”), and features additional collaborations with writer-producer Hank Bentley and Christian rapper Hulvey, among others.

And amid the run-up to releasing King of Hearts, Lake launched another major project. In early 2025, CCM supergroup Sons of Sunday debuted, featuring Lake alongside Moore, Steven Furtick, Pat Barrett, Chris Brown and Leeland Mooring. The group has already notched four entries on Hot Christian Songs, and its self-titled debut album bowed at No. 3 on the Top Christian Albums chart upon its release in May.

“My favorite things I’ve ever created were created in community, so I think that’ll be a huge piece of my future,” Lake says. “I’ll roll with anybody who wants to go after the same things, who has the same values as me.”

As his star rises, he has stayed close to his South Carolina roots. Instead of moving to Nashville, the epicenter of the CCM industry, Lake lives with his wife, Brittany; their three sons; and a menagerie including cows, mini-donkeys and two dogs on a sprawling rural property just outside Charleston. Much of King of Hearts was recorded in a three-room Charleston studio owned by Lake’s longtime collaborator, producer-writer Micah Nichols. And even when he’s on the road, Lake makes a point of staying connected to his hometown: In 2022, he concluded the first leg of his first headlining tour with two sold-out shows at Seacoast Church; next May, he’ll wrap his 48-city King of Hearts tour at Charleston’s 12,000-seat Credit One Stadium.

But regardless of venue size or location, Lake’s goal remains the same. “When we go out on tour and it’s this huge production, huge lights and sound, I’m not doing anything other than just having church — just maybe a few more lights in cool moments,” he says with a chuckle. “It’s entertaining, but really, I want [concertgoers] to be able to say, ‘I went to the King of Hearts tour, and my life has forever changed.’ ”

What do you recall about your first time performing?

I’ve been a part of [Seacoast Church] since I was probably 13 or 14 years old. They encouraged me and gave me opportunity after opportunity to learn and fail and grow. This is where I learned how to write songs. Someone overheard me singing in a small group in someone’s living room and asked me to sing. I sang for the first time at church, and I remember feeling so vulnerable, which to this day I still do. It’s this love-hate relationship every time I step out on the platform, especially on tour — it’s like the weight of the night feels like it’s on my shoulders, but at the same time, I try to remember it’s not about me: People are coming to hear these songs and have a real experience with God.

Early in your career, you started working with popular worship collective Bethel Music. What was it like making that transition from leading worship at your local church to being on a larger tour with a collective?

Going from local church to being on tour in front of thousands of people overnight was a dream come true and, in the same season, writing with all my heroes. Everybody that was on my bucket list of getting to write with them, it all happened in the span of a few weeks. What came quickly after that was a valley — I never expected what it would do when I came home and came off that high. That taught me a lot. I did a whole record around mental health [2022’s Help!]. I’d never experienced depression, anxiety, panic attacks ever in my life until I came home from all my dreams coming true, but my adrenaline was just totally shot. I just went into this super-dark place, and it wasn’t long, but it was long enough to be like, “I need some help.” I had to relearn to go to God first and most, to fix what was going on.

I’ve had to learn over the past few years how to tour and record and balance family and this career the healthy way. There’s a reason why I only tour on the weekends. [The King of Hearts tour comprises four-show runs that are booked for Thursdays through Sundays.] My wife and I discuss every opportunity I get to make sure that we’re on board as a family. I want to be 50 years old and still be able to tour. That’s why I have a health coach, a performance coach. I’m trying to get healthy in every aspect of my life.

Sonically, King of Hearts is the most varied album of your career. Why was that important to you?

Touching on different genres isn’t something I set out to do. I’ve been a sponge and soaked up the gold from people I’ve been surrounded by. Growing up, [I listened to] Christian music and James Taylor. I’d come home from school and turn on CMT [Country Music Television]. So I grew up around country [music] and discovered rock’n’roll later. I had a metal garage band for a little while and just loved all genres of music. I was trying to learn from all these different expressions of music … So now when I go write a song, I’m less focused on “What does this need to sound like?” and more on “What am I feeling right now?”

“Sevens” is the most rock-leaning song on the album. What was that writing/recording session like?

We went to a Royal Blood and Queens of the Stone Age concert down the street from this studio, and a few days later, I just wanted to write a big-riff rock tune. I picked up a guitar, started playing and [writer-producer] Micah [Nichols] and I started chasing it. The chorus that you hear is the demo vocal from the day we wrote it. I would say 70% of King of Hearts is filled with demo vocals.

How did Jelly Roll come to be on “Hard Fought Hallelujah”?

I released [the solo version of] this song, and then I felt like, “This is too special to not share this song with somebody.” Thinking about the lyrics, I was like, “Man, I think Jelly Roll would resonate with the story of this song.” I’ve been so inspired by his story, the things he’s overcome. I remember seeing him sing “Believe” with Brooks & Dunn [at the 2024 CMA Awards], and I just bawled my eyes out. It gave me all the faith to reach out. The craziest part of that is he had already heard the song on TikTok and loved it. We hopped on the phone, and we didn’t talk music for the first hour. We just instantly became like brothers and talked about life, parenting, touring, family. It was a real friendship off the bat. There’s a reason why he is on top of the world right now, and it’s not just because his songs are amazing — it’s because he’s amazing.

You have stayed close to your roots in Charleston. Have you been tempted to move to Nashville?

I love Nashville, but I like it being a home away from home. [Charleston] is where my roots are and being here with those that remember the 15-year-old Brandon, they know me the best. I want to make music that gives people faith and hope to keep going, and the people I’ve surrounded myself with, they get that the best. So it makes the most sense to stay here.

As your career has grown beyond CCM in terms of music listener recognition, has there been any kind of backlash or criticism from music listeners or the industry?

I think historically, any time something has shifted outside of what had been done previously, it can make people take pause and maybe be even a bit uncomfortable with it … or make it feel like it’s an either-or situation. And if you only are using Instagram as a metric, I can see why someone would maybe want to position it that way. But I don’t think of it that way … To me, this is a lifestyle and teachings that live through music, and however that is connecting and wherever that is connecting, I will always want it to be as much and as far as possible.

CCM is having a moment on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Hard Fought Hallelujah” and Forrest Frank’s “Your Way’s Better” charting simultaneously. Why do you think the genre is surging?

I think the reason why Christian music is probably more consumed now than years ago is because there’s a greater level of hunger for what’s real and what’s true. The fact that American Idol did a whole night around Easter, I think it just goes to show people are desperate for something that is going to lift their spirit. And I’ve got too many stories — I think what keeps me going, and I think what would keep a Forrest Frank going and what keeps a Josiah Queen writing these songs, is getting flooded with testimonies. People are hungry for authenticity. They’re not just looking for entertainment. They’re looking for an encounter with something that’s real. There’s nothing more real than God.

The owner of the Jet Set nightclub in the Dominican Republic was arrested last week and charged with involuntary homicide over the tragic roof collapse on April 8 where 235 people died and nearly 200 more were injured. According to The New York Times, prosecutors arrested and charged club owner Antonio Espaillat on June 12 after a club employee provided authorities with evidence showing he’d warned the club’s owners that they should cancel that night’s show because of the poor condition of the club’s roof.

The deadly incident occurred during a show by merengue singer Rubby Pérez at the beloved music venue that was celebrating its 50th anniversary. The singer’s manager said at the time that the roof collapsed about an hour after the show’s midnight start time. In addition to killing many fans, the collapse also took the lives of Pérez’s saxophone player, as well as former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northwestern province of Montecristi whose brother is seven-time MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz.

The Times described Espaillat as a wealthy businessman whose family also owns a chain of radio stations; Espaillat’s sister, who helped manage the club, was also charged with involuntary homicide. The attorney general’s office said in a statement that the siblings “demonstrated immense irresponsibility and negligence by failing to do what was necessary to ensure that the Jet Set Club’s roof was adequately and expertly repaired.”

In addition, the AG’s office claimed the Espaillat’s attempted to “manipulate or intimidate” employees who could be potential witnesses in the case, not offering any details on those alleged efforts. The club was owned by Espaillat and his mother and, the Times reported, its roof had undergone years of “repeated repairs.”

In a local TV interview two weeks after the collapse, Espaillat said that the club’s ceiling panels often got soaked from water leaks from the air conditioning units on the roof, with workers reportedly replacing ceiling panels on the day of the Pérez show. Though the owner said he wasn’t aware the roof situation was so pressing, an employee shared information with investigators reportedly showing that Espaillat had been warned about the peril.

The unnamed employee’s lawyer said his client had turned their phone over to investigators, containing evidence of conversations in which “he gave an account of the situation at the nightclub in which he expressed his fears and apprehensions, and his suggestion that the event be suspended. And that was ignored.”

The Times reported that of lawsuits have been filed over the incident and that an engineering report reviewing the collapse was completed last week, but that its contents have not yet been made public.