Swedish entertainment company Pophouse has named a new CEO, Jessica Koravos, who will take over leadership of the company in January 2026.

A statement from Pophouse says that Koravos will “lead the company’s ambitious next phase of global expansion and its journey to become a world leader in music IP investment and development.”

Koravos was previously president of Oak View Group International, president of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s The Really Useful Group and a board member for ABBA Voyage, the ABBA hologram show developed by Pophouse that debuted in London in 2022. (Pophouse was co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus.)

Pophouse’s current CEO, Per Sundin, will remain in his current role until Koravos joins as CEO in January. The statement says Sundin will “support a smooth and orderly process, before assuming a new role” within the company. This new role “will be defined around his experience in and knowledge of the entertainment industry together with [Koravos].”

“I am truly delighted to be joining Pophouse at this exciting time,” Koravos says in a statement. “Having seen Pophouse’s tremendous growth — driven by their compelling strategy, powerful partnerships with global artists, inspiring board and excellent team. I look forward to driving the future expansion and success of the business.”

The company’s chair, Lennart Blecher, adds that “this leadership transition represents a pivotal moment in Pophouse’s evolution and underscores the company’s mission to redefine the entertainment landscape. Jessica brings a proven track record of driving sustained growth across entertainment and live production ventures on a global scale, and her leadership in securing international licensing partnerships and delivering iconic IPs to audiences throughout Europe, Asia and the U.S. aligns perfectly with our ambitious expansion goals — for example Mamma Mia! The Party and the upcoming KISS avatar show. I am truly thrilled to welcome Jessica to Pophouse.”

Blecher adds, “I would like to thank Per for all he has contributed to put Pophouse firmly on the map. We are delighted that Per will continue to be a vital part of the team and we all at Pophouse look forward to continuing our collaboration.”

In March, Pophouse announced that it raised $1.3 billion to invest in catalog acquisitions and develop entertainment experiences around those music rights. It simultaneously revealed that roughly 30% of this fund has already been deployed in partnerships related to the acquisition of rights to songs by KISS, Cyndi Lauper, Avicii and Swedish House Mafia.

In an interview with Billboard in May, Sundin said that the company hopes “to announce at least one catalog we’re buying by summer. But we don’t just want to buy it and put it on the shelf. We create a road map for five to 10 years, and then we execute that road map. From the beginning, we told our investors that we want to buy eight to 10 catalogs. We have four. That leaves six to buy. The record companies have thousands of catalogs.”

Pophouse’s current track record includes the aforementioned ABBA Voyage, The Avicii Experience tribute museum in Stockholm, Mamma Mia! The Party, an interactive dinner party in a London theater designed like a taverna in the Greek islands and ABBA The Museum, which opened in 2013. KISS also sold its name and likeness rights to Pophouse and has said that a virtual performance of its songs could launch in Las Vegas in 2027.

Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant has paid tribute to Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota, who tragically died in a car accident in northern Spain on July 3. The Portuguese international was 28.

Plant, a lifelong Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter and Vice President of the club, expressed his grief on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “What a tragic loss. The dimming of a bright, shining light. Thank you for your magic, Diogo.”

The accident reportedly occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning as Jota was traveling from Portugal to Santander, where he planned to take a ferry back to England for pre-season training. He had been advised not to fly following minor surgery.

His younger brother, Andre Silva, also a professional footballer in Portugal, was killed in the crash at age 25. According to CNN, Spain’s Guardia Civil said the accident was likely caused by a “burst tire while overtaking.”

Plant’s connection to Jota goes beyond music fandom. The rock icon has been a vice president at Wolves since 2009 and has attended countless matches at Molineux over the years. Jota’s time at Wolves was a pivotal chapter in his career; after arriving on loan in 2017, he helped secure the club’s promotion to the Premier League and stayed on to establish himself as a standout forward.

Tributes poured in from across the football and entertainment worlds following the news. Cristiano Ronaldo shared an emotional message: “It doesn’t make sense. Just now we were together in the national team, you had just got married. Rest in peace, Diogo e Andre. We will miss you.” Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp described Jota as “not only a fantastic player, but also a great friend, a loving and caring husband and father.”

Jota’s sudden passing comes just 11 days after he married his long-time partner, Rute Cardoso. He is survived by Cardoso and their three young children.

We finally get some background behind Amanda Seales telling Shannon Sharpe and the rest of the world that Boldy James owes her some bail money.

The Detroit rapper sat down with Brian “B. Dot” Miller for his interview series Cover Lines and was asked directly if he owes her some bread.

“I’m glad you brought this up, Lord have mercy,” an exasperated Boldy replied as he shook his head. “She’s talkin’ about $2,000 of a bond she had to pay for me, right? I had a situation. She sent the money to help look out for me. But this is what ends up happening. This is the honest to God truth.”

He then went on to explain a complicated a tale of a business arrangement that fell through that ended up costing him thousands of dollars and expressed disappointment in her making their situation public, while also adding that he doesn’t have any ill will toward Seales.

Last April, the actress made an appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay and the topic of her dating life came up, during which she revealed that she has an interesting history with the Detroit rapper. “If I hate Black men, I want a refund, Shannon,” she told Sharpe. “You know how many brothers I have lifted up? I want a refund! I done paid probation fees because n—as could rap and I want them to be able to live in their talent and their truth. I done talked to a damn P.O. to vouch. Boldy James. And you owe me money.”

Fans of James were taken aback and realized that he was serious when he mentioned her character Deonne Wilburn from the cult classic Nickelodeon show My Brother and Me on his song “Guilt” from 2021 rapping, “Hundred a G/ ‘Member I got fronted the key/ ‘Fore the bag came, my gas tank was under the E/ Life took a ill turn on that Sunderland spree/ Now I’m f—in’ Miss Wilburn from My Brother and Me.”

You can watch the full interview below.

A juror in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs is opening up about the decision-making process behind Wednesday’s verdict, when the disgraced rap mogul was convicted of illegal prostitution but acquitted of sex-trafficking and racketeering charges.

Speaking to ABC News on Thursday (July 3), the juror, who requested anonymity citing concerns of potential online abuse and cyber harassment, said they heard a legal pundit today suggest that Combs’ celebrity status may have influenced the jury’s decision, an idea that the juror slammed as “highly insulting and belittling to the jury and the deliberation process.”

“We spent over two days deliberating. Our decision was based solely on the evidence presented and how the law is stated,” the juror told the outlet. “We would have treated any defendant in the same manner regardless of who they are. I have nothing else to say.”

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian denied Combs’ request for bail and ruled that he will have to remain in jail, where he’s been since his arrest 10 months ago, until a sentencing hearing later this year. Judge Subramanian said his history of domestic violence still makes him a danger to society despite his acquittal on the more serious charges. The judge proposed a sentencing date of Oct. 3 but also set a remote hearing for Tuesday, July 8 to further discuss the sentence scheduling.

Aubrey O’Day and Kesha both recently showed support for Cassie, who took the stand for several days during the seven-week trial. Meanwhile, 50 Cent, Combs’ son King, Funkmaster Flex and more also weighed in on the verdict.

Jim Jones sat down with Angie Martinez for her IRL podcast recently and talked about the debate that’s had a stranglehold on rap social media.

The legendary journalist and radio host said that the day after she booked Jim for an episode, the Nas debate went viral and asked if he’s been trolling people a bit with some of his quotes surrounding the situation.

“I mean you’re definitely correct,” he said with a smile before explaining how the conversation started in the first place. “But I didn’t start it. There was a young gentleman that they asked a question to and his clip went viral. He was on a podcast and they asked him who’s more relevant: Jim Jones or Nas? That went super viral and that led to all these people with platforms to ask that question.”

Adding that he was only defending himself after being asked a question, he then brought up his earlier back-and-forth with fellow Diplomat Cam’ron earlier this year. “Even from the beginning of the year when I did the Justin [Laboy] interview — I didn’t start it,” Jones said. “They asked me how I felt about what was said about me from another platform from some other people. I’m not a troublemaker, but I like trouble if that’s the case. I’m built for it. My whole type of thing has been that engagement, and here we are.”

Jones then talked about how easy it is to go viral with today’s social media landscape and how something like that can benefit an artist in the digital age. “I gave people a prerequisite,” he told Martinez. “I know how to go viral, this is easy. We’re in a community where everything goes viral… and turns into a revenue stream. I’m on everybody’s Explore page, I’m at the top of this page, the top of that page. You like me, don’t like me, know who I was… one click away from making me some money. I also have a record label, I have artists, I have music out. It makes it that much easier to know who Jim Jones is. I’m worried about myself when I make these moves. I know how to turn my negatives into a positive.”

The kicker, though? He underestimated how many people have Nas at the top of their favorite rapper list.

“Man, I didn’t know how many people loved Nas, though,” he said before making himself and Angie burst into laughter. “I’m watching people go absolutely batsh– crazy, like goddamn. But that’s hip-hop. There’s people that I adored as a fan too that I’ll probably go batsh– crazy for in the same situation, I love it, that’s what the game was built on. Let’s not make no mistake, I put in a lot of work and I did a lot of incredible things that a lot of people have not gotten to do in this industry.”

A few weeks back, a clip of a young 22-year-old from New Jersey went viral because he said the Harlem rapper was more relevant to him than Nas. This opinion predictably got people up in arms and Jones’ subsequent media run after continued to fan the flames. Jones defended himself on Fat Joe and Jadakiss’ podcast and told the people to pull up the Billboard stats and he told the BagFuel podcast that he basically did Nas a favor by talking about him so much. “What I did for Nas probably never been done for him in his life. He’s never been that viral at all. Ever,” he said. “Ever. He’s never been talked about like this ever in his life.”

You can watch the full episode below.