Fred again.. is taking a metaphorical victory lap with the just released “Victory Lap Two” edit of his June track, “Victory Lap.”

Out today (July 9), the remix features a new verse from Denzel Curry, who makes a fierce entry onto the track with rhymes about money, his mission and turning heads “like The Exorcist.” Curry joins the tracks original guests Skepta and New Jersey-born rapper/producer streamer PlaqueBoyMax. Listen to “Victory Lap Two” below.

“Victory Lap” was originally released on June 17 via an extended livestream from New York with Fred again.. and Skepta that was followed by a much-hyped pop-up show that sold out the Brooklyn Paramount and streamed to fans online via Twitch. The song marked Fred’s first new music of 2025.

In a post announcing the remix, the artist born Fred Gibson wrote “Victory lappeddddd, denzel curry, the people spoke, and obviii we agreed, and then denzel spoke, and its sorta hard to speak after that,Victory Lap Two out today featuring big ultra himself.” Fred also shared an Instagram story with video of Curry recording his verse.

In a post from last week, Fred also told the story of how the original track came to be, from production of the drums to Skepta getting on the track “to skepta play[ing] it at Glastonbury. with 4 hours notice. oh man this s–t was just a joy. had to leave glasto for rehearsals at 5, i made a festival special edit in the car at like 7, sent skep an mp3, got home at 8.30, in time to make a cup of tea and switch on iplayer at 9 to watch skep close his set with it AREUCRAZY it never goes like that. one of the most satisfying moments ive had in music genuinely.”

Fred again.. is currently on tour in Asia, with dates in Bali, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Japan through the end of July.

Shortly after news broke that GELO and Rashida Nicole were divorcing only six months after going public as a couple, the basketball player-turned-rapper sat down with Billboard News and addressed the Internet’s reaction to the headlines.

“When people conversate about my personal life, it don’t touch me or bother me too much,” GELO (real name: LiAngelo Ball) tells Billboard News. “Like I see it, of course, because you know, everybody got a phone, but it don’t rub me the wrong way or nothing because nobody really go [through] what I go through every day. You not me, for real. So it don’t mean sh–, for real.”

The “Tweaker” rapper says he only cares about what his friends and family have to say, not strangers online. “I don’t even know half the people saying anything,” he tells Billboard. “And everybody I know rock with me. Sh–, there it is. I be feeling good when I step out. Got love.”

Ball and Nicole went public back in February, when the influencer and podcaster sat courtside for GELO’s “Tweaker” performance at the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. While TMZ — who broke the divorce news on Wednesday — are unsure when Ball and Nicole were married, their cameras did catch the couple leaving a SoCal courthouse wearing all-white, also in February. The couple was last spotted out at June 9’s BET Awards.

Last month, Nicole revealed that she’s expecting a baby — which would be the couple’s first child together, but Nicole’s second and Ball’s third. “Wish I had all the right words to describe this journey, but I guess if I had to define it, all I can truly say is: I’m grateful, terrified, anxious, nauseous, HANGRY … all of thee above,” she wrote on Instagram next to photos of her growing baby bump. “As a teen mom, I was always hesitant about going thru pregnancy and parenthood again. (Iykyk) I want to thank my daughter for being here for me during this process, always demonstrating unconditional LOVE & reassuring me that, ‘Everything is alright!’ And for now…I choose to protect my peace and this beautiful energy.”

Ball has two other children — LaVelo and LaNiyah — with his ex Nikki Mudarris.

In January, GELO signed with Def Jam and released his breakout rap smash “Tweaker,” which became a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at No. 29), topped the Rhythmic Airplay chart, and had a remix featuring Lil Wayne released on Feb. 7. His debut album, League of My Own, is due July 18.

A federal judge in Miami has thrown out a lawsuit that accused Karol G and Tiësto of infringing a Cuban-American composer’s work for their 2021 dance-pop hit “Don’t Be Shy.”

A Wednesday (July 9) ruling from Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga granted summary judgment to Karol G (Carolina Giraldo-Navarro) and Tiësto (Tijs Michiel Verwest) while also tossing claims against Atlantic Records, Kobalt, Sony Music Publishing and Warner Records.

Rene Lorente-Garcia sued in 2023, alleging “Don’t be Shy,” which was Karol G’s first English-language release and peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, copied the melody, rhythm and harmony of his 1998 song “Algo Diferente.”

The defendants all denied any infringement and said they’d never even heard of Lorente-Garcia or “Algo Diferente” before the lawsuit. Their expert witness, copyright litigation heavy hitter Dr. Lawrence Ferrara, said the 1998 song is markedly different from “Don’t be Shy” and that the two tracks share only common building blocks.

Lorente-Garcia’s lawyers countered this with their own expert report from Richie Viera, a Latin music producer and former A&R executive at Capitol Records. But Judge Altonaga says Viera is not qualified to serve as a musicology expert.

“While his CV highlights substantial experience in the business side of the Latin music industry,” writes the judge of Viera, “none of these roles involves the core competencies of forensic musicology: transcribing compositions, analyzing protectable expression or applying comparative methodologies to determine similarities.”

Judge Altonaga says Viera’s expert report lacks any real musicological analysis and fails to even consider the key element of prior art. When asked to describe his methodology at a deposition, Viera supposedly replied, “I use my ears. I am able to detect when a word is copied, when there is any sort of copy. I operate at that high level… I hold an instinct, something that was granted to me by God.”

“That is not a methodology,” writes Judge Altonaga. “It is, at best, Viera’s personal intuition offered up as professional expertise.”

With Viera’s expert report excluded, Lorente-Garcia’s attorneys would have needed to show that the writers of “Don’t be Shy” had access to “Algo Diferente” in order to defeat the summary judgment motion.

Lorente-Garcia’s case comes up short on this front, too, according to Judge Altonaga, who says the evidence “reveals little more than ‘Algo Diferente’s’ presence in the digital ether, one among millions of songs” and that “no reasonable jury” could find that Tiësto and Karol G heard the track.

Pryor Cashman attorney Donald Zakarin, who represents Tiësto and Karol G as well as the label and publisher defendants, tells Billboard, “This was a misguided case that never should have been brought.”

“There was no possibility of access and, as Dr. Ferrara demonstrated, the claimed ‘similarities’ were commonplace musical building blocks found in multiple pre-existing works,” Zakarin continues. “It is just wrong that successful songwriters and artists are so frequently subjected to objectively baseless claims that are expensive to fight. But fighting these claims is the right thing to do, and we are grateful to our clients and their representatives for standing up to protect all songwriters.”

Lorente-Garcia’s lawyers and Viera did not immediately return requests for comment.

Lena Dunham’s latest film project stars one of rom-com’s biggest icons — but without Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour, the casting of Meg Ryan might not have been possible.

In a Variety cover story published this week, the Girls creator opened up about securing the Sleepless in Seattle actress for Good Sex, Dunham’s upcoming Netflix film about a couple’s therapist played by Natalie Portman who re-enters the dating scene after getting out of a decadelong relationship. Ryan will co-star in the film alongside Mark Ruffalo and Tucker Pillsbury, aka alt-pop musician Role Model.

According to Dunham, she sold the When Harry Met Sally star on the project after running into her at a 2024 Eras stop in London. “I decided, it’s now or never, and I’m going to shoot my shot,” the screenwriter told the publication. “She couldn’t be a lovelier person.”

“Shout-out Taylor — thank you for that,” Dunham added. “She brings everyone together; she makes the world go ’round.”

Dunham and the pop star have long been close friends. The former co-starred in Swift’s 2015 “Bad Blood” music video, and in 2021, Swift was a bridesmaid in Dunham’s wedding to musician Luis Felber.

In an interview with The New Yorker last year, Dunham — who also caught Eras Tour shows in Boston and Pittsburgh — opened up about feeling “protective” of her famous friend. “Probably the two things I get asked most in life are ‘What is Taylor like?’ and ‘Can I have tickets to the Eras Tour?’ And usually my answer to both things is no, but I will say that she’s everything that you would want her to be,” she said at the time.

“She’s kind, she’s devoted, she’s introspective, she’s emotional, she’s funny as f—,” she added at the time “I guess my feeling sometimes is, ‘Isn’t she giving us enough, guys?’”

See Dunham on the cover of Variety below.