On the Austin City Limits 2021 stage this weekend, Billie Eilish revealed that she had partly wanted to cancel her appearance at the Texas music festival in protest of the state’s restrictive new abortion law. But she came through for her Texas fans.

The law that Texas enacted in September prohibits abortions after around six weeks, when cardiac activity is detected, but at which time many women are not even aware they are pregnant. The law does not make exceptions for rape or incest and very few for health reasons. It also employs a controversial method of enforcement that allows private citizens to sue abortion providers who violate the law, as well as anyone who aids a woman in obtaining an abortion, for $10,000 or more.

“When they made that s— a law, I almost didn’t want to do the show because I wanted to punish this f—ing place for allowing that to happen here,” Eilish can be heard saying on the ACL Fest stage at Zilker Park Saturday night (Oct. 2) in a video clip filmed by fans.

“But then I remembered that it’s you guys that are the f—ing victims, and you deserve everything in the world. And we need to tell them to shut the f— up,” she told the crowd, reportedly putting up her middle finger.

“My body, my f—ing choice!” Eilish, who celebrated her first arena show in over a year just a couple weeks ago, shouted. She urged the ACL crowd to join her.

Eilish seemed very glad to have performed at Austin City Limits after all: “last night was f—ing crazy. one of my favorites,” she commented on Instagram, where she posted a series of photos from her set on Sunday.

Barbra Streisand, P!nk and St. Vincent are among the many artists who have criticized the new Texas law.

“Have we gone backwards in time?” Streisand asked. “Isn’t it interesting how putting on a mask is ‘violating their body’ but abortion rights is not?”

See Eilish speak out against Texas’ abortion law in the clip below.

It looks like Grimes has fooled photographers following her around after her high-profile split from SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

On Saturday (Oct. 2), the “Violence” singer admitted on Twitter that she recently trolled paparazzi by staging a photo of herself reading Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto while sitting on a sidewalk in downtown Los Angeles.

“Paparazzi followed me 2 a shoot so I tried 2 think what I could do that would yield the most onion-ish possible headline and it worked haha,” Grimes captioned a screenshot of a New York Post article about the images in question.

Grimes added on Instagram that she’s still living with Musk and clarified that she’s “not a communist.” The art-pop singer also issued a playful warning to other celebrity photographers: “If paparazzi keep chasing me perhaps I will try to think of more ways to meme — suggestions welcome!”

Her IG post garnered supportive comments from fellow musical artists like SZA, Kiesza, Lights and Jewel. “Unreal veteran move,” Lights wrote. Jewel added, “I love this so much!” And SZA said, “I mean ya look hot lol.”

Last week, Grimes released a new song titled “Love” that addresses her feelings about the heightened media scrutiny surrounding her personal life and directly called out members of the paparazzi who’ve reportedly harassed her.

“I wrote and produced this song this week in response to all the privacy invasion, bad press, online hate and harassment by paparazzis I’ve experienced this week,” she wrote on Instagram.

In late September, Musk confirmed he and Grimes had broken up after dating for three years in a statement to Page Six, and explained what their co-parenting strategies are like with their 1-year-old son, X Æ A-12.

“We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms,” Musk said. “It’s mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or traveling overseas, and her work is primarily in L.A. She’s staying with me now and Baby X is in the adjacent room.”

Following the announcement, Grimes made headlines when she joked in a statement about “colonizing Europa [one of Jupiter’s moons] separately from Elon for the lesbian space commune.”

See Grimes’ tweet about trolling the paparazzi below.

Lemon City is an ancient neighborhood by Miami standards. Named after the unusually sweet lemon trees that grew in the area, it was home to one of the county’s oldest … Click to Continue »

From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.

J Balvin Radio

For SiriusXM, J Balvin has curated an exclusive two-week, limited edition channel featuring anecdotes from the making of his album Jose. He’s also flaunting his radio host abilities with two original shows, “Head Bang with Jose,” where he will feature some of his favorite rock tunes, and “La Hora Rumbera,” where he will feature classic tropical tunes. Part of SiriusXM and Pandora’s Small Stage Series, an exclusive Balvin performance will air at 10 p.m. ET on Oct. 13 via satellite and on the SXM App. J Balvin Radio will be available from Oct. 7-14 on the SiriusXM App and via satellite on channel 104.

Red Table Talk Returns

Red Table Talk returned to Facebook Watch with an emotional episode called “Betrayed by Trusted Adults.” Co-hosted by Gloria, Lili and Emily Estefan, the new episode featured special guest Clare Crawley, the first Latin Bachelorette. Both Crawley and Gloria opened up about their personal traumatic experiences of being molested in their childhood. In addition to the powerful conversation, Dr. Ramirez detailed the warning signs to identify abuse in children.

Blessd’s First Tour

Colombian newcomer Blessd announced his first-ever international tour, Hecho en Medellin, kicking off Nov. 4 in Europe. Throughout the fall, the former Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise will visit cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Zurich, Milan, Rome and Paris, among others. “God is rewarding us with these new triumphs that we are getting little by little, and without a doubt, Europe will mark a before and after in my career,” he expressed in a statement.

Nathy Peluso’s Daddy Yankee Cover

This week, the Argentine-born rapper Nathy Peluso dropped her version of Daddy Yankee’s 2010 “La Despedida.” As part of her Spotify Singles,  where she also shared another version of her female salsa anthem “Mafiosa,” Peluso gave the timeless reggaeton hit a hip-hop and pop twist. “‘La Despedida’ is a classic that I’m proud to revisit,” she said in a press statement. “I really admire Daddy Yankee and I’ve always loved the lyrics, the harmonies, and the rhythms of the song.” Peluso’s cover comes on the heels of her four nominations at the 2021 Latin Grammys.

Chris Perez Partners With PETA

Chris Perez joined PETA’s new campaign to remind people that animals can die of heatstroke inside parked cars in as little as 15 minutes. “That connection I feel with dogs is something special to me. I consider them as part of the family,” the former Selena y Los Dinos guitarist said in the clip. “When I hear about a dog [who] gets left in a car, it’s really upsetting. It’s sad. It happens so fast.” In the one-minute video, he also encouraged pet owners to take the right measurements or leave them at home. For more information, visit www.peta.org.