Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck Return to the Red Carpet Together for the First Time in 18 Years: Pics

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are back and better than ever. After a summer filled with multiple vacations and PDA photos, the couple just marked another big moment in their rekindled relationship. On Friday (Sept. 10), Lopez and Affleck attend the Venice International Film Festival together for the premiere of Affleck’s new movie, The Last Duel. The high-profile appearance marks Lopez and Affleck’s first red carpet appearance as a couple in 18 years.

The “In the Morning” singer stunned in an all white gown — designed by Georges Hobeika — with a plunging neckline, and accessorized her look with Cartier jewelry adorned in yellow diamonds. Affleck went classic with his attire, appearing alongside the singer in a sharp black tuxedo, matching bow tie and black patent leather shoes.

The pair looked cozy on the carpet, walking with their arms around each other, snuggling, and gazing adoringly at each other. They were also snapped sharing kisses.

Lopez and Affleck last attended a red carpet event together in 2003 for the premiere of Gigli. The pair — who starred in the film — were engaged at the time, but announced their split to the world in January 2004. Before confirming their split, Lopez and Affleck told People in a statement they were postponing their wedding due to “excessive media attention.”

The pair has yet to any make direct comments about their reunion, but went Instagram official on July 24. In a mini gallery of photos in which she was celebrating her 52nd birthday, the superstar saved the best for last: The final image was one of her and Affleck passionately locking lips.

Lopez famously called out paparazzi following her and Affleck’s relationship in the video for her 2002 hit, “Jenny From the Block.” The song, a now-iconic staple of Lopez’s catalogue, spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and landed in the No. 3 spot on the chart in December 2002.

See some of the photos from their return to the red carpet together below:

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First Stream Latin: New Music From Bomba Estereo, Kany Garcia, Sofia Reyes & More

First Stream Latin is a compilation of the best new Latin songs, albums and videos recommended by the Billboard Latin editors. Check out this week’s picks below.

Bomba Estereo, Deja (Sony Music Latin)

Bomba Estereo’s first album in four years, Deja, is divided conceptually into four sections that correspond to the four elements: water, air, earth and fire. The Colombian electro-folkloric band describes the album as the connection and disconnection of the human beings — from the planet, from one’s own self, lead singer Li explained in a statement. Their recent single “Conexión Total” is a collaboration with Nigerian superstar Yemi Alade that mixes African drums, marimbas and indigenous flutes. On “Como Lo Pedi,” they reel in iconic Mexican songwriter Leonel Garcia to give life to these super profound lyrics in combination with electronic beats and an acoustic guitar. On the chorus, Garcia’s high tones harmonize perfectly with Li’s rap verses. The lyrics show the power of manifestation: “As I asked, your love came to me / That the sea can illuminate me at night / As I asked, everything was forgotten / And in the end, I left behind all the reproaches / As I asked, but without speaking / As I asked, I can rest and heal by hugging you.” The title track is one of the more moving ones on the album. “Deja” talks about depression and tells people that you must get out of it somehow by singing, dancing, even crying. “If this song works of one person, then mission accomplished,” she said. The album was self-produced by the band with a couple of invited guest producers in a constructed makeshift studio in Li’s home in Santa Marta and was mixed by Damian Taylor. — INGRID FAJARDO

Sofia Reyes, Becky G, “Mal de Amores” (Warner Music Latina)

If by any chance you need a new girl’s anthem for your playlist, it’s this one. In “Mal de Amores,” Sofia Reyes and Becky G are bonding over their bad luck in love; nonetheless, they have the secret to healing a broken heart: tequila with music. “I’m not going to suffer for him, I swear, I’m not going to suffer,” the chorus goes. The two artists also pay homage to their Mexican roots, bringing to life a saucy cumbia sonidera fused with urban beats at the helm of award-winning producers Andres Torres and Mauricio Rengifo. The vibrant music video, filmed by the Nicaraguan-Vietnamese director Mike Ho, gives us major Ana Gabriel and Vikki Carr in “Cosas del Amor” vibes. — JESSICA ROIZ 

Kany Garcia, “DPM (De Pxta Madre)” (Sony Music Latin)

Her first single in 15 months, Kany García has released “DPM,” an empowering flamenco-tinged pop track that makes walking away from a toxic relationship feel as liberating as ever. Penned by the Puerto Rican artist, along with Servando Primera and Yasmil Marrufo, García’s new track has a clear message: I’m better off alone. “Now I am dancing, smiling, whistling, no one is bothering me … I’m singing while showering, there is no fall or winter, it’s spring all year,” she sings. The music video released with the song is really a celebration of independence featuring a group of people eating, drinking and dancing on the beach. “DPM” coincides with García’s 2021 tour, which officially kicked off Wednesday in Atlanta. — GRISELDA FLORES

Trueno, “Feel Me??” (NEUEN)

Declaring his career will reach the top, Argentine rapper Trueno presents “Feel Me??” an innovative trap song where he only manifests success throughout the lyrics. He even dedicates a few words to his biggest supporter, his mom. “Mama raised a champion / Tus besos son mis premio,” he chants in the bilingual song. Produced by Tatool and Bryan Taylor, the beat has strong mainstream rap influences laced with a jazzy saxophone melody. In the music video, we see scenes of Trueno climbing to the top and other behind-the-scenes clips of his everyday life at the studio and concerts in Argentina. — J.R. 

Beatriz Luengo, Darell, “Chanteito Pa’ un Ex” (Sony Music Latin)

Spanish singer-songwriter Beatriz Luengo delivered a Paquita la del Barrio-approved female empowerment anthem titled “Chanteíto Pa’ Un Ex,” which translates to a song for your ex. The rhythmic-pop tune, powered by a sparse acoustic guitar, is not your typical heartbreak song. The track finds a fired-up Beatriz Luengo who — after getting a pep talk from Paquita, who’s known for her feminist anthems — declares her independence. “I wanted to write you a love song, but I’m not feeling inspired. I’d like to call you ‘my love’ but ‘cabron’ is what comes to mind,” she sings defiantly. For the track, Luengo teams up with urbano act Darell, the bad guy in the story, who, in the music video, tries to get her back by serenading her with a mariachi in tow. To see how the story ends, watch the Fernando Lugo-directed clip below. — G.F.

Samantha Sanchez, “Reconciliados” (Rebeleon Entertainment)

From futuristic trap to dance-pop to a retro love ballad, Samantha Sanchez — with the help of producers Orlando Vitto and Renzo Braco — now dives into a feel-good punk song with a hip-hop twist. In “Reconciliados,” co-penned by Sanchez, Vitto, Bravo, Samantha Cámara, and Daniel Rondón, the Cuban-Spanish singer tells the story of two people who always get back together when they break up. “We are so alike that sometimes we crash but we’re a perfect defect,” she kicks off the track. For Sanchez, the track hits home, saying in a statement: “Since I was very little, my grandmother always told me: ‘You and your dad are so alike that’s why you always argue. Now, when I think about my relationships with friends and family, I come to the conclusion that as we have more things in common and we live with someone 24 hours a day, there will always be some fights. I wonder why do we fight if, in the end, we love each other?” — J.R.

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Former President Donald Trump and son to call exhibition boxing match at Hard Rock Casino

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This Miami Beach pizzeria that Lincoln Road shoppers loved just closed after 18 years

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Detectives spent months watching this Broward house. Bust nets weapons, $73K in cash, jewels

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Ed Sheeran Releases ‘Shivers’: Stream It Now

Ed Sheeran got his fans moving when he dropped his latest single “Shivers” and its accompanying music video on Thursday (Sept. 9).

“I wrote this as soon as the Divide tour ended in a rented farm in Suffolk where we had set up a studio for a couple of weeks to see what happened. It was written over the course of 3 days which is very different for me, but I felt it was too special to get wrong,” he wrote in an Instagram post announcing the single. “It was originally meant to be the first single but I just didn’t see a world where ‘Bad Habits’ existed if it didn’t come out in the summer. Shivers always felt more autumnal. I hope you like it, I bloody love it.”

To hype up the new record, Sheeran channeled Elton John by donning feathers, sequins, fringe, rose-colored glasses and silver pants in new promo photos.

“Shivers” is the second single from Sheeran’s upcoming fourth studio album, =, which is due Oct. 29 via Atlantic Records. It’s the follow-up to “Bad Habits,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. tallies.

Sheeran will perform “Shivers” for the first time on live television during the 2021 NFL Kickoff Experience in Tampa Bay, Fla., which is airing nationally on NBC at 7 p.m. ET.

Watch the “Shivers” music video and stream it below.

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Phil Collins Is Touring Again With Genesis But Says He ‘Can Barely Hold a Drumstick’ Due to Health Issues

Phil Collins is hitting the road again with Genesis soon, but his ongoing health condition has already proven his ability to perform rather difficult.

The 70-year-old singer and drummer, alongside his bandmates Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, sat down with BBC Breakfast for a new interview Thursday (Sept. 9) to discuss how they’re feeling before going back out on the road. First announced in March 2020 and later postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the British prog-rock band’s reunion tour The Last Domino? Tour 2021 will begin this winter, marking their first tour in 14 years. Buy tickets via Ticketmaster here.

“I can barely hold a drumstick with this hand,” Collins told the reporter while looking down at his hand. “So there are certain physical things which get in the way.”

Collins has long suffered from nerve damage following a spinal injury in 2007, which has hindered his ability to play the drums and made him sit down while he’s singing.

Rutherford quoted Collins by saying the tour is the band’s way of “putting it to bed.” He continued in his own words, “We’ve been 50 years doing this sort of stuff, and it’s nice to sort of have a round like this.”

Genesis is set to travel across the U.S. and Canada this November and December with Nic Collins, Phil’s son, on drums and the band’s longtime lead guitar and bass player Daryl Stuermer. The Last Domino? North American Tour 2021 marks the first time the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have performed stateside since 2007’s Turn It On Again: The Tour.

“I’m kind of physically challenged a bit, which is very frustrating ’cause, you know, I’d love to be playing up there with my son,” Collins said in the new interview. In 2018, the legendary musician said a Genesis reunion would only be possible if his son Nic was the one sitting behind the drums.

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Afrika Bambaataa Sued for Alleged Sex Abuse & Trafficking

An anonymous victim claims he was sexually abused and prostituted as a minor by hip-hop pioneer Afrikaa Bambaata in a lawsuit filed last month.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in New York on Aug. 9 and obtained by Billboard, the John Doe plaintiff claims that for four years beginning in 1991, when he was 12 years old, he was “repeatedly sexually abused and sex trafficked” at the hands of Afrikaa Bambaataa. Bambaataa, known for his influential 1982 single “Planet Rock” and for founding hip-hop organization Zulu Nation, is referred to in the lawsuit by his birth name, Lance Taylor. Metropolis newspaper first reported the news.

Billboard’s multiple attempts to reach Taylor for comment were unanswered at press time. Tanner & Ortega, the law firm representing Doe, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit claims that after Doe attended Zulu Nation meetings, Taylor began inviting Doe to his apartment “several times a week” and encouraging him to use a gym on the premises, where Taylor “would comment about Plaintiff’s muscular body and would touch Plaintiff on the shoulders, biceps and torso.” At Taylor’s apartment, Taylor began touching Doe’s “private areas” and encouraging him to masturbate while watching pornographic videos together, the lawsuit alleges, and the “mutual masturbation” later “progressed to sodomy.”

The lawsuit claims that Doe is also a sex trafficking victim, as Taylor allegedly transported Doe to other locations and offered Doe “for sex to other adult men” in exchange for money. During these encounters, Taylor “would watch as Plaintiff was sodomized by other adult men.”

Doe claims that he suffered “physical injury, severe and permanent emotional distress, mental anguish, depression and embarrassment” as a result of the alleged abuse, was “prevented from obtaining the full enjoyment of life” and “has been unable to keep a steady job.” This led to a loss of income and/or loss of earning capacity, the lawsuit states.

Doe did not speak of the alleged abuse until informing his mother while in his early 30s, according to the lawsuit, and filed the lawsuit under the New York Child Victims Act passed in 2019, which extends the statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse in New York. The deadline to file such suits fell was Aug. 14. Doe is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

The lawsuit also names Zulu Nation, Universal Zulu Nation and XYZ Corp., an entity believed to be affiliated with them, as defendants, accusing them of providing Taylor “with access to children, including Plaintiff, despite knowing that he would likely use their position to groom and to sexually abuse them.” Universal Zulu Nation cut ties with Taylor in 2016 after he was accused of sexual abuse by Ronald Savage, a music executive who was one of Taylor’s “crate boys” — kids who helped haul records for DJs. Taylor has denied those allegations, calling them a “cowardly attempt to tarnish my reputation.”

In a statement provided to Chicago’s Metropolis, the first publication to report on the suit, representatives for Zulu Nation said: “Nothing has changed since 2016 when these decades ago accusations first surfaced. This is a personal matter for Afrika Bambaataa and his lawyers to deal with and has absolutely nothing to do with the 10 year long UZN-DOCA mission, programs and projects which continue in the revolutionary legacy of both The Black Panther Party & The Young Lords Party to ‘Serve The People, Body & Soul.’”

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