BMG’s BBR Music Group (BBRMG) is facing a lawsuit over its decision to drop Jimmie Allen in the wake of sexual assault allegations against the once-rising country star.

The civil complaint, filed on Jan. 8 in Nashville, alleges BBRMG violated contractual duties when it “publicly and swiftly” booted Allen from the label after two anonymous women accused him of sexual assault in 2023. Allen denies the sexual misconduct claims.

“Defendant BBRMG, without a moment’s hesitation, threw Mr. Allen under the proverbial bus to avoid any notion of public scrutiny,” reads the lawsuit. “Defendant’s actions caused plaintiff significant emotional, physical, financial and reputational damages.”

The case is not actually being brought by Allen. Rather, it was filed by Joseph Marsh, a Florida-based live events producer who loaned money to Allen after the singer was dropped by BBRMG. In exchange for discharging some of this debt, Allen granted Marsh the right to sue over his lost record deal. A lawyer for Marsh, Robert Housman, tells Billboard, “Jimmie’s 100% behind this, and he’s agreed to help us throughout the course of the litigation.”

Allen signed with BBRMG in 2017 and broke through with a series of No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, including 2018’s “Best Shot” and 2020’s “Make Me Want To.” The label suspended Allen in May 2023 after his former day-to-day manager sued him for sexual assault, then dropped him completely in the wake of a second assault lawsuit the following month.

Marsh now claims BBRMG’s “knee-jerk” reaction constituted a breach of contract. This legal question will likely turn on the status of Allen’s record deal at the time of the sex assault claims; the contract’s most recent extension had expired in April 2023, but Marsh’s lawsuit alleges BBRMG had created an “ongoing contractual obligation” by releasing a music video for Allen’s single “Be Alright” following the expiration.

According to Marsh, BBRMG neglected “essential duties” after dropping Allen. The label supposedly stopped updating Allen’s social media accounts and ceased all promotion of “Be Alright” right after it had been sent to radio, ultimately letting “a hit song die on the music vine.” Marsh claims BBRMG’s public repudiation of Allen led to the singer being “black-balled” throughout Nashville, torpedoing a once-promising country music career.

Without a record deal, Marsh says, Allen has not had the funds to get himself back to the top of the charts — or even pay for lawyers to fight his sexual assault cases. Allen settled one of these cases in 2024, and he was judged liable by default in the other this summer after missing multiple key deadlines.

“Without monies derived from the promotional and other efforts owed him under the contract, Mr. Allen was unable to effectively counter these allegations,” reads Marsh’s lawsuit. “Had defendant not breached the contract, and had Mr. Allen had the financial wherewithal to wage a vigorous defense, Mr. Allen’s fate in these civil trials may have been vastly different — and perhaps more advantageous to him.”

The lawsuit seeks “extensive damages” from BBRMG, including for harm to Allen’s career and unpaid royalties. BBRMG has allegedly maintained that Allen isn’t entitled to royalties because of remaining unrecouped advances, but Marsh questions the truth of this assertion.

“Mr. Allen is a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated artist,” the lawsuit says. “His songs have been streamed tens of millions of times. Upon information and belief, the suggestion that Mr. Allen has not recouped indicates that the accountings here are likely false. Discovery as to these facts is necessary to establish whether or not defendant has defrauded Mr. Allen.”

A rep for BBRMG did not immediately return a request for comment on the allegations on Monday (Feb. 2).

As Super Bowl LX draws near on Feb. 8, millions of sports fans are gearing up to tune in to see the New England Patriots face off against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. This year, Billboard Hot 100-topping artist and Grammy winner Bad Bunny will headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Potential viewers will now have an alternative with conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show,” which is also set for Feb. 8. It will be led by performances from Kid Rock, Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert and Gabby Barrett. After weeks of keeping quiet, TPUSA announced its lineup today on its socials.

When his NFL Super Bowl Halftime Show performance was announced, the Puerto Rican artist released a statement through the NFL saying, “What I’m feeling goes beyond myself. It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown…this is for my people, my culture and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.”

Bad Bunny also just made history at the Grammys on Feb. 1, when his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos became the first Spanish-language album to win the album of the year trophy. He also picked up two more trophies that evening, for best música urbana album, and best global music performance for “EoO.”

The announcement of Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime show performer drew criticism from some right-wing commentators and President Donald Trump, who declared he would not attend the game and that he was not a fan of either Bad Bunny or Green Day, who will kick off the Game Day ceremonies. “I’m anti-them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible,” he said of the two performers to the New York Post. The Puerto Rico-born Bad Bunny is an American citizen, and he almost always performs in Spanish; he is expected to perform in Spanish during the Super Bowl halftime event.

During Bad Bunny’s hosting role on SNL in October 2025, Bad Bunny delivered a message to the viewing audience in Spanish, then added, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”

That same month, conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA, founded by the late conservative advocate Charlie Kirk, announced it would be launching its own “counterprogram” event to the NFL’s official Super Bowl Halftime Show. The organization had kept the list of performers under wraps until now.

On his Instagram Stories, Gilbert shared the Turning Point USA Instagram post, writing, “Y’all don’t wanna miss this,” while Barrett, Kid Rock and Lee shared the performance graphic.

Barrett has earned one top 10 hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, with “I Hope” in late 2020, and two Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers with “I Hope” in 2020 and “The Good Ones” in 2021. Brice has earned eight No. 1 Country Airplay chart hits, with his most recent being “Memory I Don’t Mess With” in 2021; he also earned a Grammy nomination for best country solo performance for “I Drive Your Truck.” Gilbert has earned five No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay chart hits. Kid Rock earned a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2003 with “Picture” and has earned five Grammy nominations to date.

TPUSA’s show will livestream on Turning Point USA’s official social media channels, on X and Rumble. The show will also air on outlets including The Daily Wire and Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Harry Styles’ “Aperture” comes into immediate focus atop the Billboard Global 200 chart, where it debuts at No. 1. He earns his second leader on the list, after “As It Was” launched in the top spot to start a 15-week command in 2022.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” holds for a seventh week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. It debuted at the summit in October.

The Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

“Aperture” — the lead single from Styles’ fourth album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, due March 6 — leads the Global 200 with 51.3 million streams and 9,000 sold worldwide Jan. 23-29, following its Jan. 22 release.

“The Fate of Ophelia” falls to No. 2 after six weeks atop the Global 200 beginning in October; Djo’s “End of Beginning” dips 2-3, three weeks after it became the singer-songwriter and actor’s first leader; HUNTR/X’s “Golden” descends 3-4, after 18 weeks on top beginning last July; and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” holds at No. 5, after reaching No. 3.

“The Fate of Ophelia” leads Global Excl. U.S. with 41.9 million streams (down 6%) and 4,000 sold (down 28%) outside the U.S.

“End of Beginning” is steady at its No. 2 Global Excl. U.S. high; “Aperture” debuts at No. 3, becoming Styles sixth top 10 (as it marks his seventh on the Global 200), with 33.5 million streams and 4,000 sold beyond the U.S.; “Golden” drops 3-4 after a record 20 weeks at No. 1 since July; and RAYE’s “Where Is My Husband!” falls to No. 5 from Its No. 4 best.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Feb. 7, 2026) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Feb. 3. For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.