Sean “Diddy” Combs is seeking to overturn a $100 million sexual assault judgment won against him by a Michigan inmate earlier this week, claiming he was never served with the “frivolous” lawsuit.

In an emergency motion filed Thursday, attorneys for the embattled rapper said he had learned about Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith’s lawsuit and massive judgment from media coverage – and that the case would have been easily dismissed if Combs had been given a fair chance to respond.

“This is a frivolous lawsuit against a prominent businessman, based on obvious fabrications, filed by a convicted rapist and serial litigant with an overactive imagination and a thirst for fame,” Combs’ lawyers write.

The huge award, issued by a Michigan state judge on Monday, was what’s known as a default judgment — a kind of legal award granted when an accused party doesn’t respond to a legal action. Court records show that attorneys for Combs never participated in the case nor filed any kind of response.

But in Thursday’s filings, they say that’s because they were never been legally served with the allegations – a crucial first step in any American lawsuit: “Had Mr. Combs been notified in a timely manner of these outrageous claims, he would have defended himself, as he is prepared to do now. But he did not have that opportunity.”

At a hearing last month, the judge overseeing the case said Cardello-Smith had supplied sufficient proof that he properly served Combs via certified mail, which requires confirmation of receipt. But in Thursday’s response, Combs lawyers say that the letter was not sent to the rapper’s primary residence and it had not actually been signed by him personally.

“Accordingly, the default judgment must be set aside,” lawyers for Diddy write.

Once one of the most powerful men in the music industry, Diddy has been hit with at least eight civil lawsuits alleging sexual abuse over the past year, including claims by ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura that were later followed by a video showing him assaulting her. The hip-hop mogul is also facing an apparent federal criminal investigation after authorities raided his homes in March.

Cardello-Smith sued Combs in June, claiming the rapper had spiked his drink and sexually assaulted him at a party in 1997. But in Thursday’s filings, the rapper’s lawyers said the inmate’s allegations are “objectively unbelievable” and that “no lawsuit could be more frivolous.”

“Plaintiff alleges that he was sexually assaulted in 1997, but he cannot keep his story straight as to where this supposedly occurred,” Combs lawyers write. “Aside from the purported assault, plaintiff alleges a fantastical conspiracy between Mr. Combs … and numerous high-ranking Wayne County judicial and law enforcement officials.”

As attorneys for Diddy repeatedly pointed out in their filings, Cardello-Smith, 51, is serving multiple, decades-long sentences for a variety of crimes, including first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of kidnapping. The earliest he can be released from prison is 2036.

The lawsuit against Combs is not the first civil action Cardello-Smith has filed from behind bars. Last year, he sued a Detroit-area Catholic archdiocese, alleging he had been sexually abused by a priest and others between 1979 and 1993. The case was dismissed last month by state appeals court, which ruled that Cardello-Smith’s allegations were barred by the statute of limitations.

In their response Thursday, lawyers for Diddy said that same defense would also apply to the current lawsuit: “As ridiculous as the allegations are, if every word of the complaint were true, the action would still be completely nonviable because the statute of limitation on the claims asserted expired almost 17 years before the case was filed.”

John Legend has long been open about his political views, as well as his opposition to Donald Trump. But after the presidential debate on Sept. 10 — during which the Republican candidate regurgitated rumors that Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio — it got personal for the EGOT winner.

In a video posted to his Instagram account Thursday (Sept. 12), two days after Trump’s first debate with Kamala Harris, Legend — who is from Springfield — shared his thoughts on the easily debunked claims about his hometown’s immigrant community. “Springfield has had a large influx of Haitian immigrants who’ve come to our city,” he explained. “Now, our city had been shrinking for decades. We didn’t have enough jobs, we didn’t have enough opportunities.”

“Of late, during the Biden administration, there’ve been more jobs that opened up — more manufacturing jobs, more plants, factories — that needed employees and were ready to hire people,” the “All of Me” singer continued. “During the same time, there had been upheaval and turmoil in Haiti. Our demand in Springfield for additional labor met up with the supply of additional Haitian immigrants.”

After outlining how the federal government assisted the Haitian population in legally moving to the United States, Legend compared the situation to other international communities — Polish, Irish, Italian, German, Jewish and Jamaican, to name a few — who’ve also immigrated over the years in pursuit of the American dream. “All of us need to have the same kind of grace that we would want for our ancestors,” he said into the camera.

“Nobody’s eating cats,” he added. “Nobody’s eating dogs. We all just want to live and flourish and raise our families in a healthy, safe environment. Don’t spread hateful, xenophobic, racist lies about them.”

The post comes as Springfield finds itself thrust into the center of the 2024 presidential race thanks to the false pet-eating rumor, which started with a post in a local Facebook group that alleged a neighbor’s daughter’s friend had found their missing cat hanging from a branch at a Haitian neighbor’s home. With anti-immigration sentiment being a core tenet of Trump’s platform, his campaign was quick to use the rumors as fuel for his third White House bid, as conservative outlets spread the false story online.

“There have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” a spokesperson for Springfield recently told CNN, while Mayor Rob Rue said Thursday that the hoax is “hurting our citizens and hurting our community.”

The Springfield controversy is just the latest topic Legend has spoken about amid the 2024 presidential race, with the musician being one of the earliest and most outspoken supporters of President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris’ campaigns this year. In a recent interview with BBC Newsnight, for instance, he opened up about the importance of reproductive healthcare — another hot-button issue in this year’s race — and detailed how it played a crucial role in his family in 2020.

“We were losing a pregnancy we wanted, a baby we wanted — we were losing him,” Legend recalled of Chrissy Teigen’s pregnancy loss four years prior. “We had to have abortion care to resolve that, to make sure that Chrissy didn’t die. She was bleeding profusely, and her life needed to be saved. We had to have abortion care to do that.”

Watch Legend call for peace in Springfield, Ohio, and share his thoughts on healthcare for women below.

Janet Jackson is opening up about another wardrobe malfunction. In an interview with British Vogue in which the 58-year-old pop icon flipped through a look book of some of her most iconic costumes, Jackson stopped on one of the military-inspired looks from her 1989 Rhythm Nation album.

“Funny story. I was performing for the Queen of England, and we were doing Rhythm Nation,” Jackson said of the late British monarch who died at age 96 in Sept. 2022. “Sure enough, as soon as I squatted, my pants split right up my booty crack.” Jackson said she “couldn’t believe” her terrible luck before realizing it was worse than she imagined.

“Then I started feeling air back there, so I knew it had really happened,” she said, revealing her quick-thinking fix for the sartorial nightmare. “I never turned my back to her, which, some of the choreography, I was supposed to. I just faced forward.”

The story from the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is extra poignant given the other wardrobe malfunction she is most commonly associated with. As you may recall, back in 2004 Jackson performed with Justin Timberlake at that year’s Super Bowl halftime show in Houston, during which JT famously ripped off a piece of Jackson’s costume, exposing her nipple for 9/16th of a second.

The moment that was probed in a 2021 New York Times Presents documentary led to a raft of complaints from viewers, as well as fines and significant professional implications for Jackson. For years, many fans and pundits noted that Timberlake appeared to emerge from the pre-social media viral moment with little or no backlash, while Jackson’s career was dealt a blow from the incident after her videos were pulled from Viacom properties including MTV, VH1 and CBS and she was uninvited to that year’s Grammy Awards.

The Super Bowl slip dubbed “Nipple-gate” also introduced the phrase “wardrobe malfunction” into common parlance and, in the wake of the #FreeBritney movement that blew up in 2019, led to Timberlake issuing public apologies to both Jackson and his ex Spears for the way he’d treated them.

“I’ve seen the messages, tags, comments, and concerns and I want to respond,” Timberlake said at the time after the 2021 Framing Britney Spears documentary portrayed the “Cry Me a River” singer as acting callously following his split with Britney in 2002. “I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right. I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism. I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.”

Jackson is gearing up to launch her Las Vegas residency with back-to-back performances on Dec. 30 and New Year’s Eve at Resorts World Las Vegas.

Watch Jackson describe her royal de-pantsing below.

In the middle of August, with precious little warning, two of the biggest artists in the world decided to take hold of the pop-music narrative. On the night of Aug. 15, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars unleashed their collaborative ballad “Die With a Smile,” complete with a Dolly Parton-inspired music video released the same evening, as well as a surprise duet performance at Mars’ show in Los Angeles, blanketing the Friday release day with a full-court press in the first few hours of the song’s release.

As the week went on, a digital campaign began to factor in as well, and the work paid off: “Die With a Smile” debuted at No. 3 on the Hot 100 and No. 2 on both the Global 200 and the Global Excl. U.S. charts in its first week. But since then, the song has only grown, particularly around the world — this week, “Die With a Smile,” which is credited to Gaga’s label Interscope but is receiving a helping hand from Mars’ label Atlantic, spends its second week as the biggest song in the world, topping both of Billboard’s global charts midway through September. And that worldwide success helps earn Interscope Geffen A&M senior vp of pop/rock marketing Adrian Amodeo the title of Billboard’s Executive of the week.

Here, Amodeo, discusses the initial rollout of the song, how Interscope and Atlantic worked together and how the Interscope global strategy — which has also seen huge success with Billie Eilish and Karol G, as well as with BTS’ Jimin — has helped the company reach new heights around the world. “We don’t want to just put out records in other territories,” Amodeo says. “We want to build real campaigns that are extensions of our domestic campaigns and also build into local cultures and communities on the ground and online.”

This week, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With A Smile” is No. 1 on both of Billboard’s global songs charts for the second straight week. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?

First off, it was an enormous team effort across two amazing artist teams. We have two of the most important pop stars on the planet who wrote and recorded an absolutely incredible song and were involved in every detail of the rollout. We knew it was going to be a special moment once the song came out, but also knew we had to build a campaign that honored two superstars and their incredible artistry. We wanted to show the power of these two stars together and show that Gaga and Bruno are at the top of the game, with a ballad, in the midst of what has been an incredible summer of pop music. 

When we first heard the song, Kirsten Stubbs, our co-head of digital marketing, flagged that Bruno happened to be opening the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles around the time the song was coming out, so we immediately put the wheels in motion to make a performance be a key moment in our campaign. The genuine connection the world saw between the two of them, and the content we were able to capture and spread, really set the tone for the entire campaign. It was lightning in a bottle with the release of the song, the video and the performance that night. But we knew we had to keep building a runway for the song and eventize the release around the globe, so we treated it like an album rollout, not just as a single. 

The song debuted at No. 2 on both charts, before ascending to the top spot a week later. What went into such a huge global impact right out of the gate?

Our international team has been so integral — every territory made it a priority to make this the biggest song in the world. Before the song came out we were fortunate to have all of the label heads from around the globe into our studio where we unveiled our plan for the track. We were able to play the music and explain our global vision, but more importantly we had Gaga and her team in the room to be part of those conversations with us. It really energized everyone to be part of a process like that. The subsequent local campaigns and partner support our teams have put together have been really amazing. 

I’m proud of what the team pulled off for the fans around the world, too. The out-of-home campaigns became important fan experiences, anchored by an eight city storefront experience that paid homage to the song, the artwork and the video. Combined with all the billboards around the globe, it just felt huge — and, more importantly, we got it to travel online. A great job by Kevin Rankin and Jessica Staats for driving that with all the teams around the globe. The themes of the song have also helped build an incredible TikTok world for the song, which has been fun to watch and really helped take it to another level globally. Our ability to conceive of and execute such a complex global campaign is really a core strength of Interscope and Universal Music Group. 

This music video also had a big impact, with its throwback theme and Dolly Parton-esque vibe. How important has it been to the song’s success, and what do you see as the role of the traditional music video these days?

The music video has been so important, if not the most important part of this campaign. It was co-directed by Bruno, which continues to exemplify his artistry and shows the trust that Gaga put in him as a partner in this whole process. Again, that genuine connection can’t be overstated. Beyond being an incredible video, it also inspired every inch of our creative. The single art, the outfits they wore on stage at the Intuit Dome, the global out-of-home; everything has intentionally been cohesive and respectful to the aesthetic world built by Gaga and Bruno. The music video also kicked off a powerful viral moment with the fans recreating Gaga’s dance and inspired fans to recreate the looks online, at shows, and at the clubs — our influencer marketing team was quick to identify this and amplify it globally. It has been so amazing to see and we fully expect Gaga-Bruno to be one of the most seen Halloween costumes this year. We’re already getting ahead of that.

Gaga and Bruno are two of the biggest superstars on the planet, and are signed to different labels. How did this song come together, and how did the marketing plan work across two companies?

The making of the song is Gaga and Bruno’s story to tell, but it’s very well documented that they have wanted to work together for a long time. [Interscope chairman/CEO] John Janick’s relationship with Bruno goes back for many years and the trust that Bruno and Gaga put in John can’t be overstated. [Atlantic Music Group chair/CEO] Julie Greenwald was an absolute force as well. Her energy and passion for the song helped drive both teams to be great. With so many relationships and teams in place we were truly able to hit the ground running. We spent about six weeks planning the song together and the relationship was great with all of our departments working hand in hand, on Zooms, calls, texts, DMs, voice notes and faxes. We’re still going.

Alongside Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” and Karol G’s “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido,” Interscope has three songs in the top 10 of the Global 200, and those three make up three of the top five on the Global Excl. U.S. chart. What is IGA’s overall global strategy and why are these songs working so well around the world right now?

We’re very fortunate to work with incredible artists and incredible partners. It starts with the teams, but the vision is always global from the start. We don’t want to just put out records in other territories. We want to build real campaigns that are extensions of our domestic campaigns and also build into local cultures and communities on the ground and online. Our teams literally stay across all the creative, creator campaigns and local moments to make sure it’s a unified creative marketing rollout with a local touch. The way we’ve also been able to integrate partners like AmEx and Sony into our global rollouts has been a testament to the 360 approach we take globally. 

Jimin’s “Who” is also in the top 10, by the way, and I can’t emphasize enough the importance of our relationship with HYBE. We are thrilled with our new HYBE x Geffen global girl group, KATSEYE. Building a global girl group with such an important partner has been an incredible undertaking, but a big part of our vision for the future. It’s been amazing to see them grow exponentially on streaming and socials as PopStar Academy: KATSEYE, the eight-episode series that tracks their journey, keeps growing on Netflix. They’re currently in Korea on a huge promo trip that will take them to Japan and the Philippines, too. 

Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities for Interscope around the world right now?

Our relationship with our artists continues to be our biggest opportunity. What we can bring to them in building their global brands is our core strength, so we must continue to emphasize and build what we have, while reinvesting into new strategies. Direct to consumer and [customer relationship management] strategy is so important, and we continue to build those globally with our partners at Bravado and Fame House. We’ve built a company culture where it feels like one team with them, and that’s so important in helping to create global artist brands. Our collective ability to communicate with the fans directly around the globe is critical. We’re really focused on that, while we also continue to strategize emerging markets.

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