Beyoncé’s label and management company, Parkwood Entertainment, has defeated a copyright lawsuit over the EDM sample that opens her hit 2022 Renaissance track “Alien Superstar.”

A Friday (June 26) court ruling, first obtained and reported by Billboard, dismisses the lawsuit brought against Parkwood last summer by a company claiming to own the 1998 John Holiday song “Moonraker.” A sample of that track serves as the introduction to “Alien Superstar”: “Please do not be alarmed, remain calm/ Do not attempt to leave the dancefloor/ The DJ booth is conducting a troubleshoot of the entire system.”

Parkwood cleared this sample from Holiday; the house musician is listed in the lengthy Renaissance credits and was paid $10,000 plus 0.5% of the royalties from “Alien Superstar,” which hit No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. But in the July 2025 lawsuit, Florida-based Hirose Enterprises LLC alleged that it is actually the owner of the “Moonraker” copyrights and thus should have been part of that licensing process.

Hirose Enterprises LLC is owned by Shuji Hirose, the co-founder of now-defunct indie label Soundmen on Wax. The lawsuit claims Soundmen on Wax bought the “Moonraker” copyrights in 1998. Parkwood argued in response that there’s no paperwork documenting that purported transfer of rights, and thus it properly cleared the “Alien Superstar” sample from Holiday directly.

Judge Mark C. Scarsi did not need to address those arguments in order to dismiss the lawsuit on Friday, however. That’s because it turns out Hirose Enterprises was not actually formed until a week after the lawsuit was filed — a major legal defect that bars it from suing in the first place.

“Please do not be alarmed, remain calm: like the DJ booth referenced in the works at issue, this district judge must conduct a troubleshoot test of the entire system — that is, a jurisdictional inquiry — before reaching any of the parties’ merits arguments,” wrote the judge, quoting the “Moonraker” lyrics. “Plaintiff had no legal existence at the time it brought suit, so it cannot have held a stake in the outcome of the litigation at the time it filed the complaint.”

Judge Scarsi thus threw out the entire case against Parkwood, as well as Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell. Beyoncé herself was not targeted in the lawsuit.

Reps for the various litigants did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday (June 29). Hirose Enterprises has the right to appeal Friday’s dismissal ruling if it wants another chance at pursuing the copyright claims.

Teyana Taylor was honored with the Icon of the Year Award at the 2026 BET Awards on Sunday night (June 28).

Janet Jackson, who’s Taylor’s main artistic inspiration, made a surprise appearance to present the Harlem-bred polymath with the award, which caught Taylor off guard and saw her immediately break down in tears.

“It seems like only yesterday, our rose from Harlem grew out of the concrete and blossomed into our Icon of the Year. I’ve enjoyed watching you, as you know, over the years,” Jackson gushed. “Watching you defy expectations, rewrite the rules and lead with an unstoppable work ethic.”

Rocking a 2Pac T-shirt, the pop icon continued: “The world is made more luminous with the art that you have given it. This year, it belongs to you.”

Overcome with emotion, Taylor wiped her tears and hit a Janet Jackson-esque strut across the stage in a blue dress to accept the Icon of the Year Award, but made sure to give Jackson her flowers before turning the spotlight to herself.

“I love you so much,” Taylor said to Jackson. “Thank you for always seeing me. Thank you for every text, every hug, every talk. You are my biggest inspiration. Everybody who I know knows how I feel about you. The fact you even took out the time to be here and celebrate with me, this is crazy. I love you so much. There would be no me without you.”

Taylor went on: “Tonight they handed me a title and that title is Icon of the Year. For a little minute, I wondered if I was supposed to be feel uncomfortable saying that title out loud. But nah, I worked my a– off 20 years for this. So I’m not what I’ve earned with arrogance, I’m accepting what I’ve earned with gratitude.”

Taylor urged the importance of pouring into others, as she believed that helping others doesn’t mean she has to dim her own light. “So tonight I will wear this title loud and proud because I promise to continue to earn it,” she added.

Teyana Taylor is coming off a banner 2025, which included her starring in the Oscar-winning One Battle After Another. For her performance as Perfidia, she picked up a Golden Globe Award and a nomination at the Academy Awards. The 34-year-old also released her Escape Room album, which debuted at No. 67 on the Billboard 200.

Spike Tee also picked up an additional three BET Awards, for video director of the year, the fashion vanguard award and best actress.

Watch Taylor’s full speech below.

Justin Bieber smiled like a child Friday night at the 2026 NHL Draft. Making a surprise appearance on June 26 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, he announced the No. 1 draft pick for his lifelong favorite hockey team: the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“What’s going on, Buffalo? What’s up, Toronto? Man, what an incredible night. The child in me is ecstatic right now — I’ve been a Leafs fans since I was a little boy,” Bieber said to the arena crowd after being introduced by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who called Bieber one of the team’s “most diehard and iconic fans.”

What sounded like a mixed reaction to Bieber’s appearance from the Buffalo audience — which was likely full of Sabres fans — didn’t put a damper on the singer’s mood. He shared, “These nights are so special. I’m so grateful to be here.”

Bieber revealed Penn State’s Gavin McKenna had been drafted to the Leafs. McKenna, who’s from Whitehorse, Yukon, walked out to a fitting Bieber title, the Swag single “Yukon.” The pop star and hockey player posed for photos together onstage.

Friday also marked the release of Swag Live From Coachella (Weekend I), a 22-track live recording from Bieber’s headlining performance at the 2026 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 11. The live album, featuring guest spots from The Kid LAROI, Tems, Wizkid, Dijon and Mk.gee, arrived via Def Jam.

Watch the clip of Bieber from Friday night, which was shared by the Toronto Maple Leafs through the team’s official social media account, below.

Madrid was the starting point for the European leg of the BTS ARIRANG World Tour, but it also marked the end of a long wait for thousands of Spanish fans. More than 66,000 people, according to sources from Atlético de Madrid, attended the group’s first of two shows at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Friday (June 26).

Before the night even started, thousands of light sticks lit up the stands of a stadium completely energized, a vibe that carried through from start to finish.

The performance was the K-pop band’s first visit to Spain and one of only two scheduled dates in the country, with the second set taking place on Saturday (June 27) at the same venue. The excitement was palpable even outside the stadium, with hundreds of fans gathering nearby to follow the concert from a distance, singing along to every song with the crowd inside the venue.

The wait ended with an explosion of cheers. “¡Vamos a volvernos locos!” J-Hope shouted in Spanish (“Let’s go crazy!”) as the show began, sparking an immediate response from the audience. Shortly after, BTS opened with “Hooligan,” one of the tracks from ARIRANG, before moving on to “Aliens” and “Run BTS.” Over the course of 23 songs, the group alternated between their fifth studio album and some of their biggest career hits, with the crowd joining in on nearly every line.

The most anticipated segment for fans who follow every stop of the tour arrived with the show’s surprise songs, which change depending on the city and date. In Madrid, the chosen tracks were “Airplane Pt. 2” and “Interlude: Wings.”

The members of the band found several moments to address the audience in Spanish. “ARMY is on fire!” V exclaimed in response to the crowd’s enthusiasm. Later, RM got another roar from the crowd with a playful nod in Spanglish: “Estáis on fire!”

For nearly two and a half hours, the 360-degree stage kept BTS in constant motion. The central platform rose, descended and split into different levels, connected by various walkways that allowed the seven singers to move across much of the stadium and get closer to different sections of the audience. Around 30 dancers joined the performance, featuring multiple costume changes and choreography, adding to a stage production that continuously transformed throughout the night.

When “IDOL” began, BTS left the main stage to parade across the stadium floor alongside their dancers, waving large flags and luminous ribbons in one of the evening’s most celebrated sequences. During the final chorus of “Body to Body,” thousands of purple fans were raised simultaneously as part of a fan project organized by ARMY to honor the group’s first Spanish concert. It was a touching gesture by fans to reciprocate the love they’ve felt for years.

Towards the end of the night, the artists took a few moments to thank the audience for their reception. Jung Kook addressed the crowd in Spanish to say “I want to hear your scream. We’ve felt your energy so much today. I love you,” getting an immediately roar from the audience. V also spoke in Spanish when he expressed that “one of my wishes was to come to Madrid, and I made it. Thank you so much for coming.”

Then, with the help of an interpreter, Jimin delivered one of the most emotional moments of the night: “I kept thinking, why are we only visiting Spain now? For the next tour, we won’t leave Madrid out.” The stadium erupted with excitement, closing a night that ended a long wait for ARMY in Spain.

Before arriving in Madrid, BTS had just wrapped up the North American leg of their tour, with concerts in the United States and Mexico. In Mexico City, where they performed three shows at Estadio GNP Seguros, the group was received by president Claudia Sheinbaum at the government palace.

After Spain, the trek continues throughout Europe in Brussels, London, Munich and Paris, before concluding on March 14, 2027, in Manila, Philippines.