As jurors decide whether Tory Lanez shot Megan Thee Stallion in the foot two years ago, Megan’s boyfriend, Pardison Fontaine, is publicly sharing some thoughts on social media.

“To any woman especially ones of color that has suffered an injustice I feel for you.. when you do find the courage to speak up.. it seems you will be ridiculed.. your credibility will [be] questioned.. your entire past will be held under a magnifying glass.. in an instant you can go from victim to defendant in the eyes of the public,” Pardi wrote in an Instagram Story Thursday evening (Dec. 22).

He continued, “To any one with a daughter sister mother niece or aunt.. I pray for their protection.. I pray for their covering.. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”

Megan and Pardi celebrated their second anniversary in October. The couple showed off their anniversary date night but Meg squashed any rumors that the couple were engaged in a tweet on Oct. 19. “Lol as nice as last night was we are not engaged,” she said.

In court last week, Megan recounted the alleged shooting and pinned the blame on Lanez. “I wish he would have just shot and killed me if I would have known I was going to go through this torture,” she said in her emotional testimony.

Lanez, who stands accused of three felony counts over the July 12, 2020 incident — during which prosecutors say he yelled “Dance, b—-” and shot at Megan’s feet — did not take the witness stand to testify in the trial. His lawyers have maintained his innocence, suggesting that the trigger might instead have been pulled by Megan’s former friend and assistant Kelsey Harris, who was also in the vehicle that night.

Less than three weeks after two dozen Taylor Swift fans sued Live Nation over Ticketmaster’s disastrous presale of tickets to her Eras Tour in November, another similar lawsuit has been filed against the concert giant in California federal court.

Filed Tuesday (Dec. 20), the class-action lawsuit, brought by Swift fan Michelle Sterioff, accuses Live Nation and subsidiary Ticketmaster of violating federal antitrust and unfair competition laws and “intentionally and purposefully” misleading “millions of fans into believing” Ticketmaster would prevent bots and scalpers from participating in presales for the tour.

Similar to the lawsuit filed earlier this month, Tuesday’s lawsuit alleges that Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which merged in 2010, represent a monopoly in both the primary and secondary ticketing markets and have used that alleged monopoly power “in a predatory, exclusionary, and anticompetitive manner.” According to the complaint, this monopoly is used to charge “supracompetitive” ticketing fees that can increase the price of tickets “by 20-80%” over their face value.

“Ticketmaster…has violated the policy, spirit, and letter of [antitrust] laws by imposing agreements and policies at the retail and wholesale level that have prevented effective price competition across a wide swath of online ticket sales,” the complaint reads, adding that the company “is only interested in taking every dollar it can from a captive public.”

Sterioff claims that she registered for the Eras Tour presale on Nov. 1, 2022, and “relied” on Ticketmaster’s claim that its Verified Fan program “would ‘level the playing field’” so that more tickets would go to real fans over bots. However, she claims she was unable to secure a ticket during the presale on Nov. 15 or Nov. 16, forcing her to purchase tickets “through an alternate secondary ticketing service provider” after Ticketmaster canceled the general public sale, citing widespread service delays and website crashes as millions of fans tried -– and many failed –- to buy tickets.

Additionally, Sterioff says the amount she paid for her ticket on the secondary market was subject to Ticketmaster’s “monopolistic prices” due to the company’s dominance in the secondary ticketing market as well. She cites a Ticketmaster technology that limits ticket purchasers from transferring tickets unless they’re resold through the company’s secondary ticketing platform — essentially making it all but impossible to purchase a Swift ticket outside the Ticketmaster ecosystem. That allows the company “to charge monopolistic ticketing fees every time a single ticket is resold,” the complaint adds.

There are a total of eight counts listed in Sterioff’s complaint, including violation of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act; intentional misrepresentation; common law fraud; fraudulent inducement; antitrust violations; violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law; violation of California’s False Advertising Law, and quasi-contract/restitution/unjust enrichment.

Sterioff is asking the court for injunctive relief, statutory damages, punitive or exemplary damages, costs of bringing the lawsuit and more.

Reps for Live Nation and Ticketmaster did not immediately return a request for comment.

In the wake of the Swift ticketing controversy, Ticketmaster apologized to fans and pinned the blame on a “staggering number of bot attacks” and “unprecedented traffic.” But that explanation has seemingly not been enough for many of the company’s critics, who have resurfaced longstanding complaints about the outsized power Ticketmaster and Live Nation have wielded in the market for live music since they merged.

In November, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and her counterpart on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), jointly announced they would be holding a hearing to examine the effects of consolidation on the ticketing industry. Live Nation and Ticketmaster are also reportedly under investigation by the Justice Department over whether the companies represent an illegal monopoly, though that probe is said to have predated the Swift incident.

Thom Bell, the iconic pioneer of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s, passed away on Thursday (Dec. 22) in Bellingham, Washington. He was 79 years old.

The news was first reported by Philly R&B radio station 105.3 WDAS-FM, with host Patty Jackson saying, “We remember Thom Bell: record producer, arranger and songwriter known for his work with Linda Creed, Gamble and Huff, the many hits, the creators of Philly soul.” The station also paid special tribute to the late musician on its website by sharing a video of the Stylistics’ 1972 Bell-produced single “People Make the World Go Round.”

Bell’s attorney confirmed his passing to Billboard, saying, “Thom Bell left an indelible and everlasting mark on the history of popular music, but even more so, he will be remembered by all who knew him as a kind and loving friend and family man. The music world has truly lost one of the greats.”

Nile Rodgers also took to social media to pay his respects to Bell, tweeting, “#RIPThomBell He is one of the greatest writers and producers of all time. My condolences go out to his family and friends. He was the architect of the relationship between #BernardEdwards & me as we were the band for the group New York City (I’m Doing Fine Now) a Thom Bell smash.”

Bell, who was born in 1943 and studied classical music when he was a child, was known for working with early R&B acts like the Delfonics, the Spinners and Deniece Williams. With Linda Creed, he co-wrote a number of soul classics like “Betcha By Golly, Wow,” “You Are Everything,” “You Make Me Feel Brand New” and “Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart).” In the late ’70s and early ’80s, he also co-wrote and produced tracks for a young Elton John including “Are You Ready for Love” and “Mama Can’t Buy You Love.”

In 1975, Bell became the inaugural Grammy winner for producer of the year, non-classical. He had previously been nominated for co-writing the Delfonics’ “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” and arranging the Stylistics’ “Betcha By Golly, Wow.” In 2017, the Recording Academy presented him with a trustees award — the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award for non-performers.

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006 as well as the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum a decade later.

Bell is survived by wife Vanessa and his children, Royal, Troy, Tia, Mark, Cybell and Christopher.

Read tributes to Bell below.