Britney Spears’ First Husband Jason Alexander Charged With Stalking Her at Her Wedding

A man once briefly married to Britney Spears was charged Monday (June 13) with felony stalking after showing up at the pop star’s wedding to longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari.

Jason Alexander, 40, pleaded not guilty in Ventura County court to the charge, along with misdemeanor counts of trespassing, vandalism and battery.

Alexander remained jailed, and appeared in court via video conference. A judge set his bail at $100,000 and issued a restraining order requiring him to stay at least 100 yards from Spears for three years.

Alexander was Spears’ first husband. The two were married for less than three days in 2004 before an annulment.

Spears, 40, and Asghari, 28, were married Thursday at her home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., in front of several dozen guests including Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, Paris Hilton and Madonna.

Alexander, who was a childhood friend of Spears, was streaming live on Instagram when he approached her house. He appeared in a mostly empty but decorated room, telling security Spears had invited him.

Deputies responding to a trespassing call detained him, and he was arrested when they learned he had a warrant for his arrest in another county, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said.

Alexander’s bail will be reviewed at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday. An email seeking comment from his public defender Matthew Terry was not immediately returned.

Spears was previously married from 2004 to 2007 to Kevin Federline, with whom she shares two sons, ages 14 and 15.

She met Asghari in 2016 on the set of the video for her song “Slumber Party.”

Their wedding came nine months after Spears and Asghari were engaged, and nearly seven months after Spears won her freedom from a court conservatorship that controlled her life and affairs for more than 12 years.

Spears posted about the nuptials on her Instagram and Twitter accounts the following day.

“Wow !!! Holy holy crap !!! WE DID IT !!! WE GOT MARRIED !!! Gggggeeeeezzzzz !!! It was the most spectacular day !!!” Spears said in the posts along with a picture of her and Asghari from the wedding. “The ceremony was a dream and the party was even better !!!”

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Music Stocks and Cryptocurrencies Hit by Recession, Inflation Fears

Music and other entertainment stocks fell sharply on Monday (June 13), following a string of worrisome events and expectations the Federal Reserve will make a substantial rate hike to slow inflation. The S&P 500 declined 3.9%, putting the index in bear market territory — down more than 20% from its high in January. The Nasdaq declined 4.7%.

Radio broadcaster Cumulus Media fell 20.3% to $9.17, the largest decline of any music-related stock on Monday. Cumulus is “thinly traded and has high leverage,” Noble Capital Markets’ Michael Kupinsky tells Billboard in an email response. “Both are issues when [the stock is] out of favor and the market has its sights on an economic downturn.”

Radio stocks had the worst day among music-related companies on Monday as four leading companies’ stocks dropped an average of 13.2%. iHeartMedia dropped 13.2% while Audacy and Townsquare Media fell 10.4% and 8.5%, respectively.

On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported its consumer price index had risen 8.6% in May from the prior-year period — the highest mark in 40 years. That led to some expectations the Fed would opt for a larger rate increase than was expected last week.

A cryptocurrency rout helped set the stage for a gloomy Monday as Bitcoin fell below $23,000 — its lowest level since December 2020 and nearly 67% below its all-time high of $68,906.48 set in November. Ethereum, the blockchain many NFTs are created on, dropped 75.6% below its all-time high — also set in November. As a result, shares of Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, fell 11.4% to an all-time low on Monday.

Music assets are generally believed to be relatively safe investments because they are counter-cyclical to the prevailing market. In other words, recording and publishing catalogs aren’t affected by macroeconomic forces in the same way other assets will be. People will likely keep their music subscriptions even as they pare back other spending. That could explain why major record labels and music publishers fared relatively well. Shares of Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group fell 4.1% and 5.0%, respectively. Sony Corp, owner of Sony Music Group, dropped 4.7%. Two smaller music owners, Reservoir Media and Believe S.A., fell 8.5% and 7.2%, respectively.

Even during a recession, consumers are likely to keep their music subscription services. As a result, streaming companies that generate most of their revenue from recurring monthly subscription fees could be less exposed to a downturn. Four on-demand music streaming stocks posted an average decline of just 1.8%. Spotify dropped 3.5% and Tencent Media Entertainment fell 2.5%. Anghami’s declined by 6.2%, but a 4.9% increase by Chinese company Cloud Village helped balance out the average.

 

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2022 Tony Awards: Watch the Red Carpet Livestream

Before the 2022 Tony Awards begin, this year’s nominees, presenters and guests will be walking the red carpet outside of Radio City Music Hall, where the 75th annual celebration of the best of Broadway is set to take place.

Presenters set to take the stage Sunday night include Utkarsh Ambudkar, Skylar Astin, Zach Braff, Danielle Brooks, Danny Burstein, Len Cariou, RuPaul Charles, Jessica Chastain, Lilli Cooper, Bryan Cranston, Wilson Cruz, Colman Domingo, Anthony Edwards, Cynthia Erivo, Raúl Esparza, Laurence Fishburne, Andrew Garfield, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Tony Goldwyn, David Alan Grier, Marcia Gay Harden, Vanessa Hudgens, Jennifer Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson, Nathan Lane, Telly Leung, Judith Light, Josh Lucas, Gaten Matarazzo, Ruthie Ann Miles, Patina Miller, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bebe Neuwirth, Kelli O’Hara, Sarah Paulson, Bernadette Peters, Jeremy Pope, Billy Porter, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Chita Rivera, Tony Shalhoub, Phillipa Soo, Sarah Silverman, George Takei, Aaron Tveit, Adrienne Warren, Patrick Wilson and Bowen Yang.

The show is returning both to its usual New York City home, after last year’s pandemic-delayed celebration of the best of the 2019-2020 season took place from the Winter Garden Theatre, and its spot on the calendar, taking place in June.

Oscar winner Ariana DeBose is set to host the 2022 Tonys, which will air live coast-to-coast as a four-hour presentation split between streaming service Paramount+ and CBS. The first hour, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, will be hosted by Darren Criss and Julianne Hough and will feature exclusive content streaming only on Paramount+. The awards show will continue at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT live on CBS and streaming live and on-demand on Paramount+.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning musical A Strange Loop leads this year’s nominees with 11 nods. Other top nominees are Company (nine noms); The Lehman Trilogy and SIX: The Musical (eight nods each); for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf and Girl From the North Country (seven noms each); The Music Man and The Skin of Our Teeth (six noms each); and Clyde’s, Hangmen and Mr. Saturday Night (five noms each).

The show will feature performances from nominated musicals A Strange Loop, Company, Girl From the North Country, MJ, Mr. Saturday Night, The Music Man, Paradise Square and SIX. Additionally there will be a reunion performance by the original cast members of the 2007 Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening. And Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter and The New York City Gay Men’s Chorus are set to perform.

Watch the red carpet livestream, from The Independent, below.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

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Karol G & Anahi Join Forces for Emotional Performance of RBD’s ‘Salvame’: Watch

In the midst of her “Bichota Reloaded” tour across Latin America, Karol G surprised fans during her Mexico City concert Saturday night (June 11), bringing out Anahi as her special guest.

The two powerhouses joined forces for an emotional performance of RBD’s 2004 hit “Salvame,” marking the first time Anahi performed live in 11 years. On stage, the two artists even rocked pink cowboy hats resembling the one Anahi wore in the song’s official music video.

“It was incredible to see how despite many years of absence you still shine with such intensity,” Karol, who’s a big RBD fan, expressed on Instagram. “Eleven years off stage, 11 years of invitations that you rejected because you had other ideals and you accepted mine. You accepted me and I felt great and special.”

She continued: “Seeing you again before the world, in the midst of tears and so many emotions, only confirmed that although for years they have been beautiful memories, the feelings of an entire generation are still alive, intact … Having you there not only made me happy but it made millions of us happy. You and I forever.”

In December 2020, Anahi and her former RBD bandmates Maite Perroni, Christian Chávez and Christopher Von Uckermann came together for a virtual reunion event called “Ser o Parecer.” However, her last time in concert was in 2011 with her Go Any Go tour.

“I cannot express in words what you gave me; a moment that I will carry in my soul forever!” the singer commented on Karol’s post. “You are so great and so unique that you gave me the honor of sharing your stage, your audience! All your team is so loving they made me feel so special. Your energy is so powerful that it fills the world with light! That’s why you’re in that place because souls like yours deserve the whole world! Infinite thanks! I will never forget this.”

Below, watch their full performance:

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2022 Tony Awards: Ariana DeBose Celebrates Broadway Inclusion and Diversity in Opening Monologue

Oscar winner Ariana DeBose kicked off the 75th Tony Awards with a rousing mashup performance of songs from classic Tony-winning musicals such as Cabaret, Company, The Phantom of the Opera and Hair, while wearing a sequined outfit inspired by Michael Jackson, the subject of the 10-time-nominated musical MJ.

“Let’s just say, for many of you it’s been a roller coaster,” DeBose said of the past two years in her opening monologue, noting that she was presiding over the first large scale, in-person Tony Awards ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic began. “I am so proud that the theater is becoming more reflective of the community who adores it, and in doing so, has gained new performers, new creatives, new fans. It has shown us stories that have broadened our world and opened our hearts and our minds. And while we have not solved all of our problems, I feel like the phrase ‘Great White Way’ is becoming more of a nickname as opposed to a how-to guide.”

Of the diversity across Broadway stages in the last season, DeBose noted that seven plays were written by Black playwrights. The host called out Lynn Nottage as being a double-nominee for writing both the play Clyde’s and the book for MJ — the first playwright to earn nominations in both categories in a single year. She also gave a shout out to A Strange Loop‘s L. Morgan Lee, the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Tony, as well as Six composer Toby Marlowe, the first non-binary winner in Tony history.

“My friends, those are steps toward inclusion,” DeBose said.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

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Britney Spears’ Mom Lynne Comments on Her Wedding Photos: ‘You Look Radiant and So Happy’

Britney Spears‘ mother, Lynne Spears, apparently did not attend her daughter’s wedding to Sam Asghari — but she did leave a comment on one of her Instagram posts about the big day.

“You look radiant and so happy!” Lynne wrote. “Your wedding is the ‘Dream’ wedding! And having it at your home makes it so sentimental and special! I am soooo happy for you! I love you!”

The note from Spears’ mother was spotted on a slideshow of pictures from the singer’s wedding day shared on Instagram Friday (June 10), a day after the event. The images depict the beautiful celebration, full of elaborate floral arrangements and featuring a horse-drawn carriage.

Britney’s parents and siblings were not seen at her wedding. In April, the pop star’s attorneys pushed back on a demand by Lynne that the star pay for $660,000 in legal fees that her mother incurred during legal wranglings over her daughter’s conservatorship, which was terminated in November 2021.

“Psss my dad may have started the conservatorship 13 years ago … but what people don’t know is that my mom is the one who gave him the idea,” Britney had written months ago, in a now-deleted post on Instagram.

Famous guests who were at Spears and Asghari’s at-home wedding festivities in Thousand Oaks, Calif., included Madonna, Paris Hilton, Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore and Donatella Versace. People reported that there were about 60 guests total at the celebration.

“We really wanted to make this a small and beautiful moment with family and friends,” Spears told Vogue. “We wanted warm and feminine colors including blush, white, cream, and gold, and a lot of various shades of pinks, blush, and reds.”

Spears and Asghari were married on Thursday (June 9), eight months after they announced their engagement. The pair first met back in 2016, on the set of Spears’ “Slumber Party” music video.

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