A smorgasbord of emotions flooded Grisell Mendoza when her mom’s barrage of texts popped up on her phone Friday night. “There was hope. Joy. Skepticism,” the 19-year-old said between tears. … Click to Continue »
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump appear to be moving to Miami-Dade. The daughter and son-in-law of President Donald Trump have purchased a plot of land in tony Indian Creek Village. … Click to Continue »
Georgia’s top elections official on Monday recertified the state’s election results after a recount requested by President Donald Trump confirmed once again that Democrat Joe Biden won the state, and … Click to Continue »
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Monday raided the home of a former Department of Health data analyst who has been running an alternative web site to the state’s … Click to Continue »
The medical expert task force advising Miami-Dade County Public Schools on its COVID-19 protocols and procedures reconvened Monday for the first time since schools reopened their classrooms in October. No … Click to Continue »
John Legend is set to open the 34th annual FN Achievement Awards on Tuesday night (Dec. 8), and will also appear in a powerful segment on social justice, a topic he’s particularly passionate about.
In a new Billboard exclusive video hyping up the event, the singer shares the relief of dressing up amid a year mostly spent at home. “Even when you’re in a meeting, a Zoom meeting, you might dress up your upper half but, let’s be honest, you probably have shorts on underneath,” he shares in the clip. “It feels nice when we occasionally get to dress up during this time because so often, we’ve just been in our house clothes.”
Cardi B will be named Style Influencer of the Year at the virtual show, which honors people and brands that set new standards within the shoe industry over the course of the past year. The honor follows the rapper’s collaboration with Reebok, which she announced on her birthday in October.
“I’ve always been into fashion. Back then, I couldn’t afford what I wanted, now I can. It’s easier and I have more connections with brands,” Cardi told FN. “I could wear the most uncomfortable shoe and I’m just going to take it and love it because it’s fashion, it’s beauty, it’s amazing, it’s different. I get bored, so that’s when me and my stylist [Kollin Carter], we get creative and come up with something new and amazing.”
Nike Dunk, Amina Muaddi, FENTY, Aurora James, Salehe Bembury, New Balance, Birkenstock and more will also be honored at the event.
“It goes without saying that 2020 was a year that brought epic and intimidating challenges. While there were points along the way that seemed impossible to celebrate, our winners list proves the power of resilience and the ability to triumph over incredible odds,” said Michael Atmore, editorial director of FN and chief brand officer of Fairchild Media, in a statement. “Diverse, inclusive and forward-thinking, each winner is a powerful lesson in leadership.”
Catch the event, sponsored by The Style Room powered by Zappos and FDRA, here on Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. ET.
Sinéad O’Connor announced on Monday (Dec. 7) that she will publish her memoir Rememberings via Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media next summer.
The Irish singer-songwriter recalls her upbringing in Dublin, which was soundtracked in part by her brother’s Bob Dylan records that provided her with an escape from her dysfunctional, abusive household. Throughout the book, readers will delve into her musical journey, from completing her debut album The Lion and the Cobra while eight months pregnant with her firstborn child to gaining international superstardom (and three Grammy nominations) with her cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
Just last month, O’Connor wrote on Twitter that she was entering a year-long treatment program for trauma and addiction. “I grew up with a lot of trauma and abuse. I then went straight into the music business. And never learned really how to make a normal life,” she wrote on Nov. 10. Rememberings will not only examine her musical triumphs but also reveal her struggles with illness and “the enduring power of song,” according to an official press release with the publishing house.
“This is my story, as I remember it. I had great fun writing it over the past few years,” O’Connor said in a statement.
“Many years in the making, Sinead O’Connor’s Rememberings is a remarkably candid, intensely personal account of a life both charmed and troubled,” said Deb Brody, HMH Books & Media vp and publisher.
Even though it’s been six years since she released her last studio album I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss, O’Connor’s latest written material will be in fans’ hands soon. Rememberings will be available in hardcover, e-book and audiobook formats on June 1, 2021.
Mariah Carey’s holiday winning streak is rolling on.
On Friday, Apple TV+ debuted Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special, the latest festive offering from the undisputed Queen of Christmas. It features Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Billy Eichner, Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri and narrator Tiffany Haddish in a story that unfolds as Carey is recruited to the North Pole to help Santa Claus solve a holiday cheer crisis.
While Apple TV+ does not release viewership data, sources close to the steaming platform confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter today that Carey’s special hit No. 1 in more than 100 countries. It arrived with a companion soundtrack that was released exclusively on Apple Music on Dec. 4 before hitting other platforms on Friday. It featured new interpretations of some of Carey’s holiday classics, and the album is a bonafide hit, too, scoring scored the largest number of holiday album first-day streams on Apple Music.
The much-buzzed-about song “Oh Santa!” — featuring the first pairing of Carey with Grande and Hudson — briefly topped the Apple Music charts at No. 1 across the globe. (It has since been displaced by Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”) The “Oh Santa!” music video currently has been viewed north of 14.7 million times.
Meanwhile, Carey’s perennial holiday hit, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” is skyrocketing on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, moving to No. 2 this week from last week’s position at No. 14. The song was first released in 1994 and made its way to No. 1 last year, earning Carey her 19th No. 1 single.
It could get there again, as Carey has been on a media blitz as of late, promoting the special while spreading annual holiday cheer in a year when some, like Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos, said, “We do need this more than ever.” Carey also enjoyed a push from famous friends like Oprah Winfrey, who posted a live viewing of the special from her home. “Mimi is bringing on the holidays,” said the mogul and Apple collaborator, who recently interviewed Carey about her best-selling memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey on her series The Oprah Conversation.
Carey executive produced the special with Ian Stewart, Raj Kapoor and Ashley Edens for Done + Dusted. BAFTA winner Hamish Hamilton and Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Roman Coppola teamed to direct from a script by Caroline Fox.
In an interview with THR, Carey said that the most important thing for her in terms of a vision for the special was that the spirit of Christmas came through during a challenging 2020 dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I know that for me, there’s a certain spirit that happens during that time of year. I was even thinking about it the other day, sitting around wondering, why is it different for me when I look at Christmas decorations or decorate? But it is. There’s just a different feeling that I get. It’s like an actual, tangible feeling that comes over me that I just want everybody to feel this happy,” she explained. “I know everybody can’t, but I wish that everybody could have the mindset of let’s really make it through. Let’s be unstoppable and power through this.”
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
Next year is shaping up to be a landmark year for tattoo trials. The latest, thanks to a federal court ruling on Friday, has Cardi B facing a jury for using a man’s distinctive tattoo on the cover of her first album.
Kevin Brophy Jr. alleges Cardi B misappropriated his likeness in “a misleading, offensive, humiliating and provocatively sexual way” in order to launch her career. And at this point, there’s no dispute whose tattoo appeared on Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1, although Brophy does include a false light claim (a cross between privacy invasion and defamation) based on what the pictured tattooed man (not Brophy but rather a male model) is doing (cunnilingus).
In a summary judgment motion, Cardi B argued that the cover image is transformative fair use of Brophy’s likeness.
U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney rejects fair use as a basis for handing Cardi B a win in the lawsuit at the pretrial stage. (See full ruling below, which includes an image of the offending album cover.)
“To constitute a transformative fair use, the revised image must have significant transformative or creative elements to make it something more than mere likeness or imitation,” writes Carney. “A reasonable jury in this case could conclude that there are insufficient transformative or creative elements on the GBMV1 cover to constitute a transformative use of Plaintiff’s tattoo.”
The judge points to testimony from Timm Gooden, who created the album cover. Gooden got $50 to make a quick design from a few images he was given. Gooden turned in a draft and was told to go find another tattoo over the back of the male model. So Gooden googled “back tattoos,” found an image, and pasted it onto the cover.
The judge hears word from Cardi B’s side that the neck tattoo was removed, that the arm was repositioned, that the image was tilted, and so forth, but the judge believes that the jury could find that the changes were insufficiently creative. “Most significantly, defining elements including the tiger and snake remain virtually unchanged,” continues the decision. “Under these circumstances, a jury will have to decide the merits of Defendants’ defense.”
On the more hopeful side for Cardi B, the judge has nixed Brophy’s expert on the topic of damages.
Douglas Bania, the proposed expert, looked to ascertain the amount of revenue attributable to use of the tattoo, and so the expert noted that 84 percent of the albums royalties were generated by streaming and downloading where the cover art appeared upon searches for the album. Bania concluded that $1,070,854 was related to use of the image for Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1, plus opined that $554,935 should be added for use of the likeness for Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 2.
The judge isn’t impressed with the analysis.
“Bania does [not] cite to any survey, poll, focus group, or other study where listeners—much less 100% of listeners—stated that the sole driver of their decision of what music to listen to is cover art, or that cover art is absolutely critical to their decision to listen to a song or album,” states the opinion. “Asked at his deposition whether he looked at surveys, polls, or studies regarding why consumers buy records, he could cite none. That is for good reason. Such a conclusion is pure fantasy.”
After hypothesizing other ways that others may have come to Cardi B’s album, Carney adds, “Put another way, Bania’s theory means that if Defendants had not used Plaintiff’s tattoo on the GBMV1 cover, Cardi B would have made no money on the album—at least on the streaming services where the tattoo appears. There is absolutely no basis for this conclusion, and the Court in its role as gatekeeper will not allow a jury to rely on it.”
As a result, Brophy appears to be having trouble on the damages end, although punitive damages is still on the table, and the false light claim remains as well.
Cardi B’s prospective tattoo trial adds to other pending legal actions over use of tattoos including one against the WWE for copying a wrestler’s tattoo for video games. That action was brought by the tattoo artist and is also headed to a jury.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
With Donald Trump losing the 2020 presidential election, singer-songwriter Neil Young has decided not to pursue him any longer in court over the playing of “Rockin’ in the Free World” and “Devil’s Sidewalk” at a campaign rally. On Monday, papers were filed that dismissed the copyright case.
Young filed suit back in August with the allegation that Trump’s campaign lacked a performance license. The complaint was the culmination of years of dissatisfaction by Young over Trump’s use of his music. Notably, Young almost sued back in 2016 but ended up not doing so after being told that the campaign venues had obtained public performance licenses from ASCAP and BMI. After these PROs attempted to limit political uses of music, songwriters have flooded Trump’s campaign with objections. The suit had the potential of deciding the legality of BMI’s move as well as clarify copyright standards.
The suit by Young has now been dismissed with prejudice, meaning that claims can’t be renewed. This typically is a strong sign of settlement although the lawyers involved haven’t yet responded to a request for clarification. The notice of dismissal came on the day in which Trump was due in court to respond to Young’s claims.
Trump is still facing another copyright suit over music, although that other case entails use of a song in a campaign commercial, which requires a different type of license. That lawsuit is being pursued by Eddy Grant over “Electric Avenue,” and Trump is attempting a fair-use defense.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
