U.S. District Judge Richard Leon dropped a classic Bob Dylan lyric on Sec. of Defense Pete Hegseth in denying the former Fox & Friends Weekend host’s attempt to reduce Gulf War and NASA veteran Mark Kelly’s military rank and retirement pay.

“This Court has all it needs to conclude that defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees,” the judge wrote in his scathing opinion according to The Hill. Leon then cited an iconic line from Dylan’s beloved 1965 Billboard Hot 100 No. 39 hit “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” said Leon in quoting the signature line from the song that was the folk bard’s first top 40 hit in the U.S.; according to a 2011 study by a University of Tennessee law professor, Dylan’s lyrics, and specifically the line Leon referenced, are frequently used by judges to make their points in opinions.

Hegseth sought to punish the Arizona Senator over his comments in a 2025 video in which he five Democratic colleagues called on service members to reject unlawful orders from the Trump administration.

While Leon, an appointee of former Republican President George W. Bush, agreed that members of the military have somewhat weaker First Amendment protections than civilians in order to preserve discipline in the armed forces, he said that no court have ever ruled that that lower bar extends to retired service members. Kelly retired from NASA in 2011 after his wife, former Arizona Rep Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head and almost died in an assassination attempt. Before becoming a Senator, Kelly flew 39 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War in the early 1990 and then became a Navy test pilot and later commanded four Space Shuttle missions.

Last November, Kelly was one of six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video in which they reminded service members that they have the right to refuse “illegal orders” from their commanders, an action that spurred Pres. Trump to suggest that they were traitors who should be charged with sedition and hanged.

A short time later, the Defense Department announced an investigation after claiming it had received “serious allegations of misconduct” in connection with the video. Self-proclaimed Sec. of War Hegseth then announced that the Pentagon would attempt to strip Kelly of some of his retirement pay and bust down his rank, which led to Kelly suing the DOD over allegations that the action violated his free speech rights.

“To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government,” Leon said. “And our Constitution demands they receive it!” A short time after the ruling, Hegseth wrote on X that the ruling would be “immediately appealed… Sedition is section, ‘captain.’”

According to The Hill, after the ruling, Kelly said the latest legal setback to the Trump administration’s efforts to muzzle its opposition marked a “critical moment” in showing the White House that it cannot keep trying to undermine the freedoms fought for by “Americans like me.”

He added, “I didn’t ask for this fight, but I have been defending the Constitution since I was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. After decades of public service, I can’t think of anything more important I can do for my country than defending the free speech rights of millions of retired veterans and all Americans.” 

At a hearing last week, Kelly’s attorneys argued that Hegseth’s attempt to seek “unprecedented punishment” over the Senator’s protected speech could “extend to every single retired service member in the country.” Judge Leon clearly agreed, writing in his ruling that he could not find a single instance in which free speech restrictions on active-duty service members had ever been extended to retired members and that the stretch to include a sitting member of Congress could have a chilling effect.

“Indeed, if legislators do not feel free to express their views and the views of their constituents without fear of reprisal by the Executive, our representative system of Government cannot function!” the judge wrote. 

The Warning and Carín León’s “Love to be Loved” has topped Billboard’s Latin music poll published on Feb. 6.

In support of the weekly New Music Latin roundup and playlist, curated by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors, music fans voted for the Mexican collaboration as their favorite music release of the week.

“Love to Be Loved” generated more than 60% of the vote, beating out other new releases including Carlos Vives’ “Te Dedico” and a new W Sound tune by Myke Towers, Westcol and Ovy on the Drums called “5 Estrellas.” Meanwhile, “Bajo Cero” by former CNCO members Erick Brian and Christopher Vélez was a close second in the weekly poll with nearly 35 percent of the vote. 

Cowritten by the Monterrey-based group and superstar Teddy Swims, “Love to Be Loved” finds the Mexican trio — the Villarreal Vélez sisters (Daniela, Paulina and Alejandra) — rocking out with León on his first-ever contribution sung entirely in English. The song meshes country and rock backed by León’s and The Warning’s powerhouse harmonies. 

“As a rock band, this is something completely different for us and a chance to explore new sounds,” The Warning said in a press statement at the time. ”Blending musical worlds is always exciting, and working with our fellow Mexican artist Carín León made the experience even more special. It’s a collaboration that pushed us creatively and shows a new side of The Warning.”

Editor’s Note: The weekly New Music Latin poll results are posted if the poll generates more than 1,000 votes. See the full results below:

BTS‘ long-awaited comeback is loading, with new album Arirang slated to drop this spring. And in a new cover story interview with GQ published Friday (Feb. 13), the members of the band opened up about what ARMY can expect from the LP and whether winning a Grammy for the project is something that’s important to them.

Arriving March 20, Arirang will mark the septet’s first full-length since 2020’s Billboard 200-topping Be. According to Suga, it’ll also showcase a “more mature side of BTS this time around,” featuring a “diversity of genres.”

“What I can tell you is that it’s going to be quite different from the BTS albums and sounds that you’ve been listening to,” he told the publication. “Being idol groups and boy bands and girl groups in the K-pop industry, it might feel like it’s a little bit restraining about the negative sides of life. But I think as artists and as individuals, you have to be able to express both the positive and the negative sides of life.”

“I think we are slowly heading that way because this album has a lot of introspection and thoughts,” he continued. “Things have changed, and we are still changing.”

It’s hard to overstate just how excited BTS fans are for the group’s return. Suga and bandmates RM, Jin, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook have spent the past three years or so taking turns releasing solo projects while completing their mandatory enlistment periods in the South Korean military, finally coming back together last summer to promise fans in a Weverse livestream that a new album and world tour would happen in 2026.

Despite the break, BTS is picking up right where it left off with seemingly no momentum lost — but is a Grammy something the members are still working toward after becoming the first K-pop group to be nominated for one in 2021, but losing both best pop duo/group performance that year and again in 2022?

“I don’t know,” RM told GQ candidly. “Time has passed. There are a lot of K-pop-related nominees you see in the general field and, really, I want to send big applause for them.” (In 2026, ROSÉ of BLACKPINK became the first K-pop soloist to be nominated in a general field category at the Grammys.)

“I mean, we’ll try,” he added. “Maybe we’ll submit our album to the Grammys again. But I don’t know — we don’t want to be desperately eager for it … We don’t want to say anymore like, ‘Ah, man, we want the Grammys.’ I mean, it doesn’t mean that we really don’t want it — but we’ll try. But if not, then OK.”

See BTS on the cover of GQ below.

Taylor Swift has filed a legal action aimed at blocking a bedding company from getting a trademark on a logo featuring the name “Swift Home.”

In legal papers filed Wednesday, the superstar asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reject a trademark registration sought by Cathay Home Inc., which applied last year for a logo featuring the “Swift Home” name in cursive script.

Lawyers for Taylor’s company, TAS Rights Management LLC, say the logo is too similar to her own signature logo – meaning it could “deceive and mislead” the public into thinking that the star “sponsors, approves of or endorses” the brand.

“Consumers would immediately recognize the name “SWIFT” as identifying the Artist,” Taylor’s attorney, Rebecca Liebowitz of the law firm Venable LLP, writes in the filing, which was obtained by Billboard.

Such cases, filed at the PTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, are a common legal procedure for big brands like Nike or Apple or Wal-Mart, aimed at preventing similar-sounding names from being granted federal trademark protections. But many celebrities, including major music stars, also file them regularly to fend off copycats.

Over the past decade, Jay-Z has filed eight such cases. Nirvana has brought three of them, and Snoop Dogg has filed five more, including one against a company selling a product called “SnoopGuard.” Last year, Eminem launched such a case against an Australian beach umbrella brand called “Swim Shady,” claiming it was too similar to his “Slim Shady.”

Swift is no stranger to such cases either. Her company moved to block a “Swifty” trademark in 2017, and threatened to bring a case in 2022 against a company that wanted to register “Speak Now.” In 2024, her attorneys successfully blocked a “Taylor Talk” trademark.

Cathay Home, a textile company based in Manhattan, applied last fall to register the “Swift Home” logo as a federal trademark for blankets, pillows, towels and other similar products. Such a registration allows companies to stop others from using similar trademarks on related products – and to use the R symbol on their branding.

In asking the PTO to block the registration, Swift is not suing Cathay for damages or accusing the company of infringement. She is simply asserting that the company should not be able to claim its own trademark rights to the logo, given its similarities to her existing logo. Representatives for both Cathay and Swift did not immediately return requests for comment on Friday.