During Tuesday night’s (March 31) Broadway production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Megan Thee Stallion was taken to the hospital after she started feeling sick, Billboard has confirmed.

According to a statement from Megan’s team sent to Billboard: “During Tuesday night’s production, Megan started feeling very ill and was promptly transported to a local hospital, where her symptoms are currently being evaluated. We will share additional updates as more information becomes available.”

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Megan’s hairstylist Kellon Deryck first alerted fans to the hospitalization on Tuesday night, posting on X: “Everyone say a prayer for Megan, we are all at the hospital.”

Megan Thee Stallion made her Broadway debut last week as the first female-identifying performer in the role of Zidler, starting an eight-week engagement on March 24 and set to continue through May 17 at New York’s Al Hirshfeld Theatre. The Billboard Hot 100-topping rapper celebrated opening night by posting a clip from the show on Instagram with the caption: “So grateful for this incredible cast & crew & everyone who worked so hard to make opening night a success!! HOTTIES IM ON BROADWAY!!”

Billboard has reached out to reps for the musical for further updates.

The Breakfast Club producer and host Loren LoRosa was at Tuesday’s performance, sharing on X: “Came to see Meg The stallion on broadway and that was short lived. The few opening scenes I saw her in she was great on stage! I was excited BUT…They just stopped moulin rouge mid show apologized to the audience and said ..’stay inside and seated’ I asked security if we’re safe .. they told us ‘for now, we’ll update you if anything changes.’”

When Billboard spoke with Meg ahead of her first night, she raved about the chance to bring her talents to Broadway. “When I got the opportunity to do it. I was like, ‘Hell yes, I’m coming up here doing it. How many times a day we gotta perform? OK, hell yeah, I’m doing that,’” she recalled. “This is not like a regular Megan Thee Stallion concert. This is Zidler. This is not even me, but the hotties get to come. Please make sure you tell the hotties this: I would like for them to come dressed the part.”

Taylor Swift was at two of the biggest events in Los Angeles last week: the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Thursday and the second of two Paul McCartney underplay concerts at the Fonda Theater on Saturday.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking about how Swift dominated Thursday’s iHearts — taking home seven prizes and extending her record as the winningest artist in the show’s history, while also making her awards show debut with fiancé Travis Kelce — and then popped up at the Fonda for a girls’ night with the HAIM sisters on Saturday. And Swift wasn’t the only one in the crowd at the shows: We also talk about all the A-listers who were reportedly on site for the phone-free shows, which celebrated the announcement of McCartney’s upcoming album The Boys of Dungeon Lane (though he didn’t perform lead single “Days We Left Behind”).

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Listen to the full show below:

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how BTS debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with ARIRANG, scoring the group’s seventh No. 1. Plus, BTS also bow atop the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “SWIM,” marking their — wait a minute — seventh No. 1. (Did we mention there are seven members of BTS?)

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

After releasing in theaters on Feb. 13, Emerald Fennell’s steamy Wuthering Heights film starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi is now available to watch online. Releasing digitally on Tuesday (March 31), fans of Emily Brontë’s pivotal Victorian novel can buy and rent the modern film adaption digitally through premium video-on-demand services, such as Prime Video and Apple TV.

How to Watch Wuthering Heights, At a Glance:

  • Release Date: Tuesday, March 31
  • Digital Release: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV
  • Physical Release: Pre-order on Amazon (release date on May 5)
  • Price: Buy for $24.99, rent for $19.99

In Fennell’s modern adaptation, Robbie and Elordi star as Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff in the period drama that charts the passionate and tragic romance between their star-crossed characters. With stunning visuals, viral steamy scenes and a chart-topping soundtrack by Charli XCX, let this film be a great excuse to stay in and have yourself a fun movie night.

Where to Stream Wuthering Heights Online

Want to watch Wuthering Heights at home today? The film starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi is available to rent and buy digitally through video on-demand platforms such as Prime Video and Apple TV, which costs $24.99 to buy or $19.99 to rent. If you haven’t yet signed up for either platform, here’s a breakdown for each streaming service below.

‘Wuthering Heights’ Is Now Available on Digital: Where to Watch Online

BUY OR RENT

Prime Video

Buy or rent ‘Wuthering Heights’ on Prime Video.


‘Wuthering Heights’ Is Now Available on Digital: Where to Watch Online

BUY OR RENT

Apple TV

Buy or rent ‘Wuthering Heights’ on Apple TV.


Where to Buy Wuthering Heights on Blu-Ray and DVD

For those looking for a physical copy of Wuthering Heights on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray and DVD, Amazon has pre-orders available now with prices ranging from $19.96 to $29.95. To note, the physical copy does include a digital code, allowing you download the digital version of the film on your preferred device. The official release date for the physical version is May 5, 2026.

Version 1.0.0

PRE-ORDER

Wuthering Heights (4K Ultra HD + Digital)

$29.95 $34.98 14% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Pre-order ‘Wuthering Heights’ on DVD for $19.96, Blu-Ray for $24.95 and 4K Ultra HD for $29.95.


Shop Wuthering Heights Books, DVDs and Merch

The hype for Wuthering Heights doesn’t stop at the films end credits. There are plenty of ways for fans to engage with Brontë’s captivating story in many ways, including special-edition books, movie merch collections and even a scented candle. Shop our favorite Wuthering Heights products below.

‘Wuthering Heights’ Is Now Available on Digital: Where to Watch Online

NEW RELEASE

Wuthering Heights (Chartwell Deluxe Editions)

Amazon has a new collector’s edition version of the book, featuring a faux-leather cover and foil-embossed edgework and designs.


Wuthering Heights Bookish Reading Candle

Wuthering Heights Bookish Reading Candle

And whether you’re going goth, in your feelings and need a good cry, or just winding down for the night, you can light this Wuthering Heights-inspired candle to help set (or soften) the mood. The Amazon sellers says this 9 oz. candles “smells like books;” more specifically, that means notes of leather, clover, freesia, sweet fig and ivy vines.


Wuthering Heights vase

Steel Mill & Co Original Book-Shaped Decorative Vase

We love this Wuthering Heights-inspired vase, which is made to look like a hardcover book. It’s actually made from a molded ceramic material with a gold-flecked spin and front cover, and textured ribbed detailing on the right side to mimic pages. This vase measures approximately 5.5 x 7.5 inches in size. It makes a great gift for Wuthering Heights fans too.


Wuthering Heights T-Shirt

Wuthering Heights T-Shirt

$13.64 $18.19 25% off

Buy Now AT ETSY

“So kiss me, and let us both be damned!” 

The final line of the Wuthering Heights trailer finds Elordi’s Heathcliff uttering these fateful words to Robbie’s Cathy, highlighting the intense love they have for one another — and the tragic circumstances that keep them apart. This T-shirt captures that quote in all its emotional resonance with a skull and roses graphic that represents their forbidden affair.


‘Wuthering Heights’ Is Now Available on Digital: Where to Watch Online

Universal Zone Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Tote Bag

Amazon has this Wuthering Heights canvas tote bag, inspired by the book cover of Brontë’s novel. This tote measures 15 x 16 inches in size and comes with a ten-inch strap that you can wear on the arm or shoulder.


Wuthering Heights Movie Details

  • Director & Writer: Emerald Fennell
  • Cast: Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, and Ewan Mitchell
  • Release Date: February 13, 2026
  • Run Time: 136 minutes
  • Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures, MRC, LuckyChap Entertainment
  • Music: Score by Anthony Willis, with original songs by Charli XCX
  • MPAA Rating: R (for sexual content, some violent content, and language)

Watch the trailer for Wuthering Heights below:

Morgan Evans just performed a cover of one of Garth Brooks‘s most vocally challenging, enduring ’90s hits — and the Country Music Hall of Famer had some thoughts about it.

During an episode of the God’s Country podcast earlier this month, Evans briefly sang a bit of “Ain’t Going Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up),” which appeared on Brooks’ 1993 album In Pieces and was a two-week Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs chart-topper. The song’s full-throttle, spit-fire delivery makes it a fan favorite in concert.

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Alongside the podcast’s hosts, brothers Dan and Reid Isbell, Evans sang the song while seated casually in a chair, and smoothly kept pace with the rapid-fire lyrics, singing the song with such ease that even Brooks himself had to comment on it.

Brooks replied to a video of the performance, writing, “Dude!!!!! Are you kidding me???? I can’t sing that song without going into cardiac arrest and you guys make it look easy!!!! QUIT doing Garth stuff better than Garth!!!! Honored, flattered and absolutely LOVE that moment!! love, g”

Evans replied to Brooks, writing, “Hahahaha maaaaaaate!!! Been singing your songs my whole life. Means a lot! Thanks legend!”

During the podcast, Evans recalled growing up listening to Brooks’ music, and said of “Ain’t Going Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up),” “finally learning all the lyrics to this song was like a great achievement.”

Evans appeared on the podcast in support of the March 20 release of his new album Steel Town, which finds the Australian-born singer/songwriter returning to his roots.

“In 2026, I feel like people are more drawn to the more unique version of someone,” he said. “I really tried to lean into that with songs like ‘Steel Town,’ about my hometown, or ‘Land I Love,’ which is about Australia.”

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Festival season is on the horizon, and with it comes unbearably hot weather.

Sweating is a natural part of festival and concert attendance. You’re laughing, screaming, singing and dancing along to some of your favorite artists, trying to have a grand old time despite the oppressive heat. Coachella is right around the corner, not to mention Governors Ball, Stagecoach and Lollapalooza. You’ve also got major tours to look forward to in the next few months, including big names like BTS, Rosalia, Raye, Peso Pluma and Bruno Mars, among others.

If you plan on attending any of these upcoming festivities and you want to keep cool, you’ll need an excellent handheld or portable fan in your concert/festival-going arsenal. This is just as important as a good water bottle and bag. As someone who has attended a handful of concerts or festivals with a portable electric fan, it really makes a world of difference as far as enjoyment goes. You don’t want to be passing out mid-set of heat exhaustion, that’s for sure.

There are a plethora of styles available on the market to choose from, but which ones work the best? We’ve included a few options below that ShopBillboard editors love. We’ve included your standard handheld styles that can fold up and fit in your pocket like JISULIFE’s Portable Handheld Fan for $15.99 or the Shark ChillPill for $149.99.

There are also a ton of styles that attach to your wrist so you can always have your fan on you when you’re feeling a bit overheated like JISULIFE’s Handheld Fan Pro Series with a wrist strap for $59.99. Clip-on fans are another optimal style if you want to go hands-free. Styles like our favorite from Hotsales for $19.99 or the Socool 10000mAh Portable Waist Fan Clip for $29.99 that can attach to the collar of your shirt or to your waist for a burst of cold air to your neck or under your shirt. For those looking for a stylish option, Ulta Beauty has a cat-inspired handheld fan from Zadro for $21.99 that can act as an accessory along with your extra cute festival look.

Whichever one you choose, you’ll want to look for options with multiple speeds and a long-lasting battery life that will last you multiple sets or hours-long concerts. This is a non-negotiable for many of our ShopBillboard editors and once you have a fan, you won’t be able to attend concerts or festivals without one.

Best Handheld/Clip-On Fans for Concerts & Festivals

The best portable and handheld fans for festivals and concerts.

JISULIFE Handheld Fan Pro Series

$59.99 $69.99 14% off

Buy Now on amazon

This is a handheld fan that can loop onto your wrist with a wrist strap. The fan has a digital screen and fast-charging capabilities.


The best portable and handheld fans for festivals and concerts.

Shark ChillPill 3-in-1 Personal Cooling System

This cooling system is high-speed and features a dry-touch evaporative mist took keep users extra cool. It’s also small enough to fit in your bag.


The best portable and handheld fans for festivals and concerts.

Zadro Cat Ear Beauty Fan

This fan articulates so you put it wherever you please in whatever angle you desire. The fan comes in a multitude of colors and features a cute cat ear design.


The best portable and handheld fans for festivals and concerts.

Hotsales Clip-On Portable Fan

$19.99 $28.99 31% off

Buy Now On Am’azon

This is a tiny fan that you can clip to your collar, waist or purse. The style is currently 31% off.


The best portable and handheld fans for festivals and concerts.

JISULIFE Portable Handheld Fan

$15.99 $19.99 20% off

Buy Now On Amazon

This fan folds in on itself, allowing users to carry it in their pocket, making the fan extremely portable.


The best portable and handheld fans for festivals and concerts.

Socool 10000mAh Portable Waist Fan Clip

This particular fan clips to your waist, giving you a breezy feel directed towards your body. This is a portable model but it’s bigger than our other picks but features a powerful gust.


Salt-N-Pepa argue in a new appeal brief that a judge was wrong to dismiss the duo’s high-stakes music ownership lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG).

The Tuesday (March 31) court filing at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is the opening bout in a fight by Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton to revive their copyright case against the world’s largest music company. The iconic hip-hop duo sued UMG last year for refusing to honor its so-called “termination rights,” a tenet of copyright law that allows artists to claw back ownership of their master recordings decades after signing them away.

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A New York federal judge threw out the claims in January, determining that Salt-N-Pepa had no termination rights because the duo did not actually sign its 1986 record deal with Next Plateau Records. Rather, that contract was between Next Plateau (which was later sold to London Records, then absorbed by UMG) and Noise in the Attic Productions, a company that was controlled by Salt-N-Pepa’s music producer, Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor.

Richard Busch, the veteran music attorney newly hired to represent Salt-N-Pepa on appeal, says in Tuesday’s brief that this dismissal decision was “riddled with error.” According to Busch, the lower court ignored the fact that Salt-N-Pepa owned its music when it was created, and that the duo was the one to begin a long “chain of grants” via its own 1986 recording contract with Azor.

“When correctly interpreted, the 1986 agreements together should be read to mean that the copyrights originated with Salt-N-Pepa, and then were transferred to Noise in the Attic, then Next Plateau, next to London, and eventually to UMG,” writes Busch. “Because Section 203 expressly contemplates that terminations would be binding and effective against successors in interest, and because the seminal grant of rights came from the authors (Salt-N-Pepa), their termination notices are effective to terminate UMG’s rights reverting them to Salt-N-Pepa.”

Salt-N-Pepa’s brief also zooms out to alert the Second Circuit to some bigger picture concerns in the duo’s appeal. Busch writes that Congress created termination rights “to rectify the imbalance of bargaining power that all artists face when negotiating with entities to exploit their works” — and that the rap duo’s 1986 record deal memorialized this exact type of imbalance.

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“The lasting success of Salt-N-Pepa’s catalog has been a windfall for UMG and its predecessors-in-interest — indeed, the catalog generated approximately $1 million in royalties in the five months preceding this lawsuit, alone,” reads the appeal brief. “Under the relevant agreements, UMG has enjoyed the lion’s share of these royalties.”

In a statement to Billboard on Tuesday, Busch said, “This is a very important case for all recording artists, and, respectfully, as we make clear in our brief, we believe the district court got it wrong. We look forward to being heard by the Second Circuit.”

A rep for UMG did not immediately return a request for comment on Salt-N-Pepa’s brief. The company is scheduled to file its own brief in response in May.

Termination rights have become a hot-button issue in music law in recent years. Artists such as 2 Live Crew have gone to court to win back their catalogs, and others asserted their termination rights en masse via class-action litigation against UMG and Sony. Both majors ultimately settled those lawsuits in 2024.

In the past, termination rights have generally been considered to apply only to U.S. copyright grants. But that’s now up in the air after a first-of-its-kind appeals court ruling held this summer that termination rights can also be asserted overseas — potentially upending decades of industry practice. This week, units of all three majors announced that they’d bought out the copyright at issue in that case so they can take it to the Supreme Court.


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Kid Rock is not worried about the flight crews who recently conducted a flyby past his Nashville home over the weekend.

In an interview with Nashville’s WKRN News, the singer shrugged off the ongoing Army investigation of the aviators involved in the unauthorized flight, suggesting that the pilots have nothing to be worried about.

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“I think they’re going to be all right,” Kid Rock said when asked about how he feels about the investigation. “My buddy is the Commander-in-Chief.”

Kid Rock has been a prominent supporter of Trump since 2016 and has maintained a close relationship with the president. Last year, he appeared at the White House as Trump signed an executive order targeting ticket scalping in the live entertainment industry.

The investigation came about after Kid Rock shared a video to X of himself saluting the helicopter hovering near his home. The video of the flyby garnered immediate attention, as it was posted the same day millions of Americans nationwide participated in a third No Kings protest against the Trump administration. One of these demonstrations was held in downtown Nashville.

In the interview with WKRN, Kid Rock referenced the demonstrations, saying that he thought being able to salute the helicopter pilots was “a great thing” when the No Kings protests were happening.

“There were people flipping them off,” he said, alleging protesters’ actions toward the helicopters. “I don’t care what your politics are … if you’re flipping our military off, you’re on the wrong side of things.”

While Kid Rock was into the flyby incident, ultimately calling it “harmless” and “cool,” the U.S. Army did not feel the same. On Monday, the Army’s 101st Airborne Division confirmed that they were reviewing the flyby, referencing the “strict safety standards, professionalism and established flight regulations” that flight crews must adhere to.

Despite Kid Rock’s prediction that they’ll be “all right,” the flight crews have been temporarily relieved of their duties for the time being.

“The personnel involved have been suspended from flight duties while the Army reviews the circumstances surrounding the mission, including compliance with relevant FAA regulations, aviation safety protocol, and approval requirements,” said Major Montrell Russell, a spokesperson for the Army. “The Army takes any allegations of unauthorized or unsafe flight operations very seriously and is committed to enforcing standards and holding personnel accountable.”

If you were not one of the lucky fans who got to see Justin Bieber‘s secret show in L.A. over the weekend, don’t fret: It was just a taste of what’s to come.

On Tuesday (March 31), Bieber shared a compilation of clips to X from his recent one-night-only performance at The Roxy Theater, a 500-capacity venue in West Hollywood, Calif. Alongside the under 90-second sequence, Bieber wrote the caption, “See you all soon.”

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The video starts with a shirtless Bieber taking a bow on a small stage in what is clearly a packed room. The next clip is a look at the theater’s marquee outside, which simply reads “Justin Bieber / Tonight Only.” The following shows an exclusive T-shirt from the event that says “Justin Bieber Live The Roxy Theater” with the date of the performance.

Then viewers get a taste of the performance Bieber gave to the fans lucky enough to be at the Roxy Theater on Sunday night. The singer performed a series of hits from his 2025 albums Swag and Swag II. For his renditions of his Billboard Hot 100 hits “Speed Demon,” “Yukon,” “Walking Away,” “Go Baby” and No. 2 hit “Daisies,” Bieber traverses the small stage alone, at times shirtless and at others donning a TLC CrazySexyCool World Tour tee.

“You guys having fun?” Bieber asks the audience in between songs. The crowd cheers back enthusiastically in response.

Though he performs alone for a majority of the video, toward the end Bieber is joined by two guitarists for an acoustic performance of “Everything Hallelujah.”

“Well, I just want to say thank you so much for coming tonight,” Bieber says at the end of the montage. “This is so beautiful. It’s a little sneak preview into Coachella which is gonna be so much fun.”

Fans who didn’t get into his secret performance at the Roxy Theater will be able to see Bieber headline both Saturday nights — April 11 and April 18 — at this year’s Coachella, either in person or via Coachella’s live YouTube feed.

Watch Bieber’s secret show montage below.

Fresh caselaw from the U.S. Supreme Court may throw a wrench into the major music publishers’ lawsuit accusing Elon Musk’s X of widespread copyright infringement.

Publishers teamed up in 2023 to sue X (then known as Twitter) in federal court for refusing to license songs that users post on the platform. The suit has been in evidence discovery since a Nashville judge greenlit certain copyright claims in 2024, and it’s set to go to trial at the beginning of 2027.

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That schedule might be changing, though, because of the Supreme Court’s decision last week in a separate music piracy case brought by the major record labels against internet service provider Cox. In that case, the justices ruled 9-0 that an internet platform cannot be held liable for its subscribers’ copyright violations unless the service is marketed or tailored specifically for infringement.

X’s lawyers now argue that this new binding precedent dooms the music publishers’ copyright claims. That’s because the publishers are asserting a similar theory of so-called contributory liability that was rejected in the Cox case — that is, that X is at fault for slow-walking its response to takedown requests and failing to terminate users who repeatedly post infringing music.

“If the Supreme Court had issued this opinion three years ago, X believes this court would have dismissed plaintiffs’ contributory-infringement claim in its entirety,” wrote X’s attorneys in a Friday (March 27) court filing. “Indeed, virtually every contributory-infringement case plaintiffs cited in opposing X’s motion to dismiss — including the Fourth Circuit case on which this court relied — is no longer good law.”

In a court response on Tuesday (March 31), the publishers’ lawyers said they “disagree with defendant’s assertion that the Cox decision means that this case should be dismissed.” Without going into detail, they argued that “plaintiffs’ allegations and the factual record support this case moving forward.”

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That said, the publishers acknowledged that the Cox ruling may have implications for their lawsuit, and they accepted X’s proposal to pause the discovery process while they file briefs digging deeper into the issue. A rep for the publishers declined to comment further on Tuesday (March 31).

The case is being brought by all three major publishers (Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell Music), plus a slew of indie publishers, including Concord, BMG, ABKCO, Kobalt, Reservoir and Wixen. Helmed by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), the suit alleges that X “profits handsomely” from infringement of compositions on its platform.

Most major social media companies, namely Meta, TikTok and Snapchat, have entered into blanket licensing agreements that provide a pre-cleared library of music for users to add to their posts. But X has long refused to do the same, maintaining that such broad licenses are not required under copyright law.

Last summer, it looked for a time as if X and the music publishers might strike a settlement after the long legal fight. Attorneys reported in court filings that they’d made “substantial progress” towards a deal, but they ultimately reached an impasse in the fall and went back to litigating.

With settlement talks on ice, X went on the offense this January by countersuing the NMPA for antitrust violations. X alleged that the publishers colluded to overwhelm its staff with hundreds of thousands of takedown requests as part of a “coercive campaign” to “force it to buy industrywide licenses it does not need.” That countersuit remains in its earliest stages.


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A federal judge has once again dismissed a lawsuit against Showtime that claimed George & Tammy — a TV series about country music legends George Jones and Tammy Wynette — unfairly turned her late husband into “the villain.”

The case, filed in 2024, alleged that the Showtime series conveyed a “negative and disparaging portrayal” of the late George Richey, a songwriter and producer to whom Wynette was married for decades after her split from Jones.

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Though a judge initially dismissed the case last year, he gave Richey’s widow (Sheila Slaughter Richey) a chance to fix her claims and refile the case. But in a ruling Monday (March 30), that same judge dismissed the lawsuit for good.

“I dismissed Sheila’s claim once but gave her leave to amend,” Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote Monday. “This time, her claim fares no better, and I now dismiss it [permanently].”

Released in December 2022, George & Tammy was well-received by critics — particularly Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain’s respective portrayals of Jones and Wynette. Both were later nominated for Emmy Awards for their performances.

Sheila filed her case in January 2024, claiming the series had depicted Richey as a “devious husband” who engaged in physical abuse, facilitated Wynette’s drug addiction, and committed “financial and managerial manipulation” of the late country icon.

Accusations about a harmful depiction of a real-world person would typically be filed as a defamation lawsuit, but Sheila didn’t sue Showtime for defamation. And that’s likely because she couldn’t: Under U.S. law, defamation cases can only be filed by living people, not on behalf of the deceased.

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Instead, Sheila claimed the show indirectly violated a 2019 legal settlement in which Wynette’s daughter, Georgette Jones, promised not to make disparaging statements about Richey. Since George & Tammy was a licensed adaptation of Georgette’s 2011 memoir about her parents, the lawsuit alleged that Showtime had been unjustly enriched by Georgette’s decision to violate her agreement with Sheila.

But in both last year’s ruling and the new decision on Monday, Judge Bibas said Sheila had failed to meet the strict legal requirements to bring such a case.

“Sheila’s claim fails for the same basic reason: A plaintiff bringing an unjust-enrichment claim must have an interest in the benefit that was conferred,” the judge writes. “Yet Sheila has not shown an interest in anything that Showtime got from Georgette.”

The ruling echoes what the judge said the first time: That Sheila’s dispute was really with Georgette. In that earlier ruling, he also suggested she had instead sued the network because of the potential for a larger judgment.

“Sheila could have sued Georgette for breaking their agreement,” Bibas wrote at the time. “But George & Tammy had been a hit, and Showtime had presumably profited handsomely from Georgette’s breach. So instead of going after Georgette for whatever damages her breach caused, Sheila set out for bigger game.”


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