Cardi B has come to the defense of her boyfriend, Stefon Diggs, after the NFL star was hit with strangulation charges tied to an alleged altercation with his personal chef in December.

The Bronx rapper broke her silence on the matter on Monday (Jan. 5) in a since-deleted tweet with a photo of an alleged text message exchange with the victim.

“Not once has that woman said anything to me about being touched.. NOT ONCE!! Mind you, we was talking every single day until she left that house and she JUST wrote me this,” she wrote.

Cardi replied: “But I’m gonna let the courts handle this s—t and when it gets handled I want all yall talking s—t on your f—n knees with apologies just as loud as the way yall been harrassing over a lie.. and I put that on my two month old son in the name of the lord!! That’s how confident I am.”

The female chef reported the alleged incident to law enforcement on Dec. 16. She claimed that an argument over an alleged salary dispute turned physical on Dec. 2. Diggs was charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery charges on Dec. 30.

Diggs is scheduled to be arraigned in a Massachusetts court on Jan. 23, which would be two days prior to the AFC Championship game if the wide receiver’s New England Patriots advance in the NFL Playoffs. “It’s definitely an open case, so I can’t even say anything about it,” Diggs said, briefly addressing the case and allegations against him in what he described as a “very emotional time.”

“Stefon Diggs categorically denies these allegations. They are unsubstantiated, uncorroborated, and were never investigated — because they did not occur,” Diggs’ attorney David Meier said. “The timing and motivation for making the allegations is crystal clear: they are the direct result of an employee-employer financial dispute that was not resolved to the employee’s satisfaction. Stefon looks forward to establishing the truth in a court of law.”  

While Diggs gears up for the playoffs, Cardi B is hard at work rehearsing for her Little Miss Drama Tour, which kicks off in February.

“Tour is going to be amazing,” Cardi promised during an X Spaces on Monday. “Everything is gonna go great. All the things that’s been getting thrown at me, that’s just the devil. The devil always come around when you’re gonna hit new levels.”

HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” from Netflix’s record-breaking animated movie KPop Demon Hunters, rebounds for a record-breaking 20th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. The song, which in July became the first leader on the list for the act — whose music is voiced by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI — passes ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” for the longest command since the survey began in September 2020.

Concurrently, Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” returns for a fourth week atop the Billboard Global 200 chart.

(The songs surge back to the charts’ respective summits as holiday hits retreat from the rankings’ upper reaches, given the latest lists’ reflection of the Dec. 26-Jan. 1 data tracking week.)

Elsewhere, Tyla’s “Chanel” reaches the Global Excl. U.S. top 10 for the first time and El Bogueto and Yung Beef’s “Cuando No Era Cantante” bounds to the Global 200’s top 10.

The Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

“Golden” leads Global Excl. U.S., up from No. 12, with 68.3 million streams (a 1% gain) and 5,000 sold (a 2% increase) beyond the U.S.

Here’s an updated recap of the chart’s longest-leading titles:

“The Fate of Ophelia” flies 11-2 on Global Excl. U.S. after three weeks at No. 1 starting in October; “Cuando No Era Cantante” blasts 21-3 for a new best; Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” leaps 27-4 following eight weeks at No. 1 beginning last May; and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” soars 29-5 after reaching No. 3.

Tyla tallies her second Global Excl. U.S. top 10 as “Chanel” vaults 32-8 (34.4 million streams outside the U.S.) Her breakthrough hit, “Water,” reached No. 6 in December 2023. “Chanel” rules the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for an eighth week.

“The Fate of Ophelia” tops the Global 200, up from No. 14, with 78.3 million streams (up 2%) and 9,000 sold (up 16%) worldwide in the tracking week.

“Golden” glows up 15-2 on the Global 200 after 18 weeks at No. 1 starting last July; “Ordinary” hikes 36-3 following 10 weeks at No. 1 beginning last May; and “Man I Need” rises to No. 4, from No. 39, after hitting No. 3.

Plus, “Cuando No Era Cantante” climbs 37-5 on the Global 200 (52 million streams worldwide). As on Global Excl. U.S., it’s the first top 10 on the Global 200 for the respective Mexican and Spanish artists.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Jan. 10, 2026) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Jan. 6. For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

Ted Nugent is clearly a proponent of the old saw “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” The MAGA bow hunting enthusiast proved it once again over the weekend when he lashed out at a number of rock stars for their political stances while occasionally offering up praise for their musical abilities.

The kiss with a fist comments came during one of Nugent’s “Let’s Talk Music” podcasts on New Year’s Day (Jan. 1), during which Nugent appeared to space on the name of the “guy in the White Stripes,” while referencing Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and fellow Detroit native Jack White.

Unlike Nugent, a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, White has been a loud and proud enemy of the White House, repeatedly lambasting Trump for everything from his “vile,” hate-filled post about the murder of beloved filmmaker Rob Reiner to mocking the president’s gaudy, gold-plated White House makeover.

And while the “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang” singer was mildly supportive of White’s surprise Thanksgiving halftime team-up with another D-Town legend, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rapper Eminem, during a Detroit Lions game, his praise was confusing, then not so.

“Jack White, is that his name? Jack White. No, I think The White Stripes, is that his name?,” Nugent said, acting as if he was unaware of the name of one of the city’s biggest modern rock icons. “Anyhow, he was great. It wasn’t like a 10 like Sammy Hagar or James Brown. I think Sammy Hagar and James Brown and Steven Tyler, those are tens. Angus Young of AC/DC, that’s a 10. The guy’s a maniac. Billy Gibbons in the blues, rhythm and blues, soul music category, he’s a 10.”

He then amended his rating to a “four and a five,” and while saying White “really delivered,” Nugent made sure to add that he thinks both Slim Shady and White are “total idiots. They don’t want their country to have secure borders. They think men should destroy women’s sports. Well, that’s not… that’s exactly what they stand for,” Nugent said of the alleged stances neither act are known to have made in any public forum, but which he seemed to extrapolate based on both acts’ distaste for Trump.

“When you hate Donald Trump, you you want men in women’s sports to destroy women’s rights. That’s what these guys stand for. They don’t think our border should be secured,” Nugent continued. “They think we should invite jihadists in who announce they want to kill the infidels. They announce they want to kill Americans. And Jack White and Eminem say, ‘Yeah, bring them in. Bring those guys in.’ Freaks, idiots.”

The unsubstantiated claims about White and Eminem led to some additional hate for Rock Hall members Green Day, who have also been very vocal about their disdain for Trump. “But their [Eminem, White] music is soulful. Just like Green Day,” he added. “Green Day, there’s not a brain amongst them, I don’t think. But man, can they play really, really killer stuff.”

And while Rage Against the Machine guitarist and solo performer Tom Morello has said in the past that Nugent is a “good friend” of his and that the “Cat Scratch Fever” singer’s “libertarian edge” sometimes matches up with his own “anarchist edge,” Nugent had some smoke for his pal as well, whose name he also seemed to fumble over.

“Tom Morello, Is that his name? Tom Morel?,” Nugent said of Rock Hall member Morello. “Who played with Springsteen and Rage Against the Machine, when actually they are the machine. Come on Tom, you got to know that. You’re not raging against the machine. You are the machine.”

Seemingly lumping White, Green Day and Morello together, Nugent claimed without any evidence, “they don’t believe that America should have secure borders, which means they don’t believe in America. Which means they want to have a great successful [sic] like in America, but they don’t think you should be able to have one.”

Nugent was more straight-up complimentary towards English singer Yungblud, however, calling him the “real McCoy,” and praising his work with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, with whom he collaborated on last year’s One More Time joint EP. “The original Chuck Berry, Little Richard is alive and well is this kid called Yungblud from England,” he enthused.

50 Cent didn’t waste any time chiming in about the United States’ arrest of Venezuela’s president, as the G-Unit mogul posted a political cartoon of what appears to be Nicolás Maduro bunked with Diddy in jail.

50 took to Instagram on Monday (Jan. 5) to share a cartoon featuring a man who looks like Maduro and Diddy cuddled up in a jail cell, with the disgraced Bad Boy CEO braiding the politician’s hair and saying, “They took my oil too,” in reference to the surplus of baby oil seized at Diddy’s homes by federal agents.

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, may today be productive and prosperous towards you and your goals,” 50 captioned the post. “Make your enemies watch your progress repeatedly.”

Followers had a laugh in the comments section at the audacity of the Queens legend. “50 did it before South Park could,” one person wrote.

Another chimed in: “Idk what’s funnier, the braids or the they took my oil.”

The U.S. military carried out a mission to arrest Maduro and his wife, Cilia, in Venezuela on Saturday (Jan. 3), and brought the couple to New York, where the deposed politician faces federal narco-terrorism charges. He pleaded not guilty on Monday (Jan. 5). “I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country,” Maduro told a federal judge in Manhattan, according to the Associated Press.

The connection to Diddy came with Maduro being housed at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, which is the facility where Combs was held before being transferred to FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey following his sentencing. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s alleged murderer, Luigi Mangione, is also one of the notable inmates currently held at MDC.

50 Cent released Sean Combs: The Reckoning in December, with the explosive Netflix docuseries further exploring Diddy’s federal case and history of alleged abusive behavior. Combs was sentenced to 50 months behind bars on prostitution charges, but dodged harsher charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.

50’s ex, Chelsea Handler, took a shot at her former beau and 50 Cent’s docuseries while hosting the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday (Jan. 4). “The cast of KPop Demon Hunters is here,” she said. “Not to be confused with Netflix’s other music movie, 50 Cent: Diddy Hunter.”