The NFL appears to be backing Jay-Z and moving forward with their relationship amid a civil lawsuit filed earlier in December claiming that the Roc Nation CEO raped a 13-year-old girl.

During a Wednesday (Dec. 11) presser ahead of the Christmas Day games on Netflix, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about the league’s association with Jay-Z and they don’t plan on changing anything in the coming months.

“We’re aware of the civil allegations and Jay-Z’s really strong response to that,” Goodell responded. “We know that litigation is happening now. From our standpoint, our relationship’s not changing with [Roc Nation], including our preparations for the next Super Bowl.”

Jay partnered with the NFL in 2019 to have Roc Nation produce entertainment events for the league including the famed Super Bowl Halftime Show, which Kendrick Lamar is slated to headline when the big game heads to New Orleans in February 2025.

Over the weekend, Jay-Z was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty alongside Diddy. The shocking civil case was filed by an anonymous accuser and Texas attorney Tony Buzbee, whom Jay called a “deplorable human.”

The Brooklyn rap mogul didn’t waste much time defiantly denying all of the allegations against him in a statement attacking Buzbee.

“You have made a terrible error in judgement thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same,” Jay-Z said. “I’m not from your world. I’m a young man who made it out of the projects of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain. Only your network of conspiracy theorists … will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable. I look forward to showing you just how different I am.”

Jay-Z continued: “My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people. I mourn yet another loss of innocence.”

Watch Roger Goodell’s full response below.

Roger Goodell on the civil lawsuit against Jay-Z and the NFL’s relationship with Roc Nation. pic.twitter.com/ZX5MJHLDUS

— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) December 11, 2024

Elvis Costello plans to dive into his back catalog for his upcoming tour, focusing heavily on his early material for the newly-announced Radio Soul! tour.

The tour, which begins in Seattle, WA on June 12 and runs for 17 dates before wrapping up in Miami Beach, FL on July 12, takes its name from an early version of “Radio Radio”, which Costello had written in 1974 as a member of Flip City. Initially inspired by Bruce Springsteen, the final version was issued on 1978’s This Year’s Model and has since been considered one of Costello’s finest works.

“For any songwriter, it has to be a compliment if people want to hear songs written up to fifty years ago,” Costello said of decision to focus on his early work, namechecking the draft of “Radio Radio” as an example.

The scope of the tour will see Costello lifting from his first 11 albums, ranging from 1977’s My Aim is True to 1986’s Blood & Chocolate. This period featured some of Costello’s most enduring tracks, including “Watching the Detectives”, “Pump it Up”, “Everyday I Write the Book” and “Oliver’s Army” to name a few.

For the tour, Costello will be joined by The Imposters, which includes Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas, Davey Faragher and guitarist Charlie Sexton.

“[The Imposters are] an ensemble which includes three people who first recorded this music and two more who bring something entirely new. They are nobody’s tribute band,” Costello said. “The Imposters are a living, breathing, swooning, swinging, kicking and screaming rock and roll band who can turn their hands to a pretty ballad when the opportunity arises.”

“If there is an encore and we play, ‘Farewell, OK’, it probably means some of those ‘Early Songs’ will have been performed in your city for the very last time,” Costello concluded. “I don’t want to go back, I want to bring these songs into the present day, once more, in the event they are ever pushed out of the way by the next number that I write.

“You could say time is running out but only time will tell.”

Elvis Costello 2025 Radio Soul! Tour Dates

June 12, 2025 – Woodland Park Zoo Amphitheatre, Seattle, WA
June 13, 2025 – Keller Auditorium, Portland, OR
June 15, 2025 – Venue TBA, Reno, NV
June 17, 2025 – The Masonic, San Francisco, CA
June 19, 2025 – Hard Rock Live Sacramento, Wheatland, CA
June 21, 2025 – Orpheum, Los Angeles, CA
June 24, 2025 – Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, San Diego, CA
June 26, 2025 – Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, NV
June 28, 2025 – Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek, CO
June 29, 2025 – Bellco Theatre, Denver, CO
July 1, 2025 – Uptown Theater, Kansas City, MO
July 3, 2025 – The Factory, St. Louis, MO
July 5, 2025 – Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
July 7, 2025 – The Peace Center Concert Hall, Greenville, SC
July 9, 2025 – Duke Energy Center for the Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
July 10, 2025 – Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, Fort Myers, FL
July 12, 2025 – Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theatre, Miami Beach, FL

Downtown Artist & Label Services struck an exclusive distribution deal with Josa Records in support of its emerging Música Mexicana artist Netón Vega. The agreement covers the global distribution of Vega’s catalog and his upcoming debut album set for release early next year, which will include collaborations with Peso Pluma, Luis R Conriquez, Tito Double P and others. Hits for Vega include “La Patrulla,” “LINDA,” “Presidente” and “Si No Quieres No,” his collaboration with fellow Downtown client Conriquez.

Nigerian artist Flavour signed a joint deal with Warner Music Africa and Africori, which will team up to distribute his future releases. The singer is known for fusing African rhythm, highlife and contemporary jazz and has garnered more than 1.1 billion views on YouTube and sold more than 5 million albums globally, according to a press release.

Actor, rapper and DJ IDRIS (a.k.a. Idris Elba) signed with Dirtybird Records, which released his latest single, “No Long Talk,” on Friday (Dec. 6) along with an official remix by GAWP.

Gospel singer-songwriter Jonathan McReynolds signed to Motown Gospel/Christian Music Group for the release of his first Christmas-themed EP, Red & Green. He also signed with CAA ahead of his six-city Red & Green concert tour, which launched Dec. 1 in Chicago and is slated to wrap up Dec. 21 in Atlanta.

Metal band Shadows Fall signed with MNRK Heavy and released its first new music in more than a decade with the single “In the Grey.” The group is managed by Scott Lee at SL Managemeent.

Girlpuppy, the musical project from Atlanta’s Becca Harvey, signed with Captured Tracks and released her new single “Champ” on the label.

Eighteen-year-old blues artist Muireann Bradley signed to Decca Records and its U.S. partner label Verve Forecast. The labels will release the Irish singer’s forthcoming debut album, I Kept These Old Blues, on Feb. 28.

Country-folk artist Sam Stoane signed to Wasserman Music in Nashville on the heels of her opening dates for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dylan Gossett and other acts. She’s slated to release her debut album next year.

Scarlet Rae of the indie folk band Rose Dorn signed with Bayonet Records and released the single “Bleu.”

Nashville-based The Band Light signed with Red Van Records and is set to release new music on the label early next year. The group, which is managed by Rachel Inglesino at Jonas Group Entertainment, also just signed a deal with Jonas Group Publishing.

YoungBoy Never Broke Again (a.k.a. NBA YoungBoy) has been sentenced to 23 months in federal prison, according to new documents filed in federal court on Tuesday (Dec. 10), followed by 60 months’ probation following his release.

The sentence comes nearly four months after it was reported that the 25-year-old rapper, born Kentrell Gaulden, would plead guilty to a single count of possession of firearms by a convicted felon.

YoungBoy was indicted by federal prosecutors in 2021 after he was allegedly found with two guns during a September 2020 incident that transpired during a music video shoot in Baton Rouge, La. He was charged with violating a federal law that bans convicted felons from possessing guns, as he had previously been convicted of aggravated assault with a firearm in 2017.

While awaiting trial, YoungBoy was confined to his Salt Lake City home for more than two years, a “long period of social isolation” that his attorneys later pleaded was harming his mental health. They asked the judge in the case to loosen restrictions, including by allowing him to travel to a studio to record new music, but the judge largely denied that request in November.

That same month, YoungBoy also pleaded guilty to several counts in a separate case out of Utah in which he was charged with operating a prescription drug ring out of his home. As part of a plea deal in that case, the rapper’s four felony charges were reduced to Class A Misdemeanors and he was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, as reported by KTVX-TV (via Associated Press).