When she’s not topping Billboard charts, winning Grammys or being playful and provocative in concert, Sabrina Carpenter is doing philanthropic work with her Sabrina Carpenter Fund. That work, done in concert with PLUS1, has been noticed by the Anthem Awards, the social impact prizes presented by the Webby Awards.

Other nominees for the fifth annual Anthem Awards include Selena Gomez and Rare Beauty; Spotify; Google; MTV Entertainment Studios; Andrew Garfield and Sesame Workshop; The Daily Show; Paramount Pictures; The Museum of Modern Art; Katie Couric and the Colorectal Cancer Alliance; and Clinton Global Initiative.

Since launching in 2021, the Anthem Awards have recognized individuals, companies and organizations whose mission-driven work is creating meaningful change around the world. This year’s finalists were selected from more than 2,000 submissions from 42 countries by members of the the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS).

“In our fifth year of the Anthem Awards, we are celebrating and honoring the true changemakers that are pushing humanity forward, especially amid current challenges,” Patricia McLoughlin, general manager of the Anthem Awards, said in a statement. “This year’s cohort of finalists represents hope, compassion, and inclusivity, and teaches us that when we come together with united action, we can truly make a difference.”

Supporters can cast their votes for this year’s finalists online at celebrate.anthemawards.com until Oct. 30. The for-profit and nonprofit entries in each media type with the greatest amount of support will win the Anthem Community Voice Awards. All finalists are in the running for Gold, Silver, and Bronze Anthem Awards chosen by judges in the IADAS.

Winners will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 18. Fans can watch each winner’s “call to action speech” in the Anthem winners gallery that day at AnthemAwards.com.

These are boom times in comedy. As of Sept. 25, stand-up comics sold 4.9 million tickets to 2,078 live performances reported to Billboard Boxscore, for a total gross of $359.7 million and counting. The major streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu and HBO, regularly release new comedy specials, and on-demand audio and video streams of comedy content have topped $1.32 billion through Oct. 3.

Given these outsized numbers, many in the business say its time that stand-up specials and albums got more shine from the organizations that give out Grammy and Emmy awards.

“Comedy ebbs and it flows, but as of the last few years it’s been having a real boom, and this is an industry that deserves respect,” says stand-up star Iliza Shlesinger, whose latest special, A Different Animal, premiered on Amazon Prime in March and is entered for Grammy consideration for best comedy album. “I mean, some of these comics are their own microeconomies. We’re coming to respect podcasting as an industry. We’re respecting influencers. The state of comedy is one of the oldest art forms next to prostitution, and it deserves more respect.”

With Grammy voting underway — first-round voting ends Wednesday (Oct. 15) and the final-round voting runs from Dec. 12-Jan. 5 — the conversation has turned to the Feb. 1 Grammys ceremony and whether the best comedy album category will be featured on the prime-time telecast, or given out during a pre-telecast ceremony which is streamed on Grammy.com.

The Recording Academy cycles categories in and out of the main event, and the last time the best comedy album winner was announced on the telecast was 2020, when Dave Chappelle won for the recording of his Sticks & Stones special.

A Recording Academy rep says, “We don’t know yet what categories will be featured on the telecast this year, nor do we announce that in advance. But all of our 95 categories are always being considered, including best comedy album.”

Shlesinger says the category more than deserves inclusion in prime time. “At the end of the day, it is an artist performing an audio art,” she tells Billboard Comedy. “So, what’s the difference between [stand-up] and a song? If I wrote it, I composed it, I set up the order of the jokes, there is a musicality to it. So it should be presented in prime time.”

Living comedy legend Lewis Black, who’s been nominated six times in the best comedy album category and won twice, agrees. “Comedy is certainly big enough,” he says. “And that [pre-telecast] afternoon thing is in a glorified auditorium. There is no buffet.”

Black says that when he received his first Grammy in 2007 for The Carnegie Hall Performance, his award was given out the afternoon of the telecast. “I was irritated by it until — here’s the kicker — you go through a press run afterwards, and I’m behind Chick Corea [who won two Grammys that year]. I said, ‘You’re not on at night?’ He said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘You are kidding. I can understand why I’m not on at night, but you’re f—ing Chick Corea.’ Here’s one of the great jazz artists — an idiom that is one of America’s real contributions to music and art,” Black continues. “And they’ve got him in the afternoon with polka and people who read fast.”

The Television Academy also relegates comedy to its two-day pre-telecast Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony, and those in the funny business say it’s additionally frustrating that stand-up specials are lumped into the broad outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) category (and have only been eligible for that since the early 1990s).

The last time a stand-up special won was in 2020, when Chappelle’s Sticks & Stones took the honor. Since then, major box-office draws such as Adam Sandler, Ali Wong, John Mulaney, Bill Burr and Sarah Silverman have lost out to tributes to TV legends Carol Burnett, Dick Van Dyke and Conan O’Brien, an Adele concert, and a Disney+ Hamilton performance.

The comedians who spoke to Billboard stress that they’re not throwing shade at those comedy greats. Rather, they say, the playing field is not level, and stand-up specials should get their own category. “I love Conan, but I’m like, ‘Wait, these big-event variety and tribute shows have got 12 writers on them, a director, a DP, a list of producers, and everyone’s got their finger in the pie,’” says Bert Kreischer, whose 2025 Netflix special Lucky is also up for Grammy consideration (and who, staying on brand, did his interview shirtless). “We deserve our own category — just stand-up. We write our specials, and quite often we produce them.”

“I’ve been beating this drum for a while,” says Shlesinger. “It’s apples and oranges. There’s no reason that stand-up specials should be in contention with other types of specials, other than that comedy always gets overlooked.”

A Television Academy spokesperson says the organization “continually evaluates its Emmy Awards categories for their relevance to our medium’s trends. Both the comedy and variety genres have been an important part of Emmy recognition since the inception of the competition, and the Academy is committed to awarding achievements for comedy and variety as determined by the Academy’s board of governors, in consultation with our members and the industry.”

It’s also not lost on the comedy industry that, while their categories haven’t qualified for prime time, comedians are often the go-to choice to host awards telecasts. Trevor Noah has done Grammys duty for the last five years (the 2026 host has not yet been named), and Jon Stewart, Garry Shandling and Ellen DeGeneres have all hosted multiple Grammy telecasts as well. Nate Bargatze, Kenan Thompson, Michael Che and Colin Jost, and Jimmy Kimmel are among the comedians who’ve anchored the Prime Time Emmys, while Nikki Glaser and Ricky Gervais helmed the Golden Globes and Chris Rock, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes the Oscars. Adding the awards to the Grammy and Emmy telecasts would attract even more comedians to attend the ceremony, and the winners are almost certain to give entertaining acceptance speeches — which could goose ratings, which are trending downward in general.

“Some of your favorite comics are some of your favorite stars,” Shlesinger says. “So we should be able to put our faces on prime-time award shows. Comedy is being consumed just as much in popular culture as everything else.”

Beyoncé paid homage to D’Angelo on Tuesday (Oct. 14) following his death from pancreatic cancer.

“Rest in peace, Michael Eugene Archer, known to the world of music as the inimitable D’Angelo,” she wrote on her website while sharing a black-and-white photo of him. “We thank you for your beautiful music, your voice, your proficiency on the piano, your artistry. You were the pioneer of neo-soul and that changed and transformed rhythm & blues forever. We will never forget you.”

D’Angelo’s family confirmed in a statement to Billboard that he died at 51 years old on Tuesday.

“The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life. After a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer, we are heartbroken to announce that Michael D’Angelo Archer, known to his fans around the world as D’Angelo, has been called home, departing this life today, Oct. 14, 2025,” the statement reads. “We are saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind. We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time but invite you all join us in mourning his passing while also celebrating the gift of song that he has left for the world.”

Tyler, the Creator also posted a lengthy tribute to the late R&B legend on Instagram, telling the story about how he used the $20 he got on his 9th birthday to buy D’Angelo’s 2000 sophomore album Voodoo. “Citas world had ‘left&right’ on loop; brown sugar became a staple at home and nothing even matters by ms.hill was on repeat, so i had no doubt that voodoo would deliver. i had no idea that would help shape my musical dna,” he wrote. “The amount of raps ive wrote to BOOTY on the front porch that year, the amount of times ive tried to mimic vocal phrasing from SEND IT ON, the scratches the disc ended up with from repeating THE ROOT……too many.”

The rapper also wrote about how “One Mo’Gin” from Voodoo inspired “Ring Ring Ring” from Tyler’s latest Billboard 200-topping album Don’t Tap the Glass, including the pre-chorus: “I know you said not to call you again, but I miss you/ And I hope I can see you one more gin ’cause I miss you.”

J Balvin extends his own record for the most No. 1s on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart, securing his 39th No. 1 hit on the chart dated Oct. 18 via “Noventa,” his second collab with DJ Snake. Thanks to its ruling, the French DJ celebrates his fourth consecutive chart-topper.

“Working again with my brother DJ Snake is always amazing and makes this even more special,” J Balvin tells Billboard. “I feel incredibly grateful to keep making history together and blessed to break my own record with this song.”

“Noventa” — a nod to J Balvin’s 1990s-inspired rhythmic vibe, paired with DJ Snake’s energetic high-powered production — leaps 9-1 on the overall Latin radio ranking following a 45% surge in audience impressions, to 8 million in the United States during the tracking week of Oct. 3-9, according to Luminate. The track is set to be part of DJ Snake’s upcoming album Nomad, slated for release at the end of the year.

A handful of Univision stations contributed to the song’s rise to No. 1 on Latin Airplay. Among the strongest supporters are San Jose, Calif.’s KVVF, Phoenix’s KMQR, Houston’s KAMA and Dallas’ KDXX.

The new achievement lands nearly six years after J Balvin and DJ Snake joined forces to claim the top spot on Latin Airplay for a week with “Loco Contigo,” which also features Tyga, in 2019. To date, J Balvin has amassed 39 career No. 1s, extending his record with the most No. 1 hits overall since Latin Airplay launched in 1994.

The critical response to Taylor Swift‘s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, has been all across the board, but there’s one section of the discourse that Ruby Rose — a longtime friend of the pop star’s — isn’t standing for.

In a series of posts on Threads on Monday (Oct. 13), the actress hit back at claims that Swift is pushing a socially conservative narrative with her lyrics about marriage and wanting to start a family on Showgirl. “As someone who has spent many nights discussing the world, social injustice and life, with The Show Girl herself,” Rose began, noting that she refuses “to say [Swift’s] name in the same sentence as the hate group, Wackadoodles,” seemingly referring to MAGA Republicans.

“Given her public position against Trump, and his against her,” Rose continued of the 14-time Grammy winner. “If you are falling for the propaganda ‘Trad wife’ ‘X,y,z’ claims, you are most definitely walking into the biggest man made, rage bait, black hole. Stop it.”

According to Merriam-Webster, the Internet-coined term tradwife — “trad” meaning “traditional” — refers to a “married woman who embraces traditional gender roles and values.” It’s often applied to young women who choose to be homemakers, and it’s “closely associated with a 2020s social media trend widely viewed as ultraconservative.”

Swift is certainly a far cry from this definition of a so-called tradwife. The singer has spent the past 20 years building up one of the most successful music careers of all time, and she only recently got engaged at the age of 35 to fiancé Travis Kelce.

On Showgirl, however, Swift does at times sing about wanting to get married and have children. “When I said I don’t believe in marriage, that was a lie,” she croons on “Eldest Daughter,” while “Wi$h Li$t” finds her gushing about how she wants to “have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you … got me drеaming ’bout a driveway with a basketball hoop.”

The references were enough for some people to suggest that Swift was promoting conservative ideals, including one Jezebel essayist who expressed their disbelief that “one of the greatest songwriters of our time couldn’t think of a more interesting way to convey her deep love without a pick-me undertone or resorting to the girlhood fantasies of domestic bliss that the far-right is pushing hard.”

But Rose isn’t having any of it. “It’s not true, and it’s incredibly stupid,” they added on Threads. “It’s also embarrassing and hurtful to see energy put into this. Keep that energy and let’s take it where it’s necessary and needed.”

As for whether Swift’s billionaire status somehow indicates that she isn’t a generous person, Rose added on Threads, “She used to scroll go fund me like a social media app. Clicking ‘reach their donation’ like the ‘like’ button.”