Roger Federer will miss the Australian Open in January and is unlikely to return to competition until mid-2022 as he recovers from multiple knee surgeries, the former world number one told Swiss media. Federer, 40, also said he would be “extremely surprised” if he was able to play at Wimbledon, a Grand Slam he has […]
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Michael Johnston, co-founder of Chicago-based label Audiotree, has been accused of videotaping and photographing nude images of his children’s nanny using hidden cameras.
NBC 5 Chicago reported that a civil suit had been filed against Johnston and his wife Kelly Halverson by the nanny and another woman – named as Jane Doe and Julie Doe in the court filing. Gail Eisenberg, a lawyer for the two women, noted that Jane worked for the couple as a home manager, child caretaker, and personal assistant, while Julie was also employed as a nanny for the couple’s friends.
In January 2020, the women were reportedly asked to house-sit for the couple, but as Jane was undressing she alleges she found a hidden camera. She then claims that she discovered two additional cameras, one in a bathroom disguised as an iPhone dock charger and another in a bedroom she was using.
“My life is forever changed because of what they did to me,” Jane Doe said in a statement via her lawyer. “I hope that by speaking out about this I can empower other survivors to do the same.”
Johnston’s attorney Damon Cheronis has said in a statement that his client “takes these allegations seriously and will continue to work through the appropriate legal process.”
Our official statement regarding Michael Johnston is below pic.twitter.com/yN1gG86SZL
— Audiotree (@audiotreemusic) November 16, 2021
Johnston, who is also the owner of Chicago venues including Schubas and Lincoln Hall, co-founded Audiotree in 2011 with Adam Thurston. Following news of the allegations, the company released a statement announcing that Johnston has been “removed as President & CEO of Audiotree, Audiotree Presents, Lincoln Hall, Schubas, and Tied House.” The company also noted that he is “no longer a part of the Audiotree team”.
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Los Angeles’ iconic Staples Center will become the Crypto.com Arena from Christmas Day, following a naming rights deal struck between cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com and the venue owners AEG.
Through the agreement, effective Dec. 25, the venue will take on its new name and be emblazoned with a new logo and branding assets. The 20,000-seater Staples Center is home to the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers, as well as the NHL’s LA Kings and WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
Crypto.com revealed that it will also serve as the official cryptocurrency platform partner of the Lakers and the Kings.
“Known as the Creative Capital of the World, the city of Los Angeles and the people who call it home have always been pioneers, pushing the boundaries and innovating as the undeniable global leaders of culture and entertainment,” said Crypto.com co-founder and CEO, Kris Marszalek. “We’re very excited about partnering with AEG and investing long term in this city, starting with Crypto.com Arena in the heart of downtown, and using our platform in new and creative ways so that cryptocurrency can power the future of world class sports, entertainment and technology for fans in LA and around the world.”
Crypto.com was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Singapore, with offices in Europe and Asia. The company recently launched a global promo campaign fronted by Matt Damon and has signed brand partnerships with UFC and F1 racing as well as a number of professional sports teams including Paris Saint-Germain, the Philadelphia 76ers and Montreal Canadiens.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
Taylor Swift isn’t the only one leaning into the Taylor’s Version era. While the singer is busy promoting the 30-track re-recorded version of her beloved Red album, the nation’s largest chain of radio stations, iHeartRadio, announced on Tuesday (Nov. 16) that fans listening to their 850 stations will only be able to hear the revamped titles on their network.
“iHeartRadio is replacing all of Taylor’s previous albums with the Taylor’s Version of each of them as Taylor releases each project, and will play only Taylor’s Version of her songs on the air,” read a story from iHeartRadio.
“Whenever Taylor re-records a new track, we immediately replace the old versions. Our stations will always deliver songs that artists are eager to share and fans want to hear,” said iHeartRadio chief programming officer Tom Poleman. “Listeners have made it known that they cannot wait to hear Taylor’s Version of each track. We are thrilled to provide a platform to share those with them, as well as the stories behind the songs from Taylor herself.”
According to iHeart, Swifties are already hearing Taylor’s Version versions on their stations, with Mediabase reporting that this week the top ten Version songs played include (in order): “Message In A Bottle (Taylor’s Version),” “I Bet You Think About Me,” “Love Story (Taylor’s Version),” “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version),” “You Belong With Me (Taylor’s Version),” “I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor’s Version),” “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Taylor’s Version),” and “22 (Taylor’s Version).”
So far, Swift has released Taylor’s Versions of her 2012 Red album and 2008’s Fearless, which both feature newly recorded takes on the original collections plus some unheard or newly recorded “From the Vault” tracks written during those eras but not included on the originals. The re-recording project began last year after the singer’s former label, Big Machine Group, was sold by manager Scooter Braun for $300 million in a deal that included the master rights to Swift’s first six albums.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is nearing return from an abdominal strain, perhaps as early as Friday against the Boston Celtics, ESPN reported. James last played November 2 in a 119-117 win over the Houston Rockets. In 36 minutes, he scored 30 points on 13-for-21 shooting and added 10 assists. He is working out […]
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International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Tuesday that no athlete should be excluded from competition on the grounds of a perceived unfair advantage due to their gender as it released a new framework on transgender inclusion. The governing body, however, added that it was not in a position to issue regulations that define eligibility criteria […]
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MANILA, Philippines—Terrafirma head coach Johnedel Cardel believes Antonio Hester fits the bill in its bid to make the playoffs in the upcoming PBA Governors’ Cup. Cardel said Hester has all the tools to propel his team into the playoffs after the Dyip nearly made the quarterfinals last conference but were denied entry due to inferior […]
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Wyclef Jean had an unfortunate incident on Monday (November 15) at the Range Rover Leadership Summit, where he was seen lifting and then dropping the company’s President & CEO Joe Eberhardt on his head.
The corporate event in Los Angeles hired Jean as the evening’s entertainment. As a video obtained by TMZ shows, at one point Jean hoisted Eberhardt onto his shoulders, before accidentally dropping him on the floor.
TMZ reported that Eberhardt wasn’t hurt after his fall, but that he left the party early. The party then continued on with no further incidents.
Meanwhile, Fugees announced a few weeks ago that they would be postponing their upcoming reunion tour. The influential hip-hop group, made up of Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel, originally announced in September that they would reunite for a 2021 world tour celebrating 25 years of their classic 1996 album ‘The Score’. But on October 29, they wrote on Instagram that they would be rescheduling in order to ensure “the best chance that all cities on the tour will be fully open” following some of them being restricted due to COVID measures being put in place.
Fugees split for the first time in 1997, and, while they briefly reformed between 2004 and 2006, they have been inactive since then. Ahead of the tour kicking off, the band gave fans a taste of what they could expect with a special pop-up show at The Rooftop at Pier 17 venue in New York City on September 22.
The series of worldwide arena shows were set to begin at the start of November in Chicago, including a show scheduled for December 6 at The O2 in London.
The group has said that when the tour is rescheduled for 2022, they will be adding a number of new dates. “With so much excitement around the reunion tour, we are also happy to announce that we will be adding more cities and dates!” they said. “Full details coming soon along with some SPECIAL announcements!” The tour’s rescheduled dates have not yet been revealed.
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Universal Music Group, the parent label of Taylor Swift, have reportedly set out new guidelines with regards to their artists re-recording old material.
Swift is currently in the process of re-recording her first six albums in an attempt to regain control of her master recordings after masters of her early records were sold off several times without her permission.
The re-recordings began with ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ earlier this year, with the second album, ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’, coming out last Friday (November 12).
READ MORE: What does the resale of Taylor Swift’s old masters mean for the musician and her music?
A new report from The Wall Street Journal claims that Universal have been setting up new agreements with its artists which, according to the report, “effectively double the amount of time that the contracts restrict an artist from rerecording their work.”
The report adds that previous agreements of this kind meant that artists were prohibited from re-recording songs released by UMG until five years after their last recording under their contract with the label was made.
Now, the reported new contracts have raised this to five years, and while previous agreements also allowed re-recordings to be made two years after the end of a contract, this is now set to five years.
Despite the proximity with Swift’s high-profile series of re-recordings, a source with knowledge of the case tells The Wall Street Journal that the plans were set out before Swift began publicising her plan to re-record her first six albums.
Taylor Swift. Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Last year, Swift confirmed her plans to re-record songs from her first six records after music manager Scooter Braun and his media holding company, Ithaca Holdings LLC, acquired Swift’s old label, Big Machine Label Group, back in June 2019.
Swift then confirmed last November that the ownership of her back catalogue has changed hands again for the second time within two years.
After news broke of Braun selling the rights to Swift’s music to the private equity company Shamrock Holdings in a $300million (£230m) deal, the singer shared a statement in which she said that the master recordings “were not for sale to me”.
“This was the second time my music had been sold without my knowledge,” Swift said. “The letter told me that they wanted to reach out before the sale to let me know, but that Scooter Braun had required that they make no contact with me or my team, or the deal would be off.” Swift’s statement claims that Braun will continue to profit from her catalogue “for many years”.
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MANILA, Philippines — Already struggling, San-En will be without its key cog in Thirdy Ravena for the next two games. In a statement released on Wednesday, the NeoPhoenix suspended the Filipino star for “damaging the sponsor signboard” in a 90-89 loss to the Toyama Grouses in an away game on Sunday. The 24-year-old guard, who […]
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MANILA, Philippines—Cherry Nunag is the latest addition of Choco Mucho, the club announced Wednesday. Nunag is the second Perlas Spiker to join the Flying Titans after seasoned setter Jem Ferrer. Ferrer’s acquisition was made official on Monday. Welcome home, @chenxces! Team Titans, let’s all welcome the newest addition to our family, Choco Mucho Flying Titans […]
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Kacey Musgraves has shared her version of Coldplay’s 2005 song ‘Fix You’, recorded as part of a stop-motion animation film from Chipotle called ‘A Future Begins’. Watch the video below.
READ MORE: Kacey Musgraves – ‘Star-Crossed’ review: a powerfully honest depiction of heartbreak
In her cover, Musgraves is accompanied by a gently picked acoustic guitar, with added piano and strings as the song soars into its chorus. The animation shows young farmers at work, with the campaign created in support of Chipotle’s programme to help transition 1million acres of land to the next generation of farmers.
The film has been billed as a sequel to Chipotle’s 2011 film ‘Back to the Start’, which saw Willie Nelson covering Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist’. In a ‘Making Of’ video, Musgraves breaks down the cover and explains her reasons for supporting the campaign.
Musgraves released her fifth studio album ‘Star-Crossed’ in September and NME gave it four stars upon its release, writing: “[Musgraves’] dissection of a crumbling relationship is inspired by Romeo & Juliet and split into three parts, never collapsing under its own concept.”
It was recently confirmed that ‘Star-Crossed’ would be ineligible for consideration in the Best Country Album category at next year’s Grammys. It is, however, eligible for the Best Pop Album and all-inclusive Best Album categories. Additionally, her song ‘Camera Roll’ has reportedly been accepted for the Best Country Song category.
Musgraves responded to the Recording Academy’s decision on Twitter, posting a photo of herself as a child in a pink cowboy hat. “You can take the girl out of the country (genre) but you can’t take the country out of the girl,” Musgraves captioned the photo.
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