Author: Rap Hooks

Katy Perry’s manager, Bradford Cobb, appears to be firing back at Wendy’s after the fast-food chain took a dig at his client earlier this year.

On Friday (Nov. 7), reports emerged that Wendy’s plans to close hundreds of restaurant locations nationwide as part of a corporate “turnaround plan.” Interim CEO Ken Cook announced that between 200 and 350 of the company’s roughly 6,000 U.S. restaurants would be affected, according to CNN.

Cobb quickly took notice of the news, reposting a KTLA headline about the closures to his Instagram Story, alongside a photo of the brand’s iconic red sign.

The longtime manager’s post comes months after Wendy’s threw shade at Perry on social media. In April, the chain’s official X account responded to a Pop Crave post about Perry’s return from her Blue Origin NS-31 spaceflight with a blunt jab. “Can we send her back?” Wendy’s replied, causing a stir online.

The company doubled down with another post on X featuring a photo of the “Firework” singer kissing the ground after landing, captioned, “I kissed the ground and i liked it.” When one user pointed out that Perry had only been in space for about 10 minutes, the brand wrote back, “Don’t short change her it was 11 minutes.”

Perry was one of six passengers on Blue Origin’s all-women flight crew, which landed safely back on Earth after the brief suborbital trip.

Weeks later, Perry addressed the online negativity, leaving a heartfelt comment on a fan page thanking her supporters for standing by her.

“I’m so grateful for you guys. We’re in this beautiful and wild journey together,” she wrote. “I can continue to remain true to myself, heart open and honest especially because of our bond. I love you guys and have grown up together with you and am so excited to see you all over the world this year!”

The artist continued, “Please know I am ok, I have done a lot work around knowing who I am, what is real and what is important to me. My therapist said something years ago that has been a game changer, ‘no one can make you believe something about yourself that you don’t already believe about yourself’ and if I ever do have any feelings about it then it’s an opportunity to investigate the feeling underneath it.”

She closed, writing, “When the ‘online’ world tries to make me a human Piñata, I take it with grace and send them love, cause I know so many people are hurting in so many ways and the internet is very much so a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed.”

Rod Wave has been arrested by the Atlanta Police Department on multiple weapon and drug charges.

The 27-year-old rapper-singer, whose real name is Rodarius Green, was taken into custody Friday (Nov. 7) in Fulton County, Georgia, and charged with possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of or attempt to commit certain felonies, reckless driving, possession of a Schedule V controlled substance and possession of Schedule II controlled substance, according to TMZ.

Rod Wave was booked into Fulton County Jail following his arrest, Fox 5 Atlanta reported, and as of Saturday morning remained in custody.

In a statement sent to Billboard Saturday evening, Rod Wave’s attorney — Drew Findling of Findling Law Firm — said: “On November 7, the same day Rodarius Green earned a Grammy nomination, he was unjustly profiled and unlawfully arrested in Atlanta. The arresting officer belongs to the Atlanta Police Department’s controversial Crime Suppression Unit—a group known for its aggressive tactics and emphasis on high arrest numbers rather than genuine public safety. Mr. Green was targeted as part of this quota-driven approach, a practice that undermines justice and erodes community trust. We look forward to vigorously challenging this baseless arrest and the clear violations of Mr. Green’s rights in court.”

This is not Rod Wave’s first legal issue. In May, he was arrested in Georgia and booked into Fulton County Jail on charges of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm. He later faced 12 additional counts, including aiming a pistol at another person, reckless conduct, criminal damage to property, obstruction of law enforcement, evidence tampering, conspiracy to commit a felony, and simple assault.

Court records show that the May arrest stemmed from an alleged April 21 altercation. The musician was released the same day after posting a $50,000 bond. “There is no truth to these charges,” Findling told Billboard at the time.

The “25” rapper-singer also faced gun charges in April 2024 in Manatee County, Florida, after being accused of illegally possessing a weapon or ammunition. Authorities attempted to connect him to a gang-related shooting at a St. Petersburg sports bar. In May 2022, he was also arrested on a felony charge of battery by strangulation, which was later dropped.

Aside from his legal troubles, Rod Wave released the singles “Westside Connection” and “Sinners” in 2025. The latter appeared on the Sinners movie soundtrack and played during the horror film’s final scene. His most recent album, Last Lap, was released in October 2024, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

Britney Spears is back on Instagram after a short break from the platform.

Just days after deactivating her account, the 43-year-old pop star reappeared on Friday (Nov. 7), sharing a new photo with her 42 million followers. In the image, she poses in a white lace bra, gray and black underwear, and black boots.

“So much has happened this year, it’s crazy …,” Spears captioned the image. “I try to live within my means and the book, ‘Draw the Circle’ is an incredible perspective. Get your ballerina 🩰, circle, and own your boundaries.”

She continued, “It’s incredibly strict and somewhat of a form of prayer but with so many endless possibilities in life, it’s important to do you and keep it simple. I know there is a confusing side too. The devil is in the details but we can get to that later 😳😂🤧.”

The “Gimme More” singer’s return comes about five days after she deactivated her account. The brief disappearance coincided with the release of her ex-husband Kevin Federline’s tell-all memoir, You Thought You Knew, which includes several sensational claims about their two-year marriage.

Spears did not address her short-lived absence from Instagram, which went dark on Nov. 2 and displayed an automated message saying the “profile may have been removed.” The pop star has taken several social media breaks in recent years — briefly in 2021 and twice in 2022 — and has periodically stepped away from posting ever since.

Her latest retreat followed a series of mid-October Instagram posts in which she appeared to respond to allegations made in Federline’s book. “Its fun to tell stories at this point because this all might sound so silly but with what garbage literally is being said about me I said why not bring SUBSTANCE to the table,” she wrote.

Prior to that, Spears accused Federline of “constant gaslighting” and criticized those who “profit off my pain,” seemingly referring to her financial relationship with her ex. “No money from Britney for 5 years you trying to get paid that’s what general America is saying weird you both have moved on… your kids are adults it’s a different world now … why is HE SO ANGRY,” she wrote.

Fans have recently expressed concern about the singer’s well-being after she continued posting her trademark dance videos along with cryptic messages about her two sons — Sean Preston, 20, and Jayden James, 19 — with Federline, according to People.

In one video posted on Oct. 7, Spears appeared with bruises on her arms and bandages on both hands and her right knee. “Psss I fell down the stairs at my friend’s house… it was horrible… it snaps out now and then, not sure if it’s broken but for now it’s snapped in !!!” she explained in a TikTok post showing her injuries.

Check out Spears’ latest Instagram post here.

Today is officially Music Creator Day.

Spearheaded by SOCAN, the date was acknowledged by Senator René Cormier on Nov. 4 in the Canadian Senate and by Member of Parliament David Myles in the House of Commons two days later.

As of 2025, Nov. 7 will now be annually observed as Music Creator Day across the country.

It coincides with beloved Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell’s birthday, paying tribute to her contributions and representing a lasting legacy for the next generation of musicians.

“Thank you for honouring my work in this manner,” Mitchell says in a statement. “Although I have lived mostly in the States since I was 21, I live part-time in B.C. I have always been proud to be a Canadian and lately more than ever.”

Earlier this year, Mitchell was honoured with SOCAN’s 2025 Cultural Impact Award, recognizing her impact as a Canadian songwriter. Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Russell performed a showstopping rendition of “Both Sides Now” at the SOCAN Awards and spoke to Billboard Canada about her work with the legendary artist. “Getting to be in creative communion and community with her has been one of the most surreal gifts of my life,” she said.

“I invite you all to sit down and enjoy your favourite Joni song, or a song by any other amazing Canadian, and honour the great musical creators of this country on Music Creator Day,” says MP Myles.

The declaration is accompanied by a recent survey conducted by Pollara for SOCAN on the connection between Canadian music and culture. They report that 81% of Canadians believe supporting local music creators is vital to ensuring our culture thrives for future generations, with 77% claiming local music helps define Canadian culture.

It’s reflected on the charts, too. As of November, five Canadian artists have hit No.1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, including two albums from The Weeknd, PARTYNEXTDOOR & Drake’s collaborative $ome $exy $ongs 4 U and Tate McRae’s So Close to What, marking the pop singer’s first No. 1 on the chart. The most recent was Justin Bieber’s Swag, which sat at No. 1 for one week.

Read more here.

Canadian Government Renews Canada Music Fund in 2025 Budget

The Canada Music Fund has been renewed.

After a few weeks of uncertainty from independent Canadian music industry groups, yesterday (Nov. 4), the government officially renewed and allocated $48 million to the fund, in the first federal budget tabled by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne — it will be distributed over the next three years, beginning in 2026.

The decision serves as a moment of celebration for Canadian music organizations. Québec music organization ADISQ shares that it’s a relief for the industry.

“This renewal was essential for our companies to continue investing fully in the career development of local artists, and thus maintain the sector’s competitiveness,” says Eve Paré, executive director of ADISQ, in French. “Public funding provides leverage for our industry. It plays a vital role in reaching the full potential of our cultural vitality.”

For over four decades, the Canada Music Fund has been a cornerstone of Canada’s music economy, supporting FACTOR and Musicaction, two of the country’s biggest and most important music grants.

The Canada Music Fund’s $48 million renewal extends the $16 million annual boost that was announced as a temporary two-year top-up in 2024, with another $16 million for the next three years.

Securing stable funding will enable music orgs to meet the challenges they face, such as declining contributions to private radio broadcasting, and will serve as a boost after the paused 5% revenue funds for major foreign-owned digital streaming platforms under Bill C-11.

The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) notes that the renewal is a sign of recognition and validation for homegrown artists and organizations.

“Canadian music companies and the artists they work with represent a dynamic economic engine powering the growth of Canada’s cultural economy. This budget announcement is an encouraging step forward,” says Andrew Cash, president and CEO of CIMA.

The renewal will benefit live music organizations, too. The Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) enthusiastically welcomed the federal government’s continued investment in Canada’s cultural sector, “including the commercial live music infrastructure of venues, festivals and promoters that connect artists to audiences across the country.”

In addition to the renewal, the government has announced a $150 million funding increase for CBC/Radio-Canada, with hopes of the country securing a spot on Eurovision’s international song contest.

“Public funding preserves a dynamic local ecosystem that values what makes us unique. We must now work to guarantee the sustainability of this funding and thus ensure the future of our music,” says Paré.

Read more here. 

Music Streaming Services Call On National Assembly of Québec to Forego French-Language Quotas

Music streamers are speaking out against new French language music streaming legislation.

The Digital Media Association (DiMA), the trade association and lobby group that represents platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, has raised concerns about Bill 109, a proposed new law that would ensure French-language content is prioritized by digital platforms operating in the province.

Bill 109, titled An Act to affirm the cultural sovereignty of Quebec and to enact the Act respecting the discoverability of French-language cultural content in the digital environment, was introduced in May by Québec’s Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe.

If passed, the act would “enshrine the right to discoverability of and access to original French language cultural content” into Québec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, and allow the province’s government to mandate “the quantity or proportion of original French-language cultural content that must be offered by digital platforms.”

The bill states that the Quebec government has to establish content quotas on how much music needs to be produced or featured on these platforms, although no numbers were specified. All platforms would be required to register with Lacombe.

According to DiMA, the major streaming services don’t want any new discoverability requirements and French language quotas.

In a submission to the Committee on Culture and Education in the Québec National Assembly, the music association writes that “mandating quotas and the discoverability of certain tracks or types of tracks risks altering the business model that has made streaming so attractive and has delivered vital revenues to artists and the music industry.”

The organization fears that if there is government intervention, it will affect how the streaming services operate, and “degrade the user experience,” which may limit the flow of revenue to Francophone artists and rightsholders.

Additionally, DiMA raises logistical issues with the government’s implementation of content quotas.

DiMA highlights that the key to ensuring both parties are satisfied is prioritizing the ultimate objective — to promote the language and culture of Québec.

“We believe the most effective path forward is one focused on listener choice, not constraint. Québec artists and Francophone music are thriving on streaming services today because audiences are empowered to find and listen to music organically,” says Graham Davies, DIMA’s president and CEO.

“By working together — combining the government’s cultural vision with the streaming services’ reach, expertise and innovation — we believe Francophone and music of Québec can continue to thrive both at home and on the global stage.”

While Quebec is pushing discoverability of French-language music, the online platforms are pushing back against the cross-country “streaming tax battle,” pushing against the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)’s now-paused plan to require major foreign streaming companies to invest 5% of their income to support Canadian content.

DiMA has led a campaign called “Stop The Streaming Tax,” which some in the music industry have called “disingenuous.” Services like Spotify, meanwhile, have been touting the success of francophone music on its platform. 

Read more here.

For years, the Cascio family was one of Michael Jackson’s fiercest defenders against ugly pedophilia claims. The five siblings from New Jersey, whom Jackson considered a “second family” and who spent much of their childhoods with the King of Pop, publicly denied that he was ever inappropriate with them.

That all changed in 2019, when the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland amplified child sex abuse claims against Jackson from two men in disturbing detail. As the Cascio siblings tell it, the film led them to reflect and reveal to each other for the first time that they had all been abused by Jackson as children across “hundreds of instances.” The estate of Jackson, who died in 2009, says the Cascios fabricated these claims and were seeking to cash in on the cultural moment.

Whether the Cascios’ allegations were true or not, one thing is for sure: The siblings signed a multimillion-dollar settlement, including a strict nondisclosure agreement, with the Jackson estate in late 2019. Now, the validity of this settlement is the subject of a bitter legal battle in court.

The Jackson estate alleged in a court petition this summer that the Cascios violated the settlement with an “extortionate” threat that they would go public with the claims unless they were paid an additional $213 million. Last month, the Cascio siblings responded by asking a judge to declare the settlement void.

The Cascios — Frank, Aldo, Marie-Nicole, Edward and Dominic — said the estate “exploited their confusion and vulnerability” upon coming to terms with the alleged abuse by pressuring them to quickly sign a deal they didn’t understand.

According to the Cascios’ Oct. 6 court filing, the siblings didn’t have their own lawyer and were told by the Jackson estate that the deal “would not get done” if they hired counsel and took time to review the papers. They also said the estate misrepresented the nature of the settlement, telling them it was a “life rights” agreement.

“Exploiting the same patterns of trust, fear and conditioned loyalty that Michael Jackson had cultivated for decades, the estate manipulated respondents’ emotional state to extract their silence through coercive and deceptive means,” wrote the Cascios’ attorney Mark Geragos. “The rushed process was intended to, and did, in fact, take advantage of the Cascio siblings’ shock and trauma upon realizing this had happened to all of them.”

The estate, meanwhile, says the Cascios were not pressured to sign anything. To the contrary, the estate claims in court filings that the Cascio siblings were the ones who demanded a settlement for their “specious allegations” — and that the estate reluctantly paid to avoid public pain and harm to Jackson’s children.

“Frank inaccurately depicts the negotiations leading up to the execution of the Agreement as one-sided strong-arming,” wrote the estate’s attorney, Jonathan Steinsapir, on Oct. 30, referring to Frank Cascio.

The truth, argues the estate, is that the settlement was “extensively negotiated” and “voluntarily executed” by the Cascio siblings. It is now urging a judge to enforce all provisions of the agreement, including a mandatory arbitration clause.

A court hearing on the dispute is scheduled for Dec. 3 in Los Angeles County. Geragos and a rep for the Jackson estate both declined to comment on the matter on Friday (Nov. 7).

Jackson was never convicted or held legally liable for any accusation of child sex abuse during his lifetime; he settled a civil claim in 1994 without admitting any wrongdoing, and he was acquitted at a criminal trial in 2005. But such allegations have continued to dog his legacy, most notably when Leaving Neverland hit screens in 2019.

The Jackson estate called Leaving Neverland a “one-sided hit job” and sued HBO, leading the documentary to be removed from the streaming platform. Yet the subjects of Leaving Neverland, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, are continuing to pursue civil sexual assault claims against the estate.

Meanwhile, the Jackson estate has been extraordinarily successful at monetizing the singer’s legacy. Jackson died with $500 million in debt, but the estate has since generated more than $3 billion with catalog deals and new live shows exploiting the King of Pop’s intellectual property.

The estate’s latest endeavor is Michael, a long-developed biopic tracing Jackson’s rise to stardom. After years of setbacks and delays, Michael finally has a release date of April 24, 2026.

The movie’s first teaser trailer dropped on Thursday (Nov. 6) with scenes of Jackson’s real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, recording and performing Michael’s record-smashing 1982 album Thriller. The teaser does not allude to any of the abuse claims against Jackson.