Category: Music

Attorneys for Tim Leiweke are asking for more time to prepare the defense of the former Oak View Group (OVG) chief executive and arena developer in his federal criminal trial in Austin.

Criminal defense attorney David Gerger filed an 11-page motion on Friday (Oct. 10), requesting that presiding Judge Susan Hightower postpone the December 2025 trial date to at least October 2026. Gerger argues that Leiweke’s legal team needs additional time to review roughly seven million pages of evidence produced by the government.

The filing also outlines what could be Leiweke’s early strategy to have the Department of Justice’s case dismissed, claiming prosecutors are misapplying the law in what the defense calls a misguided prosecution of an accomplished arena executive.

On July 9, the DOJ’s Antitrust Division unsealed an indictment accusing Leiweke and the leadership of Legends Hospitality of conspiring to rig a bid to develop the Moody Center in Austin for the University of Texas. Prosecutors allege Leiweke colluded with then-Legends CEO Shervin Mirhashemi to prevent Legends — partly owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones — from submitting a competing bid for the arena project.

OVG agreed to pay a $15 million penalty under a non-prosecution agreement, while Legends agreed to pay $1.5 million. Leiweke faces a single charge of violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

“We say that is not true; that OVG won the contract by competition, not collusion, and provided a world-class arena at excellent terms for the University,” Gerger writes. He argues that OVG “could not itself provide all the services needed to build and operate the arena, so it had to put together a team. Legends was not an arena developer but wanted to provide certain services to the arena such as food and beverage concession stands.”

That distinction is key, Gerger continues, maintaining that Legends was not a competitor to OVG in 2017. “Even Legends has told DOJ that it was not in the arena development business during the relevant time,” he writes, noting that Mirhashemi testified before a grand jury that “Legends would support the development-led bid for this project by OVG in lieu of supporting and providing services for another developer’s bid.”

“According to the government, an arena developer may not agree that its ‘teammates’ or subcontractors will support its team and not join another ‘team’ to bid against it: that is an unlawful ‘restraint,’” Gerger writes. “Our research shows that theory is wrong on the law, and courts have rejected such ‘literal’ readings of the Sherman Act as ‘overly simplistic.’”

Gerger also points to a 2024 DOJ review of AEG’s sale of ASM Global to Legends, during which a Legends attorney reportedly described the University of Texas deal as “lawful” and “an appropriate business practice.”

Regarding the requested trial postponement, Gerger said he’s unsurprised the government is “ready for trial,” writing, “It should be — it investigated this case for over two years and then decided when to bring an indictment.”

“In sum, discovery is voluminous and ongoing, and the defense needs more time to review it — and time to follow leads,” Gerger continued. “There is no way to accomplish this — and file motions and prepare for trial — on the schedule proposed by the government.”

A DOJ representative did not respond to Billboard’s request for comment by press time.

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Game 3 of Major League Baseball’s American League Championship Series (ALCS) is shaping up to be the series most important match yet. With the Seattle Mariners up 2-0 against the Toronto Blue Jays, tonight’s game will more than likely be the deciding factor for this playoff round. Taking place at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on 10/15, here’s everything you need to know about streaming game 3 online with Sling TV.

When is the Jays vs. Mariners Playoff Game?

The Mariners swept the first two games in Toronto, winning Game 2 comfortably with a score of 10-3 on Monday night. Jorge Polanco and the boys in the northwestern green look to keep up the same momentum as they look to lock up their home field. On the flip side, Toronto has an uphill battle to climb if they want to stay afloat this postseason.

How to Watch Jays vs Mariners Game 3 on Sling TV

Sling TV is a great affordable option to watch the MLB Playoffs online. It will also let you watch Fox and FS1 online without cable. You can choose from the Blue or Orange + Blue packages, which gets you access to up to 70 channels, DVR storage and the ability to stream on up to three devices starting at $23 for the first month ($46 per month afterwards).

If you don’t want to commit to a monthly subscription, the streaming service now offers day, weekend, and week passes to jump in and out of the action whenever you like. Starting at $4.99 for the Sling Day Pass, you can access Sling Orange for 24 hours. Additionally, the Sling Weekend Pass goes for $9.99 to access Sling Orange from Friday-to-Sunday. Lastly, there’s Sling Week Pass, which goes for $14.99, gets you access for seven days of Sling Orange.

Please note: Pricing and channel availability depends on your local TV market. Learn more about Sling TV here.

As any artist knows, it’s a tough task to score a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The feat usually requires some blend of the following ingredients: a strong song, a charismatic artist, aggressive promotion efforts, a devoted fan base; and, more recently, a viral live performance, meme or other stroke of luck. And that’s just to do it once. To rise (and stay) at the top of the game, demands a consistency that few artists ever achieve. But when artists lock onto that golden combination, they can accomplish a string of hits in rapid succession.

To celebrate those artists, Billboard compiled a roll call of artists who cemented their pop dominance by landing five or more top 10 hits from a single album. Not only does such a feat rely on the same qualities listed above, but for an album to sustain, it needs to recreate those moments for a mass audience over the course of months.

It should come as little surprise, then, that the first album to house five top 10s was Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the best-selling album of all time. At the time, Jackson set the benchmark of seven top 10s from one album – a feat later equaled by Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA (1984-85), Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989-91) and Drake’s Scorpion (2018). The record then quickly changed hands multiple times: Drake’s Certified Lover Boy scored nine top 10 successes in 2021, but was soon eclipsed by Taylor Swift’s 2022 album Midnights, which upped the record to 10. Swift repeated the perfect 10 with her 2024 release, The Tortured Poets Department, and 2025’s The Life of a Showgirl.

Check out our rundown of albums that have produced five or more top 10 hits on the Hot 100. Drake owns the most projects on the list, with four different albums – while Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen are the only other acts with multiple appearances. The who’s-who covers a cross-section of genres, including pop, rock, R&B and hip-hop and includes superstars such as Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston and Katy Perry.

(Note that this list only covers original editions of albums, though three albums – Usher’s Confessions, Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad and Taylor Swift’s Fearless – would qualify if expanded to deluxe editions and reissues.)

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.

Cardi B doesn’t play when it comes to her kids.

The Grammy-winning rapper is on the cover of the latest issue of PAPER on Tuesday (Oct. 14), and she explained in her cover story why she has a zero-tolerance policy for any sort of negativity surrounding her three (soon-to-be four) children.

“This week I showed the world that I will get the most nasty about mine. I never had to get that nasty for my kids. But I did, and I really feel like a lioness,” she said. “This has been one of the moments I got tested the most about being a parent. But it just goes to show me how strong I am, and it just goes to show me like, Damn, I will really take it to hell for mines: mentally, physically, anything. And I wouldn’t care.”

The Bronx native appears to be referencing her vicious feud with Nicki Minaj, which became a nasty back-and-forth on social media earlier this month that ended up seeing both artists insulting each other’s children.

Separately, Cardi also dissed BIA on her Am I the Drama? album cut “Pretty & Petty.” “Name five BIA songs, gun pointin’ to your head/ Baow, I’m dead,” she raps before referring to her as “diarrhea BIA” later in the song.

Cardi explained on The Breakfast Club that she felt compelled to respond to BIA after the “Whole Lotta Money” rapper name-dropped Cardi’s kids on her “SUE MEEE?” diss track last year.

“You mentioned my kids tryna be cute,” Cardi said. “She did her little diss and it was trash… I could’ve [left] it at that, but everything on social media is gonna be seen. When my kids grow up one day and they see that you mentioned them, they’re gonna ask me, ‘So what you said? What you did [in response]?’ I’m not gonna tell my kids, ‘I felt like she took the high road cause she lost, cause people wasn’t on her side.’ Naw, I’m not sayin’ that to my kids. I’m [gonna be] like, ‘You see how I violated?”

BIA has let the feud simmer down and didn’t directly respond with a bristling diss track of her own taking aim at Cardi on her BIANCA debut album.

As for Cardi, Am I the Drama? topped the Billboard 200 in September and she’s currently pregnant, but will be hitting the road for the Little Miss Drama Tour in February after giving birth.

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.”