Music

Author and mom of Chris Rock, Rose Rock, is opening up about the infamous Oscars slap.

In a sit-down with South Carolina’s WIS-TV show Soda City Live, Rock said Chris was “doing well,” but is “still processing, because that’s not something you expect.”

“When he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us,” Mrs. Rock said of Will Smith. “He really slapped me, because when you hurt my child, you hurt me!”

Rose Rock, who is also a motivational speaker, also said if she had a chance to talk to Will, she would have asked, “What in the world were you thinking?”

She added of Will and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, “You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye, and you went up, and you made her day because she was bowled over laughing when it happened.”

Mrs. Rock also said, “I wouldn’t take his award away, and I don’t see any good way they could have taken him out without disrupting.”

However, she admitted she also didn’t think much of the Academy’s banning Will for 10 years. “What does that mean? You don’t even go every year,” she quipped.

She said Chris’ biggest regret was he was “so happy” to present the Best Documentary Oscar to his friend Questlove. “No one even heard his speech. No one was able to just be in the moment, because everyone was sitting there like, ‘What just happened?'”

Indeed, even Rock’s mother thought the slap might have been a gag — until Will cursed out the comedian from his seat at the awards show.

Rock closed with saying of Smith, “I feel really bad that he never apologized. I mean his people wrote up a piece saying ‘I apologize to Chris Rock,’ but you see something like that is personal, you reach out.”

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Garth Brooks is adding an opening night show to his upcoming Stadium Tour stop at Gillette Stadium.  

Garth will perform a second show in Foxborough, MA on May 20, one night prior to his previously announced concert on May 21. This marks the superstar’s first appearance at the stadium that serves as the home of the New England Patriots. The show will be in-the-round seating and tickets are priced at $94.95, all inclusive. 

The “Friends in Low Places” singer has included opening night shows at recent stops in Nashville, Cincinnati and more. “I don’t care if 500 people just show up, the thing is, if you want a great seat, you’re guaranteed one,” he describes in a video before the Nashville show. 

Tickets for the May 20 show go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. ET. 

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) Despite being the victim of a gun shot to the foot in July of 2020, Megan Thee Stallion says she lied to the police about the incident, in order to protect the Black people around her. 

In an exclusive interview with CBS Mornings‘ Gayle King, the rap megastar recounted the scary incident, detailing her thoughts the moment her alleged shooter, rapper Tory Lanez, order her to “Dance, b****,” before pulling the trigger of a gun a “couple times.” 

Regardless of the fear that Lanez “could shoot me and kill me,” Megan says she told authorities immediately after the shooting that she simply “stepped on glass.”

“I don’t remember everything they said to me, but I remember them asking me, ‘What’s happening? What– what happened to you?’ And I didn’t want them to kill any of us or shoot any of us,” she told King. 

“Why did you say that, why didn’t you say–,” King inquired, to which Megan The Stallion responded, “For some reason, I was just trying to protect all of us because I didn’t want them to kill us.”

In her first-ever TV interview since the altercation, Megan emotionally recounted the night’s events, detailing the argument — which involved multiple people, including her best friend, Kelsey Nicole — that started it all. She said once the arguing in the car escalated, she attempted to remove herself, asking the driver to “pull the car over.”

“So I get out of the car and it’s like everything happens so fast. And all I hear is this man screaming. And he said, ‘Dance, b****.’ And he started shooting. And I’m just like, ‘Oh, my God.’ Like, he shot a couple of times.”

When King asked if Megan was “afraid for her life,” Megan answered, “I was really scared ’cause I had never been shot at before.”

Megan says she received backlash for lying to police about her injuries, but again, she said it was to save them all from what she thought could’ve turned into an even more traumatic incident. 

“I’m the one who said I stepped on glass. I was lying to protect all of us. And I, sometimes I wish I really would have never said that,” she admitted. 

“I wish I would have told– But if it saved all of us from dyin’, then that’s just probably what it was meant.”

After Megan named Lanez as the shooter in an Instagram live in August 2020, the Canadian rapper was charged with assault. If convicted, he could face up to 22 years in prison.

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Maddie & Tae have locked in new dates for the CMT Next Women of Country Presents: All Song No Static Tour. 

Originally scheduled to launch in January, the duo had to postpone the headlining tour after Taylor Kerrwas placed on immediate bed rest while pregnant with daughter Leighton. The new run of shows begins on September 15 in Taylor’s home state of Oklahoma, followed by a stop at the House of Blues in Dallas in Maddie Marlow‘s native Texas. 

Throughout September and October, the hitmaking pair will perform at theaters in cities including New York, Atlanta, Houston, West Hollywood and more. Joining them on the tour are two Next Women of Country inductees, Abbey Cone and Sacha. 

“We have been waiting so long to say this…. we’re going on tour!” Maddie & Tae write in a celebratory post. “We couldn’t be more excited to see all of your faces again! The amazing @abbeycone and @sachaofficialmusic are joining us and we hope you do, too!” 

Maddie & Tae took home the award for Group/Duo Video of the Year at the CMT Awards for their song, “Woman You Got.”  Visit their website for a full list of tour dates.

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Jewel revealed Monday that she suffered panic attacks when she competed on the sixth season of The Masked Singer.

Appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the “Intuition” singer explained that she’s experienced panic attacks since age 15, adding she “didn’t know what they were” at the time.  “And then, when I was homeless, they hit a whole new level,” she shared. “So I started inventing tools and techniques to help me with them.”

Those exercises worked and Jewel said that for “a while,” she didn’t have panic attacks, until she competed on and won The Masked Singer.  “I had my first panic attack in ages,” she shared, adding she felt “a little claustrophobic” in the intricate costume she had to wear to shield her identity.

Jewel said she turned to social media to “help kids with anxiety disorders” by “posting more about it just to help people understand what they are and the things they can do to help.”

Kelly Clarkson then revealed she had her first panic attack when she “was pregnant and I had one while driving.”  She recalled feeling “terrified,” and says she “froze” because she didn’t know what was happening.

“Your brain literally goes offline,” Jewel added.  “It’s not rational… the reasoning part of your brain literally goes offline.”  Jewel also explained that a person can bring their mind back “online” by touching, tasting and smelling things, so that the brain has “to deal with the information.”

The Mayo Clinic defines panic attacks as a “sudden episode of intense fear” when there is no danger or trigger to cause it.  Symptoms include pounding heart rate, chills, nausea, cramping, shaking and chest pain. A person can feel like they’re having a heart attack or dying, it adds.  The cause is largely unknown.

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Carly Pearce is feelin’ 32!

On Sunday, the singer celebrated her 32nd birthday on the road, all smiles as she posed outside of her tour bus with festive pink balloons displaying the numbers 3 and 2. “My 30s rule so far. Hi, 32!” Carly wrote alongside the photo. 

Among her peers wishing her a happy birthday in the comments were Chris Lane and Runaway June‘s Natalie Stovall, along with Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale, for whom Carly used to be a backup singer. “Happy birthday queen,” Lucy praised. 

Since entering her 30s, Carly has released her critically acclaimed album, 29, followed by the equally well-received 29: Written in Stone. She was also named Female Vocalist of the Year at both the CMA Awards and ACM Awards in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Her current single with Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” is moving its way toward the #1 spot on the country charts.  

Carly will spend the summer opening for Kenny Chesney on his stadium-sized Here and Now Tour.

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Gearing up for the July release of her upcoming album, Special, Lizzo announced on Monday “The Special Tour,” kicking off this September. 

Atlanta rapper Latto will join as a special guest on the the 25-city North American tour, which make stops first in Florida, then heads to Philadelphia, New York, Chicago and Houston and more, before its final stop in Los Angeles in November. 

American Express card members will have first access to purchase tickets before the general public beginning Tuesday, April 26. Fans who pre-save Lizzo’s upcoming album, Special, will also receive early access to purchase tour tickets. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, April 29th at 10am local time on Ticketmaster.

“Y’all ready to feel special? Well… ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME,” the singer said in the Instagram announcement.

For full tour stops and dates, visit Lizzo’s official website. 

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