Hayley Williams performs onstage during The Ally Coalition’s 11th Annual Talent Show at NYU Skirball Center on December 15, 2025 in New York City. (Valerie Terranova/Getty Images)
Hayley Williams’ concert in New York City Sunday featured a surprise appearance by Americana artist and former Drive-By Truckers member Jason Isbell.
The Paramore frontwoman invited Isbell onstage to perform a duet rendition of his 2013 song “Cover Me Up.”
Notably, “Cover Me Up” has also been covered by country superstar Morgan Wallen, who released his version in 2019. Williams later named Wallen as the “racist country singer” she sings about on her song “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party,” the title track off her 2025 solo album.
Williams’ solo tour, which has featured a performance of Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party in full each night, continues Tuesday in Baltimore. It marks her first solo outing after her initially announced debut tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
SZA and Justin Bieber, ‘Snooze’ video (Bucci / @kombucci)
Justin Bieber’s Coachella performance made headlines, but if he had ended up dropping out, SZA wants you to know that she wouldn’t have stepped in.
SZA jumped into the comments of an Instagram post that claimed that she was “allegedly paid six figures to stay Coachella-ready in case Justin Bieber dropoff.”
“Lmao who made this up ? I’ve seen this 4 times now . I’m in New York no one paid me a dime . Wishing everyone the best,” the “Kill Bill” singer wrote.
In 2023, Justin teamed up with SZA for the “Snooze” video and remix.
Justin’s Coachella debut was heavy on songs from his albums SWAG and SWAG II, but it also featured him singing along to old YouTube clips of himself and random viral videos. Some critics branded the performance lazy, while others felt it was genius that he’d found a way to perform his old material while acknowledging that he’d gotten his start posting covers on YouTube.
Bring Me the Horizon’s most recent release is their L.I.V.E. in São Paulo (Live Immersive Virtual Experiment) live album, which just dropped on Friday. A L.I.V.E. in São Paulo concert film screened in theaters in March.
Bring Me the Horizon will launch a U.S. tour April 23 in Los Angeles.
After teasing a “huge announcement,” sombr has unveiled dates for his first North American arena tour.
The You Are The Reason tour will start in Mexico City on July 22 and is right now set to wrap up with a hometown show at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Nov. 23. “I can’t wait to see you. I love you all so much. Thanks for supporting me,” sombr wrote on his Instagram Story.
There are multiple opening acts for the tour, which rotate depending on the date. They include Dove Cameron, Interpol, The Last Dinner Party, King Princess and Tom Odell, among others.
You can sign up for the presale on Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time via sombr’s website. The tickets go on sale to the general public April 17 at 10 a.m. local time.
Meanwhile, the “back to friends” singer plans to drop a new single and video titled “Potential” at 6 p.m. ET on April 16. It’s the follow-up to his first 2026 release, “Homewrecker.”
Sombr made his Coachella debut on Saturday night, welcoming Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan to the stage to join him for a rendition of the Pumpkins classic “1979.”
U.S. President Donald Trump attends UFC 327 at Kaseya Center on April 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge on Monday threw out President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal after Trump sued the paper last July for its reporting on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book.
In his order issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that Trump failed to prove that the Wall Street Journal knowingly published false information in the paper’s July article on an alleged letter from Trump that was included in Epstein’s 50th birthday book in 2003.
“Because President Trump has not plausibly alleged that Defendants published the Article with actual malice, both Counts must be dismissed,” the order said.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that Trump could attempt to refile the case by April 27.
In court filings, Trump’s lawyers had argued that the article and surrounding coverage were a “deliberate smear campaign designed to damage President Trump’s reputation” and subject the president to “public hatred and ridicule.”
In a 17-page ruling, Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that President Trump came “nowhere close” to the legal standard to prove that the Wall Street Journal acted with malice when it published its reporting about the birthday letter.
Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell told the Justice Department’s Todd Blanche last year that Epstein had asked her to coordinate contributions to a book celebrating his 50th birthday, but said she could not recall if President Trump, then a private citizen, was among those who responded.
Trump filed the suit by arguing that the Journal “acted with serious doubts about the truth of their reporting” because the president had claimed the letter was fake. However, Judge Gayles concluded that the reporters “attempted to investigate” the letter and did not act recklessly just because Trump denied its authenticity.
“To establish actual malice, ‘a plaintiff must show the defendant deliberately avoided investigating the veracity of the statement in order to evade learning the truth,'” the ruling said. “The Complaint comes nowhere close to this standard. Quite the opposite.”
The White House has continued to deny the authenticity of the letter after it was released by the House Oversight Committee in September.
Judge Gayles reached his conclusion without having to make a factual determination about the authenticity of the letter.
“Because the Court finds that the Complaint fails to adequately allege actual malice, it declines to address these issues at this juncture. Moreover, whether President Trump was the author of the Letter or Epstein’s friend are questions of fact that cannot be determined at this stage of the litigation,” he wrote.
Trump filed the defamation lawsuit in July against the Wall Street Journal, its parent company Dow Jones, its owner Rupert Murdoch, and the reporters who filed the story.
Pope Leo XIV holds his speech as he pays a visit to the Maqam Echahid Martyr’s Memorial on April 13, 2026 in Algiers, Algeria. (Photo by Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
(ALGIERS and LONDON) — Pope Leo XIV on Monday responded to criticism from President Donald Trump, telling reporters while traveling to Algeria that he has “no fear” of the White House.
“I have no fear of the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel,” the pontiff said on Monday, as he began a dayslong visit to four African nations. “That’s what I believe in. I am called to do what the church is called to do.”
The pope on Saturday called for an end to conflict, without explicitly mentioning the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. “Enough of war,” Leo said during a peace vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
The pope also suggested “delusion of omnipotence” is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, imploring the country leaders to come to a peace agreement.
Trump on Sunday night posted on social media calling the pope “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
The pope, who was born in Chicago and is the first American to lead the Catholic Church, was elevated to his position in May 2025, a few months into Trump’s second term. The president at that time congratulated Leo, saying on social media that it was “such an honor” for an American to become pope.
The pontiff has voiced concern about several armed conflicts, repeatedly calling for peace, including mentioning the civil war raging in Sudan, the Russia-Ukraine war and the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He has called for peace in Iran and the broader Middle East since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The pontiff has been a strong messenger for global peace since the start of his papacy last May.
He has repeatedly called for the parties involved to engage in negotiations, including saying on March 1 that he was making “a heartfelt appeal to all the parties involved to assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an unbridgeable chasm.” He has said that “God does not bless any conflict.”
Leo said on Monday that his comments “are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone and the message of the Gospel is very clear, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.'”
“I will not shy away from pronouncing the message of the Gospel, of inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges for peace and reconciliation, of looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible,” Leo continued. “To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is and I’m sorry to hear that.”
Trump early on Monday had called for the pope to focus on “being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”
“It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!” Trump wrote on his social media network.
Responding to a question from reporters hours later, Leo said of the apparent tensions with Trump, “I do not look at my role as being political … I don’t want to get into a debate with him. I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing.”
“I will continue to speak out loud against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue, multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems,” he said. “Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say, ‘There’s a better way to do this.'”
The Strokes tour artwork. (Courtesy of Live Nation)
The Strokes have announced a U.S. tour in support of the band’s upcoming album, Reality Awaits.
The headlining dates span from June 15 in Clarkston, Michigan, to Sept. 17 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The trek includes a date with Cage the Elephant on July 17 in Milwaukee.
Presales begin Wednesday, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit TheStrokes.com.
Reality Awaits, the first Strokes album in six years, is due out June 26. The single “Going Shopping” is out now.
The Strokes just performed at Coachella on Saturday and will return to the festival for their second set on April 18. Their upcoming schedule also includes sets at festivals including Bonnaroo, Just Like Heaven and Shaky Knees.
Paul McCartney and his band Wings hit #1 with their third studio album, Band on the Run.
The album included two hit singles, the title track and “Jet.” It went to #1 in the U.S. and the U.K. and remains McCartney’s most successful non-Beatles album.
The cover featured McCartney, his wife, Linda McCartney, and guitarist Denny Laine posing as escaped convicts alongside actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee, British boxer John Conteh, U.K. broadcasters Michael Parkinson and Clement Freud, and English entertainer Kenny Lynch.
McCartney celebrated the 50th anniversary of the album by reissuing it in February 2024.
A documentary about McCartney’s post-Beatles career, including the formation of Wings, debuted on Prime Video in February. He also looked back at his time in Wings in the book Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, which came out in November.
Hunger Games fans have gotten another look at the upcoming prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping. Lionsgate revealed the footage in an “Official Franchise Lookback” video, that featured highlights from all the Hunger Games films. The clip features footage of Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy and Maya Hawke as Wiress, as well as Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Ralph Fiennes as President Show and more. Sunrise on the Reaping hits theaters Nov. 20. …
Ralph Fiennes, who played Lord Voldemort in the original Harry Potter films, says he would love to reprise the role for the upcoming HBO series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. While appearing on the BBC’s The Claudia Winkleman Show, Fiennes said that “years ago” he was asked if he’d be willing to reprise the role, and he replied that he’d “love to,” but nothing came of it. He added that he thinks that “ship has sailed.” He also responded to suggestions that Tilda Swinton could take on the role in the HBO series, which has yet to be cast, noting she’d be “fantastic.” …
Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelley has given fans an update on the plans for a season 3 of the HBO series. In an interview with People, Kelley said that while he’s “not allowed” to reveal specifics about the season, he confirmed, “We’re getting the band back together, and it should be a good run again.” …
Hunger Games fans have gotten another look at the upcoming prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping. Lionsgate revealed the footage in an “Official Franchise Lookback” video, that featured highlights from all the Hunger Games films. The clip features footage of Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy and Maya Hawke as Wiress, as well as Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Ralph Fiennes as President Show and more. Sunrise on the Reaping hits theaters Nov. 20.
Ralph Fiennes, who played Lord Voldemort in the original Harry Potter films, says he would love to reprise the role for the upcoming HBO series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. While appearing on the BBC’s The Claudia Winkleman Show, Fiennes said that “years ago” he was asked if he’d be willing to reprise the role, and he replied that he’d “love to,” but nothing came of it. He added that he thinks that “ship has sailed.” He also responded to suggestions that Tilda Swinton could take on the role in the HBO series, which has yet to be cast, noting she’d be “fantastic.”
Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelley has given fans an update on the plans for a season 3 of the HBO series. In an interview with People, Kelley said that while he’s “not allowed” to reveal specifics about the season, he confirmed, “We’re getting the band back together, and it should be a good run again.”
