Ricky Martin will have his day in court after an ex-manager sued him for $3 million.
Rebecca Drucker, who managed the “She Bangs” singer on two separate occasions, is claiming breach of contract. Drucker oversaw Ricky between 2014 and 2018 and again between 2020 and 2022.
The ex-manager alleges Ricky owes her $3 million in unpaid commissions, saying she is owed the dues for helping him with “recording contracts, touring and sponsorship deals, and other professional endeavors.”
The legal documents continue, “With Rebecca at his side, Martin made millions of dollars and therefore owes Rebecca substantial commissions.” The filing further alleges that Drucker’s second go at managing the two-time Grammy winner was when his “personal and professional life [was] in absolute turmoil.”
Elaborating further, the ex-manager said she helped Ricky dodge a “potentially career-ending allegation” that surfaced in 2020. She noted he “emerged unscathed and proceeded with his professional resurgence” because of her efforts.
In addition to these claims, Drucker alleges that Ricky is a horrible person to work for because he “fostered a toxic work environment wherein he constantly mistreated, manipulated, and lied to Rebecca, forcing her to resign as his manager in April 2022.”
The former manager adds she was “threatened” by the “Livin La Vida Loca” singer and claims he is “attempting to force her to sign an agreement with a nondisclosure clause to silence Rebecca about the abhorrent behavior by Martin that she has both witnessed and endured.”
“For years, she protected Martin from the consequences of his reckless indiscretions. Rebecca did so not only because she was his manager, but also because she thought that Martin was her dear friend,” the complaint reads.
Ricky, nor his team, has responded to Drucker’s suit and troubling allegations.
Tim Allen calls the new Disney/Pixar movie Lightyear a “wonderful story,” but he admitted to Extra some disappointment in the project.
In the animated movie, Chris Evans portrays the “real life” hero of the Toy Story toy famously voiced by Allen on the big screen.
The swap was discerning to some fans of the original franchise, including Allen’s pal Patricia Heaton, who made headlines when she cried foul on Twitter.
To Extra, Allen admitted, “The short answer is I’ve stayed out of this ’cause [Lightyear] has nothing to do [with my character].”
The actor added that he’d discussed the idea of Buzz’s origins while working on the Toy Story movies, but when he heard about Lightyear years later, he thought they were making a live-action film out of the idea.
“There is now Toy Story Buzz without Woody,” Allen said, allowing of Lightyear, “It’s a wonderful story.”
Allen explained, “It just doesn’t seem to have any connection to the toy, and it’s a little… I don’t know. It just has no relationship to Buzz. It’s just no connection. I wish there was a better connection to this.”
(NEW YORK) — An abortion clinic with locations in four states was developing plans to expand its operations just as news broke that Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. case that enshrined abortion as a constitutional right, was overturned by the Supreme Court.
Just The Pill, which was founded in 2020, provides reproductive health care services in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana and Wyoming. They also currently operate two mobile clinics in Colorado. The services Just The Pill provides include medication abortion, which is an abortion procedure that uses a combination of pills to terminate a pregnancy.
The group announced it would build a fleet of mobile clinics that would travel across the country, specifically in states where abortion remains legal yet surrounding states have banned the procedure, such as Illinois and New Mexico.
“We are undaunted,” Dr. Julie Amaon, medical director of Just One Pill, wrote in a public statement after the Supreme Court decision was announced on June 24.
“We will bring care to the people who most need it, and we will defy reproductive repression by providing more affordable and accessible care.”
Following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, nearly all abortions have ceased in 13 states.
Just The Pill’s mobile clinics in Colorado see patients for surgical abortion procedures, on average 16 patients a day, and for abortion medication pick-up, on average 50 patients a day, Amaon told ABC News’ “Start Here” podcast.
The vans take approximately eight months to build and are nondescript, devoid of signage and bulletproof in an effort to keep patients and staff safe, Amaon said. “You wouldn’t know what was inside them if you saw them from the outside,” Amaon told “Start Here.”
Medication abortions are being hailed as a crucial alternative in states where abortions are now illegal because they can be picked up across state lines, or mailed by groups such as Aid Access, a European organization that has said it will not stop mailing the abortion pill across the U.S.
The medication is called mifepristone, and it is usually taken with a second medication called misoprostol. Mifepristone was approved by the FDA in 2000, and in 2021 it was announced that doctors could prescribe the medication by mail.
At the National Right to Life Committee convention last weekend, restricting access to medication abortion was discussed as the next stage of the “fight,” CNN reported.
Conservative lawmakers in South Dakota and Georgia have recently passed legislation that makes it harder to get abortion pills by mail.
“I don’t believe that telemedicine abortions are safe for individuals, for women to conduct at home, many times they’re doing it unsupervised,” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told ABC News’ “This Week.”
The FDA says mifepristone is safe and effective.
Medication abortions accounted for more than half of all abortions in 2020, according to data published by the research and policy non-profit Guttmacher Institute. The medication is taken within the first 10 weeks of the pregnancy, according to the FDA.
Just The Pill steps into the spotlight alongside telehealth providers Choix, which was founded in 2020 and provides abortion medication in California, Colorado, Illinois and New Mexico, and Hey Jane, which was founded in 2021 and provides medication abortion in New York, California, Washington, Illinois, Colorado and New Mexico.
Choix is planning to expand its operations to “every state where we can safely and legally provide abortion care,” said CEO Cindy Adam.
“Our goal is to be in every single one of those states by the end of 2023,” said Adam.
Hey Jane is also planning a “geographic expansion” of its operations, according to CEO Kiki Freedman, adding, “our top priority is accommodating the significant increase in demand in the states we’re currently in.”
On Friday, in light of the Supreme Court decision, the Biden administration announced it would move to protect access to mifepristone as well as contraception, and direct the Department of Health and Human Services to “take steps to ensure that these critical medications are available to the fullest extent possible.” The White House address did not mention misoprostol.
Just The Pill’s mobile clinic project, called “Abortion Delivered,” hopes to expand its fleet to 30 vans, with a timeline that is “dependent on funding,” according to a company spokesperson. The second fleet will be in Illinois and the following fleets will travel to New Mexico and Pennsylvania.
The series The Summer I Turned Pretty is a hit on Prime Video, and Taylor Swift is one of the beneficiaries of its success.
Jenny Han, who wrote the novel of the same name and also worked on the series, has spoken about how important it was for her to get the rights to use Taylor’s music. Now, Variety reports that the artists whose music was featured in the show have seen huge increases in streams, sales and followers, and Taylor’s music is among them.
Variety reports that Taylor’s 2019 album Lover has re-entered the top 40 of the Billboard 200 album chart because two songs from it — “Cruel Summer” and “False God” — are featured in the show. The album also went from Taylor’s fourth most-streamed album to number one on Spotify after racking up 3.9 million streams, according to the publication.
Meanwhile, the song “Cruel Summer” experienced its highest streaming day on Spotify since 2019.
Taylor’s re-recording of “This Love,” from her album 1989, is also featured in the show after making its debut in the trailer.
A new Taylor song, “Carolina,” is now being featured on another project: It debuted in the trailer for the upcoming film Where the Crawdads Sing.
Halsey shut down an angry Twitter critic with a little help from Katy Perry.
It’s no secret where Halsey stands when it comes to reproductive rights, especially after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, but some fans have been pressuring the singer to remain quiet. Some have even told the “Without Me” singer they cannot get political because artists are just meant to entertain — and Halsey wasn’t having any of it.
“The ‘people pay to see you sing not hear your views’ argument is so dumb,” Halsey tweeted out on Wednesday. “No, you paid to see me use a stage as a form of expression in the manner that I choose. Sorry you lack the critical thinking to realize that the rhetorical power of music doesn’t always serve your escapism.”
Katy smashed the retweet button and added in her own two cents by telling Halsey, “Go off Queen.” She also liked the tweet.
Unfortunately, one fan took issue with the fiery statement and inferred to Halsey that, should they continue being political, they will be singing on stage to “an empty forum.”
“I’ve had abortion statistics in my show since my tour started in May and 16,500 people came to my last show. I’m gonna be fine because my fans are on the right side of history,” the Grammy nominee fired back. “There’s an empty forum inside your skull.”
Halsey further let their naysayer know that they are in the minority when it comes to their fans. “Honored to have my audience. Proud they cultivate a space where emotion and action meet. Love doing what I do. And expect me to always tell the truth when I get up there. Show must go on,” they wrote.
Luke Bryan is working hard on his next musical chapter, and he’s making headway. The singer says he’s “got probably half of the project done.”
In an interview with SiriusXM, Luke provides an album update but cautions fans not to expect the full project too soon. “We’re working hard in the studio, and then go in and cut some more songs,” he elaborates. “We’ve got several songs right now that we feel like can be singles.”
In the meantime, he’s gearing up for the release of a new song called “Country On,” which will be out on Friday. For now, Luke hopes that will tide over eager fans as he continues to add to his album’s track list.
“Hopefully as ‘Country On’ is rising up the charts, [I] will spend a couple more months writing a lot of music,” he says.
Coming just in time for the 4th of July, “Country On” promises a huge dose of tempo and fun, creating what Luke hopes will be a perfect summer anthem.
“When you’re having a bad day, you know you can drink a beer and country on,” he continues. “I love what the song says. I love that it uplifts the hardworking American people out there. It brings a lot of unity, this song brings a lot of unity in. It’s got feel-good vibes all around it.”
Beyoncé revealed the cover for her upcoming album Renaissance on Thursday: a steamy, near-naked photo of her sitting on what appears to be a holographic horse.
Queen Bey set the Internet on fire with the Instagram image of her boldly clad only in silver chains.
“Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving,” the 28-time Grammy winner commented.
Beyoncé announced two weeks ago that she was dropping her seventh studio album on July 29. On June 20, she released the first single, an upbeat dance track titled “Break My Soul.” It begins with a sample from Big Freedia‘s “Explode” and also features a modified sample of Robin S.‘ 1993 classic, “Show Me Love.”
In describing Renaissance, the 40-year-old icon added, “My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration. I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are.”
Renaissance will be Beyoncé’s first solo studio album since her 2016 triple-platinum project, Lemonade. It follows the critically-acclaimed Homecoming in 2019, the live album of her 2018 Coachella headlining performance. In 2018, she teamed with husband Jay-Z for their duo album, Everything is Love.
After Doja Cat bowed out as the opener for the After Hours Till Dawn tour, The Weeknd revealed her replacements.
The “Kiss Me More” singer announced last month she needed to undergo immediate surgery on her tonsils and would be unable to accompany The Weeknd on his tour. She explained in an Instagram story, “The surgery is routine but the recovery is going to take awhile due to swelling.”
Variety reports that after Doja Cat pulled out of the tour, Live Nation’s president of touring Omar Al-joulani said “the phone was ringing” off the hook with replacement offers.
With The Weeknd’s tour kicking off next Friday in his native Toronto, the “Save Your Tears” singer has selected several people to serve as his show openers. Hitting the road with him will be rising stars R&B singer Snoh Aalegra, DJ Mike Dean and EDM artist Kaytranada.
The tour schedule has been adjusted accordingly to reflect which artist will be opening on certain dates.
“He’s always been ahead of the curve in terms of the artists that he’s shared a stage with,” said Al-joulani. The Live Nation rep adds The Weeknd welcomed artists such as Halsey, Travis Scott and Jhene Aiko on his tours before they became household names.
Al-joulani notes The Weeknd is paying it forward because that’s how he got his start in the industry. “Early on, he opened for Florence + the Machine one time at the Hollywood Bowl and Justin Timberlake in New York,” he explained.
The Weeknd launches his first-ever worldwide stadium tour in support of his albums After Hours and DAWN FM next Friday, July 8. The North American leg wraps September 2 in Los Angeles. Additional legs are planned for Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America.
Raymond Lee in “Quantum Leap” — NBC/Serguei Bachlakov
NBC has dropped its schedule for the upcoming 2022-2023 season, and it kicks off on Thursday, September 8 with Sunday Night Football featuring the Buffalo Bills vs. Los Angeles Rams. The next night will see the new season debut of the Capital One College Bowl, hosted by Peyton Manning.
On September 19, The Voice returns, as does the premiere of the reimagined Quantum Leap starring Raymond Lee playing Dr. Ben Song, following in the footsteps of Scott Bakula‘s time-skipping Dr. Sam Beckett.
The medical drama New Amsterdam returns at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 20 after another installment of The Voice.
Wednesday, Sept. 21 sees the return of the Dick Wolf-produced “Chicago” dramas, including Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET followed by Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D.
The next night belongs to Wolf’s Law & Order, with the returns of the flagship show at 8 p.m. ET followed by Law & Order: SVU at 9 and Law & Order: Organized Crime at 10.
The supernatural drama La Brea returns on September 27 at 9 p.m ET.
November 4 will see the debut of Lopez vs. Lopez, the sitcom starring George Lopez, followed by the third season premiere of Young Rock, produced by and about the early life of Dwayne Johnson.
Travis Barker‘s daughter, Alabama Barker, and his stepdaughter, Atiana De La Hoya,have shared statements thanking those who’ve shared their support for the Blink-182 drummer amid his hospitalization.
In respective Instagram Stories, Alabama wrote, “Thank you guys for all the prayers and love, I appreciate you and love all of you,” while Atiana posted, “Thank you for the outpouring of love and prayers sent our way at this time. It is heard, felt and appreciated.”
As previously reported by TMZ, Travis was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital on Tuesday for an undisclosed reason. At the time, Alabama shared a Story asking fans to “Please send prayers.”
TMZ, which had published photos of Travis being wheeled out of an ambulance while accompanied by his wife, Kourtney Kardashian, then reported Wednesday that Barker was hospitalized due to pancreatitis.
Meanwhile, a source tells People that Travis was “suffering from extreme stomach pain and could barely walk.”
Neither Travis nor Kardashian have publicly commented on the situation, aside from a cryptic tweet posted by Barker Tuesday reading, “God save me,” which may have simply been a reference to the Machine Gun Kelly song of the same name.
