Page 95 – 105.7 WDNY

Jury finds YouTube, Meta negligent in landmark social media trial

March 25, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — In a landmark decision, a jury found Meta and YouTube negligent for designing apps that harmed kids and teens and failed to warn them about the dangers.

The jury awarded compensatory damages in the amount of $3 million. The jury also found punitive damages are warranted.

The lawsuit, brought by a 20-year-old woman identified as “Kaley,” alleges major social media companies intentionally designed their platforms to be addictive. The suit claims features like auto-scrolling got the plaintiff addicted to the platforms, ultimately leading to anxiety, depression and body image issues.

In a statement to ABC News, a Meta spokesperson said “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options.”

The plaintiff’s attorney called the verdict “bigger than one case,” in a statement to ABC News.

In a statement to ABC News, a Meta spokesperson said “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options.”

The plaintiff’s attorney called the verdict “bigger than one case,” in a statement to ABC News.

“For years, social media companies have profited from targeting children while concealing their addictive and dangerous design features,” the attorney continued. “Today’s verdict is a referendum — from a jury, to an entire industry — that accountability has arrived. We now move forward to the next phase of this trial focused on punitive damages.”

The damages were found to be 70 percent the responsibility of Meta and 30 percent the responsibility of YouTube.

The jury returned an answer of “Yes” to every question posed relating to negligence and failure to warn of dangers. Ten jurors were in favor of the plaintiff for every question, with two in favor of the defense in every question.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Surprise new album from Country Music Hall of Famer Don Williams

March 25, 2026 by WDNY Radio

An unexpected album from late Country Music Hall of Famer Don Williams will arrive May 29, made up of forgotten recordings discovered in his family’s rural Tennessee Home.

Executive produced by his son, musician Tim Williams, Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes was a collaboration with Don’s producer of four decades, Garth Fundis.

“Don liked every one of these songs,” Fundis recalls in a press release. “I remember recording all of them. … He was very particular about the songs he recorded and the sound we created for each of them. But, if a song didn’t make [it into] an album, it wasn’t necessarily because he didn’t like it. Moreover, it was because of how songs fit together to create an album.”

“I think he’d be thrilled to know that people could hear him sing these new songs they didn’t know existed,” he adds. “I’m certain Don would be proud of this album.”

The tracks on the album were recorded between 1979 and 1984, concurrent with hits like “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” “It Must Be Love,” “I Believe in You,” “Lord, I Hope This Day is Good” and “Love is on a Roll.”

The album’s first single, “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight,” is out now, along with its music video. Written by Rodney Crowell, the classic was made famous by the Oak Ridge Boys and Emmylou Harris.

Here’s the complete track listing for Don Williams’ Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes, which comes out May 29:
“Try Me Again”
“You Came True”
“I’m the One” (Alternate Version)
“Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight”
“I Wish I Was Crazy Again”
“I’m in Love for My Last Time”
“Spinning Around”
“A Matter of Time”
“I’m the One” (Original Version)
“How Can I Miss What I Never Had”
“Goldy’s Gone from Golden”
“Growing on Me”

Bob Dylan adds more tour dates to his 2026 tour

March 25, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Bob Dylan has extended his 2026 tour.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has added a slew of new West Coast dates to the trek, including several June stops in California in cities like Lincoln, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Highland, Palm Desert and San Diego. He’s also added shows in Oregon and Arizona.

In addition to the West Coast dates, Dylan has added two shows in Vienna, Virginia, July 24 and 25, which are the final confirmed dates of the tour.

Tickets for all new shows go on sale Friday. More ticket information and a complete list of dates can be found at BobDylan.com.

Dylan kicked off the latest leg of his 2026 tour on March 21 in Omaha, Nebraska. His next show is Wednesday in Iowa City.

Sepultura invited Cavalera brothers to final show, says guitarist

March 25, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Sepultura’s farewell tour won’t feature founding members and brothers Max Cavalera and Iggor Cavalera, who left the band in 1997 and 2006, respectively. According to guitarist Andreas Kisser, though, that’s not for lack of trying on his end.

Kisser tells Metal Hammer that he reached out to the Cavalera brothers to join Sepultura onstage for their final show, but they declined to take part.

“We did invite the Cavalera brothers,” Kisser says. “I spoke to Iggor personally on a phone call a few months ago and we started some communication. Even our managers went to talk to their management and stuff. But, they don’t want to be a part of it, and that’s OK. It’s a choice.”

Sepultura currently features Kisser and bassist Paulo Jr., both of whom started with the band in the ’80s, along with vocalist Derrick Green, who replaced Max in 1997. Drummer Greyson Nekrutman joined in 2024 after Eloy Casagrande left to join Slipknot.

The final North American Sepultura tour launches in April. They’ve yet to announce the date of their last concert.

The Cavalera brothers, meanwhile, later reunited and currently play together in the band Cavalera.

Alan Jackson’s turning ‘It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere’ into a festival this summer

March 25, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Ella Langley and Old Dominion will headline the first-ever Alan Jackson’s Five O’Clock Somewhere Fest June 12-13 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Jimmy Buffet’s Coral Reefer Band will also play, along with Dylan Scott, Clint Black, Shenandoah, John Anderson and Rodney Atkins.

The festival aims to capture the spirit of Alan and Jimmy’s hit, which topped the chart for more than two months in the summer of 2003. Headquartered at The Palm Beaches Waterfront Commons, it will take place where the song’s music video was shot and where Alan once had a home.

“I’ve gotten to enjoy so many experiences at my concerts over the years,” Alan says. “I’m not touring any more, but I like the idea of still being able to give people an opportunity to have a ‘Good Time’ and enjoy some great country music while they do.”

Alan’s star-studded touring finale will take place June 27 at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium and is already sold out.

Tickets for his Five O’Clock Somewhere Fest go on sale Friday, with an eye toward it becoming an annual event.

Pete Townshend updates fans on possible new Who album: ‘Roger wants to give it a try’

March 25, 2026 by WDNY Radio

It sounds like fans of The Who have a reason to be hopeful about getting a new album from the band.

Although frontman Roger Daltrey said in a 2023 interview with NME that he didn’t see the point in making another Who record, Pete Townshend is now suggesting Daltrey may be coming around to the idea.

In a recent Instagram post, Townshend shared photos of his new songwriting studio in London, which was built by “Never Gonna Give You Up” singer Rick Astley. He captioned the post, “It’s mine now. I’m loving it. Great sound. I’m very spoiled.”

While the caption didn’t give any clue as to what specifically Townshend will be using it for, a response to a comment from a fan seemed quite revealing.

When the fan noted, “There’s no way you’re gonna do another Who album,” Townshend set him straight, responding, “You might be wrong. Roger wants to give it a try.”

The Who released their last album of new material, Who, in 2019. At the time it was the first new album from The Who in 13 years, and the second that featured only original members Daltrey and Townshend.

Venezuelan migrant sues Trump administration over deportation to notorious CECOT prison

March 25, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A Venezuelan migrant who was deported from the United States to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison last year has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging he was wrongfully removed without due process.

Attorneys for Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel say their client’s removal violated his rights.

“Through a series of unconstitutional and ultra vires acts by high-ranking federal officials and law enforcement officers, Plaintiff Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel was wrongly identified as a member of the gang Tren de Aragua, repeatedly denied due process, falsely imprisoned, intentionally deceived, and — ultimately — illegally sent to El Salvador in blatant violation of a court order,” the lawsuit filed on Tuesday states.

Rengel is one of more than 250 Venezuelan nationals released to their home country from CECOT in a prisoner swap last July, after being removed from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process.

The Trump administration deported two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to the El Salvador prison by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.

Rengel is seeking $1.3 million in damages.

According to the complaint, Rengel presented himself at a U.S. port of entry several years ago, complied with all immigration requirements, and was awaiting an immigration hearing that was set for 2028.

“On the morning of his birthday, March 13, 2025, while he was headed to work, Plaintiff was caught in the Administration’s scheme and would soon experience the full force of its unconstitutional and unlawful policies,” the complaint states. “At the time of his arrest, the only justification offered by ICE officers was that Plaintiff’s tattoos indicated his membership in TdA. Plaintiff immediately rebutted that identification, as he has never had any affiliation with TdA or any other gang.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security disputed the allegations in the suit.

“Neiyerver Adrian Leon Rengel entered our country illegally in 2023 from Venezuela and is an associate of Tren De Aragua. This illegal alien was deemed a public safety threat as a confirmed associate of the Tren de Aragua gang and processed for removal from the U.S.,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“We hear far too much about gang members and criminals’ false sob stories and not enough about their victims,” the statement said. “We are confident in our law enforcement’s intelligence, and we aren’t going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security every time a gang member denies he is one.”

Rengel was held at the Salvadoran prison for four months. During that time, he alleges he was beaten by guards, denied medical care, and held without contact with his family or legal counsel.

“These conditions and the physical abuse inflicted on Plaintiff were the direct, proximate result of the decisions of federal officials who placed and maintained him in constructive U.S. custody at CECOT, and they constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment,” the complaint states.

Supreme Court deals blow to music industry fight against illegal downloads

March 25, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that internet service providers cannot be held liable for illegal downloads of copyrighted material like music, movies, and TV shows simply because some of their customers are known to engage in piracy.

The unanimous decision reversed a $1.5 billion damages award to Sony Music Entertainment in a suit against Cox Communications, the third largest broadband provider in the U.S., in a setback for the entertainment industry’s efforts to crack down on rampant, illicit distribution of copyrighted material online.

“Cox provided Internet service to its subscribers, but it did not intend for that service to be used to commit copyright infringement,” wrote Justice Clarence Thomas in the court’s opinion. “Holding Cox liable merely for failing to terminate Internet service to infringing accounts would expand secondary copyright liability beyond our precedents.”

Copyright owners had insisted that the risk of being sued creates an incentive for internet service providers to help root out online piracy and suspend the accounts of those suspected of dealing in protected material.

The victory for Cox effectively blunts entertainment industry efforts to root out online piracy by leveraging service providers. It had warned that a contrary ruling could have forced them into bankruptcy and potentially eliminated internet access entirely in some communities.

Federal law makes it a crime to directly infringe on a copyright, but secondary liability by another party involved in copyright infringement — such as internet service providers — remains an evolving area of law.

As a general rule, anyone who “materially contributes to the infringing conduct of another may be held liable as a contributory infringer,” lawyers for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), an entertainment industry trade group, argued in a brief to the high court.

Thomas said the court rejects that view.

“The provider of a service is contributorily liable for the user’s infringement only if it intended that the provided service be used for infringement,” he wrote. “The intent required for contributory liability can be shown only if the party induced the infringement or the provided service is tailored to that infringement.”

Nearly 19 billion downloads of pirated movies and TV shows were made using online peer-to-peer software in 2023, according to the MPAA. The copyright violations cost the U.S. economy more than $29 billion and “hundreds of thousands of jobs,” the group estimates.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson concurred in the judgment of the court but said they would not have imposed as stringent limits on liability.

“Instead of artificially limiting secondary liability, the Court should have examined whether some other rule of fault-based liability derived from the common law might hold Cox liable for copyright infringement committed on its network,” Sotomayor wrote.

Stephen Colbert to write next ‘Lord of the Rings’ film after ‘The Hunt for Gollum’

March 25, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Stephen Colbert’s next gig after late night will take him to The Shire.

The comedian will write the screenplay for a brand-new The Lord of the Rings movie for Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. This new film has the working title of The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past. It will be penned by Colbert, Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee.

The official Lord of the Rings Instagram shared the news in a post on Tuesday. The video starts with filmmaker Peter Jackson updating fans on the upcoming movie The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. He then teases a surprise, before Colbert joins the call.

“In honor of Tolkien Reading Day and the destruction of the One Ring, we bring you a special announcement,” the post is captioned.

Colbert then tells all about the film he is writing.

“You know what the books mean to me, and what your films mean to me, but the thing that I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in The Fellowship that y’all never developed into the first movie back in the day,” Colbert said. “Then I thought — oh wait! Maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story. Could we make something that was completely faithful to the books while also being completely faithful to the movies that you guys had already made?”

Colbert will end his run as host of CBS’ The Late Show on May 21, giving him time to focus solely on this new screenplay, he said.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum arrives in theaters on Dec. 17, 2027. It is directed by Andy Serkis, who has played Gollum for decades and will reprise the role again.

Hear new Claypool Lennon Delirium song, ‘Meat Machines’

March 25, 2026 by WDNY Radio

The Claypool Lennon Delirium, featuring Primus frontman Les Claypool and Sean Ono Lennon, has released a new song called “Meat Machines.”

The track deals with the ideas of “free will, technological control, and what remains essentially human in a world increasingly shaped by automation,” a press release says.

“Some people think humans are just biological machines,” says Lennon. “They think free will is a hallucination and we’re destined to be replaced by robots. Not only are they happy about this, but they’re actively trying to make it happen as fast as possible.”

“Some of us think we still have a choice,” he continues. “We think there’s something special about living, breathing and feeling. We believe we can shape our own destiny, because we know we are more than just ‘Meat Machines.'”

“Meat Machines” will appear on The Claypool Lennon Delirium’s upcoming album, The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy, due out May 1.

The Claypool Lennon Delirium will launch a U.S. tour in May alongside Primus and yet another Claypool band, Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade.

+ More