new york times

Jonathan Majors Faces New Allegations From Two Ex-Partners

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Two women, Emma Duncan and Maura Hooper, have gone public with allegations of physical and emotional abuse against actor Jonathan Majors. Both women had their allegations referred to in a Rolling Stone exposé about Majors last year. However, the pair have since publicly reiterated their claims in an interview with The New York Times. Duncan claims that Majors “threw her across the room” and “threatened to make sure she couldn’t have children” during a fight in 2016. Meanwhile, Hooper called Majors “deeply controlling” and told her she was “not allowed to speak with anyone about the relationship”. While Majors has denied the accusations, his attorney noted that the actor was “deeply embarrassed by some of his jealous behavior”. Both women had previously declined to speak directly to Rolling Stone, with one citing a fear of retribution.

The testimony of Duncan and Hooper follows semi-public claims from another woman, who spoke to The Cut under a pseudonym. “Anna” told the publication that she had pulled her story from the Rolling Stone article after receiving a threatening letter warning her not to go public with her allegations. According to “Anna”, the phone number included with the letter was linked to the law firm retained by Majors for his criminal trial last year. Majors’ attorney denied any involvement from her or her firm in the letter.

Read More: Katt Williams Invokes Jonathan Majors To Explain Why He’s “Scared Of White Women”

Jonathan Majors Sentencing Delayed

Meanwhile, a judge delayed the sentencing of Majors after the actor’s legal team filed to dismiss his guilty verdict. Majors’ team argued that the actor had not been given a fair trial. The argument is based on the premise that the prosecution had portrayed the actor’s assault on his ex-girlfriend as intentional. However, they then eventually asked the jury to consider his actions “reckless”. As a result, the presiding judge has continued Majors’ case until early April.

Majors was found guilty of misdemeanor reckless assault in the third degree and a violation of harassment. However, he was acquitted on additional charges of assault and aggravated harassment. Despite this, Majors has continued to feel the professional ramifications of his verdict. The most notable of these professional consequences is that Disney has officially decided to recast Kang the Conqueror, Majors’ pivotal MCU role.

Read More: Jonathan Majors’ Magazine Dreams Has Release Date Scrapped By Disney

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Taylor Swift’s Team Addresses Sexuality Rumors: “No Boundary Some Journalists Won’t Cross”: Report

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A source for CNN within Taylor Swift’s team has addressed the speculation about her sexuality featured in a recent op-ed for the New York Times. In doing so, they slammed the outlet for publishing the “invasive, untrue, and inappropriate” piece.

“Because of her massive success, in this moment, there is a Taylor-shaped hole in people’s ethics,” the anonymous source close to Swift told CNN. “[The New York Times] article wouldn’t have been allowed to be written about Shawn Mendes or any male artist whose sexuality has been questioned by fans. There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about Taylor, regardless of how invasive, untrue, and inappropriate it is – all under the protective veil of an ‘opinion piece.”

Read More: Travis Kelce On Media Frenzy Over Taylor Swift Romance: “It Comes With It.”

Taylor Swift & Her Boyfriend, Travis Kelce, Dine In N.Y.C.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 15: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have dinner at Waverly Inn on October 15, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)

As for the op-ed, editor Anna Marks listed numerous instances of Taylor making LGBTQ references over the years. “In isolation, a single dropped hairpin is perhaps meaningless or accidental, but considered together, they’re the unfurling of a ballerina bun after a long performance,” Marks wrote. “Those dropped hairpins began to appear in Ms. Swift’s artistry long before queer identity was undeniably marketable to mainstream America. They suggest to queer people that she is one of us.” Swift previously confirmed that she’s not a member of the LGBTQ community during an interview with Vogue in 2019, as noted by CNN. “Rights are being stripped from basically everyone who isn’t a straight white cisgender male,” Swift said at the time. “I didn’t realize until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of.”

Taylor Swift is currently dating Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce. The two have been linked for months as she’s been attending his games throughout the season. Be on the lookout for further updates on Taylor Swift on HotNewHipHop.

Read More: Taylor Swift Changes Lyrics To Shout Out Travis Kelce During Buenos Aires Concert

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Elon Musk Singles Out The New York Times By Taking Their Verification Away

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Elon Musk is someone who is known for being a bit sensitive online. Overall, his entire crusade to buy Twitter has felt like a way to increase his popularity. However, it has ultimately done the opposite. From his cringy boomer memes to his painstaking desire to be taken seriously, Elon has overstayed his internet welcome. Moreover, it does not help at all that he has ruined the platform with some of his policies. One of those policies involves the verification badge that has allowed public figures to stand out from impersonators or parody accounts.

Now, anyone can be verified. This means I can go on Twitter, name myself “Elon Musk” and get myself verified. Subsequently, I could dupe various people into thinking I’m the Tesla billionaire. It’s all very ridiculous and many celebrities like LeBron James have stated that they refuse to pay for the service. This is significant as April 1st marked the day in which Elon promised to strip people of their legacy verification badges. Although Musk is giving some accounts a grace period, there is one organization that he is singling out.

Elon Musk Speaks

Of course, we are talking about none other than the New York Times. Elon Musk hates the newspaper, and on Sunday, he went off on them and their journalistic practices. “Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea,” Musk wrote. “It’s unreadable. They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles. Same applies to all publications.” These comments were made after the media company made it clear that they would not pay for verification. If you want the golden verification that is reserved or big organizations, you have to pay $1,000 per month. For many, this is just a wild cash grab and is not worth it.

Of course, there are thousands of people out there who are siding with Elon, clapping up a storm over his latest decision. At this point, though, it is hard to see this as anything other than a temper tantrum. Let us know what you think of Elon Musk and his management of Twitter, in the comments below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news from the tech world.

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Ice Spice Says She & Drake Are “Cool”

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In a recent interview with The New York Times, Ice Spice said that she and Drake are “cool.” Moreover, an interest in said relationship comes from the two rappers’ curious history together. Last time they crossed over was when Drake seemingly dissed the Bronx MC on his Her Loss cut, “BackOutsideBoyz.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 06: Ice Spice visits SiriusXM Studios on October 06, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)

Furthermore, NYT asked the “Munch” artist about Drake in their conversation together.

“We’re cool,” she expressed. “We spoke after that a couple times and we’re good. There’s no beef.”

Moreover, lines like “She a ten trying to rap, it’s good on mute” on “BackOutsideBoyz” pointed fans toward a potential Ice Spice diss. The track appeared on the 6 God’s collaborative album with 21 Savage, Her Loss. Meanwhile, Spice went viral last year with some huge hits, and the two were spotted together.

However, things got a bit murky from there. After Drake unfollowed Ice Spice on Instagram, many wondered what could’ve gone down between them. Still, she had a cheeky Twitter response to his presumed diss that fans took a liking to.

“At least ima 10,” she wrote with shrugging and laughing emojis.

What’s more is that Spice has bigger fish to fry these days. Moreover, she just dropped her debut project, the Like…? EP, to much buzz and acclaim. Also, it features her biggest hits like “Bikini Bottom” and her hotly anticipated cut with Lil Tjay, “Gangsta Boo.” Regardless of any viral moments or speculative industry hearsay, she’s definitely setting up big things for herself in 2023.

Meanwhile, the “Nice For What” star built up some hype of his own this week. For example, rumors swirled recently around him and 21 Savage going on a summer tour this year. While they’ve made no official announcements, some alleged ticketing service leaks suggest they’re hitting the road. Even as Drake throws rumored subs at Ice Spice and other rappers, his star power just doesn’t fizzle out.

Still, what do you think about Ice Spice and Drake being “cool” now? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments down below. Also, as always, check back in with HNHH for more reconciled issues and movements in the game.

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Kendrick Lamar Explains Why He Stays Off Social Media

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Kendrick Lamar says that he tries to say “completely off” social media most of the time. The Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers rapper discussed his online presence during a new interview with The New York Times. During the piece, Lamar sat down with his long-time collaborator Dave Free.

“My social media, most of the time, is completely off,” he said. “Because I know, like … I can easily smell my own [expletive]. I know. … Like, I’m not one of those dudes that be like, Oh, yeah, I know how good I am, but I also know the reason why I’m so good is because God’s blessed me with the talent to execute on the talent, and the moment that you start getting lost in your ego, that’s when you start going down.”

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – JULY 24: Rapper Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during day three of Rolling Loud Miami 2022 at Hard Rock Stadium on July 24, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

As of Tuesday, Lamar has no posts up on his Instagram page while he also infrequently posts on Twitter.

Later in the interview, Lamar discussed his latest album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, which he says is his most personal yet.

“I’ve never expressed myself the way I expressed myself on this album,” Kendrick said. “From the moment I started picking up a pen and started freestyling. This was the moment that I was trying to get to without even knowing at the time.”

Lamar released the album back in May, five years after his previous effort, Damn. It received eight nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. The album features Ghostface Killah, Baby Keem, Kodak Black, as well as Taylour Paige, Sampha, and many more.

Check out Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free’s cover for The New York Times below.

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Former ‘New York Times’ Journalist Ian Urbina Apologizes After Multiple Artists Accused Him Of Exploiting Them

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New York Times building
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Former New York Times journalist Ian Urbina is apologizing after multiple artists voiced their displeasure with him after they contributed music to a project tied to a book he released in 2019. The book, The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across The Last Untamed Frontier, was released in August 2019, and with it came a soundtrack that featured music from a number of artists. As a part of their deal, Urbina would receive 50% of the profit that was made from the participating songs in exchange for helping to promote the artists with help from platforms like Spotify, Netflix, and more.

However, multiple artists said Urbina failed to hold up his end of the deal, leaving one person to call it a “scam.” “It was all 100 percent about his book and even that, not many people seemed to care,” another said. “I’ve worked in music long enough that I know that sh*t happens and I just moved on, but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.”

Now Urbina has apologized via a statement on the Outlaw Ocean Music Project website. “[If] you convince artists to invest their time, brand, effort, audience, trust and creativity into your project, it’s important to communicate with them fully, ensure they get royalty statements and paid on time, answer their questions quickly,” the statement read. “I failed to do these things. The label I created to run the project and the subcontractor I hired to do these things also failed.

“The aim has been to convert stories into a different language, namely music, as a creative means to grab the attention of a younger and more diverse audience — the very audience sometimes missed by legacy outlets,” Urbina continued. “I thought, and still do, this was a new way to circulate journalism via non-news platforms. Any money that came in went toward publishing new albums and recruiting more artists.”

Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for NYT, says the publication is aware of the accusations against Jordan. “The allegations are troubling,” she says. “We are currently looking into the matter.” It should also be noted that Urbina departed the publication on May 30, 2019.

A Former ‘New York Times’ Reporter Allegedly Exploited Artists For Personal Gain

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New York Times building
Getty Image

A new report from Input Magazine alleges that a former reporter at The New York Times exploited a number of artists for personal gain. Ian Urbina is accused of seeking out artists to give him music that he would put on a soundtrack to accompany the release of his book The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across The Last Untamed Frontier, which arrived in August of 2019. Urbina described it as a “passion project” and said that a company, Synesthesia Media, would handle the distribution of the music through streaming services. He also claimed that $50,000 was earmarked for the project and that Spotify, Netflix, and book publishing house Knopf were all building content around the soundtrack.

The deal Urbina worked out with the artists that submitted music to him involved him receiving 50% of the revenue they made from the song(s). In exchange, he promised to use his platform and the interest generated behind the project to promote the artists and their work. He claimed that the artists would receive a bigger boost in their careers through working with him.

But many of the artists claim that the promotion behind the songs was extremely minimal. One, Benn Jordan, who performs under the name The Flashbulb, made a video about Urbina’s project, which he called a “scam,” and shared it on YouTube.

In the end, at least 462 artists partnered with Urbina and more than 2,100 songs in total were submitted to him. Brian Trifon, who works under the alias Trifonic, says he signed on to work with Urbina, but after suspecting something was off with the project, he ended up submitting a single song rather than the EP that was part of their agreement. “I saw that there was a good chance the scope was expanding to more than just a handful of artists,” he said. “97 percent was my materials and sounds and I was no longer thrilled to be giving up 50 percent of it.”

He added, “But there was no Netflix, Spotify, Knopf or NYT special support. It was all 100 percent about his book and even that, not many people seemed to care. I’ve worked in music long enough that I know that sh*t happens and I just moved on, but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.”

Urbina declined to comment about the matter and directed Input to a statement published by Synesthesia. “The video is inaccurate,” it read, adding that the project’s goal was to amplify journalism, highlight issues covered by the reporting, “and if possible, to develop additional funding to support more reporting.” It continues, “We deeply value our artist relationships. We have always wanted our partners to share our vision.” The statement also says that artists no longer interested in signing off a portion of their revenue to Urbina can release themselves from the agreement and that Synesthesia will “direct 100 percent of all such revenues to the artist.”

Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for NYT, says the publication is aware of Jordan’s video. “The allegations are troubling,” she says. “We are currently looking into the matter.” Urbina departed the New York Times on May 30, 2019.

You can read the full report from Input Magazine here and view the video from Jordan above.