Megan Thee Stallion just shut down any rumors that she’d been banned from attending next year’s Met Gala. In a statement to PEOPLE, the Houston hottie makes it clear that while filming at the lavish affair is a no-no, she and Met Gala organizer and Editor-In-Chief of Vogue Anna Wintour are all good. “No. We’re gonna dead these rumors right now, okay? People are like, ‘Oh my God, Megan, you got banned from the Met Gala. No, I didn’t, babe. Like that’s not true,” Megan tells the outlet. “Y’all made that up and ran with it. They love making [stuff up]. Anna [Wintour] loves me, babe. That’s why my phone was out.” theestallion/Instagram Megan Thee Stallion Teams Up With Walmart For Swimwear Brand In other news, the rapper unveiled her latest business endeavor, Hot Girl Swim earlier this week. In partnership with Walmart, Megan Thee Stallion is bringing the hotties some pool-side attire complete with a bright and colorful assortment of bikinis, one-piece swimsuits, swimsuit cover-ups, and more. “Everyone knows I love being near a pool or a beach, so I finally decided to turn my passion into a business and create my own swimwear brand,” the rapper said in a press release. The initial collection will hit at least 500 Walmart stores across the country on Monday, May 19. The collection includes 18 unique, size-inclusive pieces ranging from $16 to $28. The swimwear line will also be available on Walmart.com and the rapper’s website. Hot Girl Swim is just one of the rapper’s latest business ventures. Back in February, Megan Thee Stallion launched a tequila brand, Chicas Divertidas. “As someone who values good vibes and great memories, I knew I wanted to create a tequila that was designed to be shared and savored with my Hotties,” Megan told PEOPLE in a statement around that time. “Smooth, sultry, and premium. This process has been years in the making, and I’m so proud to take this next step in my journey as an entrepreneur and launch this brand.”

On Friday (May 16), Rihanna dropped off her first single in three years, “Friend Of Mine,” and its accompanying video for the new Smurfs movie soundtrack. Coming in at just under four minutes, the video takes viewers on a colorful and trippy journey to Smurf Village. RiRi, Papa Smurf, and Smurfette party hard as the singer’s EDM-inspired track plays in the background. “Ooh, I think the word here is “déjà-vu”/Just met you tonight, but you feel like a friend of mine,” Rihanna sings on the track’s chorus. Smurfs will hit theaters on July 18, with Rihanna reprising her role as Smurfette. The film also stars Octavia Spencer, James Corden, Dan Levy, and more. According to the film’s synopsis, after “evil wizards Razamel and Garmael” kidnap Papa Smurf, “Smurfette leads the Smurfs on a mission to the real world to save him.” You can check out the trailer here. Rihanna/YouTube.com A$AP Rocky Teases Possible Name for His and Rihanna’s Third Baby A$AP Rocky gave a rare peek into his growing family’s future as he and Rihanna prepare for baby number three. During an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, things heat up when the two talk talk baby names. With Riot and RZA already setting an ‘R’ theme, Meyers asked whether the couple plans to keep the streak going with their next child. Rocky answered without pause—“For sure,” he said—suggesting their next child’s name might follow the same ‘R’ tradition. But that choice could clash with a lighthearted request from his attorney, Joe Tacopina, who’s been campaigning for the name A$AP Joe. After securing Rocky’s acquittal in a widely publicized shooting case, Tacopina quipped, “They grabbed me and they said, ‘Listen, our next baby is A$AP Joe.’” He’s since joked that he plans to hold them to it.

Cassie and her husband, Alex Fine, releases a statement via their lawyer after Cassie’s conclusion of her testimony in the Diddy trial. “I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors, and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from abuse and fear,” Cassie said, per TMZ. “For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember. And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget.” The songstress says she’s “glad to put this chapter of my life to rest as I turn to focus on the conclusion of my pregnancy.” In the statement Fine also shared his sentiments following the emotional four-day testimony. “I have felt tremendous pride and overwhelming love for Cass,” he wrote. “I have felt profound anger that she has been subjected to sitting in front of a person who tried to break her.” “You did not break her spirit nor her smile,” he said. “I did not save Cassie, as some have said. To say that is an insult to the years of painful work my wife has done to save herself. Cassie saved Cassie,” he wrote. “She alone broke free from abuse, coercion, violence, and threats. She did the work of fighting the demons that only a demon himself could have done to her.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) Cassie is currently eight-and-a-half months pregnant with her and Fine’s third child. The couple have been married since 2019. The pair share two daughters, 5-year-old Frankie and 4-year-old Sunny. With a baby boy on the way.

Drake calls for Tory Lanez’ freedom as he tells him to “come home soon.” The Started From the Bottom rapper wrote “@torylanez come home soon” on his Instagram Story Friday (May 16). He also shared a Change.org petition urging California Governor Gavin Newsom to pardon Lanez. View this post on Instagram A post shared by HOT 97 (@hot97) The Canadian rapper is currently serving 10 years behind bars after he was found guilty on three felony counts in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case.  He was charged with assault with a semiautomatic handgun, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. As perviously reported, Lanez also shared the aforementioned petition via his own Instagram after his legal team presented new evidence suggesting he was not the one who shot Megan Thee Stallion. Gianno Caldwell, who has been advocating for Lanez’s released, stated, “Mr. Peterson was never given a fair trial, free from bias.” During a press conference held on May 14, United the People, a non-profit focused on social justice, highlighted evidence shows Megan’s former best friend, Kelsey Harris, as the person who fired the shots. Attorney Walter Roberts argued, “Mr. Peterson never shot anybody. Never even touched the gun.”

Amerie recently revealed that she didn’t listen to music for a decade. During an episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, the singer confessed that she went without music for a decade. “So I went through like ten years where I didn’t listen to anything,” she said. Chiming in, Budden thought didn’t listen to music because she was in “writing mode” and completing her forthcoming novel. According to Amerie, her hiatus from listening to music was something different. “See, I thought that it was because now I’m writing,” she explained to the co-host. “I thought it was because, you know, you’re in writing mode and you’re not [making music] right now.” “But then I realized later, I was like, ‘You weren’t listening to music because you were trying to avoid it. You felt like it was gonna make you angsty because you know it’s gonna make you want to make music,” she said. “So all you’re gonna do is be frustrated. And so that just made me be like, ‘I’m not listening to any music.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by AMERIE 에므리 (@amerie) Amerie’s forthcoming novel, This is Not a Ghost Story, is set to arrive June 10, making it her literary fiction debut. The book chronicles “the story of a Black man who finds himself in Los Angeles, where he becomes famous for being the first visible ghost.” On the music side, Amerie announced the upcoming release of her fifth album in 2025, which is her first project since 4AM Mulholland and After 4 AM in 2018. In March, she released “Mine”, the first single from the project.

Styles P believes that Jim Jones is not on his level as a lyricist. During an interview on the No Funny Shit Show, the legendary member of the LOX, at around the co-host Kenny Supreme suggested that Jones might have a better “20 pack” of songs. While Styles acknowledged that  Supreme is “entitled” to his opinion because “hip-hop is about you connecting with music,” Styles said that he and Jones “ain’t in the same league.” “The Ghost” then explained what differentiates him from Capo. “Me and Jim don’t do the same thing. I’m a bar master. I’m a lyrical technician. I’ve been on joints with some of the best emcees in the world,” Styles said, naming The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Black Thought, and Talib Kweli.. “I bar sh*t down. When Rakim tells you you nice, KRS tells you you nice, Big tells you you nice, Hov tells you you nice … all these people tell you you nice, you’re f**king nice,” Styles said. “I’m not here to make catchy hooks and do dope sh*t. I don’t knock that. I’m trying to say some sh*t that’s gonna make your soul move—that’s gonna be some shit you may catch 10 years later, down the line,” he added. “There’s not many people in my age group that have the amount of catalog I have.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by NFS (@nofunnyshit.show) “[Jim] don’t got none of those kind of songs that make n***as cry,” Styles explained. “You better check my jacket. I made up a fucking lane. There was no artist emcee before. It was fly dudes, it was kings. I invented the lane where n***as saying they make hard shit. Me.” In a now-deleted post on Instagram, Jones then challenged Styles to a Verzuz battle. “Now go listen to [the] song ‘Bobby’ we did on Lobby Boy,” Jones said of the track from The Lobby Boyz album with Maino. “We recorded it at the same time in the studio together. Since we talkin’ bars let’s [just] do a versus [sic] ep something for [the] people to listen n judge.” “I’m not scared of no competition on any level, I’m here to level [the] playin field. If we talkin bars let’s go,” Jones added. This wouldn’t be the first time Styles and Jones were involved in a Verzuz. In 2021, The LOX soundly defeated the Diplomats.

During Diddy’s federal sex trafficking trial, Cassie testified that he accused her of having an affair with Michael B. Jordan after they broke up.  Cassie’s alleged relationship with Jordan was brought up during cross-examination by Anna Estevao, Diddy’s lawyer, on Thursday. While on the stand, Estevao asked if Diddy “suspected” she had an affair after they broke up. At the time, Cassie and Diddy were filming Honey 3: Dare to Dance in South Africa. “Mr. Combs suspected you of having a relationship with whom?” Estevao asked, to which Cassie responded, “Michael B. Jordan,” according to Inner City Press reporter Matthew Russell Lee’s trial transcripts. According to Cassie, the romance with Jordan was sparked after she discovered that Diddy was allegedly with one of his on-off girlfriends. At the time, she was filming a movie in South Africa. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) Cassie also testified that she ended communication with Diddy for some time and began dating the Sinners actor. When asked how Diddy reacted to the relationship with Jordan, Cassie said, “I wasn’t there to see it.” She also testified that she couldn’t remember if Diddy tried to text her about Jordan, but “he did try to make contact.” In her civil lawsuit against Diddy, Cassie’s relationship with Jordan was first mentioned along with Kid Cudi. The suit alleged that Diddy threatened to blow up Cudi’s car in front of his friends. Jordan’s name also came up during jury selection before the trial. Combs is charged with sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty. If found guilty, Diddy faces life in prison.

Halle Bailey has officially been awarded sole legal and physical custody of her young son, Halo Saint. According to court records obtained by PEOPLE, the decision follows a series of serious allegations against her ex-boyfriend and the child’s father, rapper and content creator DDG, whose real name is Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr. Bailey, 25, welcomed Halo in December 2023, but their relationship ended the following year. In her legal filings, she accused the 27-year-old of repeated emotional and physical abuse. As part of her custody request, she also filed for a temporary restraining order that requires DDG to remain more than 100 yards away from both her and their son. That order will stay in place until a court hearing takes place in June 2025. Bailey also asked the court to restrict DDG from having unsupervised contact with Halo. She proposed that if any visits are allowed, they should occur once a week in Los Angeles and be monitored by a professional visitation service. She wants the court to block any attempts by DDG to take Halo out of the county without approval. Her filings include a request for a child abduction prevention order. She stated that DDG has previously hidden their son from her, threatened to take him away, and refused to cooperate with her on custody and parenting decisions. Bailey asked that he be barred from applying for or holding Halo’s passport or any other travel documents unless she gives written permission. She also wants DDG to share full travel details if he takes Halo anywhere with her consent, including airline information, addresses, and contact numbers. In her statement to the court, Bailey wrote, “I realize that there is no placating Darryl. I cannot allow this abuse any longer. I cannot keep living like this.”

Snoop Dogg hasn’t held back his feelings toward Suge Knight on his latest album Iz It A Crime?, using the project to address their long-standing feud that started in the late 1990s. The tension between the two has been well-documented since Snoop left Death Row Records in 1998, and their relationship has only grown more strained over time. On the track “ShutYoB***hA**Up,” featuring Stresmatic, Snoop delivers pointed lyrics that clearly take shots at his former label boss. Without mentioning Suge Knight directly, Snoop raps, “I can see why you mad, I bought everything you own / Now you in PC snitching on the phone.” He continues with lines that highlight his success and dismiss Suge’s credibility: “Oh, b***h-a** n***a, I’m a rich-a** n***a / Waiting for you to get home so we can get the s**t on / Your jailhouse stories, they made up, n***a.” These bars reference Snoop’s 2022 purchase of Death Row Records, a move that Suge has openly criticized. Business disputes and rumors linked to Tupac Shakur’s murder have fueled their feud. Suge has accused Snoop of trying to help Duane “Keefe D” Davis. Davis is the man facing trial for Tupac’s killing. Suge claims Snoop tried to post bail for him. Snoop denies these accusations. This ongoing conflict adds layers to the diss track’s significance. In an interview on Big Boy’s Neighborhood, Snoop explained why he decided to address Suge so openly. “It gets to a point… I’m from the hood,” he said. “You can’t keep throwing rocks at me and bullying me and think I ain’t gon’ say nothing or do nothing. I can’t do nothing. ’Cause you in PC. But I can say something.” This track makes it clear that Snoop isn’t ready to let the past rest anytime soon.

The Sidney Hillman Foundation has honored journalists who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling “in service of the common good” since 1950. In recognition of some of the most compelling journalistic work in the industry,  The Hillman Prizes “strive to recognize discernment of a significant news story, resourcefulness and courage in reporting, skill in relating the story, and the impact of the coverage.” On the 75th anniversary of the organization, the 2025 Hillman Prizes for journalism were awarded. Held at the Times Center in New York City on Tuesday evening (May 13), several distinguished journalists received awards in several categories. For Book Journalism, Jonathan Blitzer won for Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America and the Making of a Crisis, Penguin Press. Jennifer Gollan and Susie Neilson’s “Fast and Fatal” for the San Francisco Chronicle took home the prize for Newspaper Journalism. For Magazine Journalism, Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti won for “The Unpunished: How Extremists Took Over Israel” in The New York Times Magazine. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Sidney Hillman Foundation (@sidneyhillman) Dan Slepian, Dawn Porter, and Kimberley Ferdinando’s The Sing Sing Chronicles, NBC News Studios & MSNBC Films, won the prize for Broadcast Journalism. The SEIU Award for Reporting on Racial and Economic Justice went to Robin McDowell and Margie Mason, “Prison to Plate”, Associated Press. Elie Mystal of The Nation won the Opinion & Analysis Journalism award for “Justice Correspondent”, The Nation. In his moving acceptance speech, Mystal told the cheering audience the commitment that it takes to be a journalist in these times. “If you feel like you can go to Washington, DC right now and have no chance of getting into a fight, you’re doing it wrong,” he said. “Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the acceptance of fear and doing what we must do anyway. And so I want to thank the Hillman people very much again for this honor.”