Music

Beyonce is shining a light on Breonna Taylor's case ... calling on Kentucky's top prosecutor to bring charges against the cops who killed her during a "no-knock" search warrant in March.

The pop star penned and posted an open letter on her site Sunday to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, highlighting the fact that while a new law has been passed in her name banning the use of no-knock warrants ... her family has still not received true justice.

She says it plainly, writing ... "Three months have passed -- and zero arrests have been made, and no officers have been fired. The LMPD's investigation was turned over to your office, and yet all of the officers involved in the shooting remain employed by the LMPD."

Beyonce adds, "Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison must be held accountable for their actions." They're the ones who busted into her apartment -- believing it was being used to house drugs -- and opened fire upon her and her boyfriend inside ... unloading 20 rounds, eight of which struck and ultimately killed Breonna.

The three officers were put on administrative leave -- the case is still under investigation.

Bey ends her letter with a list of demands for AG Cameron, saying she and the community want to see criminal charges brought against the three men, transparency in the investigation and subsequent prosecution of them, and then calls for a separate investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department's handling of the case from the jump.

Beyonce caps it off with a heartfelt plea ... "Don't let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy. With every death of a Black person at the hands of the police, there are two real tragedies: the death itself, and the inaction and delays that follow it. This is your chance to end that pattern. Take swift and decisive action in charging the officers."

Snoop Dogg led the way over the weekend -- back in the music biz after months of being sidelined -- shooting a music video at a famed, Sunset Strip burger joint.

Snoop took over Mel's Diner for the shoot, grabbing some food and drink in between takes. Classic cars lined the parking lot as shooting began.

Xzibit and Wiz Khalifa were also part of the shoot ... something we haven't seen here in Hollywood since mid-March.

John Legend was just down the road -- well, maybe 5 miles down the road -- shooing his own music vid in the Los Feliz part of L.A.

TV and film production is back in business, but there are precautions. Among them -- health check for all vendors and others who arrive on set, social distancing restrictions, and requirements for wearing masks.

When actors are shooting scenes, they won't have to wear masks, but otherwise, the mask requirements are pretty much unbending.

Katherine Williams-Dunning, daughter of country music icon Hank Williams, Jr., died Saturday night after losing control of her SUV.

The 27-year-old was driving a Chevy Tahoe in Henry County, Tennessee when it began drifting across the median, triggering a rollover sequence. No other cars were involved.

Katherine was pronounced dead and her husband, 29-year-old Tyler Dunning, was airlifted to a nearby hospital. His condition is unknown.

Katherine's family is country music royalty. Her dad, 71-year-old Hank, Jr., has topped the charts with songs like "All My Rowdy Friends," which is ESPN's "Monday Night Football" theme song. Hank's dad is one of the giants in the history of country music, who died at 29 but produced hit after hit.

Katherine leaves behind her husband and 2 young children.

She was 27.

Kanye West is putting on his Yeezys and getting to work -- it looks like he's trying to expand his brand into the world of cosmetics and fragrances ... just like the women in his family.

According to new legal docs, Kanye's company recently filed for a "Yeezy" trademark to cover a plethora of beauty and skincare products. We're talking makeup, false eyelashes, facial masks, nail polish, moisturizers, bath gels, body oils, shaving cream, hair care products and perfumes, along with some hygienic products like toothpaste and deodorant ... and even scented pine cones and aromatherapy pillows.

If Kanye's successful, he'll be following in the footsteps of his wife Kim Kardashian's KKW Beauty line and sister-in-law Kylie Jenner's massively popular Kylie Cosmetics ... which includes Khloe's Koko Kollection.

It should be noted ... Kanye's tried to go this route before. Back in 2017, he filed similar docs to lock up the rights to DONDA brand cosmetics -- named after his mother -- but it never really got going.

Jason Derulo is feeling accomplished -- and full -- after eating 20 burgers in 2 hours ... and now he's challenging The Rock to a hot dog eating showdown on the Fourth of July!!!

The "Cats" star and "Swalla" singer just set the stage for what could be the biggest celebrity culinary face-off of all time ... calling out The Rock and prematurely declaring victory if they go dog-for-dog on Independence Day.

Jason's fresh off a pretty impressive start ... he challenged himself to eat 22 burgers in 2 hours to celebrate reaching 22 million followers on TikTok -- yes, this is what goes down on the app.

While Jason came up a little short on his burger binge -- eating 20 burgers instead of the full plate of 22 -- he says it made him realize he could be a pretty darn good competitive eater.

Jason's got his work cut out for him -- The Rock is known for his epic cheat meals when he's not getting shredded in the gym -- but he says one of his hidden talents is his massive appetite. Gotta feed that anaconda!!!

Faith Evans is off the hook in her felony domestic violence case ... TMZ has learned she won't be prosecuted for allegedly attacking Stevie J.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office tells TMZ ... they are declining to prosecute the singer because the alleged victim, her husband, declined to testify against her.

We broke the story ... Faith was arrested last month after she allegedly got into a heated argument with Stevie at their L.A.-area home, which at some point turned violent.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Stevie was the one who called cops to their home the night of the fight. We're told he just wanted her out of the house, and never wanted her arrested or prosecuted in the first place.

Our sources also tell us cops had no choice but to arrest Faith for domestic violence because Stevie had visible scratches on his face when officers arrived at the scene.

You'll remember ... it was just last year when rumors started that their marriage was in trouble. As we first reported ... there was palpable tension after our camera guy got the couple leaving the Essence Festival in New Orleans.

However, things seem to be OK -- even after this arrest -- the couple is still together and Stevie recently told The Shade Room he's not going anywhere.

It's a crazy idea, but Britney Spears statues could soon replace Confederate monuments across Louisiana ... if a petition signed by thousands sways politicians in her home state.

Here's the deal ... one Britney fan is behind a growing petition on Change.org, asking Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards to replace Confederate statues with busts of Britney. Seriously.

The petition, started by Kassie Thibodeaux, is hurtling towards 10,000 signatures and counting ... and it calls on the Governor, Sen. Bill Cassidy, Rep. Cedric Richmond and the Louisiana State Senate and House to "do the right thing: Replace Confederate statues with an actual Louisiana hero and influential human being, Britney Spears."

There are a lot of Confederate statues and monuments in Louisiana, nearly three dozen in all, so it would be a pretty monumental task to replace them all with Britney's likeness.

As you know ... historical statues are being toppled all across the country in the wake of George Floyd's death and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and Taylor Swift just called on Tennessee to remove its symbols related to the Confederacy.

The petition paints Britney as the perfect solution ... citing her long list of contributions towards Louisiana, including money for Hurricane Katrina relief and flood victims.

Crazier things have happened in this crazy world.

Taylor Swift is on a crusade to rid her home state of racist statues honoring "villains" ... and she wants to give them the boot forever.

The singer opened up in a big way Friday, zeroing in on monuments in Nashville celebrating "racist historical figures who did evil things."

Taylor says it makes her sick that men like Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest are honored with statues in Tennessee ... she says they are both "despicable" figures who should be remembered and treated as such.

Taylor's first salvo took aim at Carmack's statue, which was sitting inside the state Capitol in Nashville until last week, when Black Lives Matter protesters tore it down.

Tennessee has vowed to replace the toppled statue -- it's part of state law -- but Taylor says it's a waste of state funds and missed opportunity to do the right thing.

Carmack was a state lawmaker and newspaper publisher in the early 1900s, who published editorials against Ida B. Wells. Taylor says he was also a white supremacist.

Next, Taylor turned her ire to NBF -- the Ku Klux Klan's first grand wizard and a confederate general.

Taylor calls his statue, which is still standing, a "monstrosity." She says she's tired of stomaching 'Nathan Bedford Forrest Day' in Tennessee, which until now was observed in the state each July 13.

But, Taylor isn't stopping at just toppling statues ... she says that alone won't "fix centuries of systemic oppression, violence and hatred that black people have had to endure."

Taylor says statues honoring folks who "perpetuated hideous patterns of racism" should be retroactively changed from heroes to villains and removed ... because "villains don't deserve statues."

Taylor's imploring the Capitol Commission and Tennessee Historical Commission to stop fighting to preserve these monuments.

Bottom line for Taylor ... "When you fight to honor racists, you show black Tennesseans and all of their allies where you stand, and you continue this cycle of hurt."

Jay-Z and his social justice team are going after the Charleston PD, claiming officers violated the constitutional rights of a peaceful protester by hauling him off in handcuffs.

Jay's Team, ROC, is outraged over the arrest of Givionne "Gee" Jordan Jr., who told police he loves and respects them during a May 31 peaceful protest. Givionne wasn't even in the faces of the cops while speaking to them ... he was a good 20-feet away.

Still, they arrested him for disobeying a lawful order, and although he was released on $465 bond ... Team ROC says Gee is still facing charges, and has an upcoming court date. That doesn't sit well with Jay-Z and co.

Right after the arrest, attorney Jordan Siev sent a letter to the Charleston PD calling it “unconstitutional,” and demanded discipline for the officers responsible and a dismissal of the charges ... but to no avail.

Instead, an attorney for the PD wrote back ... "The City is continuing to navigate through the unprecedented and violent attack by rioters on the City and its citizens on Saturday May 30, 2020, and continues to hold the safety and security of citizens and visitors as a top priority."

Team ROC calls that response "lackluster," and say it deflects from Jordan Jr.'s case and the request to dismiss it.

Dania Diaz, Director of Philanthropy, says ... "We are outraged by the Charleston police department’s reprehensible arrest of Givionne Jordan Jr. -- not to mention their dismissive response to our concerns about their conduct. Giovionne’s arrest was unlawful and the Charleston police clearly violated his Constitutional right to peacefully protest. We applaud Givionne and demand that his charges are immediately dismissed."

Remember the social media blackout triggered by George Floyd's death? Cameo did something very similar and it raised $225k for the NAACP thanks in part to some huge names in music and TV.

Randy Jackson, Chaka Khan and NeNe Leakes are just 3 of the celebs who teamed up with Cameo -- the celebrity shout-out service -- to help benefit the NAACP Empowerment Programs. Here's how it worked.

In the spirit of #BlackoutTuesday on IG, for 2 days last week Cameo's homepage featured only African-American celebs. As you're aware by now ... Cameo is a platform where people can pay to have a celeb record and send a short custom video -- and all the fees from that day were donated to the NAACP.

We're told it generated nearly a quarter of a million bucks, thanks to over 500 talents opting to donate their proceeds. Cameo also donated 100% of its proceeds.

BTW, the NAACP Empowerment Programs aim to engage primarily in training, education, and advocacy as the nation finally comes to terms with how to best deal with racial inequality and social injustice.

YG's about to release the music video you could call the fruit of his extensive labor ... pulling together that massive Black Lives Matter rally last weekend in Hollywood.

We're told his new "F**k the Police" vid will drop early Friday, and while the song -- for obvious, lyrical content, reasons -- won't get a lot of radio airplay, you know it'll be all over the Internet. The song itself already has several million plays on YouTube.

As we reported, YG shot much of the music video during Sunday's Hollywood BLM rally, which he helped organize. With an estimated 50,000 people turning out, it was L.A.'s largest protest since George Floyd was killed -- and we're told parts of YG's speech, which kicked off the march, will be featured in the video.

As the Compton rapper said Sunday, "This s**t been going on for too long. I'm tired of waking up, looking at my phone, seeing another one of my people killed by the police."

He added, "I know if my brother Nipsey Hussle was here, he'd be right here with me."

The country music superstars in Lady Antebellum say they've had their eyes opened to the "injustices, inequality and biases" black people have faced, and they're responding by changing their name.

The band is dropping Antebellum and will go by Lady A moving forward, which they say is their nickname with fans anyway. The country trio says they are "deeply sorry" for the pain their name has caused and for "anyone who has felt unsafe, unseen or undervalued."

If you aren't aware, the word antebellum means occurring before the war, but is commonly linked to the period of history before the Civil War ... which, obviously, includes slavery.

The band says they originally chose the name after taking their first group photos at an Antebellum-style home, and because the name reminded them of Southern-style music.

They say the choice of name demonstrates a major blind spot, and they're "regretful and embarrassed" they didn't take it into account.

As for what took them so long ... Lady A is making no excuse, saying all they can do now is fix it and take action going forward.

Ariana Grande is movin' on up ... quite literally 'cause her new pad is up in a very coveted area of the Hollywood Hills.

The singer dropped a cool $13.7 million for this mansion in the famous "Bird Streets" neighborhood ... where just about every resident is a huge celebrity. The home has 4 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, but ya gotta imagine it's the fitness studio, wellness center and 300-bottle wine cellar that really sealed the deal. Would for us, anyway.

The floor-to-ceiling windows offer some incredible views ... whether you're craving canyon or ocean views, it's designed to take your breath away. Some sick pocket walls open up to an infinity-edge pool, perfect for parties or getting the perfect 'Gram pic.

As if all of that wasn't appealing enough ... it appears Ariana also got a steal. The house reportedly was on the market 2 years ago for $25.5 million and, more recently, for about $17.5.

Blake Shelton's shout-out to a fan's new book -- written in honor of her late daughter -- is giving her a huge emotional pick-me-up, and it ain't bad for sales!

Frankie Williams is the author of "The Merdragon," a fictional children's book she wrote for her daughter, Shauntae, who passed away last year. Shauntae was only 36 and died from undiagnosed heart disease.

Frankie says, at the time, she tweeted at Shelton and his country singer friend Craig Morgan, because Craig had written a song about his son's tragic death. Blake was promoting the tune, "The Father, My Son and The Holy Ghost" ... and she found it very inspiring.

Frankie says Blake replied, saying he was inspired by people like her and Craig who find ways to help others deal with grief while still dealing with their own ... and it motivated her to write the book as a tribute to Shauntae.

Flash forward to Monday -- Frankie tweeted at Shelton saying she wanted to send him a copy of 'Merdragon' as a token of gratitude for his kind words, and he responded again ... saying he'll order it instead.

And, the kicker ... he encouraged all of his 20 million followers to order it, too!

Frankie tells us ever since Blake's tweet, her book's been selling like hotcakes. She says she doesn't have official sales numbers yet, but it's currently in the top 5 in three different children's categories on Amazon ... skyrocketing up the charts from the 400-500 range it was in before Shelton's shout-out.

Staton Island signer Eamon (full name Eamon Doyle) shot to stardom after his single "F*** It (I Don't Want You Back)" or the clean version "I Don't Want You Back" became the break-up banger of the winter of 2003 ... and reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Eamon's single spurred the release of his debut album I Don't Want You Back which included other explicit modern-day loves songs including "I Love Them Ho's," "Get Off My D***" and "I'd Rather F*** With You."

Eamon is now happily married and has a baby daughter.

Coachella 2020 is officially dead on the table -- the music festival will NOT go on in October as previously planned ... with hopes to fire it back up next year.

The news came down Wednesday from Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser. Kaiser signed an order to cancel the October event citing the fears of another rise in COVID cases in the fall. Stagecoach -- a country music festival held on the same grounds -- is also canceled.

It's still undecided if Coachella organizers will try to bring it back in April -- when it normally runs -- in a limited capacity, or just wait 'til October 2021 to open anew, and welcome everyone.

Another thing that's not totally clear is whether the 2020 lineup will remain the same, or if organizers will try booking new acts for 2021. You'll recall, this year's headliners -- which were supposed to perform later this October after the initial postponement -- included Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, Rage Against the Machine and even a late-game Gaga announcement.

A lot of those artists were already rescheduling shows for 2021, so folks probably saw this coming. Not just that, but Lollapalooza just got canceled too ... and will live stream instead.