Music

Kanye West is no longer headlining Rolling Loud Miami, and while many thought Travis Scott would have been the perfect fit to replace Ye, the festival's founder says it wouldn't have been possible after the deaths at Astroworld.

Ye was scheduled to perform as Friday night's headliner, but Rolling Loud announced over the weekend that he would no longer be taking the stage due to circumstances out of RL's control ... Kid Cudi, who has his own beef with Ye, was named as the replacement.

Fans got pissed, demanding Travis Scott should've subbed in ... but RL co-founder Tariq Cherif posted a comment on social media saying, "venue won't allow travis because of astroworld deaths."

What Tariq didn't make clear, why would the venue, Hard Rock Stadium, feel Astroworld was Travis' fault? An RL spokesperson tells us, "All artists are in consideration for the event. But, in this case, each situation had logistical challenges and Travis wasn’t an option for this upcoming week."

We spoke with sources familiar with the festival's planning who tell us there simply wouldn't have been enough time to arrange production logistics - like security and get insurance - to cover Travis' performance. We're told it's just not possible to land someone of Travis' level with such short notice.

As we've told you, Travis and his team have maintained he didn't know the severity of what was happening in the crowd -- and video of cops calmly watching his performance while chaos was unfolding in the audience seems to support Travis' claim of not knowing how bad things actually were.

The Astroworld music festival resulted in 10 deaths, but the investigation into the failures that led to those deaths continues ... there's also billions of dollars worth of open litigation in connection to the festival.

As for Rolling Loud Miami, Cudi, Future, Lil Durk, Latto, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Curren$y and several others are still scheduled to perform ... so even without Ye and Travis, there's still plenty of talent for fans to get excited about.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck might've gone low-key by exchanging vows in Vegas ... but they're still taking things up to A-list level with a big private party to celebrate their love.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ there's a massive bash set to take place in the next few weeks at a home Ben owns in the coastal town of Riceboro, Georgia. We're told the party's guest list will, of course, include family members -- but close friends and celeb pals are also expected to fly out to celebrate with the newlyweds.

We're told Jen recently went to the home a few weeks ago with her manager to party plan, and we believe Ben was there as well.

Ben's home, about an hour outside Savannah, comes with plenty of room to have fun -- the property is 87 acres and the main house has 3 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and 6,000 sq ft of living space. Ben tried selling the home for about $8 million in 2019 before pulling it off the market.

TMZ broke the story ... Ben and Jen tied the knot early Saturday morning in Sin City.

Following the news, Jen posted a series of photos from the ceremony -- which included their kids -- with a note that read, "We did it. Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient."

She signed the message, "Jennifer Lynn Affleck."

While Jennifer admitted, they had hoped to be married by an Elvis impersonator -- who was unavailable at the time -- it was still her dream wedding.

Johnny Depp is a man about town -- perhaps even more so now that the Amber Heard drama seems to finally be in his rear-view ... and on the horizon, maybe a new flame!

JD was seen stepping out in Italy Sunday, where he's in town to perform for the Umbria Jazz Festival alongside fellow rocker Jeff Beck. As you know ... the duo are kind of a two-man band right now -- and they've been ensconced in performance for a month-plus.

Here, we see Johnny getting out of a van on his way to rehearsals, ahead of his set -- and would you looky here ... he's got an attractive female companion tagging along for the ride.

Indeed, this mystery gal seemed to be the only one cruising with Johnny here ... handing him a bag at one point. Could just be a staffer/roadie who's working with him on tour -- or, of course, it could be a love interest ... although there isn't too much evidence to prove that.

There's no clear PDA we can see, but this woman does look to be happy to be in Johnny's presence. Everyone seems to be fascinated by who Johnny may or may not be dating these days -- first it was the Camille Vasquez speculation, which was BS, and now ... this.

In any case, it's great to see Mr. Depp is still in good spirits -- frankly, he has every reason to be. Amber's plea to have the verdict set aside was just shot down by a judge ... so if she wants one last chance to fight this thing, she'll have to appeal -- which will cost her money.

Ne-Yo just dropped his first album in 4 years, and he says the hiatus is largely because COVID took a massive toll on his emotional state and creativity.

The R&B singer joined "TMZ Live" to talk all about his 8th studio album, titled "Self Explanatory" ... an album that was put on the back burner when the pandemic hit. Ne-Yo says music was not on his mind nearly as much as survival -- the survival of his family.

He says even after quarantine was lifted, it took time getting the "funk" removed from his psyche.

The album does not reference COVID ... he says he has nothing new to offer since we all went through it. Ditto the Black Lives Matter movement ... he says it has been so well-documented that the album would not move the ball forward.

The album is much more about his personal life ... especially the ups and downs he experienced with his marriage. We get into all of that, and more, in the full interview, which airs on Monday's "TMZ Live."

Ne-Yo has been in an on-again, off-again marriage to his wife, Crystal Renay. You'll recall, the two got remarried in Vegas back in April ... nearly 2 years after she filed for divorce and then withdrew the petition.

Drake's kinda doing an about-face after his team denied he was busted in Sweden -- confirming he did have some sort of run-in with cops ... but the details are still hazy.

The rapper posted a series of photos Sunday, apparently documenting his recent adventures -- one of which was a shot of a print-out he'd been given by Swedish authorities ... addressing the mass speculation from the past few days that he'd landed in trouble.

The document was issued by Swedish authorities, aka Polisen, and it's titled ... "Information for Those Suspected of a Crime and Subsequently Detained." Well, at least it's thorough.

It goes on to explain Drake's rights under Swedish law -- which are pretty similar to Miranda rights someone received when they're taken in by cops here in the States. As you can see, Drake has the right to know what he's being detained for, and the right to legal counsel.

He actually has a few more rights, it seems, than the average American ... or even Swedish citizen. The doc notes he can contact his country's consulate and have messages sent and received on his behalf. However, it doesn't appear things got that serious in this matter.

The rumor was that Drake was arrested on marijuana related charges while partying at a Swedish club this week ... and it sounds like he's since been released in connection to that -- hence him posting this update. Unclear if he'll have to go back and deal with this in court.

The strange thing ... Drake's team denied there was any truth to this story, amid speculation and the hashtag #FreeDrake going viral. Maybe they were splitting hairs over semantics -- like whether he was arrested or detained -- but it's obvious something did in fact go down.

Shaquille O'Neal has returned to form -- at least in the EDM sense -- because the dude is out here in Europe head-banging with a bunch of normies ... at a festival he's performing in.

The NBA great was spotted moshing at Tomorrowland in Belgium -- where he's slated to hit the stage as his music persona, DJ Diesel, in a set that's sure to rock the crowd. Seems Shaq wanted a head start though ... 'cause he immersed himself in the crowd beforehand.

Check out this awesome video, shot by photojournalist Adam Glyn, in which Shaq is being mobbed by festival-goers ... this as he towers over them and matches their energy.

It's pretty surreal to see -- but then again, maybe not ... SON has proven time and again that he's very much so of the people, and Tomorrowland seems to be no exception. Of course, Shaq has done this before -- but not for a while ... last time he was out there was 2019.

We already know Shaq is a renaissance man -- with his hand in a lot of different ventures, business and otherwise -- so him in a setting like this really isn't all that crazy if you think about it.

Kanye West is out, and Kid Cudi is in at Rolling Loud Miami -- an interesting swap, considering the two have been beefing these past few months.

Festival organizers made the announcement Sunday, saying that -- for reasons beyond their control -- Kanye wouldn't be performing at their event later this month as one of the three headliners ... and in his place, Scott would be stepping in to take up the mantle.

Rolling Loud Co-Founders Tariq Cherif and Matt Zingler further tell TMZ ... "We were looking forward to Ye headlining Rolling Loud Miami 2022. We spent months working with him and his team on the performance. Unfortunately, Ye has decided that he will no longer be performing. This is the first time a headliner has ever pulled off our show and though we don’t take it lightly, we wish him the best."

They add, "We look forward to welcoming Kid Cudi as a headliner in Miami and we can’t wait to see what he has in store."

Kid Cudi himself confirmed the news, posting the new lineup on his IG story. It's unclear why Ye bailed, but that's kinda his M.O. lately -- you'll recall, he also pulled out of Coachella last minute, with no explanation. There, too, they had to scramble last minute for a new act.

The backdrop to this latest news, of course, is the fact that Cudi has officially disavowed Ye ... publicly declaring that their friendship is over, this after Ye took some swipes at him for being friends with Pete Davidson.

He even clarified afterward that he and Kanye still weren't cool, despite the fact they collaborated on a song of Pusha T's -- which KC said would be the last time they worked together. So, him being the guy to fill Kanye's shoes is almost coming full circle on all that.

Billie Eilish might be responsible for crystalizing what you could call "sad girl" pop in this day and age ... an argument that's got fans of Fiona Apple, and others, up in arms.

Here's the deal ... a fan account that chronicles Billie music news tweeted Saturday that the Recording Academy -- which, of course, is responsible for the Grammys -- credited BE with creating the above-mentioned genre ... also employed by Olivia Rodrigo, Tate McRae, etc.

They're referencing an article from the Recording Academy that was written a few days ago, titled ... "The Psychology Of "Sad Girl" Pop: Why Music By Billie Eilish, Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo & More Is Resonating So Widely."

While the Billie fan account isn't quite accurate in characterizing what the article actually says -- namely, that Billie has more or less popularized "sad girl" pop into its own subgenre, especially for a new generation -- it does sorta capture the spirit ... which seems to be giving artists like Billie and all the other Gen-Zers a bit more credit than they perhaps deserve.

That's where Fiona fans are coming out in force against this narrative ... dive into the "Fiona Apple" trend on Twitter right now and you'll see what we mean. They're sour over this.

A lot of them are pointing out that musicians like Fiona and Alanis Morissette are the actual trailblazers that the Recording Academy thinks Billie, Olivia and other young'ns are -- and there are other names getting thrown in the mix too as pioneers.

There's Lana Del Rey ... who's been in this lane for years. Others who've been mentioned as stalwarts of "sad girl" pop -- Michelle Branch, Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne, Marina Diamandis, Lorde, Hope Sandoval ... and even older acts like Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell.

Kanye West may have been hit by the supply chain crisis, because his floor-to-ceiling renovation of his Malibu home is far from completion.

Ye paid just a skosh over $57 million for the Malibu beachfront home. He's using a famous architect ... Tadao Ando, but even he can't seem to accelerate the process. Then again, Kanye is famous for coming up with a plan and then changing it until it's exactly to his liking.

The home is 4,000 square feet ... which is huge by Malibu standards for beachfront property ... thus the hefty price tag. BTW, when Kanye bought it it was listed for $75 million.

It's pretty austere ... which is Kanye's thing. The house he designed for his family -- which Kim Kardashian now owns -- is also minimalist.

Amber Rose knows Kanye West, and she opens up about his divorce from Kim Kardashian ... short story, she's not surprised at all.

Amber sat down with Raquel for the "It's Tricky with Raquel Harper" podcast and Amber -- though circumspect -- seems to know of what she speaks. She makes it clear ... she saw the divorce coming, and it's all based on her experience with Kanye.

Amber acknowledges she had her own issues with Ye, but she's still wished him nothing but the best. Amber, who's always been rock solid, says she's focusing on her own life and not what her exes are doing.

Amber and Kanye dated from 2008 to 2010 ... before he moved on to Kim a year later. So, she had a fresh look at Kanye's new relationship with lots of experience to lay odds. And, her odds are that it just wouldn't last.

Raq makes a point of saying Amber and Kim share the same birthday and therefore they have something in common, but Amber makes it clear ... the birth date is where similarities end.

Kodak Black's weekend is off to an unfortunate start … the "Super Gremlin" was arrested after cops say they found a bunch of oxycodone pills in his car.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Kodak was traveling in a Dodge Durango Friday in Ft. Lauderdale with what cops believed was an illegal window tint.

After pulling the rapper over, cops say they smelled a strong odor of marijuana and eventually searched the car. Officers claim they found 31 oxycodone pills and $74,960 in cash during the search.

Our sources say Kodak's license and tags were also expired.

Kodak was then arrested and hauled off to Broward County jail.

Ricky Martin's brother is backing his sibling's claim that their nephew -- who's accusing Ricky of domestic violence and incest -- is a deeply troubled guy.

Eric Martin took to social media this week to air out his grievances about the case playing out in Puerto Rico ... starting out by saying that just because someone takes out a protective order under this statute -- which is admittedly serious -- does not necessarily mean the alleged victim is telling the truth ... and that the facts still must be vetted thoroughly.

Eric says he's on the side of justice and truth, but by his rant here -- you can tell he's defending Ricky, and casting doubt on their nephew -- whom he's ID'd as 21-year-old Dennis Yadiel Sanchez. He also says IF the allegations against Ricky are true -- which he's incredulous over -- the response from society should not be retribution ... but rehabilitation.

That seems to be more of a general thought, though, about instances of incest ... because, again, Eric clearly doesn't believe Ricky did this.

He makes one last point in another video … namely, that he too believes their nephew suffers from mental health problems -- which he addresses directly to Dennis, whom he says he loves. Eric also says Dennis is estranged from the family, and that he knows what kind of hurt he's inflicted on other family members before all this ... but Eric doesn't elaborate.

As we reported, Ricky has called BS over all of this ... insisting his name will be cleared in court. He reportedly faces upwards of 50 years behind bars if convicted of the charges.

Britney Spears dropped some news lots of people have been impatiently waiting on -- she's dropping new music, and the first song choice is really interesting.

Britney took to Instagram Friday and did something she hasn't done in a long, long time ... sing. As for what she sang -- the song that made her internationally famous ... "...Baby One More Time." But, this time around, it's got a haunting vibe.

She actually sang it in the middle of doing laundry ... "This is me yesterday doing laundry and separating clothes. I haven't shared my voice in an extremely long time… maybe too long… and here's me playing at my house with a different version of 'Baby."

Then she said it's actually been in the works for years ... at least her hope of re-releasing an updated version ... "Well I have asked for what I wanted for 14 years… a different version of 'Baby' but have the producers actually work for me and put it together… a start… but as the TEAM said NO and serves me with 4 girls, my sister included, doing a 5 minute version of 4 remixed songs to a T not even having to give effort or dance… just shot it beautifully and the sound was NEW!!! They ruined it for me, embarrassed me and made me feel like absolutely nothing!!! The truth is a f****** bitch!!!"

"...Baby One More Time" was released in 1998 ... a song that rose to the top of the charts in 22 countries and won her a Grammy.

It took some time, but Brandy says she's now on board for Ray J's "unique" leg tattoo he got to honor his sister ... and now she's considering getting one to honor him in return!!!

We ran into the R&B legend as she was getting a ton of fan love outside "Black-ish" star Jenifer Lewis' Hollywood Star unveiling Friday. Brandy explains, at first, she didn't fully appreciate Ray's tribute ... but it's only because she didn't understand it.

However, Brandy says after speaking with Ray J's tattoo artist, and learning he adopts a "Basquiat-style" she was all in. What's more ... Brandy says she's open to the idea of getting a Ray J tribute of her own, but a much more tame version.

Ricky Martin's alleged domestic violence accuser is one of his own family members ... and now the pop star's reportedly staring down the possibility of a half-century behind bars.

A new report Friday from Spanish news website Marca identifies Ricky's accuser as his 21-year-old nephew, Dennis Yadiel Sanchez, which would introduce incest into the case in Puerto Rico.

The singer's brother, Eric Martin, reportedly identified the alleged victim ... and Ricky is going to court July 21. Under Puerto Rican law, there are harsher penalties for certain sexual crimes when the alleged victim is related to the accused, but it is unclear exactly what Martin is facing.

Nevertheless, Marca is reporting that Martin faces up to 50 years behind bars if convicted.

As we reported ... Ricky was accused of domestic violence earlier this month, and the alleged victim, whose identity was previously unknown, got a temporary restraining order against Ricky, who has denied the allegations.

Now, Marca is reporting the nephew allegedly ended a 7-month relationship with Ricky ... Ricky allegedly did not take it well, continuing to contact his nephew and showing up at his nephew's home.

We reached out to Ricky's camp ... so far no word back.

Cyndi Lauper's son may have just wanted to have fun ... but cops say he broke the law when they found him inside a stolen vehicle.

The NYPD tells TMZ ... 24-year-old Declyn Lauper -- a rapper with more than 2 million Instagram followers -- was taken into custody early Thursday morning after cops say they found him in the driver's seat of an illegally double-parked Mercedes.

We're told police ran the plates as part of their investigation, and the plates came back as registered to a different car. After checking the VIN number, they say the Mercedes he was in had been reported stolen 2 years ago.

Declyn was taken to a nearby police station and booked for felony unauthorized use of a vehicle.

The artist, who has a music career under the name Dex Lauper, posted about the incident alongside some choppy videos of the supposed arrest.