Music

Ricky Martin is now speaking out about his nephew's claims that they had a sexual relationship and he stalked him, saying the last 2 weeks have been horrendous.

Ricky appeared on a video, obtained by TMZ, in which he expressed how he's been feeling over the last few weeks since the claims surfaced.

He says he needed to talk in order to start the healing process. Martin says he was muzzled by Puerto Rican law until the case concluded. TMZ broke the story, Ricky's nephew dropped the restraining order Thursday morning in court.

Ricky says it's been painful not just for him but for his family and friends. As for his nephew, "I wish him the best and I wish he finds the help so he can start a new life filled with love and truth and joy and that he doesn't hurt anyone else."

Ricky says his therapy will be music and he's anxious to jump back on stage ... btw, he's performing at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend.

Ricky Martin just won his case against his nephew who accused him of having a sexual relationship and then harassing him afterward, and that's because the 21-year-old nephew withdrew his claim.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the judge has dismissed the temporary restraining order that he had issued a week ago.

We're told Ricky showed up on zoom. His legal team tells TMZ, "Just as we had anticipated, the temporary protection order was not extended by the court. The accuser confirmed to the court that his decision to dismiss the matter was his alone, without any outside influence or pressure."

The team went on ... "And the accuser confirmed he was satisfied with his legal representation in the matter. The request came from the accuser asking to dismiss the case. This was never anything more than a troubled individual making false allegations with absolutely nothing to substantiate them. We are glad that our client saw justice done and can now move forward with his life and his career."

As we reported, the nephew had claimed he and Ricky had a 7-month sexual affair and after it ended Ricky began stalking and harassing him. Ricky strongly denied the allegations, saying he never had a sexual relationship with the man. The singer's legal team said the nephew suffers from mental issues.

The nephew had obtained a temporary restraining order last week, but Ricky and his team were not in court.

Welp, now we know Drake's biggest fear ... 'cause he was floating like a butterfly to avoid getting stung by a bee -- and it happened when all eyes were on him at a St. Tropez party.

A brief, but pretty hilarious clip shows Drizzy dodging like mad while his crew swats at the buzzing guest at their table. Seriously, he looked like Creed ducking jabs in a boxing ring!

But, it's good to be the Champagne Papi ... because his entourage was working OT to keep him safe

He's got no shame in his game, though, when it comes to his melissophobia!

When fans saw all the buzz -- and the comical video clip -- around Drake, he openly admitted ... "I hate bees on god."

Perhaps looking to change the conversation ... Drake posted what we gotta call a thirst trap pic of himself shirtless and lounging in the south of France.

Effective.

BTW ... that sting operation went down at the same party where Drake had posted videos trolling Joe Budden after his 2003 hit "Pump It Up" was played at the party.

Kevin Gates is not one to mess with -- the popular rapper straight-up clocked AEW star Tony Nese during Dynamite on Wednesday ... after he was told his music sucks!!

It all went down at the Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA ... where Gates was standing ringside as the newly-crowned tag team champs, Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland, celebrated their titles in the ring.

During the segment, Nese and his on-screen manager, Mark Sterling, interrupted the festivities ... and the duo immediately went up to Gates and demanded he sign a petition to have Strickland removed from the AEW roster.

Gates refused ... which set off Sterling, who said, "Just like Swerve Strickland, you're untrustworthy, and your music sucks!!!"

After Tony stepped in between Gates and Sterling ... and BOOM, down went Nese with a mean right hand from the 36-year-old "2 Phones" hit-maker.

Based on the vid of the incident, it certainly looked like Gates made contact with Nese ... which sent him to the ground.

The AEW fans ate it up ... applauding the AEW superfan for exacting some revenge on Nese for crashing the celebration.

Farrah Abraham has been put on blast for allegedly taking her 13-year-old to a club ... but she says her critics don't know what's really up.

Farrah tells TMZ ... she went with her daughter, Sophia, and her friends to an "all ages" concert at The Empire Control Room in Texas Monday, thinking it would just be safer if she were there -- referencing last year's Astroworld tragedy.

Farrah's been getting slammed ever since posting about the event, with many assuming the 13-year-old was under the venue's age limit and that it was wrong to take a 13-year-old regardless.

She says there was no age limit for this particular concert. As for taking a 13-year-old, Farrah says she wanted to educate her kid on how to have a fun yet safe time at a concert.

Farrah's been working through a 12-step program for substance abuse and believes it's helped her with everything, including parenting. BTW, she says she was knockin' back H2O during the performances.

Kim Kardashian is taking interest in a new legal case ... she wants to see Gunna released from his jail cell while he awaits trial.

Kim, who has helped a ton of folks get out from behind bars over the years, tweeted out her support for the rapper Wednesday, with a hashtag and a nod to one of Gunna's popular songs.

KK tweeted to her 73.1 million followers ... "#FreeGunna" and emojis saying "Free P" ... a reference to his song "Pushin P."

As we reported ... Gunna was recently denied bond a second time in his Young Stoner Life RICO case and will be held in a Georgia jail until at least January, when his case is scheduled to go to trial.

Gunna's accused of possession of drugs with intent to distribute and receiving stolen property, pleading not guilty to the allegations, and he's been going hard for his freedom ... penning an open letter about the U.S. Constitution on his birthday, which he spent behind bars.

Now Kim appears to be in Gunna's corner ... and it will be interesting to see if her celebrity can help his cause.

Polo G complains about not being able to enjoy his birthday on his latest hit song "Distraction," but his son certainly doesn't share his father's pain.

This past weekend, the "Hall of Fame" rapper went all out for his son Baby Cap as he celebrated his 3rd year around the sun.

Here's what we mean by all out ... Polo G splurged for this 13x10 foot blue and silver display from a company called Balloon & Paper.

If you're thinking your kid needs a massive balloon display like this to tower over their next birthday party, we hope you've saved well. Sources involved in planning the event tell us Polo plunked down about $10k in "RAPSTAR" money.

That'd be a baller move for a 30-year-old's party, much less a 3-year-old's!

Polo called his little man his "main priority" and tossed additional spoils his way in the form of a Lamborghini toy car, a slippery slide and the type of love that's gonna tire a toddler all the way out!

He may not remember the party as he gets older ... but he can always link back to this post. 😉

Jay-Z is saying yes to Jermaine Dupri's request to sample a classic track -- even though he recently admitted he rejects many collab requests -- but Jay's approval comes with a disclaimer.

So, JD is producing Drake's artists, the duo dvsn, and on Wednesday he posted a text convo with his “Money Ain’t a Thang” collaborator, in which Hov cleared the sample -- after all, who is he to knock the hustle, right?! But, he had some commentary on the dvsn track.

Jay claims the song beats out his 2001 heartbreak anthem “Song Cry” in terms of “toxicity,” and, as a result, said he wants the world to know he ain't cosigning on the message of dvsn's song, which is called "I Get Caught."

Sources close to the situation tell us 'Caught' actually samples “Song Cry” -- and dvsn is doing a serious hype job, claiming it's in the same class as other emotional wrecks like Usher’s “Confessions Pt. II” and SZA’s “The Weekend” ... but better.

Drake's offering some hilarious observations -- some of them subtle -- about his fellow hip hop artists while he's kicking back in St. Tropez.

Drizzy was hanging at a pretty lively spot in the south of France when he playfully clowned a daytime rager for Crip walking to Latto’s “Big Energy” -- which seems like a win for female rap fans everywhere.

He quickly got distracted, though, when the DJ played Joe Budden’s biggest hit, “Pump It Up."

Drake didn't hesitate to clown the retired rapper-turned-podcaster for the played-out party jam ... and OVO Chubbs said a lot more with his facial expression.

With his dance album still in the Billboard 200's top 10 after its release several weeks ago, Drake has been tearing down Europe ... partying in Sweden, Ibiza, St. Tropez, or wherever the good vibes take him.

Ricky Martin will appear virtually in court Thursday to adamantly deny claims by his 21-year-old nephew they had a sexual relationship ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... Ricky will appear Thursday before a judge in Puerto Rico via Zoom. We're told he will directly address the judge and vigorously deny he had any romantic/sexual relationship with the nephew who has claimed such a relationship went on for 7 months.

We're told Ricky will also squarely challenge the nephew's account that the singer allegedly stalked and harassed him.

As we reported, the nephew got a temporary restraining order last Friday, prohibiting Ricky from having any contact with him. The restraining order was ex-parte, meaning neither Ricky nor his team was in court to rebut the allegations. The judge will now decide whether to extend the restraining order.

There have been reports that Ricky could face up to 50 years in prison if he's charged with an incest-related crime, but our sources say there is no such criminal investigation ... just the civil restraining order.

Nelly belted out several home runs ... on a stage in Los Angeles as the co-host and performer for his carnival-themed MLB All-Star after-party with Dodgers star Mookie Betts.

The Diamond-certified rapper brought Betts and his wife Brianna up on stage, dedicating his “Hot In Herre” performance to them … just like he did a few months prior at their wedding!!!

Mookie and Nelly have become fast friends since that big day back in December, and collaborated on Tuesday night's event to celebrate the All-Star Game ... which Mookie played in a couple hours earlier on his home turf at Dodger Stadium.

He also clowned Mookie's National League squad for disrupting sports bets by blowing their 2-0 lead to lose 3-2.

Drake's dad, Dennis Graham, was also in the building, as were YK Osiris and Kid Ink.

Trina's family is reeling after the devastating loss of her niece, who was shot and killed in Miami ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Trina confirmed with TMZ that her niece, who the rapper endearingly referred to as Baby Suga, was killed Tuesday night ... telling us she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Law enforcement sources say it appears the teen was visiting the area, they're still investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting to determine if the attack was random or targeted.

Suga and 2 other women sustained gunshot wounds during the incident ... the condition of the other 2 is not currently known.

A rep for Trina tells TMZ, "We kindly ask that everyone please respect the privacy of Trina and her family at this devastating time."

Baby Suga, whose real name was Toni Chester, was only 17.

Day26, former winners of Diddy’s “Making The Band” MTV series are back together, and they’re out to prove R&B sorely needs them.

We caught up with all members of the five-man group -- Que, Willie, Brian, Robert and Michael -- who were all excited, promising their past in-fighting's been squashed and they're ready to deliver an R&B classic.

They sent the feelers out on IG this week, and are now confirming a full-fledged comeback.

As Season 4 winners of “MTB,” the fellas say they’re thankful to Diddy for putting them together but ... even Puff couldn’t grasp the full depths of their potential as an act.

They say there are no hard feelings, but being on Bad Boy is a thing of the past ... and they want to convince the world it’s okay for men in music to soften up.

Their rollout should provide interesting competition for their mentor -- Diddy is currently perfecting his new Love Records venture, which he says houses the "R&B Biggie."

Day26's sentiments on R&B’s current standing echoed that of Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman, who said the singing community is too much like the rapping sector these days.

The group is looking ahead to its 15th anniversary live stream concert on July 26 where they’ll debut new material, which they say will re-cement their stake to the throne.

Joey Badass is currently in the middle of a national tour and just hit a speed bump named Delta -- he's blaming the airline for damaging critical gear he needs to perform.

The rapper/actor landed in Portland Tuesday afternoon for his 1999-2000 Summer Tour's stop ... but says he quickly discovered his studio rig equipment was broken during the flight. It wasn't even in its case!!!

JB then proceeded to rip Delta for smashing up the knobs and buttons before finally putting an invoice on it: $12,000. And, he says this isn't the first time it's happened.

There’s still a considerable number of West Coast dates left, including stops in Los Angeles and Seattle -- but at this rate, he might have to do a cappella shows.

Joey's gotta feel like he can't win -- he made the switch to Delta from American Airlines after accusing AA of racism back in 2018.

His new album, entitled “2000,” drops on Friday -- maybe that will bring some better luck his way.

50 Cent and director Josh Stolberg have an instant promo for their upcoming horror flick, "Skill House" ... it's so terrifying, even the film's crew is losing consciousness on set!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained this footage ... it's the camera operator's reaction while filming a particularly bloody scene, and whoever's behind the lens has a weak stomach ... because he passed out on the spot.

The clip opens up with an extremely bloody actor and you can see the camera become wobbly almost immediately as the cameraman loses consciousness (but thankfully not his lunch!).

If you're squeamish too, you get why the guy went down -- 50 still couldn't believe it when he shared the gory story on Instagram ... and he was just getting it secondhand.

We're told Fiddy wasn't on set at the time but several other cast members, including Amira Mertaban, were present -- Amira was actually the first person to rush to the cameraman's side. Medics stepped in, and we're told the camera guy is fine ... he'll be back on set to finish the film.

Hollywood SFX legend Steve Johnson is credited (or blamed) for creating the gut-wrenching scene. He and Stolberg -- who worked on the last 2 'Saw' movies -- seem hellbent on pushing the limit on "Skill House."

The Cult lead singer Ian Astbury took a take-no-prisoners approach during his performance Tuesday night ... jumping into the crowd to break up a scuffle, then calling out the aggressor on stage.

Ian was belting out the song, "Rain," at The Anthem in Washington D.C. when fireworks erupted. Apparently, a tall guy in the front was blocking the view of the guy behind him, and the 2 got into it. Based on what Ian says the tall guy put the other fan in a chokehold.

You see in the video, obtained by TMZ, Ian comes down from the stage and breaks it up, then hugs the guy who was put in the chokehold.

Ian jumps back onstage and finishes the song, but he's not done with the tall guy.

Ian goes on a tirade, talking about how he was once knocked out by a member of the Hells Angels. He then warns the tall dude he's skating on thin ice. The other guy apparently left.