Music

Frank Ocean will not return to the Coachella stage for the festival's second weekend, dropping out after sustaining two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.

In a statement provided Wednesday to TMZ, Frank's reps say, "After suffering an injury to his leg on festival grounds in the week leading up to weekend 1, Frank Ocean was unable to perform the intended show but was still intent on performing, and in 72 hours, the show was reworked out of necessity."

They continue, "On doctor’s advice, Frank is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg."

Frank tells us, "It was chaotic. There is some beauty in chaos. It isn’t what I intended to show but I did enjoy being out there and I’ll see you soon."

TMZ broke the story, Ocean allegedly hurt his ankle on the festival grounds leading up to his show, causing some last-minute set changes ... so it appears things were much more serious than initially thought.

As we reported, fans were disappointed by the singer's performance at the festival Sunday night as he started an hour late -- there was also awkward pauses, fans could barely see Frank, and he didn't sing some of his most popular stuff. He also didn't sing some songs live, with a vocal track playing while he moved around the stage ... though the busted ankle might help to explain a few of those issues.

Now the question ... who will take his spot. As we reported, Blink-182 had a hugely successful return to the stage during the group's Friday show.

Calvin Harris also drew a massive crowd to the main stage when he hit the festival Saturday night.

The Menendez brothers getting a new trial because an ex-member of Menudo is accusing their father of rape is no slam dunk ... it's more of a Hail Mary, according to a criminal defense lawyer.

Attorney Alan Jackson joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" and we asked him what Lyle and Erik Menendez should be expecting from Menudo member Roy Rosselló's explosive revelation about their father, Jose Menendez.

Alan believes the chances are remote the Menendez brothers get a new trial based on Roy's accusation.

Still, Alan says Lyle and Erik's defense team will try to get the accusation before a judge and present it as new evidence in hope of overturning their convictions -- because even if it's a long shot, it's something.

The way Alan sees it ... Roy's claim is unlikely to change anything for Lyle and Erik, who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents, despite arguing their father sexually molested them for years and they only killed him out of fear.

Alan says Roy's accusation -- that music executive Jose drugged and sexually assaulted him in the Menendez family's New Jersey home -- isn't directly connected to the evidence pointing to the brothers murdering their parents with shotguns.

K-pop star Moonbin, of the popular boy band Astro, has died.

Astro's label Fantagio shared the tragic news with fans Wednesday ... saying the singer "left us and became a star in the sky." The company says it's "deeply mourning" the shocking death alongside his family, droves of fans, and fellow artists.

Fantagio says the family will hold a private funeral with close family, friends, and colleagues.

An official cause of death has yet to be revealed, but South Korean police reportedly found him dead in his apartment in Gangnam-gu, Seoul after allegedly not showing for a recent rehearsal.

Fans of Moonbin know he started working as a model in 2004 when he was just a child ... then transitioned into acting, first grabbing a role in 2009 on the Korean drama "Boys over Flowers."

He then debuted with Astro in 2016 with 5 others -- MJ, Jinjin, Rocky, Cha Eun-woo, and Yoon San-ha. They went on to come out with some hits, including "Candy Sugar Pop" and "Baby." Rocky left the K-pop group in late February of this year.

Moonbin took a brief pause from the band in 2019 due to health-related reasons but made his return the following year. The group had a concert scheduled for mid-May, but that's reportedly been canceled.

He was only 25.

GloRilla's gold-selling single "Tomorrow" is now at the center of a lawsuit from an artist who says the Memphis rapper and her producer Macaroni Toni sampled his nearly 30-year-old track to create their song ... but never got permission.

In docs obtained by TMZ Hip Hop ... Ivory Paynes of the NOLA-based rap group Dog House Posse is claiming Glo and Toni sampled his 1994 song "Street of the Westbank" to craft "Tomorrow" ... claiming it takes key elements from his song, like the piano, cello and drum tracks.

Glo's record home Collective Music Group and her publishing companies Warner Chappell Music and Sony/ATV Music are also named in the suit.

Her remix "Tomorrow 2" -- which features Cardi B -- is also listed, as that track also utilizes the same instrumental. Cardi is not listed as a defendant in the case.

R. Kelly has officially filed an appeal in his federal sex crimes case out of New York -- and he's got a laundry list of reasons why he thinks his conviction should be reversed.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the controversial singer -- who was found guilty in 2021 on 9 federal counts that included RICO charges as well as charges pertaining to sex crimes and human trafficking -- says he got a raw deal throughout the lengthy trial.

For starters, R. Kelly's legal team simply argues the government did not meet its burden of proof in court ... despite a jury convicting him on all counts. His lawyers have specific gripes about the jury and some of the evidence prosecutors were allowed to submit during trial.

For the jury, his attorneys say that at least 4 of the jurors selected have since admitted prejudging his guilt before handing down their official verdict -- and he says at least 2 of them had watched the "Surviving R. Kelly" docuseries, and should never have been seated on the jury.

As for the underage girls he's alleged to have groomed and molested ... Kelly seems to have an explanation for what happened in each case. He says some were, in fact, at least 18 years old when he met and engaged in sexual relationships with them -- despite prosecutors' insistence the alleged grooming started while they were still minors.

In the cases where Kelly is alleged to have met with actual minors ... his team claims he was misled by those girls at the time about their real age.

Now, on the evidence front -- his team claims there was a lot of stuff that was allowed in during the trial that shouldn't have been seen or heard by the jury ... and hurt his ability to get a fair trial.

For instance, he says details about his sex life and/or conduct and behavior with former partners or exes of his -- accounts of which dove into STDs, sexual preferences and behavior in the bedroom -- were not relevant to the crimes being alleged against him, and were simply a way for prosecutors to sway the jury.

He also pushes back on former employees/associates of his that were trotted out on the stand ... saying a lot of them falsely testified to things they had no real knowledge of and weren't privy to in their capacity as staffers.

He's asking the appeals court to reverse his convictions or, at a minimum, order a new trial. Of course, there's a second federal case in which he was also convicted out of Chicago. No appeal for that just yet

Latto seemingly geared up for a rap battle against Nicki Minaj while performing at Coachella, but Akademiks says the "Big Energy" rapper doesn't have the bars to win the war!!!

Ak gave his honest assessment of Latto's potential timeline for engaging Nicki in a rap beef, and thinks Latto would be better suited pushing her career away from this saga.

As the more experienced MC, Ak notes Nicki's bars will come off as more clever and fans will gravitate to everything she says. In other words, disses about ass shots will only fly so far.

He also doubted Latto and Nicki would ever cross paths to exchange words in person ... à la Cardi B and Nicki's near-brawl during 2018 New York Fashion Week.

Ak thinks Latto's only chance to best Nicki is to recruit other female rappers who've had their own personal problems with "The Pinkprint" rapper -- like Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat -- and shame her with low blows about aging and being a big ol' hater!!!

Drake has more robot problems on his hands -- after his record label pulled the plug on one viral AI song that was using his voice ... two more, which are also solid, have cropped up.

The tracks are floating all over the internet and live on several platforms -- including YouTube and TikTok ... although it's unclear where exactly they first originated from. One is called 'winters cold' and another is labeled 'Not a Game.' Like we said ... both aren't half bad.

The first sounds like a pretty standard Drizzy track ... with a catchy beat and lyrics that slide without a hiccup, almost as if the human himself was rapping. However, if you actually listen to what the AI is saying ... it doesn't actually make too much sense. Still, it's catchy as hell.

This second AI song is a little more obvious as being a fake ... AI Drake's voice, in this instance, sounds a little off and the flow isn't quite as clean or varied as actual Drake's.

Again, though ... not a terrible reenactment of the real McCoy -- and Twitter's howling about how close machines have come to doing their best rendition of Aubrey. Remember, this all comes on the heels of yet another AI song that went viral this weekend that's been yanked.

Of course, we're talking about 'Heart on My Sleeve' ... which features both fake Drake and fake Weeknd. Universal Music Group apparently issued takedown requests of the song -- which was on Spotify and other streaming services ... and then slammed it to no end.

The label said, in part ... "The training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs, begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation."

UMG says they appreciate their publishing partners' help in getting these phony songs off the digital air ... but it sounds like they're going to be busy as time goes on.

Yung Miami is confirming her whirlwind and very public relationship with Diddy is no more -- but not without clarifying a few things, including why she got "Pee Diddy" trending!!!

The City Girls rapper sat down with "The Cut" as its newest cover star ... claiming she and Diddy remain friends, even after ending their romantic entanglement.

She also refused to put a formal title on their situation, which pretty much fizzled when it was revealed Diddy welcomed a newborn daughter last October.

The pair were inseparable at one point in time, frequently spotted together at award shows and parties, and Diddy also helped launch Miami's podcast career on his Revolt TV network ... which opened up speculation about their sex life.

On one episode of her award-winning "Caresha Please" series, Miami fawned about her love for golden showers in the bedroom ... but, in the interview, she says that didn't necessarily mean it was the Bad Boy mogul who was raining over her.

And while she and Diddy are over, Miami says she plans on making "Caresha Please" a household name like Rihanna's Fenty.

Sean Garrett is more than a little leery about adopting AI in the studio, because if it comes down to us versus the machines -- as many fear it eventually will -- he's always riding with us.

We caught up with the prolific producer/songwriter Tuesday in NYC, and he admits he's curious about using the artificial software, but not to the point where it overshadows the human contribution.

Sean's been a part of some huge records -- such as Usher's "Yeah," Nelly's "Grillz" and multiple Beyonce jams -- and doesn't think that success could have been duplicated with a ghost in the computer.

Or as he puts it, "If it ain't from the soul, that s**t ain't real."

Drake's latest thirst trap in the wee hours of the night is a hot shot, no doubt -- but it also has many fans questioning the authenticity of his abs, instead of just salivating over them like he probably intended.

Late Tuesday, Drizzy was obviously feeling the mood when he posted a photo to IG wearing nothing but a towel around his waist ... captioning the pic "5 min cold plunge for the soul."

It probably took about 5 minutes for fans to give their opinion on Drake's bod -- and many wondered if he had indeed gotten work done ... as they didn't spot the same muscle definition in his arms.

Drake's got a big tour this summer with 21 Savage, so it shouldn't shock anyway to see him getting in tip-top shape for those all shows, either. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Chrisean Rock has another reason to smile on top of her pregnancy ... the "Baddies" reality TV star recently filled in the famous gap in her grill!!!

Dr. Trevor J. Thomas tells TMZ Hip Hop he consulted with Chrisean for weeks before they collectively made the decision to get a permanent, lasting solution for her smile.

He says the process was quick and painless, and, importantly, he didn't need to take X-rays to get the job done -- a legit concern, because she's expecting.

Chrisean immediately loved her new smile and felt inspired ... so she and Dr. Thomas are going halfsies on a Mother's Day giveaway. The duo's giving one mom a free mouth makeover!!!

All fans have to do is follow the 7 people Dr. Thomas is following on his @teethbytrav IG page, and leave a comment on his post about Chrisean's makeover.

The wife of Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds is officially divorcing him ... after the estranged couple announced their separation last year.

According to court records, Dan's wife Aja Volkman filed Tuesday in L.A., pulling the plug on a marriage that lasted over a decade. They have four kids together.

As we reported, the soon-to-be exes called it quits in September, and a couple months later Dan was linked to his new GF Minka Kelly.

We've seen them on a handful of dates since then -- from grabbing dinner to holding hands on a walk to some lunchtime PDA.

Dan's been in pretty good spirits since his split from Aja ... and not only because of Minka. We recently saw him dancing up a storm on a cruise to Mexico last month.

Aaron Carter took prescription pills and huffed before his death, according to the autopsy results ... TMZ has learned.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner says its findings show Aaron drowned in the bathtub of his Lancaster home, but he took alprazolam -- generic Xanax -- and inhaled compressed difluoroethane ... which is the propellant used in cans of compressed air.

The report says he became "incapacitated while in the bathtub due to the effects" of the drugs and the huffing ... and, ultimately, he slipped under the water and drowned. Aaron's death is officially ruled accidental.

TMZ broke the story -- Aaron was found dead last November. Aaron's family claimed the coroner had told them there was no water found in his lungs, and they believed he had died of a drug overdose.

According to the autopsy report, there were multiple cans of Surf Onn compressed air found in A bathroom and bedroom. Additionally, authorities found several prescription bottles in the home.

Several clothing items were found near the bathtub -- including a beanie, sweatshirt and pants. A nozzle tip to one of the compressed air cans was found in a front pocket of that sweatshirt.

Aaron's fiancée, Melanie Martin, told us she thought drugs were what killed him -- you'll recall, he had a serious substance abuse problem in the years leading up to his death. As we previously reported, cops found cans of compressed air and prescription pills in Aaron's bedroom and bathroom.

Melanie told us there was a text exchange on Aaron's phone, saying he owed someone $800 for an unknown substance ... submitting the exchange to authorities for further investigation.

His mom, Jane, revealed a series of photos in early March from Aaron's bathroom the day he was found, believing it wasn't an overdose -- instead, calling it a crime scene and speculating that her son may have been a victim of foul play.

Jane said she had support from Aaron's family and friends to put the pics out there, wanting to bring the spotlight back to the case.

We covered it all in the recent episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms!

Robert Kraft and Meek Mill are teaming up once again ... the rapper and the Patriots owner attended a march in Poland on Tuesday, honoring victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

Kraft and Mill participated in the 35th annual "March of the Living," a 3-Kilometer event commemorating the lives lost in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

Kraft -- who in 2019 started his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism -- reportedly lit one of six torches commemorating the 6 million people who died during the Holocaust.

The march covered the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex, the largest Nazi concentration camp during World War II, and included students, survivors and educators.

Kraft and Mill have grown closer over the years ... the 81-year-old billionaire advocated for Meek's release from prison in 2018 after the Philly MC felt he was unfairly sentenced.

When Meek teamed up with business mogul and hip-hop icon Jay-Z on criminal justice reform in 2019, Kraft joined the alliance alongside Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin.

RK's foundation recently launched a $25 million national campaign, #StandUpToJewishHate, to stop hateful acts directed toward Jewish people.

"I love this country, and we're at a danger point, I'm sorry to say," Kraft told WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben in an interview. "I've never seen the hatred and bigotry that's going on."

The Menendez Brothers case is back in the news now that an ex-member of Menudo is now backing their claim that their father was a pedophile.

Roy Rosselló -- who was part of the uber-popular boy band from the '80s -- is the subject of a new docuseries that's being aired by Peacock ... titled, "Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed," which teases a big bombshell that Roy says he's ready to share with the world.

He claims Jose Menendez drugged and sexually assaulted him before Menendez was brutally killed alongside his wife by their sons, Lyle and Erik.

Unclear how exactly Roy claims to have known Jose during the time of the alleged incident -- but it's not outside the realm of possibility ... remember, Menendez worked as an executive in the music biz during the '80s and '90s -- and was tight with the Latino community.

Rossello's story is scheduled to stream May 2 ... but from the trailers/promos released this week, there's no doubt he's leveling a serious allegation that seems to jibe with what the Menendez Bros. also claimed about their dad in the '90s ... namely, that he'd allegedly sexually abused them for years during their childhood.

You'll recall ... the lynchpin of the brothers' defense essentially boiled down to telling the jury they lived in fear from the abuse and only killed their parents after claiming their dad threatened them when they said they would expose what he'd done.

It's unclear for now if Rossello's new assertion -- which seems to be the first time anyone has publicly backed the notion that Jose Menendez might've sexually abused minors -- will have any impact on the Menendez brothers' case, as their lawyers have tried for years to secure a new trial with several unsuccessful appeals.

Megan Thee Stallion says she's closing the chapter on her Tory Lanez memories once and for all, now that he's been served justice.

For the first and (supposedly) last time, Megan jotted down her thoughts in a new op-ed for Elle on Tuesday ... lamenting the public humiliation she suffered, and her current road to recovery.

Megan says she's no victim, but couldn't ignore the trauma induced when Tory laughed, joked and pushed false narratives in the public ahead of their trial, which concluded last December with Tory's conviction.

She called the shooting "her most traumatic experience" in her 28 years, and lashed out at unnamed players in the music biz who threw sneak disses at her ... or accused her of lying about the shooting.

The "Savage" rapper says she hopes her words touch all past and future victims of traumatic experiences, and doesn't plan on rehashing the shooting timeline any further ... for the sake of her mental health.

Megan also thanked her most dedicated "Hottie" fans who showed up to court for moral support, and says she's just been kicking it with her manager T. Farris and has banging new music fans will love.