Pop legend Madonna has lost a legal battle intended to halt the sale of a break-up letter she received from Tupac Shakur back in 1995. You might recall how back in July of last year, it was announced that a letter written by Tupac Shakur to Madonna was set to head for auction, with bidding starting at $100,000. The 1995 letter, which was written by Tupac while in prison, was sent to Madonna in order to inform her that their relationship was ending because Tupac was worried that dating a white woman could damage his reputation. “For you to be seen with a black man wouldn't in any way jeopardize your career, if anything it would make you seem that much more open & exciting,” the letter reads. “But for me at least in my previous perception I felt due to my 'image' I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was. I never meant to hurt you.” However, only days after it was set to go under the hammer at the Gotta Have Rock And Roll auction house, its sale was halted by a judge, along with 21 other personal items that the singer described as “highly confidential and embarrassing,” after Madonna filed an emergency court order. Now, the legal battle has concluded, with Justice Gerald Lebovitz ruling in favour of the auction house, who reportedly obtained the items from Madonna's former personal assistant Darlene Lutz in 2004. As the New York Daily News notes, Justice Gerald Lebovitz wrote in his decision that the singer “knew that throughout her relationship with Lutz, Lutz was in possession of various pieces of (Madonna's) personal property. Yet before this action began, the plaintiff did not make any demand to return her possessions.” “We did substantial due diligence when we took all the Madonna items for auction,” the Gotta Have Rock And Roll auction house confirmed in a statement. “We were confident that Madonna had no claim whatsoever, and the judge clearly agreed with us.” “I was confident in our case and that Madonna's lawsuit was frivolous,” added lawyer Jeffrey Haas. “And all the high-priced attorneys she hired couldn't change that fact.” If you've still got your cash saved up from the last time the letter was briefly up for sale, you'll have another chance to put down a bid when the letter goes back up for sale in July. Check out Madonna's 'Give It 2 Me':
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Just 8% of Arts Council England's main music fund goes to pop, 2% to jazz, compared with 62% to opera. We must even out the imbalance if we want a diverse and healthy national music scene At the beginning of this year, Arts Council England boss Darren Henley launched what he hoped would be a “public conversation” about the future funding strategy for his organisation that allocates millions of pounds of public money to the arts. In the spirit of that conversation, UK Music – the umbrella body that represents the collective interests of the commercial music industry – decided this week to get the ball rolling. We started by looking at the huge disparities in terms of who gets what from the ACE's “National Portfolio” fund: pop music gets just 8% of the cash from the council's main fund for music. Opera gets almost eight times as much, enjoying 62%. Continue reading...As promised, Drake unleashed a new single on Friday night. It's called “Nice For What” and samples Lauryn Hill's “Ex-Factor”. The accompanying star-studded video is directed by Karena Evans and features Issa Rae, Olivia Wilde, Rashida Jones, Tiffany Haddish, Tracee Ellis Ross, Syd, Misty Copeland, and more. Watch it below. “Nice For What” serves as the follow-up to Drake's two-song Scary Hours EP, which was released at the top of 2018. The EP contains the chart-topping single, “God's Plan”, as well as “Diplomatic Immunity”. Last month, he hopped on a remix of N.E.R.D. and Rihanna's “Lemon”. A filmmaker claims that he pitched the series idea to the Duffer Brothers, who ignored him and took it for themselves
Steven Bochco, a titan of the television industry credited for creating such shows as NYPD Blue, Doogie Howser, M.D., and Hill Street Blues, has died following a lengthy battle with leukemia. He was 74 years old. “Steven fought cancer with strength, courage, grace and his unsurpassed sense of humor,” a spokesman for Bochco said in a statement. “He died peacefully in his sleep [at home] with his family close by.” Bochco pioneered several modern-day aspects of television, including shows featuring large ensemble casts and storylines that paralleled real life. He was also one of the first producers to receive an overall deal from a network, which afforded him greater creative control than many of his contemporaries. He was also credited for discovering David E. Kelley, the writer and producer who would go on to create shows such as Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, and Big Little Lies. Collectively, Bochco's programs won hundreds of Emmys, with he himself being the recipient of 10 awards. Hill Street Blues won Outstanding Drama Series for four consecutive years between 1981 and 1984. L.A. Law took home the same honor in 1987 and 1989, and NYPD Blue received that accolade in 1995. In 1996, Bochco was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. |
Audrey Warde
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