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SZA Defends Lizzo From Backlash After Lawsuits: ‘It Was So Weird to See’

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Everyone needs a loyal friend like SZA. The Grammy-winning singer has come to the defense of her close friend, Lizzo, after multiple harassment lawsuits were filed against the “Truth Hurts” singer.

Lizzo graced the cover of the latest issue of New York magazine on Monday (Sept. 8), which featured SZA throwing her full support behind Lizzo, while calling out those who turned their back on the Detroit native following the lawsuits.

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“It was so weird to watch everybody attack her because it actually had nothing to do with what was going on,” SZA said.

She continued to credit the work Lizzo did on herself: “I think what’s special about my friend is she is a master healer. She is always going to get to the bottom of herself. Nobody cleared her name for her. Nobody could give her that vindication; she gave it to herself. I just felt like she 100 percent genie’d herself through that.”

Lizzo was hit with a pair of lawsuits by ex-staffers in 2023. A former wardrobe designer, Asha Daniels, accused the singer of harassment and discrimination, but Lizzo was dismissed from the suit.

A trio of back-up dancers also filed a similar harassment suit against Lizzo, which includes accusations of disability discrimination and false imprisonment, and remains active.

SZA and Lizzo teamed up earlier in 2025 on the 37-year-old’s My Face Hurts From Smiling mixtape, and previously joined forces on the “Special” remix in 2023. Lizzo also popped out at a pair of shows on SZA and Kendrick Lamar’s Grand National Tour.

During the rest of the interview, Lizzo also touched on her shelved Love in Real Life album, which fans shouldn’t expect anytime soon.

“I sat down at the table and I said, ‘I need to do s—t my way starting from now. And I need y’all to have my back. It’s going to be a little scary,'” she said of the album she mostly penned in 2022. “And everybody agreed. And they said, ‘We got your back, whatever you need.'”

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Raj Kapoor, Veteran Producer of Grammy & Oscar Telecasts, to Coproduce 2026 Tony Awards

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Raj Kapoor, whose credits include the nine most recent Academy Awards and the 12 most recent Grammy Awards, is set to produce the Tony Awards for the first time, in tandem with Sarah Levine Hall and Jack Sussman. Kapoor and Levine Hall will serve as co-showrunners. Kapoor is joining the Tony team for the first time, while Levine Hall and Sussman have a long history with Broadway’s Biggest Night.

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Kapoor served as both showrunner and executive producer for the 68th Grammy Awards on Feb. 1 and is serving in those same capacities for the 98th Academy Awards on March 15 and the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards on May 17.

Kapoor’s resume includes several other awards shows, including the Emmys, iHeart Radio Music Awards, Latin Grammys, People’s Choice Awards and Radio Disney Music Awards.

The Tony Awards will return to Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sunday, June 7. The three-hour show will broadcast live to both coasts on CBS and will stream on Paramount+ (8-11 p.m. ET/5-8 p.m. PT).

“As former theater kids, stepping into the role of executive producers for the 79th Tony Awards is a tremendous honor,” Kapoor, Levine Hall and Sussman said in a joint statement. “There’s nothing quite like capturing the magic of live theater on a global stage. Our team is committed to bringing audiences closer to the creativity, innovation and heart that define Broadway.”

Kapoor and Levine Hall are both Primetime Emmy winners. They both won for their work on The 96th Oscars: Kapoor as executive producer and Levine Hall as producer, which was voted outstanding variety special (live) in 2024. Sussman also won as executive producer of Adele: One Night Only, which was voted outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) in 2022.

Levine Hall’s notable credits include the past three Academy Awards, 19 Tony Awards, six Kennedy Center Honors, the Emmy Awards and Disney Legends Awards.

Sussman is an independent executive producer with a history of live events for television, music specials, award show productions as well as alternative and reality television series. Sussman was evp of specials, music and live events at CBS Entertainment for more than two decades serving as the network’s chief liaison to the music industry. Sussman oversaw the network’s events and specials, such as the Grammy Awards, the Tony Awards and the Kennedy Center Honors, as well as CBS’ presentations of the CMA Awards and The Academy of Country Music Awards. In 2022, while at CBS, Sussman received a Primetime Emmy nod as executive producer of One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, which was nominated for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded).

The Tony Awards eligibility cutoff date for the 2025-26 season is Sunday, April 26, for all Broadway productions that meet all other eligibility requirements. Nominations for the 2026 Tony Awards will be announced on Tuesday, May 5.

The Tony Awards are produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League.


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NFL Player Keion White Shot Following Alleged Argument With Lil Baby at a Nightclub

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NFL player Keion White was shot early Monday (Feb. 9) following an alleged argument with Lil Baby at a San Francisco nightclub.

According to ABC7, White was shot in the ankle at Dahlia’s, where the 49ers defensive lineman was hosting a Super Bowl party.

SFPD responded to calls for gunshots around 4 a.m. PT on Monday, according to ABC7. The San Francisco Standard viewed the police report, which, according to the publication, said a witness told law enforcement that White got into an argument with Baby as the rapper and his entourage tried to enter the private event, and was then shot, hours after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.

Billboard has reached out to reps for Lil Baby and the SFPD for comment.

“Any violent incident in our city is unacceptable, and I’m hoping Keion recovers quickly. I’ve spoken with SFPD and 49ers leadership — we are all grateful to our SFPD officers for their quick response,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said on X. “As always, I will continue working with San Francisco law enforcement to ensure our neighborhoods and our residents are safe.”

According to the San Francisco 49ers, White underwent successful surgery on his ankle and the injuries are not expected to be “career-threatening.”

“A preliminary investigation revealed a verbal altercation occurred between two groups inside a business,” San Francisco police said in a statement, per ESPN. “The victim was injured when shots were fired by an unknown suspect.”

No arrests have been made yet, and no suspects have been named by the San Francisco Police Department.

Lil Baby was spotted attending Super Bowl LX with his son, Jason. On the music side, Baby has already notched collabs with Tkandz as well as Veeze and Rylo Rodriguez in 2026. The Atlanta rapper’s “Mrs. Trendsetter” held at No. 89 on last week’s Billboard Hot 100.

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Don Toliver Scores His First No. 1 Hit on Hot Rap Songs Chart

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Don Toliver’s busy week across Billboard’s charts includes the rapper-singer’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot Rap Songs list, as “Body” debuts atop the ranking dated Feb. 7. The new champ, on Donnway & Co./Cactus Jack/Atlantic Records, captains his collection of 17 tracks this week’s chart. They’re all from his new album, Octane, which storms in at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart with 162,000 equivalent album units.

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The 17-track parade marks the most cuts that Don Toliver has posted on the Hot Rap Songs chart in a single week, and makes him only the sixth artist to claim 17 or more simultaneous appearances. He joins Drake, who has done it twice, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Playboi Carti and Travis Scott in the chart’s 34-year history.

“Body” owes its coronation on the multimetric Hot Rap Songs chart, a weighted combination of streaming, radio airplay and sales data in the United States, almost entirely to 14.3 million official on-demand streams for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5, according to Luminate. Thanks to that sum, it sparks a No. 1 debut on the Rap Streaming Songs chart. In the remaining categories, “Body” had 106,000 radio audience impressions and a negligible amount of song downloads.

With “Body,” Don Toliver achieves his first Hot Rap Songs No. 1 after 30 prior appearances. The performer previously peaked twice at No. 3 through featured roles: He and NAV guested on Internet Money and Gunna’s “Lemonade,” which reached the bronze in November 2020, while his and Future’s supporting turns on Metro Boomin’s “Too Many Nights” led to the same prize in December 2022. As a lead artist, his own “Tiramisu” set his previous career high of No. 6 in September 2025.

Similarly, “Body” leads Don Toliver’s ledger on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (No. 3) and the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 (No. 14).

With “Body” on top, here’s a recap of all 17 Don Toliver tracks on Hot Rap Songs. Among them, 15 are debuts, while “ATM” and “Tiramisu” nab their second and third weeks, respectively.

  • No. 1, “Body”
  • No. 2, “E85”
  • No. 4, “ATM”
  • No. 5, “Secondhand,” feat. Rema
  • No. 6, “Rendezvous,” feat. Yeat
  • No. 8, “Tiramisu”
  • No. 9, “Rosary,” feat. Travis Scott
  • No. 10, “Call Back”
  • No. 11, “Gemstone”
  • No. 12, “Excavator”
  • No. 13, “Opposite”
  • No. 17, “All the Signs,” feat. Teezo Touchdown
  • No. 18, “Tuition”
  • No. 19, “K9,” feat. SahBabii
  • No. 22, “TMU”
  • No. 24, “Sweet Home”
  • No. 25, “Pleasure’s Mine”

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