The music mogul was reportedly using a contraband phone to scroll on Instagram and was paying fellow inmates for a variety of favors

Sean Combs in New York in 2018.

Sean Combs was reportedly placed back in solitary confinement following a NBC News report that the music mogul was using a contraband cellphone to scroll on Instagram, kept a private stash of premium liquor, and had access to a jailbroken tablet where he watched a Netflix documentary about himself.

The 56-year-old was put in a special housing unit, both NBC and TMZ have reported, after footage was released of Combs seemingly using a cell phone while serving his 50-month sentence at Fort Dix in New Jersey. This would be Combs’ second time placed in isolation, following a physical fight with a fellow inmate in July.

Last year, Combs was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution following a high-profile criminal trial. Combs recently had his release date bumped up to January 2028, though it is unclear if the apparent violation will push back his homecoming.

In a statement, Combs’ spokesperson chalked up the reporting of Combs’ time behind bars as sensationalization of “ordinary prison life,” adding that “the only real news is that Sean continues to serve his sentence while awaiting the court’s decision on his appeal.”

According to NBC News, Combs had been enjoying a relatively pampered stay at the low-security federal correctional facility. The one-time billionaire reportedly had been directing thousands of dollars to fellow inmates in exchange for favors, including cooking him gourmet meals, and scrubbing down showers and toilets before he uses them. “He’s a billionaire. People are in awe of him,” one source told the outlet. “Money is power, especially behind bars.”

But beyond basic “pampering,” Combs allegedly has managed to secure contraband. He reportedly has a stash of Hennessy liquor, buys Remeron pills, a mood-boosting antidepressant drug, possess a jail-breaked tablet that he used to watch Netflix’s 50 Cent-produced docuseries about him, and has a cell phone that he uses to scroll on Instagram and view nude photos from an ex-girlfriend.

Rolling Stone has reviewed the Instagram account believed to belong to Combs, which is among the 365 accounts his own publicist follows. The anonymous profile follows Combs’ children, longtime family friends who are not public figures, and women romantically linked to Combs. The account has recently reposted videos pertaining to Combs’ former girlfriend Yung Miami, 50 Cent and former Bad Boy artist Mase.

Fort Dix has had issues with contraband being smuggled inside the facility. Last month, five people — including one current and one former Fort Dix corrections officer — were charged with conspiracy to provide contraband in prison. Between May 2025 and May 2026, the defendants are accused of smuggling in knives, marijuana, tobacco, cellular phones, vapes, cell phone chargers, tool kits, and a tattoo kit into Fort Dix, with more than $100,000 being transferred among the co-conspirators, according to the criminal complaint.

Carly Rae Jepsen is set to embark on her headlining North American tour next year that will see her make stops in 26 cities.

The Day and Night tour is in support of her eighth studio album of the same name, and will launch April 15 at Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Alberta. Jepsen will also perform her first headlining shows at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, and Madison Square Garden in New York City before concluding her trek in Montreal at MTELUS on May 29, 2027.

The announcement follows the release of her double LP Day and Night earlier this month, Jepsen’s first album of new music since 2023’s The Loveliest Time. The record features 24 tracks, with each LP comprising 12 songs corresponding to the Day and Night theme. A Rolling Stone review of the album praised her latest LP as Jepsen’s “most experimental and exhilarating work,” adding, “she makes falling in love feel brand-new all over again.”

Jepsen previously unveiled the music video for the LP’s single “Versailles,” which was inspired by Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette. The video was filmed in Los Angeles and directed by Kanya Iwana. It sees Jepsen dancing at a party as she imagines herself at the famous French chateau. She also released the video for her ABBA-inspired new song “Don’t Leave Me on the Dance Floor” back in August.

The two-time Grammy nominee is also writing the music and lyrics for the 10 Things I Hate About You musical that will officially open its theatrical curtains on Aug. 17. Jepsen will co-write the score with producer Ethan Gruska.

Carly Rae Jepsen Day and Night Tour Dates

Apr 15 – Edmonton, AB @ Northern Alberta Jubilee AuditoriumApr 16 – Calgary, AB @ Grey Eagle Resort & CasinoApr 18 – Vancouver, BC @ OrpheumApr 19 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert HallApr 21 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic AuditoriumApr 22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Kia ForumApr 23 – San Diego, CA @ Gallagher Square at Petco ParkApr 25 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks AmphitheatreApr 27 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The ComplexApr 30 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las VegasMay 1 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial TheatreMay 5 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music FactoryMay 7 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo ParkMay 8 – Houston, TX –@713 Music HallMay 10 – Nashville, TN – The TruthMay 11 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola RoxyMay 12 – Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union AmphitheatreMay 14 – Washington, DC – The AnthemMay 15 – New York, NY – Madison Square GardenMay 18 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia presented by HighmarkMay 19 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at FenwayMay 21 – Chicago, IL – The Chicago TheatreMay 22 – Detroit, MI – Fox TheatreMay 25 – Toronto, ON – HISTORYMay 28 – Ottawa, ON – HISTORYMay 29 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS

Sia has sold a 50 percent stake in her music catalog for a whopping $180 million, Rolling Stone has confirmed. News of the sale was first reported by TMZ. The star closed the deal with Pophouse, the Swedish music catalog investment firm co-founded by Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus, and will be collaborating with the firm to launch an immersive digital avatar production based around her music. An official announcement is expected imminently.

The singer-songwriter’s plans to crossover into the digital realm will include a show incorporating her songs as an artist and as a writer, according to a source familiar with the deal, and utilize her vocals on global hits like Rihanna’s “Diamonds,” which has reached more than 2 billion Spotify streams. The show’s debut is at least a couple years out, adds the source, and may tour to select cities, though it’s still in the early stages of planning.

Pophouse’s stake in Sia’s catalog is limited to publishing and master recording rights, and does not include name and likeness. An insider estimates Sia’s songs bring in $18 million annually in writing and performance royalties. In delivering all of her top hits using her vocals and new versions of her songs, it’s poised to be a highly lucrative move for both Pophouse and Sia, who boasts some of the most impressive streaming numbers in the music industry.

Many of Sia’s songs have hit more than a billion streams on Spotify including her collaboration “Titanium” with DJ David Guetta that sits at 2.4 billion streams. “Unstoppable,” “Chandelier,” “Dusk Till Dawn” with singer Zayn, and “Cheap Thrills” have all surpassed 2 billion, while the “Cheap Thrills” version with Sean Paul, Flo Rida-collab “Wild Ones,” “Elastic Heart,” and “Snowman” have more than 1 billion streams.

Pophouse is a founding investor of Abba Voyage, a popular virtual residency that launched in 2022 and uses “ABBAtars” of the Swedish hitmakers (as they appeared in 1979) performing in a custom-built arena at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.

The company has continued to land partnerships with some of the most popular acts in music. In 2024, Pophouse acquired the music catalogue, brand name, likeness, and trademarks of Kiss, and has plans to kick off the Kiss Forever immersive avatar show in Las Vegas in 2028.

In March, the firm announced that it had become an majority owner, alongside BMG, in the “music interests” of Tina Turner’s catalog — as well as the rights of Turner’s name, image, and likeness. In a press release, Pophouse CEO Jessica Koravos hinted at future projects involving the twice-inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. “We will now set in motion a series of creative projects to celebrate Tina Turner’s remarkable music and persona and secure her legacy as the Queen of Rock n’ Roll,” said Koravos.

Pophouse also acquired a stake in Iron Maiden’s publishing and master music rights, and the name, image, and likeness rights back in July. The company has plans to create a digital universe centered around the band’s mascot Eddie.

Rihanna on December 01, 2025 in New York City.

The woman accused of trying to kill Rihanna by opening fire on the singer’s gated Los Angeles property last March while the superstar singer, her partner A$AP Rocky, their three children, and her mother were home is facing upgraded charges disclosed in a new indictment unsealed Wednesday.

Ivanna Ortiz appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to all 14 counts in the new indictment, which was made public one day after she was found competent to stand trial. The indictment retains the previously filed charge of attempted murder of Rihanna and three felony counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper. It also upgrades 10 previously filed assault charges, this time accusing Ortiz of using an assault weapon. She had previously been charged in those counts with assault using a semiautomatic firearm.

A witness list attached to the indictment showed that Rihanna testified before the grand jury while it was still a secret proceeding, along with her mother, Monica Patricia Fenty. Other witnesses included Tracey Renee Jacobs, a Hollywood talent agent reportedly on the property that day; a neighbor who heard the gunfire; and the neighbor’s dog walker, who allegedly saw a white vehicle fleeing the scene, court documents say. The indictment was returned on June 18, meaning it remained under wraps for more than three months, while Ortiz was undergoing her competency evaluation in mental health court.

A police report previously obtained by Rolling Stone alleged that Ortiz fired shots that pierced an exterior wall of the home’s nursery as well as the windshield of an Airstream trailer parked in the driveway. According to the report, Rihanna was inside the Airstream with A$AP Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, when she heard “approximately ten loud sounds like something banging on metal.” She opened the curtains and “observed bullet holes in the windshield directly in front of where she had been standing,” the report said.

Rihanna “grabbed Rakim out of bed, told him they were being shot at, and pushed both of them to the ground,” the report said. The couple then ran into the garage and moved quickly to secure their children and staff, police said.

Asked after the hearing whether prosecutors had considered seeking attempted murder charges involving Mayers or other family members, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said Ortiz had one intended target.

“This is a person who wanted to kill Rihanna, and everyone else was collateral damage,” Bott said. He added that the firearms charges were upgraded after an expert examined the weapon recovered in the case.

Ortiz, 36, is due back in court Oct. 29 for a pretrial hearing. She was sent back to jail Wednesday with her bail set at $2.65 million. If convicted as charged, she faces up to life in state prison.

Witnesses to the March 8 shooting reported seeing a white Tesla Model 3 with a paper license plate fleeing the scene. A police helicopter quickly located the vehicle, leading to Ortiz’s arrest. Investigators later found six bullet holes in the vehicle gate at Rihanna’s home and a seventh in a pedestrian gate, according to court documents obtained by Rolling Stone. Inside the property, police found three bullet holes in a wooden fence obscured by tall hedges.

Before the shooting, Ortiz posted erratically on social media, addressing and tagging Rihanna directly. “Listen, Rihanna. When you die, God is taking me to my future. You want to kill me. Shut the fuck up,” she said in a YouTube video titled “Praying Woman’s Journal, Day 39,” posted on Jan. 4, 2026.

Ortiz worked as a licensed speech pathologist in California before the alleged attack. In a filing obtained by Rolling Stone, an executive officer with the state’s Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology asked the court to bar Ortiz from practicing while the criminal case is pending, including through sentencing and any appeal. A different judge granted the request.

“Every person deserves to feel safe in and around their home,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said Wednesday. “Shooting at an occupied home is a serious, violent crime that is both reckless and dangerous. It is pure luck and not a matter of restraint that no one was killed or injured.”

All three dates of Macklemore's 'Free Palestine' shows in Dublin, Paris, and London have sold out.

Less than a week after announcing dates for his Free Palestine Tour, Macklemore took to social media to announce that all three dates in Dublin, Paris, and London have “sold out immediately.”

The Seattle rapper announced his own headlining dates following the fallout of his removal from Ed Sheeran’s stadium tour for voicing support of the Palestinian people onstage. “I’m honestly blown away,” Macklemore began in his post shared on Wednesday. “We put these shows together fast and in community, believing that musicians can stand in solidarity with Palestine, use the stage to raise funds and show what collective action can look like. When those in power try to silence our calls for liberation, art will always be a form of resistance.”

Macklmore thanked fans in Dublin, Paris, and London “for showing up the way you did.” He added, “The response to these shows is another reminder of how many people across the world are standing together for a free Palestine. Lineups coming soon. Can’t wait to be together.”

His Free Palestine Tour will open in Dublin on Oct. 26, followed by Paris on the 29th, and London a day later. U.S. dates will be announced in the future.

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Earlier this month, Macklemore took to the stage at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The rapper addressed the thousands in the crowd. “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine,” Macklemore said. “I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.” His speech was met with cheers from the crowd while others reportedly walked out during his performance.

In a statement later shared on Instagram, Macklemore claimed he was dropped from the tour after Robert Kraft — the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium — mounted a pressure campaign against Sheeran. Kraft, in his own statement, confirmed he made the decision to bar Macklemore from performing at Gillette, saying it was based on his “recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.”

Sheeran continued his tour without support acts in Philadelphia earlier this month, following every opener dropping off the bill in support of Macklemore.

In Macklemore’s announcement of the three-show run, the rapper said, he’s reached out to “artists who have shown up and used their stages to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences.” He continued, “Artists who understand that our platforms mean very little if we’re only willing to use them when it’s safe.”

Macklemore didn’t name any of these support artists because, as he said, he’s still working out the details. He wrote, “All proceeds will benefit organizations supporting the Palestinian people and movement.”

Billy Joel performs at Allegiant Stadium on November 09, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Billy Joel doesn’t want anyone fretting too much over his health. The artist stepped away from performing last year after being diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain disorder caused by an excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain’s ventricles. Still, he doesn’t think it’s a big deal.

“I know people are worried about me because they read that I have a brain disorder, which sounds a lot worse than it actually is,” Joel recently shared on SiriusXM while taking calls from fans. “I’m okay. My balance isn’t that good. Lost a little bit of my hearing, but that may have to do with my age, too, and the rock and roll life and the loud volume probably didn’t help. But I’m fine. I want people to not have to worry about me. I’m okay.”

After initially refusing surgical intervention, Joel had a shunt implanted to alleviate some effects of the disorder. The procedure has helped to improve his memory, balance, and overall function, he shared earlier this month.

Joel still isn’t sure when he will return to the stage — beyond the surprise appearance he made with a cover band earlier this year — but this absence of performances has been referred to as a “recovery period” in recent statements from his team. “This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision, and balance,” his team said last year. “Under his doctor’s instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing.”

For his part, at 77 years old, Joel can’t entirely tell which health hiccups are a result of his age versus the disorder. “They don’t want me to stress too much,” Joel said about his medical team. He doesn’t want anyone else stressing too much, either.