The news that A$AP Rocky had been arrested in Sweden had Longitude fans worried for days, and now the news has been confirmed that the US rapper will not headline the festival tonight.
He was set to headline the main stage at the summer festival in Marlay Park but was detained by Swedish authorities in relation to an alleged assault last weekend.
The star was arrested after a gig at the Smash festival in Stockholm on Tuesday, and police are stating that four people were initially arrested.
Three of these people were suspected of serious abuse and one of assault, but the person suspected of assault was released two days ago and is no longer a suspect.
It is rumoured that the altercation began as a result of the men seemingly following A$AP Rocky in the street and of inappropriately touching women.
His replacement on the main stage at Longitude has been announced as rapper Ski Mask The Slump God.
The countdown to one of Ireland's biggest summer festivals is well and truly on, and now Longitude have only gone and given us 22 more glorious acts to see.
They've also entrusted us with the break-up of which days certain artists are playing over the weekend, so we're pretty much ecstatic.
The new acts include; Ave, Bugzy Malone, Fredo, Wild Youth, Little Simz, NOT3S, Headlie One, YBN Cordae, Chasing Abbey, Kneecap, Biig Piig, Grace Carter, Amber Mark, Saweetie, Buddy, Ama Lou, Adekunle Gold, Mallrat, JYELLOWL, Nealo, Why-Axis and Barny Fletcher.
Longitude Round 3 22 new acts announced including Dave, Bugzy Malone, Fredo, Wild Youth! Full day by day line-up is also released. Head to https://t.co/likVjq3OLZ to check it out! Roll on July pic.twitter.com/ybHnLG5eD9
Stage times will be announced over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.
Unforch, H.E.R. and Clairo cannot perform at Longitude 2019 due to scheduling conflicts. We're gutted, especially about H.E.R., but thank the Lord we have 22 new acts to worship.
The festival will take place in Marlay Park from July 5 until July 7, 2019. There are still some limited tickets left for the full three days, so get on that FAST.
One said, ''That's so freaking awesome!!!!!!! Congratulations to you guys!!!!!!''
While another wrote, ''The caption omg. Congrats loves.''
The couple wed this month in a star-studded ceremony, watched by 150 friends and family reportedly including stand-up comedian David Chappelle, Kim Kardashian and his mentor Kanye West.
Massive congrats to the couple on this happy news.
Lady Gaga has spoken out against the backlash regarding Cardi B's historic Grammy win for Best Rap Album.
The Joanne artist took to Twitter to express her pride in the Bodak Yellow rapper, who is the first solo woman to ever win the accolade.
Praising the rap star and social media personality, Gaga wrote;
"It is so hard to be a woman in this industry. What it takes, how hard we work through the disrespectful challenges, just to make art. I love you Cardi. You deserve your awards."
It is so hard to be a woman in this industry. What it takes, how hard we work through the disrespectful challenges, just to make art. I love you Cardi. You deserve your awards. Let’s celebrate her fight. Lift her up & honor her. She is brave. pic.twitter.com/lunY27vn3E
She concluded by telling her fans to "celebrate her fight. Lift her up & honoor her", calling Cardi "brave" for entering an industry which is notoriously difficult for women.
Cardi B was also pregnant with baby Kulture Kiara while recoding Invasion of Privacy, and worked tirelessly for months to finish it. The rapper has faced criticism over her Grammy win, with some claiming she is undeserving.
The duo became instant pals after meeting at the Grammy, after Cardi approached the A Star Is Born actress and legit fan-girled.
In 2016, Cardi tweeted about the Mother Monster's huge impact on her life: "When I was a teenager lady Gaga changed my life," she wrote. "She inspired me to be myself & be different." Gaga replied "Love you girl."
Cardi beat Travis Scott, Pusha T, Nipsey Hussle and Mac Miller in her category for the Best Rap Album Grammy, with Ariana Grande tweeting her disappointment that her deceased ex-boyfriend Mac Miller didn't win posthumously.
The rapper thanked her fans on Sunday night, and then uploaded then deleted an expletive-laden clip defending her hard work on Invasion of Privacy.
"You know what, it's not my style for people to put other people down to uplift somebody else. That's not my style and that's not what I'm with and I don't support that, however I've been taking a lot of sh*t today," Cardi told the camera.
She continued; "I'm seeing a lot of bullsh*t today and I saw a lot of sh*t last night and I'm sick of this sh*t. I work hard for my mother f*cking album."
She referred to last year's criticism, which was supportive of her in comparison to this year;
"Everybody was like, 'Cardi got snubbed! Cardi got snubbed!' Now this year's a f–king problem? My album went two times platinum my n*gga and every chart that there was my album was always top ten, number one album as well!"
Cardi's baby Kulture was born on July 10 last year, and fell pregnant while creating the winning album;
"I f–king worked my a– off, locked myself in the studio for three months my n—a and then went to sleep in my own bed sometimes for four days straight—pregnant!" she said about it.
"Some songs couldn't even get on the f–king album because my nose was so f–king stuffy from my pregnancy." Chance the Rapper was another artist who jumped to her defence, as well as J. Cole:
I listen to my album and I cry because I know the hell I went thruu doing the album is always a bittersweet memory. THANK YOU EVERYONE THAT SUPPORTED ME AND LISTEN .Im thankful and grateful and again thank you to all the artist that gave me a feature . pic.twitter.com/XhYxwtj6Gl
Chance the Rapper called her victory "overly deserved," with J. Cole writing: "I don't never wanna be propped up by tearing somebody else down. Seeing Cardi B win a Grammy make me feel like I won."
Cardi re-tweeted the messages, saying;
"I listen to my album and I cry because I know the hell I went through doing the album is always a bittersweet memory," she typed alongside Chance's screenshot.
"THANK YOU EVERYONE THAT SUPPORTED ME AND LISTEN. I'm thankful and grateful and again thank you to all the artist that gave me a feature."
i don’t never wanna be propped up by tearing somebody else down. Seeing Cardi b win a Grammy make me feel like I won. Same with jay rock and Anderson. I feel for Travis cuz he really deserved that acknowledgement as well, but his moment is way bigger than the awards could say
Lady Gaga has been outspoken about how difficult the music world is for women, saying at the Golden Globes: "As a woman in music it is really hard to be taken seriously."
The 32-year-old wrote her award-winning song Shallow about communication and having your voice heard;
"This song is a conversation between men and women. Asking each other questions about life and a desire for more depth of the shallowness of a modern era."
We LOVE seeing women support other women, keep it up Gaga.
Warning: this article may be upsetting for anyone who has experienced sexual abuse, assault or harassment.
In case you've missed the drama surrounding R Kelly following the release of a six-hour length Lifetime documentary regarding his sexual predation, the explosive TV episodes have one again brought the dangerous rapper to light.
Horrifying allegations have been made against singer R Kelly for three decades, including an upsetting trial involving 21 counts of child pornography.
The six-part documentary made by Dream Hampton, Surviving R Kelly, retraced reports of the R&B artist's consistent manipulation and abuse of underage girls and sexual misconduct going back 30 years, for which he has never faced any consequences.
Lady Gaga is now being sufficiently ROASTED for declining to appear in the documentary, despite having collaborated with him back in 2013 on the (ironic) track Do What U Want.
Twitter users are calling her out on her debated hypocrisy, as she plays a large role in the #MeToo movement and declared that she has had her own abuser, though won't name him, yet works with known paedophiles.
Her silence in 2019 on the issue has allowed the public to instead retrace a damaging 2013 interview, where the Shallow singer DEFENDS him while in Japan;
"R Kelly and I have sometimes, very untrue things written about us, so in a way this was a bond between us." Whoa, whoa, whoa. This doesn't look good for Gaga, we have to admit.
I'm confused how #LadyGaga can be so vocal in her support of #MeToo yet remain silent about R. Kelly who by the time she collaborated with him was a well known pedophile and sexual predator. #SurvivingRKelly
She is choosing to remain silent for the moment, though more than a dozen victims who claim to have been raped, enslaved and abused while underage by Kelly have spoken out in the documentary.
Gaga was one of many celebrities who declined to participate in the Surviving R Kelly series, as well as Jay-Z (another collaborator), Dave Chapelle and Mary J Blige.
The move has angered many Gaga fans, given her public history of supporting sexual assault victims.
While Lady Gaga is getting ready for the #GoldenGlobes…she is still silent on R. Kelly…
Jay Z, who during that time did a collaboration album with him, also choose to stay silent…
Is this your pop queen? Is this your Hip-hop king? #SurvivingRKelly
The rage online is palpable, as numerous fans have pointed out that this exact silence is how Kelly has been left to his own enabled devices for years.
In reality, he has had a support system around him who helped him with his predation.
Despite his child pornography trial taking place in 2002, hundreds of high profile celebrities have collaborated with him since, and are potentially only appearing regretful now because it is damaging to their brand.
Here some of the people who have collaborated with R Kelly since his 2002 indictment:
-Jay-Z
-The Game
-T. I.
-T-Pain
-Ludacris
-Kid Rock
-Usher
-Keri Hilson
-2 Chainz
-Lil Wayne
-Jeremih
-Nick Cannon
-Snoop Dogg
-Ciara
-Bow Wow
-Chance the Rapper
A conversation has also arisen surrounding the notion of sexual assault victims and race, with many pointing out that if these women had been black, their stories may have ended differently.
Chance the Rapper has apologised for collaborating with the singer, but upset many people by admitting that he didn't care about the women because they were, in fact, black.
"Making a song with R. Kelly was a mistake. I didn't value the accusers' stories because they were black."
His honesty may be important in continuing this important talk, but the words have understandably hurt millions of women of the black community, who face oppression daily in America.
He later apologised for the quotes, saying they were taken out of context and explaining that the focus should be on the fact that those young black victims were never cared for.
Jada Pinkett Smith is among the celebrities who are asking the same imperative question; Do young black women matter?
“It was incredibly difficult to get people who had collaborated with Kelly to come forward." Heartbreakingly, even friends such as Questlove declined to appear, despite believing the accusers' words.
John Legend was the only high-profile person who appeared in the film, writing on Twitter that it was an "easy decision":
To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn't feel risky at all. I believe these women and don't give a fuck about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy decision.
R. Kelly has continuously denied the allegations and was acquitted in 2002 of child pornography charges, yet the evidence to the contrary is overwhelming.
The documentary is massively upsetting to watch, with woman after woman telling stories with paralleling patterns of his behaviour.
Families of young women are still claiming that their daughters are being held captive by R. Kelly as 'sex slaves.'
Chicago reporter Jim DeRogatis made a report in July of 2017 in which he asserts that Kelly keeps his victims captive in Chicago and Atlanta, and two victims (Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary) remain in his captivity.
Human rights organisation BlackWomensBlueprint tweeted,
"The sad truth is survivors still face push-back from naysayers who question their stories or dismiss the crisis of sexual assault- especially against black women and girls. It's a terrible burden to have to endure."
Jerhonda Pace, a survivor of R.Kelly, said, “I felt like a prisoner. I didn’t have anyone to talk to. It was just me. I went into a depression. I was mentally drained, because he would break me down, then build me up, then make me feel like sh*t again, then do it all over again."
"He would really manipulate my mind. The breaking point for me was when Rob slapped me, and he choked me until I blacked out," she concluded.
Let's not forget that when the singer was 27-years-old, he forged then 15-year-old R&B sensation Aaliyah's documents to claim she was 18 in order to marry her.
The Princess of Urban Pop later died in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001 after the unlicensed pilot had cocaine and alcohol in his system.
The documentary's film-maker Dream Hampton claims she hopes "Surviving R. Kelly" serves as a starter tool to "shift culture" and "talk about rape culture and organise against patriarchy, which harms us all."
Non-for-profit advocacy organisation Color of Change tweeted the "strength of black women & girls is determined by how much suffering we can endure. The women in #SurvivingRKelly are our heroes."
Let's hope the conversation will finally spark action and justice for these women.
