Celebrities
Ed Sheeran faces trial for plagiarism on ‘Thinking Out Loud’
Ed Sheeran, a British megastar, will testify in court to defend himself against claims that he plagiarized Marvin Gaye for his international hit song “Thinking Out Loud.”
Ed Sheeran, a top-charting artist and internationally successful pop star, has been informed by a federal judge that he must go to trial in response to claims that he plagiarized Marvin Gaye’s 1973 smash song “Let’s Get It On” on his 2014 track “Thinking Out Loud.”
In his application to the court, Ed Sheeran argued that the copyright claims should be rejected because they were “baseless” and “far too frequent.”
The plaintiffs claim that Ed Sheeran and his writing partner Amy Wadge copied and exploited, without authorization or credit the Marvin Gaye song, “including but not limited to the melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bass line, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation, and looping.” They are seeking $100 million (£90 million) in damages.
A lawsuit was recently filed against Ed Sheeran and his songwriting partners John McDaid and Steven McCutcheon over claims that a chorus from their song “Shape of You” was lifted verbatim from Ross O’Donoghue and Sami Chokri 2015 single “Oh Why.”
The High Court Judge ruled that the imitation was “not purposefully nor unconsciously” made during the trial that took place in March 2022. Ed and his co-defendants were given £900,000 in costs.
Ed wrote on his Instagram page following the court decision that he hoped it would put an end to more unfounded claims. Ed Sheeran is not yet getting his desire, though, as he must deal with another lawsuit.
Celebrities
‘Morayo can’t grow on me’ — Kess joins critics of Wizkid’s album
Kess Adjekpovu, former Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) housemate, has criticised ‘Morayo’, Wizkid’s fifth studio album.
Last Friday, the Grammy-winning Nigerian singer delivered the album after months of teasing.
‘Morayo’ is a tribute to Jane Dolapo Balogun, Wizkid’s late mother, who passed away in August 2023.
In the project, Wizkid featured Asake, Brent Faiyaz, Jazmine Sullivan, Anaïs, and Tiakola.
Kess shared his thoughts on the new album in a series of X posts on Tuesday.
The reality star said he fell asleep while attempting to listen to the album.
“Decided to listen to ‘Morayo’. Sleep catch me. Up and grateful. ‘Morayo’ still never sweet me. I guess it can’t grow on me,” he said.
https://x.com/Kess_Adjekpovu/status/1860973568026152993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1860973568026152993%7Ctwgr%5Ee5063e1239484b5feb8c87cc76c8e92addd61c4c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flifestyle.thecable.ng%2Fbbnaijas-kess-criticises-wizkids-album-morayo%2F
https://x.com/Kess_Adjekpovu/status/1861266328096559330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1861266328096559330%7Ctwgr%5Ee5063e1239484b5feb8c87cc76c8e92addd61c4c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flifestyle.thecable.ng%2Fbbnaijas-kess-criticises-wizkids-album-morayo%2F
‘Morayo’ has garnered both praise and criticism from listeners since its release.
While some music lovers have appreciated the project, commending its unique sound and artistic direction, critics have pointed out various aspects of the album that didn’t quite meet their expectations.
Kess was a housemate on season seven of the BBNaija reality show in 2022.
Celebrities
Helen Ukpabio demands N200bn damages in defamation suit against Bloody Civilian
Helen Ukpabio, the founder of Liberty Gospel Church, has demanded N200 billion in damages from the singer Bloody Civilian after the latter alleged that she encourages child lynching.
Earlier on Friday, Bloody Civilian, born Emoseh Khamofu, had alleged that Ukpabio “literally made people burn their children alive”.
Khamofu commented on a post celebrating the cleric’s 60th birthday.
She also posted a YouTube documentary wherein Ukpabio’s methods and ideology were criticised.
Reacting to her tweet, Imabong, Ukpabio’s daughter, threatened to take legal action against Khamofu if she didn’t delete the post.
“I give you the next five hours to take this down, or I will educate you in court!” Imabong wrote.
But in a letter from her legal representative, Ukpabio described the allegations as “reckless, satanic, and libellous”.
She demanded that the singer issue a retraction and public apology on all social media platforms and ten national and international dailies within 72 hours.
The cleric also requested that the singer pay N200 billion as “damages for distress, trauma, pain and anguish”.
The letter added that the demands must be met in 72 hours.
She claimed the allegations had been investigated by the police and have been concluded to be “grossly false”.
“Our client’s attention has been drawn to your reckless, satanic, and libellous posts on X (formerly Twitter), one of the world’s largest social media platforms,” the letter reads in part.
Responding to the letter, Blood Civilian made light of it by teasing that she is offering other services like comedy to afford the damages.
“This December I will be adding the following to my services: weddings, standup comedy and settling disputes,” she wrote.
Celebrities
Plantashun Boiz attempted reunions failed because I wasn’t invited, says Blackface
Blackface, the Nigerian dancehall singer, says Plantashun Boiz, a defunct music group, multiple attempts to reunite failed because he was not included.
Formed in 2000 with 2Baba and Faze, Plantashun Boiz disbanded in 2004 but briefly reunited in 2007 for an album.
In a recent episode of the ‘Curiosity Made Me Ask’ podcast, the host asked Blackface if there was any chance that the group might come back together.
The singer disclosed that his colleagues had attempted to reunite without him but were unsuccessful.
“Without me, they have tried and they have failed. Many times. You saw them in all those shows that they were going,” he said.
“They tried but they failed. But what I must say is I’m the plantation. So let it be known. Forget the fake memo that they spread before.”
In September, Blackface called for the reunion of the defunct music group.
He urged fans to join the mission, emphasising that “unity is strength, not division”.
“My people oya make una talk put mouth for this matter! We are on a mission for world peace and it’s not a small-time thing,” he said in pidgin English.
Since 2015, Blackface constantly tackled 2Baba for recording 2004 hit ‘African Queen’ which he claimed he wrote.
In 2017, he argued that 2Baba “sabotaged” his career in the music industry.
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