NEWS
The group of protesters voicing their support for Diddy outside of his criminal trial, when it kicked off earlier this month, allegedly found the gig through someone on Craigslist. According to illseed from AllHipHop, the people each allegedly made $20 an hour to wear shirts that had slogans in support of the Bad Boy mogul.
illseed writes: "So how did it all fall apart? After the Craigslist ads went up, I was told, the info ended up in a WhatsApp group. Or is that Signal? Either way, you get what I am saying. From there, it spread like wildfire. One of the people in that group — a mental health patient — told their therapist. The mental healthy specialist someone else, who told another person… and eventually, it got to me."
While the protesters may have allegedly been paid to wear "Free Diddy" shirts, 50 Cent has been promoting the shirt for free. Earlier this week, he shared an edited photo of himself attending the Indiana Pacers game against the New York Knicks, in which he changed his shirt to display the slogan.
Diddy's criminal trial has been going on for several weeks now. He's facing one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
On Wednesday, his legal team made headlines by attempting to request a mistrial after arson investigator Lance Jimenez testified about fingerprints connected to a trespassing incident at Kid Cudi's home from 2011. According to CNN, Jimenez said he collected those prints to compare to evidence retrieved from the arson incident involving the rapper's car.
When he noted that an LAPD officer allegedly destroyed the evidence in August 2012, Diddy's defense team quickly objected. They argued that the line of questioning baselessly implied Diddy had a role in the move. Judge Arun Subramanian ended up denying the motion for a mistrial, but agreed to strike the testimony from the record.
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
