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.
At the BTS concert in Tokyo on Friday (April 17), j-hope opened up to ARMY with heartbreaking news. His grandmother, who played a major role in raising him and had always been proud of his journey with the group, has passed away.
Speaking to the packed crowd at the Tokyo Dome, the K-pop star chose to be open with fans about what he was going through. “Honestly, this might be a bit of a heavy thing to share, but I really wanted to express how I’m feeling today,” he said, translated from Korean into English. “Right after we arrived in Japan, I got the news that my maternal grandmother, the one who raised me from when I was little, had passed away.”
“I felt completely stunned and did not really know how to process it at first, but being around the members, sitting down together for meals, and focusing on rehearsals helped me more than I thought it would,” j-hope went on. “My grandmother was always incredibly proud, not just of me but of all the members. She truly believed in what we do. So I feel like if she was watching from above today, she would have loved every second of it.”
He closed by thanking the audience for making his first performance after the loss feel meaningful and full of support.
BTS are currently touring in support of their new album ARIRANG, which has just earned a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Following three opening shows in Goyang, South Korea, the group is set to perform twice at the Tokyo Dome before heading abroad for the North American leg. Before the tour wraps in March next year, they will also visit Latin America, Europe, Australia, and several other regions across Asia.
On the same day as the first Tokyo concert, j-hope’s solo interview with Rolling Stone was released. During the conversation, he spoke about stepping into a leadership presence within the group. “I think that’s my role on the team,” he shared. “It just comes naturally. It feels strange to even call it a role, but I just try to handle things as they come and support the other members in any way I can.”
Additional reporting from Billboard Korea.
