George Michael’s estate calls out Tory Lanez over unauthorized “Careless Whisper” sample

Ramadan began on April 2 this year, and Muslims observing the month are now one week into their fast. Last week writer Zesha Saleen wrote about how to fast safely. Here, in her brand new weekly column, she tells us how her first week of fasting has been...

Scott Disick and his new girlfriend, Rebecca Donaldson, made their red carpet debut on Thursday. The couple held hands on the red carpet at the premiere of Hulu's at Goya Studios in Los Angeles, California. Scott, 38, and Rebecca, 27, have recently been spotted out together, but this is their first official event.

Victoria Beckham can add 'authority on beauty' to her ever-growing list of accolades. So when she recommends something, we listen.Case in point? This Works In Transit Camera Close-Up. Taking to Twitter, VB once shared a picture of the product on her dressing table, with the caption: "This does work! @thisworks amazing!!!".

Kim Kardashian had a special date to the Los Angeles premiere of her family's new Hulu series,. The 41-year-old reality star arrived at Goya Studios on the arm of her boyfriend, Pete Davidson. Clad in a skintight silver Thierry Mugler gown and matching choker necklace, Kim walked the red carpet alone, but she and Pete didn't hide from the cameras as they made their grand entrance. The 28-year-old star wore white sneakers, a black suit, and a white T-shirt with shades as he held his girlfriend's hand. Pete will not appear on camera in the first season of the family's new Hulu series, but his romance with Kim will be widely talked about. Kim also teased in a recent article that he might be attending an event that will be filmed for season 2, which could be this very premiere. «I have not filmed with him,» she told the magazine last month.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThere’s a new regular Joe calling baseball games on Fox.Joe Davis, a veteran sportscaster who has been known on the West Coast for calling Los Angeles Dodger games and as a Fox Sports regular, will take over as the lead play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports’ Major League Baseball coverage. He succeeds Joe Buck, the longtime Fox baseball and football announcer who has moved to ESPN to work on “Monday Night Football.” Davis will join John Smoltz in the network’s lead baseball booth.“If you had asked me when I was 10 what I wanted to do when I grew up, I would’ve told you ‘Call the World Series.’ So when I say this is a dream-come-true, I really mean it,” said Davis, in a statement.  Davis and Smoltz, along with reporters Tom Verducci and Ken Rosenthal, are expected to call Fox’s coverage of the 2022 MLB All-Star Game, MLB at Field of Dreams Game and the MLB post-season Postseason, including its 25th Fall Classic.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorNetflix and “The Crown” producer Left Bank Pictures have been in discussions over a prequel to the British royal drama series, a source confirmed Friday. However, the prequel is not in development nor greenlit.The prequel would start with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, and would run up to where “The Crown” began, which was with the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.

Jimmy Kimmel is taking another shot at Marjorie Taylor Greene following her report of him to the Capitol Police.

Police are searching for a man who vanished after being dropped at Manchester Airport.

Stockport voters will go to the polls later this month in what looks to be another tightly-fought battle for control of the town hall. The council is currently run by Labour despite the Lib Dems emerging as the largest group at last year’s local elections.

More than 200 visas have been issued so far to Ukrainians being sponsored to stay at homes in Greater Manchester, new figures revealed today. But the publication of the welcome statistics comes amid an ever-growing backlash over the speed it is taking to process applications, with many families in Greater Manchester and across the country claiming delays were putting lives at risk.

Officers had a magical morning after a man they stopped claimed to be Paul Daniels to escape going back to prison.

Former Netherlands international Rene van der Gijp insists Erik ten Hag must be allowed to breathe a new lease of life into Manchester United this summer, admitting that "players like Paul Pogba" need to be moved on.

This May, Melanin Markets will take over the Royal Exchange Theatre, celebrating and showcasing black-owned businesses in the UK. Following the success of its Christmas-themed event last year at Contact Theatre, Melanin Markets Manchester returns on Sunday, May 8 on an even bigger scale.

There are 53 candidates standing in Tameside’s local elections next month when one seat will be up for grabs in each of the borough’s 19 wards. The council is currently dominated by Labour, who hold 51 of its 57 seats, with the remainder taken by the five-strong Conservative group and a lone Green.

Happy Friday readers. Tom Grater here looking back on the week’s top international headlines.

Blossoms are teasing a new single they say “sounds like Dire Straits, George Michael and Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel.”Frontman Tom Ogden took to a video he posted on Twitter to share details of the track ‘The Sulking Poet’, which is due to drop tomorrow (March 24), before sharing footage of the band performing the song in the studio.Ogden said the title came from a “Blossoms fan page, which referred to me as the sulking poet”.It follows on from previous singles ‘Ode To NYC’, ‘Care For’ and the title track from forthcoming new album ‘Ribbon Around The Bomb’.New single. The Sulking Poet.

EastEnders actor Cheryl Fergison, who rose to fame as the lovable Heather Trott in the BBC soap, had a wild ride in Albert Square.From her unrequited love with Minty Peterson to a shock pregnancy with Darren Miller, Heather had many different storylines throughout her five-year run on the show.Her character was killed by Ben Mitchell who hit her in the head with a photo frame back in 2012, and the George Michael and karaoke loving sidekick of Shirley Carter was greatly missed.Since leaving EastEnders, she has made guest appearances on The Saturday Night Show and Loose Women before she went into the Celebrity Big Brother house for the 10th season of the reality competition. In recent years, Cheryl has made no secret of her desire to return to a soap, even suggesting she could return to EastEnders as Heather's long lost twin.In one of CBB’s most iconic arguments, Cheryl pretended that she and Julie Goodyear have had a past disagreement and that they don’t get along.Cheryl accused Julie of giving her “evil eyes” from across the room and tried to confront her, but was quickly shut down by a seemingly short-tempered Julie who eventually threw a glass of water over her partner-in-crime.They managed to convince their co-stars and ended up becoming good friends, as Cheryl told her pal in the kitchen that she was “scared of her” before she entered the house, but that she has learnt “not to have a preconception” of people.Off-screen, Cheryl’s love life has been as dramatic as Heather’s.She was married to her first husband Jamshed Saddiqi from 2000 to 2008, with whom she had a son, and then moved on to a man she met online.

Madonna of ripping off her 1985 hit Into The Groove’ after she called him out for the ‘illegal’ interpolation of her track on Pluto’s Last Comet from his LP Alone at Prom. And now, the estate of the late pop legend – who died on Christmas Day in 2016 – is taking action to remove Lanez’s song Enchanted Waterfall – which also features on Alone at Prom – from streaming platforms after they ‘declined permission’ for him to use the sample last summer. Careless Whisper was co-written with Michael’s Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley and released in 1984.

Representatives for the George Michael estate have confirmed that they have taken action against the Tory Lanez track ‘Enchanted Waterfall’ which, they say, includes an uncleared sample from ‘Careless Whisper’, which Michael co-wrote with Andrew Ridgeley.

George Michael has ordered Tory Lanez to cease distribution of his track ‘Enchanted Waterfall’, which they say features an uncleared ‘Careless Whisper’ sample.According to a report from Variety, the late Wham! singer’s estate declined a request from Lanez for permission to use the track in mid-2021.They wrote in a statement: “It was brought to our attention that the song ‘Enchanted Waterfall’: by the artist Tory Lanez incorporated an unauthorised sample of ‘Careless Whisper’ written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley… requested permission for this use had been declined in June 2021 so we took immediate action on behalf of the writers, in collaboration with our publishers Warner Chappell Music, to prevent further exploitation as we will not tolerate any unauthorized use of any songs within the catalogues of George Michael and/or Andrew Ridgeley.As Stereogum point out, ‘Enchanted Waterfall’ has since been removed from Spotify but remains available on YouTube and Apple Music at the time of writing.Last year, Madonna also accused Tory Lanez of “illegal usage” of her 1985 single ‘Into The Groove’, which was sampled on his new track ‘Pluto’s Last Comet’.The song appears on Lanez’s recent sixth album, ‘Alone At Prom’, which is heavily inspired by the pop greats of the ‘80s.It would appear that Lanez sampled the lead synth melody behind ‘Into The Groove’ – written for the soundtrack of the ’85 comedy-drama Desperately Seeking Susan, which Madonna starred in – but didn’t credit the iconic popstar.In response, Madonna commented on a recent post of Lanez’s on Instagram, writing: “Read your messages tor [sic] illegal usage of my song get into the groove!”in a statement given to Rolling Stone, Madonna added: “I am tired of being

Charlie Amter Late last year, Madonna made headlines when she went after embattled rapper Tory Lanez for what she felt was unauthorized usage of her 1985 hit “Into the Groove” in his song “Pluto’s Last Comet.”“Read your messages tor [sic] illegal usage of my song Get into The Groove!” she wrote on Instagram, later adding in a comment to Rolling Stone, “I am tired of being taken advantage of and I mean business.”Now, another iconic name from the 1980s is speaking out against Lanez: the George Michael estate, who have taken action to get a different song (“Enchanted Waterfall”) from Lanez’s ‘80s-inspired fall 2021 album, “Alone at Prom,” yanked from Spotify. They claim it lifts from Michael’s 1985 hit “Careless Whisper,” which the singer wrote with Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley.