Emma McKee | Showbiz Cheat Sheet Writer

Paul McCartney Said John Lennon Was Jealous He Didn’t Write 1 Beatles Song: ‘It Drove Him Nuts’

Emma McKee — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 23:23:00 +0000

In the years after The Beatles split, John Lennon insulted some of Paul McCartney’s work. He took shots at him through song and criticized him in interviews. Still, he had begrudging respect for one of McCartney’s most famous songs. It reportedly frustrated him that he didn’t write it himself.

Paul McCartney said John Lennon wished he had written ‘Yesterday’

In 1965, McCartney wrote “Yesterday,” a song he says came to him in a dream. It’s one of The Beatles’ most celebrated tracks and has been covered endlessly by other artists. According to McCartney, his bandmate liked the song so much that it irritated him.

“The worst thing for John,” McCartney said (per Cosmic Magazine), “was that he didn’t write ‘Yesterday.’”

McCartney said Lennon got visibly frustrated when he heard the song.

“I did,” McCartney said, “and he would get really quite biffed because you would be in New York and the pianist would go and hum the song. That would annoy him.”

McCartney wasn’t the only one to notice Lennon’s jealousy. His friend said he couldn’t stand it when people attributed the song to him.

“‘Yesterday’ drove him crazy,” friend Howard Smith told MOJO Magazine. “People would say, ‘Thank you for writing ‘Yesterday,’ I got married to it, what a beautiful song…’ He was always civil. But it drove him nuts.”

John Lennon told Paul McCartney the only good thing he did was ‘Yesterday’

In 1971, amid the fallout of The Beatles’ breakup, Lennon released the song “How Do You Sleep?” The song is a blistering attack on McCartney, a nuclear response to the song “Too Many People.” Even amid the attacks on McCartney, though, Lennon couldn’t bring himself to criticize “Yesterday.”

“The only thing you done was yesterday / And since you’ve gone you’re just another day,” Lennon sings.

Adding insult to injury, George Harrison played guitar on the song. He said he was glad he wasn’t the target of Lennon’s ire.

“I enjoyed ‘How Do You Sleep?’” he said in a 1987 interview with Musician Magazine. “I liked being on that side of it with Paul [chuckles] rather than on the receiving end.”

He shared his favorite songs by his bandmate

When asked about his favorite songs by his former bandmate, McCartney had three in mind: “Imagine,” “Instant Karma,” and “Beautiful Boy.”

“Obviously, ‘Imagine,’” he told BBC Radio (per Far Out Magazine). “‘Instant Karma’ is great, and the nice thing was, when I listen to the records, I can imagine him in the studio and go, ‘Oh ok, I know what he’s done. He’s just said to the engineer, ‘Gimme some Elvis echo. Bog echo.’”

He said that “Beautiful Boy,” a song Lennon wrote about his son Sean, is among his favorite songs of all time.

“I’m often asked for my favorite tunes kind of thing, and I always include ‘Beautiful Boy,’” he said.

In 1984, McCartney also included “Beautiful Boy” on his desert island picks.

“I haven’t chosen any of my records, so to sum up the whole thing, I have chosen one of John Lennon’s from Double Fantasy, which I think is a beautiful song, very moving to me,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. “So, I’d like to sum the whole thing [up] by playing ‘Beautiful Boy.’”

Beyoncé Was ‘Unable to Get Out of Bed’ Amid Harsh Backlash for Destiny’s Child Firings

Emma McKee — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:16:00 +0000

In 1999, Beyoncé found herself the target of backlash after former members of Destiny’s Child sued the group. They ultimately settled the lawsuits, but as the unofficial center of the group, Beyoncé began to receive negative attention. She said this was painful to go through, and made it difficult for her to get out of bed in the morning.

Beyoncé struggled as a result of public backlash

Destiny’s Child members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson were pushed out of the group and quickly replaced. They later filed lawsuits against Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Matthew Knowles, Beyoncé’s father and the group’s manager. The lawsuit accused the trio of breach of contract, defamation, libel, and fraud. They settled the lawsuit in 2002.

Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé, LeToya Luckett, and LaTavia Roberson | Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images

Sources have said that Luckett and Roberson were primarily frustrated with Matthew Knowles, but Beyoncé found herself bearing the brunt of public backlash. People labeled her a diva and described her as cutthroat. She said this was not easy on her.

“I am not a diva and never have been,” she said in 2003 (per Spin Magazine). “I would never say that I was grateful for the controversy, because it really was hell, but it certainly kept us newsworthy. I just remember being unable to get out of bed while it was all happening, and just crying the whole time.”

She said she loved being in a group

After Destiny’s Child went their separate ways, Beyoncé went on to have a tremendous solo career. She said that she loved working in a group, though.

“I do love sisterhood,” she told The Guardian. “I loved that being in a group was about compromise and sacrifice.”

She enjoyed the creative challenge of collaboration and having to determine what was best for the group as a whole.

“All of us — and not just me, this is about Kelly and Michelle also — whatever was best for the group, no matter whether it was best for us individually, would let something go,” she said. “That element of compromise and sacrifice taught me a lot about myself and about friendship.”

Beyoncé said the backlash made her more cautious

After the backlash from the lawsuit, Beyoncé said she became more cautious of how she presented herself publicly.

“I’m very conscious of what I say to people and how I treat them,” she said. “Maybe it’s the Virgo in me, but I tend to analyze myself a lot.”

Beyonce | Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood

She carefully considered her answers in interviews and analyzed all of her public interactions. She wanted to avoid a bad reputation.

“After this talk with you, I will walk away and immediately recap it,” she told the interviewer, adding, “I will try to work out what your intentions were with your questions, and what my intentions were with my answers. I’ve met a lot of horrible and nasty celebrities — and, no, I won’t tell you who — but I don’t ever want to become one myself.”

Paul McCartney Once Said Working With Kanye West Reminded Him of John Lennon

Emma McKee — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 20:37:00 +0000

Paul McCartney’s closest collaborator was John Lennon, and he once said that working with Kanye West brought him back to those Beatles days. McCartney and West worked together on songs like “FourFiveSeconds” and “Only One.” While the creative process between the two of them felt slightly new, McCartney said there was a quality to it that reminded him of Lennon.

Paul McCartney said working with Kanye West reminded him of John Lennon

When McCartney and West worked together, he played guitar while West seemingly sat by, distracted.

“I was tootling around on guitar, and Kanye spent a lot of time just looking at pictures of Kim on his computer,” he said, per Variety. “I’m thinking, are we ever gonna get around to writing?!”

McCartney realized that this was all a part of how West worked. He listened to the guitar and built songs off of it.

Kanye West and Paul McCartney | Michel Dufour/WireImage

“But it turns out he was writing. That’s his muse,” McCartney said. “He was listening to this riff I was doing and obviously he knew in his mind that he could use that, so he took it, sped it up, and then somehow he got Rihanna to sing on it. She’s a big favorite of mine anyway, so that just came without me lifting a finger.”

Upon reflection, McCartney said this was in some ways similar to how he worked with Lennon.

“When I wrote with John, he would sit down with a guitar. I would sit down. We’d ping-pong till we had a song,” McCartney told The Sun (per Time). “[Working with West] was like that.”

Paul McCartney said an artist like Kanye West could never replace John Lennon

McCartney has worked with a number of artists over the years. While he likes the collaborative process, he didn’t think anyone would be able to replicate what he had with Lennon.

“I don’t think it could be,” he told Rolling Stone. “At some point, you have to realize, some things just can’t be.”

Unlike his other collaborators, he and Lennon had the benefit of growing up together.

“John and me, we were kids growing up together, in the same environment with the same influences: He knows the records I know, I know the records he knows,” he said. “You’re writing your first little innocent songs together. Then you’re writing something that gets recorded. Each year goes by, and you get the cooler clothes. Then you write the cooler song to go with the cooler clothes. We were on the same escalator – on the same step of the escalator, all the way. It’s irreplaceable – that time, friendship, and bonding.”

He spoke about their collaborative process in The Beatles

McCartney described the “ping pong” process he employed with both West and Lennon.

“Writing with John was a lot easier because you’ve actually got a sounding board,” McCartney said on Fresh Air. “You’re sitting across from someone and we normally wrote on two acoustic guitars. So he’d be sitting there, I’d be sitting here and one of us would suggest an opening line. And then the other one would go okay and would make a suggestion for the second line. So you would kind of ping pong.”

Paul McCartney and John Lennon | Val Wilmer/Redferns

He said it made the songwriting process much easier.

“If a line was terrible, the other person would say that’s terrible and we’d scratch it,” McCartney said. “So just with that process of the two of us making this piece, it was quite easy. I don’t want to make it sound too easy but it made the process very enjoyable and easy. If you had a line that you were questioning in your own mind, if you were writing on your own, you could spend a good half hour going, ‘This is terrible, what can I do, think of something quick.’ Whereas with John, you just go, ‘Oh, this is terrible.’ He’d go, ‘Yeah, I know’, and we’d fix it. Between the two of us we would just improve it so it was easier.”

Beyoncé’s Extended Family Was ‘Not Happy’ With Her Name

Emma McKee — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 22:01:00 +0000

Beyoncé is typically referred to solely by her first name. Her name has been the title of one of her albums and is well known all throughout the world. Years ago, though, her family was less than pleased with it. When her mother, Tina Knowles, named her, the extended family expressed their displeasure.

Beyoncé’s family did not like her name, even though it was a tribute to them

When Knowles was pregnant with Beyoncé, she realized her family name, Beyince was fading out. Only one of her siblings had a son and she knew she was pregnant with a daughter.

“I said, ‘Oh, God, we’ll run out of Beyinces,’” she told Rolling Stone.

Beyoncé | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

She decided to keep her maiden name alive through her daughter. Though it was a tribute to the family, they were less than impressed with the name.

“My family was not happy,” she said. “My dad said, ‘She’s gonna be really mad at you, because that’s a last name.’ And I’m like, ‘It’s not a last name to anybody but you guys.’”

Beyoncé’s mother’s last name was slightly different from everyone else’s

In promotional images for Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé wore a sash with Beyince written on it. This was a nod to the family name, though it was not one her mother had.

“A lot of people don’t know that Beyoncé is my last name. It’s my maiden name,” Knowles said on the podcast In My Head With Heather Thomson (via Today). “My name was Celestine Beyoncé, which at that time was not a cool thing to have that weird name. I wanted my name to be Linda Smith because those were the cool names.”

Knowles explained that the difference in last names came down to an error on her birth certificate.

“(I) asked my mother when I was grown. I was like, ‘Why is my brother’s name spelled B-E-Y-I-N-C-E? You know, it’s all these different spellings.’ And my mom’s reply to me was like, ‘That’s what they put on your birth certificate.’”

Knowles’ mother tried to correct the error once, to no avail.

“So I said, ‘Well, why didn’t you argue and make them correct it?’ And she said, ‘I did one time. The first time, and I was told ‘Be happy that you’re getting a birth certificate’ because, at one time, Black people didn’t get birth certificates.”

Her husband never goes by his birth name

While Beyoncé almost exclusively goes by her given name, her husband, Jay-Z, never goes by his. His birth name is Shawn Carter, but he adopted Jay-Z years ago. People in his neighborhood began calling him Jazzy, and he created the name as nods to his mentor, Jaz-O, and the J/Z train line in his childhood neighborhood. Even his mother stopped referring to him as Shawn.

Jay-Z | Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation

“No, [my mom] calls me Jay,” he told The Guardian in 2010. “Nobody calls me Shawn except my grandmother.”

Blur’s Damon Albarn Said Kanye West’s Collaboration With Paul McCartney Was ‘Abusive’

Emma McKee — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:41:00 +0000

Paul McCartney and Kanye West worked together on “FourFiveSeconds” in 2015, much to the dismay of Damon Albarn. The Blur and Gorillaz artist said he warned McCartney against the collaboration, but McCartney didn’t listen. He shared why he thought the song was self-serving for West.

Paul McCartney spoke about what it was like to work with Kanye West

According to McCartney, when he and West met up to work together, he spent time playing guitar while a seemingly distracted West looked at his iPad.

He later realized that this was West’s method of writing a song.

“But it turns out he was writing. That’s his muse,” McCartney said. “He was listening to this riff I was doing and obviously he knew in his mind that he could use that, so he took it, sped it up and then somehow he got Rihanna to sing on it. She’s a big favorite of mine anyway, so that just came without me lifting a finger.”

Damon Albarn said he warned Paul McCartney about working with Kanye West

Before this creative session, Albarn warned McCartney about working with West.

“Before he decided to work with Kanye West, I sent a text message to McCartney saying, ‘Beware’, but he ignored it, he does what he wants, it’s Paul McCartney,” Albarn told the French magazine Le Nouvel Obs. “Kanye West is one of those people who feeds off of others.”

He believed that West wanted McCartney on the song for his name, not his artistry.

“I have a problem with this abusive collaboration: we’re talking about Paul McCartney, he’s so precious,” Albarn said. “We do not hear him in the song. Kanye West thinks only of Kanye West, uses a name to make headlines, to say ‘McCartney is in my song.’”

The former Beatle later responded to these comments

McCartney later said that he never would have listened to what Albarn told him. It’s not in his nature.

“He might have [texted me]. I don’t remember”, he told GQ. “But I wouldn’t listen to him. I don’t listen to people.”

Paul McCartney | Jim Dyson/WireImage

McCartney said he liked to make unexpected decisions.

“I love the respect someone like Damon is attributing to me, but I’m not that fussed,” he said. “If I want to go somewhere else from where I normally go or where I’m expected to go, I’ll go. And if I enjoy it, that’s enough for me.”

He added that some people’s reactions to the collaboration were enough to make it all worth it.

“The great thing is, all sorts of hysterical things come out of it,” he said. “The great thing is, all sorts of hysterical things come out of it. I mean, there’s a lot of people who think Kanye discovered me. And that’s not a joke.”

Elvis Presley’s Grandson Was so Similar to the Singer That It ‘Scared’ Lisa Marie Presley

Emma McKee — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:26:00 +0000

In 2020, Benjamin Keough, the grandson of Elvis Presley and son of Lisa Marie Presley, died. This came as a devastating loss to Lisa Marie, who had been extremely close with her only son. She said she had long worried about him, though. She explained why Benjamin’s similarities to Elvis began to concern her.

Elvis Presley’s grandson reminded Lisa Marie Presley of her father

Benjamin never met his famous grandfather, but they looked strikingly similar. Lisa Marie said their personalities matched too.

“Ben was very similar to his grandfather, very, very, very, and in every way,” she wrote in her memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown (via CBS News). “He even looked like him.”

Riley Keough, Lisa Marie Presley, Navarone Garibaldi, and Benjamin Keough | CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Image

Lisa Marie loved her father, but she said it frightened her to look at her son and see his traits.

“Ben was so much like him, it scared me,” she wrote. “I didn’t want to tell him because I thought it was too much to put on a kid. We were very close. He’d tell me everything. Ben and I had the same relationship that my father and his mother had. It was a generational f***ing cycle.”

Elvis and his mother, Gladys, were incredibly close. When he joined the army, she became so concerned about him that her health suffered, ultimately resulting in her death.

“Gladys loved my dad so much that she drank herself to death worrying about him,” she wrote. “Ben didn’t stand a f***ing chance.”

Elvis Presley’s granddaughter knew Lisa Marie Presley would struggle after her son’s death

Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough, said she began to worry about her mother after Benjamin’s death.

“I knew this was the end of her. You know?” Keough said. “I just couldn’t imagine a world where she would make it without him.”

Lisa Marie Presley | CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images

Lisa Marie died in early 2023, less than three years after her son’s death. Keough said she could tell there was something wrong in the weeks before she died.

“I think there was always sort of an undertone for me because of this feeling that I felt that I was on borrowed time with her,” she said.

They got matching tattoos after his death

After Benjamin’s death, Lisa Marie kept his body on dry ice in her Los Angeles home for two months. Before his burial, Lisa Marie got a tattoo to match one of his. He had her name on his hand, so she did the same with his name in the corresponding place on her body.

“I think that the story could — on paper, I can see how this sounds completely insane and absurd,” Keough said. “But I — my mom was just very much herself. And I — I don’t know if you knew her. There’s nothing — you know, she wasn’t a crazy lady,”

The tattoo artist studied Benjamin’s hand in the casket to get the placement right.

“[The tattoo artist], God bless him, was very normal about the whole thing,” Keough said.

She got her brother’s name tattooed on her collarbone, just as he had her name on his.

Justin Bieber Cut Ties With Kanye West After the Rapper ‘Crossed the Line’ With Posts About Hailey Bieber

Emma McKee — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:29:00 +0000

Justin Bieber and Kanye West once had a friendly relationship, but this reportedly changed in 2022. That year, West went after Hailey Bieber on social media after she showed support for Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson. Karefa-Johnson had drawn West’s ire after criticizing his “White Lives Matter” shirts. Bieber reportedly believed West crossed the line with his posts.

Justin Bieber reportedly cut ties with Kanye West in 2022

In 2022, Karefa-Johnson criticized West for wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt, prompting him to post derisive comments about her on social media. Gigi Hadid and Hailey Bieber came to her defense on social media.

“My respect for you runs deep my friend!” Hailey wrote in an Instagram story. “To know is to adore you and to work with you is an honor. the most kind. the most talented. the most fun. the most chic.”

Immediately, West turned his ire on Hailey.

“Wait Am I canceled again??? Justin [Bieber] please let me know,” he posted, per Page Six.

Kanye West performs onstage | Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

“They want corny a** Gigi Hadid and nose job Hailey Baldloose to rally behind an obvious Corey Gamble level nonfashion industry plant,” he wrote in another post.

He then shared a screenshot of a 2016 article about a rumored romance between Hailey and Drake.

“Get your girl before I get mad,” he wrote. “You spose [sic] to be my friend right.”

Bieber reportedly felt that West “crossed the line” with these posts. The couple reportedly were “hurt” by his comments felt he went “too far.” Bieber apparently began to distance himself from West at this point.

Justin Bieber previously supported Kanye West

Just two years before this, Bieber performed the song “Never Would Have Made It” at West’s Sunday Service. He also visited West at his Wyoming ranch to support him following a series of concerning tweets.

“They are on yet another RV road trip and decided to make a stop at Kanye’s ranch,” a source told People. “Justin wants to be supportive.”

Bieber and other friends of West traveled to the ranch to help him amid what appeared to be a mental health crisis.

“Those close to him are concerned, and this is everyone’s top priority to make sure that he’s safe and getting the help he needs,” the source said.

The Canadian singer has spoken about his own mental health over the years

In past years, Bieber has been open about his own mental health.

“He started off as a typical sweet, Canadian teen. He was such a great kid, honestly super sweet and very polite and nice to everyone around him. Having this huge amount of fame completely changed him,” a source told People in 2019. “He had access to anything and everything and was surrounded by people who just said ‘Yes.’”

Justin Bieber | Gotham/GC Images

He spoke about how important it is to seek help.

“A lot of people struggle with depression and people look at it like it’s a weakness,” he said. “Having help doesn’t mean you’re weak it just means like, you know you care about yourself and you care about those around you and you wanna be a healthy individual.”

Elvis Presley Made a Nasty Remark About a Bond Girl Who ‘Wanted Him Bad’

Emma McKee — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:50:00 +0000

During Elvis Presley’s film career, he made headlines for his relationships with his female co-stars. Elvis’ relationship with Priscilla Presley did little to stop his on-set flirtations. Often, these developed into full-blown affairs. There was one actor Elvis claimed to have little interest in, despite her blatant appreciation of him.

Elvis Presley made disparaging remarks about a Bond Girl’s appearance

In 1963, Elvis shot the film Fun in Acapulco with Bond Girl Ursula Andress. Priscilla Presley stayed at Graceland while Elvis filmed, and she often worried about the stories she heard coming out of the sets. Elvis claimed she had no reason to worry about Andress, though.

“Goddamn, she was a big woman,” Elvis told Priscilla and friends, per her book Elvis and Me. “Body like a man — no hips, and shoulders broader than mine. I was embarrassed to take my goddamn shirt off next to her.”

Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress | Paramount Studios/Courtesy of Getty Images

Priscilla saw Andress as an “alluring sex goddess,” so Elvis’ harsh words surprised her. She asked if he found Andress pretty, which he denied.

“‘Pretty?’ he snickered. ‘Hell, she had a bone structure so sharp, it could cut you in half if you turned too fast.’”

Ursula Andress said she enjoyed working with Elvis Presley

Andress, on the other hand, spoke highly of Elvis.

“The only way I knew him was from TV, this new idol, this hip-swinging lover with a guitar,” she said, per Express. “The first day I went to work, he came over, this humble man, full of charm, love in his eyes, and kindness, and being so considerate and warm. I was so surprised.”

Elvis’ friend and bodyguard, Sonny West, believed Andress’ appreciation of Elvis was more than platonic.

“They were very close,” he said. “She went after him. She wanted him bad.”

Despite this, Elvis didn’t think he had a chance with her. She was married to director John Derek, who was deeply in love with her.

“I’d be goddamned if I’d start a conversation with her and see his possessive eyes glaring at me,” Elvis said. “You know he gave her a car, and on the steering wheel it said, ‘Baby, you’re indispensable.’ Head over heels in love with her. Never saw anything like it.”

Priscilla Presley had greater concerns about his other co-stars

Elvis often told Priscilla that she had nothing to worry about. This didn’t stop her concerns, though. When Elvis was away on set, she read a constant stream of tabloid stories about his infidelity. The stories were particularly vexing when he worked with Ann-Margret Olsson on the film Viva Las Vegas. Newspapers even reported that he proposed to his co-star.

“Suddenly all the months of unbearable silence broke and I screamed, ‘What’s going on here? I’m tired of these secrets. Telephone calls. Notes. Newspapers!’”

Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret Olsson | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

Priscilla said her frustrations pushed her to the point of aggression.

“I picked up a flower vase and hurled it across the room, shattering it against the wall,” she wrote. “‘I hate her!’ I shouted. ‘Why doesn’t she keep her a** in Sweden where she belongs?’”

Elvis continued to deny the relationship, but told Priscilla he wanted a partner who could handle these types of rumors.

Lorne Michaels Worried Helping Keith Richards Avoid a Lifetime in Prison Might Backfire on Him

Emma McKee — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:37:00 +0000

In 1978, Saturday Night Live’s Lorne Michaels left New York for his native Canada in order to testify in Keith Richards’ trial. Police arrested the Rolling Stones’ guitarist on drug charges severe enough to land him in prison for the rest of his life. At Mick Jagger’s request, Michaels flew to Toronto to speak in favor of Richards. He worried this might backfire on him.

The Rolling Stones guitarist was arrested in Toronto

In 1977, Canadian authorities arrested Richards at a Toronto hotel. He had 22 grams of heroin in his suite, which was enough to charge him with possession with the purpose of trafficking. In Canada, this charge carried a penalty of seven years to life in prison.

Keith Richards after a day in court | Erin Combs/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Richards posted bond but a judge ordered him to remain in Canada until his trial.

“We think we can get Anita [Pallenberg] off with a fine and a slap on the wrist, but the thing with Keith is much more serious,” a source close to the band told Rolling Stone in 1977. “He could get a life sentence. We can’t figure it. We had no trouble getting the Stones into Canada, but we might have a hell of a problem getting them out again.”

Lorne Michaels helped Keith Richards avoid prison time

In 1978, Michaels traveled to Canada to appear as a character witness for Richards. Jagger asked him to testify and arranged for a private jet to fly him to Toronto. While Michaels was happy to help his friend, he worried his testimony could backfire on him.

“The week before, in New York, he’d been jumpy; he was pleased to be asked to do a favor for his close friend Mick, but what if he had to perjure himself?” wrote Susan Morrison in Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live (per Entertainment Weekly). “He knew that Richards wasn’t clean. (In a back room at the courthouse, Richards took a quick snort from a bag of coke he had in his pocket.) Seated in the Toronto courtroom, Michaels fixed on the portrait of the queen looking down at him and Richards. He said to himself, ‘I’m Canadian. I’m not going to lie.’”

Ultimately, this did not end up being a problem for Michaels. He only had to answer questions about Richards’ creative life. Michaels described the guitarist as the “catalyst of the band.” Richards got off with a suspended sentence and an order to perform a benefit concert.

“‘Canadians would not want to put a real artist in jail,’ Michaels said later. Whether the outcome was due to his testimony, or to the intercession of a blind teenage superfan who had made a private appeal to the judge, is impossible to know,” Morrison wrote. “Within hours of the verdict, members of the press corps were making ‘blind justice’ jokes.”

Lorne Michaels had recently seen Keith Richards at rehearsals for ‘SNL’

Just two weeks before the trial, the Rolling Stones hosted Saturday Night Live. Richards was meant to appear in two sketches, but they were ultimately cut as he “didn’t appear to know where he was” during rehearsal.

Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, and Mick Jagger | Fred Bronson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

“It’s nice to be standing and working with a dead person,” cast member Laraine Newman said, per Ultimate Classic Rock.

He performed with the band, however.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Assistant Called Him a ‘Predator’ Who Wanted People at His ‘Disposal’

Emma McKee — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 21:37:00 +0000

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ assistant worked for him between 2019 and 2021. In that time, he helped Combs put on his “Wild King Night” parties and said he saw an incredibly dark side to his boss. He said that he began to view Combs as a predator.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ assistant saw him as a predator

Combs’ assistant, Phil Pines, said that much of his job involved setting up Combs’ “Wild King Nights.” According to Pines, these were parties that often took place in hotel rooms with guest lists of young, impressionable women. Pines believed that Combs liked holding power over people, including friends and employees.

“He got me. It was a circus,” he said in the docuseries The Fall of Diddy (per The Hollywood Reporter). “He did whatever he wanted, and we were just at his disposal …”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs | BG017/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Pines believed his former boss was a predator in every sense of the word. He said Combs had an uncanny ability to push people past their boundaries.

“He’s a predator,” Pines said. “I mean that in a sexually charged way, in a manipulation way. He has an innate ability to make you feel comfortable and to make you do things for him that you would never do.”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ assistant said his boss expected total loyalty

Pines also alleged that Combs used alcohol to coerce him into sexual activity. He believed Combs did this because he wanted him to prove his loyalty.

“I remember hearing the words: ‘Prove your loyalty to me,’” he said. “He grabbed me by the shoulders, kind of gave me a quick massage, like a coach would give a player that’s about to enter the game, and handed me a condom, pushed me to a girl that was on the couch, a guest.”

Pines said that the young woman signaled her consent. He said he went forward with the act to avoid retaliation from Combs.

He has denied the claims made about him

In 2024, Pines brought forward a lawsuit against Combs. His lawyers responded to it.

“No matter how many lawsuits are filed, it won’t change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted, or sex trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor,” they said. “We live in a world where anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason. Fortunately, a fair and impartial judicial process exists to find the truth, and Mr. Combs is confident he will prevail in court.”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs | Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for Clear Channel

They also addressed the documentaries about Combs.

“These documentaries are rushing to cash in on the media circus surrounding Mr. Combs,” they said in a statement. “The producers failed to provide sufficient time or details for his representatives to address unsubstantiated claims, many from unidentified participants whose allegations lack context. By withholding this information, they made it impossible for Mr. Combs to present facts to counter these fabricated accusations. This production is clearly intended to present a one-sided and prejudicial narrative. As we’ve said before, Mr. Combs cannot respond to every publicity stunt or facially ridiculous claim. He has full confidence in the facts and the judicial process, where the truth will prevail: the accusations against him are pure fiction.”

How to get help: In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.