Taylor Swift is considered by many to be a creative artist and writer, but that isn’t stopping one author from claiming the pop star ripped her off – and she’s suing. Teresa La Dart published a book of poetry and pictures in 2010 called “Lover.” In 2019, Tay Tay released her “Lover” album – which was accompanied by a book of writings and pictures also called “Lover” – and that’s the conflict.

According to the lawsuit, La Dart claims Taylor and her company lifted crucial elements of her book for Taylor’s book of the same name – a book that went on to sell nearly 3M copies in the US alone. So what exactly did Taylor allegedly lift from the original “Lover?” Well, the lawsuit claims, there’s the title – identical. The concept of Taylor’s book – “a recollection of past years memorialized in a combination of written and pictorial components” – also identical, according to La Dart. And, she says, the particular style of photos on the cover and in the foreword is too close to chalk up to coincidence – particularly the use of pastel blues and pinks in the color schemes of both books.

The lawsuit is asking for more than $1M in damages. But according to veteran litigator Aaron Moss, who runs the website Copyright Lately, “As far as I can tell, she isn’t claiming that any of the actual content is similar. The idea of memorializing a series of recollections over a number of years by interspersing ‘written and pictorial components’ isn’t protectable,” adding, “If it were, this person might as well sue anyone who’s ever written a diary or made a scrap book.”

Source: Billboard

Luke Bryan has always been a big supporter of farmers, and now he’s working with them on a new snack. The singer has teamed with Fendt North America for a limited-edition line of popcorn made from corn grown on his farm with the help of his farmer friends from Merritt Pop Co.

Fendt & Luke Bryan’s Boldly Grown Popcorn will be available starting at 12 pm ET tomorrow here. They come in two flavors – Bold Butter and Chart Toppin’ Churro –  and sell for $5 a bag while supplies last. After it sells out Fendt will donate $25,000 to the National FFA Organization, a youth organization that promotes leadership and careers in the science, business, and technology of agriculture.

“I’ve sung about farming my entire career, so having the chance to work with Fendt to grow my favorite snack for my fans is pretty special,” Luke shares, noting his Fendt tractor is, “Hands down, it’s the perfect tractor for the job.”

Source: Luke Bryan

Kane Brown brought out a very special guest at his Oklahoma show this weekend. The singer was joined by his good friend Randy Travis, who sat on stage in a wheelchair. Kane then serenaded the country legend with his classic tune “Three Wooden Crosses,” much to the delight of a beaming Randy.

In fan shot footage you can see Kane start the song standing and then ask for a chair in order to sing the song sitting alongside Randy.

Of course, Kane has sung the song for Randy before. He performed it at the CMT Artists of the Year ceremony last year when Randy received the Artist of a Lifetime Award.

While Blake Shelton’s career is certainly hotter than ever, now that he’s married to Gwen Stefani he admits his family life is more important, telling “Entertainment Tonight” he is now in a “new phase” of his life.

“Look, I love music and I love ‘The Voice.’ I love all the cool things I get to do with my job,” he says, “but those things all take a backseat now to Gwen and the kids and it’s just a new phase of my life,” referring to Gwen’s three sons.

Because of this Blake isn’t running to put out a new album, sharing, “I’m having fun putting out songs when I feel like it and luckily the record label allows me to do that.”

• And speaking of dropping new songs, Blake just released the new track “No Body,” along with a nineties-inspired video complete with the return of his mullet.

“[Wearing the mullet] felt completely natural to me,” he tells People. “Especially making the video in this particular bar. The air conditioning wasn’t on. It was hot in there.” He adds, “Hair was sticking to my neck and the side of my face. And I remember thinking, ‘Oh yeah, this is why I ended up cutting my mullet off,” noting, “Not because it wasn’t cool anymore or trendy, just because it was physically irritating.”

Willie Nelson and his wife reveal in a new interview with “The New York Times” that Willie caught COVID earlier this year and it was pretty severe.

“I had a pretty rough time with it,” he shares. “COVID ain’t nothing to laugh at, that’s for sure.”

Willie tested positive back in May, and not long after he canceled some performances, at the time blaming “a positive Covid case in the Willie Nelson Family band.” But it turns out it was him. The 89-year-old apparently woke up on his tour bus struggling to breathe and a test later came back positive.

“I had a nebulizer on the bus,” wife Annie Nelson tells the paper. “I started everything I could at that point, including Paxlovid. He had the monoclonal antibodies. He had steroids.” She says when the got home they “turned the house into a hospital,” and had a medical unit at the ranch.

“There were a couple of times when I wasn’t sure he was going to make it,” she says, noting it took six days before Nelson recovered. He was back on stage two weeks later.

Source: New York Times