Pop Shots – Judgement Calls

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Megan Thee Stallion wanting a no smoking sign, to Sabrina Carpenter’s suspicious Spotify spike, to Fat Joe not having nearly enough information, and since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* During a concert in her hometown of Houston, TX, Megan Thee Stallion joked she’d end the show early if the crowd continued to smoke weed, saying, “I don’t want to be high.” In a related story, Snoop Dogg can’t wait to go to Houston.

* Justin Timberlake was arrested for driving while intoxicated in the Hamptons. It looks like he’ll be saying “Bye Bye Bye” to his driver’s license for a while.

* A rare Taylor Swift demo CD from when she was just a sixth grader was sold at auction for $12,505. Now that Taylor’s been reminded this demo exists, she’ll probably press it on vinyl, create 17 variants, and launch a line of merch based on it.

* Sabrina Carpenter has found herself at the center of a conspiracy theory that might be more fact than fiction. Spotify users took to social media to show that when auto-play is used on the app Carpenter’s two most recent singles are quite often the next song played, regardless of the artist a user just listened to. Since her streaming numbers are why she’s at the top of the charts, the word payola is being thrown around. Honestly, how could it not be? This is so egregious they might as well have paid Funk Flex to drop the bomb on her songs. It would’ve been less obvious.

* Nick Jonas will be returning to Broadway in the Spring of 2025 in the revival of the musical The Last Five Years. He can look forward to seeing other former Disney stars on Broadway … panhandling.

* Fat Joe hopped on Instagram Live, and for some God unknown reason decided to exalt Chris Brown. Joey Crack said, among other things, “If Chris Brown never got into the controversy with Rihanna, we would be calling him Michael Jackson right now,” and, discussing that “controversy,” aka the time Brown nearly killed Rihanna, “It’s time we move past it, it’s been 20-something years. That I know of, there’s no more incidents.” In reality Brown has seen more charges than stolen credit card, and another of Brown’s ex-girlfriends, Karrueche Tran, was granted a restraining order against him after she accused him of abuse. Perhaps Fat Joe should take a cue from G.I. Joe, because …

* Coldplay announced their 10th studio album, Moon Music, will arrive on October 4th. Hey, I didn’t know they had elevators on the moon!

* A day after reggaeton artist Don Omar revealed he was battling cancer, he announced he is now cancer-free. Speaking as a fellow survivor, that’s the best “Grand Opening / Grand Closing” in history!

* Country legend George Strait broke the attendance record for the largest concert ever held in the U.S. when 110,905 of his fans packed his show at Kyle Field at Texas A&M. The record was previously held by the Grateful Dead, who had 107,019 fans in attendance at their 1977 show at Raceway Park in New Jersey. While Strait now has the record, the Dead inspired the far more entertaining news segment.

That’s all for this edition of Pop Shots, but come back next Monday for more shots on all things pop.