Latest news with #Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Noah Cyrus Performs With Billy Ray Cyrus After Family Drama Is Seemingly Resolved
Noah Cyrus is keeping her family's legendary music legacy alive thanks to the release of her latest album, which she recently performed live at London's Islington Assembly Hall on July 18. The 'July' singer-songwriter was joined on stage by her famous father, Billy Ray Cyrus, who attended the show with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Hurley. Noah and Billy Ray performed their song, 'Stand Still,' and a rendition of the country crooner's track 'With You,' which she reimagined for her album. In fan-captured footage, the father-daughter duo shared a warm embrace and praised each other in front of the crowd. Noah then fixed the feathers that had fallen off her dad's signature wide-brim hat. After the show, Noah shared a sweet message in tribute to her dad, whom she credited for her musical roots. 'Thank you always to my incredibly talented band and to my father, who I love so dearly, for joining us,' she wrote, in part, alongside stunning images and clips from the show. 'We got to sing 'Stand Still' and 'With You,' which is actually a song my father wrote from his childhood bedroom and was one of the first songs he ever wrote.' She added that the 'Achy Breaky Heart' hitmaker used to serenade her with the song throughout her childhood. 'That's been a song of comfort that he's sung to me since I was a little kid and it meant so much to me to be singing it together and share that moment with one another,' she continued. 'It's always been the gift of music that's brought us together. Feeling extremely grateful for the incredible fans who were singing every word from the new record. I'm one lucky girl.' The performance comes hot off the release of Noah's sophomore album, I Want My Loved Ones to Go with Me, which included her emotional lead single, 'Don't Put It All on Me,' with Fleet Foxes. The track was co-written with her brother, Braison Cyrus, and alluded to reported drama her family has faced in recent years. 'I have always been the observer in our family, and Braison wrote about how I tend to carry the weight of that on my shoulders,' the Grammy nominee wrote in a press release sent to Cosmopolitan. It seems that things are all good between the Cyruses, as Noah performed with Billy Ray and her older sis, Miley Cyrus, opened up about her connection to her parents in a May interview with The New York Times' The Interview podcast. 'My mom is like so in love with my stepdad Dom, who I also just completely adore,' Miley said of Tish Cyrus's marriage to Dom Purcell. 'And now that my dad, I see him finding happiness outside of that too, I can love them both as individuals instead of as a kind of, you know, a parental pairing.' 'At first, it's hard,' Miley said, referring to her parents' budding romances with new people. 'The little kid in you reacts before the adult in you and go, 'Yes, that's your dad, but that's just another person that deserves to be in his bliss and be happy.''
Cosmopolitan
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Read Jordyn Taylor's ‘See You at the Summit' Excerpt, See Cover Reveal
One of the fun parts about being a journalist is getting to keep some major secrets and yes, it's even more fun when it involves some of your favorite people. When Jordyn Taylor originally told me that she was writing a bisexual romance, I absolutely could not believe it. It was a match made in heaven for the author, who will also be making her adult fiction debut with her next release. Several months later, she announced her big move and have been waiting for the first peek at this new Jordyn era! Well, luckily for all of us, the wait is finally over! Cosmopolitan has the first official look at Jordyn Taylor's See You at the Summit, which is set to be released on January 27, 2026. The novel follows Simone Whittaker as she kicks off her coming out her journey after years of hiding that she's bi. But her journey takes a turn when she meets one of her new co-workers that changes everything for her. Here's some info from our friends at Gallery Books: Already wondering about Simone and Ryan's big work trip together? Peep the colorful skis that made us fall in love with See You at the Summit's cover below! And that's not all! You can also read the first chapter below! Just make sure to pre-order See You at the Summit and check out some of Jordyn's previous reads to hold you over before its big release! Simone felt like her chest was going to implode from the enormity of what she'd just posted on the internet. Was it possible to die of sheer panic? She could have googled it, except that would mean looking at her phone, and that would only increase her chances of a panic-induced death, if such a thing were indeed possible. Also, her fingers were frozen. She could have taken the streetcar to the Queen subway. Realistically, she should have taken the streetcar, if only to avoid showing up to work on her first day looking like she'd just come off a disastrous ski run. But on this particular morning, she hadn't wanted to cram herself in with other commuters any more than she needed to. Too claustrophobic. Tugging the zipper of her parka as high as it would go, she leaned into the frigid January wind whipping down Queen Street. The icy gusts had already frozen her damp ginger curls solid, and while the cold definitely stung, it wasn't the only reason her eyes were watering. Simone pictured her parents learning the news. They were currently doing the snowbird thing and spending the winter at their condo on Florida's Gulf Coast. She had just been down there over the holidays with them, as well as her two older brothers and her brothers' wives and children. Simone, who was turning thirty this year, had been the only unpartnered adult—as her mother had pointed out numerous times. Right now, Kathy Whitaker was probably perched on her balcony in a matching loungewear set, sipping green tea with lemon and nibbling a slice of toast with a translucently thin layer of cream cheese. Simone's recently retired father, George, was likely on the driving range already, warming up for today's round of golf with his buddies. George didn't have an Instagram account and could barely be counted on to see text messages, so he'd hear Simone's news through Kathy, who perused the app daily to keep tabs on her social circle. When Kathy saw the post, she'd be absolutely mortified, but the only signs of her disapproval would be narrowed eyes, a clenched jaw, and a sharp, sucked-in jet of air through flared nostrils. Hardly a dramatic shift from her typical demeanor—at least to the untrained eye. She'd take a sip of tea to force down her distaste, which would stay inside her forever, festering, and lash out when Simone least expected it. Simone remembered when she got her ear cartilage pierced in university. The first time Kathy saw it in person, she cloaked her disgust in a sort of compliment: 'You don't think it distracts from your natural beauty, darling?' As if Kathy really cared about promoting 'natural beauty.' Once Simone hit puberty, Kathy would bring her along to get their legs waxed, their eyebrows threaded, their curls straightened, their fair skin spray-tanned before vacations and special events. When it came to the cartilage piercing, Simone suspected she knew Kathy's real concern, the one her mother hadn't expressed aloud: that Simone had deviated from the narrow road Kathy had paved for her, from the version of womanhood that was considered acceptable at the family's country clubs in Toronto and Naples. Case in point: When the piercing got infected six months later and Simone was forced to take it out, Kathy let out a sigh of relief and said, 'Oh, thank God. I always thought that thing was so trashy, Simone. Men won't want to date you with all that crap hanging off your ears.' Simone gritted her teeth. No one had wanted to date her with or without the cartilage piercing, and she couldn't blame them. She'd been the one with the secret buried deep within her bones. That is, until now. Now, her secret was live on Instagram. Uncontained. Spreading. 'New year, new me,' she whispered into the wind, somewhat deliriously, before boarding the subway at Queen, riding it two stops north to College, and walking the rest of the way to the Village. She'd workshopped the post until two in the morning, then lain awake spiraling about it until her alarm had gone off at six thirty. Simone desperately needed caffeine. On Church, across the street from the large rainbow-striped building that was her new place of work, she ducked into a coffee shop and ordered enough cold brew to kill a horse. 'Big day today?' asked the guy who'd made her drink, nodding at the cup. Actually, yes! I just came out as bisexual after a lifetime of pretending to be straight! Besides the fact that it would have been a massive overshare, Simone still wasn't used to saying the word out loud: bisexual. Just thinking it made her equal parts excited and downright terrified. 'First day of work,' she told the barista. 'You got this,' he said. Simone wasn't sure about that, but she thanked him anyway. She'd been so nervous about coming out that she'd barely given thought to her new job as marketing project manager at the soon-to-open Rainbow Museum. In her interview, the founder, Frankie Marlow, had explained, 'We're not so much a museum as we are an immersive, multisensory museum experience—dedicated to celebrating, amplifying, and giving back to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.' Simone quickly gathered that 'immersive, multisensory museum experience' was fancy start-up-speak for 'an array of fun photo ops with loose educational tie-ins and an expansive gift shop,' but she hadn't chosen the Rainbow Museum for its cultural prestige. She'd chosen it because a) she'd just been laid off from her project manager job at an educational technology start-up and required money in order to live; and b) she'd been determined to come out, and starting a job at Toronto's new Capital of Queerness in the heart of the historic Gay Village seemed like an effective way to hold herself accountable. Cold brew in hand, she crossed the street. She'd interviewed for the job over Zoom, since the building had been a full-on construction zone before the holidays. Now that they were just one month away from the Rainbow Museum's grand opening, Simone was able to walk through the front entrance and see the space in real life. She smelled warm, earthy sawdust with sharp notes of wallpaper glue and fresh paint, and she was instantly transported to the scene shop in the theater where she'd been forced to perform in dance recitals as a girl. She didn't know the first thing about carpentry, but she'd always wished she could work backstage instead of performing in front of an audience. That was the reason she'd gone for a career in project management: she wasn't a big ideas person, but she was great at making sure other people's big ideas were executed smoothly. Simone was surprised to find no color at all in the lobby, the walls and ticket booth plastered with black-and-white shots of the city. The only clue to the magic that lay beyond was a jet-black sliding door with a blinking neon sign that said enter here in delicate rainbow letters. She approached the sign, and with a smooth whir, the door slid open for the dramatic reveal. Wide-eyed, Simone stepped into a dazzlingly bright and colorful atrium. In the center of the room was a ball pit with rainbow-colored balls, and shiny plastic slides that looked like rainbows arcing out of fluffy white clouds. There seemed to be other rooms branching off the atrium, but the archways were hung with thick sheets of plastic that blocked her view. Apparently, there was still plenty of work to be done. Frankie—who in addition to being the museum's founder was also its CEO…and her new boss—had said he'd meet her here at nine o'clock to give her the tour. She was early, as always. No matter how hard she tried to be on time, she was inevitably the first one to show up to dinner parties, the friend who held down the spot at the bar when everyone else was running late. Unable to wait any longer, she pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. There was a whole stack of text notifications. Cautiously, she scrolled through them. Two of her childhood friends, Laney and Mira, had said they'd seen the post and were proud of her; they wanted to celebrate at their next catch-up brunch. Her university friends had revived their long-dormant group chat with a slew of celebratory memes. There was even a 'Congratulations!' from her favorite Pilates instructor at the gym. Relief rippled through her—until she saw the text message from Kathy. It was only two words, but they were arguably the most ominous two words a parent could text their child: 'Call me.' It could only mean one thing: Her mother had seen the news. Simone glanced at the time in the corner of her screen. She still had fifteen minutes before she had to meet Frankie. She could call Kathy now, get through the first of what were sure to be many excruciating conversations about her newly revealed identity, and have a ready-made excuse to wrap things up early. She frantically looked around for somewhere private, her eyes landing on the nearest archway covered by a sheet of plastic. She hurried over and flung out an arm to sweep the plastic aside. Simone's hand collided with something hard on the other side of the sheet—something that gave way, making her gasp. She heard the creaking of wood, followed by a deep male voice shouting, 'NO!' Then came an earsplitting, ground-rattling crash. Followed by another creak, and another crash. Creak, crash. Creak, crash. On and on it went, like dominoes falling, until finally the cacophony stopped, and all Simone could hear was the deep voice letting out a roar of fury and frustration. It would have been easy to skitter away and avoid blame—no one had seen her, after all—but she couldn't just ruin someone's day and then leave them to pick up the pieces. Though she dreaded what lay on the other side, she swept the sheet back and surveyed the damage she'd caused. She'd assumed it would be bad. But not this bad. The room was designed like a larger-than-life garden out of Alice in Wonderland, with spindly metal flowers that stretched up to the high ceiling. The walls were covered in artificial moss, the concrete floor painted a rich forest green. In the center of the room—the star of the show—was a supersize dragonfly made of wood, its slender abdomen at least ten feet long. Only one of its wings was attached: a work of art in and of itself, with intricately carved veins. The remaining three wings, which had presumably been leaning against the wall next to the archway, were now lying in pieces at Simone's feet. A man wearing brown canvas pants and a tool belt stood at the other end of the wreckage, wincing as he clutched his wrist with the opposite hand. 'I am so, so sorry,' she squeaked. Then she noticed the rivulet of blood trickling from his wrist to his elbow and gasped. 'Here, take this.' Frantically, she yanked the damp napkin off her cold-brew cup and raced toward him. Simone was so focused on the man's injury that she failed to pay attention to her own feet, and she stepped on a piece of wing. Delicate wooden veins that had miraculously survived the fall now crunched and snapped under the heel of her boot. Simone stumbled. As she stumbled, she squeezed her plastic cup. As she squeezed her plastic cup, the lid shot off. And as the lid shot off, her entire vat of cold brew arced through the air, landing squarely in the center of the man's white T-shirt. 'WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!' he yelled, lunging backward and wrenching the front of the soaking-wet shirt off his skin. His glare hit Simone as she staggered to a stop. He was a few inches north of six feet, and he looked to be in his early thirties, with hazel eyes and tousled mahogany-brown hair that spilled onto his forehead and curled around his ears. His nose and cheekbones were lightly dusted with freckles, his square jaw cloaked in stubble. The fact that he was objectively very attractive made Simone even more embarrassed than she already was. At this point, she would have gladly welcomed death by panic-induced chest implosion. 'Let me help you,' she insisted, rushing over and dabbing at whatever she could reach: his bleeding wrist; his cold-brew-soaked shirt— He jerked his arm away from her. 'Jesus Christ! What is wrong with you? Can you not put that filthy napkin on my open cut?' 'Sorry,' she said quickly, crumpling the paper and shoving it in her pocket. She let out a shaky laugh. 'I'm useless.' 'Yes, you've made that abundantly clear,' he said. Instead of being offended, Simone was relieved they had something to agree on. She launched into another string of apologies, until the man silenced her with a stare that could have cut glass. Up close, Simone noticed that his eyes were strikingly unusual. His irises were gray around the outside, with a burst of greenish gold in the center. Like moss on a rock. Simone would have appreciated them more if they weren't smoldering with so much dislike. She desperately wanted to smooth things over. 'Please, tell me what I can do—anything.' His glare became even sharper than before. Meanwhile, his wet shirt was clinging to his abs—yet another part of his body she would have appreciated more under different circumstances. 'You can leave me alone so I can deal with the month's worth of work you just ruined.' 'A . . . month?' Simone felt like she was going to be sick (although she'd definitely reached the quota of fluid she could expel in this man's vicinity). 'Believe it or not, some people put actual hard work into the things they care about.' His gaze faltered for a second before hardening again. 'Why don't you go back to your fancy desk job and leave the lowly manual labor to me?' The words hit Simone like a slap in the face. What did he think, that she was waltzing through life? That she'd pushed through that hanging tarp without a care in the damn world? Little did he know that she was on the verge of potentially being disowned by her mother. Mr. Actual Hard Work didn't realize that she was going through her own personal hell, and that if he just made peace with her, he could take her morning from horrible to . . . well . . . slightly less horrible. But it would still have been something. Simone's bottom lip trembled. Not only had she wrecked his project, but apparently, she'd also come off as an elitist asshole without realizing it. She didn't trust herself to say another word, and crying in front of him would only make things worse. Before she could break into tears, she turned on her heel and hurried back into the atrium. He didn't call after her and she certainly didn't look back. Her new boss, Frankie, was standing next to the ball pit, waiting for her. 'Having a look around?' he asked brightly. He was young for a CEO—twenty-eight, according to the Globe and Mail profile she'd read before her interview—with a slim build and a patchy beard and moustache that didn't quite connect at the sides of his mouth. In that same Globe article, she'd learned how Frankie had started the Rainbow Museum as a series of pop-up events where guests could learn about queer history, pose for photos on elaborate rainbow-colored sets, and shop retail items from queer-owned companies. Photos from the pop-ups had gone viral, which had led to visitors lining up around the block, which had led to Frankie raising twenty million dollars in venture capital to open a permanent brick-and-mortar location in the Village, with plans to open more locations nationwide. The Globe had called Frankie a 'wunderkind'—and here was Simone, about to look like a total fool in front of him. 'I accidentally knocked over some pieces of the dragonfly sculpture,' she confessed immediately. She didn't want to keep quiet and have Frankie learn about the incident from Mr. Actual Hard Work. 'Oh no, do we need to go pick them up?' We need to not go anywhere near that man ever again, Simone thought. 'The guy who was working in there—I didn't catch his name—he said he could handle it on his own.' 'Ryan,' Frankie supplied. 'Our head carpenter. He and the rest of our production team have been working their asses off to get the place done by the end of the month. They're almost there.' They were almost there, she amended in her head. She still would have felt guiltier, if it hadn't been for his asshole comment at the end—his apparent assumption that she'd never struggled a day in her life. Men. They could be so self-centered. It was a good thing she didn't have to date them anymore if she didn't want to. 'You're sure he doesn't want our help?' Frankie asked. 'I tried,' Simone said, balling her hands into fists in the pockets of her coat. 'He wouldn't let me.' Frankie chuckled and shook his head. 'Straight people are such a mystery to me,' he said conspiratorially, as though he also assumed Simone found straight people to be a mystery. She felt a swelling in her chest, counteracting the pressure that had been there all morning. Then Frankie clapped his hands. 'Anyway, welcome to the Rainbow Museum! Allow me to give you the grand tour.' Excerpted from See You at the Summit by Jordyn Taylor. Copyright © 2026 by Jordyn Taylor. Reprinted by permission of Gallery Books, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC. See You at the Summit, by Jordyn Taylor will be released on January 27, 2026. To preorder the book, click on the retailer of your choice: AMAZON AUDIBLE BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS-A-MILLION BOOKSHOP APPLE BOOKS KOBO TARGET WALMART HUDSON BOOKSELLERS GOOGLE PLAY
Cosmopolitan
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
JT's Solo Era: From City Girls to Cultural Icon
'I am not into the shit y'all think I'm into.' Rap star JT1 is lounging on a couch in her stylist's Lower Manhattan wardrobe studio. It's the night before her Cosmopolitan cover shoot and nearly a dozen people move through the room, sidestepping racks of clothes and shoes stacked to the ceiling. But she isn't actually addressing any of us—that pointed 'y'all' is directed at her haters. Or more specifically, at the people who refuse to accept her growth, those who can't move beyond the 20-something member of the hip-hop duo City Girls they first encountered years ago. Back then, JT was hungry for stardom, a bit gritty. 'I'm really just not in that era no more,' she confesses. 1. Full name: Jatavia Johnson. We might be cousins! (You never know, right?)Make no mistake, she's not disparaging her early career or City Girls, which she founded with Yung Miami. When they really took off in 2018, they were the biggest female rappers to come out of Miami-Dade County since Trina, and their impact on music and culture has been undeniable. If you ever verbally punctuate a sentence, a point, or a cosign with 'period,' you have them to thank. If you go to a party or club where Southern hip-hop is played, you'll undoubtedly find yourself screaming the lyrics to their hit 'Act Up' at some point in the night. City Girls' 2023 album RAW, anchored by their hit 'Good Love' featuring Usher, was their final project together. 'It's not what I wanted, but it was what was destined to happen,' says JT about their split. 'But I don't feel regretful about it. I feel happy, in control, and like I'm where I'm supposed to be.' These days, that might include a few hours of coquettish leisure in Central Park. JT has plans to get a bike at some point, she says, and take an unhurried afternoon ride. (The bike must have a basket, she specifies, for the vibes.) Her excitement is so palpable, I want to grab a tiny bit of it for myself, to tuck away for the next time I need a pick-me-up. It's at once totally endearing and completely different from what I'd expected. When you grow up with an artist—especially during the trials and tribulations of your 20s—it's easy to lock them into a fixed time and perception. But it's also unfair. I had this realization in real time during our interview and had to adjust accordingly. Because while JT's early music absolutely found its audience, and many of her OG fans, myself included, still feel deeply connected to that version of her, she's ready to evolve. She wants her fans (including her 7 million Instagram followers) to see this new side of her, one that looks softer, moves steadier, and feels more settled, and to join her for the ride. 'I'm really ready to push myself to take them into another world,' she says. 'We've been at the club together—let's go somewhere else.' I got a preview of JT 2.0 this past winter. It was Valentine's Day Eve in New York City, at The Standard Hotel High Line's BOOM. Hundreds of revelers had gathered for Cosmopolitan's inaugural Love Ball. JT glided through the sea of partygoers toward the VIP section like a swan in open water: serenely poised, in her quintessential full glam,2 possessing the kind of pinup-girl pretty that makes you stare at someone for way longer than is socially acceptable. 2. That night, it was sandy brown hair down to her butt, cleavage up to her chin, and a minidress straight off the runway. Then came her performance. With a yellow Hermès Kelly on her arm, JT stepped onto the bar3 and moved across the glossy wood with intention, maybe even a hint of demureness, while rapping 'Okay' and 'JT Coming.'4 At one point, she expertly slipped out of her pink vinyl stiletto mules, à la Patti LaBelle, and finished her set barefoot. At minimum, it was a master class in reading the room, in demonstrating that not every setting calls for the same kind of showwomanship. But more than that, it felt like a revelation: This was JT in her solo era. 3. With the help of an extra-buff bodyguard who lifted up her 5'2" frame. 4. Sample lyrics: 'You know I'm vicious / Fenty lip gloss and I'm blowin' kisses / Pullin' up with forty bitches....I'm never tired of Birkins / Add a Louis lingerie and Fendi curtains.' 'I'm in a good place with myself,' JT says now, making this all make sense. 'People think that I'm talking about material things when I say that, but no. I just wake up so beautiful and excited. I just know that everything that I want to happen is already waiting on me.' In other words, the self-professed rap diva has range and has been showing it off in this latest chapter. So far, that includes preparing to put out new music this summer, recently dropping 'Ran Out' remixed by Kaytranada, having an ultra-viral TikTok and Reels track with 'Okay,' and releasing the July 2024 mixtape City Cinderella that cemented her solo artist status. The latter, a kind of reintroduction that offers a deeper sense of who she is, left her firmly rooted in this new world but with her core self still fully intact. 'I've always been who I am, which is a very powerful, talented, vocal, say-what-the-fuck-I-want-to say person,' she explains. 'I never not did what the fuck I wanted to do.' If there's one ideal quality to be consistent about, it might just be that. I'm always challenging myself, trying to be what the powerful women before me were. All the real icons really cared about the vision, the art, what they were putting out in the world. I want people to look back at my looks in 20 years and be like, 'She was so fab. She was so diva.' Like, 'Oh my god, remember JT?' I don't want to be dressed down no more. I want to get onstage in a gown and rock out. I want to be the moodboard.5 5. At a recent performance at Brown University (like we said, the girl has range), JT wore a flowy white number that had fans referencing the viral 'She was a fairy!' meme. I spent a lot of time with myself a couple years ago, and I was like, Outside of rap—because I'm an excellent rapper—what else about yourself do you think? And I was like, I really do love beauty and fashion….We don't have many options in Miami because it's hot, but Miami people are going to be in their known designer. We always look like we got our income tax down there, I swear to God. My boyfriend6 is from Philly, so we've always had this dynamic when it comes to fashion. I remember the first outfit I ever pulled up on my boyfriend in: I wore this Chanel set, these Chanel sneakers, and a Chanel cardigan. I think I was tea, still to this day. I wish I could call him right now because he always makes fun of that outfit. 6. JT has been dating rapper Lil Uzi Vert for six years. The way she gushes (and literally blushes) while talking about him will make you believe in love again. But I know I was eating. That is just the style of Miami. We are very designer happy. So when people say, 'You was never a fashion girl…,' I always had shit. People get a misconception because the biggest thing they know about me, the most publicized thing, is my mug shots.7 7. JT spent two years in prison for credit card fraud. What has it been like to navigate that? I remember the embarrassment—imagine being this hood It Girl and then you got this terrible mug shot. When they posted it, I was already embarrassed, right? So once I got famous and people posted it, I was like, 'That's really the only read people have on me.' Now, though, I love my mug shots because they tell a story; they're eras. They show me how far I came, and it's just so beautiful to see what you could become. I think so. You can work hard, but you don't have to fight. Meaning, you can work hard and fight hard for what you want, but if you really believe that something is for you, it's going to be there for you. Everything that I ever wanted—even down to Cosmopolitan8—I wanted to do that. I remember saying to friends, 'I want to be a model.' And it's like, Girl, you 5'2", what makes you think that you can do that? But I just put myself in that narrative and in that space. 8. 'Growing up, I would see all the It Girls in Cosmo,' she later adds. 'The one that comes to mind was when Mariah Carey was standing next to her cover at a reveal party.' I'm not married yet, but we definitely are going to marry each other. That's my best friend. That's my dog. Uzi is such a cool person. We've been together since 2019, so we've been growing together. We just look at each other and are like, Damn, we really cool. We really know each other. We really can exist and still like each other. It's beyond love. He be wanting me to come hang with him. I'm like, 'Boy, we live together—why do you want me to come to the studio and hang with you?' He likes me. He likes me. It was October 2019. He was like, 'Let's make a song.' It was very business, very professional. I was like, 'What do you want with me?' Not me dissing him but basically dissing myself. He had fit pics and was flexing.9 I thought he was out of my league, to be honest. I was fresh out of jail, I didn't have my BBL yet—I was just jail thick. Then we just connected right away. I was in a halfway house and used to talk to him so much. And when I met him, he was such a good time. It was nothing I never experienced. 9. 'I remember I had a magazine of Uzi when I was in prison. I loved this magazine. I want to say it was Rolling Stone, but he was in a grocery store and he had these two braids going to the back. I thought he was the coolest person ever, but did I think that six years later I would be dating him? No.' Like I can do and be anything. He tells me when he thinks stuff is cool and when he doesn't. Every day, Uzi is fresh; he goes to sleep fresh. That is a clean motherfucker. He carries himself like a star. I really admire that about him because he will take so much from the outside world, and I'm always going to be the one to defend him because he's not going to do it—he's very older star in that way. He does not like me to argue on the internet, but I think he's come to know that I'm going to do it anyway. And he just got to take me as who I am and love me for me. My man knows me like a book. It cannot be ghetto. It cannot be nobody with no ugly outfits. It can't be nobody standing in the way with too many phones. It needs to be very elegant. I need to have soft glam, short nails. Because imagine me doing like this10 with it—no. It don't have to be as big as my wedding is going to be, but it needs to be aesthetically pleasing. 10. She holds out her hand with perfectly manicured extra-long, pale-pink stiletto nails as if she's showing off an engagement ring. No, and I kind of don't want it to be on Instagram after. I don't want my engagement to be announced on The Shade Room. I don't want that energy. Oh my god, I would die. 'Uzi proposed to JT,' and the people come. This is not for y'all. Yes. I want it to be how Beyoncé did it, with a little video of it and the people see it years later. Let's keep some things to ourselves. Anybody who was ever in a group will say how hard it is to go into a solo career. I feel like we were doing our own thing for so long and it was like—and I don't mean this harshly—but it was bound to happen. I started City Cinderella in March of 2024. People think I was working on this project for years but it was a very quick turnaround. I felt a lot of pressure, I didn't even have a real chance to perfect it. Every day, I'm working to fight a narrative. I'm fighting to be myself versus what the consumer who knows me from back then wants me to be. If, when I put new music out, my first fan is like, 'What the fuck is this?' I'm ready for that. If only 10 people resonate with the song, these are my 10. If only 30 people resonate, there's my 30. It just felt so beautiful. I wrote 'Hope' myself. I wanted an opening track that talked more about me and where I come from. When I become the megastar that I will be, I want people to be able to go back to City Cinderella and feel a sense of nostalgia and a sense of, 'Wow, she sounded like this before?' I grew up in a time when people were still working off of the structure of 'My kid has to be something.' My dad forced track and cheering on me—I did the shot put, long jump, 800, and 1600. It was torture; there was no joy. It was just another outlet for me to get in trouble. I've always been mouthy, problematic, and in charge. I never thought rapping would be it, though. My dad is the reason that I got into music, too. I don't know who inspired him—maybe Joe Jackson—to think that he was going to have this supergroup11 of kids. It was like, 'Sir, relax.' Fame was not really my choice of words growing up—the word 'popular' was. Every year, my New Year's resolution was to be popular. I was always hood popular, but I wanted to be worldwide popular, like what I am now. 11. JT and her 16 brothers and sisters had a family band called The Protegees. 'I had this song—it's called 'Daddy Can I Get a Tattoo?' I just always wanted to be on my own.' I'm so into it, just so happy about it. I remember when I first started rapping and we rented this Rolls-Royce to go to the club. I own a Rolls-Royce now, and it is just like, Girl, what? Look at you. It's just different to see everything come to life. I just love where I'm at right now. I'm just naturally a shit-talking person. I'm cocky and confident, and I put that inside of my music in a world that tells us we shouldn't be. People be swearing, 'Oh, she thinks she's bigger than the program.' I hate when people say that—bitch, I am the program. I make music for the divas, the It Girls, and the gays. They want so much for themselves. I see them elevating, I see them sending me their graduation announcements. My fans are at work, they're at school, they're handling their business. I have a little army of smart kids and I'm like, 'Look at y'all.' I don't even want you to be my fan if you're not doing shit with yourself. I do not make music for none of these raggedy-ass bitches.12 Why would you ever get online and tell me how I should live my life or how I should do anything when your shit ain't together? You mean to tell me you care more about me than you care about yourself? Something ain't right. My music can never resonate to you. 12. After JT said this with a lot of emphasis, she looked me square in the eye and added, 'Please put that in there.' I do want a Grammy before it's all said and done. But even if I never get a Grammy in my life, I'm still going to feel like I'm successful. And you know what I will do? Get one of those humanitarian awards for doing something really good for the community. My calling is to really build community for children who want to be something but don't have that many options, who don't have a choice because a lot of people don't have one, like how I told you I didn't. That's what 'Hope' was really for. I know there are so many people who are young and lost and probably don't think they're ever going to be nothing, but you could be. It ain't impossible. (Title Image) All-In sweater and skirt, shoes from Albright Fashion Library, Swarovski sunglasses, Nicole Rose Jewelry earrings, Tarina Tarantino ring. (Cover Image) David Koma top, Norma Kamali swimsuit, René Caovilla shoes, Nickho Rey bracelets. Styled by Briana Andalore. Hair by Tevin Washington and Dylan Silver for True Indian Hair. Makeup by Eden Lattanzio for MAC Cosmetics. Manicure by Tiana 'Tiny' Hardy. Shot on location at Ocean Casino Resort.
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Is Taylor Swift's THIS song about Scooter Braun? The former music producer doesn't think so
Taylor Swift knows how to draw cat eyes sharp enough and dress for revenge after being through the distasteful headlines. When a song released in 2022 suggesting a certain incident, fans quickly prompted and had their fingers on a man. However, he doesn't agree with the accusations. Scooter Braun denies his ties with 'Vigilante S--t' In a recent interview with Question Everything Podcast with Danielle Robay, Scooter Braun denied all the allegations of 'Vigilante S--t' being about him and his ex-wife, Yael Cohen. Rationing the reason and decoding the lyrics, the 44-year-old said that his relationship with his former partner is strong and firm. 'My ex-wife is one of my best friends. We don't even call each other exes. That's like my partner, that's the mother of my children [and] that is my family for life,' he said, before adding, 'I have a tattoo on my finger that says 'same team' after my divorce because she and I are [on the] same team for life. It's what we say to each other. So, no, I never thought that it was about us, [and] she never thought it was about us,' according to Cosmopolitan. What do Taylor Swift's lyrics say? For the unversed, in Swift's 10th album 'Midnights,' after the track 'Vigilante S--t' was dropped, many Swifties interpreted the track as being about Braun as it talked about white collar crime and the scandalous proof of a messy relationship. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Top 15 Most Beautiful Women in the World Undo 'She needed cold hard proof so I gave her some / She had the envelope, where you think she got it from? / Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride / Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife,' the lyrics said, which the fans compared with Scooter's divorce with Yael in 2022. 'While he was doing lines / And crossing all of mine / Someone told his white-collar crimes to the FBI / And I don't dress for villains / Or for innocents / I'm on my vigilante s--t again,' the lyrics said, which the fans connected dots with Scooter's USD 200 million legal dispute.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
King Charles' leaked funeral plans cause chaos in Palace: It includes key roles for Prince Harry-Meghan Markle
The British Royal family never falls short of controversies. And now, it has found itself in an unexpected storm after sensitive details about King Charles' future funeral plans surfaced in the media. What should have remained private was suddenly splashed across headlines, leaving the palace in a frantic scramble to control the damage. According to multiple reports, including The Telegraph and Cosmopolitan, the leak has triggered intense emotions behind the palace walls. It all began when The Telegraph published an exclusive report that revealed confidential plans for King Charles' eventual farewell, including key roles for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and a significantly shortened national mourning period. The moment the article was released, the palace reportedly went into crisis mode. According to The Daily Beast, a full-blown "censorship operation" was launched almost instantly. Courtiers and officials desperately tried to prevent further spread of the leaked information, urging members of the royal media circle, known as the royal rota, to avoid discussing or acknowledging the story in their internal communications. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo The drama didn't end there. As the reports unfolded, it became clear that tensions were running high inside the palace's communications team. Cosmopolitan revealed that Tobyn, King Charles' top media advisor, had what was described as a 'meltdown on the phone' with editors at The Telegraph. He reportedly spent over 24 hours trying to persuade the paper to delay or soften the story, hoping to regain control over the sensitive narrative. 'There was a very heated phone call,' one insider told Cosmopolitan, revealing how palace officials tried their best to negotiate. However, in the end, The Telegraph stood its ground, citing editorial independence and deciding to publish the story on their terms, much to the palace's dismay. The leaked report contained bombshell revelations, including the surprising decision to involve Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 'central roles' during King Charles' farewell events— something that comes amidst years of tension between the Sussexes and the Royal Family. Furthermore, the planned national mourning period is reportedly set to be shorter than previous traditions, signaling a modern shift in royal ceremonies. This unintentional early exposure of such personal royal matters has left the palace rattled, exposing the fragile balance between privacy, protocol, and public interest. While officials continue damage control behind closed doors, the world watches, once again reminded of the intense pressures and emotions behind the grandeur of royalty. Operation Menai Bridge EXPOSED? Charles Wants Harry & Meghan At Heart Of Royal Farewell
