2024 in Review: Music Industry’s Scandals and Controversies
Singers, band members, and rock stars lead colorful lives. We, as fans, are interested (cough, invested) in their personal lives especially when they are feuding with someone else or involved in any controversies that make reading the morning news more entertaining.
Keeping up with our favorite artists embroiled in a scandal makes us feel involved especially if it’s a controversy that could end their careers. The year 2024 was eventful, especially for the music industry. Here’s a recap.
Music Industry’s Scandals and Controversies
December: Before the year ended, the music industry was shocked by the rape allegations against Jay-Z. A Jane Doe filed a complaint against the music mogul, including him in her prior accusations against Diddy. Jay-Z responded to his accuser saying his lawyer received a “blackmail attempt” and that the “allegations are so heinous in nature.” Read here for more.
November: Many have dubbed 2024 as Sabrina Carpenter’s year. She just finished opening for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Her Short N’ Sweet tour was a success, and her Christmas special just aired on Netflix. However, the pop star princess was involved in a controversy because of her music video for her hit song “Feathers.” Carpenter shot her music video in a Catholic church, which angered a lot of parishioners. The priest who allowed it was reportedly demoted. However, it was not just because of Carpenter but also because the priest allegedly mishandled the church’s funds.
October: Doja Cat fans have been posting all over Twitter, “I miss the old Doja,” perhaps pertaining to her old looks of colorful lacefronts and skin baring costumes, or everything se was before she became the embodiment of the “darker side of the internet.” Fans have been calling out Doja’s attitude after the release of her latest album. Fans have redoubled their discussions about the singer’s “online interactions, homophobic comments, and past ties to nebulous chat rooms,” per Rolling Stone Australia.
September: Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested for “operating an empire of sexual crimes dating back to at least 2008,” according to AP News. For 10 months, Combs was the subject of public allegations of sexual abuse before the arrest. More than two dozen people have stepped up and filed lawsuits against the rapper. The lawsuits include assault, rape, and sex trafficking. According to prosecutors, Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” per BBC.
August: Suga of BTS was caught driving an electric scooter with a blood alcohol level of 0.227%, which is 0.147% higher than the legal limit of 0.08%. Fans initially protested and called for Suga’s removal from BTS. However, it was later discovered that these protesters were not actually ARMY (the name for BTS fans). It turns out the protesters were fans of another popular K-pop group, NCT, according to allkpop.
July: Katy Perry’s song “Woman’s World” received backlash for collaborating with Dr. Luke, who Kesha accused of sexual assault. The accompanying music video also did not give Perry any favors. Comments range from “This is what a feminist video clip would look like if made by a guy” to “This feels like a parody of girl boss feminism.”
In her defense, Perry said the music video is a “parody,” per USA Today.
June: Dua Lipa’s public opinions about the Israel-Palestine conflict rubbed people the wrong way. The singer said to Billboard that she’s fine receiving the blowback for her opinions. “It’s always going to be met with a backlash and other people’s opinions, so it’s a big decision. I balance it out, because ultimately, I feel it’s for the greater good, so I’m willing to [take that hit].”
May: Rapper Nicki Minaj was arrested and had to postpone a show because of it. The “Super Bass” singer uploaded on her Instagram Live the footage of her arrest while she was being questioned outside of her Manchester hotel. The police informed her she was “under arrest” for “carrying drugs,” per CNN. Later that day, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee released in a statement they have a woman in custody “on suspicion of exporting soft drugs has been released.” The statement also mentioned, “Following consultation with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the suspect received a monetary fine and is now permitted to continue her journey.”
April: Kanye West was sued by a former employee for harassment and discrimination. Trevor Phillips, a Black man who West allegedly constantly targeted, filed the lawsuit and alleged that West “treated the Black staff considerably worse than white employees” and, as witnessed by Phillips, “spew[ed] forth hate, profess antisemitic tropes and lies, threaten the LGBTQ+ community, and even on one occasion, almost sexually stimulate himself,” according to CNN.
March: Ariana Grande released her seventh album, Eternal Sunshine. The album received backlash because of Grande’s personal life, particularly . The pair were accused by Slater’s estranged ex-wife Lilly Jay of having been involved in an affair while the two were still married.
Cosmopolitan reported Grande posted via her Instagram story about the backlash. “I just wanted to say anyone that is sending hateful messages to the people in my life based on your interpretation of this album is not supporting me and is absolutely doing the polar opposite of what I would ever encourage (and is also entirely misinterpreting the intention behind the music).”
The post came after her SNL performance of her songs from the album, “imperfect for you” and “we can’t be friends(wait for your love)”.
February: Bennifer version 2 was again in the midst of a controversy because of Jennifer Lopez’s documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told. Fans slammed Lopez who shared Ben Affleck’s letters to her collaborators for “song inspiration,” as reported by Today. Affleck also seemed hesitant about divulging too much about their relationship, “Jen was really inspired by this experience, which is how artists do their work,” he says. “I certainly do the same things, but things that are private, I have always felt, are sacred and special because, in part, they’re private. So, this was something of an adjustment for me.”
January: Taylor Swift became a victim of fake but convincing images which are pornographic and were circulated via X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram. X posted in a statement, “Our teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them.” US politicians have called to criminalize those who use artificial intelligence to generate fake but convincing explicit photos since what happened to Swift is “nothing new” according to The Guardian.
