“We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from our fans,” the band wrote on Instagram. “If you haven’t heard, our mom Betty Ann passed away peacefully last week.

“We’ve decided to cancel all remaining tour dates through October to be with our families. Thanks for the kind words and all the love you’ve given to the entire Followill family.”

Kings Of Leon perform live. CREDIT: Getty Images

The dates affected include:

OCTOBER 2021

1 – White River Amphitheatre, Auburn, WA
3 – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater, Ridgefield, WA
7 – Ruoff Music Center, Noblesville, IN
9 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL

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Earlier this month, Kings Of Leon announced a run of UK and Ireland arena shows.

Two of the shows, in Leeds and Newcastle, constitute rescheduled gigs that had previously been announced but delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. Original tickets for those shows remain valid.

It’s unclear whether or not the shows will feature the band’s Matthew Followill, who announced in July that he will be taking time away from the band following the birth of his and wife Johanna’s new baby.

Followill didn’t appear on the band’s recent leg of US dates, with touring member Timothy Deaux filling his place, and former touring member Chris Coleman returning to cover Deaux’s role.

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“Many artists become successful through self-promotion online, looking at ways to connect with fans – from feuding online, opening up about their anxieties and fears, and live-streaming their sometimes chaotic lifestyles,” the description adds. “Louis will meet people at different stages of their quest to become successful and followed, from those who have risen fast to those who have fallen hard.”

Louis Theroux (Credit: Getty)

The other two films will look at the far-right and the porn industry as it grapples with its own Me Too moment.

“The world has gone through massive changes in the last few years, in particular from the effects of social media,” Theroux said. “This new series looks at the way those changes have affected people in America who are in different ways involved in dangerous, extreme, or morally questionable lifestyles.

“Far-right groups that have found new influence through gaming and streaming services. Porn performers who have seen power shift to them as they’ve embraced creator-controlled apps and called out alleged predators in the industry. And in the rap world young men with big dreams caught up in feuds and high-risk behaviour in the click-driven world of social media.

Louis Theroux – Credit: Daniel Zuchnik/Getty

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“These three documentaries were tough to make,” he added. “They required delicate access conversations. They feature scenes and confrontations that are shocking and upsetting. But they are also powerful depictions of a world that has become strange in ways we could never have imagined just 10 years ago.

“They show the dangers of the technotopia we all now inhabit, where extremist content can be piped directly into the phones and laptops of millions of children. But they also illustrate some of the positive opportunities the new world has created by disrupting old hierarchies of power.

“I’m very proud of all three programmes and hope viewers will find them as thought provoking to watch as I did making them.”

Theroux recently aired documentary Shooting Joe Exotic, which looks back on the titular controversial figure in the wake of Netflix’s Tiger King as well as his own interview with Exotic 10 years ago.

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• Hip-hop
• Louis Theroux
• Rap

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“YouTube still leads TikTok in overall time spent, including in the UK,” Jamie MacEwan, from Enders Analysis, explained to the BBC. “YouTube’s mass audience means it’s getting more demographics that are comparatively light internet users… it’s just reaching everyone who’s online.”

He added that the most-invested YouTube users probably “match or surpass” the engagement of TikTok users. “TikTok was spending big to attract users, but they were not necessarily hanging around for long compared to other social media,” he said. “Now we know that in the US and UK, TikTok has overhauled YouTube, and is reeling in Facebook… that’s a huge seal of approval.”

YouTube. CREDIT: Getty Images

App Annie’s report showed that TikTok – which is also currently ranked the most downloaded app worldwide since 2020 – surpassed YouTube in the UK back in June 2020, and has continued to maintain its dominance since. In the US, the two apps traded places a number of times late last year before TikTok emerged on top in April 2021.

Another metric examined included consumer spending. The report suggests that apps with live-streaming – including TikTok – are helping to fuel a surge in money spent on creators. Apps that have live-streaming as “a prominent feature” accounted for three-quarters of money spent in the top 25 social apps in the first half of 2021, according to the report.

App Annie said: “Live-streaming is driving growth in engagement for social apps, which sets them up for consumer spend.”

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App Annie specialises in apps analysis. The “time spent” metric in its report solely accounts for Android phones – and also does not include China, where TikTok – known locally as Douyin – is a major app.

Earlier this summer, TikTok responded to criticism from a comedian which claimed that phrases including ‘Black Lives Matter’ and “Black success” were banned from the platform.

Ziggi Tyler recently called out TikTok in videos showing that the app allowed words including “neo-Nazi”, “pro-white” and “white supremacist” to be included in the bios of content creators on the app’s Creator Marketplace.

The videos went on to show that terms including “pro-Black”, “Black Lives Matter”, “Black success” and “Black people” were flagged as being inappropriate or banned.

In response to the controversy, TikTok shared a statement with Forbes. It read: “Our TikTok Creator Marketplace protections, which flag phrases typically associated with hate speech, were erroneously set to flag phrases without respect to word order.

“We recognise and apologise for how frustrating this was to experience, and our team has fixed this significant error. To be clear, Black Lives Matter does not violate our policies and currently has over 27 billion views on our platform.”

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• TikTok
• YouTube

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American Utopia is a concert film documenting Byrne’s Broadway show of the same name.

In a five star review of the film, NME said: “It’s hard to pick a highlight but we defy anyone to stay still during a soaring performance of ‘Lazy’ (Byrne’s 2002 collaboration with electro duo X-Press 2). In addition, Janelle Monáe’s 2015 protest song ‘Hell You Talmbout’ gets an urgent workout while images of black lives lost to US police brutality appear on screen.

“It’s a rare concert film that packs in brilliant music, incredible visuals, a vital political message and jokes – but this is one of them. Don’t miss it.”

Meanwhile, Byrne’s ‘American Utopia’ stage show has been confirmed for a re-run on Broadway in 2021 after an initial 17-week return schedule was postponed last year due to the coronavirus crisis.

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The show, which is based on Byrne’s 2018 album of the same name, will this time see a longer, six-month run in New York City’s theatre district, moving from The Hudson to the larger St. James Theatre on 44th street.

The Talking Heads frontman and solo artist is joined by an 11-piece mobile ensemble playing songs from ‘American Utopia’ as well as other tracks from his solo catalog and Talking Heads material.

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1. “We can delay your shipment. If you write us and let us know you’d like to have your shipment held until the heat wave definitely passes, just reply to this email. Then, when things are looking a bit cooler in your region, let us know you’re ready to receive and we’ll send your copy out.”

2. “We send our records via media mail, which can take up to two weeks to arrive. We do this since it’s so much less expensive to ship and we don’t have to charge that much back to you. However, we would be happy to upgrade your shipping from standard to priority mail. This would require you to send us a bit extra money to cover to postage increase—it could be up to $8 more depending upon where in the country you live. Let us know and we can tell you the cost.”

A vinyl pressing plant. CREDIT: James MacDonald/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Elsewhere, Sargent House Records is giving customers advance notice that the weather could impact their packages, also noting that the merchant store it works with – Hello Merch – has added a new statement to its terms of service.

“Please be aware we DO NOT issue refunds or replacements for damage due to extreme weather conditions, minor cosmetic damage, such as corner dings, bends, split inserts, and so on.” Hello Merch works with multiple indie labels and artists.

Joyful Noise Records said it’s not received much feedback with regards to warped records, however it’s now adding large labels for vinyl shipments that read: “PACKAGE CONTAINS VINYL RECORDS, DO NOT LEAVE IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT (f*ck climate change).”

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Meanwhile, Amazon has launched a new subscription service that focuses on “the golden era of vinyl” from the 1960s and ’70s.

The new ‘Vinyl Of The Month’ club offers music fans “must-haves” delivered to their door for $24.99 (£18.58) per month, handpicked by the Amazon Music team.

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Taking place throughout February and March 2022, the tour includes performances in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta and Nashville.

You can see the full schedule below.

We’re also unleashing some hot remixes of Born of Luton, first of which by Maximum Security NYC (Austin from Parquet Courts). Available on all streaming sites now.

BiL Remix EP drops this Friday 23rd July, includes work from:
-Pelada
-DJ Dairy (Black Midi)
-PVA
-Glows

— shame (@shamebanduk) July 20, 2021

Shame have also announced that they’re “unleashing some hot remixes” of their ‘Drunk Tank Pink’ track ‘Born In Luton’ in the form of an EP, ‘Born In Luton Remixes’. The five-track collection arrives on Friday (July 23).

The first rework was released today courtesy of Maximum Security (aka Austin Brown of Parquet Courts) – listen below.

“They’re gonna have to reopen the Hacienda for this one,” said Brown. “Inspired by Ron Hardy’s Chicago Music Box and Belgian New Beat, this is one for the promo bin to all your fav DJs for their online radio streams and 2am playlist slots on CDJs worldwide for covid-free club summer.”

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Shame, meanwhile, are due to embark on a UK headline tour this November. They’ll also perform at next month’s Green Man Festival, which announced last week that it would be going ahead as planned.

In a five-star review of ‘Drunk Tank Pink’, NME wrote: “This is massive leap on from ‘Songs Of Praise’ – ‘Drunk Tank Pink’ is more ambitious and more accomplished than its predecessor, showcasing a band brimming both with ideas and the confidence to pull them off.”

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It is also the first debut album by a female artist to go straight to the top of the charts since Cardi B’s major label debut ‘Invasion Of Privacy’ in 2016.

Olivia Rodrigo attends The BRIT Awards 2021 at The O2 Arena on May 11, 2021 in London, England. Credit: JMEnternational/JMEnternational for BRIT Awards/Getty Images.

Before Rodrigo’s record was released, Taylor Swift held the title for biggest first-week album figures this year with ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’. That album clocked up 291,000 units in April.

The 18-year-old musician’s Billboard 200 success follows her becoming the youngest solo artist ever to land a UK Number One double. ‘Sour’ topped the Official UK Albums Chart, while Rodrigo’s latest single ‘Good 4 U’ also claimed its second week at the peak of the Official UK Singles Chart.

An act hasn’t pulled off the feat with their debut album since 2015, when Sam Smith reached Number One with ‘In The Lonely Hour’ and their single ‘Lay Me Down’.

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In a four-star review of ‘Sour’, NME said: “For the most part, Rodrigo has passed the bar she set on [‘Drivers License’], sharing with us an almost-masterpiece that’s equal parts confident, cool and exhilaratingly real. This is no flash-in-the-pan artist, but one we’ll be living with for years to come.”

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• Olivia Rodrigo
• Pop

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“We’re just trying to do a show safely,” Williams told WFTS. “And they should go out and get vaccinated to protect themselves and their families and their community.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently declared that those living in Florida have the right to get vaccinated or not and “no business or government entity will be able to deny you services based on your decision.”

With that said, knowing he couldn’t force anyone who wasn’t vaccinated not to attend the show, Williams came up with the idea for the unique ticket pricing instead.

Speaking to ABC News, he added: “I also wanted it to be a vaccine drive to get the fence-sitters off the fence. I wanted to get the kids that want to go to shows to go out and get their shots.”

So far there has been no takers for the $1,000 tickets, but Williams has said that if anyone does buy one they will “be treated like everyone else”.

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While the response to his ticket policy has been “overwhelmingly positive” for the most part, Williams did mention that he’s received a number of spam calls from anti-vaxxers. “To care about people being safe is very bad apparently,” he added.

Ray Carlisle of Teenage Bottlerocket, one of the bands on the line-up, is on board with the policy, telling WFTS: “We’re all vaccinated. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated so we can see you in the pit.”

Local punk fan Brittney Wigen said: “I understand what they’re doing. I think it’s very nice of them, but it’s just not fair…I think it’s terrible because not everyone can get the vaccine. I can’t because I had COVID too recently.”

You can pick up $18 or $1,000 tickets to the show here.

• Related Topics
• Coronavirus
• Punk

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#IVWTalks incorporates ‘Get Schooled’ on Thursday July 15, a full day dedicated to students interested in a career in live music.

San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, one of the US venues taking part in Independent Venue Week CREDIT: Steve Jennings/Getty Images

The event is officially partnered with the National Independent Venue Association, whose formation was sparked by Independent Week’s early editions.

“Getting ready for this year’s event feels particularly meaningful,” said Cecilie Nielsen, Director of Special Projects at Marauder, the firm that runs US Independent Venue Week.

“For the past 14 months, independent venues and promoters have collectively fought for their very survival and this feels like the turning point that we’ve all been working for. We were happy and proud to grow Independent Venue Week last year—to even have it, under the circumstances. This year, we hope and believe that fans will return with a renewed appreciation for these uniquely important spaces.”

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Independent Venue Week began as a UK initiative in 2014, with the inaugural US edition launching in 2018.

The UK’s most recent edition of Independent Venue Week took place online in January, with 110 venues from across the UK taking part. To mark the occasion, ambassadors Arlo Parks, Gruff Rhys, Amy Macdonald and Jordan Adetunji spoke to NME about how their early live shows.

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“This is the first song of Kevin’s I’d ever heard – I originally discovered it because it was produced by our mutual friend the late, great Richard Swift, and I’ve always really liked it, and I wanted to do it proper justice,” Leithauser wrote as a message in his video.

A post shared by Kevin Morby (@kevinmorby)

A post shared by Hamilton Leithauser (@hamiltonleithauser)

After fans speculated over what the mutual appreciation of each other’s work could mean, it later transpired that Morby and Leithauser will embark on a US co-headline tour this October/November.

Kicking off at The National in Richmond, Virginia on October 14, the ‘Fall Mixer’ stint will also see the pair make stop-offs in Nashville, Austin, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and other cities.

You can see the full list of dates below and find ticket details here.

A post shared by Hamilton Leithauser (@hamiltonleithauser)

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A post shared by Kevin Morby (@kevinmorby)

According to Leithauser, each night of the tour “will be its own party” and serve as “a social occasion as much as a rock n roll show”. The two musicians will share a band at the gigs, where they will perform “new songs, old songs, other people’s songs”.

Kevin Morby recently shared ‘Dumcane’, an outtake from his 2016 album ‘Singing Saw’ to mark its fifth anniversary.

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• Hamilton Leithauser
• Indie
• Kevin Morby
• The Walkmen

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The singer was recently celebrated in Alex Winters’ rock documentary Zappa. In a four-star review, NME wrote: “A complex character, during Zappa’s runtime Frank is conversely called cruel, a workaholic, passionate, talented and solipsistic, but above all it’s his passion for experimentation that stands out.

“Frank had no interest in making something popular, but rather something that would push the boundaries of what modern music was expected to be.”

‘Zappa ’88’ was produced by Ahmet Zappa alongside Joe Travers. Listen to ‘I Ain’t Got No Heart (Live at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY 3/25/88)’ below.

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The record is due for release June 18 via Zappa Records/UMe – fans can pre-order ‘Zappa ’88: The Last U.S. Show’ here.

See the expansive 2CD/digital tracklist below, also set for release on 4LP vinyl.

Disc 1
01. ‘”We Are Doing Voter Registration Here”‘
02. ‘The Black Page (New Age Version)’
03. ‘I Ain’t Got No Heart’
04. ‘Love Of My Life’
05. ‘Inca Roads’
06. ‘Sharleena’
07. ‘Who Needs The Peace Corps?’
08. ‘I Left My Heart In San Francisco’
09. ‘Dickie’s Such An Asshole’
10. ‘When The Lie’s So Big’
11. ‘Jesus Thinks You’re A Jerk’
12. ‘Sofa #1’
13. ‘One Man, One Vote’
14. ‘Happy Birthday, Chad!’
15. ‘Packard Goose Pt. 1’
16. ‘Royal March From “L’Histoire Du Soldat”’
17. ‘Theme From The Bartok Piano Concerto #3’
18. ‘Packard Goose Pt. II’
19. ‘The Torture Never Stops Pt. I’
20. ‘Theme From “Bonanza”’

Disc 2
01. ‘Lonesome Cowboy Burt’
02. ‘The Torture Never Stops Pt. II’
03. ‘City Of Tiny Lites’
04. ‘Pound For A Brown’
05. ‘The Beatles Medley’
06. ‘Peaches En Regalia’
07. ‘Stairway To Heaven’
08. ‘I Am The Walrus’
09. ‘Whipping Post’
10. ‘Bolero’
11. ‘America The Beautiful’

• Related Topics
• Frank Zappa
• Rock

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The severity of restrictions on live performances is currently detemined by individual state. Texas and Mississippi, for example, caused controversy this month after lifting their mask mandates and increasing the capacity of all buildings to 100 per cent. Nevertheless, Biden’s move will have major impact on gigs across the country.

Tonight, I am announcing that I will direct all states, tribes, and territories to make all adult Americans eligible for the vaccine no later than May 1. pic.twitter.com/FEIDCFLORb

— President Biden (@POTUS) March 12, 2021

His comments follow claims from the CEO of LiveNation last week that large-scale US concerts will resume this summer.

Michael Rapino said that “a clear outline to a 75 per cent to 100 per cent” capacity for outdoor US events in 2021 was looking likely to be green-lit.

In the UK, meanwhile, the government have announced a proposed roadmap out of the current coronavirus lockdown, revealing that gigs and festivals could return without social distancing measures by June 21 at the earliest.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 100 million vaccinations have been administered in the US to date. More than 23 million doses have now been given to people in the UK.

• Related Topics
• Coronavirus
• Joe Biden
• Politics

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Following Gaga’s rendition of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’, Jennifer Lopez performed a passionate medley of ‘This Land Is Your Land’ and ‘America The Beautiful’ ahead of Biden being sworn in.

The singer also declared “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” in Spanish during her performance.

You can watch Lopez’s performance blow.

WATCH: Jennifer Lopez performs "This Land is Your Land" and "America the Beautiful," at the inauguration.https://t.co/WegAJRvMdn pic.twitter.com/GACVPK4t94

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 20, 2021

Gaga supported the Biden campaign ahead of November’s presidential election, appearing at a special drive-in event for Biden in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she gave a speech and performed ‘Shallow’ and ‘Yoü and I’.

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In a message which she shared on her social media channels yesterday (January 19), Gaga expressed her desire for today’s inauguration ceremony to mark “a day of peace for all Americans”.

“A day for love, not hatred. A day for acceptance not fear. A day for dreaming of our future joy as a country. A dream that is non-violent, a dream that provides safety for our souls. Love, from the Capitol.”

Later tonight, a TV special, Celebrating America, will air in the US featuring the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters and Demi Lovato.

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• Joe Biden

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Revealing that between 70% and 85% of the US population would need to vaccinated for venues to re-open, Fauci said (via the New York Times): “If everything goes right, this is will occur some time in the fall of 2021, so that by the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing on stage, as well as people in the audience.”

Credit: Ollie Millington/Redferns

He added: “I think you can then start getting back to almost full capacity of seating,” before referencing tests done in Germany recently, where a study into the transmission of coronavirus at indoor concerts concluded the environment poses a “low to very low” risk to attendees of contracting the disease.

“What the performing arts needs to do is to do a little bit more of what the Germans are doing,” Fauci said, before telling music fans: “We’ll be back in the theatres – performers will be performing, audiences will be enjoying it. It will happen.”

Last month, the president of Live Nation, Joe Berchtold, said that he felt “very good” about the prospect of traditional live music returning this summer, while Barcelona festival Primavera Sound hailed a successful trial to study the idea of holding gigs without social distancing.

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It was also recently revealed that legendary London venue The 100 Club will pilot a new ventilation system in January that aims to wipe out 99.99 per cent of dangerous airborne pathogens, such as the coronavirus, within buildings.

Developed by a British team of engineers, scientists, medical experts and entrepreneurs, the PRS (Pathogen Reduction System) has been designed to fit into a building’s existing ventilation system.

• Related Topics
• Coronavirus

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An ex-girlfriend spoke anonymously to the publication about her experiences with Edwards, saying that he had become violent towards her after they had broken up and he found out she was seeing someone else.

The woman said he had read her diary and then “back-handed me in the mouth”, giving her a split lip. He then went and locked himself in the bathroom with her diary and, when he came out, “dragged me in by the neck, pinned me up against the wall and wanted to know real intimate details”.

Rodney P CREDIT: Alamy Stock Photo

“He wanted to hear the worst possible case scenario,” she said. “Every time I answered he was just lifting me up by my throat. I thought that was it. I thought this is going to be a lights out moment.” She added that, although he was not physically violent to her again, he psychologically abused her for a year afterwards, causing an impact on her mental health.

Edwards said he “could not comment on the impact my actions may have had on her mental health”, but apologised to his former partner. “I’d like to repeat now I am still deeply sorry that I ever hurt her,” he said.

Other women have also claimed the rapper abused them in statements that have been shared on social media over the last few months. In a tweet confirming he had been dropped, Edwards’ former label Tru Thoughts said they understood those claims “have been denied”.

pic.twitter.com/Io9k9NSZ8y

— Tru Thoughts (@tru_thoughts) November 16, 2020

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“We take domestic abuse very seriously and we do not condone abusive behaviour in any way,” the statement continued. “All allegations should be investigated in the appropriate manner. Our work with Rodney P is currently suspended. We understand Rodney P will be making a full statement soon.”

Support group Dope Black Dads have also severed ties with the star, while the BBC have said they were unaware of the “serious incidents” before hiring him to work at 1Xtra.  Edwards DJed on the station between 2002 and 2008. The BBC added: “There are currently no plans to work with him in the future.”

For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.

• Related Topics
• Rap

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