EXCLUSIVE I was 13 and part of a girl band when I first met Diddy... I'm still haunted by the horrors that came next
Alex Chester-Iwata was only 13 years old when she first met Sean ' Diddy ' Combs.
She was one of four members of a budding pop girl group when they crossed paths with the Bad Boy mogul at a Nickelodeon event in the late 1990s.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
5 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Charli xcx at Glastonbury review – a thrilling hostile takeover by a pop star at the peak of her powers
For my money, one of the best pop tours of the 21st century was Kanye West's Yeezus tour. Like the album it was supporting, the Yeezus tour was abrasive and minimal and totally spectacular: West stood in front of gigantic bright-red screens and blasted arenas with some of the harshest, most acidic sounds ever considered mainstream. That tour was unrelenting and uncompromising and, as a result, totally compelling. Charli xcx's Brat tour may be the only clear successor. It is a show whose main components are a curtain, a few stadium strobe light rigs, and one star whose vision is so specific and so well realised that the 'necessities' of an A-list pop show – dancers, set pieces, etc – suddenly seem like crutches for anyone less in tune with themselves. This makes sense, given that Charli is also our clearest successor to West himself: despite being a prodigiously talented mainstream songwriter, she has dedicated her career to exploring the most caustic, hallucinatory sounds of the underground, and working out how best to synthesise them with the pleasures of pure pop music. With the release of last year's Brat, an album that became a cultural moment without ever diluting Charli's ingenuity, mainstream culture finally caught up to Charli. So it's fitting that she's here at Worthy Farm headlining, by some metrics, the biggest music festival in the world. Of course, she's not really headlining – Charli's Saturday night set closing the Other stage is, on a purely technical level, second billed to Neil Young, who is headlining the Pyramid at the same time. But ask anyone here, and the headliner of the entire weekend is Charli. Her audience at the Other stage is dizzyingly huge, surely at least 60,000 people – a surreal sight for the many gay men who saw her perform in 200-capacity clubs as recently as 2019. And from the very first moments of her set, when she intones, gravely, 'Glastonbury, don't fucking play with me', it's clear that she is at the height of her powers, totally capable of holding the attention of a stadium's worth of people. After all – who else could warrant a general expanding of the Other stage and the addition of more screens and speakers? Even if Charli wasn't first billed, everyone at Glastonbury knew she was headlining. This was made clear with an intense, totally uncompromising set in which Charli performed totally alone, not even with collaborators such as Lorde, who was also at Glastonbury. The Brat tour is at its most effective when the viewer has to submit to Charli's world, and this show, loud and bawdy and sometimes very unnerving in its intensity, was practically Charli-led hostile takeover. Her skill is in welding sophistication on to brute force – consider a song like Club Classics, which deftly stitches together at least four different styles of dance music in barely four minutes, but also brandishes a chorus of simply 'me, me, me, me' – and even when she breaks script, you see that skill in action. 'I'm known to have a heart of stone,' she tells the crowd, 'But this is very fucking emotional.' She should save her tears – with an audition so memorable, so fun, so spectacular, the Pyramid has to be next.
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Paul Simon, 83, cancels concerts due to 'unmanageable' chronic condition
Paul Simon has been a touring musician since the 1960s—and at 83, he's still hitting the road. But this weekend, the Bridge Over Troubled Water singer was forced to cancel two scheduled shows in Philadelphia due to 'chronic and intense back pain.' Simon shared a statement on Instagram just hours before he was set to perform at the city's historic Academy of Music, informing fans and ticket holders of the cancellation. 'Paul has been struggling with chronic and intense back pain,' the statement read. 'Today it became unmanageable and demands immediate attention. Unfortunately, we have to cancel these shows at this time, as we don't have the ability to reschedule them,' the statement continued. 'However, we are hopeful after this minor surgical procedure which has been scheduled in the next few days, Paul will be able to complete the tour as well as look into returning to make up these dates,' the statement explained. The Bridge Over Troubled Water singer has canceled two shows in Philadelphia this weekend as a result of 'chronic and intense back pain.' Seen here November 7, 2016 'In the meantime, please go to your point of purchase or local ticket provider for a full refund.' Simon performed at the venue on Thursday night—the first of what was meant to be a three-show run in Philadelphia as part of his A Quiet Celebration Tour. His next scheduled performance is set for July 7 at the Terrace Theater in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center in Long Beach, California. Simon announced the tour in February, marking his return to the stage after retiring from touring in 2018 due to hearing loss. The tour has been hitting smaller, intimate venues including Austin's Bass Concert Hall, Denver's Paramount Theatre and New York City's Beacon Theater in mini-residencies. After his stop in Long Beach, Simon is scheduled to continue the tour with stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Seattle, before wrapping in early August. Born in 1941 in Newark, New Jersey and raised in Queens, New York, Simon never measured up to his father's hopes and dreams that his son become a lawyer rather than a singer-songwriter, a path he, himself, unsuccessfully tried to follow. Adding to his parental disappointment was his stature. Although he was smart, athletic and personable, Simon was 'small like a mouse, small like a pip squeak, small like the punch line to every short-guy joke the other kids could image,' Peter Ames Carlin wrote book Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon. Teased by classmates, they'd swipe his Yankees cap until he finally went after them with fisticuffs, always getting his hat back. Silencing the self-abuse was harder when he barely grew an inch while his classmates stretched upwards. On a spring afternoon in 1952 when school buses were late and a teacher ushered all the students into the auditorium to hear fourth-grader Art sing, something was awakened inside Simon. When Garfunkel sang Nat King Cole's hit, They Try to Tell Us We're Too Young, Simon knew he, too, wanted to perform – outside of his bedroom behind closed doors, in search of the same applause and cheers. So Simon sought out the company of Garfunkel, and they became pals talking about songs they heard on the radio. Garfunkel tracked the weekly Hit Parade with his mathematical graphs while Simon listened to Latin dance band music. Eventually Simon and Garfunkel broke out of Queens with their music and became American sensations. Paul and Art were inspired by the music of the Everly Brothers and in the early days, called themselves the Urban Everly Brothers. As they became more and more successful they seemed to argue more over artistic discrepancies that began to splinter their bond. In the end, Simon and Garfunkel's increasing troubled relationship, as friends and working colleagues, led to their breakup in 1970. Paul, who composed nearly all of their original songs, enjoyed a successful career following their split. While they never got back together to record a new album, the duo did reunite for the first time to play a free concert in New York's Central Park in September 1981, attracting some 500,000 people, that at the time was the largest concert ever. Warner Bros. Records released a live album of the show, The Concert In Central Park, which went on to go double platinum in the US.
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Revealed: How Bill Belichick wooed his ex - and then dropped her like a hot potato when cheerleader Jordon came along
For a man renowned for meticulous planning, it was a classic move. Bowled over by the woman he'd met at a nightclub in ritzy Palm Beach the night before, NFL legend Bill Belichick sent her a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. His message to the object of his desires, Linda Holliday, said simply: 'Thanks for a wonderful evening.' It worked its magic. Holliday, who'd been on a girls night out in the Florida beach town, reportedly dumped her then boyfriend for divorced Belichick. The couple were to spend the next 16 years together – before Belichick, now 73, controversially moved on to glamorous ultra-age-gap girlfriend Jordon Hudson, 24. That Florida night in 2007 was the start of a relationship that saw Belichick and Holliday, 62, become a celebrated power couple in Boston where he led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl victories. Yet for her, the apparent gloss of switching from selling X-Ray medical equipment for a living to presenting a fashion segment called Style Boston on local TV wasn't always a bed of roses. How do we know? Enter Hudson, once more, into the equation. She passed on an impassioned letter between the former couple to a woman she believed was a close friend of Holliday and who'd branded her a 'gold digger' during a spat on Instagram. As exclusively revealed, Hudson told the woman she'd 'found' the printed out email penned by Holliday in an old invoice file at her lover's $2.2million home at Hingham, 15 miles south of Boston. Written in 2015, the missive is a toe-curling insight into a relationship and ends with the hand written plea from Belichick's ex: 'In the end, all I really want is for you to… hug me.' The printout – also finished with a hand drawn heart – reveals Holliday was apparently feeling the shadow of something not unfamiliar to women living with a hugely successful divorced man… the former wife. Large parts focus on Belichick's ex Debby, the mother of his three children, who is mentioned in less than flattering terms for her continued center place in the life of a legend now coaching the University of North Carolina. On the surface, the couple's existence together appeared ideal as Holliday staunchly supported Belichick at Patriots games and he devoted time to her extensive breast cancer research charity work. In 2019, she gushed to CBS Boston in a TV interview at the team's Gillette Stadium about her life with the coach and manager, whose foundation she co-founded in 2013. Holliday – a former beauty pageant contestant like Belichick's new amore Hudson – discussed his 'softer side'. Bill Belichick's much younger girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, delivered a scathing message to his ex-girlfriend after finding a private email between the exes Beaming, she said: 'It doesn't take much to make him smile actually. 'In 12 years together, Bill has been so dynamic supporting the causes that are close to me and actually supporting me. And I value and love that about him.' In a suite overlooking the field, she said in awe: 'It's breathtaking, isn't it. From where I sit I have a direct view of Bill and the team. It is a second home.' Of the Bill Belichick Foundation and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, she continued: 'Those are near and dear to my heart. Beside the Patriots those are my two other teams.' Passing a large framed photo of Belichick waving, Holliday recounted excitedly: 'That's the wave. 'He'll turn around on his way to shake the opposing team coach's hand and he gives myself a wave and he gives his daughter who's in another suite a wave.' And of her support, she told the interviewer: 'It's kind of within the family that it makes you feel good that you're supporting him, and you saw the happiness from this win and the love that he has for this game and for the fans.' The exact reality of the couple's relationship at that time is not known. However, four years earlier when mom-of-two Holliday wrote her desperate note she was clearly not feeling the warm glow of his support as much as she would like. Holliday, who obtained a radiography degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, began her missive with: 'Hi my baby. 'I just to get a few things off my chest: I'm not angry and I'm glad we had a conversation earlier.' However she then chided Belichick over her feelings of being shut out of crucial parts of his personal life. A particular target was mom-of-three Debby, 69, who she appears to describe cryptically as 'what's her name that I'm not allowed to speak of ever' – before blasting Belichick for buying three houses with his ex that year. 'I just feel like I'm the one that loves and adores you and respects you and tries never to ask too much of you and tries to ALWAYS remind you how grateful I am of your love,' Holliday implored. But then added: 'I'm the disposable one.' In further desperate tones, she said: 'There are so many things I'm just not allowed to talk to you about. I'm left with writing these things down because I can't verbally talk to you about it. 'You ALWAYS throw it back in my face and say 'I'm sorry you don't think that I do enough for you' and that is the end of the conversation. To answer that… you do more than enough for me for which I feel guilty for ALL the time. 'I mean, you're not married to me… you don't owe me anything. My children are not yours to take on and raise. I realize this to ALL be true!!! 'But on the other hand I see you write a check to what's her name that I'm not allowed to speak of ever and I often wonder why you feel the need to support her… (even now). 'And yet you don't ask anything from her or ask her to respect you. She just demands it. 'You purchased three properties with Debby this year and spend God knows what on the properties let alone the furnishings. And the answer that you have me is so the kids can learn how to rent them out and learn finances.' The couple eventually split in 2023 with sources telling People they had been on the rocks for a while and the problem that led to the break-up was 'not new'. Holliday's plea was revealed amid what is also developing into a sorry saga between herself and Hudson – who in turn is causing some of Belichick's friends to be concerned about his burgeoning latest relationship. Additionally, former cheerleader Hudson had choice words about Holliday when she sent the photos she took of the printout to the woman on Instagram. Screenshots of the nasty exchange obtained by the Daily Mail show Hudson launched the vicious attack by saying: ''Hey babes! Since you are tight with Ms Holiday (sic), could you please ask her what she would like me to do with this letter I found from 2015? 'Due to its pathetic and embarrassing content, I imagine she wants it back.' Mocking 'delusional' Holliday further, she denied playing any part in their break-up. Hudson – whose controlling antics with Belichick include a train-wreck CBS interview that went viral – wrote: 'She should make the point to burn it so she continue to live in delusional denial (that her relationship with BB wasn't doomed yeaaaaars prior to him finally dumping her.) 'I know she cares a great deal to continue to manipulate her friends, as well as the public, into believing that I came in and ruined her perfect relationship.' Holliday would not give a comment to the Daily Mail when asked about the letter and Hudson's views. Hudson has also declined to comment. Meanwhile, the pair reportedly clashed on exclusive Nantucket, where Holliday remains a stalwart on the island's social scene and enjoys a $4.8million home bought by Belichick. She also has a $4.2million spread in Jupiter, Florida. TMZ said she asked organizers of a Christmas party on the island last year to remove Hudson from the venue because her daughters Ashley and Kat were the DJs – and her presence was 'inappropriate'. Holliday was later seen on security video 'confronting' Hudson in the middle of the dance floor according to documents, added the outlet. Hudson was reported to have left as the event was nearing its end. Hudson and Belichick have caused a storm since their relationship was revealed in 2024, following their first meeting on a flight to Florida in 2021. They reportedly stayed in touch and got together after he split from Holliday. The most dramatic example has been of the astonishing gatecrashing of Belichick's interview with CBS in April, intended as a showpiece moment to plug his book, The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football. The coach meekly accepted Hudson's interventions from the sidelines as host Tony Dokoupil tried to make headway. At one point she refused to let Belichick answer a question about how they first met. It was also reported she stormed out of the room and delayed filming for 30 minutes. A string of other sensational incidents have also emerged, threatening to overshadow Belichick's first season in charge at UNC. In one, Hudson made a startling appearance at a North Carolina practice session. Talking with her lover on the field, she looked dramatically – and out of place – glam in a white turtleneck top, snakeskin printed minted miniskirt with matching trench coat and white boots. Prior to that, it was reported Belichick had requested Hudson be copied in on all UNC emails sent his way, Such was the impact of her presence on the field, that a Tar Heels blog of sports site SB Nation had the headline: 'UNC is reportedly concerned about Jordon Hudson's involvement with the program.' In an attempt to stifle such talk, newly-leaked emails by Belichick to a UNC official reveal him writing: 'Jordon has zero involvement in the UNC football program, beyond the degree that my personal media intersects with it.' However, they also reportedly also reveal the extent of her involvement in his media relationships, partially explaining the CBS debacle. In one email obtained by WRAL, he is reportedly wrote: 'Jordon and I have both a personal & professional relationship. This is not a secret. Jordon assists me with my personal media, which is why I asked UNC to forward media requests (eg. CBS 60 Minutes) to her.' He also defended Hudson's refusal to let the book interview stray into personal matters – and additionally confirmed their first meeting was four years ago. 'I met Jordon randomly on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021,' he wrote. 'That is no secret. Jordon was not dodging the specific question regarding how we met, but rather was preventing the interview from continuing to probe into personal matters. He also said CBS 'secretly had a camera focused on Jordon'.
