NOEL Gallagher has confirmed he will reunite with brother Liam – three months after their Oasis reunion tour wrapped.
The brothers reunited after 16 years for asensational five month tour – starting in Wales and ending in Brazil.
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Noel Gallagher has hit back over the decision to award him Songwriter of the Year at the BRITSCredit: GettyThe Wonderwall hitmaker has revealed plans to reunite with brother Liam next monthCredit: Getty
The Sun revealed last week that Noel will be getting a starring role when the Brit Awards come to his home city of Manchester this month.
Speaking on talkSPORT Drive about the award, Noel said: “I haven’t written a song for two years.
“I’m not sure how I’ve got away with that one but I’ll take it.”
Asked about the controversy, he responded: “Is there? I don’t know. Why, what’s it now?”
Host Andy Goldstein said: “Some people are questioning the fact that you’ve won it and haven’t written a song.”
Noel replied: “Well, I think the Brits is all based on record sales, and I’m not sure there was another single songwriter that sold… I mean, we sold a million records last year.
“Didn’t even get off the couch and I’m not sure there’s a songwriter that can match that.
“But you know, if anybody’s got a problem with it, meet me there. We’ll have it out on the red carpet.
“If any of those wet wipes songwriting teams, all 11 of them, want to write a song between the lot of them, want to have it out on the red carpet, I’m there.”
Noel then revealed that he and Liam are planning on reuniting for a Carabao Cup final, which takes place in March.
Revealing whether Liam will be at the BRITs with him, Noel said: “I haven’t, no, we’re just organising tickets for the Carabao Cup final today, but no, I haven’t spoke to him about that, no.”
The Sun revealed that mastermind behindOasis‘s incredible back catalogue of hits would be receiving the award later this month.
A source said: “Noel has more than earned his stripes and after the phenomenal effect of Oasis’ reunion tour last summer, the time felt right to give him the honour.
“The cultural impact of Noel’s songwriting is hard to quantify. It’s not just the timeless hits from Oasis, like Wonderwall, Champagne Supernova and Live Forever, that he is being honoured for, but also the career-defining songs he wrote for his solo albums with High Flying Birds.
“The Brits are planning a special visual tribute to Noel too, which will showcase some of the highlights of his work before he picks up the awards.”
He famously said in 2013 that he’d never attend the ceremony again, after moaning it had lost its rock ‘n’ roll magic when he spotted Muse drummer Dominic Howard smoking an e-cigarette on the balcony above him.
Noel, below, said: “It was an instantly forgettable night. There was nothing going on at the Brits, there was nothing going on at the after-show parties.
“There are no characters left in the music business. I saw the drummer from Muse smoking an electronic cigarette. I had to say to him, ‘Really?”
Noel added: “That will be the last time I attend that show unless I get some award for . . . ‘and the award this year for the only person in England writing his own songs, oh that’s right, there’s only one nominee’.”
This year marks 30 years since Noel and brother Liam enjoyed their biggest night at the Brits.
They picked up three gongs — Best Group, Best Album for (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and Best Video for Wonderwall.
LThe brothers reunited after 16 years for a sensational five month tour last yearCredit: Getty
In a widely anticipated outcome that felt like a long-overdue coronation, Paul Thomas Anderson won the top honor at Saturday’s Directors Guild of America Awards for his Thomas Pynchon-inspired political thriller “One Battle After Another.” The ceremony was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
It was the director’s first DGA win after two prior nominations, in 2008 for “There Will Be Blood” and in 2022 for his San Fernando Valley reminiscence “Licorice Pizza.”
Speaking at the podium after receiving the award from last year’s winner, “Anora” director Sean Baker, a humbled Anderson thanked the guild, mentioning recent EGOT winner Steven Spielberg, sitting in the audience right in front of him. “It reminds me, being in this room, of ‘Close Encounters,’ ” Anderson said. “We’re all brought here for a reason — some cosmic thing brought us to this room. It was that call to the mountain. It’s that feeling that we all love making s— and we need to do it.”
Anderson also devoted much of his speech to remembering his first-assistant director Adam Somner, who died from thyroid cancer in November 2024. “May you be blessed with the relationship I had with him,” the director said, “and if you have one already, hold them close and remind them that you love them.”
True to tradition, the evening was both a celebration of achievements in directing and an occasion for much pro-guild testifying — from nominees, winners and Christopher Nolan, presiding over his first ceremony as DGA president. “We are the best at what we do,” Nolan said, touching on last year’s 40% dip in DGA member employment with a note of solidarity and urgency. “We are the storytellers. We are the people who have to innovate.”
All five nominees for theatrical feature film are invited to give a speech during these annual awards, with the eventual winner speaking twice. Guillermo del Toro, up for his personal take on “Frankenstein,” saluted Nolan: “I love saying ‘President Nolan’ because it’s so good to say ‘President’ with a good word after it,” he cracked to hearty applause. (The joke was echoed by several podium speakers.)
Ryan Coogler, a DGA nominee for “Sinners,” thanked the guild for his health insurance and mentioned his longtime dream — not of filmmaking but of joining a union, like some of the adults in his life growing up.
“Lately I’ve been learning about alchemy, “ said Chloé Zhao, representing “Hamnet,” her domestic drama about the grief-stricken family life of William Shakespeare. “You need fire and you need a chalice. To me, that fire is my creativity. It’s my birthright to create. And that chalice is the community that holds me.”
Indicating the respect the DGA commands among actors, several A-listers attended the ceremony to introduce their directors: Leonardo DiCaprio for Anderson, Jacob Elordi for Del Toro and Timothée Chalamet, the latter celebrating his “Marty Supreme” director Josh Safdie with sincerity and gentle deprecation. “I don’t think Josh will ever be ‘institutional,’ ” Chalamet said. “I think Josh will forever be an insurgent filmmaker and I don’t think the world would be right otherwise.”
An Oscar victory path is now clear for Anderson, previously nominated for the academy’s directing honor three times, for “There Will Be Blood,” “Phantom Thread” and “Licorice Pizza,” but never a winner. Twenty of the last 23 recipients of the DGA’s top prize have gone on to take the Oscar for directing.
Here is a complete list of the night’s nominees, with winners in bold:
Outstanding directorial achievement in theatrical feature film
Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros. Pictures) Ryan Coogler, “Sinners” (Warner Bros. Pictures) Guillermo del Toro, “Frankenstein” (Netflix) Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme” (A24) Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet” (Focus Features)
Michael Apted Award for outstanding directorial achievement in first-time theatrical feature film
Charlie Polinger, “The Plague” (Independent Film Co.) Hasan Hadi, “The President’s Cake” (Sony Pictures Classics) Harry Lighton, “Pillion” (A24) Alex Russell, “Lurker” (Mubi) Eva Victor, “Sorry, Baby” (A24)
Outstanding directorial achievement in documentary
Mstyslav Chernov, “2000 Meters to Andriivka” (PBS) Geeta Gandbhir, “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix) Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, “Cutting Through Rocks” (Assembly Releasing) Elizabeth Lo, “Mistress Dispeller” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, “Cover-Up” (Netflix)
Outstanding directorial achievement in dramatic series
Amanda Marsalis, “The Pitt,” “6:00 P.M.” (HBO Max) Liza Johnson, “The Diplomat,” “Amagansett” (Netflix) Janus Metz, “Andor,” “Who Are You?” (Disney+) Ben Stiller, “Severance,” “Cold Harbor” (Apple TV+) John Wells, “The Pitt,” “7:00 A.M.” (HBO Max)
Outstanding directorial achievement in comedy series
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, “The Studio,” “The Oner” (Apple TV+) Lucia Aniello, “Hacks,” “A Slippery Slope” (HBO Max) Janicza Bravo, “The Bear,” “Worms” (FX on Hulu) Christopher Storer, “The Bear,” “Bears” (FX on Hulu) Mike White, “The White Lotus,” “Denials” (HBO Max)
Outstanding directorial achievement in limited and anthology series
Shannon Murphy, “Dying for Sex,” “It’s Not That Serious” (FX on Hulu) Jason Bateman, “Black Rabbit,” “The Black Rabbits” (Netflix) Antonio Campos, “The Beast in Me,” “Sick Puppy” (Netflix) Lesli Linka Glatter, “Zero Day,” “Episode 6” (Netflix) Ally Pankiw, “Black Mirror,” “Common People” (Netflix)
Outstanding directorial achievement in movies for television
Stephen Chbosky, “Nonnas” (Netflix) Jesse Armstrong, “Mountainhead” (HBO Max) Scott Derrickson, “The Gorge” (Apple TV+) Michael Morris, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” (Peacock) Kyle Newacheck, “Happy Gilmore 2” (Netflix)
Outstanding directorial achievement in variety
Liz Patrick, “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” (NBC) Yvonne De Mare, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” “Julia Roberts; Sam Smith” (CBS) Andy Fisher, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Stephen Colbert; Kumail Nanjiani; Reneé Rapp” (ABC) Beth McCarthy-Miller, “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” (Peacock) Paul Pennolino, “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” “Public Media” (HBO Max)
Outstanding directorial achievement in sports
Matthew Gangl, 2025 World Series – Game 7 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays (Fox Sports) Steve Milton, 2025 Masters Tournament – Augusta National Golf Club (CBS Sports) Rich Russo, Super Bowl LIX – Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Fox Sports)
Outstanding directorial achievement in reality / quiz & game
Mike Sweeney, “Conan O’Brien Must Go,” “Austria” (HBO Max) Lucinda M. Margolis, “Jeopardy!,” “Ep. 9341” (Syndicated) Adam Sandler, “The Price Is Right,” “10,000th Episode” (CBS)
Outstanding directorial achievement in documentary series / news
Rebecca Miller, “Mr. Scorsese,” “All This Filming Isn’t Healthy” (Apple TV+) Marshall Curry, “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,” “Written By: A Week Inside the SNL Writers Room” (Peacock) Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” “Part Two” (HBO Max) Alexandra Stapleton, “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” “Official Girl” (Netflix) Matt Wolf, “Pee-Wee as Himself,” “Part 1” (HBO Max)
Outstanding directorial achievement in commercials
Kim Gehrig (Somesuch), “You Can’t Win. So Win.” – Nike | Wieden+Kennedy Miles Jay (Smuggler) Spike Jonze (MJZ) Andreas Nilsson (Biscuit Filmworks) Steve Rogers (Biscuit Filmworks)
Veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford confirmed he will keep playing for at least one more season after being named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for the first time.
The Los Angeles Rams star was the slight favourite for the award and beat New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye by one first-place vote.
The 37-year-old became the oldest quarterback to win the MVP for the first time and it is the 13th straight win by a QB.
Stafford had been rumoured to be considering retirement and while on stage with his four daughters in San Francisco, said: “I’ll see you guys next year.”
“It’s something I’d been thinking about, whether I wanted to keep playing or not,” he added.
“I ended the season on a healthy note, had a bunch of team-mates in the crowd and my daughters with me, so it felt like the right thing to do in the moment. I’m happy to be coming back.”
Stafford was unable to register a play-off win in 12 years with the Detroit Lions, but after being traded to the Rams in 2021, he won the Super Bowl in his first season and has now been named MVP.
The former first overall draft pick is just the second quarterback after Tom Brady (2007) to lead the NFL in touchdown passes, passing yards and touchdown-interception ratio over the past 50 seasons.
He led the Rams to the NFC Championship game but the Seattle Seahawks won to book their spot in Sunday’s Super Bowl, where they will face the Patriots in Santa Clara.
Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba was named Offensive Player of the Year at the NFL’s end-of-season awards night after leading the league for receiving yards.
New England’s Mike Vrabel won Coach of the Year having led the Patriots to the Super Bowl in his first season as their head coach.
Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in three years after claiming the single-season sack record.
BEIJING — Beijing on Monday criticized the Dalai Lama ’s first Grammy win, describing the music industry award for an audiobook, narration and storytelling as “a tool for anti-China political manipulation.”
The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, who lives in exile in India, took the award on Sunday for his book, “Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
He said in a statement on his website that he saw the award “as a recognition of our shared universal responsibility.”
“I receive this recognition with gratitude and humility,” he added.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: “It is well known that the 14th Dalai Lama is not merely a religious figure but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the guise of religion.”
“We firmly oppose the relevant party using the award as a tool for anti-China political manipulation,” he added.
The Dalai Lama, who is seen by many as the face of Tibet’s struggle for autonomy, has lived in exile since 1959, when Chinese troops crushed an uprising in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
China, which governs Tibet as an autonomous region, has been accused of trying to stamp out the Tibetan language, culture and identity.
Beijing and the Dalai Lama also spar over the spiritual leader’s eventual successor. Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lamas are reincarnations of a spiritual leader first born in 1391.
Beijing maintains the next Dalai Lama will be born in Tibet and recognized by the ruling Communist Party, whereas the Dalai Lama has said his successor will be from a free country and that China has no role in the process.
Bad Bunny’s “Débi Tirar Más Fotos” was named album of the year at Sunday night’s 68th Grammy Awards — the first time a Spanish-language LP has won the Recording Academy’s most prestigious prize.
Bunny delivered the speech primarily in Spanish.
“I want to dedicate this award to all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams,” he said as the audience rose to its feet.
“Puerto Rico, believe me when I say that we are so much bigger than 100 by 35 and there is nothing that exists that we can’t accomplish,” he said in Spanish. “Thank God, thank you to the academy, thank you to all the people who have believed in me throughout my whole career. To all the people who worked on this album. Thank you, mami, for giving birth to me in Puerto Rico. I love you.”
“For all the people who have lost a loved one and even then have had to continue moving forward and continue with so much strength, this award is for you all.”
Intricately arranged with the sounds of the singer and rapper’s native Puerto Rico, “Débi Tirar Más Fotos” was released to rave reviews in January 2025 and quickly reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Last summer, Bad Bunny supported the project with a 30-date concert residency at San Juan’s José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum; he followed that with the announcement of a world tour that avoided the United States, in part, he told I-D magazine, because of his concern that immigration agents might turn up at shows.
Prior to Sunday’s win, “Débi Tirar Más Fotos” — the title translates in English to “I Should Have Taken More Photos” — was named album of the year at November’s Latin Grammy Awards. Next weekend, Bad Bunny (whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) will headline the halftime show at Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara.
He won earlier in the night for música urbana album and global music performance.
The other LPs nominated for album of the year were Justin Bieber’s “Swag,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Man’s Best Friend,” Clipse’s “Let God Sort Em Out,” Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem,” Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX,” Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” and Tyler, the Creator’s “Chromakopia.”
In 2025, Beyoncé took the prize with “Cowboy Carter.”
During the summer of 1998, a 19-year-old rapper named Eve (formerly known as Eve of Destruction) received a phone call from her producer friend Scott Storch about an opportunity to hop on a record with the Roots.
The hip-hop band from Philadelphia, formed by Black Thought and Questlove, was bubbling at the time and Eve, a known battle rapper in the city, was excited to work together on a song called “You Got Me.”
After tweaking the verse that Black Thought, the band’s lead MC and co-founder, wrote for her, Eve laid down her vocals, rhyming the lyrics “Another lonely night? / It seems like I’m on the side, you only lovin’ your mic.”
“It was really exciting,” Eve said, while lounging on a couch in a Hollywood residence. The rapper, actor and fashion designer has been based in London for the last decade. “I think that was my most professional setting because they obviously were already signed.”
When the song, which is featured on the Roots’ career-defining “Things Fall Apart” album, was released in 1999, it was the first time the world heard Eve’s voice — but no one knew it was her. To her surprise, she wasn’t listed as a contributing artist on the track.
She was also surprised to find out that Jill Scott, a poet and rising neo-soul singer from Philadelphia who wrote and sang the initial hook, was replaced by Grammy-winning singer Erykah Badu. After receiving the wrong address for the shoot, Eve wasn’t featured in the music video either.
In 2000, the Roots and Badu won a Grammy for “You Got Me,” but because Eve wasn’t listed on the track, she didn’t receive an award. By this time, Eve was signed to Ruff Ryders and promoting her debut album “Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady” including her breakout single “Want Ya Want,” so although it hurt her feelings at the time, she moved past it, she said.
“There was no time to kind of go back and think about it,” said Eve, who opened up about the situation in her 2024 memoir “Who’s That Girl.” After years of seeing each other and even performing the song together, she and Questlove spoke about the matter for the first time when she made an appearance on his podcast and apologized to Eve for the oversight. “We were extremely inconsiderate, insular and uncommunicative with each other that things like that always spilled on the sidelines,” the drummer said on the podcast. (Questlove wasn’t available for comment further at the time of publication.)
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Last fall, Eve received another unexpected phone call — this time from the Recording Academy. After hearing Eve talk about the “You Got Me” situation on Ebro Darden’s podcast, the Recording Academy wanted to give her an award for her contributions to the track.
“They were like, ‘Listen, we didn’t even know about this situation at all until we heard the podcast,’” Eve recalled.
After 26 years, Eve was given a golden gramophone Thursday night during the Recording Academy Honors presented by the Black Music Collective in front of a star-studded audience. For her, the award feels like “validation in a way to that little girl, to little Eve,” she said. “She deserves that.”
She added, “Whatever is yours can’t miss you.”
Ahead of the ceremony, Eve spoke to The Times about coming up in the Philadelphia music scene as a teenager, what the “You Got Me” situation has taught her and what receiving this award means to her now. She also talked about the impact of her second studio album, “Scorpion,” which turns 25 this year, and what it was like to bring her toddler son on tour with her for the first time.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
You grew up in West Philly at a time when so many future greats were coming up at once — the Roots, Jill Scott, Bilal and Scott Storch. When you were just a teenager, you were hanging out at studios with some of them and attending jam sessions at Questlove’s house. What did the energy in Philly feel like back then?
It was amazing because music was everywhere. I knew that I wanted it to be my life, so every weekend I was doing something. I should’ve been going to school, but I was going to the studio because I knew that I wanted music to be my life. And in Philly, there was always something going on whether it was a block party or a jam session or an open mic night. I was at everything.
Scott Storch was the person who called you about getting on the Roots’ “You Got Me” record. What was your reaction when you got that call?
When you are young, there’s that no fear thing. I remember being excited, of course, but also like, “Yes! I’m supposed to be here,” not from a cocky place but more affirmative. It was really exciting, but it was also very professional. I think that was my most professional setting because they obviously were already signed. I’d never been around that before, so I remember [being] like “This feels like the business.”
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
You were around 19 or 20 at that time, right?
I must have been around 19 because I would’ve gotten signed and dropped [from Aftermath] when I was 18. [laughs]
At that time you were in between record deals, so it must have felt like a big opportunity.
Absolutely. You know what’s funny, I probably just took it for granted in the sense of like “Oh yeah, this is the start.” They are signed. It’s funny because I think back on the situation and I guess I thought it was gonna pop off from there. That’s why all the events that happened afterward were like “Ugh.”
Take me back to the day that you laid down your verse. Who was in the studio with you?
I’m pretty sure Black Thought and Jill [Scott] were there. Even if not the whole session, I don’t know if I’d come in if she’d finished or whatever, but I’m pretty sure she was there.
How did your verse come together?
I had this whole thing in my head, but Black Thought had a whole verse already. But then I was like, “I’m not gonna just say your verse.” Now, I have a writer sometimes, but back then, especially because I was a battle rapper, it was like I can’t say somebody else’s bars. That’s not real. So he had this whole thing and then I kind of tweaked it to make it feel and sound like me.
I had a lot of audacity back then. I really did. [laughs] Because most people would be like “Yeah, cool.” Also, I was like if I’m going to put my voice on this, I really want to feel like me. I have thought about this [situation] so much now, and I’m sure that also attributed to them being like, “We don’t need to reach out. We don’t need to make sure it’s OK” because the majority of it was written by him. Not that that’s an excuse because there is no excuse.
When was the first time that you realized you didn’t receive credit for the song? If I’m not mistaken, I think Jill Scott found out that her vocals were replaced by Erykah Badu after she heard it on the radio.
I think it was kind of the same thing. It all happened so fast like, “Oh, the song is out.” I probably heard it around the same time and thought “Oh, that’s not Jill. Oh, that’s Erykah Badu.” It was such a weird timeline because I did the song a year or a few months before, and then by the time I heard the song, I was living in Harlem and I was signed to Ruff Ryders.
The song went on to win a Grammy for rap performance by a duo or group in 2000, but because you weren’t credited, you didn’t receive an award. In your book, you talk about how this situation lined up with you being dropped from Aftermath Entertainment and moving back home from L.A. How did you deal with all of this emotionally?
I feel like I had a month that I was just [felt] — I don’t know if I’d call it depressed — deflated. I really felt like damn, this was it and now I’m back home. I was just in L.A. in a condo with a nice bank account. Now I’m back at my mom’s house in my pajamas and I gotta catch the bus. What the hell is happening to my life? [laughs] That was horrible so I was wrestling with my feelings and my sadness, but my mom was great. My mom has always been my rock. She was supportive and she [didn’t] tell me to get over it. She kind of just let me wallow in it, but [she was] positive as well like, “Maybe that wasn’t the time.” It was crazy, but I will say, I needed it. I’m happy that happened because I wouldn’t have the career I have now. Like going back to the Aftermath thing, if I had come out then, I wouldn’t have the career that I have now. I feel like I did need to be humbled because it was definitely the Philly attitude that got me fired, that got me dropped. [laughs] My name at the time was Eve of Destruction, my battle rap name, so it was the time that I sat with my feelings and I was like if I get this chance again who is it that I want to be as an artist? Who do I want to show the world? I didn’t want to take on a title. I was like I’m just going to show them myself. I’m going to show them Eve.
Some fans knew that you didn’t receive credit on this track, but others found out for the first time when you talked about it last year during an appearance on Ebro Darden’s podcast.
It’s crazy how many people are mad about it for me. I had friends who were like, “Girl, so what’s going to happen?” [laughs] But it is a funny thing. Why wasn’t I mad enough? Or was it — this is the over-analyzer [in me] — one of those moments where I just wanted to forget about it. Because, yeah, my feelings were definitely hurt if it was a fake address. Or did we get the address wrong? So maybe I was like, “I’ll just put it on the back burner,” but Ebro definitely did not. And you know what, I’m happy he didn’t because sometimes it takes for a person to be your champion or your cheerleader in certain things and I do appreciate it.
“You Got Me” is one of the Roots’ biggest songs to this day. Was it weird hearing it played everywhere when it first came out?
During that time I did not see them. It was very weird. That song had come out, I was doing my thing, but we ran in different circles hip-hop-wise. I guess we just never crossed paths. I never really saw them. I think they were on tour by then and I was with Ruff Ryders. We didn’t see each other until years later because we have performed that song now three times probably at separate points in my career, which is also weird. [laughs]
That is weird.
It’s weird. I don’t know what’s wrong.
Now, 26 years after “You Got Me” won a Grammy, you are finally receiving your award and honored at the Black Music Collective Recording Academy Honors. What was your reaction when you found out?
It was weird at first because the [academy] called a lot of different people. They called like four different people because they wouldn’t tell anybody why they wanted to talk to me. Finally, I think Swizz [Beatz] was probably the last person they called. Then we got on the phone and I remember I was having martinis in London. It was a FaceTime [call] and I was standing under a lamp. It was not professional on my side and I was trying real hard not to be tipsy. I was like, “This is so cool. Thank you, guys.” [laughs] My friend, who I was with, was like “What did you have to take a call for?” and I was like “Girllll.” So it was a fun night. I came home and told my husband, fell asleep and when I woke up, I completely forgot about it. Then my friend texted me and was like “Do you remember?” and I was like “Oh s—! Yeah!” It’s just such a cool thing and since then it’s been like “Wow.” They said, “We could send you the Grammy, but we’d like to give it to you.” It’s really nice. It’s a really interesting feeling because obviously it’s been so long, something that I thought I was done with, in a way, so it feels good.
What did they tell you exactly?
They were like “Listen, we didn’t even know about this situation at all until we heard the podcast.” It was the podcast that I did with Ebro when they were like “Oh nah.” Even Swizz was like “Sis, we gotta make this happen. That’s not cool.” And I was like “OK, cool.”
Does receiving this award now feel like reconciliation at all? Or maybe validation?
In a way, validation to that little girl, to little me. It sounds a bit cheesy, but she deserves that. It’s a great moment. I’m still wrapping my head around it in a way especially since I’ve been away from music for so long and for this to be happening like this is very cool.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
What have you learned or taken away from this situation?
I think I’m honestly still processing because I was joking, but kind of not, like I want to talk to my therapist about why I let this go. What was it? Why did I think, “Oh nah, it’s cool. We squashed it.” But it’s like no, this is bigger than that. But good s— comes to good people and I know for sure I definitely deserve it. [laughs]
In other exciting news, this March marks the 25th anniversary of your second album, “Scorpion.” What memories rush back to you when you think about that time of your life, living and working in Miami?
Oh my God. There’s so many. It was so fun. I remember the house we rented. I had one Yorkie, then I bought her a friend in Florida. It was silly s— that I remember and then just being in the studio day and night. Then the Marleys were on the other side. It was just a good time. I was fully in it. It was a lot of pressure because it was like “We gotta get this album done now.” It’s when I really think I felt the business of music in the sense of like, “We gotta meet these deadlines. We gotta get this album out,” which was stressful but I was still naive enough, I think, to still be having fun. I was going out. I met Trina. Trina is my girl. Overall, it was a really good time.
Between experimenting with new sounds, crossing genres with artists like Gwen Stefani, and making the theme red, “Scorpion” felt very intentional. Reflecting back, what did that era represent for you personally beyond the music?
I feel very lucky that Ruff Ryders always allowed me to artistically do what I wanted to do. They never said things like “Oh this might not work.” And even sonically, they weren’t the ones who were fighting back, it was more like executives and Interscope, but for me “Scorpion” means red. Red is a scorpion color. We gotta come out stinging, but I also want to show that I’ve grown, that I’ve matured and really show what my ear is. I felt really lucky that they didn’t fight me on it. They let me do exactly what I needed to do. It felt collaborative because that’s how Ruff Ryders worked anyway. There were people in and out of the studio all the time, but it made it good because sometimes a conversation led to a hook or a verse.
Last year you went on tour with Nelly, Ja Rule and Chingy, and you brought along your son. What was it like having him there with you, seeing you on stage?
It was grueling. I ain’t gone lie. It was amazing, but being on tour with a toddler is different. That being said, the reason I said yes to doing the tour is because he’s young enough that I can kind of tote him around, but he’s old enough that he can remember. Seeing him on the side of the stage was like “Oh, my little baby.” It was also fun. Like everybody on that tour had bangers, so even me performing or being backstage and hearing Ja or hearing Nelly or hearing Chingy, it was a good tour. The crowd showed up. It was a really cool tour too because in some places, it was like generations of people together like the kids and the moms, and then there were a lot of young people, and I was like “Oh, I love this.”
What else do you have coming up?
Listening to new music and discovering new artists. I am excited about this 25th anniversary because we are going to do some really fun stuff with it and we’re talking about some re-imaginings with it. Just touch some of the songs that people love and give it a bit of life. What else? I don’t know. I’m just “momming.” That’s my favorite thing right now. He’s getting so big. I cannot believe he’s about to be 4. Watching him grow is nice.
On Jan. 23, Swiss Federal Supreme Court sent the U.S. gymnast’s case back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to re-examine the matter “on the basis of an audio-visual recording” that could provide evidence in Chiles’ favor, the court said Thursday in a news release.
“The Federal Supreme Court acknowledged that this new evidence may justify a modification of the contested award,” Switzerland’s highest court stated. “It referred the case back to the CAS for it to re-examine the situation, taking this new evidence into account.”
Chiles initially was deemed the fifth-place finisher in the women’s floor exercise final on Aug. 5, 2024, but was bumped up to third place after a judging inquiry placed by U.S. coach Cecile Landi gave Chiles an extra tenth of a point.
Days later, however, the CAS ruled that Landi’s inquiry was registered four seconds too late and that Chiles’ original score of 13.666 should be restored. That decision knocked the UCLA star back down to fifth place.
Chiles, with the support of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, filed an appeal of that ruling with Switzerland’s Supreme Court in September 2024. Her appeal maintains that the CAS had refused to allow video evidence she feels would show that Landi’s inquiry was filed within the required time frame.
In its Thursday statement, the Swiss court acknowledged that the video could “lead to a modification of the contested award in favour of the applicants, since the CAS could consider, in the light of this audio-visual sequence, that the verbal inquiry made on behalf of Jordan Chiles had been made before the expiry of the regulatory one-minute time limit.
“The Federal Supreme Court therefore partially overturns the contested award and refers the case back to the CAS for a new ruling, taking into account the probative value of the audio-visual recording in question.”
In a statement emailed to The Times on Thursday, the CAS agreed with the Swiss court’s ruling that “new evidence provided by the athlete after the CAS decision justifies a re-examination of the appeal.”
“During the Olympic Games, CAS renders sporting decisions in a demanding time frame,” the statement read. “CAS cannot reopen a closed procedure without the agreement of all Parties. Following the [Swiss Supreme Court’s] decision, CAS can now ensure a thorough judicial review of the new evidence that has since been made available.”
Maurice M. Suh, one of the attorneys representing Chiles, issued a statement Thursday praising the decision.
“We are delighted that the Swiss Federal Supreme Court has righted a wrong and given Jordan the chance she deserves to reclaim her bronze medal,” Suh said. “… We appreciate that Jordan will receive a full and fair opportunity to defend her bronze medal. She is ready to fight vigorously, and we look forward to helping her achieve that result.”
