Entertainment
A Denver Punk Festival’s Organizer Donated to Trump. When Bands Found Out, the Backlash Began

Denver band Destiny Bond had been touring in Europe and recording a new album when a petition to stop Punk in the Park, a festival in the group’s hometown, circulated online a few months ago. The band then learned that the festival’s promoter, Cameron Collins of 15-year-old Brew Ha Ha Productions in California and Texas, had made donations totaling $978.39 to Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign as well as Republican fundraising groups.
Upon arriving home and recovering from jet lag, vocalist Cloe Madonna and guitarist Amos Helvey suggested the band consider the implications more thoroughly. After coming together to discuss, the band decided that playing the festival was “completely avoidable,” says drummer Adam Croft. “That’s when we made the decision to drop.”
Destiny Bond and Time X Heist, a Denver hardcore band, were the two acts that suddenly pulled out of the lineup just as the three-day festival began Friday (July 18). (Mark Frandsen, vocalist for Time X Heist, says in an email: “We dropped off in solidarity with Destiny Bond.”) Their departures drew press coverage and social-media attention — and, Croft says, “weird Instagram comments, a couple weird emails” — and prompted a reply from Collins, Brew Ha Ha’s founder and president. In a statement to reporters, he said the company’s events are “not about politics — they’re about music, connection and good times.”
At Brew Ha Ha’s festivals over the years, including California’s Punk In Drublic and Arizona’s Desert Roots, Collins adds. “I’ve proudly provided a platform for artists to reach hundreds of thousands of fans. We’ve paid millions of dollars in artist guarantees, and not once have I ever censored or restricted a band’s message or voice. Our track record speaks for itself.”
Some of the Punk In the Park headliners, which included Bad Religion, Pennywise and Descendents, chose to express their dissatisfaction with the Trump Administration onstage. “If you’re coming under the punk-rock banner and you voted for that f–king guy, and you support that f–king s–t that they’re doing, you’ve twisted your mind into knots,” Ken Casey of Dropkick Murphys, a prolific Trump critic, told the festival crowd Sunday night. “The far right ain’t the new punk — you heard it here first.” (Two days after its set, the band declared on Instagram: “Upon finding out that Brew Ha Ha promotions donated to the Trump campaign we will not be playing any more Punk in the Park shows. We kept our commitment to the Denver show because we didn’t want to leave our supporters who bought tickets holding the bag.”)
Artists over the years have enraged politicians for expressing their views from the stage, from the Dixie Chicks criticizing President George W. Bush and the Iraq War in 2003 — essentially getting themselves banned from country radio — to Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder impaling a Bush mask with a microphone that same year, prompting boos, walkouts and extensive media coverage. In May, Bruce Springsteen ripped Trump during a concert in Manchester, England, inspiring the president to declare the rock hero “highly overrated,” “dumb as a rock” and so on.
Other festival acts have faced backlash for pointed comments about the Israel-Gaza Conflict. At Coachella in April, Irish rappers Kneecap projected messages accusing Israel of genocide and demanding, “Free Palestine,” leading Sharon Osbourne and others to demand that their visas be revoked. Earlier this month, punk-rap duo Bob Vylan harshly criticized Israel and its military at Glastonbury in the U.K., calling for “death to the IDF” — and a U.S. official revoked their visas.
Fat Mike, frontman for NOFX and co-founder of indie label Fat Wreck Chords, recently told Billboard that punk bands, never known for their reluctance to speak out about politics, have been fearful to do so since Trump won the 2024 presidential election. “How politics are right now, it’s not good for punk rock,” he said. “A lot of bands are scared because of Trump and his followers. They love to hate and take revenge.”
Croft, Destiny Bond’s drummer, acknowledges the band has played shows by top promoters Live Nation and AEG, both of which have executives and board members who’ve donated to and supported Republicans over the years. Phil Anschutz, owner of AEG, is a conservative billionaire who has donated $247,100 to the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2025 as well as other GOP campaigns. “Those monopolies — Live Nation, AEG — they’re inevitable,” Croft says. “But Brew Ha Ha Productions is not inevitable. We don’t have to work with this guy [Collins] specifically, and if we can avoid it, we should.
“At the end of the day, this Trump supporter — this guy who gave money to Donald Trump — is making money off of all of us coming together and saying, ‘F–k ICE,’ ‘Protect trans kids,’ giving each other a pat on the back, feeling like we did something,” Croft adds, “In reality, all we did was give him our ticket money and our performance. At the end of the day, only one guy won if this festival did well – and that guy wanted Donald Trump to be our president.”
Entertainment
No ‘Good’ Deed Goes Unpunished for Ariana Grande’s Glinda in Final ‘Wicked: For Good’ Trailer

In the final trailer for Wicked: For Good, Ariana Grande‘s character learns that a big price comes with being Glinda the Good.
Released on Wednesday (Sept. 24) — about two months before the Wicked sequel finally premieres in theaters on Nov. 21 — the preview shows how the blonde leading lady wrestles with her new role as Oz’s spokeswoman, as Cynthia Erivo‘s Elphaba attempts to expose the Wizard’s evil agenda while living in hiding. At first, Glinda is “obsess-ulated” with the gorgeous gown, tiara and mechanical flying bubble her public-facing life affords her — but everything quickly comes crashing down when she realizes that she’s on the wrong side of history, and that she just might be too late to save her former schoolmate from the wrath of Oz’s brainwashed citizens.
“I’m a public figure now, people expect me to …,” Glinda tells Elphaba at one point, with Dorothy’s fallen house and the Yellow Brick Road visible in the background.
“Lie?” the green-skinned witch cuts in, to which Glinda says defensively, “Be encouraging.”
Grande’s character is less sure of herself when she is confronted by Jonathan Bailey’s Fiyero, who accuses, “You can’t resist this.”
“Who could?” Glinda asks, to which the Winkie prince replies, “You know who could.”
Arriving one year after the first Wicked hit theaters and shattered movie-musical box-office records, For Good will serve as the film adaptation of the second act of the Broadway musical on which the live-actions are based. The soundtrack will also drop on Nov. 21, complete with two brand new songs sung by Grande and Erivo.
As revealed when the tracklist dropped a week prior to the new trailer, the title of Glinda’s bonus song is “The Girl in the Bubble,” while Elphaba’s added balled is called “No Place Like Home.”
Watch the final trailer for Wicked: For Good above.
Entertainment
Priscilla Presley Says That Leaving Elvis Presley Was ‘The Only Way to Survive’ in New Memoir ‘Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis’

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Priscilla Presley was with Elvis Presley for around 14 years before they split; however, the pair had known each other for years before they wed in 1967.
The time in between and following Priscilla and Elvis’ divorce was a tough spot for Priscilla, and one she wasn’t super open about — that is, until now. In her new memoir Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis, the actress shares the difficult but inspiring journey beyond the walls of Graceland post-split with the King, choosing to put herself and her daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, first.
A hardcover version of the book is now on sale and can be purchased now on Amazon for $22.38, while paperback will run you $32. A Kindle version retails for $15.99. If you’re a superfan of Priscilla and the Presley family, you can also snag a signed version of the memoir via Barnes & Noble for $32. The piece makes a great gift for the avid Elvis collector in your life. If you’d rather listen to the memoir, we won’t judge, you can do so with Audible via a subscription which costs $7.95 a month, a price tag less than a physical copy.
Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis
A new memoir by Priscilla Presley.
If you didn’t know, Priscilla met Elvis when she was just 14 and he was 24. The singer was serving in the U.S. Army in 1959 in Germany. The pair remained romantically connected for years, even with distance between them and in 1967, they were wed in a simple and very secret ceremony in Las Vegas. While their separation in 1973 was painful for Priscilla, this novel highlights why it was so important for the Naked Gun star to leave.
It seems that Priscilla lost touch with herself throughout her relationship with Elvis. Leaving allowed her to find herself again. Through the book, we are treated to snippets of Priscilla’s life pre- and post-Elvis and how she had to reinvent herself a second time as the single mother after the performer’s death in 1977.
Today, we are taken through how Priscilla was able to transform Graceland into an international destination and helped guide the development of Elvis Presley Enterprises, turning the King’s legacy into a full-on business. If you are an Elvis fan, this gives readers a unique perspective on his life, as told by his ex-wife. It also gives Priscilla’s story more context for those who aren’t too familiar with her life and career.
Entertainment
Calvin Harris’ Ex-Business Manager Denies $22M Fraud Claims: ‘Categorically False’

Calvin Harris‘ former longtime business manager is firing back against bombshell fraud claims, saying he never stole from anybody and that the Scottish DJ willingly agreed to invest in his Los Angeles real estate development project.
Thomas St. John, an entertainment industry-focused accountant who runs the eponymous firm Thomas St. John Group, is currently wrapped up in thorny arbitration proceedings with his former client Harris (Adam Wiles). He’s accused of abusing his access to Harris’ accounts in order to fund his side venture: the construction of a recording studio and office space complex in Hollywood.
Harris claims that St. John tricked him into investing $22.5 million in the project, known as CMNTY Culture Campus, which he says turned out to be a “complete boondoggle” that he “has not received a single penny in return for” — while suggesting that St. John pocketed much of the money for himself.
However, a representative for St. John says in a new statement that the allegations are “categorically false.” The rep denies that St. John engaged in any self-dealing, adding that Harris is one of nine above-board investors who “knowingly signed investment agreements” to get involved in CMNTY Culture.
“Not a single dollar has been misappropriated, all investor entitlements remain intact, and the project continues to advance within the normal entitlement timeline,” says St. John’s rep in the Tuesday (Sept. 23) statement. “We will continue to take every necessary step to set the record straight and to ensure that these malicious, bad-faith attacks are recognized for what they are: entirely without merit.”
While CMNTY Culture was initially designed to house a recording studio and office space, St. John has since shifted the plans and is now developing a residential apartment complex on the same tract of land in Hollywood. According to his rep, the project is proceeding apace and “is expected to approach a $1 billion valuation” upon completion.
“While the entitlement process has naturally taken longer than initially projected due to unprecedented interest, macroeconomic conditions and significant city red tape, it remains firmly within its promised schedule and is now on the verge of securing final entitlements, an important milestone that will unlock substantial value,” adds St. John’s rep.
Thomas St. John Group has offices in Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam and Stockholm. The management firm’s U.S. arm recently filed for bankruptcy, citing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent in L.A. and multiple pending legal actions.
One creditor listed in the firm’s bankruptcy papers is Philip Lawrence, a songwriter and producer who made his name collaborating with Bruno Mars. Lawrence used to be a client of St. John’s and at one point invested $10 million from the sale of his catalog into CMNTY Culture Campus, according to court filings in Lawrence’s own personal bankruptcy case.
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