For the first seven months of 2025, it seemed entirely possible this would be a year of recuperation and regrouping for Taylor Swift. After all, she’d just spend two years on the biggest tour in pop history, while capping a first half of the decade that included four totally new albums and another four re-recordings of her early LPs — a project that came to an end (at least temporarily) this year with her long-sought acquisitions of her masters. A break seemed much-deserved, and possibly necessary. But as of last week, break’s over: Taylor Swift took to her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast to announce 12th album The Life of a Showgirl, arriving Oct. 3.

On this week’s Pop Star Preview episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard executive editor of music (and longtime Swift correspondent) Jason Lipshutz to discuss the earliest transmissions from Swift’s Showgirl era. We break down what we already know about the album — including the tracklist, the producers, and the general sound — and predict where she might be going from here, as she keeps the chains moving on what increasingly appears to be one decade-long touchdown drive.

Along the way, we of course try to answer all the questions that have been lingering for us and the rest of the Swifties for the past week-plus: Why was keeping the Showgirl tracklist to 12 tracks — with no bonus material incoming — such a point of emphasis for Taylor? Does a return to the sound and the collaborators of 1989 also portend a return to the blockbuster status of 1989? How wild it is that Swift’s story is now so intertwined with that of Chiefs (and former Eagles) head coach Andy Reid? Is this all leading up to a headlining gig at Super Bowl LX (as Katie and Keith just spent most of this week’s Pop Shop episode wondering themselves)? And most importantly: Can Taylor Swift still be the No. 1 Greatest Pop Star of 2025?

Check it out above — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!

And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:

Transgender Law Center

Trans Lifeline

Destination Tomorrow

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on 5Calls.org.

Federal prosecutors are urging a judge to reject Sean “Diddy” Combs’ bid to overturn his prostitution convictions – including his “meritless” claims that “freak-offs” were just porn movies protected by the First Amendment.

In a filing Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors say Diddy’s recent motion asking the judge to acquit him or order a new trial must be denied, arguing there was clearly enough evidence to support a jury’s guilty verdict on two counts of interstate prostitution.

The feds are also unimpressed with Diddy’s creative alternative argument: that he was merely exercising his constitutional right to free speech by “producing amateur pornography.” They say that argument is baseless and an after-the-fact effort to avoid justice.

“The defendant twists the record beyond recognition in order to claim that his [prostitution] convictions run afoul of the First Amendment,” the feds write. “The defendant was anything but a producer of adult films entitled to First Amendment protection — rather, he was a voracious consumer of commercial sex, paying male commercial sex workers on hundreds of occasions to have sex with his girlfriends for his own sexual arousal.”

Combs was arrested and charged last year with racketeering (RICO) and sex trafficking violations over accusations that he ran a sprawling criminal operation aimed at facilitating the freak-offs — elaborate events which he allegedly forced his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and other women to have sex with male escorts while he watched and masturbated.

Following a blockbuster trial this spring, jurors cleared Combs on the RICO and sex trafficking charges, but he was found guilty on two other counts for transporting Ventura and others across state lines for the purposes of prostitution. When he’s sentenced on those counts in October, he could still get between two and five years in prison.

In seeking to overturn those convictions, Combs has argued that his verdict was “unprecedented.” They argued that he himself was not having sex with the prostitutes, but rather that he had paid men to have consensual sex with his girlfriends: “That is not prostitution.” And if anything, they say he was merely a “john” – a customer of prostitution – who should not be subject to harsh federal prosecution.

In Wednesday’s response, prosecutors spend 58 pages rejecting those arguments in detail – including the claim that Diddy was just a customer.

“By the defendant’s own argument, he is not a typical ‘john’ who pays an escort to have sex with him,” prosecutors write. “He is in many respects more akin to a pimp than a john in that the defendant (the pimp) provides Ventura and Jane (the victims) to other men to have sex for his own personal benefit.”

A judge will rule on Diddy’s motion at some point in the weeks before his October sentencing hearing.

Is the beef between Gavin Adcock and Charley Crockett over?

It appears so. Adcock posted a video to Instagram on Thursday (Aug. 21), noting that Crockett is attempting to bury the hatchet. The video clip shows Adcock sitting in a backstage area and holding a large bouquet of roses and a copy of Crockett’s new album Dollar a Day. Adcock poked fun at Crockett while accepting flowers and vinyl.

“Apparently last night Charley Crockett was supposed to play the venue that we’re playing tonight, but he didn’t sell enough tickets, so he had to move to a smaller venue down the street — but before he left he sent me 60 roses and a $3 vinyl, so shout-out to Charley Crockett,” Adcock says with a smile. “I appreciate ya, buddy.”

Adcock’s tour schedule has him slated to perform at WAVE in Wichita, Kansas, on Thursday night, while Crockett performed at Wichita’s The Cotillion on Wednesday. Crockett had previously been scheduled to perform at WAVE back in May, but the show was postponed and moved to The Cotillion.

In June, Adcock had some thoughts to share about Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter album during one of his concerts. Adcock blasted Bey’s project, which was keeping his own album out of the top three on Apple Music’s country albums chart at the time.

Earlier this week, Crockett issued a lengthy Instagram post that seemingly called out Adcock and other country stars who have spoken out against Cowboy Carter, and also defended Beyoncé. Crockett didn’t mention Adcock by name, but in his message he wrote, “I don’t need to put down a Black woman to advance my music. That’s just embarrassing to the idea of America and I got no respect for it.”

Adcock quickly fired back at Crockett on social media. He also didn’t mention Crockett by name, but wrote, “Somebody needs to tell the ‘act’ that has let out (the cover) of James town ferry 6 times he should just work on letting out quality original music. I got more cowsh– under my pinky then you have seen your whole f—in’ life. Hank sr called and asked about the cosplay cowboy.”

“Jamestown Ferry,” which Tanya Tucker first recorded in 1972, was included on Crockett’s 2017 album Lil G.L.’s Honky Tonk Jubilee and then on 2023’s Live From The Ryman, as well as a remixed version of the song on 2025’s Lonesome Drifter.

A spokesperson for Crockett had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment by press time to confirm whether the flowers and album came from him.