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Tim Leiweke Criminal Case: OVG CEO’s Attorneys Ask Court to Postpone Trial

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Attorneys for Tim Leiweke are asking for more time to prepare the defense of the former Oak View Group (OVG) chief executive and arena developer in his federal criminal trial in Austin.

Criminal defense attorney David Gerger filed an 11-page motion on Friday (Oct. 10), requesting that presiding Judge Susan Hightower postpone the December 2025 trial date to at least October 2026. Gerger argues that Leiweke’s legal team needs additional time to review roughly seven million pages of evidence produced by the government.

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The filing also outlines what could be Leiweke’s early strategy to have the Department of Justice’s case dismissed, claiming prosecutors are misapplying the law in what the defense calls a misguided prosecution of an accomplished arena executive.

On July 9, the DOJ’s Antitrust Division unsealed an indictment accusing Leiweke and the leadership of Legends Hospitality of conspiring to rig a bid to develop the Moody Center in Austin for the University of Texas. Prosecutors allege Leiweke colluded with then-Legends CEO Shervin Mirhashemi to prevent Legends — partly owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones — from submitting a competing bid for the arena project.

OVG agreed to pay a $15 million penalty under a non-prosecution agreement, while Legends agreed to pay $1.5 million. Leiweke faces a single charge of violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

“We say that is not true; that OVG won the contract by competition, not collusion, and provided a world-class arena at excellent terms for the University,” Gerger writes. He argues that OVG “could not itself provide all the services needed to build and operate the arena, so it had to put together a team. Legends was not an arena developer but wanted to provide certain services to the arena such as food and beverage concession stands.”

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That distinction is key, Gerger continues, maintaining that Legends was not a competitor to OVG in 2017. “Even Legends has told DOJ that it was not in the arena development business during the relevant time,” he writes, noting that Mirhashemi testified before a grand jury that “Legends would support the development-led bid for this project by OVG in lieu of supporting and providing services for another developer’s bid.”

“According to the government, an arena developer may not agree that its ‘teammates’ or subcontractors will support its team and not join another ‘team’ to bid against it: that is an unlawful ‘restraint,’” Gerger writes. “Our research shows that theory is wrong on the law, and courts have rejected such ‘literal’ readings of the Sherman Act as ‘overly simplistic.’”

Gerger also points to a 2024 DOJ review of AEG’s sale of ASM Global to Legends, during which a Legends attorney reportedly described the University of Texas deal as “lawful” and “an appropriate business practice.”

Regarding the requested trial postponement, Gerger said he’s unsurprised the government is “ready for trial,” writing, “It should be — it investigated this case for over two years and then decided when to bring an indictment.”

“In sum, discovery is voluminous and ongoing, and the defense needs more time to review it — and time to follow leads,” Gerger continued. “There is no way to accomplish this — and file motions and prepare for trial — on the schedule proposed by the government.”

A DOJ representative did not respond to Billboard’s request for comment by press time.

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XG Announce Japanese Dates for Kick-Off of 2026 World Tour

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Japanese girl group XG announced the initial dates for their second world tour on Friday (Oct. 17), which is slated to kick off on Feb. 6 with the first of three shows at K-Arena Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan. Following a run of 10 more shows in Japan, a press release announcing the outing promised as-yet-unannounced shows in North America, U.K. and Europe, Australia, Latin America and other regions.

Exclusive early ticket reservations for the 13 Japan dates will open to members of XG’s ALPHAZ fan club will begin on Nov. 1, with additional details coming soon.

The tour is in support of the septet’s upcoming debut album, which is due out on Jan. 23. Last month, JURIN, CHISA, HINATA, HARVEY, JURIA, MAYA and COCONA released the first taste of the LP, the high-energy French-English dance burner “Gala,” which debuted at No. 10 on Billboard‘s U.S. Dance Digital Song Sales chart. At the time of the single’s release, MAYA told The Hollywood Reporter, “This song was mainly inspired by the iconic Met Gala. We tried so many new things, choreography wise, music wise and fashion wise, so we’re really excited to showcase that. I feel like this song is really XG.”

HARVEY added, “I think it’s fair to say that we’ve grown a lot since we first debuted, but personally I think we became a lot more fearless when it comes to challenging ourselves to new things. Especially with ‘Gala,’ I think we can see that come into play fully. We’ve challenged ourselves to try many different dances and a new sense of fashion that we haven’t done before to become bolder. In that sense, I think we’ve seen ourselves come a long way.”

XG’s first world tour, 2024’s The first HOWL, included 47 shows across 35 cities around the world in front of 400,000 fans, capped off this spring when they were the only Japanese artists to perform at the Coachella Festival.

Check out the dates for XG’s 2026 tour below.

  • Feb. 6: Yokohama, Japan @ K-Arena Yokohama
  • Feb. 7: Yokohama, Japan @ K-Arena Yokohama
  • Feb. 8: Yokohama, Japan @ K-Arena Yokohama
  • Feb. 17: Osaka, Japan @ Osaka-Jo Hall
  • Feb. 18: Osaka, Japan @ Osaka-Jo Hall
  • Feb. 21: Nagoya, Japan @ IG Arena
  • Feb. 22: Nagoya, Japan @ IG Arena
  • March 14: Fukui, Japan @ Sundome Fukui
  • March 20: Sendai, Japan @ Miyagi Sekisuiheim Super Arena
  • March 25: Kobe, Japan @ GLION Arena Kobe
  • March 26: Kobe, Japan @ GLION Arena Kobe
  • April 4: Fukuoka, Japan @ Kitakyushu Messe
  • April 5: Fukuoka, Japan @ Kitakyushu Messe


Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here.

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Sen. Martin Heinrich Backs Cardi B’s Claims About the Economy & Cost of Living Being Too High: She ‘Is Right’

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Cardi B has often been outspoken about political matters in the United States, and she recently slammed the economy’s rent prices while thanking fans for purchasing and supporting her new album, Am I the Drama?. And now, a senator is voicing his agreement with the rapper’s concerns about economic issues.

“I feel so bad because I didn’t realize how quickly they raised the rent prices. And I’m out here asking y’all to buy my album and s—t. I’m so sorry, y’all,” Cardi had said during an Instagram Live session earlier this week. “When I was looking at those rent prices, I was so f—king disgusted. They need to make it easier to get welfare to get a little help.”

New Mexico’s Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is a member of the Democratic party, got wind of Cardi’s sentiments and backed her up while supporting her worries about the cost of living skyrocketing across the country when it comes to rent, groceries and health-care premiums.

“@iamcardib is right. And it’s not just rent that’s going up–costs are rising across the board,” the senator wrote on X on Thursday (Oct. 16). “From your rent to your groceries to your utility bills to your health care premiums, this administration is making your life more expensive and Republicans in Congress aren’t doing anything to stop them.”

According to the USDA, food prices in America rose 3.2 percent from August 2024 to August 2025, which went up faster than inflation during the same timeframe (up 2.9 percent).

Amid the murky economic conditions, the Bardi Gang still came out to support Cardi B, as her anticipated sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 200,000 album-equivalent units earned.

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The Last Dinner Party’s ‘From The Pyre’: All 10 Tracks Ranked

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Underpinning The Last Dinner Party’s polished, Rococo-era aesthetic is an epic striving for greatness. When the London-formed five-piece crashed into the indie consciousness two years ago, they arrived seemingly fully-formed, with a fairytale arc to their origin story. Major record labels had clamoured over them after YouTube footage of a set at the tiny Windmill pub in Brixton gathered momentum in late 2022, leading to a deal with Island.

The success of the storming and anthemic debut single “Nothing Matters” made the group, alongside recent Billboard U.K. cover stars Wet Leg, a rare British guitar band from the last few years admitted to the genre’s increasingly rarefied upper echelons. It was a remarkable rise, though perhaps what’s more admirable is how The Last Dinner Party turned all of that immediate attention into a foundation for longevity as a unit.

The Last Dinner Party photographed by Nicole Nodland on August 30, 2023 in London.

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Rather than blast straight into the theaters it could have filled, the group toured smaller venues and took a step back from media commitments in order to grow their confidence as performers, honing one of the most energetic live shows on the circuit. Yet in the U.K., The Last Dinner Party’s swift ascent became subject to scrutiny online, with the term “industry plant” disproportionately thrown its way; images of early gigs from 2021 onwards, however, show that the band had been steadily gathering a cult following for years prior to its mainstream crossover moment.

By early 2024, their BRIT and Mercury Prize-nominated debut LP Prelude to Ecstasy reached the top of the Official U.K. Albums Chart with the biggest opening week for a debut by a band in the U.K. since 2015. Unlike its explosively successful predecessor, which was buoyed by tight, richly-decorated pop melodies, new record From the Pyre is darker and more ambitious. These 10 songs see The Last Dinner Party weave tales of greed and obsession, hinting at a fabulist side to its writing by pulling from Greek mythology, and references such as Joan Of Arc, apocalyptic imagery and the Medieval age.

With an extensive U.K. headline tour on the horizon, including first-time arena billings, From the Pyre arrives as The Last Dinner Party makes good on years of industry hype with a definitive artistic statement. Consider the moment met. See our ranking of the 10 songs from From the Pyre below.

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