Mojo In The Morning

Dirty 3: Aubrey PlazaPregnant a Year After Husband's Death

4 min
Apr 8, 202610 days ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

The episode covers major entertainment and music industry news including Kanye West's removal from the UK's Wireless Festival after sponsor Pepsi pulled out, billionaire Bill Ackerman's $65 billion bid for Universal Music Group, actress Aubrey Plaza's pregnancy announcement following her husband's death, and a new WNBA collective bargaining agreement significantly increasing player salaries.

Insights
  • Corporate sponsors wield significant power in entertainment events—Pepsi's withdrawal triggered a domino effect that ultimately cancelled an entire festival despite initial approval of the headliner
  • High-profile acquisitions in music are driven by industry-wide revenue declines, making even major labels like UMG potentially vulnerable to buyout offers
  • Professional sports leagues are using collective bargaining to dramatically improve athlete compensation, with WNBA salaries increasing over 500% for some players
  • Celebrity personal life milestones generate significant public discourse and scrutiny, particularly around timing and perceived appropriateness of life decisions
Trends
Corporate brand risk management driving entertainment sponsorship decisionsConsolidation and acquisition activity in music industry amid revenue pressuresDramatic salary increases in professional sports through collective bargaining leveragePublic scrutiny of celebrity personal timelines and relationship decisionsFestival cancellations due to headliner controversy and sponsor withdrawal
Companies
Wireless Festival
UK music festival cancelled after title sponsor Pepsi withdrew following Kanye West headliner announcement
Pepsi
Title sponsor that initially approved Kanye West as headliner, then withdrew sponsorship, triggering festival cancell...
Universal Music Group
Music label with artists like Drake and Taylor Swift; subject of $65 billion acquisition offer from billionaire Bill ...
PayPal
Company that withdrew sponsorship from Wireless Festival following Pepsi's departure
Diageo
Liquor brand (Captain Morgan, Johnnie Walker) that withdrew sponsorship from Wireless Festival
SoFi Stadium
Venue where Kanye West performed recently in the United States, generating excitement before festival announcement
People
Kanye West
Announced as headliner for Wireless Festival; subsequently denied UK entry, leading to festival cancellation
Bill Ackerman
Made $65 billion acquisition offer for Universal Music Group, signaling potential major label consolidation
Aubrey Plaza
Announced pregnancy one year after husband's death, generating public discussion about timing and personal decisions
Melvin Ben
Confirmed that Pepsi approved Kanye West as headliner before subsequently withdrawing sponsorship
Caitlin Clark
WNBA player whose salary increased from $85,000 to $530,000 under new collective bargaining agreement
Drake
Artist signed to Universal Music Group, which is subject of $65 billion acquisition offer
Taylor Swift
Artist signed to Universal Music Group, which is subject of $65 billion acquisition offer
Quotes
"We did with Pepsi, for instance, our lead sponsor, and they signed off and approved it, for example. And perhaps we should have done that."
Melvin Ben, Wireless Festival Organizer
"Pepsi originally were quite happy for him to come. Correct, yes. They're a headline sponsor. We asked them to sign off on it, and they did."
Melvin Ben, Wireless Festival Organizer
"Her salary will reportedly jump from around $85,000 last year to $530,000 this year. Holy cow."
Host
Full Transcript
Mojo in the mornings, dirty on the 30. You always say it to Shannon and then after hearing, like after I said it, I'm like, ah, it doesn't work out. He tried. That's the last time that will ever happen. Here on the Mojo in the Morning Show. Speaking of last times, this may be the last time that Kanye hosts, or doesn't host, a festival. If you have no idea what's going on with Kanye, the UK, and the Wireless Festival, let me catch you up to speed. So, Wireless Festival announced that Kanye would be headlining this three-day event. It's going to take place sometime in July. Everybody was incredibly excited. Kanye is coming off of the first time he's performed in the United States at SoFi. He's drumming up all of this excitement. Shortly after the announcement, Pepsi, the title sponsor for the festival, announced that they would no longer be sponsoring the event. That set off a list of other companies to follow suit. Everybody started dropping out PayPal, liquor brand called Diego. That's responsible for Captain Morgan, Johnny Walker, among others. And at that moment, Kanye was denied entry into the UK. After he was denied entry, Wireless Festival put out a memo saying that they were canceling the entire festival. But again, this all started with Pepsi pulling its sponsorship. So people started questioning, well, like, did Pepsi know? Did Pepsi know Kanye was headlining before all of this happened? And we got an answer. Here's Melvin Ben, the organizer for Wireless Festival, talking about that very thing. We did with Pepsi, for instance, our lead sponsor, and they signed off and approved it, for example. And perhaps we should have done that. Really? That's fascinating. So Pepsi, who pulled out now, haven't they? Pepsi originally were quite happy for him to come. Correct, yes. They're a headline sponsor. We asked them to sign off on it, and they did. There you have it. Before we knew, Pepsi knew, and they had no problem. And amidst all of the things that Kanye has said over the past couple of years, a lot of people were unhappy on social, voicing their concerns, and maybe that's the reason why Pepsi pulled out. So we get no more Wireless Festival. They put out a memo yesterday telling all of the people who barge his tickets that they're getting their money back. So refunds are taking place at this very moment. Switching gears, there's a billionaire named Bill Akerman who announced yesterday that he is interested in buying Universal Music Group. So interested, he's already pitched his offer, $65 billion. What? Universal Music Group has artists like Drake, Taylor Swift, and a bunch of other people. So keep your eyes on that. Universal Music Group could be under new leadership. Are they for sale? I don't know if they're for sale, but there is a decline, I guess, across the entire music industry in terms of, like, how much people are actually making right now. So I think this is 11% higher than the current share price. So if they were to sell, they would be making some money. Everyone has a price. Everyone has what your price at? What do you want to pay me for? Oh my gosh. I'm never willing to pay anything. Actress Aubrey Plaza, she is on Parks and Recreation. She may recognize her from her more recent roles on White Lotus. Unfortunately, her husband passed away a year ago, but that's not what we're talking about. She announced that her and her boyfriend are expecting a child. A lot of people think that this is fast. I mean, her husband died, you know, a year ago. She's already not only moved on a relationship, but she's expecting a baby. I don't know. Happy for her, the new baby, and her boyfriend. Congratulations. I wonder if it was planned or, you know, an accident. What? The baby? Yeah. I don't know. Because, you know... Regardless, congrats to them. There we go. More congratulations are in store for the women of the WNBA. New collective bargaining agreement means these women are making more money than ever. Caitlin Clark, I know that's Mojo's girl. Her salary will reportedly jump from around $85,000 last year to $530,000 this year. Holy cow. I need to see that type of energy here at I Heart, but that's a hard-to-get story. For all of the information, all the dirties that we talked about, all the up-to-date news stories, download the free I Heart Radio app. Miss Something in the Dirty on the Thirty? Listen on our podcast now at mojointhemorning.com.