NEWS

R&B star Tamar Braxton has revealed she endured a frightening health emergency over the weekend, leaving her hospitalized and shaken. In a message shared to her Instagram Story on Tuesday (Aug. 19), the 48-year-old singer disclosed she “almost died” on Sunday after being discovered by a friend in a pool of blood. The incident left Braxton with a fractured nose, missing teeth, and mobility issues. Though the exact cause remains unclear, Braxton said the ordeal has given her a new perspective on life. “I struggled to write this but everyone keeps calling me and honestly, I can’t even really talk anymore I’m so weak,” she wrote. “As the days go by the worse it is. The way I look at life now is totally different. As my health is on the mend my mental journey begins…pray for me for real I don’t even know what happened to me.”  Braxton paired the post with a Bible passage and Clavier’s “Spirit Lead Me,” reflecting on her gratitude to be alive. Despite the setback, the Maryland native has remained active in 2025, touring North America with October London earlier this year, releasing her single “You on You” in May, and performing at the ESSENCE Festival in July. Billboard has reached out to her representatives for further details.

Music legend Gladys Knight says she is “healthy and happy” despite recent claims from her son, Shanga Hankerson, that her husband, William McDowell, has been mentally and financially abusive. Hankerson also alleged that his 81-year-old mother’s demanding touring schedule was harmful to her well-being and confirmed he filed a complaint with authorities in North Carolina earlier this month. Knight, who has been recently performing on The Queens Tour alongside Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, and Stephanie Mills, pushed back on her son’s statements. In a message to fans, she insisted her health had been misrepresented, saying she has enjoyed time with loved ones and is eager to return to the stage. “I’m healthy and happy,” Knight said, adding that she was excited to continue the tour later this year. Hankerson, meanwhile, told PEOPLE he remains concerned, citing instances where he believes Knight showed memory lapses and questioning why she continues to perform. In response, Knight’s publicist said she and her team were “greatly saddened by Shanga’s unfounded allegations,” noting he has had little contact with her in recent years. The Department of Human Services in Buncombe County, N.C. has not commented on the ongoing case.

Singer Sean Kingston is asking a federal judge for a reduced sentence and the chance to serve his time at home following his conviction in a multimillion-dollar wire fraud case. Kingston, currently free on a $100,000 bond, was found guilty alongside his mother, Janice Turner, of defrauding multiple businesses out of more than $1 million. Turner has already been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Court guidelines suggest Kingston could face a similar five- to six-year term, but in new legal filings obtained by TMZ, the “Beautiful Girls” artist requested a sentence of less than three years. He also asked the court to allow him to serve the time under home confinement, citing his lack of prior jail time and extensive charitable work as grounds for leniency. According to the documents, Kingston’s legal team submitted evidence of his community contributions, including several photos and letters from acquaintances attesting to his character. His sentencing is scheduled for August 15, when the court will determine whether his plea for reduced time and home detention will be granted.

A high-profile publishing dispute has erupted between R&B singer Al B. Sure! and Simon & Schuster over the content of his upcoming memoir, Do You Believe Me Now?. The book was initially set to reveal explosive claims about music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, including Sure!’s belief that Diddy may have been connected to his 2022 coma. Announced in May ahead of Combs’ trial, the memoir has now been pulled from the publisher’s website, removed from Amazon’s preorder listings, and delayed to an improbable release date of Dec. 31, 2050. Sure!’s attorney, Robert J. Hantman, says “creative differences” about how much the book should focus on Diddy are at the heart of the standoff. Sure! and Diddy’s history dates back to the early 1990s at Uptown Records, where Sure! was a top star and Combs was an intern. Sure! was once married to Kim Porter, who later became Diddy’s longtime partner and the mother of three of his children. The singer has been among Combs’ most vocal critics amid the rapper’s ongoing sexual assault allegations, publicly questioning the official account of Porter’s 2018 death and linking his own near-fatal health crisis to Combs. Simon & Schuster’s initial press release promised a memoir that would chronicle Sure!’s medical ordeal, his relationship with Porter, and “shocking ties to Sean Combs.” Hantman has suggested that outside forces may have played a role in the book’s sudden shelving, hinting at possible interference to suppress its claims. He says they may enlist private investigator Bo Dietl to look into the matter. Meanwhile, sources have claimed industry insiders treat Sure! with caution, describing him as “mentally unstable,” an assertion Hantman strongly rejects. Combs has never publicly commented on Sure!’s allegations, and the future of the memoir remains uncertain.