1. During last week's episode of Talking Through The Medias, The Country Music Association Awards aired without a few key performers who tested positive for COVID. CMA announced it would be moving forward with an in-person event at Nashville’s Music City Center. the CMA found itself in hot water after making a statement encouraging artists to remain apolitical amid the election. “It’s been a year, y’all. But for three hours this is a no-drama zone,” the group tweeted on November 4. Country journalists criticized the statement, including singer-songwriter Margo Price, who tweeted, “Once again, the CMA’s are censoring/whitewashing their show but who’s surprised? anyone still participating is a socially unconscious pawn. artists pander woke authenticity when it benefits them and then sits in silence as they collect their plastic trophies.” The CMA later backtracked with an apology, tweeting, “While our intentions with our social campaign were to communicate to fans that the show will offer a brief escape, we recognize that our phrasing did not convey that message”.
2. From Variety Fair, Taylor Swift Says Scooter Braun Is Trying to “Silence Her Forever,” But Promises She Still Has “Plenty of Surprises in Store”. Taylor Swift gave an update about the ongoing legal process of buying back her master recordings from Scooter Braun on Monday night but the opportunity to repurchase her music is not looking likely. After the news broke, the pop star tweeted out an open letter, explaining that while her team “attempted to enter into negotiations with Scooter Braun” his team allegedly demanded that she first sign an NDA stating she “would never say another word about Scooter Braun unless it was positive. Despite all these legal complications, Swift hasn't given up hope just yet. A representative for Scooter Braun was not immediately available for comment.
3. From The Vulture, it’s been discovered that the country icon Dolly Parton, was one of the major funders for Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, which has proved to be nearly 95 percent effective in early data. Parton confirmed, ever so humbly, that she indeed made the donation through her research fund. “I’m just happy that anything I do can help somebody else,” she said. “When I donated the money to the COVID fund, I just wanted it to do good, and evidently it is. Let’s just hope we find a cure real soon.”