Sunday night we finally got to see the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which was taped nearly a month ago – with performances from Halsey, The Chainsmokers with Kelsea Ballerina, Rita Ora, and The Struts. But Halsey apparently has mixed feelings about her participation, following controversial remarks from VS’s chief marketing officer.

In an issue of Vogue, published November 8th – the same day the show was recorded - Ed Razek refuted the idea that the show should hire curvy or trans models for the televised fashion show, saying “Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy.”

Halsey took exception with his comments and posted a message to her Instagram feed last night reading: “I have adored the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show since I was young. Performing this year alongside other amazing artists, and hardworking models/friends was supposed to be the best night of my year. However, after I filmed the performance, some comments were made regarding the show that I simply cannot ignore. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I have no tolerance for a lack of inclusivity. Especially not one motivated by stereotype.”

She tells fans that she has made a contribution to GLSEN, an organization that addresses LGBTQ issues in K-12 education, and continued: “If you are a trans person reading this, and these comments have made you feel alienated or invalidated please know that you have allies. We stand in solidarity, and complete and total acceptance is the only ‘fantasy’ that I support.”

Razek has since apologized, saying his comments “came across as insensitive”, and posting his own November 9th message reading: “I apologize. To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model for the show. We’ve had transgender models come to castings… And like many others, they didn’t make it…But it was never about gender. I admire and respect their journey to embrace who they really are.”

But Halsey, and many other critics, don’t seem to feel that apology is enough.

If you’d like to learn more about GLSEN, or make a contribution, please follow the link above! And find out more about Halsey on Slacker’s Halsey: DNA Station!

Nothing like a little schadenfreude with your Thanksgiving turkey, amirite? The internet was equal parts aghast and thrilled to see Rita Ora’s train wreck of a performance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, where she was lip syncing a line or two off of the actual song – or at least, what tv audiences were hearing. Everyone assumed this was a HUGE mistake on Rita’s part, or that it was some kind of terrible revelation that she wasn’t singing live. But no one should be shocked. If you’ve watched any of the performances closely over, oh, I don’t know, the last two or three DECADES, you would know that ALL those performances are lip synced!

John Legend – who also performed in the parade – confirmed as much in a tweet defending Rita: "Fun fact. We all have to lip sync on this parade because the floats don't have the capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance. Hope y'all enjoyed it anyway. Know that if you come to my shows, the vocals are 100% live!”

Rita’s response simply read: "Thank you for clarifying what I was about to also tweet.”

And for those saying that Kelly Clarkson’s performance wasn’t lip synced – you’re right, it wasn’t. But Kelly was set up in the official broadcast performance area – not on a moving vehicle traveling over two and a half miles, outside, on one of the coldest parade days ever.

So congratulations to Rita, who kept her cool under a ton of internet ridicule, after a giant flub in front of one of the biggest television audiences of the year… that wasn’t even her fault. Macy’s confirmed with a tweet of their own:

"During today’s NBC broadcast of the #MacysParade several recording artists experienced technical difficulties that negatively impacted their performance.  We apologize and want fans to know these issues were out of the artist’s control.”

So THERE. Some good news for Rita Ora – she just dropped the brand new disc Phoenix, and it’s Slacker’s Album Of The Week! Listen to it over & over again here. Feel free to lip sync to your heart’s content.

We don’t always get a chance to get to know rappers outside of their music, so when Travis Scott sat down with Ellen, we knew we were going to learn some interesting stuff. Like that he’s into musical theatre? Or that his name isn’t really Travis Scott.

He also clearly loves being a dad and shares details of his life with baby Stormi Webster, his daughter with Kylie Jenner. Travis talks that new dad exhaustion, admits he didn’t know what a placenta was before his baby’s birth, and reveals his feelings when he finally got a chance to hold her.

"Going into it I was, like, nervous and scared. You know, we were just both, like, young. But when you first have a baby in your arms, it's just, like, it's uncontrollable. It's like this whole, like, warp that takes over your whole body. I never thought I could just, like, love something so hard, you know? It's crazy.”

That is SUPER sweet.