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Taylor Swift has gained control of her music catalog

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Pop superstar Taylor Swift said on Friday she had purchased the master recordings of her first six albums, giving her control of all of her music after a dispute with her former record label.

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Swift’s masters had been sold in 2019 and the singer said she was not given the opportunity to buy them at the time. She re-recorded four of the albums with the subtitle “Taylor’s Version.”

Swift purchased the original recordings from current owner Shamrock Capital in what she called her “greatest dream come true.” No financial terms were disclosed.

“I’ve been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out this is really happening,” she said in a statement on her website. “I really get to say these words: All of the music I’ve ever made … now belongs … to me.”

The “Fortnight” singer also said she had re-recorded her 2006 self-titled debut album and parts of 2017 release “Reputation.” She said she would release them “when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about.”

Swift has won 14 Grammys, including an unprecedented four trophies for album of the year, and recently completed the highest-grossing concert tour of all time.

The 35-year-old singer recorded her first six albums, which included hits such as “Shake It Off” and “You Belong With Me,” with Big Machine Label Group before leaving in 2018 for Universal Music Group UMG.AS.

Music executive Scooter Braun bought Big Machine in 2019 and Swift publicly accused him of bullying her and refusing to give her a chance to purchase her original recordings. Swift said in 2020 that BMG had sold her music to Shamrock. Media reports at the time said the deal was worth more than $300 million.

Swift praised executives at Shamrock, founded by Walt Disney’s nephew Roy E. Disney, as being “honest, fair and respectful.”

Second man is indicted in crypto kidnapping case

NEW YORK (Reuters) — A second man has been indicted in New York after being charged with kidnapping a man for three weeks in Manhattan’s upscale SoHo neighborhood, shocking him with electric wires, and dangling him over a staircase to try to get him to give up his bitcoin password, prosecutors said on Friday.

A Manhattan grand jury’s indictment of William Duplessie, 33, came after he made a brief court appearance earlier on Friday, three days after his arrest.

Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office say Duplessie and John Woeltz on May 6 took a man’s electronics and password and demanded they share his password so they could steal his cryptocurrency.

When the man refused to share his password, Duplessie and Woeltz allegedly began a series of brutal beatings over three weeks in a luxury townhouse until the man managed to escape. Woeltz was indicted on Thursday.

Faizan Zaki, 13, is crowned US National Spelling Bee champion

(Reuters) — Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old boy from the Dallas area, won the 97th Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, swiftly nailing the French-derived word “eclaircissement,” synonymous with enlightenment, in the 21st round of the contest finals.

He edged out 14-year-old Sarvadnya Kadam, from Visalia, California, who finished in second place after misspelling “Uaupes,” a tributary of the Rio Negro in South America, in the 20th round.

Zaki, who was last year’s runner-up, had correctly spelled “Chaldee,” a dialect of the Biblical Aramaic language, in the 20th round. But under spelling bee rules, Zaki needed to land one more word in a solo round to claim the trophy.

He did so in round 21 by instantly and precisely spelling “eclaircissement” — defined as a clearing up of something obscure. He surprised the audience by giving his answer without taking the customary pause afforded contestants to ask the judges for more information about the word’s origins, meaning and pronunciation.

Trump: No requests to pardon Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, but will look at facts

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) — President Donald Trump said on Friday that no one has asked him to pardon Sean “Diddy” Combs but that he would look at the facts of the hip-hop mogul’s case.

Trump’s comments at a White House news conference came as Combs attended the 13th day of testimony in the rapper’s criminal sex trafficking trial. The Bad Boy Records founder has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

During a press conference at the White House, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Trump whether he would consider pardoning Combs, noting that the businessman-turned-politician said during a 2012 episode of his “Celebrity Apprentice” reality show that he was friends with the rapper.

Since taking office on January 20, Trump has made extensive use of his power to pardon or commute the sentences of people accused of or convicted of federal crimes — a break with tradition as presidents normally wait until near the end of their terms before granting clemency.

Trump, a Republican, said he had not seen or spoken to Combs in years. Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts.