It’s August in Chicago, which means it’s time for Lollapalooza to take over the city. This year’s festival features stars like Chappell Roan, Megan Thee Stallion, SZA, the Killers, Future x Metro Boomin‘ and more rocking Grant Park. Check out Rolling Stone‘s best photos from onstage, backstage and on the ground, and check back throughout the weekend for more.
"Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" video star Guy Cohen performs with the Offspring at BeachLife Festival
Back in 1998, before social media and smartphones, MTV music videos remained a hugely influential cultural reflector for young folks, promoting imagery and sounds as dynamic as they were diverse. Boy bands were bigger than ever, Will Smith was getting jiggy with it, and Green Day were having the time of their life. Meanwhile, another California band with punk roots, the Offspring, were building their own fervent fanbase by turning catchy, bratty ditties into high-production clips that nobody ever flipped past on the remote.
Their biggest hit and most iconic video is arguably the McG-directed “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),” which skewered uncool dudes who “fake it anyway” by copping hip-hop style, donning backwards baseball caps, oversized jerseys, and gold chains.
Guy Cohen, the young actor who starred in the colorful clip, personified the character in such an endearing way, he became an ironic, even mythic, figure for the band’s fans. The tune might be a commentary on cultural appropriation, but its campy video and the band’s light-hearted approach to performing it live (often bringing the actor out to dance awkwardly to the number on stage) made for many feel-good moments over the years.
With Nineties nostalgia hotter ever on social media, Cohen has been reliving his Fly Guy days once again. He joined the Offspring at their Kia Forum show last August and at the When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas last October, followed by a triumphant appearance just this past weekend at the BeachLife festival in Redondo Beach.
Rolling Stone caught up with the pretty fly guy — yes, his name really is Guy — to talk about the video, his enduring, now-multigenerational fame, and what he’s been up to these last 28 years.
You were a bona fide video phenom during MTV’s heyday. And after all these years, people still remember the “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)” guy.
It’s pretty amazing how lasting it has been. I think the character is one of the endearing images of the Nineties. I guess it reminds people of better times… people having fun and watching MTV with their family, before social media. It just brings joy to people, so I’m happy to embrace it, and I think it’s maybe bigger than ever.
How did you get the opportunity to be in the video?
I started pursuing acting when I turned 18, and this was about six months into my acting career. Back then, in the late Nineties, music videos were a great way to get started and get some experience because they were non-union, kind of like extra work. I had also done Alanis Morissette’s video “Thank U,” in which she stood there naked as people walked by — I was one of the blurry people. Then this video came along, and it just turned out to be one of the biggest music videos of all time. It changed my life.
How did you approach your movement in the video? Was it a joke or did you take it seriously?
I didn’t take any of it seriously. For me, the whole video, and the character, was poking fun at the time and this character of a white person trying to be down with a different culture and all that. There were a few guys like that back then. Nowadays it’s not really a thing, but back then, it was like a “try hard.” So it was all in jest. I’m not a trained dancer. But as far as the moves, I believe I came up with most of them, especially when I take my leg and jump around.
There was something called “the Molly Ringwald” back then that McG, the director of the video, who went on to do movies and television, wanted. He showed me that one. But I think I pretty much came up with all the other stuff. It was just me just being goofy and having some fun and jumping around, thrusting a lot and trying anything out.
It seems a whole new generation is discovering the song and the band, too. Have you observed that?
I’ve never seen anything like this, but we are seeing three generations of families going to concerts together — little ones, the parents, and then even the grandparents. It’s family-friendly. There’s some cursing, but, you know, they have enough hit songs that everybody’s just having a good time. And what I’ve noticed is kids and everyone dressing up like the character! If you go to an Offspring show, there’ll always be 20 to 30 people dressed up as my character.
You look almost the same as you did in the video. What are you doing to stay so youthful?
I was 18 years old. I’m 46 now. I think it’s mostly genetics, but I also don’t drink, I don’t smoke. I wear sunscreen every day with face lotion, and I stay indoors a lot. I’m a full-time livestreamer, so I spend a lot of time indoors and out of the sun.
Tell us about livestreaming under the moniker “I’m Really Important.”
I talk politics. I debate people for a couple hours on TikTok in the morning, and then in the evening, I go over stories in the news, and I try to spin things in a positive way on YouTube or Twitch. I care about all my fellow Americans, and I feel like the more you understand our government, the more optimistic you are about the future because you see opportunity and you see the limits of certain things. So that’s my goal. I try to make politics more entertaining and educate people a bit.
Do your streaming followers know that you’re the “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” guy?
I couldn’t put a percentage on it, but I don’t hide it. It doesn’t come up that often. But it’s kind of a little Easter egg when it does. I would argue I’m the largest Offspring livestreamer. A lot of fans come hang out in my channel just because I’m associated with the band. I get recognized more from my career now in politics, because I’ve done some high-profile stuff. But if I were to wear that outfit, I’d get stopped everywhere.
What kind of high-profile things do you do?
I’ve made a few appearances on the YouTube channel called Jubilee, which is really big for debates. I debated Ben Shapiro, and there were some viral moments from that. I’ve also been touring with another livestreamer named Destiny — going to college campuses, like Turning Point USA, but from a left perspective. CNN just did a feature on that.
Your appearance at BeachLife last weekend made a big splash. You joined the band before, too, at their Kia Forum show last year. How often does that happen?
Very rarely. Dexter [Holland] and I have stayed in touch. Once every couple years, we connect and text or something. He’s a busy guy, so I try to leave him alone, but he’s been great the whole time I’ve known him. Maybe once every 10 years, he’ll invite me to a show and I go just to hang out, say hi to the guys and maybe go onstage.
But last year, he reached out and said, “I got this crazy idea, we’re doing a big show at the Forum. We’re doing arenas. We’re bigger than ever and we’d love for you to come out. Do you have the jersey?”
I do still have the jersey, but it’s in a frame. So he said, “I will make you a custom one.” They made it and I went onstage, and it was just a lot of fun. Since then, they’re been asking me to come out to big shows. They did the biggest indoor arena in Paris, and they brought me out for that. Then in Montreal. We also did When We Were Young in Vegas last year. I did their opening stop in Bakersfield for the U.S. leg of the tour. And then, of course, BeachLife… I get to be a cheerleader for the band. They’re not as social media friendly, I guess they’re a little older than me, so we do trending clips and we film some content when I come out. It does very well on their social media platforms.
They also have those blow-up air dancer/inflatable tube man things on stage and they look like you. Are those new?
They’ve been using those for a while. My face is on them, which is funny. Years ago, I went on tour with them. I was 18, 19, and I can’t believe my parents let me go, but I went on the buses with them and the private planes, and it all peaked with Woodstock 99. So I kind of lived this life, and now it’s fun to do it again, 30 years later, at all these big arenas.
The song is making fun of a certain kind of person, but it also feels like a celebration at the same time. Being a white guy yourself, did you have any reservations? Did any white guys take offense over the years of the portrayal?
I’ve never had anybody approach me and say, “Shame on you, you’re a monster.” [Laughs.] But look, I was into hip-hop. My favorite show growing up was In Living Color, which was a predominantly Black cast. And so I understood the culture and had appreciation for it. I just recognized there were some people trying hard to present themselves as that, and we were making fun of it. I think certain communities understood that and saw the joke in it, and didn’t take offense to it as appropriation of culture or anything like that.
You seem like a positive person. Commenting on politics, you must deal with a lot of negativity. How do you handle that?
Oh, yeah. I feel like half the time on my stream, I’m doing mental health care therapy for people because it’s tough to be positive. What’s going on right now, no matter what your political thoughts are, there’s a lot of bad things happening in the world. I try to point out to people where there’s opportunity and things going well, and that good things can come out of bad situations.
Kanye West on March 21, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Kanye West has been hit with more than a dozen copyright infringement lawsuits over his controversial career. Now one has reached a jury, with the artist now known as Ye expected to testify later this week.
On Monday, a panel of eight jurors heard opening statements in a federal courtroom in downtown Los Angeles. From the plaintiffs’ lead lawyer, they heard Ye should pay $564,046 to four musicians for using an uncleared sample of their work in an early version of his Grammy-winning song “Hurricane,” which was played for tens of thousands of fans at a high-profile listening party for his 10th studio album, Donda, held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in July 2021.
From Ye’s lead lawyer, jurors heard that the Grammy-winning artist was conducting a “test drive” of the sample with “implied consent” from the four musicians. The lawyer said the men were “happy one of the biggest stars” was “experimenting” with their music, and if the sample had been used on the album, which it wasn’t, that is when they would “talk about money.”
The four musicians — Khalil Abdul Rahman, Sam Barsh, Dan Seeff, and Josh Mease — are suing Ye through a company they formed in 2024, Artist Revenue Advocates. Their lawsuit initially alleged infringement of both the composition and the sound recording of their one-minute instrumental track, “MSD PT2,” but the case was later narrowed to a single claim involving the use of their recorded sample after it was determined they did not control their writer-side royalties under prior agreements.
Irene Lee, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said Ye used the sample without permission or payment. She said her clients were “excited” when they first learned he was interested in their work, but “what they were offered was not fair,” and they never gave consent to any commercial use.
“They trusted that they would be treated professionally,” she said, adding that they voluntarily shared the sample with Ye’s team with the expectation they would be “compensated fairly” if it was used. In the end, she said, the team “ghosted” them after the demo gained traction, leaving them feeling “snubbed and ignored.” Although the sample was not included on Donda, Lee said it was clearly infringed.
According to Lee, the track served as the lead single at the listening event. She said an expert analysis found the performance generated $5.5 million for Ye through ticket sales, merchandise, a $1.25 million streaming deal with Apple, and the fact that Ye wore a jacket onstage that he later released through his apparel deal with Gap.
“This is such a remarkable trial,” Lee told the jury. “We have a clear admission, under oath from Ye, that he actually used our client’s copyright-protected music.”
When it was his turn, Ye’s lawyer, Eduardo Martorell, said the plaintiffs were “trying to jump industries” by seeking a share of apparel profits. He said Ye’s global fame and more than 60 Grammy nominations drove the listening party ticket sales, “not a one-minute and one-second instrumental.”
“We don’t think we should be here,” Martorell told the jurors. “This lawsuit should never have been filed. The artists led my client to believe he had permission to use their music every step of the way.”
Daniel Seeff, the bass player on the sample, was the first witness called to the stand Monday afternoon. “I’m here today to tell our story,” he said. “[MSD PT2] is the basis of ‘Hurricane.’ All the music you hear in ‘Hurricane’ comes from that. It’s repeated.”
It wasn’t clear on Monday when Ye will testify, but the trial is slated to last a week. Ye recently took the stand at a different trial a block away in downtown Los Angeles. During that state trial, Ye appeared to doze off while he was being questioned by the lawyer for Tony Saxon, the man who was awarded $140,000 for injuries suffered while working at the rapper-producer’s $57 million Malibu beach home.
Sabrina Carpenter and Stevie Nicks perform onstage during the 2026 Met Gala .
Sabrina Carpenter and Stevie Nicks joined forces at the Met Gala last night for a duet of Fleetwood Mac‘s 1975 song “Landslide.”
After Carpenter kicked off the evening’s festivities with her own songs “House Tour,” “Espresso,” and “Please, Please, Please,” Nicks took the stage in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Egyptian wing as the event’s headliner. She brought Carpenter back out for “Landslide,” as well as an assist on “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.” Nicks also performed “Gypsy” and “Edge of Seventeen.”
Carpenter is fresh off two weekends of headlining Coachella, where she collaborated with Madonna. The duo debuted their new single, “Bring Your Love,” during the festival, where the Queen of Pop made a surprise appearance. The upbeat dance number, produced by Madonna and Stuart Price, will appear on Madonna’s new LP, Confessions II, out July 3 via Warner Records. The singers also performed “Vogue” and “Like a Prayer.”
Carpenter’s Coachella set included numerous Hollywood references, a theme she continued last night at the Met Gala with her red carpet look. Her Dior dress by Jonathan Anderson paid homage to Audrey Hepburn’s 1954 film Sabrina using actual film strips from the movie. Carpenter told Vogue that Anderson designed it after working on her Coachella looks and that Sabrina is one of her favorite films of all time.
Kid Cudi, M.I.A.
Kid Cudi has dropped M.I.A. from his Rebel Ragers Tour after she made “offensive remarks” while serving as opener at a recent gig.
At a May 2 tour stop at Dallas’ Dos Equis Pavilion, M.I.A. told the crowd, “I’ve been canceled for many reasons. I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter,” Variety reports. The rapper added that she wouldn’t perform her song “Illegal” because “there’s probably one in the crowd.”
M.I.A.’s rants drew criticism from fans who came to see Kid Cudi’s tour, leading the rapper to announce Monday that M.I.A. had been dropped from her support slot for the remainder of the trek.
“TOUR UPDATE: M.I.A is no longer on this tour,” Kid Cudi wrote on social media. “I told my management to send a notice to her team before we started tour that I didn’t want anything offensive at my shows, cuz I already knew what time it was, and I was assured things were understood.”
Kid Cudi continued, “After the last couple shows, I’ve been flooded with messages from fans that were upset by her rants. This, to me, is very disappointing and I wont have someone on my tour making offensive remarks that upsets my fanbase. Thank you for understanding. Rager.”
M.I.A., who recently released her new album M.I.7, has not yet commented on her dismissal. The rapper has been candid about her polarizing politics in recent years, from spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine to selling a line of anti-5G clothing via The Alex Jones Show to supporting Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
The Rebel Ragers Tour continues Wednesday in Atlanta, presumably with a new opener.
Britney Spears
Britney Spears has sidestepped any jail time after pleading guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge of wet reckless through her attorney.
The pop star, who did not appear in court for her arraignment in Ventura County on Monday, was previously charged with a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence on April 30. The resolution came two months after Spears was arrested and voluntarily checked herself into a treatment facility
“She’s doing well,” her lawyer, Michael A. Goldstein, tells Rolling Stone. “It was reduced. The DUI was dismissed. She entered a plea to reckless driving.”
Spears received a sentence of 12 months of summary probation. The judge ordered the singer to submit to any searches requested of her vehicle, but not her home. He said she can’t use or possess any drugs without a valid prescription, and he ordered Spears to continue meeting with a psychologist once a week and a psychiatrist once a month. She also has to complete a DUI class.
Spears was pulled over and arrested for allegedly driving under the influence in March. Ventura County DA Erik Nasarenko previously announced she was eligible for her plea deal, which is typically offered to people with low blood levels of intoxicants where there was no crash or injury.
Police officers pulled her over after receiving reports of a BMW “driving erratically at a high rate of speed,” a California Highway Patrol spokesperson previously told Rolling Stone. Officers said Spears “showed signs of impairment and submitted to a series of field sobriety tests,” after which she was arrested, booked, and released a few hours later.
“This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable,” her manager said in a statement at the time. “Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law, and hopefully this can be the first step in long-overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life. Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time.”
