In the news
■ Tesla CEO Elon Musk had a brief affair with the wife of a longtime friend, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, which led Brin to file for divorce in January, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. Musk’s fling with lawyer Nicole Shanahan, who’d been married to Brin for four years, reportedly began at Miami’s Art Basel. At a party earlier this year, the world’s richest man dropped to a knee in front of the world’s eighthrichest man and begged for forgiveness, the Journal said. Musk called the article “Total BS” and released a photo of himself and Brin partying together hours earlier. Shanahan’s lawyer said the claim of an affair “is not only an outright lie but also defamatory.” Over the past two months, Musk has been accused of exposing himself to a female flight attendant at his aerospace company, SpaceX, and was also revealed to have fathered twins last year with an executive at his company Neuralink just before his then-partner, singer Grimes, gave birth to their second child. Musk recently said he was cancelling his deal to buyTwitter.
■ Singer Ricky Martin said he’d gone through a “painful and devastating” experience, after his 21-year-old nephew last week withdrew claims of having a sevenmonth incestuous relationship with Martin. Dennis Yadiel Sanchez, the son of Martin’s half-sister, dropped a court case he’d filed against Martin. “His decision to dismiss the matter was his alone, without any outside influence or pressure,” the nephew’s lawyers said.The married Martin, 50, said his nephew is “sadly dealing with mental issues,” adding, “The only thing I wish him is the best and that he finds the light.”
■ Joni Mitchell shocked fans this week by performing a 13-song set at Rhode Island’s Newport Folk Festival—her first full live performance since 2002. Seated for most of the show, Mitchell, 78—who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015—performed classics like “Both Sides Now” and “A Case of You,” and stood to play the guitar solo from “Just Like This Train.” She was accompanied by singers—including Brandi Carlile, Marcus Mumford, and Wynonna Judd—who dabbed tears throughout. “I just realized,” Carlile told the crowd, “Joni’s the least nervous person up here.”