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Josh Brolin just made comic fanboys' brains explode -- he says he was almost set to play the Dark Knight once upon a time ... that is, until the director went with Ben Affleck instead.

The veteran actor -- who's already got a couple superhero/villain roles under his belt now as Thanos ('Avengers') and Cable ("Deadpool 2") -- made the revelation this week on MTV's "Happy Sad Confused" podcast ... when they asked him about losing the role of Batman.

Brolin confirmed ... yes, Zack Snyder had, in fact, approached him as he was ramping up for 'Batman v Superman' -- and it sounds like JB was onboard and fully willing to do it.

But, as he explains, it was Snyder who decided to go with BA in the end -- which is a bummer (for some fans) because Brolin would've been more true to the version of Batman depicted in the flick ... namely, the older version from "The Dark Knight Returns" (the comic).

This is in the weeds, but Snyder kinda mashed up storylines for his 2016 movie -- including the one where Batman fights Superman -- and decided to employ a younger Batsy, plus ditch much of that comic storyline, including the fact Superman was a government pawn.

You can tell Brolin was excited by the prospect of donning the cape and cowl ... and even shouts out George Clooney for his turn on the character, no matter how panned it was.

Here's the good news ... Brolin might actually get a second bite at the apple here -- assuming anyone at the newly merged Discovery-Warner is listening. Lots of changes are on the horizon ... including Discovery honchos reportedly wanting to overhaul the DCEU.

That entails revisiting and revitalizing staple characters (like Superman) and perhaps further down the line ... maybe Batman again too. Robert Pattinson seems to be in the driver's seat for now -- but if Discovery wants to take another swing at 'TDR,' Brolin might be their man.

Jen Psaki may or may not be leaving her post at the podium, but if she does ... she's got a few nuggets of knowledge to pass on to whomever might replace her, and they're not bad.

The White House Press Secretary sat down with 'Pod Save America' this week and was asked, hypothetically speaking ... what advice would she offer to someone who might be coming to fill her shoes? Again, assuming she exits -- and rumor has it, she will soon.

Psaki actually opened quite a bit on this front ... as she's clearly learned a lot of the job over the past year-plus that she's carried the torch for President Biden and his administration.

For starters, she says whoever gets the gig next has to realize ... the American people aren't stupid, and you don't have to speak to them like they're grade-schoolers. Psaki says folks are paying attention and quite knowledgeable -- so a Press Sec.'s words should reflect that.

She also says the best PS has a wide breadth of knowledge about what they're discussing with the press, and aren't just reading off talking points. So in other words, know you're s***!

Finally, she says a Press Secretary has to be patient with reporters, who undoubtedly ask the same questions a million different ways. It's also important to be consistent with messaging ... otherwise, as she says, you'll be taken out of context and made out to be Satan.

The last thing Psaki suggests is that ... if you don't know, don't pretend to know -- especially since you're literally speaking for the President and co. She says the best way to be good at the job is to have the lowdown on what POTUS may think on any given issue.

Harry Styles' Coachella set was one for the ages, and although he brought out droves of people for his headlining set ... Big Sean had a healthy swath of his own right before.

The singer was the marquee act of the night for Day 1 on Friday, where he was scheduled to start performing at around 11:30 PM at the main Coachella stage -- whereas Sean was winding down his performance at the Sahara stage across the way around the same time.

There may have been some overlap -- these things never get started or end quite on time in real life -- but it's a good thing they staggered these two gents ... because, apparently, folks seemed kinda torn on who exactly they wanted to catch as the curtains were going down.

That's the word on Twitter anyway, and the proof is in the pudding on the crowd sizes -- check out the huge sea of people that were rocking with BS throughout ... it's massive!

Folks are buzzing online about how well Sean did and how packed his audience was ... and some are even (jokingly?) saying he might've been the real headliner for the night considering how many flocked to go see him.

Indeed, his set looked pretty epic and he definitely had an army of fans in attendance -- but if you look at what Harry was able to do ... you'll see it's nothing to sneeze at either. Concertgoers appeared just as eager to catch their boy -- evidenced in photos.

His stage design was elaborate, as it was actually immersed in the crowd itself ... with everybody surrounding him from all sides. As you can see -- people definitely showed up to catch him, especially toward the beginning of his set.

And, while we're sure he maintained a good amount until his show was over ... some videos seem to suggest the crowd was dwindling as the performance went on -- as it looks like people on the outskirts were able to creep in further and further later into the night.

That's to be expected though ... the last performer of the night is often more prone to losing people as they trickle out. And, of course, this ain't a pissing contest either -- it's just interesting to see that Sean was as appealing and widely attended as he turned out to be.

It's Easter weekend, but one group of airplane passengers got an early dose of JC juice while 30,000 feet up in the air and halfway around the world ... with no way to escape.

Check out this video that's making the rounds right now -- it shows a packed flight with a good handful of passengers singing what appear to be Christian songs to the rest of the cabin ... jamming out on a guitar and walking up and down the aisle in high spirits.

Sounds perfectly innocent, but when you get a glimpse at how others (besides the churchgoers) react ... you can tell some aren't too thrilled about the impromptu performance.

There might be some missing context here to fully explain this ... namely, whether this was a plane full of folks from the same church/denomination, or whether these Christ-followers hijacked things and projected their faith onto everyone else without asking. It's unclear.

What we do know ... this video was shot/posted by Jack Jensz Jr. -- who seems to be a pastor of some sort, and who founded an org called Kingdom Realm Ministries.

Him and his congregation have been in Europe lately helping out the refugees fleeing Ukraine, and according to his FB timeline -- this might've been shot on a flight to Germany around April 9, so a full week ago at this point. It just seems to be getting picked up now.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are very much together, just like we said they were, despite the internet buzzing that they split.

RiRi and A$AP looked chill as her baby bump was on full display. Rihanna wore a colorful mini dress in what could turn into the modern maternity wear. She certainly pulls it off!

As you probably know, there were stories that A$AP had cheated on Rihanna with a woman who works for Fenty and that they had broken up. As we reported, our R/A sources called BS on both counts and now there's visual proof.

BTW ... the "other woman" -- Amina Muaddi -- also weighed in ... "I've always believed that an unfounded lie spread on social media doesn't deserve any response or clarification, especially one that is so vile. I initially assumed that this fake gossip - fabricated with such malicious intent - would not be taken seriously."

The couple got together back in November, 2020 after being friends for years before hooking up. Rihanna dropped her pregnancy announcement back in January of this year.

A man jumped overboard on a Carnival cruise headed for Florida ... and so far no sign of him.

A passenger on the boat tells TMZ ... she was on deck 7 early Saturday morning when 2 teens came running past her in a panic. She told them to slow down so they wouldn't hurt themselves, and that's when they screamed someone had gone overboard.

There was pandemonium on the ship by some ... others thought it was a joke, until security jumped to the ready and began a frantic search.

We're told the Coast Guard was called in and they blasted bright lights onto the dark sea and went on the hunt. The cruise line stayed to help in the search, but nothing turned up.

The ship then headed for its destination -- Port Canaveral, Florida and the Coast Guard continued searching.

A Carnival spokesperson tells TMZ the man jumped off the ship. We do know he's an adult who was on the ship with his family.

Guest services thought they were joking at first -- but then sent security to the area where the man had fallen overboard.

Security confirmed he had gone overboard and the coast guard was called in.

Justin Bieber hit the Coachella stage partially clothed for his surprise performance on Day 1.

JB came out shirtless as he performed "Peaches" with Daniel Caesar ... just as TMZ told you Friday! The crowd loved it. JB flew in from Miami where he had performed as part of his world tour.

Daniel and Justin regaled the music festival crowd with a rendition of their song "Peaches," which was included on Justin's album "Justice" last year.

Harry Styles headlined the night and brought out a legend -- Shania Twain! Harry, who has busted open stereotypes, sang Shania's biggest hit -- "Man! I Feel Like a Woman." The crowd ate it up! The venue lit up with fireworks as Harry performed his set.

Turns out Harry's a big fan of Twain ... he told the audience he recalled his mother driving him around with Shania blaring out of the radio. He said "Shania Twain taught me to sing," adding in a moment of self-loathing, "She also taught me that men are trash."

Big Sean was a big hit, as were YG and Jhene Aiko ... in case you didn't know, Sean and Aiko are BF/GF.

There was also a moving tribute to Ukraine by Arcade Fire. Frontman Win Butler said, "I want to dedicate this to everyone in the Ukraine. Everyone in a punk rock band in the Ukraine right now. I'm thinking about everybody who is dealing with the war right now." Then they performed "The Suburbs" to honor Ukrainian citizens.

Someone in the crowd had a medical emergency. He was taken out on a stretcher. We don't know his status. As it happened, the band stopped performing ... obviously a call-back to the Astroworld tragedy, where 10 people died in a stampede and crowd crush.

Lil Baby also performed, and ended his set with "The Bigger Picture" ... a song he dropped just days after George Floyd's murder. Lil Baby brought Gunna out during his set.

And, there was more ... hip-hop duo City Girls hit the stripper pole and twerked with perfection!

Phoebe Bridgers brought out her friend Arlo Parks  -- the first time for both musicians to perform on the Coachella stage.

The duo performed a rendition of Bridgers' "Graceland Too."

Snoop and Anitta also hit the main stage.

As for Snoop, well he was true to form, smokin' a joint while he performed with Anitta as he danced around the stage. Again, a huge crowd fav.

Word at the venue ... Day 1 was a blast.

Coachella -- Day 1 -- it's a big deal since this is the reset after the pandemic, and one thing was clear ... celebs weren't scared to bring back the fun.

Chanel Iman, Michael Foge, Amanda Stanton and Storm Reid were among the celebs who descended on the Empire Polo Fields outside Palm Springs, to take in the sun, party with intent and stand elbow-to-elbow to watch Harry Styles, Justin Bieber and co.

There were performances by Carly Rae Jepsen, Snoop, Lil Baby, Arcade Fire ... and others who popped up on stage.

Coachella is only partly about music ... the weather was perfect, and Shanina Shaik, Alessandra Ambrosio, Josephine Skriver and others hit the pool. Kendall Jenner made it partly business by hawking her 818 Tequila at a bash she hosted.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Saweetie and Doja Cat are among some of the big names who've secured entry to the biggest and most exclusive party during Coachella, TMZ has learned.

Neon Carnival is known as THE party of the weekend at Coachella, and our sources in the desert say Shailene Woodley is also on the guestlist for the event ... which goes down Saturday night into Sunday morning at the Desert International Horse Park. about 15 minutes outside the music festival grounds.

Doja's performing Sunday night at Coachella ... so, she probably won't be raging too hard, but Shailene's presence creates a little mystery -- will her man, NFL superstar Aaron Rodgers be raving with her at Coachella??? We're told it's unclear if the Green Bay Packers QB will be on hand, but what a sight that would be.

Paris Hilton's gonna be spinning some tunes in the virtual world ... and she's also hosting a virtual replica of the after-party experience, courtesy of the Metaverse.

The virtual experience, dubbed "Paris World," is for folks who don't have an actual ticket to the party ... or a big enough name to get on the guestlist ... and it will recreate what it feels like to actually be inside the velvet ropes. Futuristic stuff, for sure.

Neon Carnival, which is sponsored by Levi’s in association with Liquid I.V., is definitely the place to be for the first Coachella weekend since 2019, and another one of its sponsors is Don Julio tequila, so you can already hear the chants ... shots, shots, shots, shots!!!

The TikToker who claims his face was left with splotches all over after a facial gone wrong is taking the spa that did it to court ... because he just sued, like he said he would.

Neyo White filed suit against Diamond Facez Skin Care Bar for what he says was a botched chemical peel that burned his mug ... leaving discoloration and peeling behind that he claims were incredibly painful and distressing.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, White describes how he got this done in February. At the time, he was told the burning was normal and not to worry. However, he claims it was anything but ... and has pictures he says show the severe burns left by the peel.

He says he suffered skin disfigurement and possibly permanent scarring from the burns. He also claims he's suffered pain and suffering over the alleged injuries ... including shock, fear, mental anguish, etc.

As we previously told you ... this whole thing might've been averted if the spa had just refunded what he paid for the chemical peel -- a mere $150 he claims the establishment refused to hand back.

Now, he's asking for compensatory and punitive damages of at least $500,000.

Kanye's been out with his GF a lot lately, so maybe he's moved on, and the big question ... is Britney pregnant? So, we gotta ask ...

Well, hell has officially frozen over and pigs are flying ... 'cause the long-standing feud between Oscar De La Hoya and Dana White could be coming to an end after the boxing legend told us he wanted to patch up his relationship with the UFC president.

TMZ Sports talked to De La Hoya and his girlfriend Holly Sonders outside the Christian Louboutin store in Beverly Hills ... when the conversation turned to Las Vegas, and eventually the UFC honcho.

"I wanna fix things up with Dana."

You probably know ... Dana and Oscar pretty much hate each other's guts. They've both gone back and forth, verbally eviscerating each other in the process.

"I criticized the UFC a bit and I was wrong for it but yeah, I would love to patch things up with Dana and Mayweather."

It's gotten personal -- very personal -- between the men over the years (search YouTube) ... but it's clear Oscar had a change of heart and wants to squash the beef.

ODLH says he's building a house with Holly in Sin City (which happens to be Dana's backyard, where he lives and runs the UFC ... and actually wants to work with White as business partners.

"I have some big plans for Vegas."

As for Floyd Mayweather ... TBE and Floyd previously fought each other in 2007, where Mayweather won by split decision. Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy, Oscar's promotion, also worked together for years.

Question is ... after all the barb's back-and-forth, will Dana and/or Floyd be open to the peace talks??

"Riverdale" star KJ Apa is setting the record straight, saying he is NOT married to his girlfriend Clara Berry ... at least, not yet.

We caught up with Apa at Blue Bottle Los Angeles, Thursday ... and he cleared up rumors about tying the knot with Clara.

He said, "I don't think we need to put a label on love, but do I want to get married? Yes." ... and if that wasn't telling enough, our photog flat out asked him ... to which he replied no and pointed at his naked ring finger.

Of course, folks have every reason to believe that KJ and Clara may have secretly gotten married ... he hinted at it, himself. In an Instagram post, he referred to the French model as his "wife" ... back in October 2021.

As you may know .. the two confirmed their romance, back in 2020. And, a month before calling Clara his wife, they welcomed their baby boy, Sasha Vai Keneti Apa.

We should also add ... KJ has openly toyed with the idea that he might, in fact, be married to Clara many times but never officially made it clear ... at least, until now.

It's all about the music, the art and obviously the pool parties for the stars at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival! Yes, Coachella is BACK and hotter than ever, which means you can most definitely expect the celebs and influencers to stay on trend and inflate their pool floaties.

The Coachella stars are known for blowing up your Instagram feed with iconic, pool-floating pics. Leave it up to celebs like Olivia Culpo, Brad Goreski and Brandi Cyrus to never shy away from a float-o op.

Joseline Hernandez beat the crap out of a bunch of dancers behind the scenes of her reality TV show's reunion show ... at least that's what the dancers claim in a massive $25 million lawsuit.

Four women who say they were dancers on "Joseline's Cabaret" are accusing her of ambushing them on set, and violently opening a can of whoop-ass. In docs obtained by TMZ, the dancers claim they showed up in high heels for the reunion show taping, but JH was waiting for them with hard-bottom boots and launched an attack.

One woman claims Joseline violently kicked her in the ribs, while another claims Joseline dragged her by her hair and kicked her in the back ... while the third dancer alleges Joseline grabbed her by the neck and shoved her to the ground.

According to the suit, the fourth woman got off relatively easy -- she claims Joseline shoved her, but only threatened to do more harm. They also claim Joseline even boldly bragged about the beatdown on social media.

During the alleged incident, they say she repeatedly yelled, "Gucci gang" -- which they believe was a signal for the planned attack. They point out Joseline used the phrase again in a post with an image of the shoes she wore during the alleged attack.

Don't let these two nearly identical Kendall Jenner shots throw you off the Coachella stage. So, lose the stage fright and see if you can spot the differences in these two similar snaps of one of Coachella's fan favorites.

Kendall definitely made her presence in Palm Springs known and got a head start on Coachella -- throwin' up a show-stoppin' Insta, which of course showcases her model physique and her 818 Tequila ... do you have what it takes to spotlight the minor changes performed on these images?