Ben Affleck Downplays Matching w/ 'SS' Star ... Raya Activity Old News
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12:57 PM PT -- It appears Ben Affleck may, in fact, have matched with Emma after all on Raya a while ago -- because People Mag has updated their headline to more closely reflect what his camp actually said about the alleged exchange ... namely, not necessarily denying they matched at all, but simply downplaying it by noting he hasn't been on the dating app in forever. Noted.
8:29 AM PT -- Sources close to Emma tell TMZ ... they believe Ben's "denial" is not a denial at all because they are not saying he never hit her up ... they're just saying he hasn’t been on Raya for years. We are told Emma insists Ben did hit her up on Raya back in 2019.
Ben Affleck has a very different recollection of hitting up a "Selling Sunset" star on Raya ... as in no recollection, because he says it's BS.
'SS's Emma Hernan claimed on the latest installment of the series ... she matched with Ben on the dating platform, but Ben's rep told PEOPLE it just ain't true.
Apparently, Ben's not been active on the exclusive dating app for several years, before he hooked up with J Lo for round 2 of their romance.
As for Hernan ... she tells Chrishell Stause on the show, "Remember when Ben Affleck went viral because he sent some girl ... He may or may not have been texting me ... He may or may not have asked me to grab coffee a few times. I didn't go."
Well, Ben's people say she didn't go because she wasn't asked.
Originally Published -- 6:39 AM PT
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Volodymyr Zelensky Signed Baseball Hits Auction Block ... Sale Helps Ukraine Relief
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Volodymyr Zelensky literally left his mark on America's pastime ... the world leader autographed a baseball that's up for auction, and the sale will help relief efforts in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian President signed his last name on the baseball in two different languages ... Ukrainian cursive and English print ... with his signature right below a Major League Baseball logo.
Zelensky left his John Hancock on the ball back in September 2019, during a visit to New York. The ball comes with a letter signed by Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Nations at the time.
The baseball is going up for sale through RR Auction ... where it's expected to fetch at least $15,000.
Randy L. Kaplan, a government affairs specialist in New York, got the ball as a gift from Yelchenko ... Randy's been collecting signed Major League baseballs from world leaders and heads of state since 1996, starting with Bill Clinton.
The auction house says the ball is in "very fine" condition and Kaplan plans to donate a portion of proceeds from the sale to a Ukrainian relief fund ... RR says they will donate their cut to the same fund.
There are already 13 bids on the baseball, and the auction runs through May 11.
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Coachella Weekend 2 Harry Styles Surprises Fans with Lizzo!!!
Harry Styles did not disappoint during the kickoff of Coachella, Weekend 2 ... because his surprise guest made the crowd go crazy ... Lizzo!
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
Harry headlined Friday night in the desert, and one of the songs he and Lizzo chose is a tried-and-true anthem -- Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive."
They also paid homage to One Direction ... singing "What Makes You Beautiful."
Lizzo, fresh off her 'SNL' stint, gave Harry a social media shoutout after the set and thanked him for bringing her up ... "Proud of you @harrystyles. Thank u for having me."
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Billie Eilish, also a headliner, was just a fan Friday night, clearly feelin' it as she watched Harry perform. Billie will take the stage Saturday night for her own headlining set.
Billie Eilish watching Harry Styles’ #Coachella set with fans. pic.twitter.com/80dGDOdXWx
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 23, 2022 @PopCrave
Big Sean also performed Friday ... he brought out the always awesome/adventurous Mike Posner. Lots of throwbacks, including Posner's "Cooler Than Me."
Mike posted after the show ... "From my mom's basement all the way to Coachella - what a journey it's been. Proud to have shared the stage with you again @BigSean. 🙏"
Sean also brought out GF Jhene Aiko.
And, let's not forget Daniel Caesar, who brought out Justin Bieber during Week 1. This time around the guest was Omar Apollo.
Coachella 2022 is getting mixed reviews, but all in all it seems like a blast.
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Travis Scott Featured On First Song Since Astroworld ... Collab with Future
Travis Scott is back making music after the Astroworld tragedy.
Travis is featured on the new Future song "Hold That Heat." In the music vid, you see Travis, Future and producer Southside ... Travis sang the chorus ... "Hold that, hold that heater [aka gun]."
Travis and Future also share a joint during the song. And, there's the striptease, courtesy of a woman wearing not a lot.
There's no reference to the tragedy at the Houston festival back in November, where 10 people died. Travis has been laying low for the most part since then, performing at a Coachella after-party recently and hitting up SoFi for a game, but other than that he's kept his head low.
As we reported, Travis is being sued by a number of people who were at the festival, as well as families of those who died. The lawsuits could take years to either settle or litigate, so it's unclear how Travis will manage his career around it.
The song is laden with references including one to his upcoming album, "Utopia." He rapped, "Six months down out in Cabo," referencing a rumor that he's been going back and forth from a studio in Mexico.
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Bill Maher Rails on Florida Gov DeSantis .... He's a Demagogue!!!
Bill Maher went in hard on Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, for "demagoguing" the culture war issue over LGBTQ+ mentions in schools.
The "Real Time" host railed on DeSantis for the draconian action he took against Disney World, yanking their tax status and independence because the Mouse House took a stand against the "Don't Say Gay" bill.
Bill said he has every reason to hate Disney -- after all, they fired him for comments he made on "Politically Incorrect" -- a bonehead move, given the name of the show, right?
Nevertheless, Bill feels sorry for Disney because they seem to be in a no-win situation ... the left hated them when they didn't take a stand on the bill, and now they've taken a stand and the right hates them. As Bill said, Disney's initial response ... "We just make fairies and elves, riding teacups" ... and that triggered the left. Now that they won't donate to political campaigns of those who support the bill ... well, the right went nuts.
Atlantic writer, Caitlin Flanagan, said she hates the way Disney waffled, imploring the company to "have a backbone." Conservative, Mary Katharine Ham, took a different stance ... "The key might be neutrality on these big culture war issues."
There was also talk of teaching social justice in schools, and whether it takes a toll on basic learning. It's an interesting convo.
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Mike Tyson 'Harasser On The Plane Got Lucky!' ... Says The Photog That Once Got Beat Up By Boxer
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Paparazzo Tony Vera thinks Mike Tyson isn't someone to mess with, and he'd know -- he was left a bloody mess by him back in the 2000s.
We talked to Tony at LAX Friday, the very same place he was punched by Mike all those years back ... he thinks the man that harassed Mike Wednesday got off easy in the punching power department.
Take a listen ... the guy makes some great points, wondering where the crew was when the passenger started bugging the former champ.
He tells us the memories started flooding back when he heard about what happened. As we reported back in 2009 ... Tony got hit by the boxer after getting too close to him near the ticket counter at LAX.
Police told us both parties made citizen arrests on each other, and Mike was taken away in a squad car while Tony was taken to a hospital. BTW ... Tyson was not charged with a crime but settled with Tony for an undisclosed amount.
Tony says he and Mike have made up since their past scuffle, but he feels bad for him about what happened Wednesday ... and wants everyone to know Mike is a legend that shouldn't be messed with.
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Stars and Scars You Be the Judge
What a week ... the Tyson JetBlue video is insane, and speaking of insane, the Blac Chyna and Johnny Depp trials are just crazy!!! So, we gotta ask ...
Whose Side You On?
Whose Side You On?
Whose Side You On?
Chyna Pointing Gun At Rob ...
Better Reality Show ...
A$AP's Surprise Arrest
Kanye's New Verses ...
Drake/Taylor Collab ... Who Does It Help More?
Mandatory Masks On Planes ...
Aaliyah Gayles' Father Star H.S. Recruit Will Hoop Again After Shooting ... 'Still a USC Trojan!'
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Amazing news from Aaliyah Gayles' father ... the USC hoops recruit's dad tells TMZ Sports she will return to the basketball court and play for the Trojans -- despite being shot multiple times last weekend.
As we previously reported, four people -- including 18-year-old Gayles -- were shot when someone opened fire at a North Las Vegas house party on April 16.
Gayles' dad, Dwight, tells us his daughter went to the party to accompany a friend and stayed for only 30 minutes or so before she decided to leave -- and that's when the shooting happened.
Dwight says the 5-foot-9 guard was hit a total of 10 times in "both arms and both legs" and had her third surgery this week.
Thankfully, Dwight says Aaliyah is expected to make a full recovery -- and is still planning to play for the USC women's basketball team.
"She will be able to play ball again," Dwight tells us. "It's God's plan."
"She is still a USC Trojan."
Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a statement shortly after the shooting that Gayles is "one of the strongest, most resilient young people I have ever known" and she will continue to support her and her family.
Gayles is a 5-star recruit and the #8 overall ranked player in ESPN's 2022 class. At Spring Valley High School last season, she averaged 13.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 3.3 assists per game.
She led the Grizzlies to the Class 5A state tournament and was named a McDonald's All-American -- the first Las Vegas player to earn the honor since 2010.
Get well soon, Aaliyah!
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Stars Going Green (BIKINIS) Happy Earth Week
It's always important to take care of our home planet ... not just during Earth Week ... by going green, conserving water, and trying to reduce our carbon footprint, so we whipped up some stars in green swimsuits to raise your awareness.
Yes, California is a green state, so most celebs put their best (green) thumb forward, and for celebs like Kylie and Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber and Ariana Grande ... well you can always count on them for repping their itsy bitsy teenie weenie green bikinis.
So, when you're done doing your recycling, preserve your energy and scour through our gallery of stars who make green a GO!
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DMC On Jack Harlow's Success ... 'Art Doesn't Have A Color!!!'
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DMC doesn't get the big fuss over Jack Harlow's success ... because good music is always gonna do well on the charts, no matter who you are.
We talked to DMC leaving NBC Studios in New York, and the 57-year-old rapper sounds a bit confused, no doubt due to all the autographs he's signing ... but he offers up a good point about a musician's color being irrelevant.
He's calling Jack's haters out for being ignorant, saying creative outlets, like music, should be used to bring others together and make the community a better place ... not to tear each other apart.
As you know, Jack's new single "First Class" recently hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 ... Top Dawg Entertainment President Terrence "Punch" Henderson sparked a debate on Twitter by saying Black artists have to be more awesome than their white counterparts to make it big.
The debate came up on Tuesday's episode of "TMZ Hip Hop" ... as DJ Hed and Rodney Rikai challenged each other on what's really fueling the Kentucky-born rapper’s rise to the top.
They answered this hypothetical: IF Jack were a Black rapper, whose career would his most resemble???
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What's The Big Frigin' Difference?!
Don't be thrown off by these two nearly identical shots of Doja Cat making her Coachella performance debut! Stay stage left and 'show us what it's like to know the differences in these live performance pics!
Singing and performing some of your favorite Doja hits, the American rapper and songwriter rocked the Coachella stage with her tracks "Say So" and "Kiss Me More." The task at hand here is ... do you have the skills and cat-like instincts to spot the differences in these two shockingly similar images?
**HINT: There are THREE differences in the above Doja Cat photos!**
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Tesla Car on Autopilot Crashes into $3 mil Jet!!!
A designated driver might be a good idea at all times -- or at least when around super-expensive planes -- cause a Tesla on Autopilot crashed into a jet with a $3 million price tag.
Unclear which airport the whole thing went down, but you can see the electric car slowly rolling toward the Cirrus Vision Jet before striking the back tail and continuing to move ... spinning the plane almost totally around.
Of course, it's not the first time a Tesla on Autopilot has crashed, but thankfully this time there doesn't appear to be any serious injuries.
As we've previously reported, a Tesla crash ended up leaving 2 people dead in Texas -- cops said, it was most likely the result of the car's autopilot feature.
In an eerie coincidence, Tesla founder, Elon Musk, came out and said a Tesla with Autopilot had nearly a 10 times lower chance of an accident than an average car ... just hours before the TX crash.
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Kris Jenner Thought Chyna Was Going to Kill Rob ... Testifies in Trial
Kris Jenner says she fully thought Blac Chyna was going to kill Rob Kardashian when she pointed a gun to his head ... and in no way did she think it was a joke.
Kris was back on the stand Friday for a second day of testimony in Chyna's trial, claiming she thought BC tried to murder her son back in December 2016. Rob's mom hurled the allegation almost right out of the gate, with Chyna's lawyer asking her if she believed Chyna attempted murder on her son. Kris responded, "I do."
Kris says she came to the conclusion after looking at everything going on back then between Rob and Chyna ... claiming Rob had marks on his body from the phone cord Chyna wrapped around his neck, in addition to his torn shirt.
What's more, Kris says she felt Chyna had animosity and hatred towards her family ... saying alcohol was involved when Chyna pointed the gun at Rob's head and wondered what it would be like to be in Rob's situation at that moment.
As we reported ... Chyna claimed she pointed the gun at Rob as a joke, and insisted the phone cord she put around his neck was also done in jest.
Kris was asked why she didn't call the police if she thought Chyna was going to kill her son. She said she thought BC had enough problems with cops and figured her own security, made up of former LAPD officers, could get the situation under control if necessary.
And, get this ... Kris was asked about a text she sent where she wrote, "He (Rob) is devastated, and he needs to ditch the bitch."
Kris told the jury she sent the text in anger when she was very upset, adding ... "I probably could've used a word that was nicer."
Chyna's lawyer asked Kris why she would want to use a nicer word to describe someone she believed tried to murder her son Kris said, "It's just really not the way I like to talk about people."
Kris was then shown another text message she sent to the showrunner behind Rob and Chyna's reality TV show, where Kris wrote, "Let's take her off the show and just make it Rob raising his daughter."
Asked why she sent the text, Kris explained ... "This is my son that has been traumatized and I was just trying to figure out what to do." She started crying on the stand as she compared Rob having a gun pointed to his head to Kim Kardashian being tied up in a bathtub in Paris.
Kris was also asked about another text, where she claimed Chyna beat the crap out of Rob's face, and the meaning behind it.
In her explanation, Kris drew a laugh from the courtroom crowd when she referenced the Will Smith and Chris Rock moment at the Oscars, saying ... "It's like if I was at the Academy Awards and got hit in the face, might say I got the s*** beat out of my face.”
Kris was pressed about equating the Oscars slap to the incident between Chyna and Rob, and she said her text was just using a figure of speech.
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'Selling Sunset' Maya Agrees with Fans on Season 5 ... Show More Homes, Less Drama!!!
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"Selling Sunset" has some fans begging for more ... more luxury homes, that is, and at least one cast member, Maya Vander, agrees -- but that's not the only reason she's having a hard time watching the new season.
Maya joined us Friday on TMZ Live and opened up about the trauma she endured when her baby was stillborn late last year.
She'd been expecting the whole time they shot season 5 -- which just dropped on Netflix -- so, now watching the show means seeing herself pregnant again.
She told us she hopes sharing the tragic story can help other parents dealing with similar losses.
As for the rest of the show's storylines ... Maya admits, there seems to be less and less real estate in a show that's all about selling real estate -- but, at the same time, she knows "drama sells" on TV.
She says, there's enough drama within the business already so she doesn't think there needs to be any more surrounding the cast members. Although Maya's planning to leave the show, she still loves the biz -- she has her own agency in South FL -- and hopes they'll show more homes in upcoming seasons.
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Mike Tyson Punching Victim Hires Lawyer ... He Was Just 'Overly Excited,' Victim of Excessive Force
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The man Mike Tyson repeatedly punched on a JetBlue plane has lawyered up, and the attorney's first thoughts are suggesting a lawsuit might not be far away.
Attorney Matt Morgan from Morgan & Morgan, who reps Melvin Townsend III, tells TMZ, "Our client is a big Mike Tyson fan. When Mike Tyson boarded the plane, he became overly excited. At first, their interaction was cordial."
He goes on ... "At a certain point, Mr. Tyson clearly became agitated by an overly excited fan and began to strike him in an excessive manner. This situation could have been avoided simply by contacting the flight attendant. Our client denies throwing a water bottle prior to being struck by Mr. Tyson."
As we reported, Tyson's team told TMZ Townsend had thrown a water bottle at Tyson, before Mike unleashed on him.
Townsend was bloodied and suffered what appear to be minor injuries from the punches. He declined to press charges and both he and Tyson were free to leave after the incident.
Attorney Morgan says, "To state the obvious, as one of the greatest fighters of all time, Mr. Tyson should have exercised greater restraint before using his hands on an overly excited fan."
As you see in the video, Townsend is all over Tyson before the punches.
A source directly connected to Townsend says he, "Is still in shock and has not made a determination on what his next steps will be. He hired counsel due to his physical injuries, the overwhelming nature of this event and the associated media inquiries."
It sounds like the book is not closed on this incident, and a lawsuit might be in the offing.
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Blac Chyna's Mom I Didn't Threaten Judge ... Words Were For Kris Jenner
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Blac Chyna's mom, Tokyo Toni, says she wasn't talking about the judge in her daughter's trial when she said, "I'm going to get that judge" ... she says it was all about Kris Jenner.
We got TT in Woodland Hills Thursday and asked her about her alleged threat, which she made Tuesday on Instagram Live.
Tokyo says she wasn't really talking about the judge, it was for Kris ... and when our photog pressed, she explained she views Kris as the judge because she feels Kris rules over all of the Kardashians.
Here's the problem ... before she makes the threat, she references the fact that the judge -- the real one, not Kris -- threw her out of the courtroom. And, then she says "I'm gonna get that judge." So, it's a gigantic stretch to believe she was talking about Kris.
Tokyo tells us her daughter's legal team told her to chill out on social media as the trial continues, and Toni makes it sound like that won't be a problem because she claims she was never talking about the case, and was only taking shots at the Kardashians.
Blac Chyna's mom says it all with a straight face ... also reviving an old Kanye West dig at Kris and sending a non-threatening message to the judge.