TMZ.com Home

Kate Middleton is falling on the sword over a photo Kensington Palace released that supposedly shows her with her kids post-surgery ... and even now, folks ain't buying it.

A message on behalf of the Princess of Wales was posted to X Monday morning, which explicitly places the blame over the photoshopped pic at her feet. It reads, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."

She adds, "I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C" That final "C," BTW is meant to stand for Catherine ... so this is her taking responsibility, officially.

What's weird, of course, is that in the original upload ... Kensington Palace credited her husband, Prince William, with taking the photo -- and yet, Kate herself says this is on her.

Of course ... with all the twists and turns in this "Where Is Kate?" saga -- which has been dragging on for weeks now -- hardly anybody is believing this is actually Kate Middleton owning up to it. Most everyone assumes it's just Kensington Palace publishing some statement on her behalf. Can't blame them, considering this was truly misleading.

As we reported ... the Mother's Day photo in question was yanked by news agencies all over the world -- with these reputable outlets saying the image appeared to be manipulated.

A closer look at the photo shows some strange features, including what appear to be photoshopped elements near Princess Charlotte's left hand, and even Prince Louie's fingers appear to have a warped appearance. As it turns out -- the picture was in fact doctored.

This all follows weeks of nonstop speculation about Kate's whereabouts/condition -- as she's been out of the public eye for several weeks now following a mysterious abdominal surgery. Even when she surfaced for the first time a couple weeks ago, people still didn't think it was really her.

Most of the innuendo is joke-y in nature, and yet ... every time the Palace has tried to put out the fire ... it's backfired in their faces, and this latest move is a complete blunder.

The only thing that'll calm everyone's nerves now is a straight-up video where we see her.

The Oscars are over, and the stars all went out with a bang hitting up after-parties around town -- but the biggest hot spot was 100% Vanity Fair's shindig ... where it was a who's-who.

Hollywood's A-list crowd hit up the magazine's annual post-Oscars get-together -- which has become a staple during awards season, and where just about everyone who was in town swung by to have their photos taken and to hobnob with other celebs post-show.

Of course, ya can't blame anyone for wanting to hit up this Oscars bash -- the red carpet and giant lettering is eye-catching, to say the least, and everyone's dressed to the nines.

The pap shots were something to behold, but once people were inside and mingling -- there was a lot to see there as well ... with lots of different stars crossing paths and exchanging smiles. Indeed, Oscar winners themselves were on hand ... as were the runner-ups.

Some of the celebs on hand ... Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, Margot Robbie, America Ferrera, Billie Eilish, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, Sydney Sweeney, Sofía Vergara, Lenny Kravitz and lots of others.

FWIW, that wasn't the only game in town ... Beyoncé and Jay-Z threw another party at the Chateau Marmont -- and that bash was just as star-studded. In fact, there may have been some double dipping here.

Just a smidge of the stars who showed up for Jay and Bey's party -- the KarJenners, LeBron James, Kelly Rowland, Ciara and Russell Wilson, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, MGK and Megan Fox, Kerry Washington and more.

It was certainly a night to remember ... especially for some movies like "Oppenheimer," "Poor Things," "The Zone of Interest" and a handful of other flicks that truly cleaned up and swept.

"Barbie" left relatively empty-handed ... as did "Killers of the Flower Moon." That's not to say people weren't happy at the actual ceremony, though ... 'cause they absolutely were.

Peep all the photos showing the behind-the-scenes. A night to remember and then some!

North West is officially following in Kanye West's footsteps as she announced her debut album on Sunday ... a title that plays off her dad's legendary catalog.

Ye gave North the floor at his "Vultures 2" listening party Sunday night in Phoenix, and she unveiled her album name -- "Elementary School Dropout."

The announcement drew thunderous cheers across the venue, as the crowd immediately recognized the title as an homage to Ye's monumental debut, "The College Dropout" ... which dropped back in 2004, long before NW was even a twinkle in his eye.

Hip Hop nostalgia aside, North's album title is interesting for another reason -- Kanye is currently crusading against his daughter's private school in L.A.

The album title's gotta have Kim Kardashian feeling some sorta way ... we know she's been upset Kanye is airing his grievances about the school on social media, instead of discussing it with her privately ... as required by their divorce settlement.

North's crack at rap stardom started with her feature on Ye and Ty Dolla $ign's "Talking/Once Again" from "Vultures 1."

That put her in historic company as one of the youngest artists to place on the Billboard charts ... and an early indicator she'll be back on "Vultures 2" and, eventually, her own record.

Ryan Gosling did his big musical number at the Oscars  -- getting onstage in front of all his peers and belting out the 'Barbie' standout song ... and he did it guns (n' roses) blazing.

The actor just got done performing 'I'm Just Ken' during Sunday's broadcast -- and it was as epic as everyone expected ... with the Ry Guy fully committing to the bit ... and rocking the house with some killer vocals and even better backing musicians, including Slash!

Indeed ... the top hat-rockin' rocker joined Ryan onstage to play some live guitar, and he absolutely shredded as RG belted out the fan fave from the biggest blockbuster last year.

Ryan even came down to the front row -- where he had Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig help him sing the tune. And yes, he was fully decked out in all-pink wardrobe for the ditty.

For a little while, it was unclear whether Ryan was actually gonna do 'IJK' at the Oscars -- but in the end ... he finally signed on, and his costar Margot just recently reassured everyone he was itching to do it ... despite him kinda playing coy throughout this year's award season.

It was one of the only 'Barbie' highlights of the night thus far -- Billie Eilish just won Best Song, for 'What Was I Made For,' but it's been fairly quiet for the doll crew otherwise.

We'll see if 'Barbie' ends up getting some love for Best Picture ... or if 1 Oscar is it.

LSU women's basketball star Flau'jae Johnson was shoved to the floor during a wild fight at the SEC Championship Game on Sunday.

The push happened with about 2 minutes remaining in the Tigers' 79-72 loss to South Carolina in Greenville ... after Johnson had gotten tangled up with Gamecocks guard MiLaysia Fulwiley.

You can see in video from the game's broadcast that following the physical play on the court, Johnson nudged Ashlyn Watkins on her way back to her bench. That prompted Kamilla Cardoso to run into the skirmish and put her hands all over Johnson.

After the LSU guard hit the ground, all hell broke loose ... as players from both teams raced onto the floor. At one point, a man ID'ed on the game's broadcast as Johnson's brother even got involved ... jumping over the scorer's table to see the action up close.

Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, and both squads returned to their ends of the court without much further issue.

Six players in total -- including Cardoso -- were ejected from the matchup. Johnson's brother, meanwhile, was led away from the court in handcuffs, but an LSU spokesperson told The Advocate he was not arrested.

Cardoso -- who could be forced to miss some NCAA tournament time now due to her role in the tussle -- went on to apologize for it all in a post on X after the game.

"My behavior was not representative of who I am as a person or the South Carolina program," she wrote, "and I deeply regret any discomfort or inconvenience it may have caused."

As for where Angel Reese was during the whole mix, she wrote in a post on her own X page, "As a person at my STATUS, sometimes you have to walk away from certain situations."

"Mind you," she added, "the play before that I had rolled my ankle AGAIN and was already walking to the bench. I ALWAYS ride for mine. I’m super proud of this team & super excited for march. #geauxtigers."

Jimmy Kimmel got into it with Donald Trump during the Oscars Sunday night ... with each taking major jabs at one another for all to see.

Jimmy was in the home stretch hosting the 96th Academy Awards and read a Truth Social post from Trump reviewing the comedian's performance.

Needless to say, Trump wasn't very complimentary, calling Jimmy the "WORST HOST" ever while crapping on his opening monologue.

Trump also wrote the Academy should "get rid" of Jimmy and perhaps replace him with "another washed up but cheap ABC talent George Slopanopoulos."

Of course, Trump was referring to ABC News political commentator George Stephanopoulos. He even took a shot at George's height, saying the TV anchor would make everyone at the Oscars look "bigger, stronger, and more glamorous."

But Jimmy didn't take the insults lying down ... he threw it right back at Trump, pulling out his cell phone and reading 45's post to the A-list crowd while on stage.

Jimmy first brought up the obvious ...  "See if you can guess which former president just posted that on Truth Social."

He then delivered the punchline, "Thank you, President Trump. Thank you for watching. I’m surprised … isn’t it past your jail time?"

Everyone laughed their butts off at Jimmy's joke, mocking Trump's four criminal indictments.

Murray The Magician is walking the plank -- the magic world's version, anyway, as the famed Magic Castle suspends him for breaking a longstanding rule about revealing how to do tricks, but he says that rule's gotta change.

Here's the deal ... Murray filmed a fun video he shared online, doing a bunch of different magic tricks for the camera only to have his sexy sidekick -- his wife, Dani -- burst his bubble and reveal the secret behind each trick.

Murray's video racked up more than 50 million views on Facebook, and now Hollywood's most famous and exclusive magic club, The Magic Castle, has suspended him.

The Academy of Magical Arts, the group that runs The Magic Castle, told Murray he's suspended pending an investigation into complaints he violated their rules by exposing magic online.

In the letter, obtained by TMZ, the AMA tells Murray he's no longer allowed to even enter the Magic Castle, where he's been a member for decades and frequently performs.

Murray tells TMZ ... the magic community needs to update these outdated rules because it's 2024, and folks can go on the internet and learn magic tricks on their own.

Basically, Murray's calling out the AMA for guarding an empty safe by punishing magicians who pull back the curtain. As he says, it's not like he was sharing details behind David Copperfield or Criss Angel's famous tricks, because everything in his viral video is available on Amazon for anyone to purchase and use.

Murray says the real issue here is his fame ... he says the video wouldn't be a problem if he was a birthday magician in Barstow, but because his video is racking up a bunch of views, suddenly the AMA has beef.

A photo of Kate Middleton and her kids sent around by Kensington Palace Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day in the U.K. is now being accused of possibly being fake.

Multiple photo and new agencies -- like the Associated Press, Getty Images, etc. -- have yanked the picture in question, and AP even handed down a kill notification to journos worldwide ... letting them know they have reason to believe this photo may be manipulated.

Part of that message read ... "At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image. No replacement image will be sent. Please remove it from all platforms, including social, where it may still be visible."

The hesitation follows a wave of skeptics online and elsewhere, who suggested the pic looked sorta AI-generated ... and did not at all seem authentic -- this despite the fact palace officials insisted it had been taken by Prince William himself at their cottage in Windsor.

On paper, this has been presented as the real McCoy -- but reputable news outlets are now distancing themselves and refusing to circulate it ... casting serious doubt on its legitimacy.

As of now, Royal officials have yet to comment on this, even to reporters across the pond ... and the photo is still on the Prince and Princess of Wales' official social media accounts.

If true, obviously it's scandalous ... and will only add fuel to the fire over Kate's condition as she continues to recover from abdominal surgery earlier this year ... which has sidelined her for a while. Photos of her that surfaced last week were also called into question.

Kensington Palace has attempted to tamp down rumors and speculation about all this -- but the Internet has been having a field day with memes, jokes and gossip regardless. This latest apparent Snafu ain't gonna help ... if anything, it'll kickstart a fresh wave of inuendo.

The father of Christmas Abbott's kid is off the hook in his revenge porn case ... as prosecutors in North Carolina have dropped all the charges against him.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, prosecutors dismissed the case against Benjamin Bunn -- who shares a 5-year-old son with the 'Big Brother' alum -- due to insufficient evidence.

We broke the story ... Bunn was arrested back in October, and hit with 3 counts of disclosure of private images after Christmas told cops Bunn was behind a fake online profile pretending to be her, and posting her adult content she published behind a paywall.

Police investigated and got a warrant to arrest Bunn, but now prosecutors say there just isn't enough evidence to bring this case before a jury.

Meanwhile, Christmas has also made domestic violence claims against her estranged husband Memphis Garrett, and even got a temporary restraining order against him before he filed for divorce.

Elon Musk and Steve Jobs' signatures are a holy grail of sorts for tech enthusiasts ... and if you're willing to splash some serious cash, you might just get lucky and score one of their elusive autographs.

Talk about a coveted piece of history ... a bidding war is on over at RR Auction for a movie ticket stub signed by Jobs -- and there's also the super rare SpaceX business card signed by Musk himself!!

As you can see, Steve's signature is on the back of a movie ticket from 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" at Century Cinema 16 in Mountain View, CA.

Despite a little tear made by the usher before he signed it, the signature remains intact and in good condition.

It also comes with a detailed letter of provenance from the OG recipient, who says being a big Apple fan and suddenly spotting Steve and his fam at the cinema was a major deal.

The fan waited until the end of the movie to ask for his autograph -- and the wait paid off 'cause Steve dug out his own cinema ticket to sign as they didn't have a piece of paper.

Meanwhile, EM's signature on a SpaceX business card -- signed in black felt tip -- is like a piece of history from the forefront of space exploration.

Before this sweet kiddo from Jericho, New York was singin' and song-writing, she was just winning modeling competitions and gracing the covers of magazines as a youngster, and setting out with big dreams of becoming a star.

A talent from the jumpstart, Justin Bieber saw star power after coming across her cover of "At Last" back in 2012. She's performed at music festivals like Lollapalooza and was featured on David Guetta's song "Blame It On Love."

She obvi was a cute kid back in the day, but she's now old enough to sip a beer.

John Cena went from ass-naked to looking like a good old-fashioned Greek philosopher in record time at the Oscars -- and the wardrobe change was actually caught on camera.

The wrestler-turned-actor was on hand Sunday for a pretty cringe-worthy bit where he was supposed to run across the stage naked for the Best Costume Design category ... which ended with JC shuffling across the stage with the winner's envelope covering his privates.

The whole gag here was that John was in his birthday suit, and he was there to highlight the best costumes in movies -- something Jimmy Kimmel had to come and help him with.

Once the screen was overtaken with the nominee montage and it flashed back to Jimmy and John onstage -- the WWE star was suddenly in a toga-like getup ... and it happened fast.

As it turns out ... it was something people BTS had to rush out and assist with in a matter of seconds -- which was caught on camera by someone at Vulture. The room went dark at this moment -- which we didn't see in the broadcast -- and John sure looked nude.

Funny enough, he's actually the 2nd "naked" famous buff dude on TV this weekend -- Josh Brolin stripped down as well during his 'SNL' hosting gig, albeit leaving his undies on.

Here's to the hunky old guys showing off what their mama gave them ... cheers.

Hollywood is emptying the tank ... partying almost nonstop before the Oscars begin, and the celebs are often running into the same faces at every stop on the circuit.

Check out the fame parade that went down at a Bev Hills house party on Saturday -- Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez were there with their pals Kris Jenner and Corey Gamble ... while Andy Cohen, Rumer Willis, Tracee Ellis Ross, Nicky Hilton and Kathy Hilton also filed into the event.

Flip through the galleries, 'cause there were way more partygoers on hand than we can mention.

Later on, some of those same people made costume changes and headed to the Beverly Hills Hotel for Chanel's pre-Oscars event.

Newlyweds Usher and Jennifer Goicoechea rubbed elbows with the likes of Best Supporting Actor nominee Robert De Niro, Lily-Rose Depp and Kristen Stewart, Willem Dafoe, Sánchezos (Lauren & Jeff) again and Best Supporting Actress nominee America Ferrera.

And, after all that ... the party train was far from done.

Next stop ... the famed Chateau Marmont where Willem made another appearance on Saturday night, and other guests included "Foodgod" Jonathan Cheban, Lil Nas X, Alessandra Ambrosio, Billy Zane, Abigail Spencer and Jodie Turner-Smith.

If this all sounds exhausting it's only because it probably is -- it's the show (your face) part of showbiz, and it's a big part of what makes Hollywood go 'round.

Jimmy Kimmel took some light-hearted shots during his opening Oscars monologue -- but the highlight was probably his reflection on the strikes last year ... for a variety of reasons.

The recurring host -- who was back for yet another gig this year -- kicked things off Sunday by actually running a little bit late ... but once he got going, he was ready to make some jabs and crack some jokes ... most of which landed fairly well with the star-studded crowd.

Jimmy mentioned the fact that Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were snubbed this year -- chiding the audience who seemed to agree, since a lot of them are voters -- and he even poked fun at Robert Downey Jr. at one point ... referencing his previous drug use.

Jimmy referenced an old dog-themed movie RDJ was in -- and said if he was ever to remake it ... he know the perfect candidate ... highlighting the dog from 'Anatomy of a Fall.'

The guy hopscotched around in his monologue, but eventually landed on the SAG and WGA strikes -- which consumed much of entertainment in 2023 ... and which created a lengthy work stoppage in Hollywood as labor union honchos and studio execs negotiated new deals.

Jimmy sounded sincere in shouting out everyone who remained on picket lines through that difficult period -- but, of course, he eventually gave kudos in a funny, backhanded way.

Check it out ... Jimmy says the strikes taught everyone a good lesson about what they were made of -- namely, a lot of guts ... even though he said no one would ever be able to pick up a shovel. Jimmy also used a lot of colorful descriptors in patting everyone on the back.

You gotta see it to understand what we mean ... it was both graceful, and pretty insulting.

Jimmy ended on a high note, though, when he brought out a bunch of crew members who work behind the scenes ... saying he appreciated their support through the strikes. Looks like everyone else felt the same way -- 'cause all the production people got a standing O.

Miriam Margolyes says people who are still diehard 'Harry Potter' fans as fully functioning adults worry her a bit -- and she's got a clear message for them ... grow the hell up!

The actress -- who played Professor Pomona Sprout on two 'HP' films back when those were still a thing -- did a recent interview with New Zealand's 1 News, where she was plugging a new project of hers ... and she was quite candid on how she feels about this topic.

Check it out ... Miriam says people that are still obsessed with the 'Harry Potter' movies -- or, god forbid, the even older books -- concern her ... 'cause they're still acting like lil' kids.

She says she'll still get asked about 'Harry Potter' stuff to this day -- and goes on to say she's startled to hear people are doing whole ass 'HP'-themed events ... including weddings. Miriam jokes that she wonders what the first night of fun would be for 'HP' newlyweds.

As Miriam puts it, 'Harry Potter' is for children, and the adults still clinging to their childhood nostalgia need to get over it. MM hits the point home by definitively saying ... "It's over!"

Yes, it's a bit harsh -- but you can tell Miriam just doesn't understand the years-long fandom.

Zita Vass wants to know why she -- and presumably other white women -- can't say the n-word during live concerts ... and she's got quite an argument on why it should be kosher.

The Guess model posted a series of videos on her social media account this weekend ... and it was all about this hot-button issue -- namely, folks who aren't Black needing to censor themselves when it comes to singing or rapping the n-word, especially at live shows.

Zita says she's sick of doing that ... and thinks she oughta have a pass in live music settings.

She goes on to argue that African-Americans use the word as a term of endearment -- and insists she has no ill will in her heart if she were to use it in repeating back song lyrics ... going on to say she resents the notion that doing so would make her racist in some circles.

Zita also asks why the term is only exclusive to Black people ... and openly wonders why it's taboo for non-Black people to say it. She distinguishes between wanting to use the n-word generally and using it for musical purposes -- noting she only wants to do the latter.

Of course, she's catching some backlash -- with lots of people flooding her comment section to let her know why it's not okay ... explaining points that have been litigated ad nauseam.

Her IG caption for this is a little eyebrow-raising too, FWIW ... she writes, "THE N WORD - Warning #controversial #africanamericans."