TMZ.com Home

The 2024 ESPYs paid tribute Thursday night to the many great athletes who passed away in the last 12 months ... but one name was notably left out -- O.J. Simpson.

The annual award show took place at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles ... and as they do every year, ESPN officials ran their "In Memoriam" segment to reflect on the stars the sports world lost since the last iteration of the event.

Willie Mays, Jerry West, Larry Allen and Bill Walton, among others, were shouted out during the impactful portion of the show. Simpson, however, was not.

Rep. Jim Clyburn says the conversation about President Biden stepping aside needs to end ... saying Biden's earned the right to run, and Dems need to focus on the issues.

The representative from South Carolina was on "TODAY" Friday morning, and asked about the increasing calls for POTUS to drop out of the race -- and he says it's time to shift the convo to Donald Trump.

Representative Clyburn says Democrats should be reminding the American people about the alternative should Biden lose ... instead of pushing him to quit.

Travis Kelce showed his girlfriend ain't the only one with pipes ... the NFL star won a karaoke contest belting out a Whitesnake classic, before dedicating the win to Taylor Swift!

The 3x Super Bowl champ skipped the ESPYs on Thursday and opted to sing his heart out at the American Century Championship charity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Fans caught the Kansas City Chiefs tight end on video ... as he's delivering a passionate rendition of the rock band's classic, "Here I Go Again," during the contest.

Prince Harry delivered a powerful speech at the 2024 ESPY Awards on Thursday night ... and in it, he paid homage to Pat Tillman's mom -- this despite her previous scathing criticism of him.

ESPN announced weeks ago the Duke of Sussex would get the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the annual show -- and days later, Mary Tillman ripped Harry and the network for the decision. She said she was "shocked" by the choice ... calling the royal, "a controversial and divisive individual."

But Harry took the high road when it came time to chat about the honor onstage at the Dolby Theater in L.A. ... taking several seconds out of his acceptance address to acknowledge Mary.

Nikki Glaser came out swinging at the ESPY Awards ... cracking a ton of jokes at several athletes' expense -- and Scottie Scheffler's legal troubles were not off-limits.

The comedian brought out the big guns at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles while presenting the award for Best Male Athlete to "peak athletes who push their bodies to the limit and also a golfer."

She then apologizes to the golfer in question -- Scottie Scheffler -- saying she knows it's difficult to putt, chip and drive ... over a cop's leg.

Money, or the lack thereof, might talk loudest when it comes to President Biden's reelection bid -- because most of the Democrats' biggest donors are growing impatient with him ... TMZ has learned.

Amid the calls this week for Biden to step aside, one major donor tells us ... virtually all of the folks who've been pouring millions into the Biden-Harris campaign are "Vehement. What are they waiting for???"

We're told frustration is growing as the donors wonder why it's taking party leadership so long to convince Biden he needs to be replaced on the ticket.

Serena Williams reignited the controversy over Harrison Butker's contentious commencement speech about women being homemakers, while both were attending Thursday night's 2024 ESPY Awards.

Here's what happened ... the tennis legend walked onstage with her sister, Venus, and actress Quinta Brunson to honor women's sports during the event at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.

While they were addressing the crowd, Venus said, "So, go ahead and enjoy women's sports like you would any other sports, because they are sports."

Gypsy Rose Blanchard's trying to move on from her estranged husband Ryan Anderson, but her pregnancy and a Louisiana law are complicating that, and prompting her to step on the gas when it comes to divorce.

While she happily announced this week she and ex-fiance Ken Urker are expecting, there's a law in the Bayou State that adds another layer to the story. It says if the mother of a child is married to someone who isn't the biological father when the child was conceived -- or has been divorced for less than 300 days at the time of birth -- then her ex, or estranged husband, is presumed to be the father.

So, in the eyes of Louisiana, Ryan's name would go on the birth certificate as the daddy ... even though Gypsy says Ken is the biological father.

Pat Sajak is NOT coming out of a short-lived retirement to host the upcoming "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" season -- instead, this was always in the cards ... TMZ has learned.

Here's the deal ... when ABC announced Wednesday Pat would be hosting the fifth season of 'Celeb Wheel' this fall, there was speculation he was pulling a Tom Brady by quickly backing out of retirement.

That's not exactly the case, because sources with direct knowledge tell us it was always part of Pat's succession plan to do one last season of 'Celebrity Wheel' ... before riding off into the sunset and completely handing over the reigns to Ryan Seacrest.

There's some interesting paintings inside the Vatican ... and it's worth taking a closer look at what's being depicted in the sky.

TMZ Studios has a new series, "Strange & Suspicious," now airing on a dozen FOX stations, where we explore unexplained and downright weird stories, and now we're combing over the artwork inside the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church.

In several paintings that are centuries old, there are some mysterious shapes in the heavens above ... sparking comparisons to flying saucers.

Patrick Mahomes Sr. -- the father of NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes II -- has had yet another run-in with cops ... TMZ Sports has learned he was busted in Texas last month for driving on an invalid license.

According to court documents we obtained ... Mahomes Sr. was ticketed for the offense in Tyler, Texas at around 8:30 PM on June 29 -- less than five months after he was arrested for DWI in the same city.

The docs show Mahomes Sr. was given a warning for disregarding traffic signs in addition to the citation ... indicating he was initially pulled over for a routine violation.

Britney Spears was being used by her ex, Hoda Kotb wants a shot at Kevin Costner and Glen "Big Baby" Davis is getting ready to do a bid ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live" Harvey and Charles break down Britney's break up with her ex, Paul Soliz.

American actor Josh Zuckerman was in his mid-20s when he first started playing Max Miller -- the intelligent technological entrepreneur and Naomi's hubby -- in the 2011 CW remake of the "90210" series.

Josh was part of an ensemble cast including AnnaLynne McCord as the wealthy and popular party planner, Naomi, Shenae Grimes as the bubbly and pure-hearted gal from Kansas who moved to Beverly Hills for high school, Annie and Matt Lanter as the troubled and handsome bartender, Liam.

Josh also had roles in "Sex Drive," "Kyle XY" and "Desperate Housewives."

President Joe Biden was defiant during a rare news conference ... fighting back at critics who are calling for him to drop out of the race.

POTUS is trying to show voters he's still got the mental chops to beat Donald Trump and carry out the duties of president for another term ... and while he made a few trademark flubs -- like saying "Vice President Trump" in referring to Kamala Harris -- he was confident in his ability to win another election, and pushed back on narratives about his mental fitness.

Biden called his debate disaster a "stupid mistake" ... saying he was off his game because he traveled all over creation in the weeks before ... including from Italy to L.A. to go to the fundraiser with George Clooney. He said he won't make that mistake again.

Dave Loggins, a country singer and songwriter who wrote the theme song for the Masters golf tournament, is dead.

Dave died Wednesday in Nashville ... according to an obituary in The Tennessean.

The cause of death is unclear, but Dave was said to be in hospice care when he passed.

Jaylen Brown and Kysre Gondrezick sure look like an item ... the two pro basketball players pulled up to the ESPYs together arm-in-arm -- and even appeared to get ready for the event inside the same hotel room.

The annual sports award show is going down Thursday evening at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles ... and the Boston Celtics star and the WNBA player were seen preppin' for the event at Pendry West Hollywood.

Check out a photo TMZ Sports obtained of the two on a balcony just hours before they hit the ESPY red carpet together ... they seemed to be sharing the same room as they got dolled up.