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50 Cent says his appearance at the 2022 Super Bowl Halftime Show almost didn't happen ... suggesting it was because Jay-Z tried turning his company Roc Nation into Block Nation.

In his new cover story with The Hollywood Reporter ... 50 claims Roc Nation attempted to keep him off the Emmy Award-winning spectacle alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar.

In fact, 50 says Em turned renegade and threatened to remove himself if 50 got banned ... "Eminem wouldn’t do it without me," he recalled to the outlet.

Katy Perry’s out at "American Idol" -- and Carrie Underwood is very close to filling in her seat ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Carrie and her team are in the final stages of locking her into a contract to appear on the hit ABC show -- and if all goes smoothly, the former 'Idol' winner will soon join Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie as the new judge.

What's also interesting about this news ... Carrie actually has an appearance scheduled on 'GMA' this upcoming Friday -- for their summer concert series -- but of course ... an official announcement could come that day as well. As you know ... ABC is the parent company.

Tyler Perry recently fended off critics of his low-rated new film -- but Mark Curry says he need not argue with these folks ... 'cause the man's legacy and earnings speak for themself.

We caught up with the veteran comedian out in NYC this week -- and he vouched for TP's funny bone when it comes to his movies ... after all, the iconic Madea character helped spark his billion-dollar empire and Mark says he has no reason to change for anyone.

Tyler recently swatted down critics after his latest movie "Divorce in the Black" but was egged with a rare 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Hector David Jr. -- an actor best known for his role on "Power Rangers" -- is a suspect in a misdemeanor battery case ... and we're told he's wanted by Idaho police.

Nampa PD in Idaho tells TMZ ... cops are looking for the former Green Power Ranger for allegedly shoving an elderly man down in a parking lot over the weekend.

Video of the alleged attack's been going around online after NPD posted it to their official Facebook account. In it, a man in a Patriots jersey walks up and pushes a man using a walker over before hopping in his truck and driving off.

History has been made ('cause surely this has never happened before) ... a young soccer fan completely blew off Rihanna, asking the superstar singer to TAKE a photo of him with Christian Pulisic, instead of including RiRi in the pic!

Talk about something the young guy will later regret. 😆

The unintended snub happened over the weekend at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx ... where AC Milan played an international friendly  against Manchester City.

Donald Trump is in the hot seat right now, as he's being put to task for his controversial past ... though, he thinks his record is pretty impressive -- comparing himself to one of history's most famous U.S. presidents.

Trump was at the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention Wednesday morning in Chicago, where he had a Q&A with 3 journalists ... in front of a packed ballroom of convention attendees.

Right out the gate, Trump was questioned for his seemingly racist rhetoric and prior associations with White Supremacists. 45 did NOT appreciate the line of questioning  ... as he slammed the introduction as "rude" and accused the NABJ of inviting him to speak under false pretenses.

Elon Musk's talking tough once again ... accepting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's invitation to brawl -- one year after he vowed he'd fight Mark Zuckerberg.

President Maduro called out Musk on national television this morning ... challenging Musk to fisticuffs in a bizarre rant where he told Elon anyone who came up against him "dries up."

You should watch the video for yourself ... but, ultimately Maduro's making it clear -- EM only needs to name a time and place for the brawl, and Maduro will come ready to kick his ass.

Shocking new video filmed by one of the victims at the Donald Trump rally shooting shows just how close Thomas Matthew Crooks was to Trump ... and it's incredible the Secret Service missed him.

The footage, obtained by Fox News, shot from the bleachers behind Trump, shows Crooks moving quickly along the roof of the American Glass Research Building, disappearing and then popping back up ... minutes before squeezing off 8 shots.

It's the first video showing Crooks and Trump in the same frame ... and this new vantage point illustrates just how close the rooftop was to where Trump was on stage.

Britney Spears might be doing a classic relationship backslide ... 'cause she's hanging out with her ex Paul Soliz -- just weeks after saying she's washing her hands of the guy.

The pop star hit up the world-famous SoHo House in Malibu Tuesday, where she appeared to enjoy an outing with Paul and his family. She attempted to keep a low profile, as she wore an oversized sunhat and sunglasses for the visit ... but stood out like a sore thumb.

Paul and Britney kept their distance outside the celebrity hotspot ... sticking to opposite sides of the sidewalk. In fact, no sign of PDA was seen between the on-again, off-again couple -- so technically, this could well just be a friendly outing.

Late rapper Juice WRLD’s estate is facing a lawsuit from a guy who says he helped produce one of the rapper's biggest tracks but didn't get paid what he's owed.

TMZ obtained the docs -- Plaintiff Joshua Jaramillo claims he worked on producing the late rapper’s posthumous 2021 track "Girl of My Dreams" in exchange for 5% ownership of the song and 1% of the royalties.

He claims, despite multiple requests, he still hasn’t been paid the full amount of what he's owed ... despite asking the estate how much the song has raked in.

Donald Trump says he doesn't play the pronoun game -- and as a result, he got asked if he considers himself fluid ... yeah, it's as surreal as it sounds.

Check it out ... the ex-Prez was asked by Fox News host Laura Ingraham about Vice President Kamala Harris' decision to share her pronouns on social media (she/her), and when LI asks what his pronouns are ... DT declared he doesn't want pronouns.

Ingraham seemed to pick up on the fact this is actually a somewhat liberal take -- as it suggests Trump might use they/them pronouns ... and she asked him about that.

11:07 AM PT -- Seems Simone Biles was, indeed, talking about MyKayla Skinner with her post on X ... Jordan Chiles just shared a snap of a phone that appeared to show Skinner has blocked the gymnastics superstar on Instagram.

Simone Biles says she's been blocked on social media -- and while she didn't name any names ... just about everyone thinks MyKayla Skinner's the one who put the G.O.A.T. on mute.

Biles informed her 1.7 million followers on X of the block on Wednesday afternoon with a cheeky four-word post -- "oop I’ve been blocked."

Along with the sentence, the superstar gymnast added three emojis that all suggested she didn't mind it one bit.

Richard Simmons’ family is fuming over Pauly Shore trying to cast doubt on the authenticity of the late fitness guru's most recent posts ... and they're coming out swinging.

RS' team dropped a statement from his brother Lenny on X Wednesday -- clearing things up, writing ... "Dicky absolutely wrote his own posts. He worked on them a week in advance, going over and over them to get the right message."

Lenny added Richard would usually show his posts to him and his wife Cathy before they went live. So they’re saying it was definitely Richard behind those messages ... despite Pauly recently saying he wasn't so sure.

10:20 AM PT -- Netflix tells TMZ ... "The letter was sent to the DCMS Select Committee on 23 May, well before any legal case was filed, and has been publicly available since. It does not impact our legal position."

Netflix seems to now be backtracking on the "true story" nature of "Baby Reindeer" -- they've reportedly admitted that the "real-life Martha" is not, in fact, a convicted stalker.

According to Deadline ... the streaming giant recently submitted a letter to Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport Committee in which their senior UK director of public policy admitted Fiona Harvey -- the woman who we all now know served as inspiration for Martha in the show -- was not actually convicted of stalking, despite being depicted as such on TV.

If you haven't seen it ... the show ends with an emotional scene where Martha receives a guilty verdict in court and goes to prison -- the character's second conviction, as described/shown in the series.

Jonathan Majors is expressing heartbreak after Marvel officially announced Robert Downey Jr. as the franchise's new villain ... pivoting away from his Kang the Conqueror character.

We caught up with the actor in West Hollywood Tuesday, where he explained why the RDJ Dr. Doom news was bittersweet for him. As he put it ... Dr. Doom's introduction into the MCU is pretty cool, but he loved playing Kang -- and so, it's only natural he's bummed about Marvel's redirection.

Though, some fans have felt Jonathan being blacklisted from the MCU has been too harsh of a punishment ... given he was found guilty of misdemeanor assault and harassment and given no jail time.

J.D. Vance fired off a lighthearted joke about him and a couch -- and considering all the (unfounded) rumors about him and furniture ... you couldn't write a better script.

The vice presidential candidate spoke in Nevada Tuesday at a rally ... and during his remarks, he mentioned his wife of a decade, Usha -- implying she's not big on public speaking.

In fact, Vance says, if he calls her up to the stage -- she'll probably make him sleep on the couch ... an off-the-cuff comment that drew a few chuckles from the crowd, but which had the internet cracking up en masse.