F. Murray Abraham Apologizes for Alleged Sexual Misconduct Behind 'Mythic Quest' Firing
9:54 AM PT -- April 20 -- We just got the following statement from Abraham: "This is a sincere and deeply felt apology. Though never my intention to offend anyone, I told jokes, nothing more, that upset some of my colleagues and as a result lost a great job with wonderful people."
He concludes, "I have grown in my understanding from this experience, and I hope they will forgive me."
F. Murray Abraham, who's starred in "White Lotus" and "Homeland," faced sexual misconduct allegations on another hit show ... and it was so serious, it reportedly cost him his job.
Abraham got the boot from Apple TV+'s "Mythic Quest" about a year ago, but the reason for his departure was never revealed. Now, a new report in Rolling Stone magazine says the firing was due to 2 alleged incidents of the actor harassing, at the very least, female costars or crew members.
According to the report, Abraham was given a warning after one incident ... and was told to stay away from some of his female costars. Sources say a second incident later went down and when the show creator and star Rob McElhenny found out, Abraham was dropped.
Abraham played C.W. Longbottom, the pretentious head game writer at Mythic Quest HQ. His absence first went into effect at the beginning of season 3, and a send-off for the character was written into the show -- something McElhenny told Variety was "a really fitting tribute to him."
Lionsgate, which produces "Mythic Quest," tells TMZ ... "We take allegations of misconduct seriously and investigate them thoroughly. As a matter of corporate policy, we do not discuss personnel actions.”
We've reached out to Abraham's reps for comment ... so far, no word back.
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Steve Jobs Rare Autograph Going Up For Sale
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An award signed by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is hitting the open market ... and it's a super rare memento, because the guy never signed autographs and hardly ever left his signature.
Steve scribbled his John Hancock on a 10-year award plaque presented to an Apple employee way back in 2000 ... shortly after Steve had returned to the company.
The award plaque is up for sale over at Moments In Time ... with a $95,000 price tag.
Steve presented the hardware to Apple marketing exec Suzanne Lindbergh, and the letter to her reads ... "This ten-year plaque recognizes those who have contributed a decade of personal achievement to Apple's phenomenal success. Apple honors you not only for your talent, enthusiasm and energy, but also for your ten years of creativity and career commitment. We hope you continue to believe, as we do, that the journey in itself is the best reward."
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Jobs used a black felt-tip pen to leave his signature at the bottom of the plaque ... and it's also rare because Apple later transitioned to facsimile signatures on its anniversary awards.
Steve, who died from cancer in 2011, famously refused to sign for autograph hounds ... so there aren't a lot of items out there with his signature.
In fact, a letter Steve wrote where he tells a fan he doesn't give autographs and then left his signature at the bottom of the page sold at auction a couple years ago for almost $500k!!!
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Peyton Manning My Greatest Biz Titans: Bezos, Rockefeller, Jobs, Winfrey, Ford
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Peyton Manning's giving his top 10 list -- but it's got nothing to do with quarterbacks, or even football -- the Hall of Famer's revealing the greatest business minds in history, as the legendary signal-caller sees it.
The list is part of an episode from Manning's new History channel show, History’s Greatest of All Time with Peyton Manning ... where the 46-year-old 2x Super Bowl champ was asked to name his top 10 "titans."
"How does someone get to be known as a titan of their industry? To start from nothing and go all in on pocket aces before the dealer even lays down. Whatever there failed, these men and women share one thing. They risked a lot to change the world," Peyton said.
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"First up, someone who has built an empire on showing that upscale casual living is a good thing. Kicking off our countdown, the woman who taught us how to fold a fitted sheet."
10) Martha Stewart
9) Ted Turner
8) Oprah Winfrey
7) JP Morgan
6) Jeff Bezos
5) Andrew Carnegie
4) John D. Rockefeller
3) Walt Disney
2) Henry Ford
1) Steve Jobs
As you can see, the list features a mix of not only present, but also past titans of industry ... from banking to automotive magnates, to the creator of the iPhone.
Speaking of the mobile phone that forever changed the world, Jobs -- who passed away in 2011 -- earned the top spot on Peyton's list.
Manning's show airs Monday nights.
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Elon Musk Twitter No Longer Beefing With Apple ... I Hashed It Out With CEO
Elon Musk says he squashed the beef between Twitter and Apple ... after a productive meeting with the tech giant's chief executive.
Elon says he met with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday, enjoying a tour of Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA before getting down to brass tacks.
Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2022 @elonmusk
Elon says he and Tim resolved what he's calling a "misunderstanding" about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store, among other things.
Remember ... Elon went nuclear on Apple to begin the week, railing on Apple for cutting advertising on the bird app and wondering, "Do they hate free speech in America?"
Apple never responded to Elon's attacks, even when he tagged Tim's account ... and when Musk couldn't get a response, he claimed "Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won't tell us why."
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Following their Wednesday sit down, Elon says "Tim was clear that Apple never considered" removing Twitter from the App Store.
BTW, most of Elon's Tweets show him using an iPhone. 🤷🏽♂️
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Elon Musk Goes Ballistic On Apple ... Claims Tech Giant Is 'Threatening' Twitter
Elon Musk is going to war with Apple over Twitter ... but his verbal assault appears to be falling on deaf ears ... for now.
Musk posted a series of angry tweets Monday, directing his rage at Apple and its CEO, Tim Cook, over their treatment of the social media giant, which Elon recently purchased. But, Apple showed no interest in engaging with the billionaire.
Right from the start, Musk seemed annoyed ... "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?"
When he didn't get a response, Musk angrily asked, "What's going on here?," and tagged Cook's official Twitter account. But, Cook either ignored Elon or didn't see his tweet.
In any case, Musk continued his attack ... "Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why."
Of course, Apple didn't respond ... but such a move would restrict some new users from downloading the Twitter app -- which Musk referred to as "censorship."
Elon finally moved on after taking a few more jabs at Apple, which also failed to elicit a reaction.
Apple is among several big corporations to have pulled ads from Twitter since Elon bought the company for $44 billion in late October. General Mills, Pfizer and Volkswagen have also paused their advertising to evaluate the changes to Twitter under Musk's new leadership.
Safe to say Cook and Co. won't be on Elon's Christmas list this year.
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Taylor Swift Turned Down Super Bowl Offer ... Not Happening Until She's Rerecorded First 6 Albums
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Taylor Swift was, in fact, asked to perform at Super Bowl LVII, TMZ has learned, but turned the offer down ... and we know why.
Sources with direct knowledge of the Super Bowl halftime show tell us ... Swift was approached months ago by SB honchos, asking if she'd headline. We're told Taylor was clear ... she didn't want to perform until she finished rerecording all of her first 6 albums.
As you probably know, back in 2019, Scooter Braun was part of a group that acquired the rights to her first 6 albums. Taylor was pissed, saying she was "sad and grossed out." Braun has since sold the master recordings ... and Taylor vowed to rerecord them to, in effect, regain ownership. She's already rerecorded and released "Red" and "Fearless."
We're told Taylor would like to headline a Super Bowl halftime show, but now it's an issue of timing. It's possible she could finish the remaining 4 albums -- "Taylor Swift," "Speak Now," "1989," and "Reputation" -- in the next year. That would open the possibility of a 2024 appearance, but it all depends on finishing the rerecords.
Our Super Bowl sources tell us ... they're still looking for a female popstar for the big performance.
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Steve Jobs Daughter's Jab At New iPhone 14 ... It's the Same As My 13!!!
If there's anyone Apple might wanna impress, it's Steve Jobs' daughter, but the fact is she's far from blown away by the new iPhone ... which she thinks is pretty much the same as the previous edition.
Eve Jobs, daughter of Steve and Laurene Powell Jobs, reacted to Apple's Wednesday announcement of the new iPhone 14 by posting a popular meme ... and adding her own twist of shade.
Eve is basically saying folks who upgrade from the iPhone 13 to the iPhone 14 aren't getting anything different from before.
Lots of folks in the comments are mostly in agreement with Eve ... some people are pointing out a lot of the tech specs between the iPhone 13 and 14 are the same ... including screen size, refresh rate, storage, CPU and the cameras.
It's a tongue-in-cheek statement from Eve, but since many people believe Apple innovation took a hit when Steve died ... his daughter's jab hits a little harder.
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Apple Sued After Fam Claims AirPods Burst Son's Eardrum ... During Amber Alert
The family of a 12-year-old boy is suing Apple ... claiming he has permanent hearing loss, after wearing AirPods during an Amber Alert.
The family filed suit Monday ... accusing the company of negligence and fraud, claiming the boy's life has been 'severely altered'.
According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Carlos Gordoa and Ariani Reyes claim Apple AirPods ruptured their son's eardrum back in May of 2020, while he was wearing the product and watching Netflix on his phone.
The family says, when an Amber Alert went off, it was so loud it caused tinnitus -- ringing in the ears. They claim he now suffers from dizziness and must wear a hearing aid.
The fam claims the Apple product is defective because it plays alerts at a dangerous level ... no matter what volume the user has chosen.
To take it a step further ... Gordoa and Reyes say Apple had known that the AirPods played extremely loud alerts that did not match the selected volume ... from tons of comments online. They say the complaints date back to 2019.
The family says Apple did not give a warning about the volume of the alerts.
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Kendrick Lamar Here Comes 'Mr. Morale,' Live!!! Announces 65-Date Tour
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Kendrick Lamar’s new Apple and Spotify-crashing album ”Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” isn’t even 24 hours old and it’s already creating major shockwaves in rap and live music!
The 18-track effort features Ghostface Killah, Summer Walker and Baby Keem, with beats from Pharrell, Alchemist, Boi-1da and, as the "TMZ Hip Hop" crew will tell you ... it’s a lot to unpack.
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As we reported, he opened up a conversation about transgender tolerance, an extremely rare topic in hip hop, addressed the COVID-19 controversy surrounding Kyrie Irving -- and, on the song "Worldwide Steppers," revealed his new baby boy's name is Enoch.
He's the little guy K Dot's wife, Whitney, is cradling on guy on the cover.
'Mr. Morale' marks the first Kendrick album in over 5 years, and he's apparently ready to be outside -- partnering with Amazon Music and CashApp to announce The Big Steppers Tour, which will co-star his PGLang artists Keem and Tanna Leone for 65 dates.
Talk about a grand return. He'll be on the road from July to December!!! The tour will make stops in in Atlanta, L.A., NYC, Chicago, and also jet overseas to Australia, the U.K. and other parts of Europe.
One thing's for certain, it'll be hard to miss Kendrick in 2022.
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Kim Kardashian Coffee Shop Stop With Hillary and Chelsea Clinton
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Kim Kardashian is back in the political sphere, this time hooking up with Hillary and Chelsea Clinton at a local black-owned coffee shop in L.A. ... with an important mission.
The trio was spotted Monday at Hot & Cool Cafe in Canoga Park. They were also joined by a camera crew, though our sources say it wasn't for the upcoming Kardashian project on Hulu. It's for "Gutsy Women" ... a Clinton-led show for Apple TV+.
Hot & Cool was founded in 2018, and features a vegan menu. According to the cafe's website, the owners chose the area because residents had historically faced challenges in trying to find healthy and convenient food options.
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Not only that, the cafe is known for hiring formerly incarcerated people and underserved youth, something Kim has really been an advocate of recently.
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"Gutsy Women" is a show featuring a cast of diverse and trailblazing women -- hence the stop in L.A. to highlight H&C's owners Tina Amin and Tony Jolly.
This is a new wrinkle, publicly at least, in Kim's profile as an advocate for the less fortunate.
As you know, she's been pushing prison reform ... visiting and speaking at The White House while Trump was in office, and she's inching closer to becoming an attorney to continue her work.
It's possible learning about and working on community reform -- which she's talked about in the past -- could be next on Kim's agenda.
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Josh Homme Allegedly Making Death Threats ... Towards Ex-Wife's Boyfriend
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Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme's allegedly threatened to kill his ex-wife's new boyfriend ... and now the guy just got court-ordered protection.
According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Josh allegedly started making death threats after Gunner Foxx started seeing Josh's ex-wife, Brody Dalle, back in 2020 ... and Foxx says things finally came to a head this past Christmas Eve.
Gunner claims he was doing some Christmas shopping at a mall in Thousand Oaks, CA when Josh approached him and threatened to throw him off a balcony.
In the docs, Gunner claims Josh first got in his face inside an Apple Store, telling him ... "I'm going to kill you, you f****** p****" ... and seemingly challenging him to a fight.
Foxx claims Josh approached him again outside the Apple Store, viciously berating him and threatening to kill him, and toss him over the second-floor balcony. He says at one point Josh actually grabbed his arm and tried to throw him over the railing.
In the docs, he claims Josh dug his fingernails into his hand during the altercation, and he truly believed Josh was going to throw him to his death.
Gunner claims he called law enforcement and cops responded, but not before Josh got the hell outta there -- still, he went ahead and filed a police report.
In the docs, Gunner says he lives with Josh's ex and their children in Malibu ... and thinks Josh broke into the home and even slashed his tires.
Foxx beelined it to court and a judge granted him a temporary restraining order requiring Josh to stay at least 50 yards away from Gunner and Gunner's 2 daughters.
We reached out to Homme's camp ... so far, no word back.
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Mark Rylance in 'Don't Look Up' Tech-y Billionaire Character Compared to Musk, Zuck, Cook, Bezos!!!
Mark Rylance's turn as a deranged tech CEO in 'Don't Look Up' is a clear dig at our country's leading billionaire visionaries -- but the question ... who's it actually aimed at???
You've probably heard about this new Netflix flick -- but what you may not have known ... Rylance portrayal as chief of a revolutionary company is getting compared to guys like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook and others pushing the information envelope.
One thing the internet can't seem to agree on ... which of these billionaires serves as the true inspiration behind Rylance's Peter Isherwell, who ends up contributing to everyone on Earth (save a select few) getting killed by an incoming comet. Sorry, spoiler alert!
For those who've seen it, you know Isherwell runs a company called BASH, which seems to be a spinoff of Apple -- a la Cook/Jobs -- but it's way more advanced, in that it reads your every thought and mood, and predicts how you'll die ... all based on data it collects on its users. Isherwell, funny enough, also runs a space unit of some sort ... similar to Musk.
In the end, Isherwell's plan to blow up the incoming comet and collect the precious minerals found within it completely backfires ... having led Meryl Streep (the President) and the rest of the world's citizens astray. He high-tails it off Earth, before it blows up, in his own rocket, and attempts to colonize a new planet in the distant galaxy (which also hilariously backfires).
The point is ... the dude seems to be an amalgam of all these guys in one -- although most people appear to think he's most like Time's Person of the Year for 2021.
tfw it's actually hard to tell the difference between real life and satirical art pic.twitter.com/YDdG9X1m8C
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) December 13, 2021 @davidsirota
It sounds like Rylance himself sees a little Elon in his character as well ... although he's quick to point out Isherwell isn't necessarily a dead ringer for any one of the tech-y billionaires, despite him certainly being a farcical take on just about all of them.
As he explains, Isherwell's actions are premised on the idea that any of our world's problems can be solved with technology -- a testament to our times and where we're headed.
Who is Peter Isherwell Really Based On???
With all that said ... we gotta ask (for those who've already tuned in), who is Peter Isherwell most like as far as would-be diabolical geniuses???
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Nestor Carbonell 'Morning Show' Mocks Cancel Culture ... My Character Pays the Price
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Nestor Carbonell, the weather guy on "The Morning Show," says his character is the new poster child for cancel culture -- and how out of control it's gotten -- which was the whole point of season 2.
Nestor plays Yanko Flores on the Apple TV+ drama, and when we saw him at LAX, he solved a tiny mystery about his storyline. Don't worry ... if ya haven't seen it yet, we're not giving away much.
In a nutshell ... Yanko was doing a report about famed groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, when he refers to the little guy as his "spirit animal." That sets off a "woke mob" backlash, his bosses get pissed and the weatherman meteorologist gets hung out to dry.
Fans have been debating whether the Yanko plot was mocking cancel culture or embracing it -- and, not to offend equestrian lovers -- but, we went straight to the horse's mouth for the answer.
Nestor tells us, "What [Yanko] was canceled for was kind of absurd, which is kind of the point." There ya have it ... straight-up satire!!!
Check out the clip, though ... turns out playing a guy who gets taken down by the Twitterverse did have a real-world impact on Nestor, who now views these sorts of controversies with a slightly different perspective.
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Mitt Romney Ted Lasso For Halloween ... Quotes 'Friday Night Lights'
Mitt Romney transformed into lovable soccer coach Ted Lasso for Halloween ... but the Utah senator might have gotten his fictional characters mixed up in the process, 'cause he used a quote from "Friday Night Lights" to show off his look.
The Republican out of Utah sported some AFC Richmond gear, a nice pair of khakis and a 'stache to resemble Jason Sudeikis' character in the Apple TV show ... posting several shots via Twitter on Thursday.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema joined in on the fun, too ... playing team owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham's role) as Romney hands her his daily delicious biscuit.
Romney shares one of Ted's best Lassoisms ... saying, "Your body is like day-old rice. If it ain't warmed up properly, something real bad could happen."
He also shared some non-Lassoisms ... saying, "If you believe in yourself, and have clear eyes and full hearts -- you can’t lose" ... which is actually a line delivered by coach Eric Taylor in 'FNL.'
If you believe in yourself, and have clear eyes and full hearts—you can’t lose. pic.twitter.com/CpkmFKo49i
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) October 28, 2021 @MittRomney
Now, there are a few reasonable explanations here -- whoever runs Romney's social team may not have seen "Ted Lasso" yet and didn't do much research before sending out the tweet ... or maybe Romney himself hasn't tuned in and was just taking a shot in the dark.
Either way, it's a solid swing and a miss from Mitt ... but good job, good effort. Now be like a goldfish and forget about it.
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Kanye West 'Donda' Downs Competition on Apple Music #1 in 130 Countries!!!
Kanye West's long-awaited "Donda" album has been worth the added wait for the rapper ... it's Apple Music's top album in 130 countries, the most #1 entries in history.
As we reported ... after delaying the release of his 10th studio album for several weeks and keeping fans on pins and needles as he continued to hold "Donda" listening parties, it finally came out this weekend -- but not without drama.
First, Ye posted texts suggesting a recent holdup was due to DaBaby not signing the necessary releases to clear his verse for the song "Jail, Pt. 2" ... but that was later cleared up and his verse was added.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
However, Kanye also claimed Sunday that the album was put out by his label, UMG, without his approval and they blocked "Jail pt. 2" from being included ... but it is included on both Apple and Spotify.
Speaking of Spotify ... Kanye's album's doing work there too -- his "Jail" track featuring Jay-Z and Francis and the Lights debuted at #1 on the U.S. Spotify chart with 4.277 million streams. That's the biggest debut for any song this year.
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So, love it or hate it -- and we know there are plenty of people who certainly hate it -- "Donda" is a huge success so far ... and sets up a major showdown with Drake this week.
His new album, "Certified Lover Boy," comes out this Friday ... which could make for some more spicy beef.
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Kanye West 'Donda' Finally Released!!! After Middle-of-the-Night Drama
12:29 PM PT -- Ye just got a plug from none other than his estranged wife, Kim, with her posting screenshots of her seemingly listening to the new album herself ... but she might've flubbed the presentation.
KK threw up a few screenshots of what appear to be her fave tracks from "Donda," including the titular track, "Come to Life," "Lord I Need You," "Hurricane," and "Ok Ok Pt 2." The problem that people quickly noticed ... she's got the volume all the way down in four out of five of those screengrabs -- which suggests she's got 'em on mute, and isn't really listening.
All the songs except for 'CTL' appear to be playing without any sound ... which some find kinda hilarious.
Now, of course, Kim HAS listened to the music -- she's been to all the listening events, and probably knows the tracklist frontward and backward. As for why her volume is all the way down in most of these, though ... who the heck knows?
In any case ... more signs of a united front as these two continue to show flashes of a possible rekindling.
9:33 AM PT -- "Donda" has been adjusted on streaming services to include DaBaby’s verse on a new track named "Jail, Pt. 2."
Well, it finally happened ... "Donda" is out!!!
Kanye finally released his long-awaited album ... this, after multiple listening parties and would-be release dates that came and went.
The album, which has 26 songs, hit Apple Music and Spotify Sunday AM.
The release was not without drama ... in the middle of the night, Kanye posted tweets which seemed to say the most recent hold-up was that DaBaby hadn't signed the necessary releases to clear his verse for the song "Jail." DaBaby is not on the track, instead, Jay-Z appears. You'll recall, Jay recorded his verse hours before the first listening party in Atlanta ... a sign their feud was squashed. It was confusing when DaBaby replaced Jay's verse at the Chicago listening party, but Jay is now back.
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The album was initially supposed to be released July 23. That date got moved to August 6. Then it became unclear exactly when the album would hit streaming services. Kanye's manager promised it would be released following last Thursday's listening event at Soldier Field in Chicago ... and that promise was kept.
Ye famously tinkers with his albums even after their release ... e.g., "The Life of Pablo," so the same may happen with "Donda."
As for the songs on the album, it's heavily religious ... "Donda Chant," "Jail," "God Breathed," "Off the Grid," "Hurricane," "Praise God," "Jonah," "Ok Ok," "Junya," "Believe What I Say," "24," "Remote Control," "Moon," "Heaven and Hell," "Donda," "Keep My Spirit Alive," "Jesus Lord," "New Again," "Tell the Vision," "Lord I Need You," "Pure Souls," "Come to Life," "No Child Left Behind," "Ok Ok, Pt. 2," "Junya, Pt. 2," "Jesus Lord, Pt. 2."
Here's what's interesting ... Drake seemed to drop a clue last week his album will drop Friday ... so with the release of "Donda," Drake and Ye will be going head-to-head for #1 bragging rights.
And, the final mystery ... Kim Kardashian. As you know, she wore a wedding dress at the Chicago listening party. TMZ broke the story, the divorce is not a done deal anymore. Kanye and Kim have been seeing each other privately, and they seem to be trying to work things out ... whatever those things are.
Originally Published -- 6:29 AM PT