Awards / Awards Shows

Neymar had a HUGE choice this weekend ...

1) Show up to a massive European soccer awards ceremony to watch his Paris Saint-Germain teammate, Kylian Mbappe, be honored for being a STUD this season

Or, 2) ... BLOW IT ALL OFF AND HANG WITH RIHANNA!!!

Obviously, you saw what Neymar chose.

The 27-year-old had been expected to attend the prestigious Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (UNFP) Football Awards Ceremony in Paris ... but RiRi called, so he was out!

Instead, Neymar turned up to the Boum Boum nightclub in Paris to help Rihanna celebrate the launch of her new luxury fashion brand.

Neymar posted a pic of the two hanging out with the caption ... "Queen and powerful woman 👑🤫 @badgalriri."

As for Mbappe ... he did okay (even without Neymar to support him) -- winning the Ligue 1 Player of the Year award ... along with the Young Player of the Year.

Careful, Neymar ... Mbappe is the new hotness.

And, if you're not careful, he might skip YOUR next award ceremony when Rihanna calls him!!

Call him Sir Andy Murray now ... 'cause the tennis superstar was at Buckingham Palace on Thursday -- receiving his knighthood from Prince Charles himself!!

The 32-year-old actually learned he'd be receiving the honor back in 2016 ... but he held off on having the ceremony until this week because of his tennis schedule.

What exactly does knighthood entail for Murray? Nothin' crazy ... the award is just a way for the Royal Fam to recognize the 3-time Grand Slam champion's achievements on and off the court.

It's kind of like when Donald Trump gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods.

But, Murray was still stoked about the honor afterward, saying, "I'm very proud to receive it. It's a nice day to spend with my family."

It's also a good moment for Murray given what he's been through this past year. Remember, he underwent hip surgery just a few months ago to try to save his tennis career.

Murray seems to be recovering well, but unclear if he'll be ready for Wimbledon this summer.

Alex Trebek is in the battle of his life, but he clearly hasn't lost his sense of humor, because he stole the show Sunday night at the Daytime Emmys.

Alex won Best Game Show Host, this in the wake of his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis. When the crowd stopped roaring, he kind of went in on them, grousing he's not a big fan of sympathy votes.

But then ... the best game show host in the biz did an about-face, noting just a year before he was in another life-or-death health battle and he was overlooked when the Emmy folks doled out the hardware.

In the end, Alex pulled a Sally Field and said he appreciated the gesture.

We love this dude.

Blake Griffin sure hopes Drake didn't seal Arya Stark's fate on "Game of Thrones" by shouting her out at the Billboard Music Awards ... him and everyone else, tbh.

We got the Pistons star outside of the Maxfield clothing store in WeHo Friday afternoon and asked him about Drizzy showing love to Maisie Williams' 'GOT' character Wednesday night when he mentioned her during his acceptance speech for the Top Billboard 200 Album.

ICYMI ... Drake made sure to plug Arya for "putting in that work last week" during Sunday's episode when she killed the Night King with some fancy dagger moves -- basically saving every living person in Westeros from eternal death in the process.

BTW, this is a spoiler -- and you should've seen it by now. If you haven't, well, here it is ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway ... Blake really, REALLY hopes the Drake curse doesn't kick in here for everyone's sake. Like he says, "I think we all need a little bit of Arya." Considering Champagne Papi's track record with supporting losing teams ... here's praying Blake's right.

Sorry, Tom Brady ... Rob Gronkowski looks like he's OFFICIALLY moved on from football -- and onto acting -- 'cause the retired Pats star killed it as a fake cop at the Billboard Music Awards!!

It all went down Wednesday night ... when Gronk kicked off the BBMA show as a "security guard" who was bouncing Kelly Clarkson.

The skit was pretty funny ... Gronk pretended to kick KC -- who he called a "seat filler" -- out of her spot to let Florida Georgia Line take her place.

When Clarkson eventually moved on to sing her opening number ... Gronk came back for more -- pretending to drag her off the stage!!

Gronk later presented an award to Cardi B with Terry Crews -- and even joked about his potential next career there ... saying he wanted to be a TV host just like TC!!!

Oh, and the guy had amazing seats -- proving Hollywood is totally down to accept him -- 'cause he was sitting in the second row just behind Taylor Swift!!!!!

Of course, Rob's no stranger to Hollywood ... he's had plenty of movie cameos, he's done skits for the WWE, and he even hosts the show "Crashletes" on Nickelodeon.

By the way, Rob also brought his smokin' hot GF, Camille Kostek, to the awards show ... which begs the question, could there be some wedding bells along with a future acting career soon???

The 2019 Billboard Music Awards are in full swing ... and there have been some amazing performances so far.

Some of the biggest names in music took the stage Wednesday night for some pretty awe-inspiring performances inside the Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas ... rocking the crowd and getting everyone hyped between the award-giving.

Taylor Swift set the tone for the night, playing her new single "ME!" and bringing in a marching band for a super colorful set. Kelly Clarkson kept the party going, belting out a medley of hits from artists across all genres of music. Ciara did her thing, Halsey sang her heart out and the Jonas Brothers continued their triumphant return and kept the good vibes rolling.

The stages weren't the only thing getting the rock-n-roll treatment ... check out which famous folks where hanging out behind the scenes when the television cameras weren't looking!

Singer Peabo Bryson suffered a mild heart attack over the weekend and is currently in the hospital ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for Peabo tells TMZ ... the Grammy-winning balladeer was at his home in Georgia early Saturday morning when he suffered the mild heart attack. We're told Peabo's currently responsive and both his medical team and family are optimistic he'll make a speedy recovery.

The rep tells us, "At this time, privacy is requested; however, the thoughts and prayers of friends and fans are welcomed and appreciated.”

Peabo, of course, won two Grammy Awards in 1992, one for his performance of the song "Beauty and the Beast" with Celine Dion and another in 1993 for "A Whole New World" with Regina Belle. The "Aladdin" theme song was so huge back in the day ... it toppled Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" from Billboard's Hot 100 chart in March 1993. Both tracks also took home Oscars for Best Original Song.

Arcangel, the huge Latin pop star, just got arrested in Las Vegas after cops say he was caught on camera kicking the crap out of another person.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Arcangel got into an argument with someone outside the Bound Bar just off the Vegas strip around 3:30 AM Thursday, and it quickly turned violent. We're told surveillance footage shows the singer delivering a brutal side kick to the hip of the other person. The kick was so violent, it sent the alleged victim flying into a wall.

Arcangel, whose real name is Austin Agustin Santos, was arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery and remains in custody. We reached out to reps for the singer ... so far, no word back.

There's no good time to get arrested, but this is really bad for Arcangel, who was scheduled to perform Thursday night in Las Vegas at the Latin Billboard Awards.

Kim Kardashian is mired in her studies to become a lawyer, but she's already the recipient of a big award from a legal org.

We've learned Kim and her lawyer, Shawn Holley, will receive the Women Leadership in Law Award next month for their work in getting Alice Johnson freed. The award is also for their ongoing work in the area of prison reform.

Kim and Shawn will receive the award at a conference in Bev Hills, sponsored by 2 of California's leading legal publications ... The California Lawyer and the Daily Journal.

One of the officers from the org wrote to them, "You both are truly inspirational, and your work has been life-changing."

As you know, Kim and Shawn worked closely with Jared Kushner for months, before finally meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office to push for Johnson's release. The 2 women are widely credited for gaining Alice's freedom.

Bret "The Hitman" Hart is speaking out about that crazy attack during his WWE Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday ... saying, " I want to let everyone know that I am okay and was not injured."

GREAT NEWS!!!

Of course, the 61-year-old legend was blindsided by a violent idiot who snuck on stage and tackled Bret while he was delivering his induction speech alongside Natalya Neidhart ... the daughter of Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Jim was also part of the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame class.

"What a wild weekend to say the least," Bret posted on social media Monday.

"If there’s one thing I want everyone to take away from the Hall of Fame ceremony is not so much what happened, but how I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from completing my tribute to my best friend and our team."

Bret added, "Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and words."

As for the attacker, cops arrested Zachary Madsen -- who's since been charged with assault and criminal trespassing. He was held on $1,500 bond.

Madsen was also pummeled by ex-UFC star Travis Browne -- who happened to be ringside with his wife Ronda Rousey during the attack.

After the incident, Madsen told police he decided to tackle Hart because "I just felt like it was the right moment."

Chris Rock defied producers Saturday night at the 50th NAACP Image Awards -- because he had to -- and ripped Jussie Smollett.

Jussie was a no show, despite being nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a drama series for his work on "Empire." He had flown to L.A. and we're told he planned to attend but ultimately decided to bail.

Rock opened with this ... "They said no Jussie Smollett jokes ... I know. What a waste of light skin. You know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be outta here! I'd be f*cking running Hollywood!"

But, there was more ... "What the hell was he thinking? You're 'Jessie' from now on, you don't get the 'u' no more. That 'u' was respect, you ain't getting no respect from me."

The crowd loved it, especially Trevor Noah, who laughed hysterically.

Jussie did have some support. When "Black-ish" won Outstanding Comedy Series, Yara Shahidi told the crowd, "I stand with Jussie."

Stevie Nicks just got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a second time ... but that doesn't mean she's an expert on music history.

We got this funny video of Stevie after Friday night's induction ceremony at the Barclays Center in New York ... and she mistakenly refers to her good friend Harry Styles as a former member of 'NSYNC. Oops.

It was just a slip of the tongue though ... as the crowd laughs and groans, Stevie immediately recognizes her mistake. She jokes she's "never gonna live that one down" and finally gets it right ... Harry's in One Direction.

Making the innocent faux pas even funnier ... Harry was the one who introduced Stevie on stage earlier in the evening, listing off her accomplishments and calling her his idol.

Jay-Z and Beyonce added another award to their mantle, but this one was highly personal ... and incredibly emotional.

The power couple received the Vanguard Award at the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at The Beverly Hilton Thursday night, and used their time onstage to praise the LGBTQ community ... and members of their family who are a part of it.

Jay went first and shouted out his mother -- who came out as a lesbian on his track, "Smile," and received a Special Recognition Award last year -- for allowing him to follow her shining example of love and acceptance.

Beyonce then praised her Uncle Johnny, who she calls "the most fabulous gay I ever knew" and says helped raise her and her sister, Solange. Bey says her uncle lived his truth and was brave and unapologetic when it wasn't easy to do so ... and witnessing his HIV battle was "one of the most painful experiences I’ve ever lived."

She says she hopes his struggles helped pave the way for young people to live freely, and stresses that LGBTQ rights are human rights.

Jussie Smollett shouldn't show up to the NAACP Image Awards this weekend ... so says an actress on "Power."

Naturi Naughton -- who actually won the award last year for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama -- was very candid with us Thursday at LAX, saying given everything that's happened with him ... he should probably bow out of the award show this time around. Jussie won for Supporting Actor in a Drama in 2017.

Unclear if Jussie's gonna follow her advice, considering he touched down in L.A. Wednesday night, ahead of the NAACP Image Awards this Saturday. It wouldn't be surprising if he showed -- he's been as strong this week as he was at the beginning of the saga -- proclaiming the "attack" was real.

Samuel L. Jackson says Donald Trump was spot-on when he bragged he's done more for African Americans than Presidents past ... and it's all thanks to Trump's massive "plantation."

We got Samuel L. Monday at LAX and asked him about Trump's shot at Spike Lee in which Trump said, "Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres!"

Jackson shot back ... essentially calling Trump a slave owner.

Jamie Foxx couldn't be happier for Spike Lee after he won his first Oscar ever, because he thinks the honor was long overdue ... and couldn't have gone to someone more worthy.

Jamie shared his thoughts with us Sunday after the show at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, and he told us Spike walking up to accept his first Academy Award for "BlacKkKlansman" was one of the best moments of the night. You can see he's truly overjoyed for his pal.

As an Oscar winner himself, Jamie tells us that hard work -- which Spike has undoubtedly cranked out for years now -- sometimes gets lost in the shuffle ... for a number of reasons, controversies and otherwise.

But, he says the Academy got it right this year, and the fact Samuel L. Jackson was the one to read his name made the moment even sweeter.

Jamie goes on to make a point about big-time Hollywood players who've been in the game for a long time, like himself and Spike. He says they came a long way for the success they've gained ... and he's just ecstatic that Spike finally got his.

Of course, there's at least one person who wasn't happy for Spike ... President Trump. Spike turned his acceptance speech political when he told voters to "do the right thing" in 2020.

Yeah, DT didn't take too kindly to that.