Awards / Awards Shows

The 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards are proof "Hot Girl Summer" is far from over ... because some of the sexiest celebs in the industry showed up to rub elbows with rising star Megan Thee Stallion.

Check out the pics from behind the scenes ... Lil Kim turned heads with her pink hair and huge fur coat, and Megan naturally drew a crowd.

The awards show returned to Atlanta -- after a brief hiatus in Miami -- for last weekend's taping ... and Quavo made sure to show out in his hometown, dripping with ice and hanging with Rick Ross. Talk about some BAWSES!!!

The musical performances were fire too ... MTS opened the show with her smash hit, "Hot Girl Summer," twerking on the top deck of the S.S. Hot Girl before being joined on stage by DaBaby.

Christina Aguilera got emotional talking about her experience with domestic violence ... and hailed a women's shelter as heroic for the work it does to help survivors like her.

The singer was accepting a "Community Hero" award Thursday in Las Vegas at a gala for The Shade Tree Shelter, but she paid tribute right back to the organization ... as she shared her personal account of escaping domestic abuse growing up.

Christina told the audience if it wasn't for her loving grandmother, she would have ended up needing a place and a resource like The Shade Tree -- which provides safe shelter to homeless and abused women and children in crisis.

And, the Oscar goes to ... KLAY THOMPSON?!?!? (Hey, Kobe Bryant did it).

The Golden State Warriors superstar is kick-starting his campaign for Academy Award consideration for his breakout performance as Klay Thompson in "Space Jam 2" ... saying he's trying to add to his trophy case!!!

Now that filming wrapped up ... Klay was joking with the media about launching his official Oscars campaign! It's pretty funny.

“It’s all done ... your boy is going for the Oscar nod,” Thompson joked to NBC Sports Bay Area's "Warriors Outsiders."

“Supporting?! Best animated series!? I don’t know.”

Obviously, Klay ain't got a snowball's chance in hell ... but dude SHOULD be recognized for fighting through the pain of an ACL surgery to be on the set to shoot his scenes.

Remember, Thompson injured himself during the NBA Finals and went under the knife just days before filming started.

But, despite being in serious pain, Klay limped onto the set with crutches to shoot with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Dame Lillard and more.

Hey, some actors postpone production when they a get a slight cold!!!

Bella Thorne is bringing home some hardware courtesy of Pornhub, which is honoring her for her debut in the adult industry ... as a director.

Pornhub honchos tell TMZ ... Bella is being recognized for her directing work on an adult film entitled, "Her & Him" ... and she'll receive the award next month at the 2nd Annual Pornhub Awards Show.

Bella's first foray into XXX directing features porn stars Abella Danger and Small Hands doing the dirty. The film's plot (yes, porn has those too) is about a guy who stumbles upon a surprise text in his girlfriend's phone ... which, SHOCKER, leads to a sexually charged encounter.

Interestingly, the porno includes music from Bella's ex, Mod Sun. Obviously, the collab went down before the former couple's nasty breakup.

Jeff Bezos has the fortune and Farrah Abraham has ... a plan for how to spend that fortune -- and she shot her shot face-to-face with him in the middle of the Emmy Awards.

The Amazon honcho -- whose shows "Fleabag" and 'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' had big nights -- topped off his award-winning by stopping and posing with the ex-'Teen Mom' star. This was definitely the highlight of the Emmys ... for one of these two.

Farrah captioned the pic with a plea to land a role in an Amazon project of Jeff's choice. She also said, "Let's do a deal for my bio pic." Stranger things have happened. Right?

Hours earlier, Jeff was hanging with the other woman in his life -- GF Lauren Sanchez -- at her beachfront home in Santa Monica.

They were totally twinning in white tops and blue jeans as they enjoyed the view and their morning coffee.

Unclear if she was with Jeff at the Emmys. We're guessing Farrah's moment with the world's richest man wouldn't have happened on Lauren's watch!

BTW, Jeff had another fun moment with 'Mrs. Maisel' star Alex Borstein -- who won the Best Supporting Actress in a comedy series. Alex posted her pre-Emmys text exchange with Bezos.

Bezos was down to clown around with Alex about exchanging some dog food she purchased through Amazon.

Prime humor.

Originally Published -- 8:54 AM PT 

Felicity Huffman got caught in the Emmys' crosshairs with a not-so-subtle shot at the former winner and TV darling that invoked her prison sentence.

Emmys commentator Thomas Lennon made the jab after RuPaul took home the prize for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program. He noted the show producers had asked him to make a special shout-out to any ex-Emmy-winning actresses who might be watching from prison.

He didn't say Felicity's name, but it was obvious he was talking about her ... as he followed up with, "Hopefully those two weeks are going to fly right by."

Lennon added, "Keep your chin up" as he carried a big smirk on his face. Of course, Felicity won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy for her role in "Desperate Housewives" back in 2005. She's been nominated for Emmys several other times as well.

As we reported ... Felicity was sentenced to 14 days behind bars -- among other penalties -- for her role in the college bribery scandal, to which she pled guilty.

She seems to have gotten a jump on her community service, which might be an attempt to show good faith to the judge ... who has the power to send her to the facility she wants -- a cozy-ish place up in the Bay Area that allows tanning and whatnot.

Felicity starred in a show that's up for quite a few Emmys Sunday -- Netflix's "When They See Us" -- but she wasn't nominated for her role as Linda Fairstein.

The 2019 Emmys are in full swing -- and there is quite a variety of famous faces to soak in from behind the scenes ... a testament to where entertainment's headed, perhaps?

There was a very mixed bag of stars on hand Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in L.A. to smile for the camera, congratulate one another and if they were lucky enough ... give an acceptance speech. Just a handful of the celebs who were there Kim K and Kendall Jenner, Anthony Anderson and Regina King, Alfie Allen, Kerry Washington, Taraji Henson, Bill Hader, Jane Lynch, Michelle Williams, Amy Adams, Olivia Colman, Don Cheadle, Patricia Arquette, and others.

It's interesting ... it feels like TV has sorta overtaken the star power and glam of movies, with a bunch of A-list actors having migrated over lately. Watching the Emmys is almost like watching the Oscars these days -- and, apparently, it carries just as much weight.

That much is clear by how happy some of these fine people look to be walking away with a statuette. As we've said before ... the time a changin'.

Britney Spears looked like she wanted to be anywhere else after she arrived with her boyfriend to the Daytime Beauty Awards, so after a few photos ... she was outtie.

Britney and Sam Asghari showed up to the awards show Friday looking stylish as they got out of their SUV, but as they walked up to take pics it appeared Brit immediately grew uncomfortable.

After a few seconds of cameras clicking and flashing, Spears said to her publicist ... "I just want to go."

She stuck around for a few more shots and forced smiles, but seemed to be urging Sam to keep moving ... until she finally had enough and said she was leaving.

Asghari -- who's being honored for Outstanding Achievement in Fitness -- had to reverse his course and walk her back to their SUV, where she got in and left.

Of course, this comes in the midst of a family showdown in court over Britney's conservatorship. As we told you ... a "fireworks show" was expected this week, but as of now things are still up in air.

Looks like Britney's feeling the effects.

Colin Kaepernick got a W on Sunday -- and he's got the Emmy to prove it!!

The Nike "Dream Crazy" commercial featuring the NFL quarterback had been nominated for a 2019 Creative Arts Emmy for Best Commercial ... facing stiff competition from ads for Netflix and Apple.

But, Colin's spot emerged victorious ... and we're told Colin and The Swoosh are PUMPED. Our sources tell us Kap is especially proud because he was involved in the creative process.

As we previously reported,  the ad was produced by the Wieden+Kennedy agency -- a Portland-based company located near Nike's headquarters. They famously produced the Terry Crews Old Spice commercials and Bud Lite's "Dilly Dilly."

The spot dropped back in September and featured Kap telling inspirational messages about overcoming the odds ... while using other huge athletes to make his point.

"Don't picture yourself wearing [Odell Beckham's] jersey. Picture OBJ wearing yours," Kap said.

He also referenced Shaquem Griffin, LeBron James and Serena Williams ...

"And, if you’re a girl from Compton, don’t just become a tennis player. Become the greatest athlete ever. Yeah, that’s more like it."

Nike caught some flack for the ad because people took issue with Colin's line, "Believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything."

Critics felt Colin didn't really "sacrifice everything" since he still has millions in the bank -- while military members who died in action really did sacrifice everything fighting for the country.

Add another shiny object to Jerry West's packed trophy case ... 'cause Donald Trump presented the Logo with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Thursday.

POTUS invited the Hall of Famer to 1600 Penn to gift him the highest honor a civilian can receive ... praising West's basketball accomplishments on and off the court -- including helping the L.A. Clippers acquire Kawhi Leonard this past summer.

Trump also praised West's work away from the sport, saying "Jerry works harder than just about anybody I can imagine helping our nation's veterans."

"Jerry West is one extraordinary American."

West joins other huge sports stars like Michael Jordan, John Wooden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tiger Woods to receive the honor.

"I swear my name is going to look like a misprint on this list," West joked in the Oval Office.

Travis Scott has no ill will toward Cardi B for taking home the Grammy for Best Rap Album, despite what fans might think after watching his new documentary.

Travis' "Look Mom I Can Fly" project dropped on Netflix Wednesday, and there's a part when Travis is visibly upset after Cardi took home the trophy back in February. A lot of people who've seen it already thought Travis was angry at Cardi.

Sources close to Travis tell us it was absolutely NOT anything personal. We're told his emotions only surfaced because of all the hard work he put into his "Astroworld" album ... and he just really wanted to win, plain and simple.

Fact is, Travis and Cardi have always been super cool since then -- and her hubby, Offset, even showed up at the big Netflix premiere event for the documentary.

Cardi defended herself against some Travis fans on Twitter, saying, "I wasn’t even thinking of winning or even the Grammies. All I can think about was...everybody is disappointed in me, am I still going to have a career after this baby? Is this album going to make me or break me ? I need to finish before I start showing."

She continued, "So when I won a Grammy for it I didn’t have no words to say but when I went home I started reminiscing on what I went thru during that period I was like YEA BITCH YOU DESERVE THIS SHIT! And until this day my shit still charting."

Missy Elliott is soaking up the well-deserved spotlight ... and what started during the MTV VMAs, continued afterward as Cardi B, Lil Mama, and Lizzo all toasted her amazing career.

Fresh off her Video Vanguard Award at the VMAs ... Missy was surrounded by huge celebs who came to kiss the ring, as it were. Cardi presented Missy with her special Moon Man statuette during the show and was still by her side later in the night.

Other legends in the house for Missy's bash included Queen Latifah, Treach and Ice-T. Check out the gallery to see who else came to get their freak on with Missy.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift was turning up at NYC's Moxy Hotel ... and Monday night her squad was FULLY glam.

Gigi and Bella Hadid were practically draped on T-Swift whose VMA performance was one of the night's standout moments.

Taylor's label, Republic Records, threw the event with other hit makers like Bebe Rexha, Joe Jonas and Hailee Steinfeld.

The 2019 VMAs were all about Shawn Mendes and some sexy senoritas ... and they dazzled behind the scenes.

The Prudential Center in Newark, NJ was the center of the music world Monday night, with tons of A-listers in the house for MTV's signature award show. Shawn performed his hit duet, "Senorita," with Camila Cabello ... but she wasn't the only mamacita turning heads.

Bella and Gigi Hadid looked absolutely stunning ... and the supermodel sisters stole the show in matching outfits.

The guy who appeared, ON VIDEO, to swipe Frances McDormand's Oscar for Best Actress at the 2017 Academy Awards is walking away scot-free ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us 47-year-old Terry Bryant will not be prosecuted. As for why ... well, Bryant should send a big fat thank you to Frances.

We're told she was not willing to cooperate with investigators, so a judge dismissed the whole matter. Law enforcement sources tell us Frances wasn't down to work with cops from the beginning because she was embarrassed by the whole caper. She had merely left her Oscar to be engraved at the end of the ceremony, and then it turned into a whole media circus.

We're told Frances didn't even want to file a police report, but because the Academy of Motion Pictures actually owns the statuette ... it was listed as the victim, not Frances. However, she was the witness and prosecutors needed her testimony.

The D.A. tells us, "The District Attorney’s Office today told the court that we are unable to proceed at this time. The defense moved to dismiss the case, and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta dismissed it."

You'll recall ... Frances' golden statue went missing after the broadcast when she was backstage talking to the media. Bryant was seen parading around with an Oscar that was later identified as McDormand's ... and was eventually arrested.

McDormand won the statuette for her portrayal in 'Three Billboards,' and in her epic speech ... she called on more diversity in the industry, from top to bottom.

Taylor Swift let her hair down, and then ferociously moved it sideways, in what looks like a celebration that was fueled with a little drinky drinky.

Taylor threw a party to celebrate not 1, not 2 but 10 VMA noms, which include Video of The Year and Song of The Year for her singles, "Me!" and "You Need to Calm Down."

Calming down was on no one's mind Saturday night at Beauty & Essex in L.A., when Taylor busted moves with some pretty impressive backup, including Laverne Cox, Chester Lockhart, the HAIM sisters and Justin Mikita.

BTW ... she'll perform at the VMAs on the 26th ... and it'll be the first time in 4 years.

Damian Lillard isn't forgetting about his day job in the NBA, because championships are still his focus ... but says he'd definitely be stoked to win a Grammy for his 3rd album.

Dame just dropped his 3rd album, "Big D.O.L.L.A." and the early reviews are good ... so good that some people are saying the NBA star has a shot at rap superstardom.

So, when we talked to Dame we had to know how far he wants to take this rap thing ... and if he cares about the accolades that come along with it .... like a Grammy.

"I don't care about it maybe to the level I care about being the MVP or winning a championship."

So, there you have it Trail Blazers fans ... you can breathe, Dame isn't going anywhere. He did point out though, that he thinks he has a chance to do something no other hooper has, and that intrigues him.

"I care about in the sense that how many NBA All-Stars or max contract players can say, 'I legitimately won a Grammy.'"

None that we can see ... but if we're being real, none have been as good as Dame. The man's gotten props from some huge names in hip-hop, and is widely regarded as the best pure rapper the league has ever produced.

Question is now ... how does he get to the Grammys?