Awards / Awards Shows

Russell Wilson and Ciara are pocketing their babysitter dough tonight -- no need for one when you have to attend a Hollywood event that's actually for the kids.

Ronda Rousey and Travis Browne, Michael Phelps and Nicole Phelps also showed up -- families in tow -- for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Awards Thursday night in Santa Monica. Kinda the perfect award show follow-up to the ESPYs.

OH NO ... BACKPACK KID GOT SERVED!!!!!

Shiggy -- the dude behind the "In My Feelings" challenge -- had a real-life dance battle with Backpack Kid at an ESPYs after-party on Wednesday ... and went BADLY for the BPK dude.

First off, we love Backpack Kid -- he's always been super cool to us -- but, man, SHIGGY JUST CAUGHT A BODY!!!

At one point, Shiggy DANCE-ATE Backpack Kid's heart.

The athletes were lovin' it ... everyone from Lakers star Josh Hart to Rams RB Todd Gurley to new Magic center Mo Bamba to Panthers wideout Devin Funchess had their cameras out, egging the whole thing on.

R.I.P. Backpack Kid.

The 26th annual ESPYs brought the feels early with an intense recap of the year's most exciting and touching sports moments ... then Danica Patrick lightened the mood.

Danica -- the show's first ever female host -- came out hard with jokes ... about Cleveland sports, J.R. Smith's Finals blunder, LeBron's hair, Ben Simmons joining the Kardashians -- and even the National Anthem controversy.

As you can see, some went over better than others.

Then it was on to the awards, with Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell kicking things off with an ESPY win for Best Breakthrough Athlete. Other winners included the U.S. Women's Hockey Team for Best Game, Baker Mayfield for Best College Athlete, and Nick Foles for Best Championship Performance.

Chloe Kim took home the ESPY for Best Female Athlete, Alex Ovechkin nabbed Best Male ... and the Houston Astros won Best Team.

The evening also included powerful tributes to Bills QB legend Jim Kelly, who received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, Best Coach going to the 3 coaches killed in the Parkland shooting ... and the sister survivors of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar being honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

A very powerful moment just went down at the 2018 ESPY Awards, as well over 100 sister survivors of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar joined hands on stage to receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

On behalf of their fellow "army of survivors," Sarah Klein, Tiffany Thomas Lopez and USA gymnastics star Aly Raisman accepted the award. Each delivered a moving speech about the suffering caused by 30 years of abuse by the disgraced Team USA and Michigan State doctor ... and the courage it took -- by hundreds of women -- to finally bring him down.

As we reported ... Nassar was essentially sentenced to life in prison -- twice -- for sexual assault crimes, along with getting 60 years in his child porn case.

None of it would have been possible without these brave women standing up and speaking out, though ... and now they're leading the fight against abuse.

Chloe Kim tore up PyeongChang's icy half pipes for the 2018 Olympics, and now she's iced out again for the ESPYs ... rocking a new chain that's worth its weight in gold.

The U.S. Olympic gold medalist recently hit up celeb jeweler Ben Baller for some new bling to wear to the sports award show ... where she's got 3 nominations, including Best Female Athlete.

Ben whipped up something special for Chloe -- an 18k gold diamond Cuban choker, with 24 carats in diamonds and weighing 300 grams in gold. Oh, and we're told it's valued at $40,000.

Fun Fact: Chloe Kim and Tom are among the athletes with the most nominations at the ESPYs on Wednesday night.

As far as Best Female Athlete is concerned -- she's up against Sylvia Fowles (WNBA player) and Julie Ertz (soccer).

It's that time of the year -- when the biggest ballers in the world show off their awesome (and not so awesome) fashion tastes at the ESPYs ... and we've got all the pics!!

Adam Rippon -- to no one's surprise -- showed up and slayed in his eye-popping fit ... and NFL brothers Shaquem and Shaquill Griffin took twinning to a whole 'nother level with their matching custom suit lining!!

JaVale McGee was all Gucci'd out ... rockin' a red fanny pack with his custom suit for quite the unique look!!

As for JuJu Smith-Schuster ... we really don't know what to say.

Anthony Bourdain and his hit show, 'Parts Unknown,' will be in the spotlight at the Emmy Awards, because he's up for 2 statuettes and the show got 7 nominations.

Bourdain got the nod for Outstanding Informational Series or Special as an executive producer. His show has swept that category for the last 4 years. He's also up for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program ... for his episode on Southern Italy.

Bourdain had been filming an episode of 'Parts Unknown' in France when he died of a suicide on June 8.

The show's other nominations are for Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series (for the show's website), Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Program, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program.

Ronda Rousey became the first female fighter EVER inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on Thursday -- and proudly told the crowd, "We have changed what it means to fight like a girl."

She's the UFC's first-ever women's champion and defended her belt SIX TIMES during her historic run from 2012 to 2015 ... and, during her speech, thanked the fans for their support.

"Because of you, I am the first woman standing up here accepting this incredible honor," Rousey said ... "May I be the first of many."

"I look around and think, together we built this. This division. This sport. This revolution."

"Together, we have redefined what it means to be strong, to be sexy. We have changed what it means to fight like a girl."

Remember, back in 2011 ... Dana White famously told TMZ Sports he would never sign a woman to a UFC contract -- but, Ronda was so dominant and interesting, she essentially forced his hand to create a women's division.

Now, the women's division -- filled with stars like Amanda Nunes, Cris Cyborg, Holly Holm and others -- is thriving ... and they credit Ronda for opening the door.

Terrell Owens has finally revealed where he'll have his own Hall of Fame induction ceremony ... and it WILL NOT be in any of the cities where he played during his NFL career.

As we previously reported, T.O. declined his invite to Canton -- the first player EVER to turn it down -- and teased that he'd have his own ceremony somewhere else on the same day.

Well, now, he's let the cat out of the bag ... it's all going down at his alma mater, The University of Tennessee Chattanooga.

"After giving it much thought, I have realized just how much I want to celebrate what will inevitably be the best weekend of my life at a place that means so much to me," T.O. says.

"I have decided to give my Hall of Fame speech at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in McKenzie Arena on Saturday, August 4. The event, which is free and open to the public, starts at 3:17 p.m."

Soooo, why 3:17 PM?

WE HAVE THE ANSWER -- His rep tells us it's because T.O. will be the 317th player to enter the Hall.

It's also about 4 hours before the official HOF ceremony begins ... so, he's beating guys like Ray Lewis, Randy Moss and Brian Urlacher to the punch.

Owens continued ... "I'm proud to be a Moc, and I'm honored to be able to share this experience with my family, friends, teammates and fans at the place that provided me an opportunity beyond high school and where I truly began to find myself as an athlete."

Joel Embiid says his next career goal is to win NBA MVP next season ... and he's already got a plan on how he'll celebrate!

The Philadelphia 76ers superstar was leaving Catch in L.A. after the NBA Awards -- hours after it was revealed Embiid will grace the cover of the upcoming NBA Live 19 video game.

What's interesting is ... the guy he's replacing is James Harden -- who just won NBA MVP after being the cover guy for NBA Live for the 2018 version of the game.

Jamie Foxx threw a BET after-party that possibly rivaled the Vanity Fair Oscar party because the place was swarming with A-listers and featured performances by Migos and T.I.

We're told Foxx dropped half a million on the shindig that was held in his L.A.-area mansion after Sunday's awards show. Guests, which included Michael B. Jordan and the entire cast of "Empire," had to be shuttled to the event. MC Lyte, Doug E. Fresh and Lil Mama were also there.

In addition to Migos and Tip ... Tyga and Too Short also took the stage. There were six open bars where Grey Goose flowed like water and, for anyone who had too much, there was In-N-Out burger.

We're told security was making sure no one went upstairs, since it was Foxx's legit home. Bet cleanup was a bitch, not that Foxx is going to be handling that either. He just signs the checks.

Kobe Bryant just got rejected at the rim by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- which just denied membership to the Mamba ... claiming he doesn't have a good enough body of work.

You know what he does have? AN OSCAR!!!!

Kobe won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short for "Dear Basketball" -- which was based off a retirement letter he published on The Players' Tribune back in 2015.

Kobe is credited as the executive producer and writer of the film.

Worth noting, Oscar winners are automatically considered for membership -- but it's not a shoe-in. The board votes on who gets membership based on a specific criteria.

One of the items on the checklist for producers -- "have the equivalent of 2 producer screen credits and perform the majority of the functions of a producer on theatrical feature films of the caliber which in the opinion of the executive committee reflect the high standards of the Academy."

For the record, Kobe produced the docu-series 'Muse' -- but it doesn't appear that would qualify under the Academy's standards because it was produced for TV.

Still, there are some people who believe the membership denial is due to Kobe's controversial past and the rise of the #MeToo movement.

Despite the fact Kobe was cheered on by the Academy when he won at the Oscars, there has been serious blowback.

Chadwick Boseman got an award for playing a super hero on the big screen, but he couldn't accept the award without acknowledging a real-life hero just several feet away from him. Enter James Shaw Jr.

The "Black Panther" star won the Movie award for Best Hero Monday at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards ... and he thanked the fans for making 'BP' a monumental success. But then something incredibly special happened ... so, get ready for goosebumps.

Watch the clip ... Chadwick turned the spotlight -- rightfully so -- on Shaw ... who heroically wrestled an AR-15 from a gunman at a Waffle House in Tennessee back in April.

Tiffany Haddish will come face-to-face with the Black Panther himself before taking over hosting duties of the MTV Movie & TV Awards.

Production sources tell us Monday night's show will open with a "Black Panther" spoof featuring Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Lil Rel Howery. In the spoof, Haddish will battle T'Challa -- played by Chadwick Boseman -- for the right to host the show.

Haddish, of course, comes out on top and will celebrate with a victory tune -- Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow."

President Trump's concerned Robert De Niro is suffering brain damage from his boxing movies, and thinks that's the ONLY explanation for the Oscar winner saying, "F**k Trump" at the Tony Awards.

The Prez turned his attention to De Niro's diss after finishing up with Kim Jong-un in Singapore ... saying De Niro is a "low IQ individual" who "has received to many shots to the head by real boxers in movies."

Yes, call the Irony PD -- POTUS used the wrong "to" while calling out Bobby D's IQ.

Anyway, 45 went on to suggest De Niro's ignoring great economic and employment numbers, and ended his brief Twitter rant with, "Wake up Punchy!"

Robert De Niro needs to learn some R-E-S-P-E-C-T when it comes to talking about President Trump ... according to another actor who's outraged by De Niro's "F**k Trump" comments at the Tony Awards.

We got actor and singer Robert Davi Monday at LAX, and asked him about De Niro's simple, yet fiery speech ... which got a rousing ovation from the -- clearly partial -- crowd.

Davi strongly disagrees with what De Niro did ... saying, "I respect you as an actor, but it was disgusting what you did, and everyone who stood up."

Davi, who's been a vocal backer of Trump, says it doesn't matter who's in the White House -- it's just wrong to speak about a Prez that way. For example, he told us how he handled a meeting with former President Obama, whom he did not support politically.