Awards / Awards Shows

The ugly war of words between Nicki Minaj and Safaree could come to a head if the exes run into each other at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, but there's a plan in place to avoid that ... TMZ has learned.

Nicki and Safaree will be at the VMAs Monday night in NYC -- she's performing and he's repping VH1 -- so both will be doing press on the carpet outside Radio City Music Hall beforehand.

It will be the first time the 2 will be in the same vicinity since Safaree claimed Nicki stabbed him and tried to kill him. She fired back, calling him a thief and a liar.

We're told people in charge of security at the event are well aware of the bad blood, and extra measures -- including more guards -- are being taken to ensure the 2 don't have any interaction ... and no nasty confrontation.

Eddie George is singing the praises of his new boss -- saying it was a PLEASURE starring in Tim Tebow's new movie ... and he thinks the guy could win an Oscar one day.

FYI, Eddie is one of the main roles in "Run the Race" -- a story about two brothers who use sports to overcome personal tragedies in their lives.

It's a faith-based, feel-good story -- so, it's perfect for Tim Tebow who produced the flick with his brother, Robby Tebow.

Eddie -- who plays a college recruiter in the movie -- says the Tebows did a "tremendous job" behind the scenes and show real promise when it comes to the business side of movie making.

"There's no limit to what [Tim] can do ... who knows, he could write a story that could win him an Oscar one day!"

Almost 50 YEARS after Arnold Schwarzenegger won the 1969 Mr. Universe competition -- he has finally been reunited with his 1st place trophy ... after it went missing decades ago!!

The story is wild ... Arnold won the contest in London back when he was around 22 years old -- during his second year as a pro bodybuilder.

But, he gave the hardware to his mother ... who ended up giving it away to a fan without telling her son and it went missing for years!

Arnold got a tip about the trophy during a visit to a local gym in Budapest -- when the owner put him in touch with a bench press champion named Lorand Berke ... the fan who visited Arnold's mom!

Berke brought the trophy back to Arnold -- who verified it was authentic!

Now, Arnold says he's "pumped up" to get it back and promises to get Lorand a replacement trophy as a reward.

Pretty cool, right?

Aretha Franklin, known for having one of the greatest voices in music history, and for hits like "Respect," and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" ... died Thursday after a long battle with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Aretha passed away in her Detroit home where she was under hospice care. She'd been in failing health for many months and she was down to 86 pounds. One source told us he was informed more than a week ago that Aretha could go at any time.

She was surrounded by friends and family when she passed. Her family released a statement, saying, "In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family."

She had appeared incredibly frail in recent years, and rarely performed live. Her most recent appearance was last November for Elton John's AIDS Foundation 25th Anniversary Benefit.

Aretha's career is just incredible. Born in Memphis in 1942, her family eventually relocated to Detroit where she began singing in her father's church. She was such a powerhouse gospel singer, she landed a Columbia record deal in the early '60s.

Her string of chart-topping hits began with her Atlantic Records deal in 1967.

Aretha's achievements in the late '60s were remarkable for any artist, but especially so for a black woman in the midst of the Civil Rights movement. She held the record for the most entries on the Hot 100 list of any female artist for nearly 40 years, only to be dethroned in 2017 by Nicki Minaj.

She won 18 Grammys and was the first woman ever inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Aretha delivered a powerful rendition of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" -- while wearing that unforgettable hat -- at Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration.

Throughout her career, Aretha was known for delivering incredible one-off live performances, including at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors show where she sang 'Natural Woman' in honor of the song's co-writer, Carole King.

The Queen of Soul was 76. She is survived by her 4 sons.

RIP

The Academy adding a "popular" category to the Oscars has a lot of people riled up, including this guy -- who's got a movie coming out that could win -- and he's all for it.

We spoke to actor Page Kennedy on "TMZ Live" a day before his and Jason Statham's blockbuster film, "The Meg," is set to hit theaters -- where they're battling a prehistoric, humongous great white shark -- and he gave us his take on the controversy.

Page says films like his -- and other popcorn flicks like 'Mission: Impossible,' 'Fate of the Furious,' etc. -- deserve to be recognized for their badassery ... plain and simple. He says these types of movies have just as much value as traditional Oscar noms ... and could even add a much-needed shot of life into an award show that's gathering dust in the ratings.

Lea Thompson has zero doubt "Back to the Future" would've dominated the Oscars competition if the Academy had dreamed up the new popular film categories 32 years ago.

We got Marty McFly's mom outside Avra in Bev Hills, where she weighed in on the big Oscar changes coming in 2019. Lea makes no bones about it ... 'Future' was a global success that built an immediate cult following, and could have cleaned up.

The film, btw, did have some success at the Academy Awards in '86 -- it got nominated in 3 categories (Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song and Best Sound Mixing) and scored 1 statue for Best Sound Editing.

We wonder if "Black Panther" is now set up to do some Oscar damage, and if it is ... Lea's cool with it!!

Know what's not cool? The image of Lea banging Howard the Duck! Even the Academy has limits.

Lil Wayne done gone country as a member of Little Big Town, at least that's what the good people at the American Music Awards think ... TMZ has learned.

Clearly, somebody done screwed up and sources familiar with the blunder tell us Weezy just got 5 AMAs! The only problem is 4 of them don't belong to him ... they're for the hit-making country music band.

Now, LBT did win 4 trophies at last year's award show, while Wayne took home one. It's pretty clear what happened here -- just a Lil mix-up.

We're told Wayne did receive his actual AMA trophy -- Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Song for "I'm the One" -- but the people really getting screwed here are Little Big Town.

Our sources say the band's awards are still at Casa de Weezy, because he and his team -- especially Young Money Prez Mack Maine -- have no clue who to contact to get the hardware to LBT.

Wayne's just not that plugged in to the country world, but we see an opportunity here.

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."