Awards / Awards Shows

Lindsey Graham says President Trump might not be deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize just yet, but if he wins it anyway ... liberals are going to lose it.

We got the South Carolina Senator on Capitol Hill Thursday evening and asked about the Prez being a favorite for the honor ... Graham says he's done a lot to deserve it by fighting ISIS and taking on Iran, but needs a little more help from North Korea.

As for the libs, Sen. Graham thinks if 45 manages to nab the Nobel, they'll be so distraught they'll head for the nearest window ... and take the leap.

Lindsey also throws some shade at past Peace Prize winner Barack Obama ... and a little at George W. too.

Katt Williams had some explaining to do about Tiffany Haddish and a gun that was supposedly pulled on him and, while he finally cleared the air ... it wasn't without difficulty.

We got the comedian Monday night strolling the streets of L.A. after the Emmys -- with his own in hand -- and asked him to elaborate on Atlanta radio host Wanda Smith's husband allegedly pointing a gun at his face and chasing him to a supermarket across the street.

Katt plays more than coy here ... he's just downright speaking in riddles with us. But, he does make one thing clear -- the sitch would've been far more dire if a gun was involved.

Our camera guy also asks about the apparent hatchet burying that happened when he saw Tiffany at the award show. She posted photos of him kneeling before her in what looked like pure contrition.

We got Tiffany at LAX Tuesday morning who echoed Katt's stance here ... no beef to see here. In fact, she's even open to working with the comedian in the future.

Katt does apologize though, saying he's sorry for bringing her up in a disparaging way ... and giving a shout-out to another comedian who apparently set him straight.

Donald Glover's creepy mansion dwelling, Michael Jackson-esque, character from his hit show, "Atlanta," made a surprise appearance at the 2018 Emmys -- except Donald wasn't behind the makeup.

DG and the rest of the "Atlanta" stars were in attendance Monday night, but so was Teddy Perkins ... who nearly killed Lakeith Stanfield's character in season 2. On the show, Donald played the role of Teddy, but at the Emmys ... this group shot sparked a mystery -- WHO'S WEARING THE MAKEUP???

Everyone assumed it was Donald until the photo made it clear that wasn't the case. Tuesday morning, comedian Jay Pharoah started taking credit for the appearance -- which would make sense, since his 'SNL' buddies wrote and hosted the Emmys.

If you haven't seen the show yet, here's an example of just how damn freaky Teddy Perkins really was during his brief stint in "Atlanta." Spoiler alert ... RIP, Teddy.

"Atlanta" had a pretty solid night with 16 nominations and 3 wins ... including Katt Williams' for his role on the series.

The 2018 Emmys have come and gone, but they didn't leave without some great shots of celebs backstage embracing each other in what turned into a big lovefest.

Some of the stars who were extra affectionate Monday night ... Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake, Tiffany Haddish and Issa Rae, Henry Winkler and Bill Hader, Trevor Noah, Jimmy Kimmel and James Corden ... and lots of other pairs and groups who shared in the TV magic.

The biggest story of the night, though, probably belongs to Oscars director Glenn Weiss and his now-fiancee, Jan ... whom he proposed to while accepting his award.

This is one helluva first -- the guy who won an Emmy for directing the Oscars asked his girlfriend to marry him onstage while accepting his award ... and she happily said yes.

Glenn Weiss -- who won Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special for the 2018 Oscars -- popped the question Monday night toward the tail end of his acceptance speech ... telling his significant other, Jan, that if she wondered why he didn't like calling her his GF, it was because he wanted to call her his wife. AWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

The entire crowd got to their feet as Jen made her way to the stage, where Glenn put the ring his own father used for his mother on the lucky lady's finger. He asked the question, and she eventually nodded yes while fighting back tears.

It was quite a moment, to say the least. Talk about a good proposal story, huh?

The 2018 Emmys kicked off with an overly long and overly topical monologue from hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che that tried hard to be funny ... but ended up being cringeworthy.

The 'SNL' vets came out standing shoulder-to-shoulder Monday night and threw zinger after zinger after zinger at the board -- most of which were so on the nose and didn't really stick.

Some of the worst attempts at humor came in jokes about the #MeToo movement, with Che saying it was great being there with everyone who hadn't been caught yet. Jost also quipped that Roseanne Barr had canceled herself, but got picked up by white nationalists.

Another eyebrow-raising line from Che ... 'The Handmaid's Tale' is like the white women's version of 'Roots' ... since the characters are forced to have babies and work against their will.

They also took shots at Trump by saying they hoped the Obamas' Netflix production deal would churn out a new 'Apprentice' that got huge ratings ... something DT would clearly hate.

Forget Dior and Chanel ... "Black-ish" star Jenifer Lewis was all about NIKE at the Emmys -- rocking a Swoosh sweatshirt to support Colin Kaepernick.

"I am wearing Nike to applaud them for supporting Colin Kaepernick and his protest against racial injustice and police brutality," the actress told Variety.

Lewis says she was swimming the other day when she started brainstorming fashion ideas that would be "meaningful" on the red carpet ... and that's when Nike came to mind.

"I'll wear Nike to say 'thank you' ... thank you for leading the resistance. We need more of corporate America to stand up also."

She added, "Thank you, Colin. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for being brave. Thank you for taking a knee. Thank you."

Nike signed Colin to a new deal recently -- and will be dropping everything from a new custom shoe to a Kaepernick-themed apparel line.

Les Moonves was at the helm of 18 TV programs that have been nominated for Emmys, but he's not going to the big shindig Monday night ... because CBS didn't invite him.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, CBS made a decision not to extend the invitation in the wake of the sexual misconduct scandal. Each network gets a certain number of tickets it can distribute as it wishes, and Les will not be a beneficiary.

A network source calls it a "non-issue" because Moonves has not attended the Emmys in several years.

One source says it's complicated because Moonves was not technically fired, although he was clearly forced to step down after a dozen women accused him of sexual misdeeds. Nevertheless, it's the network's decision who gets tickets ... so, case closed.

As for some of the shows nominated under Moonves' watch ...

-- "The Amazing Race"

-- "The Big Bang Theory"

-- "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert"

-- "The Late Late Show with James Corden"

-- "Bruno Mars: Live 24K Magic at the Apollo"

12:15 PM PT -- We're told Bregoli's "cover" isn't the actual cover at all ... it's a paid advertisement wrap for issues of the magazine that will hit stands Friday. So while it might appear Bregoli is the featured artist, it's actually Lil Wayne.

Danielle Bregoli has cemented her status as one of the top female rappers -- deal with it -- and Billboard's stamp of approval says it all.

Danielle -- aka Bhad Bhabie -- has just landed the cover of Billboard ... slated to hit stands Friday and just a few days shy before Bhabie's first mixtape "15" is also released. The cover is very much deserving -- it comes on the heels of earning a Billboard nomination for top rap female artist along Nicki Minaj and Cardi B. Strong company, for sure.

TMZ obtained video of Bhabie's behind-the-scenes when she shot the cover. Need more proof she deserves it? Bhabie's the youngest female rapper of all-time at 14 to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 -- 3 of her tracks have made it on ... including "Hi Bich," which has amassed 119 mil views on YouTube alone.

John Legend just joined a group of elite performers ... with a Tony, Oscar, Grammy and now an Emmy award to his name.

Legend completed the accomplishment Sunday night when he took home an award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for his work on Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. Legend joins Whoopi Goldberg and Mel Brooks as EGOT winners and is the first African American man to do so.

As for a breakdown of John's other awards ...

Tony -- 2017 for Best Revival of A Play for his work on Jitney

Oscar -- 2015 Best Original Song for "Glory"

Grammy -- Legend has 10

Congrats!

Kanye West has taken his talents to the XXX screen -- he's the creative director for the Pornhub Awards -- and he's got his hand in just about every aspect of the show.

Thursday night's inaugural show will be presented in VR live from The Belasco Theater in L.A. We've learned Kanye and his creative house DONDA have partnered with Willo Perron -- who has worked on some of the biggest tours in music -- will manage the show's production and stage design.

Kanye is also set to premiere a new single and music video with Lil Pump called "I Love It." The video is executive produced by Spike Jonze -- who Kanye's collabed with a ton in the past on projects like "Only One," "Otis" and "Flashing Lights" -- and co-directed by Kanye.

And, get this -- Ye will incorporate his clothing brand too -- all of Thursday night's performers will be decked out in Yeezy gear.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts says it's reconsidering rolling out a new "popular" category for the Oscars, and putting the move on ice for 2019 ... and probably forever.

The AMPA said Thursday that the bemoaned category of "Best Achievement in Popular Film" merits further study ... and it won't be happening for the 2019 award show. As you'll recall ... the backlash to the announcement last month was swift and fierce, with cinephiles calling it the death of the Academy Awards and simply a way to pander to ratings.

The Academy's CEO, Dawn Hudson, says ... "There has been a wide range of reactions to the introduction of a new award, and we recognize the need for further discussion with our members." She continued, "We have made changes to the Oscars over the years—including this year—and we will continue to evolve while also respecting the incredible legacy of the last 90 years."

We'll take this a step further and predict this means the "popular" category will never see the light of day, especially after people stop talking about it when the 2019 show's over. Once the buzz dies down, our money's on the Academy never moving to reinstate it.

Michael Jackson's posthumous 60th birthday celebration brought 2 of his children front and center onstage.

Paris and Prince were there Wednesday night to honor and celebrate their late father's birthday at the Michael Jackson Diamond Birthday Celebration at Mandalay Bay in Vegas.

Paris looked stunning in a purple gown while rocking some MJ-themed sneakers. Prince wore a red jacket that looks similar to the one Michael famously wore in the late '90s. Style, man.

Tito and Jackie were also at the star-studded event ... along with Ashlee Simpson, Evan Ross, Blake Griffin, Gabrielle Union, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Hudgens and Usher, who was profoundly influenced by MJ's music and dancing. Usher performed ... as did Cirque du Soleil with its "Michael Jackson ONE" number.

Tons of MJ memorabilia was also on display at the event. BTW ... that cube Prince is holding -- it's a humanitarian award they accepted on their father's behalf from the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

When the shindig ended ... it moved over to the DAYLIGHT Beach Club for an after-party.

Janet Jackson kicked off Michael's birthday right Wednesday. As TMZ first reported ... Janet did an homage to MJ's "Remember the Time" music video, and it was awesome.

Kylie Jenner did NOT want to come face-to-face with Nicki Minaj at the VMAs, 'cause she completely changed course on the red carpet to avoid her.

Nicki was making her entrance at Radio City Music Hall Monday night, and Kylie was walking in her direction from the other end ... when she stopped in her tracks upon seeing Nicki. It's pretty clear she didn't want a confrontation -- 'cause she doubled back fast.

Can't blame her. Nicki put Kylie and her baby, Stormi, on blast this weekend ... blaming them for unscrupulously boosting Travis Scott's album sales by promoting his merch. She later went on to call Travis a "hoe n**** of the week" on her Apple Music radio show.

VMA producers had already accommodated Travis and Kylie by seating them far away from Nicki after placing them right behind her at first in a seating arrangement.

Looks like you can't avoid running into your problems sometimes -- but you can always run away from them. Kylie definitely didn't want that smoke.

Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez continued their PDA-fest after the MTV VMAs ... dancing on each other at a NY hot spot and TMZ Sports has the video!

J Lo was honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the show -- one of the biggest moments of the night.

Lopez performed a medley of hits including "Ain't It Funny" and "I'm Real" with Ja Rule -- while A-Rod watched gleefully from the crowd.

In fact, there was a hilarious gif of Alex's face lighting up as he watched J Lo twerk her ass off during the performance.

After the show, the couple hit up Beauty and Essex in New York City -- where they continued to dance the night away together while the DJ played some of Jen's hits ... along with other hip-hop classics.

Lopez even rapped along to a Cardi B song while the crowd cheered her on.

Winning the MJ Video Vanguard Award is a big deal -- J Lo now joins an elite group with the likes of David Bowie, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Rihanna, Janet Jackson and more.

Jenny arrived to the show with her two kids -- but put them to bed before she hit the after-party.

Hey, mama's gotta let loose!

Kevin Hart came out strong against Donald Trump at the MTV VMAs on Monday -- telling the President straight-up, "Suck it."

Hart was presenting the first award of the night with Tiffany Haddish -- and set the tone early, saying, "You never know what's gonna happen at the VMAs. Beefs pop off, bad language, people run to the bathroom and send out crazy tweets. It’s basically like a typical day in the White House."

Then he dropped the hammer -- "In your face Trump, suck it!"

It didn't stop there -- he then put the NFL in the crosshairs.

"We are live coast to coast right now," Hart said ... "I'm looking at this like it's game day people. But do not worry, cause at this game you guys are allowed to kneel! You can do whatever the hell you want, 'cause there's no old white man that can stop you. Do it!"