Awards / Awards Shows

Morgan Wallen is back in the house for a big country music award show ... getting a big warm welcome for his return following last year's ban.

Morgan was all smiles Monday night at the Academy of Country Music Awards, sitting right in the thick of the ceremony at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, looking dapper and getting a ton of hugs.

There's a big reason for Morgan to smile ... remember, he was banned from a ton of award shows, including these same ACMs last year, in the wake of video surfacing of Wallen using the n-word ... but now he's back on the rise.

It's got to feel good for Morgan, being welcomed back to country radio and the award circuit. He also got a ton of love back in October when he was a surprise guest at an Eric Church concert in Philadelphia.

Morgan's also got Lil Durk in his corner now ... the two collaborated on a song together, "Broadway Girls," and Durk says Morgan is no racist.

A plan to sell counterfeit Patrick Mahomes Super Bowl rings has been thwarted ... feds just announced they seized a bunch of fake K.C. Chiefs title bling in a huge bust in Louisville.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Monday that officers intercepted a package that they say contained a small fortune-worth of fake Mahomes merch as well as other counterfeit sports memorabilia.

According to the CBP, the package -- which came from China and was heading toward Florida -- contained 30 fake Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl rings, 110 fake Atlanta Braves World Series rings, 10 fake Milwaukee Bucks NBA championship rings and 80 fake Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rings.

In a photo of some of the seized "jewelry" ... you can see Mahomes' name was engraved on some of the merch, along with his number and the words "Chiefs Kingdom."

The CBP said in total, the package was worth $345,000.

Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally made sure to get a dig in against Vladimir Putin during the Spirit Awards this weekend -- using not just their words ... but their digits too.

The husband and wife duo are cohosting Sunday's award show, and toward the top of the show ... they sent out a message of solidarity, sending everyone there on the ground their best wishes.

Mullaly then added, "I think we speak for everyone here when we say we are hoping for a quick and peaceful resolution. Specifically, f*** off and go home Putin."

NO followed up by saying, "We hope Putin f**** off and goes home and to that end let’s all join together with a Spirit Awards salute to Putin" -- and then threw up his middle finger to the camera ... with MM following suit.

It looks like some audience members did the same, including Kristen Stewart ... who was caught on camera doing the same when the shot cut to her in her seat.

Unfortunately, a video clip of the awesome moment doesn't seem to exist online -- IFC is carrying the broadcast, and they didn't post it as a standalone segment. Still, it's encouraging to see Hollywood has Ukraine at their forefront of their minds as awards season carries on.

"Tick, Tick...BOOM!" star Andrew Garfield is looking to celebrate with Lin-Manuel Miranda after winning Best Actor at the HCA Film Awards ... by tripping on shrooms!

Andrew was on stage Monday night at the Hollywood Critics Association's prestigious awards ceremony ... giving thanks after being awarded "Best Actor". During his speech, he looked to  TTB director Lin-Manuel Miranda ... heaping praise on him for his direction on the project.

"That's f****** crazy ... that we get to be here while you're breathing," Andrew said to the "Hamilton" playwright.

He ticked off what they'll do together to celebrate ... notably, mushrooms! He says they'll take some caps while watching "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar" ... quite the combo.

Andrew was up against some tough competition this year ... with Benedict Cumberbatch, Nicolas Cage, Peter Dinklage, and Will Smith nominated for the same category. In the end, his riveting portrayal of "Rent" playwright Jonathan Larson took home gold -- and rightfully so.

The actors who took center stage at Sunday night's SAG Awards leaned in hard to voice support for Ukraine, and condemn Russia for its unbridled aggression.

"Succession" star Brian Cox, whose show won for Best TV Drama Ensemble, launched into rousing support for the Ukrainians, and noted everyone in the room had a connection, because President Zelensky was himself an actor before being elected to head the country.

Leslie Odom Jr., Fran Drescher, Michael Keaton and others also had laudatory words for the Ukrainian people and their fighting forces.

Lady Gaga voiced her support for the Ukrainian people before the show began, saying, "I am just really honored to be here. This is a beautiful night where we all get to celebrate art together and celebrate each other. There's so much going on in the world and my heart goes out to Ukraine. I think tonight we should all really sit in the gratitude of this."

Michael Douglas wore a blue-and-yellow pocket square -- the colors of the Ukrainian flag, making it clear it was not a shout-out to the Los Angeles Rams.

This is a unique moment in Hollywood ... where actors typically take stands which are embraced by half the country but not so much the other half ... this felt like the unity following 9/11, where the sentiments reflected the sentiment of, dare we say, the entire country.

Ukraine got a mention during the SAG Awards this weekend -- but it was somewhat brief and fleeting ... as Hollywood seemed determined to keep things light for the show.

The crisis was quickly addressed Sunday during the opening few minutes, with presenter Leslie Odom Jr. saying they were all hoping for peace in Ukraine, before the categories got underway.

LOJ was part of the first group to come up and talk on stage -- he was up there with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Daveed Diggs ... none of whom talked Ukraine in the initial moments.

Eventually, after playing a quick montage of standout acting moments from the past year ... the camera panned back to Odom Jr., who said what he said -- which amounted to a few seconds of screen time.

Many suspect Ukraine would be a big topic of the night ... but so far, as the ceremony gets rolling, it doesn't seem too many of the hosts and winners are going out of their way to talk about it much.

Medina Spirit has been stripped of his 2021 Kentucky Derby title ... officials announced Monday the horse has been officially disqualified following a hearing last week.

In a statement, Kentucky horse racing stewards said Medina Spirit did have the banned substance betamethasone in his blood on race day -- a huge no-no -- and announced second-place finisher Mandaloun will now be recognized as the race's winner going forward.

Officials also announced Bob Baffert, Medina Spirit's trainer, has now been suspended 90 days from all Kentucky racing facilities and fined $7,500 because of the findings.

Baffert will have the opportunity to appeal the ban -- which officials said will last from March 8 through June 5.

The ruling means Baffert will now have to win another Derby title to regain the crown of winningest trainer in the race's history (Medina Spirit's victory had given him seven total).

Michael Jordan shared a special moment with Kobe Bryant's wife at the All-Star Game on Sunday ... with MJ embracing Vanessa after the Lakers legend was honored during halftime.

The Black Mamba received a powerful ovation as members of the league's 75th-anniversary team were recognized in Cleveland ... and Vanessa was visibly overcome with emotion as her husband was featured on the scoreboard.

Jordan, Jerry West and Lakers GM/Kobe's longtime agent Rob Pelinka were spotted alongside Vanessa during the festivities ... as #23 went up and gave her a big hug and chatted with her on the court.

Kobe's presence was felt throughout the night ... as Vanessa was in attendance to hand Chris Paul the WNBA's first Kobe and Gigi Bryant Advocacy award, which honors players for their contributions to women's hoops.

Stephen Curry won the newly-designed Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP award ... after nailing 16 3-pointers to help Team LeBron beat Team Durant, 163-160.

The exchange between MJ and Vanessa was truly emotional for fans to watch -- Jordan and Kobe were close, and the Bulls legend even gave a tearful speech at Bryant's service in 2020.

Tom Holland might’ve thought he’d make it to the Oscars this year -- but it could be Camila Cabello who actually comes out on top as a fan fave ... how ‘bout that?!

According to Deadline, her ‘Cinderella’ movie -- which was released straight to Prime earlier last year -- is supposedly leading the race for the #OscarsFanFavorite category that the Academy cooked up out of nowhere ... apparently in a bid to boost ratings and include mainstream popcorn flicks somehow.

Indeed, a lot of folks are also screaming “What?!?!” on the bird app, obviously wondering ... how can this be???

No shade to CC, Billy Porter and James Corden ... but their take on the fairy tale classic wasn’t well-received by critics, and (mostly) ditto for normies who actually watched it. It goes without saying -- "Spider-Man: No Way Home" was the clear crowd-pleaser this year, proven at the box office with record ticket sales.

So ... what gives? Well, per Deadline, it would appear folks tracking these numbers on the Academy’s site/Twitter see a trend ... rabid fan bases swooping in and flooding the digital voting booths for their heroes and icons. In this case, it seems Camila has quite the following online -- and they appear to be catapulting her to the top on just their love for her alone.

The outlet says there was actually a huge push for "Zack Snyder’s Justice League" -- which has a mega stan culture all its own -- but since it’s a redo, it unfortunately isn’t eligible.

'NWH' is the close second at the moment, and there’s still several days to vote before the show starts later in March. But don’t worry ... there’s no real stakes here, no actual hardware will be presented to whichever film wins this made-up category.

Matthew Stafford's wife, Kelly, just went in on everyone who's giving their opinion on the quarterback's Hall of Fame status ... clapping back at the doubters and saying the signal-caller is nowhere near done yet.

Following the Rams star's big win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday -- the debate was on ... is Stafford a Hall of Famer or not?

Some said yes ... but the majority -- including future Hall of Famer Richard Sherman -- appeared to say no, and Kelly had big issues with that talk.

Stafford's wife took to Instagram late Tuesday evening to blast the discussion ... saying, "We shouldn't be talking about the HOF because he isn't done playing this game."

She added, though, if you don't currently think he belongs in the Hall -- she said he's going to prove you wrong in the upcoming seasons.

"So let's table this talk until he actually retires," she said. "Thank you."

For what it's worth, the talk of Stafford's potential Canton bust was brought up even before the win in the Big Game, with Torry Holt telling TMZ Sports he didn't believe Stafford was on his way to the Hall just yet.

Seems Kelly could truly care less -- saying in her post she's confident Matthew will change minds eventually.

Super Bowl LVI MVP voters got it wrong -- Aaron Donald should've gotten the honor, not Cooper Kupp ... so says Calais Campbell.

The NFL star was adamant about it while leaving SoFi Stadium on Sunday night ... telling TMZ Sports he truly believed Donald deserved the award more than Kupp.

"Cooper Kupp did a great job, he's worthy," Campbell said. "Aaron Donald played an amazing game. He should've been Super Bowl MVP."

Kupp did score the game-winning touchdown -- and he finished the night with 92 receiving yards on eight catches -- but Donald had two sacks and helped force an incompletion on Joe Burrow's final pass of the night.

Campbell clearly believed that was enough to overtake Kupp for the award ... telling us, "He went and earned it today."

In fact, Donald had such a good game ... Campbell said the night put him "in the conversation" for best defensive player ever.

As for the possibility that Donald could retire following the game, Campbell told us he's hoping that doesn't happen ... saying he's not done seeing the Rams superstar yet.

All Aretha Franklin's family's asking is for the Motion Picture Academy to show Jennifer Hudson a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T ... and its failure to even nominate her isn’t sitting well with them.

Aretha’s niece, Sabrina Owens, tells TMZ she’s disappointed about the Oscar snub because she feels JH did a fantastic job in the biopic, "Respect" -- one worthy of recognition, and feels her aunt would’ve agreed.

She also says the film project was Aretha’s baby while she was alive -- she was heavily involved in shepherding it to production, and even hand-picked Jennifer for the lead role.

Sabrina explains ... her aunt was a perfectionist who took pride in her work, and would’ve liked to see an Oscar nod for Jennifer’s turn.

Ditto for Brenda Franklin Corbit, Aretha’s first cousin and former backup singer. She tells us she’s heartbroken about Jennifer being left out, adding the Academy made a huge mistake ... as she feels JH poured her heart and soul into the role and knocked it out of the park.

And get this ... Brenda even suggests Aretha would’ve been seriously upset about the exclusion because she definitely had Oscar on her mind while putting the whole thing together.

It kinda goes without saying, but Brenda hopes Jennifer knows the Franklin family at large thinks she made Aretha proud ... and they consider her one of their own.

The Hudson snub is one of many that people are up in arms about. In addition to her, Lady Gaga fans are crying foul for her not getting a nom for "House of Gucci."

Fact is there's always disappointment with the Academy after Oscar noms come out -- can't win ‘em all, after all -- but dissing the Queen of Soul?

Andy Cohen is going all out to celebrate his new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ... breaking bread with Ricki Lake and joking about making love to his fellow TV legend.

We got Andy leaving Craig's in WeHo with Ricki, not long after his Friday ceremony on Hollywood Blvd ... and he was over the moon ... and for good reason.

Andy and Ricki make for a power lunch ... and as he put it to our photog ... "legends only, bitches!!!"

It's a huge achievement for Andy ... getting the 2,711th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ... and he jokes about making love to Ricki to celebrate ... to which she says, get in line!!!

The "TMZ Tour" also got Andy in the middle of his acceptance speech on Sunset Blvd ... and he even broke from his prepared remarks to acknowledge the bus!

The NBA just unveiled the newly-designed Kobe Bryant Trophy, which will be awarded to the All-Star Game MVP later this month, and Vanessa Bryant said she's in love with it.

The league revealed the piece Thursday morning ... announcing the new award has four levels, all designed to pay tribute to the Black Mamba.

The first level has 24 stars -- symbolic of the #24 Kobe donned in the second half of his career. The level measures in at 7 inches tall, which pays homage to Bryant's 2007 All-Star Game MVP honor.

The second level features 10 stars, which represent the number KB wore when he played for Team USA in the Olympics. Its 9-inch height is a hat tip to Bryant's 2009 ASG MVP award.

Of course, Kobe won 5 NBA championships in his career with the Los Angeles Lakers ... so the trophy has five stars on the third level.

On the fourth level, the league said "a single star represents Kobe’s NBA MVP Award in the 2007-08 season." The NBA also noted its 2-inch height is emblematic of his two Finals MVP awards.

The mastermind behind the design, Victor Solomon, said in a statement Thursday he worked "tirelessly" to make the piece ... and in an IG post, Vanessa said she resoundingly approved of it.

"I love everything this trophy represents," Vanessa wrote, "all of my husband’s hard work and dedication ~ Mamba Mentality 👑🐍💪🏽 Thank you @NBA & @victorsolomon."

Add Dave East to the list of people upset with Barry Bonds being kept out of the Hall of Fame by baseball writers ... telling TMZ Sports it would be "f***ed up" if he doesn't make it to Cooperstown.

We caught up with the NYC rapper on Friday ... and asked how he felt about Bonds not making it into baseball's "sacred" Hall on his 10th and final try ... and his chances at ever getting in.

"I think that will be f***ed up if he not," East said. "He a legend. So, I think it'll be f***ed up if he not. He should be."

Dave was short and to the point ... but his responses echo the sentiments of many who believe Bonds' resume absolutely warrants a nod into baseball's historical museum.

Of course, Bonds failed to reach the required 75% of votes needed for enshrinement .... but still has a chance to get voted in if he lands on the Today's Game ballot in December.

Other notable names such as Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa were also up on the ballot ... but, like Barry, failed to garner the percentages of votes needed to cement their spot in the Hall.

While Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa undoubtedly had Hall of Fame-worthy careers ... many believe they are being kept out because they're all inextricably linked to the use of performance-enhancing substances.

One of Bonds' contemporaries, David Ortiz, however, received the support he needed and managed to get in on just his first try.

Brandy Norwood is being dragged to court over a $45,000 ring she was supposed to wear at the American Music Awards ... a ring that's allegedly gone missing.

Brandy and her stylist, Ashley Sean Thomas, are being sued by Elle B. Mambetov, a fashion designer and Beverly Hills store owner.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Mambetov claims Brandy's stylist approached her last year about borrowing jewelry and clothes for the singer to wear at the November Awards show ... and the designer let them borrow some outfits and a Dreamboule Big Bang Diamond Ring.

Brandy and her stylist allegedly never returned the ring ... and the designer claims it's valued at around $45k. She says in her suit Brandy's stylist told her it was last seen on the piano at Brandy's Calabasas estate.

Brandy didn't wear the ring or the outfit to the AMAs ... but we're told it's not all that uncommon, because stylists usually put together many different options for celebs.

The ring is 18-karat rose gold, with a sapphire crystal dome and black volcanic stone.

The designer's going after Brandy and her stylist for the value of the ring plus other damages ... claiming she's suffered financial losses and emotional trauma.

We reached out to Brandy and her stylist ... so far, no word back.