Awards / Awards Shows

Huge night in L.A. Saturday, when musical legends were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

How's this for an impressive list ... Dolly Parton, Eminem, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie and Carly Simon.

It was almost overload taking it all in ... Sheryl Crow inducted Pat Benatar and hubby/collaborator Neil Giraldo. Sheryl said Pat "rocked as hard as any man but still maintained her identity as a woman."

But wait, there's more. Janet Jackson bestowed the Musical Excellence Award to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Bruce Springsteen presented Jimmy Iovine with the Rock Hall's Ahmet Ertegun Award. Bruce also paid tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis, singing "Great Balls of Fire" and "High School Hop" with John Mellencamp.

And Lenny Kravitz did the honors for the enduringly awesome Lionel Richie! LK said Lionel's music was "the soundtrack of my life, your life and everyone's life." Then he threw in some cornball humor ... naming all the folks who followed Lionel "would take, well, all night long."

Dr. Dre inducted his longtime pal and musical partner, Eminem. Dre said he was thunderstruck when he found out Em was a white guy ... "That completely f***ed me up!"

Eminem sang "My Name Is," "Forever," "Not Afraid" ... with assists from Steven Tyler and Ed Sheeran.

Eminem was humble, saying, "I’m not supposed to be here tonight," following his set. "One, I’m a rapper; two, I almost died from an overdose; and three, I really had to fight my way through ... I’m a high school dropout with a hip hop education."

As for Dolly, Pink did the honors, after which Dolly proclaimed ... "I'm a rock star now!" She added, "I still got rock and roll down in my country soul."

Parton closed the show with her most iconic song, "Jolene," as others joined in ... others, as in Pat Benatar, Neil Giraldo, Simon Le Bon, Rob Halford and the Eurythmics.

Britney Spears is trashing Selena Gomez for something she said 6 years ago -- even though signs point to them being pretty good friends today.

The singer delivered a bizarre message Tuesday that looks to be aimed in Selena's direction -- based on the caption anyway. BS cites a specific line Selena dropped at the 2016 American Music Awards, which references women showing their bodies on social media.

She writes, "Don't you just love the nerve of women who stand firmly getting awards and speak on their beliefs about not showing their bodies on Instagram ???!!!!! They say "This is NOT something I would do" yet those women are the very ones who get 4 million dollar budget videos made about sucking and licking on homemade ice cream!!!!"

Britney goes on to say she thinks it's hypocritical for someone engaging in a sexually suggestive music video to criticize others for showing off their curves for the Gram.

The clues she mentions all point to Selena. Like we said, SG's the only person in recent memory who touched on "bodies on Instagram" while also going on to star in a 2020 music video featuring ice cream cones. The song is "Ice Cream" by K-Pop girl band BLACKPINK.

The IG post is still live on Britney's page, but she's edited the caption to just show 3 roses.

Selena's loyal fans definitely see it as a diss, and they're telling Britney to back off. Frankly, her attack seems to be coming out of nowhere ... and the even stranger thing is Selena was one of a few celebs who attended Britney's wedding this year.

Of course, we know Britney's fully leaned into posting her nudes online ... despite controversy it's stirred, especially among her own family members.

As usual, it's hard to make sense of Britney's POV. There is a trend, though ... less and less people on her side as she posts some weird and unprovoked hot takes.

Selena, for her part, hasn't responded to this. Something tells us she won't.

Originally Published -- 7:04 AM PT

Kelly Clarkson, Kelsea Ballerini and Carly Pearce all have one very significant life experience in common, and it's not just being super talented and famous ... they're all recent divorcees and will be hitting the stage together for the first time to sing about lousy men.

Production sources from the upcoming Country Music Association Awards tell TMZ the trio are planning a very big and powerful performance of Kelsea's song "You're Drunk, Go Home" next month.

The song's all about female empowerment, about guys who hit on women at bars after they've had too much to drink. Both Kelly and Carly were on the song's original release -- and Kelly actually got drunk herself when they got together to record it -- so they clearly all have a good time together.

Both Kelly and Carly filed for divorce in June 2020 ... Kelly from Brandon Blackstock after 7 years of marriage and Carly from Michael Ray after less than a year.

TMZ broke the story ... it was in March when Kelly and Brandon reached a settlement -- she got primary custody and he gets $115,000 a month in spousal support until 2024.

As for Kelsea, she pulled the plug on her 5-year marriage with Morgan Evans in August, and she's been very open about how tough divorce can be ... recently posting an emotional confessional from the bathtub.

So, given the shared lifetime experiences, the whole girl gang collab at country music's biggest night makes a whole lotta sense.

Nicki Minaj and Latto are at each other’s throats ... arguing about which Grammy categories their songs belong in and there's nothing sacred in this war, as they're both putting private convos on front street.

Both rappers had been subtweeting each other for weeks about the Grammy's decision to move Nicki’s smash hit “Super Freaky Girl” from the Rap category to Pop, and Thursday night the feud erupted like a volcano.

As Nicki sees it, Latto should have spoken up in her defense ... seeing as how the Grammys left her record, “Big Energy,” in the Rap category, despite having the same bubbly pop sound.

Nicki then began to retweet Barbz who were dissing Latto's silence on the subject ... prompting Latto to tweet, she "can't win for losing." That's when Nicki posted a DM convo where Latto agreed with Nicki's viewpoints, but said she didn't like the fact Nicki put her in the beef.

Then the gloves really came off.

Nicki called Latto a "Karen" and "Scratch-Off" ... posted more DMs, including one where she turned down Latto's attempt to collaborate on the "Big Energy" remix.

Latto fired back, calling Nicki a 40-year-old bully, and uploaded a recorded phone conversation they had on the Grammy topic ... and you hear both women going at it!!!

Latto accused Nicki of having "only child syndrome" because, at one time, she was the only female rap star in the game -- to which, Nicki scolded her with, "You didn't do your research!"

As of now, there's no resolution, and fans don't expect one.

German track star Luz Long battled Black American star Jesse Owens during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin -- while Hitler watched -- but instead of treating each other like enemies, the men became close friends.

And, now, Luz's famed silver medal from the long jump is on the block at SCP Auctions ... one of the most important medals in Olympic history.

Owens won four gold medals during the '36 Games ... and became a global superstar almost overnight. But, one of the medals almost never was ... 'cause Jesse was one missed jump away from failing to qualify for the medal round of the long jump.

That's when Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long -- born across the world and in very different circumstances than Jesse -- approached his competitor and offered him some advice.

“Why don’t you draw a line a few inches in back of the board and aim at making your take-off from there," Luz said to Jesse, saying, "You’ll be sure not to foul, and you certainly ought to jump far enough to qualify. What does it matter if you’re not first in the trials?”

Owens later talked about what those words meant for him, and did for his performance.

“Suddenly all the tension seemed to ebb out of my body as the truth of what he said hit me. Confidently, I drew a line a full foot in back of the board and proceeded to jump from there. I qualified with almost a foot to spare.”

In the finals, Long and Owens battled, both breaking the previous Olympic record in the process. In the end, Jesse, with a jump of 8.06 meters, beat Luz, and won the gold medal ... while LL took silver.

Luz, could've been mad, jealous, or even seen Jesse as the enemy, but instead was actually the first to embrace the man who just dashed his dreams of Olympic gold.

"You forced me to give my best,” Owens told Luz.

After receiving their medals, in one of the most courageous moments in Olympic history, Jesse and Luz walked side by side around the stadium, waving to the 110,000 spectators in attendance.

And remember, one of those people was Adolf Hitler ... who was annoyed a Black man dominated the Games, exposing his lies about race.

“It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler,” Owens later said.

“You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t be a plating on the twenty-four karat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment.”

Berlin, 1936, is the last time Jesse and Luz would see each other. The German track star was killed in 1943 during World War II at the age of 30.

However, shortly before his death, Long wrote a handwritten note to his friend Jesse, where he sadly predicted his impending death, and asked a favor.

"My heart tells me, if I be honest with you, that this is the last letter I shall ever write. If it is so, I ask you something. It is a something so very important to me. It is you go to Germany when this war done, someday find my [son], and tell him about his father. Tell him, Jesse, what times were like when we not separated by war. I am saying -- tell him how things can be between men on this earth.⁣"

In 1951, years after the letter, Owens fulfilled his promise and met Luz's son. Jesse would later serve as his best man at his wedding.

Now, nearly 90 years after he won the medal, Luz's granddaughter, Julia Kellner-Long, the daughter of the son Jesse befriended, has decided to put the medal on the block as a way to keep her grandpa's memory alive.

The auction for the medal -- estimated to be worth between $500K and $1 million -- ends this weekend

Kodak Black is screaming conspiracy against BET after his hit record "Super Gremlin" lost to Latto's "Big Energy" for "Song of the Year."

An upset Kodak went the distance in airing out his grievances ... targeting BET exec Connie Orlando, who's instrumental in all the network's music programming.

According to Big Yak, Connie was in cahoots with the female empowerment movement beforehand, and only invited artists like himself and EST Gee to generate bigger public interest.

The Hip Hop Awards ratings reportedly skyrocketed 34% from last year's tally, but Kodak wants J Prince to restart his award show talks after many rappers shared similar issues with last year's Grammys.

Kodak says GloRilla's "FNF" anthem should have taken the crown, and threw plenty of slander toward Latto ... calling her a "hating ass mutt" and "Frappucino."

Despite Kodak's opinions, Latto's "Big Energy" recently made history as the longest-running female rap song on the Billboard Hot 100 -- a whopping 49 weeks and counting!!!

The 2 rap stars have been at odds since Latto featured Kodak on her "777" album last spring ... when she suggested he was being difficult over clearing the song after his advances were rebuffed -- setting off a war between camps.

Joey Bada$$ made a powerful statement at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards ... urging rappers to stop delivering messages that lead to their demise, or the death of others.

During his performance of his "2000" album cut “Head High," Joey lined up 12 backup dancers ... each with a slain rapper's name embroidered on their hoodie.

In chronological order of their deaths, Joey honored Scott La Rock, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Big L, Soulja Slim, XXXTENTACION, Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke, King Von, Young Dolph, Trouble and PnB Rock -- all who fell victim to gun violence between 1987 and last month ... when PnB was killed. 😕

Joey went on to argue rappers are spurring their own genocide, and preached the culture needs to take accountability for the message it's delivering to kids.

He also slammed the popular slang term "op" a.k.a. enemy ... contending that war is being fought within rappers' own circles.

The New York rapper isn't the only one from his rap generation to decry the rap murder rate -- just a few weeks ago, Rich Homie Quan told us the "shoot 'em up, bang-bang music" is a problem for everyone who hears it.

When "MJ: The Musical" meets "The Producers" ... you get a little something like this.

John Branca -- one of the guys behind Broadway's biggest spectacle right now -- went backstage Friday night with his wife, Jenna, to meet the show's lead star ... Myles Frost, who plays Michael. They had a cool little photo-op moment together -- flashing smiles and looking sharp.

'MJ' has been playing since earlier this February -- after a lot of delays, due to COVID -- and so far ... it's a smash hit. Not only has it been commercially successful, but it has sat well with critics too ... even snagging a handful of Tonys this year, including for Frost.

He won Best Actor in a Musical -- and 'MJ' has won some technical Tonys too, such as Best Choreography, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design. It's about Mike's real-life 1992 Dangerous tour, and the show gives a BTS glimpse at some of his imagined rehearsals.

Of course, it also covers a ton of MJ hits along the way ... with his signature dance numbers to boot. There was controversy around this at first, but most of that seems to have fallen by the wayside, especially this many months into a long and consistent run.

George and Amal Clooney brought out some of their most famous friends in NYC to christen a new award show ... with guests including Michelle Obama, Drew Barrymore, Cindy Crawford and more.

The star-studded event went down Thursday at the New York Public Library. The Albie Awards, named after Justice Albie Sachs -- and hosted by George and Amal -- were about honoring folks who have taken a stand against injustice.

Of course, the power couple was front and center the whole night ... and they certainly looked the part. Amal wore a bedazzled Versace gown, while GC rocked a tux.

Unclear if she was at the show, but Michelle Obama was spotted entering The Albie Award's after-party at The Mark Hotel following the event.

Among the final celeb guestlist ... Clooney's co-star Julia Roberts, John Krasinski, Meryl Streep, Gayle King, Drew Barrymore, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber.

Dua Lipa and Lori Harvey also pulled up to the event. Of course, Dua Lipa recently made headlines with the soon-to-be former host of "The Daily Show" Trevor Noah as the two were spotted hanging out in NYC.

Keegan-Michael Key joined a very lucky group on the TMZ Celebrity Tour ... offerin' up advice on how award shows can evolve so comedy bits don't drag people down.

Keegan hopped on our bus in Bev Hills ... and as his wife and writing partner Elle kicked it on the sidewalk, he offered up some tips on cringe-worthy humor during these awards shows.

KMK put it plainly -- you can make a killer joke that has a positive message ... but bringing someone down should be out of bounds.

He's pretty clearly referring to last week's Emmys ... where Jimmy Kimmel was dragged for "passing out" on stage as Quinta Brunson accepted her award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

After finishing his TMZ Tour "Ted Talk," he entertained passengers with a throwback from 'Key & Peele' ... breaking out his substitute teacher character that he debuted a decade ago!!!

The Las Vegas Aces were poppin' bottles, twerkin', and making beer angels in the locker room after winning their first WNBA title!

The party went down after the Aces beat the Connecticut Sun, 78-71, in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals at the Mohegan Sun Arena Sunday ... winning the championship.

It's the team's first title ... as well as the first 'chip for head coach Becky Hammon -- who made history as the first coach to win a title in their first season at the helm.

So, the Aces had A LOT to celebrate!

And, Aisha Sheppard -- a 2nd round pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft -- enjoyed the beer showers by dropping to the floor and making a beer angel (she's from D.C., she knows a thing or two about snow).

While Aisha was enjoyin' the drizzle, Kelsey Plum was hilariously interrupting Chelsea Gray (the Finals MVP) and A'ja Wilson's press conference ... with her boombox.

Plum -- who had 15 points in the deciding game -- also shared her championship meal on her IG ... a salad. But, don't ask her if it was good.

"They gave the team pizza, okay?! Look what they gave me," the point guard said, "I'm so faded I can't even taste this."

Yeah, the Emmy Awards are all about taking home one of those statues, but it's not a total loss if ya don't get one ... 'cause there's always the after-party!!!

Netflix hosted their Emmy night affair at Milk Studios and some of the winners who pulled up to celebrate included Julia Garner and Jason Bateman from "Ozark" and Kim Ji-yeon and Oh Young-soo from "Squid Games".

"Squid Games" star Lee Jung-jae took a moment to flick it up with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos ... while still clenching his Emmy for Best Male Actor in a drama, the first Asian actor to do so.

"Stranger Things" creator Matt Duffer and star Charlie Heaton were also at the Netflix bash, even though most of the show's cast skipped the award show.

The HBO Max after party, held at San Vicente Bungalows, was just as popping.

"Succession" star Nicholas Braun and "White Lotus" producer David Bernad hit up the reception ... as well as Maude Apatow and Sydney Sweeney from the hit series "Euphoria".

Braun's costars -- Jeremy Strong and Matthew Macfadyen were also looking to cut loose ... after all the "Succession" cast scored the Emmy for Best Drama.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" stars Larry David and Cheryl Hines also made sure to celebrate the night with HBO.

The 2022 Emmys are over, and it's clear a memo went out before the affair kicked off -- wear black or white, and most of the attendees fell in line.

We're joking about the memo, but it's true celebs were all smiles Monday night at the Microsoft Theater in downtown L.A., and also all kinda matchy.

Those on theme included Reese Witherspoon and Laura Linney, Sydney Sweeney and Zendaya, Matthew Macfadyen and Nicholas Braun, Andrew Garfield and Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez, Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein, Seth Rogen and Julia Garner ... and a lot more.

A lot of the gents in the room wore simple black and white tuxes -- so in many ways, it was a pretty traditional fashion affair, but the number of people in straight-up black and white definitely caught the eye.

Everyone looked great, and obviously brought out their best 'fits. It just seems they all hopped on a conference call together, 'cause very few people broke the unofficial dress code.

Jennifer Coolidge punked the Emmys in spectacular fashion Monday night ... when she defied the orchestra that was trying to get her off the stage and turned the whole thing into a dance party!!!

Jennifer won the richly-deserved award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series and at first, seemed a little flummoxed ... she says she swelled up after taking a lavender bath ... so much so she barely got into her Emmy getup and had trouble speaking.

She was hysterical ... seemingly rattled as she ticked off the people she wanted to thank.

Then, the dreaded orchestra started to play her off, but Jen wasn't having it. She made it clear this could be a "once-in-a-lifetime" moment and wasn't about to go quietly.

The band then pivoted to more lively music, and rather than taking the hint, she busted a move that sent the audience into an uproar of laughter. It was Ferris-Bueller-like as other celebs in their seats started to feel the beat in solidarity!

Steven Spielberg has done it again -- his latest flick got a standing ovation at the Toronto Film Festival this weekend ... and the Oscar buzz is so loud you'd think it was a chainsaw.

The iconic moviemaker got a packed room of ticketholders at TIFF Saturday to rise to their feet once the credits started to roll at the conclusion of his newest offering, 'The Fabelmans,' which is inspired by his own life and family ... and story about how he got into filmmaking.

According to critics and journos who were there ... it's being considered a masterpiece, and perhaps one of SS' best projects to date -- which is saying something, of course.

The premise is about a kid growing up with a creative mother who's into the arts and feeds her son's passion for filming -- while the father is more grounded and pushing the boy into a more stable career. Supposedly, it's part dramedy, part biopic ... and most say it's fantastic.

Essentially, it's Spielberg's love letter to cinema -- and based on the response it's getting so far ... some feel a frontrunner at the Oscars has emerged, including on the acting front.

Michelle Williams is getting rave reviews for her stellar performance -- and Paul Dano, too, is receiving kudos for a job well done. Considering the Academy's long history of loving/voting for movies about movies, this one is sure to do well come awards season.

Murray Bartlett is going up against his own guys at the Emmys this year -- and while you might think he'd be a little competitive ... the guy's just here for a good time.

We got the Aussie actor -- who's the lead star of HBO's hit limited series, "White Lotus" -- just as he was arriving in L.A. for Monday's television award show ... and our walk-and-talk interview with him is absolutely awesome.

Check it out ... MB is radiating pure joy as he leaves LAX with a baggage handler in tow -- telling us he's super excited to be nominated, even if it means fellow 'Lotus' actors beat him.

If you didn't know, Jake Lacy and Steve Zahn -- who also appears in "White Lotus" -- are nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series as well ... but Murray's just as happy for them as he is for himself. We tell him he's the favorite to win, and the dude is completely humble.

Murray tells us he and the rest of the cast are out to party it up and celebrate the show's success, regardless of who wins. Fact is, at least one of them is due to walk away with a statuette -- because the series was so popular ... and the performances were top-notch.

We also think we might've learned what Murry's secret to success is ... and it seems to come down to what he's munching on. The old adage is true, and then some!