Celebrity Feuds

50 Cent has no qualms about calling out his ex-flame Vivica A. Fox for what he feels is her encroaching on his "BMF" territory!!!

Vivica is currently promoting the "The First Lady of BMF: The Tonesa Welch Story" ... an upcoming BET+ biopic, which she's directing.

According to 50's expertise and (close connections), Tonesa was never a part of Detroit's infamous BMF enterprise, and says she's more accurately linked to the Detroit 263 Crew ... which her ex-husband Terry "Southwest T" Flenory commanded.

50 tagged Southwest in his IG post -- perhaps to get a second opinion on the facts -- and also slandered Judge Mathis' inclusion as executive producer. But, Vivica sees the entire ordeal as promotion and happily reposted her former flame's rant!!!

The series was greenlit several weeks ago and begins filming in April in Washington, D.C.

If you remember, Tonesa lashed out against Lala Anthony's "BMF" character "MarKaisha Taylor" and claimed the role depicted her as a pedophile -- so accuracy is definitely her thing.

Kash Doll later defended the role and the show, reminding viewers the show is only loosely based on real life.

Ben Affleck is clearing the air on what he says is a widely held misconception -- that he's totally miserable most of the time ... even when he's pretty damn happy.

Ben was on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tuesday to promote his new movie "Air," and the guys chatted about a number of things, including Ben's RBF ... y'know the thing he went viral for at this year's Grammys. You'll recall, he looked very unamused as his wife Jennifer Lopez danced alongside him.

Now, Ben cleaned it up a bit for Kimmel, instead of "resting bitch face" ... he said, "I have a very unhappy-looking resting face."

The guys joked Ben's face played a key role during a Christmas party Ben and Jen threw. They'd invited Jimmy and his wife, but as JK put it, "It did seem like you weren't quite as psyched about the party as everybody else".

Ben then tried to address the issue once and for all ... by showing a range of emotions on his face.

Amused and content looks a lot more like pissed off and I'd rather die than be here.

Hey, he's admitting it, but BA says don't blame him ... "That's how God made me, you don't have to punish me for it!"

Of course, Ben and JLo recently attended the "Air" premiere ... and the two looked happy as ever together, as they locked lips and took photos.

Brian Cox has backtracked on negative comments he made about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry -- and he's blaming the media for taking his words out of context.

The "Succession" star was interviewed by Radio Times and now says he had "enormous sympathy" for the royals after they announced they were leaving Britain's Monarchy in 2020. He previously showed little sympathy for the couple, saying Markle knew what she was getting into when she tied the knot with Harry and even fantasized about marrying Prince Charming.

In his Radio Times sit down, Cox said Markle got caught up in a fairytale that had an unhappy ending, referring to the Royal Family. He said the couple was the product of a dying institution (The Monarchy), which was difficult for Meghan to adapt to due to her American upbringing.

Cox said Markle understandably viewed The Royal lifestyle as a fairytale, but it all went "horribly wrong” for Meghan and Harry in the end.

The actor added, “I think they’re victims," meaning Harry and Meghan. Cox also said he was "a bit angry" his words were taken out of context during an interview with Haute Living New York earlier this month.

In that interview, he was quoted by the outlet as saying Markle knew what she was getting into and had "childhood dreams of marrying Prince Charming and all that s–t we see as fantasy that could be our lives in our dreams.”

Cox went on to say Markle shouldn't have been surprised by the crush of media attention following her and Harry's exit from the Royal Family.

David Benavidez says an ass whoopin's waiting for Caleb Plant on Saturday ... telling TMZ Sports he's gonna "put a beating" on his longtime enemy during their upcoming fight, and Canelo's next on the hit list!

We spoke to Benavidez (26-0 w/ 23 KOs) -- one of the most talented fighters in the world -- ahead of his highly-anticipated matchup, pitting David vs. Caleb in the main event of Saturday's Showtime Boxing card.

"This fight has everything everybody wants to see,"  Benavidez said. "It has bad blood, it has drama, it has two fighters that really don't like each other go at it. I really dislike Caleb Plant."

He's not kiddin' either. The two boxing stars got into a heated confrontation at their kickoff press conference last month in Los Angeles, with their teams having an exchange of words.

In fact, the beef goes back years, all the way to 2018, when the guys were involved in a scuffle at a boxing gym.

So, as you can see, the friction's real, though Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) told us he believes the verbal attack reeked of "desperation" by Benavidez.

"He can say whatever he wants but I know at the end of the day, he is really scared of me," Benavidez said.

"Everybody I put my hands on I hurt and I know that for a fact... he knows that for a fact."

Benavidez added, "I just don't like this guy. I've been thinking about it for four months, every day, there's only one goal in my head and that's really to put a beating on this guy."

Once he's done with Plant, Benavidez says he's gunning for Canelo.

"After I beat Caleb Plant, and the way I'm gonna beat him, I feel like people are gonna put way more pressure on him to make this [Alvarez] fight happen," Benavidez said.

"If he doesn't make this fight happen, he's gonna get a lot of criticism."

Until then, Benavidez is ready for his 24th knockout win on March 25.

"RHOA" alum Eva Marcille is definitely NOT here for the way Tamar Braxton went after Kandi Burruss ... saying TB's vague IG posts were messy, and misled fans into thinking Eva was part of the drama.

We got Eva at LAX and she got candid about the Tamar/Kandi feud ... which hit close to home for her because she got pulled into the mix when Tamar publicly claimed she had serious beef with an Atlanta housewife.

Eva's issue is Tamar was far from clear with her accusation.

ICYMI, Tamar posted a series of IG stories in December about an unnamed Atlanta housewife and her husband who had allegedly threatened her -- her only hint was that the husband was involved in politics.

Fans quickly speculated it was Eva because her husband is an attorney who has a hand in ATL politics.

However, the truth didn't come out until this week, when TB was on "Watch What Happens Live" and told Andy Cohen it was actually Kandi and Todd Tucker.

Eva says she did have a chance to talk to Tamar, who apologized for dragging her into the drama. Regardless, EM says it was a "funky situation" all around, and she told Tamar it all could have been avoided if she just went directly to Kandi months ago.

Troy Ave is reveling in the fact he helped put his mortal enemy, Taxstone, behind bars -- he just released a very disrespectful track celebrating his pending prison sentence.

The Brooklyn MC unleashed the fiery-titled, "Dear Hater I Won (Taxstone Found Guilty)" ... dropping it Friday, just hours after a jury in NYC found the pioneering hip hop podcaster was guilty of manslaughter.

The song opens up with audio of Boskoe100 slamming Taxstone for writing a letter to the judge that spoke against Troy, which provided the fuel for the slanderous chorus ... "Since you n***** like writing letters, here go one/Dear hater, I won/I'ma boss, you a bum/Suck a d**k, till it c**s." 🙊

Troy codirected the visuals with Shanicerayneil, and wildly captures himself rapping outside the NYC courthouse where the trial took place.

He justified his decision to testify against Tax ... by using an image of Jay-Z in court during his 2021 perfume lawsuit, assuring his critics he was in the right and his rival was in the wrong.

Taxstone, real name Daryl Campbell, was convicted of killing Troy's bodyguard Ronald McPhatter, and wounding three others -- including Troy -- during T.I.’s 2016 concert in NYC. Troy used clips of the shooting in the 'Hater' music vid.

We broke the story back when ... several people were caught in the Irving Plaza melee that spawned massive chaos inside the venue.

Jermaine Dupri is admitting he dropped the ball getting Yung Joc's 2006 No. 1 smash hit "It's Goin Down" for his So So Def empire ... all because he decided to go to bed!!!

The platinum producer revealed he had signed the song's producer Nitti to his label, and was expecting Joc to follow suit once he heard the song ... but the very next day the pair went over to Diddy's Bad Boy.

As they say, the rest is history ... the song topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for 8 weeks straight.

JD's "For Motivational Use Only" collaborator Curren$y quipped on "The Breakfast Club" ... JD should've "stayed up" -- which the platinum producer agreed, but also said he didn't actually sign Joc to lock him and the 3x platinum track.

The first version of "It's Goin Down" kicked off with the So So Def audio tag so JD thought the song was in the bag ... a costly mistake as far as Joc was concerned.

The Atlanta rapper recently ranked Diddy over JD in terms of marketing savvy on an episode of "My Expert Opinion" ... and also felt JD stretched his focus too thin for his liking.

JD still has the opp to get revenge against Diddy in their still pending Verzuz battle, which he insists is still happening -- but the 2 superproducers are plotting a bigger event than what fans are used to seeing.

Selena Gomez is finally speaking out amid the fan-fueled drama with Hailey Bieber ... coming to HB's defense and condemning the hate coming her way.

Selena took to IG Friday with a message to her fans ... "Hailey Bieber reached out to me and let me know that she has been receiving death threats and such hateful negativity."

She continued, "This isn't what I stand for. No one should have to experience hate or bullying. I've always advocated for kindness and really want this all to stop.❤️"

What's more ... Selena follows Hailey on IG ... another sign she wants to douse the flames that have erupted on social media.

ICYMI, the rumored beef between Selena and Hailey surfaced after SG posted a video about her eyebrows ... fans took Kylie Jenner's posts with Hailey as a diss against Selena. It takes too long to explain what the alleged dispute was over [in a word, eyebrows] but it was silly.

Fans speculated there was been tension between the two ladies for years, since Hailey got engaged to Justin a couple months after ending his long-term relationship with Selena.

Selena has clearly moved on and wants everyone else to do the same.

We covered it all in the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast.

Originally Published -- 7:01 AM PT

Floyd Mayweather's jeweler tells TMZ Sports Jake Paul is fibbin' about the way things went down in Miami earlier this month ... saying there were nowhere near 50 guys in TBE's entourage during their altercation outside of a Heat game.

Shuki International had a front-row view of the two fighters' tiff in the South Florida street back on March 8 -- as he attended the NBA game with the legendary boxer -- and he says there were only about eight guys with Floyd at the time of the ruckus.

He also tells us Mayweather didn't seek out Jake -- saying their encounter was strictly coincidental.

"Jake is exaggerating," Shuki said. "We just finished the game, pulled out, and Jake was there. Floyd was with his eight bodyguards."

"And [Jake] just run like a rabbit."

Of course, Jake's side of the story is a little different ... he said Floyd waited outside the arena for him in order to confront him with several dozen other people -- and he took off because he didn't want to get jumped.

"I'm tough," Paul said at the time, "I don't need to prove my toughness, but I'm not f****** dumb. I'm not gonna sit there and try to fight 50 dudes."

Shuki, though, seemed to imply run-ins like these might become commonplace between the two if Paul doesn't issue an apology soon.

The jeweler tells us Floyd's still got beef over the way Jake took his hat during the Logan Paul pre-fight press conference in 2021.

"He's gotta do the right thing," Shuki says. "He's gotta respect the world champion."

As for a potential fight between Mayweather and Paul -- Shuki tells us he doesn't think it'd even be a contest ... expecting a Floyd KO in a matter of seconds.

Travis Scott's skills as a fashion innovator are coming under fire by Dennis Rodman ... who's accusing the superstar rapper of copying the look of his signature sneakers.

Dennis went after Travis at Got Sole's recent sneaker convention in Chicago as the NBA champ pointed out his high-top kicks originated the reverse Nike Swoosh logo before Travis' model hit the market.

The Worm's Nike Air Darwin shoe dropped in 1994, shortly before his days of playing with Michael Jordan and the Bulls. Travis and Jordan Brand connected for his popular mocha-colored AJ1 Retro High OG sneakers in 2019.

Dennis didn't seem to be a fan of Travis' shoe, and said he just wants his credit for putting out the design first.

D.L. Hughley is pushing back against folks who say Chris Rock deserved to be slapped by Will Smith for making fun of Jada Pinkett Smith ... he finds the narrative extremely ironic.

The comedian ripped into The Root's Candace McDuffie, who went on CNN and claimed Chris had it coming after years of targeting Black women with his jokes, saying she's got it all twisted.

D.L. says Chris isn't punching down on marginalized women, as Candace believes, but rather making fun of celebs who put their business out in the streets ... he says it's all fair game.

The irony for D.L. ... Candace thinking the violent slap was justified while a comedic response goes too far, and everyone's allowed an opinion except for the man who actually got smacked in the face on live TV.

Jimmy Kimmel's hosting the Oscars again tonight, and a year out from the infamous slap ... the dude has been talking a lot about it, kinda turning the moment into a punchline.

The late night funny man has been doing a ton of press in the weeks leading up to the big gig -- his third such time handling MC duties for Hollywood's biggest show -- and yes ... he's been asked repeatedly about Will Smith smacking Chris Rock, and how he'll address it.

Here's a few quotes of JK's from the past couple weeks or so. When asked by THR what he would do if someone tries to pull a copycat and slap him, Kimmel said ... "If I’m bigger than they are, I beat the s*** out of them on television. And if it’s The Rock, I run."

A few days ago, as preparations were underway, Kimmel made another joke about carnage ...  with reference to the color of this year's walkup. He said, "People have been asking, 'Is there going to be any trouble this year? Is there going to be any violence this year?'"

He adds, "We certainly hope not. But if there is, I think the decision to go with a champagne carpet over a red carpet shows how confident we are that no blood will be shed."

In other words, he's been swearing off the brutality by teasing the possibility of more, albeit in jest. On the issue of actually talking about it in his monologue, Jimmy says he'll do it.

He's said in interviews that he's going to "squeeze just a couple more drops out of it" and give a take that he thinks no one has heard yet. Kimmel did note he doesn't plan on talking about it at length but says it's the elephant in the room and that it must be addressed.

As for the whole crisis team thing -- namely, AMPAS hiring a bunch of people to "deal" with any craziness that might go on -- JK says he isn't privy to it ... and knows nothing of the logistics of what they have planned or how they would implement him if things go south.

It's interesting that Jimmy's been making light of the slap as much as he has, and will presumably do so again come 5 PM. Ya gotta figure ABC and the Academy have signed off on it all ... they're the producers and showrunners of this thing, and they call the shots.

Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh seem to have moved past their rumored movie set beef a year later -- 'cause they went to the same party this weekend ... but weren't together, per se.

The two actresses were among many celebs who attended CAA's pre-Oscars party Friday night in L.A. ... and while it's interesting to see them in the same space -- this after they reportedly squabbled while making "Don't Worry Darling" -- it's possible things are still icy.

Fact is, there isn't a photo of them posing together or even hanging around the same group of people at any given time during the shindig -- which was star-studded and packed. That kinda jibes with what they were doing at Venice last year ... namely, keeping distance.

It could mean nothing, of course. However, by the same token, it could also mean they're still not that cool with each other ... and choose not to fraternize, even now.

Not to kick up the Team Flo/Team Wilde camps again, but it was quite clear there was friction at the time.

In any case ... they seem to be able to play nice in the same building, which is all you can really ask for, we suppose. BTW, they were far from the only famous faces on the scene.

Other stars in attendance ... Pedro Pascal, Zoe Kravitz, Cate Blanchett, Allison Janney, Andrew Garfield, Halle Bailey, Rita Ora, Taika Waititi, Miles Teller, Chloe Grace Moretz, KiKi Layne, Elton John and husband David Furnish, Sandra Bullock and Brian Tyree Henry.

All the others ... Demi Moore, Antonio Banderas, Morgan Freeman, Maria Sharapova, Amy Adams, Vin Diesel, Hailee Steinfeld, James Corden, Richard Madden, Trevor Noah, Lily James, Paul Mescal, Jon Hamm, Zooey Deschanel, B.J. Novak, Danny DeVito, Simone Ashley, HAIM, Ana de Armas, DeWanda Wise, Eiza Gonzalez, Ariana DeBose and lots more.

Just when you thought you knew all of the secretive Scheananigans of "Vanderpump Rules", these Bravolebs have recently stunned the world! Yes, their bods are smokin' hot, but some of their latest sexcapades are not! Take a much-needed time-out from the recent Scandoval and guess The 'VPR' star in the racy pic!

Just raise your glasses high, and you'll see Lala Kent, Ariana Madix, James Kennedy and more of the 'Vanderpump' gang wearing a whole lot of NOTHIN' leaving not much to your imagination ... except for maybe some goat cheese balls 😜.

These smokin' shots are SUR to get your minds goin' and the Pumptinis flowin'! Put your Bravolebrity knowledge to the test and guess the 'VPR' cast member in the sexy snap!

Hit-Boy isn't backing down from claiming the rap producer throne after calling out a few of the other top guys in the game.

On Friday, HB and The Alchemist unveiled their new collaboration "Slipping Into Darkness," with HB expanding on his previous shots aimed at Hitmaka, Metro Boomin, Southside and Mustard with acidic bars,

"I'm like Deebo on his cruiser, how you got no credits without co-producers?/Time to give these n***** the royal flush, no Roto-Rooter/It's Hit-Boy buckin', just so you n***** know the shooter."

The Third Eye Raz-directed visual cleverly features HB rapping on Alchemist's beat and vice versa and ends with HB telling The Game via FaceTme the trend of having multiple high-profile producers loaded onto just one track ... is simply wack.

In his defense, it was Hitmaka who drew first blood when he was disrespectfully adamant on Hot 97 there's no comparison between HB and him ... in any statistical category.

And, the typically reserved Metro Boomin sent a subliminal shot using Kendrick Lamar's "Rich Spirit" lyrics, threatening HB to chill ... or suffer embarrassing consequences.

N.O.R.E.'s attempt to squash the beef between Fat Joe and ex-Terror Squad rapper Cuban Link resulted in Remy Ma laughing so hard, they had to scrub the entire scene from a "Drink Champs" episode!!!

The DC crew huddled up on a recent interview to discuss their decisions not to interview Cuban, Jae Hood and Reek Da Villain due to their long-running conflicts with Joe, The LOX and Busta Rhymes, respectively ... and Remy, being the 1st Lady of TS herself, confirmed that the beef was forever up!!!

In 2021, Cuban Link falsely accused Joe of snitching, which reignited their beef that's been festering since the mid-'00s, causing N.O.R.E. to speak out and admit he had no intentions of interviewing any artist who's against his friends.

N.O.R.E. also addressed his former Def Jam labelmate Keith Murray's recent claims that he was snubbed in person at the last Rock The Bells Festival.

According to N.O.R.E.'s recollection, he was running about 30 deep (thanks to Capone and Tragedy Khadafi's entourages) and didn't want to add to any confusion.