Celebrity Feuds

Too Short and E-40 don't want you to get it twisted ... they're buddy-buddy now, but there's gonna be plenty of smack talk leading up to and during their rap battle ... and it's already heating up.

The Bay Area rappers joined us on "TMZ Live" Friday ahead of their highly-anticipated matchup on "Verzuz," and we asked them if they're really going to keep it friendly during Saturday's match.

Short and 40 say don't let their chummy attitudes fool you ... they're coming out swinging. In fact, each of 'em threw a jab or 2 while we were talking to them.

Remember ... this week in Bev Hills, Too Short made it sound like it was going to be all love between them -- and nothing like the beef-fueled "Verzuz" Gucci Mane and Jeezy put down.

But, now, as they get close to game time ... their competitive juices are flowing.

Eminem's clapping back at Snoop Dogg in a new song after Snoop left him off his top 10 rappers list ... and he's also giving Rihanna a long-overdue apology.

The Detroit rapper just released a deluxe version of his album, "Music to Be Murdered By - Side B" and he responds to Snoop on his track, "Zeus."

Em raps ... "And as far as squashin' beef, I'm used to people knockin' me. But, just not in my camp. I'm diplomatic, 'cause I'm tryna be. Last thing I need is Snoop doggin' me. Man, dog, you was like a damn God to me. Man, not really. I had dog backwards."

Pretty soft as disses go, but Eminem's rebuttal comes after Snoop left him off his list of top 10 rappers of all time. Back in July, Snoop called Eminem "the great white hope" ... but basically Em owes all his success to Dr. Dre.

Em and Snoop have performed together -- they're both tight with Dre -- but now their beef seems to be heating up. It'll be interesting to see how/if they patch things up.

As for Rihanna ... Eminem said he's sorry for an older track -- not released, but leaked -- where he said he "sided" with Chris Brown.

He raps, also on Zeus, "But, me, long as I re-promise to be honest, and wholeheartedly, apologies, Rihanna. For that song that leaked, I'm sorry, Ri. It wasn't meant to cause you grief. Regardless, it was wrong of me."

Jose Canseco is REALLY pissed at Logan Paul over the breakup with his daughter -- suggesting something scandalous went down behind-the-scenes.

The ex-MLB star isn't spilling all of the tea ... but says the split between Logan and supermodel Josie Canseco earlier this year "left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth."

Now, 56-year-old Jose wants to FIGHT the 25-year-old YouTube star to defend his family's honor.

... and yeah, Jose insists this is for real.

"I actually met him when my daughter and Logan came down to Vegas," Jose said this week to Sports Talk Chicago on AM 1530 WCKG.

"He seemed like a very nice young kid -- to me, seemed a bit on the arrogant side. But, then all of the sudden they broke up."

"I gotta give you the final details, they will come up .. but you know, it left me with a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth."

Once Jose floated the idea of boxing Logan on social media back in November, Logan replied, "No problem. I love smashing Cansecos."

Yeesh.

Now, Jose is calling for LP to back up his words ... saying he'll be waiting for him after his exhibition with Floyd Mayweather next month.

"Get ready, this is real. This is not a joke ... If I hit him, he's going down."

Jose also says he's not intimidated by Logan's age and boxing experience -- saying, "Even though I'm 56-years-old, I do have some martial arts and celebrity fighting experience."

Jose even references his 2009 fight against South Korean MMA star Hong-man Choi -- a 7'2" monster who beat down Jose in just over a minute when they squared off.

"After fighting a guy who's 7'2" and 400 pounds, these guys look like shrimps to me," Jose says.

As for his strategy, Jose says he will channel his inner Rocky Balboa ... using 3 words to finish Paul off -- "Blunt force trauma."

Snoop Dogg thinks Cardi B needs to rein it in a little when it comes to talking about and showing off her lady parts -- which has a lot of people scratching their heads.

The legendary rapper -- who's no stranger to getting raunchy -- sat down for a virtual interview recently with Central Ave and gave his honest thoughts about Cardi's hit song 'WAP,' which he says is a bit much on the explicit front ... and not a good look.

He says Cardi should "slow down" when discussing her privates, because he feels like a woman's vagina is something that should be cherished and kept secret for whoever's fortunate enough to encounter it. He says he'd like to see more privacy and intimacy, and 'WAP' pretty much epitomizes the exact opposite of that ... in his eyes.

Of course, folks were quick to jump on Snoop and call him out for what seems like hypocrisy -- seeing how he's made a career rapping about women and sex, and sometimes in very explicit terms.

Not to worry, because that irony was not lost on Snoop in his chat -- he acknowledged that if he was a younger man, he'd probably be all about it ... and might even hop on the 'WAP' remix. With that said, he notes that he's just older and sees things differently now.

Snoop mentioned having a daughter changing his perspective on life, but in the same breath ... he says she's "of this generation," so he tries not to flex too much.

Oh, the times ... they are a-changin', Snoop.

Taylor Swift dropped her second album of 2020, setting fans on a rabid hunt for hidden meanings in her lyrics ... and some hear references to her Kim and Kanye feud and a failed relationship.

"Evermore" features 17 tracks, one of them being "Long Story Short" ... where Taylor sings, "I tried to pick my battles 'til the battle picked me. Misery." Fans believe it's an obvious reference to her 2016 war of words with Kim and Kanye over the lyrics to his song, "Famous."

If you don't know already ... Kanye's verse, "I made that bitch famous" -- in reference to Taylor -- sparked a massive back and forth between Kanye claiming Taylor knew the lyric was happening and Taylor claiming the opposite.

Shortly after that feud, Taylor started dating actor Tom Hiddleston, but the couple split after just a few months ... and fans think the chorus for "Long Story Short" references that too.

She sings, "Clung to the wrong lips. Long story short, it was the wrong guy."

"When I was seeing that and I read it, and then I got the full transcript and I heard it, I was like, 'Man, f**k.' I was like, 'Are you f***ing kidding me?'

LeBron James is breaking his silence on Kyrie Irving's apparent shot at the Lakers superstar's clutch abilities during the NBA Finals ... admitting, "It kind of hurt me a little bit."

Uncle Drew raised eyebrows back in October when he spoke about teaming up with Kevin Durant in Brooklyn ... saying, "One thing I've always been comfortable with, I felt like I was the best option on every team I played for down the stretch," Irving said via "The Etcs" podcast.

"This is the first time in my career I've looked down and be like, 'That motherf**ker can make that shot too.'"

Of course, many considered the words a direct shot at LeBron, but Irving quickly denied that ... saying, "Why must it always be brother against brother? Why?"

Kyrie added, "If I'm addressing anyone, I'll say their name."

LeBron said he was shocked by the comments, insisting he wanted nothing but the best for Irving during their 3 years together on the Cavs.

LeBron notes things "could never align" with Irving in Cleveland ... "But I only cared about his well-being, both on and off the floor."

As for the timing of Irving's comments, LBJ said, "It was a f**ked up time ... Because it was the Finals ... the middle of the Finals."

Scottie Pippen says "The Last Dance" didn't tell the REAL story of the '90s Chicago Bulls ... and he was so upset about it, he directly voiced his frustrations to Michael Jordan.

The 10-part series documentary was one of the most-watched series in 2020 ... with fans getting an inside look at MJ and the Bulls' 6 NBA title runs.

The doc received mostly positive reviews -- it won an Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series -- but Pippen says he wasn't happy with the finished product.

"I don’t think it was that accurate in terms of really defining what was accomplished in one of the greatest eras of basketball, but also by two of the greatest players – and one could even put that aside and say the greatest team of all time," Pippen told The Guardian.

"I didn’t think those things stood out in the documentary. I thought it was more about Michael trying to uplift himself and to be glorified."

Pippen says he personally hit up MJ about his frustrations ... but it was only a brief interaction.

"I told him I wasn’t too pleased with it. He accepted it. He said, 'Hey, you’re right.' That was pretty much it."

While Pippen claims the doc was a fluff piece on MJ's legacy, he also admits he doesn't think it did His Airness many favors.

"I think it also backfired to some degree in that people got a chance to see what kind of personality Michael had."

Sounds like these two guys need to have a face-to-face and hash things out.

"I, Claressa Shields, will whoop Jake Paul's ass! He can come in the ring weighing 180 pounds and I will come weighing 168 and I will beat the s**t out of him!"

Yup, that's one of the greatest female boxers ever ... telling TMZ Sports she's ready to humble the YouTube superstar and show him what it's like to go up against a REAL fighter!!

We spoke with the champ about the recent Paul and Nate Robinson fight ... and she says they made a "mockery" of the sport because there are actual boxers who should have gotten the chance to fight under a Tyson and Jones Jr. card instead of social media stars and NBA players.

The 25-year-old says it's smart for Jake to keep calling out non-pro boxers ... but guarantees the dude would get exposed against a real fighter.

"Jake Paul is making his money, he's doing his thing, but stay away from us real fighters," Shields says.

"And anybody out there that say 'Oh, Jake Paul will destroy her because she's a woman', ... I'm the greatest woman! So, no, Jake Paul won't do nothing with me and if he think he can, he can come see me."

Shields says she's not talkin' sparring, either -- she would take Paul on in a real fight ... and donate her earnings to the water crisis in her hometown of Flint, Michigan.

As for what the boxing world would think of the potential matchup, Shields thinks people would still take Paul just because he's a dude.

"I've been boxing for 14 years, 2 Olympics but they would still give Jake Paul the nod because he's a man. And it's like, you guys don't know nothing!"

Boosie Badazz is taking his beef with Mark Zuckerberg to court ... he says Instagram banned his account because he's Black, so now he's suing over it.

The Louisiana rapper claims he was the victim of racial discrimination when IG put him in social media timeout back in August, and he says he's suing the multi-billionaire Facebook and IG owner for $20 million.

Boosie told Vlad TV the IG ban caused some of his business ventures to tank. He says the $20 million figure is what he lost when his original account was deactivated. It doesn't appear he's actually filed the suit yet.

Remember ... Boosie made a plea to Mark "Zuckinberger" this summer when his IG shut him down for repeatedly violating certain policies. If you followed Boosie on the 'gram, you know his old page was bootylicious ... although IG's never said exactly why it deleted his account.

Boosie thinks Zuck might be holding a grudge and trying to get revenge because he mispronounced his name in an epic rant.

As for the racial element ... Boosie claims he's being discriminated against because of his skin color, saying there's a lot of other folks -- presumably white -- who got their Instagram pages back after being banned for way worse stuff.

Diddy battling Dr. Dre is the next epic "Verzuz" the people wanna see ... the masterminds behind the battle show-turned-phenomenon know it too -- and they're not ruling it out.

"Verzuz" creators, and producing icons, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz joined us on "TMZ Live" to talk about how to follow up the record-setting 9 million viewers they got for Young Jeezy vs. Gucci Mane.

That battle rated higher than any singing talent show or music awards show, aside from the Grammys -- but Timbaland and Swizz have some ideas on how to go even higher.

Enter Diddy and Dre? We asked them point-blank about the matchup social media's been screaming to see -- and you gotta see their reactions. We'll give Swizz credit ... he didn't tip his hand, but certainly makes it sound like there have been conversations.

Translation: They're saying there's a chance.

In fact, both legends told us no one thought Jeezy and Gucci could ever be in the same room ... just to talk, never mind facing off in a music battle. So, they're making it clear -- everything's on the table now as far as upcoming "Verzuz" showdowns.

Check out Wednesday's "TMZ Live" to see what/who else they've got cooking for season 2 of "Verzuz."

"This the ugliest ball in the world right here."

That's Charles Barkley talking about the golf balls his partner, Phil Mickelson, gave him to use on the course Friday ... with Shaquille O'Neal's face plastered on them!!!

Chuck and Phil are going head-to-head with Steph Curry and Peyton Manning for "The Match 3" charity golf outing -- raising money for historically Black colleges and universities -- and Phil tried to give his teammate extra incentive to hit a good shot.

Mickelson told Barkley he's tired of his "NBA on TNT" colleagues disrespecting him -- most notably Shaq -- so it was time for a little payback.

Unfortunately, Charles didn't follow up with a hole-in-one, but didn't hit a bad shot either ... which has been the story of the day so far.

Chuck -- who's known to have a notoriously bad hitch in his swing -- has been swinging pretty smoothly ... and he and Phil are currently up 3 through 9 holes of the 18-hole showdown.

Drake almost finds humor in the Grammys which inexplicably snubbed The Weeknd, essentially saying those little trophies really don't mean crap.

Drake said Wednesday night, "I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artists that exist now and the ones that come after."

And, then the zinger ... "It's like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can't change their ways."

The Weeknd's Grammys snub had nothing to do with him playing the Super Bowl ... at least according to the Recording Academy Chief.

Harvey Mason Jr. -- interim President and CEO of the Academy -- says, "We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent."

He adds, the Grammys had no issue with him performing at the Super Bowl and would have loved to have him also perform for the awards show. TMZ broke the story ... negotiations for The Weeknd's Grammy performance got nasty, and our sources say he was issued an ultimatum -- play for us or the Super Bowl.

As for Weeknd receiving zero nominations -- Mason claims there was nothing nefarious to it. He says, "To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process."

As we reported ... it was revealed The Weeknd would be doing the SB Halftime Show on Nov. 12. The Grammys point out its voting deadline for noms was in October. Mason is adamant nobody was upset about the prospect of the singer performing at both events ... because the Grammys happens first.

Mason also says he's "saddened" over The Weeknd and his team saying "The Grammys remain corrupt." He says ... "I try to empathize with where that came from, but it was difficult to hear."

Despite the apparent damage control, it appears this controversy's not going away anytime soon. The Weeknd's manager, Sal Slaiby, also slammed "corrupt leaders" at the Grammys and demanded transparency.

Kamal "Chance" Givens is taking a page from Michael Corleone in explaining why he was MIA from a reunion show with Tiffany "New York" Pollard ... it's not personal, it's strictly business.

Here's the deal ... Tiffany ripped Chance for blowing off "I Love New York Reunited" this week, saying it felt like he "s*** on the whole reunion show." Some of her former suitors questioned Chance's manhood and called him a coward.

But, Chance's camp says he was simply too busy to make time for the reunion because he's got his hands full with his own dating show, "One Mo' Chance," and a new movie role.

Fact is ... Chance doesn't really need Tiffany to be famous anymore, unlike some of the guys taking shots at him for not showing up.

Chance isn't sinking to their level either ... his reps say he's wishing Tiffany the best on her recent engagement. He's happy Tiffany finally found her match, and they will stay friends for life.

We're told Tiffany and Chance haven't spoken since the reunion and Chance understands why she's pissed. Chance also appeared on the OG show with his brother, who died 5 years ago, and we're told he did not want to go down that emotional rollercoaster reliving that time and loss of his brother.

Terrible news for hoops fans hoping to see Michael Jordan and LaVar Ball face off on the court ... the Big Baller is calling off a 1-on-1 game, saying they're just too old!!

It was a rare moment of humility from LaVar, who has been hyping up a mano-a-mano matchup with the GOAT for years.

But, at the Ball fam's turkey giveaway in South Central L.A. on Tuesday, LaVar told us straight-up -- it's not happening.

"Realistically, neither one of us is gonna do this," LaVar told TMZ Sports. "We over 50!"

Don't get it twisted -- LaVar joked both guys would be down if it came with a crazy price tag of $200 MILLION and at a crazy location like the Empire State Building ... but in reality, the only one getting the W is father time.

As we previously reported ... LaVar's son, LaMelo was just drafted by MJ's Charlotte Hornets -- which is why people thought the two could actually step on the court together.

But, now that LaVar's pulled off the game, we asked if he's chopped it up with his son's new boss and maybe smoked a cigar or 50 together.

By the way ... MJ will def consider this video a victory -- he's an insane competitor and would never say he's too old for anything.

There's more ... we also spoke with LaVar about the Balls unloading a semi-truck-worth of supplies for the Thanksgiving holiday ... and why it's so important for the family to give back to the community.

The Weeknd was faced with a tough choice -- perform the Grammys or the Super Bowl -- but hammering out a deal to do both could've cost him Grammy nominations.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us The Weeknd's team was in talks for weeks with Grammy brass, who issued the ultimatum -- us or Super Bowl LV. We're told both sides eventually came to an agreement where Abel could do both, but not without negotiations getting very testy.

Our sources say there's growing suspicion Abel's decision to perform at this year's Super Bowl cost him Grammy noms because the bitter back-and-forth talks pissed off Grammy honchos.

It's unclear why the Grammys would play such hardball in trying to exclusively book him for their airwaves. It might be fear of duplicate performances, as CBS is airing the award show AND the game one week apart in February. Still, our sources tell us Abel and co. feel the dispute might have something to do with his exclusion.

Abel wasn't the only one who fans felt got cheated this year, voicing outrage Pop Smoke, Roddy Rich and Lil Baby -- all Black hip-hop artists -- didn't receive more nominations.

If The Weeknd does decide to stick to the deal and perform at both events -- it would be a huge achievement for any artist.