Comedy

Hasan Minhaj has been caught stretching the truth in a handful of stories he's told in his stand-up comedy -- and his response to this revelation is ... eh, it's not a big deal, guys.

The comic -- famous from 'The Daily Show' -- got called out in a New Yorker piece ... which got him to admit that he'd fabricated much of the details to several bits he'd done on stage over the years ... almost all of which played up racism and bigotry over his Muslim heritage.

One such anecdote that was embellished is about his daughter ... and how he had to rush her to the hospital after an envelope with white powder was sent to his house. As it turns out, all the daughter stuff was made up -- as he revealed when pressed by the New Yorker.

Other stories he exaggerated or flat-out lied about included one of him getting turned down for a school dance due to his race -- the woman in question says this wasn't the case in the slightest -- and another about how an FBI informant infiltrated his community mosque. In both instances, there appears to be little truth to the substance of the stories.

Minhaj said this to the New Yorker, "My comedy Arnold Palmer is seventy per cent emotional truth -- this happened -- and then thirty per cent hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction." After being pressed further by other media, he released a lengthier statement, which is interesting.

He says ... "All my standup stories are based on events that happened to me. Yes, I was rejected from going to prom because of my race. Yes, a letter with powder was sent to my apartment that almost harmed my daughter. Yes, I had an interaction with law enforcement during the war on terror. Yes, I had varicocele repair surgery, so we could get pregnant. Yes, I roasted Jared Kushner to his face. I use the tools of standup comedy -- hyperbole, changing names and locations, and compressing timelines to tell entertaining stories."

Michael Blackson is feeling more confident about the power of Afrobeats music since the last time we talked to him -- he's now certain the wave will be at least as large as hip hop, if not bigger.

We caught up with Mike at Kids in Africa Afrikicks -- a charitable event put together by Oni Productions, and one which happened after Afrobeats star Rema took home an MTV VMA for his blockbuster hit "Calm Down" with Selena Gomez.

It was the inaugural award for "Best Afrobeats" song, and the vid has been crushing it, garnering over a billion views in just a year's time.

MB thinks the writing's on the wall for his culture to dominate music just as hip hop has for the last 50 years. The Nigerian-born comedian says Afrobeats is just too "fun and loving" to be denied.

He's also using American stars to prove his point ... namely Drake and Chris Brown, who started collaborating with the likes of Wizkid and Davido years ago.

It's obvious record labels are putting a heavy priority on Afrobeats now -- maybe even more than hip hop, which was shut out of Billboard's #1 spot for more than a year.

MGM properties are still reeling from a cyberattack which sent some of Las Vegas' biggest hotels into disarray ... but that's not stopping Sin City's heavyweight performers, who are full steam ahead this weekend.

Bill Maher is doing stand-up this weekend at the MGM Grand -- where check-out lines have been as far as the eye can see as a result of the cyberattack -- but a rep for Bill tells us his Friday and Saturday shows are still going on as planned.

Cirque Du Soleil -- a Vegas staple -- has shows at a number of MGM properties including the Grand, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay ... and a rep tells us they're all a go for this weekend.

As for other Vegas acts outside MGM hotels ... we're hearing they're not sweating the cyberattack. Shows for Magic Mike Live at SAHARA, Chris Angel MINDFREAK at Planet Hollywood and Murray The Magician at Tropicana are all on this weekend.

As we reported ... the cyberattack hit MGM resorts Monday, blocking guests from getting into their rooms, wreaking havoc on casino slot machines, downing phone lines and shutting down hotel check-ins.

MGM says a "cybersecurity issue" is affecting the company's systems and the company is working with "leading external cybersecurity experts" to get things under control, but everything has yet to be fixed.

Hacker groups including ALPHV and The Scattered Spider are claiming responsibility for the attack, though MGM has yet to confirm. Still, experts say the problems the resorts are facing show all the signs of a cyberattack.

Howie Mandel is clearly a fan of the TMZ Celebrity Tour -- his shirt says it all -- but he's figured out a way to streamline the operation to just 45 seconds!

Howie was arriving at the 'AGT' shoot Wednesday in Pasadena, with a shirt emblazoned with the logo for our 2-hour show on wheels.

A  photog asked why he was wearing the TMZ Tee ... and by the look on his face he was a bit incredulous. For Howie, it was obvious. The comedian launched into his tour guide schtick.

Enter a woman who happened to be passing by ... Howie wrangled her to take the tour, though imploring her to keep her distance ... he is, after all, a renowned germaphobe.

You gotta watch the vid ... stupid us, we've been using buses for 10 years -- very comfy we might add -- but Howie figured out a way for normies to take the tour in just seconds.

Martin Short's fans are coming to his defense on social media after he was skewered as a "desperately unfunny" comedian in a recent op-ed.

All the drama started Friday when Dan Kois published an opinion piece for Slate, calling into question Short's talents as a funnyman to the point of what many might interpret as being rude.

Kois wrote, "He (Short) would do anything, anything, for a laugh" ... "I find Martin Short's whole schtick exhausting, sweaty and desperately unfunny."

Continuing his takedown, Kois said ... "Every time he dresses up in a silly outfit or says something outrageous or mugs for the audience, I want to shout at the screen: 'Why are you being like this?'"

Kois also attacked Short's hugely popular TV show, "Only Murders In The Building," co-starring Selena Gomez and Steve Martin. Even though the series received Emmy nominations, Kois still thinks Short's character is not funny.

And the criticism went on and on and on.

But a lot of people disagreed with Kois and took to social media to show their support for Short, while posting clips of his best moments.

One fan wrote on X, "There's literally nothing that's not funny about martin short i dont understand this."

Another devotee said, "Martin Short has been hysterical since I was born lol."

Ja Rule's reiterating his feeling that 50 Cent is an "idiot" for hurling a mic that could earn him a felony charge, but he's also telling TMZ Hip Hop ... the moment's in his rearview mirror.

The "Holla Holla" rapper's already looking toward the future of his upcoming comedy special, which happens next month!!!

We caught up with Ja Thursday night outside TV personality Josh McBride's birthday party at Somewhere Nowhere NYC, and he blew off his recent digs at his archnemesis.

ICYMI, 50 clowned Ja for, in his eyes, reenacting "The Passion of Christ" at a recent show ... but then Ja barked back -- going more viral -- by bringing up the criminal battery probe associated with 50 injuring Power 106 radio host, Bryhana Monegain with the mic he threw.

Ja spared the crowd the holy antics inside Josh's party, delivering only hits, but revealed to us he plans on giving fans a different form of entertainment come Oct. 25 - 27 when he takes over Harlem's Apollo Theater for his "Laughing It Up" comedy series.

IShowSpeed might never live down his infamous wardrobe malfunction ... 'cause even KSI got in on the jokes when they met up on Thursday -- calling him "IShowMeat" right to his face.

The popular internet personality made headlines after accidentally exposing himself while playing Five Nights at Freddy's last month ... and despite his constant pleas, thousands of people -- including his followers, haters and even his own family -- have called him the cruel nickname ever since.

The trolling didn't stop when the two YouTube stars linked up for a training sesh earlier in the day ... 'cause when Speed started talking to his stream audience after the workout, KSI dropped a savage line.

"All right, chat ... he always calls me IShowSlow," Speed said ... before KSI interrupted.

"IShowSlow, IShowMeat, what else you showing?" Logan Paul's Prime business partner joked.

"What did you just call me, bro?" Speed responded ... staring into the camera in disbelief.

When KSI doubled down -- even taking it a step further with a super NSFW iteration -- Speed did his signature dog bark right in his face before dissing his beard.

It's been a difficult few weeks for Speed ... after taking a few days off from streaming, he opened up on the mental challenges he faced as a result of the viral malfunction.

As for the workout, KSI showed he's been training hard for his October fight against Tommy Fury ... but it was Speed who lived up to his name when it came to sprints.

Lil Rel Howery says an ill-timed trip to the men's room almost spoiled his marriage proposal during Beyoncé's concert ... and he's thanking her for stalling long enough for him to pop the question.

The comedian joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" and told us all about how his engagement went down ... and why nature called at the most inopportune time.

Lil Rel proposed to his GF Dannella Lane at Beyonce's concert Monday night at SoFi Stadium, and he says Jay-Z and Beyoncé's mom, Tina Knowles, advised him to do it when she sang "Love On Top" ... and they arranged to get the moment on the stadium's big screen.

It's funny, Lil Rel says he was waiting for the song for so long, he finally needed to break the seal ... and as soon as he got to the bathroom, "Love On Top" started playing.

Lil Rel says he finished his biz, and rushed back to his woman ... but he couldn't find their seats!!!

With the clock literally ticking, Lil Rel says he had to go back out and retrace his steps, and when he finally got back to his seats a cameraman was waiting ... and Beyoncé was motioning for him to get on with the proposal because she was dragging out the song. 😂

It all worked out, since Dannella said "Yes," and he tells us how the plan to propose really came together at the last minute. As for whether Bey's forgiven his tardiness ... we'll let him tell it.

PETA is cashin' in on Pete Davidson's anger -- the organization is selling a Halloween costume based on the infamously unhinged voice mail Pete left PETA during their feud over a puppy.

We've learned PETA's limited-edition costume comes with a paper mask of Pete's face, an "I Should Have Adopted" hoodie and a hat with a censored cuss word plastered on it -- referring to his profanity-laced telephone rant after the org called him out for buying a pet store puppy, instead of one from a shelter.

It also comes with a plush dog wearing a "Shelter Dogs Rule" bandana. The whole look is going for $99.99 ... and all proceeds are going toward spay and neuter surgeries to help combat the overpopulation of homeless dogs.

According to PETA, over 70 million dogs and cats are homeless in the U.S. ... and breeders contribute to the crisis by denying animals in shelters a chance at finding a loving home.

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk says, "It’s too late for Pete to undo his puppy purchase or that voice mail, but it’s never too late to save a dog’s life by choosing adoption and shunning pet shops and other dog breeders." She hopes Pete will see the joke in having folks dress up like him ... especially since it's for a good cause.

TMZ broke the story, Pete dialed up PETA in June after the org publicly shamed the comedian for buying the new pup at a NYC pet store. In his furious defense, Pete said he's allergic to dogs and, therefore, needed a hypoallergenic pooch like the cavapoo he got.

He also said the puppy was a gift for his mother who'd been mourning the recent death of her dog.

All of that with lots of colorful language sprinkled in, too -- which you can now mock, or celebrate, come Halloween.

Hollywood's elite came out in force Sunday night to watch soccer star Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami team go up against the Los Angeles Football Club.

Will Ferrell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Tom Holland, David Beckham, Selena Gomez, Owen Wilson, and Jason Sudeikis were all on hand to enjoy the match-up at BMO Stadium in LA.

Oh, and some royalty showed up too ... Prince Harry was seen smiling from ear to ear as he took in the Major League Soccer game, but his wife, Meghan Markle, was MIA.

Harry was sitting in a box seat near Ferrell (co-owner of LAFC), DiCaprio, and the other famous faces in the crowd. At one point, Harry appeared giddy while tightly gripping his LAFC scarf, leaving no doubt which team he was rooting for.

Sam Asghari picked up a sign and joined striking Hollywood on the picket line ... saying he's there to support his fellow actors, and not to talk about his divorce with Britney Spears.

A SAG-AFTRA member, Sam was at the front of the line marching up to Disney Studios in Burbank when a photog asked him how he was holding up in the wake of filing for divorce.

Sam told the camera guy he wasn't there to discuss his personal life, but rather to raise awareness for the strike in hopes of getting everything resolved sooner than later.

TMZ broke the story ... Sam's planning to continue with acting gigs once the strike is resolved, and in the meantime, Britney is footing the bill for his swanky digs.

He says the strike's affecting him as much as any other actor, cleverly joking about having the same amount of roles right now as Leonardo DiCaprio.

So, maybe there's a comedy out there for Sam when the dust settles?!?

In all seriousness, Sam says the lack of jobs and money is the whole point of the strike ... and he's hoping there's a deal soon so Hollywood can get back to making art and inspiring folks.

The titans of late night are teaming up to talk shop on a new podcast -- all in an effort to support their striking employees -- and at least one union is totally cool with that plan ... on certain conditions.

A rep for SAG-AFTRA tells TMZ ... the just-launched "Strike Force Five" show -- featuring Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver -- is all good in their book ... assuming they stay within guidelines set forth by strike regulators.

This is how a SAG spokesperson put it ... "As long as the podcast does not promote struck work, it appears to be in adherence with the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical/Streaming strike rules. Given that it falls within the strike rules, it is fine for them to produce this podcast during the strike."

In other words, it sounds like the hosts have their blessing to proceed ... but they should probably steer clear of certain topics if they wanna stay in the actors union's good graces. Obviously, the podcast itself isn't a straight-up promo of anything, but the challenge will be not sounding promo-ish if they discuss a certain movie or show that's in the zeitgeist.

Considering that's what they do as part of their normal jobs -- talk about certain films/projects -- it might seem like it will be tough to stay in SAG's good graces ... but, remember, the pod isn't live. They can always edit if the convo strays into promo land.

The podcast is a good thing, big picture -- any money earned is being donated directly to the late-night hosts' own writers ... who, of course, haven't been working since May.

Steve Harvey asked fans which comedian they thought was the worst , and it sounds like word of that just made its way back to the man himself ... 'cause he's apologizing.

The veteran comic and jack-of-all-trades host hopped online with a personal video Friday -- showing that he's out in nature -- and he addresses a recent tweet posted by his personal account. A simple question was posed ... "A Comedian you don't find funny at all?"

Steve says he's got official social media people handling his accounts, and insists it wasn't him who posted it ... going on to lament the tweet as mean-spirited and downright negative.

It's unclear what sorts of names people responded with ... but the fact Steve felt he needed to clarify his/his team's intent suggests it got some traction on X.

A screenshot of the since-deleted tweet shows that it was viewed at least a million times, so folks definitely saw it.

Anyway, Steve says the explanation he got from his handlers was that they were just trying to get some engagement ... but he adds they're gonna be needing new employment now.

Dave Chappelle's 50th birthday party looked more like the Oscars or Grammys, as his A-list celebrity pals continued to pour into the bash.

Dave and company were at The Comedy Cellar in NYC Thursday to celebrate. Among the guests -- Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake, T.I., Chance the Rapper, Jon Hamm, Aziz Ansari, Jaleel White, Tisha Campbell and more.

Witnesses tell us Dave was among the last to leave the party around 2 AM, and was extremely grateful to everyone who came ... even thanking the cops outside.

Unclear if he did any sort of stand-up, but you gotta imagine Dave grabbed the mic at least once in the night. Dave's also in the middle of a 4-night stint at Madison Square Garden ... with shows the 22, 23, 25 and 26.

Ex-NFL running back Stevan Ridley is finally sharing video of the race that ultimately put Kevin Hart in a wheelchair ... and you can see the comedian came up injured just as the guys were about to cross the finish line.

Per the vid, the race went down on a roadway somewhere outside of a home this week ... with the two not even putting on any sort of running gear for the face-off.

With Hart in a pair of sweats and Ridley in a white tee and short shorts ... the guys actually raced twice before Hart got injured.

In their first run ... you can see Ridley just beat out Hart by a few steps. In their second, Hart actually hung well with the former New England Patriots back -- that is, of course, before he tore a bunch of muscles in his body and had to pull up short.

Hart can be seen in the clip grabbing at his hip before coming to a stop. He ultimately shared on Thursday that he had ripped up his lower abdomen and adductors in the run and he's now in a wheelchair.

"Guys," he said in a video explaining the situation, "I blew all my s***."

For Ridley's part, he didn't rub too much salt in the wound while posting the clips to his social media page Friday ... writing only in the caption, "Gotcha?? Got whooo?!"

Michael Blackson says Nick Cannon's provided him with a lifetime of material -- and he's never gonna stop ribbing him for having 12 children ... and counting!!!

We linked up with Mike Wednesday in West Hollywood, and asked about 50 Cent going viral for ribbing Nick's personal population boom during a recent Forbes interview.

Mike's not offering any sympathy, and, in fact, tells us he's eager to see the day his old "Wild 'N Out" pal's struggling to take care of a few thousand grandchildren!!! 😂

He jokes Nick has to stagger visitations on FaceTime, and if it sounds like he's going in a little hard ... it ain't gonna stop. Mike says he's sticking to the comedian's code, so Nick (and his fam) will have to catch these jokes forever!!!

Nick's also sticking to that code -- he was publicly poking fun at 50's weight just a few months ago, so expect more back-and-forth in due time.

Mike will be here for a good time and long time, thanks to his new series "The Michael Blackson Show."