Comedy

Multiple comedians now have way less comedy albums on Spotify than they did last month -- all because the streaming giant doesn't wanna fork over extra royalties they're asking for.

Spotify yanked several albums from dozens of high-profile comedians -- including folks like Kevin Hart, John Mulaney, Tiffany Haddish, among many others -- just before Thanksgiving, and did so because they'd reached an impasse over this issue ... this according to the WSJ.

The problem ... apparently, a ton of these comics have teamed up with an org called Spoken Giants -- which has been reaching out to companies like Spotify, YouTube, SiriusXM, Pandora and others to demand they pay an additional chunk of change for a comedians' written joke.

Basically, most comics only get paid as performers by their labels and/or distributors ... as opposed to being able to double dip as composers/writers of the works as well, like songwriters do. That's what Spoken Giants is fighting for -- but Spotify won't play ball.

Unclear how many albums they've taken down in total, but it looks like it's quite a bit -- because the above-mentioned comics' Spotify pages look pretty bare, especially TH ... who doesn't have a single comedy album on her profile anymore ... only one-off singles.

The criteria for which albums stay and which don't isn't exactly laid out either -- but in any case, SG is pissed on behalf of the comedians (none of whom appear to have personally spoken out about this, BTW) ... telling WSJ, Spotify hurt their bottom line with the move.

The debate over an artist's responsibility to stop their show amid an emergency in the crowd had landed at George Lopez's feet ... although this one may not be cut and dried.

The comedian was performing Friday at the Majestic Theater in San Antonio, when at one point during his set ... a man started falling into distress in the upper balcony area, to the point that the house lights were turned on.

Check out this video obtained by TMZ ... it shows what we're told were a few minutes after this gentleman, who's described as mid-aged, fell unconscious with people around him -- including what appears to be folks in his own party -- attending to him.

Eventually, people flagged down event staff ... and he was carried out and taken to an ambulance. San Antonio Fire confirms he regained consciousness and was stable at the hospital.

In the meantime ... you can see and hear George down at the stage level continuing on with his set, seemingly working all the commotion into his actual jokes -- which actually got some laughs. Of course, some in the crowd felt as if he should've done a hard pause -- even more, felt it was inappropriate for him to joke about whatever was going on at all.

Dave Chappelle's first Q&A over his transgender controversy did not go well -- but it was honest ... because kids from his alma mater told him exactly how they felt.

According to Politico ... Dave paid a visit to his old high school -- the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in D.C. -- shortly before Thanksgiving this week and encouraged students who were angry with him to get on the mic and air their grievances during an assembly.

Interestingly, an event at this same school had previously been postponed ... over what many perceived was the backlash Dave was facing. Seems they came to an agreement.

Anyway ... things immediately got off to a rough start, as the packed auditorium of about 580 teens half cheered and half booed for the guy -- and when he exclusively invited the naysayers to speak, the discussion went downhill fast ... and got pretty contentious.

Politico reports one student stepped up and called him a "bigot," adding ... "I'm 16 and I think you're childish, you handled it like a child." Dave responded, "My friend, with all due respect, I don't believe you could make one of the decisions I have to make on a given day."

In response to another Q, Dave said ... "I'm better than every instrumentalist, artist, no matter what art you do in this school, right now, I'm better than all of you. I'm sure that will change. I'm sure you'll be household names soon." Apparently, that pissed off the kids more.

When one student yelled out, "Your comedy kills!" ... Dave reportedly said, "N****** are killed every day." Story goes, the rest of the convo went exactly like that -- no apology surfaced.

There was also a camera crew in tow ... and some of the students told Politico after the fact that they felt intimidated and that there was a power imbalance Dave was clearly aware of and exploiting. Funny enough, there were some students who were sour about not being able to express support for Dave -- remember, he only let those who were pissed speak.

Toward the end of the Q&A, Dave reportedly softened his tone ... when he disavowed threats some of the students have purportedly received for their outcry over Chappelle. He even gave each of them tickets to his new documentary film, but it's unclear if this squashed anything.

His rep told Politico ... "He said these kids deserve an F for forgiveness." She added, "Give them some space to grow. They are going to say things that are immature."

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is spreading some holiday cheer -- and jokes -- this Thanksgiving, surprising an unsuspecting group of fans with a funny warning.

The WWE superstar turned Hollywood megastar posted a video Thursday of himself driving up on a Hollywood tour bus. You can see, the passengers are stunned, everyone's got their phones out ... and Rock asks, "Have you seen my house yet?"

The bus responds with a resounding "no" ... to which Johnson jokes, "Good, keep it that way! Happy Thanksgiving!"

It's not the first time Rock has surprised and interacted with a tour bus, we got him a few years back on The TMZ Celebrity Tour where he was just as gracious, chatting it up with passengers for a while before heading into a meeting in L.A.

It would make sense for Johnson to continue to act as a man of the people, remember it was earlier this year when a poll suggested nearly 50% of people asked would be happy to have him as President.

Kevin Hart says standup comedy should change in the wake of all the buzz about Dave Chappelle's alleged transphobia -- but he insists most of the critics don't have a clue who Dave really is.

We got Kevin out Friday morning in NYC, and asked if he planned to change anything in his standup routines due to the backlash against Dave's "The Closer" -- and it sounds like he will. Kev said, "We all have to adjust. We all gotta make sure we're operating and managing in a respectful manner."

Watch how KH says it, because it comes off like a criticism of his pal Dave. As you know, Chappelle's been adamant his special was not transphobic, and he has nothing for which to apologize ... despite protests and a walkout staged by Netflix employees.

However, before ya start thinking there's a rift ... Kevin also came out swinging for Chappelle, telling us Dave is a very loving guy and "the narrative that's being attached [to Dave] doesn't necessarily have to be true without knowing the individual."

He also shouted out Chappelle directly, and sent him some love.

Taylor Swift appeared on 'SNL' Saturday night, singing a 10-minute version of the song about her breakup with Jake Gyllenhaal ... and wow, the words and the emotions behind it are biting.

Swift performed "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)," a cut from her new, re-released version of 'Red.'

You've heard the song before, but watching Taylor perform it has gotta be pretty blistering for Gyllenhaal ... it's really raw.

Taylor also got in the act during a sketch with Pete Davidson ... a sketch called "Three Sad Virgins." It's a roast of 3 dudes on the show -- Martin, Ben and John ... skewering them for not having game.

The re-mastered version of 'Red' dropped Friday ... and tons of corporations got into the act by changing their Twitter names to support the album ... corporations that include Starbucks, Sour Patch Kids, Olive Garden, Etsy, Panera Bread, Chips Ahoy, Taco Bell and even the Kansas City Chiefs.

As you know, Taylor's re-recorded lots of her own songs from the elusive masters she doesn't own, and it's gone over big.

Kim Kardashian knows a thing or two about marriage -- but not necessarily a successful one ... which made her wedding advice at a pal's rehearsal dinner all the more hilarious.

During entertainment executive Simon Huck's pre-nuptial feast Friday night, he and his hubby-to-be, Phil Riportella, invited KK to get on the mic and deliver a few words of encouragement. She took 'em up on it ... but noted she might not be the best one to give guidance here.

Check out her jokes ... Kim talks about her 3 failed marriages, and how she hasn't really figured out this "marriage thing" herself.

She even makes some cracks at her own expense -- as well as some at her ex-husbands ... including Kris Humphries, to whom she was married for just 72 days. That said, Kim offers them tips on the actual ceremony itself ... touching on how to get the best "first kiss" shot.

Kim ends by saying she can recognize true love when she sees it, and thinks Simon and Phil will go the distance. Sure enough, she got a big round of applause.

It's interesting ... even though Kim is smackdab in the middle of her own divorce right now, she's very much in wedding mode -- attending Paris Hilton's ceremony, and now Simon's.

Conan O'Brien sounds proud of Pete Davidson and Colin Jost for what he says is a long-standing tradition ... "Saturday Night Live" cast members landing smoking hot women!!!

We got Conan, who was a writer on 'SNL' long before he hosted his own late-night show, leaving Sugarfish in Hollywood and our guy asked him what's up with 'SNL' being the ultimate aphrodisiac.

As you know ... Pete recently started dating Kim Kardashian, and Colin is married to Scarlett Johansson ... and don't forget 'SNL' alum Jason Sudeikis and his ex Olivia Wilde as another recent example.

Conan says this is just one of the many perks of a gig on 'SNL' ... harkening back to his days on the show when he dated more famous women than he can count, including Elizabeth Taylor! He's clearly joking, but still ... the track record speaks for itself.

One of Dave Chappelle's best pals says most people don't understand "The Closer" or the controversy surrounding it -- nor do they get what people who are defending him really mean.

Check out what Donnell Rawlings had to say Tuesday at LAX -- we asked about the fact Jay-Z -- and others, including former Prez Barack Obama -- recently seemed to be backing Dave's special and/or vouching for his character.

DR believes folks are misconstruing all this "backing," because, as he put it, most celebs speaking out on behalf of Dave are not necessarily cosigning on his POV -- but, rather sticking up for freedom of speech and artists' rights.

At least that's what Donnell took from Jay saying "The Closer" made him cringe at times, but that's what "great art" makes you do sometimes.

It's a pretty interesting point he's making -- and he adds that despite all the controversy Dave is in great spirits right now. Donnell goes so far as to call it the "happiest point" of Chappelle's life.

That seemed pretty clear, based on DC's face when we got him out in Hollywood last month ... just as the 'Closer' buzz was starting to take off.

Katt Williams didn't want to take any chances Saturday night when someone passed out in the crowd ... unlike what happened at Astroworld -- but almost certainly because of it, Katt stopped the show.

Someone in the crowd lost consciousness and someone screamed, "Stop the show!" Katt heeded the advice and took a 10-minute break while medics rushed in to tend to the audience member.

Katt stayed on stage at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, pacing around and talking to the crowd, but he clearly didn't want to jump right back into his set until medical matters were handled.

You hear Katt tell the audience, "I'm sorry if I won't move on but that Astroworld s*** I mean we can't never continue till we know somebody motherf***ing good ... I'm not goin' to be leaving with that on my conscious ... just take five minutes ... thank you, sir ... I hope she's just having a baby. That's all."

It's unclear what happened to the man who lost consciousness. He was taken out of the auditorium and Katt said, "We made the right decision," adding, "Alright, come back from a commercial break." He continued on with his set.