Controversial S#!T

Richard Simmons made very clear this week that he doesn't approve of Pauly Shore making a movie about him/his life -- but Pauly thinks he'll win the guy over ... eventually.

The actor touched down at the Salt Lake City Int'l Airport Thursday, where he's in town for the Sundance Film Festival that's going down this weekend in neighboring Park City. Right off the bat, photogs on hand were ready to pepper him with questions about this film of his.

Of course, the big one being ... do you think it's right to proceed with this Richard Simmons biopic -- even though the man himself hasn't given his blessing ... explicitly so.

Check out Pauly's take here, 'cause he touches on a few different things. For starters, he thinks RS might be singing this tune today ... but could well be feeling completely different about it by tomorrow. More importantly, though, he thinks intention is everything with this.

From Pauly's view, he's not coming from a vindictive place -- and he vows to do Richard justice in his portrayal of him. He also says straight up ... build it, and they'll come!

Pauly goes on to explain that he genuinely believes once Richard can see this new short film of his -- on which the forthcoming biopic will be based -- RS will come around to seeing his things his way, basically suggesting the work will be good ... and it'll be done right by Rich.

Bottom line for Pauly here ... people love Richard, and they also love him -- and he says folks are itching to see both of them make a comeback in a big way.

His question is ... what's wrong with giving the people what they want?!?

Kid Cudi is telling all on his mended friendship with Kanye West ... and explaining exactly why he ended up forgiving the guy after an ugly falling out.

The rapper hopped on Apple Music's Zane Lowe podcast and got into the topic in depth -- explaining he and Ye are, in fact, cool now .... noting it's because Kanye sincerely apologized to him -- which is major, as he doesn't easily dish out mea culpas.

KC adds that working with someone shrouded in controversy is complicated ... but at the end of the day, he considers Kanye his brother -- and it's always siblings that hurt each other the most ... but he'll always have his family's back.

Plus, he says fans love the two of them working together ... and Cudi's well aware of that.

You'll recall ... Kanye and Cudi feuded through all of 2022 and most of 2023 -- Ye was fuming when Cudi remained pals with Pete Davidson as he dated his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

In return, Cudi labeled him a dinosaur in the music industry and swore he'd never work with him again. At the time, it certainly felt like things were over between them ... for good.

But, through much reflection, Cudi tells Zane here that he wouldn't be where he is today if it weren't for Kanye ... cause he championed him in his early career ... doing him huge favors such as paying for his "Day 'n' Nite" music video when he had no record deal.

He's also adamant that there's a good man underneath Ye's shocking behavior and abhorrent rants ... admitting he might not be able to bounce back from some stuff he's said, but he's praying for him.

Indiana Jones is back already, but Harrison Ford ain't pickin' up the whip ... not even in the digital world!

Bethesda Softworks released the trailer for its upcoming video game "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" on Thursday, and fans couldn't help but notice ... Indy sounds a bit different.

That's because Ford -- who played the role in all film/TV content -- isn't lending his voice to the project ... instead it's Troy Baker, who's kinda like the Harrison Ford of the video game world. Yep, he's that iconic.

Just check out the guy's credits ... "The Last of Us," 'Mortal Kombat,' "BioShock," "Halo 4," 'Resident Evil' and "Call of Duty: Black Ops" ... plus he voiced freakin' Batman in one series!

And, fan reactions are .... overwhelmingly positive (not a small feat when it comes to the gaming community.) People who know Baker's work love the casting and those who don't were still blown away by the trailer - 'cause he's doing one heck of an impression.

It's unclear exactly why Harrison isn't coming back to the role. Could be money -- video games don't have the same budgets as blockbuster films -- or it could be that Han Solo's keeping to the promises he made during his press tour for "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" ... namely, that he's finished with Indy, and he's moving on to bigger and better.

One such quote that really says it all ... when asked if it was bittersweet leaving the character HF replied, "No. It’s time for me to grow up." So, it definitely sounds like a dude who's hanging his old archeologist's hat.

Harrison's got other roles to kick ass at BTW ... he just received a Critics Choice Award nom for his work as Dr. Paul Rhoades in "Shrinking," and he's got two Marvel projects on the way -- dude's pretty busy for an 81 year old.

Josh Giddey todavía está bajo el microscopio de su empleador, la investigación de la NBA respecto a si tuvo una relación inapropiada con un menor de edad sigue en curso, TMZ Sports ha indagado.

Las fuentes nos dicen que nada ha cambiado en lo que respecta a la Asociación a pesar de que la policía recientemente diera por finalizada la investigación sobre el jugador de 21 años de los Oklahoma City Thunder.

Como informamos anteriormente, el caso Giddey terminó después de que los funcionarios no encontraron pruebas suficientes, ya que la menor y su familia se negaron a hablar con los funcionarios.

"Después de un examen minucioso y exhaustivo, hemos completado nuestra investigación sobre la información que circulaba en las redes sociales que involucra a Josh Giddey", dijo la policía de Newport Beach en un comunicado.

"Nuestros detectives han revisado toda la información disponible y no pudieron corroborar ninguna actividad criminal relacionada con el señor Giddey".

Adam Silver dijo en diciembre que la liga estaría pendiente mientras la policía llevaba a cabo su investigación. Suena como que la NBA se está involucrando una vez más.

Giddey no ha hablado sobre el escándalo y se ha mantenido activo para los Thunder a lo largo de ambas investigaciones.

Madonna va a tener que aprender una lección de puntualidad de la manera difícil, porque dos hombres acaban de presentar una demanda colectiva contra ella por comenzar sus conciertos tarde.

De acuerdo con los documentos obtenidos por TMZ, Michael Fellows y Jonathan Hadden están liderando la demanda contra la legendaria estrella del pop y el organizador de conciertos Live Nation alegando que deben grandes sumas después de que el espectáculo programado para comenzar a las 8:30 PM, terminó comenzando a las 10:30 PM.

Según la demanda, los inicios tardíos constituyen un "ejercicio gratuito de publicidad falsa, tergiversación negligente y prácticas comerciales desleales y engañosas".

Los demandantes están demandando por daños y perjuicios no especificados apuntando a las tres noches que Madonna llegó tarde al Barclays Center en diciembre, pero dicen que Madonna tiene una larga historia documentada de no comenzar a tiempo (más sobre esto más adelante).

Los demandantes reconocen que Madonna tenía un problema de salud que causó el retraso del concierto de julio a diciembre, pero no creo que sea una excusa suficiente para darle inicio a los espectáculos con dos horas de retraso.

Estos tipos también indican el precio de sus entradas, que asciende a 155.90 y 292.50 dólares. En su mente, eso es dinero por el desagüe teniendo en cuenta lo tarde que se presentó.

Recordemos que una grave infección bacteriana llevó a Madonna al hospital, y las fuentes nos dijeron que estuvo luchando contra la fiebre durante aproximadamente un mes antes de que finalmente colapsara. Obviamente, la gira fue pospuesta y finalmente arrancó en Octubre.

Sabíamos que la gente estaba cabreada por la tardanza de Madonna en los shows de Nueva York de diciembre, los fans usaron las redes sociales para expresar su descontento por la espera de la Reina del Pop. (una fuente en el momento nos dijo que el retraso se debió a problemas de sonido).

Josh Giddey might be in the clear legally, but he is still under his employer's microscope -- the NBA's review into claims he had an improper relationship with a minor remains ongoing, TMZ Sports has learned.

Sources tell us nothing has changed as far as the Association is concerned ... despite Newport Beach PD recently closing its investigation without the 21-year-old Oklahoma City Thunder guard being charged.

As we previously reported, the Giddey case ended after officials found no corroborating evidence ... as the minor and her family declined to speak with officials.

"After a thorough and exhaustive examination, we have completed our investigation into information that was circulating on social media involving Josh Giddey," Newport Beach PD said in a statement.

"Our detectives have reviewed all of the available information and were unable to corroborate any criminal activity related to Mr. Giddey."

Adam Silver said in December the league would take a "backseat" while police conducted its investigation ... so with that being over, it sounds like the NBA is grabbing the wheel once again.

Giddey has not spoken on the scandal ... and has remained active for the Thunder throughout both investigations.

Kanye West already tried apologizing for his rabid antisemitism -- but it seems he feels he didn't stick the landing, 'cause he recently did another one ... which was MUCH longer.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the controversial rapper got some camera guys together to shoot a lengthy apology video several weeks ago -- and we're told it ended up running about 40 minutes ... with Ye talking straight to the camera.

We're told in no uncertain terms, Ye was "rambling" and at times it was impossible to decode what he was saying.

One more thing about this apology ... our sources say whatever was shot is supposed to be released sometime ahead of his new album, "Vultures," which is scheduled to drop Feb. 9 -- this after several delays dating back to late last year.

A couple interesting things about this ... for one, Ye already issued an apology over all his antisemitic language -- dropping a statement that was written in Hebrew right after Xmas.

You'll recall, it was a very generic mea culpa, which read in part, "I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions, it was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused."

The problem ... many felt it wasn't sincere, and more importantly a lot of people thought it might've actually been generated by AI. In fact, we did some digging and that may well be the case. Bigger picture ... most just weren't buying what he was selling.

Now, we have word about this ... and it sounds like if he proceeds, we'll be hearing/seeing this new apology in due time. However, based on what we're hearing about it so far -- it seems like this one might've been a little clunky as well.

The other mystery here is how exactly the album is going to come out. As far as we know, he doesn't have any major distribution deal in place ... so who's gonna listen to this???

Kanye West ya intentó disculparse por su rabioso antisemitismo, pero parece que siente que no fue suficiente, así que recientemente hizo otro... y MUCHO más largo.

Fuentes con conocimiento directo le dicen a TMZ que el controvertido rapero tiene algunos amigos operando cámaras para filmar un video de disculpa largo hace varias semanas, y nos dicen que terminó durando unos 40 minutos, con Ye hablando directamente a la cámara.

Nos dicen muy seguros que Ye estaba "divagando", y que a veces era imposible descifrar lo que estaba diciendo.

Una cosa más acerca de esta disculpa, nuestras fuentes dicen que lo que se rodó se supone que debe ser puesto en libertad en algún momento antes de su nuevo álbum, "Buitres", que está programado para lanzar 9 de febrero - esto después de varios retrasos que se remontan a finales del año pasado.

Un par de cosas interesantes acerca de esto... por un lado, Ye ya emitió una disculpa por todo su lenguaje antisemita, dejando caer una declaración que fue escrita en hebreo justo después de Navidad.

Como recordarán, fue un mea culpa muy genérico, que decía en parte: "Me disculpo sinceramente con la comunidad judía por cualquier arrebato involuntario causado por mis palabras o acciones, no fue mi intención herir o faltar el respeto, y lamento profundamente cualquier dolor que pueda haber causado".

El problema es que muchos sintieron que no era sincero, y lo más importante, mucha gente pensó que en realidad podría haber sido generado por IA. De hecho, hemos investigado un poco y puede que sea así. La mayoría simplemente no estaba creyendo lo que estaba diciendo.

Tenemos noticias al respecto... y parece que si sigue adelante, oiremos/veremos esta nueva disculpa a su debido tiempo. Sin embargo, basado en lo que estamos escuchando hasta ahora, parece que este podría haber sido un poco torpe.

El otro misterio es cómo exactamente el álbum va a salir. Por lo que sabemos, no tiene ningún acuerdo de distribución importante en su lugar, así que ¿quién va a escuchar esto?

LeVar Burton made a shocking discovery about his bloodline here in America -- namely, that he's actually part-white ... and that one of his ancestors was part of the Confederacy.

The 'Reading Rainbow' vet was featured in a recent episode of PBS's 'Finding Your Roots' -- where host Henry Louis Gates Jr. laid out LeVar's family tree dating back centuries ... and pinpointing a white dude from back in the 1800s as his great-great-grandfather.

Long story short, LB's great-grandma on his mom's side -- a woman named Mary Sills -- had listed her dad as being a Black man named Louis Sills ... but DNA tests show that isn't so.

Instead, the data shows her biological father was a Caucasian farmer from the South named James Henry Dixon -- who had actually fathered children with an unnamed Black woman who was born into slavery. Even more surprising ... Dixon had served in the Confederate Army as a teen during the Civil War, so technically -- he was a defender of slavery at that time.

In response to this news, LeVar said he had conflicting feelings ... explaining, "There’s some conflict roiling inside of me right now. But oddly enough, I feel a pathway opening up."

He added, "Knowing what I know about the history of this nation, I’ve wanted, especially in this current time frame, I believe that as Americans we need to have this conversation about who we are and how we got here."

The "Lizzie McGuire" reboot definitely wasn't made for kids -- something we're learning about in much greater detail ... now that one of its writers is spilling the beans.

Jonathan Hurwitz -- who was working on the show for Disney at the time -- hit TikTok to explain what they were penning, and what pissed the Mouse House off in terms of plot points. Basically, he says they were writing about a 30-year-old woman doing grown-folk things ... which weren't always G-rated.

Check out his highlights of things they were having Lizzie do in their comeback season -- he says Hilary Duff would've been in the full swing of NYC living ... working as an interior designer while shacking up with her handsome chef BF -- who'd cheat on her with her BFF.

In their nixed script, they had it where Lizzie then moved in with her parents in Cali ... where she'd find herself back in contact with Gordo ... who's got some major bombshells for her -- he's engaged with a baby on the way!

According to Jon, Lizzie would've received a text from her old high school crush, Ethan ... later checking him off her "to-do" list after waking up in his bed -- something he says that particularly pissed off the family-friendly folks over at Disney. No sex, dammit!

Two episodes had already been filmed before Disney+ pulled the plug following creative differences between the streamer and Hilary ... which was pretty dramatic when it happened.

Hilary announced the decision on IG in Jan 2020 ... saying she wanted the reboot to be an authentic portrayal of who Lizzie would've been today -- anything else would've been a disservice to her. Sounds like Jon here is cosigning that ... noting, Disney wasn't down.

Of course, it's devastating that adult Lizzie never got the reboot she deserved ... but nothing's more upsetting, perhaps, than learning Gordo never got with her himself after all those years.

Nikki Haley said America has never been a racist country -- but Whoopi Goldberg would beg to differ ... and she's ready to list the ugly receipts that prove the exact opposite.

The talk show host tackled this topic on "The View" Wednesday -- this a day after the Republican presidential candidate went on FOX News to rebuke the notion that America is a racist nation ... but in the same breath, denied the U.S. has ever that problem.

Of course, that's a ridiculous statement ... and just factually wrong. Not only did we have slaves in this country for a good long while -- but America was a segregated nation through much of the 20th century as well. Basic history ... but NH seems to be trying to blur it.

Welp, Whoopi wasn't having any of Haley's obfuscation ... and she unloaded on her in no uncertain terms in an impassioned speech as she was intro'ing this topic at the table.

Check out what she has to say for yourself -- she says all the lynching of Black people over the years wasn't carried out by them ... but by racist Americans, and you can tell she's outraged by Haley's attempt to downplay this country's past.

The reason this latest slip-up from her stands out is the fact that just recently suggested the Civil War was not really about slavery -- something she tried to clarify after the fact ... but raised a lot of eyebrows when she said it.

Things didn't get better when she further tried distancing herself from those remarks at a Republican town hall ... using the old "I have Black friends" line to defend herself.

Nikki Haley dijo que Estados Unidos nunca ha sido un país racista, pero Whoopi Goldberg no está de acuerdo, y está dispuesta a enumerar distintas situaciones recibos que demuestran exactamente lo contrario.

El anfitrión del programa de entrevistas abordó este tema en "The View" el miércoles, un día después de que la candidata presidencial republicana apareciera en FOX News para refutar la idea de que Estados Unidos es una nación racista, pero en el mismo discurso, negó que los EE.UU. tuviera ese problema desde siempre.

Por supuesto, esa es una afirmación ridícula y simplemente incorrecta. No solo tuvimos esclavos en este país durante mucho tiempo, sino que Estados Unidos fue una nación segregada durante gran parte del siglo XX. Historia básica, pero Nikki parece estar tratando de difuminarla.

Whoopi respondio de una manera elocuente y directa —mucho mejor que alguien que se postula a un cargo político— y puso a Hañey en su lugar.

Mira lo que dijo por ti mismo, ella dice que todos los linchamientos de personas de raza negra a lo largo de los años no fueron llevados a cabo por ellos, sino por los estadounidenses racistas, y se puede decir que está indignada por el intento de Haley de restarle importancia al pasado de este país.

La razón de este último desliz se destaca es el hecho de que hace poco sugirió que la Guerra Civil no era realmente acerca de la esclavitud, algo que trató de aclarar después de los hechos, pero levantó un montón de cejas cuando lo hizo.

Las cosas no mejoraron cuando trató de distanciarse de esos comentarios en un ayuntamiento republicano, utilizando la vieja línea "Tengo amigos negros" para defenderse.

Brett Gelman doesn't see anything in Netflix costar Noah Schnapp's views on Israel that warrants an apology ... and he's not afraid to speak his mind about what's going on in Gaza.

We got the "Stranger Things" star at LAX and our photog asked him about Noah sharing a video restating his position on the Israel-Hamas War.

Brett says he actually liked the viral photos of Noah with stickers reading "Zionism is sexy" and agreed with Noah calling out Hamas as a terrorist organization.

BG goes even further ... telling us anyone who is not pro-Israel is consciously or subconsciously being antisemitic.

To be clear, Brett says he's not blindly for everything that's going on in Israel, acknowledging there are some issues just as there are in every country and telling us he's not a fan of Benjamin Netanyahu ... but Brett says he supports Israel and the Israeli people.

Brett says Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas attacks ... he says he's been over to Israel recently and there are still being rockets launched by Hamas, who he also accuses of using civilians as human shields.

Noah's message was about unity, hope and peace ... and Brett says he's staunchly against the death of innocent Palestinians, but wonders why those deaths are being blamed on Israel and not Hamas.

It's rare to see a celebrity being so open about the Middle East these days ... but Brett's not shying away.

Brett Gelman no ve nada en las opiniones sobre Israel de su compañero de reparto de Netflix Noah Schnapp que justifique una disculpa, y no tiene miedo de decir lo que piensa sobre lo que está pasando en Gaza.

Nos encontramos con la estrella de "Stranger Things" en LAX y nuestro fotógrafo le preguntó sobre el video de Noah en donde reafirma su posición sobre la guerra de Israel y Hamás.

Brett dice que le gustaban las fotos virales de Noé con las pegatinas "El sionismo es sexy" y que estaba de acuerdo con que el actor llamara a Hamás como una organización terrorista.

Brett va aún más lejos y nos dice que cualquiera que no sea pro-Israel es consciente o inconscientemente antisemita.

Para ser claros, Brett dice que no está ciegamente a favor de todo lo que está pasando en Israel, reconoce que hay algunos problemas, al igual que en todos los países y nos dice que no es un fan de Benjamin Netanyahu, pero dice que apoya a Israel y al pueblo israelí.

Dice que Israel tiene derecho a defenderse de los ataques de Hamás y que ha estado en Israel recientemente y que todavía hay cohetes que son lanzados por ellos, a quienes también acusa de utilizar a civiles como escudos humanos.

El mensaje de Noah fue sobre la unidad, la esperanza y la paz y Brett dice que está incondicionalmente en contra de la muerte de palestinos inocentes, pero se pregunta por qué se culpa de esas muertes a Israel y no a Hamás.

Es raro ver a una celebridad ser tan abierta sobre lo que pasa en Medio Oriente por estos días, pero Brett no se asusta.

Disney Channel actor turned OnlyFans model Dan Benson is ripping Aubrey O'Day for exploiting MLK Day to plug her OF page -- a move he calls super disrespectful, especially for a white woman.

The “Wizards of Waverly Place” alum tells TMZ ... controversy is often the name of the game for content creators looking to attract new subscribers to their OF pages. He's not naive, but adds there's still a time and a place -- and MLK Day ain't it!

As we reported, Aubrey used the holiday by posting a series of thirst trap photos and videos Monday ... right alongside a famous, and poignant, quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Maybe Aubrey should've taken that quote to heart more. Dan says Aubrey should have taken MLK Day off from her OF work, and used the time to reflect.

Instead of using Dr. King to promote her OnlyFans, Dan suggests Aubrey should have donated some of her OF revenue to a good cause.

Of course, Dan's in the OF game too, and fully understands creators' drive to boost numbers -- but he says when the "thirst trapping" goes as hard as Aubrey's stunt, it deserves to be called out.

La actriz de Disney Channel convertida en modelo de OnlyFans, Dan Benson, está criticando a Aubrey O'Day por explotar el Día del MLK para promocionar su página de OnlyFans, un acto que califica de irrespetuoso, especialmente viniendo una mujer blanca.

El "Wizards of Waverly Place" le dice a TMZ que la controversia es a menudo parte del negocio para los creadores de contenido que buscan atraer a nuevos suscriptores a sus páginas, no es ingenuo, pero añade que el Día de MLK no es ir muy lejos.

Como informamos, Aubrey aprovechó el día festivo publicando una serie de fotos y videos... justo al lado de una famosa y conmovedora cita del Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "Nuestras vidas comienzan a terminar el día en que nos callamos sobre las cosas que importan".

Tal vez Aubrey debería haber tomado esa cita más en serio... Dan dice que Aubrey debería haberse tomado el Día MLK libre de su trabajo en OnlyFans y utilizar el tiempo para reflexionar.

En lugar de utilizar al Dr. King para promover su OnlyFans, Dan dice Aubrey debería haber utilizado parte de su dinero ara una buena causa y él piensa que la reacción está justificada.

Dan dice que hace dinero mostrandole su culo a los hombres homosexuales, por lo que sabe cómo se juega el juego de la aplicación... Al menos el chico tiene buenos fundamentos.