Coronavirus

Neil Young's catalog is no longer streaming on Spotify -- the rock legend told the platform it couldn't have him AND Joe Rogan, so Neil's gone ... but he's already found another home.

Young essentially gave Spotify an ultimatum earlier this week, claiming it's allowing Rogan to spread misinformation about COVID-19 on his immensely popular podcast. In a letter to his managers, he wrote, "They can have Rogan or Young. Not both."

Not shockingly, Spotify chose Rogan -- with whom it has a $100 million deal -- but it also responded to Neil's criticism about misinformation. Spotify says it's actually removed 20,000 clips containing false COVID-19 info since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, SiriusXM is seizing on all the Neil buzz this week ... announcing it's relaunching Neil Young Radio -- a channel spinning his catalog 24/7 -- for the next month. BTW, you can still find his music on other streaming platforms too.

Apparently, the whole “self-isolate if you test positive for COVID” thing, doesn’t apply to everyone … at least, that’s what Sarah Palin seems to think.

Palin was spotted with former NY Ranger Ron Duguay and friends Wednesday night at Elio’s in New York. The issue? Palin, who is unvaccinated, tested positive for COVID two days prior ... causing a judge to delay her defamation trial against the New York Times.

Things got so overwrought, according to law enforcement, a heated dispute broke out between a stranger and Duguay.

We're told someone tried to record Sarah and Co., because it became big news she tested positive. Cops were called to the restaurant but no one was arrested.

Someone who worked at the restaurant scoffed at the criticism, telling the New York Post, "S*** happens. People come to eat. We are not the border police."

Palin and Co. did sit outside at Elio’s, but that wasn’t the case over the weekend. She was there a few days earlier and dined inside, which caused an uproar and forced her to return to apologize. When she came back to eat again, Elio’s said, “Palin returned to the restaurant to apologize for the fracas around her previous visit. In accordance with the vaccine mandate and to protect our staff, we seated her outdoors”.

We don't know if Palin got a negative result after her positive tests. Many doctors say the virus stays in the system of unvaccinated people longer than those who are vaccinated.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is backpedaling big-time, and flat-out apologizing for drawing a parallel between the COVID vaccination measures and the Jewish Holocaust.

He'd been blasted for the remarks he made Sunday at an anti-vax rally in D.C. -- even his wife, Cheryl Hines, condemned him for invoking Anne Frank's plight -- and Tuesday he finally capitulated.

RFK Jr. said on Twitter, "I apologize for my reference to Anne Frank, especially to families that suffered the Holocaust horrors." He also said, "To the extent my remarks caused hurt, I am truly and deeply sorry."

He claimed he was trying to use the terror of Nazi Germany as a parallel to what he views as "the perils from new technologies of control."

The son of the late Attorney General, and presidential candidate, RFK ... has been a vocal opponent of the COVID vaccines, but his Sunday rant crossed a line even for his wife.

Cheryl reacted by saying, "My husband's opinions are not a reflection of my own. While we love each other, we differ on many current issues."

Ozzie, the world's oldest male Gorilla has died ... and because he was among a group of the primates who tested positive for COVID last year, it's possible the disease could be to blame for his eventual demise.

The 61-year-old was found dead at Zoo Atlanta Tuesday, President and CEO Raymond B. King said of Ozzie's loss, "While we knew this time would come someday, that inevitability does nothing to stem the deep sadness we feel at losing a legend."

According to FOX5 in Atlanta, zoo vets noticed Ozzie began to lose his appetite last week -- but continued to offer him care and encourage him to eat and drink.

It was in September of last year when Ozzie was among at least 9 of Zoo Atlanta's gorilla population to test positive for COVID. The animals exhibited symptoms similar to humans -- including runny nose, coughing and sneezing.

Ozzie first arrived in Atlanta in 1988, and was part of a scientific milestone when he became the first gorilla to get a blood pressure reading. He held the title of oldest male gorilla, but Fatou -- a 64-year-old female at Berlin Zoo -- is still the oldest living gorilla.

At Zoo Atlanta, Ozzie is survived by 3 sons, a daughter, a granddaughter, a great-granddaughter and a great-grandson... but his lineage stretches across other zoos in the U.S. and Canada.

A necropsy will be performed to determine his exact cause of death.

Adele says her Vegas residency was postponed because of a massive COVID outbreak on her crew, but multiple sources connected to Caesars Palace claim the real reason the show is on ice is because Adele's displeased with the production.

Our sources say Adele was unhappy with various set pieces, a choir, the sound system and other items associated with the show. Several sources say they could not satisfy her production demands ... they say she felt numerous elements "were not good enough."

That said, we're told the folks at Caesars were "shocked" when Adele canceled at the last minute. Mind you, crews have been hard at work on every aspect of the show since at least December. One source said this was not a matter of them trying to pull it together in the 11th hour -- we're told Adele wasn't ever satisfied with the results.

As for COVID, our Caesars sources say they can't speak to Adele's crew, but the Caesars' crew was ready, willing and able, and they say they can't understand why she waited until the last minute to pull the plug.

We've reached out to her camp for comment, but no word back yet.

The singer said she and her crew had been awake for 30 straight hours to right the ship, but at the last minute, it proved too much.

It's next to impossible for pet owners in Hong Kong to get their animals out of the country ... as a result, pet owners in large numbers are chartering private jets for their animals.

Here's the deal ... flights out of Hong Kong are packed to the brim and pet owners can't get dogs and other house pets on board.

Enter Top Stars Air, which has found a niche with group charters for pets.

The owner of the company says pet owners have chartered jets for dogs, cats, hamsters and rabbits. Forget businesspeople ... the target audience now has 4 legs.

A flight from Hong Kong to New York runs $22,000, but plenty of folks have plunked down that kind of loot for their beloved pets.

As for how many ... the owner of Top Stars says business is up 700% since the beginning of the pandemic.

Pet owners in Hong Kong may have reason to fear because the country has some of the most restrictive and in some cases drastic COVID restrictions in the world.

Authorities there have been euthanizing small animals by the thousands over COVID fears.

More than 2,500 hamsters and other small pets have been euthanized after authorities tested a hamster in a pet store that turned up a positive COVID read.

Crazy times.

Bill Maher's show Friday night has stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy, after journalist and author Bari Weiss explained why she's "over COVID," and how current restrictions represent a "moral crime."

Weiss and Maher railed on COVID restrictions ... talking about the nonsensical restrictions in restaurants ... you can eat and talk and laugh with others maskless, but when you walk to the bathroom you have to wear a mask.

She also maintained liberals are with her, but are afraid to speak out for fear their critics will label them anti-vaxxers and Trumpers.

Some doctors have lashed out at Weiss, calling her irresponsible and uninformed, noting thousands of people are still dying from COVID.

There are some doctors who have been more sympathetic to Weiss' argument, saying you can follow the science and at the same time weigh the science against the risks of isolation and other restrictions ... especially when it comes to in-class learning.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says Anne Frank had a better shot escaping Nazis than folks do under COVID mandates today -- a comparison that's invoking one name ... Larry David.

Here's the deal ... RFK Jr. made these inflammatory remarks Sunday at the "Defeat the Mandates" rally in D.C., where he suggested Frank and the rest of the Jews fleeing/hiding for their lives during WWII actually had a stronger chance to dodge tyranny/death compared to people subjected to vaccine regulations in 2022.

Yes, seriously. He goes on to describe how American citizens are able to be tracked with ease with modern-day tech -- citing 5G, satellites and a lot of other kooky conspiracies. He says that while Frank and others could theoretically go undetected back in those days ... today's average Joe has no chance at eluding the government or its partners.

Wild stuff, we know -- especially coming from the son of the late Bobby Kennedy -- but RFK Jr.'s been on this far-right wing tip for a good long while now ... so no real surprises there.

What people do seem somewhat shocked by is the little-known fact that Robert's wife is actress Cheryl Hines, to whom he's been married since 2014. She has a big role on LD's HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm," where she plays his TV wife of the same name.

People started tweeting their disbelief that Larry could possibly work with someone who's involved with RFK Jr. on a deep level ... especially in light of today's comments, which many are calling anti-Semitic, or at the very least ... highly insensitive to the Jewish community.

Of course, Larry's a prominent and proud Jewish man ... and he's made his distaste for Republicans and Trumpers well-known over the years, especially through his show.

Demonstrators have descended upon Washington D.C. to protest against COVID mandates -- and, ironically, they’re blasting music from someone who just succumbed to the virus.

Thousands of people flooded into the National Mall Sunday and gathered at the base of both the Washington Monument and even more packed in front of the Lincoln Memorial ... and wouldn’t you know it, they were playing a Meat Loaf song to get themselves fired up.

The tune blaring over the speakers was ML’s “I’d Do Anything for Love” -- which we suppose is sorta in theme with what the anti-mandate crowd was there for. Song’s all about how one guy would do a lot for a woman he loves, but has a line he won’t cross ... which, presumably, applies to their attitudes toward federal and local policies?

Of course, Meat Loaf himself was against mandates -- having been outspoken about Australia’s lockdowns through much of the pandemic. Sadly enough, Meat Loaf literally just died last week after contracting coronavirus. It’s unclear if he was vaccinated or not.

The protests in D.C. today are expected to draw tens of thousands ... this not too long after the annual March for Life rally this weekend. So far, they're talking freedom, MLK, the constitution ... and a lot of other things they believe align with their vision of the country.

It appears to be peaceful thus far -- and there aren't many counter-protesters either ... which might mean these folks will have the day and space to themselves to push their message.

Adele is super upset over pulling the plug on her Vegas shows, and she offered some of her fans a drink as a token of her gratitude for sticking with her ... but then she quickly took it back. We can explain.

Adele FaceTimed a group of fans who flew to Vegas to watch her kick off her residency Friday night at Caesars Palace. As we reported, Adele put the show on ice for now, because she says half her crew has COVID and certain set pieces haven't arrived ... presumably a supply chain issue.

Well, somehow Adele ended up FaceTiming with a bunch of young fans and offered them a drink token as a token of her appreciation. But, then she realized most were underage so she quickly took it back!

She pivoted and offered them a free gift back at her pop-up store ... which had Adele-emblazoned clothes and other items inside. BTW ... the sweatshirts are priced between $90 and $110 a pop. And, hilariously, she was selling "Cry Your Heart Out" packages of Kleenex.

There's been mixed reaction to Adele postponing her shows. Lots of fans say they understand, but some say Adele should have gone on with the show, even if it was just sitting on a stool and singing, because her voice is why people come.

Lots of people ended up spending a fortune to see the show ... some of the seats cost $12k and even more. There are also hotel and airline expenses.

The MLB season is in jeopardy due to a lockout, but Aaron Boone clearly ain't ready to sweat about it all just yet ...

TMZ Sports got the New York Yankees manager out at LAX this week ... and he didn't seem to be too concerned about the contentious negotiations that are currently going down between team owners and the players association.

Boone was in great spirits ... and when we asked if he had any advice for the players going through the lockout, he said calmly, "Nah. They'll figure it out."

Of course, there are others around the league that are far more concerned than Boone ... given that baseball's been in a work stoppage for nearly two months.

Owners and players are trying to come to a common ground on a new collective bargaining agreement ... but significant strides toward a final deal have yet to be seen.

And, with spring training set for next month -- and the start of the season scheduled for March -- there's a lot of hand wringing going down.

Joe Biden took a subtle jab at Aaron Rodgers over his COVID vaccine stance in December ... and now the NFL star is finally swinging back -- wondering out loud how the guy got votes.

If you missed it, while Biden was touring a tornado-ravaged part of Kentucky, he whispered to a woman in a Green Bay Packers cap and shirt, "Tell that quarterback he's gotta get the vaccine."

The interaction was captured on camera ... and when Rodgers was finally asked about it as part of a lengthy interview with ESPN this week -- he said he was pissed.

Then, he took his own jabs at POTUS.

"When the president of the United States says, 'This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,' it's because him and his constituents, which, I don't know how there are any if you watch any of his attempts at public speaking, but I guess he got 81 million votes," Rodgers said.

"But when you say stuff like that, and then you have the CDC, which, how do you even trust them, but then they come out and talk about 75% of the COVID deaths have at least four comorbidities."

Rodgers continued, "And you still have this fake White House set saying that this is the pandemic of the unvaccinated, that's not helping the conversation."

As we previously reported, Rodgers has been extremely vocal about his vaccine status in the last few months ... famously explaining he's not vaccinated because he says he's allergic to the Pfizer and Moderna shots, and just doesn't want the Johnson & Johnson version.

Meat Loaf -- the singer with some monstrous hits -- has died at the age of 74.

The singer's manager, Michael Greene, confirmed Meat Loaf died Thursday night. Sources with knowledge tell TMZ ... he was supposed to attend a business dinner earlier this week for a show he's working on -- "I'd Do Anything for Love" -- but the dinner was canceled because he became seriously ill with COVID. Sources tell us that his condition quickly became critical.

Our sources say Meat Loaf has been outspoken about COVID, railing with folks in Australia recently about vaccine mandates. We do not know if he was vaccinated.

Greene added that Meat Loaf's wife and 2 daughters were by his side when he passed away.

Meat Loaf was one of the greatest rock singers of all time. His 1977 "Bat Out of Hell" album sold an astounding 65 million copies. That album produced several hits, including "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," which charted at #11 on Billboard.

Meat Loaf followed up with a sequel years later -- "Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell" - which produced a number 1 hit, "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)." He won a Grammy for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.

Meat Loaf also appeared in a ton of movies and TV shows, including "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," "Spice World: The Movie" and "Fight Club" He also performed in the musical "Hair," both on and off-Broadway.

His real name was Marvin Lee Aday. As for how he acquired the name of a delicious meal ... his football coach named him Meat Loaf because of his weight. His first band was called Meat Loaf Soul.

Now get this ... his first album was a duet with a singer named Stoney and it was released on Motown.

Meat Loaf appeared on "TMZ Live" back in 2014, promoting his new show in Vegas.

We last got Meat Loaf in NYC back in 2019, where he told us why his stage name should appeal to vegetarians and vegans alike.

Adele says she's tried everything possible, but the show will NOT go on, as they say -- COVID has forced her to cancel her upcoming Vegas residency.

Adele apologized to fans Thursday for having to cancel at the last minute. She says she tried hard to make sure her show was ready in time, but she says it's been nearly impossible with delivery delays, and half of her team being down due to COVID-19.

Adele was set to have her opening show this weekend as a part of her “Weekends with Adele” residency. She planned to do 24 shows starting this month and running through April.

But, now fans who traveled to Sin City will have to find something else to do, because they won't be hearing from the Grammy-award winning singer ... not this weekend, anyway.

Adele obviously appeared very remorseful, and distraught about the decision -- she says she intends to reschedule, and she's "gonna get [the show] to where it's supposed to be."

No word yet on when those new dates will be, but ya gotta feel for Adele when you see how upset she is about the delay.

Memphis hoops head coach Penny Hardaway absolutely lost it on media members following yet another defeat ... imploring journalists to "stop asking me stupid f***ing questions."

The explosion all went down Thursday, just minutes after the Tigers lost to SMU -- their third straight L -- when Hardaway was asked, in part, if the game was "embarrassing."

"I think the one thing I can say to this media -- because this media gets kind of f***ed up sometimes when it comes to me," Hardaway said.

"We don't have our full roster. Y'all know we don't have our full roster. Stop asking me stupid f***ing questions about if I feel like I can do something."

Hardaway continued railing on the reporters for nearly a full minute ... adding, "Stop disrespecting me, bro. Like, don't do that. I work too f***ing hard. I work way too hard for that."

Hardaway -- who's been coaching at Memphis since 2018 and had NCAA Tournament aspirations before the year began -- then called some media members' articles "bulls***."

If you're wondering, Penny's Tigers are just 9-8 on the season now ... although, like Hardaway said in his tirade, they have been shorthanded for most of the year.

Players have been in and out of lineups due to COVID and injuries ... and Hardaway was forced to start a lineup of nearly all freshmen against SMU.

Fashion icon Andre Leon Talley has died at 73 ... TMZ has learned.

A source with direct knowledge tells us Vogue's former creative director and one-time editor-at-large passed away Tuesday at a hospital in White Plains, NY. It's currently unclear exactly what he was battling in the hospital.

Talley was instrumental to Vogue's vision and direction in the '80s and '90s, when he worked his way up the magazine ranks to eventually become the news director -- which he helmed from '83 to '87 -- and then ascended to Vogue's creative director in '88.

He held that post for a good 7 or so years, and before long ... he was heading up all of Vogue as the EAL -- with a slight break in between -- until 2013, when he left the company. Even after his official departure, however, he continued to contribute to Vogue in varying capacities ... including podcast appearances.

ALT will perhaps be best remembered as a trailblazer in the fashion world -- not just for his stylish flair, but for his push to include more POC on the runway ... specifically, Black models.

His work and career speak for themselves ... and so has his consulting work elsewhere, including being a stylist for Michelle Obama on a shoot and even serving as a judge on 'America's Next Top Model' ... among many other notable achievements, like his 'SATC' cameo and frequent Wendy Williams chats.

He has worked side by side with Anna Wintour -- Vogue's editor-in-chief -- for decades ... and is considered one of the first mainstream African-American tastemakers in the U.S.  Andre was also an LGBT icon ... although he never specifically said he was gay, but more fluid than anything in his sexuality.

The last time we got him out was in 2017, when he was dishing about Rihanna, fashion ... and Trump. It was a peak Andre moment, with his big personality on full display in front of the cameras.

He was 73.