Famous Food

Papa John's is hoping Shaquille O'Neal can do the same thing he did for the Lakers ... return them to prominence ... by adding the Big Man on as a member of their Board Of Directors.

Shaq announced the move moments ago on his Instagram with a statement talking about his future with the company, and his enthusiasm for their pies.

"I am so excited to be joining the Papa John’s family as a member of the Board of Directors, a soon-to-be investor in nine Papa John’s franchises in Atlanta and an ambassador for the brand."

This is HUGE news for Papa John's ... the company has been embroiled in controversy ever since founder John Schnatter stepped down after he admitted to using the n-word during a conference call with executives last May.

Since then, the company has been hit with boycotts by some members of the Black community, leading to declining sales 5 quarters in a row according to CNN business.

Shaq is a beloved figure in the community, and you have to believe PJ's is hoping adding him will get them back on the good side of those who think the company is racist.

"I know that behind every large company, there are thousands of people that put their heart and soul into the business. Papa John’s is no different, and it struck a chord with me that the company is putting in the work to do better within its walls and in the communities it serves across the country."

BTW -- this deal also comes with 9 franchises for Shaq in the Atlanta area ... and that means free pizza ... pace yourself, big guy.

Did you know ... Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones once made the guy who killed Osama Bin Laden his special Thanksgiving VIP guest???

It's true ... and when we spoke with Navy SEAL legend Rob O'Neill -- he told us what it was like spending Turkey Day with one of the most powerful guys in the NFL.

We were in D.C. talking with O'Neill about his favorite NFL team -- the Washington Redskins -- when he dropped the Jerry Jones fun fact ... so after the clip, we called him up on the phone to get the full story.

It all went down in 2014 when Rob was living in Dallas ... some of the Redskins honchos wanted to do something nice for him so they put him in touch with the Cowboys in hopes of getting him VIP access to the Thanksgiving Day game.

The Cowboys not only hooked it up -- but Jerry personally invited the American hero into his private owner's suite for the full Thanksgiving turkey spread!!

Jones also took Rob down on the field with a full access pass. Least he could do, right?!

Rob says he's still a hardcore Washington fan -- but he's got a soft spot for the Cowboys.

Anyway, salute this man.

#RESPECT

For Ariana Grande, ex really does mark the spot. And, this time it's Graham Phillips.

Ariana was out in NYC Sunday night dressed to the nines in a mini skirt, thigh-high white boots and an oversized coat. Also looking pretty dapper was the "Riverdale" actor. They hit up the Italian joint Carbone ... super popular among celebs.

It's the second time in less than 2 weeks since Ariana's gotten cozy with one of her exes. You'll recall the "Thank U, Next" singer reunited with Big Sean after hitting up a recording studio. They left together in the same car.

Ariana and Graham dated for about 3 years after they met on the Broadway production of "13" ... a musical with a cast featuring teenagers. They broke up in 2011 but remained friendly. The reunion comes on the heels of Pete Davidson's very public fling with Kate Beckinsale, which Ariana called cute.

So ... who's next?

He's already got a statue at Staples Center -- now Shaquille O'Neal has a restaurant right across the street!!!

The NBA legend opened up Shaquille's at L.A. Live over the weekend -- and tons of his famous friends showed up to celebrate ... from Adam Sandler to Julian Edelman and Tiffany Haddish!!!

It all went down after the Lakers game on Saturday night after Los Angeles took an L against their rival, Boston Celtics ... which happens to the last team Shaq played for!!!

The restaurant specializes in Southern cuisine -- featuring everything from Shaq’s famous fried chicken to shrimp & grits. People at the party tell us the food was delicious.

And, get this ... we're told a few of the Lakers even hit up the joint after the game ... including Kyle Kuzma and Rajon Rondo.

Boston's Jayson Tatum was there too along with Celtics legend Paul Pierce.

Other stars spotted at the party ... Diplo, E.J. Johnson, Jaleel White and Ross Butler.

Luke Perry's loved ones -- including his ex-wife and his fiancee -- all came together Friday night, 5 days after his tragic death from a stroke.

Luke's son, 21-year-old Jack, had dinner in Studio City, CA with his mother, Rachel "Minnie" Sharp and Luke's fiancee, Wendy Madison Bauer. The blond woman in the hoodie appears to be a friend of Luke's daughter, Sophie. It's unclear if she was at the dinner.

The blended fam broke bread at a restaurant near to Luke's home.

The family, no doubt, discussed funeral arrangements. There are reports the '90210' and "Riverdale" star will be laid to rest in L.A. Forest Lawn Cemetery.

As we reported, Jack -- a pro wrestler who goes by Jungle Boy in the ring -- has taken a break from work to be with his family.

Sophie posted a tribute to her dad this week ... after she rushed back from Malawi to be by his side before he passed.

Luke and Rachel were married for 10 years before they divorced in 2003, and had joint custody of their kids. It was clear at the dinner that Rachel and Wendy -- who'd been with Luke for several years -- have a good relationship too.

Kylie Jenner's getting some love from her, no doubt, incredibly proud papa -- as they celebrate her huge financial milestone with a fancy dinner in Malibu.

Caitlyn Jenner hugged it out with her daughter Friday night outside Nobu. We're guessing they hooked up to raise a glass to Kylie for officially reaching billionaire status, according to Forbes ... at just 21 years old. Yes, she's also the world's youngest self-made billionaire ever.

The father-daughter dinner came complete with a third wheel -- Caitlyn's partner, Sophia Hutchins, and the loving family scene at the end of the meal raises just one question.

We've all been there ... that awkward moment when you're a working adult and go out to dinner with a parent. WHO picks up the check??

Y'know Caitlyn had to offer -- after all, her net worth is reportedly an estimated, and totally respectable, $100 mil. She's used to paying, but maybe juuust this once ... ya let the kid slap down her black card.

Salt Bae's gone full "Rocky IV" mode with his workouts ... taking them to the extreme, but instead of snow he's working it in the sand.

The famous Turkish chef/Internet sensation hit up Miami Beach Thursday making it obvious dude's never skipped leg day.

Mr. Bae also finds it hard to resist taking his workouts to a whole new level ... busting out pistol squats with a freakin' utility trailer and regular ol' squats with a damn log!

Check out the vid ... Bae's bud's right there with him getting it all on video. Probs for the Gram.

Need more proof Salt Bae's living the sweet life? Check out the chick who couldn't resist pulling up next to him for a pic. She clearly kicks butt in her workouts too.

BTW ... it's not the first time Salt Bae's opted for some bitchin' workouts. Remember the parachute?

Hate if ya want, but if getting salty's your thing -- here's a lesson on how to do it right. Like we said, next level.

Stick a fork in Mario Batali, he's done ... the celebrity chef is surrendering all of his restaurants in the wake of the various sexual assault allegations against him.

The Bastianich family and some of Mario's other partners bought out his stake in his eateries ... this according to The New York Times.

The sudden fire sale means Mario will no longer profit from his 16 remaining restaurants ... and he's also reportedly in the process of selling his shares in Eataly -- a fast-growing chain of Italian supermarkets.

We broke the story ... in January, NYPD closed two sexual assault cases against Mario without filing charges.

The NYPD probe started after a woman came forward on "60 Minutes" last May claiming Mario sexually assaulted her in 2005 at his Spotted Pig restaurant.

Another woman filed a police report in March 2017, claiming Batali raped her on Jan. 29, 2004 at his West Village eatery.

Soon after the allegations surfaced, several of the restaurants under his company closed their doors.

Batali confirmed the news to TMZ by saying, "I have reached an agreement with Joe (Bastianich) and no longer have any stake in the restaurants we built together. I wish him the best of luck in the future."

Donald Trump treated ANOTHER college football team to a fast food spread at the White House on Monday -- with the North Dakota State squad getting Chick-fil-A and McDonald's on a silver platter!

The NDSU Bison football team was invited to Trump's White House to celebrate winning the FCS Championship with a 38-24 win over Eastern Washington back in January.

The team reportedly wasn't expecting ANY food during the trip -- but after the success Trump had with the Clemson football team back in January, he decided to break out the fast food again!

You can see in the photo ... the spread was loaded with Big Macs and chicken sandwiches.

Remember when Clemson visited, Trump served up McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King AND pizza to celebrate their national championship win over Alabama.

At the time, Trump explained the menu by saying, "I would think that's their favorite food."

The food was a hit -- with Clemson's star QB Trevor Lawrence telling TMZ Sports, "It was awesome. We had McDonald's and everything. It was good."

The NDSU Bison have won the FCS Championship 7 times in the last 8 years -- but this is the first time they've gone to the White House.

Before the trip, head coach Matt Entz told the Grand Forks Herald ... "This isn’t a political trip, this is a Bison trip and, personally, I sold it as two things: It’s one more opportunity for the 2018 team to be together, but also in my mind the start of the 2019 season and the things we’re going to do together."

The big question ... how did the food go over with the players?

Cara Delevingne is just like the rest of us, hitting up Postmates for some grub on the go ... the only difference is, she spends way more on deliveries than your average Joe.

Cara is one of Postmates' most dedicated customers ... because the company tells us she started getting deliveries back in 2014 and has since dropped $25,000!!!

The "Suicide Squad" star is being featured on a Postmates series, The Receipt, which profiles big-spending celebs, their favorite orders and weirdest requests.

Cara's first order was for a bottle of Jack Daniels on Halloween night, and she's since racked up more than 482 orders, for 1,038 items, from over 234 stores!!!

Cara's favorite spots to order from include: Go Greek Yogurt, Pink Dot, Pinkberry, Taco Bell, Domino's and Shake Shack. Her most ordered item ... the "To-Go Lite" omakase from SUGARFISH.

Food isn't the only thing Cara gets from Postmates ... she once ordered a box of nails and a hammer, and her most expensive purchase was a $326 vacuum!!!

It's taken a couple of years, but something good is coming out of the Fyre Festival debacle ... courtesy of CJ Franco, who's showing us what could have been down in the Bahamas.

The model slipped into a barely-there bikini for this super sexy photo shoot with Chris Applebaum ... and their Fyre Fest theme has us hoping Ja Rule really can successfully pull off version 2.0.

Check out the gallery ... CJ's bringing back the festival's infamous "gourmet" cheese sandwiches, and her shots with Evian water are guaranteed to make anyone thirsty.

As you know ... tons of people got burned by Billy McFarland's fraudulent festival, but CJ's here to ease a bit of their pain. It's not money in your pocket, but it's the best we can do.

You might remember CJ as the ex-GF of Kate Beckinsale's ex, Len Wiseman -- or recognize her from this flaming hot shoot and her features in Maxim, FHM and GQ.

Note to Ja Rule: make sure to get CJ on board for your hot model promo shoots when/if your Iconic Festival becomes a real thing.

R. Kelly is a free man again -- it was total pandemonium as he walked out of jail -- and he'll have to pay off a 6-figure child support tab almost immediately if he wants to avoid getting locked up again.

Kelly's $100k bond -- 10% of his $1 million bail -- was finally posted Monday after he appeared in court and entered a not guilty plea to all 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse. As he walked out of jail, wearing his blue down coat, Kelly was swarmed by photogs and reporters.

There also seemed to be a number of protesters yelling at Kelly, calling him a pedophile and asking how he'd feel if someone urinated on his daughter -- but they used more colorful language.

Sources in Kelly's camp tell us he paid the bond with a bank cashier's check ... so, there won't be any issues with his check clearing.

Although Kelly's out, he's staring down another deadline. TMZ broke the story ... he has to pay about $160k in back child support to his ex-wife, Drea Kelly, by March 6. If he doesn't, it's right back to County lockup.

The Kelly sources tell us he plans to make arrangements to pay the child support by next week, so he can focus on his criminal defense ... and avoid jail.

It's possible he could be facing additional charges after attorney Michael Avenatti dropped an additional bombshell -- a NEW tape showing Kelly having sex with the same 14-year-old girl from the other tape. Avenatti has now turned over both tapes to Cook County prosecutors.

5:05 PM PT -- R. Kelly made a pit stop after leaving jail, stopping off at McDonald's for some quick eats.

We're told Kelly ordered a quarter pounder meal with BBQ sauce on the side, washing it down with a soda and some coffee. We're told Kels got cream and sugar with his coffee, but he went back to the counter and asked for more.

We're told the singer sat down and ate with his team inside the fast-food restaurant for about half an hour, and they left after a small crowd began to gather.

R. Kelly's got a full plate of problems right now -- but at least he also had a full plate of decent grub while he was in the hokey waiting to be released on bond.

The singer got sprung from jail Monday after his lawyers posted the necessary $100k he had to cough up to fulfill his $1 million bond. The question on everyone's mind since he turned himself in on Friday though ... what the hell did Kels eat behind bars???

We now have the answer based on the Cook County Jail's monthly menu, which TMZ has obtained. We gotta say ... it sounds like he ate pretty well this past weekend.

Here's what R. Kelly was fed on Saturday and Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Saturday:

B -- Breakfast square, bread, jelly, margarine, drink mix (whatever that is), applesauce

L -- Cured turkey, bread, egg (just one???), chips, cookie, mustard, drink mix

D -- Meatballs, teriyaki sauce, fluffy rice, carrots, bread, margarine, pudding and milk

Sunday:

B -- Breakfast square, bread, jelly, ginger snap, peanut butter, drink mix

L -- Turkey salami, bread, cereal, cookie and salad

D -- House fried rice, mixed veggies, bread, margarine, iced cake and milk

Gunna is gunning to be the all-time favorite hip-hop artist ... of Girl Scouts everywhere.

The Georgia rapper -- who's signed to Young Thug's YSL Records label -- was hosting a meet-and-greet with fans Saturday at the DTLR in Atlanta's Camp Creek Marketplace ... when he decided to provide everyone with treats.

Gunna went outside where the Girl Scouts had set up shop to sell their cookies ... and dropped enough cash to buy the whole table's worth. He then brought the girls -- and the cookies -- into the event.

We also asked the rapper if he's talked to 21 Savage ... he says he has and all's well.

Charles Barkley's not the only one getting laughs at Jussie Smollett's expense -- Trevor Noah's team spoofed the "Empire" star hard ... and it's pretty hilarious.

"The Daily Show" put together a fake movie trailer mocking Jussie's "attack" -- which Chicago PD now believes was a publicity stunt -- and how it came to be ... featuring the show's newest star, Jaboukie Young-White, as Smollett.

The trailer for "Jussie's Lie" has it all -- from the actor allegedly being dissatisfied with his "Empire" salary and getting pissed when his hate letter didn't receive enough attention ... to planning the "attack" with Nigerian brothers, Abel and Ola.

And, they don't forget about the 2 AM trip to Subway for some grub, either.

In the end, Jussie (Jaboukie) looks at the camera -- rope in hand -- and pronounces ... "I'm the gay Tupac."

Halsey and Yungblud looked like the happiest people on the Happiest Place on Earth!!!

The couple hit up Disneyland Friday for a super fun date. In addition to hopping on the carousel in Fantasyland, Halsey posed with Minnie Mouse. They also jumped on the Buzz Lightyear ride and then took a ride on the Matterhorn.

But, wait ... there was more. When they were done with rides, they dined at the Blue Bayou restaurant.