Humor

George Lucas gently cradling Baby Yoda is already the best thing to happen in 2020 -- and if you're not feeling that ... ya might be dead inside.

The 'Star Wars' creator finally met arguably the most popular character to come outta the Disney+ series, "The Mandalorian." He's, for sure, the most meme'd! Jon Favreau, executive producer of the show, shared the pic of George and Baby Yoda on set while shooting for season 2.

BTW ... Baby Yoda's more of an Internet handle. The character simply goes by The Child on the show -- but it's easy to see how the nickname caught fire.

Of course, George created Jedi Master Yoda for his 1980 film "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" (aka the Star Wars G.O.A.T.). Baby Yoda, who is 50 years old in the series, has been all the craze and Disney's about to cash in by dropping tons of merch in March -- but knock-offs are everywhere already.

Fittingly, Favreau captioned the meeting ... "Proud grandpa."

Someone's leaving in an ambulance, and Mark Wahlberg is positive it'll be Dr. Oz ... IF the good doc follows through with his push-up challenge ... to settle the great breakfast debate once and for all.

It all started out kinda funny, but Mark's no longer laughing, saying to Oz, "We got beef now. You don't want this smoke" -- making it clear he's down for whatever physical competition Oz wants.

You'll recall ... Oz threw down the gauntlet earlier this week when he told us he'd crush Marky Mark in a one-legged push-up contest ... all because Mark disagreed with Oz's controversial break-xit remark -- that we should do away with breakfast altogether!!

Careful what you ask for, Oz, 'cause Mark's dead serious -- "You could do your little 20 push-ups with one leg, your assisted pull-up. I'm telling you you'll need a defibrillator when I'm done with you!"

Will Smith almost always clowned Martin Lawrence for his driving skills, or lack thereof, in every 'Bad Boys' film ... so it's fitting Big Willie's behind the wheel for their sequel's big premiere.

Will and Martin arrived in style, courtesy of a midnight blue Porsche, for their "Bad Boys For Life" premiere Tuesday night in Hollywood. The famous movie cop duo hit up the TCL Chinese Theatre where a throng of fans screamed their lungs out.

Will and Martin both hit the stage -- along with reggaeton superstar Nicky Jam, who has a role in the film -- and hyped the crowd. The premiere was quite the family affair.

Will was joined by his sons, Trey and Jaden. Martin was joined by his entire family. Stars were also out in full force ... from Chance the Rapper, T-Pain, G-Eazy and Armie Hammer to NFL legend Emmitt Smith, mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and T.I. and Tiny.

The night, however, may have belonged to Vanessa Hudgens ... who dazzled in a white ensemble full of flair. She plays Kelly ... part of a new ammo team brought in to work with detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett.

Ray J showed up late to his own party with 50 Cent -- but when he finally arrived, he made it worth the wait. Ray knows how to make an entrance ... when money's on the line!!!

Fiddy and Ray were supposed to show up together at the recent L.A. meet-and-greet with fans. The plan was they'd shake some hands, take some pics and promote their respective brands -- 50 with his top-shelf Branson Cognac, Le Chemin Du Roi Champagne and RJ with his Raycon earbuds.

Well, 50 was on time, but Ray ended up rolling in about 90 minutes after things started. Not to worry though, he came prepared ... literally dragging in his own Raycon poster and stand into place for maximum visibility in photos.

The whole scene was kinda ridic, and 50 probably summed it up best, saying ... "What the Ray J is going on?!?"

Larry David went FULL Larry David on a gaggle of thirsty autograph hounds who really need to find a new gig, according to him -- and yet, in the end, he kinda encouraged them.

The "Seinfeld" co-creator and star of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" was leaving his season 10 premiere Monday night in L.A. ... and before he could get to his car, he was greeted by the John Hancock brigade. One of 'em told Larry he'd been waiting for 7 hours, and that set LD off on a 'Curb'-worthy rant.

Larry made it clear he didn't tell them to waste 7 hours ... and ripped the group, saying no celeb likes signing for these guys who follow them for signatures, which they turn around and sell.

Jennifer Lopez performing at the SB Halftime show will be HUGE for the Latino community -- but to make it truly momentous, others should join ... so says John Leguizamo.

We got the veteran actor Sunday at LAX, where he was touching down ahead of the Critics' Choice Awards later tonight. The guy's one of the nominees for his work on "When They See Us," and he was definitely in a chatty mood. Today's topic ... Super Bowl LIV.

Our camera guy asked if J Lo performing -- alongside Shakira and, possibly, Pitbull too -- is a good thing for Hispanics at large. John certainly seems to think so ... telling us every Latinx person watching will probably be at home doing a little dance in celebration.

He took it one step further though, offering up a bunch of other big Hispanic names who could show face during the performance and really amp things up. Among them ... Bruno Mars, Camila Cabello, Maluma, Cardi B and even Mariah Carey -- who comes from Afro-Latina descent. JL notes even if she doesn't usually identify as such, he's claiming her regardless.

Mark Curry put Steve Harvey on blast for allegedly jacking his jokes and using them on his shows -- twice -- and video evidence shows ... Mark has a case.

Curry claims Harvey stole his Halloween material but hasn't gotten into specifics. This resulted in Steve clapping back at Mark ... saying the comedian can't even come up with an example of what he's barking about.

TMZ's done some digging, though ... and it seems Curry's 1999 stand-up special on "Comedy Central Presents" contains the Halloween bit Harvey allegedly lifted for his talk show.

Watch for yourself ... Mark cracks a joke about being poor growing up, and how his mom dressed him and his siblings up in boxes for Halloween "costumes." The punchline involves UPS.

Now, check out Steve's joke, which aired on his eponymous daytime talk show in 2015. It involves being poor growing up, and how his dad dressed him up in a box for a Halloween "costume." The punchline varies slightly but still involves UPS.

Hmmmmmmm ...

When Curry spoke to us, he made a point to say that not only did Harvey steal his material ... but he didn't even do it right. Once again, the video evidence seems to support his claim.

Note to future broadcasters ... an on-air tribute to a dead pet is the WORST time to get fired up over a crazy dunk!!!

Want proof? Check out this clip from a high school basketball team in Minnesota on Nov. 30 (captured by Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools) when one announcer reveals that his dog recently died after being run over by a car.

While making the emotional announcement during a "Gone But Not Forgotten" moment, his co-announcer gets FIRED UP about an aggressive slam dunk happening in real time on the court ... and the exchange is SUPER AWKWARD.

Here's the transcript ...

Announcer 1: "Our sweet Lucy, at the age of 12 she was run over in our driveway ..."

Announcer 2: "LIKE THAT?!!! Was she run over like that?!!"

Yeesh.

Thankfully, there was a time out in the game that gave everyone a chance to calm down and reset ... and later on, Announcer 2 offered his condolences to his broadcasting partner.

Ne-Yo loves himself so much, he listens to his own music when he has sex, but he's now confessing that can create certain, umm ... performance issues.

We got the singer at LAX and our photog asked about his recent revelation -- he makes love to his own tracks! As for which songs ... Ne-Yo told us his wife, Crystal Renay, usually picks the playlist. He's a gentleman, after all.

Ne-Yo's got a huge catalog, packed with perfect songs for doing the deed, but he says the slower tunes usually set the mood just right -- in particular, he says "Mirror" is the #1 request. Feel free to try it yourself!

If there was ever any doubt, Ne-Yo is a perfectionist ... you gotta see him explain the one hazard of banging while his voice is blaring on a speaker. Let's just say it has to do with different strokes.

Imagine riding the subway to work on a totally normal morning ... and sharing your commute with the entire Toronto Maple Leafs roster!!!

That's exactly what happened on Thursday ... when Auston Matthews and his boys headed to their annual outdoor practice by using public transit.

It's become a tradition for Toronto to give the fans a cool, up-close experience at Nathan Phillips Square in the 6 ... and give subway-goers a ride they'll never forget!!

Maple Leafs star Mitchell Marner -- who just signed a 6-year, $65.3 MILLION with Toronto this past offseason -- was even signing autographs while hanging with the normies.

Of course, the boys ended up getting to the ice for a full day of practice ... which includes a 3-on-3 tournament for all the fans to watch. Cool stuff.

Brad Pitt opened up about his sobriety in a surprise way ... by crediting Bradley Cooper for helping him get there after his pal presented him an award.

Brad won Best Supporting Actor at the National Board of Review Annual Awards Gala on Wednesday night, and after being handed the award and hugging it out, he praised Bradley in his speech for being a great dad ... and a great friend.

Pitt said Cooper rushed to the event after putting his daughter to bed, called him a sweetheart, then added ... "I got sober because of this guy, and every day has been happier ever since."

Adam Sandler got downright serious as he told us about bombing on stage in his early days.

Adam was at the National Board Review Gala Wednesday night in NYC and revealed what fueled his drive to be a successful stand-up comedian ... despite crashing and burning on the Sunset Strip.

The Grammy-nominated comedian says when he was a kid trying to make it, there was a 50-50 chance the friends he'd invite to come watch him would leave saying "Adam sucks."

The struggle was real ... he says it happened for 3 solid years. Adam ultimately found his footing ... and it was comedian Dennis Miller who discovered Adam in WeHo at the Comedy Club. Dennis, BTW, is the one who recommended Adam to 'SNL' honcho Lorne Michaels ... and the rest was history.

Adam also talked about Eddie Murphy's comeback to stand-up comedy ... saying he's confident it's only a matter of time until Eddie makes his triumphant return to stand-up.

Steve Harvey is calling BS on Mark Curry's claim he's stolen jokes from him -- and he's issuing a challenge to the guy ... gimme specifics or STFU.

The legendary comedian/host was chilling Wednesday in Bev Hills -- on Rodeo Drive, naturally -- and told us there's simply no truth to Curry's ranting about the past few weeks. He claims on at least 2 occasions, Steve jacked his jokes.

We can't even say Steve laughed off the allegation, because he's pissed off at this point -- telling us he's never stolen a joke in his life, and Mark needs to grow up. He's also demanding Curry step up with some deets about the lifted material.

Quentin Tarantino will do the line-of-autographs thing, but don't push your luck ... 'cause he's got no problem telling you to screw off and to never bother him again. All love though.

The acclaimed director -- who's clearly still riding out the high of winning big at the Golden Globes this past weekend with "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" -- was making his way out of a hotel Wednesday in NYC ... and was met with a crush of paps and Hancock hounds.

He played along pretty well, jokingly telling the swarm of photogs to cool it and to stop following him everywhere. After that, he went down the line with a pen in hand and signed a bunch of memorabilia, making sure no one double-dipped with security in tow.

You gotta see how QT goes about talking to the mega-fans here ... telling a lot of them he never wants to see them after this, and also ... to GTFOH with their BS questions.

It's pretty hilarious, and kinda classic Quentin if you ask us. His acceptance speech on Sunday was in the same vein, humorous and a little cocky. All in good fun, of course.

Comedian Ramy Youssef's got issues with TSA -- which you'd expect, of course ... because he now has to get his Golden Globe Award through "random" screenings.

Fresh off his victory, the star of Hulu's "Ramy" was at LAX Tuesday morning trying to make his way through TSA. Everyone around him was busy placing their shoes, jackets and belts in bins -- but when he had to place his Golden Globe on the belt ... Ramy had to record the occasion.

You can see Ramy's new hardware -- after winning Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy -- get screened, much to the agent's delight.

The trophy -- securely tucked in its case -- CLEARLY shows up in TSA's screening equipment. But, the agent still feels compelled to open the case, take out the Golden Globe and wipe it down, for "security purposes," of course. She even posed with it as if she's the big winner. Hard to say she isn't when ya see the video.

Ramy definitely thought it was funny ... on his Instagram he joked, "The 'random' checks you have to deal with when you have a [M]uslim name."

Wanna see a grown-ass man freak out on video?! Great!

Here's Toronto Raptors star Rondae Hollis-Jefferson TRYING to prove his toughness by walking on the famous glass floor at CN Towers in Toronto ... and IT DOES NOT GO WELL!

FYI, the glass floor at CN Tower (one of the tallest buildings in the world) is a major tourist attraction -- 1,112 feet above ground and people come from all over to stand on the glass and stare down! It's wild!

Rondae gave it a shot ... but when it came time to step on the glass, his fear of heights kicked in and the 25-year-old FREAKED OUT!!

The 6'6" star refused to walk on the glass -- instead he tried to crawl and scoot across ... and it's funny as hell!

For the record, ZERO people have died on the glass floors -- and building officials claim it's so strong, it could hold the weight of 35 MOOSE!!! So, chill Rondae.