Humor

Ricky Gervais might just be the one comedian who’s welcoming cancel culture with open arms, because he says he's gonna lean into it hard with an upcoming performance.

The British comic and actor told Heat this week that his next stand-up special -- which he's appropriately calling "Armageddon" -- is likely going to force him to get the hook ... something he’s actually hoping for with giddiness.

RG says, in part ... “I'm treating it like it's my last one ever. It won't be, but I want to put everything into it. I want to try and get cancelled,” adding he can’t wait to get started.

The show’s gonna be about how we as a society are destroying ourselves, be it through the media, global warming or other means ... so you can imagine Ricky will be hop-scotching around some heavy topics, with no punches pulled.

One thing he believes in as an old-school, stand-up comic is that no topic is off-limits, which he’s recently reiterated in interviews ... but also hammered home with his actual material, especially on the biggest of stages.

You’ll recall ... Ricky hosted the Golden Globes a few years back, and he let the jokes fly at just about everybody’s expense. He was not invited back to host, and sounds like he's going for a similar outcome with his latest solo offering.

Hall of Fame QB now ... Emily Cooper's new love interest next?!?

Peyton Manning says that might just be his path ... telling "The Tonight Show" on Monday that after his hilarious "Emily In Paris" skit over the weekend, he could be getting a huge role in the next season of the hit show.

The NFL legend broke it all down for Jimmy Fallon ... explaining the reaction to his "Saturday Night Live" appearance has been so great -- it could lead to him rubbin' elbows with Emily on Netflix in France soon.

"I think I'm going to be asked to be in Season 3," Manning said. "Like, a big part."

Manning wasn't being entirely serious with the prediction -- but it certainly wouldn't be farfetched given the response to his "Emily In Paris" jokes on Saturday.

If you missed it ... Manning hilariously told Colin Jost that he missed NFL playoff games because he was binge-watching Season 2 of the Netflix show instead.

Manning fired off punchline after punchline about the show -- and even broke out a telestrator to explain it all. It was laugh-out-loud funny.

The wildest part about it all, though? Manning told Fallon on Monday he's actually never watched an episode of it!

Bob Saget's still bringing laughs to one of standup comedy's meccas -- The Comedy Store hosted the late comedian's family and famous friends as they celebrated his life and career.

The iconic West Hollywood club was packed with some huge names Sunday night ... Chris Rock, Jim Carrey, Jackson Browne, John Mayer, John Stamos and Jeff Ross were just a few on the guest list.

Bob's daughters Aubrey and Lara arrived together... and, of course, his widow Kelly Rizzo was there too.

The Comedy Store posted about the memorial days prior, and only a limited number of tickets were available to the public for the show.

Not only did the night celebrate Saget's life, but it also served as a fundraiser for the Scleroderma Research Foundation ... an organization Bob poured his time, effort and money into for decades, after his sister died from the disease in 1994.

Bob served on the board of the foundation ... and became a champion for awareness and research.

Peyton Manning KILLED on 'SNL' Saturday with an absolutely hilarious breakdown of the NFL's season playoffs, and how it paled by comparison to "Emily in Paris."

Manning joined Colin Jost at the Weekend Update desk ... presumably to talk in part about the incredible season playoff games last weekend and the reported retirement of Tom Brady.

Well, Peyton had the best of intentions to watch the games, but an hour before he decided to kill some time by watching the first episode of 'E.I.P.' Season 2.

Peyton said at that point it was football, schmootball ... because he was hooked and watched the entire season, missing all the games.

You gotta see how Peyton uses the telestrator to show Emily's playbook. It's super funny.

Peyton also thinks "Emily in Paris" is the secret reason Tom Brady will retire.

Pete Davidson's a chip off the ol' block ... the question -- did Kanye West knock his block off?

The answer is no, but we'll explain why it's a fair question in a minute.

Yeah, Pete's tooth looks chipped, but it's not.  Our Pete sources tell TMZ ... he's shooting a movie that requires a chipped tooth, so it's fake.  We don't know which movie, but we know he does not have a chipped tooth.

Oh, the baby ... it's Malcolm, the newborn of Olivia Munn and John Mulaney, whom they now call "Uncle Pete." Pete's reaction ... "Babies are all head." You hear Olivia and John cracking up in the background.

As for the Kanye thing ... remember, he recently said in a song he would kick Pete's ass.

Jonathan Cahill might be able to ditch his life of crime for one of modeling, fashion and money ... at least that's what millions of women eyeing his "Wanted" poster seem to think.

The West Yorkshire Police Department in the U.K. put out a wanted bulletin Thursday, saying, "Can you help us to locate Jonathan Cahill, who has been recalled to prison? He is 37 years old and is believed to be residing in the Wakefield area. Please share our appeal below and contact us if you can help our officers to locate him."

And, "share our appeal" people did!!! Cahill's mug hit social media like wildfire, along with a flood of pretty hilarious social media comments -- mostly from Cahill's new female fans.

Some of our faves:
"Might leave my doors unlocked and bedroom door open you bad bad man."
"Bloody hell. He'll be smashing a few more back doors in."
"The key's under the pot, Jonathan."
"Does he need a place to hide?"

Of course, Cahill's story bears a striking resemblance to that of Jeremy Meeks ... who rose to fame and landed a very lucrative modeling gig after his mug shot went viral in 2014.

Meeks spent 13 months behind bars on a federal weapons charge, and was released in 2016. Since then, Meeks has walked in shows for Tommy Hilfiger, Philipp Plein and launched a fashion line of his own. He also had a kid with Chloe Green, the daughter of British billionaire Philip Green.

Hilarious moment on the radio waves Thursday ... NFL reporter Ian Rapoport hung up on a show in order to break some Chicago Bears news, saying "oh s***!" just before he bolted!!

It all happened just minutes ago on WEEI ... when Rapoport, an insider for NFL Network, was discussing the possibility of future overtime rule changes in the league.

Rapoport was humming with his hit, saying a change could eventually come ... when suddenly, he abruptly paused.

"You know -- the," Rapoport said awkwardly. "Oh, s***! I just got a text. I got to go!"

Rapoport quickly hung up, and the guys howled with stunned laughter.

Everyone later learned Ian had to go to break the news that the Bears are expected to name Matt Eberflus as their next head coach.

No worries ... nobody appeared to be offended by Rapoport's sudden exit -- the show hosts, and some of Rapoport's colleagues, even joked about it on Twitter afterward.

Peter Dinklage thinks ‘Snow White’ has a little person problem, and while Brad Willams doesn’t disagree ... he does have some suggestions on how to make it work.

We talked to the comedian/actor -- who was born with dwarfism himself -- and he gave us his take on Dinklage ripping Disney for what he sees as a fundamental issue with the story of SW and its depiction of dwarfs.

Check it out ... Brad says he isn’t here to refute Pete one iota, because he actually concurs ... ‘Snow White’ is problematic as it stands. However, he hits us with some solutions on how to make it even more progressive than what Disney’s done so far in the casting ... i.e. Rachel Zegler, a Latina, in the title role.

In Brad’s happily ever after, the princess actually ends up with one of the cottage dwellers!!! Watch ... he rattles off some impressive reasons for Happy and co. to play love interests for Snow. Yes, stand-up is Brad's thing, but we think he's only half joking here and makes some solid points. His way, everyone wins ... at least that’s how BW sees it.

On a more serious note, Brad discusses how Hollywood needs to do a better job for little people in the biz, noting that Dinklage is NOT killing roles for other actor’s by saying what he said. That responsibility, Brad argues, ultimately lies with producers and writers ... who should look to be more inclusive in their scripts.

One last thing ... Disney has come out and said it's going a different route with the 7 dwarfs for the upcoming film, one which they say won’t harp on stereotypes the OG animated feature played up.

Add Aziz Ansari to the list of people going after Aaron Rodgers -- the "Parks and Rec" star just roasted the hell outta the QB ... saying no one should be surprised about his COVID vaccine stance because he's a football player.

"This guy makes a living getting hit in the head," the 38-year-old said during his Netflix standup special, "Nightclub Comedian," this week. "Can we cut him a break?"

Of course, this all stems from the Green Bay Packers star's choice against getting the jab ... as well as his decision to follow Joe Rogan's instruction to fight COVID-19.

Rodgers has been on the receiving end of hate by a lot of big names -- from Howard Stern to Jon Stewart and even President Joe Biden -- and Aziz mockingly showed sympathy for the MVP in his special.

"People hate that guy," Ansari said. "It's like alright. Calm down!"

"He's a football player! He read some articles, he got skeptical, he did some research. Are you stunned he came to the wrong conclusion?"

He continued ... "This poor guy. It's like we're all in high school and we're making fun of the quarterback for doing bad on the science test."

Aziz calls out Rodgers for trying to pull a quick one in telling reporters he's "immunized" rather than vaccinated ... saying he came off as arrogant.

"He was out there like 'Oh, I'm a critical thinker.'"

"I don't think he's an idiot though, okay?! I don't think him, Nicki Minaj, any of these people are idiots. I just think they're trapped in a different algorithm than you are."

Tiffany Haddish is laughing off her DUI -- well, sorta ... let's just say she's taking it in stride.

The comedian gave a little insight into what happened -- from her perspective, anyway -- during an appearance Monday on the 'Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon, to whom she described her Georgia bust with some humor to spare.

Jimmy asked if she was willing to talk about it, and sure enough, Tiffany was ... starting out the story by saying she'd been asking God for a new man in her life. Well, he answered her prayers, it seems, but might've overcompensated ... 'cause TH says she got more than she bargained for.

Instead of one man, Tiff says she was blessed with 4 ... and they were all in uniform -- which got a chuckle out of Fallon and the audience. She then says she's got a good lawyer and they're dealing with the sitch now, without elaborating much more about it.

TMZ broke the story ... Tiffany was arrested earlier this month when local residents in Peachtree City reported a driver who’d apparently fallen asleep on the side of the road. Cops eventually tracked down Tiffany's car, where they eventually got her in cuffs ... suspecting she'd been smoking weed. She was booked for DUI and improper stopping on a roadway.

'SNL' took aim at itself Saturday night, poking fun at Pete Davidson and Colin Jost for sinking several hundred thousand dollars into a boat ... and it was hilarious.

It started with Alex Moffat bellying up to the anchor desk, playing his character, "Guy who Just Bought a Boat." Moffat then turned things by intro'ing Pete Davidson as "Guy Who Just Bought a Ferry."

Pete was funny, telling Colin, "We’re boat people now, Colin. I mean, you always were. You look like you own the yacht they rent out for rap videos."

Then, giving a little clue about how this all went down, Colin responded, "It’s very exciting. We thought the whole thing through."

As we reported, Pete and Colin just bought the John F. Kennedy at auction ... it was part of the Staten Island Ferry fleet. They ponied up $280,000 for the vessel, and plan to rehab it ... then turn it into a club that will be docked somewhere in NYC.

Jon Hamm doesn't like to be left out, especially if Hollywood's boarding the Apple train without him ... which he made perfectly clear in an ad that would make Don Draper blush.

The smooth-talking actor is featured in a new campaign from Apple TV+ that made its debut this weekend during primetime NFL playoff coverage -- and the consensus seems to be ... damn, that was a good spot. Even more illuminating ... JH is pretty freaking funny!!!

Check it out ... the commercial shows Jon hanging out at home on the couch and surfing through Apple TV+'s many offerings -- with Jon scoffing at the fact that there's all these celebs plastered on the screen, but no sign of him anywhere.

He then asks the camera ... "Hey, Apple -- did I do something to offend you?" He goes on to pitch himself as someone worthy of a show or movie, like all his famous pals seem to have these days, and even makes a fake phone call to Tom Hanks ... which is hilarious.

Apple hits the point home ... they've got all the stars on their roster -- except one, that is. Of course, by hiring him for the ad, they nabbed their man in the end after all. Clever, clever.

Like we said, the commercial's a big hit and even went viral Saturday ... with many saying it was Super Bowl worthy, even though the game is still weeks away. And as for Jon's comedic chops -- well, that sorta took people aback as well ... since he's a big drama (genre) guy.

Byron Allen says losing Louie Anderson so closely on the heels of Bob Saget's death is a tremendous gut punch to comedians ... who were more like family than co-workers.

The TV mogul, who bonded with Louie over several decades, joined us on "TMZ Live" to take us behind the scenes of their most recent gig together ... the Byron-produced game show, "Funny You Should Ask."

Byron says Louie lived to make everyone laugh -- even when cameras weren't rolling -- and always preached kindness above all else.

There was one thing that especially stood out for Byron, though... he says every time they wrapped up their show, Louie would give him a hug and say "I love you. He would say goodbye to us as if it was the last time we were going to see him."

As we reported, Anderson died Friday morning after battling lymphoma -- and Byron explained why we've heard so many celebs -- especially comedians -- gushing about Louie and Bob.

He told us they're a tight-knit group, really a family, because they all came up together -- more than 40 years ago -- when no one knew their names.

Bobby Shmurda will be stickin' to music because basketball ain't it ... the Brooklyn rapper botched an easy alley-oop dunk -- and it was hilarious!

The epic fail was caught on video ... the 27-year-old went to the famed CoolKicks store in Los Angeles for a sneaker shopping sesh on Wednesday.

There's a basketball hoop in the store ... so when Bobby arrived, store owner Adeel Shams -- aka Champagnepaki -- placed a $1,500 store credit wager on whether Shmurda could beat him one-on-one.

Bobby won that bet ... but Shams wasn't done with him. Next bet ... $1K to BS if he could throw down an alley-oop.

"If he do an alley-oop, I'll give another band on top and I know he not doing that," Shams said.

And, Bobby wasn't playing around. He tucked his chain and took off his hoodie ... for maximum jumping ability. But, midway through his jump, Bobby lost the ball, before crashing to the ground.

"What the f***?!" Shmurda laughed, "I'm going back to the studio! I'm going back to the studio!"

Louie Anderson is battling cancer ... and he's getting treatment at a Las Vegas hospital.

A rep for Louie tells TMZ ... the iconic comedian is being treated for Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

The type of cancer Louie has been diagnosed with is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the world ... and while it's an aggressive form of cancer, it's considered potentially curable.

The good news ... Louie's rep, Glenn Schwartz, says the comedian is resting comfortably in his hospital bed.

As you know ... Louie is famous for acting in tons of movies and TV shows, like "Coming to America" and "Baskets," and he's also got a recent standup bit about an awkward doctor's visit.

It's unclear when Louie was diagnosed.

The comedian was outspoken last year about his weight loss journey, saying he lost about 30 to 40 pounds during the pandemic and chalking it up to a new thing he was trying, intermittent fasting.

Devin Booker opened a can of worms by going after the Raptors mascot ... 'cause now the Spurs' fuzzy character is getting in on the fun with a "Cone of Silence."

If you missed it, the Phoenix Suns star had referees move the Raptor from underneath the basket in the empty Scotiabank Arena last week ... claiming the dino was being too distracting.

Fast forward to Monday, and the San Antonio Spurs' beloved Coyote mascot decided to poke fun at the incident ... by holding "Quiet" and "Shhh" signs and rocking a "Cone of Silence" over his head during Booker's free throws.

Booker noticed what was going on and laughed it off ... 'cause even he had to admit the troll job was pretty epic.

FYI -- Booker had a solid outing at the charity stripe ... going 7-for-8.

The Spurs aren't alone in trolling D-Book -- last Friday, the Indiana Pacers mimicked the Raptors incident by putting someone in a dinosaur costume right behind the basket.