Influencers

Jake Paul is a Sports Illustrated cover athlete -- the Problem Child just added to his growing list of accomplishments ... landing the big spotlight for the outlet's "Power List" issue.

S.I. published its submissions for the "50 most influential figures in sports" on Thursday ... where it highlights the biggest athletes, dealmakers, executives, icons and leaders and influencers over the past year.

The YouTuber-turned-boxer is front and center for the issue ... showing him throwing a punch in an underwater photoshoot.

It's a huge honor for Paul, who turned social media boxing into a multi-million dollar business ... even starting his own Most Valuable Promotions company.

Paul's also brought a bunch of new fans to the sport of boxing ... selling a ton of Pay-Per-Views for his fights against Tommy Fury, Tyron Woodley, Ben Askren and more.

We spoke with Jake about landing the cover ... and he said it's a "surreal" experience.

"It doesn't make any sense, but I've worked my ass off to get to this position, and I couldn't have done it without my supporters from back in the Vine days, from my Disney Channel fans, my YouTube fans," Paul told TMZ Sports.

"I really owe it all to them and their support of me through each lane and each vertical of my life as I've gotten older."

"Through all the negative, through all the hate, through all the things and the people trying to tear us down -- we've risen to the occasion and we've overcome it every single time," he added.

"And that, to me, is what means the most and this feels like a staple, monumental moment in my career and to be even considered for it is a humbling thing and I can't believe it's my life."

Grab the tissues ... Logan Paul just dropped video of his romantic marriage proposal to Nina Agdal, and it couldn't have been sweeter!!!

Paul published the video on his YouTube page Monday morning, giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most important moments of his entire life.

Of course, we knew 28-year-old Paul and 31-year-old Agdal got engaged last week ... but now Logan and Nina are sharing video of the actual proposal in Lake Como, Italy.

Paul popped the question after dinner ... as the couple was taking in the beautiful scenery.

"Nina, I love you so much," Logan said ... as he turned into a puddle.

"You are the love of my life. You are the girl of my dreams. I never thought I'd find you. I never want to let you go. I'm sorry I'm being such a 'p***y'" ... before dropping down to one knee.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes!" ... the couple embraced, and there were more tears!

After the proposal, Logan and Nina had dinner with her parents ... where LP asked the rents if he could ask for their daughter's hand in marriage.

Sure, that's typically done before you actually ask ... but that's when Logan revealed the weather forecast forced him to move up the day he was going to ask for her hand in marriage.

Thankfully, Mom and Dad said yes (whew 😰).

Paul also showed the moment in May when he first saw the huge rock of a ring that he helped design ... and he was clearly blown away.

"Oh my God, it's perfect," LP said when he saw the ring ... adding "People don't talk about how stressful it is for dudes to pick out rings for their soon-to-be wife."

Logan also showed his brother Jake's reaction to the engagement ring (he was psyched for his bro!) ... as well as his mother's!

Bottom line, the proposal was perfect ... and now it's time to plan a wedding!

A recent viral video accusing Colleen Ballinger of wearing blackface and performing "Single Ladies" has it all wrong ... and new footage lays out exactly what happened.

The clip shot back in 2009, made rounds Wednesday ... showing the popular Youtuber and two men performing the Beyoncé classic. Ballinger appeared to be in blackface during the number ... and was slammed on social media as a racist.

However, new video -- obtained by TMZ -- shows a different perspective. Prior to "Single Ladies," Colleen performed a song from the musical "Wicked" with Oliver Tompsett, one of the musical's stars.

Colleen wore green face paint for the tune with Tompsett -- like the Wicked Witch of the West -- and went into "Single Ladies" immediately after the song wrapped.

The sequence of back-to-back songs left zero time for Colleen to wipe off the green paint, resulting in the now-viral video accusing her of wearing blackface for "Single Ladies."

As we reported ... Colleen's under fire for what many have considered inappropriate behavior toward minors as well as racism.

Colleen Ballinger's fall from grace is taking her to a new low -- she's getting raked over the coals for an old video of her in blackface, while singing a Beyoncé hit.

The YouTuber/comedian -- famous for her viral character Miranda Sings -- is again in the crosshairs of critics who dug up the problematic clip from her past ... a video showing Colleen with dark makeup on her mug as she sings along to "Single Ladies."

Unclear exactly what year this went down, but based on the Miranda Sings YouTube page, it seems to be sometime in 2017 or 2018 ... and while it's an unlisted post, it is still up. Some of the comments claim the blackface video was offered as an exclusive sneak peek to folks who bought Colleen's book, "My Diarrhe."

The resurfacing of the video comes at a very interesting time, because Colleen was recently accused of racism in another context -- resurfaced texts allegedly sent pertaining to her 2016 Netflix show, "Haters Back Off."

The texts, attributed to someone working with Colleen at the time, were about auditions they were conducting for the show, and the sender claimed Colleen made a crack about a Black actor ... allegedly saying, "WHERE IS HE" -- referring to the guy being very dark in bad lighting.

Of course, this latest backlash is on top of recent grooming allegations ... with people accusing her of reaching out to young fans in inappropriate ways.

Colleen responded to those claims in a bizarre apology video ... which had her singing/explaining away the behavior. It was deemed as tone-deaf, and didn't help.

Adriana Chechik, the porn star who shattered her back after jumping into a foam pit, is reinventing her adult entertainment career in an unprecedented way ... with the help of artificial intelligence.

That's right, Adriana is collabing with Forever Voices AI to introduce the "Adriana Chechik AI Companion." Users will be able to have explicit conversations with a robot who sounds identical to Adriana ... and is personalized to their interests based on advanced algorithms and machine learning.

Adriana hasn't been in porn for months ... you'll recall, she broke her back at TwitchCon after leaping into a foam pit that was reportedly less than 2 feet deep.

We spoke with Adriana ... who tells us she's still recovering from her injury and doesn't think she's physically and mentally capable of doing porn anymore.

However, she's now looking to change the game by combining the sexiness of adult entertainment with the limitless possibilities of AI.

Adriana says her injury has been a wake-up call on the importance of having a constant connection with her fans ... she says a lot of them are online, some lonely, and this is a great way to maintain contact.

YouTuber Adam22 says he's got no problem with his wife Lena the Plug shooting her first porn scene with another dude... telling fans it's actually a big positive for their careers.

The "No Jumper" podcast host went on the Bird app to talk about Lena Sunday, writing "It’s officially been a week since I let my wife do a porn with another guy. I felt a little jealous at first but overall it wasn’t that big a deal."

He says Lena's watched him hook up with "hundreds of girls," and that never affected them --  telling his followers the shoot is actually a great career move for her, as well as a big help for their brand.

For those unaware, the 2 share a kid together ... and apart from "No Jumper," they cohost "Plug Talk Podcast" together on Onlyfans -- where they interview a woman weekly and then hook up with them after.

Sophia Culpo says Braxton Berrios is lying through his teeth about how their relationship ended ... sharing what she claims are receipts to back her side of the messy breakup.

Olivia's younger sister posted multiple alleged text exchanges and pictures with the Miami Dolphins wide receiver from as recent as February ... which would debunk the NFLer's timeline that the two decided to call it quits a month prior.

In the convos posted to the model/influencer's TikTok, SC and BB appear to be on the rocks ... with the two seemingly discussing the public speculation surrounding their relationship. Berrios' responses make it seem as if he's willing to work through their differences ... reassuring Culpo he will "do everything in my power" to make sure the situation doesn't blow up any further.

The most explosive allegation came in Sophia's caption of the post ... where she says the couple broke up following the Drake concert during Super Bowl weekend when Braxton was "seen making out with another girl."

As we previously reported, Braxton went to Instagram to defend himself earlier this week ... saying cheating was not a factor in the split -- despite rumors he was seeing TikTok star Alix Earle while he was still dating Sophia.

Culpo seems ready to put the drama to bed ... saying, "Not bitter, in fact I know this situation has been one of my biggest blessings."

Jake Paul put some of his enormous fortune to good use, buying a brand new Ferrari for nearly half a million bucks ... AND THEN HE BROKE THE CAR THE SAME DAY!!

The Problem Child, very much living up to his nickname, hit up Ferrari Puerto Rico in San Juan ... where he spent $421K on the new, very rare whip.

The Ferrari 296 GTB is pretty amazing. It goes 0-60 MPH in 2.7 seconds, and 0-100 in 5.1 seconds. It does the standing quarter mile at 9.9 seconds and has a top speed of over 200 MPH.

26-year-old Paul documented the purchase in his latest vlog ... picking up the car, and putting it straight to the test.

Yeah, no breaking-in period here.

Jake took the Rari to an open parking lot, turned the wheel, and stomped on the gas ... executing a bunch of donuts.

The 296 GTB didn't like Paul's driving -- with just about every warning sign flashing on the dash, including a warning that simply said ... "go to dealer."

It's unclear if Jake got the supercar fixed ... or just parked it in the garage of his new $15+ million mansion.

The big purchase comes at a time when Jake's company, Betr, is taking off. In fact, the company was valued at $300 million during a recent round of funding.

Symba is chalking up the XXL Freshman to be a lost cause ... but he could also be feeling some kinda way for being snubbed on this year's issue.

The Bay Area rapper ponied up his honest thoughts about the newest Freshman class in 92.3's BET Awards radio room ... and suggested hip hop culture's future is in shaky hands with XXL's picks.

Symba says rap music's lack of chart-topping music ... a first in 30 years ... is a direct result of XXL's insistence on putting TikTok-quality rappers on its cover.

He was plenty dismissive of the list as a whole. GloRilla, SleazyWorld Go, Luh Tyler and 2Rare are just a handful of the budding talent to make the 2023 cut -- but Symba's saying just trash the whole thing.

It may sound a little drastic for someone like K Camp ... who's been an XXL Freshman in the past. The Rare Sound rapper thinks when your buzz is as big as Ice Spice's, skipping the cover is cool but the look can't hurt at the end of the day.

Symba's wordplay and mixtape with DJ Drama attracted praise from his peers, especially from older rappers, for being a formidable MC ... but apparently, the publication felt differently and didn't select him during this period of eligibility.

Andrew Tate is officially facing charges of human trafficking, rape and more in Romania ... this coming 6 months after the kickboxer-turned-social media influencer's arrest overseas.

According to Romanian prosecutors, Tate, his brother Tristan, and 2 local women were all indicted Tuesday. The Tate brothers, in particular, are also facing charges for allegedly setting up a criminal gang.

The brothers' legal team sounded optimistic in the wake of the indictment, telling local outlet Antena 3 ... they'll "embrace the opportunity to fight in court."

As we reported, Andrew and Tristan were arrested back in December -- they tried, but failed, to appeal a couple of 30-day extensions that kept them locked up until they finally got released from a Romanian jail in March.

They both were placed under house arrest after their release ... and Andrew's been busy on social media retweeting support from followers since Tuesday's indictment.

Trans influencer Rose Montoya is apologizing for taking her top off at a Pride event at the White House ... admitting her actions were unbecoming of an invited guest.

Rose broke her silence Friday, saying she regretted flashing her boobs on the lawn at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ... and uploading a video of the act to social media.

The apology comes on the heels the White House banning Rose from future events for her stunt. She previously defended her conduct, but that was before the ban.

As we reported ... Rose was among the hundreds of guests invited by President Biden to a Pride event at the White House, causing outrage when she pulled down her dress to expose her boobs on the South lawn, with the Truman Balcony and a Pride flag in the background.

In announcing her ban, the White House ripped Rose's actions as "inappropriate and disrespectful for any event."

Carl Eiswerth -- who amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok -- died in a car accident ... TMZ has learned.

Carl's mom, Janet, tells us the social media star was killed Tuesday in Pennsylvania. Janet says Carl was driving with a close friend -- he was in the passenger's seat -- when they were struck by another vehicle in the middle of an intersection.

Carl grew his TikTok following to nearly 500,000 before his death. We're told his family is planning two memorial services, and may live stream the events so his fans can participate.

As for what will happen with his TikTok account, that's still up in the air ... Janet says they don't yet know if his family will take it over, or if there's any material to still be posted.

Carl's page was full of videos, mostly of himself, where he'd combine humor and wit to show his fans a day in the life as he navigated the world.

Carl was only 35.

YouTube star Colleen Ballinger, best known for her Internet character Miranda Sings, is not just catching flak over a resurfaced clip from one of her shows ... she's also losing deals.

TMZ has learned at least two companies who pay for ads on Colleen's podcast have pulled their sponsorships, and it may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Here's the deal ... Colleen is under fire for a viral clip from one of her old comedy shows, which features her calling a young fan up to the stage for an embarrassing fart stunt.

In the resurfaced footage, Colleen spreads the young fan's legs as she lies on her back on stage ... and then a fart noise blares over the speakers.

A woman who says she is the girl in the video is now speaking out ... she says she was only a teenager at the time and rips Colleen for embarrassing and traumatizing her.

She's also taken heat for asking a young fan to pretend to give birth, and for other crude comments at her shows toward minors.

Some of Colleen's podcast sponsors have taken notice and taken action ... skincare company OneSkin tells us they severed ties with Colleen, saying ... "We were made aware of this previously and have decided to cease the relationship completely. This behavior is appalling and we do not condone or support it in any form."

Another advertiser, healthcare marketplace Zocdoc, says they will no longer run ads on her podcast.

MrBeast is known for his celeb collabs, giving away a ton of cash and even hosting wild competitions ... but one of those competitions took a turn for the worse, resulting in several contestants getting injured.

The social media megastar recently purchased a plot of land in North Carolina complete with a studio and housing, serving as the perfect spot to create content.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us on Monday, Beast hosted an Olympic-style challenge -- with reps from countries all around the world. We're told the competition included some sort of running event with hurdles and obstacles.

At some point, the competition became too intense, and possibly dangerous, resulting in what we're told was several of the athletes sustaining injuries.

A rep for MrBeast tells TMZ, "MrBeast was working on an upcoming video with athletic challenges, and there were three minor medical issues out of almost 200 participants. Medical personnel attended to the people immediately and released them shortly after.”

While we don't yet know the exact details of the injuries, our sources tell us the team has resumed filming ... so if there was any potential for more danger, that's clearly no longer an issue.

Celebs have put a jump start to their summer travels and by the looks of it, they're fleeing Hollywood and hightailing it to Italy. Whether sippin' on Tuscany's tastiest wine or hitting a private yacht along the coast, the stars are livin' the lavish life and bringing you along for the ride!

Makeup artist Jeffree Star took a glam shot along the Amalfi Coast, Ruby Rose threw on a pair of specs and hit the historic Colosseum in Rome, and "Bachelor" stars Amanda Stanton, Hannah Sluss and Tayshia Adams kept it classy in Capri and enjoyed some gelato.

Yung Gravy's recovering from taking a huge tumble while doing something sweet for his fans -- and the accident likely had the crowd singing his song, "Oops!!!"

Gravy was in Gulf Shores, Alabama performing Sunday at the packed Hangout Music Festival, and this video shows just how brutal the fall was while he was doing a little crowd work.

As you can see, the "Betty" rapper was walking a path, with fans on either side and handing out roses on his way back to the stage. The dude never saw the slightly raised plywood in his way, and let's just say ... Gravy was tripping, hard.

Keep in mind, he's like 6'6", so it's a long way down!

Gravy powered through, and after 2 security guards helped him up, he finished the show ... and we've learned he was playing hurt.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Gravy suffered a broken left elbow and a broken right wrist. He initially thought a couple Advil would be enough, but when he went to the ER on Monday, doctors discovered the fractures.

You'll recall ... earlier this year, Gravy told us he was excited about some projects he's cooking up in 2023, especially a supposed collab with rapper Quavo.