Movies

Amber Heard made a last-ditch effort to get Johnny Depp's defamation claims tossed after his side rested their case -- but a judge said hell no ... and now, it's time to tell her side of the story in court.

The actress's legal team filed a motion Tuesday asking the judge to dismiss several of Depp's claims -- which was to be expected and is apparently fairly standard in these types of cases.

Ben Rottenborn argued that Depp and co. couldn't win the case because they had not proven that Amber acted with actual malice with her op-ed piece ... claiming that she didn't even come up with the headline, and that the ACLU actually penned the first draft for her.

For their part, Amber's team is standing firm that her underlying claims of DV are true -- insisting Depp, through his testimony and other evidence, essentially showed how he'd abused her in some capacity ... even if it was more so verbal/emotional than physical.

Johnny's attorneys offered their rebuttal in fierce terms -- Ben Chew came out swinging from the outset as he tried to bat down Amber's attorney's framing ... yelling in the courtroom that Amber, herself, was the abuser in this case.

In the end ... it would appear the judge here mostly sided with Johnny because she refused to strike his claims -- save for one issue about the WaPo headline, which she tabled for later since that evidence hasn't been introduced yet.

At this point, Amber and her team are going to have to present their side -- thus far, it's been all Johnny. Amber is expected to testify on her behalf this week ... so it'll be interesting to see how she refutes Depp's current characterization.

On the issue of Johnny prevailing in keeping this case alive, a rep for the actor said, "Numerous witnesses have testified that Ms. Heard engaged in psychological, verbal and physical abuse towards Mr. Depp and we are pleased at Chief Judge Azcarate’s ruling to continue with the trial after Mr. Rottenborn failed to convince the court that there was reason to dismiss the case."

The Met Gala is officially wrapped, but the stars weren't done partying after walking into the museum -- far from it, in fact ... every famous face around was at either one of 3 shindigs.

After Monday's fashion-forward event ... celebs flocked to a few of the after-parties in the Big Apple that essentially became a who's-who of Hollywood. We'll lay out some of the names at each bash ... and you can decide which one was the place to be when the sun went down.

First, there was the Casa Cipriani after-party -- hosted by Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell -- which drew A-listers like Vanessa Hudgens, Cara Delevingne, Gunna, Bella Hadid, Ansel Elgort, Jared Leto, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billie Eilish, Winnie Harlow, Joshua Jackson ... just to name a few.

SAINt JHN performed for the crowd, as folks enjoyed the hits, while also mingling and posing with one another for selfies, and admiring one another's outfits. There was a lot of that happening.

Not too far was another get-together at the Standard Hotel -- this one's being attributed to Cardi B -- and there, too, stars showed up in droves to hobnob and mingle.

Among some of the biggest names ... Dove Cameron, Tessa Thompson, Normani, Camila Mendes, Future, Justin Theroux, Cardi B, Camila Cabello, Erykah Badu, Brooklyn Beckham, Alicia Keys, Wendy Williams ... and more.

There was one final party, and that one was at Zero Bond ... seems like it was for the younger crowd. Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, Addison Rae, Olivia Rodrigo, Kaia Gerber and Austin Butler were there. It also looks like a lot of these folks were double-dipping ... hopscotching from one even to another.

Kim Kardashian is channeling her inner Marilyn Monroe ... wearing the exact same dress MM wore during a sexy performance for John F. Kennedy to The Met Gala.

Kim just arrived at the ball wearing Marilyn's iconic "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" dress ... she was the last one to show, arriving with Pete Davidson, who was dressed in Dior.

The dress, originally designed by Jean Louis, was first worn by Marilyn way back in May 1962, when she gave a sexed-up bday performance for JFK at another famous fundraiser in New York.

Some 60 years later, Kim has taken the dress off of a display at a museum, and rocking it at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Kim's been hinting at wearing the dress for some time ... first, she said she couldn't tailor her outfit, which hints at something from an archive, and then she and Pete were spotted leaving "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" museum in Orlando, where the iconic dress is on display.

It's one of the most expensive dresses in the world ... the original $12,000 price tag in 1962 is equivalent to about $114k in today's dollars ... and Ripley's bought the dress from Julien's Auction in November 2016 for $4.81 million.

It's that time of year again ... the Met Gala is in full effect, as celebs make their way down the red carpet for the biggest night in fashion.

Regina King, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are this year's co-chairs along with Tom Ford, Anna Wintour and Adam Mosseri.

Blake walked the carpet in a color-changing gown by Versace.

Celebs are starting to pour in, including Kaia Gerber, Caroline Wozniacki, Melissa King, Annie Leibovitz, Kacey Musgraves and Tommy Dorfman.

Austin Butler, who is set to play Elvis in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis biopic, walked the carpet with Priscilla Presley.

La La Anthony and Vanessa Hudgens are hosting Vogue's red carpet, and they have both arrived ... wearing floor-length gowns, along with Rachel Smith -- of course, with their own edge.

We're bound to see a variety of dresses and suits, to go along with the theme -- "In America: An Anthology of Fashion." This year's dress code is all about 'gilded fashion' and 'white tie' ... so it sounds like it'll be pretty extravagant.

We know "Euphoria" star, Zendaya, won't be in attendance tonight, but we will probably see some of her Euphoria co-stars ... including Sydney Sweeney, who is expected for the first time. Speaking of debuts, we're expected to see Kim and Pete pop out together.

'Mighty Ducks' star Shaun Weiss has made a major comeback ... and the latest milestone is opening for Russell Peters at a comedy show.

Shaun tells TMZ ... he opened for Russell Friday, performing for 10 minutes at Oxnard Levity Live Improv. Russ actually advised him to make stand-up his new passion, something Shaun hasn't done in years.

It's pretty spectacular how things have come full circle for Shaun. Three years ago when he was homeless, he bumped into Russell in an alleyway behind a Deli in Santa Monica and Russell gave him $100.

It wasn't until a few weeks ago he reconnected with the Canadian comedian to thank him ... and that's when RP offered him an opening spot at the Improv.

Shaun says he had the crowd laughing, especially when he made fun of himself and referenced something involving an ex-GF back in 2014 that was really bad ... nevertheless, Shaun used it as material during his set.

You'll recall, SW has battled drug addiction for several years ... causing him to have many run-ins with the law and lose most of his teeth from drug abuse.

Well, that's all a thing of the past ... cause he has since turned his life around and has been sober for over 2 years. As we've told you, he got a new set of pearly whites and a huge new acting gig, starring in "Jesus Revolution".

American-South African actress Embeth Davidtz was 30 years old when she was cast as Miss Honey -- the gentle, caring teacher at Crunchem Hall who ends up adopting one of her students from their mean and careless family -- in the 1996 family film "Matilda."

Davidtz shared the big screen with Mara Wilson as the intelligent daughter who is mistreated by her parents, Matilda, Danny DeVito as Matilda's neglectful father, Harry Wormwood, Rhea Perlman as the bingo-playing mother, Zinnia Wormwood and Pam Ferris, as the cake-lovin', cranky teacher, Miss Trunchbull.

Didn't get a good look at Tom Brady's bod in his last thirst trap social media post? Good news -- here's another one!!!

TB12 showed off his bare arms in a flexing pic from the set of his new "80 For Brady" movie on Monday -- and, the dude is clearly still looking great at 44 years old.

The future Hall of Famer posted the pic to his IG ... captioning the photo, "The exact moment Tom Brady 'went Hollywoood' on the 80 For Brady set."

Tom shouted out Dwayne Johnson in the post -- joking that his arms looked so jacked, he could be The Rock's stunt double!!

"I'm free until August if you need help with any stunts in the meantime," Brady said with a crying emoji.

Tom's all smiles -- but his body is seriously no joke ... this is the second time he's posted himself showing a lot of skin in the last month, and his frame is looking as good as ever.

Olivia Wilde kept her composure after being served legal documents on behalf of her ex, Jason Sudeikis ... which you can now see on video.

The footage from the awkward moment, which went down on Tuesday at CinemaCon, has finally surfaced ... and lo and behold, Olivia's handling of it all was as professional as everyone described it.

Check it out ... OW was right in the middle of hyping her new movie, "Don't Worry Darling," and about a minute or so into her speech -- somebody comes up to the stage and drops a manila envelope at her feet. She pauses, asks if that's for her ... and then picks it up.

She openly wondered if it was a script, and playfully joked that she was going to open it right then and there to unpack the mystery -- which she did. As soon as she saw the contents, Olivia simply said, "Oh okay, got it" ... and carried on like nothing had happened.

Olivia held on to the envelope -- marked "personal and confidential" -- for a good while as she finished her monologue, and eventually ... tucked it behind her.

As you know, it was later revealed the papers were custody docs from Sudeikis -- but he denied knowing they'd be served in the manner and time that they were, putting the blame on the process server company. The issue the docs addressed was in relation to jurisdiction.

Johnny Depp was going to make a boatload of cash for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie that never happened -- a significant figure that could prove his damages -- according to his rep.

JD's ex-agent and current talent manager, Jack Whigham, took the stand Monday as Johnny's legal team continued to trot out witnesses on their client's behalf -- and during questioning, Whigam shed some light on what he believed Amber Heard's claims had cost Johnny.

Whigham claims there's no doubt in his mind Johnny lost his role in the planned 6th installment of 'Pirates' ... which he insists would've earned JD a whopping $22.5 mil.

Now, it's worth noting that during cross-examination ... Whigham admitted that the alleged deal was NOT something he'd gotten in writing yet -- which Amber's team latched onto -- but he explained ... that's not how the business goes.

Whigham claimed these sorts of talks with high-level actors and big studios -- especially as it pertains to franchises -- are often had on a verbal level first, and said studios will usually signal what an actor can expect for the next chapter, assuming one happens.

In this case, Whigham claims 'Pirates 6' was supposed to happen with Johnny in a key role -- obviously, he's the main character Jack Sparrow -- but that all came to a screeching halt after Amber's WaPo op-ed.

The famous axe from 'The Shining' horror film is now in the hands of someone else (thankfully) ... cause it just sold for $175K!

Dylan Kosinski, reps for GottaHaveRockandRoll auction house, tells TMZ ... a successful businessman, who's a big fan of the movie, snagged the axe after winning a bidding war among 12 prospective buyers.

We're told the total price tag was $175K, after adding in a $35K buyer's premium.  The axe is made out of foam and resin, so it's lightweight ... it's been up for sale in the past, going for $61K.

As we've told you, this piece of memorabilia was used throughout the Stanley Kubrick horror movie ... especially toward the end. It's the same axe used when Jack Nicholson's character uses it to break through a wooden door ... before he says his famous line, "Here's Johnny!!!"

The Kubrick film, based on the Stephen King novel, also features the axe in several other scenes ... including the moment Jack kills Scatman Crothers' character, Dick Hallorann, and strikes him in the chest with it.

The pain Gwyneth Paltrow went through after her dad passed away was so physical, the actress thought she was going to die not long after his funeral.

Gwyneth opened up about Bruce Paltrow's death on the latest episode of Holly Willoughby's "By the Light of The Moon" ... she says the grief she went through felt like it was physically splitting her open.

The physical pain got so intense, she thought she was having a heart attack following his funeral in London. Gwyneth tried calling emergency services but she couldn't -- there was confusion over what number to call overseas.

She was only 30 when Bruce died from throat cancer in 2002, and the years passing makes everything seem odd to her -- things like your final phone call or the last meal spent together get pushed farther away.

Before this towheaded child became a pretty little liar, she was a young competitive dancer and a singer for her church in Anaheim Hills, California.

This little lady is best known for her role in a teen mystery drama series where she starred alongside Shay Mitchell and Lucy Hale. During this time, she also starred in films such as "Bring It On: In It To Win It" and "Spring Breakers."

Need another clue on who this starlet could be maybe you could ask some of her close friends including Cara Delevingne and G-Eazy.

WARNING: We're about to talk 'Doctor Strange' spoilers, so if you're NOT into that then beat it -- otherwise ... welcome, everyone, to Marvel speculation time ... starring John Krasinski.

The comic book Twittersphere was set ablaze Sunday after apparent leaked footage of the new 'DS' sequel -- which is coming out this week -- surfaced online and spread like wildfire ... with both grainy video and photo stills that appear to show JK as Mister Fantastic.

Funny enough, he's pretty spot-on compared to what people thought he'd look like in this role months ago ... tons of fancast mockups of Krasinski as Reed Richards have been made.

Now, while it's unclear if the new footage is, in fact, real ... it certainly looks legit (as it looks to have been recorded from a monitor of some sort) which is probably why a ton of that media is being yanked down left and right by Disney at the moment. That's always a tell.

We won't post any of it here -- but unfortunately for the Mouse House, it's already everywhere on Twitter ... and the cat seems to be outta the bag. Krasinski's suited up in the signature blue costume while confronting Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda -- with 3 heroes trailing.

Not the Fantastic 4, per se ... but other not-as-known Marvel characters, who make up the "Illuminati" (no, not that one).

That would be Captain Marvel (not the Brie Larson version), Captain Carter (female British Captain America) and some guy named Black Bolt (can't say we've ever heard of him).

Apparently, they face off against Wanda and seem to get their asses handed to them. Oh, and the other buzz is ... Professor X (Patrick Stewart) shows up too ... and maybe dies?

Anyway, that's the alleged latest for 'Strange' -- time will tell if any of these rumored spoilers come to fruition. The movie drops Friday, and it's angling to be about as big as 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' at the box office.

The Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial is barely halfway done, but an enterprising coffee shop in WeHo has allowed customers to weigh in, in a very creative way.

Yep. There are Johnny/Amber tip jars at Dialog Cafe's ordering counter ... and folks are putting money down on who they believe.

Johnny holds the edge. We're told the Jonny vs. Amber tip jars have been displayed since the beginning of the week ... and Johnny seems to have come out on top in tips at the end of each day.

Mind you this is an unscientific process, but gotta say ... our TMZ polls -- You Be the Judge -- also have Johnny winning by a handsome margin, albeit the survey is unscientific as well.

As you know, Jonny Depp and his ex-wife are in the middle of a courtroom showdown ... and there have been some pretty explosive claims to come out, on both sides.

JD is suing Amber for $50 mil, claiming she lied when she accused him of physically abusing her. She is countersuing for $100 mil for defamation, claiming he coordinated a smear campaign against her.

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time the public has weighed in on ongoing beef. Some Starbucks locations across the U.S. brought out tip jars back in March during all the Pete Davidson vs Kanye West drama.

Amber Heard's career may already be suffering because of Johnny Depp's trial -- she reportedly has a significantly smaller role in 'Aquaman 2' ... amounting to mere minutes.

According to film journalist Grace Randolph -- who's known to get solid comic book movie scoops like this -- Amber will, apparently, be featured in less than 10 minutes of screen time in "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom."

No other context was offered, which is actually crucial to understanding this -- namely, whether Amber's supposed reduced presence is a recent development, or if it'd been written that way since the beginning. In any case ... it's interesting this news is surfacing now.

The film wrapped in January, with director James Wan posting a congratulatory IG with Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson (a new character) ... but strangely, not mentioning Amber at all. She was a huge part of the first film -- Jason's love interest -- and yet ... crickets.

Jason himself doesn't appear to have been tagging, posting with or mentioning Amber either on his social media these past several months -- so that, too, is kinda telling. He has been doing some promotional stuff for 'Aquaman' here and there ... but always solo, or with Pat.

BTW, Amber herself also doesn't seem to have been doing much, if any, promo for 'Aquaman 2.' Most of her IG activity centers around her personal life ... except for a snap in October, when she posted a photo of herself in signature Mera red hair, simply writing ... "Red-dy."

Of course, the film itself has also been bumped schedule-wise -- it was originally supposed to be released around the holidays this year ... but Warner Bros. pushed it back to March, citing COVID-related production delays.

The 'Aquaman' sequel has been in the works for a long time -- and Amber was announced as reprising her role from the get-go. The question ... is the trial actually affecting things??? Fact is ... us normies will never know for sure, unless someone higher up spills the beans.

These films are living, breathing entities subject to change until they're actually released. Assuming this report is true, WB could easily attribute sidelining Amber for story reasons as opposed to hanging it on the court revelations that have surfaced these past few weeks.

Naomi Judd -- the Grammy-winning country star and one half of the mom-and-daughter duo The Judds -- has died ... this according to her kids.

Wynonna and Ashley Judd released a statement Saturday, saying ... "Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness." They add, "We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory." No other details were offered.

NJ's passing comes as a bit of a shock -- while she's been public in recent years about different personal struggles she's grappled with throughout her life, including depression dating back to her childhood, nobody seemed to know the extent of what she was battling.

Naomi had also made clear that her issues had left her and her country duo-daughter, Wynonna, estranged for a time ... but they'd recently reconciled and were actually due to hit the road again this year for an arena tour across the country -- the first in over a decade.

Plus, Wynonna and Naomi were supposed to appear together Sunday as inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame ceremony -- so the timing of this tragedy is stunning.

The Judds first formed in 1983 and had a massively successful career for about a decade thereafter -- during which they cranked out six studio albums, over 20 hit singles (many of which charted in the Top 10 and higher) ... and won 5 Grammys between '85 and '92.

Some notable songs ... "Love Can Build a Bridge," "Girls Night Out," "Grandpa," "Young Love," "Let Me Tell You About Love," "Maybe Your Baby's Got the Blues," "Give a Little Love," "Have Mercy," "Turn It Loose," "I Know Where I'm Going," among countless others.

The group disbanded in the '90s, during which each woman ventured out solo into their respective careers ... and Naomi even dabbled in television with one-off appearances, either as a side character or herself ... and eventually got into movies as well.

She's appeared in hit series like "Frasier," "3rd Rock From the Sun," "Touched by an Angel," "Sisters," "Maybe It's Me," and more. Naomi's also starred in flicks like "An Evergreen Christmas," "Someone Like You...," "A Holiday Romance," "The Family Tree," "Newlyweds," etc.

BTW, Ashley had her mom cameo in at least one of her films ... so they were obviously close. Naomi's survived by her husband, Larry Strickland, and her celebrity daughters.

She was 76.