Movies

Morgan Freeman is on the mend from a nasty infection that derailed his plans to jet across the pond to promote his latest show.

The 86-year-old actor was forced to cancel a UK trip after he came down with a fever ... according to his rep, who says doctors told Morgan he was contagious. Obviously, that meant doing a bunch of interviews was out of the question.

Morgan was scheduled to do a media tour to promote the new Taylor Sheridan show, "Special Ops: Lioness" -- Morgan costars with Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman -- but he was notably MIA from the interviews and Tuesday's screening.

He was also supposed to appear with his costars on the BBC program, "The One Show" -- but his absence was something host Alex Jones (not that one) said she was completely "gutted" about.

BTW, Morgan's also been struggling with fibromyalgia since 2008, after getting hurt in an almost-deadly car crash.

He donned a black compression glove on his hand at this year's Oscars ... something he often wears for comfort after ending up with permanent nerve damage from the wreck.

Jamie Foxx's whirlwind recovery reveal is still in full swing in Chicago ... the actor was just photographed hitting the pickleball courts around town.

Check out the image posted on Instagram Tuesday night ... Jamie playing doubles with his partner against a couple of other dudes -- and they're clearly having a blast, laughing it up at the net together.

But, this is only his latest, happy moment ... Jamie's been having fun all over the Windy City lately, taking a ride on a yacht along the river, whacking golf balls at the driving range and even saving the day by returning a lost purse to a woman. He's also been spending quality time with his fam and close friends.

Nice to see Jamie in such good spirits and looking strong after everything he's been through the last several months.

From our vantage point, it appears Jamie is well on his way to full recovery while continuing his treatment at a physical rehab facility in Chi Town. As you know, Jamie suffered a medical emergency in April, which, to this day, still remains a mystery.

Jamie Foxx isn't just out and about as he recovers in Chicago -- he's saving the day for women in distress, and his act of kindness was captured on video.

This video is pretty wild ... it shows Jamie in a chauffeur-driven SUV roll up next to a group of people riding through downtown Chicago on a pedicab. They were all thanking him profusely for returning a purse.

The man who posted the video says his mother had lost her handbag, and apparently, Jamie found it ... and somehow tracked down the group. You clearly see him smiling and hopping back into his ride after handing her the purse.

It's yet another clear sign of how well Jamie's doing these days. TMZ broke the story ... he was swinging away at a Topgolf driving range over the weekend, and showing no ill effects as he had a chill night with a small group of family and friends.

He was also spotted on a yacht, cruising on the Chicago River. As we reported, Jamie's still getting treatment at a physical rehab facility in Chi town, but all visual signs are pointing to him making a full recovery.

Fran Drescher's Hollywood union is about to head into a strike this week -- which is why her members are pissed over her chillaxin' in Europe ... just a day before s*** hits the fan.

SAG-AFTRA actors seem to be furious after seeing their President hobnobbing in Italy Monday ... next to none other than Kim Kardashian, who's catching a lot of heat amid the ongoing writers' strike (more on that later).

Fran posed for a cozy pic with Kim at a Dolce & Gabbana event -- which KK posted -- and now SAG members are calling Fran out for what they perceive as not taking their own looming strike very seriously. On its face, you can't blame 'em ... 'cause the clock's ticking.

If a deal isn't reached between SAG and movie studio bosses by midnight tonight, actors of all ilks are expected to walk off sets/hit the streets in a new wave of picketing that could rock the industry ... even more so than it already has with writers fighting their own fight.

While SAG itself as an org has actually defended Fran being in Italy -- saying she was there working as an ambassador on behalf of Dolce and Gabbana, which was know by the negotiating committee -- that hasn't appeased the rank and file. SAG says Fran has been in negotiations every day in person or over videoconference and will be returning to LA tomorrow.

Several SAG members blasted this photo ... saying Fran appears to not really care about the fact that actors/her members are about to be out of work. Rather than trying to hammer out a new contract, they say she's just having the time of her life halfway across the world.

There's another element of criticism ... pointed at Kim. As you know, she's in the new season of 'American Horror Story' -- which had already been written before the writers' strike -- but she's been labeled a scab by some ... seeing how she's crossed the picket line and continues to work with Ryan Murphy -- who's also caught a bad rap in this whole saga.

The fact Fran's sidled up next to her specifically doesn't sit well with a lot of actors, and the consensus seems to be ... at the very least, this is not a good look at such a crucial time.

Magic Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson are tight both by land and sea  ... they ventured off their mega-yacht to grab some authentic Italian grub -- authentic 'cause they're in Italy!

The basketball legend and his famous guest jumped off their yacht for Sardinia, lunching at the Cala di Volpe Hotel.

As we reported, Magic's annual summer trip has been goin' down for nearly a decade, and this year's yacht is truly spectacular -- "Phoenix2," a 296-foot ship that rents out for $1.2 mil a week!

The yacht has everything ... an outdoor theater, swimming pool, gym, and multiple jacuzzis.

Jamie Foxx is back in the public eye nearly 3 months after his hospitalization, and DJ Envy thinks the Oscar winner played it smart by not feeding social media daily updates while he recovered.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with "The Breakfast Club" cohost Tuesday in NYC, and he applauded Jamie for not bending to public pressure to respond to fans ... who've been rabid for any and every detail of his illness and his healing process.

That impatience for health updates even included some of Jamie's famous friends and costars, like John Boyega -- only a very tight circle of family and friends has been in the know -- but Envy says Jamie's new wave of public appearances speaks louder than words!!!

As we reported back in April, Jamie suffered a medical emergency that forced him to halt all his projects. He's been at a rehab facility in Chicago since late April, but appeared to be in good spirits when he resurfaced this past weekend ... waving to fans from a boat, and even whooping his friends in a game of Top Golf!!!

Envy thinks social media can blur reality for fans sometimes and Jamie needed the time away to properly heal, and he'll speak about it when he's ready.

Bethenny Frankel is weighing in on the whole Jonah Hill controversy with his ex  ... and she seems to be in Jonah's corner on one major point, despite having a horrible run-in with him.

"The Real Housewives of New York" alum posted a TikTok video Monday explaining she once met Hill on the set of Jay Leno's "The Tonight Show" years ago and he acted like a "low-grade d**k" to her.

Frankel said, "He was put upon and kind of treated me like he was very better than [me]. I felt like a loser and the nobody that I was."

But Frankel didn't let her personal feelings toward the actor cloud her judgment about Hill's current drama with his former girlfriend Sarah Brady -- on whether the story should have been made public in the first place.

As you know, Brady released on social media a bunch of text messages between her and Hill she claims prove he's a "misogynist narcissist." Brady also accused Hill of being abusive, manipulative and controlling.

Frankel called the Hill/Brady texts "crazy," but she, too, admitted to having similar back-and-forth messaging with people, which in a vacuum can look nuts. She then questioned whether Brady should have published the texts, since Brady was in a romantic relationship with Hill.

Bethenny continued, "I don’t know the whole story, I only read the snippets of headlines, but if you're in a relationship with someone for one year, are texts fair game?"

She ended by saying the notion of publicly sharing texts from exes seems like a "frightening 2023 for me." But Bethenny also mentioned it's not okay to be "emotionally harmful" to your partner, which Brady contended Hill was toward her.

Melanie Griffith wears her heart on her sleeve in expressing her love -- just ask Antonio Banderas -- and now, she's got 4 new names in ink to show off her feelings.

The actress was sleeveless in L.A. Monday, revealing the fairly-new tattoo with an interesting location considering she once bore the name of her ex-husband, AB, in the exact same spot.

Now, she's completely scrubbed ANTONIO from her shoulder, replacing it with her kids' names.

The names are intersecting one another in an intricate design -- they're Dakota, Stella, Alexander and Jesse. One of those, Stella, is a child she shares with Antonio ... Alex and Dakota are kids of hers from other relationships -- and Jesse's her stepchild.

Melanie actually started the process of getting rid of her Antonio tat a few years ago -- a process she started after they'd split in 2014 -- and for a while ... her arm was completely tattoo-free.

It seems between then and now, though, she's had inspiration to get tatted anew.

BTW, this one is much more discreet and hardly visible, really. But something tells us she won't be getting rid of it anytime soon -- these are names that are around for the long haul.

Adam Sandler is publicly supporting Earthgang's new track, which doubles as a tribute to the lead character in one of the actor's most beloved comedies ... "Waterboy."

On Monday, Adam tweeted out his stamp of approval for the song, "Bobby Boucher," writing ... "Yo EARTHGANG! Singing along with you! Love, Bobby B."

Quite the sign of respect and one EG didn't take lightly ... reposting the honor on all their socials.

Adam's a longtime hip hop fan, and has done several movies with legendary rappers over the years -- RZA, Queen Latifah and Nelly to name a few -- so, impressing him definitely amounts to bragging rights for the J. Cole signees.

The Caleb Seales-directed music video reimagines many of the 1998 football flick's most memorable moments -- the neurotic mother, the college crowd energy, and even the famous bright-orange jerseys (which have since gotten a Dreamville upgrade) are all featured.

Jamie Foxx is back!!! ... hitting up a Topgolf driving range over the weekend, and this new video, obtained by TMZ, shows Jamie's made a great recovery.

Foxx was at Topgolf in Naperville, Illinois Saturday at around 11 PM, and the swing says it all. Jamie, club in hand, showed he has a firm grip and range of motion. An eyewitness tells TMZ his swing was better than the people with whom he was competing! The eyewitness says he had a very strong swing. BTW, Jamie won.

Beyond that, he was walking around, chatting with friends and family. The eyewitness says, "He was walking regular, not dragging his leg. His arm movement were definitely good," adding, "He was just regular Jamie."

The Topgolf driving range is near the rehab facility where Jamie's been recovering from his medical emergency. He's been at the facility since late April.

We also posted video of Jamie on a boat on the Chicago River, looking chill as he waived to fans and a passing boat.

Short story ... Jamie's recovery is pretty remarkable!

Nicki Minaj was front and center during the "Barbie" movie premiere ... which makes a lot of sense considering her huge involvement in the movie's soundtrack.

The megastar rapper and real-life 'Barbie' Margot Robbie glammed it up on the pink carpet, a full-circle moment considering Margot convinced director Greta Gerwig to squeeze Nicki and Ice Spice's "Barbie World" hit into the film!!!

Inside the "Barbie" screening — which went down on Sunday at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in DTLA — Nicki reunited with Karol G where they referenced their 2019 smash hit "Tusa" for TikTok ... and eventually hopped seats to play kissy face with actress Skai Jackson.

Nicki was holding down the "Barbie World" promo solo, as Ice Spice was busy in Europe, coming off an electrifying Wireless Fest set and couldn't make the premiere.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... Ice's travel schedule skyrocketed to the point she had to decline the XXL Freshman cover ... but the "Munch" rapper still supported the looks Nicki was serving, as did a few other high-profile Barbz!!!

"Barbie World" hit the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the film is projected to do numbers through the Dream House roof as well.

The release of the highly-anticipated "Barbie" Movie is only weeks away, and the stars of the movie all turned up in Downtown L.A. for the film's biggest premiere to date.

Margot Robbie -- who plays the Mattel beauty herself -- was front and center (though she opted for a black dress over pink) for the event Sunday held at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in DTLA.

Robbie's black dress was a tribute to a 1960s 'Solo in the Spotlight' Barbie doll.

Of course, Barbie's main squeeze, Ken -- played by Ryan Gosling -- hit the premiere as well ... but the rest of the guest list was almost as impressive as the stars themselves.

Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj -- who all have songs on the movie's soundtrack -- showed face on the pink carpet.

America Ferrera, Trixie Mattel, Issa Rae, Michael Cera and Simu Liu also were in attendance ... posing for pics as they entered the venue.

Unclear where the after-party was held ... but as we reported, there's a pretty sweet Barbie Dream House up in Malibu if the cast needs somewhere to kick it before the movie's July 21 release date.

Jamie Foxx's road to recovery seems to be going very well, 'cause the guy's out and about in public now ... with TMZ getting the first glimpse of him since his hospitalization.

Check out this footage we've obtained, showing a cheerful JF cruising along on a mega-boat on the Chicago River Sunday afternoon ... looking pretty vibrant, and happy to see fans as well. A neighboring vessel passed him by and gave him a big hurrah ... Jamie waved back.

He appeared to be accompanied by a few others onboard as well ... and at first glance, it seems there were some members of his family around. They've been at his side throughout this entire ordeal -- and we know they've been visiting him too as he rehabs in ChiTown.

The difference here ... we're finally getting a clear view of Jamie in the flesh, which is encouraging. Frankly, there's been a lot of speculation about his condition ... and the longer he went out of the public eye, the greater the conjecture would grow. Folks have been worried.

Now, hopefully, all those rumors can be put to rest ... because the guy seems to be well on his way to achieving full health again. Still no word on what exactly happened to him that sent him to the ER in the first place, but the point is -- he seems primed for a comeback.

Here's another positive update TMZ can provide ... we've seen more footage of Jamie spending a night out on the town in the Chicago area Saturday, getting active on his feet, no less, and looking to be in great spirits there too.

That clip is yet an extra sign that the man appears to be doing fairly okay at this point ... and that he's perhaps ready to start venturing out more and more as he gets back to 100%.

Glad to see you, Mr. Foxx. As is the rest of the world, no doubt.

Tom Holland's getting a cold shoulder from his own driver ... who forgot one-half of the precious celeb cargo he was carrying around London.

Here's the deal -- Tom and Zendaya were leaving Chiltern Firehouse Saturday night after grabbing some dinner ... and while his GF was safe and sound in the vehicle, Tom's entrance into the car was cut short when the driver took off early!

Have no fear, the driver quickly pumped the brakes -- probably filled with panic -- and Tom got in the back with Zendaya ... leading to what we're sure was an awkward car ride between Tom and the driver.

That wasn't the only cringe-filled thing to go down Saturday night, though ... before the ride debacle, Zendaya was getting the true celeb treatment in the UK, posing for a pic with some fans while Tom seemed to grab none of their attention.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was the Colosseum that's being built for the upcoming "Gladiator" sequel ... and TMZ has the first look at how the replica of the famous venue is coming along.

"Gladiator 2" is filming in Malta and we got these photos and videos from the set. Front and center -- an under-construction Colosseum, plus other replica buildings of ancient Rome.

Colosseum construction is pretty far along ... and it has all the makings of an epic place to hold a fight ... fake though it will be.

There will be stars galore in the flick ... Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, Paul Mescal, and Ridley Scott in the director's chair.

OG "Gladiator" star Russell Crowe has given signals he's not involved in the sequel.

In addition to what we see on the ground in Malta, they'll be filming in London and Morocco.

There's already been some drama on the set ... an accident last month left several crew members injured following a few stunts gone wrong.

American actress Annabeth Gish was just 17 years old when she played the role of Kat -- the reserved pizza waitress and babysitter preparing to study astronomy at Yale University -- in the rom-com movie "Mystic Pizza" back in 1988.

Serving fresh pies in the small town of Mystic also included Julia Roberts as Kat's older and friskier sister, Daisy, who falls in love with the preppy, rich boy (played by Adam Storke), Lili Taylor plays Jojo, who is afraid to marry and settle down, and Conchata Ferrell as the Mystic Pizza owner, Leona.

"A Slice of Heaven!"