Music

Mario is straight up denying a hefty allegation -- that he's the sultry-voiced "Wasp" on this season of "The Masked Singer" who's been bringing the house down!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught Mario and his manager Andy at LAX on Thursday and the R&B golden voice could not BELIEVE fans suspect him to be a Baltimore-born, former Ne-Yo understudy who survived a rough upbringing, so says the show's clues so far.

Mario says he's been bombarded with DMs from people convinced it's him -- so much that he's officially putting his name in the hat to officially appear on "Masked Singer" in the future. Have their people hit his, you know how the story goes.

Taylor Swift's getting a big police escort up in Canada and, while some fans say she completely shut down a freeway in the city, we're told that's not true ... she only partially shut it down.

Here's the deal ... T-Swift's up in Toronto for a few "Eras" tour shows -- and, yesterday, video surfaced of the pop star and her team getting Justin Trudeau-level treatment in the city, with cops leading her down an empty highway on the way to her show.

The move pissed off a lot of people in the city ... who posted videos to social media calling Taylor out for totally shutting down the highway and causing traffic jams -- but, cops tell us that isn't exactly the case.

Diddy and Kim Porter's twin daughters are sharing an emotional tribute on the anniversary of their late mother's death ... and they still can't believe she's gone.

D'Lila and Jessie honored Kim with a social media post Friday, saying ... "We can't believe it’s been 6years without you. We think about you every single second of the day. We love and miss you so much words can’t even explain."

Diddy's family is obviously going through a lot as he sits in jail in New York awaiting his criminal trial, and the twins say they wish Kim was here with them, but know her "spirit will be around forever!!"

Raekwon and Charlamagne Tha God's new Hashtoria dispensary is open for business -- and they're all about infusing culture with the joys of cannabis!!!

TMZ Hip Hop was on hand for the Newark grand opening of Hashtoria this week ... the Wu-Tang and Breakfast Club maestros co-founded the operation with attorney Bakari Sellers and entrepreneur Jedd Canty.

Rae's been crumblin' herb for a long time and is proud of his own strain "Compliments of the Chef," but assures us Method Man can smoke him and his fellow Clan soldiers under the table 👐🏾💨

Gwen Stefani took her B-A-N-A-N-A-S style straight to the subway -- injecting some much-needed glamour into New York City's gritty metro system.

Check out these pics -- Gwen gave the daily commuters a real treat Friday, hopping onto the subway like a regular rider with her MetroCard in hand in a bid to promote "The Voice" ... but let’s be real, she definitely stood out in that crowd.

As you can see in the video above ... Gwen was first seen strutting down the grimy subway stairs to the platform in knee-high heeled boots, her furry jacket casually slipping off her shoulders like she's runway-ready.

Taylor Swift is feeling herself now more than ever ... hitting a particularly sexy dance move as her record-breaking 'Eras' tour is approaching its finish line.

The singer, who performed at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada Thursday evening, switched up the choreography a bit for her performance of "Look What You Made Me Do" ... thrusting more sensually than ever before.

Check it out ... as Taylor belts out her "Reputation" era anthem in her new bodysuit, she grinds against the raised platform, bopping up and down while giving a confident hair flip.

Pharrell Williams had a unique approach to a swarm of animal-rights protesters -- he went full hug mode to keep the peace ... and spoiler: it didn’t exactly work.

The singer and Louis Vuitton men’s creative director was heatedly heckled outside GQ’s Men of the Year Party at the Chateau Marmont Thursday night, with one protester yelling, "What type of person still uses fur?” Pharrell, ever cool, shot back with, “I don’t. God bless you."

The drama unfolds in the video -- the same protester held up a sign to show Pharrell the impact of his apparent fur use on animals, but the singer tried to go in for a hug -- only to have his efforts totally rejected.

"Wicked" isn't the first time Jeff Goldblum and Ariana Grande have crossed paths ... with the veteran actor confessing he met the pop star 20 years ago -- but totally forgot all about it.

The "Jurassic Park" alum swung by "TODAY" Thursday, where he opened up about working with the Grammy winner on the musical movie ... and revealed they actually go way back.

Jeff says halfway through the making of the big screen adaption of "Wicked," Ariana reminded him that they had actually met in NYC once before ... though, she was a little girl at the time.

Megan Fox made her first appearance after her big baby announcement ... but it was only from the neck up so you couldn't see her belly.

The actress, who our sources say is 4 to 5 months along in her pregnancy, and her rock star boyfriend, Machine Gun Kelly, rolled up in a Rolls-Royce to the Chateau Marmont in L.A. for the GQ Men of the Year 2024 party.

MGK stepped out of the car and went inside the event, leaving Megan in the backseat with a driver and a security guard in the front seats.

One of Kanye West's ex-employees is lashing out at his former boss, accusing him in a new lawsuit of antisemitism and lewd conduct with Bianca Censori ... during what were supposed to be work meetings.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Murphy Aficionado says he worked for Ye as a project manager, and claims Kanye was a nightmare boss. According to the suit, Kanye summoned him to a Beverly Hills hotel room in November 2022, and when he entered, Ye was shirtless and out of breath with his pants unbuttoned and his then-girlfriend Bianca was topless with her hands barely covering her breasts. He says it was obvious they had just had sex.

During the encounter, Ye referred to Candace Owens' former lawyer as a "Jewish spy." Then, Aficionado says, Kanye abruptly dashed toward the room where Bianca was and said, "Wait right here. Do NOT leave." He says within seconds he could hear "loud moaning and clapping" and it was apparent they were having sex again.

Carmelo Anthony says Stevie Wonder -- who, newsflash, is blind -- once told him he loved WATCHING him play basketball.

The hilarious revelation came on Melo's "7PM in Brooklyn" podcast ... when the hooper was asked by co-host The Kid Mero for the name of someone famous who expressed their fandom of the future Hall of Famer.

That's when Melo began to tell the story of his 2011 meeting with the legendary musician over All-Star Weekend.

Zach Bryan has one less thing to worry about during his roller-coaster year -- he’s officially off the hook after an arrest for obstruction last year.

Craig County, Oklahoma District Attorney's Office spokesperson Michelle Lowry tells TMZ ... prosecutors agreed to defer charging Zach for 6 months in May 2024.

We're told Zach has stayed out of trouble since then and now prosecutors have agreed to drop the case completely.

Offset's most recent Paris night ended in fisticuffs, new video obtained from TMZ Hip Hop confirms -- and there's loads of wild footage!!!

The former Migos rap star and his boys were coming out of the Hôtel du Collectionneur Wednesday night when another group of men aggressively confronted them at the entrance.

Sources in the streets say the men were part of French rapper Gazo's entourage, who grew enraged after they paid Offset $150K for a video shoot, and "laziness" caused him to fail at meeting their requirements.

Liam Payne sought out the hotel employee accused of delivering him drugs very shortly before his death ... and their interaction is captured in this newly discovered surveillance footage.

TMZ exclusively obtained the video showing Liam briefly stepping out of an elevator in the basement of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires... chatting with one of the 3 people charged in connection with his death.

Our sources at the hotel tell us the staffer who shakes hands and chats with Liam in the video is Ezequiel David Pereyra ... a bellboy at the hotel who police say delivered drugs to Liam in a soap box. While police have not yet confirmed it's Pereyra in this video, we know they have the footage.

SZA just celebrated her 35th birthday and grew into a moment of clarity ... her BBL surgery was completely unnecessary. She's a hot tamale without it!!!

The R&B superstar is Vogue UK's new cover star, and she opened up about the Brazilian butt lift she first revealed on her blockbuster "SOS" album ... she regrets it, but it's not the end of the world!!!

“I’m so mad I did that s***," SZA said. "I gained all this weight from being immobile while recovering and trying to preserve the fat. It was just so stupid."