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Elon Musk is one cocky motherf***er -- because he's so confident he can stay ahead of the pack, he doesn't even bother to protect his innovations.

Elon appeared on CNBC's "Jay Leno's Garage" Wednesday night where the 2 guys tooled around Elon's Texas-based SpaceX Starbase facility and chatted it up.

At one point Jay asked if SpaceX had a patent on the materials he used to construct spaceships. Elon's response ... "I don't care about patents. Patents are for the weak."

Translation ... Elon's fine with competitors playing catchup with his creations, because he's betting on himself that he'll come up with something even better before they do.

Elon believes patents are just a buzzkill ... "They don't actually help advance things, they just stop others from following you."

Musk has followed his mantra in other ventures, including Tesla. Back in 2014, he sent a memo to Tesla staff, shunning patents and saying Tesla innovations are there "to attract and motivate the world's most talented engineers."

He had some choice words about getting such legal protection .. "[Patents] serve merely to stifle progress, entrench the positions of giant corporations and enrich those in the legal profession, rather than the actual inventors."

Jimmy Kimmel has come under some serious fire online after many believe a skit he and Will Arnett performed as presenters stole the spotlight from winner Quinta Brunson.

Arnett and Kimmel presented the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series at Monday night's Emmy Awards. Arnett dragged a "passed out" Kimmel onto the stage and laid his body out next to the microphone stand while he explained the late night host had too many margaritas backstage.

Once Arnett called Brunson's name as the winner, and she came to the stage, Kimmel continued to carry on with the gag -- even after Brunson jokingly exclaimed, "Jimmy, wake up. I won."

Jimmy laid super close to Brunson as she gave her speech, making it nearly impossible for the show's directors to get a shot of her without him in it.

Twitter exploded after the moment, with users pointing out how disrespectful Kimmel's decision came across, including, "Jimmy Kimmel owes Quinta an apology but the messed up part is every image of her accepting her award has his ass in it. White men really are insufferable."

Another said, "White male privilege is laying on the ground & expecting a Black woman to just step around you while she accepts her hard-earned award."

Jason Sudeikis thanked his kids at the Emmys -- reminding folks he's in a nasty custody battle with Olivia Wilde, perhaps unintentionally.

The actor was delivering an acceptance speech Monday after his show, "Ted Lasso," won for Outstanding Comedy Series ... and toward the end, he name-dropped his young son and daughter, Otis and Daisy.

It sorta flew under the radar, as not everyone knows his children's names by heart -- but it was there ... and if you've been following along, it may run deeper than a simple shout-out.

As you know, both Jason and Olivia have been at war lately over where their kids should live, and how much time they spend with each parent -- a case that's not yet settled, but which has had a lot of bumps along the way ... including a public serving of documents earlier this year.

A process server, acting on Jason's behalf, dropped legal docs at Olivia's feet while she was presenting for her new movie at CinemaCon -- something she later called "vicious."

JS denied having planned it to happen that way deliberately, but OW thinks otherwise. In the end, Olivia walked away with a win ... getting a judge to side with her that their custody case should be heard in L.A. and not New York, which is where Jason wanted to hash things out.

None of that drama was on display, though, when Jason was speaking ... he was all smiles with his cast onstage, and didn't further allude to the fight with Olivia whatsoever. Although, he might have been wondering if he was about to get served.

BTW ... Jason took his good vibes and carried them on outside the venue. We ran into him on the street after the show, and the dude was totally engaging with fans ... snapping selfies and signing a ton of autographs. He even gave 'em some life advice.

Alyson Hannigan can break out the bubbly ... because she finally found a buyer for her home, which was a filming location for NBC's hit show "This Is Us."

Real estate sources tell TMZ ... the "How I Met Your Mother" star accepted an offer Thursday on her 5-bedroom estate, which she listed for $18 million.

The place is 7,605 square feet and it was featured in "This Is Us" as the home Mandy Moore's character, Rebecca, tells Justin Hartley's character, Kevin, to build in memory of Milo Ventimiglia's character, Jack.

Alyson's place was used in multiple flash-forward scenes over the final couple of seasons on the NBC show ... and she's on the record saying she liked having her digs converted into a filming set, because NBC footed the bill for a ton of repairs.

The house is a go-to for Hollywood producers ... it's also been used in "Fun With Dick and Jane," "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" and "Fractured," plus a Hyundai Super Bowl commercial starring Kevin Hart.

The estate sits on 3 acres of land in a gated community in Encino ... and includes a main residence, guest house, home gym and office space. The place is decked out with a pool, tennis court and a vegetable garden.

The very private property is super green, too -- dotted with palm trees, orange trees, avocado trees, sycamores and succulents ... which can be seen from every room in the house.

Alyson and her husband Alexis Denisof bought the home in 2016 for $7.95M, and last month they reportedly bought a new home in Santa Monica.

Chapel Hart has been getting nothing but support from the Country music community after they snagged a golden buzzer on "America's Got Talent" ... and they're already lined up to be on Darius Rucker's next album.

We spoke with bandmates Trea Swindle, Danica Hart, and Devynn Hart and they told us they recorded a song with Darius before their audition aired this week and recently got the good news that it's making it onto his latest album.

They admit they thought they were in the middle of some catfish scenario when Darius first reached out on Twitter ... before learning the DM was the real deal.

For those unaware, Chapel Hart blew the 'AGT' judges away with their original piece, "You Can Have Him Jolene" -- a nod to Dolly Parton's famous song.

They received a golden buzzer even though all 5 had been given out -- a first for the show.

Ever since their big moment, the group's seen support from legends like Loretta Lynn, and even Dolly herself -- who called their performance a "fun new take on my song."

Drew Brees has found himself a job ... the retired superstar QB and former football broadcaster just bought a pickleball team, the Mad Drops, and now joins an ownership group that includes L.A. Lakers co-owner Jim Buss.

"I’m stoked to be the newest team co-owner for Mad Drops Pickleball Club in Major League Pickleball! Our 12-team co-ed league represents an incredibly competitive & exciting brand of Pickleball," Brees said when announcing the purchase.

The Mad Drops play in the Major League Pickleball league. Gary Vaynerchuk (Vee) also owns a team in the league.

Pickleball, if you aren't familiar, is essentially a mix between tennis, badminton and ping pong. Players use a paddle to hit a plastic ball over a net, onto a court.

Brees -- who played 20 seasons in the NFL -- retired after his 2021 campaign, trading the huddle for the NBC broadcast booth.

In May, the Super Bowl-winning QB had some fun with fans speculating what his future held ... and he actually mentioned Pickleball.

"Despite speculation from media about my future this fall, I’m currently undecided," Brees wrote on Twitter. "I may work for NBC, I may play football again, I may focus on business and philanthropy."

"I may train for the pickleball tour, senior golf tour, coach my kids or all of the above. I’ll let you know," he continued.

Brees' Mad Drops will begin their quest to win a championship in Newport Beach, CA on Aug. 5-7 ... and Drew's pumped!

Macy Gray's performance on the "Today" show was supposed to include a Brittney Griner protest ... but the singer and her keyboardist says network honchos wouldn't let it happen.

Billy Wes arrived at NBC Studios in New York City on Thursday morning rocking a black tee shirt with bold white letters reading, "FREE BRITNEY GRINER" ... but when he was on-air, the message was mysteriously hidden.

We asked Milly what happened after the show ... and he told us "Today" honchos told him he couldn't wear the shirt and made him turn it inside out. Macy stopped to talk to us, saying Brittney's situation is really a sad one, and says the plan was for Wes to wear the shirt.

Milly wouldn't tell our camera what explanation he was given as to why he couldn't wear the shirt on-air ... but you can tell he was bummed out.

As we reported ... Brittney pled guilty in Russian court to drug possession and smuggling charges on the heels of President Biden saying he was ramping up efforts to secure her release.

NBC News' social media team could use Elon Musk's proposed edit tool on a tweet about the reigning "Jeopardy!" champ ... all because they focused on her sexuality and job title, confusing and even angering a lot of users on Twitter.

Mattea Roach has won 17 consecutive games, which ranks No. 8 all-time, qualifying for the game show's Tournament of Champions and bringing her current winnings to $396,182 ... but NBC News decided to highlight the fact she's a "lesbian tutor" in a story about her achievements.

The controversial tweet was blasted out Friday to NBC News' 9 million followers, with many people reacting to the "lesbian tutor" description, showing confusion over the choice of words and even anger.

One user's hilarious response ... "Oh ffs. What on earth is a lesbian tutor? You mean she helps people become better lesbians? Be better @NBCNews & know that this incredible woman’s sexuality has absolutely no bearing on her amazing @Jeopardy streak & smarts!"

The tweet is still up as of this post, and it doesn't get much better when you click the link ... the headline for the NBC News story reads, "Mattea Roach becomes latest LGBTQ 'Jeopardy!' phenom."

Billy Bush has plenty of advice for Will Smith on how to deal with a moment that could badly stain his career in Hollywood ... and he's reached out to Will offering help.

We got Billy Wednesday at Judi's Deli in Beverly Hills ... and he scoffed at people who are calling for Will's cancellation, calling it "crazy" and "ridiculous."

Billy, who's been through it himself, says one bad moment doesn't define a person's life, even something as huge as Will slapping Chris Rock at The Oscars.

The "Extra" host isn't defending Will's conduct, but he says everyone snaps from time to time, and he does acknowledge Will's meltdown was epic ... nevertheless, B.B. thinks Will's already paid a steep price, asking, "You don't think that guy's hurting enough?"

Billy says he contacted Will's publicist and urged the actor to read a book called "The Daily Stoic," a book he says has critical life lessons that will help Will navigate troubled waters.

Of course, Billy was fired from "Today" after the infamous "Access Hollywood" bus audio surfaced shortly before the 2016 election, in which Billy laughs at Donald Trump's hyper-offensive comments about women. So now Billy wants to offer the lessons he learned about overcoming obstacles.

Alec Baldwin might be regretting that ABC interview he did right about now -- because it seems to have, in part, triggered Halyna Hutchins' husband's wrath.

Matt Hutchins sat down for an interview with NBC's "Today" -- talking to Hoda Kotb -- which will be aired later this week ... and right off the bat in a new teaser, he's saying Baldwin's televised recounting pissed him off.

He says hearing AB talk about her death so publicly, so soon and in so much detail made him "angry," and not just that ... but the fact he denied responsibility over her death also didn't sit well with Matt at all.

As his wrongful death lawsuit had already spelled out -- and as his attorneys articulated thereafter -- Matt says it again here ... the idea that the person who held the gun that claimed her life isn't at fault is utterly absurd in his mind.

So yes, he does seem to think Baldwin is mostly to blame here. However, Matt also makes this clear ... there were other issues besides gun safety that led to his wife being killed, and it sounds like he's gonna get into all of that with Hoda.

As we told you ... Matt is suing Alec, among several other parties, for negligent and reckless misconduct that resulted in wrongful death, as well as loss of consortium. He’s asking for unspecified damages.

Steve Kornacki certainly knows his way around stats, but says a poll asking if we should get back to normal -- as it pertains to COVID -- isn't as clear as the numbers make it seem.

We talked to NBC's go-to data journalist at LAX about a recent Monmouth University poll which posed the question: "Time to Accept Covid and Move On?" The responses were somewhat surprising.

The overall consensus seems to be yes, we oughta just learn to live with COVID and start getting back to normal, but as SK points out to us here ... that means different things for different people.

While Monmouth's poll indicates a majority of Americans agree with that general sentiment about the virus, Steve notes it's a bit ill-defined as to what folks might consider "normal" these days. He even suggests a more precise poll question would net further splintered results.

As you might know, there's a growing chorus of opinions that we should do away with all 'rona-related mandates -- masks, vaccines, etc. -- and literally go back to how we lived our lives pre-2020 ... which has been echoed by the likes of Bill Maher and his guests.

Of course, there are just as many people who continue to be wary and insist we're still very much in the midst of a deadly pandemic.

A news anchor made a reference to her Asian heritage during a New Year's broadcast, which drew the ire of what sounds like a good old-fashioned Karen ... who called in to complain.

Reporter Michelle Li of NBC affiliate KSDK in St. Louis posted a video of herself listening to the disgruntled viewer at home, who seems to have phoned the station to criticize Li's mention of dumplings while she was talking about go-to New Year's Day grub.

Li was plugging food like cornbread, black-eyed peas, pork and other greens -- delving into the metaphysical significance of each ... kinda like an astrology reading of sorts.

Once she'd finished, she added a fun line ... "I ate dumpling soup. That's what a lot of Korean people do." She later wrote, "It's subtle but people do notice! Something small but representation matters... we are not all eating cornbread, my friends... though it is delicious."

Apparently, though, that quip pissed off one woman who dialed in and left a VM ... saying she didn't appreciate Li's explicit mention of her culture, calling it "very Asian" while adding ... "She can keep her Korean to herself."

The argument this woman was making ... a white anchor plugging food that they/white people liked to eat on NYD, specifically, would be considered offensive -- and this lady was speaking about a hypothetical double standard she preemptively perceived.

Willard Scott -- the iconic "TODAY" show weatherman who preceded the Al Roker era -- has died.

Al himself confirmed the news this weekend, taking to IG with an honorary post for Willard and writing ... "We lost a beloved member of our @todayshow family this morning. Willard Scott passed peacefully at the age of 87 surrounded by family, including his daughters Sally and Mary and his lovely wife, Paris."

AR adds, "He was truly my second dad and am where I am today because of his generous spirit. Willard was a man of his times, the ultimate broadcaster. There will never be anyone quite like him."

Willard started at "TODAY" in 1980, and became famous for his jovial anchoring -- be it during a weather segment, or any other special event he ended up hosting for NBC thereafter. The dude's antics were hilarious -- he'd dress up in crazy costumes, joke around like crazy on the air (and during MOTS interviews) ... and was just an overall hoot of a personality.

He's also perhaps best remembered for wishing Americans a Happy 100th Birthday in an ongoing Smucker's segment ... in which he'd feature different centennials who hit the milestone. Willard also hosted some of America's most memorable celebratory moments -- covering presidential inaugurations, holiday parades and parties, expos and more.

He was pretty much the Al Roker of his day, and did indeed pass on the baton when he retired from anchoring in the mid-to-late '90s. Still, they remained great friends ... and Al credits him as his mentor.

BTW, Willard also had quite the history in clowning around -- literally. He played the very first incarnation of Ronald McDonald in TV ads during the '60s, and even had a turn at playing Bozo the Clown too. Dude was just an all-around joy-spreader -- from start to finish.

He's survived by his wife, Paris Keena, and his children. Willard was 87.

NBC is running from its reality show "Ultimate Slip 'N Slide" ... after a bunch of folks on the crew experienced explosive runs themselves.

The network put the show on ice after members of the production staff experienced diarrhea ... apparently from some sort of parasite called Giardia.

The show was being shot in the San Fernando Valley and almost reached the finish line with 1 week of production left, but it was too much. After multiple crew members got sick, production was indefinitely shut down.

Neither of the hosts -- Bobby Moynihan and Ron Funches -- came down with the runs.

An environmental lab tested the water used in the competition, along with restrooms and other facilities, and initially results came back negative, but they got a positive result last month. So, with 7 weeks in the can (sorry) and one week left to go, the door was slammed shut ... this according to PEOPLE.

The show was set to premiere August 8 after the closing ceremony of the Olympic Summer Games.

NBC's competition show "Ultimate Slip 'N Slide" almost had to change the title to "Run 'N Don't Shart" ... after multiple crew members came down with a serious case of diarrhea.

So get this ... the workers reportedly came down with bubble guts on the heels of at least one person on set testing positive earlier this month for giardia -- an intestinal infection caused by a parasite.

The crew was filming in the San Fernando Valley before production was shut down indefinitely. According to The Wrap, things were so bad, some crew members collapsed in pain, while others raced into port-o-potties.

A source close to production confirmed to TMZ ... a number of people reported gastrointestinal symptoms and upset stomachs. We're told it's unclear exactly how many, but it was enough to halt production.

Our sources say the studio paused production on June 2 when it was made aware of the giardia case, and, in coordination with various health departments ... production worked with an environmental lab to test the water on location.

We're told the pond, slide pool, water truck and restroom sinks all tested negative, but a positive test came back on Thursday. They had been shooting for 7 weeks with one week left to go. Btw, we're told the hosts, Bobby Moynihan and Ron Funches, are fine.

A rep for Universal Television Alternative Studios, the production company behind the NBC show, tells TMZ ... the health and safety of everyone on its set is its number one priority, so out of an abundance of caution it has made the decision to stop production at the current location. They're trying to figure out where and when to complete the shoot.

The search for Ellen's successor didn't take long, and doesn't come as much of a surprise ... "The Kelly Clarkson Show" will take over the slot currently held by "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" after her 19th season concludes.

NBC made the announcement that Clarkson's show -- currently in its second season and airing in all of the network's markets -- is expected to replace Ellen's by Fall 2022.

As we first told you ... Kelly had been penciled in as the front-runner for Ellen's coveted, syndicated hour of television pretty much since her talk show launched in Fall 2019.

The show debuted to huge ratings, and with NBC honchos predicting DeGeneres would pull the plug on her show eventually ... Clarkson seemed like the perfect successor.

Problem is, Kelly's show's ratings dipped big time during the pandemic -- as did a lot of other daytime programs -- so there was some uncertainty if NBC would still go with her, or opt for someone new ... like, perhaps, Tiffany Haddish.

Clearly, the network wanted to eliminate all doubt by crowning Kelly.