Netflix

Get ready for a slurry of avocado ice cream and deflated football jokes ... Tom Brady has signed up to be roasted as part of a new deal with Netflix.

The streaming service giant announced Tuesday it's making a series of new specials called "Greatest Roasts of All Time: GROAT" -- and TB12 is slated to be one of the first roastees.

Netflix says Brady will also serve as an executive producer for the series ... and the company actually clowned on the Tampa Bay Bucs star in its announcement for it all.

"We can't wait to burn three-time Super Bowl-losing quarterback Tom Brady, who only went back to the NFL in order to delay this roast," Netflix Vice President of Stand-up and Comedy Formats Robbie Praw said in a statement.

"In all seriousness, it's a huge thrill to work with the greatest football player of all time on this project. No one’s better at taking hits and still coming out on top, so we know the roast will be a breeze for Brady."

Brady had fun with the announcement, too ... channeling Marshawn Lynch by saying, "I'm just here so I won't get fined."

'Bling Empire' star, Kane Lim, says he's not really here for all the drama, but he might have some convincing to do ... on not one, but two reality shows.

Kane Lim joined TMZ live Friday, and talked about the new season of the hit Netflix show, "Bling Empire" ... as well as joining the cast of "Selling Sunset".

Kane tells us, he's finding himself in the middle of a lot of heat from folks on social media ... stemming from 'Bling Empire's new season. Regardless, he says he's just rolling with the punches and hopes he'll warm up to people on the Internet.

Kane also acknowledged his arch-nemesis, Dorothy Wang, who is on "Bling Empire" now ... and as expected, he didn't give her glowing reviews.

In case you didn't know, Kane recently joined The Oppenheim Group as a real estate developer ... so he'll be making appearances on "Selling Sunset."

Amy Schumer is opening her comedy vault -- she just laid out another joke that Oscars honchos apparently said no to ... and this one's on video.

The comedian revealed her latest axed bit during a set for the 'Netflix Is a Joke' festival going on right now -- and at one point in her performance, she laid out what exactly it was that showrunners weren't really feeling from AS's pitched material.

Watch ... it's a gag that incorporates a bunch of the nominated films to make a sex joke about her husband. You can watch it for yourself -- we'll just say, it ends in pregnancy.

Whether it was funny or not ... well, that sorta depends on who you're asking, it seems. The joke seemed to land well for the live audience that received it -- they were laughing it up when she delivered it -- but if you go peep how folks online are taking it ... it ain't good.

This harkens back to last month when Amy revealed yet another joke she claims was scrapped ... which was about Alec Baldwin, something most folks didn't see much humor in.

The Baldwin joke wasn't caught on tape -- she talked about it during a stand-up show of hers in Vegas, where people's phones were locked away ... but it was reported on nonetheless. Whether any of these jokes were actually on the table is also anyone's guess.

She could just be making these up now/working them into her current set ... who knows. Either way, what did end up making it into her monologue that night worked extremely well. You'll recall ... she roasted everybody under the sun and got a great response at the time.

Jenson Button, 2009 Formula 1 champion, tells TMZ Sports the popular Netflix show 'Drive to Survive' may not be super popular with all the drivers, but it's a helluva tool to bring American fans into F1.

Not familiar with the racing star? Button won the prestigious title driving for Brawn GP in '09. Jenson had an awesome season ... winning 6 of the first 7 Grand Prix's. Jenson ultimately finished 11 points ahead of 4x champ Sebastian Vettel.

During Jenson's time, there was no Netflix series ... but since the show's inception, Button says viewers have gotten to know drivers better -- and that's mostly a good thing.

"I think it's a great gateway to the sport. But, if the sport wasn't great, it wouldn't work, right?" Button says.

"The good thing is we all love behind the scenes, don't we? We love trying to understand the personalities involved in something. And, you don't get that from racing I guess if you just watch the sport initially cause everybody's got crash helmets on. So, at least you're understanding the personalities that are in those cars, and then you're going, 'Oh, the racing is pretty awesome as well.'"

Jenson added ... "I think it's good."

If there's a downfall ... it's that the show is, well, a TV show, and drama can sometimes be ratcheted up for entertainment value.

"For me, as a purist, and a racing driver for years, there are certain things where I'm like, 'That's not kinda how it happens,' but it's entertainment, and if it's bringing in a bigger audience into the sport, then that's fantastic, and they can really get to the nitty-gritty, what is the sport about."

'DTS' debuted in 2019, and it seems it has already had a positive effect on the fanbase. FIA (the group in charge of Formula 1) added the Miami Grand Prix to this year's slate of races, in addition to the Austin Grand Prix.

And, next year, they'll race in Las Vegas ... in a highly anticipated Grand Prix.

Bottom line ... fan interest is clearly surging in the U.S.

There's more ... we also talked to Button about his return to racing. This time, not in Formula 1, but in Travis Pastrana's Nitro Rallycross -- essentially the polar opposite of open-wheel F1 cars.

Jenson's still involved in Formula 1. He's a brand ambassador for Williams Racing ... the team he made his F1 debut in 2000.

BTW, haven't heard of Brawn GP, Button's team when he won the championship? BGP was (partially) bought by Mercedes after the 2009 season ... and in 2010, the team raced under the MB name.

Pete Davidson is poking fun at Kanye West's divorce from Kim Kardashian ... comparing his girlfriend's ex-hubby to a famous Robin Williams movie character.

The 'SNL' star came out swinging in his stand-up set on "Netflix Is a Joke: The Festival" ... shading Kanye for being a modern-day Mrs. Doubtfire.

Pete asks the crowd ... "Does anybody else secretly hope that, like, Kanye pulls like a Mrs. Doubtfire? I come home one day and they're like, this is the new housekeeper. And, he's like, "What's up fam?"

Of course, Robin played the title character in the 1993 movie about a divorced actor who dresses up as a female housekeeper to be able to see his kids.

Pete even joked about the Kanye allegedly spreading rumors he had AIDS ... joking John Mulaney called him and told him the best way to respond would be to spread a rumor Kanye has Polio.

Pete's bit went on ... he says he's not bothered by Kanye's collab with his friend Jack Harlow ... joking the thing that would offend him is if comedian Bill Burr suddenly showed up at Sunday Service.

Dave Chappelle gave mad props to Jamie Foxx, Busta Rhymes and Jon Stewart for stepping in and taking down the dude who attacked him at the Hollywood Bowl, but we've now learned the famous comedian was doing what he does -- joking.

Dave's spokesperson, Carla Sims, tells TMZ ... immediately after the attack, D.C. went directly back to standup mode, grabbing the mic and celebrating the beatdown ... saying Busta was helping stomp on the 23-year-old who was armed with a replica gun and real knife.

Dave also called Jamie out on the stage and thanked him for participating.

And, at the after-party, Dave told the crowd ... you know you've crossed the line when Jon Stewart gets a few licks in of his own.

Well, now Sims is telling us Dave's comments were simply part of his ever-evolving act ... in that none of the 3 guys threw a punch or otherwise participated in the takedown.

Now Jamie, Jon and Busta probably appreciate the clarification ... it's unclear if the attacker may lawyer up, claiming he was the victim of excessive force by people on the stage, so clearing things up would protect them from possible legal action.

Armando Bacot is entering the world of the Pogues and Kooks -- the North Carolina hoops star just landed a role with the super-popular Netflix show "Outer Banks" ... and he's been on set hanging with John B. himself, Chase Stokes!!

The breakout Tar Heels center will appear in several episodes of Season 3 of the series ... playing the fittingly-named character, "Mando," according to Inside Carolina.

The 22-year-old posted vid of his time on set ... bro'ing down with Stokes and Rudy Pankow, who plays JJ Maybank on the thriller series.

Now, Bacot taking an acting role might sound super random, but it actually makes a lot of sense ... especially considering two of the show's creators -- Josh and Jonas Pate -- are North Carolina natives.

On top of that, Josh and the other creator, Shannon Burke, are UNC alums ... so that Tar Heel network definitely had to help the 6'10", 240-lb. baller land the gig.

The big question -- is Bacot a Pogue or a Kook in the NC-based show?? We'll have to wait until the season drops ... and that might be quite a bit away.

Jason Oppenheim is shooting down haters who say he faked a phone call on "Selling Sunset" ... and, he's got some pretty compelling proof to back it up.

We caught up with Jason, Tuesday at Sunset Plaza and asked him about what some 'Selling' fans saw as a fake phone call during a new episode. And, let's be clear ... although the screen showed his camera app, instead of the phone app (usually visible when you're on the phone), Jason says, he was in fact talking to a client.

Of course, we didn't let him go without showing some kinda proof.

So, we had him call a friend and show us the screen on his phone. Watch the video and see for yourself what happened.

ICYMI, folks on social media raised an eyebrow after they spotted Jason placing a call during season 5 of the Netflix hits series. While he appeared to be talking, the phone screen said otherwise, and doubters thought they'd busted JO being phony ... pun not intended, we swear.

The Twitter mob came for him, insisting Jason was faking the whole convo.

"Selling Sunset" star Mary Fitzgerald has had it with co-star Christine Quinn's lies and drama, and her COVID cry is the nail in the coffin.

We got Mary outside The Oppenheim Group office Wednesday ... and she's convinced Christine's recent COVID reveal -- which she says caused her to miss the reunion show -- is just a shady way to back out last-minute and avoid facing her fellow castmates.

Mary says the cast tested twice before the Sunday taping ... and according to Mary, Christine came back negative both times. Mind you, the last test was on Friday, but Christine says the next day she tested positive.

While Christine is undeniably an important character on the show, Mary admits it hasn't been pleasant to work with her in the office.

We also got Christine's boss, Jason Oppenheim, outside the office, but mum's the word on his thoughts about the COVID drama.

He wants everyone to be a team player and show up for filming, but he gets the other side of the coin -- Christine's been going through a lot with almost every cast member ganging up on her.

Howie Mandel's happy to be out of his quarantine after getting COVID ... but says his time locked away drove him insane, and thinks being vulnerable about your mental health is important now more than ever.

Howie was on "TMZ Live" Wednesday to talk about his new show "Bullsh*t the Game Show" ... but before pitching his show, he opened up about his intense struggle with the virus ... which he contracted during his first public outing -- the Kids' Choice Awards.

He makes it clear ... the physical symptoms weren't bad, but the collateral damage to his mental health was real. Howie's a big proponent of talking about these struggles ... it definitely has helped him navigate troubled waters.

As for his new Netflix game show, Howie says he's been offered a bunch of game show hosting gigs, but this one checks all the boxes. It's not only fun, contestants can win a million bucks!

"Selling Sunset" has been hit with another COVID setback, star Maya Vander tells us she's tested positive and has given her castmates a heads-up that it's possible they could've been exposed during the show's reunion.

Maya says she tested negative on Friday for the show's reunion taping on Sunday. She tells us she began to feel ill on Tuesday, and has now tested positive. Out of a precaution, Maya says she let her castmates who were filming with her Sunday that she has COVID, just in case there was a chance of exposure.

However, Vander traveled from L.A. back to Florida Sunday after the filming, so she believes there's a chance she got it on the plane ... as she never had any symptoms prior to Tuesday.

Luckily, Maya says she's feeling ok and just has some body aches. She says everyone else on the cast is feeling fine.

Of course, Maya's positive test comes on the heels of COVID controversy with "Selling Sunset" villain Christine Quinn. Quinn skipped out on the show reunion after her rep told us she tested positive for COVID on Saturday.

That positive test became much more interesting when TMZ obtained photos of Quinn at a photoshoot from Tuesday -- just 3 days after her alleged positive COVID result -- and leading many to believe she faked having COVID to avoid confrontation at the reunion.

The CDC recommends someone who tests positive should remain in isolation for at least 5 days following a positive test.

"Selling Sunset" star Christine Quinn missed the reunion show Sunday because she says she had COVID, which makes this photo of her on a film set Tuesday very interesting.

We've obtained a photo of Quinn on her phone, while crew members stand around her to prepare for a shot. What's interesting ... it's 'RHONJ' star Melissa Gorga seated next to her.

Unclear what this gig entails, but her rep told us Monday Christine had to miss the "Selling Sunset" reunion over the weekend after testing positive for COVID on Saturday.

Of course, the CDC recommends ... someone who has tested positive for COVID should isolate for at least 5 days. Quinn's obviously not doing that, and while one of the crew members is masked up, Christine isn't.

If you've followed the most recent season of "Selling Sunset," you know Christine is the show's villain -- so when TMZ broke the story she'd have to miss the reunion because her rep said she had COVID, a ton of the show's fans thought she might've been faking it to avoid confrontation with the other cast members.

At this point, we're hoping she was faking COVID, cuz showing up to work just a few days after a positive test doesn't seem to be a very safe way of doing business.

Joe Exotic is taking cues from Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart -- he's got a new fiancé behind bars ... and their love is as deep as Edward's was for Bella.

The 'Tiger King' star details his latest relationship in an eye-opening letter sent from his federal prison in Butner, NC, in which he announces he's a groom-to-be with a man named John Graham -- somebody he was in the pokey with last year and apparently fell head over heels for.

In the correspondence, obtained by TMZ from Joe's attorney Autumn Blackledge, JE says he met John after he was released from solitary, when they were housed in the same unit. It wasn't long before they started seeing each other, he explains, and eventually ... somebody popped the question in August.

As for what John's all about ... well, Joe says he's the polar opposite of his soon-to-be-ex-hubby Dillon Passage -- whom he calls "selfish, younger ... and wanting to be famous."

John, meanwhile, is an old soul -- about 400 years, it seems -- who actually practices witchcraft ... this according to Joe. He describes John as someone who isn't seeking the limelight and who loves Joe for him ... the type of love Joe's never experienced, he says.

Sounds like John's a free man now ... but even so, Joe says they talk constantly -- up to 3 times a day -- and exchange mail nonstop. He says their bond is like the one depicted in 'Twilight' ... adding he still has one of John's shirts so he can smell him in the interim.

As we reported ... Dillon's signaled he's ready to finalize his divorce with Joe, with some conditions -- which Joe here calls "extortion," while noting he too wants to be done with it so he can hurry up and marry John.

Of course, he says he's still trying to have his case heard on appeal ... and believes his latest team of attorneys is going to achieve that with "new evidence" Joe says has been obtained in his favor.

Director Joe Berlinger says when it comes to serial killer John Wayne Gacy, a big part of his horrific rampage had to do with self-hatred and his inability to deal with his sexuality.

The Oscar-nominated filmmaker joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday to talk about digging into the mind of the notorious Illinois serial killer for his new Netflix docuseries, "Conversations With a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes" ... and, as you might imagine, it's a frightening ride.

The film explores what made Gacy -- a birthday clown by day -- tick during his reign of terror in the 1970s. Berlinger says listening to Gacy's conversations with attorneys and cops ... showed how much the mad man blamed his victims.

He says the killings had a lot to do with Gacy's self-hatred, and inability to deal with his sexuality. As for why it took so long to catch him, Joe says society's prevailing attitudes toward marginalized groups, like the gay community, were a major factor.

On a personal note ... Berlinger admits he struggles to leave his work at home. He's been delving into the minds of murderers for decades now, and he told us why his Oscar-nominated doc, "Paradise Lost" -- about the 1996 slayings of 3 West Memphis boys -- was particularly difficult.

Joe says, "I was trying to have a tender moment with my new child, and I just kept flashing on the worst images of what happened to these children".

Brad Fischetti, the last living member of LFO, isn't going to stop playing one of the band's hits even though its lyrics refer to now-canceled Abercrombie & Fitch, which was roasted in Netflix's latest doc ... and it's all about honoring his late bandmates.

Brad tells us he'll continue to perform the 1999 hit "Summer Girls" at his concerts ... as you'll recall, the chorus to LFO's song goes, "I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch ... I'd take her if I had one wish."

A&F's shady work behind the scenes has recently been exposed by Netflix's docufilm, "White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch" ... which features former employees revealing a toxic workplace that emphasized thin, white beautiful people as their vision of "All-American."

Brad's goal with anything he does with the band is to honor his lifelong friends and band members Devin Lima and Rich Cronin.

TMZ broke both stories ... the other two members of LFO both passed away from battles with leukemia - Rich Cronin in 2010 and Devin Lima in 2018. Brad, the last remaining member, has done his best to keep their memory alive.

Ben Affleck has a very different recollection of hitting up a "Selling Sunset" star on Raya ... as in no recollection, because he says it's BS.

'SS's Emma Hernan claimed on the latest installment of the series ... she matched with Ben on the dating platform, but Ben's rep told PEOPLE it just ain't true.

Apparently, Ben's not been active on the exclusive dating app for several years, before he hooked up with J Lo for round 2 of their romance.

As for Hernan ... she tells Chrishell Stause on the show, "Remember when Ben Affleck went viral because he sent some girl ... He may or may not have been texting me ... He may or may not have asked me to grab coffee a few times. I didn't go."

Well, Ben's people say she didn't go because she wasn't asked.