News

Coldplay paid tribute to Texas and victims of Hurricane Harvey with a one-hit wonder ... literally.

The group was performing Monday night in Miami when frontman Chris Martin announced the band was going to play a song in honor of the flood victims in Houston. But get this ... Martin said the band's never played it before and NEVER would again. Its only purpose -- to send love from Miami to Houston, currently underwater following catastrophic flooding.

It's an incredible rendition from a band that grew up admiring and listening to country music. Some of the lyrics, "I'm dreaming of when I get back to Houston" ... and "I'm dreaming of when Houston has no problems ... Oh Houston, you got to keep on keeping on."

7:50 AM PT -- Pastor Osteen's church is now open for evacuees, and he says flooding inside the church is the reason for the delay.

A Lakewood Church rep tells us, "Lakewood’s doors are open now to anyone needing shelter. We are also coordinating with the city as a collection site for distributing supplies to area shelters. We are collecting diapers, baby formula, baby food and other supplies. Please bring these items to Lakewood Church, Circle Drive off Timmons St."

The rep also sent us photos of "initial flooding" within the church, and says this is "why we couldn't open initially."

Pastor Joel Osteen is taking serious heat for not turning his Houston megachurch into a shelter for thousands of displaced residents who have no place to go.

The Houston Lakewood Church has a capacity of almost 17,000 but it has not been open to evacuees since the storm hit.

Osteen posted a statement Monday night, saying, "We have never closed our doors ... We will continue to be a distribution center to those in need. We are prepared to house people once shelters reach capacity."

It seems, however, that shelters have more than reached capacity. The American Red Cross turned the Convention Center into an evacuee center and there are 8,800 people there, despite the fact capacity is set at 5,000.

Osteen's church appears to be in good shape and able to serve as a center.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is walking back his confusing comments about Hurricane Harvey that infuriated meteorologists and climate scientists.

We got America's most famous astrophysicist Monday night in NYC and we asked him about last week's tweet as Houston braced for Hurricane Harvey's catastrophic storm and flooding.

Neil said, "Don't see much denial of (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) climate scientists who have predicted Hurricane Harvey's devastating path into Texas." Problem is ... Neil in one tweet confused the job of a climate scientist. He explains how he got it wrong.

But in true Neil form, he takes shots at global warming deniers.

UFC star Derrick Lewis says he's exhausted and bit up after 2 straight days of rescuing flood victims in Houston ... telling TMZ Sports freezing water and swarms of ants are a huge problem.

We spoke with Lewis after footage surfaced showing "The Black Beast" carrying people who have been stranded due to the torrential rains from Hurricane Harvey.

"Basically, I'm just looking around and seeing anyone that need help."

Derrick says he put information on his Facebook page -- and if people reach out in need of assistance, he rolls out immediately ... "no matter where they at."

Lewis says he's seen people in bad shape -- and that's why he's motivated to keep helping.

"I believe about 30 minutes ago I just helped an elderly couple and he was covered in ants all over and he was just like trembling in his house."

"He didn't even worry about the ants that was all over him. He didn't even bother to knock them off. You could tell he was in shock ... the water is real cold right now."

Lewis says he's been bit up by the ants as well. Footage has surfaced showing ants swarming together to stay afloat in the waters. It's a serious problem for people.

Still, Lewis says he won't give up.

Baby Bash and Paul Wall say Houston has fallen victim to chaos and destruction in the wake of Hurricane Harvey ... but they're leading by example on how folks can help.

We spoke with the Houston rap stars, and both of them describe what many people are already seeing in the news ... flooded streets, homes destroyed and displaced residents.

Baby Bash -- who's stuck in his own home -- tells us there's creative ways people can help from afar, even if you're short on dough. He also explains how anarchy has started to run amok in the city ... which includes a story about his dad, a truck and a CVS ATM.

As for Paul ... he's got some ideas of his own on how people can chip in -- which he's also promoting on his IG. Still, he can't help but acknowledge the power of cold, hard cash.

Comedian King Keraun's not buying Joel Osteen's explanation for closing his megachurch's doors in Houston's time of need ... especially because Houston puts so much in his offering plates.

Osteen's Lakewood Church says flooded roads have made the church -- which could shelter nearly 17,000 people -- inaccessible. But Keraun, who says he's helped 12 people escape flooding on his own, says this disaster will prove who's really down for his hometown ... and, in his book, the early scorecard doesn't look good for Rev. O.

Keraun had some intense moments around Houston Monday, and told us he's desperately trying to get to trapped family members. If Osteen, or anyone else, has a boat ... Keraun's in the market.

Joel Osteen's 17,000-seat Lakewood Church in Houston isn't opening its doors for rescue efforts because floodwaters just won't allow it ... according to the church.

The mega-televangelist is catching flak for tweeting about his hometown flood, but not doing anything to help out -- especially because his megachurch could shelter thousands of people displaced by the rising water.

Church officials say this one's out of Joel's hands though -- and point out the streets surrounding the church are already so flooded ... Lakewood is inaccessible.

The church used to be the Compaq Center sports arena, and sits along a highway ... part of which is currently under water. The floodwater wasn't clear in a photo tweeted Monday morning.

Arian Foster's Houston home is halfway under water, thanks to Hurricane Harvey.

The ex-Houston Texans running back still has a home in the area -- and his entire street has been hit hard from the storm.

"Neighbors took a video of our crib from across the street," Foster wrote while posting video showing several homes submerged ... while the rain continues to pour.

So far, at least 5 people have died from the storm and thousands of residents have been forced to leave town -- including Foster.

Foster's former teammate, J.J. Watt, has kick-started a campaign to help hurricane relief ... and is hoping to raise $500k for flood victims.

Kevin Hart is donating $25k for the Hurricane Harvey relief effort, which is awesome ... but he's also calling out specific celebrities to match his gift, which is not necessarily awesome.

Hart calls out The Rock, Steve Harvey, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Jerry Seinfeld, putting the spotlight on them to get busy and donate.

Aside from shaming them, there's another problem ... some celebrities want to make charitable donations without publicity. This kind of forces their hand to go public when they view charity as something they do because they want to ... not for publicity.

Michelle Rodriguez hasn't read or seen the news in 2 months, and she couldn't be more stoked.

We got Michelle Tuesday in Bev Hills and she told us she can't handle all the depressing stories about politics, racism, terrorism, and on and on, so she just tuned it all out.

Bill Maher did potentially fatal damage to the obese population of America during Friday night's show ... all because of some below-the-belt fat jokes -- so says a leading obesity org.

Maher's closing segment on 'Real Time' was riddled with fat jokes, including, "Obesity is the main reason people wear sweatpants in public," and, "Among the shaming police, your body is perfect just the way it is -- prone, on a gurney." The jokes were to underscore the obesity crisis, but still ...

The Obesity Action Coalition -- nearly 60k members strong -- tells TMZ that Maher's jokes weren't only in bad taste, they were alarming for people who are on the edge of a cliff fighting weight issues.

They say fat shaming on a scale like Maher's can lead to depression, anxiety and poor body image for those who are overweight ... often delaying critical medical appointments. They say the shaming could exacerbate medical problems and even lead to suicide.

President Trump might have fried his eyes, 'cause he looked right at the solar eclipse without special glasses ... even though his daughter, Ivanka, did a PSA for just that.

Trump was seen checking out the eclipse Monday with Melania and his son, Barron, from the Truman Balcony of the White House ... except the Prez peeped without protection.

And he apparently did it more than once ... even though he did eventually put the glasses on.

Luckily, he only looked for what appeared to be a few seconds at a time. Still though, it's kinda funny ... especially since Ivanka was out there promoting safe viewing.

Bonnie Tyler has eclipsed the charts with her hit song from the '80s ... and it's all thanks to the moon just doing what it does.

Tyler's 1983 song, "Total Eclipse of the Heart," has rocketed to number 1 on the iTunes chart, which is no coincidence ... she's been teasing a performance of her tune while the solar eclipse is watched across the country.

Bonnie performed Monday for passengers on a cruise ship, who got to watch her sing her hit ... and potentially burn their eyeballs while staring at the celestial phenomenon. Oh, and DNCE shared the stage with her too ... no biggie.

As a result of all the hype ... Bonnie's 'Total Eclipse' is up 267% on Amazon, and her greatest hits album is #3 on its Movers and Shakers list ... in addition to her #1 spot on iTunes.

Quite the turnaround for her ... who knew we needed that song now more than ever.

Elon Musk delivered a serious warning to the United Nations that essentially goes like this ... BEWARE THE KILLER ROBOTS!!!

The genius behind Tesla, SpaceX and don't forget PayPal signed an open letter to the U.N. Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons ... the body is taking up autonomous weapons, including drones, tanks and machine guns.

Musk, who has warned about the dangers of A.I. before, said, "Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare. Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend."

Sounds like Musk doesn't want a SkyNet-style situation -- where the artificial intelligence programs become self-aware and angry ... and then humanity has to wage war with T-1000s, HK-Aeriels, etc.

"These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways," Musk says.

He calls the autonomous arms race a Pandora's Box which, once opened, will be tough to close.

Musk was not alone in his concern ... 89 leaders around the world signed the open letter.

The "Free Speech Rally" in Boston Saturday has turned into a massive demonstration by counterprotesters -- thousands and thousands of them -- condemning the alt-right, white nationalists, racists, fascists and neo-nazis.

Exactly one week after the Charlottesville attack, a rally by conservative activists -- who attempted to distance themselves from white nationalists -- has been dwarfed by a diverse group of counterprotesters who believe the "free speech" rally is a guise for hate speech.

As of Saturday afternoon, there have been no reports of major violence as the rally at the Boston Common has been surrounded by thousands holding signs and chanting messages of anti-racism.

As we reported ... James Alex Fields Jr. plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters last Saturday in Charlottesville after a day filled with violence. He was charged with second-degree murder.

Matt Damon clearly thinks everyone has a right to exercise free speech in this country, but the alt-right may be in for a surprise Saturday in Boston.

We got the Boston native at LAX Friday and he never suggested the marchers would be met with physical resistance, but listen not just to his words but how he says them.

It's interesting ... organizers of the rally have denounced the Charlottesville violence and racist message, claiming they are a conglomerate of libertarians, progressives, conservatives and independents. But police are worried this will become a rally laced with racism.