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Elon Musk appears to be flip-flopping on whether Twitter considers NPR to be state-run media -- although it's unclear if he's gonna take that label off their account.

The Twit-in-Chief was directly asked about this by an NPR reporter this week ... and when he was shown the hard numbers on where NPR gets its funding -- with only 1% of it coming from the U.S. government, and a majority of it coming from donors -- he relented a bit.

According to the journo -- citing an email exchange he says he was having with Musk personally -- EM apparently didn't understand the difference between public media and state-sanctioned media ... and replied, "Well, then we should fix it" as it pertains to NPR's status.

Musk then supposedly asked for the breakdown of their finances, which the reporter says was provided to him ... to which Musk then apparently responded, "The operating principle at new Twitter is simply fair and equal treatment, so if we label non-US accounts as govt, then we should do the same for US, but it sounds like that might not be accurate here."

Earlier in the day, Musk said NPR's new state-affiliated media label --  which Twitter has yet to remove -- seemed "accurate." But now, based on this new reporting, it sounds like he's not sure. Musk reportedly told this reporter Twitter would mull over a final decision.

Of course, NPR is not state-controlled media -- unlike the ones in North Korea, China and Russia ... it's a nonprofit news org that operates independently and has provided accurate reporting for years. In light of Twitter's designation, NPR has stopped tweeting altogether.

Police fatally shot a teenager in a stolen car in Washington D.C. ... and the horrific incident was all caught on video.

Check out the body cam footage, released by the U.S. Park Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police, showing officers entering the vehicle parked on a residential street after they responded to a call of a stolen car.

Dalaneo Martin, 17, was asleep behind the wheel when one of the cops woke him up to try to arrest him.

In his panic, Martin sped away with the officer in the back seat, pointing his gun at the teen.

The cop ordered Martin to stop the car and let him out, but Martin kept driving. Finally, the officer warned, "Stop or I’ll shoot you!" before squeezing the trigger several times.

Martin cried out in agony as he was shot. The car then crashed into a nearby house.

Cops administered first aid to Martin, but they couldn't save him. Martin was pronounced dead at the scene.

The officer who fired the shots and a second cop were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a hospital.

Cash App founder Bob Lee's final moments were reportedly caught on video before he collapsed dead from stab wounds on a California street.

Surveillance footage, reviewed by The San Francisco Standard, showed Lee tending to his injuries with one hand while holding his mobile phone with the other hand as he staggered down a desolate city street early Tuesday morning. A trail of blood was left in his wake.

The video also depicted Lee approaching a Toyota Camry with its hazard lights on and raising his shirt to reveal a stab wound to the driver. As Lee asked for help, the motorist sped away.

Moments later, Lee fell to the ground, but he got back up and walked further down the road before collapsing again.

Using his cell phone, Lee called 911 and screamed, "Help! Someone stabbed me!" By the time San Francisco police arrived, Lee was already unconscious and later died at a local hospital.

Police say Lee was stabbed twice in the chest by an unknown assailant, who fled the scene. A motive has not been disclosed.

Heavy hitters in the tech industry were outraged by the murder. Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted at SFDA Brooke Jenkins, asking if she was doing enough to keep repeat violent offenders behind bars.

Block, Inc. Co-founder Jack Dorsey, whose company owns Cash App, said he was heartbroken over Lee's death.

MobileCoin CEO Joshua Goldbard characterized Lee as a “force of nature" in the tech industry.

Lee was the creator of Cash App - a payment service in which users can transfer funds to each other using their mobile phones. Before his death, he was the chief product officer for MobileCoin -- a cryptocurrency start-up.

A nightmare scene on a Virgin Voyages Cruise, as a woman has fallen to her death on one of the ship's decks ... while also landing on another passenger.

A rep for the cruise, which took off Sunday and was scheduled to travel from Miami to Roatan, Honduras, tells us, "Yesterday evening shortly after departure there was a medical emergency involving one of our passengers."

They continue, "This passenger went over their balcony and onto a lower deck, and despite receiving immediate medical attention, has passed away. We are deeply saddened by this loss of life and our hearts and thoughts are with this person’s loved ones."

To make things worse, the woman who fell also landed on another passenger in the process ... luckily, we're told that person is doing OK.

We obtained photos from the ship showing medical equipment set up on the deck of the ship where the woman landed.

LSU hoops star Angel Reese isn't apologizing for taunting Caitlin Clark during the NCAA title game Sunday ... responding by ripping the hypocrites who called her out, but didn't do so for Clark.

The Tigers forward received a ton of backlash after throwing up John Cena's famous "You Can't See Me" hand gesture during LSU's blowout 102-85 win at the American Airlines Center.

FYI, it's the same gesture AP Player of the Year Clark used in the Elite Eight and Final Four.

The difference was the public's reaction ... Clark was praised, while Reese was mostly criticized for failing to show good sportsmanship. But, she's unbothered by the selective outrage.

"All year, I was critiqued about who I was," Reese said during her post-game interview.

"The narrative -- I don’t fit the narrative. I don't fit into the box that y’all want me to be in. 'I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto.' Y’all told me that all year. But, when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing."

Reese -- who transferred from Maryland to LSU last May -- says this win is for "the girls that look like me," telling them to be "unapologetically you."

"And, that’s what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. Twitter is gonna go on a rage every time. And, I’m happy. I feel like I've helped grow women's basketball this year."

Despite the hate Reese is getting, there are a ton of people who've had her back, including LeBron James, who retweeted Emmanuel Acho's comment ripping those who criticized Reese but not Clark.

The Lakers superstar also shared Ryan Clark's message on Twitter, saying, "If you praised Caitlin Clark as competitive, fiery, and passionate for doing the 'You can’t See me' celebration and are criticizing Angel Reese for the same we already know!!"

Shaquille O'Neal also came to the defense of Reese, going at Keith Olbermann, who called Reese a "f***ing idiot."

It was the first-ever NCAA title for the LSU women's hoops team and 4th title for coach Kim Mulkey ... who won three with Baylor before joining the Tigers in 2021.

Congratulations, ladies!!

We covered it all on a recent episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms!

Elon Musk has ordered his company, Twitter, to strip the New York Times of their verified checkmark effective immediately -- and it appears he targeted them out of pure spite.

Here's the deal ... the NYT lost its blue/gold checkmark Sunday (we can't even keep up with the colors anymore), which guaranteed verification and authenticated the account as a legit news organization. The timing and reason is no secret ... Elon made the call from the top.

The reason we know that is because EM himself commented on the state of the Times from his personal Twitter account, kinda crapping on them ... literally. He writes, "The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting."

Elon adds, "Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable. They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles. Same applies to all publications." BTW, the Times is the only major legacy news co. to lose its check so far.

Now, as for why the NYT was quite clearly singled out ... well, it seems like Elon was made aware that they publicly said they wouldn't be shelling out to pay for their gold check going forward -- something that all companies will now have to do at a rate of $1,000/month.

They went on record this past week to say ... "We aren't planning to pay the monthly fee for verification of our institutional Twitter accounts." They also said they wouldn't be reimbursing most employees for their own verified accounts either ... except a select few.

They were far from the only media companies to say something similar, FWIW -- CNN, WaPo and the LA Times (just to name a few) are planning to do the same thing ... AKA, not pay.

However, in what looks to be since-deleted tweets from Elon ... he was allegedly only notified about the Times' defiant stance, specifically -- and based on these screengrabs from Twitter sleuths, it sounds like he may have taken it personally and pulled the trigger on 'em early.

One alleged tweet of his says he's going to give folks a few weeks to make the shift (to paying either $8/mo or $1,000/mo) but when he learned the NYT already dug their heels in ... he appears to have said, "OH YEAH?!?" Wouldn't you know it -- now NYT is unverified.

Brittney Griner weighed in on Russia's detainment of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, saying she's greatly concerned for his safety and urging President Biden to do everything he can to bring him home.

The Women's National Basketball Association star took to Instagram Saturday night to show her support for Gershkovich, who was taken into custody by Russian authorities last Thursday and accused of spying.

As you know, Griner was convicted by a Russian court for possessing cannabis oil in 2022, and she spent 10 months in a Russian jail before the Biden administration got her released in a prisoner swap.

Griner and her wife, Cherelle, wrote, “Our hearts are filled with great concern for Evan Gershkovich and his family since Evan's detainment in Russia."They continued, “Every American who is taken is ours to fight for and every American returned is a win for us all."

The couple then called on Biden to use every tool at his disposal to bring Gershkovich home, as well as all Americans who have been wrongfully detained abroad. Gershkovich was the first US journalist to be detained in Russia on an espionage charge since the Cold War.

The Wall Street Journal has denied the spying charge and demanded the immediate release of Gershkovich.

President Biden sent a blunt message Friday to Russia to "Let him go," referring to Gershkovich. Vice President Kamala Harris said she's "deeply concerned" about the arrest amid rising tensions with Moscow over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is scheduled to be the next big guest on "60 Minutes" this weekend ... and Twitter sure ain't happy about it.

The controversial Georgia congresswoman was tapped as one of the big interviews on the weekly magazine news program, with none other than Lesley Stahl taking on the challenge of talking to her on camera. The official "60 Minutes" account teased their time together.

Their description of MTG was weirdly flattering ... at least that's how many took it, and it left a lot of folks sour. "60 Minutes" writes of Rep. Greene, "Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, nicknamed MTG, isn’t afraid to share her opinions, no matter how intense and in-your-face they are. She sits down with Lesley Stahl this Sunday on 60 Minutes."

Of course, political pundits and journos on the bird app have been crying foul for the past 24 hours ... openly wondering why CBS would think it's a good idea to sit down with Greene.

The reason they're asking, of course, is because MTG has, at times, apparently shown support for the Jan. 6 insurrection, displayed transphobia, advocated for a new national secession ... and continued to support President Trump, among many other issues.

For her part, Greene actually signaled that the interview went well ... shouting out Stahl for being a trailblazer in journalism, and for giving her fair questions. MTG wrote, "It was an honor to spend a few days with the legendary icon Leslie (sic) Stahl and talented crew @60Minutes. Leslie (sic) is a trailblazer for women in journalism. And while we may disagree on some issues, I respect her greatly. Tune in tomorrow 7 pm ET on CBS."

A death metal concert became a calamity Friday night after a vicious storm ripped through an Illinois auditorium, killing one person and injuring 28 others.

The packed show at the Apollo Theater in Belvidere, IL, kicked off about 30 minutes before the massive storm rolled into town, causing the roof to collapse onto some of the more than 260 concertgoers.

Morbid Angel, Revocation, Crypta and Skeletal Remains were all scheduled to hit the stage, but the roof came crashing down and people got trapped underneath the wreckage.

Check out video that surfaced online ... showing the aftermath of the destruction during the mad rush to find victims under the debris.

Firefighters responded to a "mass casualty" incident around 7:30 PM.

Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle announced one person was killed and over two dozen were injured.

Five of the surviving victims were seriously hurt, five others suffered minor injuries, and 18 more sustained moderate injuries. All 28 were hospitalized.

Everyone who attended the performance was accounted for by 10:15 PM.

Economists who suggest California pay $800 billion in reparations to Black citizens are weighing a ton of factors beyond just ancestry ... and the Vice Chair of San Francisco's reparations committee says, all things considered, it's actually pretty fair.

Tinisch Hollins joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" Thursday, giving us a look at the many things reparations advisory committees take into account while coming up with estimates -- including things like the racial wealth gap, housing discrimination practices such as redlining and loss of property due to race.

While the $800B number was suggested for the state, San Fran is considering a separate payment -- possibly $5 million per eligible person -- and she acknowledges the big dollar figures create "sticker shock" ... for everyone, whether you're pro or against.

As we reported, Gov. Gavin Newsom's been pushing this for a few years, looking to determine how much Black CA citizens could potentially receive in reparations.

Tinisch says it's also important to remember the numbers reflect value, not necessarily cash payouts -- she gave us a couple other ways it could be distributed.

Colleges in China are giving students a spring break mission -- don't just hook up, get to know each other and maybe even fall in love ... as the country's seeing a drastic decline in birth and marriage rates.

Nine colleges, all run by the Fan Mei Education Group, are asking students to use their annual week-long hiatus to "get in touch with nature, and with your heart feel the beauty of spring," and most importantly ... "Go fall in love."

The schools have a heavy focus on romance this time around, although the break's been an annual event since 2019 ... just without the boning angle.

The love-making plea comes at a pretty fitting time -- China's facing massive dips in marriage and birth rates, and the country's been going all-in on getting those numbers back up ... with this college instruction being one of the latest methods.

Many businesses and provinces have reportedly been trying to come up with other effective ways to boost the stats ... like implementing a 30-day paid marriage leave or campaigns looking for city women to hook up with older rural men. We smell a reality show!

Looks like all the schools participating are vocational schools, specializing in aviation -- so go do your homework and join that mile-high club!

The Nashville mass shooter was reportedly torn up over the death of a close friend months before unleashing a murderous attack at a Christian school.

Audrey Hale was totally devastated after Sydney Shere Sims was killed in a car crash in August, former classmate Samira Hardcastle told NBC News.

Hale "definitely admired" Sims as they together attended Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School of the Arts and the Nashville School of the Arts, Hardcastle said.

Maria Colomy, one of Hale's former teachers at another school, recalled that Sims' untimely death was an emotional wrecking ball for her former student.

Colomy paraphrased Hale's social media posts about the accident, stating something to the effect that Sims was "all that mattered" and "I'll miss you forever."

As we reported ... Hale went on a bloody rampage at Covenant School on Monday, fatally shooting three 9-year-old students and three employees in their 60s.

Two Nashville police officers shot and killed Hale on the second floor of the private elementary school.

Cops said Hale penned a manifesto detailing the school attack and identifying other potential targets.

Police Chief John Drake said Hale -- a 28-year-old biological female who identified as male -- was a former student at the school and resented having to attend classes there.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is amused by Elon Musk and others who think AI technology is a threat to humanity ... he thinks the doomsday bunch are watching too many movies.

We got the famed astrophysicist at LAX Wednesday, and he snickered at Musk, Steve Wozniak and 1,100 others who sounded the alarm in an open letter that AI has become a "dangerous race" that could imperil our very existence ... they want a 6-month moratorium on AI development to assess the risks.

The way Neil sees it ... it's nothing new. We have seen the twists and turns triggered by the technological revolution for more than 100 years. When jobs get replaced by machines, people find new jobs. And here's the big point ... if AI eventually takes over all jobs, we can all go to the beach. After all, going to work is not embedded in our DNA, so society could reimagine how humans live.

The beach vs. work ... so who you rootin' for?

The growth of AI technology is going too far too quickly and dangerously -- at least, according to tech giants Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak ... who've joined a huge group of leaders asking developers to temporarily call it quits.

Musk, Wozniak and more than 1,100 others in the technology industry all signed an open letter from Future of Life Institute ... calling out developers of AI software, because they might not be aware of the "catastrophic" risks that can come with it.

The concerned leaders call the rapid growth a "dangerous race," and they're asking labs to take a 6-month break to allow for further risk assessment on AI. They're also asking the government to intervene if developers refuse to pause.

The signees go on to point out that competing AI labs are pushing hard to develop the best version out there, and might not be aware of what could come from it ... with the eerie possibility that AI could soon no longer need human interference to make its own decisions.

Others standing with Musk and Wozniak are Andrew Yang, the co-founder of Pinterest, professors from across the nation, and loads of AI researchers.

Keep in mind, Elon co-founded the company OpenAI, which created ChatGPT ... one of the leading AI programs currently available to the public. So, if HE wants to slow down AI, it's gotta make you think.

Black Californians are owed upward of $800 billion due to decades of discriminatory and racist practices that set back generations -- so say experts in a formal suggestion.

Gov. Gavin Newsom spearheaded efforts, starting in 2020, to determine what African-Americans in the Golden State might stand to receive if Cali decides to pay reparations ... and this astronomical number is what a group of economists is spitting out.

There's a whole task force dedicated to this issue, BTW ... consisting of state lawmakers focused on 5 key areas -- the taking of property by the government, devaluation of Black-owned businesses, housing discrimination, mass incarceration/over-policing and general health.

Mind you, the economists here considered only 3 of these categories in coming up with the $800B figure -- leaving out property taken and the devaluation of businesses for now -- which means the final estimate could be much higher. In any case, the task force will hear this new total Wednesday and take it under consideration in a scheduled meeting.

Considering there are about 2,537,000 Black residents in California -- based on 2022 U.S. Census numbers -- that would translate to each getting about $315k, more or less. That number could be different, however, based on criteria for who receives reparations.

Those would include being a certain age (18), being a resident of CA for a certain amount of time and being a descendant of an enslaved person and/or freed Black people in the U.S. as of the 19th century ... among other benchmarks, the state of California could set.

Of course, opponents would cite the obvious in pushing back on this -- namely, California was never a slave state. Also, they say taxpayers shouldn't have to foot this kind of bill for practices that were in place a long time ago ... even though Newsom and co. say otherwise.

Now, whether the reparations suggested are actually enacted is a whole other ball game. The task force would need to agree on a final number, and then send it over to the state legislature ... where it would have to be drafted into a bill and passed in both chambers. After that, Newsom himself would have to sign it.

Dramatic new video captured the Nashville mass murderer blasting their way into an elementary school and roaming the halls with an assault weapon before fatally shooting 6 people, including 3 children.

Check out the security footage, released late Monday by the Metropolitan Nashville PD, showing Audrey Hale driving through a parking lot at Covenant Church/School with 2 assault-type rifles and a 9MM semiautomatic.

After parking a Honda Fit, Hale walked up to the school entrance and opened fire at the doors, shattering the glass windows. The shooter then crouched down to slip through one of the shot-out windows to enter the school.

Hale then maneuvered through the hallways with their rifle, wearing military fatigues and a red baseball cap turned backward. Hale opened several doors and entered rooms looking for prey. Throughout the video, you can see lights flashing from the school's alarm system.

Police say Hale fatally shot three 9-year-old students identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. Hale also shot and killed three adults in their 60's: Cynthia Peak, a substitute teacher; Mike Hill, a custodian; and Katherine Koonce, the head of school.

Cops responded to the scene after receiving 911 calls. When they arrived, the officers were met by Hale shooting at them from a second-floor window of the school. The police were not injured.

Officers quickly cleared the school of students and personnel and made their way up to the second-floor common area. That's where two cops shot and killed Hale.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Hale randomly gunned down people in the school after coming into contact with them.

Drake also said Hale was a former student and resented having to attend the school, which was "why this incident occurred."

The chief also said police recovered a manifesto written by Hale, who detailed preparations for the attack and listed other potential targets. He did not reveal the contents.