Reality TV

Ray J insists Kris Jenner was smack in the middle of negotiating Kim and Ray J's sex tape, but we've learned the businesswoman of the century was hands-off when the deal was cut.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Kris never negotiated with Vivid Entertainment, which distributed the tape back in 2007. We're told Kim and Ray J dealt with Vivid directly and with their lawyers.

In his interview, Ray J maintains Kris and Kim hatched the plot to make and peddle a sex tape in the wake of the enormous financial success of Paris Hilton's. Sources on the other side dispute that, maintaining she had nothing to do with planning the tape, and we've learned Kris was hands-off making the actual deal and had no contact with Vivid.

Of course, that doesn't mean Kris wasn't working behind the scenes, as Ray J claims.

As we've reported over the years, although the Kardashians claimed they never signed off on the tape, the reality is that Vivid could not have released it without the signatures of Kim and Ray ... if it did, there would be a slam dunk lawsuit, because Vivid could not use the name or likeness of anyone on tape without their consent.

Kim actually sued Vivid before the tape was released and that lawsuit was dropped ... we're told because she and Ray cut the deal they wanted and that cleared the path for the release of the video.

Tokyo Toni's trying to raise some cash to make Blac Chyna's appeal happen, but she also hopes the Kardashians can mend the rift between them.

We got Tokyo Tuesday in L.A., and she's calling BS on the Kardashian ruling ... she thinks they've got a solid chance on appeal, if they raise $400K she says they need for the lawyers.

Tokyo started a GoFundMe to raise the funds, but the page hasn't seen much activity -- so far it's at an anemic $810.

Tokyo also wants the Kardashians to "do what's right" and stop the war ... especially because Chyna and Rob share 5-year-old Dream.

As you recall, we caught up with Chyna the day after she lost her $100M defamation suit ... she seemed in good spirits, saying her time in court had been fun.

The Island Boys will have an opportunity to show off their hands -- and secure the bag -- 'cause Flyysoulja and Kodiyakredd just got an offer to be cast on a boxing competition pitting social media stars against each other in the squared circle.

The new reality show is called "Ultimate Social Boxing" ... and will pit 32 social media stars against one another as they attempt to fight their way to the top, and the winner will receive $1 million!

TMZ Sports talked to LiveOne founder Rob Ellin (brother of 'Entourage' creator Doug Ellin), and one of the people behind the show. Ellin is currently beginning to cast the series.

Two of those spots ... well, Rob would like the Island Boys to enter the competition.

"We want you. It looks great. It looks energetic. It looks like those guys have those promotional skills. Again, to have that energy of becoming a true brand. Steve Austin, right? The Rock. Hulk Hogan. You want dolls made of you? You want a career? You wanna build brands? You want to own tequila companies? Yeah, sure. But, you better get yourself into boxing shape," Ellin said.

Of course, the bros blew up after their song, "I'm An Island Boy" exploded in popularity last year.

And, they've seemingly taken up boxing lately ... showing off their skills (😬) on social media, doing bag and mitt work.

Boxing and entertainment have become more intertwined over the last few years ... and particularly since Jake Paul burst onto the boxing scene.

Paul flipped the sport on its head in many ways ... but that could only happen because, like him or not, Jake's a talented fighter.

No magic tricks necessary for Penn & Teller's big unmasking moment on "The Masked Singer" -- instead, it was a laborious process full of panic and mayhem!!!

Our sources say when the legendary comedy duo was revealed as the celebs inside the Hydra costume, stagehands had an issue deconstructing the costume at the moment of truth.

We're told it was a chaotic scene backstage, with folks scrambling to figure out what to do, and in the end ... the costume department made a very last-minute decision to completely cut off the middle head of the three-headed costume.

Our sources say the head was literally sawed-off ... and it basically ruined the costume.

Besides hacking off the head, we're told the costume department accidentally sliced a wire cutting off all the electricity used for Hydra ... making the eyeballs that once lit up completely useless.

Now, all this drama mostly played out off-screen when Penn & Teller were revealed earlier this season -- and our sources say producers panicked when they saw the head being sliced off. Despite the big reveal, they still had more filming to do with the costume -- like reshoots, promos and cutaway camera angles.

Fortunately, the wardrobe department's really handy with superglue -- we're told they meticulously pieced together Hydra's head, and it actually worked!!!

Ray J is speaking his truth about his ex, Kim Kardashian -- and that would be ... the infamous sex tape "leak" that put her on the map wasn't an accident at all, but a planned event and the Kardashians were in on it.

The singer spilled the alleged beans to DailyMail.com -- telling the outlet he's furious the Kardashians have essentially accused him of holding an unreleased sex tape over their heads ... and that he was the one who leaked the OG tape in the first place.

He insists the truth is the exact opposite -- namely, that the "leak" wasn't that at all ... but a systematic deal brokered between himself, Kim and Kris Jenner and Vivid Entertainment.

Here's how it allegedly went down, according to Ray J ... he says that while he and Kim were dating, he jokingly floated the idea of putting out a sex tape of theirs in the wake of Paris Hilton's video leaking -- which elevated her status and celebrity.

While he claims he didn't really mean it, Ray alleges Kim jumped on the idea ... going to her mom, talking it out and then getting the wheels in motion on the whole thing, which he says he was not really privy to until it came to signing away the rights.

Ray says he and Kim both signed a contract, and the rest is history.

Here's the fascinating thing ... the guy claims all the original sex tape footage -- including a SECOND one he says they shot in Santa Barbara that is unreleased thus far -- has always been in Kim's possession ... in a Nike shoebox under her bed.

Ray claims he's never been in possession of any copies, and that he's been fuming over the fact the Kardashians have made it seem of late he had more footage and that he was on the verge of releasing it. He did, in fact, give Kanye West a computer and hard drive with some personal content between him and Kim ... but argues there was nothing explicit on it.

One other thing ... it sounds like the Kardashians themselves might've triggered his rage here with their new Hulu series. In one of the first few episodes, Kim and co. apparently joke about Ray putting a dildo in her butt, which he's irate over ... saying they made him look bad.

"Toddlers and Tiaras" star Kailia Posey tragically took her own life at the age of just 16, her family says, in a gut-wrenching statement.

Posey's family tells TMZ, "Although she was an accomplished teenager with a bright future ahead of her, unfortunately in one impetuous moment, she made the rash decision to end her earthly life."

The family is devastated, listing everything Kailia had ahead of her and her accomplishments during her 16 years, saying, "She won countless crowns & trophies after competing on the pageant circuit her entire life ... Her highly acclaimed talent as a contortionist had already led to professional touring job offers, and she had recently been selected to be a cheerleader at her high school next fall.

Not only that, Kailia's family says she had a love for aviation, and had plans to continue to work in the entertainment industry while pursuing her goal of a commercial pilot's license.

TMZ broke the story, the 16-year-old who first found fame on the popular TLC show -- even becoming a popular GIF as 'Grinning Girl' -- died Monday in Washington. At the time, her mom posted, "I don't have words or any thoughts. A beautiful baby girl is gone. Please give us privacy as we mourn the loss of Kailia. My baby forever".

Her family has set up a fund, at the Whatcom Community Foundation in her name with the goal of providing resources to help students in crisis.

Will Smith isn't down to fight Chris Rock's brother after an open invite, but another Philly native -- and former 'Real World' star -- is ready to take his place in the ring.

Josh Colon, known for his time on "The Real World: D.C.," has signed on to go up against Chris' brother, Kenny, at the South Florida Rumble in June, presented by Bitcoin Rodney.

Josh, who was on 14 episodes of the reality series, says he's doing this for Will ... and is ready to represent the entire city of Philadelphia, from where they both hail.

As you know, Kenny was ready to fight Will in April after first signing onto the event ... he was confident he could take a W over W, even though Will once played Muhammad Ali on the big screen.

Kenny slammed Will for slapping his brother at the Academy Awards, and was looking for some payback.

The event's got a bunch of celebs attached -- Omarosa, Flavor Flav and Rashad Evans will all be involved ... and the evening's main event has Benzino up against Aaron Carter. Blac Chyna will also be on the card, but her opponent has not been announced.

'RHONY' alum Jill Zarin isn't fretting that she hasn't gotten a call for the 'RHONY' throwback series ... she says even if she's shut out, she's grateful for everything the network has done for her.

We got the former NY housewife at LAX, Tuesday, and asked how she feels about the new series "RHONY: Throwback" that's in the works ... which will feature some of the OG New York women.

Jill tells us, she hasn't heard from producers but she's not worried because she doesn't think anyone has gotten a call, at least not yet. She thinks Bravo execs are focused on rebooting and recasting for the original 'RHONY.'

Of course, this is very different in tone from former 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' star, NeNe Leakes, who just filed a lawsuit in federal court ... accusing 'RHOA' producers of ignoring her complaints about years of alleged racist remarks directed her way by a fellow cast member Kim Zolciak-Biermann.

She also claims Bravo execs blacklisted her ... making it hard to take legal action sooner and making it hard to find work.

Blac Chyna had the deck stacked against her in her fierce legal battle with the Kardashians ... so says the Executive Producer of "Rob & Chyna" who accuses the judge of bias.

Walter Mosley thinks the Kardashians had more than an edge ... they had an enormous advantage, from a gaggle of lawyers in the courtroom to an endless amount of money to drop on the case, and a judge whom he says clearly favored the famous fam. It was no surprise to Mosley, the Kardashians pulled off a win in the legal war with Chyna.

Mosley said on the "It's Tricky with Raquel Harper" podcast ... it was a classic case of David versus Goliath. Mosley believes the Kardashian's legal bill came in at around $5 million.

He says as much as the judge seemed to like the Kardashians, he wasn't a fan of Chyna's lone lawyer.

Walter, who testified, says he noticed some unbalanced treatment from the judge when he was on the stand.

Blac Chyna seems to be rolling with the punches and doing just fine ... just a day after losing her $100M defamation lawsuit against the Kardashians.

We caught up with Chyna Tuesday, and asked all about her courtroom showdown ... interestingly enough, she seemed to be in good spirits.

She tells us, court has been "fun" and she's actually feeling really good. It didn't sound like all talk, either. She actually looked like she was not at all phased by the verdict -- while smiling and chatting it up -- maybe just happy the whole thing is over with?

As for what's next, she says she's simply focusing on working on herself ... and she's only worried about her music, her brand and her kids.

As you know, Blac Chyna and the Kardashians were in an explosive courtroom battle over the past weeks ... after she hit the family with a $100 million lawsuit in 2017, accusing them of defaming her and getting her reality show with Rob Kardashian canceled.

"Toddlers and Tiaras" star, Kailia Posey, has died at the age of 16.

Her mom shared the tragic news in a FB post ... "I don't have words or any thoughts. A beautiful baby girl is gone. Please give us privacy as we mourn the loss of Kailia. My baby forever".

As of now, it's unclear what lead to her death ... but there are reports, she may have been involved in some sort of incident in Washington.

You might recall Kailia as a young star on TLC's "Toddlers and Tiaras". The show ran from 2009 to 2013 and covered the lives of families as they prepped their children to compete in beauty pageants.

She became popular as an online GIF after her time on the show as the "grinning girl" ... an image that's still used a lot today in online forums.

She was pegged as a natural talent ... winning several competitions. From the looks of her Instagram, she continued to compete over the years.

Kailia was not only a competitor ... she was a sister and a daughter.

Kim Kardashian is channeling her inner Marilyn Monroe ... wearing the exact same dress MM wore during a sexy performance for John F. Kennedy to The Met Gala.

Kim just arrived at the ball wearing Marilyn's iconic "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" dress ... she was the last one to show, arriving with Pete Davidson, who was dressed in Dior.

The dress, originally designed by Jean Louis, was first worn by Marilyn way back in May 1962, when she gave a sexed-up bday performance for JFK at another famous fundraiser in New York.

Some 60 years later, Kim has taken the dress off of a display at a museum, and rocking it at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Kim's been hinting at wearing the dress for some time ... first, she said she couldn't tailor her outfit, which hints at something from an archive, and then she and Pete were spotted leaving "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" museum in Orlando, where the iconic dress is on display.

It's one of the most expensive dresses in the world ... the original $12,000 price tag in 1962 is equivalent to about $114k in today's dollars ... and Ripley's bought the dress from Julien's Auction in November 2016 for $4.81 million.

The Kardashians have come out victorious in their fierce legal battle with Blac Chyna ... who sued them for defamation, but the jury's riding with the family.

Before the verdict was read, it was apparent the Kardashians were nowhere to be found. The clerk asked their lawyer where they were, and the attorney responded, they were all in NYC, "at some gala." Obviously, they're at the Met.

As you know ... the Kardashians and Chyna have been squaring off in court for the past few weeks over the $100-million lawsuit BC filed back in 2017, accusing the Kardashians of defaming her and conspiring to ruin her career by getting her reality show with Rob canceled.

The trial featured tons of explosive testimony ... with the Kardashians claiming Chyna was violent with Rob, threatening to kill him and Kylie Jenner.

Much of the testimony focused on an incident between Chyna and Rob in December 2016 ... when she was pregnant with their child and their reality show, "Rob & Chyna," was in the midst of being picked up for a second season.

The Kardashians claimed Chyna threatened to kill Rob by putting a gun to his head and wrapping a phone cord around his neck, alleging she also hit him with a metal rod and threw furniture at his car when he tried to leave the heated argument.

Chyna testified she was only joking when she pointed a firearm at his temple and wrapped the cord around him, and she denied throwing anything at his car or hitting him.

There was lots of drama outside the courtroom too ... with Blac Chyna's mom, Tokyo Toni, appearing to threaten the judge who had tossed her outta the courtroom for trashing Kris Jenner and her kids. TT claimed her threat was aimed at Kris, not the judge.

Almost all of the Kardashians took the stand at some point ... including Kris, Khloe, Kim, Kylie and Rob ... plus Kris' BF, Corey Gamble.

NeNe Leakes says she wanted to drop the hammer on the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" years ago ... but the execs blacklisted her, making it extremely difficult to take any legal action.

We got NeNe at LAX Monday, and she says getting constantly silenced by Bravo stopped her from filing her discrimination lawsuit for a long time.

She tells us she went from working constantly to getting nothing ... fans of the show know NeNe was the centerpiece of "RHOA" for years, before leaving in 2020.

She's hoping her lawsuit will help put an end to discrimination against Black women ... and thinks getting called out as a Black woman with blonde hair is grossly unacceptable.

As we reported, NeNe recently filed in federal court in Atlanta, accusing the folks behind the show of ignoring her complaints about years of racist remarks directed her way by fellow cast member Kim Zolciak-Biermann.

In the docs, NeNe claims Kim, who is not being sued, made racially offensive and stereotypical comments about NeNe and Kandi Burruss over multiple seasons.

She claims she complained about Kim's alleged comments to the execs behind "RHOA," but says Kim wasn't punished and was instead rewarded with her own spinoff series.

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.

Sugar Bear's makeover could be life-changing in more ways than one ... because a dentist discovered what appears to be a type of cancer in his mouth.

A rep for Suge tells TMZ ... the reality TV star is undergoing a full makeover in Los Angeles, and when he went to a dentist Thursday to get new teeth, the dentist found what looks like possible cancer of the lower gums.

We're told the signs of potential cancer include multiple white spots on Sugar Bear's gums.

Sugar Bear was a chewing tobacco enthusiast for at least a dozen years, which we're told ended up rotting his teeth and may have now caused far greater damage.

Sugar Bear, who is the father to Honey Boo Boo and was once engaged to Mama June, was getting a makeover after finalizing a divorce ... we're told he wants to be new and improved for potential suitors now that he's single. SB recently turned 50 and wanted to boost his confidence as well.

We're told Sugar Bear's self-esteem was on the rise after he started the makeover, which also included a hair transplant, Botox, filler, liposuction, tummy tuck, a new haircut and a fresh shave ... but now the potential cancer discovery has his him gutted.