Religion/ Spirituality

Brian Cox is crapping on organized religion, and especially Christianity ... calling the Bible the worst book to ever grace human history, 'cause it's duped so many suckers and fools.

The "Succession" star sat for an interview with 'The Starting Line Podcast' ... and they talked about a lot of stuff -- including introspective thoughts on religion, God, spirituality, and all the rest. From Brian's POV ... it's all a bunch of hogwash, not buying any of it.

You can check out the full video to see his whole thought process -- but this clip here gets the job done ... with Brian explaining why society needs to move more toward a matriarchy.

Eric Church is doubling down on his spiritually-charged Stagecoach set ... despite the fact his performance appears to have left a lot of attendees thoroughly underwhelmed.

In response to the criticism -- check X and you'll see what we're talking about -- Eric defended his appearance at the famed music festival this weekend as the "most difficult set" of his career ... explaining he attempted to take a risk with an unexpected lineup.

For those who missed it, EC gave an unplugged performance of hymns and gospel covers, prompting several festivalgoers to bounce to Nickelback’s set at another stage. He was seated for most of the show ... and like we said, there really wasn't much to it besides him, his guitar and a choir.

Russell Brand's taking a big step in his faith journey ... announcing he's getting baptized -- and saying it's an opportunity to move on from the past.

The controversial actor/podcast host posted a video to his Instagram recently ... telling his nearly four million followers he's scheduled to be baptized today and asking those who'd been through the process to share their experiences.

After waxing poetic on religion for a bit, RB makes a pretty eye-opening statement ... saying he's heard it's an opportunity to be reborn -- and leave the past behind.

Professor and activist Marc Lamont Hill is weighing in on the pro-Palestine protests on the Columbia campus, saying recent antisemitic acts are the work of a few bad apples, and not the majority of students.

We got the former CNN commentator and current CUNY professor Tuesday on "TMZ Live," where he shared his observations from the demonstrations ... which have led to hundreds of student arrests, but also countless others feeling unsafe.

According to Marc -- who's a former Columbia professor -- most of the protests he's observed have been peaceful, with students simply speaking out against Israel's actions in its war with Hamas.

The vast majority of FCC complaints made during and after Super Bowl LVIII had to do with a pro-Israel ad that ran ... and it appears to have been planned that way.

TMZ has obtained FCC filings -- including all of the complaints made pertaining to the Super Bowl in February -- and there's a recurring theme in just about all of them ... namely, people pissed the State of Israel was allowed to air a commercial in the broadcast.

Per the docs, hundreds complaints were filed ... and a handful of them were about the usual -- indecent exposure, risqué outfits, language, etc. And a fair amount even complained about showing celebs ... including Taylor Swift, Ice Spice, Usher and others who were in the house.

Marjorie Taylor Greene's looking to the heavens for an omen ... and, it seems she's finding them in every natural phenomenon.

The Georgia congresswomen tweeted out a warning to her fellow Americans Friday after an earthquake rocked the Northeast -- specifically New Jersey and New York. And let's not forget what happened in Taiwan ... of course, a solar eclipse is happening Monday too.

In her tweet, MTG says God's sending signals to the United States demanding repentance ... and claiming both the earthquake and next week's solar eclipse are signs from above.

Akon says he doesn't party enough to know the ins and outs of Diddy's party scene, but he's hoping the truth comes out, for everyone involved, and perhaps ... the industry learns a few lessons.

TMZ spoke to Akon Friday at LAX, and the multi-platinum hitmaker tells us the constant scandals in the music industry are simply bad for business.

Diddy was spotted in Miami all smiles while out for a bicycle ride earlier this week, and Akon says the best everyone can do is shower Puff with prayers ... and leave it in God's hands.

Caitlyn Jenner is blasting President Biden over what she seems to think is a coordinated effort to conflate a Christian holiday with a day that also celebrates transgender people.

The reality star sounded off on Saturday -- a day before International Transgender Day of Visibility, which just so happens to fall on Easter this year -- and took aim at Joe specifically ... as it appears she believes he might've made one land on the other on purpose.

She writes, "I am absolutely disgusted that Joe Biden has declared the most Holy of Holy days - a self proclaimed devout Catholic - as Transgender Day of Visibility. The only thing you should be declaring on this day is ‘HE is Risen’."

New York Jets star Sauce Gardner is addressing the backlash after stating Jewish people "run the world" ... claiming he had no idea his words would be considered antisemitic -- but has since educated himself on the matter.

The two-time All-Pro came under fire after appearing in a video with popular streamer Adin Ross -- who is Jewish -- this week ... when he stated, "I'mma be honest, like no funny, weird s***, y'all run the world."

The comment was met with laughter from those in the room ... and while Ross didn't appear offended, many took to social media to sound off on Gardner.

The former Defensive Rookie of the Year is now clarifying his controversial take ... going to X to try to explain his side of things.

"I love all people," Gardner said. "While my intentions were positive, I just learned that people use those exact words I shared for hate towards Jewish people."

"That is not what I am about and I appreciate those who took the time to educate me on that fact."

Gardner also noted the majority of his agency and marketing teams consist of Jewish people and he talks to them on the daily ... and he meant it as a compliment.

Some folks had Gardner's back ... saying they understood he didn't mean any harm.

Kanye West is asking major players in the music industry to respect his decision to go by his legally changed name "Ye" ... TMZ has learned.

In a letter obtained by TMZ ... Kanye's chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, fires off a strong message to big players in the music industry -- including streamers, publishers, lyric websites and more -- with a demand that the rapper be referred to as Ye moving forward.

As Milo puts it ... Kanye didn't come to the decision to change his name lightly, as he is aware he's sacrificing brand value that comes with "Kanye West." Still ... the Grammy winner considers it a "slave name" and wants to ditch the moniker across all platforms.

He adds ... "Ye is a Black man in America who wants the right to full self-determination just like everyone else."

Remember ... Kanye officially changed his name to Ye back in October 2021. The artist had a judge sign off on him adopting his longtime nickname as his legal moniker years after speaking in favor of the name's Biblical ties.

Kanye told radio host Big Boy in 2018 that he preferred Ye since it was the most commonly used word in the Bible -- which wasn't actually an accurate statement, FWIW.

Still, Ye isn't the first artist to change their name ... as Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Prince, Bow Wow and Ke$ha have all switched up their public personas in the past.

Kanye West le está pidiendo a los principales actores de la industria musical que respeten su decisión de ir por su nuevo nombre legal "Ye", ha averiguado TMZ.

En una carta obtenida por TMZ, el jefe de personal de Kanye, Milo Yiannopoulos, lanzó un fuerte mensaje a los grandes actores de la industria, incluyendo streamers, editores, sitios web de letras y más, con una demanda de que ahora en adelante llamen al rapero Ye.

Como Milo dice, Kanye no tomó la decisión de cambiar su nombre a la ligera, ya que es consciente de que está sacrificando el valor de marca que viene con "Kanye West". Aún así, el ganador del Grammy lo considera un "nombre de esclavo" y quiere deshacerse del apodo en todas sus plataformas.

Y añade: "Ye es un hombre negro en América que quiere el derecho a la plena autodeterminación como todos los demás".

Recuerden, Kanye cambió oficialmente su nombre a Ye allá por octubre de 2021. El artista hizo que un juez le diera el visto bueno para adoptar su apodo de toda la vida como su nombre artístico legal años después de hablar a favor de los vínculos bíblicos del nombre.

En 2018, Kanye le dijo al presentador de radio Big Boy que prefería Ye, porque era la palabra más usada comúnmente en la Biblia, lo que en realidad no era muy preciso.

Aun así, Ye no es el primer artista que cambia su nombre. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Prince, Bow Wow y Ke$ha han cambiado sus personajes públicos en el pasado.

Candace Owens was fired from her hosting job at the Daily Wire because her bosses were fed up with what they viewed as her repeated promotion of antisemitism ... TMZ has learned.

The conservative media company announced Friday morning that it was parting ways with Candace, and while no official reason was mentioned ... sources with direct knowledge tell us it was squarely over what the Daily Wire honchos saw as antisemitism, and the firing went down early this week.

Candace and fellow Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro have had a very public feud recently on social media over their opposing views on the Israel-Gaza conflict -- and we're told the last straw for the DW was her March 8 appearance on the "Fresh and Fit" podcast.

The hosts were talking to Candace about the rift with Ben, and every time Ben or his wife -- who is Israeli -- was mentioned the show dropped a cha-ching sound effect, an obvious nod to the antisemitic trope about Jews and money.

While Candace didn't say anything to besmirch Ben, we're told the feeling was she didn't say anything to defend him or call out the antisemitism. To be fair, it's unclear whether she heard that sound effect while recording the podcast.

We're told Daily Wire execs had previous conversations with Candace in an attempt to understand her position -- as they didn't want to censor her -- but they felt the podcast incident crossed the line.

As one source in the know put it, Candace often bragged about being one of the best communicators in media, so the DW execs felt "she knew what she was doing."

We're also told Shapiro was not involved in the decision to fire Candace, and he doesn't have any power to do so.

Candace addressed her feud with Ben when she was on "The Breakfast Club" Thursday, saying she was not anti-Israel or antisemitic ... she's simply against all forms of genocide. A source connected to Candace insists the same, telling us "She's obviously not an antisemite."

Un vuelo de American Airlines se convirtió en un caos total cuando un pasajero antisemita insultó a una azafata antes de terminar con una llave en la cabeza.

Tienes que ver este increíble video, el tipo de la camisa azul y a rayas pierde totalmente el control incluso antes de que el vuelo de Tampa a Filadelfia despegue el martes. Solo está lanzando odio a diestra y siniestra, acusando a todos de confabularse contra él.

Pero cuando le suelta un insulto antisemita a una azafata, se puede ver la conmoción en la cara de todos los pasajeros, pero a él no le importa y continúa gritando: "¡Estoy tratando de llegar a mi país de origen y todos ustedes me han hecho más difícil llegar!".

La cosa se pone aún más loca cuando se enzarza en una pelea con otro pasajero, el de la sudadera azul, a quien acusa de haberlo tocado. Se agarran la cara y hacen un montón de maniobras de machito, antes de que el tipo de la capucha tome las riendas y le haga una llave en la cabeza al hombre que inició todo el revuelo.

Luego llegan más refuerzos y la mujer con sombrero intenta calmar los ánimos, diciendo que es policía y resulta que el encapuchado también lo es.

Mientras le aplicaba la llave de cabeza, el hombre de la capucha le gritó: "Ahora baja las manos y no toques a nadie", antes de escoltarlo hasta la salida del avión.

An American Airlines flight descended into total chaos when an antisemitic passenger spewed a seriously hateful insult at a flight attendant before ending up in a headlock.

You gotta check out this wild clip -- the guy in the blue striped shirt totally loses it even before the flight from Tampa to Philadelphia takes off Tuesday ... he's hurling hate left and right, accusing everyone of ganging up on him.

But, when he drops an antisemitic slur on a flight attendant, you can see the shock on everyone's faces ... but he doesn't care and goes on to yell, "I'm trying to get to my home country, and you all people made it harder for me to get to my home country!"

It gets even crazier when he gets into a scuffle with another passenger -- the guy in the blue hoodie -- accusing him of touching him. They get in each other's faces, and there's plenty of machismo posturing, before the dude in the hoodie takes charge and puts the antisemite in a headlock!

Further backup arrives with the woman in a backward hat trying to calm things down, saying she's a cop ... and turns out the hoodie guy is too.

As he applied the headlock, he yelled, "Now put your hands down and don't touch anybody" ... before escorting him to the plane's exit.

Floyd Mayweather envió miles de kilos de suministros a Israel en octubre, y ahora la leyenda del boxeo se ha entregado a sí mismo... aterrizando en Tel Aviv y subiéndole el ánimo a soldados, trabajadores de rescate y civiles.

Desde el ataque del 7 de octubre de Hamás, sería difícil encontrar una celebridad más abiertamente pro israelí que Floyd. Sin embargo, él quería hacer más, así que se subió a su jet privado y voló a Israel, donde recientemente aterrizó en Tel Aviv.

Mayweather ha estado por todas partes, incluyendo una parada en una base de las Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel, donde nos informan que organizó una comida para los militares.

Por supuesto, Floyd es uno de los mejores boxeadores de la historia, y ya que la base de las IDF tenía un ring de boxeo, Mayweather hizo de sparring con algunos de los soldados.

Floyd también hizo una parada en la sede de United Hatzalah, un servicio ambulatorio en Jerusalén, además del banco de sangre Magen David Adom.

Mayweather, que está en Israel con sus amigos -Jona Rechnitz y Avi Hiaeve (de Avi & Co.)-, pasó tiempo en el Muro Occidental, un lugar sagrado, donde nos dicen que oró por la paz.

Le obsequiaron una kipá TMT personalizada del rabino Steven Burg, además de un impresionante collar de la Estrella de David, cortesía de los joyeros de Diamond Club Miami.

Por último, pero no menos importante, Mayweather recibió una pintura única en su tipo, la cual le fue entregada por el músico israelí Osher Cohen.

Floyd Mayweather sent thousands of pounds of supplies to Israel in October, and now the boxing legend has delivered himself ... touching down in Tel Aviv, and lifting the spirits of soldiers, rescue workers, and civilians.

Since the October 7 Hamas attack, you'd be hard-pressed to find a celebrity more outwardly supportive of the Israeli cause than the 50-0 fighter ... but Floyd wanted to do more, so he hopped on his private jet and flew to Israel, where he recently touched down in Tel Aviv.

Mayweather has been all over the place, including a stop at an Israel Defense Forces base where we're told he hosted a BBQ for the military!

Of course, Floyd's one of the greatest boxers ever ... and since the IDF base had a boxing ring, Mayweather sparred with some of the IDF. No word if he took his first L.

Floyd also made a stop at the headquarters of United Hatzalah, an ambulatory service, in Jerusalem ... in addition to the Magen David Adom blood bank.

Mayweather, who is in Israel with friends Jona Rechnitz and Avi Hiaeve (of Avi & Co.), spent time at the Western Wall, a holy site ... where we're told he prayed for peace.

Floyd was gifted a custom blinged-out TMT kippah from Rabbi Steven Burg, in addition to an awesome Star of David necklace pendant from the jewelers at Diamond Club Miami.

Last but not least, Mayweather received a one-of-a-kind painting as well ... which was presented to him, from Israeli musician Osher Cohen.