Social Media

A man in North Carolina paid the ultimate price after trying to stop a carjacking ... with the driver running him over and killing him in a now-viral video.

The video -- which hit social media just this weekend though the incident took place last month -- sees a Lumberton, NC man in a reflective construction vest come up to the side of a tow truck and point what looks to be a gun at another man.

Gunshots pop off ... and, though it's hard to tell, it seems the two men are exchanging gunfire because the man outside the truck doesn't stand still and fire.

The 76ers just unveiled their new Allen Iverson statue ... and its stature has fans all across the NBA world scratching their heads -- wondering why the hell it's so small!!

Take a look at The Answer's new bust -- which Philadelphia officials just placed outside the Sixers' practice facility on Friday -- it's about the size of the Heisman Trophy!

In total, including its base, it appears to be less than six feet tall ... as AI -- who stands at 6'0 -- was quite literally at eye-level with it.

People who loved the Hall of Famer's game quickly took to social media to clown it ... with famed internet personality Jomboy writing, "Sixers promised Allen Iverson a statue and gave him a toy soldier."

Added basketball reporter Jeff Goodman, "Where’s the rest of the statue???"

Iverson, though, didn't seem to have much of an issue with it ... when he spoke with reporters about the figurine, he called it a whale of honor.

And, to be fair, most of the statues that currently reside outside of the team’s Camden practice facility aren't all that big … for instance, Charles Barkley's is only a few inches taller than him.

But still, the internet wasn't pleased nonetheless.

It, of course, has been a rough year for NBA statue-makers ... as back in February, the Lakers revealed a sculpture honoring Kobe Bryant that was riddled with spelling errors.

Ryan Garcia might be causing a ruckus on the internet, but there's one guy who's sticking by his side no matter what -- 'cause Canelo Alvarez tells TMZ Sports he's got the young superstar's back amid his bizarre social media antics.

"You know, he's a good kid and we don't need to judge him," Canelo told TMZ Sports. "He's a good kid and this is the moment when you need to support your friends and, I know, we have a lot of issues before but ... I don't care."

Of course, Ryan has been making a ton of noise leading up to his April 20 fight against Devin Haney ... spewing wild conspiracies and promising free BBLs -- among other wild proclamations.

Ryan Garcia's bizarre social media activity continues ... this time, the boxing superstar claims he's handing out plastic surgery procedures like candy -- including boob jobs and Brazilian butt lifts.

King Ryan made the odd proclamation on his X account Monday morning ... saying he wants to show his support for women by helping them fulfill their cosmetic desires.

"I'm giving out free BBL's and Boob jobs hit me up," Garcia said. "No weird stuff just out here supporting."

Garcia insisted the gesture is not to throw shade at anyone ... adding, "No disrespect either I respect all woman. I love and support all woman in the world."

The 25-year-old explained his decision to help out ... saying he's been getting blown up with requests in the DMs and wanted to go "full support mode."

Garcia ended his post with another weird statement -- "RG FOR PRESIDENT" -- although the guy has a bit of aging to do before he can actually set his sights on the Oval Office.

As we previously reported, Garcia swore off any non-sports social media content prior to his April 20 fight against Devin Haney ... but that promise was short-lived.

A controversial royal family biographer is in some hot water for a tweet he posted minutes before Kate Middleton announced her cancer diagnosis.

Omid Scobie -- who wrote a controversial book on the royal family last year -- shared a tweet of him setting an alarm for 6 PM on Friday ... the time in England when Kate Middleton shocked the world by revealing she has cancer.

And, right after the Princess of Wales revealed the info, two things happened -- Scobie took the tweet down, and social media raked him over the coals.

Comments calling the tweet tasteless and attacking Omid's character ran rampant across X ... and the journalist ultimately had to address the online controversy after several media outlets picked up the news.

In another tweet posted Friday, Scobie explains he didn't know what the announcement was about, and only wanted to alert his followers to the news -- deleting his post shortly after watching Middleton's video.

Scobie expresses his frustration with the outlets who reported the story, saying they ran with the post as if it were a sick "countdown" to the news ... which he says was never his intention.

It's not totally shocking some people may think Omid was making light of the news ... 'cause he's quite the controversial figure in the royal realm. Remember, Scobie wrote the book "Endgame" which made some serious claims about the royal family.

Among them, two senior royals were alleged to have made racist comments about Meghan and Harry's children. Though they were supposed to go unnamed, a Dutch translation of the book listed them ... as King Charles and Princess Kate.

Scobie's said the two were erroneously identified ... but, the book left a sour taste in many people's mouths -- and it appears Scobie's no longer getting the benefit of the doubt, especially when it comes to the Princess of Wales.

La publicista de Beyoncé no está de acuerdo con Erykah Badu y le responde con pruebas que demuestran que la diva siempre ha llevado las trenzas que Erykah afirma que le han robado.

La publicista de Bey -Yvette Noel-Schure- entró al chat para responderle a Badu, y no perdió el tiempo publicando un álbum de recortes de Bey luciendo el peinado de trenzas a lo largo de su carrera, algunas fotos incluso parecen estar fechadas en su infancia.

Yvette subtitula el post diciendo: "She slays. She slays. Now. Then. Always. act ii COWBOY CARTER 3.29 #criticswithoutcredentials".

Así que, sí, es un ataque directo a Erykah.

Como informamos, la cantante de "Mama's Gun" tiene la impresión de que Beyoncé le está robando su estilo. El año pasado, la selección de sombreros de Bey durante su gira "Renaissance" hizo que Erykah se pusiera roja, ya que ella también ha mostrado ese estilo durante años en sus propios conciertos.

Beyoncé's ride-or-die isn't here for Erykah Badu's copycat shade -- she's firing back with receipts proving Miss "Cowboy Carter" has always rocked the braids Erykah claims she jacked from her.

Bey's longtime publicist Yvette Noel-Schure entered the chat to respond to EB, and wasted no time posting a full-blown scrapbook of Bey wearing the braided hairstyle throughout her career ... some snaps even appear to be dated in her childhood!!!

Yvette captioned the post with ... “She slays. She slays. Now. Then. Always. act ii COWBOY CARTER 3.29 #criticswithoutcredentials.”

So, yeah ... totally a direct shot at Erykah.

As we reported, the "Mama's Gun" singer is under the impression Beyoncé is leeching off her style flair -- last year, Bey's hat selection during her "Renaissance" tour made EB see red as she's also donned the oversized derby for years in her own concerts.

Beyoncé saddled up and unveiled her alternate "Cowboy Carter" album cover art Wednesday, and Erykah Badu's all fired up about it ... thinking it's a full imitation of her, and, no, she's not flattered!

She's accusing Bey of copying her signature beaded bob hairdo without so much as a thank you, prompting Erykah to repost the image with a mockingly curious "Hmmm" caption.

Fans, especially Beyoncé's, immediately took note of EB's allegation of a style jacking.

In fact, the Beyhive is so riled up, Erykah switched from IG to X, where she urged Jay-Z to come to her rescue, posting ... "Say somethin Jay. You gone let this woman and these bees do this to me??"

Tough position for her to put Hov in -- after all, that's his wife Erykah's insulting!!!

It's interesting for Erykah to single out on the hairstyle, because Beyoncé's alternate "Cowboy Carter" album cover art (for vinyl LPs) has a lot happening -- the singer poses in the buff, only covered in a sash with "Act II" and "Beyince," her cousin Angie's last name, stamped across the front.

Yet, Erykah's laser-focused on that hair.

Remember, Erykah also targeted Bey last year over hats she wore during her "Renaissance" tour, which she also thought ripped off her style.

Kristin Cavallari y su novio Mark Estes claramente van en serio, porque no solo le ha presentado a sus hijos, además están en una relación.

La madre de tres compartió una foto por Instagram el domingo, con su nuevo novio de 24 años de edad compartiendo con uno de sus hijos. Parecen inmersos en la conversación mientras que Mama Cavallari los sigue unos pasos atrás.

Kristin no añadió comentarios en la foto, pero puso un emoji de corazón blanco, lo que quiere decir que claramente está muy feliz al respecto.

Por cierto, no está claro cuál de los hijos de Kristin es el del video, pero puedes imaginar que les presentó a Mark al mismo tiempo. Podemos deducir que se los presentó hace un buen rato porque se ven muy cómodos. Kristin comparte tres hijos con su ex, Jay Cutler.

Parece que las cosas avanzan rápidamente entre Kristin y Mark. Recuerde que Cavallari solo reveló que estaban saliendo a finales de febrero, por lo que las cosas han progresado bastante rápido entre los dos.

Al parecer el destino quería que la pareja se conociera. Kristin reveló recientemente en su pódcast "Let's Be Honest", que vio por primera vez a Mark en TikTok con su equipo The Montana Boyz.

Semanas después de ver al bombón, Kristin recibió un mensaje de uno de los chicos. Invitó al grupo a su pódcast, congenió con Estes y empezaron a verse. Un cuento de hadas del siglo XXI.

Kristin Cavallari and her boyfriend Mark Estes are clearly pretty serious ... 'cause not only has she introduced him to her kids -- but it seems they've got a rapport!

The mother-of-three shared a picture to Instagram Sunday featuring her new 24-year-old beau with one of her kids ... and they seem deep in conversation while Mama Cavallari is able to hang back a few steps.

KC didn't add anything in the way of words to the pic ... but she did drop a white heart emoji on the photo -- so clearly she's pretty happy with the chummy bonding going on.

BTW ... unclear which of Kristin's sons this is -- but, ya gotta imagine she introduced Mark to them at or around the same time, and it was long enough ago that one of her kids can seemingly hold a convo with him comfortably. Kristin shares three children with her ex, Jay Cutler.

It seems like things are movin' along quickly between KC and ME ... remember, Cavallari only revealed they were dating at the end of February -- so things have seemingly progressed quickly between the two.

It makes sense when you consider it seems almost like fate was pushing these two together ... Kristin recently revealed on her 'Let's Be Honest' podcast that she first spotted Mark on TikTok with his crew The Montana Boyz.

Weeks after spotting the hottie, Kristin got a DM from one of the guys. She invited the group on her podcast, hit it off with Estes and they started seeing each other. Talk about a 21st century fairytale!

El destino de TikTok pende de un hilo en Estados Unidos, con la Cámara aprobando la idea de prohibir la popular aplicación de redes sociales a menos que su matriz con sede en Beijing, ByteDance, venda su participación.

La votación tuvo lugar el miércoles y fue aplastante: 352 votos a favor y 65 en contra en un raro momento de acuerdo bipartidista, con 197 republicanos y 155 demócratas dando luz verde a esta moción y citando que la propiedad de la aplicación sea de China corresponde una importante amenaza para la seguridad nacional.

La Cámara no perdió el tiempo con la legislación, bautizada como Ley para Proteger a los Estadounidenses de las Aplicaciones Controladas por Adversarios Extranjeros, pero el futuro de TikTok aún pende de un hilo, ya que todavía tiene que pasar por el Senado y luego llegar a Joe Biden.

El proyecto de ley actual da a ByteDance un ultimátum estricto: o vende TikTok y sus otras aplicaciones en un plazo de seis meses o se enfrenta a la expulsión de las tiendas de apps online de Estados Unidos y otros servicios de alojamiento web.

Los legisladores llevan mucho tiempo temiendo que el gobierno chino obligue a ByteDance a entregar los datos de sus 170 millones de usuarios estadounidenses, a pesar de que TikTok ha negado vehementemente que esté espiando a ciudadanos del país.

El representante Dan Crenshaw no se anduvo con rodeos antes de la votación y dijo: "TikTok es propiedad de ByteDance. ByteDance está en China y cuando estás en China, tienes que hacer lo que te diga el Partido Comunista Chino".

Y añadió: "Si quieren que espíes para ellos, espiarás para ellos; así es como funciona".

Sin embargo, Liu Pengyu, portavoz de la embajada china en Washington, acusa a Estados Unidos de llevar a cabo una campaña de desprestigio para acabar con la empresa con sede en China, añadiendo en un comunicado que Estados Unidos "no ha sido capaz de dar pruebas contundentes para demostrar las supuestas amenazas de TikTok a la seguridad nacional de Estados Unidos".

TikTok's dancing on thin ice in the U.S. ... with the House voting to ban the popular social media app -- unless its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance sells its stake, that is.

A vote went down Wednesday and it was a landslide -- 352 to 65 -- in favor of the ban ... a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, with 197 Republicans and 155 Democrats giving it the green light, citing the app's Chinese ownership as a major national security threat.

The House didn't waste any time with the legislation -- dubbed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act -- but TikTok's future still hangs in the balance ... as it still has to make its way through the Senate, and then over to Joe Biden.

This current bill gives ByteDance a strict ultimatum -- either sell off TikTok and its other apps within six months or face the chop from U.S. app stores and other web-hosting services.

Lawmakers have long been sweating bullets over fears the Chinese government could force ByteDance into handing over the data of its whopping 170M American users -- even though TikTok has vehemently denied it's snooping on U.S. citizens.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw didn't pull any punches before the vote, saying ... "TikTok is owned by ByteDance. ByteDance is in China and when you're in China, you have to do whatever the Chinese Communist Party tells you what to do."

He added, "If they want you to spy for them, you will spy for them; that's how that works."

However, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, is accusing the U.S. of running a smear campaign to bring down the China-based company -- adding in a statement the U.S "has not been able to give hard evidence to prove the so-called threats from TikTok to U.S. national security."

FWIW, Biden's promising to put pen to paper on the bill if it lands on his desk. Nonetheless, it's gonna be a nail-biter to see if this bill actually sticks, especially since TikTok's survived previous ban attempts. We're sure the influencers are shaking in their boots!

On this episode of The TMZ podcast ...

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate are facing more legal troubles after they were detained in Romania on new sexual offenses after four women claim they were physically and sexually abused.

Kate Middleton was spotted in the back of a car with Prince William while he was out and about for a Commonwealth service amid her Mother's Day photoshop scandal.

Cardi B shocked the crowd at Madonna's concert Monday night with a surprise appearance, and the two got raunchy onstage.

Plus, Jamaican musician and rapper Shaggy stunned fans when he revealed his real voice in a new interview.

El ex campeón de boxeo Andre Ward le dice a TMZ Sports que tiene una solución simple para los aparentes problemas de Ryan García: mantenerse alejado de las redes sociales y empezar a tomarse más en serio su próxima pelea con Devin Haney.

García tiene a un montón de fans preocupados, y también a Ward, por su salud mental después de publicar cosas extrañas en sus cuentas de X e Instagram durante el mes pasado.

Algunos de los mensajes incluían promesas de exponer numerosos secretos de la sociedad así como un video diciendo que algo malo le había pasado.

Ward nos dijo en Nueva York esta semana que se ha dado cuenta de todo, y está preocupado, pero cree que el boxeador de 25 años puede volver a la pista si simplemente deja de estar tan pendiente de su teléfono.

"Creo que lo primero que tiene que hacer es dejar las redes sociales", dijo Ward. "Creo que alguien a su alrededor tiene que decirle: 'Tenemos que lidiar con esto, pero no lo vamos a hacer públicamente'".

"Ya es bastante estar lidiando con ello y luchando tal y como es", continuó, "pero luego vas a dejar que todo el mundo se entere. No siempre es lo más sensato".

Al parecer, las cosas se han vuelto tan preocupantes que algunos de sus mayores partidarios lo han instado a que renuncie a su pelea del 20 de abril con Haney, pero Ward cree que se las arreglará si su entrenamiento va en sintonía.

"No es tiempo para el autocuidado, no es tiempo para el asesoramiento, es tiempo de prepararse para la guerra", dijo el hombre de 40 años.

"Estoy rezando por él y no le deseo nada más que lo mejor".

Former boxing champ Andre Ward tells TMZ Sports he's got a simple solution for Ryan Garcia's apparent woes ... stay off social media -- and start taking his upcoming fight with Devin Haney more seriously.

Garcia has a bunch of his fans -- and Ward, too -- concerned about his mental health ... after he spent a few days this past month posting some bizarre things on his X and Instagram pages.

Some of the posts included vows to expose numerous secrets about society ... as well as a video claiming something bad had happened to him.

Ward told us out in NYC this week he's noticed it all, and he's worried -- but he thinks the 25-year-old can get back on track if he simply stops hitting the send button online.

"I think the first thing is, he's got to get off social media," Ward said. "I think somebody around him gotta tell him, 'We gotta deal with this, but we not going to deal with it in the public side.'"

"It's enough to be dealing with it and struggling with it as is," he continued, "but then you gon' let the whole world in on your struggle. It's not always a wise thing to do."

Things have seemed to turn so troubling with Garcia that some of his biggest supporters have urged him to opt out of his April 20 bout with Haney ... but Ward believes he'll manage -- if his training camp goes accordingly.

"That ain't time for self-care, that's not time for counseling, that's time to get ready for war," the 40-year-old said.

"I'm praying for him and I wish him nothing but the best."

DJ Paul is picking today's social media rap era as the toughest all-time to navigate but for argumentive purposes, he agrees with Nelly that the '00s were harder than the '90s!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Three 6 Mafia star on Friday amid his jampacked week touring in Arizona and a quick ponder determined Nelly was on the money picking the '00s ... it wasn't much of a debate!!!

Nelly had social media in a frenzy all week after appearing on HBO's "The Shop." The Diamond-selling rapper argued for his own era ... he hit the 10-milly sales mark duking it out with Jay-Z, Eminem, 50 Cent and Ludacris ... the era was sprouting future hip hop legends like weeds.

Paul's the perfect guy to ask for the question ... he and Three 6 Mafia were an instant regional success in Memphis after debuting in the mid-90s, earning platinum plaques in both decades and even Oscar gold in 2006!!!

Despite the group's success, Paul also remembers having to take a backseat to Eminem on the charts after their '00s crossover but doesn't remember having to claw for attention in the '90s ... Master P and No Limit, Juvenile and Cash Money felt like their only Southern competition at the time.

It's the present day, Paul claims is kicking everyone's ass because of social media trolls!!!

He's still taking his rap career seriously... he and longtime collaborator RiFF RAFF released a new "Talky Talky" single just today and he plans on releasing joint albums with both Krayzie Bone and Young Buck.