TikTok

America's crackdown on TikTok might just be a way for lawmakers to look good on camera, but that doesn't mean a potential ban of the app nationwide is just for show ... so says Taylor Lorenz.

The Washington Post's top tech reporter joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, giving us her thoughts about the current hearings about the app's ties to China ... as TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew gets grilled by congressmen at Capitol Hill.

She says it seems like a lot of the lawmakers are dragging Chew to get some viral traction, ironically enough ... adding there's a bigger point to be made about social media as a whole, but strangely the blame is just put on TikTok -- pointing to Facebook, for example.

That being said, Taylor is still taking these hearings seriously ... and she tells us why it could all still come crumbling down.

Olivia Culpo's younger sib, Sophia, confirmed her relationship with NFL player Braxton Berrios went kaput ... with the model/influencer firing off a number of TikToks with her sister about living the single life.

Rumors surrounding the end of the couple were circulating for weeks ... after fans noticed the once-inseparable duo suddenly stopped appearing on each other's social media platforms.

In fact, Braxton -- who signed with the Miami Dolphins earlier this month -- elected to take his mother on a Hawaiian vacation last week ... which, no disrespect to moms across the globe, seemed like what someone would do if they didn't wanna waste a getaway trip that was already booked prior to a breakup.

Sophia addressed the speculation head-on with a number of TikToks on Wednesday ... enlisting her sister, Aurora -- who separated from her husband in early 2022 -- to help her make some post-split content for her followers.

In one video, the youngest Culpo refers to Aurora and herself as "the single sisters" ... and in the follow-up, they jokingly use audio that references mental breakdowns as they sip wine and snack while laying in bed.

If you need any more convincing, the proof is in the captions ... with hashtags like #breakuptiktok and #singlelife.

Sophia and Braxton went public with their relationship in early 2021 ... and it's unclear when the split became official, but the last time he appeared on her page was November 2022.

We take it both sides will have no problem finding love again.

Julia Fox says she's embarrassed by her brother's troubling arrest, but she's looking at the silver lining of it all ... hoping it'll force him to get some help.

Julia shared a TikTok video Thursday addressing the police raid -- which turned up ghost guns and drug-making materials -- on her dad Thomas and brother Christopher earlier this month. Julia says Thomas was released the same night and had no criminal involvement whatsoever.

Speaking to her brother's character, she said, “I know my brother and I’ve always known him to be like... the sweetest, most gentle, kind, soft-spoken, loves animals, loves to plant flowers..."

Fox acknowledges both she and Thomas have a lot of trauma -- something she says he has internalized, while she has been able to find an outlet.

Pedro Pascal likes to go ALL out when it comes to his coffee ... and also when it comes to having a little fun with TikTokers who can't believe how much caffeine he's got coursing through his veins.

Photogs caught up with "The Last of Us" star as he was making a coffee run Wednesday in L.A., and, naturally, they had to ask what's in his cup ... considering there's a viral TikTok going around claiming he gets 6 shots of espresso in his iced coffee!!!

ICYMI, a user zoomed in on a video of Pedro leaving Starbucks and broke down all that goes into his venti cup ... and, sure enough, the label says 6 shots.

We're guessing Pedro's seen the clip, because he told photogs his latest order doubles down on that old one -- dude claims he got 12 espresso shots this time!

Now, unless he's planning to stay up for the next day or so, PP had to be making a funny based on the TikTok. No one needs that much caffeine. Right?

TikTok users worried the U.S. government is gearing up to ban the platform might have good reason to feel that way ... according to the U.S. Senator spearheading those efforts.

We got Sen. Mark Warner Thursday as he was leaving FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., and asked what if any advice he had for the millions of influencers making a good living on the app. His answer is, Charli D'Amelio and co. need to be as concerned as politicians are about who's collecting their information.

ICYMI ... Warner and Sen. John Thune introduced a bipartisan bill this week that would give President Biden wide-ranging power to restrict TikTok use, or flat-out ban it, if there's reason to believe China is gathering U.S. citizens' data from TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

The White House has already said it supports the legislation -- which applies to all foreign technologies, not just TikTok -- but Congress has yet to put it to a vote.

Sen. Warner acknowledges there's "a lot of great things happening on TikTok," but says Congress can't be concerned with that ... not if national security hangs in the balance.

IF there's a ban -- as was threatened years ago under the Trump administration -- Warner says TikTok users shouldn't be too concerned, because he's certain a new app would quickly spring up to host the hot new dance challenge.

A Texas meteorologist used Snoop Dogg's lyrics to serve up a TV weather report ... and he won major props from the hip hop legend himself!

Adam Krueger accepted a challenge from one of his fans on TikTok to intertwine the words to Snoop's first solo single, "Who Am I?(What's My Name?)," in his forecast at CW39 in Houston.

Check out the vid -- as he assures viewers it's gonna be a nice day in the Houston area, he drops some bars from the Dogg -- "From the depths of the sea, to the back of the block."

BTW ... major coincidence. Snoop's lyrics are super similar to the first local anchor ever --Jerry Dunphy -- who opened his newscast with ... "From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California, a good evening."

Back to Krueger -- he mixed it up a bit by voicing the title to a different Snoop song -- "Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat" -- which also featured Dr. Dre. "We’re gonna be warm and humid, with highs in the 80s, guess what, 'it’s like that, rat tat tat tat.'"

Snoop apparently watched the video and was so impressed that he reposted the clip on his Instagram page.

Others on social media also gave Krueger props. One person said, "Man I absolutely love this! As stressful as the world may be the weatherman is sneaking SNOOP lyrics into the forecast!!!!"

Bethenny Frankel is suffering ... and the symptoms sound just awful.

Bethenny tearfully revealed her struggle Thursday, knowing her fans would instantly notice her face looked odd. She says it's all related to her struggle with POTS disease -- a blood circulation disorder that is associated with bloating, extreme achiness, weight gain and, worst of all, dehydration.

Bethenny says the dehydration is messing with her life in a profound way ... she cannot retain water, and it has all sorts of consequences for her health. Her doctors say it's all related to POTS.

The 52-year-old says her disease has magnified since COVID, and there's no cure so she's really struggling.

Selena Gomez isn't here for all the Internet jabs being thrown by her fans and Kylie Jenner's ... so, she's getting off social media amid all the heat over Kylie, her and their eyebrows.

Selena hopped on TikTok Live Thursday to let her fans know she's a-okay after rumors of a feud with KJ exploded Wednesday -- frankly, the singer's fans are certain Kylie shaded Selena ... despite the fact, Selena says that's not the case.

She added, "I’m gonna be taking a second from social media cause this is a little silly and I’m 30. I’m too old for this."

ICYMI, all the drama started after Selena posted a vid saying she accidentally laminated her brows too much. Then, a few hours later Kylie posted a FaceTime screenshot of Hailey Bieber and herself, focusing on their eyebrows -- and also a selfie with the text, "this was an accident?????" over her own eyebrows.

While SG supporters perceived it as a direct attack ... both Kylie and Selena denied their posts were related. KJ even called it a "reach" from fans.

Still, including Hailey in the alleged eyebrow beef was bound to piss off Selena stans.

HB and Justin Bieber's ex just met up last year for a photo op, attempting to assure their followers there's no animosity between them. If they bought it before, they're definitely not anymore ... not after Kylie's alleged eyebrow shading.

As for why this ridiculous subject (we're talking eyebrows, people) is getting so much attention -- Kylie and Selena both have armies of fans, they're top dogs on IG after all.

As of yesterday, Kylie was number 2 with 380 million followers ... and Selena had just regained the crown with 381 mil.

Kim Kardashian and Mariah Carey are gonna have some competition when it comes to owning the spotlight ... as their daughters proved with this family production for TikTok.

Kim posted the vid Monday, featuring her daughter and their 2 big surprise guests. It started out with North and Mariah's 11-year-old daughter, Monroe, showing off their dance moves to MC's trending 2009 song, "It's A Wrap".

The 2 girls do their dance routine until they're joined by their superstar moms lip-synching the track into hairbrushes. Not surprisingly, the daughters end up pushing Mariah and Kim out of frame.

Fans ate up the video -- many of them were shocked MC and KK were hanging out together at Kim's Hidden Hills home. Anything for the kids, right?

And, it wasn't the only TikTok content from the dynamic duo of Monroe and North. Monday night was giving sleepover vibes, as they also hopped on the viral trend of folks recreating Rihanna's Super Bowl performance.

Snoop Dogg's lockout of Death Row Records' catalog on streaming services is finally over -- Tha Doggfather's linked with TikTok's new music arm, SoundOn.

The exclusive welcome party will extend throughout the week on TikTok ... before the legendary rap tunes return to traditional digital streaming platforms.

Snoop removed the Death Row catalog from streaming in March 2022 ... and at the time, outlined a plan to have the music live on in its own metaverse within a full-functioning app.

Those plans appeared to have since fizzled. Dr. Dre recently threw a party to celebrate his own debut album, "The Chronic," returning to streaming and its original label home of Interscope.

To compensate for the lulls, Snoop and TikTok went halfsies on a custom Death Row playlist ... because not a day goes by without someone asking him to restore the catalog online.

"As the Super Bowl rolled around, I knew fans would be looking for the music from our iconic performance in 2022, so I wanted to reintroduce the most historic catalog to the people. I reached out to the folks at TikTok to make more history ... enjoy ya'll."

Patrick Mahomes was being Patrick Mahomes after the Super Bowl win -- and his brother, Jackson, was being ... Jackson.

There's a clip of the Chiefs QB doing a post-game interview Sunday with the NFL Network, and as he was sitting down and answering questions seriously with an anchor on-camera -- Jackson popped up right behind him and busted a move ... or two, more like.

It looks like Jackson didn't realize he was interrupting a live shot, because someone off-camera appears to have told him to scram ... which he then did, seeming apologetic and genuinely surprised. Pat, meanwhile, didn't bat an eyelash.

Jackson is a social media star in his own right -- thanks, in part, to being Pat's little bro -- and this is his style ... namely, stealing the spotlight. He's often popping up on video doing wacky stuff ... including crap he probably shouldn't be doing, especially at games.

The roped-off area comes to mind -- as does that epic water pour during last season ... among JM highlights from his young career.

Rachel Recchia is NOT back with Clayton Echard ... despite the 'Bachelor' stars suggesting their romance was alive and well in a recent video.

We got Rachel in Bev Hills where our photog asked if she was back together with Clayton, this after they seemed very cozy -- he had his arm around Rachel in "Bachelorette" Michelle Young's TikTok post.

While Rachel made it seem like things between Clayton and her were super complicated in the social media clip, the real story is different -- she tells us they're just friends.

As 'Bachelor' fans know, Clayton broke Rachel's heart in season 26 ... with Clayton confessing he slept with her and Gabby Windey before leaving both behind in favor of Susie Evans.

Rachel says it's taken a lot of time and a lot of healing to get over such a public diss.

"My message to Jake Paul is good luck and I hope you've trained and I hope you got an ambulance on speed dial because you're gonna need it."

That's Tommy Fury with a very ominous warning for The Problem Child ... just 3 weeks before their highly anticipated February 26th boxing match in Saudi Arabia.

Of course, the men have been scheduled to fight two other times (more on that later) ... and the bad blood is so real, 23-year-old Fury says he's never wanted anything as badly as he wants a win over 26-year-old Paul.

"This is all that's been in my mind for the past two and a half, three years because I'm a professional, legitimate fighter, and my name has been lingering with Jake Paul for quite some time now and Jake Paul is not on my level," Tommy told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).

"Jake Paul is not even considered a legitimate fighter and to have my name dragged through the mud with his, I want to prove a point."

Fury continued ... "In three weeks, I get my chance. I don't wanna take it both hands, I wanna school this man. I'm gonna take him to the trenches and he will be drowned. There's no way he can last eight rounds in the ring with me."

Tommy says he's going to put Jake down, and he's going to do it early.

"I see me putting him away early, the way I'm punching in the gym, what I'm doing to people in the gym," Fury said, adding, "There's no way. When the shots land, he will be going down. He will not get up."

Babcock asked Tommy what he'd say to all the people who believe he will find a way out of the fight with Jake.

"I say to those people they need to wake up. Don't worry. I'll be in Saudi Arabia ready for February 26th. I'm ready to go now. I can't wait to get on this plane and get over there."

"I'm gonna hurt this man seriously come February 26th and if he banking on me for not showing, well if that's where he getting his confidence from, then he needs to think again 'cause I'll be there and I'll be right in his face come fight night."

We also talked to former UFC star turned BKFC boxer, "Platinum" Mike Perry ... who Paul has tapped as the replacement fighter, should Tommy fail to make it to fight night.

Tommy Lee's wife apparently doesn't think Pamela Anderson gives a damn about her, despite what Pam's said publicly, suggesting Pam doesn't care if she's dead or alive.

Brittany Furlan posted and quickly deleted a TikTok mocking Pam -- seemingly making the decision to take the post down after being dragged in the comments.

In the video, Brittany uses a "90s Pam Makeup" filter and sets a scenario where Pam just found out Brittany died and couldn't care less. Brittany, imitating Pam, says ... "She passed away? Oh, hmmm, alright."

The clip features superimposed text, reading ... "Pam if i died" ... and Brittany captioned the post, "Pls guys I gotta make jokes it's how I cope." Brittany, who married Tommy in 2019, pans the camera to Tommy at the end of the video.

Brittany's apparent disdain for Pam, who has two kids with Tommy from their 1990s marriage, appears one-sided ... Pam recently told Howard Stern she totally supports Brittany and Tommy's marriage.

Pam's clearly top of mind for Brittany ... Pam's been dominating headlines recently and just had a Netflix documentary released, plus a memoir, and Brittany posted a TikTok telling folks not to worry about her following the Netflix doc.

But, based on her since-deleted video, Brittany's not coping as well as she claims.

A 19-year-old has been arrested and booked in Iowa for what cops say was a phony charity scam that raked in tens of thousands ... all from people who believed she had cancer.

The Eldridge Police Department rang up Madison Russo on a first-degree theft charge this week, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison if convicted. She was arrested on Jan. 23, but has since bonded out ... and is due back in court on March 2.

Cops allege Russo lied about 3 different diagnoses that she'd publicly been touting for at least a year ... including leukemia, pancreatic cancer and a tumor "the size of a football."

Throughout much of 2022, Russo went viral on TikTok while documenting her health journey -- which the authorities are now saying was completely made-up ... and which entered criminal territory after she raised upwards of $37k on GoFundMe from 439 donors.

On social media, she was often seen adorned in hospital-like paraphernalia ... IV bags, tubes that ran through her nose and medical tape/gauze -- suggesting she was undergoing treatment. All of that, however, was phony and just an act -- so alleges Eldridge PD.

Court docs reportedly lay out what police say they found at Russo's apartment ... in addition to some of the medical supplies listed above, they allege they discovered a wig, pills for nausea in a relative's name and more. In other words, they're claiming these were all props.

In addition, Eldridge PD says they subpoenaed Russo's medical records ... and allege she'd never been diagnosed with cancer at any nearby hospitals. The cops say she got on their radar after people wrote in saying some of what they saw on social media seemed fishy.

Jason Derulo is facing a new challenge ahead of his big Super Bowl performance -- no, not a TikTok challenge ... he recently suffered a nasty injury and now he's walking on a cane.

A Source familiar tells TMZ ... the "Wiggle" singer was injured playing basketball 3 weeks ago. Apparently, he was going up for a rebound and wound up landing on someone's foot ... he now has a small break in his foot and a torn ligament to boot.

He was lucky enough to avoid surgery, but he did have stem cells injected, which help speed up recovery time.

As of now ... Jason's going to physical therapy daily and is getting around with the help of a cane.

Of course, this couldn't be worse timing for Jason. ICYMI, he and The Black Keys were announced as this year's headliners of the NFL TikTok Tailgate ... which is supposed to go down prior to the big game.

Our sources say, although he may not be fully recovered for the performance, he will power through it, come hell or high water.