TV

Johnny Wactor's mom is devastated over the potential 5-year sentence one of the suspects in her son's murder case is facing ... telling TMZ she believes he's got zero remorse for his alleged role in the crime.

Scarlett Wactor tells TMZ she fears Leonel Gutierrez, 18 -- who pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and grand theft charges in connection with the case -- was merely charged with whatever was available for his alleged participation. But, she thinks that's not good enough.

Scarlett believes he'll probably only end up serving 1-2 years due to prison overcrowding ... and then will walk free to live a full life -- something Johnny will never get the chance to do.

Julie Chen is taking a brief step back from "Big Brother" ... announcing she'll be skipping the upcoming house eviction for health reasons.

The TV personality took to Instagram Thursday, where she confirmed she'll be missing out on filming the new live episode of "Big Brother" ... as she's been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Per the announcement, Chen first began feeling under the weather on Friday last week and decided to visit her good friend, who happens to be a doctor. The "Big Brother" host shared this is the second time she's been diagnosed with the disease, but noted her symptoms were "very mild" ... just a sore throat this time around.

Jack Antonoff is getting slammed as "disrespectful" after he put in earplugs during Katy Perry’s performance at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards … 7 years after his infamous banana drama.

Here’s what went down … Katy took to the stage at the UBS Arena in New York Wednesday evening, where she performed a medley of her greatest hits before accepting the show’s coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

While the consensus online was that KP killed it in her VMAs performance, one person seemed less than impressed with her act … as the music producer was caught on the audience camera slipping some noise-canceling plugs into his ears.

The 2024 Video Music Awards were full of shocking moments and good vibes ... and, the celebs in attendance kept those good times rolling after the show ended -- congregating for a star-studded after-party.

Taylor Swift led the bold-faced names into the New York City party with her third outfit change of the night ... opting for a mini skirt paired with a corset and jacket, similar to the UFO-themed dress she wore earlier.

Sabrina Carpenter -- winner of the Song of the Year VMA, her first -- channeled her inner Dolly Parton ... white mesh dress and platform heels, matching her fierce white nails.

Halsey's engaged! The singer just revealed she and Avan Jogia are officially taking their relationship to the next level.

The singer wasn't all OTT with the announcement -- when a pop news outlet shared an X post about her hoping to marry Avan, she simply corrected them with a straightforward update ... "***fiancé Avan Jogia."

Halsey didn’t spill the beans on who proposed to who, or when, but her quickness with the online correction indicates the upgrade went down recently.

One of 4 suspects charged in the Johnny Wactor murder case has pled guilty to attempted robbery and grand theft charges.

Leonel Gutierrez, 18, is free on bond while he awaits sentencing in November ... and faces up to 5 years in prison.

The "General Hospital" actor was shot and killed back in May after leaving his job as a bartender in downtown L.A. Prosecutors say he was shot by one of the suspects, Robert Barceleau, in the chest after confronting a group of men allegedly trying to steal the catalytic converter from his car.

A quartet of former NFL players were forced to pause a heated debate while they were live on television on Thursday morning ... after a terrifying earthquake rocked their set.

It all happened just minutes ago on FS1's "The Facility" -- when Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy, James Jones and Chase Daniel were passionately discussing Baker Mayfield.

Jones was trying to compare the Bucs star's career arc with Derek Carr's ... when, suddenly, the cameras that were filming the guys began shaking.

Jordan Chiles' Wednesday got a whole lot better thanks to Flavor Flav ... 'cause hours after she was in tears over her lost Olympic medal -- the rapper gifted her a custom bronze clock that cheered her up right away.

Flav waited for the perfect moment to dole out the present to the Team USA gymnastics star -- at the VMAs in New York City, while the two were on stage presenting an award.

Flavor Flav turned to Chiles mid-speech and told her, "I know they tried to take your medal away. But you know what? I got you something that they can't take away from you."

The MTV Video Music Awards shook things up this year with a venue change, a ton of A-list celebrities and some extra wild moments ... including Sabrina Carpenter lip-locking with a female space alien at the UBS Arena in Elmont, NY.

Chappell Roan caused a stir on the red carpet, putting a photog on blast ... then literally set the stage on fire with a passionate performance of her hit, "Good Luck Babe."

Eminem had millennials feeling nostalgic ... his performance of "Houdini" saw him surrounded by look-alikes, a throwback to the VMAs 24 years ago. He also performed his collab "Somebody Save Me" with Jelly Roll guest-appearing on the big screen.

Sabrina Carpenter, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello lit up the VMAs with their performances ... serving up a juicy love triangle playlist that had everyone reading between the lines.

Sabrina was in her zone Wednesday night, belting out "Taste" right in front of Shawn -- awkward, as the song’s rumored to be all about him ditching her for Camila after their short-lived fling.

Shawn then followed with a performance of "Nobody Knows," with lyrics like “flying too close to the sun” -- an apparent nod to Camila’s IG bio, which reads, “long, thick black hair turned white from flying too close to the sun.”

Taylor Swift took home a big win at the MTV Video Music Awards Wednesday night – but the biggest winner was her BF Travis Kelce who wasn't even in the room!

The pop megastar snagged the VMA for Video of the Year for her tune, "Fortnight," and was handed her trophy by none other than the show's host Megan Thee Stallion.

Taylor stepped up to the mic onstage to give a speech thanking the people who helped her create the music video.

Taylor Swift is doing it all at the 2024 MTV VMAs ... looking stunning and winning awards.

The singer turned heads upon her highly-anticipated arrival Wednesday night at the UBS Arena just outside New York City ... and she didn't waste time adding to her mantle.

Taylor's already won the VMA for song of the summer before even getting to the venue ... and once she was there, she got the hardware for best collaboration for "Fortnight" featuring Post Malone.

American stand-up comedian and actress Anjelah Johnson was in her mid-20s when she first played Bon Qui Qui -- the obnoxiously rude fast food employee turned music star on MADtv -- back in 2007.

Although the 2007-2008 writer's strike prevented Anjelah from landing many lines on MADtv, the popularity that came from her Bon Qui Qui character received rave reviews and has accrued millions of views on YouTube.

Prior to her going viral, she was a cheerleader for the Oakland Raiders. She was named Rookie of the Year and performed at Super Bowl XXXVII against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Britney Spears is getting some serious love at the 2024 MTV VMAs ... with Megan Thee Stallion and Tate McRae paying homage to a couple of Britney's iconic award moments.

MTS enlisted an albino python to recreate Britney's "Slave 4 U" moment from the 2001 VMAs ... and she did her best to copy Britney's outfit too.

Megan wasn't as comfortable around the snake as Britney, though ... and she quickly called for help shedding the python from her body, and ran away.

The MTV Video Music Awards are off to a rousing start with Chappell Roan and a photographer getting into an angry exchange ... featuring plenty of F bombs!

The singer, who's already put overzealous fans on notice, took verbal aim at the photog as she and other celebs entered the UBS Arena just outside NYC.

Chappell was getting ready to pose for pics when you hear someone in the crowd yelling, "Shut the f*** up," and something about Chappell turning around.

David Banner says he gave hip hop culture his all, and is now ready to tackle the same commitment toward his acting career ... fans should get to know the veteran "Like a Pimp" rapper by his gov't name, Lavell Crump, because he's got Hollywood all over his vision board!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Banner on Wednesday ahead of what he's labeling his marquee performance on the Will Packer-helmed "Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist" ... a star-studded affair featuring Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle and many more!!!

Banner stars as Missouri Slim, and he wants fans, fellow rappers and aspiring thespians to know he spent years honing his craft -- even back in the early days he was getting crunked up with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Lil Jon!!!