TV

Maitland Ward says the now-infamous "Freak Off" parties the feds claim Diddy was orchestrating sound way more intense than group sex romps on porn sets.

The former "Boy Meets World" star, who now makes her living shooting X-rated content, tells TMZ ... she's never heard of anyone needing IV fluids while filming an orgy for an adult movie -- and those can go for half a day!

Maitland's referencing Diddy's federal indictment, in which prosecutors say Diddy's victims typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use from the Freak Offs.

Jamie Lynn Spears is going from the small screen to the big diamond -- at least for one day -- 'cause the actress is gearing up to compete in a charity softball game on Saturday.

Britney's little sister is slated to field ground balls and take hacks at the plate at the University of Louisiana Monroe ... in an effort to help the school's softball team raise funds.

It'll all go down at 6:30 PM -- and general admission tickets start at $40 ... but for an extra $20, university officials say you can get an autograph from her following the game.

David Letterman is proud to do his civic duty ... saying he's "excited" about it as he made his way to court after being summoned for jury duty in New York.

We caught up with the late-night legend just as he walked into the courthouse, where he called jury duty "a great process to be a part of" ... clearly taking the summons in stride, where most people would be complaining.

However, Letterman stayed tight-lipped about whether he had already been selected as a juror ... noting he'd have to continue reporting "until Labor Day."

Ellen DeGeneres isn't letting her excommunication from Hollywood get her down ... she's taking shots at her situation in a cheeky new stand-up special.

The first trailer for the Netflix special dropped Wednesday, where she addressed the elephant in the room ... her fall from grace as the "Be Kind" lady.

As Ellen put it in the sneak peek ... her show's catchphrase "Be Kind to One Another" should have been "Go F*** Yourselves" -- that way people would've been surprised to find out she "was nice."

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are no longer together, but they're both making an active effort to spend quality time with their kids ... proving family is the most important priority.

The SKIMS mogul put on her mom hat Tuesday, sharing on social media a back-to-school photo of herself with all 4 of her kids -- North, 11; Saint, 8; Chicago, 6; and Psalm, 5.

Kim offered up a sweet smooch while she snapped a selfie with her kiddos ... some of whom looked more excited for school than others. Little Psalm sported his famous dad's signature scowl posing alongside his older siblings.

Hayden Panettiere is speaking out for the first time about her brother Jansen’s death last year, saying she felt like it was her job to protect her only sibling ... and losing him was like losing half her soul.

The actress also shared her body reacted so strongly to Jansen’s death from an undiagnosed heart condition at 28, she gained a bunch of weight within days ... due to stress and cortisol surges coursing through her body.

Hayden told PEOPLE her changing appearance hit her self-esteem hard, making her feel insecure about leaving the house. She felt trapped in a "destructive hamster wheel" of needing to keep moving while battling those feelings.

4:28 PM PT -- A spokesperson for J.D. Vance tells TMZ ... "The media is making a story up out of thin air. Senator Vance was referring to the fact that he prefers fried chicken, and his wife prefers curry chicken. Fried chicken was a staple in the Vance household when JD was a kid, as he wrote in Hillbilly Elegy."

J.D. Vance is catching heat for taking Laura Loomer's racist Kamala Harris diss to the next level ... adding fried chicken to the mix, along with a side of curry.

In a recent interview on NBC News' "Meet The Press," Vance tells Kristen Welker ... "Whether you're eating curry at your dinner table or fried chicken, things have gotten more expensive thanks to her policies."

Vance was being asked about Loomer's recent racist comments aimed at the Vice President ... namely, saying if Harris, whose mom was Indian American, got elected, the White House would "smell like curry."

Social media detectives can relax ... Shaquille O'Neal says he is NOT the man in the PDA photo making the rounds all over the internet Tuesday.

If you haven't seen it yet ... the selfie was posted by Maria Ozuna Teachey to her 200K-plus followers on Instagram earlier this week -- and it featured her in front of a mirror with a large man's arms wrapped around her.

Because of the dude's size, many believed it was the Big Diesel -- after all, the dude appeared super tall and really buff -- and he seemingly had big hands and feet as well.

Matthew Perry relied on doctors to fuel his addiction, and turns out that's just the tip of the iceberg.

TMZ Studios has a new documentary -- "TMZ Investigates Matthew Perry and the Secret Celebrity Drug Ring" -- which drops today, Tuesday, on Hulu.

Several celebrities, including Kelly Osbourne, talk about how it's common knowledge in Hollywood that doctors provide specific drugs to celebrities. For her part, Kelly was able to score Vicodin and Oxy from various Hollywood doctors. And get this ... she was 13 at the time and the doctors never told her mom and dad what they were prescribing their daughter.

The craze surrounding HBO's docuseries "Chimp Crazy" has become quite profitable for the sanctuary now housing the show's star, Tonka the Chimp.

A rep for Save the Chimps tells TMZ ... all eyes are on their nonprofit after Tonka was seen thriving there in the final episode of "Chimp Crazy," which was created by the same director as "Tiger King."

In fact, Save the Chimps has seen a notable increase in donations ... a 200% increase, to be exact.

"Hacks" snagged the Outstanding Comedy Series at last night's Emmys, beating "The Bear," which has been called out by some for not actually being a comedy -- and Susie Essman tells us while the Chicago-based show is unfairly criticized for its categorization, it's not the fault of the show's actors or crew.

The comedienne tells TMZ even though "The Bear" racked up a record-breaking 11 wins, at the end of the day, the show is a drama -- and probably shouldn't be included in the comedy category at all.

Susie spills the tea on why she thinks "The Bear" got labeled as a comedy series. Check out the video to hear her take!

"90 Day Fiancé" star Edward "Big Ed" Brown is refusing to give up on love ... the reality TV star is engaged again after a whirlwind romance.

Big Ed confirms to TMZ ... he met his now-fiancée, 29-year-old Porscha Raemond during a meet and greet with fans at Capriotti's ... a sandwich shop in Plantation, Florida.

As Big Ed tells us ... "it was love at first bite" for the pair, and so, Big Ed ended up proposing to Porscha within 24 hours of their first meeting.

Shelley Duvall's fans are livid about her being snubbed when she was left off the 2024 Emmys' "In Memoriam" segment, calling it downright disrespectful ... but her longtime partner isn’t sweating it.

Dan Gilroy tells TMZ he’s not upset over Shelley’s omission from the segment ... he's giving the Emmy producers the benefit of the doubt, saying it may have been an oversight -- noting segments like these are planned way in advance.

Dan also tells us, in the grand scheme of things, Shelley being left out of the segment is small potatoes compared to what he and Duvall dealt with over the past few years ... considering she suffered greatly while battling diabetes, which ultimately led to her death in July.

Love may be in the air for Brielle Biermann, but things are as icy as ever between her estranged parents Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann ... with KZ declaring there's no chance at a reconciliation.

Photogs caught up with the Bravo personality outside Craig's in West Hollywood, where she was grilled about her current relationship status ... including her situationship with 'Surreal Life' costar Chet Hanks and her divorce from KB.

Kim danced around commenting directly on a potential fling with Tom Hanks' son, noting she was all for his recent move to Nashville ... but made it abundantly clear she has zero interest in reuniting with her hubby -- even amid their daughter's impending nuptials.

"RuPaul's Drag Race" star Ross Mathews shut down any talk about the cast feeling robbed by "The Traitors" winning at the Emmys -- but, some others on the show aren't on the same page.

The TV host told TMZ that win or not, just being invited was an honor -- and his upbeat mood speaking to us Sunday evening after the ceremony definitely backed that up.

Ross also reminisced on how he’s gone from covering the Emmys BTS to arriving on the red carpet ... check out the clip to hear him rave about his journey!