CM Punk Unloads On Trolls Over Roe V. Wade ... 'We Respect Women Over Here'

Wrestling icon CM Punk is not here for the Supreme Court's alleged decision on abortion ... emotionally clapping back at internet trolls in defense of women's rights.

The AEW superstar shared a throwback pic of himself wearing a pro-choice shirt just hours after it was reported the SC took a private vote, which if made official, would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision ... which pissed off a number of his followers.

CM decided to share the hateful messages he got to his 922k followers on Tuesday ... and he's not holding back.

One message read ... "Are you going to cry little bitch," to which Punk responded, "A little bit, yeah."

"For my wife, my sisters, for mothers and women who are helplessly watching their rights over their own bodies stripped away by elite, rich white, terrorist religious fascists. Being human means I cry when injustices masquerade as religious right. HER BODY, HER CHOICE."

Another troll praised Punk's wrestling skills and bashed his politics ... and his response was short and sweet.

"Unfollow me. We respect women here."

Punk did point out he's getting much more love than hate in his DMs ... saying, "And for every uneducated knob, there's 20 great comments. Keep fighting!!"

Kid Rock Pitted Against Bruce Springsteen Who You Got, Musically?!?

Kid Rock and Bruce Springsteen are going head-to-head in a very unofficial fan poll taking place on the internet -- and wouldn't you know it ... it's politics as usual, yet again.

Somebody posed the strange question this weekend ... asking Twitter quite simply, "Bruce Springsteen or Kid Rock" -- and boy, did the bird app people give her a piece of their mind. Lo and behold, this turned into political mudslinging -- as these things often do.

Of course, Kid is much more so associated with right-wing views -- so as you can imagine, people who lean that way were coming out in fierce defense of KR ... dubbing Bruce as a leftist, etc. Ditto for fans of the Boss -- they too were name-calling.

Interestingly, the original question-poser tried to weed out the associations and connotations that each artist might carry outside of music, and answered her own question based solely on skill. In her mind, she doesn't think Bruce is all that he's cracked up to be.

Most music fans would probably disagree with her ... and the evidence is in the cold, hard numbers here. While musical taste is certainly subjective -- you can't deny that Bruce runs laps around Kid when it comes to hit singles, sales and overall popularity big picture.

On the Billboard Chart alone, Bruce takes the cake -- he's got a total of 26 songs that made it on the Billboard's Hot 100 list, 12 of which cracked the Top 10 ... with "Secret Garden" and "Dancing in the Dark" sticking around for 23 and 21 weeks, respectively.

Kid, meanwhile, only has 6 songs that made it into the Hot 100, and just one made into the Top 10. That'd be "Picture," which hung in tight on the chart for a total of 34 weeks.

And on pure numbers alone for units sold -- Bruce, again, beats Kid ... he's got about 150 million record sales worldwide, compared to KR's 27 million. So it's not really a contest or a matter of opinion in this regard ... Bruce has, objectively, outperformed the Kid.

Like we said, the discourse around this bizarre juxtaposition seems to have devolved into nothing more than a Democrat vs. Republican chat -- with each camp coming to their own artist's defense.

That's the way of the world lately, we suppose -- but again, to each their own. With that said, we'll put the question out there right here ... who's better, Kid or Bruce???

Who Ya Got -- The Kid or The Boss???

Leaving out politics altogether, naturally ... that's what we're curious about. Sound off!

Conor McGregor Trash Talks Jake Paul After Boxing Match ... Ya Know Who You Look Like???

There were 2 fights connected to the boxing showdown between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano Saturday night -- the fight in the ring, and the fight between their supporters, Jake Paul and Conor McGregor.

Katie beat Serrano in a split decision at Madison Square Garden. Conor -- true to form -- who's in Katie's corner, zeroed in on Jake on social media, comparing him to deceased BBC personality Jimmy Savile ... a man who was suspected of sexual abuse.

McGregor wrote, "Who the f*** is this jackass in the pink Jimmy Savile glasses?"

Now what a shock, we say jokingly, Jake responded ... "I'm the one who has done more for fighters than you ever have; the one who has won five fights in the past two years while you have lost five."

Jake wasn't done ... "The one who isn’t owned by Dana White, the one who made the fight you just watched happen, the one who got your hero Katie Taylor paid, that’s who."

McGregor's comeback ... a pic of Savile sporting pink glasses similar to the ones Jake wore at the Garden.

The 2 have been trash talking for months now, and ya gotta think a fight would line both their pockets with millions and millions of bucks. Problem for Conor -- Jake is 6'1" and 210 lbs, while Conor's 5'8", and now weighs about 175 lbs.

Correction: Conor's only lost twice in the last 2 years ... both losses to Dustin Poirier. Jake was correct -- he's won 5 in a row.

Bill Maher I'm Pro Elon ... Twitter Has Failed Over Censorship!!!

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ONE FAILURE AFTER ANOTHER
Real Time with Bill Maher/HBO

Bill Maher thinks Elon Musk has a superhuman mission, and it's not about sending people to Mars ... it's about saving Twitter.

The "Real Time" host bore in on the current CEO -- whom he says will probably get a pink slip from Mr. Musk -- who boasted Twitter is not defined by the First Amendment. He said that because the First Amendment only applies to Congress making no laws abridging free speech. Well, Bill says that's a dodge, plain and simple.

Maher is reacting to Elon's promise to make Twitter a bastion of free speech. There's been a lot of criticism and fear over this, but Bill says let the sunshine and free discourse in!

As for how Twitter has failed by censoring free speech, Bill says there are plenty of examples. He notes the New York Post got booted from the platform for writing about Hunter Biden's emails, but turns out the story had validity. He notes Twitter blocked discourse over the theory COVID came from a lab, and there's now a school of thought among some scientists it did indeed.

But, the best is a Christian news and satire site that posted a skit about Twitter being too sensitive and twitter flagged it! As Bill said ... a complete lack of self-awareness.

As Bill concluded ... "If that's where the line is you have failed Twitter."

As for Elon taking over, Bill says thank God it's not a 23-year-old who's at the helm ... cause he thinks Gen Z kinda sucks.

The man speaks his mind.

'Jeopardy!' NBC Calls Champ 'Lesbian Tutor' ... Leaving Lots of Folks Confused, Angry

NBC News' social media team could use Elon Musk's proposed edit tool on a tweet about the reigning "Jeopardy!" champ ... all because they focused on her sexuality and job title, confusing and even angering a lot of users on Twitter.

Mattea Roach has won 17 consecutive games, which ranks No. 8 all-time, qualifying for the game show's Tournament of Champions and bringing her current winnings to $396,182 ... but NBC News decided to highlight the fact she's a "lesbian tutor" in a story about her achievements.

The controversial tweet was blasted out Friday to NBC News' 9 million followers, with many people reacting to the "lesbian tutor" description, showing confusion over the choice of words and even anger.

One user's hilarious response ... "Oh ffs. What on earth is a lesbian tutor? You mean she helps people become better lesbians? Be better @NBCNews & know that this incredible woman’s sexuality has absolutely no bearing on her amazing @Jeopardy streak & smarts!"

The tweet is still up as of this post, and it doesn't get much better when you click the link ... the headline for the NBC News story reads, "Mattea Roach becomes latest LGBTQ 'Jeopardy!' phenom."

Mattea hasn't even mentioned her sexuality on the show ... NBC reports she "is a lesbian, according to her Twitter account." Oh, the irony.

Elon Musk Twitter's Mine!!! Sale for Company is Final

UPDATE

12:55 PM PT -- Elon put a statement out, saying, "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated."

UPDATE

He continues, "I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential - I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."

UPDATE

12:04 PM PT -- The deal is done ... Elon now owns Twitter, buying it for approximately $44 billion -- shareholders will receive $54.20 per share.

Elon Musk pulled a move only Don Corleone himself could finagle -- his big-ticket offer to buy Twitter has reportedly gotten the green light ... with the deal coming in for a landing.

Reuters says Musk's $43 billion bid is poised to be accepted by Twitter's board Monday, and that an official announcement could be expected later in the day. Sounds like he didn't budge on his $54.20-per-share price -- and he's in the process of reeling them in right now.

There is, of course, the possibility that this thing could fall through ... but at the moment, all signs point to be EM becoming the new owner of the bird app -- ushering in a new regime.

As we reported ... there were rumblings of this coming to fruition over the weekend. Twitter and Musk had a sit-down on Sunday, which apparently went long into the wee hours of the morning. Word is ... the company was under major pressure from shareholders to sell.

Some of the stockholders wanted to see if Musk would go up in price ... but in the end, it seems they're ready to accept his original betting chip -- especially now that he's got the dough all secured. Elon ponied up the cash last week with the help of some outside partners.

There's a laundry list of goals Elon apparently wants to achieve with the takeover. Beyond addressing "free speech" problems he sees, EM has reportedly also talked about longer tweets, pivoting away from ads and getting rid of spam bots -- which he sees as a pest.

Elon has also talked about making Twitter's algorithm open source ... meaning we'd be able to see why things trend the way they do, and why exactly we're seeing certain tweets on our timeline versus others. Essentially ... more transparency on how Twitter operates internally.

Of course, him taking the company private might mean this becomes a subscription-based service ... especially if he's serious about putting a stop to advertisements. So, the question is ... are folks willing to pay for Twitter, which has been free up to this point???

Originally Published -- 6:46 AM PT

Elon Musk Gets Sit-Down w/ Twitter Execs ... Talking Takeover Bid?!?

Elon Musk's offer to buy Twitter might actually be one the company can't refuse -- the man is reportedly meeting with execs this weekend ... to seriously discuss his takeover proposal.

The Wall Street Journal reports that both sides are set to meet Sunday (today) to get into the weeds of his $43 billion bid ... which he put forth publicly, and for which he also just announced he got legit financing in the amount of $46.5 billion to actually make it happen.

Per WSJ, Twitter is receptive to negotiating a deal ... or at the very least, hearing Elon out and considering a final price tag -- even though EM says he won't budge on $54.20-a-share.

There's more on the table, potentially than just dough. WSJ says Twitter honchos are mulling over a number of factors ... including a final valuation of what they think the bird app is worth, the possibility of inviting other bidders ... and maybe even insisting on Elon covering breakup costs if the would-be deal falls apart (aka, sweeteners).

As for why Twitter would even entertain this ... Reuters reports they're under pressure from shareholders who want to get paid out. Elon reportedly met with a select number of bigwig shareholders this past week to make his pitch on why Twitter would be better in his hands.

Among the things he reportedly wants to change (beyond his "free speech" objections) ... allowing for longer tweets, and pivoting away ads. He also reportedly told several of them ... you'll never reach my share price on your own. Twitter's closing price Friday was $48.93.

Reuters says some shareholders have expressed to leadership that not only should they talk to Elon and feel him out -- but, more importantly, see if they can finagle a larger offer.

Time will tell if Elon's willing to spend a bit more to take Twitter private -- but he almost had folks thinking he was ditching this whole endeavor, tweeting "Moving on" Sunday ... later clarifying that he meant teasing Bill Gates regarding climate change.

Twitter has an earnings call Thursday, and is expected to officially weigh in on the bid. Bottom line ... Elon's chances of taking over are looking realer and realer by the day. 👀

Elon Musk Makes Crude Joke About Bill Gates Pissed Over Tesla Shorts

Elon Musk has ruffled feathers by comparing Bill Gates to an emoji addressing transgender people -- and it all seems to stem from a back-and-forth they had that left Elon pissed.

The Tesla chief tweeted an insult at the Microsoft co-founder Friday, posting a side-by-side photo of BG next to an emoji of a pregnant man ... a new one that was recently rolled out to be more inclusive to trans men. Elon's caption ... "in case u need to lose a b***r fast."

He followed up by jokingly tweeting a picture of cloaked figures coming together in a circle and writing, "shadow ban council reviewing tweet …" seemingly aware his OG tweet might be seen as offensive. It's also undoubtedly connected to his current bid to buy Twitter.

Of course, some were confused about the shot in the first place ... but leaked texts between Elon and Bill seem to paint a clearer picture about what's going on.

No word on when this convo happened, but Elon himself confirmed the texts are legit ... saying they'd apparently been leaked to the NYT by friends of friends. He adds, "I heard from multiple people at TED that Gates still had half billion short against Tesla, which is why I asked him, so it’s not exactly top secret."

If you peep the texts, it shows Elon and Bill going back and forth ... apparently trying to set up a meeting of some sort -- one in which BG wanted to talk philanthropy and climate change. Before that, though, Elon asked him straight up ... you shorting my company, bro?

Elon's angry that Bill's betting against Tesla's stock ... placing a major wager that the price will dip. Elon also argues that Tesla is doing a lot to mitigate climate change by investing in sustainable energy, so he sees Bill's position as hypocritical here.

We'll admit, this is some billionaire-problems type stuff -- but one thing's for certain ... Elon has no problem calling out whoever publicly, including his filthy rich contemporaries.

Jack Harlow Hits #1, Sparks Hip Hop Debate ... What If He Were Black???

Jack Harlow's on top of his game and at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 Chart thanks to his new single “First Class” -- but some fans, critics and industry execs wonder if race is playing a role in his success.

Of course, Jack's hit samples Fergie’s 2006 multi-platinum track, “Glamorous" ... and we all know it absolutely blew up on TikTok, which definitely helped it grab the top spot.

Still, Top Dawg Entertainment President Terrence "Punch" Henderson sparked a debate Tuesday on Twitter by proclaiming Black artists have to be more exceptional compared to their White counterparts.

Even though "Punch" never mentions Jack by name, the twitterverse got his point.

He also seemed to reference Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "The Heist" album beating Kendrick Lamar's "good kid, m.A.A.d. city" at the 2014 Grammys as an example.

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THE HARLOW DEBATE

The debate came up on Tuesday's episode of TMZ Hip Hop ... as our DJ Hed and Rodney Rikai challenged each other on what's really fueling the Kentucky-born rapper’s rise to the top.

Great convo, and you gotta check out the clip, because they actually answered this hypothetical: IF Jack were a Black rapper, whose career would his most resemble???

Dave East and Saweetie fans, pay attention!

All in all, Jack is having a renaissance year within a still blossoming career. His new album "Come Home the Kids Miss You" is set to drop May 6, he’s starring in the "White Men Can’t Jump" reboot ... and he's fresh off a KFC campaign that benefits several social justice and youth groups.

Worthy of a first-class seat in today’s hip hop? The charts say yes.

Doja Cat First Official Coachella Performance ... Bringin' Out Tyga!!!

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DOJA CAT DAZZLES COACHELLA
TMZ.com

Doja Cat had her first solo performance at Coachella, and she brought Tyga to the stage to perform one of their hits.

The recent Grammy winner got her own lineup spot Sunday, and the crowd was loving every minute ... along with her hits, she performed a new song, "Vegas," which is in Baz Luhrmann's new Elvis movie.

At one point, she started her song, "Juicy," but couldn't do it alone ... bringing fellow artist Tyga to the stage to collab. She also brought up Rico Nasty for their song, "Tia Tamera."

Doja joined Rico at the festival back in 2019, but this is the first year she's been given her own slot -- fitting to bring Rico back on the stage after she did the same for her years ago.

As you know, Doja claimed to be quitting music at the end of March after tweeting about her poor performance at Lollapalooza in Brazil ... her fans in Paraguay got upset that she never tweeted about missing their recent festival -- one that was canceled due to a deadly storm, so not really her fault.

A war broke out online between her and fans, even journalists, in Paraguay ... going off about leaving the music game, changing her handle to "I quit" and saying "This s*** ain't for me so I'm out. Y'all take care."

Looks like her quit wasn't immediate if at all ... she put on quite the show for her fans Sunday night as they packed the Indio festival.

Viola Davis Michelle Obama Portrayal Mocked ... Non-Stop Pursed Lips?!?

Viola Davis' turn as Michelle Obama for a new show is getting some early looks, and in the same breath ... some early ridicule too over an apparent character choice she's made.

The Showtime series "The First Lady" debuts Sunday, and it would appear some folks on Twitter have already gotten some initial glimpses of Viola playing Michelle ... and some are questioning why the actress seems to constantly purse her lips on camera.

One scene in particular has drawn a lot of eyeballs, and people are having a field day with memes and jokes over Viola appearing to constantly put on an exaggerated duck face while she talks to TV Barack Obama.

There's another scene that's popped up, which shows Viola-as-Michelle posing for a photo shoot, and there too she seems to be rocking the kissy pose with dedication.

While it's unclear if Viola maintains this facial expression throughout the show -- to our knowledge, these are the only two scenes that are making the rounds right now -- it does appear she invokes the lip move later in the series as well ... evidenced in stills that Viola herself has posted on social media over the past few weeks.

Michelle does, indeed, purse her lips at times ... but it seems Viola may have thought that's central to her being, 'cause so far -- it sounds like she does it quite a bit for 'TFL.'

As for how the critics feel about it ... it's not good on that front either. "The First Lady" has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 40%, made up of 20 different pros who've weighed in thus far. These reviews aren't always reflective of the quality of any given movie or show, but it seems the industry isn't too thrilled with what they've done here to tell Michelle's story.

Like we said, the show began streaming today -- so feel free to peep it for yourself. There'll be 10 episodes of this performance, so maybe it gets ... better? Time will tell.

FWIW, Viola was taking this role seriously -- despite what people online might say/think now that it's out -- and she even said she was nervous and wanted to make MO look good.

In February, VD is quoted as saying ... "You don’t want to insult them by your portrayal … As much as we feel like we know Michelle Obama -- and I did everything I could to research -- there are those private moments where there’s some level of creative decision-making that you have to take ... There are small minutiae that I can just take creative license with and hope that I’m not insulting her with it. That’s what you have to navigate as an artist."

Elon Musk $43 Billion Offer to Buy Twitter!!!

Elon Musk's "best and final" offer to buy Twitter is a fat $43 billion ... straight cash, too!!!

The current richest man in the world says he's made the astronomical 11-figure pitch to buy the social media platform, and make no doubt about it ... he's playing hardball. Elon says if his offer is not accepted, "I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder."

That's a significant threat because he currently holds more than 9% of Twitter's shares -- and if he were to pull out, it might send the stock's value tumbling.

Appropriately, Elon tweeted ... "I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy."

Musk had been a vocal opponent of some of Twitter's moves to silence users, before he heavily invested in the platform. His $43 bil offer comes out to about $54.20 per share -- which is 18 percent higher than the stock's Wednesday closing price ... so he's not lowballing 'em.

Twitter's official response is its board will review Elon's offer and do what's in the "best interest" of the company and its stockholders.

Right now those stockholders are looking at $43 billion on the table -- talk about high-stakes poker!

Lakers' Wayne Ellington Fined $20,000 ... For Threatening Nuggets Player

Lakers guard Wayne Ellington just got slapped with a $20,000 fine by the NBA ... after he threatened to put his "hands on" Facundo Campazzo following an incident between the two during a game over the weekend.

NBA exec Byron Spruell announced the fine on Wednesday afternoon ... reprimanding Ellington for his threatening tweet.

If you missed it, during the Lakers vs. Nuggets game on Sunday, Campazzo intentionally shoved Ellington in the back -- sending him crashing to the floor.

At the time, Campazzo was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game -- but Ellington clearly didn't think that penalty was enough ... 'cause he tweeted afterward he wanted some street justice.

"When I see you I’m putting my hands on you @facucampazzo," Ellington said.

In addition to fining Ellington for the tweet ... the NBA also said it's suspending Campazzo for one game without pay for the shove.

Campazzo will serve the ban on Friday ... when the Nuggets begin their playoff series against the Golden State Warriors.

Gilbert Gottfried Defends Chris Rock In Final Social Media Post

Comedic legend Gilbert Gottfried defended his fellow comedians until the very end ... using his last social media post to back Chris Rock after the Oscars.

Gilbert posted a photo of him with Chris the day after Will Smith's on-camera slap, with the caption "Which is the worst crime? Chris Rock being physically assaulted or Chris Rock telling a joke?"

He also joked around about the "King Richard" star to The Associated Press, saying he used to worry about putting a mask on while performing ... but "now I have to worry about wearing a football helmet," hilariously begging Will to stay away from his shows.

As we reported, Gilbert passed away Tuesday from a heart abnormality called Ventricular Tachycardia due to Myotonic Dystrophy type II. His family asked his fans to keep laughing as loud as they can in his honor.

His career spans back to the '70s when he was a cast member on "Saturday Night Live," and quickly became a standout character on multiple shows and movies, including "Beverly Hills Cop II" and "The Cosby Show."

Gilbert leaves behind his wife, Dara, who he married in 2007, and his two kids -- Lily and Max.

Adam Schefter Apologizes For Insensitive Dwayne Haskins Tweet ... 'It Was A Mistake'

NFL insider Adam Schefter is begging for forgiveness over his insensitive tweet regarding Dwayne Haskins' death ... saying it was not his intent to disrespect the late Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback.

A number of superstars took issue with Schefter saying Haskins was "struggling to catch on" in the NFL while announcing the tragic news ... including Ravens star Lamar Jackson, who tweeted his frustrations with the ESPN analyst.

"@AdamSchefter you lame asf all around grown ass man and can look in the mirror and smile at yourself," Lamar tweeted on Saturday.

While Schefter deleted the initial tweet shortly after posting, he shared a three-plus minute-long apology on his podcast on Monday ... saying he wishes he could take it back.

"It was insensitive," Schefter said. "It was a mistake, and I can assure you it was not my intention. I wish I could have that tweet back. The focus should have been on Dwayne -- who he was as a person, a husband, a friend, and so much more."

"I wanted to apologize to Dwayne's family, his friends, the players in the NFL, and offer my condolences to everybody close to Dwayne. And in the way I failed Saturday, I wanted to turn the people's attention to make sure that Dwayne is remembered properly."

Schefter then lists several of Haskins' accomplishments on and off the field, shares anecdotes about his character and highlights his charitable contributions.

Schefter continued ... "He will always be missed and will always be remembered. Sincerest condolences to his family, friends and everyone he touched."

As we previously reported, Haskins died after being hit by a dump truck around 6:30 AM on Saturday. He was just 24 years old.

Elon Musk Not Joining Twitter's Board ... CEO Says 'It's For The Best'

Elon Musk might've just become the brand's largest shareholder, but he's turned down an opportunity to join Twitter's board ... according to the CEO.

Parag Agrawal made the announcement Sunday night, saying the company had several discussions with Elon about joining the board as early as Saturday ... an offer that was eventually turned down by Musk.

While the reason is unclear, Parag says the decision was still "for the best," adding they'll always remain open to Elon's input. He tells his staff that distractions will come up but they should "tune out the noise."

Elon's already been offering up suggestions for the company, writing online about turning Twitter's San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter ... adding "since no one shows up anyway."

Amazon's Jeff Bezos chimed in, offering advice with a hint of "been there, done that" ... pointing out his Seattle HQ utilized a portion of their space into a shelter -- something that seems to be helping the community.

Elon hasn't been Twitter's biggest fan in recent months, sparking debate at the end of March about free speech and how he believes the platform is limiting user's ability to speak out.

Of course, Twitter was among several social media platforms to cut former President Trump after the January 6 attack.