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Haley Lu Richardson is well aware the Internet despises her 'White Lotus' character's fashion sense ... which really sucks for her, because she actually made part of that wardrobe!

We got the actress -- who plays Portia on HBO's hit drama -- Monday night outside Jimmy Kimmel's L.A. studio, and she was pretty excited to chat with us about her character's many many haters ... as she was signing autographs, mind you.

Haley plays the suffering assistant to Jennifer Coolidge's character -- and while it looks like a crappy job on the show, she says JC is so freakin' cool IRL ... being her real assistant would be sweet.

As for the hotly-debated Twitter topic of Haley's wardrobe -- she broke some news with us about one particular item that's been ripped to shreds, metaphorically, that is.

Although most people poking fun at Portia's fits are just joking around ... Haley tells us she actually handcrafted the hat everyone seems to love to hate.

So, how's she handling the criticism? Check out the clip, but we'll just say ... actors are real people with real feelings!!!

Elon Musk is above doing autographs at this point in his life -- something the paparazzi learned the hard (and cold) way while trying to catch the dude out in the wild.

The Twitter chief landed at Dulles International Airport Saturday night -- just outside of D.C. proper -- and while he was getting into a waiting Tesla with a security detail in tow ... he was greeted by a swarm of photographers outside who apparently wanted his John Hancock.

You gotta watch this, 'cause it's pretty hilarious ... all the paps are begging EM for him to come over and give them the time of day, explicitly noting -- but sir, it's CHRISTMAS! 😂

Despite their pleas ... Elon tells 'em -- sorry, fellas, no more signings. When he's asked if he means ever again, he confirms. So, yeah ... a little Scrooge-y for sure -- but hey, the guy's super busy these days and his celebrity has increased ten-fold over the past 6 or 7 years.

It's pretty interesting, as Elon normally tends to hold court with paps and shoots the s*** with them, offering off-the-cuff answers on a number of issues -- including crypto, 'SNL,' and his own companies. His MOTS interviews have always been light-hearted and chill, too.

In the span of a year, though ... he's acquired Twitter, and become a lightning rod figure -- and it seems he doesn't wanna be hit with harder questions than he's ever faced before.

Our own photog, who was in the crush, was trying to ask about politics -- but Elon clearly doesn't wanna play ball anymore ... and made a new rule. Makes sense if you think about it ... especially seeing how, on Saturday night, he told a group of Twitter Space listeners that the risk of assassination was a legit threat facing him these days.

When you reach that threshold as an A-lister ... the move is to snub and keep it moving.

The reason there's so many unlikeable female leads is because Hollywood is all in on "Mary Sue" -- so says one writer ... whose hot take is getting blasted as straight-up misogyny.

A fella named Joshua Lisec -- who's ghostwritten a ton of books over the years -- took to Twitter this week to outline a very long argument he firmly believes in ... namely, that the literary "Mary Sue" archetype is alive and thriving in modern-day entertainment, despite the fact people aren't really into these strong fictional heroines who kick ass out of nowhere.

His words ... not ours.

Essentially, this boils down to characters like Rey (Daisy Ridley, 'Star Wars'), Galadriel (Morfydd Clark, "Rings of Power"), Carol Danvers (Brie Larson, "Captain Marvel") and even Bo Peep (Annie Potts, "Toy Story 4") and others who start out in a new plot as bad to the bone ... despite a lack of training/backstory to explain how they came to be so strong.

Now, whether that definition of a typical Mary Sue actually applies to the above-mentioned characters -- and other female leads in action movies in general -- is what's at debate here.

Lisec's thread has gone viral, with a ton of backlash coming his way for what a lot of people claim is a convoluted and long-winded way to say ... he simply doesn't like women, and can't stand the idea of a female character being anything other than a damsel in distress.

There are others poking holes in his theory ... at one point during which he makes comparisons to classic male leads whom he thinks were properly fleshed out (Luke Skywalker, etc.) Some are offering examples of countless traditional male heroes who've emerged with unexplained powers ... noting Mary Sue is a dog whistle to attack women.

As for why this convo is even taking place ... well, it appears there are some, like Lisec, who feel there is, in fact, a push from Hollywood lately for "strong female leads" who emerge as heroes without a bona fide, solid setup. The forthcoming 'Indiana Jones' flick appears to be positioning Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character for exactly that (the "new Indy" post-Ford).

This isn't a sentiment that's super fringe either ... Emily Blunt has denounced the "strong female lead" label -- basically saying it was being done to death, and that she's over it.

Elon Musk is doing a new file dump that he says reflects Twitter's alleged efforts to suppress stories about Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020 ... causing a lot of outrage in right wing circles.

The Twit in Chief is set to follow up with another day of #TwitterFiles Saturday, which took the bird app by storm over the past 24 hours ... this after the initial batch detailed alleged correspondence between former Twitter staffers and execs, suggesting they were censoring negative HB news.

Specifically, the internal emails cited by journo Matt Taibbi show how Twitter's ex-head honchos apparently went out of their way to hide links to a story by the New York Post.

Published about a month before the election, it was touted as a bombshell report -- which purported to describe messages the NYP says it retrieved from Hunter's forsaken laptop ... and one of those seems to indicate Ukrainian gas bigwigs were trying to meet President Biden via his son, who was in business with these folks at the time (around 2015 or so).

When this went live in 2020, any attempts to tweet links to the story were barred en masse on Twitter ... and now, these #TwitterFiles pretty much seem to confirm it was, in fact, a coordinated effort in-house. The more troubling part, though ... some of the emails appear to imply that Twitter was actually in touch with Biden's campaign team ... and conceding to their requests to kill the story, as they claimed the information had been hacked/stolen.

Twitter obliged, citing its terms and conditions to justify the move -- not to mention the fact the info discussed hadn't been independently verified -- but since then ... a majority of the materials on the laptop were authenticated as legit. The laptop was also deemed abandoned property after somebody turned it into a shop in 2019 ... eventually finding its way into the hands of conservative operatives who ran with it and publicized its salacious contents.

In the end, however, the Hunter Biden chatter really amounted to nothing in the big picture.

There's been a lot of handwringing in and around the GOP over this for a full two years -- but now that these apparent revelations are coming to light ... many are calling for congressional hearings and investigations into what they characterize as corruption/election interference. Basically, their argument is ... Twitter blocked something that could've, perhaps, swung the election in Trump's favor -- and they're calling on POTUS to answer for it.

Bella Thorne is not only friends with Elon Musk, she's also a big fan of his decision to temporarily kick Kanye West off the platform for spreading antisemitic hate.

We caught up with Bella in Miami, where she's hitting Art Basel, and asked about her relationship with the Chief Twit, and her thoughts about him shutting down Ye. Although Elon's said he wants Twitter to be HQ for free speech ... she's certain Ye's Thursday ranting is NOT that.

Bella says Elon has every right to ban the rapper's account, because IF that's what free speech is then he shouldn't have it ... and neither should anybody else.

You'll recall, Kanye was suspended from Twitter for inciting violence ... after posting a highly offensive mashup of a Nazi swastika with a Star of David. Of course, that came immediately on the heels of countless other vicious remarks he's made.

ICYMI, Elon and Bella had people talking about their unlikely friendship when he hit up her Halloween party with his ex-wife Justine Wilson.

Bella made it clear she's fond of the guy, calling him "very cool."

Lamar Jackson says he's sorry for sending a vulgar tweet following the Ravens' emotional 28-27 loss to the Jaguars last Sunday ... admitting on Friday he was just "bitter" about the L.

"I apologize if I hurt feelings out there," Jackson said when addressing reporters for the first time since pressing send on the tweet.

Jackson initially fired off the obscene response minutes after Baltimore's defeat ... after a Twitter user said the Ravens should not sign the QB to a lengthy -- and lucrative -- new contract.

"Boy STFU y'all be cappin too much on this app mf never smelt a football field," he said ... before ending the tweet with, "never did s*** but eat a d***."

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said he spoke to Jackson over it all on Monday ... and called it "out of character for him."

Jackson said he deleted the tweet, which remained on his page for about 3 hours, after his girlfriend encouraged him to take it down.

She "was like, I think you should delete it," LJ said. "I'm like, 'All right 'cause I don't know if I hurt somebody's feelings,' so I did. That's just what it was. That's why I deleted it."

Jackson said he hasn't reached out to the fan since the incident, but explained there's no bad blood between him and the individual.

"What I take from this experience ... don't say nothing on Twitter," Jackson said. "Don't say what I said 'cause it's kids watching. Don't need the kids saying that but just watch what you say."

Chuck D feels ALL hate speech should be equally ostracized on Twitter ... especially following Kanye West's recent suspension for posting Nazi symbolism.

The Public Enemy frontman put out a big signal for Elon Musk on Friday ... challenging him to permanently ban all versions of the n-word on the platform.

Chuck argued the n-word's power was just as damaging as the Nazi swastikas and his swift action could influence Mark Zuckerberg to do the same on Facebook and Instagram.

Naturally, Chuck's Twitter take left some of his longtime fans scratching their head ... with one even digging up PE's 1990 song "Anti-Ni**** Machine" from their seminal album "Fear of the Black Planet."

Chuck noted the song was recorded over 30 years ago and we're currently playing with a different set of rules in America.

He also dismissed the notion that the use of the n-word in songs and Twitter were the same ... and wasn't concerned with people getting their pretty little timelines disrupted!!!

Elon banished Ye from Twitter on Friday, but The College Dropout did exit in a blaze of glory, ... flaming Elon for his infamous vacation pic with Ari Emanuel.

Michael Jai White has several black belts in various martial arts, but it's even better that he's mastered the practice of restraint, at least for Kanye West's sake!!!

When asked by DJ Vlad about some of Ye's wild and erroneous comments -- like claiming George Floyd died from a drug overdose -- MJW admitted he's been detached from Ye's antics for years, and avoids running into him because it could get violent ... and end badly for the embattled rapper.

MJW says his personal Kanye breaking point came way back in 2009 after the infamous Taylor Swift mic-snatching incident -- and he feels Ye's arrogance is fueled by the fact he has money.

The "Black Dynamite" actor compared consuming Ye's social media posts to eating junk food while trying to stay in karate shape -- an act in futility -- but he says he's not pushing his anti-Ye beliefs on friends.

Kanye West's antisemitic ranting is now on the White House's radar ... and President Biden is not only calling him out, but also anyone who does NOT speak out against Ye.

The prez doesn't mention Ye by name, but it's clear who and what he was referring to Friday morning when he tweeted, "I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure."

The tweet comes immediately on the heels of Elon Musk shutting down Ye's Twitter account because he posted a graphic combining a swastika with the Star of David. He also ranted all day -- on Twitter and on "Infowars" with Alex Jones -- about loving Hitler and Nazis.

President Biden's tweet also adds what seems like a shot at Donald Trump. He said, "Instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity."

Remember, Trump's been widely criticized for having dinner last week with Ye and white nationalist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago.

Even Sen. Mitch McConnell, a former Trump ally, condemned him by saying, "There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy."

Kanye West is back in Twitter's doghouse for spreading more antisemitic hate ... but this time his account was PERSONALLY suspended by the platform's new CEO -- Elon Musk.

The rapper ran afoul of Twitter's policy against inciting violence after posting an altered image showing the Jewish symbol of the Star of David with a Nazi swastika.

Elon wasn't having it, tweeting a reply to Ye early Friday ... "I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended." Kanye's tweet was swiftly removed ... it's not clear how long his suspension is for. His account was suspended once before in October (pre-Musk) after he posted antisemitic remarks.

Kanye's final tweet -- one of Elon getting hosed down by Ari Emanuel -- to which Elon called "fine" and said, "Frankly, I found those pics to be helpful motivation to lose weight!"

Before his latest Twitter drama, Kanye appeared with white nationalist Nick Fuentes on Thursday's "Infowars" show hosted by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Ye praised the Nazis and Adolf Hitler, seemingly in the throes of a mental breakdown.

During their bizarre discussion, Jones tried to denounce the Nazis, but Kanye wouldn't let him, insisting, "They did good things too, we are gonna stop dissing the Nazis." And, before a commercial break, Kanye shockingly admitted, "I like Hitler."

Elon Musk says he squashed the beef between Twitter and Apple ... after a productive meeting with the tech giant's chief executive.

Elon says he met with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday, enjoying a tour of Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA before getting down to brass tacks.

Elon says he and Tim resolved what he's calling a "misunderstanding" about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store, among other things.

Remember ... Elon went nuclear on Apple to begin the week, railing on Apple for cutting advertising on the bird app and wondering, "Do they hate free speech in America?"

Apple never responded to Elon's attacks, even when he tagged Tim's account ... and when Musk couldn't get a response, he claimed "Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won't tell us why."

Following their Wednesday sit down, Elon says "Tim was clear that Apple never considered" removing Twitter from the App Store.

Elon Musk is going to war with Apple over Twitter ... but his verbal assault appears to be falling on deaf ears ... for now.

Musk posted a series of angry tweets Monday, directing his rage at Apple and its CEO, Tim Cook, over their treatment of the social media giant, which Elon recently purchased. But, Apple showed no interest in engaging with the billionaire.

Right from the start, Musk seemed annoyed ... "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?"

When he didn't get a response, Musk angrily asked, "What's going on here?," and tagged Cook's official Twitter account. But, Cook either ignored Elon or didn't see his tweet.

In any case, Musk continued his attack ... "Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why."

Of course, Apple didn't respond ... but such a move would restrict some new users from downloading the Twitter app -- which Musk referred to as "censorship."

Elon finally moved on after taking a few more jabs at Apple, which also failed to elicit a reaction.

Apple is among several big corporations to have pulled ads from Twitter since Elon bought the company for $44 billion in late October. General Mills, Pfizer and Volkswagen have also paused their advertising to evaluate the changes to Twitter under Musk's new leadership.

Lamar Jackson deleted a vulgar Tweet Sunday night ... a few hours after going in on a fan who criticized his play on Sunday.

"When someone asking for over $250 mil guaranteed like [Lamar] ... games like this should not come down to [kicker Justin Tucker]. Let Lamar walk and spend that money on a well-rounded team," a fan wrote on Twitter shortly after the Ravens lost a shocker to the Jaguars.

25-year-old Jackson, clearly emotional, responded ..."Boy STFU y'all be cappin too much on this app mf never smelt a football field," before ending the Tweet with a vulgar term.

The Tweet remained up for about 3 hours before being taken down.

It was a rough day for the Ravens ... who lost a shocker to the 4-win Jaguars. Baltimore's All-Pro kicker, Tucker, attempted a 67-yard field goal for the win as time expired, but came up a few yards short.

Jackson went 16-for-32, throwing for 254 yards and 1 TD. The QB was clearly frustrated after the game, telling reporters ... "Nobody likes losing."

With the L, the Ravens are now tied with the Cincinnati Bengals atop the AFC North at 7-4. Lamar and company will play the Broncos this Sunday.

Neither the NFL nor the Ravens have commented on Jackson's Tweet.

Disney's newest animated movie -- which features an openly gay character -- got crushed at the box office ... and the LGBTQ crowd is worried this might've been the plan all along.

We're talking about "Strange World," which came out this weekend to abysmal ticket sale numbers -- raking in just $18.6 million over the 5-day weekend, starting Wednesday. That's well behind projections ... where 'SW' was supposed to be coming in between $30-$40 mil.

According to reports, the film is expected to end up in the red long term -- somewhere in the ballpark of at least $100 million, considering the $180M budget and marketing expenses.

It's that same marketing, however, that's got allies upset at the Mouse House ... they feel like there wasn't a peep about this flick pre-release, and that it's no wonder it tanked. In fact, some are going into conspiracy mode -- suggesting Disney was banking on a failure.

Here's the theory ... Disney could use the poor performance as rationale to not include LGBTQ characters going forward -- pointing to this new character, Ethan, as evidence to back the would-be decision. Out there, we know, but that's a legit convo taking place right now.

Of course, there's no evidence to support this ... at least not yet. Still, some are floating it anyway and think Disney was looking for an excuse for less representation on-screen.

Naturally, there's another side of this discussion -- the "Go Woke, Go Broke" faction, who've been thumping their chests about Disney's efforts to include more diversity in its characters of late ... which they think is the real reason for flops like this and 'Lightyear,' among others.

Kanye West says the Balenciaga scandal is proof that Hollywood's celebrities are muzzled -- and speaking of silence ... he thinks Elon Musk should let Alex Jones break his.

The rapper was leaving a Messianic church Saturday where he was met with a small crush of paps who were ready to record him ... but not question him at all. Instead, KW just started speaking freely about his antisemitism scandal/fall from grace -- among other issues.

Ye suggests more people were outraged by what happened to him than what materialized publicly -- which he says is also evident in the lack of celebs who've decried Balenciaga.

Of course, he's referring to a wildly inappropriate ad campaign featuring little girls posing with BDSM-themed teddy bears ... not to mention court docs referencing a child porn case snuck into the background. The company apologized, but is still reeling from the fallout.

After that thought, Ye transitioned to another one ... namely, Twitter's continued ban of Alex Jones' account, which Kanye says should be reversed by Elon immediately.

His rationale there boils down to ... Christ. Yep, you gotta hear how Kanye phrases this one -- because it has strong echoes of his new pal, Nick Fuentes, who has often called for America to get back to its Christian roots -- which he usually couples with white nationalism.

As you know, Kanye has cozied up to Fuentes in recent weeks ... who accompanied Ye to a dinner at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday where Trump was present. KW has also brought Milo Yiannopoulos onboard ... so a lot of alt-right guys, and now -- he's singing Jones's praises.

The comment section for Don Toliver's new music video reads like a Russian Bot Farm -- at least that's what the internet thinks ... accusing his label of attempting to juice his stats.

Here's the deal ... Atlantic Records is under fire on Twitter, with a ton of people reading into the engagement numbers for a bunch of its artists -- specifically, on YouTube, where some feel like the data ratios for new projects just aren't adding up (likes to views, etc.)

DT's video for his song "Do It Right" -- which was posted just a few days ago -- is the prime example being hoisted up on the bird app as supposed evidence of fakery that's alleged to be afoot ... most notably, in the comments, where many see telltale signs of phony fans.

You can go check it out for yourself -- there are a lot of strangely written comments that have flooded this upload in the past 48 hours, with more and more pouring in with odd spelling, unconventional capitalization and grammatical errors. Others make no sense at all.

Plus, there are a lot of comments that have posted nothing but emojis, which are also seemingly jumbled together at random. When you click on some of these profiles, it looks like their accounts are relatively new and have only one comment ... for Don's 'DIR' video.

Indeed ... it certainly comes across as bizarre, and some -- including media personality DJ Akademiks -- have made outright allegations of this happening on a mass scale at Atlantic.

There are other Atlantic artists who've been lumped into this phenomenon, and none appear to have addressed it just yet ... including Toliver. It's worth noting -- while some point to the comments and seemingly lopsided engagement stats on their own as proof, there's no real smoking gun that we can find. This mostly amounts to people speculating and theorizing.

Still, we've reached out to both Atlantic and Toliver's camp for official comment ... so far, no word back.