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Ricky Gervais has opinions about 86'ing the words "fat" and "ugly" from children's books, and he concedes it's child's play compared to what he says onstage.

Ricky is clearly appalled by the move to cut the 2 words from Roald Dahl's books for kids, mocking the "fragile" and "easily offended."

Ricky says he's been noodling over words he uses onstage ... words like f**k, fat, ugly, greedy, pathetic little stupid f**king c*** -- "Stuff like that."

Ricky followed up with a tweet where he displayed a pic of himself making a wonky face and exposing his belly, saying, "I've changed my mind. I think we should ban the words 'fat' and 'ugly. No reason."

Someone on Twitter took him seriously and said the comedian's standup is different, because it's not aimed at kids.

Ricky's reply -- “Yeah I know ... It was a joke.”

As you probably know, Dahl's books, notably "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," have been re-issued where "fat" will no longer be used.

Shannon Sharpe is opening up on his relationship with Skip Bayless ... admitting the two TV personalities recently had "two bad months" together, but ultimately, they were able to work things out and move on.

Shannon and Skip have cohosted 'Undisputed' on FS1 for over six years now, but tensions appeared to reach a boiling point after Bayless' controversial tweet about Damar Hamlin in January ... which prompted the NFL Hall of Famer to leave Skip to do the show alone.

The drama surrounding Skip's tweet seemingly confirmed speculation that there was a growing disconnect between the two sides ... but now, Shannon says whatever issues they had are a thing of the past.

"I wasn’t gonna allow two bad months to ruin six years of a great working relationship," Sharpe said on The Adam Schein Podcast. "We have a great working relationship."

Shannon says he sat down with Skip to clear the air ... and they both realized they "were better together than apart."

Sharpe said he and Skip aren't good friends like Bayless is with his former debate partner, Stephen A. Smith, but he thinks their distance actually contributes to a better dynamic for their show.

"I think it helps our relationship on-air that we are not that close," Sharpe said. "He doesn’t know what I’m thinking and he doesn’t know what I’m going to say."

One of the descendants of Confederate General Robert E. Lee is blasting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for suggesting red and blue states separate ... telling us her idea is "nothing short of treason."

Reverend Robert W. Lee IV, a collateral descendant of General Lee, tells TMZ ... by calling for a "national divorce," MTG is acting no better than the Confederates who fought against the Union during the Civil War.

MTG tweeted out the idea Monday, calling for Democratic and Republican voting states to split. While she didn't use the word secession, that's exactly what she's calling for ... and she claims everyone she talks to agrees.

While advocating for the creation of 2 separate governments, she also calls for the federal government to shrink.

Robert admits his ancestor, General Lee, would be totally on board with MTG's suggestion, but adds that's nothing to celebrate. Instead, he says the Congresswoman from Georgia is outing herself as a traitor, and he'd like to see more politicians condemn her statement.

Remember, Rev. Lee famously denounced racism and white supremacy at the 2017 MTV VMAs ... and he's been outspoken about taking down statues of Gen. Lee.

Former UFC star Nate Marquardt is in the crosshairs of the LGBTQ community ... after he tweeted an anti-gay response to a commercial that showed two men kissing.

The 43-year-old, who famously knocked out Tyron Woodley in a 2012 fight, fired off the offensive comments after he said he saw the ad while watching ESPN+.

In his tweet, he said the commercial was "disgusting" and that he had to tell his kids "look away so they don't see two men kissing."

The former fighter, a devout Christian, added a throwing up emoji.

Immediately, the ex-Strikeforce Welterweight Champion was panned by fans for the remarks ... but he doubled down on his stance in further tweets.

As of Monday afternoon, the posts were still up on his social media page.

Mark Zuckerberg is going the way of Elon Musk -- and by that, we mean he's rolling out a similar subscription plan that'll allow people to be official and legit on his platforms.

The Meta honcho announced a new verification program that the social media company will be rolling out soon. He writes, "Good morning and new product announcement: this week we're starting to roll out Meta Verified -- a subscription service that lets you verify your account with a government ID, get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you, and get direct access to customer support."

MZ adds, "This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services. Meta Verified starts at $11.99 / month on web or $14.99 / month on iOS. We'll be rolling out in Australia and New Zealand this week and more countries soon."

For those worried that Facebook/Instagram would fall into the same problem Twitter has suffered since the launch of Twitter Blue -- i.e., fake accounts and impersonators -- Meta says it's already considered that ... and will take active steps to combat imposters and jokesters.

For starters, they're saying they're going to make people submit government IDs to help match them up to their own profile before handing out any blue checkmarks to the normies. Meta also says they'll be actively monitoring for BS accounts that might spring up.

As for all the public figures who were verified before ... Mark and co. say they're going to leave them be with their already-established verified status -- unlike Elon, who says he'll phase out legacy blue checks (regardless of who they are) and make people pay $8.

Roald Dahl's classic books are apparently too dated for the 21st century -- because his former publisher and his own posthumous company have edited the crap out of them.

Puffin and the Roald Dahl Story Company -- which oversees his collection -- teamed up with Inclusive Minds last year ... tasking them to pour over RD's published works (specifically, ones for kids) and to alter passages as they see fit, to remove offensive language.

According to reports, hundreds of changes have been made in everything from "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" to "James and The Giant Peach" ... and other Dahl books in between.

One of the more noticeable tweaks that many are pointing out is the fact that Augustus Gloop -- the gluttonous kid who falls in the river of chocolate and gets sucked up a tube -- is no longer described as "fat," which is what Dahl had previously referred to him as.

Here's an old passage describing Augustus ... "A nine-year-old boy who was so enormously fat he looked as though he had been blown up with a powerful pump. Great flabby folds of fat bulged out from every part of his body, and his face like a monstrous ball of dough.'

The 2022 re-write goes like this ... "A nine-year-old boy who was so enormous he looked as though he had been blown up with a powerful pump. Great folds bulged out from every part of his body, and his face was like a ball of dough." In this instance, they got rid of "fat."

While some words were removed, others were completely added in anew -- so, not Dahl's original text -- including one new passage from "The Witches." In that book, there's an idea about witches hiding in plain sight ... who are actually bald under their wigs.

The main character is describing his plan to ID witches in public to his grandmother -- going around and pulling women's hair to see if they're a witch. In the original text, the grandma replies ... "'Don't be foolish,' my grandmother said. 'You can't go round pulling the hair of every lady you meet, even if she is wearing gloves. Just you try it and see what happens.'"

The rewrite is wild ... "'Don't be foolish,' my grandmother said. 'Besides, there are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.'"

There are countless other examples circulating on Twitter right now -- including ones where Inclusive removed gendered terms, like "female" -- and a lot of people are saying these changes are ridiculous -- and just another example of woke culture going too far.

JuJu Smith-Schuster clearly doesn't care that Tuesday is supposed to be about love ... 'cause the Chiefs receiver just savagely trolled Eagles corner James Bradberry on Valentine's Day with a ruthless card.

The K.C. star posted the V-Day-themed image on his Twitter page just minutes ago ... poking fun at the Philly DB for the game-changing holding penalty he was called for at the end of Super Bowl LVII.

The pic featured an image of a smiling Bradberry ... and the comment on the card read, "I'll hold you when it matters the most."

JuJu, who was the one on the receiving end of the now-infamous Bradberry call, obviously thought it was hilarious, because he added in the caption on the card, "Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody."

Social media users howled at it all -- particularly Chiefs ones -- but Bradberry's teammate, Darius Slay, wasn't exactly laughing ... tweeting at the Chiefs wideout, "Come on naw bra...doing too much!!"

For his part, Bradberry has taken accountability for the penalty ... saying after the game he did grab Smith-Schuster and was hoping the refs wouldn't call it.

Barney is back with a brand new look, but not everyone is feeling the digital makeover ... dragging the reboot character all across the internet.

Mattel Television made the major announcement Monday, revealing the throwback show "Barney & Friends" is making a comeback. The company also showed off a brand new Barney for the reimagined franchise.

However, the 'new and improved' Barney -- set to officially debut in 2024 -- clearly isn't sitting well with the majority of folks on social media.

One user wrote, "THAT AIN’T BARNEY BRUH THEY DID MY MANS DIRTY"." ... another said, "Why does Barney look like he’s sky high cracked on cocaine? That face is unsettling as hell."

Demi Lovato got her start on Barney in the early 2000s -- and her mom, Dianna De La Garza, also had something to say about the new look, "Aww man… I hate change😂".

"Barney & Friends" debuted in 1992 and aired all the way until November 2010.

Now, Mattel says the Barney reboot will be expanding to film, YouTube and music ... in addition to the TV series and a wide range of kids' products, which includes toys, books and clothing.

The Congressional hearing where Chrissy Teigen's tweet -- calling then-President Donald Trump a "p***y ass bitch" -- was read aloud has sparked outrage ... from the woman who is viewed by some as the leading voice on all things internet.

Kara Swisher appeared on CNN Thursday and called members of Congress who were claiming conspiracy, "ridiculous." She acknowledged that Twitter made a bad call, and went on to say the company has made lots of bad calls on both sides of the political spectrum ... BUT, as she said, Twitter is a private company and can do what it wants.

NYU Professor of Marketing, Scott Galloway, was even tougher, calling the members of Congress who were raising these theories, "idiots."

Republicans who called the hearing claimed the FBI was pressuring Twitter execs to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story.

We got Chrissy and John Legend out Wednesday and they were kinda stoked about the attention ... that Ms. Teigen made it to the hallowed halls of Congress!

Chrissy Teigen feels like she's reached the mountaintop -- one of her more expletive-filled tweets about Donald Trump was read aloud Wednesday in Congress, and it's pretty hard not to laugh at the video.

Here's the deal ... House Republicans are leading a hearing to investigate Twitter's alleged role in suppressing Hunter Biden stories. But, Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Democrat, shifted the convo to former President Trump's interaction with the bird app.

Specifically, Frost brought up Chrissy's 2019 tweet dissing Trump, and asked former Twitter content moderator Anika Collier Navaroli to read it out loud ... strictly for the record, of course.

She uncomfortably said, "Chrissy Teigen referred to Donald Trump as a 'p**sy ass bitch.'"

The video from the hearing is hilarious .... Navaroli apologized in advance for the foul language, making it clear she was simply quoting Chrissy.

CT saw the video trending and reacted on IG, saying ... "I don’t know how to go on after this."

She quotes a tweeted video of the exchange on her Twitter and says, "I…oh my god."

We think she'll find a way ... especially with Trump running for office again.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has a warning for DC -- or, at least, that's what her bold dress choice for the State of the Union address seems to scream ... 'cause it didn't do well at the polls.

The Senator from Arizona rocked a bright yellow dress with huge ruffle sleeves Tuesday night for President Biden's speech -- an obvious, eye-grabbing contrast to her fellow members of Congress who largely opted for black and navy business attire.

If she was looking for attention, Twitter gave her plenty.

One user wrote, "Kyrsten Sinema……tell me you’re desperate for attention without telling me you’re desperate for attention."

Others mocked her evening attire ... comparing her to the distinguished gentleman from Sesame Street, sharing a ton of memes and calling her out for confusing the political affair with the Grammys.

Another viewer wrote, "I feel so bad for every DEM who voted for Kyrsten Sinema. Can you imagine not being able to get a refund for THAT?"

Sinema ditched the Democratic Party last year, declaring herself an Independent -- so, maybe the yellow was her visual middle ground between red and blue??? 🤷🏽‍♂️

The days of being verified for free on Twitter are coming to an end -- which goes for corporate accounts too ... who'll have pay a pretty penny for their verification status.

A new report from The Information suggests Elon Musk and co. are rolling out a new payment plan option for companies/brands who want to hold on to their gold checkmark ... which, up until now, was free if they were of note or importance.

Another separate reporter, Matt Navarra, appeared to confirm Twitter's plans ... which include charging business accounts $1,000 per month if they want to stay verified. Any affiliate accounts under the bigger corporate account will cost an additional $50/month.

They're calling the program Verified for Organizations, and it sounds like they're reaching out to brands now to get them onboard early. If they refuse to pony up, they'll lose their gold check and look like any other unverified Twitter user. It's unclear when this goes into effect.

It doesn't seem this new subscription plan applies to media companies, which would be at risk of phony accounts popping up and posing as them ... thus, spreading fake news.

On the contrary, this looks to be aimed more so at straight up corporations -- like Target, Bank of America, etc. -- that are strictly in the business of selling goods and services ... and turning a profit. It also sounds like a ploy to make quick cash, which Twitter reportedly really needs these days -- with mounting lawsuits from all ends and ongoing staff shortages.

Of course, this is just the latest money-making gimmick from Elon. In addition to this, he's still desperately trying to get people to sign up for Twitter Blue any way he can -- which is $8/month and guarantees virtual nobodies a blue checkmark, for whatever that's worth.

Meanwhile, tons of old legacy accounts -- like journos/other people of note -- continue to rock their blue checkmarks (for free, it seems) and public officials now have grey checks.

Bryan Kohberger -- the man charged with the University of Idaho student massacre -- is already getting the bizarre affection from women obsessed with alleged mass murderers.

Brittney Hislope has written a series of Facebook posts professing her love for the accused murderer of 4 college classmates, gushing that Kohberger is the “perfect man” for her.

In one post, Hislope said, “My love interest … is named Bryan and is accused of murder, and I just wish to connect with him above anyone else.”

She added, “One way to describe my feelings for him over the last week or so … is kind of like being lovesick.”

Hislope started posting her passionate letters to Kohberger January 4 ... just a few days after the former PhD criminology grad student had been arrested at his parent's home in Pennsylvania for the murders.

The single Kentucky mom, who has a 16-year-old son, pointed out she and Kohberger shared some things in common, such as their astrological signs — both are apparently Scorpios. She also claimed they have similar birth charts, making Kohberger her “divine masculine counterpart.”

In another IG post, Hislop referenced the strange love scene between Jason Patric and Jamie Gertz in the 1987 vampire movie, "The Lost Boys." She said, "Although it’s not very explicit, I’d want to be with my love interest Bryan in those ways.”

Michael Blackson says Eli Apple is ruthless with the Twitter fingers ... telling TMZ Sports he's not one bit surprised about his nephew's trash-talking antics -- 'cause it "runs in the family!!"

Apple made headlines throughout the playoffs for speaking his mind on social media ... going after opposing teams and gloating each time the Bengals came out victorious.

The actor-comedian told us he was cheering on his kin against the Kansas City Chiefs on championship Sunday ... but admits if he were Eli, he would have waited until after he won a Super Bowl ring to get at his contemporaries.

"I was rooting for him," Blackson said. "I always believe in talking smack once you get that ring. Once you get that ring, then you can talk smack."

Michael said despite what some people say about Eli, there are a lot of cornerbacks who want to be in his position -- playing in back-to-back AFC title games and the SB last season.

Michael also told us his thoughts on the big game -- he says the first-ever Super Bowl between two black quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts, "means a lot."

"Finally, Black quarterbacks are getting recognized," Blackson said. "At one point, nobody thought running quarterbacks would make it to the Super Bowl."

MB expects the game to be a high-scoring affair ... and predicts the Eagles will defeat the Chiefs, 28-24, but says you can never count out Mahomes.

"Patrick Mahomes is a kid that never goes down," Blackson said. "This guy finds ways to stay in the game and finds ways to win the game. We have to contain him. He runs all over the place."

Alyssa Milano has extended an olive branch to Britney Spears after being publicly called out by the singer ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for the actress tells us Alyssa reached out to Britney privately Wednesday to apologize after BS took to Instagram to slam a tweet of Alyssa's that she considered "bullying." As for how AM got the message across ... Brit sources tell us she sent a private message Britney's way this morning.

It's unclear if Britney reacted to Alyssa's apology, or what exactly Alyssa said in her message. We do know, however, that Alyssa expressed support for Britney in her correspondence.

ICYMI, Britney posted to her IG Story Tuesday, honing in on a tweet Alyssa fired off in December, which read ... "Someone please go check on Britney Spears." This is when she was off the radar and fans were concerned -- speculating she'd been re-conserved.

In response, Britney wrote ... "It saddens me to see things about me from people who don't know me!!! This definitely feels like a form of bullying!!!" She added, "Ladies, we are supposed to be rooting for one another not pulling one another down!!!"

Britney's been out in public since December, of course, but that outing didn't seem to go all that well ... at least from the outside looking in. Remember, we'd been told she appeared to be having a manic episode at a restaurant -- but both she and her husband denied it.

Ozzy Osbourne is canceling his upcoming tour, as well as the rest of his touring days for good ... citing a decline in his physical health that's preventing him from getting onstage.

The rocker announced Wednesday he's hanging it up on live shows ... starting with a slate of performances scheduled in the UK and Europe, which was supposed to begin in May. The tour was a continuation of a canceled Ozzy tour during COVID times.

Ozzy says an accident he suffered 4 years ago -- falling in 2019 and reaggravating an old neck/back injury from years ago -- hasn't quite gone according to plan in terms of recovery ... even now. Despite numerous surgeries, treatments and PT ... Ozzy says he still feels weak.

He adds, "I am honestly humbled by the way you've all patiently held onto your tickets for all this time, but in all good conscience, I have now come to the realization that I'm not physically capable." Ozzy goes on to say that it hurts him he might be letting down fans.

One final heartfelt note from him ... "Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way. My team is currently coming up with ideas where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city and country to country."

Ozzy thanks his family, his band, his crew and his longtime friends in Judas Priest for the loyalty, support and dedication to him and his career for all these years.

Of course, we've been aware of Ozzy's health-related setbacks for a good while now ... but all this time, he's said he was determined to get back into the spotlight to do what he loves most. All the while ... his wife and former manager, Sharon Osbourne, has been by his side.

She, herself, has been through some health scares -- and some controversies -- in recent years as well ... but she's been steadfast in supporting Ozzy through and through, and he's been there for there her in return.