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Mariah Carey didn't seem too amused by a small-time artist sampling her smash hit for his own remix -- telling him to get ready for a legal battle ... but it looks like she's just joshin'.

The singer responded to an A&R consultant who posted a music video from rapper/singer YTK doing his own version of "Shake It Off' -- only his take is a lot more ominous and street-friendly, 'cause he calls it "Let It Off" ... as in, let off rounds of gunfire. Still, it's catchy.

The video had started to catch fire online ... people appeared to be pretty down with it, and there was a mini viral campaign of sorts to help make it into a legally-cleared song.

So, the A&R guy wrote ... "Mariah Carey has 24 hours to respond." Welp, she responded alright ... but wasn't very receptive (on the surface, anyway). MC replied, "How about y'all have 24 hours to respond to my lawyers." She also posted a GIF of her saying, "GTFO."

Daaaaaammmmnn ... pretty feisty, huh??? Eh, not exactly -- apparently, Mariah was joking with her aggressive clap-back ... at least, according to the A&R exec who started this whole thing.

He elaborated on what was happening behind the scenes, saying he'd actually hit up none other than Questlove to help him get the song cleared for YTK ... and, apparently, Quest was on board to help make it happen. Also ... it sounds like Mariah's cool with them using the song, but the hold-up at this point might be Sony ... which appears to hold the rights.

Here's a skit for Elon Musk on 'SNL' -- terrified Los Angelenos staring into the sky thinking aliens finally arrived to take them away ... only to discover it's just Elon's new space toys.

Yeah, people in L.A. were freaking out Wednesday night when they saw a string of lights moving across the sky in unison. The freakout was in full effect for those who happened to be looking up, and many turned to Twitter (naturally) for answers.

One person tweeted, "Did anyone else see a strand of moving lights above Los Angeles tonight?" ... followed by an alien emoji. If you're in L.A. and reading this, you've probably figured out there's no invasion. Yet.

What really happened is SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 of its satellites earlier this week. It was the second such launch in less than a week ... giving SpaceX well over 1,000 satellites up there.

The new ones had just deployed on Wednesday afternoon, and as astronomer Dr. James Davenport put it ... "They were still in low orbit, and they were still clustered together so we call this like the Starlink train."

He added, "You see like a little chain of satellites all close together reflecting sunlight back at us."

The launch itself also freaked out people all over the West Coast last week.

People in Washington and Oregon reacted to the lights and also figured aliens were invading!!!

Elon Musk still doesn't seem to know what the heck's in store for his big debut on "Saturday Night Live" ... and he's even resorted to asking photogs about what skits he should do.

The Tesla CEO is in NYC Tuesday, days ahead of taking the stage at NBC Studios -- where he'll be hosting 'SNL' -- and the moment he showed his face in the streets he was swarmed ... mostly by autograph seekers who shoved dozens of Sharpies and photos in his face.

Of course, the one thing on everyone's mind is what he's got in store for Saturday's show. Check it out -- sounds like Elon still isn't entirely sure, but hey ... it's only Tuesday.

He regurgitated some ideas he was spitballing on Twitter over the weekend ... including Baby Shark Tank and a Dogecoin riff. Doesn't seem like he's touched base with 'SNL' staff quite yet.

BTW, Elon's appearance in the Big Apple is a family affair ... he touched down at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey Monday night with none other this his partner, Grimes, and their baby boy, X Æ A-12, in tow.

EM was handling cradling duties as they exited to a waiting vehicle, and he seemed to be doing a damn good job at it too. Meaning ... he didn't drop the kid!!!

Well this is kinda awkward -- it's just 7 days until curtain call for Elon Musk and the 'SNL' team, and he's out here openly brainstorming skits on Twitter, which screams ... unprepared.

The Tesla CEO took to Twitter Saturday -- a full week before he's set to host in NYC --- and he was actually fielding ideas from randos about good sketches he and the cast could do. He might just be screwing around ... OR, maybe he has no idea what's actually in store.

Here are just a few possibilities he's kicking around between himself and his followers -- he suggested "Woke James Bond," "Irony Man" (who defeats villains using the power of irony), "Baby Shark Tank" (self-explanatory) ... and he even entertained a Dogecoin idea.

Someone suggested he do a riff on the 'The Godfather' ... and spin it like the Dogefather, which he's been nicknamed for helping catapult the cryptocurrency into the mainstream.

Elon simply responded ... "Definitely."

Again, it's likely Elon's just joshing around and simply teasing his appearance altogether. However, another scenario exists ... that the 'SNL' team might not have filled him in entirely as to what skits are in play (yet), which isn't all that crazy considering the bad blood that's been brewing since the announcement.

If you haven't heard, a few cast members publicly decried Elon being tapped as host -- namely, Bowen Yang and Aidy Bryant ... who didn't seem to dig the idea of cozying up to Elon. Yang openly mocked a tweet Elon posted, which said, "Let's find out just how live Saturday Night Live is" ... to which Yang responded, "what the f*** does this even mean?"

Bryant was a little more subtle ... posting a quote from Bernie Sanders about the incredibly wealthy class in this country -- to which Elon belongs. He's a multi-billionaire these days.

Jay-Z's 6-year flip of Tidal's streaming service is complete -- he just closed the deal to sell the majority of the company to Square for $350 million ... a pretty good return on his initial investment.

Square, the financial services company owned by Jay's pal, Jack Dorsey, is now firmly in the music streaming biz. Jack had announced back in March that he planned to take Tidal off Jay's hands, but sources familiar tell TMZ they just closed the deal Friday morning.

Remember, Jay-Z launched Tidal back in 2015 for $56 million in a partnership with several artists, including Beyonce, Rihanna, Kanye West, Madonna, Alicia Keys, Calvin Harris, Chris Martin and others.

For its $350 mil ... Square gets 80% ownership of Tidal, along with licensing deals with the major record labels and all the artists/owners will remain with the company too.

We're told Jay and Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez, who helped broker the deal, will both remain on board to help run Tidal.

Over the last year we've seen Jay and Jack hanging out several times -- sometimes sipping wine together in the Hamptons -- and now we know what they're discussing ... major tycoon stuff.

Jay's made serious bank of his Tidal investment. He'd previously sold 33% of it to Sprint back in 2017 for an undisclosed amount.

This is disgusting.

Cleveland Indians infielder Yu Chang was the target of vile and racist hatred after making a game-ending error on Monday ... and now he's calling out the scumbags behind the hateful comments.

Chang -- who is Taiwanese -- was playing 1st base for Cleveland in their tilt against the Chicago White Sox when he made a throwing error in the bottom of the 9th (with 1 out) that ultimately cost Cleveland the game.

Of course, Chang probably felt terrible for the error -- but what made things worse is the tidal wave of hate that came onto his social media pages.

Chang decided he wasn't going to let the racists idiots behind the messages get away with such horrible comments -- and put them on blast Tuesday morning.

The comments are despicable -- using disgusting anti-Asian slurs to attack Chang. One person even brought up SARS and the coronavirus. Really terrible stuff.

25-year-old Chang says he's open to legitimate baseball criticism -- but he won't stand for racism or other offensive comments.

"Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES."

"Thank you all and love you all. #StopAsianHate."

The comments come at a time of unrest for the Asian community -- Stop AAPI Hate recently released a report claiming there have been more than 3,800 anti-Asian incidents in the past year.

Sports stars have been using their platform more than ever to combat anti-Asian hate -- NBA player Jeremy Lin recently revealed he was called the "coronavirus" during a recent G-League game ... and vowed to do whatever it takes to prevent others from going through similar hurtful experiences.

Chang was a highly touted prospect coming out of Taiwan -- and impressed MLB's scouts with his stellar performance at the 2011 World Youth Championship.

Tributes have been pouring in since DMX took his last breath Friday ... and one fan credits him with forging an understanding about her own dad who was gripped by addiction.

The woman wrote, "DMX is the reason I forgave my father after he passed for his years of addiction. We met in 2017 after I heard him from my room in the hallway of my hotel. It was all divine intervention. I ran to the hallway & met him. We spoke for 15 mins."

She goes on ... "We spoke about addiction & he encouraged me to forgive my father for what he couldn’t control. He said 'forgive him.' I needed to hear that. Of all people, it came from someone I grew up listening to bc of my dad ... Sometimes in the moment you don’t understand the significance of a moment until it’s passed. To this day, I credit X for helping me learn forgiveness. I am praying that he gives himself grace — in this lifetime and beyond. His words and impact have left a deep legacy."

Kerry Washington learned an increasingly obvious lesson ... just don't say anything on social media, 'cause you'll get torn apart.

Kerry has now deleted her tweet suggesting an after-life connection between DMX and Prince Philip. She wrote, "Anybody else wondering what DMX and His Royal Highness Prince Phillip are chatting about together at the pearly gates? My love to both their families. May they both Rest in Peace."

The reaction was predictable ... “The assumption that DMX and that white man are going to the same place…now miss washington please…”

Another user took a stab with this ...  “One of them slid down the @LilNasX pole to hell, and it wasn’t DMX.”

And, then there's this ... “DMX and Prince Phillip going to two very different places…don’t lump in DMX with a white supremacist pls queen.”

DMX made a huge impact on athletes around the world -- many of whom are paying tribute to the rapper in the wake of his death Friday morning.

NFL star Adrian Peterson posted, "A Hip hop icon like no other. RIP."

LeBron James paid tribute by playing X's music on his IG page -- including the smash hit "Slippin'."

He also tweeted, "X 4L!! Rest In Paradise LEGEND!!"

NBA star Jamal Crawford added, "DMX gave hope to the hopeless ... RIP legend."

Stephen Jackson posted a picture of his tattoo which features a quote from DMX.

"If my life ain’t long, I thank God with my last breath so my life ain’t wrong."

"[DMX] inspired me to get this tat 17 yrs ago," Jackson posted ... "Words that stuck with me. Rest Easy Big Dog. Gone but never forgotten. Prayers and condolences to DMX and his family."

Ex-NFL wide receiver Torrey Smith -- "RIP DMX! My love for dogs was influenced by him. His lyrics also made me feel like I could get through anything!"

"I’m glad that he was able to receive his roses recently. His mental health struggle was documented for all of us to see and learn from. Prayers up for his family."

Even pro wrestling legend Iron Sheik weighed in ... "DMX RIP BROTHER FOREVER."

Charlotte Hornets player Miles Bridges: "RIP DMX if you know me you know I fw X heavy smh this one hurt."

NFL's A.J. Brown: "All Dawgs go to Heaven!! RIP DMX."

Taylor Swift die-hards are paving the way for her highly anticipated re-release of her sophomore album, "Fearless" ... making sure none of the old stuff gets in the way.

If you haven't heard, Taylor's been in an all-out war over her masters, and has decided to re-record her original songs and albums and release them again ... and "Fearless: Taylor's Version" drops Friday.

So, a horde of Swifties out there are banding together to make the OG "Fearless" album disappear ... on Spotify at least.

The Twitter account -- Taylor Swift Updates -- has a how-to guide to hiding all the old versions of her albums and songs on Spotify ... ensuring that Swift's fans automatically get the re-records.

It's pretty simple, albeit a little time-consuming, but for Swifties who want to heed Taylor's call to stop supporting her old albums and devote their ears to her re-releases ... it's pretty much mandatory.

As we've told you ... the first step in Swift's campaign was releasing her redo of "Love Story" back in February -- the smash hit from "Fearless" -- and if its success was any indication, Friday is going to be a very big day.

Cher is apologizing for saying George Floyd might still be alive if she was in the crowd during his fatal arrest ... she says she let her emotions get the best of her.

The 74-year-old singer just walked back her weekend tweetstorm, where she suggested she would have stepped in to save Floyd, saying she's done some soul searching after getting dragged online.

Cher says, "These last days have been Hard,Soul Searching, Painful Ones. My Wording Was Wrong/Imprecise. When I’m Over-emotional I Should Wait, Walk Away, Then Twt. I Felt Sorrow,& Did Wish I Could have Helped George.Sometimes you can feel what you can’t Explain in a twt. Sorry is All I Have."

As we reported ... Cher was accused of having a "white savior complex" for saying she could've helped Floyd if only she'd been there when he was arrested, and she initially responded to the backlash by doubling down.

Cher's also deleted the initial tweet that got her in some hot water, which read ... "Was talking with Mom & She Said 'I Watched Trial Of Policeman Who Killed George Floyd, & Cried ... I Said 'Mom,I Know This Is Gonna Sound CRAZY, But.. I Kept Thinking ... Maybe If I'd Been There, ... I Could've Helped."

"Words carry weight and it is incumbent upon all of us to have a thorough understanding of the words we choose and the effect they may have on others," Licht said in a statement.

Super Bowl champion Carlton Davis is in hot water for tweeting out a VERY offensive Asian slur -- though Davis claims he didn't know the "dark" history behind the word.

"Gotta stop letting g***s in Miami," the Tampa Bay Bucs cornerback posted on Sunday evening in a since-deleted tweet.

Obviously, the tweet went viral and people couldn't believe an NFL player would hurl such an offensive word around so casually.

Davis initially offered an explanation -- and actually had the balls to attack the media for criticizing him in the first place.

The 24-year-old posted a screenshot from the Urban Dictionary definition of the word (which, conveniently, wasn't even the top definition).

"A term commonaly [sic] used in South Florida to describe a person who is Lame. Synonym for Lame, wack, Fool or Stupid."

Davis added, "I would never offend any group of people. You reporters can look for another story to blow up. The term was directed towards a producer claiming he 'ran Miami.' With that being said I'll retire that word from my vocabulary giving the hard times our Asian family are enduring."

Just minutes later, Davis was changing his tune in another statement.

"I used a term that from where I come from has always meant 'lame' but I did not realize it has a much darker, negative connotation. I have learned a valuable lesson and want to apologize to anyone that was offended by seeing that word because we need to focus on helping each other during these tough times."

FYI, the g-word is an incredibly offensive anti-Asian slur that's been around for decades. It was widely used by American soldiers against Koreans and Vietnamese people during military conflicts.

Ans since Davis is into using definitions ... how about this one from Merriam-Webster.com:

"offensive -- used as an insulting and contemptuous term for a nonwhite, non-American person and especially for an Asian person."

No word if the NFL plans to take action.

Davis was a 2nd-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and had a pretty solid 2020 season ... logging 68 tackles and 4 interceptions during the Bucs' championship run.

Cher is not backing down from a comment that got her dragged online ... that George Floyd might be alive if she'd have been there.

The 74-year-old singer had first tweeted, "Was talking with Mom & She Said 'I Watched Trial Of Policeman Who Killed George Floyd, & Cried ... I Said 'Mom,I Know This Is Gonna Sound CRAZY, But.. I Kept Thinking ... Maybe If I'd Been There, ... I Could've Helped."

People went crazy, criticizing her and calling the post a show of the "white savior complex."

Cher was not silenced, and posted again, saying, "Wrestled With This Twt,  Because I Thought some ppl wouldn’t understand, Or Believe an Entertainer Could have Honest emotions about a human Being,suffering & Dying,even if It’s Only Shown On tv. You Don’t Know What I’ve Done,Who I Am,Or What I Believe.I CAN,I HAVE,& I WILL..HELP"

What's unclear ... even if Cher truly believes she would have stepped in, exactly what would she have done with multiple officers there who were clearly keeping the crowd at bay as Derek Chauvin had his knee planted on George Floyd's neck?

Cher seemed to absorb the criticism, adding, "I Just got off phone With Friend Karen.Told her what Happened,& Realized,You Can Piss Ppl Off,& Hurt Them By Not Knowing Everything That’s”NOT Appropriate”To Say.I know Ppl Apologize When They’re In a Jam,BUTRaised back of handTO GODFolded hands,IM TRULY SORRY If I Upset AnyOne In Blk Community.I Know My (heart)"

The NBA has finally decided to take action against Kevin Durant for the homophobic and misogynistic insults he used in a private Instagram conversation with Michael Rapaport -- fining the guy $50,000.

"Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant has been fined $50,000 for using offensive and derogatory language on social media," the NBA announced on Friday.

"Durant has acknowledged that his actions were inappropriate."

As we previously reported, Rapaport posted screenshots of recent DM conversations with Durant which the actor felt crossed a line.

"I receive threats and disgusting messages DAILY, but never in my wildest dreams did I think [Durant] would be among them," Rap said.

In the messages, Durant used crude homophobic and misogynistic slurs to attack Rapaport.

KD has said the messages were not supposed to see the light of day -- and said he was "sorry that people seen the language that I used."

"That’s not what I want people to see from me. Hopefully I can move past it."

Durant has yet to publicly acknowledge that what he said is offensive -- or apologize specifically for the words he used.

Elon Musk's got real estate agents working overtime deep in the heart of Texas, because with just one tweet he's made the yet-to-be-built city of Starbase a hot relocation destination.

You'll recall the SpaceX honcho basically said he's leaving a light on for any and everyone who wants to move to the Brownsville/South Padre area, work for SpaceX and become a resident of the brand new city he's planning to put on the map.

As it turns out ... people took Elon's tweets as marching orders.

We spoke to agents in the area who say there is a direct correlation between Elon's tweets and an increase in real estate customers. In fact, one agent we spoke to called it "the Elon Musk effect" ... and for good reason.

Shortly after Elon's post, one agent tells us he got a call from a man in Boston inquiring about a rental property in Brownsville. Another agent who's worked in the area for nearly 2 decades said 2 years ago he'd never answer calls from outside of his area code.

Now? Not picking up could be the difference between earning or losing a fat commission. Like on Tuesday, when a man from Oregon called offering to pay $200k in cash for a house in Brownsville. The average median house price in the area is around $167k.

One agent who says he's already sold 7 houses to SpaceX employees says calls keep rolling in from all over the country ... from Illinois and North Dakota to California and Utah. And, if you're curious about Elon's reach? The agent says he got a call from someone in Kenya! It's good to be the richest man in the world.

Hailey Bieber is learning how to unplug from social media, while silencing online trolls at the same time ... a process she says her hubby, Justin, is guiding her through.

Hailey was talking to Dr. Jessica Clemons -- a world-renowned psychiatrist -- about mental health and social media when she dished on how she navigates Instagram, Twitter and other apps these days ... while also processing vile comments from complete strangers.

For starters, Mrs. Bieber explained how she's actually come to limit her Instagram use ... swearing it off Monday through Friday and only hopping in on weekends. That's apparently helped drown out a lot of noise ... and so has completely nixing Twitter from her rotation.

Check it out ... she describes it as very toxic, and is realizing what a lot of users have about the bird platform in 2021.

There's more Hailey does to filter out unnecessary negativity on IG -- she explains how she limits her comments to just people she follows, from whom she knows she won't get any out-of-pocket/mean-spirited remarks just 'cause. She also says good old-fashioned therapy has helped her deal with relentless bullying.

Hailey also heaped praise on Justin for giving her great advice and much-needed perspective on how to look at these sorts of things ... seeing how he's been through this on the biggest stage.