You Might Want to Rethink

Jussie Smollett's always cool with Lee Daniels ... saying he appreciates the director giving him his big break -- and, he'd rather keep their relationship private.

We caught up with the embattled actor in New York City Friday outside a movie theater on the same day "The Lost Holliday" -- a project JS directed -- received it's wide release ... and, we had to ask about Daniels' recent comments about him.

Jussie says he's got a lot of love for LD ... admitting he appreciates the opportunity Lee gave him -- his starring role on "Empire" -- and, he doesn't like to talk about their relationship publicly 'cause it's so special to him.

The 2024 presidential election just gets weirder and weirder ... 'cause a statue of Donald Trump is towering over Las Vegas -- depicting the former prez in his birthday suit.

The art piece depicting the former POTUS was erected -- no pun intended -- just outside Las Vegas ... towering over Interstate 15 on the way to Utah. We've had to blur the pics a bit here, but you get the basic idea -- the prez wears no clothes.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us the statue stands 43-feet-tall and bears the name "Crooked and Obscene" ... a reference, we're told, to the controversial nature of both the man and the statue itself.

An OnlyFans model in Australia couldn't help but get a little naughty in a hardware store ... and now she's banned.

Here's the blueprint ... Cynthia Lin took her seemingly doe-eyed performances into Bunnings -- a chain Down Under --  and filmed a series of sexually charged videos with random customers.

Seeking a “single tradie” ... CL would wander around until she found a man by himself ... and then hit on him with sexual innuendos before asking to exchange numbers.

1:15 PM PT -- A rep for Secret Service tells TMZ ... "The Secret Service cannot provide the details on our means and methods of protection, but we can confirm that at no time were any Secret Service protectees in the vehicle while the individual was walking down the alleyway. These claims are inaccurate. The photo in question was upon departure and not during the alleged incident."

However, TMZ has spoken with an eyewitness who tells us the armed security guard approached the window and observed Obama inside using a laptop ... and because the guard was armed, he quickly moved away from the SUV.

Barack Obama coming inches away from an armed stranger in a Hollywood alleyway is the latest stunning lapse of Secret Service security -- an absolutely shocking scene that played out last weekend ... TMZ has learned.

The former president was sitting in the back seat of his SUV Saturday around 7:30 PM outside hot spot restaurant Mother Wolf -- and that's when the armed man approached the vehicle, in his capacity as a security guard for a bar mitzvah going on upstairs from the restaurant.

We spoke to the armed guard -- who asked us not to use his name -- and he says he went downstairs to check the scene, because someone told him it appeared federal agents were outside, and they didn't know why.

T.I. and Boosie Badazz recently partnered together for some impromptu parenting ... after realizing their sons wanted to shoot a music video while flaunting firearms!!!

On Tuesday, never-before-seen footage of T.I. and Boosie crashing King Harris and Tootie Raww's music video set and blasting them over all the repercussions the guns could bring them down the line.

The clip begins with Boosie explaining how he had just been telling Tip the boys were making positive strides in the music -- only to be shocked by the violent content they were trying to push.

Donald Trump seems to have missed the memo on Johnny Carson's death ... calling for the late-night legend to return to 'The Tonight Show' 19 years after dying.

The former prez addressed his supporters at a rally in Pennsylvania Monday, where he took a moment to take shots at late-night TV. Specifically, Trump appeared to take an issue with Jimmy Fallon and his version of 'The Tonight Show,' which he described as "dying."

During this tangent in his address, the Republican nominee called on Carson to return to the long-running talk show and asked the crowd ... "Where's Johnny Carson???"

D.L. Hughley is making Janet Jackson the punchline of his latest roast ... after the singer publicly questioned Vice President Kamala Harris' race.

The comedian took to X as Jackson's controversial remarks picked up steam ... and the funnyman made it clear her comments were no laughing matter.

Initially, Hughley slammed Jackson's rhetoric for sounding like "a Trump rally." For those who may not know, Donald Trump has previously questioned Harris' racial identity ... suggesting this summer that the Democratic nominee "happened to turn Black" for political advantage.

2:16 PM PT -- Janet's reps tell TMZ ... Mo Elmasri has absolutely no connection to her. Her manager is her brother, Randy Jackson.

Janet Jackson's walking back previous comments she made about Kamala Harris ... admitting the VP is actually Black -- and, her remarks were "based on misinformation."

Mo Elmasri -- Janet Jackson's manager -- clarified Jackson's claim that Harris' father was actually a white man ... making a statement to Buzzfeed that Janet repeated false claims she'd heard somewhere.

Elmarsi adds Janet deeply respects Harris' accomplishments as a Black and Indian woman -- making it clear JJ's acknowledging she's both -- and saying Janet understands the importance of accurate representation of facts in public discourse.

Angelina Jolie and her daughter Vivienne are forever 'Outsiders' ... permanently inking themselves with matching tats referencing the hit Broadway musical they worked on together.

The actress revealed her matching tattoos during an interview with CR Fashion Book ... saying the two got "Stay Gold" -- an iconic line from "The Outsiders" and a song title in the Broadway show -- written on their bodies.

Angelina says the show -- the first Broadway play she's produced and the first show her kiddo had a job on -- means a lot to both of them, both collectively and separately ... and, they wanted to commemorate the accomplishment.

Janet Jackson's pushing a conspiracy theory about Kamala Harris' race ... parroting claims Donald Trump made about the VP a couple months ago -- claiming she's not Black.

The music legend sat down for a chat with The Guardian, published late Friday, when the interviewer asked her about the upcoming election and how she felt about possibly having a Black woman in the White House.

In response, JJ replies that she heard KH isn't actually Black ... and, instead she's Indian -- a claim DJT made during a disastrous conversation at the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention in July.

An old clip of Diddy advising Conan O'Brien on how to how to lock women up at parties has reemerged — and, as you might imagine, the video isn't aging well.

Diddy sat down with the host of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" back in 2002 ... and the two talked all about the music mogul's killer soirees.

Conan was first to bring up the topic — joking that he personally throws on Paul Anka's music at his parties and breaks out the "Cheez Whiz," but no one comes by.

Hayley Williams' is trashing a second Donald Trump term ... saying people need to vote if they don't want to end up in a dictatorship run by the 45th POTUS.

The Paramore singer-songwriter fired off at the Republican candidate for president at Las Vegas’ iHeartRadio Music Festival Friday night ... dropping to the ground and speaking right into the camera for those in the venue and for everyone streaming the show.

She first mentions Project 2025 -- the presidential transition plan for Donald Trump created by the Heritage Foundation -- saying it's DJT's playbook for "controlling and pubishing women, poor people, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community."

Don King says his health's much better than Mike Tyson's suggesting ... claiming he's feeling fine and dandy after his 10-day stint in the hospital -- despite MT basically saying he's on death's door.

The legendary boxing promoter released a statement via his reps Saturday ... telling fans he's recovering and feeling fine -- and, he's got a lot of love for Mike Tyson.

It's a short, to-the-point statement ... but, clearly DK wants everyone to know his health issues aren't as bad as previously reported.

Erik Menéndez is outraged over the new Netflix series about how he and his brother Lyle notoriously murdered their parents in 1989 ... and he says Ryan Murphy went out of his way to slander the infamous siblings!

Here's the deal ... "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story" debuted Thursday on Netflix ... dramatically chronicling what happened before, during and after the brothers shot their affluent parents José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez.

The actual Erik called BS on the series ... and lambasted RM for his “naive and inaccurate” depiction of the brutal home slayings that made international headlines.

A Washington, D.C. coffee shop owner went on a wild, foul-mouthed racist rant against a Spanish-speaking Uber Eats driver -- who caught the whole thing on camera.

In the TikTok clip full of graphic language -- Greg Harris went off on Gregorio Amundarain, repeatedly yelling at him to "learn English" since he's making money in America ... mocking the delivery driver during the nasty tirade as Amundarain recorded the outburst.

Harris was so enraged, he got right up in Amundarain's face, shouting into the camera of the driver, who remained calm.

A government worker in Brazil got the boot from his cushy job after his wife busted him cheating outside a hotel -- and the whole thing was caught on camera by a passerby!

In the video, Marcelo Serra, the Conservation and Public Services undersecretary, is ambushed by his wife, Gabrielle Kienan ... who storms out of her SUV and races up to his car just as he’s about to leave the Praia Grande Hotel in Niterói -- with another woman riding shotgun.

Gabrielle is clearly livid and visibly distraught as she pounds on the driver’s window, then flings open his door. Serra finally steps out to have a few tense words with his wife of 6 years ... who yells at him in Portuguese, "You ruined my life, you bastard!"