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A new show Chloe Bailey is in -- where she's shown having sex -- has sparked a debate about racism and colorism in Hollywood ... and now, Halle Berry's been roped in.

You might've noticed the latter is trending this weekend, and the reason is because of this discourse that's taken off since Donald Glover's latest TV series, "Swarm," debuted on Friday ... which starts out with a scene depicting Chloe doing the deed in very graphic detail.

Since then, there's been a lot of chatter about her decision to do the sex scene ... some say it's a great move/good for her, and others feel like it falls in line with other choices she's made of late -- like putting out a single with Chris Brown -- that some think are ... not so wise.

As one Twitter user put it ... "Where is a Chloe Bailey’s mentor pls??? She’s been making terrible decisions lately, she should have never done that sex scene in Swarm and I’m not even gonna go into her most recent collab." A lot of other folks reacted similarly.

On Saturday, that convo shifted when someone brought up Halle in comparison. She tweeted, "Halle Berry getting back shots role got her an Oscar right?" The point she was making ... Halle also did risqué stuff in her day -- "Monster's Ball" being the prime example, for which she won an Oscar -- but that, in and of itself, did not diminish her work/accolades.

This user was essentially saying Chloe's sex scene won't define her acting career, and that it's unfair to suggest she'll be derailed 'cause of it. Basically, stop giving her premature flak.

However, another Twitter user responded ... suggesting Halle enjoys the benefit of a lighter skin complexion and even went so far as to claim that she's "white passing." Obviously, she isn't -- Halle looks Black, not white ... which is literally what white-passing means.

Semantics aside, however, this woman's point (as she further explained on her page) is that Halle fits Hollywood's traditional white European beauty standard ... more so than Chloe, or any other dark-skinned Black woman for that matter. Therefore, she believes Halle has had an easier time in showbiz than Chloe might in this specific regard ... aka, baring it all.

In other words, this user feels like colorism is still very much alive and well in the entertainment industry ... and that darker-skinned Black performers will have a tougher go in comparison to any of their lighter-skinned counterparts -- which might be valid.

Of course, there's also the Bailey sisters factor here ... namely, the fact that Chloe's also-famous sibling, Halle Bailey, has a more buttoned-up rep than her older sis, perhaps, does.

Halle (Bailey) is literally starring in "The Little Mermaid" with Disney -- very family-friendly, etc. -- and she generally avoids controversy of her own doing. Chloe, on the other hand, is under a microscope more often ... and tends to get labeled as the wild child of the two.

Bruce Willis turns 68 today -- and his wife, Emma Heming, is opening up about the milestone with brutal honesty ... and a lot of emotion.

Emma took to Instagram to share her thoughts on her husband's birthday, which she says started out with her crying this morning. The reason ... Emma is obviously dealing with Bruce's recent dementia diagnosis -- and she says it takes a toll on her and their family.

She goes on to say that people are always commending her for being so strong in the face of adversity ... but, as she notes, she doesn't have a choice in the matter -- and simply does what she has to do to keep her household and life in order.

Despite having to put on a brave face, Emma says she experiences times of grief and sadness -- especially with having two young children that she and Bruce are raising -- and as she tearfully explains ... it's difficult.

BTW, Emma says these videos she makes -- giving updates on Bruce's condition and how it's affecting their home life, etc. -- are gut-wrenching to her ... but she does them anyway because she knows how many fans BW has ... who are interested in his well-being/journey.

She says the outpouring of love and support she and Bruce have received means the world to her ... and Emma clearly takes it all to heart. We also know Emma is deeply protective of Bruce these days -- she recently told paps (publicly) to back off and to leave him be.

Jimmy Fallon left the Big Apple for St. Patrick's Day and ventured upstate for some small town pub partying ... hitting up a local watering hole, and jamming out with the band!

The 'Tonight Show' host found his way into Iron Smoke Distillery Friday in Fairport, NY -- just outside of Rochester. He actually knows the owner of the bar across the street -- Mulconry's Irish Pub -- and apparently heard the musicians from 1916 rocking out ... feeling intrigued.

We're told Jimmy popped in toward the end of 1916's set and asked if he could play with them before they headed out. Of course, they obliged -- sticking around for a few more songs. As many people know, JF's a bit of a music man himself ... and a natural showman.

That came in handy for the three tunes they performed -- including The Doors' "Gloria," The Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands to Yourself," U2's "Desire" and others. Jimmy took charge on vocals and on lead guitar ... and all the other band members backed him up.

After hitting the stage, we're told Jimmy hung around a bit and took photos with patrons ... capping off a great time had by all. Seems he wanted his holiday to be a little more low-key and homegrown ... and he certainly got that with the Iron Smoke crowd that night.

We'll see if he has more to dish about his night out come Monday ... when he'll be back on late night duty, with his own band on hand. This is just a good reminder -- dude could probably jump in himself at a moment's notice and hold his own.

Kim Kardashian has been a full-blown soccer mom for a while -- but now, she's taking the mini van overseas ... and she's brought the kiddos with her to watch the pros do it live.

The beauty-fashion mogul was in Paris Sunday to take in the PSG match against Rennes at the Parc des Princes stadium -- where it looks like she had box seats and a great view to peep all the action on the pitch below. Ditto for her son, Saint, who was tagging along.

KK was out there in all black, and rocking shades too ... looking quite chic. Saint himself was wearing a PSG jersey -- and the two of them even came down onto the field for pics.

It appears Saint's on this Euro trip with some buddies of his, who are no doubt enjoying the vacay. BTW, Sunday's soccer game wasn't their first -- a few days ago, Kim and the kids were out in London for an Arsenal game as well ... and there, too, they were loving it.

As we've seen over the past few years now, Saint is VERY into soccer. He plays in a local league, and Kim comes to a lot of his games. Kanye's been to some as well ... and, at times, it's been a little awkward/tense -- but the 2 parents have always played nice in public.

Speaking of Ye, he's hanging with him and Kim's daughter, North, this weekend ... who's also in the presence of his new "wife," Bianca Censori. North seems adjusted, everyone's chill.

Ben Affleck is on top of the world lately -- making movies with his best bud, and having his wife star in films he's producing ... which he says is the pinnacle of success and happiness.

The actor-director sat down with CBS Sunday Morning for a chat about his new movie, "Air" which follows the story of Nike signing Michael Jordan to his legendary shoe deal ... and which just debuted at SXSW this weekend to rave reviews and thunderous applause.

The film stars Ben and Matt Damon, and the reunion has truly had a shining effect on BA -- as you can tell in this interview. He talks about how chasing money in showbiz (or any biz, really) isn't the key to fulfillment, as he says he's found out.

Instead, he says he's realized that right now ... he's at his most joyous. That's because he loved coming to work for this "Air" flick -- hanging out with his childhood BFF and collaborating, seeing his kids more often and doing projects he's actually passionate about.

That brings the convo to Ben and Matt's new productions company -- Artists Equity -- which guarantees the ancillary crew members a bigger cut of the pie ... unlike traditional studios.

"Air" is AE's first movie (which is being distributed by Amazon) and they already have another sports biopic in the works ... which will star Jennifer Lopez. Ben addresses the apparent nepotism here in the interview ... and insists he got the best actors for the job, her included.

There's more in the full interview ... like what MJ himself wanted in terms of demands. One of those asks, as Ben shares, was that Viola Davis play his mom -- and she does.

Ed Winter, the Deputy L.A. County Coroner who handled the death cases/investigations into some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood has died ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Winter passed away at his L.A. area home Friday of natural causes.

Winter was right there in front of the cameras in cases that include Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Brittany Murphy, Paul Walker, Tom Petty and Corey Haim.

Perhaps the most notable case involved Michael Jackson's death. Winter had immediate concerns when he saw a shocking number of injection points in Jackson's body. He was at UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson was taken, and immediately after he was pronounced dead he noticed Dr. Conrad Murray had left the facility. Winter said, "He fled."  Murray would have been the one to sign Jackson's death certificate, but Winter ended up doing it.

Winter later said Jackson had enough Propofol in him "to put down a rhinoceros or an elephant."

But Winter knew there was more to the story, and also set his sights on Dr. Arnold Klein, Jackson's dermatologist who fueled him almost daily with massive doses of Demerol. He tried to get Klein's medical records and eventually discovered Jackson had 19 aliases to score drugs, and Klein was a principal enabler.

Whitney Houston's death just before Clive Davis's 2012 pre-Grammy party was also a defining moment in his career. Winter had become such a staple on TV, he himself was very recognizable. After Whitney's body was discovered, her family gathered near her hotel room. Someone introduced a member of the family to Winter, and the woman said, "I know who Ed Winter is." The woman was Dionne Warwick.

On Winter's first day on the job, he was assigned to a notorious celebrity case -- the death of Lana Clarkson, at the hands of music icon Phil Spector, who was convicted of murdering her.

Paul Walker's horrific death was another high-profile case Winter managed. He went on TV to explain what happened in the car crash ... "He died instantly," Winter told reporters, despite reports the actor was screaming for help.

Jennifer Lopez is doing a juggling act ... she celebrated the launch of her shoe collection in Bev Hills Saturday, as she and Ben Affleck are scrambling to buy a house before the end of the month because the financial consequences are HUGE.

Lots of stars showed up to support JLo, including Tiffany Haddish, Hailey and Chloe Bailey. and others.

The event was packed, and JLo mingled with them all ... with security, of course.

Ben was actually a no-show... he was at the premiere of his new flick, "AIR" at SXSW.

Donald Trump is certainly not acting like a guy on the verge of being arrested ... He flew to Oklahoma Saturday night and enjoyed himself at a college sporting event.

The former President showed up at the BOK Center in Tulsa for the NCAA Wrestling Tournament -- hours after he announced that he would be arrested Tuesday by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg over the Stormy Daniels hush-money case.

Videos showed Trump smiling and waving at the crowd as he walked through the stadium with his entourage. Trump also shook hands with fans and took group photos with them. At one point, he raised his fist in the air -- apparently in defiance of his looming indictment.

Trump was invited to the tournament by Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), who was seen standing next to 45 and posing for pictures with him.

By early next week, Trump could be posing for a very different photo -- that of a mugshot. Bragg is reportedly getting ready to indict Trump for allegedly trying to buy Daniels' silence with a $130,000 payment over an alleged affair she claimed they had during the 2016 Presidential election. Trump has denied the affair.

In response to the rumored indictment, Trump blasted Bragg on his social media handle, "Truth Social," labeling the Manhattan DA's Office as "CORRUPT" and "HIGHLY POLITICAL." Trump also called for protests over his possible arrest.

Bragg officially declined to comment, but, according to Politico, he sent an internal memo to employees saying that he would not tolerate efforts to intimidate his office or "threaten the rule of law in New York."

Rick Ross has a home, a BIG one, where his pet buffalo roam ... yet the giant beasts still range onto his neighbor's yard, and she's worried because her young kids play outside.

The neighbor, who lives on a plot of land behind RR's Fayetteville, GA compound, tells TMZ ... the two buffaloes -- aka bison -- have wandered onto her property twice this week. Keep in mind, adult buffalo can tip the scales at around 2,000 lbs.!!!

She's worried they may pose a danger to her small children.

TMZ obtained video showing Rick's behemoth pets running through the neighbor's front yard ... and she says she came home from work to discover the wild scene.

She also snapped photos of the buffaloes grazing on the grass near a paved driveway full of parked cars.

Rick's neighbor says she went to the rapper's place to confront him about the buffaloes grazing on her property ... which turned into a verbal dispute with a member of Rick's team.

Unsatisfied with that interaction, she says her next step is filing a neighbor dispute with the city. She tried calling police, but they told her it's a civil dispute and didn't take a report.

In addition to the potential danger the roaming animals pose to the woman's kids, they also appear to be tearing up her yard. Definitely not as important, but it could still be costly.

Remember, Rick was gifted the bison last March and they are absolutely huge. He also has four horses and a bull. No deer or antelope, though.

Nick Carter is bringing backup to the sexual battery lawsuit against him ... he says he has a dozen witnesses who claim his accuser is full of BS.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the Backstreet Boys member says he has 12 people who have testified the alleged victim's version of events can't possibly be true.

TMZ broke the story ... Nick is being sued by a woman named Shannon Ruth, who filed a lawsuit in December claiming he sexually assaulted her after a concert way back in 2001 when she was underage.

But, Nick says not so fast ... he claims he has 12 witnesses from the concert -- fans, security personnel and a talent manager -- who say the accuser's story is "factually impossible."

Remember ... Ruth, who says she is autistic and has cerebral palsy, claims she got in line to get Nick's autograph after the show, when he allegedly invited her back to his tour bus, plied her with alcohol and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

But, Nick says his dozen witnesses testified it was impossible for him to interact with the alleged victim after the concert ... they say there was no autograph line and fans had no access to the tour bus staging area.

What's more, Nick says one of Ruth's close friends at the time testified Ruth is lying about being autistic and suffering from cerebral palsy ... and she doesn't even believe Ruth was at the concert.

In the docs, Nick claims another witness testified they were on calls where Ruth's name was brought up as part of a plot to extort Nick ... an alleged money grab he's previously mentioned in his countersuit against Ruth.

Patrick Beverley's right -- at least, that's what Ja Rule is saying, telling TMZ Sports he believes Ja Morant is absolutely being poorly influenced by hip hop.

The Chicago Bulls guard made waves earlier this week by sayin' he believed rap and the culture surrounding it are contributing to Morant's recent missteps ... and when we got Ja Rule out at LAX this week, he couldn't have agreed more.

He said growing up he was influenced to smoke weed by Redman's "How To Roll A Blunt" -- and pressured to drink booze by Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" ... and he made it clear, he thinks Morant is being similarly impacted by today's tunes.

But, the "Holla Holla" rapper told us he thinks Morant needs to quit all of that ASAP ... telling us, "that ain't the way."

"Go play ball, man," he said. "The streets ain't about nothing, man. Go grind on 'em. Keep balling. That's it, man."

Morant has been investigated by police at least three times in the past calendar year -- most recently when he was seen on video flashing a gun at a strip club earlier this month.

Each time, Morant has dodged charges ... though he admitted in a sit-down interview with Jalen Rose this week he needs to start making better choices.

"In the future," he told Rose, "I will show everybody who Ja really is, what I'm about and change this narrative."

Elizabeth Banks' looks over the years are aca-awesome!

Here is a fresh 27-year-old version of the "Pitch Perfect" star gracing her natural beauty at a UNICEF For Fashion event in Los Angeles back in 2001 (left). This was just a couple of years before she played Marcela Howard in the film "Seabiscuit."

And, 22 years later, the actress and filmmaker looked picture-perfect and dressed to the nines at this year's Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California. She learned how to be quite critical during her "Pitch Perfect" days as Gail the commentator, so the imperative question here is ...

Joe Exotic is getting dragged for his recent presidential run announcement, but it ain't by Carole Baskin -- instead, it's by the party he says he's running with.

Angela McArdle, chair and spokesperson for the Libertarian Party, tells TMZ ... "We stand for personal and economic freedom, we are not a landing pad for former reality stars and D-list celebrities." Ouch.

She says the "Tiger King" star hasn't shown he has a full grasp on the ideas of the party, and even calls out his 2018 gubernatorial run as a Libertarian in Oklahoma -- saying that attempt was "just tigers and glitter."

She adds she's very sympathetic to people "being mistreated in prison," but notes that doesn't mean it's right to support someone who's made "poor choices."

Angela tells us, hypothetically, anyone can run for office as a Libertarian, and there isn't a whole lot the party can do to block it -- instead, she urges folks to send libertarian literature to Joe while he's locked away. In her words, "If he's going to be spouting about libertarianism, he might as well get educated about it."

Aside from understanding his party's platform, there's the not-so-small issue of candidate Joe's 20 remaining years on his prison sentence!

MTV's "The Challenge" star Nelson Thomas' GoFundMe is getting some serious support after his car crash, and some of the donations are coming from fellow reality stars.

The charity campaign quickly picked up steam after going live earlier this week -- and reality TV fans will definitely recognize some of the names chipping in with funds. Nurys Mateo and Tori Deal, who both starred on "The Challenge," dropped $1K each ... while Mark Long and Corey Lay from the series also ante'd up donations.

Outside of Nelson's 'Challenge' crew ... Nicholas Maccarone from "Big Brother" chipped in $250, "Wild 'N Out" star Justina Valentine gave $500, as did Maria Menounos.

Zak Longo from MTV's "Are You the One?" gave $5K ... moving the campaign closer to its $200k goal.

As we reported, Nelson was injured in a fiery crash in Austin, TX earlier this month. Minnesota Vikings receiver K.J. Osborn and a few others were able to rescue him from the wreckage.

Nelson ended up in pretty bad shape -- he showed some of his cuts and burns from his hospital bed, saying he's doing better but has a ways to go.

From the pixie cut to the classic bob ... hidden under this venomous-looking image is an actress who rocks any hairstyle she's workin' with. The characters and parts she's played throughout her career have definitely cemented her spot as one of the greatest show-women in Hollywood!

San Francisco is one of the few cities that appears to be seriously considering reparations for its Black residents -- and there are some hard figures on the table ... from $1 to millions.

SF's Board of Supervisors -- consisting of 11 members -- heard a proposal this past week that was put forth by a reparations committee -- which formed a few years back, at the behest of the City, in the wake of the George Floyd protests across the country.

On Tuesday, those folks shared their suggestions on how to make things right with the African-American community ... and they landed on $5 million per eligible Black resident. There's certain criteria they have in mind ... including being at least 18 years old and having identified as Black/African-American in public documents for at least 10 years, among others.

There's more that folks could receive under the draft reparations plan. In addition to the one-time $5M payout, the committee recommended a guaranteed basic income thereafter ... in the amount of $97,000/year, for 250 years.

Plus, they'd have all their debts and tax burdens wiped clean, no questions asked. And finally ... single-family SF homes for just a buck. It seems each family would be allowed to buy just one, although it's not entirely clear.

In terms of paying for all of this ... the reparations committee didn't have any answers, instead putting that burden on the supervisors themselves. The BOS, in turn, actually supported the proposal unanimously -- and said they could figure out funding later.

The Board's only Black supervisor, Shamann Walton, has been leading the charge on this ... and says he wants the reparations package to be included in future City budgets.

BTW, not everyone agrees with the terms laid out by the committee -- which is made up Black leaders/community members in and around SF. One opponent is actually the NAACP -- which, while supporting the idea of reparations, is not on board with the $5M cash payouts ... instead calling for the focus of investment to be in institutions, like schools/housing, etc.