Republican Senator David Perdue Own Up to Your Anti-Semitic Ad, Coward!!! ... Says Jewish Dem. Opponent

TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY
TMZ.com
UPDATE

11:53 AM PT -- Jon Ossoff came on ''TMZ Live'' Wednesday to further address Senator Perdue's anti-Semitic ad -- making one thing clear ... he wants the guy and his people to own up to it and apologize to the Jewish community.

UPDATE

Jon repeats what he said online, saying mocking a Jewish person's nose is one of the oldest, least original anti-Semitic tropes out there -- going on to call it such foolishness in a time where the country is already so divided and in need of healing ... not more hate.

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As for Sen. Perdue's claim that he nor his campaign were aware of the alteration -- since they apparently used a third-party vendor to whip it up -- Ossoff says there's no excuse for not knowing about it, which he doesn't even believe is the case here with Perdue.

UPDATE

At the end of the day, Ossoff says Perdue's the guy running the campaign ... so he's gotta have the final say and be in the know. Playing dumb and claiming ignorance just won't work. JO says he demands a proper apology, as does the Georgia Jewish community.

UPDATE

Finally, Jon talks about where he thinks this bigotry is emanating from within the GOP -- and it all starts at the top, meaning President Trump. Watch ... he's compelling here in his critique, and he probably ain't too far off in the analysis either.

Georgia Senator David Perdue has pulled an ad that made his Jewish, Democratic opponent's nose look bigger -- claiming it was a flub and not an anti-Semitic trope.

The Facebook ad featured photos of both Jon Ossoff, who's running in Georgia to take Perdue's seat -- as well as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (who's also Jewish) -- with the slogan, "Democrats Are Trying to Buy Georgia!"

In other words, a Jew with an artificially big nose is trying to buy an election. But, Perdue says no anti-Semitism here.

Ossoff responded, saying ... "Sitting U.S. Senator David Perdue's digital attack ad distorted my face to enlarge and extend my nose. I'm Jewish. This is the oldest, most obvious, least original anti-Semitic trope in history. Senator, literally no one believes your excuses."

For his part, Sen. Perdue said the ad was made through a third party, and that any distortion to Ossoff's appearance was an accident. They removed the ad this week.

His campaign added, "Anybody who implies that this was anything other than an inadvertent error is intentionally misrepresenting Senator Perdue's strong and consistent record of standing firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate."

Originally Published -- 7:04 AM PT

Awesome Video Musician Records 'Meteor for the Ages!!!'

Talk about perfect timing -- an L.A. musician who happened to be in New Mexico saw a meteor light up the sky, and caught the stunning footage on video.

Amber Coffman posted this awesome video Tuesday night showing the moment a meteor streaked across the sky over Taos, creating a spectacular fireball. She captioned it perfectly saying, "A meteor for the ages!"

The footage was a hit on social media, where it was quickly shared by Amber's followers. She replied to one person's excited tweet, saying ... "Absolutely stunned amazement! Elation! I feel high."

Another user suggested Amber could jump from music to astronomy -- "How did you start getting video so quickly? Really amazing and something I would think would be of great value to science."

Apparently, there was a meteor shower visible over much of New Mexico last night ... there were similar tweets from Albuquerque.

It's no UFO, allegedly, sighting ... but still pretty damn awesome. Science!!!

NBA Zero New COVID-19 Positives ... 344 Players Tested

More great news from the NBA ... a 2nd straight week with ZERO positive COVID-19 tests from players and staffers inside the bubble.

While MLB, NFL, and other sports are scrambling to figure out how to proceed safely -- the NBA seems to have it down.

The league claims that 344 players were tested and NONE of the tests came back positive for coronavirus.

There have been some issues with the bubble -- some players have violated the rules to get things like delivery food and strip club chicken wings -- but so far, the league has been able to avoid an outbreak.

There are strict protocols in place for breaches -- mandatory quarantine periods -- and judging by the numbers, it's effective.

The NBA season is set to officially tip-off Thursday night and this is the kind of news that players, staff, executives and fans were hoping to hear!!

Chainsmokers Concert Organizers Say it was COVID Safe ... Claim Video Misleading

The Chainsmokers' drive-in concert in the Hamptons sure looked dangerous, COVID-wise, but sources connected to the charity event say don't believe your eyes ... and insist coronavirus guidelines were in place.

These sources tell TMZ ... videos circulating of the Saturday night concert are misleading, and don't show how the area in front of the stage was fenced off and only allowed 10 people per section.

7/25/20
PACKED IN
@eyeoftheo / Instagram

Mind you, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo saw the videos from the weekend show, and was livid. He called out the concert for "egregious social distancing violations," and the New York State Department of Health has launched an investigation.

However, the sources connected to the concert say the section right in front of the stage was for family and friends and people who worked the event -- and didn't have car spaces to watch the show.

Obviously, they should still maintain social distancing, but we're told the general public was NOT allowed to rush the stage and pack that area.

On top of that, our sources say organizers of the Southampton even obtained all the proper permits from the city for a public gathering and adhered to all the COVID-19 regulations ... including temperature checks at the door, providing masks, and having security monitor physical distancing among the various parties in the drive-in crowd.

We're also told reports of the concert being shut down for not following the public health rules are untrue. Our sources say the permit only allowed the event to go until 10:30 PM ... so it ended at 10:25 PM.

As we reported ... health commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker says he's "at a loss as to how the Town of Southampton could have issued a permit for such an event, how they believed it was legal and not an obvious public health threat."

Kanye West Growing Campaign Staff Vows ... We're Serious About Running

Kanye West is getting super serious in his bid for the White House ... his campaign is beefing up its staff and bringing in tons of folks with political know-how.

Sources close to Kanye tell TMZ ... Yeezy's hired a crack team of political advisors and people with experience to help him navigate how to get on the ballot in more states.

We're told Kanye's advisors are hiring people to work on the campaign. They're also recruiting volunteers, and they've contracted third-party organizations to assist with spreading campaign awareness and getting boots on the ground across the United States.

YE 2020
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Our sources say the campaign's main objective right now is gathering enough signatures to get Kanye on the ballot in each of the remaining states.

We're told volunteers are canvassing for signatures in West Virginia -- hitting popular spots like restaurants and shopping malls -- and campaign staffers are working in New York ahead of Thursday's deadline to qualify for the ballot.

In West Virginia, the Secretary of State's office tells us Kanye needs 7,144 signatures by Monday to get on the ballot. If Yeezy gets enough signatures, it will trigger a review to verify every person is indeed a registered voter.

TMZ broke the story ... Kanye's facing a huge hurdle back in his home state, Illinois, where there are several objections over the validity of signatures gathered to get Ye on that state's ballot.

As we reported ... Yeezy's already submitted paperwork to get on the ballot in New Jersey, Oklahoma, Illinois and Missouri.

Now, Kanye's setting his sights on West Virginia and New York behind a beefed-up campaign staff.

Joe Biden Personal Notes Revealed ... Evidence Senator Harris is VP Pick

Joe Biden seems to have one particular person in mind for his VP running mate ... it's Sen. Kamala Harris, and there are clues from his notes that accidentally became public.

The presumptive Democratic candidate was taking questions from reporters Tuesday, and at one point ... one of the photogs captured a close-up shot of the notes he had on him, which featured a bullet-point list of topics and highlights ... including a whole section on Harris.

In fact, KH was the first item on Biden's notepad -- under her name were a few things he (or his staff) wanted him to address ... first being, "Do Not Hold Grudges." After that, Biden touched on the fact she's campaigned with him and his wife, Jill, she was talented, she'd be a great help to the campaign and he has great respect for her.

There was talk early on that Biden would pick Harris if he got the nom, but lots of people thought that plan was 86'd after the Senator went after the former VP for his civil rights record during the first debate. That said, Harris is one of the few contenders with executive experience -- She was the D.A. in San Fran and CA Attorney General.

But, there's this ... Biden's top campaign adviser who's helping vet candidates, Chris Dodd, didn't like the fact Harris had "no remorse" when confronted about the way she went after JB. Dodd reportedly considered her attack a cheap shot, and apparently wanted Harris to apologize for it or something, but she didn't. Her reported response, a chuckle and "that's politics."

Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.

For her part, Senator Harris posted a very VP-like photo with Biden a few days ago. So maybe this is more straight-forward than we think ... in any case, we'll find out soon enough.

Tiffany Haddish Racism Makes Me Afraid to Have Kids

I'VE SEEN IT FIRSTHAND
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Tiffany Haddish is opening up about the idea of motherhood, but says one thing above all else scares her -- bringing a child into a racist world.

The actress and comedian discussed the topic on NBA star Carmelo Anthony's hit podcast, "What's in Your Glass?," saying everyone's always asking her when she's going to have some babies.

Her answer ... "There's a part of me that would like to do that, and I always make up these excuses like, 'Oh, I need a million dollars in the bank before I do that, I need this, I need that.' But really, it's like, I would hate to give birth to someone that looks like me, knowing that they're gonna be hunted or killed."

Tiffany teared up as she added ... "Why would I put someone through that?"

Carmelo -- who has a teenage son -- said, "It's scary to even think about that" ... and Haddish pointed out that white people don't have that concern.

SHARING IS CARING
TMZ.com

Tiff attended and spoke at Black Lives Matter protests in L.A. last month, and says the movement's giving her some hope for the future -- but it's clear racism still has her second-guessing motherhood.

Tyga Opening Virtual Chicken Restaurants ... Tyga Bites, Anyone?!?

WINGIN' IT
TMZ.com

Tyga wants to throw struggling restaurants and eateries a lifeline ... he's opening a virtual restaurant and his secret chicken recipe and delivery plan could help the joints survive.

The rapper joined us on "TMZ Live" and unveiled his virtual restaurant concept ... Tyga Bites -- baked, boneless and free of antibiotics.

Here's how it works ... Tyga's targeting 500 restaurants and kitchens trying to make enough cash to survive during the pandemic. He and his company will teach the chefs how to make the oven-baked chicken tenders. He's partnering with Grubhub which will deliver the food. So, Tyga won't have a single, brick and mortar restaurant, but he'll cover the country. Kinda genius.

There will be 3 types of chicken and 12 sauces ... and that does the trick. He's marketing it as a healthy, delicious choice -- black garlic, lemon black pepper and peri-peri. He's also serving Tyga Tots (love the name) -- regular and sweet potato -- and chocolate chip cookies. And, there are beverages to wash it all down.

It could be a blueprint for other celebs to start a virtual restaurant and help struggling restaurants.

Rep. Maxine Waters Fears Trump Won't Leave White House if He Loses ... Could Civil War Follow???

BE PREPARED
TMZ.com

Rep. Maxine Waters fears what's going on in Portland could be a sign of trouble to come in November ... IF President Trump loses the election, and refuses to give up power.

The Congresswoman, who was on Capitol Hill, was super concerned over AG William Barr's testimony, in which he supported the aggressive federal response to the protests.

Even more ominous than Barr ... Trump refusing to say he'd accept the results of the election, win or lose, and even more ominous ... whether he'd hand over the reigns of power.

Rep. Waters makes it clear ... she's worried her fears could become a reality, especially since neither Trump nor Barr will squarely say the President will accept the election results.

Waters says there's evidence Trump won't go willingly if he loses ... as she puts it, he's a wanna-be dictator whose methods follow a long line of dictators. And, she thinks the federal presence in Portland may be a dry run for things to come in November.

The growing fear ... that the election could not only trigger a constitutional crisis ... it could trigger a civil war.

L.A. County Sheriff's That Wasn't a Tamponccino!!! Investigation Clears Starbucks

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department's investigation has determined a cop's Starbucks drink was NOT tampered with a tampon -- instead it was a cleaning cloth ... which still ain't great.

You remember an off-duty LAPD cop made the accusation last month ... saying a Starbucks employee stuffed down a tampon in the Frapp drink he ordered. The cop claimed he used his police credit union debit card to buy the drink and says he found the feminine hygiene product inside his drink. This all went down at the height of social unrest over police brutality.

In any event ... the Sheriff's Dept. investigated and was unable to prove the store employee acted maliciously. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said, "Based on the evidence available at this time, the item in the drink was possibly a cleaning type cloth commonly used by store employees."

NYPD had a similar alleged situation with a Shake Shack order, but again... no ill will was proven there.

Kim Kardashian Returns To L.A. Without Kanye ... After Tense Trip To Wyoming

Kim Kardashian is back in California after what seems to have been a very difficult visit with Kanye West in Wyoming ... and she flew back solo.

Kim landed in L.A. Tuesday morning, and as you can see, she was all by herself as she walked down the stairs of her private jet. Kanye's still at the ranch.

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RETURNING SOLO
BACKGRID

We broke the story ... Kim and Kanye reunited Monday in Wyoming for the first time since Yeezy's off-the-rails campaign rally in South Carolina ignited a bitter back and forth that saw Kim desperately trying to get Ye treatment for a serious, bipolar episode.

As we reported ... the couple stopped at a Wendy's drive-thru in Wyoming, and things got super emotional in the car, with Kim breaking down crying.

As for why Kanye didn't fly back with Kim ... we're told he's deep into the final touches of his album.

As you know ... Kanye talked about divorcing Kim, but he apologized Saturday for a comment he made to hurt his wife, and we're guessing it's the abortion talk.

Bottom line ... Kim's back in Cali, and Kanye's home on the range.

'RHONJ' Ramping Up to Shoot Amid COVID ... Teresa Taking Center Stage

The 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' are falling in line with the other 'Housewives' -- they're getting back to work, safely, and Teresa Giudice is reassuming her role as top dog ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the production tell us the Jersey gals are going to begin shooting for their 11th season very soon, much like 'Real Housewives' in Atlanta and Orange County have recently started to do as well. Bravo halted filming on all the shows in March due to the pandemic.

The Jersey cast and crew will go through the same safety precautions as the other shows -- everyone on set gets daily temp checks, folks are encouraged to socially distance and a lot of scenes will be outdoors.

We've heard the crews will be required to wear masks, but it doesn't sound like the cast members will be forced to do so.

As for season 11 storylines? We're told Teresa will be heavily featured again ... especially her co-parenting with her estranged husband, Joe, who's in Italy after losing an appeal in his deportation case last year. Season 10 covered some of the fallout from that, including the family trip to visit him.

We're told Joe and Teresa's frequent FaceTime calls and phone chats will likely be documented -- they're on good terms right now, and there's no hint of a looming divorce, even though they're technically split up. No word on whether Joe's getting his own camera crew in his motherland, but it seems unlikely when you consider the cost.

FaceTime's way cheaper than a 2 or 3 person camera crew!

Julianne, Eva & Tracee Accepted The Challenge!!! to Push Women Empowerment

Julianne Hough, Eva Longoria and Tracee Ellis Ross are just some of the MANY celebrities who have jumped on the #ChallengeAccepted train.

Unless you've been living under a rock -- or straight-up just don't have Instagram -- you've seen Instagram feeds over the last few days being overtaken by black and white selfies by women. The objective? Females nominating other females to post a B/W selfie in an effort to promote women empowerment. When said female posts her pic, she's accepted the challenge.

Check out the pics ... some of the many stars who have accepted the challenge include Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington, Debra Messing, Chrissy Metz, Vanessa Bryant, Nicole Scherzinger, Uzo Aduba, Jessica Alba, Ilana Glazer, Mischa Barton, P!nk and Brooke Shields.

BTW ... this trend's nothing news. Back in 2016, there was a similar challenge to spread cancer awareness. And, in case you're wondering ... the 2020 hashtag challenge so far has reportedly seen more than 3 million posts uploaded on Instagram.

It should be noted ... the challenge has seen some pushback by others wondering why -- instead of posting selfies -- not promote books, products or charities that would benefit women's advancement instead.

Esteban on 'The Suite Life of Zack and Cody' 'Memba Him?!

Florida-born actor Adrian R'Mante is best known for his role as the fumbling Peruvian bellman, Esteban (full name Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa Ramírez) -- who hangs around the Tipton Hotel and tries to keep the peace between the teens' kooky antics -- in the early 2000s Disney Channel sitcom, "The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody."

Adrian R'Mante was cast alongside some awesome young actors including Brenda Song as the hotel heir, London Tipton, Ashley Tisdale as the candy kid, Maddie Fitzpatrick ... and of course, Dylan and Cole Sprouse as Zack and Cody Martin.

Guess what he looks like now ... and shirtless!

George Floyd Light Hologram Going on Tour ... Through Southern States

George Floyd's memory, and the worldwide movement his murder started, is being honored with a new hologram that will be on full display across several Southern states.

Change.org partnered with the George Floyd Foundation to create this hologram image of George along with his name ... all in glowing yellow light. The image was unveiled Monday night in what some might call the most fitting place possible.

Several of George's family members gathered for the ceremony where the Jefferson Davis statue used to stand in Richmond, Virginia. The hologram was projected right where the President of the Confederacy had been honored before protestors tore down his statue last month.

IMMORTALIZED IN LIGHT
VPM

On Tuesday night, the hologram will appear again in Richmond -- but this time ... it will be projected where a Robert E. Lee statue used to stand. City officials took that one down.

From there, the George Floyd hologram will be on the move ... making stops at five other sites between North Carolina, Georgia and other states -- pretty much following the same route as the 1961 Freedom Rides during the Civil Rights era.

George's family said they wanted his hologram displayed in places they felt needed to see it most right now.

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