The Oscars

Twitter is home to a lot of ridiculous opinions, but the latest trend involving Sandra Bullock might be the app's worst ... users are calling for her to lose her Oscar on the heels of "The Blind Side" controversy.

It's about as crazy as it sounds, especially since there's zero evidence Bullock -- who played Leigh Anne Tuohy in the movie -- had any clue of the drama behind the scenes with Michael Oher and the Tuohy family.

One user wrote, "So Sandra Bullock should have to give back her Oscar right, and man do we need to start checking these good feeling stories. The parents blocked $300 in earnings the movie from him getting any of it and gave the money to their real children? WOOOOOOOW!"

Another says, "If the Michael Oher allegations are true then we have to go AND TAKE THE OSCAR back from Sandra Bullock and give it to Gabourey Sidibe for 'Precious'" and "Sandra Bullock should give her Oscar back. She knows she didn't deserve that s***."

However, there's also people coming to her defense, writing, "Not y'all calling for Sandra Bullock's Oscar to be revoked. It ain't her fault the real life people were exploitative scammers and thieves," and "You know Sandra Bullock deserved her Oscar because she acted so well, she made the Tuohy family likeable."

As we reported, the former NFL star claims the Tuohy family never adopted him -- as the movie suggests -- but he was instead placed under a conservatorship. Oher claims the family made a ton of cash off his life story in "The Blind Side," while he got nothing.

Sean Tuohy is calling BS on Oher, saying the family's only option to legally make him part of their family was a conservatorship -- as he was over 18 -- and each family member made about $14,000 from the movie ... including Oher.

We covered it all on the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Coco Lee, famous for voicing Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney's "Mulan," has died by suicide.

Coco's sisters, Carol and Nancy, say she attempted suicide at home Sunday and was sent to a hospital, where she slipped into a coma and died on Wednesday despite attempts to save her life.

Coco suffered from depression for years, her family says, and she sought professional help ... but her condition drastically deteriorated over the last few months and she ultimately took her own life.

In addition to her work with Disney, Coco performed an Oscar-nominated song, "A Love Before Time," in the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as part of a three-decade career as a singer.

Coco was born in Hong Kong but attended middle school and high school in San Francisco, where she was crowned 1991's Miss Teen Chinatown.

She was the first Chinese singer to go big in America, with her song "Do You Want My Love" reaching No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Dance Breakout chart way back in 1999.

Coco's family is remembering her for working "tirelessly to open up a new world for Chinese singers in the international music scene, and she went all out to shine for the Chinese."

She was 48.

RIP

Actor Frederic Forrest, who costarred with Bette Midler in the highly acclaimed film, "The Rose," has died.

Midler announced Forrest passed away Friday night, tweeting ... "The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died. Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months."

She continued ... "He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace."

Forrest's cause of death was not disclosed.

The Oscar-nominated actor first hit it big in 1979 when he scored the part of Jay "Chef" Hicks in the Francis Ford Coppola war movie classic, "Apocalypse Now."

That same year, Forrest was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dyer in "The Rose."

He went on to perform in dozens of movies throughout the '80's, '90's and early 2000s, including "The Two Jakes," "One From The Heart," and "Falling Down."

Forrest was 86.

It seems like conservatives have just learned the Oscars will be different going forward -- namely, having new inclusivity rules for eligibility ... and, yes, the outrage is in full swing.

Here's the deal ... the Post ran a story citing unnamed Academy voters who are apparently angry about AMPAS's forthcoming rule change for Best Picture contenders. Starting in 2024, there are certain requirements films will have to meet to be considered for the category.

As the article notes ... there are revamped criteria for Best Picture nominees starting next year, not to mention every year after that. Those rules, in a nutshell, include -- 1) having a lead or significant supporting character from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group; 2) having a main storyline that focuses on an underrepresented group; or 3) at least 30% of the cast must come from underrepresented groups (be it ethnic, LGBTQ+, disabled, etc).

There's more to it -- which you can read on AMPAS's site -- but essentially ... this is what the new classification boils down to. Movies have to reflect a diverse melting pot and POVs.

Right on cue, several right-wing media/Twitter personalities jumped on this news (which isn't actually new, but more on that later) and started to accuse the Academy of going "woke."

One such dude, Darren Grimes, writes ... "So it's no longer Best Picture then. It's now the film that appeases diversity tsars the most that wins. Award ceremonies are meaningless, Hollywood has slaughtered them on the altar of woke." Clearly, he isn't on board.

Another conservative figure, Charlie Kirk, reflected this position himself ... "Under new rules for the Academy Awards, no film can win Best Picture unless it hits arbitrary diversity quotas. Under this rule, The Godfather, Lord of the Rings, or Saving Private Ryan would all be ineligible.  This is what they mean by 'diversity' but it’s the opposite of diversity. They want a uniform, politically correct monoculture devoid of any creativity or free expression."

If you hop into the 'Best Picture' trend that's on Twitter right now ... you'll see more takes like this -- anger, indignation, outrage ... and on and on. Strangely enough, word of these changes have been reported on for a few years now ... so everyone's late to the party here.

As to their point about former Best Picture winners not being eligible under these new guidelines -- yes, that is technically correct. Whether that helps or hurts the film industry, at large, though is certainly debatable ... and we're sure this convo will continue as we get closer to the 2024 award show. Ya gotta figure ... AMPAS's heart is in the right place here.

BTW, a few notable celebs have actually sounded off on this issue too of late -- including one Richard Dreyfuss ... who was recently asked about it on a PBS-ran program.

The guy didn't bite his tongue on how he felt -- however if you listen to his response closely ... it becomes clear he either misunderstood the question or conflated it with another topic in Hollywood ... namely, accurate casting. In any case -- RD isn't a fan of this either.

Cynthia Weil, one of the most prolific and successful songwriters of all time, has died ... TMZ has learned.

Cynthia's daughter, Dr. Jenn Mann, tells TMZ ... "My mother, Cynthia Weil, was the greatest mother, grandmother and wife our family could ever ask for. She was my best friend, confidant, and my partner in crime and an idol and trailblazer for women in music."

Jenn says her mother, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, passed on Thursday night.

Cynthia's catalog is eyepopping ... The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin," Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again," The Drifters' and George Benson's "On Broadway," The Crystals' "Uptown," The Righteous Brothers' "You're My Soul and Inspiration," The Animals' "We Gotta Get Out of this Place."

The list just keeps going, with Paul Revere & the Raiders' "Kicks," The Ronettes' "Walking in the Rain," Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire," which Kanye West sampled for his debut solo single, "Through the Wire" ... and that's a VERY short list of the hits she wrote.

Cynthia's writing partner for many of her hits was her husband, Barry Mann. They were married for 62 years.

They were nominated for an Academy Award and won 2 Grammys for Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram's "Somewhere Out There" from Steven Spielberg's "An American Tail."

She and Barry received the first-ever National Academy of Songwriters Life Achievement Award.

In her early years, Cynthia was an actress, singer and dancer and became a protégé of Tin Pan Alley songwriter Frank Loesser.

Cynthia and Barry had massive hits in the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s.

She worked with other collaborators to produce hits like "Running With The Night" and "Love Will Conquer All" with Lionel Richie. She also worked with David Foster for the soundtrack to "St. Elmo's Fire," including the hit, "For Just a Moment." And then, there's Peabo Bryson's "If Ever You're In My Arms Again,” and "He's So Shy" by The Pointer Sisters.

BTW ... "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was the most played song of the 20th Century!

Cynthia received 112 pop, country and R&B awards from BMI.

Cynthia and Barry produced another big hit ... their daughter, Jenn Mann, AKA Dr. Jenn, a psychotherapist, author, and host of VH1's "Couple's Therapy." Jenn and her fiance Eric Schiffer were by Cynthia's side when she passed.

The family adds, "Cynthia Weil's Grammy award winning lyrics touched the hearts and souls of hundreds of millions of people around the world, making her one of the most iconic songwriters of the 20th Century. Her husband, Barry Mann, says, "I'm a lucky man. I had two for one, my wife and one of the greatest songwriters in the world, my soul and inspiration."

Cynthia was 82.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are bringing some scarily realistic-looking action to an Atlanta neighborhood, where cameras were rolling for a violent scene from "Bad Boys 4."

TMZ obtained this footage recorded from a building next to the ATL parking lot where the cast and crew worked on a shoot-out sequence for the upcoming sequel.

As you can see, it's action-packed ... with Will and Martin, AKA Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Miles Burnett, respectively -- at the center of it all.

The movie's leading men are walking through the lot when they get ambushed with a hail of gunfire .. and try to take cover while firing back at the bad guys.

While at least 2 of their fellow cops get taken out in the violence ... Martin and Will appear to survive the action.

Hey, they are the stars of the blockbuster franchise, after all!

Remember, we first saw them filming a scene last week in Atlanta, and they were fully in character ... with Will talking Martin off an 8-story ledge as he stood on the edge wearing a hospital gown.

Spoiler alert: They both survive this scene too. 😂

This 4th installment of the franchise is due in theaters next year, and the OG 'Bad Boys' came out way back in 1995.

Yeah, these guys have been at it for nearly 30 years, but they're not yet shying away from filming some of their action-packed scenes.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back in action ... and we have the first images of the famous duo filming together for their upcoming 'Bad Boys' flick.

The actors were spotted Wednesday in Atlanta shooting a scene for "Bad Boys 4" ... and, the guys are fully in character -- Will as Det. Mike Lowrey and Martin as Marcus Miles Burnett.

As you can see, they were right in the thick of all the action ... it appears Will's character was talking Martin off an 8-story ledge, as he stood near the edge wearing a hospital gown.

You'll recall we saw Will on set of the new film, last month, but this is the first time we've seen him and Martin together in front of the cameras.

Will's fully back into the swing of his movie career since he infamously slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. While Smith is banned from attending the award show for 10 years ... it's not impacting his appeal as an A-list draw for Hollywood blockbusters.

This will be the 4th installment of their 'Bad Boys' franchise, which started way back in '95.

Richard Dreyfuss says the new rules mandating inclusivity for future Oscar nominations make him wanna barf -- and we mean that literally ... 'cause the dude says so himself.

The legendary actor, who's an Academy Award winner himself, made some eye-opening comments in a recent interview on PBS's 'Fine Line with Margaret Hoover' -- where she asked him what he made of these new rules that are going into effect next year.

Those new guidelines state that any Best Picture nominees must hire a certain percentage of talent (either onscreen or in the crew) from underrepresented minority groups in order to be considered eligible, among other criteria to achieve more representation at the Oscars.

Welp, RD didn't bite his tongue ... he says that whole idea makes him sick -- and when asked why ... he goes on this somewhat incoherent rant about artistry and sparing feelings.

He then goes on to talk about the role of Othello, and he says the last white actor to play the Shakespearean character was Laurence Olivier -- who did it in blackface ... something he seems to lament being over and done with. Dreyfuss says LO portrayed Othello brilliantly.

Roman Polanski and his child rape victim, who's now an adult, are telegraphing just how tight they are now by posing for a very cheery photo ... almost 50 years after he drugged and molested her.

The infamous director posed with Samantha Geimer in a pic that was shared over the weekend by his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner ... who actually interviewed Geimer in a piece that ran in the French publication Le Point, where Geimer says she's over the whole saga.

In the article, Geimer said Polanksi has "paid his debt to society." She also says the encounter with Polanski in '77 -- when she was just 13 -- was "never a big problem" for her, and she laments it dragging on as a scandal for this long.

This is something Geimer has repeated publicly for quite a while now -- however, she did sue Polanski over the rape back in the '90s, which was reportedly settled out of court.

In the years that followed, Geimer has said the rape doesn't define her ... nor does she think Polanski should continue to be dogged over it, let alone be wanted by the authorities here in the States. He's attempted to get the fugitive warrant revoked, but it hasn't worked out.

As you might know ... Polanski pled guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor at the time, but fled the country before he could be sentenced, and has never returned. He has won Oscars since then, though.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who infamously survived a nerve agent 3 years ago, has reportedly fallen ill while behind bars ... and some on his team believe he's slowly being poisoned to death.

The Vladimir Putin nemesis was met with an ambulance over the weekend due to stomach pains, but his lawyer Vadim Kobzez tweeted that there was no diagnosis given after medics assessed him.

Anna Veduta, Vice President of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, told The Associated Press, "We believe he is slowly being administered low doses of poison” due to unidentified pills he's been given.

Veduta added ... Navalny lost 18 pounds in 15 days, and first became ill last week when he was let out of a punishment cell and into a regular one. He's reportedly been moved back into a punishment cell for 15 more days for unknown reasons.

Kira Yarmysh, Navalny's spokesperson, echoed the potential poisoning claims ... saying, "We do not rule out that all this time in prison he could have been poisoned with something to make his health deteriorate slowly but steadily."

As you know, the documentary "Navalny" won the Oscar for Best Documentary this year -- it followed the freedom fighter and former lawyer pushing back against Vladimir Putin and political corruption in Russia.

One of the frightening moments in the doc showed a near-fatal poisoning with a Soviet-era nerve agent in 2020 ... an incident for which Navalny squarely blames Putin.

Will Smith couldn't look happier to be back in the swing of things ... smiling during his latest gig since the infamous slap at the Oscars.

Will was on set Tuesday in Atlanta, filming "Bad Boys 4" and fully in character as Det. Mike Lowrey.

He's definitely grinning through the work, although, it's hard to say if that's Will smiling or his character.

It's not the first time we've seen WS doing movie star stuff since his infamous 2022 assault on Chris Rock. Will, Jada, and his whole fam first stepped out for the "Emancipation" film premiere last December -- and he's also been filming at least one other project.

As you you know Will was involved in one of the biggest moments in Oscars history ... when he stormed on stage and smacked host Chris Rock dead in the face.

DJ Drama is all for Suge Knight's pending plans to televise his life story ... but he feels Dr. Dre's narrative is even better suited for prime time!!!

We caught up with Mr. Thanksgiving outside iHeartRadio in NY, where he outlined the many platinum reasons why a Dre TV series could take off.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... the incarcerated Death Row Records cofounder is prepared to begin casting for a Suge biopic series.

Obviously, Suge's saga would include Dre ... but Drama says he thinks the Doc's story is worth its own stand-alone series. As he put it, Dre's N.W.A, Death Row and Aftermath eras are all equally must-see TV!!!

Remember, Dre and the surviving N.W.A members previously told part of their story with 2015's "Straight Outta Compton" ... which won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Speaking of movies, Drama recently channeled Tupac Shakur from "Juice" to promote his new album, "I'm Really Like That," which dropped Friday and features Lil Uzi Vert, Jack Harlow, Rick Ross and Wiz Khalifa ... among others.

Rihanna's doing it all ... embracing motherhood while also working overtime on her career -- no easy feat when you consider the hours she's putting in, but her son's along for the ride.

Mama Rih was cradling her baby boy Thursday morning, fresh out of a photo shoot that lasted from 7 PM to 7 AM ... according to a photo agency. We're told she arrived the exact same way she left, with her sleeping child in her arms.

We don't know what the shoot was for, but it's possible the baby was included.

RiRi, who is expecting her second child, was also accompanied by another pal and her bestie Melissa ... so, looks like she might have some childcare assistance while on set.

TMZ broke the story ... Rihanna and A$AP Rocky welcomed their first child in May of 2022.

You'll recall, she made a surprising reveal for baby #2 during her Super Bowl Halftime Show performance.

She's had a busy year, professionally ... in addition to the Super Bowl, she recently performed her Oscar-nominated song from 'Wakanda Forever' during the 95th Academy Award.

Austin Butler's 'Elvis' movie went 0 for 8 at the Oscars -- and while it's unclear if the King himself is feeling down, we do know things have gone south (of the border) for him.

The actor was hanging in Cabo San Lucas with his GF, Kaia Gerber, last week -- photographed lounging poolside at their fancy hotel. They were in swimwear -- both looking smoking hot, no doubt -- but there doesn't seem to be too much heartbreak.

AB and Kaia looked fairly neutral as they took in the sunshine ... with just a little bit of PDA.

After a bit of R&R, Austin and Kaia hopped on a golf cart and rolled on over to another part of the resort ... paps snapped the model leaning her head on her boo thang's shoulder as he handled steering duties.

While we're sure Austin/Kaia are enjoying themselves, ya gotta imagine the guy is somewhat bummed about getting iced out of any statuette glory for the most important award show of his life. He had a lot of buzz and momentum behind him ... but so did Brendan Fraser.

Of course, the latter ended up taking home gold for his role in 'The Whale' ... and as we all saw, 'EEAAO,' swept just about everything else -- clearing the deck on all the big categories.

A$AP Rocky is not among those who have an issue with Tems blocking the view of the people sitting behind her at the Oscars ... his reaction is quite the opposite.

We got the rapper and a very pregnant Rihanna leaving lunch at Bottega Louie in West Hollywood on Wednesday and we asked the parents about Tems' controversial outfit.

A$AP can only laugh at the people ripping Tems on social media for being rude ... and Rihanna seems to have similar feelings.

It's worth noting ... Tems was at the Oscars because of her musical work on 'Wakanda Forever' ... the Nigerian singer is a co-writer on a song RiRi performs for the movie.

So, there may be some bias here from Rihanna and A$AP.

Tom Sizemore's work on his last feature film before he died was much like a heavyweight champ giving it his all despite being past his prime ... so says his director on the project.

The late actor plays a police detective in Bruce Bellocchi's upcoming flick, "The Legend of Jack and Diane," in what turned out to be Tom's final movie role ... and TMZ got this behind-the-scenes footage of Tom on set.

As you can see in the clip, Tom's super engaged with the director and his costars as he prepares to shoot a scene as Detective Parker.

Tom was 60 when he filmed the movie, and Bruce says he looked much older than that, was often hunched over and looked very tired all the time. However, he adds ... "That being said, he was professional and I thought always gave his best."

The movie's about a young couple, Jack and Diane, in Indiana who are planning to move to L.A. when they suddenly discover secrets about the death of Diane's mother ... and once their worst fears are confirmed, they create a hit list to get revenge on everyone involved.

Tom's scenes were shot on location in and around L.A. and production wrapped in March 2022 ... about a year before Tom's death.

TMZ broke the stories ... Tom suffered a brain aneurysm at his home in February and was rushed to a hospital, where he was placed on life support. He never regained consciousness and his family ultimately made the difficult decision to remove him from life support.

He died on March 3.

The director says Tom called him a few months after production wrapped and apologized, saying he wasn't sure he gave his best work. But, Bruce says he assured Tom his performance was great.

Bruce summed up the experience with a vivid sports metaphor ... "It was like getting into the ring with the heavyweight champ and although you knew he was past his prime, it was still a surreal experience just to be able to share time together."

The director says he and Tom had a lot in common, telling us they "shared many nights in deep conversation about battling past demons and having the will to keep moving forward."

Bruce is upset the Academy omitted Tom from its 'In Memoriam' segment during the Oscars and believes they snubbed an actor who turned in some of the finest performances in modern cinema.