Evangeline Lilly's stepping up to defend the real superheroes behind the Marvel characters onscreen ... blasting parent company Disney for letting some high-profile crew go.
Here's the deal ... the House of Mouse recently laid off about 1,000 staffers amid some notable shakeups at the company -- including the exit of CEO Bob Iger -- and comic book artist Andy Park, who worked on 40+ Marvel movies, was one of them.
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In a video posted to social media, Lilly says she reached out to her friend -- who helped bring her character's superhero costume to life, she says -- about the firings and a pivot toward A.I. ... and, she says Park confirmed her worst fears.
Michael Jackson's pet chimp Bubbles is still living his best life at the Center for Great Apes ... but the sanctuary's had it with the internet running wild with the A.I.-created buzz tied to the late icon's biopic "Michael."
The Wauchula, Florida-based sanctuary released a statement obtained by TMZ on Tuesday ... saying those viral pics of MJ's nephew Jaafar Jackson hanging out with Bubbles are fake -- not real, never happened. They add Jaafar's never even visited ... though the invite's technically open.
The sanctuary made it crystal clear -- they're legit, accredited, and not in the business of turning their animals into meet-and-greets. No touching, no interactions ... their chimps and orangutans stay protected within secure habitats.
Taylor Swift is making sure A.I. doesn't turn her into its next puppet ... because, according to docs obtained by TMZ, she's quietly locked down some very specific trademarks aimed at making sure any digital copycats of her voice and image are "CANCELLED!"
According to new trademark filings submitted last Friday, Taylor is seeking federal protection for two phrases tied directly to her voice: "Hey, it's Taylor Swift" and "Hey, it's Taylor." The filings fall under the rare "sound mark" category -- the same trademark lane used for recognizable audio cues ... like Netflix's "tu-dum" and NBC's iconic chimes.
Taylor's legal team appears to be on their "Vigilante S***" preparing for the growing wave of A.I.-generated songs, videos, and deepfakes that mimic celebrities without permission. By trademarking phrases tied to her voice, Taylor could have a stronger argument if someone uses A.I. to create content that sounds too much like her.
Post Malone went from White Iverson to Snow White Iverson ... traveling up past Canada to Alaska and shocking some fans at a local gas station.
The singer and rapper popped up at Esther Gas in Fairbanks, Alaska on Monday ... walking in with another guy and two security guards to buy some snacks, Bud Light, and liquor.
Jari Markkanen -- who works at the gas station -- tell us that Posty was nice enough to take a picture with him and with another customer. Malone also paid for that customer's beer. What a gent!
President Donald Trump got some heat for posting -- and ultimately deleting -- an A.I.-generated pic of himself as Jesus ... but he says that wasn't his intention.
In a news conference Monday, Donald said ... "I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor." Trump claims he thought the image was of him as a Red Cross doc because there "was a Red Cross worker" in the photo.
While it's true there is a doctor in the pic ... the A.I. rendering of Trump shows himself wearing a white tunic and a red shawl -- which is what Jesus is commonly depicted wearing.
A Detroit bakery had the Internet doing a double-take after dropping what might be the most unhinged Easter dessert of all time ... a lamb cake that looked straight out of a horror movie.
Homestead Kitchen Artisan Cakery went viral after posting an April Fools' Day "special" ... an A.I.-generated lamb cake with bulging eyes, crooked teeth and droopy frosting that had people seriously concerned.
The bakery told customers to "order your lamb cake for Easter," listing flavors like chocolate and lemon, but the visual had folks thinking more "haunted house" than holiday dessert.
That's Tatiana Elizabeth's response toLauren Blake amid their wild face-swapping scandal ... with the model telling TMZ Sports she doesn't believe the influencer's comments came from the heart.
Blake -- a content creator with 1.6 million followers -- shared a photo alleging she was at the Miami Open last month ... but it was later discovered it was actually a picture of Tatiana at the U.S. Open two years ago, with Blake's face edited over her body.
Blake faced a bunch of backlash and issued an apology to TMZ Sports before releasing another statement on her IG ... but Elizabeth told us she's not buying it.
"I don't think it's coming from a sincere place," Elizabeth said. "I think she just wants the situation to blow over and to get back to scheduled programming."
Chuck Norris' family is warning fans not to believe everything they read ... especially if it's an A.I.-generated post talking about the circumstances surrounding his death.
The family says there have been several A.I.-generated videos and posts circulating online containing false and misleading information about Chuck's death, his health history and the people around him when he died.
The family says there have been fabricated reports of past medical issues and false narratives surrounding family narratives ... and they're asking everyone to not believe or share any info "unless it comes directly from the Norris family or an official family representative."
ChatDJT has entered the chat .... Nicki Minaj honored her new favorite POTUS this Presidents Day with A.I.-generated photos of Donald J. Trump riding shotgun with her.
Check out the pics ... the fake DJT is swagged out in gear fit for a Barbz -- pink jacket and bedazzled jeans with a lot of bling hanging from his neck.
If you look closely, you can see that the original image appears to have featured Nicki's husband, Kenneth Petty. A reflection that looks a lot like Kenneth is seen in the window behind the A.I. Trump's head.
A viral video circulating online suggests late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein had a twisted relationship with JonBenét Ramsey ... but her father, John Ramsey, says it's just another example of A.I. slop.
Here's the deal ... TikTok is going wild over a viral post that claims JonBenét is in the Epstein Files. The video claims JonBenét is the little girl sitting on Epstein's shoulders in a picture framed and hung on a wall.
The photo in question is redacted in the Epstein Files, and the DOJ says it's from Epstein's pedo lair in New York City ... but a video appears to show a photo in a hallway of a girl who bears a striking resemblance to JonBenét Ramsey.
Chris Pratt plays a detective put on trial by an A.I. judge for his wife’s murder in his new flick, "Mercy" ... and he’s now sounding off on whether the real-life justice system could actually go that high-tech too.
We caught up with the Hollywood star in NYC Tuesday ... and when we asked if the way things are going means more artificial intelligence could start taking over in courtrooms, he made it crystal clear -- he seriously hopes not.
Catch the clip ... 'cause Chris doesn’t give a straight yes-or-no as far as an official A.I. takeover ... but he does point out we’re already using way more artificial intelligence in our everyday lives than we even realize.
So hey, make of that what you will ... but to keep things light, he also dishes a little on the Super Bowl -- so catch that too!
JoJo Siwa's officially a bride -- in the A.I.-verse, at least -- because she posted an artificially- created pic of herself on her wedding day!
The pop star shared a photo on Snapchat Tuesday ... a selfie where she's staring dreamily into the camera while wearing a white wedding dress -- with a veil pulled back framing her golden hair.
The pic has "Call me a wife!!!" written along the bottom of it ... but hold on, Siwa fans -- because it's a pretty premature post.
Grok -- the chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI -- has apparently allowed users to create images involving minors in "minimal" clothing ... though it has promised to remedy the issue.
Here's the deal ... this week, some sick users on X decided to ask Grok to take real pictures of kids and put the subjects in sexual situations.
Others on the site allege the chatbot did just that ... and, when confronted about it, Grok replied to one user, "There are isolated cases where users prompted for and received AI images depicting minors in minimal clothing, like the example you referenced. xAI has safeguards, but improvements are ongoing to block such requests entirely."
Former NBA star Matt Barnes says he can't believe he has to clear the air on the latest rumor circulating the internet, but here he is ... denying an A.I. model scammed him out of a ton of money.
The chatter spread like wildfire over the past few days ... which stated the 14-year vet fell victim to a super-hot catfish who wound up with $61K of his hard-earned money.
His buddy Gilbert Arenas didn't do him any favors by breathing more life into it on his own podcast ... so now here he is, setting the record straight.
7:00 PM -- Attorney Joe Tacopina tells TMZ ... "Tyrone Blackburn is truly astonishing -- just when I thought his web of lies couldn’t sink to new lows, he manages to outdo himself yet again.
JT continues to tell us ... "Time after time, he’s been scolded by judges for fabricating cases or fined for falsifying legal matters, so it’s undoubtedly clear that he’s a pathological liar."
Joe ends with ... "It’s only a matter of time before he’s disbarred for making a complete mockery of the legal profession."
More drama in the Fat Joe civil case ... his accuser's attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, is getting called out for blaming a legal mistake on artificial intelligence software.
Here's the deal ... Fat Joe's attorneys filed legal docs claiming Tyrone cited cases that didn't exist in his opening brief, and then Tyrone blamed the mistakes on a LexisNexis AI feature.
Well, seems Tyrone's excuse made its way back to LexisNexis, and now the company is speaking out and pushing back against Tyrone.
Diddy can't stop hugging his fellow inmates and posing for pics with them ... at least that's how some new photos and videos make it seem, except those images are really just A.I. running amok!
There's a selfie floating around social media -- one inmate in the foreground as he snaps a pic of Diddy grinning and hugging another inmate ... and the pic even has a TMZ watermark on it. Looks legit, but we're here to bust your bubble.
While TMZ has obtained several real images of Diddy at Fort Dix federal prison ... this ain't one of 'em -- nor are the other crystal clear selfies you might have seen on social platforms. It's simply someone's clever use of A.I., and it's becoming more and more prevalent.
