Awards / Awards Shows

Ricky Gervais went scorched earth to kick off the 77th Golden Globes ... taking shots at the biggest names in the room ... and a couple who weren't there.

The host opened Sunday night's award show with a beer in hand and a promise to offend people ... starting with Felicity Huffman's prison sentence, Joe Pesci's size and Leonardo DiCaprio's dating life.

The Leo jab was related to the 3-hour-long "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" -- Ricky joked by the time the premiere was over, Leo's date was too old for him. He added Prince Andrew -- an old Jeffrey Epstein acquaintance -- even thought Leo's GFs are too young.

Gervais openly stated his 5th time hosting the Globes would be his last, so he was going out with a bang -- also taking down R. Kelly, Michael Jackson and even his bosses at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association ... which runs the GG.

Brat Pitt thanked all the usual suspects after winning a Golden Globe -- except his children, which was an intentional and strategic move for their well-being.

If you missed it ... Pitt took home the Best Supporting Actor award Sunday night for his role in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." He shouted out fellow nominees, director Quentin Tarantino, costar Leonardo DiCaprio and also his parents -- but he made no mention of his 6 kids.

It was a curious omission, but our sources closely connected to Brad say this is par for the course -- he never mentions them publicly and wants it to remain that way. We're told he feels this is the best way to maintain their privacy, because he knows simply acknowledging his children in a speech could attract unwanted attention.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are forever linked ... and they only add strength to that bond when they hit up the same parties after awards shows.

The 2 stars both attended the CAA after-party at the Sunset Tower Hotel Sunday night, following the 77th Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton ... where they also sat in close proximity.

Of course, both Brad and Jen were nominated for awards -- he for Best Supporting Actor in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and she for Best Actress in "The Morning Show" -- so they had good reason to keep the party going at the talent agency bash.

Still, they're going to turn heads when they're rubbing elbows at an event ... even if they arrive and leave separately, as they did at the CAA after-party.

Tiffany Haddish warned the crowd a couple of times and then greatness ensued when she started rapping!!!

Tiffany had one helluva busy Sunday night ... which ended in spectacular fashion at Netflix's Golden Globes after-party in Bev Hills. Tiffany muscled her way over to the DJ's booth, grabbed the mic and hyped the crowd up before rapping to City Girls' banger, "Act Up."

Ya gotta see the crowd under a massive tent on a lot adjacent to the Beverly Hilton Hotel. They went nuts!!!

It was a pretty eventful night for Tiffany. The comedian, who wore an elegant pink dress, displayed a Star of David necklace honoring her Black Jewish roots on her father's side, which she discovered after taking a genealogy test.

Gwyneth Paltrow isn't hiding her true feelings about Hollywood's award season -- just like how she didn't conceal her awesome figure hours after the Golden Globes ended.

Gwyneth flaunted her long legs from the back of the ride that took her and hubby Brad Falchuk home after the ceremony. As she put it, "The best part of the night is always getting home." Pretty obvious, GP's over all the pomp and circumstance of award shows.

That's not to say she doesn't still bring her 'A' game when it comes to fashion. Gwyn showed up at the Globes rocking a totally sheer Fendi gown that showed off her killer abs.

Say what ya want about her overpriced Goop items, but Gywneth's dedication to yoga and pilates is WORKING like a mutha.

The Golden Globes are minutes away and it looks like Hollywood's gone with a washing machine approach to their getups, which has most everyone in either darks or lights.

Tons of stars stopped and posed for pictures on the way into the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and it's pretty clear a lot of them were either down to be draped in black, or the exact opposite ... with bright, loud colors. Not a whole lot in between, as far as we can see.

Some of the celebs who went with darker shades this year ... Naomi Watts, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, Jennifer Aniston, Christina Applegate, Margot Robbie (ish), Cynthia Erivo and Carol Burnett.

A lot of the guys were naturally in darker colors too, including Ricky Gervais, Eddie Murphy, Kit Harington, Henry Winkler, Brad Pitt, Rami Malek and on and on.

Now, on the other end of things, there were also tons of actors who went with rainbow colors ... like Tiffany Haddish in pink, Roman Griffin Davis in orange, Olivia Colman in red, Zoey Deutch in yellow, Dakota Fanning in purple, Thomasin McKenzie in blue, Joey King and Billy Porter in white and Kaitlyn Dever in ... something that was a floral mix of sorts.

There was even more looks behind the scenes, where the stars mentioned above and more mingled and mixed with handshakes, hugs and congratulations as the Globes started getting doled out.

From the inside out, this year's Golden Globes proved to be a feel-good, fashion-forward affair.

Saint Laurent got into the act for Golden Globe weekend, throwing an epic party ahead of the ceremony.

It went down at a home in the Los Feliz area of L.A., and tons of stars were more than happy to accept the invite. Among them ... Dwyane Wade, Gabby Union, Hailey Bieber, Kaia Gerber, Kate Bosworth, Rami Malek and Taron Egerton.

The bash was thrown by Rami Malek and Anthony Vaccarello. Rami's nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV series for Mr. Robot. It's the third time he's been nominated for the role, but he's come up goose eggs each time.

Celebs at the upcoming "Golden Globe Awards" won't be getting their thirsts quenched by bottles of Fiji this year ... but it ain't "Fiji Water Girl's" fault.

The artesian water brand is not the official H2O sponsor at the 2020 Golden Globes -- that honor now goes to Icelandic Glacial -- but the reason, we're told, has nothing to do with Fiji's controversy and eventual fallout with its model, Kelleth Cuthbert (real name Kelly Steinbach).

Sources connected to the awards show tell TMZ ... the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had a 2-year deal with Fiji, but it ended last year. We're told it decided to go with Icelandic because not only is the brand environmentally conscious -- though Fiji is too -- but it has also agreed to donate water to a cause picked by the HFPA.

As you'll recall ... Kelleth went viral for photobombing almost every celeb at the 2019 show, by standing in the background smiling while holding a tray of Fiji bottles.

Some folks -- like Jamie Lee Curtis -- were unhappy with the blatant PR stunt and product placement, but the controversy got even worse when Kelleth sued Fiji ... claiming it continued to use her name and likeness for promotion without her permission.

Fiji countersued Kelleth, and as far as we know ... the case is still pending.

Our sources say bottles of Icelandic will be offered to Globes attendees on the red carpet and at every table at the venue just like the last 2 years with Fiji ... but it's unclear if the new H2O company will spark any viral moments.

The 2019 AMAs are in full swing, and while things might look pristine on TV and onstage -- wait 'til you get a load of what the stars are doing behind the scenes ... it's even better.

Hollywood's biggest and brightest stars were out in force Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in DTLA, where A-listers like Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, Shania Twain, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Post Malone, Halsey, Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, Ciara, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood and others arrived dressed to the nines.

Selena, Halsey and even Shawn and Camila were added to the performance lineup just over the past few days -- but everyone will obviously be waiting to see T-Swift do her thing.

As we reported ... she's receiving the Artist of the Decade Award at the show, and is expected to do a compilation of most of her old hits in one performance. Of course, she griped about that recently, claiming Scooter Braun and other Big Machine honchos weren't letting her.

That's all been resolved now though -- Scooter and them gave Taylor's people the licensing rights to her old songs for this performance and any others that get rebroadcast from it -- but as to whether she'll bust out songs like "Shake It Off" or not ... time will tell.

Taylor Swift is gonna tell Scooter Braun and Big Machine what's up ... by performing her old songs at the American Music Awards ... at least according to the oddsmakers.

The cyber-gambling site, SportsBetting.ag, is offering tons of prop bets on this Sunday's AMAs ... and bookies are banking on Taylor to sing the hits owned by BM, and for Swift to take home Artist of the Year over Ariana Grande.

The odds of Taylor singing stuff like "Shake It Off" are 1 to 5, meaning you gotta wager $500 to win $100. That's a pretty heavy favorite. The odds of Taylor eschewing songs from Big Machine are 3 to 1, meaning a $100 wager pays $300.

As you know ... there's some debate over Taylor's choice of songs for her big AMAs performance. She's angry at Scooter and BM over ownership of the masters from her first 6 albums. Taylor claimed BM was withholding permission for her to sing her old hits, but the label says she can perform anything she chooses during the live broadcast.

Of course, we've reported Taylor might not have enough time to rehearse her old songs. The jury is still out.

Taylor is the favorite to win Artist of the Year -- her odds are even -- while Ariana is second with 2 to 1 odds. Halsey comes in at 3 to 1, Post Malone is 7 to 2 and Drake is 4 to 1.

Taylor's also expected to go after Scooter and Big Machine during her acceptance speech for Artist of the Decade, and the odds of her saying "Big Machine" on the broadcast are 3 to 2, meaning a $200 wager pays $300.

Looks like Taylor's still making other people rich!!!

Taylor Swift may be locked and loaded to go after Scooter Braun Sunday at the AMAs, but we've learned she'll be talking to an empty chair because Scooter will be thousands of miles away.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Scooter's not scared of what Taylor might do ... fact is, he never planned on showing up for the show. He'll be in Tampa, Florida supporting one of his artists who's performing there ... in case you're not familiar, her name is Ariana Grande.

As we first told you ... Scooter's getting death threats from loyal Taylor fans in the wake of their idol claiming Scooter and other Big Machine honchos were holding her first 6 albums hostage.

Our sources say Taylor -- who's getting an award for Artist of the Decade -- plans to weave her anger toward Scooter and Big Machine into her acceptance speech, but there won't be awkward cutaways of Scooter, and that kind of deflates the balloon.

And, there's more intrigue ... Ariana and Taylor are both nominated for Artist of the Year and Favorite Female Artist Pop/Rock at the AMAs. It'll be interesting if Ariana wins since she's squarely in Scooter's corner.

The speeches could be super entertaining.

Taylor Swift's battle with her old record label, Big Machine, over her performance at the AMAs should be over, but it's not, and the big question ... why is she still reluctant to sing her old songs?

Taylor has been angry at Big Machine and Scooter Braun over ownership of the masters of her first 6 albums. She claimed last week BM was withholding permission for her to sing her old hits, but the label fired back saying she can perform anything she wants during a live broadcast.

Our Taylor sources said that wasn't enough because Dick Clark Productions -- which produces the AMAs and rebroadcasts/repurposes the show -- has to get permission from BM. Then on Monday, BM announced it worked out a licensing deal with Dick Clark Productions so Taylor could sing all her old songs.

Taylor's people then complained that there couldn't be an agreement without notifying her camp in writing of the licensing agreement. That was done Monday, so all should be good. But, it's not.

Now, we're told Taylor may not have enough time to incorporate the old songs in her performance, because such rehearsals take at least a month. Here's the issue ... she told her fans last Thursday she had been planning to perform her old songs, so if she was planning to, you would think she would have rehearsed with them.

On top of that, we're told Taylor wasn't rehearsing in L.A. this past weekend ... she was at her apartment in London so it would seem she's locked and loaded.

So the question ... will you hear "Shake It Off" at the AMAs? The jury is out, but we're not betting on it.

Taylor Swift can perform "Shake It Off" and any of her other early hits at the AMAs this Sunday ... because she's gotten the all-clear from both Big Machine and Dick Clark Productions.

DCP and BM say, "The Big Machine Label Group and Dick Clark Productions announce that they have come to terms on a licensing agreement that approves their artists' performances to stream post show and for re-broadcast on mutually approved platforms."

They go on to say ... "This includes the upcoming American Music Awards performances. It should be noted that recording artists do not need label approval for live performances on television or any other live media."

As we reported, Taylor said she was being blocked by Big Machine -- the label she signed with when she started out and recorded her first 6 albums -- from performing her early hits.  It was always clear she could perform these songs in a live broadcast, but the issue was what happens to the AMA show after it airs on TV. Now, DCP and BM have made it clear ... the subsequent re-broadcasts are within the scope of a live performance.

Taylor has not yet responded.

Taylor Swift has been complaining she's been blocked from performing her early hits during the AMAs because of her old label, Big Machine, but the label tells us she's dead wrong ... Taylor can perform her entire catalog if she wants.

A Big Machine exec tells TMZ, "Taylor Swift can 100% perform all of her catalog, past and present, on the AMAs." The official adds, BM has no issue with her performance going out on the live broadcast, because it recognizes it doesn't have the right to block her. The official says, "Our confusion with her statement is that we have no legal right to stop this and have never tried. She and her team both know this."

Fact is ... Big Machine is correct. Labels can't block artists from performing any songs -- theirs or others -- live, and since the AMAs are airing live ... have at it, Taylor.

BTW ... it's interesting. Taylor performed "Shake it Off" -- a song from her Big Machine catalog -- live on "Good Morning America" on August 22.

The Big Machine exec says, "We are excited for all her fans, as all of the confusion has now been cleared up, and we now welcome Taylor to perform all of her hits on the AMAs."

Taylor Swift's claim Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta from Big Machine are blocking her from performing her own songs at the AMAs is a complete fabrication ... according to the record label, which thinks she made a calculated move to harm its people.

Big Machine says it was shocked to see Taylor's comments Thursday, and denies ever saying she could not perform at the awards show or blocking her Netflix special. It adds ... "In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere."

To be fair, Swift never said BM was keeping her from performing ... she specifically stated it was keeping her from performing her own songs, and using her own songs and performance footage in the Netflix documentary.

Big Machine also claims Taylor's admitted to owing the company millions of dollars and it says it was optimistic the 2 sides were working toward resolving the issue ... but then she bailed.

Instead, BM says "Taylor made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fanbase in a calculated manner that greatly affects the safety of our employees and their families.

The label adds ... "Taylor, the narrative you have created does not exist."

Taylor's spokeswoman says "Big Machine is trying to deflect and make this about money by saying she owes them, but an independent, professional auditor has determined that Big Machine owes Taylor $7.9 million of unpaid royalties over several years."

Despite Big Machine's denial, Swift's friend, Selena Gomez, has her back 100 percent. Selena says she's "sick and extremely angry" over the situation, and accuses the label of "greed, manipulation and power."

Gomez says of BM ... "You've robbed and crushed one of our best song writers of our time an opportunity to celebrate all of her music with fans and the world." She goes on to praise Swift's character, talent and strength ... and says she knows Taylor will not stop fighting.

Halsey echoes many of the same thoughts, accusing BM of making an awful business move and being mean and vindictive. She says the label is banking on people not sticking up for Taylor ... but says it's "barking up the wrong tree."

Just when you thought Taylor Swift's beef with Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta from Big Machine couldn't get any more bitter ... she now says they're blocking her from performing her own songs at the upcoming American Music Awards ... but sources connected to Big Machine tell TMZ they have tried to reach a compromise with Taylor, but she's rejected everything and is out for blood.

Taylor says she planned to do a medley of her hits throughout the decade at the AMAs -- which is presenting her with the Artist of the Decade Award -- but says Scooter and Scott claim that would be rerecording her music ... something she's not allowed to do until November 2020, because Big Machine owns the masters.

On top of that, Swift revealed Netflix is making a documentary about her life, but she says Scooter and Scott have declined the use of her older music and performance footage for that project too ... UNLESS she bows down to their demands.

Our Big Machine sources say Taylor has admitted she owes the label more than $7 million and hasn't paid for more than a year. The sources add she also owes BM masters and video content. The sources say Scott and Scooter have extended an olive branch to Taylor, asking her to sit down with them and try to bury the hatchet, but she flatly refused, threatening if they didn't give her exactly what she wanted she'd go public and tell people to attack Big Machine as well as Scott and Scooter.

Taylor says BM demanded she NOT rerecord copycat versions of her songs next year like she's planning ... and to stop talking about them. Or as she puts is ... "be a good little girl and shut up. Or you'll be punished."

Swift says she's at wit's end and doesn't know what else to do, so she's asking her fans to speak out and let Scooter and Scott know how they feel about this.

Ultimately, she says she hopes other artists Scooter manages "can talk some sense into the men who are exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote."

Our Big Machine sources say Taylor's lawyer told them he couldn't contain what she does or what she says publicly about them.