Celebrity Feuds

Nate Diaz did NOT suffer a hand injury during that violent stand-off with Conor McGregor at the UFC 196 presser Thursday ... with sources telling us Nate is "ready to fight."

After Conor smacked Nate's fist, people noticed Nate clutching his right hand ... and several media outlets speculated that he suffered an injury that could put the fight in jeopardy.

But deeply connected sources tell us, "Nate is fine and ready to fight ... he didn't even see a doctor because he wasn't hurt."

Translation -- the fist escaped unscathed.

IT'S (almost) TIME!!!!

Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz hate each other more then Trump and Rubio ... and now TMZ Sports has even more video that proves how deep the hatred goes.

Check out this raw footage from the UFC 196 news conference ... which shows even more smack talk than you saw on the stage.

The estate of legendary jazz and soul singer Nina Simone has no love for Zoe Saldana -- who's playing Nina in a biopic -- and sparked outrage over Zoe's skin color after the movie trailer debuted.

Nina's estate finally gave its two cents on Saldana getting the role, and it was not good. It's clear in the trailer that producers darkened Zoe's skin for the movie, "Nina" ... and that's pissing off fans, and clearly the estate too.

After Saldana simply tweeted a quote from Nina ... the estate fired back -- "please take Nina's name out of your mouth. For the rest of your life."

Simone fans have had equally harsh reactions to Saldana's casting. They're pissed about her prosthetic nose, and the darkened skin thing is really pissing people off because Nina stood for up for black empowerment and civil rights.

Critics think Viola Davis or Uzo Aduba would have been better picks. Saldana hasn't responded. The movie comes out next month.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie will square off in court Wednesday over custody of their 15-year-old son Rocco, and we've learned Madonna has changed her strategy.

As we reported, the singer and Guy have not gotten along since their 2008 divorce. In fact, we're told they aggressively dislike each other.

Madonna's initial strategy to get her son back was to trash Guy's parenting skills. She believes he's way too permissive and Rocco suffers as a result. Our Madonna sources say she is an extremely strict and controlling parent ... which often benefits the boy, but at the same time pisses him off.

Now we're told Madonna has changed her tune. Rather than trying to force Rocco back to the U.S. through a judge's order, she's trying to win him back by proclaiming her undying love ... frequently through social media.

That said, as one well-connected Madonna source told us, "She always has to be right. It's her nature. She and Guy have disagreed on every [child rearing] decision they talk about, and it's made her feel like he's a bad parent."

Rocco -- who's been living with his dad since late December -- will have a voice in where he ends up living.

A New York City judge just ordered Howard Stern "Wack Packer" High Pitch Erik to steer clear from The Elephant Boy after allegedly threatening to kill him.

Erik's attorney, Jeff Scaggs, tells TMZ the judge issued a no-contact order Tuesday at his arraignment on one count of aggravated harassment. However, the order allows for "incidental" contact, meaning the two can still interact through public appearances or on 'The Stern Show.'

Scaggs tells us the whole thing has been extremely stressful for Erik, especially because he says EB still attacks him about his weight and dead mom on Twitter.

TMZ broke the story ... Erik was arrested in January for texting threatening messages to Elephant Boy. Cops say the messages read, "You're a dead mother f***er I'll break your face and strangle you."

Erik will be back in court next month.

Conor McGregor rolled into a megafan's L.A. apartment this week -- after seeing a cardboard cutout of himself on the guy's balcony ... and the fan was so blown away, he could barely hold himself together.

Conor was driving to the gym when he noticed the cutout (which was displayed along with an Irish flag) -- and screamed up to the guy that he would drop in.

What ensues is pretty awesome ... you gotta watch the clip.

As for Conor's opponent at UFC 196 (which goes down March 5th in Vegas) -- we also got video of Nate Diaz in a recent training session ... acknowledging that he might get "merked."

It's pretty revealing footage ... Diaz knows McGregor is a dangerous guy -- but warns Conor not to underestimate him.

One last thing ... check out this video of McGregor hitting up Rodeo Drive in Bev Hills after tooling around in his Lambo -- dude LOVES to be rich!!!

Watch UFC 196 – McGregor vs. Diaz – Live on PPV on Saturday, March 5.

Akon lives by a simple precept ... if someone doesn't want to be with you, just let them go.

We got Akon at LAX Monday and he sounds like the ultimate voice of reason. He's not taking sides with either Kesha or Luke, but he has a hard time believing the Sony producer is a rapist.

Sam Smith suggesting he might be the first openly gay man to win an Oscar ... pissed off screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who's now calling out Smith.

Not long after Smith won Best Original Song for the "Spectre" theme ... Black, who is openly gay, tweeted a reminder that HE won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2009 for "Milk."

He also claims Smith is infatuated with his fiance, olympic diver Tom Daley.

The "first" argument might seem kinda petty -- especially since Smith didn't state he was first as fact -- but Black tells TMZ, "I think knowing our collective LGBTQ history is important. That's all. We stand on the shoulders of countless brave men and women. We should honor that."

As for the shot about Daley ... Black wouldn't elaborate. We've reached out to Smith, but no word back.

Fun fact: Elton John also won an Oscar, long before Black, in 1994.

Smith has now apologized.

WNBA star Brittney Griner has LOST the battle over her Keurig coffee maker -- and will hand it over to her estranged wife as part of the terms of their split ... TMZ Sports has learned.

It's the latest development in one of the nastiest breakups in pro sports history -- with WNBA players Griner and Glory Johnson finally agreeing on how to divvy up their stuff.

The good news for Brittney ... she won't have to pay spousal support and gets to keep their home in Arizona.

But Glory made out pretty well too -- according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, Griner has agreed to pack and ship several items including:

-- Johnson's wedding dress
-- The griddle/grill
-- The steamer
-- 1 wine cooler
-- The Keurig coffee maker
-- The juicer

Britney also has to cut a check for $25,000 ... PLUS she has to cover the $2,326 debt to Kay Jewelers for the cost of her own wedding ring.

The war is far from over -- the two are still fighting over several other issues ... including the twin babies Johnson was pregnant with during their relationship.

Sen. Marco Rubio just got crushed under a wall of irony when he tried to deliver a Trump-esque shot at Donald Trump.

During a rally in Dallas, he started reading a Trump tweet calling Rubio a "choker." Watch, the Senator's trying to diss Trump for misspelling the word ... but accidentally spells it perfectly. It plays like Rubio doesn't know how to spell.

(Note: Trump really did misspell it, but corrected the tweet by the time Rubio read it).

There's more, but it all plays like a failed attempt to beat Trump at his own game. In other words ... the role of Meek Mill will now be played by Sen. Rubio.

Drake ... y'know what that means. Sorry.

Marco Rubio cannot negotiate with Vladimir Putin, because he's way too sweaty ... so says Donald Trump.

Trump went on CNN after Thursday night's Republican debate and said it really doesn't matter why Rubio sweats ... it's a sign of weakness if the leader of the free world has sweaty pits when he goes head-to-head with world adversaries.

Trump's been on the campaign trail calling Rubio out as a "choke artist," noting that during the February debate, "He was soaking wet, I'm telling you. He was wet. I thought he just came out of a swimming pool."

Beetlejuice from "The Howard Stern Show" might have a death wish ... 'cause he's calling out one of the baddest men on the planet, Mike Tyson -- saying he'd beat his ass in a boxing match.

Remember ... Beetle's undefeated as an amateur boxer (remember when he fought Big Poppa?) ... and says he's truly confident he can hang with the top fighters in the sport, including Mike.

"Mike Tyson is a p***y," Beetlejuice said ... "He's scared of me."

Beetle -- who was out in NYC promoting his new Beetle's Juice E Juice -- also called out his longtime rival Floyd Mayweather ... a guy he's verbally sparred with on the Stern show before.

You gotta watch the clip ... dude may have better trash talk than Conor McGregor!

It's #TBT for Birdman and Lil Wayne ... who got together to make music for the first time since their cold war broke out.

The Cash Money/Young Money honchos both dropped verses for Mannie Fresh's new cut, "Hate" -- which also features Juvenile.

We're told they were NOT in studio together for the recording -- Wayne laid down his part more than a year ago, and Birdman did his a few days ago -- still, it's another sign they could be closer to ending their feud.

They've partied a few times since New Year's, and Birdman publicly vowed he'd die for Weezy. But as we've reported ... Wayne is standing firm on his financial demands.

Next step -- "Tha Carter V"? Please.

No more threats ... no more fights ... Matt Barnes has to SQUASH THE BEEF with Derek Fisher and get on with his life -- so says the sister of the woman caught in the middle.

TMZ Sports spoke with Laura Govan -- whose sister is Gloria Govan ... the mother of Barnes' children who rebounded with Fisher after she and Matt broke up.

We asked Laura if she thinks Barnes will make good on his promise to fight Fisher again -- a follow-up to their first clash back in October.

Laura's response is measured and thoughtful -- essentially saying Matt shouldn't hold Fisher responsible for falling for Gloria ... because you never know where love is gonna come from.

She adds, "Things happen, you move on."

Here's Conor McGregor ... doubling down on the racist smack talk.

McGregor referred to Nate Diaz as a "cholo gangsta from the hood" during the insane news conference for the UFC 196 fight Wednesday day ... and clearly, he's not letting up.

Christian Slater destroyed his father's acting career by going public with allegations his dad is suffering from mental illness ... according to a new defamation lawsuit.

Thomas Knight Slater -- who's acted under the name Michael Hawkins -- says his son did an interview last year where he described his father as suffering from "manic-depressive schizophrenia."

Hawkins denies the comment and points out his son has no medical creds to make such a diagnosis.

In the suit -- filed Wednesday in L.A. and obtained by TMZ -- Hawkins says the article resulted in him being "blacklisted" in Hollywood. He says he was hoping to land more roles in the "autumn of his life," but that won't be possible after Christian's lies.

Hawkins had roles in soap operas like "Ryan's Hope" and "As the World Turns" in the '70s. He's also had small roles in some big movies -- 'Amityville Horror,' "Midnight Run" and "Mommie Dearest."