Celebrity Feuds

Britney Spears and Beyonce fans are bickering over who is the real Queen B for no good reason ... so says the artist whose painting ignited the whole beef.

Here's the deal ... Britney kicked the Beyhive Wednesday when she posted a painting of a bee with a crown and said, "To all my fans who call me Queen 👑 B …. I believe this would be more accurate."

Naturally, Britney's post sent Bey fans into a tizzy, and the hive sounded off by the thousands, letting Brit know there's only one Queen B in their eyes -- and she's from Houston.

Not to be a buzzkill, but Jenna Paddey, the artist who painted the image, says neither Britney nor Beyonce was her inspiration.

Translation: stand down, fan armies!!!

Jenna tells us she painted the illustration in 2018, and it was only intended to reflect a play on words for the phrase, "queen bee." She says she's not sure how Britney came across her work -- she does sell prints on her website -- but only found out about the IG post when friends started tagging her in comments.

Ja Rule has made his services widely available to the general public -- the dude's offering up private party bookings now ... something his old foe, 50 Cent, finds awfully hilarious.

The rapper made an appearance this weekend at a private house party in New Jersey, where it looks like he was hired by a bunch of hotties to perform a few hit songs and hang out for a bit. One classic jam of his that he got around to playing ... "I'm Real," featuring J Lo.

Everyone was having a good ol' time, and Ja certainly had no shame in announcing that, yes, people CAN book him for gigs like this now. He's partnered up with ICONN, and there's an official way you can go about getting Ja to come to your shindig ... for a pretty penny.

Sounds neat, but of course ... there's always haters lurking in the back ready to pounce. In this case, Ja's nemesis, Fitty, came with a bag of jokes ready to fly at JR's expense.

He took to IG and wrote, "if you don’t want to end up doing private birthday parties for 15 people. 🤷🏽‍♂️stay out of my way, OK." Some folks credit 50 with stunting Ja's career -- at least that's how 50 sees it -- and he rides that narrative to no end ... constantly clowning the guy.

Bhad Bhabie has one less legal issue on her hands while she's in rehab -- because one of her foes, Skai Jackson, is tearing up her restraining order.

The former Disney star just filed to have the order against Bhabie dismissed, and we're told a judge has signed off on it ... so it's official. There's no question ... this move comes as a direct result of Danielle seeking treatment.

Skai tells TMZ ... "Because Danielle stopped threatening me after the Court ordered her to do so, and now that she's made the decision to work on herself through rehab and therapy, I’m pleased that I don’t need to extend my restraining order." Now, she left a window for herself ... because Skai's dismissal was granted without prejudice, meaning she can refile if things heat up again.

On that point, Skai adds, “If she goes back to her old ways, of course, we’ll have to change that, but I hope and believe that it won’t be necessary. I think it’s great that Danielle is getting the help she feels she needs. I wish her nothing but the best on her road to recovery."

You'll recall ... Skai got the restraining order against Bhabie in February after a squabble over NBA YoungBoy turned nasty.

A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon's blowing up on TikTok after posting a video suggesting Hailey Bieber's had some work done on her face, but now it's got him in legal hot water with Hailey and Justin.

Dr. Daniel Barrett's been hit with a cease-and-desist letter by the couple's lawyers, who claim he's using Hailey's name, image and likeness in his video without permission to advertise his practice and "spread false, uncorroborated claims that Mrs. Bieber has undergone plastic surgery."

On top of that, Barrett's being accused of copyright infringement for his use of lyrics from Justin's song, "Sorry," in the TikTok caption.

In the vid, which was posted over the weekend, the plastic surgeon compares a 2011 photo of Hailey to a more recent one and one from 2016. He says he thinks the physical changes are impossible without some cosmetic procedures ... specifically to her nose.

Barrett also speculates Hailey's undergone genioplasty and has lip fillers.

Hailey and Justin's legal team say the TikTok includes a number of violations, including "misrepresentation, defamation, slander, false light, violation of rights of publicity, copyright infringement, trademark and service mark infringement" and more.

They're demanding Barrett take down the video and issue a public retraction in the next 24 hours ... or else the legal fury is coming.

Dr. Barrett tells TMZ ... he doesn't believe his comments in the video are disparaging, and he finds it "crazy" that the Beibers want to chase him down for something like this.

He says his video is intended to educate about plastic surgery, and he does not plan to remove it and will deal with the legal ramifications.

Horace Grant is going scorched-earth on Michael Jordan -- claiming 'Last Dance' was filled with "lies" to make MJ look good ... when in reality, Jordan is nothing but a "snitch."

Yeah, man, Horace is PISSED!!

Of course, Horace participated in the ESPN docuseries -- most memorably to deny he leaked sensitive information about MJ to Bulls reporter Sam Smith back in the day.

Bottom line -- it became abundantly clear the two men don't like each other ... and haven't gotten along in years despite winning 3 NBA championships together.

Fast-forward to Tuesday when Grant appeared on the "Kap and Co" radio show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago and was asked straight-up if he was the Sam Smith leak.

"It is a downright, outright, completely lie," Grant said ... "Lie, lie, lie."

"If MJ had a grudge with me, let's settle this like men ... Let's talk about it. Or we can settle it another way. But yet and still, he goes out and puts this lie out that I was the source behind [the Sam Smith book Jordan Rules]."

Grant strongly believes MJ still holds a grudge against him -- "And, I think he proved that during this so-called documentary."

"When if you say something about [Jordan], he's going to cut you off, he's going to try to destroy your character."

That's when Grant brought up Charles Barkley -- and how MJ cut off their decades-long friendship after Sir Chuck criticized his management of the Charlotte Bobcats on TV.

"Charles Barkley, they've been friends for over 20, 30 years ... and he said something about Michael's management with the Charlotte Bobcats or the Charlotte Hornets, and then they haven't spoken since then."

"And, my point is, he said that I was the snitch, but yet and still after 35 years he brings up his rookie year going into one of his teammates' rooms and seeing coke, and weed and women. My point is: Why the hell did he want to bring that up? What's that got to do with anything? I mean, if you want to call somebody a snitch, that's a damn snitch right there."

Grant then criticized the docuseries as a whole -- acknowledging it was entertaining but says 90% of it was "B.S."

"It wasn't real -- because a lot of things [Jordan] said to some of his teammates, that his teammates went back at him. But, all of that was kind of edited out of the documentary, if you want to call it a documentary."

Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber are firing back at Tekashi 6ix9ine's claim that she and/or their team illicitly bought their way to #1 this week.

AG took to IG Monday with a celebratory post, highlighting her and Bieb's single, "Stuck with U," which landed at the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 list ... beating out Doja Cat's popular "Say So" as well as 6ix9ine's new single, "GOOBA," which came in third.

She said she wanted to thank her fans for getting her there, but also took a good minute addressing 6ix9ine's allegations from just a few hours earlier that she, Biebs and people working for them allegedly maxed out 6 credit cards to purchase 30,000 units at the last minute to secure their spot at #1. Ariana calls BS.

She insists the reason "Stuck with U" moved the way it did is because more people actually purchased their song instead of streamed it, which counts for more units than streaming and explains why it surged to the top. Ariana goes on to say she and Bieber have longtime ride or die fans -- and they're credited with the bump. Nothing more.

She continued with all artists should be grateful and honored by the opportunity to be heard at all, and to work in the biz. She sent love to everyone in the top 10 ... "even number 3."

BTW, Bieber took up for their hit track ... pointing out Billboard rules only allow for 4 units to be purchased per credit card -- so, he's saying Tekashi's allegation couldn't be true.

And, as for Tekashi only calling out Ariana? Justin says, "If you gonna say her name make sure you say mine because it's our song."

Fat Joe had an eye-opening story for Ashanti that almost saw one of her biggest hits go to Jennifer Lopez ... at the would-be behest of Ja Rule and Irv Gotti.

Joe was talking to Ashanti on Instagram Live this week, and recounted an interesting tale about a time he says Ja and Irv called him up in the dead of night and told him to come to the studio. Once there, FJ says they showed him the remixed version of his song "What's Luv?" with Ashanti singing on it ... but told him they wanted to get J Lo on instead.

He goes on to say that Irv and Ja tried pitching him on a Latino angle with himself, Ja and J Lo on the final cut for representation. Joe's Puerto Rican, Jen is too.

Luckily for Ashanti -- who seems seriously stunned at the revelation -- Joe lobbied to keep her on, 'cause he said she sounded amazing on it. Audiences clearly agreed in the end ... Ashanti was kept on as the primary female singer in the remix, and the song went on to peak at No. 2 on the Hot 100 Billboard chart, and stayed on for nearly 20 weeks.

As for Ashanti, she says she never knew this ... and seemed a little pissed at either Ja or Irv (or possibly both) by saying, "He stayed pulling records or trying to pull records from me." Joe tries calming her down by telling her not to go there, but too late ... Ashanti did.

The duo went on to talk about a number of hits Ashanti had on the charts at the time, including one J Lo song she's credited with helping write, "Ain't It Funny" ... the Murder remix, anyway. People online are saying Ashanti doesn't get her due for her pen prowess.

"I will beat Floyd. I promise my life on it."

That's Conor McGregor telling Mike Tyson he WILL defeat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match ... if it's the last thing he ever does!

So, why the renewed interest in a rematch with Floyd?

Tyson was sitting down with Francis Ngannou and the UFC star's manager for an episode if his "Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson" podcast when Mike began raving about McGregor's foray into boxing back in 2017.

"He’s never really had a boxing match in his life, right? He went 10 rounds with the greatest boxer in the land, in 100 years of boxing."

Tyson continued, "He went 10 rounds, scored punches on the greatest fighter in the last 20, 100 years."

"Imagine a guy who’s never had a boxing match and he’s fighting me? He goes 10 rounds and we’re fighting?"

"We go 10 rounds, that’s a bad motherfu**er," Tyson said.

Well, Conor McGregor saw the clip ... and issued a strongly worded statement of his own.

"Thank you Mike, and just know that for the inevitable rematch, with the knowledge I now hold of Floyd’s style, plus under the tutelage of my old school boxing coach, I will crack the puzzle, and I will beat Floyd. I promise my life on it."

McGregor added, "It is great to see you back Iron Mike."

As we previously reported, Conor has been TRYING to lock up a rematch with Floyd for a while ... but Floyd hasn't signed a contract yet.

Vince McMahon claims ex-XFL commissioner Oliver Luck "abandoned" his duties when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March ... and that's one of the main reasons Vince fired him, according to court documents.

Remember, Oliver Luck sued Vince McMahon back in April, claiming he was wrongfully terminated from his role as the commish and CEO of the XFL on April 9.

In his initial court docs, Luck redacted many of the details behind his allegations.

But now, Vince's attorney has filed his own court docs spelling out the reasons McMahon axed Luck. The details have now been made public.

First, McMahon claims Luck "effectively abandoned his responsibilities" on March 13 by shutting down the XFL offices in Connecticut ... and instead, working from home in Indiana.

McMahon claims Luck failed to "devote substantially all of his business time to his XFL duties as required by the contract."

Second, McMahon claims Luck approved signing ex-NFL receiver Antonio Callaway without first getting approval from Vince.

By the way, Callaway had previously been suspended by the NFL for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. McMahon claims he ordered Luck to cut Callaway immediately -- but Luck refused.

Luck's argument, according to court docs, is that Callaway didn't violate the XFL's personal conduct policy.

Third, McMahon claims Luck misused an XFL-issued iPhone -- using the phone for personal reasons when it was supposed to be exclusively used for work.

For his part, Luck claims McMahon's allegations are bogus and he's digging in his heels on the argument he was wrongfully terminated.

As for the COVID-19 allegation, Luck claims he simply couldn't return to Connecticut because the state had implemented a stay-at-home order on March 20, and he adhered by the mandate.

Luck claims he did everything he could to continue doing his job while sheltering-in-place.

Luck is demanding $23.8 million in salary and damages. He had signed a 5-year contract in 2018 with a $5 million annual salary and a $2 million bonus.

Meek Mill believes there's only one thing Tekashi 6ix9ine should be doing on Instagram Live ... saying sorry for being a snitch and to all the people he harmed along the way.

The hip-hop star slammed his fellow rapper on Twitter Friday morning ... ahead of 69's first live social media appearance since he was released from prison and ordered to home confinement due to COVID-19 concerns.

Meek says ... "I hope that rat going live to apologize to the people he told on or the victim." He seems to be upset over Tekashi seemingly getting a pass on snitching from fans, and wants to remind people that another "rat" was allegedly responsible for the death of his friend, Nipsey Hussle, last year.

Mill's suggesting Nip's alleged killer, Eric Holder, had a history of being an informant just like 6ix9ine ... which is why he was on the streets in the first place.

The insinuation's pretty clear -- once a rat, always a rat ... and Meek's not buying into 6ix9ine's act.

Nevertheless, Tekashi's no longer behind bars for his crimes and is hyping up his Instagram Live show ... in typical boastful fashion.

He's also already fired back at Meek, replying ... "Imagine having a new born baby come into the world & be pressed about a Mexican with rainbow hair." As we reported, Meek's GF gave birth to a baby boy on his 33rd bday.

6ix9ine's hours away from going live, and a lot of people will be watching to see what he's gotta say. Ya gotta think Meek will be paying attention too.

6'9", 450 lb. Hafthor Bjornsson and 6'3", 375-ish lb. Eddie Hall -- arguably the 2 STRONGEST MEN EVER -- have beef ... strongman beef.

Let's explain.

Thor aka "The Mountain" from 'GoT' deadlifted 1,104 lbs. on Saturday ... breaking Hall's previous world record of 1,102 lbs.

Hall -- the 2017 World's Strongest Man winner -- was the first human being to break the 1,100-pound barrier in 2016 ... a lift many thought was impossible.

So, what's the issue??

Well, Eddie set his record at Giants Live World Deadlift Championships -- an official meet -- complete with other competitors and a packed room of rowdy fans.

Thor's record -- 'cause of the global coronavirus pandemic -- was done at his home gym ... which Eddie claims makes the lift and record, bogus.

We talked to Bjornsson ... and uhh, let's just say it's clap back szn.

"I honestly just think that [Eddie] is trying to protect the thing that he had. For him, that meant a lot to him to have [1,102 lbs.] world record," Thor tells us.

"He's just trying everything he can to make people believe that my record doesn't count. But, it does count. It is a world record and that's just how it is."

Contrary to Hall's claim, Bjornsson says the home gym conditions actually made the lift wayyy harder ... not easier.

"With my experience, and I've been in the sport more than a decade. When you can compete with the crowd, that gives you an adrenaline rush, and gives you the extra strength you need to perform better."

"Doing it with just a referee, camera crew," Thor says ... "It doesn't feel the same."

Any way you look at it, the lift was crazy impressive ... but Thor says he could've pulled significantly more if he wanted to truly push himself.

Just how much more?

"I can sit here and say that I could of pulled comfortably [1,124 pounds]. That's just me being completely honest. I do believe that I could have pulled possibly, with a grind, about [1,146 pounds]."

BTW, if you dig these 2 giants -- former-friends-turned-enemies -- going at it ... they're boxing in Vegas next year ... and The Mountain says he's ALREADY training to beat Eddie's ass.

Charles Barkley says he's still VERY sad about his broken friendship with ex-BFF Michael Jordan ... but he's down to bury the hatchet if MJ would just give him a call.

"The guy was like a brother to me for, shoot, 20-something years," Barkley said Tuesday on ESPN radio's "Waddle and Silvy" show. "At least 20-something years."

"And I do, I feel sadness. But, to me, he's still the greatest basketball player ever. I wish him nothing but the best. But, there's nothing I can do about it, brother."

Barkley says MJ cut off their friendship back in 2012 when Sir Charles criticized basketball's G.O.A.T. for being a crappy owner of the Charlotte Hornets.

"I'm pretty sure I said, 'As much as I love Michael, until he stops hiring them kiss-asses, and his best friends, he's never going to be successful as a general manager,'" Barkley said.

FYI -- Jordan HASN'T exactly been the greatest owner ever ... the team's seen the postseason just two times since he became the majority owner in 2010.

Sir Charles says he felt like it was his duty as a broadcaster to be honest about Michael's failures ... and even says he thought that's why he and Jordan had such a good relationship to begin with.

"Part of my job [as an analyst] is, because I can't go on TV and say, 'Another general manager sucks' and then just because Michael's like a brother to me say, 'He's doing a fantastic job,'" Barkley says. "That would be disingenuous."

Barkley has previously said he won't apologize to MJ for doing his job.

The former Phoenix Suns superstar says it's all actually really sad ... but says the ball is in Jordan's court when it comes to mending the bridge.

The Mountain from "Game of Thrones" just broke an almighty weightlifting record that once belonged to his archrival ... and now, he wants to break the dude's face in the ring.

Hafthor Bjornsson -- who played The Hound's brother on the hit HBO series -- set a new world record Saturday by deadlifting 501 kilograms (about 1,104 lbs) and staying standing upon releasing the massive weight, while he was getting gassed up by his squad nearby.

It's an incredible feat, and before this ... his muscle-man foe, Eddie Hall, held the record at 500 kg from just a few years ago when he deadlifted at the World Deadlift Championships.

It should be noted that Eddie went down in utter exhaustion after his lift, BUT ... he did hold the bar up longer than Thor did. In any case, The Mountain's got him beat with this latest show of strength, but the feud's not over ... 'cause the guy wants to settle this once and for all in the ring -- as in boxing. He said as much in a post-interview, where he challenged Eddie to a fight in the ring, during which he says he wants to dole out a KO.

Welp, Eddie has already responded to the call ... saying he will "1,000 percent sign those papers" while going on to explain it's not for money or glory, but to teach The Mountain a lesson after he apparently called Eddie a cheat at a competition they were both in once upon a time.

EH also makes a point to say he was never naive enough to think no one would ever beat his record -- but it sounds like this bitter rivalry will, in fact, end up with gloves on.

Britney Spears mentioning Justin Timberlake at all is one thing, but specifically acknowledging their 2002 breakup in a shout-out video to her ex has everyone's heads spinning ... and JT LOLin'.

Britney's very bored, said so herself, but boredom wasn't enough to get her to join TikTok "or whatever the cool thing you're supposed to do these days." Instead, Britney went on Instagram and danced along to JT's track "Filthy" from his last album "Man of the Woods."

That was pretty significant in and of itself but then she dropped a massive bombshell in her captions saying, "PS I know we had one of the world's biggest breakups 20 years ago ..... but hey the man is a genius!!!! Great song JT."

And to everyone's astonishment ... JT responded with a slew of emojis!!!

Lots to unpack here. It's the first time Britney's directly addressed her breakup with JT. They dated for 3 years before their abrupt breakup in 2002. They were both around 21 at the time.

Later that year, Justin dropped "Cry Me a River" ... which he wrote in 2 hours. Fans have long suspected it's about his failed relationship with Britney. A year later, Britney fired back with "Toxic."

Of course, everyone's moved on nearly 2 decades later ... Britney's had 2 kids with Kevin Federline and she's been dating Sam Asghari for a while now. Justin's married to Jessica Biel and they have a son together.

But leave it to Britney to give y'all one helluva #ThrowbackThursday. BTW, in her caption, she also acknowledges that what she's doing is not really dancing. This may have something to do with it. Either way, thanks for the coronavirus distraction, Brit!!!