Celebrity Feuds

Joaquin Phoenix has an ally on the Hollywood battlefield -- the historical advisor from his film, "Napoleon" is leaping to his defense following some biting criticism from Brian Cox.

Lorris Chevalier tells TMZ ... Joaquin did the best with what he was given on-set -- even though he himself wanted to take "Napoleon" in a different, unique, direction ... but he faced stiff opposition.

Despite his ideas being shut down, Lorris says Joaquin really threw himself into the role ... hitting up spots like Napoleon's private castle, the Malmaison and several other Napoleonic sites around Paris for some hands-on character research.

Chingy is ready for his second wind of music success, but he's wary of the industry -- telling us he's been burned by bad rumors and beef, and doesn't want to see future artists suffer the same fate!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the "Right Thurr" rapper ahead of the debut of his "Unsung" episode on TV One. He's on his "Nu Beginnings" wave courtesy of his brand-new single released today, but still has a sour taste in his mouth over the Sidney Starr situation he says killed his career climb.

Chingy recalls being blackballed when Sidney, a transgender model, lied about sleeping with him back in the day, and tells us her eventual apology barely did any real damage control.

Drake will be licking his wounds and bowing to King Kendrick Lamar ... a shameful sight Touré says will become Drake's reality after their rap battle is all said and done.

The tenured music and cultural critic hopped on "TMZ Live" on Thursday and pinpointed what he feels are dings in Drake's armor ... mainly his comeback response, which Touré isn't all that impressed with.

Drake has been owning up to his "Push Ups (Drop & Give Me Fifty)" track ... using the lyrics to tease both Metro Boomin and Kendrick's manager on social media ... but Touré feels sneaky tactics pale in comparison to the points K. Dot has already put on the board.

Drake has turned his scope away from Metro Boomin and Rick Ross, and returned it to the main event ... Kendrick Lamar!!!

In his latest IG post, Drake somehow dug up a photo of Kendrick's manager Anthony Saleh poppin' tags shopping at one of the rap megastar's OVO stores.

It's unclear when Saleh was loading up on the golden owl gear, but Drake pushed the issue on Kendrick's response with his caption -- "Are we getting in our bag or nah??"

YG is 100% for rap beef -- whether he's in the mix or on the sidelines -- but doesn't fault J. Cole for not feeling the same way when he was up against Kendrick Lamar.

TMZ Hip Hop recently linked with YG in L.A. and the 4HUNNID hitmaker is ready to exercise his first boss moves of 2024 ... he just shot the vid for his upcoming single, "Knockas."

YG's back in the saddle with his day one collaborator Mustard, and L.A. radio is about to experience a revival of sorts -- they're releasing the upcoming compilation, "Just Re'd Up 3" soon and point him to the action!!!

Hip Hop has been offering tons of just that as of late, and we had to get his thoughts on Kendrick Lamar vs. Everybody, including his homie J. Cole.

YG has records with both Kendrick and Cole but didn't come down on the Dreamville rapper for apologizing like other culture critics.

He's thinking like a boss more than ever. YG and his label recently inked a multi-album partnership deal with BMG, after officially departing Def Jam Records -- so, more than ever, his career is his to control.

Katie Couric says Bryant Gumbel gave her a hard time back in the day over maternity ... which Katie thinks spoke to something deeper, even if he was joking.

The famed newswoman stopped by Bill Maher's 'Club Random' podcast Sunday ... in which she detailed the "prickly" relationship she had with Bryant during their tenure on 'Today' together.

Katie hinted she and Bryant were never close, referring to her coworker as a guy's guy -- but still applauded his broadcasting skills.

Courtney Love ain't showin' much love for Taylor Swift -- in fact, she's got some harsh words for her ... not to mention for Beyoncé and a lot of other ladies in the modern pop space.

The alternative rocker made her controversial remarks in a recent interview with The Standard, first zeroing in on Taylor by calling her "not important." Love accused Taylor of being a "safe space for girls" and the Madonna of this generation.

She then ends her thoughts by saying T-Swift is "not interesting as an artist."

Kendall Jenner's 818 Tequila brand has stirred up a storm at Coachella -- 'cause a local bar owner claims her team ruined a beloved mural of theirs ... even though we hear it's BS and have seen the contract saying they actively agreed to and acknowledged the potential for damage.

A watering hole in Indio, CA called Club 5 Bar let Kendall and co. set up shop at their establishment last week for a pop-up attraction to plug 818 ... complete with a bunch of custom decor and decorations ... including a massive decal-like sign on the outside.

It looks like they painted 818 branding all over the wall, but they didn't -- it's actually a separate piece they slapped on top of the wall ... which is why the owner is now pissed. You see, there's an AC/DC mural underneath that they recently had installed, which he claims is now damaged as a result of how the 818 team set this whole thing up and left it behind.

Drake is leaning into his 'Push Ups' lyrics, confirming it's not AI ... but isn't above playing cyber games himself -- and Metro Boomin is his first target. 😈

Shortly after Metro was named as the leaker behind Drake and Lil Yachty's "Jumbotron S*** Poppin" reference track leak, Drake hopped on IG and posted a meme video that plastered Metro's face on Nick Cannon's body in a scene from the movie "Drumline."

The latest Drake track hit the net on Saturday and went into chopper mode at everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Rick Ross and MB also caught half a bar when he rapped ... "Metro, shut your h*e-ass up and make some drums, n****!!!" Yep, clearly his favorite part of the rap roast.

Drake's rap Infinity War now has a new ghostwritten attack on his name, but it's not Quentin Miller behind the lyrics this time ... it's Lil Yachty!!!

On Sunday, a reference track hit the internet of Yachty appearing to be the brainchild of Drake's song "Jumbotron S*** Poppin" ... rapping most of the "Her Loss" hit as it was presented to the masses.

According to Akademiks, Metro Boomin sent the track to several sources with a "Merry Christmas" gift note attached 🎁 -- tightly wrapped with intentions to damage Drake's rep.

The ghostwriting rumors have nudged Drake since his beef with Meek Mill, however, Lil Yachty is listed as one of the many writers on the track. It was common knowledge Yachty assisted during the album process.

Metro hasn't owned up to the leak, but if it's him ... it could be payback for his phone getting hacked last month.

An avalanche of Toronto-based numbers spammed Metro for days and thousands of dollars worth of Balenciaga were charged to his account -- a caper he's fully pinning on Drake.

"Jumbotron" doesn't exactly fall under the ghostwriting umbrella, but Rick Ross capitalized on the moment anyway and fueled his Drake beef even further ... claiming Drake's Diamond-certified "Sicko Mode" verse to also be the work of a puppetmaster.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were big time power-coupling at Coachella -- and had some other lovebirds tagging along to make it a big old group outing ... no third wheels allowed.

The pop star was out in force Saturday night in the desert -- and she had her BF by her side ... not to mention a newish-looking squad, including other couples ...  Justin and Hailey Bieber were in the mix -- as were Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan (SaBrarry?)

They were all leaving what looked to be the backstage area from Ice Spice's set -- where we'd seen them earlier -- and the whole crew trickled out almost in single-file line fashion.

Benzino and Eminem's 20-year-long beef could finally be ending with one last duel -- and the "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta" alum thinks he can win with ease, vowing he's in his rhyme prime!!!

TMZ Hip Hop recently chopped it up with Benzino as he soaked up some Miami rays, and first things first ... we got his beef expertise on Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole's brief battle, and the shocking apology that followed!!!

Like many rap pundits, Benzino said Cole's apology was bad for battling, but great for showing future artists that hip hop doesn't have to be so macho -- especially given the long history of murdered rappers.

Benzino y Eminem, que llevan 20 años peleándose, podrían finalmente terminar con un último duelo, y el ex participante de "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta" cree que puede ganar con facilidad, ya que asegura que está en su mejor momento.

TMZ Hip Hop habló recientemente con Benzino mientras tomaba un poco de sol en Miami, pero antes de pasar a eso, nos compartió sus impresiones sobre la breve batalla de Kendrick Lamar y J. Cole, y la sorprendente disculpa que siguió!!!

Como muchos expertos del rap, Benzino dijo que la disculpa de Cole era mala para la batalla, pero buena para mostrarle a los futuros artistas que el hip hop no tiene por qué ser tan macho, especialmente con la larga historia de raperos que han sido asesinados.

El nuevo diss track de Drake está causando un tremendo revuelo en línea, con los fans intentando descifrar su contenido, y sobre todo, si este corresponde al rapero o no, ya que algunos fanáticos piensan que podría ser generado con IA.

La nueva pista se filtró el sábado en la mañana y es bastante explosiva, con dardos a un montón de artistas como Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Future y muchos más.

El diss parece referirse al propio tiro de Kendrick Lamar hacia Drake y J. Cole, donde alega que no había Big Three cuando canta en "First Person Shooter" cy, diciendo, que él se levantó como el mejor de todos los tiempos.

Drake's new diss track's causing a firestorm online ... over the content and over whether or not it's really the rapper -- 'cause some fans think it's AI-generated.

The new track leaked online Saturday morning ... and, it's pretty dang explosive -- roasting a whole lotta artists like Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Future and tons more.

Drake takes a shot at Kendrick Lamar early on ... "You better drop and give 'em 50/Pipsqueak pipe down, you ain’t in no Big 3/SZA got you wiped down/Travis [Scott] got you wiped down/Savage got you wiped down/Like your label boy, you Interscope right now."

The diss seems about Kendrick Lamar's own shot at Drake and J. Cole ... claiming there was no Big Three while name-dropping their "First Person Shooter" song -- and, he saying he truly stood as the greatest of all time.

Suge Knight says Warren G and Russell Simmons swindled him out of publishing dollars, but Warren is barking back with claims Suge has his facts all mixed up!!!

A fired-up WG says he broke from his boxing workout on Friday just to give Suge a piece of his mind ... responding to Suge making him his whippin' boy on the most recent 'Collect Call' podcast episode.

Suge claimed Snoop Dogg and Kurupt were Warren's ghostwriters on his 1994 debut album "Regulate... G Funk Era," which was released on a subsidiary label of Russell's Def Jam Records.

The album was a big hit ... it went 3X Platinum thanks to hits like "This D.J." and the certified hip hop classic "Regulate" with the late Nate Dogg -- a song Suge says he gave to Russell in good faith, having blown up on his "Above the Rim" soundtrack a year prior.

Now, because Snoop and Kurupt were signed to Suge's publishing, Suge expected a big payout, but says Russ pulled a fast one and falsely listed WG as a writer.

Suge also says Dr. Dre, who's Warren's stepbrother, used to beat Warren's ass for using phones in his presence ... for whatever reason.

According to Warren, Kurupt only assisted on the song "Do You See," and Snoop on "This D.J." ... but that's all.

Warren also denied the Dr. Dre beatdowns, but claimed he saved Suge from a couple of close calls at nightclubs back in the day -- he says he earned his ranking, and never had any ill will toward Suge.