Celebrity News

"High School Musical" was a slam dunk hit for Disney 20 years ago, but not for Bart Johnson -- who played Coach Bolton -- because he tells TMZ the movie f***** up his career at first!

It may be hard to believe, but Johnson tells us his acting career took a turn for the worse despite his skyrocketing fame as Zac Efron's on-screen dad and East High's head basketball coach in 'HSM.'

Check out our clip ... Bart tells TMZ he was "put out to pasture" for being a dad in a Disney movie, and it took a whole decade to get his career back on track.

Claudia Jordan and Shanna Moakler have a similar audition horror story ... because they both claim Steven Seagal took them into a room and told them to undress for a massage on separate occasions.

Claudia and Shanna came out swinging Wednesday on the first episode of their new "Wicked Awesome" podcast ... claiming Steven tried to mix business with pleasure when they were younger.

As the women tell it, Steven extended an invite for an audition at his home ... and when they arrived, in different instances, they say he got them alone in a room and offered a massage.

Shanna claimed when she was 18 years old Steven flew her from New York to Los Angeles for an audition ... and while she was at his home, he told her he was a "sensei" who could fix her back with acupuncture.

Timothy Busfield was free as a bird Wednesday for the first time since surrendering to cops last week ... and we have pics of him after his release.

"The West Wing" actor was draped in all black, carrying a bottled water as he walked without the shackles or armed guards we'd grown accustomed to seeing him with since January 13, when he turned himself in on child sex abuse charges.

Busfield was picked up by a limo from his posh New Mexico Airbnb -- $750 a night -- and was joined by a member of his legal team.

His wife, Melissa Gilbert, was also snapped, waving goodbye to him from the doorway of the castle-looking estate.

"Hannah Montana" was not inspired by "Lizzie McGuire" in "any shape or form," TMZ has learned ... following Hilary Duff's comments that she was "sure" the 'Lizzie McGuire Movie' helped shape the show.

We caught up with the creator of "Hannah Montana," Michael Poryes, who says Disney pitched him the ​idea to create a show about a popstar ... and he came up with the concept in a small garage office in Los Angeles.

He tells us there was "zero" inspiration derived from "Lizzie McGuire" -- he had never even seen the movie -- saying he'd watched maybe 1 or 2 episodes of the series when he went to brainstorm ideas that would eventually lead him to "Hannah Montana."

Karamo Brown fell out with three of his "Queer Eye" co-stars after a hot mic moment his own mom overheard on set ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... the cast -- Karamo, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness, and Jeremiah Brent -- were filming Season 10 last summer in Washington, D.C., when Karamo brought his mom to set for a visit one day. We're told she was given production headphones and observed filming from nearby.

At one point, Karamo stepped away from the group ... and while he was gone, Antoni, Tan and Jonathan were overheard speaking negatively about Karamo, including criticizing certain lifestyle choices he makes. Unfortunately for the three guys, Karamo's mom heard the entire conversation through her headphones and later told her son what was said.

Scott Foley is pumped he got to work with Neve Campbell and David Arquette again on the upcoming 'Scream 7' movie ... and we got him on video signing a deadly object.

We caught up with the 'Scream' star Wednesday in New York City as he was being hounded for photos and autographs ... and our photog asked him about Neve's return to the slasher franchise.

Scott reprises his 'Scream 3' character, Roman Bridger, in the new flick, and Neve is back as Sidney Prescott after skipping 'Scream 6' ... and Scott tells us it was great to reconnect with Neve and David, who is also back as Dewey Riley, after missing 'Scream 6' as well.

Blake Lively basically bent over backwards to save her shaky relationship with Taylor Swift just before suing Justin Baldoni ... a move that may have ensured her most powerful ally was in her corner before launching this long and chaotic legal battle.

In a December 2024 text thread, obtained by TMZ, Blake awkwardly reached out to Taylor to check in because she "felt like a bad friend lately."

And Taylor just straight up agrees with her ... "You're not wrong," she wrote.

Good thing Blake reached out!

According to Taylor's texts, there had been a cold shift in the way Blake talked to her, which made Taylor feel more like an employee than a friend.

Justin Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, is confident newly unsealed documents from Blake Lively's lawsuit against his client will end up clearing Baldoni's name ... especially in light of what a movie executive had to say about Blake.

Here's the deal ... newly filed legal docs show Sony Pictures executive Andrea Giannetti referred to Blake as a "f***ing terrorist" amid rising tensions on the "It Ends With Us" set.

Giannetti said she called Blake a "terrorist" in a comment to producer Jamey Heath ... lashing out at Blake after learning the actress threatened to walk away from the film unless a list of demands was met.

50 Cent has some sage advice for Ye  and Nicki Minaj ... stay the f*** away from religion and politics.

While promoting his new film, "Moses the Black," 50 -- who executive-produced the movie -- stressed that while the project dapples in religious themes, it should be looked at as pure entertainment.

50 told an audience at a recent screening ... "There's two things they tell you to stay away from. They tell you to stay away from religion and stay away from politics, because no matter what you think, someone passionately disagrees with you."

Prue Leith's been mulling over the best of the best bakers' creations while serving as a judge on "The Great British Bake Off" ... but her time on the show's coming to an end.

The restaurateur announced on Instagram Wednesday she's stepping away from the program, and she was clear she'll miss working with the show's cast and crew.

Prue did admit, though, she was excited about having more free time in the future ... though we're sure her dance card's already full.

Taylor Swift is spinning the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni beef to look like she got betrayed by her former BFF, Blake ... but it looks like Taylor was all-in on crapping on Baldoni.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Taylor texted Blake in early December 2024, referencing Baldoni and the upcoming New York Times hit piece ... with Taylor texting, "I think this bitch knows something is coming because he's gotten out his tiny violin."

The text message was revealed Tuesday as part of Blake's unsealed deposition.

Bianca Censori wasn’t about to let Kanye West get distracted by Sydney Sweeney ... so she turned date night into a full runway show to catch "The Housemaid."

Check the pics ... Bianca nearly stole the spotlight outside an L.A. theater Tuesday night in a barely-there strapless bodysuit perched over a tiny bra top, doing overtime to keep everything contained.

Bianca topped it off with sky-high, lace-up metallic heels that screamed "look at me" as she strutted along with Ye ... who was the polar opposite with a zero effort look.

Michelle Obama didn't have to dodge any of the usual kiss-and-tell on Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" podcast this week ... Alex opted to take the high road over grilling the former First Lady about her sex life, much to her own reluctance.

Michelle appeared Wednesday on the super popular podcast ... and Alex kicked off the interview by telling Michelle there were 2 separate paths they could go down.

On one hand, Alex said their convo could center around sex and relationships -- a nod to the OG roots of the show -- while on the other, they could focus on serious topics from a woman's POV, considering Michelle's stature in the world. And Alex pre-emptively chose option 2 ... with Michelle agreeing, brushing off any potential sex talk, light-heartedly saying that might be "sad."

"Get Real With Me" host Alix Earle lived up to her YouTube series name Tuesday night ... the influencer used her TikTok followers as an emotional-support boyfriend following her breakup from Braxton Berrios.

Turning the camera on herself mid-spiral, she announced, "I'm just going to start talking to you guys like you're my boyfriend."

As you know, Alix and Braxton split last month after 2 years together. Since then, she's been committed to remaining single for a while ... and it's apparently been rough.

She admitted, "I can't sleep right now ... I feel like just not having that stability of a male partner -- or just even someone to talk to or distract me -- is just so weird.”

In the video, Alix describes herself as a serial "boyfriend hopper," which has made it tough for her to be okay with flying solo.

Lizzo looked like a dolled-up Barbie at the Los Angeles premiere of Paris Hilton's "Infinite Icon: A Visual Memoir" documentary Tuesday night ... showing off her dramatic weight loss in a skin-tight dress!

Check out the pics -- the singer is radiating confidence in a curve-hugging light pink mini dress paired with bedazzled heels. She elevated the pretty 'n pink look with a pair of sparkling hoop earrings that brightened up the pink carpet thanks to her half-up, half-down hairstyle.

Lizzo looked like she had a grand ol' time at the premiere ... watching the doc seated next to Paris herself with Demi Lovato on the other side. Other A-listers supporting the night's star included Heidi Klum, Carmen Electra, and more -- just check out our gall!

A source connected to Justin's legal team tells TMZ ... it would be next to impossible to serve Taylor with a summons, and the text messages speak for themselves, so they won't need her as a witness.

Taylor Swift may have dodged depositions in Blake Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, but she will 100% be called as a witness by Baldoni if the case goes to trial ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge told us ... given the now-clear involvement of Taylor Swift in the raging dispute between Baldoni and Lively, the singer will be called to the stand to download the jury.

What's more ... we're told Baldoni will call Swift as a hostile witness. Translation: Taylor clearly had a bias against Baldoni, so his lawyer, Bryan Freedman, can really put her on the hot seat by asking leading questions.