Comedians

Howard Stern is firing back at the ex-employee who claimed the shock jock created a hostile work environment.

On Wednesday, Stern filed to dismiss former assistant Leslie Kuhn's lawsuit, calling it a "shakedown" and "transparent sham" ... according to court docs obtained by multiple outlets.

In his motion, HS claims she's after a "hush-money payment," saying in the motion ... "The reason Kuhn filed this lawsuit was to pressure the Stern Parties into making an outlandish payment to make her go away."

Will Arnett and his girlfriend Carolyn Murphy are officially through ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... the actor and his model better half broke up a few months ago -- there were signs of trouble in paradise when she didn't attend the Oscars with him in March.

Hollywood might be known for its nasty splits ... but, we're told this wasn't one of them -- this is just two adults whose relationship didn't work out.

It's been more than five years since the iconic comic-actor Sinbad has done a stand-up show due to a severe stroke ... but that's all going to change tonight.

Sinbad just posted a message to Instagram ... and as you can see, he's ready to make his big comeback -- and obviously has plenty he wants to talk about.

Sinbad says his daughter and fellow comic Paige Adkins will join him ... along with his longtime opener Chase Anthony, at The Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena. And he makes it clear ... "This is just the beginning."

It seems Brendan Carr was not amused by Jimmy Kimmel's "light roast joke" about Melania Trump last week ... because he's reportedly about to order Disney-owned TV stations to re-up their broadcasting licenses early.

A source with knowledge of the matter tells NBC News the FCC chairman is set to issue the directive Tuesday ... which will force Disney's 8 stations to file their renewals two years ahead of schedule -- noting they weren't due until 2028 at the earliest.

The insider says the "unprecedented" order is sparked by the Melania joke Jimmy made during his show last week.

ICYMI ... Jimmy aired a mock White House Correspondents' Dinner roast on Thursday, 2 days before the actual event -- since this year's dinner did not have a comedian host, as is tradition -- when he said Melania "had the glow of an expectant widow."

Canadian actress Sugar Lyn Beard was in her early 30s when she played Jeanie -- the sweet, bride-to-be -- in the rom-com "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" back in 2016.

Beard was part of a noteworthy cast including Adam DeVine, Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, and Aubrey Plaza.

12:51 PM PT -- The family of Samuel Monroe Jr. has posted a GoFundMe to help with his considerable medical bills. The post says in part ... "Every donation, no matter the size, will help ease the burden on Samuel’s family and ensure that Kingston and Brooklynn have the support they need while their father fights for his life."

Samuel Monroe Jr., best known for his work in the '90s classic film "Menace II Society," has been hospitalized ... and the situation is serious.

Family tells TMZ ... the actor is on life support in a SoCal hospital for the past three days -- and he's battling meningitis. As for the prognosis, we're told it's unclear, and the family is getting daily updates.

Samuel's mother posted about the situation on Facebook, saying in part ... "God don’t make no mistakes, but he is gracious, and I am humbly asking for his mercy and grace for Sam. I love you, son, to the moon and back 100 times."

Donnell Rawlings is standing firmly in Michael Jackson’s corner ... telling us the filmmakers were right to reportedly spend millions reworking the upcoming biopic to remove references to abuse allegations.

Check out the clip ... we caught up with the comedian over the weekend and asked whether the reported $25M overhaul to reshoot the third act -- which featured sexual abuse allegations against the pop star -- was the right move ... and Donnell didn’t hesitate to give his POV.

He pointed to the fact Michael was acquitted in his 2005 criminal trial and said the allegations ultimately amounted to “speculation” ... adding the movie shouldn’t tarnish the King of Pop’s legacy by ending on accusations instead of his contributions to music and the world.

Donnell told us people should remember Michael for “healing the world” and being “the greatest performer that we’ve ever seen” ... making it crystal clear where he stands on the controversy.

Jelly Roll is facing some heavy accusations from comedian Nicole Arbour ... but police in Nashville say they’re not exactly rushing to build a case.

A rep for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department tells TMZ, “As you’re probably aware, there appears to be an ongoing online back and forth between the two. No charges have been filed and there is no current investigation underway on the part of MNPD.”

That statement comes after Arbour publicly escalated her feud with the Grammy-winning singer ... recently accusing his team of sending her an alleged “hush money” deal and threatening to sue her if she didn’t sign it.

Bill Cosby isn't backing down from his bid to erase his massive civil court loss ... but accuser Donna Motsinger's legal team says his latest Hail Mary should get laughed out of court.

Motsinger -- who alleges the comedian drugged and raped her in 1972 -- and her attorneys are urging the judge to reject Cosby's request to throw out the jury's verdict in her favor, or grant him a new trial.

According to new court docs obtained by TMZ, Motsinger's lawyers say his motion to throw out the verdict should be dead on arrival because it was filed seven days late.

Even if the judge considers it, her lawyers say Cosby is trying to relitigate issues he's already lost ... including constitutional arguments over California's sexual abuse revival law that were rejected earlier in the case.

Kevin Hart’s preaching the gospel of gains -- but he’s giving all the credit to his guy Mark Wahlberg ... saying nobody’s doing it like the king of those brutal 4 AM workouts.

TMZ caught up with Kevin at Wally’s in Beverly Hills Wednesday -- and he kept it playful, clowning Mark’s routine as "s***" before flipping it, joking the 54-year-old’s actually 75 and deserves even more credit.

Check the video -- Kevin goes full fanboy over Mark’s grind, which he recently told us is so intense even Druski had to tap out when he joined him for a session.

But Kev’s not just hyping his boy -- he also gets into his own health kick, showing love to the gym life and shouting out his workout circle along the way.