Comedy

Ja Rule's reiterating his feeling that 50 Cent is an "idiot" for hurling a mic that could earn him a felony charge, but he's also telling TMZ Hip Hop ... the moment's in his rearview mirror.

The "Holla Holla" rapper's already looking toward the future of his upcoming comedy special, which happens next month!!!

We caught up with Ja Thursday night outside TV personality Josh McBride's birthday party at Somewhere Nowhere NYC, and he blew off his recent digs at his archnemesis.

ICYMI, 50 clowned Ja for, in his eyes, reenacting "The Passion of Christ" at a recent show ... but then Ja barked back -- going more viral -- by bringing up the criminal battery probe associated with 50 injuring Power 106 radio host, Bryhana Monegain with the mic he threw.

Ja spared the crowd the holy antics inside Josh's party, delivering only hits, but revealed to us he plans on giving fans a different form of entertainment come Oct. 25 - 27 when he takes over Harlem's Apollo Theater for his "Laughing It Up" comedy series.

IShowSpeed might never live down his infamous wardrobe malfunction ... 'cause even KSI got in on the jokes when they met up on Thursday -- calling him "IShowMeat" right to his face.

The popular internet personality made headlines after accidentally exposing himself while playing Five Nights at Freddy's last month ... and despite his constant pleas, thousands of people -- including his followers, haters and even his own family -- have called him the cruel nickname ever since.

The trolling didn't stop when the two YouTube stars linked up for a training sesh earlier in the day ... 'cause when Speed started talking to his stream audience after the workout, KSI dropped a savage line.

"All right, chat ... he always calls me IShowSlow," Speed said ... before KSI interrupted.

"IShowSlow, IShowMeat, what else you showing?" Logan Paul's Prime business partner joked.

"What did you just call me, bro?" Speed responded ... staring into the camera in disbelief.

When KSI doubled down -- even taking it a step further with a super NSFW iteration -- Speed did his signature dog bark right in his face before dissing his beard.

It's been a difficult few weeks for Speed ... after taking a few days off from streaming, he opened up on the mental challenges he faced as a result of the viral malfunction.

As for the workout, KSI showed he's been training hard for his October fight against Tommy Fury ... but it was Speed who lived up to his name when it came to sprints.

Lil Rel Howery says an ill-timed trip to the men's room almost spoiled his marriage proposal during Beyoncé's concert ... and he's thanking her for stalling long enough for him to pop the question.

The comedian joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" and told us all about how his engagement went down ... and why nature called at the most inopportune time.

Lil Rel proposed to his GF Dannella Lane at Beyonce's concert Monday night at SoFi Stadium, and he says Jay-Z and Beyoncé's mom, Tina Knowles, advised him to do it when she sang "Love On Top" ... and they arranged to get the moment on the stadium's big screen.

It's funny, Lil Rel says he was waiting for the song for so long, he finally needed to break the seal ... and as soon as he got to the bathroom, "Love On Top" started playing.

Lil Rel says he finished his biz, and rushed back to his woman ... but he couldn't find their seats!!!

With the clock literally ticking, Lil Rel says he had to go back out and retrace his steps, and when he finally got back to his seats a cameraman was waiting ... and Beyoncé was motioning for him to get on with the proposal because she was dragging out the song. 😂

It all worked out, since Dannella said "Yes," and he tells us how the plan to propose really came together at the last minute. As for whether Bey's forgiven his tardiness ... we'll let him tell it.

PETA is cashin' in on Pete Davidson's anger -- the organization is selling a Halloween costume based on the infamously unhinged voice mail Pete left PETA during their feud over a puppy.

We've learned PETA's limited-edition costume comes with a paper mask of Pete's face, an "I Should Have Adopted" hoodie and a hat with a censored cuss word plastered on it -- referring to his profanity-laced telephone rant after the org called him out for buying a pet store puppy, instead of one from a shelter.

It also comes with a plush dog wearing a "Shelter Dogs Rule" bandana. The whole look is going for $99.99 ... and all proceeds are going toward spay and neuter surgeries to help combat the overpopulation of homeless dogs.

According to PETA, over 70 million dogs and cats are homeless in the U.S. ... and breeders contribute to the crisis by denying animals in shelters a chance at finding a loving home.

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk says, "It’s too late for Pete to undo his puppy purchase or that voice mail, but it’s never too late to save a dog’s life by choosing adoption and shunning pet shops and other dog breeders." She hopes Pete will see the joke in having folks dress up like him ... especially since it's for a good cause.

TMZ broke the story, Pete dialed up PETA in June after the org publicly shamed the comedian for buying the new pup at a NYC pet store. In his furious defense, Pete said he's allergic to dogs and, therefore, needed a hypoallergenic pooch like the cavapoo he got.

He also said the puppy was a gift for his mother who'd been mourning the recent death of her dog.

All of that with lots of colorful language sprinkled in, too -- which you can now mock, or celebrate, come Halloween.

Hollywood's elite came out in force Sunday night to watch soccer star Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami team go up against the Los Angeles Football Club.

Will Ferrell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Tom Holland, David Beckham, Selena Gomez, Owen Wilson, and Jason Sudeikis were all on hand to enjoy the match-up at BMO Stadium in LA.

Oh, and some royalty showed up too ... Prince Harry was seen smiling from ear to ear as he took in the Major League Soccer game, but his wife, Meghan Markle, was MIA.

Harry was sitting in a box seat near Ferrell (co-owner of LAFC), DiCaprio, and the other famous faces in the crowd. At one point, Harry appeared giddy while tightly gripping his LAFC scarf, leaving no doubt which team he was rooting for.

Sam Asghari picked up a sign and joined striking Hollywood on the picket line ... saying he's there to support his fellow actors, and not to talk about his divorce with Britney Spears.

A SAG-AFTRA member, Sam was at the front of the line marching up to Disney Studios in Burbank when a photog asked him how he was holding up in the wake of filing for divorce.

Sam told the camera guy he wasn't there to discuss his personal life, but rather to raise awareness for the strike in hopes of getting everything resolved sooner than later.

TMZ broke the story ... Sam's planning to continue with acting gigs once the strike is resolved, and in the meantime, Britney is footing the bill for his swanky digs.

He says the strike's affecting him as much as any other actor, cleverly joking about having the same amount of roles right now as Leonardo DiCaprio.

So, maybe there's a comedy out there for Sam when the dust settles?!?

In all seriousness, Sam says the lack of jobs and money is the whole point of the strike ... and he's hoping there's a deal soon so Hollywood can get back to making art and inspiring folks.

The titans of late night are teaming up to talk shop on a new podcast -- all in an effort to support their striking employees -- and at least one union is totally cool with that plan ... on certain conditions.

A rep for SAG-AFTRA tells TMZ ... the just-launched "Strike Force Five" show -- featuring Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver -- is all good in their book ... assuming they stay within guidelines set forth by strike regulators.

This is how a SAG spokesperson put it ... "As long as the podcast does not promote struck work, it appears to be in adherence with the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical/Streaming strike rules. Given that it falls within the strike rules, it is fine for them to produce this podcast during the strike."

In other words, it sounds like the hosts have their blessing to proceed ... but they should probably steer clear of certain topics if they wanna stay in the actors union's good graces. Obviously, the podcast itself isn't a straight-up promo of anything, but the challenge will be not sounding promo-ish if they discuss a certain movie or show that's in the zeitgeist.

Considering that's what they do as part of their normal jobs -- talk about certain films/projects -- it might seem like it will be tough to stay in SAG's good graces ... but, remember, the pod isn't live. They can always edit if the convo strays into promo land.

The podcast is a good thing, big picture -- any money earned is being donated directly to the late-night hosts' own writers ... who, of course, haven't been working since May.

Steve Harvey asked fans which comedian they thought was the worst , and it sounds like word of that just made its way back to the man himself ... 'cause he's apologizing.

The veteran comic and jack-of-all-trades host hopped online with a personal video Friday -- showing that he's out in nature -- and he addresses a recent tweet posted by his personal account. A simple question was posed ... "A Comedian you don't find funny at all?"

Steve says he's got official social media people handling his accounts, and insists it wasn't him who posted it ... going on to lament the tweet as mean-spirited and downright negative.

It's unclear what sorts of names people responded with ... but the fact Steve felt he needed to clarify his/his team's intent suggests it got some traction on X.

A screenshot of the since-deleted tweet shows that it was viewed at least a million times, so folks definitely saw it.

Anyway, Steve says the explanation he got from his handlers was that they were just trying to get some engagement ... but he adds they're gonna be needing new employment now.

Dave Chappelle's 50th birthday party looked more like the Oscars or Grammys, as his A-list celebrity pals continued to pour into the bash.

Dave and company were at The Comedy Cellar in NYC Thursday to celebrate. Among the guests -- Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake, T.I., Chance the Rapper, Jon Hamm, Aziz Ansari, Jaleel White, Tisha Campbell and more.

Witnesses tell us Dave was among the last to leave the party around 2 AM, and was extremely grateful to everyone who came ... even thanking the cops outside.

Unclear if he did any sort of stand-up, but you gotta imagine Dave grabbed the mic at least once in the night. Dave's also in the middle of a 4-night stint at Madison Square Garden ... with shows the 22, 23, 25 and 26.

Ex-NFL running back Stevan Ridley is finally sharing video of the race that ultimately put Kevin Hart in a wheelchair ... and you can see the comedian came up injured just as the guys were about to cross the finish line.

Per the vid, the race went down on a roadway somewhere outside of a home this week ... with the two not even putting on any sort of running gear for the face-off.

With Hart in a pair of sweats and Ridley in a white tee and short shorts ... the guys actually raced twice before Hart got injured.

In their first run ... you can see Ridley just beat out Hart by a few steps. In their second, Hart actually hung well with the former New England Patriots back -- that is, of course, before he tore a bunch of muscles in his body and had to pull up short.

Hart can be seen in the clip grabbing at his hip before coming to a stop. He ultimately shared on Thursday that he had ripped up his lower abdomen and adductors in the run and he's now in a wheelchair.

"Guys," he said in a video explaining the situation, "I blew all my s***."

For Ridley's part, he didn't rub too much salt in the wound while posting the clips to his social media page Friday ... writing only in the caption, "Gotcha?? Got whooo?!"

Michael Blackson says Nick Cannon's provided him with a lifetime of material -- and he's never gonna stop ribbing him for having 12 children ... and counting!!!

We linked up with Mike Wednesday in West Hollywood, and asked about 50 Cent going viral for ribbing Nick's personal population boom during a recent Forbes interview.

Mike's not offering any sympathy, and, in fact, tells us he's eager to see the day his old "Wild 'N Out" pal's struggling to take care of a few thousand grandchildren!!! 😂

He jokes Nick has to stagger visitations on FaceTime, and if it sounds like he's going in a little hard ... it ain't gonna stop. Mike says he's sticking to the comedian's code, so Nick (and his fam) will have to catch these jokes forever!!!

Nick's also sticking to that code -- he was publicly poking fun at 50's weight just a few months ago, so expect more back-and-forth in due time.

Mike will be here for a good time and long time, thanks to his new series "The Michael Blackson Show."

American actor Vincent Martella was only 12 years old when he first started playing the role of Greg Wuliger -- the easygoing painter and Chris' only friend -- on the CW's sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris" back in 2005.

Vincent shared the screen with Tyler James Williams as the unpopular, young teen who wants to be liked by his peers, Chris, Imani Hakim as the annoying little sister, Tonya and Tequan Richmond as Chris's younger and much taller brother, Drew.

Terry Crews also played a role in "Everybody Hates Chris," and Chris Rock was both a producer and narrator for the comedic show!

"Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban has a ton of money, but his wealth could've actually grown by a couple more BILLION if he would've taken an early opportunity to invest in Uber ... a move he's regretting to this day.

The billionaire investor and entrepreneur talked about the deal that got away on an episode last month of Kevin Hart's "Hart to Heart," saying he was offered the opportunity to put some dough into the company in 2009 -- years before the ridesharing game took off.

Mark says it was a $250k investment at a $10M valuation -- for the "Shark Tank" fans doing the math, that would've given him 2.5 percent of the company. While the other sharks might've laughed that valuation off, Mark's $250k would've been $2.25 BILLION today.

Mark says he offered to give the cash if the company was valued at $5 million, but he claims he never heard anything back ... and they eventually got someone else to fill his spot. As you can guess, he's vowing to never make a mistake like that again.

Kevin says he also had the chance to put $50k down on the brand years ago ... but thought the idea of strangers driving each other around sounded like "Murderville."

Druski is starting his own sports agency, but his first client is no joke -- the superstar comedian is signing Florida Gators star and NFL Draft prospect Princely Umanmielen!!

TMZ Sports is told Druski -- who boasts millions of followers on social media -- is launching the athletics branch of his 4Lifers brand ... with the defensive standout coming on board as his inaugural signee.

Umanmielen is widely regarded as one of the top defensive ends in the country ... and has been named to the Chuck Bednarik and Lombardi Award watch lists this season after racking up 39 total tackles, 4.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles for the Gators in 2022.

Before making his way to Gainesville, 6'5", 254-pound Umanmielen was a four-star recruit out of Manor, Texas.

And, we're told while Druski likes to be playful on social media and with his comedy career, this isn't something he's taking lightly ... and he wants to make a serious name for himself in the industry.

"Launching 4Lifers Sports Agency allows me to combine my two passions -- sports and entertainment," Druski tells us.

"Our team is committed to providing athletes with the resources, support and marketing opportunities to grow on and off the field. The process begins today with Florida Gators star Princely Umanmielen’s addition to our family."

Druski has built quite the portfolio in the sports world recently ... he's already a co-owner of Fan Controlled Football's Shoulda Been Stars.

In fact, when he joined forces with the league, he made it clear he understood the responsibility that came with the role.

Jimmy Fallon gave Jonas Brothers fans quite the surprise at the band's latest show ... rocking the NYC crowd with a very impromptu karaoke performance.

The "Tonight Show" host jumped on stage at Yankee Stadium Sunday night, clearly a shock to folks in the crowd -- he showed up as the concert's intermission came to an end, showing off his boombox before jamming out to The Killers' "Mr. Brightside."

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Nick Jonas asked Jimmy to show up at their NYC show a week ago -- he was told he could do whatever he wanted, and Jimmy tested the limits, asking if karaoke with his boombox would be alright.

Obviously, that was all good with the Jo Bros ... and we're told there was no rehearsal for the surprise appearance, but it looks like it was a moment fans will remember for a long time.

BTW, the Jonas Brothers are currently embarking on their "Five Albums. One Night" world tour, which features hits from 5 of their albums.

Tony Rock is ripping the white "Big Brother" houseguest who casually used the n-word in conversation ... setting the record straight on who can and can't use the racial slur.

We got the veteran comedian at LAX on Thursday and our photog asked him about Luke Valentine getting booted from 'BB' for dropping an n-bomb on the live feed.

Tony says no one named Luke Valentine should ever say the n-word ... and his rule of thumb is to refrain from using the slur unless you are a person of color.

Chris Rock's brother also finds it interesting Luke was so quick to apologize ... he says that should be a sign Luke should have known better in the first place. He also feels it's a trend whenever people or companies offend Black people.

Tony's fascinated by the reaction from Luke's fellow white houseguests to having the n-word dropped into a conversation ... he says the virtue signaling is in full effect.