Comedy

Ellen DeGeneres is no longer worrying about what others think of her ... revealing she's come to love herself years after being labeled "mean" in a toxic workplace scandal.

The comedian opened up about her transformative last 4 years in her new Netflix stand-up special, "For Your Approval," in which she made it clear she's "proud" of the person she is today.

As Ellen put it ... her career in comedy made her acutely aware and "care what people think," but she's no longer letting the peanut gallery "consume" her after her fall from grace.

Nikki Glaser is one of the best roast masters around ... but she learned a valuable lesson in time and a place on Thursday -- 'cause her postgame joke routine was largely met with crickets.

The comedian was nabbed to provide some lighthearted analysis following the New York Jets' 24-3 routing of the New England Patriots on Prime Video's "Thursday Night Football" -- joining Charissa Thompson, Andrew Whitworth, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Richard Sherman and Tony Gonzalez on the desk.

The segment -- dubbed "Late Hits" -- lasted several minutes ... and Glaser playfully went in on the Amazon talent right in their faces before setting her sights on the game.

Ellen DeGeneres isn't letting her excommunication from Hollywood get her down ... she's taking shots at her situation in a cheeky new stand-up special.

The first trailer for the Netflix special dropped Wednesday, where she addressed the elephant in the room ... her fall from grace as the "Be Kind" lady.

As Ellen put it in the sneak peek ... her show's catchphrase "Be Kind to One Another" should have been "Go F*** Yourselves" -- that way people would've been surprised to find out she "was nice."

Paul McCartney gave Deon Cole a little "Help!" Tuesday night when he joined the comedian on stage for a surprise appearance in Hollywood ... cracking a couple jokes of his own.

Watch the video ... Deon is performing and working on new material at the Hollywood Improv, a famed comedy club in Los Angeles, when he pulls The Beatles legend up on stage with him towards the end of his set.

Deon introduces Paul as his "friend" to the crowd and shares a laugh with the singer ... telling the crowd he and PM smoked a little weed before the performance.

"Hacks" snagged the Outstanding Comedy Series at last night's Emmys, beating "The Bear," which has been called out by some for not actually being a comedy -- and Susie Essman tells us while the Chicago-based show is unfairly criticized for its categorization, it's not the fault of the show's actors or crew.

The comedienne tells TMZ even though "The Bear" racked up a record-breaking 11 wins, at the end of the day, the show is a drama -- and probably shouldn't be included in the comedy category at all.

Susie spills the tea on why she thinks "The Bear" got labeled as a comedy series. Check out the video to hear her take!

Candice Bergen's getting political at the Emmys ... firing off a joke at J.D. Vance's expense to rapturous applause from the audience.

The TV legend stepped up to the mic during the Emmys in L.A. Sunday night ... talking about her time on Murphy Brown, which ran from 1988 to 1998 with a short-lived revival in 2018.

CB recalls a moment when then-Vice President Dan Quayle -- who served from 1989 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush -- publicly called out the show for having Murphy decide to raise her daughter as a single mom.

American stand-up comedian and actress Anjelah Johnson was in her mid-20s when she first played Bon Qui Qui -- the obnoxiously rude fast food employee turned music star on MADtv -- back in 2007.

Although the 2007-2008 writer's strike prevented Anjelah from landing many lines on MADtv, the popularity that came from her Bon Qui Qui character received rave reviews and has accrued millions of views on YouTube.

Prior to her going viral, she was a cheerleader for the Oakland Raiders. She was named Rookie of the Year and performed at Super Bowl XXXVII against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Dan Hurley used some colorful language during a speech at the White House on Tuesday -- and while the scene was funny and endearing ... the UConn head coach still ended up saying he was sorry to Joe Biden for his potty mouth.

The hilarious moments went down just minutes ago ... as Hurley and the rest of the Huskies hit up 1600 Penn Ave. to celebrate their second straight national championship.

Biden first took the dais and congratulated all of the hoopers for their achievements ... and when Hurley followed -- he was so excited, he dropped not one, but two S-bombs!

Nancy Pelosi got hit with a comedy curveball at her book signing when a conservative comedian dressed up as a Democrat threw some cheeky jabs about stock trading drama.

A clip on X shows Alex Strenger in a face mask and a Bernie Sanders baseball cap as he crashes Pelosi’s book signing in Fort Worth, Texas this weekend ... proceeding to butter her up by saying Donald Trump needs to be in prison -- all before diving into her Wall Street wealth.

He tells Pelosi he’s totally grateful for her fierce democracy defense ... jokingly adding he was scared stiff of Trump winning and that their only hope was locking him up.

Chris D'Elia's really testing whether a joke can be "too soon" ... turning a terrifying moment when a man started seizing in the front row of his comedy show into a 13-minute-long bit.

The comedian just posted a clip to his Instagram showing his performance at Levity Live in Oxnard, CA last weekend, when the scary health incident went down ... kicking off when the man tipped back in his chair, and Chris verbally checked on him.

D'Elia asks him a couple times if he's OK, and while the guy gives him the affirmative, he quickly passes out again ... and it's clear he's in distress.

Glen Powell's on fire -- not just in Hollywood but on the field too -- showing out as he filmed his new sports TV comedy, "Chad Powers."

The actor's stepping into the cleats of Oregon Ducks college quarterback Russ Holliday -- and you can see him stretching out before the cameras roll in Atlanta ... featuring him dodging Georgia Bulldogs defenders and charging toward a winning touchdown.

These scenes are all about reliving his character’s glory days, with Glen rocking a youthful mullet, compared to the shaggier look he’s been sporting on other filming days.

Comedian Doug Stanhope had fans on edge, thinking he’d been arrested on a live stream -- but TMZ has learned it's all just a false alarm ... and a little bit of role-playing.

Despite the dramatic online footage scene, the actor's not in trouble at all -- a Cochise County Sheriff's Office spokesperson tells TMZ Doug's Arizona home was used for a training mission by the county SWAT team ... and he gave them the full go-ahead to do so.

A spokesperson clarified when the training kicked off, nobody was home. But, Doug showed up during the final training scenario, asked to join as a role-player, and got the green light. It was all voluntary.

Howie Mandel and Heidi Klum are showing off their talents ... teaming up for a funny video on the set of their TV competition show ... and there's a fart joke involved.

The "America's Got Talent" judges just posted a video on social media where it looks like Howie eats Heidi ... and then craps her out.

Heidi's dancing in the background and Howie is in the foreground, cupping his hands and licking his lips ... making it appear like he's holding her in his hands.

Adam Sandler just waxed poetically about Taylor Swift -- letting the world know he's a MASSIVE Swiftie who's rooting like hell for her relationship with Travis Kelce to work out.

The actor and comedian couldn't stop praising the "Cruel Summer" singer while on with the Kelce bros on this week's episode of "New Heights" -- raving about the popstar for nearly three minutes.

Sandler -- who will be reprising his role as Happy Gilmore soon -- said Swift means so much to him and his family ... he actually gets butterflies when he's around her.

Kamala Harris is fully embracing the "Brat" tag Gen Z supporters, and Charli XCX, have put on her -- but Bill Maher just doesn't see it, and says the singer's actually describing Donald Trump to a T.

Bill dug into the Brat phenomenon on Friday's episode of 'Real Time' with his guest CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins -- fully unpacking the label for any boomers or Gen Xers who still don't get it. He read out Charli's definition ... “Just that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes."

Maher argued all of that sounds way more like Trump, and, more to the point, he added ... "I don't want my president to be this!"

J.D. Vance's appearance at a Georgia donut shop wasn't as sweet as the pastries he bought ... 'cause he sure had an awkward chat with an employee who appeared less than impressed.

The Republican nominee for vice president was in Valdosta, Georgia for a rally Thursday ... and, he stopped by Holt's Sweet Shop, where he ordered 2 dozen donuts with a gaggle of press following him around.

Vance put in his order ... and, check out the clip, 'cause the woman at the counter immediately asks not to be shown on camera. Vance makes a point of telling the press to cut her out of their vids.