Controversial S#!T

Travis Scott has another fellow artist supporting his decision to resume his music career following the Astroworld tragedy that left 10 people dead.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Tinashe at LAX, and the R&B starlet feels it's prime time for Cactus Jack's comeback. While she acknowledged the festival was indeed a "sensitive subject," she doesn't feel Travis should be banned from performing ... provided additional security measures are in place.

The singer -- who just fired off the deluxe version of her "333" album -- actually collaborated with Travis on her 2014 debut album "Aquarius" and echoed much of what T-Pain told us earlier this week.

As for the various Astroworld lawsuits still hanging over Travis' head ... both sides have accused each other of "tainting" the jury pool

Attorneys for victims have criticized Travis for his charitable initiative, Project Heal, calling it a thinly-veiled attempt to get into a jury's good graces -- while reps for La Flare claim a new documentary, "Concert Crush: The Travis Scott Festival Tragedy," is a cash grab, and one that could potentially taint a jury.

Morgan Wallen is getting a second chance at showing his talents to an award show crowd -- he's been named as a performer for the Billboard Awards -- his first televised gig since 2020.

Billboard made the announcement Friday, with a statement from the show's production company, saying, "We oppose discrimination, harassment, or racism of any kind.”

They continue, “We believe in treating everyone with dignity and respect. After a thorough review and robust discussions internally and with the artist’s team, in which we found a demonstrated and ongoing commitment to meaningful work and outreach, we extended an invitation to participate in this year’s show.”

Wallen's been shut out of performing at awards shows since we posted a video of him shouting the n-word with a group of friends after a night out in Nashville back in February 2021.

While he's put on some live shows, and was even able to be in the crowd at the Academy of Country Music Awards last month, he hasn't taken the mic.

"Selling Sunset" star Mary Fitzgerald has had it with co-star Christine Quinn's lies and drama, and her COVID cry is the nail in the coffin.

We got Mary outside The Oppenheim Group office Wednesday ... and she's convinced Christine's recent COVID reveal -- which she says caused her to miss the reunion show -- is just a shady way to back out last-minute and avoid facing her fellow castmates.

Mary says the cast tested twice before the Sunday taping ... and according to Mary, Christine came back negative both times. Mind you, the last test was on Friday, but Christine says the next day she tested positive.

While Christine is undeniably an important character on the show, Mary admits it hasn't been pleasant to work with her in the office.

We also got Christine's boss, Jason Oppenheim, outside the office, but mum's the word on his thoughts about the COVID drama.

He wants everyone to be a team player and show up for filming, but he gets the other side of the coin -- Christine's been going through a lot with almost every cast member ganging up on her.

T-Pain says Travis Scott is right to get back to doing what he does best ... and his first headline spot at the Primavera Sound festival is definitely the place to rebrand his career.

We got T-Pain Wednesday at LAX ... and he thinks Travis needed a venue like Primavera to prove himself.

He makes an interesting point ... a time-out for the sake of it isn't particularly useful. As he says, plenty of folks get locked up and when they're released they commit the same crime again.

T-Pain's got no doubt Travis will be taking steps to keep the crowd safe.

The crowd will be a lot bigger than Astroworld -- upwards of 200,000 people have attended the South American festival in the past, while Houston officials estimated 50K went to Travis' fatal concert in November.

Our sources say this gig is just one of many TS has on the horizon and he'll be announcing 3 U.S. festival performances soon.

Tokyo Toni is putting a hard stop to folks who say Blac Chyna is violent ... insisting she's not and never has been.

We caught up with Tokyo Toni, Wednesday at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse and she told us, her daughter isn't a threat to anyone. Toni says Blac Chyna is not that kinda girl. She was quick to add, the Kardashians are the violent ones, saying their show, 'KUWTK,' proves it.

TT tells us ... they're all trying to paint her and her daughter as crazy people, but in reality, they are just standing up for their rights.

Toni might have a hard time convincing some folks because she's had issues of her own.

Remember ... Tokyo was actually banned from the courtroom after firing shots at the Kardashians on Instagram live. She dug herself into a deeper hole after threatening the judge for kicking her out, saying ... "I'm gonna get that judge".

We should note, TT later backtracked and said she was referring to Kris Jenner when she used the word "judge" -- not the actual one in court ... though in context, that makes no sense.

As we reported, Black Chyna is suing the Kardashians for $100 mil ... for allegedly getting her 2017 reality show, with Rob Kardashian, canceled.

Team USA swimming superstar, Caeleb Dressel, was truly down on himself just months before winning 5 gold medals at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo ... revealing the severely harsh criticism he wrote in his practice journals prior to trials.

The 25-year-old Olympic hero opened up about the dark side of his swimming experience on "In Depth With Graham Bensinger" this week ... listing off the negative reactions to workouts he wrote in his notebooks before trials.

"Yeah, F*** me, f***ing terrible. My body is done,'" Caeleb read from his log during the interview. "Oh jeez ... I know I'm laughing a little bit, but when you're writing this, this isn't as a joke. This is good information."

"'F*** me. F*** my body. F*** swimming,'" he continued. "Jeez. Yeah, there's a totally different side of the sport that a lot of people don't see ... I try to be as honest with myself as I can in these books, 'cause these aren't for -- well until now -- these aren't really for anybody else's eyes."

As it turns out, Caeleb has battled panic attacks and depression as a result of his swimming career ... including when he first became prominently known as one of the best in the country during his senior year of high school.

"I didn't want to do anything," Caeleb said. "Wasn't going to school, wasn't swimming. [I] was pretty much just laying in bed for all hours of the day, for a couple months."

Dressel went on to compete in two Olympic games -- racking up 7 golds.

Travis Scott is officially hitting the big stage once again ... headlining his first music festival since the Astroworld tragedy where he will perform in front of more than 100,000 people.

The Primavera Sound festival will span across Brazil, Chile and Argentina and will feature names like Travis, Lorde, Arctic Monkeys and Jack White. It's the festival's first time in South America -- in the past, it's been held in Barcelona -- and upwards of 200,000 people have attended.

Travis will hit the stage in November and will play 3 shows total, in Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago, Chile. Our sources say the festival is just one of many TS has on the horizon for this summer and will be announcing 3 U.S. festival performances soon.

As we've reported, Travis has hit a couple private parties in the last couple months, performing behind a DJ booth ... he's also set to host a club show in Miami in May.

Of course, those gigs will pale in comparison to the Primavera Sound show -- a massive festival -- even bigger than his Astroworld crowd.

Travis Scott is going from dipping his toe in the performance pool to getting in waist deep -- the guy's first public show is booked ... and it's going down in Miami next month.

The rapper is scheduled to host on Saturday, May 7 at hotspot E11EVEN -- where he appears to be the headlining act for Race Week. There's a Formula 1 Grand Prix that'll be going down around the same time ... so it's gonna be popping in and around the city.

According to promotional flyers and E11EVEN's own website ... tickets are on sale now at a price point of $150 to $250, depending on whether you're a man or woman. Ladies get in cheaper, obviously. Page Six was first to notice the event. We have been told that it's almost sold out ... and demand is sky-high.

VIP tables are also available for reservation as well ... and those can go for a pretty penny, reportedly upwards of $100k depending on what's happening. Considering this will be Travis' first foray, musically, before a large crowd ... ya gotta imagine the cost will be higher.

This certainly isn't the first time TS has grabbed a mic since the Astroworld Fest tragedy in November, when 10 people died. He's been dabbling in smaller performances in the months thereafter -- including a limited set at a pre-Oscars party, ditto for a Coachella afterparty.

At both events, there seemed to be some enthusiasm around his presence ... but time will tell if a club like E11EVEN can muster a large crowd. The jury's sorta out on how people feel about him these days.

At first, there was a lot of anger directed at him ... as some felt he continued the show despite seemingly obvious signs folks were in distress -- but in the wake of all that, there's been different evidence suggesting he may have, in fact, been in the dark on the severity.

Still, he's in the middle of several lawsuits that have named him as a defendant ... and that'll take years to work through the court system. In the meantime, he's making a comeback -- or trying to, anyway.

"Selling Sunset" star Christine Quinn missed the reunion show Sunday because she says she had COVID, which makes this photo of her on a film set Tuesday very interesting.

We've obtained a photo of Quinn on her phone, while crew members stand around her to prepare for a shot. What's interesting ... it's 'RHONJ' star Melissa Gorga seated next to her.

Unclear what this gig entails, but her rep told us Monday Christine had to miss the "Selling Sunset" reunion over the weekend after testing positive for COVID on Saturday.

Of course, the CDC recommends ... someone who has tested positive for COVID should isolate for at least 5 days. Quinn's obviously not doing that, and while one of the crew members is masked up, Christine isn't.

If you've followed the most recent season of "Selling Sunset," you know Christine is the show's villain -- so when TMZ broke the story she'd have to miss the reunion because her rep said she had COVID, a ton of the show's fans thought she might've been faking it to avoid confrontation with the other cast members.

At this point, we're hoping she was faking COVID, cuz showing up to work just a few days after a positive test doesn't seem to be a very safe way of doing business.

NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin is begging for forgiveness after posting a racist video clip directed at fellow driver Kyle Larson ... saying it was "offensive" and a "poor choice of memes."

Hamlin was trying to make light of a crash Larson caused during the Geico 500 on Sunday ... going to Twitter to share a "Family Guy" clip of an Asian woman getting in a car wreck and superimposing the Hendricks driver's name over it.

Larson -- whose mother is Japanese American -- did not respond to the tweet, but Hamlin was quickly called out on social media ... with followers bashing him for shining a light on a show that leans into distasteful racial stereotypes towards Asians.

"I took down a post I made earlier today after reading some of the comments," Hamlin tweeted Monday night.

"It was a poor choice of memes and I saw how it was offensive. It came across totally wrong. I apologize."

Worth noting -- Hamlin and Larson are great friends ... so it's highly unlikely he meant any real harm before sharing the vid.

Of course, Larson found himself in hot water in 2020 ... after he was caught saying the n-word on a video game live stream. He was suspended and fired from his team, before being reinstated 6 months later.

NASCAR has yet to address Hamlin's tweet ... but it's a matter of time.

Blac Chyna isn't getting a fair shake in her $100 million legal war with the Kardashians over her now-canceled reality show ... so says her good friend, Laura Govan, anyway.

We caught up with the former "Basketball Wives" star Monday at LAX and she thinks the odds were stacked against Chyna winning this case from jump street.

Laura also defended Chyna's lack of contribution to society -- referring to her admission she hasn't paid taxes in years -- saying she's far from the first American to ignore Uncle Sam.

Laura, who shares 3 kids with ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas, is set to produce and write her upcoming "Co-Parenting" series and thinks Chyna and Rob Kardashian should focus on their daughter's well-being, That said, she does admit this latest saga is fit for primetime TV.

No lack of plot twists, that's for sure -- as we reported, Chyna's requesting a do-over in court because she claims the "revenge porn" portion of the case triggered her PTSD and ruined her testimony.

There's also Kylie's all-but-damning recount of BC allegedly slashing ex-boyfriend Tyga with a knife and sending threatening text messages to Kylie herself.

Jerry West might not want to hold his breath waiting on an apology from HBO ... 'cause the network is defending the controversial 'Winning Time' show and standing firmly with its "talented creators."

The show has been under serious scrutiny since it debuted in March -- with Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and, most recently, Jerry West, completely trashing the validity of what happens in each episode ... claiming a lot of it is straight-up not true.

But, HBO -- which had previously stayed silent on the public outcry -- released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday ... and the network didn't hold back.

"HBO has a long history of producing compelling content drawn from actual facts and events that are fictionalized in part for dramatic purposes," the network said in the statement.

"'Winning Time' is not a documentary and has not been presented as such. However, the series and its depictions are based on extensive factual research and reliable sourcing, and HBO stands resolutely behind our talented creators and cast who have brought a dramatization of this epic chapter in basketball history to the screen."

Of course, Quincy Isaiah -- who plays Magic -- pointed out to TMZ Sports earlier this month that the show clearly says that events in the show might have been dramatized ... and he meant no malice while doing his job.

Blac Chyna wants another shot to go under oath in her case against the Kardashians -- claiming the revenge porn pics shown to her during her time on the stand screwed up her testimony.

The model and influencer's legal team just filed court docs asking the judge to grant her another opportunity to take the stand to testify about her damages claim, and they want all the testimony after she was shown the photos to be stricken from the record.

The reason ... her attorneys argue that the Kardashians' lawyer presenting her nudes to her -- while they were questioning her about the TRO she took out against Rob -- was triggering.

They claim it caused BC to panic and cry on the witness stand, completely derailing the rest of her testimony ... with BC apparently not able to answer basic questions that they say she would've otherwise been able to address without issue. The photos, they claim, left her incredibly emotional ... and she was unable to regain her composure even after a break.

Chyna's team also alleges that introducing the photos at all violated a previous order of the court to prevent just this kind of thing from happening during the trial. With all that in mind, her attorneys say her testimony for that part should be stricken, and that she should get a partial redo to testify about damages.

Now, as for what the Kardashians are saying about this ... their team is calling BS.

Attorneys for the family filed a response to Chyna's request, and they say to allow her to get on the stand again is absolutely ridiculous -- and clearly, a desperate ploy to fix what they say was a "disastrous" day for her, as she apparently floundered under pressure during cross-examination.

They say that the 11 hours she spent on the stand is longer than the total amount of time she was on camera for "Rob & Chyna," which the Kardashians find rich ... since that's what she's suing them over.

Viola Davis has heard all the criticism leveled at her over her portrayal of Michelle Obama -- as it pertains to her lip choices, that is -- and her response is ... screw the haters.

The Oscar-winning actress came out swinging against her critics in a new interview with the BBC, which asked her about the jokes and ridicule she was enduring a couple weeks ago amid the premiere of her new Showtime series, 'The First Lady.'

VD says these amateur commentators serve absolutely no purpose other than to be cruel, noting she found the score of comments to be "incredibly hurtful."

Viola acknowledges that critique is an occupational hazard of the job, and even seems to cop to the fact that her MO acting might not even be her best work ... but she insists she had to take big swings, and stands by what she did on camera.

Still, it's clear folks got to Viola and their mocking left her sour -- because she says this ... "Critics absolutely serve no purpose. And, I'm not saying that to be nasty either."

She adds, "They always feel like they're telling you something that you don't know. Somehow that you're living a life that you're surrounded by people who lie to you and 'I'm going to be the person that leans in and tells you the truth'. So, it gives them an opportunity to be cruel."

Viola also says it was damn near impossible to do Michelle justice, as some might've felt she was either doing too much or not enough to get it right. In this case, it's the former.

One other thing ... Viola says she has no idea what the real former First Lady thinks of how she did, noting she isn't in any personal contact with Mrs. Obama. Viola had previously said she did a lot of research and wanted to do MO proud ... so she clearly did her best.

As we reported, folks made a big deal about her pursed lips ... arguing it was overexaggerated/distracting. 'The First Lady' hasn't fared well with professional critics either.

Madonna appears to be hanging on for dear life to her youth ... dropping a series of raunchy photos for all to see/remember.

The pop star posted a bunch of photos on Instagram Monday ...  posing in fishnet tights with her legs spread open while grabbing her crotch.

This is just the latest from the Queen of pop ... From the looks of it, she's desperately trying to get her groove back.

ICYMI, the 63-year-old singer recently shared a bizarre vid on TikTok ... intensely staring at the camera and slowly blowing a kiss.

A few days ago, she posted a vid at a Burberry event ... gettin' low and showing off her dance moves, alongside singer Erykah Badu.

Of course, this all comes as she's busy working on a biopic on her life ... so maybe her look back has made her nostalgic for days past.

In what is just another chapter in the toxic relationship that was Johnny Depp and Amber Heard -- new audio accuses Johnny of using Amber as his personal ashtray.

The audio was played Monday in court -- day 4 of Depp's testimony. You hear Amber say, "Put your f--king cigarettes out on someone else ... you f***** have consequences for your actions."

While there is no visual evidence in this instance, Amber Heard's lawyer pointed out the fact that Johnny doesn't deny burning her with a cig. In the audio, he simply responds, "shut up, fat*ss".

During the cross-examination Depp denied ever throwing a cig at Heard or using her to put one out ... He said, "I think that was a grossly exaggerated moment by Ms. Heard".

This is the latest damning claim to come from the ongoing trial. Amber's lawyer played another audio clip, where Amber says ... "After you beat the sh*t out of me then a week later you show up at my doorstep."

As you know, Depp is suing his ex-wife for $50 million, claiming she lied when she accused him of physically abusing her ... Amber is countersuing for $100 mil for defamation, claiming he coordinated a smear campaign against her.

Last week, JD kicked off his testimony by saying he'd never hit Amber -- despite her claims  -- and that he was there in court seeking the truth, no matter what.