Michael Che is playing Superman for tenants in one of New York City's housing projects ... he's paying their rent for a month, and wondering why the government isn't doing more to help.
The "Saturday Night Live" star just announced he's gonna cover rent payments for all 160 apartments in the NYC public housing project where his late grandmother lived.
Michael says it's crazy to him that residents of NYC public housing are still expected to pay rent when so many have lost their incomes due to the coronavirus pandemic ... and says he's being generous in the spirit of his late grandma, who recently died due to complications from COVID-19.
The comedian says his contribution is only a drop in the bucket, and he's calling on the Big Apple to develop a better plan for debt forgiveness for anyone living in public housing. He says it's the least the city can do.
Michael's also calling on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and Diddyto fix what he sees as a major issue in the city.
Does this look like a guy who's ready to let Joe Burrow take his job without a fight??
Cincinnati Bengals QB (for now) Andy Dalton is still working on his fundamentals during quarantine ... and he's enlisted his 2 adorable sons to help out!!
Seems pretty obvious that Dalton's run as the Cinci starting QB will come to an end next week when the Bengals take Burrow with the #1 overall pick ... but the 32-year-old clearly ain't ready to retire yet!
And, since the pandemic has Andy stuck in the house, Dalton called his sons, Nash and Noah, to the backyard to run him through some QB drills!
SUPER CUTE!!
There were rumblings Bill Belichick and the Patriots could be interested in signing Andy ... but as of right now, seems Jarrett Stidham is the guy in New England.
Still, gotta stay ready ... who knows what next week could bring!
Russell Wilson and Ciara got so fired up over the sex of their fetus ... they busted out their dancing shoes and partied their faces off -- and the video is awesome!!!
The Seahawks superstar and the "Level Up" singer announced their pregnancy just a few months ago ... and this week, they decided to reveal the baby's gender.
The couple -- along with the kids, Future Jr. and Sienna Princess -- went out to a field with palm trees, and had confetti and smoke locked and loaded.
But first ... they had to get a poll on what they preferred the sex to be -- and Russ answered straight-up, "You know what I want it to be!"
Shortly after, the two fired off the makeshift cannons ... the blue smoke was revealed -- and everyone lost their minds!!!
Ciara broke it down, Russ ran around and the kids went crazy. Good times!!!
It should be noted ... celebs from all over were jacked up for the couple -- with Janet Jackson even leaving a heart emoji on Ciara's social media page!!
Of course, this is Russ and Ciara's second baby together (Future Jr. is from Ciara's previous relationship with Future) ... Sienna, their first together, was bornin April 2017.
Tragic news ... Karl-Anthony Towns' mother, Jacqueline Towns, has died after a lengthy battle with coronavirus.
The Minnesota Timberwolves star announced last month his mom contracted the disease in mid-March ... and was put in a medically induced coma shortly after because of complications.
"The Towns family is heartbroken by the untimely passing of Jacqueline Towns, due to complications as a result of COVID-19," the team said in a statement.
"Jackie, as she was affectionately known among family and friends, has been battling the virus for more than a month when she succumbed on April 13th."
The statement continued, "Jackie was many things to many people - a wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend. The matriarch of the Towns family, she was an incredible source of strength; a fiery, caring, and extremely loving person, who touched everyone she met. Her passion was palpable and her energy will never be replaced."
Towns' father, Karl Towns Sr., had also been infected by the virus ... but made a full recovery.
"The Towns family is extremely grateful for the outpouring of love and support they have received during this very difficult time," the T-Wolves said. "They would like to thank the medical warriors at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and JFK Medical Center, who fought for Jackie day in and day out, and helped Karl Sr. recover from the same virus that took Jackie's life."
"The family is devastated by their tremendous loss, and respectfully requests privacy at this time of great mourning."
Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompsontrolled their daughter, True, for her 2nd birthday ... no, really, it was a 'Trolls'-themed birthday bash!!!
Khloe and Tristan surprised True Sunday morning as soon as she woke up with tons of presents all over Khloe's crib. Not to mention balloons and not one but TWO birthday cakes. After all, True was turning 2 and it was Easter Sunday.
Mom and dad aren't quarantining together -- Tristan just pops in for visits -- but they were in sync for True's day, taking turns blowing out her candles.
Tristan dedicated a couple of posts to True on Instagram and captioned it, "Happy Birthday to my sweet baby True. You have no idea how much daddy loves you. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. You will always be daddy's little girl. I love you soo much Tutu. Happy birthday day #DaddysTwin."
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Khloe's bday shout-out, "You are all of my unforgettable memories of the past few years, the precious magical moments of the present and the promise of a happy future. You are literally my entire world!"
True's gifts included 'Trolls' toys and a pretty badass ice cream stand. The rest of the Kardashians may not have been there but they sure chimed in virtually and through social media.
Auntie Kim Kardashian said, "I wish we could all be there to celebrate you today" -- and Grandma Kris wished her "angel bunny" a happy birthday.
Vanessa Bryant is managing her family's first Easter without Kobe and Gigi like a champ -- in fact, she and her kids are already getting a head start ... with cuteness to spare.
VB posted a super-sweet video Saturday showing her help 3-year-old daughter Bianka and her little sister, 9-month-old Capri, open a giant Easter egg with goodies inside -- sent to them by the florist to the stars, Jeff Leatham. It's adorable ... you see Bianka closing her eyes as she tries to crack it open with a mini hammer, but that shell's thick as hell.
Mom had to step in eventually and help her break a big enough hole to see what was inside. After LOTS of confetti-pulling, the mother-daughter duo found the treat ... chocolate!
BTW, Capri was definitely feeling the festivities ... she was giggling through the whole thing. What she mighta been thinking ... "When's my turn, MOM?!?" Good stuff.
No sign of Natalia here, but ya gotta figure she's around for the holiday too. The Bryants are devout Catholics and Easter's the holiest day of the year for the faithful.
As for the egg-cracking, it's usually a little kid thing to do anyway.
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This marks the first Easter the Bryants have celebrated since Kobe and Gianna passed, and it's great to see Vanessa staying true to the fam's tradition. Last year, she was helping Bianka with another egg-tivity as well. Good on her for keeping their spirits up.
Babyfaceis counting his blessings on his birthday ... he says he and his family tested positive for the novel coronavirus, but now they are no longer infected with COVID-19.
The singer and mega-producer shared the health update Friday on social media ... Babyface says he and his fam tested positive for COVID-19, but now they've tested negative for the deadly virus and are on the mend.
Babyface says the entire saga was incredibly scary to go through with his family and friends ... but now he's happy to report they made it through the fire.
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The timeline remains unclear, Babyface doesn't get too specific or offer many details, but he says he's ready to get back to what he does best, making music.
Travis Barker says he loves everything about being in quarantine, except for what put him there -- that damn coronavirus.
The Blink-182 drummer, who normally spends a ton of time on the road, says he's enjoying this unprecedented amount of time at home. He spent a little of it with us for Friday's "TMZ Live" and talked about all the lemonade he's making outta lemons.
Travis said the best thing about quarantine is getting to spend more time hanging with his family than ever before. He's also stepped up his home recording skills, and says he's been collaborating with other musicians ... electronically, of course.
Along those same lines ... Blink-182 just dropped a new song, "Happy Days," and it's literally showing how people are trying to stay positive while awaiting better days in the future.
Ya gotta see the music video ... Travis explains how the band got their socially distant fans involved, along with cameos from Machine Gun Kelly,Bella Thorne and Steve-O.
We have even more with Trav on "TMZ Live" ... catch Friday's episode to see what he and his kids have been doing more than ever with all this QT.
As for his life post-quarantine, Travis told us how the music industry might change ... permanently.
A food bank in Texas is overflowing with cars and hungry families looking for their next meal in desperate times ... and the line to get grub looks like a parking lot.
The sobering scene played out Thursday in San Antonio, where the city's food bank prepared to serve 6,000 families at Trader's Village ... and then an extra 4,000 households showed up with their hands out.
The line to get the free food and the overwhelming demand were more than officials expected for San Antonio's fourth drive-thru food distribution giveaway. Some folks even got in line the night before the 10 AM event, and as you can see, that was a savvy decision.
Fortunately, everyone was served and no one was turned away ... all they had to do was wait for hours in their cars in the sweltering Texas heat.
The food bank says it hasn't seen this large a line or this big of a crisis in 25 years ... and it's all because of the coronavirus, which has put about 10% of the country's workforce out of work and closed schools, which feed lots of kids.
And, get this .... the food bank says it distributed over a million pounds of food, and it's gonna need federal or state aid to keep operating. Jeff Bezos is donating $100 million to stock our nation's food banks, but it sounds like they need a lot more help.
Everything's bigger in Texas ... even the line to get free food in a pandemic.
Lindsie Chrisley's sad her father, Todd Chrisley, caught the coronavirus and could have died -- but says even that's not enough for them to patch things up.
Our first clue on how deep the rift is -- Lindsie tells TMZ ... she found out about Todd's diagnosis through social media. She says people actually asked her if she was happy he'd been diagnosed with COVID-19.
As we reported ... Todd went to urgent care and eventually the ER as he battled the deadly disease for several weeks. He says "this bitch called corona" really kicked his ass.
Lindsie says she's glad he's feeling better. That being said, she doesn't feel this episode will change their relationship for the better. You gotta see how she puts it, but essentially it's ... what's done is done.
As you know ... Lindsie and Todd have been on the outs since last year when she accused him of sex tape extortion, and he's accused her of wrongdoing in his tax case.
Lindsie also says she's almost certain she too battled the virus back in mid-March. She says she "felt like death" ... the worst she's ever felt in her life. But, she never got tested for the virus because, at the time, none were available.
Bottom line ... 2 potentially fatal bouts with the virus in the Chrisley family, but still one huge rift.
LaVar Ball tells TMZ Sports ... LaMelo WILL BE the owner of his Australian hoops team -- and the Big Baller says the plan is to deck out the squad in BBB gear head to toe once it's official!
Papa Ball spoke with us this week about his youngest son's plan to buy the NBL's Illawarra Hawks ... and says despite some snags with the deal last week -- the purchase is still going down.
In fact, LaVar says he's SUPER proud of his 18-year-old boy for the move ... saying Melo's ownership will help out American basketball players in Australia going forward.
"It's a lot of guys that come out of high school and they'll get over there in the NBL and guess what? You're not going to shine like that," LaVar says ... "And, Melo might see it differently."
"Like, 'Dang, you get to Melo's team, you're going to get to play. That might be different because it's American over there now.' So, Melo's looking at it like, 'Shoot, they let me do my thing and I got a chance, I'm going to give the next guy a chance.'"
Melo is reportedly working with ex-NBA player Jermaine Jackson to complete the purchase of the team ... and it seems LaVar expects the deal to become official soon.
As for when Melo is finally wearing the ownership cap ... LaVar says the team WILL BE sponsored by the BBB in every way.
"That's like a no-brainer," LaVar says.
But, sadly, LaVar tells us he ain't renaming the team to the Big Baller Hawks ... saying, "That'd be a little bit crazy."
NBA superstar Devin Booker was just named a Special Olympics Global Ambassador, and the Phoenix Suns guard credits his little sister, Mya ... for inspiring much of the amazing work he's done.
"I've celebrated the accomplishments and witnessed the challenges my sister has experienced as a person with intellectual disabilities," Booker said Thursday.
"She motivates me every day, and I'm humbled to be part of Special Olympics, a global organization with a mission to help spread awareness about the abilities of people with intellectual disabilities."
Booker's 18-year-old sister was diagnosed with DiGeorge syndrome -- a rare genetic chromosomal disorder that can lead to mild intellectual disabilities.
23-year-old Booker says he's been so inspired by what she's been able to accomplish in the face of the adversity ... he's deeply involved himself in the Special Olympics.
Booker has invited special needs fans to NBA events constantly and has even donated annually to Special Olympics Arizona as part of his "Devin Booker Starting 5" charity efforts.
"People like Devin who have a sibling with intellectual disabilities possess inherent empathy for the population we serve," Special Olympics CEO Mary Davis says.
"We are lucky to leverage his passion to inspire others around the world to join our all-out effort to end discrimination against and empower people with intellectual disabilities.”
Gwyneth Paltrow couldn't throw her son a huge birthday bash with the coronavirus guidelines, so she set up the next best thing ... a driveway parade in his honor.
Gwyneth and Chris Martin's boy, Moses, celebrated his 14th bday Wednesday, and instead of eating cake and opening presents surrounded by his friends ... they drove by honking their horns and playing music for him instead.
Socially distant and totally responsible.
Moses' pals also came bearing balloons and handmade signs, and pulled off a drive-by candy delivery to boot.
Paltrow gushed about her son, saying ... "He is the kindest little man and he has the most unique way of looking at the world and expressing himself." She added ... "I hope you never stop hugging me goodbye when you go into the next room. I love you."
Aww.
Gwyneth and Chris' daughter Apple turns 16 in a few weeks ... probably gonna have to get creative with her celebration, too.
Shawn and Camila's dad, Alejandro, spent some QT Wednesday in Miami building a basketball hoop. Shawn handles the task shirtless and barefoot -- the way his fans, and probably Camila, like him.
Mr. singer-songwriter looked every bit the handyman, too. No sign of Camila around, but we know she was close. The couple's been in quarantine together-- as we saw during the iHeart Living Room Concert last week.
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The couple also surprised a bunch of kids at Children's National Hospital in D.C. ... singing to them and answering their questions -- that was all before quarantines, of course.
The Children's National Hospital posted the video on its Instagram and captioned it, "Just when the kids thought their video call with @Camila_Cabello couldn't get any better, @ShawnMendes enters the chat. Thank you both for hanging out and pulling off this surprise."
1:32 PM PT -- 4/8 -- Gideon's body has finally been found, according to cops, who say the boy's body was found in 25 feet of water about 2,000 feet away from where Maeve's body was found.
UPDATE
11:22 AM PT -- Maeve's cause of death is an accidental drowning, according to officials handling the case. The search for her son Gideon's body continues.
UPDATE
7:25 PM PT -- 4/6 -- Divers found Maeve's body Monday evening about 2.5 miles south of the family home on Chesapeake Bay. Authorities say her body was located in water that was 25-feet deep ... and they plan to continue searching for Gideon on Tuesday.
UPDATE
6:15 AM PT -- 4/4-- Maeve's husband, David McKean, said Friday it seems clear his wife and son have tragically passed. McKean said, "It is clear that Maeve and Gideon have passed away," adding, "It has been more than 24 hours, and the chances they have survived are impossibly small."
UPDATE
McKean said his family was self-quarantining at Maeve's mother's home on Chesapeake Bay, so they could have some space. He says Gideon and Maeve were playing a game of kickball and the ball went into the water, so they got in a canoe to get the ball. He believes the canoe got pushed by either the tide or the wind, into the bay.
UPDATE
12:22 PM PT -- There were local reports Gov. Hogan confirmed Maeve had passed away, but we got video of his news conference, and he merely offers prayers as the search continues.
Two members of the Kennedy family are missing after a canoeing accident on the Chesapeake Bay, and after 24 hours, Maryland's Governor says the search continues for them.
Robert F. Kennedy's granddaughter, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, and her 8-year-old son, Gideon, were reported missing Thursday after paddling out near Annapolis, MD ... according to the Washington Post.
The Kennedys are reportedly gathered at a waterfront house and children were playing with a ball in the yard Thursday afternoon when it was kicked into the bay. Maeve and her son hopped in a canoe to track down the ball, but they were unable to paddle back to shore.
Maryland authorities said an overturned canoe matching the description of the Kennedy's had been recovered. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan held a news conference Friday and announced the search for Maeve and Gideon continues.
Maeve's mother is former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.
The Coast Guard says Maeve and her son were "seen struggling to return to shore in a canoe" before disappearing. Thursday was an extremely windy day on the bay, with gusts of up to 40 MPH in the D.C. area.
Helicopters and boat rescue crews have been searching the area for 24 hours, but still nothing.
Just last summer, another one of RFK's granddaughters, Saiorse Kennedy Hill, died of an accidental overdose while at the family's Hyannis Port compound.
Dating back to John F. Kennedy and RFK's assassinations in the '60s, the family's endured countless tragedies -- including JFK Jr.'s fatal plane crash in 1999, and Michael Kennedy's death in a 1997 skiing accident.
Tiger Woods didn't let the pandemic stop one of the greatest traditions in golf -- the Masters Champions dinner -- only this time, it was WAY smaller than usual.
Every year, the reigning Masters champ hosts a lavish dinner for his rival golfers at Augusta National ... and the winner usually customizes the menu with meaningful (and usually pricey) food items.
Since coronavirus threw a huge wrench in this year's plans, Tiger pivoted -- and threw a much smaller dinner for his girlfriend, Erica Herman, and his kids, Sam and Charlie.
"Masters Champions Dinner quarantine style," Tiger says ... "Nothing better than being with family."
Woods even busted out his Green Jacket for the meal -- another tradition he's dead set on carrying on! Did you notice the replica trophy on the table?!
Unclear exactly what he served up, but it looks like Tiger had some sushi, some meat ... and cupcakes!!
By the way, the 2020 Masters has been postponed to November -- with the Champions Dinner tentatively scheduled to go down on Nov. 10 ... as long as the pandemic is over by then.
