Justin Timberlake is dispelling a longstanding rumor about the origins of one of his hit songs ... and apparently it was never about Britney Spears.
Speaking with Complex's "Re-Rank" show ... JT said the song "What Goes Around... Comes Around" was "actually a personal story from a friend's" that he got permission to use.
He added ... "He was just going through it, and he was telling me what had happened, and said, 'Do you mind if I write about this?' And I quote, my friend said, 'Yeah, torch that bitch. What goes around comes around.' And I was like, 'I have to go, thank you.' He was like, 'What?' I was like, ‘I got it.’"
Chris Brown and Usher had fans waiting hours to see them perform ... only to leave concertgoers wondering what the hell they'd just paid for.
The R&B stars kicked off their five-night run at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium Thursday ... but fans say the show didn't start until around 10 PM, roughly two-and-a-half hours late.
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And the late start was just the beginning ... concertgoers complained the pair didn't perform a single song together, with large chunks of the setlist apparently getting the ax.
Lenny Kravitz is going the extra mile to make it clear to fans he didn't die in the shocking Florida plane crash over the weekend ... addressing the rumors head-on.
Here's the deal ... misinformation spread online Sunday afternoon after a Learjet 60 crashedin a residential area near the Cresthaven neighborhood in Palm Beach -- with online sleuths misidentifying the pilot and then linking her to Lenny.
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This pilot had previously posted a photo revealing she had flown Lenny on a similar route the doomed jet took ... and the internet decided that was enough evidence to declare the 62-year-old rocker dead.
In response to the rumors, Lenny's team told TMZ in a statement, "The reports are untrue and incorrect."
5:25 PM PT -- Sources close to La Latell TMZ ... she wasn't ever dating this guy and hasn't had contact with him for several months -- we're told she was filming a social video at the time of this sighting.
La La Anthony was all smiley and snuggly with a mystery man while out and about in NYC ... and only TMZ has them on video.
Folks who were there TMZ … this clip's from back in May at Brooklyn's Dive Bar BK ... and it looks like La La is super comfortable around this gentleman.
The person who shot the footage tells us La La randomly walked in with security and the mystery guy. They say she sat at a booth way off to the corner and chilled there for a few hours.
The rep tells us Candice has always been extremely private about her personal life, with her main focus remaining on raising her two children.
The statement comes amid speculation that the longtime friends had a falling out over Candice's budding romance with Tom. Joan was reportedly seeing Tom before Candice.
Matthew Perry and his ex, René Ashton, once got freaky aboard Bruce Willis' private plane ... at least that's what she's hinting at.
René implied that she joined the mile-high club when she and Matthew were jetting off to Turks and Caicos with Bruce and his girlfriend at the time.
In the new 3-part Netflix doc, "The One About Matthew Perry," the actress said the invite came before the late "Friends" star went to shoot "The Whole Nine Yards."
Tom Brady and Candice Swanepoel started their romance over the summer ... but they've avoided public scrutiny by hanging in a low-key area of Miami.
Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ … it's an open secret in the Miami scene that Tom and Candice have been seeing each other since June -- when several FIFA World Cup matches were played in the Sunshine State.
Yung Miami is pissed that allegations she transported drugs for Diddy won't die ... and she's doubling down on her denial in a new interview.
Diddy's ex went on "The Breakfast Club," and she said she was "lied on" about allegedly moving drugs for the disgraced music mogul. She says "all that s*** was fake."
Yung Miami is referencing persistent rumors that have been around for a couple of years now ... as we reported, a 2024 lawsuit alleged she transported "pink cocaine" for Diddy on a private jet from Miami to the Water Music Festival in Virginia.
It turns out Kim Kardashian's "absolutely not mad" at Paris Hilton for blowing off an interview for her book over a dozen times ... at least according to someone in Paris' inner circle.
A source close to Paris tells TMZ … the interview was being handled by an old assistant at her company, and it simply got lost in the shuffle of Paris' "hectic schedule."
We're told Paris "has a lot of projects happening at once and is constantly traveling, so coordinating interviews can sometimes be a challenge."
Christy Carlson Romano doesn't believe her "Cadet Kelly" co-star Hilary Duff was a "normal" child actor ... and she says it all has to do with Hilary's background.
Christy chatted with Avery Woods on her "Cheers With Avery" podcast ... and opened up about how she believes she and Hilary had totally different experiences with fame and fortune growing up.
Christy says ... "I don't think that Hilary Duff is that normal. I think she came from a really wealthy family, and she had a lot of support coming out the gate."
Dakota Johnson and Machine Gun Kelly dating rumors are as hot as the couple themselves ... and they added fuel to the fire this week after they left a music studio together.
The actress and the rapper were spotted in Los Angeles earlier this week ... Dakota wearing a jacket and pants while waiting for the hoodie-wearing Kelly to finish up a phone call.
Eventually, MGK came around and opened the door of his sports car for DJ ... who hopped in the passenger seat. The two then took off for parts unknown.
James Talarico's campaign took an unprecedented step to prove he didn't spend the week in a mental health facility in Ohio ... by giving the media screenshots of a video that they say show he was at home in Texas.
Here's the deal ... Talarico's opponent in the Texas Senate race, Ken Paxton, and many conservative social media users have recently been calling BS on Talarico's claims that he has been stuck in bed with a bad case of the flu after he recently vanished from the campaign trail.
Using tenuous evidence -- including an unsubstantiated audio clip and a flight tracker of a private jet flying from Texas to Ohio, which doesn't seem to have any link to Talarico -- rumors swirled that Talarico was actually in a full-blown mental health breakdown in Ohio.
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller amplified the claims as well ... but now Talarico is pushing back. with the help of a major media outlet.
Drake's rep is ripping apart rumors that he fathered a child with a fellow music star and longtime friend ... calling them complete and total BS.
Here's the deal ... singer-songwriter Keshia Chanté shared her pregnancy Tuesday in an article with the outlet Hello! -- glowing in a maternity shoot and revealing she's having a baby boy.
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Keshia wouldn't say who the father is ... though she implied on social media he's in the music industry ... and it didn't take long for Drake's name to get dragged into things.
