Gossip / Rumors

Matt Barnes refuses to back down from his claims that something romantic went down between him and Rihanna -- telling TMZ Sports straight up, "I'm too grown to lie."

Justin Bieber's famous pals are coming to his defense, saying the pop singer hasn't hopped off the sobriety train despite recent footage showing him smoking and boozing.

Riff Raff tells us he and Diplo were hanging with Justin just last week in Hollywood. Riff and Dip were working on music for Raff's upcoming LP, "Pink Panther." Riff Raff freely admits, he and Diplo were "f**** up," but Justin didn't touch anything -- weed, alcohol, nothing.

Riff Raff says after the session they hit the town to party and Justin was stone cold sober the whole time. The video shows Justin and Riff Raff in the car on the way to the clubs, and Biebs looks clear-headed.

Zayn Malik's ex-fiancee Perrie Edwards looks like a desperate chick who's still longing for the guy who dumped her in a new Little Mix music video -- but we've learned it's not what it seems.

The vid for "Love Me Like You" dropped Friday, and fans instantly noticed the engagement diamond on Perrie's finger. People were wondering why she was still wearing it, since they broke up 2 months ago. Was it a dig at Zayn or wishful thinking?

It's neither. We found out the video was filmed around 6 months ago, when Perrie and Zayn were still a thing. Sources who were on the set tell us she kept the ring on during shooting because they were very much in love.

But y'know ... things change. The former One Direction singer broke things off in August, and Perrie didn't take it well.

Silver lining: Perrie gets some pub for her new song.

The Vatican is using the "smoked but didn't inhale" excuse when it comes to Pope Francis' meeting with anti-gay county clerk Kim Davis ... acknowledging their meeting but denying there was any exchange of support.

Davis, who was jailed for not granting same sex marriage licences in Kentucky, told reporters the Holy Father was in step with her stance, and told her to "stay strong."

Now the Vatican is saying the meet and greet between the Pontiff and Davis was so brief, the Pope never discussed the details of Davis' complex situation.

Travis Barker and Rita Ora are dating, Travis' rep confirms to TMZ.

We're told the couple's so smitten with one another they've spent almost every day together since hitting it off at the Power 106 All Star Celebrity Basketball Game in LA.

That was 10 days ago ...

Seems Karrueche Tran's summer lovin' is spillin' over into the fall ... because she's getting very close with Manchester United star Memphis Depay ... and even went to his game Wednesday night.

Tran was first spotted with Depay in Miami back in June -- but recently it seems things have started to heat up ... with the two hitting nightclubs together and even shopping in Manchester.

Now, with Tran attending the Man U game ... pointed out by our friends at BSO ... it's just another clue she's more than just friends with the guy who signed a $40 million contract back in May.

BTW, Man U won the game 2-1 ... and even though Memphis didn't score on the pitch, seems he might do pretty well after the game.

Selena Gomez broke her long-standing silence with the paparazzi ... to kinda sorta flirt with our photog.

Charlie and around 20 other photogs were at LAX as Selena arrived, when he asked in his discernible Aussie accent for whom she wanted to look good ... playing off her song, "Good for You."

Selena -- who is blazing hot -- didn't say Bieber. She didn't say Orlando Bloom. What she said has given Charlie tragic false hope.

Being unemployed has its benefits ... if you're Michael Sam ... 'cause the outta-work football player has some new friends in high places ... hanging with the cast of the hit Fox show "Empire."

Kate Hudson and Nick Jonas say they're not dating ... but does hooking up count?

The 2 were all over the place -- together -- this weekend, first at Disney World in Orlando and the next day at brunch in Miami.

Kate -- who's 36 -- went to Nick's show at the House of Blues in Orlando Saturday night. Oh, right, he's 23.

It kinda makes sense. She was probably his jam growing up, and she's still just as hot.

With crazy rumors circulating about Lane Kiffin ... the University of Alabama says there is one thing that is certain -- he's STILL the offensive coordinator for the football team.

Kiffin's name is blowing up on social media today ... over completely unverified rumors that Kiffin was involved in an affair with a high profile Alabama lady.

One of the rumors was that the alleged banging set off head coach Nick Saban -- who gave him walking papers.

But TMZ Sports spoke with Josh Maxson, the director of communications for Alabama football, who tells us Kiffin is "obviously" still employed and remains the team's offensive coordinator.

Kylie Jenner hosted a party for her best friend Wednesday where a cake was carted out with the message, "Happy Birthday N****."

Kylie is taking heat for the frosted message, but she now says the cake pictured below is the one she got ... not the one above.

Kylie's BFF, Jordyn Woods, is African-American -- not that it necessarily matters -- and says she really DID get the n-word cake from "friends."

Taraji P. Henson and the "Empire" writers should know ... 50 Cent doesn't sweat people taking shots at him -- been there, done that -- so, he's firing right back with a direct shot at Cookie's ... cookie.

During the "Empire" premiere ... Taraji's character made a crack about Fif being "thirsty," and it didn't take long for him to respond.

Check out the video -- 50 wants everyone to know he's got a sexual past with Cookie.

So, is it just faux TV beef, or is Fiddy really talking about Taraji? We're guessing it's door #1.

But who really knows?

Kylie and Tyga are finally ready to tie the knot ... at least that's what one video suggested -- but Tyga might've just been brushing up on his impressions.

Kylie posted a video to her Snapchat on Wednesday of her bf Tyga and it sounds like he says, "I don't f*** with nobody, it's just me, my fiancée, this lil' dog I just got" ... making it seem like he and Kylie are engaged.

However, if you dig a little deeper -- Tyga posted a video earlier in the day of an old interview with rapper Logic saying almost the exact same thing.

So we're callin' shenanigans.

Karrueche Tran and Rob Kardashian are old friends ... and the suggestive photo he posted was just her showing off her swollen face post-dental surgery.

Karrueche went under the drill Tuesday to have her wisdom teeth pulled. We're told Rob checked in on his pal and noticed she was talking funny ... after they hung up, she sent him the post-dentist pic.

Our source says Karrueche isn't mad Rob posted the photo and suggestive caption ... they've been friends since high school and regularly talk.

Going to the dentist ... never fun for soooo many reasons.

Rob Kardashian may not only be re-emerging, he might be trying to hook up with the likes of Karrueche Tran.

Rob just posted a pic of his iPhone screen that shows a conversation he was having with Chris Brown's ex, which included a sexy pic of herself. He captioned it, "I like when she send me pictures."

As for the contact info on his phone, he lists her as "Karrooooooooochieeeeee."

Remember, Brown has a penchant for threatening anyone who appears to get close to his ex, including Tyson Beckford.

Rob is trying to downplay chatter that he and Karrueche are banging by saying, "Yall dumb af. I been Friends with Karoooooch since high school. F*** outta here with your negative s***."

Nick Cannon sure seemed to be giving a signal the story that he's now hooked up with a former "America's Got Talent" contestant is BS ... because he hit the town Wednesday with a different girl.

Nick and Winnie Harlow showed up at Mr. Chow, where he clearly knew the paparazzi would be out in force. Winnie is a model for Diesel who was a contestant on "America's Next Top Model."

There were reports he's dating Samantha Johnson, who looks vaguely similar to Mariah, but it appears Nick wanted to squash those rumors.