Humor

Ric Flair thinks Bradley Cooper would be the perfect fit to play him in the upcoming Hulk Hogan biopic.

Ric came on "TMZ Live" Monday, which happens to be his 70th birthday, and we asked who he wants cast as Nature Boy in Todd Phillips' new movie ... and without skipping a beat, Ric's wife, Wendy, shouted her answer.

Ric's a smart man, so he ran with it. Happy wife, happy life.

Hey, when your wife throws you a surprise birthday bash with tons of celebs, ya gotta listen to her!

Wendy might actually be on to something here ... Todd often works with Bradley, so we're guessing the director would be down to cast him alongside leading man Chris Hemsworth.

Ja Rule performed Saturday night at the Milwaukee Bucks vs Minnesota Timberwolves game in Milwaukee ... and no one gave a crap.

Ja was booked to perform during the halftime show, which was a '90s theme, but he mocked it by saying it was ridiculous to book an act that was all about the 2000s for a '90s event.

The crowd was clearly not impressed, and you just gotta watch the video and wince.

It got so bad ... Bucks players came out on to the court to warm up while Ja was still performing.

Ja's clearly still feeling the heat from his participation in the Fyre Festival. As we reported, he's actually trying to plan a Fyre Festival II.

BTW ... the Bucks won the game 140 - 128. Ja, on the other hand, clearly lost.

Charles Barkley's not the only one getting laughs at Jussie Smollett's expense -- Trevor Noah's team spoofed the "Empire" star hard ... and it's pretty hilarious.

"The Daily Show" put together a fake movie trailer mocking Jussie's "attack" -- which Chicago PD now believes was a publicity stunt -- and how it came to be ... featuring the show's newest star, Jaboukie Young-White, as Smollett.

The trailer for "Jussie's Lie" has it all -- from the actor allegedly being dissatisfied with his "Empire" salary and getting pissed when his hate letter didn't receive enough attention ... to planning the "attack" with Nigerian brothers, Abel and Ola.

And, they don't forget about the 2 AM trip to Subway for some grub, either.

In the end, Jussie (Jaboukie) looks at the camera -- rope in hand -- and pronounces ... "I'm the gay Tupac."

Charles Barkley WENT OFF on Jussie Smollett on "Inside the NBA" on Thursday -- saying if the actor really wanted to be a hate crime victim, he shoulda just gone to Liam Neeson's neighborhood.

It's just one of SEVERAL shots Barkley took at the "Empire" actor during the show -- but it was definitely the strongest.

Remember, Liam Neeson recently revealed that he once grabbed a weapon and went hunting for a "black bastard" in Northern Ireland after a friend of his claimed she was raped by a black man.

People RIPPED Neeson for the comments -- because it's racist as hell -- but now he's become the punchline for Barkley's Jussie Smollett jokes.

"Jussie ... you wasted all that damn time and money! You know what you shoulda did? Just went out into Liam Neeson's neighborhood! Coulda solved all your damn problems."

The guys also aired a fake $3,500 check -- like the one Jussie supposedly gave to two brothers to beat him up. Barkley laughed wildly while that one aired.

There's more ... Charles addressed the viewers:

"America, let me just tell you something. Do not commit crimes with checks! If you're gonna break the law, do not write a check! Get cash man!!

That's when Shaq finally stepped in and told Barkley to shut it down.

Tom Green's counting down to November 3, 2020 ... because that's when he can finally vote for President, now that he's a U.S. citizen!!!

The comedian went through the naturalization oath ceremony Wednesday at the L.A. Convention Center along with hundreds of others. As you probably know, Tom was born in Canada but he's lived in the U.S. for two decades.

Check out the clip ... Tom couldn't contain his excitement as he proudly waves a U.S. flag. BTW, the same could NOT be said of President Trump who had a message for the newly naturalized citizens.

The obvious question ... what took so long? Tom tells TMZ ... being a standup comedian and commenting on society is great, but after living in America for 20 years now, he wanted the opportunity to vote and take part in the democratic process.

Make no mistake ... Tom bleeds Canada's red and white, and he's in no way turning his back on Canada. He's just now making room for America's red, white AND blue. And, he's showing both countries love ... 'cause now he has dual citizenship.

He knows his U.S. history too -- bet ya can't name every prez as Tom did while on "Celebrity Big Brother."

T-Pain ain't down for shots to the face -- even if it's just a beach ball -- and his fans definitely know that now after he abruptly pulled the plug on a weekend concert.

We got this video from his Sunday set at the BBYO (B'Nai B'Rith Youth Org.) Convention in Denver, and you see him rapping "Bartender" as the beach ball comes flying through the air, bouncing off the side of his dome!

It definitely looked funny, but T-Pain wasn't in a playful mood. He immediately beelined for the exit. Fans at the concert tell us T-Pain was only about 30 minutes into his set when he bounced.

Tension was building because witnesses tell us T-Pain had already warned the crowd he was leaving if they threw another ball onstage. We're told T-Pain's people tried to get him to go back on ... but he refused.

Sorry, Travis Scott -- something tells us you're not in Kansas City anymore -- which is info he coulda used before his Astroworld tour made a stop ... in St. Louis! Oops.

The hilarious blunder went down Sunday night as he was wrapping up his gig at Sprint Center. The crowd was roaring and fireworks were going off before Trav shot off, "St. Louis, I love you. Get home safe." Nice sentiment, but a bit misplaced because he was actually in Kansas City, Missouri.

Turns out Travis got ahead of himself -- he's actually gonna be in St. Louis Monday night. Hey, it happens to the best of 'em ... especially when you're living life on the road.

Some perspective ... after his STL gig, Travis will be in Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee and Columbus ... all this week. So, it's easy to see how he got lost. No word if fans went into psycho mode after Travis' gaffe.

The mishap reminded us of this funny Southwest commercial and yes, we're sure Travis wanted to get away. Pretty sure he's flying private, though. Sorry, Southwest!

Dave Chappelle's all about making things right, which is why he hand-delivered tickets to a couple who fell victim to a Craigslist scam ... so they could make his Valentine's Day show after all.

The comedian surprised his swindled fans in Charlotte Thursday by showing up at the restaurant they were at and delivering tix to see him perform at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center that night.

Their story caught Dave's attention after it was reported Wednesday that the woman, Deidra Dickens, thought she had purchased tickets to his V-Day show for her and her husband -- a huge Chappelle fan -- but got scammed.

Dickens claims she paid $500 for 4 tickets to a seller on Craiglist, but after she sent the money ... that person went silent and she never got them.

What they got ended up being way better, though ... because Dave delivered in person. He also chatted and snapped some pics with the couple, but made sure to tell them to get their tickets from reliable sources from now on.

George Lopez is ripping Sen. Ted Cruz to shreds over his idea to use money seized from El Chapo to fund President Trump's border wall.

We got the comedian Thursday at LAX, and asked him about Cruz's suggestion that the billions seized from El Chapo's drug cartel should be used to secure the southern border. Needless to say, George has very strong feelings about the wall, Ted and ... the senator's head and ass!!!

El Chapo was found guilty on 10 federal drug charges Tuesday, and the Mexican drug kingpin is now facing life in prison. Prosecutors are seeking $14 BILLION in drug profits and assets from El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel.

Donald Trump's old golfing buddy, George Lopez, is not down with POTUS' new, $50k golf simulator at the White House ... telling TMZ Sports the guy should be focusing on his job, not his stroke.

ICYMI -- The Donald recently had a room-sized golf simulator installed in the personal quarters at 1600 Penn ... and it's reportedly a big upgrade from what Barack Obama had during his presidency.

G Lo -- who has hit the links with Trump prior to becoming #45 -- tells us the move is "unnecessary" ... and Trump should put his time into fixing the country's issues.

"This fool needs to stop napping 60 percent of the time and he needs to get to work, because this is some bullsh*t that's going on," Lopez says.

"It's a bad look."

George never holds back when he talks about 45. He's been critical of the Prez since he went from reality star to candidate, and even went as far as to fake pee on his Hollywood Star last year.

Comedian Russell Peters got involved in a serious situation at a jewelry shop, when he hopped to action and helped take down a wannabe thief ... and it's all on the security footage.

In the vid, obtained by TMZ, Peters is seen walking around the NYC Diamond District store Tuesday scoping some bling with one of the workers, while a man in a dark stocking cap is being attended to nearby by another employee.

All of a sudden, the guy in the cap gets up and darts away but gets stopped at the door ... which gets Russell's attention. The employee appears to try to apprehend the man, who gets physical and tries to make a break for it, but Peters and the other worker quickly grab him and hold him down before an officer shows up.

Law enforcement sources tell us the 27-year-old perp attempted to make off with a ring valued at $150,000 before he was apprehended by witnesses. Peters is listed on the police report as one of those witnesses.

If you're surprised the funny man is such a badass, don't be. Russell's trained in jiu-jitsu for years under famous black belt Jean Jacques Machado, who also trains Joe Rogan.

Basically, the suspect's lucky Russell only slapped an armbar on him!

Cops have charged the man with robbery and criminal possession of stolen property.

Our sources say Russell was at the store because he's friendly with the owner, and it's safe to say ... his friends and family discount just went up a little bit.

Floyd Mayweather says he could get a 10-FIGURE CHECK from the UFC ... if he told Dana White he wanted a deal to fight in the Octagon right now.

Yeah ... that's $1 BILLION.

The legendary boxer made the revelation to Kevin Hart on the latest episode of "Cold As Balls" -- saying if he agreed to a contract with the fight company ... he'd get PAID.

"I can go get a deal right now from the UFC. Probably 3-fight, 4-fight, billion-dollar deal if that's what I wanted."

Of course, Floyd's flirted heavily with the idea in the past ... remember, he teased a possible MMA fight with Conor McGregor just last year -- even stepping into an actual cage!!!

For his part ... Dana admitted he did have LEGIT interest in inking the boxer to a fight deal -- and said they were actually in talks in December 2017.

So ... will it ever go down????

Doesn't seem like it ... Floyd says there's just no need for the cash right now, "I'mma be honest. My life is great. Smart investments. I can buy whatever I want to buy, every month."

Congressman Matt Gaetz is jammin' on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ... and not because of her politics.

The Florida Rep was on Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon when our photog asked how he felt being constantly referred to as the "Conservative AOC." He essentially calls it an insult ... to her!

Gaetz, who's sometimes charming and sometimes really controversial -- Wednesday he tried booting 2 parents from Stoneman Douglas High School from a congressional hearing on gun violence -- tells us the rookie Congresswoman from the Bronx is way more interesting, capable and attractive than him.

So, you ask ... how does a conservative Republican dare to praise someone whose views are the polar opposite of his Pensacola, Florida constituency? Well, watch and learn.

THE PLAYOFF BEARD IS GONE!!!

Julian Edelman parted with his legendary playoff face warmer this week -- and the person wielding the shears was none other than Ellen DeGeneres!

The New England Patriots superstar grabbed the Vince Lombardi Trophy and dropped by Ellen's show to talk about being named the MVP of the Super Bowl ... when things got a little hairy.

Ellen revealed a pop-up barbershop on her set, sat Jules in the chair and got her trim on ... and she actually did a pretty good job!

Edelman had been growing out the face fuzz as a thing pro athletes do in the playoffs -- and if you know anything about pro athletes, they're VERY into superstition.

In Edelman's case ... it worked (it also helped that his QB is Tom Brady).

Oh, also ... turns out Edelman's pretty good looking under all those whiskers.

One of the 13 people to receive a special invite to the 2019 State of the Union Address by Donald and Melania Trump took advantage of it in the best way ... by catching up on ZZZs.

Joshua Trump -- the 11-year-old boy who was reportedly bullied by his classmates for his last name -- seemed to fall asleep during the President's speech while he was reiterating his desire for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border and called illegal immigration "an urgent national crisis."

It's unclear how long Joshua dozed off, but the shots of him snoozing were enough to make Trump opponents hail the kid as a hero.

The Delaware sixth-grader was invited to the SOTU by the First Lady after his mom told reporters his classmates cursed at him and called him an “idiot” and “stupid” for sharing the President’s last name. The bullying prompted his family to pull him from school and begin homeschooling.

As you know, Melania's been an advocate for anti-bullying as part of her "Be Best" campaign.

How'd Kevin Hart get by Super Bowl security to party with the Patriots on Sunday??

Robert Kraft's son had to personally vouch for him!!!!

It all went down on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf after New England beat the Rams ... when the comedy icon was held up on his way to the confetti party.

The video is great ... Hart thinks security is just jokin' around not letting him through the gates -- when he suddenly realizes they ain't!!!

Kevin tries to crack a couple jokes to get through ... but still no dice!!!

Enter Patriots president Jonathan Kraft ... who rolls up to security to save the day -- telling everyone, "He's good! He's good! And, his wife!"

If this all feels familiar ... it's 'cause it is -- remember last year Hart was denied the chance to head up to the stage to celebrate the Eagles' Super Bowl championship???

For his part ... Kevin was able to joke about the whole thing afterward -- penning a social media post with a bunch of laughing emojis.