Humor

Funnyman Jeff Ross may have inadvertently contributed to a Texas inmate's death sentence ... and now, the guy's attorneys are asking the Supreme Court to overturn the sentence.

Here's the rub ... attorneys for Gabriel Hall are petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review the convicted killer's capital punishment sentence, which was based in part on jokes Ross and Hall made to each other ... during the comedian's 2015 TV special.

During the trial, prosecutors used Ross' show as evidence against Hall, which eventually lead to his conviction and subsequent death sentence.

The taped special was shot at the Detention Center where Hall was awaiting trial in TX back in '15 ... it was filmed shortly before Hall's conviction for the murder of a man named Edwin Shaar.

According to the Supreme Court petition, obtained by TMZ, Ross and Hall had a wide-ranging convo that was aired AS A PART of "Jeff Ross Roasts Criminals: Live At Brazos County Jail." The chat lasted 17 minutes with the comedian repeatedly mocking the guy's appearance and joking about his race. During the exchange, Hall made a series of jokes which prosecutors used during the penalty phase which, they said, showed Hall had "a lack of remorse for having committed capital murder." As a result, Hall's lawyers say, the jury voted to put Hall to death.

In their legal docs, Hall's lawyers say that before the Ross special was taped, they sent the Brazos County Sheriff a letter of "no contact" ... asking the deputies to prohibit anyone from talking to Hall without their permission. Clearly, that didn't happen.

The latest TikTok trend is all about tuggin' on family members' heartstrings, announcing the fake death of a beloved celeb ... and while the reactions are pretty hilarious, the viral clips have been met with some "bah humbugs" online.

The trend's picked up some serious steam on social media -- especially as families reconnect for the holidays, and what better way to pass the time than by (falsely) announcing the death of George Clooney or Kris Jenner ... right??

Gotta admit, there are some funny reactions in the mix ... from blood-curdling screams to almost reaching tears, it really goes to show just how much these stars mean to people.

While TikTokers are gettin' a good laugh, the joke ain't landing with some ... because a good chunk of the comments sections on these clips are filled with people calling the prank "unsettling."

Some are even blasting the younger generation for making light of the death of a celeb, even with their passing being untrue ... one even commented on a post, "This is so sick."

A local Iowa news broadcaster was EXTREMELY bent out of shape over his assignment -- covering the blizzard -- and he let his bosses know on live TV -- and it's hilarious.

KWWL reporter Mark Woodley was dispatched onto the snow-covered streets in Waterloo, IA, during Thursday's hours-long morning show. Right from the get-go, Woodley had a 'tude, snarkily delivering a weather report about the sub-zero temps.

He kicked things off this way ..."I normally do sports, uh, everything is canceled here for the next couple of days so what better time to ask the sports guy to come in about five hours earlier than he would normally wake up and go stand out in the wind and the snow and the cold and tell other people not to do the same."

It gets funnier ... Woodley joked that a co-worker named Clint cut a better deal because he's allowed to stay warm in the Storm Chaser vehicle. "I feel like Clint got the better end of that deal. That thing's heated. The outdoors currently is not heated."

Woodley also cracked this doozy ... "This is a really long show. Tune in for the next couple hours to watch me progressively get crankier and crankier."

He wasn't done yet ... "I've got good news and I've got bad news. The good news is that I can still feel my face. The bad news is I kind of wish I couldn't."

Hours later, Woodley couldn't take it anymore and addressed the TV host named Ryan, who was enjoying the warm studio ... "Can I go back to my regular job? I'm pretty sure Ryan that you guys added an extra hour to this show because somebody likes torturing me."

One thing's for sure ... Woodley should try stand-up comedy -- after he warms up with some hot chocolate.

Apparently nothing is off limits when it comes to Shannon Sharpe's trash talking -- not even Deion Sanders' horrifying foot ailments -- 'cause the Broncos legend roasted the hell out of Prime's amputated toes this week.

Shannon took his "Club Shay Shay" podcast on the road to Boulder, Colorado, to visit the new Buffs head coach ... and the jokes started flying almost immediately after he saw that Deion's foot was missing two of its toes.

"Man, where the big toe!?" Shannon asked Prime as the NFL legend was getting his surgically-repaired foot massaged. "I thought you was magic or something! I thought you was just hiding it!"

Sanders, who lost the toes back in the spring following complications from foot surgery, took the jabs in stride ... laughing as Sharpe continuously threw barb after barb after barb.

"So no more sandals -- no flip-flops for you, huh?!?" Sharpe said ... before adding later, "One thing about my homeboy, he's going to be eight toes down for you!"

The two though, did share some serious moments about the injury ... with Deion explaining it all actually really sucks. The former Dallas Cowboys star said he needs to get the foot massaged two or three times a day, and he's still taking multiple pills to manage the pain.

"I think it's my new normal," Sanders said.

No, the San Francisco 49ers rookies were not stuck with a whopping $332,000 tab after a team dinner last week -- so says star defensive lineman Arik Armstead ... who insists the whole thing was just harmless fun.

The infamous "rookie dinner" has been a tradition in the NFL for years ... with players eating like kings for a night, and then either making it seem like the first-year pros will be left with the massive check ... or, in some cases, actually forcing them to cough up the dough.

A clip of the 49ers' most recent installment to the hazing went viral on Monday ... when 2022 second-round pick Drake Jackson posted the wild totals after the fancy meal, showing all the young athletes in disbelief over the damage.

Of course, a closer look at the receipt reveals clear signs of it being fake ... with ridiculous upcharges, gratuity and fees attached to the tab, and only about $7,500 in actual food.

As the clip continued to spread on social media, Armstead went to Twitter to make sure everyone knew the vets aren't the worst teammates on the planet.

"Y’all silly if you thought a dinner can cost 300k," Arik said. "It was a prank. The waitress went overboard. The dinner was 7500 me and 2 other vets gave 1k towards it. The rooks split 4500."

"We had a great time too," he added. "I had good vets as a young player I would never do a rookie like that."

Sounds like Jackson and the rooks got off easy ... 'cause Chargers legend LaDainian Tomlinson told us back in 2018 he had to shell out $18k to feed his teammates when he first got into the league.

Donald Trump's getting jabbed over his digital trading cards -- the folks behind Amazon Prime's "The Boys" are taking his idea and turning it into satirical gold.

The Twitter account for Vought International -- the media conglomerate on the TV show that uses superhumans for profit -- posted its version of expensive cards Thursday, not coincidentally, just as Trump unveiled his $99 self-portraits.

The "company" promoted the Homelander-themed collection, writing, "Celebrate our greatest hero's life and crimefighting career by owning an authentic and non-fungible JPEG of him. Buy now for 777 VoughtCoin while you still can!"

In case you missed it, Vought's referring to Trump's NFT announcement ... showing off a ton of edited pics of him in a wide variety of action scenarios.

You can imagine, the Internet's having a field day ... and "The Boys" crew decided to join the fun.

One of Trump's trading cards showed him as a superhero, which looked like an obvious play off the TV show's Homelander character -- and probably prompted 'Boys' creators to drop their mock NFT.

This was bound to happen ... 'Boys' executive producer Eric Kripke's been very open about the fact they based Homelander on Trump -- something fans of the show have clearly seen.

The series revolves around a company with an endless amount of power that subliminally runs the world -- and draws direct parallels to the battle between woke folks and conservatives.

Jay Leno is breaking down the car fire that sent him to a burn unit with second- and third-degree burns ... and he's pretty cool when talking about the fiery episode.

The comedian sat down for an interview with NBC News' Hoda Kotb and told her how some mechanical work on one of his vintage cars turned ugly in the blink of an eye.

Jay says he was in his Burbank garage last month working on a 1907 White Steam Car, trying to unclog a fuel line. He says he told his friend, Dave Killackey, to blow some air through the fuel line when suddenly he was hit with a face full of gas ... and it only got worse from there.

Jay says his face caught fire when the car's pilot light ignited the fuel ... and he yelled to his friend, "I'm on fire."

Fortunately, Jay says Dave was Johnny on the spot ... pulling him out of harm's way and jumping on top of him to smother the fire.

Jay's back to business as usual already ... he's pretty casual in recalling the scary situation ... which jives with how he's been since the accident, like when he went back to the same garage just 10 days after the incident and was cracking jokes to photogs.

The "Jay Leno's Garage" host canceled some gigs while he was in the hospital but when he was released from the burn center he went right back to what he does best ... making folks laugh, even at his own expense, returning to his weekly Sunday night gig in Hermosa Beach.

San Fran's boo-fest for Elon Musk at Dave Chappelle's show is not the takeaway from that night ... not for Symba, who says the Twitter CEO was all fun and games when they linked backstage!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the budding Bay Area rapper after he snapped a flick with Elon ... and he says the billionaire mogul wasn't rattled by the crowd's response, even if his defensive tweet following the viral moment made it seem like it.

Symba is very familiar with the Chase Center hallways -- he performed during the Golden State Warriors' December 10 victory against the Boston Celtics, and tells us he's gotten cool with Draymond Green, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson ... and he's in awe of their basketball IQ.

Likewise, Symba's been flashing his talents ... making waves early this year opposite DJ Drama with their joint mixtape "Results Take Time" -- and he told us they're already working together on a follow-up.

The hotel staffers Mark Curry accused of racial profiling have been suspended from their jobs ... TMZ has learned.

As we reported, Mark claimed he was accosted by two employees over the weekend at The Mining Exchange hotel in downtown Colorado Springs ... and he posted video showing two staffers following him around.

Mark claims he left his room to go down to the lobby for some coffee when he was approached and asked if he was a hotel guest ... and in his video, he wonders out loud why other guests in the lobby aren't being asked the same questions.

A rep for The Mining Exchange tells TMZ ... "Employees involved in this matter have been suspended, pending further investigation."

Mark's video also showed him being asked for his ID by an attendant working the front desk.

Elon Musk is getting a frigid shoulder in San Francisco -- as if the Twitter sitch wasn't bad enough -- he got onstage with Dave Chappelle, and was practically shouted out of the arena.

The comedian was performing Sunday at the Chase Center, and toward the end of his set ... Dave brought Twitter's CEO up onstage as a special guest, which the S.F. crowd did not receive well -- raining a chorus of boos down on EM.

A few cheers could be heard as well, but as Dave noted ... it was mostly folks who weren't happy, but he kinda told them to shut it and tried to drown out the noise with a few jokes about how much he actually liked Elon, despite him being public enemy #1 online.

As for Elon ... well, he rolled with it as best as he could. He sarcastically asked Dave if this is what he was expecting -- and DC responded, "It sounds like some of the people you fired are in the audience."

That got a laugh, as did some other cracks from Dave about the tense situation -- and all the while, Elon just sorta stood around and took it. Some were expecting him to say more, as he does on Twitter, but in the end ... Dave wrapped it up by telling people there were better ways to express their protests with the man.

Another surreal moment ... when, at one point, Dave asked Elon to shout his old show's signature outro line -- "I'm rich, bitch!" -- which Elon did ... to mixed results. Fun times.

One second, Patti LaBelle's getting flowers from front row fans ... the next she's getting rushed off stage to avoid a possible explosion at her show.

That's the alarming scene that played out Saturday night in Milwaukee, where Patti was performing at the Riverside Theater. She had just taken a pause between songs to talk to the crowd, and accept a bouquet from one of them ... when suddenly 2 bodyguards appeared onstage.

Patti had no clue what was happening as they quickly hauled her backstage -- she yelled out, "Hold up, wait!!!"

The confused audience was immediately evacuated after that moment of panic, and the venue eventually pulled the plug on Patti's show. Officially, it was postponed and will be rescheduled.

Meek Mill is eager to teach his billionaire pal Michael Rubin the latest hip hop dance craze ... but the problem is, neither of them can actually nail the moves!!!

The Philly rap legend went live on Instagram with the Fanatics founder Thursday night at a party where Lil Uzi Vert's red-hot "Just Wanna Rock" came on, and attempted to play dance instructor ... with hilarious results.

Meek attempted to get low with Mike with a little hip action, but was clearly out of sync and Mike eventually threw in the towel to return to his drink. 😂

The dance simulates riding a dirt bike, which Uzi loves doing, so fans really don't need much rhythm ... even if they do look a little silly!!!

Uzi's official video for "Just Wanna Rock" dropped last month, and already has more than 500 million TikTok impressions -- most of which contain the correct dance moves.

Vince Staples is boosting his acting resume with a cameo on the award-winning sitcom, "Abbott Elementary," and fans are demanding an encore!!!

The Long Beach-bred rapper guest starred as Maurice ... a potential love interest for show creator Quinta Brunson's character, Janine.

The Wednesday night episode also featured NBA champ Andre Iguodala, and it had fans doing double takes all night ... with some even getting all googly-eyed over Vince.

'Abbott' is one of the hottest tickets on TV, winning 3 Primetime Emmys after its first season on the air.

Pete Davidson is back on Instagram, but there's a catch ... it's a joint page with Eli Manning!!

Yes, the former Giants star quarterback and comedian joined forces to launch the IG page together ... debuting the account Wednesday night with an IG video in Davidson's apartment.

"Hello Instagram," Davidson said on his Giants-themed bed, "I have decided to come back, but only with the GOAT."

"Stay tuned for more photos on the gram!"

The duo shared a video and a couple of photos, including a pic of Davidson's small helmet tattoo. Eli captioned the post, "confirmed ... Pete's a Giants fan."

The guys also worked on one-handed catches (a la Eli to Odell Beckham Jr. vs. the Dallas Cowboys) ... and Davidson has hands!

Fans loved the idea of the joint account ... they flooded their comments with support, with one saying, "lmfao the link up I never knew I needed 🐐".

FYI, Pete -- who's been MIA from IG since 2018 (he occasionally returns before deactivating again)  -- and Eli already have over 17k followers, as of Thursday morning.

Seth Rogen had no problem letting the jokes fly as he took part in a ceremony to honor women in showbiz ... taking a playful jab at Kim Kardashian for missing the occasion.

Seth took the stage Wednesday during The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Breakfast -- and true to form, he cracked a few jokes about folks in the audience.

A source with direct knowledge tells us, "The wrong event date was given to Kim’s team several weeks ago. The error was realized only on Monday and unfortunately, her schedule could not be moved around at the last minute due to a prior work commitment. She was incredibly disappointed to not be able to attend since she never cancels."

He joked, "Are we going to talk about how Kim Kardashian didn’t show up?" He continued, "I have seen every episode of ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ I know she doesn’t have anything more important to do than this."

He made it clear it was all fun and games ... telling folks she was probably going through a lot and had good reason to skip.

Chelsea Handler also joked about the 'SKIMS' founder missing the event ... saying the extra security at the event wasn’t for Kim cause she didn’t show up.

Chris Kattan is hospitalized after a scary health situation forced him into emergency surgery ... and as a result, he'll miss some upcoming dates in his comedy tour.

Sources connected to Chris tell TMZ he recently came down with Streptococcus Pneumoniae, an extreme case of pneumonia, and on Sunday was rushed to the hospital. From there, he needed emergency surgery, but thankfully the operation was successful.

We're told as long as things continue to go well, Chris will be released from the hospital Friday, and can hopefully return to work sometime in the near future.

Unfortunately, Chris had a show lined up for this Friday in Valparaiso, IN ... which we're told will have to be rescheduled, along with some other upcoming tour dates.

As you know, Chris stayed out of the limelight for a while, but is back to doing standup.

Of course, he had an 8-year run on "SNL" where he was featured in some iconic sketches, playing Mango or boppin' his head with Will Ferrell during "A Night at the Roxbury."

BTW -- we got Chris at LAX earlier this year telling us how he was champing at the bit to revive the 1990s cult classic comedy -- he said he'd wanted a "Roxbury" sequel for years, and had ideas about how to bring it into the 21st century.