Interview

D.L. Hughley is going scorched earth on George Clooney for calling on President Biden to drop out of the presidential race ... and he says Democrats are missing the big picture.

The comedian joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and ripped into George and his fellow Dems for asking for Biden to make way for a different candidate to run against Donald Trump.

D.L. says the whole tone of George's NYT op-ed letter calling on Biden to step down is "insulting" ... and he finds it alarming Clooney never mentioned Project 2025, a series of proposals D.L. warns will do serious damage to Americans, especially minorities.

Shawn Porter had the best seat in the house for Nate Diaz's scrap with Jorge Masvidal on Saturday, with the former boxing champ saying the Stockton star trained hard for the fight, as opposed to when he lost to Jake Paul a few months back!

"[Diaz was] the same fighter, but more prepared. The same fighter, but really ready to fight," Porter, who called the fight for Fanmio, told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1).

Shawn continued ... "They said Nate didn't really train for the fight with Jake Paul. He didn't take it as serious as he should have. And it showed."

LeBron James says his son's mind is already NBA-ready ... revealing this week Bronny James does not care one bit about the opinions of his haters.

In fact, the Lakers superstar said in a sit-down interview with ESPN this weekend his teenage boy "doesn't give a f***" about any of the outside noise.

"He doesn't," LBJ said. "Bronny plays. He works his tail off. When he goes home, he plays video games."

President Biden's debate gaffes are ticking off some folks who work in the White House, because they've reportedly been kept away from him ... and now it's causing a divide among staffers.

Alex Thompson, the national political correspondent for Axios, joined us Monday on "TMZ Live," and broke down the disconnect happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Alex says lots of people who work with Biden are only given access to him between 10 AM and 4 PM when POTUS is at his sharpest, and that's why they were so shocked to see his slip-ups at Thursday's debate, which started at 9 PM ET -- a time when Alex says Biden is more prone to make mental mistakes.

Haliey Welch, who is best known as the viral "Hawk Tuah" girl, is breaking her silence since skyrocketing to fame ... addressing for the 1st time all the rumors about her personal life.

The viral sensation stopped by Brianna LaPaglia's 'Plan Bri' podcast on Monday, in which she reacted to her newfound fame and set the record straight on some lies circulating the Internet.

Check it out ... Haliey said most of the stories that have surfaced about her are not true. For instance, she was never a school teacher ... and so she was NOT fired from her job over the viral moment.

Eddie Murphy's calling out a fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum ... reflecting on how angry David Spade's joke about his career made him -- and, saying he thinks there was racist intent.

The comedy legend sat down for a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times, published Saturday, and he mentioned a joke Spade made on a "Weekend Update" segment from December 1995.

If you haven't seen the clip ... a picture of Murphy pops up on screen and Spade jokes he's spotted a "falling star" -- this came months after Eddie's movie "Vampire in Brooklyn" bombed at the box office.

"I'm gonna f****** knock his teeth in!"

Uhhhh ... that's "Platinum" Mike Perry promising to go all dental on Jake Paul, telling us he's gonna beat The Problem Child's ass!

32-year-old Perry joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... and two things are clear ahead of his July 20 boxing match with 27-year-old Paul -- he's fired up, and there's a beef between 'em. A lot of it.

The "Hawk Tuah" Girl's spit take is spinning pure gold -- the hat company she partnered with is raking in tens of thousands of dollars selling a ton of apparel featuring her (in)famous phrase!

Haliey Welch -- who's NSFW street interview catapulted her into the internet stratosphere -- partnered with Fathead Threads in the aftermath of going viral, and they've plastered her lubricated phrase on everything.

Now, the company's owner Jason Poteete told Rolling Stone they've sold approximately 2,000 hats so far -- the cheapest of which is retailing at $32.78. They've already sold out of a signed version they were selling for $50.

The Lakers job might be JJ Redick's first foray into coaching, but Chris Duhon says he's almost positive his former teammate is getting a big assist on how to navigate the new gig from none other than Mike Krzyzewski.

Duhon -- who played with Redick at Duke and then again with the Orlando Magic in the NBA -- tells TMZ Sports ... he thinks it's more than likely Redick hit up Coach K for advice on what his first moves in L.A. should be.

"I'm pretty sure he may be getting some type of guidance from Coach K," Duhon said. "Who's saying, 'Hey, make sure your staff is X, Y and Z as far as that fits your personality.'"

Bret "Epic" Mazur -- who formed Crazy Town with Shifty Shellshock -- talked to his late ex-bandmate a few months before he died ... and says SS seemed upbeat about the future.

We caught up with Epic Tuesday in the studio -- and he tells TMZ ... Shifty was actually stoked about making new music when they last spoke over the phone, and there was no indication Shifty was in a bad space, or going through something out of the ordinary.

TMZ broke the story ... cops are looking into Shifty's sudden death Monday as a possible fatal overdose. But based on what his former bandmate's saying here ... Seth was far from that reality.

Kevin Costner bowed out of "Yellowstone" to avoid the drama-filled rodeo ... and that's not a reference to the script.

The actor talks about how his return for S5's second installment was so intense, he found his decision to throw in the towel came pretty easily. As he explained to THR, "It was a necessary decision to say, 'Hey, OK, I don't want to really talk about this anymore. It's time to move on.'"

KC also said ... "I gave this thing five seasons. I was really happy to do it. And I don't need drama. So, let's just take that drama away, let's take the guessing [away]."

Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" video went down in Compton over the weekend without a stitch of negativity ... and Jason Martin was there and witnessed all the love and harmony.

The "Like Whaaat" rapper joined TMZ Live on Monday to run back the whirlwind of events that culminated this past week for rap's biggest moments of the year ... which capped off with a music video shoot for K.Dot's West Coast anthem.

JM was a featured performer at Kendrick's Pop-Out concert last week ... and he and Kendrick grew up in the area where "Not Like Us" was filmed -- so, based on his experience, it was as safe as could be ... even for those who weren't from the neighborhood.

Duff McKagan's responding to "The Simpsons" name controversy ... saying he really doesn't care even if they did use his name -- but, he still thinks the connection's obvious.

We caught up with Guns N' Roses rocker in L.A. Friday and asked him about OG 'Simpsons' writer-producer Jay Kogen telling us the show's premier beer -- Duff -- isn't named for him ... instead, it's named after dude's who just sit on their butts and drink beer all day long.

DM tells us he thinks it's super funny the show's creators are all in a tizzy over his claims ... adding they're all protesting jway too much.

It took Al Horford 17 years to win his first NBA title ... but he's hoping he can double his ring collection next season -- telling TMZ Sports he's 100% NOT retiring and is returning to the Boston Celtics.

We spoke with the longtime vet fresh off his team's championship win over the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals ... and while many might assume he'd consider ending his career on the highest of notes, the 38-year-old told us that's absolutely not the case.

"There's no question about it," Horford said while working a shift at Raising Cane's in Boston. "I don't know why those speculations were out there, that I was, like, retiring. But I'm still playing and I'm very excited for next season."

Celine Dion says her kids are afraid she'll die as she battles Stiff-Person Syndrome ... and they have a very good reason.

In a preview for the singer's new interview with Australia's "Sunrise," Celine discussed her journey with the rare neurological disorder -- which causes painful spasms and muscle issues -- and she confessed it's taken a major toll on her 3 children.

Although Celine had been private about her health struggles until announcing her diagnosis in 2022 ... she now says her kids with late husband René Angélil have had a front-row seat to her illness ... and it's left them terrified.

Don't expect to see Darren Waller on an NFL field ever again ... the former Giants star tells TMZ Sports he's thrilled with his decision to retire -- and is adamant he'll feel that way going forward.

The ex-tight end officially called it a career on Sunday ... but at 31 years old and still productive when healthy, many of his fans wondered if he really meant it.

But, when we spoke with him a couple days after he made the choice to hang up his spikes, he made it clear, he's done done.