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Ben and Jerry's drew a line in the sand on the 4th of July -- turning the cold shoulder on blind American patriotism, and demanding the U.S. return stolen land dating back centuries.

The famed ice cream company -- which has gotten increasingly political over the years -- threw up a bold statement Tuesday for the holiday ... which, inevitably, pissed off about half the country, especially considering the occasion.

They took to Twitter, writing, "The United States was founded on stolen indigenous land. This Fourth of July, let’s commit to returning it." Pretty straightforward, but also ... polarizing.

B & J's website echoed a similar sentiment but hit the point home even further -- where they argued that Independence Day celebrations could, perhaps, "distract from an essential truth about this nation’s birth." As far as their game plan, they wanna start with Mt. Rushmore.

Here's what they have to say, "What is the meaning of Independence Day for those whose land this country stole, those who were murdered and forced with brutal violence onto reservations, those who were pushed from their holy places and denied their freedom."

Ben and Jerry's continues ... "The faces on Mount Rushmore are the faces of men who actively worked to destroy Indigenous cultures and ways of life, to deny Indigenous people their basic rights."

As you can imagine, their stance here drew the ire of many on social media ... some of whom accused the brand of being a traitor to the country for pushing out what they consider anti-American views on the biggest national holiday meant to celebrate America.

Taylor Swift fans overseas are crossing their fingers for an email from Ticketmaster, letting them know if one of her concerts will be in their future ... and there's reason to worry after last year's ticket sales fiasco.

Swifties looking to attend one of the singer's shows in places like London, Dublin, and Liverpool are supposed to be getting a drop in their inbox Wednesday, informing them if they'll get a code to buy tickets or be put on a waiting list.

Ticketmaster's made it clear ... seats will be sold on a "first come first serve basis" for those blessed with codes.

Folks with the golden email can only scoop up 4 seats, and they'll get their unique code sent to them the evening before their show's tickets go on sale -- tickets for Dublin go on sale next week and other concerts follow according to date.

As we reported, fans were furious back in November when the public sale for Taylor's US leg of the Eras Tour was canceled, following a mad scramble for tickets, and major scalper interference that inflated prices to as much as $20k a pop. Oh, and the site crashed.

Taylor dragged Ticketmaster after the mess, echoing what a lot of her fans had already complained about. The company was even hit with a lawsuit and had to answer to Congress.

Pinterest is seeing a MASSIVE Barbie boom ahead of the much-anticipated film's release ... a swarm of fans are lookin' to live a life of plastic, just like the iconic doll.

A spokesperson for Pinterest tells TMZ ... people on the site have been hunting for ideas to "Barbify" their lives as the Margot Robbie-led movie premiere gets closer. "Barbiecore" searches have increased by 980%, while "Barbie mood board" is seeing a 1,290% bump.

Pinterest data shows a steep rise from May 2022 to May 2023 -- "Barbie live-action" is now up 1,305%, "Barbie Margot Robbie" is up 1,630%, and "hot pink chrome nails," pulled from Barbie's color palette, is up 1,465%.

Searches for "Dua Lipa Barbie" are 43 times greater than last year, possibly a sign of a future cosplay or Halloween costume craze. "Barbie adult birthday party" is getting looked up 12 times more often than last year.

As you know, the marketing for "Barbie" has been nonstop, and folks have been going nuts for the new flick.

Someone who witnessed LeBron James break the NBA scoring record earlier this year is absolutely thrilled to have kept the ticket ... 'cause TMZ Sports has learned it's now expected to fetch a few THOUSAND dollars at auction next month!!!

The $92 stub that was used by a fan to watch James pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at Crypto.com Arena back on Feb. 7 just hit the block this week ... and Heritage Auctions experts say it could ultimately sell for over $5,000.

The ticket for the historic Lakers vs. Thunder tilt is awesome ... it's from the 2nd row of section 209 -- and it was given a Mint 9 grade by PSA.

As for the potential sale price -- it seems steep, considering nearly 20,000 people were there and the game happened just a few months ago -- but as we previously reported, it's far from the only thing that night that is worth a ton to NBA collectors.

You'll recall ... Chris Ivy, the director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, told us back in February he believes 'Bron's game-worn jersey from the night could land $3 MILLION if it ever made it to the auction block.

An incredibly rare piece of Jimi Hendrix's music history could be yours ... that is if ya have a fortune!

The legendary musician's 1961 Epiphone Wilshire guitar is up for sale through Moments in Time, and the mahogany-bodied instrument has a $1.25 mil price tag attached to it.

The piece holds a lot of significance ... when Jimi was discharged from the army back in 1962; he traded in his Danelectro for the Wilshire -- only paying $65 bucks for it.

Jimi played the Wilshire in his early days with his group, The King Kasuals ... marking it as one of the first guitars in his professional career!

The guitar was last seen on the open market back in 2008, and now Moments in Time is selling it on behalf of a private collector.

Washington, D.C. isn't skimping on this year's annual fireworks extravaganza at the National Mall -- and we've learned America's dropping a nice chunk of change to make it happen!

According to federal records, obtained by TMZ, the big fireworks show put on by the National Park Service will cost taxpayers $269,000 ... with Garden State Fireworks once again getting the honor of lighting up the D.C. sky.

But before ya start waggin' your finger at the 6-figure price tag, this is in the same ballpark as years past -- TMZ broke the story, the price tag was $278,500 back in 2021 for the patriotic bash.

Garden State Fireworks got a big bump -- we paid them $320K when former President Donald Trump wanted to beef up the show.

The chain Nick Smith Jr. rocked to the NBA draft was SERIOUSLY iced out ... TMZ Sports has learned it featured a staggering 40 carats of VS diamonds!!

We're told the former Arkansas Razorbacks point guard hit up Courtney Roy of Clarity Custom Jewelry to get the piece made just before the big event ... and as you can see, the jeweler certainly delivered.

Roy -- who also made pieces for Cassius Stanley and Jacob Evans -- tells us he spent about two weeks carefully crafting the bling ... not only decking it out in the diamonds but adding 14k of white gold to it as well.

The piece features Smith's "NS" initials ... and sits on a Cuban link chain -- and the 19-year-old hooper was clearly happy with the piece.

Smith Jr. wore it on stage with Adam Silver with pride just after the Charlotte Hornets took him with the 27th overall pick.

Vanilla, the chimpanzee, who spent 28 years in an animal testing lab before finally getting a new life, is touching people's hearts, and inspiring them to open their wallets.

Save the Chimps, an animal sanctuary in Florida shared a video on social media showing Vanilla being introduced to other chimps and seeing open skies for the first time in her life ... and it's sparked a huge wave of interest and donations.

A rep for Save the Chimps tells TMZ ... Vanilla's viral moment brought in $48,600 in donations in just 4 days, plus a wave of new social media followers.

For context, Save the Chimps tells us they got $2,700 in donations the week before Vanilla went viral ... so the bump really stands out.

Save the Chimps says part of the $48,600 comes from merch sales, and about $10,000 has been donated from people who are adopting chimpanzees living in their sanctuary, which is one of the largest in the world.

Volunteer numbers are up too, and they're joining some existing celebrity supporters ... like Pink, Paul McCartney, Jane Goodall, Alan Cumming, and Anjelica Huston.

The money's going to be put to good use ... Save the Chimps has 226 chimps, including Vanilla, and because these animals can live well into their 60s, care is not cheap. The sanctuary says donations are part of a $9 million annual budget that pays to maintain a 150-acre property with 12 islands where different groups of chimps live, plus daily meals, veterinary care, and more.

Reality star Lisa Vanderpump's West Hollywood restaurant Pump is closing its doors in 2 days, and LOTS of folks want to bid it farewell!

Lisa's super popular joint is packed to the gills, with people 3 deep at the bar. She wisely used the moment to film a scene with Tom Schwartz for Season 11 of "VPR."

As for why it's closing, as someone once famously said, THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH!

Fear not for Lisa and Ken ... they're opening 2 splashy restaurants soon in Vegas. L&K are true restaurant moguls, with 37 under their belt and counting.

Claudia Jordan says there's plenty of money to go around on "Wheel of Fortune" to pay both incoming host Ryan Seacrest and mainstay Vanna White what they deserve ... and Ryan shouldn't have to give up salary to keep Vanna.

The TV and radio host tells TMZ ... she's not in the camp of people online who are calling for Ryan to take less money so the game show can pay Vanna what she's demanding.

Claudia says it's not like a pro sports team trying to stay under a salary cap ... she says there's tons of advertising money pouring in, and 'Wheel' has plenty in its coffers.

TMZ broke the story ... Vanna is fighting with Sony for a huge raise after only making $3 million a year for the last 18 years ... she wants half of Pat Sajak's current $15 million paycheck, or else.

Claudia's well-versed in the game show biz ... she was on "Deal or No Deal" and she says women like Vanna are just as important to the shows as guys like Pat and Ryan.

Jonathan Bennett is raising a glass to his Palm Springs estate ... he just sold the pad he dubbed Mai Tai Manor for seven figures.

According to property records the "Mean Girls" actor sold the home Tuesday for a cool $1 mil.

The sale price is a little under the listing price ... as we first reported, Jonathan put the home on the market back in March for $1.15 million, but the good news for him ... he bought it in 2020 for $625K. Nice job!

The home screams Palm Springs ... it's a ranch design built in the 1970s, and there's a pool with some colorful lounge chairs in the backyard, which is lined with palm trees and views of the mountains.

The place is 1,296 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms ... and it's where Jonathan and his husband, Jaymes Vaughan, got engaged.

Jonathan put the place up for sale because he and Jaymes were simply becoming too busy to spend enough time there to justify a second home.

Mai Tai Manor is famous in its own right ... the place has been featured in several publications, including "Celebrity Homes Unlocked" on The Design Network, plus MTV ... just to name a couple.

Jaron "Boots" Ennis will be watching the Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence super fight with a VERY close eye this month ... because he tells TMZ Sports he feels he should be the one who gets to take on the winner.

"I believe I'm the best option," the 30-0 Philly fighter said. "I feel like everybody wants to see me versus Spence or me versus Bud. I don't think they want to see nobody else fight them."

Of course, there's a long line of boxers who feel the same way ... but Ennis told us he "definitely" deserves the shot first.

The mega fight is slated to go down on July 29 in Las Vegas ... but even if Boots is in the running to get a taste of either boxer -- Spence and Crawford reportedly have agreed to a rematch clause that could mean they'll be fighting one more time in 2023 before they open things up to challengers.

But, Ennis sure seems willing to wait regardless ... telling us an eventual fight with the victor is his goal.

Charles Barkley is doing his part in end-running the United States Supreme Court's decision outlawing affirmative action in college admissions ... he's amending his will to provide scholarships for Black students.

Barkley says he'll leave $5 million to his alma mater, Auburn, adding, “That’s just my way of trying to make sure Auburn stays diverse. After that ruling yesterday, my phone was blowing up. I was talking to my friends and said, ‘I need to make sure Black folks always have a place at Auburn.’”

Black students comprise just over 5% of Auburn's student body.

As you know, SCOTUS gutted affirmative action Thursday, ruling that using race as a factor in deciding who gets into a school violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The way the ruling is written ... it could have far-reaching implications, including in the area of employment.

Jay Bloom and his son, Sean, dodged death by skipping a ride on the doomed Titan submersible at the last minute -- and, now they're explaining why ... red flags galore.

The multimillionaire Vegas tycoon -- who recently disclosed he and his boy were on the verge of being passengers themselves -- were out in Bev Hills and he further explained what he and Sean saw that gave them major pause.

It sounds like it was the younger Bloom in this instance that might've saved his old man -- based on what he describes here ... common sense and good judgment kicked in.

Take a listen for yourself ... Sean says there were a few things that stood out to him when he did his research -- including the fact that OceanGate's CEO, Stockton Rush, was literally piloting this thing with nothing more than a Logitech video game controller.

That spelled trouble to Sean ... as did the actual construction/makeup of the vessel itself, which Sean wisely surmised would not be able to withstand the ocean's immense pressure at those far-down depths. While Titan had completed successful voyages up until that point, something in Sean's gut told him to steer clear ... and they obviously chose correctly.

As we all know  ... the five people aboard, including Rush, perished after the sub imploded. Their spots were given to another father-son duo (Shahzada and Suleman Dawood) which is something that, as Jay and Sean explain, lingers. As they say, it could've been them.

Jay believes that Stockton's decision-making did not come from a bad place... but he was just so passionate about his project that it clouded his judgment.

Now, here's the kicker ... Jay and Sean say their prospective Titanic exploration days are NOT behind them, despite everything that's unfolded. In fact, they're down to go down there ... but with the right person.

Harrison Ford's final rodeo as Indy doesn't seem to be drumming up much interest -- the box office numbers, so far, are looking bad ... and it might be Disney's own doing.

Disney's latest, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," raked in a measly $24 mil Friday -- and that means the film is on track for just $60-$65 million through Sunday (and about $80 mil or so through Tuesday) ... which, by most accounts, is not a very good start at all.

These tepid projections haven't wavered much since a couple months ago -- when the movie premiered at Cannes -- and that's a bad sign ... at least from the outside looking in.

'Dial of Destiny' reportedly had a budget of upwards of $300 million (not including promo/marketing) -- so it would have to have long legs at the theaters for Disney and co. to make their money back, let alone turn a profit on it. For now, it doesn't seem like that'll happen ... especially with a few huge blockbusters on the way for the month of July.

Tom Cruise's newest 'Mission: Impossible' is hitting the big screen soon, as is "Barbie" and Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" -- all of which are expected to do fairly decently.

As for why Harrison's flick appears to be primed to be a dud ... there are a lot of theories. Some say there's 'Indiana Jones' fatigue in 2023 (HF is reprising the role in his 80s), others say this movie caters to an older audience (who might be harder to get to a theater).

One interesting take has to do with the fact that Disney started letting the film -- which has gotten middling to bad reviews -- be screened pretty damn early ... and that, perhaps, bad word of mouth has caught up to it now. There's also the fact that Spielberg isn't directing this one ... although he did sign off and gave his blessing to the script/the new director.

Whatever the case, folks aren't itching to see an older (and, at times, a digitally de-aged) Dr. Jones take on Nazis anymore. The appetite for that adventure was left in the 20th century.

Pete Davidson and Colin Jost seemingly bought a ferry together as a joke -- but, now one of those new owners says turning a profit on the damn thing is of the utmost importance.

The 'SNL' alum dished about the $280k Staten Island boat buy with Seth Meyers on a recent podcast episode -- in which he goes into detail about what led up to him partnering with Colin on this in the first place ... and where things stand now more than a year after.

Take a listen for yourself ... Pete acknowledges what he's said about going in on this ferry in the first place -- namely, that he and CJ were both stoned out of their minds when they decided to do it.

Before long, the purchase became reality ... and Pete says Colin called him up one day to talk business -- and to collect on his end of the bargain. PD says he was sent a link to wire over a deposit ... and suddenly, he was straddled with a massive ferry with no real plan.

Not to worry, though ... Pete and Colin have apparently devised a business model for their ferry that they're hoping to manifest -- including turning it into a one-stop shop entertainment hub ... complete with a concert venue, a movie theater, a restaurant and hotel rooms too.

Pete even says he and Colin have commissioned computer-generated mockups of all this ... and says it's well underway, although it's still years in the making. Like, 5 years specifically.

When Seth Meyers marvels at how well thought out their ferry future is, Pete quips -- "Yeah, we have to cause we’re in the hole." To what extent, exactly, is unclear ... but it seems Pete and co. certainly wanna get a return on investment -- because as he says, "Now I'm like stuck with a f****ing boat."