Movies

George Clooney and Amal just made the United Nations gala in New York one helluva lot sexier, and George's dashing date is definitely making his parents proud.

We don't see George and Amal out too often, and she's looking totally stunning in this blue and white dress. If you ask us, she could probably bring about world peace with one hair flip.

George is looking handsome as hell too ... and his mother, Nina Bruce Warren, looks like she's having a grand ole time. But, how could you not? Nina's rolling up with her dapper movie star son and his smoking hot wife.

And, don't forget about Nick Clooney, the cute old man in the tux helping Amal make her grand entrance. Way to go, mom and dad, we can totally see where George gets his good looks.

The Clooneys dressed to the nines for Wednesday's U.N. Correspondents Association Awards at Cipriani. Amal is a civil rights lawyer, activist and humanitarian, but if there's an award for best dressed tonight, she's a lock.

Harvey Weinstein apparently doesn't need a publicist anymore ... he's handling it on his own and reaching out to the media in an effort to clear his name ... TMZ has learned.

Sources tell us the disgraced studio mogul fired off several emails Tuesday to his people in the media he once worked with, back when he was a Hollywood mogul.

He did not send one to TMZ, but we've obtained a copy from a source. The reason for the emails is pretty clear -- Weinstein feels his side of the NYC rape case isn't getting enough attention.

As you can see ... Weinstein's railing against cops and claims their misconduct has tainted the entire criminal case against him.

2:15 PM PT -- Natalie's responded to Jessica directly, saying ... "I completely agree with you that a woman should be allowed to dress however she likes and behave however she likes and not be judged. I only meant to say I was confused - as a girl coming of age in the public eye around the same time - by the media's mixed messages about how girls and women are supposed to behave."

She adds ... "I didn't mean to shame you and I'm sorry for any hurt my words may have caused. I have nothing but respect for your talent and your voice that you use to encourage and empower women all over the globe."

Jessica Simpson is firing back at Natalie Portman for saying she got mixed messages from one of Jessica's famous magazine covers way back in the day.

Jessica called out Natalie Wednesday, saying she's "disappointed" Natalie is slut shaming her for posing in a bikini, while also boasting about being a virgin.

In a recent interview, Natalie told USA Today, "I remember being a teenager, and there was Jessica Simpson on the cover of a magazine saying ‘I’m a virgin’ while wearing a bikini, and I was confused. Like, I don’t know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl."

Natalie, who plays a pop star in her new movie, "Vox Lux," was talking about real-life pop stars and the virgin/vixen paradigms pushed by the music industry in the late 1990s.

Jessica thinks Natalie should know better ... telling her, "As public figures, we both know our image is not totally in our control at all times, and that the industry we work in often tries to define us and box us in."

Jessica further scolds Natalie by writing, "being sexy in a bikini and being proud of my body are not synonymous with having sex.”

The pop star's social media rant included some shade for Natalie -- “I have made it my practice to not shame other women for their choices. I encourage you to do the same."

Just 2 days into marriage and Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas are already handling their union with tons of care ... and armed security.

The Missus and her Mr. couldn't stop smiling Sunday after they'd tied the knot, twice. They stopped for cameras as they were leaving Jodhpur, where they held 2 elaborate wedding ceremonies and receptions over the weekend. Take note of all the security around them, including the dude with the giant automatic weapon. Priyanka's a BIG deal in India.

As we reported, their multi-day party included a traditional Christian wedding ceremony, a couple of traditional Indian receptions -- Mehendi and Sangeet -- and fireworks over the Jodhpur Palace.

Gotta give it up to Nick ... he and his fam fully embraced Pri's culture -- see the song and dance both families put on over the weekend. As the bride put it, "One of the most special things our relationship has given us is a merging of families who love and respect each other’s faiths and cultures."

11:53 AM PT -- Ken's ex-wife, Jackie, tells us he had been battling heart issues for several months, and had stint surgery in October. But she adds, his heart illness continued to worsen in recent weeks, and he'd been in and out of the hospital.

Jackie says their daughter, Jennifer, Ken's partner Susie and herself were all by his side until the end. She adds, Susie had been with Ken for 26 years and encouraged him through his ailment.

Ken's final wishes, we're told, were for people to donate to the Motion Picture Fund -- a retirement community for actors -- in his honor. He had planned to retire there.

Ken Berry, who starred in several classic TV series, including "F Troop" and "Mayberry, R.F.D.," died on Saturday ... according to his ex-wife.

Actress Jackie Joseph-Lawrence announced Ken's passing with a Facebook post Saturday evening.

Ken played Sam Jones -- first on "The Andy Griffith Show" and also on the spin-off, 'Mayberry,' -- but might be most beloved for playing Capt. Parmenter on the Western sitcom "F Troop" from 1965 to 1967.

His costar Larry Storch reacted to the news, saying, "We hope you know how much you were loved. Goodnight Captain."

Ken landed on yet another cult classic TV sitcom in the 80s when he played Vinton Harper, opposite his good friend Vicki Lawrence on "Mama's Family."

He also had memorable guest-starring roles on several TV series like "Small Wonder," "Fantasy Island," "CHiPs," "Little House on the Prairie" and "The Golden Girls."

No cause of death has been released yet.

Ken was 85.

RIP

An OG castmember of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is firing back at critics who call the holiday classic "problematic" for the modern world.

Corinne Conley, who voiced the dolly for Sue in the 1964 TV special, tells TMZ she can't believe the outcry of criticism after more than 50 years of it being a beloved tradition for kids and their parents.

Critics came for 'Rudolph' this year, calling it out for sexism and bullying -- like the scene where Rudolph is forced to cover his red nose just to avoid all of the other reindeer laughing and calling him names.

Corinne, however, insists that any bullying or negative plot points are happily resolved by the end of the show. In fact, she contends if someone was a bully before watching, they'd learn a valuable lesson by the time the credits roll.

Bottom line for Corinne ... Rudolph should go down in history, and not just for pulling Santa's sleigh.

Katie Holmes enjoyed the hell outta mommy duty while on the job -- think, bring your daughter to work day ... but without Suri.

Katie was all smiles Friday with her on-set "daughter" in Louisiana while filming her new movie, "The Secret." She and costar Josh Lucas play a happy family of 3 and you can see Katie way into it. Hard to tell with the toddler.

Y'know what they say about working with kids.

Of course, this was probably like riding a bike for Katie ... who, of course, had plenty of practice scooping up Suri. BTW, she's 12 now!

Those sweaty gym sessions with her bae, Jamie Foxx, are really paying off based on how easily she lifted the kid during this scene shot in a park playground. Or maybe her co-star's just super light.

Jonathan Bennett says when he got the offer to appear in Ariana Grande's latest music video he couldn't say yes fast enough, and there was nearly another "Mean Girls" cameo ... but it didn't work out.

Jonathan -- who plays Aaron Samuels in the 2004 film which Grande pays homage to in her new "Thank U, Next" vid -- says working with Ariana was so much fun ... a joy actor Daniel Franzese will never know.

Bennett tells us Daniel -- who plays Damian, Lindsay Lohan's friend in the movie -- had to pass on the offer because he's currently on a comedy tour. Tough break!

Jonathan did get to hang with the "army pants and flip-flops" girl though ... better known as Stefanie Drummond. She got the call for Ariana's vid too.

BTW ... Bennett got to include his new "Mean Girls" parody cookbook in the music video, titled "The Burn Cookbook". Get it while it's hot, diehard fans.

Sean Penn busted out his sense of humor all over his pal Bradley Cooper ... just in time for Bradley's huge Hollywood achievement.

BC was honored with the American Cinematheque Award Thursday night at The Beverly Hilton. The star-studded dinner featured plenty of tributes from his fellow actors and collaborators, but Sean's stood out because it included a pretty funny stroll down memory lane.

Sean started off his toast by telling the crowd something felt strangely familiar about this scenario ... which led perfectly into a viral clip of Cooper -- from almost 20 years ago -- as an aspiring actor asking Penn a question on "Inside the Actors Studio."

To be fair, the clip Sean showed was slightly doctored -- in the original, he answers Cooper's question about "Hurlyburly" right away ... but still pretty hilarious.

Sean did praise Bradley and labeled him one "handsome motherf**ker."

Ariana Grande's highly-anticipated "Thank U, Next" music video has finally dropped ... and it includes an apology to her ex-fiance Pete Davidson.

During the "Mean Girls" portion of the video ... Ariana's "Burn Book" includes a page for Pete with the words "Sry I Dipped," "Love U Always" and "HUUUUUUGE."

Kris Jenner also made an appearance in the "Mean Girls" part of the vid ... playing Amy Poehler's "cool mom" character. As we first reported ... a Kardashian was gonna make a dancing cameo appearance. We didn't know who at first but later learned it was Kris, and the music video confirms it.

As you know ... the music video featured scenes from 4 female-driven films that have special meaning to Ariana -- "13 Going on 30," "Mean Girls," "Legally Blonde" and "Bring it On."

Tons of celebrities made cameos to help AG pull it all off ... including Jennifer Coolidge, Jonathan Bennett and Troye Sivan.

There's even a nod to Pete Davidson's nether regions ... Ariana has some dialogue with Coolidge where she mentions a boy with a "BIG" one ... she's dropped hints on Pete's genital size before.

Ariana's been teasing the video for some time now ... even releasing a behind-the-scenes teaser of the making of the music video. Fans and celebs alike were fired up for the video ... including Bella and Gigi Hadid.

Tyra Banks gave herself a new rap name and, in the process, might have inadvertently taken sides in the raging war between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj.

We got Tyra out Thursday in NYC where our photog told her that her getting in the rap game with her new "Be A Star" remix could help bring a solution to the Cardi-Nicki beef. If you've been living under a rock ... Cardi and Nicki have been at each other's throats and there's zero sign it's dialing down.

That's when Tyra straight-up declares herself Tyra B. It was probably made in jest ... but check out the video. Tyra starts dropping bars and we can't help but notice her rap game sounds very Cardi-esque.

Hayden Panettiere came oh so close to getting hitched a second time ... at least, that's the way her new boyfriend made it appear to some unsuspecting bar bystanders.

We obtained this video of Hayden's bf, Brian Hickerson, getting down on one knee ... and it's hilarious.

Brian and HP were hanging at Rock & Reilly's on the Sunset Strip recently when, according to witnesses, he shouted, "Everyone shut the F up! I'm about to propose to my girlfriend."

Sure enough, he assumed the position, and we're told everyone thought they were about to see one of those classic rom-com moments. Then it got weird. Check out the video ... Brian definitely proposed. Just to the wrong person. Hey, at least it was an actress, and Hayden cracked up.

Sources close to the couple tell us Hayden bet Brian he couldn't make her laugh in 10 seconds. Brian even produced a ring -- a paper one, but still. And yes, he won the bet.

When we last saw Brian out with Hayden -- "saving" her from swarming paparazzi -- he mocked the paps and kidded he was her "gay pool boy."

When Ariana Grande recruited a Kardashian to guest star in her highly anticipated "Thank U, Next" music video, she went straight to the top ... of the family tree.

Yes, TMZ has learned Kris Jenner is the mystery Kardashian who scored the cameo role. Take that, Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kylie, Kendall ... and Rob.

As we first reported ... Ariana's music vid -- which is an homage to several famous chick flicks -- drops on Friday, and the big question was which Kardashian she'd lined up to make their dancing debut.

Ariana posted a behind-the-scenes teaser of the making of the music vid -- check it out for some of the other celeb cameos.

We admit it, the odds-on fave had to be one of the sisters who frequently flaunt what they've got. Just remember, they all got it from their mama, which could explain why Kris landed the gig.

"Thank U, Next" has a ton of guests helping AG set up flicks like "13 Going on 30," "Mean Girls," "Legally Blonde" and "Bring it On."

We don't know exactly which movie Kris is getting dropped into ... but our best guess is Amy Poehler's "Cool Mom" from "Mean Girls."

LeBron James has ANOTHER movie in the works -- but this one is based on his own life!

The NBA superstar -- along with his producing partner Maverick Carter and SpringHill Entertainment -- are moving forward with a flick based on the book, "Shooting Stars" ... about Bron's youth basketball team.

LeBron co-authored the book with famed writer Buzz Bissinger -- the guy who wrote "Friday Night Lights."

The story is a real-life tale about how LeBron and his childhood friends beat the odds to win a championship and form lifelong bonds.

The movie will be directed by Chris Robinson (according to Variety) -- the super famous music video director who did "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" with Jay-Z and Beyonce.

He also directed the FOX series, "Star."

Harvey Weinstein and his defense are trying to turn the tide in his ongoing sex crime case by pointing to a new female witness -- who was a close friend of one of Weinstein's alleged victims -- and use her to paint a picture of a consensual relationship between Weinstein and his accuser.

In new docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the witness claims the alleged victim was "hooking up" with Weinstein for "a very long time" and she never heard the alleged victim say anything bad about Weinstein ... speaking very highly of him. The witness says she personally saw Weinstein and the accuser hanging out socially ... including at events after the alleged rape.

According to the docs, the former friend of the alleged victim says she never heard the woman say anything bad about Weinstein ... but she admits she had a falling out with her friend a few years back after a disagreement.

However, Weinstein claims the witness said that changed last year, when she heard from the alleged victim who told her Weinstein had assaulted her in New York a few years back, and she wanted the witness to give credibility to her claim.

Weinstein's attorney, Ben Brafman, says the witness told detectives she'd been approached by the alleged victim but refused to make up a story to support her friend's allegations.