Movies

D.L. Hughley's got some strong words for Kanye West, and believes the only thing preventing Kanye from being in a conservatorship is his gender.

D.L. told his truth at LAX Monday, he thinks Kanye's gone off the rails, and believes his actions alone should be enough reason to put him in a conservatorship. The actor points out Britney Spears and Wendy Williams, saying if a woman was making the same claims as Kanye, she'd be put under court-ordered protection.

D.L. says he doesn't understand why Ye would compare himself to George Floyd or Emmett Till -- both things KW posted about over the weekend on Instagram, before getting silenced on the platform once again.

Kanye took to Parler, claiming he got a 30-day ban from IG after posting a text exchange between him and Russell Simmons ... one where he said he wants to "get the Jewish business people to make the contracts fair, or die trying."

FYI -- a spokesperson for Meta tells us they deleted content from Ye's account for violating their policies and put a restriction on his account. Restrictions can be placed when users repeatedly break the rules on the platform ... which can include an inability to post, comment and even send DMs.

Diddy's ultimate transformation into Heath Ledger's Joker this Halloween was so well done, his antics almost baited an actor into fighting him on the street!!!

The Bad Boy Records mogul was making his rounds in Los Angeles over the weekend ... when he almost came to blows with actor Michael J. Ferguson, who plays "2Bit" in 50 Cent's "Power" series.

You can see things get tense between the two, though it's unclear what the problem is. Michael is surrounded by plenty of Diddy's entourage, some of who are wearing the same clown masks as Joker's henchman from "The Dark Knight" ... but Michael doesn't back down.

Diddy cackles like a madman and it appears Michael doesn't recognize him, but challenges him to step. Finally, Diddy breaks character ... revealing his real voice ... causing Michael to laugh and the two men to embrace as cooler heads prevail.

Diddy invited Michael to cool off further at his after-party ... as he's all about spreading "love" these days ... much like his interaction with Tyler, The Creator earlier in the evening.

Tyler called Diddy's performance "next-level" ... mirroring reactions from the likes of Tamar Braxton, who 👑 him king of Halloween, to his own son Quincy, who couldn't believe the entire fight almost happened!!!

Zac Efron is blowing people away with his transformation in the upcoming film, "The Iron Claw" ... and he's got a seal of approval from a very important person -- Kevin Von Erich, the wrestling legend Zac's portraying.

Kevin tells TMZ ... not only does Zac's depiction get a big thumbs up ... it sounds like his daughters are on board with the casting choice, too.

As for Zac's physique, Kevin says that's no easy task to pull off -- telling us it was pretty time-consuming to stay in shape like that back in his prime ... giving props to the actor for lookin' that good.

FYI -- the upcoming film is all about the Von Erich legacy ... showcasing the family of wrestlers breaking into the game, starting way back in the '60s. Alongside Zac, Jeremy Allen White will be playing Kevin's brother, Kerry.

Kevin has had little to no involvement with the film, aside from talking to the director, Sean Durkin, a few times. He hasn't spoken to Zac about the role.

Canadian actress Aryana Engineer was just 8 years old when she was cast as Max Coleman -- the little girl who is hard of hearing and uses sign language to save herself from being killed -- in the horror film "The Orphan" back in 2009.

Aryana shared the big screen with Isabelle Fuhrman as the supposed gentle and sweet orphan who turns out to be extremely violent, Esther, and Vera Farmiga as the mother who resorts to drinking after losing one of her children, Kate Coleman ... and Peter Sarsgaard as the father and husband of Kate, John Coleman.

Leslie Jordan will be gracing the silver screen one last time ... because the last film he ever starred in is on its way to being completed.

Writer and director Tracy Pellegrino tells TMZ ... "Strangers in a Strange Land," Leslie's last listed film credit in post-production, is a small independent film made up of several shorts that focuses on foreigners around the world getting into hilarious situations due to their confusion and language barriers -- and it's the L.A. portion of the film where Leslie shines.

Leslie plays a southerner in Los Angeles who tries to help give directions to a Russian man at a bus stop ... someone he finds VERY attractive.

The humor is right up Leslie's alley, and that tracks -- we're told Tracy and her husband, Mark, wrote the part with him in mind ... totally unaware if Leslie would even sign on for the project. Tracy knew Leslie for more than 20 years.

Tracy says the movie was filmed over a long period of time -- it was shot in Paris, Cannes, Rome, Düsseldorf, London, Brooklyn and L.A. She says Leslie's part was shot around 2017. There is no release date yet for the film.

"Halloween" star Omar Dorsey isn't just dealing with spooky stuff when he's at work ... he says he's actually talked to ghosts during what sounds like a very freaky encounter.

We got Omar Thursday at LAX and he shared his crazy ghost experience, which he says went down while he was in New Orleans filming "Queen Sugar."

He says he was staying in a place called The Cotton Mill, and he could "feel spirits" hanging around him, every night.

He says it got to the point he felt the need to have a serious convo with them. Basically, he wanted to make sure he was in good graces with the ghosts during the 4 months he was staying there.

Omar's fully aware his ghost tale might sound kinda crazy to a lot of folks, but that's not changing his memory, and he insists it happened. He added, he's never been one of those people looking for this kinda thing ... he says given his Christian background, he's actually afraid of supernatural stuff.

Joyner Lucas creates some of the most cinematic visuals in hip hop music and he's taking his talents to the big screen for his first feature film ... alongside none other than Mark Wahlberg.

Sources close to production tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Mark personally handpicked Joyner for the cast of the film, which we've learned will be shooting for the next 6 months and is expected to be released in late 2023 or early 2024.

We're told Mark and Joyner sparked a fast friendship after the actor appeared in Joyner's "Zim Zimma" video back in 2021. They both hail from New England and have an affinity for good vibrational rap, so the pairing makes sense.

Mark praised Joyner's acting chops on Friday, suggesting his "skills" will help make the film a success.

Will Smith was in a dark place after he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, but he had a champion in his corner -- the actor says Floyd Mayweather called him every day for 10-straight days after the incident, just to make sure he was doing okay.

Smith made the revelation during a private screening of his new "Emancipation" movie at The London hotel ... and with Floyd in attendance, he took a moment to praise TBE for being there for him, even though they weren't exactly best buds at the time.

"I want to say something also about Floyd," Smith said in video obtained by TMZ Sports. "So, we've met each other, we've seen each other around, but we weren't like, friends."

"And, the day after the Oscars, for 10 days he called me every day," Smith added. "And, he was like, 'Ay, you know you the champ, right? You good? You know you the champ, right? I want you to hear my voice say it,'"

"That was every day he called me ... and it's like, that's my dude forever right there."

Smith has rarely spoken about the slapping incident -- he only released an apology video back in July -- so to hear him go into detail about the days following the incident is incredibly rare.

As for the film, Mayweather loved it.

“Emancipation captures an important time in history. The movie has me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire film,” Floyd tells us.

Producer Deon Taylor, Floyd's partner on his upcoming docuseries, "The GOAT," also spoke at the screening. Jona Rechnitz and James McNair, part of the production team, were also in the house for the viewing.

Rihanna is officially back in the music scene ... releasing 'Lift Me Up' for the latest 'Black Panther' movie -- her first solo drop in about 6 years.

While it's not a dance track like many fans had expected, RiRi harmonizes over a slow beat ... before singing "Lift me up, hold me down, keep me close, safe and sound” in the chorus.

As we've told you, the tune will be featured in the upcoming Marvel sequel "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever". What's more, it was written as a tribute to late 'Black Panther' star Chadwick Boseman, who died back in 2020.

Rihanna, Afrobeats star Tems, Oscar-Grammy Award-winning producer Ludwig Göransson, and 'BP' director Ryan Coogler all came together to write the song.

The last time RiRi released music on her own was the "Anti" album, which came out back in 2016.

The singer has had a lot on her plate during her time away from music, like her fashion line, Savage X Fenty, which launched in 2018 and her beauty line Fenty Beauty which debuted the year before.

Of course, she recently entered the mommy club, after welcoming a baby boy with her boyfriend A$AP Rocky.

Move over Johnny Depp ... Marshawn Lynch is now officially America's most favorite pirate -- 'cause he dressed up as "Captain Black Sparrow" this week, and it was hilarious!!!

The former NFL star got in his "Pirates of the Caribbean" role for a special segment prior to "Thursday Night Football" on Thursday -- after meeting up with Tampa Bay Buccaneers' mascot Captain Fear at Raymond James Stadium.

Lynch donned a Depp-like 'fit, and proclaimed, "I'm Captain Black Sparrow in this motherf*****, man!"

FYI, his locker was labeled as "Captain Beastmode" ... but seems Lynch called an audible on that one midway through the segment.

Lynch and the mascot headed to the Bucs' 100-foot-long pirate ship at the stadium -- just before Tampa took on the Ravens -- and, let's just say Lynch enjoyed climbing up to the boat with his big boots on.

"Watch how I hit these motherf***ing high steps with these thangs!" he yelled. "I bet you this thang ride like a Caddy."

Lynch also shot off the famous cannons from the ship.

"I thought I done lost, bust my wig, boy!" Lynch said. "I done lost my eye patch!"

This isn't the first time Lynch has garnered laughs on "TNF" ... just last week, he turned into "The Alligator Man" in New Orleans when the Saints played the Cardinals.

The 5-time Pro Bowler joined Amazon Prime's "Thursday Night Football" team earlier this year ... and part of his job is to do funny "N' Yo City" skits.

Actor Alan Ruck has a loooong list of credits to his name over decades of work ... but he knows EXACTLY which one of his roles tops the rest -- at least in his eyes.

We got Alan at LAX Thursday ... and hit him with a somewhat morbid question -- regarding his hypothetical death in the future, and what project he'd be most proud of leaving behind.

Check out the clip -- it's a tough Q for Alan, but he finds his answer in HBO's "Succession" ... calling it the best thing he's ever done. It's a crushing blow to die-hard 'Ferris Bueller' fans, but you heard the man!

Fans of the show know Alan plays Connor Roy in the hit series ... one of Logan's sons who's less into the politics of his dad's company and more into the ranch life.

FYI -- HBO dropped its teaser for season 4 earlier this week ... and fans are hangin' on the edge of their seats, waiting to find out what's coming.

Alec Baldwin is one step closer to finding out if he will be criminally charged for the fatal shooting on his "Rust" movie set ... because cops have finally turned over the investigative findings to the District Attorney.

Prosecutors in New Mexico tell TMZ ... the Santa Fe County Sheriff gave its investigative report on the shooting incident to the D.A.'s office Thursday, who will now begin a "thorough review" of the evidence before deciding on whether or not to bring criminal charges.

It will be interesting to see if D.A. Mary Carmack-Altwies charges Alec -- and potentially others -- with a crime.

The D.A. may have already shown her hand, as we reported, she recently asked New Mexico for help in financing several potential prosecutions and named Alec as a possible defendant.

Heather Brewster, a spokesperson for the D.A., tells TMZ ... now that Carmack-Altwies has the evidence, her focus "will be on upholding the integrity of the process, enforcing the laws of the state of New Mexico, and pursuing justice."

It's been over a year since Halyna Hutchins died in the fatal shooting on the Santa Fe movie set ... and Alec's maintained her death was an accident and not his fault.

Kamaru Usman -- in Los Angeles for the Hollywood premiere of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" -- stopped by the TMZ offices and talked about being part of a major blockbuster action film ... even showing BTS photos from the set.

"To be honest, it's something I kind of spoke into existence," 35-year-old Usman said when he sat down with Babcock for the "TMZ Sports" TV show. "After seeing the first one, I was such a big fan. I was like, man why wouldn't I be in the second one? They're fighting, they're Africans, they look the part, they're physical, like, I should definitely be in it."

When he did land the role, the job was different than Kamaru thought ... turns out acting isn't easy!

"It was definitely not what I expected. Let me just say, it's much harder than I thought. Extremely harder than I thought."

Usman says the gravity of being in Black Panther hit him when he got to the set.

"My first day on set, I'm in a scene where I'm explaining -- well I don't wanna give away the movie, but I'm in front of the people in the movie, and a piece of me is like 'Oh s**t! I'm on set!' So, was a little bit nervous and I only had just a couple of lines!"

So nervous ... he literally forgot to deliver his lines.

"I was in awe of everybody to where I forgot to talk. So it's like my turn, everyone is quiet. Oh s**t, I forgot to talk, because I'm just so into everyone else. I mean just watching the masters at work was incredible."

Kamaru also shared some photographs from set -- where he posed with Winston Duke -- the first images we've seen of him in character.

Of course, the first Black Panther film, starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong'o was released in 2018 to worldwide acclaim. Many fans declared the movie the best in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Tragically, Chadwick died in mid-2020 after quietly and courageously battling colon cancer.

Despite the terrible loss, the cast and crew pushed forward with the highly anticipated sequel ... which drops worldwide on November 11.

The movie is all but assured to be one of the biggest of the year.

And, Usman hopes it's not his last film ... he sent a message to industry decision-makers.

Leslie Jordan was a treasure to folks in Chattanooga, Tennessee, his hometown ... and now the city plans to honor the late actor, and it's working with his family to make it happen.

Leslie, who died Tuesday in Los Angeles, is being remembered as "one of the cherished sons of Chattanooga," according to a rep for the city ... who also tells TMZ, Leslie brought joy to the community for many years.

We're told one of Leslie's family members reached out to the city about securing a facility to honor his memory. The city is now partnering with Leslie's fam to make it happen, by finding a venue for a memorial service and making sure to pick a date that works well for Leslie's loved ones.

Chattanooga, we're told, is also open to other ideas on how to best remember Leslie -- some of the ideas being kicked around include renaming a street or building in his honor but we're told the final call will be up to his family.

The rep tells us Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly knew Leslie since they were teenagers, when they worked together at a local restaurant ... so his ties to the city run deep.

We're told Leslie made sure to return to Chattanooga to participate in civic events and volunteer with local charities even after his Hollywood success.

TMZ broke the story ... Leslie was driving his BMW in Hollywood when investigators believe he suffered a medical emergency and crashed into the side of a building.

He was on his way to the "Call Me Kat" set for filming, and we're told he had been complaining recently about shortness of breath.

Back in Chattanooga, we're told folks are still in mourning ... and the city is trying to balance showing respect for Leslie's family with being responsive to community members who want to celebrate him.

Leslie's also going to be honored in West Hollywood, where he frequented restaurants and coffee shops. We're told the WeHo city council will adjourn in Leslie's honor at their next meeting.

Will Smith visited the Los Angeles Lakers to talk about staying strong in the face of adversity ... as the team tries to salvage its season after dropping its first three games.

Smith spent quality time with the Lake Show discussing themes that will be a part of his upcoming film, "Emancipation," such as the benefits of togetherness and practicing gratitude when difficult times arise.

WS got some facetime with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka, and the team presented the 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' star with a No. 14 Lakers jersey.

The message in Will's talk was profound ... and came at a time when the Lakers have been experiencing constant scrutiny, a feeling Smith experienced earlier this year.

Remember ... the 54-year-old Philadelphia native faced immense public backlash and consequences, including a 10-year ban from the Academy Awards, for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Smith seemingly became public enemy No. 1 for the viral moment -- but he eventually apologized to Rock and has been doing damage control ever since to repair his public image.

Ultimately, Smith wanted to instill in the Lakers that no matter how grim things look, the only way to overcome them is by sticking together and appreciating the struggle.

SZA is sitting on 100 unreleased songs and it's apparently time to part with one of them ... the Top Dawg Entertainment vocalist just announced "Shirt," a mini-movie co-starring LaKeith Stanfield.

The preview clip is pretty wild ... SZA and the "Atlanta" actor are eating in a sketchy diner, seemingly discussing the laws of physics when the man sitting with them makes the fatal mistake of interrupting their conversation ... and gets his brains blown out over his plate of bacon and eggs.

'Tis the season for gruesome content, and SZA's timing should be music to her fans' ears -- they've been patiently waiting since her 2017 debut album "Ctrl" infiltrated the space.

"Ctrl" went on to go multi-platinum and recently made Billboard Chart history ... applying heavy pressure for the sophomore release whenever it decides to drop.

TMZ Hip Hop ran into SZA recently ... she told us about the whopping 100 songs she's been collecting in her studio, and hinted she was firing off something soon.