Movies

Matt Damon's homophobic f-slur controversy is drawing a firm response from a leading voice in the LGBT community, and its response is simple ... everyone should get the word out of their vocabulary, period.

GLAAD has spoken out on all the chatter this week about how and when Damon ever used it, and whether he's just recently retired it. Damon is now clarifying, saying he did not retire it because he's never hurled it at anyone -- but to the folks at GLAAD the debate is kind of irrelevant, because the end game is the same.

A rep for the non-profit tells TMZ ... "The conversations that have arisen after Matt Damon’s original interview and subsequent remarks today are an important reminder that this word, or any word that aims to disparage and disrespect LGBTQ people, has no place in mainstream media, social media, classrooms, workplaces, and beyond."

They add, "There needs to be accountability at a time when anti-LGBTQ slurs remain rampant today and can fuel discrimination and stereotypes, especially when used by those outside of the community to defame or describe LGBTQ people."

That last part is interesting ... they seem to be suggesting that Matt even uttering the word in a joke is harmful -- even if it wasn't hurled as an epithet at someone. GLAAD's basic point is ... STOP saying it.

Like we mentioned, Matt addressed what most people perceived he was saying in his interview with the Sunday Times ... that he'd nixed the phrase and any variation of it from his lexicon only after one of his daughters called him out. Frankly, that is exactly how it came off from the quote attributed to him.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez popped into a jewelry store during their romantic European getaway -- trying on some serious pieces -- but there's no ring in play, yet.

The shopping trip went down last week at Faraone Mennella jewelry store in Capri, and a store spokesperson tells us J Lo tried on a number of expensive pieces, including necklaces and earrings.

We're told J Lo tried on a $41,000 green tourmaline necklace ... plus a series of colored hoop earrings ranging from $1,800 to $2,850.

One thing we're told the couple did NOT check out, however, was a ring.

The spokesperson tells us Ben and J Lo took a series of photos together inside the jewelry store, where they were flirty and having fun, and J Lo also took a few selfies with the jewelry she tried on before leaving with their entourage.

The couple didn't officially purchase anything, but the rep says most celebs call in later to have items shipped back home.

TMZ broke the story ... Bennifer 2.0 walked hand-in-hand through the quaint alleyways of Capri, shopping and taking a ton of pics.

As we reported, Jen was spotted in Portofino, Italy over the weekend -- after Affleck left -- wearing a necklace with Ben's name on it and there was also a diamond hanging from the chain.

Matt Damon says he didn't need to retire the homophobic f-word after all ... because he says he never used it in the first place.

The actor just tried to dig out from under an interview, where he was quoted as saying he only recently stopped using the f-word after his own daughter checked him hard.

Matt attempted to clear the air Monday, saying the quote from his interview with The Sunday Times was him recalling a discussion he had with his daughter where he tried explaining lots of progress has been made since he was a young kid growing up in Boston and hearing the f-slur used on the street before he knew what it meant.

MD told Variety ... "I have never called anyone 'f****t' in my personal life and this conversation with my daughter was not a personal awakening. I do not use slurs of any kind."

As we reported ... The Sunday Times reported Matt said in an interview his daughter called him out when he used the f-word in a joke -- she explained how the word is dangerous and he told her, 'I retire the f-slur!'

Now, Matt says he told his daughter the slur was uttered "constantly and casually" when he was younger and pointed out it was even used as a joke in his 2003 movie, "Stuck On You" ... adding she was incredulous the word was used so flippantly. He seems to be saying even though he heard it a lot growing up, he never used it himself.

Here's another installment of Paul Rudd Is Benjamin Button -- because the older he gets, the younger he looks ... at least that's what a new viral photo of him suggests on its face.

The veteran comedy actor posed for a new snap this weekend that was posted by the owner of an Indian restaurant in London called Darjeeling Express ... a place he's apparently stopped into before, and brought a pal with him this time around -- Mr. Dan Levy.

Paul's filming the new 'Ant-Man' installment there -- Dan appears to just be in town.

Anyway, the restaurant (and its owner, Asma Khan) posted a sweet photo of Paul and Dan breaking bread in their establishment Saturday, and even though they seem to have hosted PR before ... they were still starstruck, writing in their caption ... "When Paul Rudd returns for dinner to the restaurant and this time brings the lovely @instadanjlevy with him! ♥️❤️."

The photo has since gotten Paul and Dan trending -- with the former being compared to an ageless angel ... because he seriously looks young in this specific pic (Paul's 52, BTW).

They threw up a second shot of Dan on his own, and said they were glad he dug the grub. Still, it's the duo photo of the two of them at the table that's got people chirping.

As you might imagine, the jokes were flying online ... with folks saying they've aged more in the pandemic than Paul has in the last 5 years -- and that may well be true, 'cause he doesn't seem to have a wrinkle or a crack on his face ... well, at least in lighting like this.

Another photo Darjeeling posted mere weeks ago -- from Paul's initial visit, apparently -- paints a somewhat different picture. It's way more well-lit ... and, yes, Paul certainly looks older here. Still great for his age and all -- but it's almost like he went back in time for this weekend's photo-op ... it feels like 2 different people showed up over the course of 2 weeks.

Matt Damon says he just recently stopped using the homophobic f-word slur -- this after his own daughter had to put him in check ... with a detailed thesis of sorts on why it's bad.

The actor did a wide-ranging interview with The Sunday Times that was published Sunday, and among the many topics discussed on how the Hollywood landscape is changing (for the worse, Matt seems to think) ... this one was brought up in the same breath.

He says he put the f-word away for good in recent months, explaining he didn't think of it much as a slur when he was growing up, adding ... "The word that my daughter calls the 'f-slur for a homosexual' was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application."

He goes on to say that he made a joke using the word in front of one of his 3 daughters, -- who range in age between 10 and 15 -- and they actually protested his usage of it.

Matt says, "She left the table. I said, 'Come on, that's a joke! I say it in the movie Stuck on You!' She went to her room and wrote a very long, beautiful treatise on how that word is dangerous. I said, 'I retire the f-slur!' I understood."

The scene Damon is referring to happens toward the end of the raunchy 2003 comedy -- in which he and Greg Kinnear play bros who are joined at the hip, literally. The word comes up in its shortened form as a musical montage starts to play after they've been separated.

There's a lot more in Damon's ST interview -- including a hot take that anyone, really, with wit could've played Iron Man ... not just RDJ. That's a whole other can of worms, though.

Longtime soap opera actor Jay Pickett has died -- this while he was actually doing his job in front of the camera.

Jay passed Thursday on the set of a new film he was working on called "Treasure Valley" in Idaho -- so says his costar and co-producer for the flick, Jim Heffel, who shared the tragic news on Facebook ... explaining he actually died while they were preparing to shoot a scene.

He writes, "Jay died sitting on a horse ready to rope a steer in the movie Treasure Valley in Idaho. The way of a true cowboy." Not much more was discussed as to how he ended up toppling over, but it sounds like it was sudden ... and an official cause of death isn't out yet.

Another star from the movie, Travis Mills, took to his own FB page to speculate it appeared to be a heart attack of some sort, while also noting everyone around at the time tried hard to keep him alive ... going on to call it a shocking tragedy.

This is a project that Jay was all in on -- he was writing, producing and starring in it as the lead man. It sounds like a good old-fashioned Western movie ... and was due to be released next year.

Jay certainly has had some movie experience over the length of his long career, but he's definitely more famous for his TV work ... or daytime TV, we should say -- which he got started in the '90s with "Days of Our Lives," on which he played Dr. Chip Lakin.

He was only on 'Days' for about a year, but then moved on to even more legendary soaps ... where he had prolonged roles. Jay was in over 700 episodes of "Port Charles" for several years between the late '90s and early 2000s, playing Frank Scanlon to much fanfare.

After that, Jay went on to star in "General Hospital" for a couple years -- at which point, he was acting in a ton of different stuff ... like "Dexter," "Desperate Housewives," "Hot Line," "Saving Grace" ... and later, "NCIS," "The Mentalist" and other shows and movies up until very recently.

He's survived by his wife, Elena, and their children. Jay was only 60.

Jonah Hill has slowly been turning into a surfer bro right before our eyes -- and now, the transformation is complete ... behold!

The actor just posted a new photo of himself on the 'Gram -- a shirtless one, at that -- and he's showing off some new artwork on his back. Specifically, it's a tattoo that screams surfer vibes ... but it's really nothing compared to what's atop his noggin in the pic.

Check it out ... Jonah's tat reads "Body Love" and it's got a "rock on" hand sign attached (in color, too, BTW). JH seems proud of the new ink -- but he's kinda ignoring the headline ... namely, that his hair is now platinum blonde, beard too for that matter. Looks like he's been baring his blonde locks for a quick minute ... since at least early July, apparently.

Jonah's got a few different photos of him in blonde on his IG page -- and, boy, is it something.

He looks like a wild man of the water, frankly, which is appropriate ... because the dude HAS been shredding the gnar in recent years -- hitting up Malibu and other remote surf spots in and around SoCal to get his wave-riding on. He seems to be getting pretty good too.

Oh, and we know what you're thinking ... is this new look for a movie or something??? That doesn't appear to be the case ... Jonah doesn't have any roles coming up (that we can see) which would require him to rock this sort of 'do/vibe. So, it seems to be all him ... and au naturel.

Ariana Greenblatt's already making some boss moves ... the child actress is raking in a fat paycheck for her voiceover work on the 'Boss Baby' sequel.

The 14-year-old actress scored a nice daily rate of $10,000 for her voice work as Tabitha in "The Boss Baby: Family Business" ... according to her minor's contract.

The contract, obtained by TMZ, guarantees the actress no less than $50,000 for her work on the DreamWorks animated flick.

While $50k is a nice baseline, Ariana could be in line for an even bigger payday ... the docs say she could earn up to 5 different bonuses, up to $250k each, based on how much the film rakes in at the box office.

One bonus Ariana will likely miss out on -- $1,075,000 in additional cash if the sequel grosses $300 million in the United States and Canada. However, a month after its release date, the movie has only made $60 million ... so $300 million seems out of reach.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck continued their "2021 We're Super in Love" tour Saturday, as they packed on the PDA along the Mediterranean.

Ben and J Lo were all over each other again, as they smooched it up on a dock in Naples, Italy.

They've been on a multi-million dollar superyacht all week, meandering along the coast in the South of France and Italy. The yacht will set them back around $1.1 mil for a week's stay. Seriously.

A-Rod's been yachting in the Med as well, at times in the same area as Ben and Jen. As far as we can tell, there's been no interaction between them.

Since they reunited, they have played with photogs and made it clear they're down with all the PDA pics. It's a seismic change from Ben's M.O. -- he's never been one to play to the cameras, but that was then ...

Unclear when it's back to reality, but it seems they've got some sort of plan together in L.A. She's already scoped out schools for her kids.

Scarlett Johansson's agent is joining in on the war with Disney ... blasting the Mouse House for "shamelessly" attacking her over her "Black Widow" lawsuit.

Bryan Lourd, one of the head honchos at the powerhouse agency CAA, just went to bat for his client and said Disney "shamelessly and falsely accused Ms. Johansson of being insensitive to the global COVID pandemic, in an attempt to make her appear to be someone they and I know she isn't."

ScarJo's rep also took a huge issue with Disney spilling the tea on her salary in their response to her lawsuit. Lourd said, "The company included her salary in their press statement in an attempt to weaponize her success as an artist and businesswoman, as if that were something she should be ashamed of."

The "Black Widow" star has done nine Disney movies ... but the relationship's reached a boiling point after she claimed in a lawsuit Disney violated her deal when it simultaneously released "Black Widow" in theaters and on Disney+ ... which cut into her backend because her salary was tied to how well the film performed at the box office.

Lourd added, "The suit was filed as a result of Disney's decision to knowingly violate Scarlett's contract. They have very deliberately moved the revenue stream and profits to the Disney+ side of the company, leaving artistic and financial partners out of their new equation. That's it, pure and simple."

The father of the 18-year-old girl fatally shot this week is opening up about her excitement for her first date with a TikTok star ... which ended with the tragic shooting as they watched the new 'Purge' movie.

Rylee Goodrich's dad, David, said she curled her hair all pretty, and her night out with TikTok influencer Anthony Barajas was going to be their first date without friends in tow. David said he could tell his daughter was "so f***ing happy" and could tell she "really, really liked this boy" and that he "really, really liked her" too.

David told Daily Mail the teen couple hit up her favorite BBQ joint before heading to the movie theater in Corona, California to watch the new horror film, "The Forever Purge."

Rylee's father said she met Anthony on Fourth of July weekend, and he admits initially rolling his eyes when he learned Anthony was a TikToker -- with nearly a million followers -- but warmed up to the kid after he came home from Hawaii with souvenirs for the Goodrich fam.

As you might know, Rylee was shot in the back of the head as she and Anthony sat in the theater. She was instantly killed, while Anthony was shot through his eye. He's hospitalized on life support.

David said Rylee texted her mom shortly before the shooting, saying the movie was boring and stupid ... and that was the last they heard from her.

Sharon Stone is taking a stand, demanding vaccinations on the set of a new project ... but as a result, she says she's "being threatened" with losing that job.

Sharon isn't naming names yet, but says it's a show shooting in Atlanta, which she calls "a good job" she really wants to do. However, she's insisting on the same precautions Sean Penn recently did for one of his sets. The difference is ... Sharon says she might get cut.

Stone is running for an actors' union position ... a seat on SAG-AFTRA's national board of directors, and according to Deadline she laid out the COVID testing nightmare in a campaign video. In another campaign vid she reveals a health insurance nightmare that's prompted her to run -- "I lost my vested insurance after 43 years in the business because of Covid. I was $13 short and, you know, I don’t really think that that is reasonable for any of us.”

As for the COVID testing -- Stone reportedly blames the Producers Guild of America for not guaranteeing everyone working on her potential show is vaccinated. It's a very personal issue for Sharon.

As we've reported, her family has been ravaged by COVID-19. Last year she tearfully revealed her grandmother and godmother both died in the pandemic. Her sister and sister's husband, Bruce, also battled the coronavirus, but survived.

"Top Gun: Maverick" star Lewis Pullman has a weak stomach ... a plausible explanation/justification for puking his guts out while filming his flight scenes.

We got the actor arriving at LAX Thursday and it seemed like an appropriate place to talk about his fear of heights. It certainly raises the question ... why on earth did he take on the role of Bob the pilot trainee for the T.G. sequel?

Lewis concedes .... at first, he didn't think the film was for him. But, he was later inspired by one Tom Cruise and his fearlessness when filming some of the baddest scenes on the planet.

Nevertheless, Lewis says his stomach could only take so much. And, he couldn't help but hurl, over and over ... and over.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez can't keep their eyes, hands -- and lots of other things -- off of each other during their vacay ... even while seated in a busy restaurant!

The couple's nautical trek along the Italian Riviera stopped Wednesday in the town of Nerano, where they had a super romantic meal -- and it's not the setting that made it romantic. It's the fact J Lo -- in a very revealing red and white bandeau top -- planted her famous asset right in Ben's lap.

Apparently, there's a chair shortage over there. Not that Ben was complaining -- if you're into love and whatnot, there's plenty of it on display in these pics.

Everyone's (well, almost everyone's) favorite reunited lovers snuggled, kissed, hugged, laughed and generally looked happy as hell ... while their fellow customers enjoyed plain ol' culinary delights.

BTW, anyone else seen something odd going on with these 2 this week? While there's been no lack of PDA during their Mediterranean yacht holiday, we have noticed something is missing -- Affleck's tan!!!

Scarlett Johansson is going after the Mouse House ... she's suing Disney, claiming the simultaneous release of "Black Widow" in theaters and on Disney+ violated her deal, and cost her serious money.

In legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the "Black Widow" star claims her contract with Disney stated the movie would be exclusively released in theaters. Problem is ... Disney broke that deal, she says, when the movie was made available in theaters and on its streaming service.

Scarlett says her salary was tied to how well the film performed at the box office. But, the actress claims, releasing the film on Disney+ meant fewer butts in movie theaters ... which cut into her backend.

Other studios have dealt with similar issues and given their stars additional compensation to make up for their backend loss, and you gotta imagine Scarlett's lawyers and Disney's lawyers tried settling this before she filed her lawsuit. She says she tried settling, but she was pretty much ignored.

Her argument is pretty clear ... the contract says the movie would be released exclusively in theaters, so Disney violated it by putting it on its streaming service. What's more ... Disney presumably benefited financially by getting additional subscribers, while Scarlett was aced out of what she would have made had theaters been the only game in town.

"Black Widow" grossed $80 million in domestic box office opening weekend. It grossed another $78 million overseas and $60 million from home purchases on the streaming platform.

We've reached out to Disney, so far no word back.

Jean-Claude Van Damme is so damn famous, all eyes were glued on him instead of a nearby thief -- with great timing -- who made off with millions in jewels ... on a scooter.

So, get this ... a grey-haired man in a suit reportedly held up the high-end jewelry store Chaumet in Paris earlier this week. Cops say he pulled a knife during the robbery, and while no one was injured ... the suspect took off with a "monumental haul" in jewels and gemstones. Cops say he nabbed somewhere between $2.4 million and $3.5 mil.

What's shocking is the guy got away on a green, electric scooter ... which makes ya wonder how he was able to pull this off -- and that's where JCVD comes in.

Law enforcement says there were plenty of potential witnesses nearby, but they were all distracted by Van Damme ... who was inside a nearby optometrist's office.

The "Bloodsport" and "Street Fighter" star had inadvertently drawn the attention of just about everyone on the block ... allowing Scooter McJewelThief to make a clean getaway.

Well, nearly clean. Cops did have surveillance cameras, and we've confirmed they arrested 2 suspects in connection with the heist. We're told cops also recovered a substantial part of the stolen jewelry.