Music

Kim Kardashian never touched ecstasy during the filming of her sex tape with Ray J ... so insist sources directly connected to the 'Love & Hip Hop' star.

Kim claimed she took ecstasy twice -- once when she married her first husband back in 2000 and again when she filmed the tape in 2003 -- and she says both experiences were bad for her.

Our Ray J sources say Kim took no hard drugs nor did she drink alcohol during the filming of the sex tape. They do say, however, she smoked pot around the time the tape was made ... and it was from a pipe shaped like a penis.

As for Kim saying her lip quivering was evidence she was on ecstasy, the Ray J sources fire back ... "her lip was quivering because she was getting ******."

Sources close to Kim tell us she stands by the claim she made on the show -- she did in fact take the drug before the tape was shot -- and she has nothing to gain from lying about it at this point in her life. We're told Kim is thankful to have learned early on from the experiences with drugs and attributes those lessons to her decision to not get heavily involved in drugs or alcohol through adulthood.

Our Ray J sources add he's offended that Kim would suggest she did the sex tape because she was in a significantly altered state. They say she was down with it from the beginning and all the way through.

Ariana Grande has been teasing fans and celebs alike to the point of torture with snippets from her "Thank U, Next" music video without a release date ... but now we know when it's gonna drop.

Sources close to Ariana tell us the project is set to debut Friday. The music video will highlight 4 female-driven films that have special meaning to Ariana. The movies include "Bring It On," "Mean Girls," "Legally Blonde" and "13 Going on 30."

Our sources say the music video will also feature a cameo from one of the Kardashian sisters, who we are told will bust a move for the cameras.

A teaser released for the project Monday night featured actors from "Mean Girls" -- including Jonathan Bennett -- as well as singer Troye Sivan ... so it's likely Friday's release will include several more celebs.

Ari fans were surprised to see Gabi DeMartino -- a YouTuber who has made a career off of spoofing the singer -- in the video. However, our Grande sources say Ariana actually enjoys the impressions and wanted to extend an olive branch to Gabi by inviting her on the project.

It's not just Ariana fans who have been bitten by the "Thank U, Next" video bug ... stars like Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, Khalid and Normani have all blown the preview up too ... with comments like "This is so fire," "Yooooooo" and "yes pls give ur fans what we need."

The fans will get it Friday.

Tekashi69's still behind bars hoping to get out on bail, but now he has something else to worry about -- the feds announcing they've had a snitch in the rapper's crew.

We broke the story ... Tekashi pled not guilty in his federal racketeering case Monday, and a trial date's been set for September 4. Things got potentially worse for him when prosecutors revealed they are working with a confidential informant who's made recordings -- presumably of conversations with 6ix9ine.

Tekashi's attorney, Lance Lazarro, admits it's a serious development in the case, telling TMZ ... "Anytime there is a confidential informant, there is cause for concern."

In court, prosecutors boasted the recordings could send Tekashi to prison for life.

His lawyer's trying be optimistic, though, saying ... "I am confident that any recorded conversations with [Tekashi] will prove that he was never a part of the Enterprise and support the conclusion that he’s innocent."

Boosie knows first hand how simple it can be for celebrities to sleep with their fans, so he can't wrap his head around why Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted a woman.

Boosie sat down with our Raquel Harper for Tuesday's episode of "Raq Rants" on BET, and she asked what his takeaway was from Cosby's sexual assault trial. He explained why the entire saga left him scratching his head.

The Louisiana rapper says women lining up outside hotel rooms for a chance to have sex with celebs is totally common. Now, Boosie was clear ... he isn't saying Cosby is NOT guilty -- but he definitely thinks some women have ulterior motives, and that might be the case for some of Cosby's alleged victims.

Blac Chyna's suspicions about YBN Almighty Jay cheating on her are inaccurate ... at least when it comes to his ex-GF, turned baby mama.

As you probably know ... BC dumped her 19-year-old piece earlier this summer, because she was fed up with YBN sliding into different chicks' DMs and possibly having a side piece.

His announcement over the weekend that he now has a new baby boy -- SirLucius Edward Scott-Bradley -- might seem to confirm her fears, but we're told the baby making went down before Chyna was in the picture.

Sources connected to YBN and the baby's mama, Dailyn Scott, tell us they met when she was working as a stylist for one of his music videos. We're told he knocked her up around December ... almost 2 months before he officially started dating BC, who was aware YBN was going to be a daddy soon.

SirLucius was born on September 4 at Cedars-Sinai in L.A. -- so the December conception tracks.

Almighty Jay was touring in Europe when the kid was born, but we're told he's been around ever since ... supporting the kid financially and seeing him as much as possible.

Shawn Mendes is once again shutting down rumors he's gay ... adamantly saying he isn't, after years of speculation.

The 20-year-old singer told Rolling Stone so much attention on his personal life has caused tons of stress ... particularly about his sexuality and whether or not he's gay. Shawn told RS, "I'd like to say I don't care about it, but that's not true. This massive, massive thing for the last 5 years about me being gay."

Shawn tells Rolling Stone he often analyzes his own interviews and analyzes his voice and body language to see what vibe he's giving off. He tells RS, "In the back of my heart, I feel like I need to go be seen with someone -- like a girl -- in public, to prove to people that I'm not gay."

He goes on to say, "Even though in my heart I know that it's not a bad thing. There's still a piece of me that thinks that. And I hate that side of me." Shawn, however, did admit he grew up putting glitter on his eyelids to make his parents laugh ... growing up with 15 female cousins he said he would be "braiding hair and painting nails. Maybe I am a little more feminine -- but that's the way it is. That's why I am me."

Remember ... years ago, Shawn addressed rumors about his sexuality, taking to Snapchat and saying, "I noticed a lot of people were saying I gave them a 'gay vibe' ... first of all, I'm not gay. Second of all, it shouldn't make a difference if I was or wasn't."

Tekashi69's got a date with the judge -- he got a trial date in court Monday morning after he entered a plea in his federal racketeering case.

The rapper -- who has been behind bars since Nov. 18 -- was in court, where he entered a not guilty plea. The judge set his trial date for September 4. That's a long way off and, at least for now, it seems 6ix9ine will remain behind bars for much of that period ... if not all of it.

The issue of bail was not addressed in court. As we reported, his attorney, Lance Lazzaro, plans to apply for bail directly to the trial judge. Tekashi was denied bail when Lazzaro offered to pay $750k, surrender his passport and remain on house arrest.

TMZ broke the story ... Tekashi and 2 former associates, including his manager, Shottie, were arrested by federal agents on racketeering and other serious charges. According to his indictment, obtained by TMZ, Tekashi and his crew conspired to commit a slew of crimes, including drug deals, armed robberies and shootings.

The feds believe Tekashi himself pulled an armed robbery on April 3 along with his ex-manager, Shottie, and 2 other members of the Nine Trey Bloods.

The indictment also mentions the April 21 shooting incident at Barclays Center in Brooklyn ... and fingers Fuguan Lovick as the trigger man. In all, the indictment lists 17 counts dating back to 2013.

12:27 PM PT -- We've learned Cardi's pilot suffered some serious stomach issues during the flight, causing the emergency landing. The plane was diverted to O'Hare due to a weather-related runway closure at Midway.

Cardi B's private plane made an emergency landing in Chicago ... not because of mechanical issues, but because someone on board needed medical attention ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... the jet was traveling from L.A. to NYC either late Sunday night or early Monday morning when Cardi announced that the aircraft made an unscheduled landing in Chicago.

It's unclear who got sick ... but we're told the passenger was not a member of Cardi's crew.

Drake fans can hold on all they want, they're NEVER gonna go home to the kinda bedroom Drizzy's building in his Toronto mansion -- you could easily get lost in the damn place!

The publicly filed floor plans for his crib feature the layout for the most insane master suite we've ever seen. How big? The 941 square feet literally takes up HALF of the second floor of the ginormous crib.

Here's what he's working with: his own stairwell entrance, 2 dressing rooms AND 2 closets (all part of one elaborate wardrobe area), a steam shower and tub with a skylight above, TWO balcony areas with an outdoor hot tub and a kitchenette.

Again, all of that is JUST for his bedroom quarters. Of course, there are 4 impressive guest bedrooms too ... although they don't compare to Drake's.

If the room itself isn't impressive enough, take a gander at the estate in its entirety -- to call it a beaut is a gross understatement.

The mansion is about 35,000 square feet on a 2-acre lot and the toys include ... 2 saunas, a massage room, a 10-car garage, an elevator, a gym, a screening room ... and a full basketball court. There's more, but we're tired.

Drake bought the place for nearly $4 million and had it under construction for a majority of 2017 and about half of 2018. Talk about views!

Lindsay Lohan shooting her shot at Tyga over social media was just another case of internet thirst, because we're told the two don't have a history.

Friends of Lindsay and Tyga tell TMZ ... the "Taste" rapper has never met Lindsay, and has no plans to do so, despite LiLo sliding into his Instagram comments with a thirsty reply to Tyga's most recent selfie.

Lindsay replied to Tyga's post with the name of his hit song, sending the internet into a frenzy, but we're told it's nothing more than a textbook example of IG thirsting.

Tyga's 13.8 million followers jumped on LiLo's comment with most encouraging her to shoot her shot, but it turns out the two don't have any connection in real life.

Sorry, Lindsay, ya gotta do more than drop a thirsty reply to get a taste ... he's kinda got a thing for strippers.

Faith Evans sang a beautiful rendition of an old hymn during Kim Porter's funeral -- but, sadly, it's one she says she's sung before to honor another member of Diddy's family.

We got Faith Sunday at LAX coming back from Kim's funeral service in Georgia and asked how she was holding up. You can see she's in pain even behind the sunglasses as she tells us she's doing alright following a heartfelt tribute and an emotional ceremony.

Our photog asks why she chose "His Eye is On the Sparrow" as her song of choice to honor Kim, and Faith says she went with something she'd previously performed at Diddy's grandmother's funeral back in the '90s. She also says it's a tune she'd sing to record label execs back in the day ... at Puff's request.

Most importantly, Faith gives us an idea of how Kim left her mark on the world and why so many people were touched by her passing. Sounds like Faith thinks Kim's purpose was more than fulfilled by the way she's remembering her here.

RIP

11/25 -- Ariana eloquently responded to a Twitter troll who accused her of "milkin" Mac Miller's death, saying quite simply ... "i pray you never have to deal with anything like this ever and i’m sending you peace and love." Ari later tweeted, "some of the sh** i read on here makes me sick to my stomach. it scares me the way some people think and i don’t like this world a lot of the time. if only we could be more compassionate and gentle with one another. that’d be sick."

Halsey jumped to her defense, telling AG's trolls in not-so-subtle terms to STFU. Ariana responded to Halsey with, "i love you very much."

Ariana Grande still has Mac Miller in her memory bank ... and Thanksgiving was a day for her to remember out loud.

Ariana posted this pic of her and Mac that was snapped one year ago to the day ... November 22, 2017. Her message -- simple -- "you're v missed."

It's clearly way bigger for Ariana than Throwback Thursday ... she was torn apart by Mac's death.

TMZ broke the story ... Mac died in September of a drug overdose. According to the L.A. County Coroner, Mac died from a mixture of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol.

Ariana gave Mac a shout out in her song, "thank u, next."

It pays to protect Tekashi69 -- especially these days -- 'cause he spared NO expense when it came to hiring muscle to cover his ass in La La Land ... TMZ has learned.

Tekashi hired a small army from 2 different security companies during his recent 10-day stay in L.A. -- we saw the mountainous men shadowing him everywhere. We're told the armed guards provided round-the-clock protection and 3 bulletproof SUVs ... all for the low, low price of $97,165.

Sounds like a ton of cash, until you add the context of what went down during that trip ... starting with nearly coming to blows with Slim 400 in an intense showdown.

6ix9ine's security had to hold him back, which almost certainly saved him from an immediate probation violation and prison time.

Then, a few days later the Bev Hills shooting went down. We're told there were only 2 shifts of security initially scheduled for the music video set, but after the gunmen opened fire ... they called in a third emergency shift. As a result, Tekashi racked up 25 hours of protection for that single event!

The kicker? The security companies ain't happy ... and not due to the bullets. We're told Tekashi hasn't paid his tab, but to be fair he's had bigger things on his mind.

Travis Scott torched not one but two venues Saturday night when he lit up the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ for his Astroworld tour, then hit up the Red Rabbit Club in New York City for the afterparty where he performed again!!!

We got the rap megastar walking into the club last night, dodging every question we had about his "wife," Kylie, whom he shouted out last week at his show in Houston.

The club went crazy for Travis, especially when he performed "Sicko Mode" ... the footage from inside the club is insane. After Travis performed he chilled in VIP section.

Tekashi69 has a knack for finding trouble ... even behind bars.

Sources connected to the prison facility where Tekashi is currently housed tell TMZ, a number of the inmates are pissed off at what they perceive as special treatment for the rapper.

We're told as soon as Tekashi arrived at the facility -- which is often used to house informants -- a dormitory was cleared out and the only ones let back in were those who were NOT affiliated with a gang. 69 was then placed in the dorm with 11 other inmates who were described as "docile."

The dorm in question is typically used for high-profile inmates, dirty cops and child predators.

Some of the other inmates became vocal, screaming their displeasure at what they perceived as special treatment.

One inmate near 69's dorm clowned him by singing a song about a child predator. 69 had been convicted of a child sex crime and placed on 4 years probation.

Tekashi's lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, tells TMZ he doubts his client is receiving any special treatment.

10:19 AM PT -- TMZ's obtained a photo from inside the funeral, before Diddy arrived. Kim's golden casket's front and center topped with a bouquet of beautiful flowers, along with a black and white photo of her. We're told a band and church choir are providing music.

11:30 AM PT -- Several speakers delivered eulogies for Kim during the service, including Mary J. Blige, Dallas Austin, Bishop Noel Jones, her son Quincy Brown and Diddy. We're told Quincy's dad, Al B. Sure!, joined him and Diddy on stage when Quincy broke down while speaking.

We're told Yolanda Adams performed "Just a Prayer Away", and Faith Evans sang "His Eye is On the Sparrow."

The hearse carrying the body of Kim Porter arriving at Cascades Hills Church in Columbus, Georgia.

The funeral is scheduled for 11 AM ET. We're told Diddy hopes to deliver a eulogy, however, it's possible he will bow out at the last minute because of what we're told is a fragile emotional state.

Kim will be buried next to her mother, Sarah Lee Porter, who died in 2014.

The Combs and Porter families are there in force for the service, which is expected to be large ... an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 mourners are expected to attend.

Porter's two sons and Diddy were seen leaving her wake in Georgia on Friday night. Quincy Brown and Christian Casey Combs attended the private service at Charles E Huff International Funeral Home, in Columbus, alongside friends and family, including Kimora Lee Simmons and her husband Tim Leissner.