Music

R. Kelly has a bizarre reason for going on national TV to address the sexual abuse allegations against him ... his "spirit" wanted him to speak his truth.

Sources close to the singer tell TMZ ... R. Kelly sat down with Gayle King because he is in constant touch with his "spirit" and tends to listen to it more than the people around him. He also said he felt he owed it to himself and his fans to break his silence and tell his side.

Of course, Kelly quickly went off the rails in the CBS interview -- his first public comments since being arrested on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse -- shouting in Gayle's face, exploding at the cameras, calling his accusers liars and wearing his emotions on his sleeve.

We're guessing his spirit didn't tell him to do all that.

After the interview aired last week, many viewers thought it was all an act, some felt he was having a mental breakdown and others used the emotional soundbites to make fun of Kelly on social media.

But, we're told R. Kelly gives "zero f***s" about how he's being portrayed, and he can't be bothered by the public's reaction ... that's not, however, apparent from the CBS interview.

Chuck Schumer's very happy for his friends Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, but when it comes time for their wedding ... he wants nothing to do with leading them through their vows.

The New York Senator was out in D.C. Monday and got asked about J Lo and A-Rod's recent engagement ... he seems to be all about it.

Schumer's not down with officiating their nuptials, though ... but it's nothing personal. Chuck says he has a bad track record so he's sworn it off forever -- basically, he's doing them a favor.

The Senator also has some solid and fitting advice for the power couple, who happen to be incredibly wealthy. Peep the clip.

3/11 -- J. Prince just weighed in on the situation ... and the Rap-A-Lot Records CEO is standing up for YBN, who is signed to his record label.

J Prince says ... "mob ties call to my real street n****s around the world, but especially on the East Coast in the Bronx. There's a clown by the name of Zae and his crew who want to become famous by bragging about robbing rap industry n****s. They recently bragged about robbing the artist YBN Almighty Jay, who I'm invested in. They've robbed him of his money and jewelry, including a Rap-A-Lot piece. So therefore they have robbed a piece of me."

"This is a perfect opportunity to execute our unity where we don't allow moment thinkers to muddy the water over the movement. With that being said, to the homies in the Bronx, if any of these clowns are yall's family or friends, speak now so we can get an understanding. To ignore this is a recipe for disaster. Other than that, it's these clowns vs. the realest n****s in every hood around the world and that's the meaning of mob ties."

6:40 PM PT -- Sources close to Lil Tjay tell us ... the rapper had nothing to do with YBN getting jumped later on after the street scuffle. Lil Tjay also shared a message for YBN on Instagram, saying ... "Keep ya head up bro stay strong."

YBN Almighty Jay got his ass handed to him and his chain snatched in an NYC street fight and, unfortunately for him, there's video of the whole beatdown.

The brawl erupted outside a Saks store, of all places ... we're told the 19-year-old rapper was shopping with his pals when another up-and-coming young rapper, named Lil Tjay, walked in with his squad. Witnesses say both sides started squawking, and then it got physical.

The fight spilled out into the street and, at first, it looked like Almighty Jay's side was holding their own. Later, though ... Jay got separated from his homies and you see him getting kicked HARD in the head by at least 2 guys.

We're told the guys who jumped him made off with Jay's wallet, his YBN chain ... and his shoes. Damn. Took the man's shoes.

Police were called, but no one wanted to report a crime.

Street s**t.

If it seems like R. Kelly is on the verge of coming unhinged that's because he is -- and his music might be the only thing standing between him and a full mental breakdown.

Sources close to the embattled singer tell TMZ ... Kelly has been focusing on producing new music. We're told he sees the writing process as a form of therapy, but maybe more importantly for him at this point ... it's a distraction from his mounting legal battles.

As you know ... R. Kelly was released Saturday from Cook County Jail after finally coughing up his unpaid child support. Actually, he didn't even pay ... he says a "benefactor" covered the tab.

He's still facing 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse in Chicago, new sexual conduct allegations in Detroit and multiple federal investigations -- and we're told it's all wearing on him.

After the CBS interview aired last week -- showing Kelly ranting and crying -- many viewers thought he was faking it, or having a very real breakdown.

We're told people close to Kelly think that's exactly what will happen if he stops working on music.

BTW, the new content isn't for public consumption -- we're told he doesn't have any plans to release the music. Besides, he doesn't have a distributor since his longtime label Sony/RCA recently kicked him to the curb.

Kelly's not even recording in a proper studio -- remember, he got booted out of his infamous Chicago recording studio, so he's doing it from his Trump Tower apartment.

Point is ... the walls are closing, and we're told Kelly's on the edge.

2:15 PM PT -- Wade's attorney says the tweet that has Aaron so pissed off ... did NOT come from Wade. His lawyer tells us the Twitter account was a fake, and adds Wade has been targeted by "several fraudulent postings and hackings" since 'Neverland' aired.

Aaron Carter wants to fist fight Wade Robson for the allegations he's making about Michael Jackson in "Leaving Neverland."

Aaron was on "TMZ Live" Monday to defend MJ's legacy. Aside from the accusations Wade made in the documentary -- which Aaron passionately believes to be false -- he's pissed about a tweet that he says dragged him into the conversation.

It came from an account purportedly belonging to Wade and strongly implies Aaron was either molested by MJ, or knew he was abusing other children.

Aaron says nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to his own personal experience with Michael.

The two of them used to hang out quite a bit back in the day when Aaron was a teen.

Aaron tells us he too has slept in Michael's bedroom, but assures us nothing inappropriate ever happened. He feels the 'Neverland' accusers are lying -- especially Wade -- because they had every opportunity to come forward while Michael was alive, but didn't.

In fact, both Wade and James Safechuck have previously denied Michael Jackson abused them as youngsters. Wade continued to support Michael well into adulthood as well, even testifying on his behalf in MJ's 2005 criminal case.

As Aaron puts it, they're stomping on an icon's grave ... who doesn't have a chance to defend himself now.

Drake is leaving behind one of his biggest songs featuring Michael Jackson as he heads across the pond to tour -- and it's all because of "Leaving Neverland."

Sources tell TMZ Drizzy's removed the song "Don't Matter to Me" -- a "Scorpion" track featuring MJ's vocals -- from his setlist on the UK leg of his international tour. His first show went down Sunday, and the omission didn't go unnoticed.

Drake was performing at Manchester Arena ... he started with the same opening and closing songs that he picked for his North America tour, with one big exception ... the Jackson track, which he'd performed in the USA throughout 2018.

Of course, that was all before HBO aired the explosive documentary about MJ, in which Wade Robson and James Safechuck accuse him of sexually abusing them as children in extremely graphic detail.

The Manchester show was the first of about a dozen more shows across the pond. Drake will make stops in London, Birmingham and Dublin before it's all said and done.

For Ariana Grande, ex really does mark the spot. And, this time it's Graham Phillips.

Ariana was out in NYC Sunday night dressed to the nines in a mini skirt, thigh-high white boots and an oversized coat. Also looking pretty dapper was the "Riverdale" actor. They hit up the Italian joint Carbone ... super popular among celebs.

It's the second time in less than 2 weeks since Ariana's gotten cozy with one of her exes. You'll recall the "Thank U, Next" singer reunited with Big Sean after hitting up a recording studio. They left together in the same car.

Ariana and Graham dated for about 3 years after they met on the Broadway production of "13" ... a musical with a cast featuring teenagers. They broke up in 2011 but remained friendly. The reunion comes on the heels of Pete Davidson's very public fling with Kate Beckinsale, which Ariana called cute.

So ... who's next?

He's already got a statue at Staples Center -- now Shaquille O'Neal has a restaurant right across the street!!!

The NBA legend opened up Shaquille's at L.A. Live over the weekend -- and tons of his famous friends showed up to celebrate ... from Adam Sandler to Julian Edelman and Tiffany Haddish!!!

It all went down after the Lakers game on Saturday night after Los Angeles took an L against their rival, Boston Celtics ... which happens to the last team Shaq played for!!!

The restaurant specializes in Southern cuisine -- featuring everything from Shaq’s famous fried chicken to shrimp & grits. People at the party tell us the food was delicious.

And, get this ... we're told a few of the Lakers even hit up the joint after the game ... including Kyle Kuzma and Rajon Rondo.

Boston's Jayson Tatum was there too along with Celtics legend Paul Pierce.

Other stars spotted at the party ... Diplo, E.J. Johnson, Jaleel White and Ross Butler.

Prodigy frontman Keith Flint hanged himself to death ... according to the coroner's report.

The Essex County Coroner's Office released its report Monday on the singer, who was found dead one week ago. The report confirms what Flint's bandmates said shortly after news broke he had died.

Prodigy founder Liam Howlett said Keith had taken his own life, leaving him, "shell shocked, f**kin angry, confused and heart broken."

The coroner is still completing toxicology testing, but is confirming there was no foul play involved in Keith's death.

Staind frontman Aaron Lewis had another tough night on tour -- he couldn't get a handful of chatty spectators to shut their yap, so he stormed offstage ... again.

The country-rock star was performing solo Saturday night in Oklahoma City, where he cut his set short toward the end of the show ... but not before laying into some members of the crowd with a good old-fashioned, "Shut the f*ck up!!!"

After some folks wouldn't abide by his demand, he stopped strumming his guitar ... and lectured the crowd on how he technically doesn't need to do this. Aaron then gets on the mic and continues the berating, telling the talkers they've been yapping all night.

Eventually the crowd quiets down enough for him to continue with the performance, but just a few seconds into the song ... he stops and slams his guitar down, leaving the stage.

This ain't the first time Aaron's had crowd control issues at his shows lately. He did the exact same thing in Texas just last month ... but took things up a notch by saying he didn't speak Spanish 'cause he's American. Some Spanish speakers were trying to communicate in their language, but Aaron was clearly having none of it.

He also laid into a heckler a couple months before that in Indianapolis, calling the guy a "bald motherf***er."

3/11 -- Gloria Allred tells TMZ ... "R.Kelly appears to take the position that all the women who have made public accusations that he has victimized them are lying and that there are no tapes which depict him victimizing under age girls. Mr. Kelly attempts to portray himself as the victim instead of a sexual predator, but many of the women with whom he has had contact accuse him of being a predator, because they allege that he has victimized them. In addition, there is no reason to believe that Mr. Dennis has done anything wrong or that he will be prosecuted. The response by Mr. Kelly’s representative appears to be just a scare tactic to deter individuals who may have similar tapes from coming forward to provide them to me or law enforcement."

1:42 PM PT -- R. Kelly's attorney, Steve Greenberg, tells TMZ ... "R. Kelly denies that he is on any tape with underaged girls. The doubt here is self-evident, with reporting that the man on the tape kinda, sorta looks like R Kelly. That doesn’t make it him. It is not him."

Greenberg also says he wants to know what investigators will do about the fact that the Dennises were in possession of possible child pornography, asking, "Are they going to be prosecuted?" He adds, "It is obviously now just open season on R. Kelly. It is irresponsible to continue to take the speculation of every Tom, Dick and Harry, and report it as if it is fact."

Another sex tape has surfaced that purportedly shows R. Kelly with minors -- and Gloria Allred is repping the guy who claims to have found it and turned it over to cops.

Allred just held a press conference in NYC, where her client, Gary Dennis, came forward to explain how he found the tape, and why he's speaking out now.

Dennis, who says he has no connection to R. Kelly whatsoever, claims he recently found this new sex tape while going through old VHS tapes of his own. He says he initially discovered the tape as a "sports tape," but says it also had R. Kelly's name on it.

Dennis goes on to say that he thought the R. Kelly part of the tape would feature a concert of his, but later discovered it was a sex tape as he continued to watch past the sports content. He says he doesn't know how this tape turned up in his possession but says he watched it and saw R. Kelly engaging in sex acts with what he perceived to be underage black girls ... more than one.

Dennis didn't go into much detail about what he saw on the tape but did say that the girls on camera were doing and saying things based on R. Kelly's instructions. Dennis also says the girls appeared to be underdeveloped and that the only man on tape -- who he claims looked a lot like R. Kelly -- seemed to be in charge of the camera.

The guy says the tape appears to have been produced in the 1990s ... adding there's no indication of where it was filmed.

Allred says they've turned over the sex tape to law enforcement officials from U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. She wouldn't comment one way or another on whether she'd personally seen this new tape herself. However, Allred says she believes more tapes of R. Kelly are in circulation.

This tape would be the third one handed to law enforcement in the last month. Attorney Michael Avenatti has already turned over 2 tapes to prosecutors in Chicago ... one of which prompted the 10 count indictment against R. Kelly for aggravated sexual abuse.

Speaking of Avenatti, he appears to have responded to Allred's press conference ... and seems to be casting doubt on the veracity of her client's claims.

BTW ... Allred already reps a number of R. Kelly accusers, including two women who say he targeted them after a Baltimore concert in 1995. One of those women, Latresa Scaff, says R. Kelly had sex with her without her consent in a hotel room ... this after he'd already plied the then-underage girls with alcohol and drugs at an after-party following his concert.

Allred says a witness has come forward to corroborate the Baltimore women's accounts, and all three of them have spoken to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Chance the Rapper became Chance the Groom this weekend, 'cause he married his longtime girlfriend and mother of his child in a ceremony that was filled with celebs.

The Chicago MC tied the knot Saturday with Kristen Corley in a relatively small gathering at the Pelican Hill resort in Newport Beach, CA. According to reports, about 150 guests were in attendance ... including stars like Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Dave Chappelle. Chance and Kristen have one daughter together, 3-year-old Kensli.

The Shade Room got photos of the wedding, and you can see it was a gorgeous affair, with Chance opting for a white tux. You can also see Kim, Ye and Dave looking sharp for their good pal.

France loves starting wars, and might have one with Nicki Minaj now after some angry fans turned on her in the most savage way possible.

First off, Nicki couldn't have been more polite and chill in the way she broke the news to her fans in Bordeaux that Saturday night's concert had to be canceled at the last minute. She says the venue didn't have enough electricity to pull off the show. The same thing happened at another European gig, but Nicki said she planned to make up both gigs.

And, yet ... you've gotta see how some fans inside the arena reacted to the news -- suddenly bursting into a chant of "Cardi B, Cardi B, Cardi B!!!"

Très sauvage! The damn accents make the diss even worse ... in our opinion.

Anyway, while that was going on inside the arena, Nicki did have some supportive fans outside her hotel.

As for the Cardi chanters -- we're guessing Nicki ain't sweatin' them too much.

3/10 10:00 AM PT -- As if the enormous rock wasn't enough romance ... A-Rod made sure the bedroom was ready for a "she said yes" celebration. Check out the bed of roses, and yeah ... he gave us a glimpse of J Lo too.

Somebody cue up some Marvin Gaye!!!

Alex Rodriguez popped the question, Jennifer Lopez said yes, and they both shared their exciting news ... at the same time!!!

J Lo and A-Rod are engaged after dating for a little more than 2 years and announced it on Instagram with simultaneous posts Saturday night. They each shared a pic of him holding her hand while showing off her MASSIVE new rock.

Jennifer captioned hers with heart emojis, and Alex captioned his "she said yes" (followed by a heart emoji). A-Rod also shared a screenshot of the definition of "Soulmate" by Bianca Sparacino on his IG story hours beforehand ... a signal something big was coming.

It reads ... "A soulmate isn't someone who completes you. No, a soulmate is someone who inspires you to complete yourself. A soulmate is someone who loves you with so much conviction, and so much heart, that it is nearly impossible to doubt just how capable you are of becoming exactly who you have always wanted to be."

No word on any wedding plans yet, but if the engagement ring is an indicator ... no expense will be spared.

Congrats!

Kevin Gates had to be rushed offstage during his Texas concert as shots rang out ... starting a stampede for the exits.

Kevin was performing Saturday night in Corpus Christi at an outdoor venue -- the Concrete Street Amphitheatre -- and was close to wrapping up the show around 11:30 PM when the shots were fired.

The audience started fleeing first, then security yanked Kevin away.

We're told there was no announcement made -- everyone just kinda reacted. Fight or flight.

Police were already on scene for crowd control and determined the gunshots were NOT from inside the venue. We're told it appears to have come from a neighborhood adjacent to the amphitheater.

Justin Bieber's clothing line seems to believe the ol' saying, "Always leave them wanting more" ... because his second collection just launched, while some fans wait for the first to deliver.

Several Drew House customers tell TMZ ... they haven't received their orders from the enormously popular brand's Collection 1, which launched on January 29. It was such a hit, it sold out in a day. They say they were told the products would be shipped out in 5-7 business days, but more than a month later, it hasn't happened.

We're told Bieber's company contacted the customers about the delay -- blaming it on "overselling" -- and even offered refunds to folks who don't want to keep waiting. Otherwise, they've been promised the items will be restocked next week and delivered asap.

The hiccups don't seem to be affecting the recent launch of Collection 2 -- which includes more shirts, pants, sweats and hats but in different styles -- because 4 of the 12 new items are already sold out.