Music

Daniel Caesar's drunken attempt to defend a white woman who bashed 2 African-Americans is royally backfiring on the singer.

The recent Grammy winner pondered "Why are we being so mean to white people right now?" He posed that question in reference to online personality Julieanna Goddard -- aka YesJulz -- while he was on Instagram Live and essentially said it's a problem when black people can't take a joke.

Full picture here ... Daniel admits he's drunk during the video. As for what triggered the "Best Part" singer -- YesJulz, who's been repeatedly called out for appropriating black culture, went on the "Easily Offended" podcast and threw shade at TV personality Scottie Beam and host Karen Civil.

Julz got scorched for her comments, and Daniel jumped to her defense. Now he's catching the flak. One user responded to Daniel's rant saying, "You have culture vultures and you have enablers." Another user tweeted this:

Check out the video ... Daniel mentions how he caught himself being "very sensitive" after a short but tense exchange with Dave Chappelle during a recent episode of John Mayer's Instagram show, "Current Mood."

Drake and his baby mama get along great and co-parent like champs, but they're not on romantic dinner date terms ... despite a video she posted that made it seem like they are.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... Sophie Brussaux has been hanging out with a Drizzy doppelganger lately, and it was no accident she shared a quick shot of the guy on social media last week ... just hours after she attended Drake's Paris concert.

We're told those around Sophie believe it was a calculated move to gain some clout by making it seem like she and Drake break bread together. It worked too -- several media outlets reported Drake had dinner with Sophie that night.

Our sources say that's definitely not the case, and confirm the dude in the vid is just a bearded, light-skinned look-alike.

It's interesting, because as we reported ... Drake rolled out the red carpet for Sophie in Paris by granting her an all-access VIP pass, and they've had a positive relationship for their son, Adonis.

Seems unnecessary for her to pretend it's more than that. Then again ... gotta get them likes!!!

Paris Jackson's had a turbulent week, but despite a suicide scare and family strife ... she's still in the mood for comedy.

We got Michael Jackson's daughter outside Largo in L.A. Tuesday night dressed like someone ready to have some fun. She's with her BF, Gabriel Glenn, and doesn't talk much ... other than saying everything's going okay.

As for her headwear -- Paris was on her way into the club to check out Macaulay Culkin's "Bunny Ears" podcast ... with special guest "Weird Al" Yancovic. As you know, Culkin was close with Paris' father and is Paris' Godfather ... hopefully, his show provided some levity for her.

We broke the story ... Paris was hospitalized Saturday after attempting suicide, which we're told was triggered by the fallout from "Leaving Neverland." Those close to her are encouraging her to go to rehab, but our sources say she's refusing.

Post Malone really takes care of his fans ... especially ones who pull off epic dance moves to his songs.

ICYMI -- Mike Alancourt, a 40-year-old bald, bearded man from 1 Vibe Dance in Jacksonville, FL went viral earlier this month after Posty, Will Smith and other celebs shared a video of him slayin' on the dance floor to the rapper's hit track, "Wow."

Malone was so impressed, he flew Mike out to Phoenix on Sunday to do some background dancing at his concert. They also shot dance scenes with Mike to be included in the "Wow." music vid ... which just dropped late last night.

We're told Post had already shot most of the video, but as you can see ... Mike still gets some serious face time, especially as a last-minute addition.

Mike's dance teacher and owner of the studio, Jen Colvin, also made the trip to hang out with Post ... on the rapper's dime.

Pretty incredible story ... and it all started with this.

YBN Almighty Jay has reason to smile again ... he just got more good news on the heels of having his stolen chain recovered.

TMZ's learned the rapper won't face any charges in a felony theft case that pegged him as a suspect for allegedly jacking around $80k in cash and jewelry from another rapper. A rep for the L.A. County D.A.'s Office tells TMZ ... it rejected the case because the victim didn't want to press charges or testify.

We're told the D.A. will not refer the case to the City Attorney's Office ... so Jay's off the hook.

As we reported, Jay was filming videos last month in Chatsworth, CA when he and his crew were allegedly caught on video stealing the loot from Skinnyfromthe9.

He ultimately turned himself in after cops named him a suspect, but he strongly denied he's the culprit ... telling us, repeatedly, "I didn't do s**t!" Jay's vindication in the case comes the day after J Prince recovered his chain ... with an assist from French Montana.

Danielle Bregoli just hit a milestone of wealth and success at a very young age -- she's now the proud owner of a Rolex watch ... the perfect way to ring in her 16th birthday.

Sources tell us Bhad Bhabie received her first Rolex ever Tuesday in NYC as an early birthday gift to celebrate her sweet 16, courtesy of her managers, Adam Kluger and Dan Roof. We're told Danielle has always wanted a Rolex but hasn't gotten around to snagging one.

The diamond-encrusted watch is a beaut, and it's custom too.

Our sources say this is a Mother of Pearl Rolex, and it comes fully loaded with 15.38 carats of VS diamonds around the band, and 1.5 carats of VS diamonds on the Roman numerals lining the face dial. All in all ... we're talking about a $42,000 value.

We're told the watch was commissioned by Joel the Jeweler in L.A.

We got Danielle out in NYC Tuesday and she was already sporting her new gift ... but she says there's still one more present that'll make her bday perfect.

Danielle certainly deserves it -- she's been riding a wave of success so high for so long now that it's somewhat surprising she hadn't copped one of these before. From smash hit songs to her own reality show on Snapchat, she's come a long way from her "Dr. Phil" days.

YBN Almighty Jay is getting his stolen Rap-a-Lot Records chain back ... thanks to some VERY strong words from label honcho J Prince, and some help from French Montana.

TMZ broke the story ... Jay's chain was snatched -- along with his wallet and shoes -- during a brutal NYC street brawl. Now, we've learned French and fellow Bronx rapper Hocus45th had a Monday night meeting in L.A. with J Prince ... and returned the stolen chain and pendant. We're told FM and Hocus flew in from NYC to hand-deliver the piece.

J Prince tells TMZ ... "It was never about the chain, it was about the name that was built off of blood sweat and tears."

We're told French connected Hocus45th and KT (the big dude in white) with Prince so they could see eye-to-eye on getting the jewelry back to its rightful owner. We're told Hocus' name carries a lot of weight in the Bronx, so he was able to recover it from the guys who allegedly robbed Almighty Jay.

After their productive meeting -- which included J Prince Jr -- we're told the men are moving forward with #MobTies ... J Prince's term for his allies.

It's more good news for Jay. Our sources say he's still recovering from multiple stab wounds suffered in the attack.

Meek Mill's city-to-city -- and now, state-to-state -- government recognition tour is rolling over to Connecticut, where he's receiving a state key for his efforts to reform criminal justice.

Meek is set to perform Tuesday night at the XFINITY Theatre in Hartford, where we're told Connecticut State Rep. Brandon McGee will give Meek a key to the state ... as well as a state-level proclamation declaring March 19, 2019, as "Meek Mill Day" in the Nutmeg State.

We're told Meek's getting this honor for the same reasons he's been getting "Days" all over the country during his current Motivation Tour -- namely, his activism to retool the criminal justice system. He just launched REFORM Alliance with Jay-Z and a string of other powerful names in Jan.

Meek's honor also falls just as Connecticut passed some crucial new legislation toward that end.

The state legislature recently passed a bill to restore voting privileges to convicted felons who are on parole.

Meek's already gotten honors like this from Houston and his hometown -- Philly actually gave him an entire weekend -- but Tuesday night's honor is first on a state level until now.

Championship stuff, for sure.

Nelly's had it up to here with allegations by the attorney for his accuser in the UK assault case ... and is now lashing out at her.

The rapper's firing back at the lawyer for the anonymous Jane Doe ... the lawyer who made claims Essex Police engaged in misconduct by treating the alleged victim as a suspect.

Nelly tells TMZ ... "It is time for me to personally speak up against this! I have remained quiet and haven’t said anything or done anything other than fully cooperate on every level of the investigation to allow law enforcement to do whatever they need to get to the bottom of these accusations."

Nelly insists he's remained quiet and fully cooperative with UK law enforcement's investigation, adding ... "In spite of my complete cooperation, this same lawyer in both cases against me, is claiming the police in two different countries 'won’t help her clients', 'are incompetent' and is consistently painting a picture that I am 'bullying the police' in two different countries to not do their job."

He believes the lawyer is going to the media for her own personal gain, and it's only doing harm to real victims by creating an idea that cops won't have their backs.

Nelly says, "Not only is this attorney continuously damaging my reputation to forge ahead with civil suits to get money, she is doing a severe disservice to women and true victims that need a safe system to report assaults against them with claims like 'police won’t help' and 'botched the case,' 'clients are being treated like suspects by the police' leaving real victims to feel like reporting would be of no help."

'Bachelor' alum Lauren Bushnell and her country star BF are putting their bods on display and, perhaps, sending a message to their fans: skip Taco Tuesday, get your ass ready for summer!

Lauren B. and Chris Lane are soaking up some rays while on vacay in Maui. They played a little corn hole and looked every bit the perfectly fit couple. She wore the hell out of a navy blue bikini ... and laughed it up with the "Take Back Home Girl" singer, who kept it cool with board shorts, shades and a cap.

BTW ... Chris most definitely looks familiar to 'Bachelor' fans. He performed his hit song, "For Her," on Nick Viall's season.

Lauren, of course, was the winner on Ben Higgins' season but they split back in May 2017. A little over a year later, she started dating Chris, whose previous GF was Lauren Barr ... another 'Bachelor' hopeful from Ben's season. Yeah, Chris has a type.

He and Lauren started dating last November and it looks like they're still going strong.

The insanely successful Peloton bikes, which changed the fitness game, have done so by jacking songs to use for its instructional classes ... according to a new lawsuit.

Peloton is being sued by several different music publishing companies because -- according to new docs obtained by TMZ -- the company did not acquire the rights to play numerous hit songs featured in its wildly popular interactive spin classes.

The docs say Peloton currently has more than 600k subscribers and is reported to be worth more than $4 BILLION ... and the music publishing companies claim a big part of that success is due to the music playing during the classes.

Some of the songs listed in the suit include "Umbrella" and "Diamonds" by Rihanna, "Don't Wake Me Up" by Chris Brown, along with older hits like "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar. Rihanna's hit track, "Umbrella," has been used in at least 55 workout vids since 2017 ... according to the docs.

All in all, the publishers say they've ID'd more than a thousand songs in their catalogs that Peloton is using without proper permission.

Peloton is being sued for massive damages ... up to $150 million.

Paris Jackson is being encouraged by people very close to her to go to rehab, but she's resisting.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... those close to Paris suggested rehab after what law enforcement says was a suicide attempt over the weekend, landing her in the hospital. We're told the attempted suicide shows some serious underlying problems ... they say Paris is dealing with all sorts of emotional issues as well as substance abuse issues.

Our sources say Paris' team had help ready to spring into action Sunday, but she refused.

TMZ broke the story ... Paris slit her wrists and was rushed to a hospital early Saturday morning, where she was placed on a temporary 5150 hold. We're told she's been distraught ever since "Leaving Neverland" began airing.

As to why Paris was released just hours after she was hospitalized, our sources say she told the hospital that had admitted her that her lawyers were taking her to UCLA Medical Center, and the hospital let her go with the attorneys, but she never ended up at UCLA.

Paris is almost 21 -- she's an adult, and therefore the decision to check into rehab is hers and hers alone.

Wade Robson says he's received an outpouring of support since "Leaving Neverland" was released, but he doesn't care if people still listen to Michael Jackson ... because this is about way more than that.

We got Wade Monday evening at LAX where he wanted to make it clear -- he's not the moral authority on muting MJ ... it's up to everyone individually to decide how to deal with the disturbing allegations against the singer.

Wade says he hopes his story makes people question who they worship ... more than question whether they play certain songs. He does reveal his personal decision on Jackson's music.

As for his doubters -- from members of the Jackson family to Aaron Carter -- Wade's pretty mum. He tells us people will believe what they want to believe ... and sometimes it takes time.

Ariana Grande's still got Mac Miller heavy on her mind ... and she wanted to let her fans know exactly how much before beginning her world tour.

The "thank u, next" singer kicked off her Sweetener tour Monday night at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY ... but before coming onstage, Ariana rolled out some Mac tracks ... as a homage to her late boyfriend.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed by fans, who flooded social media. One fan wrote, "Ariana Grande is playing Mac Miller right before her opening song for sweetner tour rn and my heart can't handle it SO MANY TEARS."

Mac's "Dang!" was the final song to play before Ariana came out. No doubt it was an emotional night for Ariana, who told fans during soundcheck her setlist would NOT include "ghostin" or "imagine" because they would be "too heavy" to perform.

As you know by now ... those tracks seem to be about Mac Miller, who is also referenced in "thank u, next." Ariana's been mourning Mac since he died from an accidental overdose back in September.

She got this tattoo honoring Mac and remembered him on his birthday too.

If Travis Scott's gonna have to wait to repair his relationship with Kylie Jenner because they're both too busy ... at least he's making a ton of money in the process.

We're told Travis has joined some elite company after his February 8 Astroworld concert at The Forum sold out and grossed a whopping $1.7 million. Yup, nearly $2 million for ONE SHOW. We're told he sold more than 16,300 tickets.

This is huge for Travis because the sellout means Travis is only one of a few artists to have repeat sellouts at The Forum in a 12-month period. He also sold out shows on December 19 and 20.

To put this feat in perspective ... Travis now joins legends like Garth Brooks, Juan Gabriel, The Grateful Dead, Janet Jackson, Lady Gaga, Sting and Michael Jackson to accomplish repeat sellouts since 1990. And, get this ... the $1.7M is the highest-grossing, single-night engagement of the Astroworld tour. #Goosebumps

But, while the rapper continues stockpiling career accolades, it's been rocky waters at home.

As we first reported ... Travis and Kylie haven't had a chance to fully repair their relationship after she accused him of cheating, largely in part to each building their own empires.

For what it's worth ... Travis has just 10 more dates left on his tour.

Pete Davidson and Kate Beckinsale seem to be in the midst of a full-blown rock 'n' roll romance -- so why not crash a Motley Crue party while you're at it?

The 'SNL' star was spotted leaving an MC gig Monday night on the Sunset Strip at the Whiskey a Go Go, where Tommy Lee and co. were celebrating the premiere of their biopic, "The Dirt." He was holding Kate's hand and leading the way again ... that's kinda their signature look together lately.

Considering what's new with Motley Crue and who's involved, it's no wonder Pete and Kate were there. His buddy, Machine Gun Kelly, stars as Tommy in a new Netflix movie about the band called The Dirt. The movie premiere took place before their shindig.

It must've been a feel-good time, 'cause Pete and Kate were in the mood to make out right afterward. They sure didn't hesitate once they were in their car.