Music

Oprah is pulling the plug on #MeToo documentary centered around Russell Simmons ... she's stepping down as executive producer, and blocking its path to Apple TV+.

O announced her decision to distance herself from the project Friday, this after getting dragged by 50 Cent and The Game, who said she was targeting black men accused of being sexual predators instead of their white counterparts.

Oprah says, “I have decided that I will no longer be executive producer on The Untitled Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering Documentary and it will not air on Apple TV+."

The doc, which features a former music exec who accused Russell of sexual misconduct, is set to premiere next month at the Sundance Film Festival.

Oprah adds, "First and foremost, I want it to be known that I unequivocally believe and support the women. Their stories deserve to be told and heard."

Yo Gotti's sick and tired of the fatal bloodshed in Mississippi State Prisons, so he's enlisted Jay-Z's Roc Nation to demand the Governor make immediate changes ... or face a lawsuit.

On the heels of 5 inmates getting killed in 3 different MS prisons ... Gotti's called on Team Roc -- the philanthropic arm of Roc Nation -- and it fired off a letter Thursday to Gov. Phil Bryant. In the letter, they make it clear they'll take legal action if Bryant doesn't take steps to improve prison conditions.

Gotti's pissed off because 2 of the deaths went down at the prison known as Parchman Farm ... not far from his hometown of Memphis. Gotti says the prison conditions are "absolutely inhumane and unconstitutional."

Prison violence in Mississippi has increased sharply in the last 10 days, with riots and escapes. Critics say gangs have almost literally taken over some of the penitentiaries ... which are reportedly woefully understaffed and underfunded.

In its letter to the Governor, Team Roc says inmates -- male and female -- are "forced to live in squalor, with rats that crawl over them as they sleep on the floor, having been denied even a mattress for a cot." They believe the conditions are so bad, they constitute cruel and unusual punishment ... a violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Will Smith could still get jiggy with it ... because he's not completely shutting down the idea of putting out another album.

We got Will in New York City Friday, and our guy asked if he's ever going to drop a follow-up record to 1997's "Big Willie Style" ... and Will leaves the door wide open.

The 'Fresh Prince' is in the Big Apple promoting his latest movie with Martin Lawrence, "Bad Boys For Life" ... and it sounds like Will's still got a soft spot for the recording studio.

Will's obviously not averse to sequels ... so it's not a stretch to think he'll make his return to the rap game one day. Our photog has a special date in mind for a potential album drop.

Neil Peart from the band Rush -- one of the greatest drummers in rock history -- died Tuesday after battling cancer ... according to his family.

Peart passed away in Santa Monica. The family says he'd been diagnosed with brain cancer 3 years ago, but hadn't announced it to Rush's legion of fans around the world.

The Canadian rock trio of Rush formed in 1968, but Neil didn't join his bandmates -- bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson -- until 1974. All 3 men were known as virtuoso musicians and Neil's solo's are legendary ... in particular his drumming on iconic songs like "Tom Sawyer."

His influence on today's rock musicians can't be overstated. If you, or your parents, were a drummer growing up in the 70s or 80s... you know about the endless hours amateurs spent trying to play like Neil.

Sadly, he announced his retirement from the band in 2015 -- he'd been battling chronic pain related to tendinitis. The following year they announced the band was done touring ... not only because of Neil's health, but Alex was also battling arthritis.

Ex-"Love and Hip Hop" star Mally Mall is facing a new lawsuit for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman, who claims she went to his home to talk business and ended up in an orgy-like nightmare.

26-year-old fitness and clothing model Quashay Davis says she flew from Dallas to L.A. in January 2019 to meet with Mally about her career in the fitness biz.

She says she went to his house, where he introduced her to an ex-porn star named Jayla Foxx. She claims while laying in bed ... Mally had Jayla go get a mixed drink -- with Hennessey -- which she brought to the bedroom.

Quashay says she drank it, and then got dizzy and blacked out. According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the next thing she remembered was waking up to a masseuse massaging her.

She claims Mally was there too, and slapped her face in an effort to keep her conscious ... and said, "You're my new bitch," and "You're my Jayla number two." Quashay alleges Mally also tried to get her to do cocaine, then forced her to perform oral sex on him -- before roughly penetrating her.

Quashay says she asked Mally to stop, but he put more of his weight on her ... and she "feared for her life and worried that he would crush or choke her to death."

Billie Eilish is ripping a page out of Mark Wahlberg's playbook ... by living it up in Hawaii.

The Grammy-nominated singer's in the Aloha State having a blast with her friends. In a rare wardrobe move ... Billie rocks the hell out of a bathing suit. We're so used to seeing her in baggy clothing ... but when in Rome, right?

Looks like a few friends joined her on the trip and they went on quite the excursion ... from zip lining and kayaking to going on a sick helicopter ride and swinging into a lake. She also shared what looks like a Jacuzzi with a friend ... never mind the rain.

And, even though the weather hasn't been cooperating ... Billie still managed to have an incredible photo of her looking outside a helicopter window with a perfect rainbow as her backdrop.

Billie, of course, has been nominated for 6 Grammys ... including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. "Ocean Eyes" was arguably the song that put her on the map but "Bad Guy" is what's now earned her critical acclaim.

Joycelyn Savage had direct contact with her family for the first time since she left home nearly 3 years ago to live with R. Kelly ... and it might be a sign of things to come.

Gerald Griggs -- the attorney for Joycelyn's parents, Tim and Jonjelyn -- tells TMZ ... Joycelyn's immediate family members were secretly brought to the holding area of the Chicago courthouse Thursday after her hearing to meet with her.

We're told law enforcement facilitated the meeting, which went down before Savage was released on bond for the alleged battery of Azriel Clary during their Wednesday brawl at Kelly's Trump Tower condo.

Griggs says Joycelyn was surprised to see her family at first, but talked to them for about 20 minutes. We're told there were plenty of hugs, and immediate family members told her how much they love her and want her to come home.

Joycelyn was given direct contact info for her parents, and Griggs claims she's willing to set up further contact. We're told the family is hopeful she will willingly reunite with them soon ... because she said she'd be in touch.

O.J. Simpson's hell-bent on going to trial with The Cosmopolitan, and he's evoking the name of Meek Mill to plead his case ... according to new legal docs.

Juice is trying to avoid arbitration in his lawsuit against the Las Vegas hotel -- in which he claims he was defamed -- because he argues the Cosmo's history of "intentionally and recklessly attacking well-known public figures by placing them in a false light and defaming them" warrants a jury trial.

Simpson refers to the rapper in the docs as "another African American public figure" who was defamed by The Cosmopolitan, and says the hotel was "forced to apologize" only because Meek went public with his grievances.

Essentially, O.J. wants to go public with his as well ... which is why he seeks to put the kibosh on a much more private arbitration process. According to the docs ... he also expects a jury to award him much more money in punitive damages.

As you'll recall ... Simpson was banned from Cosmo in 2017 just weeks after his prison release for allegedly being drunk and disruptive. He claims he was neither drunk nor belligerent and was falsely accused.

Meek Mill, on the other hand, was threatened with an arrest by the hotel back in May for trespassing. The rapper accused Cosmo of going to "extreme racist levels" to keep black entertainers off its property.

The nasty fight between R. Kelly's girlfriends that led to Joycelyn Savage being charged with battery has had a major effect on Azriel Clary too ... apparently, she's considering working with the feds.

Sources close to Azriel tell TMZ ... she's come to a realization that Kelly played mind games and manipulated her since she moved out of his Trump Tower condo and reconnected with her family.

We're told she now wants to help law enforcement with its investigation into Kelly, but she has a huge hang-up -- she's terrified because she's lied to federal agents several times in the past.

Our sources say she fears she could be in big trouble if she changes her story and tells the feds what has really gone down with her, Joycelyn and Kelly. We're told she also signed an NDA with the singer ... so she's also scared of the legal repercussions of speaking out against him now.

Azriel, we're told, is adamant she's telling the truth about Joycelyn having sex with her when she was still a minor -- which is what she claims started the blowout fight with Savage at Trump Tower.

We broke the story ... cops were called to Kelly's Chicago pad after Azriel and Joycelyn got into a brawl, which was captured on Azriel's Instagram Live video.

Clary made the allegations against Savage in the vid, along with saying R. Kelly's "been lying to you guys" and claiming he had her and Joycelyn lie for him too.

As for the feds ... our law enforcement sources say investigators are reviewing the incident between Kelly's GFs, but for now, there are no plans to get involved.

Kitti Jones -- one of R. Kelly's exes who's accused him of physical abuse and sexual coercion -- is weighing in on Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage's fight and says they may end up saving each other.

We got Kitti out Friday morning in NYC, and it's crystal clear she has strong feelings after seeing the video of Azriel come to blows with Joycelyn in Kelly's condo. Kitti, a former Dallas radio DJ, says she was 33 when she met Kelly.

Still, she says she knows what it's like to be in Azriel's shoes, and offered some tips on recovering.

Kitti appeared in both 'Surviving R. Kelly' docs, and tells us even though Azriel and Joycelyn were brawling, they could ultimately end up being allies. As Kitti puts it ... that shared experience of dealing with Kelly is a powerful one.

TMZ broke the story ... cops responded to Kelly's Trump Tower condo after Azriel and Joycelyn came to blows. During the fight, Azriel threatened to send Joycelyn to jail ... for having sex with her when she was a minor.

Jennifer Lopez has friends in high places ... and her star power was on display while shooting a Super Bowl commercial.

J Lo put in some serious work Thursday at the Hard Rock Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, where she was on set with her fiance Alex Rodriguez, mega-producer DJ Khaled, rockstar Steven Van Zandt and NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

TMZ's obtained behind-the-scenes pics and vids showing Jennifer rocking a tight white outfit from head-to-toe, and flanked by a huge filming crew. A-Rod's wardrobe included a blue sport coat, while DJ Khaled was, of course, wearing an eye-catching, bright yellow tracksuit -- and cracking up everyone on set.

Drake is lavishing himself with some super-expensive custom jewelry ... and one of his newest pieces was a big hint that his upcoming single with Future was on the way.

Our sources tell us Drake just dropped over $1 MILLION on a customized heart-shaped necklace, a pricey present for himself.

Drake commissioned Gemma Fine Jewelry to make the chain, which comes in at a whopping 100 carats. We're told the piece took several months to create -- heart-shaped diamonds are in high demand, and are extremely difficult to fashion.

Champagne Papi's adding to a growing collection of heart-shaped bling ... he's already got a diamond ring in the shape of a heart. Seems like this design is his new thing.

As for the increasing rumblings of a Drake and Future album, check out their matching gold and silver pendants. We're told the pieces, made by Jason of Beverly Hills, are each worth $200,000 and feature over half a kilo of gold and 40-carat diamonds.

Philadelphia-born Bobby Rydell (real name Robert Louis Ridarelli) shot to stardom in the early '60s as a rock musician and teen idol with smash songs like "Volare," "Sway," "I'll Never Dance Again" and "Wild One."

After a flood of rockin' songs, Bobby Rydell took to the big screen and was cast as the jealous boyfriend, Hugo Peabody, in the iconic 1963 movie adaptation of "Bye Bye Birdie" alongside Ann-Margret as the smooching Kim McAfee and Dick Van Dyke as the scientific Albert F. Peterson.

Rydell has been recently ramping up for a string of shows across the states later in 2020.

Ne-Yo loves himself so much, he listens to his own music when he has sex, but he's now confessing that can create certain, umm ... performance issues.

We got the singer at LAX and our photog asked about his recent revelation -- he makes love to his own tracks! As for which songs ... Ne-Yo told us his wife, Crystal Renay, usually picks the playlist. He's a gentleman, after all.

Ne-Yo's got a huge catalog, packed with perfect songs for doing the deed, but he says the slower tunes usually set the mood just right -- in particular, he says "Mirror" is the #1 request. Feel free to try it yourself!

If there was ever any doubt, Ne-Yo is a perfectionist ... you gotta see him explain the one hazard of banging while his voice is blaring on a speaker. Let's just say it has to do with different strokes.

Edd Byrnes, who became famous acting in movies like "Grease" and iconic TV shows like "77 Sunset Strip" is dead.

Byrnes died unexpectedly Wednesday at his Santa Monica home of natural causes.

His career had a bunch of high points. Edd played Vince Fontaine in "Grease," he was the host of the famous National Bandstand dance-off.

As for "77 Sunset Strip" -- which ran from 1958-1964 -- it was one of the most popular shows on the boob tube. He became the breakout star -- Kookie. For most of you who have never heard of the show, he was as big as Luke Perry's character in '90210' ... and not dissimilar.

Edd even scored a gold record for the hit with Connie Stevens, "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)," which hit #4 in 1959 and spent 13 weeks on the Billboard chart. The character Kookie was famous for combing his impressive locks with a comb.

Other credits include "Charlie's Angels," "Fantasy Island," "Married With Children," "Murder, She Wrote," "Maverick," and, of course -- where every star eventually landed -- "The Love Boat."

He leaves behind his son, Logan, an evening news anchor in San Diego and his longtime partner, Catherine Gross.

Edd was 87. RIP

Jillian Michaels stands by her comment about Lizzo's weight, but says don't for a second think she was fat shaming her over her worth as an entertainer ... it was all about her health.

We got the fitness guru Thursday morning in NYC, and she was playing a little defense over her Wednesday interview where she said, "Why are we celebrating [Lizzo's] body? Why does it matter? Why aren't we celebrating her music? 'Cause it isn't gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes."

Lizzo fans came for JM's head immediately, but she says everyone's got it twisted. Jillian told us she's always preached, "Your weight and your size have no bearing or merit on your value, your beauty, your worth, your ability."

Now, health? That's a whole other issue, and Jillian ain't about to back down on that front!

She told us why she believes acting like Lizzo's size isn't opening her up to several serious health risks ... is downright irresponsible. She runs down a few of the dangers the singer could be facing ... again, in Jillian's eyes.

Watch the clip, as a health and fitness expert, Jillian's definitely confident in what she's saying here -- but will Lizzo fans feel good as hell about it?

We highly doubt it.