Music

If you're wondering how residents in SoCal are handling the cold and rainy weather of this holiday season, look no further than Kourtney Kardashian and her fiancé Travis Barker, who hit the beach for a stroll bundled up in a ton of layers.

The pair hit the sand at the Rosewood Hotel in Montecito Wednesday, and while it certainly didn't look like they were prepared to take a dip ... the couple looked cozy nonetheless. Both were decked out in all-black and sunglasses, Travis kept his hood up to trap in as much heat as possible.

The Rosewood is special to Travis and Kourtney, considering it's the same spot he proposed to her back in October in a proposal fit with what seemed to be thousands of roses.

As for their sandy stroll, unclear if the two had just finished eating and wanted to take in the sights ... each was carrying a cup of something (hopefully warm).

No details yet on when and where the two will officially say "I Do" -- but there's definitely a strong connection to Montecito -- so maybe they were location scouting.

Avicii's final words before taking his own life have been revealed in a new book, and it underscores the tragedy.

As we reported ... the 28-year-old Swedish DJ committed suicide back in April 2018, using a broken glass bottle.

Diary entries he wrote just before his death are in the book, "Tim – The Official Biography of Avicii” and they are heartbreaking.

The grim entries were written while he was in the hospital and in rehab ... He wrote, "Those days in hospital were the most anxiety and stress-free days I can remember the past six years, those were my true vacations, as depressing as it might sound.”

The EDM singer opened up about his long battle with drug and alcohol abuse... "I had a hard time accepting never drinking again though strongly suggested from all doctors to wait at least a year before even having a beer.” That had shades of a dangerous turn in the rehab movement -- California rehab, which suggests addicts can drink moderately and smoke weed. Experts say it's a recipe for disaster.

He went on ... “Of course, I didn’t listen to the majority of the doctors, I listened to the couple who said it was OK if I was careful. I was ignorant and naive and touring the world, still on the never-ending tour ..."

The day before his suicide, Avici wrote, "The shedding of the soul is the last attachment before it restarts!"

Ice Cube is angry at critics who are grousing he shortchanged actors who appeared in his iconic movie, "Friday."

Cube lashed out on Twitter, responding to an interview Faizon Love did, claiming he was only paid $2,500 to play Big Worm in "Friday." That led others to accuse Cube of "robbing his own people."

Well, Ice Cube blasted back, saying, "I didn't rob no space f***in body." He pointed out it was a super, low-budget flick -- it cost $2.3 mil to make -- and pointed out Faizon only worked 1 to 2 days on the movie during the 20-day shoot.

He went on to say, all of the actors were paid scale and they could have simply declined the offer to appear if they didn't like the salary.

Truth be told ... it's not unusual at all for actors to be paid scale for movies ... even movies with much fatter budgets than "Friday."

Kanye West seems to be moving on with his life after Kim made it clear she's moving full steam ahead with the divorce ... because he was out partying with Instagram model Yasmine Lopez.

Ye and Yasmine were partying in Houston Tuesday night ... he and Justin LaBoy rolled up to James Harden's Thirteen restaurant for J Mulan's birthday... YouTuber Michaela Mendez was also in attendance, standing close to Ye.

It's a sign Kanye too is moving on ... TMZ broke the story, earlier this month Kim filed to restore her marital status to single, STAT, and leave all the other issues for another day.

Kanye clearly wanted to reconcile -- as he made clear during the concert with Drake earlier this month when he told the crowd he wanted Kim back with the lyric, "I need you run right back to me, more specifically Kimberly -- but Kim's made it clear the marriage is over.

As we reported ... Kanye bought a $4.5 million home directly across the street from the family house. We're told he bought the house abruptly -- so he could be close to the kids -- and our sources say this fixer-upper is going to be stripped right down to the studs ... it needs everything.

BTW ... just last week Kanye apparently called it quits with another model, Vinetria, according to page 6. So it seems he's back on the market.

Tupac Shakur wrote a love poem to one of his old girlfriends back in the day ... it appears to have inspired one of his big hits ... and now it can be yours if the price is right!

The folks over at Moments in Time are hawking a handwritten poem Tupac penned to a former flame named Simi ... the story goes this piece of Tupac history inspired his famous "All Eyez on Me."

The poem is titled "All Eye Was Lookin 4" ... and it's going up for sale for $95,000 ... so this is no cheap holiday present ... if you're still doing your holiday shopping.

The auction house says the poem, dated Aug. 26, 1995, ended up in a private collection ... and 26 years later it's hitting the market.

BTW ... Tupac's "All Eyez On Me" came out in 1996 ... so it all tracks.

As you see ... Tupac put his rhyming skills to good use in the poem ... telling a story of how he fell in love with Simi and the direction he hoped their relationship would go.

Dr. Dre has settled his divorce case by striking a property settlement agreement with his ex-wife, and for Dre's part, we're told he's "delighted" Nicole Young is only getting a fraction of his estate.

Dre and Nicole just filed their property settlement agreement, in which Dre agreed to pay Young $100 million -- $50 mil now, and $50 mil a year from now. Dre's estimated net worth is $820 million.

As for why Nicole didn't get half ... there's a prenup which she contested.

In exchange, Dre gets to keep 7 of the properties they own, including a Malibu home, 2 homes in Calabasas, and 4 properties in the L.A. area, including the $100 million Brentwood estate.

In addition, Dre gets full rights to his master recordings, trademarks and interests in various partnerships and trusts. He also keeps all of their Apple stocks, which includes the proceeds from the sale of Beats by Dre.

They divide a fleet of vehicles -- he gets 6 and she gets 4.

She gets to keep jewelry, cash and bank accounts that she had maintained during the marriage.

Nicole must pay her own legal fees ... which amount to millions of dollars.

Sources connected to Dre say Nicole could have actually gotten a bigger piece of the pie had she settled a year ago. One of those sources said, "She could have even been on the field for the Super Bowl halftime show as a friendly ex-wife."

There are also some storage lockers filled with items from their various homes. Dre had put the items in storage, and according to the settlement she gets to keep all the stuff inside that was hers.

The settlement forecloses Young's ability to get spousal support ... something that was hotly contested during the divorce.

Bing Crosby's former estate is hitting the market ... and the place is so nice, even John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe stayed there.

Our real estate sources tell us Bing's former mansion in Rancho Mirage, CA is up for sale at $4.5 million ... and the place includes a guest house dubbed the "JFK Wing."

The sprawling estate is 6,700 square feet with 5 bedrooms ... sitting on 1.36 acres in the esteemed Thunderbird Heights neighborhood in the desert town near Palm Springs.

The place features panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and valleys ... and it's got all the bells and whistles, including theater room, pool and spa, bar, putting green and an outdoor kitchen.

The master suite is 1,400 square feet and comes decked out with a fireplace, walk-in closet and tub, plus indoor and outdoor showers.

The guest house, where JFK often stayed, is on the opposite side of the residence ... and it features 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, plus a full kitchen and living room.

As you probably know, JFK had a well-documented affair with Marilyn, and they found places to meet ... one of which was Bing's pad.

The neighborhood is super private with high-level, 24-hour security ... so it's no wonder the place hosted celebs like JFK and MM, and was home to Bing.

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari had a night out on the town Monday, and they clearly like the restaurant -- problem is, it's one of the few joints in town laced with paparazzi.

Britney and her fiance hit up Catch restaurant in WeHo. You may recall, it's the same place they went last month to celebrate the end of the conservatorship.

Britney shielded herself from cameras during her walk in and out ... but again, Catch is one of 5 restaurants in the City of Angeles where the paps are regularly and reliably ensconced.

Brit's clearly upbeat ... a switch-up from an emotional post that same evening, where she decried the abuse she says she suffered at the hands of her family.

Bebe Rexha opened up about her struggle with weight over the holidays, and she's clearly having a hard time, but at the same time offering encouragement to others.

The singer said, “So, it is the holidays and I know we’re all supposed to be, like, merry and like, ‘Yay, it’s the holidays. I think I am the heaviest I have ever been. I weighed myself just now and I don’t feel comfortable sharing the weight ’cause I feel embarrassed.'”

Rexha then went on to say ... “I just feel disgusting, you know, like in my own body.”

She went on to say ... “I don’t feel good in my skin, and when I don’t feel good, I don’t want to post, and that’s really honestly the reason I haven’t been posting in the last year or so as much as I used to.”

Bebe acknowledged her struggle with body image is from “a place of hurt and confusion.”

In the past she's celebrated her body image, saying she wanted to normalize women who are not wafer-thin. She's blasted body shamers in the past and proudly posted bikini pics, but she's clearly going through it now.

Travis Scott's Catus Jack collab with Dior has been put on ice.

Dior made it clear Tuesday the project between Travis and Dior's men's artistic director Kim Jones -- hawking Travis' Cactus Jack line -- would not be released in the foreseeable future ... and possibly never.

Dior said, “Out of respect for everyone affected by the tragic events at Astroworld, Dior has decided to postpone indefinitely the launch of products from the Cactus Jack collaboration originally intended to be included in its summer 2022 collection."

Sources connected to Scott tell TMZ this was a mutual decision made by both Dior and Travis Scott to postpone the upcoming collection due in Jan '22 with both parties working to reschedule the launch at a later date.

There have been other projects and engagements that have been sidelined in the wake of the Astroworld tragedy. Among the projects postponed -- Nike, which was set to launch a line of Air Max 1 sneakers with Scott earlier this month.

As you know ... 10 people died during the first night of the festival, and more than 300 were injured.

Scott continued performing for more than 40 minutes after fire officials declared it a "mass casualty event." Scott says he had no idea of the calamity below, and apparently neither did cops, who seemed oblivious to the deaths and injured in the crowd.

Britney Spears gave a giant "f you" to her family Monday ... literally saying "f you" to them.

Spears was clearly angry when she posted, “Not doing music anymore is my way of saying ‘F–k You’ in a sense when it only actually benefits my family by ignoring my real work." She went on ... “It’s like I’ve subconsciously let them win.”

She tried explaining why she pulled the plug on doing music ... "So much wasted time to only embarrass me and humiliate me and I guess it seems odd to most now why I don't even do my music anymore ... People have no idea the awful things that were done to me personally and after what I've been through, I'm scared of people and the business!!! They really hurt me!!!!!" She said recently more music is coming.

She continued to unload ... "I had an experience three years ago where i stopped believing in God!!!! From every angle i was being hurt for no reason and my family was hurting me ... I went into a state of shock and the way I coped was being fake denial ... I screamed alone a lot and I kept all that pain to myself!!!!"

Britney is angry over her sister, Jamie Lynn, performing a remix of her song "Till the World Ends" at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards. She said, “It didn’t make sense how network television shows are showcasing my music with remixes of all of my music … yet the person who owns the music is told no!!!!” Britney wrote. “They even gave remixes to my sister but I was always told no?”

Britney was self-reflective, saying, “I obviously have serious insecurities. Otherwise I wouldn’t have acted like an obnoxious 8 year old last week defending myself with my accomplishments!!!!” She went on to say, "Honestly my family embarrassed me and hurt me deeply ... so tooting my own horn and seeing my past accomplishments reflecting back at me actually helped!!!!"

Maitland Ward would like a word with Billie Eilish's parents ... blaming the adults in the house for the singer's adult sex life being ruined by watching porn as a kid.

We got the former "Boy Meets World" star-turned porn star in Bev Hills and asked about Billie's bad experience with "violent" porn, which she says she started watching when she was only 11.

Maitland says the real issue here isn't pornography ... the problem, she says, is Billie's parents not staying on top of what their daughter was watching.

Remember ... retired XXX star Randy Spears says Billie is right about the lasting impact porn can have on a developing brain ... because the images are too much for kids to process.

As we reported ... Billie says her early introduction to porn caused her to have bad experiences when she first started having sex ... she now calls porn "a disgrace."

Maitland begs to differ, saying everyone has bad sex the first couple of tries, so you can't blame porn.

Madonna is beefing with Tory Lanez ... she says he's using one of her famous songs without her permission, and that's illegal!

Madonna called out the rapper on Instagram, leaving a comment on one of his recent posts and claiming "illegal usage" of her song, "Into The Groove."

It sounds like Madonna even slid in his direct messages to tell him off ... she's demanding he read his messages.

The song in question here is Tory's recent track, "Pluto's Last Comet" ... and he's been promoting it on his social media ... but Madonna's clearly not a fan. She believes the song -- especially the beginning instrumental -- is a rip-off of her earlier work.

As you know ... Tory's been getting himself into tons of trouble recently, mainly with his Megan Thee Stallion shooting case.

As we reported, a cop took the stand earlier this month and claimed TL shouted "Dance bitch, dance!" while firing gunshots at the ground near Megan's feet, subsequently injuring her.

TMZ broke the story ... a cast member on 'Love & Hip Hop: Miami" claimed back in May he needed medical attention after Tory allegedly attacked him at a nightclub.

Now, Madonna's taking issue with Tory ... though it's unclear if she's preparing to take legal action.

Diddy is doing the responsible thing with his enormous, annual New Year's Eve bash ... he's giving it the ax as the pandemic takes a turn for the worse.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... the mogul was planning to throw his annual NYE party in Miami Friday night, for 500 of his closest friends, but earlier this month he decided to cancel the whole thing due to rising COVID cases in Florida and across the nation.

This will be the second year in a row Diddy's NYE bash was put on ice.

Diddy hosted the party yearly before the pandemic hit, and the celebrity guest list was insane as you might imagine, but he also was forced to cancel in 2020, because most people had not yet been vaccinated.

Still, the Omicron variant is coming with a bunch of breakthrough cases for the vaccinated ... so it's the safe play to sideline the NYE soiree again.

The last time Diddy had his NYE party was back in 2019, when a bunch of celebs crammed into Story Nightclub in Miami ... including Fat Joe, Winnie Harlow, Meek Mill, DaBaby and DJ Khaled.

LeBron James seems to agree with Jay-Z -- that no one can stand on the same stage with him for a 'Verzuz' -- and maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way about himself on a basketball court.

LBJ was definitely feeling good Sunday night ... rapping along, line-by-line, to Jay's "Imaginary Player" while in the middle of what looks like a pretty swanky evening with his wife, Savannah, and friends.

What's interesting is ... the video plays like a public service announcement to all the haters dissing the Lakers for their sub-par season -- they're only 16-18 right now. Check the look on LeBron's face as he drops lines like, "Y'all rapping ass n***as, y'all funny to me ... Selling records, being you, but still you wanna be me."

As we previously reported ... Jay-Z recently shot down any hopes he would do a "Verzuz" battle, boasting there's no one on his level in hip-hop who even deserves to stand on a stage with him.

It's no secret LeBron's a big fan of Jigga -- so, you'd expect him to ride with Mr. Carter, but it's also clear certain Jay tracks are really speaking to the Lakers superstar right now.

BTW, LeBron's biz partner, Maverick Carter, joined in later, rapping with him to "Hova Song." Remember, Maverick was kicking it with Jay-Z, Adele and her BF, Rich Paul ... who, of course, is LBJ's agent.

Killer Mike's Atlanta barbershop has been vandalized -- it's a graffiti-riddled mess with a muddled message -- but Mike's message is clear ... the person who did this needs help.

Mike posted a pic of his shop, and it is covered in the ramblings of a troubled man.

Mike says he's angry over the vandalism, but that's not his primary concern. Mike says he can repair the damage with relative ease. More difficult ... he says the guy who did it is mentally ill and desperately needs help.

According to Mike, the vandal thinks he's Kurt Cobain and Mike is part of some sort of conspiracy of silence. That may explain the Dave Grohl graffiti.

Mike says, " ... this man's mind is terribly broken. If u are from OKC and know his family or friends please DM so u can get him some help."

This is so Mike ... looking at the bigger picture rather than just that which affects him. He went on to say, "... I encourage all to check on your mentally ill loved ones because the world may not be as understanding as me."