Music

Julia Fox is explaining what it's like to date Kanye West ... and it sounds like he's full of surprises and is very generous.

The "Uncut Gems" star says she met Ye on New Year's Eve in Miami and felt an instant connection, describing his energy as "so fun to be around" ... according to what she told Interview Magazine.

Julia says Kanye kept her friends laughing, dancing and smiling all night ... so they decided to keep the good times rolling in New York City, where they took in a Broadway production of "Slave Play."

JF says she was super impressed by Kanye's punctuality ... noting his flight landed an hour before the show started and he still made it right on time ... and when the curtain dropped they were off to dinner at Carbone.

Julia says Kanye directed an entire photoshoot inside the restaurant while they wined and dined ... and she says the other patrons loved the gesture and even cheered them on.

After dinner, more surprises followed ... Julia says Ye brought her to a hotel where he had an entire suite full of clothes ... describing it as "every girl's dream come true" and "a real Cinderella moment."

It looks like Julia played dress-up with all the clothes Kanye brought to the suite, and they made out on the floor. As we first told you, he's dressing her head to toe in Balenciaga just like estranged wife Kim Kardashian.

Julia says she's still in shock over the hotel suite surprise ... admitting she doesn't know how Kanye pulled it off and got all of the clothes in there on such short notice. As she puts it ... "who does things like this on a second date? Or any date!"

The judge in Lil Mosey's rape case just handed down a ruling that could have a huge impact on the rapper's fate ... blocking his lawyers from using any prior acts of consensual sex with the alleged victim as a defense, TMZ has learned.

As we reported, the rapper was charged with rape back in April, after the alleged victim claimed she blacked out from drinking and couldn't possibly have consented. Last month, Mosey asked the court for permission to introduce evidence that he had multiple previous consensual sexual encounters with the woman.

Well they just got an answer -- no.

According to the legal docs, obtained by TMZ ... Mosey claims he met the alleged victim at one of his concerts, and they engaged in consensual sexual activity multiple times. Lil Mosey claims on the night of the alleged rape, the woman invited him to a party. He claims he met up with her and they had consensual sex in a car.

As we previously reported, the alleged victim told police ... she and Mosey had two sexual encounters that night. She said the first was in the car and it was consensual. However, she told cops the second was not consensual because she was too drunk to give proper consent.

Prosecutors argued the previous acts were irrelevant because Mosey was charged with rape based solely on the alleged victim's inability to consent due to her level of intoxication.

The judge sided with the prosecutors, with one caveat. The judge will allow Mosey's team to bring up what happened in the car on the night of the alleged rape ... but only for the limited purpose of letting him explain why his DNA was allegedly found on her body.

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello are either back together, or they're just really good co-parents to their furry son ... cuz the trio were just spotted walking in Miami.

The (seemingly) former couple were spotted with the pup Thursday, all smiles and heading through a local park. Their Golden Retriever, Tarzan, led the way while Shawn held the leash.

Of course, Shawn and Camila announced their split a couple months ago, but in a statement released by the two, they said, "Hey guys, we've decided to end our romantic relationship but our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever."

The statement continued, "We started our relationship as best friends and will continue to be best friends." So, it would appear they're doing just that.

It was in November 2020 when Shawn introduced the world to Tarzan, posting a series of cute puppy pics. The former couple spent a lot of the pandemic together in Florida with the pooch.

John Mayer's not alone -- COVID-19 is running rampant among the promoter's crew working Dead & Company's Mexico festival, and it's forced the band to pull the plug on the whole event ... TMZ has learned.

Our production sources tell us more than 20 staffers for CID -- the promoter of the Playing in the Sand festival -- have tested positive for the virus. The two-weekend event was supposed to kick off this weekend in Cancun, but we're told that's not gonna happen now.

As it was, John Mayer already had to pull out on Wednesday due to catching COVID himself -- but, as they say, the band intended to play on ... until they got news of the outbreak.

We're told both this weekend and next have been canceled because they just can't pull off the event safely with so many staffers being infected.

The Super Bowl halftime show promises to be one of the most spectacular yet, thanks to Dr. Dre, but the stakes are high because if COVID somehow kills the show, Dre could lose millions.

As we reported, the show will be filled with huge stars, including Eminem, Snoop, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Dre is fronting most of the money necessary to pull off the event, and we're told it's in the millions of dollars.

Our sources say ... Dre has Event Cancellation Insurance to cover any calamity that might derail the halftime show. Problem is ... we're told there's an exclusion for COVID.

We've learned the pesky provision is called a Communicable Disease Exemption, and it's been around for years ... ever since SARS. But COVID is part of the Communicable Disease Exemption, which means the insurance policy will not cover Dre's losses if the show is 86'd.

The high, high likelihood is the show will go on as planned. There's cautious optimism Omicron will peak later this month ... and the Super Bowl is set for February 13th.

Even if there's an explosion of cases and the crowds are either scaled back or even eliminated, the game will go on ... similar to how it went down last year in the throes of the pandemic. The other possibility, the NFL has made it clear it wants fans in the stands, and if that can't happen at L.A.'s SoFi Stadium, the game could be moved to say, Dallas.

Shawn Mendes is a couple months single -- which may have opened up more time in his schedule to hit the gym -- as evidenced in new pics of the singer on the beach.

Shawn hit the sand in Miami Wednesday -- soaking up the sun, waves and some screen-time on his phone. Shawn looked somber, but hard to imagine he'd be sad taking in the beautiful views.

While he mostly appeared to be solo, at one point a few fans stopped by to chat with the singer.

It was back in November when Shawn and then-girlfriend Camila Cabello announced they were ending their relationship. In a statement, the two said, "Hey guys, we've decided to end our romantic relationship but our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever."

Young Dolph's shooting suspect certainly didn't cover his tracks well -- twisting his music career with murder, perhaps handing investigators much-needed clues to connect him to the case.

Cops announced Wednesday 23-year-old Justin Johnson is wanted for murdering Dolph. Johnson is a Memphis-area rapper who goes by the name Straight Drop -- and used areas around the city as the background to many of his music videos.

However, it's his music video for the song "Going Straight In" released on November 21, 2021, that had fans making an eerie connection.

Shortly after Dolph was killed, detectives tracked down the getaway car -- a white Mercedes -- to a Memphis-area home. You can see very clearly, Johnson uses the same home as the backdrop to his "Going Straight In" music video.

Shockingly enough -- Dolph was murdered November 17, which means that the music video was actually posted to YouTube AFTER he was gunned down.

Kanye West is filling the third and final headliner spot at this year's Coachella ... which almost certainly means Travis Scott is getting left out of the festival -- at least according to a new report.

Variety says they have sources who claim Kanye has signed on as one of the famous event's big names for 2022 ... joining the other two headliners in Billie Eilish and Swedish House Mafia.

Coachella is coming back after two years off due to the pandemic ... and the 2020 edition had Frank Ocean, Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott as the headliners before it was scrapped.

If Kanye joins the fold, it appears highly unlikely Travis will take the stage at Coachella this April in Indio, CA ... but there's yet to be an official announcement either way.

Kanye will certainly be a big draw and he's got some new music to perform too ... remember, he recently dropped his latest album, "Donda."

Yeezy performed a few "Donda" listening parties last year ... and just last month he took the stage with Drake for the 'Free Larry Hoover' benefit concert in Los Angeles.

One woman says the crowd at a Harry Styles concert in Los Angeles got so rowdy it left her injured ... and now she's filed a lawsuit against the venue.

The woman claims she attended Harry's "Fine Line" album release show at The Forum in December 2019. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, she says during the show, a mass of folks surged towards the stage, causing her to be knocked to the ground by other concertgoers.

From there, the woman says other folks in the crowd crushed her body, causing serious injury.

Harry is not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, but she's suing The Forum, show promoters and ticketing services -- including Live Nation, Stubhub and Ticketmaster.

In her suit, the woman claims the venue, promoters and ticketing services failed to provide sufficient seating, lighting, security, supervision and crowd control that night ... and says folks in front of the stage were left in harm's way during the crowd surges.

The fan is looking to get paid ... claiming her alleged injuries are chronic and debilitating and are diminishing her quality of life.

We reached out to MSG, which owned The Forum at the time of the alleged incident ... so far, no word back.

There's been a break in the investigation into Young Dolph's death  ... law enforcement says a suspect has been identified and is wanted for murder.

The U.S. Marshals, Memphis Police Department and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation say one of the suspects is a 23-year-old man named Justin Johnson.

Authorities released a mug shot of the suspect Wednesday and say Johnson is wanted for a slew of charges, including first-degree murder.

According to his social media page, Johnson appears to be a local rapper who goes by the name StraightDrop. His page is flooded with pics of himself flaunting clothes, money and expensive cars.

Law enforcement says Johnson is on the TBI Most Wanted list, has ties to organized crime and should be considered armed and dangerous ... and there's a combined reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to his capture.

As we reported ... Young Dolph was gunned down in November while he was inside a cookie shop in Memphis, and 2 masked gunmen were caught on surveillance footage before fleeing in a getaway car.

The feds allege Johnson shot Young Dolph to death ... and they say he also has an outstanding warrant for violating his federal supervised release from a separate weapons offense.

Billie Eilish will fill a headliner spot at this year's Coachella -- making her the second out of three names -- and a big question mark for Travis Scott's status with the festival.

A source with knowledge tells us Eilish has signed on as one of the event's big names for 2022. 2020's edition had Frank Ocean, Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott as the three headliners before it was canceled because of COVID-19.

Frank is now committed to 2023's festival, and Rage Against the Machine is reportedly not headlining 2022's edition ... which left 2 empty spots with Travis.

The first was filled by Swedish House Mafia, who announced their return to music a couple months ago -- and now the 2nd will be Billie.

Kanye West is in the midst of a pretty romantic tour with Julia Fox, hitting up NYC Tuesday night ... on the heels of introducing her to his close pals, including N.O.R.E., during a whirlwind weekend in Miami.

Tuesday night Ye and the actress did a classic New York date -- a Broadway play, followed by dinner at Carbone. The couple drew plenty of attention as they entered the restaurant.

By the way, they'd just taken in a popular, provocative and perhaps appropriate play -- Julia and Ye had tickets to see "Slave Play." The acclaimed production deals with race, sex, gender, traumatic experiences and ... interracial relationships. It's been nominated for 12 Tony Awards.

The couple clearly loves the menu at Carbone, because that's also where they dined Monday night ... but that was down in Miami, where they had a double date with Drink Champs host Noreaga and his wife, Neri.

For those keeping track, we're told that was date #3 for Ye and Julia, who seemed pretty comfortable as she whispered in his ear during the MIA dinner.

N.O.R.E. and Ye have been friends for years, and here's a fun fact ... Kanye's nickname for his firstborn -- Nori -- is inspired by his old buddy.

Anyway, we're told there was nothing low-key about their outing -- plenty of fans in the restaurant spotted the famous couples and snapped shots with them.

Ye and the actress -- best known for "Uncut Gems" -- have been nearly inseparable since date #1 ... which came New Year's Day in Miami.

Our sources say they managed to keep date #2, presumably on Sunday, more out of the public eye ... but also met up with some of his friends for that one.

We're told the friend that time was none other than Future! No word if he was third-wheeling or had his own date.

Lil Durk doesn't want to be the last rapper to collab with Morgan Wallen ... he's encouraging Kendrick Lamar and others to work with him too, telling us Morgan's no racist.

We got Lil Durk Tuesday on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and asked him if Kendrick should get in the studio with Morgan, less than a year after the country superstar was seen using the n-word in public.

Lil Durk vouches for Morgan and says they had a long talk about the controversy while they were working together on their new hit single, "Broadway Girls."

Morgan's not hiding the fact he wants to work with other rappers like Kendrick ... and Lil Durk says the 2 giants of their genres should definitely link up ASAP.

As you know ... TMZ obtained video back in February, shot by one of Morgan's neighbors, showing him using the n-word after a drunken night out with friends. Backlash from the industry came swiftly, as the country singer was banned from award shows and radio stations stopped spinning his tunes.

Radio stations are starting to play Morgan again, and Lil Durk believes it's all water under the bridge now. BTW, he wouldn't have any talk about the c-word -- canceled -- as it applies to his new friend.

Check out Durk's full comments ... it's a strong stamp of approval from him.

Jason Derulo has a zero-tolerance policy for being mistaken for another R&B superstar -- so much so, he attacked 2 guys at a Las Vegas hotel for calling him ... Usher.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ... cops were called to the ARIA hotel during the early hours of Tuesday morning after Derulo threw fists with the men.

Eyewitnesses tell us Derulo and one of the men were passing each other on an escalator when the guy seemed to troll Derulo by yelling, "Hey, Usher! F*** you, bitch!!!" That's when Derulo got pissed and punched him right in the face, sending the dude to the floor.

It didn't end there ... Jason allegedly also slapped the second guy moments later, and security had to step in to break up the scrum. You can see part of the fight in the video ... even though Jason was walking with a large dude, perhaps his bodyguard ... he still charged directly at the guys after the Usher line.

At the time, the 2 victims did not want to press charges, but there's always the possibility of a lawsuit. Either way, they have up to one year to change their minds and move forward with charges. Jason did get a trespassing notice from ARIA, and was removed from the property.

Spice wants to show women how much can be accomplished on their own, and tells us making Grammy history with her debut album is a big step toward that goal.

The Queen of Dancehall is one of 2 female dancehall artists -- the other being Etana -- to be nominated for Best Reggae Album. That's a first for the Grammys, and on Tuesday's "TMZ Live" she told us about her rags to riches tale ... in life and the industry.

The title of her nominated album is "10" -- fitting because she says, "For the past 10 years I've managed myself. I've been my own record label, my stylist and everything, so I'm just super gleeful and excited."

Spice tells us she wants to show people it is possible to make dreams a reality ... "When one door closes you can open another one," she says.

This has been a huge year for the dancehall artist and "Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta" star.

She released her hit album back in August ... and a large part of that success came from the lead single, "Go Down Deh" ft. Shaggy and Sean Paul.

Folks in the music scene aren't the only ones who agree either. Just last month, the song even made it to former Prez Obama's 2021 playlist.

Spice says her slogan is "from homeless to greatness," and indeed she is living that out ... she told us she just bought a home in ATL and she has been doing extremely well for herself.

Giveon had royalty present during his concert in L.A. on Monday ... 'cause the R&B singer brought out Lakers superstar LeBron James in the middle of his show!!

LeBron -- who was enjoying the Lakers' day off -- made a special guest appearance at the L.A. Live concert ... and judging from the reaction of the crowd, everyone was pumped.

The "Heartbreak Anniversary" crooner had to playfully persuade King James to come out and address the crowd ... chanting "LeBron, LeBron. LeBron," before the 4-time champ strolled out on stage.

"Make some noise for LeBron, please," Giveon said.

The entire interaction was dope ... as Bron -- who routinely shows love for his favorite musical artists -- embraced the songwriter in front of the packed crowd.

Of course, LBJ made sure to return the favor by giving a shoutout on his Instagram saying, "A star flat out. My brother @Giveon love my brother."

"Thank you to the GOAT @kingjames for coming out ... my brother 4L," Giveon replied.

If you listen closely enough, you can even hear chants of "MVP" from some of the concertgoers in the building.

And, judging from his latest string of performances, it's not hard to see why fans would be moved to shower LBJ with such high praise.