Music

It's been over a week since the NBA All-Star Game ... but Macy Gray is STILL wondering if LeBron James was laughing at her anthem performance.

The singer took to TikTok on Wednesday to try to get clarity on the situation, asking her 100,000 followers if they think LBJ was really cracking up over her rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner."

"Ya'll really think LeBron was laughing at me?" she asked. "I heard he wasn't but maybe."

If you missed it ... in the buildup to the Association's All-Star contest, Gray took center court and belted out a unique version of the national anthem.

Some found it fun, some found quirky -- and many believed LeBron found it straight-up funny, as the King was snickering throughout the song.

People, though, speculated LeBron was giggling about something else -- perhaps Steph Curry related. LeBron never clarified, leaving everyone wondering, what was so funny??

Seems Gray is still trying to get to the bottom of it ... but at this point, it probably ain't happening. So, what do you think, yes or no?!

Marilyn Manson is suing Evan Rachel Wood, alleging she cooked up a massive scheme to manufacture sexual abuse accusations against him ... and committed crimes in the process.

The rocker just filed a shocking lawsuit against his ex and her partner, Illma Gore, with whom ERW has reportedly been romantically involved on and off for years. In the suit, obtained by TMZ, Manson alleges both women have engaged in fraud, conspiracy and defamation in furtherance of a calculated plot to take him down and ruin his career.

According to the docs, filed by attorney Howard King and obtained by TMZ, Manson's legal team lays out a series of alleged events between 2019 and 2021 that suggest Wood and Gore planned an elaborate ruse to smear him and profit from it -- even conceding, by and large, they succeeded in the court of public opinion ... despite the fact he says it's all lies.

Manson claims Gore teamed up with Wood to create a nonprofit called the Phoenix Act that purported to help abused women, but in reality ... was allegedly just a cover for a money-making ploy they were about to embark on against Marilyn.

To that end, he claims Gore sent out a bulk email to a number of Manson's former romantic partners, asking them to share experiences they might've had in common with Wood ... obviously in reference to MM.

Once they got some people in their orbit, Manson and co. claim Wood and Gore then started to persuade these women that they had, in fact, been abused by Manson during their time with him ... by insisting their trauma was buried under repressed memories.

Manson then claims Wood and Gore started systematically coordinating the women's allegations ... with checklists and even scripts Manson alleges were being produced, distributed and hammered home by Wood and Gore, all in an effort to make the allegations more believable.

Perhaps the most shocking part ... Manson alleges Wood and Gore literally concocted a fake letter from the FBI in which they posed as a real agent, and alluded to a criminal investigation of Manson, while also making it seem Wood and/or any of his alleged victims and their families might be in danger.

Manson says Wood and Gore forged this agent's signature -- whom Manson says later confirmed she never wrote it -- and then distributed it among alleged victims, as well as media members ... again, all to make this story about Manson seem credible and serious.

Of course, Manson has since fallen in the crosshairs of the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. -- which carried out a very real raid of his home last year -- but as far as any FBI probe ... Manson and co. say that's total BS, and that Wood/Gore were trying to drum up hysteria.

There's more ... Manson claims that Gore actually created fake email accounts to pose as him, and then fabricated correspondence full of compromising content -- including pornographic material, threats, admissions, etc. -- that Manson says were explicitly being exchanged (as if it was him) to further make it seem like he was a monster ... and to plant "evidence" that he'd left a damning paper trail. Manson says none of that stuff is real.

Other crimes Manson claims Gore committed ... alleged hacking of personal computer files and social media accounts he runs, as well as the unauthorized use of his SSN.

On top of that ... Manson also claims Gore swatted him last February, calling in an "emergency" while posing as a concerned friend of his. Not just that, but he says the fact that paparazzi captured all this fuss -- in the midst of Wood going public with her accusations against him -- is no coincidence ... and was also likely coordinated by Wood/Gore.

Finally, Manson alleges that Gore -- working in unison with Wood -- slandered him by making up a story that he'd featured a minor in a short film from the '90s, and that the flick included child pornography. He flatly denies the claim, insisting the woman was 22 at the time -- a fact he says Gore was well aware of when pushing the tale about alleged child abuse.

Manson wants damages and a court order preventing Wood and Gore from continuing on with their conduct.

Jack Harlow's acting career is poppin' -- the rap star just reportedly landed the lead role in the "White Men Can't Jump" reboot ... after his FIRST EVER audition.

The "Nail Tech" MC will play Billy Hoyle, which was Woody Harrelson's role in the original film back in 1992, according to Deadline.

23-year-old Harlow -- who has zero acting experience -- apparently wowed producers from the jump ... helping pave the way to his first on-screen gig.

Of course, the OG flick starred Harrelson and Wesley Snipes -- which followed the story of two on-court rivals who team up to start hustling people on the court.

Harlow is known to be a pretty solid hooper in real life -- he's been in numerous celebrity basketball games over the years ... most recently, the NBA Celeb Game during All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, where he showed off his range with multiple 4-point plays.

The reboot is produced by Kenya Barris and his Khalabo Ink Society banner ... and executive produced by NBA star Blake Griffin, NFLer Ryan Kalil and Noah Weinstein of Mortal Media.

The big issue remaining in the Kim and Kanye divorce is child custody, and his new lawyer hedged in court Tuesday on how it will shake out ... but we're told it's highly likely it'll end up so that Kim will be home base and Kanye can see his 4 kids pretty much whenever he chooses.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... based on Kanye's schedule, which involves significant global travel, the typical custody arrangement spells out in detail who gets the kids and when is simply impractical.

For instance, they've attended birthday parties and other functions together as a family, without any kind of formal structure. It's possible they'd create a structure for XMAS, Thanksgiving and other holidays, but Kanye is a global traveler because of his various businesses, so planning ahead may be unrealistic.

Our sources say as crazy as the divorce has been, the custody issues for the most part have been handled peacefully. Whenever Kanye's in L.A. and wants to see the kids, Kim has facilitated it. For example, the other day Kanye wanted to take one of the kids to a basketball game, and Kim gladly obliged. In other words, there's an open-door policy when it comes to custody.

Kanye also typically gets the kids every Sunday for his Sunday Service.

It's been a bitter pill for Kim to swallow at times. You may recall, when Kanye took Saint and North to the Super Bowl a few weeks ago -- in full mask -- there were some boos, which isn't great for the kids. Nevertheless, it never became an issue for either Kim or Kanye.

DMX's fiancée Desiree Lindstrom opened up on "It's Tricky with Raquel Harper" about how she's been after her beau's passing ... and how things are going with their son, Exodus.

"My life changed so fast," Desiree told Raq. "Holidays get lonely ... because Earl was my family, but I do have Exodus and I try to make the best of it, because I know that's what he would've wanted me to do."

The emotional discussion is tough for her ... but she thanks everyone that's checked on her and their son. She thinks X's fans played a big part in keeping her going in the months following his death.

TMZ broke the story ... the legendary rapper was rushed to the hospital following an overdose. After a week of being on life support last April, he passed away ... survived by his 15 children.

At his celebration of life, tons of artists came to say goodbye -- Ye, Swizz Beatz, and Nas were just a few. Desiree gave a tear-jerking speech about how much he meant to her ... ending it with "Forever X."

New York City native Lil Mama (real name Niatia Jessica Kirkland) was only 17 years old when she shot to stardom after she released her Billboard charting first -- and only -- album 'Voice Of The Young People' back in 2008 ... which included the smash single "Shawty Get Loose," -- plus "G-Slide (Tour Bus)" and of course "Lip Gloss."

Lil Mama continued her success by pivoting into hosting and acting roles and could be spotted on shows like "America's Next Top Model" and "The Reel" ... but her standout acting credit was her role as Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in the 2013 VH1 Biopic "CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story."

Kanye West appears dead set on burying Pete Davidson -- or at least the cartoon version -- he just imagined the burial of his ex-wife's boyfriend in a music video for a song where he rips the 'SNL' star.

Ye just dropped the music vid Wednesday for his song "Eazy" with The Game. The track features the verse, "God saved me from the crash, just so I can beat Pete Davidson's ass" ... and the video shows animated Pete being buried alive by Kanye.

The video -- interestingly debuting on the very day the judge declared Kim and Kanye single -- is mostly clay animation and at one point, Kanye's character is dragging a body tied up by ropes with a bag over the head. Kanye then pulls off the bag to reveal Pete's face and sprinkles some rose seeds over his head.

Later in the video, Pete's got roses coming from his head, and the roses are loaded into the back of a pickup truck. The whole thing is a creepy connection to the truckload Kanye sent Kim Kardashian for Valentine's Day.

Kanye's not done sending not-so-subtle messages to Kim's BF ... the last 3 frames in the video feature another jab at Pete.

Ye ends with this ... "EVERYONE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER / EXCEPT SKETE YOU KNOW WHO / JK HE'S FINE."

From the pit to ... one of the biggest stages in music?!

Antonio Brown announced that is his next move ... revealing Tuesday night he's set to perform at this year's Rolling Loud festival.

The NFL star broke the news on his social media page ... posting Rolling Loud's flyer, which shows he'll be rapping on the festival's first day in Miami just before Kanye West takes the stage.

Brown will rap as "AB" ... and it's a big deal, considering his name is up there on the flyer with top musicians like Kendrick Lamar and Lil Baby.

The 3-day weekend festival starts on July 22 at Hard Rock Stadium .. and, given his newfound friendship with Ye, it's no surprise Brown's performance will come minutes before the "Donda" artist.

Remember, AB and Ye have been best buds since his infamous exit from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year -- with the two dining out, partying and even hittin' the studio constantly.

Brown did say he was collaborating with Ye on a song ... so seems there's a good chance the two will perform together at the festival.

Even if they don't, though ... Brown still has his two hit singles -- "Whole Lotta Money" and "Pit Not The Palace" -- to rile up the crowd with.

The 33-year-old wideout has been involved in music even when he was at the top of his football game ... launching his own label in 2020 and releasing several songs, mixtapes and music videos through the years.

Darren Criss' older brother, Charles Criss, has died by suicide -- and his sibling is sending out a powerful message about mental health in the wake of such a tragedy.

The actor revealed the sad news Wednesday in a social media post, throwing up a bunch of photos of his bro, as well as a lengthy statement about what had happened ... and what the takeaway is for him as a result.

Charles -- who Darren refers to as Chuck -- took his own life sometime last month ... although the exact circumstances are unclear.

What is clear, however, is how much thought Darren put into breaking this to the public -- because his note here is incredibly powerful and well worth a read in full.

To sum it up, he says that Chuck -- with whom Darren actually started a band -- had apparently suffered from depression ... something DC says he and his family were somewhat aware of, but not to the extent they thought it would ever lead to this.

He says his brother lost sight to the darkness -- despite the fact he was so very loved -- and also takes a moment to acknowledge ... this is something that cannot be discussed in just a sentence or two, going on to acknowledge the complexities of mental health that any one individual may be going through ... even if everything looks okay from the outside.

Darren writes, "There is simply no sense, nay, compassion or decency, to try to find blame in any direction other than the inner most tragedy of an untreated illness," going on to add ... "Which is why it is paramount for me to remind anyone reading this that may be feeling consumed by any similar kind of darkness -- that there is absolutely no shame in feeling shame, and furthermore, nothing wrong whatsoever with seeking help."

He also makes sure to hit this point home ... that Chuck's life is not defined by his suicide, and that it was so much more than just that -- acknowledging the great things he contributed to this world, including three young children that he leaves behind.

Darren's brother was just 36. RIP

Paris Jackson is about to go on tour for the first time ever ... one of her stops is being promoted by the same company behind her dad's last tour ... cut short before it began because of MJ's death.

Sources close to Paris tell TMZ ... Michael's daughter is hitting the road this month, marking her debut tour as a solo artist. We're told she'll be jetting off to Paris this weekend for a show ... one that's going to be promoted by AEG, which is interesting. More on that in a bit.

Anyway, later in March ... Paris will be coming back home for a string of gigs in the States alongside musician Patrick Droney ... with whom she'll tour and perform concerts in cities like Vegas, L.A., Seattle, Portland and others.

That's all well and good ... but back to AEG, which she's teamed up with for her Paris gig ... which also has a rocky history with the Jackson family.

You’ll recall… MJ’s mom Katherine sued AEG for wrongful death back in 2010, claiming it was partially to blame for the King of Pop’s 2009 death based on its alleged ill-fated hiring of Dr. Conrad Murray.

The jury ultimately decided in AEG’s favor, deciding Michael's death was caused by his drug abuse, and AEG was not responsible for protecting his health.

Dua Lipa might be on Cloud 9 over her success with her smash hit song, "Levitating," but there's one band that wants to kick in the gravity ... because they're suing her over it.

A band called Artikal Sound System just filed suit against the British pop star -- who's absolutely blown up over the past couple years of the pandemic with the help of her new album, and this track by extension ... one that's dominated the charts and streaming game.

Unfortunately for DL ... these guys are claiming she ripped off the catchy tune from their own reggae song, "Live Your Life," which they dropped in 2017 ... to some notable success.

This is a simple allegation of copyright infringement. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Artikal simply states ... Dua and her team heard their earworm pre-2020 (when they started writing "Levitating") and trotted out a carbon copy.

There's nothing laid out in their claim to explain *why* they believe that to be the case ... but presumably, that'll get hashed out in court as this thing plays out.

We'll say this ... the two songs do sound awfully similar, especially the chorus. Different lyrics, obviously, but the beat comes across as damn near the same -- and Artikal obviously felt strong enough about this to sue.

In addition to Dua herself, Artikal has named Warner Records (her label) and others as defendants -- and they're asking for any profits they may have made off of "Levitating," plus damages.

As Putin invades Ukraine, there are a handful of big-name bands and musicians scheduled to perform in Mother Russia ... and not a whole lot of answers on whether they'll proceed.

A good handful of artists have already announced they're nixing any further concerts in Ukraine and Russia -- including Imagine Dragons, Green Day and Louis Tomlinson ... most of whom did so out of protest, or just sheer safety for their fans.

And yet ... there are even more set to take the stage in cities like St. Petersburg or Moscow -- including acts like Eric Clapton, Judas Priest, Bjork, Korn, Slipknot, Gorillaz and Five Finger Death Punch.

All these bands have shows booked between May and July -- be it one-off solo shows, 2 or 3 shows, or even as part of a larger organized event. We reached out to all of them ... only to hear back from Korn, who told us they had no comment on their plans.

For everyone else ... the jury's still out on what they're going to do.

The Killers -- who were going to play the Park Live Festival along with a handful of the above-mentioned bands -- just told us Monday they're refusing to play in Russia ... so it would seem some of these musicians are more decisive on the issue than others.

In all fairness, it's possible there are folks who are waiting to see how things shake out over the next few weeks -- perhaps in hopes that this thing gets resolved before their gigs.

The Killers are drawing a line in the sand ... pulling out of an upcoming performance in Moscow, and it's all because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A rep for the group tells TMZ ... The Killers will no longer be playing in the Park Live Festival ... which is set for July in the Russian capital.

The international music festival is held every summer in Moscow, and it usually draws huge crowds and big-name bands from across the globe.

This year's lineup includes acts like My Chemical Romance, Sum 41, Gorillaz, Deftones, Iggy Pop, Five Finger Death Punch, Slipknot and Limp Bizkit ... so it will be interesting to see if others follow The Killers and drop out.

As you know ... Russia's not only being hit with financial sanctions due to the conflict in Ukraine, athletes and sports teams are refusing to play in or against Russia and FIFA even banned the national team from competing in this year's World Cup.

Now, The Killers are joining the movement.

Joe Perry doesn't have to dream on when it comes to unloading a prime piece of real estate -- 'cause the dude's got himself a buyer ... and the sale's about to make him a bundle.

The Aerosmith rocker's Massachusetts estate in Duxbury -- consisting of more than 7 acres of land and a 7,181 sq. foot palace of a home -- is currently under contract with someone who's ready to make a deal and claim the property for themselves very soon, we're told.

The price Joe was asking -- a cool $4.5 million. And you can bet JP and his wife, Billie, are cleaning up on profit -- they reportedly snapped up this place back in the late '80s, and have done quite a bit of work to turn it into the paradise you see here.

The 5-bed, 8-bath home is as picturesque as you can imagine a countryside retreat could be -- in addition to the massive number of rooms, there are a ton of amenities too.

For starters, there's a whole detached stone front carriage house that stands alone from the main house, and there's also a 3-stall barn with a tack room ... plus a marsh and pond nearby. So, yeah ... we're talking serious "Green Acres" vibes here.

On top of that, there's a pool, a rooftop garden, 3 fireplaces, a game room, a media room, a state-of-the-art kitchen and incredible vaulted ceilings -- not to mention the fact this place is totally gated and offers the utmost privacy.

And did we bring up the gorgeous nature all around???

Before this happy little kid was bringing smiles to faces with her music and quirky television characters, she was just another southern sweetie with a bright future growing up on a ranch in Oklahoma.

While this star shared a throwback in a sepia tone shot ... you might have better luck guessing who is in the old school shot if you knew she was known for her ravishing red hair!

If you are still having a hard time tracking down the cute kid maybe try listening to some of her number 1 hits including "Rumor Has It," "You Lie" and "Walk On."

Every so often, Amerie's hit single '1 Thing' crops up online -- and like clockwork, a fierce debate gets fired up ... inevitably bringing Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez into the convo.

Here's the deal ... the 2005 track -- featured on Amerie's 2nd album, 'Touch' -- resurfaces on Twitter every few months, like it's doing now, with many arguing her mainstream success was cut short ... and not just that, but that she was allegedly done dirty by the industry.

The reason folks feel like that ... her fans say this unique sound featured on the song, which is often referred to as "go-go" and was quite popular at the time, is one that ended up also getting used by stars like Bey and J Lo, among other female R&B singers back then.

With tracks of theirs like "Crazy In Love" and "Get Right," respectively, employing similar break beats and drum patterns -- some have even gone so far as to claim that B and J (Lo) actually hijacked Amerie's whole aesthetic ... and, thus, robbed her of her thunder.

Of course, a proper timeline of events is necessary here to put things in context ... as is an explanation of who the heck Rich Harrison is, because he's at the center of all of this -- and the main reason for the comparisons being made in the first place.

Harrison was a producer in the 2000s who was working a lot with Columbia Records -- who had all these ladies under their roster in the early to mid-2000s. Fact is, he was making "go-go" beats for just about all them, and others in the game too ... including Toni Braxton, Kelly Rowland and even Mary J. Blige. Everybody was dipping their toe into the RH pool here.

As for who did what first -- between Bey, J and Amerie, that is -- it would appear Beyonce was, in fact, the first of the 3 to trot out Harrison's sound with 'CIL' ('03), even though KR might've arguably had it first with '02's "Can't Nobody" -- and perhaps others used it even before then. Amerie and J Lo, meanwhile, came out with their songs, "1 Thing" and "Get Right," around the same time in 2005 ... with JL getting a slightly earlier release in January.

And spoiler alert ... ALL of these songs were produced by Harrison, so of course they sound alike!

So that settles that, or so it seems. However, there's one other element here that's also getting some attention as it relates to Amerie and J Lo, specifically ... namely, old stories/rumors that Jen was allegedly getting prioritized over labelmates/contemporaries.

This has been a recurring theme in J Lo's music career -- Fat Joe even touched on it not too long ago -- but the alleged tale goes ... '1 Thing' was supposedly being shopped to J Lo BTS, and the Columbia label heads actually wanted it to go to her instead of Amerie.

Upon learning this, they say Amerie went ahead and leaked '1 Thing' to radio stations on her own, and because it became so popular ... Columbia had to back down and let it be.