Music

Damon Dash isn't here for the Grammys yanking Kanye West from its performance lineup ... insisting the Recording Academy has no place judging him or any other hip-hop artist.

We caught up with the rap mogul Tuesday at LAX, and he's so pissed about the Ye-Grammys situation that he says it's time to kick the whole award show to the curb ... telling us, "We make our own Grammys."

Remember, even though he can't perform, Ye can attend the show -- so, we asked what he thinks would happen if he wins and gets on stage to accept his Grammy. DD says it shouldn't ever come to that, because he's encouraging Ye to skip it altogether.

Damon's embracing the theory the Grammys are outdated and out of touch with hip hop -- and tells us he didn't go either when he was nominated.

He's clearly over Academy execs judging who's hot and who's not in the industry.

As Dame puts it, "They gotta respect our culture."

As we reported, Kanye was barred from performing at this year's award show, due to his "concerning online behavior" ... ya know, his online attacks against ex-wife Kim Kardashian, her new bf Pete Davidson and a slew of others.

Lots of folks have jumped to Ye's defense, including Grammys host Trevor Noah -- at whom Kanye fired some online shots -- saying he wanted the rapper to get counseled, not canceled.

Damon's idea is picking up steam. On Tuesday, J. Prince called on hip-hop artists -- including Ye, Drake and Nicki Minaj -- to protest the award show, and get together to perform an anti-Grammys concert.

He's going for the Recording Academy's neck, too ... he wants to do the concert in Las Vegas on April 3 -- the same night and location of the Grammys.

Jennifer Hudson's 10-year engagement to WWE wrestler David Otunga is a thing of the past with lots of hard feelings ... and now the bling is hitting the auction block.

David had Neil Lane design the 5-carat cushion cut diamond ring for Jennifer back in 2008, which has an estimated retail value of $45K.

When they broke up in 2017, Jennifer returned the ring to David. FYI ... in legalese, an engagement ring is a "gift in contemplation of marriage." If the marriage doesn't go through, in most states the person who gave the ring -- in this case David -- gets it back.

So David has now teamed up with IDoNowIDont.com to unload it. We're told David plans to give a portion of the proceeds to a fathers' rights org.

The ring has a pretty cool history ... the pop singer wore it when she snagged a Grammy in 2009 ... a Grammy presented to her by none other than Whitney Houston. And yes, it's the real deal ... meaning it's GIA certified and comes with official certification docs signed by Lane.

Jennifer and David share a 12-year-old son, David Daniel Otunga Jr., together. Their custody war was brutal, but they both seemed to have moved on separately.

Machine Gun Kelly's turning hotel bellmen into tour roadies and proving the ol' show biz adage is true ... even in the face of a deadly storm in South America.

Yeah, the show totally went on for MGK Tuesday night just outside the lobby of his hotel in Paraguay ... where the rocker set up giant speakers, cranked it up to 11 and grabbed a mic. Fans had swarmed the building after his scheduled concert venue was flooded out, forcing promoters to pull the plug on the show.

Megan Fox was right by her fiance's side when he came out to greet the fans, and then decided to give 'em a mini-concert.

Paraguay was rocked by a storm that tore roofs off buildings and had rivers overflowing their banks. Five people reportedly died and more than 80 were injured in the severe weather.

Justin Bieber is ready to leave some legal drama in the past ... officially asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit JB brought against two women who accused him of sexual assault

The singer filed to dismiss his defamation suit against a couple of Jane Does ... who, in 2020, alleged he'd violated them in 2014 and 2015.

While Justin was clearly outraged by the claims at first -- vehemently denying them -- a source with direct knowledge tells us he chose to dismiss the case because he felt he'd made his point and wanted to move on.

As you'll recall ... Bieber pointed out what he called major holes in the accuser's stories, insisting he had proof that he was NOT at any of the locations they said he was when the alleged assaults occurred.

In Jane Doe #1's case, the woman claimed he sexually assaulted her at a Four Seasons following a SXSW event in Austin. JB claimed he never stepped foot in there on the night in question ... but rather, stayed at a nearby rental property with then-GF Selena Gomez.

One of Young Dolph's suspected killers apparently has some enemies behind bars ... because he was recently attacked by another inmate.

Justin Johnson, who is in custody on a slew of charges including first-degree murder, was punched by a fellow inmate at Tennessee's Shelby County Jail while in the middle of a phone call Friday ... his attorney tells TMZ.

Johnson's lawyer, Juni Ganguli, says JJ was on the phone in the jail's visitation area when an inmate walked up and socked him. We're told there is no word on a motive and Johnson was not severely injured.

A rep for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office tells TMZ ... there was an incident Friday involving Johnson and another inmate, and it's under investigation. We're told there were no reported injuries.

Remember ... Johnson was named as a suspect in Young Dolph's murder earlier this year, and in January he was captured and arrested by U.S. Marshalls. He claims he is innocent.

Justin Bieber's leaving his mark on the Toronto Maple Leafs -- the "Ghost" singer just designed a special Drew House jersey for his beloved team ... and they're actually wearing them in a game!!

The Leafs announced the collab on Tuesday ... saying Auston Matthews and Co. will wear the sweaters for their Next Gen game on Wednesday as a way to "celebrate" the youth and "future of hockey."

The jerseys are super-unique -- they're black and blue with a shibori-inspired print and Toronto skyline stitched into the arm bands and socks.

But, the threads are a bit of a two-fer -- fans can actually put the jersey inside out to reveal a Drew House-inspired black and yellow jersey with the eyes of the signature smiley logo etched in the middle of the Leafs emblem.

Bieber -- who's always been obsessed with the Leafs -- spoke out about the collab ... saying, "My love for the Maple Leafs has always been a big part of who I am, and my passion for the team, and the passion of millions of fans, is stitched into this Next Gen sweater."

Chris Brown couldn't pass up an impromptu performance ... taking the mic at his friend's birthday bash to sing one of his hits!

Chris was a guest at the party of Umar Kamani, founder and CEO of fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing, at La Casita in L.A. Monday night.

While he was only invited as a guest, it didn't stay that way for long -- Chris dusted off his classic, "Take You Down," and the crowd went crazy! Everyone joined in ... harmonizing with the singer -- Stevie Mackey, who's worked with the likes of J Lo and Selena Gomez, played away on the piano.

Christina Milian also took the mic at the bash! Other party guests included will.i.am, Snoop Dogg, and Tank ... most of which performed!

Rihanna might have love on the brain ... rocking a massive diamond on her ring finger while doing some baby prep!

RiRi's expecting her first child with boyfriend A$AP Rocky ... she was out shopping for baby clothes Monday in L.A. at Kitson. The huge rock -- which she's worn before on different fingers in the past -- was now exactly where it should be ... if, of course, an engagement actually went down.

She was wearing the same bling back in November on her middle finger as she was named Barbados' 11th National Hero.

The Rihanna diamond goes back to July 2021 ... she was wearing it on her right ring finger while shooting a music video with A$AP in New York.

She was also wearing a fitted tee ... proudly showing off her growing baby bump.

As we reported, the couple announced their pregnancy at the end of January. They started dating in early 2020.

Michael Bublé may be best known for his vocals, but now he jokingly says he could ditch his singing career for TikTok ... after newfound success on the app.

The Canadian singer joined "TMZ Live" and talked about working on his upcoming 11th studio album and  ... a possible TikTok career!

Michael has had worldwide success since dropping his debut, self-titled album in '03. In January, he dropped his single "I'll Never Not Love You" ... which is a sequel to his 2009 hit "Haven't Met You Yet."

So far, he's sold 75 million albums, but he believes his latest one "Higher" is his best one yet. Although the album is slated for Friday, Michael is very excited about another hobby he's seemingly mastered overnight -- TikTok.

He tells us, he loves interacting with fans on the app, but it's more important for him to try to get more followers than his wife ... only partially joking. Back in September, he got an impressive 31.5 million views on his first video, after his wife convinced him to join.

Bublé has garnered 1.7 mil followers and 14.7 mil likes ... but, insists his wife is still winning the competition. Luckily though, he knows quite a bit about winning ... with 11 Grammy noms and 4 wins since '08.

As for "Higher", Michael says he got the help of some famous friends … including Paul McCartney, who gave his blessings for him to cover his song -- "My Valentine." Paul ended up working on the entire album and being accredited as a producer.

MB says Paul came to play, and he simply "has the ability to take good and turn it into great."

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are going back to the drawing board on baby names ... she says they are changing their newborn son's name from Wolf.

Kylie made the announcement Monday, explaining she and Travis just really didn't feel like the name suited their son, who is not yet 7 weeks old. So, he can't say he was attached to Wolf.

It's unclear what Kylie and Travis are calling their boy now -- she's only saying it's not Wolf and they wanted folks to know because Kylie is apparently tired of seeing him referred to by that name.

As we first told you ... the baby's full name at birth was Wolf Jacques Webster and it's on the kid's birth certificate, so there will be a legal process to changing his name.

Little baby boy Webster's middle name, Jacques, is actually Travis' birth name ... so it will be interesting to see if his parents only change one name, or wipe the slate clean and start all over from scratch.

Deshaun Watson may be a Cleveland Brown, but he's still in the city of Houston (for now) ... the QB was spotted out with his girlfriend Jilly Anais at a music festival on Saturday.

The blockbuster trade shocked the entire NFL last week for several reasons -- some questioned the controversial move, considering the mountain of sexual misconduct lawsuits filed by massage therapists.

The mixed feelings didn't stop Watson from going out to support Anais' rap performance ... as she opened up for 2 Chainz at the Texas Smoke Break Fest in Houston.

FYI, Anais was originally supposed to perform at the Toyota Center for Chris Brown's tour ... but the show was canceled during soundcheck.

"I am so thankful my team and I were still able to perform what we spent months preparing for," Anais said via IG on Sunday.

"I thank God that through the unimaginable we held it together and came out on top!"

In the video, you can see Watson -- wearing a button-down shirt and a dark cap -- right there to see her shine ... and the couple left the event looking happy as ever.

Megan Thee Stallion isn't walking away from her record label without a fight -- 1501 Certified Entertainment is suing, claiming her last "album" actually wasn't an album ... and she owes more recordings and a lot of money.

The label's countersuit, filed Monday, calls out Megan for her "Something for Thee Hotties" album release last year. Megan had sued 1501 back in February to declare the record fulfilled her contract.

Not so fast, according to 1501 ... which calls the record nothing more than a compilation of old, previously-released material. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the label says 'Something' is "made up of 21 recordings and includes spoken interlude recordings on which MTS does not appear as well as several previously-released recordings."

As far as any new MTS material on the "album" -- 1501 says there's a mere 29 minutes worth of it, and to them, that's not enough to qualify as an album under her deal.

In the suit, the label says Megan is well aware any album she makes must include at least 12 "new master recordings of studio performances," and they have to be previously unreleased. Most importantly, 1501 says it has to approve all the tracks ... and it claims that didn't happen when Megan put together "Something for Thee Hotties."

Now, 1501 Certified Entertainment wants the judge to declare, once and for all, that 'Something' doesn't count as an album under her contract. If that's the case, she would owe the label 2 more albums.

The label also wants a full accounting of what Megan's made from "collaborations, sponsorships, endorsements, and side engagements" ... because she would owe the label a cut of that revenue. 1501 claims she's never revealed those numbers, and believes its share of those deals could exceed $1 million.

Team USA superstar Caeleb Dressel just put on another gold-medal performance -- this time, the Olympic swimmer did a drum cover of "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo ... and the dude's got skills!!

Of course, the 7-time gold medalist LOVES to bang on his drums all day (when he's not training his ass off) ... and has previously opened up about how he uses the beats per minute from his drum riffs to help with his stroke rate in the pool.

The 25-year-old showed off his talents with the sticks on Monday by playing along to OR's Billboard-topping hit track ... and we are impressed!!

"Well good 4 u," Dressel captioned the video.

The superstar swimmer also shared his new drum kit setups at his home ... and you can tell he's pumped about his toys.

Dressel learned how to play when his dad got him a drum set as a kid ... and it's been nothing but rocking ever since.

Shaquille O'Neal was an awful free-throw shooter during his career, but the Hall of Famer might've finally sorted it out ... 'cause he drained a shot right in the middle of his DJ set!!

The Big Aristotle has had a successful second career as a DJ since retiring from the league in 2011 ... and combined both of his passions at once at a recent concert by taking a mini ball and shooting at a hoop in the crowd.

But, unlike half the free throws he shot in his career (love you, Shaq) ... this one actually went in!!

O'Neal -- who shot an abysmal 52.7 percent from charity stripe during his career -- was never known to be able to hit clutch free throws late in the game ... but this time around, he hit it with ease!!

Everything from the form to the release looked good ... with Shaq even using his patent one-handed push shot ... and everyone loved it!!

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are already taking steps to make their new mid-$50M house a home ... visiting the property with family and snapping pics inside the massive estate.

We're told the two spent more than 2 hours at the Bel-Air estate over the weekend, but they didn't go alone -- J Lo's daughter, Emme, tagged along -- as did the couple's security team.

Ben was spotted snapping pics inside the 20,000 sq ft pad, just before heading out again with the fam. Unclear if Ben wanted the pics for some design ideas, or just to show friends ... but either way, the home is spectacular.

The sale is significant in more ways than one for the couple ... you gotta assume there's an engagement on the horizon followed by an over-the-top wedding.

Of course, $50M can get you a lot -- even in Bel-Air -- the house is decked out with a home theatre, a gym, multiple kitchens, an infinity-edge pool with a view ... just to name a few.

The little Ukrainian girl who won over hearts with her rendition of a "Frozen" song is on to bigger and better things -- and that would be her country's national anthem.

7-year-old Amelia Anisovych performed "Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy" Sunday night at the Atlas Arena in Poland, where they were holding a charity concert to further Ukrainian aid there.

As you can see, Anisovych's rendition was pretty stirring ... with the crowd cheering her on, and even holding up their phone lights in solidarity. She got a huge round of applause once she wrapped, and for good reason -- she was awesome!

The kid is famous for a now-viral video of her singing "Let It Go" from down in a bunker in Kyiv, where she and her family had been hiding out for several days as the city was under attack.

Although her parents stayed behind -- Amelia, thankfully, made it out okay and is now across the Polish border ... where it seems they've welcomed her with open arms and then some.

Considering how well she's done so far in her music career, ya gotta figure she might have a future in the biz once this is all settled.