Music

Metallica frontman James Hetfield and his wife of more than two decades are no more, TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the former couple tell us James filed divorce docs against Francesca Hetfield in Colorado earlier this year. Surprisingly, the filing was never reported, and the couple kept it out of the spotlight.

We're told the two are still in touch, as they have kids together.

James and Francesca met in 1992, and got hitched in 1997. They have two daughters and a son together. James credited Francesca over the years for helping him through tough times, including his anger management issues.

In one interview, James said Francesca once threatened to take the kids out of the house if he couldn't get his temper in check.

Francesca was Hetfield's first marriage ... she'd also join him on tour at times, visiting spots around the world.

Wiz Khalifa almost has his Los Angeles mansion off his hands, with an interested buyer about to pull the trigger.

Wiz is selling his Encino home for $4.45M, which turns out to be about $1M more than what he paid for it back in 2019, so it's a nice little profit.

The mansion is a modern beauty, with 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, floor-to-ceiling glass doors, a home movie theater, a pool and a spa. Oh, and a waterfall to boot.

TMZ broke the story ... Wiz isn't moving too far away from his old crib, he'll be living it up, just a few miles down the street in a newly built $7.6 mil mansion.

Wiz's new mansion comes with a guesthouse and a gym.

There may be just as many eyes on the crowd as on the ring when Teofimo Lopez steps into the squared circle this weekend, 'cause the former unified champ tells us some of the biggest stars in the world are attending his fight.

"I've been contacting everybody to let everyone know honestly we're gonna have Odell Beckham Jr. at the fight, we're gonna have Akon, Lil Wayne, I've been contacting everyone tryna have everyone come and support," 25-year-old Lopez tells TMZ Sports.

"It's all love and support at the end of the day and that's the type of man I am. I wanna let people know, I wanna show that I am that type of fighter, I am that guy. I'm the man of the hour, the man with the power, the man too sweet to be sour."

Lopez, who beat pound-for-pound king Vasyl Lomachenko in October 2020, snatching his three belts, lost to George Kambosos Jr. in November 2021. It was the first loss of his career.

It'll be the first time Lopez has been back in a ring for a sanctioned fight following the loss ... and his opponent, Pedro Campa, is tough. The 30-year-old fighter has a 34-1-1 record with 23 knockouts.

Despite a tough challenger, Teofimo says he made changes to his team following the L, and he's ready to go.

"We had to cut a lot of people and bring some new people in just so we can what's the different environment that I need. My team now, it feels so more as a team, as a unit, as it should be," Lopez says.

And, Teo feels awesome.

"I'm feeling the greatest right now. What else can I say? Preparation went really well, push myself to the limits, man, to greater heights, and just seeing how much I can really handle. I think that overall it's been amazing."

In addition to the stars that'll be in the building, Oscar De La Hoya will also be in the building. But, this is a business trip for the legendary boxer. His fighter, Ryan Garcia, is a possible opponent for Lopez.

That's why Teofimo says he extended an invite to The Golden Boy.

"I actually invited Oscar De La Hoya a couple weeks before he decided to make that announcement so it's been on his mind," Lopez said, referencing ODLH telling the media he was going to scout TL.

But, Lopez isn't convinced Ryan actually wants to fight.

"If you're gonna call me out, better keep that same energy 'cause after Saturday night, I don't want them to make some excuse. If you're gonna talk about it, be about it. I've seen Ryan Garcia call out so many fighters and yet, has fought one of them. I don't believe anything until it's on contract and it's on paper."

Megan Thee Stallion has finally responded to Dwyane Johnson’s animalistic desires … rather mildly we might add … probably because she has a boyfriend who’s watching things really closely.

Meg was a guest on SiriusXM to promote her new — and controversial — “Traumazine” album when she reacted to The Rock wishing to be her “pet” as promoting his “DC League of Super-Pets” film with Kevin Hart.

An overly astonished Meg appeared to hear the Rock’s statements for the first time … which is kinda crazy, considering her boyfriend Pardison Fountaine nearly had a cow over the comment earlier in the week.

Meg said the moment solidified her celebrity but didn’t take the megastar actor up on his offer all the same.

In a comment-and-delete scenario on Instagram, Pardison admitted his joke about The Rock’s wife using food seasoning didn’t land the way he hoped and offered up an explanation.

The “Traumazine” drama didn’t end there, however. Ahead of the album’s release, Megan’s now former label head Carl Crawford aired out her manager T. Farris to close the curtain on their relationship with a bang.

Naomie Ackie looks like she's enjoying the hell out of playing Whitney Houston for an upcoming biopic on the late singer ... tooling around town in a sportscar during filming.

The British actress couldn't hold back a huge grin as she shot some scenes Thursday in Los Angeles, riding shotgun in a Porsche and eating french fries. Honestly, it sounds hard to do without smiling.

Whitney's fashion sense looks like it will be on full display in "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" ... Naomie's wardrobe is straight out of the late 80s and early 90s ... those animal print shorts sure are something else.

We gotta say, Naomi looks a lot like Whitney ... she's definitely got the singer's trademark hair down.

Naomi's been shooting a bunch of scenes in L.A. this week, with filming locations also taking her down to the marina to film on a boat.

R. Kelly's fiancée, and the woman the world believed was his victim, Joycelyn Savage, just dropped a bomb ... claiming to be pregnant with the singer's baby.

Joycelyn reveals in her upcoming book she's several months pregnant, learning she was expecting after the disgraced artist sent her an engagement ring. She says Kelly is "extremely excited about the news," but wishes he could be there for the birth of their kid.

The big hole, obviously, is she never explains how the child was conceived -- R. Kelly has been locked up for over a year.

A lawyer for Joycelyn's parents tells TMZ they're still processing the news, but aren't willing to make a comment at this time.

As we reported, Joycelyn revealed the two were engaged through a letter sent to the judge ahead of his sentencing, asking for him to get a lenient sentence while claiming, "I'm not the victim that the government has portrayed me to be."

In her book, she refers to Azriel Clary, one of Kelly's other live-in GF's as "the other girl" ... saying she became bipolar and eventually "smeared my name all over social media" after returning to her family.

As you know, Azriel wanted out of the situation and tried getting Joycelyn to leave, too ... resulting in them landing blows on each other back in 2020.

Michelle Branch was arrested for allegedly slapping her estranged husband, Patrick Carney, in the face ... this in the wake of her claim he cheated on her.

According to docs out of Nashville, obtained by TMZ, on Thursday at around 2 AM police were called to their home for a possible domestic disturbance. Michelle admitted she had slapped Patrick in the face "one to two times," according to court docs.

Patrick did not have any visible injuries and Michelle was taken into custody. Her bail was set at $1,000 ... and it appears she was released from custody early because she's breastfeeding the couple's 6-month-old.

TMZ broke the story, Branch and Carney are splitting after 3 years of marriage. She told us Thursday, "To say that I am totally devastated doesn't even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family. The rug has been completely pulled from underneath me and now I must figure out how to move forward. With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness.”

The split announcement came just hours after Michelle tweeted accusing Carney of cheating.

Michelle was previously married to Teddy Landau from 2004 to 2015, but married Carney in 2019.

Drake is saluting Rod Wave's skills as a nonverbal artist ... after the Florida rapper admitted his verses weren't good enough to make the cut of their proposed collaboration.

Back in 2021 when Drake was releasing his 3-song "Scary Hours" EP, he originally asked Rod to hop on a song for the mini project.

In a new interview with Complex, Rod admits he sat with the instrumental for weeks ... hoping for a creative spark to fuel an iconic moment but nada, nothing, zip -- came to mind.

Rod says he basically idolized Drake as a youth and felt bad about eventually declining the collaboration ... but felt confident in his decision to say no.

Drake respected the move so much, that he told Rod publicly in a comment for the interview!!!

The song would eventually still become a hit in the form of the "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Drake eventually swapping out Rod's spot for another Florida rapper ... by the name of Rick Ross.

If A$AP Rocky and Rihanna were at all concerned about his current legal battle, they certainly didn't show it during date night in NYC.

The new parents hit Emilio's Ballato Thursday, looking cool and casual. A$AP had what appeared to be a joint in his mouth, clutching a bottle of his Mercer & Prince booze.

RiRi showed off her legs with a black dress, white shirt, heels and sunglasses.

The outing comes on the heels of legal troubles for A$AP. As we reported, the "Fashion Killa" rapper is being sued for assault and battery by Terell Ephron AKA A$AP Relli ... over the alleged shooting that led to his arrest back in April.

Relli claims Rocky set up a meeting in Hollywood and pulled out a gun during the November confrontation ... firing multiple shots. Relli says he was hit by bullet fragments.

Jason Alexander seemed ready to fight the day of Britney Spears' wedding, but he threw in the towel Thursday in his felony trespass case, pleading no contest to some of the charges.

Jason, who was married to Brit for a grand total of 55 hours in 2004, was charged with 4 crimes, including felony stalking after he gained entry to Britney's home -- the site of the wedding last June -- and got within feet of the bride, who was inside her bedroom. Jason was armed with a knife. He fought 2 security guards before being subdued and arrested.

He plead no contest to two charges -- aggravated trespass and battery, both misdemeanors.

Two charges were dismissed -- felony stalking and misdemeanor vandalism.

Alexander was sentenced to 128 days in the Ventura County Jail. He's already served 64 days since being arrested and he will not serve the entire balance, which is protocol.

There's a protective order that requires Jason to stay clear of Britney until August 11, 2023.

The Game's failed to get Eminem on a Verzuz battle ... so now he's trying to bait Slim Shady into responding with a diss track.

Game released his long-delayed "DRILLMATIC: Heart vs. Mind" album with 31 tracks ... but the song everyone is talking about on social media is the 10-minute Eminem diss song "The Black Slim Shady."

The Hit-Boy-produced track mostly comes off slapstick with the West Coast rapper using silly voices ... akin to Eminem's classic "Stan" track but Game does pepper the song with several personal attacks.

Disrespectful topics range Em's past pill-popping addictions, his songs only get played within white America and how Game believes Big Sean and 6ix9ine are better rappers.

50 Cent -- who also has been ignoring Game's Verzuz challenges -- also catches a few strays on the track ... mainly for his lack of rapping output these days.

Of course, Em is one of the biggest artists of all time -- actually the 2nd highest-selling -- behind Garth Brooks, but Game says his beef is for the spirit of hip hop culture ... which just celebrated its 49th birthday yesterday!

Chuck should be careful what he wishes for, though. In 2019, Eminem happily railroaded Fat Joe's "Lord Above" song with Mary J. Blige -- just to fire back at Nick Cannon.

A$AP Relli claims he's been receiving death threats after allegedly being shot by A$AP Rocky ... and his legal team says it's gotten so bad they had to contact law enforcement.

A$AP Relli's attorneys, Jamal Tooson and Brian Hurwitz, tell TMZ Hip Hop ... their client has been subjected to constant harassment online and being labeled "a snitch" following Rocky's arrest in April.

Although Relli did not initially come out publicly as the person on the other side of the altercation, A$AP Bari proverbially pointed the finger at Relli — labeling him a "rat" online, causing the harassment to really pick up from there.

We're told things have gotten so bad, Relli's been in intensive therapy to cope with the situation, claiming the ordeal has disrupted his sleep and impaired his mental state.

Relli's attorneys also rejected the notion Relli "snitched" on Rocky or the Mob ... insisting a "snitch" is someone who initially agrees to do illegal activity with another individual, but then rats out that person to law enforcement when things go south. They say that's simply not what happened here.

TMZ broke the story back in April ... Rocky was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon shortly after returning from Barbados before the birth of his child.

As we reported, Relli sued Rocky in civil court, claiming Rocky shot him after the two got into an argument and said he suffered physical harm and emotional distress as a result.

Chicago rap friends Polo G and G Herbo are being sued by a concert promoter for allegedly double booking concert dates in Tampa and Atlanta ... and now, the promoter is looking for $300K in damages.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Polo and Herbo signed contracts with concert promoter Charles Potter of NoNaNi Entertainment to perform at a festival in Tampa.

NoNaNi claims Polo got $105K and Herbo got around $43K in deposits.

NoNaNi claims to have dropped nearly $200K to pay for the venue, soundstage, lighting, advertising, promotion, and hosts such as Million Dollarz Worth Of Game hosts Gillie Da Kid & Wallo, Tonio Skits and Glo Jenna.

According to the lawsuit -- Polo G then booked and promoted an entirely different event in Tampa around the same time as the NoNaNi gig ... and G Herbo booked a different event in Atlanta that directly conflicted with the date of the NoNaNi show in Tampa.

NoNaNi claims both Chicago rappers also failed to promote the NoNaNi event on their social media, even though they agreed to do so in their contracts.

Michelle Branch is calling it quits with her husband, Patrick Carney, 3 years after the couple tied the knot.

The singer tells TMZ, "To say that I am totally devastated doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family. The rug has been completely pulled from underneath me and now I must figure out how to move forward. With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness.”

The news comes on the heels of an ominous tweet Branch posted last night, accusing Patrick -- the drummer for The Black Keys -- of cheating.

Patrick was Michelle's second husband, the two married in April 2019 in a ceremony in New Orleans. They have two small children together, including a 6-month-old daughter. Branch was previously married to Teddy Landau from 2004 to 2015.

It doesn't appear she's filed divorce docs at this time ... but if her statement is any indication, you can assume the papers will be coming soon.

Meek Mill has landed a sweet new Hollywood deal with William Morris Endeavor -- this after bouncing from Jay-Z's Roc Nation management after 12 years.

Meek praised WME President Ari Greenburg Thursday for "opening the door" for his upcoming dives in the film, digital and books sectors ... as well as expanding business for his planned Culture Currency takeover.

Thursday became an unofficial Meek holiday and longtime friend/supporter Michael Rubin also hit "CBS Mornings" ... promoting their REFORM Alliance in efforts to fix inequalities within the criminal justice system.

Meek revealed he was dropping new "war-ready Dreamchasers music" in September ... but has been giving NBA stars Trae Young, Marcus and Markieff Morris (Meek's fellow Philly natives) exclusive practice music for the fastly approaching 2022-2023 season.

Things appear to be different for the veteran rapper following last year's disappointing "Expensive Pain" album where he railed against his label for lack of promotion.

He just dropped $200K on a Dreamchasers chain and the new deal should boost his rep with new talent.

Former NBA and college basketball standout Chris Webber is entering the cannabis biz via his new Player’s Only strain -- collaborating with several other rapper brands in the process!

On Thursday, C. Webb rolled out his Players Only strains C4, Time Out and G.O.A.T.’s Milk strains in addition to collaborations with Quavo’s BIRKINZ strain, Royce 5’9’s “Heaven” and Raekwon’s “Compliments Of The Chef” brand.

The Wu-Tang Clan legend’s company actually pays people to grow weed in their home state while Royce’s strain will double as an NFT.

And, the last time we checked with Quavo, his Birkin business was booming without any fear of copyright claims!

Naturally, C. Webb’s “Players Only” also lobs to athletes with cannabis companies and today’s launch reunites the Hall of Famer with his ex-Sacramento Kings teammate Jason Williams who has his “White Chocolate” strain, former Fab 5 teammate Ray Jackson and his Black Sox strain and former NBA champ and “All The Smoke” podcast co-host Matt Barnes, who launched “The Smoke” strain with Stephen Jackson.

Barnes was recently appointed Chief Collaborations Officer of PO and C. Webb calls it a big move for minorities and entrepreneurs alike.

For those who don’t know, C. Webb is quite the rap head … having produced for Nas' "Hip Hop Is Dead" album and even dropped a rap album towards the peak of his NBA career!