Music

The Grateful Dead has become the target of a lot of criticism after many are calling out the poor timing of the band's recently released "Idaho is Dead" shirts in light of the 4 college students murdered in the state.

The band just posted new shirts on their official IG account. The caption read, "Check out the new Idaho United States Of Dead T-Shirt with artwork designed by @dreyfus.art. Available now at dead.net!"

As you might imagine, some folks immediately called out GD for being insensitive ... pointing to the fact that 4 college students from the University of Idaho were brutally murdered at an off-campus house, last month. Of course, that case remains unsolved.

One user wrote, "With the recent Idaho tragedy the first shirt is totally insensitive" ... another said, "Weird timing of a play on words considering the idiho4 😢🥺".

Grateful dead is selling similar shirts for other respective states on their website. For example, they are already selling "California Dead" shirts on their site.

Jack Johnson has gotten legal protection against a female fan he says poses a serious and alarming risk to his safety.

The "Better Together" singer testified at a hearing in Los Angeles Thursday about a woman he says keeps popping up at his shows and hotels, trying to get close to him.

Jack called into the hearing and the judge was convinced the woman is dangerous enough to warrant a 5-year order of protection.

TMZ broke the story ... Jack got a temporary order of protection two months ago, claiming the woman has been hounding him for years, with things escalating to the point where she recently confronted him at a hotel he was staying at on tour. He says she got in his face and it was so frightening cops came and detained her.

50 Cent trolled the hell out of Megan Thee Stallion -- and while he's catching flak for it, the real question that seems to be getting asked is ... does he single out women to beef with???

That's the conversation taking place on Twitter right now -- this after Curtis posted a meme this weekend that showed MTS morphing into Jussie Smollett. He captioned it, "Damn i’m confused all this shit going around 🤷🏽‍♂️ i don’t know what to think. LOL."

In other words ... he doesn't seem to believe Megan's claims against Tory Lanez. Nothing all that profound, but his poking fun has gotten bird app users all fired up over whether this is par for the course -- aka, going after females -- or if he's an equal opportunity rabble-rouser.

The debate was sparked by one woman who wrote, "50 cent literally only brings that energy towards women. A coward." While she turned off her replies, people are retweeting this and pointing out the countless feuds Fitty's been in with prominent men over the years.

Some of the fellas 50 Cent has publicly beefed with (in emphatic terms) ... The Game, Floyd Mayweather, Fat Joe, Diddy, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Young Buck, Benzino and, of course, Ja Rule. Oh, and he's had a lot of issues with his own son, Marquise.

Now, the guy has also gotten into it with a fair amount of famous women as well -- most notably ... Vivica A. Fox, Lala Kent, Madonna, Teairra Mari and even Oprah Winfrey.

There's also been several times where 50 has made clear ... he's not afraid of the smoke, apparently from anyone. But, on the issue of whether he's got a deeply-rooted hatred of women (especially WOC) -- the evidence seems to support that he clowns everyone.

Britney Spears' dad, Jamie Spears, is spilling his guts for the first time about the conservatorship and his role in it ... defending the legal apparatus by calling it necessary.

Jamie spoke to the Daily Mail, explaining that he feels like he saved Britney's life and career by putting her in a conservatorship all those years ago ... noting that, for a time, it was working pretty well for her -- getting her back on track music/performing-wise.

He says, "Not everybody's going to agree with me. It's been one hell of a time. But I love my daughter with all my heart and soul. Where would Britney be right now without that conservatorship? And I don't know if she'd be alive. I don't."

JS also says the conservatorship allowed Britney to have a relationship with her children -- Jayden and Sean -- adding ... "For protecting her, and also protecting the kids, conservatorship was a great tool. Without it, I don't think she would have got the kids back."

Jamie also says he himself deeply misses Sean and Jayden, touching on a falling-out in recent years following an altercation where he was alleged to have gotten physical with one of them. In the wake of that, it seems things are still touchy -- although, Jamie says he's back in touch with their dad, Kevin Federline, and that he's hopeful for a reunion one day.

Of his family as a whole, Jamie says ... "The family's a mess. All we can do is keep praying." Another somewhat shocking claim he makes -- that it was he and Kevin who actually raised the boys together, which is why not being with them hurts so much.

Back to the conservatorship ... he once again sticks by his decision to start one for Britney, saying it allowed her to have a semblance of a normal life again, and pulled her out of financial ruin. Despite a lot of allegations that have been made by both Britney, her lawyer and her legion of #FreeBritney fans ... Jamie says no one really knows the truth.

He says, "I don't mind taking that beating because I know it's not true, and because I don't want to start something else. For my daughter to end up going further down the hole than she had been." He didn't address specific claims of Britney's -- including the notion that she was being spied on at one point, not to mention allegedly being overly-medicated/isolated.

On the issue of a reconciliation, Jamie made it seem like he was closer to coming together with Kevin and the boys before Britney -- he's not on speaking terms with her ... although, the report says he is living with or near her younger sister, Jamie Lynn, in Louisiana.

Lil Wayne and Mack Maine are putting a big smile on a bunch of teen faces for a Weezy Christmas ... rewarding their hard work with a fun-filled day at Dave & Busters!

The diamond-certified Weezy and his pal Mack teamed up with Wilson Sporting Goods to throw the ultimate day at D&B for kids between the ages of 12 and 16 in their hometown of New Orleans.

The Dave & Busters bash was an attaboy/attagirl, commending the kids for excelling in academics AND with local community sports programs ... basketball, football, baseball, soccer and tennis. Each kid got new sports equipment as a bonus. They had Young Money artists Jay Jones and Allan Cubas on hand to pass out gifts in their hometown.

Wayne and Maine are partnering with a bunch of orgs. to give back to kids in their hometown. One of those efforts includes an athletic program in a renovated Harrell Park, where Weezy grew up.

They're also working with two mentorship programs called "Son of a Saint" ... which helps NOLA kids dream big and become leaders in their community through mentorship and support.

Megan Thee Stallion's bodyguard -- a key figure in the Tory Lanez trial -- has allegedly vanished into thin air ... and cops are said to be on the case.

MTS's attorney, Alex Spiro, tells TMZ ... "We recently learned that Justin Edison went missing right before he was scheduled to appear in court. The LAPD is currently looking into his disappearance, and welcome any information about his whereabouts."

The Shade Room -- which first broke the news -- reports that a separate source familiar with the situation insists Justin's own attorney hasn't heard from him since Thursday ... and that he apparently has critical information about the case. That much we already knew.

Remember, this is the guy that Kelsey Harris -- Meg's ex-BFF who was in the car that night -- texted almost immediately after the shooting, writing ... "Help," "Tory shot Meg" and "911." Presumably, he could've provided more context to that ... including any follow-up convos he had with either Kelsey or Megan. Now, though, it appears he's nowhere to be found.

With uncertainty over whether Tory's driver -- who was also in the car that night -- is going to testify (as of now, it doesn't seem like he is) and a very hazy narrative laid out by Kelsey herself ... Justin could've possibly been crucial to help swing this thing one way or the other.

Spiro's concerns also seem to suggest foul play may be afoot, but so far ... there's no evidence of that. We've reached out to the LAPD to confirm whether Justin is, in fact, listed as a missing person at this point -- and whether they're actively searching for him.

So far, no word back.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are finally ready to show their child off to the world -- introducing him with a pretty scenic background ... waves crashing on the California coast.

The couple was on hand for a photo shoot Friday afternoon in Malibu, where they were wearing matching black outfits and cozied up next to the shore with a camera crew and production team on standby. Of course, there was one other guest ... their 7-month-old son.

We'd identify him properly, but nobody knows his name yet. In any case, he was there being cradled by Papa Bear while mom got glammed up -- and you can see the kid's face.

Naturally, he's super cute ... and this revelation comes after RiRi posted a close-up video of her baby in the car -- and there, too, he's adorable. Sounds like she felt it was time to give up a glimpse of him publicly ... as we know, she's said she wanted to keep things private.

While this outing certainly looked like it could've been an official family gig ... there are moments here where it seems like only Rihanna is getting photographed. Maybe it was Bring Your Baby To Work Day, and Rocky was on dad duty. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

As we reported ... Rihanna gave birth on May 13. It's her and A$AP's first child together.

Sharon Osbourne suffered a terrifying medical emergency while shooting a TV show in California ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us it all went down Friday night ... Sharon fell ill on the set of the unnamed show at the Glen Tavern Inn in Santa Paula, California. It was not clear if the cameras were rolling. The hotel was once featured on an episode of the Travel Channel's "Ghost Adventurers."

A rep for the Ventura County Fire Department tells TMZ ... EMS workers responded to a "medical call" at Tavern around 6:30 PM Friday and transported one patient to Santa Paula Hospital. Santa Paula Police Chief Don Aguilar confirmed Sharon was the patient.

We reached out to Glen Tavern and a manager said there was an "emergency," but he declined to provide details. We do not know Sharon's current condition.

Sharon has hit a rough patch lately. As you know, she's been taking care of her husband -- rock 'n roll legend Ozzy Osbourne -- who is suffering from Parkinson's disease and other health issues.

The Fleetwood Mac "Dreams" Skateboarder was arrested at his Idaho home ... because, guess what -- weed's still illegal there.

Police say a state trooper pulled over a red Chevy Silverado Nathan Apodaca was driving because of an expired registration tag. When he walked up to the truck, the officer says he smelled marijuana.

The trooper says he noticed edibles in the glove box while Nathan was hunting for his registration, and that's when the trooper asked Nathan to get out of the car.

ISP says Nathan admitted there was weed in the truck. The trooper says he searched the car and found three packages of THC gummies, plus a marijuana dab scraping tool with a sticky residue.

Idaho State Police say Nathan, known on social media as Doggface, was arrested and booked on two misdemeanors -- pot possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was booked and released the same day on $600 bond.

Nathan's not shy about his smoking habits ... he dropped a music video with Snoop Dogg on 4/20 in his rap debut and spent a lot of time in California since going viral back in 2020.

However Nathan has a different version of what happened during his arrest. Nathan tells TMZ ... During the arrest, the officers failed to read me my Miranda rights. Initially, when officers found weed they said they were only going to write a ticket. They then found a gun and told me I was under arrest because I had a felony on my record and I wasn't allowed to possess a firearm. However, I do not have a felony on my record, which I told the officers. Despite me telling them this, I was taken into custody. I was held in jail for several hours without bond before they told me they make a huge mistake. Then was told I was only being held on the weed charge and could bond out.

Megan Fox isn't the only one drinking Machine Gun Kelly's blood ... so too are the leeches MGK considers his BFFs.

Ya gotta see this video MGK just posted on his Instagram story ... there are several leeches going to town on his stomach. It's a legit feeding frenzy down by his belly button.

It doesn't sound like this is MGK's first time doing this ... because he says the bloodsucking parasites are his "best friends."

Remember ... Megan and MGK revealed earlier this year they participate in rituals where they drink each other's blood, which led to real-life vampires issuing the couple a warning.

Unclear what MGK is using the leeches for ... blood rituals or otherwise ... but the video is not for those with weak stomachs.

Megan Thee Stallion's ex-friend Kelsey Harris says she absolutely saw Tory Lanez firing a gun at Meg -- that's what she told police back in September, and today the jury heard that whole exchange.

As you know, Kelsey has been hesitant, to say the least, to give up many details while testifying this week, but on Friday prosecutors played audio of the entire interview she did with cops earlier this year ... when she spilled every detail from that July 2020 night.

Kelsey says while they were in the SUV -- after the party at Kylie Jenner's house -- she and Tory first got into an argument when he made fun of Megan. When Kelsey came to her friend's defense, she claims Tory said, "My n****, I'm gonna shoot you." Kelsey says Tory reached toward the center console, but didn't do anything more than that.

However, the vehicle was pulled over at that point. Then she says Meg and Tory started insulting each other's careers, and things got so heated, both Meg and Kelsey got out of the SUV.

Almost immediately Kelsey says she started hearing gunshots, and after the 2nd or 3rd shot she turned around and says she saw Tory in the front seat firing the gun forward, over the open right front door in Meg's direction.

Kelsey was outside of the vehicle, but behind Tory and could only see Meg from the chest up. She ran toward Megan "in defense mode," and saw her bleeding ... and Tory was still sitting in the front seat, apparently in shock.

She claims Tory walked toward them, and that's when Kelsey and Tory started fighting. She describes it as Tory assaulting her, and adds she did not see a gun at that point.

Once they all got back in the SUV, Kelsey says she texted Megan's security, "911. Tory shot Meg."

Once the police arrived, Kelsey claims Tory told them not to say anything to officers because he was about to sign a big deal, and he offered both women $1 million each.

That's all that's been played of Kelsey's interview so far, but there's more to come after the lunch break.

Obviously, the audio reveals just about everything Kelsey skirted talking about on the stand -- with a lot of I don't recalls -- but her memory sounded pretty solid a few months ago.

Daymond John knows how to throw a holiday party ... treating his employees, fellow sharks and even celeb friends to a private screening of the biggest movie on the planet.

The "Shark Tank" star hosted his annual Shark Group holiday party this week in the Big Apple  ... complete with a private screening of "Avatar: The Way of Water."

We're told Daymond wanted to make sure everyone on his team had a good night, inviting their family and friends as well.

Daymond's celeb pals, including Ice-T, Coco and Molly Burnett were all in attendance. Daymond's fellow sharks Kevin O’Leary and Barbara Corcoran also made it to the screening.

Tory Lanez raised a lot of eyebrows when he brought his young son to court for the Megan Thee Stallion shooting trial ... so it might not be a total surprise he was without him today.

Tory pulled up to a DTLA courthouse Friday in a white Range Rover -- Tory looked dapper in a black and white suit, earring and sunglasses. However, he was silent, not speaking with cameras as he walked inside.

As we reported, Tory walked hand in hand with 5-year-old Kai'Lon into the courthouse earlier this week -- adjusting his son's suit and then carrying him out on his back on the exit.

We were inside the courtroom for the hearing, and while Kai'Lon wasn't there the whole time, he made at least one appearance ... and hung with his dad during breaks.

Tory told cameras earlier this week Kai'Lon was his biggest support system and that's why he decided he wanted to bring him to the hearing.

Stephen "tWitch" Boss left at least one clue as to what his struggles were leading up to his suicide -- it came in a note alluding to challenges he's faced in the past ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us tWitch's note, left at the scene of his suicide, was an ambiguous reference to his past challenges. It's unclear exactly what he was referring to in the note.

We're told investigators have determined tWitch took an Uber from his home to the motel less than a mile from his home Monday morning, and switched his phone to airplane mode so no one could reach or track him.

TMZ broke the story, his wife, Allison Holker, was frantic when she showed up at an LAPD location Tuesday -- saying tWitch left home without notice and wasn't answering her calls.

As we first reported ... it was a motel staffer who discovered the popular DJ and TV host Tuesday inside his room, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In addressing her husband's death, Allison said, "Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him."

She continued, "He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans. To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt. I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory."

The Backstreet Boys are unified in the midst of the rape allegations against bandmate Nick Carter ... according to fellow bandmate AJ McLean.

AJ was stoic at LAX Thursday, making it clear ... everyone in the group loves Nick and is standing strong with him during his legal battle.

TMZ broke the story ... Shannon Ruth, who is autistic and has cerebral palsy, filed suit last week, claiming Nick forced her to perform a sexual act on him while on his tour bus. She said she was 17 at the time.

Nick denies the alleged incident ever happened, but as we reported ... ABC canceled a Backstreet Boys prime time holiday special that was set to air this week.

Even though it was a school night, the stars still came out to celebrate Rich Paul's birthday on Thursday ... including his GF, Adele, and his BFF, LeBron James!!

The trio -- plus Tristan Thompson, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, and others -- hit Olivetta in West Hollywood for the festivities ... despite everyone having a lot going on this week.

James' Lakers play Friday night. Adele's Vegas residency continues then, too. Lue, meanwhile, coached the Clips in a loss to the Suns before hitting the bash.

Still, everyone appeared to be in great spirits ... and most (aside from Adele, who bolted early to presumably get back to Nevada) stayed out until midnight -- when Paul officially turned 41 years old.

The sports agent looked dapper for the party ... rockin' an all-brown 'fit, capped off with a pair of brown shoes.

James, meanwhile, looked great as well -- as did his wife, Savannah, who accompanied him on the date.

Didn't seem anyone brought gifts to the dinner for Paul ... but we're pretty sure at least one of the millionaires at the table picked up the tab for the guy.