Music

Nick Lachey has been ordered to attend anger management and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings after going off on a paparazzo in Los Angeles ... TMZ has confirmed.

Nick flew off the handle last year after spotting a woman who was filming his wife and himself after a night out a Mastro's in Bev Hills. Nick was enraged and caught on camera reaching for the woman's phone.

The L.A. County D.A. tells TMZ ... Lachey was never charged with a crime ... instead, the D.A. has a diversion program where someone can avoid prosecution ... in Nick's case, he won't be charged with assault and battery if he attends AA and anger management.

The woman, Jody Santos, spoke to Daily Mail about the incident, saying, "He's had plenty of time to apologize, but instead he just figured I would go away. What he did was wrong. Attempting to bust his fist through my car window when all I was doing was taking photographs of him. He should have been thanking me for the free publicity. I mean, really. Talk about an oversized ego."

Before J. Cole was smoking his rap competition, he was regularly smoking cigarettes in elementary school -- but he credits his mother for setting him straight!!!

Cole made the shocking confession on Golden State Warriors General Manager Bob Myers' "Lead By Example" podcast and admitted to taking his first tobacco puffs at just six ... attempting to impress the older kids in his Fayetteville, N.C. neighborhood.

Cole says he didn't have a strict upbringing but when his older brother, Zach, got wind of his shenanigans, he told their mom ... and she immediately smelled the cigs on his breath and proceeded to give him a "life-changing" ass whooping!!!

The Dreamville rapper recalls immediately growing remorseful for initially lying to his mother about smoking and changed his ways, which brought him to his true love for making music. Obviously, that panned out for him.

After five platinum albums, he's been hinting at retirement but still oversees his stable of Dreamville artists, who all just combined forces for the "Creed III" soundtrack last month.

Chaeyoung -- a member of the K-Pop group Twice -- is apologizing for wearing a swastika on her shirt ... saying she didn't realize what the symbol was.

The singer took to IG for her mea culpa, writing ... "I sincerely apologize regarding the Instagram post. I didn't correctly recognize the meaning of the tilted swastika in the t-shirt I wore."

She adds, "I deeply apologize for not thoroughly reviewing it, causing concern. I will pay absolute attention in the future to prevent any situation similar from happening again."

Unclear when she wore the top in question, but there's a photo that shows her posing at a restaurant with a Sid Vicious graphic tee, where he's depicted in black and white ... and baring a swastika on his own shirt.

You could argue she's just a Sex Pistols fan, but some called it antisemitic -- and she obviously felt a correction was needed. As for her explanation ... some aren't buying it.

The Weeknd is officially the G.O.A.T ... at least, according to the folks at Guinness World Records, whose data shows he's officially the most popular artist on the planet!!!

Weeknd just broke 2 new records on Spotify ... one for most monthly listeners in Spotify history by breaching the 111-million mark, and another for being the first artist to breach the 100-million monthly listeners' mark in general.

He recently joined Michael Jackson as the only artist with multiple No. 1 songs from 3 of his albums ... thanks to his recently released "Die For You (Remix)" with Ariana Grande.

The 2020 track "Blinding Lights" is also the biggest song EVER ... achieving the most Spotify streams, and it's also the longest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 of all time with a total of 90 weeks on the chart.

Hillary and Chelsea Clinton's Broadway outing turned into a real stinker last week -- 'cause someone pooped near them ... and it may be a thing.

The former First Lady and First Kid attended a production of "Some Like It Hot" in the Big Apple, and according to Page Six -- staffers claim there was crap found within eyeshot at intermission ... it sounds like it was in the same aisle in which they were sitting.

Unclear if HC and CC reacted or even noticed, but Page Six says they stuck around for the second act ... and that the doo-doo was cleaned up swiftly and without issue.

As for the culprit ... the outlet reports, citing sources, it was an elderly person who let it blow.

Now, here's the crazy thing ... a source is telling PS it was just a one-off and an accident -- but other sources they're talking to say this might be a repeat offender. Someone they talked to says it's the 4th such time it's happened.

It's a mystery for now, we suppose -- and it doesn't seem anyone's doing much to get to the bottom of it.

BTW, Hillary and Chelsea are far from the only celebs hitting this play -- other stars who've swung by include Martin Short, Kristin Chenoweth, Hank Azaria, Spielberg and more. Here's hoping their shows weren't as crappy.

There's a family battle brewing among The Isley Brothers ... with Rudolph Isley accusing his younger brother Ronald Isley of going behind his back and possibly cutting him out of a ton of money.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Rudolph is suing Ronald over the rights to "The Isley Brothers" trademark ... he says Ronald applied and got approval for the trademark in his own name and is taking all the profits.

Rudolph says he and Ronald are supposed to split all profits from the band 50/50 ... claiming they've each had 50% ownership in the band since their brother O'Kelly died way back in 1986 ... but Rudolph claims Ronald recently went rogue.

In the docs, Rudolph claims Ronald applied for and was granted the exclusive rights to "The Isley Brothers" for use on "visual recordings and audiovisual recordings featuring music and animation" back in August ... but Rudolph says Ronald needs his approval to cut such a deal.

Rudolph says Ronald applied to put the trademark in his name in November 2021 ... but Rudolph claims they previously split all the profits for some big transactions, including a multi-million dollar publishing deal ... and now he wants the judge to order an accounting to see just how much money Ronald's been raking in since the change.

What's more, Rudolph wants the court to step in and declare "The Isley Brother" trademark is jointly owned by him and his brother ... and he wants Ronald to cough up half of any money he's been making off their band's good name since getting the trademark.

XXXTentacion's family can finally turn the page over his tragic murder now that 3 men were found guilty of killing him -- so says his mother ... who's relieved justice was served.

The late rapper's mom, Cleopatra Bernard, tells TMZ ... she and her brood are grateful the jury delivered a guilty verdict, and thankful prosecutors were able to secure it through their work at trial. She says this has given them closure and will allow them to move forward in peace.

We're told she's also sending love and thanks to all of XXX's supporters ... who showed up for him in a variety of ways during this saga -- both digitally and, in some cases, in person.

As for whether Cleopatra anticipated this outcome, she tells us she actually did ... and went into court Monday expecting all three defendants would be found guilty of murder -- which, of course, they were after about 2 weeks of deliberations. She was also wearing an XXX shirt.

Cleopatra says the experience has been gut-wrenching but is glad it's all over now.

One last thing from Cleopatra here -- she tells us that the attempt to rope Drake into this trial from the defense side was a transparently desperate ploy just to raise doubt -- and insists she and her loved ones always knew who was responsible for her son's death.

Young Dolph was planning to expand his Paper Route Empire into the world of TV and film before he died ... a strategy the late rap star expressed to his team in this newly released footage.

In the conclusion of “Love For the Streets,” a track that appears on Dolph's posthumous LP "Paper Route Frank," Dolph toasts golden champagne bottles with his PRE team, urging them to get their life affairs in order for their 2021 takeover.

Unfortunately, Dolph was shot and killed in November of that year but his team has been keeping his name going strong with exhibits like his pop-up museum and drops like the new music video ... which also goes the distance in showing off his fleet of camouflaged luxury whips.

Chloe Bailey fans are upset over her spicy sex scene with Damson Idris in Donald Glover's new series "Swarm" ... but her "Grown-ish" costar Trevor Jackson is advising she simply block out all that noise.

We caught Trevor at LAX on Monday, and he attributed Chloe's decision to do the scene to her being a grown-up and thinks it screams artistic freedom.

Trevor and Chloe have been starring in "Grown-ish" since its start in 2018, essentially growing up together, and he says she has his support no matter what.

Chloe plays Marissa Jackson in the new show while Damson plays her boyfriend, Khalid and the two set off the series with a short, yet effective romp that saw Chloe's name dominating the trending topics.

Her role was eventually compared to Halle Berry's Oscar-winning "Monster's Ball" performance but only because of the doggy style position they were both in.

Chloe admitted to nerves ahead of the sex scene until Damson made her relaxed by cracking jokes on set -- but admitted they weren't completely naked and had a squishy ball thingy between their bodies.

The 3 men accused of killing XXXTentaction have just been found guilty of murder in the 2018 shooting.

The verdicts came in Monday for Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams. The decisions follow the jury's deliberations, which started March 8.

As we reported, 20-year-old XXX was at a South Florida motorcycle dealership almost 5 years ago when prosecutors say he became the victim of a robbery -- getting shot while in his vehicle. They say the men ran off with $50K in cash and a Louis Vuitton bag.

The 3 were charged with first-degree murder with a firearm and armed robbery ... and in closing arguments last month, defense attorney Joseph Kimok claimed evidence clears all 3 men from the crime -- saying the DNA found on the rapper's body and necklace didn't belong to them.

You'll recall, a 4th man named Robert Allen was also arrested in connection to the killing ... but he pled guilty last year to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against the other 3 suspects, adding he was hesitant about the robbery and even asked the others to ditch the idea in the moment.

In a discovery and bail hearing for Allen back in 2018, surveillance video from the dealership was shown -- which appeared to show the entire thing going down in real time.

Taylor Swift's Eras tour is already bringing people together ... until death, in the case of 2 of her fans ... who used her concert as the backdrop for their wedding!!!

The ceremony went down Saturday night while Taylor was performing the second of 2 shows at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ -- aka Swift City -- with the bride, Rene Hurtado, and groom, Max, saying "I do" from their floor seats.

Rene, who was wearing a tea-length wedding dress, says she and Max had been talking since the summer about eloping the day of Taylor's concert and then having the show serve as their wedding reception ... but they ultimately decided it would be cooler to actually get hitched at the concert.

Proposals have become a semi-regular occurrence at concerts and sporting events over the years ... but it's not every day you see an actual wedding in the middle of a show.

No word if Rene and Max are planning to hit up another Taylor concert for their honeymoon.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are out on their latest would-be new home -- the couple has pulled the plug on yet another real estate deal ... and they're once again on the hunt.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ that Bennifer has fallen out of escrow on the $64 million Pacific Palisades mansion they seemed to have their sights set on earlier this month -- which was an absolute beauty that would've certainly accommodated their needs.

It's unclear why they're bailing ... but we're hearing they're done with it, and are moving on.

Now, if you're keeping count -- this actually marks the third home they've fallen out of escrow on in the past year. There was a $55 million Bel-Air estate they were set to buy way back in April, but that sale fell through. They were also set to buy another PP palace last month -- which was worth just $34.5 mil -- but they walked away from that property as well.

We haven't been offered any legit explanation for why J Lo and Ben keep changing their minds ... all we know is that they simply can't commit, and this is the most recent example.

Not wasting any time, Jen was actually pounding the pavement anew this past weekend -- cruising through Holmby Hills.

We're told she was taking a gander at this mansion above. The current owner is Max Azria, the founder of BCBG. From what we can see, it looks about as nice as everything else they've been perusing. It's listed for $65 million.

Ben and Jen might wanna pull the trigger on something soon, because there's a new mansion tax that's about to hit L.A. in April. The measure, which was passed last year, imposes a 4% tax on home sales above $5 mil and a 5.5% tax on sales above $10 mil.

The tax probably won't affect Ben and Jen directly -- they're not house hunting in the city of L.A., more so on the ritzy outskirts -- but it could seriously impact the market and L.A.-area home prices in general.

So ... act fast!

Rick Ross is grateful one of his neighbors is pointing out he has a problem with stray pets ... a few of his cattle and bison are roaming a little too freely.

Rick says he always manages to corral the livestock on his "Promise Land" estate ... no easy feat, seeing as how the property sits on 235 acres of land. Rozay compares it to the popular TV series "Yellowstone" ... AKA it's the wild wild west when it comes to the wildlife!!!

The level of damage the bison caused to the neighbor's yard doesn't seem like the equivalent of returning a lost pooch ... but the MMG rapper explained they're actually peaceful animals that will graciously accept carrots on request!!!

We broke the story -- one of Rick's neighbors of his Fayetteville estate grew INFURIATED his bison were destroying her yard ... but he urged his neighbors to be courteous and reminded them to keep collars on their pets.

Diplo was among the thousands of runners participating in the L.A. Marathon on Sunday ... and his time was mad decent -- finishing the thing in under 4 hours!!

The famous DJ completed the 26.2-mile race in 3 hours, 55 minutes and 16 seconds ... which was 1,661st-best for men and good enough for 2,013th overall!!

The 44-year-old had made his target time known prior to the race ... saying, "tbh all that matters is that I can beat Oprah Winfrey time (she was pretty fast)."

BTW -- Oprah was a bit of a speedster herself in 1994, completing the Marine Corps Marathon with a time of 4:29:20.

Olympian Alexi Pappas -- who ran alongside Diplo during the race -- gave the producer his props in a congratulatory Instagram post ... saying, "We were total gazelles out there."

Diplo is a bit of a freak athlete -- he also ran the Miami Half Marathon with zero training in 2022 ... and proceeded to hit the club right after.

J.J. Watt has apparently turned into a music critic in retirement ... and Taylor Swift has passed his first assignment -- with the ex-NFL star absolutely raving over her following her shows in AZ over the weekend.

The former Cardinals pass rusher hit Saturday's "The Eras Tour" concert at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ with his wife and friends ... and in a full breakdown of Swift's performance the next day, he said he was blown away by what he saw.

In a 2:38 review that Watt posted on his social media pages, he gushed over Swift ... saying everything from the song choices to the outfits to the production had him in awe.

"First off," he said, "unbelievable."

Watt was floored by Swift's ability to rattle off 44 songs in 3-plus hours -- while never pausing for much longer than a few minutes.

"There was no intermission," he said. "There was no halftime. There was no TV timeouts."

"She crushed it," he added.

The show seemed to surprise the 33-year-old -- who just retired from the NFL in January -- as he joked before the concert on his wife's Instagram page, "Everyone send me your best wishes. Thank you."

Watt revealed he even grabbed a Taylor hoodie after the show!!!

"It was impressive to witness," he said. "And I did walk out with some merch. So, Swiftie life!"

Def Leppard's Rick Allen is breaking his silence after being attacked last week -- and it sounds like he's actually calling on forgiveness for the alleged culprit.

The rock band's longtime drummer issued a statement Sunday, which has some encouraging updates on his condition. He says, "Thank you everyone for your overwhelming support. Your love and prayers are truly helping. My wife Lauren [Monroe] was thankfully not with me at the time of the incident. We are together now, and working on recovering in a safe space."

According to ABC News, which obtained his remarks, Allen and his family are now shifting their attention toward "healing for everyone involved" ... although he doesn't really elaborate.

There's more ... RA goes on to say, "We ask you to join us in our effort to move from confusion and shock to compassion and empathy. We understand this act of violence can be triggering for so many people."

He finishes with ... "To all of the fans, veterans and first responders in our global community, we are thinking of you all. Together with love, we can all get through these difficult times."

Allen never mentions his alleged attacker by name -- 19-year-old Max Hartley, whom police claim was the one who beat Rick down -- but it does seem he's alluding to him ... and, perhaps, there's more to the story.

In any case, it's great to hear he's doing okay. You'll recall ... the incident was described to cops as brutal. Hartley is accused of bum-rushing Rick at a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, allegedly knocking him to the ground and going on to attack a woman who was nearby too ... according to the arrest report. The dude was booked for battery, among other charges.