Music

A group of communists tried what Jason Aldean said not to do in a small town -- only here, they did it in a big city ... and got the boot from cops.

Upwards of 20 members from the Revolution Club of Chicago -- who are self-described commies -- staged a protest Saturday outside of Jason's concert near Chicago, where they were marching, chanting and flag burning. Yes, they set Old Glory ablaze -- a couple times, in fact.

Several of them specifically called out JA, saying they weren't afraid to try anything anywhere -- going on to call him a "fascist piece of s***." One guy who was on a megaphone also shouted ... "We will try that in a big city. And, we will try it right in front of your concert."

The demonstration seemed to be both anti-Jason, but also ... anti-America. One chant included the phrase -- "F*** the U.S. and all its might," among other derogatory zings.

Eventually, several police officers showed up and told them to scram, announcing that their gathering had become unlawful and that they were disturbing the peace. It sounds like the group dispersed shortly thereafter without further incident ... so no arrests here.

The controversy from Jason's hit song, "Try That In a Small Town," clearly continues to reverberate across the country -- even all these weeks later. And yet, he's still going to a ton of major cities and drawing a crowd.

Fuentes directas le informan a TMZ que Kevin recibe $40k al mes para los 2 niños que comparte con Britney: Jayden James y Sean Preston. La cantidad se basa en que cada uno tenga a los niños el 50% del tiempo, pero la realidad es que Britney no ha estado con ellos en todo este tiempo.

Sean Preston cumple 18 años en un par de semanas, por lo que la manutención terminará para uno de los chicos. Sin embargo, la de Jayden permanecerá intacta hasta junio de 2025, cuando se gradúe en el instituto. Así que siendo realistas, 20.000 dólares sería probablemente la cantidad si Kevin pide un aumento, aunque esa cifra podría dispararse si demuestra que necesita más dinero para el 100% del cuidado de Jayden.

Como ya informamos, Kevin, sus hijos y Victoria —su mujer— se mudaron a Hawai el mes pasado. Una decisión que Britney no impugnó en los tribunales.

Kevin animó a Sean Preston y Jayden a ver a su madre, pero no iba a obligarlos. No quisieron despedirse. Los niños no la han visto desde hace 2 años.

Kevin Federline is thinking of going to court to ask for an increase in child support from Britney Spears ... because he never bargained on having the kids full-time when they hashed out the terms of support.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Kevin gets $40k a month for the 2 kids he shares with Britney -- Jayden James and Sean Preston. The amount is predicated on each having the kids 50% of the time. The reality -- Britney has had the kids 0% of the time for years.

Sean Preston turns 18 in a couple of weeks, so the support will end for one of the boys. However, Jayden's will stay intact until around June 2025, when he graduates high school. So realistically, $20k is the relevant amount if Kevin asks for an increase ... but that amount could balloon if he proves he needs more money for 100% of Jayden's care.

As we reported, Kevin, his sons, and his wife, Victoria, all moved to Hawaii last month ... a decision Britney ultimately didn't fight in court.

Kevin encouraged Sean Preston and Jayden to see their mom but wasn't gonna force them. They passed on saying goodbye. The kids haven't seen her going on 2 years.

We reached out to Kevin's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan. So far, no word back.

Do you think Britney should pay up? Vote below.

Gunna might’ve recently been labeled a snitch by some, but it looks like even more people are still rocking with him.

The rapper performed a headlining show Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn — his first in a long time — where the stadium was packed to the gills with paying customers.

The dude went through a ton of his songs, including some newer ones he dropped in his latest album — “A Gift And a Curse” — which the crowd seemed to know well as they rapped along. By the looks of it, there was a lot of enthusiasm and good vibes … almost as if nobody cared about the whole YSL scandal.

Remember, Gunna’s name has been getting dragged through the mud these past several months after he struck a deal with Fulton County prosecutors who are going after several of his label mates, including Young Thug. The perception from some fans was … dude must’ve ratted out his crew and cut himself a deal, which led to hateful comments.

Gunna denied doing that though, and has maintained he still supports Thug — which was evident in his concert this weekend. On one of the monitors, there was a “Free Jeffrey” message blaring across the screen, so it’s clear he still considers himself aligned with YT.

This was just one of 2 shows that Gunna is doing in the near future — he’s got another one scheduled in LA later this month. He’s not touring, per se, but does seem to be testing the waters on how a full-blown comeback might look like.

Joe Jonas squarely broke his silence over his impending divorce from Sophie Turner Saturday, saying it's been rough.

Joe and his bros performed in front of a packed audience at Dodger Stadium, where he took the mic and said this ...

“It’s been a tough week. I just wanna say, look, if you don’t hear it from these lips, don’t believe it. Okay? Thank you everyone for your love and support. Me and my family love you guys.”

As we reported, Joe filed for divorce Tuesday, saying his marriage was irretrievably broken. TMZ broke the story, a key reason he's ending the marriage is a difference in lifestyles ... and the straw that broke the camel's back was ring video/audio of Sophie, although we do not know the nature of what was seen/heard.

Joe got backlash on social media ... so addressing the divorce was not unexpected.

Joe and Sophie issued a joint statement ... "After four wonderful years of marriage we have mutually decided to amicably end our marriage. There are many speculative narratives as to why ..."

Ed Sheeran pulled out of his Nevada concert Saturday night shortly before he was to take the stage ... apologizing to his fans and rescheduling the show.

Sources connected to venue operations tell TMZ ... "The stage wasn’t approved last night for safety reasons so they tried to rebuild this morning and even picked back doors opening times as they thought they’d pull it off…nope. It has been rescheduled for Oct 28th. There are fans in the stadium as they made the call and he’s in the stands taking pics and saying sorry."

The Grammy-winning musician posted a statement on Instagram around an hour before he was set to perform at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Sheeran blamed the cancellation on "challenges encountered during the load in of our Vegas show" -- whatever that means.

He went on, "I'm so sorry. I know everyone has traveled in for this and I wish I could change it."

Fans flocked to the arena and stood outside in sweltering temperatures (above 90 degrees!) waiting to go in. But there were constant delays, causing some to fall ill.

The Clark County Fire Department said they treated multiple people for "heat-related issues" at the scene. One person was hospitalized.

Blueface videos showing his young son hanging around exotic dancers at home are getting a lot of attention ... including from cops and the Department of Children and Family Services.

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... sheriff's deputies have been called to the rapper's Los Angeles-area home a whopping NINE times since May, with the most serious call for a DCFS investigation into Blueface bringing strippers around his kids.

After Blueface posted footage of him asking his son if he was gay while women stripped in a nearby room, we're told DCFS got wind of the video and launched an investigation, which led to sheriff's deputies being called to the home.

We're told Blueface still has his son, and it sounds like the DCFS investigation hasn't moved forward ... in part, because no one answered the door or picked up the phone when deputies were called to the house.

Law enforcement tells us other calls to the house include noise complaints for loud music and barking dogs.

So, cops frequent Blueface's place a lot ... but the stripper videos with his son are the most concerning.

Over at Blueface's party house in the San Fernando Valley, we're told cops have been there multiple times about parties and fights ... with Blue's neighbors making the complaints.

Cardi B says she's a little weirded out over her husband Offset's Michael Jackson tattoo, but she's gonna have to learn how to keep living with it. He's keeping his MJ memorabilia!!!

We caught up with Offset in NYC and he was taken aback by Cardi telling the world how she really feels about the King of Pop ink on his stomach ... and how it stares at her during sex.

He tells us it would be best for Cardi and him to continue the convo behind closed doors. Smart!

You can see where Cardi is coming from ... Offset opted for a tat of MJ's creepy stare from the "Thriller" video. Not exactly the best sexy-time material!!!

Offset's love for Michael dates back to his childhood but continues in adulthood. In fact, he recently channeled Mike's "Bad" era with his outfit for Beyoncé's "Renaissance" show last week in L.A.

Offset tells us performing on Beyoncé's stage was nothing short of an honor, as it allowed him to showcase his showmanship as an artist.

He had equal love for Jay-Z after going viral alongside him for hitting a mean electric side while Bey sang onstage.

Noah Lyles ain't backing off his "world champion" stance one bit ... and he's sending some loud-and-clear shade to one of the guys who had the biggest problem with it all -- Drake.

The track star won three golds (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay) at the World Athletic Games in Budapest, Hungary last month ... and following the efforts, he ruffled a ton of feathers when he said NBA players shouldn't get to call themselves champs of the globe like he could.

"World champion of what?" Lyles said, reminding those in attendance that NBA players only perform in the U.S. and Canada. "The United States?!"

His comments were hit with immediate criticism ... with guys like Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Draymond Green -- and, yes, even Drake -- firing away at him.

But, when Lyles sat down with TMZ Sports this week ... he made it clear he's not budging from his opinion -- though he did clarify that he loves what the NBA's doing, and he wants track and field to follow their model.

"I do think that the point was lost," he told us. "At the end of the day, it was talking about how I see what we do to our national championships -- I just want the same thing for our world champions. And we're a sport where we're bringing in the most medals every year -- and it's like nobody even knows because they don't pay attention."

As for Drake ... Lyles brushed off the rapper's criticism of him -- saying, "Just go home, buddy. Go home."

Joe Budden thinks Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's new single is a 2-pack of ass, and nothing compared to their last collab... arguing it's missing a key element, or a man rather.

The rapper shared his thoughts on CB and MTS's latest song, "Bongos," in his latest episode of "The Joe Budden Podcast" -- and, per usual, he was unfiltered in breaking it down. As he explains, he just doesn't feel "Bongos" has quite the pizzazz that their last single did.

Of course, he's talking about "WAP" ... which charted well when it released, and which kinda captured the zeitgeist at the time. This time around though, JB says the magic is gone.

The reason he thinks "Bongos" won't have as much staying power is because Pardison Fontaine -- aka, Pardi -- wasn't in the mix this time around as a collaborator, or so he assumes (more on this later). If you didn't know, Pardi had writing credits on "WAP" ... in addition to other Cardi and Meg songs, and he's been a regular writer of CB's lately.

Of course, he also dated Meg for a good while last year ... that is, until they split up.

There's still no official word on why she and Pardi parted, but it's clear she's moved on with other men -- having been snapped out in public with different high-profile dudes of late.

Anyway, Joe mistakenly says Pardi appears to be missing here -- 'cause 'Bongos,' to him, just isn't it. But as it turns out, the dude is a credited writer on this song as well. JB might've flubbed in that regard, but his larger point here is ... 'Bongos' isn't as high on the "ratchet" level as previous entries of theirs, and he feels like Cardi and Meg missed the mark.

Time will tell how "Bongos" does performance-wise ... it was literally just released yesterday, to a lot of fanfare. One notable thing about it that's getting buzz is the production cost -- a reported $2 million budget just to cook it up. Also, they're gonna perform it at the VMAs.

Zach Bryan's praises are being sung by an organization that advocates for cops nationwide ... this after the country singer apologized for his behavior during his recent arrest.

Retired Sgt. Betsy Branter Smith, a spokesperson for nonprofit org National Police Association, tells TMZ ... what officers appreciate is that Zach came out quickly to say sorry for what went down, adding his apology felt very earnest.

Smith isn't alone here -- she says other cops she's talked to are feeling the same thing about Zach's apology.

According to Smith, it isn't uncommon for officers to run into folks with an entitled attitude, similar to Bryan. But, she's grateful a celeb of Bryan's status is showing it's okay to admit fault and say they support the police.

TMZ was first to obtain the report dash cam footage of Bryan's arrest, where he stated, "f***ing cops are out of hand, truly," and stated the officers were a bunch of middle-aged white dudes arresting people.

Sgt. Smith is letting Bryan's comments slide, though, adding, "This is a very frustrated young man and he had some inappropriate things to say, but he complied with the officers. He didn't try to fight them or attack them. He mouthed off. And he apologized."

She says some country stars have lately been speaking out against law enforcement, so Zach's apology video was refreshing -- moving forward, Smith hopes he'll use his status to help support American police officers.

As we reported, Zach took all the blame in his explanation video ... posted after his dramatic arrest that went down in Oklahoma on Thursday.

Ralph Lauren took New York Fashion Week by storm with his ultra-chic runway show Friday night ... and a massive contingent of Hollywood A-listers showed up for the grand event.

Dozens of celebs from Jennifer Lopez, Julianne Moore and Diane Keaton to Robin Wright, Amanda Seyfried, and Sheryl Crow had front-row seats to watch the models strut their stuff, showcasing RL's Spring Women's 2024 Collection.

Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Mindy Kaling, Laura Dern, Gabrielle Union, James Marsden, Christy Turlington and Sofia Richie were some of the other bold-faced names in the crowd.

The stars and other attendees enjoyed the festivities from inside a stylish rustic warehouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The space had wooden floors, large canvas drapes on the walls and crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

And then there were models, who were all dressed to kill in a combination of luxury and casual denim pants, evening gowns and other clothes and accessories.

After that, the guests were treated to a five-star dinner in a sophisticated barn-like setting. On the menu was grilled lobster salad, grilled branzino and filet mignon. To top it off, RL offered his very own Brownie a la mode.

It's red hot in here, so loosen up your buttons and come ready to sip up the discreet changes in these two shots of Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly! And, whether or not you're vibing with Meg's new 'do and MGK's punk-rock edge ... well that's too bad, because RED-y or not ... here they come!

Sporting major cuteness and coolness, the couple were recently hand-locked during an outing in NYC's trendy neighborhood of Tribeca. Can you see through all the dopeness and find the differences?

Mount Westmore OGs Snoop Dogg and E-40 can never be accused of hogging the spotlight from the younger generation of rap.

They're both helping up-and-coming Los Angeles rapper Zoe Osama get his name out in the streets by hopping on his new track!!!

On Friday, Zoe released the new video for his "Underrated (Remix)" which finds Snoop sliding in the 2nd verse and 40 following suit with complex rhyme styles.

The track also features MoneySign Suede, the L.A. rapper who was murdered inside California's Correctional Training Facility back in April.

Per our report at the time, MoneySign was stabbed in the neck in the showers on the evening of April 26 and prison officials were unable to revive him ... but Zoe's making sure he lives on through the music.

Zoe also dedicated the song to MoneySign and several other slain West Coast rappers, including Nipsey Hussle.

Polo G's September 15 release date for his upcoming "Hood Poet" album is no longer a thing ... having endured not one, but two eye-popping arrests in the last few months that have prevented him from promoting the music.

The Chicago rap star made the somber announcement Friday, calling it a minor setback.

Sources close to Polo tell TMZ Hip Hop ... as of now, the album delay won't affect his current touring schedule.

He's scheduled to perform in New Mexico in October, blitz through Europe for much of November and also has a concert in Canada in December.

Polo's wild chain of events last month got us to this point. We broke the story ... Polo and his brother Trench Baby were arrested twice in a 24-hour span around August 23, resulting in a gun possession charge for Polo and a robbery charge for his brother.

Cops claim they found tons of guns and even a small bag of drugs following their raid of Polo's home.

Zach Bryan made it clear to cops, they were gonna regret arresting him, and he certainly put up a verbal fight ... letting them know he had plenty of friends in high places.

We've obtained the dashcam video from Bryan's arrest Thursday in Oklahoma. You see Bryan pull up next to his security guard's white SUV just after the security guard was stopped for speeding. Bryan jumps out of his truck, and is told to get back inside or he'd be taken to jail.

Bryan, without hesitation, challenges the cop ... and he's put in handcuffs and placed in the front seat of the cop's cruiser.

From there ... Bryan gets more pissed, telling the officer, "F***ing cops are out of hand, truly." In the police report, obtained by TMZ, officers stated Bryan said, "These f***ing cops are out of control" ... so the dashcam is slightly different.

Bryan also makes it a point to tell the officer he knows just about every officer in Oklahoma, even inviting some to a recent show.

At one point, he states someone needs to get officers in check -- as they're just a bunch of middle-aged white guys going around and arresting people.

You can also see Zach's conversation with his dad -- who he asks to come and pick up his dog who was also traveling in the truck.

Zach tells his dad he had empty beer cans in the vehicle, but later explains to officers he sits in his driveway drinking and listening to music because the truck has a good sound system ... the officers tell him booze isn't a factor in the arrest, so the empties are no problem.

Eventually, the officer drives Zach off to jail ... and he's much more calm.