Music

Bill Cosby is way off with his R. Kelly theory about the singer getting a raw deal in his federal sex crimes case ... according to one of Kelly's victims.

Faith Rodgers, who previously testified she's a victim of Kelly's sexual misconduct, spoke out Friday for the first time since the singer was convicted on all 9 federal counts ... and she says Kelly tried to threaten her into silence.

With attorney Gloria Allred by her side, Faith ripped Cosby's spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, for telling TMZ ... his client's reaction to Kelly's conviction was, "The guy was railroaded."

Faith says that line of thinking, and terminology, is "beyond insulting" to all of Kelly's victims.

What's more, she claims Kelly threatened her multiple times after she decided to come forward as a victim. She says the alleged threats included publishing nude pictures and videos of her.

As we reported ... Kelly was found guilty last month on 9 federal counts, including sex crimes, human trafficking, kidnapping, racketeering and obstruction of justice and human trafficking. He's looking at 10 years to life when he gets sentenced next year.

Nicki Minaj showed up for the taping of "The Real Housewives of the Potomac" reunion, causing some folks to wonder if she's changed her tune on getting vaccinated ... but TMZ's learned her vax status is irrelevant.

As you know ... Nicki caused quite a stir last month when she tweeted some COVID vaccine misinformation -- specifically, that her cousin's friend in Trinidad and Tobago had a severe side effect resulting in swollen testicles. She also implied that she was still not vaccinated.

So, with her appearance on the 'RHOP' reunion set Thursday night -- something that came to fruition after she jokingly pitched guest-hosting to Andy Cohen in July -- fans believed she might have gotten vaccinated in order to get the gig.

But, we've learned that's not necessarily the case ... because being vaccinated was not a requirement for the reunion taping.

Instead, Nicki and the 'Housewives' and the rest of the crew only had to comply with local orders in New Jersey ... so in this case, getting a PCR test that came back negative for COVID.

Obviously, everyone who participated in the reunion taping, including Nicki, had a negative test ... but it's still unclear if the rapper's vaxxed or not.

Dwayne Johnson is flexing in a whole new way -- he's jumping on the mic to try his hand at rapping, and he's actually got some flow!!!

The Rock features on the new Tech N9ne track, "Face Off" -- from the new album, "ASIN9NE" -- dropping a few bars at the end of the song. As the old saying goes, rap about what you know, and DJ does just that ... paying homage to his roots and his passion for extreme workouts.

Just a sample of his rhymes -- "It's about tribe, it's about power. We stay hungry, we devour. Put in the work, put in the hours and take what's ours."

There's another line about being Black and Samoan, and the Rock even drops some profanity! Censored, of course.

This isn't the first time he's showed off his musical talents. He's strummed a guitar in the ring during his WWE days, and was also featured in Wyclef Jean's music video for "It Doesn't Matter." He came close to rapping on that song, but this is the first time we've heard him ball out on the mic.

And, talk about synergy ... 'cause in true entrepreneurial spirit Dwayne's already promoting his Project Rock by Under Armour collection by integrating his featured verse in a video of him doing his thing in the gym.

Machine Gun Kelly's going to be more than okay ... he'll be ecstatic after learning he will NOT be prosecuted for allegedly beating up a parking lot attendant.

TMZ has learned the L.A. City Attorney's Office is rejecting the case ... declining to charge MGK because there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction. Translation: they just don't have enough evidence.

As we first reported, the parking lot attendant accused the musician/actor of battery -- claiming MGK pushed him in the chest near an L.A. location where he and his good pal, Mod Sun, were shooting their movie, "Good Mourning with a U."

Sources, however, told us the parking lot attendant's battery claims were completely false. And, clearly prosecutors didn't think they could prove his claim.

Even if he's off the hook criminally, he's still gotta deal with a lawsuit. The parking lot attendant, John Martin Tilli, filed the suit, alleging MGK and his production crew and staff became aggressive and surrounded him ... before MGK pushed him from the front, while the crew pushed from behind.

Britney Spears' boys look like they're having a good time and enjoying their lives ... no matter how much drama's going on in hers.

Britney's 2 teenage sons -- Sean Preston and Jayden James -- with her ex, Kevin Federline, popped up in a couple photos on social media posted by one of Kevin's friends.

The boys were all smiles as they posed with the guy, a choreographer named Eddie Morales, who referred to Britney and K-Fed's sons as "my nephews."

Eddie also heaped praise on Federline in his post with the caption, "NOW THE WORLD WILL SEE HOW MUCH OF A GREAT DAD HE HAS BEEN !" ... seemingly suggesting Britney's conservatorship developments will shed light on Kevin's parenting skills.

Finally, Morales' post included a video of Jayden playing piano ... showing he might be following his mom's musical footsteps.

It's date night on "The Masked Singer" ... and we've learned one of Taylor Swift's "close friends" might be under one of the costumes!!!

The celebs on the eccentric singing competition are revealing personal information about their love lives in the Wednesday date night episodes on FOX ... and here's where we get our Taylor connection.

Production sources tell TMZ ... one of Wednesday's performers has been seen together with the "Look What You Made Me Do" singer.

So, the obvious question is ... who in Taylor's inner circle is rocking the mic behind the mask?!?

There's a ton of possibilities, and some huge names, because Taylor has been out with a bunch of famous hunks over the years ... like Harry Styles, Jake Gyllenhaal, Taylor Lautner, John Mayer, Joe Jonas and Zac Efron ... just to name a few.

But, it may not be an ex. One source with direct knowledge tells TMZ ... the person behind the mask also collaborated with Taylor on a project.

The wild card for Wednesday night's 'Masked Singer' was able to put together a whole performance in just one day, in part because they've got a phone filled with some music biz heavy hitters.

The singer will appear as Pepper when they hit the stage, but came on "TMZ Live" sans the big red costume -- but still concealing their identity -- to tell us the crazy story of how they ended up on the show.

After another contestant had to drop out, producers dialed up our hot-headed friend here ... giving them very little time to get their act together. Pepper says it set off a whirlwind 24 hours filled with learning dance moves, trying on costumes and the big hurdle of getting clearance to sing famous songs.

Pep definitely made it seem like that last part -- getting the songs -- was easiest, because turns out they happen to know a bunch of big-time performers ... maybe even Bob Dylan, based on a little quip they dropped with us.

Look, we couldn't figure it out, but there were plenty of hints -- so, see if you can figure it out. Either way, Pepper will make its big debut on "The Masked Singer" tonight.

Omarion says Lil Fizz owning up to his mistake in public was the right thing to do -- and seems ready to move past it ... something he also thinks needs to apply to Chris Brown.

The B2K singer reflected on the poignant moment from over the weekend with us at LAX, when Omarion got a mea culpa from his bandmate ... for going out with this baby mama a couple years ago, while still going on tour with Omarion around the same time.

Check out how he characterizes it now after the fact ... O says the apology wasn't necessarily expected, but firmly notes it was "appropriate" all things considered.

Still, sounds like it's all water under a bridge now -- seeing how these two guys will continue performing together as the Millennium Tour rolls on. Also, ya gotta figure Omarion knew Fizz would be saying sorry ... 'cause, c'mon, he's running point on this whole reunion.

Anyway, our photog also asked about another controversy that surfaced during the L.A. stop of the Millennium Tour -- namely, Lizzo catching heat for fangirling over CB backstage.

The ultimate question, of course, is do people need to move on and cut Chris some slack after the 2009 Rihanna beating -- something she herself appears to have moved past.

Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen's widow are paying tribute to the late rock star on the 1-year anniversary of his sad passing.

Sammy posted a black and white picture of EVH strumming his guitar while in mid-air and his long hair flailing away. Sammy, who was part of the "Van Hagar" era from 1985 to 1996, said, "I can't believe it's been a year. The man is gone but the music lives on #forever."

Eddie's widow, Janie, also posted a touching tribute saying she thinks about EVH every single day. She said among the things she misses the most ... his smile, laugh and kindness.

Janie added, "I miss this, I miss us, I miss you, and I try my best to carry on the way you would want me to. But my Peep, some days, that's really hard to do. This will never get easier because there really is no getting over you."

TMZ broke the story ... Eddie died following a long battle with cancer. He died at a Santa Monica hospital with Janie and his son, Wolfgang, by his side. Eddie's ex-wife, Valerie Bertinelli, and Eddie's brother/drummer, Alex, were also by his side.

Speaking of Wolfie ... he also posted a picture on Instagram during a guitar sesh with his dad. Wolf wrote, "You fought so hard for so long, but you were still taken away. It’s just so unfair."

Chris Brown will NOT be prosecuted in his battery case ... 'cause TMZ's learned the prosecutors are rejecting the whole matter.

According to the L.A. City Attorney's Office ... they've declined to move forward with charges due to insufficient evidence against Chris. As we reported, Brown was listed as the suspect after the alleged victim told cops he smacked the back of her head so violently her weave came off.

Our law enforcement sources told us cops responded to CB's San Fernando Valley home in June and cops took a battery report, naming Chris as the suspect.

We were told the alleged victim suffered no injuries ... besides the weave removal. Chris was never arrested for it.

The incident marked the second time cops showed up to Chris' house in as many months. They had to break up his massive birthday event ... forcing cops to direct traffic on the winding roads as helicopters hovered above.

So, as far as CB is concerned ... this battery case is all now behind him.

Britney Spears was diagnosed by medical professionals with a mental illness, but Jamie Spears and the business management team he hired felt they could free Britney from the grips of her mental problems with religion ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Jamie became a born again Christian after a stint in rehab early on in the conservatorship. Jamie knew Lou Taylor, who worked with Jamie Lynn as early as 2004 and also became a spokesperson for the family back then.

Taylor created a company called Tri Star Entertainment and in 2008 she and Jamie discussed making Tri Star the business manager in the conservatorship.

Taylor was also a fervent born again Christian ... something she talked about on the "Today" show in 2008. Taylor brought in Robin Greenhill, who worked for Tri Star, to have day-to-day contact with Britney ... helping manage her business affairs. But, we're told it went way beyond money ... Robin in particular was up in every aspect of Britney's life.

Our sources say for the first year, Jamie, Robin and Lou literally walked around with the bible in hand, proselytizing the word of God. We're told for a time they would only let Britney read religious material. And, we're told, there was a large measure of intolerance for anyone who wasn't a "good Christian."

Interestingly, Lynne Spears wrote in one of her books ... "Jamie was going to file for the conservatorship on January 22 [2008] ... but he and his business manager, Lou, felt God leading them to wait, fast and pray, despite the frustration of a phalanx of lawyers."

The religious push was on full display during the entire Circus Tour, we're told, but as the money cascaded in, religion sort of fell by the wayside and money became central to business management and the conservatorship ... so say our sources.

Tri Star was getting 5% of Britney's gross profits, and when she was performing that was an enormous amount of money. Fast forward to 2019 when Britney stopped performing. At some point, Taylor emailed Jamie and said the commissions had dwindled and she wanted a guarantee of $500,000 a year.

Some folks on the inside, including Britney's lawyer, Samuel Ingham, felt that was wrong, because when someone takes a percentage they tend to make more than they should for a certain period and less for other periods, but it evens out. People said some insiders felt Lou wanted it both ways. Jamie, however, didn't feel that way, and approved the $500k floor, which greatly upset some people involved.

Ray J is in bad shape, struggling to breathe as he battles pneumonia in a Miami hospital ... it was so bad he thought he was going to die.

Ray J's manager, David Weintraub, tells TMZ Ray went into the hospital 4 days ago and doctors learned from the jump he was battling pneumonia. David looped Ray in on the call and we spoke to him for several minutes, and it was apparent he wasn't out of the woods.

Ray told us ... when he was admitted doctors assumed he had COVID, so they placed him in the COVID wing of the hospital, which he said was frightening, telling us, "I thought it was over. I started praying and knew God is good so I just kept praying."

He says he was given 5 COVID tests, all of which came back negative, and after 2 days he was moved out of the COVID wing.

He's currently getting oxygen but he still has difficulty breathing and talking. He says when he wakes up at 6 AM he feels like he could go home, but by 6:30 things deteriorate and he fears the worst.

Ray says all he thinks about is getting better so he can see his 2 kids. Weintraub says Ray will hopefully be out by week's end.

Chris Brown and Drake straight-up jacked another artist's work for their hit track "No Guidance" ... so claim a singer and producer in a new lawsuit.

Brandon Cooper, who goes by the stage name Mr. Cooper, and Timothy Valentine -- aka Drum'n Skillz -- are suing CB and Drake claiming "No Guidance" ripped off their work on a track called, "I Love Your Dress."

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Cooper and Valentine claim their song dropped 3 years before CB and Drake's "No Guidance" dropped in June 2019. Cooper and Valentine claim an analysis of the beat, lyrics, hook and rhythmic structure demonstrates that "No Guidance" was copied or, at the very least, principally derived from "I Love Your Dress."

Specifically, the singer and producer claim their track has the lyrics ... "She got it; she got it" repeated 16 times while CB's and Drake's has "You got it, girl; you got it" at least 11 times.

Cooper and Valentine claim even non-expert listeners can see and hear the similarities ... claiming Chris and Drake deliberately exploited "I Love Your Dress" and even taunted them with a lyric about "flew the coop," which Cooper claims is a play on his nickname, Coop.

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel want to say bye, bye, bye to a significant piece of their L.A. life -- the couple's trying to offload their pad there ... and for quite a bundle, no less.

JT & JB have just listed their Hollywood Hills villa for a whopping $35 million -- which has served as Justin's L.A. headquarters since the dude first bought the estate waaaay back in 2002 (N'SYNC's heyday) for a mere $8.3 mil. Damn you, inflation!!!

Anyway, it proved to be a fantastic investment for him ... because since then, he met Jess, had a family -- and seriously spruced up the place with some major renovations over the years, including adding a monster pool in the backyard ... plus other bells and whistles.

The price tag -- especially with the market being what it is today -- is warranted, considering what's inside and out. First off, the property sits on a 10-acre lot, with 7-bedrooms and 13-bathrooms ... so anyone can take a poop at any time, without a worry in the world. 💩

There are other amenities too ... a private screening room, a personal gym, a tennis court (with lights), a gourmet kitchen, and a freaking guest house to boot. It's the epitome of Tinseltown luxury. Speaking of that ... it used to belong to none other than Errol Flynn!

If Justin gets anywhere near his asking price here ... he'll have cleared well over $20 million in profit -- which is freakin' awesome (for him and his fam).

Fear not, Smash Mouth fans ... Steve Harwell's recent absence is due to health conditions, but he's on the mend and will soon hit the stage again.

A rep for the American rock band tells TMZ ... Steve had not been feeling well due to issues with cardiomyopathy and heart failure, which forced him to miss a few performances. Steve's had cardiomyopathy -- a form of heart disease where the heart muscle becomes enlarged and weak, making it difficult to pump blood -- since 2015.

Fans were speculating Smash Mouth fired Steve. Someone recently tweeted the band asking, "Hey @smashmouth did y'all replace your singer & not say anything?" Someone else wrote, "ok a couple things 1) @smashmouth did you really fire your singer and B) can I be your new singer."

The answer's an unequivocal "No" to all those questions. We're told Steve manages his heart condition with meds, but recently some issues came up and things needed to be adjusted. You'll recall he was rushed to the hospital in 2017 due to his heart condition.

The band's current singer is someone the band knows and was substituting for a few shows, but it's NOT a permanent move.

The famous shot of Madonna kissing Britney Spears on stage at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards will soon have a new owner in the digital world ... it's being auctioned off as an NFT.

The actual photo of the iconic kiss was taken by Hollywood photographer, John Shearer, who's entering the NFT space with Cryptograph to sell his one-of-a-kind moment ... while raising money for a good cause.

A portion of the proceeds from the auction -- which begins the morning of October 7 and runs for 72 hours -- will benefit GLAAD.

As you recall ... the 2003 VMAs opened with Britney popping out of a wedding cake dressed as a sexy bride before being joined on stage by Christina Aguilera, also in a wedding dress, and finally ... the Material Girl.

At the end of their performance of "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood," Madonna locked lips with Spears AND Aguilera ... though the kiss with Britney got more pub.