Music

Willow Smith got some time on the beach, time with her friend and time making sure she was COVID-free all at once ... talk about multitasking!

The 21-year-old was on the beach in Miami Friday where a nurse grabbed a quick swab -- presumably for COVID -- while the singer sprawled out on a lounger chair.

Once the test was finished, Willow was free to hang out and even share some PDA with a friend, who looks like the artist DE'WAYNE, who she's recently been touring with across the U.S.

Willow and DE'WAYNE chilled out with a walk on the beach after their cuddle-shesh.

Daymond John says Playboy is making its best move in years by joining forces with Cardi B ... because she'll bring her legion of young fans to the iconic brand, while also making much-needed changes to it.

The "Shark Tank" star joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" and we got his reaction to Cardi coming onboard with Playboy as its first-ever creative director in residence.

Daymond says the move makes sense for Playboy on several levels as they move away from traditional print magazine and focus in on a digital rebirth -- he envisions Cardi breathing life back into a brand with a following that skews much older.

Cardi says her new role with Playboy is a "dream come true" ... and Daymond tells us why he wants to see more of those dreams becoming a reality before deciding if Playboy is a worthy investment.

"America's Got Talent" standout Jay Jay Phillips -- whose big hair gained as much attention as his talent -- has died from complications related to COVID-19.

A family member tells us Jay Jay was battling the disease at home Thanksgiving week. We're told family and friends were continuously checking in with him over the phone, and he took a turn for the worse the day before the holiday.

Jay Jay's family urged him to go to the hospital, but he just told them he needed more sleep ... and that was the last time they heard from him.

We're told Jay Jay's girlfriend and her mom -- who is a nurse -- went to check on him Thanksgiving Day and found him dead. The family member tells us Phillips was not vaccinated, but just before he got sick had started to tell people he planned on getting the shot soon.

Phillips' dad, who he lived with, is currently hospitalized and fighting for his life on a ventilator.

Jay Jay first made an appearance on season 4 of the talent competition, but was eliminated early. He came back during season 12, but was eliminated in the judge cuts just before the quarterfinals.

Phillips was 30.

Young Dolph will be forever remembered in the Memphis neighborhood where he grew up ... because the city is naming a street after him.

The City of Memphis just announced plans to change a street name to something in his honor, and the unveiling is set for Dec. 15 at an intersection near the Memphis Depot Industrial Park.

The effort is being led by city councilman JB Smiley and we're told he wanted to wait until getting the green light from the family before honoring Dolph with the gesture.

Young Dolph's family says the street name will serve as a reminder to folks in the Castalia Heights community of someone who embodies hard work and perseverance.

The family sums it up like this ... "He sent the message that someone who went to the same schools as them, and walked the same streets that they do, was able to not only create a successful legacy for himself, but also prioritized family and community."

As we reported ... Young Dolph was gunned down last month while he was inside a Memphis cookie shop.

Britney Spears is mocking therapy and strongly suggesting she will no longer attend therapy sessions.

Britney posted a skit of sorts ... playing both therapist and patient, mocking the shrinks that treated her during the 13-year conservatorship.

In part of the skit she plays an overbearing shrink, telling her patient, "I'm here to help you ... So relax, totally relax, lay down, do what you have to do. Just a couple of questions, don't worry about it. Everything's going to be fine."

She says in the caption she was forced to attend sessions "10 hours a day, 7 days a week" against her will.

Britney launches into full attack mode, saying she was "forced to pay and listen to women telling me how they are going to further my success." She says as a result she's going to dedicate her life to "the wonderful therapist." Her disdain is palpable.

She then strongly suggests she will no longer attend therapy sessions, despite what she told the judge last June. In her new post, she says, "It's clearly OVER because my medication is working 'Murica!!!! Psss BALLS🏀⚽️⚾️ and KISS MY MOTHER F***ing ASS 💋🍑 !!!!

Britney told the judge in June she needed therapy but not as much as she was required to undergo during the conservatorship. It doesn't sound like she embraces that anymore.

What's more, as we reported, before the judge ended the conservatorship, medical professionals had voiced concern to make sure Britney is protected, and recommendations were put in place to ensure her well-being ... including attending regular therapy sessions. This was a recommendation, and it appears Britney will not follow it.

It certainly wasn't all love between Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Three 6 Mafia during the group's Verzuz battle ... with a brawl breaking out between the two which caused the show to come to a halt.

The highly-anticipated showdown took place Thursday at The Hollywood Palladium, Bone Thugs' Bizzy Bone finished a verse, then called out members of Three 6 for "mocking him." Bizzy says, "Aye, yo ... Aye, before we even get started, you ugly motherf****** ain't finna be mocking me while I'm on motherf*****’ stage. Like straight the f*** up." Bizzy then appears to throw a water bottle toward Three 6's side ... and all hell breaks loose.

You can see fists fly, hear insults hurl and members of Three 6 storm over to Bone Thugs' side.

Thankfully, before long, security and members from each team were able to calm the situation and the show started back up.

When he got back on stage, Bizzy apologized, saying, "I wanna apologize to everybody the f*** out here. On both sides. I'm not trying to f*** this shit up. Pardon me. Let's keep the party mother******’ going.”

There was some evidence prior to the show that things might get testy between both groups, Bizzy had previously called three 6 Mafia "devil worshipers," posting on IG, "Now through JESUS CHRIST all things ARE possible but you wanna prove ya'll not some devil-worshipping punk ass n***az then denounce satan on this BIG ASS PLATFORM TONIGHT! I CHALLENGE YOU ALL!!"

The rest of the show went on without issue, and saw guest appearances from Terrence Howard, Lil Jon, Lil Wayne and Lil Flip.

Phil Collins could probably feel this coming in the air too ... his ex-wife, Orianne Cevey, is heading back to divorce court, already splitting from the guy she married just last year.

Orianne says it's over with her new husband, Tom Bates, with whom she eloped in August 2020. They'd tied the knot at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas ... even as the dust was still settling from her ultra bitter divorce from Phil.

As for why she's filing for divorce this time? Orianne's blaming the worldwide pandemic. Sure. Why not?

She says, "I believe the emotional stress of the COVID quarantine caused me to act in ways and do things that were out of character."

She also not-so-subtly references her Phil drama by saying, "Fortunately, I have faced challenging situations before and like I always have, I will muster all the strength I can, the best team I can find and the courage to do the right thing."

When Orianne, a jewelry designer, says "best team" she's shouting out her attorneys ... the ones who helped her secure a $43 million divorce settlement from the Genesis drummer in 2008.

She and Phil tried to make things work a second time when they got back together from 2016 to 2019, but their second breakup got downright vicious.

You'll recall, she accused Phil of drinking too much and showering too little. She claimed his "stench became so pervasive that he became a hermit." Collins denied the dirty allegations.

Adding injury to those insults ... Orianne auctioned off several of Phil's prized possessions, scoring as much as $22k for one of his gold records. For his part, Phil booted her from their waterfront Miami mansion.

Atlanta voters weren't swayed by T.I. and Isaac Hayes III spreading fake news about mayoral candidate Felicia Moore and strip clubs -- according to one of the city's former mayors, she just got drubbed.

We got Kasim Reed, who served as Atlanta's mayor from 2010 to 2018, at LAX and asked him about Moore's gripe that celebs spreading misinformation about her plans to shutter strip joints led to her defeat in the runoff election.

Kasim says Felicia needs to just move on, because the voters clearly said "bye Felicia" at the voting booth ... pointing out she lost with just 41% of the vote, compared to the winner, Andre Dickens, who got more than 60%.

TMZ broke the story ... Felicia claims T.I. and Isaac damaged her chances by spreading fake news from an article they screen-grabbed and reposted with the headline, "Woman Running for Atlanta Mayor Promises to CLOSE ALL STRIP CLUBS!!!"

While Kasim admits T.I. and other celebs carry some weight in Atlanta, he says their influence is just a drop in the bucket compared to the 20% losing margin for Moore.

Demi Lovato will no longer drink alcohol or use cannabis ... announcing they're now kicking their "California Sober" lifestyle.

The singer just posted a message on Instagram, saying, "I no longer support my 'California sober' ways. Sober sober is the only way to be." It's unclear exactly what caused the revelation, but Demi had previously been criticized for talking so highly about the lifestyle, which allowed for alcohol and marijuana use.

As we reported, Demi revealed in an interview earlier this year that they were "5-10 minutes from death" when they overdosed on heroin in 2018.

After a lengthy stint in rehab, Demi was able to get back to their singing career and share their message of struggle with substance abuse.

Faith Evans sounds exhilarated about being back on stage after taking a long break from performing ... even though it meant wearing a heavy costume on "The Masked Singer."

The Grammy Award-winning singer joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" to talk about her Wednesday night elimination in the show's semi-final round. Yep, that was Faith singing as The Skunk all season!!!

She went out with a bang, though ... belting out some Aretha Franklin classics and, as she told us, putting her "stank" on it, even though it wasn't enough to best the Bull.

It's been a while since we've seen Faith perform -- she's been taking time off to care for her autistic son -- and she explains what it was like to be back on stage, even with the heavy burden of that costume on her back.

Now, TMZ recently broke the story about Faith's husband, Stevie J, filing for divorce -- but based on some video of them in Malibu a week later, they seem pretty cool with each other.

MLB superstar Mookie Betts is officially a married man -- the Dodgers slugger tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend, Brianna Hammonds, at an oceanside wedding in California on Wednesday ... and TMZ Sports has the pics!!!

The ceremony in Rancho Palos Verdes looked amazing -- with 29-year-old Betts rocking a green suit and Brianna in a stunning white dress.

Betts' Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, and teammates Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, Joe Kelly, Kenley Jansen and more came through for the monumental moment ... as well as rapper Nelly and Heisman winner Eddie George.

The reception looked like a blast -- with all the players and their WAGs partying it up all night.

Taylor also had more to celebrate -- he just inked a 4-year, $60 million deal this week!!

As we previously reported, Betts and Hammonds got engaged in January 2021 after 15 years of dating. They have a baby girl, Kynlee, together.

Betts -- a 2-time World Series champ -- already had two rings ... and now he's gotta do some rearranging for number three!!

Diddy is swooping in to try to save his namesake brand ... and he's got grand plans to breathe life back into Sean John.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the music and fashion mogul's company recently bid $3.3 million to buy the clothing line's assets out of bankruptcy.

Diddy founded the fashion and lifestyle brand way back in 1998, but as it stands now, the brand management firm, GBG USA Inc., which owns 90% of Sean John, is currently in bankruptcy.

The company has reportedly been looking for someone to come in and buy the brand since May ... and now Diddy is stepping up and looking to be the winning bidder.

Sources close to Diddy tell TMZ ... he is very excited about the prospect of reacquiring Sean John and if successful, he plans to reinvigorate the brand.

Britney Spears got a jump on her big 4-0 ... courtesy of her fiance.

Brit and Sam Asghari boarded a private jet for parts unknown ... and the celebration got underway even before they fastened their seatbelts.

The plane was adorned with bouquets of roses, but that was just the beginning. There was a pretty incredible birthday cake ... white meringue if you want to know. Her reaction was, "Oh my God!' as he sang happy birthday. There were birthday cards and when they landed there was a big smooch for their big exit.

It was all followed by fireworks ... and if you look closely you see 2 lounge chairs, so it seems they're at some sort of beach resort. Britney's go-to is Maui, so that would be an excellent guess.

Sam posted this ... "I call you Lioness because I admire your relentless strength, I'm inspired by your beautiful heart, I celebrate your smile that lights up my world ❤️ Everyday is your birthday my queen 👑 Happy 1st birthday to my wife."

It's interesting he referred to her as his "wife" ... don't read too much into it. He's said this before. There are things that have to happen before they tie the knot ... like a prenup.

Is there anyone on the planet who doesn't know who Drake is?!?

The last two people who don't might've ended up courtside next to the megastar at the OKC Thunder vs. Houston Rockets game on Wednesday ... and the interaction is priceless!!!

The "Certified Lover Boy" was sitting in the front row as the Rockets were set to take the court in OKC ... and when cameras started showing Drizzy at his seat, the old guy sitting next to him seemed to ask if he was someone of importance.

Drake was clearly amused by whatever was said -- he starts cracking up and calls for the camera to focus on his new friend ... as Rumble, OKC's mascot, comes over to join in on the fun.

After the interaction, Drake and his new friends even posed for a selfie ... captioning it, "My new parents."

BTW -- Drake was at the game to support fellow Toronto guy Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ... who chatted it up with him after scoring 39 points in the 114-110 loss.

Wrestling star Cody Rhodes got a HUGE assist from T-Pain during his AEW match Wednesday -- getting a steel chair from the artist that he used to smash his opponent with!!

The wild scene all went down during Rhodes' insane "Dynamite" match with Andrade ... when Rhodes spotted Pain in the Atlanta crowd.

Rhodes -- who's buddies with the "Buy U A Drank" crooner -- went over to embrace the musical genius mid-match ... and that's when Pain handed over his steel chair to help him get an edge on Andrade.

Rhodes took the ringside furniture and proceeded to whack his opponent in the back with it -- causing Andrade to wince in pain.

Of course, it was all legal as the two wrestlers were fighting under "street" rules -- but the craziest thing is the whole interaction wasn't even the highlight of the match!!

Cody's wife, Brandi Rhodes, later entered the ring and poured gasoline on a table that had been set up ... and then lit it on fire.

Rhodes then hit Andrade with a sick reverse DDT through the flaming table ... sending the raucous crowd into a frenzy.

Neighbors of Clarence and Jacqueline Avant have been alarmed by the crime wave in Beverly Hills and L.A. ... so much so they hired armed guards before Wednesday's fatal home invasion.

Residents in Trousdale Estate tell us just last week a bunch of neighbors got together and hired a private security firm. Law enforcement tells us there has been a spike in home and vehicle burglaries in Trousdale ... and it's got residents scared stiff.

Our source tells us the neighbors pooled cash and hired the security company ... problem is, the guards hadn't started patrols yet.

Some residents are so concerned after Wednesday's home invasion ... they've individually hired armed guards. And, on top of that, sources at the Beverly Hills PD tell us they will be measurably increasing patrols in the area. The PD has also hired a private security company to make sure the area is adequately covered.

Our BHPD sources tell us as far as they can see there is no connection to the smash-and-grab robberies in Beverly Hills and L.A. Louis Vuitton and Saks Fifth Avenue were both hit recently in Bev Hills.

TMZ broke the story, Avant was killed in her home early Wednesday morning. We know at least one suspect made their way into the home where Jackie was shot in the stomach ... she was awake and alert when paramedics arrived, but later died at the hospital.