Michael Jackson's downfall can be directly traced to the 1984 Pepsi commercial that set his hair ablaze ... and we connect the dots in our new documentary -- "TMZ Presents: Michael Jackson: 30 Fatal Seconds."
We reveal shocking, never-before-seen footage of the infamous fire that engulfed Michael's head at the Shrine Auditorium in Downtown L.A.
Brian Panish, the attorney for the Jackson family, believes the Pepsi commercial incident is what ultimately led to Michael's death.
Motown Productions former president Suzanne De Passe says what happened to Michael was so egregious, she's surprised he didn't end up owning Pepsi. She believes every aspect of Michael's life was negatively impacted on that fateful day ... telling us it was a heartbreaking, sad and horrible moment in Michael's life.
Former Miss Universe Albania Angela Martini brought the mystic vibes to this weekend’s "TMZ Brunch Bus" ... reading energies with her handy deck of oracle cards!
The beauty queen invited guests to pull a card ... quickly turning the tour into a hybrid experience -- part spiritual awakening, part caution to the wind party -- with riders fully locked in!
Angela nailed her hosting duties, singing and dancing the whole time ... and even educating the crowd about Albania along the way. Don't say TMZ's never taught ya anything!
Chris Brown's ex, Diamond Brown, and his rumored current girlfriend, Jada Wallace, are going at it on socials in an epic back-and-forth... and it's getting nasty!
Here's the deal ... Diamond -- the mother of Chris Brown's daughter Lovely -- accused Chris of trying to sabotage her personal life ... but Jada claimed it's Diamond who's been causing trouble by trying to keep Chris from their daughter.
In Instagram comments, Diamond claimed Chris tried to run off her current man by threatening him after Chris already tried to ruin a previous relationship. This prompted Jada to jump to her man's defense.
Lil Poppa -- a popular rapper based out of Jacksonville, Florida -- has died ... TMZ has learned.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office in Georgia tells TMZ ... the rapper -- real name Janarious Mykel Wheeler -- was pronounced dead today at 11:23 AM ET.
Lil Poppa was signed to Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group (CMG) and has released several hit tracks over the last few years, including "Love & War," "Mind Over Matter," and "HAPPY TEARS."
Ja Rule says the beef between him and the dudes in G-Unit is in the freezer ... it's not heating up despite the recent plane exchange -- but it's always ready to thaw.
We caught up with the rapper in New York City Tuesday ... and, we asked him why he apologized for the recent argument with Tony Yayo on a Delta Flight.
Brianna unloaded on her country music star ex in an appearance on the "Impaulsive" podcast with hosts Logan Pauland Mike Majlak.
Logan points out Zach's new wife, Samantha Leonard, bears a striking resemblance to Brianna ... and she agrees, even going so far as to say Zach planned his wedding as a dig at her.
Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun look like a seriously fun couple ... because we got video of them singing karaoke ... and their duet had the whole joint rocking!!!
Check out this footage of Sydney and Scooter doing karaoke in Ventura, CA ... they each had a mic as they belted out Neil Diamond's classic hit "Sweet Caroline" ... and they brought the house down. So good, so good, so good.
We also got video of Sydney singing "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme" by ABBA ... and Scooter may need to think about signing his girlfriend to a record deal. He certainly knows talent when he sees it!!!
Hilary Duff says her new album is her finally being ready to share who she is ... including her "very complicated" family dynamic and beef with her sister Haylie.
In a new interview with Glamour, Hilary makes some rare comments about her family and her sister in explaining why she put her beefs with Haylie and her pops, Bob Duff, on wax.
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Hilary tells the outlet ... "That's my family. Those are the people that affect you the most, take up the most space naturally as a human who's born into something. Just because you're born into a family doesn’t mean that it always stays together."
Eminem's ex-wife, Kim Scott, is facing two charges in Michigan after allegedly crashing her car with her son and his friends inside the vehicle ... TMZ has learned.
According to court records, obtained by TMZ, Kim is charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and failure to stop or identify after causing property damage -- both misdemeanors.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the chaos unfolded around 8:00 PM Monday. We're told Kim had just left her home with her son, Parker, and three of his friends to go shopping when she allegedly struck a parked car on her street but didn't stop.
Here's a moment Amber Glenn will never forget ... the Team USA figure skater was surprised at the Winter Olympics by a personal video message from her inspiration, Madonna, and it was awesome!
Glenn, 26, got eyes on the clip on Tuesday, ahead of the women's singles event short program at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, where she's scheduled to take the ice alongside Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito, the trio famously known as the "Blade Angels".
The message comes after Glenn skated to Madonna's global hit, "Like a Prayer." Her on-ice wardrobe is also influenced by the "Queen of Pop."
Jelly Roll and wife Bunnie Xo are ready to double up their family ... revealing they’re hoping to welcome twins via surrogate in the near future.
Bunnie dropped the bombshell in her new memoir, "Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic" -- out now -- revealing they’ve already found "the sweetest woman ever" to carry their babies ... and Bunnie's gearing up to begin IVF stimulation treatments to retrieve her eggs.
The decision didn’t come overnight ... Bunnie says the couple spent the last decade healing -- both stabilizing financially and emotionally -- and finally reached a place where building a future together felt right.
R. Kelly is under investigation for possessing a retired warden's phone number at his federal lockup in North Carolina ... and he's been placed in isolation for the duration of a probe of the incident, according to his lawyer.
Kelly's attorney, Beau Brindley,tells TMZ... the R&B singer's problems began when he got involved in a mentor program to help guide other inmates, which was overseen by the warden at FCI Butner Medium 1.
Recently, the warden retired ... but before he left, he gave Kelly his cell phone number in case the convicted felon needed to reach out to him to seek advice about the mentor program.
Billy Steinberg -- the legendary songwriter behind Madonna’s smash hit "Like a Virgin" -- has died at age 74 after a battle with cancer, TMZ has confirmed.
His death Monday was confirmed by his attorney, Laurie Soriano.
Steinberg’s career took off early with his bands Billy Thermal and i-Ten ... the latter was formed with songwriting partner Tom Kelly. But it was their collaboration on "Like a Virgin" that cemented Billy's place in music history, with the song spending six straight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Michael Jackson's entire trajectory may have shifted in just 30 seconds ... in a theory posited by our new documentary 'Michael Jackson: 30 Fatal Seconds.'
In the doc, we reveal shocking, never-before-seen footage of the infamous fire that engulfed the King of Pop's head on a commercial set in 1984. The tragic event left MJ with severe third-degree burns and led to his obsession with plastic surgery, a severe narcotics addiction ... and eventually his untimely death.
"TMZ Presents: Michael Jackson: 30 Seconds" now available to stream on Hulu.
Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun weren’t shy about spending big during a cozy lunch outing ... and apparently they made sure everyone around them ate well, too.
The power couple were seen Sunday at Cold Spring Tavern in Santa Barbara, California ... where they were hanging with a group of friends and ordering enough food to feed an army.
An eyewitness tells us they actually benefitted from Scooter and Sydney over-ordering ... claiming the couple offered them untouched plates of burgers, fries, onion rings, and nachos -- as seen in this photo obtained by TMZ.
Sydney was looking chic in a tan jacket over a white skirt, paired with cowboy boots ... while Scooter kept it casual in a crewneck with "Beach" written across the front.
David Archuleta is opening up about the emotional minefield that was his relationship with his father Jeff ... admitting for years he saw him as a threat to his peace while battling his sexuality within the strict confines of the Mormon Church.
Speaking on "GMA" Monday while promoting his new memoir "Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself," out Feb. 17, the 35-year-old said he’d been viewing everything through the lens of his terrified younger self ... until he reclaimed his voice by redirecting years of bottled-up anger toward his dad into something healthier.
David revealed ... the moment he came out to his dad, he stunned him with acceptance, telling him how proud he was -- a response he says brought him deep healing.
