Podcasts

Taylor Swift says her father Scott Swift came out of quintuple bypass surgery cracking jokes ... and was the funniest he's ever been during a 15-minute comedy routine from his hospital bed.

Taylor shared the positive health update on her father during her appearance on the "New Heights" podcast with boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce.

She says Scott learned he had 5 blockages in his heart after doing a resting stress test ... and doctors scheduled the surgery for the next day ... and she, her mother and her brother rushed to his side, despite Scott saying they didn't need to be there.

Taylor Swift says she broke down in tears when she told boyfriend Travis Kelce she had gotten the rights to her entire music vault ... and she got emotional recalling the moment she knew the deal was sealed.

Taylor was on the verge of tears on the "New Heights" podcast as she took Travis and his brother Jason Kelce through the process of buying her master recordings.

She said she had intrusive thoughts every day about not owning her masters ... and revealed she was overcome with emotions this past May when she bought them from Shamrock Capital.

Taylor Swift is giving fans their first look at her new album cover ... revealing the front and back of "The Life of a Showgirl."

The singer-songwriter dropped the first look at the album on her website and on boyfriend Travis Kelce's "New Heights" podcast Wednesday. Check it out ... TS is channeling her inner showgirl while underwater in a glittery, bedazzled bodysuit.

Of course, we knew Taylor showed the album on the podcast ... 'cause a promo clip from the episode showed the cover totally blurred out -- driving fans into a frenzy of wonder about the artwork.

3:48 PM PT -- Bri Stern's lawyer Tony Buzbee tells TMZ ... "As expected, Andrew Tate filed a counterclaim against Brianna Stern. This follows the lawsuit Ms. Stern filed against Tate in March for violent sexual assault. The tone of Mr. Tate’s counterclaim isn’t a surprise. He has openly proclaimed himself a woman-hater. He had the audacity to tweet: 'Literally everything females say is r******d.' Tate brags about how he treats women. This is a quote from him: 'Slap, slap, grab choke, shut up b*tch, sex.' When they were together, Tate told Ms. Stern 'If you don’t start being good, . . . I will f***ing rape you. Because that’s what you deserve.'

"He also told her 'if you ever f*** with me, I will f***ing kill you. I mean it. I will kill you.' Tate’s delusion is that he’s so important that he’s above the law. He isn’t. His counterclaim is junk and will be dismissed. More importantly, I can’t wait to get him in front of a Los Angeles jury.  He will finally be held accountable for his years of his outrageous and harmful conduct. Although Tate has attempted to scrub his social media, unfortunately for him, we have it all. Tate is nothing more than a big mouthed bully, but this time he picked the wrong person. Ms. Stern won’t be bullied."

Andrew Tate is going on the legal offensive against his ex-girlfriend Bri Stern ... he's now countersuing her, claiming she defamed him with what he says are fabricated allegations of sexual assault and abuse.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Andrew claims Bri orchestrated a deliberate smear campaign against him based on false claims that he choked her during sex despite telling him to stop.

Andrew claims Bri spread the false allegations in the media and online ... and he says she was out for profit, fame, and the destruction of his reputation.

Patrick Mahomes had an inside scoop on Taylor Swift's "New Heights" appearance before anyone else ... 'cause it turns out the pop superstar FaceTimed his wife, Brittany, right after wrapping the episode!!

A reporter asked the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback about this week's Swift news during his press conference on Wednesday ... and considering how close he is with Travis Kelce, it's no surprise he got a heads up.

"I knew before y'all did," Mahomes said on Wednesday, "just 'cause they called me after the podcast was done."

Kid Cudi says he hated every minute of his time on the witness stand in Diddy's federal criminal trial ... but he ultimately went through with testifying because he wanted to support his ex, Cassie Ventura.

The rapper reflected on his experience with the Diddy case on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, telling host Alex Cooper he only testified because he was subpoenaed.

Cudi says he told the feds no a couple times, but they forced his hand ... and he explained why he ditched a suit and tie in favor of a more casual outfit when it came time to testify.

Alex Zamora is spilling the tea on that wild scene from this season of "Perfect Match" where it seemed like she, Louis Russell, and Sandy Gallagher were about to dive into a steamy threesome ... but don’t get it twisted -- Alex says Louis can keep on dreaming.

Zamora -- the temptress from "Perfect Match" and "Temptation Island" -- made multiple appearances on this season of the Netflix dating show, and things got spicy once she came in and started flirting with already matched-up Russell ... giving him the bright idea of having her join him and his match, Sandy, for the fun.

TMZ reality podcast "Previously On..." had Alex on this week ... and she cleared the air, telling us she was talking about partaking in a threesome with her future husband -- not Louis! -- shutting down any perception she was into the idea of joining Louis and Sandy in a throuple situation for the show.

8:37 AM PT -- A rep for Pete Buttigieg tells TMZ ... "Instead of doing his job, Sean Duffy continues his obsession with Pete by spewing nonsense that has no basis in fact and the New York Post continues to give that nonsense a boost."

Pete Buttigieg and the Biden Administration are to blame for the lack of competent air traffic controllers ... so says the current Secretary of Transportation.

Sean Duffy threw blame around on the "Pod Force One" podcast ... claiming Buttigieg lowered the requirements to be considered a "well-qualified" air traffic controller while in charge of the federal agency.

Duffy claims the threshold on the Air Traffic Skills Assessment used to be 85% to be considered well-qualified ... but, he claims, under Buttigieg, that number was changed to 80% -- a seemingly small statistical difference that Duffy says has a huge impact.

Fans have a new -- and hilarious -- glimpse of Taylor Swift on Travis and Jason Kelce's "New Heights" podcast ... and she's making a crack at the "male sports fans" who love to hate on her for taking up screen time during NFL games.

Check out the new clip that dropped from Wednesday's highly anticipated "New Heights" episode -- after Jason gives the pop star one heck of an introduction by laying out a long list of her accomplishments ... she takes a 'Fearless' jab by calling out all the NFL fans who absolutely despise her presence at Kansas City Chiefs games.

She quips ... "I think we all know that if there's one thing that male sports fans wanna see in their spaces and on their screens, it's more of me."

If you think you’ve cracked the code on Taylor Swift’s latest album reveal, think again ... 'cause one superfan swears there’s a whole other layer lurking beneath the hype!

Bestselling author Brittany Hodak joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday, and she gleefully admits she’s been up all night with fellow Swifties piecing together every last Easter egg from "The Life of a Showgirl" album reveal, decoding exactly what Taylor’s new era is all about.

You can tell Brittany’s a Swiftie through and through, 'cause she points out the Aug 12 announcement at exactly 12:12 AM -- and she’s convinced those numbers are just the tip of the iceberg, with something bigger and better still to come.

Chicago rapper King Yella was far from a "drink champ" during his latest interview ... when the camera captured him taking a complete nose dive after his liquor intake took its toll!!!

Interviewer Cam Capone was 2 hours into his sit-down and was attempting to show Yella the video from the story we broke of Tory Lanez getting stabbed, as the rapper hooted and hollered about "clout chasers."

Yella began the interview with a fairly full bottle of Crown Royal, but by the 2-hour mark, the bottle had dwindled down to a few swigs remaining.

Demi Lovato didn’t just mend millennial hearts with her Jonas Brothers reunion -- she gave her own soul a makeover, calling it a full-circle moment!

The singer spilled the tea about the epic MetLife Stadium moment Sunday on the "Chicks in the Office" podcast, revealing Joe Jonas casually hit her up a week before to ask her to perform their classic song, "This Is Me" ... telling her she’d been a huge part of his journey -- and the feeling was mutual.

Demi also said that "This Is Me" holds a special place for her -- adding the song from the 2008 Disney smash hit "Camp Rock" was her first big hit.

Get a load of this ... Taylor Swift is making her debut appearance on none other than Travis Kelce's podcast -- and the famous couple is even giving us a sneak peek.

You heard it right kids ... Taylor is hopping on the "New Heights" podcast with Travis and his brother, Jason Kelce, to record the episode, which will drop Wednesday.

But before then, Taylor has another treat in store for her fans -- which will be revealed at 12:12 am ET, per the countdown clock on her official website.

Sean "Diddy" Combs would be Team Trump if the President doles out a pardon ... and for a variety of reasons ... so says his longtime attorney Mark Geragos.

Harvey asked Geragos on the "2 Angry Men" podcast if Diddy would pledge allegiance to Trump in exchange for clemency.

As Diddy's longtime attorney, Mark talks to Diddy often ... and he says Diddy would absolutely become a Trump supporter overnight ... but not for the reason you may be thinking.

Jordon Hudson apparently thinks she's a public relations pro, as good as some of the best in the field ... but then broke down in tears on a call with reporters.

Here's the deal ... Charlotte Wilder and Madeline Hill -- hosts of "The Sports Gossip Show," which was just acquired by The Athletic -- dished on a few late-night phone calls they had with Jordon.

During the call, Charlotte and Madeline say Jordon agreed with their assessment that she's Bill Belichick's version of Tree Paine. For those of you who don't know, Tree is Taylor Swift's PR point person -- highly regarded and respected in her field.

Pro wrestling’s self-proclaimed "Indy God" Matt Cardona is picking a new kind of fight – one with Grand Tank Auto ... and paperwork!

The Deathmatch King joined the premiere episode of TMZ’s "Inside The Ring" to discuss his growing empire in life after WWE -- including a growing toy line that now features MLB stars ... and told us his longstanding feud ends this month in a one-on-one match with the new self-proclaimed "Indy God," Shotzi Blackheart, at GCW’s Homecoming episode August 23rd in Dallas.

At the center of this feud -- the copyright ownership of the title "Indy God." Cardona told us he outright owns the copyright of the moniker, and he wishes to protect that for any incoming wrestlers entering the Indie scene.