Politics

Dylan Mulvaney has finally come back to social media after facing serious outrage online for her partnership with Bud Light ... saying she's still standing strong despite all the noise, adding the hatred being spewed at her is a real full-circle moment.

The transgender TikTok personality jumped back on Instagram Thursday, addressing her 1.8M followers with a "long time, no talk" convo ... first saying she took a step back once the controversy started in order to "let them tucker themselves out."

She never mentions Bud Light by name, but she's absolutely referring to the anger that was around her recent collab -- reassuring fans she's doing alright, but being called names or "too feminine" really took her back to when she was a kid.

What's different this time around is this isn't playground talk -- it's adults coming after her for being herself ... adding "Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history." Dylan says she's always trying to love everyone, including those that are against her.

She finishes by joking that something good came out of all of this, apart from the trans representation in ads -- saying the people pleaser in her has died because she's accepted the fact that she can't win them all.

As you know, Bud Light came under fire -- literally -- at the beginning of April after partnering up with Dylan ... and many people, including Kid Rock, decided to show their lack of support by destroying the beer cans they'd already purchased.

Jerry Springer, one of the most influential and controversial figures in TV history, has died ... TMZ has confirmed.

Jerry hosted the smash hit syndicated talk show "The Jerry Springer Show" for 27 years ... and it was never a boring moment on the raucous and wild show -- which was known for its outrageous guests who usually got into crazy fights as the audience cheered, "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!"

A family spokesperson says Jerry was battling a "brief illness." Our sources tell us it was pancreatic cancer that was diagnosed a few months ago, and this week he took a turn for the worse.

The spokesperson says he died Thursday morning, peacefully at his home in the Chicago area.

Before TV, he was a politician who ran a failed campaign for U.S. Congress in 1970, got elected to Cincinnati's City Council in 1971 ... and became the city's mayor in 1977. He served one term.

But, Springer became a worldwide sensation with his show ... which debuted in 1991. Most people won't remember this, but when he started Jerry's show focused on political issues. Of course, it eventually became the exact opposite ... and a ratings smash.

Jerry's show was so popular in the late '90s, it even topped Oprah Winfrey's in several cities. 'Springer' finally went off the air in 2018.

He made one more run in TV, with his courtroom show, "Judge Jerry," which ran for 3 seasons.

Jerry's last TV appearance came last season on "The Masked Singer" ... where he performed as "The Beetle," singing a Frank Sinatra classic.

We're told his cancer battle got much worse about a month ago, and he finally had to stop working. He had been hosting a folk music show on a local radio station in Cincinnati.

He's survived by his daughter Katie Springer and his older sister Evelyn.

Jerry was 79. RIP

As Pras waits to find out his sentence after a guilty verdict in his federal fraud trial ... he's also waiting on his Fugees bandmates to publicly show him any support.

Both Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, rightfully, joined the world in publicly mourning artist/activist Harry Belafonte after his death on Tuesday, but one day later their IG accounts were bare of any reference to Pras' trial and verdict.

The Fugees' last album, 1996's "The Score," sold more than 22 million copies worldwide ... but the group never got on the same page to record a follow-up. A 25th-anniversary tour to celebrate the project was scrapped last year due to Pras' legal drama, so it's possible there's a rift between them after all that drama.

As we reported, Pras was found guilty of spearheading a multimillion-dollar political conspiracy alongside Malaysian fugitive Jho Low.

The trial included high-profile testimonies from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions -- but to date, there's been no reaction from Lauryn or Wyclef.

On the other hand, Chuck D is being extremely vocal ... the Public Enemy frontman launched into a tirade Thursday, ripping apart what he calls a hypocrisy on Pras' accused crimes.

Ironically, Chuck also found time to memorialize Belafonte -- sharing the late icon's many virtues with TMZ Hip Hop when we spotted him at the airport.

WNBA superstar Brittney Griner was holding back tears as she met with media for the first time since her release from Russian prison ... giving a heartfelt interview as she reflected on her time behind bars.

The 32-year-old Phoenix Mercury center got behind the mic just minutes ago ... and her emotions got the best of her as she detailed her 10-month stay in a penal colony on drug-related charges.

Griner also acknowledged the massive crowd of reporters ... saying she hopes the league gets the same amount of coverage as her story did last year.

The WNBA champion said she would much rather go through the most grueling practices than ever go back to what she experienced in Russia -- and vowed to never play overseas again, unless it's for Team USA.

Griner also cracked several jokes as she responded to reporters ... referring to her teammate, Diana Taurasi, as a "walking fossil" and pointing out how she dunked on her wife when she first touched a basketball when she returned to the States.

As for her WNBA career, Griner said getting back on the court was never in question ... explaining she knows she can always bet on herself and her abilities.

Dwyane Wade, dad to a transgender daughter, says he's no longer living in Florida despite being a legend in the state, thanks to what he believes are restrictive policies infringing on the rights of LGBTQ residents.

The 41-year-old Basketball Hall of Famer recently sat down with Rachel Nichols for her show 'Headliners' when he revealed he is no longer a resident of the Sunshine State.

"That's another reason why I don't live in [Florida]. A lot of people don't know that," D-Wade responded when Nichols asked what message he'd send to state legislators.

The 3x NBA champ continued ... "I have to make decisions for my family, not just personal, individual decisions."

Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, and many state-level lawmakers have passed controversial legislation, including the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill, amongst other laws, and Wade flat out says his family wouldn't be comfortable.

"You know, obviously, the taxes is great. Having Wade County is great. But my family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there. And, so that's one of the reasons why I don't live there," Dwyane told Nichols.

Of course, Dwyane's 15-year-old daughter Zaya came out as transgender in 2020. She's since legally changed her name and gender. Wade has been very outspoken in his support of his daughter.

The Wades aren't alone in leaving the state. Despite an influx of people moving to places like Florida, Texas, and Tennessee in the last few years, many have already left those areas.

Wade ultimately played 15 seasons in Miami, delivering three NBA championships to South Florida. Now he's gone.

Fat Joe is fed up with the medical industry duping its patients into paying unfair prices ... personally flying himself from NYC to Washington D.C. to do something about it!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked with the Don Cartagena as he visited Capitol Hill to rep "Power to the Patients" ... the nonprofit that targets and tackles hidden healthcare fees.

As we told you earlier this week, Joe will be in town through the weekend alongside Busta Rhymes, French Montana and Rick Ross for a special PTTP-helmed concert to bring awareness to the millionaire CEOs of nonprofit orgs. and other associated horseradish ... but today, he was all bars without the beat!!!

We also caught Joe's speech as he addressed the crowd as a proud Bronx native but lashed out at the economic forces that hold Black and Brown people back ... comparing their cries for help as effective as a "dog barking at the moon."

Pras is guilty of committing fraud according to the jury in the federal trial where the Fugees rapper was accused of trading political influence in exchange for millions from Malaysian fugitive Jho Low.

During the trial Pras admitted accepting $20 million from Low for a photo-op with then-President Barack Obama as he ran for reelection -- and also helped set up a scheme to illegally funnel money to the Obama campaign through straw donors. Prosecutors were not going after the Obama campaign.

High-profile witnesses Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions took the stand during the case.

Pras reportedly blamed his decision to participate in the schemes on the bad advice of an attorney, but that clearly didn't sway the jury as he's now looking at up to 20 years in prison.

We spoke to Pras outside court during the heat of the trial and he didn't have much to say. The jury clearly felt he said more than enough in court.

Disney is escalating its beef with Ron DeSantis ... it's now suing Florida's Governor for what Disney claims is a targeted campaign of retaliation, and one that's hurting the company's bottom line.

The Walt Disney Co. filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against DeSantis, ripping the Republican presidential hopeful as being "patently retaliatory, anti-business, and patently unconstitutional."

In the suit, Disney claims DeSantis is waging a "relentless campaign to weaponize government power" to punish Disney's political views ... with Disney saying the Governor's actions are now threatening its business, jeopardizing its economic future in Florida and violating its constitutional rights.

Disney says it regrets having to sue DeSantis, but the company says he gave them no choice ... pointing out DeSantis recently talked publicly about wanting to tax the hell out of Disney and build a state prison next to Walt Disney World.

In the suit, Disney says it's being "forced to defend itself against a State weaponizing its power to inflict political punishment" ... with Disney claiming DeSantis is orchestrating a retaliation campaign against the company simply because Disney "expressed an opinion with which the government disagreed."

Although the suit references the "government" in several places, Disney is not suing the state of Florida.

Remember ... the beef started when Disney came out in opposition to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" legislation, which DeSantis has championed. DeSantis then started targeting Disney's special tax district, which has essentially allowed Disney to self-govern in Florida since the 1960s.

Disney says the lawsuit is a response to DeSantis' hand-picked board of supervisors moving to undo a recent development deal Disney struck to strip the board's power over WDW.

Lia Thomas -- the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship -- is firing back at her critics ... saying a lot of them are simply transphobes who are "using the guise of feminism" to hide their true, hateful beliefs.

Thomas opened up about her detractors in a lengthy interview this week with Schuyler Bailar -- the NCAA's first trans swimmer -- and she said it's just not possible to claim to be a feminist but to also not support her when it comes to competing against biological females.

"They're like, 'We respect Lia as a woman, as a trans woman, whatever, we respect her identity, we just don't think it's fair,'" the former collegiate swimmer said on the "Dear Schuyler" podcast.

"You can't really have that sort of half support, where you're like, 'Oh, I respect her as a woman here, but not here.' They're using the guise of feminism to sort of push transphobic beliefs."

Thomas -- who competed against males but switched to female competitions after she started hormone therapy in 2019 -- received backlash following nearly every event that she won over biological women. Her critics argued she had an unfair advantage ... and should be forced to compete in a separate category.

The issue became such a big deal, it sparked legislators to introduce bills in parts of the country to place restrictions on transgender athletes.

Outspoken supporters of those rules -- such as former swim star Riley Gaines and even some of Thomas' ex-teammates at UPenn -- have called themselves feminists who are trying to fight to protect women's sports.

But, during her interview with Bailar, Thomas said she believes that's all just an oxymoron.

"I think a lot of people in that camp sort of carry an implicit bias against trans people," Thomas said, "but don't want to, I guess, fully manifest or speak that out and so they try to play it off as this sort of half support."

Bailar agreed, adding, "In order to exclude anybody in the trans category, you have to reduce women to reproductive capacity, which is, in my opinion, extremely anti-feminist."

President Biden was played by Vladimir Putin ... according to the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul, who says the Russian president agreed to send Paul Whelan home with Brittney Griner but changed the deal during the exchange.

Despite reneging on the agreed-upon swap, McCaul says the U.S. went through with the trade, sending back notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, knowns as "the merchant of death."

"The deal was originally when the arms dealer from Russia was released that it was supposed to be Griner, the athlete, and Paul Whelan," Rep. McCaul revealed this week during an appearance on CNN.

The Congressman from Texas' 10th district continued ... "When they got to the point of the handoff, they call it, the Russians only showed up with one of the hostages, and that was Griner. And unfortunately, the Marine, Paul Whelan, was left behind."

Rep. McCaul believes the Russian president "played" JB's administration.

"Very tricky on Putin's part, and in my view, the Biden administration got played by releasing a very dangerous arms dealer for just one hostage, and not both."

Of course, 53-year-old Whelan, a retired U.S. Marine, has been locked up in Russia since December 2018. Shortly after his arrest, he was convicted on an espionage charge, and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The U.S. has always maintained the charges are BS.

As for the details of the negotiations, McCaul is likely in a position to know about the inner workings of the months-long, high-level discussions ... he chairs the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee. He also previously sat on the House Homeland Security Committee.

Don Lemon has a new job option if he wants it -- and it would entail him dipping poultry into boiling hot cooking oil ... under the supervision of one of Rick Ross's managers, no less.

The rapper hopped on the 'Gram Monday to air his thoughts on the news of DL's unceremonious firing from CNN ... and he was more than ready to dance on the guy's grave a bit, 'cause he offered him a new gig at one of his many Wing Stop franchises.

Rozay says he can personally make sure Don gets an interview in front of his top chicken team members. The only thing he's asking the ex-anchor to do ... send a resume. Sounds like Rick's sold on Don's potential ability to hawk a certain flavor of pollo -- take a guess.

He's obviously trolling here ... but that's not the end of his ribbing. Rick goes on to suggest Don can be the face (or name, more like) of a new flavor of his energy drink line -- Rap Star.

Again, he leans into Don's surname a lot to make this joke work ... and yeah, it lands.

While Rick is kidding in his pitch to Don ... we know there's a very real news network he could work for if he's inclined. As we reported, NewsNation execs are interested in bringing him onto the team -- not to mention the recently discarded Tucker Carlson from FOX News.

President Joe Biden is ready to do it all again and run for reelection -- with VP Kamala Harris right at his side.

Biden made the big announcement in a slick 3-plus minute campaign video released Tuesday morning, prominently featuring the incumbent democrats and putting to rest speculation that Harris would be replaced on the ticket. The announcement also foreshadowed a possible rematch between Biden and former president and top Republican candidate Donald Trump, who lost to Biden in the 2020 election.

In the video, Biden and Harris are seen together at the White House and on the campaign trail, warmly greeting and chatting with people. Biden's voice plays over the footage as he explains that Americans continue to be in a battle for the soul of the country.

In the years ahead, Biden says pivotal questions still remain about whether Americans will have more or less freedoms and individual rights. He ends his speech with this, "That's why I'm running for reelection."

Although Biden's announcement came as no surprise -- he'd been hinting at it for months -- the 46th President has been dogged by criticism of his heightened age and mental and physical fitness. If he were to win reelection, Biden would be 82 at the start of his second term.

Don Lemon is out at CNN, after 17 years at the network, a move he says he was never given any heads-up was happening.

In a statement Monday, Lemon said, "I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly."

He continues, "At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play."

Finally saying, "With that said, I want to thank my colleagues and the many teams I have worked with for an incredible run. They are the most talented journalists in the business, and I wish them all the best."

Don was on air Monday morning, without a hint that anything might be off, and ending his show with the words, "Bye, everyone."

The move comes just 2 months after Lemon was benched briefly for sexist comments he made about Nikki Haley, when he said she was no longer "in her prime" at age 51.

He was also recently caught on a hot mic making comments about Jon Stewart ... however, it seemed those incidents had both cooled off with the network.

Unclear if there was something more happening behind the scenes.

Tucker Carlson is out at FOX News -- a stunning development that comes on the heels of the cable news giant's massive nine-figure settlement of the Dominion Voting defamation case.

The often controversial media personality's been a ratings king for years now in his primetime slot, but the network says this past Friday was his last show. The company says it's agreed to part ways with him, not giving any further reason or context.

They add, "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor."

Instead of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" coming on at 8 PM ET, which was his usual start time, FOX says "FOX News Tonight" will air live in its place as an interim show with a rotating list of FOX personalities hosting until a permanent one is named.

Tucker has been helming his program at FOX for years now -- dating back to 2016 -- and killing his competition at other networks. Prior to getting his show, he had worked at FOX as a contributor and journalist since 2009.

This move comes after FOX agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle the lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems -- which accused the network of embracing/airing outright lies about their voting machines during the 2020 election.

If it had gone to trial, Tucker and several other FOX personalities would likely have been called to testify.

Tucker was a key figure in this litigation ... text messages of his were aired out during the discovery process, and he was found to have trashed Donald Trump in private to colleagues.

Interestingly enough, Tucker signed off his last show on Friday with "We'll be back on Monday."

It goes without saying ... his tenure at FOX has been incredibly controversial, but also successful by the same token. However you look at it, it's the end of an era.

Fat Joe's power circle is coming to aid his fight against shady hospital bills -- Busta Rhymes, French Montana, and Rick Ross are all set to perform with the Don this week ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

The function's going down Thursday in Washington, D.C., and will be hosted by Power to the Patients ... the org Joe's been supporting loudly in an effort to force transparency in hospital billing.

He and Power to the Patients have been demanding new legislation to back their cause, and, to that end, we're told Joe's scheduled a meet-up with lawmakers on Capitol Hill ... and a news conference with members of Congress.

The legendary rapper's not messing around ... bringing in A-list pals in rap for support. Thursday's concert will be part of a busy week of events in the nation's capital as the White House Correspondents Dinner goes down Saturday night.

Donald Trump tried to ingratiate a crowd of supporters with pizza, but he suggested the prized piece was a slice he had half-eaten.

Trump showed up at a pizzeria in Fort Myers, Florida Friday ... sort of a pizza party after his speech at the Lee County Republican Party's Lincoln Reagan Dinner. Yeah, pizza after dinner may be a little much.

Trump's at the cash register, egging on the crowd ... "Enjoy the pizza, enjoy the pizza!"

Not one to shy away from the likes of a good pizza pie, Trump chomped into a piece and mused, "Does anybody want a piece that I've eaten?"