Politics

Twitter is dead, and in its place -- a new name and logo live ... welcome to the world of X!

Indeed ... Elon Musk followed through on his promise from this weekend, rebranding the storied social media company and completely getting rid of the familiar white bird icon and blue background. Ditto for its moniker ... now, Twitter will forever be known simply as "X."

EM touted the big change by retweeting re-X'ing his new CEO's announcement, which reads ... "It’s an exceptionally rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression. Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square."

She adds, "X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine."

Now, the actual site/app itself still pretty much looks the same in terms of design, function and format. In fact, you can actually still see remnants of the old Twitter floating around ... like on the search bar, for instance, where it continues to read "Search Twitter."

Even when it comes to retweets, those are labeled as such ... so on its face, it still very much feels like Twitter. It's unclear if more of a relaunch will take place over the coming days.

While Elon and co. really got the word out about the switch-up this weekend ... they'd actually been telegraphing this for a while, especially in official corporate docs tied to the organization.

The group of investors that came together to buy this thing -- again, for $44 billion -- had called themselves X Corp. earlier this year. Now, they'll be known as such going forward.

One last thing ... it appears the new "X" is going to be powered by AI -- at least according to this above-mentioned CEO. Funny enough, Elon was railing against AI not too long ago ... calling on a slow-down, if not a full-blown pause, because he thought it was dangerous.

Rachel Zegler gave an interview last Fall about the "Snow White" remake -- a clip that's just now getting resurfaced in right-wing circles ... and firing up the base, who call it "woke."

You might've seen 'Snow White' trending this weekend ... and the reason is because of this answer the actress gave to Variety -- alongside costar Gal Gadot -- all the way back in September. She's talking about how the 'SW' remake won't be like the 1937 cartoon.

For whatever reason, conservatives found it and like clockwork ... fired up the outrage, acting like this is new. Of course, they're dragging Zegler's characterization of the film -- which promises to be a modern retelling of the fairy tale classic, one in which Snow White will apparently take a more active role ... as opposed to needing saving by Prince Charming.

Like we said ... the way this movie was going to take shape has been known for quite some time -- but it seems to be getting hyper-focused on now, especially after the release of "Barbie" ... which some right-wing personalities have labeled as "anti-man"/"ultra feminist."

And yes, this latest wave of indignation -- again, over a very old interview -- comes on the heels of the recent "Snow White" set photos that leaked ... which were roasted as well.

Remember, the pics showed one little person ... and six other random people of typical stature following Zegler's stand-in through a field. The other "dwarfs" were also of varying race, gender and height -- and it got a major eye roll from some, especially on the right.

It has sparked a fierce debate ... as some little people have also slammed the decision to lose most of the dwarfs, all because Peter Dinklage found the idea of them insulting.

Considering sensitivities are more heightened than ever -- it remains to be seen how the rebooted "Snow White" will fare at the box office. On its face, it looks like conservatives are gearing up to boycott this one ... they're not liking what they're hearing about it so far.

There's no slowing Jason Aldean's controversial song "Try That In A Small Town" ... it's getting tons of play, especially at his own bar.

TMZ obtained this video from Jason Aldean's Kitchen + Rooftop Bar in Nashville, where the band played the song a few times in front of a packed house.

Jason wasn't there himself Wednesday night during the song's live performances ... instead, the singer was Jamie Baxter.

As you know, the song's become a lightning rod ... and a hit.

On the one hand, lots of folks say the song and its music video are deeply offensive and racist ... but there are lots of folks defending the track too, including Jeanine Pirro.

For his part, Jason says the song is not racist and not pro-lynching.

Over at Jason's bar, we're told the band performed the track twice within 45 minutes ... so it's obviously going over well on his home turf.

Blake Shelton has gone on the record to support Jason Aldean amid his new song controversy ... at least that's what a satire site wants you to believe, anyway.

Here's the deal ... Blake is trending this weekend, and it's all because of this fake article that has him quoted as explicitly backing Aldean amid the whole "Try That In A Small Town" fracas -- which has divided a lot of people, especially after the music video was released.

The story comes from a site called The Dunning-Kruger Times -- which labels itself as "America's Last Line of Defense." This article of theirs is headlined as such ... "Blake Shelton Cancels $30 Million Project With CMT: 'Jason Is My Friend.'" The problem ... it's a BS piece.

The reason we know this -- aside from the fact this is literally the only "media outlet" reporting such a story -- is that DKT itself calls itself a website that's just for laughs.

Their "About Us" page spells it out clearly ... "Dunning-Kruger-Times.com is a subsidiary of the 'America’s Last Line of Defense' network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery, or as Snopes called it before they lost their war on satire: Junk News." AKA, it's one big fat joke.

Although this site has openly laid out their intentions -- namely, laughing at conservatives -- folks on the right have ran with this fake story regardless ... lifting it up as a rallying cry.

While Blake and Jason have certainly been on friendly terms in the past ... the former has not said anything about all the hubbub his new song/video has caused -- and yet, it appears folks genuinely believe he's on Jason's side. Unfortunately for them, there's no truth to it.

The U.S. Women's Soccer team wasn't feelin very patriotic during their World Cup opener -- and it showed on their faces ... with mostly closed mouths during the National Anthem.

The U.S.'s debut game against Vietnam went down Friday in New Zealand, and a lot of people couldn't help but notice that most of the American players were choosing not to sing along to "The Star-Spangled Banner" while the famed music played before kickoff.

It was awkward -- the camera pans across the entire row ... and just about everyone, except for a few stray players, had their mouths shut. Some even had their arms behind their back.

The starters who opted to skip the Nat'l Anthem included ... Alex Morgan, Andi Sullivan, Sophia Smith, Naomi Girma, Emily Fox, Trinity Rodman and Crystal Dunn, among others. A couple were notably mouthing the words ... Alyssa Naeher and Lindsey Horan.

To make matters worse ... the Vietnamese players were pretty much all singing their national anthem, loudly/proudly it seems -- with hands over hearts. Ditto for just about every other international team we can see -- FOX is cutting all the national anthems on their social page.

On its face, it looks like every other country -- besides the U.S. -- is belting out their tunes.

It remains to be seen if the U.S. is going to do this every time they play another team -- the National Anthem will, in fact, be blared before each of their matches ... and since it seems like they're making a statement -- it has, no doubt, pissed off some along political lines.

Matty Healy kissed a dude onstage during a Malaysian music festival -- in protest, no doubt -- and now ... the whole thing's been scrapped for the rest of the weekend.

The 1975 front man was performing with his band Friday in Kuala Lumpur, as part of the Good Vibes Festival that was running through Sunday. Unfortunately, the rest of the performers who were booked won't be taking the stage because of what went down.

Throughout their set, Matty made it clear he was pretty pissed about the country's anti-LGBT laws -- which have criminalized homosexual acts, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

He ranted on camera ... and the dude ripped the Asian country a new one, while also promising to perform angry songs as a result -- apologizing to the crowd for having to bear the brunt of his rage. He said there were likely gay people in the audience that night.

Eventually, he hit his point home by locking lips with his bassist, Ross McDonald ... launching into a full-blown make-out sesh in front of everyone, which got oohs and ahhs.

It wasn't long after that the 1975 abruptly left the stage ... only to see Matty briefly return to announce what was going on. He said they'd been banned, and that the show was over.

Unfortunately for everyone ... this ended up getting the whole festival nixed, at the behest of the government. The festival organizers issued a statement, laying the blame squarely at Matty's feet, saying ... "We deeply regret to announce that the remaining schedule of the Good Vibes Festival 2023, planned for today and tomorrow has been canceled following the controversial conduct and remarks made by UK artist Matty Healy from the band The 1975."

They add, "This decision adheres to the immediate cancellation directive issued ... by the Ministry of Communications and Digital. The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule, or contravene Malaysian laws." The Comms Minister is also quoted as saying they won't take stars "(touching) on the sensitivities of the community, especially those that are against the traditions and values ​​of the local culture."

Even "Barbie" cannot escape the great political divide in America, because the right has folded the flick into its culture wars, lambasting it as a "flaming garbage heap."

Ben Shapiro jumped on Twitter Friday, saying, "My producers dragged me to see 'Barbie' and it was one of the most woke movies I have ever seen."

Others on the right have jumped on social media, calling the movie "feminist cancer" and "man-hating trash."

There are also folks on the right attacking trans actor Hari Nef, who appears in the film, saying, "Women being forced to pretend men can be women."

And, of course, there's Rep. Matt Gaetz ... his wife, Ginger, mused Ken had "disappointingly low T."

Director Christopher Nolan's summer blockbuster, "Oppenheimer," was released Friday in the U.S. and other countries, but there's one nation where you won't see it ... and that appears to be on purpose.

Japan has not yet announced a release date for the film, which is about the creation of the nuclear bomb in the United States, culminating in a successful test of the doomsday weapon in July 1945.

Weeks later, America dropped 2 nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, putting an end to World War II. The Japanese cities were completely obliterated with roughly 200,000 people killed and next month marks the 78th anniversary of the bombings.

So, it's no coincidence Japan has put the movie on the back burner ... for now. Keep in mind, though, Japan has a history of postponing new Hollywood film releases for weeks or even months to assess their popularity and value within the market.

But, some have already speculated the tragic historical events are what's really at play here, and Japanese audiences might be sensitive to some of the film's content.

A Boygenius track got some serious praise from former President Barack Obama ... but band member Lucy Dacus isn't thrilled about the shout-out.

"Not Strong Enough" by Lucy's group -- comprised of fellow female artists Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker -- snagged a spot on BO's summer playlist ... but Lucy replied to the news on Twitter Thursday, writing "war criminal :(."

It's unclear why Lucy called the former prez out -- he does annual lists like this with his favorite movies, books, and songs ... and creators are usually over the moon when their work ends with Obama's stamp of approval.

Other folks among the ranks of Boygenius -- according to Obama -- were Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Janelle Monae, Bob Dylan, SZA, Luke Combs, Ice Spice, and Nicki Minaj ... safe to say it's a HUGE compliment.

For what it's worth, Lucy's been pretty outspoken when it comes to politics over the years -- she's shown support for Bernie Sanders in the past, called Donald Trump an "evil, bigoted man," and Boygenius did a Nashville show in drag, protesting anti-drag bills.

The trio used this year's Coachella performance to fight for equality ... with Lucy supporting the safety of transgender children, Phoebe told the crowd, "F*** Ron DeSantis."

Ben McKenzie says celebrities should not be selling digital currencies ... instead, he says they should stick to the usual stuff, like overpriced water, so folks won't go belly up.

The former "O.C." star joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked him about the huge ad blitz from celebs who were pushing crypto during the Super Bowl and beyond ... only for the market to crash.

Ben's since written a book about the rise and fall of crypto, "Easy Money," and he's got some strong opinions ... like how celebrities should never be giving financial advice.

Ben thinks all the folks featured in those Super Bowl ads for crypto ... like Tom Brady, Lindsay Lohan, and Larry David, just to name a few ... would be better served selling car insurance, soap and H2O.

For Ben, the big difference here is the unregulated status of cryptocurrency ... plus the fact celebs are not licensed financial advisors ... and he feels Hollywood contributed to what he sees as the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Tons of folks lost money when the crypto boom went bust and lots of folks got sued ... and Ben says fraudsters used the lure of celebrities to reel in marks.

Jason Aldean's hit song, and its accompanying music video, about small towns in America is sparking huge debate across the country ... and, now the NAACP is joining the convo.

The Tennessee chapter of the civil rights org is strongly condemning the country singer -- President Gloria Sweet-Love tells us Jason's tone, his message and the imagery he's using are all deeply offensive to people of color, especially Black people.

Sweet-Love says the Tennessee State Conference NAACP, as an organization, finds the song/music vid for "Try That in a Small Town" awful and racist.

She adds, in their eyes, the lyrics are bad enough, but Aldean's adding insult to injury by filming the video in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, TN ... where a Black man was lynched in 1927.

Making matters worse -- GSL says the KKK has recently been hanging flyers in that town as well, and Aldean's project is only adding unneeded fuel to a fire.

Sweet-Love goes on to say she believes Aldean's track is clearly promoting racism and violence, adding Tennessee doesn't need that -- instead, she says the focus of artists should be uniting people, and protecting their children and communities.

While Aldean seems to be inviting rancor ... Sweet-Love says he should, instead, apologize now -- echoing what a lot of others have said about this, including Sheryl Crow.

As we've reported ... JA himself has vehemently denied promoting any racism or violence in the song -- and says it only reflects the community he's familiar with ... not to mention sentiments he says people he knows share. In other words, he ain't walking back anything.

CMT has already yanked the song/vid from rotation ... and Sweet-Love says TN's NAACP chapter appreciates that gesture, telling us it was the right move all things considered.

ABC will not edit out Jason Aldean's controversial hit, "Try That in a Small Town," on Wednesday's "CMA Fest," but viewers will not see a frame of the music video ... sources tell TMZ.

"CMA Fest" was filmed between June 8th and 11th at various venues in Nashville. Aldean was one of the headliners, who sang the song that was rising on the charts.

The song has become a lightning rod because of the lyrics combined with the newly-released music video, with images of Black Lives Matter protests, flag burning, and aggression toward police. The music video was also shot outside the same courthouse where there was a brutal lynching years ago. Folks on social media have ripped Aldean, claiming his song is a right-wing dog whistle.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, ABC will air Aldean's performance but none of the music video will appear in the show. For the record, the music video was released after the festival. ABC could have used the music video in the show open or promos, but our sources say the network has taken a hard pass on that.

Aldean has defended the song, saying it has nothing to do with BLM but rather it's an anthem honoring neighbors helping each other in small towns.

Clearly, not everyone's buying it, but enough people are to propel the song to #1 on iTunes.

Yo Gotti's co-ownership of MLS soccer team D.C. United has opened new doors for the "Rake It Up" rapper ... making a trip to the White House to hang with the First Lady!!!

The CMG boss kicked off his MLS All-Star Week on the South Lawn of the White House Monday as an invited guest. Gotti was part of a youth soccer clinic designed to raise awareness for the sport with future generations.

Sources tell TMZ Hip Hop that Gotti and Jill Biden had a great chitchat on the South Lawn about his own children's growing love for soccer ... and he connected with officials from the Biden-Harris Administration throughout the day.

Gotti joined D.C. United in 2021 and has been proactive in ingraining himself in the soccer community.

We're told he'll be joining the TV booth for the MLS All-Star Game later this evening, as 2 D.C. United players and their coach Wayne Rooney are on the roster.

Jason Aldean is speaking out after being accused of putting out a racially-charged music video ... and while the internet's outraged with his video, Jason is defending the lyrics.

The country singer took to social media Tuesday, opening by saying he's been "accused of releasing a pro-lynching song" -- referring to his track, "Try That in a Small Town," which was released in May but has been making the rounds since the music video dropped last week.

He says folks thinking it's about his distaste for the Black Lives Matter protests got it way wrong ... adding the "dangerous" accusations have no merit.

JA tells his fans the single's all about the community where he grew up, and how neighbors would take care of each other no matter what.

He does not address certain lines in the song ... such as telling people to take their anti-police mentality to a small town, adding "See how far ya make it down the road."

As for the MV, Jason only touches on it briefly -- simply saying the footage is from news clips. But, it's the location he chose to film his video, mixed with the context of the song, that had people up in arms.

The singer's video was shot in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, TN -- the place where 18-year-old African-American Henry Choate was lynched in 1927 after being dragged through the streets, accused of attacking a white girl.

CMT pulled the music video from its rotation Monday, so Jason's got some convincing to do.

Drake is severely neglecting his responsibilities to the hip hop community while also being the biggest rapper in the game ... at least, that's what several of the top gatekeepers in rap would have you believe.

Rap Radar's Elliott Wilson couldn't stomach seeing Drake interviewed on TikTok star Bobbi Althoff's "The Really Good Podcast" ... and ripped him for being too comfortable with talking to hip hop outsiders -- his beachside chat with Lil Yachty notwithstanding.

Drake interviewed with RR back in 2019 and Elliott thinks he should continue to talk to hip hop podcasters, even if his outlet isn't the one getting the exclusive.

Dishing the tea is one thing but Hot 97's Ebro Darden took Drake to task even further, on Apple Music's "Rap Life Review," for never addressing Black social issues.

Ebro discredited Drake's diss of Childish Gambino's "This Is America" ... noting how CG chose to speak out when the country was in turmoil while Drake played the background where it's safe!!!

The pile-up came to a head Tuesday when DJ Akademiks had plenty of "told-you-so's" for his Rumble audience ... after having a rant similar to Elliott and Ebro's go viral back in March.

Ak thinks Drake's silly interviews are just measures to expand his youth reach but says it's criminal he hasn't even been interviewed by rap media's leading platform ... "The Joe Budden Podcast!!!"

The new live-action "Snow White" movie is sure gonna look different from what most people remember about the fairy tale classic -- 'cause there are hardly any dwarves to be found.

A handful of on-set photos were published this week -- with production going down in the London area -- and based on the images here ... you can see Disney's made a conscious decision to lose most of the heigh-ho crew and replace them with random, ordinary people.

Take a look ... there's only 1 little person featured in the 7-man (and now woman) brigade. There's also a man in blue leading the charge who doesn't seem to be a "dwarf" himself.

As for the others ... aside from the shorter guy toward the front, the rest of the dwarves are of typical height. In fact, the last one in the very back actually looks to be quite tall. The dwarves, as it were, are also of mixed races and genders ... but it's very clear they're the ones that Snow White meets in the woods and befriends through her magical adventure.

Speaking of SW ... the woman who's seen here in the red hood is actually Rachel Zegler's stand-in. No word on why Zegler herself wasn't on set for this day of shooting, but she's already been spotted out in the whole Snow White getup ... looking kinda Disneyland-esque.

Also worth noting, Disney has tried clarifying what's being depicted in these pics. They say there are 2 stand-ins for a couple of their main actors -- Zegler and a guy named Andrew Burnap -- and that these photos weren't official film photos. Sooo ... pickup shots then?

What Disney appears to concede in their ever-evolving statements about these pics is that this is, in fact, what the movie will look like as it pertains to portraying the classic dwarves as we know them ... aka, they're pivoting away from having 7 "dwarfs" on camera together.

Remember, they actually said they'd be doing this on the heels of Peter Dinklage's viral tirade about the film ... when he went on Marc Maron's podcast to rail against the fact they were going to feature dwarves in a manner he characterized as backwards and insulting.

While some were outraged about the fact that Zegler, a Latina, would be playing Snow White ... he was more concerned about showing little people in a demeaning way, and Disney heard him loud and clear ... changing course. At the time, they said ... "To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community."