Politics

Former president Bill Clinton and famous fashion designer Vera Wang are among the celebs who reportedly wrote personalized messages for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday.

The Wall Street Journal dropped another bombshell Thursday with an article claiming Clinton and Wang were among those who contributed to Epstein's birthday album, which the outlet says was organized by Ghislaine Maxwell.

Clinton's alleged note is said to be in his handwriting and reads ... "It's reassuring isn't it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends."

President Trump's FCC finally gave the green light for a merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global ... and the timing is interesting.

FCC chair Brendan Carr announced the merger Thursday in a statement that also referenced DEI.

Paramount and Skydance, a Hollywood studio, have been trying to merge under one umbrella for a while now ... and there was a bunch of politics involved, including a narrative that Trump used his power to get CBS to cancel Stephen Colbert's late-night TV show.

Saikat Chakrabarti is running to unseat Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco -- which may sound sacrilegious to Democrats -- but he says the old guard's time is up ... because Americans want drastic new ideas.

Saikat, a tech millionaire who was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's first chief of staff, joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and told us why he's challenging Pelosi for her seat in Congress.

The way Saikat sees it ... Nancy was the perfect politician for the days of old, when she gathered bipartisan support to pass legislation, but he says the landscape is drastically different and it's time to inject the Democratic Party with new ideas and new faces.

Paul Walter Hauser's roasting Donald Trump after his late-night TV nemesis Stephen Colbert’s show cancellation -- telling the Prez he should be getting his own affairs in order instead of picking catfights with talk show hosts.

We caught up with the actor at LAX earlier this week, and he didn’t hold back -- comparing Trump’s Colbert feud to a 5-year-old trying to attend college.

Paul also weighed in on the downside of Colbert’s cancellation, pointing out a lot of people will be out of work come May '26. But he hinted there are some silver linings too -- catch the full clip to hear what he spills.

Joy Behar confirmed "The View" is hitting pause -- and Donald Trump Jr. is popping champagne, riding high on his dad's beef with TV talk shows.

DTJ couldn't resist -- he retweeted the news on X with a jab, calling it "a major win for humanity and common sense."

TMZ reviewed the production calendar for the season, and sorry Don Jr., it's just their annual August vacation, with pre-production kicking back up the final week of August.

Nonetheless, a source close to the show tells us the hosts could care less about the noise -- they're keeping their heads down and just doing their jobs.

The White House is firing back at "South Park" ... after the popular animated TV show brutally roasted Donald Trump to kick off its 27th season last night.

ICYMI ... in the season premiere, Trump is shown in bed with Satan -- hinting he’s down for a little devilish action. But Satan's not into it, and instead takes a jab at the size of Trump’s microscopic weener. Ouch.

WH spokesperson Taylor Rogers tells TMZ ... "This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention. President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country’s history – and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.”

Ghislaine Maxwell is reportedly preparing "new evidence" to present during her upcoming meeting with the federal government this week.

As you know, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday it plans to meet with Maxwell to hear what she has to say that could help the government track down abusers connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's criminal enterprise.

Her brother, Ian Maxwell, told The New York Post via email that she "will be putting before that court material new evidence that was not available to the defense at her 2021 trial, which would have had a significant impact on its outcome."

1:22 PM PT -- Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney David Oscar Markus tells TMZ ... "We understand Speaker Johnson’s general concern—Congress should always vet the credibility of its witnesses. But in this case, those concerns are unfounded. If Ms. Maxwell agrees to testify before Congress and not take the 5th—and that remains a big if—she would testify truthfully, as she always has said she would and as she will with Mr. Blanche. The truth should not be feared or preemptively dismissed. No previous prosecutor from the Southern District of New York or elsewhere has had the courage to meet with Ms. Maxwell and ask her these important questions.

So we are grateful to Mr. Blanche and his DOJ that they are approaching this with an open mind. That's how our system is supposed to work. As for the Congressional subpoena, Ms. Maxwell is taking this one step at a time. She looks forward to her meeting with the Department of Justice, and that discussion will help inform how she proceeds."

Ghislaine Maxwell has been subpoenaed by the United States Congress amid questions about the so-called Epstein Files.

Republican Congressman James Comer -- the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chair -- announced the news Wednesday ... sharing a statement which reads, in part, "The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny."

Congress wants to set the deposition for August 11 at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee, where Maxwell is incarcerated.

Nancy Mace suspects way more people are tied to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking ring than we know about ... and she's calling for a full release of all related documents.

We got the South Carolina congresswoman out on Capitol Hill Wednesday, and she believes there's a cover-up in the case. As she puts it, "How do you have a thousand kids trafficked, only one accomplice in jail?"

Mace points to drivers, pilots -- even people who just opened doors -- as those helping Epstein carry out his crimes ... and says they need to be held accountable.

Donald Trump would've used his lasso of truth to make Bryan Kohberger spill on the motive for his heinous crimes ... so says the White House Press Secretary.

Karoline Leavitt spoke from the White House Briefing Room Wednesday ... and, she kicked it off by addressing the families of Kohberger's victims -- telling them the administration is so sorry for the grief and pain caused by the murderous Kohberger.

Leavitt then added, "If it were up to the President, he would have forced this monster to publicly explain why he chose to steal these innocent souls."

Judge Judy isn’t holding back on her signature zingers -- she went all in, dropping some serious truth bombs when asked about Stephen Colbert’s late show cancellation.

We ran into the former TV judge in New York Tuesday, and she made it crystal clear -- she thinks Trump has nothing to do with the show’s end next May. Instead, it’s all about the show losing money.

Catch the clip... because JJ drops the truth bomb -- CBS is all about making money, so they’ve gotta do what they’ve gotta do -- or else, they’d be looking at a lawsuit!

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte have sued Candace Owens over what they call her "invasive, dehumanizing, and deeply unjust" claims that Brigitte is secretly a man who transitioned into a woman.

In the Wednesday filing, the Macrons say the conservative commentator has caused them "substantial" reputational and economic damages due to "outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions" that Brigitte was born a man and transitioned to become female -- and stole someone's identity.

While the 219-page defamation complaint claims Owens has pushed such lies for a while, it specifically mentions a March 2024 post on X in which she wrote ... "I would stake my entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron is in fact a man."

The Epstein Files controversy continues to dog President Donald Trump as his relationship with the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender is under greater scrutiny lately ... now CNN is releasing more newly unearthed video of the two men together, happily chatting it up at an event in 1999.

In the newly unearthed video, obtained by CNN ... Epstein and Trump stand close together in a crowd at a Victoria's Secret fashion show in New York City -- Trump tapping on his shoulder at one point -- as they interact with other attendees ... including a young Melania.

In the minute-long-plus video of spliced-together clips from the event, Trump and Epstein are also seen sitting a couple of seats apart along the runway ... as a young Tyra Banks struts down the stage. Trump and Melania sit next to each other and enthusiastically comment on the models.

Megyn Kelly moved the political seismograph in an interview with former Chicago Mayor/Obama White House Chief of Staff/Ambassador to Japan/Possible 2028 Presidential candidate ... when she asked him if a man could become a woman, and he said, "No."

Megyn fired off a series of questions before hitting him with the biggie -- Should men be allowed to play in women's sports? Rahm said no. Should kids under 18 ever be put on puberty blockers? Rahm said only with parental consent. Should men be placed in women's prisons? Rahm said no.

After he said unequivocally men cannot become women -- a position at odds with many if not most Democrats -- Megyn exhaled with approval.

Elon Musk's A.I. chatbot Grok is coming for Donald Trump's new probe into Barack Obama ... bluntly claiming it's all a ruse to get people's minds off the Jeffrey Epstein files drama!

Check out Grok's reply to a user who asked if Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has any evidence of crimes committed by former President Obama's administration or if it's all an effort to "distract from Jeffrey Epstein."

Grok's answer is crystal clear, stating there is no such evidence against Obama -- who Gabbard accused of treason involving the 2016 election Friday -- and that Gabbard's claims "appear politically motivated to distract from Epstein file scrutiny."

Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi are moving to bigger pastures in England ... putting their farmhouse on the market after snatching up a larger property in the countryside.

Ellen and Portia moved to the Cotswolds last year after President Trump was elected back home and they renovated a 43-acre farmhouse ... adding modern touches to a rustic estate.

The property, known as Kitesbridge Farm, is going to be listed for $30 million ... because the Wall Street Journal reports Ellen and Portia have moved to a larger, more contemporary estate in the same area.