Religion/ Spirituality

Pope Francis is condemning the war in Ukraine -- and arguably Putin -- by kissing a flag that once flew in the city of Bucha ... where Russians soldiers left dead bodies tied up and lying in the streets after torturing and shooting them.

The Pope displayed the tattered and stained flag to his weekly audience Wednesday in the Vatican's auditorium. After kissing and displaying it, the crowd burst into applause.

The Pope said, "Recent news from the war in Ukraine, instead of bringing relief and hope, brought new atrocities, such as the massacre of Bucha."

He pled for the barbarism to come to an end. After his speech, the Pope invited several refugee children to join him on stage, saying, "Let's not forget them, and let's not forget the Ukrainian people."

The Pope decried a lack of support from the United Nations. He's been considering a trip to Kyiv ... slamming Putin for the destruction he's caused.

Shaun Weiss is back and better ... and now he'll be returning to the big screen ... 'cause the dude's just landed a role in a movie.

The 'Mighty Ducks' star tells TMZ ... he'll be in the film, "Jesus Revolution," starring Kelsey Grammer -- based on the true story of Lonnie Frisbee and the hippies he baptized in the '70s -- and the role is reflective of his own life.

Shaun tells us, someone from Lionsgate actually saw his sobriety story and wanted to offer him the role. He did a read for a director via zoom, and voila!

We're told, he plays a strung-out Vietnam vet who gets saved and sobers up. And, he's really gotten into the role ... even asking his dentist if he could temporarily take out the implants he just got, to look the part.

Well, that wasn't possible but, either way, Shaun says the role has taken him back to his own life and being drugged out ... so much so, he says, playing the role is almost like experiencing a relapse.

As we previously reported, Shaun has struggled with drug addiction for many years ... even losing most of his teeth from drug abuse. He's since turned his life around, gotten a new set of pearly whites and has been sober for 2 years!

Talk about a comeback ...

Erica Campbell is praising Chris Rock for showing restraint in the face of a Will Smith slap to the face ... and his ability to keep calm has only helped draw attention to his comedy tour.

The Gospel singer sat down with Raq on the "It's Tricky With Raquel Harper" podcast ... and shared her take on The Oscars moment, applauding Chris for not fighting fire with fire.

Erica says emotions can cloud judgment and she's proud of Chris for keeping a cool head at the moment ... lifting him up as an example for lots of folks to follow.

It's just one part of the silver lining Erica sees from an otherwise disappointing moment between two celebs she views as important Black figures.

Chris is doing a comedy tour and his shows have been packed -- with a surge in prices on the resale market. Erica believes Chris helped his own case by showing restraint in the moment Will slapped him, and now audiences are drawn to his tour to hear what he has to say about the incident.

Denzel Washington says he immediately turned to God after the Chris Rock Oscars slap -- which is, in part, why he invoked the wicked one when chatting with Will Smith.

The legendary actor explained what he meant Saturday when he told Smith, "At your highest moment, be careful, that's when the devil comes for you." It was during a leadership summit with author and pastor T.D. Jakes, in which DW had been invited to speak on his faith.

Per reports, the topic of the Oscars was obviously brought up -- with Jakes saying it was like Denzel had waded into WWII ... to which he responded by saying, it was totally necessary.

Denzel is quoted with this ... "There's a saying: When the devil ignores you, then you know you're doing something wrong. The devil goes, 'Oh, no, leave him alone. He's my favorite.'"

He adds, "Conversely, when the devil comes at you, maybe it's because you're trying to do something right. And for whatever reason, the devil got ahold of him that night." Denzel also explains others were quick to step in and attend to Will too -- whom he apparently felt was in need of spiritual counseling -- including Tyler Perry ... who prayed with them both.

Denzel declined to disclose what exactly was said among the trio, but he did say this ... "There but for the grace of God, go any of us. Who are we to condemn? I don't know all the ins and outs of the situation, but I know the only solution was prayer."

Later in the panel interview, Denzel is reported to have talked about the idea of just sitting this one out -- to which he said ... no way, not on my watch.

DW described the moment right afterward, "I couldn't have sat in my seat. No way I could have sat in my seat. That's just not who I am." This was evident right away, because Denzel was photographed getting in between Chris and Will in the immediate aftermath.

As you may have guessed by now, Denzel is very religious ... often referencing his Christian faith -- and it seems it came in handy on Sunday, especially since Will shouted him out during his acceptance speech, when he was in tears kinda apologizing and kinda not.

Sen. Lindsey Graham seemed to be feeling the Holy Spirit while questioning SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson -- asking her how religious she is -- but it was really just a major case of grandstanding.

The bizarre badgering went down Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill while Graham was grilling the judge, who's being considered for the Supreme Court -- and it was clear his aggressive line of questioning really had nothing to do with Judge KBJ.

Sen. Graham asked Jackson what religion she practices and she answered, protestant ... but was clearly uncomfortable. Nonetheless, the senator persisted and asked, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how faithful would you say you are?"

Jackson explained why she was reluctant to respond, and Graham even acknowledged he believed she could be impartial regardless of her religion. That's when he tipped his hand as to what he was really doing.

Watch the clip, you'll see the SC senator was doing all this to invoke Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose Catholic faith was under the microscope during her SCOTUS confirmation hearing in 2020, and was labeled "a f***ing nut" by some in the media ... which Graham angrily pointed out.

There was another alleged discrepancy Graham wanted to explicitly state ... namely, the idea that nominees of color are treated differently based purely on their political affiliation.

He was referring to another Black female judge who got appointed to the Circuit Court, but was filibustered during her confirmation simply because President Bush had picked her.

In the same breath, he said the same wouldn't happen to Judge Jackson.

Erica Campbell says if Kanye West is trying to be a man of God for Sunday Service, he should practice what he preaches during the week ... something she's just not seeing.

We got the Gospel singer in New York City and asked about Kanye's contention he's a man of God ... and how it stacks up with his recent behavior toward Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson, D.L. Hughley and Trevor Noah.

Erica says Kanye can't only follow the Lord's teachings on Sundays ... she says he needs to carry it over Monday through Saturday, but it doesn't mean being a perfect person either.

Erica thinks Ye needs to be kinder, more gracious, patient, understanding and faithful during the week ... if he's truly a man of God, as he claims.

As you know ... Kanye's been lashing out at a bunch of folks on social media and in his music, with his estranged wife's boyfriend getting the brunt ... and Erica tells us why she thinks the divorce is the root cause.

Jussie Smollett is taking Lent very seriously this year, choosing to give up food while behind bars ... and he's intending to stick to it for nearly 5 more weeks.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Jussie's fasting for spiritual reasons and hasn't eaten anything since Lent started on March 3, a full week before he started serving his sentence in Cook County Jail -- and he's continued the fast behind bars.

We're told all he's ingested is water, and while his plan is to keep that up until Lent ends on April 17, Easter Sunday ... he's taking things "one day at a time."

Our sources say Jussie remains in good spirits, noting this is not a hunger strike or protest to his imprisonment. Remember, Jussie made a point to repeatedly say, during his sentencing, he is not suicidal.

He's nearly 2 weeks into the fast, and we're told he's still physically okay and in "good spirits." Cook Co. Sheriff's Office says it can't comment on religious or spiritual practices of individuals, but did say jail staff monitors all inmates to "ensure their health and wellness."

On Wednesday, his brother, Jocqui said Jussie had been moved out of the psych ward thanks to fan support, with #FreeJussie circulating online.

While he claimed his brother was kept in a restrained bed during his time in the ward, a rep for the sheriff's office says that wasn't the case and denied Jussie's bed had any restraints.

We're also told he was moved out of the ward because health services needed space for another detained person, and the decision to move him was made by medical professionals.

Rockmond Dunbar is taking Disney and 20th Television to federal court over his ouster from "9-1-1" ... accusing the studios of discriminating against him based on his race and religion.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Rockmond claims he was the only Black male lead actor on the TV show and his dismissal severely damaged his career.

In the docs, Rockmond claims he submitted paperwork seeking both a religious and medical exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine, and says producers assured him they wanted him to remain on the show and his schedule would be adjusted to accommodate him being unvaccinated.

Instead, Rockmond claims he was barred from the set and assured his character's storyline would show him leaving temporarily, keeping open the possibility for him to return down the road.

But Rockmond claims that never happened either ... in his suit, he says Disney and 20th Television fired him in retaliation and refused to pay him the hundreds of thousands of dollars he says he's still owed.

What's more, Rockmond claims the studios not only refused to accommodate his vaccine exemption requests, but also deliberately made it sound like he was an anti-vaxxer ... and he says he essentially became persona non grata in Hollywood.

Rockmond's going after the studios for money, and he wants an injunction barring the studios from discriminating against anyone based on race or religion when it comes to vaccination policies.

We reached out to Disney and 20th Television ... so far, no word back.

Bill Maher went in hard Friday night, using Whoopi Goldberg as an example of how America has become a hateful, spiteful country that celebrates a misinformed view of karma.

The 'Real Time' host railed on the concept of karma, saying it's bulls*** to begin with -- no such thing -- but the lore of karma was actually a positive, zen-type thing, but we've made it a thing of revenge.

Bill's phone was filled with texts after Whoopi was suspended, with friends telling him how happy they were that karma hit her hard. Bill lashed out at his buds, saying yeah, Whoopi has gone after him for his views on COVID and other stuff, but that's called free speech.

He also says she's wrong on COVID and was wrong when she talked about race -- the thing that got her benched for 2 weeks -- but that's called disagreement. As he says, she has a right to speak, and the cure for misinformed speech is more speech. And, as he hilariously mused, Whoopi has a rock-solid defense -- "F*** it, it's 11 AM!"

As Bill puts it, "The View" suspending Whoopi for her views is like firing Pat Sajak for selling a vowel.

Julia Haart, the star of Netflix's "My Unorthodox Life," is getting dragged into court by her estranged hubby ... who claims she made off with $850k from a company account.

Silvio Scaglia and Freedom Holding Inc. are suing Julia ... claiming she misappropriated the funds after finding out she was going to be dismissed as the CEO at Elite World Group.

Silvio runs EWG, a subsidiary of Freedom Holding, and in a lawsuit, he says she made the huge withdrawal on Tuesday, the day after finding out she was getting the ax.

It's interesting ... the alleged withdrawal went down the day before Julia filed to divorce Silvio after 3 years of marriage.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Silvio claims he gave Julia a 50% stake in Freedom Holding back in 2019, and she became the CEO of EWG that same year ... a job that gave her access to the company bank account.

Julia's ex claims they met in January to discuss company finances and agreed to place limits on what she could withdraw ... no more than $250k to cover a mortgage, rent and living expenses, and he claims she took out $250k shortly after that agreement was made.

Silvio says EWG sent a letter to Julia outlining reasons for her dismissal, and it cites an alleged increase in costs and expenses beyond the budget. It also blames Haart for the company's failure to raise new money.

Silvio claims Julia swiped the money as retaliation for getting fired, and he's suing to get back the $850k, plus damages.

We reached out to Julia ... so far, no word back.

Al Sharpton says Joe Rogan needs to do more to prove he’s learned from this controversy over his use of the n-word — but what "more" looks like, exactly, is still a bit hazy.

We got the reverend Monday in NYC and asked if he was buying JR’s apology, and while Sharpton says the guy seems sincere, he’d like to see some actions behind the words to show true penance.

As he points out, Joe didn’t just drop the n-word a couple times ... he said it several times, and not just that -- the apology came after he was exposed by the resurfacing of old clips, instead of an upfront confession.

With that in mind -- and with a shout-out to India.Arie for bringing this to light in the first place -- Rev. Sharpton suggests Joe do something to right the ship. Interestingly, he says a meeting with community leaders, as is often done, probably won’t cut it.

He kinda leaves it in Joe’s court on how to proceed.

Now here's an idea ... filming "The View" at the Museum of Tolerance to show support for the Jewish community and educate viewers about the Holocaust.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper from the famed Simon Wiesenthal Center in L.A. tells TMZ ... he'd love to have the show air live at the Museum of Tolerance. He thinks a special week-long visit to the Museum -- which focuses on the Holocaust -- would be enlightening, and he thinks given what was said on the show, the network has to show some accountability.

Ok, let's back this up for a minute. Rabbi Cooper thinks it's absurd to even suggest Whoopi Goldberg is anti-Semitic. She's been a tried-and-true friend of the Jewish community for decades.

That said, the Rabbi thinks her comment that the Holocaust was not racially-based was way out of bounds, and since she said it on the show ... the show should take steps to educate the audience.

It's an interesting take ... especially since the Prez of ABC News came out and proclaimed her network was a big supporter of the Jewish community.

Rabbi Cooper also has an opinion about Whoopi's 2-week suspension -- an opinion that is at odds with many others in the Jewish community. He thinks the suspension is appropriate, because he thinks accountability is important.

The head of the Anti-Defamation League and many others beg to differ, saying Whoopi apologized, recognized the error in her ways, and that should be the end of it.

Fact is ... lots of people think this is ABC reacting out of fear -- since Sharon Osbourne was suspended for defending Piers Morgan's take on Meghan Markle, ABC felt it had to do the same with Whoopi.

There's another way of looking at it ... that both Whoopi and Sharon shouldn't be suspended for stating their opinions on live, opinion-based TV. If neither said what they said from a place of malice, then why the suspensions? In Whoopi's case, she actually gave a mea culpa, so it's unclear exactly what the ABC President expects her to reflect on.

Cooper says one of his colleagues has a relationship with Whoopi, and they've reached out to her for a meeting. Since Whoopi seems to already get what she did, it's unclear what the point of the meeting would be.

Anthony Anderson is sticking behind Whoopi Goldberg ... he says we all make mistakes and should be forgiven.

We caught up with the "Black-ish" star at The Dominick Hotel in NYC. Anthony says ... he only read Whoopi's comments, so he doesn't know the full context. But, he says he doesn't believe they came from a bad place.

Anthony added ... we all say things in the heat of the moment that we aren't fully informed about. He doubled down and said that as long a person can admit to being wrong and apologize, then he thinks that's fine ... something he says WG has done.

Anthony says these kinda things happen to us all ... for the most part, we come from a place of love and understanding.

As you know, Whoopi's been in the hot seat since she said that the Holocaust wasn't about race ... She has since apologized but ABC still decided to suspend her from "The View" for 2 weeks.

Pastor Michael Todd is the spitting image of a man who knows when he's done wrong -- which is why Montell Jordan's ready to forgive and forget his gnarly salivary moment.

We got the singer-turned-church leader at LAX and asked if Pastor Todd's viral spit sesh from a couple of weeks back will hurt his ministry in the long run ... and Montell tells us it won't, with some solid rationale.

For starters, he says Todd's made good with his congregation -- not to mention the public at large -- by owning up to what he did, and acknowledging it wasn't cool. The fact Pastor Todd did this so quickly with a sincere apology goes a long way for MJ, and he thinks Todd's parishioners will register it that way too.

Big picture ... Montell says Todd's humility flies in the face of what he says so many other people do these days ... namely, doubling down on bad takes/behavior.

The mere act of fessing up to his mistake shows goodwill that Montell says he appreciates. Furthermore, he also (rightly) points out ... the vast majority of the outrage from the face-wipe seen 'round the world was mostly spreading via social media ... and by extension, a bunch of randos who don't even know, follow or attend Todd's services on the regular.

A famous pastor out of Oklahoma got very literal in his sermon this weekend about seeing God's hazy vision for ourselves in 2022 -- needing to hawk one to make his point.

Michael Todd, who leads the Transformation Church in Tulsa, conjured up grossed-out reactions from his congregation Sunday during his service -- which was being streamed for the folks at home. The reason ... he wiped his own spit all over the face of a parishioner, who was up there volunteering for the yuck fest.

Even crazier ... the guy just stood there and took it!!! Check out this video of the moment it happened -- it's surreal to see, because Mike really builds up to it with a lot of theater.

The whole purpose of doing this, it seems, was to emphasize his analogy about how "receiving vision from God might get nasty." We'll let him do the explaining -- 'cause, frankly, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to us -- but he seems to be saying ... sometimes, you'll  have to go through some muck to fulfill God's will. Or ... something like that!

It's ironic ... as the audience gasps in horror at his weird stunt, MT fully leans into it ... arguing that's the exact sort of response one will get for answering God's call, no matter how counterintuitive it might feel ... like letting someone rub a bunch of loogies/saliva on your mug.

Of course, he's getting totally roasted online over this ... as is this poor guy who allowed himself to be the guinea pig. Y'know ... on account of the pandemic and all.

Just doesn't seem safe ... even if God cosigns. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Leah Remini says her enrollment at NYU stands in stark contrast to the education she says she was afforded growing up as a Scientologist -- or a staggering lack thereof, rather.

The actress peeled back even more layers to the religion -- one which she says she used to be deeply involved in, starting from a very young age -- in a long Twitter thread Sunday ... which ended with gratitude for being able to break free and obtain proper schooling.

Leah starts by describing an old headshot she submitted at 16, explaining how she had to start working very early to support herself and her family ... which she insists was necessary due to her fam's affiliation with the church of Scientology.

She claims the church drained them of their time, attention and, most importantly, their resources. And not just that, but she alleges she was starved from a formal, normal education for years throughout her youth ... something she says is the direct result of the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard.

LR goes on to say her entire life revolved around Scientology ... down to her circle of friends, and even employers, including her first agent. As she's indicated many times over the years, she says she felt suffocated by the church ... and now says she had to get into showbiz merely to survive, which doesn't sound like it was easy.

Leah describes getting turned down time and again, until finally breaking through. Eventually, she says she was able to escape Scientology altogether, and now looks back as a current NYU undergrad in awe of what she's been able to accomplish without them on her back.

The 'King of Queens' star got accepted at the university last year at the ripe age of 50 ... and it would seem things are going well on that front.