Religion/ Spirituality

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a leader in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, has died.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Tutu's death, praising him as "a patriot without equal," adding he was "A man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid, he was also tender and vulnerable in his compassion for those who had suffered oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid, and oppressed and downtrodden people around the world."

Tutu was recognized worldwide for his efforts, winning a Nobel Peace Prize ... among many other honors.

Tutu's efforts cannot be overstated ... he was the major force behind the challenge to end racial segregation in South Africa. After Nelson Mandela was released from prison and became President of South Africa, he tapped Tutu for the position of chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation said of Tutu ... "He was larger than life, and for so many in South Africa and around the world his life has been a blessing. His contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies."

Tutu received praise from the U.S. for his efforts to end apartheid. Back in 2009, then-President Obama bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tutu.

Tutu's efforts were not without great risk. As you know, the South African government retaliated against many leaders in the movement, including Nelson Mandela ... throwing a number of them in prison and shutting down opposition groups.

The Archbishop of Cape Town announced the church will organize Tutu's funeral and memorial, saying ... "Desmond Tutu's legacy is moral strength, moral courage and clarity. He felt with the people. In public and alone, he cried because he felt people's pain. And he laughed -- no, not just laughed, he cackled with delight when he shared their joy."

The Pope has died while discussing Covid-19 -- at least that's what one broadcaster almost had her viewers thinking ... when she mistakenly said the guy had croaked.

Francis' Christmas day remarks were being recapped Saturday by ITV broadcaster Kylie Pentelow, who was plugging along nicely ... until a little slip at the end when she said, "His death was announced ..."

Pentelow caught herself before she said anything more, and then apologized briefly before doing a hard pause and moving on to the next story.

There didn't seem to be any explanation as to why she said that -- but the obvious answer seems to be that she was reading off of a teleprompter, which must've said something to that effect. Indeed, a true Ron Burgundy moment in real-time.

Of course, the Pope isn't dead -- he's alive and kicking. And as for what he had to say about 'rona during his speech at the Vatican ... it was all about praying the pandemic away, and lamenting those who've suffered through the era of Covid.

Ye's on a mission to help the homeless population of Los Angeles, meeting with charitable organizations and coming up with strategies he believes can help to ease the growing problem in the city.

As we'd shown you ... Kanye stopped by the L.A. Mission to drop off 1,000 meals last week but turns out he also took time to meet with the people in charge. We're told during his sit-down with Reverend Troy Vaughn, CEO of L.A. Mission, Ye laid out 4 ways he believes he can help the homeless.

First, Kanye wants to create a plan to continue feeding the unhoused by establishing a working relationship with orgs across the city. He also wants to use his own companies to help provide education, jobs and housing.

Ye believes he can use his platform and Sunday Service to inspire and uplift the homeless community in L.A. in only ways his artistry has been able to do with others.

Finally, Kanye wants to partner with other groups tackling the crisis and combine their efforts with his ability to provide a bold and innovative vision for the future. Together, he believes they can eliminate the homeless situation.

As we reported, Kanye also spoke to those in attendance at the mission, saying he believes God will bring him and Kim Kardashian back together ... inspiring millions of couples in the process.

Of course, the homeless population in L.A. has only grown since the start of the pandemic, with lawmakers and citizens looking for ways to help those in need.

Just hours after USC fans broke out a "F*** the Mormons" chant during the Trojans' game against BYU -- the school issued an apology, saying it was all "distasteful" and "offensive."

It's unclear at what point during BYU's game against USC on Saturday night that the synchronized yelling happened ... video has yet to surface of it all.

But, multiple people reported hearing it loud and clear during the contest at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum ... forcing USC officials to apologize on Sunday.

"The offensive chant from our student section directed towards BYU during the football game last night does not align with our Trojan values," the school said in a statement.

"It was distasteful and we apologize to the BYU program."

What's interesting ... USC's quarterback, Jaxson Dart, is actually a member of the LDS Church.

The Cougars, though, were clearly unfazed by the disturbing chants from the Trojan-heavy crowd ... they ended up winning the game, 35-31, improving their record to 10-2.

Dallas Jenkins says his show about Jesus isn't the same old, same old we've seen done time and again -- and as Christmas nears ... his latest installment might just be what everyone needs as we exit the pandemic.

We talked to the TV producer -- who's the EP of 'The Chosen,' which gives a modern take on Jesus' journeys -- and he tells us why he thinks his latest holiday special spinoff, 'Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers,' is going to resonate with audiences.

First off, he acknowledges a lot of people have turned to religion during the pandemic -- plus everything else we've been through as a society over the past year-plus ... and his series is perfect for scooping those folks up and bringing them on an entertaining, spiritual journey.

As DJ explains ... he thinks the neat thing about Jesus, specifically, is that getting onboard with him is more about building a relationship and less about the institution of religion itself -- something that seems to come through on 'The Chosen,' which has been on since 2017.

Speaking of his show -- you might've heard about it ... it's very modern, in the sense that it plays like a comedy-drama from a major network -- and JC isn't portrayed as lily white stiff.

Pat Riley says he expects to see Meyers Leonard back in an NBA jersey at some point ... telling TMZ Sports he believes the hooper's basketball career ain't over despite his previous use of an anti-Semitic slur.

The former Heat center has been out of the league since he was filmed on a live stream dropping the k-word ... but he's worked tirelessly to educate himself on the Jewish community since.

The 29-year-old famously met a bunch of kids at a synagogue in Boca Raton in June ... and also teamed up with an anti-hate organization to speak at a virtual seminar back in August.

Riley has clearly taken note of Leonard's actions ... and he guaranteed the 6-foot-10 basketball player would get a second opportunity in the NBA in the future.

"He's going to play basketball again," the Miami Heat president told us out at LAX. "He will."

Riley, though, said he wasn't sure if that opportunity would come from the Heat.

Tamar Braxton is the latest victim of brazen burglars -- but instead of vowing vengeance ... she's actually sending them prayers.

The singer broke the startling news early Wednesday morning, saying ... "A few hours ago, this broken, bum ass man (one that I know) broke into my home and stole my safe only."

In her post, Tamar notes nothing else was taken -- including valuables like a Birkin bag or a computer or gaming systems -- and that the safe seemed to be the only item sought.

She also had a message for the perp ... "I want you to know first hand that I'm not angry. You did not break me. You did not violate me. What your broken ass don't realize that God gave me that home and every single thing in it during a pandemic, & also during the time when I was all of those things. God personally put the pieces of my life back together again."

She adds, "So pumpkin, you did not steal from me. Those things you took, he will give back to me a million times fold!!! You took from God!!!"

Tamar then got seriously Biblical, saying the crook isn't ready for the kind of vengeance God is about to drop on them. She closed with, "Father, have your way -- Amen."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson is following through on his promise to attend the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial, and sticking it to one of the defense attorneys ... who openly griped about "Black pastors" in court.

Rev. Jackson was in the Brunswick, GA courtroom gallery Monday morning -- shoulder-to-shoulder with Ahmaud's family members -- showing the kind of support Kevin Gough complained about on Friday.

ICYMI ... Gough, defense attorney for William "Roddie" Bryan, said he wanted the judge to limit the number of Black pastors allowed in the courtroom because he feared it could be "consciously or unconsciously an attempt to pressure or influence the jury."

The embarrassing part for Gough -- he singled out Rev. Jackson for being in the courtroom, even though he'd never attended before today. Anyway, the judge denied his request.

Rev. Jackson's blasted Gough's motion as "unacceptable" because a "public trial involves public observation" ... and told us he planned to be in court.

The lawyer for defendant William 'Roddie' Bryan in the Ahmaud Arbery trial complained to the judge ... "black pastors" coming to court and sitting with the family is unfair.

Attorney Kevin Gough voiced his displeasure in open court after Rev. Al Sharpton showed up to sit with Arbery's family inside the courtroom.

Gough groused, "I've got nothing personally against Mr. Sharpton ... but if we're starting a precedent where we're gonna bring high-profile members of the African-American community into the courtroom to sit with the family during the trial in the presence of the jury, I believe that's intimidating and it's an attempt to consciously or unconsciously pressure or influence the jury."

And, he goes on ... " ... if their pastor is Al Sharpton right now, that's fine, but then that's it. We don't want any more black pastors coming in here. Jesse Jackson, whoever was in here earlier this week sitting with the victim's family trying to influence the jury in this case."

BTW ... Jesse Jackson was never in the courtroom. He may be referring to attorney Ben Crump, who was in court earlier in the week.

The judge was less than receptive, interrupting Gough and shutting down his argument, after the lawyer makes a Colonel Sanders reference.

Kanye West wants to honor the victims who died at Astroworld -- and he's using his religious vehicle of Sunday Service to do just that.

The rapper's latest spiritual music gathering is going on right now -- and before things officially got underway at around 1 PM PT ... there was a message posted on behalf of Kanye and co., reading, "Sunday Service dedication to the loved ones of Astroworld."

Obviously, Ye is referring to the 8 people who died while Travis Scott was performing Friday night ... not to mention the countless others who suffered injuries to varying degrees.

So far, it seems this Service has a much more somber tone than last week's -- when he brought out Marilyn Manson, Justin Bieber and others in what appeared to be broad daylight, where everyone was wearing white hoods as they engaged in worship and singing.

This time ... Kanye's got his choir and other accompanying singers dressed in all black, and they're performing in what seems to be a huge dark building, with just a sliver of light breaking through. The main choir ran through a few hymns, including some songs from "Donda" -- and now, it looks like Kanye's got a choir out there who are singing too.

No sign of Ye himself just yet ... and nobody has shared any explicit words of condolences at this point ... the show got underway, and it's been nothing but music ever since.

Ya gotta imagine Kanye might make an appearance at some point, and even say something to address the Astroworld tragedy ... as Travis is essentially his brother-in-law, and we know they're tight.

Rev. Jesse Jackson is back in the hospital -- though this time not COVID-related -- instead, for a nasty fall.

Jackson was visiting Howard University in Washington D.C. Monday when his team says he fell and hit his head as he entered a building on campus. Jesse was rushed to a local hospital for a myriad of tests, including a CT scan ... his rep says all results came back normal.

Nonetheless, doctors decided to keep Jackson at the hospital overnight just to be safe.

The 80-year-old has faced some significant health problems as of late. Both he and his wife, Jacqueline, were hospitalized with COVID back in August. Once Jesse -- who was vaccinated -- was released from the hospital, he entered a rehab facility to deal with his Parkinson's disease.

Kanye West is continuing his friendship with Marilyn Manson -- going so far as to invite the guy to his newest Sunday Service ... and even going in on a prayer together.

Ye kicked off a new round of worship and gospel singing Sunday -- and he invited the embattled rocker, who's been accused of sexual misconduct by several women, to join in on the gathering. Manson was standing front and center alongside the rest of the choir.

Everyone was wearing white ... and some even had hoods and face coverings over their heads. At one point, Ye and MM bowed toward each other ... touching foreheads and closing their eyes. Speaking of eyes ... looks like Mr. West has lost his brows, and his hair.

BTW, Manson wasn't the only famous person there ... one Justin Bieber was also on hand, and he too appeared to be joining them for the spiritual moment. He also got on the mic at one point ... and said a few words. He mostly kept his hood on, seemingly trying to lay low.

There's no question though ... he was there, and standing shoulder to shoulder wtih Ye and Manson.

So many reactions to this -- including a lot of indignation that Ye would actually invite somebody like Manson to something like this ... presumably, a sanctified meeting on Christians. Beyond Manson's mere public image as the exact opposite of that ... folks can't help but point to the allegations against him as a major reason he shouldn't be there.

Fact is ... Marilyn stands accused of sexually assaulting and/or abusing multiple women, dating back years -- all of which he had vehemently denied, and is fighting in court.

He has insisted that all of these liaisons were completely consensual, and a lot of them were straight-up relationships he was in ... but the women have characterized it in much different terms, especially Evan Rachel Wood ... who's been the most outspoken about this.

This probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone -- Kanye has already indicated he's cool with Manson ... evident in the fact that he featured him in his latest album.

He also invited the man to one of his "Donda" listening events ... ditto for DaBaby, who's been getting public heat of late. Unclear if his cozying up to Manson means he believes him (and not the women) ... or if he's bringing him in as a gesture of forgiveness or something.

Instead of catching the Holy Ghost, one man caught these hands -- he defied the priest by storming the altar without wearing a face mask ... and the other churchgoers gave him a beatdown.

The video -- shot Sunday inside a church in Lakewood, WA -- shows the man approach the altar, and the priest immediately identifies him as a problem, saying he was trespassing and needed to leave immediately. Words didn't stop him, but when he got up on the altar ... several church members rushed out of their pews to manhandle him.

Fists were flying, and several guys fell to the ground ... eventually, someone calls 911 and the man was arrested for trespassing.

As for what led up to the incident, local station KIRO obtained a letter from Father Paul Brunet to worshippers explaining the history. Brunet says problems started with the man last month after he threatened the safety of church staff and other parishioners.

Brunet claims he had a meeting with the man to help fix things, but they only got worse ... and the church had no option but to ban him from the property. The guy still showed up ... and that's what you see playing out in the video.

Meyers Leonard is breaking his silence and giving his first on-camera interview to TMZ Sports after using an anti-Semitic slur ... addressing the bonds he's formed with the Jewish community, death threats he's received, and his desire to return to the basketball court.

"It's hard to explain," Leonard told us out in Beverly Hills. "The people who have been the most loving and the most compassionate, showing the most grace, have been so many people from the Jewish community."

Remember, 29-year-old Meyers -- the 11th overall pick in the 2012 draft -- dropped the k-word while streaming on Twitch back in March. He was almost immediately traded to the OKC Thunder, who cut him.

Since being released, Leonard has been incredibly active within the Jewish community, including meeting a bunch of kids at a synagogue in Boca Raton ... where he got emotional while discussing the incident with the students.

It's just one of many things Leonard's done to educate himself ... in the process, forging tight bonds with Jewish people of all ages.

"I can honestly sit and talk for an hour about this. About all the different experiences with little kids in the Jewish community, to teenagers, all the way up to Rabbis, who have just been so generous with their time and so understanding."

Meyers says in the wake of the comments, both he and his family had to deal with terrible abuse online, including people threatening to sexually assault and murder his spouse.

"It's been a very, very long and hard process," Leonard says ... "When the death threats, and my wife is being told 'don't leave your house, we're gonna rape you.' And, these things. It was hard. So, a lot of these things are difficult to share, but over time I've been able to heal."

As for Meyers' hoops career, he's gunning to get back in the league ... and says it'd be a dream come true to return to Pat Riley's team.

"I would be ecstatic if I could play for the Miami Heat again. I fell in love with that place, I really did. My wife and I love it there."

Meyers continued ... "There's something about the culture there that's just me."

Whether it's back in South Florida or in another NBA city ... Leonard -- a 9 year NBA vet -- just hopes he has a chance to return to the game he loves.

Britney Spears was diagnosed by medical professionals with a mental illness, but Jamie Spears and the business management team he hired felt they could free Britney from the grips of her mental problems with religion ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Jamie became a born again Christian after a stint in rehab early on in the conservatorship. Jamie knew Lou Taylor, who worked with Jamie Lynn as early as 2004 and also became a spokesperson for the family back then.

Taylor created a company called Tri Star Entertainment and in 2008 she and Jamie discussed making Tri Star the business manager in the conservatorship.

Taylor was also a fervent born again Christian ... something she talked about on the "Today" show in 2008. Taylor brought in Robin Greenhill, who worked for Tri Star, to have day-to-day contact with Britney ... helping manage her business affairs. But, we're told it went way beyond money ... Robin in particular was up in every aspect of Britney's life.

Our sources say for the first year, Jamie, Robin and Lou literally walked around with the bible in hand, proselytizing the word of God. We're told for a time they would only let Britney read religious material. And, we're told, there was a large measure of intolerance for anyone who wasn't a "good Christian."

Interestingly, Lynne Spears wrote in one of her books ... "Jamie was going to file for the conservatorship on January 22 [2008] ... but he and his business manager, Lou, felt God leading them to wait, fast and pray, despite the frustration of a phalanx of lawyers."

The religious push was on full display during the entire Circus Tour, we're told, but as the money cascaded in, religion sort of fell by the wayside and money became central to business management and the conservatorship ... so say our sources.

Tri Star was getting 5% of Britney's gross profits, and when she was performing that was an enormous amount of money. Fast forward to 2019 when Britney stopped performing. At some point, Taylor emailed Jamie and said the commissions had dwindled and she wanted a guarantee of $500,000 a year.

Some folks on the inside, including Britney's lawyer, Samuel Ingham, felt that was wrong, because when someone takes a percentage they tend to make more than they should for a certain period and less for other periods, but it evens out. People said some insiders felt Lou wanted it both ways. Jamie, however, didn't feel that way, and approved the $500k floor, which greatly upset some people involved.

Sarah Silverman is tired of non-Jews playing Jews on camera -- be it on TV or in film -- and says amid all the cries for representation in casting ... the Jewish people are left out, and the anti-Semitism points directly at Hollywood.

The comedian usually jokes around, but there's no laughing matter about this ... according to her. Sarah, who's Jewish, says Hollywood has long been in the practice of putting gentiles (non-Jewish people) into roles for Jewish folks -- especially those whose "Jewishness" are a big part of their identity.

Take Joan Rivers, for example, whom Sarah notes is set to be portrayed by Catholic-raised Kathryn Hahn in an upcoming limited series. There are way more instances of this, though.

SS points to Rachel Brosnahan playing Mrs. Maisel (who's Jewish), Tracey Ullman as Betty Friedan, Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Margo Martindale as Bella Abzug.

Along with a lot of these portrayals, Sarah says anti-Semitic tropes and stereotypes are often played up as well on camera ... including what she describes as prosthetics to make someone's nose bigger, a heavy New York accent with Yiddish undertones and beyond.