SNL

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are like brothers, so our eyebrows went north when we saw this pic of Matt hanging out with Ben's ex after a bad breakup.

Matt broke bread with Lindsay Shookus Tuesday night for an 'SNL' bash at Lattanzi Restaurant in NYC. You're looking at the 2 of them leaving, and Matt seemed to divert more smoothly than Jason Bourne ever did on screen.

By all accounts, Ben's drinking played a big role in the breakup. TMZ broke the story Ben decided he needed help and went to rehab. He's been out for a while and is now clean and sober.

Considering Matt is hosting 'SNL' this coming Saturday, it might just be a business thing that Ben and Lindsay were both at the same party -- Lindsay's a producer for the show. Matt, of course, also slayed as Brett Kavanaugh on 'SNL' this year, so they clearly have had interactions on the set.

Put him in, coach -- Pete Davidson's back playing the field after the Ariana Grande breakup, and we gotta say ... dude knows how to class it up for date night.

The 'SNL' vet was spotted having dinner 1-on-1 Monday night at Carbone in NYC, with a lovely lady sitting across from him. You can see in the pic, it was full wine and dine mode.

This is one of the first times we've seen Pete out on the town with a new girl since he and Ariana split in October and called off their engagement. We're told he has been casually dating. It's also certainly a nice change of pace considering how rocky things have been for him since the breakup, privately and publicly.

Just last week, he announced Internet trolls were encouraging him to kill himself ... but vowed he'd never do any such thing. Way to bounce back, Pete.

As they say ... thank u, next.

Pete Davidson's frustrations with online trolls have reached peak level ... he's putting them on blast and says no matter how many times they tell him to ... he won't kill himself.

The 'SNL' star says he just couldn't keep quiet any longer about the constant harassment he's been getting since he and Ariana Grande started dating.

He says he's been getting bullied online and in public for the last 9 months but doesn't say in what regard, and clearly it's taken a toll on him.

His IG post comes a day after we reported Ariana had her Pete-inspired tattoo wiped from her foot. It was replaced with a tattoo that's a tribute to her ex, Mac Miller.

It also comes just days after Ariana apologized to Pete in her "Thank U, Next" music vid ... saying, "Sry I dipped."

As you know ... Ariana and Pete broke their engagement back in October. They had only been dating for a few weeks before he proposed to her.

Alec Baldwin must be feeling confident about the outcome of his attempted assault case in NYC ... 'cause he played it for laughs -- while playing President Trump -- on 'SNL.'

The opening skit was about Trump's anger over the Mueller probe and his ex-attorney Michael Cohen flipping. As Alec/Donald put it ... "God, I haven't been this upset since I flipped out over that parking space."

This was Alec's first appearance on the show since he got busted last month for trying to punch a guy who jacked his parking spot. Breaking character to poke fun at the case could be seen as a risky move.

Judges typically don't react well to that sort of thing -- however, the stakes ain't exactly high here. Alec's facing one count of attempted assault in the third degree, and one count of harassment in the second degree -- a misdemeanor and a ticket, basically.

Why not have some fun with it, right?

'SNL' also paid tribute to late President George H.W. Bush during the Weekend Update segment.

They pulled out some of Dana Carvey's best impressions of the 41st Prez -- including that memorable moment when they got the real Bush to challenge Carvey.

Tom Brady ain't going to be reprising his role as the terrible throwing dude at a carnival anytime soon -- the Pats QB says his career as a "Saturday Night Live" host is likely over.

And why? He's too damn busy.

"I'm basically on a reality TV show every Sunday afternoon for 3 hours so I feel like I'm on TV enough in the Fall and Winter."

The GOAT appeared on WEEI's "Mut & Callahan" on Monday and was asked about life outside of football -- particularly if he'd ever return to 30 Rock like he did back in 2005 when he famously played "Alan" ... a guy with an arm like Nathan Peterman.

TB12 says he loves the show ... but it's too big of a commitment and he'd rather be hanging out with Gisele and the kids.

"It's hard for my family to give that up," Brady says.

"It's hard to say, 'All right guys, well, I'm going to go off and do another week of something that I've really done before.'"

ICYMI ... the carnival sketch was Brady's best work -- but he also donned a sultan outfit and played the manager of "Falafel City" ... and had a sketch where he joked about his rivalry with Peyton Manning and other QBs.

Good times.

Conservative talk show host Ben Shapiro says Pete Davidson's apology to Dan Crenshaw was the best political moment he's seen in years ... because it shows a level of civility that has been forgotten in America.

We got Ben Sunday at LAX, and he praised the apology skit to the skies, saying it's a shining light of how liberals and conservatives can disagree but treat each other with a level of civility.

Fact is ... it was an amazing moment on 'SNL,' with Pete apologizing and then the Congressman-elect coming at him with some hilarious jokes. Dan waded in treacherous waters by raising the super sensitive subject of Ariana Grande -- so funny.

The one controversial thing ... when Dan said rather than telling veterans, "Thank you for your service," he said people should say, "Never forget." That's a phrase that has been used to remember the Holocaust.

Pete Davidson addressed his controversy head-on last night by apologizing to Dan Crenshaw in person and on 'SNL.'

The war veteran and Republican politician appeared Weekend Update with Pete Davidson where Pete sincerely apologized to Dan, and Dan accepted, but not before giving Pete a taste of his own medicine. The icing on the cake is when Dan's phone rings, you have to hear the ringtone.

When the jokes settled, Dan used the moment to urge Americans to come together and forgive. A touching moment during these super-divisive times.

Pete Davidson made a late change right before 'SNL' to mention Ariana Grande's name during this weekend's episode ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the production tell us Pete heard Ariana's new song, "thank u, next," before showtime Saturday night, and that spurred him to write a few lines addressing the breakup. We're told he ran a copy by Lorne Michaels ... and got it approved for his 'Weekend Update' segment.

Pete called Ariana a "wonderful, strong person" and wished her the best ... while also declaring their relationship wasn't anyone's business. Remember, Pete scrubbed an entire skit he'd written about their breakup after Ariana called him out over the promo in which he obtusely referenced their split.

Clearly, he had a change of heart after hearing the tune, which she dropped just 30 minutes before 'SNL' went on the air. FWIW, she refrained from taking any shots at Pete on the track.

The Ariana line wasn't the only deviation from the script heading into Saturday. Regarding Dan Crenshaw -- whose war-caused disability Pete mocked -- we're told P.D.'s crass "whatever" comment was delivered completely off the cuff.

The war vet Pete Davidson disrespected on 'SNL' concedes there may be a silver lining ... he's now a stand-out in Tuesday's midterm election.

Texas congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw told us on "TMZ Live" ... this could turn into a Beyonce moment ... turning the 'SNL' lemons he's been given into sweet, sweet lemonade ... which could translate into a win for him when the polls close on Tuesday night.

As we reported ... Dan isn't demanding an apology after Pete said Dan looked like a "hitman from a porno" and brushed off his disability with a "whatever." Dan does admit, however, the cheap shot "tore at my core."

Pete Davidson is taking all the heat for his terrible "joke" about wounded veterans ... and somehow no one is blaming it on 'SNL.'

Kenan Thompson just weighed in ... saying Pete "definitely missed the mark," adding, "it's tough when you're fishing for jokes. ..." Kenan noted his dad was a Vietnam vet. There's no mention of 'SNL' shouldering any of the blame for allowing the joke on the air.

Davidson had cracked during weekend update ... GOP congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw -- who wears an eye patch after losing an eye in Afghanistan -- looked like a hitman from a porno, adding, "I know he lost his eye in war or whatever ... whatever."

'SNL' EP Lorne Michaels gives his crew lots of leeway when it comes to creative content, but ultimately the show and presumably Standards and Practices at NBC have the power to nix a "joke" that crosses the line.

Pete Davidson and 'SNL' don't owe GOP congressional candidate, Dan Crenshaw, a mea culpa for making a crack about his war-caused disability ... but SNL needs a lesson on humor.

We spoke with Dan -- who's running for an open seat in Texas' second congressional district -- and, somewhat surprisingly, he shoots down the idea that Pete and co. must issue an apology to him because they made an insensitive joke about his eyepatch.

If you missed it, Pete did a bit on 'Weekend Update' where he gave his first impressions on some of the candidates running for office in the midterms elections, most of whom were Republican. He joked Crenshaw looked like a hitman from a porno, and said of his injury ... "I know he lost his eye in war or whatever ... whatever." The remark caught tons of backlash.

One person who's not outraged is Dan, who tells us he wants society to get away from the culture of apology-demanding every time someone misspeaks.

Pete Davidson made a decision ... when Ariana Grande goes high, he'll go high.

Pete addressed his breakup on 'SNL' Saturday night, and had nothing but good things to say about his ex-fiancee. He called her "a wonderful, strong person" and wished her the best.

Truth be told ... there was a small dose of hypocrisy. Pete schooled everyone that the breakup was nobody's business, yet he himself addressed it earlier in the week on stage, cracking jokes about it. And he shot a promo for 'SNL' where he obliquely referred to it.

Pete did crack a joke about moving back in with mom.

TMZ broke the story ... Ariana planned a preemptive strike in case Pete threw shade on her ... releasing her new song -- and making specific reference to him -- just 30 minutes before 'SNL' went live on TV.

UPDATE 8:05 PM PT -- Check out the post and hear the new song.

Ariana Grande isn't going to let Pete Davidson define their relationship and breakup on "Saturday Night Live" tonight, because TMZ has learned she's releasing a song 30 minutes before 'SNL,' and his name is right there in the lyrics.

Record label sources tell TMZ, the overarching theme of the song -- titled "Thank u, next" -- is empowerment ... what she's been through in her relationships and other experiences. We're told it is not a diss track.

Our sources say she specifically names Pete, Mac and others ... but she doesn't go after Pete the way she did earlier this week after he publicly joked about their breakup. She had accused him of being a hypocrite ... pretending he wasn't into being in the spotlight yet hanging on for dear life.

We're told Ariana felt betrayed by Pete and doesn't want to take the chance that he'll talk about their breakup tonight on 'SNL' as she just sits by. As we reported ... Pete was planning on addressing it, but 86'd the idea after she made it clear they had an agreement to keep their relationship private. Nonetheless, anything could happen.

Among the lyrics, which she posted, "Got so much love ..... got so much patience ..... I've learnt from the pain ..... and turnt out amazin ..... say I've loved and I've lost ..... but that's not what I see cause look what I got ..... look what you taught me."

It goes on ... "Cause look what I found ..... ain't no need for searching and for that I say ..... thank u, next."

The song will be released at 11 PM ET.

Originally Posted 11/3/2018 6:00 PM PDT

Pete Davidson's got bright days ahead.

The 'SNL' star headed into the weekend with an updated shade of blue -- sky blue we're thinkin'. A colorist named Aura at Sally Hershberger Salon took due credit, saying, "Had the pleasure of doing this funny guy's hair."

Ariana's ex donned a similar shade during a promo for this weekend's 'SNL' ... asking musical guest Maggie Rogers if she wanted to get married. That backfired quickly.

Pete Davidson joked he was "0 for 3" in a new 'SNL' promo in which he proposed to a new chick -- and now we know who the third girl is ... Larry David's daughter.

Sources tell us that Pete had proposed to Cazzie David multiple times during their two-year relationship. The exact number of times isn't clear, but we're told it was definitely more than once. Our sources say Cazzie rejected his offer each time.

They split in May before Pete got with, and eventually proposed to, Ariana Grande. As you know, the rest is history.

As we reported ... Ariana took some shots at Pete in since-deleted tweets, saying, "for somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging to it huh. thank u, next."

Sources close to the former couple tell us Ariana felt betrayed by Pete's remarks, because they'd both agreed to not talk about their split in public. We're told Pete's now scrapping any further references to their breakup for this weekend's show, and Lorne Michaels signed off.

There was speculation as to who Pete was referencing when he dropped the "0 for 3" line, because he's dated a handful of chicks over the years, including "Girl Code" star Carly Aquilino -- whom he dated before Cazzie.

But, we've been assured ... that third chick is absolutely Cazzie, who's since scrubbed her IG of any Pete references. Seems to be a pattern with his exes.

8:45 AM PT -- Sources close to the couple tell us Pete won't reference the breakup when 'SNL' airs, and the reason is ... the exes have an agreement to stay silent.

We're told the split was mutual, and Ariana and Pete verbally agreed neither would talk about it publicly -- but she was already feeling betrayed because Pete joked about it during a standup routine last week at a charity event. We're told it got worse when Ariana saw the promo.

Our sources say Pete got word Ariana was upset, and decided he didn't want to go through with the skit he'd written for this week's 'SNL' -- they had an agreement, after all. He discussed it with executive producer, Lorne Michaels ... and he signed off on pumping the brakes.

As for the promo airing? We're told it was already in the works, and it was too late to pull it.

The breakup ain't funny to Ariana Grande anymore -- she came for Pete Davidson on social media Thursday night after he joked about their breakup ... and it's clear, this ain't no conscious uncoupling.

Davidson cracked a joke about the fact he's single during a promo for this weekend's 'SNL' -- asking musical guest Maggie Rogers if she wanted to get married.

Our sources connected to 'SNL' say Pete had been in good spirits while prepping for the show -- and was open to making jokes about jumping into relationships too soon.

So, that's what happened during the promo ... but Ariana Grande wasn't laughing -- she tweeted a shot at her ex.

"For somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging to it huh. thank u. next."

She later deleted the tweet.

Pete previously joked about their engagement when 'SNL' came back from summer recess -- but that was when he and Grande were still together.

The jokes were self-deprecating about how Grande is the breadwinner in the relationship -- and he was just lucky to be there.

But, they broke up last month, and clearly they ain't on good terms.

No word if Davidson planned on addressing the split on this week's show -- but if he was, ya gotta believe he's rethinking the plan now.

Originally Published -- 1:00 AM PDT