The Masked Singer

3:02 PM PT -- He has since expanded his statement, now saying, "Seriously, folks? This is my final comment on this. I neither said nor implied any such thing. Despite headlines claiming otherwise, in my post, I absolutely did not call for an act of violence or threaten a U.S. president as many other celebrities have done in the past. I suggest you re-read my actual post and pay attention to the words before believing this nonsense."

He continues, "It’s my position, which I am entitled to have, that some of our nations leaders in Washington have lost their way, and corruption runs rampant, both on our nation’s borders and abroad. Transparency and accountability must happen in order for our constitutional republic to survive. There is no threat implied or otherwise in that statement."

1:58 PM PT -- John tells us he meant no harm in the tweet, saying, "Seriously, folks? I said no such thing. Despite headlines claiming otherwise, I absolutely did not call for an act of violence or threaten a U.S. president."

"The Dukes of Hazzard" star John Schneider will likely have a visit from the Secret Service in the near future ... because he made a social media death threat against President Biden.

The actor, famous for playing Bo Duke on the iconic TV show, posted on Twitter Wednesday, stating both Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, "should be publicly hung." John's full tweet read, "Mr. President, I believe you are guilty of treason and should be publicly hung. Your son too. Your response is..? Sincerely, John Schneider."

John's threat has since been deleted ... and was a direct reply to Biden's post about Donald Trump, where POTUS took shots at the indicted former president.

Judging by his tweet, John thinks Biden is guilty of treason too.

Funny enough, Wednesday, the same day he sent the threat, was a pretty eventful day for John ... because he was also revealed as the secret celebrity hiding behind the donut costume on FOX's singing competition show, "The Masked Singer."

John's account also has other replies where he mentions Biden and treason ... and there's another recent post ripping Dr. Anthony Fauci as "Treasonous."

So, there seems to be a theme here ... but now, it's escalated to death threats.

We reached out to John's camp ... so far no word back.

Damar Hamlin's appearance on "The Masked Singer" was a powerful moment for those in attendance ... with judge Ken Jeong freaking out at the sight of the Bills safety!!

TMZ Sports broke the story -- Damar and his little brother, Damir, were guests at "The Masked Singer" last month ... the NFLer's first public outing after he suffered cardiac arrest on the field during Monday Night Football on Jan. 2.

The full clip of Hamlin's cameo during the show's "Sesame Street Night" episode has now been released via People ... showing Damir -- a big fan of Big Bird and Co. -- talking with Elmo before introducing Damar, who walked onstage and waved to the crowd.

The video shows just how incredible the segment was for everyone involved -- especially Jeong, who could not contain his excitement.

"I'm just so glad you're here, but more importantly, I'm just so glad you're healthy," Jeong said in the video. "The whole world loves you."

Damar explained to host Nick Cannon why he decided to attend the taping ... saying, "Mainly because my brother. That's my world. I put family first and he loves Sesame Street more than most things. So we had to make it tonight."

Damar Hamlin was a special guest at a taping for "The Masked Singer" Tuesday night ... marking one of the Buffalo Bills safety's first appearances since his medical emergency last month.

TMZ Sports has obtained pictures from the set of the taping ... showing the 24-year-old holding a football and smiling on stage alongside host Nick Cannon, with his name in big red letters on the screen behind him.

Hamlin made his first public appearance at the Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals game on Jan. 22 ... but while he was present to show support for his team, he did not speak to the media.

Hamlin has since posted videos on his social media -- thanking his supporters and kickstarting a CPR challenge campaign with the American Heart Association.

We're told Hamlin attended the taping alongside his young brother, Damir, who's a big fan of the show ... and he wanted to come along to check out the action.

Tom Brady is denying he left Bucs camp to be a contestant on the newest season of "The Masked Singer," but the show is definitely leaning in to the possibility he DID exactly that!!!

Check out this clip from the upcoming season TMZ Sports obtained ... it shows Ken Jeong, a judge on the show, guessing that TB12 is one of the new undercover, crooning celebs this year.

In the footage, you can see Jeong trying to guess who's in the Hummingbird costume. The comedian says the look and performance is "screaming out like a football legend."

Initially, he believes it could be Peyton Manning, but then he moves on to a different theory -- "I think this could be the greatest of all time."

Ken even adds ... "He just got fined for not showing up to training camp because he is here on 'The Masked Singer'. This is seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady!"

Of course, the clip cuts off before we see who the contestant actually is ... we're not THAT good. Season 8 officially wrapped taping on Aug. 20, but the show won't start airing until Sept. 21 -- and Fox notoriously keeps all the celeb IDs under lock and key.

For what it's worth, Tom just happened to show up at Bucs camp on Aug. 22 ... 2 days after taping ended.

Brady, though, has insisted it ain't him ... saying on his Twitter page Monday that despite disappearing from Bucs training camp for 11 days earlier this month, "[I] wasn’t on the masked singer last week."

The first rule of the show is ya don't talk about the show ... so could it really be him?!

Tom Brady says he did NOT leave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to shoot episodes of "The Masked Singer" ... saying the wild conspiracy is flat-out wrong.

TB12 had social media in a frenzy last week ... when one user speculated the QB was taking a break from training camp to appear on Fox's singing competition.

There were several points that had people convinced -- one being Brady's post-retirement TV deal with Fox Sports ... and another being the show is currently recording new episodes for the next season.

On top of that, Brady's absence had been a mystery ... and considering 'Masked Singer' is all about secrets, it would make sense for him to be hush-hush about what he was doing.

It was later revealed Brady used his time away from football to go on a Bahamas vacation with his wife, Gisele ... and based on his tweet just minutes ago, no masked singing was involved.

It's Michael, bitch!!

UFC star Michael Chandler traded the gloves for a mic during his appearance on "The Masked Singer" national tour stop in Nashville on Wednesday ... belting out Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time" -- and it's hilarious!!

Look, the dude ain't gonna win a Grammy anytime soon ... but it certainly looked like he had a blast -- shaking his hips and pulling off some dance moves that would make Brit proud.

Chandler's fam was present for the whole thing -- cheering him on as he made it through the 1999 hit.

No school girl outfit here -- Chandler's masked character was a boombox ... which might explain why he couldn't perfectly execute Spears' signature choreography.

The lightweight badass was eventually revealed by singer Natasha Bedingfield ... with the crowd going wild during the big moment.

London native and singer Natasha Bedingfield was just 23 years old when she took over 2004 with her debut album "Unwritten" which included the hit tracks "Unwritten," "I Bruise Easily" and "These Words."

The popular songs topped the Billboard Hot 100 and "Unwritten" became the opening theme song for MTV's "The Hills" starring Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari. Natasha continued to make top hits including "Pocketful of Sunshine" and "Love Like This."

The talented musician got married in 2009 and welcomed her son in 2017.

"Today is where your book begins ... the rest is still unwritten."

"The Masked Singer" is making history even before the big season finale ... with the cast and crew pulling off a nearly 24-hour day of production.

Our 'MS' sources say the final day of filming broke the show's record for the longest production day ... starting with a 6 AM call time, and wrapping up around 2:30 AM!

We're told, the crew pulled out all the OT stops to go out with a bang this season -- like adding all the lighting, extra stage prep and pyrotechnics into an already packed schedule.

The marathon production is gearing up for the last round of competition where 3 final costumed celebs -- Prince, Firefly and Ringmaster -- will square off for the ultimate title. And, we've learned, the competition is more fierce than ever.

On top of already having a time-consuming day, we're told the mystery performers wanted extended rehearsal time with vocal coaches and choreography teams ... ahead of the final, winner-take-all round.

Of course, ya also gotta add in some production bumps along the way. We're told the crew had to add some last-minute safety precautions to the costumes.

No magic tricks necessary for Penn & Teller's big unmasking moment on "The Masked Singer" -- instead, it was a laborious process full of panic and mayhem!!!

Our sources say when the legendary comedy duo was revealed as the celebs inside the Hydra costume, stagehands had an issue deconstructing the costume at the moment of truth.

We're told it was a chaotic scene backstage, with folks scrambling to figure out what to do, and in the end ... the costume department made a very last-minute decision to completely cut off the middle head of the three-headed costume.

Our sources say the head was literally sawed-off ... and it basically ruined the costume.

Besides hacking off the head, we're told the costume department accidentally sliced a wire cutting off all the electricity used for Hydra ... making the eyeballs that once lit up completely useless.

Now, all this drama mostly played out off-screen when Penn & Teller were revealed earlier this season -- and our sources say producers panicked when they saw the head being sliced off. Despite the big reveal, they still had more filming to do with the costume -- like reshoots, promos and cutaway camera angles.

Fortunately, the wardrobe department's really handy with superglue -- we're told they meticulously pieced together Hydra's head, and it actually worked!!!

This season of "The Masked Singer" has been plagued with security issues ... and with the season finale approaching, the team is doing everything it can to keep a lid on the show's best-kept secrets.

Our sources say fans and paparazzi have been outside the studio, trying to snap pics through cracks in the fence -- some have even climbed on top of cars to get shots over the barricade.

We're told the studio has seen an increased swarm of people at the entry gate, and it's creating headaches for producers as they try to deal with everyone trying to sneak a peek.

To avoid leaks, the set designers stepped up in a big way ... they worked closely with the 'MS' security team and used set pieces from past performances to build a makeshift barricade outside the studio!

Sounds like lugging giant sets outside and repurposing them as a blockade was an exhausting ordeal, but ended up being worth the effort. Producers were worried that one open sliver would give photogs the shots they were after ... but luckily no pics made it to the light of day.

The most dramatic moment from this season of "The Masked Singer" has finally played out ... as Rudy Giuliani was revealed as a contestant, causing one judge to walk off set.

The whole thing went down on the FOX singing contest Wednesday night as the disgraced politician and former right-hand-man of Trump was revealed as The Jack in the Box. Giuliani got the boot after this week's performance of "Bad to The Bone."

While he's performing the song, you see a clearly pissed-off judge, Ken Jeong, say "I'm done" before walking off the set.

It was back in February when it was reported both Ken and judge Robin Thicke walked off in disgust after Giuliani's reveal ... but that didn't appear to be the case Wednesday, with only Ken leaving.

For the first time in "The Masked Singer" history, there's a team working behind the scenes to help operate one contestant's costume ... resulting in a massive fail if the slightest thing goes awry.

Here's the deal -- the Space Bunny's signature shifty eyes aren't controlled by the mystery celeb inside the costume ... instead being operated by a producer backstage via a Nintendo-like controller.

We're told coordination is key ... the slightest change in the performer's routine could throw the entire thing off!

To make matters worse, the high-tech equipment inside the head hasn't had all of its kinks worked out yet ... there's a super loud buzzing sound inside the mask that's distracting for the performer -- something that could easily make them forget the words or choreography for their performance.

We're told the celeb in question has been a great sport so far ... producers gave them the costume because they felt they'd be able to roll with the punches and take on the challenge.

Let that be a clue -- this contestant is a bit of a risktaker, and is certainly not a diva.

The 'Masked Singer' might have a cursed trailer on their lot ... because one of the mobile celeb dressing rooms has a toilet that just won't seem to flush.

Here's the deal ... each contestant hangs out in their own StarWagon trailer during long days on set -- not unusual for Hollywood productions -- but one of the trailers is having serious issues with plumbing.

Our 'Masked Singer' sources tell us one of the contestant's trailers had a clogged toilet, and the celeb had their entourage make the embarrassing call to alert production. It's kinda the whole point of "having people."

Anyways, the crew unclogged the toilet -- we've all been there -- but a few days later, we're told the same trailer had another clog, and the celeb again got their person to call on the plunger posse, much to the celeb's chagrin.

For context, these StarWagon trailers are equipped with bathrooms roughly the size of an airplane lavatory. Hey, it's still better than a porta potty.

The 'Masked Singer' could've been a massive mess ... cause TMZ has learned, one of their biggest contestants almost dropped out 48 hours before filming this season!

Our 'Masked Singer' sources tell us, no contestant has ever threatened to quit so close to the start of the season before ... so everyone was caught off guard, and without a backup plan ... they were pretty much gonna be SOL.

Basically, execs of the show would have to completely revamp the entire season ... just before it was set to began. Luckily though, they were able to do some serious damage control ... and the show went on as planned.

We've learned there are a number of things that played a part in the contestant's initial decision, ranging from feeling ill-prepared to feeling overly restrained in the costume/mask.

We know what you're thinking ... but this wasn't a case of stage fright. We're told this particular contestant is no stranger to live performances on stage, but the giant costume completely threw them off.

These kinda "wardrobe malfunctions" aren't new to the folks at 'Masked.' As we previously reported, the complexity of the costumes has raised lots of concerns ... ya know like onstage wipeouts, safety of the contestants etc.

In this case, crisis was averted ... that is, after MS producers sent flowers to the performers and gave some much needed pep talks and praise. Turns out, the contestant ended up being a really strong performer and we're told they have the potential to win it all.