TMZ Live

Tristan "Mack" Wilds is sick and tired of the way the media and others unfairly profile black males, and he wants to blow these misconceptions to smithereens in a new Discovery+ show.

Tristan, who starred in "The Wire," joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday to talk about the false stereotypes that have been attached to Black males ... false stereotypes like Black fathers leave their families, and they devalue Black women.

Tristan knows of where he speaks, growing up as a Black male in America and dealing with these damaging presumptions people make.

The Discovery+ show is executively produced by none other than Tina Knowles-Lawson, who had a strategy to get her message out. The strategy -- don't sell the show to a predominately Black network. Her reasoning is that white people are the ones who need education, so Discovery+ fits the bill.

It's interesting ... Tristan thinks the way the media has unfairly characterized Black men has spilled over into the problems of police officers profiling Black men -- the cops learn from the media and then perpetuate the false narrative.

The docuseries premiered earlier this month, and new episodes will air on Discovery+, every Saturday.

Stand-up comedian Earthquake has the biggest platform of his more than 30-year career, and he's giving Dave Chappelle all the props for giving him the big break.

Earthquake joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" to talk more about his upcoming special, "Legendary" ... the first of Dave's 4-part series, "Chappelle's Home Team." He told us, he's flattered Dave "reached back" to give comedians like himself such a huge opportunity to reach a wider audience.

Of course, Dave sparked lots of controversy for Netflix last year after his special, "The Closer," pissed off LGBTQ+ groups and some employees at the streaming service.

Rather than shying away, Netflix is capitalizing on its relationship with Dave ... and Earthquake and other comedians are benefitting. Earthquake says it all started with a surprising call -- which he thought was a prank -- from Netflix execs.

Chappelle won't be doing any stand-up specials this time around, but he is executive producing all of them and recording intros for the comedians. BTW, Earthquake gave us some insider intel about the other comedians who will be featured.

Lee Asher is deep in the dog house, AKA "The Asher House" ... but wouldn't have it any other way, after quitting a 6-figure corporate gig to start his own animal sanctuary!!!

Lee stars in the new Animal Planet/Discovery+ show, "My Pack Life" ... and joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" to explain why he turned his life upside down. He says the epiphany came when he thought about what he loved most in the world.

Watch the clip ... he says there were 2 things, in particular, that prompted him to quit his L.A. job, sell all his stuff and buy an RV. What happened next is an incredible adventure.

After traveling around the U.S. and Canada -- and getting 500 dogs adopted along the way -- Lee finally put down some roots in Oregon where his 'Asher House' is almost like Noah's Ark.

But, he says it's not just about the animals ... it's people who can change the world and help them. When people are happy, they treat each other better, and he wants folks to live with a purpose, he says.

He now has a whole pack of furry friends ... including 30 dogs, 2 donkeys, 2 horses, 13 pigs, 3 cows, 4 goats, 6 sheep, 4 alpacas and a parrot.

George Floyd's aunt, Angela Harrelson, knows his murder ignited a worldwide wave of activism, and she wants to make sure it continues ... as the federal trial continues for 3 ex-cops involved in his fatal arrest.

Angela joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live," but on Tuesday she'd been in court to see ex-officer Tou Thao testify. He and fellow ex-cops J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane are accused of violating George's civil rights during the arrest.

She called it a triggering day -- having to see the gut-wrenching video again, as well as listening to Thao's testimony.

Unlike Derek Chauvin, Thao, Lane and Kueng did not have their knees on George's neck ... but Angela told us why she feels they still bear responsibility for his death.

Angela, who was extremely close to George, has also written a memoir, "Lift Your Voice: How My Nephew George Floyd's Murder Changed the World." As she explained, writing it was cathartic -- but it also gave her a chance to be a voice for George.

She says she's urging others to keep using their voices as they did during months of marches for equality and justice after George's murder. Angela's point is ... when you see something that isn’t fair speak up, because every person can make a difference.

We'd like to take a minute just sit right there, there's a reboot in town -- "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" ... and one of its stars says a lot's changed.

Jordan L. Jones plays the role of Jazz in the new show, "Bel-Air," and says it is drastically different in a great way. He joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" to break down the advice he got from Jazzy Jeff, who originally played his character ... and his goosebumps moment with Will Smith.

As you've probably heard ... this "reimagining" of the '90s hit has all the same characters, but the twist is, it's not a comedy. It's based on director Morgan Cooper's short film from several years ago, and as Jordan explained ... they had a ton of creative freedom to put their own spin on it.

Of course, the OG actors came back to help guide and give creative direction. Jordan says it was a dream come true to get kudos from Will. In fact, he called it a "crazy" moment ... so, you gotta see him reveal exactly what big Willie told him.

The first 3 episodes of "Bel-Air" are already streaming on Peacock, and a new episode drops every Thursday. BTW, Jazzy Jeff also gave Jordan some solid advice about bringing his character back to life.

Dr. Dre has no problem admitting it, he's a little hungover after celebrating his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance -- one of the best ever -- and he says the party is STILL going!!!

The D-R-E joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" and, in his own words, he was still "buzzing" about what he, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar pulled off on Super Sunday.

First off ... that amazing performance. Dre says he went into rehearsals expecting the NFL to heavily censor the songs, but was pleasantly surprised that they only made "minor changes" -- among them, Kendrick's reference to specific L.A. gangs.

Dre says he gets why they called for that to be removed.

As for Eminem taking a knee as an homage to Colin Kaepernick -- Dre says that's something Marshall decided to do on his own, and he never heard the NFL say a peep about it.

After the show, Dre told us they were all feeling the love from roughly 70,000 fans inside SoFi Stadium -- not to mention the millions upon millions watching around the world.

He says he toasted their success with a dinner, and then went to his house to hang with friends ... including Don Cheadle and Mary J. BTW, he broke some big news about her!!!

And, then he gave us the scoop on his own personal celebration that involved a fast-food run. You gotta see this ... Dre says his trainer's gonna be pissed, but hey ... we can all agree the Doc earned himself a large order of fries. Right?

Tammy Faye Bakker, the subject of an Oscar-nominated film this year, was portrayed by the media as a clown and some even called her a crook, but they never talked about her compassion and, frankly incredible progressiveness ... which is best shown in an interview she did in 1985 with Steve Pieters who was struggling with AIDS.

Steve, incredibly, is still alive and jumped on "TMZ Live" Thursday to talk about that interview.

The AIDS activist and pastor reflected on his landmark interview with Tammy, which has been recreated in the 2021 movie "The Eyes of Tammy Faye".

Steve paints a radically different picture of Tammy Faye from the media portrait. The interview came at a time when many people with AIDS were treated inhumanely ... getting fired from their jobs, thrown out of their apartments, and disowned by their families. It's all the more impressive that Tammy Faye stepped in ... because she drew heavy criticism from fundamentalist Christians, some of whom said out loud AIDS was God's revenge against gay people.

The interview was actually done via satellite because there were fears that he'd be mistreated by the crew.

Steve says it was extraordinary for a televangelist to give such a positive, compassionate interview, during a time of fear.

As far as any backlash and cartoon-like depictions of Tammy, Steve says he doesn't think it was right or fair ... because the woman he knew was kind, loving and compassionate.

Speaking of cartoonish ... most people who watched the Tammy Faye/Jim Bakker saga thought she had a habit of crying so hard her mascara would run down her face like Rudy G's hair dye. The reality -- that never happened. 'SNL' depicted her that way in a few skits, and everyone turned it into fact.

Forget jinxes -- the mayor of Cincinnati is so confident the Bengals will beat the Rams in the Super Bowl this Sunday, he already started planning their championship parade!!

Aftab Pureval joined Harvey and Charles on "TMZ Live" before the city's big matchup against Los Angeles ... and he said he's been in constant communication with fellow mayor Eric Garcetti and having some friendly fun ahead of the matchup.

"We talked about maybe changing the name of Los Angeles to L-O-S-S Angeles," Pureval joked ... adding they even discussed putting a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame if Cincy pulls off the upset.

FYI -- Aftab has been successful in his bets with other mayors throughout the playoffs ... the Bengals defeated the Titans and Chiefs on their way to the Super Bowl, so he's already stacked up some bragging rights so far.

With all that success, it's no wonder Pureval is already figuring out all the details for the city's celebration ... and he ain't worried about potentially cursing the Bengals in the process.

Philadelphia Eagles safety Anthony Harris made 11-year-old Audrey Soape's night when he accompanied her to a daddy-daughter dance after her dad passed away, but the pro football player tells us it was also an incredibly "special moment" for him, too.

"I try to show fans my support whenever I can," Harris told Harvey and Charles on "TMZ Live," adding ... "It just kind of unfolded organically. Over the past few years, they’ve been following my career since I was in Minnesota."

Harris -- the NFL's interception leader in 2019 -- says Audrey's dad and grandpa recently died ... so as the dance approached, the Soape family asked Anthony if he'd like to attend.

Once it became clear Harris' Eagles were eliminated from the playoffs, the 7-year NFL vet told Audrey he'd love to escort her to the dance in Texas.

"I thought it would be a great way to uplift her and utilize my platform I’ve been blessed with to try and brighten people's day and be a blessing to others," the safety told us.

Once they arrived at the dance (in style -- Harris rented a car with a driver), Anthony says he had a blast.

"It was a great event. There was a ton of kids there. It was really nice, really cute to see other fathers there."

Harris later continued ... "I was just all about having fun. The DJ was playing a little bit of the Disney music. I wasn't quite familiar with some of those songs but I had fun embarrassing myself trying to sing those lyrics."

"But the dancing was fun. And seeing the energy of the other young ladies there and the fathers, it was a great time!"

As far as senior influencers, AKA "Granfluencers" go ... Daymond John says it's a new day and age, because there's lots of money to be made on social media and they're taking advantage.

Normally, older folks jumping on a craze is usually a death knell, but the "Shark Tank" star says that's not the case for TikTok, and it totally makes sense seniors are suddenly taking the Internet by storm.

Daymond says users on social platforms tend to believe what more, let's say mature, content creators put out there ... because they have a lot of experience.

Of course, young folks on social media are still making a killing, but Daymond insists, when older people speak, folks will listen -- and if they're having a good time while they do it ... even better.

On top of that, he says don't forget ... older creators, and consumers they're targeting, have spending power on their side.

This makes sense why influencer squads like 'The Old Gays' -- aged 60 to 70 -- and 75-year-old 'Granddad Frank' have been able to rack up millions of followers on TikTok ... and tens of thousands in cash.

Chrishell Stause would love for her next boyfriend to be someone far from famous, but she says that's a tall order at the moment ... and she's gonna need help from her friends.

The "Selling Sunset" star joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" and we asked how the dating life's going on the heels of her most recent breakup, and if she's ready to try a different kind of relationship.

Chrishell says she'd prefer to date non-celebs and tells us whenever a friend tries to set her up with someone, her first question gets straight to the point.

As you know ... Chrishell is just over a month removed from the split from her 'Selling' co-star Jason Oppenheim ... after 5 months of dating.

Before Jason, she dated 'DWTS' pro dancer Keo Motsepe for about 3 months -- and, of course, she's now divorced from "This Is Us" star Justin Hartley.

So, trying a relationship with a non-celeb seems worth a shot ... and while Chrishell says she's very open to the idea, she tells us why it's not exactly simple for her to meet an average Joe.

BTW, she opens up about past relationships and much more -- including her struggles to make it from small-town Kentucky to TV fame -- in her new book, 'Under Construction.'

You could say Chuck Palahniuk saw the Chinese government's censorship of "Fight Club" coming ... because the new ending is closer to the original one he wrote 25 years ago.

The famed author -- who penned the OG novel that became the 1999 movie -- joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" to give us his take on China removing the film's big explosive climax.

Chuck says it's funny to him that folks are up in arms over the censorship overseas because he's been dealing with his books being banned for a long time right here in the U.S. -- and he calls out Texas, in particular.

Ironically, Chuck told us China's version actually aligns more with the ending he wrote in the novel. Even more twisted ... he says overseas publishers have been editing his novel to make it more like the David Fincher movie.

So, yeah ... unfortunately, he's kinda used to people messing with his art.

As we reported, China released a new version of the movie, starring Brad Pitt and Ed Norton, that ends without explosions, killings and general chaos. Instead, it ends with an on-screen graphic that reads, in part, "The police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding."

Byron Allen says losing Louie Anderson so closely on the heels of Bob Saget's death is a tremendous gut punch to comedians ... who were more like family than co-workers.

The TV mogul, who bonded with Louie over several decades, joined us on "TMZ Live" to take us behind the scenes of their most recent gig together ... the Byron-produced game show, "Funny You Should Ask."

Byron says Louie lived to make everyone laugh -- even when cameras weren't rolling -- and always preached kindness above all else.

There was one thing that especially stood out for Byron, though... he says every time they wrapped up their show, Louie would give him a hug and say "I love you. He would say goodbye to us as if it was the last time we were going to see him."

As we reported, Anderson died Friday morning after battling lymphoma -- and Byron explained why we've heard so many celebs -- especially comedians -- gushing about Louie and Bob.

He told us they're a tight-knit group, really a family, because they all came up together -- more than 40 years ago -- when no one knew their names.

Criss Angel could simply be celebrating his son's cancer going into remission, but instead, he wants to help other families feel the same hope and joy -- and he believes sharing Johnny's story is the best way to do that.

The famed illusionist got the great news Monday about 7-year-old Johnny, whose remission comes after he was first diagnosed at just 20-months-old. Criss captured much of his son's brave battle on camera, and joined us on "TMZ live" to talk about their new documentary "1095."

Criss tells us the 13-minute film documents the trials and tribulations his family faced with pediatric cancer ... and he knows it mirrors the experiences of so many other families. He says that's why he wants to use his platform to help people who are struggling but don't have the resources to raise awareness about this form of cancer.

Criss couldn't hold back tears as he admitted the ordeal has made him a different person. While he's still the same crazy guy onstage ... offstage he's focused on helping others in this dire situation.

After several streaming platforms rejected "1095" -- which is the number of days of chemo Johnny endured -- Criss simply posted it on his YouTube channel ... and we've included it above as well, so pass it on.

Fans from all over the nation are gearing up for what would've been Betty White's 100th birthday ... joining in on a challenge encouraging fans to spread the love to animals in need and donate to local orgs.

Brittany Vizcarra from Paw Works joined us on TMZ live to pitch the "Betty White Challenge." As you know, Betty was a fierce animal rights advocate who spent her adult life tirelessly working for animal rights orgs. Brittany says this challenge is about everybody doing more -- just like Betty -- by caring for abandoned and abused animals.

Paw Works is an animal rescue org that places unwanted animals in L.A. shelters into loving homes.

Since the Betty White challenge has taken off on social media, some orgs have seen an uptick in donations ... and with the help of people like Brittany, those donations are bound to pour in all over the U.S., as the 17th approaches.

Brittany says it's super simple to "be more like Betty" ... folks can volunteer, adopt, foster or find any other way to get involved.

It's a damn shame "Black-ish" is ending, because it sounds like Michelle Obama could have a permanent role on the hit show ... if you ask Marsai Martin, anyway.

The 17-year-old actress/director/entrepreneur and, as it turns out, interior designer ... was beaming about getting to work with the former First Lady on the episode which aired last week. Thursday on "TMZ Live" she told us it had long been a dream of hers, and other cast members, to get Michelle on set.

It's been said meeting your heroes can be disappointing, but Marsai says getting camera time with MO in the final season of "Black-ish" was a "surreal" dream come true.

Ya gotta see the joy on her face as she describes the experience, but we think she summed it up perfectly when she said it "felt like [Michelle] was an auntie" by the time they finished shooting the episode.

Btw, the show's got more big names lined up for its final episodes ... including Simone Biles, Magic Johnson and Babyface.

Fans have watched Marsai grow up on camera -- she started her role as "Diane" when she was only 9 -- and now she's got real pull in Hollywood ... enough to launch her own reality show.

It's called "Remix My Space with Marsai Martin" and it taps into her passion for design ... as we mentioned earlier.

On the show, she picks teenagers who've made an impact in their communities, and surprises them with personalized, stylish full bedroom makeovers. It's debuting Saturday on Discovery+.