TMZ Live

YG's been helping bring medical and mental health services to the Black community for a year now, but he's not resting on his laurels ... he has bigger plans for TeleHealth Van.

The rapper -- along with NFL star Todd Gurley and owner Dion Rambo -- launched the virtual health consultation service in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to provide resources to those in L.A.'s low-income communities without health insurance or the tech needed to receive proper care.

TeleHealth Van uses a fleet of 5G-enabled vans to do so, and has helped more than 5,000 families connect with healthcare professionals since May 2020 ... but YG tells us that's not enough.

He's on a mission to take the TeleHealth model to people on probation or parole, and like he's done with the healthcare system in Black communities ... bring actual change to the criminal justice system as well.

YG says the City of L.A. is on board with his plan, and he's hopeful TeleHealth Vans will be doing a lot more good for years to come.

Just last week, Mayor Eric Garcetti honored the TeleHealth team at his home with an Official Congratulatory Award from the city for its contributions over the past 12 months.

As we've told you ... YG's also been finding other ways to help people get back on their feet during tough times, literally.

Wolfgang Puck loves seeing famous faces sitting down at tables in his restaurants, but he can't always put a face with a name ... Ariana Grande had him thinking she was in school.

The celeb chef joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday and we asked him about hosting tons of celebs at his famous restaurants in Los Angeles, usually for special occasions.

Wolfgang usually goes up to the table for a few kind words, but even he admits he doesn't always know who he's talking to off the bat -- as it played out, hilariously, with Ariana recently.

Ya gotta hear the way Wolfgang broke the ice with Ariana at Hotel Bel-Air, where she was dining with new hubby Dalton Gomez. It's a hilarious bit of mistaken identity, with a happy ending.

Wolfgang's getting a pass with Ariana ... and it sounds like there were no surprises when another famous couple, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, dined out at his spot at the Pendry Hotel in WeHo.

The restaurant mogul is the subject of a new documentary, appropriately called "Wolfgang," coming out Friday on Disney+ ... and he shared some details about his challenging upbringing in Austria, and those circumstances made him determined to make it in America.

If you've ever wondered who hunts down poachers and pirates in international water, and brings them to justice ... you're looking at him, and he has a crazy story to tell.

Captain Peter Hammarstedt joined "TMZ Live" Friday to give us the inside scoop on his crew's chilling, high-stakes mission to track down an illegal fishing boat called Thunder. He says they spent more than 100 days in dangerous, iceberg-filled water, and their efforts are the subject of the new documentary, 'Chasing the Thunder.'

The Captain explained why his organization, the Sea Shepherd Society, was after "the most notorious poaching vessel in the world" and details the extreme conditions his ship, Bob Barker, battled to keep up and try to capture it.

The pursuit crossed 3 oceans and covered more than 10,000 nautical miles ... and you gotta see Captain Pete's reveal of how it ended. It's absolutely wild, and shows you the kind of people he was up against out there.

Tyra Myricks believes she has a solution to a notorious L.A. problem -- she's bringing New York-style pizza to the West Coast, and tells us she's making it with the right ingredients.

Tyra -- an entrepreneur and daughter of Jam Master Jay -- has teamed up with T'yanna Wallace, daughter of The Notorious B.I.G., to launch Juicy Pizza ... named after the latter's smash 1994 hit track.

Myricks says she came up with the idea when she was struggling to find good NY-style 'za in L.A. -- a common gripe, especially for transplanted NYers. So, she hit up T'yanna with her plan, because Biggie best represents that Brooklyn vibe she wants for their pizza joint.

Tyra took us through the New York-inspired menu when she was on Thursday's "TMZ Live," and revealed their secret ingredient -- real NY water in their dough. You gotta watch to see how they're getting that agua out west.

If you're still not sold, there's also this -- Juicy's gonna have a members-only cannabis lounge in the back ... to attract celebs and turn the place into a Hollywood hot spot. The fun begins real soon, because Juicy Pizza is opening its doors for dinner Saturday night.

Slacklining, or highlining, definitely ain't for everyone -- the sport is high adrenaline and high risk, and one of its budding stars, Aaron Bray, knows it's not on the radar of most Black people ... something he wants to change.

Aaron joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday to talk about the new Discovery+ show, "Pushing the Line" ... which follows Aaron and 12 other extreme athletes busting tricks on long, narrow highlines over scenic canyons.

For the uninitiated ... slacklining's similar to tightrope walking, but uses a 1-inch wide strap that's less tensioned to allow for a bouncing effect. Think tiny, tiny trampoline.

Highlining, however, is a subset of slacklining and it's considered the peak of the sport. It's performed hundreds of feet above the ground or water ... and the mental toughness required is pretty damn unbelievable.

Aaron's been at it for 5 years now and he tells us he's one of the very few Black athletes in America who take part in the sport. He didn't shy away from our suggestion he's the Jackie Robinson of the sport -- in fact, he's embracing the responsibility.

Bryce Hall hasn't even thrown down in his first official boxing match yet ... but he's already planning #2 -- explaining Wednesday he wants a scrap with KSI badly!!!

The TikTok superstar -- who's all set for a celeb fight with YouTuber Austin McBroom next month -- said on "TMZ Live" he's got a beef brewing with KSI that he wants to settle in the ring next.

"KSI -- the one that beat [Logan Paul] -- was talking crazy about me," the 21-year-old said. "So, I mean, I'm down to do him next."

As for how the feud between the two social media stars started ... it's unclear, but they've exchanged verbal jabs repeatedly on Twitter over the last few weeks.

In fact, KSI trolled Hall after his wild brawl with McBroom in West Hollywood on Tuesday ... showing a picture of Bryce and asking, "You good?"

The fight would be an interesting one -- KSI is considered one the best boxers from the social media world -- but, of course, Hall's gotta get through McBroom first.

Lil Yachty wants all the fellas out there to know it's okay if you wanna wear nail polish -- in fact, he's got a whole new line out just for that, and he's hoping it's a hit with the youth ... regardless of gender.

The rapper told us why he's diving into the cosmetics game with his nail paint brand called Crete, and he dropped some great nuggets about the toxic masculinity and intolerance that have shamed boys and men who rock nail polish.

When Yachty joined us on "TMZ Live," he said it's not just for girls and women now -- he expresses himself with nail paint, and his goal is to normalize it for all the guys who want to follow suit.

While women can use his nail paints, Yachty says he actually wanted Crete to cater more to male consumers from the jump to help them feel more comfortable with the idea of painting their nails ... without having to hit a salon.

BTW, he flashes his cuticles for us here ... and yeah, it looks like he's on to a winner of an idea. He even entertains the possibility of becoming the next beauty billionaire ... a la Kylie Jenner.

Of course, sentiments on gender norms had been shifting in this direction already ... which only helps Yachty's cause. Celebs like Pete Davidson, A$AP Rocky, Bad Bunny, Harry Styles and a lot more have embraced the painted nails look

Saweetie says the rash of violence against Asian Americans that's stirring fear across the country has affected her family as well ... but she's aiming to put a stop to the hate she believes is at the root of it.

The "Fast (Motion)" rapper joined "TMZ Live" Monday to discuss Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month ... which is perhaps more important than ever as hate crimes against Asian Americans have risen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saweetie -- who's of Filipino and Chinese descent -- explains how the widespread violence has hit close to home ... especially the video of the elderly Asian woman getting randomly attacked in NYC.

She tells us that could have very well been her own grandmother, and says incidents like that have caused concern among families just like hers.

The bright side, according to Saweetie, is she believes the age of social media is opening people's eyes to how rampant this problem is ... and she's doing her part to raise awareness too.

She'll be performing with Jhene Aiko on Friday for the AAPI Heritage Month special, "See Us Unite for Change" ... hosted by Ken Jeong and featuring appearances by Daniel Dae Kim, Lisa Ling and more.

The family attorney for Andrew Brown Jr. can't reconcile the D.A.'s account of Andrew's fatal shooting with what he saw on deputies' body cameras -- and he says the only way to settle it is to release ALL of the video.

Chance Lynch joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday, telling us it's unfathomable where or how Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble -- or "the elected," as Lynch calls him -- is coming up with his assertion Brown threatened cops with his car.

Lynch says the full video he and Andrew's sons saw Tuesday does NOT support Womble's theory. If anything, Lynch says the officers are the ones who made contact with Brown when they walked up to him, not the other way around.

He's fully aware there's a major discrepancy between what he saw and what the D.A. is saying. He insists there's only one way to settle that ... and it's by letting the world see the video, so the public can judge for itself.

Lynch says he's certain it'll be clear Andrew never posed a threat to cops, and that what the family's been saying all along is true ... he was executed.

As we reported ... Lynch and Brown's immediate family saw the full police footage which Lynch says shows Brown sitting in his vehicle outside of his home as he was surrounded by deputies.

He says it was only AFTER cops fired the first shot when Brown put his car in reverse to get away from the hail of bullets -- but the deputies were not behind the vehicle.

The family said a private autopsy showed one bullet to the back to the head killed Brown. The findings of that report also show he suffered 4 gunshot wounds to his right arm.

Gov. Phil Murphy wants to see 4.7 million NJ residents vaccinated by the end of June, and he's offering liquid encouragement to get it done -- and, not shockingly, he says his plan's working, so far.

Murphy joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday to tout "Operation Jersey Summer" ... his campaign to help the state reach its vaccination goal. There's a long list of initiatives but he says the one getting all the buzz, pun intended, is the shot and free beer program.

The Gov. says that with the Garden State having one of the strongest and fastest-growing craft beer industries, it only made sense to incentivize residents with a free beer at any of the nearly 50 participating breweries ... IF they can prove they got vaccinated in May.

It's that simple ... and Murphy says so far the program's a hit with the young crowd, which he hopes will keep the state's rate of vaccination going in the right direction. He added that even though infection rates are dropping, and more people are getting out and about in warmer weather ... he doesn't want residents getting complacent.

That being said, Murphy does have one dispute with the shot and beer program. Watch the clip ... he was joking, but there's some potential for version 2.0 of "Operation Jersey Summer." Just sayin, Gov!!!

Take us out, Lil Jon!!!

Simon Cowell insists he's not living dangerously by getting back on an electric bicycle less than a year after shattering his spine while riding one ... 'cause he's toned down his horsepower.

The "America's Got Talent" judge and music exec broke down the differences for us after he was spotted scooting around on a new bike, but one that still had an electric motor attached.

It looks like risky business, but Simon explains he wasn't concerned. Check out why this new ride of his isn't anywhere near as crash-prone as the one he crashed with last summer.

The long and short of it is ... one of them was basically a motorcycle with pedals, and the other is a lot more human-friendly and manageable.

SC actually tells us a pretty hilarious anecdote about a magazine he picked up recently that served as a painful reminder of the brutal injury he endured.

Speaking of that injury ... Simon has healed very nicely since August, which was pretty obvious from his vacation to Barbados over the holidays -- where he was spotted cruising around on a jet ski, something he tells us his doctor did NOT want to see happen.

Tough luck for the doc -- Simon likes living on the edge, but at least he's taking a much wiser, sensible approach now.

The ladies from SWV aren't backing down from playing their famous Michael Jackson sample in an upcoming "Verzuz" matchup ... telling us they wouldn't be there without him.

Tamara "Taj" Johnson and Leanne "Lelee" Lyons joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked if SWV is going to play their hit, "Right Here (Human Nature Remix)," when the R&B group battles Xscape Saturday on "Verzuz."

Some folks have issues with MJ's legacy and using his sample might cause some controversy ... after all, it's happened recently on "Verzuz," when The Isley Brothers sampled R. Kelly.

But, SWV says they will NOT cancel the MJ sample ... telling us why the King of Pop's done wonders for their career.

It's pretty interesting ... Taj and Lelee say Michael didn't even make them pay to sample his 1983 hit, "Human Nature," and they tell us how the freebie fell in their lap.

The way they see it ... Michael's paid the price for his transgressions, and it's not their job to judge him by canceling his music.

If Mark Zuckerberg thought he could dodge the big decision on whether Donald Trump gets back on Facebook, its independent panel's essentially saying not so fast, Zuck ... according to a leading tech journalist.

Kara Swisher, once dubbed Silicon Valley's most powerful tech journalist, joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday and broke down the decision by Facebook's oversight board to uphold Zuck suspending Trump from the social media platform.

Kara says the board's decision only says Zuckerberg's initial call to ban Trump was fine, but as far as banning him permanently -- it's kicked that decision right back to Zuckerberg. Essentially, they're not gonna do the dirty work for him.

The board's given Facebook some time to sort this out -- but Kara says the mission for Zuck is to establish the companies "rules of the road" when it comes to speech ... for Trump and all politicians. She says only then can the panel decide if FB's rules are fair.

Remember ... it was Zuckerberg who banned Trump from Facebook in the wake of the Capitol riot ... saying it was too great a risk to America for Trump to remain on the platform.

Cops in California's capital are using technology to improve their training in the wake of several deadly police encounters across the country -- and the hope is virtual reality translates to the real world.

Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn joined us Monday on "TMZ Live", and downloaded us on his department's new training tool ... a virtual reality headset capable of recreating real police encounters in different environments.

Hahn says the VR training blends hypothetical situations officers might face in Sacramento with lessons learned from the regular training program, like implicit bias and intervention ... telling us why it's proving to be an important training tool in the wake of George Floyd's murder.

The technology sounds incredible ... not only can instructors place officers in different parts of town, but they can also replay the virtual scenarios so other cops can see what worked and what didn't.