TMZ Live

Music legend Nile Rodgers is giddy talking about his roller disco event, which is truly on a roll 'cause Madonna's playing host for his grand opening event.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday and told us about the awesome vibes going down at his new roller skating palace just outside L.A., dubbed the DiscOasis. Nile's described it as a theatrical journey, uniting "art, light, disco, dance, live performance, roller skating and good times."

So, yeah ... the experience has something for everyone, and it's a beautiful outdoor setting in the South Coast Botanic Garden of Palos Verdes Estates.

Nile, co-founder of the iconic band Chic, will serve as a "Groovemaster" ... and he says Madonna -- along with music mogul Jimmy Iovine and his wife, actress Liberty Ross -- will host the shindig tonight.

Don't roller skate? No problem! Nile says the 10,000-square-foot, outdoor space also offers a dance floor.

Now, he wouldn't spill the beans on whether Madge is gonna slip on a pair of skates, but whoever shows up will also be helping Nile's We Are Family Foundation ... a charity he founded in 2001 to empower youth who are changing the world with innovation.

DiscoOasis is gonna be open at least through Labor Day weekend ... and the Sunday shows include a "Sunset Series" -- with legendary DJs.

Dana White says former President Donald Trump won't be able to hide from the spotlight at UFC 264, because he'll be right next to the Octagon ... where fans can loudly cheer and jeer him.

The UFC honcho joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" to pump up Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier's third fight ... and, in the process, he settled a debate about where Trump will sit Saturday night in Vegas.

It's the first major sporting event Trump's attending since leaving the White House -- and with all that's happened since he lost the election, it's a good bet (even in Vegas) the ex-prez will hear plenty of boos.

Dana, a longtime Trump supporter, says his pal isn't one to shy away from any heckling.

As Dana tells us ... Trump "don't care, he's not that guy, he's not hiding in a box somewhere, that's not his style." Instead, he says Trump will sit right behind him.

No doubt he'll be flanked on all sides by Secret Service, and Dana says agents have been sweeping T-Mobile Arena for a few days now to ensure Trump's safety.

Presidential sideshows aside ... the fight itself should be awesome. McGregor and Poirier have been talking tons of smack leading up to Saturday's showdown, and Dana even took a knee to the ribs during Thursday's press conference.

Juvenile's the first to admit he was skeptical when a dating app reached out about collaborating, but that faded when he heard the end goal was educating his community about the COVID-19 vaccine.

The New Orleans rapper joined "TMZ Live" Thursday and explained how and why the collaboration with the dating app BLK came together. He tells us he was all in soon after hearing the dating app's mission to get users vaccinated before going on dates.

Enter Juvenile's "Vax That Thang Up" ... a remix to his 1999 classic, and still a club banger, "Back That Thang Up." The rapper thought the remix was a brilliant idea.

Juvenile probably didn't need too much convincing considering the staggering numbers. Remember, early on during the vaccine roll out there was serious hesitancy and mistrust ... with only 14% of African-Americans trusting the vaccine is safe.

New figures also show COVID cases (18%) and hospitalization rates (11%) jumped exponentially among African-Americans in L.A. County alone between mid-May and mid-June.

But, while vaccination rates have gotten better among African-Americans ... misinformation looms, which leads to hesitancy. But, as Juvenile says, he hopes the remix calms fears -- and, in fact, he told us how it's already impacted someone close to him.

T.J. Newman wrote her first book about a thrilling flight from Los Angeles to New York, but her journey to get the novel published was a turbulent ride ... full of rejection.

The flight attendant turned author joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and shared the personal battles that went into getting her novel off the ground. "Falling" is about an airline pilot whose family is kidnapped right before he takes off -- and if that sounds like a movie, Hollywood thinks the same thing.

There was a bidding war for movie rights, even before the book was released.

T.J. says she wrote more than 30 drafts, and was rejected a whopping 41 times before finally finding an agent to help get her debut published.

Well, it finally dropped today after what T.J. describes as a long and hard road where she didn't know what she was doing ... and naturally she's feeling grateful and overjoyed.

Shawn Stockman is raising money to help families pay for all the expenses that come with raising an autistic child ... with the help of an awesome watch.

The Boyz II Men singer joined us on "TMZ Live" and told us about his charity, Micah's Voice, and how it provides hope and resources for families affected by autism.

Shawn says he found out firsthand how difficult it can be for average families to raise a child with autism when he and his wife, Sharonda, added up all the bills for their autistic son, Micah, and saw a staggering figure.

The pandemic only made things more difficult for families and autistic children, and Shawn's partnering with SEVENFRIDAY to create and sell a limited edition watch to raise money for families struggling to get their kids the care they need.

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.