The TMZ Podcast

Kevin Costner and his daughter hit up Taylor Swift's SoFi Stadium concert Monday, and it's safe to say, when she sang "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," they were experiencing 2 very different emotions!

Kevin and 13-year-old daughter Grace Avery were in a luxury suite as Taylor sang one of her most famous breakup songs -- Grace Avery was jamming to the song, singing along and dancing, while her more subdued dad took in the lyrics with an ever-so-slight grin.

It had to register ... Kevin's wife, Christine Baumgartner, has filed for divorce and it's become an all out war. Kevin just got Christine out of the house after a legal battle, but there's still a huge conflict over how much money she'll get in child support, not to mention that it seems she's going to challenge the prenup.

And there's this ... Christine was vacationing in Hawaii with Kevin's [former?] pal Josh Connor. Although our Christine/Josh sources say there was nothing romantic going on, our Kevin sources say he's "none too pleased" about it.

So, safe to say, the "Yellowstone" star saw the true meaning of art imitating life!

Iggy Azalea's letter of support for Tory Lanez -- ahead of his sentencing for shooting Megan Thee Stallion -- is triggering an avalanche of backlash, but the "Fancy" rapper says it's totally unfair.

For starters, she didn't know her passionate plea would be for public eyes, but she's doubling down on feeling Tory doesn't deserve more than 5 years for the shooting.

Iggy barked back at her haters after it came out in court that she asked the judge to give Tory a "transformational, not life-destroying" sentence -- a point with which she says many people agree.

Iggy's sliver of mercy for Tory was met with disrespect ... especially when it was revealed Megan herself felt the complete opposite, as she felt her attacker's shown a blatant lack of remorse since the July 2020 shooting.

Before the trial, Iggy and Tory were working on music together -- a project he was greatly excited about when we spoke to him about it, but it never happened.

Iggy says she and Tory haven't been in contact for months, but she still fully supports prisoners, in general, being rehabilitated.

A massive brawl along the docks of a river in the deep South unfolded this weekend -- and it was pretty black and white as far as what was going down ... quite literally.

This wild scene took place Saturday at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, AL -- where multiple eyewitnesses say a riverboat was trying to pull in, but couldn't ... because some locals in a smaller pontoon boat were blocking the space, something a security guard tried rectifying.

That's where this first video picks up ... the man in the white shirt -- who's Black -- is said to be a guard/dock worker of some sort, and he was telling these white dudes to move. It erupted into a 4-on-1 deal, with the white guys wailing on the man ... while others watched.

Soon, though ... other Black people jumped into the mix to come this gentleman's aid -- including somebody who threw themselves into the water from across the way to swim over.

Eventually, the initial fracas came to an end ... but it was far from over. Another group of Black individuals -- who were apparently staffers on the riverboat -- saw what happened and raced down to confront the white assailants ... and another beatdown ensued all over again.

This time, the 4 white men on the boat were very clearly outnumbered ... and all hell broke loose. People were getting punched, knocked down -- it was straight up pandemonium.

Naturally, the cops arrived and multiple people were arrested. While there might've been some confusion, at first, as to what started all this ... Montgomery's mayor, Steven Reed, made it clear it was the white guys who antagonized this ... and consequences are coming.

Jamie Foxx felt he had to apologize for his controversial social media post, but many in Hollywood are saying there was no need to do that ... and it's stirring a massive debate.

As you know ... Jamie's IG sparked outrage ... especially from people who felt Jamie's statement was antisemitic -- seeing how, on its face, it seemed to refer to a trope about Jews being responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. That's how many took it anyway.

Amid the mounting backlash, Jennifer Aniston distanced herself from Jamie's post, which she appeared to like.

Eventually, Jamie said he was sorry and that he meant no harm ... but like we said, there are a ton of folks who think he was forced into an apology that wasn't even warranted, as some are arguing that his language wasn't in any way aimed at Jewish people.

This comes down to cultural differences -- and there's a lot of takes referencing AAVE when breaking this down -- but the bottom line here is ... people are defending Jamie and lamenting the fact he was seemingly cajoled into a clarification -- including a lot of stars.

Among the famous faces who are standing in his corner ... Winnie Harlow, Waka Flocka, Jay Pharoah, and others -- all of whom explicitly questioned why he was apologizing at all.

TBH, this is part of a larger conversation relating to marginalized groups and the levels of outrage/reverence some feel are mustered among certain identities versus others. We'll leave that discussion for the internet to fight over, though.

FWIW, the Anti-Defamation League welcomed Jamie's apology with open arms.

Jamie Foxx is apologizing for anti-Semitic remarks he made on social media about Jews killing Jesus ... while making a cryptic reference to being betrayed by a "fake friend."

The actor posted a message on Instagram Saturday, saying, "I want to apologize to the Jewish community and everyone who was offended by my post."

Jamie continued, "I now know my choice of words have caused offense and I'm sorry. That was never my intent. To clarify, I was betrayed by a fake friend and that's what I meant with "they" not anything more."

He went on to say, "I only have love in my heart for everyone. I love and support the Jewish community. My deepest apologies to anyone who was offended."

As you may know, Jamie posted his controversial remarks on Instagram Friday, stating, "They killed this dude name Jesus… what do you think they’ll do to you?" The message was soon deleted, but not before users took snapshots and posted them to social media.

Jewish groups spotted the message and started spreading it online, which caught the interest of Jennifer Aniston. The actress was thought to have liked Jamie's post, but later clarified that she hadn't and was horrified by his words.

Jennifer said, "I want to be clear to my friends and anyone hurt by this showing up in their feeds – I do NOT support any form of antisemitism. I truly don’t tolerate HATE of any kind. Period."

Meanwhile, Jamie recently broke his silence about his major health scare in April, which landed him in the hospital for a little over a month. He's recently been seen around Chicago doing some fun activities as he recovers from his medical condition, which has not been publicly revealed. Jamie personally thanked his family and friend in a video posted online.

Taylor Swift's L.A. concert is the biggest event of the year for sure, which is why 70,000 people packed into Sofi Stadium Thursday night, shouting lyrics that can be heard far and wide ... much to the chagrin of some very tired homeowners!

Taylor's first of 6 concerts ended at 11:45 PM, depriving some residents of their 8 hours of shuteye. One person in particular -- truth be told it's a dude who works at TMZ -- groused as he recorded Taylor and her legion of fans singing "You Belong with Me," complaining of the loud noise seeping from the stadium.

Fact is ... this guy is a known curmudgeon, so discount his displeasure. Nonetheless, the noise is really loud.

It's interesting ... in 2021, during rehearsals for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, when Dr. Dre and his crew wanted to keep the performances top secret, Stadium staff blasted rock music outside so neighbors couldn't tattle on the set list and the surprise guest (50 Cent). That too pissed off some residents, including our guy, so this is all par for the course.

The City of Angels is officially the City of Swifties -- Taylor Swift has kicked off her 6 sold-out shows in Los Angeles, and fans had a lot to go wild over on night number 1.

Taylor took the stage Thursday night at SoFi Stadium for her "Eras" tour ... rockin' the crowd of over 70,000 after a killer opening act by HAIM. She brought the sister group back out later in the night to perform "No Body, No Crime" together.

TS had a surprise for her L.A. fans ... dusting off "I Can See You" from "Speak Now (Taylor's Version") -- the first time she's ever performed it live. Safe to say, the crowd went ballistic.

Swifties also pointed out a fun fact -- Taylor sang "August" from her "Folklore" album in August for the first time ... pretty neat.

It was a star-studded event at SoFi ... Vanessa Bryant was there with her daughters, Natalia and Bianka. tWitch's wife Allison Holker was in the crowd, as was Ashley Tisdale, Nick and Vanessa Lachey, and "Outer Banks" star Madelyn Cline -- and that was just Thursday.

As we reported, the LAPD is working with Metro to help with the flood of fans heading to and from SoFi while Taylor's in town ... beefing up the amount of officers throughout the big Metro system.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department said it's "providing a similar level of visibility as the 2022 Superbowl" ... in other words, LAPD ain't messing around when it comes to Taylor!!

L.A. ain't messing around with Taylor Swift in town ... cops are beefing up security for public transit, with an operation that'll be taken as seriously as football's biggest day.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department announced Tuesday that LAPD is working with Metro to support the swarm of folks heading to and from Taylor's 6 shows at SoFi Stadium -- providing a ton of officers through the spread out Metro system.

The dept. says, "The Department is providing a similar level of visibility as the 2022 Superbowl in order to ensure the safety of the public throughout the Metro System."

In case ya forgot, tickets for her SoFi shows sold out instantly on Ticketmaster, so the only way to score tix at this point is by shelling out thousands for resale.

Swifties in L.A. have been going nuts over her arrival -- with fans already waiting for hours just to grab some merch!!!

One of the women suing Lizzo claiming she was done dirty by the singer actually sang her praises, AFTER the alleged incidents she says terrorized her.

TMZ has obtained a video shot in April 2023, in which plaintiff Arianna Davis gushes over Lizzo, saying, "It's been so amazing and such a beautiful journey. I look up to her so much. I just want to follow in her footsteps, and I just want to share that with the Queen Lizzo herself."

Lizzo's lawyer, Marty Singer, tells TMZ, "These do not sound like the words of someone who was harassed or discriminated against by someone they described as 'THE QUEEN."

What's critical here ... Davis made her comments after the European leg of Lizzo's tour and after Season 1 of "Watch Out for the Big Grrrls." All of Davis' allegations involve alleged incidents before she shot this video -- an interview for Season 2 of the show, in which Davis pitches herself as a singer.

Davis and another plaintiff, Crystal Williams, appeared on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and acknowledged they were fired after Lizzo's team said their dancing was not up to par.

Lizzo broke her silence Thursday morning, saying, "These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional."

Marty Singer adds, "They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and here a video shows that there are no legitimate claims in this lawsuit. We are confident that Lizzo will be completely vindicated in this matter."

Originally Published -- 6:25 AM PT

Lizzo isn't sitting at Beyoncé's table right now in the wake of claims made against her by a few former backup dancers -- at least that's how it seems after this apparent Bey sting.

The singer was doing a show in Boston Tuesday -- as part of her "Renaissance" tour -- and during her performance of "Break My Soul (The Queens Remix)" ... Beyoncé noticeably failed to mention Lizzo's name in the lyrics, despite having done so repeatedly in the past.

If you're unfamiliar, Lizzo is actually written into the remix -- meaning her name is supposed to appear in the song naturally, so the fact Bey switched it up live is telling.

The name-drop happens in verse 3, where Beyoncé is listing a bunch of trailblazing women -- which normally includes Lizzo as well -- but on this particular outing ... Bey omitted her and instead chose to mention Erykah Badu 4 different times (more on this later).

Of course, to some ... it felt like, perhaps, Beyoncé had caught wind of the lawsuit filed against Lizzo Tuesday -- which had some pretty scandalous accusations in it, like the notion that she allegedly coerced her backup dancers to participate in nude cabaret shows ... not to mention allegedly badgering/body-shaming one of the dancers over a weight issue.

The internet certainly chatted about it yesterday, and now with this ... some are assuming Beyoncé did as well, and possibly made a decision to leave her off her 'BMS' list.

Now, there's another explanation for this would-be snub. As we reported ... there's bad blood between Erykah and Beyoncé right now. The former called out the latter for ripping off her fashion sense ... this 'cause Bey's worn similar 'fits onstage that echo EB's style.

It was a pretty public call-out ... and you could interpret Beyoncé's move as a response to Erykah stirring the pot. Eye of the beholder, we suppose ... but a choice was certainly made.

Angus Cloud was nothing but smiles a few days before he died -- which is unsettling considering he appears to have died from an overdose.

The "Euphoria" actor attended a local album release party for rap group MacArthur Maze there in the Bay Area Friday -- and he was photographed and filmed at the shindig having a good time and seemingly enjoying himself with a bunch of other people.

You never hear Angus talk in these clips ... but there's no doubt the guy was in good spirits, or at least that's how he appeared from the outside looking in any way.

The Sun reports that eyewitnesses at the party say AC was there for a few hours, and that he didn't outwardly show signs of angst or discomfort. One pal is quoted as saying Angus was happy to be home, as he'd just been in Ireland for his father's funeral.

The friend says Angus had told him he was sad. No more than 72 hours later, he was found unresponsive at his family's home in Oakland.

TMZ broke the story ... Angus died, and police had reason to believe it may have been a result of a possible overdose.

His family also hinted at him maybe taking his own life, telling us he'd been struggling to cope with his dad's passing.

We'd also been told by close family sources that he was, in fact, having suicidal thoughts prior to his passing. Angus was a rising star in Hollywood thanks to his breakout role in "Euphoria."

He was only 25.

Cardi B ain't sweatin' the Vegas cops ... 'cause she was dancing her butt off poolside the same day she was named a suspect in her microphone-tossing case.

Cardi posted a video Monday, which shows her and hubby, Offset, havin' a grand ol' time on the rooftop of what appears to be a Vegas hotel.

Both rappers are in bathing suits going absolutely bonkers -- Cardi is twerking like crazy in the pool as Offset wildly dances around her.

The two could not seem happier ... her police troubles seem to be the last thing on their minds.

Cardi was named as the suspect in a battery case after she hurled a mic into the crowd at her Vegas concert Saturday, hitting two people.

Video captured the moment someone splashed Cardi with a drink while she was onstage at Drai's Nightclub ... after she encouraged the audience to cool her off with water in the extreme heat.

Cardi clearly didn't approve of the way the liquid drenched her body, prompting her to throw the mic, which first struck the drink thrower and then ricocheted and hit a woman standing nearby.

Hollywood actors are stuck between a rock and a hard place amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike -- best exemplified by one particular thespian, who's now doing odd jobs to keep afloat.

Josh Hooks, who's been on shows like "Will Trent," "Swagger" and "The Game," among others ... joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" to explain how he -- like tens of thousands of other actors and writers -- is maintaining job/money-wise during the labor stalemate.

One gig Josh has picked up is cleaning houses, plus several other odd jobs -- as he explains, it's a great time to be a jack of all trades. Sounds like Craigslist is his best friend these days.

There are methods JH and his fellow striking actors are implementing to get by during this hard time -- including leaning on each other for support, which he says entails cooking and sharing grub, or referring somebody to a new gig if there's work on the table to go around.

He also reflects on how frustrating his journey in showbiz has been in these recent years. First, his momentum from 2019 got derailed because of COVID ... which halted a lot of productions for a good long while. Now that he's got some mojo again ... it's the strike.

Despite this ... Josh fully backs his union in hitting the picket lines, adding that he's happy to serve as a voice for countless people who are fighting for better working conditions.

He's hoping these differences can be resolved sooner than later, but in the meantime -- he's clearly making do however he can ... just like so many others are as well.

Tough times.

Ethan Slater may be done with his marriage, but he "desperately" wants to co-parent his nearly 1-year-old child with soon-to-be ex-wife Lilly Jay ... sources connected to Ethan tell TMZ.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Ethan has been talking to Lilly daily, mostly about their little boy. We're told Ethan spent a lot of time with his son in London after he had split with Lilly, and is determined to have a major presence in the boy's life.

Our sources say Lilly told Ethan repeatedly she was down with co-parenting. Ethan, we're told, asked Lilly about issuing a joint statement saying they were committed to co-parenting their son, but Lilly wanted to defer releasing the statement, at least for now.

We're also told Lilly had assured Ethan she didn't know where various media leaks were emanating from, so he was more than surprised to read Thursday that Lilly spoke with Page Six, calling Ariana Grande "not a girl's girl," adding her family was "collateral damage."

Sources tell us Lilly told Ethan she did not understand what it meant that she was on the record when she made the comments.

It's unclear what Lilly's position is regarding co-parenting, but Ethan adamantly wants to raise his son.

TMZ broke the story ... Ethan filed for divorce on Wednesday. If they're at odds on who raises the child, ultimately a judge will decide.

Todd Chrisley believes he's being treated differently from the rest of his fellow inmates in federal prison ... and he thinks his fame has everything to do with it.

Chrisley's attorney, Jay Surgent, tells TMZ ... Todd believes his celebrity status has resulted in some odd occurrences while locked up at FPC Pensacola in Florida -- even telling us Todd thinks someone took his photo while he was sleeping.

He also claims he hasn't been receiving any mail and thinks it's getting destroyed ... though, he has no clue what the motive would be for someone doing that.

Jay tells us Todd's living conditions are terrible, too, claiming the place is plagued by bad plumbing, possible mold, and no A.C. to help combat the brutal heat. He also claims his wife Julie's struggling with similarly bad conditions over at FMC Lexington, KY, where she's doing her time.

For what it's worth, a rep for the Bureau of Prisons tells us the safety of inmates is a top priority, and both prisons have "contingency plans to address a large range of concerns ... including ventilation temperatures."

Regardless, Jay says Todd submitted an application to try to get switched over to home confinement. Worth a shot, but that seems unlikely, considering the fact the Chrisleys are doing hard time.

TMZ broke the story, Todd and Julie reported to their prisons in January -- Todd got a 12-year sentence, while Julie got 7 ... after the couple was convicted in their bank fraud and tax evasion case.

We're told the plan moving forward is to explore all legal avenues to address the prison conditions.

Beyoncé is giving her fans another reason to rejoice -- she's made her way onto Travis Scott's latest album, and to the surprise of just about everyone!

Bey lends her mountains of talent to Travis' track, "Delresto (Echoes)" ... the 9th song on his much-anticipated album, "Utopia," which dropped on Friday.

It's a solid track, with a distinct synth vibe -- similar to Beyoncé's recent "Renaissance" album, which dropped last year. Bon Iver's Justin Vernon also jumps on the song.

Bey and Justin aren't the only ones bringing star power to the album -- Drake, Young Thug, and SZA are just a few of the big names that collabed with Travis to bring "Utopia" to life.

As we reported, TS was partying with Drake and French Montana Wednesday night after Drake's show at The Garden ... and we're sure the album drop just around the bend was on Travis' mind.

Of course, he had a big show for the album that was set to go down in Egypt at the Pyramids of Giza on Friday -- Live Nation said the plug was pulled just a couple of days before, saying, "Complex production issues meant that the show could not be constructed in the desert."