TV Business

CNN made a pretty big blunder during their coverage of Dolly Parton's death ... showing a pic of an impersonator instead of the real deal ... and now the cable news giant is apologizing.

The embarrassing flub went down Tuesday night ... CNN was airing a montage of Dolly photos, and they mistakenly included an image of Las Vegas impersonator Kelly Vohnn.

The photo hit airwaves during "Laura Coates Live" ... about 12 hours after Dolly's family announced the iconic artist's death ... so it wasn't like CNN was rushing to put together a TV package here.

Taylor Sheridan, Paramount, and NBCUniversal are all being sued by a woman who claims she came up with the building blocks for "Yellowstone" ... and she says they stole her idea.

Lauren J. Salkin -- an entertainment journalist and TV writer -- filed the federal lawsuit in California against several parties Friday ... claiming that in 2016 and 2017 she submitted a pilot script and additional materials for a show titled "Sovereign Nation" to Taylor's production company.

She says she knows these materials were reviewed because she received a note from Elevate Entertainment that reads, "Taylor thanks you very much for your interest. Unfortunately, he's unavailable for TV projects."

However, she says within months, Paramount greenlit Sheridan's show "Yellowstone" ... which aired its first episode in June 2018. Salkin says the similarities between her show and Taylor's are too numerous to be a coincidence.

Bill Rasmussen -- the founder of ESPN -- has died at 93 years old from the effects of Parkinson's disease, the network announced Tuesday.

Rasmussen was credited with creating the first 24-hour television network when he launched the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network with his son, Scott, in 1979 ... which would change the medium forever.

Rasmussen was the network's inaugural president and CEO ... and was able to form relationships with sports leagues, investors and cable operators to set the network up for years to come.

Netflix wants Tyra Banks' "America's Next Top Model" documentary defamation lawsuit off the runway for good -- officially asking a judge Friday to toss it.

The filing, obtained by TMZ, basically laughs off the model's claims Netflix defamed her and represented her in a poor light in this year's "Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model" doc, arguing that she agreed to be interviewed and signed a release giving the filmmakers broad editing rights ... and can't just sue because she does not like how she was portrayed.

The filing further argues that when you take away Tyra's claims of "manipulation" and "surgical editing," it's reduced to a "request for more airtime and an edit more to her liking."

Princess Diana's death has been investigated countless times since she died in a 1997 Paris car crash ... but in "Celebrity Crime Scene: Princess Diana," TMZ has recreated the deadly crash through various perspectives -- and the revelations will shock you.

Our crime scene investigators dive into theories that have fueled decades of speculation ... including mysterious vehicles in the tunnel, claims that powerful forces within the monarchy wanted Diana dead, and allegations that international arms dealers viewed her as a dangerous threat who needed to be eliminated.

Viewers will even experience what Diana saw as the Mercedes spiraled toward impact.

Roseanne Barr's son is firing back at Michael Fishman for saying the "Roseanne" revival was "rightfully canceled" ... blasting him and the rest of the cast for selling out the woman who launched their careers.

Here's the deal ... Michael, who played Roseanne's onscreen son D.J. Conner, said in a video posted to his Instagram on Tuesday that ABC was right to cancel the show.

Michael argues Roseanne's infamous 2018 tweet was not a joke and caused real harm.

In response, Roseanne's son, Jake Pentland, tells TMZ ... he agrees real harm was done, but insists his mother was the person who suffered.

That's a wrap for Kirsten Storms on "General Hospital" ... because she's been written off the show amid a turbulent time in her personal life.

Fans learned in Thursday's episode of the soap opera that Kirsten's character, Maxie Jones, will be moving to Australia just months after she came out of a coma.

Kirsten's character being written off follows her announcement last month, when she said she wasn't coming back to the daytime drama amid personal drama with her ex-husband.

Jennifer Aniston is no longer focused on Jennette McCurdy’s television adaptation of her hit memoir, "I'm Glad My Mom Died" ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the show is still being worked on and scripts are being written. However, we're told at some point Jennifer decided to move on to other projects due to scheduling conflicts.

The show has had a rocky development ... last year it almost fell apart.

Ed Harris was super pissed at the way his character was treated on the "Yellowstone" spinoff "Dutton Ranch," so much so that he wanted to leave the show halfway through filming.

The legendary actor unloaded on the Taylor Sheridan show in an interview with Variety at the Monday night premiere of Apple TV’s "The Dink" ... pointing to one scene that made his blood boil.

Ed, who plays veterinarian Everett McKinney, hated the scene where Everett was chatting with Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) at a bar when Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) walked in and told Everett it's his turn to sing.

When Everett walked up to the mic, the director cut the scene and the song out completely. Ed was furious, telling Variety, "I'm going, 'f*** you, people.'"

Andrew Truelove -- the alleged "TODAY" show intruder -- got to live out one of his dreams when he called Craig Melvin the n-word ... at least according to cops, who claim he told folks that was on his bucket list.

NYPD released a narrative based on conversations with a couple of people who say they were there ... and one person told them they saw Truelove walk into the 30 Rock lobby and follow an employee into a restricted area of the building.

Another individual -- also anonymous, though it appears to be Craig -- says they saw a defendant at the bottom of a stairwell ... who yelled out their name and then asked for Al Roker.

Officers say they've been informed Truelove "proceeded to take steps toward Informant 2 and stated in substance, you're a n*****. I am informed by Informant 2 that the defendant's conduct made him fear for his safety."

The upcoming "God Of War" series hit a major snag after the show's star got injured on set ... and now he's being left in the dust due to the long recovery time.

TMZ broke the news ... Ryan Hurst -- who plays Kratos in the crazy popular video game adaptation -- tore his bicep while filming a stunt ... and the injury requires surgery.

The recovery window for such brutal damage is just too far out for Amazon Studios ... and Deadline reports Hurst will be recast so production can get underway sooner.

Jeff Franklin, the creator of "Full House," is trying to get his house full again ... because he is putting his gorgeous Beverly Hills home up on the market once again!

The mega mansion is now listed at $45M ... with a 21,000-square-foot plot which Jeff has been trying to sell for years ... most recently listing it last year for just under $50M.

Why famous celebs haven't been biting ... we had been told previously from real estate sources that every time he puts it on the market, he gets calls from people who want to rent the property instead of buy it.

The FCC is taking aim at Disney again ... this time reportedly going after one of the channel's most famous talk shows -- "The View."

According to Bloomberg, the Federal Communications Commission is planning to rule that the show doesn't count as a "bona fide" news program ... meaning it has to give equal time to candidates on both sides of the aisle.

This would be a sharp departure for "The View," which has benefited from an exception to the rule -- hosting more liberal than conservative political figures. They do interview Republicans occasionally ... recently sitting down with Vice President JD Vance.

The upcoming "God Of War" series hit a major snag after the show's star got injured on set ... and now production is paused.

Sources tell TMZ ... Ryan Hurst -- who plays Kratos in the video game adaptation -- tore his bicep while filming a stunt ... and the injury requires surgery.

According to sources, production was hoping to have him back on set for mid-August, but the recovery process is too long to meet that timeline.

David Lynch's ex-wife Emily Stofle rushed to court pleading for help … claiming the late director's estate won't hand over a home she says is rightfully hers ... TMZ has learned.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Emily says she worked out a divorce settlement with David in December 2024, and she was awarded an L.A. mansion.

Per the docs, David was supposed to sign all the deed paperwork within 30 days of the deal ... but the famed director died on January 16, 2025, at the age of 78, before he could sign over the deed.

Looks like Tom Hardy cut a deal with "MobLand" producers ... TMZ confirmed he's returning to the show for its third season, despite some alleged on-set tension.

With Tom in the fold, the Paramount+ crime series will not be losing anyone from the cast ... with Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan also returning for the next chapter.

Seems a recent meeting in London between Tom and producers Jez Butterworth and David Glasser smoothed things over ... paving the way for the British actor to retain his role.