TV Business

Rip Wheeler's got beef with the boss ... and this Dutton Ranch feud has apparently come damn close to getting physical.

Cole Hauser and Taylor Sheridan have reportedly been butting heads behind the scenes for years, with the Daily Mail reporting one clash during "Yellowstone" nearly turned into a fistfight.

That wouldn't exactly be a first ... Hauser previously revealed he and Sheridan actually fought the second time they ever met ... before eventually becoming friends.

Leah Remini has begun filming "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" but producers have yet to hear a word from The Church of Scientology ... this according to sources connected to the series.

We're told  producers have not heard from the Church of Scientology since Leah joined the Season 16 cast as a full-time Housewife.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us they believe Church's silence is more than likely tied to Leah's ongoing battle with Scientology ... with some speculating it may be holding off on feeding her allegations of the church harassed her in the past.

Alex Cooper just got some bad news from Hulu ... her reality dating show "Love Overboard" has been tossed overboard after just one season.

TMZ has confirmed Disney has pulled the plug on the series, which premiered on Hulu in March. Page Six was first to report the cancellation, citing low viewership.

The nine-episode show -- hosted by "Bachelorette" alum Gabby Windey and executive produced by Alex -- put 22 singles aboard a luxury yacht, where they competed for romance and the high life.

Kenan Thompson is taking over Simon Cowell's seat on "America’s Got Talent" ... stepping in as a guest judge for Tuesday night's Quarterfinals 3 episode.

The show announced Friday the "Saturday Night Live" star will substitute for Simon Tuesday while the music mogul continues recovering from a routine back procedure.

As we reported ... Simon is expected to miss a couple of weeks of the NBC competition show after undergoing surgery. We’re told it’s a routine procedure and not a new major health crisis.

Ben Affleck and Aflac might have something brewing ... at least that's the theory behind a string of mysterious ads popping up across Los Angeles that make it look like there's a collab.

The bright blue Aflac postings feature "BEN AFFLECK" in black spray paint-style lettering across the company's logo ... and the same graffiti-style design has appeared at several locations, making it seem more like a marketing stunt than random vandalism.

Fans have spotted the ads near Jefferson and Centinela, Robertson and 3rd, La Cienega and Jefferson, Sunset and Argyle, and Melrose and Mansfield ... busy intersections that attract a lot of eyeballs.

President Trump's former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will NOT be joining "The View" with Whoopi and Joy Behar, despite reports to the contrary ... TMZ has learned. 

Production sources tell TMZ ... there is no truth to Karoline being eyed for a permanent role. We're told the show has never had any discussion about her coming on full-time and only extended an offer to be a guest on an episode. 

Our sources tell us the producers love the current cast and are not looking to add anybody at the moment. 

The rumors started after a report came out Thursday claiming Karoline was joining the cast as a co-host.

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."