TV

Simon Cowell is done with face fillers, because he says it turned his mug into a "horror film."

Simon looked ... different at the Kids' Choice Awards 2022 as he sauntered in ... actually, remarkably different -- in a good way.

Simon posed with other judges from "America's Got Talent" ... showing off his new appearance since he has stopped getting Botox treatments.

As for why ... it's the age-old truism -- emphasis on age -- that guys generally look worse when they get shot up with fillers. As Simon put it, he looked "like something out a horror film".

He went even further, confessing his son, Eric, was in hysterics over his filled-in face and that's when he realized enough was enough.

"There was a stage where I might have gone a bit too far. I saw a picture of me from ‘before' the other day, and didn’t recognize it as me first of all" ... he said.

Now, the "American Idol" judge says it's all about having clear skin ... "I probably did have a little too much Botox a couple of years ago, because everyone on TV has it. Now I have facials, but nothing too extravagant at the moment."

Jada Pinkett Smith flew solo Saturday night ... her first public appearance since her husband whacked Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Jade showed up to support her pals, "Grey's Anatomy" creator and EP Shonda Rhimes and Debbie Allen for a gala celebrating the opening of the Rhimes Performing Arts Center in L.A.

Jada mingled with folks in the crowd, including Samuel L. Jackson and his wife LaTanya Richardson Jackson.

Jada and Will Smith have a connection to the venue ... there are several studios inside for the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, and one of them is named in honor of Will and Jada.

Jada has been mum over the slap. As you know, her husband is now banned from all Academy events for the next decade and he's resigned from the Academy.

There's a brand new TMZ show arriving this week ... and this one's putting the spotlight on more than just pop culture, it's THE culture of hip hop!

"TMZ Hip Hop" debuts Monday, and we're gonna bring you some fresh new takes on the hottest stories about the biggest celebs in the genre. From Bey to Ye, and everyone in between, we'll be covering all the hook-ups, parties, drama, collabs, beefs and much more.

We've got a whole new crew pouring the tea -- Amber Diamond, DJ Hed, Cynthia LuCiette, Rodney Rikai and Tonio Skits will break it all down daily.

Nothing and no one is off-limits when we premiere Monday, April 11 on these stations:

New York: 11 PM MY9 (WWOR)
Los Angeles: 2:30 PM FOX11 (KTTV)
Chicago: 12 AM FOX32 (WFLD)
Philly: 12 AM FOX29 (WTXF)
Dallas: 12:30 PM FOX4 (KDFW)
Houston: 12:30 PM FOX26 (KRIV), 10 PM MY20 (KTXH)
Washington, DC: 12 AM FOX5 (WTTG), 6:30 PM FOX5 PLUS (WDCA)
Seattle: 11:30 PM FOX13 (KCPQ)
Phoenix: 11:30 PM FOX10 (KSAZ)
Minneapolis: 11:30 PM FOX9 (KMSP)

If you're not in those cities, we still got you -- the show will also be streaming on FOX Soul, and it all starts this Monday.

Magic Johnson ain't watching HBO's hit series about his time with the Showtime Lakers ... but the actor who plays him is defending the show -- telling TMZ Sports everyone on the project means absolutely no disrespect to the Hall of Famer.

Icons like Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have recently spoken out against "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" ... with Johnson telling us earlier this year he wouldn't be watching, and the latter saying the show is a waste of time to any REAL Laker fan.

We spoke with Quincy Isaiah -- star of "Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" -- out at LAX this week ... and he wants Magic to know that he meant no harm with how he portrays his character in the doc.

"I mean, I understand where they coming from because it's a story about their life," Isaiah said. "So, it's tough. But I really feel like we did a really good job of showing humans and showing a full version of who we at least perceive them to be."

"There's no malice behind it."

FYI, 'Winning Time' chronicles the professional and personal lives of the Lakers in the 1980s -- a dynasty that won 5 championships and went to 9 NBA Finals.

Quincy -- who plays Magic in the series -- says despite some of the pushback he's received from the real Lakers, the purpose of the doc is to take real-life events and turn them into entertaining content.

"At the beginning and end of every episode it says 'this is a dramatization,'" Isaiah said. "We take real facts that happen, and we make it good for TV."

Q tells us he's thankful for the persona Magic created for himself as a star athlete ... 'cause it's opened doors for him in his acting career.

"Magic, man, I love you dude," Isaiah said. "You literally lived an incredible life so that I could ... I'm getting into an Escalade because he lived an incredible life. I have nothing but love and respect for that man," Isaiah said.

Isaiah believes if he ran into Johnson one day, there would be no bad blood because Magic understands he's just acting, and there's no ill-will.

Although Johnson's not watching Quincy, Isaiah says he's looking forward to the Laker legend releasing his doc "They Call Me Magic," which premieres on April 22 ... and he encourages everybody to watch both.

Finally, we asked Q about this year's disappointing Lakers team, and he said what NBA fans had known all season.

Pete Davidson has a lot in the works these days, but his future is set to include reality show appearances as well ... including his GF's brand-spankin' new show.

Cameras were rolling for "The Kardashians" Hulu show Thursday night in Hollywood when Kim, Pete, Khloe, Kourtney, Kylie, Kris and more hit Goya Studios for the season 1 premiere. Kim and Pete arrived together ... and their entrance was captured by the show's cams.

What's more, cameras were rolling when Kim and Pete interacted through the night -- including when they got in the car together and left for dinner at Jon & Vinny's.

A Hulu source tells us season 1 has already wrapped and it's in the hands of the streaming giant ... so fans hoping to get a glimpse of Pete on the show will have to wait for season 2.

We do know one thing ... Kim will discuss her relationship with Pete in season 1 -- but he won't get any face time.

Bill Maher is angry -- really, really angry -- because people seem to care more these days about hurting someone's sensibilities way more than free speech, so he has developed a lecture to drive home his point -- Explaining Jokes to Idiots!

The "Real Time" host used a blackboard and a pointer to demonstrate how free speech is not just on the chopping block -- it's already been chopped, as evidenced by the reaction and debate over Chris Rock's joke that triggered the slap.

Bill has made his position clear ... the joke at its core was about Jada Pinkett Smith looking like another beautiful woman -- Demi Moore, and NOT about alopecia. As BM put it, "It wasn't an alopecia joke any more than the chicken crossing the road is about bird flu."

He points out Will Smith's initial, genuine reaction to the joke -- laughter, but then he realized he had to "conform" to what someone else was feeling, and he did a 180 to blind rage.

Now the broader point ... "Comedians have been under attack for some time. So I must defend my tribe. This war on jokes must end."

As Bill explained to the humor-challenged community -- which is ever larger -- many jokes -- arguably the funniest -- have an offensive element. We used to laugh at that, but now the comedians who dare to tell these jokes are derailed and canceled.

He points to a Vice study that certain colleges now screen prospective comedians they might bring on campus to make sure they aren't telling offensive jokes. As Bill put it, colleges used to be a place to lose your virginity. Now it's a place to lose your sense of humor.

Bill is making a bigger point ... the walls are closing in on free speech, the essence of which requires you to allow people to make comments that you find offensive or even abhorrent.

Hayden Panettiere's boyfriend Brian Hickerson could be in big trouble over video of them getting into a huge brawl at a famous Sunset Strip hotel ... because his probation officer says it's a clear violation of his probation.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Brian's PO says the fight at the Sunset Marquis in WeHo started when Hayden's BF confronted another bar patron for not leaving a large enough tip, resulting in a fight that spilled out into the street.

Brian's probation officer references the video TMZ first posted last month ... which shows Brian throwing down with a large group of people. The PO notes Brian is clearly seen and heard asking for a round two of the fight.

What's more, Brian's PO points out the portion of the video where Hayden is heard yelling, "Brian, jail!"

Remember, Brian's on probation until 2025 as a result of his domestic violence conviction back in April 2021.

In the docs, Brian's probation officer says he violated to conditions of his probation by failing to refrain from using force or violence against any person.

The PO is asking the court to find Brian in violation of probation and order him to complete 26 weeks of anger management and 26 weeks of Alcoholics Anonymous.

HBO's "Winning Time" hit the nail on the head (literally) when addressing Spencer Haywood's infamous self-circumcision ... 'cause the Hall of Famer tells TMZ Sports everything is 100% true!!

In case you haven't tuned in to last week's episode of the hit series about the Showtime Lakers, Haywood's teammates gossip about how he was known for, uh, taking matters into his own hands and putting a razor to his junk when he was a kid.

While some folks featured have criticized the validity of events on the show, we spoke with Haywood about Wood Harris' portrayal of his character ... and he says straight-up -- "It's the truth."

The 4-time All-Star says he has no issue with the show doing a deep dive into his life ... saying, "I'm fine with it because I'm fine with Wood Harris playing me in this role and he's a good person and a great actor."

"I'm okay with it and I did some bad s***."

Haywood -- who famously fought to allow players to jump straight to the NBA -- says he's come to terms with all he's done in the past ... he's 34 years sober and has a loving family and a podcast (rightfully titled The Spencer Haywood Rule).

The ex-hooper says he knows his life adventures make for great TV ... including the circumcision.

"Yeah, but let me explain it to you," Haywood says. "In this small town in Silver City in Mississippi, it ain't no silver and it ain't no city. It's population of like 370 people and you had no doctors, you had no anything, so my mother was doing it in a biblical standpoint that you gotta be circumcised."

Haywood says he had help from his brothers during the procedure ... and has a perfectly logical explanation for taking care of business himself.

"We did it to the hogs so why not do it to the humans? It's country!! It's country-folk!!"

While Haywood prides himself in the job he did, he admits he later went to a doctor to get it "cleaned up."

Betty White's beachfront treasure is going to make someone new very happy -- her estate has a buyer for the Carmel, CA home.

The house is a gorgeous 3,621 square feet on Cali's scenic Monterey peninsula, and it features 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms with views of the local beaches from almost every room.

Betty and her husband Allen Ludden bought the plot of land back in 1978 for $170K, and completed construction on the home in 1981 -- sadly, just a few days before Allen died from stomach cancer. Betty reportedly wanted to live her final days at this home, but instead had to live in L.A. where at-home care was more accessible.

A blooming garden in the backyard overlooks the ocean, and a wide terrace gives homeowners the perfect view at any point in the day. The listing for the home was pretty on the mark with the phrase, "Here, paradise is yours."

The surrounding area features an assortment of walking trails, and steps out the back gate lead directly to the sand.

The estate accepted an offer this week, but the sale is still pending. Nicole Truszkowski and Zak Freedman of Sotheby’s International Realty held the listing.

Jussie Smollett might’ve gone straight from his jail cell to the studio ... because he just dropped a new song where he directly addresses his court case.

The former “Empire” star released a single Friday dubbed, “Thank You God,” and some of the lyrics are very interesting, considering his recent circumstances.

Jussie sings ... “Some people chasing that clout / Just remember this ... this ain’t that situation / You think I’m stupid enough to kill my reputation?”

The song comes on the heels of Jussie’s jail release pending his appeal. He’s been out for about 3 weeks, and seemingly put the song together in that time.

Jussie also sings ... “It’s like they’re hell-bent on not solving the crime / Taking out the elements of race and trans and homophobia that’s straight taking lives / But turn around and act like I’m the one that killed the strides.”

He dedicates the song to “the people who kept it real, who kept it true” ... and he says he’s donating all profits from the track to the Rainbow Push Coalition, Secure the Bag Safety and the Illinois Innocence Project.

As you know ... a jury found Jussie guilty of 5 of the 6 felony counts against him for lying to Chicago police about being the victim of a racist, homophobic attack ... and a judge sentenced him to 5 months behind bars.

But, Jussie was released from jail March 16 while he tries to get his sentence for the hoax attack overturned.

Will Smith finally got his punishment for slapping Chris Rock at The Oscars -- the Academy of Motion Pictures has made him persona non grata for a decade for that slap.

The Academy's Board of Governors met Friday and after the vote, the Academy President and CEO said, "The Board [of Governors] has decided, for a period of 10 years, from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards."

He continues with an Academy mea culpa  ... "During our telecast, we did not adequately address the situation in the room. For this we are sorry. This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, viewers, and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short -- unprepared for the unprecedented."

The Prez went on to thank Chris Rock ... "We want to express our deep gratitude to Mr. Rock for maintaining his composure under extraordinary circumstances."

A statement allegedly from Smith after the announcement read, "I accept and respect the Academy's decision."

TMZ broke the story ... our sources told us the Academy lied about asking Will to leave the Dolby Theater after the slap. Turns out it was the exact opposite ... as the show's producer Will Packer told Will he could stay.

The Academy was slammed for getting caught in a lie, so this disciplinary hearing also served as its best way to make good for an, at best, fumbled response.

Will had also been dealing with the fallout -- a bunch of his projects are now on ice and he already resigned from the Academy.

Former "Grey's Anatomy" star Jesse Williams is getting his monthly child support payments drastically reduced after his income plunged following his exit from the show ... according to new legal documents.

The docs, obtained by TMZ, say Jesse's original payments of $40,000 a month have been "temporarily modified" to $6,413 ... following last month's request from the actor.

As you'll recall, he asked for his monthly payments to be reduced since his switch from TV to Broadway profoundly affected his bottom line ... telling the court he was currently earning $1,668 per week on Broadway with the production "Take Me Out."

As we reported, Jesse and ex-wife Aryn Drake-Lee reached a child custody agreement at the end of February ... the judge denied her request to reduce his physical time with the kids.

This has been one of the bitterest divorces in Hollywood.

Jamal Crawford missed some key shots over his amazing NBA career -- but none was more expensive than the one he bricked on the set of "Inside the NBA" on Thursday night ...

While shooting around on the show with Hall of Famers Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade ... the three-time Sixth Man of the Year accidentally broke a camera when his ball ricocheted off the rim and crashed into a pricey piece of equipment.

In video from the broadcast, you can see Crawford's ball hit the camera's lens head-on -- causing the glass to shatter everywhere.

D-Wade couldn't believe what he saw at the time of the accident ... and Shaq immediately pointed toward Crawford to tell on who was responsible for the damage.

Wade, though, joked Shaq shouldn't have done that -- yelling, "Snitches get stitches!"

The family of "The Walking Dead" star Moses J. Moseley has created the perfect way to honor the actor's legacy by starting a scholarship in his name.

Moses' sister, Teera Kimbro, tells TMZ … the MJM3 Fitness Scholarship came to be after she read the actor's journal after his passing. He had 5 goals written down for the year -- buy a condo, create a cartoon series, go to Germany for his birthday, start a fitness t-shirt brand, and create a scholarship.

She tells us Moses did a survey in college, trying to determine if student debt was a source of depression among college kids ... giving him the idea to create a scholarship and help with students' mental health.

After learning about his goal, Teera knew the idea had to live on, which is when the MJM3 fund was created -- the "3" comes from him being the 3rd child in the family.

The scholarship through Bold.org will provide 3 qualifying high school seniors or undergrads with $1,000 each to go towards their tuition. His family knows Moses would be proud that his legacy is making a difference in the world.

A huge collection of Betty White's personal items are going up for auction, with pieces spanning over her 8-decade career.

The items are going on the block in September, courtesy of Julien's Auctions in Bev Hills, and the treasure trove includes signed scripts, wedding bands and her popular outfits.

The collection will be displayed in various countries around the world before ending up at Julien's ... countries like Chile and Ireland. The collection will also make its way aboard the Queen Mary 2's Transatlantic Voyage.

The auction house says, "We are honored to work with her Estate in this exclusive presentation of these precious artifacts and personal mementos from her storied life and career which will be offered for the first time at auction to the public, museum curators and her legions of fans worldwide."

After 9 seasons on the air, "Shahs of Sunset" has gotten the ax ... but all might not be lost for some of the cast members who still could have some sort of future with the network.

Production sources tell TMZ the Bravo show simply ran its course after first airing in March 2012 ... and a decision has been made to end it.

There's some promising news amid the cancelation, however ... our sources say some of Shah's OG's -- Reza Farahan, Mercedes "MJ" Javid and Golnesa "GG" Gharachedaghi -- are all in early talks for potential future projects with the network.

If you didn't know ... "Shahs of Sunset" followed a group of Persian-Americans as they navigated their social lives and careers in Los Angeles -- all while trying to meet the demands of their families and their Shah traditions.

The series premiered with controversy ... concern grew within the Iranian-American community that the show would promote a very stereotypical message to the world.