TV

Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard is a tragic story about the crumbling of a marriage and horrendous allegations ... but there's another layer to this trial that 'SNL' dared to say out loud ... it's fun to watch and ridiculously entertaining.

As the anchor who threw to the courtroom said, there are all sorts of problems in the world ... Ukraine, supply shortages, but ... "I know it’s not the most pertinent story ... but with all the problems in the world, isn’t nice to have a news story we can all collectively watch and say: 'Ooh. Glad it ain’t me'?"

Kyle Mooney played an excellent Johnny, and his lawyer zeroed in on one of the more lurid parts of the case ... allegations that Amber or one of her friends crapped on Johnny's side of the bed out of revenge.

There were objections by Amber's counsel, but they were overruled because the judge delivered the following ruling ... "It does sound fun, and this trial is for fun.”

There's a hilarious video that was played in the courtroom, where the property manager -- Kenan Thompson -- discovers the poop. The housekeeper joins in the room and there's a discussion of who cleans up the dookie.

It's hilarious for sure, but the poop in the bed is actually relevant to the case. As we reported, Amber was allegedly enraged when Johnny was late for her birthday party, showed up for a few minutes and then left. Johnny says he got a call from the housekeeper the next day saying she found poop on his side of the bed that was covered up by sheets.

"Friends" actor, Mike Hagerty, died after having a strong, adverse reaction to an antibiotic in the hospital, which caused him to lapse into a coma ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Mike tell TMZ ... he got an infection back in April in one of his legs. He ended up recovering, but still wasn't feeling 100%.

We're told he was about to start filming the 2nd season of "Somebody Somewhere" but his energy level was still really low ... so his doctor sent him to the hospital to get checked out.

Sadly, things took a turn for the worse. He was given an antibiotic and he had a terrible reaction  ... causing him to have a seizure and go into a coma.

As we reported, Mike passed away last week in the hospital. It wasn't COVID-related ... Mike had tested negative. Mike's "Somebody Somewhere" co-star Bridget Everett announced the news of his death.

Mike is most well known for his recurring role on "Friends" ... as well as his character in HBO's "Somebody Somewhere." He appeared in lots of other shows ... including "Boston Legal," "Cheers," "Glee," "CSI," "Seinfeld" and so much more.

Bill Maher had one of his best guests EVER on "Real Time" Friday night ... Rod Stewart, and the timing of the sit-down is crazy.

Rod kicked off his world tour Friday night, performing at Caesars Palace in Vegas, but there he was on Bill's L.A. set just hours before his performance.

Rod is one of the coolest cats in the music biz, and that was on full display with BM. He talked about not ever wanting to be late for his concerts ... unusual for rock stars.

He also said he and the Queen have something in common, and gotta say, he's not wrong.

A couple of surprising things ... did you know Rod wrote "Maggie May," "Tonight's The Night," "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" "Hot Legs," and "You Wear It Well."

Also, his Vegas concert runs for 1 and a half hours, and Rod normally goes over 2 hours but that's Caesar's rule. And, Bill mentioned something that was shocking ... when The Beatles performed, it lasted only 25 minutes.

Fred Ward, who starred in "Tremors" alongside Kevin Bacon has died at the age of 79.

A rep for Ward tells TMZ he died on May 8, while a cause of death is currently unclear, his rep says the actor's last wish was for any memorial tributes to be made to the Boston University's Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center.

"Tremors" was certainly Ward's most recognized role, but he won a Golden Globe as a part of the cast of "The Right Stuff." Throughout his career, Ward also had roles in "True Detective," "Grey's Anatomy," "ER," "Miami Blues," "The Player" and "Short Cuts."

While "Tremors" premiered back in 1990 ... Ward continued his Hollywood career up until 2018, his rep says he spent the last few years of his life painting.

Ward leaves behind his wife of 27 years, Marie-France Ward and his son, Django.

RIP

50 Cent's infamous Instagram trolling is a fully calculated strategy ... so says 'Power Book 2: Ghost' star Gianni Paolo, who broke down the boss man's online tactics on the latest episode of TMZ's 'Verified' Podcast.

Gianni has the ultimate follow-your-dreams story ... which includes ditching a potential professional hockey career to take his shot at making it as an actor.

Smart move that landed him into 50's expansive 'Power' universe (which may or may not live on Starz in the near future).

When asked about 50's IG trolling (which tends to toe every line imaginable), Gianni says he can usually see the promotional storm coming as soon as Fiddy's social media antics begin.

Call it "convenient trolling," if you will, but between 4 'Power' series and the critically acclaimed 'B.M.F.' (which will now feature Mo'Nique) -- 50 knows how to generate an audience.

Gianni admits working on 'Ghost' dominates most of his day and also spilled on earning Mary J. Blige's respect ... and a mortifying first and second meeting with Method Man.

"The Masked Singer" is making history even before the big season finale ... with the cast and crew pulling off a nearly 24-hour day of production.

Our 'MS' sources say the final day of filming broke the show's record for the longest production day ... starting with a 6 AM call time, and wrapping up around 2:30 AM!

We're told, the crew pulled out all the OT stops to go out with a bang this season -- like adding all the lighting, extra stage prep and pyrotechnics into an already packed schedule.

The marathon production is gearing up for the last round of competition where 3 final costumed celebs -- Prince, Firefly and Ringmaster -- will square off for the ultimate title. And, we've learned, the competition is more fierce than ever.

On top of already having a time-consuming day, we're told the mystery performers wanted extended rehearsal time with vocal coaches and choreography teams ... ahead of the final, winner-take-all round.

Of course, ya also gotta add in some production bumps along the way. We're told the crew had to add some last-minute safety precautions to the costumes.

Selma Blair has struggled her whole life, with pain, alcoholism and now fighting through a battle with MS ... all topics covered in her new memoir.

Blair sat down with Savannah Guthrie Wednesday for an extremely candid interview with "Today." The actor's memoir, 'Mean Baby' talks about her entire life, Blair told Guthrie, "My first [time] drunk [was] when I was 7. I had my first drinks much younger."

Blair says even though she was young, she felt alcohol was a comfort ... and wonders if the physical pains she would feel throughout her life were early signs of MS.

According to "Today," Blair writes in her memoir, "Doctors thought I had leukemia. I didn't, but it was a constant high fever. … The ailments as a kid connected. I do know for sure I had it by the age of 23. It was definitely there for so long.”

The good news ... Blair tells Savannah she hasn't had a drink since a scary incident in 2016 when she lost consciousness on a plane with her 4-year-old son. She's also undergone chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant in an effort to help manage her MS.

'Percy Jackson' author Rick Riordan is slamming folks who are outraged that a Black actress is playing a character described in the books as white ... calling the backlash racist.

Leah Jeffries was recently cast for the role of Annabeth Chase in the upcoming Disney+ series "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" ... with some fans expressing outrage online because Leah doesn't look the way Rick originally described.

Rick fired back Tuesday in a lengthy blog post directed at those who have a problem with the casting choice ... saying it's a shame he even has to address the issue, because he says the overwhelming response has been positive.

RR says anyone who has an issue with Leah's casting should take it up with him ... and he says negative comments being directed at her online are out of line and need to stop ASAP.

In the movie adaptions of Rick's book, Annabeth is played by white actress Alexandra Daddario.

From the outset of casting for the Disney+ series, Rick says he made it clear he was looking for the best actors to bring to life the personalities of his OG book characters, and physical appearance was secondary.

After a yearlong process, Rick says Leah proved to embody Annabeth Chase ... and he says people are just being racist when they express disappointment, anger and frustration that Leah doesn't look the way they imagined Annabeth.

Rick says the focus on Leah's skin color overlooks her acting chops ... and he says people are judging her based on race without even seeing her play the part.

James Cromwell has had enough of Starbucks upcharge for vegan milks ... protesting the move by supergluing his hand to a counter as part of a planned PETA demonstration.

The actor joined a group of PETA protesters Tuesday morning at a Starbucks in Manhattan, where they made a fuss about Starbucks making folks pay more to avoid dairy milk from cows.

James, wearing a shirt reading "Free the Animals," railed against the cons of traditional milk as he was superglued to the counter ... shouting at baristas, who seemed unbothered and kept serving cups of joe.

PETA and James' beef believe Starbucks is discriminating against folks who can't have dairy, punishing them by making them pay more for vegan alternatives like almond milk and oat milk, which are more environmentally conscious.

James says it's a matter of life-and-death in the context of what he sees as a climate catastrophe.

The superglue move is similar to what we saw last month during an NBA game in Minnesota ... when a protester glued her hand to the court to protest Timberwolves owner, Glen Taylor, and his factory egg farm.

Cops showed up to the Starbucks, but James freed his hand from the counter with a knife so he would not get busted.

Jadakiss isn't down in the dumps over the cancelation of his first major acting gig ... because he says it's opened the door to more roles in the near future.

We caught the 'King of Verzuz' outside the MLB store in NYC, just a few days after ABC pulled the plug on "Queens" -- a hip hop series starring Eve, Brandy and Naturi Naughton -- after just one season.

Jada appeared in several episodes, but as he tells TMZ Hip Hop, get ready to see him in several other projects, and hear him doing voiceover work too.

While Hollywood's calling, he's still keeping up on the latest and greatest in rap ... and took time to praise Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free's new visual masterpiece, "The Heart Part 5"

Although K. Dot hasn't released a solo project in over 5 years, Jada says it doesn't matter because music is a feeling and should be expressed when the timing feels right.

That expression comes for Kendrick this Friday the 13th when his album "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" is unleashed unto the world.

Blac Chyna might be down, but she's not out -- at least according to her mom, who says the mother-daughter duo is teaming up yet again ... and going full David Letterman.

We spoke to Tokyo Toni in the aftermath of Chyna losing her court case against the Kardashians -- a brutal defeat that's surely going to be costly for her -- and our photog asked the obvious ... is there any chance BC will be on TV again???

The answer, per Toni, is ... absolutely! In fact, she dropped kind of a big nugget on us -- saying the two of them are actually getting right back to work for a new show that's quite different from what they've done before, which were more reality-based programs.

Unlike those other ventures -- including "The Real Blac Chyna" and "Tokyo Toni's Finding Love ASAP!" -- TT tells us here that the upcoming series is a talk show ... where both mom and daughter sit down with guests and get the tea.

As you see, Toni's stoked about it ... and even invites us, TMZ, onto the show for a sit-down -- to which we say, why the heck not?!? Even more interesting is that Toni says this is going to be carried on her very own network -- dubbed SHN.

Assuming this comes to fruition the way Toni describes it, Chyna's nonchalant attitude from the other day makes a bit more sense ... apparently, she's got some things in the pipeline, and has reason to be happy -- even after her across-the-board defeat before a jury.

Margaret Atwood -- who penned 'The Handmaid's Tale,' inspiring the TV show -- just let everyone know how she feels about banning abortion ... calling it literal enslavement.

The renowned author and poet wrote a brief but powerful op-ed in The Guardian this weekend -- and it's all about the prospect of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, which was made public last week after a draft opinion leaked to the press.

Her title says it all ... "Enforced childbirth is slavery" -- and she lays out her argument pretty well in the following graphs, likening the would-be decision to what she outlines in her cautionary tale of a novel ... where women who are fertile become prisoners of the state.

Here's just a snippet of Atwood's words ... "Women who cannot make their own decisions about whether or not to have babies are enslaved because the state claims ownership of their bodies and the right to dictate the use to which their bodies must be put."

She goes on to compare the slavery she speaks of to conscription for men -- but notes that even there, guys have a better deal ... as they're afforded free resources for the "service."

MA then asks this ... "If the state is mandating enforced childbirth, why should it not pay for prenatal care, for the birth itself, for postnatal care, and -- for babies who are not sold off to richer families – for the cost of bringing up the child?" Essentially, pay women for having babies, especially if you're going to give them no other option but to do exactly that.

Margaret answers her own question, writing ... "Instead, it just wants to reinforce the usual cheap trick: force women to have babies, and then make them pay. And pay. And pay. As I said, slavery." She goes on to say that having a baby is a gift -- but ceases to be a gift if it's not freely given or received ... which is what would happen by default if abortion is banned.

Amy Schumer is opening her comedy vault -- she just laid out another joke that Oscars honchos apparently said no to ... and this one's on video.

The comedian revealed her latest axed bit during a set for the 'Netflix Is a Joke' festival going on right now -- and at one point in her performance, she laid out what exactly it was that showrunners weren't really feeling from AS's pitched material.

Watch ... it's a gag that incorporates a bunch of the nominated films to make a sex joke about her husband. You can watch it for yourself -- we'll just say, it ends in pregnancy.

Whether it was funny or not ... well, that sorta depends on who you're asking, it seems. The joke seemed to land well for the live audience that received it -- they were laughing it up when she delivered it -- but if you go peep how folks online are taking it ... it ain't good.

This harkens back to last month when Amy revealed yet another joke she claims was scrapped ... which was about Alec Baldwin, something most folks didn't see much humor in.

The Baldwin joke wasn't caught on tape -- she talked about it during a stand-up show of hers in Vegas, where people's phones were locked away ... but it was reported on nonetheless. Whether any of these jokes were actually on the table is also anyone's guess.

She could just be making these up now/working them into her current set ... who knows. Either way, what did end up making it into her monologue that night worked extremely well. You'll recall ... she roasted everybody under the sun and got a great response at the time.

'SNL' did a really smart cold open Saturday night ... challenging what appears to be the Supreme Court's notion that tradition should stand in the way of change.

It was pretty brilliant ... the host Benedict Cumberbatch, along with Andrew Dismukes, Alex Moffat, Kate McKinnon, Chris Redd and Cecily Strong played characters back in 1235, when the laws were incredibly draconian. The point -- these ideas have no place a thousand years later.

There's a hilarious moment when Cumberbatch says, "It’s just while I was cleaning the hole on the side of the castle where we poop and then it falls through the sky into a hole of human feces, I started to think about abortion. Don’t you think we ought to make a law against that?"

The reply ... "You mean like to know we have against pointy shoes?"

At one point someone asks, "Shouldn't we at least make exceptions in cases of rape or incest? Moffat jumps on that ... "But those are the only kinds of sex."

Then there's a turn where somehow mask-wearing becomes relevant, and even Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard becomes grist for the group.

Jenson Button, 2009 Formula 1 champion, tells TMZ Sports the popular Netflix show 'Drive to Survive' may not be super popular with all the drivers, but it's a helluva tool to bring American fans into F1.

Not familiar with the racing star? Button won the prestigious title driving for Brawn GP in '09. Jenson had an awesome season ... winning 6 of the first 7 Grand Prix's. Jenson ultimately finished 11 points ahead of 4x champ Sebastian Vettel.

During Jenson's time, there was no Netflix series ... but since the show's inception, Button says viewers have gotten to know drivers better -- and that's mostly a good thing.

"I think it's a great gateway to the sport. But, if the sport wasn't great, it wouldn't work, right?" Button says.

"The good thing is we all love behind the scenes, don't we? We love trying to understand the personalities involved in something. And, you don't get that from racing I guess if you just watch the sport initially cause everybody's got crash helmets on. So, at least you're understanding the personalities that are in those cars, and then you're going, 'Oh, the racing is pretty awesome as well.'"

Jenson added ... "I think it's good."

If there's a downfall ... it's that the show is, well, a TV show, and drama can sometimes be ratcheted up for entertainment value.

"For me, as a purist, and a racing driver for years, there are certain things where I'm like, 'That's not kinda how it happens,' but it's entertainment, and if it's bringing in a bigger audience into the sport, then that's fantastic, and they can really get to the nitty-gritty, what is the sport about."

'DTS' debuted in 2019, and it seems it has already had a positive effect on the fanbase. FIA (the group in charge of Formula 1) added the Miami Grand Prix to this year's slate of races, in addition to the Austin Grand Prix.

And, next year, they'll race in Las Vegas ... in a highly anticipated Grand Prix.

Bottom line ... fan interest is clearly surging in the U.S.

There's more ... we also talked to Button about his return to racing. This time, not in Formula 1, but in Travis Pastrana's Nitro Rallycross -- essentially the polar opposite of open-wheel F1 cars.

Jenson's still involved in Formula 1. He's a brand ambassador for Williams Racing ... the team he made his F1 debut in 2000.

BTW, haven't heard of Brawn GP, Button's team when he won the championship? BGP was (partially) bought by Mercedes after the 2009 season ... and in 2010, the team raced under the MB name.

Fred Savage's alleged on-set behavior appears to have caught up with him -- the guy was just fired from the reboot of his old TV show ... stemming from how he conducted himself.

The one-time child star and former star of the original sitcom was terminated by ABC Friday ... meaning he won't be able to direct or executive produce the revived series, which is exactly what he was doing before getting booted.

A rep for 20th Television (now under the Disney umbrella) says ... "Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched. Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of 'The Wonder Years.'"

Unclear when this investigation started or what the details of the grievances entail -- everyone's learning about this all in one fell swoop, as the allegations themselves had gone unreported until now -- but THR does say there were 3 separate complaints.

The news is fairly shocking, but perhaps not all that surprising ... Savage was at the center of another on-set investigation a few years back during his new show "The Grinder," when he was accused of treating female crew members like crap ... for which he was sued.