TV

Suge Knight says his upcoming TV series will portray his version of the truth about how some of Death Row's biggest records were made ... allegedly without Dr. Dre's involvement.

Suge tells TMZ Hip Hop ... Daz Dillinger's latest interview -- where he claimed he got $2.5 mil out of Suge -- is just Daz "running his mouth." However, he has his own story to tell about Daz, alleging Dre convinced Tha Dogg Pound producer to sign over rights to Snoop Dogg's classic "Doggystyle" album.

As everyone knows, Dre is credited with producing that iconic project, but Suge claims it was really Daz who ghost-produced it.

Speaking from a CA state penitentiary, Suge told us the record distributor wanted Dre's name on Snoop's debut album for visibility purposes. That record came after Dre's legendary "The Chronic," so having him produce would be a huge boost for "Doggystyle."

Suge claims he advised Daz to reject Dre's proposed buyout ... but Daz went through with it anyway. We reached out to Daz for his side, but haven't heard back.

Suge says his version of the "Doggystyle" backstory is what viewers will see in the upcoming BLK Prime TV series chronicling his life. He also assured Daz his DGPC twin Kurupt will get some shine for being a ferocious MC in the violent Death Row era.

Suge, who's doing 28 years for voluntary manslaughter, takes umbrage with how another blockbuster record in Dre's catalog, "California Love," was depicted in 2015's "Straight Outta Compton."

The Oscar-winning film shows Dre and Tupac Shakur organically creating the 1996 hit collab in-studio, but Suge alleges he actually orchestrated the song's creation ... because Pac and Dre were beefing at the time.

He credits DJ Quik for thinking up the song's iconic chorus when at the infamous 1995 Source Awards in NYC, and he later recruited the late Roger Troutman to sing the phrase on his voicebox.

Suge cosigned on veteran rapper J-Flexx's claims he penned Dre's verses for the classic tracks "Keep Their Heads Ringin'," "Natural Born Killaz" and, of course, "California Love."

Jerry Springer and his family chose to keep his cancer battle hidden from the public so his health struggle wouldn't become a burden to many of those who cared so deeply about him ... TMZ has learned.

Jene Galvin, a rep for the Springer family, tells us Jerry was sick for months, running through a series of tests, but only recently found out just how dire his pancreatic cancer diagnosis actually was.

Galvin says Jerry's always been a fairly private person, but he and his family thought it was especially important to keep his cancer private, as they didn't want to worry other people. Instead, Jerry's family shifted their entire focus to aiding with his care, which became extremely time-consuming.

We're told Jerry knew his time was limited -- given the severity and type of cancer -- so he made a point to spend as much time with his loved ones as possible.

Jene says there was only a small circle of people outside of family -- including Jene and Jerry's friend Louis Beck -- who knew about the cancer.

As we first told you, Jerry's longtime friend and partner on TV, Steve Wilkos, told us he and Jerry shared a cigar and some memories about a month ago. Steve says he had no idea Jerry was sick, but looking back on the moment -- he believes it was Jerry's way of saying goodbye.

While Jene tells us Jerry had not designated a specific organization he wanted fans to donate to after his death, he believes a place like The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is doing good work toward finding a cure.

Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News, and now another conservative news outlet, Newsmax, wants him to be more than just the face of the network, and it's putting on a full-court press to land him.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the news channel is doing everything it can to sweeten the deal for Tucker to come on board -- including floating the idea of letting him program the whole channel, not just his own show.

That would be a pretty enticing deal point ... in addition to having his own primetime show, Tucker would have a say over what shows lead into and out of his show, which can be key in achieving bigger TV ratings.

While our sources stress Newsmax hasn't formally offered Tucker a job -- he can't have formal discussions due to his current Fox News contract -- we're told the network execs have made it clear to people around him, they would basically give him a big say in rebranding their channel.

Newsmax has some competition for Tucker ... as we first reported, NewsNation is showing early interest as well.

Our sources acknowledge it's too early to know for sure where Tucker will pop up next, and it might not even be at a TV network ... but we're told whatever he does, it's going to be big, disruptive, and will create a seismic shift in the conservative media landscape.

James Corden's run on the 'Late Late Show' has officially come to an end, after a week of special moments and tributes to the show's 8-year run on CBS.

An emotional Corden teared up Thursday night as he signed off for the final time from behind a piano, a fitting end as music was such an integral part of his show for so many years -- from "Carpool Karaoke" to surprise musical guests.

Speaking of surprise guests -- President Biden made an appearance on the show with a special message to the host congratulating him on an incredible run.

Will Ferrell was there too, providing some hilarious comedic relief when he took a sledgehammer to Corden's desk ... smashing it to pieces as James and Harry Styles looked on from only feet away.

Ferrell and Styles also played the show's last round of the popular segment "Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts" -- with foods like bull penis and salmon, clam juice and wasabi.

As for Styles, One Direction fans were likely glad to hear him talk a bit about his former boy band during the segment. When asked about a possible reunion, Styles told the host, "I think I would never say never to that. If there was a time when we wanted to do it, I don’t see why we wouldn’t.”

First released earlier this week, James also played his final "Carpool Karaoke" segment with Adele.

While it may be the end of an era for Corden and late-night TV, there's plenty of buzz he'll be just fine moving forward.

Before this cool kid rockin' a "Mork & Mindy" tee was drumming beats and touring all over the world, he was grabbing his drumsticks at just 4 years old, sticking his tongue out for the camera, and growing up in Fontana, California.

Before he joined one of the most iconic bands of all time, he was a trashman in Laguna Beach, CA. This talented musician has produced tunes for some of Hollywood's hottest stars such as Avril Lavigne and Machine Gun Kelly.

Need one more hint? He's got tats for days!

Steve Wilkos is opening up about his final time seeing Jerry Springer -- a night they both got very emotional -- but he says his dear friend never let on that he was battling cancer.

Steve, who spent 10 seasons working on "The Jerry Springer Show" from '94 to '07, joined "TMZ Live" Thursday ... after news broke his longtime boss and close pal passed away.

He says he and Jerry just hung out about a month ago, and while Jerry didn't mention his pancreatic cancer diagnosis ... Steve says he might have "been saying goodbye to me." He told us Jerry "hugged me like he never hugged me before," and they reminisced about the good old times ... something they rarely ever did.

As we reported, Jerry died at the age of 79, Thursday at his home in the Chicago area, and will forever be remembered for his bombastic talk show -- which ran for 27 years and eventually helped Steve start his very own show.

Other than his father, Steve says no one had a bigger impact on his life than Jerry. He credits JS for giving him his career ... and even his wife!

Steve was a retired cop when he was hired, in 1994, as a security guard for the 'Springer Show.' His immense popularity there led to him launching "The Steve Wilkos Show" in 2007, and is now in its 16th season.

Through all the ups and downs, Steve says Jerry was always in his corner, and even at their last get together last month ...he believed his good friend would outlive him.

Jerry Springer, one of the most influential and controversial figures in TV history, has died ... TMZ has confirmed.

Jerry hosted the smash hit syndicated talk show "The Jerry Springer Show" for 27 years ... and it was never a boring moment on the raucous and wild show -- which was known for its outrageous guests who usually got into crazy fights as the audience cheered, "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!"

A family spokesperson says Jerry was battling a "brief illness." Our sources tell us it was pancreatic cancer that was diagnosed a few months ago, and this week he took a turn for the worse.

The spokesperson says he died Thursday morning, peacefully at his home in the Chicago area.

Before TV, he was a politician who ran a failed campaign for U.S. Congress in 1970, got elected to Cincinnati's City Council in 1971 ... and became the city's mayor in 1977. He served one term.

But, Springer became a worldwide sensation with his show ... which debuted in 1991. Most people won't remember this, but when he started Jerry's show focused on political issues. Of course, it eventually became the exact opposite ... and a ratings smash.

Jerry's show was so popular in the late '90s, it even topped Oprah Winfrey's in several cities. 'Springer' finally went off the air in 2018.

He made one more run in TV, with his courtroom show, "Judge Jerry," which ran for 3 seasons.

Jerry's last TV appearance came last season on "The Masked Singer" ... where he performed as "The Beetle," singing a Frank Sinatra classic.

We're told his cancer battle got much worse about a month ago, and he finally had to stop working. He had been hosting a folk music show on a local radio station in Cincinnati.

He's survived by his daughter Katie Springer and his older sister Evelyn.

Jerry was 79. RIP

Jerry Springer's death is sending shockwaves through the daytime TV industry ... with tributes pouring in from other talk show hosts who knew Jerry well.

Maury Povich tells TMZ ... "I am shocked and saddened by Jerry's passing. He was a friend and colleague. He was in his own way a unique showman. I will miss him."

Ricki Lake tells us she loved Jerry and was sad to hear he died, and she's remembering him as "a mensch and a friend."

Ricki adds, "I always loved his final thought at the end of his crazy show. My favorite memory of him was when he and I battled it out on Rap Battle. He was hilarious and he beat my a**. Jerry Springer will be missed."

Sally Jessy tells TMZ ... "I'm extremely sad at the news of Jerry Springer's passing. He was a bright, funny man whom I considered to be a friend. He will be missed."

Even Jerry's former industry "rivals" are giving it up ... with Geraldo Rivera telling us they actually had a friendship off camera despite competing for ratings on daytime TV back in the day.

Geraldo says Oprah was the catalyst who brought him and Jerry together ... though it had been a few years since he last spoke to Jerry and didn't know he was battling cancer.

Despite their competing shows, Geraldo says he and Jerry were "in it together" and always supported one another no matter what ... and he tells us why "The Jerry Springer Show" is still culturally significant.

Jerry Springer will always be remembered for the outlandish topics and wild guests on his talk show, but 9 years ago he made one major change in how he addressed transgender issues on that program.

Jerry's awakening came back in 2014, when he was a guest on "TMZ Live" ... we'd invited him on our show to discuss the backlash he and his producers were getting at the time. "The Jerry Springer Show" had aired an episode entitled, "Tr***ies Twerk It Out," and the LGBTQ community was outraged.

We asked the host about using the t-word, and he told us he'd "just been educated" on the subject. The clip is super interesting ... Jerry said, "I'm not interested in offending people" -- which, in and of itself, might surprise longtime 'Springer Show' critics and fans.

Jerry vowed he'd stop using that term on all future shows. Now, we can't confirm it was never used again, but watch the clip ... he seemed totally earnest in his plan to ban it.

Side note: apologies for that 2014 video quality -- Wi-Fi just wasn't what it is today. Hell, we were only on iPhone 5 back then!!!

Turns out the death of Canadian actor Saint Von Colucci as a result of a dozen cosmetic surgeries was one big hoax ... in fact, Von Colucci may not have even been a real person.

The Daily Mail, reported Saint died Sunday morning at a South Korean hospital due to complications from the surgeries that cost him $220,000. TMZ followed suit and posted the story.

The Mail quoted someone purporting to be a publicist for Saint, who supposedly went under the knife 12 separate times so he could play BTS boy band star, Jimin, in an upcoming Korean TV drama, "Pretty Lies."

The source told the outlet Saint's surgeries included jaw implants, a nose job, a face-lift, lip reduction, an eyebrow lift and an eye lift.

LeBron James tried to summon some "Ted Lasso" magic to give the Lakers a boost in their playoff game Wednesday night by rockin' some show-themed gear -- but even with the power of AFC Richmond on his side ... the King and his squad still fell short in Memphis.

The L.A. superstar sported a blue hoodie with Lasso's fictional soccer team's logo on it as he entered the FedExForum in Tennessee ... clearly hoping it would help draw some good vibes for his team in their closeout game with the Grizzlies.

As you probably know by now ... the Apple TV+ show is all about how Lasso, an American football coach played by Jason Sudeikis, inspires a ragtag soccer team in Europe to improbably win games against all odds.

While James' team wasn't exactly underdogs in the playoff contest with Ja Morant and the Grizz -- the message to L.A. was still loud and clear.

But, the pregame 'fit didn't bring much luck to the Lakers ... they were kicked around for most of the night -- and ended up losing, 116-99. To make matters worse for James, he didn't play his best, scoring just 15 points.

Of course, L.A. will still have two more opportunities to put the Grizzlies away -- Game 6 will go down on Friday ... and if a Game 7 is necessary, it'll happen on Sunday.

Don Lemon doesn't look down in the dumps over being out of a job ... in fact, it's quite the opposite.

Don was all smiles Wednesday at the Time100 Gala in New York City, mugging for the cameras despite his recent firing from CNN.

While Don lost his high-paying job Monday after 17 years at the cable news outlet, he's got a support system to fall back on ... he was joined at Wednesday's event by his longtime partner, Tim Malone, and they both appeared in great spirits.

Fact is, Don's going to have options in TV news despite his CNN ouster ... as we first reported, NewsNation is interested in adding Don to a growing roster of high-profile anchors.

Don, we're told, was making about $7 million a year at CNN ... and our sources say NewsNation would be comfortable offering him a seven-figure salary.

In other words, Don doesn't have too much to worry about even though he's unemployed ... and it looks like he's confident he's going to land on his feet.

Larry Bakman -- an ex-TV judge on the reality show "Hot Bench" -- might end up having to answer to one himself because an attorney claims he got violent ... and has the whole thing captured on audio.

Fari B. Nejadpour -- who's been repping a woman in a DV case here in L.A. -- tells TMZ ... Bakman is representing the woman's husband. Nejadpour says the case started last fall but things took a nasty turn this week.

According to Nejadpour ... Bakman had filed a motion asking that Nejadpour be disqualified as the wife's attorney due to an alleged conflict -- namely, he'd repped the aunt of a client of Bakman's about a year ago ... something Nejadpour says is completely irrelevant.

He filed an opposition to Larry's motion, which was going to be heard Monday in an L.A. courtroom -- Nejadpour tells us that's when he ran into Bakman in a courthouse hallway.

Nejadpour says he confronted Bakman about his filing, and claims Bakman responded with hostility ... allegedly replying, "F*** you, ass****."

Nejadpour tells us he was shocked and told Bakman he was going to record him to show the judge how he was behaving. He says he turned on the recorder and started following Bakman, who he says was walking away to enter the courtroom.

At this point -- which we're told is when the audio starts to pick up -- Nejadpour claims Bakman quickly turned around and punched him in the chest with both hands ... which Nejadpour says sent him crumbling to his feet and writhing in pain.

He tells us he checked into a hospital that day, where he currently remains. Nejadpour claims to have suffered a laceration to the right side of his chest and an injury to his knee ... he also says he wants Bakman prosecuted.

LAPD tells us a battery report was filed, and they're investigating. We're told Bakman hasn't been arrested.

We also reached out to Bakman, who declined to comment.

Jen Shah's husband will NOT be making any appearances in the upcoming season of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" -- while she's doing time -- even though producers tried to get him on camera.

Multiple sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... producers approached Jen's husband, Sharrieff Shah, last month in hopes of getting him to appear in the new season, but after talking to his wife -- who's in federal prison -- he ultimately declined the offer.

We're told the Bravo show production team wanted to have Sharrieff meet up with the other husbands of "RHOSLC" to talk about Jen's prison bid and how he's dealing with it.

Our sources say one of the reasons Sharrieff and Jen ultimately decided to pass on him making cameos is because they're not happy with how the network treated her after she was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.

In case you didn't know ... Jen blasted Bravo in January -- after the sentencing in her wire fraud case -- refusing a one-on-one with Andy Cohen and Bravo because "of their unwillingness to remove contractual provisions that allow the network to legally make misrepresentations of me and my story."

Everybody loves Ray Romano's wide open arteries ... especially him, after undergoing a potentially lifesaving procedure, which is why he's out and about in L.A. getting some exercise.

The actor/comedian got in his steps during a vigorous walk in casual athletic wear, along with his headphones and Apple Watch to monitor his progress and, likely, his heart rate too.

The reason Ray taking a pretty basic walk is significant is ... he just revealed last week he had to have a stent implanted to clear serious blockage in a major artery.

He made the confession on Marc Maron's podcast -- this as he was in the middle of a press run for his new movie, 'Somewhere in Queens' -- and it sounded pretty scary.

RR explained he'd been fighting for years to keep his cholesterol levels down ... and that, for a long time, he'd insisted on doing it on his own terms -- only to come up short time and again, despite doctors repeatedly telling him he was teetering in dangerous territory.

Now, after getting the procedure done -- which he says cleared a 90% blockage -- Ray says he wishes he would've taken his doctor's advice from 2 decades ago.

John Stamos is dropping a juicy piece of "Full House" trivia, revealing he got Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen canned from their debut acting gig ... when they were just babies!!!

The actor spilled the tea on his pal Josh Peck's "Good Guys" podcast ... saying he made the call to cut them out while filming the sitcom's pilot episode -- where his character, Uncle Jesse, and Dave Coulier's Joey had to watch baby Michelle.

It's a pretty hilarious scene, showing the 2 guys taking care of the little one while knowing nothing about parenthood -- but John says the taping wasn't a laughing matter.

Instead, he tells Josh and his cohost Ben Soffer that the twins were crying up a storm while hosing them off and changing their diapers.

He was told the other twin wouldn't cry when they were swapped out between takes, but it wasn't any better ... and John admits he made the call it just wasn't gonna work. He says the Olsens got the boot, and 2 other babies were used.

Of course, their firing only lasted a few days, with John admitting the new baby batch was pretty bad, too ... and as you know, the Olsen twins went on to stick around for the next 8 seasons of the hit sitcom.