TV

Sarah Paulson's slipping her slim frame into a fat suit in order to play Linda Tripp ... and it's got lots of folks pissed off over Hollywood's casting decisions.

The actress was all done up as Linda this week on the set of "Impeachment: American Crime Story," and her need for a fat suit is triggering critics ... including a journalist who says Tinseltown is doing plus-sized actors dirty.

The criticism, in a nutshell, is that roles for bigger actresses are few and far between in Hollywood, and it shows the industry's fatphobia when slim actresses like Sarah are cast to play a role like Linda Tripp.

Journalist Kristin Chirico wrote, "This could have been a fat actor. This could have been their big breakout role. This could have been their Golden Globe or their Emmy nod. This could have been their paid off student loans or their first house. Instead it's Sarah Paulson in a fat suit."

Another person tweeted, "So here’s a reminder: fat suits are incredibly anti-fat and perpetuate anti-fat bias. Here’s what you should do instead: hire an actual fat person!"

On the other hand, Sarah is a vet on the 'American Crime Story' anthology ... she was also cast as prosecutor Marcia Clark in 'The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story', and just as she's doing with Linda, nailed the look.

A movie about Dionne Warwick's incredible life could be collateral damage in film and theater producer Scott Rudin's workplace bullying scandal ... because biopic talks are on pause following the allegations against him.

Sources familiar with the project tell TMZ ... Rudin reached out to Dionne's team earlier this year after the singer playfully tweeted a pitch for a Netflix series about her life and career, but the Hollywood honcho had a movie in mind instead.

We're told Scott first met with Warwick's son to present his vision for the biopic -- something in tune with "The Social Network," another film he produced about a famous person -- then spoke with Dionne directly and they all agreed ... he was the right man for the job.

Our sources say since January, Rudin's been working on developing the movie and had even begun hiring writers, but before he and Dionne's team could ink a deal ... the story broke about Scott allegedly abusing his employees.

ICYMI ... Rudin's been accused of mistreating and bullying staffers for years. The allegations include sexist and racist behavior, as well as claims that he threw items -- like glass bowls and potatoes -- at his colleagues and assistants, causing injury.

In light of that news ... we're told Dionne and her team have backed away from the deal with Rudin for now, and are waiting to see how things pan out. We've reached out to Scott's team too ... so far, no word back.

Jeff Lowe claims Carole and Howard Baskin are spying on him with drones, and when he went to confront them, a fight allegedly broke out with his neighbors and the cops had to respond.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the Lowes called cops Tuesday morning to report a disturbance at their property in Thackerville, and when deputies showed up they discovered Jeff had gotten in a fight with a neighbor -- not Carole and Howard.

Jeff says it all started when his son saw a drone flying over the zoo, and when he went to investigate he claims he saw Carole, Howard and his neighbors, a couple, hanging with a film crew.

The way Jeff tells it ... the Baskins and his neighbors took off when they saw him, and when he tried to stop a car leaving the neighbors' property -- thinking Carole might be inside -- the neighbors' son got out and they tussled.

Our law enforcement sources say Carole was in the area, but was not on Jeff's property and she broke no laws.

Howard tells TMZ ... they were flying a drone in the area to monitor conditions at the zoo, and he says the initial drone footage shows a significant amount of what appears to be stress-related or "stereotypic" pacing among the animals.

Carole's husband says they had a film crew there to record what they were doing, and the Baskins were visiting with Lowe's neighbors for a different reason altogether.

Jeff claims it was the neighbor's son who started the fight, throwing coffee at his car and pushing him. However, Howard claims Jeff started the fight with the neighbor's son ... he says Jeff attacked unexpectedly and dragged the guy to the ground.

The incident is far from over ... our law enforcement sources say the police report will be sent to the local District Attorney, who will determine whether Jeff or the man he was fighting will be charged.

Lena Headey's bringing her son back to her California kingdom ... a court just granted her permission to bring him over from the U.K. to live under Cersei's rule.

The "Game of Thrones" star and her ex-husband Peter Loughran were in a U.K. court a few months ago for a custody battle over their 11-year-old son Wylie -- and according to legal docs, the judge granted Lena's wish to take Wylie across the pond. He's now cleared to move to L.A. with Mom.

As we first told you, Lena -- best known as Cersei Lannister on 'GoT' -- previously wanted Wylie to live in England because she felt the U.K. had a far superior school system. It's unclear what changed for Lena, perhaps a role that requires her to be in Hollywood ... we've reached out to her camp.

Worlds will be colliding on "Saturday Night Live" in a couple weeks -- because the hottest tech wiz in the game is set to take up hosting duties ... and yes, we're talking Elon Musk.

The Tesla CEO was confirmed to be the 'SNL' host for the weekend of May 8 -- this after Miley Cyrus posted the famous sticky note bulletin board that showed Elon as host and her as the musical guest. At first, it wasn't clear if this was legit ... or just a stunt/joke.

Not too long after Miley posted, however, 'SNL' itself confirmed with the same announcement. They had a helluva way of teasing the appearance, too, writing ... "Musk See TV."

Elon hasn't responded to the news just yet -- but if 'SNL' is saying it's happening, we're pretty sure we can take that to the bank. It's probably one of the biggest host announcements they've had in a while ... since Eddie Murphy was said to be returning, tbh.

Of course, Elon is NOT a professional entertainer by traditional standards -- and that's usually who 'SNL' recruits to cameo on their show, especially when it comes to hosting. They usually stick with actors, musicians/artists, comics and/or athletes to take up the mantle ... although, they have deviated into other types of hosts over the years -- politicos, etc.

Folks will remember when 'SNL' had Donald Trump host in the run-up to the 2016 election. They also once had Steve Forbes on there as a host, as well as Rudy Giuliani and Al Sharpton. There've been other randos who've shown up and seemed out of place, but having Musk on would appear to be the first time 'SNL' has delved into the tech world for a host.

Twitter is at it again -- calling the "Boy Meets World" spinoff, "Girl Meets World," "problematic" years after it went off the air ... all because of how it dealt with delicate topics.

For whatever reason, several different clips from the show -- which ran on Disney Channel between 2014 and 2017 -- were resurfaced over the weekend ... with many of them drawing the ire of random Twitter users who are criticizing the show with a 2021 lens.

One example ... a clip where the character Farkle expresses he doesn't necessarily believe in God because he can't "see" him, basically suggesting he might be agnostic. Cory Matthews (now playing a Mr. Feeny-esque character) chimes in and explains that just because Farkle can't see God, doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't exist, using ROYGBIV as an example.

Heavy-handed? Eh, maybe. Is it "problematic" and worthy of ridicule ... not at all. Still, Twitter truthers are crushing the show for "pushing" Christian beliefs -- when in reality, all that's happening is an adult is, at worst, trying to influence a kid. Which is ... fine. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Here's another "problematic" theme people are now finding vile and offensive. That same character, Farkle, once said he might be autistic with Asperger's -- which his friends try to deny and convince him otherwise ... which Tweeters *think* means Disney was suggesting being autistic is a bad thing and something to be looked down on -- that's a huge reach.

His friends were just showing concern ... which again, is fine. Just because they weren't throwing him a party for the news doesn't mean they were saying Asperger's is awful.

One last episode that's getting gutted some 4 years later ... 'GMW' touched on communism, of all things. Some of the kids in Cory's history class go full commie -- and they play up the stereotype that communists all think the same and want everyone to be the same.

Cory gives a corny speech praising the fact that differences are important ... kinda punching a hole through the so-called communism doctrine. People are now claiming that Disney intended to shove capitalism down kids' throats ... which yet again, is twisting things.

Bill Maher danced right on the line Friday night, zeroing in on Caitlyn Jenner's bid to become California's next governor.

Some of Maher's jokes were trans-related ... “I know that you think of her as a reality show star, but c’mon, people, change ... She is trans, rested and ready. She’s got a great slogan, ‘Take the sack out of Sacramento.'”

Maher's trans references seemingly were designed to show Caitlyn has had curious views, at times in lockstep with her Republican Party which has been anything but supportive of the trans community ... “A lot of people, of course, are saying, ‘Isn’t it strange for a trans woman to be in a party that is passing anti-trans laws all over the country?’ And, Caitlyn said, ‘Yeah, I get that. It’s just something about being in a party that doesn’t respect me that makes me feel like I’m home with the Kardashians.”

Jenner supported Trump in 2016 but disavowed him 2 years later. That said, she has enlisted the help of several high-level Trump campaign advisers.

The man who was arrested and charged for a drive-by shooting of "Duck Dynasty" star Willie Robertson's house is now suing Willie and his family, claiming he was wrongfully arrested ... and defamed by the family.

This is a strange one, for sure, but Daniel Dean King is suing Willie, Willie's son John Luke Robertson, and John's wife Mary Kate ... alleging he's suffered from being incarcerated and took an unfair hit to his reputation.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, King says John and Mary reported they were targets of a drive-by shooting on April 24, 2020 while they were home with their child -- which led to King's arrest -- but he claims their statements to cops were "calculated, false and ultimately defamatory."

According to the suit, King claims the cops did not properly investigate the case before arresting him, and wrongly -- he believes -- charging him with felony aggravated assault by drive-by shooting.

Despite his allegations in the lawsuit, there's still an active criminal case against King -- and according to the 4th Judicial District DA's Office ... the charge against him has been changed to felony illegal use of a dangerous weapon.

King -- who appears to have filed the suit without a lawyer -- goes on to accuse Willie and John of publicizing his arrest and making defamatory statements, which he claims were intended to hurt his rep.

Along with suing Willie's family for damages, he's going after Robertson's Duck Commander company and the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office too.

As we first told you ... when King was arrested, he allegedly admitted to police he was the shooter and told them he "had been drinking Vodka during this incident." The Robertsons were also granted a restraining order against him. So, his lawsuit reads like a desperate attempt to get some revenge on the family.

Rob McElhenney's tale of rescuing a dog and reuniting him with his loving family will help you through ruff times ... especially when you see the pup's tail.

The "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" star says he and his wife -- and 'Sunny' costar -- Kaitlin Olson, stopped traffic on an L.A. freeway when they saw the "handsome motherf**ker" running alone.

After they got the dog -- which looks like a Pit Bull mix -- in their car with the help of another good Samaritan named Bridget, Rob and Kaitlin took him to a vet ... where they learned he wasn't chipped, but he was assigned the name "Brad Pitt" because he's "so damn beautiful."

Rob chronicled Pitt's story on IG, and it gets so much better. He says they decided to rename the pup, Frank Reynolds because of his body type -- an 'Always Sunny' jab at Danny DeVito's character. Then they learned the dog's loving owners were desperately searching for him, and they also learned his real name ... Chance!

Rob says they spoke to the family on the phone and they were crying with joy, and soon after they brought Chance home for the happiest of endings.

As McElhenney puts it ... "Social media may be ripping apart the fabric of our society but ... Sometimes it's pretty great."

The end.

Melissa Rivers says she feels violated and hurt the folks behind "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" won't cop to the fact her legendary mom is the inspiration for the Amazon Prime series.

Melissa hopped on the "Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef" podcast and said to this day she has not watched a single episode of the critically acclaimed comedy series because she says the show never acknowledged Joan Rivers' influence on the standup comedian main character.

She told Yontef ... "I wish I had gotten a note saying, 'Your mother was one of the inspirations for this and we hope you enjoy it. Here's a t-shirt. Here's a link to the first episode, to the pilot.' You know?”

Fans of the series have taken note of the vast similarities between Joan and Rachel Brosnahan's character, Mrs. Maisel -- both born in New York to Jewish parents who were skeptical of their careers in comedy. Both also attended prestigious schools ... but it's their comedic rhythm delivery coupled with being self-deprecating and vulgar that immediately drew comparisons.

Melissa says she didn't need 'Mrs. Maisel' showrunners to straight-up come out and say 'Mrs. Maisel' is completely her late mother but at least SOMETHING. What's more ... she says she "felt so violated" because "one of the writers [on the show] and I had the same agent, you know, so my whole thing is, reach out."

The only person, Melissa says, who acknowledged her late mother is Jane Lynch, who portrays the comedian Sophie Lennon. Melissa said the nod to her mother left her in tears ... and moved her to the point of sending Jane flowers the next day.

How's this for scary good -- Paris Jackson just upped her acting game after landing a role in the upcoming season of 'American Horror Story.'

Production sources tell TMZ ... Paris will appear in at least 1 episode of the popular FX anthology horror series. The highly-anticipated series, which was delayed in 2020 due to the pandemic, is being dubbed "American Horror Story: Double Feature." Series creator Ryan Murphy recently teased it and said there will be 2 horrifying stories in one season.

Yes, season 10 will be split into 2 mini-seasons. Murphy already confirmed, "One set by the sea" already has its cast ... featuring Sarah Paulson, Macaulay Culkin and Kathy Bates. Murphy said the cast for the second mini-season, "A second by the sand," will be announced soon.

But, we know Paris will appear in the second mini-season.

BTW ... this is not Paris' first acting gig. She's had several already ... including appearing as Rachel Wells in the FOX series "Star" and appearing in the comedy film, "Gringo."

Eric Andre says he was the victim of racial profiling during an interaction with police inside the Atlanta airport ... and now he's asking Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for help.

The comedian claims he was singled out by two plainclothes officers Wednesday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, saying the cops stopped him on the jet bridge for a random drug search as he was trying to board his flight.

Eric says he did not consent to the search and claims he was the only person of color in line to board the flight. He believes it was a classic case of racial profiling and what he calls the racist war on drugs.

EA's warning other travelers passing through ATL to "be careful" and he's asking folks in the airport to track down the officers' names. He also says he's already talking to his lawyer.

Eric, who says he was in Atlanta for work, was able to make his flight ... but he's telling Mayor Bottoms, "I know this isn't the PD you want representing in your airports."

Michael Richards allegedly pulled off a caper some people might call Kramer-ish -- cutting down a neighbor's 30-year-old trees ... but they're not laughing, in fact, they're suing the "Seinfeld" star and his wife.

Maxine Adams is suing Michael and his wife, Beth Skipp, claiming they sauntered over to her Pacific Palisades property on April 2 and "maliciously cut mature Brazilian Pepper Trees and underbrush" on her property.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Adams says her property is right next door to the Richards' -- they share a border which is only separated by a narrow public walkway.

Adams says Michael and Beth had no business chopping down her two 18-foot trees just to improve their ocean views. Adams says the trees were 30 years old and providing significant privacy and shade.

Adams claims the couple cut down the trees knowing full well they didn't have Adams's consent in order to "significantly enhance the value of their home as it would increase their view to the Pacific Ocean."

And, get this ... Adams claims she can't crane in new large box trees and instead will have to plant much smaller ones that'll take 20 years to reach the height of her old ones -- and will cost her more than $62k. She's suing for that amount, plus at least another $200k for the loss of aesthetic value to property.

Hardcore "Cobra Kai" fans listen up ... if ya wanna live in Daniel LaRusso's mansion now's the time to act 'cause the crib just hit the market.

First thing's first ... the 6-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom home is NOT in Encino, CA. It's actually in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, GA. That, of course, means tons of sprawling land for the lucky buyer who can plunk down $2.65 million.

The 9,214-square-foot home sits on a 1.1-acre lot. The so-called Villa Flora mansion features a Tuscan design ... inspired by the owners' trip to Italy.

True "Cobra Kai" fans know about the house brawls that were filmed at the crib for the Netflix series ... but for those who want a bit more history check this out -- according to the listing, the house has hosted some distinguished guests ... including 2 former U.S. Presidents and legendary golfer Arnold Palmer.

AnnaLynne McCord is not ashamed to admit she struggles with mental health problems -- specifically revealing her diagnosis for dissociative identity disorder.

The former "Nip/Tuck" and "90210" star announced she has what used to be commonly referred to as multiple personality disorder during a sit-down interview with Amen Clinics founder Dr. Daniel Amen.

AnnaLynne says she agreed to have her session recorded in an effort to remove the stigma around mental health problems. She says her doctor once told her the disorder was very serious -- and added, "You'll see me just show up with a black wig and a new personality. I was this tough little baddy, and then I'd be the bohemian flower child."

AnnaLynne also told Dr. Amen it was during her run on "90210" when she realized her acting gigs were compounding the issue. What's more, she said during her 2012 project for the horror film "Excision" things got scary because she said she couldn't get out of character.

She said, "I played a very cerebral, disturbed, strange little girl that was very close to who I feel I am on the inside. It was very exposing, very confronting, probably a bit re-traumatizing without realizing it."

And then there's this ... "The crazy thing about it was that I wrapped that film at 2 AM on a Tuesday and had to be happy, crazy, Beverly Hills blonde bombshell on Wednesday at noon. I couldn't find her, she was not accessible. I was dark, I was very deep into this character Pauline and I couldn't get out."

"Lucifer" star Tom Ellis and his screenwriter wife, Meaghan Oppenheimer, got a devil of a scare in the mail ... cops are investigating a strange package sent to the couple.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... someone sent a glitter package last month to Tom and Meaghan's Los Angeles home, and we're told the couple found the delivery creepy enough to call cops and file a police report.

We know what you're thinking -- what the hell's a glitter package??? We're told it was a box filled with glitter, which might not sound all that menacing -- however, what concerned the couple is that it was addressed to Meaghan ... and not her more famous hubby.

LAPD's Threat Management division is now on the case, and we're told they do have a lead on a suspect.