Twitter

Herman Cain's political takes from beyond the grave will continue -- even if some Twitter users think it's dirty pool -- because they're not breaking any rules.

The late pizza tycoon and politician's Twitter account raised eyebrows Wednesday night when it started firing off anti-Joe Biden posts in response to Joe announcing Kamala Harris as his running mate.

The tweets drew a mixed reaction -- some joked Cain had jumped online posthumously to keep supporting President Trump. But, others fumed the account was violating Twitter policy ... since the person posting is obviously not HC.

Not so, according to a Twitter spokesperson, who tells us the profile info and images have been updated to reflect who is truly managing the account ... so, it's all Kosher.

The new group in charge calls itself "The Cain Gang," and -- led by his daughter Dr. Melanie Cain Gallo -- vows to continue working on his political mission.

Since Wednesday, that's included several tweets and retweets supporting Trump and slamming his opponents.

The updated account also includes a disclaimer ... "The Cain Gang consists of different writers who have their own opinions. We all lean right, but we're also individuals. Each piece reflects the opinions of that writer. That's how Herman wanted it to work."

As we reported ... Cain died last month from COVID-19. He tested positive for the virus after attending Trump's Tulsa rally on June 20 -- where he was seen without a face mask.

Toronto Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin is "vehemently" denying domestic violence allegations made by his ex-wife ... saying they're simply NOT TRUE.

Audrey Griffin posted a long message on Twitter Thursday ... claiming she experienced several incidents of violence from Adrian -- including when she was pregnant.

"How can someone continuously get away with abuse, almost take a life choking them while on the floor and almost passes out, throw them into a wall making a hole as big as their body, drag them across a lawn while pregnant ..." part of Audrey's message says.

Audrey continued ... "One thing I have realized is that I have been quiet and accepting of abusive behavior for far too long. And me staying silent has allowed sin to thrive. I can’t be quiet anymore. It’s too much to bear."

Adrian -- who starred at Seton Hall University and played 9 years in the NBA -- just released a statement through the Raptors ... saying his ex-wife is flat-out lying.

"This morning, accusations were made against me on social media by my former wife that I vehemently deny," Adrian says.

"We are involved in a longstanding legal dispute over alimony and child support arrangements. I am disappointed to have to address false accusations in this way, and I apologize for any distraction this has potentially caused for our team at this important time."

The Raptors added ... "When we saw these allegations this morning, we were dismayed -- Adrian is a valuable member of our team."

Kanye West met with President Trump's son-in-law and White House staffer, Jared Kushner, last week -- the strongest indication yet Trump's administration might be involved in his campaign.

Ye had a private face-to-face with Kushner, a Trump cabinet member, over the weekend in Colorado, where Kanye was vacationing with Kim and the kids following their Caribbean trip ... this according to the NYT.

They report Ivanka was traveling with Jared too, and that Ye flew to Telluride to touch base with them ... sans Kim. The details of the meeting are scant, but the Times says when they asked Ye about it ... he didn't deny chatting, only saying their discussion was about Black empowerment.

He also copped to the meeting publicly on Twitter, writing ... "I’m willing to do a live interview with the New York Time about my meeting with Jared where we discussed Dr Claude Anderson’s book Powernomics."

Of course, it's eyebrow-raising, at minimum, that a Trump aide -- his own family member, no less -- is meeting with Ye at a time of heightened scrutiny around his campaign ... which many people believe is simply a Trump-engineered spoiler attempt to ruin Joe Biden's chances.

Donald Trump was not happy with Bill Maher's show last Friday night, and we're guessing it's because Maher delivered a blistering fake eulogy of 45.

Trump tweeted, "Watched @billmaher last week for the first time in a long time. He's totally SHOT, looks terrible, exhausted, gaunt and weak. If there was ever a good reason for no shutdown, check out this jerk. He never had much going for him, but whatever he did have is missing in action."

Well, check out why Trump's so upset. The eulogy was as brilliant as it was biting.

FACT ... Maher and co. have figured out how to do COVID shows better than anyone else in show biz. The show is shot from his backyard, but they've figured out a way to keep it super lively with hysterical, fake audience reactions, great transitions and super interesting convos.

Kanye West is reminiscing about the good 'ol days -- when he was tight with Jay-Z and Kris Jenner -- and, for now, he's making moves to make nice.

Ye started putting his feelings out there late Monday night when he tweeted a seemingly heartfelt message about Hova -- "Miss my bro ... real talk." Kanye attached a screengrab of rap's former dynamic duo performing "Otis" at the 2011 VMAs.

He was still feeling those bridge-building good vibes Tuesday morning when he said, "My mother in law Kris Jenner ... makes the best music playlist."

As you know from Ye's Twitter rants over the last few weeks, he's taken direct shots at Kris ... such as referring to her as "Kris Jong-Un" and accusing her of peddling Kim's sex tape.

As we reported ... Kanye said last month he wants Jay-Z as his running mate ... even though he'd already picked Wyoming preacher Michelle Tidball as his running mate. No need to worry, if Jay accepts the VP invite -- highly doubtful, though -- Kanye says Tidball told him she'd be down to take another position in his cabinet.

Unclear what's triggered peaceful Ye, but his recent family time with Kim and their 4 kids might be a good indicator. The fam took off from the Dominican Republic over the weekend to go glamping.

Fans were really down to insert Viola Davis into Cardi B's new song -- even at the expense of Kylie Jenner -- and the actress was all about it ... CB was too.

Viola posted a couple different fan tributes that creatively embedded her into Cardi and Meg Thee Stallion's music video for "WAP" -- one of which swapped VD's face and body for Kylie's. Viola seemed to think it was funny -- she wrote, "Who did this?" and added emojis.

She posted another fan rendition, which spliced in a scene of "How to Get Away with Murder" ... seamlessly syncing up Viola dancing to the "WAP" beat in the background. Viola liked that one too, reposting it and adding flamenco emojis with the hashtag #HowToGetAwayWithWAP.

That last shout-out caught the attention of Cardi herself, who appeared pretty starstruck with the love Viola was showing. She retweeted Viola's post with the caption, "I'm so fan out right now ya don't even know." Looks like both ladies are pretty fond of each other. Who knew?!?

The video's taken off since it was released last week ... it's already got 59 million-plus views, and it's spurred meme after meme after meme, including the Viola one you see above. Like we told you, the purpose of the project was to showcase women empowerment and solidarity.

Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence is adamant he WANTS to play college football this season -- even spelling out reasons why it's imperative for so many players -- but it ain't lookin' good.

The QB -- the projected #1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft -- essentially argued athletes are safer from COVID in the college environment than back in their own homes.

"People are at just as much, if not more risk, if we don’t play," Lawrence said Sunday on Twitter.

"Players will all be sent home to their own communities where social distancing is highly unlikely and medical care and expenses will be placed on the families if they were to contract covid19."

"Not to mention the players coming from situations that are not good for them/their future and having to go back to that."

Lawrence says football "is a safe haven for so many people."

"We are more likely to get the virus in everyday life than playing football."

"Having a season also incentivizes players being safe and taking all of the right precautions to try to avoid contracting covid because the season/ teammates safety is on the line."

"Without the season, as we’ve seen already, people will not social distance or wear masks and take the proper precautions."

Fair points, but while Lawrence was making his case ... the leaders of college football's Power 5 conferences (ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC) were holding an emergency meeting to talk about the likelihood of no college football season in the fall.

No official decisions were made, but ESPN reports the leaders were discussing how they can work together if fall sports are canceled or postponed.

The takeaway from ESPN's report is it seems a postponement is the likely path at this point.

Meanwhile, Lawrence joined several other major college football stars in posting a message saying #WeWantToPlay ... which outlines the conditions that need to be met in order for the players to be on board with a 2020 college football season.

The group says it wants several things ...

--  "Universal mandated health and safety procedures to protect college athletes against covid-19 among all conferences throughout the NCAA."

-- "Give players the opportunity to opt out and respect their decision."

-- "Guarantee eligibility whether a player chooses to play the season or not."

-- "Use our voices to establish open communication and trust between players and officials; ultimately create a College Football Players Association [with] representatives of the players of all Power 5 conferences."

Kanye West insists he's out to become America's 46th President, not just play spoiler for Joe Biden in the upcoming election -- that is, if you buy into his vision boards and ALL CAPS tweets.

The rapper's presidential campaign is facing increased scrutiny and skepticism lately, as various reports suggest it's being fueled by Republican political operatives working for President Trump to get Kanye on certain states' ballots ... in order to steal votes from Biden in November.

Kanye even seemed to indicate this is the case in his latest interview with Forbes when he didn't deny the spoiler accusation, but later he tweeted ... "THE GOAL IS TO WIN."

So ... he's sticking to being serious about winning, even if all signs point to him having no chance.

Kanye also shared his "2020 Vision" board, but it doesn't do much to clarify things.

As we reported ... a Wisconsin official is outraged over what he calls a "shameful, pitiful" ploy by the GOP to use Kanye -- despite his mental health issues -- for what he believes is a trick to lure black voters away from Biden in his state.

Kanye has enlisted the help of a third-party organization in order to acquire enough signatures needed to get him on the presidential ballot, especially in major swing states like Wisconsin and Ohio.

Naya Rivera fans said their goodbyes Saturday night, as they gathered near the lake that took her life.

The vigil was personal as fans told stories about Naya and how she touched their lives. The role that many fans singled out ... Naya playing Santana Lopez, a lesbian character on "Glee." Some of the fans said watching her play Santana gave them the courage to come out.

One fan starkly said, "Without 'Glee,' I swear I would not be here. I would not be alive."

The fans organized on the Twitter fan page, "Naya Army," and they came from various states to celebrate her life and mourn her death.

Some of the most high-profile celebs, politicians and business leaders can thank a Florida teen for hacking their Twitter accounts ... according to cops, who've busted the alleged mastermind.

Graham Ivan Clark was arrested Friday morning in Tampa following an investigation into the hack that appeared to be part of a massive Bitcoin scam ... and the 17-year-old is facing a whopping 30 felony charges.

The State Attorney's Office in Hillsborough County says Clark is responsible for the July 15 hack, which as we reported, saw Twitter accounts for Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Kanye West, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg and Kim Kardashian tweeting out a message asking users to send $1,000 to the same Bitcoin address in return for $2,000.

The scheme was pretty lucrative ... authorities say the hack reeled in more than $100,000 in Bitcoin.

Clark was arrested and booked shortly after 6:30 AM Friday ... according to jail records.

While Clark is only 17 years old, Florida law allows minors to be charged as adults in some cases of financial fraud.

Twitter says the hackers fooled its employees into handing over high-level administrative credentials over the phone in a "spear-phishing attack," which allowed the hackers to target other Twitter employees with access to account support tools and ultimately tweet from the celeb accounts.

Kids these days.

This is unusual nowadays, but senators on both sides of the aisle are in agreement on something -- President Trump can float the idea of election delays all he wants ... it ain't happening.

We got Sen. Tim Kaine -- a Virginia Democrat and former VP candidate -- on Capitol Hill Thursday, and he reassured voters ... POTUS simply doesn't have the authority to push the November 3 election date.

Now, he admits it might be a challenge convincing the Prez of that, but he also thinks POTUS might have an ulterior motive for raising the issue in the first place.

Sen. Kaine has faith members of Congress -- including Republicans -- will make sure the election goes down as scheduled, and Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana lends credence to that.

Cassidy is a GOP'er and went a little softer on Trump, naturally, and attempted to explain where the Prez was coming from when he tweeted, "Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"

But, he still came to the same conclusion -- Sen. Cassidy tells us there's no need to delay the election, and he'll support the winner, because the U.S. Constitution tells him so.

As we reported ... Trump's using the false notion of rampant fraud connected to mail-in voting as the basis for all this postponement buzz.

The handwriting is now on the wall ... Donald Trump is revealing his plan to stay in office beyond January 20, 2021, and he wants to do so without even having an election.

Trump, who has made false claims about voter fraud, just tweeted, "With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"

So, Trump is trying to start a groundswell to put off an election where polls show him way behind Joe Biden. The claims of voter fraud have no foundation ... nevertheless, he's been beating that drum for months.

So, why would Trump want to delay the election? Well, we just got word on GDP for the second quarter, and it reached historic proportions, plunging more than 32%. It's pretty obvious Trump wants to stall, hoping for a vaccine and an economic rebound.

The big worry ... Trump might as well just come out and say it ... he's not gonna leave The White House willingly. Bill Maher has been saying that for months, and the evidence is mounting that he's right.

In fact, in 2018, Trump reportedly said this about Chinese President Xi holding the position for life ... "And look, he was able to do that.  I think it's great.  Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday."  So scary.

"Send me location ... I come and smash your face!"

That's UFC rising star Khamzat Chimaev firing back at Conor McGregor -- after the Irishman insulted him on social media.

Here's they backstory ...

The 26-year-old Chechen-born fighter is 8-0 and has dominated in his first 2 fights in the UFC -- mauling prodigy Rhys McKee on Fight Island this past weekend just 10 days after dominating John Phillips.

And, get this ... Khamzat was only hit a total of TWO TIMES in both fights -- while dishing out 192 strikes of his own!!!

In fact, Khazmat's smothering violent style has earned him the nickname "Khabib 2.0" -- and just like Khabib, he's already in a real-life feud with Conor.

After Khazmat's victory over the weekend, Conor called him "rat lip" in a now-deleted Tweet -- but McGregor didn't pull it down quick enough!

Now, Khamzat says he would kill for a chance to shut Conor's mouth in the Octagon ... and he's begging Dana White for the opportunity.

"I can go smash [Conor McGregor]! If [UFC] give me, I would be so happy about that. It's easy fight for me."

"I don't see somebody can stop me. I gonna finish everybody. I gonna finish [Conor] first round. I promise you, I can finish him in 1st round."

He even delivered a message for Conor ...

"Lets fight! Don't talk, let's fight! If you're a real gangster, if you're a real man, don't talk on Instagram."

"Come in the cage, talk in the cage, say something to me. You sitting in Ireland and talk to me because I'm sitting in Sweden. We can meet in Abu Dhabi right now, Las Vegas"

Of course, Conor insists he's retired from MMA because he lost his love for the sport.

Barbie's new line of dolls meant to inspire all girls to raise their voices and get interested in public service quickly got political when Donald Trump Jr. got involved ... but the toy company's shutting him down.

Shortly after the Barbie 2020 Campaign Team -- made up of 4 diverse dolls including a candidate, a campaign manager, a fundraiser and a voter -- was unveiled to "expose girls to public leadership roles and pique their interest in shaping the future" ... Don Jr. used it to take a shot at Democrats.

Don tweeted ... "'Voter' Barbie must be a Democrat because she’s already wearing an 'I Voted' sticker and yet she’s got another ballot in her hand."

Not the most original joke, and according to the makers of Barbie ... it's also inaccurate.

A Mattel spokesperson tells TMZ ... "Barbie is not, and has never been, affiliated with a political party. Barbie has always encouraged girls to stand up for what they believe in and shows them they can be anything."

The Mattel rep adds ... "This doll set highlights a range of leadership roles to pique their interest in shaping the future and raise their voices – from the podium to the polls. This set also provides a tool to allow families to have conversations around important events and cultural moments through play."

Of course, Don Jr.'s joke comes as President Trump continues to push claims mail-in voting is fraudulent and will only benefit Democrats in the upcoming election.

Truth is, there are no facts to back that up ... just like Jr.'s jab at Barbie.

Talk about perfect timing -- an L.A. musician who happened to be in New Mexico saw a meteor light up the sky, and caught the stunning footage on video.

Amber Coffman posted this awesome video Tuesday night showing the moment a meteor streaked across the sky over Taos, creating a spectacular fireball. She captioned it perfectly saying, "A meteor for the ages!"

The footage was a hit on social media, where it was quickly shared by Amber's followers. She replied to one person's excited tweet, saying ... "Absolutely stunned amazement! Elation! I feel high."

Another user suggested Amber could jump from music to astronomy -- "How did you start getting video so quickly? Really amazing and something I would think would be of great value to science."

Apparently, there was a meteor shower visible over much of New Mexico last night ... there were similar tweets from Albuquerque.

Benedict Cumberbatch knows how to make friends and influence Marvel fans -- try walking off the street into a comic book store while in his full Doctor Strange costume.

Scott Derrickson, who directed the movie, posted a never-before-seen clip of the lead star popping into a Manhattan comic book store while filming back in 2016. It was all done in the spur of the moment, and you can tell no one in the store expected it by the way they reacted to seeing Doc Strange.

He kept it caj, chatting it up with shoppers and having a little back and forth with the guys behind the front desk, who were clearly starstruck. He even posed for a picture with them.

Benedict jokingly asked if he could have a job there if the movie flopped -- it didn't, "Doctor Strange" went on to gross over $670 million, in the U.S. alone -- and the comic boys said yes ... but only if he rocked an American accent. True pro that he is, Ben switched up right on the spot and got into character as Strange immediately. It's pretty freaking awesome to see.

Again, it's an old clip ... but Scott decided to share it just now, maybe to lift Marvel fans' spirits after a slew of blockbuster delays across the industry amid the coronavirus pandemic.