Twitter

Elon Musk is doing a new file dump that he says reflects Twitter's alleged efforts to suppress stories about Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020 ... causing a lot of outrage in right wing circles.

The Twit in Chief is set to follow up with another day of #TwitterFiles Saturday, which took the bird app by storm over the past 24 hours ... this after the initial batch detailed alleged correspondence between former Twitter staffers and execs, suggesting they were censoring negative HB news.

Specifically, the internal emails cited by journo Matt Taibbi show how Twitter's ex-head honchos apparently went out of their way to hide links to a story by the New York Post.

Published about a month before the election, it was touted as a bombshell report -- which purported to describe messages the NYP says it retrieved from Hunter's forsaken laptop ... and one of those seems to indicate Ukrainian gas bigwigs were trying to meet President Biden via his son, who was in business with these folks at the time (around 2015 or so).

When this went live in 2020, any attempts to tweet links to the story were barred en masse on Twitter ... and now, these #TwitterFiles pretty much seem to confirm it was, in fact, a coordinated effort in-house. The more troubling part, though ... some of the emails appear to imply that Twitter was actually in touch with Biden's campaign team ... and conceding to their requests to kill the story, as they claimed the information had been hacked/stolen.

Twitter obliged, citing its terms and conditions to justify the move -- not to mention the fact the info discussed hadn't been independently verified -- but since then ... a majority of the materials on the laptop were authenticated as legit. The laptop was also deemed abandoned property after somebody turned it into a shop in 2019 ... eventually finding its way into the hands of conservative operatives who ran with it and publicized its salacious contents.

In the end, however, the Hunter Biden chatter really amounted to nothing in the big picture.

There's been a lot of handwringing in and around the GOP over this for a full two years -- but now that these apparent revelations are coming to light ... many are calling for congressional hearings and investigations into what they characterize as corruption/election interference. Basically, their argument is ... Twitter blocked something that could've, perhaps, swung the election in Trump's favor -- and they're calling on POTUS to answer for it.

Bella Thorne is not only friends with Elon Musk, she's also a big fan of his decision to temporarily kick Kanye West off the platform for spreading antisemitic hate.

We caught up with Bella in Miami, where she's hitting Art Basel, and asked about her relationship with the Chief Twit, and her thoughts about him shutting down Ye. Although Elon's said he wants Twitter to be HQ for free speech ... she's certain Ye's Thursday ranting is NOT that.

Bella says Elon has every right to ban the rapper's account, because IF that's what free speech is then he shouldn't have it ... and neither should anybody else.

You'll recall, Kanye was suspended from Twitter for inciting violence ... after posting a highly offensive mashup of a Nazi swastika with a Star of David. Of course, that came immediately on the heels of countless other vicious remarks he's made.

ICYMI, Elon and Bella had people talking about their unlikely friendship when he hit up her Halloween party with his ex-wife Justine Wilson.

Bella made it clear she's fond of the guy, calling him "very cool."

Lamar Jackson says he's sorry for sending a vulgar tweet following the Ravens' emotional 28-27 loss to the Jaguars last Sunday ... admitting on Friday he was just "bitter" about the L.

"I apologize if I hurt feelings out there," Jackson said when addressing reporters for the first time since pressing send on the tweet.

Jackson initially fired off the obscene response minutes after Baltimore's defeat ... after a Twitter user said the Ravens should not sign the QB to a lengthy -- and lucrative -- new contract.

"Boy STFU y'all be cappin too much on this app mf never smelt a football field," he said ... before ending the tweet with, "never did s*** but eat a d***."

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said he spoke to Jackson over it all on Monday ... and called it "out of character for him."

Jackson said he deleted the tweet, which remained on his page for about 3 hours, after his girlfriend encouraged him to take it down.

She "was like, I think you should delete it," LJ said. "I'm like, 'All right 'cause I don't know if I hurt somebody's feelings,' so I did. That's just what it was. That's why I deleted it."

Jackson said he hasn't reached out to the fan since the incident, but explained there's no bad blood between him and the individual.

"What I take from this experience ... don't say nothing on Twitter," Jackson said. "Don't say what I said 'cause it's kids watching. Don't need the kids saying that but just watch what you say."

Chuck D feels ALL hate speech should be equally ostracized on Twitter ... especially following Kanye West's recent suspension for posting Nazi symbolism.

The Public Enemy frontman put out a big signal for Elon Musk on Friday ... challenging him to permanently ban all versions of the n-word on the platform.

Chuck argued the n-word's power was just as damaging as the Nazi swastikas and his swift action could influence Mark Zuckerberg to do the same on Facebook and Instagram.

Naturally, Chuck's Twitter take left some of his longtime fans scratching their head ... with one even digging up PE's 1990 song "Anti-Ni**** Machine" from their seminal album "Fear of the Black Planet."

Chuck noted the song was recorded over 30 years ago and we're currently playing with a different set of rules in America.

He also dismissed the notion that the use of the n-word in songs and Twitter were the same ... and wasn't concerned with people getting their pretty little timelines disrupted!!!

Elon banished Ye from Twitter on Friday, but The College Dropout did exit in a blaze of glory, ... flaming Elon for his infamous vacation pic with Ari Emanuel.

Michael Jai White has several black belts in various martial arts, but it's even better that he's mastered the practice of restraint, at least for Kanye West's sake!!!

When asked by DJ Vlad about some of Ye's wild and erroneous comments -- like claiming George Floyd died from a drug overdose -- MJW admitted he's been detached from Ye's antics for years, and avoids running into him because it could get violent ... and end badly for the embattled rapper.

MJW says his personal Kanye breaking point came way back in 2009 after the infamous Taylor Swift mic-snatching incident -- and he feels Ye's arrogance is fueled by the fact he has money.

The "Black Dynamite" actor compared consuming Ye's social media posts to eating junk food while trying to stay in karate shape -- an act in futility -- but he says he's not pushing his anti-Ye beliefs on friends.

Kanye West's antisemitic ranting is now on the White House's radar ... and President Biden is not only calling him out, but also anyone who does NOT speak out against Ye.

The prez doesn't mention Ye by name, but it's clear who and what he was referring to Friday morning when he tweeted, "I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure."

The tweet comes immediately on the heels of Elon Musk shutting down Ye's Twitter account because he posted a graphic combining a swastika with the Star of David. He also ranted all day -- on Twitter and on "Infowars" with Alex Jones -- about loving Hitler and Nazis.

President Biden's tweet also adds what seems like a shot at Donald Trump. He said, "Instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity."

Remember, Trump's been widely criticized for having dinner last week with Ye and white nationalist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago.

Even Sen. Mitch McConnell, a former Trump ally, condemned him by saying, "There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy."

Kanye West is back in Twitter's doghouse for spreading more antisemitic hate ... but this time his account was PERSONALLY suspended by the platform's new CEO -- Elon Musk.

The rapper ran afoul of Twitter's policy against inciting violence after posting an altered image showing the Jewish symbol of the Star of David with a Nazi swastika.

Elon wasn't having it, tweeting a reply to Ye early Friday ... "I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended." Kanye's tweet was swiftly removed ... it's not clear how long his suspension is for. His account was suspended once before in October (pre-Musk) after he posted antisemitic remarks.

Kanye's final tweet -- one of Elon getting hosed down by Ari Emanuel -- to which Elon called "fine" and said, "Frankly, I found those pics to be helpful motivation to lose weight!"

Before his latest Twitter drama, Kanye appeared with white nationalist Nick Fuentes on Thursday's "Infowars" show hosted by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Ye praised the Nazis and Adolf Hitler, seemingly in the throes of a mental breakdown.

During their bizarre discussion, Jones tried to denounce the Nazis, but Kanye wouldn't let him, insisting, "They did good things too, we are gonna stop dissing the Nazis." And, before a commercial break, Kanye shockingly admitted, "I like Hitler."

Elon Musk says he squashed the beef between Twitter and Apple ... after a productive meeting with the tech giant's chief executive.

Elon says he met with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday, enjoying a tour of Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA before getting down to brass tacks.

Elon says he and Tim resolved what he's calling a "misunderstanding" about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store, among other things.

Remember ... Elon went nuclear on Apple to begin the week, railing on Apple for cutting advertising on the bird app and wondering, "Do they hate free speech in America?"

Apple never responded to Elon's attacks, even when he tagged Tim's account ... and when Musk couldn't get a response, he claimed "Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won't tell us why."

Following their Wednesday sit down, Elon says "Tim was clear that Apple never considered" removing Twitter from the App Store.

Elon Musk is going to war with Apple over Twitter ... but his verbal assault appears to be falling on deaf ears ... for now.

Musk posted a series of angry tweets Monday, directing his rage at Apple and its CEO, Tim Cook, over their treatment of the social media giant, which Elon recently purchased. But, Apple showed no interest in engaging with the billionaire.

Right from the start, Musk seemed annoyed ... "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?"

When he didn't get a response, Musk angrily asked, "What's going on here?," and tagged Cook's official Twitter account. But, Cook either ignored Elon or didn't see his tweet.

In any case, Musk continued his attack ... "Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why."

Of course, Apple didn't respond ... but such a move would restrict some new users from downloading the Twitter app -- which Musk referred to as "censorship."

Elon finally moved on after taking a few more jabs at Apple, which also failed to elicit a reaction.

Apple is among several big corporations to have pulled ads from Twitter since Elon bought the company for $44 billion in late October. General Mills, Pfizer and Volkswagen have also paused their advertising to evaluate the changes to Twitter under Musk's new leadership.

Lamar Jackson deleted a vulgar Tweet Sunday night ... a few hours after going in on a fan who criticized his play on Sunday.

"When someone asking for over $250 mil guaranteed like [Lamar] ... games like this should not come down to [kicker Justin Tucker]. Let Lamar walk and spend that money on a well-rounded team," a fan wrote on Twitter shortly after the Ravens lost a shocker to the Jaguars.

25-year-old Jackson, clearly emotional, responded ..."Boy STFU y'all be cappin too much on this app mf never smelt a football field," before ending the Tweet with a vulgar term.

The Tweet remained up for about 3 hours before being taken down.

It was a rough day for the Ravens ... who lost a shocker to the 4-win Jaguars. Baltimore's All-Pro kicker, Tucker, attempted a 67-yard field goal for the win as time expired, but came up a few yards short.

Jackson went 16-for-32, throwing for 254 yards and 1 TD. The QB was clearly frustrated after the game, telling reporters ... "Nobody likes losing."

With the L, the Ravens are now tied with the Cincinnati Bengals atop the AFC North at 7-4. Lamar and company will play the Broncos this Sunday.

Neither the NFL nor the Ravens have commented on Jackson's Tweet.

Disney's newest animated movie -- which features an openly gay character -- got crushed at the box office ... and the LGBTQ crowd is worried this might've been the plan all along.

We're talking about "Strange World," which came out this weekend to abysmal ticket sale numbers -- raking in just $18.6 million over the 5-day weekend, starting Wednesday. That's well behind projections ... where 'SW' was supposed to be coming in between $30-$40 mil.

According to reports, the film is expected to end up in the red long term -- somewhere in the ballpark of at least $100 million, considering the $180M budget and marketing expenses.

It's that same marketing, however, that's got allies upset at the Mouse House ... they feel like there wasn't a peep about this flick pre-release, and that it's no wonder it tanked. In fact, some are going into conspiracy mode -- suggesting Disney was banking on a failure.

Here's the theory ... Disney could use the poor performance as rationale to not include LGBTQ characters going forward -- pointing to this new character, Ethan, as evidence to back the would-be decision. Out there, we know, but that's a legit convo taking place right now.

Of course, there's no evidence to support this ... at least not yet. Still, some are floating it anyway and think Disney was looking for an excuse for less representation on-screen.

Naturally, there's another side of this discussion -- the "Go Woke, Go Broke" faction, who've been thumping their chests about Disney's efforts to include more diversity in its characters of late ... which they think is the real reason for flops like this and 'Lightyear,' among others.

Kanye West says the Balenciaga scandal is proof that Hollywood's celebrities are muzzled -- and speaking of silence ... he thinks Elon Musk should let Alex Jones break his.

The rapper was leaving a Messianic church Saturday where he was met with a small crush of paps who were ready to record him ... but not question him at all. Instead, KW just started speaking freely about his antisemitism scandal/fall from grace -- among other issues.

Ye suggests more people were outraged by what happened to him than what materialized publicly -- which he says is also evident in the lack of celebs who've decried Balenciaga.

Of course, he's referring to a wildly inappropriate ad campaign featuring little girls posing with BDSM-themed teddy bears ... not to mention court docs referencing a child porn case snuck into the background. The company apologized, but is still reeling from the fallout.

After that thought, Ye transitioned to another one ... namely, Twitter's continued ban of Alex Jones' account, which Kanye says should be reversed by Elon immediately.

His rationale there boils down to ... Christ. Yep, you gotta hear how Kanye phrases this one -- because it has strong echoes of his new pal, Nick Fuentes, who has often called for America to get back to its Christian roots -- which he usually couples with white nationalism.

As you know, Kanye has cozied up to Fuentes in recent weeks ... who accompanied Ye to a dinner at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday where Trump was present. KW has also brought Milo Yiannopoulos onboard ... so a lot of alt-right guys, and now -- he's singing Jones's praises.

The comment section for Don Toliver's new music video reads like a Russian Bot Farm -- at least that's what the internet thinks ... accusing his label of attempting to juice his stats.

Here's the deal ... Atlantic Records is under fire on Twitter, with a ton of people reading into the engagement numbers for a bunch of its artists -- specifically, on YouTube, where some feel like the data ratios for new projects just aren't adding up (likes to views, etc.)

DT's video for his song "Do It Right" -- which was posted just a few days ago -- is the prime example being hoisted up on the bird app as supposed evidence of fakery that's alleged to be afoot ... most notably, in the comments, where many see telltale signs of phony fans.

You can go check it out for yourself -- there are a lot of strangely written comments that have flooded this upload in the past 48 hours, with more and more pouring in with odd spelling, unconventional capitalization and grammatical errors. Others make no sense at all.

Plus, there are a lot of comments that have posted nothing but emojis, which are also seemingly jumbled together at random. When you click on some of these profiles, it looks like their accounts are relatively new and have only one comment ... for Don's 'DIR' video.

Indeed ... it certainly comes across as bizarre, and some -- including media personality DJ Akademiks -- have made outright allegations of this happening on a mass scale at Atlantic.

There are other Atlantic artists who've been lumped into this phenomenon, and none appear to have addressed it just yet ... including Toliver. It's worth noting -- while some point to the comments and seemingly lopsided engagement stats on their own as proof, there's no real smoking gun that we can find. This mostly amounts to people speculating and theorizing.

Still, we've reached out to both Atlantic and Toliver's camp for official comment ... so far, no word back.

Ron DeSantis just got a major endorsement from the world's richest man.

Elon Musk says he's throwing his considerable support behind DeSantis if the Florida governor decides to run for President in 2024. Elon's message was an obvious slap in the face to Donald Trump, who recently announced his candidacy to win back the White House.

Musk started the ball rolling Friday night when he responded to a question from a Twitter user, asking if he would back DeSantis. The new Twitter CEO simply stated, "Yes. But Twitter as a platform must be fair to all.”

Elon later posted another tweet ... “As a reminder, I was a significant supporter of the Obama-Biden presidency and (reluctantly) voted for Biden over Trump. My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had hoped that would [be] the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far.”

It's interesting ... Musk claims he's not a conservative ... but he directed his millions of Twitter followers to vote Republican in the last midterm elections. He has also come under attack from Democrats, including President Biden, who has asked the Justice Department to investigate Elon's foreign business practices.

Meanwhile ... DeSantis has shown Elon some love, too, publicly praising Musk for giving his Starlink internet satellite technology to Ukraine in its war against Russia. Elon was blasted on social media after he toyed with the idea of stopping the free-of-charge service, which was costing him a fortune.

Elon Musk's Content Moderation Council will be nothing more than a paper tiger, because the Chief Twit himself told his staff ... the ultimate power on what goes on the platform and what doesn't rests squarely with him.

New video obtained by TMZ shows Elon talking to bird app staffers Saturday in a company Zoom chat. At one point, EM touched on the Council he promised late last month.

Watch ... Elon says there will, in fact, be a Council -- but he makes it clear it's advisory only ... he will pick the members and can either accept or reject their advice ... he'll make the call.

Since announcing the Council -- which was seemingly meant to calm the waters with folks concerned about misinformation/hate speech on the platform -- Elon has made A LOT of sporadic decisions about how Twitter will work, and who gets to tweet.

He's suspended users and then reinstated them, seemingly on a whim. Over the weekend he asked users to vote on whether Donald Trump should be reinstated -- a slim majority turned thumbs up and Elon gave the green light for his return.

Two points -- first, Elon never said he'd adhere to the will of the majority ... and that's consistent with his view of the Council. Second, Trump has said he'll decline the invitation, but the reality is ... he'll almost certainly return because that's where he can reach voters.

Zach Wilson might be side-eyeing some of his defensive teammates (and they him) after multiple players, including Sauce Gardner, liked a tweet calling out the quarterback following the team's heartbreaking loss to the Pats on Sunday.

After the soul-crushing 10-3 loss, Wilson told reporters he didn't feel like the offense owed the defense, who were spectacular (like they've been throughout the year), anything ... which raised many eyebrows.

The Jets punted 10 times ... one more time than Wilson had completions (he was 9-for-22 for 77 yards). Plainly put, Wilson and the Jets' offense was putrid against New England.

"You don't owe your defense anything @Zach Wilson," wrote Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who also posted a video of Wilson overthrowing a wide-open receiver.

Lewis' tweet made its way to at least a few Jets defenders ... Sauce and defensive end John Franklin-Myers were caught liking the post.

Of course, fans and media immediately pounced on idea of beef between the two units ... something the first-round draft pick and NFL star tried to quell.

"I swear I didn't mean to like this tweet. I only found out because yall started tagging me. We gon' be straight!" Gardner tweeted.

He attempted to further clarify ... writing "If I liked it purposely, I just wouldn’t of said anything,"

"I always mistakenly like tweets on here, but y’all made sure y’all caught this one. Y’all toxic on here."

Franklin-Myers, like Sauce, also seemed to feign ignorance, writing, "I ain't mean to like that tweet! We got faith in Zach for sure! Ya'll stop looking for problems, we got 7 games left to ball."