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LeBron James -- a billionaire -- says Elon Musk can't get him to shell out $8 a month to keep his Twitter verification ... admitting he's simply too cheap to cough up the dough.

The new Twitter CEO recently announced major changes to his social media platform ... saying any "legacy" account that wants to keep its blue badge will have to pay starting April 1 -- with a few exceptions to major companies.

The move has been met with hesitancy for several reasons -- one, the date falls on April Fools Day, and Musk is known to be a troll ... so there's still speculation it could all be a stupid prank. Two, most people, LeBron included, don't think it's worth paying nearly $100 a year just to be verified.

"Welp guess my blue ✔ will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain't paying the 5," LeBron tweeted on Friday.

Of course, just because LeBron's filthy rich doesn't mean he's obligated to pay up ... but it's pretty interesting he doesn't care about maintaining his official status, considering he was targeted by trolls when Musk first decided to give blue checks to anyone who paid for Twitter Blue back in November.

The end result was an account pretending to be LeBron making a trade request from the Lakers ... which had NBA Twitter running wild for a split second.

If you're a die-hard Elon Musk fan, then an exciting new auction might be right up your alley, because a couple of unique items from his past could be yours ... if you've got a ton of cash to spend, of course.

Auction house, GottaHaveRockandRoll is kicking off its new Pop Auction Wednesday, and two super rare, Musk-themed finds are in the mix ... one straight from the Tesla CEO's early days.

A rep for GottaHaveRockandRoll tells TMZ ... one collectible is his original business card for Zip2, Elon's first-ever company which licensed city guide software to newspapers. He founded it back in 1995 along with Greg Kouri and Musk's brother, Kimbal.

The card's expected to fetch upwards of $20K -- a ton of change for a piece of paper.

The other piece of history is a signed dollar bill which he inked with the phrase, "To the moon." As you know, Elon's been obsessed with space travel for some time. But, the phrase is also one he's used when promoting crypto like Dogecoin, so it could just be just a plug ... and an ironic one, writing it on legal tender.

NBA player Andre Drummond is going off the grid to improve his mental health ... saying he's quitting social media and changing his phone number to free his mind.

The Chicago Bulls center was open with his struggles to his 840k Twitter followers on Tuesday ... calling on anyone battling similar issues to seek help -- just like he is.

"Deleting all my social apps my Management will take over," Drummond said. "also changing my number .."

"Time to focus on my mental health. If you too are struggling with your mental health, you are not alone 💙 it’s okay to ask for help."

Andre -- who is averaging 6 points and nearly 7 rebounds a game for the Bulls this season --- has spoken out about mental health awareness previously ... and shared his path to wellness in a video with the National Basketball Players Association last year.

Maksym Galinichev -- a European boxing champ and Youth Olympic medalist -- was tragically killed while defending Ukraine against Russian troops. He was only 22.

Galinichev was with the 25th Separate Airborne Sicheslav Brigade (part of Ukraine's Air Assault Force) when he was killed on March 10 ... Anton Gerashchenko, advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, announced on Twitter, saying Galinichev was defending Ukraine in Luhansk region.

"Maksym enlisted as a volunteer and came back to the frontlines twice after being wounded and recovering," Geraschenko said.

"Eternal memory to Hero."

The Ukrainian boxer started his career when he was just 10 -- winning two gold medals at the European Youth Championship and the silver medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina.

He could've participated in the European Boxing Championships in Armenia last year but refused so he could join Ukrainian forces.

Tributes from fans and athletes have been flooding social media since his death, including from Vladyslav Heraskevych, the first-ever skeleton racer from Ukraine, who praised Galinichev for defending his country.

"Glory to Hero 😢"

Antoine Dodson -- the guy who became Internet famous for a very memorable interview says he's fine with white people using Black memes ... because they pay for it, literally.

We spoke to the viral star -- whose iconic quotes from the 2010 WAFF news piece, including "hide your kids, hide your wife," were turned into a catchy song -- and he weighed in on the CNN digital Blackface controversy. As it turns, out, he has quite a bit to say about it.

Antoine tells us the argument that whites are maliciously mocking African Americans -- intentionally or otherwise -- through the use of GIFs/memes just isn't his experience. If anything, he says he's only encountered reverence from Caucasians for his own meme fame ... which has translated to cold hard cash when they hire him as talent. Top dollar, at that.

Check out AD's perspective for yourself, because the way he breaks this down is unique ... and sorta scathing. He says if anyone has made him into a joke, it's other Black people.

Antoine says he doesn't really do Black-sponsored engagements 'cause it doesn't compare to the treatment he might get from whites. As he puts it ... if white people are only out to make him a punchline for their amusement, they're going to expensive lengths to do so.

Bottom line ... Antoine feels like the notion we gotta restrict white people's meme usage is ridiculous -- which is how a lot of Twitter users felt about it this weekend, frankly.

While some might agree with the writer, John Blake, the consensus seems to go in the opposite direction -- and Antoine's in that camp. BTW, he also touches on his sister's real-life scary incident being turned into humor ... and he explains why he's good with that too.

Last year Antoine got into the adult beverage business partnering with an Alabama brewery to craft "Run N Tell That" lager and just recently launched his own hot sauce.

Lamar Jackson just dropped some bombshell news -- the NFL superstar announced he requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens earlier this month ... claiming the team is not interested in paying him what he deserves.

The former MVP shared his intentions via Twitter minutes ago ... giving his fans a direct update on his NFL future.

"As of March 2nd I requested a trade from the Ravens organization for which the Ravens has not been interested in meeting my value," Jackson said Monday. "any and everyone that’s has met me or been around me know I love the game of football and my dream is to help a team win the super bowl."

"You all are great but I had to make a business decision that was best for my family and I," he added. "No matter how far I go or where my career takes me, I’ll continue to be close to my fans of Baltimore Flock nation and the entire State of Maryland. You’ll See me again"

Of course, Jackson's contract situation has been a hot topic this offseason ... with the Ravens placing a nonexclusive franchise tag on the former first-round pick, which allows him to sign an offer sheet with another team.

Lamar made it clear he wanted to be locked in long-term with a big payday ... but that didn't happen.

As it turns out, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was speaking with the media as Jackson sent out the tweet ... and he said he expects Lamar to be a Baltimore Raven come Week 1.

"Thinking about Lamar all the time, thinking about him as our quarterback, we’re building our offense around that idea," Harbaugh said. "I’m just looking forward to getting back to football and I’m confident that’s gonna happen."

Jeremy Renner's recovery from his snowplow accident continues to go well -- so much so, in fact, that the guy is already walking again ... albeit, with a little help from technology.

The actor posted a video Sunday that shows him strutting his stuff in an anti-gravity treadmill. The reason we know that -- besides just looking at it -- is 'cause JR himself alludes to the fact that he's only using a certain percentage of his body weight as he works his legs.

Watch ... it sounds like he's getting quite a bit of assistance, but it's encouraging to see he's up and moving like this -- especially since the incident went down just a couple months ago.

Jeremy also has had a great caption that further elaborates on how he's doing. He writes, "I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will."

In other words, he wants to rehab harder than his body might allow at times -- but the fact he's going hard is, frankly, par for the course for him. The dude's a workhorse, and you can clearly see he wants to get back to normal ASAP ... and hopefully will be soon.

Again, it's remarkable how far along he's come since January ... when he was crushed by a massive machine that nearly killed him. Remember, he broke over 30 bones and needed major surgery. Since then, however, he's been on the grind ... documenting his journey as well.

A CNN writer has spurred a healthy debate about Internet culture, and has posed the question of whether it's okay for white people to use Black memes ... he says it isn't.

John Blake published a piece Sunday that's gotten a big reaction online. It's titled, "What’s ‘digital blackface?’ And why is it wrong when White people use it?" In the analysis article, he makes his argument -- namely, using these memes/GIFs is modern-day minstrel show fare.

For starters, he describes digital blackface this way ... "[It] involves White people play-acting at being Black," citing a Teen Vogue writer who defined it. He goes on to quote that author as saying, "[T]he Internet thrives on White people laughing at exaggerated displays of Blackness, reflecting a tendency among some to see 'Black people as walking hyperbole.'"

Blake continues to reference Teen Vogue in zeroing in further ... "[Digital blackface] includes displays of emotion stereotyped as excessive: so happy, so sassy, so ghetto, so loud… our dial is on 10 all the time — rarely are black characters afforded subtle traits or feelings."

Now for the haymaker from Blake, who says digital blackface is wrong and that it should be halted. The reason ... he says it's embedded in racist traditions of making fun of Black people -- and while Twitter users in 2023 might not necessarily see it that way from the outside looking in, that's certainly how it's being perceived by many ... intentionally or not.

There are countless Black memes that the Internet regularly recycles -- including some that feature famous people from TV shows and/or movies -- but there's one that Blake focuses on in particular as his Exhibit A ... namely, the 2012 Sweet Brown interview from Oklahoma.

Brown had just experienced a legitimate tragedy at the time -- she was dealing with an apartment fire -- and while her remarks were animated/memorable ... they were coming from a serious place of fear. And yet, the internet made a whole autotune song out of it -- seemingly discounting her real-life feelings and simply making a joke out of the whole thing.

Ditto for Antoine Dodson's TV news interview from years ago, where his family also had just gone through a truly terrifying encounter -- but his comments also went viral.

Elon Musk says Twitter is now worth less than half of what he bought it for -- and, if you'll recall, that was like $44 billion ... so, yeah, a BIG drop-off indeed.

The Chief Twit made the new valuation in a company-wide email he sent to remaining employees -- this per the NYT, which says it got its hands on a copy. In the internal memo, EM says Twitter is currently worth $20 billion ... $24 billion less than his purchase price.

While that may seem abysmal, Elon actually told his workers that -- for a time -- things were at risk of being much worse after he took the reins ... explaining Twitter was 4 months away from running out of money and going bankrupt at one point over the past several months.

In his note, he reportedly goes on to say that "radical changes" he's imposed were necessary to save money -- including the mass layoffs and other cost-cutting measures (i.e. auctions, etc.). The Times reports EM also said Twitter should be looked at as an "inverse start-up."

Now, as for why he was spilling these deets to the Twitter fam ... the Times says he was explaining their new stock compensation package. Basically, Twitter employees will receive stock grants for the holding company he used to buy Twitter -- the "X Corporation" -- which will operate under the current $20B estimate. Workers will then be able to sell and cash in on their privately held stock every six months. His other company, SpaceX, acts similarly.

Lil Nas X's presence on social media has got him in some hot water once again ... with people saying his tweet about 'gays' in Africa is incredibly insensitive on the heels of serious anti-gay legislation in Uganda.

The "Old Town Road" rapper was met with a ton of backlash Wednesday after he tweeted "where do the gays be in africa i wanna come there". The tweet came on the heels Uganda parliament passing one of the most sweeping anti-gay legislations in the world.

The law punishes people with up to 10 years behind bars for simply identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer or anything other than male or female.

More shockingly, citizens can be sentenced to life behind bars for committing gay sex acts and be sentenced to death for "aggravated homosexuality" -- a broad term to include sex acts committed by force as well as incest.

After LNX's tweet, folks quickly hopped on social media to express their disdain, for what they see as an extremely dangerous message. One user wrote, "This is so insensitive especially after Uganda just announced the harsh punishment of even identifying as being LGBTQ” ... and many others backed these same sentiments.

As you know, this isn't the first time he's been in the hot seat for his social media postings, recently issuing an apology for making a trans joke online.

Amazon Prime’s new mega-hit show "Swarm" grabbed viewers’ attention when it aired Chloe Bailey's steamy sex scene, and has now taken a firm hold of the audience with a full-frontal viewing of Rory Culkin.

Macaulay and Kieran's little bro made an unannounced cameo in a March 17 episode of the series, in which he and Dominique Fishback’s character, Dre, have a one-night stand after meeting at a club. The next morning, a completely nude Rory delivers a sleeping Dre a glass bowl full of strawberries … with his flaccid penis squished up against the side.

Fans of the psychological horror series lost their minds, filling social media with every measure of reaction, with most super impressed by the physique Rory is packing in the scene.

But it wouldn’t be the Internet without haters, and some folks thought the scene was "unnecessary" and "gross."

According to IndieWire, the plotline came from a real-life experience of co-creator Donald Glover, who said he once presented a hookup with a post-coital bowl of cherries. It apparently went well enough he included it in "Swarm."

Since its premiere, the show has been all the rage ... with huge ratings and tons of online buzz.

Seems about right.

A new show Chloe Bailey is in -- where she's shown having sex -- has sparked a debate about racism and colorism in Hollywood ... and now, Halle Berry's been roped in.

You might've noticed the latter is trending this weekend, and the reason is because of this discourse that's taken off since Donald Glover's latest TV series, "Swarm," debuted on Friday ... which starts out with a scene depicting Chloe doing the deed in very graphic detail.

Since then, there's been a lot of chatter about her decision to do the sex scene ... some say it's a great move/good for her, and others feel like it falls in line with other choices she's made of late -- like putting out a single with Chris Brown -- that some think are ... not so wise.

As one Twitter user put it ... "Where is a Chloe Bailey’s mentor pls??? She’s been making terrible decisions lately, she should have never done that sex scene in Swarm and I’m not even gonna go into her most recent collab." A lot of other folks reacted similarly.

On Saturday, that convo shifted when someone brought up Halle in comparison. She tweeted, "Halle Berry getting back shots role got her an Oscar right?" The point she was making ... Halle also did risqué stuff in her day -- "Monster's Ball" being the prime example, for which she won an Oscar -- but that, in and of itself, did not diminish her work/accolades.

This user was essentially saying Chloe's sex scene won't define her acting career, and that it's unfair to suggest she'll be derailed 'cause of it. Basically, stop giving her premature flak.

However, another Twitter user responded ... suggesting Halle enjoys the benefit of a lighter skin complexion and even went so far as to claim that she's "white passing." Obviously, she isn't -- Halle looks Black, not white ... which is literally what white-passing means.

Semantics aside, however, this woman's point (as she further explained on her page) is that Halle fits Hollywood's traditional white European beauty standard ... more so than Chloe, or any other dark-skinned Black woman for that matter. Therefore, she believes Halle has had an easier time in showbiz than Chloe might in this specific regard ... aka, baring it all.

In other words, this user feels like colorism is still very much alive and well in the entertainment industry ... and that darker-skinned Black performers will have a tougher go in comparison to any of their lighter-skinned counterparts -- which might be valid.

Of course, there's also the Bailey sisters factor here ... namely, the fact that Chloe's also-famous sibling, Halle Bailey, has a more buttoned-up rep than her older sis, perhaps, does.

Halle (Bailey) is literally starring in "The Little Mermaid" with Disney -- very family-friendly, etc. -- and she generally avoids controversy of her own doing. Chloe, on the other hand, is under a microscope more often ... and tends to get labeled as the wild child of the two.

Colin Cowherd has a new hot take that Sports Twitter is NOT reacting well to whatsoever -- and it entails Michael Jordan ... not really being all that great without some key pieces.

The FS1 broadcaster jumped on his own podcast network, The Volume, this week to talk about the NBA G.O.A.T. ... arguing that MJ's legacy and success are largely tied to two specific dudes that helped him achieve the status he enjoys -- Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen.

It doesn't sound like that wild of an opinion, but the way CC puts it is a bit harsher and cold-blooded, in his typical matter-of-fact style. Here's how he worded things ... "So, he tried baseball. He failed. He tried ownership, he was awful. He tried the Wizards, it bombed."

Cowherd adds, "Everybody understand, take out Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson -- this whole Michael Jordan mythology is sort of just that." He goes on to say MJ has always been a bit of a selfish player and guy, and that he'd never been great at building community.

Colin finishes by saying Michael has been really good about building wealth for himself, noting that's fine ... and that it's just a reality of who he is. The larger context of his convo here has to do with reports that MJ will sell his majority ownership stake in the Hornets.

As for how the Internet is taking this POV ... not great. Bird app users are kinda crapping on him with memes and jokes, suggesting that Colin's downplaying Mike's individual greatness.

UFC fighter Jeff Molina is opening up on his sexuality after a video showing him performing a sex act on another man was leaked to social media this week ... saying he was stripped of the opportunity to announce he is bisexual the way he wanted.

The 25-year-old shared an emotional statement to Twitter on Friday ... saying, "Not the way I wanted to do this but the chance to do it when I was ready was taken from me."

"I've tried to keep my dating life private from social media," Molina continued. "I've dated girls my whole life and suppressed feelings I had throughout high school being on the wrestling team, throughout college pursuing MMA, and even after making part of the dream happen and getting into the UFC."

"The thought of my buddies, teammates and ppl I look up to looking at me different let alone treating me different for something I can't control was something I couldn't fathom."

Molina -- 11-2 so far in his career and 3-0 in UFC -- has previously shown support for the LGBTQ+ community ... wearing the Pride Month shorts for his fight in June 2022.

Molina -- who's currently suspended for his alleged role in a betting scheme -- said he was not planning to come out during his career ... adding he wanted to be known for his skills rather than being the "'bi UFC fighter' that I'm sure would just be translated to 'gay UFC fighter.'"

Molina's announcement makes him the first openly LGBTQ+ male member of the UFC.

"At the end of the day I know my character, morals, and who I am as a person. As much as I'm getting hated/s****** on I'm getting an equal amount of support & it means a f*** ton."

Ice Spice recently checked a huge mark on her bucket list -- gaining a Twitter follow by Nicki Minaj, who appears to be digging her career progression!!!

The trailblazing rookie rapper is featured on the new cover of "Dazed" magazine, where she discussed being a Barb, having a birthday on New Year's Day and posed for a photo spread where she hunches over a chair while grabbing her crotch.

Nicki shared the mag cover on Twitter and validated the article's "People's Princess" title while urging people to get the issue from newsstands.

Ice's head was definitely spinning from being recognized by the Queen Barbie. Just a day before, Nicki followed IS on Twitter, fulfilling Ice's November 2020 wish of being noticed online.

Nicki's warming orientation is sharp 180° from her interaction with Latto last year when the "Big Energy" rapper was basking in her freshman buzz — the two engaged in a terse phone call and acidic tweets that spilled onto the internet ... but all signs point to an actual collaboration beween Ice and Nicki that will have all fans munchin'.

WWE star Ridge Holland -- who inadvertently broke Big E's neck during a match last year -- says he's received death threats and been called "racist" ... one year after the tragic incident occurred.

Remember, Holland and Big E were fighting on SmackDown last March ... when E's neck was broken after a belly-to-belly suplex went wrong. The WWE Superstar later said doctors told him the injury could've killed him.

Big E has been out of ring action ever since ... and fans appear to be pissed at Ridge over the injury to the former WWE champ.

"Death threats. Threats to my family. Lobbying for me to lose my job. Being labeled as racist. Great stuff keep ‘em coming," Holland tweeted.

TMZ Sports recently spoke with E -- who's been sidelined as he rehabs his neck injury -- and he told us he doesn't know if he'll ever compete in a ring again, adding I "want to make the best decision" on his future with the company.

"I gotta see what the scans say," E said. "Talk to doctors, and then go from there." "Right now, before I know anything, I'm not going to make any rush to judgments or anything. See how everything looks."