Cardi B is back on the party scene after being cleared in the assault case she described as annoying, and once again, she was the center of attention at a huge US Open after party!
The megastar rapper is just several days away from releasing her long-awaited 2nd album, "Am I the Drama?" ... and she tantalized the crowd at the Raising Cane's event in a sleek black dress, complete with a sultry thigh-high slit.
The crowd had plenty of famous faces soaking up Cardi's performance ... Kevin Hart, U.S. Open champ Carlos Alcaraz, Jamie Foxx and Lenny Kravitz were all in the building.
The VMAs just dropped their lineup and it’s stacked -- but one fresh face is already making noise ... Sombr, who's got fans buzzing about a possible Addison RaeVMA cameo.
We caught up with the Billboard Hot 100 star at LAX on Monday, where he admitted he's still pinching himself over hitting the same stage as music's biggest names ... and on top of that, he's up for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Artist!
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Of course, we had to ask about Addison ... and Sombr, who's new album "Called I Barely Know Her drops Friday, couldn't hide a sly smile before shutting it down, pointing out the pop princess is busy on tour. Still, the pause said it all -- maybe fans shouldn't give up hope just yet.
Taylor Swiftis doing it all at the 2024 MTV VMAs ... looking stunning and winning awards.
The singer turned heads upon her highly-anticipated arrival Wednesday night at the UBS Arena just outside New York City ... and she didn't waste time adding to her mantle.
Taylor's already won the VMA for song of the summer before even getting to the venue ... and once she was there, she got the hardware for best collaboration for "Fortnight" featuringPost Malone.
Britney Spears and Elton John have hit #1 on the streaming charts in more than 40 countries, but next, they'll have their sights set on smashing music video records too ... cuz they've got one in the works.
Sources close to Britney and Elton tell TMZ ... a music video for "Hold Me Closer" is underway in some fashion -- we don't know what it would look like and whether they're even in it.
The single has been hugely successful, once again bringing Britney to the forefront of music industry conversation. In fact, we're told she was invited to this weekend's MTV VMAs -- but had to turn the show down because of a scheduling conflict that keeps her in Los Angeles.
Of course, the project with Elton has Britney fans already begging for more music.
At this time, our sources say there's not a plan for Britney to release any additional songs, or to join Elton on stage to perform the hit during his current tour ... but Britney certainly appreciates all the love.
TMZ.com
TMZ broke the story, Drew Barrymore and Britney exchanged some super-hyped-up video messages Friday after the song's release.
Britney then posted her own video on Twitter, using a British accent and announcing she was about to have the best day ever to celebrate the success of "Hold Me Closer."
5:45 PM PT -- A source close to Conor tells us the fighter wanted to say hello to MGK, stuck his hand out and started walking up to the singer. We're told MGK said something -- that Conor couldn't hear -- and MGK's security pushed Conor away. Our source says Conor doesn't understand what the issue was, and was surprised by how he was treated.
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5:31 PM PT -- Sources connected to the situation tell us Conor asked MGK for a photo, which Kelly denied ... and that apparently escalated into him pushing Conor, whom we're told stumbled back and spilled his drink.
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When he collected himself and whatever was left of his drink, our sources say Conor allegedly chucked the drink at Kelly ... as well as Megan, whom we're told was nearby.
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Their respective teams broke it up before things got really ugly -- and Conor was given his walking cane back -- something that had fallen to the ground during the scuffle. FYI ... Conor made it inside after this -- the camera just panned over him during the broadcast.
Conor McGregor is still nursing his broken leg, but dude is already back to squaring up -- only this time ... he's doing it well outside the Octagon, and against Machine Gun Kelly.
The UFC star appears to have gotten into a physical confrontation Sunday on the red carpet of the MTV Video Music Awards leading into the Barclays Center -- right before showtime, no less -- in a would-be clash that was captured by several photogs on the scene.
As you can see, there's Conor in the pink suit mouthing off to MGK who's not very far ... and before you know it -- the next shot has Conor seemingly lunging at the rocker as people step in to separate them.
CMG can be seen reaching for Kelly -- but it doesn't look like he ever got a hold of him or even laid a finger on him for that matter. Conor was yanked back by security on hand ... with the Notorious looking furious and animated amid the scrum.
Unclear what might've set this whole thing off in the first place -- but it doesn't seem this escalated beyond a brief showdown ... because we've reached out to cops in the area, and no one's reported this (yet). It's weird ... MGK and Conor don't really have a hostile history.
We got calls in to both guys' camps to see what the fuss was about ... so far, no word back.
After the show, the couple hit up Beauty and Essex in New York City -- where they continued to dance the night away together while the DJ played some of Jen's hits ... along with other hip-hop classics.
Lopez even rapped along to a Cardi B song while the crowd cheered her on.
We got Cardi B at The London NYC hotel ahead of the VMAs ... and she confirmed our report, there will be no musical performance from the "Bodak Yellow" singer. She'll open the show with some sort of monologue or skit ... but that's it. She says she's a little under the weather ... and will only perform when she feels better.
As for the Travis/Nicki drama ... even though she was mum, our sources say she's squarely on Team Travis.
Don't expect Cardi B to make a triumphant return to rap at the VMAs Monday, 'cause her appearance won't include a performance ... TMZ has learned.
Sources connected to the production tell us Cardi will in fact open the VMAs Monday as has been announced, but she won't be rockin' the mic for MTV. We're told she will either do a monologue or partake in some sort of skit instead.
Many speculated the show would mark Cardi's first musical performance since giving birth to baby Kulture ... but it just ain't happening.
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Speaking of Kulture ... we're told she won't be making the trek to the show with mom either.
It's unclear whether or not Cardi's gig will be in the flesh or a pre-taped segment ... but one thing's for sure, fans will finally get their long overdue Cardi fix.
Nev Schulman said it loud and proud ... he's Jewish, and wore the yellow Star of David to the VMAs to make sure his fans know he's standing up against white supremacists.
We got the 'Catfish' host Monday at LAX as he was leaving town after the VMAs, and he explained he wore the symbolic emblem specifically as a response to people marching with Nazi flags ... in America.
Nev said the Holocaust wasn't that long ago, and celebs should wear the Star to remind their fans.
He gave a nod to Billy Joel for doing it recently in concert and encouraged others to follow suit.
The Weeknd was a no-show at the VMAs this weekend, and the reason isn't all that complicated ... he just didn't feel like it.
Abel left a lot of people high and dry ... the MTV folks announced he'd perform. He was also nominated for 4 awards.
Here's how it was put to us ... The Weeknd's been on the road for a prolonged period of time and just didn't feel up to his VMAs gig. In his mind, he booked the gig a while ago, before concert fatigue set in, and he just felt differently in the days before the show.
It's the second Weeknd event that got torpedoed in as many days. The rubber is about to meet the road, because he's about to hit the road again and there won't be a break until December ... at least a scheduled break.
A distant blood relative of Robert E. Lee publicly denounced racism and white supremacy at the VMAs this weekend ... directly calling out "America's original sin."
Reverend Robert Lee IV -- a direct descendant of the Confederate general -- came onstage Sunday at the MTV award show to call out racism and white supremacy as evil and wrong ... and made a call to action for everyone to stand up against it head on.
Lee said it was his duty to speak out against racism, which he referred to as "America's original sin." He then introduced Heather Heyer's mother, Susan Bro, who announced the winner of the Best Fight Against the System award ... which ended up going to all 6 nominees.
A statue of Robert E. Lee was at the center of the violence in Charlottesville, which left Heather dead at the hands of an alleged Nazi-sympathizer.
Looks like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry's bad blood has finally been mopped up -- 'cause Taylor's new album throws no shade her way ... like, AT ALL.
Our sources tell us TayTay's 6th album, "Reputation," is devoid of hate or trash talking directed at her longtime foe. Anyone expecting another epic slash at Katy is going to be sorely disappointed.
On the surface it seems as if Taylor is taking a swipe at Katy. In her new song, "Look What You Made Me Do," Taylor sings, "I've got a list of names and yours is in red underlined." It appears she's making reference to the movie "Mean Girls," where Regina George's picture is in the burn book with the words, "She is a fugly slut" and underlined in red.
Katy raised the issue in a tweet directed at Taylor back in 2014 ...
Watch out for the Regina George in sheep's clothing...
Our sources say Taylor's album lyrics have nothing to do with "Mean Girls," Regina George or Katy.
Katy has recently said she wants to end her feud, so now it's all on Taylor.
The mystery ... we're told something big will happen at the VMAs ... and reading between the lines it would not be surprising if Katy and Taylor appear onstage and publicly bury the hatchet.
It makes sense ... Taylor will probably dig that hatchet right back up and go after Kim and Kanye.
Taylor Swift may be sorely disappointed at the VMAs Sunday, because she's gonna have no one to glare at ... we've learned Kim and Kanye are otherwise engaged.
It would have been pretty epic ... Taylor showing off "Look What You Made Me Do" as she stares down the royal couple, but we're told long before the single was released they decided the VMAs were not for them.
They're in town, but we're told there's no particular reason for them to trek to The Forum near LAX.
It's actually kinda brilliant ... Kim and Kanye become the center of attention at the music event, courtesy of Taylor Swift, and they don't have to lift a finger.
Drake and Rihanna fans went crazy Tuesday when a site -- drakeandrihanna.com -- popped up with a countdown clock ... starting rumors they were releasing a collab together.
We know now the site is completely fake, and TMZ has learned the hoax was started because Drake pissed off one vengeful fan ... Joanne the Scammer.
Joanne is a character played by Branden Miller. He tells us ... he made the fake site as payback for Drake not taking a selfie with Joanne at the VMAs. Branden claims he got bum-rushed by security when he tried to take the shot.
He says he went home and created the site, which cost about $3k. It blew up, but when people found out it was a hoax he decided to reveal why he did it.
drakeandrihanna.com
Branden's still pissed, and says he might keep the site up to taunt Drake with other pranks.
