You Might Want to Rethink

One of Ariana Grande's famous exes is beyond thrilled he didn't make the cut for her new hit song about past romances ... so much so, he couldn't contain his sense of relief.

We got Nathan Sykes of The Wanted Wednesday at LAX, where we asked how he felt about not being named in Ari's song "thank u, next" ... which name-checks the likes of Big Sean, Ricky Alvarez, Mac Miller and, of course, Pete Davidson.

Nathan, who dated Ariana briefly in 2013, hasn't heard the track yet ... but after we described it, he breathed a genuine sigh of relief. Seriously, you have to see his reaction -- pure joy.

The song's basically about what AG's learned from each of her ex-BFs. So, we had to ask Nathan what HE learned from her.

We're not saying he shaded her -- he actually showed Ariana a lot of love here -- but let's just say there was a looong pause after our question.

As for her being single now? Nate's good.

Scott Stapp admits he might not be alive today if it wasn't for T.I. being in the right place at the right time, but denies the rapper's claim he was suicidal.

We got the ex-Creed frontman Wednesday at LAX and asked about T.I.'s long-held claim he intervened in Scott's 2006 alleged suicide attempt in Miami. Scott tells us T.I.'s version of the story isn't entirely accurate.

Check out the clip ... Scott says he'd had an accident when T.I. found him bleeding out on a balcony at the famed Delano Hotel, but says it was NOT an attempt to take his life.

T.I.'s memory of the event has become music folklore, but Scott doesn't seem to mind. In fact, he gushed about how the ATL rapper really was a guardian angel of sorts.

For the record, in recent years, Scott's described the incident as a fall from his hotel room window while he was on a drug binge.

With the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft ... the Cleveland Cavaliers select -- LaMelo Ball?!?!

Don't laugh ... Ball's new high school coach tells TMZ Sports that could EASILY happen now that Melo's announced he'll play at Spire Prep Academy this season.

"In my opinion, LaMelo Ball can be the No. 1 pick in a year or two going to the Cleveland Cavaliers," Jermaine Jackson says.

"Ain't no question about it."

Jermaine would know ... dude played several years in the Association from 1999 to 2006 and has been around the game in some capacity ever since -- and he says Melo is just THAT talented.

"He's known as that all over the world" J.J. says ... "He has a talent that, some of it just can't be taught."

Of course ... getting LaMelo to that point means Jermaine will have to navigate around LaVar Ball -- who's been known to meddle in Melo's teams.

But, Jermaine tells us he's off to a great start with the Big Baller ... and says he foresees no issues with the BBB founder.

"If LaVar's meddling in our team, we'll have conversations and we'll talk. And, I'm about what's right. It's not about who's right. It's about what's right."

Jermaine says Melo arrives in Ohio to join the team Friday and could see some run in the team's game in Philadelphia on Saturday.

The O'Jays are reaching out to President Trump -- perhaps repairing their fractured relationship -- and giving him permission to use ONE of their songs at his rallies. Yes, it's a total troll.

We got Eddie Levert and Walter Williams -- OG members of the soul group -- out in NYC and asked what they made of Rihanna ripping into Trump for playing "Don't Stop the Music" at a recent rally. She later sent him a cease and desist letter.

Eddie and Walter get RiRi's outrage ... having already fired off their own warnings to Trump in 2016 for using "For the Love of Money" -- the old 'Apprentice' theme -- during his campaign. They did the same for their hit, "Love Train," and you gotta hear them describe what he wanted to do with it!

That's all water under the bridge, though, because Ed and Walt tell us they're willing to let him crank up their newest track, "Above the Law," whenever he wants ... even during his rousing rallies.

If he only heard the title, we suspect POTUS might be all in for using the song. However, we're guaranteeing he'll pass ... IF he listens to the lyrics or watches the music video.

Hint: It's not exactly 45-friendly.

Trump and The O'Jays -- they've come a loooong way since "The Apprentice."

Rihanna ain't waiting for Election Day ... she's made it clear where she stands on President Trump by sending him a legal warning about using her music at his political rallies.

RiRi's lawyers fired off the cease and desist letter to Trump's legal team after he played "Don't Stop the Music" at his Sunday rally in Chattanooga, TN. According to the letter, POTUS has used Rihanna tunes "in connection with a number of political events held across the United States."

The letter, first posted by Rolling Stone, goes on to warn Rihanna has not given Trump consent to use any of her music, so using it "is therefore improper." Translation: do it again and we'll sue your ass.

A Washington Post reporter tweeted at Rihanna Sunday after seeing the Trump rally. She replied, "Me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies."

This has gotta be a game to Trump at this point -- he's gotten the same warning from Pharrell Williams, the Prince estate, Steven Tyler and several other artists.

Vic Mensa would be wise to remain out of the public eye until he does a full mea culpa for dissing XXXTentacion at the BET Awards ... so says one of the late rapper's best buds.

We got Ski Mask the Slump God Monday night leaving LAX and he took aim at Vic for calling out XXX's domestic abuse allegations during his BET freestyle ... with the dude's mother in the crowd. The move caught tons of backlash, and Ski Mask says rightfully so.

He even takes it a step further, saying Vic should probably duck Ski Mask and the rest of XXX's friends until he issues a proper apology to the slain MC's mom.

Vic has already dropped a new song addressing the controversy, which he interestingly called "Empathy." It might be too little, too late for Ski Mask and co. though.

As they put it ... until that real apology comes, keep hiding. Also ... check out Ski Mask's defense of XXX allegedly confessing to beating his girlfriend on tape, and how he reconciles that with what Vic did. Hint ... he's a little biased.

Dennis Rodman's going to bat for Luke Walton -- telling TMZ Sports he thinks the Lakers coach is doing a "very, very good job" ... but he's being treated unfairly by the organization.

"I mean, it's a sad situation," Rodman said ... "I think Luke Walton's been doing a very, very good job with the team."

The Lakers are 4-6 and Magic Johnson essentially said Luke's job is safe (for now). So, what's so unfair about the situation? Here's what he said. See if you speak Rodman ...

"I think now, all of a sudden, with a 'higher power' coming to the Lakers, called LeBron, all of a sudden now things are changing. And, his hands are tied right now."

We think Dennis means Luke isn't really free to call the shots as long as LeBron is on the team. He's basically gotta do whatever Bron wants.

There's more ... Rodman also says Luke's gotta deal with some of the young guys on the team who thought they were gonna be stars in Los Angeles until LeBron came along.

"He's taking all that limelight away from these young kids now ... It's like, the kids gotta f**king grow up."

Dennis isn't just trying to dish out advice to the Lakers -- he strongly believes people battling addiction issues can learn a lot from his agent Darren Prince, whose new book details his own struggle.

Pete Davidson made a late change right before 'SNL' to mention Ariana Grande's name during this weekend's episode ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the production tell us Pete heard Ariana's new song, "thank u, next," before showtime Saturday night, and that spurred him to write a few lines addressing the breakup. We're told he ran a copy by Lorne Michaels ... and got it approved for his 'Weekend Update' segment.

Pete called Ariana a "wonderful, strong person" and wished her the best ... while also declaring their relationship wasn't anyone's business. Remember, Pete scrubbed an entire skit he'd written about their breakup after Ariana called him out over the promo in which he obtusely referenced their split.

Clearly, he had a change of heart after hearing the tune, which she dropped just 30 minutes before 'SNL' went on the air. FWIW, she refrained from taking any shots at Pete on the track.

The Ariana line wasn't the only deviation from the script heading into Saturday. Regarding Dan Crenshaw -- whose war-caused disability Pete mocked -- we're told P.D.'s crass "whatever" comment was delivered completely off the cuff.

The war vet Pete Davidson disrespected on 'SNL' concedes there may be a silver lining ... he's now a stand-out in Tuesday's midterm election.

Texas congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw told us on "TMZ Live" ... this could turn into a Beyonce moment ... turning the 'SNL' lemons he's been given into sweet, sweet lemonade ... which could translate into a win for him when the polls close on Tuesday night.

As we reported ... Dan isn't demanding an apology after Pete said Dan looked like a "hitman from a porno" and brushed off his disability with a "whatever." Dan does admit, however, the cheap shot "tore at my core."

Talk about staying cool under pressure ... NFL legend Andre Johnson kept his composure and didn't beat a dude's ass in a Houston bar Sunday after the guy called him a "bitch" in front of everyone.

Here's the deal ... multiple witnesses tell us the Texans great walked into the Belle Station club in Houston to watch the games around 5:45 PM when a "fan" approached him and started hounding him for photographs.

We're told Andre had just walked in the club and told the guy he'd do it after he got settled in. Problem is, the "fan" wasn't in the mood to be patient and started talking trash to the WR in front of a crowd of people.

Andre confronted the guy -- and you can see in the video, obtained by TMZ Sports, he wasn't happy. At one point the guy called Andre a bitch and several people we spoke with thought Johnson was just gonna end it right there.

We spoke with Johnson's rep, Kennard McGuire who says security stepped in and Johnson walked away without ever laying a finger on the guy.

Rich the Kid could be playing with fire, because he's not letting his recent beatdown by armed robbers stop him from shining with tons of ice, and no bodyguards in sight.

We got Rich at LAX Sunday and he was stunting with a $120,000 neck piece and a $78,000 two-tone Cuban link necklace ... and he's basically treating his lack of personal security as a badge of honor.

It's pretty standard for Rich when he's traveling the country ... when we last saw him at LAX, he was flaunting $100k cash in his carry-on!

We broke the story ... Rich was hospitalized after getting the crap beat out of him during a home invasion by masked gunmen who made off with tons of cash and jewels.

Pete Davidson is taking all the heat for his terrible "joke" about wounded veterans ... and somehow no one is blaming it on 'SNL.'

Kenan Thompson just weighed in ... saying Pete "definitely missed the mark," adding, "it's tough when you're fishing for jokes. ..." Kenan noted his dad was a Vietnam vet. There's no mention of 'SNL' shouldering any of the blame for allowing the joke on the air.

Davidson had cracked during weekend update ... GOP congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw -- who wears an eye patch after losing an eye in Afghanistan -- looked like a hitman from a porno, adding, "I know he lost his eye in war or whatever ... whatever."

'SNL' EP Lorne Michaels gives his crew lots of leeway when it comes to creative content, but ultimately the show and presumably Standards and Practices at NBC have the power to nix a "joke" that crosses the line.

Kanye West distancing himself from politics hasn't affected his relationship with Candace Owens, nor has it affected her "Blexit" numbers ... at least, so says Candace Owens.

The conservative provocateur tells TMZ ... her apology to Kanye was sincere, and she completely respects his decision to back away from politics. She also says she and Ye are still cool even after he said she used him, denying he designed her "Blexit" clothing line. Kanye certainly didn't sound like he was cool.

Candace called the "rumor" that Kanye was behind the "Blexit" design a blatant lie, adding that she was sorry for the bad fallout. Fact is ... Candace had said Kanye created the logo and coloring for "Blexit."

Either way, she says Kanye drawing a line in the sand between himself and "Blexit" has not put a damper on the movement, which encourages black people to bail from the Democratic Party. In fact, Candace says it's quite the opposite ... it's stronger than ever.

She insists orders for "Blexit" gear have been pouring in since it launched, and that not one person has requested a refund in the wake of Kanye calling her out. Candace also says thousands of emails are coming in that are supportive of the cause.

Pete Davidson and 'SNL' don't owe GOP congressional candidate, Dan Crenshaw, a mea culpa for making a crack about his war-caused disability ... but SNL needs a lesson on humor.

We spoke with Dan -- who's running for an open seat in Texas' second congressional district -- and, somewhat surprisingly, he shoots down the idea that Pete and co. must issue an apology to him because they made an insensitive joke about his eyepatch.

If you missed it, Pete did a bit on 'Weekend Update' where he gave his first impressions on some of the candidates running for office in the midterms elections, most of whom were Republican. He joked Crenshaw looked like a hitman from a porno, and said of his injury ... "I know he lost his eye in war or whatever ... whatever." The remark caught tons of backlash.

One person who's not outraged is Dan, who tells us he wants society to get away from the culture of apology-demanding every time someone misspeaks.

Diddy took a page straight out of Will Smith's birthday playbook to celebrate the big 4-9 ... jumping out of a plane that's more than 10,000 feet above ground.

The Bad Boy honcho went skydiving Sunday to celebrate his 49th birthday and, luckily, he made it down in one piece! Looks like he was well-prepared for the jump too -- Puff was bumpin' some old-school hip-hop as hype music before getting to the diving venue.

As for the landing ... it looks like dropped into the backyard of the Playboy Mansion. Earlier in the day, he'd expressed interest in landing there, and he later confirmed he did, in fact, get the okay. He posted a caption that read ... "I DID IT!!! Thank you to my neighbors at the Playboy Mansion for letting me use their house to land. NO FEAR!!!!"

Daredevil feats are kinda in right now. You'll recall ... Will bungee-jumped out of a helicopter into the Grand Canyon for his 50th birthday, and his wife, Jada, followed suit with her own nosedive.

The "Better Call Saul" actor who made headlines this week for falsely presenting himself as a war vet, deserves a chance to make good in Hollywood ... according to real Army vet and actor J.R. Martinez.

J.R. -- who won "Dancing With the Stars" in 2011 -- tells us Todd LaTourrette's admission he lied for years about how he lost his arm in order to score acting roles ... is absolutely despicable. Still, he's willing to give LaTourrette a pass, if he's serious about shedding light on mental illness.

If you missed it, LaTourrette confessed to KOB-TV he'd cut off his arm 17 years ago during a bipolar episode. When he started acting, he told producers he'd been wounded during military service. He says the lie worked for years and helped him score the role of Skell on 'Saul.'

J.R. says he appreciates Todd copping to the lie. He added, IF Todd puts "action" behind his promise to raise mental health awareness ... there's no reason he can't keep acting.