You Might Want to Rethink

4:20 PM PT -- Charlamagne Tha God has weighed in on the debate, and he's also giving the throne to Chris Brown ... but says he's gotta share it with someone.

We got Charlamagne Wednesday in NYC and he told us anyone calling themselves the King of R&B is spreading fake news, and he called out a long list of offenders. Sorry, guys.

Check out the clip for Charlamagne's pick for co-king ... plus his wild take on the Kardashian clan.

Jacquees jumped the gun when he declared himself the best R&B artist of his generation, because the crown still belongs to Chris Brown ... this according to Tank.

We asked the R&B veteran for his reaction to Jacquees' bold statement, and Tank tells us no one even comes close to CB in terms of talent and hardware. Sorry, Jacquees, ya still got some work to do in the eyes of your peers.

But, don't get it twisted, Tank isn't hating on the young singer for hyping himself ... he thinks Jacquees can handle the pressure that comes with this kind of controversial statement.

We also talked to him about fans cutting R. Kelly out of the convo. Tank admits the sexual abuse allegations make it tough for Kelly but, personally, he's not ready to dismiss him -- at least, musically.

Kodak Black isn't gonna sit for anyone bringing up the most serious criminal charge he's facing -- an alleged sexual assault -- and he proved it by walking out in the middle of a Hot 97 interview.

During the "Ebro in the Morning" interview, recorded Wednesday, the Florida rapper chopped it up with Ebro for about 15 minutes before things went south. Ebro brought up Kodak's South Carolina case that's heading to trial in the spring -- and his mood immediately changed.

Check out the clip -- Ebro doesn't say anything overtly offensive, but definitely wanted to make a point about how seriously he considers sexual assault allegations. Ebro's co-host, Peter Rosenberg, tried to change the subject ... but Kodak couldn't be calmed down, and stormed out.

As we reported ... Kodak was indicted on sexual misconduct charges well over a year ago. He's accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in a hotel. Prosecutors claim he pushed her into a wall, onto a bed and then proceeded to assault her ... allegedly biting her neck and breast before forcibly having sex with her.

Jennifer Lopez's mother is one tough cookie, because she kept on truckin' after taking an elbow to the side of her head while her daughter was getting mobbed by fans.

It was a wild scene Wednesday outside Sirius Radio in New York, where J Lo and her mom were swarmed by fans upon arrival.

The video is crazy ... you see Jennifer trying to navigate her way through the crowd with her mother in tow, when someone reaches in and clocks Guadalupe Rodriguez with a nasty elbow to the dome.

J Lo looks super pissed and concerned as Guadalupe tries to shake it off, holding her right hand up to her head as they try like hell to escape the mob.

We're told Jennifer won't be hitting the streets again when they leave Sirius ... and we can't blame her.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are like brothers, so our eyebrows went north when we saw this pic of Matt hanging out with Ben's ex after a bad breakup.

Matt broke bread with Lindsay Shookus Tuesday night for an 'SNL' bash at Lattanzi Restaurant in NYC. You're looking at the 2 of them leaving, and Matt seemed to divert more smoothly than Jason Bourne ever did on screen.

By all accounts, Ben's drinking played a big role in the breakup. TMZ broke the story Ben decided he needed help and went to rehab. He's been out for a while and is now clean and sober.

Considering Matt is hosting 'SNL' this coming Saturday, it might just be a business thing that Ben and Lindsay were both at the same party -- Lindsay's a producer for the show. Matt, of course, also slayed as Brett Kavanaugh on 'SNL' this year, so they clearly have had interactions on the set.

Young Thug missed the memo about rape jokes being wildly offensive ... because his bizarre way to say he's hanging with his boys was way out of line.

The rapper posted an image Tuesday on his Insta story of him with 21 Savage and NBA YoungBoy along with the disturbing caption, "If @nba_youngboy don't like u, I hate u If @21savage say f**k u, we goin rape u."

NBA YoungBoy and 21 Savage co-signed the offensive post and added it to their IG stories ... while NBA YoungBoy included his own caption, "OnGOD BITCH."

O.T. Genasis is technically the reason Nipsey Hussle got roped into a brawl, 'cause the dude who confronted Nip had just gotten socked by O.T. ... and confused the two.

We got footage of O.T. getting into a fight inside of Nightingale in WeHo Sunday night just moments before the rapper ran into Nipsey outside, who was just arriving with his gal. In this clip, obtained by TMZ, you can see that the guy O.T. throws a haymaker at, is the same dude who confronts Nipsey outside as he and O.T. try making their way back in.

As we reported ... it was a classic case of mistaken identity, but now we know it was O.T. that the aggressors were after. Look at their outfits -- Nip and O.T. are both wearing plaid, which is presumably why the gentleman in white thought Nipsey had punched him.

Luckily for everyone, the madness had dispersed by the time cops showed up on the scene. No arrests were made, but a taser was pulled out at one point to de-escalate things.

Jim Bridenstine -- the head of NASA -- says Steph Curry just HAS to be joking about his moon landing theory ... telling TMZ Sports, "I can't imagine he really believes that!!"

The Warriors superstar sent space nerds into a frenzy Monday when he declared on The Ringer's "Winging It" podcast that the moon landing in 1969 never happened.

Enter Bridenstine ... who says Curry's claim is so outrageous -- the point guard just cannot be serious.

"I think it's funny," Jim tells us ... "I can't imagine he really believes that. It's outside the realm of what's possible."

In fact ... Jim REALLY set Steph straight, saying, "Here's the thing, we didn't just go to the moon once, we went to the moon six times! And, we did it from 1969 to 1972!!!"

Bridenstine also doubled down on NASA's invitation to have Curry come check out all their evidence -- saying he'd LOVE to prove Steph wrong and get him involved in the space program afterward!

"My son is a HUGE fan of Steph Curry. So, if we can get him involved in space, I'm for it!"

President Trump didn't fork over hush money to Stormy Daniels to keep their sexual liaison from his wife, because Melania knows his "history" with women ... so says U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge.

The Ohio congresswoman scoffed at the notion Trump might argue his motivation for the Stormy pact was saving his marriage. As for whether it was a cover-up for election purposes ... Fudge says it's not definitive one way or the other.

For the record ... Trump has denied all of the affairs alleged by women since he was elected.

Meghan Markle's dad is catching flak for bringing up his daughter in a new interview -- but the tell-all was aimed at clearing his name, and not tarnishing hers ... TMZ has learned.

Friends of Thomas Markle tell us the interview he did with Daily Mail over the weekend was set up for the purpose of disproving false rumors he faked a heart attack earlier this year ... right before Meghan and Prince Harry got hitched.

Thomas revealed medical receipts for his heart surgery. As we first reported, he got 3 stents implanted. Our sources say Thomas keeps tabs on what people say about him on the Internet, and was offended to read haters claiming he faked the medical emergency.

Of course, while defending himself ... Thomas described Meghan as "demanding but never rude." He was attempting to squash British rumors about his daughter being difficult to deal with and feuding with Kate Middleton.

We're told he didn't intend to bash Meghan, and he doesn't want to say anything that could harm her. In fact, we're told that's why he's been under the radar for several months.

Stormy Daniels went back to her home state to protest a law setting minimum age requirements on strippers, which she calls an illegal attack on women and a bad precedent.

The former porn star was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Sunday, standing in front of the steps to a courthouse, where she and a bunch of other protesters decried an appeals court's recent decision to uphold the controversial L.A. law after it was challenged by 3 women.

The bill was originally called SB 468, and it stated that strip clubs couldn't employ dancers under the age of 21 (aka no 18, 19 or 20-year-old strippers allowed). It got signed into law in 2016, but will be reinforced again this month ... which is why Stormy is pissed.

She definitely didn't miss the opportunity to bash the legislation, calling it "f***ing sexist" ... and claiming it targets female dancers and not males. We checked the language of the law, and while it doesn't flat out say it's aimed just at women, many have interpreted that way.

Check out Stormy's take on why the law isn't actually a good tool to help fight human trafficking -- like it was pushed as when first introduced -- and what folks should do about it.

Oh, and apparently it was pretty freakin' cold out there in Louisiana. Wait 'til the end ...

Wondering how Paris Hilton is holding up after breaking off yet another engagement with her latest fiance? Here's your answer right here ... cue 'In Da Club,' please.

The starlet was back to doing what she does best this weekend in Miami -- being the life of a party as she DJ'd a set at Wall Lounge, where she was on the turntables for a majority of the night. As you can see ... she doesn't seem fazed in the slightest by her breakup.

It wasn't just her body language either that tells us she might be as happy as ever -- her song selection speaks for itself, too. JT's "Can't Stop the Feeling!" ... "Opus" by Eric Prydz ... "Free" by Ultra Nate ... and an "iconic as f***" song that cuts out before it can play.

Talk about feel-good! She's kinda been on that tip since calling things off with Chris Zylka, having looked in very good spirits lately, sans her pricey hardware.

As they say ... back to business.

The Bhad blood between Danielle Bregoli and Iggy Azalea just took another spill, 'cause the kid says Iggy can't be her least favorite celebrity ... as IA no longer fits the criteria.

Bhad Bhabie -- who we'd like to remind everyone is a mere 15 years old -- was in Iggy's native land down under, answering questions from audience members, and one young lady asks who was on BB's s*** list in Hollywood. She delays with a very loud, " Right now?????" ... and the crowd seemed to finish her thought by yelling out Iggy's name. Traitors!!!

Naturally, Danielle took the opportunity to throw major shade Iggy's way by saying, "That's not even really a celebrity." As you might imagine, the reaction was very much, "OHHHHH."

There's been no love lost between these two as of late -- and things have even gotten physical (on Danielle's end, anyway) after the teen rapper threw a drink at Iggy last month. The beef was stewing even before then, though ... BB dissed Iggy in song to kick off 2018.

Knowing all that, this might be the most disrespectful barb against Iggy. Listen to how Danielle refers to her -- "THAT" ... a pronoun often used for inanimate objects, not people.

Tekashi69 is unfazed by the feds' collection of photos and videos, allegedly tying him to multiple crimes, and insists he's in no mood to play "Let's Make a Deal" ... TMZ has learned.

We broke the story ... prosecutors submitted a stack of images to the judge, just to make the point that Tekashi needs to remain behind bars until his trial begins ... in September. The evidence seems pretty damning, but 6ix9ine's attorney says they're not flinching.

Lance Lazzaro tells us, "A plea deal is simply off the table, even if the feds offer one." He says they're prepared to go trial and prove Tekashi's innocence.

As we reported, prosecutors have pics and videos linking Tekashi and his crew, including Kifano "Shotti" Jordan, to at least 3 armed robberies and/or shootings in Brooklyn earlier this year.

It's true, none of the images show the rapper pulling a trigger, or even holding a weapon -- but the feds are alleging he was the mastermind behind the crimes, even if he didn't do the dirty work.

Nick Cannon thinks there's a double standard in Hollywood following Kevin Hart losing his Oscars gig ... and he's putting 3 white, female comedians on blast to make his point.

The "Wild 'N Out" host isn't happy about the backlash Hart got this week over old homophobic tweets that resulted in him stepping down as host of the Academy Awards, so on Friday he dug up some old tweets by Chelsea Handler, Amy Schumer and Sarah Silverman that use similar language.

Cannon started by sharing a 2010 tweet from Handler in which she uses the homophobic f-word slur, commenting ... "Interesting, I wonder if there was any backlash here..."

Nick then posted a 2010 tweet by Silverman in which she called the new 'Bachelorette' a gay slur, and a homophobic 2012 tweet from Schumer, adding ... "I'm just saying... should we keep going???"

When another Twitter user told Cannon he should be auditing his own tweets, he responded ... "Nope!! You know I’ve been saying f**ked up s**t since twitter started! I don’t play that politically correct bulls**t! F**k politics!! Only Truth!"

Truth be told, in a 2012 tweet of his own, Nick wrote ... "If your best joke includes "gay" or "f****t" you should be kicked off Twitter this ain't the 3rd grade! #notaninsult #lackofcreativity"

So, perhaps he's justified on casting these stones.

Cannon's been a vocal supporter of Hart during this week's Oscars controversy, and it's obvious he thinks the comedian got a raw deal. As we reported, though, a lot of the backlash Kevin got was the result of him refusing to apologize initially ... but he did AFTER he stepped down as host.

Before Kevin Hart apologized Thursday night for his old homophobic tweets, he insisted he'd already addressed the issue many times ... but this outtake from a 2014 interview seems to be missing something.

Kevin might have been referring to this interview with journalist Ed Gordon. It's true ... he did explain why he doesn't make fun of gay people anymore. But, during the sitdown -- which aired once, and doesn't exist on the Internet -- Kevin never says "sorry" or "I apologize."

TMZ obtained this clip from "Conversations With Ed Gordon" where Gordon grills Kevin over backlash he'd recently gotten over a joke. He asked the comedian why he feels it's fine to make fun of black women but not homosexuality.

Kevin's answer shows he's aware of the harm words can inflict on gay people, but stops short of a mea culpa for doing it in the past. Instead, he says, "I don't want that problem. I don't want any enemies."

Translation: I don't want the heat.

As we reported ... Hart stepped down as host of the Oscars after several homophobic tweets and comments he made years ago resurfaced, and he initially refused to apologize.

6:40 AM PT -- The hearing's over. Prosecutors wanted Cardi's bail to be set at $2,500, but the judge released her with no bail and said he didn't think the rapper was a flight risk.

The judge DID give Cardi a stern warning to have NO contact whatsoever with Baddie Gi and Jade. After issuing protective orders for the alleged victims, the judge told Cardi "no contact" includes making threats or comments on social media about the bartenders.

She's scheduled to be back in court next month.

Cardi B's not messing with the judge in NYC, she showed up bright and early for her court date ... dodging some serious legal trouble.

The "Money" MC was swarmed by photogs as she showed up for the arraignment in her strip club beatdown case -- 4 days after missing the scheduled date. As she made her way through the crowd, she asked ... "Am I this famous?" That's a yes, Cardi.

TMZ broke the story ... the judge gave her an extension on Monday, and warned if she didn't show on Friday there would be a warrant issued for her arrest.

Cardi's accused of unleashing her posse back in August on two strip club bartenders -- Baddie Gi and Jade -- who she suspected slept with her husband, Offset.

She was arrested and booked in October for assault and reckless endangerment ... both misdemeanors.

She's waiting to address the court right now. We'll keep you posted.