You Might Want to Rethink

Nicole Murphy trying to steal away married men from their wives is nothing new -- so says LisaRaye McCoy, who claims to have personal experience with her ... but NM's calling BS, denying all of it.

We got the 'Players Club' actress Wednesday in L.A. -- shortly after Nicole issued her apology to Lela Rochon after being photographed kissing her hubby, Antoine Fuqua -- and she didn't hold back one bit -- she claims her then-husband and Nicole were hooking up.

LRM was married to Turks and Caicos politician Michael Misick from 2006 to 2008, during which rumors of alleged infidelity between Nicole and Michael surfaced. Well, LisaRaye says they were more than rumors ... she says they were FACTS.

A source directly connected to Nicole tells us, Nicole denies LisaRaye's allegation. According to the source, Nicole says, "It's not true. She's [LisaRaye's] been saying that for years. There's no truth to that."

LisaRaye is also outraged at Nicole for the Antoine Fuqua situation, calling BS on Nicole's initial comment that it was just a family-type kiss and then pivoting, saying she was sorry and didn't know he was still married. LisaRaye says Nicole full well knew Antoine was married, and it was a gross betrayal of trust.

And then there's the subject of homewrecker ... LisaRaye doesn't quite go there, but her accusations are mighty close.

Eddie Murphy's ex-wife, Nicole Murphy, is now clarifying and apologizing for locking lips with a very married man.

Nicole was spotted kissing director Antoine Fuqua over the weekend while vacationing in Italy, and was photographed doing so on at least two occasions. They were definitely getting cozy and appeared to be interacting romantically.

Nicole initially said they were just "family friends" and had simply exchanged a "friendly hello." She has another version now, telling TMZ ... "Without going into the entire situation, I want to apologize to my family, and to Lela and the Fuqua family for what transpired."

Nicole goes on to explain, "It was not my intention to be in this situation. I do not condone women kissing or interacting in anyway inappropriately with a married man. I too was once married and I would never intentionally undermine another woman, despite what has been written."

As for why Nicole kissed Fuqua, who's been married to actress Lela Rochon since 1999 ... we're told she thought the status of their relationship was ... over.

Sources tell us, Nicole was under the impression that Antoine was divorced, and that's why she engaged with him the way she did. We're told she feels terrible about this and hopes folks can forgive her for the mistake.

It's unclear if Nicole was told by Antoine that he was single -- we're working on getting clarification for that. As for Antoine, we've reached out to his camp ... so far, no word back.

One of the last times the "Training Day" director was photographed with his wife in a public setting was February of this year. It's possible they've separated since then, but there's no indication thus far that's happened.

The "Big Brother" house sounds a lot like a breeding ground for racism ... a white houseguest is in hot water after a racially charged joke about an Asian houseguest was caught on camera.

In a clip that was captured on the live feed inside the 'BB21' house this week, you hear Jack Matthews crack a joke about "rice pudding" in reference to Isabella Wang, who is Asian.

The other houseguests who heard the joke -- they are all white, BTW -- don't seem at all bothered by the clearly racist reference ... but people on social media are OUTRAGED.

In another clip captured on the live feed this week, you hear Jack talking about his "rice pudding" comment with another houseguest ... and it seems pretty clear Jack got a stern talking to from show producers. However, he says his joke was misconstrued ... he doesn't explain how.

It's another example of what people are calling rampant racism in the 'BB' house ... former houseguest Kemi Fakunle, who is black, says she was "disgusted by the behavior" in the house ... and some viewers have pointed out 3 minority houseguests got the boot on the same night.

Beyonce's omission of any Kenyan artists on her 'Lion King' album is a slap to the face and a damn shame -- so says a famous East African, who helped coin "Hakuna Matata."

John Katana -- the frontman of the Chakacha Kenyan band, Them Mushrooms -- tells us he and a bunch of other Kenyans noticed Bey didn't include ANY local artists (big or small) in her new 'Lion King' album, "The Gift" ... a self-described "love letter" to Africa.

While the Disney folks tapped tons of other African artists that are hot and poppin' in their own countries -- for example, Nigerian pop star WizKid, Ghanaian producer Shatta Wale, Nigerian singer Burna Boy, South African artists Busiswa and Moonchild Sanelly, Nigerian stars Tekno, Yemi Alade and Mr Eazi -- they excluded Keynans.

Considering a lot of the scenery, culture and language used in '94's and 2019's "The Lion King" appears to come straight FROM Kenya (or at least East Africa) ... John says he and lots of other Kenyan creatives found it puzzling not one of 'em made the cut for "The Gift."

John and music critics alike have noted the omission, and he's super bummed about it ... especially since he says no one from Disney even reached out to the "Hakuna Matata" OGs.

As we've reported ... a petition was started last year that called for Disney to drop its trademark over "Hakuna Matata," which is a well-known Swahili phrase that John and co. claim to have popularized in their '80s platinum hit, "Jambo Bwana."

Lindsey Graham says it SUCKS Tom Cruise's iconic bomber jacket got tweaked just to please the Chinese.

We got the Senator on Capitol Hill Tuesday and asked him about the brewing controversy surrounding "Top Gun: Maverick." ICYMI ... hawkeyed fans noticed in the new trailer that the back of Tom's jacket no longer includes 2 flags from the original 4-flag pattern -- Taiwan and Japan.

If you look closely, the new pattern is replaced by two obscure symbols with similar color schemes. This led to speculation it was done to please China ... given that Chinese tech giant Tencent is one of its film's financiers.

The issue with Japan and Taiwan on the iconic jacket? China's got a tense relationship with Japan in recent years over their fight for islands in the East China Sea. China's also got a complicated relationship with Taiwan ... which the Chinese used to control before Taiwan separated in 1949.

The senator tells us he's still gonna watch the movie cause he's a huge fan -- who isn't?! -- but thinks it sucks China's got this much power in the modern world.

Taylor Swift was almost visited by a guy who was ready to roll up to her East Coast home with a bat, gloves, lock picks and a crowbar -- but cops nabbed him.

Police in Westerly, Rhode Island arrested a 32-year-old man named David Page Liddle this past Friday after reports came in that he was acting suspicious at a park in the Watch Hill neighborhood, where Taylor has a mansion at the highest point in the area.

By suspicious, we mean people called in saying the guy had a backpack on with a metal bat sticking out. When police arrived, they say Liddle tried to scram, but they intercepted him.

Cops say Liddle told them he'd just gotten into town from New York, and before that ... from Nashville and Memphis. He allegedly said he was trying to "catch up with Taylor Swift" so she could help him with his music career. Police say he wanted to pay her a visit.

Well, police searched his backpack and found a cache of suspected burglary tools -- aside from the bat, they found 30 lock picks, a crowbar, gloves, a flashlight, screwdrivers and a rake.

That paired with the fact that he was allegedly witnessed near her property earlier in the day was enough for cops to arrest him -- Liddle was booked with possession of burglary tools and a weapon other than a firearm. Taylor was not at home when he showed up to her property.

The stakes are not only high for A$AP Rocky in his Swedish assault case ... the European nation itself could be forced to pay UNTOLD MILLIONS if he's ultimately cleared.

There's something we found about Swedish law that ups the stakes dramatically ... if someone is charged with a crime and is found not guilty, the country could be on the hook for all the money the victorious defendant lost as a result of incarceration and the trial.

In A$AP's case ... that's a fortune. He's already been in jail for going on 3 weeks and it's all but certain he'll be formally charged Thursday with aggravated assault. The chances of getting sprung from jail once he's charged are slim to none, because Sweden considers him a flight risk.

By the time he goes to trial, months may have passed, and that means a bunch of scheduled concert dates will go down the tubes.

He's already had to cancel 12 shows and is booked for 7 more through the month of September.

It's unclear exactly how much Rocky gets paid for each gig -- but between 2014 and 2017, reported booking fees from each concert range from $80k to $120k. It's 2019, so let's just say his flat quote these days is north of $100k.

The longer he sits in jail, the more the stakes go up ... $2 mil, and maybe a lot more.

Al Franken wishes mightily he hadn't resigned as U.S. Senator in wake of sexual misconduct allegations ... saying he should have put up a fight because he denies he did anything wrong.

The former Senator from Minnesota told The New Yorker he can't go anywhere without people telling him he should NOT have resigned back in December 2017. Franken says, in retrospect, he should have appeared before the Senate Ethics Committee to keep his job.

Franken put some U.S. Senators in his crosshairs, saying they pressured him to resign without due process. At the time, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand were spearheading the calls for him to resign.

As we reported ... at least 7 women came forward accusing Franken of sexual misconduct. Radio host Leeann Tweeden was first to accuse him in November 2018 ... posting a photo allegedly showing he groped her and also sexually harassed her during a USO trip in 2006.

Franken says the photo with Tweeden was taken out of context, after people asked him to take a photo, and it was one of many shots of him "goofing around." He acknowledges he should never have done it because Leeann was asleep and did not give consent. But, he does say, her version of events "is just not true."

Franken says after he resigned he became clinically depressed and needed medication.

More accusers later came forward ... claiming everything from unwanted groping to attempts of forcible kissing, all of which he denies. Franken -- a rising star in Washington and a fiercely effective critic of the Trump administration -- apologized time and again ... but many still called for him to step down.

When he stepped down, Franken took a parting shot at President Trump and former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore saying, "I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party."

Tom Cruise made a splash at Comic-Con ... is what all these people thought when they saw a guy who was a dead-ringer for the 'Top Gun' star. And, boy, ya can't blame 'em.

This guy was dressed as TC at the comic book convention Sunday in San Diego, where he was decked in classic Maverick garb ... and riding shotgun in hot red Ferrari. With his Aviators on, this impostor was the spitting image of the actor -- and tons of folks bought it.

We got Fake Tom posted up in the whip as a bunch of guys and gals tried talking to him through the passenger window. Check it out ... they truly believe it's ol' Tommy boy.

Our camera guy -- who spots the difference -- tries to get a answer out of FTC about the 'Top Gun' sequel (that he isn't involved in). He just grins at us though ... clearly having a good-ass time pulling a fast one on just about everyone around.

Ya gotta see some of the ladies' reactions here too, BTW -- it's classic freak-out fanfare ... and almost like Tom himself had just walked off a fighter jet fresh from a shoot.

Oh, and take a cue from this poor sap of a boyfriend who didn't properly record his GF talking to Fake Tom ... ALWAYS be up in a fake celeb's grill at ALL times, especially when your girl's hounding them.

That's good coupling 101, guys.

Gypsy Rose is reacting to Joey King's Emmy nomination for her portrayal in "The Act" ... and it doesn't exactly scream let's be BFFs.

Fancy Macelli, a Gypsy Rose family spokesperson, tells TMZ ... Gypsy sincerely congratulates Joey for nailing the role and mastering her look, voice and mannerisms. That being said ... Gypsy has ZERO interest in meeting Joey following the Emmy nom because Gypsy is adamant the story line in Hulu's limited series is inaccurate ... and by meeting with her, it would validate the series' narrative.

What's more ... Gypsy, who was forced to pretend to be disabled for years and wanted to escape her mother's medical abuse, wants to put this ugly episode behind her. Gypsy says she has nothing to gain by meeting with Joey.

As for some of the inaccuracies in "The Act" ... Gypsy claims the repeated sex scenes in the series is not a true depiction of her sex life and it was dramatized to make her seem like a nymphomaniac.

Gypsy also takes issue with how often the series shows Gypsy's mom, Dee Dee, tying her up in bed and holding her hostage. She says it only happened once ... after she tried to escape.

As you might know by now ... Gypsy's then-BF, Nick Godejohn, admitted to murdering Dee Dee in 2015 to help Gypsy escape from Dee Dee's claws. He's currently serving a life sentence while Gypsy is serving a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

After Joey found out about her Emmy nom, she bawled like a baby and called the nomination an honor. She later told an outlet there's so many things she'd like to tell Gypsy ... adding she hopes Gypsy knows she respects her story, "and that all I wanted to do was to right by her. And I hope she can see and understand that."

The prankster just got pranked big time ... Jake Paul's fiancee made him believe she was pregnant, and his reaction was veeeerrrrry interesting.

Tana Mongeau -- a YouTube star in her own right, who just got engaged to Jake about a month ago -- pulled a masterclass prank on her soon-to-be hubby, telling him she was preggo ... and letting panic and chaos ensue. Gotta give it to her, she acted her ass off.

In the clip, Tana tells a seemingly unsuspecting Jake that she's gotta tell him something that he'll probably be mad about, which peaks his curiosity.

After a bit of back-and-forth, she finally comes out with it ... saying she's pregnant, and even showing him a bogus pregnancy test that reads positive. Then comes the difficult convo ... what to do about it now???

Check out the clip ... it seems like Jake would've actually been down to keep it, at least that seems to be his initial reaction. Gotta check with mom first though, of course.

What's also interesting is that Tana and Jake are a relatively newish couple -- having only been together for about two months prior to him popping the question in late June. She makes that much clear by what she tells him in this video too ... they haven't talked about a baby much, apparently.

Young viral love, nothing beats it.

'Spider-Man' star Tony Revolori channeled his movie character at Comic-Con, becoming the life of the party by climbing a tree with flash to spare ... and then getting booted right after.

Tony was at Entertainment Weekly's Comic-Con bash Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel rooftop bar, Float, in San Diego -- this following an epic day of Marvel revelations, including casting announcements for "The Eternals," "Blade" and other projects. Big superhero day.

Eyewitnesses tell us he was hanging out with some actors from Amazon's new web series "The Boys" ... when a little game of truth-or-dare got underway.

We're told somebody dared Tony to climb a tree that was nearby, and without hesitation ... he hopped right up there and made his way across some branches. Classic Flash Thompson, right?

In video of the climb, obtained by TMZ, you can see a security guard rush over and tell him to get down. He wasn't very high up, but the guy looked kinda pissy about it.

Tony made his way down as more guards showed up -- and he got quite the ovation from onlookers, who told him the stunt was worth it. Tony seemed to agree.

It appears he was escorted off the property, because we're told Tony wasn't seen at the event afterward. Cops weren't called, so no harm, no foul. Flash left without incident.

Something tells us Peter Parker would be overjoyed about this.

The live-action 'Lion King' reboot was swimming in money this weekend here in America -- making it one of the best openings ever ... this in spite of critics kind of sh***in' on it.

Jon Favreau's latest re-imagining -- he also did the live-action version of "The Jungle Book" in 2016 -- hauled in a monster box office number in the North American market over the past few days, making an estimated $185 million ... and soaring past expectations.

The huge payday launched 'Lion King' into the 9th slot for highest-grossing opening ever (under "Avengers: Endgame," 'Infinity War,' 'The Force Awakens,' and other behemoths at the top) while also marking the largest July opening for a PG flick ever. In short, Disney made lots o' $$$$$$$$.

The funny thing is ... the movie is relatively so-so, according to critics anyway. It's got a 55% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Megacritic -- which ain't good -- but folks still shelled out.

The biggest gripes about Disney's latest live-action revival is that the lions don't have any discernible facial expressions regardless of what's happening -- unlike the cartoon, which is very expressive throughout the roller coaster of events (RIP, Mufasa).

Not only that, but the biggest showstopping songs are a shell of themselves, and Beyonce barely gets any screen time -- yeah, we've seen it ... critics are sorta spot-on.

Dave East is onboard with just about everyone else about getting A$AP Rocky the hell out of a Swedish jail, but when it comes to boycotting the country ... DE ain't doing it.

We talked to the New York rapper -- who hails from the same borough A$AP is from, Harlem -- and asked for his take on the sitch in Europe, where Rocky's been in custody for nearly three weeks now on a BS assault charge ... and Dave has some interesting insights.

First off, he tell us ... yeah, A$AP shoulda been out of that jail cell a long time ago, and agrees with G-Eazy about the notion that white entertainers are simply treated differently than black ones ... which he says comes down to privilege and racism.

Dave puts it this way ... a lot of rappers that go overseas are black, rich, flashy and probably NOT what a lot of foreigners might be used to (or like, for that matter) -- and they'll wanna put an end it to it any way they can. In A$AP's case, he suggests that means lockin' him up.

Here's the kicker though -- our guy asks Dave if he's gonna join the chorus of entertainers and others who've vowed never to perform in Sweden again for the mistreatment of A$AP.

Jussie Smollett's lawyers say the Osundairo brothers misquoted alleged defamatory statements they thought his team made, but turns out ... their own attorney said 'em.

Mark Geragos -- who repped Jussie during his criminal trial when he was still in the hot seat in Chicago -- filed legal docs asking a judge to toss the Osundairo Bros.' defamation lawsuit against him, one of his colleagues and his firm, which they filed in April.

One of the main quotes the brothers were suing over in their initial complaint was something they alleged attorney Tina Glandian -- another one of Smollett's attorneys -- said to the media that implied they were part of "illegal" Nigerian steroid trafficking.

The quote the Osundairos attributed to Glandian in their lawsuit read, "platform ... is all about being steroid-free ... Their whole thing is, you know, all-natural bodybuilding. It's ridiculous."

Welp, Geragos points out in his court filing that Ms. Glandian never said that at all -- in fact, it was their attorney, Gloria Schmidt, who said that to the Chicago Tribune in early April ... word-for-word. That alone, Geragos argues is enough grounds for dismissal -- but there's more.

Geragos and co. say that the brothers also paraphrased something they claimed Geragos said on a podcast he does with comic Adam Carolla, alleging the celeb attorney dragged their reps through the mud by indicating they'd attacked Jussie, committed perjury and conspired to make false statements to clear their names.

Geragos submitted transcripts of his podcast during the time of the criminal legal proceedings, and he notes ... he never said the brothers' names, nor did he say or indicate what they attributed to him. Another example Geragos cites for nixing this thing.

Long story short ... Jussie's attorneys say the brothers can't get their quotes straight, and by falsely attributing statements to Geragos and co. ... the suit should be axed, and the Brothers should also be punished with sanctions for allegedly lying to the court.

Patriots fans ... look away -- Tom Brady just hurled himself off a cliff with his daughter in Costa Rica!!!

And, yeah ... it's just as cringe-worthy as it sounds!!!

TB12 hit up a lagoon on his annual pre-training camp vacay with his fam ... and for some reason, he decided to throw himself off the top of the rocks into the water with his daughter.

Things didn't exactly go swimmingly (sorry) ... when he counted off his daughter to jump in with him -- she hesitated ... and it created some seriously tense moments!!!

Fortunately for Brady, his daughter and the entire state of Massachusetts, everyone came up from the water just fine.

Of course, the G.O.A.T. is no stranger to these dangerous situations ... remember, it was back in 2012 when he threw himself off an even BIGGER cliff in Costa Rica.