You Might Want to Rethink

Amy Winehouse fans who got PO'd seeing Marisa Abela in costume for the biopic probably aren't gonna be happy with this latest update, 'cause it's still looking a little ... off.

TMZ obtained photos that were taken out in London Sunday afternoon, where the actress was in full costume portraying the late singer. As you probably know by now, Marisa was tapped to play Amy -- but people online are crying foul, saying it's a complete miscast.

Considering the massive amount of criticism early set photos received in the past few weeks, you might've thought the studio would make a tweak or two to Marisa's makeup or something -- but alas, as seen in these pics, they're forging ahead with what they got here.

Unclear what sort of scene they were shooting exactly -- but eyewitnesses tell us it looked like Amy's onscreen dad, Eddie Marsan, was dropping her off at a rehab center. That would make sense ... this film is focusing on Amy's rise to fame in the early aughts, when she was still living in London. By then, she'd already been using substances, alcohol and otherwise.

The backlash over Marisa's casting is likely to continue as the movie moves along in production -- frankly, MA looks nothing like Amy ... and while the real Amy Winehouse's own father says it's not a big deal at all, that's likely not gonna appease the diehard fanbase.

It's a bit weird everyone's so riled up over the fact Marisa's not a dead ringer for Amy. Truth be told, Hollywood's been in the habit of casting actors who don't necessarily look exactly like the iconic musicians they play, especially of late. Austin Butler excluded, of course.

Plus, ya gotta imagine that the producers -- who are working on this with a blessing from Amy's estate -- want to do her legacy justice ... so a little trust goes a long way for this sort of thing. As they say, it's not always about the look -- but, more so, the essence.

Bottom line ... Marisa still has the potential to wow everybody, so we'll just have to wait and see what comes of the performance when 'Back to Black' eventually hits theaters.

Sam Smith's new music video is stirring the pot for its NSFW content -- but it's also sparking debate on an interesting question ... is sexuality just a straight person's game???

The nonbinary singer dropped the visual treatment for their latest single "I'm Not Here To Make Friends," which is featured on their recently-released album, "Gloria." Safe to say, 'INHTMF' is in your face when it comes to showing off skin and sexually suggestive scenes.

Sam is depicted in several eye-popping outfits, including one where their chest is on display with nipple pasties in place. There are also moments where SS is being sprayed in the face with water ... which kinda looks like something typically left behind closed doors.

Of course, the backup dancers and extras are flaunting their stuff in scantily-clad getups all throughout ... so, objectively, it checks the box for a traditionally provocative project.

Now, the controversy ... Sam has been trending all weekend over this video, mostly invoking outrage from people on the right -- who feel like it's wildly inappropriate ... especially as it pertains to age restrictions and kids who might stumble across it on YouTube.

The argument from that end is that 'I'm Not Here' is just a hyper-sexualized demonstration of perversion for the hell of it, masked as body positivity and LGBTQ+ empowerment.

Of course, not everyone sees it that way. In fact, the rebuttal coming from the other side is ... where's all the outrage when we see cisgender heterosexual men and women doing the same thing (if not worse) in music videos of the past??? It's a fair question to pose.

One individual broke down this apparent double standard quite well on TikTok -- influencer, Max Hovey came to Sam's defense and said the backlash is misguided and misplaced.

Basically, the idea that someone who doesn't fit society's conventional beauty standards can't openly express their sexuality on camera without flack -- while others can get away with it unscathed -- is screwed up ... according to Max and others who agree with him.

FWIW, Sam doesn't seem too bothered by all the discourse -- they're continuing to promote the hell out of this thing and posting clips and stills from the video without reservation.

Zachary Levi said something that Twitter's taking as an anti-vax stance -- which could spell trouble for Warner Bros. Discovery ... 'cause he's got a blockbuster movie to promote.

The actor -- who plays the lead in the "Shazam!" franchise -- replied to a question posed on the bird app by Lyndon Wood, who asked ... "Do you agree or not, that Pfizer is a real danger to the world?" ZL's response made no bones about how he feels, "Hardcore agree."

There's not much more context beyond that, and right away ... Twitter users started bashing the dude and labeling him as a right-winger spewing anti-vax rhetoric. This also prompted people to pull up old clips of Zach that they view as problematic -- including a Joe Rogan interview he did a few years ago, where they talked about Elliot Page and Jordan Peterson.

Of course, the jokes also started to fly in regards to WBD and how the execs there might be reacting to this news ... on its face, it comes across as a PR nightmare -- especially with "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" on the horizon and a press tour that'll undoubtedly come with it.

Welp, Zach caught wind of all the hubbub and attempted to clarify ... tweeting a link to a 2009 DOJ press release touching on a fraud case Pfizer was involved in at the time, when they agreed to pay a $2.3 billion settlement. He says this is what he was referring to.

In other words, he's now trying to make it seem like he was expressing a view against corruption in big pharma -- but, frankly, Twitter isn't really buying it ... especially amid the latest Project Veritas drop, which has been top of mind in much of conservative media.

Time will tell how this might affect things with the water tower team. One could argue WBD had a way bigger scandal on its hands with Ezra Miller ... and they ended up salvaging that pretty nicely. Their movie isn't canceled -- it's actually due to come out later this year.

Of course, it all comes down to what James Gunn and Peter Safran wanna do with "Shazam!". They're at the helm of DC now, and they've scrapped A LOT in recent months.

A top U.S. Air Force official sent a stunning confession to his subordinates this week that warns of a looming war with China that he believes will manifest in the next couple years.

General Mike Minihan -- a four-star officer -- fired off an internal memo Friday to the rank and file that reports to him within the Air Mobility Command ... a unit that encompasses roughly 50,000 service members and oversees 500 planes for transport/refueling purposes.

While AMC doesn't sound like a combat-ready entity, Minihan reportedly told his guys to prepare for battle ... this according to NBC News, which says it obtained a copy of his note.

According to the outlet, Gen. Minihan writes ... "I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me will fight in 2025," while going on to describe what he says he believes China will do during the 2024 general election cycle -- namely, use that volatility here in the States to move on Taiwan.

In the event this comes to pass, Minihan reportedly laid out a very detailed defense and attack plan ... which includes building up a "Joint Force Maneuver Team" that can mobilize quickly to "fight and win inside the first island chain." He's ordering all airwing commanders and AF operational commanders to report on their progress for this by the end of February.

There's more ... Minihan reportedly has goals in mind for February and March, which entail his boys firing clips at 7-meter targets -- while noting, "unrepentant lethality matters most. Aim for the head." In March, he wants the AMC team to "consider their personal affairs and whether a visit should be scheduled with their servicing base legal office to ensure they are legally ready and prepared." Also, he tells them to update their emergency contacts.

In addition to this, Minihan's memo talks of risk/reward in training ... reportedly saying, "Run deliberately, not recklessly," and later adding, "If you are comfortable in your approach to training, then you are not taking enough risk." NBC News also says he discusses the possible use of commercial drone swarms as a tactic the U.S. might use against China.

In other words, this guy is rounding up the cavalry in very real terms ... not hypotheticals. And yet, a DoD rep went on record to say Minihan's concerns don't reflect the department's view on China ... distancing themselves from what sounds like legit wartime preparations.

Kanye West is the named suspect in a battery investigation after a heated exchange with a photographer escalated to the point of Ye grabbing and throwing the woman’s phone.

Check out the video, Ye’s clearly upset — accusing the woman of following him — all the while she continues to record.

The woman exclaims, “You’re a celebrity!” but that’s enough for Ye, who grabs and throws the woman’s phone into the street.

He then hops into his SUV where his wife, Bianca Censori, is patiently waiting.

A law enforcement source tells us Kanye’s the named suspect in a battery investigation, deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department were called to the scene around 4:30 PM and were provided video evidence of the incident.

It’s currently unclear if the woman is a professional photographer or was just taking videos of Ye as a citizen.

We should note … the whole thing happened near a sports complex where North West had a scheduled basketball game.

7x NBA champ Robert Horry was ejected from his son's basketball game Friday night for screaming "you suck" at the referees, and TMZ Sports has video of the incident.

52-year-old Horry's son Christian is a junior at Harvard Westlake, one of the top private schools in L.A., where he is a star guard. Harvard-Westlake was playing St. Francis in Flintridge, CA Friday night.

During the 3rd quarter, Christian picked up his 4th foul, according to a spectator, and "Big Shot Bob" wasn't exactly pleased with the call ... so he began yelling at the refs.

The video starts with Horry, mid-sentence, screaming "You suck!" while standing in the bleachers. It's not seen on the video, but this is when the ref points at Robert, and tosses him out of the game.

But, Horry didn't stop, continuing, "Hey ref, you talking about me? You suck! Oh, you're mad at me because I said you suck?"

Robert then climbed down the stands, where he stood on the sideline, jawing at the ref. It's difficult to understand what he's saying.

A few seconds later, someone came over to corral RH, and they began walking towards the gym exit.

Horry briefly stopped to talk to the HW coach. The guys quickly put an arm around each other, and Robert continued on.

Horry, who played with the Rockets, Suns, Lakers, and Spurs over his 17-season NBA career, won more championships (7) than almost any other player in NBA history (only 6 players won 8 or more titles). Robert was known for his ability to knock down big shots in clutch moments.

The supermodel gone viral for taking a tumble at the Valentino Fashion Show in Paris is saying the blame is all on her ... after people online started pointing fingers at the company for the way they design their shoes.

Kristen McMenamy took to Instagram Thursday, after a clip of her taking the hard fall -- then ripping her high heels off -- picked up steam online. She thanked the luxury brand and fashion designer Pierpaolo Piccioli for the opportunity, before adding "I f***ed up."

For those unaware, many put the blame on Valentino, not Kristen, for the slip up ... saying it appeared the shoes she wore looked too small for her to walk in, or that she was given the wrong size. .

Kristen later returned to the runway without the heels, but many pointed out she still seemed to be walking awkwardly.

A rep for Valentino tells TMZ ... the company values the safety and well-being of its models hired to walk in its shows -- adding they were able to practice ahead of time in their shoes, and had the option to wear different ones if needed.

PGA Tour star, Max Homa's mind was off of birdies and onto bees during his round on Thursday -- at least momentarily -- 'cause one of the winged insects landed right on his ball ... and didn't want to move!!!

The funny scene all happened on the ninth green at Torrey Pines at the Farmers Insurance Open ... when Homa went to line up his birdie putt.

Broadcast video shows as the 32-year-old golfer reached down to examine his ball, a bee was parked on it ... and seemed rather cozy.

Homa tried -- carefully, we might add -- to get the little guy to move, but he wasn't budging.

"He's tyring to get rid of a frequent flyer there," one of the event's broadcaster's joked.

Eventually, Homa got it to fly away -- avoiding the stinger in the process.

Tua Tagovailoa isn't retiring early ... his parents said this week he'll be back next year despite suffering multiple significant head injuries this past season.

Galu and Diane Tagovailoa cleared up the speculation on Wednesday during an interview at the Polynesian Bowl in Hawaii ... saying the 24-year-old Miami Dolphins signal caller has zero plans to call it quits prematurely after experiencing several concussions while playing in 2022.

"He comes back," Galu said. "That's their guy. They love him, we love them and what they're doing and how they're helping him with his recovery and everything else trying to get him back."

Tua's health initially became a topic of concern early in the season, when he suffered back-to-back head injuries against the Bills and Bengals in a span of less than a week.

Some at the time believed the quarterback should've retired immediately, with famed neuropathologist Bennet Omalu telling TMZ Sports the damage might already be irreparable.

Tagovailoa ultimately came back and seemed to show no issues -- but on Christmas against the Packers, he suffered yet another concussion ... sparking the retirement debate again.

His folks though, said it just ain't happening -- saying they're confident he's healing properly ... and the Miami organization is taking care of him.

Hulk Hogan apparently had a bathroom catastrophe on Wednesday ... and instead of hitting up a buddy, his account sent out a cry for help to his 2.2 million followers.

"I ran out of toilet paper brother, help!!!!!!!!" Hogan's tweet said ... which, naturally, led a bunch of quick social media users to screenshot the message before it was ultimately deleted.

Now, it's unclear if Hulk's account was hacked -- he returned to his regular tweeting by posting a pic with his longtime wrestling pals Ted DiBiase, Diamond Dallas Page, Madusa, Jimmy Hart and IRS a few minutes later -- or if he meant to actually text someone to bring him some T.P.

Regardless, the tweets are hilarious ... and we're just going to assume the latter is what happened.

Hulk has yet to address the tweets ... and chances are, he might never bring it up.

Rep. George Santos is truly (we think) flattered he reminds people of Leonardo DiCaprio's character from "Catch Me If You Can" -- but he's hung up on the Leo thing, and not the compulsive and convicted liar part!!!

File this hilarious clip under "Ya Missed the Point" -- but we got the embattled Congressman from New York Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill ... where our photog asked if he's seen the Leo and Tom Hanks movie about infamous con man, Frank Abganale.

Santos claims he hasn't seen the Steven Spielberg-directed film that had Leo portraying Frank conning his way through life -- pretending to be an airline pilot, doctor, teacher and prosecutor.

Perhaps not shockingly, Santos tells us he's "flattered" to be compared to Leo ... but totally ignores the real reason people are making the parallel. Y'know, the lies on lies on lies part!!!

The Congressman did latch on to one other thing besides Leo's looks, saying he wishes he had the actor's bank account. Of course, there's a good chance he's already told someone that he does!

In the movie, Leo's character is caught in the end ... and Santos has already been caught in more than a few lies. Besides his fib-packed resume, he recently admitted he DID have a drag alter ego in his youth in Brazil ... after initially denying it.

As for a movie about his lie-filled path to Congress -- doesn't sound like he's down to sell the rights. Someone should tell Georgie it doesn't work that way -- if nothing else, he's a walking Lifetime flick waiting to happen!!!

LeBron James nearly lost his cool with a heckler on Tuesday night -- having to be held back from the man after the guy shouted insults at him, including one dig that featured a shot at the Lakers star's hairline.

The moment happened as the King and his squad were headed into the locker room at halftime of their game with the Clippers at Crypto.com Arena ... when a guy started going off on the L.A. forward.

"Hey Bron! Hey Bron!" the man said from his floor seat as the Lakers were down 77-54. "You better get this s*** together!"

The fan continued, "With that receding-ass hairline!"

LeBron turned quickly, appearing to want to go after the man, before security intervened.

"Look, he mad!" the heckler shouted as LeBron was being ushered away from the scene. "Look at him! You sick!"

It's unclear if the fan faced any punishment over the interaction.

The trolling, while clearly annoying, didn't stop James from going off ... he scored 46 points in the contest with the Clips, making him the only NBA player to score 40-plus against every team in the league.

"The Bachelor" contestant who got a leg up on her competition during the premiere is now taking serious heat online, and it's forced her to apologize for some resurfaced tweets defending a blackface costume.

Greer Blitzer, who got the first impression rose on Monday night's episode, almost immediately found herself the target of Twitter sleuths who dug up her posts from 2016. Tuesday she responded by admitting she "used misguided arguments on Twitter to defend a student who dressed in Blackface as Tupac for Halloween."

Greer says she wants to apologize "to those I have hurt, especially those within the Black community" -- claiming she isn't sorry because of the screenshots, but because she had those opinions in the first place.

ICYMI, Twitter users found a handful of Greer's tweets -- which she's now deleted -- in defense of a friend at Lamar High School in Houston who put black paint on her face ... allegedly as part of an initiation ceremony.

Greer claimed those involved had no clue what blackface was -- or its historical significance -- adding someone putting white powder on their face wouldn't be as big of a deal.

A woman claiming to be the mother of Mike Clevinger's 10-month-old daughter says the White Sox pitcher abused her -- strangling her on one occasion -- and now, the MLB is reportedly investigating the allegations.

The woman, Olivia Finestead, made the claims in a series of social media posts on Tuesday  ... alleging Clevinger terrorized her during their relationship.

In one of her posts, Finestead said the 32-year-old "threw an iPad at me pregnant." She also said "he strangled me." The woman also alleged Clevinger "threw chew spit on our baby."

According to The Athletic, Finestead has been in contact with the MLB over the allegations. The outlet also reported that the MLB has launched an investigation into the claims.

Clevinger spent much of his career with Cleveland, but for the last 2.5 seasons he's been with the San Diego Padres. The Chicago White Sox signed him in free agency this off-season.

The Athletic reports the Sox were made aware of Finestead's allegations only after the signing.

Clevinger, who owns a career 3.39 ERA in his six MLB seasons, has yet to publicly comment on the claims. His agent, Seth Levinson, told The Athletic on Tuesday, "We need to fairly and thoroughly protect our client and at the same time be respectful of the White Sox and MLB. We need time before responding."

Shy Glizzy is defending his name after OnlyFans star Sky Bri accused him of slipping her a pill while they were shooting his "White Girl" music video.

The D.C. rapper addressed the allegation for the first time while he was on Akademiks' Spotify podcast, 'Off The Record' ... he denied doing it, and shot holes in her account of what happened on set.

Shy said, as an artist, he simply doesn't have any responsibilities on a music video set and therefore, wouldn't have been in a position to interact with Sky the way she described the shoot going down last year.

It might have been best for him to stop there, but Shy added ... he's too much of a player to get caught up and didn't feel the need to react to "false allegations."

Calling yourself a "player" is probably not the best choice in this situation, but Shy says fans haven't heard of any previous sexual misconduct allegations against him so he claims Sky's claim can't be true.

Tim Allen says Pamela Anderson's claim he flashed her behind the scenes on "Home Improvement" is a lie ... but there's a newly resurfaced clip showing the actor flashing another costar in a playful blooper.

The scene includes Tim and Patricia Richardson, who played Tim's wife, Jill Taylor, on the popular sitcom. Allen's dressed in a kilt, and Patricia says, "Hangs long, I just wish it was shorter."

Allen then lifts his kilt, and while the camera doesn't show what's under it, Patricia tells TMZ, "People ask me what was under the kilt when he flashed me, he was well dressed under there, I was just shocked that he lifted the kilt, not by a man in boxer shorts."

As we reported, a section from Pamela Anderson's upcoming book 'Love, Pamela' claims Allen flashed her backstage while he was wearing a robe on her first day at "Home Improvement."

Pamela writes, "He said it was only fair, because he had seen me naked. Now we’re even. I laughed uncomfortably."

We should say, Allen's flashing of Patricia happened in front of a live studio audience, so there were plenty of other people around ... making it feel all the more light-hearted, and tough to compare to Pamela's claim.