You Might Want to Rethink

Bill Simmons called Meghan Markle and Prince Harry de facto charlatans amid their Spotify exit -- and he clearly believes they brought little to nothing to the table there.

The longtime sports media personality and Ringer founder -- who made a boatload of cash in a mega-sale to Spotify a few years back, and who oversees a sea of podcasts under The Ringer brand there at Spotify as well -- trashed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in one of his latest podcast episodes ... where he did not mince words on how he felt about 'em.

BS launched into a quick and mini tirade about the Royal couple ... jokingly saying he wished he was part of their deal to leave Spotify, and then proceeded to call them "grifters."

Check it out yourself ... not only does Bill call them virtual phonies in the podcast game, but he actually drops what sounds like an F-bomb too. Adding insult to injury, he teases a story he says he has about trying to pitch PH a podcast idea over Zoom once upon a time.

Doesn't sound like that went well ... 'cause Bill obviously isn't a fan of them or their content.

Speaking of that content, reports have suggested that Meg and co. simply weren't cranking out enough of it to meet their end of the $20 million bargain. As such, some media outlets are saying they won't get paid out in full on their contract -- which is ... not great.

BTW, Harry and Meghan aren't the only people at Spotify getting kicked to the curb. It appears there's a lot of fat-trimming going on for pods that aren't producing -- Jemele Hill's losing her Spotify deal, and the Obamas lost theirs as well in the not-too-distant past.

Gucci Mane had a few things to get off his chest on his new Lil Baby collab "Bluffin" ... an ode to cleaning up his act in and out of the rap game.

Midway on the track, Gucci took a shot at Wack 100's Clubhouse legacy, rapping ... "I want my M's up to one, two, three, four, five one-hundred (Go)/I ain't arguin' on no internet, I'm not Wack100 (No)."

Wack eventually got wind of the lyrics and, although he and Gucci share plenty of mutual friends, vowed to return fire on a diss track of his own after the weekend is over.

The longtime manager of both The Game and Blueface doesn't rap per se, but seems to think he can beat Gucci at his own game.

Here's a side of championship celebrations you don't see very often -- Nuggets hooper Bruce Brown revealed the aftermath of raging nonstop since Denver won the NBA Finals earlier this week ... admitting he's "hurting bad."

The 26-year-old posted some hungover content to his Instagram on Friday ... saying Nikola Jokic is to blame for his seat on the struggle bus.

"This is Nikola's fault," a clearly roughed-up Brown said from bed. "This is the Sombor Shuffle's fault that I'm down bad this bad ... and I want everyone to know that."

Brown admitted he had no idea what Jokic was handing him throughout the night ... but there's no doubt in his mind whatever it was was the source of his pain.

Brown -- who played a huge role in the Finals -- also begged for some "damn Pedialyte" to help him recover.

Of course, Brown was one of many Nuggets players letting loose during the team's parade and rally celebrations on Thursday ... which flowed into a night of raging at a Vegas nightclub.

Two climate activists were detained in a Swedish museum ... after taking a bunch of red paint to a world-famous Monet painting as part of their protest.

The latest art-related demonstration went down at Sweden's National Museum Wednesday in Stockholm, when 2 members of the Restore Wetlands activist group wiped bright-red paint across "The Artist’s Garden at Giverny."

The two also glued their hands to the work of art -- although a piece of glass protected it from actually getting damaged.

The 2 women, speaking in Swedish, shouted about human health being at stake while asking for peat mining to be banned and to restore the Swedish wetlands ... after some time, security came in to surround the activists.

They both were reportedly detained after the stunt, although it's unclear if anything further happened to them.

This is just the latest activist group to target a piece of art -- we've seen Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" doused in tomato soup, cake smeared over the Mona Lisa, and another Monet painting get covered with mashed potatoes.

Meek Mill thinks YK Osiris deserves a second chance after the singer forcibly attempted to kiss Sukihana (twice) against her will ... and doesn't want to see him fry on the internet.

The Dreamchasers rapper offered his two cents on the matter just as YK's apology to Suki was making its rounds.

According to the mind of Meek, YK is an honest victim of the culture's ultra-sexual nature ... and made the simple mistake of letting his lil' head do the thinking!!!

Meek, in all his wisdom, also thinks YK could benefit from a slap or two and a day at church.

YK came under fire at a Crew League basketball game in the presence of comedians Lil Duval and Funny Marco ... but one person who was not laughing is Amber Rose, who scolded YK and claimed the moment brought her to real tears.

Suki, for her part, has chosen to take a break from social media for the time being and hasn't responded to YK's apology or Meek's unsolicited advice!!!

We covered it all in a recent episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

YK Osiris wants to make one thing very clear -- he never meant to harm Sukihana in forcibly kissing her at a public event -- and is apologizing for his actions.

Osiris took to instagram to offer an apology Wednesday, writing, "I want to publicly offer my sincerest apology to Sukihana. In an attempt to be playful, I misread the moment and viloated Sukihana's boundaries."

He continues, "I understand the importance of consent and I am embarrassed by my behavior. I take full responsibility and have made multiple attempts to apologize. I have the utmost admiration for Sukihana and it was never my intention to disrespect her."

The apology comes after Osiris was slammed online for a video that showed him and Suki at Crew League in ATL over the weekend where he grabbed her face and kissed her twice as she shrieked in awkwardness.

People online accused Osiris of sexual assault, and hours after the event, Suki tweeted, "I drink to hide that I'm very sensitive. I feel things more then the average person. I stopped drinking yesterday but today I've been crying all day. I asked God to strengthen me and use me to help others and to order my steps in his word. I just want to go away for awhile."

Sources with direct knowledge of the situation told us prior to Saturday, the two didn't have any sort of relationship, and the whole thing took Suki totally off guard ... she was both embarrassed and hurt by YK's actions.

Sukihana has not yet responded to the apology.

YK Osiris believed he had the right to grab Sukihana and plant an unwanted kiss on her lips, and for that, the internet is letting him have it ... accusing the singer of sexual assault.

The whole thing went down over the weekend at The Crew League event in ATL. Suki's sitting at the host table when Osiris comes up behind her and starts to rub her bare shoulders.

Suki appears uncomfortable -- but then YK ramps it up, grabbing her face and attempting to kiss her. Suki successfully avoids his first attempt, but then he does it again as she yells out ... this time planting one directly on her lips.

After the incident, YK seemingly oblivious to how awkward the whole thing looked, laughs it off -- apparently thinking what he did was funny.

Sukihana appeared stunned as YK walked away, but later tweeted, "I drink to hide that I'm very sensitive. I feel things more then the average person. I stopped drinking yesterday but today I've been crying all day. I asked God to strengthen me and use me to help others and to order my steps in his word. I just want to go away for awhile."

Sources familiar with what went down tell us Suki doesn't even know YK, and they don't have any sort of relationship. We're told Suki didn't want to make a big scene when it happened, and tried to stay professional ... but the whole thing was disturbing to her.

YK has not yet addressed the incident.

The guy who accused Megan Fox of child abuse for letting her kids wear whatever they want is now getting an earful from the paparazzi agency that owns the pic he used to call the actress out ... and they're not happy.

Backgrid -- the agency that owns the rights to the photo in question, showing Megan with her three sons -- fired off a legal letter Tuesday to ex-GOP congressional candidate Robby Starbuck who used the pic this past weekend to claim MF was forcing girl clothes onto her boys.

The correspondence, obtained by TMZ, accuses Starbuck of infringing on their copyright to the picture -- which they say Starbuck did not purchase or license before he published it.

Backgrid shuts down any potential claim to "fair use" ... a legal doctrine that allows third parties to use copyrighted works without permission in certain limited circumstances.

They say Starbuck can't argue the pic was for political purposes, which was clearly his intent here, and does not meet the legal standard to qualify as fair use ... on multiple fronts, in fact. Bottom line -- they say his fair use claim ain't flying.

Backgrid is now demanding Robby comply with their demands -- saying the photo he posted has been viewed by millions of people, without them seeing a dime -- or else.

A rematch between Floyd Mayweather and John Gotti III in Florida won't be happening anytime soon ... TMZ Sports has confirmed the boxer has been suspended six months in the Sunshine State for his role in the brawl with TBE over the weekend.

A spokesperson for the Florida State Athletic Commission said Tuesday the decision to hit Gotti III with the ban actually came down on Sunday night ... right after Gotti III kicked off a melee when he went after Mayweather following a disqualification during their exhibition match.

The scene at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise was wild ... Gotti III attempted to throw multiple punches at Mayweather -- which caused a flurry of people to jump into the ring.

Chaos then ensued -- as multiple men were seen pushing and shoving each other ... before it all mercifully was broken up.

According to a rep for the FSAC, Mayweather was NOT penalized for his role in it all.

Our sources say Mayweather and the grandson of iconic mob boss John Gotti ultimately ended up hashing things out once cooler heads prevailed ... and are engaging in talks about potentially running it back down the line.

Ice Spice isn't taking too kindly to internet trolls who think her rap career only blew up because she's light-skinned, the 'Munch' rapper thinks everyone loses as a result of the conversation.

Ice Spice graced the newest cover of "Teen Vogue" Tuesday and addressed the social media backlash from last week's Hot 97 Summer Jam performance where she brought out Flo Milli.

Rabid fans stirred the pot and claimed colorism was the reason Ice's career usurped Flo's career, despite Flo entering the rap game several years prior ... but Ice tells the publication the issues are bigger than her.

"I feel like that's not something personal to me," Ice explained before adding ... "I feel like that's been the conversation for generations and forever, since the beginning of time. I try not to feed into negativity because I also see that when people are trying to make that point, it's not out of a good place. [They end up putting] somebody else down."

Ice's career is poppin' — she currently has the most Top 5 Billboard 100 Entries of any artist this year, catapulted by her recent collabs with Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift ... but fame has brought out the crazies all the same.

The Bronx-born rap star says her social security number got leaked and seeing frequent photos of herself as a kid weirds her out.

Elon Musk has entered the chat on how Megan Fox raises her sons -- and in trying to be funny ... he says he might need to bring someone onboard to stamp out the dark arts.

The Twitter chief posted a few interesting messages on his platform Sunday -- all of which clearly appeared to be in direct response to the controversy between MF and conservative provocateur Robby Starbuck ... who started this whole thing by accusing her and her ex, Brian Austin Green, of child abuse -- simply for letting their boys dress how they like.

Elon tweeted, "Looking to hire a VP of Witchcraft & Propaganda." It might've seemed to have come out of nowhere, but if you check his Twitter replies ... he references Megan specifically.

In a thread that followed his OG comment, somebody said Megan Fox was his girl -- this while highlighting her response to Starbuck, in which she threatened to use witchcraft on him -- and another person jokingly responded, "She is bad at propaganda though."

To that, Elon retorted ... "Nobody is perfect." BTW, Elon's been following the story all weekend -- when RS published his original accusation, EM commented directly with a "!"

Elon's reference to witchcraft also dovetails with something Megan posted after her IG statement. She threw up a photo from a news article earlier this week ... which purports to have captured footage of real-life "witches" eating a deer carcass outside of a farm.

Meg added her own caption, writing ... "me outside rob starbucks house," and the guy himself seemed shocked. He posted this after, saying ... "Now Megan Fox is threatening to hold a carcass eating ritual at my house. That’d be a bold/dumb decision in TN. If her goal was to look crazy. Mission accomplished! Now people know she practices witchcraft too."

A few things of note here ... one, most people know Megan Fox is into this kind of stuff -- it's no secret, and has been well-documented ... especially in her relationship with MGK.

More importantly, though ... it would appear Elon is co-signing what Starbuck has said about Megan and her family. Mind you, he's suggesting he needs to hire somebody to filter out propaganda and witchcraft on Twitter ... which he seems to believe Megan is spewing.

Elizabeth Olsen has been real honest about her time with Marvel -- namely, feeling like she invested far too many years working for them -- and now ... she's hitting that point home.

The actress -- famous for playing Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch throughout the 'Avengers' movies -- got candid yet again this weekend in a sit-down interview with Meghann Fahy, as part of Variety's 'Actors on Actors' series. One quote of hers is getting a double-take online.

Fahy asks Olsen if she stays up at night missing Wanda -- or playing her, presumably -- and EO's reaction is telling. She says she doesn't ... but you gotta watch *how* she says it.

There's a little bit of sass and saltiness in her response, and you can tell she truly means it. As she goes on to explain, she's played that character for the better part of 10 years, and she's more than ready to put Wanda's stories on the bookshelf ... at least for now.

Olsen adds that she's proud of the work she did with Kevin Feige and co. ... and feels content with letting those projects speak for themselves -- including "WandaVision," which was a huge Disney+ hit that focused solely on her role, with a full-fledged backstory.

So, her take here seems to be two-fold -- yes, she's over it and has no desire to link up again anytime soon ... but also, she's grateful for the opportunity to have been a superhero.

BTW, her response here about missing Wanda is very much in line with other comments she's made of late about Marvel. She's been on the record over the past year or so -- via several outlets -- saying that she wishes she would've only given the Mouse House one year of her services as opposed to several ... as there were times she was frustrated.

She's said she felt, at times, like she missed out on other interesting opportunities -- remember, she comes from an indie film background -- that she might've liked to have pursued. But, because she was under contract with Marvel, she had to pass on 'em.

King Charles will celebrate his 75th birthday this year, which, if you're in the Royal Family, calls for a massive parade ... but it's the guards dressed in uniform that are paying the price for the bash.

Rehearsals were underway Saturday for Charles' Bday bash -- complete with a massive band who was forced to perform in sweltering temps of around 86°F ... about 20 degrees warmer than usual for this time of year across the pond.

It wasn't long before band members started dropping like flies, passing out from the heat ... and forcing medics to carry them off on stretchers like in a war zone.

At one point, a trombonist, dressed head to toe in a wool uniform went down, attempting to get back up and play before he was whisked away by medical reps.

Prince William, obviously aware to what had happened, tweeted out a thank you to all involved and noted the crazy temps for the area.

If you're familiar, you might know Charles' actual birthday isn't until November, but Palace officials decided it would be too cold to celebrate with a parade during that time of year.

Obviously, that decision makes Saturday's disastrous rehearsal that much more cringe ... but other than the few fainting episodes, everything else seemed to go off without issue.

Donald Trump thought he could use Matt Damon's voice to help raise some dough for his campaign, but the famous actor and his buddy Ben Affleck aren't gonna let it fly.

Trump pushed out a fundraising video on Truth Social last week which was almost entirely centered around a monologue from Damon's character in the film "Air." Among some of the lines from Damon, “Money can buy you almost anything, but it can’t buy you immortality."

Turns out, Trump didn't have permission to use the Damon audio, and Artists Equity, the company co-founded by Damon and Affleck that produced "Air" didn't hold back.

AE released a statement, saying, "We had no foreknowledge of, did not consent to and do not endorse or approve any footage or audio from Air being repurposed by the Trump campaign as a political advertisement or for any other use.”

The statement continues, “Specifically in terms of any & all rights available to us under U.S. copyright and intellectual property law, we hereby, expressly give notice that in the case of any use of material from Air by the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not grant such consent.”

"Air" is a film about the rise of Nike, and highlights the company's pursuit of Michael Jordan in what became the biggest footwear deal of all-time. Damon plays Nike exec Sonny Vaccaro.

Of course, it's not the first time Trump's gotten in trouble for using material he didn't get permission for in promoting himself ... he's gotten hammered for using songs like "Hallelujah," Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" and Tom Petty's "I Wont' Back Down."

Most recently, he was scolded for using the song and image of The Village People's "Macho Man" during an event at Mar-a-Lago.

Garth Brooks says he isn't keeping any beers off his tap list when it comes to what he'll serve at his new bar -- and that apparently includes Bud Light ... despite the backlash.

In a recent interview with Billboard, the country singer alluded to having the embattled Anheuser-Busch brand featured in his soon-to-be-opened Friends In Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk in Nashville -- which is gonna be on the famed Broadway strip there in downtown.

They were talking about the kind of vibe Garth wants to foster there -- and how he'll, perhaps, differentiate himself/his establishment from other honky tonks there -- and he said one thing they'll do to stand out is by serving beer that every kind of person can enjoy.

Here's the full quote ... "I know this sounds corny, I want it to be the Chick-fil-A of honky-tonks. I want it to be a place you feel safe in, I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people like one another."

GB goes on to add, "And yes, we're going to serve every brand of beer. We just are. It's not our decision to make. Our thing is this, if you [are let] into this house, love one another. If you're an a**hole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway."

Of course, Garth didn't mention Bud Light or Dylan Mulvaney by name ... but it's obvious what he was referring to. Bottom line here is ... the dude's gonna have Bud ready to pour.

Garth's embrace of Bud Light is getting some flak from conservatives, who are accusing him of going "woke" and capitulating to left-wing viewpoints. There are even some who are vowing to boycott his bar and take their dollar elsewhere -- including Kid Rock's place.

A Colorado cop socked an unruly woman in the face while she was in handcuffs ... and the assault was caught on video, leading to the officer's firing.

Loveland Police Chief Tim Doran released the body cam footage Friday, which showed Russell Maranto and his fellow officers escorting Angelia Hall into a hospital room on May 20. Hall was taken to the medical center for evaluation after she was placed in protective custody for wandering in traffic and mumbling to herself.

The clip begins with Hall parking herself in a chair with her hands cuffed behind her back and getting belligerent with the cops, shouting and cursing at them.

Maranto rips a piece of paper out of Hall's hand and walks away with it. As a result, Hall goes berserk, demanding her paper back as Maranto returns to try to calm her down.

But Hall can't contain her anger and hocks a loogie at Maranto, who then slams his fist into her face, causing minor injuries.