You Might Want to Rethink

Tank says the Grammys is one of those institutions that's part of the old guard of Hollywood -- which he admits has racism deeply embedded -- but he's got a way to turn it around.

We were at LAX when we caught the R&B crooner -- who's been nominated a whopping 5 times at the Grammys himself -- and asked what he made of The Weeknd's emphatic boycott and the accusation that Grammy honchos are inherently racist and out of touch.

Check it out ... Tank doesn't deny it, but he does say the org's new Prez and CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., is a good man whom he genuinely believes wants to make the show more inclusive and in touch with 2021 audiences. HMJ is very new to the job ... about 2 years in.

Tank also hit us with some solid suggestions on how to get the right artists nominated and how to gauge whose music is actually connecting with the world and how.

Watch ... he basically says the Recording Academy needs voters in these committees who ACTUALLY know the artists they're reviewing and are experts in the categories for which they're weighing ballots. He offers up some names of artists as an example -- like Lil Uzi Vert and A Boogie wit da Hoodie -- as guys that these old heads might not know of at all.

Tank explains that skimming through a few songs from artists you're not familiar with just isn't won't cut it anymore -- he says voters gotta understand the full scope and impact of what they're reviewing, and while he doesn't explicitly say it ... it might require some new blood.

Let this be a lesson for all -- when you assume, you make an ass outta U and ME ... which applies to this woman who asked a guy with one leg why he parked in a handicap spot.

Australian social media influencer Paniora Nukunuku -- who goes by @pnuks on TikTok -- posted a series of videos this past week documenting his run-in with an elderly lady who apparently accosted him in a McDonald's parking lot as he pulled into a space.

Since PN has a prosthetic leg -- as well as what amounts to a handicap placard on the dash of his car -- he parked in a handicap space close to the building. The problem ... this woman seems to have presumed he didn't need it and was just parking wherever he wanted.

Big mistake, 'cause the guy takes the woman to task -- within reason, of course. He gets out of the car and films his prosthetic, and when he finally comes face to face with her asking why she questioned if the placard was really his ... it's hilariously awkward.

His point ... not all handicapped people are in wheelchairs and not all are super old and frail (which also happens to be his TikTok bio). Paniora says he went to the cops over this too, BTW, but they told him they weren't able to do anything. So, he took to the internet.

Now, it's understandable why the woman might've thought he was some young whippersnapper flouting the rules ... because, yes, it happens. And as she notes ... she "desperately needs" access to such spots. It's also unclear *how* she went about asking.

Some surgeons at a Michigan hospital are in hot water after they started playing games in the middle of operations ... games including "The Price is Right."

Photos were posted that triggered the alarm at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. In one photo, a doctor is pictured with a cancerous organ that was removed. The caption in one post reads, "The other game we play in the OR is guess that weight. As always, 'Price is Right' rules apply so if you go over then you're out!"

And yet, another post shows a doctor holding fibrous tissue with the patient in the background under anesthesia, with the caption, "Longest one wins!"

The photos were posted on an Instagram account, allegedly run by nearly 3 dozen obstetrics and gynecology residents in training. The photos have been deleted.

This follows another bizarre surgical scandal in Sacramento, where a doctor hopped on zoom in the middle of an operation to fight a traffic ticket. The horrified judge would have no part of it, and the Medical Board is investigating.

Cardi B appears to be downplaying The Weeknd's fury about being snubbed at the Grammys with a spotlight on other Black artists who are getting recognized ... which is interesting.

The rapper posted a lengthy statement Saturday about her thoughts on all the Grammys drama, and while she acknowledged she did think some albums and songs probably should've gotten nominated, she doesn't seem nearly as miffed as others are.

All she has to say on the matter of snubs is ... "[M]aybe by next year they will get it right."

What she did want to talk about at length, however, was the fact that a number of lesser-known, independent Black artists WERE nominated this year ... and that they should be allowed to revel in that honor, because too often they're overlooked despite being amazing.

Cardi writes, "Don’t forget to congratulate the small black artist that got nominated that got overshadowed again cause of the drama. It’s their moment finally!" She goes on to cite artists who are up for an award, like Freddie Gibbs, Giveon, Brittany Howard, Ant Clemons, Ledisi, Luke James, Thundercat, Chika, Jean and Marcus Baylor and more ... several of whom Cardi notes that don't get the pub, like marquee names in the music biz do on the regular.

She ends by saying, "Soo besides all the bulls*** let's not forget to congratulate these artists," going on to say this is their moment too and that folks shouldn't overshadow it "cause your favorite might not be on the list." Her choice of words here certainly raises an eyebrow.

Of course, The Weeknd just recently vowed to boycott the Grammys going forward -- this after accusing them of being corrupt and running secret committees that supposedly require a lot of ass-kissing behind closed doors. The Grammys has denied that characterization.

Still, it sounds like Abel's other contemporaries mostly agree with him that the Grammys get it wrong time and again. Drake chimed in not too long ago with that exact sentiment ... and even Beyonce's gonna be a no-show on Sunday, despite being the most nominated artist.

The killing of George Floyd has been recreated in an awful attempt at parody -- with a French magazine using Queen Elizabeth as Derek Chauvin kneeling on Meghan Markle.

Charlie Hebdo just released a new edition of its weekly publication -- and it features a crudely drawn cartoon version of QE2 pressing down on the Duchess of Sussex's neck ... who's laid down on the ground and struggling for air -- much like George Floyd last year.

The caption reads ... "POURQUOI MEGHAN A QUITTE BUCKINGHAM," which translates to "Why Meghan left Buckingham." There's a quote bubble coming from Meghan as well in the drawing, which roughly comes out to, "because I couldn't breathe anymore."

The message they're trying to communicate -- or so it seems -- is that Meghan felt smothered by Royal racism (headed up by the Queen). It turns out to be a swing and a miss -- 'cause folks aren't entertained.

Many are calling the magazine racist ... demanding they pull the new issue. While Charlie Hebdo pegs itself as a satire, a lot of people say this goes way too far -- mocking Floyd's death for cheap thrills. Not only that, but it's inaccurate ... according to Harry and Meghan.

Remember, Harry explicitly ruled out his grandmother and grandfather as the party who allegedly brought up skin color concerns as it pertained to Archie. There's a lot of speculation it was either Prince Charles or Prince William -- but the latter denied as much.

Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez say reports of their demise as a couple have been greatly exaggerated -- well, maybe just exaggerated -- because they say they are still fighting to stay together ... TMZ has learned.

Both J Lo and A-Rod tell TMZ, "All the reports are inaccurate. We are working through some things." We're also told what they're working through has nothing to do with a third party.

Sources connected to the couple made it clear to TMZ and other outlets Friday ... the couple had called off their engagement and broken up. We asked our sources with direct knowledge why we were all told they broke up, and we were told things were "bad" on Friday.

As of now, A-Rod's still in Miami and J Lo's in the Dominican Republic shooting a movie, and it's unclear when they'll be back together. FYI, it's a hop, skip and a jump from Miami to the D.R.

There's a lot at stake in their relationship. Aside from them, they both have kids that have effectively blended as a big family, so that's got to come into play as they navigate their relationship.

James Cameron's blockbuster, 'Avatar,' has reclaimed its throne as the highest-grossing movie ever around the world, which appears to be kinda pissing off the 'Endgame' crowd.

Marvel fanboys/girls laid into Cameron Saturday on word that his 2009 behemoth of a flick had once again climbed to the top of the charts globally upon a re-release this weekend in Chinese markets, putting its new haul at just over $2.8B against 'Endgame's' $2.797B.

China's Film Bureau struck a deal that allowed for 'Avatar' to be re-released in theaters, seeing how they're testing re-opening cineplexes ... but are short on new material. Since 'Avatar' is an all-time great among viewers there, they greenlit its revival on the big screen.

Marvel was gracious in defeat, tweeting ... "Congratulations to @JimCameron, @JonLandau, and ALL of Na'vi Nation for reclaiming the box office crown! We love you 3000." Cameron responded with a blue heart emoji, y'know ... 'cause of the blue forest people.

While the studio is bowing down ... fans aren't. Many are pointing out 'Avatar' appears to be gaming the system with yet another re-release more than a decade later, and seemingly juking the stats in its favor. Yes, the movie has had a handful of re-releases over the years, including a significant one right after its OG one-month theatrical run in late 2009.

Here's the thing ... if 'Avatar' "cheated," so did 'Endgame' to get its huge numbers. That movie was in theaters for a whopping 20 weeks or so, which comes out to about how many months 'Avatar' has been left in theaters total on re-releases (give or take a couple months).

Bill Maher delivered again Friday night, with a blistering review of America ... a "silly country" he says, especially when compared to China.

The 'Real Time' host dissected the American psyche ... a country that is now obsessed with Dr. Suess' books. By contrast, he notes China couldn't give "a crouching tiger, flying f***," because they're not "silly people."

The "silly people" reference is from "Lawrence of Arabia," but Bill said the moniker fits like a glove in the U S of A.

Maher concedes China does a lot of "bad stuff," but then he lowers the boom, grousing, “We all know China does bad stuff" ... but there’s got to be something between a totalitarian government that knows what to do and a representative government that can’t do anything at all.”

He wasn't done. Bill divides the country into 2 groups -- half the U.S. is consumed with whether Mr. Potato Head has a d***, and the other half is obsessed with wacky conspiracy theories.

But, wait -- there's more. Bill goes after the movement to favor equity over merit in college admissions, and while he's on the subject, he references a few classes filled with silly students ... The Philosophy of Star Trek at Indiana State University, The Sociology of Seinfeld at SUNY Oswego, and Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse at Michigan State.

Fox News host Greg Gutfeld really had to use the bathroom, so he broke out in song about his need to relieve ... his bladder, and he did it live on the air.

Ya gotta see the hilarious moment ... Greg's on camera during "The Five," and his mic is hot as he starts singing about having to pee. It seems he doesn't realize they're back from commercial, and although his colleagues try to alert him ... oops!!!

Turns out, he had reason to sing ... after the fact he tweeted confirmation of what went down as soon as he got off-camera.

Greg is known for a segment about litter boxes, and his co-hosts cracked a few jokes about him needing one himself.

Megyn Kelly is apparently amused by the image of Queen Elizabeth packing heat to settle the beef with Meghan Markle ... at least based on Megyn's Twitter account.

As you can see, the meme -- which Megyn retweeted -- shows the Queen holding a handgun with a silencer, with the caption, "When you spend £32 million on your grandsons wedding and his wife starts bitching about you to Oprah."

Her review of the threatening meme was ... "So good." She, or someone on her team, has since deleted the tweet -- but she's already made her position known on Harry and Meghan's interview.

Kelly played Monday morning QB, criticizing Oprah for not asking the couple to be more specific about the racist allegations -- and made it clear she didn't buy Meghan's claim she didn't know anything about the Royal family before hooking up with Harry.

We reached out to Megyn's camp about the tweet ... so far, no word back.

Prince William insists the Royals are "very much not a racist family," but photos of him and his wife being carried on elevated thrones don't exactly reflect that.

The pictures resurfaced Thursday after the Duke of Cambridge emphatically denied the allegations of racism made by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during their Oprah interview.

They show him and Kate Middleton being carried on thrones back in 2012 by people of color in the Solomon Islands. William and Kate were on their Diamond Jubilee tour of the British Commonwealth nations in the South Pacific at the time.

During the tour, they were carried on the backs of locals several times ... including in the nearby country of Tuvalu.

Understandably, these images juxtaposed with both William's and Buckingham Palace's statements about alleged racism have people wondering ... if the British monarchy has an issue with white supremacy.

While one could say the throne carrying ceremony is tradition, one would also have to look at why and how that tradition began -- and that's where race and colonization become an issue.

The woman who is about to be arrested for coughing on and attacking an Uber driver has proven to be just as dangerous when she's in the driver's seat.

Arna Kimiai has once again incriminated herself, this time with a video she shot last June behind the wheel of a McLaren sports car ... hitting speeds topping 122 MPH. Kimiai is more focused on posing for the camera than safe driving -- blasting music, losing her ponytail and claiming, "This sh** is getting too colossal."

Speaking of colossal ... Kimiai became infamous this week after a video of her and one other friend assaulting and coughing on an Uber driver went viral ... telling him they had COVID-19, and that got the attention of San Francisco cops.

One of the passengers from the video, Malaysia King, in red, was arrested Thursday for assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery, conspiracy and for violating health and safety code.

There's NO bad blood between Patrick Ewing and James Dolan -- the two have spoken and smoothed things out after Ewing complained about the security protocol at Madison Square Garden, TMZ Sports has learned.

Of course, Ewing spent 15 seasons playing for the NY Knicks at MSG -- and his #33 jersey was retired and currently hangs in the rafters.

But, Ewing -- who's now the head basketball coach at Georgetown -- publicly griped about the treatment he received at the Garden on Thursday after his Hoyas upset Villanova at MSG.

"I do want to say one thing, though. I thought this was my building," Ewing said ... "And, I feel terrible that I'm getting stopped, accosted, [people] asking for passes."

Ewing continued ... "Everybody in this building should know who the hell I am, and I'm getting stopped -- I can't move around this building. I was like, 'What the hell? Is this Madison Square Garden?'"

"I'm gonna have to call Mr. Dolan and say geez ... is my number in the rafters or what?!"

Well, Ewing and Dolan DID speak later that day ... and a rep for MSG Entertainment broke it down this way.

"Jim and Patrick have a long-standing relationship; they spoke this afternoon and reaffirmed that."

"We all know, respect and appreciate what he means to The Garden and New York. Good luck to him and his Hoyas in the Big East semi-finals."

So, seems everything is cool now ... and the Hoyas can focus on their upcoming game against Seton Hall on Friday.

Donald Trump's taking to the friendly skies in a not-so-friendly plane for someone who was the most powerful man on Earth a couple months ago ... a jet so compact he can't stand up in it!!!

Trump was spotted by the DailyMail in NYC taking a few short steps into what appears to be a Cessna Citation X ... a super-midsize jet that's the envy of all social media influencers but a basic bird for your average CEO. The jet's reportedly a 1997 model registered to the Trump Org.

It's one helluva downgrade for the ex-Commander-in-Chief ... who for 4 years enjoyed all the luxury Air Force One had to offer.

Of course, no one expected Trump to continue flying on his own private 747 after leaving the White House, but it's still surprising to see him flying around in the Cessna instead of his 757 with his name on it -- a 43-seater Trump used during his first campaign.

It's unclear why he opted for the 8-seater ... which forces him to bend down his 6-foot-3 frame while inside a cabin with a 5-foot-7 height. There's no red carpet either.

A law professor at Georgetown University is under fire for comments she made about Black students doing poorly in her class ... with some calling her racist and demanding she be fired.

Ya gotta see the video ... the professor is discussing student performance when she says, "I end up having this angst every semester that a lot of my lower ones are Blacks. Happens almost every semester."

The Georgetown Black Law Students Association says the professor is Sandra Sellers ... and the organization says she should be fired for "blatant and shameless racism."

The BLSA also says Sellers was talking about a Black student when she said their answers were "a bit jumbled." The org says David Batson is the other professor in the video seen nodding in agreement.

GU says it's investigating and law school dean Bill Treanor says the video is "abhorrent" and "reprehensible."

Meyers Leonard is getting an olive branch from at least some in the Jewish community -- a group called "Jew in the City" wants to work with the Heat player, instead of canceling him.

We got "Jew in the City" founder Allison Josephs in NYC Wednesday during a protest in front of NBC, which we'll get to in a moment -- but right off the bat, we asked her about Leonard's anti-Semitic slur incident.

Allison's actually pretty merciful, saying the guy should get a second chance, as long as he's willing to learn what the epithet he used really means to Jews ... and to learn more about Jewish people, in general.

She suggests Meyers actually meet with some Jewish folks. As we reported, Patriots star Julian Edelman's already reached out to him, and Allison believes that's the right approach in these situations.

Speaking of educating the masses ... the group was demonstrating at 30 Rock as part of its campaign to correct inaccurate depictions of Orthodox Jews on NBC shows like "Nurses" and 'Law & Order: SVU.'

You might've heard about the "Nurses" fiasco recently -- which forced NBC to yank the episode in question entirely after it was accused of rehashing anti-Semitic tropes. Welp, Allison says that's nothing new, and points to a Season 9 SVU episode that's just as cringeworthy.