You Might Want to Rethink

Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker do not seem to be afraid of heights -- because they went waaay up for an impromptu performance ... and then, MGK went a little bit higher.

The two rockers strutted their stuff Saturday afternoon for a rooftop concert at Venice Beach ... which they told their fans about last minute, in what turned into a flash mob type event that tons of people came out for, or simply caught live if they happened to be in the area.

Kelly was on lead vocals and guitar, while Trav handled the drums (obvs). The duo -- who are also dating some of the hottest female stars in Hollywood, Megan Fox and Kourtney Kardashian -- appeared to be promoting a new song of theirs, "A Girl Like You," which is on the season 1 soundtrack for Amazon's "Paradise City."

Their show seemed to go off without a hitch -- with MGK shouting out Travis and also giving a nod to what appears to be the tail end of the pandemic here in the States ... something the crowd certainly agreed with, as mostly everyone is dealing with COVID fatigue.

However, there were moments during the concert where Kelly got up onto the speakers near him -- balancing while also rocking out. It was cool and all, but also ... high-key freaky. One misstep, and the dude could've taken a nasty tumble and hurt himself -- maybe worse.

All's well that ends well, though -- MGK ended up fine ... and not just, he was met with a crush of people waiting to greet him on his way out -- which we caught on video as well.

There's no question -- he's a rock star ... and got the appropriate treatment upon his exit.

Victoria's Secret is doing both a good thing and kind of a dumb thing by replacing their "Angels" with strong female ambassadors ... so says noted Fenty model Slick Woods.

We got Slick -- who's famous for her preggo catwalk in 2018, and giving birth shortly thereafter -- out and about Friday night near Hyde in WeHo ... this during an UOMA Beauty event by Sharon Chuter. Good setting to talk fashion and sex appeal, no doubt.

Of course, our cam guy had to bring up VS's decision to rebrand themselves with new spokeswomen -- including Megan Rapinoe and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, among others -- while also doing away with their winged models, seemingly for good. Slick's take is ... interesting.

Check out her answer for yourself -- at first, she seems to be against the move ... wisely noting that, despite all the progress we've made as a society, sex sells at the end of the day.

BTW, that's not necessarily a bad thing either ... according to Slick, anyway. She says if you use that primal truth for good causes -- like what Victoria's Secret appears to want going forward -- then it's simply a means to an end. She's got a great example about getting people's attention.

We're not trying to put words in SW's mouth, but she *seems* to be saying what VS is doing with this new crop of women might not be the most effective way to get asses in seats for their goals big picture, in a manner of speaking. Then comes the curveball.

A now-viral video has been making the rounds of what many say is a real-life sighting of an actual werewolf in Africa, which was apparently shot dead ... but the whole thing is BS.

The clip that's got people buzzing surfaced seemingly out of nowhere this week, and it shows what appears to be the body of a lycan -- subspecies of a werewolf in monster mythology -- dead on the ground in the middle of the night, bleeding from its face ... lying motionless.

There's a man narrating, speaking in what seems to be Hausa -- which folks took to mean this alleged killing took place somewhere in Nigeria ... and it's freaking everyone out.

Different users saw this and spread it like wildfire -- warning locals in the area to be on the lookout, sounding the alarm without really questioning the source ... or its veracity. Luckily, somebody came to the table with the truth -- and that would be ... this is a big fat hoax!

The clip that everyone is seeing is dubbed over, as the original is actually part of what seems to be a short film from Portugal called "Lobisomem Morto a Tiros" ... which translates to "werewolf shot to death." Very original, we know. It was thrown up on April 1 by a user named Cloud Wolf ... who's got an entire YT page dedicated to the legendary creature.

As for how the hell this thing *looks* so real ... you can chalk it up to great SFX work, courtesy of freelance sculpture artist Joseph-Rob Cobasky -- who's got photos up on his IG with his creation on the table (Frankenstein-style). Obviously, it's a top-notch job -- especially since everyone thought it was the real McCoy. A testament to the quality, indeed.

The makeup team from "An American Werewolf in London" are probably nodding with glee -- 'cause Joseph's take on a werewolf ain't all too different from what they cooked up in '81.

Saweetie seems to be responding to Quavo's suggestion that he did, indeed, repo a Bentley he'd gifted her during their relationship ... by one-upping him with a new Rolls-Royce.

The rapper was photographed with RR's Client Experience rep Cassidy von Seggern -- with the two ladies posing in front of a Rolls that Saweetie appears to have just purchased, and which was being delivered to her in the Hollywood Hills, with champagne glasses in tow.

Cassidy captioned the pic ... "She a real bad bish, drive her own RR ✨#icy" -- which is a double-entendre ... referencing both Saweetie's song with Doja Cat, "Best Friend," while also alluding to a pickup line Quavo used to holler at Saweetie way back when. Well played!

Saweetie responded to Cassidy's post, writing ... "My girl ! 🤩❄️." Now, it's unclear if Cassidy posted this at Saweetie's behest, or if she did it of her own volition -- but in any case, Saweetie definitely seems to appreciate the gesture ... and the subliminal clap-back.

Now, for a bit of context ... because this Bentley chapter is long and winding. We're sure you remember the drama in the fallout of Saweetie and Quavo's messy breakup -- when it was reported that, in apparent retaliation for how things went down, Quavo repossessed the whip he gave her on her birthday last year. We were told by people in his camp there was NO truth to it -- but the man himself seems to have contradicted that ... with a new song.

In the Migos track "Having Our Way," Quavo raps a bar that goes, "Load up the bases, now I feel like Cal Ripken (Ayy) // She had it her way, now she out of a Bentley (Skrrt)."

While he didn't name-drop her specifically, he didn't really need to -- he's obviously referencing Saweetie's Bentley ... and appears to be hinting that, yeah, he took it back.

Macy Gray thinks America's ready to walk away from its national flag, and even though we may stumble ... she thinks it's for the best, and that the time has come for a new design.

The "I Try" singer penned an op-ed this week for, of all outlets, MarketWatch ... in which she made the case for giving Old Glory a facelift -- because, as she puts it, the current version is "tattered, dated, divisive, and incorrect" ... just like the Confederate flag, apparently!

Macy's justification basically lies in a couple of points -- one, she says the American flag's rep was dragged through the mud (permanently, and beyond repair) due to the events of Jan. 6 ... when a bunch of MAGA truthers carried it high, alongside Trump flags, into the Capitol.

She also says that numerically ... the stars are off, and should be adjusted to 52, to take D.C. and Puerto Rico into account -- which have been lobbying for statehood for a good long while now. Lastly, she suggests some color changes ... to reflect modern-day America.

Here's what she has in mind -- in addition to adding a couple of stars -- for her vision of Old New Glory. For starters, she thinks the stark white stripes should be off-white ... and that the stars themselves should be changed to reflect every skin tone of melanin in our fine nation.

She says the blue square and red stripes -- which stand for vigilance/perseverance and valor, respectively -- can stay ... because she believes the U.S.A. is still very much that.

Monica Lewinsky -- the most famous intern of all time -- tried getting in on the fun over HBO's own intern screwing the pooch, but people are pissed because ... the Clintons.

The onetime White House aide, who was embroiled in a salacious affair with then-President Bill Clinton, tweeted out a "Dear Intern" message of her own ... this as scores of people did the same to console an anonymous HBO Max intern, who'd gone viral for the wrong reasons.

ICYMI ... a strange email was sent to a ton of HBO Max subscribers earlier this week -- which read, "This template is used by integration tests only" ... which many took as a mistake, perhaps at the hands of a newbie who made an error and hit the wrong button.

HBO Max came out and confirmed that was, in fact, the case ... saying they were "helping them through it" -- so no harm, no foul it seems.

Folks chimed in with "Dear Intern" notes, giving the HBO intern advice ... while also reflecting on their own intern snafus. Monica did the same -- writing ... "dear intern: it gets better. P.S.: don't wear a beret for a while, k?" Pretty funny, right?!? WRONG!!! Or so says Twitter, anyway.

Different users dogpiled ML for what they perceived as her making herself out to be the victim of a saga that's more than 20 years old at this point ... and not just that, but indirectly roping Hillary into the conversation -- which some take as subtle shade on Monica's part.

While scores of people defended HRC and the Clinton family at large against the seemingly innocent joke -- others were quick to point out that the anger aimed at Monica is misguided and totally misdirected ... as they say she WAS a victim, and the true culprit is ... Bubba.

White people can't help lying and stealing everything in sight -- from entire countries, to cultures, right on down to vegetarianism and yoga ... so claims a controversial psychiatrist who openly admits to homicidal fantasies.

Dr. Aruna Khilanani went on the attack against ALL white people again ... calling them "psychopathic" due to what she sees as a never-ending stream of lies dating back to their so-called "discovery" of America.

Khilaniani, who practices psychiatry in Manhattan, told Marc Lamont Hill on his show, "Black News Tonight" ... "Every time you (whites) steal a country, you loot, you say you discovered something."

Khilaniani also said colonialism is all about "sanitizing the violence" that was required to steal from Indigenous people -- which is far from a controversial statement. However, she extrapolated even further, adding ... "You discovered vegetarianism, you've discovered yoga. Everything is a discovery and it's all actually stolen!"

Keep in mind, this is the same doctor who came under fire after an April lecture to Yale students, during which she admitted having violent fantasies about shooting and killing white people.

Her lecture, entitled, "The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind" pissed off Yale educators, and unleashed a flood of negative reviews of her NYC practice ... some of which accused her of anti-Semitism.

Here's the thing ... Khilaniani has valid arguments about the violent nature of colonialism, but they're undermined by her overt embracing of violence, and ridiculous arguments ... about things like vegetarianism.

Bill Maher has some advice for Lin-Manuel Miranda ... stop apologizing to the bullies who take joy in making people crawl like a dog in shame for every move they make.

Miranda is taking heat for his movie, "In the Heights," a movie about the Washington Heights area of New York City. He got dragged because the cast did not have Afro-Latinx representation.

Fact is ... the cast has Latinx performers, a Black lead, but, as Bill says, "the committee" is outraged the skin tone of the cast is somehow off.

Miranda capitulated, saying, "I'm truly sorry. I'm learning from the feedback.  I thank you for raising it and I'm listening. I promise to do better in my future projects."

Bill was incredulous ...“You’re the guy who made the founding fathers Black and Hispanic! I don’t think you have to apologize to Twitter.” Maher doesn't believe Miranda really believes an apology is in order ... “I think that he just wants to avoid the news cycle, and I don’t blame him," adding, “This is why people hate Democrats; It’s cringey."

Maher wasn't done ... “People are going to have to stand up to these bullies, because that’s what it is, bullying. It’s ‘I can make you crawl like a dog and I enjoy it.'”

And, then the "Real Time" host went in for the kill ...“I mean he’s a Latino making a Latino movie with a Latino cast. Not good enough. Nothing is ever good enough for these people. They’re like children. We don’t raise our children right and it’s reflected in the media. No one ever tells their children, ‘Shut the f*** up. Sit down. Listen to your elders. Stop bitching.'”

FIFA has just dropped the hammer on Mexico's men's soccer team ... hitting the national squad with sanctions over their fans' anti-gay chants.

The soccer org. announced Friday that Mexico will have to play their next two home games with no fans in attendance after their supporters repeatedly yelled homophobic language during games in March.

FIFA also announced it's fining Mexico around $65,000.

There could be more punishment coming down soon as well ... FIFA officials said they're also looking into other games in which Mexico supporters hurled anti-gay chants.

"The committee has also opened separate proceedings against the FMF in relation to homophobic chants by Mexican fans at their team's friendly match against Iceland played in Arlington, Texas, on 29 May 2021," FIFA said in a statement.

It's unclear if FIFA will also launch a probe into Mexico's most recent CONCACAF Nations League games, in which refs had to pause play due to the crass chants from the crowd.

Congressman Donald Payne Jr. is reporting for duty ... he's just not bothering to get dressed for it.

The U.S. Representative from New Jersey got caught in an embarrassing situation Thursday during a Zoom call with colleagues, as he apparently forgot to turn off his camera as he rolled out of bed in his pajamas for the meeting.

So, instead of seeing a sharp-dressed politician, the legislators on the call who were listening to Rep. Yvette Clarke speak also got an eyeful of Payne's slightly-too-small Captain America t-shirt, his exposed belly ... and what looked like blue striped boxers.

The clip was shared by Texas Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne, who used it to take a shot at all Dems by adding the caption ... "Another reason Democrats should get off Zoom and back to work."

Payne's legislative director tried to defend him from Van Duyne's dig by citing the Congressman's weight struggle and diabetes, but in reality ... the reaction of Rep. Kat Cammack at the bottom of the screen says it all.

Rep. Payne Jr. has addressed his gaffe, telling TMZ ... "As a public servant, my focus has always been the public good and my work to better the lives of my constituents and all Americans, regardless of the circumstances."

D.L. Hughley's fired up about Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday, but it's got nothing to do with getting a 3-day weekend -- he's fuming at the ironic dilemma it presents.

We got the comedian on "TMZ Live" Thursday and he made a hilarious comparison about President Biden soon signing Juneteenth into law to make it the 12th federal holiday. D.L. says it's like getting the wrong order from Amazon, and keeping it ... but still wondering why the original order's missing in the first place.

His point is Black people have been demanding justice and equality, but instead got a 3-day weekend. Yeah, no one's gonna complain, but what about the justice part?

D.L. says there's another aspect of the new Juneteenth federal holiday that reeks of irony -- the fact that several U.S. Senators who voted for the bill are simultaneously trying to block schools from teaching about the role slavery played in building America. As he put it ... it's kinda hard to explain the holiday if critical race theory is censored.

More than 20 states have introduced legislation that would restrict lessons on racism or any other "divisive" concepts. Hughley says this is the duality of our life in America.

A notorious piece of ATL real estate is changing hands ... the home where R. Kelly allegedly held women against their will has a new owner.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the mansion the singer used to rent in Metro Atlanta sold June 3. Folks who work for Fulton County, where the home is located, tell us the sale closed at a cool $1,785,000.

The property is infamously known as the place where Kelly allegedly kept women as part of his reputed sex cult. As the docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly" detailed ... some of the women claim they were forced to call him "Daddy," and had to ask permission for everything from bathroom breaks to meals.

Kelly, who is in custody in Chicago awaiting a federal trial, has denied the allegations.

The new owner clearly looked beyond the home's bad rep, and saw the value of its 11,455 sq. ft., 7-bedrooms, 12-foot ceilings and 2 kitchens.

President Biden got testy with a reporter over a question about his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he was quick to say sorry ... even if it was a little backhanded.

Here's what happened -- CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked Biden why he was confident Putin would change his behavior following the Geneva summit, and the Prez took serious issue with the word "confident."

Biden was so miffed at the question, he actually walked back out at the end of his Wednesday press conference to address Collins and explain what he meant ... ultimately telling her she's "in the wrong business" when she asked a follow-up question.

Moments later though, Biden walked over to other reporters on the tarmac in Geneva -- as he was preparing to depart Switzerland -- and issued an apology to Collins for being short with her.

POTUS said, "I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy with the last answer I gave."

However, he later continued ... "To be a good reporter you gotta be negative; you gotta have a negative view of life ... you never ask a positive question." He also said reporters are the brightest people in the country so it makes no sense for him to negotiate with them.

The Florida principal who paddled a 6-year-old will be punished after all, after getting prematurely reinstated, and the child's family couldn't be happier ... despite the fact she's still reeling from the beating.

The family's attorney, Brent Probinsky, tells TMZ ... the principal in question, Melissa Carter, recently received a letter from the Florida Department of Education -- notifying her its investigation found probable cause for sanctions ... which could include a fine, probation, suspension or revocation of her teaching license (AKA, termination).

While a decision on what exactly her punishment will be is still to be handed down, Probinsky says the family is happy Carter will feel some repercussions ... and they hope it helps spread awareness to avoid a repeat situation with another kid.

Even though Carter will get hers, she was oddly reinstated to her position as principal this week by the local school district -- seemingly jumping the gun ahead of the FDOE findings.

As for the child who got paddled ... she's still dealing with the fallout, both physically and emotionally. Probinsky tells us she has been experiencing severe pain in her back and hips, not to mention numbness in her legs ... for which she's in physical therapy. The kid's also seeing a therapist due to the trauma we're told she's been through.

One of the stars of Netflix's "Bling Empire" got called out for allegedly spreading Asian hate by dissing a famous sushi joint -- but he's hollering right back ... respectfully, calling BS.

Kane Lim -- a Singaporean real estate developer -- was recently filmed on a pal's IG Story, hyping up the fact they were eating from another sushi restaurant in town, Tadaima, instead of L.A. celeb hot spot Yamashiro ... which they, including KL, openly mocked and called "disgusting."

Yamashiro's head chef, Vallerie Castillo Archer, took the jab personally, and also leveled an allegation against Lim and his buddies ... saying they were helping spread hate against their own race.

She wrote, in part ... "How can we promote Stop Asian Hate when we are the ones publicly hating on Asians?" She added that she found Lim's remarks hurtful to the cause.

Despite how Vallerie interpreted Lim's comments, he tells TMZ she's got this one wrong, and is kinda making a mountain out of a mole hill. Kane says his remarks were simply based on his own eating experience at Yamashiro from a few years back -- and were not aimed at her, her work or her staff directly. He just didn't dig the food there, period.

With that said, Kane adds this ... "It's unfortunate this has escalated to this level. I get how it has been interpreted and am disappointed it's been crafted into an Asian-hate thing."

Kane goes on to clarify that he does NOT hate his own race, and as far as Val ... he's more than willing to make amends and give Yamashiro another shot. In fact, we're told they're making plans to meet up and hash this out in the near future.

The Black woman who claims she was dragged down a flight of steps due to racial profiling was in the mix of a brawl right before the brutal act -- but she's sticking to her version of events.

Somebody captured what happened to Keisha Young at D.C.'s Nellie's Sports Bar last weekend -- but this video includes the moments before a security guard started yanking her by her hair.

It's clear there was a massive fight going down at the top of the stairs, and Keisha was right there getting her licks in ... throwing punches, until she appears to get tossed over the huddle of bodies down toward the security guard.

We can't quite tell if it's the guard himself who initially moves her, or if it's someone else -- but at any rate, once she's at his feet ... she starts to unload on him too, and he reacts.

That's where the hair-dragging seems to begin from the original video that has since gone viral. Remember, Keisha's attorneys told us they were outraged ... because they felt she'd been singled out due to the color of her skin, suggesting racism was at play in her treatment -- and they're still maintaining that.

Keisha's attorney, Brandon Burrell, tells TMZ ... the reason Keisha is seen tussling here is because she was defending her cousin, Dayon Kidd, whom we're told is the guy in the white T -- and who we're told Nellie's security team was pummeling after some words were exchanged.

Long story short -- her team says the facts haven't changed ... claiming she was approached by security when they mistook her for someone else and asked her to leave.

We're told Keisha's fam didn't like the way they got at her, and in attempting to defend her ... ended up brawling. Keisha's team says this new video picks up after that. Burrell also says the truth would be seen easily ... if only Nellie's would release the full surveillance video.