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Jason Aldean's new controversial song is anything but racist, and is simply being twisted into something it's not -- so say Shawn Booth and Chuck Wicks.

The "Bachelorette" alum and country star were chatting on the former's podcast -- "In the Booth with Shawn Booth" -- and they started talking politics, touching on how divided the country is. Eventually, they landed on the topic of Aldean's track, "Try That In a Small Town."

Chuck was quick to defend the song and its underlying message, which he says is incorrectly being labeled as hateful toward Black people -- arguing that couldn't be further from the truth.

Instead, he thinks it's just a song about solidarity in a community -- and the reason Jason used BLM looting footage is because it's the clearest, most recent example of storefronts and small businesses being destroyed en masse ... which Wicks says was objectively criminal and wrong.

He also says people quick to assign this to race are probably racists themselves.

Shawn pretty much cosigns everything Chuck says here, and they both agree the folks involved in writing the song and shooting the music video -- most of whom they know -- are not bigoted whatsoever.

Wick and Booth end up concluding the Aldean saga is just a microcosm of a larger issue of extremism in America right now -- where things are either black or white, or this and that. It's worth noting that Wicks is married to Jason's sister, Kasi Williams Morstad ... so, his opinion's hardly unbiased.

Flavor Flav is proving once again he's a die-hard Swiftie ... 'cause the rapper was feeling the love from Taylor Swift's parents at her latest L.A. concert, and they even gave the guy an important task!

Flav showed his support for Taylor at her "Eras" Tour stop Monday night at SoFi Stadium, decked out with a ton of friendship bracelets to trade with other fans, and he had huge hugs for Tay-tay's parents, Scott and Andrea Swift.

FF said "Papa Swift" gave him a bunch of guitar picks to pass out in the crowd ... along with the bracelets and his own Flavor Flav-themed buttons.

Safe to say the guy was busy all night long, mingling with the 70,000 or so Taylor fans. Pretty remarkable that the 64-year-old hip hop icon is now a Swiftee ambassador of sorts.

Flav wasn't the only celeb in the crowd ... folks like Tiffany Haddish, Cameron Diaz, Sofia Richie, Zoe Saldana, and Ashley Greene were also singing along to Taylor's hits.

Beyoncé's fans had to wait out a storm in D.C. just to see her perform live, and she returned the favor by shelling out a lot of dough to make sure they could get home afterward.

The singer's show Sunday was hit with really bad weather just before the concert was set to begin at FedEx Field in neighboring Maryland -- with lightning storms and a downpour of rain coming down in the area ... and forcing everyone to shelter in place for a hot minute.

There's tons of video showing the D.C. Beyhive huddling up by the thousands in and around the stadium as they waited for the green light ... reports say they were waiting about 2 hours.

Eventually, the elements subsided enough so that the show could start -- but even as Bey did her thing on the big stage, it was still pretty freaking wet out there, as you see.

More importantly, because things were running late from the jump ... the local Metro's train service hours had to be extended, something that doesn't come cheap -- and an expensive tab that somebody had to cover.

In the end ... Bey's 'Renaissance' tour company footed the bill, coming out to $100,000, all told. This allowed the trains at the surrounding 98 stations to run for an extra 60 minutes, and it sounds like that might've bled into the wee hours of Monday morning.

Elvis Presley was a proud gun owner, and now a revolver from his expansive firearms collection is hitting the auction block, where it's expected to fetch five figures.

The gun going up for sale is a Smith & Wesson Model 53 double-action revolver ... and it was gifted to Elvis in November 1976, just 9 months before he died.

Like most relics from '76, Elvis' revolver commemorates the Bicentennial ... Smith & Wesson's master engraver, Russell Smith, customized the gun with silver inlaid five-pointed stars and the weapon features gold accents, with "1776-1976" inscribed near the muzzle.

Elvis' gun also includes a bald eagle holding a 13-star Betsy Ross American flag on one frame, a gold minuteman flanked by stars on the other frame, plus the Liberty Bell on the back strap.

Basically, the revolver screams AMERICA!!!

Elvis' firearm is going up for sale through Rock Island Auction Company ... and it's featured in this month's "Premier Auction," where the winning bid is expected to land somewhere between $60,000 and $90,000.

Lizzo is back in Beyoncé's good graces -- that, or she never left to begin with -- and we know this because the Queen Bey is back to saying her name ... on stage, no less.

The singer name-dropped Lizzo Saturday night during her show in D.C., where part of the setlist once again included the remix to 'Break My Soul' -- which features a moment where Bey's rattling off a list of women's names she views as trailblazers.

Normally, in the lyrics, as they're written, Lizzo shows up as one of those women -- and after being nixed from the lineup last week ... fans were quick to notice her re-inclusion.

Check it out for yourself -- there's a few different clips making the rounds that caught the moment Bey mentioned Lizzo, but this video here is by far the best shot ... where you can see Beyoncé pause on saying Erykah Badu's name -- but clearly emphasizing Liz.

Of course, this is in stark contrast to Beyoncé's performance a few concerts ago ... where she nixed Lizzo, but said "Badu" at least 4 different times. Some perceived that as a shot at Lizzo in the wake of her workplace lawsuit drama ... but others thought it was geared toward what EB had recently said about Beyonce -- namely, accusing her of ripping off her style.

Now that Beyoncé has flipped it -- this after she's surely had time to hear and process the Lizzo news -- it seems pretty obvious she did this on purpose ... and stands with Lizzo.

Jamie Foxx is apologizing for anti-Semitic remarks he made on social media about Jews killing Jesus ... while making a cryptic reference to being betrayed by a "fake friend."

The actor posted a message on Instagram Saturday, saying, "I want to apologize to the Jewish community and everyone who was offended by my post."

Jamie continued, "I now know my choice of words have caused offense and I'm sorry. That was never my intent. To clarify, I was betrayed by a fake friend and that's what I meant with "they" not anything more."

He went on to say, "I only have love in my heart for everyone. I love and support the Jewish community. My deepest apologies to anyone who was offended."

As you may know, Jamie posted his controversial remarks on Instagram Friday, stating, "They killed this dude name Jesus… what do you think they’ll do to you?" The message was soon deleted, but not before users took snapshots and posted them to social media.

Jewish groups spotted the message and started spreading it online, which caught the interest of Jennifer Aniston. The actress was thought to have liked Jamie's post, but later clarified that she hadn't and was horrified by his words.

Jennifer said, "I want to be clear to my friends and anyone hurt by this showing up in their feeds – I do NOT support any form of antisemitism. I truly don’t tolerate HATE of any kind. Period."

Meanwhile, Jamie recently broke his silence about his major health scare in April, which landed him in the hospital for a little over a month. He's recently been seen around Chicago doing some fun activities as he recovers from his medical condition, which has not been publicly revealed. Jamie personally thanked his family and friend in a video posted online.

Taylor Swift is no stranger to signing huge deals, and we've learned there's another one on the horizon ... with camera crews following her "Eras" Tour journey throughout the world.

Camera crews have been present at just about every "Eras" Tour show thus far -- getting plenty of shots of Taylor, her fans and some behind-the-scenes content. It might seem standard for tours these days, but the scope of the crews with Taylor show she's got something more in the works.

We've spoken to sources who say there's not yet a plan for the project -- whether it'll end up on streaming or in theaters. It could be a multi-million dollar deal with Netflix, a company with which she has history.

While the details are sparse on how the footage will be used, you can bet Taylor's fans will eat it up ... especially those who couldn't attend "Eras" in person.

As we reported, plenty of stars came out for the first two of 6 L.A. shows -- and Taylor had a super sweet moment Thursday night with Kobe Bryant's daughter, Bianka, when she presented her with a hat and a hug in the middle of the show.

Eminem's critics have awakened the bear in 2023!!!

The legendary rapper unloaded fiery disses on The Game, Melle Mel -- and Generation Z rap fans too young to remember his heyday -- after they've all been dragging his name through the mud.

The lyrical retaliation arrived Friday on the track "Realest" -- the debut single for Em and Dr. Dre's new artist Ez Mil -- but it was Slim Shady who stole the show.

As we reported last year, Game spent a full 10 minutes dissing Em on his last album and later claimed superiority over him for never having his songs played in the club.

Em says Game's songs only get club play because those are the range of his performance bookings and is a little jelly of his career. Melle Mel also got shredded by Em, after having boosted his profile earlier this year by ripping Em for being a white rapper who benefits from the audience majority share.

Em openly admits to being a "guest" in Hip Hop on the track, a term used to acknowledge Black culture birthed Hip Hop … but points out how his success helped the genre boom across the globe.

He proceeded to roast Melle's gym rat legacy with a clever jab at the notion he uses steroids rapping, "And I’ll be the last to toy with a juice-head whose brain is like half destroyed like a meteor hit it/ Well, there went Melle Mel, we lost his ass to 'roids." Get it? Asteroids!!! ☄

The young whippersnappers of Gen Z who criticize Em arguably felt the worst of his wrath ... some of them weren't even born when he dropped his first studio album back in 1999, and Em coldly credited their era for elevating the country's school shootings!!!

"Y'all need to stick to what you do best/Shootin' schools up, gat/Go load up rounds in your parents' gats, and go to class and let off with the strap and go to town," Em fumed at the kids.

Taylor Swift's L.A. concert is the biggest event of the year for sure, which is why 70,000 people packed into Sofi Stadium Thursday night, shouting lyrics that can be heard far and wide ... much to the chagrin of some very tired homeowners!

Taylor's first of 6 concerts ended at 11:45 PM, depriving some residents of their 8 hours of shuteye. One person in particular -- truth be told it's a dude who works at TMZ -- groused as he recorded Taylor and her legion of fans singing "You Belong with Me," complaining of the loud noise seeping from the stadium.

Fact is ... this guy is a known curmudgeon, so discount his displeasure. Nonetheless, the noise is really loud.

It's interesting ... in 2021, during rehearsals for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, when Dr. Dre and his crew wanted to keep the performances top secret, Stadium staff blasted rock music outside so neighbors couldn't tattle on the set list and the surprise guest (50 Cent). That too pissed off some residents, including our guy, so this is all par for the course.

Billie Eilish took time out of her Lollapalooza set to honor Angus Cloud ... performing one of her tracks featured on "Euphoria" and shouting out the late actor in a heartwarming tribute.

The singer took to the stage in Chicago Thursday night to perform a bunch of her hits for the massive crowd ... and it was about an hour into her set when she started "Never Felt So Alone" -- a song by Labrinth in which Billie is featured.

Billie's fans went wild just hearing the intro, singing along with her from beginning to end. Billie shouted, "RIP to Angus Cloud, everybody" once it was over, before moving on to her next song.

It's a pretty touching tribute ... especially with the track being a big hit on Angus' show.

As we reported, the actor's costar Dominic Fike also shouted him out at his show earlier this week ... getting emotional while talking about Angus to the crowd.

Kyle Richards is teaming up with Morgan Wade for the country singer's new music video ... a move the two say is intended to poke fun at rumors they're currently dating.

Morgan shared a behind-the-scenes look at her new music video for her song, "Fall in Love with Me," which dropped on Friday. She says the vid comes next week, and it looks like Kyle is front and center.

The gals say the internet's gonna go nuts over it, with the singer saying folks always assume she's dating whoever is in her music videos ... so they thought what better way to have some fun with the rumors than to put Kyle in one of them!

They chat about how the 2 became friends and even joke around about the different fits Kyle wears for the vid -- clearly, they get along pretty well together.

You'll recall, rumors have been flying about them dating ever since her split from Mauricio Umansky ... but Kyle's been pretty adamant about them being just friends.

The City of Angels is officially the City of Swifties -- Taylor Swift has kicked off her 6 sold-out shows in Los Angeles, and fans had a lot to go wild over on night number 1.

Taylor took the stage Thursday night at SoFi Stadium for her "Eras" tour ... rockin' the crowd of over 70,000 after a killer opening act by HAIM. She brought the sister group back out later in the night to perform "No Body, No Crime" together.

TS had a surprise for her L.A. fans ... dusting off "I Can See You" from "Speak Now (Taylor's Version") -- the first time she's ever performed it live. Safe to say, the crowd went ballistic.

Swifties also pointed out a fun fact -- Taylor sang "August" from her "Folklore" album in August for the first time ... pretty neat.

It was a star-studded event at SoFi ... Vanessa Bryant was there with her daughters, Natalia and Bianka. tWitch's wife Allison Holker was in the crowd, as was Ashley Tisdale, Nick and Vanessa Lachey, and "Outer Banks" star Madelyn Cline -- and that was just Thursday.

As we reported, the LAPD is working with Metro to help with the flood of fans heading to and from SoFi while Taylor's in town ... beefing up the amount of officers throughout the big Metro system.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department said it's "providing a similar level of visibility as the 2022 Superbowl" ... in other words, LAPD ain't messing around when it comes to Taylor!!

One very lucky Post Malone fan left his concert with a kick-ass memento ... as the proud new owner of the rock star's $5K guitar!!!

11-year-old Winter attended Post's Tampa Bay concert Tuesday night, and at the end of the show, he handed over his personal blue guitar ... the same one he jams out with. Oh, and we should mention, he signed it too.

Winter's mother, Jenn, tells TMZ ... her kiddo's a massive Post fan, as is her other daughter, Brooklyn. Tampa's show marks the 5th PM show the family has attended. At past shows, Jenn says they've seen Post give away smashed guitars to fans, but nothing like this.

We're told Winter doesn't know how to play the guitar, but the rare gift might be enough to get her into learning. In handing it over, Post made the young girl promise to treat the instrument with respect, and Jenn says that's exactly what they'll do.

Winter plans to put it in a case to display on a wall in her room and will never sell it.

Don't worry, Brooklyn didn't walk away empty-handed -- she ended up with Post's sweaty shirt and socks. Not a bad consolation prize!

L.A. ain't messing around with Taylor Swift in town ... cops are beefing up security for public transit, with an operation that'll be taken as seriously as football's biggest day.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department announced Tuesday that LAPD is working with Metro to support the swarm of folks heading to and from Taylor's 6 shows at SoFi Stadium -- providing a ton of officers through the spread out Metro system.

The dept. says, "The Department is providing a similar level of visibility as the 2022 Superbowl in order to ensure the safety of the public throughout the Metro System."

In case ya forgot, tickets for her SoFi shows sold out instantly on Ticketmaster, so the only way to score tix at this point is by shelling out thousands for resale.

Swifties in L.A. have been going nuts over her arrival -- with fans already waiting for hours just to grab some merch!!!

Joey Fatone is NOT taking offense to the NSYNC dig tucked away in the "Barbie" movie -- in fact, it's quite the opposite ... he says the low blow makes the band all the more relevant.

We got Joey at LAX Thursday and our photog asked about the NSYNC reference in the Greta Gerwig flick.

It seems everyone's seen "Barbie," Joey included, so this shouldn't be a huge SPOILER ALERT ... but midway through the movie, NSYNC gets name-dropped ... and not in a positive way.

Michael Cera's character, the Allan doll, jokes ... "Not one person would care if Allan was in the real world, in fact, it's happened before. All of NSYNC -- Allan. Yes, even him."

Joey's rolling with the punches here ... he's the first to admit everyone in the band, including Justin Timberlake, have all had their Allan moments ... and he's all about self-deprecation, so he can laugh it off no problem.

What's more, Joey tells us the reference means NSYNC is still relevant in 2023 ... so he's taking it as a huge compliment.

Kesha's got some good vibrations coming her way after her mom's pet pooch chewed her favorite sex toy to pieces.

ICYMI, the singer was "livid" Tuesday when she said she "Woke up this morning and saw my mom's dog chewed my $250 vibrator to pieces."

We-Vibe is swooping in to save the day, though ... because a spokesperson for the sex toy company tells TMZ they're well aware of Kesha's tragic situation and have already reached out to her to hook her up with a brand new gadget -- and more!!!

We're told Kesha's going to be getting a sweet gift box full of goodies -- and we've obtained a pic of the products being shown off by none other than We-Vibe's human-sized Clitoris ... though it's not clear if the costumed character will drop off the toys herself.