Darius Rucker Forgive Morgan For N-Word Scandal ... He's a Better Person Now!!!

HE'S GROWN A LOT
Rolling Stone Music Now

Darius Rucker says the time has come to forgive Morgan Wallen for using a racial slur ... and he wants to see Morgan get his due at award shows.

The country singer -- obviously famous from Hootie & the Blowfish -- says Morgan's worked hard to become a better person since he used the n-word during a drunken convo with a friend.

JANUARY 2021
PROFANE GOODBYE
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Appearing on Rolling Stone's 'Music Now' podcast, Darius said it still feels like Morgan hasn't been forgiven for the incident ... at least when it comes to CMA and ACM nominations.

TMZ TV HOT TAKES BBC Host Wants Biden To Off Trump ... Ray J, Ed Sheeran

A high-ranking BBC presenter wants to see political violence in the United States, Ray J wants back in the BET Awards and Ed Sheeran wants England's soccer team to play well to his music ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

TMZ Live

TAKEN TOO FAR?
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First up on "TMZ Live," Harvey and Charles react to BBC presenter David Aaronovitch calling for President Biden to have Donald Trump murdered.

PRINCE HARRY CONTROVERSY HE'S PERFECT FOR PAT TILLMAN AWARD ... Past Recipient Says

Prince Harry's a humble, stand-up guy who blends in as just another fellow veteran, making him deserving of the Pat Tillman Award for Service ... a former recipient tells us amid the outrage over ESPN's decision to honor the royal.

WELL DESERVING
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U.S. Marine Jake Wood, who won the award in 2018, tells TMZ veterans who've interacted with Prince Harry through his Invictus Games efforts say he's as real as it gets. There's no air of superiority ... he just wants to sit, swap war stories, and ensure everyone's taken care of, he says.

No doubt in Jake's eyes, Harry's down-to-earth nature, on top of him devoting a large chunk of his post-military life to veterans, solidifies his worthiness for the award.

Ray J Meltdown Outside BET Awards ... I'm About to Get 'Ghetto!!!'

RILED UP RAY J
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Ray J really was going through it at the BET Awards, and now we have the video to back it up -- it's a full meltdown, with him threatening to make things "ghetto" after security allegedly denied him re-entry to the show.

The footage, obtained by TMZ, shows Ray pacing around Sunday night outside the award show at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles ... and he's getting more and more animated.

Ray appears to be arguing with some security guards and he's overheard complaining about not being let inside the show ... and things escalate to the point where he rips off his shirt and declares, "I didn't bring the ghetto to BET yet, but I'm about to!!!"

Morgan Wallen Chucks Phone Offstage After It Hits Him Mid-Song

LATER PHONE
TikTok / @jkartzzz

Morgan Wallen is no longer tolerating fans throwing items at him on stage ... as the country singer pointedly disposed of one rogue phone during a recent concert.

Check it out ... Morgan is filmed singing his hit, "Cowgirls," when someone in the crowd at the Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado throws their phone at him. The phone hits Morgan right in the shoulder before falling to the ground.

Rather than ignore the unwanted item, Morgan picks up the phone and chucks it offstage ... looking seriously annoyed. However, Morgan recovers pretty quickly ... moving on to another part of the stage to finish the song.

Kroy Biermann 'Aggressive' Dog Loose, Terrorizes Neighbor ... Cops Ticket Him This Time

Cops know Kroy Biermann and Kim Zolciak's Georgia address by heart now -- they've been there enough -- but their latest visit wasn't for the couple fighting ... cops say the problem is their massive dog.

TMZ obtained a Milton PD report in which officers say they slapped Kroy with a citation Saturday due to a neighbor's complaint about his dog, Stone, getting loose and allegedly terrorizing a neighbor.

According to the docs, the neighbor called police after spotting the dog running free in the neighborhood, and claimed Stone had been "aggressive" toward her.

Prince Harry Blasted By Pat Tillman's Mom ... More Deserving Candidates For Award!!!

Prince Harry isn't fit to receive the Pat Tillman Award at the ESPYs, and it's shocking ESPN let him ... at least, that's what the late veteran's mother thinks.

Mary Tillman -- mom to former NFL safety Pat Tillman who joined the U.S. Army after 9/11 and died in a friendly fire incident -- spoke to Daily Mail about ESPN choosing Prince Harry to receive the ESPY named in Pat's honor ... and, suffice to say, she's not happy with the decision.

Tillman says, "I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award."

Marilyn Monroe Home Owners Have No Plans to Sell After Getting Historic Monument Tag

Marilyn Monroe's L.A.-area home will not be listed for sale ... despite the residence being named a Historic-Cultural Monument, which upends the current owners' plans to demo the pad.

Sources close to the homeowners tell TMZ ... Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank have no plans to sell the Brentwood home -- where the Hollywood legend died of a barbiturate overdose in August 1962.

Rather, we're told the married couple will continue to fight this week's L.A. City Council unanimous vote to designate Marilyn's former house a landmark with cultural significance -- a tag that protects it from being torn down.

Mike Perry I'll Knock Jake Paul's Teeth Out ... Predicts 7th Round KO!

HE'S GOIN' DOWN
TMZSports.com

"I'm gonna f****** knock his teeth in!"

Uhhhh ... that's "Platinum" Mike Perry promising to go all dental on Jake Paul, telling us he's gonna beat The Problem Child's ass!

32-year-old Perry joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... and two things are clear ahead of his July 20 boxing match with 27-year-old Paul -- he's fired up, and there's a beef between 'em. A lot of it.

KATY PERRY IGNORES DR. LUKE COLLAB QUESTIONS

Katy Perry's dodging the question lots of her fans want to ask ... about working with Dr. Luke on her new album -- one that's supposed to be all about uplifting women.

Check out this video ... the singer got grilled as she slid through a crowd in Paris on the way to her ride. Someone asks her, point blank, "Isn't your album about women empowerment? Why are you working with Dr. Luke?"

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BACKGRID

Katy announced last week she was teaming up again with the pop super producer, despite the sexual misconduct allegations Kesha made against him.

Logan Paul Sues Coffeezilla ... You're Spewing Lies For Personal Gain!!!

Logan Paul is taking legal action against popular YouTuber Coffeezilla ... claiming the internet investigator is purposely spreading lies to tarnish his reputation.

The docs were filed on Thursday ... with the WWE Superstar suing Coffeezilla -- real name Stephen Findeisen -- and his production company for defamation over his deep dive into Paul's failed CryptoZoo project.

In case you haven't been following along, Coffeezilla has released numerous videos addressing the fallout of the blockchain game for the past two years, -- calling the whole thing a "scam" -- pointing the finger at Paul and claiming he purposely duped his fans into shelling out their cold, hard cash so he could pocket it.

Emma Roberts Women Hit Harder w/ Nepo Baby Label No One Calls Out Clooney!!!

Emma Roberts is weighing in on the nepo baby debate ... saying women face the criticism more than men do -- and pointing to one of Hollywood's biggest stars to make her point.

The actress sat down for a conversation about her famous family on the podcast "Table for Two" released Tuesday ... and she says she thinks the controversy's unfair -- especially for the women with A-list family trees.

WHAT ABOUT CLOONEY???
Table For Two

Roberts -- her dad Eric's an actor and aunt is freaking Julia Roberts  -- says she feels young ladies get attacked more than young men for their nepo baby status ... just take George Clooney, she says.

Kenya Moore Not Returning to 'RHOA' Season 16 ... Weighing Legal Options

Kenya Moore is officially putting down her peach for this next season at least -- 'cause she ain't coming back to 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' ... and this could possibly turn ugly.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Kenya will not return as a cast member for the rest of production for the new season (16) after she was sidelined indefinitely for allegedly unveiling sexually explicit posters of newcomer Brittany Eady seemingly performing oral sex.

Now, we're told Kenya has not been fired from 'RHOA' ... instead, we're told both sides have agreed she's just gonna take a break from the show for now. Our sources say Bravo is keeping the door open for a future return -- however, we're also told Kenya is considering legal options at this point ... because she's not happy with how this whole mess unfolded.

XXL Freshman 2024 Uses K. Dot's 'Not Like Us' But Has No West Coast Artists!!! 🤔

XXL magazine's debuting its 2024 Freshman class and riding the wave of Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us," but the outlet's also overlooking the song's main theme -- showing love for the West Coast!!!

The annual cover, which dropped Monday, only allows for 10 spots and this year's lineup filled 5 slots with artists from New York and other East Coast cities, including Cash Cobain ... who TMZ Hip Hop caught up with in March to speak on his viral "Fisherrr" moment.

Not "Fo' Sho," It's "Fisherrr"
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Texas lyricists BigXthaPlug and That Mexican OT were also celebrated on social media for earning their spots through skill -- but fans on PDT were left confused as to why the rankings were so lopsided.

Joe Budden Drake Takedown Was Team Effort ... Starting With ME!!!

PASSING THE BATON

Joe Budden is convinced the dismantling of Drake amid the 2024 Rap Wars started with his pen ... thereby blazing a path for Pusha T and Kendrick Lamar to polish him off!!!

In a recent X Spaces, JB argued Drake's decline wasn't only due to K. Dot's "Not Like Us" victory lap, because his diss songs came first, and long before this year.

Back in 2016, JB went on an anti-Drake warpath, dropping several diss tracks aimed at Champagne Papi -- at the time, Joe took some of Drake's raps as sneaky shots.

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