The TMZ Podcast

Maksim Chmerkovskiy says he's going to wait before vilifying Artem Chigvintsev for his domestic violence arrest ... saying his alleged actions don't jibe with the man he knows -- though he will hold him accountable if they turn out to be true.

The "Dancing with the Stars" pro sat down for a chat on "The TMZ Podcast" ... and, we had to ask him all about his friend and former costar -- and, he says he texted him after he heard about the arrest.

MC says the Artem he knows would never abuse a woman ... but, he also texted Artem and told him if he did hit his wife Nikki Bella, then he needed to accept responsibility for his actions.

The "Green Dress Girl" from TikTok is looking past all the negative comments on her viral post ... 'cause she's looking forward in hopes of landing a gig with Beyoncé!!!

Rachel Parrish -- BKA her TikTok handle @raechristine___ -- recently went viral after her critique of club culture sparked a major online conversation ... and she joined us on "The TMZ Podcast" to tell us how her life's changed.

Despite being incessantly mocked for her club fit -- a green dress and some white heels -- Rachel says she's mostly ignored the haters and focused on the positives ... like being recognized in the airport.

Former "Bachelor" contestant Anna Redman says the backlash over her controversial post about her planned outfit for an Auschwitz visit included threats against her life.

Anna joined us on the latest episode of "The TMZ Podcast" and we asked her about the mostly negative reaction to her IG story from her visit to the notorious concentration camp.

In case you missed it ... Anna's been catching tons of heat online ever since she shared her clothing itinerary during a family trip to Auschwitz -- a black dress and white sandals -- along with the caption "The best packing 'hack' ... Is somebody going to match my freak?"

Candace Owens is firing back at Eminem after he dissed her on his new album ... telling us his lyrics are super lame and accusing him of pandering to Black people.

Candace joined us on Friday's episode of "The TMZ Podcast" and we asked her about Eminem lashing out at her in a song on his 12th album, "Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)."

In the track "Lucifer," Eminem raps ... "And Candace O, I ain't mad at her / I aint gon' throw the fact bitch forgot she was Black back at her / Laugh at her, like them crackers / She's backin' after / Her back is turnin', a cute MAGA hat with her "White Lives Matter" shirt."

Ben Affleck lost his cool on the paparazzi this weekend -- but for good reason ... they were flashing the crap out of him with their cameras, which he rightly noted was dangerous.

The actor was spotted leaving his and Jennifer Lopez's marital home in Bev Hills Sunday night -- where a group of photographers were waiting at the bottom of a hill for him as he was exiting solo ... and once they saw his car coming down the path, they snapped away.

You can see a bunch of white flashes as Ben attempts to safely get back onto the main road, but he comes to an abrupt stop ... and then gets out of the vehicle to speak his mind.

Simon Cowell's gearing up to search high and low to discover the next One Direction -- and one former boy bander has a few ideas about how Simon can make lightning strike twice.

O-Town member Erik-Michael Estrada joined us on "The TMZ Podcast" ... and said one of the most important factors in forming the perfect modern-day boy band is diversity.

He pointed out while bands in the '90s and '00s -- like his and Backstreet Boys -- were quite diverse, bands before them were frustratingly either R&B or pop ... there was no in-between.

The video showing Diddy's hotel assault of Cassie isn't only fueling public outrage -- high-ranking NYC politicians want him to suffer one immediate consequence ... TMZ has learned.

Leaders in Diddy's hometown are turning on him, with several NYC council members encouraging Mayor Eric Adams to revoke the Bad Boy Records founder's symbolic key to the city.

Council Member Sandy Nurse tells TMZ … "Mayor Adams should immediately revoke Diddy’s key to the city. As an abuser, Diddy lost his right to have such an honor and should be held accountable for his actions. Mayor Adams should set the example and take it away."

11:30 AM PT -- A source familiar with the situation tells TMZ … Cam'ron's rep was fully aware and briefed about the segment and topic ahead of his interview on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip.

9:53 AM PT -- Cam'ron isn't apologizing for his behavior during last night's wild CNN interview.

On his "It Is What It Is" sports show he cohosts with former Bad Boy rapper Ma$e, the Harlem rapper said CNN only contacted him to talk BS, so he gave them just that -- a BS interview!!!

1:13 PM PT -- A rep for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts tells TMZ ... "This hotel is no longer under IHG management, and we do not have any access to prior incident records or footage."

10:56 AM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... there is no record cops can track down as it pertains to this 2016 incident at the InterContinental, so it doesn't appear to have been mentioned to cops in a police report, or otherwise reported to the authorities.

In terms of cops opening a case on this now, LAPD tells TMZ ... For cases before January 2020, it's a 3 year statute of limitations -- and after January 2020, it's 5 years. In other words, there's no chance cops will dive into this specific incident for potential criminal charges at this point, at least as far as the LAPD is concerned.

Diddy brutally beat up his ex-girlfriend Cassie at a hotel in L.A. 8 years ago -- something she detailed in her lawsuit ... and which we're now seeing for the first time on camera.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are still on speaking terms as they go through whatever they're going through -- they briefly reunited for the sake of their kids, but they're still not under the same roof.

The couple was photographed together for the first time in well over a month Thursday evening, coming together for a school play starring Ben's kid, Fin.

We're told Ben and Jen arrived separately, but both showed up with flowers for Fin ... and they didn't keep their distance. They were chatting it up with each other ahead of the play.

Tinker Bell's not getting the boot from Disneyland -- even though a crap ton of people are under the misconception she is ... all 'cause of baseless fan theories that have run amok.

You may have heard about this in recent weeks -- namely, reports that have suggested that the live version of the Tinker Bell character at Disney parks in the U.S. was persona non grata going forward ... and that they were putting her on the shelf for being "problematic."

This all stems from a NYT story that detailed an internal study Disney did a few years ago analyzing which of their characters didn't hold up to modern-day standards ... and Tink was one, as their own people felt she wasn't a good role model for girls in the 21st century.

Oprah Winfrey is acknowledging the role she played in toxic diet culture -- and she's now trying to rectify that ... by embracing weight loss drugs.

The talk show legend opened up about her influence in the weight loss industry during a 3-hour live special for WeightWatchers this week -- and she owned the fact that she'd been feeding into this unhealthy trend for quite literally years.

Oprah says ... "I want to acknowledge that I have been a steadfast participant in this diet culture. Through my platforms, through the magazine, through the talk show for 25 years and online. I’ve been a major contributor to it."

6:36 AM PT -- Looks like Craig David's gonna have to wait even longer to get back on stage -- 'cause Lovers & Friends pulled the plug on its big festival less than 24 hours before doors opened.

Craig David's gone from getting it seven days a week to abstinence 365 days a year ... opening up about celibacy on "The TMZ Podcast" -- saying he's now on top of his game creatively.

Craig -- famous for writing the intimate anthem "7 Days" -- says he still is celibate ... adding he decided to do it because he wanted to "park" sex in favor of spirituality.

Craig David ha pasado de hacerlo siete días a la semana a abstenerse los 365 días al año, y el cantante y compositor se abrió sobre su celibato con "The TMZ Podcast" y nos dijo que su creatividad está en la cima en este momento.

Craig, famoso por escribir el himno íntimo "7 Days", contó que todavía es célibe y añadió que decidió hacerlo porque quería "aparcar" el sexo en favor de la espiritualidad.

Y aquí la bomba, Craig dice que no se ha echado un polvo en más de dos años, un poco sorprendente, ya que en su momento escribió una canción sobre hacer el amor prácticamente todos los días de la semana.

Britney Spears got into a huge fight with her boyfriend Wednesday night, and she ended up out of control, crying, possibly cut, and almost driven away in an ambulance ... TMZ has learned.

Britney got to the Chateau Marmont late Wednesday night with boyfriend Paul Soliz ... and there was some sort of disturbance and someone called police, claiming a woman matching Britney's description was harassing and threatening hotel employees and guests. Officers showed up shortly after 10:30 PM, but they saw no signs of trouble and left.

We're told Britney and Paul retreated to a hotel room around 11 PM where they continued partying and drinking. While they were in the room they ended up getting into a huge altercation that we're told turned physical, according to sources, and Britney may have hurt her leg.