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John Oliver and Elon Musk have been in a little back and forth lately -- and with the ball technically in JO's court ... he's now picking it up and giving his response to us.

We got the comedian Monday at LAX and asked about this new feud he seems to find himself in with the Tesla chief -- who recently labeled him "woke" ... not to mention calling him "weak sauce." Of course, Elon appeared to be responding to John highlighting him on his show last month.

Here's what Elon had to say in response to an article that basically trashed John's 'Last Week Tonight' segment -- which picked Elon apart in great detail. EM wrote, "It is rather tragic to see an otherwise capable comedian like @iamjohnoliver become weak sauce."

He added, "The reason he is not very funny these days is because he is too keen to pander to wokeness, which is fundamentally a lie, whereas great humor requires revealed truth."

Welp, now John's weighing in on Elon's gripe with him -- namely, accusing him of going "woke" ... which is basically EM's favorite word these days. In our walk-and-chat with JO ... he basically shrugged his shoulders on what it is he thinks Elon thinks of him.

The one thing John knows for sure about Elon is that he's thin-skinned as hell -- but as far as what Elon's getting at with his "woke" argument ... John says he can't play psychologist for a dude like Mr. Musk. In fact, he says he's not sure Elon knows what he means!

Our photog asked one big question -- do you think your feud will continue on??? John has a hilarious response ... and to us, it kinda proves Elon wrong in his assessment of humor.

A little bit of snow -- okay, a TON of snow -- wasn't gonna stop Bills and Steelers fans from making their way to the stadium for Monday's Wild Card game ... with diehard supporters trudging to their seats in time for kickoff.

The playoff matchup was originally slated to go down on Sunday ... but Mother Nature had other plans, as a snowstorm forced the N.Y. governor and NFL commish Roger Goodell to push it back a day.

The Bills pulled out all the stops in hopes of getting Highmark Stadium ready in time for the contest ... even offering folks $20 an hour to help clear out the snow.

Despite the efforts, there was plenty left over from the storm ... but judging by videos of spectators walking through knee-deep piles in order to get to their seats, they didn't care one bit.

In fact, when Buffalo tight end Dawson Knox caught the first touchdown of the game, Bills Mafia made use of the extra snow by throwing it up in the air to celebrate.

All things considered, the field looks damn good for the game ... with not one snowflake in sight.

Chris Daughtry is acknowledging aspiring professional singers these days might not need something like "American Idol" to launch their careers ... but he's walking a fine line here.

The 'Idol' alum was at LAX Monday, and our photog chatted him up about the modern landscape of music and television -- which, in the good old days of the aughts, made for the perfect combination of stardom on shows like 'AI' and others.

CD, of course, is a great example of that -- he didn't win the competition, but came out as a hugely popular artist nonetheless ... and he's been incredibly successful in the music biz.

With that in mind, our camera guy asks if he thinks 'Idol' is pretty much obsolete in the era of TikTok -- when up-and-comers can go viral much more easily than back then ... and break into the industry with a little more ease.

Welp, Chris won't go so far as to say 'Idol' is ancient and irrelevant -- you can tell he doesn't wanna straight up trash the show -- but he does note the obvious ... there are other routes.

Basically, Chris says he's just not sure if there are less people going out for 'Idol' in 2024 as there were back in 2004. On the question of whether can churn out megastars the way you used to in its heyday ... there, too, he kinda gives a shrugged-shoulder response.

Like he says ... he's lucky enough to where he doesn't have to think about that -- 'cause he's been there and conquered the mountain. In other words, he caught the good wave!

Famous reptile enthusiast Brian Barczyk has sadly passed away after spending 10 days in hospice care ... following a brave battle with pancreatic cancer.

The announcement was made Monday ... with the folks at his Reptarium Reptile Zoo paying tribute to their "exceptional" visionary, mentor and friend in an emotional IG statement ... where they praised Brian's ability to touch innumerable hearts and minds globally with his fervent passion for reptiles and wildlife.

They added, "For those of us who had the privilege of working alongside him, Brian's absence leaves an immeasurable void. As we navigate this difficult time, we find comfort in the memories and the lasting light of Brian's work. He will be deeply missed but indeed, never forgotten."

Brian received news of his devastating stage four pancreatic cancer diagnosis almost a year ago ... and it looks like he knew what was coming as just days earlier, he shared an emotional goodbye video.

The reptile influencer once said ... "I'm ready, guys. It was a tough year. It was so painful, the pain was incredible, the sickness was incredible, the treatment was incredible, everything about it was so bad" ... while also thanking his "reptile army" for their support.

Brian made a career out of his love for reptiles ... starring on the Discovery Channel's "Venom Hunters" and kickstarting his successful YouTube career in 2016. He had 5.26 million subscribers and collaborated with the likes of Logan and Jake Paul.

As well his Reptarium Reptile Zoo, he was also the founder of Legasea Aquarium.

He also owned the third-largest collection of snakes in the world -- over 30,000, actively participating in venom milking.

He leaves behind his wife Lori and their two children, Noah and Jade. A memorial in honor of Brian will be held on Wednesday by his family in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

Aubrey O'Day is not staying silent about the things that matter ... at least to her ... she's using a famous Martin Luther King Jr. quote to promote her OnlyFans on MLK Day.

The former Danity Kane singer just published a series of thirst traps and OF promo videos on social media, asking for subscriptions and using the Reverend's words as her caption.

Aubrey's post starts with 7 shots of her showing off her boobs and butt and then it gets really raunchy with a couple videos where she's twerking ... and it's all accompanied by this MLK quote ... "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

It's not just MLK she's using here, BTW ... Aubrey's also name-dropping Donald Trump, President Biden and Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen to drive clicks to her OF page ... it's really something to behold and a masterclass in shameless plugs.

She's posting a bunch of memes that basically drive her followers to her OnlyFans account -- and if it sounds inappropriate on MLK Day ... welp, you're not the only who feels that way.

Fact is ... Dr. King's message and legacy deserve respect and reverence -- and Aubrey's post here is rubbing a lot of folks the wrong way ... especially in the context of promoting sexy content just to make a buck.

YG and Saweetie's relationship won’t have a 2024 encore … the couple reportedly called things quits --  without a hitch.

Sources close to both artists tell The Shade Room the decision to end their roughly 7-month romance came on a mutual decision -- they both think they’re better off as friends.

The West Coast rappers confirmed their union last May amid a steamy Mexican vacation and continued to step out together -- and also collaborate, as they did for Saweetie's "Birthday" single during her birthday month.

Don’t expect to see them bounce out with someone new … they’re both said to be busy with their careers going forward.

Queen Elizabeth II was reportedly furious over her great-granddaughter's name ... according to a royal author who just revived the Palace vs. Prince Harry/Meghan Markle fallout.

Robert Hardman is calling BS on H&M's claims the Queen was supportive of her childhood moniker being passed on to their little girl, Princess Lilibet ... writing in a bombshell extract from his new bio, "Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story," she was the angriest he'd ever seen her over it.

This backs the statement from BBC's royal correspondence, Jonny Dymond, shortly after Lilibet's birth on June 4, 2021 ... stating the couple never said anything to the Queen about using the name -- let alone get her permission for it.

Another report from Daily Mail doubles down on the new book's claims ... saying the Queen was already frustrated she didn't own her own palaces or paintings ... only for Harry and Megs to take the last thing she owned -- her name.

The report cites an anonymous source who claims Liz said something to the effect of ... "'I don't own the palaces, I don't own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they've taken that."

The Queen was also reportedly taken aback when she found out Harry's intention to name his daughter Lilibet ... but felt like she couldn't publicly say no.

Nonetheless, this new naming and shaming is just the latest barb in H&M's continued estrangement from the royal family ... we're sure it'll be over something new next week.

As for the age-old question of what's in a name ... apparently a lot for the late QE2!

Blueface is behind bars over a probation violation that he got hauled into court over last week -- and now, we’ve learned he ain't due to get out for a while ... months, in fact.

The rapper was making headlines on Friday after officials say he violated one or more of the terms of his probation in his club beatdown assault case here in L.A. from a few years ago.

On Friday, there was a hearing scheduled in the case citing some type of probation violation ... although it's unclear what exactly he's alleged to have done. BTW, this was just the latest in several probation violation hearings during the case.

Anyway, there was video of him making the rounds online as well ... showing him presumably heading to court. In the clip, Blue said he was just there to handle some business -- although, he did hint at the possibility he might be jailed right on the spot.

As it turns out ... he was. TMZ can confirm Blueface is in custody at the county jail right now -- and according to online records ... he ain't scheduled to be released until the summer.

More specifically, Blueface is not scheduled to be cut loose until July 2, 2024 ... although, with overcrowding in the jail -- it's certainly possible he'll be released sooner than this. No word on which wing of the jail he's being housed in just yet ... it looks like they're still sorting that.

Still ... Blue will likely be out of the public eye for the foreseeable future -- something his mother was decrying on Friday, and also blaming on his baby mamas ... Chrisean and Jaidyn Alexis.

She claimed these ladies had brought him nothing but trouble -- a sentiment echoed by Blue's manager, Wack 100, as well. As you well know, he's been very active over the past 12 months on a number of fronts ... and it looks like somewhere along the way, law enforcement saw something they felt violated his probation terms -- and then rang him up for it.

We're still working to figure out what exactly Blue is accused of doing -- and getting clarity on a realistic timeline for his release. Until then, he's locked up.

R. Kelly is firing back against a huge judgment leveled against him in a lawsuit involving women who claimed they were victimized by him ... he says he didn't know about the suit and shouldn't be held accountable.

Here's the deal ... six women were awarded $10.5 million in August after suing him and his former manager, Donnell Russell, claiming they were responsible for an effort to shut down a December 2018 NYC screening of the 'Surviving R. Kelly' docuseries with a mass shooting threat.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Kelly claims he would have defended himself against the lawsuit if he knew about the darn thing.

The disgraced singer claims his head is already spinning over his various criminal cases and prosecutions ... and he's been sued so many times lately he can hardly keep up with it all from his prison cell in North Carolina.

Kelly also claims he's also shuffled legal teams since being locked up ... and he says this lawsuit must have slipped through the cracks, or not have been delivered to him behind bars at all.

Even if the lawsuit had been received, Kelly says he wouldn't be able to understand it or distinguish it from any other legal documents ... saying he relies on his lawyers to explain things to him because "I cannot read or understand words beyond that of a grade schooler."

What's more, Kelly claims Donnell was never his manager as the lawsuit claimed ... and he says he had no idea Russell was trying to stop the 'Surviving' screening.

Kelly says he didn't ask Donnell to do so and says if Russell did make a mass shooting threat to stop the screening, "he did that for his own reasons."

Fantasia is just one of several people calling out the grub at the Critics Choice Awards -- 'cause the bagged pizza they dished out just wasn't cutting it for hungry celebs.

Here's the deal ... the food that was handed out at Sunday night's show included slices that were bagged, and prepped to be served on an individual basis. When the pizza was handed out at Fantasia's table ... cameras caught her less-than-pleased reaction.

Check it out ... as the wait staff was handing out the pizza to her "Color Purple" costars, Fantasia looked right at the photog and asked ... "Where's the lamb chops???"

You can see Taraji P. Henson and some others start to chow down right away ... but Oprah herself holds off, saying she doesn't wanna ruin her lipstick. From the looks of it, an extra box of snacks was also handed out to those in the room ... with fruits and whatnot inside.

Now, while Fantasia and co. might've been poking fun at the menu ... others were a little more straightforward in their criticism of the food, including film producer Jen D'Angelo. She posted photos of the pizza, calling it "absolutely revolting" and "3D printed."

Even Paul Giamatti remarked about the food during his acceptance speech, saying ... "Serious guys, I need that endorsement. So let’s all just pray for me,” Giamatti continued. “Everybody get their pizza in a bag, by the way? I think that’d be a good endorsement. Paul Giamatti for pizza in a bag."

For the record, Baja Fresh and Cold Stone were the official food vendors for this thing -- but it appears their chow was served either before or after the show ... and not inside the venue itself. Baja and CS aren't known for pizza, so it's unclear who baked the pies.

Jordan Love’s longtime GF Ronika Stone could hardly wait to roast "Dem Boyz" after the Cowboys lopsided loss to the Packers on Sunday ... the pro volleyball player had some (good-natured fun) at the expense of a bunch of Dallas fans who hit the exits early!

Of course, the Cowboys lost 48-32 (they were down 27-0 in the first half) ... and Stone, the First Lady of Cheesehead Nation, had a prime seat, sitting mid-field as she watched her man carve up the Dallas defense.

Stone made a beeline for IG in the second half, mocking the Cowboys for the L as she took video of fans leaving early.

“Leaving so soon Cowboys fans?!” Stone gleefully asked.

“What happened? I thought we were Dem Boyz,” she continued, as her sister laughed in the background.

Savage.

Ronika -- a former standout athlete at the University of Oregon -- didn't stop with just an IG story post ... she also headed for TikTok to talk a little trash.

“Just checking in to see if y’all are still dem boyz?!”

Love played out of his mind on Sunday, throwing for 272 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. He completed over 76% of his passes and finished with a near-perfect QB rating.

Jordan's performance was one of the best playoff debuts ever for a QB, bottom line.

Chances are things are going to get a good deal harder this weekend when the Packers go on the road to face the #1 seed 49ers, who are 9.5-point favorites (GB was 7.5 dogs to DAL).

Lil Nas X is trying to clean up the mess that his "J Christ" single has caused in the Christian community ... but the damage might be done, if these artists' reactions mean anything.

Mr. Montero hopped on IG on Monday to apologize for all the backlash but also admitted he was surprised by the level of hate he received all the same.

Lil Nas X says he figured the masses would have picked up on his satire ... namely, him combatting Satan in the video and turning away from the dark side, so to speak. He goes on to say the Jesus inspo was aimed to be a metaphor for his resurrected career.

He does admit, however, that his communion promo video perhaps took things too far ... he apologizes for the antics ... while denying he's the anti-Christ sent to ruin family values.

Despite Nas X's I'm-sorry ... several of today's top Christian rappers may beg to differ ... they think his new "J Christ" campaign openly mocks their religion and they're not going for it!!!

Dee-1 is no stranger to calling out artists he feels are leading fans down dark paths and posted up next to a mural of Lil Nas X ... and warned him his record label Columbia Records was allowing him to be a crash dummy for Christians.

Dee suggested LNX was suffering from "church hurt" -- shunned for being gay but still told him to cut it out.

Lecrae, the first rapper to ever win a Grammy for Best Gospel Album, echoed similar thoughts and urged his following to pray for LNX -- arguing he's not a lost cause, yet.

Hurricane Chris -- who told us he credited Jesus for his not guilty verdict after being acquitted of murder -- was far less forgiving and threatened to resurrect the Crusades ... and slide for his Lord and Savior against what he perceives as the evil in Nas X's song.

Lindsay Lohan was on the receiving end of a personal dig in the new "Mean Girls" movie that references one of the most infamous insults hurled her way ... and yeah, she's pissed.

Of course, we're referring to Paris Hilton's oil heir buddy, Brandon Davis, once calling her a "fire crotch" gal -- a line that actually made its way into the rebooted flick ... which LL apparently had no idea about -- at least that's the indication from her team's response.

Lindsay's rep told The Messenger ... "Lindsay was very hurt and disappointed by the reference in the film." The outlet also reports that Lindsay was surprised last week when she watched the movie for the first time at the premiere.

It's pretty shocking that the line even made it into the film -- y'know, considering Tina Fey wrote it ... not to mention the fact that Lindsay herself cameos in the flick as well.

On its face, it seems she had no idea it was coming ... meaning she either didn't receive the full script, or didn't peruse it. Ya gotta imagine that if she saw this ahead of time ... she would've talked to Tina about it, because LiLo has famously spoken out about the dig.

The context of how it's used in the new movie features none other than Megan Thee Stallion -- who shows up as one of many people singing the praises of the new popular girl, Cady (once played by Lindsay), as they flee Regina George. MTS says "fire crotch is back."

You'll recall, the way it was originally used dates back to a TMZ video from back in 2006 ... when Davis was being a bit of a "mean girl" himself in talking trash about LiLo at the time. Like we said, Lindsay's been fairly vocal about how hurtful that was back then.

That's why Tina's decision to include it in the movie -- even in jet -- is shocking ... and now even more so with LL speaking out like this. Tina gushed about working with Lindsay, so you know she loves her  ... perhaps this was just an innocent mistake or an oversight.

Somebody swatted the White House this week, if you can believe that -- and, apparently, the prankster actually got first responders to rush over to POTUS' crib.

According to the Associated Press, a fake 911 call was placed Monday morning in the D.C. area just after 7 AM ... and the person who phoned in filed a BS report of a fire breaking out at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., while going on to claim someone was trapped inside.

President Joe Biden and his family were not at the WH this morning, BTW ... they were over at Camp David, and not long after -- he touched down in Philly for an MLK event later today.

It's unclear if JB was immediately aware of the swatting attempt -- but in any case, it sounds like it worked ... 'cause AP reports that the local fire department rushed over to the White House, where they met with Secret Staffers to figure out what the hell was going on.

Of course, none of it was true ... something official realized quite quickly. AP says that when the authorities tried calling the number that first called in -- the person on the other end denied placing any such call ... so the whole thing was just an elaborate practical joke.

9:59 AM PT -- Hulk Hogan's wife, Sky Daily, just posted about the crash ... writing, "Last night, after we left dinner in Tampa, we saw a car flip in front of us! I truly admire my husband @hulkhogan and our good buddy @jakerask for springing into action, puncturing the girls airbag, and getting her quickly out of the car. By all appearances, she was unscathed, just really rattled, which is an absolute miracle!"

9:07 AM PT -- TMZ Sports has obtained new photos from the scene of the crash ... and in them, you can see Hulk and his friend playing real-life superheroes.

Take a look at these pics ... which show an up-close-and-personal view of the action. From the looks of it, the accident was as dramatic as you can imagine -- with the teen's car completely flipped upside down ... and her actually stepping out from the vehicle.

In fact, you can also see Hulk's buddy, Jake (the marine), running over to help. It's like something straight out of a movie -- and fortunately, nobody was seriously harmed.

7:17 AM PT -- More startling details about this accident -- TMZ Sports has learned that the driver was a minor ... a 17-year-old girl, who, we're told, was completely rattled by the whole thing.

Our sources also tell us that Hulk Hogan's buddy, Jake, who dove right in on this is actually a Marine!

Hulk Hogan sloughed off his WWE heel persona in real life this weekend -- jumping to the rescue of a woman who got into a horrific car accident ... and TMZ Sports has the pics.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us the legendary wrestler, his wife Sky Daily and a friend of theirs were cruising along a highway Sunday evening in Tampa, FL when they witnessed a bad wreck play out right in front of them.

We're told a car erratically swerved across the lanes to catch an exit it was about to miss -- and in the process ... clipped another car, which our sources say flipped over and tumbled.

Hulk and co., our sources explain, pulled over immediately -- with HH and his pal, Jake, rushing over to render aid to the driver ... a woman whom we're told was rattled. Since they were first on the scene, we're told Hulk and Jake actually helped get her out of the car.

Our sources say Jake popped the woman's airbag with some tools that Hulk had on hand -- and they both unbuckled her seatbelt and assisted her in safely leaving the vehicle. We're told paramedics eventually arrived on the scene, and Hulk and his crew looked on.

In the end, our sources say the woman appeared to be okay ... and HH was happy to help.

Pretty terrifying obviously -- and while, thankfully, everyone seemed alright in the end ... you gotta imagine the woman who was saved must've been surprised to see none other than Hulk himself being her personal hero. Again, he's often played the villain in the ring.

Turns out, he's the nicest guy and then some when called upon ... well done, brother!

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are two peas in a pod these days -- but in terms of their initial coming-together ... her relative is now coming forward to claim he played matchmaker.

Danny Frye III -- who's a dirt track racer in Oklahoma -- did an interview this weekend where he revealed he's T-Swift's second cousin, and not just that ... but he's taking credit for setting up his uber-famous family member with the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.

Check it out ... in Danny's chat with FloRacing TV, he confirmed he and Taylor are, in fact, related by blood -- but he's not just some random distant relative ... according to him, they're somewhat close and grew up together.

More importantly, DF3 drops a bombshell ... saying he made a "love connection" between his cuzzo and TK -- although, he doesn't really get into the details much at all. Danny shows off a screengrab of him and TayTay at a Chiefs game ... so he's not totally BS'ing.

It's interesting this is coming out now -- 'cause back in November, Travis spilled the beans on how exactly he and Taylor got hooked up ... saying someone in her world played Cupid, and strongly suggested it might have been someone in her own brood who knew who he was.

Some suspected her brother, Austin, might've been responsible -- but now, Danny here is saying he's the reason we have one of the biggest, most famous couples in recent memory.

Again, no deets on how exactly it all unfolded -- but it ain't hard to piece together. Presumably, Danny heard Travis' Taylor story on his pod, and relayed the message.