Comedy

Slight hiccup for Ellen DeGeneres -- she's canceled several of her stand-up appearances shortly after kickstarting her multi-city tour.

Several upcoming shows from her "Ellen's Last Stand ... Up" tour in Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago have been axed -- with a notice from Ticketmaster's website reading, "Unfortunately, the Event Organizer has had to cancel your event."

Unclear exactly why the cancelation occurred ... but it goes without saying, it's a bummer for fans who were planning to attend the event at Dallas' Music Hall at Fair Park on July 10.

Comedian Matt Rife and his actress/dancer girlfriend Jessica Lord have broken up ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

We're told the former couple actually called it quits back in March, and the split was amicable on both sides ... with no hard feelings. The relationship had run its course.

Since the split, our sources say Matt has NOT been dating ... instead of looking for love, we're told he's focusing on his stand-up tour.

Ellen DeGeneres is clapping back at all those "mean girl" allegations ... which created controversy on her talk show, and ultimately contributed to her walking away from it.

The comedian addressed the controversial label attached to her during a recent stand-up show in Santa Rosa, California ... reportedly telling the near-capacity crowd, "I am many things, but I am not mean."

According to SFGATE, while Ellen stood up for herself, she did acknowledge, "I can be demanding, impatient, and tough. I am a strong woman."

Hailey Welch -- the viral "Hawk Tuah" Girl -- is apparently trying to go from "spittin' on that thang" to making audiences spit take ... 'cause she's now trying to lock up the rights to her famous phrase... and, it looks like she's got a comedy career in mind.

TMZ's obtained her trademark filing for "Hawk Tuah" in which Welch is asking for trademarks in two fields -- one for apparel like hats and shirts and another for entertainment services ... namely, comedy podcasts and live comedy shows.

Welch filed for the trademark under her new company, 16 Minutes, LLC -- a clever play on Hailey looking to extend her 15 minutes into lasting fame ... not the first sign she's trying to do so, as you know.

Hailey Welch, who is best known for being the viral "Hawk Tuah" girl, is ready to extend her 15 minutes of fame ... as she's officially landed representation.

The management firm Penthouse has come forward as Hailey's new rep, confirming to TMZ they are, in fact, working with the Internet's current obsession. United Talent Agency was originally believed to be Hailey's rep ... but, as sources with direct knowledge told TMZ, the Hollywood agency never inked a deal with Hailey.

It all worked out for the best, it seems ... as founder Jonnie Forster made it clear the company's excited to be working with Hailey -- though stayed tight-lipped about HW's first project.

Hailey Welch, who is best known as the viral "Hawk Tuah" girl, is breaking her silence since skyrocketing to fame ... addressing for the 1st time all the rumors about her personal life.

The viral sensation stopped by Brianna LaPaglia's 'Plan Bri' podcast on Monday, in which she reacted to her newfound fame and set the record straight on some lies circulating the Internet.

Check it out ... Hailey said most of the stories that have surfaced about her are not true. For instance, she was never a school teacher ... and so she was NOT fired from her job over the viral moment.

Zach Bryan got in on the "Hawk Tuah" craze, bringing the now-famous 21-year-old on stage Saturday night during his concert.

Zach, who is on his "The Quittin Time" tour, was performing at Nashville's Nissan Stadium when Hailey Welch -- AKA "Hawk Tuah" -- appeared on stage and the crowd went nuts!

They performed his song, "Revival" together and she gave a "Hawk Tuah" for the crowd.

Eddie Murphy is back in "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" ... and, it's gonna redeem the franchise after the third film bombed with critics and fans -- so says Bronson Pinchot.

The actor -- who's played the flamboyant fan-favorite Serge since the 1984 original -- tells TMZ 'Axel F' has the secret sauce that made the first two films '80s blockbusters ... namely, the entire OG cast is back in a story that's vintage buddy cop.

BP uses the metaphor of his beloved bird flying into a wall to describe the 'BHC3' flop -- but, the bird survived, and he says the series is mending in much the same way.

Eddie Murphy's calling out a fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum ... reflecting on how angry David Spade's joke about his career made him -- and, saying he thinks there was racist intent.

The comedy legend sat down for a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times, published Saturday, and he mentioned a joke Spade made on a "Weekend Update" segment from December 1995.

If you haven't seen the clip ... a picture of Murphy pops up on screen and Spade jokes he's spotted a "falling star" -- this came months after Eddie's movie "Vampire in Brooklyn" bombed at the box office.

Martin Mull -- famous for his work on "Roseanne" -- is dead.

The longtime actor died Thursday at his home, the result of a long illness ... according to his rep, Jennifer Craig.

Martin played Leon Carp on "Roseanne" back in the day, appearing in 46 episodes. He was also a regular on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and had a recurring role in "Two and a Half Men."

Presidential candidates' sexual relations -- or lack thereof -- with porn stars are now a topic of national debate ... yes this is Trump vs. Biden 2.0.

Stormy Daniels found herself smack in the middle of Trump and Biden during Thursday's debate ... when Biden started taking shots at Trump's felony conviction.

It all started when Biden told voters, "The only person on the stage that is a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now," a clear reference to Trump being found guilty of making hush money payments to Stormy.

"Hawk Tuah" -- the phrase you can't escape -- is about to be even more in your face, 'cause a bunch of people are jumping on the slippery bandwagon, and banking on it by filing for a slew of trademarks.

According to documents obtained by TMZ ... the number of trademarks for the phrase has hit double digits with multiple businesses looking to slap the phrase on just about everything that could, even loosely, be connected to the "hawk tuah" girl's immortal words.

Companies are asking for the legal right to place the phrase on t-shirts and athletic wear -- that's not shocking -- but how about lubricants, chewing tobacco, oral care, hair and body products, beverages ... and, very naturally, sexual stimulants.

Kesha tried to pull off a gas station photo shoot -- while seemingly jabbing at Katy Perry -- but the manager wasn't having it, and told her and the photog to get the hell out!!!

The "TiK ToK" singer pulled into a Sinclair gas station Thursday afternoon in L.A., and started posing for photos in a red cowboy hat, matching red mini-skirt, thigh-high boots and a small black purse.

Kesha was also wearing a tiny white tank top with "LOL" written on it ... which certainly plays like a callback to her recent tweet that fans believe is her reaction to Katy Perry collabing with Kesha's old nemesis Dr. Luke.

The "Hawk Tuah" Girl's spit take is spinning pure gold -- the hat company she partnered with is raking in tens of thousands of dollars selling a ton of apparel featuring her (in)famous phrase!

Hailey Welch -- who's NSFW street interview catapulted her into the internet stratosphere -- partnered with Fathead Threads in the aftermath of going viral, and they've plastered her lubricated phrase on everything.

Now, the company's owner Jason Poteete told Rolling Stone they've sold approximately 2,000 hats so far -- the cheapest of which is retailing at $32.78. They've already sold out of a signed version they were selling for $50.

"Hawk Tuah" officially made its way into the MLB on Wednesday night ... when during a broadcast of the Braves vs. Cardinals game, an announcer actually said the now-viral phrase live on-air!

It all happened during the second inning of the team's doubleheader at Busch Stadium ... when Atlanta's announcers were talking about some saliva Alec Burleson had just leaked from his mouth.

The guys noted the St. Louis outfielder didn't quite clear his shoulder with his spit while at home plate -- and they went on to have a spirited convo about it.