Today on the TMZ podcast.

Hello and welcome to the TMZ podcast. I'm Charlie Cotton, and today I'm joined by Ed Lewis from our sports desk. How are.

You, Ed? I'm doing great, Charlie.

You're here to discuss a big story in the world of sports and pop culture. Yes. Britney Spears versus Victor Wembenyana.

Yeah, it's so crazy of a story. It feels like a mad lip. You give me a celebrity, give me a city, give me an athlete, and give me an action, and you just put it all together. You're like, how is this possible?

God, you're good on podcast, Ed. God, you're good on podcast. That's such a great way to lay it out. We're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about Paris Hilton versus Peter, the animal organization. They're beefing right now. Are you allowed to say beefing if it's about Peter? And also, we're going to talk about Dancing With The Stars reveals their first celebrity contestant. Very exciting news. But into our biggest story, TMZ broke this story yesterday. It was a massive story. Can you give us the timeline of the Britney Spears versus Victor... Who is this Victor Wemanyan or anyway?

Okay, so if you're unfamiliar, Victor Wominyama is basically what people are considering him to be the next LeBron James and perhaps even bigger. I don't know how familiar everybody is with basketball here, but LeBron James, when he came out, was the next Jordan. He's a can't miss prospect. If he's not a hall of Famer, it's considered a failure. And obviously, he went on to be maybe the greatest player of all time. Victor Wemanyan is in that elite air. He's not as skilled as LeBron, you could say, but he's 7'4 and has a wingspan that I can reach this desk to your desk and have more room to spare. And he is so talented. He shoots the three, he can post up, he's the rim defender. I mean, he does everything. So he is a massive superstar already, despite not playing a single NBA game. The San Antonio Spurs just picked him in the draft last month. He's playing his first game on Friday, his first Summer League game on Friday. He'll debut this season in October. And everybody is super, super.

Excited about him. Especially...

Britney Spears, apparently. So Britney Spears apparently knows Victor W ebanyama somehow. I mean, that's how big he's become. He's this larger than life figure already. He's 7'4. Like I said, he's huge. He's talented. He's skilled. Everybody thinks he's even next to LeBron. He's something we've never seen before. In fact, do you know the movie Air with Sonny Vicaro? Sonny Vicaro, we spoke to him at TMZ Sports, and he said this guy deserves a contract bigger than LeBron in terms of shoe deals. And he was the guy that signed Michael Jordan to the shoe deal. So he's on them. So anyways, Britney Spears somehow knows Victor Wendon Elma. She sees him at the Aria Hotel outside of Catch Restaurant. They're both headed into the restaurant. In Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, yes. Victor is there there for Summer League, and she's there because she's Britney Spears in Vegas. So the story goes that she either, depending on which side of the story you ask, she either taps Victor on the shoulder or grabs Victor in an effort to take a picture with him or say hi, she's a fan. At some point, though, the security guard does not know who it is.

And again, depending on who you ask hits her away from Victor. In the face. In the face. Now, it depends. Again, we've heard so many iterations of the story, but one is either he slapped her in the face to get her away. One is either he hit her hand, which then hit her face. But some confrontation altercation happened between the security guard and Britney Spears.

But it was like a backhand that he didn't know where he was flinging his hand. It wasn't an intentional, I'm going to hit you in the face.

Right now. Right. And that's what everybody is arguing here. It's depending on whose side of the story you're on. Because obviously, Victor's team is saying, We didn't know it, and we just pushed her away. And Victor, they were told, We don't stop for anybody and get into the restaurant and get out of there and move everybody that has to be out of the way. Again, I can't stress how big this guy is. When he's in Vegas, he is getting pummeled by people. He is such a.

Superstar right now. He's taller than the slot machine.

Honestly, yes. And people want his autographs. People are screaming for him. We have video of him just hours after this incident. And he is in just a lobby. And there's people with his jersey asking for signatures and basketballs.

That sets the scene that everywhere this guy is walking is mobbed, that the security has their work cut out for them, that they can't let anyone... I deal with celebrities every day at LAX. And when you get big celebrities, you get big bodyguards. And that big bodyguard, their one job is no one touches the talent. And so Britney Spears got to the talent. She touched him in order to try to get a photo or something. The security reacted in reflex or just doing their job, really. You don't know who this person is. You don't know what their intention s are. And so accidentally, or I don't know. Purpously, maybe. Purpously, maybe, struck her in the face in order to defend his client. So since the incident, Britney Spears has taken to Instagram, and also Victor has had an interview about it. Let's listen to some of the interview that Victor had talking about this incident with Brittany.

When I was walking with some security of the team to some restaurant, we were in a hall. There was a lot of people and there was one person who was calling me, but we talked before with the security, don't stop because it's going to make a crowd. So I couldn't stop. So that person is calling me, sir, sir. And that person grabbed me from behind. So I didn't see it. I didn't see what happened because I was walking straight and we told don't stop. But that person grabbed me from behind. Not on my shoulder, she grabbed me from behind. So I just know that the security pushed her away. I don't know with how much force, though.

She says she didn't grab him, that she just placed laced her arm on his shoulder.

Right. She's insistent that she tapped him, didn't grab him. I've gone back and forth on this all the time. Why would Victor lie about that? You know what I mean? He has no stake in this game. In fact, there's a longer portion of that interview where he basically says he doesn't seem to know who his security guard is even. He was like, It's just our team security guy. It wasn't like he was like, Oh, that's my guy, Steve. It's not Victor's guy. Yeah. You know what I mean? So he has no stake in the game. Why would he lie about that? Why would he be like, She grabbed me.

Is there not video from Vegas?

There's cameras everywhere. So that's the other part of the equation. So police are involved. Brittany and her team went to cops after this incident and wanted to file an assault report or a battery report. Cops have told us that they have viewed footage from the, I guess, casino area or the hotel area, the lobby area, wherever they were, and have seen what happened, I guess.

They've seen it all?

They say that. So it is apparently on video. So there's some people people have seen this incident.

So there's no reason to lie. Or if you do, you're going to get found out and embarrassed.

Right. And so that to me is the crux of the issue here. It's like, how can you be upset, especially as Britney Spears? You know how terrifying it is when crazed fans run up to you and grab you or touch you or hold you. How can you then do it to somebody else and be like, I'm the victim now. You know what I mean? That's the one thing I'm not really understanding about it. She demanded an apology and Sam Asgari, her husband, went furious rant on Instagram as well, demanding like, Hey, we want this guy prosecuted.

We want this guy. We got to be better to women thing. It made it like a.

Gender thing. Honestly, yeah. She was like, I'm 5'3 and he's 7'4. It's like, Well, who cares? Five three people don't have the ability to hurt people. You know what I mean? Listen, I get Britney Spears had no ill intent, but put yourself in that security guard shoe. This is the most important player in the NBA right now. And some random person is coming up and grabbing or touching him or whatever, I have to.

Do my job. None of them realized it was Britney Spears until well afterwards, too. It wasn't like she had a sign on saying, I'm Britney Spears. It's not even like she's that recognizable these days, especially when she's dressed in a hat and sunglasses. The sunglasses which flew off, but no one really recognized. This is Britney Spears trying to get to him. What I found funny was that we spoke to a witness yesterday on TMZ Live who said she shouted at Victor and the security in a British accent. This is America.

Yeah. That is just... Again, it adds to the whole mad live of the story, though, right? Just like Britney Spears attacking an NBA player and then getting attacked on her own and then shouting in British accents. This story is wild.

It is wild. So what happens from here?

Where it goes from here is there's a criminal investigation. Cops are currently investigating the security guard to see if he committed any wrongdoing, any criminal wrongdoing. The NBA, from the sounds of things, we reached out to all of them. Nobody's coming back to us yet. But from the sounds of things, they're just going to let it go. Victor is expected to play today. Nobody really cares. From their end, this is all taken care of. I'm assuming if a criminal charge comes down, they'll handle the security aspect of it and what they want to do with him. But so far, there's nothing from the NBA or the Spurs end on what they're trying to do with this security situation. But criminally, it's going to be an investigation.

He hasn't been in America that long. His star is already... This has made him one of the biggest stars in the world. This incident, yeah, he can play basketball, but the Britney Spears incident has brought him to mainstream. He hasn't been here this long and he's the biggest star going around.

One thing I will say, though, is he's 19 years old, by the way. He did know who Britney Spears was. I found that very interesting. Not that she's not the biggest star in the world. But like 19, you figured maybe I might have missed the Britney Spears thing, but he knew.

Britney to him is like Moderna.

To us. Perhaps.

Yeah. Like a.

Bit before our time, but I get it. I know that she is a huge star to.

Some people. Yeah. Okay, very interesting. We'll have to wait and see how this plays out. I'm into it.

The cameras stopped rolling on Vanderpump Rules, and that's when it all got real. I'm Jax Taylor. And I'm Brittany Cartwright. And we are talking about everything on our podcast, When Reality Hits. Marriage and parenthood. Friendships and feuds. Definitely feuds. And life before, during, and after Vanderpump Rules. So listen to and follow.

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Our next story. Paris Hilton, she's got a new dog. And that's great for everyone except for Peter has a big issue with it because this dog is a bred dog. It comes from a breeder. And she worked with this, not a pet shop, but it's like an adoption... It's like an agency, it's not an adoption. She got this one from a Chihuahua. And Peter's annoyed because there are a lot of Chihuahuas out there. Chihuahuas are almost the number one dog at shelters, basically. And you can get puppies and you can get all sorts of Chihuahuas that you want. Well, Paris got this beautiful, perfect, purebred Paris Hilton dog. And Peter's saying, Look, this is what they said. They said Paris Hilton has apparently been living under a rock for the past decade because a day in an animal shelter would have shown her just how many Chihuahuas already need homes. So where do you stand on this debate?

I go back and forth on it all. I know this is a tough comparison to make, but it's similar to, I hate to do this, buying a car, right? If I want to buy a car, obviously there are a million used ones out there that it would help the environment, and I understand that. And maybe I get it at a discount or whatever you want to call it. But sometimes I want to have the brand new one with all the bells and whistles and the upgrades and the heated seats and the cooled seats and stuff like that. So I get it from both sides. I don't want to.

Stradddle the line here. No, I think it's a great example. It's like that new car smell, puppy breath. You know what I mean? Sometimes you just want that beautiful, new.

Fresh t. These puppies go for around $6,000 and even up.

That's the cost of.

A car. Right. Honestly, yeah. So if I have the $6,000 to spend and I want to buy a new puppy that I am into, and there's more to the story, I guess, that her former dog is related to this current dog.

Oh, I didn't realize that.

Yeah, that's the report that's out there. So she has a tie to this as well. You know what I mean? So there's a little more to it than just, Oh, I'm rich and I want a new puppy and I don't want it from a shelter. You know what I mean? So I go back and forth on this. I see both sides of it. I just don't know how you can fault somebody for wanting that new, new, new, new car. Even though buying the old one would help the environment and it would help put your wallet and helps people. You know what I mean? So I don't know. What do you think?

I think I agree with you that, yes, it's good to rescue. I've got two rescue dogs, but sometimes I wish I didn't. You know what I mean? See? They can be problematic. It's a bit of extra care. I've actually never had a purebred dog like that. So I don't know if they've got similar issues, like barking at you all the time. All dogs have little issues. So I'm not sure if a purebred dog is better or if it makes it any easier to care for. I just think people should be allowed to choose whatever they want. Lots of people make dumb decisions in daily life and choose the wrong this or buy the wrong. And as you say, the car thing, or there's lots of different things that we could nitpick about the way people are bad for the environment, bad for different dogs. So we can't nitpick everything. I think every person has to make their own decision.

It's a 10 to 20 year decision, too. This is potentially for the rest of my life. And so I need to figure out for me if it's better to adopt a dog or if it's better to buy one from a breeder. And I can't fault her for making a decision. I can't fault Peter for being like, Hey, what if you considered this option instead?

Right. Because last time we had you on the pod, we talked about a protest. And what's an effective form of testing? I don't know what Peter does to make their point because they're entitled to their beliefs as much as anyone and totally. So what does Peter do to try to convince the masses that adoption is a better way?

I don't know. They do exactly what they did. I mean, they go scorched earth on Paris, you know what I mean? As opposed to presenting the argument and the facts and stuff like that, they'd lay it on her. I mean, you see this statement. I mean, it's pretty punchy. Oh, yeah. That's what gets headlines. It's like, Peter slams Paris Hilton. It was like, Peter suggests that Paris Hilton gets new dog. Nobody cares. But if Peter's like, You need this. I need this. It gets us to hear it a little bit more.

All right. Well, I mean, she's not giving back the dog, but maybe someone else will adopt instead. On to our next story. On to our last story. Dancing with the Stars this year has their first contestant, and she's out of the scandal. It's Arianna Maddox, the part of Tom Sandoval, there's Arianna Maddox, and she got cheated on. She got somewhat embarrassed in front of the country. Well, now she's winning. She is on a big hit show as the number one contestant. Tom Sandoval, he's on his own reality show, actually. He's on SOS, World's Toughest Test, where he has to go through and do a boot camp type thing. So they're both the stars of these different reality shows now, having come from Vanderpump Rules, it's interesting what a dark scandal can do for someone's career. It's the best thing that ever happened to either.

Of them. I was thinking about that. How many breakups have you been through in your life that you wish you could have gone on and dancing with the stars afterward. What a meteoric come up. I couldn't think of a better thing for me than to get cheated on and then go to dancing with the stars and be in these sexy outfits with these sexy dancers. I'd like to see that for you too, man. I think I'd do pretty well. So I just think that there's what a come up, what an opportunity to get over this. Obviously, it's got to be so devastating. I mean, think about all the breakups you've been in your life and how much they suck and how terrible they are. And then to be able to get out of it in this way, going dancing with the stars. What a moment to be like, Hey, Tom, look at what you're missing out on. And what a moment to try to rebound and get back in the dating world. You're now viewed by millions of people that are potentially in your dating pool now.

At this point, she must be glad she got cheated on. Because honestly, because she got all of these brand deals. She's probably on way more money at Vanderpump Rules this season. She's on Dancing with the Stars. She's being introduced to the world in a whole new way. She's like America's sweetheart. We're rooting for you, Ariana. We want you to find love. Her life has never been brighter. And it all comes because of this whole cheating thing. She must sit back and go, Thank God, because otherwise as well, she would have still been with Tom Sandoval on this middling show, like a middling guy on a middling show, going nowhere. And instead, she's.

Like, America's sweetheart. But can you put a price tag on love, Charlie? You know what I mean? If you find the one you think is the one, is there? But he wasn't.

He.

Wasn't.

Well, obviously. But he never was, is my point. And he finally revealed himself. But luckily, he revealed himself before they had got married, before the show had ended, before they had kids or something. She must feel like someone is looking over her. She really like...

It's one way to look at it.

Listen, if I'm in love.

With somebody and I'm thinking of Mary, I'm going to have kids with them. I don't think I'm going to put a price tag on like, Well, at least now I have brand deals and I'm on Dancing with the Stars.

It could have gone a whole lot worse.

I guess it could.

Dancing with the Stars, they're also smart too, because they just get any... Whoever's the hottest reality star, let's put them on the show. It happens every year with the Bachelorette. They should get Raquel on the show too.

Yeah.

Have them competing. I wouldn't put.

A pass. There's still more to be revealed there. There's now a whole another cast. I think that'd be a.

Smart move. Well, I hope you go through a messy break up sometime.

Soon, Edward. I hope I get on Dancing the Stars afterwards.

I hope you go on Dancing the Stars in your sexy outfit.

Yeah, I would watch that.

I would definitely watch that. All right, guys. Thank you very much, Edward. And we'll see you guys all here next week.