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California kid Trevor Gagnon was only 11 years old when he landed the role of small son Richard "Ritchie" Campbell Jr. -- the 3rd grader who gets pulled in two directions by his old and new moms -- in the early 2000s CBS sitcom, "The New Adventures of Old Christine."

Trevor Gagnon was cast on the family-friendly show opposite actors like Clark Gregg as Richard Campbell Sr., Emily Rutherfurd as the new Christine Hunter ... and of course, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the old Christine Campbell.

Gagnon is also well known for playing Loogie in the rockin' 2009 movie, "Shorts."

We had to read this legal doc several times, because it was so shocking ... Island Express -- the company that owned the helicopter that sent 8 innocent passengers to their death -- claims Kobe AND 13-YEAR-OLD GIGI knew flying could result in an accident and therefore, Vanessa Bryant has no case.

It's true ... Island Express filed an answer to Vanessa's wrongful death lawsuit and, they threw in every argument in the book, including Act of God.

So, here's how it breaks down. Island Express says in its answer, "Kobe Bryant and GB [Gigi] had actual knowledge of all of the circumstances, particular dangers, and an appreciation of the risks involved and the magnitude thereof, and proceeded to encounter a known risk, and voluntarily assumed the risk of the accident, injury ... thereby barring or reducing [Vanessa's] claim for damages."

Island Express never explains how a 13-year-old girl appreciates such risks, and while we're on the subject, did anyone know helicopters are so dangerous that passengers who dare to board do so at their own peril? If that's the case, how come Island Express didn't have a big sign in front of the helicopter?

It gets even crazier. Island Express says it's not responsible for the crash because it was an Act of God. Well, blinding fog is definitely an act of God. Flying into it at 180 MPH is not.

And then, just like the pilot, Island Express blamed the crash on the passengers -- in this case Kobe and Gigi, saying their lawsuit should be thrown out because they were negligent.

And, there's more. Island Express said the accident was the result "of an unavoidable accident." Turning the helicopter around before going into the fog, or going very slow as the pilot ascended or descended might have made it avoidable.

"Ink Master" star Daniel Silva is about to be booked for murder after cops say he was involved in a car crash that killed YouTuber Corey La Barrie ... who died on his birthday.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... first-responders were called out to the scene of an accident in L.A. Sunday night -- where two men in a McLaren sports car somehow crashed into a street sign and tree while out for a drive. The passenger took the brunt of the hit.

We're told the driver -- alleged to be Silva -- did not suffer life-threatening injuries in the wreck, but the passenger, La Barrie, did. Both were transported to a hospital, where the YouTube star was later pronounced dead. Our sources say Silva is still being treated for a broken hip, and will either be arrested for murder there or once he's discharged.

As for how this happened ... we're told police were briefed by witnesses at a party that both Silva and La Barrie had attended earlier in the night to celebrate Corey's birthday. Our sources say people told cops Silva was seen drinking earlier that night.

It is believed the McLaren was traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash -- but we don't have any other specifics about what led to the accident.

Both guys are incredibly popular in their own right, with a massive fan base. Daniel's a big hit on 'IM' -- and Corey had hundreds of thousands of followers.

Corey was 25 years old.

RIP

Congratulations are in order for Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins -- the WWE Superstars are expecting their first child together!!!

"The Man" made the huge announcement on Monday Night Raw just minutes ago ... saying she's relinquishing her women's championship belt to prepare for the little one's arrival.

"Tonight is no ordinary night for me," Lynch said. "I'm torn between joy and sadness, 'cause I'm at a place in my life where things are about to change and I needed to do something about it."

"I have to go away for a while."

Asuka -- who just won Money In The Bank Sunday night -- will now hold the belt, which Lynch revealed was in the locked briefcase all along.

"The match last night was actually for the Raw Women's Championship."

"You go and be a warrior, 'cause I'm gonna go be a mother," a highly emotional Lynch said to Asuka.

Lynch and Rollins have been dating since early 2019 ... and got engaged in August during a romantic beachfront proposal.

As we previously reported, Lynch is also kick-starting an acting career -- she's had a role on "Billions" and has John Cena and The Rock in her corner as mentors ... so we take it she'll still be busy in the meantime.

But, don't get it twisted -- Lynch is hoping to get back to the squared circle ASAP so she can get her belt back ... 'cause she's truly a badass.

Diddy is speaking out on the death of his mentor, Andre Harrell, who discovered him decades ago and put him on a trajectory to fame -- and his farewell may well bring a tear to your eye.

The Bad Boy honcho posted a video Monday showing a speech he gave earlier this year after winning an Industry Icon Award at a Pre-Grammys Gala -- where he also called out the lack of diversity in the music biz -- but this time ... he highlighted his words for Andre.

The remarks are quite moving -- Puffy recounts how Andre took him under his wing, showed him the ins and outs of the game, and simply rolled the dice and took a chance on him. He said he owes a lot of his success to the man -- and made sure he knew it.

Diddy worked as an intern at Harrell's Uptown Records and moved up the ladder to eventually become a talent director, where he was overseeing the development of some big-time stars. Eventually, Diddy and Uptown parted ways ... and the rest is history.

In an accompanying caption, Diddy writes ... "I honestly still can’t believe it. I’ve got to give myself the reality of this in doses. Because I can’t even handle this. I hope to God that you are all blessed to have someone in your life that loves you and believes in you like this man believed in me.… I’m going to miss him so much. I can’t even imagine life without Dre. God bless @gianni, @onealmcknight and the rest of the family."

He finished by saying, "LOVE YOU FOREVER @andreharrell !!!!!!!!!!"

As we reported ... Andre -- who founded Uptown Records and signed several mega R&B artists to his label back in the late '80s and early '90s -- passed away over the weekend. His family told media outlets that his cause of death was heart failure. He was only 59.

He received countless tributes from all over Hollywood, but it was Diddy people wanted to hear from ... and now, they have.

Rick Singer is the key witness against Lori Loughlin and other parents of accused of bribing universities -- but instead of shaking in his boots ... he's paddling in his Speedo.

The college admission scandal mastermind -- who copped a sweet deal early on -- was spotted over the weekend in Newport Beach -- where he was, once again, paddling his heart in nothing but a skimpy bathing suit ... something he does pretty often out there.

It's funny, 'cause you'd think the feds might want to keep their cash cow, so to speak, under close observation or away from the public eye ... ya know, in case someone starts to feel squirrely and tries something nuts ahead of what appears to be a forthcoming jury trial.

This ain't ''The Godfather'' though -- RIP Frank Pentangeli, BTW. It's just good old-fashioned white-collar crime (allegedly), and it doesn't seem federal prosecutors, or Rick for that matter, have a care in the world about him making it to the witness stand safe and sound.

Meanwhile, Lori Loughlin just had her bid to have the charges against her and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, dismissed shut down by a judge. She and her team claimed the feds tried coercing Singer into lying and telling them what they wanted to hear about his clients, but the court wasn't buying it and said it was mostly much ado about nothing.

Ahmaud Arbery died from 2 shotgun wounds, and suffered a third, during the struggle with Travis McMichael.

The Glynn County Coroner conducted the autopsy back on Feb. 24 -- the day after Ahmaud's death -- and found 25-year-old Ahmaud died from 2 close-range shotgun blasts in his chest, and x-rays showed 2 separate groups of buckshot pellets.

It also said he had a graze wound on his right wrist. In the video leaked last week ... you can clearly hear 3 shots fired during the confrontation. The autopsy confirms Ahmaud was hit by all 3.

The coroner, Edmund Donoghue, noted cause of death was "multiple shotgun wounds" ... and described the manner of death as "homicide."

Tests also showed Ahmaud had no alcohol or drugs in his system.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations' report, dated April 1, includes a description of what Ahmaud had on during the fatal shooting. He was wearing a white t-shirt, tan cargo shorts, gray athletic shoes and 2 tan bandanas ... all of which were bloodstained.

"I am going to f**king butcher you"

That's a fired-up Conor McGregor making some serious threats to Justin Gaethje -- telling the UFC's interim lightweight champ that he's coming for Gaethje's head.

"Your teeth. I’m going to put them on a f**king necklace," Conor said to Justin.

In an angry Twitter rant Monday, McGregor says he wants to fight Justin next -- and it seems the hostility comes from a 2019 tweet Justin sent criticizing Conor as a "sh*t human, father and husband."

Conor remembered the tweet and responded ...

"Speak on my skills as a father? You are f**king dead."

McGregor added, "Don’t ever say you represent the great nation of the United States of America ever again."

For his part, Justin has been calling for a fight with Conor for a while -- telling TMZ Sports back in 2019 he actively tried to get Conor to sign a contract but the Irishman wouldn't do it.

"I wrote him a message like f**king 7 months ago just trying to be his friend. I’ve tried every route," Justin said.

"I’m trying reverse psychology. I’m trying to be his friend. I’m trying every f**king route that there is to draw this man out. And I can't draw him out. And he’s calling out Frankie Edgar. So, it’s a slap in the face to me, to all the lightweights, and to really the standard that we f**king do here."

Of course, Justin beat the hell out of Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on Saturday ... and says he now wants to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the real lightweight title.

But, a Conor fight could be a bigger payday for Justin ... so it seems like he's got some decisions to make.

U.S. Olympic bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic died last week after taking his own life ... Team USA announced. He was 43 years old.

"The winter sports community has suffered a tragic loss," USA Bobsled/Skeleton CEO -- and Jovanovic's teammate -- Aron McGuire said in a statement.

"Pavle’s passion and commitment towards bobsled was seen and felt by his teammates, coaches, competitors, and fans of the sport."

Team USA says Jovanovic committed suicide on May 3.

Jovanovic began training as a bobsledder in 1997 and won a bronze medal at the World Championships in 2004. He also competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics, finishing 7th in the 2-man and 4-man events.

Jovanovic was praised as being one of the best brakemen in the sport ... with coach Greg Sand calling him a "one-of-a-kind original."

"If there was ever a bobsledder born to push heavy objects, man it was Pavle."

Mother's Day in one Colorado cafe looks more like a sold-out Led Zeppelin concert than your regular breakfast joint -- a troubling sign as one key model projects thousands of more deaths due to a rise in movement.

This scene was captured Sunday by a local reporter at a place C&C in Castle Rock -- where the guys say their traffic was practically doubled compared to regular times. Looks like a lot of families packed the place to celebrate the holiday ... and to get outta the house.

The influx of customers comes on the heels of several communities throughout the state there relaxing some of their stay-at-home orders and allowing certain retailers to reopen with strict restrictions in place. Doesn't look like that memo got through to the folks at C&C.

BTW, that's not the only place that's seeing increased traffic -- look at this photo of a TJ Maxx out in Arkansas, where droves of people went in this weekend in search of bargain buys. It's just another testament that as more businesses open up, more people will come.

That's not a good thing either -- considering a key model used by health experts forecasts at least 137,000 more deaths in the coming months because of increased mobility across the U.S. The director of the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation told CBS's 'Face the Nation' his findings show a lot more people leaving their homes ... this in the wake of several states starting to relax quarantine protocols.

As a result, he predicts many more deaths will come. Take note, people.

Carole Baskin is on a whole new level of pop culture success ... one even Joe Exotic hasn't gotten his paws on yet -- good old-fashioned trading cards!!!

The 'Tiger King' star -- as well as her loyal (and living) husband, Howard -- now have their mugs plastered across official Leaf collectible trading cards ... and they're certainly dressed for the occasion. CB and HB's cover pic has them rocking matching big cat costumes.

Now, while Carole's been reluctant to give interviews, and seems to have beef with how Netflix portrayed her -- namely, suggesting she possibly had something to do with the disappearance of her previous hubby, Don -- she's actually cool with this merch rolling out.

Leaf says this is a mutual partnership with the Baskins -- and you can tell everyone involved is on the same page from their description on the card. Not coincidentally, we think, there is NO mention whatsoever of Don.

The card says, "Howard and Carole Baskin are leading big cats rights advocates. The couple operates Big Cat Rescue near Tampa, Florida. The debate over exotic animals in private zoos hit a fever pitch with the 2020 Netflix documentary, Tiger King."

It goes on to note the huge ratings it pulled, and how it launched the Baskins into the limelight. They also take a dig at Joe, writing ... "'Joe Exotic' was sentenced to 22 years in 2019, when convicted of 17 federal charges including 'murder for hire' targeting Carole Baskin."

Billie Eilish is scared for herself and her family because an obsessed fan keeps showing up at her home this week, and he never practiced social distancing and most of the time, never wore a mask.

Billie filed legal docs, with the help of the law firm McPherson LLP, claiming Prenell Rousseau began showing up over and over again at her home.

Billie says the 24-year-old trespasser started showing up last Monday, ringing the doorbell, and through the Ring camera, her father asked Rousseau if he could help him. Rousseau responded, "I think I might have the wrong house, but does Billie Eilish live here?"

Billie's dad told the guy he had the wrong house, but that didn't stop him.

Billie says he returned at 9 PM and exhibited "erratic behavior." She says, "While we waited for security, Mr. Rousseau remained on our porch, sat down and began to read a book, while also continuing to engage in a periodic monologue. My father repeatedly asked him to leave, but he refused ..."

Security shooed him away, but he returned a little while later and laid down behind a wall, ready to spend the night.

Rousseau reappeared on Tuesday and began trying the door handle to gain entrance.

He returned again and again and was not deterred by anyone. Billie says Rousseau showed up a total of 7 times, 5 of which he was not wearing a face mask ... and the 2 times he did wear a mask, he pulled it down while talking to security. He was also not wearing gloves as touched the doorbell and doorknob multiple times.

Rousseau was actually taken into custody twice this week, but cops told Billie there was really nothing they could do because trespassing is a non-violent offense and they're trying to keep non-violent offenders out of jail due to the spread of COVID-19.

Billie says Rousseau was put on a bus to go back to NY, where he lives, but she fears he will return.

She's asking for a restraining order for herself and her parents.