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A bunch of counterfeit Milwaukee Bucks title rings have been seized by the feds ... who say if the bogus bling had made it past them, it could have cost U.S. residents a small fortune.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, over the past few months, 56 shipments of 1,382 fake sports championship rings and trophies were intercepted by officers in Cincinnati.

The feds say in addition to the fraud Bucks memorabilia, there were also rings with Dodgers, Red Sox, Univ. of Kentucky and NASCAR images on them.

Authorities say the shipments also included fake Lombardi Trophies and more ... and add that it would have all been worth around $1 million if it had been the real deal materials.

"The money profited from selling fake merchandise such as championship rings, is used to damage the United States economy and fund criminal enterprises," Cincinnati port director Richard Gillespie said in a statement Tuesday.

"I am proud of the officers in Cincinnati, they work hard to protect our domestic businesses and stop illegal shipments."

Jason Derulo has a zero-tolerance policy for being mistaken for another R&B superstar -- so much so, he attacked 2 guys at a Las Vegas hotel for calling him ... Usher.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ... cops were called to the ARIA hotel during the early hours of Tuesday morning after Derulo threw fists with the men.

Eyewitnesses tell us Derulo and one of the men were passing each other on an escalator when the guy seemed to troll Derulo by yelling, "Hey, Usher! F*** you, bitch!!!" That's when Derulo got pissed and punched him right in the face, sending the dude to the floor.

It didn't end there ... Jason allegedly also slapped the second guy moments later, and security had to step in to break up the scrum. You can see part of the fight in the video ... even though Jason was walking with a large dude, perhaps his bodyguard ... he still charged directly at the guys after the Usher line.

At the time, the 2 victims did not want to press charges, but there's always the possibility of a lawsuit. Either way, they have up to one year to change their minds and move forward with charges. Jason did get a trespassing notice from ARIA, and was removed from the property.

Titans defensive end Bud Dupree grabbed a man and then wrestled with him for several seconds inside of a Walgreens in Nashville on Sunday night ... new video, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows.

In the footage, you can see the NFL player walk through the doors of the drug store and immediately get in the face of a man near the cash register.

It's unclear what prompted the verbal altercation -- but sources close to Dupree allege he was being heckled with nasty comments ... claiming the man threatened to spit on the women and kick Bud in the knee.

After exchanging words with the guy, Dupree appeared to try to grab the man's cell phone.

The 6-foot-4, 269-pound pass rusher then forcefully put the man in a bear hug, and all hell broke loose.

Video shows nearly everyone inside the store got involved in a wrestling match between the two ... before Dupree was ultimately separated from the group.

Dupree then seemed to try to leave the store, but as others stayed inside, the 28-year-old Tennessee defender went back, appearing to try to get others out of the fracas.

A separate video of the incident filmed from inside of the Walgreens, and obtained by Broadway Sports, appears to show Dupree ordered one of the people he was with to take a person's phone in the middle of the altercation.

As we reported, after conducting an investigation into the incident, cops cited Dupree for misdemeanor assault. They say the football player is due for booking on the citation in three weeks.

Nev Schulman is not reuniting with his longtime TV partner Max Joseph for the next season of 'Catfish' ... even though Nev made fans think it was happening.

Here's the deal, Nev posted a video on social media Tuesday showing him goofing off with Max and promoting the reality show's upcoming return, leading to a flood of comments from folks freaking out about Max potentially being involved or asking if he was in the fold.

But, our sources tell us Max is NOT returning to the show or appearing on any episodes this season.

We're told Nev and Max have remained friends over the years and the video was shot Monday night while the duo was kicking it in Los Angeles.

TMZ broke the story ... Max quit the MTV show, which he helped create and host for 7 years, back in 2018 to pursue a career in filmmaking.

It sounds like the door is open should Max ever get the 'Catfish' hosting itch ... our sources say Nev would love to have him back in the future, if that's something Max would ever want to do.

The Golden Globes are, indeed, happening this year -- but there'll be some major changes ... including where you can catch it, and who will (or won't, rather) be there to bear witness.

A release Tuesday states the Globes are going to be livestreamed this year, where winners will be announced for their respective categories. The big difference, of course, is that NBC will not be carrying the broadcast ... nor will any other major network.

There also won't be a large audience or any celebs in attendance.

You'll recall ... the NBC decision came down last year after some diversity controversy caused by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which many felt hadn't done enough by 2021's show to nominate more people of color -- something they vowed to fix and work on going forward. It even became a running (awkward) gag throughout last year's ceremony.

They've made some strides since then ... but not nearly in enough time to find another home.

During the show, Kyle Bowser, Senior Vice President of the NAACP Hollywood Bureau will break down the "Reimagine Coalition," a movement to increase diversity across the entertainment biz. The coalition is a five-year initiative.

Of course, there will still be COVID precautions in place for the few who are able to attend and present, including proof of vax AND booster as well as a negative PCR test.

Besides that, we're told it'll be host-less and spectator-less ... this despite the fact there are some huge names up for awards. Some notable ones ... Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Mahershala Ali, Nicole Kidman, just to name a few.

However, the main focus of the show will be on the orgs the HFPA has worked with and sponsored over the years.

George Floyd's young niece is on the mend after what seems like a targeted attack on family members in his hometown of Houston.

Four-year-old Arianna was struck with a bullet in her torso Saturday while she slept in her bed at home. The bullet was fired by an unidentified suspect, or suspects, who opened fire into her family's house ... according to Houston's ABC13.

She was taken to a hospital where she underwent surgery and was stabilized. Arianna's father says she suffered a punctured lung and liver, as well as 3 broken ribs, but she's recovering.

As for who might've done this ... no arrests yet, and cops aren't saying anything about possible culprits -- however, Arianna's family tells ABC13 they know the shooter ... but, for some reason, they believe the incident was "just a coincidence."

Apparently, Arianna had attended some protests last year to honor her slain uncle. She's technically his great-niece ... being the daughter of his niece, Bianca, whose mother is George's sister, LaTonya.

Spice wants to show women how much can be accomplished on their own, and tells us making Grammy history with her debut album is a big step toward that goal.

The Queen of Dancehall is one of 2 female dancehall artists -- the other being Etana -- to be nominated for Best Reggae Album. That's a first for the Grammys, and on Tuesday's "TMZ Live" she told us about her rags to riches tale ... in life and the industry.

The title of her nominated album is "10" -- fitting because she says, "For the past 10 years I've managed myself. I've been my own record label, my stylist and everything, so I'm just super gleeful and excited."

Spice tells us she wants to show people it is possible to make dreams a reality ... "When one door closes you can open another one," she says.

This has been a huge year for the dancehall artist and "Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta" star.

She released her hit album back in August ... and a large part of that success came from the lead single, "Go Down Deh" ft. Shaggy and Sean Paul.

Folks in the music scene aren't the only ones who agree either. Just last month, the song even made it to former Prez Obama's 2021 playlist.

Spice says her slogan is "from homeless to greatness," and indeed she is living that out ... she told us she just bought a home in ATL and she has been doing extremely well for herself.

Before admitting to fathering a third child and apologizing to Khloe Kardashian, Tristan Thompson was in dad mode, picking up True from gymnastics with dozens of roses.

We got video showing TT outside the class Monday, about an hour before his lengthy post where he revealed he was the father of a baby boy. Tristan sat in a waiting SUV while someone from inside the class brought out what we're told was close to 100 roses.

A source close to Thompson tells us the flowers were for True, who he hadn't seen in a few days -- The Sacramento Kings are in town to play the L.A. Lakers Tuesday.

As we reported, Tristan says a paternity test proved he's the father of Maralee Nichols' baby boy, born last month in Houston. The two had been locked in a nasty back and forth in court, but now the NBA star says, "Now that paternity has been established, I look forward to amicably raising our son."

He then turned things to Khloe -- who he was publicly dating when he got Nichols pregnant -- saying, "You don't deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you. You don't deserve the way I have treated you over the years."

Tristan concluded, "My actions have certainly not lined up with the way I view you."

Peter Dante -- who's been in just about every single Adam Sandler movie -- went OFF on an L.A. hostess who denied him service for not wearing a mask ... and it's all on video.

The actor's meltdown started Monday night when he was trying to get a table at Quarters Korean BBQ in L.A.'s Koreatown but was told he wouldn't be served.

In the video, you see a maskless Peter flipping out at the hostess -- who is standing next to a sign that says "No Mask No Entry" -- calling her "garbage" and "c***" before demanding to talk to her boss.

While he's waiting to talk to the manager, Peter gets in the face of another staffer and again refuses to put on a mask.

Eventually, Peter hits the road without further incident ... but folks who were there say the hostess was almost in tears.

TMZ broke the story ... Peter was arrested back in September after allegedly threatening to kill his neighbor over construction noise.

Peter was also thrown out of an L.A. hotel back in 2013 after allegedly making violent threats and hurling racial slurs.

Drake's been working out ... and he really wants you to know it.

The rapper posted a series of photos from a recent beachside vacay -- which is full of shots of him shirtless and showing off his toned goods ... abs, pecs, back and arms.

As you can see ... the dude is jacked, looking super chiseled from the back and the front -- alongside a group of buddies, who are obviously keeping up with Drake. Or maybe he's keeping up with them? 🤷🏽‍♂️

Drizzy captioned the upload with, "The reward for hard work is more work…kno dat." Indeed, it does appear as though Mr. Graham's been hard at work in the gym -- which he also hammered home by posing with a full-body exercise machine, arms up. So, consider it known, Papi!

No word on where exactly or when the photos were taken -- but you gotta imagine it might well have been from his trip to St. Barts for the New Year, where he was partying to celebrate the holiday.

Jetting down to the Caribbean has become a regular pastime for Drake in recent years -- just last year during the summer, he was in Barbados ... where there, too, he was showing off his bod, not to mention the ink featured on it.

Betty White's life and career won't just be celebrated in one corner of Illinois -- the village where she was born is creating a full-on holiday to honor the late actress ... TMZ has learned.

"Betty White Day" will be recognized in Betty's hometown on January 17, which would have been her 100th birthday.

The president of the Village of Oak Park, Vicki Scaman, tells TMZ ... despite moving to California as an infant, OP residents have been grateful that over the course of her life Betty spoke very highly of Oak Park. She continued to visit relatives there years after heading west.

We're told that since she passed away, folks in Oak Park have been vocal about wanting to honor Betty, and that surely will be happening now. A few days before Betty's birthday, Village Prez Scaman will read a proclamation for "Betty White Day" during a memorial for community members in Oak Park.

For Betty's special day, the Oak Park small business community is banding together to offer discounts to customers and "Betty White specials." For example, Mickey's Restaurant will be offering a special consisting of a hotdog, fries, and diet coke -- one of Betty's favorite meals, and Turano Bakery is planning to make a giant birthday cake. Scaman tells us cutouts of Betty will cover walls in the downtown area.

The celebration will continue with a Betty White mural contest, in which the winning mural will be painted downtown. And, there's a bonus ... most everyone in town will already be off from work as BWD happens to fall on a national holiday -- MLK Jr. Day -- this year.

The guy suing Nirvana for featuring his naked baby body on their famous 1991 album cover seems to have forgotten to come as he was to court -- so now his lawsuit's been thrown out.

Spencer Elden's lawsuit against the band -- not to mention Kurt Cobain's estate -- has been dismissed, for now, with the judge noting dude and his lawyers failed to respond to a motion to toss the entire thing filed by the defendants ... a deadline for which had been set on Dec. 30.

That day apparently came and went without any word from Elden and co. -- so, the judge granted Nirvana's wish of nixing the whole suit ... at least for the time being. Elden now has until Jan. 13 to submit an amended complaint if he wants to keep pressing the issue.

As for what was in that motion that Elden never came to the table for ... it was full of arguments from Nirvana's attorneys that said not only did this guy wait too long to file his child pornography claims -- but also that Elden himself had apparently leaned into his Nirvana fame on several occasions over the years.

As we reported ... Elden claimed he was violated when his then 4-month-old naked self was plastered on the "Nevermind" album after alleged promises it would be censored ... saying it caused him to suffer lifelong damages. He was asking for a pretty penny to make himself whole.

Elden's legal team refused to comment on the latest update or any future plans. A strange U-turn, no doubt -- almost as if he sat down and thought ... never mind!

A golfer in Australia is now in the market for a new driver ... 'cause a giant crab destroyed his on the course.

For real.

The crazy scene happened Down Under recently ... when a golfer stepped away from his bag for just a few moments and returned to find a massive robber crab hugging his clubs.

Video of the scene is wild -- you can see in the footage, the guys were stunned as the crab had its pinchers all over the golfer's TaylorMades.

"Hello, buddy!" One of the golfers said to the tiny beast. "What're you stealing?! What're you stealing?!"

Eventually, the men tried to shake the thing off the clubs ... but check out the clip, the crab wouldn't let go!

The crab ended up holding on so tightly, it snapped the shaft of the guy's driver. And, because nobody wanted to lose a digit, it also ended up stealing one of the club's headcovers too!!

"Just let him have it, mate," one of the golfer's said. "He's beaten us."

Antonio Brown clearly isn't trying to keep a low profile following his breakup with the Bucs ... 'cause just 1 day after his shirtless meltdown at MetLife Stadium, he got front-row tickets to the Nets game.

Broadcast cameras caught the troubled wideout sitting courtside at Barclays Center for Monday's Nets vs. Grizzlies tilt ... and the dude didn't look torn up at all despite losing his job roughly 24 hours earlier.

Brown was rockin' a COVID mask, tracksuit and sunglasses ... and was seen chatting it up with people around his seat as if nothing had happened with him the day before in the Jets vs. Buccaneers game.

Brown Instagrammed from his chair while at the game -- writing in a selfie video, "It's a new day hit up KD [Kevin Durant]" -- and he was even later spotted at dinner in NYC smiling and in good spirits.

Of course, the images aren't too surprising -- Brown has stayed in the public eye just about every minute since Tampa Bay kicked him off the team for quitting mid-game Sunday.

Brown has posted on social media constantly, dropped a rap song, and cruised around the streets of NY with celeb driver Danny Chalet.

Cody Simpson's sister is beyond lucky to be alive after breaking her neck while diving into a pool, and as if that wasn't bad enough ... she tested positive for covid-19.

Alli Simpson was immediately taken to an Australian hospital in an ambulance on New Year's Eve... after diving head-first into a shallow swimming pool, and hitting her head on the floor. She ended up having 2 severe fractures in her neck.

The 23-year old opened up about the scary event ... posting photos from the ambulance and Gold Coast University Hospital -- outside Brisbane. She says, "I am extremely lucky to be alive and/or not quadriplegic as it JUST missed my spinal chord..⁣"

Though she didn't have to get any immediate surgery, she will have to live in a neck brace for 4 straight months ... all day, every day.

She admitted this was not the best start to the year for her, but she was mainly optimistic and shared her gratitude... "to say the least - I have a new lease on life & will be forever grateful that it was not worse!!⁣"

She thanked her family, friends and the medical staff for their support ... and left some encouraging words for us all going into 2022 ... "hoping the start to your year has been a whole lot better than mine!! stay safe this year fam & DON’T DIVE INTO ANYTHING WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW IT’S DEPTH!!! 🤍🤍🤍 "

A Southwest passenger says the airline is at fault after her dog wasn't able to breathe in his carrier and suffered a tragic death during a flight.

The 3-year-old French bulldog, named Charlie, was a comfort pet and a paying passenger that had been flying in a dog carrier on a SW flight last month to Pennsylvania.

Charlie's companion Courtney tells us the dog started having breathing problems during a connecting flight of their Dec. 21 journey. She claims when she tried to open the carrier or take Charlie out, an airline attendant refused to allow it and threatened to turn the plane around, or Courtney would face other consequences.

Courtney says it was "brutal," and claims Charlie had been otherwise healthy. She believes he overheated and suffered heatstroke and seizure due to the temperature on her first flight -- although, we're told a necropsy has not been done to confirm that.

She claims she had asked an attendant on that first flight to turn up the AC to cool down Charlie. During the connecting flight, she claims she tried explaining he would die if he continued to have trouble breathing ... but wasn't allowed to help him as he moaned for air.

As a result, she's alleging the Southwest staff "let him die." Courtney is an X-ray technician who says she'd been traveling around the U.S. to help Covid patients, and Charlie was her support animal.

Courtney's lawyer Evan Oshan tells TMZ his client was only offered a ticket refund, but now wants to sue for the loss of Charlie and for pain and suffering. She also wants the flight attendant fired.