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The Super Bowl halftime show promises to be one of the most spectacular yet, thanks to Dr. Dre, but the stakes are high because if COVID somehow kills the show, Dre could lose millions.

As we reported, the show will be filled with huge stars, including Eminem, Snoop, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Dre is fronting most of the money necessary to pull off the event, and we're told it's in the millions of dollars.

Our sources say ... Dre has Event Cancellation Insurance to cover any calamity that might derail the halftime show. Problem is ... we're told there's an exclusion for COVID.

We've learned the pesky provision is called a Communicable Disease Exemption, and it's been around for years ... ever since SARS. But COVID is part of the Communicable Disease Exemption, which means the insurance policy will not cover Dre's losses if the show is 86'd.

The high, high likelihood is the show will go on as planned. There's cautious optimism Omicron will peak later this month ... and the Super Bowl is set for February 13th.

Even if there's an explosion of cases and the crowds are either scaled back or even eliminated, the game will go on ... similar to how it went down last year in the throes of the pandemic. The other possibility, the NFL has made it clear it wants fans in the stands, and if that can't happen at L.A.'s SoFi Stadium, the game could be moved to say, Dallas.

Shawn Mendes is a couple months single -- which may have opened up more time in his schedule to hit the gym -- as evidenced in new pics of the singer on the beach.

Shawn hit the sand in Miami Wednesday -- soaking up the sun, waves and some screen-time on his phone. Shawn looked somber, but hard to imagine he'd be sad taking in the beautiful views.

While he mostly appeared to be solo, at one point a few fans stopped by to chat with the singer.

It was back in November when Shawn and then-girlfriend Camila Cabello announced they were ending their relationship. In a statement, the two said, "Hey guys, we've decided to end our romantic relationship but our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever."

Bobbi Kristina Brown's old townhome in Atlanta, Georgia -- where she overdosed in the bathtub and later died -- has sold, TMZ has learned.

The 3-bedroom 4-bath pad was previously owned by Bobbi's mom, Whitney Houston, and was first listed for $599,000. The property was taken off the market in 2020, but listed again in November for $715,000 ... and sold for $715,100.

It was January 2015 when Bobbi Kristina was found facedown in the bathtub by then-boyfriend Nick Gordon. She was placed in a medically-induced coma for almost 7 months before she died. The medical examiner listed her cause of death as "immersion associated with drug intoxication." Gordon was found civilly liable for her death but was never charged. He died of a heroin overdose in 2020.

Keller Williams Realty agent Jill Rice tells TMZ, a lot of potential buyers knew the home's history, which scared some off -- but it clearly didn't matter to the buyers -- who pulled the trigger after deciding the great neighborhood and townhouse's look outweighed the negatives.

The townhouse is tucked away in a 24/7 gated community and features about 2,600 sq. ft. of living space. It's got a gourmet kitchen, a huge master suite with a fireplace and 2 guest suites with private baths.

President Biden traveled to the U.S. Capitol on the 1st anniversary of the insurrection, and he made it clear ... Donald Trump is a loser who couldn't accept his loss and was willing to destroy democracy to maintain his grasp of power.

Biden painted a picture of his predecessor watching the riot unfold with satisfaction ... a riot fueled by Trump inciting his supporters in an effort to invalidate the election results. It was extraordinary ... the president called the former president a flat-out liar.

Biden did not mince words ... saying Trump was a loser whose ego went into overdrive as he spread lies about the vote count.

It was possibly Biden's strongest speech ever ... squarely calling Donald Trump a liar who tried to ruin the United States.

Young Dolph's shooting suspect certainly didn't cover his tracks well -- twisting his music career with murder, perhaps handing investigators much-needed clues to connect him to the case.

Cops announced Wednesday 23-year-old Justin Johnson is wanted for murdering Dolph. Johnson is a Memphis-area rapper who goes by the name Straight Drop -- and used areas around the city as the background to many of his music videos.

However, it's his music video for the song "Going Straight In" released on November 21, 2021, that had fans making an eerie connection.

Shortly after Dolph was killed, detectives tracked down the getaway car -- a white Mercedes -- to a Memphis-area home. You can see very clearly, Johnson uses the same home as the backdrop to his "Going Straight In" music video.

Shockingly enough -- Dolph was murdered November 17, which means that the music video was actually posted to YouTube AFTER he was gunned down.

Antonio Brown is finally addressing the bizarre incident that ended his Bucs career ... claiming the team gave him a "powerful and sometimes dangerous painkiller" and forced him to play despite knowing he had a serious ankle injury -- all leading to the moment he says head coach Bruce Arians told him "you're done!"

That's when 33-year-old AB says he removed his jersey and pads ... and walked off the Met Life football field.

"Because of my commitment to the game, I relented to pressure directly from my coach to play injured. Despite the pain, I suited up, the staff injected me with what I now know was a powerful and sometimes dangerous painkiller that the NFLPA has warned against using, and I gave it my all for the team," Brown said in a statement released by his attorney.

The 7x Pro Bowler continued, saying he balled until the pain got to a point where he could no longer endure it.

"I played until it was clear that I could not use my ankle to safely perform my playing responsibilities. On top of that, the pain was extreme. I took a seat on the sideline and my coach came up to me, very upset, and shouted, 'What's wrong with you? What's wrong with you?' I told him, 'It's my ankle.' But he knew that."

Unfortunately for AB, he says Arians didn't care, and demanded he go back in the game.

Brown says he responded ... '"Coach, I can't.' He didn't call for medical attention. Instead, he shouted at me, "YOU'RE DONE!" while he ran his finger across his throat. Coach was telling me that if I didn't play hurt, then I was done with the Bucs."

Bottom line, Brown says ... "I didn't quit. I was cut. I didn't walk away from my brothers. I was thrown out."

As for the Bucs, Arians claimed he never discussed an ankle injury with Antonio.

Clearly, AB and the team have two different views as to what transpired on the field ... in what was one of the strangest and surreal moments in NFL history.

If you missed the incident ... the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers were trailing the lowly NY Jets in New Jersey Sunday afternoon.

Brown -- who'd caught 3 balls for 26 yards -- was seen engaged in a very animated conversation on the sideline with star WR Mike Evans.

Then, AB, standing only feet from his teammates, removed his jersey, pads, and t-shirt until he was bare-chested. Brown threw his shirt into the stands ... and ultimately walked through the tunnel into the locker room.

Antonio was seen calling an Uber from the front of the stadium in East Rutherford, NJ ... before taking a car to NYC.

While in Manhattan, Brown says he saw several top doctors ... and was diagnosed with a significant ankle injury.

“What they did know until now is that on Monday morning I had an urgent MRI on my ankle. It shows broken fragments stuck in my ankle, the ligament torn from the bone, and cartilage loss, which are beyond painful. You can see the bone bulging from the outside.”

Antonio says the damage can be fixed ... but will require surgery, which he intends to have done.

As for his football future ... #81 says he plans to play again next year.

“Once my surgery is complete, I’ll be back to 100% and looking forward to next season. Business gonna be BOOMIN!"

Question is ... will there be any takers?

Washington D.C. is ramping up for another clash a year after the storming of the Capitol -- but there's some good/bad news for the cops on duty ... depending on how things shake out.

Sources with knowledge tell TMZ ... the Metropolitan Police Dept. is planning to activate its civil disturbance units Thursday, in anticipation of round 2 from what occurred in 2021 -- which we’re told is standard when mass demonstrations are expected.

That isn't to say the cops have much reason to believe there's gonna be another major riot on their hands. Our sources say the department is mostly doing this out of an abundance of caution, and that there's no credible threats at this time for a repeat of Jan. 6. That’s the upside.

We're told the effort will be mostly organized by the feds -- FBI and Dept. of Justice -- which will help to make sure both Capitol and local authorities communicate and act efficiently. What's more -- from 6AM to 10PM only Capitol staffers, members and official visitors will be allowed close to the premises.

The not-so-great part ... we're told that if things do pop off for whatever reason, MPDC may be a little short-handed when it comes to manpower -- and that's due, in large part, to COVID. We're told officers have been going down due to omicron, and because of that ... they’re going to have to make do with what the remaining bodies they have available.

Just to give you an idea of how decimated their force is on the Capitol front ... Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said Wednesday his squad is short about 447 officers of where they need to be, with about 153 who've retired or resigned since last year ... and another 175 or so who are out sick on any given day due to COVID or other illness.

With those numbers in mind ... here's what the operation will look like on the ground -- smaller platoons than what would normally be deployed. Whereas there are usually 35 platoons throughout the region -- with 28 officers per platoon throughout 7 districts ... our sources say the units will be much smaller on Thursday.

These groups will also be strategically placed because of limited resources -- with officers patrolling the streets, the Capitol and other highly sensitive areas ... so we're told.

Sterling Shepard is saying goodbye to his man cave ... at least while his divorce from Victoria's Secret model Chanel Iman is being hashed out in court ... we've learned she'll be staying put in the family home, and he's moving his stuff out.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Chanel gets sole use of their pad in New Jersey as the divorce winds its way through the court, and he had to remove his personal items from the home, which will now occupy his bachelor pad.

Get a load of the items the New York Giants star had to pack up and ship out ... in addition to his wardrobe and bling, the haul includes his gaming systems, ping pong table, sauna, red light therapy system, all framed and loose football jerseys, plus a projection TV and couch from the basement, a computer and his KAWS dolls.

The docs say Sterling also moved out a bunch of weightlifting and other exercise equipment, but it sounds like Chanel will still be able to keep her model figure ... the Peloton treadmill and bike are staying put.

As we reported ... Sterling filed for divorce back in June after more than 3 years of marriage and 2 kids.

The docs say Sterling and Chanel want joint legal custody of their kids during the divorce proceedings ... and when Sterling plays football on the road on Sundays and can't get back to the family home by 8 PM that night, he'll pick up the kids the next morning.

While Sterling's not living at the North Caldwell marital home during the split, the docs say he will continue footing the bill for her monthly living expenses.

And, the docs say Sterling and Chanel agreed to not have any romantic third parties spend the night when they're parenting.

Kanye West is filling the third and final headliner spot at this year's Coachella ... which almost certainly means Travis Scott is getting left out of the festival -- at least according to a new report.

Variety says they have sources who claim Kanye has signed on as one of the famous event's big names for 2022 ... joining the other two headliners in Billie Eilish and Swedish House Mafia.

Coachella is coming back after two years off due to the pandemic ... and the 2020 edition had Frank Ocean, Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott as the headliners before it was scrapped.

If Kanye joins the fold, it appears highly unlikely Travis will take the stage at Coachella this April in Indio, CA ... but there's yet to be an official announcement either way.

Kanye will certainly be a big draw and he's got some new music to perform too ... remember, he recently dropped his latest album, "Donda."

Yeezy performed a few "Donda" listening parties last year ... and just last month he took the stage with Drake for the 'Free Larry Hoover' benefit concert in Los Angeles.

Before this posing kid was getting her start on a Disney sitcom, she was just another fashionable female serving looks and flipping her hair back in Los Angeles, California.

This sassy sweetheart is best known for the Disney Channel character that launched her career -- in which she acted alongside a teen heartthrob who has gone on to star in a reboot of 'Sabrina The Teenage Witch' among other shows and films.

Acting isn't the only skill in this star's repertoire ... she is also releasing tons of poppy music for her fans to jam out to.

Forget plaques and record books ... Derrick Henry has found a new way to show off his legendary football resume -- an insane iced-out diamond chain!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... the Tennessee Titans star RB wanted to turn all of his pigskin accomplishments -- starting from high school -- into some bling for his 28th birthday this week.

So, he hit up celebrity jeweler Ali The Ice Champ in Dallas ... and the dude delivered the amazing piece in time for Henry's cake day this week.

The bling is awesome -- it features a huge 6.5-inch "Y" pendant that represents Henry's days at Yulee High School in Florida. The pendant also features a little VS1 diamond-infused Heisman Trophy to immortalize the award that Henry won back in 2015.

On the chain, Ali tied together logos of the Yulee Hornets, Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Titans ... and then he added several beads to represent some of Henry's historical football moments.

We're told some of those feature a diamond 12K bead for his 12,124 rushing yards in high school that set a national record as well as a diamond 2K bead for his 2,000 rushing yards in the Titans' 2020 season.

Ali -- whose clients range from Ezekiel Elliott to Post Malone -- tells us that Henry's one-of-a-kind necklace carries 100 carats of VS1 E-F color diamonds and has over half a kilo of gold.

No word on what it all cost the King ... but Henry's made over $30 million in his NFL career, so he's certainly got the cash to spoil himself.

One woman says the crowd at a Harry Styles concert in Los Angeles got so rowdy it left her injured ... and now she's filed a lawsuit against the venue.

The woman claims she attended Harry's "Fine Line" album release show at The Forum in December 2019. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, she says during the show, a mass of folks surged towards the stage, causing her to be knocked to the ground by other concertgoers.

From there, the woman says other folks in the crowd crushed her body, causing serious injury.

Harry is not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, but she's suing The Forum, show promoters and ticketing services -- including Live Nation, Stubhub and Ticketmaster.

In her suit, the woman claims the venue, promoters and ticketing services failed to provide sufficient seating, lighting, security, supervision and crowd control that night ... and says folks in front of the stage were left in harm's way during the crowd surges.

The fan is looking to get paid ... claiming her alleged injuries are chronic and debilitating and are diminishing her quality of life.

We reached out to MSG, which owned The Forum at the time of the alleged incident ... so far, no word back.

Novak Djokovic isn't in the clear to play in the Australian Open just yet -- Prime Minister Scott Morrison is now demanding the tennis star show proof of his COVID vax medical exemption when he lands Down Under, or he'll be "on the next plane home."

Morrison made the announcement at a news conference on Wednesday ... saying government officials will not treat Djokovic differently than any other person entering the country -- even if the tennis player has already said he has received a valid exemption to the COVID rules.

"We await his presentation and what evidence he provides us to support that," Morrison said to reporters. "If that evidence is insufficient, then he won't be treated any different to anyone else and he'll be on the next plane home."

Morrison continued, "There should be no special rules for Novak Djokovic at all. None whatsoever."

As we previously reported, Aussie Open officials granted Djokovic -- the No. 1-ranked men's tennis player in the world -- a medical exemption earlier this month ... and Djokovic was pumped for the news.

The Serbian star wrote on his social media page on Tuesday that he was now headed to Australia to defend his tournament title ... showing a photo of him at an airport.

Morrison, though, said the dude better come with the proper paperwork, adding, "The issue is whether he has sufficient evidence to support that he would qualify for that exemption."

Australian Open officials said earlier this week that Djokovic's application "was granted following a rigorous review process" ... insisting he received no special treatment.

The tournament is slated to begin in less than two weeks on Jan. 17.

There's been a break in the investigation into Young Dolph's death  ... law enforcement says a suspect has been identified and is wanted for murder.

The U.S. Marshals, Memphis Police Department and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation say one of the suspects is a 23-year-old man named Justin Johnson.

Authorities released a mug shot of the suspect Wednesday and say Johnson is wanted for a slew of charges, including first-degree murder.

According to his social media page, Johnson appears to be a local rapper who goes by the name StraightDrop. His page is flooded with pics of himself flaunting clothes, money and expensive cars.

Law enforcement says Johnson is on the TBI Most Wanted list, has ties to organized crime and should be considered armed and dangerous ... and there's a combined reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to his capture.

As we reported ... Young Dolph was gunned down in November while he was inside a cookie shop in Memphis, and 2 masked gunmen were caught on surveillance footage before fleeing in a getaway car.

The feds allege Johnson shot Young Dolph to death ... and they say he also has an outstanding warrant for violating his federal supervised release from a separate weapons offense.

Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson are all smiles and ready to soak up the sun during their first vacation as a couple ... picking the Bahamas as their maiden destination.

The duo arrived Wednesday with the help of a private jet and a boat ... when they finally hit land, they were clearly not dressed for the beach, but that's about to change.

We've learned they're staying at a private home right on the water with close friends, including Simon Huck.

One thing is for sure ... both Pete and Kim seem stoked to be together, massively grinning as they checked out the scenery. Our sources say Kim finds Pete "extremely charming" ... and her friends have given her their stamp of approval.

Of course, the trip comes on the heels of Kanye's whirlwind rendezvous with actress Julia Fox which saw them in Miami and New York.

As we reported, Ye and Julia had a double date at Carbone in Miami before heading to NYC Tuesday, where they took in Broadway's "Slave Play" before dining again at Carbone in the city.

One thing that's hard to ignore ... Kanye's been dressing Fox in Balenciaga, a brand Kim's almost exclusively worn over the last year. During the NYC date night, Julia first wore a blue coat before getting decked out in a coat, gloves, purse and top from Balenciaga. And, one more interesting thing ... Kim's favorite restaurant in NYC is ... Carbone.

Aaron Rodgers just unloaded on a reporter who said the QB does not deserve the MVP award this year ... calling the journalist "an absolute bum."

The Packers superstar ripped Chicago media member Hub Arkush for nearly two minutes on a conference call Wednesday -- just 24 hours after the reporter said Rodgers isn't his 2021 MVP because he's a "jerk."

"I think he’s a bum," Rodgers said of Arkush. "I think he’s an absolute bum."

"He doesn’t know me. I don't know who he is. No one knew who he was probably until yesterday’s comments."

If you missed it, Arkush said Rodgers wouldn't get his MVP vote this year because of the quarterback's COVID vaccine drama and his offseason gripe with Packers brass.

"I don’t think you can be the biggest jerk in the league and punish your team, and your organization and your fan base the way he did and be the Most Valuable Player," Arkush said on Chicago's 670 The Score.

Rodgers clearly wasn't happy to hear the comments ... saying, "His problem isn't with me being a bad guy or the biggest jerk in the league 'cause he doesn't know me."

"His problem is I'm not vaccinated."

FYI, the NFL's MVP is selected by 50 voters, including Arkush -- and it's supposed to be based solely on players' performances during the regular season. Rodgers is favorite to win it this year, despite Arkush's opinion.

For his part, Arkush actually apologized for his comments earlier Wednesday -- but not for blasting Rodgers. He said he's sorry for simply disclosing his voting plans.