Novak Djokovic Still Refusing To Get COVID Vax ... Vows To Miss Majors With Mandates

After his COVID vaccine stance cost him a shot at his 21st major title in Australia, Novak Djokovic says he still won't get the shots ... saying he'll now opt out of tournaments with vax mandates going forward.

The tennis star broke it all down for BBC in an interview published Tuesday ... explaining that even after all the drama he went through at the Australian Open last month, he's still not going to get the vaccine.

In fact, he told the outlet if Wimbledon or the French Open or any other huge tourney implements similar vax rules ... he'll just now sit those out, saying he feels that strongly about the vaccine.

"Yes," he said, "that is the price that I'm willing to pay."

Djokovic explained he's not an anti-vaxxer -- saying, "I was never against vaccination, but I've always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body."

Djokovic essentially said he's not willing to get the COVID vaccine just yet because he just doesn't know what it might do to his body.

"Principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else," he said. "I'm trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can."

The comments are the first ones that Djokovic has made since he was famously kicked out of Australia due to his unvaxxed status.

Djokovic told the outlet he didn't fabricate anything when it came to his application for his visa ... and he added that he "completely" disagreed with the government's officials' decision to deport him from the country.

There had been some buzz that Djokovic could, potentially, get the vaccine following it all ... and while Novak didn't slam the door on one day getting it, he made it clear it ain't happening anytime soon.

"I was never against vaccination," he said. "I understand that globally, everyone is trying to put a big effort into handling this virus and seeing, hopefully, an end soon to this virus."

Camille Kostek Rob Gronkowski's GF ... I Don't Want Gronk To Retire!!!

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THE GRONK-PLAN
TMZSports.com

Is Rob Gronkowski's football career over? If it were up to his girlfriend, it certainly wouldn't be.

TMZ Sports spoke with Camille Kostek in Los Angeles over the weekend ... and she told us straight up she's not ready to see Gronk retire just yet.

"I would love to watch him play football some more," said Kostek, who's been dating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end for years. "He knows that. I tell him."

Kostek, though, said she's not necessarily pushing him to play another season ... explaining she'll support her boyfriend either way.

As for which way the 32-year-old is leaning right now, Kostek said she isn't even sure ... telling us she believes it'll all come down to how he's feeling physically.

"He retired when he wasn't feeling right," Kostek said. "And he came back when he felt good. So, it's really going to be, truly, like a gametime decision."

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IF I HAD TO CHOOSE...
TMZSports.com

Gronk -- who is a free agent -- told us just a couple weeks ago that if he had to make a January decision, he would have chosen retirement. But the star football player doesn't have to make the choice for at least another few months.

Hold that breath, Tampa.

USA's Gold Medalist Dorothy Hamill 'Memba Her?!

Figure skater Dorothy Hamill was only 19 years old when she carved herself into the hearts and minds of viewers around the world -- after she stunned the judges and won the gold medal with her grace and beauty -- while representing team USA in figure skating at the XII Winter Olympic Games held in Austria back in 1976.

Dorothy competed against some of the greats of her time at XII including Wendy Burge as the DH's USA teammate, Christine Errath from team East Germany taking home the bronze medal and Dianne De Leeuw from team Netherlands taking home the silver medals.

Guess what she looks like now in her 60s!

Frankie Grande Shuts Down Ariana, Pete, Mac Miller Rumor ... Kanye's Just Stirring Pot!!!

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SPREAD LOVE, NOT HATE
TMZ.com

Frankie Grande says Kanye West just wants a reaction from Pete Davidson ... telling us the nasty rumors Kanye's spreading about his sister and Mac Miller are a bunch of bull.

We got Ariana Grande's brother at Crossroads Kitchen in Los Angeles on Monday and asked about Kanye claiming Pete sent Mac intimate photos of him and AG.

Frankie says he's never heard this to be true and chalks it up to Kanye looking to stir the pot now that Pete is dating his estranged wife, Kim Kardashian.

It's a pretty nasty rumor to spread, but Frankie's taking the high road here ... telling us he doesn't put much stock in what Kanye says and wishing Ye, Pete and Kim nothing but the best.

Still, Frankie says he would never spread rumors about someone or insert himself in someone else's business ... and while he hopes folks like Kanye follow his lead, he doesn't want to control anyone.

Frankie obviously knows Pete from when the 'SNL' star was engaged to Ariana ... and he tells us why he doesn't buy the narrative Pete is with Kim for clout.

Safe to say anyone ... gay or straight ... would want to date Kim ... at least according to Frankie.

Dr. Dre on Halftime Show NFL Made 'Minor Changes' ... And I'm Still Celebrating with Mary J & Mickey D!!!

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NO ISSUE AT ALL
TMZ.com

Dr. Dre has no problem admitting it, he's a little hungover after celebrating his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance -- one of the best ever -- and he says the party is STILL going!!!

The D-R-E joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" and, in his own words, he was still "buzzing" about what he, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar pulled off on Super Sunday.

First off ... that amazing performance. Dre says he went into rehearsals expecting the NFL to heavily censor the songs, but was pleasantly surprised that they only made "minor changes" -- among them, Kendrick's reference to specific L.A. gangs.

Dre says he gets why they called for that to be removed.

As for Eminem taking a knee as an homage to Colin Kaepernick -- Dre says that's something Marshall decided to do on his own, and he never heard the NFL say a peep about it.

After the show, Dre told us they were all feeling the love from roughly 70,000 fans inside SoFi Stadium -- not to mention the millions upon millions watching around the world.

He says he toasted their success with a dinner, and then went to his house to hang with friends ... including Don Cheadle and Mary J. BTW, he broke some big news about her!!!

And, then he gave us the scoop on his own personal celebration that involved a fast-food run. You gotta see this ... Dre says his trainer's gonna be pissed, but hey ... we can all agree the Doc earned himself a large order of fries. Right?

Safe to say, Mickey D's did NOT forget about Dre!!!

'FLIPPING OUT' STAR JEFF LEWIS SELLS HOLLYWOOD HILLS HOME

Jeff Lewis is probably doing literal flips now, because he just unloaded his home in the Hollywood Hills.

TMZ has learned ... the "Flipping Out" star sold his 3-bedroom home above the Sunset Strip for close to 5.2 million ($5,195,000) -- which means someone new is gonna be enjoying the 3,947-square-feet of pure luxury.

The palace that Jeff personally designed comes with breathtaking views of the Los Angeles skyline and the Pacific Ocean.

In particular, the master bedroom has panoramic city views ... plus a walk-in closet so huge, it feels more like you're in a department store!

The house is secluded ... sitting behind a gated courtyard and tall hedges. But, it's also welcoming, once behind the gates folks enter the home through double steel and glass front doors.

Jeff bought the property in 2016 for $3,125,000 before putting his spin on things. As we first told you, he listed it back in August for $5.9 million.

"Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles" stars Josh and Matt Altman of Douglas Elliman held the listing, but had no comment on the sale.

Kanye West To Kim Kardashian Here's Truck Full of Roses!!!

Kanye West clearly thinks he has a shot at reconciling with Kim Kardashian -- despite all signs pointing to a March divorce -- because he just sent a truckload of roses to her home.

Yeezy just posted some pictures of his grand gesture ... and as you can see, it's a black truck with the bed piled high with dozens of pink and red flowers.

Kanye customized the truck to say "MY VISION IS KRYSTAL KLEAR" along the side panel ... and he also used the phrase for his Instagram post.

You'll recall ... Kanye made a big show of Valentine's Day gifts for Kim when they were still together ... with lots of flowers and even a special performance from legendary saxophonist Kenny G.

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VALENTINE'S DAY SAX

But, Kanye and Kim are in the middle of a divorce ... so this V-Day gift is a bit bizarre.

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BACKGRID

As we reported ... Kim and Pete Davidson already celebrated the occasion ... with a dinner date and a kiss. Kanye's newly single though ... he and Julia Fox are broken up after a whirlwind romance that turned out to be pretty short-lived.

Ye hasn't given up on Kim ... he's made it clear on social media he wants to get his family back ... and this gift seems to be his latest attempt at winning her over.

Olivia Culpo Shares Steamy Bikini Pic With CMC ... On Valentine's Day

Olivia Culpo can't get enough of her superstar boyfriend Christian McCaffrey ... sharing a smokin' hot bikini photo with the NFL running back on Valentine's Day.

Culpo posted the shot of CMC holding her up in his arms on a vacation in paradise ... captioning the pic with a mushy love note.

"My best friend ❤️❤️❤️ happy Valentine’s Day baby @christianmccaffrey," Olivia wrote on social media.

Of course, the two love birds are no strangers to PDA -- they show their love for each other quite often on trips and in their everyday relationship.

Olivia and Christian are the definition of what you would call "couple goals" ... and are easily one of the hottest duos around.

CMC and Olivia have been dating since 2019 ... and have always made it a point to show love and affection to each other -- especially on special days like birthdays and holidays.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Whoopi Goldberg Lovin' 'The View' From Here, Folks ... Returns for 'Tough Conversations'

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THANKFUL TO BE BACK
ABC

Whoopi Goldberg is back on "The View," and there are no sour grapes, at least outwardly, over her suspension -- and she's vowing she won't shy away from "tough conversations."

The talk show host was sitting in her chair again Monday, and right off the bat ... she addressed the elephant in the room, telling the audience she was grateful to return after her suspension.

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THE CONTROVERSIAL COMMENTS
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Whoopi says the convos they have on TV are challenging ones, and they don’t always get into them as eloquently as they’d sometimes like. Still, she says that won’t deter them from tackling tough topics, ‘cause that’s what they’ve all been hired to do.

Whoopi didn’t harp too much on her 2-week timeout, but did say she appreciated everyone who reached out -- which apparently included some surprising calls or messages -- and in the same breath said she’d done a lot of listening too.

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I WAS WRONG
ABC

You’ll recall ... she got benched after suggesting the Holocaust wasn’t about race, which got tons of backlash. While trying to apologize, she sorta doubled down ... and ABC chief Kim Godwin forced her to sit out for a little while to reflect on the whole thing.

Seems WG is taking it all in stride.

Kim & Pete Early Valentine's Day Dinner Sealed with a Kiss!!!

Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson don't appear to be sweating Kanye's barrage of attacks on social media -- sharing dinner and a kiss together -- the night before Valentine's Day.

The couple hit Cipriani NYC Sunday for dinner, bundled up to brave the cold temps, but did their best to keep each other warm with a little PDA. While Pete and Kim have been together for several months now, the new pic is actually the first time we've seen them kiss in public.

We should note, the two kissed during Kim's appearance on 'SNL' ... but it was all in good fun for an Aladdin skit.

From dinner, we're told Pete and Kim joined some friends -- including LaLa Anthony -- to hit up a Super Bowl party.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Kanye continued to take shots at Pete, who he's now nicknamed Skete, telling fans Monday, "IF YOU SEE SKETE IN REAL LIFE SCREAM AT YHE LOOSER AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS AND SAY KIMYE FOREVER."

Not only that, Kanye also addressed his thoughts on Kim, posting, "I DON’T HAVE BEEF WITH KIM I LOVE MY FAMILY SO STOP THAT NARRATIVE IM NOT GIVING UP ON MY FAMILY."

It also appears Kanye and Julia Fox have split, the actress removed all pics she had with Kanye on her social media page, and we haven't seen them together in more than a week.

Kanye West & Julia Fox It's Over ... Split After 2 Months

It’s splitsville for Kanye West and Julia Fox ... thus capping off a whirlwind romance that was pretty short-lived and, evidently, not all that serious to begin with.

A rep for the actress confirms to TMZ that the couple is dunzo -- saying “Julia and Kanye remain good friends and collaborators but they are no longer together.” They'd only been dating for about a month and change ... like we said, nice and quick.

No word on when exactly they may have split, but ya gotta figure it might’ve been anywhere between now and well over a week ago. The last time they were pictured together in public was at the beginning of February for her birthday.

FWIW, Julia doesn’t seem all that torn up about it at all. She took to IG and posted since-deleted messages that essentially say ... no hard feelings, bro! JF acknowledges she was never in love with Ye, and seems to have just been going along for the ride in what was clearly a fling.

She also said she “came up” as a result of getting with Kanye -- and, indeed, she did. Her celebrity status got a major boost, as she’s been getting booked left and right for weeks now. It also sounds like she’s got an actual tell-all in the works, where she teased even more tea than what she’s spoken on so far.

As for Kanye, he appears to have moved on already -- being linked to a woman named Chaney Jones, who’s no doubt a Kim K look-alike ... although the two of them have yet to be seen together in photos.

However, Kanye still hasn't given up on Kim, expressing very publicly on social media his desire to get his family back.

Joe Burrow Hits Stage With Kid Cudi ... After Super Bowl Loss

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CHEERED UP BY CUDI
@SamNeher24

It wasn't all sad times for Joe Burrow on Sunday night -- because after losing the biggest game of his life, the Bengals star at least got to live out one of his dreams.

Burrow hit the stage with his childhood idol, Kid Cudi, after losing Super Bowl LVI ... and video from the scene shows that while he was somber, he was still enjoying the moment.

Check out the footage from Cincinnati's after-party, Joe was spotted in the background on stage as Cudi -- who was wearing a Burrow jersey -- performed for a packed crowd in attendance.

Of course, Burrow and Cudi have grown close these playoffs -- Joey Franchise shouted out the rapper on Cudi's 38th birthday after defeating the Chiefs to advance to the Super Bowl a few weeks ago.

Burrow took the bromance a step further a short time later ... personally sending the jersey he wore in the AFC Championship Game to Cudi as a gift.

Cudi -- who's a native of Ohio and a big supporter of 25-year-old Burrow -- loved the present, saying he was "geeked" over it.

Now, seems the two have formed a real deal friendship -- something Burrow no doubt needed after the tough loss.

Eminem at Super Bowl LVI Takes Knee During Halftime Show

Eminem paid tribute to Colin Kaepernick on the biggest of stages at the Super Bowl ... spurring discussion (and some confusion) as to whether the NFL was kosher with the move.

The rapper ended his portion of his set Sunday at SoFi Stadium by dropping down to his knee with his head low, and holding the position for a good while as things transitioned over to Dr. Dre again.

Eventually, he got up and took his place among the other performers -- but what only amounted to about 30 seconds or so ended speaking volumes in the NFL’s backyard.

Of course, the question is ... was it sanctioned or not??? Well, depends on who you ask ... and how you interpret the NFL's official response. There are reports saying the move was forbidden by higher-ups, but a rep for the league went on record Sunday ... saying they’d seen Em take a knee during rehearsals, and were well aware it was included.

Whether they ever asked him not to is a different story -- and not necessarily addressed in the guy's statement here. But, it’s irrelevant now -- the dude did it, and by doing so ... definitely invoked the memory of Kap.

As you know, the ex-QB spent his final year or so in the league doing just this before each game, all in the name of social justice.

Eminem has voiced support for the cause, and it seems he wanted to make a point about it during the most important moment of the broadcast.

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MONUMENTAL SHOW
TMZ.com

Author and activist Michael Eric Dyson saw it live at SoFi, and gave Em major props for the gesture.

Ironically, not a single player from either team followed suit during the Anthem or anything. Also, not a peep from CK himself on this -- he didn’t publicly address the Super Bowl at all this weekend.

Russian Skating Star Kamila Valieva Cleared To Compete At Beijing Olympics Despite Positive Doping Test

File this under bizarre, controversial ... Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has officially been cleared to continue competing in the Winter Olympics, despite failing a drug test that initially resulted in a suspension from competition.

Last week it was revealed that 15-year-old Valieva tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, trimetazidine (aids blood flow), back in December.

The skater -- who won gold in a team skating event -- was suspended.

But, Valieva appealed the suspension ... and the Court of Arbitration for Sport actually sided with the Olympic skater, paving the way for her to continue competing.

And, part of the reason she was cleared?

CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said preventing Valieva from competing at the Games "would cause her irreparable harm" ... especially considering she's a minor.

Athletes under 16 are held to less stringent doping standards than that of their adult counterparts ... in the eyes of CAS.

FYI, Russia isn't even officially competing in the Olympics because of pervasive cheating. They're officially called the Russian Olympic Committee.

The governing body also said because Valieva failed the test six weeks ago ... and not at the Olympics, it'd be unfair to keep her from skating.

So, Valieva will now compete ... most likely.

The World Anti Doping Agency -- as well as the International Olympic Committee -- have the right to appeal the decision, allowing her to continue skating.

Kris Jenner Files Trademark for Kardashian Jenner Productions ... And I'm the Prez!!!

Kris Jenner has traversed the worlds of the Jenners and the Kardashians, and now she wants to blend the 2 for business ... LOTS of business.

Kris filed legal docs to trademark "Kardashian Jenner Productions." Yeah, we were surprised too ... we thought she locked down that name a long ago, but not the case.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Kris Jenner will become the president of the production co. -- no surprise there.

As for what such productions will entail ... all things entertainment and pop culture.

As you know, the Kardashian's are about to launch their new series on Hulu. The first episodes will drop on April 14.

The production company will oversee the KJ empire, including YouTube and social media.

Kris won't be the President forever, but with 6 kids and 11 grandkids -- and counting -- there are lots of Kardashians/Jenners who can carry the torch. And, there are lots of K/J's who can launch media products under Kris's production umbrella.

Super Bowl Celebs Jam Into SoFi Kanye, Drake, The Rock, J Lo, Bey, etc.

There was only one game in town for celebs Sunday night in L.A. ... yeah, you guessed it.

So, let's go through a partial list ....  Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Kanye, Olivia Rodrigo, Charlize Theron, Kevin Hart, The Rock, Matt Damon, the Biebers and Kendall Jenner were front and center.

But wait, there's more ... Ellen DeGeneres, Devin Booker, Floyd Mayweather, Keke Palmer, Drake, Adam Devine, Sophie Turner, Joe Jonas, Martha Stewart, The Weeknd, Prince Harry, Tyga, YG, Antonio Brown, Will Farrell, Ryan Reynolds, Sean Penn, Chris Tucker, Tracy Morgan, Chip and Joanna Gaines, Mark Wahlberg, Nelly, 2 Chainz, Steph Curry, Michael Strahan and Shawn Mendes. Oh yea, Jay Z and Beyonce also showed.

And, that doesn't even include the Halftime performers.

Check out the gallery ... good luck L.A. Health Dept, which requires masks indoors ... because there wasn't a mask in sight.

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