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FC Schalke 04, a professional German soccer club, is removing the patch of a Russian majority state-owned energy company after Vladimir Putin's armed forces invaded Ukraine, a sovereign nation.

"Following recent developments, FC Schalke 04 have decided to remove the logo of main sponsor GAZPROM from the club's shirts," the club announced in a statement.

"It will be replaced by lettering reading 'Schalke 04' instead."

Gazprom -- the largest natural gas company in the world -- is the club's biggest sponsor ... and the company name is prominently displayed across the player's chests on their jerseys.

Of course, after weeks of increased tensions, Russia invaded Ukraine, launching a full-fledged attack against the country.

Dozens of people have already reportedly died.

FC Schalke 04 wasn't alone in working with the powerful energy company. UEFA, the governing body that oversees European soccer, also has a business relationship with Gazprom.

Unlike FC Schalke 04, UEFA hasn't opted (at least not yet) to cut ties with the company ... though they did release a statement condemning the attacks.

"UEFA shares the international community's significant concern for the security situation developing in Europe and strongly condemns the ongoing Russian military invasion of Ukraine."

That's not to say the soccer body hasn't taken any action against Russia. The country was scheduled to host the Champions League final in Spring, but UEFA decided to pull the game.

They haven't yet named a replacement city.

Priyanka Chopra's finally speaking out about that awkward encounter with Rosie O'Donnell, -- and a subsequent apology -- and it's clear she's offended Rosie couldn't even say her name.

ICYMI ... Rosie posted a video talking about running into Priyanka and Nick Jonas at Nobu in Malibu, where she embarrassingly claimed she knew Priyanka's father, Deepak Chopra. Oops! That ain't her dad.

Rosie then attempted to apologize, but only referred to Priyanka as "the Chopra wife."

Priyanka's response at least starts on the high road, as she says ... "I have never taken myself so seriously to think everyone would know who I am, or my work for that matter."

But, it quickly becomes evident she's peeved -- she continues, "If you wanted to  make a public apology for a very awkward private encounter, I think probably best to take the time to google my name before doing it."

As for Rosie never even saying her name, she says ... "We ALL deserve to be respected for our unique individuality and not be referred to as 'someone' or 'wife' especially in a sincere apology." Burn.

Maybe the best suggestion Priyanka makes to Rosie was to simply "reach out directly" ... instead of doing it on social media. That's a novel idea.

Gene Simmons is one huge step closer to leaving Las Vegas, now that he's found someone to snatch up what he thought was his dream home ... until his family strongly disagreed.

The KISS rocker is selling his beautiful glass palace for $13.5 million and it's got a lot to offer. The 6-bed, 8-bath house features a koi pond, an 11-car garage and many of those glass walls are retractable!

No shocker here, but Gene built the 11,000 sq. ft. home in the perfect location -- the crib has sparkling views of the Vegas strip and the surrounding desert.

And, you can take in all of that from the spacious pool.

Back in December, Gene was on TMZ Live, and told us how much he loved the house, and also why he'd put it on the market.

He told us after all of the perks that came with living in Vegas, the one issue that made him sell -- his family members aren't huge fans of desert life. Something about the heat and having strippers down the street wasn't a great sales point for them.

Gene says he bought the property next door as well ... planting 137 trees on the land -- something hard to come by in that Nevada weather.

The Vegas home is currently under contract ... meaning an offer has been accepted, but we're told it won't close until next month. Simmons was accepting crypto as payment for the house, but it's unclear if the buyer went that route.

Jennifer Lawrence's motherhood journey starts now, 'cause TMZ has learned she recently delivered her first kid.

According to public records ... JLaw gave birth in L.A. County, but we don't yet know the gender of the baby or the exact date of birth.

Jennifer sparked rumors she might be pregnant last summer, when she was photographed in NYC -- and, as you know, those rumors turned out to be true.

We haven't seen much of her since then. One of the last times she was out and about was right before XMAS, and she seemed far along in the pregnancy. We're also told she had a baby shower at the end of January.

This is the first child for both JLaw and her art dealer husband, Cooke Maroney. We've made repeated calls to Jennifer's rep, but she hasn't responded.

Jennifer and Cooke got hitched back in 2019 with a small ceremony in Rhode Island.

Seems like just yesterday that JLaw was coming up as a star in the 'Hunger Games,' and now she's a mom! Time flies.

NLE Choppa isn't down to mess with women his age -- he's looking for older women who won't blink at signing a prenup!

The rapper's the latest guest on the "It's Tricky With Raquel Harper" podcast ... and he's getting pretty deep about relationships, saying he knows exactly what he's looking for ... even at the age of 19.

He's convinced women his age just don't have the right priorities. He told Raq, "If you at that age, you still learning ... I know like, what I want for myself."

When the topic of marriage came up, he didn't shy away from it ... but quickly made it clear his bride-to-be will have to sign on the dotted line -- as in, an ironclad prenup. Choppa's message for any interested women is you get what you deserve, not what you want ... when it comes to finances.

One woman who's definitely caught his eye is fellow artist Saweetie -- he called her a "beautiful lady." Now, he does have a GF already and when Raq followed up, asking what would happen if he had to choose between a night with Saweetie or his current boo, he says ... "Me and my girl gon' see what's up..."

Translation: The more the merrier!!!

Forget poppin' bottles at the club -- Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric celebrated the biggest night of his career with burgers and milkshakes ... telling TMZ Sports he partied it up at a Steak 'n Shake!!

We spoke with the 23-year-old fresh off Sunday's victory in Florida ... and he told us he went to the famous burger spot with his whole crew to fuel up after the race.

"We took everybody -- including the Harley J. Earl trophy -- and we went to Steak 'n Shake," Cindric told us. "We closed the place down after midnight, and they stayed open for us, and we killed a bunch of burgers and milkshakes."

Cindric opted to keep things simple ... telling us he knew he'd have a busy day ahead of himself the morning after the race -- and who's got time for a hangover?!

The Ohio native says he went back to his hotel room with his dad and called a few friends and family members to include them in the special moment ... and then it was time to call it a day.

Austin's win was a big surprise -- he entered Sunday's race -- the Super Bowl of auto racing -- with 25-1 odds to win it all ... meaning if you wagered $100 on Cindric, you'd win $2,500.

Cindric overcame the odds and said that winning a race of this magnitude at his age (he's the 3rd youngest to win the Daytona 500) was everything he could imagine -- and more.

"It's a dream come true," Cindric said. "It's every racer's dream to just go to the Daytona 500 and compete."

"But to do it with an overtime restart with everything on the line," he continued, "and be able to come across and win the biggest race of the year, it was awesome to get it done."

Before this bouncing little boy with piercing blue eyes was shooting looks into the lens' of big-name Hollywood productions, he was just another cute little kid with a bright future growing up in Germany before growing up stateside in Maryland.

If you need some more help taking a guess at the strapping young man in corduroy overalls ... take a glance at some of his notable television credits including "Pretty Little Liars" and "Chicago Med."

Peer into this adorable throwback baby pic and try your best to guess which star is in the sweet shot!

Kyle Rittenhouse intends to sue LeBron James ... after he says the NBA superstar defamed him during his murder trial late last year to his 50+ million fans on social media.

And, he's not just going after The King ... he also says he's going after President Joe Biden and Whoopi Goldberg, among others.

As you know, 19-year-old Rittenhouse was charged with 2 counts of homicide, 1 count of attempted homicide, in addition to other charges, for shooting 3 people -- 2 fatally -- at a protest in Kenosha, WI.

During his trial, Rittenhouse took the stand ... and became emotional when talking about the events of August 25, 2020.

But, not everyone was buying the tears. Most notably, LeBron, who sent out a tweet mocking Rittenhouse's breakdown to his millions of followers.

Now, Rittenhouse -- who was found not guilty on all charges -- is fighting back.

During a lengthy sit-down interview with Turning Point USA, Kyle said he was going after all the people who defamed him before and during his criminal trial.

KR obviously saw Bron's message, and now he intends to sue the hooper.

Of course, recently, Rittenhouse reacted to LeBron's tweet, saying he actually used to be a fan of LeBron but has since said, "F*** him!"

As for Biden, Rittenhouse says the U.S. prez called him a white supremacist ... so he too can expect "papers," as Kyle phrased it.

Britney Spears is gearing up for a legal war with her former business managers at TriStar Entertainment -- a company heavily involved in her conservatorship, which she now outlandishly claims attempted to end her life.

The singer went off on TriStar Wednesday, especially its head honcho Lou Taylor and her righthand woman, Robin Greenhill -- 2 women who were allegedly an integral part of Britney’s life -- and she's accusing them of way more than just malfeasance.

Brit describes a meeting she says Greenhill and Taylor set up, and she claims Kate Beckinsale was also in attendance ... just to butter up Britney.

She says, "Ha those same bitches killed me a week later !!!! My dad worshipped those two women and would have done anything they asked of him !!!! I think they were trying to kill me … I still to this very day believe that’s EXACTLY what they were trying to do … but not a damn thing was wrong with me and I didn’t die !!!!"

She's never specific about HOW they allegedly tried to finish her, but Britney adds ... "Nobody else would have lived through what they did to me 🙅🏼‍♀️ !!! I lived through all of if and I remember all of it !!!! I will sue the shit out of Tri Star !!!! Psss they got away with all of it and I’m here to warn them every day of my precious life !!!!"

As we’ve told you, TriStar was hired by Britney’s father, Jamie Spears, early on in the conservatorship to handle her business affairs.

Britney could be alluding to when she was admitted into a mental health facility in 2019 after what we were told was her having a breakdown due to being distraught over her dad’s illness at the time.

During her stay, we’d been told doctors worked on getting her the right combination of medications to get her stable -- but she looked totally out of it during a day out with her BF, Sam Asghari.

As for Taylor and Greenhill, we got the latter out at LAX last year and tried to get comment on claims that she’d been part of the team that greenlit the alleged bugging of Britney’s room once upon a time.

She didn’t say a thing though ... remaining mum on all things Britney.

Now, it sounds like Britney's at least considering getting some payback in court. We've reached out to Lou Taylor and TriStar, but no word back yet.

Alec Baldwin might be regretting that ABC interview he did right about now -- because it seems to have, in part, triggered Halyna Hutchins' husband's wrath.

Matt Hutchins sat down for an interview with NBC's "Today" -- talking to Hoda Kotb -- which will be aired later this week ... and right off the bat in a new teaser, he's saying Baldwin's televised recounting pissed him off.

He says hearing AB talk about her death so publicly, so soon and in so much detail made him "angry," and not just that ... but the fact he denied responsibility over her death also didn't sit well with Matt at all.

As his wrongful death lawsuit had already spelled out -- and as his attorneys articulated thereafter -- Matt says it again here ... the idea that the person who held the gun that claimed her life isn't at fault is utterly absurd in his mind.

So yes, he does seem to think Baldwin is mostly to blame here. However, Matt also makes this clear ... there were other issues besides gun safety that led to his wife being killed, and it sounds like he's gonna get into all of that with Hoda.

As we told you ... Matt is suing Alec, among several other parties, for negligent and reckless misconduct that resulted in wrongful death, as well as loss of consortium. He’s asking for unspecified damages.

Disgusting claims from MLB ace Marcus Stroman ... who says New York Mets fans called him the n-word and hurled death threats at him during his time with the team.

The 30-year-old pitcher has been unleashing on his former employer on Twitter recently ... saying he couldn't be happier to be leaving the Big Apple to join the Chicago Cubs.

Stroman provided context as to why he's so excited for a fresh start in response to a tweet on Wednesday ... opening up on the alleged awful treatment he received from fans during his 2 seasons with the Mets.

"Endless death threats, being called a n***** often, hearing black lives don’t matter, and playing for a front office who didn’t care about any of that."

Stroman says he will go into more detail on his podcast when the time is right ... but says no matter how he was treated, he was able to persevere and do his job.

"Still dealt on the mound through all of that! 🗣🤷🏾‍♂️"

Stroman previously said on Twitter back in November he wanted to be back with the Mets next season ... but things quickly turned sour.

Megan Thee Stallion is ripping into Tory Lanez, after he called her a liar, by posting what she claims is proof he begged for forgiveness for shooting her.

Tory was supposed to be in court Wednesday regarding the 2020 shooting incident that left Megan Thee Stallion seriously injured, but the date was pushed to April. After the hearing, he tweeted ... "u can't buy and tweet your way out of this one ..not today" -- seemingly referring to Megan.

Well, she quickly, and strongly, responded on Instagram.

The post, which she's since deleted, included alleged text messages from Tory ... showing him apologizing.

Megan added in her caption ... "Lie yo way out of this … if you aint do s*** what you was apologizing for? THEY GOT YOU RECORDED ON THE JAIL PHONE TALKING TO KELSEY APOLOGIZING BEGGING US NOT TO TALK."

Kelsey is the former friend of Megan's who was also in the SUV the night of the shooting.

Tory didn't seem to back down from this feud, tweeting his explanation for the apology -- "Good D**k had me f***ing 2 best friends .... and I got caught 🤷🏾‍♂️ ... that's what I apologized 4."

Translation: He allegedly had sex with Megan and Kelsey, and they were the ones arguing over him.

You'll recall ... Tory, Megan and Kelsey were party hopping in Hollywood when police responded to shots fired in their vehicle. After Megan got out with a bloodied foot -- and cops finding a weapon under Tory's seat -- he was arrested and eventually charged with possession of a concealed weapon and assault with a firearm.

Sam Hunt's wife had an almost instant change of heart after filing for divorce, because the same day she accused Sam of adultery she withdrew her petition to end the marriage.

Hannah Lee Fowler had filed legal docs Friday to end her marriage to Sam, not only citing infidelity but revealing she was pregnant and wanted primary custody of their child due in May. She had also asked for spousal and child support.

But, then she filed a document the very same day saying the divorce petition was "voluntarily nonsuited without prejudices." Translation ... she's withdrawing the divorce case but is reserving the right to file again in the future.

The couple married almost 5 years ago and were together for years before ... they began their relationship when Sam was a QB at Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham.

A judge had yet to sign off on the filing, but that's just a housekeeping thing.

Tom Brady wasn't unemployed for long ... the 7-time Super Bowl-winning QB is jumping headfirst into Hollywood -- producing and acting in an upcoming film called "80 For Brady."

The 44-year-old recently retired after 22 seasons in the NFL, leading many to ponder TB12's next move.

Now we know ... Brady put down the Bucs playbook for a film script.

The future Hall of Famer is teaming up with Hollywood legends Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin, and Sally Field, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The movie, "80 For Brady," made by Paramount and Endeavor, will tell the story of a group of 4 friends who attend the 2017 Super Bowl ... and it ends up being a life-changing trip.

Of course, that's the SB where Brady orchestrated a historic comeback, ultimately beating the Atlanta Falcons 34-28.

Tristan "Mack" Wilds is sick and tired of the way the media and others unfairly profile black males, and he wants to blow these misconceptions to smithereens in a new Discovery+ show.

Tristan, who starred in "The Wire," joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday to talk about the false stereotypes that have been attached to Black males ... false stereotypes like Black fathers leave their families, and they devalue Black women.

Tristan knows of where he speaks, growing up as a Black male in America and dealing with these damaging presumptions people make.

The Discovery+ show is executively produced by none other than Tina Knowles-Lawson, who had a strategy to get her message out. The strategy -- don't sell the show to a predominately Black network. Her reasoning is that white people are the ones who need education, so Discovery+ fits the bill.

It's interesting ... Tristan thinks the way the media has unfairly characterized Black men has spilled over into the problems of police officers profiling Black men -- the cops learn from the media and then perpetuate the false narrative.

The docuseries premiered earlier this month, and new episodes will air on Discovery+, every Saturday.

"Dancing with the Stars" pro Cheryl Burke is waving the white flag on her marriage to actor Matthew Lawrence ... because she just filed for divorce.

The dancer and TV host beelined it to a Los Angeles courthouse last week and filed divorce docs after nearly 3 years of marriage.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Cheryl lists the date of separation as Jan. 7 of this year ... and the estranged couple has a prenuptial agreement.

Cheryl and Matthew, who is most famous for his roles in "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Boy Meets World," tied the knot back in May 2019 in San Diego ... but they never had any kids together.

The pair first met in 2006, when Matthew's brother, actor Joey Lawrence, appeared on 'DWTS.'

Cheryl and Matthew began dating in February 2007, breaking up in 2008 and eventually reuniting in 2017. They got engaged in May 2018, when Matthew proposed on Cheryl's 34th birthday.