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Grace Franklin -- 16-year-old granddaughter of Aretha Franklin -- is opening up after not making it past the auditions on "American Idol" ... a TV moment that's shocked the country.

Grace -- joined by her dad and Aretha's son, Kecalf -- tells TMZ ... in the moment of being rejected from going to Hollywood, she was pretty disappointed ... but it was the words of judge Lionel Richie that made her realize there's a silver lining to all of this.

Judge Lionel mentioned he didn't want her to stumble too early in her career -- something she's noticed happens to some younger singers. She took his words to heart, coming from a place of love and concern.

Grace says, "I'm a good artist, I know that, but I do know I need to work on some things."

Kecalf couldn't be prouder of his daughter, telling us she's bold for stepping out of her comfort zone and chasing her dreams.

However, Grace says auditioning for 'Idol' in the future isn't likely ... telling us she'd rather try to release some music while working on her voice.

Run, don't walk -- except those holding sharp objects -- to the iconic Florida house from "Edward Scissorhands" which is back on the market!

Current owner Joey Klops tells TMZ ... the house, which is 20 minutes outside of Tampa, went up for sale Wednesday for $699,900 -- a big change from when he and his wife bought it back in September 2020 for only $230K.

The 3 bed, 2 bath home is instantly recognizable to any die-hard fan ... after his purchase, Joey says he craftily restored the home to its movie quality, highlighting the whimsical Victorian looks that made it so iconic.

As we reported, the property -- home to the Boggs family in the film -- was transformed into a museum a year after being purchased ... with tons of memorabilia from the film on display.

Joey and his family aren't taking the relics and art with them when they leave -- giving the goodies to the buyer! He says the homeowner will be able to "live in a true wonderland" with all the treasures left behind.

How does the man with a $195 million contract treat himself for his birthday?! By copping a Richard Mille watch worth $500k!

TMZ Sports has learned the Boston Celtics star wanted to celebrate the big 2-4 with a big new watch -- so he hit up celeb jeweler Eric Da Jeweler.

It's not just any watch, BTW ... it's a Richard Mille, which are famously known for their unique designs, cases and quality material.

Tatum copped the all-white RM055 Bubba Watson watch that has skeletonized movement and a grade 5 titanium case band and back bezel.

When it comes to the price -- we're told it cost JT $500k!

That may seem like a lot but the 6-foot-8 hooper already made over $57 million since the Celtics drafted him in 2017.

Eric tells us he made the special delivery to JT out in Boston the night before his big day -- giving Tatum some time to enjoy his gift ahead of the Grizzlies-Celtics game.

Tatum's 4-year-old son, Deuce, also delivered a dope gift -- by making him a bday video of all his favorite childhood spots in his hometown of St. Louis.

Before the brunette little doll with a rainbow-striped shirt was bringing some colorful commentary to her roles on a long list of reality shows, she was just another happy girl smiling for her school photos while growing up in East Greenbush, New York.

While this bright-eyed gal with blunt bangs is most known for work on MTV ... she's also a mom with an attitude that was sure to make a lasting impression even while on family vacations.

Meghan Markle didn't have the crappy childhood she wants the public to believe, according to her half sister ... who is now dragging Meghan to court, suing over that famous Oprah Winfrey interview.

Samantha Markle is suing Meghan for defamation, and she's especially pissed about some of the things she and Prince Harry told Oprah about the Markle fam. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Samantha rips into Meghan for spinning a "rags to royalty" narrative about herself which she claims is simply false.

Samantha claims Meghan is trashing her, and spreading outright lies, in order to bolster the notion she's overcome leeching family members. For example, Sam points out she and Meghan share the same father in Thomas Markle ... yet Meghan told Oprah she was an "only child."

She also claims Meghan dropped another lie when she told Oprah she'd last seen Samantha "at least 18, 19 years ago and before that, 10 years before that."

Those aren't the only alleged disses ... Samantha claims Meghan got it flat out wrong when she told Oprah Samantha only changed her surname to Markle after Meghan started dating Harry.

In the suit, Samantha also claims Meghan's fabricated tales of growing up in "virtual poverty" ... because Thomas paid for her to attend "elite and expensive private schools," and dance and acting classes. She claims dad also covered Meghan's tuition and living expenses when she went to Northwestern University ... something the Duchess told Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres she worked to pay for herself.

As for Meghan's motive -- Samantha claims the alleged lies about her and their father were part of a calculated effort so "they could not interfere with or contradict the false narrative and fairytale life story concocted by" Meghan.

Samantha says Meghan's harsh words have hurt sales of her autobiography, prevented her from getting jobs and caused emotional and mental distress.

When people say Pete Davidson is a rising star, you can take that literally now -- dude's talking to Jeff Bezos about blasting off in a Blue Origin spacecraft!

TMZ has confirmed the 'SNL' star is in serious discussions with Bezos about becoming a newly-minted astronaut.

If you know anything about Pete, he's been yearning for a ticket to space for years. Sources with knowledge tell TMZ ... the discussions between Bezos and Davidson have been going on for a while now.

Remember, we saw Pete and his GF, Kim Kardashian, heading into the Amazon founder's Bev Hills estate back in January. The couple had a dinner date with Jeff and Lauren Sanchez. Our sources say a topic of conversation during the meal was Pete going to space in the Blue Origin New Shepard space capsule.

We're told reps for Pete and Jeff are hammering out details, and although it's not a done deal, we're told it's "highly likely" it will happen. Our sources say if they reach an agreement, Pete will blast off sometime this year.

Page 6 was first to break the story.

Pete is just the latest celeb to sign up for a Blue Origin flight -- Bezos has previously tagged Michael Strahan and William Shatner for astronaut status ... and, of course, Jeff himself went on the initial launch back in July 2021.

Fun fact: the closest Pete's previously come to space travel was when he played his popular Chad character for an 'SNL' skit last May ... when Elon Musk was hosting.

Michael Rapaport is commending President Zelensky for his bravery ... giving his seal of approval to a fellow Jewish man and comedian.

We got Michael in NYC on Thursday, and he had nothing but praise for the Ukrainian President -- who Rapaport believes has been a great leader through such uncertain times.

Michael tells us "[Zelensky]'s been vocal, he's been emotional ... it's been inspiring to me as a Jewish man."

As for how he'd handle a situation similar to Zelensky, Rapaport jokes he'd simply call the guy for help.

Of course, Zelensky was a very famous comedian and actor in Ukraine before becoming President, a role Rapaport believes he should keep -- because he's excelling -- and leave the entertainment biz behind.

Harvey Weinstein was caught red-handed once again ... this time with a box of Milk Duds!

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... the contraband in question was discovered by L.A. County jail guards back in November -- after a meeting with attorney Shawn Burkley.

While it's unclear how the Duds made their way to him, Weinstein claimed he brought the chocolates with him when he was extradited from New York back in July. Apparently, jail officials think one of his lawyers may have slipped him the Duds.

Weinstein's rep Juda Engelmayer gave us a statement from Weinstein ... "This was an innocent misunderstanding. It will not happen again. I have been a model inmate, following the rules and regulations and I am sincerely sorry.”

HW's attorney Mark Werksman tells TMZ ... the judge took no action against Weinstein -- nor did the jail. Mark, Shawn, and his other lawyers are still visiting him ... with the same cursory checks in effect.

Weinstein is currently being held at the Correctional Treatment Center -- a medical unit within the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles ... as he currently awaits trial. He's serving a 23-year sentence in New York.

It's been over a week since the NBA All-Star Game ... but Macy Gray is STILL wondering if LeBron James was laughing at her anthem performance.

The singer took to TikTok on Wednesday to try to get clarity on the situation, asking her 100,000 followers if they think LBJ was really cracking up over her rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner."

"Ya'll really think LeBron was laughing at me?" she asked. "I heard he wasn't but maybe."

If you missed it ... in the buildup to the Association's All-Star contest, Gray took center court and belted out a unique version of the national anthem.

Some found it fun, some found quirky -- and many believed LeBron found it straight-up funny, as the King was snickering throughout the song.

People, though, speculated LeBron was giggling about something else -- perhaps Steph Curry related. LeBron never clarified, leaving everyone wondering, what was so funny??

Seems Gray is still trying to get to the bottom of it ... but at this point, it probably ain't happening. So, what do you think, yes or no?!

Brett Hankison -- the former Louisville cop being prosecuted in connection with Breonna Taylor's death-- was just acquitted on all the charges against him.

A jury found Hankison not guilty of all 3 counts of felony wanton endangerment in the Breonna case ... returning the verdict Thursday in a Kentucky court.

You'll recall ... Hankison was never charged for shooting and killing Breonna during a botched police raid back in 2020 ... instead, he was charged for shooting into one of her neighbor's apartments.

Hankison pled not guilty and was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department ... and he was facing 1 to 5 years in prison for each charge.

During the trial, prosecutors argued Hankison blindly fired bullets through Breonna's window and sliding glass door into a neighboring apartment with 3 people inside ... and one of the neighbors testified they would have been shot if the bullets were one or two inches in a different direction.

The man who shot and killed Jacqueline Avant -- wife of entertainment legend Clarence Avant -- will go to prison for murdering her and will, most likely, spend the rest of his life there.

Aariel Maynor pleaded guilty Thursday to murdering the 81-year-old philanthropist back in December ... according to L.A. County D.A. George Gascón. You'll recall, Maynor broke into the Avants' Beverly Hills home in the middle of the night, and opened fire with an "assault long barrel pistol" when he ran into Jacqueline. He also shot at, but missed, a security guard.

Jacqueline was taken to a hospital, but she died of her injuries

The D.A. says Maynor will be sentenced on March 30, and the judge can give him 170 years to life in prison. He will also be ineligible for parole.

Police captured Maynor about an hour after the Avant murder when he attempted to burglarize a Hollywood Hills home, and accidentally shot himself in the foot.

The brazen and brutal crime shook Hollywood to its core, as the Avants have been loved and respected in the entertainment biz for decades. They have deep ties to

Kanye West and Chaney Jones are still an item ... as evidenced by the fact the two spent the morning together at a swanky Miami hotel.

Ye and Chaney -- who has very obviously been influenced by Kim Kardashian's choice in style -- were spotted outside the Four Seasons hotel Thursday. The two were twinning, in all black, Jones sported a leather jacket and shorts -- and Kanye in a tank top, jeans and his famous black rubber boots.

The sighting comes just days after Kanye posted (and deleted) a pic of the pair on his Instagram, on which Chaney commented, "My Love."

Of course, Chaney is the latest in Kanye's dating life, he recently split with Julia Fox.

Sources over the weekend told us Ye and Chaney aren't yet "official" ... but they've certainly been spending a lot of time together this week, so maybe the tides are changing.

As we told you, Chaney's been spotted in a lot of Kim-esque gear lately ... including copying the same pair of sunglasses KK wore to Kanye's Donda listening event last year. Kanye's got a knack for dressing his partners, so it's safe to assume he's had a hand in some of Chaney's looks as well.

Kim and Pete are still going strong, despite another attack from Kanye -- burying an animated version of Pete in his "Eazy" music video.

Marilyn Manson is suing Evan Rachel Wood, alleging she cooked up a massive scheme to manufacture sexual abuse accusations against him ... and committed crimes in the process.

The rocker just filed a shocking lawsuit against his ex and her partner, Illma Gore, with whom ERW has reportedly been romantically involved on and off for years. In the suit, obtained by TMZ, Manson alleges both women have engaged in fraud, conspiracy and defamation in furtherance of a calculated plot to take him down and ruin his career.

According to the docs, filed by attorney Howard King and obtained by TMZ, Manson's legal team lays out a series of alleged events between 2019 and 2021 that suggest Wood and Gore planned an elaborate ruse to smear him and profit from it -- even conceding, by and large, they succeeded in the court of public opinion ... despite the fact he says it's all lies.

Manson claims Gore teamed up with Wood to create a nonprofit called the Phoenix Act that purported to help abused women, but in reality ... was allegedly just a cover for a money-making ploy they were about to embark on against Marilyn.

To that end, he claims Gore sent out a bulk email to a number of Manson's former romantic partners, asking them to share experiences they might've had in common with Wood ... obviously in reference to MM.

Once they got some people in their orbit, Manson and co. claim Wood and Gore then started to persuade these women that they had, in fact, been abused by Manson during their time with him ... by insisting their trauma was buried under repressed memories.

Manson then claims Wood and Gore started systematically coordinating the women's allegations ... with checklists and even scripts Manson alleges were being produced, distributed and hammered home by Wood and Gore, all in an effort to make the allegations more believable.

Perhaps the most shocking part ... Manson alleges Wood and Gore literally concocted a fake letter from the FBI in which they posed as a real agent, and alluded to a criminal investigation of Manson, while also making it seem Wood and/or any of his alleged victims and their families might be in danger.

Manson says Wood and Gore forged this agent's signature -- whom Manson says later confirmed she never wrote it -- and then distributed it among alleged victims, as well as media members ... again, all to make this story about Manson seem credible and serious.

Of course, Manson has since fallen in the crosshairs of the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. -- which carried out a very real raid of his home last year -- but as far as any FBI probe ... Manson and co. say that's total BS, and that Wood/Gore were trying to drum up hysteria.

There's more ... Manson claims that Gore actually created fake email accounts to pose as him, and then fabricated correspondence full of compromising content -- including pornographic material, threats, admissions, etc. -- that Manson says were explicitly being exchanged (as if it was him) to further make it seem like he was a monster ... and to plant "evidence" that he'd left a damning paper trail. Manson says none of that stuff is real.

Other crimes Manson claims Gore committed ... alleged hacking of personal computer files and social media accounts he runs, as well as the unauthorized use of his SSN.

On top of that ... Manson also claims Gore swatted him last February, calling in an "emergency" while posing as a concerned friend of his. Not just that, but he says the fact that paparazzi captured all this fuss -- in the midst of Wood going public with her accusations against him -- is no coincidence ... and was also likely coordinated by Wood/Gore.

Finally, Manson alleges that Gore -- working in unison with Wood -- slandered him by making up a story that he'd featured a minor in a short film from the '90s, and that the flick included child pornography. He flatly denies the claim, insisting the woman was 22 at the time -- a fact he says Gore was well aware of when pushing the tale about alleged child abuse.

Manson wants damages and a court order preventing Wood and Gore from continuing on with their conduct.

Joy Behar co-hosts a show that gets rough and tumble, and Thursday the tumble part took center stage, as she performed a spectacular face plant as the show began.

Joy's view from "The View" was hardwood after she tried to take a seat but seriously misjudged where she was plopping down.

Whoopi and a P.A. helped the 79-year-old co-host back up on her feet, and Joy laughed it off. Nevertheless, it was a nasty fall and she could have hurt herself some and tried to power through the show.

Joy actually didn't miss a beat, getting back on her feet and then threatening legal action ... joking of course ... we think 👀.

In case you're wondering, when someone slips and falls on someone else's property, the property owner is not automatically on the hook ... only if there's some sort of negligence, and it seems this one's all on Joy.

Later in the show, Joy used her fall to take a more serious turn ... urging folks not to take these sorta incidents lightly ... mentioning Bob Saget, who died after falling in his hotel room. She said, “If you hit your head, and you feel dizzy or you have blurred vision, or you feel like you want to go to sleep, go to the doctor. Because that will kill you."

Ukrainian tennis star Sergiy Stakhovsky is back in Ukraine, voluntarily returning to defend his homeland against Russia -- and his second mission is making his wife understand why he's chosen to do the first.

Sergiy was in Kyiv Thursday when he joined us on "TMZ Live" ... and explained the extremely difficult decision he's made to leave his wife and 3 young kids -- ages 3, 6 and 7 -- in Hungary while he takes up arms in Ukraine.

As you can imagine, telling his wife he was leaving safety to go to the middle of his war-torn country was not easy ... and you can hear the agony in Sergiy's voice.

Sergiy says his wife was mad when he told her he was going back to Ukraine ... but he understood there would be no way she could understand.

He says things were initially extremely icy between them, but they are communicating again, and now he's just hoping he'll be able to ask for her forgiveness one day ... in person.

You wanna talk about being torn in separate directions -- Sergiy tells us he's not sure he made the right choice in joining Ukraine's reserve army, but at the same time he says staying home with his family in Hungary wouldn't be the right choice either.

This is just a few powerful moments of our conversation with him -- but Sergiy also told us how he and other Ukrainians are feeling about the possibility of a ceasefire, and about Vladimir Putin.

Shanna Moakler's traumatic week is taking a huge turn -- she just announced she's pregnant with her 4th child, days after her boyfriend Matthew Rondeau was arrested for allegedly hitting her.

Shanna says she took a pregnancy test that came up positive, and it's clear she's shocked by the news. In a statement, she said, "This has been a very difficult week, but I'm taking everything day by day."

As we reported, Rondeau was arrested for felony domestic violence last week.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Shanna and Matthew got in a heated argument last Wednesday night ... Shanna left home but returned Thursday morning where the arguing continued and allegedly got physical.

We're told cops were called, and Shanna had visible marks on her body ... prompting officers to arrest and book Rondeau for felony domestic violence.

Rondeau posted an aggressive video on her social media before his arrest, claiming Shanna cheated on him and swearing he'd never get back with her.