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Ben Simmons is one step closer to recovery -- the former #1 overall pick had back surgery to reduce pain from a herniated disc on Thursday ... and he says the microdiscectomy procedure was a big success.

"Surgery went well," Simmons said on Instagram minutes ago. "Thank you for the well wishes."

Of course, Ben's back first became a problem when he was still with the Philadelphia 76ers in February 2020 ... forcing him to miss several games.

The issues continued into the next season ... where he suffered back tightness and pain in 2021.

25-year-old Simmons -- who was traded to the Brooklyn Nets mid-season -- ended up missing all of the 2021-22 campaigns ... and will now work on recovery over the next 3-4 months.

It's worth noting -- several talking heads ripped Simmons for not taking the floor in the postseason ... claiming he quit on his team.

Considering the fact he needed surgery, those analysts might be eating their words now.

While there's hope he'll be ready to go by the time training camp comes around, it's probably best to remain cautiously optimistic about it all.

Glad to see Ben is in good spirits ... and Nets fans gotta be excited to finally get to see their star in Black and White next season.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are certainly a pair in love, but aren't on the course to get married, at least not anytime soon ... despite what fans may speculate from his new video.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ the two aren't engaged, despite A$AP's newly-dropped "D.M.B." video, where they flashed their grills at each other -- his says "Marry Me?" while Rihanna's says "I Do."

Of course, fans went nuts, thinking Rocky asked for RiRi's hand in marriage ... or even that they've already gotten hitched.

The music video also contains plenty of wedding-themed imagery, which caused for more theories.

Our sources say the whole thing was just done for fun. As you know, the two are expecting their first kid together ... and the due date is rapidly approaching.

Dave Chappelle's attacker seemingly committed a crime, but it won't be enough to charge him with a felony ... so says the district attorney.

The L.A. County D.A.'s Office made the announcement Thursday, saying they've turned the case over to the city attorney, adding, "After reviewing the evidence, prosecutors determined that while criminal conduct occurred, the evidence as presented did not constitute felony conduct."

Our LAPD sources tell us they pushed for a felony charge when they submitted their findings, but the D.A. clearly disagreed.  There has been a war brewing between the LAPD and L.A. County D.A. George Gascón, who has decided not to file charges in cases traditionally have been filed.

As we reported, Isaiah Lee was arrested and booked for assault with a deadly weapon after the attack. Law enforcement sources tell us he pointed a replica gun with a knife attached to the barrel at the comedian as he rushed the stage.

Lucky for Dave, his team jumped into immediate action, restraining the attacker and pummeling him in the process.

A$AP Rocky is using his new song to call out one of Rihanna's exes ... referencing his girlfriend's infamous beating at the hands of Chris Brown.

The rapper takes a thinly-veiled shot at Breezy in his new track, "D.M.B" ... where Rocky raps, "I don't beat my bitch, I need my bitch." The song title stands for, "DAT$ MAH B!*$H."

Of course, A$AP is referencing CB's well-document attack on RiRi back in 2009, when Chris punched her in his car, resulting in bruising and a split lip.

Chris was sentenced to 5 years probation and community service for assaulting Rihanna, and later admitted the incident made him feel like a monster and would haunt him forever. Clearly, A$AP is not letting Chris live it down.

Turns out people ain't the only thing hanging out on the shores of the beach in South Africa ... as evidenced by a giant squid that was discovered, measuring 7 feet!

A beachcomber, who goes by Ali Paulus on Instagram, posted about her finding of the extremely rare squid last week at Long Beach on the shore of South Africa.

Check it out for yourself ... the life-sized calamari reportedly measured over 7 ft long from head to tentacle tips!

Dave Chappelle gave mad props to Jamie Foxx, Busta Rhymes and Jon Stewart for stepping in and taking down the dude who attacked him at the Hollywood Bowl, but we've now learned the famous comedian was doing what he does -- joking.

Dave's spokesperson, Carla Sims, tells TMZ ... immediately after the attack, D.C. went directly back to standup mode, grabbing the mic and celebrating the beatdown ... saying Busta was helping stomp on the 23-year-old who was armed with a replica gun and real knife.

Dave also called Jamie out on the stage and thanked him for participating.

And, at the after-party, Dave told the crowd ... you know you've crossed the line when Jon Stewart gets a few licks in of his own.

Well, now Sims is telling us Dave's comments were simply part of his ever-evolving act ... in that none of the 3 guys threw a punch or otherwise participated in the takedown.

Now Jamie, Jon and Busta probably appreciate the clarification ... it's unclear if the attacker may lawyer up, claiming he was the victim of excessive force by people on the stage, so clearing things up would protect them from possible legal action.

Amber Heard is testifying for the second day, telling the jury Johnny Depp called her a "nagging bitch" and a "c***."

Amber told jurors ... a year into their relationship, it was apparent to her Johnny had an extreme substance abuse problem ... passing out, getting sick and losing control.

She described an incident where she says Johnny tried to burn a painting, and how he accused her of having an affair with a musician. She says during that time, Johnny was strung out on cocaine, and not eating or sleeping.

She says in 2013, during a junket in Tokyo for "The Lone Ranger," Amber called him out on drinking in front of his kids, and she says he became upset that she was judging him. She says he screamed at her in the hotel room and called her a "nagging bitch" and a "c***."

Heard has experienced a range of emotions on the stand since her testimony began Wednesday ... from sadness and happiness to anger. She detailed claims of Depp searching her for drugs, times he allegedly got physical with her and even how they first met ... including their first kiss on the set of "The Rum Diary."

Depp arrived at court Thursday in rockstar fashion -- with fans greeting him and holding flowers and posters to show their support. Depp waved, touched his heart and thanked them as he went inside.

It's unclear exactly how long Heard will be on the stand ... but her time will almost certainly include more explosive testimony and allegations.

We'll be carrying the whole thing live.

"General Hospital" star Steve Burton says his wife is having a baby, but he's not jumping for joy ... revealing the baby-to-be isn't his.

In a scenario that could happen on the soap itself ... Steve revealed his wife, Sheree Gustin, was pregnant -- but he "wanted to clear something up." Steve goes on to say, "The child is not mine. We are still co-parenting our three beautiful kids."

While it may come as a surprise to Steve's fans, he says he and Sheree are separated.

Steve and Sheree have been married for more than 20 years, and have kids Makena, Jack, and Brooklyn together. We've not yet seen any divorce docs filed.

DaBaby claimed self-defense when he shot a man who randomly breached his North Carolina property -- and it looks like prosecutors agree with the rapper -- he won't be charged.

In legal docs obtained by TMZ, the Iredell County D.A. says it reviewed the case and has made the decision not to proceed with any charges.

TMZ broke the story back in April ... a man scaled DaBaby's estate walls and was eventually shot in the leg after exchanging words with the superstar rapper.

The eerie 911 call also showcased a cool, calm and collected DaBaby instructing cops of what had taken place ... with the man hollering in the background.

Danica Patrick clearly doesn't have a single regret about removing her breast implants last week ... saying she feels great roughly seven days after the surgery.

Patrick -- who got her implants removed in a procedure on April 27 -- has been sharing consistent updates on her progress since going under the knife ... and in her latest posts, she said her body looks and feels so much better.

In one post on Wednesday afternoon, she said she can feel her inflammation reducing drastically. In another post Thursday morning, she said her scalp is healthier, her face is producing natural oil, and her lymph nodes aren't swollen.

"#thehealisreal," she wrote on one picture.

As we reported, the former racecar driver -- who got fake boobs in 2014 -- removed the implants after she believed they were poisoning her.

Patrick said she was suffering from Breast Implant Illness ... and has been vocal about her struggles with it all in an effort to raise awareness for others who might be going through a similar situation.

In fact, Patrick said in a post Wednesday she wished she had never gotten the procedure done in the first place.

"I wish I could of told this 32 year old girl that boobs won’t make you more perfect or have it all or be more feminine," Patrick said. "Super grateful to be feeling better so quickly."

Haley and Matt Kalil are donezo ... TMZ Sports has learned the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model has filed for divorce from the ex-NFL star.

According to court records, Haley filed the docs on Wednesday ... and said in the paperwork the reason for the split was "irreconcilable differences."

The two -- who got married in July 2015 -- separated in January 2022, according to the documents. The couple had no kids together.

29-year-old Haley and 32-year-old Matt first began dating in Minnesota after the offensive lineman was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

The two eventually got married in Hawaii in 2015 ... and seemed to be going strong -- with Matt seen at some of her modeling events throughout the past few years.

Unclear when things got rocky -- the couple has kept most of their relationship private.

Dave Chappelle thanked his comrades in arms for beating the crap out of his Hollywood Bowl attacker -- this just hours after it went down -- and TMZ has obtained audio where Dave opens up about the terrifying incident.

Dave was characteristically funny but also very serious, when he told the crowd Tuesday night at the Pendry Hotel in WeHo, "I felt good my friends broke his arm. I felt good, how bad does a n***** have to be that Jon Stewart would stomp him!"

But, Dave had his limits, telling the crowd, "Killing that n**** would have been stupid."

Dave thanked his friends during the after-party ... it seems some of the folks who subdued the attacker were on hand. Dave expressed his gratitude this way ... "those are very powerful friends and I'm sharing [this night] with people I love very much."

Although Dave continued on with his act after the attack, he was clearly shaken, but he seemed chill at the after-party.

Busta Rhymes co-hosted the after-party with Dave ... btw, Busta's one of the celebs who got his licks in when the attacker was neutralized.

Of course, as you know, the 23-year-old attacker was injured and taken to a hospital. He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.

It's still full steam ahead for Kanye West and his girlfriend Chaney Jones ... the two have gone international, visiting one of Kanye's favorite countries, Japan.

Chaney posted a photo of the two overlooking a Japanese street Thursday on Instagram. The pic didn't have a caption, but it's clear to see the two are very much into each other.

We're not entirely sure what the trip entails for Ye, but he's often over there for work and for inspiration, so you have to imagine he's mixing business with pleasure -- as the country is closed to tourists. A source with direct knowledge tells us they first got to Japan around April 22.

It's the first time we've seen Kanye in a while -- he's remained silent since getting suspended from Instagram for going after Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson and others on the platform.

Ray J insists Kris Jenner was smack in the middle of negotiating Kim and Ray J's sex tape, but we've learned the businesswoman of the century was hands-off when the deal was cut.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Kris never negotiated with Vivid Entertainment, which distributed the tape back in 2007. We're told Kim and Ray J dealt with Vivid directly and with their lawyers.

In his interview, Ray J maintains Kris and Kim hatched the plot to make and peddle a sex tape in the wake of the enormous financial success of Paris Hilton's. Sources on the other side dispute that, maintaining she had nothing to do with planning the tape, and we've learned Kris was hands-off making the actual deal and had no contact with Vivid.

Of course, that doesn't mean Kris wasn't working behind the scenes, as Ray J claims.

As we've reported over the years, although the Kardashians claimed they never signed off on the tape, the reality is that Vivid could not have released it without the signatures of Kim and Ray ... if it did, there would be a slam dunk lawsuit, because Vivid could not use the name or likeness of anyone on tape without their consent.

Kim actually sued Vivid before the tape was released and that lawsuit was dropped ... we're told because she and Ray cut the deal they wanted and that cleared the path for the release of the video.

Holy crap -- how'd this happen ... Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale's little kid ain't little at all anymore!!!

Gavin and 15-year-old Kingston were out in Encino Wednesday grabbing dinner. The kid's as tall as his pops ... and it caused us here at TMZ to look back and wonder where the time went.

Back in the day -- when Gavin was 4 (you do the math) -- TMZ on TV had a field day celebrating Kingston and his moves with the ladies!

Kingston's the oldest of their 3 kids together. Gavin and Gwen are also the parents of 13-year-old Zuma and 8-year-old Apollo.

Gavin and Gwen divorced in 2016 in an acrimonious divorce. At the time, Gavin said he agreed to an "unequal split" of their assets.

Kingston and his siblings were front and center at Gwen and Blake Shelton's wedding in July 2021.

Kim Kardashian busted her ass to lose 16 pounds for The Met Gala, and anyone accusing her of doing it in an unhealthy manner just doesn't get it ... so says her longtime trainer.

We got DON-A-MATRIX out in L.A. Wednesday who says Kim dropped some serious lbs the old-fashioned way ... hard work and dieting. Don was with Kim through the three-week process, and says at no point did she "starve" herself.

Not only that, Don says Kim was an animal in the gym -- working out 2 times a day -- and sticking to a well-balanced diet.

He says Kim's not his only client who lost a lot of weight in a short period of time ... other clients have lost even more -- the key is exercise and healthy eating.

TMZ broke the story, when Kim first tried on Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" dress back in March, it didn't fit, and The Ripley's Museum actually rejected her request to borrow the dress for the Met Gala.

Determined, Kim dropped the weight, and came back a few weeks later -- and the dress fit, and Ripley's was down with the Met.