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Ludacris' manager, Chaka Zulu, was scared for his life, and actually fired back, allegedly in self-defense, during the Atlanta shooting that's left the music honcho in critical condition.

We've spoken with multiple sources who have viewed surveillance footage recorded Sunday outside the APT 4B restaurant. We're told Chaka, his assistant and another friend were leaving an event, walking through the parking lot when Chaka was approached by another man.

Our sources say, in the video, Chaka and the other man start exchanging words, but things escalate, and the conversation becomes visually more intense ... all while the other man allegedly keeps his hand on and around his waistband.

We're told at one point, a female bystander pushed the other man away from Chaka, but he didn't back down ... and then things really got intense when Chaka approaches the man again, who seemingly bumps Chaka with his chest, and Chaka grabs the man by the collar.

From there, our sources say, a group of about 3 or 4 other men -- who'd been standing in the parking lot with the man confronting Chaka -- get involved, rushing in, and knocking Chaka to the ground with a punch followed by kicks and stomps.

We're told one guy in the group makes his way between 2 vehicles, produces a gun, and fires at least 2 shots. Our sources say Chaka, who was also armed, can then be seen getting back on his feet and firing at least one shot in return.

TMZ obtained the dramatic 911 call from the scene, where a man claiming to be restaurant security works to help Chaka ... who had suffered a gunshot wound in the exchange.

A source close to Chaka tells us he was shot at least once -- the bullet came close to his heart -- and he's currently in critical condition.

As for what started the verbal altercation ... we're told it's unclear, though it might have been some sort of dispute about the man not being allowed entry to a party.

A brand new summer camp in Ukraine is going strong even though the war rages on ... and it's all about giving the kids something to look forward to in uncertain times.

Co-founders Yulia Grechka and Oxana Volzhina joined us on "TMZ Live" to talk about their summer program, the 7Fields Eco Camp -- located in a safe part of the region of Kyiv.

The mental toll put on the children of Ukraine has been overwhelming ever since Russia began invading their borders -- Yulia and Oxana knew something had to be done.

Their camp aims to provide 300 refugee kids with fun activities and psychological aid at no cost to the families before the summer's over. They've been working educational programs into the camp's activities, too -- the older children will be able to attend anti-corruption lectures.

Since the camp is free, the team is looking to get donations for the program ... those chipping in will get a letter sent to them, with info about the child they helped give a memorable summer to.

Gennady "GGG" Golovkin has no plans to hang up his boxing gloves after his trilogy fight with Canelo Alvarez ... telling TMZ Sports he's "not ready" to retire yet.

In fact, the star pugilist said he'd straight up be down to fight Alvarez for a fourth time!

The news is somewhat surprising -- most thought the 40-year-old would call it a career after he takes on Canelo in September for the third time since 2017.

And, watch the clip, you can tell Golovkin has certainly considered it. But, he says he's still got more gas left in the tank despite having fought in 44 pro fights in his career.

"Not yet," GGG tells us about retirement. "I'm not ready yet."

As for why he'd come back to the ring to take on Canelo for a fourth time as opposed to callin' it a career ... he said that choice is very simple.

"The business side," he said, "it's very interesting."

For now, the 42-1-1 boxer says he's happy his fans want to see him in the ring with the Mexican boxer again -- and he tells us he's going for a KO in the match.

Before this dashing youngster turned into a world-renowned supermodel, she was just a photogenic kid posing with her hair blowing in the wind and growing up in Beverly Hills.

Aside from having two famous parents, this brunette beauty is most known for modeling all across the world, and she has recently been posing with her famous momma for her iconic lip beauty line.

When she's not hoppin' on private jets and showing you her perfectly bleached blonde eyebrows, you can probably find her gracing her presence on the 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.'

D.L. Hughley isn't wasting any more time on Mo'Nique after their public spat over her contract ... even though she's tried to make nice with an apology to his family.

We got D.L. at LAX Wednesday, who not-so-coyly pretended he didn't even know who Mo'Nique was, and claimed he hadn't even heard about last week's apology Mo'Nique offered to D.L.'s daughters and wife.

If you missed it ... the comedians recently got into a very public feud over who was supposed to headline the Fox Theater in Detroit last month. Mo'Nique felt she hadn't been paid appropriately for the gig ... and things spiraled from there.

After trading digs online, Mo'Nique then posted an old clip of D.L. recounting how he initially didn't believe his daughter when she said she'd been sexually assaulted.

He called Mo'Nique a "monster" and said the character she played in 2009's "Precious" ... earned her an Oscar for "being exactly who you are."

Fast forward to our convo at LAX, D.L. says arguments like the one he had with Mo'Nique aren't worth his time. D.L. recently came back from a comedy benefit show for those affected by the Buffalo shooting, so it appears he's looking at things from a new perspective.

R. Kelly has just been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison following his conviction for 9 federal charges, including sex crimes and human trafficking.

The disgraced singer was in the federal courthouse Wednesday in Brooklyn when Judge Ann M. Donnelly announced his sentence ... bringing a close to one of the U.S. Attorney's Office's highest-profile criminal prosecutions in years.

Kelly's known he could get 10 years to life since he was convicted last September on all 9 counts. He declined to give a statement during sentencing.

As we reported, federal prosecutors had recommended no less than 25 years in prison based on the severity of Kelly's crimes.

Kelly's trial had taken just over a month, and his attorneys seemed overmatched in court -- federal prosecutors called for more witnesses than the defense.

Kelly's legal team called on a handful of ex-Kelly employees and associates -- all saying, under oath, they never saw Kelly abuse anyone.

Prosecutors, however, brought dozens of witnesses to the stand, poking holes in that claim ... some said Kelly had managers, bodyguards and assistants who rounded up his potential victims before the singer groomed them for unwanted sex, among other things.

Kelly himself never took the stand.

We spoke with one of Kelly's victims, Lizzette Martinez, who told us he's more than earned a life sentence ... she says the guy's proven multiple times he's using his power to get what he wants, and he shouldn't be given the chance to prey on women again.

Nipsey Hussle's alleged killer, Eric Holder, got jumped by other inmates on his way to court ... and the beatdown was so bad he apparently needed stitches to close his wounds.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Holder was waiting Tuesday to catch the bus to court for his murder trial when he got jumped, causing the trial to be delayed.

We're in the courtroom today, and Holder showed up with stitches running up the back of his head. Holder also appears to have a slightly swollen left eye, plus more stitches cutting their way through his hair.

It's interesting ... Holder and his defense attorneys are all wearing face coverings, which they generally have not done in the past.

The jury is in the courtroom too, but no one has so far addressed Holder's injuries ... the judge, prosecution and defense are just moving forward as if nothing happened.

Travis Barker is in the hospital because he has pancreatitis, and doctors believe it was triggered by a colonoscopy ... TMZ has learned.

Multiple sources connected to the family tell TMZ ... Travis' Tuesday hospitalization was a result of the condition -- which is an inflammation of the pancreas -- and includes symptoms like nausea, intense stomach pain and vomiting. We were not told precisely when Travis had the colonoscopy, but we're told it was recent.

As we reported, Kourtney Kardashian took Travis to West Hills hospital, near their home, early Tuesday. From there, he was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. -- one of the best facilities in the country.

Travis' daughter, Alabama, posted and deleted a pic of her dad in the hospital while he rested in a hospital bed.

It was pretty evident Travis was in severe pain during his ordeal, tweeting "God save me" from his Twitter account.

Ricky Martin's former business manager claims the pop star shorted him millions of dollars, and now she's filed a lawsuit trying to get a piece of his pie ... which she believes is rightfully hers.

In legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Rebecca Drucker says she originally represented the singer from 2014-2018, but after a 2-year hiatus he called her back into service in May 2020 when his "personal and professional life [were] in absolute turmoil."

Drucker says she did just that ... getting his life and singing career in order, guiding him on recording contracts, touring and sponsorship deals and helping him make millions of dollars on his recent North American tour with Enrique Iglesias.

She also claims she protected him in 2020 when he was allegedly threatened with an unspecified career-ending allegation, bringing in top attorneys to handle the matter ... and Ricky walked away unscathed.

The only problem ... Drucker says Martin stiffed her out of $3 million worth of commissions as she was jumpstarting his career. She says Ricky routinely manipulated and lied to her, ultimately forcing her to quit in April of this year.

She said when she persisted in asking for her money, Martin began threatening her to stay silent and demanded she sign a nondisclosure agreement ... which she refused to do.

Drucker's now suing Martin for the $3 mil, plus punitive damages.

Pigs are flying ... O.J. Simpson is supporting Los Angeles County law enforcement.

The ex-con took a stand (not THE stand) Wednesday for the L.A. County Sheriff's Department with a video rant ripping West Hollywood for voting to cut funding for the agency.

Simpson says the decision is all wrong, pointing  out his infamous history with the law in L.A. and saying, "Trust me, we need police, we need the sheriffs' department" ... referring to the time he spent behind bars during his murder trial.

Frankly, the fact O.J. is supporting L.A. County law enforcement is rich, and probably pretty galling to cops -- considering his murder trial defense team famously and viciously attacked LAPD for allegedly contaminating evidence and being racist.

They effectively made the trial more about LAPD actions than O.J.'s.

Now years later, Simpson says he's always been against defunding the police ... claiming he's always said instead of cutting funding, money should be redirected and used for better training and expanding Internal Affairs departments where police investigate other police.

Besides his eye-brow-raising thoughts on police, O.J. is also weighing in on Donald Trump's actions on January 6th and what's going on at the southern border.

Travis Barker's family continues to be by his side during the drummer's hospital stay ... as evidenced in a photo shared by his daughter.

Alabama Barker posted and then deleted an image on TikTok of her holding Travis' hand while he lay in what appears to be a hospital bed. The 16-year-old included the message, "Please say a prayer" along with the image.

It's still unclear what has landed Travis in the hospital, but you can see in the photo he's got a brace on his left wrist -- though that's likely just a result of decades of playing the drums.

As we reported, Kourtney brought Travis to West Hills hospital Tuesday, near their home, before he was transferred by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai a short time later.

Adorable moment between Tom Brady and Gisele on their Italian vacay this week ... the two lovingly shared an ice cream cone -- but it's got us all wondering, is that avocado flavor?!?!

You'll recall ... the NFL legend is famous for never putting away sweets, and turning to the ultra-healthy avocado ice cream alternative whenever he wants to be somewhat naughty with his diet.

But, it sure seems he deviated from that TB12 Method out in Portofino while on vacation with his wife and fam on Tuesday ... 'cause that definitely looks like a chocolate/vanilla swirl to us!!!

To be fair to the 44-year-old GOAT, it seemed he only had a couple bites of the treat ... so, breathe easy, Alex Guerrero and Bucs fans.

And, yes, if you were wondering, Brady is still working out despite the vacation ... he was spotted getting in a sweat sesh on a yacht on Tuesday before the QT time with his supermodel bae.

FYI -- as for Brady's trademark avo ice cream, our sources tell us it SUCKS.

A scary moment for a man and his family, when an angry bison charged the group, goring one person and sending them to the hospital.

It all went down on Monday, the 34-year-old man and his family were walking on a boardwalk near the animal at Yellowstone National Park. Apparently, the trio got a little too close for comfort to the bison, who charged them ... knocking the man and a child to the ground.

Officials say the man was gored, suffering injuries to his arm and sending him to the hospital for treatment.

Actress Mary Mara's drowning may have resulted from a serious head injury ... this according to her rep.

Mary's rep Craig Dorfman tells TMZ ... investigators informed her family about new evidence ... that she may have died after slipping and hitting her head following her swim in the town of Cape Vincent.

They say she took a dip in the St. Lawrence River Sunday morning -- one of her favorite places to swim ... and after getting out of the water, investigators think she slipped and hit her head, causing her to fall in the water and drown.

Their reasoning ... when they recovered her body she had face abrasions.

So far there's no working theory on what object injured her head ... but they believe the only logical explanation is she came in contact with some object that either rendered her unconscious or debilitated.

As we reported, her rep says investigators have ruled out foul play -- it's unclear why they are certain the trauma to the head was accidental. Dorfman says he and Mary's family believe drugs or alcohol did not play a role in her death.

Unfortunately, the "in sickness" part of Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's vows is already coming into play ... the drummer was just hospitalized, with his new wife by his side.

Barker and Kourtney first showed up at West Hills hospital Tuesday morning for a health issue Travis was experiencing. Apparently, the medical crew at West Hills felt Travis needed additional care, because he was then taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Kourtney followed closely behind the ambulance, wearing black sweats and a hoodie.

It's currently unclear what Travis' condition is, or what medical emergency brought him to the hospital. Interestingly enough, during the ordeal, he tweeted, "God save me."

Of course, the health scare comes just a month after the two swapped vows during a multi-day ceremony in Portofino, Italy -- surrounded by their closest friends and family members.

Get well soon, Travis!!!

Sam Asghari says he's still getting used to the fact Britney Spears is his wife, and to wearing a wedding ring -- but he's also keenly aware marriage has its benefits when it comes to his career.

Sam opened up about tying the knot with the pop star, calling their wedding day everything they'd imagined. He told 'GMA' ... he and Britney wanted a fairytale and that's exactly what they got.

The couple got hitched earlier this month at their former Thousand Oaks, CA home, and Sam says the intimate guest list of about 50-70 people was perfect -- "We wanted to celebrate with, you know, our loved ones, our close people. We wanted to just celebrate, and that's what we did."

As for why SA was doing this 'GMA' interview ... well, call it one of the perks of marrying Britney Spears -- he was promoting his role in an action film, where he costars with Mel Gibson.

Sam says he's grateful for any opportunities he gets because of Brit, but clearly doesn't want anyone thinking he's just riding her coattails. As he says, "Let's not take away from the fact I've been working hard, and I was already acting."