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American singer and songwriter Don McLean was just 26 years old when he released his hit song "American Pie" -- the eight-and-a-half minute track that is commonly associated with national pride and patriotism -- back in 1971.

The song's success has led to many other iconic musicians renditioning the classic, including John Mayer, Madonna, Jon Bon Jovi, Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks ... not to mention, "American Pie" was steadfast on numerous music charts for decades!

"Bye-Bye, Miss American Pie."

California Governor Gavin Newsom just took out an ad in Florida for what seems to be nothing more than a troll effort ... poking fun at Gov. DeSantis, and conservatives at large.

Newsom's campaign ad is 30 seconds, and the word is -- he bought airtime on Fox News in Florida markets for this cheeky spot, set to run through the holiday weekend. It's pretty funny, 'cause GN's embracing rhetoric the right often use, including "taking your freedom."

Check it out ... the Gov. is addressing Floridians directly, telling them that their freedom and rights are under attack in their state -- via book banning, voting restrictions, limiting speech in classrooms, as well as criminalizing women and doctors (a la the new abortion ruling).

He goes on to say that he urges everyone living in the Sunshine State to "join the fight" ... by coming over to California, where he says the idea of freedom is still very much alive.

The whole thing is super ironic and full of satire -- and Newsom's getting a lot of praise online for going out of his way to stick it to DeSantis (seen as an up-and-coming star in the GOP) and right-wingers generally. Others, however, are raising an eyebrow over this.

Some have noted this stunt -- which has no bearing on his re-election chances in November, since no one in Florida can vote here anyway -- was expensive ... and probably unnecessary.

So, why do it??? Well, as political pundits have articulated ... Newsom seems to be ambitious beyond just California politics, and may be trying to lay the groundwork as a go-to Dem voice on the national stage in the not-too-distant future. He also probably sees DeSantis as a good foil ... because he too is seen as a GOP leader going forward, post-Trump.

Janet Jackson was not impervious to technical difficulties that plagued Essence Festival -- losing audio midway through her performance ... but powering through to kill it regardless.

The singer was one of the big headliners at the NOLA concert series this weekend at Caesars Superdome ... where TONS of huge stars performed in an event comparable to Coachella. What was also comparable ... audio issues often experienced in a live show.

No exception for Janet, unfortunately, because during her set ... her mic seemed to cut out while she was in the middle of either talking or singing, seen here in video obtained by TMZ.

The good news is that this little hiccup appeared to go mostly unnoticed, and the rest of Janet's time on stage was a smash hit ... as she rifled through hit after hit after hit for more than an hour -- leaving fans more than satisfied with the tunes and choreography.

Now, it's worth mentioning ... there seemed to be quite a bit of sound issues throughout the past couple days of acts -- including some complaints about Halle and Chloe Bailey's set, with folks saying their levels were off and that they sounded funky to the live audience.

The audio for C/H were the least of some people's concerns though ... even more viewers at home were pissed that Hulu only live-streamed their very last song ... a recurring theme for the festival -- namely, who subscribers watching on Hulu actually got to see.

This was perhaps most notable during Friday's show, when Nicki Minaj was the headliner for the night ... even though her performance didn't end up making it onto the Hulu broadcast.

Angela Yee -- who was on hosting duties that night -- noted they weren't going to be able to show Nicki's set for audiences at home, citing "circumstances beyond our control." NM did indeed perform ... and she aired out her frustrations with whatever was going on BTS.

In light of Nicki's mishaps -- as well as other artists here and there -- many were daring Essence/Hulu to screw up Janet's set (jokingly), saying there'd be problems if they did.

Welp, they did end up screwing the pooch a little bit for JJ after all ... but no harm, no foul. She carried on like a pro, and appears to have put on a helluva number for everyone.

A man claiming to be an off-duty Chicago PD officer pinned a 14-year-old boy to the ground with his knee after accusing him of stealing his own son's bike -- and the whole thing was caught on video.

The boy's parents tell TMZ the incident happened Friday at a Starbucks in Park Ridge, IL -- just outside of Chicago. They say their son, who is Puerto Rican and an honor student, athlete and member of the local church was at the coffee spot with a group of friends and saw an abandoned bike laying on the sidewalk.

We're told the boy -- who also had his own bike with him -- attempted to move the abandoned bike out of the way ... and that's when the alleged off-duty officer pounced.

The parents tell us the man grabbed the boy by the wrist, slammed him to the ground and pinned him with his knee -- accusing the 14-year-old of having stolen the bike from his son.

We're told the man's son's bike had allegedly recently been stolen from a nearby location.

You can see in the video, the situation is tense, with the other teens coming to their friend's defense ... eventually pulling him away from the man.

A spokesperson for the Park Ridge PD tells us the man told their officers, who responded to the scene, that he was an off-duty Chicago Police officer. We spoke to a rep for The Chicago Police Department who tells us they're conducting an internal investigation into the situation.

The 14-year-old's parents are pissed -- pointing out their son was the only kid in the group who was of a different ethnicity ... and have plans to file a formal complaint in the near future.

Tom Cruise wasn't born on the Fourth of July, but came close -- and on his special day, a filmmaking partner is honoring him by basically saying ... never change, you nutty bastard.

The actor turned 60 Sunday, and to ring in the milestone ... director Christopher McQuarrie posted a wild photo to celebrate TC and the death-defying stunts that he still carries out himself to this day ... including on the forthcoming 'Mission: Impossible' movie(s).

As you can see, there's Tommy dangling from the wing of an old-timey biplane ... without anyone in the cockpit, it seems. Just Tom hanging on solo, without much assistance.

McQuarrie didn't add much context to this pic -- other than wishing Tom a happy 60th -- but it's pretty obvious this is from either "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" or 'Part Two' ... both of which CMQ is helming with Tom in the driver's seat.

One description of this stunt -- which was reported on last year, as eyewitnesses saw Tom practicing in the U.K. -- explains he'll apparently slip out of the cockpit, make his way to the wing of the plane, hang there as the plane nosedives, and then do a barrel roll to boot.

Unclear if this will be featured in 'M:I 7' '8' ... but in any case, Chris seems to have thought its worthy to throw up as an homage to Tom -- who continues to live like a daredevil.

In fact, this plane thing is just a taste of what he'll do in the new flick -- as we learned from the teaser trailer last month, Tom is also going to jump off a cliff while on a motorcycle ... only to be saved by a parachute. Indeed, his reputation only gets cemented with each flick.

Lots of reasons to be happy if you're Tom Cruise today -- not only is it his born day, but his latest blockbuster, "Top Gun: Maverick," hit a huge benchmark that he's never achieved ... the film has grossed over a billion dollars worldwide at the box office. And, it's still rolling.

As for what the guy's up to today, he was actually spotted at the British Grand Prix ... where he did a stop-and-chat with Sky Sports' Martin Brundle and cheered on Lewis Hamilton.

Even on his bday, he's got time for an impromptu interview and is pleasant about it. Just one more reason we love Tom ... one of the last true iconic movie stars of this generation.

Michael Pena might be getting flashbacks watching this ... a cop throwing hands with an unarmed civilian, and losing his own gear to get on equal footing.

Check out this wild fight between a police officer and a regular schmoe from the streets ... where they both decide to square up and duke out whatever issue they're having. It's pretty nuts -- the cop actually takes off his vest (but still keeps his gun) to throw down properly.

They exchange minor blows for a good while, with the cop seeming to have the upper hand -- he's way bigger for starters -- and the dude in green coming back for more each round.

In the end, they appear to leave their differences right there on the pavement ... seemingly without further incident. Of course, many have pointed out that this doesn't look to have happened in the States -- where a civilian would surely be busted for scrapping with a cop.

Of course, the other observation here ... this is very much like a scene from the 2012 movie "End of Watch," in which both Pena and Jake Gyllenhaal star ... where they play wayward cops. At one point in the flick -- Pena's character, Mike Zavala, brawls with a perp.

Jayland Walker was shot and killed by cops in Ohio last week -- and video of the incident was just released ... confirming accounts that he'd been hit by dozens of bullets.

The 25-year-old was pursued in a police chase early Monday morning in Akron, where officers attempted to pull him over, citing a traffic violation. Walker didn't stop and led cops on a bit of a lengthy chase through the city, with multiple units being called in to help.

Akron Police says officers heard a gunshot ring out from Walker's vehicle as they followed him -- and they claim surveillance video from the area shows a muzzle flash coming from inside his car, leading officers to believe he was armed ... which they announced to dispatch.

Eventually, Walker stopped and fled by foot with a ski mask on ... with officers telling him to halt and surrender. They say they tried using Tasers on him, but the efforts failed.

Walker continued running, but finally stopped and turned around ... at which point several officers opened fire, gunning him down. In the end, the ME says he was hit at least 60 times.

Cops say they tried life-saving measures when they stopped firing -- but Walker died on the scene. Ultimately, he was found to be unarmed there on the ground ... but cops say they discovered a handgun and a loaded magazine in his vehicle upon a subsequent search.

8 officers who were involved in the shooting have been on administrative leave pending an investigation. Protests have taken place in Akron for about a week, crying foul over his killing. On top of an internal probe over this, the DOJ says it's looking into it as well.

The city of Akron canceled its 4th of July firework show this weekend in the wake of the shooting. LeBron James -- who's famously from Akron -- tweeted Sunday, "I pray for my city."

One of the elements of this story that has outraged the community and beyond is how Walker was found after he'd been shot. Reports say when the ME arrived, he was found lying on his back in handcuffs ... with wounds on his face, abdomen and upper legs.

Amber Heard wants a do-over in court, demanding a judge toss the verdict against her in the Johnny Depp defamation trial ... because of shoddy evidence and an alleged fake juror.

The actress's lawyers filed new docs this week in VA, asking the judge to either set aside the verdict in favor of JD entirely, dismiss the complaint or order a new trial. Take your pick!

The reasons they lay out are many, but essentially fall into 3 categories -- one, she argues there wasn't sufficient evidence presented on Johnny's side to convince a jury that her words had hurt his career/cost him roles ... and yet, they somehow decided she had anyway.

Amber's attorneys argue that Johnny's career was already on the ropes -- including within the 'Pirates' franchise -- before her op-ed in Dec. 2018, and yet ... she was found liable for that. Furthermore, AH's team claims JD and co. failed to prove she acted with actual malice in the sense that there was little to no evidence offered up showing she ever believed she hadn't been abused by him and didn't believe every word uttered or written in the op-ed.

They're also harping on the fact that Amber never named Johnny in the piece, and more importantly ... insist that the defamatory lines in question were, in fact, true on their face.

There's also this ... Amber and her team claim that one of the jurors who decided her fate may not have actually been the person summoned to court, and that the court apparently missed it by not properly vetting them. It's Juror #15, whose birth year on paper is 1945.

Amber's team says they've done a quick search on this would-be imposter -- whom they say is clearly younger than that -- and it appears this person might've been born in 1970. As a result, they want the court to investigate the matter further. If it's found they did erroneously end up on the jury ... just another reason to scrap this whole thing and start from scratch.

Mind you ... this is NOT Amber's appeal of the case -- which she's vowed to carry out, even though it would cost her a fortune she apparently doesn't have. Because of that fact, this seems to be a roundabout way to achieve the same thing, sans throwing down any dough.

Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu was involved in a massive accident during the first lap of the British Grand Prix on Sunday -- flipping his car and skidding before tumbling over the tire barrier -- but miraculously, he escaped without serious injury.

The crash happened moments into the race  ... when Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly tried to squeeze between Zhou and Mercedes' George Russell ... making contact with Russel, who then bumped into Zhou.

Russell spun out as a result of the incident ... and as soon as a red flag was declared, he jumped out of his car and ran over to Zhou to see if he could help.

23-year-old Zhou -- F1's first Chinese driver -- was removed from his car and stretchered off the scene ... and received an immediate medical evaluation.

Zhou tweeted a positive update on his status shortly after ... thanking the car's halo protective barrier for saving his life.

Williams' Alex Albon was also in a multiple-car accident after Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel hit him from the back. Alpha Tauri's Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine's Esteban Ocon were also involved, but were able to continue on in the race.

Albon was transferred to the medical center, but is okay. Ocon eventually had to retire his car due to a fuel pump issue.

The rest of the race was nothing short of exciting -- Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. finished P1 for the first time in his career ... with Red Bull's Sergio Pérez and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes rounding out the rest of the podium.

Tom Cruise was present for the race ... chatting up Hamilton after the checkered flag.

Hip-hop trailblazer and legendary dancer Bruno "Pop N Taco" Falcon has died ... this according to his loved ones.

His sister, Diana Wolgamott, tells TMZ ... the longtime Los Angeles-based breaker and choreographer passed away Saturday at his Long Beach home. She says she believes he may have died from a possible heart attack. We're told his death is considered natural, and no autopsy will be conducted.

Bruno was a staple in the dance scene throughout the '80s and '90s -- specifically, through a style he sorta carved out as his own in locking ... which he popularized in the cult classic film "Breakin'" where he played one of the main characters, Electro Rock 1 opposite Ice-T.

Speaking of, the rapper confirmed his death on Twitter ... replying to a fan who asked if he'd heard of Bruno's death and saying, "Yep, just got a text. He was to young. Smh."

The guy went on to act in other films such as "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey," "Thumbelina" and even Michael Jackson's "Moonwalker." He actually had a pretty tight relationship with MJ ... having danced on and off with the superstar for years, even appearing in some music videos.

He might best be remembered as one of the dancers on "Smooth Criminal" who did the iconic lean dance sequence. Bruno is also said to have taught Michael a thing or two about popping and locking ... a style MJ employed often in his career. Bruno was with Michael during his HIStory tour in the '90s -- he appears to have served in a choreographer capacity.

Bruno has also danced with other Jackson family members including La Toya and Janet. He's also appeared in music videos for Lionel Richie and Chaka Khan, among other storied artists.

He was 58.

Longtime couple — and collaborators Big Sean and Jhené Aiko are expecting … and no, it's not the next "TWENTY88" album!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained photos of the pair on an outing in Beverly Hills on Saturday, July 2 ... with Jhené glowing and looking visibly pregnant.

No word how far along she is or the baby’s gender just yet ... but they've been skating around the idea of building a family for a few years now!

Since 2016, Sean and Jhené have been more on than off and have even publicly floated the idea of marriage ... which could be the next step following the whole baby carriage thing.

Although they've been making music for a while -- including their 2016 album "TWENTY88" -- the child will be their 1st together ... Sean’s first and Jhené’s second.

Congrats!!!

Drake wanted it a certain way Saturday night ... the Backstreet way.

Drizzy took the short drive from his massive estate to the Budweiser Stage in Toronto to catch a performance of the famed boy band ... and it didn't take long for the Backstreet Boys to invite the city's most famous resident up on stage.

Drake joined the boys in "I Want It That Way," but before singing the group's biggest hit ... he told the audience how the song had an impact on his life.

It goes like this ... Drake said when he was 13 he was an awkward kid with a serious crush on a girl he knew, but apparently, the feelings weren't reciprocal, at least on the surface.

At Drake's Bar Mitzvah, the girl was there and came up to him and asked him if he wanted to dance ... and the song was "I Want It That Way."  Drake said it was the first time he felt cool.

Drake, who called the tune one of the greatest of all time, and the group then broke into song, and the audience went nuts.

Bam Margera's emotional split from his estranged wife lead to him fleeing rehab -- but since he's gone back, he hasn't heard a peep from her or their child ... so he's hired an attorney.

Sources close to the 'Jackass' star tell TMZ ... Bam's estranged wife, Nikki Boyd, has made no attempt to speak to him directly or return his phone calls, only speaking to his team about child support and custody regarding their son, Phoenix Wolf.

We're told Bam has now hired a family law attorney to help him visit his son. Our sources say, in the past, Bam had been trying on his own to work out a visitation schedule.

Bam's new family law attorney will be working on hammering out a custody agreement with Nikki's lawyer, David Glass, so Bam can see their son.

Nikki and Phoenix are back in California while Bam is in a Florida treatment center due to his court-ordered rehab -- and the distance doesn't seem to be helping their communication.

Remember, Nikki filed docs in Los Angeles seeking full custody of Phoenix, and only wants Bam to have supervised visitation.

Our sources say Bam's recent disappearance from rehab was spurred by the fact he hasn't been able to see his kid, coupled with a belief Nikki's moved on. Nikki however, claimed when he was missing the 2nd time that she's been nothing but supportive of Bam -- even moving from California to FL to be closer to him ... and she thinks she's been unfairly blamed for his exit.

We're told Bam has been very upset, and no longer wants to try to make things work with Nikki. His only focus is on seeing his son, and he's worried he'll never see him again.

Adele says she was gutted by the criticism surrounding the cancelation of her Vegas residency, but still ... she has no regrets.

Adele, you'll recall, announced back in January, just a day before her residency was supposed to open, that she was postponing it. At the time she seemed to say the problems were COVID and production-related, but stories surfaced that folks on the production team said she was impossible to please.

Adele has now addressed it, telling the BBC, "I definitely felt everyone's disappointment and I was devastated and I was frightened about letting them down." She went on ... "I was a shell of a person for a couple of months. I just had to wait it out and just grieve it, I guess, just grieve the shows and get over the guilt, but it was brutal."

But, then she held her ground, saying, "I thought I could pull it together and make it work and I couldn't, and I stand by that decision. I'm not going to just do a show because I have to or because people are going to be let down or because we're going to lose loads of money. I'm like, the show's not good enough.”

She said she's working on rescheduling, but it seems there have been more problems ... there were reports she tried a different venue but that apparently didn't materialize.

Ricky Martin has been accused of domestic violence in Puerto Rico -- although it appears the alleged victim may be someone other than his spouse ... this per several reports.

Multiple Spanish outlets that operate in PR -- including Telemundo -- reported Saturday that a protective order is in the process of being filed and executed against the pop star in a municipality near San Juan ... citing law enforcement officials who confirmed the complaint falls within their Law 54 statute, which deals with DV.

The reports state an anonymous person -- who goes unnamed -- recently appeared before a judge in their own right to seek the TRO without going to the police first and without Ricky being present ... and the order was apparently granted based on the evidence presented.

The court reportedly scheduled a hearing on the matter between both parties for July 21.

Some reports are saying the alleged victim is a male, while others suggest it's a female. One outlet, claiming to have seen the docs themselves, says they read in part ... "The parties were related for 7 months. They separated 2 months ago, but the petitioner does not accept the separation. He calls him frequently. In addition, the petitioner has seen him hanging around his residence on at least 3 occasions. The petitioner fears for his safety."

That certainly doesn't sound like Ricky's husband of 5 years, Jwan Yosef -- with whom Ricky shares four children. The purported order goes on to reportedly say this ... "the petitioning party demonstrated that there is a substantial possibility of immediate risk of abuse."

As a result of the order reportedly being granted, Ricky has to steer clear of this person -- including avoiding all communication -- until this can get cleared up before a judge. As of Saturday, cops in Puerto Rico told AP they had not located Ricky to serve him.

Of course, Ricky has several residences ... including property in Puerto Rico. It's interesting this is surfacing now -- days after he was sued by his ex-manager, who claimed to have knowledge of a "career-ending allegation" from which she says she helped shield him.

Neither Ricky nor Jwan have commented on the reports. We've reached out to Ricky's reps and attorneys, so far no word back.

The Playboy Mansion's face-lift is now in its 4th year, with expenses breaking the $1 mil mark, but to the naked eye ... it's hard to see where all that money's going.

According to building permits, the property's had a bunch of work done since 2020 ... including a revision of the roof, adding detached living quarters, interior revision, an updated elevator, new fire sprinklers, underground generator, new lighting, fixing the basement foundation and removal of the spa area to install a new one.

Tons of permits have been filed, and the most up-to-date number we can see for all those renovations is $1.6 million.

As we reported, the place had $1M in renovations as of 2020, so that's hardly a quantum leap over the course of 4 years.

The fix-ups began back in 2019 when billionaire Daren Metropoulos started filing permits to renovate the world-famous pad he'd purchased from Hugh Hefner ... who died in 2017.

Since then the Mansion and its grounds have been covered in tarps, scaffolding and heavy machinery.