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Liam Payne's gonna hate this clip -- at least one part of it -- because the never-before-seen footage shows Simon Cowell taking a slight dig at the young singer while forming One Direction.

ITV dropped the un-aired video from back in 2010 ... it's the moment 'X Factor' judges Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh picked the lineup of singers for the group that would become One Direction.

ICYMI, last month, Liam upset some folks by claiming 1D was formed around him -- he said the judges started with him before adding in the other singers ... Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.

Liam made the claim on Logan Paul's Podcast saying, Simon "started with my face, and then worked around the rest. I was the honorary member of One Direction. He told me that story himself at his house"

Well, the new footage doesn't exactly bear that out -- Simon did say Liam had a great audition. However, he snidely added, "He thinks he's better than anyone else in that list."

To Liam's credit ... Simon was clearly impressed, but seemed to think he was a bit cocky.

Chess is supposed to be a non-contact game, but a boy in Russia find out differently when a competing robot crushed his finger during a tournament.

The boy was matched up against a bionic arm in the Moscow Chess Open when he moved one of his pieces, but didn't wait for the robot to respond. As he tried to make another move, the contraption simultaneously reacted and grabbed the boy's finger, squeezing it until the bone shattered.

Surveillance video captured the scary moment as people rushed to the boy's aid, managing to release him from the machine's grip and escorting him away.

Moscow Chess Federation President Sergey Lazarev told Tass media the boy's finger was broken and put in a cast, but he got back in the game the next day!

Lazarev added, “The robot was rented by us, it has been exhibited in many places by specialists for a long time. Apparently, the operators overlooked some flaws."

John Metchie III -- one of the Houston Texans' second-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft -- has been diagnosed with Leukemia ... and will likely miss the entire season while fighting the cancer.

The 22-year-old announced the news on Sunday ... saying doctors have thankfully described it as "the most curable form of Leukemia."

"I am currently receiving great medical care, am in good spirits and I expect to make a recovery at a later point in time," Metchie III added.

The receiver -- who played a huge role for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide the past two years -- said he will almost certainly have to sit out his rookie season in order to recover.

"My main focus will be on my health and recovery," he said. "Thank you in advance for your support and well-wishes. I cannot wait to come back stronger than ever. God bless."

Metchie III -- who piled up 2,081 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns the last two years at Alabama -- was expected to be a key contributor for the Texans after being selected with the No. 44 overall pick in April.

Shanna Moakler and boyfriend Matthew Rondeau have another thing to deal with when it comes to their rocky relationship ... criminal charges from his domestic violence arrest.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the Los Angeles City Attorney charged Shanna's man with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery and vandalism.

TMZ broke the story ... Matthew was busted back in February for allegedly getting physical with Shanna during an argument.

Remember ... Mathew's arrest came on the heels of him posting an aggressive video on Shanna's social media account, insinuating she cheated on him and vowing to never get back together with her.

Shanna said they were done after his arrest ... but a few days later she announced she was pregnant with Matthew's child. They've since turned to Dr. Drew for couples counseling and have been spotted together on several occasions.

We spoke to Shanna who tells us, "I'm not pressing charges, I'm hoping the city attorney respects my wishes and drops everything as well. I will be supporting Matthew 100%. This has disrupted our lives enough. We have both learned from this experience we never wish to have been public and we would like to move forward in a positive and peaceful manner."

Jason Momoa was involved in a scary car wreck with a motorcycle this weekend -- but luckily, everyone's okay and no one's being blamed ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the 'Aquaman' star was traveling on Old Topanga Canyon Road Sunday out near the Calabasas area -- when at one point during his drive, a biker traveling in the opposite direction made contact with him coming around a curve.

We're told the motorcycle rider crossed over into Jason's lane during this bend, and then hit the left front end of his Oldsmobile muscle car ... and kinda went flying, albeit only briefly.

The rider, fortunately, was able to land on his feet -- this according to our sources -- but not before bouncing off of JM's windshield and clearing the hood of his car to end up on the other side. Like we said, the rider was apparently left standing up after the collision.

The motorcycle rider was transported to the hospital with minor injuries -- including bruising to their leg and an injury to their thumb -- but beyond that ... they seemed alright. Jason's fine too ... cops were on the scene and took reports, but nothing else came of the accident.

Byron Scott believes Shaquille O'Neal's son, Shareef, can still have a future in the NBA despite having a rough go in Summer League ... telling TMZ Sports the talent is there, but the 22-year-old still has little things he needs to work on in his game.

We spoke with the former Lakers head coach out at LAX this week ... and he was very candid about what he saw from Shareef, sharing what he believes is the biggest reason the former UCLA and LSU product has struggled to find success playing pro ball this summer.

"I think he looked a little bit out of place,” Scott said. "He wasn’t ready. I think he still has a little ways to go. I think the talent is there. Obviously, the athleticism is there."

"It’s just some other little things he has to tweak. But Scotty Pippen Jr. looked really good," he continued.

Shareef and Scotty have been linked together all summer -- considering they are both sons of Hall of Famers and were both signed to the Lakers -- but Byron thinks Scotty is ahead in his development, thanks to the time he spent in college.

"Again, it goes back to showing you four years of school compared to a guy that just went a year or whatever the case may be is a big difference," Byron said.

"Scotty is NBA ready."

Byron believes anybody overtly critical of Shareef's performance needs to remember that he's overcoming heart surgery ... and is still trying to find his way back physically.

"You should take that into consideration," Byron said. "The fact that he’s not where everybody thinks he should be at this particular point is because of some of the medical conditions that he’s had to deal with."

"And he’s still young. Give 'em a chance!"

Before this little one was spitting beats and rapping her way to the Grammy's stage, she was just a cool, little girl break dancing her socks off and bouncing between New York and Los Angeles, California.

This cute kid knows how to entertain a crowd and keep her fans ... AKA her 'Kittens' on their feet. After dropping out of high school in 11th grade, she took up music and began posting her tracks on SoundCloud. It is safe to say her music career really took off after her songs went viral on TikTok.

'Yeah-yeah, oh-whoa-whoa!'

Everybody seems to want a piece of Machine Gun Kelly these days, and unfortunately for him ... one fan took that concept literally, and much too far with a handsy display.

The singer was performing Thursday at the Moda Center in Portland, OR -- as part of his Mainstream Sellout tour -- and at one point in the show ... he went up into the seats with audience members, getting up right near some of them -- including this overzealous guy.

Watch ... in video obtained by TMZ, you see this gent wrap his hand around MGK while he's standing right next to his legs, seemingly trying to get a selfie with the star.

He should've just stopped there and let Kelly break away -- which he was clearly trying to do -- but this concertgoer apparently wasn't done having his fun. Instead, he grabs on tighter to MGK, wrapping his arm around the rest of his waist and reaching to the frontal area.

Indeed, the dude got a handful of Kelly's junk and held on tight -- that is, until his hand was stripped away by MGK himself ... and being pushed back by somebody else, maybe security.

Keke Palmer is getting the side-by-side treatment with Zendaya on Twitter after her starring role in Jordan Peele's new movie -- sparking a conversation about colorism in Hollywood.

Here's the deal ... Keke made a splash this weekend in "Nope" opposite Daniel Kaluuya, with some arguing this is her breakout moment in the mainstream. Yes, she's worked in TONS of movies/shows for years -- but prior to this, she wasn't really a known household name, generally ... JP's flick has put on her on the map like she's never been before.

That's where Zendaya enters the chat (metaphorically) ... someone on the bird app said Keke deserves the same hype and adulation Zendaya typically enjoys these days. And from there ... folks started talking about why one might perhaps have ascended earlier than the other.

Before we write this off as pitting two women of color against each other, let's just entertain the subject matter and substance of the argument ... because, frankly, it's an interesting one.

Someone floated the theory that colorism was why Zendaya has experienced more mainstream success than Keke has at this point in their careers -- even though they're around the same age, both have a Disney background ... and despite one having way more acting credits than the other (Keke>Zen), Zendaya's the name/face we know more in 2022.

Of course, there's backlash to the fact this is being discussed at all ... with Zendaya fans coming to her defense in what they say feels like a personal attack against their idol, but others say they're missing the point entirely -- and that this isn't about Zendaya, per se.

You can hop into the "Keke" or "Zendaya" trends and see for yourself how this discussion is taking shape -- but long story short, there seems to be a good majority who feel like Zendaya, through no fault of her own, has greatly benefited from her mixed-race heritage.

We should note ... Zendaya herself has acknowledged this on multiple occasions, saying she wants to help her community, the Black community, get on the same level in showbiz.

There's no easy answers here -- and we're sure this debate will continue. As for Keke, we'll say this ... she has indeed been killing it since forever, but "Nope" truly is something else. Star-making roles come about every so often, and this is certainly one of them. 🛸

We're sure we'll see a lot more of Keke very soon.

Gregg Popovich gave a speech at Jay-Z's social justice summit this weekend -- once again making his positions on the issue crystal clear in a rousing speech.

The Spurs coach was in NYC Saturday, where Roc Nation was hosting the event and honoring attorney Barry Scheck with an award for his work on the Innocence Project ... which helps exonerate wrongly-convicted people in the country.

Watch Pop's address here ... he sounds as passionate as he usually does when talking about this sort of thing. He talks about what he sees as the state of America and its persistent racism -- something he says he knew always existed, but never to the extent that's been revealed through RN's or Scheck's advocacy.

He goes on to praise the Innocence Project for the number of individuals they've been able to get out of prison -- upwards of 375, he says -- which got a round of applause.

It's an important matter, and it's cool to see GP so fired up about it. You can tell this stuff is top of mind for him these days -- that is, when he's not in the middle of a game.

Travis Scott made it to Rolling Loud after all ... yet another twist in this weekend's big bash.

During Future's headlining set Saturday, he brought out the MC to thunderous applause ... and an even stronger performance. Travis ran through at least two of his songs, perhaps more, and spent a good amount of time on stage.

The crowd was loving it ... and Travis certainly seemed back to his old self in a traditional festival setting -- this being more comparable to Astroworld than any show he's done since. For his part, TS was absolutely pumped ... and you could tell he enjoyed being here.

It made for a good litmus test of how concert-goers and festival-goers feel about Travis hitting the stage in this capacity again ... and the consensus is, they want him there.

While we're sure the Rolling Loud crowd who caught Travis was stoked, you gotta wonder why he wasn't hired to just hold this slot down if he was gonna be there regardless -- similar to Kanye, who also randomly showed up on Friday night for a cameo appearance ... this after bailing on his own scheduled appearance last minute.

"Naked and Afraid" contestant Melanie Rauscher has died under mysterious circumstances in Arizona -- her body was recently found near cans of dust cleaner, TMZ has learned.

Melanie, who appeared on 2 seasons of the popular Discovery Channel show, was dog sitting at a residence in Prescott, AZ while the homeowners were away on vacation, according to Corey Kasun, a rep for the Prescott Police Department.

The homeowners returned on the afternoon of July 17 and found Melanie deceased on the bed in the guest room, Kasun said.

We're told several cans of compressed air -- which can be used to clean dust off computers -- were found near her body. It's unclear if Melanie consumed the contents of the cans.

Cops say there were no obvious signs of foul play, and they did not find a suicide note or drug paraphernalia. The dog was okay.

The Yavapai County Medical Examiner will determine Melanie's cause of death.

Melanie was mainly a contestant on "Naked and Afraid" in 2013 and the spinoff show 'XL' in 2015. Close castmate Jeremy McCaa posted a touching tribute to Melanie on his FB page, saying he was "feeling broken."

Melanie was 35.

Dave Chappelle doesn't usually open for people, but he did on Saturday when he warmed up the crowd -- yeah, more like supercharged the crowd -- for Chris Rock and Kevin Hart.

It was a huge surprise to all over at Madison Square Garden in NYC ... Dave just came out on stage, cig in hand with no intro. He walked out to Radiohead's "Karma Police" and then talked extensively about cancel culture ... and the crowd ate it up.

There was an oblique reference to the venue that canceled his performance in Minneapolis a few days ago after protests erupted. Dave said, "Had to sneak my way in here," adding, "despite what you may have read about in the news, I’m okay, and I appreciate the support."

He wasn't just up on stage for a few minutes either ... it was a traditional opening set, which lasted more than 20 minutes. Dave talked about getting tackled at the Hollywood bowl, suggesting his bodyguards were slow on the uptake because they were wearing dress shoes ... grousing they were "sliding all over the place like at a bowling alley."

He made it clear ... he was pissed at news outlets that called the attack "alleged" ... it was, after all, captured on video.

As for his attacker's punishment, Dave said he hopes the guy gets monkeypox behind bars, adding, "not that he should die, but his ass should itch for four to six weeks."

When it was Chris Rock and Kevin Hart's turn, they killed for an hour, both referencing Will Smith several times. Chris also mocked cancel culture, saying, "Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face."

Kate Moss opened up about her critical testimony in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial, and she says it's as simple as honoring your duty to be a truth-teller.

As you know, Kate shot down rumors that Johnny had pushed her down a flight of stairs when they were dating years ago.

Amber fueled the rumors on the stand, which opened the door for Kate's virtual testimony, in which she said not only did Johnny NOT push her, but after she fell he was an angel, carrying her back inside their hotel room and calling for help.

Kate told the Desert Island Discs, "I know the truth about Johnny. I had to say that truth."

Moss went on to say "fairness and justice" is what it's all about, so it wasn't difficult to take the oath and tell her story.

Johnny and Kate had dated for 3 years back in the '90s. There were rumors maybe they had rekindled their romance -- ala Ben and J Lo -- but that's not the case.

Rage Against the Machine has bodyguards that actually may be TOO on the ball, because an eagle-eyed hired muscle tackled a fan who rushed the stage and one of the band members got nailed as well.

It all went down Saturday night in Toronto, when Rage was playing its final song -- "Killing in the Name" -- and a fan (in a red shirt) sprinted toward the front of the stage, only to be blocked by security and hurled off into the crowd.

Thing is ... guitarist Tom Morello was collateral damage. Security made contact with him, knocking him to the ground close enough to the lip of the stage that he fell off.

It was a tense moment, as everyone waited to see if Tom was ok ... after a dramatic pause, he got up and waved to the crowd, which roared its approval!

Fact is ... security did its job and did it well. It happened really fast, so there was no time for precision. It's kind of funny ... Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, Dave Chappelle clowned his security at the Hollywood Bowl when he was tackled, saying they musta been wearing street shoes.

Xzibit is lying to the court about his financial situation simply to avoid writing some big checks to his estranged wife for spousal support ... at least according to her.

The former "Pimp My Ride" star's estranged wife, Krista Joiner, claims in new legal docs Xzibit is making it seem like he's fallen on tough times when in reality he's got millions in cash.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Krista claims Xzibit's brother told her he takes home over $1 million a month from cannabis companies and stores the cash in multiple locations using bank-sized vaults. She says the bro also told her he personally stored $20 million for Xzibit in various vaults and brings X cash on demand.

In the docs, she paints a much different financial picture of Xzibit than he has. As we first reported, the rapper claims he isn't making any money from his weed ventures and is struggling to make ends meet.

Krista, who filed for divorce in February 2021, also says X is lying about her going behind his back to get a new lease on a 2021 Bentley, dragging her feet on the sale of the family home and living in the mansion with her new boyfriend.

She claims Xzibit is full of baloney ... and she's accusing him of trying to sway the court's opinion so he doesn't have to cut her huge monthly checks.

His estranged wife says she's the one having a tough time financially ... claiming she recently lost her job and has no earnings to support herself or their son.

And, get this ... Krista claims Xzibit has been ignoring her requests for gas money, food and haircuts for their son, and says she had to go through attorneys to beg X to pay for their kid's inhalers.