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Beyoncé’s fashion icon status is officially in “Renaissance” mode with the release of the new album!

On Friday, Beyoncé dropped her seventh studio collection … ushering in a new wave of glam shots, which she’s done since her debut solo album back in 2003.

Fans have watched her style evolve from the sexy girl next door to the unapologetic Sasha Fierce to the commanding star ... who sometimes allows Jay-Z to share her spotlight. 😉

For this new album, she’s taking a more bold and elegant approach to her look … sporting long leather gloves, gaudy diamonds and shimmery gowns -- much like a renaissance.

Jennifer Lopez is in no rush to return from Europe after vacationing with Ben Affleck ... she's still overseas for work and some play while Ben's on daddy duty in Los Angeles.

J Lo spent her Friday living the island life in Capri, Italy -- grabbing lunch with her team and riding around the city in a cart with her security detail -- all while showing love to her international fans.

J Lo dressed in all white and drew a crowd as her hired muscle whisked her away in the back of a cart, she waved at fans like a beauty queen in a parade.

As for why she's in Capri, Jennifer is the headliner at a show to benefit the people of Ukraine Saturday, with a star-studded guest list ... including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Jared Leto, Vanessa Hudgens and Naomi Campbell.

Ben was spotted in L.A. Thursday picking up his son, Samuel, from Jennifer Garner's place.

As we reported, J Lo and Ben jetted off to Paris after getting married in Las Vegas, and their time in France included PDA in front of their kids, romantic dinners, a good cry and an infamous nap.

"Bridgerton" is once again a smash hit, but this time Netflix is pissed ... because it says two musicians ripped off their TV series, turned it into a stage production and turned a huge profit.

The streaming giant is going after the duo Barlow & Bear for  "The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Album Live in Concert" -- a musical production they performed to a sold-out Kennedy Center earlier this week.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Netflix says the production's opening number, "Tis the Season" is nearly identical to the one they used to introduce the show's main characters and setting. Netflix says Barlow & Bear even ripped off "substantial dialogue verbatim" from the TV show.

According to Netflix, the musicians didn't just steal its intellectual property ... but they also lied about getting permission. In the suit, Netflix includes an advertisement that was posted for the stage production and it includes the text, "BRIDGERTON is a trademark of Netflix used with permission."

Nope. Not according to Netflix, which says it actually "vigorously objected" to Barlow & Bear's use of the show's name, characters and dialogue.

Netflix says the duo has plans to take the musical on the road with a performance in London's iconic Royal Albert Hall -- and they're also selling "Bridgerton" themed merch.

Besides ripping off its TV show, Netflix says Barlow & Bear's pirate operation is competing with its "Bridgerton Experience" ... a 6-city event where fans pay to enjoy an "immersive" night in a ballroom with actors and music inspired by their show.

Forget hats and hidden T-shirts ... top high school football recruit Aidan Mizell just changed the college commitment game forever -- bringing out live gators to announce his college choice!!!

The four-star wide receiver, who plays his H.S. ball in Orlando, officially pledged to the Univ. of Florida on Friday -- and he did it in arguably the most memorable way ever.

The wideout -- who was down to Florida, Tennessee and Alabama -- walked behind a curtain ... and then carried out two live alligators to reveal he's headed to Gainseville in 2023.

The crowd went crazy ... cheering as he walked to the podium with the reptiles in his arms.

Don't worry -- Mizell's very valuable hands were safe during the announcement ... the gators had small pieces of tape wrapped around their jaws so they wouldn't be able to bite him.

Rev. Jesse Jackson is getting involved in the Sesame Place racial discrimination controversy ... coming to the table with solutions for making the theme park better for Black folks.

Jesse says SeaWorld, which owns Sesame Place Philadelphia, should bring in African-Americans to their board of directors, spend money on Black-owned businesses and hire an African-American firm to handle cultural sensitivity training for staff.

Jackson outlines his plan in a letter, obtained by TMZ, fired off to SeaWorld CEO Marc Swanson ... saying SeaWorld has a chance to turn a negative into a positive and rise to the occasion in a situation where most companies come up short.

Jesse's action plan is in response to the viral video showing the alleged discrimination against 2 Black children who were shunned.

As we reported ... there's now a class action lawsuit claiming the theme park and its employees insulted and damaged Black patrons, especially Black kids, and it comes on the heels of that viral video showing Sesame Place character Rosita shaking her head "no" at 2 young Black girls who wanted to interact with her at a parade and refusing to hug them.

80-year-old Jesse says he's seen this incident with Sesame Place play out too many times to remember over the years in his fight for freedom and equality ... and he says discriminatory acts will always return without sincere actions from corporations.

But, what irks Jesse the most, he says, is seeing discrimination against innocent children ... a line he says cannot be crossed.

Celebrities have been taking to the skies in their private jets for years, but a recent study is pointing the finger at some celebs most guilty of poisoning the planet.

According to research gathered by Yard, a marketing agency that focuses on "metrics that matter," celebs like Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, and Blake Shelton have been polluting the air with tons of CO2e this year alone ... but no one has done it more than Taylor Swift.

According to Yard, T. Swift has flown private 170 times since January, with a time in the air of about 16 days. Her total flight emissions for the year come in at 8,293.54 tonnes -- that's 1,184.8 times more than the average person's total annual emissions!!!

To put it into perspective, they say the average person emits 7 tonnes -- annually.

Mayweather comes in 2nd place in the pollution race ... emitting 7,076 tonnes so far -- still over 1K shy of Taylor's mark.

Jay-Z, A-Rod, Steven Spielberg, and Oprah Winfrey also made the list ... and Floyd's plane took the shortest flight of the year, at 10 minutes.

It's interesting ... the Internet started to buzz about celebs and their carbon footprints after Kylie Jenner posted about her and TS' private jets last week, but she didn't make the top ten list. Travis Scott took the #10 spot ... flying a total of 5.8 days so far.

Will Smith has spoken out on camera for the first time over slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, and he clearly feels a lot of shame and remorse.

Smith posted his mea culpa on Facebook, answering questions from fans about the moment that shocked millions of people.

Smith says he didn't go ballistic because Jada Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes at Rock's joke ... he says he did it on his own because he felt the joke was insulting and disrespectful. He also made it clear ... he and Chris Rock had 'history," and clearly not in a good way.

Smith said he has suffered trauma, primarily for disappointing his fans and others, saying "I didn't live up to people's image and impression of me."

As for why he didn't apologize to Chris, he says he reached out but Chris wasn't ready to talk to him, but he apologized in the new video.  The 2 haven't spoken since the Oscars.

He went on to say ... "I am human and I made a mistake and I'm trying not to think of myself as a piece of s**t."

As for his former good friend Tony Rock, Chris' brother, Will apologized to him and conceded the damage done is probably "irreparable."

Tyga's ticked off many fans, especially in the Latin community, with his new “Ay Caramba” video, which is filled with unsavory stereotypes ... and now, he's apologizing in a new interview.

L.A.’s Power 106 radio station organized an interview with Tyga and American Cholo ... a podcaster who specializes in untangling various stereotypes and misconceptions in the Latino community.

Tyga's vid has plenty of that -- for example, a sombrero-wearing game show host and couch potato with no shortage of tortilla chips.

AC says the stereotypes were the main cause of concern, simply pointing out how reversing the “chips and low-rider” images with “fried chicken and watermelon” would be easy red flags for African-Americans.

Tyga says he was confused by the original backlash, because he and YG had a huge hit with “Go Loko” a few years ago -- it went double-platinum and amassed over 200 million YouTube views.

T-Raww did apologize during his American Cholo chat -- but the interview ended in a bit of a stalemate. When Tyga was asked if he would take the video down, he hesitated because he said he paid $250,000 of his own money to make the video ... but says he will consider.

So far, it has 4 million views in a little under a month ... and that's probably from a lot of shock-and-awe sharing. "Ay Caramba" indeed.

It's the greatest day ever for Beyoncé's fiercely loyal fans -- not only did she drop her new album, "Renaissance," but it arrived with a big fat, personalized thank you to the Beyhive!!!

Feel the buzz, baby.

As expected, Bey dropped "Renaissance" Thursday night ... it's her first album in 6 years, and despite the fact it leaked earlier in the week, her fans rallied in a huge way for the 16-track project.

As we reported, the Queen's carefully planned rollout for "Renaissance" was interrupted when a fan in France put a few of the songs -- "Alien Superstar," "Church Girl" and "Cuff It" -- on social media.

The hive tried its best to shut that down ... threatening any fans who listened or, even worse, posted early reviews of the album. That stern defense didn't go unnoticed by Beyonce.

She wrote, “So, the album leaked, and you all actually waited until the proper release time so you all can enjoy it together,” she wrote to her dedicated fans. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she added, thanking her followers “for your love and protection.”

While Beyonce typically drops her albums in total secrecy ... this one was different. She announced "Renaissance" more than a month before it dropped, did an interview with British Vogue and even made a rare TikTok appearance.

Well now "Renaissance" is here, and it's come with some heavy hitters behind the music -- her husband Jay-Z, Drake, Pharrell ... and many more participating in the dance-heavy collection.

It was nothing but fun and games for Shanna Moakler and her bf Matthew Rondeau hours after cops were called to their home for a domestic disturbance call.

The two were spotted at Dave & Buster's in L.A. Thursday night, and it was all smiles -- playing arcade games, shooting hoops and even sharing some PDA.

TMZ broke the story ... cops were called to the couple's home Thursday after Shanna's daughter called to report a domestic disturbance, telling officers Matthew was yelling at Shanna.

Our law enforcement sources say when cops arrived, Shanna and Matthew both answered the door wearing "skimpy clothes" ... but told officers they hadn't been in a fight -- despite what Shanna's daughter claimed.

Cops checked the house, didn't see any damage ... and Shanna's daughter wasn't present, either. We're told officers believe there could've been a miscommunication in Shanna's daughter making the domestic disturbance call.

Shanna and Matthew have had a rocky last few months, in February Rondeau was arrested for allegedly getting physical with Shanna -- after he accused her of cheating.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito put Prince Harry and other foreign leaders on blast for blasting him and 4 of his colleagues who overturned Roe v. Wade ... this after the Duke of Sussex likened the SCOTUS decision to the war in Ukraine.

Justice Alito spoke about religious liberty in Rome ... at a conference run by the University of Notre Dame Law School.

As he ticked off the public figures from foreign lands who criticized the opinion, he quipped with dripping sarcasm, "What really wounded me was when the Duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations and seemed to compare the decision, whose name may not be spoken, with the Russian attack on Ukraine"

He was referring to Prince Harry's speech at the UN last week ... where Harry listed numerous events that made 2022 "a painful year in a painful decade" -- with the Roe v. Wade decision and the attack on Ukraine front and center.

Dua Lipa's apologizing to fans who suddenly thought they were in a life or death crisis when unplanned fireworks exploded inside her Toronto concert -- and new closeup video shows just how scary it was.

The clip shows the pyrotechnics going off in the middle of a floor section of seating, and it's clear how close of a call it was for hundreds of people -- including fans, crew and security -- in the area.

One firework goes off right next to the person behind the camera ... the red-hot sparks flew directly in front of them.

DL posted a statement Thursday, saying "Unauthorized fireworks went off in the crowd during my set in Toronto. Creating a safe and inclusive space at my shows is always my first priority, and my team and I are just as shocked and confused by the events as you all are."

She goes on to apologize to anyone that was scared or felt unsafe ... adding an investigation is still being conducted to determine how the fireworks were set off.

Shanna Moakler and her boyfriend Matthew Rondeau got a visit from cops Thursday afternoon, after someone called 911 to report a "domestic disturbance."

LAPD sources tell TMZ, Moakler's daughter called 911 to say a disturbance was going on and her mom's boyfriend was yelling at her.

Cops rushed to Shanna's San Fernando Valley house, knocked at the door and they both answered wearing "skimpy clothes." Cops separated them and they both told the same story -- that there was no fight, no disturbance. Cops looked around the house, no broken furniture, windows, etc. There were also no marks on either Shanna's or Matthew's body.

We're told the daughter who called 911 was not at the house, and cops believe this may be a bad game of telephone.

TMZ broke the story ... Rondeau was arrested in February for allegedly getting physical with Shanna.

As we reported, Shanna and Matthew got in a fight at their home ... a fight triggered by him accusing her of cheating. We're told Shanna left, returned the following morning, and the fight continued and allegedly became physical.

Cops were called and when they showed up, they say they saw visible marks on Shanna's body. Rondeau was arrested for felony domestic violence.

You may recall the video he posted on Shanna's social media, suggesting she cheated on him.

The L.A. City Attorney has charged Rondeau with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery and vandalism.

Monkeys are terrorizing residents in a Japanese city ... targeting young children and babies, and even hanging out at preschools to grab them.

The wild scene is playing out in the city of Yamaguchi in southwestern Japan, where city officials say a troop of monkeys has been carrying out the attacks since July 8 ... biting and clawing at human flesh, and sneaking into nurseries to try and snatch babies.

It's a huge problem ... the attacks involve at least 58 people, and the city is responding by hiring a special unit to hunt the monkeys with tranquilizers, with a 15-pound monkey already being caught and killed.

The story gets even weirder ... officials say the monkeys aren't interested in food, so traps aren't working, and they're mostly going after children and the elderly, often sneaking up from behind and grabbing people's legs.

The attacks include an assault on a woman while she was hanging laundry on her veranda, and there are images of monkeys peering through windows and loitering outside schools.

Japanese macaques are the monkeys behind the attacks, which are sending folks to the hospital in droves.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is getting support in the wake of the backlash over his Vogue cover shoot ... and it's from orgs helping his people on the frontlines.

A rep for NOVA Ukraine, a nonprofit that spreads awareness of the war while providing aid to Ukrainians, tells TMZ the article was "brilliantly written" ... wondering if the people criticizing the story even read it.

As we reported, Zelensky and his wife, Olena, were dragged online after appearing on the latest cover of Vogue. Some saw it as the President turning this crisis into the Zelensky show ... while looking for pats on the back along the way.

The rep for NOVA Ukraine says the photo shoot brings much-needed attention to the war ... as media coverage has dwindled as the conflict drags on. The way NOVA sees it, the focus should be on Ukraine's leaders who have "led a country which is being blown to pieces day by day, and continue to lead with their head high."

Michael Capponi, President of the Global Empowerment Mission, tells us the photo shoot does a lot of good .. Zelensky is using his PR skills to call upon the world for help, unlike previous Ukrainian presidents.

Michael's org sends first responders to disaster zones in Ukraine ... first responders who are critical in the rebuilding effort. He says Americans don't fully understand the impact of this war, likening it to a daily Hurricane Irma.

Jeff Ross isn't surprised -- isn't surprised at all -- at Jon Stewart's overflowing emotion after the Senate turned thumbs down on a critical bill to help our veterans ... because he says comedians feel pain more than most.

We got Jeff Thursday in Bev Hills at Judi's Deli ... and he could not have been more supportive of his fellow comedian. Part of Jeff's admiration seems to be rooted in Jon's character, but there's also the DNA of comedians ... to feel and project not just their own pain but the pain of others.

Jeff says he's totally down with Jon running for President in 2024 -- something that's kinda become a thing online and elsewhere ... despite Jon flatly rejecting the idea.

Nonetheless, it seems that Jeff thinks lobbying Jon to run wouldn't be a bad idea.