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Donald Trump exercised his right against self-incrimination Wednesday ... taking the 5th in a civil deposition ordered by the New York Attorney General, claiming she's corrupt.

Trump showed up at A.G. Letitia James' office Wednesday morning, fist raised and defiant. He issued a long statement, saying, "We cannot permit a renegade and out-of-control prosecutor to use this investigation as a means of advancing her political career."

James is investigating Trump's business empire for alleged illegal practices.

Trump went on to claim James has campaigned on the promise ... "Get and Destroy Trump."

As for taking the Fifth, Trump said, "I once asked, 'If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?' Now I know the answer to that question. When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice."

Trump added, "I did nothing wrong, which is why, after five years of looking, the Federal, State and local governments, together with the Fake News Media, have found nothing."

"Boy Meets World" star Matthew Lawrence and TLC singer Chilli certainly had a good time together at the beach in Hawaii ... but sources say they're not romantic.

Matthew and Chilli were spotted Monday on the beach in Waikiki. Some beachgoers tell us the two got in the water together and shared some intense convos while chilling on beach chairs.

A rep for Chilli tells us the two aren't dating or romantic, TLC had a show on the island, and Matthew and some pals came to watch ... the two are friends and linked up later.

We haven't seen Matthew out much since his ex-wife and "Dancing with the Stars" pro, Cheryl Burke filed for divorce about 6 months ago.

As we reported, Cheryl and Matthew were married nearly 3 years, before she pulled the plug back in February, citing irreconcilable differences. She noted they'd been separated since Jan 7.

Olivia Newton-John's daughter Chloe Lattanzi left a tearful voicemail of gratitude to an Australian TV reporter who had done a moving tribute to her late mom.

The voicemail was played Wednesday on Australia's "Today" show. Chloe had seen Entertainment Editor Richard Wilkin's tribute and was moved to call.

You hear the pain in Chloe's voice as she tells Richard, "She's free now and out of pain." 36-year-old Chloe, the daughter of Olivia and her first husband Matt Lattanzi, went on to tell Richard how the dogs were running around and the horses were galloping. As you probably know, Olivia loved animals and was a fierce proponent of animal rights for decades.

Olivia and Richard have history ... they were pals for decades.

Chloe also uploaded a clip Tuesday of her and her mom singing "Window In The Wall," saying her mom was her safe space -- calling it an honor to be her baby and her best friend.

CBS and "Big Brother" missed a chance to highlight an LGBTQ couple by deciding NOT to air castmate Michael reading a letter from his fiancé, Hayden Middleton.

Here's the deal ... Michael won Head of Household this week, which means he gets a letter from a loved one, but CBS didn't air video of Michael reading the note to his fellow 'BB' players.

Hayden tells TMZ ... he's upset his letter was not heard on TV because it would have been a good opportunity to highlight a monogamous, committed relationship at a time when there is a lot of negativity directed at the LGBTQ community.

Hayden tells us he doesn't think there was any ill intent from CBS and 'BB' ... but he's still disappointed because the last two HOH winners had their letters featured on TV.

CBS does not air every letter to an HOH winner, and this year only 2 of the 5 HOH winner letters made the final cut.

Kanye West and his fellow Geminis Lil Uzi Vert and Steve Lacy clearly believed they had a night worth remembering forever -- getting matching tattoos to commemorate the event.

Both Steve and L.A.-based tattoo artist Mez Afram shared a pic taken in the wee hours of Tuesday night, showcasing their freshly inked arms in the mirror.

The message is kind of hard to read out but Steve and Mez both added clarity by captioning the Instagram moment, “We here forever technically.”

Ye's face says he's really into the moment ... following the latest Pete Davidson outburst, the new needle stick could've been therapeutic for him.

Kanye recently praised Steve for his hit “Gemini Rights” ... calling the album "beautiful" when it was released a few weeks ago, and Uzi and Ye’s relationship goes back several years.

Angela Yee is out of the 'Breakfast Club' after 10 years on the popular morning radio show.

Yee Tweeted Tuesday, "The Breakfast Club is over as you know it."

Yee faced her cohosts Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy on Wednesday, revealing she had been planning an exit strategy even before the pandemic and iHeartRadio approached her with an offer she couldn't refuse.

Both Charlamagne and Envy saluted and supported the move without any blowback.

Shortly after the bittersweet bombshell, Premiere Networks announced the solo afternoon show "Way Up with Angela Yee" would be starting in the fall, given the green light by the station's EVP.

If you haven't taken Cody Simpson's swimming career seriously yet, you definitely should now -- the singer will be representing Australia in a stacked head-to-head meet with the United States this month ... proving he's among the top talents in his country.

It's been a helluva year in the pool for Simpson -- the 25-year-old is fresh off winning a gold and a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games earlier this month ... after placing first in the 4x100 freestyle relay and second in the 4x100 medley relay.

The hot streak will continue for the former swimming prodigy-turned-teenage heartthrob ... as he's been selected to compete for his home country in a big exhibition against the United States -- the Duel In The Pool.

The event is set to go down at Sydney Olympic Park on August 20 and 21 ... and Australia head coach Rohan Taylor says those picked to compete should be honored.

"Any Australian team you make is special, but when presented with the opportunity to face our greatest rival in front of a home crowd I know these athletes will step up to the challenge," Taylor said. "Pressure is a privilege, and it is one we embrace."

Remember, Simpson just decided to get serious about swimming again back in 2020 ... and his personal best times have been drastically improving ever since.

NFL legend Frank Gore has been hit with an assault charge ... after cops say he was involved in a domestic violence incident with a 28-year-old woman last month.

The Atlantic City Police Dept. tells TMZ Sports ... back on July 31 at around 8:11 AM, officers were called to the Tropicana Atlantic City in New Jersey regarding a report of a domestic violence dispute.

Cops say a 28-year-old woman, who they did not identify, was speaking with hotel security ... but "did not exhibit signs of injury and complaints were not filed at the time."

Police, though, say after an investigation was launched ... Gore was ultimately charged this week with simple assault "related to the domestic violence incident."

No further details regarding the allegations were revealed.

According to court records, the 39-year-old former San Francisco 49ers superstar is due for a hearing on the matter in mid-October.

Gore is widely considered one of the greatest NFL running backs ever -- he played 16 seasons in the league, and rushed for 16,000 yards ... the third-most all-time.

Folks can't seem to get enough of Travis Scott ... look no further than his concerts across the pond, where he made history at the merchandise table.

Sources close to Travis tell TMZ ... the rapper sold more than $1 million in merch at his weekend concerts in London, setting a record for performers in the United Kingdom and knocking BTS from the top spot in the process.

We're told Travis released a new series of merch exclusively for his two shows at The O2 arena in London, where fans arrived hours before the show was set to begin just to make sure they got their hands on the gear.

TS hoodies were going for $100 to $125 a pop, while shirts ranged from $45 to $75 and hats flew off the rack for $45 each.

Our sources say Travis is the only artist to sell at least $1 million in merch in the U.K. We're told BTS did just under $1 mil during their "Love Yourself World Tour" stops.

The tattoo artist who was put on blast by Drake over his dad's tattoo says it wasn't his fault the final product was far from perfect ... and it was straight-up disrespectful to get other artists to fix it.

Money Mike tells TMZ ... he met Drake's dad, Dennis Graham, at a birthday party in 2017 and hit him up to get Dennis' famous son inked on his upper arm. Mike even did it for free, despite not being a fan of Drake -- hoping to get more clients.

As we reported, Drake posted a pic of the tattoo Monday, clearly not feeling it -- captioning it with, "I was sitting here thinking why you do me like this we family 😂 😂." His dad commented, saying he's gotten it touched up 16 times since.

Mike admits the tat didn't come out as good as it could've, but that wasn't on him ... he claims Dennis was in pain at the 4-hour mark, and rushed Mike to finish the job.

Mike claims everyone in the fam was actually diggin' the art -- including Dennis -- but once Drake saw the tat everything changed.

"This is gonna be a billion-dollar company. I know it. I feel it."

That's Jake Paul proclaiming his new company, "Betr" -- aiming to not just turn the betting world on its head, but also sports media -- will one day be worth at least 10 figures.

TMZ Sports talked to the 25-year-old Problem Child and his partner Joey Levy ... who broke down the new venture.

"We announce our new company Betr which has two parts. One is sports betting and online casino and the other is a media content factory. We plan on taking over the sports world and changing it forever. Bringing new sports content," Jake told us.

Levy says Betr will focus on so-called "micro bets" ... which allows bettors to put money down on wagers during a game.

"We kind of view micro betting as the TikTok-ification of sports betting, and kind of like the final level of introducing instant gratification to the sports betting experience."

(Instead of betting on the Yankees to beat the Red Sox ... think putting money down on whether Gerrit Cole's next pitch is a strike.)

That's half of the new biz. The other part is Jake's show.

"We already got some big guests lined up for the next couple of weeks. Anyone from the heavyweight champions of the world in boxing to rappers. I'm bringing everyone on the show to talk about sports," Paul told us.

"I don't wanna do the long drawn-out sports show. I want it to be quick, easily digestible, you know, 20, 30, 40 minutes, and just fun. A fun sports show."

And, Paul says his show will be very different than any sports show that's existed in the past.

"These sports show hosts are stuck in their set, they can't get drunk and talk about sports, they can't curse even. How you supposed to talk sports without cursing? So that's where we're really changing the game."

The company has already raised $50 million ... with investments from some big celebs like Travis Scott and Ezekiel Elliott.

Before this dashing gal dressed in pink turned into one of the most famous socialites and American media personalities known to man, she was just a rambunctious kid getting into trouble with her older sister and younger brother, while growing up in both New York City and Los Angeles.

This cute kid first made her way to your television screen when she and her childhood bestie were on a reality show back in the early-to-mid-2000's. Her empire of perfumes and purses has brought in billions, and she definitely knows how to spin a beat.

Marshawn Lynch's car appeared undrivable by the time cops arrived and busted him for DUI on Tuesday ... with one tire completely missing, and at least one other flattened.

TMZ Sports has obtained pictures of the 2020 Shelby GT500 cops believe Lynch was driving prior to his arrest ... showing the front-left wheel's rim resting on the pavement, with no tire in sight.

Witnesses tell us they saw Lynch parked at the scene around 5:45 AM -- roughly two hours before his arrest -- and claim at one point, the running back exited his car to sit on the curb with the driver-side door wide open.

We're told Lynch remained at the scene until cops arrived ... who ultimately determined he was impaired and arrested him for driving under the influence.

We're told Lynch left a trail of damage on the road until his car reached its resting point ... with visible marks on the pavement and curbs. As we previously reported, sources say Lynch was driving into roadside curbs prior to the arrest.

Lynch was taken to jail and booked for DUI -- he's also facing charges of failure/refusing to surrender proof of security, unregistered vehicle and failure to drive in a travel lane.

Ben Affleck just put his Pacific Palisades mansion on the market -- for a whopping $30 million -- definite proof he and Jennifer Lopez have officially shacked up together.

Affleck, who married J Lo back in June, listed the 7-bed and 9-bathroom home Tuesday for $29.995 million ... he bought it back in 2018 for $19.250 million. It should come as no surprise the house has plenty of space, with a massive pool and spa and 13,500-sq-ft of living space.

The timing of the sale is certainly interesting, we told you a couple months ago it appeared Ben and Jen had moved into a massive mansion, previously owned by billionaire and Mariah Carey's ex, James Packer ... so Ben would need to unload his current crib.

We're told Ben and Jen are currently leasing that home, which Packer bought years ago for $60 million ... so the lease ain't cheap.

As we told you, Ben's been in L.A. while Jen worked overseas following a family trip to Paris, so it's time to get their affairs in order as husband and wife.

Actor Steven Seagal, a vocal supporter of Vladimir Putin, showed up at a Russian-controlled prison camp ... the site of an explosion on July 29 that slaughtered at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners.

Seagal seems to be surveying the wreckage ... eyeballing some of the shrapnel that killed the Ukrainians. There were hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners in the camp at the time of the blast.

Putin bestowed Russian citizenship on Seagal back in 2016 ... this after Seagal spoke out in favor of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Seagal is been vocal in his support of Putin, calling him "one of the greatest world leaders, if not the greatest world leader alive today."

Ukrainian military officials have accused Russia of intentionally moving prisoners to the facility, knowing it would be the site of an attack.

As for Seagal, he was banned back in 2017 from entering Ukraine territory.

ESPN reporter M.A. Voepel -- who's been covering sports for the outlet for more than two decades -- has come out as transgender ... saying Tuesday, "I'm transitioning to male."

Voepel said he decided to open up about his true self this week because he's slated to receive the Naismith Hall of Fame's Gowdy Award next month -- an honor recognizing media members who have made great contributions to basketball -- and he wanted to be there "as authentic self."

"Fear can keep us paralyzed for decades, especially when we think we will lose all that is dear to us, including career," Voepel said.

"At some point, you realize you need to have faith that your happiness/well-being is worth pursuing, and also have faith in other people's kindness and grace. Grateful for a company that supports all of its employees, for terrific family and friends, and for societal progress."

Voepel, who formerly went by Mechelle Voepel, added, "Please feel free to call me Voepel, MV, Michael, Mike; I’m good with them all."

Voepel has had a huge career with ESPN after initially joining the company in 1996 ... covering the WNBA, women's college basketball, volleyball and much more.

"I may look and sound a little different," he said. "Glad to be who I've always been inside. Dedication to covering women’s sports, a lifelong joy as well as job, and admiration for all involved -- players, coaches, execs, fans, referees, colleagues -- that stays exactly the same. Thanks!"

Immediately following his announcement, several ESPN personalities congratulated him ... including T.J. Quinn, who wrote, "Proud to have you as a colleague."