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R. Kelly's child pornography case from 2008 was front and center during opening statements in his new Chicago criminal trial ... something his attorney claims is a witch hunt.

Prosecutors kicked things off Wednesday in front of a jury, saying ... "The defendant, Robert Kelly, had sex with multiple children. He made videotapes of himself having sex with children," while also pointing at 2 co-defendants, ex-associates of Kelly's, whom they claim knew about it while it was going on and allegedly helped keep things quiet.

The woman at the center of the '08 case -- who was alleged to have been videotaped in sexual encounters with Kelly, at the age of 14 -- was mentioned too. She was referred to by prosecutors as "Jane" ... and they say she's going to testify in this case about what happened with RK.

According to prosecutors, Kelly went to incredible lengths to buy Jane and her family's silence at the time ... allegedly shipping them out of the country on his dime, and having his employees move mountains to conceal her identity or any connection to some tapes.

There are 4 tapes in play during this trial, and prosecutors say they'll have the jury watch three of them. At least one of those tapes appears to pertain directly to the alleged '08 victim, and the remaining ones might have to do with other alleged victims from over the years.

Prosecutors have accused Kelly of having sex with at least 4 minors, as well as rigging the '08 trial ... in which he was acquitted. Kelly's attorney, however, fired back.

Jennifer Bonjean, who's now repping Kelly, said her client was the victim of a mob mentality prosecution -- one that she says is way too late, and clearly intended to paint him as a monster, even though he's already been through this wringer once before.

She called his accusers "criminals" who have tried to extort Kelly, and who actually have immunity deals with these same prosecutors. Bonjean also said that one tape prosecutors have alluded to, but won't play, doesn't exist -- and leaned on the fact that the Jane Doe (who's the '08 alleged victim) has long maintained she is not on tape with Kelly.

An age-old debate about Bruce Willis' signature film seems to have finally been resolved once and for all by his own flesh and blood -- and yes, Santa's coming to town!

We got Rumer and Scout Willis Tuesday in Beverly Hills, and while they seemed to be in a hurry -- they were nice enough to quickly answer a burning hot question that we just had to ask on behalf of the public and cinema lovers everywhere.

Namely ... is 'Die Hard' a Christmas movie??? That's what our photog was trying to ask, anyway, but Scout cut us off before we could even get the words out with a firm answer.

Check it out -- SW doesn't just say it once, but twice ... seemingly clarifying that this isn't just how she feels personally, but that this might be the position of the Willis family at large ... including Bruce himself. Ya gotta imagine they've talked about it as a unit.

This is a pretty big deal, frankly -- people have gone back and forth on whether 'DH' is actually a holiday-time classic. The plot takes place on Christmas Eve, but it came out during the summer of '88 ... and became a box office hit. Plus, it takes place in always-sunny L.A.

Also, Bruce recently revisited the Nakatomi Plaza building where the flick was shot -- overlooking the city from the top, just like he did all those years ago. So, yeah ... full circle.

Scout's position is different than Bruce's mother, though, we spoke with her back around Christmas and she said she didn't think "Die Hard" was a Christmas movie.

A$AP Rocky has pled not guilty to felony firearms charges.

A$AP showed up at the Downtown L.A. criminal courthouse Wednesday all suited up for his arraignment. Arraignments are quick, and this was no exception. A$AP entered his plea to both charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

A$AP walked confidently to the podium with his lawyer, Sara Caplan of O.J. Simpson fame.

His bond was set at $550k and the preliminary hearing was set for November.

As we reported, A$AP is accused of firing shots at A$AP Relli during a dispute in Hollywood back in November. Relli claims bullet fragments struck him, causing an injury to his hand. He is suing Rocky over the incident.

You'll recall ... he was arrested at LAX back in April after landing in a private jet with Rihanna.

Ironman athlete Brian Kozera -- who was also a police officer and cancer survivor -- has tragically died at 44 years old ... after he was involved in a terrifying bicycle crash while he was training for an upcoming competition.

Kozera -- a 16-year veteran of the Norristown Police Dept. -- passed away after he struck a car on Saturday while he was biking in Caernarvon Township, PA.

According to a crash report, obtained by TMZ Sports, at around 9:48 AM ... Brian ran a stop sign and hit the passenger side of a pickup.

Kozera, according to the docs, was thrown from his bike and ended up being caught in the car's rear wheel. Cops say he was transported to a nearby hospital, but died from the injuries he suffered in the accident.

Kozera had been training for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in October 2022 ... according to a statement from the Norristown Fraternal Order Of Police Lodge 31.

In 2014, Kozera was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Lymphocyte-depleted Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He later beat it in 2015 -- and said his battle with the disease gave him the push to become an Ironman athlete.

Kozera was slated to compete in three more events leading up to the competition in Hawaii ... before his untimely death, according to his blog.

Brian is survived by his wife and three young daughters.

Chris Brown and Lil Baby's show was at risk, though only for a short period of time, of getting canceled ... but a judge has decided the show will go on.

Ms. LaJuan Bailey, through her real estate company, filed legal docs asking the court to step in and block CB and co. from performing Wednesday at the Toyota Center in Houston ... a scheduled stop in his national 'One of Them Ones' tour, which is in full swing.

The paperwork, obtained by TMZ, is trying to achieve a few things -- first, filing a restraining order to prevent Chris from hitting the stage ... and second, asking Chris to address why he missed a charity gig in the area earlier this year.

We spoke to a source inside the courtroom who tells us the judge was quick to throw out the restraining order ... allowing Wednesday's show to happen.

As we reported, Bailey made a stink last month after claiming Chris bailed last minute on a hurricane benefit relief concert after Bailey claims to have shelled out $1 million to get Chris there.

Chris' camp denied her account, telling us there were contract stipulations that weren't met, and Chris gave at least a 2-day notice before canceling. He even tried forking over a 6-figure donation to make things right, but that apparently wasn't enough.

Joe Rogan got all fired up while talking about abortion with a conservative media personality -- invoking his teenage daughter to make a point ... which sorta had the guy stumped.

Seth Dillon -- who runs The Babylon Bee, a right-leaning satire site -- got into with Joe Tuesday on the latest episode of the 'JRE' ... with its host laying out a very personal hypothetical as they started discussing the overturning of Roe v. Wade and its ramifications.

Watch ... Joe asks about the possibility of a young girl being raped, and inserts his own 14-year-old, Lola, as the would-be victim. He asks the question ... you really think it's okay for her to be forced to carry that baby to term???

Dillon says yes, telling Joe he doesn't think "two wrongs make a right" -- the first wrong being the rape, and the second being the "killing" of a person.

JR continues to press him, though, not accepting his answer -- it almost sounds like he can't believe Dillon actually embraces that ... but the dude stands firm, insisting that there's simply no excuse in his eyes to warrant an abortion. Even the rape of a young girl.

Joe also drills down on when exactly Dillon considers a human life has actually formed, getting into weeks, days, and even seconds after conception. SD doesn't have a clear answer, other than to say ... he believes as soon as a sperm and egg merge, it's alive.

T.I. allegedly punched The Chainsmokers' member Andrew "Drew" Taggart in the face after a wild night in the club … which allegedly included an unsolicited kiss on the cheek.

Drew and his fellow Chainsmokers' DJ Alexander "Alex" Pall posted their Tip chronicles on TikTok, and captioned the encounter "When meeting T.I. Goes wrong."

Drew shamelessly admitted to kissing T.I. on the cheek ... chalking it up to being too comfortable around the megastar rapper. He says T.I. returned the kiss with a punch to the face, and turned to Alex, instructing him to "get your boy."

An exasperated T.I. woke up on Wednesday morning and went on Instagram to invite The Chainsmokers to his "ExpediTIously" podcast and attempt to hold in laughter retelling the story.

Devin Booker can't hold in his love for Kendall Jenner -- the NBA star dropped a flirty comment under the model's most recent batch of bikini shots ... proving their relationship is still going strong.

In case you haven't been keeping up with the Kevin (or is it Dendall?) relationship -- multiple outlets reported the couple of 2 years had called things off back in June ... but shortly after, they were spotted smiling from ear to ear together in Malibu.

While they have assumedly been together ever since, Booker made it clear he's still got his eyes on KJ this week ... posting the "🥵" emoji underneath her latest Instagram post.

As we previously reported, DB and KJ were first spotted together back in April 2020 ... but didn't confirm their romance until Valentine's Day 2021.

Kendall has been one of Devin's biggest supporters ... hitting up as many of his Phoenix Suns games as possible.

Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox haven't called it quits despite breakup reports, TMZ has learned ... in fact, he still refers to her as his wife.

Sources close to the couple tell us ... they're doing just fine -- no big issues. They obviously can't be together 24/7 -- both of them work and have kids, but we're told they're solid.

Megan's been posting pics online without MGK recently, with their last upload together back in June -- fans took his absence as a sign they're dunzo.

She also didn't show up to his hometown show in Cleveland over the weekend, and that fueled the breakup rumors.

We found this video from MGK's Cleveland concert where he said he talked to Megan before he got on stage, calling her his wife, which he's said before. The video was posted by a fan account who only has a few thousand views, so it didn't really circulate. If it did, it probably would have laid the breakup rumors to rest.

He went on and on about Megan. Earlier in the show he got so amped up he smashed a wine glass on his face, creating a bloody mess.

Sounds like all is well for the bloody lovebirds.

Multiple eyewitnesses claim Aqib Talib sparked the altercation that ended with a man being shot dead by the former NFL star's brother during a youth football game, according to The Blaze.

"Aqib incited the whole uproar," an opposing coach told Jason Whitlock, adding, "The game would’ve never been stopped had Aqib not come over to our sideline to yell at the refs."

It's been one of the primary questions since news of the tragic incident came to light ... what happened to spark the tragic and deadly incident?

According to multiple witnesses, Aqib became irate after a flag was thrown against the 9-and-under team he financed, spurring him to cross the field and confront the refs.

"That’s what was so weird. All of the tension was between them and the refs," the opposing team's defensive coordinator told Whitlock, adding Aqib, his brother Yaqub, and the other coaches, including the man who was ultimately killed, knew each other.

"There was no problem between the coaches. We all know each other. Kerry Lewis and Yaqub have coached together. I followed Aqib’s whole career, starting at Kansas. The other thing is that it was their event. They were the hosts. They hired and paid the refs. The refs weren’t cheating for us," the coach explained.

After persistent complaining and threats, the witnesses say the game was called. That's when the 43-year-old man -- a coach whose son played on his team -- attempted to retrieve a football that was located near the Talib brothers and others.

A witness claims as the coach began to pick up the ball, Aqib swung at the man. The coach retaliated, hitting Aqib with the yard marker.

Then the brawl was on ... the coach retreated, as is seemingly seen on video we posted earlier this week, as the man attempted to get away from a group of 5+ people who were advancing.

Seconds later, after the man dropped the yard marker, five shots rang out, leaving him dead on the football field.

Now, everyone's searching for answers.

"There’s no justification for having a weapon at a kids' football game," the opposing head coach said.

"It’s 90 degrees outside and you’re wearing a black hoodie. None of it makes sense. Our babies were all there. Yaqub’s kids were there. Mike’s kids. Football fields are supposed to be a safe haven for these kids. This is where they go to get away from the street life. They come here to feel safe. It’s not like that anymore."

Aqib's attorney told the outlet the story was "inaccurate."

Yaqub turned himself into authorities in Lancaster, TX ... and has been charged with murder.

The pilot who fell out of an airplane to his death last month was upset after damaging the landing gear during an aborted, hard landing ... and there's a strong insinuation he may have jumped out ... according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Charlie Crooks was co-piloting the plane that was being used for skydiving runs back on July 29. Crooks was trying to land the plane when it "dropped" on final approach. Crooks struggled to get the plane back up but it hit the runway hard, damaging the right main landing gear.

The chief pilot told investigators Crooks became "visibly upset" about the hard landing, according to the NTSB. The pilot says Crooks opened his side window, complaining he "felt like he was going to be sick and needed air."

The pilot says Crooks got out of his seat, apologized and went to the back of the aircraft and opened the ramp door. The NTSB describes it this way ... Crooks "apologized, and departed the airplane via the aft ramp door." The word "departed" is ominous. The NTSB says the pilot did not witness Crooks grab a safety bar 6 feet above the ramp -- to prevent someone from falling -- before exiting the aircraft.

As we reported, Crooks fell 3,500 feet to his death.

Battle rapper Pat Stay's public challenge to The Game for his Eminem-dissing "Black Slim Shady" song has backfired … resulting in Game blocking him on Instagram, which is not the expected outcome from the typically confrontational artist.

In a fiery Instagram post Tuesday, Pat Stay claimed the veteran rapper was looking weak for allegedly begging for Eminem's attention by dropping the 10-minute track. Pat, who is white, apparently thinks Game wanted Em to respond, but he did not.

Game groused in the song ... Eminem only became successful because he was white. Pat wanted to show Game that white rappers have game, so he offered to battle Game in his hometown of L.A. with lots of $$$ on the line.

Game didn't take the challenge ... rather, he just blocked Pat. It's curious, because Game recently said in a No Jumper interview he'd never block anyone -- because that would be like losing a fan.

Pat eventually gave up and told his fans to lay off Game ... he didn't want to start a war with the L.A. legend.

Jamie Foxx's 2016 project about two basketball fanatics has been sitting on a shelf for years ... and the actor thinks cancel culture is why it hasn't seen the light of day.

Jamie stars alongside Jeremy Piven in "All-Star Weekend" -- a flick about two superfans who snag tickets to the NBA event out in Los Angeles ... it was supposed to debut in 2019, but it still hasn't come out, and no official word on the holdup.

Jamie thinks he knows why the movie's been delayed, telling CinemaBlend that the material may simply not be woke enough for the current climate ... "It’s been tough with the lay of the land when it comes to comedy." The buzz ... it has to do with casting a white star to play a Mexican man.

He thinks the film could be a great way to ease the tension, noting "We're trying to break open the sensitive corners where people go back to laughing again."

The cast includes Benicio del Toro, Gerard Butler, and Eva Longoria ... as well as Robert Downey Jr. playing a Mexican man.

Jamie, who plays a white racist cop in the film among other roles, thought RDJ was the man for the role after he played a white man in blackface in "Tropic Thunder," but the actor apparently needed some convincing before signing on.

Jamie says he had to tell Robert, "You played the black dude and you killed that s***. We got to be able to do characters."

Swizz Beatz and Timbaland created a super popular rap battle show, and now they're doing legal battle with the company to which they sold their idea ... in the form of a $28 million lawsuit!

The big time music producers are suing Triller, claiming the video-sharing social networking service failed to pay up for the cash cow Swizz and Timbaland dreamed up -- Verzuz.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Swizz and Timbaland agreed to sell Verzuz to Triller back in January 2021 … but they say Triller defaulted on the deal after only two payments.

Swizz and Timbaland say they settled with Triller after the initial default, but they say Triller played the same game as before ... making one installment and then not paying up the remaining balance.

The music moguls are going after Triller for more than $28 million … plus interest.

We reached out to Triller ... so far no word back.

There was a slight breeze in Miami on Tuesday ... and it was all thanks to Jake Paul's batting practice before the Marlins game.

The Problem Child was the guest of honor at LoanDepot Park before the home team hosted the San Diego Padres ... and before his ceremonial first pitch, he took the batter's box to get in some swings.

25-year-old Paul looked confident as hell before his first swing ... even calling his shot like Babe Ruth.

But, it didn't necessarily go as planned -- Paul whiffed not only his first pitch, but also the next three that came after ... before finally hitting a grounder to third base.

Of course, Jake was clearly just having fun with it -- he even claimed afterward that the video was edited to make him look bad.

Since he wasn't able to hit a real dinger, the team gave Jake a toy bat to show off what his home run celebration would look like ... and naturally, he hit the griddy!!

Paul eventually took the mound for the first pitch ... and despite being several feet in front of the mound, it was a solid toss.

It looked like Paul had an awesome time at the game -- the dude also got to try out some smelling salts in the dugout.

Motley Crue is known for their wild antics...but things really got out of control at their Indianapolis concert Tuesday night ... a fan was lying motionless on the ground after apparently falling from the upper level.

TMZ has obtained video of people at the show gathered around the man and tending to him as the legendary '80s rock band was belting out their classic, "Looks That Kill." A witness told us there was a puddle of blood around the victim.

The Indianapolis PD says they assisted an injured person, who was "awake and breathing." Cops confirmed they were investigating whether the man was extremely intoxicated, leaned over the railing and fell from the upper level to the lower level. His condition is currently unknown.

Motley Crue was headlining a classic rock concert with Def Leppard, hitting the stage at Lucas Oil Stadium around 9:30 PM. The fan took the spill from the upper level about 45 minutes into the band's set.

People in the crowd jumped to their feet and gasped as they realized what happened. Police and paramedics arrived quickly, placed the man on a gurney and wheeled him out of the stadium.

Motley Crue seemed oblivious, completing their set and walking off stage at about 11 PM. To be fair, the band may not have gotten word about what happened. The stage was pretty far away from where the alleged accident occurred.