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A famous drag queen is denying stealing a massive amount of cash from a guest who claims the performer straight-up jacked her in plain sight ... a moment that was captured on video.

Bryan Watkins -- who currently performs as 'Shannel' for the 'Drag Brunch' show in Vegas -- was accused of lifting somewhere between $500 and $700 from the purse of a woman named Meggy during a performance last weekend. Video from the event appears to show Bryan taking money, although it's unclear how much.

Bryan -- who competed on season 1 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" -- says he absolutely did NOT take the large amount Meggy is claiming.

Now, as for the actual accusation here -- Meggy outlined it pretty clearly in a viral TikTok video ... saying Bryan was going around the room for some sort of purse gag, and eventually came to hers -- which had $1,300 in there for her birthday blowout.

Meggy claims Bryan rifled through her bag and plucked a significant wad of cash -- and that when she confronted him about it ... he kicked her out of the show, without returning any of the cash.

Bryan admits to taking some loot, but says it was only a couple bucks as a gag, not hundreds like Meggy claimed. He says the venue's management refunded the woman's tickets and even offered to pay her $700 as a good-faith apology ... but that wasn't enough.

Meggy claims to have gone to the cops over the alleged theft ... but a spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metro Police Department tells us they don't have a record of the incident.

Nicholas Brendon, best known for his role as Xander Harris in "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," has been hospitalized after suffering another "cardiac incident' ... this according to his manager.

His manager, Theresa Fortier, posted several IG photos of the 51-year-old actor on a stretcher being taken to the hospital via ambulance, as well as a picture of him in a wheelchair with a mask over his face.

In the social media post, his manager wrote, "Nicky sends his love and wanted me to apologize that he hasn't been going live as much lately and to give everyone an update. Nicky is doing fine now but he had to be rushed to emergency about two weeks ago because of a cardiac incident (tachycardia/arrhythmia)."

His manager went on to say that NB had a similar health scare last year after getting spinal surgery for a rare condition known as Cauda Equina, which attacks the nerve roots. She ended by saying that NB "is trying to get a little more rest and has been concentrating on medical appointments."

NB's manager is placing the blame for some of his spinal issues on being forced to sleep on a concrete floor of a jail cell following his 2021 arrest for using a false ID to try to buy prescription drugs. NB was convicted of obtaining legend drugs by using false name and sentenced to one year of probation.

Fortier reportedly said NB had to get surgery for paralysis in his genitals and legs after sleeping on the floor of the cell aggravated his already injured spine.

"He hoped to bounce back from the off-screen drama to promote his new movie, Wanton Want, but is 'devastated' with his medical woes," Fortier told the Daily Mail.

Selena Gomez and Tyga appear to be hanging out ... spending time together into the wee hours of the morning at a celeb hot spot.

The pair were spotted leaving The Nice Guy in West Hollywood Wednesday morning. We're told Selena left out a back door and Tyga the front around 2:30 AM.

Sources say Selena arrived at the restaurant just before midnight, Tyga was already inside ... and it didn't appear that security let anyone else enter the club once the two were both together. Clearly, they were allowed to hang out past the closing time of 2 AM.

It's unclear what, if anything, is happening between Selena and Tyga ... but the pairing is interesting. We haven't known Selena to date anyone publicly in a long time.

Interestingly enough, it appears Tyga celebrated Selena's 30th with her and friends at a party last month.

We reached out to reps for both, so far no word back.

A spin down the famous slide at American Family Field on Wednesday ended up in a trip to the emergency room for Dodgers reporter David Vassegh ... who ended up breaking several bones in his body on the ride at the Brewers' ballpark.

The mishap happened just before L.A. took on Milwaukee at the stadium in Wisconsin.

Vassegh was gunnin' to check an item off his bucket list by finally going down Bernie's Chalet in center field -- but things went terribly wrong for the journalist when he came to a stop on the ride.

Video of Vassegh's slide shows he didn't finish feetfirst -- and ended up crashing into the wall with his arm and back exposed. You can see in the footage, Vassegh was in a world of pain immediately.

Turns out, he ended up breaking his arm and fracturing six ribs in the fall. But, somehow, the dude made it back to the field in a cast to get his job done!!

Dodgers announcers Joe Davis and Nomar Garciaparra laughed their asses off at the blunder -- and, to his credit, Vassegh was a good sport about it all on TV.

The guys that Vassegh covers, meanwhile, were impressed with his toughness ... with catcher Austin Barnes saying after their 2-1 win that they got the dub for the injured reporter.

"We all rallied today for you," the Dodger said.

No word if Vassegh will have to miss any further time from here to properly recover -- but get well soon!

Styles P, one of Verzuz most valuable players, says he'll cut ties with the livestream event if Triller can't figure things out with Swizz Beatz and Timbaland ... and he's urging the hip hop community to do the same.

We spoke with the LOX rapper Wednesday who says if he was on Triller's board, he'd do anything possible to make it right with Swizz and Timbo, the founders of Verzuz.

TMZ broke the story, Swizz and Timbaland filed a $28 million lawsuit against Triller Tuesday claiming Triller has missed significant payments since acquiring Verzuz in 2021.

Styles P says if those allegations are true, it feels like some serious culture vulture conduct, and he's advising the entire hip hop community to distance itself from the livestream giant if nothing is resolved.

Interestingly enough, when we spoke to Timbaland at the height of the Verzuz movement, he was pretty confident that selling the hot commodity would ruin the magic ... and while the magic isn't necessarily ruined, it's certainly going through some tough times.

Antonio Brown has been making waves with his custom dance for his "Put That Sh*t On" single … and he's using his signature moves honed on the football field to make a big splash.

AB tells TMZ Hip Hop ... he’s currently in the middle of finalizing a couple of deals to fund the "Put That Sh*t On" music vid … which should be an explosive and fashionable affair.

The former All-Pro NFL Star released his "Paradigm" album with the "Put That Sh*t On" single back in April and has been in rap mode since ... even performing the song on the coveted Rolling Loud stage.

AB is lining up the aesthetics for the vid, AB will feature Kanye's Gap displays as well as some unreleased Ye items. There will also be plenty of flashy bling!

Judging from his recent Tom Brady comments, it appears making music is AB's career choice ... at least at the moment.

Before this horse lover with braids turned into a model and fashion designer, she was the youngest of 3 siblings, hanging out at the horse stables and growing up in Los Angeles.

This hazel-eyed beauty was featured in "Teen Vogue" as a young teenager and walked herself right onto the runways of New York Fashion Week. She enjoys hanging with her famous family all night long and she even made her fashion designing debut with her big sister's fashion brand.

Need one more clue on who this cute kid is? Her godfather loved performing in sequined gloves.

Anne Heche died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries ... which she obviously sustained when her car went flying through the home of a woman in Mar Vista a couple weeks ago ... this according to the L.A. County Coroner.

The Coroner notes another significant factor that contributed to her death was a sternal fracture due to blunt trauma. That essentially means part of her chest was crushed in the accident ... which left her in a coma for the remainder of her life.

Anne's death has been listed as accidental.

As we reported ... Anne was declared brain dead last week, which is considered legally dead in California. Her body was kept on life support for a little while longer so doctors could properly harvest her organs and find donors, which they ultimately did.

The day of the car crash was well documented by bystanders and security footage -- much of which showed Anne flying through the residential area at incredibly high speeds and nearly hitting people along the way. She struck a garage and car before plowing into a house.

While being carried by stretcher into an ambulance, she briefly came but then lost consciousness.

Randy Martin, the so-called "Lone Wolf" reality TV home renovator, has died after a cancer battle.

His death was announced Wednesday on his FB page as well as by his costars from "Texas Flip N Move," the Snow Sisters, who had the same statement. It reads, "We are broken hearted over The Lone Wolf Randy Martin who passed away early this morning. Please pray for his wife and family as they navigate this difficult time. You will be missed."

Donna Snow tells TMZ ... Randy, a longtime friend/associate, died from cancer, and he was at his home when he passed, with his wife, Judy, by his side. We're told Donna visited him recently and he appeared fairly weak and in bad health.

Judy confirms Donna's account, elaborating to us that he had liver cancer and had been diagnosed in May 2022. She notes ... he was beloved by all, even strangers.

RM has been on the show pretty much since the beginning. The series started on the DIY Network in 2014, and he's had appearances on and off since Season 1. The following year, however, Martin was heavily featured as a main cast member ... which continued on through 2017.

It doesn't look like he's been on there much since then ... but he's certainly considered part of the 'TFNM' family. As his nickname indicates, Randy wouldn't hesitate to get things done on his own -- especially when it came to the business of buying and flipping homes.

That's what the show's all about -- with the catch being they can't see the inside of the houses they buy before working on them -- and Randy wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. He was quite the personality as well, with quick wit and jokes always on hand.

Randy was 65. He leaves behind a spouse, kids and grandchildren.

The "Deadliest Catch" fishing boat kinda got entangled in geopolitics, after Russia launched a missile almost immediately after a nearby ship had a run-in with a Russian fishing boat.

The video is crazy ... the crew on D.C.'s Time Bandit was cruising along off Alaska, when someone screamed to look up toward the sun. Sure enough, they saw a missile shooting into the skies just as plain as day.

Apparently, another ship called Wizard had a run-in with a Russian fishing boat, near the U.S.-Russia border. The crews on each boat exchanged words before the folks on the Wizard told the Russian crew to scram.

During the back and forth, the Time Bandit was called for back-up. The Russian ship ended up retreating ... when suddenly things took a scary turn.

You hear someone from Time Bandit's crew scream, "Did Russia shoot a missile, dude?"

Someone responds ... "It's coming right for us, captain!"

Mattel is taking a snack company to court over a Nicki Minaj-themed chip that shares the name with everyone's favorite plastic doll.

Legal docs, obtained by TMZ, show Mattel filed a lawsuit in L.A. federal court last week against snack brand Rap Snacks ... claiming they "made the deliberate and calculated choice to launch a new product line using Mattel's famous BARBIE trademark."

Nicki is not being sued.

Rap Snacks recently launched its new "Barbie-Que Honey Truffle Chips" -- with Nicki front and center on the packaging. For those unaware, Nicki's known for calling herself a "Barbie" in her music, with her fanbase even being known as "The Barbz."

Mattel's claiming they weren't approached by the snack company prior to releasing their latest flavor ... and even tried to reach out to them to come to an agreement.

However, they say Rap Snacks "refused to cease use of the BARBIE trademark and issued no corrective advertising, thereby forcing Mattel to bring this lawsuit as a last resort to protect its rights and prevent further consumer confusion."

Christine Quinn is giving a big thumbs down to returning to "Selling Sunset" ... instead focusing her attention on her other ventures.

Production sources tell TMZ Christine will not be featured in seasons 6 and 7 of the Netflix show, which recently began production. We're told it was a mutual decision between Christine, Netflix and the production company.

Our Christine sources tell us she recently signed with IMG Models, and is already booking modeling and appearance gigs at various fashion events.

Christine is also heavily involved with RealOpen, her brokerage that allows you to buy/sell real estate through crypto currency with her husband Christian.

Christine has definitely had her fair share of drama with "SS" producers and her costars over the last few months, skipping the show's reunion after claiming she tested positive for COVID. TMZ broke the story, Christine was spotted on a commercial shoot just days after allegedly testing positive ... at a time when she should've been in quarantine.

She also bashed the show on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, saying producers manipulate and intimidate the cast to create more drama. She also claimed the show's executive producer told her "to go fall down the stairs" and "kill" herself after she was honest about a scene from the show during an interview.

We got Christine's now former co-star Emma Hernan outside The Oppenheim Group office Wednesday, and while she isn't calling Christine's leave a win, she admits the show's got a bunch of heavy hitters as it is.

The Cleveland Browns grounds crew rushed to plant new grass right after Machine Gun Kelly's homecoming concert at FirstEnergy Stadium on Saturday ... but it wasn't because the show got too rowdy -- TMZ Sports is told it was all part of the plan.

The Cleveland native played in front of a packed crowd this past Saturday ... giving a bloody performance that even included zip-lining throughout the stadium.

There's just one thing that had people concerned -- Cleveland hosts the Philadelphia Eagles for a preseason game on Sunday ... which means if the field were to have gotten damaged during the concert, the team could be in trouble.

As it turns out, we're told that wasn't the case at all ... because the Browns expected to replace the field after the show no matter what shape it was in.

The team tells us the "Mainstream Sellout" concert marked the end of the stadium's summer concert dates ... so after the rapper/rocker and fans left the place, it was the best opportunity to lay down some new sod for the start of the Browns' 2022 campaign.

There were rumblings the grass would simply not be ready in time for the 1 PM kickoff on the 21 ... but according to our sources, it won't be an issue.

The hits keep coming for Britney Spears' first husband Jason Alexander ... after serving his sentence for crashing Britney's wedding, he's now facing felony charges for an old alleged crime.

The Napa County Sheriff tells TMZ ... Jason was booked today on an arrest warrant issued back in 2016 stemming from an alleged jewelry theft, and he's been charged with two felonies.

We're told Jason is charged with grand theft and buying/receiving stolen property ... and he was picked up Tuesday from Ventura County jail by Napa authorities after serving a 60-day sentence for crashing Britney's wedding.

TMZ broke the story ... Jason had a felony warrant out for his arrest in Napa County when he got busted in June at Britney's ceremony. Cops in Napa say Jason swiped a $2,000 bracelet from a woman there in 2015 when he was a houseguest.

As we first told you ... cops say Jason had been living in the woman's house for only a few weeks when she claims she noticed jewelry missing from her bedroom. Police say Jason later admitted to the woman he stole her diamond and sapphire tennis bracelet, valued at $2k, and pawned it off.

Now, the alleged theft is coming back to bite him.

It's time for some of the boldest, bravest, most badass kids and teens in America to show off their personal neck warmers ... all in the form of a mullet competition.

The finalists have been picked for this year's USA Mullet Championship, and the entries certainly don't disappoint. Each kid and teen is given a spot on the competition's website, where fans can scroll through and pick their favorite Billy Ray Cyrus-inspired hairdo.

The first round of voting is open now, and the ultimate winner will take home $2,500 ... plenty to spend on hair products to maintain the perfect Camaro crash helmet.

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.