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Capitol Records is pulling the plug on its AI rapper FN Meka, and calling the unconventional and controversial signing an insensitive move on their part -- in retrospect, that is.

The label went public with Meka's contract on August 12, but Tuesday it did a complete 180° … apologizing to the Black community for not thinking things all the way through.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Factory New, the company that concocted FN Meka, was virtually blindsided by the news, learning of their shredded contract just moments before Capitol announced it was cutting ties.

We’re also told by label sources ... some angry staffers blame Capitol’s lack of diversity for the deal getting a greenlight, in the first place. One source claims the label has very few senior-level Black executives running departments.

FN Meka -- an artificial intelligence rapper with computer-generated lyrics -- featured overly exaggerated African-American tropes ... which triggered a major backlash.

Many fans and pundits took issue with the AI entertainer (or its creators) using the n-word, and romanticizing run-ins with police.

The virtual rapper’s debut single “Florida Water” single actually features Gunna, who is currently incarcerated.

We recently spoke to Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony about the situation ... who felt the dawn of the AI rapper is not only inevitable, but ultimately bad for human rapper job security down the line.

Paul Pelosi's crash site from his DUI arrest looks worse than reports initially indicated ... as evidenced by the photos you can now see from the scene.

TMZ has obtained a ton of pictures that were taken on the night of May 28 in Napa, where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband was busted for drinking and driving. We knew he was in some sort of accident with a Jeep ... but we didn't know the extent of the damage.

Check it out ... you can see both the Jeep and Paul's Porsche on the side of the road. It appears as though one or both vehicles tore through some wooden fencing ... which may have been connected to a business or vineyard of some sort.

It also looks like Paul's ride was more roughed up than the Jeep -- the rear of his car is smashed in. Of course, you also see Paul himself here ... milling around the wreckage.

The cops have said all along that Paul's car was the one that was hit by the Jeep. Nevertheless, CHP suspected he was under the influence that night -- in the end, they took him in.

He just pled guilty to DUI this week ... receiving a sentence of 3 years probation and 5 days jail time, with credit for time served. He got credit for 4 days, 2 of which were for good behavior ... the final day will be served through 8 hours in a court-ordered work program.

The other parts of his probation entail attending 3 months of a DUI education course and having an interlock device installed in his vehicle for a year. He was also ordered to pay fines and restitution for the property damage.

Anne Heche's final resting place will be at the legendary Hollywood Forever Cemetery, a location reserved for some of the biggest icons in showbiz, and her sons could not be more proud.

Heche was cremated, and will have a spot on one of the mausoleum walls at HF, located close to Mickey Rooney and with a beautiful view of the lake located within the cemetery's Garden of Legends.

Anne's son, Homer, tells us, "My brother Atlas and I want to thank Tyler, Noelle and all the amazing people at Hollywood Forever for their kindness, compassion and generosity of spirit. We are convinced our Mom would love the site we have chosen for her; it’s beautiful, serene and she will be among her Hollywood peers."

He continues, "Most importantly, Hollywood Forever is a living place, where people attend movies and concerts and other events. She was our Mom, but the kindness and the outpouring of the past few days reminded us that she also belongs to her fans, to the entertainment community, and now, to the ages."

Anne's spot is with good company, also located nearby to Burt Reynolds and Halyna Hutchins -- the cinematographer killed on the set of Alec Baldwin's "Rust."

The two Atlanta police officers involved in the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks will not be criminally charged ... this according to the special prosecutor in the case.

At a news conference Tuesday, special prosecutor Pete Skandalakis announced he is no longer pursuing criminal charges against officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan.

Remember ... Brooks was fatally shot in June 2020 after the officers tried to arrest him in a Wendy's parking lot, setting off protests resulting in the fast food joint being burned to the ground.

Cops say Brooks fell asleep in the Wendy's drive-thru line and when police responded he struggled with the officers, grabbing one cop's Taser and attempting to run away. Brooks was shot to death after officers claimed he pointed the Taser at Rolfe's head, firing once and missing.

Both cops were subsequently hit with criminal charges, including aggravated assault. Rolfe was also charged with felony murder.

Now, prosecutors say their review of the case finds Rolfe and Brosnan acted in accordance with Georgia law, concluding the use of deadly force was reasonable.

Authorities have broken their silence for the first time since a submerged vehicle with a body inside was discovered ... letting the public know they believe it to be Kiely Rodni.

The announcement was made Monday, almost 24 hours after a YouTube search and rescue team first claimed they had located Kiely's vehicle in Prosser Lake, upside down in about 14 feet of water.

Remember ... Dog the Bounty Hunter told us he was getting flooded with tips on Kiely's potential whereabouts, but he was reluctant to dive into the high-profile case as a result of all the backlash he got from the Gabby Petito case.

16-year-old Kiely was last seen alive Aug. 6 near Truckee, CA, where she and about 100 other teens were partying at a campground in the Lake Tahoe region ... and went missing late at night.

Police have not said how Kiely ended up in a car sunk in the lake, or if foul play is suspected.

Magic Johnson just shot down a rumor claiming he recently donated blood ... with the Hall of Famer calling the story a flat-out lie.

A Twitter account posted what appeared to be a picture of Magic donating blood back on Aug. 18 -- and it quickly went viral, as it claimed the Lakers legend, who was diagnosed with HIV in the early 1990s, was giving blood in order to help those affected by COVID.

But, Johnson said Tuesday it's all completely fabricated.

"I'm aware of the false story circling the internet," the 63-year-old said, "and to be clear, I have never donated blood."

Johnson initially went public with his HIV diagnosis in 1991 -- announcing he was retiring after contracting the virus.

The former point guard did ultimately come back to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, and he also returned to the Lakers in the 1995-96 season.

Miami rapper Zoey Dollaz recently dropped "Dollaz" from his handle, but added a money notch to his biz profile -- essentially starting a bulletproof version of Uber or Lyft.

On Tuesday, Zoey hit up "TMZ Live" to discuss Aegis -- the bulletproof car service he named after the Greek god Athena’s protective cloak -- and he told us he was partially inspired by his own brush with death.

Zoey is actually a shooting survivor himself, having been shot in December 2020 outside Teyana Taylor’s birthday party in Miami.

On top of that, he and Young Thug survived a shooting while driving around Atlanta … where he guestimates 75 rounds were fired in their direction.

That was enough of a spark for him to start Aegis operations with just 2 vehicles back in January 2021. Zoey says proudly he rented out 23 cars to artists during this year's Rolling Loud Miami festival.

Zoey says his company isn’t just for rappers ... he actually counts Manny Pacquiao as a past client and he wants pro athletes and regular citizens fearful of road rage to utilize his services.

He's based in Miami but has availability in major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, Texas, Chicago and NYC.

The Washington Post reports Americans have purchased more than 43 million guns over the last 3 years -- and many, in and out of the industry, have called rapping. "the world's most dangerous job."

George Lopez is all for getting his comedy out into the world by any means possible -- but he claims streaming giant Pandora never even bothered to license his comedy specials before streaming them ... which is why he's dragging them to court.

The legendary comic just filed suit against the radio streaming giant, claiming they've exploited his copyrighted material -- namely, his standup from 2 different specials -- without first getting a proper license to distribute it.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, George alleges Pandora has been streaming upwards of 37 works of his contained in 2001's "Right Now Right Now" and 2003's "Team Leader," which are 2 of his stand-up specials that became albums.

There are 18 chapters on the former, and 19 on the latter ... so essentially, George is saying Pandora's ripped off the entirety of each special and streamed it without his permission ... and, perhaps more importantly, without paying him.

You can tell he's pretty fired up about this too, because he's got a fiery introduction to this suit.

His attorneys write, "Pandora not only did not obtain any license for the Works but admitted that it did not do so in SEC filings, and admitted that it would very likely face copyright infringement liability as a result. But Pandora did what most goliaths do: it decided it would infringe now to ensure it had this very valuable intellectual property on its platform to remain competitive, and deal with the consequences later. Later is now."

George wants an accounting of all profits made from streaming his stuff and is looking to collect big damages. In the alternative, he's looking for statutory damages totaling $5.5 million for the alleged infringements.

Kanye West will not be charged for allegedly punching a fan after a heated exchange outside an L.A. hotel.

The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office tells us, "After a thorough and careful review of all the evidence, our office is declining to file based on no reasonable likelihood of conviction." Translation -- there's likely just not enough evidence for a conviction.

As we reported, Ye got into an argument that turned physical back in January near the Soho Warehouse, according to law enforcement sources. We're told things got so heated, Kanye pushed and punched the male fan.

The case was being investigated as a misdemeanor battery, which carries a maximum jail sentence of 6 months.

We obtained a video of an irate Kanye, shot around the time of the alleged assault. You hear Kanye yell, "Did y'all say that or not? Did y'all say that or not?" "Cuz that's what happened right f****** now."

Casey Affleck must really prefer the west coast to Georgia ... the actor was spotted out and about in Cali once again, just days after being a no-show at his brother Ben's wedding.

Casey and his GF Caylee Cowan were spotted grabbing a meal in Malibu Monday -- the two made a pit stop for gas before heading off to a private beach nearby.

C&C seemed in good spirits, but the heat might've been too much for Casey -- he pulled his shirt up to let his abs breathe as they walked out of the restaurant.

As you know, Casey was notably absent from Ben's second wedding to Jennifer Lopez in Riceboro, GA ... he instead was seen getting some frozen treats with Caylee on Saturday -- Ben and Jen's big day.

Casey also went on a Starbucks run that morning, but didn't offer up much of an explanation as to why he didn't make the trip to be with his brother.

Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, just pled guilty to a DUI charge stemming from his May car accident and arrest.

According to court records, obtained by TMZ, Pelosi pled guilty to one count of DUI. He was sentenced to three years probation and 5 days of jail time, with credit for time served.

As part of the probation terms, Pelosi has to complete 8 hours of a court work program, do a three-month drinking and driving course and put an ignition interlock device on his car for a year. He also has to pay a $150 fine.

TMZ broke the story ... Pelosi was involved in a car accident the night of May 28 near wine country -- cops said he was driving a 2021 Porsche when it was struck by a Jeep in a 2-vehicle crash.

The CHP officers who responded say Pelosi had "objective signs and symptoms of alcohol intoxication" -- watery eyes, slurred speech and a "strong odor" of alcohol on his breath.

According to the police report, Pelosi handed officers his "11-99 Foundation" card when they asked him for ID ... the foundation provides financial assistance and scholarships to CHP officers and their families.

He was charged with 2 misdemeanors the following month -- Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol Causing Injury, and Driving with .08% Blood Alcohol Level or Higher Causing Injury. Cops say his BAC was .082%, just over the legal limit.

Pelosi's attorney Amanda Bevins entered not guilty pleas for him at the beginning of August on both charges.

A Black Little League World Series player was, indeed, not the only one wearing cotton on his head during an MLB game on Sunday night ... a new photo shows a white player had the toy stuffing placed in his hair as well.

The photo, taken by someone who appeared to be just feet away from the Little Leaguers who were playing with the stuffed animal's filling during the MLB's Little League Classic game in Williamsport, Penn., was posted to social media on Tuesday morning.

In the pic, you can see a white player and a Black player both had cotton on the top of their heads. The Twitter account that shared the picture said the kids were simply trying to mimic a fellow Little Leaguer, who's gained fame for a white hairdo.

"Many of the teammates were participating, Black and white," the Twitter user said as a caption on the photo. "They were imitating the stud pitcher from Hawaii who has an awesome white-dyed Mohawk."

The user also shared a video of the Black player smiling and flexing while showing off the cotton on his head.

As we previously reported, several members of the Davenport, Iowa, Little League team -- who are white -- took the stuffing out of giveaway toys at the stadium during the Red Sox vs. Orioles game and placed it on a Black teammate's head.

Viewers were outraged over the imagery -- which was shown for nearly 30 seconds on ESPN's broadcast of the game -- but Little League World Series officials said in a statement Monday they were assured there was "no ill-intent" behind the actions.

"After speaking with the team, as well as reviewing photos, multiple players on the Midwest Region team were taking part in this while enjoying the game," officials said. "As only one player appeared on the broadcast, Little League International understands that the actions shown could be perceived as racially insensitive."

"We have spoken with the player's mother and the coaches, who have assured us that there was no ill-intent behind the action shown during the broadcast."

Elton John is pulling back the curtain early -- giving fans a sneak peek of his new collab with Britney Spears -- and judging by the crowd listening, it's a hit.

The rock icon was recently at a restaurant in Cannes, called La Guérite, where patrons were dancing up a storm. EJ got up on the DJ booth to preview his forthcoming single, "Hold Me Closer," by playing the entire song and posting it to his Instagram account.

At times, Elton was singing along to the song which plays like a dance track, heavily incorporating his original lyrics from "Tiny Dancer" as well as lyrics from his song "The One" ... and of course, Brit's added vocals.

As we've reported, Brit and Elton didn't actually meet in person to work on the tune -- but it sounds seamless. She met with producer Andrew Watt to lay down her portion of the record, which only took her a few hours to do ... as Elton beamed in via Zoom for direction.

Rick Ross is tired of Jake Paul's boxing opponents backing out, so he's reaching deep into his pockets, offering up a whopping $10 million on top of the fighter's purse ... all to secure a fighter for the Problem Child.

Of course, 25-year-old Paul was scheduled to fight Tommy Fury (twice) and Hasim Rahman Jr., but both men never made it to the ring ... and Ross tells TMZ Sports he's so sick of it, he's cutting an 8-figure check.

Rick, who is friends with Jake, says the $10,000,000 will be awarded in addition to whatever fighter pay is negotiated with promoters. He doesn't care how the cash is split up (all to the winner, 50/50, etc.).

Ross believes fighters are (let's say) a bit hesitant to step into the ring with Jake ... after the YouTuber turned boxer starched Nate Robinson in 2020, turning the former NBA star into a meme.

It's unclear how Ross, a renowned businessman, would make his money back.

Rozay says the 10 milli isn't directly tied to any one fighter, but the rap mogul tells us he'd love to see the Fury fight finally go down.

Tommy and Jake, who have beefed for years, were twice supposed to fight in the past. In 2021, Fury, brother of heavyweight champ, Tyson Fury, withdrew from his bout with JP over a chest infection and broken rib. Tyron Woodley stepped in ... losing by KO.

In 2022, Fury, citing issues traveling internationally, again pulled out of his scheduled bout with Jake. Rahman Jr. stepped in ... but that fight was also canceled after contractual disagreements relating to the weight of the son of the former heavyweight champ.

But, despite the fight seeming cursed, all hope isn't lost that the men will face in the squared circle. Earlier this week, Tommy hit social media and reaffirmed his desire to scrap with Jake, flatly saying "no one is afraid to fight you!"

Paul, 5-0 (4 KOs) professionally, announced several days ago he'd fight at 185 lbs. in October ... but did not specify an opponent.

Kobe Bryant would've turned 44 on Tuesday ... and his wife, Vanessa, penned a heartfelt birthday note on Instagram, writing she loves and misses him so much.

Vanessa posted a photo of her and her NBA legend hubby from 2009 ... when Kobe won his 4th NBA title and 1st NBA Finals MVP.

You can see Bryant -- wearing his 2009 NBA championship shirt and hat -- hugging Vanessa post-game ... and they were both all smiles.

"Happy birthday, baby!" the 40-year-old said Tuesday.

"I love you and miss you so much! #44 ❤️ @kobebryant"

Since Kobe -- who she married in April 2001 -- and daughter Gigi's untimely death, Vanessa has been honoring them in countless ways ... including getting tattoos in their honor, launching the Mambacita clothing line, and taking her 3 other daughters to Italy -- where Kobe was raised.

"Visited Reggio Calabria," Vanessa said in July, "a city my husband lived in when he was about 8 years old."

Of course, Bryant went on to play 20 seasons in the NBA -- winning 5 championships and 2 NBA Finals MVP ... was an 18-time NBA All-Star, broke numerous records, and is known as one of the best NBA players ever.

The homeless man beaten down by cops in Arkansas is now on the hunt for justice of his own, speaking with multiple attorneys to possibly represent him moving forward.

Sources connected to 27-year-old Randall Worcester tell us family members bailed him out of jail Monday in Van Buren, AR.

We're told he met up with his family hours after his release to talk strategy ... particularly where they'll go, legally, from here.

Our sources say Worcester has spoken with several attorneys already, and his family has been in contact with Bobby DiCello, an attorney out of Cleveland whose website claims he's "earned multimillion dollar verdicts for victims of civil rights abuses, catastrophic injuries, and defective products."

Bobby tells us he's making travel plans to be with Worcester and his family soon, and that everyone involved is shocked and appalled by the now-viral video ... and they're eagerly awaiting the opportunity to get Randall some justice.

As for what that justice might entail, nothing is off the table ... but first, Bobby tells us he's hoping for open dialog between cops and Worcester's family to talk about what happened and how to solve it.

The video, recorded Sunday at a gas station, is stunning ... you see 3 officers punching, kicking and slamming Worcester's head on the pavement. Cops reportedly were called to the scene because Worcester threatened a gas station clerk.

As a result of the investigation, 2 Crawford County Sheriff's deputies have been suspended and an officer from the Mulberry Police Dept. has been put on administrative leave.

DiCello, who also represents the family of Jayland Walker -- the man shot by cops 46 times -- says the suspensions are a good start.