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Former surfing star Chris Davidson died on Saturday ... after he was allegedly punched in the face in an altercation outside of a bar in Australia.

He was just 45 years old.

Authorities say they responded to a South West Rocks pub at around 11 PM on Saturday after receiving calls about an assault. A man -- reportedly later ID'ed as Davidson -- had allegedly hit his head on the ground following a punch.

According to the officials, when they arrived, they found the man unconscious. They say he was transported to a nearby hospital, but died a short time later.

Police say they've arrested a 42-year-old man in connection with the incident. He has since been charged with assault causing death.

Davidson had initially gained fame in the sport in the 1990s ... and eventually earned a #14 world ranking in 2010.

Surfing legend Kelly Slater mourned his death in a post on his social media page, saying, "Lost another soldier yesterday. #RIPChrisDavo."

"Had many a good battle with this guy," Slater added. "One of the most naturally talented surfers I ever knew."

Surfing Australia called Davidson "an incredibly talented surfer and a true individual in our sport and community."

"Our thoughts go out to his two children, friends and family at this time," the org. added.

Akon says he and Michael Jackson were discussing plans to open a number of music-focused schools across Africa ...  which got tragically derailed with the death of the King of Pop.

We got Akon in New York City and he told us about a concept he and MJ came up with back in the day ... a series of music universities in Akon's home continent.

Akon says he and Michael wanted to supply students with instruments, infrastructure and industry advice to hone their skills ... because as he and MJ discussed, there was -- and still is -- a lot of undiscovered talent in Africa.

Sadly, Michael died in 2009 before he and Akon could break ground on any schools ... but Akon says it's something he still wants to make happen in the future.

The Super Bowl Halftime Show could be lit beyond words, because TMZ has learned the NFL and Roc Nation have been in talks with Rihanna to headline.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... there have been multiple discussions with Rihanna and her team. We do not know if she's a firm go, but our sources say the NFL may reveal who they've locked up as early as Sunday afternoon via tweet.

Rihanna makes a lot of sense, because she's a Roc Nation artist, so it's an easy call for Jay-Z. BTW, Rihanna has been teasing her new music for more than a year, and if she's ready to release it there's no better platform than the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

We're told there have also been discussions with another performer, but it's not either/or -- in other words, there would be at least 2 performers on stage.

It's interesting ... Rihanna turned down an offer to headline at the 2019 Super Bowl Halftime Show because of her opposition to the way Colin Kaepernick was treated by the NFL.

TMZ broke the story ... the NFL asked Taylor Swift months ago to headline the Halftime Show, but she took a pass.

We're told she'd like to do the Super Bowl, but only after she rerecords all 6 of her early albums, and she's only rerecorded 2 so far.

Reggie Bush still doesn't have his Heisman Trophy back -- and his old USC teammate, LenDale White, is still furious over it ... saying the NCAA "looks absolutely foolish" for its role in it all.

Bush initially earned the trophy back in 2005 -- but it was pulled from him after investigators found he and his family received impermissible benefits during his time as a Trojan.

But, following the implementation of the new name, image and likeness rules in 2021, Bush argued it should be returned.

The Heisman Trust said it would have no issues with that if the NCAA reinstated his status -- but the org. declined to do so ... and White said he LOATHES that it's effectively barring Bush from getting the trophy by doing that.

"It's despicable," said the former Trojans tailback, who was in the TMZ office with former NFL star Chris Johnson. "When you think about it, obviously we know he made a mistake back then and he paid for it. He knows it. It was 20 years. Now, it's time to just finally welcome him back. It's been too long."

Bush himself would clearly still welcome the award back to his mantle -- in fact, he just recently starred in a Wendy's commercial poking fun at the NCAA over the drama.

White says he's optimistic the organization will eventually come around on the issue ... and help return the trophy to Bush.

"Hopefully, they come within their senses," he said, "and make something right."

Johnson and White spoke about a bunch of other hot-button NFL topics in a lengthy chat with Babcock ... check out the full interview below!

Actor Kadeem Hardison is a little hesitant about the "White Men Can't Jump" reboot ... but speaking as one of the stars from the OG flick, he sees some potential -- and even has his eyes set on who could play him in this new-gen version.

We got Kadeem in NYC Tuesday ... and he's got a reason to be timid about the new 'WMCJ" -- it's missin' Ron Shelton, the original film's writer and director, who's arguably the reason the movie's still big today.

But, there might still be hope ... the actor's been hearing good things about Jack Harlow, who's playing Billy Hoyle -- Woody Harrelson's role from 1992.

Kadeem puts it plainly -- the "First Class" rapper could be bringin' some serious flair to the new project.

He also knows who should be playing his role for the reboot -- RJ Cyler, or as Kadeem calls him, the "lightning with the blam blams" dude from Netflix's "The Harder They Fall."

American actor Daniel Benson was just 20 years old when he was cast as Zeke Beakerman -- the exceptional student and cheerleader at Tribeca Prep -- in Disney's 2007-2012 series "Wizards Of Waverly Place."

Daniel shared the screen with David Henrie as the oldest Russo kid who has the ability to create his own spell, Justin Russo, Selena Gomez as Justin's sneaky younger sister who is not the most studious when it comes to her wizard trainings and school, Alex Russo and Jake T. Austin as the third Russo child who eventually loses his powers, Max Russo.

Kim Kardashian's got a new fashion line out, and she hit that point home with quite the getup in Italy ... one that would make National Geographic blush.

Following her showcase of a Dolce & Gabbana collab -- Ciao, Kim -- in Milan Saturday, KK stepped out in this leopard print bodysuit on Sunday ... complete with a fur coat/matching bag. She's worn a lot of eye-popping ensembles all weekend, but this one takes the cake.

The look is part of her new collection -- which she personally selected alongside Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce.

Her collection will be part of D&G's Spring/Summer rollout ... and it's a big deal. Kim's essentially trying her hand at designing -- or at the very least, dipping her toe in -- with this debut line exhibiting her taste. Ciao, Kim's meant to be a flashback to styles from the '80s through the '00s.

Kim had her family on hand to support her -- Kris, Khloe and a few of her kids made the fashion show ... and it got a lot of media attention, especially when Kim herself came out.

She had this to say of the experience ... "I always loved the beautiful, quintessential 90s & 2000s looks… feminine, bold, they always made me feel so confident & glamorous. You could feel the moment you put on a D & G dress that the intention when it was designed & made was to celebrate the woman wearing it."

Kim explains this was a months-long endeavor, with her and D&G going through countless photos of their clothes and letting her pick her faves. She adds, "Not only did the D & G team allow me to curate the collection they also trusted me & my team to create all of the content, the short film, music & creative direction of the show, working along side their incredible team. This process really allowed me to express my creativity without limitations."

One last thing ... if this leopard suit is giving you deja vu, that's because she's actually worn something like this before. Back in 2019, Kim rocked another one with a similar pattern.

That one was designed by Azzedine Alaïa and featured in an early '90s lineup -- so it seems even with Dolce & Gabbana, she's still channeling those late 20th century sentiments.

A$AP Rocky is apologizing for his truncated Rolling Loud set -- but the reasons for the short performance are getting under some people's skin ... particularly, clock management.

The rapper was on duty Saturday night in NYC, where he hit the Fashion Nova stage pretty late into the evening ... around 9:45 PM, we're told. He was able to do just two songs, this in between what people are saying was a lot of chatter about moshing with the crowd.

In the end, his show came to an abrupt halt right around 10 PM ... something A$AP was visibly upset about in the moment, with his DJ issuing a mea culpa right on the spot.

Not only was Rocky mad, but some folks on the ground were pissed too ... saying he was quite late, and that he should've just stuck to pure performing instead of all the side speeches he was giving. A handful of people also feel like it wasn't Rocky's greatest outing.

Sources connected to the event tell TMZ ... yeah, AR was very tardy here. We're told he was supposed to be up there at 8:55 PM, but didn't go on until a good 45 minutes later. Our sources say the reason festival organizers hit the kill switch is because of a noise ordinance that was in place before things got underway ... and they were clearly aiming to respect it.

Rocky himself is owning up to it, taking to social media to say he's sorry for the way things unfolded ... and takes full responsibility. He didn't really acknowledge timing at all, but it seems he's absorbing most of the blame and promising to deliver next time.

Jamie Foxx is ready to perform on the drop of a dime -- proven in his impromptu singing of one of his most famous songs ... which had an assist from Diplo.

The comedian hit XS Nightclub in Vegas Friday, rolling in around 3 AM with a large crew and joining Diplo -- who was DJ'ing -- onstage. Seems he was in the mood for a classic ... diving into his and Kanye's smash hit, "Gold Digger," as if it was 2005 all over again.

It's pretty cool to see Jamie belting out his old ditty ... dude hasn't lost a step, and people definitely haven't forgotten it either. They were singing along word for word. We're told Jamie stuck around a bit longer to help sing "Rack City."

JF wasn't the only celeb to pop in either ... Imagine Dragons' Dan Reynolds also made a cameo at XS. He showed up almost at 4 AM, and he too waved to the crowd from Diplo's elevated position. Dan also got on the mic a bit, but didn't sing or anything.

Speaking of Diplo ... he's on a bit of a high right now. The guy recently won a lawsuit against a woman who was allegedly harassing him, scoring a massive judgment in arbitration.

Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh did NOT get into a war of words on the set of "Don't Worry Darling" -- despite a report claiming so -- according to dozens of crew members.

40 people who worked on the film have signed a letter, obtained by People, completely refuting the characterization put out by Vulture -- namely, that FP was angry with OW for allegedly being absent from the set and actually getting into a "screaming match" with her.

The letter reads, in part ... "As a crew, we’ve avoided addressing the absurd gossip surrounding the movie we’re so proud of, but feel the need to correct the anonymous ‘sources’ quoted in a recent article. There was never a screaming match between our director and anyone, let alone a member of our cast."

They went on to heap praise on Olivia, saying ... "We are happy to put our names on this, as real people who worked on the film, and who have witnessed and benefited from the collaborative and safe space Olivia creates as a director and leader. We're also thrilled that the movie is in theaters this weekend. We can't wait for you to see it on the big screen."

A producer for 'DWD' doubled down in a separate statement for good measure, saying any reports/rumors of a feud or screaming match between Olivia and Florence are unfounded.

BTW, the 40 crew members who signed this are big shots in the production ... everyone from the DP to the lead production designer and just about every key job in between -- including EPs and screenplay writers -- have attached their name to this. There are even a good amount of folks in smaller roles, like APs and gaffers, who've signed on as well.

While it's certainly noteworthy that this amount of people would publicly shoot down any notion of friction on set -- the fact is, 40 crew members don't account for even half of the people that worked on that flick. There's well over 100 people credited on IMDb.

Point being ... this doesn't really invalidate Vulture's story. It's possible these folks simply weren't aware of anything going on themselves -- that, or they're running cover for WB.

At any rate, the saga is over ... the movie did well at the box office this weekend -- raking in a little more than $19 million, higher than expected -- and everyone seems to be moving on.

Bam Margera's outpatient rehab program clearly isn't working -- because the guy was partying his face off this weekend in a whole different state.

TMZ has obtained photos of the 'Jackass' star hanging out early Saturday morning at the Koo Koo Room in Atlanta, where we're told he was raging with a group of strangers into the wee hours of the night.

Eyewitnesses tell us Bam was seen drinking ... and not just that, but he was also, apparently, name-dropping himself around the joint and drumming up interest.

Looks like Bam made friends fast, because he posed for at least a couple of pics ... including with some ladies. The guy in the white hat, we're told, is Parker Lipman -- who hosts MTV's "Buckhead Shore." Keeping it in the network family, it seems.

Anyway, this obviously flies in the face of the restructured program we were told Bam was going to attempt a couple weeks ago ... this after he'd escaped his rehab facility in Florida several times, only to surface in bars and with friends time and again.

The Portola Festival in San Francisco was out of control Saturday, and it was impossible not to look and recall the tragedy in Houston.

The event went down at Pier 80 in San Fran, and it was packed with people ... some of whom stormed the barricades to get inside for Fred Again and Charli XCX.

Whatever security was there ... they were completely overwhelmed. It didn't seem there was any serious attempt to control the crowd.

The Festival runs through Sunday and some of the biggest names in dance music are hitting the stage, including Flume, The Chemical Brothers, Gorgon City, Kaytranada, James Blake, M.I.A., Lane 8, Peggy Gou, Fatboy Slim, Caroline Polachek, Toro Y Moi, Caribou, Jamie xx, Four Tet+Floating Points and more.

The Festival is produced by Goldenvoice ... the same org that puts on Coachella.

As far as we know, there were no serious injuries ... at least so far.

Aaron Carter had cops at his door for a welfare check after going live on Instagram ... because worried fans believed he was possibly doing drugs off-camera.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... police received a call Tuesday evening -- with many saying Aaron was "possibly overdosing on social media."

In case you missed it, Aaron went live Tuesday night to chat it up with his followers ... but at one point, the screen went black -- and some fans thought they could hear spraying and inhaling going on in the background.

Cops and the fire department responded to Aaron's home in Lancaster -- sources say they tried calling Aaron and knocking on his door to no avail at first, but eventually made contact with him. Aaron told officers he was sleeping.

We're told cops found no drugs ... and say there was no criminal activity or any type of suicide attempt, either.

Our sources tell us his IG followers would call the cops more often in the past ... and they think his recent behavior online caused alarm once again.

Aaron later claimed it was all a joke, calling himself "the troll hunter" while spraying what appears to be an air freshener. Some fans online weren't buying it -- with some even noting the two sprays sound different.

As we reported, the singer was talking in L.A. last Sunday about his struggles with his on-again, off-again GF ... and he added he's been clean for 5 years and is going to meetings for his past drug addiction.

Music may be the last vestige of civility in the U.S. -- with each half of the country hating the other half -- and the annual Global Citizen Festival Saturday proved the point.

Mariah Carey, Metallica and the Jonas Brothers hit the stage in NYC's Central Park for a concert that showed everyone can come together, at least for some good tunes.

It's become a tradition -- the 10th this time around -- to underscore how music can make our spirits brighter.

There's also a long play for the event ... to cajole corporate bigwigs to ante up in an effort to end extreme poverty.

The Jo bros went first with songs like "What a Man Gotta Do," "Sucker" and "Only Human." Nick performed "Jealous" and Joe did the honors for "Cake by the Ocean."

Mariah was awesome! The crowd went nuts as she sang "Obsessed," "Honey," "We Belong Together," and, of course, "Hero."

Metallica hit the stage with "Nothing Else Matters," "Creeping Death," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Enter Sandman" and "Sad but True."

Charlie Puth got in on the action with “New York State of Mind” and "Left and Right".

President Biden appeared on video to tout the new climate legislation that he signed.

Post Malone just canceled his Boston concert right before showtime ... and he's citing pain that seems to be carrying over from his fall a week ago.

The singer broke the news a few hours before he was scheduled to take the stage Saturday night at the TD Garden, taking to his socials to explain he was feeling a sharp pain in his side that required him to go to the hospital again.

PM writes, "On tour, I usually wake up around 4 o'clock PM, and today I woke up to a cracking sounds on the right side of my body. I felt so good last night, but today it felt so different than has it before."

He goes on to say he feels a "stabbing pain" every time he moves or breathes, apologizing to his Beantown fans and promising their tickets will be good for another date in the future ... so it sounds like it's been postponed. But at any rate, Post won't perform tonight.

Sounds like there's a lot of confusion (and frustration) on the ground there at the arena ... with different reporters saying that droves of people are now leaving after being told by security as they were waiting to get in that Post Malone had postponed the show.

He's been performing since his tumbling through a hole on stage last weekend and cracking a few of his ribs. PM told fans later that he'd be okay and back on tour soon, but it sounds like he's still not 100%, even now.

Roger Waters needs to know his audience better ... he had scheduled concerts in Poland after essentially blaming Ukraine for the Russian invasion, so now he's decided to pull the plug on the whole thing.

Waters was set to perform at the Tauron Arena in Krakow. Thing is ... it's possible the war could be over by then -- possible. He clearly knows, however, hard feelings would linger so he's 86'd those appearances.

His manager is the one who pulled the plug, although he didn't say why, but it's obvious.

Waters recently wrote a letter to Ukraine's First Lady, Olena Zelenska -- a letter he made public -- claiming "extreme nationalists ... set your country on the path to this disastrous war."

Officials in Krakow had a resolution on the table for the coming week, in which they were about to name Roger persona non grata over his view of the war.

Waters has been on a tear against Ukraine and any country that supported it, including the U.S. for supplying weapons. He also took aim at NATO, which he says provoked Russia.