Sen. John Fetterman It's 4/20 Somewhere ... Legalize Weed!!!

Sen. John Fetterman is going all in on 4/20 ... promoting the unofficial marijuana holiday as part of his broader push to legalize weed nationwide.

The Pennsylvania legislator, who just returned to the Senate this week, posed with a marijuana flag Thursday ... posting a tweet at 4:20 PM with a simple caption, "It's 4:20 on 4/20. That's the tweet."

As you can see, Fetterman's flag reads ... "It's 420 somewhere" ... with pot leaves all over the darn thing.

Fetterman playing into 4/20 jives with his political policies ... he campaigned on legalizing weed at the federal level, and he's been pushing for legalization since his election.

Fetterman's state of Pennsylvania allows medical marijuana, but recreational is against the law. His website says weed should be legal "for jobs, justice, veterans, farmers and revenue."

Fetterman says it's "flat wrong" to arrest people for ganja use and deny folks employment simply because they toke up at home ... and he's vowing to end the war on weed.

LeBron James Denies Paying For Twitter Check ... Elon Trolling???

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3:06 PM PT -- It seems like LeBron James might be at the center of an Elon Musk troll job ... because a rep for James tells The Verge his account is NOT subscribed to Twitter Blue, despite what it says on the app.

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LeBron's page specifically states he still has the check because he's "subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number" -- but that's also what it says for author Stephen King, who was highly critical of paying for the social media app as well.

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King tweeted his own clarification on Thursday ... saying, "My  Twitter  account  says  I’ve  subscribed  to  Twitter  Blue.  I  haven’t. My  Twitter  account  says  I’ve  given  a  phone  number.  I  haven’t."

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In other words, the whole thing seems like it could be Elon getting revenge on the haters by making it look like they went back on their word.

LeBron James claimed he was too cheap to keep his blue checkmark, but his account showed otherwise on Thursday -- the Lakers superstar's page is now officially subscribed to Twitter Blue.

Thursday marked the end of legacy verified accounts on Elon Musk's app -- with the majority of users losing their badges unless they ponied up $8 a month to keep it.

As we previously reported, the King made his stance on the move crystal clear last month ... saying, "Welp guess my blue ✔️ will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5. 🤷🏾‍♂️"

But someone on Bron's team must not have gotten the memo ... 'cause as superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Russell Wilson and Aaron Judge said goodbye to the verify, his still has its badge.

The 4-time champ didn't get any special treatment -- his account's check says he subscribed to Twitter Blue just like everyone else who wanted to keep it.

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TWITTER TROLL
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Tom Brady, Klay Thompson, Conor McGregor and J.J. Watt are on LeBron's side -- their accounts are all subscribed to Twitter Blue as well.

There are now two teams on Twitter -- check and no check -- so, pick a side and tweet away, folks.

Originally Published -- 12:24 PM PT

Ralph Yarl Shooting Witness Breaks Down Revealing Moment Injured Teen Knocked on Door ... 'That's Somebody's Son!!!'

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PLEADING FOR HELP
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Ralph Yarl is alive today thanks, in part, to the actions of 2 neighbors who came to his assistance minutes after Andrew Lester shot the 16-year-old boy twice -- and one of those neighbors is tearfully sharing the traumatic experience.

Jodi Rae joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live," and was almost immediately choked up remembering when Ralph banged on her front door, desperately seeking help. She says she couldn't see out her front door, and was uncertain about what was going on outside.

She had not heard the gunshots, but says it was clear Ralph was in dire need of assistance ... so, she decided to call 911. The operator told her there was an active shooter in the area, and advised Jodi not to open her door.

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TENDING TO RALPH
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This definitely created a massive dilemma for Jodi ... one that brought her to tears as she told us about it -- she wanted to make sure her own son remained safe in their home, but also wanted to help Ralph, who she could see through her window falling to his knees.

Jodi says once she saw another neighbor walking outside, she figured the danger must have passed ... and immediately ran to Ralph's side. When she saw pools of blood outside her door, she realized the teen had been shot.

The story gets even more gripping and emotional at this point ... Jodi says she and a male neighbor used a towel to apply pressure to Ralph's head wound, held his hand and talked to him about school ... anything to keep his mind off the pain he was clearly suffering.

She fought through tears to tell us what Ralph told them about getting shot. She says she's had very limited contact with the shooter, Lester, since moving to the Kansas City neighborhood last year.

Jodi says she just kept thinking, "That's somebody's son," and knew she had to do something to help him. Sadly, she says there's been some backlash against her and other neighbors ... people who are, incorrectly, assuming the community did nothing to help Ralph.

While that's clearly not what happened, Jodi says she's mostly concerned with Ralph's recovery. She says, "Nothing compares to what that young man is living through every day."

As we reported, Ralph is out of the hospital and recovering at home. Lester, meanwhile, has been arrested and charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.

Snoop Dogg & Buju Banton Blazin' Ganja For 4/20 Duet ... Cheers to the HIGH Life!!!

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REASON TO CELEBRATE
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7:20 AM PT -- 4/21 -- As promised, the two super smokers delivered on their "High Life" collab and included a visualizer for the track with young Buju Banton getting blunted to the tune!!!

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Snoop Dogg and Buju Banton are 2 of music's biggest chieftains when it comes to cannabis, so it's only proper they connect to celebrate the "High Life" -- the name of their new single together.

On Thursday, Snoop and Buju hopped on IG Live to premiere their track to their followers ahead of its release tomorrow, and sparked on humongous blunts at the same time!!!

Snoop told Buju the collab was a dream and admitted he regretted not getting Buju on his 2013 "Snoop Lion" reggae project, which still found time for authentic collabs from the likes of Collie Buddz, Mr. Vegas and Mavado.

Buju's not the only music wiz getting lifted with Snoop this 4/20 -- Bebe Rexha just dropped her new joint, "Satellite," with Tha Doggfather ... and she claims his Death Row prerolls had her seeing stars at the video shoot!!!

Originally Published -- 4/20 2:01 PM PT

Alec Baldwin Involuntary Manslaughter Charges in 'Rust' Shooting Dropped

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3:50 PM PT -- Baldwin just took to Instagram, posting a pic of his wife Hilaria with the caption, "I owe everything I have to this woman. (and to you, Luke)" ... a shoutout to Nikas, his attorney.

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Alec Baldwin has been vindicated in the "Rust" shooting case ... at least criminally, because the New Mexico prosecutors will drop the involuntary manslaughter case against him ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

We're told Baldwin has been informed the case against him is over. Attorneys Alex Spiro and Luke Nikas were expected to wage legal war in less than 2 weeks ... but the D.A. blinked in a big way.

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PRACTICE SHOT

Frankly, it makes a lot of sense. The D.A. has charged armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed with involuntary manslaughter, presumably because she's the expert, so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense why an actor would double-check her work.

Beyond that, although Baldwin is an executive producer on the movie, he's not the one making day-to-day decisions.

As you know, the accidental shooting took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

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SET IN CHILLS
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The case against Baldwin will be dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be filed in the future, but that seems to be little more than a face-saving move by the D.A.

Spiro and attorney Luke Nikas tell TMZ ... "We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident."

Originally Published -- 12:29 PM PT

Twitter Celebs Lose Verified Checkmarks ... Beyoncé, Gaga, Blackpink

Elon Musk's crusade to remove Twitter's blue checkmarks from legacy verified accounts is going into overdrive ... with a couple notable casualties among the celebrity ranks.

Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and K-pop supergroup BLACKPINK all had their blue checks stripped Thursday from their official Twitter accounts.

Elon targeted April 20 as the date for removing legacy blue checkmarks, announcing his intentions earlier this month, but lots of folks weren't sure if the bird app would actually follow through ... and now the reckoning is here.

For years, Twitter's blue checks were coveted ... they used to serve as the social media platform's official verification system, distinguishing prominent public figures from all the normies.

But, after buying Twitter for $44 billion, Elon decided to go in a different direction ... he's now charging folks $8 a month for subscriptions that come with blue checkmarks, and getting rid of the legacy checkmarks.

Tons of celebs have railed against Elon's policy ... including LeBron James, who said he wouldn't pay for a blue check, only for him to switch course.

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DOJA'S GOT A POINT
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Meanwhile, there's a feeling in Hollywood and around the country that the Twitter Blue defection could spark a cool-kids movement amongst the unverified.

MyPillow's Mike Lindell Company Ordered To Shell Out $5M ... After Bold Election Fraud Challenge

MyPillow's Mike Lindell will be eating his words right now -- because his company put out a challenge a couple of years back, saying he had proof that China interfered in the election and was egging people to prove him wrong.

The problem? An arbitration panel found that someone did ... and now he's gotta pay up.

Here's the deal, Mike put the "Prove Mike Wrong" challenge out there in 2021 ahead of his so-called cyber symposium in South Dakota. He said he had data showing Chinese interference in the 2020 election and offered up $5 mil to anyone that could prove it wasn't the real deal.

Fast forward to Wednesday -- according to the Washington Post, a private arbitration panel determined 63-year-old Nevada resident Robert Zeidman analyzed Mike's data and in fact proved it didn't show the evidence Mike said it did ... meaning Zeidman's entitled to the dough.

Zeidman put together a 15-page report that he insisted the data did "not contain any information related to the November 2020 election."

Robert reportedly had to go to the arbitrators after Mike's management company denied a payout. They've ordered the company to cough up the cash within the next 30 days. Mike clearly isn't going down without a fight ... telling The Post the arbitrators made a mistake and vowing "This will be going to court!"

Still, this whole thing has gotta be hurting Mike for sure -- maybe he should go sleep on it.

Benny Blanco Frank Ocean Won Coachella ... Best Performance of Week 1!!!

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LOVE FOR FRANK
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Frank Ocean's out at Coachella as a result of an ankle injury, but Benny Blanco says his much-maligned performance still left him inspired.

TMZ Hip Hop caught the decorated producer out Wednesday afternoon in Bev Hills, and he offered a much different take from the majority of Coachella attendees who felt Frank's show was a bust.

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BEING FRANK
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Benny says he saw Frank live and thinks the "Channel Orange" singer, hands down, had the best set of Coachella Weekend 1 ... and he insists all the internet chatter won't sway his opinion.

The guy's worked with Snoop Dogg, SZA and Lizzo in recent months, so his ears have to count for something ... even if he's going against popular opinion. 🤷🏽‍♂️

The quality of Frank's set might be up for debate, but with his exit from the festival, it's definitely a one-of-one now.

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BLINK IS BACK
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TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... Frank suffered two fractures and a sprain in his left leg, prompting festival organizers to replace his headlining slot with Blink-182.

So, if you're like Benny, and were in the desert to see Frank last week ... think of it as seeing a unicorn!!! You can argue what condition it was in, but a unicorn nonetheless.

Colin Kaepernick Paying For Autopsy ... For Inmate Who Died Mysteriously In Jail

Colin Kaepernick is stepping up to help a family find answers ... paying for the autopsy of a 35-year-old man who died under peculiar circumstances in county jail after the medical examiner's initial autopsy failed to provide answers.

LaShawn Thompson died in his Fulton County Jail cell in September 2022 ... and his family wholeheartedly believes the facility's horrific and unsanitary conditions led to LT's death. But, the official autopsy came back "undetermined."

Enter Colin. He heard about the story and wanted to help, so he contacted Ben Crump, attorney for the family, and offered to fund a second, independent autopsy.

Typically, autopsies can cost between $20-50k.

Aside from wanting to provide the family with closure, we're told Colin was, and is, upset about the conditions in which LaShawn, initially arrested for a misdemeanor simple battery, and other inmates endured.

In fact, it's those disgusting conditions the Thompson family believes contributed, if not caused, LaShawn's death.

"The cell he was in was not fit for a diseased animal. This is inexcusable and it’s deplorable,” Thompson family attorney Michael Harper said of the cell where LaShawn lived, and ultimately died.

The family has released several photos of the scene, as well as LT's body, which appears to be covered in bug bites.

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DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY

In the wake of the outrage over jail conditions, three high-ranking jail officials have stepped down, with the Fulton County Sheriff saying, “It’s clear to me that it’s time, past time, to clean house,” adding they're making "sweeping changes" to the facility.

As for the timetable for the second autopsy, we're told Colin and the family have already begun the process of lining up the exam.

Joe Alwyn Single Guy in London ... First Sighting After Taylor

Taylor Swift's ex-boo Joe Alwyn is at least tryin' to shake it off ... surfacing in public for the first time since news broke of their split.

The actor was spotted Thursday in central London ... nearly 2 weeks after the world found out their 6-year relationship was over. He was taking some calls while strolling and, honestly, the dude looks like he ain't getting much sleep.

Hard to say if the frazzled look is related to life A.T. (after Taylor) -- he could be upset about the breakup, or he could just be enjoying his new life as a single guy.

As you know, their split rocked the world of Swifties, but it was reportedly an "amicable" ending. Of course, that isn't always how things go for TS -- with her often taking the drama of a nasty breakup and turning it into a hit song.

Following the split, we've seen Taylor out a few times in NYC, even grabbing dinner with her pal Jack Antonoff ... and putting in some work at a recording studio -- all as she's neck-deep in her Eras Tour.

If you compare their public outings ... Taylor at least seems to be handling the life change a little better than Joe.

Word of advice to him -- stay out of coffee shops, those Taylor tunes will hit differently now.

Post Malone Music's 💎 King!!! Now RIAA's Most Diamond-Certified Artist

Post Malone just saw 3 of his tracks cross the 10-mil sales mark -- shattering Bruno Mars' previous record to become the artist with the most RIAA Diamond-certified singles EVER!!!

On Thursday, Post's hits "Circles," "Better Now," and "I Fall Apart" brought his Diamond total to 8 ... besting Bruno's previous record of 6.

It's another huge W for Post's already decorated career ... his "Sunflower" track from the "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" soundtrack is the RIAA's biggest song ever at 17x platinum!

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IT'S AN HONOR
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The last time we saw Post, he told TMZ Hip Hop that song couldn't have become so legendary without the help of Swae Lee.

Post and his label Republic Records are now compiling all the 10-mil winners for the compilation, "The Diamond Collection" ... which is currently being promoted by his new single, "Chemical."

There's no telling if the new song will reach Diamond status like the rest, but given Post's track record, it's probably a safe bet!!!

Elon Musk SpaceX Rocket Explosion Minutes After Launch

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SHUTTLE FAILURE

Turns out, Twitter isn't the only thing in Elon Musk's life going up in flames ... because his highly-anticipated rocket launch just blew up only minutes after taking the skies.

Thankfully, the SpaceX Starship wasn't carrying any people or satellites when it took off in southern Texas Thursday morning for an around-the-world trip. All seemed fine to the folks on the ground until a massive explosion sent the rocket plummeting back down to Earth.

The rocket was careening out of control when it was intentionally blown up ... You hear mission control say, "It appears that the automatic flight termination system has been activated."

Starship is massive, 400 feet long and is both the biggest and most powerful ever built. This was the rocket's first launch -- it was supposed to originally go up Monday, but that was called off after a valve got stuck during fueling.

Elon apparently wasn't deterred by the explosion, tweeting out only a few minutes after the failure, "Congrats SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months."

The Starship is designed to land on the moon and NASA has already picked the first group of astronauts to circle the moon next year as a prelude to landing there. It's unclear if this mishap will set the timetable back.

Ariana Madix Jokes About Love Triangle with Tom & Raquel!!! Deleted 'Vanderpump' Clip

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Here's some awkward foreshadowing of 'Scandoval' ... a "Vanderpump Rules" scene off the editing room floor showing Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss joking about being in a ménage à trois!

It's a wild vid, knowing what we know now ... it shows all 3 of 'em posing for pics together in a hot tub before Raquel says these photos must stay on Tom's phone, and can't be shared with anyone.

Ariana's reaction is pretty eye-opening -- "It looks like we're in a throuple." 👀

Tom and Raquel didn't have any visible reaction after she said that, but the timing of this scene is pretty shocking. Bravo aired the previously deleted clip ... which was shot last August in Mexico, where they were all attending Scheana Shay's wedding.

Twitter's having a field day with the clip -- some point out he couldn't keep his eyes off Raquel in the hot tub, while another called it "Beyond gross."

As we all know, Ariana later found out her words had some truth. We broke the story ... Tom and Ariana broke up after she discovered sexual texts between Tom and Raquel ... who'd been using code names on each other's phones to hide their affair.

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We spoke to Tom this week, and he said he's happy Ariana's moving on ... referring to her hookup with a new guy at Coachella.

We covered the latest "Vanderpump Rules" drama in a recent episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms!

Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello Fully Back Together After Coachella Hookup!!!

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Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello didn't just hook up for old time's sake at Coachella ... they seem fully back together, and we know that from a 3-second video shot Wednesday!

Shawn and Camila were hand-in-hand, strolling down a street in Santa Monica ... near a bank of restaurants.

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As we reported, they met up at Coachella last weekend and were smooching, hugging and dancing ... but the prevailing view was it was a one-off after their breakup a year ago.

Not the case -- clearly. Here's the mystery ... did they just happen to see each other at Coachella, was there planning, and could they have gotten back together even before the music festival?

S&C first began dating in July 2019, and quarantined together during the pandemic.

There was lots of buzz he recently hooked up with his chiropractor, Dr. Jocelyne Miranda, but that doesn't appear to be the case ... Jocelyne was at Coachella with Shawn and saw it all -- highly unlikely they were anything more than friends.

Anyway ... glad to have you to back!!!

Kanye West Gets Up, Dances At Fashion Show ... To One of His Tracks

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FASHIONABLY WATCHING
Twitter/@lovemansuy

Kanye West was jammin' at designer Jerry Lorenzo's fashion show ... bopping his head near the front of the audience as they played one of his hits during the night.

Ye appeared to be alongside his wife Bianca at Jerry's Fear of God show at the Hollywood Bowl Wednesday night -- getting up when his track, "Feel the Love" played while his pal Pusha T was onstage.

Clearly, Kanye was digging the shout-out from Jerry, and some audience members reacted to the rapper dancing -- even without seeing his face, everyone knew it was him. Both Ye and Bianca were wearing his trademark full-head masks. Him in black, her in yellow.

Jerry's remained a public supporter of Ye -- even through all the antisemitism -- and posted in January that Adidas just wasn't the same without him.

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As for the Fear of God show, Jerry showed off some collabs with Adidas, but with the event being an invite-only affair ... it's clear he's still backing Ye.

Rare these days ... for obvious reasons.

Tom Brady Threatens Lawsuit Over AI Special ... Comedians Take Vid Down

Tom Brady apparently didn't think an AI-generated comedy special about him was funny at all.

According to the comedians who helped create the viral, hour-long video -- which featured an animated version of the NFL legend telling crass jokes in a stand-up format -- TB12 threatened legal action over it just days after it was posted ... which forced them to wipe it from the internet this week.

Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen explained the situation on their "Dudesy" podcast on Tuesday ... saying that shortly after they helped put up the fake Brady comedy special on their Patreon page earlier this month -- they received a cease and desist letter from the G.O.A.T.'s attorneys.

The guys said Brady's lawyers claimed in the letter that the AI version of the future Hall of Famer "blatantly violates" the former quarterback's "rights" ... and if they didn't meet a list of demands -- which included taking down the video -- a lawsuit would be forthcoming.

Sasso and Kultgen clearly thought the whole thing was B.S. -- on their pod, they wondered how it in any away differentiated from live comedians doing impressions of celebs on shows like "Saturday Night Live" -- but they nonetheless acquiesced.

The comedians said they took down the comedy special at midnight Tuesday.

They added, though, the situation wouldn't prevent them from making further attempts at AI comedy ... perhaps even making one down that road that features President Joe Biden.