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Britney Spears was extremely agitated after getting slapped by a security guard protecting NBA phenom Victor Wembanyama ... according to an eyewitness and photos obtained by TMZ.

TMZ broke the story ... Britney was outside Catch restaurant at the Aria Hotel Wednesday night when she saw Victor and made her way to him for a selfie. She says she tapped him on the back -- he says she grabbed him -- and Victor's security guy backhanded her across the face. Metro police are now conducting a criminal battery investigation.

An eyewitness who was dining at Catch when Britney walked in tells TMZ ... as she walked in she said in a "very animated voice" that the security guard "punched" her in the face, as she pointed at the guy who was sitting at another table.

The eyewitness says Britney's security guy went over to Victor's security and asked the guy to come over to her table and apologize. The eyewitness says the guy walked over and said "I'm sorry," and said something to the effect he didn't know it was her when he made contact.

Britney seemed in shock, according to the eyewitness, and angry. She said she couldn't believe it happened and beelined it for the bathroom.

We've learned so far ... neither Victor nor anyone else from the San Antonio Spurs has reached out to Britney, and she is not pleased.

We covered it all in the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Dennis Rodman took the saying "tattoo my name so I know it's real" to the extreme ... getting a portrait of his girlfriend's face inked on his cheek!!

The NBA legend hit up 'Black Ink Crew's Van Johnson on Thursday, getting tattooed at the artist's home. Dennis shared video of the new tattoo on social media.

As for anyone who thinks the ink is fake, Johnson tells TMZ Sports it's "really real," saying the job took a little over an hour to finish.

"He was a champ, he sat through it," Johnson says. "Pretty random, but he love the hell out that girl."

We're told Dennis and his GF love the piece, but not everyone feels the same way ... some fans in the comments weren't exactly loving the new artwork, with one person writing, "You should have tried to talk him outta that my G."

Another person wrote ... "His girlfriend should have been against that. Shows her immaturity to NOT STOP him from doing this."

Though, it's a safe bet Dennis, who has a ton of tattoos and has never been shy when expressing himself, isn't losing sleep over a few negative Instagram comments.

A man was spotted on camera allegedly trying to hold up an ATL nail salon, but ultimately failed -- all thanks to the staff and customers who couldn't care less about his demands.

The attempted robbery gone wrong went down this week at Nail First, and in the security footage, the man holds up what you'd assume is a weapon inside his bag ... shouting at everyone in the spot to hand over the cash.

Shockingly, his brute request fell on deaf ears -- he even goes up to the man behind the counter, who seems too busy for his BS ... taking a phone call and walking away.

The guy does snatch the phone from one woman, who ends up walking out of the building -- but everyone else remains chill ... and after some painfully-awkward silence, the guy just takes off without stealing any dough.

Crime Stoppers is working on finding the wannabe crook, according to Fox5 Atlanta ... and customer Lesa Barrow told the outlet the owner was scared at first but kept his cool to keep everyone else calm.

Paris Hilton is getting called out by PETA for getting her new dog from a breeder instead of an animal shelter or adoption service ... and PETA's not pulling punches.

A rep for the animal rights organization tells TMZ ... "Paris Hilton has apparently been living under a rock for the past decade, because a day in an animal shelter would have shown her just how many Chihuahuas already need homes, and five minutes on Petfinder would turn up thousands more, including puppies."

The outrage comes after Paris showed off her latest addition to her family of pets ... a teacup chihuahua, who Paris says is related to her late dog, Harajuku Bitch.

Paris apparently got the pooch from Foufou's Teacup Puppies Inc ... according to their website, they get puppies from breeders, and that's the issue for PETA.

The PETA rep adds ... "PETA knows that retail therapy is what Paris loves best, but we ask her to keep the shopping to baubles and bags and give an animal a chance to be 'sliving' by adopting."

It's unclear if Paris bought the dog herself or if the breeder gave her the pooch as part of a collab ... but regardless, PETA isn't happy with how Paris is promoting the biz. These dogs go for around $6k and up.

Paris' new puppy is getting a similar reaction from PETA as Pete Davidson did when he recently got a Cavapoo puppy from a pet store.

Pete later went scorched earth on PETA, leaving an expletive-laden voicemail in response.

Former WNBA star and ex-Tennessee Lady Volunteers hooper Nikki McCray-Penson has tragically passed away at 51 years old.

The heartbreaking news was confirmed to The Tennesean on Friday by Rutgers University, where McCray-Penson had been working as an assistant coach for the women's basketball team.

The school did not provide a cause of death ... but Univ. of Tenn. reporter Maria Cornelius said McCray-Penson passed away after battling breast cancer for a second time.

The former guard starred at Tennessee in the 1990s ... winning SEC Player of the Year twice (1994, 1995) -- as well as earning Kodak All-American honors twice.

Following her stint with the Vols, she went on to become a three-time WNBA All-Star ... while playing eight seasons for the Mystics, Fever, Mercury, Silver Stars and Sky.

She also won two gold Olympic medals with Team USA in her career ... and was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Her coaching tenure began in 2006 ... when she was hired to be an assistant on Western Kentucky's staff. She later became a head coach for Old Dominion, where she won C-USA Coach of the Year in 2019-2020. She then had a stint as Mississippi State's head coach ... before she began her career at Rutgers in 2022.

McCray-Penson also had a significant impact off the court ... she was selected by Bill Clinton to be a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. She was also picked by the Library of Congress as a speaker for the Women's History Month Address in 1999.

News of the death has rocked the basketball world ... with many stars remembering her fondly after learning of her passing.

"Nikki McCray : Sweet person and cold hooper!," ex-NBA star Chris Webber wrote. "Rest in Peace."

Added Dick Vitale, "I am so heartbroken hearing this news a few minutes ago about Nikki McCray - Penson . Loved everything about Nikki - she was a Hall of Famer as a player & as a person . May Nikki RIP."

Lady Vols senior Rickea Jackson, who played under McCray-Penson at Mississippi St., also tweeted her condolences to the McCray-Penson family.

"One of the most beautiful souls I've ever met," Jackson said. "The one who genuinely went out their way to understand me when I was so misunderstood. The one who was always there."

"You fought so long and hard and I am grateful to have known you. I love you. Rest easy."

If it wasn't already apparent, here's some more evidence as to why rapper Blueface won't win "Father of The Year" anytime soon -- bringing strippers into his home with his 6-year-old son present -- and then questioning his child's sexuality.

Blueface posted a series of videos Thursday showcasing multiple mostly-naked dancers twerking in his living room … with his son, Javaughn's mother Jaidyn Alexis, also dancing in the background.

Blueface then leaves the living room for the kitchen to show Javaughn digging through the pantry, teasing, “It's booty cheeks out here, you over here looking for chips and Slim Jim's and s***" … he then proceeded to grill his son, asking if he was gay.

After convincing Javaughn the correct answer was "no," Blueface gave the boy multiple high-fives.

Of course, many who witnessed the encounter online were pissed -- some saying Child Protective Services needed to get involved.

Josh Allen appears to be getting a lot more serious with Hailee Steinfeld … the two were spotted in a heavy makeout sesh while on vacation in Mexico!!!

The Buffalo Bills quarterback and the actress spent their Fourth of July south of the border, packing on the PDA during a romantic getaway.

Josh and Hailee looked to be all over each other in the resort pool, wrapping their arms around one another and sucking face.

Hailee showed off her body with a red bikini ... and Josh showed off his muscles with some board shorts ... no wonder they couldn't keep their hands -- and lips -- to themselves.

Josh and Hailee haven't publicly confirmed they are in a romantic relationship yet ... but the signs clearly appear to be there ... and we previously saw them get cozy back in May during a sushi dinner in New York City.

Now, Josh and Hailee are going international ... and kissing.

Tom Sandoval says he's officially back in the "Vanderpump Rules" game after shooting his other series -- and while he's assuring fans it's going to be another "interesting" season, he's coy about Raquel Leviss' role in it.

TS confirmed his return to the reality show Thursday, after dropping off some flowers for Lisa Vanderpump at the now-closed restaurant PUMP in WeHo -- a gesture he says was well-timed, considering his boss and biz partner's popularity.

While he admits the cameras are on him for season 11, he dummied up when asked about the status of his relationship with Raquel ... except to note the show will be just as interesting as ever.

TMZ broke the story, Tom was shockingly missing from the 'VPR' gang when cameras started rolling last month ... and we learned it's because he was overseas shooting the latest season of FOX's "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test."

Unclear how well Tom did, but the show focuses on celebs going through brutal challenges and tough living conditions -- basically, a good warm up for what he'll be going through on 'VPR' as the 'Scandoval' fallout continues into the next season.

Maria Menounos is again speaking out about her battle with pancreatic cancer ... and her experience has been more horrifying than anyone could imagine.

The entertainment reporter sat for an interview on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast hosted by Amanda Hirsch, during which Maria made a stunning revelation … her doctors completely missed her cancerous tumor during an initial exam, causing it to greatly metastasize.

Maria said after doctors discovered the enlarged tumor, they went back to their records to check her November scan, thinking they had already noted she had the disease.

But, such was not the case, according to Maria, who explained on the July 4 podcast, "At that point, it was two centimeters (0.79 inches) and by the time they had found it was almost four centimeters (1.5 inches), it had doubled in size in two months."

Pretty terrifying stuff. And, Maria is now trying to get to the bottom of how the physicians overlooked her lump.

She said, “What I’ve learned since is … different scans have the ability to see different things better." She added that an MRI could have caught the growth initially, although she realizes the process, overall, is very complicated.

As you know, Maria announced in January she was diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer and she has been rather open about her health struggles.

Some good news to report ... Maria and her husband, Keven Undergaro, announced in April they were expecting their baby girl to be born this summer.

Ariana Madix is riding the 'Scandoval' wave into another big branding move, but this one's gonna require lots of stretching -- she's officially busting some ballroom moves for "Dancing with the Stars."

Ariana and Derek Hough, one of the judges on the long-running competition series, made the big announcement Friday on "Good Morning America" ... saying the 'DWTS' crew will be "going mad" for Madix on season 32.

DH said she'll be saying "goodbye to the drama and hello to the dance floor" -- before they both broke into a fun little shimmy together in Ariana's new sandwich shop, Something About Her.

Ariana and Derek were spotted hanging out together Wednesday, and it looks like that's when they recorded today's 'DWTS' announcement ... since they're wearing identical outfits.

ICYMI, Derek -- who's taking over for the late Len Goodman -- teased Ariana taking the stage earlier this week, telling folks to guess who is joining the new batch of contestants ... making the mystery message while inside Ariana and Katie Maloney's shop.

Taylor Swift's homes keep bringing out the most odd behavior -- a woman was just nabbed for allegedly trespassing on her Rhode Island property.

Westerly Police Department Chief Paul Gingerella tells TMZ ... cops were dispatched to the singer's estate Monday afternoon for a report of a trespasser, and when officers arrived they arrested a woman who they say had previously been warned to stay off Taylor's property.

TMZ obtained photos showing the suspect being handcuffed outside the front gate to Taylor's home ... smack in the middle of three "NO TRESPASSING" signs.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, the woman is 54-year-old Kimberly Meyer and she was arrested and charged with one misdemeanor count of trespassing. She was released from custody, but she's due back in court July 14.

It's not clear who called police ... but folks who were there say Taylor's private security told the woman to leave, but she refused to budge.

A source familiar with the situation tells TMZ ... Taylor was staying at the house during the holiday weekend, though it's unclear if she was actually home at the time of the arrest.

George Valera -- arguably the most touted prospect in the entire Cleveland Guardians farm system -- has found himself in some seriously hot water ... after he shoved an umpire during a game on Thursday night.

The wild scene all went down in the third inning of the Columbus Clippers' tilt against the Nashville Sound ... when Valera -- who was playing centerfield for the Clips -- stepped into the box for his second at-bat of the night.

Broadcast video from the game shows during the middle of the AB -- Valera appeared to take exception to something Sound catcher Alex Jackson said ... and he confronted him about it, halting play.

The two then got so heated, the home plate ump tried to intervene -- but that didn't stop Valera from sticking his finger in Jackson's mask. A few moments later, Valera pushed the ump in what seemed to be an effort to get to Jackson.

The shove ignited an all-out brawl on the field ... as both benches cleared to back their guys. Pushing and shoving then ensued -- before, thankfully, cooler heads prevailed.

Both Valera and Jackson ended up getting thrown out of the game over it all. It's unclear if Valera will face further punishment for putting his hands on an ump.

Michael Grimm, famous for winning "America's Got Talent" season 5, is showing big signs of improvement after being hospitalized with a serious, and mysterious, health issue.

Michael's wife, Lucie, tells TMZ ... he recently had a breakthrough in his recovery, and he's now able to speak and even walk under his own power.

It's big news for Michael, who has been in the hospital since Memorial Day, when he was rushed to an intensive care unit and put on a ventilator.

Michael's wife says he's still in the hospital and doctors have so far been unable to diagnose a specific disease or syndrome behind his hospitalization.

We're told Michael had an adverse reaction to being on the ventilator ... his wife says his brain stopped communicating with the rest of his body.

So, now he needs to relearn movement and speech, which is why walking is such a milestone for his recovery.

While Michael no longer needs a cane and is able to speak, his wife tells us he still can't sing or play guitar ... but he's working on different exercises to get back his musical talents.

The breakthroughs are nice, but there are still some issues ... Michael's wife says he has PTSD from being on the ventilator and some past personal trauma has been resurfacing during rehab.

Lance Armstrong's opinions on transgender athletes have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way recently … including a pair of his "Stars on Mars" castmates, who actually confronted him about it all while he was on the competition show.

The former cycling star has shared his two cents on the matter over the last few weeks repeatedly ... especially after filming an episode of his "The Forward" podcast with Caitlyn Jenner.

On the pod, he and Jenner spoke about trans women competing against biological females -- and the two appeared to share the opinion that there should be a separate category for the parties, due to what they believed was an unfair advantage of being born a male.

While filming "Stars on Mars," Armstrong made no attempts to distance himself from that stance ... telling Ronda Rousey he doesn't see why it'd be "unfair" to introduce a new category to the sports competition landscape to assuage the issues.

Quickly, however, Tinashe jumped in to confront him over the thought process.

"We just have to care about if you other-ise people," the "2-On" singer said on the new Fox show. "It's not good for their mental health."

When Armstrong asked her to expound, she added, "Like, kind of, like, exclude them from the same spaces and places that everyone else is."

Armstrong swore he wasn't trying to exclude anyone with his ideas ... saying, "I sound like a right-wing lunatic. I'm not. I'm the most liberal person -- but from a sporting perspective ..."

But, Tinashe wasn't having any of it ... later telling Fox cameras, "I definitely didn't think that he should be the spokesperson for that."

Adam Rippon -- an openly gay figure skater -- also chimed in on Armstrong's remarks ... making it clear he was not a fan of them either.

"That is so disheartening," he said.

Rippon further explained he believed Armstrong's words could shake up the whole dynamic of the show going forward.

American actress Maria Thayer was 30 years old when she played the smart and pretty high school graduate, determined to get accepted into Yale University Rory -- in the comedy/teen film "Accepted" back in 2006.

Thayer shared the big screen with Justin Long as the slacker who invented the fake college, "South Harmon Institute of Technology," aka 'S.H.I.T.,' Bartleby, Blake Lively as Bartleby's love interest who makes the transfer to 'S.H.I.T,' Monica, and Jonah Hill as the nerdy friend looking to join a fraternity, Sherman.

Maria was also in the films, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Hitch."

Britney Spears says NBA phenom Victor Wembanyama is simply wrong when he says she "grabbed" him from behind ... she insists it was simply a friendly tap.

Britney is responding to the story TMZ broke early Thursday ... that the head of Victor's security backhanded her in the face outside Catch restaurant in Vegas. The account she just posted on social media aligns with what she told the police.

Britney says, "I recognized an athlete in my hotel lobby as I was heading to dinner. I later went to a restaurant at a different hotel and saw him again." That hotel is Aria.

She goes on to describe the encounter ... "I decided to approach him and congratulate him on his success.  It was really loud, so I tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention."

Now the dispute ... "I am aware the players statement where he mentions 'I grabbed him from behind' but I simply tapped him on the shoulder."

As for the slap, she says "His security then back handed me in the face without looking back, in front of the crowd. Nearly knocking me down and causing my glasses off my face."

Britney adds she herself was "swarmed" by around 20 fans on her way into Aria, noting, "My security team didn't hit any of them."

As we reported, Victor spoke with reporters -- including KENS 5 reporter Nate Ryan -- after practice Thursday to detail his side of how things went down.

Britney says, "“I also don’t appreciate nor do I thin this is a laughing matter. Watching the player smile and laugh was cruel and demoralizing with the situation that took place. I am 5’3 and he’s 7’4…”

Sources close to Britney tell us she hasn't yet heard from Victor's team and she's pissed about it ... thinking someone would've at least reached out to apologize.

TMZ spoke to an eyewitness who says he not only saw the head of security slap Britney, he heard the impact.  He also says Britney was furious, screaming "This is f****** America."

As we reported, Metro PD has launched a criminal investigation and interviewed Britney this morning at her hotel. We're told the case will "likely" be referred to the D.A. for review.