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Carlee Russell's boyfriend is explicitly stating what most everyone has assumed about her disappearance -- declaring definitively that she was, indeed, kidnapped.

Thomar Simmons made the claim in a Facebook post Sunday, in which he both thanked supporters for their ongoing prayers and offered more insight into what he says happened to his significant other since she vanished Thursday in Hoover, Alabama ... this after pulling over on the I-459 highway on the heels of her reporting seeing a lone child walking at night.

He writes, "All I asked from everyone right now is to be respectful of Carlee’s situation. She was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours, so until she’s physically & mentally stable again she is not able to give any updates or whereabouts on her kidnapper at this very moment."

Simmons adds, "I also want to thank the people on social media who has been understanding & respectful about what she’s been through in these past few days. Once again I can’t thank you guys enough for helping us bring Carlee home! God bless you all."

Carlee's mother echoed similar sentiments, saying they were overjoyed to have Carlee back -- and that they would provide more details to the media in due time. Interestingly, Carlee's mom also had this to say ... "Just as we made a commitment to not entertain negative thoughts during the time our daughter was missing, we surely will not entertain negative thoughts/statements, unvalidated opinions, or sheer ignorance at such a joyous time."

What she may be referring to is the fact that people are already jumping to conclusions and floating conspiracy theories about this case ... as some feel like info doesn't line up.

For example, the police's statement about how exactly Carlee came to be found -- in which they said they got a call that she had shown up to her residence on foot -- fails to mention the fact that dispatchers in the Hoover-Vestavia Hills area were talking about Carlee possibly being at a nearby motel well beforehand ... a convo captured around 6:53 PM CT.

As you can hear ... the dispatchers describe a caller saying Carlee's family had reached out to say they had gotten a call from Carlee herself -- who apparently told them she was at the Red Roof Inn along the Montgomery Highway ... only about 5 miles north from where she disappeared. The wording's a little confusing, but it seems the caller was a Red Roof worker.

The first responders also say the front desk staff said they had no one checked in under Carlee's name. It also sounds like Carlee's family was itching to get to the Red Roof Inn to see if she was actually there. It's unclear if they did or not, but cops certainly responded ... as heard in the audio, where somebody gets on the radio to say units have arrived.

Bottom line ... there are still a number of unanswered questions, but it's clear her family/loved ones are leaning toward the notion that she was abducted by a still-to-be-discovered culprit.

LeBron James might be immortalized outside two arenas by the time his career is over ... so says Lakers legend James Worthy, who tells TMZ Sports he could definitely see the NBA superstar getting statues in Cleveland AND Los Angeles.

The three-time NBA champ spoke with us about the King's Purple & Gold legacy earlier this week ... and he said it's entirely possible James gets the bronze treatment outside Crypto.com Arena one day.

"It depends on what he does here out," Worthy said at the Teqball USA Pre-ESPY party. "Personally -- and I think he'd agree -- he hasn't been here long enough."

"But I think his overall greatness, when you have a player like LeBron, who breaks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's [all-time scoring] record in Los Angeles, does it as a Laker, then wins a championship as a Laker, you can't argue that he could get a statue in Los Angeles."

"And he could get one in Cleveland as well," Worthy added. "So, I don't know about Miami, but bringing one to Cleveland and Los Angeles, it's doable, in my opinion."

It's assumed LeBron will get a statue in Cleveland -- after all, he's by far the greatest player in franchise history and led the Cavaliers to their first championship.

There are currently six Lakers statues outside the arena ... including Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Kareem, Elgin Baylor and broadcaster Chick Hearn.

G Herbo might not be facing a gun possession case right now, if it weren't for the simplest of traffic infractions ... at least, according to the cops who busted the "PTSD" rapper.

Chicago police tell us Herbo was pulled over in a vehicle that had failed to display a turn signal in traffic ... and it was during that July 9 stop that cops say they found a Glock 33 in the car.

We also got a hold of Herbo's latest mugshot, and he looks either perplexed or amused over the situation. Let's face it, having a perfectly good Sunday Funday ruined over jail time is guaranteed to dampen your mood.

As we previously reported, Herbo didn't spend long behind bars and was later released on bond.

Before this lil' cowboy was singing on stage and opening for music icon Taylor Swift, he was just throwin' on his hat, singin' up a storm and songwriting from a young age, and growing up in San Antonio, Texas.

After making a song cover for Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe," he was an instant hit amongst many! He's worked with some of music's hottest stars including Pitbull, Lil Wayne and Flo Rida. In 2020, this studly guy joined OnlyFans, and he's also been known to flash an ab or two on his Instagram.

Need one more hint? "Mmm Yeah!"

Awkwardness was in the air at Disneyland this weekend, where the studio forged ahead with their "Haunted Mansion" premiere amid the SAG strike ... without any of the cast in sight.

The premiere went down Saturday at the Anaheim park -- in front of the actual Haunted Mansion ride, no less. Like we said, none of the major stars who act in the film showed up -- obviously, they're showing solidarity with their union, which went on strike last week.

In their place, a bunch of randos walked the carpet instead ... including a handful of Disney cast members who were dressed up as 'HM' ghosts and even just regular Disney characters. There were also some influencers there -- Holly Madison and other Playboy-adjacent people -- plus some Disney Imagineers and composers/BTS folks tied to the movie as well.

The big names who were notably missing ... Lakeith Stanfield, Danny DeVito, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto, Winona Ryder, Rosario Dawson ... and every other cast member. One person who did show was director Justin Simien.

He did some interviews with press, and said he was feeling "ambivalent" over the fact his cast couldn't speak for themselves ... while also expressing support for their cause.

Simien also addressed Disney chief Bob Iger's recent comments about the ongoing strikes -- where he said the union's demands weren't "realistic," while lamenting the fact they were hurting showbiz at large -- and JS walked the line ... saying he'd be happy to talk to BI to see where the gap is between what he wants and what actors at large are asking for.

It's a little unclear why Simien attended the "Haunted Mansion" premiere. We know he's part of the DGA, which recently struck its own deal with studio heads, and presumably ... he's obligated to go to this sort of stuff, despite the fact he says he's standing with the actors. Christopher Nolan did something similar at the UK "Oppenheimer" premiere last week.

In any case, he did his best to appease both sides, it seems. Dude's sorta stuck between a rock and a hard place right now ... as are a ton of other directors caught in this conflict.

Considering how empty this event felt -- ya gotta wonder if other studios will scrap their own premieres in the coming months. A lot of summer blockbusters already did their press, but there's still several big-budget flicks slated to be released through the rest of the year.

Morgan Wallen heard one of the Idaho murder victims was a huge fan of his, so he took it upon himself to seek out the late college student's family ... with none other than an invite.

The country singer touched base with Ethan Chapin's mourning loved ones ... this according to Ethan's mother, Stacy, who recounted the sweet move on social media. Sounds like she and the rest of the Chapin household got the VIP treatment for MW's SoCal show Friday.

She says Ethan once sent her one of Morgan's songs, telling her he loved the dude -- a story Stacy's publicly shared since his death. Welp, Morgan heard about it and did something.

Stacy writes, "Last night, we met Morgan Wallen! He kindly gifted our family and friends tickets to his show in San Diego. Morgan's mom, Lesli, even flew in! It was an incredibly bittersweet full-circle moment."

She continues with this ... "Truthfully, the show would have been enough. We were all over the moon, and then Morgan handed us a donation check to the Ethan’s Smile Foundation. It was one of the kindest gestures in my life. I still cannot believe it happened, and it isn’t easy to recognize it all came at a massive cost to our family." Stacy ends by thanking Morgan.

Obviously, the family posed with Morgan for a handful of photos ... and just like she says, they all looked overjoyed to be there. Of course, it also must've been somewhat painful.

Ethan was one of 4 University of Idaho students who were killed last year ... the others included his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, and her roommates, -- Madison Mogen and Kaylee Gonclaves. All of them had been brutally stabbed to death at a house they were renting.

Prosecutors say they have the alleged killer ... Bryan Kohberger, whom they claim carried out the grisly murders and who'll now stand trial -- with the death penalty on the table.

Novak Djokovic lost at Wimbledon today, but worse than that ... he had just about everyone in Hollywood around to see it go down live, including the brightest stars on the books.

The tennis legend was facing off against the up-and-coming Spanish sensation, Carlos Alcaraz, and ended up losing in the 5-set match ... only winning the first and fourth ones. It was an intense back-and-forth, but in the end -- Alcaraz took it home in dramatic fashion.

As wild as it was to see the long-reigning Djokovic fall, it was even crazier counting the number of celebs in the building -- at least a dozen or so A-listers had filled the stands.

Some of the biggest names on hand to see these two tennis titans ... Brad Pitt, Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande, Andrew Garfield, Jonathan Baily, Idris Elba, Emma Watson, Daniel Bruhl, Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Jackman, and even Prince William and Kate.

Ariana Grande was without her wedding ring again at Wimbledon this weekend, further fueling rumors there's trouble in paradise with her and her husband ... which may be valid.

The singer was at Sunday's big match -- where the men's singles final between Djokovic and Alcaraz is going down -- and she was ringless on a very specific digit. This isn't the first time Ari's been out without her bling ... but this one's a big deal since it's a high-profile event.

She was seated between two celebs -- Andrew Garfield and "Bridgerton" star Jonathan Bailey -- with no sign of her husband Dalton Gomez. That itself isn't notable, seeing how the guy tends to stay out of the spotlight, but the fact she continues to ditch her ring certainly is.

Rumors have been swirling for months that their relationship might be on the rocks -- due, in part, to AG's bare finger being exposed time and again in IG posts she herself publishes ... although, this is something she's explicitly written off in the past as BS.

However, we've been told by sources with direct knowledge that Ari and Dalton have, in fact, had marriage trouble of late ... including a rough patch a few months ago. We don't know what their status is now, but what we do know ... Ari's been away from home/busy at work in the UK -- working on her new movie, 'Wicked,' alongside Cynthia Erivo for a while now.

Of course, Dalton himself has deleted his Instagram account entirely ... just another element that's sent her fans into a frenzy. And yet, Ariana recently telegraphed that things are fine.

On their 2-year anniversary this past May, she posted a photo of her and Dalton kissing at their wedding, writing the number "2" as well as "3.5 together," with an accompanying "I love him so." So, on the face of things ... she's tried projecting a loving bond between them.

The couple got hitched in a private ceremony in Montecito in 2021. Dalton isn't nearly as famous as her -- he's a high-end real estate agent, and not much is really known about him.

Jason ran into trouble during his Connecticut concert Saturday night ... he was filmed bolting offstage in the middle of a song, and although we don't know, there are signs it was heat-related.

The country star was performing in the heat and humidity at the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford when he stopped singing and buried his face in his upper arm. It looks like he was wiping off sweat, then he just ran off stage.

Check out this video ... Jason starts belting out the words again while standing at the mic, but it's all very brief, and that was the end of the show. Something is clearly wrong.

We don't know what happened after that ... but one of Jason's fans took to Twitter to provide some details.

She wrote ... "It was hotter than hell. It was bad enough just standing in the pit I can't imagine performing in jeans, boots, and hat under all those lights in that humidity with no breeze. Hope he's okay!"

She also said Jason never returned, and the show was cut short. Jason is currently on his "Highway Desperado" tour, so we hope it's not too serious.

We've reached out to Jason's reps for comment ... so far no word back.

Vanna White is awesome!!! She jumped on the TMZ Celebrity Tour Bus Saturday in the middle of her ice cream run, and who knew her son was so hot!

Vanna and 29-year-old Nikko had just hit up Jenni's Ice Cream shop in Bev Hills when our tour guide spotted her. Vanna jumped on the bus and had loads of fun with our guests.

TMZ broke the story, she's demanding at least half of what Pat Sajak makes if she'll continue her more than 40-year reign on the show. Pat makes around $15 million -- Vanna makes $3 mil and hasn't gotten a bump in 18 years. Remember, even "Wheel" refers to her and Pat as "the stars of the show," not distinguishing between the two.

If Vanna exits at the same time Pat hangs it up, it leaves the show without any familiar faces.

Everyone connected to the negotiations has gone radio silent, although a few weeks back a source with direct knowledge described the negotiations between Vanna and Sony as "very difficult."

New video taken the night that Russell disappeared in Alabama appears to show the moment she pulled over on a highway to help a child ... this before mysteriously vanishing.

According to AL.com, the surveillance footage -- which was just published Saturday -- was recorded by an online company that captures and archives live traffic footage ... and it looks like they caught the exact moment that the 25-year-old came to a stop on the shoulder of I-459 in Hoover, Alabama Thursday night ... when she was first reported missing by her family.

It's a disturbing story ... cops say Russell called 911 that night to report seeing a lone child walking along the interstate, and she came to a screeching halt herself to get out and help.

Russell is said to have also been on the phone with her brother's GF, who says she heard Carlee calling out to the child ... asking if they were okay. Then, she claims to have heard Carlee scream before the phone dropped, with only the sound of traffic being heard after.

When police arrived to the scene ... they found her car and belongings -- including her phone, but Russell was nowhere to be found. Ditto for the kid she reported seeing.

Now, in the wake of this new footage -- which police say they have and are examining -- people are picking it apart ... and some even claim to see something that could give a clue as to what happened. In many people's eyes ... this looks to be an abduction via luring.

The reason people believe that -- aside from the eerie details of the case -- has to do with a bright yellow light that can be seen in this footage ... which darts south in the video at a rapid speed, but then goes dark. Unclear what the light may be -- but it seems suspicious.

Her family has been sounding the alarm since, asking the public to help bring her back ... and there's even been a huge reward offered for her return, now increased to $50,000.

Cops released a new photo of Carlee -- seen above, where she's got short hair -- and say this is a more accurate depiction/what she may have looked like the night she went missing.

Birkin was also a model and came to be widely seen as a fashion trendsetter, inspiring Hermes' famous Birkin handbag.

The news comes after Birkin was forced to cancel a handful of concerts in May due to health concerns, and less than two years after Birkin suffered a minor stroke.

Birkin was known for her professional and personal relationship with the musician Serge Gainsbourg.

The pair were together for 12 years but remained friends after their split, with Gainsbourg still writing songs for Birkin.

Her acting credits included films such as the 1966 classic Blow Up, Death on the Nile (1978), and Evil Under the Sun (1982).

Drake and 21 Savage must still feel a certain way about Anna Wintour and Vogue on the heels of their nasty lawsuit ... using what appears to be an ugly visual of the fashion giant on their latest tour.

Not only did Drake post the not-so-appealing AI-generated image of a woman with Anna's signature haircut and sunglasses on his Instagram earlier this week ... she's also been popping up in visuals on his "It's All a Blur" tour with 21.

In fact, during the pair's performance of "Jimmy Cooks" -- the apparent Anna-double shows up, opening her mouth to reveal some pretty gnarly teeth.

While neither Drake nor 21 have come out and officially said the image is supposed to represent Anna, it's hard to see anything otherwise.

Of course, there's some unfriendly history between Anna and the rappers. It was back in November when Vogue sued the two for recreating Vogue covers to promote the album "Her Loss" -- both online and throughout cities across the U.S.

Eventually, both sides settled -- Drake and 21 had to reportedly pay up millions -- Condé Nast was seeking at least $4 million in damages.

Jake Paul says he's a completely different fighter after experiencing the first loss of his boxing career ... and that could be bad news for Nate Diaz, 'cause The Problem Child tells TMZ Sports he's going to put his opponent on the canvas.

Jake and Nate are meeting in the ring for their highly anticipated fight in Dallas on August 5 ... and it's clear his defeat at the hands of Tommy Fury has him laser-focused on winning again.

"Man, I have the biggest chip on my shoulder, the biggest chip on both shoulders," Jake told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show. "Coming back with vengeance, refilled with that hunger that I had in the beginning of the sport to prove to people what I was capable of."

"The lion lost. I've retreated back into the jungle, I took notes of everything, I got better, I trained, and now this lion is going to come out and maul this dude. And he's gonna have to pay -- he's gonna have to pay for all this hard work, all this sacrifice I've made in this camp."

Jake added he's "100%" going to knock Diaz out ... but has no prediction on when it'll happen, 'cause he doesn't want to add any more pressure while he's in the ring.

Nate has only fallen twice via TKOs in his 20-year pro fighting career ...  one being a doctor's stoppage (vs. Jorge Masvidal), and the other coming against Josh Thomson in 2013, when the ref called the fight after a flurry of strikes.

NeNe Leakes isn't buying the theory dominating the internet ... Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann got into a super nasty divorce and then suddenly reconciled as a way to get back into reality TV.

We got NeNe at LAX and asked her about Kim and Kroy suddenly calling off their divorce, and if it was all just a ploy to return to "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" ... as lots of folks believe to be the case.

NeNe doubts Kim and Kroy would go to those lengths ... she thinks all the issues with their marriage were legit, as well as all the divorce drama we documented ... and she just can't imagine Kim and Kroy going down that road just to get on TV again.

Of course, the 'RHOA' alum says Kim and Kroy's divorce would make for some TV gold ... and she says all the publicity and mudslinging will probably help Kim get back in front of cameras.

TMZ broke the story ... Kim and Kroy are working through their issues the old-fashioned way ... there's no couple's therapy ... they're just talking every day and relying on their shared Christian faith.

This week's Summer Hot Shots have been baked and served to perfections from Palm Springs where Emmett Preciado cooked poolside shirtless ... and the results are an abs-olute desert dessert!

When the actor isn't burning up his Instagram and TikTok accounts with hot content ... Emmett Preciado is a hard-working trans activist who enjoys taking in the scenery while hiking around the hills of Los Angeles.

Talk about a breath of fresh air!