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The Loch Ness Monster's days of hiding might soon be over -- 'cause a group of enthusiasts say they're ready to find this elusive beast once and for all ... but they need a hand.

The Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit is teaming up with a volunteer research group called Loch Ness Exploration -- and together, they're organizing what they call a massive effort to track down the famed mythical creature ... who's rumored to inhabit the local loch.

It might sound silly ... but these folks are legit planning to scour the massive body of water for ol' Nessie, which has been described as a long-necked dinosaur that supposedly still exists ... with reported sightings dating back decades from people claiming to have seen it.

In this latest search -- the biggest one since the early '70s, according to LNC -- the two groups are said to be trotting out a lot of state-of-the-art equipment to conduct their work.

That includes ... thermal drones, infrared cameras, and a hydrophone, among other devices, which will be used over the course of two days between Aug. 26 and 27. Of course, they're also inviting fellow "monster hunters" to join in on the fun extremely serious expedition.

Any normies that wanna get in on this will apparently be stationed at various land posts and given instructions on how to use the gear, what to look for ... and how to document any sightings. And yes, for an extra fee -- tourists can also book boat trips during this weekend as well for a chance to listen for sonar sounds in the actual loch as the search is underway.

Like we said ... it might seem fantastical, but it appears these folks are dead set on finding something. Considering a fairly convincing recent sighting just a couple years ago -- the original video of which, BTW, has mysteriously vanished since 👀 -- maybe they'll succeed.

Lizzo is back in Beyoncé's good graces -- that, or she never left to begin with -- and we know this because the Queen Bey is back to saying her name ... on stage, no less.

The singer name-dropped Lizzo Saturday night during her show in D.C., where part of the setlist once again included the remix to 'Break My Soul' -- which features a moment where Bey's rattling off a list of women's names she views as trailblazers.

Normally, in the lyrics, as they're written, Lizzo shows up as one of those women -- and after being nixed from the lineup last week ... fans were quick to notice her re-inclusion.

Check it out for yourself -- there's a few different clips making the rounds that caught the moment Bey mentioned Lizzo, but this video here is by far the best shot ... where you can see Beyoncé pause on saying Erykah Badu's name -- but clearly emphasizing Liz.

Of course, this is in stark contrast to Beyoncé's performance a few concerts ago ... where she nixed Lizzo, but said "Badu" at least 4 different times. Some perceived that as a shot at Lizzo in the wake of her workplace lawsuit drama ... but others thought it was geared toward what EB had recently said about Beyonce -- namely, accusing her of ripping off her style.

Now that Beyoncé has flipped it -- this after she's surely had time to hear and process the Lizzo news -- it seems pretty obvious she did this on purpose ... and stands with Lizzo.

Greta Gerwig achieved something pretty great in showbiz this weekend -- she's now the sole female director to have crossed the billion-dollar line ... and it's because of "Barbie."

Indeed ... the inevitable happened Sunday, with "Barbie" raking in over a $1 billion at the worldwide box office and once again taking the top spot here domestically. That's 3 weeks in a row that the flick has dominated, and at this point ... there's no sign of it slowing down.

Now, as for Greta ... like we said, she stands alone (as a woman) in this billion-dollar club -- which is a historical feat, and something that hasn't been done before "Barbie" came along.

Yes, there are other female directors who are technically in that 10-figure category -- including Jennifer Lee and Anna Boden, who co-directed the "Frozen" and "Captain Marvel" movies, respectively, alongside men -- but GG's in a league of her own now as a standalone.

There's a very large gap between Greta and the other solo female directors with box office hits -- #2 on the list is Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman," which made around $412 mil through its run. There's an even bigger drop-off with the next tier of films/directors ... Betty Thomas' "Alvin and the Chipmunks" ($219M); Catherine Hardwicke's "Twilight" ($192M); Elizabeth Banks' "Pitch Perfect 2" ($184M); Cate Shortland's "Black Widow" ($183M) ... and so on.

With Greta's milestone here ... it proves that women are pretty damn bankable, not just as actresses -- but behind the camera as well. Full circle, really, for the themes of 'Barbie.'

Considering her indie background, you could argue Greta's has had a meteoric rise over the past 5-6 years. And like we previously reported, there's currently no active plans for a sequel at this point -- which, if you know studios, is unheard of when this sorta success is had.

There's a report saying WB actually tried brokering a deal for Greta to direct 'Barbie 2' months before the film came out -- but her agents shot that down and insisted on waiting to see how it actually performed. Smart move in hindsight ... Greta can fetch a fortune now.

BTW ... Greta actually turned 40 a couple days ago, and Ryan Gosling surprised her with a flash mob performance full of Kens, complete with his signature song from the movie.

The Americans were bounced in the Women's World Cup -- and if you can believe it ... there are many here in the States who are celebrating their defeat, all because of politics.

For anyone who wants a true sense of how divided the USA is right now, go ahead and hop on Twitter to see the reactions to Megan Rapinoe and co. being beaten by Sweden in PKs Sunday ... which ends their World Cup run, and sees Rapinoe retire on a down note.

A ton of people -- mostly conservatives, it seems -- are crapping on the USWNT and arguing that the team, at large, is reaping what they've sown here ... citing political stances some have taken, including how they handled the National Anthem at the start of the tournament.

You'll recall ... several starters for Team USA stood in silence during the 'Star-Spangled Banner' during their opening match against Vietnam -- and it pissed a lot of folks off.

Of course, there were also comments Rapinoe made last year about trans athletes in women's sports -- which she unequivocally supported in fiery statements. That, too, rubbed a certain demographic the wrong way -- and now, a victory lap is being had at her expense.

This is a snapshot of where America is right now ... where culture wars dominate pretty much every aspect of pop culture, which are getting uglier and more contentious by the day.

On an objective level ... there are also some saying Team USA just wasn't up for going the distance this year, evidenced by their level of play and lack of effective offense. They squeaked by the early round ... and many felt other teams were simply better than us.

There was also a question about attitude ... something former USWNT star Carli Lloyd tore into the other day after the Americans seemed happy to settle for a 0-0 tie with Portugal.

Jamie Foxx felt he had to apologize for his controversial social media post, but many in Hollywood are saying there was no need to do that ... and it's stirring a massive debate.

As you know ... Jamie's IG sparked outrage ... especially from people who felt Jamie's statement was antisemitic -- seeing how, on its face, it seemed to refer to a trope about Jews being responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. That's how many took it anyway.

Amid the mounting backlash, Jennifer Aniston distanced herself from Jamie's post, which she appeared to like.

Eventually, Jamie said he was sorry and that he meant no harm ... but like we said, there are a ton of folks who think he was forced into an apology that wasn't even warranted, as some are arguing that his language wasn't in any way aimed at Jewish people.

This comes down to cultural differences -- and there's a lot of takes referencing AAVE when breaking this down -- but the bottom line here is ... people are defending Jamie and lamenting the fact he was seemingly cajoled into a clarification -- including a lot of stars.

Among the famous faces who are standing in his corner ... Winnie Harlow, Waka Flocka, Jay Pharoah, and others -- all of whom explicitly questioned why he was apologizing at all.

TBH, this is part of a larger conversation relating to marginalized groups and the levels of outrage/reverence some feel are mustered among certain identities versus others. We'll leave that discussion for the internet to fight over, though.

FWIW, the Anti-Defamation League welcomed Jamie's apology with open arms.

Bella Hadid is celebrating a major milestone as she continues to battle Lyme disease ... completing over 100 days of intense medical treatment.

On Sunday, Bella shared a handful of meaningful photos ... you see wires connected to her body while laying in a hospital bed, nurses by her side, and even some blood, too.

Bella spells out the mental anguish Lyme disease has taken on her ... "Living in this state, worsening with time and work while trying to make myself, my family and the people who support me, proud, had taken a toll on me in ways I can’t really explain."

She continues ... "To be that sad and sick with the most blessings/privilege/opportunity/love around me was quite possibly the most confusing thing ever."

With that said, Bella is feeling optimistic for the first time in a while ... saying the treatment was well worth it if she can now live her life to the fullest for the first time ever.

Bella also gives a big shout-out to her mother, Yolanda -- who also has Lyme disease -- for keeping all of her medical records and sticking by her side through the whole process.

You'll recall ... Bella and her brother, Anwar, were both diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2012. Bella shared a letter from her doctor dated back to 2014 ... saying she was suffering from fatigue, depression, headaches, and night sweats, among other things.

There's a big downside to sleeping naked in the jungle, and these "Naked and Afraid" contestants are experiencing it firsthand ... ticks absolutely love genitals!!!

The painful lesson unfolds on the upcoming episode of Discovery's "Naked And Afraid: Castaways" ... when one castaway wakes up to find a handful of ticks attached to his penis!!!

Ya gotta see the video, obtained by TMZ ... Andrew Shayde is just waking up when he discovers the unwanted visitors making camp on his dong ... and he counts them off, one at a time.

Andrew's clearly rattled ... he says he's super worried about his "little castaway" and is freaking out.

For Andrew, it's the latest painful encounter with ticks ... in a past challenge, the parasites got in his butt crack.

Sounds like fellow contestant Patrick French dodged a bullet ... he says ticks embedded between his legs, but they avoided the "prime real estate."

Some spectators at the Jake Paul/Nate Diaz fight wanted a piece of the action, because not one but several crazy brawls erupted after the match.

It's unclear why people were fighting, although the simple explanation is they were just looking for a brawl. It's kinda like projection ... they all wanted to be Jake, so they took a swing at it.

Doesn't seem anyone was seriously hurt, and they all got their money's worth. Jake won by unanimous decision.

As for the fan fights ... people trashed the brawlers on social, calling it embarrassing.

BTW ... Jake chose to fight Nate over a rematch with Tommy Fury, whom he lost to a few months back by decision.

You may know him as Ashtray from "Euphoria," but Javon "Wanna" Walton is out to make a name for himself in a completely different industry ... telling TMZ Sports his goal is to be a boxing champion!!

The 17-year-old actor recently signed with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions ... and he told us he's shifting his focus from entertainment to fighting.

"This is something I want to do for the rest of my life," Wanna said. "It's something I've been very passionate for a very long time, and it's something that I care about a lot."

"Boxing to me, is just a release," Wanna added. "I love every minute of it and, I mean, the ultimate goal is world champion and defending my titles for a very long time and becoming a Hall of Famer. That's the real goal for me."

But this isn't something that just came up out of the blue -- Wanna explained his parents would watch boxing all the time when he was a kid ... and naturally, he fell in love with the sport.

In fact, Wanna -- who started training when he was four years old -- now has 80 amateur bouts under his belt, including multiple tournament wins and Georgia state titles ... and went into detail on why he decided to team up with Jake's promotion.

"I wanted to go somewhere where I knew that I was gonna be valued, and a place that I knew that they were going to care about me a lot, and a place with a lot of talent," Wanna added. "Everyone over at MVP is very talented and they've all done such amazing things in their career."

Wanna praised Jake for being a "very sharp" and "super laid back" guy ... and told us he hopes to learn from the YouTuber-turned-boxing star.

We asked Wanna straight-up where he saw himself in 10 years ... and he's confident in his future.

Jake Paul is back in the win column -- the Problem Child just defeated UFC legend Nate Diaz via unanimous decision ... in what was a fun and entertaining fight!

Paul started fast, dominating the first round, landing several significant punches. Diaz looked better in the second, but Jake still controlled the round, as he also did in the third.

Nate had a few nice moments in the 4th, and even landed a hard punch that snapped Jake's head back. The round wasn't as clean, and that benefited Diaz.

Jake regained control in the 5th, landing a left hook to Nate's head, sending him to the canvas. Diaz quickly got up, and didn't only withstand an onslaught of punches from Paul, but actually began to move forward and mount offense.

The 5th featured the lone knockdown of the fight.

The rest of the fight was close.

Nate showed off his famous cardio in the later rounds (why he wanted a 10-round fight, as opposed to the originally scheduled 8), and proved once again it's nearly impossible to stop him.

Jake appeared gassed at times in the later rounds (he went 10 rounds in his 8th pro fight) ... but never looked seriously hurt, and was always throwing punches.

In fact, both men were active. Paul threw 491 punches ... landing 174. Diaz uncorked 392 punches, landing 143.

The fight went the full 10 rounds ... and Paul ultimately won by unanimous decision.

Jake's brother, Logan, was present for the bout even after competing at WWE's SummerSlam event in Detroit earlier in the night -- hopping on a private jet in order to make it to see his fam get the dub.

In his post-fight interview, Jake once again reiterated his $10 million MMA offer to Nate ... who seemed to indicate he was down to fight in the PFL.

Paul also made it clear he still wants to avenge his loss to Tommy Fury.

Cops are investigating the connection between Pop Smoke's murder and a dead body found in a barrel on the beach in Malibu ... TMZ has learned.

The barrel, containing the naked body of Javonnta Murphy, washed ashore July 31. We've learned Javonnta is the brother of Jaquan Murphy ... one of the 5 people arrested in the wake of Pop Smoke's murder in 2020.

Jaquan was first charged with attempted murder for Pop Smoke's death, but later cleared. He is, however, currently awaiting trial for an unrelated murder in L.A. County.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... L.A. County Sheriff's Department's investigators are currently looking into the possibility Javonnta's murder was a retaliation killing for Pop's murder. Of course, it's not their only theory, but definitely one they're digging into.

The Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox game Saturday night turned into a wild bench clearing melee after two opposing players got into a brawl in the middle of the field.

It all started in the sixth inning when Guardians slugger Jose Ramirez smacked a double, diving headfirst into second base before White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson tagged him.

Ramirez was clearly safe ... yet it didn't stop him from getting up and sticking his finger in Anderson's face. Unclear why Ramirez was so angry ... but things turned ugly after that.

Anderson threw his glove down and put his dukes up ready to fight. Ramirez squared off against him before the two started throwing punches at each other as both teams flooded the field from their dugouts.

Ramirez clocked Anderson in the face, knocking him on his butt. Their teammates jumped in and held them back, putting an end to the brief boxing match.

An umpire ejected both players from the game at Progressive Field in Cleveland. The hometown crowd shouted in support of Ramirez -- the Guardian's third baseman -- as he walked off the field.

Hop into this week's Summer Hot Shots feature where Playboy model Sapphire Howell traded in her bunny ears for a tiny string bikini and splashed in the waves along the pristine Los Angeles coastline.

When the blonde babe isn't bleaching the eyes of beachgoers with her hot shots, Sapphire lends her opinions on her new "HeartBreakers" podcast and as a co-editor on Thrissle, collects art and Birkin bags and is obsessed with animals other than bunnies ... she loves her two french bulldogs too!

Ruff life!

Rachel Leviss' possible return to "Vanderpump Rules" remains shrouded in mystery ... but as filming keeps rolling along, her costars are becoming convinced she won't join the fold.

Sources connected to the hit reality show tell TMZ ... 'VPR' cast members are now feeling more than confident Rachel will NOT return for Season 11.

There's reasoning behind the consensus ... the cast has been filming since late June and Rachel hasn't shot a single scene, either solo or with any other 'VPR' stars.

Bottom line ... it's going to be hard to integrate Rachel into the storylines.

What's more, we're told none of the cast, aside from Tom Sandoval, has been in touch with Rachel since they saw her at the emotional reunion show in late March, which was shot just before Rachel checked into a mental health facility, which she recently left after a lengthy stay.

However, never say never ... we're told 'VPR' stars wouldn't be shocked if Rachel shows up to film at the 11th hour to tell her side of the story about the Scandoval.

Still, our sources say other cast members strongly believe Rachel's therapists convinced her to steer clear of the show and the accompanying drama that led her to seek professional help in the first place.

Paul Reubens was a busy man before his sudden passing this week -- as he privately battled cancer, the guy was hard at work almost right to the end ... and there'll be something to show for it in the near future.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the 'Pee-wee Herman' star had been actively involved in various different film/TV projects in the final months of his life, including an upcoming HBO documentary (focused on his titular character) that was announced in 2021.

The doc is being helmed by the Safdie brothers, and we're told producers were able to get all of the interviews and insights from Paul himself before he died Monday.

Our sources say Paul had good and bad days toward the end, but when he was feeling up to it ... he was able to get quite a bit done ... spending upwards of 40 hours on interviews he did for the HBO doc. Between that and other interviews from over 25 different friends/collaborators, our sources say the 'Pee-wee' doc has over 1,000 hours of footage.

In addition to this documentary ... we're told Paul was working on his memoir ... a first draft of which Paul completed prior to his death. So, yes ... we'll get to hear his story from his POV somewhere down the line.

Behind this smiling snapshot is a New York native who is here to remind you there is a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. Get ready to grin from ear to ear, because ... ain't no "Summertime Sadness" when listening to this songstress' vocals!

This alternative pop singer-songwriter has made music for popular Hollywood movies including, "The Great Gatsby" with Leonardo DiCaprio and "Maleficent" with Angelina Jolie.

Tonight, she'll be joining performers like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Louis The Child at Chicago's Lollapalooza music festival in Grant Park.