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Lil Tay really did have her Instagram compromised by someone who used the page to falsely claim she was dead ... Meta tells us they helped get the account back in her hands.

There's been serious doubts about the social media personality's story after it turned out this week's shocking news of her death was all a hoax ... but a spokesperson for Meta says Lil Tay is being truthful about not being able to access her IG.

Remember ... Lil Tay's fake death was announced Wednesday morning on her Instagram ... with the statement saying her "sudden and tragic passing" was an "unbearable loss," and claiming her family was in complete shock.

It appears the alleged hackers didn't stop at a social media announcement ... before the ominous post Wednesday, TMZ was contacted by someone claiming to be a rep for Lil Tay's family with a full press release and said she and her brother had died at their mother's home in Vancouver.

But, when TMZ contacted police in the Vancouver area as well as family members, everyone was totally in the dark.

Lil Tay's family gave us a statement from her Thursday, which said she was very much alive and that, "My Instagram account was compromised by a 3rd party and used to spread jarring misinformation and rumors regarding me, to the point that even my name was wrong."

Tay also thanked Meta for helping to get her Instagram account back, and the phony death statement has since been scrubbed.

A Meta company spokesman confirmed Tay's account, telling us they did help her get her IG back from the hacker.

It will be interesting to see if Lil Tay becomes more active on IG now ... she hasn't posted since June 2018, despite having over 3.5 million followers.

Selena Gomez enjoyed a girl's night out with her kidney donor, Francia Raisa, in L.A. Friday, putting to rest any rumors of tension between them.

The two were mobbed by paparazzi wildly snapping photos and shooting video after they had dinner at Giorgio Baldi restaurant in Santa Monica.

Selena and Francia, both dressed to the nines, disappeared into the back of a waiting car, which then drove away.

Their get together comes at an interesting time. Despite their up and down relationship over the past year, Francia recently told a photojournalist there was no bad blood between her and the singer/actress. It appears she was right on the mark, given last night's outing.

As we've reported ... Selena and Francia were longtime friends who first met at an event many years ago while they were actors in separate TV shows.

In 2017, Selena revealed she needed a kidney transplant because of her battle with lupus. Francia stepped up and offered one of hers to Selena, who was happy to accept, and the kidney transplant was a success.

Then, five years later, Selena told a reporter Taylor Swift was her only real friend in Hollywood, prompting Francia to write "interesting" in the comments section of an Instagram post discussing the matter.

Selena responded, "Sorry I didn't mention every person I know." Still, it created some friction between them and rumors started circulating they were no longer buddies.

But, this past March, Selena said she "never ever, ever, be more in debt to a person than Francia." Coupled with Francia's latest statements on their relationship and now the dinner, it looks like everything is hunky dory with them.

A bodybuilder went on a killing rampage in Bosnia, fatally shooting 3 people, including his ex-wife ... even worse, he live streamed the entire violent escapade.

Nermin Sulejmanovic had his phone camera turned on as he streamed 3 separate videos to Instagram, capturing his demented murder spree Friday in the northeastern Bosnian city of Gradacac.

In his first video, Sulejmanovic boasted he was about to carry out a live execution before showing his badly beaten former wife on a porch.

He said, “Look, when you’re dealing with a whore who reports you to the police,” trailing off before using a gun to shoot her in the head.

He then told his IG followers he was the dad of the woman's kid, who was crying in the background, and she was preventing him from seeing the child for close to a week.

Sulejmanovic filmed two additional live feeds while he was being chased by the police and bragged that he killed two other people off camera. Prosecutors later confirmed Sulejmanovic shot a man and his son to death on the street.

In the end, Sulejmanovic also shot and wounded a police officer, another man and a woman before taking his own life.

Morgan Wallen made a pretty bold move before his concert in Ohio Friday ... because he's now completely bald -- as in no hair!!!

The country music singer walked out onstage at Ohio Stadium in Columbus after he shaved off his famous mullet with his head looking like a cue ball.

Morgan wore a red baseball cap ... but it couldn't hide the fact all of his hair was missing in action.

Check out video that surfaced on Tik Tok ... Morgan stopped to mention his new look in between songs, making light of the situation by saying, "I didn’t like the long hair anymore so I shaved it off." The crowd just hollered and laughed.

But some of his fans weren't having it and expressed their unhappiness with his transformation.

One person wrote on X (formerly Twitter) ... "Finding out Morgan Wallen cut his hair off just ruined my night."

Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor shared some good news about his battle with prostate cancer ... he's says he's expected to live 5 more years thanks to a new drug.

Taylor -- who joined the British rock band in 1980 -- told BBC News he was contacted by a scientist who suggested Lutetium-177 -- a "nuclear medicine" -- to treat his stage 4 prostate cancer.

The scientist noted Lutetium-177 only attacks cancer cells in the body because it can't see healthy cells.

Taylor claims he first tried the drug six weeks ago and it seems to be working. He said, “It kills stage four cancer in your bones. And so what it’s effectively done is extend my life for five years.”

Although Taylor was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015, it took seven years for the news to leak out.

You may recall, Duran Duran front man Simon Le Bon made the stunning revelation onstage as the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year. Taylor was noticeably absent, but Le Bon read a statement from him explaining his health issues.

The nearly six-figure transaction for the microphone Cardi B chucked into her crowd, sparking a police investigation, has hit a snag ... we're told the winning bidder didn't pay up.

Here's the deal ... Cardi's infamous microphone was being auctioned on eBay and the bidding war came to an end Tuesday with a $99,900 winning bid ... or so it seemed.

Scott Fisher, the mic owner running the auction, tells TMZ … unfortunately, his suspicions came true and the winning bidder failed to pay for Cardi's mic.

We're told the person who placed the winning bid had 48 hours to fork over the cash, but didn't respond to multiple messages ... so Scott still has the mic. The proceeds from the auction were supposed to benefit charity, and Scott says he's exploring his options ... including sending a purchase offer to the second-highest bidder.

LM Cases, a case company in Ohio, heard about the story and hooked him up with a mic case for whoever ends up with it.

Scott says if the other top bidder doesn't end up buying the mic, he's considering selling it privately.

There's quite a story behind the mic ... as we reported, Cardi was performing at Drai's Beachclub in Las Vegas when she asked the crowd to splash her with water, only to get pissed when someone later tossed ice and liquid on her, resulting in the mic toss.

The Alabama riverboat brawl was unbelievable and troublesome, and Tory Lanez remains unapologetic even after getting sentenced to 10 years. So we gotta ask ...

The wildfire disaster in Hawaii is breaking hearts across the world, including those in the surfing community ... and, according to Kelly Slater, it's now planning to step up in a big way to help victims -- by sending boats, supplies and cash.

The 51-year-old surfing legend explained the plans to TMZ Sports this week ... after flames have ravaged Maui and the Big Island during August.

"Everyone within our surf community is rallying to get boats in, supplies, donate money," Slater said out at LAX, "but that's all not organized yet."

The reason for the delay, according to Slater, is all the debris blocking the harbor, including boats that have caught fire near the piers ... as well as the lack of power in the affected areas.

"There's still a lot of people not in touch with family because they don't have cell towers and power there and they're blocked off on both sides actually," Slater said, "the north and southern side from Lahaina got blocked."

Slater -- who holds 56 championship tour victories -- says several of his friends have been impacted by the blazes ... with some even running for their lives.

"One friend lost everything he owns but he was able to save his dog and a backpack and that was about it," Slater said.

"I know at least two friends, right now, that lost their houses -- actually three. I just got a text about another one, but that's just the beginning."

Like "Thelma and Louise" ... you are on a mission to hit the streets and be thick as thieves with acting legend Susan Sarandon. Can you find the changes in these two shots before going over the falls?

The NYC native threw on her sneaks and picketed around her neighborhood -- along with countless other famous folks -- in support of the SAG-AFTRA strike. And, considering it was a hot summer day in the Big Apple, it's a good thing H2O was present ... Can you handle the switch-ups?

The Montgomery riverfront brawl is triggering ... in a financial sense, because retailers are cashing in with merch based on the viral fight, and the items are going like hotcakes.

Sites like Etsy, eBay and Amazon made it their business to start hawking brawl-themed merch almost immediately last Sunday -- the day after the Alabama fight went down, and these platforms are still surging with a bunch of creative options to buy.

Some of the things ya can scoop up include folding chair earrings and keychains, hoodies with photos from the fight, and even shirts that read, "Don't start nothing, won't be nothing."

One of the most common shirt designs says, "F*** around and find out," with a folding chair front and center ... pretty funny stuff.

JoeRyanDesigns on Etsy made an "Avengers Assemble" coffee mug with people portraying superheroes, like the man with the folding chair -- who's since been arrested -- and the company tells us its merch is going viral, just like the event that inspired it.

The site's seen a "massive increase" in traffic, which comes out to a 3,011% uptick in views.

Tory Lanez still insists the system screwed him with a 10-year sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion -- but, that's just the consequence of the crime if you ask Trinidad James.

We caught up with Trinidad at LAX and his stance is clear: jail time should always follow the act of shooting someone in a criminal fashion, and since Tory was convicted ... Trinidad has no issue with the sentence.

The "All Gold Everything" rapper used Kendrick Lamar's "Money Trees" lyrics ... "Everybody gon' respect the shooter/But the one in front of the gun lives forever" ... to summarize his POV.

Trinidad also tells us Iggy Azalea should've kept quiet, after her public support for Tory became a hot-button issue following the sentencing.

Iggy grew close to Tory while they worked on music prior to his trial, and wrote a letter to the judge asking for leniency -- a bad move according to Trinidad, but he still respects her right to have an opinion.

Jose Baez, Tory's lawyer, told us Tory's in the dumps after getting sentenced, and Tory himself remains defiant -- insisting he didn't shoot Meg.

Crochet bikinis are having quite the moment this summer ... serving boho-chic with a glimpse of some Hollywood cheek! From a needle and thread to being slipped into by the stars ... you'll be woven right into these crocheted bodacious babes serving up what knot to wear.

Famous faces like Demi Moore and Chantel Jeffries stuck to the classic, neutral crochet colors, while Kylie Jenner and Storm Reid had their followers 'hooked' on their crochet suits ... with bright colored fabrics hittin' just right in the sunlight!

Check out our gallery and see all the crochet bikini babes rockin' summer's craftiest suits ...

Britney Spears is swearing off Botox, she says the injections make her face look like someone beat her up ... and now she's going with an alternative cosmetic treatment.

The singer hopped on Instagram for a Friday rant about Botox, recounting some harrowing experiences with the injections ... and propping up a new product she says she's really happy with.

Britney says she's done Botox in the past, with disastrous effects ... saying it made her forehead swell up and eyelids droop, to the point where she was afraid to be seen outside until the side effects subsided.

For Britney, she no longer sees the point in shelling out big bucks for Botox ... and now she's trying SiO beauty patches.

Britney says the SiO patches make her look and feel great ... and she's really pleased with the results.

The guy caught on video smashing people over the head with a folding chair in that riverfront brawl in Montgomery, Alabama has just been arrested.

The Montgomery Police Department announced Friday that Reggie Ray turned himself in ... and he's been charged with disorderly conduct and is being held in the Municipal Jail.

TMZ obtained the 42-year-old's mug shot ... and he doesn't look happy about the consequences of his actions in the epic melee.

Ray is the fifth person arrested for the brawl ... remember, Chief of Police Darryl Albert previously identified Reggie as the Black man who infamously wielded the chair on the dock, bonking several people on the head.

Ray got in on the action late, after men from a pontoon boat that was blocking a passenger ferry from docking ganged up on the ferry's co-captain ... sparking a huge brawl along racial lines.

The other 4 arrested include Allen Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25, who turned themselves in Wednesday and are each charged with one count of 3rd degree assault.

Richard Roberts, 48, was the first arrested ... he's accused of punching a 16-year-old dockhand.

Check out how contentious the Kevin Costner/Christine Baumgartner divorce has gotten ... here's the first line of Kevin's latest filing ... "Christine asserts she cannot admit or deny that she understood the Premarital Agreement because she (and apparently all of her attorneys) do not understand the word "understand."

It's all over whether Christine understood the terms of the prenup when she signed it. There have been signals she is going to contest the prenup, on grounds she did not get what it meant. So Kevin's lawyers have asked her lawyers if she "understood" what she was signing.

Kevin's lawyer, Disso Queen Laura Wasser, writes in the latest filing, "Christine's counsel asked for a definition of 'understood' and Kevin's counsel provided the dictionary meaning of the word 'understood,' to wit, 'comprehended or perceive the intended meaning of words.'"

Wasser is asking the judge to make Christine's lawyers answer the question ... did she understand the prenup or not?

Here's the question that fueled the latest battle ...

Wasser: "You understood the legal effect of the premarital agreement before you signed the premarital agreement."

Christine's lawyer: "Objection. This request is vague as to the scope and meaning of the terms 'understood' ... [Christine] is unable to admit or deny the request."

A lot is on the line here ... if Christine challenges the prenup at an upcoming hearing and the judge enforces it, she'll have to return the $1.5 million Kevin fronted her, and pay his attorney's fees to boot.

The judge has indicated during several hearings he is inclined to enforce the prenup.

Jeff Bezos is taking some much-needed action to help Maui recover and rebuild after the horrific wildfires -- not only by donating a huge sum of money, but also by creating a fund to keep the relief effort going.

Jeff's fiancee Lauren Sanchez announced they're donating $100 million and launching the Maui Fund, saying ... "Jeff and I are heartbroken by what's happening in Maui. We are thinking of all the families that have lost so much and a community that has been left devastated."

The deadly fires -- which have claimed at least 59 lives and wiped Lahaina off the map -- have left thousands homeless and without any personal belongings. The humanitarian crisis would be enough to draw Bezos' attention, but he also has a personal tie to the island.

He purchased a 14-acre estate for $78 million in 2021 ... which is about 20 miles south of where the fires are raging.