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Clarence Avant, the music executive known to many as the "Black Godfather," has died ... 19 months after his wife was murdered in their L.A. area home.

The legendary businessman passed away at his home in L.A. on Sunday, according to a statement from his kids, Nicole and Alexander, as well as his son-in-law, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

They said Clarence is leaving behind "a long family and a sea of friends and associates that have changed the world and will continue to change the world for generations to come. The joy of his legacy eases the sorrow of our loss."

Clarence started as a manager of a lounge in New Jersey in the 1950s, and was mentored in his early years by Joseph G. "Joe" Glaser -- Louis Armstrong's music manager.

He quickly became a pioneer in the world of music ... managing countless singers and performers like Sixto Rodriguez, Bill Withers, and duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.

He also founded 2 record labels in his time -- Venture Records in 1967 and Sussex Records in 1969 ... and went on to launch the first African-American-owned FM radio station.

Clarence made moves in the industry for decades ... brokering the sale of Stax Records, becoming chairman of the board of Motown Records, and getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was awarded an Industry Icon Award at the Grammys in 2019 -- the same year his Netflix documentary, "The Black Godfather," debuted.

FYI, he married his wife, Jacqueline, in 1967 -- and TMZ broke the story, she was shot and killed in a burglary attempt at their L.A. home in 2021.

We last saw Clarence leaving Craig's in WeHo in 2022 ... being greeted by some fans while spending a night out with Ted.

Clarence was 92.

You can't lose with Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, or Nate Diaz ... BUT, given a choice of the three opponents, UFC legend Chuck Liddell knows the fight he'd like to see.

Nate Diaz vs. The Notorious III!

TMZ Sports caught up with Liddell at LAX this week ... and asked him about Conor's next fight.

"All those would be an interesting fight but I think Nate Diaz, run it back to do it one more time. That'd be fun to watch."

Of course, McGregor's supposed to fight Chandler, who is coaching opposite him on "The Ultimate Fighter." Though, after Gaethje's win over Dustin Poirier a few weeks ago, Conor went at Justin on social media.

Then there's Nate ... who just lost a boxing match to Jake Paul. The guys have obviously fought twice in the past, with each man winning one. They've always said they want to complete the trilogy, which would arguably be the biggest in the promotion's history.

"It will be fun. I think it will be real competitive, I think it's a good one to come back to."

Out of the three options, Chuck makes it clear he wants Conor and Nate. As for how it'll go, The Iceman thinks it'll be a close fight.

Speaking of Diaz and Paul, we also asked Liddell if he bought what Jake was selling ... when he said he could beat Nate with 8-9 months of MMA training.

Chuck isn't so sure.

"That tells me [Jake] just doesn't understand the difference. He has no clue what the difference between MMA and boxing."

Liddell explained some of the challenges when going from boxing to mixed martial arts.

"It's funny [Paul] usually fights two weight classes below him, he likes to pick guys that are a lot smaller than him but Nate's a good jiu-jitsu guy, he's a good grappler and he knows how to fight MMA," Chuck told us.

"There's a different stance, everything changes. You add kicks, you gotta change your stance, you can't stand in boxing stance. I hit you so, it hurts so bad in the first round, you got one round to knock me out."

Donnie Yen had one helluva 60th birthday party ... a lavish surprise bash in Lake Como, Italy ... and it looks like no expense was spared.

Our sources tell us the "John Wick: Chapter 4" star's wife, Cissy Wang, organized the surprise party ... flying out 150 guests into Villa Pizzo in Lake Como to celebrate the birthday boy.

The evening's special guest ... none other than Paul Anka!!!

Paul performed his timeless hit, "My Way," for Donnie and his guests.

Donnie, who plays Caine alongside Keanu Reeves in the latest 'John Wick' flick, had lots to celebrate during his Italian getaway ... because he also marked 20 years of marriage.

The actor and his wife renewed their vows on the shores of Italy's most famous lake ... the happy couple was dressed to the nines, as were their son and daughter.

Donnie and his son also slipped into tuxedos for a family photo shoot outside an Italian villa ... posing in front of a classic car with his wife and daughter, who were wearing extravagant dresses.

American actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler was 18 years old when she first played the role of Meadow Soprano -- the stubborn and entitled daughter who graduates from Catholic School and heads to Columbia University -- in HBO's "The Sopranos" from 1999-2007.

Sigler was part of an ensemble cast including the late James Gandolfini as the temperamental Italian-American mobster and father who winds up fooling around on his wife, Tony Soprano, Edie Falco as Tony's wife who is witty and committed to her family, Carmela Soprano and Lorraine Bracco as Tony's notable and wealthy therapist, Jenifer Melfi.

Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, went for a not-so-wild on a mechanical bull earlier this summer -- and based on the video we got of them on this thing ... you can tell the owners of the joint wanted to protect their QB.

The Chiefs star and his crew were at PBR Big Sky in Kansas City way back in early June -- for a charity event that a lot of celebs were involved in at the time -- and while hanging out ... it seems Pat and Brit got a little courage in them, wanting to mount the fake bull.

Check out these clips, obtained by TMZ, that shows the couple riding it together ... Brittany up front, and Patty in the back. As you can tell, it wasn't going too hard whatsoever -- these mechanical bulls can mess people up -- but that was far from the case here. Nice and easy!

Still, PM fell off first ... and it wasn't long after that Brittany went flying too. Again, it's pretty clear the operators of the bull weren't trying to bust them up ... they are KC royalty, after all.

At another point in the night ... Patrick got on there by himself, and there too he was smooth sailing. Probably a good call to go light on the big fella -- not only does he have pressure to win another Super Bowl (after snatching one last year) but he's gonna be the face of the franchise for years to come. No sense in causing a collar bone break in August. 😅

A fighter jet crash landed in Michigan this weekend -- and while the aircraft going down is jarring itself, what's even crazier ... the 2 pilots were able to escape right in the nick of time!

The incident went down Sunday in Ypsilanti near the Willow Run Airport, where the Thunder Over Michigan airshow was being held ... and MiG-23s were doing their thing up in the sky, entertaining people down below.

Toward the end of the event, one of the fighter jets started to clearly lose control as it torpedoed toward the ground ... and it became evident that it was going down.

Smoke was seen emitting from the plane, and even some debris appeared to be falling off as it descended. Soon, it was nosediving ... and it eventually crashed, creating a loud boom and an explosion. Fortunately, the two dudes who were flying the thing ejected themselves.

The moment they were catapulted out was also caught on video ... and it's wild. Reports say the two pilots have since been recovered and are expected to be okay. It's unclear where exactly the jet ended up landing, or if there were any injuries or fatalities as a result.

The Rock and Jason Momoa are speaking up after the devastating wildfires in Maui -- and they're offering ways to help ... as well as some strongly-worded advice to outsiders.

The two Hollywood heavyweights -- both of whom have Hawaiian heritage -- have issued public statements this weekend, reflecting on the destruction left behind in Lahaina ... where the body count is now nearing the 100-person mark, with several still unaccounted for.

Jason has been posting about it all weekend, and he's plugging an organization called the Hawai'i Community Foundation ... specifically, a fund they've created to help the victims of Maui. In addition to the laying out a roadmap to resources, he's got a clear message.

To all tourists considering traveling to Hawai'i, especially Maui, JM is saying ... stay away.

He writes in no uncertain terms, "Maui is not the place to have your vacation right now. DO NOT TRAVEL TO MAUI. Do not convince yourself that your presence is needed on an island that is suffering this deeply. Mahalo to everyone who has donated and shown aloha to the community in this time of need."

Might sound like a no-brainer, but there've been on-the-ground reports of folks/tourists still frolicking in the area and enjoying their vacays, right in the middle of this disaster.

One video, in particular, has been going viral for what appears to be a group of tourists being taken out to sea near Maui by an excursion company ... this as the photog bashes the hell out of them for being insensitive about the deadly situation all around them. That company has since apologized, insisting they were gonna donate the funds from this to charity -- but vowing to halt operations for the time being. Safe to say ... that's a good call.

Now, as for Dwayne Johnson ... he, too, has addressed the crisis and is pointing people to the Hawai'i Community Foundation Maui Fund as well -- saying any donations and assistance will go a long way in helping restore the community, which is still reeling from the fires.

The Rock writes, "Heartbroken but our faith and mana is strong. First responders, health care teams, hotels, locals businesses, boots on the ground organizations and all our local heroes, stay strong - we love you and appreciate you."

He adds, "All our local families, our ohana, our aiga, stay strong thru this devastating time. Resilience resolve is our DNA. Our ancestors are in our blood. This is who we are. This is what we do. I love you. Stay strong. More to come."

Others celebs are chiming in as well -- including "Moana" star Auliʻi Cravalho -- who's been guiding people to helpful resources too. Of course, people like Jeff Bezos and Oprah are helping in a big way as well ... be it with major cash donations, or other means.

Britney Spears has a new stage to dance on, and a new prop too ... just take a look at her latest IG video, and you'll see what we mean.

The singer threw up a new clip of herself on the 'Gram, and it shows Brit rocking a skimpy bikini and strutting her stuff on a little black platform ... with none other than a stripper pole attached in the middle and shooting upright. Looks like there's a brand too ... "X-Pole."

BS' video has Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" track playing as the main audio -- a pretty good stripper song, no doubt -- and she's up there jerking around from head to toe ... full throttle.

Britney wrote, "Got this pole two days ago and last night was my first time on it." We gotta say, if this is indeed her inaugural pole sesh ... she seems to already have a knack for it.

On its face, this is just more of the same from Britney -- especially these days, where she's dancing around her house and busting out the moves (oftentimes revealing a lot of skin). The difference here, of course, is that she's incorporating some new toys into the routine.

Of course, there's another way to look at this ... and that would be a cringe one.

Remember, Britney's sons -- Jayden and Sean -- hightailed out of Cali recently to move to Hawaii with their dad ... this after publicly bashing their mom and her social media antics.

Travis Scott's riding his own wave after dropping a new album -- and by that, we mean he's riding off into the sunset ... on a jet ski, no less, with at least one hot chick in tow.

The rapper was out in Ibiza this weekend with a bunch of friends tagging along, and it looks like they got themselves a yacht for some sea-time festivities ... including jet skiing, surfing, etc. Travis was definitely happy to play with all the toys ... dude was having a ball!

Like we said, there appears to have been just one female in the crew -- at least from what we can see -- and that would be IG model Tianna Lynnm ... the one in the bikini there.

She, too, was getting wet and wild ... but from the looks of it, she was kinda hanging around one of his buddies (guy with the durag), although it's unclear who he is. Our Travis Scott sources confirmed that she is in fact dating that guy and not Travis.

Tianna's been documenting this trip on her social media all weekend ... and it looks like she's living the high life, and being treated like a queen on the high seas. Again, she's not hooking up with Travis ... which jibes with these SZA rumors, if you buy 'em.

There wasn't any sign of the singer here either, but there's been rumblings about them being a thing these days. What we know for sure ... he's definitely not with Kylie Jenner right now.

Whether Travis is seeing anyone at the moment or not ... Tianna certainly makes for some good eye candy on the vacay. Plus, he's living it up regardless ... as we can clearly see.

Jennifer Lopez might be on vacation, but that doesn't mean she won't pick up a microphone if the mood strikes ... which is exactly what happened on this Italian island Saturday.

The actress/singer hit up a joint in Capri called Anema e Core -- which is a restaurant/live music venue ... where tons of stars have visited over the years, including J Lo. Looks like she wanted to hit up again for the good vibes ... and definitely contributed to them too.

Watch ... Jen was handed a mic, and got to work -- with the background music for Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" starting to swell ... and JLo getting ready to belt.

Soon, the song starts ... and Jennifer launches into the first verse with a lot of gusto. The crowd that was all around her definitely got into it quickly -- as did her entourage, who started wailing on a tambourine and hyping the moment even more. It was pretty cool, TBH.

In addition to 'IWS,' Jen also sang her own song -- "Let's Get Loud" -- and that too got applause. No sign of Ben Affleck anywhere for this trip ... seems Jen's flying solo here.

Stephen Amell seems to have changed his tune when it comes to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike -- first demonstrated in his actions, and now further cemented by his own words.

The "Arrow" star spoke to a photog this week not long after he was spotted out in NYC with other fellow SAG members, hitting the picket line and showing support/solidarity for his union amid the ongoing negotiations ... which have dragged on for about a month or so now.

Check out what he had to say ... SA says he doesn't believe he's done a 180 on the issue, but rather -- that he just misspoke at first, and now has some clarity on how he feels.

What that manifests into, as he notes, is unwavering support for SAG-AFTRA ... something he's had since the beginning. And while he did say he didn't support the act of striking -- pointing out how hard it was on working actors -- he now says he's been educated on the process ... this after speaking to SAG leadership, who explained it wasn't done lightly.

You'll recall ... Stephen got a lot of backlash, at first, for saying what he said about striking, but since then ... it sounds like the dude has come around to realizing it's for a larger purpose, despite some growing pains people might be experiencing on the ground.

Interestingly, what Stephen says here on camera strongly echoes what he told us on "TMZ Live" a couple weeks ago ... when he was trying to put his original remarks in context.

Drake made a startling confession to his fans in the City of Angels on night #1 of his L.A. stint -- telling them the debut show almost didn't happen ... but that he insisted it did.

The rapper was performing Saturday night at Kia Forum -- the first of 4 shows at this venue, and the first of 6 total that he'll be down here in Los Angeles. While onstage, he talked to the crowd ... and said there was some issues before showtime, which nearly derailed things.

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ, where he explains what was going down hours before the doors were set to open ... Drake says his team was saying there were some logistical issues they were facing in setting up the stage and the production at large.

Drake says due to this, they were telling him the show was probably going to have to be canceled -- but he put his foot down ... and demanded they find a way to make it happen.

Obviously, they did ... because the show went on as scheduled, albeit a bit late -- but which Drake and 21 Savage made up for by staying later ('til about midnight or so, we're told) to do their complete set. Based on what we can gather ... the concertgoers were appreciative.

It's cool to hear Drake talk about L.A. and what it means to him/why he moved mountains to make the show happen. He says this has been like a second home to him ... and that the city has a special place in his heart. Bottom line ... he didn't wanna let Angelenos down.

And, frankly, it's a huge relief The Forum gig wasn't nixed ... because it could've possibly spelled trouble for the other dates at this venue. Of course, the recent cancelation of his concert in Memphis comes to mind -- where there, too, were production issues that forced him to skip the show. It sounds like a similar situation almost unfolded here as well.

Fact is, Drake's concerts for his 'It's All a Blur' tour are pretty elaborate ... especially with the stage design and all the props he uses -- including a lot of giant/high-tech effects.

Mark Zuckerberg is tired of waiting for Elon Musk to get ready to rumble, so he's moving on -- so says the Facebook founder himself.

The techie billionaire announced Sunday he was throwing in the towel on the planning process, saying it was clear to him that EM wasn't serious about duking it out ... evidenced, at least in Mark's eyes, in all the excuses Elon has offered to postpone this thing.

MZ writes, "I think we can all agree Elon isn't serious and it's time to move on. I offered a real date. Dana White offered to make this a legit competition for charity. Elon won't confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead."

The backyard thing is new news -- and pretty eyebrow-raising if true. Mark adds, "If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I'm going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously."

Mark has kinda been teasing this move for a while now ... consistently refuting Elon's characterization of things, and alleging that the Twitter honcho was stonewalling on purpose.

In fact, it wasn't too long ago that Mark said he wasn't holding his breath for Elon -- and despite EM trying to hype up the fight just this past week (by mentioning the prospect of Italy as a venue), it sounds like Mark's throwing cold water on the whole thing ... calling BS.

It was a cool would-be event while it lasted, we suppose ... and time will tell if Mark pulling the plug like this will force Elon to actually commit -- but if he doesn't, it might be over.

Tiffany Gomas, the woman from the viral in-flight freak-out, is apologizing for her epic meltdown ... telling us she let her emotions get the best of her.

Addressing the viral video for the first time on camera, an emotional Tiffany tells TMZ ... there's no excuse for freaking out on a plane full of people and causing everyone to have to deplane and be delayed.

Tiffany also says her rant could have done without the excessive profanity -- she infamously screamed, "That motherf**** back there is not real" -- and she's especially sorry to all the parents onboard who were left to explain the situation to their kids.

While Tiffany says she's laughed at all the memes being spawned from her worst moment, she says it feels invasive to have her lapse in judgment captured on camera and broadcast for the entire world to see.

Lil Durk did not finish his show Saturday night, because cops descended on the venue after receiving reports of an active shooter.

Durk was nearing the end of the concert at the United Center in Chicago Saturday night, when pandemonium erupted as the crowd ran for the exits.

Cops showed up with rifles, on the hunt for a shooter, but Chicago PD said it turned out to be a false alarm. Chicago is on high alert these days, where shootings have become tragically commonplace.

As the some of the concertgoers left the arena, they helped themselves to some merch ... whoever was working the merch stand apparently ran with the rest of the crowd.

Lil Durk posted about the show after and shouted out the fans who stole the merch.

There were no injuries reported and no arrests were made. We reached out to the United Center ... so far no word back.

Drake went braless during his concert in Inglewood Saturday night ... and it's all because of his kid.

Drake performed his first of 4 shows at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, and fans did what they've been doing recently at all of his concerts ... throwing bras in his direction. Drake at first was dismayed by at least one of the garments at the edge of the stage, kicking it off after dismissing it as a "glue-on."

He then urged the crowd to stop with the bras, revealing his 5-year-old son Adonis was backstage ... he told his fans, "I can't talk about titties tonight in L.A. because my son is at the show for the first time ever."

Drake did take a sweet moment to serenade his son and the crowd ate it up!