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The mystery over Natalee Holloway's famous disappearance was cleared up once and for all -- because the prime suspect just admitted he killed her and attempted to defraud her family.

Joran van der Sloot appeared in an Alabama court Wednesday, where prosecutors told the court van der Sloot had confessed to Holloway's parents that he'd taken her life ... apparently, he bludgeoned her to death after she refused his sexual advances -- this according to Holloway's mother, Beth, who also spoke.

She said, "You didn't get what you wanted from Natalee, your sexual satisfaction, so you brutally killed her" -- adding that he "terminated her dreams, her potential, her possibilities."

Beth says van der Sloot admitted to killing Natalee on the beach and putting her body in water.

Van der Sloot entered a guilty plea to charges of wire fraud and extortion that he was facing here in the U.S. case -- while indirectly tied to Holloway's death -- was inextricably linked to her disappearance.

Interestingly enough, van der Sloot expressed remorse for the killing, saying he'd become a born-again Christian -- but Holloway's mother, as she told him that he'd always be a killer ... no matter what.

While van der Sloot might've copped to killing Holloway -- that's not what he'll be punished for here in the U.S. The case is somewhat convoluted -- especially since she first vanished almost 20 years ago on the island of Aruba -- but basically ... officials in America ended up charging him for attempting to sell information to Holloway's family about where her remains are ... which Beth says she actually paid for out of desperation.

As part of this plea deal he struck with the prosecution, van der Sloot was forced to finally clear up the details of Holloway's disappearance in 2005 ... and now he has.

Holloway -- who was 18 -- was on a high school graduation trip in the Dutch territory ... and witnesses say they saw her leaving a bar with van der Sloot and two other men, who have long been suspected to have been involved in whatever it is that happened to her.

The 3 men were arrested a couple different times over the years in connection to Holloway's disappearance -- but they were also cut loose over a lack of evidence. Van der Sloot, however, is the one who's fallen into the crosshairs of the U.S. ... as they indicted him in 2010, alleging he'd tried extorting and defrauding the Holloway family.

While he was charged in America well over a decade ago, he hadn't gotten extradited until just earlier this year -- as part of an agreement with the Peruvian government. You see, he's actually serving a prison sentence there for an entirely different case ... where a court found him guilty of murdering a different young woman, Stephany Flores.

Anyway, once this is dealt with, he'll reportedly be shipped back to Peru to finish his sentence -- and, after that, presumably return to America to start serving whatever punishment he receives as part of this case.

The Holloway story was one of the biggest disappearance cases in recent memory -- and her family had her declared legally dead in 2012 after many years of going without answers.

42 Dugg is a free man again -- released from prison earlier after serving 17 months for gun possession ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

The Detroit rapper was greeted by family, friends and his CMG Records boss Yo Gotti on Monday outside the Georgia prison where he'd been since May 2022.

After a rousing welcome home, we're told they immediately got some good grub and headed straight to the studio!!!

If you recall, 42 lashed out about his prison conditions back in May of this year ... claiming he was being held illegally past his court date, and the U.S. Marshals were playing mind games with him as if they'd captured Ethan Hunt.

42 led the feds on a manhunt for months, starting at the end of 2021, when he was supposed to turn himself in to a West Virginia prison.

He eventually was sentenced to 1 year, and quickly had regrets after intake at the prison -- he lashed out at the lack of hot water and other amenities on the inside.

Gotti offered up a pretty penny for his release -- $2 million to any attorney able to get his sentence shortened.

No word if he ended up forking out that dough, but Dugg is definitely home.

His arrival comes just in time for the upcoming CMG Tour featuring, arguably, the hottest team in rap ... Moneybagg Yo, GloRilla, EST Gee and more.

Kanye West wants the public to know -- he's not bipolar, as he's previously claimed -- instead, he says, he has "signs of autism" caused from his car crash in 2002.

In a bizarre text-rant to Elon Musk, Kanye states, "When are we going to speak. You owe me nothing. You never have to speak to me again. But if we do speak. The nature of the relationship has to change. I’m not bi polar. I have signs of autism from my car accident."

He continues, "You can’t watch Kim keep my kids from me. And not say anything publicly then call yourself my friend so I can bring my audience to your struggling platform."

The texts were posted by Ian Connor, a guy who has run in Kanye's circle for years, you can see Kanye instructed him to get the message out ... as Kanye's lost access to almost all of his social media accounts.

Elon suspended Kanye's Twitter account in December for antisemitic remarks the rapper made, including stating he was going to go, "Go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE." The account was reinstated again in July, but Kanye hasn't been active on the platform.

Unclear if Kanye and Elon have had private discussions on bringing him back onto Twitter with some other type of opportunity or what spurred his texts to the Tesla founder.

What's clear from the messages, Kanye's still at war with Kim Kardashian, claiming she's keeping the kids from him. Interestingly enough, we've seen Kanye in Italy for months with his wife, Bianca Censori, and only with his kids a couple of those times -- including a visit from Saint only a few weeks ago.

As for the car crash he's referring to which caused his alleged "signs of autism" ... Kanye was driving home from a recording studio around 3 AM in October 2002 when he allegedly fell asleep behind the wheel of a rented Lexus -- crashing into an oncoming car.

Everyone has their price, and Yung Joc is being blunt about his ... saying he wouldn't perform for the LGBTQ+ community for even a quarter of a million dollars!!!

The rapper recently did an interview for VladTV, addressing something Boosie confessed to not too long ago -- namely, turning down $250k for a show at an event that was exclusively for the LGBT crowd.

That, in and of itself, isn't all that surprising ... Boosie's always worn his homophobia on his sleeve -- and Joc is echoing that sentiment.

He says he, too, would refuse that payment if it meant he had to get onstage in front of gay men, specifically. You gotta watch how he says it, though ... Joc admits being extremely uncomfortable with men gawking at him with "lustful eyes" as he raps lyrics to his hit, "It's Goin' Down."

Joc stresses just how much $250k is ... and how big it is to get paid that much cash in one sitting -- and he does this to stress just how strongly he feels about this issue. As he says, he doesn't seem to want to associate himself with that "lifestyle" on principle.

Russell Wilson may not be winning on the football field, but off it is a different story ... the NFL star and his wife Ciara donated $1 million total to a bunch of organizations around Denver!

Russell and Ciara revealed the amazing contribution on Tuesday ... saying they gave ten different nonprofits in Denver $100k each.

The 9x Pro Bowler and Ciara -- who is pregnant with their third child -- hand over massive checks to "deserving organizations"  ... in partnership with their Why Not You Foundation and Common Spirit Health.

"We are forever grateful for the opportunity to impact our youth!" Wilson said.

"Today, we celebrated 10 deserving organizations which will each receive $100,000 to support their remarkable work in health equity, education, food security, social justice, and support for children and youth."

Of course, the gesture comes days after the Broncos lost a close Thursday Night Football game to the Chiefs, bringing their record to 1-5 record, putting them in last place in the AFC West.

Fans had high expectations when they landed the Super Bowl champ in a trade back in March 2022 ... giving him a 4-year, $245 million extension.

But, the 34-year-old quarterback hasn't been good ... he's 5-16 as the starter, and was sacked 55 times last season, the most in his NFL career. This year hasn't been much better.

However, Broncos' new head coach Sean Payton says the blame shouldn't be entirely on Russ.

"We got to be able to throw it better to win in this league, and that wasn’t directed at one player," Payton said after the TNF loss, "It was directed at all of us on offense."

Despite the struggles in Broncos Country, Wilson hasn't let the on-field struggles slow down his philanthropy.

Travis Kelce was shaking in his boots when Taylor Swift came face-to-face with his dad, Ed, during his Thursday Night Football matchup last week ... admitting he has no idea what the two talked about -- and he's concerned.

The Kansas City Chiefs superstar addressed his pops' recent interaction with his new lady during his "New Heights" podcast with his brother, Jason, on Wednesday ... saying meeting his mom, Donna, is one thing -- but Ed is an entirely different animal.

"If you were watching the game, you saw something momentous happen -- which was Taylor Swift talking to Ed Kelce,'" the Eagles center said.

The two brothers joked about the pairing ... with Jason saying, "He shouldn't be talking to Taylor Swift."

"This is a terrifying conversation," Travis added. "I felt terrible for Taylor."

Jason explained the fear comes from the fact that their dad can be quite the wildcard ... and considering they didn't know what was said, the possibilities are endless.

"Talking to mom, alright that's gonna be fine. If you see dad talking to anyone and you can't hear what's happening, who knows where that conversation is going."

The guys were obviously joking ... with Travis making sure the listeners knew Ed is the "best f***ing dad in the world" -- and claiming that's where Jason gets his iconic storytelling skills.

Britney Spears is back at it with what appears to be her favorite pastime these days ... dancing with large knives.

The Grammy-winning pop star recorded a video of herself twirling around with two butcher knives -- one gripped in each hand.

In the footage posted on Instagram Tuesday, Britney moves close to the camera at one point and simulates slitting her throat as she smiles.

Despite the disturbing images, Britney says everything is just fine, writing in the caption, "Come over don’t worry I have such a warm inviting loving home with these FAKE knives !!!"

The IG clip is reminiscent of footage she posted several weeks ago that prompted concerned cops to conduct a welfare check at Britney's L.A mansion.

When the officers arrived at the gate, security guards assured them Britney was OK, but she didn't want to talk to them, so they left.

Days later, Britney took to social media to demand an apology from police for abuse of power.

In the earlier dance videos, Britney clanked together what seemed to be real knives, but she claimed they were fake. She also had a slash wound on her leg and a bandage around her arm.

As you know, Britney has been promoting her new book, "The Woman In Me," which goes on sale next week, and it's already stirred some controversy.

She talks about her failed relationship with Justin Timberlake, accusing him of cheating while they dated and mutually agreeing to abort their child. Justin has not publicly commented on Britney's claims.

Sophia Bush's ex-husband is opening up about her finding a new love, and sounds like he's still very much in her corner after it was revealed the "One Tree Hill" actress is dating U.S. Women's soccer star Ashlyn Harris.

A rep for Sophia's ex, Grant Hughes, tells TMZ ... "Grant will always want the best for Sophia, and is supportive of all that makes her happy and fulfilled."

As we reported, sources connected to Sophia and Ashlyn told us they recently became official, but the timing's a bit odd -- it comes not long after they both filed to divorce their exes.

Ashlyn filed docs less than a month ago to end her marriage to fellow USWNT star Ali Krieger after 4 years together, and Sophia filed in August to divorce Grant ... they'd been married for a little over a year.

Kelly Clarkson sent fans into a frenzy after looking incredible, appearing to have recently shed some weight ... this after last year's rough divorce from Brandon Blackstock.

The singer stunned her followers online after she showed off her slim physique with a snap last weekend getting ready to appear on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" -- rocking a black lace top and a huge smile on her face.

Fans were praising Kelly left and right in the comments, with loads of folks shouting out how fantastic she looks ... but some pointed to the potential for meds contributing -- at least, in part -- to the slimmed look.

There are a handful of comments talking about Ozempic -- one wrote, "Ozempic to the rescue!!!" and another said, "looks like you've been hitting the ozempic."

For the record, Kelly hasn't spoken out about her recent weight loss, so it's unclear if meds were at play ... but safe to say, fans love the way she looks.

Some have also called it a "revenge bod" after settling her tumultuous divorce in March 2022 -- one commenter even wrote, "Brandon Blackstock eat your heart out."

TMZ broke the story, Kelly walked away with loads of assets at the end of their divorce, and she won primary custody of their 2 kids.

An overzealous Phillies fan learned the hard way he should've just celebrated his team's NLCS win from his seat Tuesday night  ... 'cause when he tried to race onto the field to cheer on his squad, he got LEVELED by a security guard.

The man's ill-advised jaunt in the outfield of Citizens Bank Park happened just seconds after Philadelphia put the finishing touches on its 10-0, Game 2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

You can see in video shot by a fan at the game ... the field invader hopped over an outfield wall and sprinted across the turf -- only to be met by a security guard who looked like an NFL linebacker.

The official put the Philly fan right to the ground with a form tackle that was so pure ... even Phillies players couldn't help but notice the action as they high-fived a few hundred feet away.

The man was ultimately swarmed by a slew of other stadium workers ... and once he got to his feet, blood could be seen trickling from his mouth area.

President Joe Biden is siding with Israel over the bombing Tuesday that killed hundreds of people in a Gaza hospital ... claiming it was not Israel that unleashed the weapon.

Israeli intelligence officers said Tuesday's rocket attack on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital was the work of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) -- an independent Muslim paramilitary organization. They said the jihadists were launching rockets at Israel and one of them misfired and came crashing down on the medical center.

Coupled with the footage, Israeli officials released a purported audio clip of two Hamas terrorists talking about the deadly explosion and blaming PIJ. Hamas, which controls the Palestinians in Gaza, has a tense relationship with PIJ, but the two groups sometimes work together.

In the audio clip, one alleged terrorist says, "They are saying (the rocket) belongs to Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It's from us?"

The other responds, "It looks like it. It misfired and fell on them... God bless - couldn't it have found another place to explode?"

However, the Palestinian Health Ministry issued a statement, saying Israeli airstrikes were responsible for the bombing at the medical facility, which was housing thousands of displaced people from the war.

Death tolls from the hospital blast ranged from 200 to 500 people, depending on which side you asked.

Major protests throughout the Middle East flared up as a result of the hospital attack. Hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators took to the streets in Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.

It's been looking like a completely different decade on social media lately, as users have flocked to throw themselves right back into the '90s ... and celebs are no exception.

Of course, we're talking about the Epik App -- which uses artificial intelligence to throw people's faces into a collection of stock image yearbook photos that are drenched with late 20th-century styles that reflect what high schoolers might've been wearing some 30-odd years ago.

This trend is all the rage right now ... and you better believe Hollywood is getting in on it too -- with some of the most recognizable faces getting cut and pasted into the past.

Just a handful of the stars who've given Epik a go ... Snoop Dogg, Heidi Klum, Keke Palmer, Nick Carter, Jessie James Decker, Julian Edelman, Chance the Rapper, Steve Aoki, Hoda Kotb, Frankie Grande, Coco Jones, Jenna Bush Hager and Olivia Dunne ... to name a few.

Some other standouts ... Arnold Schwarzenegger's "yearbook" pic is definitely a head-turner, seeing how AI has morphed into something totally unrecognizable -- in a good way!

Britney Spears' bombshell abortion revelation has rallied both pro-life and pro-choice groups to come to her defense -- but for completely different reasons ... TMZ has learned.

We talked to a number of major orgs that land on each side of this issue ... and all are expressing support and solidarity for Britney after she shared a personal story about once getting pregnant by then-BF Justin Timberlake -- only to decide not to have the kid.

For starters -- the National Right to Life Committee, says they're actually willing to lend Brit a hand ... on account of the trauma she might be experiencing by having to relive this.

An NRLC rep tells us there are a lot of folks in their world who are just like Britney -- namely, women who've had abortions, only to regret it later ... which is certainly how Brit sounds. They say they have services and resources available they'd love to extend to her.

One of those is peer counseling and therapy ... which NRTLC says they have in abundance at any of their many pregnancy centers across the country -- all of which is confidential and judgment-free. The Committee adds ... they're there if Brit wants to reach out.

On the opposite end of the coin is a pro-choice organization -- the Center of Reproductive Rights -- which is also coming out to praise Britney ... but their POV's distinct.

As far as they're concerned ... CORR believes Britney simply sharing her experience, in and of itself, dissolves the stigma surrounding abortion -- which they see as a major win for their cause.

A rep adds, "These conversations are especially necessary right now given that millions of people across the U.S. no longer have this right."

There's one last take on all this ... and it comes courtesy of a pro-life org that's tackling the blame element here -- namely, Britney pointing the finger at JT for being the driving force behind her abortion. We broke the story ... she claims he felt they were too young.

A home belonging to Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips was burglarized earlier this month while he was away trying to help Los Angeles win a playoff series ... this according to cops.

Law enforcement tells TMZ Sports ... the break-in at Phillips' L.A.-area pad happened at some point while he was competing against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series.

We're told one suspect smashed a rear window of Phillips' place, entered the home ... and then allegedly took jewelry and cash totaling over $10,000.

So far, no arrests have been made ... and an investigation remains ongoing.

Phillips, who's been pitching for the Dodgers since 2021, threw 2.1 innings in the series against the D-Backs, giving up no earned runs while striking out three. It's unclear if he was aware of the break-in while on the mound.

It's at least the third time cops say a Dodgers player has had to deal with a burglary at their home in the last few months ... police say places belonging to Max Muncy and Freddie Freeman were also ransacked by thieves this season.

We're told the Phillips case, however, does not appear to be connected to the other two.

Charlie Wilson has no doubts whatsoever Kanye West's upcoming album is in good hands with Ty Dolla $ign as co-pilot, because according to Uncle Charlie ... Ty's voice is golden as his!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked with The Gap Band leader at LAX, where he told us all of Ye's existing backstories -- antisemitism, public tirades, lawsuits -- will have no bearing on the quality of his new music.

We broke the story, Kanye and Ty$ were holed up good and tight in the studio last month, with Ye cranking out 10 songs in a week's time.

They're currently shopping the album but unlike Charlie's projection ... so far, major record labels are giving the impression Ye's antisemitic rhetoric left a lasting stain.

Larry Jackson's indie distributor Gamma counts Snoop Dogg, Usher and Rick Ross as clients, and still remains a viable option for the project.

As for CW, he last appeared on Kanye's 2019 "Ye" album, and tells us he's not a part of this new one. Charlie admits he and Ye lost contact, but says with Ty$ on board, it'll be a win for the project.

Before this sweet kid decked out in green was up on the big screen, he was playing his best role as Peter Pan on Halloween, playing football and rugby and working hard towards his Hollywood dreams ... growing up in North London.

In 2016, this blue-eyed boy made his feature film debut in "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" alongside Vin Diesel and Eddie Murphy. Playing the guitar and being in the school plays growing up, it's no surprise he co-produced one of the biggest music stars of all time!

If you can't guess this cute kid ... just "shake it off!"