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The Miami condominium building that partially crumbled to the ground -- leaving at least 4 dead and dozens of others unaccounted for -- seemed to be an accident waiting to happen ... at least that's what an engineering report suggested as early as 2018.

The city of Surfside -- where this awful tragedy happened -- released a number of docs related to the building, known as Champlain Towers South, and its architectural history ... and one report from engineering firm Morabito Consultants has some potentially damning findings.

According to the study, the experts found "major structural damage" to a concrete structural slab below the building's pool deck -- where the waterproofing had been laid flat as opposed to at an angle (which would help drain water from the place) ... something MC thought needed to be addressed, and which would require extensive and costly repairs.

Here's what the engineers thought could happen if this wasn't nipped in the bud ... "The failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas." They add ominously, "Failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially."

There's more ... the report also found "abundant cracking and spalling" in the concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage. Not just that, but what cracks had been found before were apparently repaired with shoddy labor, including slapping epoxy on top.

A spectator with a sign caused a massive, crazy pileup Saturday during the Tour de France.

Literally minutes after the race began ... a fan holding a cardboard sign held it out too far ... hitting one of the riders ... causing him to eat it hard. That, in turn, triggered a chain reaction as rider after rider bit the dust in a wild scene.

Here's how it was described by former green jersey winner Sean Kelly ... “The guys at the front went through a very tight section between the islands in the middle of the road and it was a dangerous one for those further back in the peloton. This is Brittany – you have a lot of road furniture and small villages. It is very technical for the first stage of the Tour de France.”

As if that's bad enough ... there's a real chance of rain as the day wears on. Believe in bad omens much?

It's unclear if any of the riders were injured, but gotta say ... if none were, it's a minor miracle.

Britney Spears conspiracy theorists are back at it -- suggesting she didn't write one of her recent, emotional IG posts ... but we've learned she definitely did, and meant every word.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... Internet claims that Britney's social media manager, Cassie Petrey, is the one who crafted her Thursday IG post -- the one about fairy tales and Britney's life not being one -- are complete nonsense.

If ya missed it ... some of Brit's fans speculated the post was intended as damage control following her explosive court hearing Wednesday, and pointed to her mentioning her family in a somewhat positive light as proof.

Our sources say this is totally false -- just like the previous rumors that Cassie writes her posts -- and insist Britney has always been responsible for all of the messaging on her social media and always will be.

We're told Britney's social media accounts don't do scheduled posts either, as some fans believe, and she posts whenever she feels like it. We're also told social media has been the one positive outlet for her where she doesn't feel controlled ... so fans should believe what she says there.

Our sources add that Britney's digital team is very proud of her for speaking up in court about her conservatorship, and they note she had no complaints about social media during her testimony.

Quentin Tarantino was immovable Friday night ... standing firm on his desire to retire, despite persistent protestations by Bill Maher.

Quentin was awesome, bluntly telling Bill, “I know film history and from here on in, filmmakers do not get better."

Maher grilled the 58-year-old filmmaker like a cheeseburger, imploring him to keep making flicks ... even suggesting 58 is the new 57, but it was a no-go.

Q.T. caused quite the stir, briefly saying his next film -- which he says will be his last -- will be a "Reservoir Dogs" reboot, before adding he was just joking.

And then, Bill started talking about the PC world of film, and Quentin had lots of thoughts ... saying ideology now trumps everything else in cinema, including art and entertainment.

Michael Strahan's ex-wife has been arrested for violating an order of protection involving an ex who claimed she was being terrorized by the woman ... TMZ has learned.

Jean Muggli Strahan was taken into custody Friday night in New York City and booked for criminal contempt.

Marianne Ayer says she was in a relationship with Jean which ended, but claims that's when the alleged harassment began.

Marianne had filed legal docs in June accusing Jean of grand larceny, disorderly conduct, harassment, coercion and forcible touching. Marianne claimed in the legal docs Jean took her son's plastic gun which he used in a student film and threatened her, claiming the gun was real.  Marianne went on to claim Jean abused her pets by allegedly shoving and kicking her German Shepherd.

The J Lo/Ben Affleck train just keeps rolling along ... Friday night it made a stop in Bev Hills and they couldn't look tighter.

Check out the smiles as they left Avra restaurant and nuzzled in the back seat of their chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce on the way home from a night out on the town.

J Lo defies both age and the laws of gravity ... and the pics are exhibits A through Z. Just amazing. Oh, Ben looks good too.

Ben was way more casual with his go-to bomber jacket.

He also rocked a green shirt and black leather-looking trainers as he tried to conceal his face from the flashing cameras.

They've both been shuffling between coasts for the last few months after their romance re-ignited.

The war between Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend's brother is far from over, because the Amazon chief has just sued Michael Sanchez for allegedly hiding money to avoid forking over some serious cash.

As we reported, Lauren Sanchez's brother had sued Bezos for defamation for allegedly smearing his name by accusing him of leaking intimate text messages to the media before his relationship with Lauren became public. A judge threw out the case and ordered Sanchez to pay the legal bills of Bezos and his P.I., Gavin de Becker. That bill came to $254,404.

Apparently, that bill has not been paid ... so Bezos is now suing Michael, claiming he's intentionally secreting assets to avoid forking over the loot.

Bezos claims after Michael lost the case, he transferred ownership of his $2.5 mil home in WeHo to a shell company ... allegedly to avoid having the proceeds seized by the Amazon honcho.

Michael's rep told the Seattle Times that Bezos’ suit is classic “bullying.” Sanchez's Attorney, Tom Warren, tells TMZ "The world has been accusing Mr. Bezos of not paying his fair share of taxes, exploiting Amazon employees, and spreading fake conspiracy theories about the future king of Saudi Arabia. You can now add bullying his future brother-in-law to the list."

He continues "As Mr. Bezos well knows, Mr. Sanchez’ attorneys are aggressively pursuing an appeal of the anti-SLAPP judgment. If successful, Mr. Sanchez will owe Mr. Bezos nothing. Nevertheless, earlier this week, Mr. Sanchez authorized his team to coordinate with Mr. Bezos’ counsel concerning payment of the judgment. Had Mr. Bezos’ attorneys bothered to reach out to Mr. Sanchez’ counsel before filing a lawsuit against him, they would have known that to be the case."

Tristan Thompson's paternity accuser is on the verge of losing a lawsuit against the NBA star, which could mean coughing up a lot of dough ... much of which she could raise at a strip club.

Kimberly Alexander, who claimed Tristan fathered her 5-year-old, is hosting an upcoming event at Larry Flynt's Hustler Club New York ... and the club tells us her appearance fee might be enough to pay off the nearly $53k she could soon owe TT.

TMZ broke the story ... Tristan sued Alexander last year for libel, claiming her baby daddy allegations hurt his rep and cost him endorsement deals, and now the court is leaning toward awarding him a chunk of cash.

We're told Alexander's July 1 hosting duties will include photo ops and meets and greets ... and she's going to get on stage with porn star Alexis Monroe and several strippers. Oh, and the club says she'll also get the "royal treatment" with bottle service and private dances. Y'know, fringe benes.

Of course, Tristan is a single man these days after his latest split from Khloe Kardashian, but don't expect him to roll through the Hustler Club when Alexander's hosting.

Britney Spears' emotional testimony has more people than ever shouting "Free Britney" -- and Derek Chauvin's going away for a long time, but long enough? So, we gotta ask ...

Three men pulled out guns and robbed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in a terrifying incident in Los Angeles earlier this month ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us it all went down on June 17 ... when the Lakers guard was in his driveway at around 4 a.m. talking with friends.

Our sources say a car pulled up and three men then exited the vehicle with guns drawn.

We're told the men demanded KCP and his friends hand over their stuff ... which included a fancy Rolex watch, jewelry and an iPhone.

In total, our sources say the thieves made off with about $150,000 worth of loot.

We're told KCP was NOT injured in the incident, however.

We reached out to the 28-year-old's camp for comment, but so far no word back yet.

Our sources, meanwhile, say the LAPD is currently investigating it all.

Some Prince superfan just nabbed an incredible piece of memorabilia ... the handwritten lyrics to "Nothing Compares 2 U," and it wasn't cheap.

The folks over at Boston-based RR Auction sold the awesome rock artifact for a cool $150,986. The notebook paper -- with lyrics written out in cursive (there's a lost art) -- has a back story that goes beyond Prince writing one of his biggest hits.

The fan who forked out the dough also got a detailed letter of provenance from Prince's former assistant, Therese Stoulil, explaining how she came into possession of the lyric sheet.

She says, "There was a knock on my door, and I looked out the bedroom window and saw a black BMW in my driveway and immediately recognized it as Duane's, Prince's half-brother."

Therese adds, "I went downstairs opened the door, and he only said 'this is from Prince' then he got in his car and left. Once I realized what Duane delivered, I was both stunned and humbled."

The sheet still has the white console marking tape Prince use to tape the lyrics to his mic while recording the track!

Although Prince wrote it, "Nothing Compares 2 U" was first recorded by The Family -- a group he formed -- for their 1985 self-titled debut album. Most famously, Sinead O'Connor covered it 5 years later and it became Billboard's "No. 1 World Single" of 1990.

Don't let these two almost identical images of Jaden Smith have you feeling confused! Look really closely at the photos and try to solve the task at hand by uncovering what sneaky switches have been made to this tricky pic!

The talented star was seen running errands with friends in Los Angeles, CA earlier this week ... and we have made a few changes to the original pic! Take a really good look around the photos here and see if you can find the differences between these two super similar snaps!

Summer is in full swing and the heat sure is coming through ... in more ways than one! With these bikini babes stripping down and sharing their best cheeky pics, it was bound to start getting steamy!

From the beach to hanging out by the pool, there are plenty of sun-kissed stars to see!

Get a good look at all the famous females modeling their sexiest summer swimsuits by scrolling through our gallery of summer bums ... And while you're at it, put your celeb skills to the test and see if you can guess which babe is in the hotshot!

The Pentagon's UFO report has landed, but it ain't gonna leave much of a mark -- because our government's story is it doesn't know what the hell most of these objects are.

The highly-anticipated report, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, was supposed to shed light on a rash of recent sightings -- many seen by U.S. military personnel -- but instead, all it definitely noted is 143 of the 144 flying objects spotted since 2004 remain ... unexplained.

The report could be read on the toilet -- the damn thing's only 9 pages -- and doesn't even rule out the U.S. government's involvement. Think about it ... the U.S. government issued the report, but can't rule out itself. 🤔

According to the docs, the UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) "could be attributable to developments and classified programs by U.S. entities" -- meaning, the government or private industry.

Now, the report does say 18 sightings "appear to have some sort of advanced propulsion or advanced technology." Of course, the question we all have is ... who or what's behind that technology?

We know what you're wondering, and the report never uses the words aliens or extraterrestrials. Instead, it says if and when they can resolve what these UAPs are, they expect they'll fit in one of these categories: airborne clutter, natural atmospheric phenomena, U.S. government or industry programs, foreign adversary systems, or a catchall “other” bin.

We're guessing alien life would be "other."

The one incident they did resolve required 6 months of combing through hundreds of reports in order to find out one UAP was a large deflating balloon.

Ok, here's one positive thing we can say: The government says it's now established a procedure for reporting these sightings to military officials, which should help collect better data to study such objects in the future.

For now, though, leaving so much unanswered will surely fuel greater speculation, especially since parts of the report remain classified.

Derek Chauvin just got sentenced for the murder of George Floyd ... with the judge giving him 22 1/2 years in prison.

The former Minneapolis police officer learned his fate Friday in Hennepin County court, where the judge in his murder trial handed down the sentence ... some 2 months after a jury found Chauvin guilty on all 3 counts, including 2nd-degree murder.

Chauvin is getting credit for the 199 days he's already served ... and the 270-month sentence is short of the 360-month sentence prosecutors wanted but, as the judge notes, is 10 years longer than the presumptive 150-month sentence.

Judge Peter Cahill found Chauvin abused his position of trust and treated Floyd with particular cruelty ... but the court said while children were present during Chauvin's fatal interaction with Floyd, it wasn't a substantial and compelling reason for a heavier sentence.

Prosecutors also argued Chauvin and a group of cops ganged up on Floyd, but the judge saw it differently and said that argument wasn't enough to justify more years behind bars.

Chauvin's defense attorney, Eric Nelson, asked for a much shorter sentence, suggesting his client get time served and probation for the manslaughter and murder convictions.

Before the judge announced the sentence, Floyd's daughter, brothers and nephew gave their victim impact statements. In a video played in court, 7-year-old Gianna said she misses her dad and she wishes she could play with him.

Chauvin was in court listening to everything, wearing a gray suit with a blue medical mask and a buzz cut, and he briefly spoke ... offering condolences to the Floyd family and suggesting some info will come out down the line that might give the Floyd family some peace of mind.

Chauvin's mother, Carolyn Pawlenty, also spoke to the court ... saying her son's replayed the fatal interaction with Floyd over and over in his head.

Floyd's family and their legal team quickly reacted to Chauvin's sentence ... expressing relief the former cop was held accountable and saying it brings the nation one step closer to healing.

Britney Spears is doing what she loves -- relaxing in Hawaii with her BF after that bombshell court testimony in her conservatorship case ... and the looks on her face are a good sign.

The singer and Sam Asghari hopped on a private jet Thursday ... touching down in paradise for a romantic getaway that looks like it's doing them both some good.

Britney's feeling the island vibes, slipping into a bikini to soak up the sun and sip cold beer on a beautiful resort property. Sam's practicing Aloha too, going shirtless and bringing the gun show to Hawaii.

The Hawaiian scenery is a welcome change for Britney ... remember, during her testimony in Los Angeles, she complained about feeling trapped by the conservatorship, claiming she's been threatened to have Maui vacations denied if she doesn't go to therapy.

Like most couples getting away from it all in Hawaii, Britney and Sam are all smiles ... and it looks like they're definitely enjoying their break.

The fun started shortly after takeoff ... with Britney and Sam posting some silly videos from their private jet, where they played around with some filters.

As we reported, Britney also apologized to her fans for pretending to have the perfect life when she was actually struggling, and she said she was going to start reading more fairy tales.

We gotta say, Hawaii is the perfect place to do a little light reading by the pool or by the ocean.