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Keyshia Cole is speaking out for the first time since her mother's tragic death ... sharing what she loved about her mom and what she will miss the most now that she's gone.

Cole posted a series of photos with Frankie Lons Thursday with a lengthy caption to honor her late mother. She opens with, "This is so hard man. Can’t really even find the words. SMH. I honestly don’t even know how to feel. You can never prepare for something like this... Ever!!! but you will be missed."

While Keisha and Frankie weren't close while the singer was growing up -- she was raised by friends and relatives -- the two connected later in life, and their relationship was profiled on "Keyshia Cole: My New Life."

In Keisha's tribute to Frankie, she says, "I created this post to show my love and appreciation for your life and I would like to thank my fans + supporters, shooot your supporters and fans, for being here with us during these hard times, and the love that you all have for us.....the love for all your children was definitely felt."

It appears the family is organizing to have a service for Frankie in the near future with all of her kids in attendance, Keisha says, "When u said all you want is to have ALL OF YOUR CHILDREN IN ONE PLACE, AT ONE TIME meant the most to you, And I’m completely down to do that for you."

TMZ broke the story ... Frankie died at home in Oakland on Sunday, her birthday. Her son, Sam, told us she died of an overdose after a decades-long struggle with addiction.

The seemingly impossible just happened at the end of Kanye's album release event in Atlanta ... Jay-Z hopped on a track, when many believed the two were still enemies.

Kanye played "DONDA" for tens of thousands of fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Thursday. West wore all red -- a look he made famous back in 2010 -- and danced, paced and at times stood totally still while the tracks blasted through stadium speakers.

The album had audio snippets from Kanye's late mother, Donda West, throughout and featured a ton of features -- including Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Don Toliver, Vory and Playboi Carti.

However, it wasn't until the final track where the biggest stunner of the night came ... a song with Jay-Z. What's more, Jay's producer and engineer, Young Guru, tweeted, "HOV did the verse today!!!! At 4pm" ... a possible reason the event's start was delayed almost 2 hours.

If you haven't followed along over the years, the feud between Kanye and HOV came to light in 2014 when Jay and Beyonce didn't attend Kim and Kanye's wedding. Things seemed to spiral after that, including public comments Kanye made during a show in 2016 when he lashed out at Jay-Z for not checking in on his family after Kim was robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

From there ... Jay-Z dissed Kanye on his "4:44" album and Kanye eventually split from Jay's streaming service, Tidal. The two hadn't collabed or been publicly cordial up until Thursday.

Does a good fastball run in Pettitte blood? Derek Jeter is certainly hoping so ... 'cause the Marlins exec said he signed Andy Pettitte's son this week because he's banking on the kid's DNA!!

Jeets spoke about the Marlins' deal with Jared Pettitte out in NYC to Adam Glyn ... explaining, with a little bit of his tongue in his cheek, that he inked Andy's boy 'cause of his legendary pops' skillset.

"He's got good genes," Jeter said wryly when asked why he thought his longtime Yankees teammate's son deserved a chance in the Miami org.

Of course, the younger Pettitte is much more than just Andy's kid ... he's got a live arm -- even though he did record a 5.81 ERA in 13 games at Dallas Baptist University this year.

"I do model a lot of my game after [my dad]," Jared told YES Network earlier this month. "I really have to rely a lot on command and just kind of the movement on my pitches."

Jared did not get picked in the 2021 MLB draft ... but Jeter was still able to get him on board as an undrafted free agent this week nonetheless.

And, when asked if he was emotional about being reunited with another Pettitte after having so much success with Andy in New York ... Jeter said he's taking a wait-and-see approach for that.

"Not yet," Jeter said. "We got to get him down there [in the minor leagues] first!"

West Virginia athlete Mary Lou Retton was only 16 years old when she became a household name after she made the American gymnastics team and competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics Games held in Los Angeles ... where MLR took home the gold medal in individual all-around, as well as two silver and two bronze medals.

Retton was part of a power-packed squad of young gymnasts including Pamela Bileck, Tracee Talavera, Kathy Johnson, Michelle Dusserre and Julianne McNamara ... who worked together to win the silver medal in the team all-around.

Jay-Z and Beyonce are going to be in the market for a cleaning crew ... after a mansion in New Orleans, they reportedly own, caught on fire.

TMZ has confirmed firefighters responded Wednesday night to a 1-alarm fire at the Spanish baroque mansion in the Garden District. We're told the fire department got the call around 6 PM and a little over 2 hours later the fire was fully extinguished.

At this point the extent of the damage is unclear ... but a 1-alarm fire's no joke. Apparently, it took 22 firefighters to knock down the blaze.

Luckily, there were no injuries and the cause of the fire is unknown. Thankfully, a properly working smoke alarm alerted the fire department about the blaze.

As to whether the Carters own the house ... Curbed New Orleans reported back in 2015 the listed owner, Sugarcane Park LLC, shows its mailing address is the one for Bey's management company, Parkwood Entertainment.

As for the house itself ... it was reportedly built in 1925 as a Presbyterian church before it was re-purposed as a ballet school. The 3-story house features a main residence, 3 separate apartments, 26-foot ceilings and a green roof.

Both Richard Sherman AND cops suffered gnarly injuries during the NFL star's arrest last week ... new police photos, obtained by TMZ Sports, show.

In the pics, taken by law enforcement after cops say they were involved in a massive struggle to arrest the NFL player on July 14 ... you can see Sherman and cops were bloodied in the alleged scuffle outside of Sherman's in-laws' home in Redmond, WA.

Some of the pics show Sherman had a big gash on his foot that needed to be closed with stitches.

In other photos, you can see one officer had a big scrape on his shoulder ... while another had a large wound on the inside of his thigh.

Fortunately, cops described all of the injuries as minor ... with none of the parties needing significant medical treatment.

Other photos cops released Thursday appear to show damage to the door that Sherman pounded on as he tried to enter his in-laws' home just before his arrest.

As we previously reported, Sherman has been hit with five misdemeanors -- including DUI and resisting arrest -- over his alleged actions during the night.

He pled not guilty to the charges in a King County courtroom last Friday ... but said in a statement earlier in the day, "I am deeply remorseful for my actions."

Julie Bowen's unloaded her mid-century modern home just weeks after listing it, and it seems she benefitted from the housing surge ... because she got way above asking price.

The "Modern Family" star sold her pad in the Hollywood Hills -- a stylish 4-bed, 4-bath designed by Thornton Abell -- for $4.2 million ... after putting it on the market in June for $3.85 mil.

Add that to the fact Julie purchased the glass-walled house in late 2018 for just over $3 million ... so she clearly made a pretty penny.

The buyer is movie producer Wicks Walker -- best known for "Spring Breakers" ... he was repped by Carl Gambino at Compass, while Julie was repped by Beth Styne at Coldwell Banker.

Bowen's been busy in the real estate world ... just last week she just scooped up Meghan Trainor's 7,100-square-foot, 5-bedroom house in Toluca Lake for a cool $6 mil.

Fredo Bang's been arrested in Miami -- where he lives -- on a fugitive warrant out of Louisiana -- where he hails from .. TMZ has learned.

The rapper was picked up Thursday and booked in the Miami-Dade County jail, though it's unclear what he's accused of in his home state.

Fredo's scheduled to perform Friday at the Rolling Loud hip-hop festival in Miami Gardens, but it seems he might have other plans now ... like being extradited.

His arrest comes just a day after one of his fellow rappers, Lit Yoshi, was also arrested in Miami on a Louisiana warrant. Yoshi's wanted on an attempted murder charge in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.

Both rappers are part of the hip-hop group called Top Boy Gorilla, and Fredo has a well-known beef with NBA YoungBoy.

In fact, authorities believe the 2019 shooting of YoungBoy at the Trump Beach Resort near Miami is possibly linked to members of Top Boy Gorilla ... but so far, no charges have been filed.

NFL coach Greg Knapp -- who was struck by a car while riding his bike over the weekend -- succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, his family announced. He was 58 years old.

As we previously reported, Knapp and a vehicle collided on a road in San Ramon, CA. at around 2:49 PM on Saturday ... and coach was rushed to a nearby hospital with "major injuries."

Knapp tragically did not survive the accident ... with the Knapp family sharing the devastating news in a statement.

"Today at 11:32 am PST, Greg Knapp (aka Knapper) was called back home to Heaven, where he will be reunited with his Dad."

Knapp was immediately rendered unconscious after the accident ... and never regained consciousness.

"Those of us who were so blessed to have known him, know that he would have wanted even this moment to be a teachable one," the family continued. "So this is it ... 'Live every day as if it's your last, and love those around you like it won't last!'"

Knapp was beloved in the league -- he coached superstars like Steve Young, Carson Palmer, Mike Vick, Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan since joining the league in 1995 ... and had been working with rookie QB Zach Wilson this offseason after joining Robert Saleh's staff as the passing game coordinator.

He won a Super Bowl as the QB coach with the Denver Broncos in 2016.

Clancy Barone -- who coached alongside Knapp with the Atlanta Falcons and Broncos -- shared an emotional tribute to his friend of 40 years ... saying, "College teammate. Best friend in the coaching profession."

"We always made sure our lockers were next to each other during out coaching journey ... including 2 Super Bowls!!!"

"Knapper ... one of a kind in more ways than we can count."

Jets head coach Robert Saleh added ... "Greg had such an inner peace about him that people always seemed to gravitate towards."

"He lived life in a loving way that helped him connect with people from all walks of life in a unique way. In his short time here, I believe the people in this organization had a chance to experience that connection."

Knapp was surrounded by his mother, wife, brother and 3 daughters in the hospital.

Space tourism shouldn't be a tax-free joyride for Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and other billionaires ... so says Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who's ready to do something about it.

We got the Oregon Congressman on Capitol Hill Thursday and wanted to get more deets about the House bill he said he plans to soon introduce. In fact ... Blumenauer announced his plans on the same day Bezos and Blue Origin launched into space.

Blumenauer's bill is pretty simple ... he wants the wealthy going to space for the sole purpose of tourism to pay a luxury tax. He says anyone on a commercial flight on a trip NOT focused on scientific research should pay the price.

The Congressman says it's just like when a family goes to Legoland ... the theory being the ticket price includes taxes.  To be accurate, Legoland charges what it wants and is responsible for paying taxes on profits. Maybe it's more like an airline or cigarette tax.

The congressman says he's not opposed to space innovation. He just has strong feelings about the wealthy galavanting in space for their own entertainment without, as he says, supporting the public good.

DeAndre Hopkins' days in the NFL could be coming to a close ... at least that's according to the wide receiver himself, who says the league's new COVID vaccine stance has him pondering retirement.

The NFL announced Thursday it will potentially punish teams with forfeits and loss of game checks if virus outbreaks among unvaccinated players cause unfixable scheduling issues.

Hopkins clearly HATES the idea of that ... and dropped a bombshell on his social media page hours after the league's announcement, saying he might now look into retirement.

"Never thought I would say this," the Arizona Cardinals superstar said in a since-deleted tweet.

"But being put in a position to hurt my team because I don’t want to partake in the vaccine is making me question my future in the @Nfl."

The league has NOT made COVID vaccines mandatory for its players ... but it's clear, it wants all of its employees to get the shot.

In addition to Thursday's new policy, the league has also placed heavy restrictions on players who have yet to get the vaccine.

Some of those regulations include, among many other things, daily COVID testing, mask requirements and travel restrictions.

According to commissioner Roger Goodell ... about one quarter of the league's players are still not at least partially vaccinated.

Dr. Alex Khadavi -- a famous cosmetic dermatologist in L.A. -- allegedly went on a homophobic tirade about his neighbors, threatening to "blow their f***ing heads off" ... and his rant was captured on security footage.

The video, obtained by TMZ, is from Khadavi's condo complex in West Hollywood, and it shows him approaching the front desk concierge in a hostile manner while ranting about people who live in the building ... referring to them with the homophobic f-word.

He goes on to say he'll shoot these people and later threatens to kill them ... before taking his dog outside. When Khadavi returns to the lobby, he continues yelling at the front desk guy.

According to legal docs ... this incident went down on July 7, and resulted in one of Khadavi's neighbors -- who is a gay man -- filing for a restraining order against Khadavi for himself and his husband.

In the docs, the neighbor claims the concierge told him Khadavi made threats about killing gay people, and specifically asked about him and his husband and implied he was going to kill them.

The concierge also claims that 2 months before this incident ... Khadavi showed him a handgun he was carrying while taking his dog for a walk. The neighbors say they fear for their lives.

This is not the first time Dr. Khadavi has been in the news for something like this. We broke the story ... the 'Million Dollar Listing' guys got a restraining order against him back in 2016, claiming he made death threats and anti-Semitic, homophobic and racist comments.

Khadavi has had many famous celeb clients over the years, including Scott Disick and Lance Bass.

Terrelle Pryor says he crashed his bike Thursday morning -- flipping the thing TWICE -- but, the former NFL star claims he somehow escaped the scary wreck with no major injuries.

It's unclear where the accident took place ... but Pryor posted videos and a picture of the damage done to his three-wheeler in the crash, and it's horrifying.

You can see in the footage, Pryor's bike had severe scrapes, scratches and dents ... and the windshield was completely crushed.

In a comment on the clips, Pryor said, "Flipped twice from this dumb ass car chipping me."

He added, "Luckily still breathing and a scratch."

In a message to TMZ Sports, Pryor reiterated he came away from wreck OK ... saying, "Yea, I'm cool."

Pryor has been seen in the three-wheeler -- a Vanderhall model that runs for around $30,000 -- for the last few months ... even posting some video of him driving the ride with no hands back in May.

Pryor, though, said he will NOT be getting another one after Thursday's accident ... saying he's, "Done with bikes."

Of course, this ain't the first time Pryor has been fortunate to be alive after a terrifying incident ... you'll recall, he somehow made it out OK after he was allegedly violently stabbed by his GF back in Nov. 2019.

No, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner did NOT apply for unemployment benefits ... but some goon in Michigan managed to defraud the state out of thousands of dollars using the famous names.

So, check this out ... someone filed a couple of unemployment claims back in May 2020 under "Kimberly Kardashian" and "Kylie Jenner" with an address in Traverse City ... four hours northwest of Detroit.

Thing is ... nobody checked if the claims were legit before paying "Kimberly" and "Kylie" some 8 weeks of backdated unemployment pay ... to the tune of more than $7,000 each.

The payouts, BTW, hit the bank accounts just days before the state's fraud management software flagged the claims because the agency needed additional ID verification. But by then it was too little, too late.

Apparently, the unemployment agency's been rife with fraud. As the Detroit News first reported ... the agency approved thousands of claims at the height of the pandemic well knowing nearly 10% would be fraudulent claims.

So, why approve all the claims? Because if the agency had to sort through it all and ID fraudulent claims it would have held up thousands of legit claims.

And that's how this "Kardashian" and "Jenner" got paid ... not to mention some other goofball's fraudulent claim ... which included copies of a fake ID with a photo of "The Office" star John Krasinski.

Rachel Uchitel says Seeking Arrangement dropped her like a bad habit as spokesperson for the dating site in the wake of the Matt Gatez scandal ... so she claims in a new lawsuit.

Tiger Woods' ex-mistress filed legal docs claiming Seeking Arrangement terminated her contract as the company's mouthpiece just 3 months into the deal ... claiming it only happened because the company ran scared after the congressman from Florida was linked to the dating service.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Uchitel says she and Seeking Arrangement entered into a 6-month deal back in February to be the company's spokesperson. She says the deal called for $20k per month in return for de-stigmatizing the sugar daddy concept.

Uchitel says she did her job just fine ... and got paid the first few months. But, then came Gaetz's investigation by the feds over allegations he paid young women for sexual encounters with an underage female ... linking him with Seeking Arrangement and alleging he's a member of the site.

Uchitel says she had no connection to Gaetz, and the honchos at Seeking Arrangement told her to stay mum on Gaetz during interviews. She says she was told the scandal was "a very serious crisis for the company."

She says the CEO asked her to get 4 young women who used the site to make videos attesting that the site wasn't exploiting them. She says she followed orders but was then told the company was going through a re-branding and that required terminating her contract.

Uchitel says 6 days after terminating her contract the company came back to her and said they would pay her in full if she signed an NDA.  Uchitel told them to pound sand, presumably because she didn't want in any way to become part of the Gaetz scandal.

She's suing Seeking Arrangement for the balance owed, along with damages for tarnishing her reputation. She also wants money for emotional distress.

The man in charge of directing Friday's Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony has just been fired hours before the start of the event ... after it was discovered he made a Holocaust joke in 1998.

Kentaro Kobayashi was canned Thursday after video surfaced of him making the wildly gross and inappropriate comment during a comedy act over two decades ago.

In the old clip, Kobayashi reportedly can be heard bringing up the Holocaust and saying, "Let's play the genocide of Jews."

Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said Thursday when the footage was brought to his attention ... he and other officials acted swiftly, removing Kobayashi from his high-ranking role.

"We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy," Hashimoto said.

"We deeply apologize for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country."

48-year-old Kobayashi later released an apology in a statement ... saying, "Entertainment should not make people feel uncomfortable. I understand that my stupid choice of words at that time was wrong, and I regret it."

The troubling news comes just days after one of the composers for the opening ceremony, Keigo Oyamada, pulled out of the event after he admitted to bullying a disabled classmate in the 1990s.

Hashimoto, though, insisted the opening ceremony will go on as planned despite it all ... saying Thursday, "we are going to open the Games tomorrow under this difficult situation."

As we previously reported, spectators will NOT be allowed at the ceremony ... as officials hope empty stadiums will help keep coronavirus from spreading.