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Ms. Pat -- the titular star of the new BET+ sitcom, "The Ms. Pat Show" -- says her move from Atlanta to Indiana was life-changing in a great way, but it took her a while to get used to white folks' hospitality.

The comedian joined "TMZ Live" Thursday to chat about her semi-autobiographical new show -- which has been a long time coming -- and all the support she's had along the way, but not just from the executive producers.

Ms. Pat has a very interesting backstory in ATL -- overcoming welfare, sexual abuse, arrest and conviction for selling crack -- but life took a huge turn when she started doing comedy open mic nights, and her husband's job moved them to Plainfield, IN.

Pat admits the almost entirely white population welcomed her with open arms ... along with cakes, and other neighborly foods. She also tells us, surprisingly, her stand-up material seamlessly translated to her new town ... which she chalks up to people of all races and backgrounds having a lot in common.

Ms. Pat says the whole experience was equally eye-opening for her ... something that comes across on the show. She told us she's blessed to have Lee Daniels, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard executive producing -- and especially credits Daniels for fighting hard to get it made.

Rey Maualuga is in trouble with the law again ... the former NFL and college football star was arrested on Wednesday, TMZ Sports has learned.

Jail records show the 34-year-old -- who was a 2nd-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft -- was booked into Kenton County Jail in Kentucky at 8:19 PM.

Details surrounding his arrest are unclear -- we're working on it -- but records show Maualuga was booked on three charges, including DUI, criminal mischief first degree and criminal mischief third degree.

Maualuga -- who was listed at 6-foot-2, 245 pounds on his booking sheet -- was arrested by the Villa Hills Police Dept., the records show. He's due in court later Thursday.

Of course, this is far from Maualuga's first brush with the law ... in fact, he was just arrested by the Villa Hills Police Dept. back in July 2020.

In that case, Maualuga was accused of driving drunk and driving recklessly.

Maualuga was also arrested back in 2010 on suspicion of DUI ... and in 2017, he was arrested for allegedly attacking an employee at a Miami nightclub while he was a member of the Dolphins.

Maualuga is one of the best college football linebackers ever, starring at USC from 2005 through 2008. He went on to play 9 seasons in the NFL, starting 108 total games, before leaving the league after the 2017 season.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber would love to see restaurants, arenas and other public venues require proof of vaccination -- as COVID surges in Florida -- but, first he says they have to battle Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Gelber joined "TMZ Live" on Thursday to address the dire situation -- Florida accounts for nearly 20% of new COVID cases in the U.S., and more than 90% of the state's ICU beds are full. He calls the alarming rise in cases an "unforced error" that's costing tens of thousands of lives.

The Mayor's laying blame squarely on Gov. DeSantis for outlawing mitigation efforts such as a mask mandate -- even as Florida's now had to request 200 ventilators and 100 breathing devices from the federal government.

Gelber says he hopes DeSantis reconsiders his ban, but in the meantime he's sued the gov over the issue, and sent a letter trying to convince him to change his stance. Although, he admits they don't talk anymore.

Miami Beach, in the meantime, is doing its part by teaming up with celebs like Gloria Estefan and DJ Khaled for a PSA to mask-up. And, they did it by remaking Gloria's hit "Get On Your Feet."

Horatio Sanz allegedly groomed a young 'SNL' fan for sex and sexually assaulted her at an after-party when she was underage ... this according to a new lawsuit.

The former "Saturday Night Live" star is being sued by a woman in Pennsylvania, who claims he groped her breasts and her butt and digitally penetrated her without her consent at an 'SNL' party back in the day, in front of numerous NBC employees.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Horatio allegedly sexually assaulted the girl back in May 2002 when she was 17 years old, plying her with booze at a couple 'SNL' parties in New York City.

The accuser, who is suing as a Jane Doe, claims she started talking to Horatio when she was 15 and running an 'SNL' fan website. In the docs, she claims Horatio immediately started grooming her, being flirty and affectionate when they met in person and steering online conversations in an increasingly sexual direction.

In the docs, the woman claims Horatio knew she was underage when he allegedly sexually assaulted her and says NBC should have known but never stepped in.

In her suit, Horatio's accuser claims she became depressed and ashamed after the alleged sexual assault ... and she turned to "dissociative drugs" as a way of self-medicating and was eventually hospitalized for treatment.

She claims she ran into Horatio in 2019 at an NYC comedy event, where he admitted to having "cybersex" with her and masturbating during their online convos when she was underage. She also claims he later fessed up in text messages to feeling terrible about his actions and vowed that he was now a different person.

The woman's suing Horatio, NBCUniversal and 'SNL' Studios and is going after them for damages.

We reached out to Horatio and 'SNL' ... so far, no word back.

Kelly Clarkson's prenup has been validated by the judge in her divorce case, she found out the good news while she was on the set of "The Voice" and let out a scream, which then gave way to a celebration ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ...Kelly was filming the singing competition Wednesday when she got an email saying the hotly-contested prenup was upheld in full by the judge. We're told the prenup segregates all assets and income derived during her marriage to Brandon Blackstock.

Kelly accumulated the lion's share of assets, including the Montana ranch where Brandon is currently living. He was contesting the prenup and wanted their properties split, along with income she earned during their marriage, but the judge shut him down.

We're told the celebration on the set of "The Voice" got personal. Our sources say Blake Shelton had recently terminated his relationship with Blackstock, who managed him for years.

The other judges who were there, including Ariana Grande, participated in the celebration.

Clarkson's lawyer, Laura Wasser, had argued during the trial on the prenup, that there had to be accountability when someone signs a contract -- in this case, a prenup. The judge clearly agreed.

The divorce has been "bifurcated" -- meaning the actual declaration that the marriage is over has been separated from the property settlement and custody issues. The actual dissolution of the marriage should be finalized within days. Kelly has been awarded primary custody on a temporary basis, because Brandon moved to Montana. It seems by validating the prenup, most issues have now been resolved.

As for the ranch, because the prenup was validated, Kelly -- who purchased it -- now has the right to sell it.

Andre Drummond just saved his son's life ... with the Philadelphia 76ers center springing into action after the child accidentally fell into a pool -- and the footage is terrifying.

The 28-year-old just posted surveillance video of the incident -- with family members hanging together around the pool at his home ... when his 2-year-old son, Deon, tripped into the water.

The 6'10", 280-lb. baller -- completely clothed from head to toe -- dove right into the water without hesitation and scooped Deon out of the water ... with the other family members coming to assist.

Drummond then carries his son (who was born on February 21, 2019) over to another person, who lifts him out of the water to safety.

"NOT ALL HEROS WEAR CAPES 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️" Drummond said on Thursday. "A parents worst nightmare….. Feat my son & I 😂😂"

Drummond made it clear to note no one was injured in the incident ... but the footage is still just as scary.

"SpongeBob SquarePants" honchos have a major problemo with a restaurant that sounds a lot like the spot where SpongeBob works ... and they're ready to fight in court about it.

Viacom's suing the company that recently opened The Rusty Krab restaurant in downtown Houston, claiming it's a blatant rip-off of the The Krusty Krab featured in the cartoon ... according to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ.

Rusty Krab's accused of infringing on Viacom's 'SpongeBob' trademarks by using names, images, characters and re-creations from the show throughout its restaurant and on its menu, and according to the suit ... even advertises the place as "Houston’s VERY FIRST Spongebob Squarepants Inspired Pop Up Restaurant and Bar!"

Viacom claims all of Rusty Krab's marketing is geared toward kids and SpongeBob fans to deceive the public into thinking it's officially affiliated with the show ... only to leave parents who paid high ticket prices disappointed with the inauthentic experience and "purportedly unsanitary conditions and unsafe food."

Among the many alleged infringements, Viacom says Rusty Krab's drink menu uses numerous well-known hallmarks of 'SBSP' -- like "Pineapple Under the Sea," "Bikini Bottom," "Secret Formula" and "I’m Ready" -- to sell alcohol, which Viacom claims would violate its licensing policy for the trademarks on its kid’s show.

Viacom's wants the restaurant to hand over any profits it’s made, so far, and is also suing to block it from doing further business.

You can't love dessert as much as Britney Spears does -- at least not based on the sounds she was putting down when her BF was tempted ... by an ice cream sundae.

So, outwardly this is a video of chiseled Sam Asghari fighting off his desire to suck down some ice cream -- but Brit steals the show with her reaction to the delicious treat. You know the ol' saying -- you scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream.

Well, Britney's blown that outta the water. Instead of screaming, she's just moaning in a way that's orgasmically reminiscent of Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally."

The most frustrating part -- it's not clear if Sam actually ate the sundae or let it go to waste because he suggests it doesn't fit into his diet and fitness plan. In other words: Where's the climax???

Later in his IG Story, Sam also whipped up some sort of cake dessert for "someone else that can eat this at the moment" ... and again, all signs point to his GF.

The MLB's Field Of Dreams replica officially has Ray Kinsella's stamp of approval ... 'cause Kevin Costner visited it this week and GUSHED over the ballpark, calling it "perfect."

Costner -- who played Kinsella in the 1989 classic baseball movie -- got a tour of the Dyersville, Iowa field just before the Yanks and the White Sox play there Thursday night, and his reaction was awesome.

The 66-year-old walked through the bleachers and stepped on the infield grass ... and was astonished, looking around in bewilderment at how the MLB made the fictional field come to life for an actual game.

"Wow," Costner said. "Feels perfect. Every bit of it."

Of course, the endorsement is big for the MLB ... 'cause if anyone knows what the Field of Dreams is supposed to look like, it's Costner.

The actor absolutely crushed the role as Kinsella more than 3 decades ago ... helping make the movie and the line "If you build it, he will come" a piece of American history.

As for baseball players ... they're loving the idea of the park and the game too -- with Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz fawning over it all on their visit there this week.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has had it up to HERE with anti-maskers ... blasting them as schmucks who have ZERO idea what freedom's really about.

The Terminator went off Wednesday after he was asked during an interview about COVID misinformation that's been spreading like the Delta variant ... wreaking havoc across the country.

Arnold spoke directly to, or at, anti-maskers saying, "Screw your freedom. Because with freedom comes obligations and responsibilities. You cannot just say, 'I have the right to X, Y and Z.' When you affect other people, that is when it gets serious."

He noted that anti-maskers have the freedom to NOT wear a mask but added ... "But you know something? You’re a schmuck for not wearing a mask."

Arnold, of course, has been a huge proponent of COVID-19 mitigations such as social distancing, wearing masks and the vaccine. Earlier this year ... he posted video of himself getting the shot at Dodger Stadium.

He also dropped some of his most famous lines while doing so ... including, "Come with me if you want to live," which is what the Model 101 Terminator told Sarah Connor.

The judge overseeing Britney Spears' conservatorship case isn't just unpopular with Britney's fans -- the woman is having her life threatened ... a scary development that's now on law enforcement's radar.

The #freebritney crowd's outrage started bubbling over after Judge Brenda Penny's ruling last week ... you'll recall she decided against immediately suspending Jamie Spears from the conservatorship, and denied Brit's request for an emergency hearing on the matter. We're told scores of death threats against Judge Penny were posted online ... with many people calling for her to lose her life and "die."

As a result, our law enforcement sources tell us the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. is keeping an eye on the online activity -- as we're told they've seen some of the posts and indeed found them to be concerning.

It looks like some of the comments were vague, while others were more direct -- like one user who wrote, "I have a feeling this judge Brenda Penny is going to have a horrible mysterious death #freebritney." There've also been some racial slurs hurled at the judge, who is Black.

The hashtag #BrendaPennyIsCorrupt was also trending after her rulings.

We're told none of the posted threats appear to rise to the level of criminality -- not yet anyway, but LASD will continue monitoring.

As for the ruling that apparently angered many people, Judge Penny didn't give any specific reasoning, but, logically, it seems -- based on what's been filed in court -- she didn't see an urgent need to call the hearing on Jamie's future as conservator of Britney's estate.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez hit up a restaurant known for its star-studded guests ... and ya gotta wonder if there was something to celebrate.

Bennifer 2.0 held hands as they headed into Craig's in WeHo Wednesday night for a dinner date, but unlike their Beverly Hills outing last weekend ... this was a more family affair.

J Lo's 13-year-old daughter, Emme, tagged along for the occasion, which is interesting because as we reported ... signs are pointing to Ben and Jen looking to buy a massive home together.

On Tuesday, the couple was out house hunting all over the L.A. area ... and one of the places they checked out is a jaw-dropping $85 million Beverly Hills estate with a 38,000-sq-ft main house with 12 bedrooms and 24 bathrooms.

So yeah, plenty of room for them and all their kids.

Of course, they've been doing a lot of house hunting lately -- together and solo -- along with an increasing amount of public appearances ... so it's hard to tell if this was a special date at Craig's or just par for the course.

Peloton, the fitness co., is trying to bigfoot another company with the same name -- but in a much different biz -- at least according to a new lawsuit.

Peloton Cold Brew, LLC filed suit against Peloton, Interactive -- the indoor exercise bike maker -- and says it got its trademark to use the P word for coffee drinks back in 2017, but Peloton didn’t get around to officially opposing it until 3 years later.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Peloton Cold Brew claims the bike maker didn't make a peep, failing to file any objection when PCB filed for its trademark.

PCB claims the bike company finally filed a complaint in October 2020 -- but the coffee crew says their founders are avid cyclists, and they have every right to use "Peloton" for beverages made of coffee ... which has nothing to do with the exercise bike biz.

According to the docs, PCB says Peloton the bike maker's trademarks -- which cover things like "computers and downloadable software" -- don't come close to coffee.

Peloton Cold Brew's asking the court to declare it has the right to the trademark in the coffee space, even if Peloton the bike company has rights in the bike space.

Dustin Diamond's presence will be felt over and over and over this weekend ... 'cause a NASCAR sponsor's ready to unveil his special stock car honoring the late actor.

Dan Block, the president of Insurance King, has chosen this Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the race where he'll unveil a tribute to his late friend.

The No. 52 car -- driven by Josh Bilicki -- is paying homage to Dustin and his Screech Powers character from "Saved by the Bell." We're told Block's bringing Dustin's best friend and his girlfriend as special guests.

The car itself will be wrapped Thursday and TMZ's obtained a rendering of what the final product will look like during the 82-lap race. Bilicki's race suit will also have Dustin's full name along with the years of his birth and death.

As we reported ... Dustin died in February after battling stage 4 lung cancer. Just days after he had revealed his diagnosis, Block planned to wrap Bilicki's car as a "get well" pick me up for Dustin. That initial rendering has been altered since Dustin passed.

Block and Dustin were very close friends, and Dustin starred in several Insurance King commercials.

In this spot, Dustin speeds past a cop who pulls him over and asks how he can afford car insurance with so many speeding tickets. He hits him with, "C'mon. I'm saved by the king."

Gabriel Iglesias says he wouldn't be standing here today without the COVID vaccine ... telling us the shots helped this overweight diabetic beat the virus with ease.

We got the comedian in New York City and our photog asked how he's doing after his recent breakthrough COVID case.

Gabriel says anyone hesitating to get inoculated should get the shots because he's certain the vaccine helped him coast through his bout with the virus with only mild symptoms.

The way Gabriel sees it ... if he can survive COVID as a 300-plus lb. diabetic with hypertension, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and tons of underlying health conditions, the vaccine must really work.

Gabriel says he's had hangovers worse than his COVID symptoms, but even though he's a big advocate for getting vaccinated ... he tells us why he's not taking cheap shots at unvaccinated folks on his comedy tour.

One of the biggest "Jeopardy!" champs of all time has strong thoughts on the new hosts -- especially the day-to-day guy, Mike Richards, ... whom he clearly thinks might not have been the best pick.

We talked to Austin Rogers -- who went on a major hot streak in 2017 -- in NYC Wednesday, and got his two cents on the new faces of the iconic quiz trivia show ... and he gave us the straight dope on their EP and Mayim Bialik taking the reigns post-Trebek.

Watch how he responded when we asked how he felt about the announcement -- seems he doesn't think MR was the most ideal way to go ... but a decent option nonetheless.

Fact is -- and as Austin pointed out to us -- Mike has a lot of game show experience ... and he was pretty damn good during his stint as guest host a few months ago. And, as far as Mayim goes -- Austin says she certainly ticks a few boxes for what may or may not be a damage control move ... in his eyes, anyway.

There's some controversy with her getting the tap -- she was a noted anti-vaxxer (one with a PhD, no less) ... but has apparently changed her tune on the jab, and has said in recent months that she and her kids are, in fact, vaccinated against COVID-19. So ... all good???

Anyway, Austin says regardless of how he feels ... he's just happy the show will continue -- and hopes these 2 can carry on its storied legacy well enough. BTW, he gave us a rundown on his latest ventures -- and it sounds like Austin's about to go on a book tour for his new offering -- "The Ultimate Book of Pub Quiz by the Smartest Guy in the Bar."