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The upcoming wild card on "The Masked Singer" had a wild ride leading up to their performance ... and we've learned this celeb is a major player in Hollywood.

Production sources tell TMZ ... next week's wild card contestant was cast just 24 hours before their first performance on the hit FOX show. The problem -- there were no costumes, no song choices ... nothing was in place for the performance.

Our sources say the celeb was at home making dinner Sunday when the call came in from "Masked Singer" honchos, and the celeb immediately dialed up costumers, stage producers, clue producers and more to get ready to be on set the next day.

It's pretty wild ... this secret star even had to call friends to help clear songs for the show in a very timely manner ... and the celeb had to learn the songs ... and fast!!!

We're told there's no question ... this celeb had a ton of pull in the industry to move mountains, so if you're guessing who it might be ... 86 C-listers and below, and maybe even B-listers.

Kelly Price is no longer listed as a missing person with the National Crime Information Center ... this after her attorney met with law enforcement in Georgia.

Police in Cobb County tell TMZ ... Kelly met with investigators this week and she has been removed from the missing person list at NCIC.

Kelly's attorney, Monica Ewing, says cops also conducted a welfare and safety check, as is required in missing persons' cases, and authorities were instructed to remove her from the National Missing Persons Registry.

TMZ broke the story ... Kelly finally addressed going MIA from her family and says while at one point in her battle with COVID she was medically dead, she was never actually missing, despite family members insisting she vanished without a trace.

The way Kelly explained it ... she isolated to recover from the virus and was avoiding her family, who she claims she doesn't really keep in touch with.

Kelly's attorney, Monica Ewing, insisted to us Price was not missing last week and was safe, despite Kelly's family calling cops to conduct a welfare check at her home earlier this month, which resulted in Kelly being listed as a missing person.

Blink-182's Mark Hoppus just got some great news on his battle with cancer ... his oncologist told him he's cancer free!!!

Mark says he just got done with his doctor's visit Wednesday, and the positive prognosis has him feeling blessed.

Hoppus adds ... "Thank you God and universe and friends and family and everyone who sent support and kindness and love."

Mark says he still has to get cancer screenings every 6 months and it will take him until the end of the year to "get back to normal" ... but he says the doc's news is amazing.

As we reported ... Mark revealed back in June he had been quietly battling cancer and vowed to remain hopeful and positive despite being scared about undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma.

Hopefully, for Mark, the cancer is gone for good.

Britney Spears' potentially game-changing day in court is about to begin with her conservatorship hanging in the balance, and the environment -- inside and outside court -- is dramatic.

As you know, Wednesday's hearing is the most highly anticipated one since Britney testified in June during a previous hearing, in which she made shocking allegations and clearly stated she wanted to end the conservatorship after 13 years ... and possibly even sue her family.

Though Britney is not present in court today, her parents -- Jamie and Lynne Spears -- will be appearing via Zoom, along with Britney's attorney, Mathew Rosengart.

Wednesday's hearing for arguments on ending the conservatorship was originally set for January 28 but got moved up to today -- and while no one is expected to object to dismantling it ... it's still unlikely the judge will end the conservatorship today.

Instead, the judge could order another mental evaluation for Britney, or possibly order mediation where all the parties get together and come up with a plan on how to transition from the conservatorship.

Along with all that ... the hearing will likely address the removal or suspension of Jamie, fees for Jamie and his lawyers, and various accounting issues. So, get ready for a long one.

As we've reported ... ever since Britney spoke in court in June, a LOT has gone down -- both with the case and in Britney's personal life.

Following a quick Hawaiian getaway with her then-boyfriend, Sam Asghari, after her court testimony ... Britney began taking legal action to choose her own lawyer (her previous one, Sam Ingham, resigned) and remove her father as conservator of her estate.

Britney eventually hired Rosengart, who quickly went to work in ousting Jamie ... before Britney's dad seemingly agreed to step down in legal docs he filed in mid-August.

Things have gotten more complicated since then, however. After Britney formally asked to end her conservatorship last week, new allegations dropped in the NYT documentary, "Controlling Britney Spears," in which Jamie's accused of recording her bedroom conversations.

Then, on Monday, Jamie asked the judge not to forcefully remove him as conservator, but instead consider dissolving the conservatorship entirely.

The judge is expected to address some, if not all, of these issues Wednesday in court ... so get ready. You know the #FreeBritney crowd will be there ... as they've already gathered outside the courthouse to support their queen.

Meanwhile, as all of the legal issues have been unfolding, Britney's music manager resigned and claimed she's retired from performing ... and Britney and Sam got engaged.

Dog the Bounty Hunter has only been on the Brian Laundrie case for a few days, but TMZ has learned he now says Laundrie is alive, and Dog feels he's close to capturing him.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Dog is rolling to a remote site where he says Laundrie is hiding. Dog says he'll be at the site in less than an hour. We're told Dog had obtained information that leads him to believe Laundrie was alive and moving around as of 10 PM on Tuesday.

Dog says his latest information -- 12 hours old -- is that Laundrie is alive and evading capture.

Dog is working with a team that includes skilled ground and boat crews.

Obviously, we cannot confirm Laundrie's location or whether he's even alive, but we're reporting what Dog is saying. We will obviously update once Dog gets to the location.

The feds are on the hunt for a burner phone Brian Laundrie allegedly purchased the day he went missing ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the manhunt for Laundrie tell TMZ ... FBI agents recently visited an AT&T store in North Port, FL -- where Laundrie's parents live -- and seized surveillance footage.

We're told Brian allegedly went to the store September 14 with an older woman and purchased the phone before they left.

The timing is significant because Sept. 14 is the date Laundrie's parents claim they last saw him leaving their home. They say he had his backpack and was going to a nearby nature reserve, but never returned. They reported him missing Sept. 17.

We reached out to the North Port AT&T store, where an employee told us she could not confirm or deny Brian was there Sept. 14 and said she was told not to discuss the matter. We also reached out to AT&T corporate, and they told us, "Thanks for contacting us.  I have to refer you to law enforcement on this one."

We've reached out to law enforcement ... again, they would not confirm or deny.

We broke the story ... Dog the Bounty Hunter claims he knows Laundrie is still alive and says he's closing in on him.

Tommy Kirk -- best known for playing the kid role of Travis Coates in the 1957 Disney classic "Old Yeller" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Tommy's neighbor found him dead in his Las Vegas home around 8 PM on Tuesday. No foul play is suspected.

Tommy was a teenager when he got his big break in "Old Yeller" ... the story about a boy and his heroic dog. He was Disney's go-to kid actor to fill that All-American persona ... leading to roles in other Disney films, including "The Shaggy Dog, "Swiss Family Robinson" and "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones."

He was discovered in 1954 as a 13-year-old while performing opposite Will Rogers Jr. for the play "Ah, Wilderness!" at the Pasadena Playhouse. Legend has it, Tommy had auditioned for a role nobody else bothered to audition for, so he got it. He had only 5 lines in the play but it was enough for a talent agent to sign him and cast him in an episode of "TV Reader's Digest."

Tommy ultimately ended up getting cast in "The Mickey Mouse Club" ... and appeared in several other TV shows. But, there's no doubt his role in "Old Yeller" shot him to stardom.

But, his time with Disney didn't come without controversy. According to some reports ... Walt Disney personally fired Tommy in 1964 because the 21-year-old was gay.

Tommy once said, "When I was about 17 or 18 years old, I finally admitted to myself that I wasn’t going to change. I didn’t know what the consequences would be, but I had the definite feeling that it was going to wreck my Disney career and maybe my whole acting career. It was all going to come to an end."

He added, "Eventually, I became involved with somebody and I was fired." Tommy was still cast in films after that, but he admitted they were some of the worst movies he ever made.

Despite the Disney fallout ... Tommy was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2006.

He was 79.

Kevin Smith says people were so sick of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez back in 2004 that her role in "Jersey Girl" got cut in half, but now everyone's loving the reboot ... Bennifer 2.0 that is.

No, there's no "Jersey Girl" sequel in the works, but the film's director joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday and revealed just how much the public's feelings for Ben and Jen have changed since their first go-round.

Kevin tells us after Bennifer's "Gigli" notoriously flopped, the outlook for his movie was suddenly no-so-good. So, executive producer Harvey Weinstein -- hey, we told you times have changed -- wanted to chop as much of J Lo out of "Jersey Girl" as possible.

According to Kevin ... Weinstein justified that because test audiences -- even one in New Jersey -- made it clear they were sick of seeing 2004's version of Bennifer in the news all the time.

Flash-forward to present day ... folks seem to be loving the fact Lopez and Affleck have rekindled their old flame, and you'd have to believe a movie starring them would sell tickets.

On the other hand, Kevin points out how things can unexpectedly change ... with an anecdote about Ben and Jen's canceled engagement and wedding.

The famous Folgers coffee jingle, "The best part of wakin' up is Folgers in your cup" is up for grabs ... the royalties for a piece of coffee history are on the auction block.

The bidding started this week at $63,000 and we're told there have already been 16 bids, with the auction entering its final stages at the Royalty Exchange.

The auction house says the Folgers jingle royalties for the past 12 months paid $11,747 and since 2011 the song's earned a total of $38,164 ... with more than half, about $20k, coming in the past 2 years ... so it's a long-term investment.

The winning bidder will own the songwriter's share of public performance royalties ... and get paid any time the song is used in commercials, on TV, in movies, on traditional and satellite radio, plus internet streaming.

The current bid stands at $70,700 and bids are in increments of $550 ... and the auction ends Thursday at 5 PM ET ... so it's coming down to the wire!!!

A Florida man took out the trash this week ... and may have saved his neighbors from a pissed off alligator in the process.

The hero -- a Mount Dora man named Abdul Gene Malik -- posted the video of his daring gator capture using a large black garbage bin, saying ... "I got kids to protect."

Malik, an Army vet, demonstrated his bravery as he slowly approached the reptile head-on with the trash can as it chomped, hissed and thrashed.

Then, our hero made the clutch move that did the beast in ... by flipping the trash can lid and hitting the gator on the head, stunning it enough to charge with the bin and force it into the receptacle.

Onlookers screamed and cheered as Malik then flipped the trash can up, capturing the reptile until the authorities could come take care of it. Bravo!!!

As courageous as Malik was ... the scene in Florida isn't quite as crazy as what went down in Utah last month, when a gator attacked its handler and tried pulling her in for the kill.

There was no garbage bin to save the day, but thankfully, a guest at the zoo named Donnie Wiseman jumped on the gator's back and wrestled it away to save the woman.

Kudos to both fellas.

Kyrie Irving and Andrew Wiggins will each lose more than $15 MILLION if they refuse to get the jab ... because the NBA just announced it will NOT pay players who miss games for not having the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Association has not made it mandatory for players to be vaxxed, but local mandates in San Francisco and New York City will keep guys like Wiggins and Irving -- who have reportedly elected against the vaccine -- from being able to play home games for the Warriors and Nets, respectively.

Considering NBA teams play half of their games at home, this would keep the 2 stars from playing in at least 41 games this season ... which will put a serious hurt on their bank accounts.

Wiggins -- who is in a 5-year, $147,710,050 deal -- will reportedly pass up on $15.8 million this season ... while Irving -- 4-year, $136,490,600 contract -- will forfeit $17.5 million.

Kyrie has spoken out about his choice ... saying it's a personal decision and he hopes to be with his team as much as possible.

Wiggins is reportedly hellbent on not getting the vaccine ... despite the Warriors setting up meetings with health officials to try to ease any fears.

The league says players cannot be forced to get vaxxed unless the players' union agrees to it ... and it sounds like that ain't happening any time soon.

It is possible -- POSSIBLE -- the 13-year-long Britney Spears conservatorship could end today as everyone -- with one big exception -- appears in court via zoom for what promises to be an explosive showdown.

Multiple sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Britney will not be present for the hearing, but Jamie and Lynne Spears will be on zoom.

There was a hearing scheduled to hear arguments on ending the conservatorship set for January 28, but we've learned that was moved up to today. That presumably means the judge will hear arguments on ending the conservatorship, and here's the reality -- no one is going to argue the conservatorship should continue.

Britney, Jamie and Lynne all want to terminate the conservatorship, so there will be no opposition. Although it's possible the judge could end the conservatorship at today's hearing, our sources say it's unlikely.

There are 2 likely scenarios ... first, the judge could order another mental evaluation, because that's what triggered the conservatorship 13 years ago and maintained it for the years that followed.  That could take several months to complete.

Another option ... the judge could order a mediation where all the parties get together and come up with a plan on how to transition from the conservatorship. Specifically, who will manage Britney's business affairs and who will make sure Britney's able to live her life safely? As we reported, Jodi Montgomery has already agreed to stay on after the conservatorship ends.

And, that brings us to Jamie. TMZ broke the story, Jamie objects to the appointment of CPA, John Zabel, as temporary conservator of Britney's estate. Our sources say although Jamie has previously said he would step down after today's hearing, our sources now say he will ask the judge to keep him on as conservator until a transition plan is in place. This is something that Britney's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, will fight tooth and nail -- he wants Jamie out NOW.

This promises to be a long hearing. Among the issues, removal or suspension of Jamie, termination of the conservatorship, fees for Jamie and the lawyers and various accounting issues.

TMZ has launched our first of many podcasts. Today after the hearing, we'll break down what happened and explain what it all means going forward.

Chrissy Teigen is beefing with comedian Heather McDonald -- who slammed her as hypocritical, before Chrissy fired back with a "f*** off" ... and the feud happened to go down on the anniversary of her son, Jack, dying.

The model prefaced her reaction by saying she couldn't sleep all night because she "was up, sick, sobbing, as my phone popped up the memory of being in the hospital exactly 1 year ago, losing our baby."

She added, "So maybe I'm a little sensitive but f*** off." This was a direct shot at Heather, who had earlier called Chrissy a hypocrite over a post about looking 'perfect' on social media.

Okay, follow along ... Chrissy had posted a pic of herself glammed up, but with her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open. She captioned it, "I really think you guys are too conditioned to seeing perfect photos all day because so many of my comments on any given photo are 'why would she post this.'"

Heather commented on that post calling out Chrissy for "humble brags" ... posting allegedly unflattering photos when she knows she actually looks great.

Heather took it a step further when she reposted Chrissy's photo with the caption, "I cannot take it ... I'm just having one of those days where I had to point out the #hypocrite on IG. I can't be the only one that can see through this BS."

That prompted Chrissy to eventually respond ... "Why people follow people they hate [is] beyond me."

Chrissy acknowledged she was already distraught on Tuesday, as she posted a 1-year-old picture of herself crying in the hospital, with John Legend at her side, on the day they lost Jack.

She captioned it, "And to the son we almost had. a year ago you gave me the greatest pain I could ever imagine to show me I could survive anything, even if I didn't want to."

Khloe Kardashian's latest ad campaign's got it all -- she's topless and rolling around in bed -- but you won't catch even a glimpse of the ad in it's intended glory on TV, because networks say it's just too sexy.

TMZ's obtained the commercial for Khloe's Good American clothing company, which was intended to launch a brand new "Find the One" campaign to promote its denim jeans.

As you can see ... the ad features a topless Khloe rolling around in bed wearing only those sexy, skintight jeans before she drops the new slogan.

We're told Good American sent the video out to broadcast networks to air this week, but it got rejected during the approval process ... because it was deemed too risque for TV audiences.

This was supposed to be Khloe's company's first-ever TV campaign -- and we're told Kourtney had a commercial in the hopper too. The good news? Our sources say a less-sexy version with less side-boob and skin will be edited to eventually make it to TV.

BTW, her spot feels like a total callback to a classic 1980s Brooke Shields ad for Calvin Klein, where she declared "nothing" comes between her and her CK jeans.😉

Here's the weird thing ... it stirred a ton of controversy, because Brooke was only 15, and yet, it still aired all over the country!!!

Manny Pacquiao is done with competitive fighting ... the boxing legend announced Tuesday night he's retiring from the sport for good.

Pacquiao revealed the news in an emotional video on his social media page ... thanking his family, friends, trainers and everyone else who helped him along his journey to becoming one of the greatest of all time.

"This is the hardest decision I've ever made," Pacquiao said, "but I’m at peace with it. Chase your dreams, work hard and watch what happens. Good bye, boxing."

Pacquiao absolutely dominated in the ring from the day he took his first pro fight back in 1995 -- finishing his career with a brilliant record of 68-8-2.

He earned victories over guys like Keith Thurman, Adrien Broner, Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya and so many more in his 26 years in the sport.

"Even me," said Pacquiao, who ended up winning a staggering 12 world titles in his career, "I'm amazed at what I have done."

The 42-year-old -- a current senator in the Philippines -- will now be able to put all of his focus behind his political career ... one in which he's hopeful will end with him being the president of the Philippines in the not too distant future.

Kenya Moore's decision to join "Dancing With the Stars" pissed off her bosses at the network where she got famous -- so much so, they tried to force her into a very tough decision.

Sources connected to 'Housewives' production tell us ... when 'DWTS' approached Kenya months ago about being on its new season, she immediately ran it up the flag pole at True Entertainment, the production company behind "Real Housewives of Atlanta," and there was no issue.

However, the problems started when we broke the story Kenya was officially signed on for the 30th season of 'DWTS.' We're told that's when Bravo came to Kenya and told her to choose one show or the other.

What's bizarre about that is ... lots of other Housewives have done 'DWTS' before without Bravo raising a stink. Erika Jayne, Kim Zolciak-Biermann, Nene Leakes and Lisa Vanderpump were all on the ABC show ... and Lisa even filmed for 'RHOBH' during the dance competition.

Ultimately, we're told Bravo blinked in the standoff with Kenya, and relented she could do both shows, but with one condition -- there won't be any crossover, a la Vanderpump.

Bravo won't feature Kenya's time in L.A. shooting for 'Dancing' when the new season of 'RHOA' begins.