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Cardi B has a surprising ally in her corner ... it's the GOP, which is encouraging her NOT to be intimidated by cancel culture and continue talking politics.

Paris Dennard, a National GOP spokesman, tells TMZ ... the "I Like It" rapper should continue talking politics because if she stops, young people will see this and also become scared to express themselves for fear of backlash from democrats and republicans alike.

It's surprising ... Dennard says Cardi shouldn't be fazed by sharing opinions about politics/social issues that line up with democrats ... or the people she's standing up for.

ICYMI ... Cardi tweeted Thursday she'd refrain from sharing her political views because she was "tired of getting bullied by the republicans and also getting bashed by the same people I was standing up for."

Dennard makes it crystal clear ... with Cardi having a massive platform, any political statement could trigger backlash from both sides. He insists ... any of that shouldn't silence her because having an influencer like herself sets an example for others, particularly with young people.

He says it's important for Cardi -- who interviewed President Joe Biden and trash-talked former prez Donald Trump with Sen. Bernie Sanders -- to be a free thinker. What's more ... Dennard says having polarizing views doesn't necessarily mean getting canceled.

He points out some prime examples like Kanye West and Lil Wayne ... just some of the rappers who supported Trump. Dennard also points to Nicki Minaj ... whose COVID-19 vaccine claims riled up social media, but she came away mostly unscathed.

Netflix used to be a company everyone rallied around, but Chappelle's latest special put a quick end to that, and what's the deal with Prince William shading Shatner's space ride? So, we gotta ask ...

Andre Rison is going to bat for Jon Gruden ... telling TMZ Sports he knows the former NFL head coach is definitely "not a racist."

Rison -- who played for Gruden and the Raiders in the 2000 NFL season -- said despite the vile, racist, homophobic and misogynistic words Jon wrote in emails from 2011 to 2018 ... he still believes the guy is a good man.

"We all say some things behind closed doors that we regret or we wouldn't say in public," said Rison, who's remained close to Gruden even after the '00 season ended. "We've all made mistakes."

"I believe who he said and what he said and who he intended it for, it was intended for that person and nobody else."

Rison did admit Gruden did mean what he said in his messages to a Washington Football Team exec and others ... and offered to apologize on the coach's behalf.

But, Rison added in all the years he's been around the 58-year-old, he's never seen anything that would suggest Gruden is a bad person.

Rison also told us he believes if this is the end of Gruden's time in the NFL, the former Raiders head man should hold his head high.

"You've already given this game some of the best tutelage and best leadership that you could possibly give," Rison said in a message to Gruden. "So if you don't ever touch the game again, don't feel any type of way."

Jen Shah is trying to pack in all the fun -- and paychecks -- during what could be her last few months of freedom ...  'cause she's hosting an event at Larry Flynt's strip joint.

"The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star's set to make a pretty penny on October 22 at Flynt's Hustler Club NYC, just days after her heavily-publicized telemarketing fraud trial was supposed to begin ... though it's now been pushed to March 2022.

We're told Shah will be doing meet-and-greets and signing autographs at the popular strip club, and will also get an onstage shout-out with Alexis Monroe ... an adult actress who's celebrating her bday that night.

According to a Hustler Club rep ... Jen was all about hosting the event, and she's "receiving a large sum (of money) in exchange for her appearance, most likely enough to put a dent in her legal bills." Sources with direct knowledge tell us it's tens of thousands.

As you know ... Shah was arrested in March for allegedly targeting and scamming people -- "vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people" -- out of their money, and the feds have recently accused her of "greater culpability" in the scheme.

She claims total innocence and pled not guilty. She was released on strict conditions. In fact, Jen has to get permission to travel, so we've reached to her to confirm that's what she did for this gig. Court records show she hasn't yet requested a travel accommodation.

Her legal issues have been airing on the current season of 'RHOSLC,' with a recent ep showing her arrest on the federal fraud charges that could land her up to 30 years in prison.

Celebrity dermatologist Dr. Alex Khadavi just got slapped with a restraining order in the latest fallout from his homophobic rant caught on video ... he's gotta stay away from the people who accused him of making death threats.

According to new legal docs ... the gay married couple who claim they were on the receiving end of Khadavi's threatening rant is getting court-ordered protection.

The docs, obtained by TMZ, show that Khadavi is banned from harassing, intimidating, attacking, striking, stalking, threatening, assaulting, hitting, abusing, destroying personal property or disturbing the peace of the couple, who live in his building.

Khadavi, whose celeb clients have included Lance Bass and Scott Disick, has also been ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from them anywhere outside of the West Hollywood condo building where they all live.

TMZ broke the story ... Khadavi's rant on July 7 was captured on video, which appears to show him approaching the front desk concierge in a hostile manner, talking smack about people who live in the building, referring to them with the homophobic f-word, and threatening to "blow their f***ing heads off."

The restraining order will be in place for the next 3 years, ending in October 2024.

Don't let these two almost identical images of Drake get your head out of the game! Take a real close look at these back-to-back photos and see if you can score any of the sneaky switches!

The rapper was cheering on the Toronto Raptors during their preseason game against the Houston Rockets in Canada last week ... and we have made a few changes to the original pic! Take this one straight to the hoop and see if you have what it takes to slam dunk the differences between these two super similar snaps!

Halloween is around the corner and these spooky stars are getting in the spirit with the annual tradition of hauling the family to a pumpkin patch for seasonal selfies!

Stars like Devon Windsor, James Charles, Olivia Culpo, Jade Roper Tolbert and Tanner Tolbert aren't scared to start searching for their gourd-ous decorations!

Vanessa Hudgens, Deena Nicole Cortese, and Brandon Boyd are a few others who are saying hay from the patch! Whether it's a festive family getaway with the kids or a solo visit to craft their Jack-O-Lanterns, these stars are picking the best photos to share!

Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green have finally hashed out a final settlement in their divorce ... and all they need now is a judge's signature, which should come any day.

The exes filed legal docs, obtained by TMZ, that spell out some of the terms of the settlement. They agreed to joint legal and physical custody of their 3 boys ... something they had agreed to do from the jump.

Sources connected to the couple tell TMZ ... there was NOT a prenup, and in California, that means anything acquired during their 10-year marriage would be 50/50.

As for child and spousal support, the docs don't say. There's reference to a settlement agreed upon that was not filed with the court.

Megan will have her name restored from Megan Green to Megan Fox.

Megan is repped by Disso Queen Laura Wasser, and Brian is repped by Scott Klopert.

Megan and Brian got engaged in 2006 and there were a bunch of speed bumps that followed. They ended their engagement in 2009 but got re-engaged a year later.

They married on the beach in Maui in 2010. Megan filed for divorce in 2015, but the papers were withdrawn in 2019. Megan filed for divorce again last November.

Anyway, it's good that they figured out how to close this chapter of their lives -- because each of them has certainly turned the page in the romance department. As everyone knows, Megan is with Machine Gun Kelly now ... and Brian's dating 'DWTS' phenom Sharna Burgess.

The NFL's General Counsel Jeff Pash & then-Washington Football Team Prez Bruce Allen took a cheap shot at NFL players -- claiming almost none of them bother to vote.

Allen fired off the diss to his buddy Pash in an email TMZ Sports has obtained. Sources confirm the email exchange is among the more than 650,000 emails presented to the league during its 2020 investigation of the WFT organization -- and it says a lot about how the 2 high-ranking league officials felt about players.

In the 2018 email, Allen says, "I just got a phone call reminding me to vote in the Virginia primary before 7pm today (which I'm going to do). If NFL rules permitted NFL employees to gamble, I would bet $20.00 that less than 1% of NFL players voted in primaries this year."

Pash, who's been described as Commissioner Roger Goodell's right-hand man, replied, "Maybe even take the under" ... meaning, he'd bet even less than 1% of players votes.

Couple things to keep in mind -- this was the summer of 2018, less than 2 years after Colin Kaepernick and several other players were kneeling during the National Anthem to stand against police brutality and social injustice. So, suggesting players weren't interested in politics seems, at the very least, tone-deaf and misguided.

And, here's the bigger point ... according to our sources, the NFL had this email -- and the thousands of others -- more than a year ago, and yet took no action to discipline anyone involved. As you might know, in the wake of Jon Gruden's racist and homophobic emails (sent to Allen, BTW) ... there are calls for Goodell to release all of the emails. As of now, he has not.

The fact the league's own lead attorney and a team exec are on the record making distasteful remarks about players certainly isn't a good look -- and, perhaps, speaks to why the league's sitting on that mountain of emails.

Britney Spears is sending a thinly veiled warning to her father and the rest of her family ... she says they should be worried about what she might say about them to the media.

Britney just opened up a bit about how her life is now that she can see the light at the end of her conservatorship tunnel ... and she didn't have a lot of nice things to say about her relatives.

The singer says ... "Lord have mercy on my family’s souls if I ever do an interview!!!"

She adds ... "I haven't done anything to be treated the way I have for the past 13 years" ... and says she's "disgusted with the system and wish I lived in another country!!!"

Britney says she's been waiting a long time for her freedom and now that the conservatorship is in the final stages, she's "scared to do anything because I'm afraid I'll make a mistake!!!"

It sounds like the prospect of ending the conservatorship was dangled in front of her for a long time ... she says she was "always told if I succeeded at things, it could end … and it never did!!!"

Britney says she's celebrating Christmas early, and it looks like she already has a Christmas tree in the same living room where she usually records herself dancing.

It's not even Halloween yet, but Britney's reasoning goes like this ... "I believe any reason to find more joy in life is a good idea … and it’s no secret that I’ve been through it in the past … so I might have to do things a little differently from now on!!!"

Britney's also confirming what we first told you ... she's got no plans to perform and says she's "staying clear of the business ... which is why this is so very confusing for me!!!"

Jeff Bezos and GF Lauren Sanchez clearly don't want to take a trip together on Blue Origin's New Shepard ... because they don't want any space between them.

The Amazon chief and his GF put on a huge PDA display Friday in NYC. Lauren was in the mood for a huge smooch and not in the mood to keep her hands off Mr. Amazon.

They've been all over the place this week ... they were in Texas a few days back welcoming William Shatner and 3 other crew members back from their short trip into space.

If they weren't rich and famous ... they'd be like 2 high school kids. Check out JB spraying Lauren with champagne.

Aside from sucking face in the Big Apple, they took in a Broadway play -- The Lehman Trilogy -- about capitalism. Jeff knows a thing or 2 about that.

Chuck Liddell has filed for divorce from his wife of 10 years ... just days after the UFC legend was arrested for domestic violence in Los Angeles, TMZ Sports has learned.

51-year-old Liddell filed for "dissolution w/ minor children" from his wife Heidi on Friday at a courthouse in L.A.

We broke the story ... Chuck was arrested early Monday morning at his Hidden Hills home after police responded to a call for a domestic disturbance.

When cops arrived, they spoke to Chuck and Heidi ... and determined a verbal argument turned physical.

While Chuck was taken to jail ... he's adamant he was actually the victim, and volunteered to go with cops so Heidi could remain at their home with a minor child who was in the house.

"I was the victim of the incident last night at our family home, as details of the case will reveal," Liddell said in a statement the day after the arrest.

"The deputies informed me that my wife would be arrested, as I did not respond to her assault while I sustained bruising and lacerations. I volunteered to go in her place."

Heidi was cited on the scene, but not taken into custody.

The horrendous accident on set of "America's Got Talent: Extreme" had crew in a blind panic, and you can hear just how serious it was by listening to the 911 call from the set.

We've obtained the emergency call made by a woman -- an on-site medic -- who describes the stunt gone terribly wrong. She says the stuntman, Jonathan Goodwin, is "agonal and posturing" ... a term used for patients close to death, struggling to breathe and making unnatural movements.

The caller tells dispatch they need rescue and a helicopter STAT. Goodwin missed the airbag on which he was supposed to land, and hit his head on the ground, suffering a neurological injury.

At the time of the 911 call, CPR had not been performed, because Goodwin had a pulse. A show source tells us he was responsive when taken to the hospital, but his current condition is unknown.

The Sun was first to publish the 911 call.

If you wanna know how hard it is to stand out in the Los Angeles real estate market, just ask this guy ... who went all NSFW with his listing ... trying to score a sale!!!

The realtor, David Ferrugio, shamelessly bared all on his Instagram to promote a $1.29 million home on the market in the Monterey Hills neighborhood near L.A.

Ferrugio posed for not one, not 2, but 5 naked pics to showcase the 3-bed, 2-bath, 2,100 sq-ft. house that was just listed this week ... including a cheeky kitchen shot and a couple full frontals -- in the front and back of the property.

According to Ferrugio ... his clients were on board with his adult-themed marketing tactic, and to be fair -- he's strategically blurred.

Tough to say if that helps or hurts David with prospective buyers, but it should be noted ... actual realtor sites only include the shots of the home, and not the nude realtor.

David Ortiz has a message for all of the Yankees' fans blaming Aaron Boone for their disappointing season -- STOP IT.

TMZ Sports got the Boston Red Sox legend out in Beverly Hills this week to talk about his old rival's team ... and he made it clear, Boone is not to blame for New York's early playoff exit this year.

"Managers don't play, man," Ortiz said. "Managers just make moves."

Instead, Ortiz said if the Yankees want to be successful, they just need to work on "chemistry."

"If you don't have chemistry, it doesn't matter if you have talent," Ortiz said. "They have the talent, they just need to work on their chemistry. I think they'll be all right."

Many New York fans would disagree ... Pinstripes supporters have been clamoring for the team's brass to fire Boone ever since the Yanks disappointingly dropped the AL Wild Card Game to the Red Sox.

Boone has been safe for now ... which Ortiz appears to think is the right call in New York, despite what fans may believe.

Adele is walking back her harsh rejection of her homeland's most beloved cartoon swine, Peppa Pig, saying she's definitely down to collab with her ... after an on-air confrontation.

If ya missed it ... during the "Easy on Me" singer's very first IG Live last weekend, she answered a fan's question about working with Peppa with a very blunt "NOOOO!"

So, Peppa called in during Adele's interview Friday on the "Capital Breakfast" show and called her out ... saying it made her really sad to be rejected and asked, "Don't you like me?"

But, all's well in the world of Peppa and Adele fans now, because the singer admits she immediately felt terrible about her response and "anytime you wanna go jumping in muddy puddles and singing in muddy puddles, I'm with ya babes."

With that beef quickly squashed, Peppa's free to return to trolling other artists about their album reviews -- like Kanye -- and throw her full support behind Adele's upcoming album -- like her best friend, Drake, did.