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Rick Ross says that his weed-smoking and overall health have changed for the better -- and it's all because of a hemp business he's gone all-in on ... which sounds revolutionary.

We got Renzel on "TMZ Live" Wednesday to talk shop about his latest business endeavor -- a company he calls Hemp Hop ... which, as you can probably tell, is a play on "hip-hop." It's a CBD biz, that also dabbles in hemp products ... especially when it comes to toking.

Check out the interview to see what we mean here -- RR tells us that ever since he ditched tobacco-laced blunt wraps and swapped them for hemp papers and other CBD spinoffs ... he's seen vast improvements to his well-being, visibly notable in his dramatic weight loss.

Rick explains why this new source is a miracle-worker ... beyond just blazing up. He's right, BTW -- CBD is used for so many things these days -- and is a great alternative medicine.

Speaking of healing ... Rick says the CBD products that Hemp Hop offers has even helped him with seizures he's suffered from over the years, so you're hearing it straight from the man himself -- this stuff works, and he's got it available to the masses with this new upstart.

Speaking of being a boss ... we had to ask about Rick setting his son up with his own Wing Stop franchise -- which is an empire that runs in the family ... one that Rick's been invested in for years and years now.

He tells us he's just trying to get his boy into the habit of running things early -- and what better way than getting him on the ground floor with something that's already in Ross's portfolio.

Chris Brown has entered the Kyrie Irving COVID-19 vaccine saga ... calling the NBA star a "real hero" for refusing to get the jab.

The musician -- who has been tight with Uncle Drew for years -- sang Irving's praises as he remains banned from Brooklyn Nets practices and games for being unvaccinated ... posting to Instagram on Wednesday to share his two cents.

"I stand with my brother," CB said. "WHOEVER DON'T LIKE IT ... Go live your damn life."

"IT'S HIS CHOICE AND A DAMN GOOD ONE"

Of course, Irving is adamantly against getting vaccinated to be able to play this season ... despite reports claiming he is NOT anti-vax, but standing up for people losing their jobs over vaccine mandates.

Irving has been bashed left and right for holding firm on his stance ... with NBA commish Adam Silver even publicly calling for him to get vaxxed so he can get back to hooping.

Breezy -- who's previously taken issue with Juvenile's pro-vaccine remix of "Back That Azz Up" -- wants it known he's not siding with the criticism.

Dr. Dre's divorce has been extremely contentious, and something happened Monday that punctuates the bitterness ... a process server for his ex-wife attempted to serve him with legal docs at the cemetery where he buried his grandmother.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Dre was at a Los Angeles cemetery Monday to put the woman who helped raise him in her final resting place.

There's a dispute over where exactly Dre was confronted by the process server. Sources connected to Dre tell TMZ ... a process server came up to him at the burial site as Dre was standing by his grandma's casket and tried serving him. Sources connected to Nicole Young tell TMZ ... Dre was served in the cemetery's parking lot after the burial.

Either way ... we're told Dre recoiled in anger and wouldn't take the documents in hand. Our Dre sources claim the process server dropped the documents by the gravesite. Our Nicole sources say they were dropped in the parking lot.

The papers involved payment of Nicole's attorney's fees. There's a dispute over how much he was supposed to pay. The music mogul paid $325,433.  The judge signed an order that he owed a total of $1,550,000. Dre believes that amount is in error and he paid the full fee. Nicole says the order is clear ... Dre owes a balance of $1,224,567. The legal docs that were served included the judge's final order of $1,550,000.

Either way ... this divorce is about as acrimonious as it gets.

Dog the Bounty Hunter has vacated the state of Florida amid his search for Brian Laundrie -- but that doesn't mean the guy's throwing in the towel ... quite the opposite, in fact.

Sources close to Duane Chapman tell TMZ ... he's back in Colorado -- where he normally lives -- and has plans to meet with his doctor over his recent ankle injury ... which he suffered while on the hunt for the elusive Laundrie.

He might be down and on the mend at the moment, but that doesn't mean Dog is out of the fight -- we're told he still has reason to believe BL is alive ... and will continue filtering through tips.

Speaking of those ... we're told that since he's been back in the Rockies, Dog's received upwards of 4,000 possible leads -- through which he's sifting for one that might be legit. As you can imagine, it's a daunting task -- but DTBH is up for it.

Consider this as well ... Dog was roughing it in the Sunshine State -- which our sources say took a toll on him. The guy was seen wading through marshy swamps in the area -- but even beyond that ... we're told he'd been putting in 20-hour days, and sustained injuries that he hasn't really made public ... leaving him cut up and bloodied.

Now, as to whether Dog will return to Florida once he's back to 100% ... we're told he absolutely will. Our sources say Dog is still invested in the case, and will get back into the field soon.

Reality star Harry Jowsey is under fire after a clip from his podcast calling James Charles a homophobic slur made it online, only to be deleted shortly after it was posted ... and Jowsey is already apologizing.

The former "Too Hot to Handle" star dropped a new episode of his popular 'Tap In' podcast Tuesday, and about 8 minutes in you can hear him talking to someone in the room about makeup guru James Charles ... claiming Charles is making advances on him.

Jowsey says, "James Charles is trying to f*** me ... the makeup artist. You don't know who he is? Just some f*****."

It appears the comment was not supposed to make the podcast's final cut, and seemed to be more of a conversation between Jowsey and a member of his team. However, listeners were quick to grab the audio and post it online.

The original version of Jowsey's podcast was 40 minutes long, and it's now only 27 minutes ... so it appears an editor cut the James Charles comment as well as other segments of the episode out and re-uploaded the shorter version.

Harry tells us, "I'm deeply embarrassed that I used such an offensive term so casually in conversation. I spoke with James already privately and I look forward to using this as a learning experience and not forgetting the weight that my words carry. I also want to sincerely apologize to the entire LGBTQ+ community who I wholeheartedly support.”

The comment is somewhat surprising considering Jowsey recently said he was an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, saying trans women are women and sharing he had hooked up with Nikita Dragun.

As for Charles and Jowsey, it doesn't appear the two have any sort of solid friendship, though we have seen them at the same events.

James Charles has not yet commented on the audio.

Nikolas Cruz, the gunman responsible for killing 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, just made an impassioned plea to the victims' families ... he wants a 2nd chance.

Cruz addressed the families from a Florida courtroom Wednesday after changing his plea to guilty ... he says he's sorry for what he did and loves them.

In the video, Cruz says it's tough living with the consequences and he has nightmares and can't live with himself sometimes ... but he says he's trying to keep pushing through.

It's kind of bizarre ... Cruz then goes on a mini-rant about people smoking marijuana and doing drugs, which he says is "causing racism and violence out in the streets." He also says he can't bring himself to watch TV anymore.

Cruz is facing life in prison or the death penalty after pleading guilty to 34 counts -- 17 premeditated murder and 17 attempted murder -- but he says it should be up to the victims' families to decide if he gets a death sentence.

The reality is ... the jury will decide Cruz's fate at his trial.

Dick Vitale says cancer will not get in the way of his passion for college hoops -- explaining in an emotional video he's still planning to call games despite chemotherapy treatments.

The legendary broadcaster revealed his lymphoma diagnosis earlier this week -- and said Wednesday he's been prescribed steroids and six months of chemo to try to eradicate it.

But, Dickie V -- who's been providing commentary on games since the 1970s -- made it clear he's going to do everything in his power to stay on the air during the treatment process.

"They're going to try to plan the chemo so I can be free to do some games," Vitale said. "Which I've got to do -- that's my best medicine of all."

The 82-year-old says he's been overwhelmed by the amount of love he's received since announcing his diagnosis ... nearly breaking down in tears while thanking everyone for their support.

"I'm going to beat it because I got a great team," Vitale said. "Great family, my second family ESPN, all my colleagues have been so kind and so good and I have a great team of doctors who are all involved."

He then guaranteed that he will win his battle with the disease ... adding, "Take that to the bank. There's no doubt in my mind."

Cops were called to the scene where an abandoned bike was found just a few miles from where surveillance video was shot of a man who resembles Brian Laundrie ... TMZ has learned.

A used car sales manager named Jon in Hernando, FL tells us he discovered the bike near his shop -- he believes it was left there either Friday night or Saturday morning. Jon called the cops, who came to the scene and fingerprinted the bike Tuesday.

Jon says officers only spent about 15 minutes on scene, but told him Laundrie tips come in quite frequently to their department ... and most are dead ends.

The location of the bike is interesting ... considering we obtained a surveillance video shot in the area last week of a man who resembled Laundrie, riding a bike on a deserted road surrounded by heavy brush. In the video ... you see the man struggle to pedal on the sandy road, wearing a very large backpack. The area where the man was riding is 3 hours from the home of Laundrie's parents.

We should say ... the design of the two bikes appears to be different, but nonetheless, the abandoned bike was suspicious enough for cops to come out.

Laundrie has been on the run for more than a month now, and it's widely believed he had something to do with the murder of his fiancee, Gabby Petitio. Authorities say Petito was strangled to death, and her body was left in the wilderness for weeks before being discovered.

Jonathan Goodwin has a long road to recovery since the accident on "AGT: Extreme" that almost killed him ... but for now, he's thankful to be alive.

Goodwin just broke his silence from his Georgia hospital bed, striking a funny pose and showing off a bandaged hand as well as cuts and burns on his face. Alluding to his career as a stuntman, Goodwin says, "You can't say you don't get out what you put in."

He then went on to thank people from around the world for their "astonishing" support since his accident as well as his fiancee, Amanda, family and loved ones.

Speaking directly to his horrifying accident, Goodwin says, "I have been to the very brink and dodged the worst that a human being can, without fear…because I was protected by love. Love is all you need, so make sure you get some, cos its good s***."

TMZ broke the story, Goodwin nearly lost his life on the 'AGT' set after a stunt where he was supposed to free himself from restraints before cars swinging on either side of him collided and exploded. He fell 40 feet to the ground and landed on his head. At the time of the accident, those on set believed Goodwin was dead.

Clearly, Goodwin knows just how lucky he was to survive, saying, "nanana boo boo" to death!

Another shooting went down Tuesday night in Bev Hills -- the latest one to hit the ritzy town this year ... which begs a serious question about violent crime in the 90210.

Beverly Hills PD says it responded to reports of a shooting late Tuesday night, which went down near Italian restaurant Via Alloro ... and left one victim with a gunshot wound to the leg. Cops say the shooting was the result of an attempted armed robbery.

It sounds like the perp(s) left empty-handed and the police are on the hunt ... but remember, something very similar happened a few short months ago at nearby celeb hot spot Il Pastaio, where a handful of men pulled off something similar -- in broad daylight, no less.

We broke the story ... cops ended up arresting 3 alleged gang members in May, whom they say had the audacity to pull an armed robbery in March, in pursuit of a $500k Richard Mille watch a man was wearing -- which they successfully stole, while leaving a woman shot in the leg as they fled. Here, too, somebody was left with a bullet in their lower half.

This is NOT a new phenomenon, BTW -- Bev Hills has long been a place where criminals have tried stealing jewelry off of people's bodies -- especially pricey Rolex watches, and other valuables -- but it now seems to be spinning into a violent endeavor, with guns blazing.

We looked into the crime stats too over the past couple years -- and sure enough, property crime in Beverly Hills is through the roof compared to the rest of L.A. and the rest of the country -- up 108% compared to the national average as recently as 2020, which is nuts.

It was "Bring Your Music Star Girlfriend To Work Day" for Rich Paul -- the NBA super-agent hit up the Laker game with Adele on Tuesday ... with the couple looking cozy out in public together.

There were a large number of VIPs at Staples Center to watch LeBron James and Anthony Davis face off against the Golden State Warriors ... and Paul had a front-row seat to keep an eye on his superstar clients.

Adele and Rich refrained from much PDA -- after all, it's kinda a business event for the Klutch Sports founder -- but the couple was spotted sitting close and friendly throughout the night.

Justin Bieber and Usher pulled up to watch the game as well ... with Kevin Hart stopping by to share some jokes.

James Corden, Lily Collins and Kid Cudi were also in attendance ... with the latter reppin' his very own "Space Jam" Tune Squad jersey.

Jack Nicholson also made a rare appearance at the game -- remember, he used to hit up every home game he could ... but more recently, he has been much less frequent.

LeBron James may be Nike's billion-dollar man, but the guy still loves incredibly expensive designer sneakers ... 'cause the NBA superstar rocked $1,000 Prada shoes on his way to the Lakers game on Wednesday.

LBJ went full Bruce Wayne as he made his way to Staples Center for the season opener against the Golden State Warriors ... wearing an all-black Thom Browne suit and the clunky kicks to round out the look.

As it turns out, the "Cloudbust Thunder Technical Fabric Sneakers" come with a hefty price tag -- more than 5 times the amount his own signature sneaks cost.

Remember, LBJ is tied to the Swoosh for life with a deal reportedly worth 10 figures back in 2016 ... after initially signing with Nike back in 2003.

LBJ was clearly sending a message with his wardrobe choice as he heads into season 19 -- saying, "Bron Wayne/🦇. Put the logo in the sky and I got it from there" on Instagram.

CNN anchor John King spontaneously revealed a secret he's been keeping for 13 years ... that he has Multiple Sclerosis ... and the way he's powered through it all is stunning.

King appeared on CNN Wednesday and explained he did not calculate the revelation ... rather, he was incensed when some anti-vaxxers used Colin Powell's COVID-related death as ammunition in the bogus argument that vaccines don't work.

King said, "I do not understand people who get up in the morning, who are vaccinated themselves, and willingly lie to get attention, to get clickbait, to get whatever. I do not understand it."

King went on to describe the challenges he's faced over the years ... numbness in his legs, the inability to grasp objects, falling down stairs ... yet all the while, his colleagues and viewers didn't have a clue.

Particularly shocking was King's high-profile coverage on 2020 election night, when he stood at an electronic board for hours analyzing voter turnout. He said that was an especially difficult night, yet for most people watching it was impossible to tell.

Netflix's top dog is apologizing for how his words about the Dave Chappelle special may have come across to some employees -- but he's not changing his actual stance.

Ted Sarandos gave some new thoughts on the drama over at his company that's been brewing for 2 weeks now -- confessing he "screwed up" in his initial email to Netflix staffers (which leaked), where he defended "The Closer," while also downplaying transphobic concerns.

The guy says he should've led those emails with humanity first, and acknowledged that there were a group of people that were hurting over the sheer nature of Dave's stand-up.

As far as what Sarandos says he might change in hindsight, he says he probably would've mentioned that content can, in fact, have real-world impact ... be it bad or good, something he seemed to dismiss by analogizing Chappelle's special to first-person shooter games.

That said, he's standing firm on his main point -- namely, that this special, specifically, does NOT fall under hate speech, does NOT cause real-world harm ... and won't be taken down. So, essentially, Ted's apologizing for how he relayed that sentiment ... not the sentiment itself.

He noted their business has to appeal to a variety of customers with differing tastes and views than some of his employees -- and that's just something they'll have to accept.

Sarandos also said content that literally has a call to action to cause harm or remove protections from a certain protected group would cross the line -- but he simply feels Dave didn't cross that with 'Closer' ... even if some at Netflix feel differently.

There are certainly a group who are still riled up over this -- because there's an employee walkout happening Wednesday that's in direct protest to Netflix's decision to keep it up.

Eboni K. Williams is pissed she and her 'Real Housewives' costars won't have a reunion to clear the air -- but she's also making (and teasing) a lot of lemonade from these lemons.

The newest star of 'RHONY' -- who really stirred the pot this season -- dished on Bravo axing a post-show get-together with Andy Cohen, which is custom with all the 'Housewives' show ... and almost always happens, no matter what.

That won't be happening this time around, though -- Bravo chalked it up to "scheduling challenges -- and when a photog asked Eboni about it in NYC at the release party for Dave Quinn's new book this week ... she was honest.

Check out the clip ... it sounds like she feels there's unfinished business (and beef, we're sure) that she was hoping to hash out at the would-be reunion, and she's pretty sour her series debut won't get the traditional follow-up that every other spin-off has enjoyed.

She gives some examples, BTW -- and sure enough, it appears there might be some racial tension and lingering hurt feelings Eboni wants to address head-on with some of her castmates ... dovetailing a recurring theme this season, that may or may not have hurt 'RHONY' ratings.

As we reported ... there's been a feeling that Eboni's focus on racial conversations might've been the reason this season of 'RHONY' dragged in viewership -- even though she's disputed that.

Ex-NBA player Delonte West spent Tuesday night in jail after being arrested for an alleged drunken incident with cops, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The former hooper -- who played 8 seasons in the Association -- was booked at 10:32 p.m. in a Palm Beach County, Fla. jail and was released at 5:46 a.m. Wednesday, records show.

According to an incident report, cops say West was initially stopped by officers after he was yelling and banging on the glass doors at a police station in Boynton Beach.

Officers say West was yelling and cussing ... while holding open bottles of beer and vodka.

In the report, cops say West tried to walk away from the scene, but he was ordered to stop and put down the drinks.

The officers say 38-year-old West initially complied, but then got up and put his hands inside his pants -- 'causing one of the cops on the scene to unholster their taser.

Cops say West then responded to verbal commands ... and was ultimately cuffed and arrested -- though officers note he "continued to be belligerent" in the back of a squad car.

Cops added in the report that West reeked of alcohol and appeared to be drunk.

Court records show West was ultimately hit with three charges from the incident -- obstruction/resisting without violence, open container, and disorderly intoxication.

Records show he's due in court for his arraignment later next month.

West has struggled with substance abuse in the past -- and had entered into a rehab facility in 2020 with the help of Maverick's owner Mark Cuban to try to address the issues.