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DaBaby is going back on tour after his homophobic comments, and it's all backed by Rolling Loud -- the festival where he made those remarks -- which believes he's a changed man.

Here's the deal ... DaBaby just announced a 22-show tour presented by Rolling Loud called "Live Show Killa Tour." The rapper's touting it as "THE SHOW YOU THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER SEE AGAIN" ... clearly jabbing at people who wanted him canceled.

A rep for Rolling Loud tells TMZ ... RL supports second chances and believes DaBaby has grown and learned from his experience, and everyone will be welcome at the shows.

As you know ... there was a massive backlash against DaBaby after the homophobic rant at Rolling Loud in Miami -- he was dropped from the lineup of a few festivals.

But, he returned to a Rolling Loud stage last month in NYC, where he joined his buddy 50 Cent as a special guest.

Sources close to DaBaby tell TMZ ... he inked the tour deal with RL prior to his appearance with Fiddy, but no earlier than a month ago.

The husband of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has lawyered up, and is preparing to file a wrongful death lawsuit ... TMZ has learned.

Matthew Hutchins retained the services of Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi ... according to the L.A.-based law firm. The firm's website says its attorneys specialize in personal injury and wrongful death litigation ... so clearly, Halyna's tragic death is in their wheelhouse.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us the lawsuit will be filed on behalf of Halyna's spouse and their child, and there will be multiple defendants.

The Santa Fe County District Attorney and Sheriff's Department continue to investigate Halyna's death, and while no criminal charges have been announced ... they say all options are still on the table.

Halyna is survived by Matthew and their 9-year-old son, Andros. The law firm had no comment beyond saying it was now on the case.

As we reported, attorneys for the head armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, are now theorizing that a disgruntled cast member intentionally put one or more live rounds of ammo in a box of dummy rounds.

They admit Hannah loaded the gun Alec Baldwin eventually fired, accidentally killing Halyna ... but say she had no idea she'd placed a live bullet in the revolver's barrel.

Joe Exotic's health is taking a major turn for the worse as the disgraced zookeeper remains behind bars ... telling fans he has "aggressive cancer."

The 'Tiger King' star says he recently had a biopsy performed on his prostate, and doctors let him know the results Wednesday. He says he doesn't want sympathy, instead, he wants his voice to be heard and for an immediate release so he can get treatment at home.

Joe's attorney, John Phillips, tells TMZ ... he plans to file a motion requesting compassionate release from his federal prison in Texas. It sounds like JE's condition must be pretty bad, because Phillips added that any delay in getting their motion before a judge could prove fatal.

While Joe is hopeful cancer treatment can help, it appears he's also acknowledging the outlook could be grim, noting if treatment doesn't work, he'd like to, "enjoy what life I have left with my loved ones!"

True to form, Joe also mentioned Carole Baskin on Wednesday, saying he's sure "Carole will have her own party over this!"

As we reported, Joe said he was "ready to die" in August after fears his cancer had spread to his pelvis and stomach.

A group of high school students in Penn. have now been banned from attending hockey games this season after they chanted "suck our d***" and "she's a w****" at a female goalie during a match last week.

The deplorable moments all went down when Mars Area H.S. took on Armstrong H.S. at Belmont Sports Complex near Kittanning on Thursday ... when several students decided to hurl vile words at the Mars goalie.

In a video from the game, the chants can be heard loud and clear -- and the footage shows they lasted for several seconds each.

In an interview with Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mars coach Steve Meyers said his players heard the words from ice level -- and they actually left his goalie in tears.

After the game, Armstrong principal Kirk Lorigan said he was "appalled" by the actions of his students ... and took swift action against them, banning the entire student body from attending future games this year.

Lorigan added that he and other school officials are working to identify individual students who participated in the chants at the game ... intimating further punishment could be on the way at the conclusion of the probe.

"It's certainly an unfortunate and embarrassing situation," Lorigan said ... "I'm disgusted by it."

Lorigan also said he's apologized to Mars and their goalie over it all.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez thinks folks who oppose Critical Race Theory in schools are burying their heads in the sand when it comes to the country's history ... which ain't always pretty.

We got the U.S. Congresswoman from NY Wednesday on Capitol Hill, and asked for her thoughts on CRT -- a hot-button issue that played a role in several elections that went down Tuesday, especially Virginia's gubernatorial race.

Watch what AOC has to say about this ... in her mind, refusing to embrace a Critical Race Theory-based curriculum is akin to willfully ignoring how racism impacted the nation from its inception.

The one thing she hints at, but doesn't quite verbalize, is that CRT makes the leap of framing racial dynamics in the present ... discussing how some institutions are *still* steeped in racism, and how that affects people of color today.

Truth is, there are a lot of people who don't understand what Critical Race Theory is at all ... or have been misinformed about it. And, as AOC notes here, it's been weaponized to really trigger some people -- especially parents.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed -- the armorer on for "Rust" -- didn't hear or see anything that would make her think target practice (with live rounds) was taking place ... so insists her attorney.

Jason Bowles joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" to clarify a few things he said earlier in the day -- the most important of which being his suggestion sabotage might've been at play here ... and that someone slipped a live bullet in a dummy rounds box on purpose.

We pressed him on that, asking what evidence -- if any -- he and/or his partners had to make a claim like that ... and Bowles seems to take a somewhat softer stance here.

Watch ... he explains they don't have a smoking gun, per se, and aren't pointing the finger at one person -- the possibility itself is there -- clear in the fact that a live round somehow made its way into a case that presumably only carried dummies, which are considered safe.

Of course, we also had to ask why the ammo was just out in the open if the weapons themselves were being guarded -- and Bowles has an explanation ... which makes sense.

He makes the point that dummies aren't dangerous, and don't necessarily need to be under a watchful eye at all times -- especially if no one is expecting a live round to enter the situation ... which he says is the case here. Namely, he's saying Hannah had no knowledge whatsoever of real bullets being anywhere near the set.

That leads to the final puzzling mystery of ... if target practice was, indeed, going down as frequently as we've heard it was during off-hours, how is it she didn't hear it or hear about it???

Bowles response is this ... if that was actually happening, it must've been taking place very far away from where she ever was, because he's firm that Hannah knows nothing about it.

Nick Lachey says what we're seeing on FOX's new singing show, "Alter Ego," might be really cool onstage, but it could also be the future of entertainment ... period.

We got the 98 Degrees singer -- who's been tapped as one of the celeb judges for 'Ego' -- and asked how he's liking his role on this revolutionary competition series ... where contestants sing live, but appear as digital avatars.

It's such a unique concept, and if you listen to Nick here, you'll see the format has had an impact on him -- especially on the technology side, something he admits he doesn't fully understand ... but can appreciate nonetheless.

There's a funny comparison Nick makes between himself and his fellow judge, Grimes ... who he calls "half-robot" on a whole other level that he just hasn't reached.

Still, NL recognizes the potential for something bigger than just music ... pointing out a lot of real-life influencers already promote themselves as avatars. In other words, he's saying this is a bigger wave that will reach far beyond his show -- and FOX is just surfing it earlier.

There's some key differences to look for when checking a gun for live ammunition or dummy rounds ... and it sounds like it should be pretty hard to screw up ... at least in theory.

Steve Wolf, who has been working in SFX and props in films for several decades, joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and literally showed us what the armorer on the "Rust" set should have been looking for.

As Steve explains, it's pretty simple to spot the difference with the naked eye ... dummy rounds have a dimpled primer on the bottom, something live ammunition does not.

Steve says there's another way to check what is going into a gun ... shaking and listening for sounds.

He says the dummy rounds are loaded with BBs and the live rounds are filled with gunpowder ... and the dummy rounds make a distinct noise when shaken and the live ammo is basically silent.

The distinctions are important ... there was a fatal shooting on the "Rust" set ... and now lawyers for the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, are suggesting someone placed a live round in a box of dummy rounds ... and that live round bullet killed Halyna Hutchins.

Hannah's lawyers said she spun the revolver before the fatal shooting ... but it sounds like Steve is saying she should have noticed the live round, based on how the bullet looks from the bottom.

The armorer also claims she didn't know there were live rounds on the set ... despite what we first told you ... the gun from the shooting was allegedly used for off-set target practice with live rounds.

Henry Ruggs was traveling 156 MPH seconds before Tuesday's crash, slamming into the back of a Toyota at 127 MPH, with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit, killing a 23-year-old woman, officials say.

Ruggs appeared in court this morning for the first time with a gash on his face, wearing a neck brace, to answer charges he caused the fatal car wreck in Las Vegas.

The details are disturbing. Officials, in new documents obtained by TMZ Sports, say they examined the computer in Ruggs' car and determined he was going incredibly fast just moments before he plowed into the Toyota.

Law enforcement said in the docs he was only able to slow to 127 MPH at the time of impact.

Officials says both Ruggs' car and the Toyota rolled over 500 feet after the initial impact ... where the Rav4 caught on fire.

In addition to the 23-year-old woman who perished, she also had a dog in the car that died.

Officers say Ruggs -- who appeared to be impaired at the scene -- refused to participate in field sobriety tests ... before he was eventually transported to the hospital.

Police say during an investigation following the crash, they located a gun in Ruggs' Corvette.

Officials added at Ruggs' hearing that bloodwork revealed the NFL player had a BAC of .161 -- more than two times the legal limit of .08.

Ruggs' injuries are unknown at this time -- though police did say the wounds were "serious" in documents. His mug shot shows the gash on his face was deep.

Ruggs has been charged with DUI resulting in substantial bodily harm, and reckless driving. His bail was set at $150,000.

The judge banned Ruggs from consuming alcohol ... and also ordered him to abstain from driving. He also must wear an electronic monitoring device as part of his bail.

At the hearing, the judge noted he'd never seen a case where the defendant was traveling at such a high rate of speed.

Kim Kardashian West and Pete Davidson had a secret dinner rendezvous Tuesday night, TMZ has learned.

Kim ventured out of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manhattan ... and headed for Pete's turf -- Staten Island. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the 2 entered the backdoor of Campania restaurant ... one of Pete's favorites.

They presumably chowed down on pizza or pasta ... the specialty at the joint.

It's a big development because everyone wanted to know if they'd meet up after sharing a ride at Knott's Berry Farm in the O.C. over the weekend ... where they held hands on a ride.

As you know ... Pete and Kim were together for almost a week when she hosted "Saturday Night Live" last month ... even sharing a kiss during a skit.

We got Kim out earlier in the day Tuesday and asked if she and Pete were more than just friends, but she was mum.

Some of L.A.'s biggest stars walked the runway for Gucci -- on Hollywood Blvd., no less -- but even more of them were front and center to watch 'em step in the name of fashion.

A gaggle of A-listers showed up en masse Tuesday to take in the Gucci Love Parade fashion show ... which actually topped some of the industry's top talent (movie and music-wise, that is) to model their getups -- including people like Jared Leto, Macaulay Culkin, Phoebe Bridgers and others.

Based on these photos of them cruising on stars along the Hollywood Walk of Fame ... you might say they were natural fits, and very much so in their element.

There were other hotshots who were on the sidelines watching -- including Salma Hayek, Lizzo, Miley Cyrus, Gwyneth Paltrow and Billie Eilish, among others.

The whole theme for this show, BTW, is the "dream factory" that is Tinseltown ... and the outfits reflect that. Very colorful and pretty dreamy at first glance -- especially when seen on some of the most famous faces around.

Kevin Hart isn't one to embrace controversy for kicks -- which is why a one-on-one between Netflix's CEO and him is all the more interesting ... especially as the Dave Chappelle drama's still swirling.

Check out this photo TMZ obtained of the rock star comedian chopping it up with Ted Sarandos Monday evening in Beverly Hills. They were at the Waldorf Astoria, where eyewitnesses say the duo had dinner and talked extensively for quite some time.

Although you can't see Sarandos' face in the pic ... other entertainment big wigs who were around confirmed it was him.

What they talked about remains a mystery, but the mere fact they had a private little chat like this, especially amid all the Chappelle drama at Netflix, can't be ignored ... as Dave and Kevin are good friends, and anyone cozying up to Ted right now (especially comics) might as well be cosigning what DC had to say and what Netflix decided to do.

Of course, Kev already has a major relationship with the streamer -- a multi-year deal for movies and specials -- so maybe this had absolutely nothing to do with Dave at all ... but something tells us the topic came up.

There's also this ... Kevin himself was embroiled in an LGBTQ-related controversy a few years ago -- one that ended up costing him his Oscars hosting gig, this after he waffled on apologizing for years-old tweets that some considered offensive and anti-gay.

Aaron Rodgers vs. Patrick Mahomes will now not happen -- at least not this week -- 'cause the Packers star has contracted coronavirus and is now out of Green Bay's game against the Chiefs.

Rodgers tested positive Wednesday, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, and told teammates just minutes ago that he'd be missing Sunday's tilt with K.C.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport added the quarterback is not vaccinated -- and that's why he's already been ruled out of the weekend matchup.

Much-hyped backup Jordan Love -- who the team took in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft -- is expected to start in Rodgers' place.

Rodgers hasn't missed a regular-season start for Green Bay since the 2017 season. In 8 games for this year, he piled up 16 passing TDs and just 6 INTs.

The Packers have been rocked by COVID recently ... just last week, they were without top wideouts Davante Adams and Allen Lazard due to positive tests.

DaBaby is A-OK to hit live stages again, because he's come a long way since his homophobic rants ... so says one LGBTQ org which is OK with his performing, but NOT Dave Chappelle.

The CEO for Relationship Unleashed, Gwendolyn D. Clemons, tells TMZ ... she and her cohorts at the nonprofit approve of DB's appearance at Rolling Loud NY last week -- and any future concerts -- as they feel he's learned a lot over the past few months.

Clemons says DaBaby met with them as well as 100+ other orgs that advocate for the LGBTQ community -- and insists they got through to him on why his diatribe about AIDS was hurtful and harmful.

RU gave DB a history lesson of sorts and educated the guy ... including how HIV/AIDS affects people in his native Charlotte, NC -- something Clemons thinks resonated with DaBaby, whom she believes did not understand what he was saying.

Clemons says DaBaby was coming from a place of ignorance, but she says now he gets it ...  and that's why Relationship Unleashed can cosign his latest Rolling Loud cameo, and others to come.

As for Mr. Chappelle -- she's not forgiving, telling us the comedian has not shown any empathy or remorse ... adding Dave knows exactly what he's doing. BTW, Dave would agree he knows exactly what he's doing, which is not to apologize because he says he is in no way shape or form transphobic.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed -- the armorer for "Rust" -- is making the bombshell suggestion that perhaps somebody intentionally put a live round in a box of dummy ammunition.

Gutierrez-Reed's attorneys Jason Bowles and Robert Gorence appeared Wednesday on "Today" to outline their "sabotage" theory, and went so far as to consider potential would-be culprits.

They revealed the person who could have slipped in the live bullet would have had access and opportunity to do so between 11 AM and 1 PM ... when the ammunition was left unattended outside on a tray.

They also say Hannah wasn't even in the church during the incident because it wasn't a filming session, nor a rehearsal, but an opportunity to figure out camera angles.

What they did admit, though, was that the gun's chamber was indeed inspected and spun by their client -- and they say she put in 6 rounds (thinking they were all dummies) ... and did not realize a live round had been placed in the mix. After that, she pawned it off to assistant director David Halls ... who then went into the church with Alec Baldwin and the rest of the crew.

This is way more info than what she initially offered last week -- when she delivered relatively brief remarks that expressed condolences for Hutchins' family ... but insisted she did not know how live rounds of ammo made their way onto the set.

Gutierrez-Reed also insisted she and the head prop master gained control of all the guns on set each day, while saying she never saw anyone use the guns or put live rounds in them either. She says she never would've allowed that, as safety is her top priority on the job.

What's interesting about that claim is live rounds and dummy rounds do look the same from the front. In fact, the purpose of a dummy round is to be shown on camera when a scene calls for showing someone holding a bullet or to show a bullet in the chamber of a gun.

Gutierrez-Reed has also pointed out she was tapped for 2 positions on "Rust" -- which she says made it difficult to focus on her armorer duties ... something her attorneys say she fought back against, but was overruled by production.

Her attorneys made no bones about where the blame lies -- arguing it is NOT with Hannah. They say, "The whole production set became unsafe due to various factors, including lack of safety meetings. This was not the fault of Hannah."

Of course, there are a lot of eyeballs in her direction -- especially seeing how many believe she should've been the one to personally hand Alec the gun, and to also properly check it.

There's also the fact that she'd recently appeared to express some doubt about her abilities when it comes to the gig itself ... acknowledging she was pretty green to being a head armorer.

Britney Spears made it clear Tuesday night ... her animosity for her mom runs at least as deep as it does toward her dad.

Britney raged against Lynne Spears, calling her the brains behind the conservatorship. In a shot that hits both parents, Britney said, "My dad is not smart enough to ever think of a conservatorship," adding, "...what people don't know is that my mom is the one who gave him the idea."

It's true ... Lynne was the one who actually engineered the temporary conservatorship after Britney's second 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold.

And, keeping with her theme over the last few months that her family was leeching off her, she said, "It's been 13 years ... It was a family business before, it's no longer that anymore."

And then, she looks to the future ... "I was BORN today cause I get to SMILE ... so thank you for exiting out of my life and finally allowing me to live mine! PS do I know how mean I sound? Yes ... I 100 billion percent I do."

She railed not just on her mom, but on her former business manager, Lou Taylor, whom many on the inside say was the one pulling the strings ... "She secretly ruined my life, and yes, I will call her and Lou Taylor out on it. So take your whole 'I have NO IDEA what's going on' attitude and go f**k yourself. You know exactly what you did."

Britney deleted the post several hours later, but that's the oldest trick in the book once it's out there.