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"The Masked Singer" is gearing up for duets ... and fan-favorite Jesse McCartney is coming back to perform!!!

Production sources tell TMZ ... for the first time ever on the FOX singing competition, the group finalists will be singing duets with top secret guest performers, including previous contestants, international superstars and even a panelist or two.

One of the guest singers is season 3 runner-up Jesse, one of the most popular performers in the show's history as Turtle.

But, more importantly, we're told the way production prepared for these duets was TOP SECRET ... the guest singers have no idea who they’re performing with ... they rehearsed completely separately to tracks, and they met for the first time on stage the day of the performance.

Conor McGregor claims it wasn't Dustin Poirier who gruesomely broke his leg during their trilogy fight ... 'cause the limb was "severely damaged" heading into the scrap.

The 33-year-old former UFC double champ made the declaration in a series of tweets on Wednesday ... saying he knew the leg may give out, but he decided to continue with the fight despite the serious injury.

"In my last camp I’d a severely damaged left leg. Many of my sessions consisted of starting in open guard bottom. And staying there. Full rounds remaining on bottom. I was beating people up until they backed away from me. It then translated to the fight. True story," McGregor fired on Twitter.

In fact, Conor says he didn't have a big reaction to the painful break -- unlike Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva -- because he was well aware the leg may snap during the UFC 264 fight on July 10.

"Same leg, same spot. I attribute it to why I wasn’t in as much shock as Chris/Anderson where. I knew something may happen in advance. Chris was upset with my quote. Felt I was aiming at him. I was not. If any constellation to my reaction, It was because id a heads up it may snap."

McGregor is very much down the road to recovery ... and it's evident he's beginning to plot his return to the Octagon.

But, who will he fight?? Poirier for a 4th time? Max Holloway rematch (McGregor beat him in 2013)? Nate Diaz trilogy?

Whoever it is ... The Notorious says he'll be back and better than ever!

Britney Spears' team says it has its work cut out post-conservatorship -- and that includes getting all her wealth into one big bucket for proper management ... something they're trying to do right now.

TMZ has obtained new legal docs filed by the man who served as temporary conservator of BS's estate -- aka, the business guy in charge of her money -- and he's asking permission from the court to consolidate a couple of Britney's trusts -- one of which actually predates her being in a conservatorship -- into a single trust with all of her assets.

The paperwork states there are two trusts that have different assets -- one was created in 2004 (well before her public spiral) and another that was whipped up in 2018 (while she was in the thick of the conservatorship).

Unclear exactly how much dough is in each, but in any case, the docs say they want to revoke both trusts ... and create a brand new one, lumping in all the assets to be managed under one umbrella.

The idea here seems to be that Britney's fortune is pretty fat ... and it'd be easier to keep track of it all if it was under one watchful eye. The docs say the new trust will be managed by someone with "experience representing high net worth individuals" -- which could be read as a potshot that her dad didn't have the skills to manage his daughter's money.

There's more ... the business guy is also asking for permission to execute a power of attorney and an advanced healthcare directive for Britney -- which could be important safeguards for her wellbeing in case things go south.

Drake isn't ready to roll out any new music ... whether it's on his own or with others, so he's decided to pull his song from French Montana's upcoming album in the wake of what happened at Astroworld.

French is set to release his highly-anticipated "They Got Amnesia" on Friday, and fans were hyped about a song on the project called "Splash Brothers" featuring Drake. However, the single was pulled without warning from Apple Music and other streaming services where the album will drop.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Drake asked for the song to come down before release because he's still reeling from what happened at Astroworld ... and didn't think it was appropriate to put out new music right now.

We're told French had no problem with the song being taken off the album -- Drake's his brother, and he totally understood his reasoning. Our sources say the single will still be released on the deluxe version of "They Got Amnesia" down the road.

A quick snippet of "Splash Brothers" apparently leaked online where Drake rapped, "I f*** a rapper's wife. She ain't even my type but I make the sacrifice."

Police are apparently ready for any possible retaliation that may come in the wake of Young Dolph's murder ... standing outside the Memphis restaurant owned by Yo Gotti, one of Dolph's rivals.

Dolph was gunned down Wednesday outside a Memphis cookie store, and just a couple hours later, swarms of police cars were stationed outside Prive restaurant -- about 10 miles from where Dolph was killed.

It's currently unclear if there was an actual threat made against the restaurant, or if cops are just being proactive in preventing any possible payback. Dolph's killer is also unknown at this time, and there have been no public connections to Yo Gotti surrounding his murder.

A source at the cookie store where Dolph was shot told us a vehicle pulled up and opened fire, striking and killing the rapper.

As for their beef, the feud between Young Dolph and Yo Gotti has been percolating for years, including a tweet Dolph rattled off in 2016 saying, "Bra went from bein my #1 fan and wanting to sign me to bein my BIGGEST HATER." He also referred to Yo Gotti as "lame" multiple times during an interview with "The Breakfast Club."

Dolph's attorney and friend, Scott Hall, told us the rapper was scheduled to hand out turkeys Wednesday and stopped at the cookie store where he was killed before the charity event.

Well, if you needed more proof that Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson are a thing, here ya go.

Pete decided to get together with and celebrate his birthday with Kim, Kris Jenner and Flavor Flav! The shindig went down at what looks like Kris' home in Palm Springs.

It's unclear who else celebrated, but it looks pretty small ... as in intimate. Flav posted a couple group shots of everyone having a good time.

Now, as for the Flav connection ... well, maybe he gave a clue by writing, "Celebrating my adopted son Pete Davidson's birthday with the legends." Flav let Pete wear his signature clock, writing, "Pete I never took a clock off my neck to give to someone and you will be the last person I do this for ... it lookz real good on you ... happy birthday."

It's the latest piece of evidence Kim and Pete are together. As we reported, after hosting "Saturday Night Live" last month, Kim took Pete to Knott's Berry Farm where they held hands on a ride. And then, a week later she was back in NYC, smooching with him at a dinner in Staten Island. The next night, they were hanging out with friends at Zero Bond, where Pete took care of the check.

Pete turned 28 Tuesday.

Young Dolph has been shot and killed in his hometown ... TMZ has confirmed.

The rapper was gunned down Wednesday in Memphis, TN outside a local cookie store ... and there's already a massive police presence with people recording the aftermath. A video from the crime scene shows his car parked outside the shop while police investigate. FOX13 Memphis was first to report Dolph's death.

A source says Dolph went into the store, and a vehicle pulled up, firing through a front window and striking the rapper.

Young Dolph has been targeted in the past ... back in 2017, he was struck by multiple bullets outside a shoe store in Hollywood, getting hit in the arms and buttocks, requiring surgery.

Earlier that same year, Dolph's SUV was shot at over 100 times while he was in Charlotte, NC in a shooting that saw an arrest warrant issued for Blac Youngsta, who later turned himself in. The charges against BY were eventually dropped.

As Dolph explained to us in the wake of that shooting, he dropped $600,000 for a pair of bulletproof vehicles and he chalked up the hail of gunfire to jealousy and hate because he's rich and successful.

Last time we got Dolph out was in 2019. He talked to our cameras about the Lakers and Juice WRLD's death.

Dolph leaves behind a son and a daughter. He was only 36.

He's known for several hits, such as "Major" and "On the River." He released 7 studio albums, starting in 2016 with his debut album, "King of Memphis."

President Biden got behind the wheel of General Motors' new all-electric Hummer, putting the pedal to the metal ... and he says it's even faster than his Corvette Stingray.

POTUS hit up the automaker's ZERO electric vehicle assembly plant Wednesday in Detroit, Michigan where GM's new Hummer is being built, and test-driven ... at least by the Prez.

Biden burned out and zipped down the track before slamming on the brakes ... then circled back to make some jokes for the media.

This time, Biden didn't miss the mark quite as badly as he did during a similar test drive on Ford's new electric truck back in May, when he joked about a hit-and-run on a reporter.

Still, Biden jokingly asked if any reporters wanted to climb in the back, or on the roof ... so, baby steps in the joke department.

The new Hummer looks and sounds pretty fast, at least with Biden in the driver's seat ... and it seems he's got a need for speed.

Biden's a big car guy ... back in 2016, when he was Barack Obama's VP, he did a burnout in his 1976 Corvette Stingray on Jay Leno's show.

Matt Stafford's wife, Kelly Stafford, is apologizing for chucking a pretzel at a fan during the Rams vs. 49ers game Monday ... calling it all a "weak moment" and adding she was "embarrassed" by her actions.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the L.A. quarterback's significant other was in the stands during the Rams' "Monday Night Football" game in Santa Clara, when a fan behind her started trash talking.

According to one witness, Kelly snapped ... kicking off an altercation by hurling a soft pretzel at the man.

The witness tells us Levi's Stadium security eventually stepped in ... and escorted Kelly and her crew away from the area to other seats in the venue.

After the game -- one in which the Rams lost, 31-10 -- when a fan called out Stafford's wife for not diffusing the situation and letting things go ... Kelly issued a mea culpa.

"I'm an idiot," Kelly wrote on her social media page. "He was saying a bunch of things that were aggressive towards our crew but zero excuse."

"I tried to apologize, but in the end knew I was wrong. Will always stand up for my guy and everyone I love, but obviously needed to do it completely different!"

Kelly continued, "I'm embarrassed too! Sorry you had to witness me in my weak moment!"

We reached out to the Santa Clara Police Dept. to see if they were called over it all ... but a spokesperson tells us they were not aware of any such incident.

We contacted Levi's Stadium security ... so far, no word back.

We also talked to Matt's agent ... who declined to comment on the incident.

The so-called "QAnon Shaman" will be in prison for a while for his part in the Capitol riot from Jan. 6 -- the guy just got sentenced, and he's looking at a few years behind bars.

Jacob Chansley was handed 41 months Wednesday during sentencing, which comes out to about 3 years and change. The guy's been in federal custody this entire time.

Prosecutors were gunning for a lengthy prison stint here, as they wanted to set an example for those charged with felonies over this matter -- and now that Chansley's fate has been determined, it could be a sign of what's to come for others whose cases are still pending.

As we previously reported, Chansley struck a plea deal with prosecutors, who laid out a window of 41 to 51 months they said they'd recommend. The judge sentenced him on the lighter end of that bench.

As we reported ... Chansley -- who was one of the hundreds of people who stormed the Capitol, dressed in a bizarre Viking-style outfit -- pled guilty to obstructing an official proceeding before Congress ... this after initially being arrested for knowingly entering/remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, among other counts.

Chansley has griped about his living conditions while in jail ... including an alleged crappy diet, which he claimed was affecting his health. Nevertheless, he was never released on bond ... despite his repeated pleas.

Some scalding hot justice for the woman who threw soup at a restaurant worker in Texas ... she's been arrested more than a week after the attack.

Amanda Martinez was just picked up by cops on a warrant for assault causing bodily injury, law enforcement sources say she'll be booked into Bell County Jail.

TMZ broke the story, restaurant manager Jannelle Broland -- who took the face full of soup -- said she planned on pressing charges after the attack at the Temple, TX Mexican restaurant earlier this month.

As for what led up to the attack ... Broland says Martinez placed an order to go, and came back a short time after picking it up, complaining there was some plastic in the soup. Broland says she offered a full refund or item swap for the soup, but apparently, that wasn't enough for Martinez, who cussed up a storm, tossed the soup and bolted.

There's a crowning piece of Elvis Presley history hitting the market ... his gold-filled dental work is going on the auction block.

Elvis' crown -- one from his mouth -- is up for bidding via Kruse GWS Auctions as part of the upcoming Artifacts of Hollywood & Music auction.

The dental crown has changed hands over the years ... the auction house says Elvis' fiancée, Linda Thompson, originally gifted it to Jimmy Velvet before it ended up in a private collection after being purchased in 1996 from the Elvis Presley Museum ... and now it's time for a new owner.

The bidding starts December 4 at 10 AM PT ... and the auction house is putting the opening bid on the Elvis tooth at $2,500.

Kim Kardashian has been a godsend to Julius Jones' family as they wait to hear from the Governor on if he'll live or die -- and even as the day grows closer, she's still checking in ... so says the man's own sibling.

Julius' sister, Antoinette Jones, tells TMZ ... Kim has been in touch with the family in recent days to see how they're holding up -- but more importantly, to get a pulse on how JJ himself is handling the dire situation.

She's even posted Instagram updates of late, shedding light on where things stand with Julius' case ... and, again, calling on Oklahoma's Gov. Kevin Stitt to do the right thing.

While it may come off as mere lip-service for some ... Antoinette tells us Kim's lobbying and advocating on her brother's behalf has meant the world to their family behind the scenes -- insisting she's a "real one" and actually cares about what happens here.

Not just that ... but Antoinette says Kim knows her stuff too, legally speaking -- and she's impressed the Joneses by her breadth of knowledge on the facts of the case and beyond.

Most influential, though, is Kim's massive cultural influence ... which Antoinette tells us has been immeasurable in putting a spotlight on Julius' story -- and which she says she and the rest of the fam are beyond grateful for ... regardless of what happens on Thursday when Julius is scheduled to be executed.

Quick note about that ... the Parole Board has recommended Julius should not be executed but rather serve out a life sentence behind bars ... but the ball has been in Governor Stitt's court with no movement ... and now, it's almost at the point of no return.

Considering the Gov. can still grant clemency in the 11th hour ... Antoinette is asking anybody with a following and some pull to lean in and help them get the word out about what they call a travesty of justice.

As you may know by now ... Julius was charged and convicted for first-degree murder way back in 2002 -- with prosecutors pinning him to the shooting death of 45-year-old Paul Howell. Julius has always maintained his innocence ... and much has been made about weak evidence in the case linking him to the crime, not to mention racially charged undertones.

Nelson Thomas was not up to the challenge of a pissed-off husband -- cops say the MTV star got knocked out cold after chatting up a married woman in Las Vegas!!!

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, Nelson -- who's starred on "The Challenge" for years -- says he met a woman at ARIA Resort & Casino and started talking to her at the valet area, and then ... WHAM!!! Next thing he knew, Nelson was being awakend by someone telling him he'd just been punched in the face and had his chain stolen.

Cops say they saw video backing up that account ... showing Nelson talking to the woman before the knockout punch put him on the ground -- and the assailant socked him one more time.

Nelson says he was "sucker-punched" and left with a broken nose so swollen he couldn't get treated by a doctor until the swelling went down.

On social media, Nelson claimed he was attacked because someone was trying to steal his $10,000 chain, but the woman's husband, Kevin Dixon, tells a different story.

According to the police report, Dixon copped to the punch ... and said Nelson was talking to his wife in an elevator -- but when he walked off, his wife stayed on and kept talking with Nelson.

He says he lost sight of her and was trying to text and call her, then found her at valet talking to Nelson. Cops say he admitted being jealous, mad and drunk -- a bad combo any night in Vegas.

Dixon was arrested for battery and grand larceny.

Nelson's on the mend, and it looks like his nose is fixed after finally getting treatment.

Staples Center is no more ... the iconic building that the Lakers and Clippers have called home since 1999 is getting a new name -- Crypto.com Arena.

Officials announced the stunning name change Tuesday night ... explaining the rebrand will take effect on Christmas Day next month.

The new name will stick for the next 20 years as part of the new agreement, officials say ... and the new deal will all reportedly cost the cryptocurrency app around $700 MILLION.

Of course, the announcement was hardly met with joy from L.A. fans -- as the building has only been known as Staples Center for YEARS to Kings, Sparks, Lakers and Clippers fans.

Still, officials were pumped over the move nonetheless ... sending out a mock of how the new signage will look on the top of the building in 2022.

In the announcement of the new deal, officials also promised "large-scale, premium branding and signage throughout the interior and exterior" of the new Crypto.com Arena.

Tamar Braxton is the latest victim of brazen burglars -- but instead of vowing vengeance ... she's actually sending them prayers.

The singer broke the startling news early Wednesday morning, saying ... "A few hours ago, this broken, bum ass man (one that I know) broke into my home and stole my safe only."

In her post, Tamar notes nothing else was taken -- including valuables like a Birkin bag or a computer or gaming systems -- and that the safe seemed to be the only item sought.

She also had a message for the perp ... "I want you to know first hand that I'm not angry. You did not break me. You did not violate me. What your broken ass don't realize that God gave me that home and every single thing in it during a pandemic, & also during the time when I was all of those things. God personally put the pieces of my life back together again."

She adds, "So pumpkin, you did not steal from me. Those things you took, he will give back to me a million times fold!!! You took from God!!!"

Tamar then got seriously Biblical, saying the crook isn't ready for the kind of vengeance God is about to drop on them. She closed with, "Father, have your way -- Amen."