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'Black Panther' fans have spoken, saying Chadwick Boseman's beloved character should be recast going forward, and believe it or not ... the man's own brother concurs.

CB's bro, Derrick Boseman, tells TMZ ... yes, he does think T'Challa needs to live on in the 'Black Panther' franchise, and if that means tapping another actor to portray the king of Wakanda -- the role Chadwick made famous and legendary, then so be it.

Here's the thing ... Derrick tells us he believes his sibling would've wanted with this too -- explaining Chadwick thought T'Challa was bigger than just himself as one guy. Frankly, Derrick says Chadwick knew the power of the character, and the positive influence it carries.

Derrick says there's so much power in seeing a Black king -- especially in a superhero capacity, like in the Marvel flick -- which has a HUGE impact on African-American youth. DB tells us with Marvel killing off that character so quickly in the wake of Chadwick's death, they're kinda depriving black kids of a role model.

As you know, there's a major push among fans to #RecastTChalla amid all the speculated drama with Letitia Wright.

Derrick says there aren't a whole lot of positive influences for young black children these days -- he thinks hip-hop glorifies certain social ills, and Marvel has a chance to counteract that by bringing back T'Challa -- who he sees as a symbol of Black people's potential.

The guy speaks from experience, telling us his own nephew has told the family he wants to be a scientist and cites 'Black Panther' as his inspiration.

Starting at point guard for the Brooklyn Nets ... Kyrie Irving?!?!

It sure seems like that might happen again soon ... 'cause the NBA superstar appears to be teasing a hoops return amid reports he could rejoin the team.

Kyrie hasn't played a minute of hoops all season, thanks to his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine -- remember, he claims he's not anti-vax ... just taking a stand against vax mandates in NYC.

But, as Uncle Drew holds firm to his beliefs, he's lost millions of dollars in the process ... but as the first-place Nets head into a crucial part of the season, The Athletic's Shams Charania says there is "renewed optimism" Irving will come back.

Worth noting -- the report doesn't specify if this means Kyrie will get the jab or if he'll only play away games for the Nets.

Kyrie seemingly responded to the report on Tuesday ... posting a video showing him lacing up his Kyrie sneakers.

Billie Eilish says she consumed so much porn as a kid, it gave her nightmares ... and the mental effects of the addiction have now hurt her in her adult love life.

The 19-year-old singer spilled the beans Monday on SiriusXM’s "The Howard Stern Show," sharing her experience with violent porn and its impact on her life, "I think it really destroyed my brain and I feel incredibly devastated that I was exposed to so much porn.”

Billie clearly hates it now, "I think porn is a disgrace. I used to watch a lot of porn, to be honest. I started watching porn when I was like 11.”

She says that watching the "abusive" porn not only caused her to have trouble in the bedroom once she began having sex ... but she also believes watching it caused her to have sleep paralysis and nightmares.

She now says she is angry that porn is loved and mad at herself for thinking it was okay ... "The first few times I, you know, had sex, I was not saying no to things that were not good. It was because I thought that’s what I was supposed to be attracted to.”

As far as her love life, she says it has been hard, being a celeb and finding love. Saying that people are either "terrified of you or think that you’re out of their league.”

While she admits to thinking last year she'd be single for the rest of her life, she says she got over that thought pretty fast.

Though the 19-year-old may have had trouble with her love life, her music career has had a pretty good year.

A train ride in New York turned violent for one woman, who got a hand to the face after getting into an argument with an alleged creep ... a guy NYPD's now trying to find.

The incident went down on a Brooklyn-bound subway line early Friday ... and as you can see in the video ... the man and woman were really going at it. The woman was seated and yelling at the guy who was standing over her and shouting back, "It's none of your business."

At one point, things escalate physically, with the guy smacking her right in the face ... and she lets out a scream.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... someone on the train reported this to cops shortly after it happened, and the victim suffered minor injuries and a pair of broken glasses. The man in question had fled by the time officers arrived.

As to what led up to this, we're told the woman allegedly saw the guy taking photos of women onboard, and she decided to do the same to him ... which apparently pissed him off.

Elon Musk can read a room -- getting ahead of potential groans and eye-rolls over him being named TIME's Person of the Year by sprinkling some adorableness on the ceremony ... courtesy of his kid.

The Tesla and SpaceX chief popped in for a Q&A Monday night in NYC, not too long after it was announced he was TIME's number 1 person for the entirety of 2021. His entrance turned out to be a big fat father-son love fest, 'cause EM trotted out X Æ A-12 for the sit-down.

It's pretty hilarious ... as soon as Elon comes into the room with X in his arm, just about everyone lets out the expected "awwwws" that come in the presence of any toddler.

X's appearance definitely softened any would-be tension that might've existed among the reporters and spectators there ... 'cause, as you may have read or heard, not everyone was all that thrilled with Elon getting the huge honor.

Nobody probably would've made a scene or anything, but bringing X along for the ride is definitely a good PR move on Dad's part.

As for the actual interview itself, Elon talked about a lot of stuff -- including whether he considered cars or rockets more important, and whether he'd ever get his ass up into space like his billionaire rival, Jeff Bezos.

Meanwhile, young X was on his best behavior (for the most part) ... not really fussing too much, and listening to his pops chat it up in what was almost certainly a new environment for him.

Jim Bob Duggar's likelihood of winning a state senate race in Arkansas just went down, drastically, due to his son's conviction ... this according to another member of the Duggar fam.

Derick Dillard -- who's married to JBD's daughter and Josh's sister, Jill -- tells TMZ ... Josh's guilty verdict in his child porn trial puts his father-in-law in a tough spot politically, and not just because of the obvious association to his son ... but because of public past stances he's taken on sex crimes. In Derick's eyes, Jim Bob's track record won't help.

Take, for example, a policy JBD proposed on a now-defunct site of his when he ran for U.S. Senate in '02, which talked about what should happen to somebody who rapes a woman. As you can see, he called for executing the perpetrator and keeping the baby alive.

It's not apples to apples, comparing that to what Josh's conviction for possessing a ton of child pornography -- but in Derick's eyes, it makes Jim Bob look hypocritical ... because he doesn't think his father-in-law would take as hard a stance now, in light of what's happening to his own flesh and blood.

More relative to Josh's situation is a bill JBD helped sponsor in 2001 -- when he was in the state's House of Reps. -- calling for widening the categories of sex offenses to include "pandering or possessing visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child." Derick believes Jim Bob will get grilled on the campaign trail for that one.

Big picture ... Derick says Jim Bob's come across as less than transparent or credible due to vague statements he made while Josh was under investigation.

Of course, Derick's hardly a JBD fan to begin with. As you know, he and Jill have distanced themselves from the famous fam since 2017 ... when Derick accused his father-in-law of screwing his kids out of money.

Still, DD admits Jim Bob could gut out a victory, due to his TV fame and name recognition/wealth -- all of which could help him get past the PR nightmare of Josh.

Jo Koy might have kicked off a new singing career, well kinda... during his comedy show, he surprised the audience with Boyz II Men's Wanya Morris and he even busted out his own vocals.

It happened Sunday night during Jo's sold-out comedy show at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA ... Jo brought out his longtime friend and the Boyz II Men singer and they both sang the 1994 hit song, "I'll Make Love To You."

Jo didn't bring out the other two B2M members Nathan Morris and Shawn Stockman, but he had no problem stepping up to the mic to sing in their place.

Folks who were there tell TMZ ... Jo cracked jokes, talking about which songs are panty-droppers ... and that's when he brought out Wanya. The night wasn't all jokey. Jo sang Nathan Morris' baritone part and impressed the audience with his vocals.

The song is a classic throwback jam. It spent 14 weeks topping Billboard Hot 100, making it the 3rd best performing song in the 1990s. It also ranked on Billboard's Greatest of All-Time chart.

Warriors guard Gary Payton II just earned the respect of one NBA fan in Indiana ... 'cause after he accidentally spilled the person's drink, he made sure a replacement got sent over ASAP!

The 29-year-old -- who just so happened to be mic'd up when the interaction happened -- inadvertently knocked over the Truly while he was leaning over some railing on Golden State's sideline.

The son of Hall of Famer Gary Payton was immediately embarrassed, saying out loud, "My fault! My fault!"

But, seconds later, he made things right.

"What'd you have, a Truly?" Payton II asked, before flagging down a staffer to send over another drink.

Payton II then handed the fan a towel to clean up the mess ... before cameras later caught him apologizing again, and even dapping up the fan.

As for the game ... Payton II and the Dubs knocked off the Pacers, 102-100, thanks to some late-game magic from Stephen Curry.

Olivia Rodrigo is the rare breed who doesn't mind sticking around the Department of Motor Vehicles ... she hung out at the DMV after it closed to film her NPR "Tiny Desk Concert."

And, while Olivia's hit song "drivers license" promotes young drivers to get their card, that doesn't exactly mean she got free use of the DMV as her NPR concert backdrop.

Olivia's "Tiny Desk (Home) Concert" dropped last week, featuring a few songs from her debut album performed inside a California DMV ... we're told she made use of the office in Glendale.

Folks at the DMV tell TMZ ... the filming went down after normal business hours and the production company shelled out $2,383 to use the office, with some of that money covering overtime pay for a few DMV workers who had to stay late to make sure everything was kosher.

We're told the DMV opened its doors to Olivia because the department supports the state's all-important film and entertainment industry, as long as permits are for special projects that won't interfere with the DMV's day-to-day operation.

Julianna Peña admits Amanda Nunes deserves an immediate rematch -- telling TMZ Sports she'll get it soon (after the "Venezuelan Vixen" goes to Disney, of course) -- this after the MMA fighter shocked the world at UFC 269.

We talked to 32-year-old Peña -- fresh off her decisive win over the G.O.A.T., Nunes -- and asked her about a potential rematch.

"[Amanda] was the champ for so long. She definitely deserves a rematch and she wants it. So, she wants it, and I want it, and I'm willing to give it. It looks like it just needs to be a matter of time before they set it up," the champ told us.

And, let's be honest ... if any former champ deserves to run it back right away, it's Amanda.

Before Saturday night, Nunes hadn't lost in 7+ years ... when Cat Zingano beat her via TKO at UFC 178 in September 2014.

Peña walked us through what exactly it was like to face Nunes ... and although she might've made it look relatively easy, it was anything but.

"I knew that I was going to be facing arguably the best women combat sports athlete ever. She came 100 percent. Her shots were amazing. Her leg kicks she threw with massive intent. It hurt, but I definitely knew that at the end of the day, if I could just keep my composure, that I would get my hand raised."

But first, Peña says she wants to celebrate her daughter's 4th birthday like many champs ... in style, at Disney.

"I've been grinding for so long, I just really think my daughter deserves a little bit of attention. Her birthday's coming up in January, I'd like to taker her to Disney World. And then, after that, I'm ready to go. So, whenever they decide, is probably gonna be good."

Something tells us Peña might again be the underdog ... but she surely isn't going to catch anyone off guard this time around.

Julianna Peña can fight her ass off ... and she proved it Saturday night.

New Jersey native Ali Larter has had a long list of notable roles in the entertainment business ... but she was only 22 years old when she landed her breakout role as the quarterback's girlfriend and cheer captain Darcy Sears -- who surprises the up-and-coming QB (and viewers) by donning a whipped cream bikini -- in the 1999 teen movie "Varsity Blues."

'VB' was packed with up-and-coming actors including Paul Walker as the star QB and Darcy's boyfriend, Lance Harbor ... and of course James Van Der Beek as the guy who don't want your life, Jonathan "Mox" Moxon.

Kim Kardashian made it clear in new legal docs ... there's no way to fix her marriage to Kanye.

TMZ broke the story ... Kim filed docs last Friday to restore her marital status to single, leaving property settlement and custody issues for another day in the future.

We just got supporting docs Kim filed ... in her declaration, she says, "No counseling or reconciliation effort will be of any value at this time."

Kim also says, "Irreconcilable differences have existed and continue to exist between [Kanye] and me, which have caused our marriage to irretrievably break down."

Kim then goes on to say ... she's wanted to end the marriage for a while, but Kanye wasn't having it. She says, "I have been attempting to settle our dissolution with [Kanye] since I filed for divorce in February 2021." She adds, "I have requested several times that [Kanye] agree to bifurcate and terminate our marital status. [He] has not responded to my request."

And then she says this ... "[Kanye] and I both deserve the opportunity to build new lives. Therefore, I am asking that my request to bifurcate and terminate our marital status be granted."

This tracks with what we've been reporting ... Kanye has been making a full-court press to reconcile with Kim, even singing it to 70,000 fans at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum last week, and Kim was there with the kids. She's been super supportive of Kanye -- especially as the parent to their 4 children -- but she's clearly done with the marriage.

The two have really demonstrated they can co-parent without issue, coordinating the kids and their schedules to work together. Kanye's still got a Christmas stocking hanging at the house, too.

Caitlyn Jenner got denied service at the Beverly Hills Hotel because of her ripped jeans, and she just ripped the hotel a new one over the diss.

Caitlyn went on the attack Monday, writing, "f*** your horrible service for not letting me have lunch with this tiny rip in my jeans. Shame on you. Disgusting. I have been a patron for decades. No longer."

It seems she tried to eat at the famed Polo Lounge, which is sort of a combo now of old school (as in dress codes) and new school. The P.L. was kind of a dour joint for a long time ... until the last few years, when it experienced a resurgence with young Hollywood. It's actually become a hot spot for both lunch and dinner.

A source close to Caitlyn tells us she was really caught off guard, especially because she was dressed in full hair and makeup. Caitlyn's jeans were more distressed denim than ripped jeans, making it that much more surprising to her.

What's more ... our source says staffers weren't enforcing the "no photos" policy -- as Caitlyn took many with fans -- yet they decided to enforce the dress code against her.

Caitlyn for sure has been going there for years, but it looks like that ship has now sailed. She tagged the hotel's parent company, The Dorchester Collection, to express her displeasure.

There have been issues with Dorchester hotels in the past, with LGBTQ orgs calling for a boycott ... our Caitlyn source wonders if those previous problems might really be true.

"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" can't catch a break -- a new crop of cast members are positive for COVID-19, and that's forcing production to shut down again in what seems to be Hollywood's new reality.

Sources connected to the series tell TMZ ... late last week Lisa Rinna, Erika Jayne, Garcelle Beauvais and a member of the crew all tested positive, causing producers to suspend all filming. Thankfully, we're told symptoms are mild for all involved ... and they've all been vaccinated.

We're told the show will be on a brief hiatus for at least a couple weeks -- SOP for when a positive result comes in -- and they'll reevaluate everything then. Our sources say everyone will be tested multiple times before coming back to work ... which was already happening anyway.

Of course, this is far from the first and certainly won't be the last TV or film production to be impacted by COVID. Thankfully, the vaccine seems to be doing what scientists said it would ... lessening the effects for those who catch COVID.

We broke the story ... 'RHOBH' filming was halted late last year, when Kyle Richards, Kathy Hilton and Dorit Kemsley tested positive. Now, it looks like they're gonna have to do it all over again to deal with the latest batch.

Jimmy Rave -- who famously feuded with AJ Styles in Ring of Honor before becoming a TNA Wrestling star -- died Sunday, a rep for the former pro wrestler announced.

He was just 39 years old.

Bill Behrens, who helped represent Rave in his decades-long wrestling career, announced the sad news Monday ... saying Rave passed away after "struggling with drug addiction for many years."

"His struggles resulted in the amputation of his arm," Behrens said, "and, later, both of his legs."

Rave -- real name James Michael Guffey -- began his wrestling career in 1999 ... and joined Ring of Honor just a few years later, where he and Styles famously had beef.

The two feuded as part of their Ring of Honor storyline -- with the duo actually competing in a match for the rights to Styles' famous finishing move, the Styles Clash.

Rave went on to star in TNA Wrestling -- before ending his career with a variety of independent promotions.

"This really hurts," WWE legend Mick Foley said on social media, adding "Jimmy Rave has passed away. He was only 39. #RIPJimmyRave"

Behrens announced memorial services for the former wrestler will take place in Georgia.

"General Hospital" actor Ingo Rademacher -- who got the boot from the show because he refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19 -- is suing ABC, calling the vaccine mandate put in place for talent unconstitutional.

Rademacher -- who was a part of 'GH' for 25 years -- filed docs Monday in L.A. claiming he'd asked ABC for a religious exemption from getting the vaccine but was denied. Prior to the denial, Rademacher says he was subjected to a 30-minute interview from the network to prove his religious status ... but clearly, the network didn't buy it.

Rademacher says he was terminated by ABC in early November for refusing to get the shot ... he calls it a violation of his right to privacy under the California Constitution.

In the docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the actor lays out the history of the vaccines, saying they were first developed under the Trump Administration, which caused a lot of Democrats, including now-President Biden to be skeptical at first.

Clearly unhappy with how the last year and a half has been going, Rademacher calls the COVID lockdowns and rules the "most draconian restrictions in modern history."

Rademacher also says ABC's actions are "blatantly unlawful" and believes most large corporations have only forced vaccines on employees to please the Biden Administration.

He's asking the court to declare ABC's vaccine mandate unconstitutional and wants damages.