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Justin Bieber's Super Bowl Halftime appearance could've very nearly happened ... but it just wasn't in the stars, so says Lil Jon.

We spoke to the rapper on TMZ Live Wednesday ... and he tells us JB was actually considering taking to the stage for his former mentor Usher's big performance ... but ultimately decided to sit it out 'cause it was just a lot for him to take on.

LJ adds they all wanted Biebs in the show ... but all the rehearsals, responsibility, time, and eyeballs on him apparently wasn't something he wanted to tackle right now ... and as we all saw Sunday, he opted to chill in the audience with his wife Hailey.

Of course, fans were bummed he didn't say yeah to Usher.

Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Ludacris, and will.i.am ended up hopping onstage alongside Lil Jon, so it's not like fans were deprived of an A-list line-up during Usher's 13-minute-long performance. And while Justin wasn't up there ... Lil Jon says he was still supporting him.

Still, there's no denying that the hyped-up JB/Usher collab would've added an extra layer of magic to the spectacle ... especially since we were first to break the story they were in direct talks of executing the moment that would've been remembered for years to come.

In case you didn't know, Usher helped catapult fresh-faced 13-year-old Bieber to massive fame back in the day ... and he's been working overtime ever since, so from his end, it looks like he still needs a break from performing.

McDonald's is being dragged to court by two employees who say the fast food chain is making it tough on them to pump breastmilk on the job ... they say there's no time or place.

According to a new class action lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, two women named Kathleen Faber and Lexis Mays say they returned to work at McDonald's after giving birth and are apparently running into obstacles when it comes to pumping breastmilk for their babies.

The women say they told their managers they would need to pump at work and claim they were told it wouldn't be an issue ... but they say that's turned out not to be the case.

Faber claims her McDonald's in Kansas has no secure, private space for her to pump breast milk, leaving her to pump milk from the corner of a stock room so she can avoid the sight lines of security cameras and male employees.

Mays says her McDonald's in New York doesn't have a secure, private space to pump either ... she claims she's been left to pump from a back office that doesn't have a door and is wide open to other crew members, who she says come in the room when she's pumping.

In the suit, both women also say they don't have enough break time to pump breast milk during their shifts at the Golden Arches.

Faber and Mays say the lack of breastfeeding accommodation at McDonald's is causing them anxiety, discomfort, humiliation, embarrassment and emotional distress.

The women say McDonald's is not complying with federal laws requiring secure and private places for breastfeeding mothers to pump in the workplace ... and they want a court to step in and help them and all similarly situated employees.

Travis Kelce appeared to be just a wee bit drunk at the Chiefs' Super Bowl parade Wednesday ... slurring his way through a rendition of "Friends In Low Places" -- before Patrick Mahomes had to snatch the microphone away from him.

The hundreds of thousands of Kansas City supporters in attendance at Union Station couldn't wait for the tight end to hop on the mic at the championship celebration -- and, initially, it looked like he was going to deliver a speech for the ages.

The 34-year-old started to lead the crowd in a chant that accompanies the Tomahawk Chop ... before he called an audible, and tried to get everyone to sing Garth Brooks' hit song along with him.

Quickly, however, it became apparent Kelce was a little too overserved to get through the whole tune ... as he mixed up words and stumbled repeatedly.

He tried to make things right by going to his phone for the lyrics ... but even that didn't seem to do the trick.

Ultimately, Mahomes bailed him out by singing the song's chorus ... before he gave up -- and handed the microphone off to the show's host.

Up until that point, most of the rest of the Chiefs seemed fairly composed -- Mahomes spoke to the crowd about getting back to this point next season ... while star defensive end Chris Jones guaranteed he won't be moving on from Kansas City in free agency.

As for where Kelce goes from here, it's unclear ... as his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, is in Australia -- while he's obviously in need of some water and a nap.

Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan are calling a timeout on their relationship ... and the split comes after some issues cropped up between them -- ones they're hoping to smooth out.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … Larsa and Marcus recently put a pause on dating while they work through a bump in the road, with Larsa coming to the conclusion over the weekend that they needed to call things off -- at least for the time being, anyway.

Larsa and Marcus were first spotted together in September 2022, and we're told they had been living together and spending 24 hours a day in each other's company ... as our sources put it, their courtship was moving 100 MPH.

Now, it's all grinding to a halt - or at the minimum, a major slow-down -- although we're told Larsa and Marcus are still talking to each other as they try to figure out how they can move forward romantically.

Sex seemed to always be a big deal for them ... remember, Larsa liked to brag about how much they were banging. So, on its face that wasn't the problem.

The fact they're still communicating is interesting ... as we reported, they unfollowed each other on social media and scrubbed pics of them together from their respective pages.

Now, our sources say the split wasn't caused by one specific thing ... instead, like all relationships, we're told Larsa and Marcus are simply in the middle of a rough patch. Something we know they're trying to get on the same page about ... trust.

Remember, Larsa is 16 years older than Marcus and Michael Jordan famously said he didn't approve of their relationship -- Larsa's ex-husband is Scottie Pippen -- but we're told none of that played a role in the split.

It will be interesting to see if Larsa and Marcus work things out and get back together somewhere down the line ... right now, our sources are suggesting that may happen.

Priscilla Presley is being taken to court by a woman who says she partnered with her to help her get out of some financial difficulties ... ones she claims left Elvis's ex-wife broke.

According to legal docs filed back in September 2023, obtained by TMZ, Priscilla is being sued by a woman named Brigitte Kruse, who claims she partnered with Priscilla in 2022 to form a company called Priscilla Presley Partners.

The idea, Kruse says, was to manage her business and personal affairs and "prevent Priscilla's financial ruin and public embarrassment" -- this according to the lawsuit.

Kruse claims that, at the time, Priscilla was on the brink of insolvency ... facing nearly $700K in unpaid tax debt with no assurance of future income. She alleges Priscilla was about 60 days away from financial collapse.

Kruse says she's spent a significant amount of money and time developing projects to launch in conjunction with Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla" movie that came out recently ... but claims Priscilla abruptly cut off all communication around August 2023 and left her out in the cold on all the money that may have come in since then.

Kruse is suing for breach of contract and seeking unspecified damages.

Priscilla has filed a motion to dismiss the suit, claiming she tried to get out of the arrangement after she learned "Kruse and her associate were attempting to misappropriate Ms. Presley's assets and were engaging in other acts of wrongdoing."

Marty Singer, Priscilla's attorney also tells TMZ the claims made against her in the lawsuit are completely without merit.

He adds: "My client made significant claims against PPP and its principals Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko for misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars long before this specious lawsuit was filed. We fully anticipate that my client will be vindicated and obtain a judgment against them."

A car rammed into an emergency room in Austin, TX, this week -- and the video of the immediate aftermath is absolutely horrifying.

This accident happened on Tuesday night at St. David's North Austin Medical Center -- where a vehicle literally rammed into the entrance of the ER there ... which ended up injuring a handful of people, including some kids.

The footage you see here starts just moments after the car came flying through the front of the building ... and as you can hear, the tires were still screeching -- suggesting someone had their foot on the gas pedal even after the impact.

People were scrambling in the chaos ... and some even had to be lifted and carried away as nurses and doctors poured out trying to make sense of what had happened.

At this point, it's unclear what exactly caused this, but what we do know for sure is that the driver died ... this after requiring CPR on the scene.

Cops noted the crash did not appear to be intentional, which some thought might've been the case ... there were immediate concerns it was some sort of terror attack. Luckily, this wasn't that.

Thankfully, no one in the hospital was killed, but there were serious injuries. Five victims were taken to other hospitals for treatment ...and one of them is a child listed in critical condition.

Travis Kelce is addressing one of the Super Bowl's most viral moments -- when the superstar TE nearly knocked head coach Andy Reid flat on his ass -- publicly beating himself up for his actions, admitting it NEVER should've happened.

"It’s definitely unacceptable and I immediately wish I would have took it back," Trav told brother Jason on the newly released episode of their "New Heights" podcast.

Thankfully, there doesn't appear to be any hard feelings between coach and player ... T.K. says he had a conversation with Reid on the field soon after the incident, and they're cool. Winning the Super Bowl also doesn't hurt.

“I just love playing for the guy and unfortunately, sometimes my passion comes out where it looks like it’s negativity but I’m grateful that [Andy] knows that it’s all because I want to win [the Super Bowl] with him more than anything,” Travis added.

Jason, who used to play for Reid in Philadelphia, was also critical of his brother's actions.

"You crossed the line, I think we can both agree on it," JK said, with Travis ... "I did."

Jason added ... "Let's be honest, the yelling in his face too is over the top. I think there's better ways to handle this, retrospectively."

Of course, Travis and Andy go back to 2013 when both men arrived in Kansas City.

Not everyone seems willing to just brush off the exchange and move on ... including some fellow NFL stars like A.J. Brown, who claimed he "would've been kicked out of the league" if he pulled a Kelce.

Travis seems unbothered by the outside criticism.

"I don't give a s*** what anybody else says."

Inside the org, everything appears to be great ... in fact, Reid and Kelce are together at the parade as we type.

No such thing as TMI for Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker ... 'cause they're letting us all know how special Valentine's Day was for them last year ... which ended with a baby.

KK shared a slew of IG snaps reminiscing on her Utah getaway with Trav in 2023 ... and while the pics seemed innocent enough, the Blink-182 drummer made it a point to tell fans that baby Rocky was conceived during that very trip.

"We made baby Rocky 🖤," Travis wrote in the comments -- but many fans weren't necessarily charmed ... urging him to keep their intimate deets to themselves.

While some were a little grossed out ... others acknowledged the admission was hardly surprising since there's no way Travis would be able to keep his hands off KK, considering how bangin' she looked in her teeny-weeny bikini. Plus, the timing of the birth makes sense.

It's no surprise they got it on and conceived a baby in this setting -- from the looks of it, the whole vibe was very lovey-dovey ... and perfect for doing it.

Safe to say, their relationship is rock solid ever since their 2022 marriage ... especially with little 3-month-old Rocky in the mix now.

They're clearly into reminiscing about their love fest -- and lord knows we've seen a lot of it over the years.

Kourt also shared insight into the lead-up to V-Day this year ... which was a joint family occasion with 6 heart-shaped cakes featuring names of both their kids.

Russell Brand is vehemently denying accusations he got drunk on a movie set and sexually assaulted an actress ... he says there's no way her claims are true, because he was sober.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Russell pushes back on a lawsuit alleging he exposed his penis to a woman on the set of the movie "Arthur," and then sexually assaulted her in a bathroom.

Russell claims he doesn't recall the actress who is suing him over the alleged 2010 incident, and he says her entire suit rests on the false claim he was intoxicated on set.

RB says he was just playing a drunk in the movie ... and he hasn't done drugs or had a sip of alcohol since Dec. 13, 2002 ... claiming he was 8 years sober at the time of the alleged assault.

In the docs, filed by his attorney Andrew Brettler, Russell says the woman "is unable to distinguish acting from reality." He says his job was to "act drunk and portray a drunk," but "he did not drink a sip of alcohol or consume any drugs at any time during production."

As we reported ... Russell's accuser, who is suing as a Jane Doe, claims prior to the alleged assault he "appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol, and was carrying a bottle of vodka on set."

Russell says the vodka bottle was just a prop for the film ... and contained no real booze.

The woman claims Russell followed her into a bathroom where he sexually assaulted her ... but he says that's not true either, claiming her memory is "faulty."

Taylor Swift has finally arrived in Australia ahead of a string of shows -- and as she landed around midnight (locally) ... she had a bunch of fans waiting for her right outside.

The pop star's private jet landed in Melbourne early this morning -- this after she went from L.A. to Hawaii, and then continued on down under overnight -- and as she touched down at the airport ... there were onlookers ready to greet her with a warm welcome.

Take a peek yourself ... as the plane hit the runway, paps and fans alike were perched and prepared to get a glimpse -- heck, there were even airport workers out there lining the fence!

More interestingly, though, was the fact that a decent-sized crowd had formed not too far from Taylor's jet ... basically, it was a bunch of kids/teens with signs for her -- and they were out there cheering on the fact she was stepping foot onto their turf.

Clearly, Swifties are international and all over the place -- and there's no shortage in Australia.

This marks the first major move Taylor's made since her big Super Bowl weekend -- where she partied the night away with Travis Kelce all over Vegas following the Chiefs' win.

While Travis' season might be over ... Taylor's work life is kinda just beginning after a major hiatus through the holidays. She's got a crap ton of shows lined up in the coming months -- and this stop in Melbourne is the first of many to come.

There's already been reports that Travis is going to accompany Taylor for at least some of these shows ... but it's unclear if he's gonna head out to Australia himself in the coming days.

He did say last week that he'd love to go visit down undah if he got the chance. After his Super Bowl parade in Kansas City today, he'll have nothing but time on his hands.

Jason Kelce missed every bit of Usher's halftime show on Sunday ... saying the chaos surrounding Taylor Swift during the break in the Super Bowl's action forced him to find cover elsewhere.

Travis Kelce's big brother made the revelation on Wednesday's episode of "New Heights" ... explaining so many celebs tried to get to Swift at halftime of the Chiefs vs. 49ers game at Allegiant Stadium, that he simply could not catch "a lick" of Usher's big performance.

"There was so much happening in the suite," the Philadelphia Eagles star said. "Turns out, everybody wants to meet Taylor."

Jason said the A-listers looking to chat with the "Love Story" crooner included Shaquille O'Neal ... and at point, so many people were there trying to grab her ear that it all got "overwhelming."

"I mean, dude," Jason said, "I think it was my first really understanding of kind of some of the things she has to deal with on a lot of basis. Because there was so many star-studded people there, where it's like, 'Dude, everybody wants to come see her,' but the suite's only so big."

Jason implied, though, that Taylor handled it all with flying colors ... something that didn't surprise Travis one bit.

"Taylor thrives in those situations," Swift's boyfriend said on the podcast. "She's been in them countless times in her life."

Tom Sandoval's meet-up with Lisa Vanderpump descended into chaos on Tuesday's installment of "Vanderpump Rules" ... with her post-affair grilling not sitting well with him.

Remember, Tom was busted for cheating on Ariana Madix with Rachel Leviss in March 2023 ... with cameras rolling on the new season a few months later -- and by the looks of it, at the time of filming, he was still in the thick of it all.

Tempers flared as Lisa quizzed Tom on why he was still living with ex Ariana in their shared home ... urging him to do the gentlemanly thing of moving out, giving her space, and selling the pad. Tom wasn't having any of it, saying he wanted Ariana to let him buy her out instead, adding, "One of us can keep it because it is a great house. I put a lot of work and money into it."

There was clearly no changing his mind ... telling LVP he'd already sent AM a letter of intent and his real estate agent had also spoken to her about it ... but so far, there'd been radio silence from her.

Tom became more wound up when Lisa asked him if he was doing his best to move on from the scandal he'd created in the first ... raising his voice to get his point across that he knew he was responsible for the mess but was doing his best to navigate it.

Though, Lisa clearly didn't like his tone, urging him to stop, have some remorse, and stop being angry ... but he said his fury was warranted 'cause she was attacking him. Yikes.

As for where Tom stood with his VPR costars ... looks like things weren't great on that front either. He blasted them all for their mob mentality .. telling Lisa whenever he apologized, it fell on deaf ears ... and when he cried, they accused him of shedding crocodile tears.

He urged her to see things from his POV, saying he's not exactly living a rockstar lifestyle, ... adding he's battled with suicidal thoughts over the aftermath of the affair.

Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce made their way through the streets of Kansas City to celebrate the Chiefs' Super Bowl ... but it's their teammate, Willie Gay, who was by far the MVP of the day.

The parade went down on Wednesday ... and the victors did it big as they partied with Chiefs Kingdom.

Gay set the bar high early on in the parade ... going shirtless, running and dancing -- even hopping on a car to give fans a better view of his vibe.

Gay also dropped to the ground at one point -- holding a bottle of Henny as he lay shoeless in the street.

Of course, the Coors Light, liquor and bubbly flowed from start to finish (hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere) ... and some players did a cheers with Casamigos tequila prior to the festivities.

Mahomes popped the top, too ... but he elected to put a jacket on (maybe out of fear of what the dad bod trolls would say).

Donna Kelce acted as Cupid for the parade ... passing out roses to folks in the crowd in honor of Valentine's Day.

The Bears may not sniff a Super Bowl for a while, but a teddy bear mascot head made a cameo for some reason ... with multiple players rocking it throughout the event.

To really lean into the animal theme, Isiah Pacheco and Mahomes had some time with a real baby goat wearing a No. 15 jersey!!

Kelce also had a freakin' blast -- getting a piggyback ride at one point in the bash!!

As we previously reported, the fans lined up in the early hours of Wednesday to prepare for the event ... braving the cold for their beloved team.

A Florida sheriff's deputy is looking more like a cartoonish cop from "Reno 911!" on body cam footage of him mistaking an acorn hitting his patrol car for bullets ... prompting him to open fire on the vehicle.

The video, which was just released, shows Okaloosa County deputy Jesse Hernandez on the job, detaining a guy back in November for allegedly sending threatening texts. Hernandez and his partner cuffed the man and put him in the back of their patrol car.

All seemed to be going well, until Hernandez appeared to hear what he perceived as a shot being fired -- which catapulted him into a frantic drop and roll as he drew his weapon and started firing multiple shots at his car.

Hernandez seems to unload his entire clip ... and, remember, 22-year-old Marquis Jackson was helplessly sitting inside the patrol car, unarmed and completely restrained -- yet, Hernandez clearly thought Jackson had shot at him from inside the car.

Amid the panic, his partner -- who didn't hear anything like a gunshot -- seemed confused as to why he was freaking out, and also started shooting at their car.

Miraculously, both of them missed Jackson, but Hernandez's body cam video shows he completely overreacted ... which was the finding of the Sheriff's Office investigation. Okaloosa officials determined his use of deadly force wasn't reasonable, and his partner got a pass ... since she only fired based on his actions.

Over the course of the investigation ... Hernandez was made aware that what he thought he heard was literally just an acorn falling on his car's hood. Hernandez ended up resigning in the aftermath of all this ... and was not criminally charged.

From what we can tell, Jackson hasn't sued, yet, but has told local media outlets he was "damaged" from what he went through.

Once the dust settled, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said this ... "We are very thankful Mr. Jackson wasn’t injured and we have no reason to think former Deputy Hernandez acted with any malice. We are limited in further response due to pending litigation. But let this be clear, we understand this situation was traumatic for Mr. Jackson and all involved and have incorporated this officer-involved shooting into our training to try to ensure nothing similar happens again."

Ben Affleck tends to wear his emotions on his sleeves -- and he seemed to be doing exactly that at Jennifer Lopez's premiere ... where he looked a bit fired up while talking to his wifey.

The famous couple showed up in their designer duds to the Dolby Theater Tuesday night for J Lo's "This Is Me ... Now" flick/music video -- and everything seemed pretty hunky-dory at first. They posed for pics, smiled and went about their business like normal ... all smiles.

However, at some point while inside ... the mood appeared to change, and so did Ben's.

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ ... J Lo and Ben were having a private convo in the lobby of the large, crowded auditorium -- and it looks like the two of them were engaged in a pretty engrossing chat, at least from Ben's side anyway ... dude had a lot to say.

Hard to say what exactly he might've been communicating here -- you could say he looks a little annoyed, but he also just comes across as spirited. Jen, meanwhile, is totally chillin'.

Eventually, she turns away and talks with others ... while Ben continues to speak with a guy.

As for the movie experience itself ... everyone seemed to love it and was really into seeing J Lo's life story on the silver screen. The leading lady herself even got onstage and gave a speech, bringing herself to tears as she talked about producing the biopic, of sorts.

"This Is Me ... Now: A Love Story" will be released Friday on Amazon Prime, along with her new album by the same name.

A cop in Peru got creative this week to lure out a suspected drug dealer -- and it seems their holiday-themed scheme worked to a T ... teddy bear costumes usually do the trick, right?

Check out this wild video out of Lima ... which shows police officers going undercover and committing to the bit, full stop -- with one cop getting into a whole ass bear costume, complete with props and everything.

It's pretty clear what's happening -- ahead of Valentine's Day, they wanted to attempt to arrest a woman they suspected of drug dealing ... and figured an in-person telegram would do it.

As it turns out -- they were right. The lady they were after did, indeed, come outside to see what the deal was ... and once she was in their sights, the officers moved and pinned her to the ground.

You can hear the lady say she hasn't done anything and didn't have anything on her -- but they cuffed her anyway and searched her apartment after.

Unclear if they ended up finding any drugs on her -- but they dragged her to the station for booking, it seems. Operation V-Day can be considered a success ... con amor, por supuesto.