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Darius Rucker is a big fan of Beyoncé joining his genre ... saying he's loving her new country music, and hopes it finally lands her a coveted Album of the Year Grammy.

The legendary singer-songwriter -- who's one of the few Black artists who's broken through into country successfully -- was at LAX Wednesday when a photog asked him about Beyoncé's latest offering, "Texas Hold 'Em."

Darius is fairly brief and succinct in his review -- but he's clear ... he's digging Bey's twang.

He says 'THE' is a great song and even throws good luck her way over the prospect of Beyoncé's foray into country music finally earns her a Grammy award for Album of The Year ... something that's still missing from Bey's mantle.

Remember ... Jay-Z made a big stink about Beyoncé's lack of an AOTY award during a speech at this month's Grammys, so lots of folks are wondering if a country album will get Bey over the hump ... Darius included.

Of course, Beyoncé's going to have to beat out Taylor Swift -- and others -- to win AOTY ... Taylor's got a new album coming out too, and Darius actually addresses Taylor too here.

The cameraman asks Darius if he thinks Taylor should go back to country -- something that another bystander next to DR actually weighs in on before has a chance to. As for Darius, he says Tay Tay should crank out whatever type of music she wants ... ditto for Beyoncé.

One last thing Darius addressed here about Bey and country ... namely, John Schneider's ugly remarks about her last week -- when he likened her to a dog marking its territory.

Like many people ... he agrees that John's words were laced with a racist undertone -- and he says gatekeeping country music is absolutely silly. On the question of whether Beyoncé is a "lightning rod" ... Darius scoffs at that notion as well in this interview.

Long story short ... Darius is all for Beyoncé getting into country music -- he's definitely a fan.

Johnny Manziel says he withered from 210 pounds all the way down to 170 just months after his NFL career ended ... explaining his body morphed due to "a strict diet of blow."

The former Heisman Trophy winner opened up about his struggles following his Cleveland playing days during a recent, two-hour interview with Shannon Sharpe.

In the chat on the "Club Shay Shay" podcast ... Manziel admitted he was at nearly rock bottom once he had failed the Browns in 2015 at 23 years old -- so he turned to the Las Vegas party scene to pick him up.

Apparently, his trip to Sin City included a lot of cocaine ... something he says changed his figure into an unrecognizable one.

"At that point in time, man," Manziel said, "I would look in a mirror and I didn't see myself any different than when I was in Cleveland. Until I stepped on a scale at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, I didn't realize I had lost 40 pounds at all."

"I remember these pictures came out," he continued. "I was like, 'Damn. What am I doing? Ah, whatever, we'll figure that out later. Let's go again.'"

Manziel said in addition to coke, he was also using OxyContin and Percocets.

Johnny Football went on to lament other parts of his life in his talk with Sharpe -- including his strained relationship with LeBron James.

After Cleveland had drafted the Texas A&M QB, LeBron signed him to his agency ... and throughout his time with the Browns, Manziel said the NBA superstar tried to take him under his wing. But, while battling poor play and subsequent depression, he said he pushed the hooper away.

"LeBron would text me every week to come over to the house and watch a game or play poker with the boys and just tried to be there," Manziel said. "And I was so depressed for the first time in my life that even my biggest role model and inspiration in my life couldn't get me out of bed to come and hang out with him."

Manziel added that he still feels to this day he let the future basketball Hall of Famer down.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are reunited down under -- and their first order of business as a couple was to go back to the zoo she was just at the day prior ... talk about déjà vu.

The lovebirds were seen hand in hand Thursday walking through the Sydney Zoo -- taking in the sights and peeping all the animal exhibitions. Tay Tay seemed to take the lead in showing him around ... which makes sense since she was literally there 24 hours before his arrival.

The attraction must've left a good impression on her, 'cause she clearly thought it'd be worth taking TK for round 2. Indeed ... she was playing the tour guide, as seen in these sky pics obtained by Australia's Channel 9 News. Heck, Traylor even fed a kangaroo at one point!

Now, they came off like they usually do as they moseyed around ... namely, super in love and tied at the hip. Not only were they holding hands, but they were locked in a hug a few different times as well. So, yeah ... they're still going strong and very into each other.

As we reported ... Travis was en route to Sydney Wednesday after hopping on a private jet Tuesday night from L.A. and making a pit stop in Hawaii.

Now, in terms of privacy ... it doesn't appear Taylor and Travis had the place shut down for themselves -- there were other zoo sightseers walking around, but they did seem to have their own little bubble without being bombarded by fans and gawkers. Thank you, security!

They got a few days together through the weekend -- however, Taylor will be busy ... as she's got 4 shows to do. Safe to say, Trav will be in attendance.

Ya gotta wonder what else they'll get into ... Sydney's a cool town, and there's lots to see/do. We'll be on the lookout for some bridge shots -- everybody heads there down under.

Have fun, you two!

The apple ain't fall too far from the tree with Cristiano Ronaldo and his 13-year-old son, CR Jr. ... 'cause the two look just alike -- even down to their shredded abs!

The proof's in the photos that 39-year-old Ronaldo dropped Thursday on Instagram featuring Cristiano Jr. ... giving his 622+ million followers a view of their physique during their workout sesh.

"Today with my partner ❤️," Ronaldo said in the caption.

The father-and-son snap got over 9 million likes within five hours ... and more than 76K comments, with one writing, "The king and heir to the throne🔥"

Of course, this father-and-son training session comes just a day after Ronaldo scored his 876th career goal in the AFC Champions League, helping lead Al-Nassr to the quarter-finals with a win over Al Feiha in the round of 16.

Like pops, Cristiano Jr. also plays soccer. He spent two seasons with the Juventus youth team before signing with Al-Nassr U13 last October.

And, as an ode to his superstar dad ... he also wears No. 7.

Elton John's swapping out that yellow brick road for another made of 24-karat gold ... 'cause a collection he curated for Christie's sold at auction -- and they fetched a bundle.

The legendary singer-songwriter partnered with the popular auction company to sell a ton of iconic items, and Elton made out like a bandit on the auction's first night -- with all 49 lots selling for a total of around $8 million.

Among the items sold ... Elton's silver leather platform boots circa 1971 for $94,500, prescription sunglasses for $22,680 and even his beloved 1990 Bentley Continental which brought home $441,000.

A series of luxury wristwatches sold for prices in the six figures ... and Elton even parted with "Flower Thrower Triptych" -- a painting by enigmatic artist Banksy -- to the tune of just over $1.9 million. The auction house says Elton got the Banksy piece "directly from the artist" ... which presumably means EJ has met the elusive man (or woman) himself.

BTW, Wednesday was only the first night of The Collection of Sir Elton John: Goodbye Peachtree Road sale ... more items are set to be sold off in person Thursday and Friday.

Also ... deep-pocketed purchasers who'd rather buy from the comfort of their own home will have about a week to pick up more one-of-a-kind collectibles.

Hoda Kotb is letting bygones be bygones after Kelly Rowland stormed off the "Today" set last week -- in fact, she's ready to bury the hatchet even further with a whole redo!

The morning news host told ET Wednesday that despite the disappointment of having Kelly bail ... she's willing to give it another shot ... explaining that she's been texting with Kelly since Thursday to get her to come back for a future hosting date.

Hoda seems to know Kelly on a personal level ... adding she's one of the NBC show's all-time favorites, and that there's no one more gracious or graceful than her. So, it definitely sounds like Hoda's not holding this against Kelly whatsoever.

So far, no word on whether KR will give the "Today" show another go ... but if she does, they're clearly gonna have to touch up all their dressing rooms and give her their best one.

In Kelly's defense ... HK's other cohosts -- Jenna Bush Hager and Savannah Guthrie -- also admitted their dressing rooms suck, and need to be worked on. They also explained that they're in an old, historic building ... and that it shows.

In fact, JBH joked in this ET interview that she's gonna be doing all the re-wallpapering 'cause she loves a bit of interior design. Unclear if it's actually gonna happen or not though.

We broke the story ... sources told us Kelly and her team weren't feeling her dressing room's vibe from the jump during last week's appearance ... and that they ended up bolting from the studio after a game of musical dressing rooms, as none of them were up Kelly's standards.

There were other reports she left over a Beyoncé grilling by Savannah -- but we know that just wasn't the case.

Mischa Barton claims she dated her one-time 'O.C.' costar Ben McKenzie -- and it's troubling since she says she was underage at the time ... a window she calls "complicated."

The actress shared her story on "Call Her Daddy" this week, saying that the onscreen relationship she shared with Ben actually took hold in real life as well -- something she alleges happened right from the jump when she first joined the show.

Check it out ... MB says she was 17 at the time, and that Ben was a few years older in his mid-20s -- and notes she was very new to all of it, as she hadn't dated much before him.

Safe to say ... the age difference came onto the radar of producers who were apparently concerned about it -- at least according to Mischa, anyway. She says showrunners were hitting up her parents ... and it was a "whole ordeal," as she puts it.

Mischa goes on to say she and Ben only dated for a bit before breaking things off -- and it sounds like she might've dated other costars as well ... explaining that a lot of people on "The O.C." back then were hooking up with each other.

Long story short, Mischa says she had to grow up fast while working on the series -- although, it doesn't sound like all of it was exactly smooth. The 2000s were a different time, indeed.

Gabby Petito's family has reached a settlement with her killer Brian Laundrie's family in their emotional distress lawsuit ... but the details aren't being released to the public.

An attorney for the Laundries, Steve Bertolino, released a statement on the settlement Wednesday, according to CNN, saying the two sides had reached an accord to avoid going to trial in the case.

Bertolino said the terms of the settlement are confidential ... so, unclear exactly how much money they settled for, if any. But, it ends a years-long saga that began when Brian killed Gabby in late August 2021.

The Petito family also made a statement through their lawyer who said the sides "reluctantly agreed" to avoid a difficult legal battle and "prolonged personal conflict."

A couple days after Laundrie killed Petito, he reportedly called his parents and told them Gabby was "gone" and he was going to need a lawyer before going on the run and sparking a statewide manhunt. He was later found dead, and the death was eventually ruled a suicide.

This call was apparently made weeks before Gabby's body was found in Wyoming ... a killing Brian later seemingly confessed to in a series of writings found at his death scene.

Petito's family is still engaged in another lawsuit ... as we previously reported, Gabby's parents are suing the Moab City Police Department who interviewed Gabby and Brian on the side of the road in the weeks leading up to her death.

Motocross star Jayden "Jayo" Archer -- a two-time X Games medalist and the first person to land a triple backflip in competition -- died this week after crashing during trick practice in Australia.

He was just 27 years old.

Archer -- a member of the renowned action sports group Nitro Circus -- was reportedly attempting to recreate his famed upside-down move during drills in Melbourne on Wednesday ... when he tragically lost control of his bike.

Travis Pastrana, Nitro Circus' co-founder, said in a statement to ESPN he was devastated to learn of the news.

"This really hit home," the motocross legend said. "Jayo grew up in a time when action sports was at its biggest, and he always wanted to do the big stuff like the double and the triple, even though there weren't a lot of places to showcase those bigger tricks."

"He was a great human first," Pastrana added, "a hard worker second and a bad motherf***er third."

Archer first began racing for Nitro Circus when he was a teenager ... but gained national notoriety in 2022 -- when he became the first rider ever to hit a triple backflip at the Nitro World Games in Australia.

After the stunt, he proposed to his girlfriend, and she said yes. The two were reportedly set to get married this year.

"Jayo was the epitome of passion, hard work & determination," Nitro Circus said in a post on its Instagram page. "He pushed what was possible on a dirt bike to heights never seen before. A positive influence to those around him. And above all else a great human being and friend to us all."

"Sending our thoughts and love to Jayo’s family and friends. We love you mate."

Natalie Portman finally addressed all the speculation about her alleged marital issues and cheating rumors involving husband Benjamin Millepied -- but she didn't offer any real insight.

The Academy Award winning actress sat down for a recent interview with Vanity Fair writer Keziah Weir to talk about her latest film, "May December," and a range of other topics, including her personal life.

At one point, Weir addressed the elephant in the room, saying in the lead up to the 2023 release of "May December," Portman's marriage was in the spotlight "in a very public way." She then asked her what that was like.

Portman didn't miss a beat, stating, "It's terrible. I have no desire to contribute to it." And that was that.

Of course, Portman was referring to allegations of infidelity by Millepied, who supposedly had a fling with climate activist Camille Etienne last year, but it soon ended. Other media outlets have reported rumors the two have separated over the cheating claims -- which the pair has yet to confirm or deny.

Millepied, a French dancer and choreographer, has been married to Portman for 11 years. The couple share two kids, Aleph, 12,  and Amalia, 6.

In the VF interview, Portman also discussed her love of living in Paris and L.A., going back and forth between both cities. She particularly enjoys her time in L.A., where she leads a very non-Hollywood life.

She said she hangs out with many friends who are not in the TV or film industry, trading in celebrity parties for backyard dinners. But she admits she still has some industry pals with whom she spends time.

Danny Masterson is settling into his third prison in two months ... and TMZ has learned why he's been on the move so much.

Despite reports claiming concerns for Danny's "well-being" were behind his recent transfer from one of California's worst prisons to a more humane facility, we're told that's not quite the reason for the move.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... there was no attack on Danny at Corcoran State Prison, nor were there any credible threats against the ex-"That '70s Show" star. There've been a lot of rumors/speculation that something might've happened to him -- but it's all BS.

As we reported ... Danny started the year at North Kern State Prison, a medium security detention facility in Delano, before being transferred at the end of January to the maximum security CSP, the same penitentiary that once housed the late Charles Manson.

After a couple weeks at Corcoran, Danny was transferred to the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, a medium to minimum-security prison.

Like we said ... all the shuffling around he's been doing between different prisons lately had some folks wondering why Masterson was being moved around ... and now we know.

As it turns out ... we're told North Kern is just a reception center where inmates are processed into the California prison system ... so it's literally a starting point, and wasn't ever going to be his permanent facility.

Our sources tell us Masterson had a primary prison and a secondary prison designating where he would be sent after being processed at North Kern ... the primary prison was California Men's Colony, and the secondary was Corcoran.

But, when it was time for Masterson to leave North Kern, we're told there was no space for him at CMC ... so he was sent to the backup option -- the infamous CSP. Unclear if these were prisons Masterson himself chose, or if it's just where officials put him down on paper.

His latest move was explained to us this way -- after a couple months at maximum-security Corcoran, we're told there was an opening at California Men's Colony ... so the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sent Masterson there, since that's where he was supposed to be all along.

So there you have it -- he's been getting moved around because of logistics ... not for any other reason.

A multitude of AT&T customers are probably yanking out their hair after the company announced their network crashed, killing cell phone usage in many areas around the country.

Upwards of 73,000 AT&T clients were cut off from making mobile calls and sending text messages following the nationwide outages that began Thursday around 5 AM ET. This comes on the heels of AT&T's temporary outages over the last few days, including a 911 blackout in some parts of the southeastern United States.

Verizon and T-Mobile customers were also hit with service interruptions, but not as hard as AT&T. About 4,000 customers reported cell phone outages for Verizon, while around 1,900 T-Mobile customers reported a lack of service.

People started reporting the outages on the website, "DownDetector," which tracks telecommunication issues throughout the U.S. Initially, the number of reported AT&T outages fell during the 5 AM hour, only to spike again in the 7 AM hour.

In San Francisco, the Department of Emergency Management issued a public announcement, saying that its 911 center was functioning.

However, in their statement posted to X, the officials suggested that AT&T customers use a landline or a rival phone service to get through to them if the mobile network was down.

They also wrote, “We are aware of an issue impacting AT&T wireless customers from making and receiving any phone calls (including to 911). We are actively engaged and monitoring this.”

People online are making comparisons to Julia Roberts' Netflix film "Leave The World Behind," which follows a family dealing with the reality of a country-wide blackout crisis.

So far, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have not officially commented on what triggered the outages ... but AT&T says they're currently working on customer complaints.

Tom Sandoval's comparison between George Floyd's murder and his cheating scandal's not just drawing ire from fans ... it's also pissing off the mother of George's young daughter.

Roxie Washington, -- who shares 10-year-old Gianna with George -- tells TMZ ... she's not super familiar with "Vanderpump Rules" and doesn't even know who Tom Sandoval is ... she does say he has to be off his rocker to compare his own personal issues to Floyd's death.

ICYMI ... Sandoval sat down for an interview with the New York Times where he said, "I’m not a pop-culture historian really but I witnessed the O.J. Simpson thing and George Floyd and all these big things, which is really weird to compare this to that, I think, but do you think in a weird way it’s a little bit the same?"

Well, Roxie tells us she finds Sandoval's comment flat-out stupid ... adding he and his ex-GF, Ariana Madix, are still alive ... so him trying to compare his situation to George's just isn't reasonable, nor is it even in the same ballpark.

Even though she's not familiar with "Scandoval" ... Roxie says from what she can gather -- Tom's a grown-ass man who's just gone through a breakup ... not a child -- like her daughter, whose dad isn't coming home.

RW didn't just blast TS for comparing his situation to George's death either -- adding Nicole Brown Simpson's dead too, so she finds it just as disrespectful for Sandoval to invoke her name as well.

Roxie says Tom needs to go repeat that "dumb s***" in a mirror ... telling us his comment reflects horrible things Gianna hears from some classmates. She also says this is on the same level of absurdity as comments Kanye West made in the past. So, yeah ... she's kinda comparing Tom to that.

Remember ... in 2022, Kanye claimed Floyd died from a drug overdose/preexisting conditions, and Roxie threatened to sue KW on behalf of her daughter -- though it's unclear if she ever filed a lawsuit.

More insight on the biting problems with President Biden's family dog Commander ... the German Shepherd bit Secret Service agents on at least two dozen occasions.

Commander is no longer living with the Bidens at the White House ... but when he was, the Secret Service had to change their tactics as a result of all the biting incidents.

The staggering figure is revealed in new internal Secret Service documents obtained by CNN ... and the 24 biting incidents don't even include the times Commander chomped on members of the White House staff ... only incidents with the SS are documented here.

Commander not only sunk his teeth into agents at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, he also attacked them at two Biden family homes in Delaware ... plus trips to Nantucket and Camp David.

Biden's dog bit members of the Prez's protective detail, plus other uniformed Secret Service agents ... and in at least 10 instances, the Secret Service agent who was bit required medical treatment.

Commander bit agents on their arms, hands, legs and even their waists.

As we reported ... Commander was kicked out of the White House back in October as a result of his human-biting ways. At the time, the Secret Service only acknowledged 11 biting incidents.

In the months leading up to Commander's ouster, the Secret Service issued this warning in an internal memo ... "The recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present – please give lots of room."

The warning also said Secret Service agents "must be creative to ensure our own personal safety."

12:18 PM PT -- Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ Sports ... Michael and his camp have actually not heard from Shaquem's agent to discuss the selling of rights for his movie and no talks have been had at all.

Shaquem Griffin says interest in a biopic about his life has recently exploded ... so much so, he tells TMZ Sports Michael B. Jordan has shown interest in acquiring it!!

The former NFL star -- who inspiringly made it to the league despite having his left hand amputated when he was just 4 years old -- has been working on a movie about his life journey for over two years.

He told us out at Super Bowl week in Las Vegas that, initially, he wanted to get the flick out ASAP. But, he said as more and more people have become aware of the project, he's seen plenty eager to get their hands on it ... including Adonis Creed himself.

He explained ... his agent has been in talks with Jordan's Outlier Society production company -- and he's confident even more are going to come forward as the script gets closer and closer to being done.

"Something special is finna happen," Griffin said.

Unclear if MBJ would have his eyes on the starring role ... but if he did, Griffin would clearly endorse it, even if they would then need to add his limb difference via CGI.

Griffin has now been out of the NFL since the 2021 season ... but he's stayed busy in retirement. In addition to working on his movie, his twin brother told us back in 2022 he's become a damn good motivational speaker as well.

We're almost at the finish line in the week, but TMZ's just getting started on our TV shows!

Let's start at 'TMZ Live,' where Harvey and Courtney discussed news of Gisele Bundchen and Joaquim Valente being together as a couple ... which has apparently been going on since June 2023 -- something people close to Tom Brady are calling bull crap on.

Take a look to see what we mean ... apparently, folks in his world are insisting they've been hooking since at least 2021 -- which, if true, is ... well, a little messy to say the least.

On 'TMZ on TV,' the gang talked about Kelly Rowland and this wild story about her storming off the set of the 'Today' show after apparently not liking the quality of her dressing room.

There was some debate on whether she was right or wrong ... strong feelings on this one.

Finally on 'TMZ Sports,' Mojo, Edward and Lucas talked about Marshawn Lynch's DUI deal.

Check your local listings for when TMZ is on in your area or catch up on past episodes!