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Millie Bobby Brown's explanation that her accent changes based on her surroundings is getting some serious support from experts -- including a guy who worked with Austin Butler.

Hollywood dialect coach Erik Singer -- who helped Austin master his Elvis Presley voice for Baz Luhrmann's flick about the King of Rock 'n' Roll a couple years back -- has come to the defense of the British actress ... telling TMZ people need to relax, 'cause MBB's 100% right.

Singer says ... "I really wish people would lay off of actors, and most especially that they'd lay off of criticizing people's accents."

He goes on to tell us it's entirely normal for people's accents to change depending on who they're talking to -- and he would know, since this is literally his job. ES says this phenomenon is called "accommodation" or "conversation" convergence.

In his experience, Singer says just about everybody does this ... especially actors.

Singer goes on to piece some things together about Millie's backstory and history -- including having grown up in both the U.K. and the U.S. -- and says that it's completely understandable that she might have a dual accent, and that different flavors come out in different times. In fact, he suggests Millie might be bi-dialectal ... which is a thing!

Short story long ... Singer says there's nothing surprising about MBB's accent flip-flopping.

Singer finishes by saying ... "If there's anything odd or wrong it's the fuss around it, and the insinuation that there could be anything wrong or odd about it!"

Millie did a pretty good job of defending herself last week -- saying she's living in NYC with her fiance, Jake Bongiovi, and that her accent changing based on where she's at/who she's with is something that happens all the time. Singer, it seems, would agree.

Erik's fierce defense of Millie isn't entirely shocking ... as his client Austin received backlash after he struggled to shake his Elvis impression.

Steve-O is siding with Jimmy Kimmel after the late-night host poked fun at Robert Downey Jr.'s past substance abuse issues during his Oscars 2024 monologue.

Check out our chat with him above ... where he stood by his fellow comedian, arguing people take jokes way too seriously these days. He told TMZ ... "Let comedians tell jokes!"

Despite overcoming addiction issues himself -- the "Jackass" star felt it was totally within JK's rights to call out RDJ on his troubled past.

Not only did the 49-year-old call hosting a "thankless job" ... he also reminded us that people who are sober regularly discuss their sobriety journeys, like at AA and NA meetings -- so why does it matter if Jimmy chimes in?

So ... it wasn't surprising when Steve-O declared Jimmy does not owe Robert an apology. Though, he made it clear he won't be following in Jimmy's footsteps, explaining he likes to make himself the butt of a joke.

Steve-O's stance comes a day after Jimmy sparked awkward laughter at the Academy Awards after calling "Oppenheimer" one of the highest points in Robert's career ... alluding to his previous court-ordered rehab stay in the early '00s.

Robert -- who has been sober since 2003 -- was a good sport about the dig ... making an "on the nose gesture" when the cameras panned to him. He also called out his struggles in his Oscars acceptance speech -- thanking his entertainment lawyer Tom Hansen for "trying to get [him] insured and bailing [him] out of the hoosegow" over the years.

A teenage girl has been arrested after video surfaced showing her pounding another girl's head into the ground during a fight, and we've learned prosecutors may try her as an adult.

The footage is shocking ... you can see 2 teens in the midst of a nasty brawl Friday near Hazelwood High School in Missouri -- with one of the girls gaining ground over the other, grabbing her head and slamming it into the sidewalk repeatedly once she's on top of her.

The girl getting pummeled appears to go unconscious almost instantly ... and other students around continue to scuffle. It looks like the girl on the ground starts to have a seizure too.

The girl whose head was slammed into the ground is reportedly in the hospital in critical condition. And now we're told cops have arrested the girl they believe did it to her on a first-degree felony charge ... and her case is being handled by the St. Louis County court system.

The D.A.'s Office has said the case isn't on their radar just yet ... because the perpetrator is a minor, and her case, for now, is being dealt with in the juvenile court system.

However, a rep for the St. Louis County Courts' 21st Judicial Circuit tells TMZ -- the minor in custody at the moment has a hearing in a couple weeks ... which will decide if she can be tried as an adult. We're told this could all happen by later this month.

We're told there's a lot of moving parts that would go into that decision -- including what ultimately happens to the girl in the hospital -- but if things take a turn for the worse ... this could be a much bigger deal than the charges she's currently facing.

In the meantime, the Hazelwood School District says that bullying and fighting are key community issues that need to be addressed for the sake of local children.

CJ Perry and Miro have called it quits on their marriage 7+ years after tying the knot ... and unfortunately for the two wrestling stars, this isn't part of an AEW storyline.

TMZ Sports has learned the famous, now-former couple -- who also play a married couple in the ring -- broke up once and for all in winter 2023 ... after years of an on-again, off-again relationship.

The couple said their "I dos" in July 2016 ... a couple of years after they began dating.

We reached out to Perry, formerly known as Lana in WWE, who confirmed the split.

"Miro and I have made the difficult decision to separate after many wonderful years together,  and have decided to move on as friends, and hopefully onscreen characters somewhere down the road," CJ told us.

As for what went wrong, our sources say there wasn't an explosive fight or cheating ... they simply grew apart over the years.

In fact, we're told Perry and Miro, known as Rusev in World Wrestling Entertainment, remain friends and still plan to work together in the future.

It's likely music to the ears of the executives at All Elite Wrestling -- where both are employed -- as the wrestling stars have portrayed themselves as a married couple going back a decade to WWE, through present-day AEW.

CJ and Miro, a former AEW TNT and 3x WWE United States champion, were last photographed out together in public in late 2022... and it's been a couple of months since they've wrestled together on TV.

Neither Perry nor Miro have yet filed for divorce.

Suzanne Somers' omission from the Oscars' "in memoriam" main segment left many fans livid ... but her husband is saying he's all good with the Academy's decision to leave her out.

Alan Hamel explains his POV to TMZ ... saying, "Last time I checked, we still had a First Amendment. I respect the Academy's decision to not include Suzanne In Memoriam. Frankly, the outpouring from millions of her fans, was the kind of In Memoriam Suzanne would have lovingly embraced."

He adds, "She adored and respected her Fans and similarly enjoyed a beautiful relationship with the Media and Paparazzi who elevated her career to heights rarely seen. She debuted on Carson in 1973 with her first of 27 books and remained active and relevant until her passing. God bless Suzanne Somers."

In addition to Somers, actors Lance Reddick, Treat Williams, Ron Cephas Jones, and Burt Young were also overlooked during the main event ... as were screenwriter Norman Lear and British filmmaker Terence Davies.

Suzanne's name was only included in the last slide of the segment, but it was written in a small font along with the names of other late stars. She wasn't shown as one of the main stars who were honored with their faces shown.

As we reported ... Suzanne -- famous from "Three's Company" and a bunch of other TV shows/movies -- passed away after a long battle with cancer at her home in October.

The legendary actress was first diagnosed with melanoma in 2000 ... and developed breast cancer shortly after which she battled on and off for years. It fully returned in the summer of 2023 ... months before her tragic death.

Al Pacino had a very awkward moment at The Oscars -- and it happened at the biggest possible moment in the night ... something he now says wasn't really his fault.

The legendary actor tells TMZ ... "There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the Best Picture award.  I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony."

He adds, "I was honored to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented."

Al finishes by saying he feels bad for any of the nominees who weren't mentioned before he announced the winner, saying ... "I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful. I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathize with those who have been slighted by this oversight and it’s why I felt it necessary to make this statement."

If you didn't see it ... Al sorta stumbled his way to the Best Picture winner, which ultimately ended up being "Oppenheimer." The way he announced it, though, was very anticlimactic.

You could tell everyone was taken aback by the way Al spilled the beans -- even the "Oppenheimer" crew themselves weren't quite sure if he'd actually named them as the victors.

Zita Vass says she's open to pivoting her views on wanting to say the n-word at concerts -- 'cause it sounds like she's just not aware of how or why people would possibly be upset.

We talked to the Guess model Monday on "TMZ Live," and she defended her take online from this past weekend ... where she expressed a desire to be able to say the derogatory racial slur in live music settings, especially if she was just repeating lyrics from an artist.

Zita's whole thing here is this ... if there's no hate in her heart, what's the big deal???

Welp, we tried explaining to Zita why some -- especially Black people -- might take offense to hearing her use the term ... and after a lot of back and forth, it sounds like she finally might've started to understand.

She admits there may be some ignorance on her part -- and the bigger takeaway is that she's willing to learn ... which is refreshing to hear. Of course, some just wanted to dump on her -- and that's exactly what a good amount of people did in her Instagram comments.

This conversation we had with Zita is definitely worth a watch -- it's almost like she's learning about racism (or perceived racism) live for the first time ... and seems pretty genuine about it too, surprised that some might not be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Matthew Perry's will is leaving his stuff in a trust he established that's named after a famous Woody Allen character ... TMZ has learned.

Per new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Matthew created a will in 2009 ... and he says he wants to leave a majority of his belongings to a trust -- and as it turns out, Matt must've been a big fan of "Annie Hall" ... 'cause he created a trust called the Alvy Singer Living Trust -- and the dough/assets he had on hand before he died are set to go into the trust.

The docs list the value of his personal property when he died at a little over $1 million. We should note ... this million bucks and change is what the executors found as additional assets that are not already in this private trust. In other words, it's not an accurate reflection of his net worth. Fact is ... Matthew probably had millions upon millions more ... this is just extra.

We don't know who the trustees are ... but Matt makes a distinction in his will that any kids he may have post-2009 are explicitly not entitled to his fortune. He never had children, BTW.

Two women named Lisa Ferguson and Robin Ruzan -- who's Mike Myers' ex-wife -- are listed as executors of his will. They'll be the ones in charge of making decision about how to divvy up and manage his property. Robin and Matt worked on the same game show called "Celebrity Liar" together back in the 2010s ... she was an EP and he was a contestant.

TMZ broke the story ... Matthew died in October after drowning in his personal hot tub at home -- and an autopsy later determined he had ketamine in his system when it happened.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce may have failed to make their red carpet debut as a couple at the 2024 Oscars ... but they at least showed up for a shindig afterward, albeit on the DL.

TMZ has confirmed that the pop star and the NFL stud stopped by Madonna and Guy Oseary's Oscars exclusive after-party at a private residence in the Hollywood Hills on Sunday evening ... where there weren't any photos allowed inside.

Of course, British Vogue published a bunch of shots of stars who showed up and posed at what appears to be a designated photo-op area -- which had a bunch of fun cutouts, etc.

Some of the stars who were pictured included Robert De Niro, Matthew McConaughey, Jodie Turner-Smith, Lenny Kravitz, Salma Hayek and others. Notably, Taylor and Travis were not part of the photo lineup ... but are listed among the celeb guests who crashed it.

Like we said, sources with direct knowledge tell us they were in fact there ... even though they seem to have gone out of their way to not be seen/photographed, which is interesting.

Taylor and Travis landing here in L.A. comes after T-Swift's six sold-old shows in Singapore as part of her "Eras" tour -- which wrapped up this past weekend. Sounds like they were ready to get the hell out of there and come back stateside ... which is exactly what they did.

They enjoyed some alone time in Asia for the brief period Travis was there -- but obviously with her tour being on pause for a good month or so ... they were ready to come home.

They've had no problem letting their love story play out in the public eye in some settings ... but in others, they're weirdly private, and it really doesn't make much sense.

Remember, the singer supported the Kansas City Chiefs tight end at several of his football games -- including the Super Bowl -- and Travis has seen Taylor's "Eras" tour in four different cities. On its face, it seems like they're only cool being snapped in public at certain times.

Taylor herself even seems to be incredibly averse to being photographed at times -- going so far as to hidey under umbrellas to keep paparazzi from snapping her ... which, again, is so bizarre. Here for this after-party, it looks to have been more of the same ... ultra privacy.

Perhaps Taylor and Travis have had enough of the Dads, Brads and Chads weighing in on their every move? Time will tell!

Kate Middleton isn't the first notable name to fall victim to a Photoshop fail -- in fact, several celebrities have gone out of their way to lean into ridiculous edits in the past ... just look!

Diplo has purposefully edited pics of himself to feature a nonexistent waist and bulging muscles ... inspiring more than a few laughs from his Instagram followers.

Internet personality Lele Pons once made herself even more bootylicious by expanding the size of her bum thanks to some less-than-subtle editing. She still looked pretty stunning, FWIW.

Arielle Vandenberg -- who is best known for hosting "Love Island USA" before being replaced by Sarah Hyland -- chose to give herself an unrealistic hourglass figure for one doctored bikini pic shared on Instagram.

YouTuber Emma Chamberlain has also gotten in on the fun ... making her head massive in order to look more swole online.

Sadly, none of these edits were as controversial as the Princess of Wales' upload. Remember, the British royal sent the internet into a tizzy over the weekend after fans became convinced that artificial intelligence was used to create the Mother's Day tribute.

After the image became a trending topic online, Kate broke her silence ... saying that she had unsuccessfully photoshopped the pic herself. Perhaps she should upload an even worse edit to poke fun at herself? Unlikely, but we're here for the idea.

BTW, we know the Kardashians are often accused of Photoshop fails -- but that's a whole other topic for another day.

Lady Gaga is coming to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a social media post honoring the two celebs on International Women's Day sparked a harsh reaction online.

The singer posted a photo of her and Dylan -- who's transgender -- and made a point to slam trolls who reacted to Dylan's own IG post from Friday (International Women's Day) that featured her and Gaga together ... which got a massive amount of hate in her comments.

Gaga writes, "It’s appalling to me that a post about National Women’s Day by Dylan Mulvaney and me would be met with such vitriol and hatred. When I see a newspaper reporting on hatred but calling it 'backlash' I feel it is important to clarify that hatred is hatred, and this kind of hatred is violence."

She continued, "'Backlash' would imply that people who love or respect Dylan and me didn’t like something we did. This is not backlash. This is hatred."

LG adds, "But it is not surprising given the immense work that it’s obvious we still have to do as a society to make room for transgender lives to be cherished and upheld by all of us." Gaga says she's protective of the trans community ... but says she doesn't speak for them.

Gaga finishes by saying ... "I hope all women will come together to honor us ALL for International Women’s Day, and may we do that always until THE DAY that all women are celebrated equally. That all people are celebrated equally. A day where people of all gender identities are celebrated on whichever holiday speaks to them. Because people of all gender identities and races deserve peace and dignity."

In other words ... Gaga is fully in Dylan's corner here -- and says people oughta back off.

Dylan, of course, is no stranger to controversy. Remember ... Dylan faced some serious outrage online over her partnership with Bud Light last year -- which sparked a massive boycott, and hurt Anheuser-Busch's bottom line.

Those who opposed the collab, including Kid Rock, vowed to purposely not buy the beer brand -- even going as far as to destroy cans they'd already purchased. ICYMI ... Kid Rock even went viral for shooting up cases of Bud Light over the partnership.

The response wasn't all negative, though ... Paris Hilton, 'Drag Race's Sasha Colby and more voiced their support for Dylan in the aftermath.

Dylan now has a new champion in Lady Gaga -- who is a pretty powerful ally, FWIW.

Nicki Minaj appears to have chewed out a stagehand during her most recent tour date -- and it was all caught on video.

The rapper is in the middle of her "Pink Friday 2" tour, and on Sunday ... she was out in Seattle for a concert -- where some behind-the-scenes drama unfolded between Nicki and someone on her team, or at least someone on production.

Check it out ... Nicki and this woman -- who seems to be trying to work on NM's hair -- get into a little argument ... and it's mostly Nicki looking exacerbated/frustrated with this lady.

Before the woman can do anything for Nicki's 'do -- her boss side-steps her and shoos her away as she's getting ready to go back onstage ... getting back to business and carrying on with the show.

Some are calling Nicki's reaction a bit dramatic ... but others are actually defending her.

Kim Kardashian and Odell Beckham Jr. are looking more like a couple by the day -- and they seemed to soft-launch their relationship this weekend ... that's what this video suggests.

Check out this footage, obtained by TMZ, that shows Kim and OBJ at Jay-Z and Beyonce's Oscars after-party Sunday night at the Chateau Marmot in L.A. -- and you can see them mingling in a lobby-like area of the venue ... getting touchy-feely with each other.

As you can see ... Kim was chit-chatting with Odell in a pretty flirty manner -- going back and forth with him and seemingly comparing their outfits. At one point she actually puts her hands on Odell too ... going up and grabbing his face, almost as if she's going in for a kiss.

You never actually witness them lock lips ... but this is the most we've seen them interact with one another in public since they've been rumored to be dating ... going back months now.

Doesn't look like they knew they were being filmed either -- but at this point ... it's pretty obvious they're together as a couple. They even showed up together for all the post-Oscars shindigs ... first hitting the Vanity Fair after-party, and later swinging by Jay and Bey's thing.

Remember, they were also spotted out together in Vegas last month during the Super Bowl -- and there, too, they seemed to be trying to lay low ... and distance themselves a bit.

Same vibe here when they were outside heading into a party -- namely, trying to stagger a bit -- but they're not doing a very good job at throwing people off the scent anymore. Now with this new video -- it seems cat's outta the bag ... they're straight up dating each other.

Rumors of Kim and Odell being an item have swirled for months -- and all reports thus far have suggested that it's not that serious. However, they seem pretty into each other ... and the fact they continue to hang out all this time later indicates this might be the real deal.

Kim has yet to publicly declare anyone as her official significant since splitting from comedian Pete Davidson in August 2022. Of course, she was previously married to Kanye West, who she shares kids North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm with ... but that's over.

As for Odell ... he split from his longtime girlfriend Lauren Wood earlier in 2023, and has been single since.

While Kim and Odell have yet to confirm the rumored romance on paper (or on IG, more like) ... it's clear they enjoy each other's company. Perhaps a little bit more than that, TBH.

Lily Gladstone had to be 100 percent camera ready before she could pose for a portrait with Tim Cook ... yes, even the head honcho himself has to acquiesce to an Oscars glam team.

The actress -- who was up for Best Actress last night, but lost to Emma Stone -- stepped out for Apple's Oscars after-party at the Sunset Tower Sunday evening ... and she was hobnobbing with Apple's CEO, even stepping in to take some photos with him.

Before the cameras could fully snap away, though ... her touch-up crew had to constantly come over and adjust things on her -- which left Timbo awkwardly waiting right by her side.

Check out the video, obtained by TMZ ... TC is trying to figure out what to do with himself as Lily's team keeps doing its work ... moving her dress around, fixing her hair, etc. You can tell he's a bit of an afterthought here -- and he's just there to make her look good!

Tim was notably unbothered ... he just smiled and stood to the side of the chaos. Eventually, Tim and Lily were able to pose for a series of pics -- so, mission accomplished.

Understandable that Lily would warrant this type of attention on Oscars night -- she was one of the front-runners during the ceremony ... but even after losing out to Emma, it looks like people still were hyper-focused on her and wanting to chat her up. Tim ... not so much.

A lot of folks feel like LG actually got snubbed out of a statuette ... but we'll leave that be.

Everyone from "Killers of the Flower Moon" left empty-handed, in fact, but hey ... at least they have each other -- not to mention a bunch of handlers who'll jump in at a moment's notice.

Emma Stone didn't seem to like Jimmy Kimmel's quip about her movie "Poor Things" -- and she let it show right afterward ... now, everyone's playing lip-reader as to what she said.

Clips of the Best Picture nominees played throughout the evening -- and when the "Poor Things" montage went up ... JK dropped a zinger about Emma's R-rated nominated movie, saying, "Those were all the parts of 'Poor Things' we're allowed to show on TV."

The audience chuckled a bit -- but when the cameras cut to Emma in the immediate aftermath of Jimmy's joke ... she quickly said something to her husband, Dave McCary.

On its face -- and based on nothing but trying to make out the words -- it appears she said "What a prick" ... that or "Oh my god." The internet seems to think it was the former.

The moment was immediately picked up online ... and people are still trying to decipher what ES actually said in response to JK insinuating that "Poor Things" was all about sex -- which, to be frank, it kinda is. There's more themes beyond that ... but sex is the main driver.

The only one who can clear the air on what was said is Emma herself -- but she's got a shiny new Oscar to celebrate right now, and she probably ain't gonna spill the tea today.

Anyhoo, it wasn't all tension between Emma and Jimmy during the evening -- in fact, he kicked off the ceremony showering her "Poor Things" performance with praise during his opening monologue ... so he had some love for her, and we're sure ES appreciated it.

In addition to Emma's Best Actress trophy ... her movie also won Costume Design, Production Design, and Makeup & Hairstyling. Big night for the "Poor Things" camp -- jabs regardless.

12:06 PM -- The L.A. Lakers say they're already in the process of fixing the typos on Kobe Bryant's statue ... admitting to ABC News on Monday they've known of the issues "for a few weeks."

"We have been aware of this for a few weeks," a spokesperson said, "and are already working to get it corrected soon."

The statue erected to immortalize Kobe Bryant outside of Crypto.com Arena has multiple typos on it ... at least four, to be exact.

The flaws were discovered this week ... on the base of the monument where an image of a signed box score from Bryant's famed 2006, 81-point game was etched in.

You can see Von Wafer's name is mistakenly spelled "Vom Wafer." Jose Calderon's name is also incorrectly listed as "Jose Calderson." The word "decision" in two of the "Coach's Decision" portions of the statue is also wrongfully written as "decicion."

A copy of the box score sold at Goldin Auctions back in 2022 shows none of the errors were featured on the original document.

We've reached out to the Lakers for comment, but so far, we've yet to hear back.

The Bryant sculpture was first put up at the arena back on Feb. 8 ... at a star-studded event. Phil Jackson, Stu Lantz, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Derek Fisher and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss were all there ... as was Vanessa Bryant, who helped introduce it with an emotional and, at times, lighthearted speech.

"For the record," Vanessa said before the public saw the carving for the first time, "Kobe picked the pose you’re about to see. So if anyone has any issues with it, tough s***."

At the ceremony, it was also announced the Lakers would unveil two more tributes to Bryant at their arena at a later date.