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Aaron Rodgers is attempting to clear up his position on Sandy Hook, a day after a scathing report claimed the superstar QB denied the horrific shooting ever happened, saying that's simply not true, calling it "an absolute tragedy."

"As I’m on the record saying in the past, what happened in Sandy Hook was an absolute tragedy. I am not and have never been of the opinion that the events did not take place," 40-year-old Rodgers tweeted from Costa Rica.

"Again, I hope that we learn from this and other tragedies to identify the signs that will allow us to prevent unnecessary loss of life. My thoughts and prayers continue to remain with the families affected along with the entire Sandy Hook community."

The statement comes after CNN published a report on Wednesday citing two people who claimed AR was adamant the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, CT was fake, attributing the following quote to the 4x NFL MVP.

"All those children never existed. They were all actors.”

Rodgers tweet seems to directly contradict the CNN story ... but not all of it. The network also reported Aaron believes, or at least did in 2013, that the shooting was an "inside job" perpetrated by the United States government.

The Jets signal-callers message does not address whether he ever claimed the shooting was an inside job.

The Kate Middleton saga continues -- in light of Kensington Palace choosing to keep their fake photo of her up on Instagram ... the platform is now warning people, this is fraudulent.

IG has officially slapped the Mother's Day picture seen 'round-the-world -- which has since been revealed to be heavily edited -- with a flag that explicitly lets people know the picture ain't authentic ... and that users would be wise to be cautious with it.

The disclaimer on her post now reads, "Altered photo/video. The same altered photo was reviewed by independent fact-checkers in another post."

A further description of their decision to label her picture with this explains that the fact-checker found the photo had been edited in a way that could mislead people, but not because it was shown out of context. Translation ... this thing was cooked up in the lab!

The third-party fact-checker that IG (Meta) is relying on for this conclusion is a company called EFE Verifica -- which is a Spanish org that specializes in this sorta thing.

BTW, Instagram is not the only company that's distancing itself from Kate's pic -- French news agency AFP (a well-respected player) came out publicly this week to say that they do not consider Kensington Palace a trusted source.

AFP's global news director said they were going to heavily vet anything that Kensington sends their way going forward ... and a notice has been sent to their teams globally.

It's a big hit to the reputation of Kensington Palace, no doubt -- and the fact that they still have this doctored image up is astounding ... especially with all the backlash, conspiracy theories and speculation that has followed on Kate's whereabouts and condition.

Of course, this head-in-the-sand approach -- remember, the Palace has yet to address more questions about this, despite everyone having reached out for further comment -- seems to be spearheaded by Prince William himself, who's continuing on like nothing's happened.

In fact, Bill was on hand Thursday for more Royal duties with the OnSide Youth Zone -- who help disadvantaged kids -- and here, he was seen making cookies with youngsters ... and he actually alluded to Kate, saying his wife was the "arty" one as he botched icing decorations.

He's been doing a bunch of work-related stuff all week, and has yet to address head-on what's up with Kate ... frankly, it's unclear if anyone's even asked him.

If his attitude here -- namely, to ignore and power on -- is any indication ... it seems the rest of the Kensington Palace team is following his lead, but Kate-Gate ain't going away.

UFC legend Mark Coleman is breathing on his own and talking to his family ... just days after he was airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries sustained while rescuing his parents from a house fire.

Coleman's daughter, Kenzie, shared an emotional clip on Mark's Instagram ... just 2.5 days after the MMA great suffered smoke inhalation while saving his mom and dad from a giant blaze.

"I had to make a decision," Coleman said about the house fire from his hospital bed, "It was already horrible! I couldn't breathe!"

"I'm the happiest man in the world. I swear to God I'm so lucky! I can't believe my parents are alive!"

Unfortunately, his dog, Hammer, passed away ... and Coleman -- who retired from MMA in 2013 -- is completely devastated.

"I couldn't find Hammer!" Coleman said as he cried with his family.

A GoFundMe was set up for Coleman's loved ones as his daughters will take time off work to help him during his recovery. As of Thursday, over $68K was raised.

Regina King is finally opening up about her son Ian's suicide ... saying through tears she respects his choice to take his own life and touching on her own experience with grief.

The actress/director sat down for an interview on "Good Morning America" where she delved into Ian's tragic 2022 death ... and touched on her difficult journey in the aftermath.

RK says she thinks of grief as love without anywhere to go, and she's trying to celebrate her son for everything he is -- she even uses the present tense because she says Ian is always with her. King adds she hasn't really had time to simply sit with Ian's decision ... which she says she understands -- because it's clear to her he didn't want to be here anymore.

Regina says her favorite part of herself was being Ian's mom, and ultimately she simply has to respect the journey despite also asking herself questions about what she possibly could've done better as a parent.

As we reported ... Ian Alexander Jr. -- the only son of King and her ex-husband Ian Alexander Sr. -- took his life back in January 2022 on his 26th birthday.

At the time, Regina said, "Our family is devastated at the deepest level by the loss of Ian. He is such a bright light who cared so deeply about the happiness of others. Our family asks for respectful consideration during this private time. Thank you."

Ian was a regular guest of Regina on the red carpet, even calling King a "Super Mom" on the 2019 Golden Globes red carpet and posting a heartfelt tribute to her on her 50th birthday in 2021.

It seems Regina is taking the next big step in her journey ... although Ian is clearly never far from her mind.

There's still time for Jake Paul to reconsider ... 'cause Mike Tyson just shared footage of his first day of training for their upcoming fight -- and the dude looks like he's still packing a ton of power!!

The 57-year-old boxing legend proved his hands haven't slowed down all that much on Wednesday ... hitting the mitts with his coach Rafael Cordeiro.

Tyson also went shirtless to show off his impressive physique ... saying the fun is just getting started, but it's clear he's taking this fight seriously.

The big question when the fight was announced was if Iron Mike -- one of the most feared fighters to ever wear a pair of gloves -- still had it ... and it's safe to say we have answers.

Of course, former UFC champ Chuck Liddell pointed out to TMZ Sports last week that power is the last thing to go in an aging fighter -- and once Tyson makes contact with Paul, the fight will be over.

As for Jake, he's up to the challenge ahead ... and addressed rumors of tag teaming with Logan in the event and the use of headgear.

The Problem Child said it's all BS ... and anyone believing the "reports" is straight-up too dumb to be allowed to vote or drive.

Kyle Richards is trying to shut down the gossip about her split from Mauricio Umansky ... by declaring the real reason behind their separation doesn't concern anyone else.

She got choked up as she tackled a fan question on why she's been avoiding the truth about their split during Wednesday night's 'RHOBH' reunion finale .. and as you can see from the clip, it hit a nerve with her!

Even though they've been openly airing their relationship on the show for years, Kyle suddenly flipped the script ... straight-up telling host Andy Cohen, "It's nobody's f***ing business!"

She made it crystal clear that nobody needed the nitty-gritty details about their marriage falling apart after 27 years ... but with her sister Kathy by her side, she did offer a bit more insight into what went down leading up to the split.

Kyle explained like in any marriage, theirs had its highs and lows over the years, especially when kids came into the mix ... but their problems never went away. She also reveals there was a specific incident that shattered her trust in Mauricio.

Andy also asked if the ongoing rumors about Mauricio cheating bothered her ... and she admitted they did, especially when she listened to that nagging voice in her head questioning whether the rumors held any truth.

However, Kyle tried to salvage the relationship 'cause she cared deeply about her family -- only to hit breaking point when her efforts didn't pay off.

Kyle confessed she initially believed the split would be a temporary situation ... but things have now evolved into a surprisingly amicable friendship between them, making it difficult for them to pull the trigger on an official divorce.

It remains to be seen how much Mauricio will reveal about the split on season 2 of his reality show, "Buying Beverly Hills."

The "Love Is Blind" reunion left viewers scratching their heads ... as they were left with more questions than answers regarding the status of the Season 6 stars -- especially since a lot has unfolded since cameras stopped rolling, including for the reunion itself.

While Thursday's episode was certainly more successful than Season 4's live stream debacle last year ... the reunion danced around giving anyone any real closure -- especially after so much drama played out offscreen.

It's no secret that Netflix takes forever to release their reality shows -- banking it well in advance so they are never without content. Yet, this strategy has allowed for so much to get spoiled as a new season unfolds ... which is why people were left yearning here.

For example ... last night's reveal that Jessica Vestal would be joining "Perfect Match" season 2 was no surprise -- as TMZ had already obtained photos of the brunette beauty gettin' hot and heavy with "Too Hot to Handle" star Harry Jowsey -- from this past September. So, not really news.

Exes Jimmy Presnell and Chelsea Blackwell claimed to be just friends at the reunion ... but we know that they reunited for a very friendly weekend in Florida just last week. So, again ... that was a bust too, 'cause it appears (in real life) they're actually together (again).

What's likely happening is that Netflix is trying to hold back any real updates for the new season of "Love Is Blind: After the Altar" ... but it doesn't make their relatively nothing-burger of a reunion any less frustrating. Anyway, here's what happened on the 'LiB' reunion.

Despite initially being a fan-favorite, Trevor Soa was later put on blast by fans after it was revealed he had a girlfriend while filming. His defense ... even though he told the other woman he loved her before and after filming ... they were never officially a couple.

He acknowledged he was "toxic" and that he needs therapy. Unfortunately for him, Nick Lachey booted him from the reunion.

Speaking of deception ... Jeramey Lutinski and Sarah Ann Bick confirmed they are officially a couple after riding off into the sunset on jet skis together. Remember, they linked up after leaving the pods -- when Jeramey was still engaged to Laura Dadisman.

The pair -- who announced they are living together, which BTW we already knew too -- once again denied hooking up during their off-camera meetup. Jeramey's ex-fiancée, Laura, said she had no interest in hearing their excuses ... slamming both of them as "disgusting."

Jeramey also addressed the rumors he had a fiancée just before the start of production. He confirmed that he had been engaged before, but denied calling off his engagement in order to join the show.

As for Jimmy/Chelsea ... their recent reunion wasn't the only reconciliation they had post-filming. While this wasn't shared on the reunion, a backstage interview showed Chelsea explaining how she and Jimmy tried to date for four days after calling off their engagement.

Chelsea said that "nothing really changed," prompting the two to stay friends ... at that time. Since this confession, though ... we've obviously seen them together anew, so who knows.

One highlight of the reunion was when Clay Gravesande attempted to reconcile with ex-fiancée Amber Desiree 'AD' Smith. He confessed that he let his insecurities get the better of him and shared that he started going to therapy.

Clay tried to shoot his shot with AD, who he called the love of his life ... but AD stayed coy about her current feelings. She did, however, confess that she gave former pod connection Matthew a chance by going on a couple of dates.

Happier moments ... Brittany Mills and Kenneth Gorham did not romantically reconnect after their breakup, yet confirmed that they speak every day as friends. Johnny McIntyre and Amy Cortés, the only ones to make it to the altar and say "I do" ... and are still happily married.

Prince Harry and Prince William are both set to attend a memorial event for their late mother, Princess Diana -- but as for them kickin' it in the same room ... forget it.

The brothers are gearing up for a rare joint appearance at the Diana Legacy Award event at the Science Museum in London Thursday ... but Harry's not hopping on a plane to be there, 'cause he'll be beaming in virtually from his home base here in California.

So, here's how it's gonna go down, per reports ... William will kick things off, doing his speech and handing out 20 awards at the ceremony -- held to reflect Princess Diana's belief that young folks can totally shake things up and make a difference in the world.

Will's gonna be riding solo to the event -- as his wife Kate Middleton continues to be noticeably MIA -- and once he wraps up, Harry's gonna zap into the room afterward.

Reports say Harry is going to wait until William completely leaves the stage before coming on himself. Safe to say, this is not a good sign of where their relationship is ... it's still icy.

The siblings have been locked in a feud for years now, which intensified after Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell interview with Oprah and their Netflix special. It all came to a head with the release of Harry's memoir, where he laid bare the deets of their rift.

Remember, Harry said William got physical with him back in 2019 ... claiming he grabbed him by the collar, ripped off his necklace, and straight-up knocked him to the ground -- this after he supposedly called Meghan "difficult," "rude," and "abrasive."

The death of John Wall's mother took a massive toll on him ... to the point the NBA star put a gun to his head twice, contemplating suicide.

The former Wizards guard made the shocking revelation on "The OGs" podcast with ex-NBA stars Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller ... saying he struggled badly when his mom died of breast cancer in 2019.

"My mom was my best friend," the 33-year-old said.

"I put a gun to my head twice and a lot of people that are close to me, friends at the time didn't know."

Wall explains dealing with his mom's death was his "darkest moment," combined with a litany of injuries after signing a $170 million contract extension with the Wizards.

But, Wall chose not to pull the trigger ... 'cause he couldn't bear the thought of leaving his two sons behind.

"If I take myself away from this Earth, I'm failing my kids, like, who gon' be able to raise them," Wall said.

"I know I gotta be there for them."

Instead, the 5x NBA All-Star went to see a therapist -- which he continues to do -- and now he's advising other men who are struggling with mental health to do the same.

"If you ever feel like you in a spot where you not comfortable as a Black man, African American, or any race, no offense to that, go get help. It's okay, there's nothing wrong with that," Wall said.

"I had to figure that out or I wouldn't be here today."

Wall was the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft and has spent time starring for the Wizards, Rockets, and Clippers. He averaged 18.7 points and 8.9 assists during his 11 seasons.

Elon Musk might still be having trouble with his social media venture, but on the space front he's crushing ... 'cause his company just successfully launched the largest rocket ever.

SpaceX blasted their Super Heavy-Starship rocket into orbit Thursday morning -- with liftoff taking place at their Boca Chica, TX facility ... and with this latest attempt marking their third time trying to get this massive beast out into the great beyond.

Considering they pulled it off, it's truly an impressive feat -- especially when you get a sense of the magnitude of this rocket ... which is quite literally the biggest one in human history.

The rocket, in full, stands at a whopping 394 feet and is nearly 30 feet wide -- it also includes two different components, the upper stage Starship and the Super Heavy booster. Word is, this thing can generate over 16 million pounds of thrust with its Raptor engines.

In other words, it's a monster of a machine ... and on Thursday, Elon and co. were finally able to get it up in the air and past our atmosphere, where it started a sub-orbital flight that's designed to traverse the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic and much of the Indian Ocean.

The rocket is supposed to detach, with the booster dropping into the GOM -- and the upper stage touching down in the Indian Ocean ... yes, both can be done with controlled landings.

Eventually, SpaceX (and NASA) is hoping to use the Super Heavy-Starship to make trips to the moon ... something that hasn't been done for a long time, but which they wanna start back up again. Now that this test flight went off without a hitch (so far), it's within reach.

Kanye West was back at it Wednesday ... showing off his sexy wife, Bianca Censori, and all of her many assets for everyone to see.

Ye posted a series of photos of Bianca going braless in a tight-fitting pink bustier ... slightly exposing her breasts.

Bianca wore white leggings accentuating her curves with a pair of pumps inside a room as she posed before double gray closet doors.

In two of the snaps, Bianca placed her hands behind her back as if she was cuffed. Other pictures captured Bianca squatting and turning back around in the same lingerie outfit.

Kanye was nowhere in sight, probably because he was behind the camera playing shutterbug.

The photo shoot comes one day after Bianca was hanging out with Ye's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

The two were filmed together at Ye's listening party for his latest album, "Vultures 2." The sighting took everybody by surprise, setting social media on fire with a slew of comments.

Travis Kelce took a break from Taylor Swift Wednesday night, getting his groove on at Justin Timberlake's concert in Los Angeles -- where he saw a special performance by *NSYNC.

The Kansas City Chiefs star tight end popped in for the show and saw the pop group's first live performance since the 2013 VMAs.

Alongside Justin, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass showed off their many dance moves to all the screaming girls in the Wiltern theater audience.

Turns out Travis is a huge fan too -- it IS his era, after all. Check out this video posted by a music producer on IG showing Travis staring at the stage, looking pretty captivated by the surprise *NYSYNC reunion.

Travis got to enjoy the singers performing some of their biggest hits like "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me," as well as a new song, "Paradise."

Sources with knowledge tell us Travis greeted the guys in a hallway backstage after the performance.

Travis was seen leaving the Wiltern in the passenger seat of a vehicle, probably to go see his famous girlfriend at her ritzy abode.

Taylor has been taking some time off from her international "Eras" tour after her recent performances in Singapore, where Travis was right beside her.

The lovebirds then jetted back to stateside to attend Madonna's Oscars after-party in the Hollywood Hills last Sunday. While both have stayed in L.A., they haven't been seen out much with each other in the last few days.

Kathy Hilton's finally giving insight into her family's feud with Mauricio Umansky ... accusing Kyle Richards' estranged husband of shadiness when he left their family biz to launch his own.

The Hilton matriarch spilled it all during Wednesday's 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' reunion ... where she claimed her brother-in-law exited Hilton & Hyland -- her husband Rick Hilton's real estate biz -- with only a day's notice, and poached their staff too.

As Kathy put it, Rick had no problem with Mauricio leaving to do his own thing -- but only asked that he not take any employees with him ... a request she claims he ignored!

All was not hunky dory in the aftermath ... with Kathy even admitting that things were "funky" between herself and Kyle for some time.

It appears the Hilton family is far more willing to share their truth amid Kyle's separation from The Agency founder.

Remember, Paris Hilton came to her dad's defense after Mauricio attempted to paint a different picture about his fallout with the Hiltons in a teaser clip for Netflix's season 2 of "Buying Beverly Hills."

While Mauricio claimed he "got kind of f***ed by Hilton & Hyland" ... Paris hit back on Instagram Tuesday -- accusing her uncle of using her family's name to plug his reality TV career.

She torched him for going public with a private family matter, and added ... "It is enough already."

Despite her separation from Mauricio, Kyle still seems to be in her estranged hubby's corner. During the reunion, Kyle defended Mauricio for taking some Hilton & Hyland staffers when he bolted ... before shutting down the topic altogether.

The Hiltons might forgive, but they're not forgetting when it comes to Mauricio.

Bella Hadid's lassoed up property of her own in Texas, and is now fully immersed in the land of cowboys -- a move spurred, if you will, by her relationship with real-life wrangler Adan Banuelos .... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the supermodel scooped up a home in the Fort Worth area in a rural neighborhood, but the community is close enough to urban amenities, so she doesn't feel cut off from the world.

Sounds like Bella's grown accustomed to living deep in the heart -- we're told she's is in Fort Worth more than not.

It makes sense, though, as her boyfriend Adan is a major star in the horse riding industry, and owns a home in the area of Bella's. In fact, we're told the duo splits time between their 2 homes.

Still ... Bella has kept her love story with Adan under the radar for the most part. Remember, the couple was first linked in October 2023 -- when Bella and Adan were spotted locking lips at the famous Fort Worth stockyards.

Two-stepping down to Texas is a big switch for Bella ... who was raised in L.A. alongside her model siblings Gigi and Anwar Hadid.

While she's always had a love of horses, and competed as an equestrian, we're told she's gone full cowgirl now ... and even posed for a pic with the cast of Fox's "Farmer Wants a Wife" during last week's rodeo in nearby Arlington.

Justin Timberlake performed in L.A. ahead of his new album -- and wouldn't you know it, the *NSYNC guys joined him onstage ... something they cooked up in record time.

The singer hit the stage Wednesday at The Wiltern, where JT did a one-night-only show to plug his album "Everything I Thought I Was," which drops Friday. Of course, the dude wanted to make a splash ...  and did exactly that by morphing into a boy band again.

Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, JC Chasez, and Chris Kirkpatrick went up with Justin for a suprrise moment in a major highlight of the night ... where they sang some *NSYNC classics.

Of course, they also belted out their new song together from Justin's album, "Paradise," so it was a blend of old and new tunes. In terms of how this came together, sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ JT called all the guys Sunday to see if they'd be down for this.

As it turns out, they absolutely were and ran through a couple rehearsals on Tuesday. The DJ portion of their mini set was more so done on the fly ... with them wanting to lean into the nostalgia, which they knew the fans would love. As you can see in these clips, they did!

Pretty cool moment, no doubt ... and it definitely generates some buzz for JT's 'EITIW.'

While some might assume these *NSYNC collabs could be a signal of more music from them to come -- we've been hearing for months now that that's not necessarily the case. We know everyone is open to doing a full-blown reunion thing ... but for now, it ain't in the cards.

Nice seeing them get together for this though!

A college student who's been missing since Friday -- this after getting asked to leave Luke Bryan's Nashville bar -- wandered the streets aimlessly ... now seen on surveillance video.

22-year-old Riley Strain was in town last weekend, visiting with friends from the University of Missouri for a convention in Nashville -- and they went out drinking Friday night ... hitting up Luke's famous 32 Bridge bar, where cops say he got kicked out after being overserved.

Strain reportedly told his friends he'd just walk the 5 blocks back to their hotel and meet them there afterward ... but his buddies say he never turned up, having totally vanished.

Now, the police are on the case ... and they're asking the public to help locate Riley since he still hasn't turned all these days later. Nashville PD also posted some surveillance video that was captured that night, which they say shows Riley stumbling around all by himself.

The guy's said to be well over 6 feet, so he's hard to miss -- and in these videos, you see him cruising the streets almost without much direction or purpose. In one video, you see him cross the street alongside a group of people ... and he comes across as out of control.

In another video, you can see him running, and even falls briefly. On its face, it appears he's under the influence -- which his why him going missing like this is all the more horrifying.

As for Luke himself ... he's addressed this story, taking to social media to write, "Y'all This Is Scary. Praying For His Safe Return." LB also noted his bar was cooperating with the authorities in their investigation, while also sending their thoughts and prayers to his fam.

The story has started to get national attention, and billboards in the area have already gone up advertising his disappearance. His parents have said they're incredibly worried about his well-being, calling this whole ordeal an utter nightmare. There's no question, it 100% is.