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Buckingham Palace seems to be taking a lesson from the Kate Middleton saga ... 'cause they're looking for a new worker bee to help handle the media for them ... albeit, someone who's gonna be relatively low on the payroll.

In a job posting that just got spotted this week by eagle-eyed parties -- and which appears to be relatively new -- BP says they're hiring a communications assistant to handle all things media for them ... including press inquiries and a host of other responsibilities.

It's interesting timing given the off-the-charts intrigue swirling around the Princess of Wales.

Among the other duties ... BP is looking for someone to provide administrative support, distribute media credentials for palace functions, and "Produce content for a variety of platforms, including media advisories, social media updates and feature articles."

Buckingham Palace's listing doesn't ask for proficiency in Photoshop ... so, no picture touch-ups will be required, it seems. But, social media fluency is clearly important to the Crown.

Important to note here ... Buckingham Palace isn't the official residence of Prince William and Kate -- that's Kensington Palace. Buckingham handles King Charles' day-to-day life -- so it may not be connected to Kate at all.

In fact, a Palace rep told us repeatedly this was a Buckingham thing and not Kensington (which is obvious) and refused to say whether Kate-Gate played any role in them posting it. They also refused to tell us when this first went up.

Of course, many are already assuming the team at Buckingham is worried about a flood of media inquiries if something similar should ever happen to Charles -- especially given his recent cancer diagnosis -- and that they're getting ahead of a would-be repeat scandal.

We've been following the Princess Kate drama pretty closely ... and we've even got a documentary -- "TMZ Investigates: Where is Kate Middleton?" airing on FOX tonight at 9/8c.

One last note ... check out the pay for this gig. It comes out to just under $32,500/year USD -- not exactly a king's ransom coming down from the Royal Family!

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is speaking out about all the fuss over the 24-year age gap between him and his wife, Sam Taylor-Johnson ... saying he finds it downright bizarre.

The 33-year-old actor rumored to be the next James Bond spilled the beans to Rolling Stone UK about his marriage to the 57-year-old director ... saying all the criticism isn't warranted 'cause he's got an old soul thanks to his child acting days.

Essentially, he says he's had a different timeline than most.

Aaron, who started his professional acting career at 6, explains what others were doing in their 20s, he was doing at 13. In other words, he grew up fast ... so why the criticism?

If you're unfamiliar -- their relationship has been talked about for a long time ... especially considering when they first met and how old Aaron was. They crossed paths in 2008 while she was working on 'Nowhere Boy,' which he auditioned for. Aaron was around 17 back then.

Obviously, they stayed in touch, 'cause he married this woman a few years later in 2012, when he was barely 21. Since then, they've had 2 daughters ... plus, he's the stepfather of her other kids.

Anyway ... ATJ also opens up about the protectiveness he feels for Sam, saying that if some things don't click between them, he feels responsible.

And, on the issue of their 24-year age difference ... Aaron says in this new interview that how people perceive his personal life doesn't bother him, because he's just trying to balance family, work and mundane stuff like dentist appointments.

He might need to level up his juggling skills, 'cause word on the street is he's been handed the chance to be the next James Bond!

If he nails down that role, he'll be stepping into some big shoes -- becoming the seventh actor to ever play the iconic role since 1962.

Michael Jackson's family is involved in a complex legal battle ... and they're not all on the same side in this one -- 'cause MJ's son Blanket is trying to stop his own grandmother from using estate money in her ongoing fight.

Here's the deal ... Blanket -- MJ's youngest son, whose real name is Bigi Jackson -- filed documents this week, obtained by TMZ,  asking the court not to allow his grandmother Katherine to use Michael's estate money to fund an appeal of a previous ruling.

Basically, Blanket and his grandmother were recently working together to stop the executors of Jackson's estate from going through with a huge business transaction that they were very much so against.

The docs don't say exactly what the transaction was -- it's been shrouded in mystery throughout this saga -- but, based on recent reporting, it seems like it may be related to the deal the estate made with Sony to sell about half of Michael's music catalog for $600M.

Blanket explains he and his grandmother presented their arguments opposing the deal ... but ultimately the court ruled against them -- seemingly bringing the legal issue to a close.

However, Katherine's decided to appeal the ruling ... a move Blanket says he doesn’t want any part of -- and, more importantly ... he doesn't want his father's estate paying for her legal bills. As you know, he's an heir to the estate ... so that cash is pretty important to him.

The way Blanket explains it in the docs ... the appeal has little chance of winning, and he says he doesn't think it truly benefits the beneficiaries of the trust to continue the fight -- so, he simply doesn't want the estate to foot the bill for it ... something Katherine wants.

Blanket's also asked the court to use its best judgment to grant Katherine reasonable attorney's fees incurred from the pre-appeal battle -- which he agrees she's entitled to ... at least to a certain extent.

It's unsurprising Blanket's filing against Katherine ... just yesterday, executors of Michael's estate reportedly claimed that she receives a seven-figure allowance for the year -- money Blanket presumably would rather she use for the appeal instead of the estate's dough.

Dana Carvey wants to say sorry over an old 'SNL' skit that saw Sharon Stone stripping on the set -- but funny enough ... Sharon says no apology is needed, 'cause she's not trippin'.

The comedian and his podcast cohost, David Spade, were hosting the actress on their show 'Fly On the Wall' and they were recapping when SS hosted on 'SNL' way back in 1992 ... this on the heels of "Basic Instinct" being released in theaters and taking the country by storm.

In particular, they revisited this one controversial skit called the "Airport Security Sketch" -- where DC played an Indian security guard who kept ordering Sharon to remove one piece of clothing at a time ... because she kept setting off the security buzzer.

Dana has regrets about that ... saying that while Sharon was cool about it back then, they'd probably get "arrested" for that scene nowadays. Spade even chimed in, saying it was offensive.

But, Sharon made it clear that an apology wasn't warranted ... adding there's a big difference between a misdemeanor and a felony -- and that back in '92, they were all "committing misdemeanors," thinking it wasn't a big deal at all.

Sharon adds she had other things to deal with at the time ... and was totally fine being the butt of the joke 'cause she thought it was funny.

She also says people's attitudes about this sort of stuff nowadays are weird and precious ... with people spending too much time alone, and not knowing how to be funny or intimate with each other anymore. In other words, she thinks PC culture is alive and well in 2024.

Beyoncé is adamant her "Cowboy Carter" isn't a country album, but Azealia Banks needs further convincing -- the outspoken artist is so on one, her rant is overshadowing the album announcement on social media!!!

Azealia's unloaded on Bey in the past, but is now convinced her ex-Black Girl Superhero is putting on a do-si-do front for Caucasian Grammy voters just to snag that elusive Album of the Year award.

In an audio recording, she also accused Beyoncé of kowtowing to Taylor Swift, and claimed she's no longer setting trends in the music industry.

Azelia basically wrote a short story that reads, in part, "Wow we didn't even try to put even a little effort into a more artistic title?"

She then referenced Beyoncé performing "Daddy Lessons" with The Chicks during the 2016 CMAs -- "Ur always sharing ur platform with white women who are so jealous of you but have such a long history of sabotaging other Black womens careers."

Bey's got the most Grammy wins ever, but no AOTY ... a point her hubs Jay-Z infamously made during the last Grammy gala.

AB made several more points of her own ... she labeled Bey's outfits as "White woman cosplay" and the entire "Cowboy Carter" rollout as "pick me stuff" -- a.k.a. smoke signals for white audiences to single her out.

She also blames Jay for "overstrategizing" the artistic vision, and said Kelsea Ballerini and Carrie Underwood can make better music in their sleep!!!

Bey's milestone of becoming the first Black woman to go No. 1 on the country charts also got smeared in her face ... Azealia notes tons of Black country artists have been grinding for years, but don't have Bey's advantage and the funds to get their tunes the traction they need.

Shakira's all about that single life ... straight-up saying being married weighed her down, and put a damper on her music career.

The Colombian singer was with soccer player Gerard Piqué for 11 years before they separated in 2022 amid infidelity rumors ... and she told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 that with Gerard outta the picture, she's now got a compulsive urge to work and make music like never before.

Shakira's singledom ain't all sunshine and rainbows though ... she's also keeping it real about the challenges of being a single parent to her sons, 11-year-old Milan and 9-year-old Sasha.

The "Hips Don't Lie" queen, who made the move from Spain to the U.S. post-split, dishes that her 2 kiddos are leaning on her big time ... and with no hubby in the picture, she's holding down the fort all by herself.

This ain't the first time Shakira's gently lashed out about how Gerard negatively impacted her career -- she also told the Sunday Times she sacrificed her music-making journey in the name of love.

But, Shakira's back in action ... after 7 long years, she's dropping her much-awaited studio album, "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran" (Women Don't Cry Anymore), this Friday!

Uncle Sam is taking Apple to court -- claiming they have a monopoly on the smartphone business and that the interconnected nature of their products is a little too anti-competitive.

The Dept. of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against Tim Cook's company Thursday, which makes a lot of allegations against the tech giant ... including that their whole business model is inherently gatekeeping, and has a stranglehold on the industry.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the feds say the ecosystem of all things Apple -- including the iPhone, their Apple Watch and other apps and features connected to Apple's mainframe -- has created a "moat" that's unfairly shutting out rival companies and their own customers.

The lawsuit states, "For many years, Apple has built a dominant iPhone platform and ecosystem that has driven the company’s astronomical valuation. At the same time, it has long understood that disruptive technologies and innovative apps, products, and services threatened that dominance by making users less reliant on the iPhone or making it easier to switch to a non-Apple smartphone."

The feds add ... "Rather than respond to competitive threats by offering lower smartphone prices to consumers or better monetization for developers, Apple would meet competitive threats by imposing a series of shapeshifting rules and restrictions in its App Store guidelines and developer agreements that would allow Apple to extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives. It has deployed this playbook across many technologies, products, and services, including super apps, text messaging, smartwatches, and digital wallets, among many others."

In addition to their products -- which the feds allege are created to work only within Apple's system -- the suit claims Apple has gone out of its way to shut down apps/programs people have attempted to use to make communicating on iPhones easier with non-iPhone products. Essentially, they're alleging Apple has made it impossible to interact with Apple products/users if you're not also using an Apple product ... and they say that violates federal law.

The lawsuit also says this ... "If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly ... This anticompetitive behavior is designed to maintain Apple’s monopoly power while extracting as much revenue as possible."

Ya shoot one President, and suddenly ya can't buy a break ... that's John Hinckley Jr.'s gripe, essentially, after his latest folk singing gig got canned.

The man who opened fire on President Ronald Reagan -- and also injured Press Secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and cop -- has become a guitar-strumming folk singer, who actually gets booked for concerts, but they tend to get canceled before he gets onstage.

Hinckley's bitching about his latest yanked gig at Hotel Huxley in Naugatuck, CT, where he was supposed to perform on March 30 ... until the venue announced last week it was pulling the plug. He told the NY Post, "I think it's fair to say I'm a victim of cancel culture."

Referring to all of his canceled shows, he added, "It keeps happening over and over again."

Last week Hotel Huxley posted on its IG page, "You Guessed It: Postponed Until Further Notice (They're killin us here)." That last line seems to be a reference to the massive backlash the venue was getting for booking Hinckley -- but also feels distasteful, considering the concert date would've marked 43 years, to the day, since the attempted assassination of Reagan.

Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and spent nearly 30 years in a mental health hospital before he was released in 2016.

Since then, he's picked up the guitar and actually released songs on his YouTube channel.

His first concert was booked for Brooklyn in 2022, but again, was canceled due to backlash -- and that's subsequently happened for his other planned shows in Georgia, Illinois and Virginia ... where he now lives in Williamsburg.

Karma. It's a thing.

Bianca Censori must be working up quite the appetite struttin' around nearly naked ... 'cause she and Kanye West hit up the classic spot for oversized dishes and doggy bags.

The couple cruised over to the Cheesecake Factory Wednesday at The Grove in L.A., and Bianca was rocking her standard issue fit -- sheer nude-colored bodysuit paired with athletic shorts rolled up high on her booty. Naturally, that combo drew plenty of attention from photogs and shoppers.

But, it turns out they arrived a bit early for lunch, beating the restaurant's 11:30 AM opening time.

They looked eager to get inside, but found the doors still locked when they tried to enter.

BC looked around puzzled -- doors normally swing open for A-listers in this town, after all -- and that prompted Ye to whip out his phone to make a call.

Mall security immediately appeared and tried to clear all the paps and onlookers.

The Wests weren't hung out to dry for too long -- someone made arrangements for them to get VIP treatment at the CF ... as they were allowed inside 10 minutes early.

No doubt their celebrity status would've surprised the workers and any customers set to arrive during normal opening hours.

Seems like Cheesecake Factory is becoming a go-to spot for this couple ... last year, Ye and the missus were snapped at another CF location inside L.A.'s Topanga Westfield Mall.

Taylor Swift can not only rock the house, she can rock the earth itself -- something proven by the fact that her fans caused a mini earthquake last year ... which is insane.

A study was conducted by Caltech and UCLA, which monitored just how much the ground was shaking during one of Taylor's concerts in 2023 -- specifically, one of her six L.A. shows at SoFi stadium ... and as it turns out, the Swifties that day made the needle move.

Seismologist Gabrielle Tepp -- who oversaw this study -- says data shows that her Aug. 5 "Eras" concert, which hosted upwards of 70,000 fans, registered notable seismic activity.

Tepp and co. monitored each song from her long set list with remote stations that were within 5.6 miles of the stadium and he says their records show that her performance of "Shake It Off" clocked in at the highest point through the night, with a peak magnitude of 0.851.

He notes that the seismic stations recording this were capturing the dancing and jumping going on from fans -- and the reverberations from the music itself isn't included in this. Tepp says her performance of "Love Story" that night also left a notable impression on the meter.

All in all, Tepp says the L.A. show movement caused tremors that equated to a magnitude-2 earthquake -- which is relatively small ... but still pretty impressive from the Taylor fan base!

Her Seattle fans reportedly caused similar waves earlier last summer as well ... earthquake levels.

Derek Hough's wife, Hayley Erbert, appears to be feeling a whole lot better after her terrifying health scare ... because she's back on the dance floor!

The couple each posted a tender photo on their Instagram accounts Wednesday, showing Derek standing alongside Hayley in a dance studio with his arm around her. Hayley's head is resting on the shoulder of the popular "Dancing With The Stars" judge.

Their captions read, "Stepping onto this blank canvas together. Beginning to paint again."

The sweet image marked three months since Derek publicly announced that Hayley was recovering from brain surgery after she became disorientated following a dance performance and was rushed to a Washington D.C. hospital.

In his IG statement back then ... Derek said Hayley had a "long road of recovery" after she suffered a cranial hematoma, requiring and an emergency craniectomy.

What that means is blood forms within brain tissue or below the skull, putting pressure on the cranium. This is usually caused by a blood vessel that bursts in the brain due to head trauma, possibly leading to death.

All that sounds pretty bad ... but it seems as if Hayley – a pro dancer -- has bounced back and might be ready to boogie down again.

Donald Trump's hinting at deporting Prince Harry again, and opinions on the possibility are split -- even among reality stars who've famously emigrated to America to find bliss like Harry did.

We spoke with several stars from the hit show "90 Day Fiancé" about the former president suggesting he'd consider booting PH, if reelected -- and while they're split on whether that should happen, they all agree he shouldn't be treated differently than any other citizen.

Jesse Meester, star of season 1 of "90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days" told us he's lived in this country since coming over from Amsterdam, and he's never had any issues 'cause he says he doesn't break the law ... an easy way to stay out of trouble.

Jesse adds he's all for DT's strict approach to the country's border crisis, and he believes the former -- and possible future prez -- is the only competent politician out there.

And, Larissa Lima -- season 6 star of "90 Day Fiancé" who came to the U.S. from Brazil -- said she feels it's a huge privilege to get to live here, and not even famous people like Harry should get special treatment.

Despite that, LL also told us she's not for deporting the Duke of Sussex immediately ... adding that seems more than a little extreme.

We also spoke to Sam Wilson who starred in season 10 of '90 Day,' and he got candid about his own struggles as a former drug addict ... saying he's always judged for his past drug use. But, he's still against Harry getting special treatment, noting other people wouldn't get that kind of exemption.

Remember, Donald Trump sat down for an interview with GBN broadcaster Nigel Farage where he straight-up said Prince Harry wouldn't get special privileges if he lied about previous drug use on his Visa form to get into the country.

Harry talked extensively about using drugs in his book "Spare" -- something, theoretically, he would have had to disclose before getting a visa.

The speculation is he did not, and would, therefore, be subject to deportation.

Conor McGregor tells TMZ Sports his role in the new "Road House" reboot will be far from his last appearance on the silver screen ... saying this week he's got a whole lot more irons in the cinema fire.

The UFC superstar made no bones about it when we asked him about his acting future while he was out in NYC promoting the new Jake Gyllenhaal flick ... telling us "of course" he's planning to keep pursuing the new career.

It's unclear exactly what's coming next for the 35-year-old fighter ... but when we asked if he had any more roles lined up at the moment -- he said straight up, "For sure, for sure!"

"Oh, yes!" he added.

As for how job No. 1 in the new industry went for The Notorious, so far, it seems so good. Early reviews for the "Road House" reimagining are positive ... and the clips we've gotten to see so far show McGregor certainly knows how to kick ass on command on cam.

Of course, McGregor's still keeping up with his day job despite the foray into Hollywood ... he's been training hard for a future bout with Michael Chandler.

We're almost at the finish line of the week here at TMZ, but we're still chugging along on TV.

Let's start out on "TMZ Live," where Harvey and Charles talked about the latest development in Kate-Gate -- namely, a hospital staffer allegedly trying to access her medical records from when she was being treated at the London Clinic this year ... a major security breach, if true.

Next up, we have "TMZ on TV" ... where the gang discussed Megan Fox's new interview on "Call Her Daddy," with her addressing where things stand with Machine Gun Kelly.

Finally on "TMZ Sports" ... Babcock and Mojo talked about Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan.

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

American actor Hutch Dano was 16 years old when he started playing Ezekiel Falcone AKA "Zeke" -- who was determined to become the world's greatest skateboarder with his bestie, Luther -- on Disney's sitcom "Zeke and Luther" back in 2009.

Playing Zeke's best friend was actor Adam Hicks -- the cup-stacking champ and big-time gamer, Luther, Daniel Curtis Lee played Zeke and Luther's cocky skating rival, Kojo, and Ryan Whitney portrayed Zeke's smart, younger sister who played the flute, Ginger.

Dano got real on the "TMZ Verified" podcast and broke down his time on "Zeke and Luther".

3/21, 7:10 AM -- Ippei Mizuhara told ESPN that Ohtani knew of his gambling debts and agreed to pay them off in exchange for a promise -- the interpreter would never gamble again.

"Obviously, [Ohtani] wasn't happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again," Ippei initially said, adding, "He decided to pay it off for me.

But, Mizuhara then seemingly changed his story, saying, "I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting. I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. I will never do sports betting ever again."

Ippei Mizuhara -- the Japanese interpreter who's been Shohei Ohtani's righthand man for nearly a decade -- has been fired by the Dodgers ... after Ohtani's attorneys claim he engaged in a "massive theft" of the two-way star's fortune.

The lawyers -- from the LA-based law firm Berk Brettler -- said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times they uncovered the alleged stealing after Ohtani's name had surfaced in a federal investigation of an alleged illegal bookmaker, Mathew Bowyer.

According to The Times, Mizuhara was accused of taking some of Ohtani's funds and using them to place bets with Bowyer. Ohtani's attorneys told the outlet they're now going to cops to have them investigate their findings further.

"In the course of responding to recent media inquiries," the lawyers said, "we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities."

The Dodgers confirmed Wednesday afternoon they let go of Mizuhara following the claims. No further comment from the team was added.

Mizuhara and Ohtani just joined the Dodgers this season ... after the two-time MVP signed with them in free agency on a 10-year, $700 million deal.

Prior to putting on Dodger Blue, the duo worked together throughout Ohtani's six historic seasons as an L.A. Angel.

Story developing ...