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Gene Simmons is coming to JoJo Siwa's defense after the internet claimed she was ripping off the iconic rocker's aesthetic with her whole "bad girl" persona ... 'cause the rocker digs it.

The KISS singer tells TMZ ... he likes JoJo's new "demon" look, praising her edgier new vibe as badass, and adding ... anyone hating on her, simply doesn't get it and they might just be jealous.

Gene also says, "Never be ordinary. Always be extraordinary. JoJo is extraordinary and she looks cool."

Michael Jackson's estate is calling BS on an upcoming auction of a "Thriller" jacket ... claiming the auction isn't making it clear MJ never actually wore it in the iconic music video.

In a letter fired off Tuesday to Gotta Have Rock and Roll, the auction house, the estate's attorney, Jonathan Steinsapir, declares -- in no uncertain terms -- the jacket up for sale wasn't on Michael's back at any point during production of the "Thriller" short film.

Jonathan writes there were only 2 genuine "Thriller" jackets worn in the film, and one was auctioned for nearly $2M over a decade ago -- which is 20 times more than the minimum bid GHRR is seeking for their jacket.

The University of Connecticut isn't playing around this year ... with both their men's and women's hoops teams in the Final Four, the U isn't takin' any chances, removing all the light poles from the campus to stop any debauchery square in its tracks!

TMZ Sports talked to UConn on Tuesday -- and with both basketball teams just two wins away from Natty's -- we asked about precautions ... given how crazy things got during last year's celebration after the men won.

Remember, students caused hella damage to the Storrs campus, including ripping down light poles and throwing them through buildings.

Tuesdays aren't so bad when you've got some TMZ TV Hot Takes to spice things up. Get the scoop below and turn things around!

Kickstarting with "TMZ Live" ... where Harvey and Charles dig into Shannen Doherty's revelation she's preparing for her own death by getting rid of her material possessions.

Before this curly-haired cutie chillin' on the sofa turned into an American actress, she was just cuddling up to her kitty cat, acting at 9 years old and growing up in Pennsylvania.

She made her acting debut as the bratty Bat Mitzvah teen on HBO's hit show "Sex And The City", but is most known for her roles as Max Black on "2 Broke Girls" and Darcy Lewis in the 'Thor' franchise.

With her popular presence on social media, she enjoys sharing her love for flowers and cats to her 5+ million Instagram followers.

Hunter Schafer wants people to stop harping on the fact she's transgender -- in fact, she doesn't even take on trans roles anymore ... even though she became famous through one.

The "Euphoria" star tells GQ she's taking intentional steps to shift the public's attention away from her transgender identity ... saying she avoids mentioning the word "trans" in interviews and even refusing to take on any further trans roles in film/TV work she's doing.

A 911 caller told dispatch she found Vontae Davis dead in the area of a gym in his home ... this according to police audio obtained by TMZ Sports.

In the call, the unidentified woman can be heard saying she discovered the former NFL star's body after initially not being able to find him at his Southwest Ranches residence.

Dispatch attempted to get the woman to obtain a defibrillator ... though it's unclear if the woman or any others retrieved it or attempted to use it on Davis. The call was heavily redacted by authorities.

Kroy Biermann's divorce drama with Kim Zolciak is hitting a new rough patch -- he claims she's dragging her feet on handing over important financial docs, so now he's simply exposing her alleged spending himself.

TMZ has obtained Kroy's response to Kim's motion to compel handing over her financial docs, and he's suggesting her excuses -- about protecting the kids' privacy and fears he's leaking confidential info to the media -- are just smokescreens to keep her spending habits under wraps.

In Kroy's docs, he's attached a spreadsheet of those spending habits during their marriage -- and he claims she dropped more than $600K from 2016 to 2023 ... mostly on swanky gear from Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave, Chanel, Versace, and Agent Provocateur.

Cher fans are on a tear after the iHeartRadio Awards Monday night, after Jennifer Hudson upstaged her during one of Cher's most famous songs.

Cher was accepting the Icon Award -- a huge honor. Before accepting, she took the stage with J-Hud to perform "Believe," and it had shades of another iconic duo -- Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer's duet, "Enough is Enough," where the two battled for top voice.

The song was great, but at the end, Jennifer belted out a huge high note to end the song. Some of Cher's fans thought it crossed the line. One user said, "Seriously, chill Jennifer, why are you trying to upstage Cher?"

Gypsy Rose Blanchard isn't hooking up with her ex-fiancé, Ken Urker, despite getting matching tattoos with him -- but he does have her best interest at heart -- much more so than her husband ... so says Ken's mom anyway.

Raina Williams tells TMZ that Ken recently flew from his home in Texas to go hang out with Gypsy in Louisiana amid her ongoing separation from Ryan Anderson -- and the reason, we're told, is because he wanted to be there for support ... and serve as a rock for GRB.

Ken's mother says he told her he'd always be there for her, and even though they're not together anymore ... we're told Ken felt compelled to be with Gypsy during this hard time.

Metro Boomin declaring war on Drake isn't coming without consequences -- the superproducer claims his phone and iCloud recently survived a serious hacking he suspects came directly from Team OVO!!!

Shortly before his new album "We Don't Trust You" dropped -- the one he and Future let Kendrick Lamar go all sicko mode on Drake -- Metro claims he started getting spammed by Toronto-area phone numbers.

The stars of "Yellowstone" are speaking out as their costar Mo Brings Plenty is currently looking for his nephew ... who's been reported missing, and who's also wanted by cops.

Cole Hauser -- who plays Rip Wheeler on the Paramount Network drama -- took to Instagram to ask his followers to share any information they may have with police about Cole Young Plenty's whereabouts ... who's Mo Brings' biological nephew.

He added ... "He was last seen on Easter evening in Kansas City."

Rashee Rice was involved in the car crash that injured multiple people in Dallas Saturday ... and he admitted it to the company that owns the Lambo ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Rice owned the Corvette that was involved in the crash and leased the Lambo from a company called The Classic Lifestyle. Rice was in the Lambo at the time of the crash and, according to the leasing agreement, he's the only person who was permitted to drive the car ... this according to Kyle Coker, the attorney representing Classic Lifestyle.

Coker tells TMZ Sports, Rice fired off a text shortly after the wreck, acknowledging he was involved in the crash and promising to pay for the Lambo, which was totaled.

Stevie J's aggressively defending his pal Diddy, and firing new shots at 50 Cent for his never-ending trolling over the federal raids and investigation ... something he thinks is racially-motivated.

We spoke to Stevie Tuesday on "TMZ Live," and he didn't hold back, accusing 50 of attempting to tear down the Black community ... so much so, he repeatedly labeled him an "Uncle Tom."

Stevie pointed fingers at 50 for spreading propaganda and lies about Diddy ... straight-up telling him to "stop being a girl and talking about him."

Lizzo says she isn't quitting the music industry -- despite her fans assuming she was after last week's message -- but rather ... she's leaving her haters in the past.

The singer clarified her alarming remarks that got people worried about her -- in which she said she felt people didn't want her around ... and that folks were constantly dragging her, no matter what she did. She emphatically added at the time ... "I QUIT."

Welp, now she's explaining exactly what she meant ... and luckily for her fans, Lizzo isn't leaving music behind -- on the contrary, she says she's just quitting negativity.

It's out with the new and in with the old for Gypsy Rose Blanchard -- and by that we mean she's gone back to her former fiancé .. this after calling things off with her hubby.

Eyewitnesses tell TMZ Gypsy and the guy she was previously engaged to while in prison -- a man named Ken Urker -- linked up this week hit Sailor Bob's Tattoo shop in Cut Off, LA Monday, not far from where Gypsy's dad resides.

There's a picture circulating that shows Ken in one of the tattoo chairs with Gypsy sitting by his side and watching getting inked ... and now, we know they got matching tattoos.