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Cops in Texas have launched an investigation with the help of the FBI after a small town's Mayor received a threatening package in the mail ... which included a noose.

Arcola, TX's Mayor Fred Burton -- who's Black -- received the package Tuesday which he says contained a rope fashioned into a noose inside, plus a note urging him to withdraw from his reelection race. Police say he contacted the authorities immediately.

The message couldn't be clearer ... reading "Get out of the race now!!" -- which Burton himself describes as a slap to the face as he read it.

Gucci Mane decided it best he enter the 2024 rap wars and his chosen target is Diddy!!!

Mr. Zone 6 is kicking Diddy while he's down with the new track, "TakeDat" ... ruthlessly appropriates the Bad Boy mogul's catchphrase, but that's far from the biggest shot on the venomous track.

Gucci opens the song spewing the social media favorite slogan, “I’m just f***ing around, but No Diddy” and proceeds to use that as the hook while also making a sly reference to Diddy's ex ... "I got a young Miami bitch from the city / I’m spending money like a trick (No Diddy).”

Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant doesn't think Taylor Swift has any famous songs ... even though he's been presented with evidence to the contrary.

The British musician blasted Taylor's A-list status while recently chatting with The Guardian -- claiming she doesn't have enough hits to make her as big of an icon as Michael Jackson. You can tell his hot take had mixed reactions by the way people respond in the crowd.

He says, "Taylor Swift sort of fascinates me as a phenomenon because she’s so popular, and I sort of quite like the whole thing, but then when I listen to the records … for a phenomenon as big, where are the famous songs? What’s Taylor Swift’s 'Billie Jean'?"

Cops are continuing to make headway in their investigation into Nikola Jokic's brother ... telling TMZ Sports they've located the man who Strahinja Jokic punched in the face earlier this week.

A spokesperson for the Denver Police Dept. said on Thursday morning they've "been in communication" with the fan who Strahinja socked after Game 2 of the Lakers vs. Nuggets game at Ball Arena on Monday night.

The rep did not reveal, however, if the man is seeking to press charges -- or if he's formally filed a police report.

A bus driver found himself in the middle of a brutal attack last week, which was captured on video ... and which resulted in a huge crash, not to mention an arrest.

Cops allege passenger Tihron Harrison flipped into a rage Saturday while riding one of the city buses -- this after he apparently asked to be dropped off at a certain cross street, only to be rebuffed by the driver ... who told him he could leave him at the next designated stop.

As a result, Harrison flipped out and started going after the driver ... reaching out around the protective plexiglass and punching the driver's face, all while the bus is still in motion.

Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist's quick split after a fairytale TV ending pissed off a lot of fans in 'Bachelor' nation -- but one of GT's kids is telling everyone to cool it with the hate.

Angie Turner -- Gerry's daughter -- hopped online this week to address all the backlash her dad has been getting as the first 'Golden Bachelor' ... namely, for marrying Theresa after seriously courting her on the show -- only for them to pull the plug 3 months later.

She writes ... "It’s no surprise the news of my Dad and Theresa choosing to split has sparked a range of emotions and opinions. I love how invested people were in the show, what an experience to have you along for the ride!"

7:28 AM PT -- A rep for the Manhattan D.A.'s Office tells TMZ ... "We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault."

Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction just got overturned in the appeals court -- and a new trial has been ordered ... although it remains to be seen if he'll be prosecuted again.

The 4-3 ruling came down Thursday ... with the majority of judges agreeing that the disgraced movie producer's constitutional rights were violated back in 2020 when this case was first going down. According to them, prosecutors allowed other women to testify who weren't pertinent to the charges he was facing.

Emma Stone is shutting down the notion she was pissed off at Jimmy Kimmel when he cracked a joke about her movie, "Poor Things," while hosting the Oscars this year.

Remember, Emma went viral during the Academy Awards as she seemingly called Jimmy a "prick" after he poked fun at "Poor Things" for all its sex scenes. The camera caught her mouthing something immediately after Jimmy's shot -- however, Emma's now telling The Hollywood Reporter she didn't have any beef.

She said ... "I didn’t call him a prick. I wasn’t upset with him at all. I’ll have to look that up."

Everyone thought Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox were over as a couple -- but the two of them were just hanging out for his 34th birthday ... and MGK posted the evidence.

Kelly threw up a carousel of pics Wednesday on his IG -- which captured a ton of moments from his birthday party earlier this week, which looked like a star-studded soiree featuring the likes of Post Malone, Tiffany Haddish, Evan Ross, Mod Sun, Amber Rose and others.

More importantly though was the fact that his ex-fiancée, Megan, was also in the mix ... and she and MGK looked pretty damn happy, despite the fact things have looked rocky for them.

Basketball ain't the only love in Caitlin Clark's life ... the new WNBA star revealed Wednesday she's smitten with her boyfriend too -- droppin' an L-bomb on him in a sappy social media post.

Clark delivered the mushy message on her Instagram page to commemorate her and Connor McCaffery's 1-year anniversary ... writing, "you make everyday better."

"And I can’t wait for many more adventures together…," she added. "love you."

Donald Trump may go to jail in his hush money case -- but even before that, he may get locked up over a gag order ... something the Secret Service is ready for, but not anticipating.

As you may know, Trump is currently on trial in New York City ... where prosecutors are trying to convince a jury he broke the law by allegedly coordinating payments to Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet ahead of the 2016 election ... something for which he's pled not guilty.

While he's technically facing a maximum sentence of up to 4 years in prison if convicted -- no one really expects that to happen, especially for a first-time offender like Trump.

"The Simpsons" killed off a longtime character this week, sparking shock and outrage among its fans ... and one producer says he expects nothing less from the show's diehards.

Tim Long, co-executive producer of the long-running animated sitcom, tells TMZ ... the creative team meant for Larry “The Barfly” Dalrymple's death to hit the audience hard -- even though Dalrymple never had a big moment on the show.

ICYMI ... Larry was a background character on the show, first appearing back in 1989 during season 1, and mostly showing up in Moe's Tavern near Homer Simpson and his friends. He occasionally throws out a line or two.

Fantasy Football nerds, listen up ... Jake Plummer says he's expecting a monster year from Justin Herbert -- telling TMZ Sports he thinks Jim Harbaugh will get the very best out of the Chargers star.

Plummer played in the NFL at the same time as Harbaugh in the late 1990s -- and it's clear as day he grew a ton of respect for the Bolts' head man. So much so, he believes Herbert's game will soar to new heights under his tutelage.

The former Arizona State star quarterback says because Harbaugh wasn't the most athletic signal-caller, he grew a massive football IQ ... and he anticipates that being passed on easily to Herbert.

Drug charges, an adult entertainment venture and a new shoe deal ... all in a day's work for TMZ! Check out the best clips from Wednesday.

On "TMZ Live," Harvey and Charles discuss Diddy's associate Brendan Paul facing felony drug charges after his arrest last month.

Before this sweet boy wearing striped overalls turned into an American actor and comedian, he was just a cool New York City kid, cruising the concrete jungle with big dreams of making it in the entertainment industry.

After appearing on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" back in 1996, he went on to act on "The Amanda Show" and made his film debut in "Snow Day".

Yes, he's probably most known for his starring roles on Nickelodeon during the early to mid-2000s, but he's also a popular YouTuber often discussing his comedic lifestyle to his 3.5 million subscribers.

Kamala Harris' Secret Service team faced a violent threat this week, having to defend one of their agents ... from one of their own!!!

Secret Service representative Anthony Guglielmi tells TMZ ... at around 9 AM Monday, a U.S. Secret Service special agent supporting the Vice President’s departure from Joint Base Andrews started to display signs his colleagues found distressing.

We're told they removed the agent from the assignment and summoned medical personnel. The Veep wasn't around when the incident occurred, and it did not affect her takeoff.