Exclusive

Simon Cowell's gearing up to search high and low to discover the next One Direction -- and one former boy bander has a few ideas about how Simon can make lightning strike twice.

O-Town member Erik-Michael Estrada joined us on "The TMZ Podcast" ... and said one of the most important factors in forming the perfect modern-day boy band is diversity.

He pointed out while bands in the '90s and '00s -- like his and Backstreet Boys -- were quite diverse, bands before them were frustratingly either R&B or pop ... there was no in-between.

Chrisean Rock got thrown into handcuffs and hauled away by cops after she walked into a courthouse this week with her baby -- and now we have a sense of what it's all about.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the rapper was taken into custody Monday after she entered a courthouse in the San Fernando Valley ... where we're told Chrisean was swiftly pounced on by officers. BTW, Blueface's other baby mama, Jaidyn Alexis, was there too ... although it doesn't seem she was rolling with Chrisean.

Anyway, we're told 5 LAPD cops were already waiting for Chrisean when she walked in -- so it appears this might've been planned ahead of time ... and as soon as she entered, they were on her.

Tory Lanez' prison stay will likely outlast his marriage ... his wife of almost a year is divorcing him ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

According to court documents we obtained, Raina Chassagne filed her divorce petition last week, citing the usual irreconcilable differences as her reason for the split.

It doesn't appear she ever bothered to change her last name to Peterson to match Tory's legal name.

Steve-O's making some serious moves, not to mention serious money .. 'cause he's already sold his L.A. home a month after listing it -- and the guy pocketed a good amount of dough.

The "Jackass" star's real estate agent, Cesar Melendrez tells TMZ, the house sold Monday for $2,135,000, which was $335,000 over the $1.799 million asking price -- so that's one sweet profit for Steve-O after only 34 days on the market.

The star's 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom property garnered some serious interest. In fact, we're told the home received an offer within just 4 days of hitting the market, despite the rising interest rates in L.A.

Carrie Underwood capped off her concert this weekend by belting out tunes in the rain -- but there was an even more dramatic finish as she was exiting the stage ... 'cause she fell.

The singer was the headlining performance Sunday night at the Carolina Country Music Fest in Myrtle Beach -- where she put on one helluva show that ended up getting highlighted by the fact there was a downpour that seemed to come out of nowhere toward the end.

As much of a spectacle as that was ... there was something else that caught fans' attention as Carrie was making her way offstage -- and that would be her going down, seemingly hard. Even crazier is the fact that it was caught on video ... and we got a hold of the footage.

Carly Lawrence -- famous for appearing in the Netflix reality dating series "Too Hot To Handle" -- is pulling the plug on her marriage ... because she just filed for divorce.

The reality TV star beelined it to court Monday and filed for a dissolution of marriage from her husband -- "Love Island USA" star Bennett Sipes -- after 2 years of marriage.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Carly is listing Friday as the date of separation ... and she's going with the boilerplate "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the split.

Kim Zolciak's financial woes have gotten slightly bigger ... she's been ordered to pay off a relatively puny credit card bill from Target -- and though it's minor, she's still on the hook.

In court docs obtained by TMZ ... a Georgia judge issued a default judgment in March in favor of Target National Bank, which handles credit cards for the department store ... ordering KZ to cough up the almost $2,500 she owes -- plus over $100 in court fees.

As we reported ... Kim first opened a credit card with the retailer back in 2007, but TNB said she defaulted on her payments back in 2022 ... with her last payment of $500 being made in September. TNB claimed it demanded a payment from Kim, but she failed to clear her debt.

A red Ferrari that once belonged to Cher just sold to the highest bidder ... and the new owner shelled out over half a mil for the vintage sportscar.

The singer's former 1972 Ferrari 246 Dino GTS changed hands Monday, going for $568,000 at auction. Cher bought the Ferrari brand new in '72, and she owned it for a couple years before it was acquired by a famous racer, Chris Cord.

The specs on this set of wheels are pretty cool ... it's painted a custom shade of red, Rosso Chiaro, with a Nero leather interior and a 2.4-liter V6 engine.

George Lopez used baseball rules at his recent comedy show ... giving his fans three warnings to stop interrupting before storming offstage -- in new footage obtained by TMZ.

The new clips show the comedian at Eagle Mountain Casino Friday night in the middle of a marijuana bit when the ruckus kicks off ... upsetting George who's clearly trying to get through his set.

Watch the clip ... it's all going fine until a fan yells out something that isn't just a cheer ... though it doesn't necessarily sound like heckling. GL's frustration shines through and he ominously says, "That's one."

The alleged villain covered in Netflix's 'Dancing for the Devil' was the subject of two previous criminal investigations, but neither resulted in any charges ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us two sexual battery cases were filed against Robert Shinn and reported to LAPD in August 2023 -- which tracks with what was covered in the doc ... with some of his accusers coming forward and noting they'd gone to cops.

We're told one of the cases was filed by former 7M member Kylie Douglas, whose story was featured in the doc. Our sources say the LAPD conducted an investigation, and the case eventually landed at the L.A. City Attorney’s Office.

Chris Hansen's not supporting surgically castrating child predators ... arguing he's not sure it'll put an end to their criminal acts -- or if it'll stand up in a court of law.

We spoke with the "To Catch a Predator" host earlier this week and asked him about the controversial bill passed in Louisiana allowing judges to impose surgical castration on certain child predators ... and, he tells us he's pretty leery of the whole thing.

Hansen says he's met a ton of alleged predators over the years -- on 'Catch' and his new show 'Takedown' on streaming platform TruBlu -- and, he doesn't think surgically castrating them will stop them from abusing children.

The Caitlin Clark racism narrative is largely fake news ... so says Dan Dakich who tells us the hate towards the number one overall pick is pure jealousy!

Clark's been gettin' beat up since her WNBA debut last month -- we all saw what Chennedy Carter did to the Fever superstar last weekend -- so we asked Dakich, a former Indiana Hoosier player and coach, if it's just basketball ... or something else.

"Of course, she's being targeted," Dakich, host of Outkick's "Don't @ Me" told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (prior to the Olympic team snub).

Radio and TV personality Bobby Bones is sealing a deal to sell his massive Nashville home for a cool $6.9 million ... TMZ has learned.

According to real estate records, obtained by TMZ, the 6-bed, 12-bath property sold on Tuesday. Looks like Bobby's turning a nice profit on the 14,804 sq ft. home, considering he bought it 4 years ago for $3,724,800.

The property features 3 building structures on 5 acres, and Bobby initially put it on the market in September 2023 for $9.25 million ... so the new buyer got a nice deal. Win-win for them and Bobby!

7:47PM PT -- Garcia's attorney, Darin Chavez, tells us ... "[Ryan] was taken by the BHPD to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment and to our knowledge, may be charged with public intoxication."

Ryan Garcia was arrested for felony vandalism at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills Saturday afternoon ... and TMZ Sports has video of the superstar boxer being led away by cops in handcuffs.

Law enforcement sources tell us the boxer was arrested and taken into custody after he allegedly damaged property at the hotel, including his room and the hallway.

In California, any damage over $400 can be considered a felony.

Kanye West is showing signs of being a cuckold, at least based on the raunchy texts he allegedly sent the former employee suing him for sexual harassment ... so says "Couples Therapy" star Dr. Jenn Mann.

The good doc tells TMZ ... Kanye's alleged texts --- which are central to the lawsuit filed against him -- convey a kind of enjoyment of knowing about women he's sleeping with having sex with someone else, and wanting descriptions of their encounters.

Remember ... Ye's former assistant Lauren Pisciotta claims in her lawsuit Kanye once texted her, "See my problem is I be wanting to f*** but then after I f*** I want a girl to tell me how hard they been f***ed while I'm f***ing them. Then I want her to cheat on me ..."

Eminem's latest music video for the single "Houdini" is out, and among the millions viewing the banger is the family of the OG Batman Adam West, who loved the rapper's salute to his work.

In the video for the track, which is part of Em's upcoming "The Death of Slim Shady" LP -- he's back in the ol' Robin outfit he was wearing back in 2002 .... when “Without Me” rocketed to No. 1 on the charts.

Nina Tooley, West's daughter, told TMZ her dad would have loved the video, which in the family's opinion spoke to the enduring brilliance of the TV show and her father's version of the Caped Crusader.