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Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan is convinced "The Simpsons" named Springfeld's fave brew after him, but his theory is flat, 'cause Duff Beer was coined for a whole different reason ... TMZ has learned.

Here's the deal ... the rocker recently told Stereogum he is, indeed, Duff Beer's namesake ... going so far as to say the show reached out back in the day to clear it, and he's bent out of shape he got cut out of merch profits. DMK repeated this belief in his autobiography, too.

But, 'Simpsons' OG producer-writer Jay Kogen tells TMZ Duff's dead wrong for 2 reasons ... one of which he's gonna find very upsetting.

First, Jay says there actually wasn't any deep reasoning behind choosing the name Duff.

Power slap star Sheena Bathory says she's gotten mixed reactions from some of her fans over her new BBL ... but she tells TMZ Sports she's happy with her new look -- despite what haters are saying online.

The 32-year-old got the butt work done in Florida on June 5 ... and when we spoke with her days after her big cosmetic surgery this week -- she said she's loving what she's seeing so far.

Bathory told us, though, that while she's received support and well wishes from many of her fans ... some have criticized her -- saying she looked fine previously.

Calling all music enthusiasts ... got deep pockets? If so, a signed copy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Double Fantasy" album is up for grabs.

MomentsinTime.com has listed this rare gem from a private collector -- and it can be all yours for $54,000.

Fun fact: Yoko's signature doesn't really affect the price. Her signed items don't fetch much on their own, so the value is all down to Lennon's signature.

Hunter Biden has certainly been making the rounds in L.A. following his federal gun conviction ... first, he enjoyed a yummy Italian meal in West Hollywood – and now he attended the screening of a new Sean Penn movie.

That's right ... President Biden's son doesn't seem to have a care in the world – or at least that's the image he's publicly portraying -- despite facing up to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him this week on three felony gun charges.

He's a first-time offender so he won't get anywhere near the max and there's a chance he'll get straight probation.

Bill Belichick has a new love interest in his life ... TMZ Sports has learned he's dating 23-year-old former competitive cheerleader Jordon Hudson.

Sources close to the situation tell us the two have been romantic for a while now -- becoming an item shortly after the ex-New England Patriots head coach called off his longtime relationship with Linda Holliday.

According to one of Hudson's former cheerleading teammates, Hudson first met the 72-year-old on a flight from the Boston area bound for Florida way back in 2021 ... and bonded over a philosophy project the student-athlete had been working on.

O.J. Simpson went to ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson's condo the night of the murders in a Ford Bronco, but there's evidence that the Bronco wasn't his.

TMZ has a new documentary on Tubi -- 'O.J. How He Really Did It' -- in which Harvey Levin, then a reporter at KCBS-TV in L.A., shares never-before-heard stories about the murders.

One thing that always puzzled him ... how is it that O.J. would have been soaked in blood after brutally stabbing 2 human beings to death, yet his Ford Bronco had relatively little blood inside the vehicle?

Ex-UFC star Tim Kennedy -- who's also a U.S. Army Special Forces sniper -- is praising the police sniper who took out a bank robber with a close-range kill shot between 2 hostages.

Tim tells TMZ … law enforcement did incredible work here to preserve innocent lives and protect civilians, and anyone who thinks the sniper put the hostages at risk with such a daring shot has no clue what goes into a snipe like this.

Remember ... video shows the moment a Lee County Sheriff's Department sniper shoots through a computer monitor inside a bank, killing a robber who was using 2 hostages as human shields while communicating with a negotiator.

Most boxing fans are PUMPED for Jake Paul and Mike Tyson's November fight. But, there's a group of critics who've attacked The Problem Child for fighting a mid-50s Iron Mike.

We asked 27-year-old Paul what he'd say to the detractors.

"Tell Mike Tyson that. Because he does not give a s*** what anyone thinks," Paul told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show this week (airs nightly on FS1).

Uncross those fingers and exhale, 49ers fans ... Eric Dickerson says Christian McCaffrey will be just fine this season -- telling TMZ Sports there is no such thing as the "Madden Curse!!!"

Of course, plenty in San Francisco have been worried sick since Tuesday ... after the star running back was named the Madden NFL 25 cover athlete.

While disaster hasn't struck for the most recent players who've received the honor -- it happened so frequently in the past, it's become commonplace for fans to have concerns about it all -- and SF supporters haven't been much different this week.

Same s***, different day -- that's star boxer David Benavidez's motto heading into his big bout Saturday night ... 'cause the boxer tells us he plans to kick Oleksandr Gvozdyk's ass, just like he did when they sparred a few years back.

Benavidez (28-0) and Gvozdyk (20-1) are one of the two Prime Video PPV main events this weekend at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas ... with the winner taking the WBC interim light heavyweight title.

Benavidez -- who moved up weight classes (to 175 lbs.) to fight Gvozdyk -- feels confident the victory will be his ... and he isn't the least bit threatened by the Ukrainian fighter.

Tú quieres stolen art from Taco Bell?! Well, it just so happens there's some available on the black market ... for a hefty price tag.

Here's what's going on ... wall art commissioned for the fast food giant's image rebranding some 20 years ago was swiped from various locations over the years ... and now the heist pieces are popping up for sale online.

Mark Smith, the artist behind the dope designs, tells TMZ he's known for years that the art was stolen from stores ... but only recently has there been a hot resale market ... which includes one picture going for $10K on eBay!

Dan Hurley went back to UConn ... so the Lakers should now turn their attention toward Sam Cassell -- so says Reggie Theus, who tells TMZ Sports the ex-NBA star would be an "excellent" choice for L.A.'s vacant head coaching job.

Theus -- a former NBA player and ex-coach of the Sacramento Kings -- said out at LAX this week that Cassell is "my guy" ... and would be his top choice to fill in for Darvin Ham now that Hurley is officially out of the picture in Los Angeles.

"I love Sam," he said. "I think he's been around -- he's earned his dues."

Dr. Oz's medical knowledge came in handy on his flight to Mexico this week ... 'cause the celebrity doc treated a fellow passenger during a health scare up in the air, TMZ has learned.

Check out this footage, obtained by TMZ, that shows Oz vigilantly tending to another traveler, whom we're told was going in and out of consciousness an hour into Friday's flight from NYC to Cabo San Lucas.

Dr. Oz has confirmed the medical incident, telling TMZ ... he was en route to a wedding when he heard flight attendants asking for medical help, and he answered the call.

The cause of death for ex-NBA player Darius Morris has just been revealed ...  heart disease is the killer, with drug and alcohol use playing a big role.

Darius' official cause of death is coronary artery disease ... according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

According to the ME's death investigation summary, obtained by TMZ Sports, drug and alcohol use was a significant factor in Darius' death ... specifically, the effects of cocaine, hydrocodone and ethanol.

Bay Swag's summer is scorching like the desert -- "Fisherrr," his hit with Cash Cobain, is one of the hottest songs, and had the Summer Jam crowd rockin' with their performance!!!

TMZ Hip Hop recently linked with Bay in NYC before the Yung N Lit Music Fest Presented by EMG, and got his reaction to Method Man leaving the stage to the new generation of fans.

Meth kissed SJ goodbye for good after realizing the younger crowd -- which got jiggy with Bay, Cash and Ice Spice -- had taken over for good.

Political analyst Matthew Baum can understand the allure of an AI-powered candidate for office -- but he warns that kind of ultimate political outsider could pose some unexpected threats.

We got the Harvard professor Friday on "TMZ Live," where he weighed in on the growing trend of AI candidates running for political offices across the globe.

For example, entrepreneur Steve Endacott is having his AI-generated avatar run for a seat in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom.