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While we don't know if Lil Wayne will be making an appearance at the Super Bowl in his hometown of New Orleans, we do know another big-time rapper will be in attendance -- Big Sean -- who tells TMZ Sports he already has tickets to the big game!

That's how confident Sean feels!

We caught up with the Detroit rapper out in Los Angeles ... and he didn't waver at all -- he's emphatic in his declaration that Jared Goff and the Lions are a lock to make the big game.

Jim Harbaugh and the L.A. Chargers' first year together is going better than many were expecting ... and Shawne Merriman's thrilled about it -- 'cause he told everyone who would listen before the season he knew they'd be good!

The ex-pass rusher sat down with TMZ Sports just prior to the Bolts' 2024 kickoff -- and he was adamant back then that his former team had a real chance to make a run to the AFC Championship game.

This week, when we caught back up with him -- he gloated about his preseason forecast -- telling us that after being around the team in the summer, he just had a real feeling this Chargers team could be a Super Bowl contender.

Just because Bronny James is bouncing between the NBA and G League doesn't mean his hoops career is cooked ... so says Metta World Peace, who tells TMZ Sports the Lakers rookie is getting a great opportunity to develop.

James -- the 55th overall pick -- was assigned to the South Bay Lakers on Nov. 7 ... after the guard averaged 0.7 points, and 2.7 minutes of playing time in six games with the big dogs.

It's not your average move, though ... as Bronny will only play home games for South Bay and continue to travel with his pops and the rest of his Lakers teammates for NBA games as well.

Chrishell Stause is back on "Selling Sunset" ... this despite saying she'd only film with Nicole Young again if the show forked over some serious dough.

Sources connected to the show tell TMZ ... Chrishell and Nicole are currently filming season 9 of the hit house-selling show after Chrishell said publicly in September that she wouldn't come back to the show if Nicole returned.

She later amended her statement ... saying in an interview she'd come back if the production team would "add a zero" to her check -- but, still it seemed unlikely the two would share the screen again.

9:41 AM PT -- A rep for Pacman tells TMZ Sports the former NFL star "adamantly denies the allegations and looks forward to explaining the truth when the time comes."

The rep added, "Like thousands of other people in Dallas last night, Pac was in town for the fight and was enjoying himself, spending time with the fans."

"Pacman was returning to his hotel to wind down for the evening. He was not looking for trouble."

Denzel Washington threw some shade at the producers of "Gladiator II" when he talked about a gay kiss he had in the film that was cut, allegedly over cold feet ... but it seems there is more to the story, TMZ is told.

A production source tells us ... the moment in question happened, but it was not in the script -- and done during an improvised take of which there were many for the scene.

The kiss take -- and other improvised takes -- ended up on the cutting room floor as a story choice. No prejudice went into making the decision, we're told.

Diddy is getting creative behind bars to sway a potential jury in his favor -- and he's even used his recent birthday celebration to obstruct justice in his federal criminal case, prosecutors say.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ ... federal prosecutors say Diddy -- who is currently behind bars -- recruited family members to plot and execute a media campaign around his 55th birthday earlier this month for the purpose of influencing a jury at trial.

--You may recall ... Diddy's 7 kids posted a gushing Instagram video tribute to the music mogul and they let baby Love take center stage in the singing of "Happy Birthday." The children also wrote in the caption, "Happy Birthday Pops, we love you! 🎂❤️."

Donald Trump's presidential win is going to make life near his properties more difficult for neighboring residents ... but, that won't stop them from buying to be close to the prez-elect, TMZ has learned.

We spoke to Senada Adzem -- the former VP of marketing for Trump International in NY and a real estate agent in Palm Beach -- and asked her how the Secret Service presence around Mar-a-Lago may impact potential homebuyers.

Adzem doesn't mince words ... saying tight security around Mar-a-Lago over the next 4 years will basically be a serious pain in the ass -- but people who live there just won't care.

Jon Jones dominated Stipe Miocic in the main event of 309 ... and then shouted out President Trump during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

Bones even started a "USA! USA!" chant ... and hit Trump's famous dance move, before exiting the Octagon and talking to the president-elect.

The UFC has no shortage of star power at its events -- in and out of the Octagon -- so, who's gotten the loudest pop from the crowd?!

Dana White has an answer.

"When you think about fighter walkouts, whenever a fighter walks out to the [Octagon] — I mean, the two biggest that actually shake the arena are President Trump and Conor McGregor, two of the biggest fight walkouts ever," the UFC boss told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1).

Dwyane Wade's son, Zaire, is calling on everyone to keep the jokes and memes coming about the Miami Heat legend's new statue ... telling TMZ Sports all the silly comments only make it that much more of a must-see attraction!!

We caught up with the future Hall of Famer's oldest out at LAX this week ... and asked him what the fam REALLY thinks of the team's permanent tribute to Dwyane outside the Kaseya Center -- especially after all the reactions it got on social media.

It turns out D-Wade wasn't lying when he said he loved it ... 'cause Zaire doubled down and said that's how they all feel about the honor.

Sundance Head, a country music star who won a season of "The Voice," is recovering from a gunshot wound ... after an incident on his Texas ranch.

The singer's agent, Trey Newman, tells TMZ ... Sundance Head was at his ranch in rural Texas on Friday when he was shot.

We're told paramedics were able to get Sundance Head in stable condition and he's being airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Tyler, TX.

Kim Kardashian hasn't learned her lesson about her tricked-out vehicles ... the SKIMS founder has been hit with a fix-it ticket while cruising on PCH.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Kim was driving her new Tesla Cybertruck down the famed coastal highway in Malibu on Thursday, catching the unforgiving eye of an L.A. County sheriff's motor cop on patrol.

Cops proceeded to pull over the reality TV star for having a tinted front windshield ... an offense she was warned about over a decade ago in a different vehicle.

Shyne says Funkmaster Flex is a well-known hater and you don't have to take just his word alone ... he says ask Jay-Z or Nas directly, or any diehard Tupac Shakur fan!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Shyne amid his vigorous press run for his upcoming Hulu doc "The Honorable Shyne," and he thanked Flex for the free promotion -- despite everything he's saying has been lies!!!

Shyne tells us Flex's beef with those hip hop heavyweights throughout the years shows his true character.

The United States government isn't just shooting down alien involvement in unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs) anymore, a huge change from its decades-long position ... so says an expert who writes on UFOs.

We spoke with Marik Von Rennenkampff -- a journalist who writes about UFOs for publications like The Hill and MSN -- on Friday ... and, he tells us we're seeing a change in the language the government is using to describe possible alien tech.

While the government once ridiculed and derided theories about aliens creating UAPs, Rennenkampff says a new report from the Pentagon is more open to the seemingly impossible theories than the institution used to be.

Mustard's personal life is getting ugly again ... he says his ex-wife is bashing him on social media, even though they agreed not to talk trash about each other ... and he wants a retraction.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, divorce attorney Samantha Spector claims the music producer's ex-wife, Chanel Thierry, has been violating the judge's order that they both refrain from trashing each other in public and online.

In one example, Mustard claims his ex tried to paint him as a deadbeat dad by falsely claiming the $275,000 equalization payment he made in their divorce settlement was only going toward back child support.

Michael Blackson says the real reviews of a comedy club can't be found online, but in the parking lot ... 'cause you only need to look at a comic's car to judge his talent.

We caught up with the comedian at LAX Thursday ... and, he was picking up someone in a pristine white Rolls-Royce -- a car he says cost him a hell of a lot of money.

Blackson claims the car proves he's super funny ... 'cause hilarious comedians get paid big bucks -- and can buy very expensive cars.