Gossip / Rumors

Barack Obama seriously dated several women before meeting Michelle, and none of them were African-American, according to the author of one of the definitive books about the former president.

Christopher Andersen, who wrote "Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage," appeared on "TMZ Live" just after excerpts from another book -- "Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama" -- were released, saying he twice proposed to a woman before meeting Michelle.

Andersen says Obama, who had big political aspirations early on, recognized the value of marrying a black woman, although he's quick to add the love between Barack and Michelle is real and profound.

Barack Obama proposed to a woman who rejected him not once but twice ... before he met Michelle -- this according to a new biography.

The woman is Sheila Miyoshi Jager. David Garrow, author of the new book, "Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama," says Obama met Jager in the mid-'80s when he was doing community organizing in Chicago.

Jager, of Dutch and Japanese ancestry, told Garrow even back then, Obama had a strong belief he'd someday become President of the United States. She also told the author Obama had "a deep-seated need to be loved and admired."

She says in 1986 Obama asked her to marry him, but her parents were opposed because they thought she was too young. She said no, but they continued dating.

Then, Garrow says, Obama's presidential ambitions became a centerpiece of their relationship, causing a conflict because he worried a non-African-American spouse would do him political damage.

Garrow says he "felt trapped between the woman he loved and the destiny he knew was his."

Obama went to Harvard Law School in 1988 and the relationship was on the ropes, but Jager says Obama again asked her to marry him before he left, but she was off on a research trip to Seoul and rejected his proposal.

Obama fell for Michelle after their first year in law school but, according to Garrow, he was still occasionally seeing Jager.

As for Jager, she's a professor of East Asian Studies at Oberlin College. And there's this fun fact: Her book, "Iraqi Security Forces and Lessons from Korea" was on Osama bin Laden's bookshelf in the compound where Seal Team Six killed him.

Another comeback for Julian Edelman?

Just a few months after calling it quits, the Patriots WR and supermodel Adriana Lima reconnected in NYC Monday night to party together after the Met Gala ... but it's not exactly a reconciliation.

The two were spotted together hitting up Rihanna's after-party at 1 OAK -- where they arrived in the same car.

Our sources tell us things were pretty frosty between the two after they split earlier this year -- but it seems the ice has thawed. We're told they're definitely NOT back together but it's clear they're on much better terms.

Edelman and Lima were not each other's dates for the Gala -- Edelman arrived to the affair with fellow Pats WR Danny Amendola and they sat at Tom Brady's table.

Adoree' Jackson's only been in the league a few minutes and he's already making predictions ... telling TMZ Sports his old QB, Sam Darnold, will definitely be the #1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Jackson was selected 18th overall by the Tennessee Titans -- and when we saw him out in Philly right after his name was called, he was praising the man leading his old squad back in L.A.

Jackson also says USC has a real shot at a national championship and Darnold could win the Heisman.

He's not the only one who feels this way -- in fact, there's a campaign among NY Jets fans to "tank" the season to get Darnold in '18.

Stephen Belafonte did Mel B dirty and she's not the only one ... so says a woman who had a baby with him.

Nicole Contreras was at Craig's Wednesday, and she had nothing nice to say about her ex. She says, among other things, Belafonte is a deadbeat dad who has not paid child support for their 12-year-old daughter, Giselle.

She didn't marry Belafonte but, based on the timeline, it looks like Mel B was Belafonte's rebound after breaking up with Nicole.

The three notes recovered in Aaron Hernandez's prison cell were written to his fiancee, his daughter and his attorney, Jose Baez ... NOT a supposed gay lover, sources tell TMZ Sports.

The contents of the letters are being kept under wraps for now -- but sources familiar with the investigation tell us the ex-NFL player did not leave any sort of a message for another inmate.

There are reports Hernandez had been corresponding with a "gay lover" during his time in lockup -- but Baez had previously shot that down as false ... saying, "These are malicious leaks used to tarnish somebody who is dead."

Aaron Hernandez's legal team says the inmate who claims to have had a special friendship with the NFL star behind bars is simply trying to get money from the media ... and they won't dignify his claims with an official comment.

The inmate, Kyle Kennedy, has hired a lawyer after reports surfaced Hernandez wrote a suicide letter to him before his death. Kennedy claims they became very close in prison and spent a "great deal of time together."

Hernandez's attorney, Jose Baez, has previously shot down reports Aaron left a note for a gay prison lover -- and tells TMZ Sports his team has more important things to do than address Kennedy's claims.

"Our team is doing serious legal work," Baez says ... "We don’t have the time to stop our efforts and respond to every convicted felon that has something to say about Aaron Hernandez."

He adds, "Quite frankly I’m surprised more inmates have not come forward to make money off the media."

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott jumped from holding hands at Coachella to holding way more at an NBA playoff game, and yet ... they're still in the heavy flirting with a chance of banging stage.

The rapper was courtside in Houston Tuesday night for the Rockets-Thunder game and must've thought rubbing Kylie's inner thigh would bring his hometown Rockets good luck.

This comes on the heels of Coachella ... where sources at the music fest tell us Kylie showed up to support Travis as he headlined the second biggest stage. KJ was there with her own pals, but the social media clip of them holding hands doesn't lie.

We're told they were super flirty in the desert, and although nothing was consummated ... all signs point to it happening soon. Our sources add ... they've been close for years, since they both appeared in a Justine Skye music video.

From the looks of it, they moved a BIG step closer to banging in Houston.

Timing might not be great -- he's touring with Kendrick Lamar this summer, and she's fresh off the breakup with Tyga breakup.

But as they say, the best way to get over a rapper is to find another one ... who can pay his bills.

Scott Baio can count on a can of whoopass if he ever runs into Erin Moran's brother, who wants payback for Scott's comments about Erin's substance abuse.

Tony Moran tore into Scott ... referring to a brief fling Erin and Scott had way back when they were young TV stars. His Tuesday Facebook post got nasty though when he said, "She told me that you were tiny." Then came the not so thinly veiled threat: "Get on your knees and pray you never run into me."

Tony's angry about Scott's radio interview where he took Erin to task for using drugs. At the time, Scott thought that's what killed her, but later learned it was cancer.

Scott told us he wouldn't have been so harsh if he'd known she was battling cancer -- but he stands firm on his view of addiction.

Battle lines are drawn.

Danielle Bregoli says there is one obvious reason she's NOT the girl who's getting beat to a pulp in a viral video ... and it's all about the victim's butt.

It's not hard to understand the confusion -- Danielle and the punching bag in the video do look extremely similar. It's unclear where the video was shot, but fact is "Cash Me Outside" has been here in Los Angeles.

We got her at LAX, and she explained why that ain't her getting dragged in the vid. As she puts it, size matters when you're talking booty and bodyguards.

Meanwhile, Danielle's look-alike is gonna have a serious headache ...

Jesse Williams is keeping tight-lipped about his divorce, but he absolutely has a response to rumors he's dating Minka Kelly.

Jesse was flying out of LAX Tuesday morning when we asked about his split from Aryn after nearly 5 years of marriage. The "Grey's Anatomy" star was trying to keep a low profile -- hoodie up, shades on -- and not at all talkative.

Still, he dressed appropriately for the occasion -- because he let the message on the back of his jacket do the talking when asked if things are serious with Minka.

As we reported, he's been hanging out with her in Paris while they work on a video game production.

Jesse Williams has been separated from the wife he is now divorcing for more than a year, and he's been hanging out recently with Minka Kelly.

TMZ broke the story ... Jesse filed to end his 5-year marriage to Aryn Drake-Lee ... they've actually been together for 13 years. They have 2 children, the youngest is a year old.

As for Minka, they're shooting a video game/movie in Paris and have been seen both on and off set for the last few months, but no one's saying if it's anything more than a friendship.

A lot of Jesse's fans are upset he's moving on, but a source connected with the couple tells TMZ ... as far as Jesse's concerned, the relationship has "played itself out."

Letters were found inside Aaron Hernandez's cell when his body was found, but none of them were written to a gay lover.

Hernandez's lawyer, Jose Baez, tells TMZ Sports, "Rumors of letters to a gay lover, in or out of prison, are false. These are malicious leaks used to tarnish somebody who is dead."

The D.A. announced Thursday 3 letters were next to Hernandez's Bible, and that's when the rumors began.

Dakota Johnson and Giovanni Ribisi might be a new couple ... or they might be extremely eco-conscious.

Giovanni and the "50 Shades of Grey" star both attended celeb jeweler Jennifer Meyer's 40th birthday bash Saturday night in WeHo. We don't know if they arrived together, but they definitely split in his ride.

No word if they're banging or just carpooling pals. If this is a friendzone sitch ... it's the first time we've seen them hanging out together.

They are both single -- Ribisi ended his second marriage to model Agyness Deyn in 2015, and Dakota split from her longtime bf last year.

Drake didn't get an Instagram model pregnant and thinks her claim is so ridiculous he didn't even sic his team on her ... sources connected to the rapper tell TMZ.

It's interesting ... Layla Lace posted earlier this week that Drake knocked her up in London and went radio silent once she told him. But she has since scrubbed all traces of the allegations.

There have been rumblings Drake's team went nuts on her and threatened her with a lawsuit unless she removed the posts. Not true. He's never even met her.

Our sources say Drake's team never reached out to Layla much less threatened her ... they believe she did it for attention and when people talked about her there was no need to keep the posts up.

Nick Cannon has been hanging out with Mariah Carey in public a lot lately, and he says that won't change ... for one obvious reason.

We got Nick Saturday night going into Au Fudge, where he was meeting up with Mimi and the kids. We asked if it's coincidence they've been seen together quite a bit since Mariah's breakup with Bryan Tanaka.

Nick sets the record straight with a friendly reminder.

As we reported ... Mariah and Bryan broke up partly because of his extreme jealousy over Nick.