Gossip / Rumors

Straight from the Mamba's mouth ... Kobe Bryant says he's NEVER returning to pro basketball.

The NBA legend set the record straight in an interview with Rich Eisen ... saying "I will never come back to the game. Ever. I am here to show people that we can do much more than that."

Of course, Black Mamba already has an Oscar for his animated short film "Dear Basketball" ... and has a bunch of other projects geared towards connecting youth to sports.

"There's about a 0-percent chance I come back and play," Bryant says.

There were rumors Kobe could come back to the Lakers when LeBron James decided to move to L.A., and most recently about joining Ice Cube's BIG3 league when co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz said he was told by a source that Kobe was gonna play next season.

But, Kobe's rep chimed in on his hoops future to TMZ Sports ... saying "NOT True. 100% not happening."

Regardless, Cube told us on Wednesday he was still hopeful Bryant would take the BIG3 bait.

Thomas Markle certainly has his own style, but the idea of him starting his own clothing line is "ridiculous" ... so say sources close to Meghan's dad.

Rumors of Tom M. trying to become the next Tom Ford began Wednesday when the Duchess of Sussex's half-sister, Samantha Markle, tweeted it out ... saying she was excited about her dad's new clothing line for men.

We're told this is absolutely untrue and the only credible part of Samantha's additional claim that Thomas is focusing on a line of hoodies for older dudes ... is that he does indeed like to wear hoodies.

Omarosa is getting called every name in the book for leaking secretly recorded convos with and about Trump --- but you'd never guess she was bothered, based on her pearly whites.

Trump's former aide-turned-foe was seen leaving Trevor Noah's 'Daily Show' set in NYC Tuesday night alongside her husband, John Allen Newman. She was smiling ear-to-ear while exiting the building -- which we'll take to mean her appearance went well.

She certainly had a lot to talk about. From a new tape in which other Trump campaigners discussed alleged audio of the Prez using the n-word, to her Situation Room firing and, of course, Trump calling her a dog ... topics were anything but scant.

Let's not kid ourselves though -- Omarosa is doing a full blitz book tour right now, so you know she's loving the attention, good or bad. As long as it sells ... she's happy.

Turns out Omarosa was secretly recording Trump and his staff long before he became President ... and Trump is now going ham, calling her "a crazed, crying lowlife" and "that dog."

"CBS This Morning" got the latest Omarosa tape, where she recorded 3 staffers during the 2016 campaign. They were talking about the buzz that an outtake existed during taping of "Celebrity Apprentice" ... where Trump allegedly used the n-word.

Most important part ... the staffer says she talked to Trump and he said he never used the word, and Omarosa jumps in and says, "That's not true." So it seems Omarosa firmly believed Trump used the n-word yet she fought for him, supported him, proclaimed he was not a racist all the while.

What's also interesting ... why she secretly recorded conversations from the get-go. It would seem she had a book on her brain long before she was fired.

For Trump's part, he predictably went after her, tweeting, "When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn't work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!"

Kourtney Kardashian is ready to live up the single life again -- and has no interest in being tied down to another guy ... especially baby daddy Scott Disick.

TMZ broke the story -- Kardashian split with her 25-year-old boyfriend, Younes Bendjima -- afterwards the model was spotted getting handsy with a hot chick in Mexico. Fast-forward to Kylie's 21st birthday party Thursday night, and Kourtney was elbow-to-elbow with her baby daddy.

The thought of Kourtney and Scott reuniting had lots of people talking and hoping there was a chance the two may resurrect their relationship -- if only because they make KUWTK better ... but our sources say absolutely no way.

We're told Kourtney sees Scott as more of a friend -- the romance is over and out.

3:30 PM PT -- Another source just contacted us and said it was distance -- which had always been an issue for them -- and not cheating that caused the split.

Kourtney Kardashian sent Younes Bendjima packing recently ... after she said she had the goods he was cheating on her.

Sources close to Kourtney tell TMZ ... Kourtney and Younes broke up the second week of July, shortly after their trip to Italy.

We're told days after that trip, Younes jetted off on another vacation without her and she says that's where he cheated on her ... so she dumped him. The bad blood between them was evident in mid-July when Younes shaded one of Kourtney's booty pics.

The pics of Younes in Mexico this week where he got handsy with Jordan Ozuna were not the catalyst for the breakup ... that happened nearly a month before.

We're told Kourtney laughed off the Mexico pics and said it's just her ex trying to stay relevant.

Nate Diaz says he still hasn't made up his mind about whether he'll fight Dustin Poirier at UFC 230 in November ... telling TMZ Sports, "Time will tell."

The UFC star was leaving Real Food Daily in L.A. on Tuesday afternoon when we followed up about the comments he made on Friday -- when he threatened to bail on the UFC event.

Nate essentially tells us he'll fight if he feels like it -- "We'll see what happens."

We asked if he WANTS to fight -- and he told us, "I don't want to fight anybody."

Couple more things ... Nate also says his brother, Nick Diaz, will likely return to the UFC "probably next year."

Mark Zuckerberg's been getting the meme treatment for supposedly looking like a 'Star Trek' character -- ever since he testified to Congress -- but the actor himself doesn't see it.

We got Brent Spiner Monday in Malibu where we asked if he'd seen the hilarious Zuck memes putting him on the 'Next Generation' set as the android, Data.

Brent admits both his character and the Facebook CEO appear to stay out of the sun, but he ain't buying they're dead ringers or long-lost relatives.

Then again ... it's hard to tell if Brent's trolling us here with his answer -- especially because he was definitely trolling our photog on a bunch of things, including the proper pronunciation of Data.

But c'mon, Brent. You're Zuck's role model, admit it!

Conor McGregor says he's very close to finalizing the deal to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 -- and he's bragging that he's already in fighting shape.

The UFC superstar was wrapping up his workout in NYC Monday when he updated Adam Glyn on fight negotiations with Khabib -- a fight expected to go down in October.

Conor raved about how much he loved the city of New York -- in the wake of his plea deal in his bus attack case -- but says the fight will most likely take place in Vegas ... not Madison Square Garden.

There's more ... McGregor also praised his former opponent, José Aldo, for his victory against Jeremy Stephens this weekend. Remeber, McGregor seemed to break Aldo's spirit with that legendary 13-second KO in 2015.

He even says ... "the whole [nation] of Ireland was happy for José Aldo that night."

McGregor hasn't fought in the Octagon since his victory over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 which, at this point, seems like an eternity ago. Of course, he fought Floyd Mayweather last year.

As for his claim to being in great shape ... just check out his human being squats in the park. Yeah, we believe him.

3:00 PM PT -- Sources close to the couple tell us there is no trouble in paradise. Davidson covered up the ink temporarily for a movie role.

Pete Davidson appears to have wiped a symbol of his fiancee, Ariana Grande, off his body ... and now the question is ... why?

The 'SNL' star was spotted Sunday in L.A. without Ariana by his side -- but, more importantly, WITHOUT his jet-black neck tattoo of her trademark black bunny mask.

Pete got the Ariana-inspired ink behind his ear early last month by tattoo artist London Reese, who posted a shot of his work on social media at the time. Now, you can still see traces of the tattoo ... but it definitely looks more faded than what it once was.

He also got a thumb tat with Ariana's initials, but you can't tell here if he's still rockin' that.

Here's the thing ... Pete's in the middle of shooting a movie with Machine Gun Kelly right now, and it's quite possible that he simply had the tat covered with makeup for the job.

Pete and Ariana just recently got engaged, and he already reportedly covered up another forearm tat that was dedicated to his ex.

Chandler Parsons says there's no doubt in his mind Dwight Howard's a Hall of Famer -- telling TMZ Sports, "He was the best center in the NBA for like 10 years!"

It's been a huge debate in the NBA community ... and fuel was added to the fire when D12 told us earlier this week his HOF resume "speaks for itself."

Chandler couldn't agree more with Dwight when we got him leaving Craig's -- telling us Howard "100 percent" belongs in the Hall.

R. Kelly's spewing out ALL his feelings about the sex cult allegations, his financial problems, the 3 celebs he wants to get off his back ... and much, much more in a 19-minute long song.

The track's called "I Admit" and in it, Kelly goes right after John Legend, Steve Harvey and radio host Tom Joyner for being critical of him. Kelly sings, "Why would they want to tear down another brother?"

He also pleads to women to "show black men some love, 'cause black men we go through enough" -- and says he needs his 'hood's support more than ever. In the song, Kelly claims he's broke and has to keep touring "just to pay rent."

Kelly addresses some of the sex cult allegations ... admitting Joycelyn Savage's father brought her to one of his shows, and says he and Joycelyn were into each other immediately. He dismisses claims he restricts his girlfriends from eating or leaving his homes -- and points out "I'm not convicted, not arrested."

He also claims he was molested by a family member up until the age of 14.

XXXTentacion's murder has brought a rapper's career to a screeching halt ... so says the rapper himself, who at one point was linked to the murder.

Rapper Soldier Kidd tells TMZ ... his career's been derailed ever since online accusations of his possible involvement in XXX's shooting caught the eye of investigators.

TMZ broke the story ... cops working on the case were homing in on the Florida rapper after he posted a pic of himself with a gun while he was at a fish and chicken joint not far from the crime scene.

A grand jury indicted 4 people in the murder case.

G-Eazy has NOT jumped to dating Demi Lovato after his split from Halsey ... and that's coming straight from his ex, Halsey.

We got her Thursday at LAX, and had to ask her about the speculation G's hooking up with Demi. There were reports they hit up a Hollywood club last weekend. Even though that turned out to be false ... the rumor's taken off.

Halsey, who announced the breakup from G-Eazy earlier this month, says NO CHANCE. He denied the Demi buzz at the ESPYs, and his ex is fully backing him.

Ariana Grande's gotten a lot of heat for allegedly ripping off a scene in her new music video from a '90s ad campaign ... but we've learned she did it all by the books.

Ariana's "God is a Woman" dropped last week and was immediately attacked by critics who noticed similarities between the video and an ad by Jean Paul Gaultier from 1993.

Sources close to Ariana tell us the scene was absolutely inspired by JPS ... however, it wasn't art theft -- it was an homage to the designer. We're told Ariana's team reached out and obtained permission to use the concept -- and for what it's worth -- we've seen the proof.

"God is a Woman" is the latest single from Grande's album, "Sweetener," set to drop next month.

Corinne Olympios isn't buying what Colton Underwood is selling on this season of "The Bachelorette" -- insisting the ex-football player's already swiped his V card.

The villain from Nick Viall's 'Bachelor' season was in Venice on Monday when she weighed in on Colton confessing to Becca Kufrin that he's a virgin. He still got a rose, but Corinne thinks Becca got taken.

First off, she says Colton's too hot to still have unwrapped goodies. She also says his so-called confession is one guys use all the time for sympathy. That said, she thinks it's hurting him more than helping. He did get eliminated on this week's episode, so ... Corinne might've had a point.

As for whether the jock has what it takes to be the next 'Bachelor' ... Corinne scoffs and takes a shot at all of Becca's suitors this season. Bitter ... table for one?