Ride Me

The NYC cab driver who REFUSED to allow Kenny Smith into his taxi DID NOT racially profile the former NBA star ... so says the government agency who oversees the drivers.

TMZ Sports sent the clip -- which shows Smith being refused service by a yellow cab driver on Tuesday afternoon -- to the Taxi & Limousine Commission.

Some people -- including Rev. Al Sharpton -- suggested Smith was denied 'cause he's black ... an offense that would not only violate taxi regulations ... but U.S. law.

Using the video, the TLC identified the taxi, and investigated why Smith wasn't allowed in the cab.

A rep for the organization tells us the denial had NOTHING to do with Smith's race ... the driver was simply trying to go home.

"We've been able to confirm that he had just dropped off his last passenger, and did indeed then go off duty. He had no further pickups."

Buyin' it or not?

Antonio Cromartie might currently be jobless but he just gave the world 1.1 million reasons not to pass the hat around for him just yet ... showing off his ridiculous car collection.

Cromartie was cut by the NY Jets earlier this month but that didn't stop him from treating his whips to a little spa day in New Jersey ... calling a crew to come out to his crib to spiffy up the rides.

So, what got pampered? Cromartie's 2016 cherry red Lambo (price tag $600k), white Bentley (price tag $218k), along with a Range Rover ($85k), a Cadillac Escalade and of course ... a Prius.

All tolled ... $1.1 million worth of "Screw you, I'm still rich" to anyone who was wondering.

Check out the video.

Some people will do anything to score Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's phone number.

Okay, we doubt that's what actually happened, but the stunning model did get rear-ended Tuesday in Beverly Hills. The accident appeared minor ... especially considering the size of her SUV, compared to the other car.

Rosie exchanged info with the other driver before driving off, but we're guessing her personal cell was not part of the transaction.

Worth a shot.

Fire spittin' Lambo? Check. Tricked out Jeep? Check. And now Yoenis Cespedes can add a pimped out TRICYCLE to his stable of sick rides.

The story's pretty cool. Cespedes -- who was born and raised in Cuba -- didn't have a car growing up ... so he traveled using a 3-wheeled bike.

A Mets employee named Theresa -- who happened to have the same bike Yoenis had growing up -- got wind of the story, and wanted to do something nice for the Mets star. So, she took her trike to Alex Vega at The Auto Firm in Miami and asked him to hook up the 3-wheeler ... on her dime.

Theresa gave Vega free reign ... so he customized the tricycle to match his brand new Jeep Wrangler. Painted white with custom red spokes ... and a seat stitched to look like a baseball.

Vega tells us Cespedes was ecstatic when he saw his new ride -- and super blown away at Theresa's kind gesture.

Here's the twist ... Theresa had also brought her OWN whip to The Auto Firm to get some work done herself.

Yoenis found out ... and wanted to return the nice gesture -- so he paid for ALL of the work done to Theresa's car, which included custom rims and a new paint job.

#FeelGoodStory

Christina Aguilera's fiancé gave their daughter her first driving lesson ... unfortunately she's only 18 months old.

Matt Rutler took the fam out for a Sunday drive recently in Brentwood, and while stopped on the side of the road little Summer Rain hopped in Daddy's lap. No big deal, until they drove off and she remained in that dangerous position.

Based on the pics, it appears Rutler only drove about 100 yards or so down the road before pulling into a parking spot, but it's still a clear violation and extremely risky -- remember there's an airbag just inches from Summer.

Rutler could've been hit with a $475 ticket for a first offense, but cops didn't witness it ... and luckily, no one was hurt.

One of 38 Special's guitarists, Jeff Carlisi, has something more valuable than the first Fender guitar ever made ... a 1962 Jaguar, which can be yours for $280,000.

Jeff's dad imported the car from Spain back in '62 and it's been in the family since. The rock star decided to unload the Jag because he thinks the climate in his new home -- Florida -- will take its toll on the car.

The multi-platinum guitarist's car will go on the Gooding & Company auction block, along with his guitar from the 1989 video "Second Chance."

The items will go to the highest bidder March 11th at the Amelia Island Auction in Florida.

Kim Kardashian is getting sued for a smashup she had near the Beverly Hills Hotel a couple years ago.

Rafael Linares says he was driving on Sunset Blvd when the accident happened. In the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in L.A., Linares doesn't describe the accident any further -- but goes on to say he suffered multiple injuries, and has incurred expenses for physicians and surgeons.

He also says his car was damaged ... again not much detail beyond that.

As we reported when the accident happened in March 2014 ... no one was ticketed, and Kardashian and Linares exchanged info and hugged it out.

Sources close to Kim describe the damage as "minimal" and felt the guy was totally fine. Her G Wagon suffered a slight paint scuff during the collision.

Gossip Cop first reported the lawsuit.

Conor McGregor rolled into a megafan's L.A. apartment this week -- after seeing a cardboard cutout of himself on the guy's balcony ... and the fan was so blown away, he could barely hold himself together.

Conor was driving to the gym when he noticed the cutout (which was displayed along with an Irish flag) -- and screamed up to the guy that he would drop in.

What ensues is pretty awesome ... you gotta watch the clip.

As for Conor's opponent at UFC 196 (which goes down March 5th in Vegas) -- we also got video of Nate Diaz in a recent training session ... acknowledging that he might get "merked."

It's pretty revealing footage ... Diaz knows McGregor is a dangerous guy -- but warns Conor not to underestimate him.

One last thing ... check out this video of McGregor hitting up Rodeo Drive in Bev Hills after tooling around in his Lambo -- dude LOVES to be rich!!!

Watch UFC 196 – McGregor vs. Diaz – Live on PPV on Saturday, March 5.

NY Mets star Yoenis Cespedes was back in the saddle at spring training Monday ... riding a HORSE to the ballpark with pitcher Noah Syndergaard.

He's already flossed a tricked out Polaris, a tricked out Lambo, a tricked out Jeep and a customized truck ... so why not a horse?

The woman cops say confessed to causing a major wreck while driving Blac Chyna's BMW has been dodging cops and now she's facing serious charges.

TMZ has learned the L.A. County D.A. has hit Charmeika "Paige" Addison's with a felony hit and run charge for the November crash, where she t-boned a SUV, injuring 3 girls inside.

We broke the story ... witnesses say Addison bailed right after the crash, but met with cops a few days later to confess. She claimed Blac Chyna was not in the car during the accident.

She was not arrested while cops finished their investigation and sent the case to the D.A.'s office -- but now they can't track her down, so they've issued an arrest warrant.

Addison, who's appeared on "Boss Nails," is also facing charges for reckless driving and driving without a license.

How do you top a tricked out Polaris? A fire-breathing Lambo? And a cherry red Alfa Romeo??

How about a super pimped out custom Jeep with your jersey number painted on the hood???

That's how NY Mets superstar Yoenis Cespedes will hit up spring training Friday ... so says his personal car guru, Alex Vega.

Vega -- who runs The Auto Firm in Miami -- tells us he personalized the hell out of the Jeep complete with some cool baseball themed surprises. Here are the highlights:

Complete body kit with a custom hood (with #52 on it), custom LED lights all around, a 4 inch lift kit, custom Avorza red leather seats stitched like a baseball glove, new exhaust system ... and 22x14 custom Avorza wheels.

"This is one of the craziest Jeeps we've done ... right up there with [Floyd Mayweather's]," Vega says.

Nice work.

Fetty Wap is back in the saddle again -- just 5 months after that motorcycle crash that broke his left leg in 3 places he's rolling with some serious riders.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ, Fetty is currently honing his skills with the Go Hard Boyz -- a Harlem motorcycle group -- for a project to help benefit the inner city.

For now, it looks like the "Trap Queen" rapper is on 4 wheels instead of 2, but he already has some sharp moves.

Kylie Jenner could have an unwelcome visitor soon ... a repo man looking for a G-Wagon.

We've learned, a repo company has been hired to reclaim a 2013 G-Wagon Tyga owned ... it's the same one he gave to Blac Chyna. Remember, Tyga had it repainted last August and Kylie was seen driving it to her birthday dinner at Nobu. It looked like it was her birthday present, but she denied it.

According to the docs we've seen, Tyga hasn't made payments on the SUV since October, and now the repo company is on the hunt. The docs ID Kylie as Tyga's girlfriend and give her address as a possible place to repo the G-Wagon.

Our repo sources say the company has been trying to get the whip since last month, but they've been thwarted because it's been parked at Kylie's house and she's behind 2 security gates.

This is the latest in what seems to be a series of Tyga's financial woes. He was slapped with tax liens totaling $120,000 and also faced eviction for non-payment of rent.

Kobe might be retiring but Dodgers star Yasiel Puig is keeping his swaggiest tradition alive ... buying his very own helicopter to get to practice ... according to a guy who knows all about it.

Puig has been posting hints all over social media he might be buying a chopper ... so when we had his friend and personal vehicle customizer, Alex Vega, on TMZ Sports we had to know ...

Is this guy for real or what?

Alex said not only is Puig buying the heli ... but once it's done Vega and the guys down at the Auto Firm in Miami are going to do a once over on it ... making it into the most pimped out bird in the sky.

What will Alex be working on? Our sources tell us Puig is copping a Robinson R44 helicopter that's gonna set him back around $350k ... if he buys it used.

Congrats Yasiel ... but remember, you have NO EXCUSE to be late to practice now.

Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes obviously wanted a truck as huge as the homers he hits ... 'cause he dropped more than $30k to turn his 2016 Ford F50 truck into a swagged out MONSTROSITY.

We spoke to Alex Vega -- honcho of the Autofirm down in Miami -- and he says Cespedes had only one request for the custom job ... make it HUGE.

Vega laced the truck with a new Avorza grill, halo headlamps, new rear taillights and a 6 inch lift kit to make the ride a little more Shaq like.

Throw in a custom Avorza exhaust (adding 120 hp) and you get a final price tag of $30k worth of four-wheeled badassery.

Easy to see where Yoenis is spending that new $75 mil contract ... dude has a different whip each day at spring training.

Attention all Uber drivers ... if you plan on picking up Daytona 500 champ Denny Hamlin be at your best ... 'cause the speed demon says he has ZERO problem hitting a driver with the dreaded 1 star review.

Hamlin was out in NYC -- still basking in the glow of his win -- when our photog asked about the proper etiquette when it comes to a subpar Uber ride ... do you hit 'em with the 1 star or let a poor dude slide?

Listen up Uber drivers ... if you're looking for any four-wheeled comradery from Denny you ain't gonna get it ... he says he's more than willing to ruin your reputation ... if you ruin his trip.