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Joe Budden's explaining a controversial cut to a recent episode of his podcast... diving into why he edited a segment about Diddy, and asserting he's not in Diddy's pocket.

The hip hop commentator says he was live on "The Joe Budden Podcast" Friday when CNN posted the video of Diddy assaulting Cassie from 2016. The episode was uploaded Saturday with the description promising Joe would discuss it.

But, he never touched on it ... completely editing out the segment. Upset fans demanded answers, and JB organized a discussion on Twitter Spaces to address the controversy.

Scottie Scheffler makes fast friends ... he wasn't in very long, but the world's number one golfer was a hit with fellow inmates -- and even law enforcement -- while behind bars!

TMZ Sports spoke to a man who was locked up with 27-year-old Scheffler Friday morning in Louisville ... and he told us the 2x Masters winner couldn't have been cooler during his couple-hours stay in lockup.

In fact, our witness didn't even know Scheffler was a star athlete, at the center of the biggest sports story in the world, until a police officer gave him the 411 ... saying, "You know you're talking to the number one golfer in the world, right?"

We asked Scheffler's fellow inmate about the golfer's demeanor while in custody.

"He kept saying it was bulls*** that he was there."

Scottie was seemingly popular among law enforcement behind bars, too. We're told he was drawing a crowd, with several jail staff and corrections officials popping out to take a peek at Scheffler.

Our witness even says he heard staff wondering how long Scottie would be held before being released.

Turns out his stay was rather fast. Scheffler, arrested during the 6 o'clock hour, somehow made his 10:08 AM tee time ... where the best player in the world proceeded to birdie the first hole (of course), and shoot a 5-under, 66 2nd round at the PGA Championship.

In fact, Scheffler's fast release (8:40 AM) has been the source of some controversy in Lousiville ... with some questioning how he was sprung so fast despite being arrested on 4 charges, including felony assault, for allegedly injuring (wrist and knee) an LMPD detective.

After he was released, Scottie addressed the incident, calling it a "misunderstanding."

"This morning, I was proceeding as directed by police officers. It was a very chaotic situation, understandably so considering the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, and there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do. I never intended to disregard any of the instructions. I'm hopeful to put this to the side and focus on golf today."

The woman who made headlines for photobombing Stephen Curry at an NBA game is making a no-brainer business move -- she's joining OnlyFans.

As TMZ Sports previously reported ... Katherine Taylor went viral back in March when she was spotted cheering on the action in a low-cut top at the Warriors' home contest against the Milwaukee Bucks -- and a ton of horny hoop fans rushed to social media to track down her identity, which didn't take long.

The admiration got to the point where Taylor's "luxury girlfriend" service was bombarded with so many requests, she had to increase her rate to $1,500 an hour (a $600 increase).

Kim Zimmer -- a well-known soap opera star -- has breast cancer ... a shocking coincidence since her character on "The Guiding Light" suffered from the affliction.

The actress -- who played Reva Shayne on the show from 1983 to 1990 and then between 1995 an 2009 -- announced the news during "Daytime Stands Up: A Benefit for Stand Up To Cancer – We All Have a Story" Thursday ... saying she got the diagnosis late last year.

Check out the clip ... KZ says she's had a mastectomy and expects to have her last chemotherapy infusion later this month ... before cracking a joke about how happy she is with her new breast size and cutting straight through the tension.

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend seemed eager to take a pic at an event last night -- but one woman is suggesting they booted her crew early just so they could get their own shots.

A new video posted to TikTok seemingly shows the moment that went down at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit's 60th Anniversary party Thursday in New York City ... when a few young ladies stepped up to hit some poses in a photo booth that was being used by everyone.

After a few snaps in the clip, you can see and hear John step in -- telling the women he and Chrissy are going to sneak into the booth for a moment of their own ... and the girls beat it.

The Houston area's reeling after severe storms ravaged the city ... cutting off power for many and killing at least four so far -- and, social media video captures the harrowing scene.

Intense thunderstorms pummeled the city Thursday night, and check out the compiled clips ... winds rocking the Houston Astros stadium, shattering glass at prominent businesses, ripping transformers rights out of the ground ... chaos everywhere you look.

Houston's Mayor John Whitmire says winds smashed through the area at 100+ MPH ... adding many people in Houston didn't have time to get out of the storms' way.

A driver was arrested early Friday morning after leading Los Angeles cops on a WILD chase through the streets and eventually onto the freeway ... which ended with a bloody crash.

This whole thing reportedly kicked off in the Santa Monica area -- and while it's unclear why exactly police officers first tried to pull this woman over ... it quickly became clear she wasn't going to stop, and the cavalry got called in to take her down the longer she kept driving.

The pursuit lasted quite a while, and the more erratic it became -- the more news helicopters arrived to capture the action ... at one point, it made its way onto the busy 405 freeway.

A St. Louis cop got lit up last weekend while detaining a suspect -- and by that, we mean he fired up a cigar and started puffing away ... which was all caught on video.

The unidentified police officer took multitasking to a whole new level Sunday as he borrowed a lighter from another nearby officer to ignite his stogie while straddling a man on the ground whom he was placing under arrest outside Marquee Restaurant & Lounge.

As you can hear, bystanders and the suspect himself try to lighten the mood -- no pun intended -- as they jokingly offer up their own lighters to the cigar-toting officer.

Harrison Butker's critics are on the move, but so are his defenders -- 'cause 2 different petitions are floating around ... one wants him off the Chiefs, another wants him to stay.

A Change.org petition is circulating and going viral -- as it demands his dismissal from the Chiefs over what they believe to be discriminatory remarks ... and at this point, it's got a helluva lot of signatures, nearly hitting its 150,000 goal since it started a few days ago.

The petition, which popped up 2 days after his polarizing commencement speech, really goes after HB ... accusing him of using his platform to spread harm instead of unity, and pushing harmful stereotypes that threaten progress. However, there's an opposite movement in his favor.

A tanker truck went up in flames on a Colorado freeway that left one person dead -- and TMZ has footage of the moment it happened ... including somebody driving through the fire.

Check out this wild video we obtained that captures the immediate aftermath of a fiery wreck along I-70 just outside of Denver Thursday morning -- where a tanker got slammed into by another driver on the road after it'd pulled over when it started to overheat.

Per state officials, another person who was behind the tanker somehow managed to slam right into it ... causing the entire vehicle to ignite and explode, with fire going everywhere.

Golf influencer and Sports Illustrated model Paige Spiranac wants to nip a wild conspiracy in the bud ... saying her boobs are as normal as they come -- and yes, she has nipples.

The blonde bombshell addressed the head-scratching claims in a Q&A on social media this week ... when she discussed the wildest inquiries she's received from fans regarding her chest.

Spiranac has addressed speculation regarding her breasts many times in the past -- from whether they're real or if she has any piercings -- but now, she says there are even rumblings she doesn't have nipples at all.

Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian are among the biggest celebs being blocked en masse on social media -- and it all has to do with the Israel-Palestine war, among other issues.

The two superstars -- who are, coincidentally, archenemies -- have been losing a crap ton of followers on Instagram and other platforms over the past several days, which is in line with a broader trend that's sweeping the internet right now ... namely, boycotting celebs.

You might've heard about this, at this point -- especially after the Met Gala ... when the whole movement kicked into high gear, and normies mobilized to block A-listers far and wide.

Two men got into an old-school sword duel down in the Dominican Republic ... and one poor guy lost a hand in the vicious fight, video taken by eyewitnesses shows.

The crazy battle went down Tuesday in San Pedro de Macorís -- a small town on the southern part of the island -- and the footage of this altercation is absolutely unbelievable ... seriously looking like something straight out of a movie.

The two combatants face offer outside a gas station, with machetes and swinging -- steel slashing against steel on the sidewalk. They exchange wild hacks, and, at first, it seems like one man may have the advantage as he forces his opponent to the ground.

President Biden's getting better at saving himself from nasty tumbles ... 'cause he was thiiis close to going down Wednesday in the middle of a memorial for fallen police officers.

The commander-in-chief attended the National Peace Officers Memorial Service at the Capitol where he walked up a gradual flight of steps, and as they say ... the first step was a doozy.

Check out the clip, JB's left foot kicks that initial step up, but he quickly corrected his gait ... breaking into a half jog to keep himself from faceplanting in front of the crowd.

Avril Lavigne -- or someone presenting as her -- is eye-rolling about the long-held conspiracy theory the real Avril has been replaced by a lookalike, but she also realizes they could be saying a lot worse.

The singer-songwriter hopped on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast Wednesday where host Alex Cooper asked about the wild rumor claiming she died back in the early 2000s, and the woman now calling herself Avril ... is really an actor named Melissa Vandella.

Avril says the theory's totally ridiculous ... 'cause she says she's definitely her -- and the whole idea she's not is just "dumb."

The Prime Minister of Slovakia was shot multiple times this morning while cameras rolled ... and, his condition is apparently dire.

Robert Fico -- who became PM of the Central European country for the third time last year -- went to a government meeting in the town of Handlová when someone in the crowd waiting to greet the prime minister fired off multiple gunshots.

Video from the moment of the shooting's sorta grainy -- but, you can clearly hear shots ripping through the air, and there's a rush by the PM's security to get to the alleged shooter.