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Donald Trump's started on the pardon train, so the question -- is Joe Exotic next? And, what's the deal with the Grammys?  So we gotta ask ...

A man who was videotaping cops who stopped a black driver was ordered to stop taping, and it ended with the guy getting assaulted.

Joe Bennett was driving home in Jeffersontown, Kentucky when he saw a number of police cars swarm a car. Bennett decided to live stream the stop on Facebook ... as he said, he was doing his "due diligence as a citizen."

Joe is at least 50 feet away, and maybe further, saying "I just wanted to observe, so I tried to give them distance."

He actually says the video is "the most boring live video ever," when at the 3-minute mark a cop walks ominously toward Bennett and orders him to stop filming, coming up with an excuse that it's a crime scene investigation -- as if that's a justification.

Bennett refuses to stop, so the cop asks for his ID. Now, technically, if a cop asks for ID -- even if the request violates the law -- you're supposed to comply, but Bennett says he did nothing wrong so he refuses. That's when the cop attacks, grabbing for Bennett's phone and slugging him.

A police official told Spectrum 1, "Officers were in the area investigating and making arrests related to a check fraud scheme thwarted at the Citizens Union Bank across the street from the McDonalds." What's unclear ... cops reportedly say a suspect claimed Bennett was the driver in the check fraud scheme. You do hear the cop say, "you are involved," but Joe tells us he was never told he was being accused of a check fraud scheme.  "You're involved" could mean he's involved because he's videotaped the stop.

Joe tells TMZ the citation says, "Officers were investigating a case where fraudulent checks were being cashed at a local bank. Officers were informed that there was a gray Jeep involved. Officers were told that the gray Jeep was picking up offenders after they attempted to cash the fraudulent check. This officer was informed that the above subject [Joe Bennett] at which time was standing on the side of his vehicle was the driver of the gray Jeep. Officer approached the subject and asked him for identification. Subject refused. Officer told the subject he was named in the investigation and the subject still refused to identify himself. Officer attempted to put handcuffs on the subject before things escalated. Subject tensed up and started to pull away. Officer delivered one empty strike to the subject and took the subject to the ground."

Bennett says he was cited for resisting arrest and menacing. Bennett tells TMZ officers cleared him at the scene in the check fraud scheme.

We reached out to the police department ... so far, no word back.

Demi Lovato's heartsick ex-fiance has found love again -- or maybe it's just a rebound -- but he's definitely trying to make it look like he's moved on.

Max Ehrich hit the beach with blazing hot Mariah Angeliq. They took a sunset stroll at the South Pointe Park Pier Friday in Miami Beach and looked, well, cozy. They were there with singer Lele Pons.

Last we saw Max, he was fretting in the sands of Malibu, appearing crestfallen in the wake of his breakup with Demi ... a breakup which he claims he only became aware of through tabloids, although she strongly denies it. Max, like Trump, seemed to have trouble letting go.

Demi seemed super annoyed by Max's post-breakup antics, and even leaked a song about their breakup.

Kim Kardashian's visit with an inmate on death row in Oklahoma is being hailed as a big morale boost for the folks already fighting for Julius Jones' freedom.

Kim brought a lot of extra attention to Julius' case when she met with him face-to-face in Oklahoma City ... and we're told it's got his family excited and supporters energized.

Folks at the "Justice for Julius" campaign tell us their website has seen a tenfold traffic increase, and thousands of emails from all over the world are flowing into the site and into the inbox at the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, urging a commutation of his sentence.

Jones, a Black man, was only 19 when he was arrested for the shooting death of a 45-year-old white man named Paul Howell back in 1999. Jones was convicted of 1st-degree murder in 2002 and sentenced to death, but lots of folks say the case was racially charged with little evidence tying him to the scene. Julius claims he was framed and it was racial.

Julius filed a clemency petition last year and is waiting on the parole board to recommend his sentence be commuted ... a final decision is in the hands of Governor Kevin Stitt.

We're told since Kim's visit Cleveland Browns quarterback, Baker Mayfield, who's been wearing Julius' name on the back of his helmet all season and has been wearing custom cleats with Julius' face on it, is fully on board the Julius team.

But, more than anything, we're told Kim's visit brought renewed hope and energy to the folks on the ground in Oklahoma who have been working tirelessly on the case.

Julius' sister, Antoinette Jones, tells TMZ ... Kim provided the family with a sense of optimism moving forward, making good on her word to fight for Julius. Antoinette says Kim's drive reminds her of Robert Kardashian Sr.

It's pretty heartbreaking ... Julius' sister says he told Kim he's still broken up about not being able to take her to junior and senior prom because he was locked up, and he told Kim he wants to make it up to his sister. She says Kim feels that's another reason why Kim wants to fight for his freedom.

Not everyone is feeling great about Kim's visit though.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter called her out for advocating for Jones, claiming "every criticism surrounding his case has been disproven" and railing against "celebrity endorsements."

Drake is in love ... and it shows.

Drizzy posted this super sweet pic of him, asleep on the shoulder of his son, 3-year-old Adonis, and it kinda melts your heart.

Adonis lives with his mom, Sophie Brussaux, but Drake definitely spends time with his son. When Adonis turned 3 last month, Drake celebrated with him at his Toronto estate. He and Adonis are partying hard, around a swarm of white, black and silver balloons.

Drake was initially coy about his parental status with Adonis, but he officially disclosed their relationship on his 2018 album, "Scorpion."

Nelly's custom-made dance shoes were all the rage on this season of "Dancing with the Stars," and now they're going to a great cause -- helping young women who are survivors of human trafficking.

As we told you ... the rapper wowed 'DWTS' fans and the judges with his slick moves and his hip hop-inspired footwear, but now that the dancing competition's wrapped up, he's sending his shoes to The Teen Project to be auctioned off.

Our sources say Yung Swivel's donating at least 10 pairs to the organization -- which also aids young women who've suffered trauma and homelessness -- and his entire collection is expected to fetch $50,000 ... if not more.

Nelly's been a major advocate of The Teen Project over the last few months, helping the org raise $820k overall in 2020 ... which is about $300k more than last year.

The rapper's been working to raise funds for Vera's Sanctuary, a rehab facility operated by The Teen Project for victims of sex trafficking. Our sources say the money raised by Nelly has already been used to send women who've been through Vera's to college.

Don't let these two almost identical images of Anna Chlumsky have you starting to seeing double! There are a few switches that have been made to one of the pics above and it's up to you to find what has been swapped around!

The actress was seen working on set in New York City ... And we have made just a few changes to this sneaky snap! Take a really good look around both photos and see if you can figure out the differences between these two super similar snaps!

Not even the holidays can get in the way of these stars and their fit figures!

Celebs are keen on staying on top of their looks, and a lot of them have suited up in shapewear ... And we're sure the snug clothing will help 'em get through all the festive feasts to come!

See what all the hype is about by taking a look through our gallery of stars getting in shape(wear) ... and while you're at it, put your celebrity skills to the test and see if you can guess which Hollywood hottie is in the sexy snap!

Alexa -- Amazon's popular virtual helper -- is spewing out hateful anti-Semitic conspiracies and even lies about the Holocaust ... according to the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism.

The APPG political group claims the Alexa voice service is offering messages from anti-Semitic websites to people asking about Jewish people and the Holocaust ... without clarifying that the information comes from "selective quotes and misleading sources."

Examples include Alexa allegedly responding to the question, "Do Jews control the media?" with ... "Jew Watch claims that Jews control the world's financial systems and media," while only pointing out that this is from an article it found on Wikipedia.

Likewise, when asked if the Holocaust was a hoax ... the UK officials claim Alexa replied that deniers claim "the Holocaust is a hoax -- or an exaggeration -- arising from a deliberate Jewish conspiracy designed to advance the interest of Jews at the  expense of other people."

The APPG notes that Alexa pulled this selective line from an article, without warning that the full article describes Holocaust denial as propagating several lies about the Holocaust.

Finally, Alexa allegedly responded to a question about whether Israel's guilty of war crimes with "something I found on the web" that says ... "ethnic cleansing on a massive scale and serial human rights abuse, including war crimes, yes -- Israel is guilty of these atrocities."

Officials at the APPG sent a letter to an Amazon exec in the UK asking for an explanation and what will be done to rectify this situation. The group also claims it will be contacting the police about possible "racial incitement legislation."

Boosie Badazz is recovering from multiple surgeries after being shot in the leg ... but that didn't stop him from turning up at the club on Thanksgiving.

The rapper hosted a "Thanksgiving Bash" Thursday night at the Exquis Event Center in Charleston, SC ... despite being confined to a wheelchair with his leg still heavily bandaged.

Boosie didn't need his legs to get on the mic though, and seemed to be in really good spirits as he rolled in to get the party going.

Still ... it sure seems pretty dicey from a guy who recently went under the knife, not to mention the fact he hit up a club where it appears there were zero COVID-19 precautions in place.

And get this ... Boosie's planning on throwing another bash Saturday at an Alabama club for his birthday. The dude's definitely not taking it easy.

We broke the story ... Badazz was shot in the leg a couple weeks ago in Dallas, just days after his friend, Mo3, was killed there in a fatal shooting.

There were rumors the rapper had to have his foot amputated, but thankfully that was false. He did have to undergo a couple of surgeries for his gunshot wound, though ... including a procedure to remove bullet fragments and have screws put in to make sure his foot properly heals.