Jay-Z hasn't had a ton of famous faces come to his corner in the wake of his controversial NFL partnership -- but he just got a key vote of confidence ... from one DJ Khaled.

We ran into Khaled Sunday in NYC, where he was signing autographs and posing with fans -- and when we asked if he was up for some questions ... he was quick to note that he only wanted to talk about positive things, seeing how his son, Asahd, and wife were there.

Seems DJK knew were this was going, because our photog asks if he's down to talk football -- clearly, we want his take on the Colin Kaepernick beef. At first, Khaled says no, but he finally bites ... and we ask if he's talked to Jay's about which NFL team he might wanna own.

Khaled says he doesn't have a clue which squad might be in the stars for Jay, but he sings his praises here with us. Check it out ... it's pretty interesting.

TMZ broke the story ... Jay-Z is set to come up on a "significant ownership interest" in an NFL team pretty soon here, which just so happens to coincide with this newfound embrace of the league ... despite public stances he took against them earlier this year.

As we've reported ... a ton of people in Kap's corner have blasted Jigga for the seemingly change of heart, and even Colin himself appeared to take a jab at the rapper just this weekend.

That said, Khaled's clearly on team Jay, telling us the guy has done and continues to do a lot for people in his community -- and he suggests this NFL news is just more of that from Hov. Keep in mind, Khaled and Jay are tight -- they've done tons of music together.

Jay-Z may think folks are ready to move on from Colin Kaepernick's kneeling protest -- but Kap says otherwise ... shouting out players who continue his movement to this day.

The former 49ers quarterback posted a photo Sunday that appeared to be taking a swipe at something Jay said last week during his press conference with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell -- when he suggested "we've moved past kneeling" to "actionable items."

Doesn't seem Colin sees it that way, though. In his IG post, he included pics of Eric Reid, Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson -- all of whom have continued to kneel in the years since Kap first started his racial injustice protest -- and shared some kind words about them.

He also used similar verbiage to Jay's in making his point, writing ... "My Brothers @e_reid35 @kstills @ithinkisee12 continue to fight for the people, even in the face of death threats. They have never moved past the people and continue to put their beliefs into action. Stay strong Brothers!!"

ICYMI ... Jay was asked about kneeling directly during the Q&A, and said flat-out ... we're past it, and ready to take the next steps. He believes partnering with the NFL is a key way to do that -- but Colin and co. have been blasting him these past few days as a sell-out.

Now, it looks like Colin himself has weighed in on the controversy, and it's clear he ain't cool with Jay's new alliance ... and sees the issue much differently than Jigga does.

Jeffrey Epstein's team is not satisfied he died as a result of a suicide by hanging -- in no small part because 3 fractures in his neck almost never point to suicide -- and they are not ruling out the possibility someone strangled him and then put a sheet around his neck to make it look like death by hanging.

Sources connected to Epstein tell TMZ, his team is frustrated officials at the Manhattan Metropolitan Correctional Center and the medical examiner haven't given them nearly all the information required to form a conclusion on cause of death. The medical examiner says it was a suicide by hanging, but Epstein's team says the ME is jumping the gun.

The suspicions on Epstein's team center on the 3 fractures around Epstein's neck -- the hyoid bone in the Adam's apple area, along with 2 fractures on either side of the thyroid cartilage. It is extremely rare hanging can result in 3 such fractures. The fractures are way more consistent with strangulation.

We're told Epstein's team is also very suspicious 2 guards responsible for monitoring him fell asleep at the same time. One guard, maybe, but 2 raises questions.

Ryan Seacrest is on again with his longtime girlfriend, Shayna Taylor ... and nothing says we've made up like a romantic getaway on the Italian high seas.

The "American Idol" host was seen enjoying the hell out of a megayacht he and Shayna were aboard Saturday while vacationing in Positano, Italy. They'd split up earlier this year after about three years together -- now, it looks like they're two peas in a pod again.

Shayna was spraying sunscreen on her boyfriend's backside, and Ryan was trying to help her reach the tough places by bending whatever way was necessary. That's amore!!!

The couple tanned, talked and eventually dove head first into the ocean -- kinda like how they're diving back into their relationship. After a dip off the Amalfi Coast, they got back on the boat ... only to get into yacht's mini pool. Why settle for just salt water, right?

It's a big year for Ryan -- not only has he reconciled with his gal, but he's also in talks with Disney at the moment for a massive new contract to continue hosting 'AI.'

Phil Mickelson nearly missed his tee time due to his hotel catching on fire from a lightning strike -- but hey, at least he lived to tweet about it.

The golf legend documented the scary incident on Twitter Sunday morning, saying he and a bunch of other guests were evacuated near Medinah, IL -- where Phil's participating in the BMW Championship as part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs -- after their hotel got hit by a lightning bolt ... which apparently sent part of the facility up in flames.

Phil wrote, "How’s this for crazy? My hotel was struck by lighting, I was on top floor,we were evacuated and the place is on fire(only thing of mine on fire this week.) I can’t get back into my room and may miss my tee time because I am without clubs and clothes."

His fourth-round tee time (with Brooks Koepka and Dylan Frittelli) was scheduled for 11:52 AM ET, and he was being shuffled out of his hotel a little more than an hour before that.

Luckily for him, Phil reportedly made it to the tee just in the nick of time -- and was later escorted back to his room and was able to retrieve his gear. Phil shouted out the EMTs who helped, writing ... "EMT's were awesome! I'm going to make it. Turns out my clubs acted as a fire retardant. Lucky me."

Now, the bummer ... Phil isn't doing too hot in the tournament right now -- he's in 47th place as of this writing ... and it'll be an uphill climb to break into the top 30 he needs to be in to move on.

Also important ... it doesn't sound like Phil notified his family of the emergency, including his ma -- which his sister, Tina, made him well aware of on Twitter.

Ex-NFL running back Cedric Benson -- the #4 overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft -- was killed in a motorcycle crash in Austin, Texas late Saturday night. He was only 36.

Benson -- who was a superstar at the University of Texas from 2001 to 2004 -- was reportedly driving his bike with a passenger when they got into an accident with another vehicle around 10 PM.

The passenger -- who has not yet been identified -- was also killed in the wreck. Two other adults were injured. Officials are investigating the accident. Unclear what specifically caused the crash.

Hours before the crash, Benson posted a photo of his motorcycle on social media with the caption, "My Saturday evening."

Benson was an incredible athlete -- he racked up more than 5,500 yards at Texas and won the Doak Walker Award (top running back in the country) his senior year.

He signed a rookie deal with the Bears -- 5 years, $35 mil -- and was a key part of Chicago's 2006 NFC Championship team.

Benson later played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers before retiring in 2012.

Benson had several off the field problems after his career -- he was arrested for drunk driving in 2017 and 2018.

The man who was once tight with Leo DiCaprio and help financially back movies like "Wolf of Wall Street," "Dumb and Dumber To," and "Daddy's Home" is selling his home ... kind of. It's actually being sold by the U.S. Dept. of Justice to recoup some of the billions of dollars the guy allegedly stole.

Jho Low, a Malaysian financier, is a fugitive from justice, charged with money laundering billions of dollars, among other things. He used to be friends with Leo and even took trips and partied with him. Unbeknownst to Leo, the guy was allegedly a hardcore crook, and when Leo found out he severed ties. Leo had to return an Oscar he got from Jho Low as a birthday gift -- a Best Actor Oscar Marlon Brando received in 1955 for "On the Waterfront."

As for the house, it sits above the Sunset Strip and the pics are pretty amazing. Jho Low bought it in 2012 for around $40 mil, but it's now being auctioned for $24,500,000.

The pics don't reflect what the house currently looks like. For some reason, Jho Low dismantled the inside and it's more of a shell now. Nonetheless, we're told there have been 5 offers and it's going into escrow as part of a court-ordered sale.

It's listed by mega-realtor Ernie Carswell.

Cardi B made something clear Saturday night -- at least to us -- she's becoming the voice of her generation.

We got Cardi leaving the Bryant Park Hotel after a night of celebrating Jason Lee's birthday with Wendy Williams, and boy, she did not disappoint. Two things were on our photog's mind -- Bernie Sanders and Jay-Z.

He asked about her interview with Bernie, which was better than the sterile, canned interviews in traditional media, but turns out that's not gonna be her thing ... she says her mouth is "too slick" for a talk show.

And, then there's Jay-Z, who's taking a lot of heat for partnering with the NFL. Cardi has a different view, saying she believes he'll change the culture in the League and might even get Colin Kaepernick a quarterback gig. Not sure about that, but love her POV.

Here's the thing about Cardi. She showed everyone during her chitchat with Bernie how she can have conversations with politicians ... not just fire questions at them. She uses her experiences to punctuate her points, and at least in Bernie's case, he connected with her in a big way.

Here's what we think ... if she wants to keep doing this, it would touch millions of people who couldn't care less about politics, especially the way it's currently presented. And, if she does, any candidate who doesn't sit down with her is missing the boat.

Mama June could lose more than her daughter if her bizarre and troublesome behavior continues ... it could also spell doom for her once lucrative TV career.

Sources close to June tell TMZ ... Mama's got deal-breaking issues for WE tv -- her crack cocaine arrest, her refusal to get help, her boyfriend, Geno and her off-the-rails conduct. No one's saying it's not compelling TV, but it may prove too hot and dangerous for the network.

Our sources say show producers tried to get June help, offering to send her to rehab, but Mama refused. We're told producers are not yet giving up on Mama on a personal level -- they still want to help her get better. As for filming a 4th season of "Mama June: From Not to Hot," we're told it's a no-go unless she takes steps to get herself out of the danger zone.

Obviously, Mama losing her TV career would kill her cash cow ... but it seems that's not on her radar, because she's doing everything she can to scare the network away.

We broke the story ... Mama and her boyfriend Geno Doak were acting erratic this week ... selling off everything in her Georgia home, right down to the coat hangers ($10 a pop).

As we reported ... Mama's already lost Honey Boo Boo -- she's moved out and is living with her older sister, Pumpkin -- and now her future on TV appears to be hanging by a thread.

Liam Hemsworth did not seem the worse for wear Saturday as he hit-up a bar in Australia with some mates.

Liam was chillin' at a bar and restaurant in Byron Bay, where he's been hangin' since his split with Miley Cyrus was made public.

Seems like Liam's the only one who hasn't hooked up since the split. Miley's been with Kaitlynn Carter, Brody Jenner's ex. Brody's been with Josie Canseco, and then there's Liam. Don't get us wrong ... he has options.

Miley released a song a few days ago, essentially saying what we reported last week ... her team says she was frustrated Liam was abusing substances, including booze and pills -- something his side strongly denies. His side claims the breakup is all about Miley's behavior. His side claims she hooked up with Kaitlynn before the split ... her side says they split months ago.

Ezekiel Elliott says the security guard he pushed in a Las Vegas altercation demanded $500,000 in an attempt to extort him ... this according to police docs obtained by TMZ Sports.

The Dallas Cowboys star's attorneys say they were emailed a complete list of demands from 19-year-old Kyle Johnson and his father, Kelly Johnson, after Zeke shoved Kyle at the Electric Daisy Carnival last May.

Police docs show Kelly emailed Zeke's attorneys just days after the altercation with AT LEAST 14 things he wanted from the running back to stay quiet on the incident ... including $500,000 cash.

The list of demands featured a public apology from Elliott, a press conference with Elliott and Kyle, $25,000 for the junior college football team Kyle played for, and signed jerseys from Zeke, Amari Cooper and Dak Prescott.

The demands list also included -- among several other things -- tickets to Cowboys games (both home and road), Ohio State games and a meet and greet with Jerry Jones and his son.

Police docs show one of Elliott's attorneys responded to Kelly's email with a phone call ... and Kelly claims in that conversation the attorney told him "what [he] was doing was extortion."

According to the docs, Kelly said after that conversation he decided to take Kyle's story to the public ... allowing Kyle to do an interview with a Los Angeles TV station on May 28.

Kelly and Kyle eventually filed a criminal complaint against Elliott over the incident ... but according to the docs, prosecutors felt they could not move forward with charges against 24-year-old Elliott.

There's more ... in the docs, Kyle admits Elliott not only apologized to him after shoving him during the May incident, he gave him a hug and took a picture with him.

In an affidavit from Elliott in the docs, he echoes that story, saying, "I had no intention to push and/or harm or intimidate Kyle Johnson."

"After Kyle Johnson fell and I was finished speaking with the officers nearby, I immediately apologized to Kyle and he indicated to me that he was not hurt."

Elliott added, "We gave each other a hug and he asked me to take a picture with him, which I was happy to do as there was never any intention to harm or hurt Kyle."

We've reached out to Kelly regarding the docs, but so far, no word back yet.

As for Zeke's camp, when reached by phone Friday, they declined to comment on the matter.

Elliott is currently holding out from Cowboys camp seeking a new contract. His team kicks off the season on Sept. 8 against the New York Giants.

Debra Messing has clearly been aging with a lot of grace!

Here is a 30-year-old version of the "Will & Grace" star all dolled up as she attended an event at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills, California back in 1998 (left).

And, 21 years later ... the Emmy award-winning actress -- who celebrated her 51st birthday this past week -- was last spotted radiating beauty while attending a film festival in Hollywood, California earlier this month (right).

Her looks are so good, it's no wonder why they had to bring the show back!

The question is ...

Lance Bass is giving personal shout-outs for $150 a pop ... but he's not looking to make a quick buck. He's trying help struggling teachers across America.

With back-to-school just around the corner, Lance is dedicating the entire month of August to help fulfill wish lists for teachers who desperately need supplies. It's shocking ... thousands of teachers take money out of their own pockets to pay for basic classroom essentials ... and remember, they're underpaid to begin with.

So, here's how it works -- if you go to Cameo.com/lancebass and pay the $150, Lance will deliver a 30-second shout-out. 100% of his take goes to teachers.

The videos are individualized ... like the shout out he gave to Laura.

Lance has raised more than $4,000 in the first 16 days of August. It's all earmarked for "Clear Teacher's Wish List" on Amazon.

By the way ... Lance has a dog in the fight, because his mom's a teacher.

He hopes others will get on board and help with the donations.

"Bachelor in Paradise" stars Dean Unglert and Caelynn Miller-Keyes have taken their show on the road but one thing's noticeably missing ... his porn mustache!!!

Oh yeah ... SPOILER ALERT!!!

We got pics of Dean and Caelynn hanging earlier this week at The Honorable Society Tattoo Parlor in WeHo. We're told Dean wanted to add a couple more tats ... including one on his calf of a man with a parachute. The other tat was going on his back, but we don't know what image he picked.

While Dean appeared stoked about the idea ... Caelynn looked less than interested. Witnesses tell us their interaction was kinda tense, but maybe she just hates his ink choices. In any event, the bigger story here is ... NO ROCK on Caelynn's hand!!! So, while the 'BiP' drama king and queen have kept their relationship going ... there's no engagement. Yet.

Sorry ... that deserved another SPOILER ALERT.

But, let's be honest ... most 'BiP' fans probs only wanna know why in the world Dean got rid of his classic 'stache. You'll recall he arrived on the show late but quickly got everyone's attention with his new look. Caelynn admitted on the show she wasn't a fan of his facial hair.

Guess we know who won that battle.

At least it appears she's -- finally!!! -- gotten past the whole Blake drama. True 'BiP' fans know all too well how she spilled the Blake tea to everyone and their mama.