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3:30 PM PT -- The judge has denied Justice's request for a restraining order ... for now. According to the legal docs, there'll be a hearing at the end of the month to determine if Avance will be ordered to stay away.

The docs also shed light on why Justice sought out the protection -- she claims Smith broke into her late father's property last week and took his belongings. She also accuses him of threatening her while John was in the hospital, both by text and in person.

Justice claims Avance is "uncontrollable" and she fears he could be physically violent.

John Singleton's family war is getting serious, and the latest battle is between his daughter and one of his old friends ... TMZ has learned.

According to new legal docs ... John's daughter, Justice, has filed for a restraining order against Avance Smith. Family sources tell us Smith was a very close longtime friend of John's -- so close, John commonly referred to him as his cousin. Smith also worked as a security guard for John from time to time.

It's unclear at this point why Justice wants court-ordered protection from her father's friend.

What's interesting is her request comes one day after Singleton's mom, Shelia Ward, filed an emergency request for control of his assets ... specifically because someone had gone into John's locked office and taken valuables.

We don't know that Avance has anything to do with that allegation.

As we reported, other members of John's extended family have grown suspicious about some of the circumstances surrounding his death -- such as how he initially got to a hospital back in April, and who was with him in the hours before that.

They've hired a private investigator to help them find answers.

Linda Fairstein's world continues to crumble ... her book publisher has just kicked her to the curb as the fallout continues, following her portrayal in Netflix's miniseries, "When They See Us."

The Central Park 5 prosecutor will no longer have a relationship with Dutton, which confirmed it had "terminated its relationship" with the best-selling crime novelist. The move comes on the heels of an online push to boycott her publishers and distributors ... after the Netflix series dramatized her role that led to the wrongful conviction of 5 teens for the 1989 rape and beating of a female jogger.

Earlier this week, TMZ reached out to multiple people at both Penguin Random House and its subsidiary, Dutton -- the two publishing companies that peddled her 14 novels -- but they went radio silent. As did Linda's literary agency, ICM Partners. Not a peep.

Fairstein's latest book with Dutton had been "Blood Oath" back in March. Dutton dropping Fairstein's just the latest in a string of moves that led to Fairstein resigning from at least 2 nonprofits as well as from Vassar College.

Glamour Magazine also said it was a mistake to give her the Woman of the Year Award in '93 ... adding they wouldn't do it again. The backlash also included #CancelLindaFairstein all over social media.

Rihanna's latest crowning achievement calls for a yacht of fun ... off southern Italy's Amalfi Coast with her super-rich BF and a bunch of friends in tow.

RiRi, billionaire BF Hassan Jameel and several others hit up Positano, Italy and needed to cram into a small boat before pouring into a yacht for a little relaxation afloat the crystal blue waters.

The vacay comes on the heels of Forbes earlier this week naming Rihanna the wealthiest female musician in the world ... with an estimated fortune of about 600 MILLION BUCKS. Madonna was a close second at $570 mil and Celine Dion ($450M) and Beyonce ($400M) trailed behind.

Nevertheless ... pretty sure Rihanna's smile was all Hassan's doing. They've been going strong since 2017. His family, btw, is worth an estimated $2.2 billion as of 2017.

But, make no mistake ... Rihanna's the reason we can call them a true power couple.

Rener Gracie is MMA royalty -- a member of the legendary Gracie family which created Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

But, he's also a fashion designer -- and he tells TMZ Sports his business went CRAZY a few weeks ago when he made a deal on "Shark Tank."

Rener is the creator of Quikflip -- which started as a hoodie that transforms into a wearable backpack.

The 35-year-old martial artist was a hit on "Shark Tank" -- and ended up making a $500,000 deal with Lori Grenier.

Now, Rener says the exposure from the show has resulted in a MASSIVE sales increase -- and coupled with his new famous and powerful business partner, he's ready to take over.

Arnold Schwarzenegger made a clean getaway when his bodyguard got into a showdown -- that involved a taser -- with an alleged bicycle thief outside of Gold's Gym.

The bizarre confrontation went down Friday in Venice, CA, just as Arnold was wrapping up his morning pump.

We're told he was inside the gym when a man with a bandana on his face came up on the rack outside and tried to steal Arnold's gold bike. The Governator had his own private security parked nearby in an SUV keeping an eye on things, and they sprung into action.

One of Arnold's guards busted the potential thief by pulling a Taser on his ass. While they stood a few feet apart, Schwarzenegger swooped in, grabbed his wheels and took off.

Brian France -- the former CEO of NASCAR -- just pled guilty to misdemeanor drunk driving stemming from an August 2018 arrest in the Hamptons ... TMZ Sports has learned.

France, 56, was pulled over on August 5, 2018 in Sag Harbor, NY -- and during the stop, cops say he bombed a field sobriety test and later blew a .18 on the breathalyzer ... more than twice the legal limit.

According to the police report, cops say they also found oxycodone pain pills. To make matters worse, we're told France name-dropped President Trump during the arrest in an effort to skate on the charges.

Now, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office says France has pled guilty to one count of misdemeanor DUI and in exchange, he got 100 hours of community service and must complete an alcohol education course before June 5, 2020.

If he completes the terms of his plea deal, prosecutors will allow France to withdraw his guilty plea and reduce the charge to a traffic violation.

France was originally charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance, aggravated DWI and DWI, and was facing up to a year in jail for each charge.

France was the CEO of NASCAR at the time of the arrest -- a role he held for 15 years -- but took a leave of absence following the incident and later stepped down. Brian's uncle, Jim France, is currently serving as Chairman and CEO of NASCAR.

Although R. Kelly's camp has been referring to the unpaid $32k as "interest" ... our sources connected to the case say that's not entirely true.

We're told only $11,500 of that amount is interest, and the rest -- about $20,800 -- is for unpaid child support and educational and healtcare expenses for the children.

Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg acknowledges, "Yes, he owes for some some educational and healthcare expenses that aren't documented -- and, I question if they're even true -- and some interest.

He also says Kelly intends to "pay the money whether he agrees with it or not at this point."

R. Kelly is on the hook for another significant child support payment ... and his ex-wife wants to set a firm deadline to get the dough, because she's convinced he'll never pony up otherwise.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the disgraced singer's ex-wife, Drea Kelly, is asking the court for a hard and fast deadline for Kelly to pay her the $32k he owes in interest on back child support.

In the docs, Drea claims Kelly is dragging his feet on the payment because the court never imposed a set date for him to cough it up ... and she wants a deadline to be enforced, or else she thinks she'll never see the money.

Remember, Kelly's been required to pay $20,833 per month in child support since January 2009. He fell behind on his payments, to the tune of $161,633, and was arrested and sat in jail until he paid his tab.

But, Drea's still fighting for the interest on that money ... and she wants the court to get involved to force Kelly's hand. Kelly's crisis manager, Darrell Johnson, says they are aware of the pleading and will respond accordingly.

The hours leading up to John Singleton's hospitalization, which preceded his stroke and eventual death, are unaccounted for ... according to members of his family circle who are digging for answers.

Sources close to the famed filmmaker tell TMZ ... some of the mothers of his children are very suspicious of the events leading up to John checking himself into the hospital in mid-April. As we reported, he had just returned from a trip to Costa Rica at the time.

We're told nobody seems to know how Singleton got to the hospital -- he didn't drive himself, no friends or family are saying they took him, and there are no Uber or Lyft receipts to confirm how he arrived.

Even stranger ... our sources say hospital staff told family members John just sort of appeared out of nowhere in a wheelchair ... and he seemed pretty out of it.

TMZ broke the story ... Singleton was experiencing leg pain when he checked himself in, and then he suffered a massive stroke while hospitalized on April 17. He remained in a coma until his death on April 29 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A.

Our sources say the mothers of John's children believe there's more to the story, and that's why they've hired a private investigator. We're told they want to know what John was doing beforehand, who he was communicating with, and whether someone knew he was in bad shape and could have done something sooner to help him.

Meanwhile, John's family also seems to be on the brink of a nasty legal war.

Beyonce's publicist is calling for Bey's insanely faithful followers to fall back ... and stop harassing and threatening people like the wife of the Golden State Warriors owner.

Yvette Noel-Schure responded to the Beyhive's hateful Instagram bullying of Nicole Curran by reminding them of better times. Attempting to silence the buzz, she posted a #tbt photo of Bey and Jay-Z from their last tour, and then lectured them about spewing hate in their queen's name.

Yvette reminded the hive the On the Run II Tour "was a place of joy, unimaginable entertainment from two of the best performers in the world, and a place of love." Nice, calming touch.

Then she went in ... "I know your love runs deep but that love has to be given to every human. It will bring no joy to the person you love so much if you spew hate in her name. We love you."

As we reported ... the hounding of Nicole began after a TV camera showed her leaning over Beyonce to talk to Jay-Z. The moment went viral due to the perceived side-eye from Bey.

Curran tried to clear things up and pled for everyone to "help and support each other," but the Beyhive was so relentless she deactivated her Instagram account, saying the barrage of insults and cyberbullying also included death threats.

All this, Curran says, because she was asking Jay what he wanted to drink and leaned closer because she couldn't hear him.

Adrian Grenier's on a mission to save planet Earth, and he's in very good company ... but he says let's not forget about the unsung heroes making the world a better place too.

We got the actor and environmentalist outside his Museum of Plastic in NYC -- which teaches about the harm plastic bottles wreak in nature and how to go plastic-free -- and asked him about Robert Downey Jr.'s new Footprint Coalition launched to clean up the world.

Grenier's the opposite of cynical -- about Downey Jr.'s plan or human beings in general -- and says it's time to really start trying to change things for the better.

He tells us there are already many anonymous superheroes out doing their part, but he's fine with a celeb being the face of the movement ... whether it be RDJ, Leonardo DiCaprio or, of course ... himself.

As for the hierarchy of that trio of environmental crusaders ... it's up for debate. Adrian's buddy, 'Catfish' star Nev Schulman, has a pretty strong opinion, though. Check out the clip for the rankings.

Also, check out this plastic PSA from Lonely Whale, the organization cofounded by Grenier.

12:44 PM PT -- Turns out the thing Wendy ISN'T giving up during her divorce is her taste for glam. We've learned that ring on that notorious finger is not her original wedding ring, but some very serious flower bling nonetheless.

Wendy Williams isn't letting an ugly breakup and divorce get in the way of a beautiful, massive diamond ring ... and she's making sure everyone knows it.

Wendy's out on the left coast and Thursday night we got her outside Craig's, where she was having a business dinner. Photogs quickly noticed her gajillion-carat wedding ring -- hard not to, it's blinding -- and asked her about it, point-blank.

Watch the vid ... she doesn't speak much, but she says a lot by blatantly flaunting the ring to cameras.

As you know Wendy filed to divorce Kevin Hunter back in April, shortly after he and his alleged mistress had a baby. It's been a nasty split ... with Kevin getting booted from his job as executive producer on her talk show -- and more recently getting into a fight with their son, Kevin Jr.

Despite all of that, Wendy's continued rocking the rock, on and off TV. Don't read anything into it, though -- our Wendy sources say there's absolutely no reconciliation going down.

Irina Shayk is getting the hell outta dodge, and no time like the present ... with all the buzz that she and Bradley Cooper are dunzo.

The supermodel was seen Thursday leaving the L.A. home she shares with Bradley, suitcase in hand, on her way to LAX. It wasn't "I'm moving out" luggage ... just one bag -- and she was pretty smiley for cameras.

So, if they really are breaking up after 4 years together ... Irina's doing a good job of at least looking unfazed by it.

Irina and Bradley started dating in 2015 and they had a baby girl, Lea De Seine, 2 years later.

It's unclear if Irina was intentionally going for a "Ghostbusters" look with her travel ensemble, but -- apologies to Bill Murray -- no one's ever done it better.

The Dunking Deutschman is goin' American ... 'cause Dirk Nowitzki has officially started the process to become a U.S. citizen!!!

The recently retired 40-year-old Dallas Mavericks superstar and his Swedish wife, Jessica Olsson, are working on getting their green cards together ... which is the first step in a VERY long process to becoming a citizen.

"So once we accomplish that, then you have to be a green-card holder for, I think, over five years before you can even think about doing that [becoming a U.S. citizen]," Dirk told the Dallas Morning News.

"So we're going to do that and see how it goes. But obviously our [three] kids were born here and they all have U.S. passports and the wifey and I have been on a visa for the last few years. So hopefully that's going to be accomplished soon."

According to the Dept. of Homeland Security, Dirk's right ... he can apply for full citizenship 5 years to the day of obtaining his green card.

Dirk has previously said he won't give up his German citizenship -- the goal is to be a dual-citizen.

"But we're living here [in Dallas]," Nowitzki told DMN ... "This is where life is. We're going to continue to travel a lot in the summers, but once the school year starts, my oldest [daughter Malaika] is going into first grade next year."

Dirk and his wife won't be able to vote or hold a U.S. passport until they become official citizens in 5 years -- but they're not worried.

Until then, Nowitzki will fill his days eating ice cream and chilling with his family.

Dennis Day -- an original Mouseketeer on "The Mickey Mouse Club" -- was found dead just over 2 months ago but his body was too decomposed for authorities to ID him ... until now.

Day's family confirmed Thursday it was his body cops found in his Phoenix, Oregon home back on April 4 ... which is highly suspicious and mysterious, because cops had previously searched the home and found nothing.

The 76-year-old went missing last July 15, and there was an extensive search, which included combing his home. Police say it's unclear how long the body had been there, or how the body was missed during previous searches. They're not saying if there were signs of foul play. They had not been able to identify the body back in April because the condition of the remains was severely degraded, which rendered DNA and dental records unusable.

Dennis was originally reported missing by his partner of more than 45 years, who lives at a care facility. He says he got worried after Dennis hadn't visited in weeks.

Authorities say Day's family didn't find out about his disappearance until 6 months later when they saw a report on the local news. Adding to the mystery ... his car was found about 200 miles away along the Oregon coast with 2 strangers in the car claiming he'd let them borrow the car.

State police impounded the vehicle and continued investigating for a cause of death.

Dennis was a 12-year-old actor when he first signed on as a Mouseketeer in 1955.

As an original member of the Mouseketeers, he reportedly modeled prospective costumes for Walt Disney and appeared in publicity photos for the TV show. He last appeared on the show in 1957. He tried his hand at theater in NY and was later a drama teacher in California.

Deadpool, Batman, Spider-Man and Jesus all walk onto a plane ...

No, this ain't the start of the next 'Avengers' movie ... it's the Pittsburgh Pirates' epic costume party on Thursday!!!

The Buccos beat the snot out of the Braves in Pittsburgh in the morning ... and to celebrate -- they threw on their best outfits and hit the airport for their road trip to Milwaukee.

The guys really went all out ... MVP candidate Josh Bell made a hell of a Batman, shortstop Cole Tucker really loved his Frozone costume -- and pitcher Richard Rodriguez dressed up as Jesus.

A bunch of the starting pitchers -- including ace Chris Archer -- went with Ninja Turtles ... and catcher Elias Diaz was a stunning plus-sized Power Ranger.

The winner of the day (besides the Pirates, who are now just 4 games back of the Cubs in the NL Central) ... outfielder Gregory Polanco -- who had an Avatar costume complete with a tail!!!!

Amber Rose's pregnancy is not slowing down her love life, according to the baby's daddy who tells us intercourse is kinda different now ... but it's still hot!!!

We got Amber and her BF, Alexander "AE" Edwards, out on a lunch date in L.A. and our guy just had to ask the burning question all parents-to-be get. No, not the baby's sex, and not potential names. The other one.

Are ya still "getting it in" while pregnant?!?

Amber is not the kiss and tell type, not now anyway, but AE has no shame in his game ... and told us what's going down in their bedroom.

We also got the cute couple's thoughts on Beyonce's epic side-eye at the NBA Finals, and Amber gave us an update on her annual SlutWalk.

But, let's face it, you're probably here for the sex. So, check out the clip -- ya might learn something about the joys of childbirth ... or what leads up to it, anyway.