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Donald Trump's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, will be front and center at Saturday's big UFC fight, and ESPN will show their mugs on TV ... but there are a few strings attached.

Sources connected to the Disney-owned network tell TMZ ... there has been no pressure to keep them off camera to avoid controversy. It's a particularly sensitive time, with Trump's latest attacks which have a huge swath of the country calling him racist. The UFC community -- both fans and fighters -- is diverse, and the presence of the Trumps is a powder keg.

Nevertheless, we're told UFC honcho Dana White is calling the shots on who gets on TV, and we're told the Trump kids will get as much air time as other big celebs at the Prudential Center in Newark. Not to say Dana's directing, but he gives broad directives, and there is no Trump ban.

Now ... we're told the commentators have been told ... NO POLITICS -- and that's squarely in line with ESPN's directive.

Eric and Donald Jr., along with his GF, Kimberly Guilfoyle, were invited to the fight by Colby Covington, who's headlining the main event against Robbie Lawler. Covington is a staunch Trump supporter who's rarely seen without his MAGA hat. POTUS even invited him to the Oval.

And, Dana himself is a die-hard Trump supporter, who even spoke at the RNC. Dana has famously said he will NEVER say anything bad about Trump, who was one of his first and biggest supporters in the early days of the UFC.

Josie Canseco came thiiiiis close to losing a fight with the Pacific Ocean on Thursday ... holding on to her thong for dear life during a beach day in Waikiki.

The Victoria's Secret model is out in Oahu for the opening of a KITH x Coca-Cola pop-up shop (she's modeled for them in the past) ... but decided to take a break to frolic in the sand. The pics are straight fire.

But, during her dip, the tide got a little aggressive ... and nearly took her down her bottoms. A struggle for the ages ensued.

The good news for Josie, she was able to save herself from a public pantsing -- and went back to enjoying paradise.

The 22-year-old model -- who's the daughter of MLB legend Jose Canseco -- famously dated rapper Mike Stud ... but they broke up earlier this year.

Nicki Minaj is about to change her identity -- adding her beau's last name to her own -- and officially making her Petty.

Nicki and Kenneth Petty marched into a Beverly Hills courthouse earlier this week and got a marriage license. Sources close to the couple tell us Nicki -- whose real name is Onika Tanya Maraj -- will be known as Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty.

As for the wedding, it's a mystery ... but there are clues. Several of her close friends flew into L.A. Tuesday, the day after she and Kenneth got their marriage license. The friends stayed in town for less than a day and flew out again. They were all staying at 2 swanky WeHo hotels.

It's possible the wedding went down that day, but we're not sure. It's also possible they could get hitched this weekend. Her mentor, Lil Wayne, has a couple days off from his Blink-182 tour and our sources say he plans to be in L.A. Saturday and Sunday.

Cardi B's worldwide stardom will put her in a precarious position when she sits for a deposition next week -- and that's why she wants the judge to keep the whole matter confidential.

Cardi is in a legal dogfight with her former manger -- he sued her, then she sued him -- and in new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, her attorneys say her monumental achievement as a world-renowned rapper makes her vulnerable to a feeding frenzy from both the public and the media.

Her team says if the video of her deposition, as well as the transcripts, get out to the public, it could harm her case ... and expose private details about her life and finances.

Additionally, they've got serious Internet meme concerns. As they put it in docs, if the material gets out "it is highly likely that any such video will be reproduced and edited (and possibly manipulated) into out-of-context video clips and GIFs of her testimony."

As we first reported ... Cardi's ex-manager, Shaft, claims he transformed her from an Instagram wannabe to a global celebrity. Shaft sued Cardi for $10 million in April 2018 ... and then she countersued him for $15 million.

One of Shaft's more significant claims -- he says his contacts and personal team of writers and producers are responsible for her first massive hit, "Bodak Yellow."

Dog the Bounty Hunter is fuming after his Colorado store was burglarized ... but making matters worse was items belonging to his late wife, Beth Chapman, were also stolen.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the incident went down Thursday night in Edgewater, CO. We're told the store's front door was shattered. Some of the jacked items include a bunch of "Dog" merchandise but, most importantly, Beth's personal bounty hunting gear.

Dog was told about the incident early Friday morning and took to Twitter to blast the suspects, whom -- as you'd imagine -- he fully intends to track down.

The incident comes just weeks after Dog held a touching memorial service for Beth in Colorado. Family, friends and loved ones gathered to say goodbye for the last time.

As we reported ... Beth died last month in a Honolulu hospital, days after being placed in a medically-induced coma.

Bre Tiesi is moving on from her marriage to Johnny Manziel ... and to show she's serious, she's having the QB's initials laser removed from her body.

Back when they were still a couple, Johnny and Bre hit the ink shop to memorialize their love for each other in tattoo form. She got his initials, "J.M." along with another special tattoo.

Johnny also had a special tat inked on his body for Bre -- though it's unclear if he plans to keep it.

As for Bre, the model announced she was leaving Johnny back in March -- after accusing him of breaking their wedding vows. She never got specific with the details but you can put 2 and 2 together.

So, this week Tiesi hit up the Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Group to have the "J.M." laser erased from her hand ... and our sources tell us she can't wait to have a clean slate.

Bre still isn't spilling the beans on exactly what happened in her marriage -- but we're told there's about a ZERO PERCENT CHANCE for a reconciliation.

Instead of dancing in the dark, Bruce Springsteen's son has chosen a career of battling blazes ... among lots of other heroic stuff.

Sam Springsteen just became a firefighter in Jersey City, New Jersey ... according to his mom, Patti Scialfa. She shared the cool news on Instagram, saying ... "You followed your dreams…JC firefighter… Stay safe .. love your brave heart."

Of course, Patti peppered in some heart and flexed biceps emojis ... along with a "CONGRATULATIONS" and a fire emoji.

Sam is the youngest of Bruce and Patti's 3 kids at 25 years old. He has an older brother named Evan and an older sister named Jessica. None of them have followed in their dad's footsteps and become Jersey rock icons ... but they're all doing very well for themselves.

Sam was reportedly ranked 42 out of 961 on the Jersey City FD civil service in March, which qualified him to join the new class of firefighters.

The fatal crash that killed Grant Thompson -- creator of YouTube's popular "King of Random" series -- was all caught on camera ... and though we're told it'll never see the light of day, it's helped investigators determine exactly what went wrong.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... authorities have reviewed footage from a camera mounted on Grant's paramotor, and it appears a change in the updraft caused the parachute to malfunction. It's unclear if the parachute twisted ... but we're told Grant died on impact, less than 4 seconds after the problem surfaced.

The video makes it apparent ... Thompson immediately knew something was wrong but couldn't recover because he lost altitude in rapid fashion. By the time he deployed his reserve parachute, it was just too late. We're told the reserve chute did in fact deploy, but not in time.

We're told authorities are adamant the video will never be released to the public ... it would be gratuitous, gruesome and painful for his family.

TMZ broke the story ... Grant died after a paramotoring accident in Utah. The Washington County Sheriff's Office had said a report came in Monday of an overdue paraglider who had gone off the radar near the Sand Hollow State Park. His coordinates were pulled from GPS data and a helicopter located his body.

Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy's granddaughter is dead after suffering an apparent drug overdose while staying at the family's famous Hyannis Port estate.

Saoirse Kennedy Hill was already in cardiac arrest Thursday by the time paramedics arrived at the Kennedy compound ... around 2:30 PM. She was rushed to a hospital, but doctors could not resuscitate her, and she was pronounced dead there.

Multiple reports said the cause of death appears to be an overdose, but there's no official word from police or the family.

Saiorse's death is the latest in a decades-long string of tragedies for the Kennedys. The family released a statement saying, "“Her life was filled with hope, promise and love. She lit up our lives with her love, her peals of laughter and her generous spirit. We will love her and will miss her forever."

Her grandmother, Ethel, added, "The world is a little less beautiful today."

Saiorse studied communications at Boston College, and before that attended the Deerfield Academy private boarding school in Massachusetts. While she was there, she wrote an article for the school paper about battling depression and attempting suicide.

Her parents are Courtney Kennedy -- Ethel and RFK's 5th child (out of 11) -- and Paul Michael Hill.

Saiorse was 22.

RIP

Michael Blackson got his wish ... he says Eddie Murphy's offering him a role in the "Coming to America" sequel ... and you already know Michael is ready to jump right in!!!

We got Michael on the Sunset Strip and he had some career-changing news to share ... telling us he finally got the formal offer he was dying to get.

The comedian could barely contain his excitement ... he's been dreaming about this day ever since Eddie told us back in April he thought Blackson was funny, and wanted to bring him on board.

Akon should be getting a big thank you from Michael. Remember, he got the wheels in motion when he sent Eddie a message -- through our camera guy -- telling him to cast real Africans this time.

Michael, who's from Ghana, says the opportunity means the world to him ... and he's also got some words of encouragement for all aspiring actors from Africa. Good stuff all around.

The new gig hasn't sunk in yet though, but he told us when it really will.

None. Zip. Zero.

That's the number of complaints AAU tournament director Gary Charles says he received about LeBron James after the NBA superstar went crazy celebrating on the court at Bronny's game.

Of course, the media went WILD over the footage ... with some people saying Bron was acting inappropriately over the weekend and taking the attention away from the kids. Some people suggested any other parent would have been reprimanded.

But, Charles, who runs the Big Time Tournament in Vegas, says the overall sentiment from people at the tourney was ... THEY LOVED IT!!!

"I thought it was awesome," Charles tells TMZ Sports ... "The way he went out there and showed pure joy."

"But what I loved about it was that I was watching a father rooting for his son's team."

By the way, Charles ain't just blowin' smoke -- he's a legend in grassroots basketball and he's worked with a TON of famous players and parents from Kobe Bryant to Lamar Odom, and others.

Charles says he was with LeBron and the family all week -- and was impressed with the way Bron not only showed love for Bronny's team, but ALL of the kids who played in  the tourney.

"I watched that family all week. They were first class every single day. I watched LeBron the way he handled himself, how he was so enthused when these kids were playing."

Charles says LeBron's energy is infectious and he's obviously welcome back to EVERY one of his events.

Before this brushin' baby became a chart-topping artist and actor, he showed great musical talent from an early age. Growing up in Manhattan, he starting banging on pots and pans in his parent's kitchen, using them as drums. By the age of 5, he knew he wanted to be a musician and he started playing guitar.

His family moved to Los Angeles when he was 10, and he joined the California Boys Choir and was first introduced to rock music.

Now, his resume is incredible ... winning the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance 4 years in a row from 1999 to 2002.

HERE'S THE RUNDOWN

Ann Coulter thinks Democrats have a clear choice if they want to nominate a candidate who can beat Donald Trump in 2020 ... but she's confident their identity politics will derail a slam dunk.

We got America's conservative sweetheart on the Upper East Side ... and she says after watching the Democratic debates, Joe Biden is the only one who can realistically challenge Trump for the White House.

But, Ann says the Dems will totally screw up the nomination ... because she thinks they're fooling themselves into believing Kamala Harris is the chosen one.

Ya gotta hear why Ann is predicting the Dems will go spurn Biden for Kamala ... her reasoning has everything to do with identity politics, and the next step from Barack Obama.

Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" is going to cost her a lot of green, but her record label is paying twice as much for ripping off the tune.

The federal jury in L.A. just dished out the damages, and the pop singer will have to pay $550k to Christian rapper Flame. He sued Katy, Dr. Luke and 7 other songwriters on "Dark Horse" for jacking his tune, "Joyful Noise." Capitol Records was also a defendant, and the jury ordered it to pay the lion's share ... $1.2 million.

In all, Flame will get a total of $2.7 million from all the defendants. The jury said his song was responsible for 22.5 percent of the "Dark Horse" profits.

His Grammy-nominated gospel track came out in 2008 ... 6 years before KP dropped "Dark Horse."

The jury's decision on hefty damages came after hearing 2 full days of testimony about how much Perry's megahit and the album it was on, "Prism," have earned since release. Katy's cut, to date, has been $3.2 mil ... while Capitol Records earned $31 million.

Of course, the same jury returned a unanimous verdict that Perry and her co-defendants improperly copied the Christian rap track -- specifically by jacking its continually repeated musical rhythm.

“Our clients filed this lawsuit five years ago seeking justice and fair compensation for the unauthorized copying of their music. It has been a long and arduous path, but they are quite pleased to have received the justice they sought,” Flame's lawyer, Lauren R. Cohen, said.

As we reported ... Flame's music label uploaded a "Joyful Noise" vid on YouTube in 2008, and it's racked up millions of views over the years.

In his lawsuit, first filed way back in 2014, Flame claimed Perry stole the underlying beat and riff in the middle of "Joyful Noise" for "Dark Horse." He also said it destroyed his reputation in Christian music because he became associated with the anti-Christian imagery present in her music vid.

Perry called BS on the 2 tracks having any meaningful similarities, and during her jury testimony earlier this month she claimed she'd never even heard Flame's song before he filed the lawsuit.

Katy told the jury she first heard the beats from Dr. Luke while they were hanging out in Santa Barbara and claimed she wrote "Dark Horse" in only 4 hours.

However, Flame's legal team was able to convince the jury that his song was popular and prevalent enough to have been heard and ripped off ... and that's exactly what Perry and her team did.

By the way ... the "Dark Horse" music video currently has 2.6 BILLION YouTube views. Gotta wonder if it was worth it.

Rudy Boesch, who was on the debut season of 'Survivor' and is the oldest contestant in the history of the series has Alzheimer's, but he is still alive despite rumors to the contrary ... TMZ has learned.

Rudy's daughter tells us her dad is in a Virginia Beach assisted-living facility to care for him, but all the rumors of his death are just not true. She says it's advanced enough that he needs round-the-clock care, but doctors have not said he is necessarily at the end stage.

Rudy is the retired Navy SEAL who had an alliance with the ultimate winner, Richard Hatch.

At the time Rudy was first on the show he was 72 ... the oldest contestant by far.

The show was called "Survivor: Borneo" and was a ratings-smash hit and was the trigger for a number of similar shows, including "The Amazing Race." 'Survivor' is now in season 38.

As for Rudy ... he joined the Navy in 1945 and quickly volunteered for "secret hazardous duty." In 1962 Rudy became one of the first 50 officers of the original SEAL Team Two.

Rudy served in Vietnam and earned the Bronze Star Medal for heroic action. He retired from the military in 1990 ... 10 years before making his debut on 'Survivor.'

After the debut season of 'Survivor,' Rudy made a encore on "Survivor: All-Stars" in 2004.