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Justin Bieber has Bieber fever -- Shane Bieber fever, that is.

The most unlikely long-distance friendship is blossoming between the "I Don't Care" singer and the Cleveland Indians ace ... with the Biebs getting his own "Not Shane Bieber" Tribe jersey!!!

Of course ... Shane has worn "Not Justin" on his back for the past 2 MLB Players' Weekends, when the athletes get to wear whatever name they want on their jerseys.

JB is getting in on the fun now ... rockin' his very own Tribe jersey while joyridin' on his motorcycle in Beverly Hills on Tuesday.

The 2 first linked up online on August 4 after Topps accidentally called Shane "Justin" on his baseball card -- and Justin responded on Twitter, saying, "I feel like we have a special connection."

TMZ Sports spoke with Shane in NYC earlier this month and he told us that the interaction was a life milestone reached.

Popeyes says they're going to run out of chicken sandwiches in stores across the country this week ... even though they thought they had enough to keep selling them through September.

The chicken joint shared the gut-wrenching news Tuesday afternoon ... telling us they tried to forecast demand through the end of next month, but people's hunger proved too much.

It's pretty crazy ... Popeyes just started selling the sandos earlier this month, igniting an all-out chicken war with Chick-Fil-A, and they promise they're busting their ass to make sure the item is back in stores ASAP.

Lines at Popeyes have been crazy ... and some people even put the sandwiches on Ebay ... and in the craze, Popeye's apparently managed to run out of fried chicken, pickles, sauce and bread.

DeMarcus Cousins allegedly told his ex-girlfriend he'd put a "bullet in [her] f*cking head" if she didn't let their child come to his wedding ... and the woman claims she has the audio to prove it.

TMZ Sports has obtained court docs and a police report filed by DC's ex-girlfriend, Christy West -- claiming the NBA star threatened her on August 23, just one day before Cousins was set to marry his new girlfriend, Morgan Lang, in Atlanta.

In fact, West recorded the alleged threat and claims she played the audio for court officials ... and now we have a copy of that same recording.

West claims she made the recording while at a trampoline park in Alabama with their 7-year-old son ... and she's adamant the voice on the other line is Cousins'.

"I'm gonna ask you this one more time before I take it to another level," the man says ... "Can I have my son here, please?"

Christy responds, "No" -- and that's when the man makes the alleged threat -- "I'm gonna make sure I put a bullet in your f**king head."

That's when the audio cuts off -- but Christy has since filed court docs in Alabama seeking a restraining order against Cousins claiming he ALSO told her that he was going to kill her, "even if he didn't have to get his hands dirty doing it."

In the court docs, Christy also claims Cousins had choked her during a previous incident -- but she didn't provide any specific details.

She wants officials to keep Cousins away from her and their son -- but she notes she's open to allowing Boogie to have supervised visitation.

Christy also went to the the Mobile Police Dept. and filed a report with cops. A police spokesperson tells us they have opened an investigation into the allegations.

As for Boogie's wedding, it went down on Saturday as scheduled in Atlanta -- and while a ton of famous people showed up (from Matt Barnes to Anthony Davis to Draymond Green), his 7-year-old was not in attendance.

We've reached out to Cousins for comment -- so far, no word back.

Diane Warren is offering up her catalog of insanely popular, award-winning music to any candidate running for Prez -- with one BIG exception ... yep, it's you-know-who.

We got the legendary songwriter Tuesday in L.A. and asked if she'd be open to letting some Dems blare her tunes on the campaign trail -- seeing how she's a staunch supporter of the party and all. Turns out, she's declaring open season on her work ... come one, come all!!!

That's right ... Diane tells us that ANY presidential candidate who runs as a donkey is free to use the songs she wrote, if they want a little hype at their public events. She's even got suggestions.

On the Republican side ... not so much. President Trump absolutely CANNOT touch her tracks ... paws off, DT.

Of course, Trump has been asked by several marquee musicians to STOP playing their tracks at his events -- everyone from Pharrell and The Rolling Stones to Prince's estate and pretty much everyone else in between has demanded that their sounds be muzzled at Trump events.

Unfortunately for them, Trump has the legal right to crank any song he wants, so long as it's in a public space and in the U.S. of A. Mick Jagger explained what a bummer it was.

Unclear if Diane's aware of this loophole -- or if Trump is even into her music at all -- but it's the thought that counts, right? Hell yeah ... nothing's gonna stop us now!!!

Leslie Jones is moving on from her role on "Saturday Night Live" ... because she's got a ton of other gigs coming on the horizon!!!

Sources close to the show tell TMZ ... Leslie is NOT returning for season 45 of 'SNL' and it's all her decision.

Fact is ... Leslie's got a lot more on her plate now, thanks in no small part to her time as one of the biggest stars on 'SNL' -- where her personality, wit and skits made her a hot commodity in Hollywood.

As we've reported ... Leslie's already filming the 'Coming to America' sequel with Eddie Murphy ... and even though he's going to host 'SNL' this season for the first time in 35 years, she won't be there to enjoy it as a cast member.

Also on deck for Leslie ... she's signed on with Netflix for a comedy special, and we're told she's got some more movie projects in the works.

It's the end of the road for Leslie and 'SNL' ... and she had an amazing run over 5 seasons ... but sometimes, the grass just looks greener elsewhere.

Tyler Cameron was too busy hooping and showing off his toned bod to hit up the VMAs with Gigi Hadid ... and it looks like he made the right call because he won some hardware!!!

The 'Bachelorette' heartthrob hit the court for some rec league basketball in New York City Monday afternoon ahead of the VMAs across the river in Jersey ... and naturally, Tyler C took his shirt off. It's kinda his thing.

Sure, taking in the VMAs backstage with Gigi sounds appealing, but Tyler's got his priorities ... this was the championship game after all!!! Check out the gallery to see his big shiny trophy -- TC's got game ... on and off the court, apparently.

In the end he enjoyed the best of both worlds -- after showing off his moves and his abs, and balling with his boys, the underwear model met up with Gigi for a VMA after-party!!!

Y'know you're confident when you can put someone as hot as Gigi on the back burner ... while you play a game. Point is ... those first few dates they went on in the Big Apple must've gone REALLY well.

Richard Pryor's son seems to be backing up part of what his dad's ex-bodyguard claimed about Paul Mooney -- that the comedian had sex with Jr. decades ago -- even though he's not specifically invoking Mooney's name in his accusation.

Our camera guy ran into Richard Pryor Jr. Tuesday in NYC and asked about Rashon Kahn's allegations -- about the sex, and Richard Sr. putting a $1 million hit on Mooney after finding out.

Richard Jr. didn't want to touch the alleged hit, but he quickly pivoted to the topic of sex ... saying that "whatever happened to me" took place long ago when he was young, suggesting he was molested as a teenager well before the '80s. He does not name Paul Mooney.

RPJ never gave us a specific age, but afterward his rep told us it was definitely "under the age of consent" when we asked about Kahn's allegation pertaining to Mooney. It should be noted though, Richard Jr. didn't name any names on camera, so it's unclear who he's talking about here.

On the claim that someone had sex with him as a teen -- our photog asks if it was consensual. Watch the clip ... Jr. let us know, in no uncertain terms, it could NOT have been.

As we reported, Mooney flat-out denied the bodyguard's allegations, saying there's no truth to anything Kahn said. We've reached out to them regarding this new Richard Jr. claim, but so far no word back.

Pryor's widow, Jennifer Lee, has said Richard Jr. has previously accused Mooney of sexually assaulting him ... during a family event, which she claims to have on tape.

Dave Chappelle has worked Michael Jackson back into his stand-up -- and he's flat-out rejecting claims made by the accusers.

DC's new comedy special, 'Sticks & Stones,' just dropped on Netflix, and Dave had a few things to say about our society -- namely, celebrity cancel culture ... which he kicked off by defending MJ, saying he doesn't believe Wade Robson and James Safechuck ... the 2 accusers featured in the HBO doc.

Dave flat-out says, "I don't believe these motherf***ers" after describing part of their allegations in "Leaving Neverland" in graphic detail, calling the scenario "gross."

Chappelle doesn't get into exactly why he doesn't believe them, but he does jokingly note that he's a classic "victim-blamer" ... saying that if he'd heard Michael molested the kids, he'd wonder ... "Well, what were those kids wearing at the time?"

Dave goes on to joke ... IF Michael did in fact sexually abuse Wade and James, they should've felt honored and used it as bragging rights.

He also cracks ... "I know it seems harsh, but somebody's gotta teach these kids -- no such thing as a free trip to Hawaii. He's going to want to look at your butthole or something." Dave used a similar premise to joke about MJ in 2004, almost beat for beat.

Dave touched on A LOT of other topics pertaining to cancel culture (there's no shortage of content these days) ... taking time to defend Kevin Hart's LGBTQ moment ahead of the Oscars this year, going to bat for Louis C.K. again ... and addressing R. Kelly.

You might recall ... the producer for the Lifetime docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly" told the media that Dave had refused to participate in her project. He sets the record straight though.

He says Dream Hampton casually asked him about appearing on 'Surviving' once, and never brought it up again ... which he completely forgot about until he saw her parading his name around in the press, suggesting he was hiding from the controversy.

Dave says it straight-up -- the only reason he didn't come on to talk about the troubled singer is because, "I don't know this n**** at all." Got it, thanks Dave.

Kobe Bryant says he woulda been in Bill Russell territory if Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't have been such a "lazy ass" during their Lakers days ... claiming, "I woulda had f*cking 12 rings!"

Mamba spilled his guts about his relationship with Shaq during an interview earlier this month with Patrick Bet-David at the 10th annual PHP Agency Convention in Las Vegas.

Bryant was asked about how Shaq would have been remembered had he had Kobe's legendary work ethic ... and Kobe's answer was captivating.

"He'd be the greatest of all time," Bryant said ... "He'd be the first to tell you that!"

"I wish he was in the gym! I would've had 12 f*cking rings!"

Kobe says he's not saying anything publicly he hasn't already said to Shaq in private -- "Me and Shaq sit down all the time and I say, 'Dude if your lazy ass was in shape ...'"

Kobe also talked about his legendary fistfight with Shaq (when Kobe was 19) and how NOT backing down from O'Neal was a key moment in their relationship.

"He told me that day was a big turning point for him."

Ya gotta hear the other stories about Shaq and Kobe -- from the trash talk to the arguments over passing the ball ... it's pretty hilarious stuff.

Jenna Dewan's Tesla window is smashed and her purse is gone after a brazen thief pulled off a burglary on the Sunset Strip in broad daylight ... and the whole thing was captured on video.

Dewan parked her SUV and ran some errands Monday while a couple paparazzi waited across the street for her to return. A woman -- dressed all in black -- then walked up to the vehicle, smashed the passenger side window, and grabbed a small purse from the passenger seat.

That small purse was a Saint Laurent worth $3,000.

Witnesses on the scene tell us the suspect had cased the street -- checking out multiple cars before deciding to hit Jenna's.

We're told the suspect hopped in a getaway vehicle -- a black Kia parked behind Jenna's -- with 2 other people.

When Jenna got back to her vehicle, she spoke to photogs about the break-in, and she was understandably frazzled. Still, she was thankful they got the whole incident on video.

Jenna called the cops and her boyfriend, Steve Kazee, showed up a short time later to help out.

This AMAZING video will hit you right in the feels.

Dominique Wilkins' daughter, JoJo, isn't letting her disability keep her from following in the NBA legend's footsteps ... draining buckets from her wheelchair in an inspirational video.

JoJo -- who has spina bifida -- hit the Human Highlight Film's awesome personalized court to put up some shots on Tuesday ... and her proud dad shared the footage.

"When most people see my daughter JoJo, they see a wheelchair. When I see her, I see POTENTIAL, STRENGTH and BEAUTY!"

"She’s just like every else. We all have challenges. They just come in different forms."

Pete Davidson put on a show for a crowd of University of Central Florida students ... but it was far less humorous than it was verbally abusive.

The 'SNL' star was the headliner for a comedy show on the Orlando campus Monday night, but instead of using his time to tell jokes ... he blasted the audience for using their phones to film, calling them all "privileged little a**holes."

After eliciting cheers in the face of insults, he bore in hard, saying ... "That's why we're embarrassing. That's why the world is gonna end in 25 years, because you're all f***ing retarded."

Pete went on to call everyone idiots and morons and told them to grow up ... like an angry old man yelling at kids. Davidson is 25.

Pete's rant came several minutes into his set, but even his intro didn't include much comedic material. After his tirade, he did a brief Q&A with the crowd but said he was only sticking around because he had to wait for his Uber.

Those at the venue tell us there weren't any signs posted about cell phone use, and it was never addressed by the MC or the 2 performers who came on before Davidson. Pete seemed to think it was common knowledge.

Also, while UCF students with a valid ID got into the show for free, others had to pay $20. No word if Pete will actually give them their money back as he suggested.

On the bright side ... those who saw Pete's show and were the target of his wrath now have a special connection for life. Perhaps that's what he wanted all along?

John Travolta mistook a famous drag queen for Taylor Swift at the VMAs -- and if you wanna know how he got so confused ... go straight to the queen herself!

We got Jade Jolie -- a former contestant on "RuPaul's Drag Race" -- Monday night after the award show and asked her about the awkward moment onstage right after TS won Video of the Year. John, very awkwardly, tried handing the Moon Man to Jade.

Ooops!! Taylor ... the real one ... wasn't even onstage yet.

As you can see (and as Jade acknowledges) ... she's a dead ringer for Taylor, whom she calls her "goddess" and "queen." But, while talking to us, Jade got all wrapped up in her own Swiftie fandom ... and even started talking 'Game of Thrones.'

You can tell by her mood here that Jade wasn't that offended by the case of mistaken identity -- she's clearly overjoyed to have shared in the glory of a VMAs win. The look-alike -- and a bunch of other notable gay and trans people -- appeared in Taylor's video for "You Need to Calm Down."

Meek Mill isn't going to get his 2008 gun conviction tossed after all -- at least not entirely.

Philly's prodigal son went back to court with his legal team Tuesday, where his team was attempting to avoid a retrial after the original conviction was thrown out. Meek decided to end the battle ... 'cause he copped a plea.

Meek pled guilty to misdemeanor possession of a firearm without a license -- and remaining 6 charges for which he was originally convicted were all dropped. Back in 2008, Meek had been found guilty of 7 charges, 4 of which were related to the gun.

Meek spoke to the public briefly afterward, but wasn't all that chatty. He thanked his supporters and those who came out Tuesday as well. He said he wasn't on probation anymore, and that he was free at last. The D.A. in Philly has confirmed he's off probation.

He could've gone to trial if he wanted -- and very likely would've won -- but it looks like Meek is trying to put this saga behind him completely with the plea offer.

As we've reported, it's unlikely the case would've gone to trial again ... considering the key witness ended up being a dirty cop -- not to mention this would be taking place more than a decade after the alleged crime ... and any other witnesses' memories would be hazy at best.

You'll recall ... Judge Genece Brinkley sent Meek back to prison back in 2017 with a harsh sentence of 2-4 years behind bars after she found Meek had violated his probation in the 2008 conviction. A lot of people think Judge Brinkley had it out for him.

He ended up doing about five months before getting released.

Meek said Tuesday's hearing, "I’m extremely grateful that my long legal battle is finally behind me and I appreciate that it has sparked a much-needed discussion about probation reform and the inequalities that exist within our two Americas."

He added, "I have always told the truth — that as a teenager, who saw many around me die from senseless gun violence, I carried a gun for protection. I take responsibility for that and – in conjunction with my work on the REFORM Alliance – I’ll continue to use my platform to make communities safer and reform our criminal justice system."

French Montana wanted heads to roll after some guy allegedly threw a sucker punch ... and TMZ's got video of him going off on his security team for apparently letting it happen.

Sources close to the situation tell us ... French was in NYC early Tuesday morning -- after leaving the Amish Market in Tribeca -- when a guy in a red shirt attacked French's crew from behind. We're told the guy didn't hit French, but did hit someone and that set off a brawl.

In the video, you can see French chewing out some bodyguards, and just as things seem to calm down ... there's another flare-up.

NYPD showed up eventually, responding to a call of a physical fight at the Amish Market. We're told the store was a mess when officers arrived, but everyone involved in the fight was gone.

No report was filed for assault and no injuries were reported.

As far as French is concerned ... no blood, no foul but we're told he was pissed his security let someone get close enough to pop him.

Blac Chyna might have ruffled a few feathers with her wardrobe choice at the MTV VMAs ... because Kylie Jenner just wore it a couple weeks ago.

Chyna opted for a hot pink feathered mini dress for the awards show Monday night, which would normally be no biggie ... except for the fact Kylie rocked the exact same dress during her 22nd birthday trip.

As you know ... Chyna and the Kardashian/Jenner crew don't get along too well. There's a lot of bad blood stemming from her soured relationship with Rob, sharing an ex with Kylie, and oh yeah ... Chyna's suing the entire family.

So, ya gotta think they won't be tickled pink with her attempt to one up Kylie in a duplicate strapless frock, which BTW ... goes for about $4,600 by Attico.

Still, we gotta ask ...