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DaBaby taketh, and DaBaby giveth right back -- at least that's what one ecstatic fan learned when she ran into him at a gas station and freaked the hell out.

Alexandria Coleman tells TMZ ... the rapper hooked her and her friends up with free tickets to a makeup show -- one they kinda got the shaft on, originally.

Long story short, Alexandria says she was supposed to catch DaBaby in D.C. last weekend, but because of his 'SNL' appearance, it got bumped to Sunday night -- which sold out before she could score seats.

So, how's this for a stroke of luck? Alexandria ran into DB by total chance at a gas station as she was driving from D.C. back to Albany, NY. The run-in went kinda as you'd expect -- panicked, but also gleeful.

DaBaby and his team -- whom we're told were already recording some shenanigans -- noticed her pure excitement, and captured most of it on camera. You gotta see the moment they finally came face-to-face in an aisle ... and he ended up cradled in her arms.

They don't call him DaBaby for nothin'.

Alexandria tells us his team promised to get them into the sold-out D.C. show -- and come the day of the show, we're told he snuck them in through the back for the best seats in the house.

Juice WRLD's 2018 arrest at LaGuardia Airport had nothing to do with racial profiling -- so say law enforcement sources ... who claim it was a standard luggage check that led to his bust.

We broke the story ... the late rapper's friends are pissed because they believe his history of run-ins with cops at airports -- like the LaGuardia arrest -- show he was targeted, and they think it's simply because he's a rich, young, black man.

However, law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Juice checked his bag at the NYC airport last year and it was put on a carousel at the ticket counter to go through the jumbo x-ray machine -- just like all the other checked luggage.

We're told JW's bag triggered an anti-terrorism alarm signaling organic materials were potentially inside ... which can be used to make bombs.

So, TSA conducted a search of the bag, but instead of discovering bomb-making ingredients ... agents allegedly found marijuana and bottles of codeine and notified law enforcement, which we're told is standard procedure.

Our sources say cops then searched the bag, confirmed it contained more than 2 ounces of marijuana and codeine and was Juice WRLD's luggage. We're told the rapper had already boarded his Southwest flight by that time, but cops got to him before it took off ... and arrested him once he admitted the bag and contents inside were his.

Pro hockey player Akim Aliu tells TMZ Sports the racism he was forced to endure over the years held him back from reaching his full potential ... and the proof is in the racist pictures.

You're looking at pics of Aliu at the 2011 Halloween party for the Colorado Eagles -- which, at the time, was the minor league affiliate for the Winnipeg Jets.

Aliu says when he arrived to the party, he was greeted by the team's equipment manager Tony Deynzer, who was dressed up as Aliu in blackface -- complete with a custom jersey sporting Aliu's nickname, "Dreamer."

"The hardest thing about that ... just how much planning went into that," Aliu tells us.

"He got my jersey made, so that means this was planned in advance."

Aliu says people at the party laughed at him -- and his instinct was to raise hell and cause a scene -- but he was new to the club and there were families at the party "so I tried to play it off as cool as possible."

A short time later, Aliu says he demanded to be traded to another club.

It's just one of the MANY examples of racism black players at all levels of hockey have been forced to deal with. Aliu recently made headlines after revealing NHL coach Bill Peters hurled the n-word during a locker room rant back in the day.

"It's been a tough road and obviously I’ve bumped into a lot of barriers with racism and discrimination," Aliu says.

"People don’t really understand how bad it is unless you’re on the inside of the hockey world, inside the hockey establishment. I’ve dealt with a lot. I think my career has faltered because of that."

Now, 30-year-old Aliu says he wants to help fix the racism issues affecting the sport he loves.

"I think there’s still been failure to agree to the fact that we have a systematic problem in the National Hockey League and in hockey in general. From grassroots, from Tykes to all the way up to the professional rank."

"I think [hockey officials] need to come together with minorities and people that have been affected by these issues, and talk to them, and get together and say, 'Hey, what did you guys experience? How do you feel about what’s going on? How do you feel about moving forward? What ideas do you have moving forward for us?"

Massachusetts-born Amerie (real name Amerie Mi Marie Rogers) was only 25 years old when she became a huge star after her R&B album, "Touch," landed in the top 10 of the Billboard charts and the super catchy single, "1 Thing," spread like wildfire on the ears of the world.

During her music career Amerie works with a monster list of A-list artists including Jay-Z, Eve, Lil Wayne, Nas, Trey Songz, Fabolous, Usher ... and many more.

Amerie -- now a mother -- will be turning the big 4-0 next month!

Tekashi 6ix9ine is pretty much on his knees begging a judge to give him a lighter sentence and a second lease on life -- writing hizzoner a super apologetic note in his words.

The incarcerated MC submitted a personal letter that's attributed to him under his government name -- Daniel Hernandez -- and he sounds incredibly regretful of his past actions ahead of his sentencing next week in front of Judge Paul Engelmayer.

In his letter, Tekashi writes ... "As my sentencing date approaches, I am becoming more and more overwhelmed with emotions. More than anything, I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to express my remorse to you, your Honor, over this situation."

He goes on to say while there's no excuse for his past crimes, he'd still like to apologize and be given the opportunity to turn his life around with a fresh start ... as he's seen the light.

Tekashi69 says, "I know that my life will never be the same but hopefully this change will be for the better because beyond all of this, I still consider myself a role model to millions of people as an artist, a celebrity and as a human being. I'm happy that the public was able to witness me dealing with the consequences of my actions because I feel like it sheds a light on what can come from gang affiliation." He says he knows this was God's plan all along.

6ix9ine continues by disavowing his former gang ties, recounting his kidnapping and declaring definitively that he was seen the error of his ways. He writes, "I now know that I am remorseful for what happened because I was blessed with the gift of an opportunity that most people dream of but I squandered it by getting involved with the wrong people and misrepresenting myself when I should have been true to myself and my fans."

He finishes by writing, "I'm truly sorry for the harm that I've caused. If given a second chance, I will not let this Court down and I will dedicate a portion of my life to helping others not make the same mistakes that I've made."

Of course, prosecutors have already submitted their own request for a lighter sentence in Tekashi 6ix9ine's RICO case ... telling the judge he was a great snitch and helped them seal convictions.

Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy's youngest daughter is going to college -- and kinda rubbing it in the face of her older sis, who's still undeclared after Mom's admissions scandal.

17-year-old Georgia Macy just updated her Instagram to say she's a future Vassar College student -- with her graduation year pegged as 2024. She also added a big ol' "VASSAR" logo to her IG story ... so it's pretty clear she is celebrating big-time.

Now, Georgia isn't the kid who got roped into the college admissions scandal earlier this year -- that was Felicity and Will's other daughter, Sophia Macy ... who's 19.

According to prosecutors, she was the one Felicity shelled out $15k to have her SAT test fixed to make sure she got a good score. Of course, Felicity pled guilty and did her time, brief though it was.

Since then, Sophia hasn't announced she's enrolled anywhere.

We have seen Sophia hitting the books lately, which could mean she's ramping up for a second shot at college. AKA ... the ol' college try.

For now ... congrats, Georgia!

Juice WRLD will be getting multiple shout-outs at the music festival where he was supposed to perform this weekend -- and they'll be coming from 3 of his closest friends in the biz.

Sources familiar with the plans tell TMZ ... Lil Pump, Lil Mosey and Tyla Yaweh are all planning to pay tribute to Juice during their sets at Rolling Loud Los Angeles. They're all scheduled to perform Saturday.

Juice himself was supposed to be taking the stage as well -- in fact, he was one of the bigger names headlining Saturday's show.

We're told Pump's tribute will involve performing some of Juice's songs and/or displaying a video of him behind the stage at Banc of California Stadium. It's still unclear what the other artists will do to honor their friend.

Aside from those 3 we know about ... it's a safe bet several other artists will have something to say about Juice when they get on the mic.

Post Malone's already racking up hit songs and awards, but now he can hang his cowboy hat on something else -- getting shot at in a movie by a huge action star.

The "Circles" singer is getting deeper into the acting world, starring opposite none other than Jason Statham. Based on these pics from the set it looks like Jason's a cop trying to take down Posty.

They were filming Wednesday in L.A. on the set of a film directed by Guy Ritchie. Josh Hartnett also stars in the flick. This scene looked like a real run-and-gun shootout between Post and Jason.

The movie's plot follows a "cold and mysterious character working at a cash truck company" ... and it looks like Post's character has made the bold decision to mess with him.

This isn't Post's first acting role -- he's set to make his debut alongside Mark Wahlberg in the upcoming Netflix movie, "Wonderland." He also has a voice credit in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," which he also contributed to with his hit song "Sunflower."

Post and Swae Lee just performed the soundtrack hit at GQ's after-party last week, and he got pretty sentimental about it.

R. Kelly's ex-wife is out to make it known she has nothing to do with the second installment of the 'Surviving' docuseries ... and has a list of reasons why she declined to participate.

Drea Kelly says the new official trailer for "Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning" is misleading to audiences ... because it makes it looks like she was involved.

That's because the trailer shows a clip of Drea from the original 'Surviving' docuseries that aired in early 2019 -- in which she had a substantial role -- and she's not happy about it.

Drea says she's been adamant about refusing to be part of the follow-up, but despite her requests to not be linked to it ... Lifetime did it anyway.

She says she got a lot of negative backlash from the public after the series aired, but on top of that, she has many grievances with the network and production company. She says her requests to not contact her kids and family members about 'Part II' were ignored, and there has been a general lack of support, security and aftercare for survivors who participated.

Drea says she wants to reiterate -- "she has no involvement, did not approve any footage or stills of her likeness and is not actively promoting, nor consulting the follow-up series."

It's interesting because another notable person is featured in the new trailer -- Kelly accuser, Lisa Van Allen. However, she also told us herself she has nothing to do with 'Surviving Part II' because she's not pleased with how Lifetime has been handling the subject matter.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the league is conducting a thorough investigation into the New England Patriots to see if they used a video crew to try and cheat.

"Obviously it’s under review," Goodell said to the media while in Dallas ... "We're gonna be thorough and we're gonna get all the facts and we'll go from there."

Goodell was also asked if the Patriots' history of using illegal surveillance -- aka the 2007 Spygate scandal -- would factor in to the investigation.

"Of course that’s a factor. The key things are the new information that we have. That [old] information we obviously already have. But, I think the issue is what information do we have from this incident?"

As we previously reported, the Cincinnati Bengals told the NFL a Patriots staffer was illegally shooting video of their sidelines during a game. The Patriots admitted wrongdoing but insist it was a mistake and not intentional. The team is adamant they did NOT cheat.

There was A LOT more during the media event ... Goodell was also asked about Colin Kaepernick and Antonio Brown.

When asked about the Colin Kaepernick workout, Goodell said -- "It was about opportunity, a credible opportunity. He chose not to take it, and I understand that."

Colin famously backed out of the Nov. 16 workout -- organized by the NFL -- over a dispute regarding media access and the legal language on the workout injury waiver.

Instead, Kaepernick held his own workout at a nearby high school and called for interested teams to hit up his agent. So far, he's still unsigned.

As for Antonio Brown ... Goodell was questioned about the league investigation into sexual assault and harassment claims against the WR.

Goodell says his investigators DID meet with Antonio but "they have more work to do."

"They're following up on that and I'll get an update when they have more information."

Saucy Santana says the goons who shot him and his friends in a drive-by might be from the same strip club where he was pulling girls away from straight dudes.

We talked to the rapper Wednesday while he was still in his hospital gown ... just a few hours after he and 2 pals were shot in Miami following a late night at a gentleman's club called The Office. Santana makes no bones about it, he thinks this was homophobic retaliation.

Check out his rationale ... Santana, who is openly gay, tells us he believes guys he'd seen at the club were pissed because he and his crew were getting all the love from female strippers.

He posted video of himself partying it up, and he certainly wasn't shying away from the spotlight there ... even doing a little twerking himself. He says he was just having a good time and tipping the dancers, but he believes straight guys there didn't appreciate it one bit.

Fast-forward to around 4 AM ET ... and Santana's friend's Honda was riddled with bullets. A rep for the Florida Highway Patrol tells us a white Chevy sedan pulled up alongside them and opened fire with 6 to 7 shots.

Santana and one pal were shot in the arm, and the third friend was hit in the hand. All of them were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

How does someone with such talented thumbs BUTCHER a sandwich so badly?!?

That's the question we've got for Ninja whose attempt to make a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich was as pathetic as a 40-year-old trying to play "Fortnite" for the first time.

Ninja -- real name Tyler Blevins -- teamed up with Bon Appetit food director Carla Lalli Music for a YouTube segment about cooking without visual aids.

He tried hard ... but Tyler couldn't figure out how to properly slice the bread and then cut the avocado STRAIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE THROUGH THE PIT LIKE A PSYCHOPATH!!!

The craziest part, Ninja actually has real restaurant experience ... he worked at Noodles & Company where he prepped noodles for 3 years!

In the end, Ninja managed to put together an edible sandwich ... and despite the avo mishap, it actually looked sorta delicious.

Harvey Weinstein's long battle with his accusers appears to be winding down, he's reached a tentative $25 million settlement with dozens of his alleged victims ... TMZ has confirmed.

The deal, struck Wednesday, means the disgraced studio mogul will NOT be required to admit any wrongdoing or pay anything to his accusers himself. Insurance companies repping The Weinstein Company will shell out the full amount.

More than 30 women accused Weinstein of a variety of allegations ... ranging from sexual harassment to rape. The alleged victims -- from actresses and former employees -- will share the payout ... with 18 alleged victims splitting $6.2 million and no individual getting more than $500k. There's a separate chunk -- $18.5 million -- that'll be set aside for those in a class-action case and future claimants.

The total payout is actually $47 million ... with a huge chunk covering legal costs. The settlement means that all civil suits against Weinstein and The Weinstein Company will also get dismissed. The New York Times was first to report the story.

Genie Harrison, a lawyer for one of the victims, told The NYT,  "I don’t think there’s a markedly better deal to be made. We have really, truly done the best we can under the circumstances, and it’s important for other victims to know this, come forward and be able to get the best level of compensation we were able to get.”

A$AP Rocky is back in the land of milk and honey -- where he was once jailed for weeks on end -- and despite some stormy weather, he's having a blast with locals this time around.

Flacko was seen leaving his hotel in Stockholm Wednesday a few hours before he's set to take the stage at the Ericsson Globe arena. A$AP had one of his handlers holding an umbrella, but he's hardly trying to go incognito.

This is the first time Rocky's been back in Sweden since he was released from custody in August, during his assault trial ... and he's spending a lot of time in "the slums" ... his words. He'd told us he wanted to go to an area known as the "no go zone" to spend time with underprivileged fans -- and he's true to word.

You'll recall ... A$AP also wanted to go back to the prison where he was held for a month to perform for the inmates. Prison officials seemed open to it at first -- but he got shot down at the last second, when he finally submitted a formal request.

Sweden's Prison and Probation Service cited overcrowding at their facility and other security and logistical concerns for not accommodating the rapper.

All good though ... he's gonna do his own thing across the way in front of folks who love him. No harm, no foul.

Boxing legend Leon Spinks -- who famously beat Muhammad Ali in 1978 -- is fighting for his life in a Vegas hospital, TMZ Sports has learned ... and his wife is asking for prayers.

Details surrounding the 66-year-old's condition are unclear -- but we know his family and friends are very concerned.

In fact, Leon's wife, Brenda, went to social media saying, "Reaching out to ask you to kindly send some prayers out for my Beautiful Husband Leon so that he may overcome the obstacles that have crossed his path."

Spinks has fought back from serious medical situations in the past -- he was hospitalized in 2014 after a piece of bone from a chicken wing caused major damage to his intestines.

The boxer underwent several surgeries and spent weeks recovering at a rehabilitation center.

Spinks is a boxing legend -- he was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame in 2017.

His 1978 victory over Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight championship of the world is widely considered one of the greatest upsets in boxing history.

Spinks is also a military veteran who served in the U.S. Marines from 1973 to 1976.

Pro golfer Tommy Gainey -- famously known as Tommy "Two Gloves" -- was arrested in a major prostitution sting in Florida ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The 44-year-old was 1 of 124 people busted in an undercover investigation in Polk County, Florida dubbed, "Operation Santa's Naughty List."

According to officials, Gainey was arrested for soliciting a prostitute -- and is facing a 1st-degree misdemeanor solicitation charge.

The sting op was a 6-day investigation using undercover detectives to target prostitution, human trafficking and child predators.

Cops say they used Internet advertisements to arrange meetings between the detectives and suspects.

Officials presented a "Naughty List" showing all 124 people arrested -- Gainey is on the board.

Jail records show Gainey was booked on Dec. 8 and was released on Dec. 9 after posting bail.

Sheriff Grady Judd explained the situation moments ago ...

"He's married. He told us he was here for a charity golf event and it was supposed to be in the next morning tee off. He didn't make it. He was a scratch."

Judd added, "We charged him with soliciting. He missed his tee time the next morning."

Gainey has been a pro golfer since 1997 and joined the PGA Tour in 2008, where he gained notoriety for wearing gloves on both hands, unusual in the sport.

He's never won a major tourney but he's become a fan favorite for the way he dresses and plays -- in particular, he has a unique swing.

Gainey has had major sponsors over the years -- from Under Armour to Adams Golf and A.O. Smith.