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Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli have a secret weapon in their college admissions criminal case -- the former head of the USC athletics department, who made it clear during his tenure -- the school gave him a clear directive to raise money, and lots of it.

As we reported, our sources say Lori and Mossimo will NOT enter a plea bargain ... they are determined to win at trial. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, one of the key witnesses could be former Athletic Director Pat Haden, who is on video from 2011 talking about his mission from the University to fundraise.

We're told at its core Lori and Mossimo's defense is that they did NOT bribe the former Senior Associate Athletic Director Donna Heinel, something the U.S. Attorney disputes. Thing is ... we found out Mossimo did indeed send Heinel a check for $50,000 but it could not have been a bribe because the payee was USC. That money was sent at the direction of the ringleader, Rick Singer.

Singer also told Mossimo to give him a check for $200,000, to help fund one of Singer's charities. Again, not a bribe.

The U.S. Attorney says the smoking gun is that Heinel received $20,000 a month from Rick Singer, which prosecutors say is proof of a bribe. The thing about this ... both of Lori's daughters were accepted BEFORE Heinel received a penny, and our sources say that money was sent to her only by Singer and for various things Heinel did for several families. But, Lori and Mossimo's position is that whatever Singer did in terms of paying money, he did on his own.

Cops are at R. Kelly's pad in Chicago because his 2 girlfriends got into a brawl ... and it was all on camera.

TMZ has learned Chicago PD responded to a reported battery at Kelly's Trump Tower condo shortly after Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage came to blows. Azriel was on Instagram Live Wednesday afternoon as she appeared to be gathering her things to move out of the condo -- and when Joycelyn came in the room both women went off on each other.

Azriel said she was looking out for herself, and then threatened to send Joycelyn to jail for the very thing Kelly's facing ... having sex with a minor. Azriel claimed she was a minor when she had sex with Joycelyn -- perhaps in a threesome with Kelly -- and said she'd report Joycelyn to cops.

The body of a 21-year-old college soccer player was found being devoured by sharks in Western Australia ... after the man went missing in the ocean last week.

Rising star Eric Birighitti -- from Perth, Australia -- was a stand-out player for Hastings College in Nebraska and won a national title with the team in 2016.

Birighitti was at Twilight Beach near Esperance last Thursday when he was swept into the ocean by a swell. Friends tried to save him with a life preserver ... but the current was too strong.

The man's body was discovered on Tuesday when the sharks were spotted attacking the corpse in the water, witnesses tell to 9 News Perth.

"My sister and my father saw the sharks attacking the body. And it was quite a big one, they say," the witness told the outlet.

Birighitti's college team released a statement on his death, saying, "The Broncos family are saddened to hear about the sudden passing of Eric Birighitti."

"Eric played for Hastings during the 2016 & 2017 season and won a national title with the team."

Happy birthday, Kate Middleton -- and for your gift ... a bright, shiny box of REALLY CRAPPY TIMING!!! Enjoy it.

The Duchess of Cambridge's dour face said it all as she pulled into Kensington Palace Thursday. Yes, it's her 38th birthday, but no one in the royal family's in the mood for cake due to her bro-in-law, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle, deciding to rock the royal boat one day earlier.

According to multiple reports, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Prince William are royally pissed off at Harry and Meg for going public with their plans to pull out of their Senior Royal duties and move, at least part-time, to Canada.

Word is QE2 told Harry to hold off on the announcement, but he defied Grandma ... and now there's talk he and Meghan could face some sort of punishment.

Meanwhile, poor Kate's like ... umm, it's my birth -- oh, never mind.

Hey, at least she looks happy in the official Instagram bday shot. That's something, right?

Fact is, Prince William and Prince Harry were already on the outs -- allegedly because Wills wasn't down with his decision to get married.

Now, William's gotta pull his wife's bday celebration out of Harry's fire?? Good times.

Brad Pitt opened up about his sobriety in a surprise way ... by crediting Bradley Cooper for helping him get there after his pal presented him an award.

Brad won Best Supporting Actor at the National Board of Review Annual Awards Gala on Wednesday night, and after being handed the award and hugging it out, he praised Bradley in his speech for being a great dad ... and a great friend.

Pitt said Cooper rushed to the event after putting his daughter to bed, called him a sweetheart, then added ... "I got sober because of this guy, and every day has been happier ever since."

Alex Trebek says he's gotten super close with Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer over the years ... and having them back on "Jeopardy!" feels like a family reunion.

The beloved game show host joined us for "TMZ Live" and told us he's enjoying the hell outta hosting the greatest "Jeopardy!" contestants of all time. Alex says they've got an incredibly strong bond, forged during their long runs on the show.

If you've tuned in to the tournament of champions, you've probably noticed how much fun Alex has been having. It's been a trying 10 months for Trebek, who's battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer, but he tells us he's really enjoying this special competition.

Alex says he's still hanging in there in his fight against cancer ... he has his good days and bad, but it seems this reunion of sorts is really lifting his spirits. Really puts a smile on your face.

Kim Kardashian West got roped into an online food fight ... and responded by laying a plant-based smackdown on everybody.

Kim clapped back at all the internet trolls who mocked her for having an "empty" refrigerator and questioning how she could feed her 4 kids ... with a full tour of her MULTIPLE fridges and pantries in her home.

In the video, Kim starts by showing off a gigantic pantry loaded with jars of food, including a separate section for sprinkles for her frozen yogurt ... which goes well with the frozen yogurt machine she has tucked away.

Then Kim shows off the refrigerator that started all the commotion with fans (and haters), which contains various waters and milks ... but not any food. Turns out, it's because it's just her beverage fridge.

Kim's tour moves to her kitchen, where she reveals she does, in fact, have a lot of food for the family ... in a giant WALK-IN refrigerator. That one is loaded with fresh organic produce, more drinks, condiments and already-prepped meals for her and the kids.

So yeah ... nobody's going hungry in the Kardashian West household.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says what's happening in Australia shows the compounding effects of climate change ... and it has young people -- including her -- stressed about their future ... even giving them pause to have children of their own.

We got AOC on Capitol Hill Wednesday night and she touched on Australia's "horrifying" wildfires, telling us, it's just the latest example of climate change becoming an all-out crisis before our eyes.

The Congresswoman says we should all be working toward a remedy for the future, but obviously ... it's more important to younger people who will be living in this world longer. As she points out -- the stakes are higher the younger you are.

AOC adds people her age are anxious about having children due to looming threat of climate change ... and it shouldn't be like that. She says we have to take immediate steps to make the future safe for our kids.

Jamie Foxx is a dancing machine who also knows how to quickly turn off the switch ... especially when it comes time to explain why his new film is the most important one he's ever worked on.

We got the actor out Wednesday night leaving Avra in Bev Hills ... where Jamie did battle with a fan on a makeshift dance floor. We'll call it a tie cause both got down pretty well.

When that ended ... Jamie told our guy about "Just Mercy" ... and how his dad's own experience in the legal system and prison over a petty, $25 drug offense provided both inspiration and validation over the project.

Jamie's got nothing but love for crusading lawyer Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and whose 2014 memoir is the basis of the critically-acclaimed film starring Jamie and Michael B. Jordan.

The United States conflict with Iran has had Americans freaked the f**k out lately -- and, accordingly, they've been looking far and wide to burrow themselves underground.

TMZ spoke with some of the best bunker retailers in the biz, and wouldn't you know it ... they say their sales and window shoppers have gone through the roof over the past week or so as missiles and nuke threats have been flying back and forth in the Middle East.

Let's start with Rising S -- which hawks pretty pricey shelters, ranging from $45k to a whopping $1 million. They tell us bunkers have been selling like hotcakes since Trump took out Gen. Soleimani. RS says they've sold 17 bomb shelters since then. A recent uptick of 150%.

Pat Sajak and Alex Trebek are in the same fam -- 'Wheel' and 'Jeopardy' are produced by the same company -- but they have very different end-of-game outlooks.

We got Pat, along with the permanent and temp letter turners, Vanna White and Pat's daughter, Maggie, Thursday night in WeHo leaving Craig's, and we asked the longtime host who he'd want to replace him when he hangs it up.

Pat's answer ... way different from Alex's. Harvey interviewed Trebek a while ago for the show, "OBJECTified," and Alex had 2 favorite replacement hosts -- L.A. Kings announcer Alex Faust and CNN legal analyst Laura Coates.

Seems Pat isn't keeping up with the awesome 'Jeopardy' G.O.A.T. tourney ... but he has love for Alex.

Adam Sandler got downright serious as he told us about bombing on stage in his early days.

Adam was at the National Board Review Gala Wednesday night in NYC and revealed what fueled his drive to be a successful stand-up comedian ... despite crashing and burning on the Sunset Strip.

The Grammy-nominated comedian says when he was a kid trying to make it, there was a 50-50 chance the friends he'd invite to come watch him would leave saying "Adam sucks."

The struggle was real ... he says it happened for 3 solid years. Adam ultimately found his footing ... and it was comedian Dennis Miller who discovered Adam in WeHo at the Comedy Club. Dennis, BTW, is the one who recommended Adam to 'SNL' honcho Lorne Michaels ... and the rest was history.

Adam also talked about Eddie Murphy's comeback to stand-up comedy ... saying he's confident it's only a matter of time until Eddie makes his triumphant return to stand-up.

Rae Sremmurd's mother says her son who's been accused of murdering his father and her ex-husband suffers from a mental illness requiring medication ... which she claims he's been off of as of late.

Bernadette Walker tells us her 19-year-old son, Michael Sullivan, deals with Schizoaffective disorder ... which lends to schizophrenia, as well as symptoms including hallucinations, delusions and mood disorders, such as mania and depression.

She says Michael was living with her in Atlanta until this past November, when she says he stopped taking his meds, leading to outbursts of anger that became more frequent. Bernadette tells us Michael eventually went to live with his dad, Floyd, in Mississippi.

Some of Travis Barker's former rides are hitting the auction block ... and you can bump his tunes in a vintage Caddy or Chevy ... if you're ready to break the bank!!!

Sources close to the Blink-182 drummer tell us he's decided it's out with the old and in with some new whips, so he's partnering with Barrett-Jackson to auction off 3 cars -- a 1941 Cadillac 62 Series Convertible, plus a 1960 Cadillac Coupe Deville and a 1972 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.

Our sources believe the convertible could fetch up to $100,000 ... and the souped-up Chevy could hit a whopping $200K. Ya better have some deep, deep pockets!!!

Travis is an avid car collector, but we're told he's moving his professional life into a new space -- the warehouse he recently bought in SoCal will house his car collection, clothing brands and new record label, DTA Records -- and he wants to sell these rides to make room for new ones.

Travis is a HUGE fan of Caddys ... he's got at least 2 Cadillac tattoos, including an emblem on his chest and a Cadillac script down his rib cage which took 12 hours to create.

The Astros' and Red Sox's cheating scandals are much ado about nothing ... so says Pete Rose, who tells TMZ Sports sign stealing ain't that big of a deal at all.

The MLB legend says back when he was playing ... he NEVER got an advantage by stealing signs -- saying he was always worried the guy reading the catcher would be wrong.

"He might not have the signs -- he might tell you wrong," Rose says. "Now, if you're looking for a low-and-away breaking ball, and the guy throws an up-and-in fastball, you just got one off the kisser."

Of course, the Astros' and the Red Sox's alleged schemes were reportedly much more accurate than a dude standing on 2nd base relaying catchers' signals ... but Rose still says he doesn't care.

In fact, Pete tells us if players were that concerned about it all ... they should just take matters into their own hands and start beaming guys they think are cheating!!!

This kid recently made huge headlines for his massive biceps and shredded bod. But, before all of that, he was just a kid who grew up in Pakistan and was inspired by Hugh Grant to do comedy.

He moved to the U.S. at 18 and attended Grinnell College in Iowa where he graduated with a double major in computer science and philosophy. Impressive, for sure ... but acting, writing and producing are what burst him to fame.

He starred in "The Big Sick" and he, along with his wife, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He's also starred in the HBO hit series "Silicon Valley."