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The U.S. Mint's decision to put the American Samoan fruit bat on the back of 2020 quarters probably seemed perfectly innocent ... pre-coronavirus, but now it's kinda creepy.

Here's the deal ... the 2020 quarter, which was put into circulation in February, honors America's Pacific Island territory, and features a cheerful-looking mama fruit bat and her pup hanging upside down.

The National Park of American Samoa is home to the species ... hence the currency shout-out. Only problem is we're all a bit freaked out about bats, considering one widely held scientific belief that the virus jumped to humans from bats sold in Wuhan's wet markets.

Before its release, the U.S. Mint said ... "The image evokes the remarkable care and energy that this species puts into their offspring. The design is intended to promote awareness to the species’ threatened status due to habitat loss and commercial hunting."

Blah, blah, blah ... y'know everyone just see bats and thinks pandemic.

The odd timing of the bat quarter's release is already fueling the conspiracy theory that the government plotted the COVID-19 outbreak.

For those who choose to believe that keep this piece of scientific fact in mind -- the Samoan fruit bats live far, far away from Wuhan's wet markets.

Carole Baskin wants to be a cool cat and kitten herself, so she submitted a clip for Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande's new music vid ... but she didn't make the final cut.

Here's the deal ... Justin and Ariana have a new music video for their quarantine-themed song, "Stuck With U," dropping tonight, and they've been asking for fan submissions to be included in the vid.

Carole and her husband sent one in, dancing to the tune with their cat and wearing animal print robes. Justin shared it on social media to promote his video, but that's as far as she's getting.

Sources close to JB tell TMZ ... Justin and Ariana will NOT be using Carole's submission in the final cut.

Carole Baskin tells TMZ ... some of Justin's friends asked if they would submit a clip for the music video, so she and Howard dressed up in their old Fur Ball gala outfits and filmed a dance with their cat, Pearlie.

Missing the final cut is news to Carole ... she says they weren't told one way or another if they made the cut, but she's happy Justin shared it with his followers and she hopes "it doesn't attract too many of the haters who have been bashing us since being misled by 'Tiger King.'"

Ariana perhaps summed up the whole thing best ... "for the record, I did not allow or approve this clip to be in the actual video. but. nonetheless. it exists and that's ..... unique."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are doing L.A. the right way, because there are few homes more spectacular than Tyler Perry's, and the entertainment mogul has opened his house up to the wayward couple.

Harry, Meghan and Archie have been staying at Tyler's $18+ million mansion in a super-exclusive gated community.

Tyler's home sits in Beverly Ridge Estates, which is riddled with celebs. The Tuscan-style home is insanely spacious -- 8 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and pretty much every bell and whistle you can imagine. The Daily Mail first reported the story.

It's interesting ... the common connection between Harry/Meghan and Tyler seems to be Oprah. She's doing a mental health doc with Harry and could have forged the invite. BTW, Tyler's son's room is filled with a trunk of children's books from O herself, so Archie will enjoy some light reading.

We saw inside Tyler's house -- filming an episode of "Objectified," so check out the vid and you'll get a sense of the mansion.

As we reported, our sources say Meg and Harry are on the hunt for their own crib ... price range somewhere in the $12-15 million market.

Dog the Bounty Hunter feels blessed to have a new woman he wants to marry, and while shared grief brought them together ... they're working through the pain together.

ICYMI, the reality TV star recently got engaged to Francie Frane, who he tells us is a Colorado rancher who lost her husband to cancer around the time he lost his wife, Beth Chapman, to cancer as well.

It's no secret Dog's had a hard time getting over Beth's passing, but Thursday on "TMZ Live" he said he and Francie talk about Beth -- helping him grieve in a healthier way, and he consoles Francie too.

Just as importantly, he tells us his new wife-to-be helps him "man up" and do his job the way it needs to be done.

As an added bonus ... Dog's family is fully on board with his new relationship, which wasn't so much the case when he proposed to Moon Angell. He told us his super protective daughters love Francie.

Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez are callin' it -- reportedly ending their pursuit to buy the NY Mets after it became clear they were way too far apart on price.

As we previously reported, the power couple was looking for investors to buy the team for somewhere around $1.5 billion.

The current owners, the Wilpon family, were looking for something closer to $2.5 bil.

J-Rod had reportedly teamed up with billionaire investor Wayne Rothbaum to make a run at the team -- but there were 2 major snags in negotiations, according to the NY Post.

First, the price ... Rothbaum was hoping to get the team for a cool $1 BILLION.

How, you ask? The $2.6 billion valuation accounts for the team's stake in the SNY cable network (the primary local broadcaster of Mets games). Rothbaum reportedly has no interest in the network and feels the team is worth significantly less without it.

Plus, due to the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on MLB, he thought he could get the team at a "fire sale" price.

The other issue ... Rothbaum reportedly wanted more control over the team than Alex and Jennifer were willing to give up.

Our sources told us Alex feels there's tremendous upside in buying the Mets -- and saw it as a huge business opportunity -- but for now, it just ain't working out.

Ben Affleck doesn't need silly things like house keys or a gate code to get into his home ... as long as he's got his limbs and agility, he'll be just fine.

Ben had to channel his inner 'Batman' -- sorry for the bad memory -- when he arrived home Thursday following a dog walk with GF Ana de Armas, only to find they were locked out ... so he scaled the security fence and saved the day.

Check out the gallery ... it's not every day you see a huge celeb breaking into his own home.

Ben shimmied up the gate with relative ease, then hopped down on the other side and stuck the landing like a Russian gymnast. Ta-da!!!

Next thing you know, Ben's opening the door from the inside like a gentleman, and whisking Ana and the pups back inside.

Moments before Ahmaud Arbery was shot, someone called 911, claiming they'd seen the young man running down the street after allegedly looking into a house under construction.

It's unclear who the male caller is, but he said he was watching a black male in a white t-shirt looking into the home. The caller claimed, "He's been caught on camera a bunch before at night. It's kind of an ongoing thing out here."

There had allegedly been a series of break-ins in the Brunswick, GA neighborhood prior to the February 23 shooting. The caller said, "He's running right now. There he goes right now" ... and the 911 dispatcher said she was sending police to the scene.

A second call was made to 911, apparently by Gregory McMichael ... the father of Travis McMichael, the man who confronted Ahmaud with a shotgun. The elder McMichael was out of breath during the call, and told the operator there was a "black male running down the street."

Gregory then yelled, apparently to his son, "Stop that damn it, stop! Travis!!"

It's unclear if the second call was made before or after the fatal shots that took 25-year-old Ahmaud's life.

As we reported, video of the incident shows the McMichaels in a white pickup truck blocking the road down which Ahmaud was running. That's what led to the confrontation and a brief wrestling match between Travis and Ahmaud. Seconds later, at least 2 shots were fired and Ahmaud fell to the ground. He died from the gunshot wounds.

The Arbery family attorney, Lee Merritt, told us a third man was involved in chasing down Ahmaud -- he says the person recording the video was trailing the chase in his own vehicle ... allegedly to block Ahmaud from escaping.

Neither of the McMichaels have been arrested or charged in Ahmaud's death. The release of the video this week has sparked national outrage and demonstrations.

"The tournament had to be in Florida after Tom's [breaking and entering] arrest. With the ankle monitor, he couldn't leave the state."

Peyton Manning just ROASTED Tom Brady over his bungled April visit to Byron Leftwich's house ... and seriously, the clip is the funniest thing you'll see all day!!

Manning, Brady, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson all joined Ernie Johnson on Thursday to preview their charity golf match set for May 24 in Hobe Sound, Fla. ... and it didn't take long for the zingers to start flying.

Brady hit Manning with a joke about Archie Manning ... saying, "I actually thought I was going to be Tiger's partner. But then Peyton's dad called and switched the teams."

Funny, right!?!

Manning laughed ... and then dropped a HAMMER on the NFL's G.O.A.T. in return -- deciding to bust Brady's balls for accidentally barging into a Tampa resident's home last month!!

"Tiger and I talked to the sheriff in Tampa," Manning said, "[Tom's] going to be allowed to go to Palm Beach to play."

Of course, Brady took the ribbing in stride ... he cracked up over the jokes -- and even wrote on social media after, "Sorry not sorry..."

Lily Allen seems like she's officially off the market ... because it looks like she's engaged to David Harbour, and she's got the rock to prove it.

Lily stoked engagement rumors once again Thursday, posting a sultry snap to her social media and bragging about her physique ... but a closer look reveals what appears to be an engagement ring, and yes it's on THAT finger.

One of Lily's 1.2 million eagle-eyed Instagram followers straight-up asked her in the comments if she's indeed wearing an engagement ring, and Lily's answer was telling ... she replied, "First rule of engagement club...."

So, there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth.

The Grammy-nominated singer and "Stranger Things" star are notoriously private about their relationship ... the couple only officially announced they were an item earlier this year after months of dating.

We reached out to reps for both Lily and David to confirm their engagement ... so far, no word back.

But, Lily's picture and comment kinda speak for themselves.

An ex-boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith -- who went to prison for threatening her and assaulting her neighbor -- has been killed in a shooting ... TMZ has learned.

Mark Hatten died Sunday after an incident with another man in Greeleyville, South Carolina turned deadly. It's currently unclear what led up to the shooting.

Hatten, reportedly known as 'Hollywood' in Greeleyville, did have a Hollywood past with Anna Nicole ... but it didn't end well.

According to the famous late Playmate's testimony in 2002, she began dating Hatten in early 2000 and the 2 had a sexual relationship until June 2000, when he allegedly confronted her with a knife in the bedroom of her home.

She broke up with him, but Smith claimed he continued to stalk and threaten her for nearly 2 years afterward. In March 2002, he showed up at her home and assaulted her neighbor when the man asked Hatten to leave.

NFL star Earl Thomas is lucky to be alive after cops say his wife held a loaded gun less than a foot from his head ... after she allegedly caught him cheating with another woman.

It's all spelled out in court documents obtained by TMZ Sports ... detailing a violent April 13 altercation involving the Baltimore Ravens player, Nina Thomas and several other people.

The Austin Police Dept. responded to a home in the Austin, Texas area at 3:41 AM after getting a call about a disturbance.

When cops arrived, they say "we observed that a black female wearing an orange sweater with a knife in her hand, later identified as Nina Thomas, was chasing a shirtless black male, later identified as Earl Thomas, with a pistol in his hand around a vehicle."

Cops drew their weapons and ordered both Nina and Earl to the ground -- and they complied without incident. That's when the investigation began and things got WILD.

Here's Nina's story, according to court docs ...

Nina claims Earl, 30, left their home earlier in the day after an argument over the NFL player's drinking. She claims Earl's brother, Seth Thomas, picked him up.

But, a short time later, she decided to check on his whereabouts by logging into his Snapchat account -- and that's when she says she found video of Earl with another woman.

Nina says she used Earl's Snapchat account to track his location to a nearby Airbnb rental home ... and says she called up two other women to help her confront Earl at the pad. Nina also claims she grabbed Earl's pistol, a 9mm Berreta, in the process with the intention to "scare him."

When the women arrived at the house, they "discovered Earl and Seth naked in bed with other women."

That's when Nina admits she pulled out the gun and put it to Earl's head -- stating "that she took out the magazine thinking that the gun could not fire." But, cops say Nina was "unaware that the gun had a round in the chamber."

Cops say one of the women in the house shot cell phone video of the incident ... which they say shows Nina pointing the gun at Earl's head "from less than a foot away and it can clearly be seen that Nina's finger was on the trigger and the safety is disengaged."

Fortunately for Earl, cops say the Ravens defensive back was able to wrestle the gun away from her.

Cops say the cell phone video also shows Nina striking Earl in the nose before it ends.

Cops also spoke with Earl, who essentially corroborated the story ... adding that Nina repeatedly hit him while he attempted to take the firearm away.

In an interview with Earl's alleged mistress at the scene, she claimed Nina also threatened her and the other woman in the house -- pointing the gun at them and yelling "I got something for all you hoes!"

The woman claims one of Nina's other friends was carrying a knife and swinging it aggressively during the altercation as well.

After speaking with everyone, cops ultimately arrested Nina and both members of her posse. Nina was booked for burglary of a residence with intent to commit aggravated assault with a deadly weapon -- family violence, and later bonded out.

Earl was NOT arrested.

Court records show Nina was also hit with an emergency protective order ... requiring her to stay 200 yards away from Earl and his alleged mistress.

As we previously reported, Earl and Nina were married in an extravagant wedding back in April 2016 ... Russell Wilson and Ciara even attended the ceremony.

Earl is one of the best defensive players in the NFL -- he's a 7-time Pro Bowl defensive back who won Super Bowl XLVIII as a member of the Seattle Seahawks.

Thomas was a key part of Seattle's legendary "Legion of Boom" -- along with Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor.

When contacted by TMZ Sports, Nina's attorney, Jonathan Goins, told us, "I am here to declare that my client unequivocally and categorically denies these allegations and we look forward to our day in court where we can clear her good name."

We also reached out to Earl Thomas for comment before we published the story -- and he released a statement on social media.

"Instead of talking about us, just keep us in y'all prayers," Thomas says. "Stuff like this happens. We try to live the best lives we possibly can. Sometimes it doesn't go as planned."