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Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael -- the white father and son seen on video confronting Ahmaud Arbery and then shooting him -- have been arrested for murder.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations arrested the McMichaels Thursday ... both have been booked into Glynn County Jail for murder and aggravated assault.

Both men had been free since the February 23 incident, but when the video leaked this week there was mounting pressure for them to be arrested. The GBI officially took over the case Thursday from local cops in Brunswick, GA.

The haunting video showed Ahmaud jogging down the street when he was stopped and confronted by the McMichaels. A brief struggle between Travis and Ahmaud took place before gunfire ... and Ahmaud fell to the ground.

A 911 call from that day was also released Thursday. In the call, you can hear who appears to be Gregory McMichael talking to a dispatcher, saying, "He's running right now. There he goes right now."

There were allegations of corruption because the elder McMichael used to be an investigator for the Glynn County D.A.'s Office. After the video came out, the D.A. formally asked the GBI to investigate the now 2-and-a-half-month-old case.

Lori Loughlin just suffered a big blow in her college admissions case ... the judge rejected her claim that prosecutors dealt her dirty by allegedly browbeating the star witness until he screwed her over.

The judge rejected Lori's motion to dismiss her case entirely because of gross misconduct on the part of the team that is prosecuting her. TMZ broke the story ... a government investigator screamed at college admission's scandal ringleader Rick Singer because he kept saying the money Lori and other parents paid was a donation and not a bribe.

The judge didn't buy it, ruling the government did NOT lie.  The judge said the screaming was not to get Singer to lie ... it was simply to get Singer to corroborate what they already knew.

Lori did score a few points when the judge said the government dragged its feet in producing notes revealing the Singer screaming match. The judge said the delay was "irresponsible and misguided," but not willful.

President Donald Trump will be tuned in to UFC 249 on Saturday to get some ideas on how to reopen the rest of the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, so says UFC honcho Dana White.

Of course, Dana and Donald are very close friends who go back decades -- and they talk all the time.

So, with Dana pushing forward with UFC 249 this weekend -- using teams of medical professionals to test all fighters and staffers -- we asked if Trump would be looking at the event as kind of a blueprint.

"Absolutely," White said Friday on "TMZ Live" ... "His whole philosophy was let's get sports back first, figure out how to do that safely. Then let's start figuring out how do you get people back in the office? How do you get people in cubicles? And, then how do you get kids back in school?"

"So, this is something we've been working on and yes, he's absolutely watching what we're doing this weekend."

White says his fighters, their teams and UFC staff have been undergoing multiple testing -- including swabs for COVID-19 -- and plans to keep it up during future events.

"Health and safety is something we worry about every single weekend ... there's gonna be a lot of testing going on here."

White says other sports should follow suit -- but they have to be willing to spend the money ... "it's really expensive."

As for the fights themselves, IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!

Justin Gaethje is fighting Tony Ferguson. Henry Cejudo is fighting Dominick Cruz. And, soooo many more awesome fights!

A super-rare Michael Jordan game-worn Chicago Bulls jersey -- rocked by the G.O.A.T. during his NBA championship-winning '97 season -- is for sale ... and is expected to rake in over a quarter-milli!!

MJ wore the black mesh with red pinstriped Bulls jersey on April 14, 1997 ... when Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the rest of the 1st place Bulls took on Grant Hill's Detroit Pistons.

According to Goldin Auctions -- who's selling His Airness' uni -- it's the only known game-worn jersey from the 1996-1997 season ... where Chicago won their 2 straight titles, and 5th in 7 seasons.

Jordan killed it that year -- averaging 29.6 points per game -- but actually had an off night against the Pistons ... only scoring 18 points in a 108-91 loss.

GA says the one-of-a-kind jersey has been expertly photo-matched ... proving MJ hooped in the Champion brand threads.

BTW, with the hit docu-series "Last Dance" currently airing ... Jordan items are selling for exorbitant prices.

For example, a 1986 MJ rookie card -- 1 of only 312 cards in perfect condition -- just sold for $96,000 at an auction!!

Joe Exotic does everything big, and clearly so does his new, massive legal team, that has produced a Texas-style video asking President Trump for a pardon, saying Joe is not only NOT GUILTY of putting a hit out on Carole Baskin, but he was actually FRAMED.

The video was shot and produced in Ft. Worth, and it features the bus TMZ showed you a few days ago that is wrapped in a plea to spring Joe from the prison, where we're told 1/3 of the inmates now have coronavirus.

The team is led by a super colorful figure -- Eric Love, a P.I. who is now the Lead Investigator and Executive Manager for all things Exotic.

The video makes it clear ... the legal team will attack on all fronts. They are appealing Joe's conviction and asking Trump for a pardon. They're also pursuing a malicious prosecution lawsuit against a bunch of folks involved in the criminal trial.

As we previously reported, there's evidence the alleged hitman had an ax to grind ... he told us his testimony against Joe was "payback" and he wishes he could have done more to hurt Joe. Those are markers of a biased witness.

There's also this ... the prosecutor in the case chose to throw in allegations Joe killed tigers. A lot of people think the prosecution's murder-for-hire case was weak, and the prosecutor threw in tiger-killing allegations just to dirty Joe up so the jury would hate him. Joe's legal team thinks that's a reversible error, as well as unethical.

NFL star Malcolm Jenkins wants justice for murdered Georgia man Ahmaud Arbery -- who would have turned 26 today -- and he's doing his part by going on a jog to show support for Maud's family.

"Happy birthday to Ahmaud Arbery," Jenkins said while out on a 2.23-mile jog ... "Rest in peace, King."

Malcolm's workout is all part of the #RunWithMaud movement -- which is encouraging people to go on a jog to honor Maud -- while his family continues to push for justice.

The 2.23-mile run represents the date Arbery was shot and killed while jogging on Feb. 23.

Two men -- Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory -- have been arrested for the shooting and are facing murder charges.

"Doing my job for you," Jenkins added while encouraging others to follow his lead. "Even though they arrested those two men, we gotta make sure they don't forget his face and that he gets his justice in court."

"Y'all continue to support my brother, uplift his name, show his face, stay diligent. Love y'all."

Ex-NFL wideout Torrey Smith also participated in the run -- saying, "I hate distance running but I hate our justice system and racism more."

Other athletes, including LeBron James, Reggie Bush and more, have voiced their outrage over the incident ... with the Lakers superstar saying, "We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!"

The family of the Indianapolis man gunned down by cops during a live stream says they're distressed by the insensitive comment an officer was heard making on the scene.

Sean Reed's uncle, Tyrell Reed, tells TMZ ... the family's grief was made even worse when they heard someone, reportedly a detective, on the live video say, "it's gonna be a closed casket." The disgusting remark was made moments after Reed was shot, and as police stood over his body.

Sean's uncle says it was already terrible having seen a family member killed on camera, but he added ... laughing cops and the "closed casket" quip will be burned into their minds forever.

The police chief called the remark "unacceptable" and said the unidentified officer would be disciplined.

As we reported ... Sean was shot to death during a police pursuit Wednesday in Indianapolis, and it was all captured on his live stream.

While police say Reed exchanged gunfire with the officer, his father, Jamie, claims the video shows there is no way his son would have been able to shoot at cops.

As for the next step ... Sean's family says they want justice, and they are considering taking legal action against the police.

Comedian and Indy-native Mike Epps spoke out about the killing, and Sean's family says they've been overwhelmed by the groundswell of support both online and in the community.

Two-time NBA champion Shannon Brown was arrested last week ... this after two people claim he fired a gun at them in an open house visit gone VERY wrong.

TMZ Sports has confirmed ... 34-year-old Brown -- who won two titles with Kobe Bryant's Lakers in 2009 and 2010 -- allegedly pulled a firearm on two people in his Georgia home on May 2.

A Tyrone Police Department spokesperson says the alleged victims called at around 9:45 PM ... claiming earlier in the day, Brown had fired rounds at them in a "for sale" home mixup.

The police spokesperson says the two individuals claim they were out searching for houses in the Tyrone, GA area ... when they saw one with a "For Sale" sign on it.

Officers say the individuals entered through an open gate ... and say the two people claim when they got to the door, they were told to come in.

The police spokesperson says once the individuals were inside ... they say Brown confronted them, before ultimately agreeing to let them go.

But, the two say as they were leaving ... Brown fired 5 to 6 shots at them.

The spokesperson says when cops investigated ... they found one shell casing in the area -- and eventually arrested the former NBA player for aggravated assault.

Chris Cornell's widow, Vicky, is threatening members of her late husband's band, accusing them of making a fortune off Chris' back and then viciously attacking her and her kids and screwing them out of what's rightly theirs.

Vicky's lawyer, legal pit bull Marty Singer, fired off a blistering letter to the remaining members of the group, expressing outrage at their latest legal move -- accusing Vicky of stealing money from the Chris Cornell Tribute Concert. Singer says the claim is BS, noting almost 2 million bucks went to charity and overhead was only $43k.

Singer also claims the tribute to Chris lined the pockets of the band members, who demanded reimbursement for expenses. Singer clearly doesn't buy the "expenses" argument.

The demand letter, obtained by TMZ, calls the allegations against Vicky "mean spirited drivel." Singer says band members have tried to "brow-beat her into giving up the rights to her late husband's copyrighted works" by initiating a hate campaign, enlisting "cyber-stalkers and trolls" to harass not only Vicky but her kids.

The letter notes band members have liked defamatory, social media allegations ... like suggesting Vicky operates a brothel from her home and that she "pimped out" her daughter.

Vicky's lawyer succinctly said, "Shame on you and shame on your clients [who] have made millions of dollars off of Chris Cornell's hard work and talent."

The letter ends with a threat of a malicious prosecution lawsuit against not only the band members but their lawyer as well ... that is, unless the band immediately drops its fraud claim against Vicky.

Originally Published -- 6:15 AM PT

He's been sliced and diced more times than a bad guy in a 'Wolverine' movie ... and now, Hulk Hogan is showing the world his battle scars from his 10 surgeries!!

"10 surgeries you can hang a MAC truck from my back and I’ll still take the whole WWE roster on brother," the 66-year-old said.

He's also showing off the "Immortal" tattoo he got around 2011.

Hulk's back issues have been well documented -- he started going under the knife back in 2009 after suffering extreme pain from all those years in the ring.

In fact, Hogan described in great detail all of the damage his body has endured from wrestling when he appeared on "OBJECTified" with Harvey Levin."

"I've had 17 surgeries over the last 10 years," Hogan said ... "My knees are fake, hips are fake, back is full of metal and part of my face is full of metal."

"I didn't get the memo about the fake wrestling,:" Hogan joked ... noting the physical punishment is VERY real.

Hogan even showed off teethmarks in his finger -- the result of a wrestling match from decades ago.

Hogan's most recent procedure took place at the end of 2019 ... and despite being told he would likely be out of the gym for 4 to 6 months, Hogan was able to lift again after 7 weeks!

Hogan hasn't wrestled since 2013 -- when he appeared in a match for "TNA Wrestling." He's talked about wanting his final match to take place in a WWE ring ... but so far, no word on if that will actually happen.

Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell's former-fiancee claims he's been so abusive -- verbally and mentally -- that she needs court-ordered protection, and she got it ... TMZ has learned.

Esther Campbell filed new docs asking a judge to keep Harwell the hell away from her, after a series of alleged incidents she's blaming on his battle with substance abuse.

Esther claims Steve did a stint in rehab and seemed to be improving until early this year. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, she claims he fell off the wagon and had to detox in February, but when he got out of treatment ... Steve allegedly stole her phone and destroyed it. Esther also claims he stole her car keys to leave her car windows open in the rain.

She describes him as "vindictive, angry, vile and mean" ... according to the docs, and claims he's not taking his medication for bipolar disorder. We have not confirmed Harwell is bipolar, and he's never discussed it publicly.

As we first reported ... Campbell previously claimed Harwell was making her life a living hell with harassing texts, calls, emails and driving by her house.

The judge granted Esther a temporary restraining order which requires the singer to stop contacting her and stay 200-yards away.