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Archie Williams has a second chance at life after spending nearly 4 decades locked up for a crime he didn't commit ... and Elton John's here for it.

Archie's already the fan favorite for the new season of "America's Got Talent," not only because of his smooth and soulful singing voice, but because of his incredible backstory that has everyone pulling for him ... including Sir Elton.

'AGT' released Archie's segment -- including his performance of John's 1974 hit, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" -- to hype up the return of the talent competition Tuesday night ... and Elton said he was "moved to tears" by it.

He added ... "The courage and forgiveness shown by him is truly inspiring. The same spirit that the world found so inspiring with Nelson Mandela."

Here's Williams's story -- when he was 22, he was accused of raping and stabbing a white woman in Baton Rouge. Despite being home asleep at the time of the assault -- and having no connection to the crime scene -- the woman repeatedly ID'd him as her rapist.

Archie was convicted in 1983 for attempted murder, aggravated rape and aggravated burglary and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Thankfully, the Innocence Project took up his case in the '90s, and after years of working on it ... Archie was finally exonerated by DNA evidence in early 2019. He spent nearly 37 years in a Louisiana prison before the charges were dropped and he was freed.

A Minneapolis man is dead after a police officer put his knee on the man's neck and kept it there, despite pleas by the man that he couldn't breathe, and now the FBI is on the case.

It happened Monday night, when cops were responding to a "forgery in progress." Police arrived and saw the suspect sitting in a car. According to the Department, the man resisted arrest so he was placed in handcuffs, adding "he appeared to be suffering medical distress."

The Police Dept. added, "At no time were weapons of any type used by anyone involved in this incident."

What the P.D. did not address ... is the video, and it's incredibly disturbing.

You see the man on the ground in cuffs, as an officer puts his knee on his neck and the African-American man cries out, "Please, I can't breathe." The officer doesn't budge, as another officer passively watches.

It's apparent the man is in distress, as a passerby screams, "That's bulls***, bro. You're stopping his breathing right there, bro. Get him off the ground, bro," adding the officer was "enjoying it."

The man becomes motionless, an ambulance shows up and the man is taken to a hospital where he died.

The officers, whose bodycams were on and activated during the incident, were placed on administrative leave and the FBI is now investigating.

This is a disgusting case of Karen-ing caught on video -- a white woman calling the police and pretending a black man is attacking her ... when he really just asked her to leash her dog.

This went down Monday in NYC's Central Park ... and the video starts with the woman attempting to leash her dog, but then she quickly walks toward the man recording the video ... who'd complained her dog was off-leash. All dogs are required to be on-leash, by law, in Central Park from 9AM-9PM.

What happened next is really heinous to watch play out -- she asked the man to stop recording her, which he didn't. She then threatened to call NYPD and "tell them there's an African-American man threatening my life."

The man encouraged her to call and, of course, she did and carried out her threat ... which you have to see. The woman started yelling, and used a high-pitched, hurried tone -- trying to make it sound like she was in imminent danger.

It worked. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... NYPD responded around 8 AM, but when they arrived both parties had left, so no tickets, no arrests. We're told the initial call dispatch put out to officers was for a "possible assault."

Well, the cops didn't get her, but with the video getting around on social media ... the woman is, deservedly, getting dragged online. Several people believe they've ID'd her and her dog. BTW, the woman was also dragging/choking her poor dog during her phony-baloney rant to cops.

Aside from the harmful, blatant lie about a fellow citizen ... she also wasted NYPD resources at a time when the city is still recovering from being the coronavirus epicenter.

Like we said ... disgusting.

Jill Zarin and her daughter, Ally Shapiro, are proven pandemic heroes -- just ask nurses all over the NY, NJ-area -- but now they're up against a new foe ... depleting funds.

The 'Real Housewives of New York' star and Ally hopped on "TMZ Live" Tuesday to talk about their "Noshes for Nurses" project ... which launched back in April.

Since then, they've been feeding hospital staffs -- 3 to 5 hospitals per day -- in and around the NYC-area, and also in Florida, where they're quarantining. They raised money for the venture through GoFundMe, but Jill says they've gone through about $60k in donations so far, and the money's running out.

One way Ally's trying to help the cause even more is by tie-dying face masks she sells for $25 a pop. For every mask the Sotheby's Institute of Art graduate sells, she's also donating a mask to a nurse, doctor or any hospital worker in need.

Chrissy Teigen is hoping laughter is the best medicine in the face of a deadly pandemic ... laughing her face off while getting tested for the novel coronavirus.

The supermodel/TV personality mom posted video Tuesday of her in-home coronavirus test, and she couldn't help but giggle while a healthcare worker shoved a swab deep up her nostril.

Chrissy lets out a bit of a scream as the swab enters her nose, but by the time the guy pulls it out, she's laughing. When she gets her other nostril swabbed, Chrissy is giggling the whole time, and seems extra ticklish.

The testing process doesn't seem like a whole lotta fun ... but Chrissy says it's not bad at all.

John Legend's wife also says she "honestly loved" her coronavirus test ... which is good news for anyone on the fence about getting tested.

Hopefully Chrissy loves the results ... otherwise, it might not be so funny.

Pablo Escobar's brother says his life was threatened because of lax security protocols on his phone ... so, now he wants Apple to cough up billions.

The notorious Colombian kingpin's bro, Roberto, is suing Apple for a whopping $2.6 BILLION, claiming someone hacked his smartphone and found his address through FaceTime, even though he claims an Apple employee assured him the iPhone X was the most secure on the market.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Pablo's brother bought an iPhone X back in April 2018, and he claims the security promise fell horribly flat. One year after buying the X, Roberto claims he got a life-threatening letter from someone named Diego, who said he found Roberto's address through FaceTime.

In the docs, Pablo's bro says he had to relocate for his safety, and lost a ton of money beefing up his security ... not to mention the emotional distress he says he suffered as a result of the security breach. Roberto claims he had several assassination attempts on his life before buying the iPhone X, and only bought the phone because he'd been assured his info would be safe from hackers.

In the suit, Roberto says he conducted his own investigation after receiving the letter, and found his iPhone had been compromised due to a FaceTime vulnerability.

Pablo's brother is not stopping at a lawsuit ... Roberto is also going after Apple's bread and butter.

Roberto just launched a limited edition gold-plated iPhone 11 Pro 256GB, which his Escobar Inc company is hawking for $499. Roberto says it's his way of fighting Apple -- selling their phones at a lower price, with gold-plating and sexy girls showing off the phones.

Pablo's brother says ... "Apple can never do that."

Roberto also bought and launched the domain name www.ripapple.com, which links to his gold-plated iPhone. He says the website will have "proof showing how the people of the world were scammed by Apple Inc, buying crap for crazy prices."

If he wins the lawsuit, Roberto says he will share the dough with people who bought iPhones and "ultimately donate it all."

We reached out to Apple ... so far, no word back.

A huge snake clamped onto a woman's hand, and then tried to put a death grip on her arm and leg in a matter of seconds ... and the whole battle is on video.

Check out this gnarly clip showing a woman -- who seems familiar with the python -- get attacked as soon as she lets it out of its tank. The snake bites down on her hand and then starts to curl itself around her entire arm.

At first, she tries to keep her cool and almost acts as if she's gonna handle the sitch on her own -- but things quickly escalated as the python wrapped itself even tighter, which prompted her to ask for help. Too little, too late it would seem.

Just a few seconds later, the snake latched onto her leg and started to coil even more ... which sent the woman into panic mode -- not to mention the guy who's trying to get it the hell off of her. Amid the chaos, the video finally cuts out.

It's unclear where or when exactly this happened, or what happened after this whole mishap -- but on its face, the message seems clear ... do NOT play with pythons!!!

As Indiana Jones once said ... anything but snakes 😬

Richard Herd -- who played George Costanza's Yankees boss on "Seinfeld" -- has died.

The veteran actor -- who's possibly best remembered as Mr. Wilhelm on the hit sitcom -- passed away Tuesday at his home in L.A. due to complications from cancer.

Herd only appeared on 11 episodes of "Seinfeld," but his time was memorable (and hilarious). He portrayed a (fake) New York Yankees executive who supervised George when he was the assistant to the traveling secretary, and would often give GC complicated tasks he'd fumble his way through completing (or not completing, more often).

Mr. Wilhelm eventually stole George's dream gig of scouting for the Mets ... a great farewell to his character.

Richard had many, many roles besides "Seinfeld," though -- he acted in huge films like "All the President's Men," "Get Out," "The China Syndrome," and "Planes, Trains and Automobiles."

On TV, he also appeared on "Simon & Simon," "Murder, She Wrote," "Quantum Leap," "SeaQuest 2032," "Dallas" and "Hart to Hart."

He's survived by his wife, Patricia, and his three children.

A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon's blowing up on TikTok after posting a video suggesting Hailey Bieber's had some work done on her face, but now it's got him in legal hot water with Hailey and Justin.

Dr. Daniel Barrett's been hit with a cease-and-desist letter by the couple's lawyers, who claim he's using Hailey's name, image and likeness in his video without permission to advertise his practice and "spread false, uncorroborated claims that Mrs. Bieber has undergone plastic surgery."

On top of that, Barrett's being accused of copyright infringement for his use of lyrics from Justin's song, "Sorry," in the TikTok caption.

In the vid, which was posted over the weekend, the plastic surgeon compares a 2011 photo of Hailey to a more recent one and one from 2016. He says he thinks the physical changes are impossible without some cosmetic procedures ... specifically to her nose.

Barrett also speculates Hailey's undergone genioplasty and has lip fillers.

Hailey and Justin's legal team say the TikTok includes a number of violations, including "misrepresentation, defamation, slander, false light, violation of rights of publicity, copyright infringement, trademark and service mark infringement" and more.

They're demanding Barrett take down the video and issue a public retraction in the next 24 hours ... or else the legal fury is coming.

Dr. Barrett tells TMZ ... he doesn't believe his comments in the video are disparaging, and he finds it "crazy" that the Beibers want to chase him down for something like this.

He says his video is intended to educate about plastic surgery, and he does not plan to remove it and will deal with the legal ramifications.

A wet market in New York City has taken its internal filth and left it out for the masses -- with an unattended dumpster full of chicken parts that was literally seeping blood into the NYC sewer system.

The gross-out spectacle was filmed out near Queens recently by the animal rights nonprofit, NYCLASS, and it's just the latest example of our domestic one-stop-shop slaughterhouses/live animal factories that are all around us ... and apparently have been forever. This particular wet market might just take the cake, though, as far unsanitary conditions ... 'cause this footage is gnarly.

You see a dumpster bin that's absolutely packed to the gills with trash bags, which are probably full of cut-up animal parts ... especially chickens -- one of which you can see popping out toward the top with its legs and feathers exposed ... and flies hovering above.

Not only that, but take note of the blood coming down from the dumpster and flowing down the street into the sewer drains like a mini river. We're told this dumpster belongs to the wet market in question, and that the place was closed when this was filmed.

What does that mean, exactly? It means the dumpster has been left out there and possibly contaminating its surroundings for a good minute now -- and nothing's been done about it.

It goes without saying, this is a massive public health risk.

We've seen several of these wet market operations all over the country, especially there in NYC -- where a few local legislators are trying to get them shut down with a new bill that was recently introduced. If it passes, these unsanitary live animal shops disappear.

While the issue is being taken up in the Big Apple, you gotta wonder why it's not being discussed on a national level yet? This is, supposedly, how coronavirus got started, right? For whatever reason, most politicians don't want to touch this. So, why is that?

Did you know Tom Brady spends more cash than Gisele in their relationship ... AND has more clothes than the supermodel too?!?!

It's true ... the couple revealed the facts in a new video Tuesday -- and Tom's sheepish admission to both is HILARIOUS!!

Gisele posted the footage of the fun TikTok game on social media ... and we learned a hell of a lot about the power couple -- with a little extra help from Tom's son, Ben!!

A breakdown of the highlights ...

Who eats more ... and who eats healthiest?

• All three said Gisele eats the most between the two ... but it was a split decision on who eats healthiest, with Tom saying Gisele, and Gisele saying Tom.

Who's more spoiled?

• Brady won this category in a LANDSLIDE!!

Who's a bigger baby when sick?

• All three picked TB12 here too!

Who requires more attention?

• Yup, you guessed it, Tom won this one in handedly as well!!!

But, the best two parts of the clip? Check out the answers to "Who spends the most money?" and "Who has more clothes?" ... Tom's ashamed reaction is priceless!!

2 Chainz is having a little trouble at the office ... one of his ATL restaurants is closed again -- shut down by cops for violating COVID-19 guidelines.

The rapper's popular joint, Escobar Restaurant & Tapas, was ordered to close its doors just Monday night after Georgia State Police paid the restaurant a visit. According to a police report, obtained by TMZ, officers say they drove by and "noticed that the location was rather loud, busy, and occupied to be operating as a restaurant at that time of night."

As you can see from some of the videos posted to the Escobar Instagram account, the place was PACKED. You can see people dancing, ordering bottle service, smoking hookah with virtually no social distancing happening. As the night continued, you can even see a long line start forming outside the entrance.

Cops say police arrived and "spoke to the manager before shutting the location down as it was violating executive orders regarding protocol issued due to COVID-19."

As we reported ... 2 Chainz initially said his restaurants would open when Georgia allowed limited-service back in late April. But, the rapper changed his mind -- opting to feed the homeless instead -- and said they'll wait it out a little longer before bringing back his staff.

Several weeks later, Georgia updated its restaurant reopening guidelines ... limiting dine-in service to 10 patrons max per table and allowing 10 patrons inside per 300 square feet of public space. This is all in addition to social distancing too.

Hundreds of Muslims from a mosque in Germany came together for a holiday prayer while maintaining social distancing ... thanks to their friendly neighborhood IKEA.

Muslims all over the world spent the weekend celebrating Eid al-Fitr -- AKA the "Festival of Breaking the Fast," which marks the end of Ramadan -- but for obvious pandemic reasons, gatherings and group prayer for the holy day were more challenging to do safely.

So, a mosque in Wetzlar asked the local IKEA if it could use the store's currently unoccupied parking lot as a community spot for physical-distancing-safe congregating ... and got the green light.

The photo is awesome and proves that old adage ... where there's a will there's a way. Folks online called the event "beautiful," "uplifting" and a "gorgeous sight."

It's also a good lesson for churches here in the U.S. that are trying to convene for services under quarantine rules.

Jennifer Lopez finally dished on a mystery people have been trying to ID for weeks now -- revealing the creepy floating face that popped up in one of her latest gym selfies.

She made the revelation on a recent appearance on 'The Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon, eventually getting past the pleasantries and asking what America wanted to really know ... WHO THE HELL WAS THAT GUY WITH A HAND OVER HIS MOUTH?!?

The answer's not as salacious as some might've expected -- J Lo says it was just a dude her fiance, Alex Rodriguez, was talking to on Zoom on the other side of their gym window.

We'll let Jen explain for herself here, but basically ... with the way they have their gym set up, and where they have one of their laptops perched for Zoom chats, the two just happened to overlap and captured this guy A-Rod was chatting up in a very scary pose.

She doesn't know for sure who exactly it was -- other than the fact that he's in real estate -- or why he had his hand over his face (might've been a sneeze or a cough) ... but the good news is that it wasn't some rando creepin' on Jennifer from behind. That's low-key what some folks thought it was at first, and thank God that didn't turn out to be the case.

Britney Spears went through 2 weeks of full isolation in order to see her boys, Jayden and Sean -- self-quarantining for 14 days at Kevin Federline's behest.

Sources with knowledge of the situation tell TMZ ... Britney returned to L.A. from a trip to see her family down in Louisiana at the end of April. When she got back, she wanted some QT with her sons, but Kevin insisted she quarantine for at least 2 weeks before seeing them.

Our sources say Kevin has been homeschooling Jayden and Sean since the middle of March, when schools closed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

We're told Britney had no issues obliging Kev's request and gladly quarantined after her trip down South -- and she's since seen their boys twice at her home, with each visit lasting only a couple hours.

Two alligators violently fought it out on a South Carolina golf course ... and the footage of the two beasts locking jaws and tossing each other around is INSANE!!

Check out video posted by The Golf Club at Hilton Head Lakes in Hardeeville, SC ... where two gators were caught in a crazy tussle right on one of the fairways.

According to course officials, the action all went down last week on the 18th hole ... when one golfer captured the wild scene.

You can see in the vid ... the two gators bit into each other's faces -- and wouldn't let go, even after they violently twisted!!!

And, if the action caught on video wasn't crazy enough for you -- a witness says the battle went on for roughly 2 HOURS!!

Thankfully, nobody was hurt during the on-course action ... but it's unclear if golfers' scores survived the melee as well.