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Despite moving on to the World Cup final, not all things went smoothly for Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday -- the France superstar accidentally drilled a fan in the face with a warm-up shot ... and issued an apology immediately afterward.

The incident happened just before France took down Morocco in one of the tournament's semifinal games ... as the 23-year-old phenom was trying to get loose for the important tilt.

Mbappe peppered one of his shots over the goal mount -- and it, unfortunately, nailed a France supporter right in the noggin.

Pictures from the stadium in Qatar showed the guy was in a considerable amount of pain ... but, to Mbappe's credit, he ran over to make sure the dude was OK.

He grabbed the man's arm, and appeared to say he was sorry -- before bolting back to warm-ups.

Of course, we're sure the fan was feeling a whole lot better just minutes later -- 'cause France opened the game against Morocco with a goal in the first 300 seconds of the match.

France went on to win 2-0 -- and will now face Argentina in Sunday's finale.

A woman in AZ just found out the hard way inflatable green companions don't count for the carpool lane ... even during the holiday season.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety says the driver was spotted in the HOV lane Tuesday morning with a "Seusspicious-looking 'passenger.'"

The dept. says a trooper stopped the woman and discovered the passenger cruising with her was an inflatable Grinch. What's more -- cops snapped a pic of the infamous Whoville resident as proof the woman tried to pull a fast one.

The department continues, "While we appreciate the festive flair, this is illegal & the driver received a citation for the HOV violation." It then goes on to ensure AZ drivers are educated on traffic laws, especially with an increase in cars on the road during the holidays.

'Tis the season, and the Kardashians threw a lavish workplace Christmas party to toast a year of success, just like your office does. Well, maybe a little more lavish than yours.

The celebration went down Tuesday night at the fam's longtime go-to restaurant, Casa Vega ... and Kylie Jenner made sure we got a glimpse at all their decorations and, of course, a good look at her fit for the night.

The party was all about honoring the Kardashian-Jenner business empire ... partly comprised of Kim Kardashian's shapewear collection SKIMS, Kylie's makeup line, Khloe Kardashian's Good American line and Kendall Jenner's 818 Tequila.

Mama Kris made sure to give her daughters a shoutout ... as she boasted about their thriving companies.

Looked like a really good turnout ... not just for the family, but for all the folks who work behind the scenes on their various teams -- including Kim's longtime friend and a brand executive at her company Tracy Romulus.

All the guests were in for major treats -- beyond the open bar -- as the fam prepped huge goodie bags filled with lots of gifts, including some items from Kim's SKIMS line.

Of course, the night had an open bar full of Kendall's 818 Tequila and a very festive menu ... with specialty cocktails like the "Holiday Hibiscus Paloma," the "Mistletoe Margarita" and the "Merry + Bright."

Diddy's son Christian "King" Combs was all smiles trekking through West Hollywood, and for good reason ... he's got a new baby sister!!!

Christian was spotted leaving LAVO Ristorante Wednesday, and when asked about shouldering the Bad Boy empire he eagerly replied his hard work was going towards supporting his family.

A fitting statement, as you know, as Christian's family just got a little bigger. His dad just revealed he welcomed a baby girl back in October named Love Sean Combs with 28-year-old cyber security specialist Dana Tran. Christian reveals he's met his new baby sister.

While Lil' Love has a few years before she's able to do the Diddy Bop dance, Christian is steadily laying down the foundation for her to get jiggy with it when she gets older.

His Kodak Black collab "Can't Stop Won't Stop" recently went No. 1 on Billboard's U.S. Urban Radio chart, making for one of the hottest rap songs of the year!!!

Julia Haart is no longer facing the lawsuits her estranged husband, Silvio Scaglia, filed against her -- but she still stands to gain even more of a win in the long term.

Sources familiar with the matter tell us Scaglia dropped his claims against the "My Unorthodox Life" star -- this after they filed dueling lawsuits, accusing the other of malfeasance tied to their fashion talent management org/shared company accounts.

We're told Scaglia and Haart reached a settlement, in which he agreed to dismiss all of his claims -- including his $850k lawsuit against her. In exchange, Hart will no longer go after him to cover her attorney fees associated with his legal action against her.

Julia tells TMZ, "I believe the fact that Silvio withdrew these cases with prejudice, meaning dismissed permanently, on the day discovery was due, speaks volumes. No money was paid by me and I intend to continue to pursue my fraud and defamation litigation against Silvio, and others named in those cases."

BTW, their divorce battle is also ongoing ... and by the looks of it, will be anything but amicable.

Remember, Scaglia accused Haart of misappropriating funds -- in this case, allegedly withdrawing that $850k without prior authorization -- shortly after getting removed as CEO from their joint venture.

Scaglia claimed Haart had only been given permission to use $250k -- but suggested she yanked out way more in retaliation for getting fired. Oh, and she immediately filed for divorce too.

He's now dropped all claims of misappropriation of funds against Julia.

Of course, she countersued ... claiming Scaglia and Freedom had actually screwed her out of hundreds of millions of dollars she claimed she was owed via stock options.

Offset is finding reasons to smile again ... hanging with his wife Cardi B, her sister Hennessy and other friends and fam during his 31st celebration in Jamaica.

The Migos rapper puffed on a massive J Wednesday as he was serenaded with Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday" song ... capping off a feast of giant lobsters and other various seafood at the Lobster Dave Seafood Restaurant and Sports Bar in Ocho Rios.

Cardi hypnotized Offset with sexy looks all night ... and the group took shots and danced the night away in the Jamaican moonlight!!!

Offset's had a rough 2022 due to the untimely death of his Migos brother Takeoff ... with Cardi even admitting she was in a hopeless bind attempting to cheer up her hubby.

Grief doesn't end overnight ... but at least Offset is feeling the love today!!!

R. Kelly's team called police claiming hundreds of his master recordings were stolen ... and now his camp thinks that could be behind the unauthorized release of the new "I Admit It" album.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, the Kelly master recordings were reported missing back in February ... swiped from an Illinois storage facility.

Cops say a man named Keith Calbert called to report a theft, telling officers he oversees the Kelly property being stored in the warehouse. Calbert told police several hundred of Kelly's recordings were missing, and he valued them in the millions of dollars.

It's interesting ... cops say Calbert told them 2 roadies removed the masters from the warehouse 9 months prior, and took them to California. Police say Calbert also told them he had advised one of the roadies to bring back the recordings ... but was told he needed to pay $160,000 for their return.

Police say Calbert showed them 10 empty shelves he said used to be completely full, and estimated between 300 to 500 missing recordings.

It's unclear why Kelly's team waited so long to make the report. In any event, cops say they investigated but it didn't go anywhere, so the case was closed with no arrests.

TMZ broke the story ... R. Kelly claims he had nothing to do with the recently released, 13-track "I Admit It" album.

His legal team says they're trying to find out who uploaded the music to Spotify and Apple Music, and those 2 roadies are high on their list of people to contact.

A Los Angeles Sheriff's deputy is under investigation for, apparently, having sex on the job ... or at least that's what it sounds like on the radio broadcast that picked up some of the nitty-gritty.

The audio, obtained by TMZ, could be heard over LASD airwaves this past weekend, and we're told it came from a rookie female deputy working at the Men's Central Jail that night. It sounds like, during a break in her shift, she got into some risky business.

Take a listen ... you can hear a woman giggling and warning her partner that he's going to rip her underwear, to which he responds playfully.

Now, law enforcement sources tell us this deputy went out to a parking structure that night, and her bosses believe she accidentally engaged her radio while getting into it. She eventually realized the microphone was open and shut it down, but, as you can hear, the damage was done.

LASD tells TMZ the agency has launched an internal investigation to find out more about the incident -- not to mention whether the man heard on the audio was also a member of the force ... and if he, too, was on the clock. We're told potential punishments could range from a suspension to a firing.

This isn't the first time LASD deputies have been caught doing the deed on duty -- you'll recall ... something similar happened 2 years ago at Universal Studios, and that was also caught in a radio broadcast.

Ben Affleck made his annual visit to the Lakers-Celtics game in L.A., hitting the Crypto.com arena with his 10-year-old son, Samuel, where the guys sat courtside for an absolute thriller!

Ben, a huge Celts fan from Boston (and every other team in Beantown), and Sam, watched the Lakers battle back from 20 down, before rallying back. The game went to overtime and the Celtics ultimately won, 122-118.

Surprisingly, Ben and Sam weren't decked out in Celtics gear ... except for the actor's pair of green Nikes -- a nod to his home team.

Affleck wasn't the only celeb in the building ... Floyd Mayweather, Lou Adler and Hailey Bieber also attended the game.

For Ben, attending the Lakers vs. Celtics game in Los Angeles is somewhat of a yearly tradition. In fact, last December Affleck hit up the game with Jennifer Lopez ... and the couple packed on the PDA!

It looks like Ben and Samuel had a blast. As for the thousands of Lakers fans -- not soo much!

Kelly Clarkson got a restraining order against a woman who allegedly kept showing up at her doorstep -- but even after a judge signed off ... Kelly claims the lady won't stop coming around.

The singer's team filed new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, which claim that a woman by the name of Huguette Nicole Young has deliberately driven by KC's Los Angeles-area home at least once this week ... this after a TRO was granted last week to keep her ass away.

According to the docs obtained by TMZ, Kelly's head of security, Michael Lopez, says the team noticed Young's car -- which had previously been seen and identified by them from her past visits -- cruise by Kelly's property very early on Tuesday morning at around 1:45 AM.

Lopez even uploaded surveillance camera footage of what he says is Young's vehicle creeping across Kelly's driveway in the dead of night.

Remember, Kelly just successfully got a judge to sign off on a court-ordered temporary restraining order -- saying Young has been to her home nearly 20 times over 5 years.

Kelly's security team claimed Young has left gifts and other items at her front gate, and has been captured multiple times on surveillance.

There's more ... one of Kelly's former backup singers filed an additional declaration claiming that Young has actually been dogging Kelly around the country dating back to 2009. The singer says Young started writing letters and fan mail around that time.

Lil Wayne's signature hit "Lollipop" is now certified DIAMOND by the Recording Industry Association of America ... adding yet another sparkling notch in the Young Money CEO's storied career!!!

After the RIAA announcement Wednesday morning, an appreciative Lil Wayne sent out a video thanking all the 10 million fans who bought the song -- noting it was sales, not streams that got him the Diamond plaque.

"Lollipop" was released as the first single from Wayne's 2008 blockbuster album "Tha Carter 3." The album sold one million records in just a week ... so it's no surprise the party-starter "Lollipop" hit the Diamond mark.

Wayne also sent out a special RIP to the song's collaborator Static Major ... who'd also worked with artists like Aaliyah and Timbaland. Static died from health complications in 2008 shortly before "Lollipop" was released.

"Lollipop" spent a total of 5 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and officially kicked off the digital era of rap singles selling like hotcakes!!!

Grant Wahl's wife says "there was nothing nefarious" about the soccer journalist's death ... explaining on Wednesday that the 49-year-old died from a ruptured aortic aneurysm.

Dr. Celine Gounder -- an infectious disease expert and Wahl's wife since 2001 -- told CBS News in a sit-down interview that Wahl's dire condition "had likely been brewing for years."

"And for whatever reason," she said, "it happened at this point in time."

Wahl suffered a medical episode on Friday night -- while in Qatar covering Argentina vs. Netherlands World Cup game. Officials said he had collapsed in the stadium press room ... and later died.

His brother, Eric, said he suspected foul play was involved -- particularly after Wahl had been receiving threats over his open support of the LGBTQ+ community in the foreign country.

"I do not believe my brother just died," Eric said. "I believe he was killed."

Gounder, though, said Wahl -- whose body was repatriated to the U.S. on Monday -- underwent an autopsy in New York this week ... and "it showed that he had an aortic aneurysm that ruptured."

She added in a statement Wednesday, "No amount of CPR or shocks would have saved him. His death was unrelated to COVID. His death was unrelated to vaccination status."

Gounder said she wanted people to remember her late husband as a "kind, generous person who was really dedicated to social justice."

Idaho police might have unearthed a key piece of video evidence in the murders of those 4 college students -- thanks to a gas station employee.

The overnight assistant manager told Fox News she recently had some downtime, so she reviewed the gas station's surveillance video from around the time of the November 13 early morning attacks. Despite not working that day, she said she had a "weird feeling" to go look at the footage.

It paid off ... she found a snippet that showed a white sedan barreling down the highway and turning onto a side street. The vehicle matches the description of a 2011-2013 white Hyundai Elantra police have been searching for since last week. Cops say they want to speak with the occupant(s) of the car, which was spotted near the crime scene the night of the slayings.

The gas station manager snapped a screenshot and emailed it to investigators through a tipline. Detectives went to retrieve the new evidence and are now pouring over hours of footage, trying to find more clues. They don't know yet if the video shows the actual car they're seeking, as they haven't been able to match license plates.

Moscow PD spokesperson Robbie Johnson tells TMZ ... they are having difficulties locating the Hyundai because the car is so common, but they have received "good tips." Neighboring police departments are also keeping an eye out for the car. Pullman PD, which is about 7 miles from Moscow, tells us they are "closely scrutinizing" all vehicles that look like the Hyundai.

As we reported, 4 University of Idaho students -- Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin -- were discovered fatally stabbed inside an off-campus house last month.

Tory Lanez has an answer for all the critics questioning why he’d bring his young son to his shooting trial involving Meg Thee Stallion ... and it’s all about support.

The rapper was in full-on dad mode Tuesday as he left the courthouse where Meg testified he shot her and wished he had killed her ... carrying his son on his back as he jogged out to his ride.

Tory was peppered with questions about the trial, including why he chose to bring his 5-year-old son, Kai'Lon, to court ... with Tory explaining how father and son are a support system for one another.

When Tory and his son arrived at court earlier in the day they raised eyebrows online ... because his kid has literally nothing to do with the case.

As we reported ... Megan's testimony was super emotional, touching on the impact this case is having on her ... including the notion that she wishes she was dead instead of having to deal with the trial.

YNW Melly says he fears for his life inside Broward County jail, and his mother is taking him at his word ... and demanding immediate action before there's a turn for the worse.

Jamie Demons-King says she's tried to get some relief from the judge in Melly's case, but is taking action into her own hands now by bringing the matter straight to the county commissioner.

The "Murder on My Mind" rapper called out specific guards in 2 IG posts this week, accusing them of threatening to beat him up and isolate him from the other inmates.

Melly also says his phone privileges have been revoked and feels like he has a target on his back. Jamie tells us she's feeling helpless over her son's predicament.

She says Christmas Day is her birthday and all she wants for a gift would be to talk to Melly ... but she's not certain it's going to happen.

We reached out to the Broward Co. Sheriff's Office, but haven't heard back yet.

Floyd Mayweather isn't waiting until Dec. 25 to put on his Santa hat -- the legendary boxer gave a group of 5 kids $1,000 each as a Christmas present after the Clippers game!!

TMZ Sports is told ... Mayweather met with the kids following the Clippers' 113-93 victory over the Celtics at Crypto.com Arena on Monday ... and made their day unforgettable by surprising them with some holiday cash.

The video is really adorable -- the kids were ecstatic that Mayweather, who they refer to as "Uncle Floyd," chose to hook them up with the dough ... adding that "TBE" always looks out for them when they run into each other.

"You always help us out when we see you," one kid said ... as another added, "We love you, Floyd."

Of course, these are the same youngins who Floyd sent to the Clippers game against the Pelicans in October ... holding up on his promise that he'd give them the amazing experience on his dime -- after spotting them selling candy outside the Ritz-Carlton in LA.

Floyd also got some facetime with Celtics star Jaylen Brown while hanging in Crypto on Monday night - but the kids' reaction to his generosity was the best part of the night.