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Nelson Thomas -- a star on MTV's "The Challenge" -- just revealed he is the man NFL player K.J. Osborn and three others helped pull from a fiery car crash earlier this month ... thanking the group for saving his life.

As we previously reported, the Minnesota Vikings receiver said he was in an Uber heading home after a workout in Austin, Texas on March 5 ... when he saw a car that had crashed and caught fire.

Osborn, his driver and two others rushed to assist ... and were able to pull the man away from the fiery scene.

As it turns out, it was Thomas who the group of heroes saved ... and he is giving each of them a shout-out.

"I want to thank [K.J.] for being on the scene and filming my rescue," Thomas said in a tweet ... adding he is "forever grateful" to the three others for getting him out of the car and "risking their own lives to save mine."

Thomas also shared pictures of his injuries from the hospital bed -- which appear to be cuts and burns on his ankle and arm -- and says he is feeling well and getting stronger, but has a ways to go before he gets back to 100%.

"Words can’t explain how grateful I am to be alive," Thomas said. "God is truly great and he has you in his hands no matter who you are."

Flying cars could be soarin' into the market much sooner than we thought ... according to one Aerospace CEO who's working hard to make this sci-fi dream a reality.

Doron Merdinger, CEO of Doroni Aerospace Inc., joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" -- filling us in on how his company's new flying cars could be up for sale in the next 2 years ... adding his team has already been testing its flagship project in Florida.

Their vehicle is aptly named the Doroni H1, a 2-seater that can travel a couple hundred feet off the ground with the use of joysticks -- not a steering wheel. The futuristic whip can come in handy in a bunch of ways, according to Doron.

The ride will set you back a few hundred Gs, though ... but Doron says his crew is doing everything they can to make it a true bang for your buck -- which includes its seriously-impressive top speed.

For those unaware, President Biden asked for a $27.2B budget for NASA last week, with some of the funds to be used to test flying cars, and Doron's company is one of the many working with NASA towards a future in the skies.

BTW -- Biden's budget request came after Trump called for the government to invest in the tech ... saying we've gotta beat China to the punch. In addition, there are other start-ups developing flying cars too.

Robert Blake getting left out of the Oscars "In Memoriam" tribute was a big mistake on The Academy's part -- at least, according to the late actor's son, who's also pissed his dad's death was a punchline.

Noah Blake tells TMZ ... people are allowed to have their own opinion about his father -- which obviously many have -- but he says when it comes to an annually anticipated segment like the Oscars Memoriam, opinions shouldn't be a factor.

He also points out his dad wasn't the only one left out ... as you know, stars like Tom Sizemore, Anne Heche, and Paul Sorvino were excluded from the broadcast. It's something that seems to happen every year, and Noah thinks it once again wasn't handled well.

Noah also gave us his thoughts on Jimmy Kimmel's joke about whether or not to include Robert in the segment -- obviously, he found it to be in poor taste. He also says it landed flat, because he was confused if the "interactive portion" was legit or just a gag.

For what it's worth, the audience laughed ... clearly getting it was a gag.

He adds he doesn't usually believe in jokes being "too soon," but points out the fine line Jimmy was walking on when he poked fun at the actor.

Noah tells us he's going to go live on Instagram at 5:30 PM PST Tuesday to talk about his dad and his life.

Spice is alive and well and she's got some very exciting news -- she's having a baby, which is a huge difference from the rumors she'd disappeared due to a bad plastic surgery.

The Queen of Dancehall made her pregnancy announcement Tuesday ... posting a photo of herself in an all-blue getup with an obviously preggo belly. In the caption, she wrote, "God has been so good to me. 💙💙💙"

Unclear if all the blue is also a gender reveal.

The baby news comes not long after rumors began swirling about why she went MIA on social media late last year. The rumor mill worked overtime and cranked out theories Spice had disappeared or was in a coma due to a plastic surgery gone wrong.

ICYMI, she ended up clearing the air, telling her followers she was not in a coma or dead, but had actually suffered a damaged hernia and was rushed to the hospital for immediate surgery.

At the time, she said she was taking time to recover. She also took time to get pregnant, obviously ... and she's smiling from ear to ear about it. While we don't know how far along she is, it's clear from the pic she's well beyond first trimester.

Congrats Spice, on your dancehall heir!!!

The video of Michael Irvin and his sexual misconduct accuser was finally released Tuesday ... and the footage shows the ex-NFL star had a fairly lengthy conversation with the woman -- touching her twice on the elbow -- before leaving.

Irvin's attorney, Levi McCathern, shared a copy of the Marriott vid at a news conference with reporters ... after obtaining the clip following a weekslong legal battle with the hotel chain over it.

In the video, which was captured at the Phoenix, Ariz. establishment on Feb. 5, you can see Irvin and the hotel employee initially began talking right at the entrance of the bar area, shaking hands -- before moving a few feet away into the lobby.

Irvin and the woman can be seen in the footage chatting for over a minute. Twice during their interaction, Irvin touches the woman's elbow. A short time later, the two shake hands, and then the woman walks away. The entire interaction seemed unremarkable.

Irvin can then be seen in the video appearing to slap himself on the cheek three times. He then walks over to take a selfie with a man that McCathern believes is an employee of the hotel. Following the picture, Irvin walks out of the camera's view.

In court documents filed last week, Marriott claims the woman said that during the conversation with Irvin, the former football player asked her "whether she knew anything about having a 'big Black man inside of [her].'"

After the video was shown, Irvin denied making any such comment -- saying, "I don't speak like that. I've never spoken like that. I totally deny saying that."

He added that their convo was simply about football and the TV shows that he's on.

"We used to say in football, 'The eye in the sky don't tell no lie,'" he said. "It's just the truth."

McCathern, meanwhile, said he believes the video shows Irvin's accuser was "happy as a lark" during their conversation. He speculated that another employee in the area may have been upset with her for communicating with Irvin while on the job.

"There's no doubt from watching this, this woman is not offended," McCathern said. "This is not a sexual assault. This isn't sexual harassment. This isn't sexual misconduct."

McCathern refiled his $100 million lawsuit against Marriott and others involved in the allegations against Irvin in Arizona on Tuesday morning ... after he said he wanted to make sure he was suing "the right people."

French Montana and Rubi Rose are in new couple mode ... doing date night in Bev Hills, and they're not afraid to show some PDA as the freshest romantic pairing in hip hop!!!

The 2 rap stars were beaming from ear to ear as they arrived Monday night at Mr. Chow for a romantic dinner date -- and even with a photog there, they weren't shy about showing their affection.

French threw his arm around Rubi shortly after they got out of his ride, and they strolled into the restaurant looking totally comfortable being a new hip hop power couple.

A source close to the couple tells us Rubi is 100 percent French's "new gf." It's unclear when exactly they started hanging out, but it's clear they're past that initial "getting to know you" phase.

Rubi's a former XXL Freshman with several releases under her belt and more than 4 million IG followers.

Diplo says he's received oral sex from a man, and while he doesn't necessarily consider that gay ... he does admit he might be into dudes just a little bit.

The famed DJ was on Emily Ratajkowski's podcast when he dished the deets ... saying he's 100% sure he's "gotten a blow*** from a guy before" -- although, he can't recall the details.

What he does know for certain is that act, in and of itself, doesn't make him LGBTQ, per se.

Here's the line he personally draws -- it wasn't "gay" because he didn't make eye contact with the guy. 🤔

ER presses him quite a bit in the extended convo, noting he'd told her off-camera he might be a "little gay" -- however, he eventually settled on he's probably "not not gay."

Diplo also said he could see himself dating a couple guys long-term as "life partners" -- but, we also know he's very publicly dated women.

Despite the course of their convo, he stopped short of labeling his sexuality. So, what have we learned? The eyes have it, for Diplo!

Ariana Madix is back in L.A. after a weekend of cutting loose in Mexico ... and she's super tight with a male friend, but we're told it's not what you think.

AM was at LAX Monday with the guy who was her plus 1 for the wedding she attended in Oaxaca, Mexico -- and they seem to be getting along well with each other, hugging quite a bit while waiting for their ride.

However, a source close to Ariana tells TMZ ... the man she traveled out of the country with is just one of her best friends. No rebound here, folks.

TMZ broke the story ... Tom Sandoval was invited to the wedding too, but couldn't go due to a prior commitment -- and his decision was made before his cheating came to light. With Tom out, it seems her BFF stepped in to take his place.

FYI -- Ariana was looking as happy as she could be over the weekend in Mexico ... dancin' up a storm and giving off tons of good energy.

While the NFL is in a free agency frenzy, Cincinnati Bengals stars Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are steering clear of the chaos ... by enjoying a yacht party with a group of women in Miami!!

Joe Burrow's favorite targets hopped aboard a fancy boat in Florida on Monday ... and they had plenty of tequila to go around for their day in the sun.

Higgins' Clemson teammate/Arizona Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Simmons and several female companions joined the Bengals stars for the trip ... and everything seemed pretty chill as they sat around and talked.

Of course, Chase is still in the middle of his rookie deal ... so he's not sweating all the deals being made left and right as the NFL's free agency period kicks off.

Higgins, on the other hand, is entering the final year of his current contract ... and the Bengals are hoping to lock him in long-term.

Safe to say he's not worried about his status ... sitting with a bottle of what appears to be Casamigos in front of him as he enjoys some R&R.

The teammates that party on yachts together ... win together??

Wyclef Jean alarmed fans this week with a video revealing his first-ever stay in the hospital ... but thankfully, the former Fugees star is looking at a full recovery after he gets some much-needed rest.

Wyclef tells TMZ, after returning to Los Angeles from Miami last weekend, he felt numbness on the right side of his face and immediately sought care from his family doctor, who sent him to the ER.

He says the tests Dr. Waleed Lashin requested an overnight stay in the hospital ... and the early indication is his face numbness was the result of exhaustion, which is also likely stress related.

Wyclef's thanking all of his concerned fans, and says he's back at home with more tests to follow next week.

Lala Kent isn't mincing words on the cheating scandal between Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss ... dishing out some choice insults at 'em, and even giving predictions on the reunion.

We got the "Vanderpump Rules" star Monday leaving PrettyLittleThing in L.A., where we asked her thoughts on the latest in the saga -- namely, what she made of Tom Schwartz finally breaking his silence, and what she's expecting when the whole cast sits down for a postmortem on this past season.

Let's just say ... LK did NOT hold back on anything here, including descriptions for both Tom and Raq. For instance, she labels one a "narcissist" and another a "bottom-feeder" -- you can watch for yourself to see whom she considers which.

When it comes to the reunion -- where all this drama will undoubtedly be addressed one way or another -- Lala has some thoughts on how it should be staged. In her mind, a WWE deathmatch environment might not be the worst idea ... that's how contentious things are.

Lala suggests Tom and Raquel may be together, even now, and could well show up as a couple. According to her, much of the 'VR' cast is in the dark on where things stand.

Finally ... LK talks Tom Schwartz -- Sandoval's business partner, who's also taken some heat for allegedly knowing about the affair for a little while now, but staying silent regardless. Lala makes no bones about how she thinks he should've handled it ... on the up and up.

If you can't tell, Lala is clearly team Ariana ... who, BTW, is looking well down in Mexico. She was photographed over the weekend at a friend's wedding ... and was nothing but smiles and dance moves despite everything she's going through.

If things unfold the way Lala believes they might come reunion time ... she'll get her chance to set Tom straight -- and maybe even Raq too.

Time will certainly tell. Stay tuned!

Brooke Shields seems overwhelmed by the new documentary about her life ... almost to the point of tears.

We got Brooke at LAX Monday and talked about her upcoming doc, "Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields" -- the same title as the 1978 film that shot her to stardom and sparked a lot of controversy over her role as a child prostitute.

The documentary -- which will be released on Hulu in April -- chronicles the sexual violence she faced in Hollywood in the '80s/'90s, along with her controversial role in "Pretty Baby." It also touches on her Calvin Klein jeans campaign, which sexualized Brooke when she was just 15.

Brooke seemed almost tearful as she told our photog she's at a place where it feels right to tell her life story. When our photog asked if it was hard to open up, she shot back that life is hard.

Dr. Fauci helped save the day for a woman who went down during a fancy dinner in D.C. -- and someone caught part of the action on camera.

The nation's most prominent doc -- who was at the forefront during COVID -- was one of many bigwigs at the Gridiron Dinner Saturday ... a black-tie affair where journos, politicos and related company gathered to break bread and talk shop.

At some point, a lady in the crowd collapsed ... injuring herself from the fall, so says speechwriter Chandler Dean -- who detailed the scary incident.

He writes, "Last night at the Gridiron Dinner in DC, maybe 10 feet from me and @sarahagruen, a woman collapsed, hit her head on a table, and was laying on the floor without moving."

He goes on to explain ... "People gather trying to help, but no one is sure what to do. Someone goes to find a doctor. They found one."

That man would be Fauci himself, who's pictured crouching down in his tux and attending to the woman in need. It's not quite clear what exactly he did to treat her, but he was certainly by her side ... and it sounds like she was alright in the end.

Dean later clarified she was able to get to her feet and continued on just fine at the dinner, after a little bit of rest. Another speechwriter, Eric Schnure, chimed in as well ... saying Dr. Fauci even posed with the woman afterward and confirmed she was, in fact, OK.

Pauly Shore is pissed off at Jimmy Kimmel making him the butt of a joke during the Oscars ... saying it was gratuitous and hurtful.

The comedian/actor told Page Six how he felt when JK used him as a punchline while celebrating his 2 former costars from 'Encino Man' -- one of Pauly's cult classics from the '90s.

Turns out ... the jab left a wound. PS says, "We love to hate people when they’re on top. People wanted to smash me down and they did. I was always nice to everyone, always cool, I put my heart into all my films."

He adds, "You’re buying and selling a human being. Human beings have feelings, it’s not like selling real estate." He says he's quite happy for Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan ... both of whom acted in 'Encino' and each of whom won their own statuette Sunday night.

Pauly goes on to talk about a comeback of his own and how he wants to get back into acting. At the moment, he's touring and about to hit SXSW soon -- he also teases a possible TV show that might come about that focuses on his upbringing from the '70s and '80s.

It seems having a couple of his old costars swing back into the spotlight has him itching for some of that too. Pauly ends by saying, "I am not going to stop. I’m going to keep going. I know I’m going to get that call, and get that opportunity. That’s what it's about."

While Pauly might be craving mainstream success again ... he's actually been steadily working. Dude's got roles racked up for just about every year going back to the 2010s/'00s ... albeit, none of those projects are as memorable as what he did in the 20th century.

Avril Lavigne got a little feisty with a topless streaker who crashed the Juno Awards ... and the fans all seemed to love it.

The singer-songwriter was onstage introducing fellow musician AP Dhillon at the annual event in Edmonton, Canada Monday night ... when things suddenly took a bizarre turn.

Check out the video ... the woman sauntered onto the stage with no security in sight, prancing around with a message scrawled across her back.

The message read, "SAVE THE GREEN BELT," a reference to a controversial residential development plan spearheaded by the Ontario government.

Avril played it cool at first and ignored the woman, but then decided enough was enough. She turned to the woman and barked, "Get the f**k off. Get the f**k off, b***h."

Security finally showed up and escorted the woman away. It's not clear if she was arrested.

Later on, Avril joked about the strange encounter during her acceptance speech for the TikTok Juno Fan Choice Award. She said, "Now nobody try anything this time or the Canadian's gonna come out of me and I'll f**k a b***h up."

The audience ate it up. One fan told a reporter Avril did "a great job handling" the disruptor. Another person said he got a good chuckle out of it, while acknowledging Avril had initially kept her cool. A third person commended Avril for doing a fantastic job in "fighting through" the disturbance.

It marked the latest drama in Avril's life. As we reported, she broke off her engagement with Mod Sun and is now dating Tyga. Avril and Tyga were recently seen gallivanting around Paris during Fashion Week, locking lips and holding hands. We're told their growing relationship is no publicity stunt, but the two haven't put a boyfriend/girlfriend label on it yet.

"The Bachelorette" alum Tyler Cameron is gettin' candid about a time in his life when he was really in an odd place -- freshly famous, dating one of the world's most popular supermodels ... but also nearly flat broke!!!

Tyler opened up about his money troubles on fellow Bachelor Nation star Jason Tartick's podcast, "Trading Secrets" -- he says he only had a couple hundred bucks while dating Gigi Hadid back in 2019.

He even reveals he'd have to call his dad for extra cash while going on dates in NYC ... adding he didn't even have a credit card at the time, and would just hope for the best.

Tyler and Gigi were first linked shortly after he starred on the 15th season of the reality dating show -- he'd even been nominated for a People's Choice Award, so he clearly had celeb status.

Apparently, you can't have it all, after all.

As we reported, Tyler moved into a swanky condo in NYC shortly after their 2019 split ... talk about poor timing.

The new crib cost him around $7K per month, but the building came with some sweet perks like a bowling alley, golf simulator and even a theater room.

As we now know, Tyler's modeling career started taking off. Good thing, or it sounds like he'd be hitting up his pops to cover that hefty rent.