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NASCAR has officially reinstated Kyle Larson after his infamous n-word incident -- clearing the way for the 28-year-old to race again in 2021 ... but there are a BUNCH of catches.

Remember, Larson was fired by the Chip Ganassi Racing team and dropped by his sponsors after he called a teammate the n-word during a virtual race back in April -- not realizing his audio was streaming out to thousands of people on Twitch.

NASCAR suspended Larson indefinitely at the time while it figured out how to handle the situation.

But, after 6 months in the penalty box, the racing org. announced Monday that Larson has been formally reinstated and can return to the track on January 1, 2021 ... but he's essentially on probation until 2023.

NASCAR says in addition to completing a sensitivity training course -- he must continue "to take further training and engagement classes through 2023."

Larson must also complete several NASCAR speaking engagements through 2023 ... where he will "share his experiences with NASCAR’s weekly series, e-sports and dirt-racing communities."

There's more ... Larson has also been ordered to continue his work with the Urban Youth Racing School in Philadelphia and Rev Racing, providing coaching and mentorship for those initiatives.

Larson has agreed to all of the demands -- so NASCAR has given him the green light to resume his pro racing career.

The issue now for Larson -- is there a team willing to give him a second chance?

The driver appeared on "CBS This Morning" last week and told James Brown he felt horrible for what he said but was adamant he's not a racist.

Larson says he didn't realize why the word was so offensive and has pledged to never use it again.

Lil Dicky's taking off all his clothes -- except for a tube sock on his lil dicky -- to encourage everyone to vote, and to reveal who he's endorsing for President.

The star of "Dave" has joined the latest celebrity trend of stripping down naked to express the importance of the 2020 election and the battle between President Trump and Joe Biden.

Lil Dicky's taking it a step further, however -- not only with the amount of nudity he's seemingly comfortable with to get his point across ... but with a thorough breakdown of the candidates and their responses to hot-button issues.

The rapper/comedian says the climate crisis and systemic racism in America are the most important topics to discuss, in his opinion ... and he compares Trump and Biden's stances on each.

It's a pretty intriguing analysis -- even if it's coming from a guy sitting cross-legged on a rug in the buff -- and in the end, Lil Dicky reveals who's getting his vote. It wasn't much of a mystery.

Jeffrey Toobin is learning about the pitfalls of Zoom calls in the worst possible way ... and "The New Yorker" has suspended him for his blunder.

The lawyer, author and legal analyst -- who also contributes on CNN -- exposed himself on Zoom last week during a work call with the 'New Yorker' staff and WNYC radio.

Though it's unclear exactly what went down, Toobin's owning up to his baffling Zoom gaffe and has issued an apology.

He says ... "I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers." Toobin claims he thought he was not visible to others on the call, and thought he was on mute as well.

Evidently not, and "The New Yorker" says it has suspended him while they investigate what happened. It's unclear what the heck they're investigating. As Trump says, it is what it is.

Toobin did appear on CNN over the weekend, though ... but he won't be on again for a bit. The network says it has granted him time off while he "deals with a personal issue."

Zachery Ty Bryan is heading back home after getting busted for allegedly choking out his girlfriend ... and he wasn't in jail for long.

We broke the story ... the "Home Improvement" star was arrested late Friday night in Eugene, OR and booked on 3 charges, including 4th-degree assault, strangulation and interfering with making a report.

After posing for his mug shot and spending the night at Lane County Jail, Zachery was released Saturday night on $8,500 cash bail ... Lane County pretrial services supervisor Brian Snaza tells TMZ.

We're told Zachery has also been issued a no-contact order -- typical after a domestic violence arrest -- so he's required to stay away from the alleged victim and can't contact her in any way.

Zachery's next court appearance is scheduled for Friday, but we're told the D.A. is still deciding whether to charge him.

A man let it all hang out to show his disdain for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in New Mexico ... and we do, in fact, mean all of it.

Check out this dude walking up to a home in Albuquerque this weekend in the dead of night -- without a trace of clothing anywhere -- dead set on ripping a Biden-Harris 2020 sign out of a front yard.

It's like a horror movie -- "Invasion of the Butt Naked Body Snatchers," perhaps? Sure.

Ain't much more to it ... a Ring camera captured the politically charged streaking. The guy went straight for the sign, no hesitation, like he knew it was there, and what he was gonna do.

The sign did not come out of the ground easily, but he eventually got the cardboard off the metal frame. He settled for that because, as they say ... nekkid beggars can't be choosers. Weird stuff.

So far, he's gotten off scot-free (like his clothing), but the person who posted the video say they're reporting nature boy to the police.

Taraji P. Henson is officially single again ... the actress confirmed she's splitting up with her fiance.

Taraji revealed the news Monday while on "The Breakfast Club" and inferred she and Kelvin Hayden may have hit a rocky patch, so she suggested going to therapy to work on the relationship. But, ultimately ... Taraji said they weren't on the same page when it came to that.

She said, "I’m dedicated to the black man, y’all. I just turned 50 and I mean, I hadn’t said it yet, but it didn’t work out. I tried. I was like, therapy. Let's do the therapy thing, but if you're both not on the same page with that then you feel like you're taking it on yourself and that's not a fair position for anybody to play in a relationship."

Hayden, a former NFL cornerback, and Henson got engaged back in May 2018. They were reportedly set to get married in June but nixed those plans due to the pandemic.

Rumors started last month the pair were on the fritz ... after Hayden was NOT part of Henson's 50th birthday event in Mexico.

President Trump is taking the gloves off against his top COVID-19 specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and throwing his expertise out the window ... this after the doc, arguably, went on the attack on "60 Minutes."

POTUS had a press phone conference Monday, and let the insults fly against Fauci ... who he suggested was one of many "idiots" advising the White House and the public on the pandemic. He even said people were tired of hearing the guy ... plain and simple.

Reporters on the call said Trump called each of Dr. Fauci's media appearances a "bomb," but mused that firing him would cause more political fallout ... especially this close to the election. He also sarcastically referred to Fauci as a "wonderful sage" who's been around for "500 years."

Age shade from the 74-year-old.

Trump clearly feels it's time for Fauci to go, as he added ... "People are tired of COVID ... People are tried of hearing Fauci and all these idiots."

There's been tension between Trump and Fauci for months, but as for why Trump's going all out now -- blame it on "60 Minutes," perhaps.

Dr. Fauci did a thorough segment on that show Sunday and touched on a number of things COVID-related -- including a claim the White House had restricted him in recent months from doing more interviews to get the word out about the virus.

Fauci also talked about Trump's positive diagnosis, and how there seemed to be a war on science and authority ... which he implied had been sparked by the President while in office.

The gloves are off.

Kim Kardashian West took David Letterman's best shot, but even he couldn't get her to say anything bad about President Trump ... her ally in prison reform.

Kim's the premiere guest on the third season of Dave's "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction" on Netflix, and their one-on-one interview hits on some really personal topics ... especially when he grills her about working with Trump.

After the talk show host lauds her many accomplishments in business and entertainment, the topic moved to Kim working with The White House on clemencies -- most notably, Alice Marie Johnson's.

Kim says she hopes to continue to work with future administrations on prison sentencing reform, and that's when Letterman presses ... telling her he's grateful for her work but adding, "It doesn’t make me feel any better about the current administration."

Kim says she understands but refuses to criticize POTUS about anything while also refusing to answer Dave on who she's voting for this election. Instead, she pivots to her controversial White House visit in 2018 that preceded Johnson's prison release.

She tells Letterman, "Trust me, everyone called me and said, ‘Don’t you dare step foot in that White House or your reputation is done.'"

Kim says it was worth it, and in the end, even Letterman concedes that her work is a "positive force that diminishes what I consider to be unacceptable behavior by the President."

Once again, Kardashian doesn't touch on the "unacceptable behavior" and sticks with simply being grateful for the Trump administration partnering with her on criminal justice reform.

The interview was filmed in early 2020, before coronavirus and before Kim's husband, Kanye West, was in the presidential race ... but there was still plenty more to talk about.

A Halloween-themed amusement park became a hellish scene full of monsters ... engaged in an all-out brawl after a woman refused to get off a ride.

The chaos begins with a ride operator at one of the Halloween Town locations in Las Vegas telling a woman who's yelling at him she's gotta get off ... and he's not starting the ride until she does.

The woman -- wearing a blue shirt, sitting next to a child, and called Christina by friends -- doesn't budge, and instead lets expletives fly. It's unclear what actually led to her beef with the ride operator, but he holds strong ... telling everyone the woman's holding up the ride because she's "acting like a damn animal."

Her response arguably ventures into racist territory when she says he looks like an animal, and then she calls security on him as he's trying to get everyone off the ride -- and then tempers flared.

It escalates quickly, and soon there's a scuffle involving several women, a few men, and multiple carnival employees who can't seem to get it under control. It's wild, it's ugly and, yes ... there were plenty of kids there to view the carnage.

Just your classic family trip to the pumpkin patch ... in a horror movie, anyway.

Anti-mask rants and dangerous COVID behavior aren't just a U.S. problem -- an angry passenger spewed her breath on fellow fliers when she was kicked off a UK flight.

The incident went down Sunday on an EasyJet flight from Belfast to Edinburgh. The woman is seen on video ranting and fuming about having been told to wear a face mask. She refused, so as she was getting the boot she yelled, "Everybody dies, you know that?!"

On her way out, the woman has the nerve to cough on passengers as she stomped down the aisle. A spokesperson for EasyJet tells TMZ ... police responded, "due to a passenger behaving disruptively onboard and refusing to wear their face covering." It's unclear if she was arrested or cited.

The spokesperson added current guidelines require all passengers to wear face coverings and, continued, "We will not tolerate disruptive [behavior] towards other passengers and crew."

Europe has a leg up on the U.S. when it comes to coronavirus infection rates, but ugly public meltdowns over it -- like we've seen in an Alaskan Walmart and a Long Island supermarket -- they got that too.

Shareef O'Neal -- Shaq's son -- just revealed his second Kobe Bryant tribute tattoo ... showing off the ankle ink in a social media post Sunday.

The LSU basketball player had already gotten a calf tattoo to honor the NBA legend ... but O'Neal clearly felt that wasn't enough and underwent the needle for more Mamba art recently.

And, the new tat came out great ... it's a depiction of a famous image of Kobe celebrating -- and it looks real as hell!!

As we previously reported ... Shareef was devastated over the passing of Bryant -- sharing that he actually received text messages from Kobe just hours before the tragic helicopter crash.

In an emotional post days after Bryant's passing, Shareef reflected on everything his father's former star teammate meant to him.

"You always wanted me to be the best I could be," Shareef wrote. "you always made sure I was happy, you put me before you put yourself and when we had our moments you made me feel like I was great."

"I love you , I thank you , I miss you."

Cardi B is turning off Twitter because she says her fans are toxic -- especially after her decision to get back with Offset -- and she's not about to let them treat her like a Disney star.

CB's Twitter account is non-existent as of Monday -- this after she apparently deactivated it this weekend. The move to go dark follows a wild rant she went on Saturday on IG Live, in which she called out her fans for getting all up in her biz about her marriage.

It seems a lot of her followers are expressing concern -- or are just flat out pissed -- about her getting back with her husband. Cardi says some have even reached out to friends of hers, asking them to intervene ... suggesting she's not well for the reconciliation.

Welp, Cardi had more than ENOUGH of it.

She literally cussed out her fans ... telling them to stay in their lane, and said she's grown and will do whatever the hell she wants.

Cardi also invoked JoJo Siwa and Ariana Grande in her tirade -- saying teenage fans were engaging with her and acting as if she's a former child Disney star or something. NOPE!!!! Cardi checked them on that and told 'em to butt out ... 'cause she's got real problems.

BTW, CB also gave a little bit of insight into why she can't just up and go date someone new so easily ... saying she's not your average Jane who can play the field on the low.

Remember, already Cardi touched on this issue of an over-invasive fanbase infiltrating her real life, but in much more joke-y terms. Now, she's not playing ... some fans have crossed the line, for her, and she's taking a timeout because of it.

Cynthia Bailey's wedding had all the makings of a classic episode of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," but production pulled the plug on filming it at the last minute thanks to the weather ... and coronavirus.

Production sources tell TMZ ... Bravo was set to have a camera crew on location for the 'RHOA' star's nuptials -- which was a planned, outdoor event -- but 2 days before the wedding, Cynthia decided to make it an indoor affair because Hurricane Delta was bearing down on the region.

But, it became a house of cards, because the indoor venue made the network wary due to COVID-19 concerns, and Bravo decided it wasn't safe or appropriate to send staff to film with limited space and an expected 181-person guest list.

The good news -- for Cynthia and 'Housewives' fans -- Bravo still plans to work with her to showcase her wedding in the upcoming season.

We're told the bride had her own camera crew on hand at the Governors Towne Club in Acworth, GA last Saturday, and she'll provide footage of the ceremony to production.

Cynthia's pleased with this arrangement, and there was less drama with the way things worked out ... so she's totally fine with it.

As for how Cynthia and her new husband, Mike Hill, dealt with the coronavirus risk at their large gathering ... our sources say they took several precautions.

There were temperature checks at the door, guests were required to wash hands upon entry, masks were required unless eating or drinking ... and all confirmed guests had to have negative COVID tests within 5 days of the wedding.

Michael Blackson's bummed the "Coming To America" sequel won't premiere on the big screen this holiday season ... but he thinks Amazon is making a savvy business move.

We got the comedian outside Catch in WeHo and our camera guy asked about Amazon Studios cutting a $125 million deal to stream "Coming 2 America."

Michael, who stars in the sequel, tells us he would prefer a big-screen premiere ... but he knows it just couldn't happen in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The movie's slated for its streaming debut the week before Christmas, and Michael says that's perfect timing ... theaters will likely remain shuttered, and folks will be home for the holidays and ready to watch something new.

Michael thinks Jeff Bezos' company just put Netflix on notice with this massive deal ... he says it's definitely going to bring extra eyeballs Amazon's way and it's all part of a bigger showdown with Netflix.

L.A. Dodgers hero Cody Bellinger confirmed what we were all thinking ... he DID dislocate his shoulder while celebrating his game-winning HR on Sunday.

... but he popped it right back in and now he says he's good to go!

25-year-old Bellinger smashed a solo donger in the 7th inning of the NLCS -- giving the Dodgers a 4-3 lead, which ultimately was enough for L.A. to beat the Atlanta Braves.

After he crossed home plate, Bellinger shared a jumping forearm bash with teammate Kike Hernandez -- and viewers could see, it appeared Bellinger suffered an injury during the celebration.

After the game, Bellinger confirmed it was a dislocation of his right shoulder.

"I hit Kike’s shoulder a little too hard and my shoulder popped out," Bellinger told MLB Network.

"So, I had to go back in the training room. They popped it back in and I was ready to play some defense. It kinda hurt!"

Bellinger reported that he's "good" now -- and Dodgers fans are praying the shoulder won't bother him in the World Series.

In the meantime, Belli says he'll celebrate with his OTHER arm moving forward.

"Yeah, I'm gonna maybe use my left arm ... I’ve never dislocated that one. So, I'll go left arm."

Young Thug allegedly caused his long-time chauffeur to get the crap beaten out of him at a house party, and now the driver's threatening to sue the boss.

Derrick Thrasher says he worked as a personal driver for Young Thug over the past 7-8 years. He claims YT invited him to a party in L.A. back in May, where he got into an argument with another rapper named Lil Duke.

Now, according to Thrasher's lawyers ... the driver took the high road, and left the party to avoid a brawl. However, Thrasher says duty called -- Young Thug needed a ride home, so the driver had to go back to the party ... and that's when he claims he was viciously assaulted and beaten.

In the letter, sent to Young Thug, Thrasher's attorneys -- Paul M. Aloise Jr. and Ryan P. Molaghan -- say their client was held down, punched, kicked and had a liquor bottle smashed over his head. He claims he ended up needing surgery.

The driver is now threatening a lawsuit against Young Thug and Lil Duke's record label, 300 Entertainment, if they can't agree on a settlement.