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Before this brunette beauty was a country girl singing tunes to get you in the mood for the holidays, she was just another cute kid serving some side-eye in Golden, Texas.

This golden gal has been performing her hit music at some of the most famous music festivals and even became the opening act for Harry Styles on his popular tour. Her most recent studio album gained critical acclaim winning 5 Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album and Album of the Year.

You can even get glittery for the holidays with her Christmas special on Amazon. Yeehaw!

Mystikal insisted he wasn’t guilty of rape ... and now it looks like a grand jury agreed with him 'cause TMZ's learned his rape charges have been dismissed.

A spokesperson with the Caddo Parish District Attorney's Office tells TMZ ... a grand jury found there wasn't enough evidence to move forward with the charges and decided to dismiss the charges against Mystikal.

Mystikal's attorney, Joel Peace, tells TMZ ... the charges went away because “new scientific evidence emerged causing the Grand Jury to take a second look at the rape allegations made against [him]."

As we reported .... Mystikal turned himself in back in August 2017 when he was booked for first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping stemming from a 2016 incident involving a woman at a casino where he was performing. He spent 18 months behind bars but, thanks to a new recording deal, he finally posted $3 million bond in February to secure his release from a Louisiana prison.

Prosecutors offered a plea deal before the case ever went to trial but Mystikal rejected the offer. Why? Mystikal's defense teams believed the alleged victim had major credibility issues and were more than ready to battle it out in court.

Phew! That's the operative word after "Shameless" had to deal with a massive COVID-19 outbreak scare following tons of false-positive results on set ... TMZ has learned.

Production sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell TMZ ... the set went into full panic mode after recent COVID tests revealed 18 positive results. We're told production feared it had a massive outbreak on its hands.

Our sources say there was a lab screw up ... and bottom line, those 18 positive results were not positive at all. This does not appear to be a flaw in the testing method ... we're told it was a lab error.

It's also unclear if production shut down to deal with what was initially thought to be an outbreak ... which our sources say went down in the last week. The show recently shot large scenes with as many as 200 extras.

We're told they had also been shooting on location across various parts of L.A. as well as on the Warner Bros. lot.

When production resumed, the show's executive producer, John Wells, revealed the pandemic would be weaved into the 11th and final season of the hit Showtime series.

A Black man, who's a former police officer himself, is suing a Kansas deputy who ran him over with his patrol truck, and he believes this dramatic dashcam video proves his civil rights were violated.

Lionel Womack filed the federal suit Thursday, claiming he was surrounded by 4 cop cars during the August traffic stop. Womack says he was so frightened by the number of Kiowa County Sheriff's deputies responding for a simple traffic stop ... he took off running into an open field.

The dashcam footage shows Deputy Jeremy Rodriguez giving chase in his patrol truck, and eventually driving right over Womack.

Womack, who was a police detective in Kansas City, claims he initially complied when he was pulled over by one patrol vehicle ... presenting a valid driver's license, registration and proof of insurance.

Womack says when 3 more Sheriff's Dept. vehicles arrived ... he feared for his life. He describes it as a "fight-or-flight" moment, and took off running into the field.

Womack's suing Rodriguez for excessive force, claiming his civil rights were violated when he got hit by the truck. He says he suffered serious injuries to his back, pelvis, right knee, ankle and foot.

Jeremy Bulloch, the actor who played Boba Fett in several "Star Wars" films, has died.

Jeremy's death was announced Thursday by Daniel Logan, who played young Boba Fett in 'Attack of The Clones.'

Jeremy played the iconic bounty hunter in the original "Star Wars" trilogy ... he was the man under the famous body armor and helmet, but not the voice you hear in the movies.

As "Star Wars" movie buffs might know, Jeremy also made a couple cameos without his Boba Fett mask -- playing Lieutenant Sheckil in 'The Empire Strikes Back' and Captain Jeremoch Colton in 'Revenge of the Sith.'

The timing is interesting -- there has been a resurgence in popularity of Boba Fett since discussions emerged about him being brought onboard in "The Mandalorian" series, and even rumors of a spinoff series surrounding Boba Fett in the works.

As an original trilogy cast member, Jeremy was beloved by "Star Wars" fans across the globe. He signed autographs and snapped pics at hundreds of tour stops and conventions.

Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Jeremy acted in BBC soap operas, "James Bond" films and TV shows before landing his famous role with "Star Wars."

He lived in London after retiring and is survived by his wife, Maureen, and their 3 sons. Jeremy was 75.

RIP

Sean Kingston's jewelry issues are now worse than ever -- this time there's a warrant out for his arrest due to an allegedly unpaid tab ... TMZ has learned.

The singer and songwriter's been charged with grand theft ... according to court records. Our law enforcement sources tell us Sean had some jewelry delivered to him, but has yet to pay for the goods. Stop us if you've heard this before.

It's interesting ... our sources tell us cops don't plan to actively track down Sean, but the warrant is in their system. Basically, he better not get pulled over.

As we've reported over the years, Sean's had a lot of issues with jewelers -- he's been sued several times for allegedly receiving bling and not paying.

We reached out to Sean's camp ... so far, radio silence.

People who are getting the coronavirus vaccine don't know what's coming next -- that 2nd shot could hit like a ton of bricks, according to a guy who volunteered for Pfizer's study.

Eric Gross joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, and laid out his experience getting both doses of the vaccine during Pfizer's clinical trials. He said the first injection made his arm a little sore -- which we've heard from others this week -- but he says the 2nd shot is a whole different ballgame.

In Eric's experience, it left him feeling sicker than he's ever felt in his life, although not for too long. He has an analogy for his body's reaction -- think sucker punch in the face. Watch the vid, it's a great explanation.

As you know ... healthcare workers in America started getting the first round of vaccinations Monday and folks like Sandra Lindsay, the intensive care nurse who got the first shot in New York, told us so far, so good ... as far as any reactions or side effects.

Eric also talked to us about the story TMZ broke -- that volunteers who got the placebo during the trial pressured Pfizer to let them get the real deal.

Membership has its benefits -- people who participated in Pfizer's vaccine trial, but only got the placebo, now have the chance to get the real vaccine earlier ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Pfizer notified study participants earlier this week about the shift in policy -- giving people who got the placebo the chance to get the shot as early as Friday.

We're told some study participants, who got the placebo, were upset they had put their lives on the line, but were getting no benefit. In fact, Pfizer says 162 placebo patients ended up later coming down with COVID-19. By comparison ... of the participants who got the vaccine, only 8 got infected later.

Pfizer emailed instructions this week to the study group about when they can get the vaccine. As with the general public, healthcare workers and nursing home residents will go first ... as soon as Friday.

Others will get the opportunity in January or February ... about 6 months after they got their second placebo shot.

We're told no one during the study was told whether they'd gotten the placebo or the vaccine -- but they all figured it out pretty easily. Those who got the vaccine felt ill -- a normal reaction to the shot -- while placebo patients were fine.

Mariah Carey's plan to safely get from L.A. to Aspen for her annual Christmas vacay without risking COVID-19 exposure can be summed up with two words ... ROAD TRIP!!!

Diehard MC fans know the singer's known for taking this yearly trip with the kiddos, but with the pandemic still raging out of control ... the singer wanted to find a safe way to make the trip without taking to the sky. The solution? Hitting the road in a luxury RV.

We're told she kept the yearly tradition alive by renting a 2020 Prevost RV through Outdoorsy.com -- it's like the Rolls Royce of RVs -- and decking it out with Christmas decorations like wreaths and poinsettias before embarking on the 5-day trek. They ventured across a must-see scenic route that included stops in Red Rock Canyon and Zion before arriving Wednesday in Aspen.

The RV's pretty sick ... with 2 bedrooms. a spacious living area, full kitchen and multiple bathrooms. This kind of RV usually rents out for $150k a month ... so you know it's top of the line and very much Mimi-approved.

Mariah's been going to Aspen for a long time ... telling GQ last year she goes because she loves a snowy environment, gazing at the mountains and spotting shooting stars. The kiddos also interact with live reindeer and even Santa Claus pays a visit.

Princess Diana's fans still have her back -- in a big way -- and Prince Charles and Camilla Bowles are getting a harsh reminder of that with the release of their Christmas card.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall's official card is now posted on Instagram, but instead of warm and fuzzy holiday remarks ... they're getting flooded by Diana loyalists with comments like "SHE'S OUR QUEEN," referring to Di.

The running theme in the comments is pure shade. One person said, "Diana's always in our hearts" ... while another commented, "Diana will always be her [Camilla's] shadow."

Things got personal too, and as it played out in real life ... Camilla got the brunt of it, instead of Charles.

That the couple's getting torched shouldn't come as a huge surprise ... coming on the heels of the Netflix series "The Crown" depicting Prince Charles as a total villain in the split from Diana.

On the show, Diana's all but abandoned by Charles, who can't get enough of his affair with Camilla.

The show's come under fire ... with Royal staff recently coming out to say Charles' depiction is NOT accurate.

Tom Cruise isn't always a super stickler for COVID protocols -- not based on some on-set pics of him with his 'Mission: Impossible 7' costar.

'M.I. 7' has been filming for months all over Europe, and we found these images from October of Tom and Hayley Atwell shooting in Rome. In one of them, Tom is wearing a face mask and talking to Hayley, who's also got a mask on, but she's not up to CDC snuff. You can see hers is down below her nose, and as we all know by now ... that does not protect people from droplets that can transmit the virus.

Hayley's showing the same bad form in another shot where Tom doesn't have one on at all -- although it's possible he was about to shoot a scene.

As you know, Tom went nuclear on his crew recently while filming on a studio lot in England. He was pissed off at 2 crew members for breaking COVID protocols, standing less than 6 feet apart to look at a monitor.

Tom Cruise won't have to fire a bunch of people for breaking COVID protocols on the "Mission: Impossible 7" set, 'cause a lot of them are leaving on their own.

Tom's raging tirade seems to have sparked an exodus among ticked-off crew members. The Sun, which got the ranting audio, says at least 5 staffers have quit after Tom's outburst.

As you know, TC went nuclear on the UK set, tearing into crew members for breaking COVID protocols and warning them they'd be "f****** gone" if they did so again. He was reportedly set off by 2 crew members standing within 6 feet of each other around a monitor.

Apparently, things haven't cooled off around set since the epic rant heard round the world. The Sun says Tom had another meltdown Tuesday after audio of his first eruption leaked.

A UPS driver is now out of a job after a customer claimed she caught him spitting on a package on her doorstep -- but whether he actually hocked one or not is up for debate.

This incident went down last Thursday at the home of Ann Patton in Ocala, FL -- where the homeowner says she saw something on a surveillance camera that led her to believe a bitter UPS driver got petty revenge by spitting on one of her packages.

UPS was apparently scheduled to come by that day and pick up a separate package that was supposed to be ready for the driver ... but wasn't. Patton tells us she was never notified of any UPS pickup, so that's why nothing was left out.

Anyway, Patton claims when the driver arrived and realized what he'd been sent there to get was nowhere to be found ... he tried getting back at them by picking up an Amazon package that'd been left earlier in the day and spitting on it ... at least that's what happened in Patton's eyes, who caught the alleged spitting on video.

Of course, the Pattons freaked and called up UPS in a rage ... saying they were told the driver would be canned, but claim the company refused to replace their Amazon package. Naturally, there's a lot to be concerned about if it spat on ... COVID comes to mind.

Now, as for UPS ... they have a slightly different version of events. The company tells us that, yes, they did fire the guy -- who was a temporary holiday driver -- but only did so out of an abundance of caution, because in their eyes ... it's not clear if he spit or not.

Decide for yourself ... UPS said it looked like their dude mistakenly thought it was the package he was there to pick up and was simply following protocol by blowing on the label to clean it off so he could apply the UPS label. They think when he realized it was the wrong package, he just left.

People are losing it 9 months into the pandemic -- no other way to look at it when folks are tearing up food displays in grocery stores, and rollerblading on the interstates in the buff.

Ya gotta sees these videos of COVID cabin fever to the max ... we'll start in Medford, Oregon, where a man threw a bunch of food and drinks all over a supermarket before storming out the front door.

The guy started slinging 2 liters of soda before tossing chips, and then getting more efficient by just toppling the whole display. His strut afterward shows he's pretty proud he made his point ... whatever the hell it was.

Meanwhile, commuters in Columbus, Ohio drove past a strange sight on the interstate ... a rollerblader wearing nothing more than some panda headgear.

The naked rollerblader's giving the cars behind him a full moon, and it appears he's wielding a golf club. That's not a euphemism ... we mean an actual club.

As if losing the election wasn't enough, folks can stick it to Donald Trump again by pushing the button to blow up one of his old casinos.

Here's the deal ... the former Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City is scheduled for demolition next month -- pretty close to when Trump leaves the White House -- and for the right price, someone gets to bring down the joint.

The auction is doubling as a fundraiser benefiting the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City, and the mayor's hoping the big prize hauls in over $1 million.

Yeah, politicians think people hate Trump that much -- and there are roughly 80 million people who'd agree with that.

Trump's former casino opened its doors way back in 1984, when AC was actually popping, but it shuttered in 2014 and the property has descended into such a bad state that demolition work is already underway.

The rest of the crumbling structure will be demolished Jan. 29 -- 9 days after Trump's Presidential run comes to an end. Boy, January's gonna suck for him.

Atlantic City's got a love-hate relationship with Trump ... the mayor remembers some of the city's iconic moments happening at the Trump Plaza casino, including tons of big boxing matches, but he also didn't forget Trump mocking AC on his way out of town ... so the auction makes sense.

Bodycam video showing Chicago cops bursting into a home to arrest a naked, confused and innocent woman is a total shock to the city's Mayor ... who says she was totally in the dark about the botched raid.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she was "blindsided" by the video of the raid which went down 2 years ago, and is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit against CPD. The bodycam video went public this week ... showing police using a battering ram to knock down the door of Anjanette Young.

Once inside the heavily armed officers found Anjanette completely naked, and she was forced to stand in her living room that way while the cops frantically searched her home. Anjanette, who says she was terrified and humiliated, repeatedly asked what was going on ... because it turns out the cops raided the wrong home.

She says the city of Chicago has blocked her from getting the video for years, but her lawyers were finally able to get it this week.