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A couple claiming a Maggiano's seated all its customers of color in the back ... is getting an apology, but the restaurant chain also insists it wasn't segregating patrons.

Here's the backstory -- a Black woman named Dot claimed on Instagram she and her husband had reservations last weekend at the Maggiano's in Orlando, and when they showed up ... they were ushered all the way to the back of the joint.

That's when she says she noticed a "stark contrast from the patrons in the front of the restaurant, versus where we were being seated." Dot added ... "Guys….I s**t you not…this restaurant was segregated!!!!!!!!! In 2021!!!!!! Our minds were BLOWN!!!!!!"

Dot claims this pattern of seating people continued throughout their visit, and she posted a couple photos with her hubby to make her point. She also speculated that a nearby Trump rally that day may have factored into the restaurant's motivations.

While Maggiano's insists the seating situation had nothing to do with race, the restaurant chain still apologized, saying ... "We understand that two valued Guests felt unwelcome when they dined at our Maggiano’s restaurant in Orlando on Sunday, February 28, and for that we sincerely apologize."

As for an explanation, Maggiano's says it investigated the incident, and says the reason for the perceived segregation is because "a single large party of 30 African-American guests" requested to be seated together.

The restaurant says when Dot and her husband arrived, "our system suggested a table that was still occupied by Guests, which prompted the reassignment of their new table" ... which happened to be in the back.

However, Maggiano's acknowledges the table reassignment didn't make the couple feel welcome. It adds that it's going to work to ensure future seating arrangements "are not just computer generated but have a human touch."

Dot later revealed Maggiano's sent her a $200 gift card and the chain's President Steve Provost reached out to her.

Neil deGrasse Tyson just rained all over Baker Mayfield's alien parade ... saying the Cleveland Browns quarterback most likely saw a meteor -- NOT a UFO.

Booooooooo.

Remember, Mayfield tweeted with "almost 100%" certainty he and his wife saw a UFO Wednesday night ... saying they saw a "very bright ball of light going straight down out of the sky."

But, Tyson -- certified science nerd -- says Baker needs to come back down the earth ... and suggests the QB brushes up on his meteor knowledge.

"Okay, so what he should do is go look at what meteors look like and most of them look like simple shooting stars," Tyson said Friday on FS1's 'The Herd' with Colin Cowherd.

"But, the occasional one, the occasional BIGGER one is called a bolide. We have special words for them and they flash through the sky. It takes just half a second! It flashes through the sky and at the end, sometimes they explode."

In other words, don't expect an alien invasion just yet, Bake.

Tyson says there are a bunch of amateur astronomers who spend countless hours looking in the sky ... and there would be a lot more hubbub if it really were anything out of the ordinary.

"I think if there were aliens visiting, the astronomer community would catch it immediately."

Kim Kardashian says she totally understands what it's like to be Britney Spears after watching the new documentary about the singer's life ... because she went through the same intense media scrutiny when she was pregnant.

Kim just opened up on her own experience with media shaming, saying she totally empathizes with Britney after watching the "Framing Britney Spears" documentary.

For Kim, she says the hardest part was when she was pregnant with North, she recalls the media giving her a hard time over her weight gain ... and says the constant magazine covers, like the one comparing her to a whale, made her cry.

She shared a bunch of the covers, with headlines like ... "Dumped at 200 Lbs," "I'll Never Be Sexy Again," "I Can't Stop Eating," "Paid To Get Fat," "Don't Call Me Fat," "I'll Eat As Much As I Want," "Alone & Binge Eating," "Yes, I'm Fat," "Kim's Body Struggle," "You Call This Fat" and "My Butt Won't Stop Growing."

Kim says she was shamed on a weekly basis just like Britney and it really broke her spirit ... and she says no one deserves to be treated with cruelty or judgment, no matter how famous they are or how public their life is.

While KK says she eventually turned the media scrutiny into motivation, she says it still took a toll on her mental health.

Chris Harrison's apology might not have happened without a far-ranging conversation he had with author Michael Eric Dyson ... about historical racism and the perception of Black people in this country.

Dyson joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" to discuss the guidance he gave the embattled host of the 'Bachelor' franchise ... and says it was crystal clear to him how genuinely committed Chris was in trying to grapple with race.

He said, "You don't have to spend 50 days with somebody to get whether they're sincere or not and whether they're willing to put in the work. He was."

As we reported ... Harrison mentioned Dyson during his 'GMA' interview as one of the people he turned to for counseling after the backlash he got for excusing historical racism during an interview with ex-'Bachelorette' Rachel Lindsay.

Michael, who wrote "Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America," says he believes Chris isn't just trying to get his job back, either. Instead, he says Chris "knew he had done something wrong, and he was extremely sad about that."

MED points to the fact, Harrison didn't just apologize to Rachel and the Black community -- but he also made sure to denounce the online trolls spewing hate at Rachel.

Bobby Shmurda's getting back to work for NBA All-Star Weekend in Atlanta ... and he's set to bank big bucks for his first performances since getting sprung from prison.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... after the rapper takes the mic Friday night for his triumphant return at Compound nightclub in the ATL, he'll walk away with $125,000.

Bobby's hosting the event -- dubbed his "Welcome Home Party" -- with 50 Cent, but it's just one of several gigs he has on the books for the hoops and hip-hop weekend.

We're told Shmurda's also signed on for smaller, private events that will ultimately bring his haul to more than $300K for a few days' work.

Of course, Bobby's not the only rapper taking advantage of the All-Star festivities. Our sources say his pal Rowdy Rebel -- who was also released from prison early this year -- will make $59k for his show at Halo Lounge.

Likewise, Lil Durk's set to score $100k for his Saturday night gig at Opera Nightclub.

Rep. Eric Swalwell squarely blames Donald Trump and the former president's cohorts for the violent mob that stormed the Capitol, saying he texted his wife what he believed might be his final words before he was killed.

Swalwell is suing Trump, along with Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Mo Brooks for encouraging the crowd to take care of business at the same time the Congress was certifying the Presidential election.

Swalwell says as he watched in horror as the rioters breached the Capitol, he texted his wife, "I love you very much. And our babies."

He says he listened to the House Chaplain pray for the members inside the House Chamber.

Swalwell's lawsuit is the real deal because he has legal standing to sue for his personal emotional distress, although the lawsuit also suggests he has standing as a member of Congress to sue for the disruption of the electoral process.

Swalwell alleges the emotional distress inflicted by the rioters was intentional on the part of Trump and company, and he outlines the various, well-chronicled examples where Trump, Trump Jr., Giuliani and Brooks ginned up the crowd both in advance and on the day of January 6.

Swalwell also alleges the defendants committed "bias-related crimes," noting federal law prohibits attacks based on the political affiliation of a victim. He alleges all of the defendants are guilty of incitement to riot.

In addition to suing for compensatory and punitive damages, he's asking for an order requiring all the defendants to notify Swalwell no less than 7 days before any future large rally is planned in Washington D.C., to give the Congressman time to go to court to prevent more violence.

Amber Rose is 100 percent behind Taylor Swift for calling out the Netflix show that made a joke about the singer's dating history ... because she says you can never let up on sexism.

We got Amber leaving Sushiya in WeHo late Thursday, and she's totally Team Taylor after Swift blasted the show, "Ginny and Georgia," earlier this week for what she referred to as a dated, lazy, deeply sexist, "horse s**t" joke.

If ya missed it, the character Ginny yells at her mother ... "What do you care? You go through men faster than Taylor Swift."

Though many supported Taylor's stance on the joke, other folks accused her of overreacting ... but Amber tells us that's BS. She says slut-shaming is a problem that ya can't overreact to ... and Taylor has a right to feel the way she does.

Meghan Markle's memory of a phone call from Oprah in 2018 makes it sound like the then duchess-to-be was being held captive by the Royal Family.

O just released another clip from her highly anticipated interview with Meghan and Prince Harry ... where Oprah recalls calling Meghan months before her royal wedding to request an interview and being politely turned down. Back then, Meghan said the timing wasn't right, but now she says that was an excuse forced on her.

The reality was, according to Meghan ... "I wasn't even allowed to have that conversation with you personally, right? There had to be people from the comm., sitting there."

Meghan says the timing is right now, though, because she and Harry finally have the ability to make their own choices.

She also suggests that people can't imagine what it was like to leave her independent life and enter the "construct" of the monarchy.

As we reported ... the Duke and Duchess' interview with Oprah has promised to be "shocking," and the couple's essentially declared war against Queen Elizabeth and Buckingham Palace by accusing them of spreading "falsehoods" about them.

Get your popcorn ready!

Lisa Marie Presley's been separated from her estranged husband for nearly 5 years and says she's ready to start a new chapter ... so she wants the judge to step in and declare her single.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Lisa Marie says her ex Michael Lockwood refuses to agree to terminate their marriage ... despite the fact she filed for divorce way back in June 2016.

She says there's no chance of ever saving the relationship, so she's requesting a bifurcation -- which means separating marital status from other divorce issues. Basically, let's be single now, and divvy up our stuff later.

One other big issue has already been settled -- LMP scored a big win in 2018 when the judge ruled she doesn't have to pay Lockwood spousal support based on their 2007 post-nuptial agreement.

Lance Waldroup, a famous bootlegger from Discovery's "Moonshiners," has died.

Lance died Feb. 25 in his home state of North Carolina ... according to his father, Jeff, who also appeared on the reality show alongside his son. The cause of death remains unclear.

Discovery tells TMZ ... Lance will be remembered as an adventurous distiller who was always looking to take his flavorful recipes of moonshine to new heights.

Lance appeared in several early seasons of the show ... bootlegging out of North Carolina with his father. He was one of the younger and less experienced moonshiners, and would often turn to his dad for guidance. He also distilled absinthe and scotch.

Lance's family set up a GoFundMe to raise money for a memorial fund, and the description says he was a recovering drug addict who had turned his life around after going to rehab.

The Waldroups have really been through it -- the family says Lance had survivor's guilt because his sister died when she was 11, and his brother died when he was 20.

Lance was only 30.

Elon Musk founding his City of Starbase, Texas is getting support from at least one local official ... who says the move could lead to a serious job and tourism boom.

Joey Lopez, one of four elected commissioners for Cameron County, tells TMZ ... Elon's SpaceX has already made an impact -- currently known as the unincorporated area of Boca Chica Village -- by attracting tourists who come watch rocket launches.

Hopefully, the rockets will do better than the one Wednesday ... an unmanned test flight of a SpaceX rocket Elon hoped would go to Mars exploded after trying to stick a clean landing at the South Texas landing facility.

Lopez says SpaceX has also created jobs in the area. He says in June of 2020 there were 600 county residents who worked for SpaceX. That number's swelled to as high as 1,800 ... according to Lopez.

And, if Elon starts his own city ... Lopez sees that number skyrocketing. #PunIntended.

What's more ... Lopez says Elon's already ingrained himself in the community ... like recently helping save sea turtles during Texas' recent deadly winter storm. He also provided generators that helped maintain water pressure in two Cameron County towns.

As we reported ... a county judge has already said Elon must comply with all state laws if he wants to own a piece of Texas. Lopez says Elon has a lot of work to do if he wants Boca Chica Village Starbase to become a self-sufficient city.

It's the best news Tessica Brown's gotten since getting the Gorilla Glue out of her hair -- the masses found in her breasts are not cancerous.

Tessica's manager, Gina Rodriguez, tells TMZ ... test results for the 2 lumps, one in each breast, came back negative, and Tessica is ecstatic. She says doctors say the benign cysts are the result of fibrocystic breast disease which comes with its own complications.

We're told the disease generally makes it tougher for doctors to ID potentially cancerous lumps. As a result, Tessica will now have to get a mammogram every 6 months.

As we first reported, Tessica had gone back to Dr. Michael Obeng -- who defeated the Gorilla Glue -- to get a mommy makeover that included a boob lift/implants and some abdominal lipo. It was during a pre-surgery consultation that he discovered the lumps.

Dr. Obeng removed the cysts during Tessica's other procedures and sent them to the lab for testing.

Tessica remained optimistic -- even while waiting for results -- telling us she felt everything had happened for a reason: the Gorilla Glue ordeal brought her to Dr. Obeng ... who then found the lumps.

Sad news out of Canada ... Wayne Gretzky's father, Walter Gretzky, has died after a battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 82.

"It's with deep sadness that Janet and I share the news of the passing of my dad," Wayne said in a statement late Thursday evening.

"He bravely battled Parkinson's and other health issues these last few years, but he never let it get him down."

"For me, he was the reason I fell in love with the game of hockey. He inspired me to be the best I could be not just in the game of hockey, but in life."

The stories about Walter Gretzky's role in Wayne's career are legendary -- he served as The Great One's personal coach growing up, hammering home the fundamentals of the game.

One of his most famous lessons for Wayne focused on ANTICIPATING the action -- skate to where the puck is going, not where it's been.

Walter loved hockey -- but never played at the pro level. He played junior and senior hockey growing up in Canada but realized he wasn't good enough to make a career out of it.

His son, however ... well, we all know how that turned out.

In fact, Walter basically built a shrine to his son at the family home in Ontario -- which somebody actually burglarized back in 2020.

Family members reported roughly $500,000 worth of Wayne Gretzky memorabilia was stolen from the home .. including game-used sticks, jerseys, gloves, pants and even a Player of the Year award.

But, the story had a happy ending for Walter ... after a 3-month investigation, cops recovered a bunch of the items.

Wayne concluded his tribute to his father by saying the family is at peace knowing Wayne has been reunited with his late wife, Phyllis, who passed away in 2005.

'Walking Dead' makeup artist and executive producer Greg Nicotero doesn't need CDC guidelines to prepare for a zombie apocalypse ... he already knows a safe place to hide.

We got the genius behind the show's most epic zombies at LAX and asked him what would be in his zombie preparedness kit, something the CDC is actually advising folks to have just in case Nostradamus is right about his big 2021 prediction.

Greg tells our camera guy he just needs a makeup kit to survive ... because it would allow him to blend in with the rest of the zombie horde.

Of course, Greg's the most skilled zombie makeup artist in the world ... but for the rest of us, he says duct tape could really come in handy and the big key is hiding out in a place no zombie would ever think to look, like the dentist's office.

As we reported ... the CDC updated its website's "Zombie Preparedness" section and the overall theme is "Get a Kit. Make a Plan. Be Prepared."

Greg says he's sat on zombie panels with CDC doctors and he thinks the federal agency just wants Americans to at least think about what they would do in a situation like a zombie apocalypse. In reality, the CDC is just clowning a bit, but with a purpose ... to drive younger people to the site for important medical info.

Former NHL star Sean Avery busted a man's car mirror during a heated altercation in L.A. Thursday morning ... but he tells TMZ Sports he's the real victim in the situation.

Here's the deal ... law enforcement tells us cops were called out to the 8300 block of the Yucca Trail near West Hollywood around 10 AM to respond to a call of vandalism.

What happened preceding the call, though seems to boil down to two sides.

On one end, there's Niku. On the other, there's Avery ... and both guys claim the other dude was the aggressor in the incident.

Niku says a couple weeks ago, back in mid-February, he got into a confrontation with Avery in the neighborhood after unintentionally blocking the former hockey player down a two-way, one-lane road.

Niku says when he backed up to let Avery by ... the 40-year-old ex-NY Ranger became aggressive, rolled down his window and yelled "slow down you fat f***" over and over.

Niku says he hadn't had any contact with Avery since ... until Thursday morning, when he drove by the NHL player, who was on a jog.

Niku claims Avery recognized him from their February incident, and became incensed, and chased after him.

In video of the incident, you can see what happened next ... Avery caught up to Niku and opened his door -- before Niku quickly pulled it shut.

Niku then rolled down his window and called Avery a "psychopath."

Avery then stood in front of Niku's car ... until Niku drove slowly towards him while honking his horn.

Avery eventually got out of the way, but elbowed the dude's driver's side mirror as he stepped aside.

Avery, though, claims the whole thing was started because Niku hit him while he was jogging.

Avery says he chased Niku down to try to get him to stop ... saying Niku, "Tried to run me over." Avery added, "My leg's a little hurt."

Cops wouldn't reveal any more details from their investigation into the incident Thursday ... only telling us that a report was taken. They added no arrests were made.

Texas local Leigh Nash was only 21 when she shot onto the music scene in the late '90s as the frontwoman for the rock band Sixpence None The Richer who released the catchy single "Kiss Me" on their self-titled album ... which became the ballad for a handful of teen classics like "She's All That."

SNTR went on to release three more studio albums with their signature Christian rock vibe ... but never achieved the same success as they did in 1997.

Leigh Nash continues to make music as a solo act and just released a new song called "Good Trouble" featuring Ruby Amanfu.