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Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, won't ever have to worry about facing charges over the raid on his home that left his girlfriend dead ... because a judge has deemed it so.

Judge Olu Stevens of Jefferson Circuit Court in Kentucky handed down the ruling Monday that the criminal charges Kenneth was originally facing in the immediate aftermath -- assault and attempted murder of an officer -- would be dismissed with prejudice.

That means they can't be filed against him again. A motion to dismiss with prejudice was recently filed by Jefferson Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine ... who said no new evidence had come to light that he felt could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kenneth knew he was shooting at cops on that fateful night.

Wine had already filed to dismiss the charges without prejudice almost a full year ago ... but he left the door open to possibly re-charge him, pending further investigation. Now, he -- and more importantly, a judge -- have closed the book on the issue.

At the heart of it is the lingering unanswered question about whether Louisville PD officers announced themselves as cops before busting in ... something Kenneth has maintained did NOT happen, which is why he says he shot -- to defend himself against intruders.

Of course, the police insist they did announce themselves -- but Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly also suggested this ... that perhaps both things were true, that they did announce -- but Kenneth simply didn't hear or couldn't make out what was being said amid the ruckus.

The decision to dismiss charges against Kenneth seems to fly in the face of AG Daniel Cameron's decision not to charge any of the cops directly with Breonna's killing ... saying a grand jury found the officers had, in fact, announced. He said it with much certainty.

HBO Max subscribers looking for some family fun were instead treated to an early look at Zack Snyder's "Justice League" ... with the streaming service leaking the film 10 days early.

Here's the deal ... folks who wanted to watch the PG-rated "Tom and Jerry" movie Monday on HBO Max were, instead, greeted with the R-rated "Justice League" thanks to a glitch on the streaming service.

HBO Max confirmed the accidental leak, saying the movie was "temporarily available" and "the error was addressed within minutes."

It appears a decent number of folks were able to catch a sneak peek of the highly-anticipated film ... including several Twitter users, who were quick to rub it in and crack jokes about staffers getting fired.

While HBO Max says the error was fixed "within minutes," some people say they were able to watch about an hour of the film before the feed was cut.

Snyder's version of the 2017 flick isn't set for an official release until March 18 ... so this is a pretty big oops.

The NFL's biggest offseason storyline finally has an ending ... Dak Prescott has reached a long-term contract agreement with the Dallas Cowboys -- and dude just got PAAAAAIIIDDD!!!

The 27-year-old superstar has agreed to a 4-year, $160 MILLION deal with Dallas ... and, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, it includes a league-record of $126 million guaranteed.

Schefter also reports Prescott will make $42 million per season in the first 3 years of the deal ... and could make a total of $164 million with incentives.

Prescott's signing bonus is $66 million and he has a no-trade clause in the deal, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport added.

The money is huge and it's sure to create salary cap drama for Dallas ... but it's still welcome news for the Cowboys and their fans regardless.

Dak and Dallas tried to get a deal done all last offseason ... but couldn't make it happen -- reportedly quarreling over the length of the prospective contract.

Prescott played on the franchise tag last season ... and it seemed the two sides were possibly headed for yet another franchise tag season this year after negotiations still dragged on the last few months.

Donald Trump had to know his first trip back to NYC since leaving the White House would be a turbulent one ... and the Big Apple is delivering.

There are about a dozen or so protesters outside Trump Tower in Manhattan waving a huge "Arrest Trump" banner. There's also a giant inflatable caricature of Trump and others are holding signs that read "Go Home Florida Man" and "Indict Trump."

It ain't all bad news for 45 in the Democratic stronghold of NYC -- a throng of Trump supporters also gathered nearby pumping up his potential return to the Oval Office in 2024.

It's unclear what brought Trump, who arrived Sunday night, back to his old stomping grounds ... but it could be tied to his legal problems. The Manhattan D.A.'s Office is currently investigating Trump for tax and bank-related fraud.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry may think they officially tied the knot in a secret wedding 3 days before their televised one -- but we've learned the church doesn't see it that way.

A source within the church tells TMZ ... a marriage must be solemnized by a member of the clergy in a church or in a place specified in a special license -- be it a cathedral, chapel or hospital -- AND in the presence of 2 witnesses.

That last part is key, because Meghan told Oprah she and Harry got married prior to the big royal wedding we all saw -- in their backyard with only the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. So, they'd be one witness short of a real marriage.

Remember, during the explosive chat, Meghan referred to their big TV wedding as a "spectacle" for the world, but she and Harry wanted "our union between us."

We reached out to a rep at the Archbishop's office and the rep said they don't comment on "personal or pastoral matters" -- but the church's wedding rules are spelled out pretty clearly in black and white.

Ousted Papa John's founder, John Schnatter, is talking in doublespeak ... insisting he's not racist, but copping to having to purge the n-word from his repertoire to prove it.

The former CEO of the pizza chain -- who got the boot a few years back for allegedly uttering the n-word in a conference call -- made an appearance on the far-right news channel, OAN ... where he was rehashing his experience, which he paints as a de facto coup.

At one point, Schnatter says the Board wrongly portrayed him as a racist -- adding he's been up at night since then, wondering how they got away with it.

Then comes the contradictory line ... JS says for the past 20 months, he's had 3 goals -- 1) "to get rid of this n-word in my vocabulary and dictionary and everything else because it's just not true," 2) figuring how they did this and 3) to get on with his life.

That first goal is a doozy to unpack. On its face, it sounds like he's admitting the n-word is a regular thing that shows up in his convos all the time, and that he's needed 20 months to exorcise himself of it.

Something tells us that's not what he meant -- he might've been trying to say "get rid of this n-word scandal" -- but that's certainly not how it came out. BTW, Schnatter keeps putting his foot in his mouth with these TV interviews, intentionally or not.

Remember, in 2019 ... he did another TV spot where he admitted he'd eaten 40 pizzas in 30 days (to see how they're holding up without him) -- and it just came off as sad and pathetic.

The White House is now weighing in on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's interview with Oprah ... applauding them for their courage to tell their story.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked Monday during her daily briefing if President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden had any reaction following Meghan's claims of racism against the Royal Family.

Psaki sidestepped whether the Bidens actually watched the interview, but added ... "For anyone to come forward and speak about their own struggles with mental health and tell their own personal story — that takes courage, and that's certainly something the President believes, and he's talked about the importance of investing in a lot of these areas that they’re committed to in the future as well."

She was careful, though, not to ruffle any feathers across the pond because Psaki also emphasized America's "strong and abiding relationship" with the United Kingdom.

The fact some Brits are tuning out Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's bombshell claims about race, is a sign of how ingrained racism is in the Royal family ... according to Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu

The British women's rights activist joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday, and dug into the couple's biggest revelation to Oprah -- that one or more members of the Royals were concerned about Archie's skin color.

Dr. Shola squarely addressed Meghan and Harry's haters ... many of whom she says still deny racism is "structural" in the U.K.'s society.

It's a fascinating conversation ... and she also told us why Prince Charles should be the first Royal to respond to his son's interview. The way Dr. Shola sees it, the heir to the throne has a lot of explaining to do ... IF he wants to patch things up with Harry and Meghan.

As you know ... there's a worldwide guessing game over who voiced those skin-tone concerns to Harry. They wouldn't say, and the Palace remains silent about it.

The Naked Cowboy, famous for performing in Times Square, got busted way down in Florida for his same old schtick ... and cops say his trusty guitar broke when he resisted arrest.

Robert Burck, the nearly naked man behind the Naked Cowboy character, was arrested Saturday on a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence in Daytona Beach, where police also cited him for aggressive panhandling.

The Naked Cowboy was in town for Bike Week ... and cops say he was in his familiar getup -- white briefs, guitar and a cowboy hat -- when he was taking pictures with folks on the street in exchange for cash.

Police say a huge crowd formed around the Naked Cowboy as he hovered near a business on Main Street, so an officer cited him for panhandling. Cops say he refused to follow orders and when he resisted arrest while up against a patrol car the headstock of his guitar broke.

Bam Margera is learning hot tubs and fresh ink don't mix -- he needed a hospital stay to treat a staph infection from his latest tattoo.

The "Jackass" star was hospitalized over the weekend after experiencing pain in the same leg that's home to his new Farsi tatt. Bam's no stranger to pain -- it's kinda been his job for years -- so ya gotta imagine he was really hurting bad.

Bam says he had a staph infection, and sources close to him tell us the leg was likely infected when he went into a hot tub.

As anyone with tattoos likely knows, you're supposed to take it easy after getting inked up ... and hot tubs really sound like a bad idea, especially with leg tatts. Tough lesson here for Bam.

Prince Harry told Oprah ... the member or members of the Royal Family who made racist comments about the color of Archie's skin was NOT the Queen or Prince Philip, so the list of suspects is narrowing.

There were many headlines from Oprah's stunning interview, but the biggest was that Harry was told by a member/members of the Royal Fam ... Archie could not be a Prince because his skin tone would probably be too dark.

They made it clear ... this was not just one conversation, but several while Meghan was pregnant. They also made the stunning claim Archie would not get security since he was not a Prince, despite the death threats Harry and his family were enduring. Indeed, they said all security was pulled once they moved to Canada.

They would not say who made the racist comments, but they made it clear it was a member of the Family.

That said ... Harry has plenty of grievances with his dad, Prince Charles, saying when they moved to Canada, Charles stopped taking Harry's calls. He essentially accused his dad of being heartless ... especially given the fact Charles knew the difficulties Harry faced because he had been through something similar with Diana.

Harry also made it clear ... he's estranged from his brother, William. It's interesting, Harry intimated to Oprah William feels trapped but he can't leave given his position.

Harry says the entire family survives in a "toxic environment," although he says Charles has made peace with it.

For Meghan's part, she says hatred from social media was the game changer ... fueled by racism, she says it became so impossible she contemplated suicide.

A throng of George Floyd supporters are gathered outside a Minneapolis courthouse for what's supposed to be jury selection day in ex-cop Derek Chauvin's murder case.

The judge in the case on Monday paused jury selection for at least a day and said he wants to hear from the State Court of Appeals as to whether a third-degree murder charge can be added to Chauvin's counts. He had reportedly said he would initially start jury selection with the matter unresolved but has now changed course.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune ... Chauvin's attorney will ask the State Supreme Court to overturn Friday's ruling from the Court of Appeals which said the judge can reinstate the third-degree murder charge. The judge told prospective jurors to be ready to return to court on Tuesday.

The news came after a huge crowd had gathered outside the Hennepin County Government Center ... holding signs that read “Hope,” "Reflect," “Stronger Together,” and “This is what community looks like." They had also gathered there Sunday.

There was also a huge law enforcement presence in the area to keep things under control ... though things look very much peaceful. Chauvin, who is out on a $1 million bond, was seen inside the courtroom ... wearing a suit and face mask.

Burger King has a funny way of promoting gender equality -- because it said something totally sexist about women ... as a way to plug a new initiative supporting them.

Yes, this is what honchos at BK's British office thought would be a good campaign to hype a new scholarship program -- tweeting early Monday, "Women belong in the kitchen."

As the Internet started dragging them, BK added ... "If they want to, of course. Yet only 20% of chefs are women. We're on a mission to change the gender ratio in the restaurant industry by empowering female employees with the opportunity to pursue a culinary career. #IWD."

See what they did there? Piss off everyone with one disgustingly misogynistic tweet, then hit 'em with ... wait, we're doing a good thing!

BK says the scholarship is meant to uplift their female employees, who wanna move past fry cook and be bona fide chefs.

BTW ... March 8 is International Women's Day -- a worldwide holiday aimed at celebrating ladies everywhere. For some reason, Burger King ran with this as their #IWD campaign.

A couple hours after the in-poor-taste rollout ... Burger King UK added one last clarifying tweet -- "We are proud to be launching a new scholarship programme which will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!"

Meghan Markle's claims of racism against the Royal Family appear to be partially backed up by the fact this very issue came up early on -- remember the brooch?

If ya don't, Princess Michael -- who's married to one of Queen Elizabeth's cousins -- apologized back in late 2017 when she was called out for wearing a Blackamoor brooch to a Royal gathering Meghan attended ... the first Christmas lunch since getting with Harry.

The brooch depicts a dark-skinned person wearing a turban, and it's thought to glorify colonialism and servitude ... as that line of jewelry often portrays POC in lesser-than positions.

Princess Michael said she meant nothing by it when she wore it to the lunch, and wasn't trying to offend or send a message to Meghan specifically.

Still, it's not a good look in light of what Meghan and Harry alleged in the explosive tell-all with Oprah -- namely, that they'd been informed by a member or members of the Royal Family that Archie's skin color could potentially be a problem, if he was born "too dark."

They wouldn't name the alleged perpetrator(s), but Harry did rule out 2 names in a follow-up chat ... saying neither Queen Elizabeth nor Prince Philip uttered such words.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry accused members of the Royal Family of shocking racism ... with Oprah's interview delivering the goods -- a stunning attack on the Royals.

Perhaps the biggest moment was when Meghan told Oprah that she'd been informed her and Harry's son, Archie, would not get the title of prince, and as a result, would get no security either.

Meghan then fired the shot, saying people had conversations with her while she was still pregnant, saying Archie's skin might be too dark for the role. Oprah was speechless and stunned, and when she asked Meghan who made such a comment ... Meghan clammed up.

But, it seems almost inadvertent that a minute later ... she said these were convos with the "family."

Meghan says it got so bad that she contemplated suicide. She says she went to human resources begging to get professional help, but she claims they turned her down flat.

Meghan also threw Kate Middleton under the bus by saying stories that she made Kate cry in the lead-up to the wedding simply weren't true. Meghan said it was the reverse -- Kate made her cry, but she apologized later and Meghan forgave her.

Meghan also said she was silenced by the Firm, which manages Royal business, but given assurances she would be protected. Meghan then said they never protected her, saying ... "They were willing to lie to protect other members, but not willing to tell the truth about me."

Prince Harry eventually came on and corroborated Meg's claim that somebody brought up race as it pertained to their child, Archie, and even elaborated ... saying it was brought up early and often.

Oprah grilled Harry for details, but he refused to share any about what exactly was said ... or who allegedly said it. Basically, he's taking that to the grave -- but he did say this ... it was clear from the get-go with Meghan that race was something that was on the Royal Family's mind, and that it was going to be difficult to navigate.

He said things were brought up to him about Meghan, like suggestions that she carry on with her acting career, as the Family supposedly didn't have enough money to support her or offer security for her. He also said the question was asked ... what would their kids look like?

Another takeaway ... Harry said he and his father, Prince Charles, became estranged during 'Megxit' ... claiming Charles stopped taking his calls and pretty much went cold on him after Harry made it clear he wanted out, with PC apparently being pissed Harry was trying to change up the sitch.

One last thing ... Harry and Meghan revealed they're due to have a baby girl, so Archie's got a little sister on the way. Congrats!

MacKenzie Scott has a new husband -- a teacher at her kids' school -- and while marrying the ex-Mrs. Jeff Bezos means the guy's suddenly mega-wealthy ... he's already giving it all away.

MacKenzie and Dan Jewett went public with their marriage over the weekend. Dan teaches science at Seattle Lakeside school ... the elite private institution Jeff and MacKenzie's 4 kids have attended.

Sounds like Dan and Jeff might have met at PTA meetings over the years -- Bezos released a statement, saying ... "Dan is such a great guy, and I am happy and excited for both of them."

It's unclear exactly when MacKenzie -- who's reportedly worth about $53 billion -- tied the knot, but on Saturday Dan posted a message on The Giving Pledge website and promised to give away his wealth ... just like his new wife.

Dan wrote about his own passion for giving, and added, "And now, in a stroke of happy coincidence, I am married to one of the most generous and kind people I know, and joining her in a commitment to pass on an enormous financial wealth to serve others."