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Jon Taffer says things are looking up after the pandemic decimated Vegas ... but he's not focusing on the world-famous strip, he says it's all about helping the little guys.

The "Bar Rescue" star joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" and told us why the smaller joints catering to Sin City locals need his help, and why business that survived coronavirus closures and restrictions could soon cash in big time.

Jon says the upcoming season of "Bar Rescue" is all about Vegas, because the City had one of the country's highest unemployment rates during the height of the pandemic ... with the hospitality industry taking the brunt.

The way Jon sees it ... major hotels and businesses on the strip will be just fine, but the bars targeting locals off the strip are in need of rescuing, and he's ready to get to work.

Lots of folks think of buffets when they think of Vegas, and Jon says those are coming back to life too ... with vaccines playing a key role.

This is equal parts sad and wild -- a dog trainer in New Zealand has been disqualified from racing ... after one of her winning greyhounds tested positive for METH.

It's crazy ... but unfortunately, it's true.

Here's what happened ... trainer Angela Helen Turnwald and her dog, Zipping Sarah, secured first place at the Addington Raceway in Christchurch last November ... earning a $4,000 prize, according to the New Zealand Herald.

But, the money never made it to Turnwald's pockets ... after her winning doggo's post-race urine test was flagged for amphetamine and methamphetamine.

The Judicial Control Authority for Racing investigated ... and while it was unable to determine "a deliberate wrongdoing," an example had to be made for the rest of the sport ... and Turnwald was hit with a 4-month ban from competition.

JCA chairman Warwick Gendall QC spoke about the probe ... saying, "Methamphetamine is a potent central nervous system stimulant which poses significant animal welfare issues and the level of Amphetamine (as it metabolized from Methamphetamine) in the sample was particularly large."

Gendall added Turnwald -- who previously had a spotless record -- had several people vouch for her character ... but it was important to show there was a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to illegal performance-enhancing substances.

Turnwald's suspension starts April 30 ... and she will also have to pay $3,500 in fines.

"Seeking Sister Wife" star Dimitri Snowden could be in hot water ... 'cause one of the women on the show is accusing him of domestic abuse ... according to new legal docs.

Christeline Petersen filed a restraining order against Dimitri claiming he's been physically abusive during their relationship over the last year ... to the point it's even scared her 2 young daughters.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Christeline says back in January she was woken up one day by him "slamming my head into the headboard of the bed and he was yelling at me." She went on to claim Dimitri slammed her head on the headboard several times. She says she filed a police report.

What's more ... she claims Dimitri was abusive during sex. She says "he choked me during sex, even though I told him not to." She added, "The more I struggled the more he enjoyed it." Christeline says her only choice was to go along with it.

She claims, "I stopped saying no after a few times, because any struggle by me would prolong the sex and choking." Christeline claims things got so out of hand one time she got very dizzy and felt like she was going to pass out. She says she suffered bruises, scratches and redness around her neck from the alleged attack.

Christeline, who came to the U.S. from South Africa to be courted as a third wife on the TLC reality show, beelined it to court and the judge granted her a restraining order. Dimitri must stay at least 100 yards away from her and her 2 daughters because she says they are afraid of him "as he often yells and punches the walls or furniture."

We've reached out to Dimitri and TLC, so far no word back.

The artist who created a golden 3D sculpture of Chadwick Boseman's head as an NFT artwork is going back to the drawing board ... after some backlash over his decision to tie its release to the Oscars.

The artist, Andre Oshea, apologized Monday and added, "I now recognize that Chadwick's face is a triggering reminder of his death rather than his life."

Some fans took to social media to express their outrage -- one tweet read, "Creating a Chadwick Boseman NFT and not even giving him a posthumous Oscar is the best example of everything wrong today."

Another tweeter said, "Sooooooo lemme get this straight: They rushed the 'in memoriam' section to get to Chadwick's face last changed the order of the winners to tease Chadwick winning last and then at the end of the night everyone gets an NFT of Chadwick's head? This all feels wrong."

Well, they got that last part wrong -- Andre confirmed the NFTs were not included in Oscar swag bags, and he did have good intentions. He said he initially created the digital monument to embody Chadwick's influence "as a hero to all the Black kids everywhere while raising awareness about colon cancer and its impact on Black communities."

His redesigned NFT -- which was NOT commissioned by the Oscars -- will be auctioned off, with 50% of proceeds going to the Colon Cancer Foundation to fund 10,000 screenings to underserved communities.

Britney Spears' father, Jamie, is going after her mother, Lynne, for objecting to the legal fees linked to the singer's conservatorship ... claiming Lynne has no idea what she's talking about and is not looking out for their daughter's best interests.

Jamie's attorneys at Holland & Knight LLP filed new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, calling out Lynne for "raising objections to fees related to matters that she has no knowledge of."

This is in response to Lynne filing legal docs last week objecting to 4 months of fees totaling $890k and requesting about a quarter of that be returned to Britney's estate. Lynne alleged the law firm was doing unnecessary and improper work as part of a "national media tour" to combat negative coverage.

But, Jamie's lawyers are clapping back, saying that their fees are legit and she's causing undue delay and expense while "stirring up more unnecessary media attention.

Holland and Knight adds ... "Lynne Spears is the one who exploited her daughter’s pain and trauma for personal profit by publishing a book about [Britney]," referring to her 2008 book, "Through the Storm."

Jamie's lawyers go on to accuse Lynne of making misleading and "seriously flawed objections" to H&K's fees, specifically her gripe about media-related matters.

H&K says Britney is a world-famous entertainer and adds, "this Conservatorship has always been, and continues to be, the subject of increasingly intense media scrutiny both in traditional news media as well as on social media and most recently documentary films." It claims its media-related work is necessary and litigation-based.

Some of the fastest legs in sports are now also officially the coolest looking ... 'cause Robert Griffin III just completed a tattoo sleeve on his leg with pics of the Ninja Turtles -- and they're AWESOME!!

RGIII's leg art has been in the works for months -- he famously got Hulk and Goku inked on his left limb back in September -- but he was finally able to finish off the piece this past weekend.

We're told Griffin turned to Nic Westfall, the same guy who did the original artwork, to add on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a Black Panther piece ... and you can see in the pics and vids, it all came out great.

Westfall tells us RGIII came out to Sacramento to get the work done ... and sat like a rock for HOURS to get the ink all packed in.

Westfall says he needled RGIII's leg for the Ninja Turtles portion from around 10:30 a.m. to around 10 p.m. on Saturday -- only taking breaks to watch the UFC fights.

On Sunday, Westfall says RGIII returned from about 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to put on the Black Panther tattoo.

As for why all the superhero characters, RGIII is a notorious cartoon and comic book nerd ... even rocking a "TMNT" shirt and socks to the tattoo sesh!!

Before this lipstick lady was selling out concerts with her powerhouse voice, she was just another smoochin' sweetie messing around with makeup in London, England.

This dolled up darling became a popular singer and songwriter with her electronic beats and soulful voice. She has topped the charts, performed all over the world, and has even been a judge on a talent reality show based in the United Kingdom.

Also, this cute kid puckering up for the picture is known for her charity and activism ... once she even shaved her head live on television to raise money.

Conor McGregor is putting $500k to a good cause after all ... with the UFC superstar making a surprise donation to help kids in south Louisiana this week.

Remember, Dustin Poirier blasted McGregor earlier this month ... saying Conor never made a sizeable donation to Dustin's "The Good Fight Foundation" as promised back in October 2020.

The 2 stars publicly railed each other ... with Conor accusing Poirier of running a shady operation ... and Dustin claiming McGregor's camp was ducking his calls about the matter. Poirier later apologized for making the situation public.

Now, it appears McGregor is still looking to help out ... by shelling out half a million dollars to the Boys & Girls Club of Acadiana, which is located in Poirier's hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana.

It's worth noting -- Dustin's foundation has worked with this B&GC location in the past. We're told that despite all the drama, Conor still wanted to help out ... resulting in the $500k donation.

The B&GC is ecstatic to receive the help ... saying, "This investment is a gamechanger! Thank you, Conor, for helping to ensure that our kids have what they need to grow and thrive this summer!"

The club says the donation will help fund the 2021 summer camp and other recreational activities throughout the area.

Travis Barker is proving there are better options than grabbing life by the horns, now that he and Kourtney Kardashian -- especially Kourtney -- are letting it all hang out.

Kourt and Trav put on a steamy PDA sesh Monday while out sightseeing in an undisclosed desert locale. While the sun was dipping behind some clouds, the moon was in full effect, courtesy of her thong-bikini ... while wrapping her legs around her man.

Yeah, Travis definitely has her back ... and front.

As if she hadn't already dropped enough clues by now, you can tell Kourtney's more than smitten, 'cause she's the one who posted the pic with the simple caption, "Just Like Heaven."

As we've documented ... Kourtney and Travis have been keeping their love fest strong and very public. You'll recall it was just over the weekend Travis posted pics of him and his French bulldog, Louis.

He captioned the pics, "Dogs never bite me. Just humans." It wasn't long before Kourtney chimed in with a vampire emoji ... confirming she's down to take a bite or two of Travis.

And, who can forget her thumb-sucking video, right?

Wade Robson has taken another loss against Michael Jackson's companies -- a California court has once again thrown out his sexual abuse lawsuit ... but he says he's fighting the decision.

Judge Mark A. Young ruled in favor of MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures Monday, dismissing Robson's sexual abuse lawsuit on summary judgment ... something Robson had refiled in 2020 after California opened the door for alleged victims of sexual abuse with years-old claims.

In dismissing the case, the judge ruled that Robson couldn't prove the companies had the ability to control Jackson's conduct or that the companies had any fiduciary duty to protect Robson while he was with MJ in the '90s.

You'll recall ... another of Michael's accusers, James Safechuck, suffered a similar blow in his own lawsuit back in October of last year.

Like Safechuck, Robson's attorney, Vince Finaldi, plans to appeal this decision, saying ... "This decision of Judge Mark A. Young suffers from the same fatal flaws as the prior decision of prior Judge Mitchell Beckloff, which we were able to overturn on appeal."

He insists if the dismissal is allowed to stand, it'll set a "dangerous precedent that would leave thousands of children working in the entertainment industry vulnerable to sexual abuse by persons in places of power."

MJ's estate, of course, had a different reaction. One of the estate's attorneys, Jonathan Steinsapir, tells TMZ ... “Wade Robson has spent the last 8 years pursuing frivolous claims in different lawsuits against Michael Jackson's estate and companies associated with it."

Andrew Brown Jr.'s family has finally seen the police body cam video of his fatal shooting at the hands of deputies in North Carolina ... and they're outraged by what they describe as an "execution."

Family members and their attorneys were enraged after the meeting with the Pasquotank County Sheriff and the County Attorney -- not only because of the content of the video, but because they were only shown a "snippet" ... 20 seconds of one deputy's body cam.

The family had demanded to see all of the full, raw video available to the Sheriff's Office, but instead, they saw the brief clip, which they say had blurred the faces of deputies.

Adding to their anger is the fact they were only shown a single deputy's body cam. Their attorneys say the 20-second clip made it clear there were 7 to 8 other deputies on the scene ... whose body cam's presumably show more of the deadly incident.

Bakari Sellers, one of the family's attorneys, says the County Attorney disrespected him and the family before the viewing by saying he "was not going to be f**king bullied."

As brief as the video was ... the Browns say it showed a lot. For instance, one family attorney says the clip begins with Andrew Brown sitting in his car in his driveway -- blocked in by cops -- with his hands on his steering wheel as several different deputies demand to see his hands.

The family says Andrew was getting shot at by multiple cops -- and they couldn't keep track of how many shots rang out. They say Andrew tried backing out of the driveway to escape the gunfire, but slammed into a tree. The Browns describe seeing Glocks and assault rifles on the scene ... and even some evidence shots were fired before the video started. They say they weren't shown anything that led up to the chaos.

The lawyers and the family are emphatic ... they believe the County is trying to hide something, and that the officers involved need to be arrested immediately.

Brown's family retained several attorneys, including Sellers, Ben Crump and Harry Daniels. They've all been very vocal about demanding transparency ... something they feel, more than ever, they're not getting after viewing the brief clip.

Brown was gunned down last Wednesday when the sheriff's office was executing a search warrant.

The mayor there, Bettie Parker, has declared a state of emergency ahead of expected unrest and demonstrations ... which will presumably give them access to state and federal resources. Folks have already taken to the streets over the past several days.

Chadwick Boseman's family has a message for those saying the late actor got snubbed from an Oscar ... he was NOT snubbed, and shout out to Sir Anthony Hopkins for the win.

Chadwick's brother, Derrick Boseman, tells TMZ ... he doesn't view Chadwick not winning an Oscar for Best Actor as a snub because every nominated actor was excellent and deserving of the award. He says the family isn't upset or agitated whatsoever that Chadwick's name wasn't called at the end of the Oscars ceremony.

What's more ... Derrick tells us the family wishes Hopkins and his family all the best because, as Derrick put it, "I"m sure [Anthony] would if Chad won." Don't forget ... after AH won the award for his role in 'The Father' his gracious message included a shout-out to Chadwick.

As we first reported ... a throng of celebs felt Chadwick got snubbed following his stellar performance on 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' ... his last role before he died. Model Winnie Harlow brought it up herself ... calling it "insane" Chadwick didn't get a statue.

Attorney Bakari Sellers is fired up over the delay in releasing the body cam footage that shows the police killing of Andrew Brown Jr. ... and he's fed up with Congress, too.

Sellers, who along with Ben Crump and Harry Daniels, is representing Brown's family ... is in North Carolina waiting to see the police video of what happened to Brown Jr. last Wednesday ... when the 42-year-old was shot in the back and killed by deputies during the execution of a search warrant.

Sellers says he was promised to be shown the footage earlier on Monday, but it hasn't happened yet ... allegedly because the authorities want to redact portions of it.

The attorney clearly isn't happy about that, but he's on a mission to use the situation to take on the system as a whole. Instead of protesting, he wants people to pick up the phone and call their elected officials.

Specifically, Sellers calls out Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for not signing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act ... something he feels is an important step to ending police killings of Black men in America.

Brown was fatally shot by cops last week in Elizabeth City, where witnesses say he was driving away when deputies opened fire on him. After the shooting, 7 deputies were placed on administrative leave and 3 resigned.

Kanye West has the Midas touch ... a pair of shoes he wore during his performance at the 2008 Grammys just sold for a record 7-figure price.

The prototype Nike Air Yeezy 1 brought in a whopping $1.8 million in a recent private sale, according to Sotheby's, which brokered the deal.

Kanye famously wore the kicks, known as the "Grammy Worn" Nikes, at the 2008 Grammy Awards, when he performed "Hey Mama" and "Stronger."

The $1.8 million sale price completely shatters the record for the most expensive pair of sneakers ever sold ... it's the first pair to sell for over $1 million, nearly tripling the previous high of $615k for a pair of 1985 Nike Air Jordan 1s Michael Jordan wore when he broke a backboard during a preseason game in Italy.

MJ's record didn't last long ... those kicks sold last year, and now Kanye's got the top spot.

Ye and Mark Smith designed the size 12 shoes, a combination of Nike and Yeezy signature brandings. There's a classic Nike Swoosh, plus a Yeezy forefoot strap and a bright pink "Y" medallion lace lock.

Keith Ellison -- the Attorney General of Minnesota responsible for leading the way to Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict -- says he felt many emotions after the ex-Minneapolis cop was convicted of George Floyd's murder ... including compassion.

The lead prosecutor in Chauvin’s trial admitted on "60 Minutes" Sunday night that he "felt a little bad" for the defendant afterward ... something he says stems from spending 16 years as a criminal defense lawyer.

Ellison says above all though, he felt gratitude, humility and a sense of satisfaction for holding Chauvin accountable for what he did. He adds that Chauvin definitely deserved to be convicted ... but Ellison wants to remind people that everyone in this process is a human being.

The Minnesota AG also gave his thoughts on how the judge should sentence Chauvin, and says he believes this wasn't a hate crime but rather a crime perpetuated by social norms ... and a lack of accountability.

He says of Chauvin ... "I think that if he looks at history, he has every reason to believe that he would never be held accountable … so history was on his side."

A lot of people feel like the late Chadwick Boseman was snubbed at the 93rd Oscars -- including a handful of celebs who were at the show ... and they didn't bite their tongues.

We ran into actress Andra Day -- the nominated star from 'The United States Vs. Billie Holiday' -- Sunday night leaving Spring Place in Bev Hills, not too long after the show, and asked if she thought the Academy had gotten better with diversity ... and she said yes. Well, at least partly.

Watch ... she makes it clear they're moving in the right direction, but have a long way to go -- and that pivot starts long before the Oscars get handed out. Of course, we also had to ask about Chadwick losing the Best Actor Oscar to Sir Anthony Hopkins in rushed, anti-climatic finish.

AD kept it real with her answer, and so did her 'Billie Holiday' costar Evan Ross ... although, he put it in more diplomatic terms. Model Winnie Harlow, however, just let it rip with her Chadwick hot take.

Speaking of Hopkins (who wasn't even at Union Station to receive his award) -- he posted a gracious thank you message last night, but also seemed stunned to have won, and gave a shout-out to Chadwick. Fact is, Sir AH was great as the lead in 'The Father' ... so, it's hard for anyone to say he didn't earn his win.

Here's why people thought Chadwick was a shoo-in to win, though -- one, his performance has been called stellar in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' (his last role before he died).

But, more importantly ... the entire award show seemed to be heading in that direction -- show producer Steven Soderbergh literally bumped Best Picture ahead of schedule just for a Best Actor finale.