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Los Angeles local Ami Dolenz followed in her father's footsteps and shot to stardom in the '80s after landing some head-turning roles including the swan-story hottie, Katie, in "She's Out Of Control" and the eye-popping girlfriend, Sloane Peterson, in the television version of "Ferris Bueller."

Ami shared the big screen with Tony Danza as her confused father, Doug, in "She's Out Of Control" and the small screen with Jennifer Aniston as Jeannie in "Ferris Bueller."

Fun Fact: Ami's dad, Micky Dolenz, is also superfamous as the founding member of the '60s rock group, The Monkees.

A 23-year-old filmmaker is suing his own uncle who ordered him shot, and the uncle is an LAPD cop.

Jamal Shakir Jr. joined a George Floyd protest a year ago this month in downtown L.A. and urged some of the cops on the scene to participate in the demonstration.

According to Jamal's lawyer, Carl Douglas, Jamal came face-to-face with officer Eric Anderson, but the cop was in no mood to engage Jamal. Instead, according to Douglas, Anderson told another cop to fire some sort of non-lethal weapon -- presumably loaded with rubber bullets -- at the filmmaker. According to Douglas, Anderson ordered that 2 shots be fired, striking Jamal in the hand and the butt and damaging ligaments.

The shocking part of the story -- Anderson is Jamal's uncle.

Jamal has not recovered from his injuries and is still receiving treatment a year later.

Jamal is now suing both his uncle and the City of L.A. for civil rights violations, assault and battery, false imprisonment and negligence. The lawsuit offers a blistering account of the incident, alleging Anderson "turned his trained wrath against a member of his own family, leaving a promising young entrepreneur, his own blood, scarred and reeling in the wake of his malicious attack."

The full police body cam footage of Andrew Brown Jr.'s fatal encounter with cops in North Carolina has been shown to his immediate family ... and they claim it corroborates their belief that he was unjustly gunned down.

Attorney Chance Lynch just gave a rundown of what Brown's family saw on the police footage. According to Lynch ... the video shows Brown sitting in his vehicle outside his home when he was ambushed by officers, and he never made any movement to provoke cops to shoot.

Lynch claims at all times Brown's hands were visible and he did not pose a threat to law enforcement, but then after the first shot, he put his car in reverse to try to get away.

Lynch says Brown was backing his car away from officers -- insisting at no time was a cop behind the vehicle -- but claims police kept firing shots at Brown's car ... too many to count.

After the final shot, Lynch says Brown lost control of his car and it went down a ditch and hit a tree. Lynch claims when the cops pulled Brown out of the car, they laid him flat on his face so they could see he was shot in the back of the head. Lynch says the cops then began to search Brown's home.

Lynch adds that no weapons were found and makes it very clear -- Brown's family and legal team firmly believe the fatal shooting was "absolutely unjustified."

Attorneys Bakari Sellers and Harry Daniels also spoke at a news conference immediately following the family's viewing of the police body cam footage at the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office.

Sellers called for the District Attorney to recuse himself, while Daniels encouraged peaceful protests in light of what the family saw on the footage.

Two of Brown's sons also spoke, and reiterated their belief that their father posed no threat to law enforcement and did not deserve to be killed. Brown's oldest son said ... "He wasn't in the wrong at all ... he's going to get his justice."

As we reported ... Pasquotank County Judge Jeffrey Foster made the controversial ruling last month to make the video available to Brown's family only -- not the media -- and also ordered the faces of any deputies and other identifying info in the video be blurred.

The judge ruled the footage should be available to the family within 10 days, and Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten showed the vids to the family on Tuesday.

The judge's orders stated only Brown’s immediate family and one lawyer could view the footage, and they could not record it for dissemination.

As you know ... prior to this, the family had only been shown about 20 seconds of Brown's killing, but that was enough for them to deem it an "execution."

Brown's family says it was one bullet to the back of his head that killed him based on a private autopsy, and the findings of that report show he also suffered 4 gunshot wounds to his right arm.

The family and legal team are still demanding the full body cam footage be released to the public, but the judge has stated he's going to wait a few more weeks to reevaluate making it available to more eyes.

Brown's killing -- which occurred on April 21 as police say they were executing a search warrant -- set off protests and demonstrations in Elizabeth City and surrounding areas. Mayor Bettie Parker declared a state of emergency, saying law enforcement expects a "period of civil unrest" following the video's release.

Jack Harlow's DJ has just been indicted on a murder charge for his alleged role in a nightclub shooting in Louisville.

Prosecutors in Kentucky charged Ronnie Tyshon O'Bannon -- who goes by Ronnie Luciano -- with murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the fatal shooting ... and there's reportedly a warrant out for his arrest.

TMZ broke the story ... video shows the moment shots were fired inside Vibes Restaurant and Ultra Lounge, where Jack was partying with his DJ.

The footage appears to show an altercation between a woman and at least one man, who lean into each other before falling over in a scuffle. At that moment, you hear what sounds like a gunshot, and everyone in the club makes a run for it, including Jack.

Cops say a 37-year-old woman was found dead from the shooting, and a man was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

"In order to eradicate anti-Blackness, we must also abolish the police" -- Colin Kaepernick.

That's the core message of a new book being published by the NFL quarterback -- who's arguing for the abolition of policing and prisons.

The book -- titled "Abolition for the People: The Movement for a Future Without Policing & Prisons" -- is set to drop in October and features 30 essays, including one from Colin himself.

Colin also served as editor on the project -- which we're told will be available in hard copy, audio book and e-book.

“The omnipresent threat of premature death at the hands, knees, chokeholds, tasers, and guns of law enforcement has only further engrained its anti-Black foundation into the institutions of policing," Kaepernick states.

"In order to eradicate anti-Blackness, we must also abolish the police. The abolition of one without the other is impossible."

One person familiar with the book says the conversation Colin wants to have with his readers is essentially this ... how do we reimagine and reenvision keeping communities safe without a militarized police presence?

Of course, Colin first took a knee during the national anthem back in 2016 to shine a spotlight on racial injustice and police brutality ... particularly in regards to incidents affecting the Black community.

Porsha Williams had no problems getting with the estranged husband of one of her costars, because the 'Real Housewives' were never actually pals ... despite how it seemed on TV.

We've spoken to multiple sources who've confirmed Porsha and Falynn Guobadia have never been friends, they literally met the day they filmed together on 'RHOA' -- producers simply told them to act as if they'd known each other.

As you know ... Porsha recently got engaged to Falynn's estranged husband, Simon, and 'Real Housewives' fans were losing their minds thinking Porsha stole her friend Falynn's man.

Porsha says her ex-fiancé, Dennis McKinley, is supportive of her new relationship with Simon ... and we're told Dennis and Simon were never friends either.

Falynn revealed her split from Simon last month, after 2 years of marriage, but we're told they separated in January.

Here's where it gets even more interesting -- Porsha's claiming Simon and Falynn's divorce is already finalized. In fact, we're told Porsha made it very clear to Simon his divorce had to be final before they began their relationship

However, Falynn tells us she's "focusing on finalizing my divorce and healing" -- so she has a much different timeline than her ex and Porsha do.

Our sources confirm Porsha and Simon have only been together for a month, not any longer ... and we're told Porsha had nothing to do with his split from Falynn.

Colt Brennan -- a former NFL quarterback who was a superstar in college -- has died. He was only 37 years old.

TMZ Sports has confirmed Brennan was in Southern California at the time of his death -- though the cause has not been revealed. We're working on it. Hawaii News Now broke the story.

Brennan was a star QB in high school, backing up Matt Leinart at Mater Dei.

But, he really broke out at the University of Hawaii where he developed into one of the best college QBs in the country.

In fact, Brennan finished 3rd in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2007 -- when he completed 359 passes for more than 4,300 yards and 38 TDs.

Dude balled out that year.

Brennan was selected in the 6th round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Washington Football Team but never really caught on.

He had a quick stint with the Raiders before bouncing to the Canadian Football League ... followed by a short stint with the L.A. Kiss of the Arena Football League.

Just last month, Brennan wrote a detailed IG post reflecting on his life ... addressing a sexual misconduct allegation during his time at the University of Colorado (before he went to Hawaii).

Brennan was accused of exposing himself to a female student during a drunken bender.

Brennan denied the allegation -- though he was eventually convicted of felony burglary and trespassing and spent a week in jail.

Brennan was ordered to take a lie detector test about the sexual misconduct which he "passed."

He was also involved in a bad car accident (2010) and later arrested for DUI (2012 and 2019) -- all of which he addressed in his April 12 post.

"I’ve been through a lot in my life. I was a convicted felon for a crime I never committed, (passed polygraph and all). I captured every dream I had as a child."

"I was drafted into the league only to have 2 knee and 2 hip surgeries. I reached my 3rd year in the NFL, only to awake from a coma with traumatic brain injury as a passenger in a car accident."

Brennan continued, "I battled drug and alcohol abuse, and eventually developed blood clots years after the car accident."

"I spent 9 months in the hospital and for the last 2 1/2 years have been trying to learn how to walk again with a broken heart."

"I found redemption once, I will find it again. They say: 'Some people are just born to fight, and it’s not their born brave or born strong. It’s just that the Universe decided that this one, this one will have the grit and fire, and the steel in their blood. They will be tested this cosmic mettle of theirs. They will face trial after trial, be broken and damaged in countless ways, but this one was born to fight.'"

Gov. Phil Murphy wants to see 4.7 million NJ residents vaccinated by the end of June, and he's offering liquid encouragement to get it done -- and, not shockingly, he says his plan's working, so far.

Murphy joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday to tout "Operation Jersey Summer" ... his campaign to help the state reach its vaccination goal. There's a long list of initiatives but he says the one getting all the buzz, pun intended, is the shot and free beer program.

The Gov. says that with the Garden State having one of the strongest and fastest-growing craft beer industries, it only made sense to incentivize residents with a free beer at any of the nearly 50 participating breweries ... IF they can prove they got vaccinated in May.

It's that simple ... and Murphy says so far the program's a hit with the young crowd, which he hopes will keep the state's rate of vaccination going in the right direction. He added that even though infection rates are dropping, and more people are getting out and about in warmer weather ... he doesn't want residents getting complacent.

That being said, Murphy does have one dispute with the shot and beer program. Watch the clip ... he was joking, but there's some potential for version 2.0 of "Operation Jersey Summer." Just sayin, Gov!!!

Take us out, Lil Jon!!!

Soulja Boy pummeled his ex-GF with such violent force she suffered a miscarriage ... so she claims in a new lawsuit.

The woman, who filed her suit under the pseudonym Jane Doe to protect her identity, is suing the rapper claiming she was subjected to domestic violence for years at the hands of Soulja Boy.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, the woman claims, while pregnant with his child in 2015, he became irate and violent after a simple convo and began to punch her in the face and the chest until she could no longer stand on her feet.

She says the punches caused her to fall to the ground, where she curled her body to protect her stomach while using her hands to cover her head. She claims Soulja also kicked her all over her body, particularly in the stomach ... and claims soon after she suffered a miscarriage.

She claims there were other violent incidents. Like in 2017 ... Jane says Soulja flew into a violent rage ... punching her in the face and breasts. She says things got so bad Soulja's security had to pull him away from her. She claims Soulja was pissed because he thought she was leaving him.

She says a 2018 incident was caught on camera. Jane claims a conversation turned violent as he stood over her and began to physically attack and yell at her. She claims the night vision cameras used on the show captured the incident, which later aired on the WeTV network in early 2019.

She also points to an alleged incident in 2019 when she claims he "tightly gripped" her neck and choked her while threatening her life after she rebuffed his efforts to rekindle the relationship.

Jane claims during the course of their relationship he would coerce her to engage in sexual acts through the threat of physical violence. She claims he subjected her to physical assault if she refused.

Martin Lawrence's love for the Detroit Pistons has come full circle ... with a new line of merch honoring his hit '90s sitcom!!!

The NBA team's had a rough season -- it's currently dead last in the Eastern Conference -- but its collab with "Martin" should help it go out on a high note.

Nearly 29 years after the iconic show premiered with the city of Detroit as a backdrop ... Lawrence is teaming up with the Pistons for this limited-edition clothing line including jerseys, hats, shorts, sweatshirts, T-shirts and more.

As you can see ... the merch -- available Friday exclusively on Pistons313shop.com -- features the famed "Martin" intro text along with hilarious quotes and call-backs to the show mashed up with a Pistons hoops aesthetic.

The comedian says ... "Detroit has always shown me so much love and always shows up for me. From stand-up tours to fans on the street Detroit has felt like home. It’s an honor to be part of something that means so much to me to this many years later."

Former 'RHONJ' star Dina Manzo's ex-husband was involved in her violent home invasion ... at least according to the grand jury, which just handed up an indictment for his alleged role in the incident.

A grand jury in Monmouth County just indicted Dina's ex, Thomas Manzo, charging him as an accomplice in the 2017 home invasion ... and he's already turned himself in to police.

You'll recall ... Dina and her current husband, David Cantin, were allegedly attacked with fists and baseball bats as soon as they walked in the front door of their NJ home. According to cops, the suspects punched Dina in the head and face, and bludgeoned David with a bat.

Dina and David were then allegedly zip-tied while the perps ransacked the home, making off with her engagement ring and cash.

Dina's ex has been hit with multiple assault charges, a burglary charge, a theft charge, a robbery charge, a weapons charge and multiple stalking charges.

As we first told you ... another man, James Mainello, was arrested and indicted for his alleged role in the home invasion back in May 2019. Mainello is named in the new indictment on all but the stalking charges.

Courtney Stodden says Chrissy Teigen did more than just publicly tweet mean things to them ... Courtney claims Chrissy told them "to kill myself," and Courtney almost did.

Courtney, who identifies as non-binary, claims Chrissy all but salivated at the thought of Courtney dying ... and they claim to have private DMs saying as much. They told The Daily Beast ... Chrissy "would privately DM me and tell me to kill myself."

Courtney further claims Chrissy said "Things like, 'I can’t wait for you to die.'"

Courtney says the cruelty back then -- roughly 10 years ago -- didn't just come from Chrissy. For instance, they say "Joy Behar had a field day with calling me a 'slut.' Courtney Love told me I was a 'whore.' People came out of the woodwork to beat up on a kid because she was in a situation that she shouldn’t have been in."

Courtney, of course, is referring to their marriage at 16 to then-50-year-old actor Doug Hutchison, prompting mockery and ridicule. Courtney's mom signed off on the marriage.

This appears to be the backdrop for Chrissy's former animosity toward Courtney, who called Chrissy a hypocrite back in March for ditching Twitter ... citing the nonstop negativity as the reason for her departure.

Courtney told us that was rich ... considering they thought it was not long ago when Chrissy spearheaded her own negativity campaign, and never apologized for it.

Courtney says the bullying got so bad, "there have probably been five times that I've felt like I wanted to kill myself -- and made the actions to go ahead and do it."

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez didn't just rekindle their romance within the last 2 weeks, instead, it's been building since February ... when he started flooding her with emails while she was filming in the Dominican Republic.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Ben and J Lo were in very regular contact by email starting in early February when she flew to the Caribbean to begin filming "Shotgun Wedding." We're told the tone of the emails wasn't just friendly ... but more loving and longing for Jen.

For instance, after seeing pics of Jennifer in the D.R., he wrote to tell her how beautiful she looked, and how much he wished he could be down there with her. Of course, he was busy at the time in Boston, shooting "The Tender Bar" with George Clooney -- and she was still engaged to Alex Rodriguez.

Our sources say the emails also referenced J Lo's love for Ben's writing, and included a line about him being able to "own her heart" with his pen.

We're told they continued emailing each other, back and forth, for the duration of J Lo's shoot ... which wrapped in late April.

As far as our sources know, there was no physical contact or rendezvous between them during this time, but the emails do add context to how they seemingly got together so quickly.

Remember, they were together in L.A. -- very publicly -- on the first weekend in May ... just 2 weeks after Jen and A-Rod called off their engagement.

Folks in Ben and Jennifer's world said they had always maintained a friendship since splitting up in 2004. However, as we first told you, they were together again in Montana this past weekend.

One more clue the exes have been in close contact for some time came with InStyle Magazine's recent J Lo cover story. It included a quote from Ben gushing about his ex-fiancee, saying in part ... "She has great talent, but she has also worked very hard for her success, and I’m so happy for her that she seems, at long last, to be getting the credit she deserves."

That story did not include a quote from Jen's then-fiance, A-Rod.

Porsha Williams is engaged again, and in real life 'Real Housewives' fashion ... her fiance is the estranged husband of one of her costars. Drama!!!

The 'RHOA' star announced she's getting super serious with a guy she's been dating for just a month -- surprising enough -- but the bigger shocker is the guy is Falynn Guobadia's ex, Simon.

If ya don't know ... Falynn just revealed her split from Simon last month, after 2 years of marriage, saying a "mutual decision was not made lightly." And, she and Porsha are supposedly good friends -- or at least that's what 'RHOA' fans thought considering Porsha brought Falynn on last season as a "friend of the show."

However, Porsha blew up that notion when she announced on IG, "Our relationship began a month ago -- yes we are crazy in love. I know it’s fast but we are living life each day to its fullest."

She adds ... "For all of you that need facts, I get the optics but Simon filed for divorce from a previous marriage in January. I had nothing to do with their divorce filing. That’s between the two of them."

And for the kicker, Porsha claims ... "Falynn and I are not friends, and Simon’s divorce has been settled."

Now, she stopped short of saying she and Simon are engaged in her post, but Simon confirmed that later on his IG. Porsha also claims her ex, Dennis McKinley -- to whom she was previously engaged -- is supportive of the situation.

Matt Damon tried his damnedest not to talk about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez but like all good BFFs ... he couldn't help himself and spilled the beans.

Matt appeared on "TODAY" show Tuesday from Australia and there was no avoiding it ... the subject, of course, his boy Ben appearing to rekindle his relationship with J Lo. Matty first tried to play coy ... saying there wasn't enough liquor in the world to get him to talk about it. But then, he did ... and told the world exactly how he feels.

In a nutshell ... Matt says he hopes it's true. Well, it sure looks that way.

TMZ broke the story ... J Lo and Ben took a trip to Montana this past weekend. They left Sunday, and when they arrived at LAX they hopped in an SUV together and drove to her Bel-Air home.

And, as we first reported, we come to find out Ben had been flooding J Lo with emails since February. The emails, BTW, weren't just friendly. We were told they were more loving and longing for Jen.

Good news Betty White fans ... more than a year into a pandemic and the Hollywood legend's still healthy and safe at home, but she's looking forward to summer when she can safely enjoy the outdoors and regain her freedom.

Betty's been keeping herself busy at home reading, watching TV and doing crossword puzzles ... so says her rep, Jeff Witjas. We're told there's one thing the pandemic has severely affected in her life ... her ability to regularly interact with friends face-to-face.

We're told, however, she still pens plenty of letters, makes phone calls and has limited visits with friends and loved ones through the window of her home.

Betty has always been a champion for animals, but currently has no house pets, so that's an empty spot in her life ... especially for a senior who is isolated from friends and family. She does, however, have a couple ducks on her property that we're told walk up to her door every day to say hello.

As for whether or not 99-year-old Betty's been vaccinated, Witjas is mum, saying it's a personal matter.

We're told it's unclear if and when Betty will ever return to work. But, after a Hollywood career that's spanned 60-plus years ... a break is well-deserved.