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Tawny Kitaen's family and closest friends gathered to remember the late actress one last time, with an intimate celebration of life in the town where she died.

Tawny's brother, Jordan Kitaen, tells TMZ ... her memorial service was held Monday at her ex-husband Chuck Finley's home in Newport Beach, CA. We're told about 100 people attended, including the 2 daughters she had with Chuck.

As you can see, the program for Tawny's memorial service remembered her as a "loving mother, daughter, sister, friend, artist ... and now our angel." The back of the program featured one of her paintings.

There was a musical element too ... we're told her nephew, Leo, played "Let It Be" on the violin and her friend, Victoria Shaw, sang an acapella version of "Never Alone."

TMZ broke the story ... 59-year-old Tawny died May 7 in Newport, not long after her father had passed. Jordan told us the loss of their dad was too much for Tawny to handle.

The man who voiced Sebastian in "The Little Mermaid" got what he always wanted after his passing -- a Broadway tribute.

Samuel E. Wright's daughter Dee tells TMZ ... her father's death has been very emotional for the family, but they're also overjoyed that one of his wishes came true.

As we told you ... Sam was a veteran theater actor who starred in several popular Broadway shows -- including originating the part of Mufasa in "The Lion King." Dee says he always joked with the family, "When I go, I want my name up there!" ... referring to the theater marquees.

Well, on Tuesday after news broke of Wright's death, Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre honored him by doing precisely that.

Sam's daughter adds ... the fam's actually in good spirits, which she says may seem odd ... but it's a testament to his joy and positivity.

Dee also says the outpouring of support they've seen on social media from his fans and actors he worked with has been overwhelming.

Wright's public wake will be held Friday in Walden, NY for fans to come and show their love ... something the family feels is the best gift they can give him.

It's that time again, "Shark Week," and Discovery is rolling it out ... and we got this promo that's absolutely hilarious!!!

The video starts out with a couple old ladies sitting on a park bench while feeding some birds, with one gal trying to tell her friend her favorite thing about summer.

The friend's hard of hearing, naturally, but she gets the picture soon enough ... when a huge shark comes crashing through the lawn!!!

Discovery is bringing back "Shark Week" Sunday, July 11 ... and we're all just as stoked as these old ladies. We're guessing one of them will be watching with closed captioning.

"Shark Week" is airing on Discovery and streaming on Discovery+ ... and you know it's gonna be enjoyable, fun and educational.

Remember ... last year we found out why male sharks have two penises, so we can't wait to see what's in store for this season.

Louie Tobias is about to swap his virtual beach background for the real deal -- several of them -- because he's ready for some serious globetrotting, courtesy of TMZ and Wyndham Rewards!!!

Nearly half a million people entered our "Win the Greatest Vacations in the History of the World" Sweepstakes ... a package that includes at least 4 trips to the most amazing destinations, and Louie's our lucky winner.

He's joining us for Wednesday's "TMZ Live" from his office in Rochester, NY and you can tell he's already in vacation mode. Louie couldn't stop smiling as he told us about some of the trips he's got in mind. Dude is thinking BIG adventures in Tanzania and Dubai ... to name just a few.

It sounds like he's ready to pack his bags for a relaxing tour of at least 2 continents -- after all, his grand prize is valued at $24,120. Turns out that might be the right price to get him on a surfboard down under.

Chad Johnson is taking his celeb fight SO seriously, he's getting in the ring with the Charlo twins to prep for the tilt ... and he tells TMZ Sports the guys are whoopin' his ass!!

The ex-NFL superstar -- who's set to square off with MMA fighter Brian Maxwell on the undercard of the Mayweather-Paul fight on June 6 -- broke it all down for us this week ... explaining he's sparring Jermell and Jermall Charlo to get ready for his match.

And, he says he's taking a beating from the boxing stars every time ... telling us of a recent sparring sesh, "I was f***ing swimming."

"Third round," Johnson added, "I was in the middle of the ocean with no life vest and I was f***ing drowning."

Not familiar with the Charlos? They're 2 of the best boxers in the world ... and have a combined 65 professional wins with only 1 (very controversial) loss.

But, the 43-year-old -- who said he's also training with some of the Charlos' sparring partners -- explained he's hopeful it'll all help when the lights come on against Maxwell in Miami next month.

"I've been training with the Charlo twins so I'm here now and it's funny I just finished sparring one of [their] sparring partners and it was fun," Johnson said. "It was a great experience."

"It was an experience where I was taken advantage of and it's a great thing. Obviously going in the ring with someone that does it at the highest level and learning the mistakes. I like it like that."

Johnson continued, "There was no other way to prepare for something of this magnitude. I had to come here. It's just -- there's no other way."

Johnson wouldn't guarantee a knockout over Maxwell -- even despite the training efforts -- but he did tell us it's going to be a show nonetheless.

Before this brown-eyed boy was singing his heart out on a television series on streaming, he was just another cute kid shying away from the camera in Oceanside, California.

This tiny tot might not have a long career in the entertainment industry just yet, but he is a powerhouse of talent. As the star of a hit musical Disney series, he can act, sing, and dance ... as long as he gets his head in the game. The new adaptation of the 2006 popular film franchise just premiered its second season earlier this month.

Eric Carle, the artist and author who created one of the best-selling children's books of all time, is dead.

The man behind "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" died Sunday, according to his family. Eric's son, Rolf, told the New York Times the famous author died at his summer studio in Northampton, MA, as a result of kidney failure.

Eric illustrated more than 70 children's books during his career, which amazingly didn't start until he was in his late 30s. He's most famous for 'Hungry Caterpillar,' which was published in 1969 and went on to sell a whopping 55 million plus copies.

All told, Carle's publisher, Penguin Random House, says his books have sold more than 170 million copies.

Carle says 'Caterpillar' is meant to be a story of hope for children as they enter kindergarten ... and it's known for its colorful illustrations and a modest 224 words. The book's been translated into more than 70 different languages.

Eric's also known for his illustrations in the 1967 children's book, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" He did the drawings for his friend, Bill Martin Jr., who authored the book.

Carle was 91.

Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka says she's taking a break from speaking to reporters at the French Open ... saying it's time for the media to focus on the mental well-being of athletes.

The 23-year-old, #2-ranked player in the world penned an emotional letter explaining her decision to go silent on Wednesday ... saying, "I've often felt that people have no regard for athletes' mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one."

"We're often sat there and asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I'm just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me."

She added ... "I've watched many clips of athletes breaking down after a loss in the press room and I know you have as well. I believe that whole situation is kicking a person while they're down and I don't understand the reasoning behind it."

Osaka says the decision is nothing against Roland-Garros or the journalists she's gotten to know over the years ... but it's a stance she's willing to take, even if she's punished.

"However, if the organizations think that they can just keep saying, 'do press or you're gonna be fined,' and continue to ignore the mental health of the athletes that are the centerpiece of their cooperation then I just gotta laugh."

Osaka says if she IS fined for skipping media availability, she hopes the money will go towards a mental health charity.

The French Open kicks off on Sunday.

"School of Rock" star Kevin Clark, who played the drummer, is dead after a motorist hit him while he was cycling around Chicago ... TMZ has learned.

The professional drummer -- best known as Freddy Jones, aka Spazzy McGee -- was riding his bicycle on the Northwest Side of Chicago early Wednesday morning when he was struck by a Hyundai Sonata ... according to police.

Kevin was rushed to a hospital, but was pronounced dead at 2:04 AM CT ... according to the Cook County Medical Examiner.

Kevin's sister says he was riding his bike home at the time of the accident. Police say a 20-year-old woman was driving the car that struck and killed Kevin. She was not arrested, but has been issued citations.

As we first reported ... Kevin caught up with Jack Black back in 2018 for an impromptu 'SoR' reunion during a Tenacious D set in Chicago.

Kevin gave Jack a custom shirt from his own band, Dreadwolf, and JB threw it on immediately.

"School of Rock" was Kevin's only movie credit, and he once told us he only got the 2003 role because he could actually play the drums.

Clark was 32.

RIP

Kim Kardashian has been trying to become a lawyer now for more than a year, but she's no closer to getting her license to practice law ... because she missed a passing grade on the baby bar exam.

Kim made it official on a preview of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," where she fessed up to flunking. TMZ heard she flunked the exam months ago, but our Kardashian sources would not confirm.

That said, she can always try again. It's unclear if she took the exam a second time, because many months have passed.

Kim said, "If you are doing law school the way I'm doing it, it is a 4-year program instead of your typical 3-year program, and after year 1, you have to take the baby bar. This was actually harder, I hear, than the official bar."

Kim scored 474 on the exam ... a passing grade is 560.

Kim's mentor in taking the exam, attorney Jessica Jackson, said, "That is extremely close on a test that most people are not taking in the middle of a pandemic." A source tells us Kim had to take the test at home, while balancing her kids and other factors ... making it more difficult than taking the test in a controlled environment.

Amy Cooper -- who was branded Central Park "Karen" after calling cops on a Black man -- is taking her former employer to court, saying they painted her with a broad, racist brush.

Cooper is suing investment firm Franklin Templeton, where she worked before this whole mess, alleging defamation, negligence, infliction of emotional distress and racial discrimination.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Cooper claims FT fired her prematurely and without having all the facts. She goes on to say the honchos jumped on the bandwagon that was spreading across the country ... to portray her as another "privileged white female 'Karen.'"

She says they painted her as a racist when they announced they were cutting her loose in the days that followed ... saying they did not "tolerate racism of any kind," which Cooper believes wrongly labeled her, and helped ruin her life and future prospects.

Not just that, but Cooper says Franklin Templeton's claim of doing a full investigation -- which only lasted a couple days or so before they canned her -- wasn't up to snuff, and she claims they failed to review the entirety of her 911 calls for context.

Adding insult to injury ... Cooper claims FT didn't bother pulling notes from the New York City Park Board Meetings -- which she claims would've shed light on unproven allegations Christian Cooper, the guy with whom she had beef, had been noted as a pest in the park.

AC claims what was really going on that day is that Christian targeted her in a supposed ongoing feud between himself -- an avid bird watcher -- and dog owners in Central Park. She says she didn't call 911 out of racism, but out of genuine fear.

The search for Ellen's successor didn't take long, and doesn't come as much of a surprise ... "The Kelly Clarkson Show" will take over the slot currently held by "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" after her 19th season concludes.

NBC made the announcement that Clarkson's show -- currently in its second season and airing in all of the network's markets -- is expected to replace Ellen's by Fall 2022.

As we first told you ... Kelly had been penciled in as the front-runner for Ellen's coveted, syndicated hour of television pretty much since her talk show launched in Fall 2019.

The show debuted to huge ratings, and with NBC honchos predicting DeGeneres would pull the plug on her show eventually ... Clarkson seemed like the perfect successor.

Problem is, Kelly's show's ratings dipped big time during the pandemic -- as did a lot of other daytime programs -- so there was some uncertainty if NBC would still go with her, or opt for someone new ... like, perhaps, Tiffany Haddish.

Clearly, the network wanted to eliminate all doubt by crowning Kelly.

Howard University is cementing Chadwick Boseman's legacy into its campus -- putting his name on a college, and securing some financial backing from a Disney bigwig.

HU announced Wednesday that its College of Fine Arts would be named after Chadwick, who graduated from Howard in 2000, and had deep ties to the higher-ed facility and the college that will now bear his name.

According to Howard, Chadwick was one of a few people back then leading the charge to keep the College of Fine Arts from being folded into the larger College of Arts & Sciences ... literally hitting the ground with protests and other activism to preserve the COFA's integrity.

Turns out, his efforts worked ... because not only was the College of Fine Arts left alone as a stand-alone school, but it's now going to be juiced up big time in light of the renaming.

Disney Chairman Bob Iger is heading up a fundraiser that seeks to help pay for a new state-of-the-art facility for the Chadwick Boseman College of Fine Arts -- which will house an endowment in Chadwick's honor, plus a lot of other helpful resources for those looking to get into entertainment and/or broadcasting ... including serving as the HQ for Howard's radio and TV stations.

Chadwick had been back to visit Howard a few different times over the years after graduating, and he was even delivered the commencement speech in 2018.

His rich ties to the campus are exactly why fellow alumnus Ta-Nehisi Coates called the college bestowment "perfect" ... which his family said CB would be "overjoyed" with.

His widow, Simone Ledward-Boseman, also said, "Chad was a very proud Bison — both Howard and Ms. Rashad played integral roles in his journey as an artist. The re-establishment of the College of Fine Arts brings this part of his story full-circle and ensures that his legacy will continue to inspire young storytellers for years to come."

The City of Oakland really came through on its promise to pay tribute to late comedian Paul Mooney ... by declaring May 19 will henceforth be known as "Paul Mooney Day."

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife proposed the resolution to name a day after Mooney and recognize him for his "uncompromising social and political commentary and iconic contributions to Black arts and entertainment."

The resolution calls Paul "an Oakland treasure—a trailblazing comedian, writer, producer, film and television actor with a career spanning four decades" and says his legacy is "a shining example of the talent in Oakland."

Councilmember Fife tells us the city council passed her proposal unanimously Wednesday, so May 19 -- the day Mooney died -- will now be named in his honor for years to come.

As we first told you ... Oakland officials were looking to honor Paul even before he passed away, but that mission sadly became more urgent last week. Fife says after Mooney died, she made a number of calls to people he was close with about how to do it ... including comedian and Oakland native, Luenell.

Brad Pitt just won a huge victory in his child custody war with Angelina Jolie, and she lost in a very big way ... TMZ has confirmed.

A judge just made a tentative ruling in the case, awarding Brad and Angelina 50/50 joint legal and physical custody of their 5 minor children. Maddox is 19 and not subject to the ruling.

Angelina had been gunning for sole custody and at the time only wanted Brad to have supervised visitation, but the judge felt her arguments that Brad was not a suitable parent lacked credibility ... this after numerous witnesses -- including shrinks -- testified in the trial.

A source connected to Brad tells TMZ, "he's over the moon."

The ruling is "tentative," but typically tentative rulings are just a formality before they become final. The NY Post first reported the ruling.

Something smells funky ... at least to the company behind those Little Tree car air fresheners, which is suing popular pet food company Chewy for allegedly ripping off its famous product.

Car Freshener Corporation claims Chewy is pimping a dog toy it describes as a “Frisco Retro Tree Freshener Plush Squeaky Dog Toy."

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the Little Tree company says the dog toy is suspiciously similar in shape, color and overall appearance to its distinctively abstract Tree design.

In the suit, Car Freshener says for over 60 years it has built up its Little Tree air freshener brand ... slapping the tree on t-shirts, hats, socks, stickers and luggage tags, among other products.

What's more, Car Freshener says it's sold third parties like Buffalo Wild Wings, Purina PetCare, Kia and Capital One licenses to use the trees ... but NOT Chewy.

Car Freshener claims Chewy's dog toy copies the shape and basic dimensions of its Little Trees air freshener, while also featuring the white diagonal and horizontal banners emblazoned across the middle and bottom of the Little Trees air fresheners.

Car Freshener's pissed consumers will think it's in bed with Chewy ... although, it's unclear why that would be a bad thing.