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Vanessa Bryant says Nike shoes she designed to honor Kobe and Gianna have been leaked ... and she's outraged over it, claiming they should have NEVER been made.

VB explained the situation early Thursday morning ... saying during recent talks with Nike, she helped create a version of the Kobe 6 Protro that was meant to honor her two loved ones who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash.

Vanessa says the shoes featured a black and white colorway, Gianna's #2, and other specific marks like a butterfly, wings and a halo.

The problem? Vanessa says after her split with Nike this spring, approval for the shoes to be made was NOT given -- but she claims they've somehow been leaked anyway and posted a photo of someone holding the shoe in their hand!

"Nike has NOT sent any of these pairs to me and my girls," Vanessa said in a statement.

"I do not know how someone else has their hands on shoes I designed in honor of my daughter, Gigi, and we don't. I hope these shoes did not get sold."

Vanessa added she wanted the shoes to be sold "to honor my daughter with ALL of the proceeds benefitting our @mambamambacitasports foundation."

Vanessa then asked her followers to track down the shoes ... writing on social media, "If someone can share how they have these shoes in their possession, that would be great because my daughters and I don’t have any of Gigi’s MAMBACITA shoes."

An Instagram user, brandon1an, who originally posted professional photos of the "Mambacita" shoes nearly 3 weeks ago, claims Nike is the one responsible for the shoe leak.

"I just want to make it clear that I don't own a pair of those Mambacita Kobes," the IG user said in a statement Thursday morning.

"The pictures I posted are official product pictures from a Nike authorized retailer."

The user continued, "Unfortunately for [Vanessa Bryant], Nike clearly sent pairs to this retailer (as well as others) with the intent of selling pairs."

JoJo Siwa seemingly spared no expense to throw a massive party to celebrate Pride Month ... and inside the event was everything you'd expect from the newly-minted gay icon.

JoJo's rainbow-themed bash had a little bit of everything -- as documented by fellow influencer Tana Mongeau -- a fully loaded kitchen and bar, a rainbow-dyed dog walking around, a hand-bedazzled rainbow piano ... and a JoJo Barbie wall.

Siwa -- who was clearly having a great time with her girlfriend, Kylie Prew -- also revealed she sprung for a bouncy house, because ... why the hell not?

Pretty extravagant stuff all around from the recently-turned-18, mega-rich YouTube and Nickelodeon star, who as you know ... came out as gay earlier this year.

PETA wants Ariana Grande to take a ride ... on them -- hence the sweet vegan tandem bicycle (yeah, that's a thing) she just got as a wedding gift and token of appreciation.

The animal rights org is sending Ariana and her new hubby, Dalton Gomez, a cool tandem bike, which features a faux leather seat ... and is built from parts and paint that didn't use any animal products, of course.

We're told PETA has long been a fan of Grande's advocacy for animal rights, and more recently was impressed by her launching of Orange Twins Rescue ... a shelter in L.A. focused on saving and rehabilitating animals and finding them loving homes.

So, Grande's wedding last month presented PETA the perfect opportunity to show its love and respect, and a Northwoods Dual Drive Tandem Bike is en route. For those curious -- it retails around $700.

As we reported ... the singer got hitched at her Montecito home on May 15 in a very intimate ceremony with just 20 guests, including her 2 adopted dogs.

Lil Loaded's mother is the person who called police after finding him dead from a gunshot to the head, and we've learned she instantly knew what had upset her son.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, cops in Cedar Hill, Texas responded Monday morning to a call for an attempted suicide and when they arrived at the home, Lil Loaded's mom was crying on the front porch and the rapper was dead inside with a gun nearby.

Police say LL's mom told them she had returned home to find her son in the second-floor hallway. Cops also say she told them he was emotional Sunday night, crying and upset over how much he loved his ex-girlfriend.

As we reported, the up-and-coming rapper died over the holiday weekend and his attorney, Ashkan Mehryari, seemed to believe Lil Loaded killed himself. The 20-year-old MC also posted an ominous message before his death.

Lil Loaded's post read in part, "Dear most high, please forgive me for my shortcomings and all of the times I’ve fell short of making you proud."

He added, "I ask for entrance into your kingdom thru all of my mistakes. I know you love all your children, and I’m ready for my heart and soul to join you."

Another major blow for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics ... nearly 10,000 volunteers have QUIT over COVID fears just 50 days before the Games are set to begin.

The number of people who just opted out represents 1/8th of the 80,000 unpaid volunteers who signed up to work the event, which is still set to kick off on July 23.

As we previously reported, there is serious backlash in Japan about hosting the Olympics -- considering only about 2 to 3% of the population is vaccinated ... and the country reported a surge in cases in May.

In fact, officials extended a State of Emergency in Japan to June 20 because hospitals and other medical care facilities in major cities are being pushed to the brink.

There have been protests in the streets of Tokyo recently from people concerned the Games will serve as a superspreader event.

There are also reports out of Japan showing 80% of Japanese citizens are AGAINST the Olympics beginning on July 23, as currently scheduled.

Still, Olympics officials have reiterated the Games WILL go on as planned.

Tekashi 6ix9ine's baby mama is on the up and up after her plastic surgery scare down in Colombia ... she's back in the States, showing off her mommy makeover.

69's baby mama, Sara Molina, is almost fully recovered from her recent Brazilian butt lift and a 360 liposuction, according to her manager ... and these photos snapped Tuesday show the fruits of her plastic surgeon's labor.

We're told Sara, who has Multiple sclerosis, still has a bit of bruising ... but her body feels great and she's finally getting over her severe MS flare-up, thanks in part to her massage routine.

As we first told you ... Sara's body had a severe reaction to the surgeries. She was in extreme pain due to her MS and couldn't even lie flat while recovering at Lluxe Recovery facility in Colombia, even needing a special recliner.

Now that she's feeling better, we're told Sara's taking driving lessons in Orlando to get her first driver's license -- she lives in NYC and didn't drive before -- and she's gearing up to launch her own line of CBD products.

Tyron Woodley isn't planning on being a 1-hit wonder in the boxing ring ... telling TMZ Sports he's serious about taking MULTIPLE fights after KO'ing Jake Paul.

"I want to fight twice this year," the ex-UFC champ says ... "I fight [Jake Paul] on August 28 and I think around November, I'll be ready to box again."

Tyron says MONEY is a huge driving factor -- explaining he's making a fortune to face the 24-year-old YouTube star ... and believes a dominant victory will keep the cash flowing in for a while.

"The best thing that's happened in the last 24 hours is I'm smiling that my market value is where it's at," Tyron says ... "you won't put me in the clearance rack."

Tyron also responded to Jake Paul's fight prediction of a 2nd-round knockout over Woodley.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA," Woodley said before paraphrasing a famous Muhammad Ali quote.

"If you ever dream of knocking me out, wake up and apologize."

Tyron also explained why the Jake Paul fight will be the "easiest" of his career ... saying, "It's not because HE'S an easy fight, but because I'm gonna train my ass off and I'm gonna make it an easy fight."

Orlando-born actor Kirsten Storms was only a teenager when she was cast as the out-of-this-world Zenon Kar -- who is forced to acclimate to the ways of a teen on Earth while also devising a plan to save her UFO home space station -- in the 1999 Disney Channel original movie "Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century."

Kirsten shared the small screen with Gregory Smith and Brenden Jefferson as Zenon's Earth pals, Greg and Andrew ... and of course Raven-Symone as the BFF, Nebula Wade.

Storms reprised her role in both of the Disney space follow-up films including the 2001 "Zenon: The Zequel" and 2004 finale "Zenon: Z3."

President Trump's still persona non grata on Facebook and Instagram ... despite a rumor that spread like wildfire.

Folks got all up in arms Wednesday after a popular Trump critic tweeted that 45's social media ban on 2 major platforms appeared to be lifted ... but a rep for Facebook and a source close to Trump tells us that's NOT the case.

We're told Trump's profile page is simply still viewable, but he can't put up new posts, as it's been for the past several months. His last post, from January 6, is still the one at the top of his page.

As we reported ... Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg banned Trump from Facebook in the wake of the Capitol riot ... saying it was too great a risk to America for Trump to remain on the platform.

Zuck had hoped Facebook's oversight board would make a final decision on Trump's ban, but instead, the board kicked that decision right back up to Zuckerberg. The next decision as to whether or not Trump will continue to be banned from the platform will happen in November.

Derek Chauvin could serve more than a quarter of a century in prison, if the prosecutors on his case get their way.

Prosecutors for the State of Minnesota have filed docs asking the judge to throw the book at Chauvin for murdering George Floyd ... requesting he get a minimum sentence of 30 years, which they say is justified considering the circumstances of this case.

The prosecution notes this is on the high end of what Chauvin could receive -- the maximum is 40 -- but they claim it's warranted because of 4 specific aggravating factors that were proven at trial.

First, they argue Chauvin abused a position of trust and authority by what he did to Floyd, which they say created an unfair power imbalance that left GF helpless. Second, they say Chauvin treated Floyd with particular cruelty ... namely, by disregarding his repeated pleas for oxygen and continuing to hold him down for almost 10 minutes.

Thirdly, Chauvin committed the crime in front of multiple children -- there were at least two minors present -- which effectively makes them victims as well. The last thing prosecutors cite is the fact that Chauvin was part of a team of officers on the scene.

Even though the other three ex-cops still have to stand trial themselves, the State suggests Chauvin was part of a group that ganged up on Floyd, and therefore he should face a harsher punishment.

On the flip side, of course, is Chauvin's defense attorney, Eric Nelson, who's reportedly asked for a sentence on the low end of the spectrum. He's even suggested Chauvin get time served and probation for the murder and manslaughter convictions.

It's the end of an era ... legendary college basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski is retiring after this upcoming NCAA season, completing 42 seasons at Duke.

WHOA.

The news was confirmed by college basketball insider Jeff Goodman, who says an official announcement is expected soon.

Goodman also says 74-year-old Coach K is expected to be replaced by Jon Scheyer, a former Duke player who's currently an asst. coach with the Blue Devils.

Scheyer will have MASSIVE shoes to fill -- Coach K has coached 5 national championship teams and has led the Blue Devils to 12 Final Four appearances.

Coach K became the first Div. I men's coach to reach 1,000 victories ... and he currently has 1,170 total.

Krzyzewski became Duke's head coach in May 1980 ... after serving as Army's head coach for five seasons.

Coach K is widely considered one of the best coaches EVER ... and has the most career NCAA tournament victories (97).

Over the past 41 seasons, Krzyzewski has coached 9 national players of the year and 28 NBA lottery picks ... including guys like Jason Williams, J.J. Redick, Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, Jabari Parker and more.

Coach K has also led the bench for the national team ... winning 6 gold medals with Team USA.

Bam Margera's been sending increasingly disturbing messages to 'Jackass' director Jeff Tremaine, including threatening his safety and that of his children ... according to new legal docs.

The court has granted Tremaine's request for a temporary restraining order against Bam, requiring him to stay at least 100 yards away from Jeff, his wife and kids ... and to stop contacting him.

Tremaine claims he's been getting harassed by Bam since February, after Jeff says Bam no-showed for a virtual meeting to discuss how he could help Margera with his mental health and sobriety struggles.

Since then, according to the docs, Bam's been on the warpath on social media. Tremaine claims Margera's publicly attacked him, threatened violence, compared him to Harvey Weinstein, posted obscene drawings and made a comment that he and Johnny Knoxville can "pencil in there [sic] death certificate."

On top of that, Tremaine claims Bam's sent him several direct threats against his kids, including one that read ... "Look at your children and grab your pocket book and write a check, if you are greedy, and cheap, look at your children again. If you don‘t sign the paper, look at you children. Sign your stupid f***ing contract before your (sic) not safe anywhere."

According to Jeff, the contract Bam is referring to seems to be one Margera wrote up himself. Tremaine says he's in great fear for his family's and his personal safety.

You've heard a lot about "Karens" over the past year -- very little of it good -- and the name's bad rep seems to have reached new parents, who want nothing to do with it.

Indeed, the name "Karen" has apparently plummeted in popularity among newborns who were popped out in 2020 -- this according to new data from the Social Security Administration, which tracks this kind of stuff.

HuffPo outlines it well -- citing a massive drop-off, from #660 on 2019's list to #831 for 2020 ... falling a whopping 171 slots. That's the lowest ranking "Karen" has had in this country since 1927 -- so yeah, it's obvious the name has taken a big hit of late.

Per the numbers, only 325 Karens were born last year compared to 439 in 2019 -- which might not sound like crazy numbers to begin with, but the percentage is what's interesting.

Frankly, Karen is an antiquated name these days, anyway, and it's been on a steady decline since the '60s when Karens were a dime a dozen ... clocking in its highest rate of 33,000 newborns in '65.

Still, some are blaming the new dip on the outrageous public acts of so-called "Karens" over the past year and change -- women caught up in dubious acts of insensitivity, idiocy and/or straight-up racism.

No matter how you look at it ... Karen does carry a certain connotation in 2021, and it looks like soon-to-be parents realized that last year and adjusted accordingly.

Kyrie Irving was the target of another idiot fan Sunday night who almost beaned the b-baller in the head with a water bottle ... and this time the culprit was arrested.

The incident went down in Boston at TD Gardens ... as Kyrie was walking out, you see the bottle come within a hair's breadth of his head. His teammates were outraged, and Tyler Johnson scoped out the crowd and ID'd the culprit.

A fan threw a water bottle at Kyrie Iriving as he was leaving the court, he was then arrested.

Cops say the fan in question is 21-year-old Cole Buckley, who is now charged with one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Yeah, a water bottle in the wrong hands is a dangerous weapon.

An eyewitness says he saw Buckley throw a Desani water bottle in Irving's direction. Buckley was wearing a Kevin Garnett jersey as he was taken into custody and removed from the arena.

Irving said after the incident ... "You're seeing a lot of old ways come up... just underlying racism and treating people like they're in a human zoo. Throwing stuff at people, saying things. There is a certain point where it gets to be too much."

Kevin Durant also chimed in ... “Have some respect for the human beings and have some respect for yourself. Your mother wouldn’t be proud of you throwing water bottles at basketball players or spitting on players or tossing popcorn,” Durant said. “So grow the f**k up and enjoy the game. It's bigger than you."

Just days earlier ... a fan dumped popcorn on Russell Westbrook during the NBA playoffs as he walked off the court injured. Afterward, Westbrook said players need protection from out-of-control fans.

Clay Aiken knows what it's like to go from beloved celeb to despised politician -- by half of the public, at least -- and he's not sure The Rock or Matthew McConaughey are up for it ... so he's sharing his experience with political haters.

As you may know ... the former "American Idol" sensation ran for a North Carolina Congressional seat in 2014, and though he won the Democratic primary, he got beat pretty soundly in the general election by the Republican incumbent.

Clay joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday to share just a slice of what the experience was like, and it doesn't sound pleasant ... and definitely not something a couple of universally cherished actors would want to go through.

Ultimately, he thinks neither Rock nor McConaughey will opt to run, like Caitlyn Jenner already has -- but Clay's adamant she's already experiencing the blowback ... just for different reasons.

As we reported ... Bill Maher blasted the stars running for office or considering it, and though Aiken's not nearly as blistering with his take, the 2 seem to be on the same page -- just don't do it if fame's what matters.

BTW, Clay's still taking on political and social issues ... on his podcast, 'How The Heck Are We Gonna Get Along.'

Even more people are diving in on "Friends" fever -- including one Robin Antin, the creator of the OG Ross and Monica dance ... who's here to give folks a proper lesson more than 20 years later.

The Pussycat Dolls founder got into her Playground LA dance studio Tuesday with Lisa Rinna and did her famous number that David Schwimmer and Courteney Cox performed at the turn of the century ... only this time, it's being served up to perfection by the maestro herself.

Check it out ... Robin and Lisa do what the Geller siblings did on TV back in '99 -- which Robin actually taught to the 2 actors back when she choreographed the iconic routine for the show. In case you didn't know ... RA was the in-house dance consultant for "Friends."

As you can see ... this is how the dance WOULD'VE been done, had pro dancers hit the floor. Of course, the comedy lies in Schwimmer/Cox not being as skilled ... which made for great laughs and a memorable "Friends" moment.

Still, it's fascinating to see "the routine" being done by the person who made it up from scratch in the first place ... because, honestly, it's not nearly as goofy as it was portrayed. It's actually pretty badass -- which should be expected since it's an Antin special.

It goes without saying, the dance went down in pop culture history ... and it even got a facelift courtesy of Courteney and Ed Sheeran -- who performed it while the reunion special was airing this weekend ... to much fanfare.