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A black cat from the 9th floor of the collapsed Miami condo apparently has 9 lives -- because it's been found alive and well ... and now, reunited with grateful family members.

Binx the cat belongs to the Gonazalez family, who reportedly lived in unit 904 of the doomed Champlain Towers South condo complex. The kitty was returned to the fam on Friday, complete with a news conference to announce the tiny sliver of good news amid the horrific tragedy.

As Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava put it, "I'm glad that this small miracle could bring some light into the lives of a hurting family today, and provide a bright spot for our whole community."

Officials say a volunteer found Binx near the destroyed building. Volunteers and animal control workers have been scouring to find any pets that might have escaped during and after the building collapse.

It's unclear if the Gonzalezes were home when the building shockingly came down early in the morning of June 24 -- but the great news is they're safe, and so is their beloved Binx.

Britney Spears has just taken the first step to end her conservatorship ... TMZ has learned she's contacted a large law firm ... and assuming the firm agrees and is permitted to represent her, the first order of business will be filing legal docs asking the judge to remove her father as conservator of her estate.

Multiple sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Britney wants to hire powerful lawyer and former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart. Britney has signed the following document:

"Pursuant to my statement in open court on June 23, 2021, my rights, and my desire to end the above-referenced conservatorship as to my father Jamie P. Spears, it is my desire to choose and retain my own counsel, at Greenberg, Traurig, LLP as set forth above."

The document is signed "BRITNEY JEAN SPEARS"

Rosengart, a partner in the firm, has represented a number of high-profile clients over the years, including Steven Spielberg, Sean Penn, Ben and Casey Affleck, Eddie Vedder, Soledad O'Brien, Michael Mann and NBA star Jimmy Butler.

TMZ broke the story ... Britney's long-time, court-appointed lawyer in her conservatorship case, Sam Ingham, resigned earlier this week. Our sources say Ingham believed he could no longer represent Britney because, in part, of her comments in court that she was never informed until recently she could end the conservatorship. We're told Ingham and others dispute that and say Britney was told numerous times over the years -- many times on the record in court -- that she could end the conservatorship, but she always declined to do so.

Britney became increasingly upset over the years ... especially with her dad, and wanted him out both as the conservator of her person and conservator of her estate. Jamie resigned as conservator of her person but remains sole conservator of her estate.

Bessemer Trust was scheduled to become co-conservator of Britney's estate but withdrew a week ago.

Our sources say Rosengart and his team have not formally agreed to represent Britney, but if he does the mission will be to attempt to end the conservatorship, although the first step is removing Jamie.

Britney has already asked the judge to end the conservatorship without any further medical evaluation. That will be an uphill climb, because nearly 2 dozen doctors and therapists have weighed in over the years ... saying Britney has a serious mental illness that would imperil her safety if left to her own devices. The judge did not indicate whether she's receptive to bypassing a mental health exam as a pre-condition to ending the conservatorship.

The other hurdle Britney must jump -- she's in a conservatorship, so she's unable to enter into a contract without the approval of her conservator. The person who must sign off -- none other than Jamie Spears. This would explain why the first step would be to attempt to remove Jamie.

The Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville is finally coming down ... nearly 4 years after it played a central role in sparking the violent rally where Heather Heyer was killed.

Crews started working early Saturday morning to remove the monument to the Confederate general from a city park.

The monumental event drew a crowd of spectators who cheered when the statue was finally lifted off its pedestal. The crews are expected to remove another nearby statue too -- that one of another Confederate general ... Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

Calls for the city to take down the tributes to the failed Confederacy were what ignited the "Unite the Right" rally back in 2017 ... where neo-Nazis with tiki torches walked through the University of Virginia campus chanting about white supremacy.

That drew counter protesters and sparked the violent clash where James Fields eventually plowed through a crowd with his car, killing Heyer. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 for her murder and hate crimes.

Then-President Trump infamously reacted to the deadly incident by saying there was "blame on both sides."

As the Lee statue was coming down Saturday, Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker addressed the crowd and reporters, saying ... "Taking down this statue is one small step closer to the goal of helping Charlottesville, Virginia, and America, grapple with the sin of being willing to destroy Black people for economic gain."

It's unclear where the statues will go now. By law, the city had to accept bids from people or institutions interested in taking them. Charlottesville reportedly 10 offers and the city council will make the final call.

Drake's been doing more than just wining and dining his new boo, Johanna Leia, at Dodger Stadium ... he's also been mentoring her basketball prodigy son for months.

Sources close to the pair tell us they first met months ago through high school basketball -- Johanna's son, Amari Bailey, is a top prospect -- and the relationship grew from there. We're told Drake and Amari hit it off, and Drake's offered the kid advice on finances, fame and life, in general.

Amari is headed to UCLA in 2022, and our sources say Drake's given him pointers on how to handle all the attention and pressure that comes with being a star player. We're told they've spent some one-on-one time, and all 3 have hung out at Drake's home.

Our sources say prior to Drake, Johanna was with NBA'er Alfonzo McKinnie -- who helped Amari build his skills on the court -- so it looks like he's more than ready for the next level.

As we reported, ABC7's chopper spotted Drake and Johanna as they had Dodger Stadium to themselves for a date night, complete with a table on the first baseline. A Dodgers source told us the whole thing was a thank you for a sizeable donation Drake made to the team's charitable foundation.

Some Michigan fairgoers jumped into action as a packed carnival ride was seconds from tipping over -- and it's pretty clear these folks earned themselves free cotton candy and churros ... for life.

Video of the terrifying incident shows the Magic Carpet Ride in full swing Thursday night at the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City. As nearly a dozen passengers yell for help, you can see the base of the ride start rocking wildly.

Nearby patrons were looking, wondering what to do ... until one of them ran over and jumped on the base. Several more people quickly followed suit, leaning in and weighing it down.

When the ride finally slowed to a stop, the crowd cheered and everyone got off safely. According to local reports, no one was injured and the ride was taken apart and scrapped by Friday morning.

The company responsible for the ride hasn't commented yet on what went wrong. Ditto for the festival organizers.

Aly Raisman has something better than a gold medal to celebrate -- her beloved dog, Mylo, is safe and sound, a week after the terrified pup bolted during 4th of July fireworks.

The gold medal gymnast broke the good news Friday that 11-month-old Mylo, a rescue dog, had been found in the Boston area. She shared some smile-inducing pics of their reunion.

In her IG post, Aly thanked the "heroes" who helped get Mylo back to her safely.

She had revealed last Saturday that Mylo had gone missing, and asked her followers in the Boston area to be on the lookout.

She wrote, "Mylo was terrified of fireworks and ran off. He has a tag on and a leash. Please let me know if you see him. Thank you."

During the week, while still holding out hope Mylo was safe, Aly offered a reward for his return.

It's unclear if anyone's claimed the reward, or exactly where Mylo was found.

Kay Robertson's recovery's going so well following her recent dog attack, she might be back to her old self sooner than expected ... and without surgery.

The matriarch of the "Duck Dynasty" family tells TMZ ... she is looking and feeling much better after suffering the gnarly bite to the mouth from her own pup, Bobo, a few weeks ago.

As we told you ... Miss Kay's dog split her top lip and took a big chunk out of her bottom one when she snuck up on him for a goodnight kiss, startling him.

Her injuries required stitches and antibiotics, and Kay initially told us it would take about 4 weeks to heal ... and then she'd need plastic surgery for a full fix.

Kay tells us that's likely not the case now -- she's healing nicely and may only require some lip filler to be good as new.

We're told the only thing bothering her is having to eat differently because it's still painful to chew, but she hasn't let the injury slow her down. She went on a family vacation to the Alabama beaches shortly after she got bit.

As for Bobo ... Kay says he's been wonderful to everyone since the incident and isn't showing any aggression at all, almost like he knows he hurt her and is trying to make up for it.

Britney Spears is in the market for a new lawyer, Sha'Carri Richardson's Olympic dreams are dashed ... and Drake's swinging for the fences with a potential new GF!!! So, we gotta ask ...

Mary Carey's got a case of politico interruptus -- she's bailing on her latest attempt to become California's governor, and the ex-porn star's blaming the current Gov for screwing her.

Now-former candidate Carey tells TMZ ... she just didn't have enough time to get her affairs in order to officially enter the race ... something she feels was impossible because Gavin Newsom shortened the deadlines for recall candidates to complete their paperwork.

Mary says she only had 2 weeks to gather her docs -- including 5 years of tax returns -- and she says it just wasn't feasible, and she told us why she thinks Newsom wants to rush the recall election.

As we first told you ... Mary planned to hit up strip clubs across California, gathering voter signatures for her M.I.L.F. campaign, a grassroots movement short for Moderates and Independents for Liberation and Freedom.

Sylvester Stallone says Conor McGregor would be FOOLISH to say no to a Jake Paul fight ... telling TMZ Sports the money would be INSANE!!

We talked to Stallone -- a HUGE boxing fan -- outside Cafe Roma in Beverly Hills ... and asked the 'Rocky' star whether McGregor should take the bait and fight the YouTuber turned boxing star.

"Are you kidding. With the kind of money that's going around, he'd be foolish not to. Think about it."

Of course, Conor and Jake have been verbally sparring on social media and in the media ... but when McGregor was recently asked about fighting JP, he didn't exactly say no.

"I don’t see so, but never say never," Conor said. "If they’re gonna keep competing and what not, who f***in' knows? But dingbats, the 2 of 'em."

For his part, Jake offered CM $50 million for a fight earlier this year.

But, assuming they did fight ... Conor is a former 2-division UFC champion, and Jake is relatively new to the sport (3-0) -- so, does Paul have a real shot at beating The Notorious??

"Oh yeah," Stallone says ... "[Jake's] got range, and he's got youth. And, he's not easy to knockout."

Britney Spears has a front-row seat for a battle royale between her father and her personal conservator, Jodi Montgomery, who's firing back at Jamie Spears ... claiming she's the only one moving Britney closer to her ultimate goal of freedom.

Montgomery filed docs Friday, blasting Britney's dad for attempting to lay blame at her feet for Britney's brutal testimony about her treatment under the conservatorship. In the docs, Montgomery says she's received "countless" messages about one thing -- getting her father out of her life and the conservatorship.

Jodi says, "It is ironic that Mr. Spears now wants the conservatorship to 'reflect her wishes' since it is no secret that Ms. Spears has wished her father out of her life for years."

As for Jamie implying, in a previous filing, that Jodi or others have prevented him from communicating with Britney ... Jodi's attorney writes, "Ms. Spears is the one who cut him off ... That is her choice not Ms. Montgomery's."

According to the docs, Jodi also says it's absurd for Jamie to suggest she's making decisions without him, because "everything costs money," and all the expenses go through Jamie in his role as conservator of Britney's estate.

Jodi insists she is actively working to address the concerns Britney raised during her testimony by working with her medical team to develop a "comprehensive care plan" that will create a path to ending the conservatorship.

The driving point Jodi's making is ... she's down with Britney's desire to be free of the conservatorship, but wants to do it responsibly with input from her doctors -- and she's implying Jamie is not.

In the docs, she points out Britney's father has never fully relinquished control, as he's remained either a sole or co-conservator for the last 13 years -- and she claims he's left open the possibility he'll be the last man standing to claim full control.

As we've reported, several entities have recently jumped ship -- including intended co-conservators of the estate, Bessemer Trust, Britney's attorney, Sam Ingham, and her longtime manager Larry Rudolph ... although he was not directly involved in the conservatorship.

Jodi says she's "committed to staying" so she can complete Britney's new care plan and eventually dissolve the conservatorship. Something she calls "a goal that may not necessarily be shared by Mr. Spears."

Looks like actress Inanna Sarkis just learned, the hard way, how much horsepower her Tesla's packing .. after seriously damaging her ride and a homeowner's fence in a solo car crash.

The "After We Collided" star smashed her white Tesla Model X into someone's front yard fence earlier this week in the San Fernando Valley. A witness tells us she was the only person in the SUV.

It's unclear what exactly caused the crash but our sources say the Model X -- which was a gift from her BF, Matthew Noszka -- barreled into the home's front yard, taking out a brick pillar and a huge chunk of the iron fence.

We're told Matthew showed up to the scene minutes after the accident and picked her up ... leaving the Tesla behind for a tow truck.

It's unclear if Inanna suffered any injuries. We haven't heard back from her camp.

Inanna became famous as a social media star from Canada, but in recent years she's had success in film and TV. She's best known for playing Molly Samuels in the 2019 Netflix film "After" ... starring Josephine Langford, Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Selma Blair. She was also in the sequel, "After We Collided."

She made her big-screen debut in Tyler Perry's "Boo 2! A Madea Halloween."

Don't let these two almost identical images of Miley Cyrus have you starting to see double ... take a closer look at the two photos above because there are actually a few sneaky switches that have been made to trick ya!

The talented singer was seen rockin' out during a performance this past week in Las Vegas, Nevada ... and we have made a few changes to the original pic! Use your detective skills to see if you can spot what the differences are between these two super similar snaps!

The Bucks and Suns are both competing for a title for the first time in forever this season ... which means it's time to introduce the new wives and girlfriends of the NBA Finals!!

Of course, everyone knows Suns superstar Devin Booker’s boo, Kendall Jenner -- the couple went public about their relationship just a few months ago, but they did a bad job of keeping their love a secret over the past year.

While that's still considered a relatively new relationship, 8-time All-Star Chris Paul and his wife, Jada, are going a decade strong ... and hoping to celebrate a different kinda ring this postseason.

Former #1 overall pick Deandre Ayton has been playing out of his mind and making his presence known this season ... and his girl, Anissa Evans, has been his biggest fan for all his breakout performances.

As for the Bucks, they may not have any Kardashian ties ... but center Brook Lopez and his lady Hailee Strickland are one hot couple ... and Jeff Teague's girlfriend, Tyrina Lee, will be giving him motivation!

We can't forget about 2-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo -- he has some most valuable love from his longtime bae, Mariah Riddlesprigger!!

Tristan Thompson appears to have beef with Lamar Odom ... and Khloe Kardashian is smack in the middle of things.

Here's the deal ... Khloe posted an Instagram photo Friday showing her taking an outdoor shower in a skimpy bikini, and Lamar complimented her in the comments, telling her she's a "hottie" ... a response Tristan's not taking kindly.

Tristan tagged Lamar in the comments and then seemed to loft a threat his way, writing ... "@lamarodom God brought you back the first time. Play if you want, different results 🤷🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️"

The comment is obviously referring to Lamar's infamous 2015 drug overdose at a Nevada brothel, which nearly killed the former NBA stud.

As you know ... Tristan's got a child with Khloe, but she's got a long history with Lamar. Khloe and Odom were married from 2009 to 2016 and they had their own reality show, "Khloe & Lamar."

Tristan and Khloe recently called it quits (again) after allegations of cheating (again) ... but he wished her happy birthday last month on his IG and often comments on her posts.

Britney Spears' personal conservator, Jodi Montgomery, is looking to get paid for her work ... and she's asking the court to approve a 6-figure check.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Jodi is asking the court to approve her fees of $221,090 for the work she did for Britney's conservatorship from Nov. 1, 2019 to the end of February 2021.

In the docs, Jodi's also asking the court to approve an additional $65,465 to cover the cost for her personal lawyer.

Jodi's fee requests come on the heels of her seeking 24/7 security in the wake of what she claims is a flood of death threats coming her way since Britney's scathing testimony, filled with complaints about her treatment under the conservatorship.

As we first told you ... Britney's dad, Jamie Spears, objected to Jodi's request to have the estate pick up the tab for beefed up security, which she estimated would cost $50k per month.