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Sir Richard Branson appears to still be on cloud nine -- or whatever number it is at 55 miles above sea level -- and now the trailblazing billionaire's autograph is an even hotter commodity.

The Virgin Galactic boss and newly minted astronaut was making his way to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Tuesday in NYC when he got a hero's welcome from a group of admirers ... most of them toting Sharpies and pics of Sir Richard.

He made his way over to greet his fans and sign some photos, telling them his recent voyage was "special" ... and he snapped lots of great photos.

Based on what we saw for ourselves Sunday -- when Branson and his fellow travelers launched into sub-orbital space aboard the VSS Unity -- we believe him, and we're pretty jealous.

Of course, Richard might be the first business magnate to fly commercial all the way to zero gravity ... but Jeff Bezos is right on his heels. He's set to take off July 20.

The Virgin founder didn't have anything to say about beating the Amazon founder in the billionaire space race, but he really didn't have to ... the look on his face says it all.

Branson's warm welcome in New York does pale in comparison to some other astronauts -- the ticker-tape parade for the crew of Apollo 11 back in 1969 was pretty epic.

Here we are in 2021, but Vanilla Ice says the '90s still have a tight grip on him, because he says it was the best decade ever ... before computers ruined the world.

We got the rapper-turned-historian on the L.A. set of a music video shoot -- a '90s throwback we'll get to shortly, but first ... Ice needs to rail on the "lost generation" of pop culture.

According to Vanilla Ice ... it was the last decade where fashion and music played off each other, and people created "cool" stuff that's still trendy to this day.

He points to the invention of the iPhone as the main culprit for killing pop culture -- though he's a few years off, it actually came out in 2007 not 2004 -- and provides some proof to back up his argument.

Ice follows it up with a claim that might make you question everything, however ... he says his kids think he's cool.

Believe that or not, the guy has a lot of understandable fondness for the '90s -- especially a certain video store chain -- and is down with it all coming back.

Speaking of which ... Vanilla Ice's music vid was for a parody remix of Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back." Ya won't hear "Baby Got Buns" on the radio, though ... it's for a hot dog company Bar-S.

Britney Spears has decided who she wants as her lawyer to end the conservatorship, and the attorney has now agreed and will appear in court Wednesday -- arguing she has a right to the lawyer of her choice ... TMZ has learned.

We broke the story ... Britney signed a legal doc stating her desire to hire the mega law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP to represent her in her effort to boot Jamie Spears from the conservatorship -- the first step in attempting to end the conservatorship altogether.

As we reported, Britney had her sights set on hiring a partner in the firm -- former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart, who reps a slew of celebrity clients, including Steven Spielberg, Ben Affleck, Jimmy Butler and Sean Penn.

Multiple sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Rosengart has now agreed and will appear remotely during a court hearing Wednesday, asking the judge to appoint him.

The catch 22 is that Britney cannot sign contracts of any substance without the approval of her conservator, Jamie Spears, the man she wants out.

We're told Rosengart will make the argument Britney has a Constitutional right to the lawyer of her choice. Defendants in criminal cases have a Constitutional right to an attorney, but a conservatorship is not a criminal case. Thing is ... it's not a civil case either. It's a hybrid ... somewhere in between.

We're told Rosengart's argument goes like this ... Britney is entitled to due process, which includes the right to a competent lawyer, and a judge would be hard-pressed to conclude Rosengart doesn't have the legal chops to rep her. What's more ... he'll argue it's absurd for Jamie Spears to have the power to disapprove Britney's choice, because the very purpose of the representation is to get him out of the conservatorship.

As we reported ... getting Jamie out is the first step in ending the conservatorship, which has been in place for more than 13 years.

The real battle will come if and when there's a motion to end the conservatorship. Britney said in court last month she wanted that done without further medical evaluation, but that's a tough sell to the judge because several dozen medical professionals have weighed in regularly over the years she has a mental illness that makes a conservatorship necessary.

A woman who's being labeled "Victoria's Secret Karen" broke down in tears and pretended to pass out as she was being recorded by another woman ... who claims the 'Karen' tried to hit her.

This incredible breakdown happened at a Victoria's Secret in Millburn, NJ ... and the woman holding the camera, Ijeoma Ukenta, claims the blonde nearly attacked her right before she started recording.

Ijeoma, who is Black, claims as soon as she started rolling, the woman's behavior changed in an instant -- going from alleged aggressor to playing the full-blown victim. The switch is pretty wild to observe: she falls to the ground and starts crying, complaining Ijeoma is recording her, repeatedly demanding she stop and even chases her around the store at one point.

Interestingly, some shoppers came to the so-called Karen's defense, as Ijeoma continued to record ... something she said she was doing to protect herself from any false claims the woman might make to police. Hilariously, Ijeoma also repeatedly said she was just there for a free panty deal VS was running.

Police eventually showed up, and the woman reportedly told police she was upset about the recording because she was worried the video would be shared online -- it has gone viral -- and she might face repercussions ... such as potentially losing her job.

In the end, neither woman were arrested, but Ijeoma's unhappy with how cops on the scene treated her -- as if she was the aggressor -- and she plans to file a complaint.

Kim Kardashian just landed the big one -- in modeling, at least -- for her shapewear line, and TMZ's learned she took matters into her own hands to make it happen.

If you haven't heard ... Kate Moss, one of fashion's biggest names for decades, is the new face of SKIMS this summer. The news is a major deal because she doesn't normally do campaigns like this ... not even for Victoria's Secret.

Sources close to Kim's company tell us ... the boss lady reached out directly to Kate, because she's always considered her THE fashion icon and it's been Kim's dream to work with her.

Fortunately, as Kim herself tweeted, they've had a good rapport since meeting in 2014 and becoming friends ... and Kate said yes to her SKIMS pitch.

We're told Moss shot the campaign a few weeks ago in London, just before the gal pals were spotted on the Pope's turf in Vatican City.

Rihanna's giving folks a once in a lifetime opportunity, because you can live in her posh mansion in Beverly Hills ... if you've got a boatload of cash.

The singer and Fenty Beauty founder is renting out her 5-bedroom, 7,628-square-foot pad for a cool $80,000 per month ... and the pics might be enough to make ya splurge.

Check out the gallery ... Rihanna's Bev Hills mansion is decked out with a pool, spa, fire pit and an open-air courtyard, plus a home gym and a gourmet chef's kitchen with two islands.

The master bedroom features sweeping views of Coldwater Canyon, plus a walk-in closet, marble bath and a private terrace.

As we reported ... Rihanna recently scooped up the mansion for $13.8 million, adding to her burgeoning L.A. real estate portfolio.

Former President Donald Trump threatened to sue over the new book detailing his alleged praise for Adolf Hitler ... according to the author, Michael Bender, who says he was summoned to Mar-a-Lago for a one-on-one.

Bender joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" to discuss, "Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost" -- and he told us how Trump tried at first to gently spin the content of his book ... before taking a more hardcore approach.

The WSJ reporter says Trump twice invited him to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office ... and while the ex-Prez was gracious with his time, Michael says there was also threatening language involved.

As we reported ... Bender's book claims Trump was visiting Europe in 2018, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI, when at some point during the trip Trump turned to his then-Chief of Staff, Gen. John F. Kelly and allegedly said, "Well, Hitler did a lot of good things." Kelly allegedly pushed back.

Bender claims Trump's response to the alleged Hitler conversation was to call it defamatory during their face-to-face meeting ... which he took as signaling a potential lawsuit if it ended up in the book.

Of course, he did include it ... and told us why he was supremely confident, despite the threat.

Britney Spears wants to be able to pick a new attorney for herself -- an idea with which multiple disability rights organizations agree, and are now putting in writing for a judge.

Attorneys repping 27 different entities -- dabbling in things like AIDS advocacy, civil liberties, autism support, aging assistance and much more -- have filed new legal docs, telling the judge Britney should be allowed to have the ultimate say in who her lawyer(s) will be next.

According to the filing, obtained by TMZ, groups such as Choice in Aging, Disability Rights California, Autistic Self-Advocacy Network and others are pleading their case to the court -- namely, laying out reasons why Brit shouldn't be deprived of being able to make this selection on her own.

The groups say Britney has a right to due process ... which includes selecting her own attorney to help her make informed decisions and communicate effectively in the conservatorship case -- something they say she's specifically asked for in text messages to people like Jodi Montgomery.

Roy Moore just got his ass laughed out of court in his lawsuit against Sacha Baron Cohen ... with the judge essentially telling him he agreed to participate and telling his wife she couldn't win her case because the show segment was so clearly a joke.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the federal judge in the Southern District of New York said Sacha's stunt for his Showtime special "Who is America" was clearly satire, and that no reasonable person would interpret the stunt as asserting fact.

In docs, the judge said the former U.S. Senate candidate gave up his right to sue when he signed a waiver prior to the interview. Even though his wife didn't sign the waiver, the court basically said the stunt was akin to a political cartoon or caricature ... which is protected speech under the First Amendment.

As we reported ... Moore sued Sacha back in September 2018 claiming the comedian portrayed him as a pedophile on national TV. Moore, who insisted he's not a sex offender, said Sacha's prank amounted to defamation and wanted at least $95M in damages.

For the uninitiated ... Sacha disguised himself as an ex-Israeli intelligence officer and waved a wand that could supposedly detect enzymes secreted by pedophiles. The wand went off like crazy when he scanned Roy.

Demi Lovato says they won't jump down your throat if you accidentally misgender them -- as it's not an easy pivot -- but they do ask folks to make a good faith effort going forward.

The pop singer -- who identifies as nonbinary -- came out with a new IG post that addresses the change so many have been trying to adopt when discussing them ... namely refraining from using she/her pronouns and referring to Demi as they/them -- which is their preference.

Demi writes ... "If you misgender - That's okay. I accidentally misgender myself sometimes! It's a huge transition to change the pronouns I've used for myself my entire life. And it's difficult to remember sometimes!"

They continue, "As long as you keep trying to respect my truth, And as long as I remember my truth, The Shift will come naturally." Demi ended on this note ... "I'm just grateful for your effort in trying to remember what means so much to my healing process."

You'll recall ... Demi came out as nonbinary earlier this year, saying their new pronouns were more in line with how they wanted to express their gender than the ones they used to go by ... allowing them to be their most authentic self.

Lamar Odom's thirsty comment on Khloe Kardashian's bikini pic on Instagram wasn't a shot at her baby daddy, Tristan Thompson ... it was LO shooting his shot with his ex-wife.

Sources close to Lamar tell TMZ ... he wants to rekindle what he once had with Khloe and he thought Friday's comment on Khloe's IG post was a perfect time to get her attention, seeing as she's not with Tristan anymore.

As you know ... Lamar left a "hottie" comment on Khloe's outdoor shower pic, which drew Tristan's ire and a seemingly threatening response to Lamar.

We're told Lamar wasn't trying to be disrespectful, he just figured it was fine to shoot his shot because Khloe and TT are broken up again ... after new allegations he was cheating.

Lamar and Khloe were married from 2009 to 2016 ... and our sources say he thinks Tristan is fumbling the bag with Khloe. Quite frankly, we're told LO wanted to see where his comment might lead the exes.

A new tribute to DMX is finally complete -- a huge mural in his hometown of Yonkers, NY ... and TMZ has a first look at the art.

We got these images of the mural designed by NYC artist Floyd Simmons ... no relation to DMX, by the way. He painted it on a wall near the Calcagno Homes on School Street, the same public housing where DMX once lived -- and it will be unveiled to the public Tuesday morning.

Floyd, pictured above in front of the unfinished wall, tells TMZ ... residents at the housing project reached out to him because they liked another famous mural he'd done in Harlem back in the '90s.

The DMX project was supposed to last a week, tops ... but a heat wave followed by rain caused a delay and complicated matters. The project ultimately took a little over 2 weeks to complete.

As if that wasn't enough ... Floyd says he broke his pinky in the middle of the job when he got it jammed between the cherry picker lift and the wall.

But, when it was all said and done, the mural -- 35 feet by 22 feet -- featured a stoic DMX front and center and a verse from his "Look Thru My Eyes" track ... which pays homage to the very same neighborhood.

Floyd Mayweather is reveling in Conor McGregor's downfall ... trolling the UFC star on social media and laughing about the fighter's broken leg.

Floyd took to Instagram on Monday to rub the salt in Conor's wounds ... posting a photoshopped pic that showed a sitting-down McGregor whose foot was turned sideways.

"Y’all got it twisted!" Floyd said, we're sure with pun intended. "I like how his shoes fit. Now, do the stanky leg."

Floyd has been basking in McGregor's loss ever since The Notorious snapped his leg in his match with Dustin Poirier on Saturday night in Vegas ... claiming he won more than $35,000 betting against Conor.

"[Dustin Poirier], thanks for getting me paid," Floyd said just minutes after the match.

Of course, the barbs are just the latest in a long-going feud between Floyd and Conor ... as the two have proven over and over again they REALLY don't like each other.

In fact, it was just a few weeks ago that Conor was throwing repeated jabs at Floyd for his whole drama with Logan and Jake Paul.

"The Bachelorette" boldly went where it hasn't gone before, and while many fans aren't having it ... it's causing a master debate on what makes for good TV.

On Monday's night's episode, Katie Thurston -- the leading lady trying to find love this season -- came up with an idea for a challenge that "Seinfeld" fans know all too well ... she asked her suitors to withhold from pleasuring themselves.

Co-host Kaitlyn Bristowe presented the challenge to the fellas by calling it "Operation: WOWO" ... which stands for "week off whacking off." Or, as the show dubbed it on Instagram, the "WHOA!!! WHOA!!!" challenge.

As you can see ... Katie's suitors appear incredulous by the turn of events, but likely no more than 'Bachelorette' viewers who had to watch as Kaitlyn spelled it out for them. Or tried to, anyway.

One of the guys, Connor B., rattled off about a dozen euphemisms for masturbation, some of which we've never heard before, and one -- Downtown Lester Brown -- that's inaccurate ... according to an online definition.

Regardless, the WOWO Challenge has caused a notable controversy, with some fans calling it immature and stupid and claiming it flies in the face of Katie's sex-positivity.

Remember, she's the one who brought a vibrator with her when she was introduced to Matt James on his season of "The Bachelor."

That Girl Lay Lay -- a 14-year-old rapper who just landed her own Nickelodeon series -- is calling out Kim Kardashian for allegedly demanding she take down a music video ... but sources close to Kim and Kanye are questioning the motives behind the project from the beginning.

Here's the backstory ... TGLL shared a music vid that shows Kim's then 6-year-old daughter, North West, hanging out inside Kim and Kanye's home during a playdate while the young rapper lays down one of her tracks.

Shortly afterward, Lay Lay claimed Kim texted her demanding she take down the vid, and she had no idea why. However, it was Tracy Romulus, Kim's friend and the CMO of KKW Brands who was the one who actually sent the text ... and it wasn't to Lay Lay, it was sent to her dad.

A rep for the rapper tells TMZ ... Lay Lay feels hurt, and wants Kim to let her repost the vid because she doesn't think there's any good reason to take it down.

However, a source close to Kim and Kanye say they never gave permission for their 6-year-old to be featured in the music video, and believe Lay Lay's team used the old footage of North for publicity.

The source continues, "Lay Lay’s dad refuses to release the music video without footage of North because he is clearly trying to use her image as a source of publicity which is why North’s parents have an issue to begin with. It’s a matter of principle at this point and the answer is still no. He cannot use footage that was filmed of North taken inside her home during what should have been an innocent child’s play date for commercial purposes.”

We're told Lay Lay's father asked Kim and Kanye months ago for permission to use the footage of North, but hadn't heard back by July ... so he decided to post it, thinking it would be no biggie because they had approved another video in the past. Our Kim and Kanye source claims they never received any sort of communication asking for permission.

For context, the video was shot in March 2020 ... when Kim was taking some heat for not crediting another young artist, ZaZa, when North performed one of her songs at Paris Fashion Week. We're told Lay Lay now believes Kim only set up that first meeting, and subsequent TikTok as damage control for what happened with ZaZa.

Our Kim and Kanye source says that couldn't be further from the truth, and say they set up a playdate with Lay Lay after her dad reached out because North was a fan.

Blueface's jeweler wants to make it crystal clear, the rapper doesn't owe him any money -- contrary to the online digs from Tekashi 6ix9ine ... and Tekashi can go shove it, according to the jeweler.

We got Gavriel D., the founder and CEO of NYC Luxury, Monday in NYC ... and he stopped to give us the 411 on Blueface tatting the name of Gavriel's company on the side of his head.

You'll recall the "Bleed It" rapper raised eyebrows last week with the tat on his dome, and drew Tekashi out of his troll hole to comment. He insinuated Blueface is broke and can't afford to pay for his bling, so he turned to human billboarding.

Gavriel says that's total BS ... and says there's only one logical explanation for the tat -- Blueface loves the brand!!! It's true. Blueface is known for giving his favorite brands serious real estate space on his dome. He's done it with Corvette and Yves Saint Laurent.

The celeb jeweler also told us a while back he joked with Blueface about his Corvette tattoo and that he should get an NYC Luxury one too. We're told Blueface one day, out of the blue, FaceTimed him and voilà ... there he was on the table getting the tattoo done.