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Jennifer Lopez is always in the presence of her BF, Ben Affleck, even if he's not physically there ... because he always hanging around ... her neck!

J Lo continues on her birthday vacay without Ben in Portofino, Italy. She strolled through the city Saturday ... wearing a necklace with Ben's name front and center.

We're told Ben is actually heading back to U.S. soil, so J Lo's hanging out on the yacht without him.

Now that Ben's gone, J Lo's been on her phone nonstop, texting and FaceTiming to occupy her time.

As for the bling ... it's a custom Foundrae charm necklace that Ben gave Jen for her 52nd birthday.

Seems a shame J Lo's now solo on the yacht ... it runs $1.1 million a week, and has all sorts of toys and amenities. In other words, it's awesome!

Before leaving for the U.S. ... Ben joined Jen at a restaurant in Italy, but food seemed secondary as they were all over each other as diners watched.

A 2-year-old emotional support dog is dead ... and the owner wants some answers from Hawaiian Airlines.

The dog, a pit bull named Louis, was apparently supposed to travel in the cargo hold from Kona to Honolulu and then on to Seattle, but the dog never made it. The dog's owner says the airline told him the dog died in Honolulu, but there was no explanation as to what happened.

The dog died July 21, and the owner has been waiting for a necropsy report and information on where the dog was when he died, but so far we're told Hawaiian has been radio silent. The owner, Dr. Randall Carpio, says the airline did indeed perform a necropsy but has not handed the report over to him, only telling him over the phone that the necropsy was inconclusive.

Dr. Carpio also says the airline has not given him the dog's remains.

Dr. Carpio had big plans for Louis. The doctor says the dog had an engaging temperament and demeanor and he was being groomed to provide emotional support to children and the elderly. Dr. Carpio says Louis was actually going to become a member of his medical team to provide support for his patients.

The dog owner's attorney Evan Oshan tells TMZ ... “We want to know how Louis died and if it is discovered that there was any animal neglect or cruelty. We call upon governmental officials to investigate and file necessary charges if appropriate. We are weighing all legal options and will take appropriate measures and seek all legal remedies available under the law to obtain justice for Louis"

The lawyer tells us they're considering all legal options.

We reached out to Hawaiian Airlines for comment ... so far, no word back.

42 Dugg has responded to a now-viral video of him kissing and licking his son's neck -- and he's firing back with nothing but homophobia.

The rapper addressed a clip he posted late this week in which he's seen being affectionate with his young son -- who just turned 3 -- aboard a plane, which entailed hugging him from behind ... and slobbering all over his neck -- including licking, kissing and sucking.

You can see the kid kinda squirm a bit, but he eventually giggles as if to escape his dad's canoodling. One could argue this was innocent father-son fun, but others took it differently.

Some folks said it was inappropriate, and in some cases ... many just called it gross and speculated it might be child abuse, invoking Child Protective Services and considerations to call them over this. The interaction itself was up for debate ... but Dugg's fiery retort isn't.

Instead of tackle the crux of the issue -- whether this video is fatherly love gone too far -- Dugg went on a rant that was riddled with homophobic language and sentiments ... not entirely different from what DaBaby spewed. Now, he's catching backlash for this too.

We won't get into all the nitty-gritty from his post -- you can read the since-deleted IG Story above -- but essentially ... Dugg seems to want to distance himself from any talk of homosexuality as it pertains to his relationship with his kid ... further saying he feels he's having same-sex vibes shoved down his throat by famous people and society at large.

Whatever point Dugg was trying to make gets lost in the clear bigotry and apparent hatred he seems to have when it comes to the LGBT crowd. Not a good look ... all the way around.

Machine Gun Kelly made a surprise appearance at Lollapalooza Saturday ... mostly upside down.

Fans got an alert on day 3 of the festival ... MGK was there for a special show. Within an hour, he appeared at the Bud Light Seltzer Sessions side stage and performed to ... well, let's just say a more-than-packed audience -- it had 20 times the number of people permitted in the space.

He performed "Kiss Kiss," more hit songs from "Tickets to My Downfall," and a cover of "Misery Business." But there was more ... "My Ex's Best Friend," "Bloody Valentine" and "Drunk Face."

And then, the stunt ... MGK dangled from the rafters -- upside down no less -- as fans repeatedly screamed, "MGK!!!"

The festival has drawn around 100,000 people, and health officials are super worried it will become a super-spreader event with the surge of the Delta variant.

Here's the last time ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill performed with the band before his death ... and you can tell something's just not right with him.

TMZ obtained this video from ZZ Top's last concert with Dusty -- July 18 at the Iroquois Amphitheater in Louisville, KY -- and he's clearly having a tough time performing in what would ultimately be his final gig.

As you can see, Dusty is playing bass as he sits down on a large speaker ... and we're told he was sitting like this for the entire show and had to be helped off the stage because he couldn't walk on his own.

A few days after this video, ZZ Top announced Dusty was heading back to Texas due to a hip issue.

A source close to Dusty tells TMZ ... things had gotten so bad recently, he had to stop touring because of a hip injury, so he went home early to recover, and that's when he died.

Coi Leray says it's going to take music fans time to come around to her, like the zombie crowd she encountered at Rolling Loud ... because she's something fresh and new.

We got the rapper outside The Ivy in Los Angeles and our photog asked about her infamous set at Rolling Loud, when the crowd was mostly just standing around and looking on while she performed with gusto.

Coi says the crowd had the deer-in-the-headlights reaction because she's unlike anything they've ever seen ... and she's blaming the music industry for churning out too much of the same thing.

The way Coi sees it ... artists aren't doing anything new to make fans gravitate to them, and when something new comes along -- like her -- it takes time for people to get used to it, and that's what happened down in Miami.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver says he's smoothed things over with LeBron James about his hatred for the play-in tournament ... telling TMZ Sports he believes the Lakers superstar now "understands" the purpose for the extra games.

Remember, LeBron went OFF on the idea of the new tourney back in May ... saying, "Whoever came up with that s*** needs to be fired."

But, the Association went forward with the format for the 2022 season ... making things official earlier this week.

So, when we spoke with Commish out in NYC this week ... he told us he personally spoke with King James about the tourney -- and it sounds like things are allllll good.

"We talked about it," Silver told us. "I think at the end of the day, I understand. Especially if you went deep last year and you have that end, you have that many sort of games on your legs."

"You're not looking forward to more games. But, I think he understands the context of the league."

Silver says despite James' initial gripe, it was the NBA Players' Association that ended up voting in favor ... but he's totally down to collab on a common ground to make both sides as happy as possible.

"At the end of the day, the Players Association speaks for the players, and they've approved this format for next season," he added.

"So, I think we wanted to get one more season under our belt that wasn't a pandemic season, so we could really get a sense of how it works."

"But, I'm more open to tinkering with it if necessary."

Carl Lewis has earned these golden good looks!

Here is a 23-year-old version of the Olympic track and field athlete showing off his winning looks after receiving a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, CA back in 1984 (left). Lewis earned a total of 10 medals during his Olympic career, 9 of which are gold.

And, 37 years later ... The now 60-year-old has since retired from the sport and gone on to star in films such as, "Alien Hunter," "Atomic Twister," "Speed Zone," and several others. The talented fella has recently been sharing snaps of himself staying in shape, and can be seen showing off his charming smile on the 'gram (right).

Hard work pays off!

The question is ...

Ariana Greenblatt's already making some boss moves ... the child actress is raking in a fat paycheck for her voiceover work on the 'Boss Baby' sequel.

The 14-year-old actress scored a nice daily rate of $10,000 for her voice work as Tabitha in "The Boss Baby: Family Business" ... according to her minor's contract.

The contract, obtained by TMZ, guarantees the actress no less than $50,000 for her work on the DreamWorks animated flick.

While $50k is a nice baseline, Ariana could be in line for an even bigger payday ... the docs say she could earn up to 5 different bonuses, up to $250k each, based on how much the film rakes in at the box office.

One bonus Ariana will likely miss out on -- $1,075,000 in additional cash if the sequel grosses $300 million in the United States and Canada. However, a month after its release date, the movie has only made $60 million ... so $300 million seems out of reach.

This week's Summer Hot Shots comes from a top-secret spring where 24-year-old curve model Ella Halikas strung herself up in an eye-popping puka shell bikini and posed for some refreshing photos during a Los Angeles heatwave.

When this Greek goddess isn't collaborating with awe-inspiring artists like Megan Batson to create unique images for Ella's Instagram and TikTok accounts ... Halikas inspires others with their self-love journeys, playing soccer ... and most recently graced the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue with her stunning beauty.

If she doesn't inspire you ... we don't know what will!

We are continuing to whip up our Summer Hot Shots for 2021 from a distance and have collaborated with some mind-melting hotties from around the world for your viewing pleasure!

A white cop mounted a Black teen in Texas, who was being smothered by his body weight and screaming "I can't breathe" ... all this to apparently prevent her from killing herself.

18-year-old Nekia Trigg had 911 called on her Tuesday after she was spotted in a Forney, TX neighborhood partaking in what eyewitnesses seemingly thought was suicidal behavior -- namely, allegedly walking in front of cars in what some took as attempts at self-harm.

A Kaufman County Sheriff's deputy is said to have shown up shortly thereafter, and seems to have physically intervened ... which is where the video starts -- after Nekia's family members showed up to the scene and started recording a chaotic 7-minute plus episode with officers.

At the moment the clip begins, you can see Nekia pinned to the ground by the deputy -- ID'd as Officer Conner Martin -- who's literally straddling her and holding her arms down above her head. She's frantically screaming for help, and yelling out she's short of breath ... and appears to either be vomiting and/or foaming at the mouth throughout the ordeal.

Nekia's family plead with the officer, as well as others who show up not too long after, to let her up and that they can manage things ... but the cops insist on cuffing her to make sure she's okay -- as they clearly believe she's suicidal, saying the word a few different times.

The family disputes the characterization of what Nekia was doing from the outset, insisting she was simply walking across the street -- although, body cam footage the Kaufman County Sheriff released gives some context of what happened before, and Nekia does indeed seem distraught from the get-go ... but things escalate quickly with Officer Martin.

Anyway, they eventually get Nekia up and start to escort her to a police cruiser ... at which point her mom jumps in and appears to get physical with some of the cops as well.

The cops end up restraining her too, and they ultimately arrested her for assault of a public servant, among other charges ... so says the woman's other daughter, who posted this footage. Nekia ended up getting taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

Snoop Dogg can seriously commentate on just about anything and make it entertaining -- something he's proved yet again with some Olympics coverage ... which is rated R.

The rapper joined none other than Kevin Hart Saturday for what appears to be a special from Peacock -- NBC's subscription service -- and the two of them were hired to drop some commentary on random Olympics clips from the ongoing games ... totally out of context.

Sounds like a hoot, and that's exactly what it turned out to be ... especially once SD started getting into his bag of NSFW jokes, which were preceded by some gangster comparisons.

You gotta watch for yourself ... in Snoop's eyes, the horse that's trotting around in the clip they're watching looks an awful lot like what he was doing in the music video for "Drop It Like It's Hot" -- namely, Crip walking. That got a huge laugh out of Kevin ... and seemingly out of the rest of the crew on set.

That's nothing compared to a comment he made later ... when the subject of skeet shooting came up for discussion.

Former Vine star and all-around influencer Hayes Grier is facing serious charges out of North Carolina -- including claims that he beat the hell out of a guy, and stole his phone.

The social media star -- who's still doing his thing online after Vine collapsed years ago -- was arrested and booked into jail in Mecklenburg County Friday after a few arrest warrants were issued there to haul him in all the way from Cali, where's he got a home in Encino.

Per the warrants, obtained by TMZ, a judge found probable cause to sic the hounds on him based on preliminary evidence Charlotte police submitted over an attack this past Monday for which they believe Grier is responsible -- and which left the victim seriously injured.

The warrants don't get into the full narrative over what exactly happened, but there's enough there to get a sense of how badly hurt the victim -- William Markolf -- was, allegedly at the hands of Grier ... who allegedly assaulted Markolf and then jacked his $1,200 phone.

The alleged attack is said to have left Markolf with injuries that cops say included a broken left orbital bone (eyeball socket), brain damage, bruised ribs, bleeding from the back of the head, loss of hearing and more. In other words, they're saying it was a major beatdown.

Unclear what exactly led up to this ... but in any case, Grier is now out on bail. Grier was was booked for Common Law Robbery, Felony conspiracy and Assault Serious Bodily Injury ... and also posed for this mugshot on his way in.

There's another person named Luke Foushee that the police claim Grier conspired with to commit this alleged crime -- but it doesn't appear he's been arrested just yet.

Grier's teenager Vine fame has carried over to IG and YouTube of late, where he's got scores of followers and subscribers ... and continues to churn out content as an adult. He's also famous for being the then-youngest contestant on 'DWTS' in 2015, when he was 15.

TikToker Anthony Barajas has died a few days after being shot at a movie theater, and having his date killed in front of him as well.

The social media influencer passed away Saturday morning in a hospital -- where he'd been on life support since Monday ... when he was shot in the eye by whom authorities suspect was someone named Joseph Jimenez ... who's facing multiple charges over this.

Anthony's date, 18-year-old Rylee Goodrich, was shot in the head too ... and died instantly. The shooting happened at a theater in Corona, CA -- and cops say it appears unprovoked, with the suspect seeming to have no connection to either Anthony or Rylee.

Jimenez was facing a murder count, an attempted murder count and robbery -- this after police say he actually stole Rylee's wallet after gunning her down. Amid Anthony's death, the charges are sure to be updated to include two counts of murder.

Rylee's father detailed the story that led up to the date -- apparently, his kid had met the TikToker over 4th of July weekend ... and after warming up to him, said she seemed happy for the date and got herself all dolled up to go out.

Anthony was just 19.

R. Kelly doesn't want the feds to be given a chance to prove he had sex with a male -- because the jury isn't ready for that wrench ... and might take it out on him in a verdict, assuming they're homophobic.

The singer's legal team fired back to what federal prosecutors submitted last week -- namely, a request to have new evidence they say they have touching on several new allegations ... the most shocking of which being R. Kelly groomed and molested a 17-year-old boy.

You'll recall ... prosecutors filed a bombshell just mere weeks ahead of the start of Kelly's Chicago case, the first of his many cases that'll start before any of the others. In addition to bribery, they claimed he started a relationship with a male minor in the mid-2000s -- this after supposedly meeting him at a McDonald's and taking him under his wing.

There was another 17-year-old boy the feds claim R. Kelly met as a result of this relationship -- but it sounds like things didn't turn sexual until years later for that second John Doe, per their filing. At any rate, Kelly's team says NONE of it should be allowed into the record.

Of the many reasons they list in their docs, obtained by TMZ, Kelly's attorneys -- Thomas A. Farinella and Nicole Blank Becker -- list timeliness (or a lack thereof), ongoing anonymity, purpose and jury selection as their main concerns for why this stuff shouldn't be heard.

The jury thing is perhaps the most interesting though -- it speaks to what Kelly's team appears to be anticipating in terms of jurors who may or may not have a bias on the issue of same-sex relationships. That's important ... 'cause the jury questionnaire is already filed and submitted, which his lawyers say is messed up considering this late, new development.

Long story short, his attorneys argue the questionnaires potential jurors will see soon are "void of a single question about their opinions or feelings on same-sex relationships" -- which they think is important, since that could end in bigots on the panel who may decide unfavorably against Kelly simply due of the nature of the evidence/allegations ... aka, the implication that R. Kelly is gay and/or bisexual. His attorneys say ... that's not fair.

The 2 attorneys further tell TMZ that it's no secret the issue of sexual orientation is still a lightning rod issue in 2021, and needs to be vetted to give Kelly an impartial jury.

Conor McGregor's healing process just got a lot more fun -- the dude is hobbling his way around Universal Studios while he's on the mend ... and looks to be having a helluva time.

The wounded UFC star was out and about Friday at Universal Studios in L.A., and he wasn't just standing idly by watching his kids and whatnot have a blast -- the guy was straight-up getting on rides as well.

Check out this video we got of CMG at the theme park, where at one point he was boarding "The Secret Life of Pets" ride ... limping his way over with the help of his crutches, and eventually plopping himself down. Not bad for a guy with a broken leg!

This just shows that despite being seriously injured, Conor is still living his best life and isn't letting the rubber bone moment put a damper on his plans outside the Octagon.

Besides this Universal trip, he's been cutting loose -- as much as he can, anyway -- with rehab stints alongside MLB players, poolside bro seshes with pop stars ... all while lugging himself to wherever he needs to go with the help of his trusty crutches.

It looks like he's also gotten some updated footwear too ... rocking a boot at the park instead of just the bandaging he's been wearing of late.

Pretty incredible considering just how gruesome the break was at the time. It speaks to Conor's toughness -- and at this rate, we kind of expect him back sooner rather than later.