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A federal judge has struck down the 2023 Texas drag ban ... and his decision cites the late, great Dolly Parton.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner ruled Texas Senate Bill 12 -- which could charge drag performers with a misdemeanor and jail time and fine businesses up to $10K -- improperly restricts speech and violates the First Amendment.

He says the law's definition of overly provocative performances is too vague, using Dolly as an example.

Hittner says the late legend's shows could have fallen under the broad ruling because people criticized her "as a voluptuous sex symbol because of her big hair, flamboyant clothes and breast exposure."

A Florida man was arrested for allegedly pouring methamphetamine into a 1-year-old child's sippy cup ... and the child ingested the drugs, overdosed, and was taken to a hospital in critical condition ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

We're told the alleged incident went down in February, and doctors treated the child, who survived and was then placed in the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families.

46-year-old Mark Windham was arrested Saturday and charged with child neglect causing great bodily harm and possession of drug paraphernalia with residue ... the Nassau County Sheriff's Office announced.

NCSO previously announced that the child's parents and two other residents in the Callahan home where the alleged incident took place were arrested ... they were identified as Hayden Simmons, Damien Windham, Erica Foley, and Judith Addison

Debbie Clark -- a former cast member on "American Gladiators," better known as "Storm" -- is dead ... TMZ has learned.

Her brother, Steven, tells TMZ ... Debbie died Monday at her home in Boston. She had a pacemaker, and it gave out. Family was home at the time.

Her son Crayton tells us her pacemaker stopped working due to her overworking herself ... adding she passed away in his arms as they were waiting for the paramedics to arrive. Clayton says paramedics tried to resuscitate her, but she had already died. He was living in the same apartment complex as Debbie, so that he could spend time with her and take care of her.

He believes Debbie died from cardiac arrest. He's started a GoFundMe to be able to spread her ashes with her mother.

The show posted the tragic news to its official Facebook account ... noting she was "an exceptional athlete" before she became a Gladiator -- excelling in basketball, soccer and track.

Dolly Parton's lasting impact is being felt across the pond ... with the Royal Family paying tribute to the late American icon by playing her timeless classic "9 to 5" outside Buckingham Palace.

Video posted by the Royal Family on Wednesday showed the royal band getting in the groove as they played one of Dolly's greatest hits. They captioned the post, "Remembering the late, great Dolly, who brought joy, comfort and inspiration to so many -- including the millions of children given free books through her Imagination Library. We will always ❤️ you."

The U.K. Embassy in London re-shared the heartwarming clip, saying, "Here at the Embassy, our flag is at half staff while our thoughts are with Dolly Parton's family, friends, & fans in the U.S., UK, & around the world."

Savannah Guthrie is re-entering the celebrity social scene ... making her first red carpet appearance since her mom, Nancy, went missing.

The "Today" host posed before the US Open Exhibition Match event in New York City Tuesday evening ... wearing a stunning black floral dress.

She accessorized with some exquisite jewelry and flashed a close-lipped smile for the camera as she stopped for a few quick pics.

Savannah watched the tennis action with her husband, Mike Feldman.

Meta is facing a crisis ... the company behind Facebook and Instagram just agreed to pay $16.7 BILLION to settle a social media addiction case ... and this might only be the beginning.

The massive settlement resolves claims from a major case alleging Meta designed Facebook and IG to addict children and fueled a mental health crisis that reached all corners of the nation.

In addition to shelling out $16.7 billion to California and 28 other states, Mark Zuckerberg's company agreed to create "daily limits and blocks on nighttime use for teenage users" ... plus "enhanced age assurance measures to prevent children from accessing the platform, or age restricted content available on the platform" ... according to court filings.

Jelly Roll bid a fond farewell to the great Dolly Parton ... saying she might be the last universally beloved American we ever see.

The singer-songwriter is guest-hosting on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" ... and on Tuesday night he brought up Dolly's passing in the middle of his monologue ... noting that we lost a "legend" and an "inspiration to so many."

The broadcast showed a photo of Dolly and Jelly Roll together ... and he reflected on going from sitting around the kitchen table with his family and listening to her music as a kid -- to actually learning songwriting skills and business tips from her as an up-and-coming artist.

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Hayden Panettiere's death gave her former castmates a reason to get together ... inspiring her former "Heroes" co-stars to celebrate her life and lasting impact on Hollywood and beyond.

Jimmy Jean-Louis -- a veteran actor who played a recurring character known as "The Haitian" in 32 episodes of the beloved superhero show -- shared photos from the gathering ... including a big group photo that featured stars like Jack Coleman, Masi Oka and Adrian Pasdar.

Madeline Zima -- who recently spoke with us about Hayden's life and legacy -- attended ... and Zachary Quinto, who played the infamous villain Sylar on the show, and Sendhil Ramamurthy appeared via video call.

Dolly Parton fans are playing her music as they mourn her death ... her iconic single "Jolene" jumped to the No. 1 spot on Apple Music's U.S. songs chart.

The popular song was released in October 1973, ahead of her 1974 album of the same name, and instantly became a hit that's been covered across multiple genres over the years. Dolly and her famous goddaughter Miley Cyrus even covered it together -- the first time was back in July 2010 for Dollywood’s 25th-anniversary celebration.

Miley has yet to publicly memorialize Dolly after her death Tuesday, but celebs from all corners of the entertainment industry celebrated her life and legacy upon hearing the sad news ... from Eminem to President Donald Trump and beyond.

"Love Island USA" star Zac Woodworth has been hospitalized for an unknown condition.

The reality star posted a video on his Instagram Story Tuesday, showing him lying on a hospital bed with two male pals sitting in his room. He had a monitor on his chest, but did not divulge details about his health.

TMZ has reached out to him for comment ... so far, no word back.

This week's "Chix On Netflix" is clearly a star who ain't affraid of some shameless sexy pix!

Been on Netflix recently? You may've seen her film "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."

Busy Philipps says she had to go under the knife twice to remove a rare brain tumor ... a shocking health crisis she's revealing for the first time.

The actress was diagnosed in February with the malignant tumor ... and had it removed just weeks before she was set to begin filming her new CBS show "Cupertino," she told PEOPLE.

Busy says she had no obvious symptoms -- such as seizures -- but she went in for a full MRI to get checked out for good measure and discovered the tumor.

And, get this ... Busy says she only went for the screening after seeing someone recommend it on Instagram.

A Rutgers University dean seemingly graduated from Biological Sciences to a degree in perversion ... because prosecutors say he was caught filming upskirt videos.

The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General said Tuesday that Joshua Kohut, the dean of research at Rutgers' School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, was hit with a single charge of invasion of privacy for allegedly shooting his videos with a cell phone camera.  

Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said Kohut used his "mobile phone to record 'upskirt' videos without his victim's knowledge."

Former boxer Adrien Broner is facing a criminal trespass charge after cops say he showed up at a Florida casino despite being banned for life ... TMZ has learned.

According to court documents, Adrien is charged with trespass in connection with an alleged incident at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

The Seminole Police Department report says officers were called to the casino in April 2024 over an alleged trespass. They say Adrien was issued a lifetime ban from the casino back in August 2023 ... but claim he came back anyway, leading to his arrest.

Dolly Parton died following a brief battle with cancer ... TMZ has confirmed.

Parton’s reps said in a statement to TMZ ... she was surrounded by loved ones at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville when she died.

Her reps say Dolly spent her life bringing "joy, laughter, hope and integrity" to everything she touched, and point to her enormous generosity through Imagination Library and her support of medical research.

They add her unconditional love for others was the driving force behind the lasting impact she leaves behind.

The icon died Tuesday at 80 ... and the news hit especially hard because, as TMZ reported, her death was sudden even for loved ones who knew she'd been dealing with health issues.