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Jake Paul is keeping his political ties strong, because GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will be VIP'd up when "The Problem Child" steps in the ring this weekend ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Vivek's spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin tells us the presidential hopeful is heading to Orlando to support Jake during his Friday night showdown with Andre August ... and says they've actually become good friends.

We're told Jake's hooked up Vivek with ringside seats -- he'll be seated next to Jake's pals and teammates when the first round bell rings. Once it's over, Vivek plans to get a quick face-to-face catch-up with Jake and his fam ... before heading straight back to Iowa for 6 scheduled campaign events on Saturday.

The bond between Ramaswamy and Paul is no secret, thanks to Jake recruiting the candidate for a joint TikTok dance in September, which went viral.

While it might have seemed like a stunt done for fun and games, Vivek later explained during a GOP debate why he thinks TikTok is vital for winning elections ... it's all about influencing the next-gen.

Kanye West is pissing off some Black community leaders with his latest fashion choice -- turns out slipping on a hood eerily similar to those of the Ku Klux Klan, isn't sitting well with Black Lives Matter.

Ye wore his pointy black hood earlier this week at his "Vultures" listening party, and it's causing outrage at BLM, and also the National Civic League.

Black Lives Matter tells TMZ ... "The shock and disgust that Ye generated should be channeled into supporting efforts to eliminate this repugnant ideology from society."

The issue here for BLM ... "Hate groups are growing at an alarming rate in America. Of the list of over 1,200 active hate groups in society, the KKK is the largest with hundreds of chapters nationwide -- making it larger today than any other point in the group's long history."

In other words, Kanye should be tearing down the KKK not propping them up.

BLM adds ... it's primary goal is "to expose the prevalence of white supremacist and anti-Black ideals in the U.S., and how those ideals are deeply rooted in its foundation. Recognizing this is the first step toward collective action to eradicate these harmful ideologies."

Meanwhile, the folks at the National Civic League says it's an insult to past and present victims of KKK violence.

As NCL President Doug Linkhart put it us ... "Any wearing of clothing that evokes the Ku Klux Klan is an affront to not only those who have been targeted by the KKK, but to American values in general."

The organization acknowledges Kanye's artistic expression is protected by the Constitution, but adds, "Hate speech and symbols are hurtful and should be condemned, not condoned."

Draymond Green would be breathing a lot easier today if Shaquille O'Neal were running the NBA ... 'cause the Lakers legend says he'd only suspend DG two games if league punishments were up to him.

O'Neal made the declaration while speaking with Babcock and Charles on "TMZ Live" on Thursday -- less than 24 hours after Green was banned by Adam Silver indefinitely for smacking Jusuf Nurkic in the head during an altercation in the Warriors vs. Suns game.

Shaq says he believes Green had no bad intentions when he flailed his right arm into Nurkic's face -- explaining he's buying the Warriors star's explanation that he was simply trying to sell a call.

"I don't think Draymond said, 'Hey, I'm going to punch this guy just 'cause he's pulling my jersey,'" Shaq said.

The Diesel went on to tell the guys that he believes the play was merely a flop gone wrong.

Of course, Silver and the NBA apparently disagree ... because they've banned Green from suiting up for Golden State for the foreseeable future.

Before this baby sippin' on an empty brewski bottle turned into a triple threat in Hollywood, she was just performing and acting in plays, singing the national anthem at local events and growing up in Orlando, Florida back in the '80s.

Fast forward to 1999 ... she hit the road with iconic boybands, *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. And, it's likely she performed the song that skyrocketed her to fame ... "Candy." In the mid-2000s, she portrayed herself on HBO's "Entourage."

Need one more clue? She was on a popular show with Sterling K. Brown!

After a ton of speculation, Shohei Ohtani is finally spilling the beans on what he named his dog ... and as it turns out, it has nothing to do with his new team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

His name is Decoy!!

The 29-year-old Japanese superstar met with the media as a Dodger for the very first time just minutes ago ... where he talked all about topics like his decision to take his talents to L.A., winning aspirations and recent surgery.

But the one question everyone wanted the answer to -- what the heck is your dog's name, dude?!?!

Of course, the phenomenon started after Ohtani accepted his 2023 MVP award ... when reporters claimed Shotime's team refused to disclose any information about the four-legged friend who made an appearance with him in a video interview.

The secrecy led to a bunch of rumors -- and some even claimed it was because Ohtani chose a namesake related to his next destination.

But the two-way athlete put an end to all that talk on Thusday ... saying he decided on Decoy -- or the Japanese version, Dekopin.

As for when he knew he would be a Dodger, Shohei said he came to the decision the night before he announced his next move on Instagram.

Metro Boomin was the guest of highest honor in his St. Louis hometown on Thursday ... presented with a Key to the City for his years of giving back to single mothers.

TMZ Hip Hop got pics of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones bestowing the key to Metro on Thursday inside City Hall, surrounded by dozens of St. Louis community figures, elected officials and his 4 siblings.

This year marks Metro's 7th "Single Moms Are The Real Superheroes" campaign and we're told the annual event is now being reimagined as "Leslie Joanne Single Mothers And Caregivers Appreciate Day" to honor his late mother, who died in 2022.

Little did he know, the city also had a gift for him -- December 14 will officially be "Leland 'Metro Boomin' Wayne Day" going forward.

The Diamond-selling producer teamed up with Amazon Access and Rung for Women for this year's function ... set up to assist single mothers with career coaching, skills training, and additional needed resources.

It was an emotional day, capping off Metro's amazing year ... he helmed the "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" soundtrack, partnered with the St. Louis Cardinals and earned a Producer of the Year Grammy nomination.

Jerry O'Connell is suggesting John Stamos should've given his wife, Rebecca Romijn -- aka John's ex-wife -- a heads-up he was mentioning her in his memoir ... or, at least, that's what he would've done in that sitch.

We got Jerry Thursday in NYC and asked what he thought about tell-all books, in general, that include remarks about other people ... especially exes. We didn't mention Stamos, but Jerry's no dummy, and knew exactly why we'd raised the issue with him.

Jerry admits the stuff that came up in John's book, 'If You Would Have Told Me,' was a bit "scary," but also acknowledges that memoirs are all the rage right now -- saying folks have to make a living, before jokingly claiming his potential tell-all would be pretty boring.

For those unaware, John opened up about his past relationship with Rebecca ... and didn't exactly paint her in a great light by calling her "the devil" -- and in the lead-up to the book drop, he told Howard Stern that he didn't think their marriage would've ever worked out.

Despite all that, Jerry doesn't seem to bent outta shape about Stamos' book.

"Botched" star Dr. Terry Dubrow is over the moon about Oprah opening up about using weight-loss medication ... 'cause, in his eyes, it's a move that could save lives.

Dr. Dubrow joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live," singing Oprah's praises for admitting she's used meds as part of her weight loss journey ... and telling us the trend of shaming folks for using medication like Ozempic needs to stop.

He says celebs have been hesitant to be as honest as Oprah was ... often attributing their weight loss to working out or hormones, but in the doc's eyes, it's time they felt comfortable to speak candidly.

Dr. Dubrow thinks a really popular celeb, like O, opening up the discussion could start a trend -- or at least a discussion -- that leads to the general public warming to the use of these meds to combat obesity.

As he points out, we wouldn't shame people who take insulin for diabetes ... so doing so for someone who needs it to lose weight is equally ridiculous.

As we reported, Oprah lost 40 lbs this year and told PEOPLE the medicine she was prescribed was a healthier alternative for her -- this after she realized her struggles with weight loss were less about willpower and more about the brain.

A couple who appeared on the reality show "Below Deck" are now in some serious legal trouble ... after prosecutors claim they engaged in a prescription drug scheme involving using the names of cast members from the show.

Dr. Francis Martinis and his wife, Jessica -- who appeared as chartered guests on an episode of "Below Deck Mediterranean" and "Below Deck Sailing Yacht" -- were indicted in a Long Island court on Thursday, accused of using the names of the Bravo show's cast members to fill out prescriptions for opioids throughout Suffolk County.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney, Francis and Jessica Martinis have been charged with 4 felony counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance by a practitioner -- and 4 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Authorities say they were notified of the alleged scheme back in January ... after Jess allegedly attempted to fill a hand-written prescription for oxycodone at a Long Island pharmacy -- though her name was not the one on the prescription.

Prosecutors say instead of filling the prescription, the pharmacist called the police ... which then kickstarted an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

And now authorities say they discovered the Martinis electronically transmitted multiple prescriptions to pharmacies across Long Island ... under the name of different former BD cast members despite none living in the vicinity.

It's claimed that Jessica would pick up the prescriptions and pay for them with cash.

The DA blasted the couple ... saying in a statement that their alleged actions violated the oath they took at the start of their careers and the law.

Bill Gates got a feeling inside his bones at the Justin Timberlake show christening a new resort in Sin City ... and we've got video of the billionaire dancing his face off to one of JT's hits.

Justin was onstage for the grand opening of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas and Bill was in the star-studded crowd ... dance, dance dancing along to "Can't Stop the Feeling."

Bill looks like he's got that sunshine in his pocket and that good soul in his feet ... and he's moving so phenomenally next to his girlfriend, Paula Hurd.

Other celebs going electric and wavy during Justin's set included former NFL star Rob Gronkowski and his S.I swimsuit model GF Camille Kostek.

Cher was also dancing with her boyfriend Alexander "AE" Edwards ... and Lenny Kravitz was moving and grooving in his seat, a few chairs down from Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Ivanka Trump.

As we reported, Hollywood flocked to the desert for the Miami landmark's expansion to Las Vegas, gambling and schmoozing inside Jeff Soffer's resort.

Shaquille O'Neal is weighing in on the Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Pacers game ball debate -- and he's making it clear, he's siding with the Greek Freak in the tiff.

The beef, of course, began late Wednesday night -- after Indiana players felt following their 140-126 loss to the Bucks ... the rookie who scored his first-ever points during the contest, Oscar Tshiebwe, deserved the game ball more than Antetokounmpo, who dropped a franchise-record 64 points.

Obviously feeling differently than Indiana's players, Antetokounmpo went to the Pacers' locker room area to retrieve it -- but, chaos then proceeded to break out.

When Shaq joined Charles and Babcock on Thursday's "TMZ Live" and spoke about the commotion ... he said Giannis had every right to be upset with the situation -- believing the two-time MVP should have been the one who ultimately walked away from the arena with the memento.

"By the letter of the law," Shaq said, "if you're playing at home, you should get the ball if something spectacular happens."

Giannis did end up with a game ball -- though he told media members afterward he wasn't sure if it was the basketball he used to record his historic night.

Mark Cuban, meanwhile, told TMZ Sports earlier Thursday that if the game had happened in his home arena, he believed whichever team had the rookie deserved it most.

"That's a big deal that only happens once," the Mavericks owner said.

Jeff Bezos says the quality of life is better now than it has ever been for humanity, but he can't say the same about the natural world ... and he thinks space is the best alternative.

The billionaire owner of Blue Origin Aerospace Co. says the notion of "the good ole days" is mostly an illusion, because basically every metric for measuring the quality of life is higher now than it was in the past.

But, while Jeff says humanity is moving forward, he sees nature moving backward. He says the natural world was "pristine" 500 years ago, but since the Industrial Revolution humans have damaged nature to improve our own lives.

Jeff's solution for bringing nature back to where it was before, while also continuing to move humanity into a better place ... is outer space, and he shared his vision on the Lex Fridman podcast.

He says, at some point, humanity will have to live off the moon and beyond ... because Earth has finite resources and we need more and more energy to keep improving our quality of life.

Of course, Jeff's Blue Origin aerospace company is dedicated to this very idea, and it's interesting to hear him explain why he's banking on it.

Olivia Rodrigo and actor Louis Partridge are totally an item -- that was made abundantly clear by the way their hands were all over each other in the Big Apple.

The 20-year-olds were spotted suckin' face Wednesday in NYC ... their steamy makeout sesh going down while they'd stopped at a gas station.

The 'Enola Holmes' actor was even gettin' a handful of the "Vampire" singer during their stop ... so it would be hard for the 2 to deny the relationship rumors at this point.

For those unaware, there's been talk Olivia and Louis have been dating since the end of October when a pic circulated showing them getting close and personal in London ... but it didn't stop there.

Louis, who's British, was at 30 Rock in NYC last weekend to support Olivia during her "Saturday Night Live" performance ... and he was also there watching her 'Jingle Ball' performance in the same city the day before.

Andre Braugher passed away following a battle with lung cancer, TMZ has confirmed.

Andre's rep tells us the Emmy-winning actor was diagnosed with the disease a few months earlier ... and he passed away Monday at age 61.

Andre was a beloved member of the TV community ... having starred in all 153 episodes of the police comedy series, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine."

His costar Terry Crews thanked Andre for his advice, kindness, and friendship in an emotional tribute after the tragic news emerged.

Andre was also known for his work on NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street" and comedy-drama "Men of a Certain Age" -- while his movie roles included "Frequency," "The Mist," and "City of Angels."

The Julliard alum bagged 2 Primetime Emmy Awards during his celebrated career -- and on the personal front, was husband to Ami Brabson and their 3 children.

10:46 AM PT -- New video surfaced showing authorities wrangling the bull back to safety.

A bull joined shocked civilians during the morning commute in New Jersey, bolting down the tracks at Newark Penn Station ... and causing some trouble for folks trying to get to their destinations on time.

Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé tells TMZ that police responded to Frelinghuysen Avenue near Victoria Street Thursday morning around 10:46 AM ... after being alerted that a bull was observed on the loose behind a building.

Members of the Newark Police Emergency Services Unit assisted Port Authority PD in locating the runaway bull ... eventually containing it inside a fenced lot.

They tell us the animal will be retrieved and safeguarded by a local animal sanctuary -- adding that, thankfully, no injuries were reported throughout the incident.

A rep for New Jersey Transit adds to TMZ that rail services were subjected to 45-minute delays between Newark Penn Station & New York Penn Station 'cause of the loose bull.

Though, they grabbed the bull by the horns & are moo-ving things along ... cross-honoring tickets and passes at other stations.

Jeremy Allen White and Rosalía are looking like a couple twin flames ... kissing and hugging on date night, even while taking a smoke break from their romantic dinner.

"The Bear" star and the Spanish singer went out to dinner Wednesday night, showing some PDA as they puffed on cigarettes outside a restaurant in L.A.'s Westwood neighborhood.

Jeremy planted a couple kisses on Rosalía's cheek and they embraced between drags ... and engaged in what looks like some fun and stimulating conversation.

It's a bit of life imitating art, at least for Jeremy -- his TV show character is constantly stepping away from the restaurant chaos to inhale a cigarette ... only this time, he's got a pretty hot smoke partner with him.

The date night is more evidence Jeremy and Rosalía are going strong ... we saw them last month hanging out -- also smoking -- which came on the heels of a farmer's market outing.

We're told Jeremy and Rosalía arrived separately at the restaurant, but they left together.