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Judo champion and Olympian Maricet Espinoa Gonzalez has tragically died after apparently suffering a heart attack ... just days after she reportedly went under the knife.

Gonzalez was a 2x Pan American Judo champion, winning gold in 2013 and 2014. She also competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

The Cuban Sports University broke the news, announcing "La Mole" passed away this week.

"With great pain, the university community of Cuban sport receives the news of the passing of the outstanding Cuban judoka Maricet Espinosa González," the university said on Facebook.

"On behalf of our teachers, workers, and students we extend our deepest condolences to their families, friends, and colleagues."

She reportedly had surgery on January 21 ... but it's unclear if the operation played a role in her death.

Maricet competed in some of the biggest tourneys in the world ... and proudly represented her country of Cuba in 2016. She won her first match in Brazil before losing to Phupu Lhamu Khatri.

She also competed against several famous judokas including Telma Monteiro, Gevrise Emane, and Ketleyn Quadros.

Her shocking death comes just a week after another Olympian tragically passed away ... Shawn Barber, a Canadian pole vaulter champ, died from medical complications at just 29.

An Arkansas police officer jumped into action like a superhero and rescued a child from an icy pond ... and it was all caught on video.

Body cam footage from last Saturday shows Jonesboro Police Officer Troy Ellison rushing to aid a young kid who'd fallen through the ice at an apartment complex in the Southern city ... hopping over a wood barrier before crawling slowly across the fractured expanse.

The kid's body's submerged at this point -- arms barely gripping the edge of the rupture made when they fell in ... but Officer Ellison keeps a cool head and repeatedly assures the child they'll be alright while making his way toward the hysterical kiddo.

TE reaches the kid and seems to struggle pulling him up and out of the water at first. Thankfully, firefighters arrive on the scene at that point and toss him a rope from the edge of the pond -- he grabs it, and the group on the side pulls him and the child to safety.

Local outlets report the child was taken to the hospital to be checked for injuries though their identity has not been released to the public.

Chris Young is accused of starting a fight with a Tennessee bureaucrat in a bar -- but now, new video appears to show he didn't do much of anything at all ... or so it seems, anyway.

You'll recall ... the country singer was arrested earlier this week after law enforcement officials alleged he got physical with an agent from the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission out in Nashville Monday night -- this after they came in to check IDs and driver's licenses.

The arrest affidavit claims Chris blocked the TABC agents from exiting the bar they were at -- alleging he then put hands on one of them ... and even claiming he struck one of their shoulders. That resulted in some sort of scuffle ... and with Chris being booked.

He's facing charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assault on an officer -- but with this new video here ... many are questioning whether Chris did anything whatsoever.

Chris' attorney has been decrying the charges, insisting these clips of the incident -- which are making the rounds online and elsewhere -- make it crystal clear ... he's innocent.

His client has a court date later in February to answer for these charges ... but Chris' lawyer is pushing to have them dropped outright, and based on what's depicted here -- he might have a point. It certainly looks like Chris didn't start any fight ... the other dude did.

K-pop group BabyMonster is back to being a septet -- 'cause Ahyeon has rejoined her fellow members after missing their big debut to focus on her health.

YG Entertainment just announced the big news Wednesday ... saying Ahyeon has "fully recovered" from her personal issues and is currently working on the group's upcoming projects.

He said in a video message ... "From the mini-album onwards, you can look forward to BabyMonster's activities as a perfect seven-member group" ... adding any previous work will be re-recorded to include Ahyeon's vocals.

Yang also said the group's EP will drop April 1 ... and the plan is to release their first full-length project later this year.

As we previously reported, the 16-year-old singer left the ensemble shortly before its first single, "Batter Up," came out in November ... with only Ruka, Pharita, Asa, Rami, Rora and Chiquita taking part in the audio recording and music video.

Despite Ahyeon's absence, the visuals racked up more than 200 million views online.

It's more great news for YG -- in December, it was reported BLACKPINK's Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé agreed to stay with the label for all group-related activities while going elsewhere for solo work.

Fans are also excited ... as Ahyeon was considered to be one of the biggest rising stars in the industry, even drawing comparisons to Jennie due to her wide-ranging skills on the mic.

The Tina Knowles/Janet Jackson beef that fans have been perceiving over the past 24 hours or so is over ... 'cause Beyonce's mom came out and cleared the air on what happened.

Here's the deal ... eagle-eyed fans noticed that Tina had recently liked an IG post that was criticizing the fact that Janet's concerts of late were charging sky-high prices for VIP tickets, which included meet-and-greets, etc. The gripe ... who do you think you are, Queen Bey???

Again, this was some random person's Instagram post -- featuring screengrabs of JJ ticket prices -- and folks saw that Tina was among the people who "liked" this.

Shortly thereafter, a major back-and-forth ensued between Beyhive loyalists and Janet's proverbial rhythm nation ... 'cause everyone thought Tina was cosigning the notion that Janet Jackson ain't no Beyoncé, and her trying to charge similarly was disrespectful.

Welp, Tina poured cold water on all of that ... hopping on IG to clarify what she meant.

As you can see here, she says she didn't mean to shade Janet -- and the whole thing sounds like a case of mistaken heart-button-smashing ... without properly reading.

Tina made sure to note she knows what goes into a killer live production -- and kinda kissed the ring a bit for Ms. Jackson, calling her brood the "first family of music." So yeah, she's showing reverence to Janet ... and clearly holds her in high regard.

TK also hopped on the compliment train once again in her caption, adding she "took Destiny's Child to see Janet when they were 15 years old. They always looked up to her and she opened doors for Beyoncé. Why would I hate on her ?"

Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig have a new champion in their corner trashing the fact they weren't nominated for Oscars -- with none other than Hillary Clinton chirping up.

The ex-Sec. of State -- and one-time presidential candidate -- just tweeted about the hotly-debated nominations heard around the world Tuesday ... and she's in the camp that this was an egregious snub from Academy members ... especially in light of Ryan Gosling's nod.

HC wrote, "Greta & Margot, While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you. You’re both so much more than Kenough."

She also threw in her own little fun hashtag to cap off her point, adding ... "#HillaryBarbie."

Hillary is just the latest person to slam the non-nominations -- remember, Ryan himself actually denounced the fact his costar/director didn't receive recognition ... even though he himself got a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

He said, "No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement." Likewise, he also praised America Ferrera's nom.

Speaking of America ... she, too, slammed Margot and Greta's exclusion -- just piling on top of the collective outrage most of the Internet has been expressing over the past 24 hours.

Margot and Greta haven't said anything about it themselves ... but people have their backs.

Fun fact about the Academy's makeup as of last year -- it looks like 33% of voting members are women or female-identifying ... so yes, there does seem to be more guys than gals. Hard to say if that's behind these two not getting selected or not ... but it is interesting.

Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes aren't calling quits on their coupling ... walking arm in arm in NYC -- despite very public tension in their relationship, which we all heard first-hand.

The fired 'GMA3' cohosts took to Instagram Tuesday afternoon to calm fans' minds after they dove headfirst into their behind-the-scenes drama during Monday's episode of their "Amy & T.J." podcast ... where we saw them bickering and arguing on their mics.

Through big grins, and even bigger sunglasses, the happy couple started by reassuring their followers they were still going strong -- saying they struggled over whether to release the episode but ultimately decided to drop it because they wanted to give a comprehensive view of their relationship ... the good, the bad and the awkward.

Amy took it a step further in the caption as well ... once again telling fans they weren't broken up while plugging the pod -- no such thing as bad publicity we suppose!

ICYMI ... Robach and Holmes laid all their cards on the table ... diving into how they felt in their personal lives with Holmes noting they hadn't slept in the same bed for several days. The convo spiraled into AR mentioning the pressure of her career, and TH outright questioning his better half's communication skills -- not exactly easy listening for fans.

The couple certainly looked happy in the vid they posted ... but they kinda have to put on brave faces, right? Their relationship created both controversy AND this new opportunity for them -- so you figure trouble in paradise could, perhaps, hurt their bottom line.

Anyway, we suppose we'll take their word for it that they're all good now. Based on this, it looks like T.J. & Amy aren't headed to Splitsville ... at least not at the moment.

Sofia Vergara ain't apologizing for being hot ... saying it's absurd to think her giant breasts and amazing figure weren't the reason behind her fame.

The actress says her looks were her passport to the world as a young model at 20 ... telling Spanish newspaper El País feeling bad about the hand that fed her won't cut it -- especially cause she's still a massive name decades later at 51.

Sofia says she learned to play to her strengths early on ... after realizing boys started giving her attention and treating her differently.

Though, she says if you're only fixating on her boobs, then that's a you problem ... cause her bubbly personality is behind her longevity in the entertainment business.

Sofia says she's not performing brain surgery ... so the worst someone can do is say she looks ugly and can't act -- which she can stomach and continue moving things along.

She's aware there are women who are younger, prettier, have bigger breasts, and a better figure than her now ... but she ain't sweating it cause she's demonstrated her staying power -- especially with the career risks she takes.

Netflix's upcoming series "Griselda" is one such risk ... the usually glam Sofia morphs into the gritty titular lead -- a real-life story based on the leader of one of the most profitable drug cartels in history.

The shift to such a dramatic role comes on the heels of the huge shift in Sofia's personal life -- she split from Joe Manganiello after 7 years of marriage last year over their differences in wanting kids ... he does, she doesn't.

"Griselda" is already getting early critical acclaim, so it's true what Sofia says ... she ain't solely banking on those good looks anymore; it's her talent that shines.

Sorry, Swifties ... Travis Kelce just admitted his viral heart hands celebration on Sunday was NOT aimed at his girlfriend, Taylor Swift.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end revealed on Wednesday's episode of his "New Heights" podcast that the gesture was actually for angry Buffalo Bills fans.

Kelce explained to his brother, Jason, on the show that as he was pulling up to Highmark Stadium in Buffalo to prep for the Divisional Round playoff game, Bills Mafia threw shade his team's way that he thought crossed the line.

"The Bills -- coming into their house, they want to make it rowdy," Kelce said. "Did it get a little disrespectful? One-thousand percent. One-thousand percent. Did it get a little extra? One-thousand percent."

Kelce declined to say exactly what was said by the Bills backers ... though he did tell Jason, "Some things were said about the families -- some pretty inappropriate things were said about Pat Mahomes. It was pretty wack."

So, in an effort to make sure Bills fans knew the feelings weren't "mutual" ... he formed his fingers into a heart after scoring his first touchdown of the night.

"I don't hate you guys like you hate us," he said of what his intentions were with the celly. "It's all love, baby. It's all love."

Of course, Swift has made the move famous over the years ... and Kelce was actually spotted throwing it up to her fans at her show down in Argentina late last year.

1/24/23 -- Madonna's management and Live Nation tell TMZ ... "Madonna's just completed, sold out 2023 Celebration Tour in Europe received rave reviews. The shows opened in North America at Barclays in Brooklyn as planned, with the exception of a technical issue December 13th during soundcheck. This caused a delay that was well documented in press reports at the time. We intend to defend this case vigorously."

Madonna performed last night in NYC at Madison Square Garden. It was the second night of 3 sold out shows at the venue.

Madonna may have to learn a lesson in punctuality the hard way ... two men just filed a class action against her for starting her concerts late.

According to the docs obtained by TMZ ... Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden are leading the charge against the legendary pop star and concert organizer Live Nation claiming they owe big damages after shows scheduled to start at 8:30 PM ET didn't end up starting until 10:30 PM.

According to the lawsuit, the late starts constitute a "wanton exercise in false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices."

The plaintiffs are suing for unspecified damages and taking aim at all three nights Madonna showed up late to Barclays Center in December -- but they say Madonna has a long-documented history of not starting on time (more on that later).

Another interesting note ... the plaintiffs acknowledge Madonna had a health issue which caused the concert to be pushed from July to December but don't think that's a sufficient excuse for kicking off the actual shows 2 hours late.

These guys also list their pricey tickets ... listing the dollar-amounts at $155.90 and $292.50, respectively. In their mind, that's money down the drain considering how late Madge was.

Remember... a serious bacterial infection put Madonna in the hospital, and sources told us she was fighting a fever for about a month before she finally collapsed. Obviously the tour was postponed ... finally kicking off in October.

We knew people were pissed about Madonna's tardiness BTW ... when the NYC shows went down back in December, fans took to social media to voice their displeasure at waiting for the Queen of Pop. (FWIW, a source at the time told us the delay was due to sound issues.)

If you think Madonna's sweating the lawsuit, think again ... cause this ain't the first time she's been sued over her late starts!! She was sued back in 2019 and in 2020 for pulling up late to her shows and -- in the case of the 2019 suit -- Madonna gave a G.O.A.T.ed response you gotta hear to believe.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made a rare public appearance all the way down in Jamaica -- hitting up the premiere for the new Bob Marley movie ... which is interesting.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex flew down to Kingston Tuesday night, where they were in attendance to watch the biopic about the late singer -- and yes, they were dressed to the nines and smiling from ear to ear ... looking pretty dang happy to be there.

Like we said, the Royal couple doesn't really get out all that much ... so the fact they surfaced for this film, specifically, perhaps speaks to a couple different things -- assuming you wanna read into it.

For starters ... it's worth noting Jamaica as a nation, of late, has made it clear it wants to step out from under the British Monarchy and become an independent republic -- similar to Barbados, which broke off on its own in recent years.

In fact, the Jamaican PM has spoken on this firmly ... to none other than Prince William and Kate Middleton during a tour of the country in 2022.

That's why the Prime Minister's presence at the premiere was also eye-popping, especially since Meg and Harry posed with him and appeared chummy. It makes ya rub your chin.

Considering their own history, you'd figure MM and PH are in alignment with what Jamaica wants ... so them standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Andrew Holness speaks volumes.

The other element here is the fact that this Bob Marley movie is being distributed through Paramount -- and a head honcho from the studio, Nickelodeon Prez Brian Robbins, was also there ... and he, too, posed with Meghan and Harry at one point during arrivals.

We know these two are in search of new opportunities in showbiz after taking some lumps last year ... and this almost seems like they're cozying up to the star/mountain crew.

It's that ... or they could just be huge Marley fans -- hard to say.

In any case, Meg and Harry were enjoying themselves ... even though they technically have nothing to do with this flick. Maybe this is the first sign of their redemption song in the biz.

Not to stir anything up, of course!

Breakup? What breakup? Tom Holland is trashing those rumors yet again by gushing over stunning snaps of GF Zendaya.

The 'Spider-Man' actor uploaded a B&W image of the actress from the Schiaparelli S/S24 show at Paris Fashion Week, and dropped three heart eyes emojis on it ... confirming he shares the thoughts as everyone who saw how incredible she looked with her edgy new bangs.

If that wasn't enough ... he reposted a photogs video of Z posing away outside the show with Gym Class Heroes' lyrics: "Take a look at my girlfriend. She's the only one I got."

Yeah, the guy's definitely doing the most to squash any talk of Zendaya or himself being single!

The first rumblings they had split began last month when Zendaya unfollowed everyone on IG ... even purging Tom from her followers list with no explanation.

Tom addressed the speculation last week, denying they were dunzo while out in LA.

The couple hasn't been photographed together in public in months, which fueled the breakup rumor -- but, people with direct knowledge told us the duo spent NYE together.

Takeaway lesson: Don't read too much into it when Tom and Z don't hang together in public ... the reality is they've always been a pretty private couple.

Meanwhile, Tom's back to proudly, and publicly, gushing over his GF -- so, everyone's fave class couple's apparently going strong.

Armie Hammer's recent fling has given us a glimpse into his bedroom "cannibalism" kinks -- you know, the ones that landed him in the center of sexual abuse allegations.

Comedian Brittany Schmitt makes it clear to her pal Brittany Furlan on "This is The Worst Podcast" that while things beneath the sheets were consensual between them, she's absolutely not negating the other accuser's experiences -- cause she, too, was disturbed by his actions.

She claims she met Armie this past August through sober friends in L.A. and they had a brief fling. She says straight off the bat Armie was open about the cannibalism claims levied at him -- explaining it to her as a "cycle of completion" and "I'm inside of you, so I want you to be inside of me" sorta thing.

Mind you, Schmitt doesn't sound bent outta shape about the biting at all, and according to her Armie was so into it, he'd push the limit sometimes -- but, she's clear, when she asked him to stop, he would.

Interestingly, she notes she was lucky to have a different experience from what his sexual assault accusers say they went through. Schmitt actually reiterates she's not shading them or questioning their experiences.

The Brittanys also had a good laugh about the fact Schmitt was down for Armie branding her ... on their first date. She says he gave her a hand tattoo, and put a matching one on himself.

Brittany says he also inked others, and even jokingly referred to his tattoo "artist" gig as "Cannibal-ink." Yes, you heard that right.

Brittany says they stopped talking the next month... admitting the brief fling started because she was in a dark place.

As for Armie ... the DA's office said in May 2023 he wouldn't be charged with rape because they couldn't "prove a non-consensual, forcible sexual encounter" in the Feb 2021 claims made by his ex, Effie Angelova.

Russell Westbrook's three-pointer in the Clippers' win over the Lakers was a shoo-in for highlight of the night honors ... 'cause the NBA star nailed the jumper with just one sneaker!!

The wild play went down in the final minute of the first quarter of the Battle of L.A. at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday ... when Brodie's Jordan Brand kick came loose during an offensive possession.

Westbrook tried to squeeze his shoe back on while keeping his dribble alive at the same time ... but once he started to get pressure from Lakers guard Jarred Vanderbilt, he decided to ditch it on the sideline.

Despite the wardrobe malfunction, the former MVP didn't give up on the chance to score -- pulling up from behind the arc and draining a beautiful trey.

It didn't stop there -- Westbrook rushed back on defense after the bucket ... and in the meantime, Clippers coach Ty Lue grabbed his shoe and put it on the scorer's table.

Once the next dead ball came around, Westbrook reunited with his right sneaker ... and the game went on without any other issues.

The three ball was one of many big plays for the Clippers -- Kawhi Leonard and James Harden led the way as the home team beat up on the LeBron James-less Lakers ... coming away with the 127-116 win.

First-year law students at the University of Wisconsin were reportedly forced to attend a "re-orientation" that was all about race ... and, apparently, how white people are the worst.

According to the Federalist -- which cites sources who say they were in attendance, not to mention screengrabs of the alleged session/materials -- this went down last week ... and the DEI-inspired crash course on race and privilege was mandatory for a bunch of scholars.

As part of the orientation, students were reportedly asked to complete a worksheet with a number of bizarre prompts -- including one that encouraged the students to "Tell the Truth" and expand, in writing, "how deep racism goes in my life" among other confessionals.

The NY Post even claims that some of the literature they were asked to read up on before this re-orientation contained a line that said "there are no exceptional white people."

Other topics like color blindness were slammed as inherently racist -- and one of the alleged exercises students were encouraged to partake in was to share racial slurs for different minority groups ... all in an effort, it seems, to break down stereotypes and tropes.

Long story short, it sounds like this session was pretty much all about race -- and the question being asked, of course, is ... what the heck does this have to do with law???

Taylor Swift, Brittany Mahomes and Cara Delevingne took their celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs' big playoff victory to the Big Apple for a girls' night out Tuesday.

The pop superstar and her two close buds went out in style, hitting up Nobu in Manhattan for some yummy sushi. The sexy trio rolled up in an SUV to the restaurant, before their chauffeur helped them out of the backseat onto the curb.

A slew of paparazzi photogs were snapping pictures as the women strolled up a small flight of stairs, disappearing inside the famed eatery.

As for their outfits ... Taylor wore a black dress with matching leather boots while carrying a clutch purse. Cara was also decked out in all black, sporting pants and a blazer with an undershirt. Mahomes chose a black and gray patterned mini skirt with black heeled boots. She also carried a white purse.

On Sunday, Taylor and co. began their celebration, partying like crazy after the Chiefs eked out a 27-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills to advance to the AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Taylor had much to be happy about as her hunky beau, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, caught a touchdown pass from Brittany's hubby, QB Patrick Mahomes, during the game.

After the Chiefs won, Taylor, Brittany and Cara enjoyed lots of booze and fun conversations in their VIP suite at Buffalo's Highmark Stadium. Travis' All-Pro brother, Jason, and his wife, Kylie, joined the women and had a blast, too.