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Erik Menendez is off the hook for the package of marijuana that arrived for him at his California prison ... because prison officials say he had nothing to do with it.

We broke the story ... the Menendez brother was placed in isolation at the R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego in October after he received some weed in the mail. The shipment triggered an investigation behind prison walls.

Our sources told us the pot package was intercepted by prison staff and the big question ... was it something Erik solicited? They wanted to know if he planned on distributing or trading the drugs or keeping them for personal use.

Turns out -- it was none of the above. A rep for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation tells us ... "The investigation is complete and the allegations against him were unfounded."

We're told Erik was transferred out of isolation in the Administrative Segregation Unit and back to his regular housing unit.

Child actor, Justin Scheller, was only 5 years old when he took on the life-changing role of the annoying little Stilwell -- who tormented the bus driver and Rockford Peaches squad -- in the classic 1992 baseball comedy, "A League Of Their Own."

Scheller was cast alongside a major league lineup of actors including Madonna as the fast-paced centerfielder, "All The Way" Mae, Rosie O'Donnell as the 3rd base boss, Doris Murphy, Geena Davis as the catching captain, Dottie Hinson ... and of course Tom Hanks as the callus coach, Jimmy Dugan.

Justin left the biz after his iconic role and now lives a relaxed life in the Midwest.

Famous Dex's home became the site of a SWAT standoff when cops suspected he might have hurt his ex, and possibly barricaded himself inside with weapons.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... police were called Monday morning in regards to a potential domestic disturbance at Dex's crib. The caller claimed an argument between Dex and his ex-GF turned violent ... and he allegedly had at least one gun in the house

We're told when cops arrived to the scene, they found the woman had cuts consistent on her, and -- believing Dex was still there -- called for backup from SWAT.

Aside from the tipster's claim, Dex was armed, we're told police were also aware of a troubling video he'd posted on social media, showing him with a firearm.

The clip in question depicts Dex holding what appears to be a TEC-9 semi-automatic weapon, complete with a magazine of ammo, and he's incoherently addressing his fans while waving around the gun.

We're told when the cops got inside the house, Dex was nowhere to be found. For now, we're told he's just listed as a suspect in a felony domestic violence report ... and cops are investigating.

Selena Gomez is no longer the butt of a couple jokes from the new "Saved By The Bell" cast -- after tons of backlash, the show's removing the kidney jokes.

The new Peacock series scrubbed all references to Selena's kidney transplant after the outrage started pouring in Saturday ... but an edited version is already streaming. So, a pretty quick about-face.

As we reported ... eagle-eyed Selena fans noticed 2 references in the reboot to the pop star's 2017 surgery, and they started raising hell on social media over the weekend and even got "RESPECT SELENA GOMEZ" to trend online.

The first reference was cavalier ... 2 high school classmates loudly discussing Selena's kidney transplant in the middle of a hallway.

The second Selena dig was more subtle, but just as offensive to some folks. A wall in the background of a scene had graffiti or paint that read in big bold lettering, "DOES SELENA GOMEZ EVEN HAVE KIDNEYS?"

Lots of folks called the jokes disgusting and said Selena's life-or-death transplant was nothing to joke about.

Jake Paul threw a rager of a party at his Calabasas mansion after knocking out Nate Robinson -- something that's infuriating the Mayor, and which could end up costing Jake.

If you peeped Jake's social media Saturday night -- or that of his brother, Logan, or any of his YouTube buddies -- you probably saw they had a massive bash at what appeared to be his Calabasas crib ... which was packed, and mostly maskless.

COVID was absolutely the last thing on anyone's mind as hundreds of people partied their hearts out ... which is a slap in the face to the Calabasas community, according to Mayor Alicia Weintraub.

She's condemning the party, telling TMZ ... the gathering Jake hosted this weekend was no doubt a super-spreader event just waiting to happen, and that he should be ashamed of himself for allowing it when so many are suffering from the virus.

Mayor Weintraub notes she's aware he was celebrating a massive victory -- but frankly, she says that doesn't matter ... the pandemic's more important.

Ironically, it's actually because of Jake and other influencers and celebs in the area that Calabasas adopted new COVID restrictions this past summer pertaining to parties like this, including a $100 fine for folks not wearing masks in public.

On this specific case ... Mayor Weintraub says neither her office nor the authorities were notified of Jake's blowout as it was happening, which she finds strange considering neighbors have flagged authorities about other Calabasas parties.

As for what will happen now ... it's a little hazy, but it doesn't bode well for Jake. Sources familiar with how the city's typically handled COVID scofflaws ... tell us officials are actively looking into ways to punish Jake.

We're told it's tricky since he wasn't caught violating their ordinances on the spot, but they still might able to ding him -- possibly with a fine, or other methods.

Lil Wayne is blaming an "unrelated 3rd party" for screwing up his plans to perform at the Mike Tyson fight -- telling TMZ Sports there's no bad blood between himself and Triller.

Our Weezy sources tell us the rapper cut short his Thanksgiving weekend celebration with his family in Louisiana so he could be in L.A. to perform at the fight -- and he DID actually make the trip out.

But, something went wrong on the day of the fight leading Wayne to bail on the entire event.

So, what happened?

"Unfortunately there was an unrelated 3rd party who attempted to insert themselves in the production process between Triller and Lil Wayne the night before the event and the morning of and it unfortunately caused enough of an issue that Wayne couldn’t perform," Triller said in a statement co-issued by Wayne.

The details behind the scenes are unclear -- but one source put it this way ... one of the event's producers "interfered with Triller and Lil Wayne at the last minute trying to insert themselves and ended up creating a mess and all around confusion. At a certain point, Wayne got frustrated and decided it was best to pull out of the performance. By the time Triller learned about the mess it was too late."

Wayne -- who is actually a co-owner of Triller -- said he's proud of the way the event turned out, "but was truly disappointed I was precluded from performing by the 3rd party."

The man arrested while recording cops as they stopped a Black driver claims he got punched by his arresting officer ... and he wants the cop canned and charged for assault and battery.

Joe Bennett's attorney, Sam Aguiar, insists his client did absolutely nothing wrong when he recorded the incident Friday in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, and calls the actions of Officer Cruz "deplorable and unlawful."

According to the lawyer ... when Joe refused to hand over his ID, the cop punched his face in a "fit of rage" and caused his eye to close and blacken.

Aguiar says of the altercation ... "If Officer Cruz was able to snap so quickly in this situation, there is no telling what else he has done in situations where there was actually provocation. Cruz’s actions are demonstrative of a loose cannon who lacks regard for the constitutional protections of citizens."

As we reported ... Joe was actually charged with resisting arrest and menacing in the incident, but his legal team thinks this is outrageous, and the cop is the one who should be charged.

Joe's legal team's calling for Officer Cruz to be dismissed from the Jeffersontown PD and hit with assault and battery charges. They also want Joe's charges dropped.

This is the definition of a sitting duck -- a dead bird gunned down by hunters got swallowed up by a massive alligator ... and it's all on video!!!

The wildlife (and death) scene went down on a Florida lake after some hunters had shot down the duck. Its body was floating when an absolutely enormous gator came into the picture.

The hunters instantly knew they had zero chance to claim their prize when they saw ol' Godzilla here swimming toward the carcass.

The gator opened wide and the whole duck disappeared in one big gulp. Apparently, duck is kinda gamey ... as the alligator took a good 20 chomps to get down the fowl snack. Maybe it just likes playing with its food.

Truthfully, this wouldn't be that bizarre of a scene -- definitely bad timing for the hunters -- but what really stands out is the SIZE of this reptile. Florida, man.

Kelly Clarkson just scored a big victory in her divorce case ... the judge just awarded her primary custody of their 2 children in Los Angeles.

Kelly and estranged husband Brandon Blackstock were fighting over custody of 6-year-old River and 4-year-old Remy. Brandon apparently has decided he wants to live on their ranch in Montana and wanted joint custody of the kids where they could be shuttled back and forth between L.A. -- where Kelly lives -- and Montana.

Disso Queen Laura Wasser, who reps Kelly, argued that her client felt Brandon's position would be detrimental to the kids, and the judge agreed, saying, "The court finds that the minor children are not now and have not been residents of Montana and that California is their home state."

The judge gave Kelly and Brandon joint physical and legal custody, but the upshot is that Kelly will have the kids most of the time. The judge ruled Kelly has primary custody of the kids in L.A. and Brandon gets the kids on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th weekends of each month. The 1st and 5th weekends Brandon must be in Los Angeles in order to spend time with the kids. As for the 3rd weekend of the month ... the kids would travel to Montana.

Although it's technically joint physical custody, Kelly will clearly get the kids the lion's share of the time, which is what she wanted.

The order also says neither Kelly nor Brandon can talk smack about the other to the kids. The order also says neither parent can consume booze or weed within 8 hours of driving a car with the kids inside.

The divorce is ongoing.

Tichina Arnold believes there's a real catch-22 with the Grammys right now ... and it may signal the end of the music industry's biggest award having any real significance.

Fresh off co-hosting the 2020 Soul Train Awards, Tichina joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" to address the fallout of some big-name artists -- most notably The Weeknd -- getting snubbed for Grammy nominations last week. She says the major problem is talented artists, whose music is popular, are often a total blind spot for the people in charge of choosing noms.

The Soul Train Awards honored several acts -- like Chris Brown, H.E.R. and Summer Walker -- overlooked for the Grammys' major awards this year ... and Tichina says artists are not only noticing it, but they're fed up.

Halsey, Drake, Elton John and The Weeknd himself have all openly suggested there's a disconnect between the music and most award shows.

TV is something else in Russia, where they're running bits with actors dressed in blackface portraying Barack Obama.

The skit aired as part of a satirical show on Russia's NTV channel ... and it's roughly 90 seconds of pure racism. The actor playing Obama is in blackface, wearing a red bandana and a bunch of bling, plus black gloves and an oversized t-shirt.

It's pretty much stereotype bingo.

The skit's entirely in Russian, but 3 English words come across clearly -- Black Lives Matter. As for what they said about it ... the host begins: "We now go live to the dark side of America's history, Barack Obama."

After the Obama character's BLM chant, the host says ... "Can you please stop shouting? We don't have racism. You could be taken for a gypsy."

There's also a reference to Obama's recently released memoir, with the blackface actor calling the book an achievement because "none of my relatives that came before me could write."

A Black restaurant owner went off on a section of mostly Black women after one of them got up at their booth and twerked ... and now he's getting dragged AND applauded, while also defending his actions.

The incident went down at a joint called TRUE Kitchen + Kocktails -- it opened just 5 months ago -- when the owner, Kevin Kelley, says multiple women got up and danced on their chairs up against a glass wall.

Kevin just wasn't having it and decided to loudly let everyone in the restaurant know about his ground rules, which several people recorded. You see him walk over to one of the twerkers and shut her down.

Another video shows him lecturing women in that section of the restaurant ... which many did not dig. He said he doesn't wanna see that type of behavior in his establishment, and that if they don't like it ... get out.

Now, we talked to Kevin on "TMZ Live" Monday, and pressed him on what exactly he had a problem with -- twerking, in general ... or the fact that it was happening in his building? He insisted it was the latter, noting there was a time and place for that type of dancing.

However, watch what he says about "classy and nice Black women" at his restaurant because it's at the heart of the backlash -- the insinuation being twerking doesn't fit that description ... for him.

You can watch and judge for yourself, but long story short -- his tone didn't sit right with a lot of people who feel TRUE bumping music, serving booze and promoting itself like clubs do make it ripe for dancing.

Here's video which Jake Paul says PROVES he really did suffer a broken nose 3 weeks before the Nate Robinson fight ... and yeah, he looks pretty busted up.

The footage shows Paul in what appears to be a hospital exactly 20 days before the Nov. 28 fight -- bleeding from the bridge of his nose with electrodes on his chest.

Paul also posted a pic of the scar after he was cleaned up.

The 23-year-old says he sustained the injury while meditating -- "I passed out on the concrete" -- and it posed a real threat to his training in those pivotal weeks before the match.

Paul says he couldn't spar for several days -- which is a big deal going into a fight. In fact, Paul says his whole training camp came to a screeching halt for a moment.

But, Paul persevered and dominated in his fight with the ex-NBA player -- ultimately securing a violent KO in the 2nd round.

As for Jake's nose, it didn't look like Nate connected one flush shot to Paul's face during the fight.

Now, Paul says he's looking forward to his next opponent -- which he HOPES is either Conor McGregor or Dillon Danis.

Dave Prowse, the actor who played Darth Vader in 'Star Wars,' has died.

Dave's agent, Thomas Bowington, said ..."It’s with great regret and heart-wrenching sadness for us and millions of fans around the world, to announce that our client Dave Prowse MBE has passed away at the age of 85.”

Dave played the iconic villain in the original 'Star Wars' trilogy.

Prowse was born in 1935 in Bristol, England. Before acting, he was immersed in the world of bodybuilding, even competing in Mr. Universe competitions. He was so strong, Jack the Ripper -- that was Dave's stage name -- would shred phone books as a test of strength.

Even in his bodybuilding days, he hung out with famous folks, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno. He also trained Christopher Reeve for "Superman."

Dave's shining moment was shrouded in costume ... playing Darth Vader in the 'Star Wars' franchise. He was recruited by George Lucas, because he was a well-known bodybuilder and he had seen him in 'Clockwork Orange' and it seemed to fit the vibe. Dave actually auditioned for the roles of both Darth Vader and Chewbacca. Lucas offered him either role.

When asked why Dave chose the role of DV, Dave said, "Everyone remembers the villain." True that.

There was a problem, however -- Dave's British accent. His voice was dubbed over by James Earl Jones in post-production.

He almost instantly became an iconic figure when the first 'Star Wars' hit in 1977.

In addition to 'Star Wars,' Dave appeared in "The Saint," "Doctor Who," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "A Clockwork Orange" and a bunch of horror films.

Dave said back in 2014, “Many people will know me for being the ultimate screen villain, Star Wars’ Darth Vader. But being a “goodie goodie” and heading up the Green Cross Code campaign, helping to save thousands of lives has always been the ultimate honour.”

Dave was married for 57 years to Norma Scammell and had 3 kids. He was 85.

RIP

Ryan Seacrest doesn't spend much time in L.A. these days ... he's living in New York where he co-hosts "Live with Kelly and Ryan" ... so he's decided to sell his home and in the process pocket around $44 MILLION!!!

Real estate sources tell us, Ryan is putting the Bev Hills home he bought from Ellen DeGeneres back on the market. We've learned he's listing the estate Monday for $85 million ... amazing since he bought it for $39 mil back in 2012. He spent another $2 mil on an adjacent property.

The house is amazing and has quite the history. Ellen bought it from "Will & Grace" creator Max Mutchnick. After she sold it to Ryan, we're told Max got in touch with him and said he was never able to finish the house the way he wanted, so he offered to help Ryan redo it, and Seacrest agreed. So, Max was his designer/architect!

The estate is spectacular ... one of the great resort-like compounds in the city. It has 5 structures, set between gardens and water features. It's amazing for indoor/outdoor living.

The main house is 9,000 square feet with 4 bedrooms, 6 baths and a gourmet chef's kitchen that opens to an outdoor pizza oven.

The living room has 22-foot high ceilings, but that's just the beginning. It has a movie theatre, a spa, an incredible world-class gym and a master suite with its own meditation garden. It even has a super cool bar/lounge.

The house, and especially the pool and teak pool house, gives sunbathers a jetliner view of L.A.

Seacrest is kind of a land baron ... he has houses in NYC, Napa and Italy -- and that's just what we know of.

Ryan will still commute to L.A. to do "American Idol," but apparently he doesn't need a massive estate for the quick trips.

Tekashi 6ix9ine had deep concerns about COVID when he was in prison, which is why he got out early ... but those concerns have evaporated in a big way, 'cause dude hit a packed strip club ... and didn't seem too concerned anymore about catching the 'rona.

The New York rapper celebrated his girlfriend Jade's birthday Sunday by walking into a gentleman's club with two human-size sacks full of cash ... which he and the crew dragged over to a VIP section and started unloading singles on dancers.

Based on what we can see ... it looks like they might've rolled in there with upwards of $200k on hand -- at least that's what Jade's claiming.

Speaking of her, 69's GF documented much of their good time on IG -- where she was seen wearing a body-hugging, green bodysuit ... while Tekashi was decked out in all black with a ton of bling and a new mustache. One thing they weren't seen wearing at all ... face masks. Nobody in the video seems to be rockin' one.

We should note that it looks like they were somewhere in Florida here -- just the night prior, there were reports that 6ix9ine and co. had been spotted in Miami.

It's perfectly legal there to be up in the club right now -- even without face coverings, although it'd be wise to wear one. That said ... it's funny how Tekashi's urgent fears of catching COVID-19 just earlier this year have vanished.

You'll recall ... part of the reason why Tekashi was even allowed to finish his sentence from home was because he cited asthma and other underlying conditions he claimed made him susceptible to contracting the disease from inside prison walls -- and a judge believed it and let him out early.