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Tekashi 6ix9ine had a forcefield of protection around him in late 2018 -- shortly before he was locked up -- but forgot to pay the people guarding him ... so claims a security company in a new lawsuit.

69 is being sued by Metropolitan Patrol, which claims it provided protection for the guy ... including 11 days in November 2018. Part of that time Tekashi was in L.A. rolling deep with bodyguards, as seen in pics.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Metropolitan Patrol says Tekashi signed a contract with them in which they agreed to provide round-the-clock armed security. The lawsuit even includes a detailed schedule of shifts they claim to have worked work.

It looks like the rate was $85/hour during the day, while the late-night shifts cost $127.50/hour.

MP also claims it provided him armored vehicles ... namely, a fully-loaded Yukon with ballistic panels and 2 police-style Ford Explorers complete with lights, sirens, everything.

All in all, Metropolitan says Tekashi's tab came to a little over $75k for the job -- but when it came time to pay up, they claim he simply refused to fork over the money. Now, they want a judge to step in.

Metropolitan wants what they say they’re owed on the contract plus late fees and legal fees that have added up ... in total, they're asking for north of $88k.

The potential mass exodus of Capitol Police officers could have devastating effects ... police fear Capitol Hill may soon be open to another attack like the insurrection.

Here's the deal ... the union representing USCP officers says many officers are leaving the force soon, and at least one of those officers tells us why the departures could spell trouble for Capitol Hill.

The USCP officer, who is planning to leave the department by the end of the year, tells TMZ ... the sheer number of officers planning to leave the department will put the Capitol at more risk and could make the building more vulnerable to another riot or attack in the future.

We're told there are around 20 USCP officers leaving in the next 6 months, and they're packing their bags because of how the department has been pointing fingers since the riots, with little to no accountability from the top down.

The way this outgoing officer sees it, there are 2 factors that could lead to another January 6th ... less manpower, and a high degree of uncertainty from officers on what to do the next time a mob were to attack.

Part of that uncertainty, we're told, involves the use of deadly force. We're told USCP officers are still scared to use their guns, for fear of being suspended like the officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbit.

As we first told you ... a deadly force policy still remains unclear within USCP, and we're told there has still been no communication between top brass and rank and file as to how to handle another insurrection.

Making matters worse, we're told, is the union's overwhelming 92% vote of no confidence for acting chief Yogananda Pittman, who got the job 2 days after the insurrection.

It sounds like USCP can't do much to stop the impending exodus among the rank and file ... we're told the officers are just tired of working there with all the "organizational dysfunction."

Snoop Dogg is introducing his grandson to the culture -- the classic car culture -- while also staking his claim as the coolest grandpa on earth!!!

The Doggfather and his grandkid, Zion, hit up Mel's Drive-in on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood for some serious family bonding ... checking out the whips and jamming to Snoop's classic, "My Heat Goes Boom."

Little Zion here is the spawn of Snoop's oldest son, Corde Broadus, and he's already getting schooled in all things West Coast ... complete with low riders and g-funk music. Zion's Uncle Cordell, aka Snoop's 2nd born, was also there for the Sunday meet-up.

Before this bathtub baby was making waves at the top of the music charts, she was just another sweetheart in suds showing off her mohawk in Santa Clara, California.

This bubbly babe has launched her career with epic beats and sweet verses on some of the most popular hip-hop songs today. Audiences recognize her by her sugary stage name, but friends and family might know her better as Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper.

You may have also seen her hitting up Hollywood hotspots with her boyfriend -- and member of a popular rap group -- by her side.

Questlove says Amy Poehler and Tina Fey calling out the Golden Globes organization for a lack of diversity doesn't amount to much more than a performance ... at least for now.

We got "The Tonight Show" band frontman heading into work Monday at NBC Studios in New York City and asked about Amy and Tina taking shots at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for having NO black members during the award show.

It certainly seemed strange for the show's own hosts, and other celebs, to openly raise the issue during the broadcast -- but Quest, for one, was not impressed.

He called the remarks purely "performative," and put it squarely on the HFPA to actually add Black members. Until then, he's basically saying ... spare me the lip service.

There's been a lot of backlash against the HFPA, whose members vote on the Golden Globes. As you might have heard ... it's got 87 members, and not a single one is Black.

Amazon's done some much-needed trimming to its new app icon after users noticed it looked a lot like a very infamous mustache -- Hitler's.

The company just made a rather simple but effective fix to the new design, which was updated in January from the longtime blue shopping cart logo to a brown cardboard box-colored icon.

The new icon featured its well-known smiling arrow with a piece of blue tape -- resembling one of its packages -- but problem was ... people thought the serrated edge of the tape looked like a Hitler-esque mustache.

Obviously, Amazon had no choice but to correct this major design flaw ... so the blue tape's is flat now, with a corner folded back. Looks more like an innocuous nose now.

Wanna live like a King? You can buy the enormous Brentwood mansion LeBron James called home ... if you're willing to drop $20 mil!

The NBA superstar has listed the 9,500-square-foot estate he purchased back in 2015 -- a colonial-style mansion on Rockingham Ave.

And, if that street sounds familiar ... it's because of the O.J. Simpson connection.

Bron's home is actually just a few blocks from the infamous Rockingham estate where O.J. lived when Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were murdered in 1994.

Unfortunately, that's not the only sad connection to Bron's home ... remember, someone spray painted the n-word on the front gate of Bron's home back in 2017.

As for the home itself, it's incredible -- 6 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, a media room, home gym, massive pool and a basketball hoop near the garage!

Oh, and the views are absolutely insane!!! Listing price -- $20,500,000 ... which is LESS than he paid in 2015.

Records show he bought the house for $20.9 mil. But, let's get serious, it's not like Bron needs the money -- he's reportedly worth close to (if not more than) $1 BILLION.

A rooster with a 3 INCH BLADE strapped to its leg slashed its owner to death during an illegal cockfighting event in India, officials say.

It all went down last week in Southern India where officials say a group of people gathered to watch the bloody sport in the village of Lothunur, in the state of Telangana.

Officials say the bird's owner, identified as 45-year-old Thangulla Satish, was attempting to handle the rooster when something spooked the animal, causing it to stab Satish in the groin area.

FYI, it's typical for birds to be equipped with blades on their legs during a cockfight -- which leads to bloodier and quicker matches between the roosters.

The whole thing is pretty horrific.

In this case, it sounds like the bird struck Satish's femoral artery -- causing him to bleed out at an alarming rate.

Officials say he died on the way to the hospital.

Local law enforcement has opened an investigation into the incident -- and say the event organizers could face up to 2 years in jail if convicted.

Angelina Jolie has parted ways with a very unique painting by one Sir Winston Churchill ... fetching her a whopping $11.5 million at auction.

Christie's in London sold the Moroccan landscape painting Monday for a cool $11,590,715. The actress, who along with Brad Pitt bought it in 2011, had a rare piece of art ... it's believed to be the only wartime painting by the legendary Prime Minister of Great Britain.

The story goes ... Churchill painted the "Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque" after the January 1943 Casablanca Conference, where he and President Franklin D. Roosevelt planned how to defeat Nazi Germany. Churchill gave FDR the painting as a memento.

The painting itself's a beaut ... depicting a 12th-century mosque in Marrakech at sunset. The Atlas Mountains serve as the picturesque backdrop. The painting was later sold by Roosevelt's son after FDR died in 1945. The painting then went through several owners before Brad and Angelina got their hands on it.

Ellen DeGeneres buy-eth, and Ellen DeGeneres sell-eth ... the daytime talk show host's latest purchase is back on the market ... a home she bought from none other than Adam Levine.

The estate Ellen's trying to sell this time is one she bought from the Maroon 5 frontman back in 2019 -- which sits in a secluded, gated sanctuary in Bev Hills. It's a 2-story monster of a property ... covering about 10,000 square feet and fully loaded.

It's got a resort-style pool, an outdoor kitchen and pizza oven, a fire pit, a sunken tennis court, a built-in bar in the dining room, an indoor gym, a spa and a completely separate guest house.

You'll recall ... EDG and Portia De Rossi snapped up the crib from her good pal, AL, for a cool $45 million ... and is now listing it for a whopping $53.5 mil. If she gets her asking price, that's almost a $10 million profit in just two years!

Of course, this is just the latest real estate investment by Ellen and her wife, Portia, who own several homes. Unclear if they're looking to buy again in the area, but if not ... there's no shortage of places to stay nearby.

The estate is listed by celeb realtor Kurt Rappaport.

Lamar Odom just went scorched earth on his ex ... blasting Sabrina Parr as "deceitful" and accusing her of using him in a shameless attempt to get famous.

The former NBA star -- who split with Parr last year after the two announced their engagement late in 2019 -- went on "The Real" on Monday and unloaded on her.

"[She was] very deceitful," Odom said of Parr. "You know, I really used to like take her word for everything. She was like really lying to me, the whole time."

"But I guess she got what she wanted, that was the 'blue check,' so I guess I was good for something."

Odom says he and Parr had planned a reality TV show and had shot some portions of it -- but the 41-year-old claims she and her manager released it without telling him it was going out.

"It was just about me and her," Odom said of the reality show. "I knew what I was doing, I knew what I signed up for."

"But I would think that when you were putting it out to the world, you would let me know. That’s a greaseball move. Something that I can't respect, from her and that manager dude."

Odom went on to say the whole failed relationship makes him "sad."

"I really don’t like nobody taking advantage of me," Odom said, "especially for monetary reasons."

Odom and Parr only dated for 3 months before he popped the question in Nov. 2019.

And in his previous marriage to Khloe Kardashian, they only dated for 1 month before Lamar proposed.

The woman alleging T.I. put a gun to her head and threatened to kill her is now claiming she's getting harassed because the rapper and his wife are smearing her name.

Sabrina Peterson's suing T.I. and Tiny for defamation, because according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... she says the couple's public statements and social media posts have smeared her good name ever since she made her allegation against T.I.

Peterson claims she got into an altercation with T.I.'s assistant, and T.I. responded by pointing a gun at her head and saying, "Bitch I'll kill you."

According to the docs ... shortly after making her allegation in January, Tiny retaliated by insulting her and posting a photo of Peterson's 8-year-old son to her millions of followers. Peterson says this exposed her son to "vitriol and danger."

T.I. and Tiny subsequently released statements denying a variety of sexual abuse allegations and other claims against them ... including specifically denying the claims made by Peterson.

Peterson claims being singled out -- along with allegedly being referenced in T.I.'s 8-minute video where he denies allegations and talks about "evil at play" -- has led to her receiving harassing and threatening messages on Instagram.

She's suing the couple for defamation and infliction of emotional distress. We reached out to T.I. ... no word back yet.

Roger Reece Kibbe -- one of America's most notorious serial killers -- was found dead in the prison cell he shared with another inmate ... and authorities say it could be homicide.

Kibbe, infamously known as the 'I-5 Strangler,' was found lying unresponsive in his California state prison cell around 12:40 AM Sunday ... and law enforcement says his cellmate, Jason Budrow, was standing next to the body.

Kibbe's body was transported to the prison's health care facility, but life-saving measures were unsuccessful and by 1:23 AM he was pronounced dead ... according to authorities, who say they are launching a homicide investigation.

81-year-old Kibbe was serving multiple life sentences at Mule Creek State Prison after pleading guilty to raping and murdering 7 people, with some of the killings dating as far back as the 1970s.

Lady Gaga's dog walker -- who was shot in the streets before a couple of her pooches were kidnapped in plain sight -- is on the mend and has kind words for his supporters.

Ryan Fischer posted an update on his health Monday, uploading two photos himself from his hospital bed ... one where he's got a breathing tube in his mouth. The second shot is much more reassuring -- it looks like he took the photo himself, and the tube is gone.

Ryan started his posts with a recounting of his near-death experience ... recalling the fact he felt guilty over not being able to protect Gaga's 2 French bulldogs ... while a third, their sister Miss Asia, trotted over to him as he laid on the ground bleeding -- whom he calls his angel.

He remembers calling out for help as calmly as he could, and a wave of people pouring out to attend to him.

RF goes on to say this about his recovery ... "I will write and say more later, but the gratitude for all the love I feel from around this planet is immense and intense. I felt your healing support! Thank you." He adds that he's grateful the police were able to recover the 2 stolen dogs, Koji and Gustav, and prays his would-be murders are brought to justice.

Fischer also had a message for his boss, Lady Gaga, writing ... "And to Elisha, my family at Haüs and @ladygaga: your babies are back and the family is whole… we did it!" He continued, "You have shown so much support throughout this whole crisis to both me and my family. But your support as a friend, despite your own traumatic loss from your kids, was unwavering. I love you and thank you."

It's a miracle he's doing as well as he is -- remember, Ryan was shot at almost point-blank range ... which was captured on surveillance video from a nearby property.

Taylor Swift is picking up the battle her fans started with Netflix -- ripping one of its hit shows for a sexist and misogynistic joke targeting her dating life.

Taylor fired back Monday morning at the streaming service and the writers of "Ginny and Georgia" over the show's finale which showed Ginny (Antonia Gentry) and her mother Georgia (Brianne Howey) arguing about relationships. Ginny quipped, "What do you care? You go through men faster than Taylor Swift."

Well, Taylor ain't laughing. She says, "2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard working women by defining this horse s**t as fuNny."

Swift's fans are also peeved ... #RespectTaylor started trending overnight, and one fan tweeted, "It's not sitting right with me [that] Netflix has two Taylor Swift projects on their platform and they are okay with treating her like this!!! RESPECT TAYLOR SWIFT."

James Corden looks unrecognizable these days -- which, we suppose, can be credited to his new gig with Weight Watchers ... something he's clearly taking seriously.

Check out these photos of "The Late Late Show" host Sunday, where he's out making an ice run for his at-home party for the virtual Golden Globes ... which he later beamed into via Zoom, like all the other nominees.

No, that's not Zac Efron ... it's just JC, who was rocking some basketball shorts, tennis shoes, a hoodie and a face covering. The dude looks to be in really good shape right about now -- check out those calves!

James has said he's down around 16 pounds since the start of the year -- when he made a resolution to lose weight ... this on the heels of inking a deal to be the new face of WW right at the start of 2021. Yeah, we'd say he's living up to the brand name and then some.

James has always been known as a heavier guy, but recently he opened up to say he wasn't all that happy with the way he looked. He's credited his wife, Julia Carey, for keeping him on the straight and narrow with his diet and exercise.