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Whoever let their tiger out and about on the streets of a Houston neighborhood this weekend is certainly no Joe Exotic, but they were trying to be ... and almost got the thing killed.

Check out this wild scene that unfolded Sunday in the burb of Memorial, where a neighbor -- who is allegedly an off-duty sheriff's deputy -- came face-to-face with the striped beast. The guy had his gun drawn as he tried yelling at it to stop, but it continued creeping toward him.

The supposed owner tells the cop not to shoot it and that he'll get the animal, which he successfully did in the end without any bullets flying. You can even see the tiger has a collar on, and seems pretty comfortable when the human wrangles it in on their front yard.

At this point, there's really not a whole lot of context other than this tiger appears to have been somebody's pet in one of the surrounding houses ... and it escaped somehow.

Of course, 911 was called over this ... but word is once they arrived, the tiger had already been stashed into a vehicle and driven away. It's unclear if anybody was charged yet -- but the police are certainly aware of it.

It's illegal to own exotic pets like this in the City of Houston, but you can, apparently, have a tiger in the surrounding unincorporated Harris County, assuming you have all the right paperwork and a boatload of insurance.

Considering this one was nowhere to be found when cops showed up, something tells us it wasn't meant to be there in the first place.

Welp, this is bad ...

The COVID pandemic is hitting Japan so hard, IOC president Thomas Bach has canceled a trip to the country ... leaving many wondering if the Olympic Games will actually happen in July as planned.

After a surge in cases in major cities, including Tokyo, the Japanese government extended a state of emergency from May 11 to May 31 ... which leaves less than 2 months before the Games are scheduled to begin on July 23.

Health officials in Japan are concerned the current 4th wave of the infection contains a variant that is spreading very fast and impacting a relatively large number of young people.

Officials say hospitals are overwhelmed and the health care system throughout the country is being pushed to the brink.

IOC President Bach was supposed to be traveling all over Japan next week to meet up with the Olympic torch -- but now, those plans have been postponed until Japanese officials end the state of emergency.

As for the numbers in Japan, there are more than 600,000 reported COVID cases and roughly 11,000 deaths.

One of the biggest issues at the moment is the fact only 2% of the 126 million people living in Japan have received at least one vaccine dose according to Reuters.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are showing signs that they're back together ... grabbing dinner at a celeb hot spot with famous friends and family.

Stormi's parents did a triple date night Sunday at West Hollywood hot spot, Catch LA, with Justin & Hailey Bieber and Kendall and her NBA star boyfriend, Devin Booker.

The 6-some all brought their own sense of fashion and style -- with JB still proudly rocking yet another new hairdo -- but Kylie was the only one who managed to duck the photogs all night. She's a pro!

We know she was there for the triple date, though, which only fuels speculation she's back together with Trav ... something that really kicked up a notch when she flew to Miami last weekend to celebrate his birthday with him.

You don't do fancy dinner dates with other happy couples unless you are feeling those same vibes yourself, right???

'Tiger King' star Jeff Lowe says he received a creepy, anonymous letter from someone indicating they know where Carole Baskin's missing ex-husband is ... though it's similar to a theory she's already shot down.

Jeff tells TMZ ... the letter was sent to his Tiger King Park in Oklahoma in May 2020, but the envelope only had the zoo's address on it, no name or return address. He says all they know is it was postmarked in Providence, Rhode Island.

As you can see in video of Jeff and his wife, Lauren, opening the letter back then ... it contains a single piece of paper with a handwritten note -- "The corpse lies under Her House." It's signed by "The Faithful Witness."

We're told Jeff and Lauren were speaking with a federal agent about the letter, and she claims she also informed law enforcement in Hillsborough County, FL ... where Don Lewis went missing in 1997.

Jeff and the agent on the phone speculate about what exactly the letter is alleging, but the gist seems clear ... the person who sent it believes Don's body is buried somewhere on Carole's Big Cat Rescue property in Tampa.

Here's where things get a bit weird -- even though Lauren says Hillsborough County authorities requested the letter in May 2020 ... Jeff refused, saying 'Tiger King 2' producers advised him to hold onto it.

Jeff says filming's wrapped now, so they are finally sending the letter to the Hillsborough County authorities, where he claims cops are planning to test it for DNA and fingerprints. We reached out to the Hillsborough Co. Sheriff's Office, they say they won't talk about evidence.

As we previously told you ... there's a Facebook group that also believes Lewis is buried on Baskin's property -- specifically under a septic tank system -- but she posted a video in August 2020 attempting to debunk that.

Not to milk this, but there's one very famous cow roaming the fields in India ... named after Kim Kardashian and rescued by PETA, just in time for Mother's Day.

The animal rights org said it rescued the "drop-dead gorgeous" momma cow with "striking eyes and long, dark eyelashes" ... and named it after Kim, "to thank the mother of four for showing compassion to mums of all species by promoting a dairy-free diet to her more than 200 million followers."

As you know ... Kim's been pretty vocal lately about going on a mostly plant-based diet ... which might explain her abs.

When someone asked her back in February 2020 about specifically what she eats day in and day out, Kim said "I eat mostly plant-based. No meat anymore. Oatmeal and vegan sausage for breakfast, vegan tacos are my fave for lunch! Salads are good too!"

PETA says it backed a sanctuary in India that ultimately won custody of the cow, which was believed to have been exploited for dairy after the former owner was caught abusing the cow on the street.

The rescued cow's now living in her lush new sanctuary home, where she's, apparently, successfully dodging the paparazzi ... no shots of her in the wild yet. We're also told she's made 2 friends, Sonya and Meena.

Tyrell Cohen -- the twin brother of NFL running back Tarik Cohen -- was found dead Sunday ... after officials say they believe he was electrocuted trying to climb power equipment.

Authorities say the 25-year-old, who's a fraternal twin of the Chicago Bears star, was involved in the tragedy shortly after a single-car crash Saturday morning in Raleigh, NC.

Officials say Tyrell left the scene of the accident after the wreck ... and could not be located in the ensuing hours.

Tyrell's family eventually filed a missing person report Saturday night ... with Tarik even putting out a message on social media asking anyone in the area for help locating his brother.

"Could be on foot in the [woods] around 540 and six forks," Tarik said in a since-deleted tweet. "Possibly injured!"

Officials say on Sunday morning, they resumed their search for Tyrell ... and, after an employee at a Duke Energy substation discovered a body, officials ultimately identified it as Tyrell's.

Authorities say Tyrell appeared to have entered the substation after the accident and was electrocuted shortly after. They say they do not believe foul play was involved.

The Bears released a statement Sunday evening mourning the death ... saying, "We are heartbroken."

"Our immediate thoughts and prayers go out to Tarik, his mother, Tilwanda, and the rest of their family and loved ones."

They continued, "On behalf of the entire Bears family, we extend our most heartfelt sympathies to all who mourn his loss."

Tarik was picked in the 4th round by the Bears in the 2017 NFL Draft. He's started 22 games for the team in his four-year career.

Alec Baldwin, Andy Cohen and Whitney Cummings are among the celebs pressuring New York lawmakers to stop puppy sales in pet stores ... because they say it's a cold business.

Some of Hollywood's biggest stars are teaming up with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to support a NY bill that would shut down what they say is a puppy mill pipeline funneling poorly-treated dogs into pet stores.

An ASPCA official tells TMZ ... thousands of pups are for sale in NY pet stores, and the dogs are shipped there from out-of-state breeders and middlemen, all of whom the ASPCA claims are running puppy mills.

Alec, Andy and Whitney fired off a letter in support of the Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill to NY lawmakers ... and it's also signed by Brooke Shields, Justin Theroux, Kristin Chenoweth, Sir Patrick Stewart and Edie Falco.

The bill, which would end the sale of puppies in pet stores once and for all, was passed by the NY Senate this month ... but it still needs to be approved by the State Assembly before landing on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's desk.

Edie, who played Carmela in "The Sopranos," tells TMZ ... her dog, Sami, spent 2 years living in a box in the dark without a name and was forced to have puppies who were sold to pet stores.

Falco says Sami's not the only dog who's been through this nightmare ... and she's urging NY lawmakers to take action and break this cycle of cruelty.

Floyd Mayweather COULD beat up both Logan Paul and Jake Paul on the same night ... but he won't, according to the man who runs Mayweather Promotions.

Remember, Floyd took the mic at Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday and said he would have no problem beating "two fake fighters" on the same night.

Jake Paul confronted Floyd about the situation -- and with news cameras rolling, Floyd yelled for his manager to draw up the paperwork.

Hell broke loose after that ... but when things finally calmed down, we spoke with Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe and asked if there was any real chance fans would get a 2-for-1 special on June 6.

"Realistically, he could [fight both brothers], but no ... from a business standpoint, no."

Ellerbe continued, "[Floyd] and Logan are gonna have a great exhibition on the 6th of June and the whole world will be entertained."

As for the possibility Floyd could fight Jake on another date down the road? The door seems to be open on that ...

Who knows?! Who knows what the future might hold?!"

New York City native Nancy Allen has a long list of acting credits from the late '70s and early '80s, but is best known for her role as the cyborg police partner Officer Anne Lewis -- who helps Officer Murphy find himself within the law-enforcing robotic exterior -- in the iconic '80s sci-fi film "RoboCop" ... as well as the '90s sequels "RoboCop 2" and "RoboCop 3."

Nancy Allen shared the big screen of the futuristic film with some notable actors including Kurtwood Smith as the crime-riddled Clarence Boddicker, Miguel Ferrer as the cop-creator, Bob Morton ... and of course Peter Weller as the RoboCop, Officer Murphy.

Simon Cowell is getting back on the horse -- or, more accurately, back on the bike ... this after breaking his back on one of these damn things less than a year ago.

The 'AGT' host was spotted cruising along on another electric bicycle Sunday in Malibu with his girlfriend, Lauren Silverman, and his young son, Eric ... who all had bikes of their own. Interestingly, though, it was only Simon who seemed to be using a motorized version.

You can tell it's an electric bike by that little box stuck to the down tube of the frame -- they help propel the bicycle forward with more acceleration as you pedal, giving you a boost.

The fact Simon's once again riding one of these raises eyebrows at first glance. Of course, Simon practically shattered his spine on this exact type of model back in August ... when he was testing out a new electric bike of his, in none other than the courtyard of his own home.

If he almost got paralyzed from just that setting ... this one here -- out in public, along a windy bike bath with other riders zipping by -- is definitely a lot more dangerous, potentially. Still ... it looks like he's got the hang of it, but seeing this does make one worry a bit.

Simon went through a 6-hour emergency back surgery at the time ... and has undergone intensive rehab since then to get back on his feet. Welp, now he's back on his ass.

Greta Van Susteren is OUTRAGED people are supposedly swapping "Mother's Day" for a gender-neutral term to be PC -- but the truth is ... she might be fuming over nothing.

The ex-FOX News personality -- who's now anchoring another political show on Gray Television -- tweeted a bizarre sentiment Sunday, going after folks who have the audacity to say "Happy Birthing Person's Day" ... instead of saying "mother."

Greta writes, "To all those who reject the term “Mother’s Day” in favor of “birthing persons’ day” you have just slighted all the incredible mothers who adopted children."

So, on the face of it, she seems to be trying to one-up the easily-offended crowd with even more offense of her own -- but she's not the first right-leaning public figure to make a fuss over the term "birthing persons."

Sen. Ted Cruz also had something to say about it as well, but he was way more obnoxious.

In classic "YOU WON'T CANCEL THIS!!!" fashion ... Cruz posted an erased-out Mother's Day scribbling, and wrote in "birthing people's."

Here's the thing, though ... their indignation seems to be a big waste of energy.

For starters, hardly anyone actually says "Birthing People/Person's Day" -- at least not widely -- nor is it becoming a new norm. And, even if people do say it ... so what? Them choosing to say that doesn't prevent anyone else from saying "Mother's Day" -- and the same applies in reverse. No one's shaming anyone for saying "Mother," soooo ... to each their own?

This all seems to stem from Rep. Cori Bush using the term in a tweet this week while describing her pregnancy experience ... in which she claimed different doctors had encouraged her to abort her baby, and to just get pregnant again -- suggesting racism was at play.

Rather than listening to the substance of her remarks, it looks like some clung to the "birthing people" term ... and never looked back.

Elon Musk cast doubt on Dogecoin during 'SNL' -- but now, it seems his company is trying to take that back ... by sending a satellite to the moon ... funded exclusively by the cryptocurrency.

A company called Geometric Energy Corporation announced Sunday that they'll be launching an 88-lb cube to the moon sometime in early 2022 ... with the help of none other than SpaceX, Elon's pride and joy for space exploration. SpaceX confirmed the news, BTW.

They say this is gonna be the first-ever commercial lunar payload that's paid for entirely with Doge ... meaning, SpaceX is accepting the crypto from Geometric -- which will presumably fundraise/buy Dogecoin for this mission ... one they're calling DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon.

The cube -- which will be equipped with high-tech cameras/sensors to help obtain "lunar-spatial intelligence" upon touchdown -- is flying passengers aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Elon hasn't commented on the momentous moment just yet -- but one of his SpaceX execs did. Tom Ochinero, the Vice President of Commercial Sales, says ... "This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce." He adds, "We're excited to launch DOGE-1 to the Moon!"

Two things about this -- one, it looks like Elon wasn't kidding in April when he said SpaceX would be sending an actual Dogecoin to the moon. Also, this appears to be major damage control after Elon agreed with Michael Che Saturday, saying Dogecoin was a "hustle."

That comment helped send the meme coin plummeting ... losing upwards of 37% of value in a matter of minutes. Now, it looks like they're trying to re-legitimize it once more.

Phylicia Rashad was strangely thrust into a conversation about Bill Cosby and his so-called "enablers" -- which the Internet was NOT putting up with ... especially on Mother's Day.

Twitter was celebrating their favorite TV moms Sunday, and Phylicia was right up there near the top of the list ... with many remembering and paying tribute to her starring role on "The Cosby Show" as Cliff's wife, Clair Huxtable. That is, until someone took the convo left.

A lady who goes by Lisa Talmadge rained on everyone's parade, tweeting a bizarre claim, and didn't even use Phylicia's proper name in making it ... or her TV character's name for that matter.

She wrote, "Claire Huxtable was an enabler of the longest and most prolific drug rape predator In US history, Bill Cosby. Everyone on set knew he was a sadistic predator. Everyone. 75 women drugged and raped by Cosby and he got away with it because of enablers."

For starters, it's CLAIR Huxtable. Second, Mrs. Huxtable is not a real person (she's fictional and only exists in the show). More importantly -- and as Twitter users furiously noted in response -- Phylicia isn't responsible for what Cosby was accused of, or convicted over.

As countless people pointed out, Phylicia wasn't his boss on the set ... if anything, she was more of an employee of his, and a co-worker -- nothing more. To suggest she knew what was going on behind the scenes -- something she herself has already denied -- is absurd.

Now, for the record, Phylicia has come to Cosby's defense ... most memorably in 2015 when the sexual assault allegations against him resurfaced, which she brushed off at the time as a group of people trying to tarnish the man's legacy, and a conviction of guilt in the media.

After Cosby was convicted of assaulting Andrea Constand and incarcerated over it ... Phylicia has somewhat softened her stance, but she still seems to equivocate at times. Bigger picture though ... she's supported "The Cosby Show" and has asked folks to compartmentalize.

It's Mother's Day again -- and if you thought Hollywood would skip a beat due to COVID, you're wrong ... because they laid it on thick for mama bear, just like years past.

Scores of celebs made sure to shout out that special lady in their lives on Sunday, posting heartfelt tributes for their moms ... while also posing for shots with them too. This year feels especially poignant, as we're finally turning a corner in the pandemic and are going strong.

Among the stars who shared the love ... Reese Witherspoon, Priyanka Chopra, DJ Khaled, Ellen DeGeneres, Michael Strahan, Lenny Kravitz, Gene Simmons, Drake, Usher, Usain Bolt, Jimmy Fallon, J Lo, Ryan Seacrest, Matthew McConaughey, Addison Rae, Mark Ruffalo, Amy Schumer, Elle Fanning, Sammy Hagar, Vince Neil, Lea Michele ... and VP Kamala Harris.

One post that was notably meaningful was Ryan Dorsey's ... who made sure to remember Naya Rivera, his late ex-wife and the mother of his own child, Josey, who died last year.

He wrote, "🖤❤️🖤We can’t say the word happy but we’ll say thank you for being a mother & giving me this sweet amazing boy.🖤❤️🖤#mothersday." Ryan threw up a photo of Naya and Josey sitting at a booth with what looks to be some ice cream in front of them.

As you know ... Naya drowned last year at Lake Piru in Ventura County, after taking Josey out on a boat ride, but somehow getting sucked under the water when trying to re-board.

Elon Musk took a hard left turn from comedy as he hosted 'SNL' Saturday night ... announcing he has Asperger's.

He made the announcement at the beginning of his monologue, speaking in a monotone voice. Musk revealed he's the first "Saturday Night Live" host with Asperger Syndrome.

However, Dan Aykroyd, a former 'SNL' cast member, also has Asperger’s and hosted the show in 2003.

Asperger Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It manifests itself with major difficulties in engaging in social interactions and nonverbal communication. It is characterized as an autism spectrum disorder. It does not affect one's intelligence or language abilities. People with autism can experience physical and communication difficulties.

Elon was funny ... he seemed relaxed and was super self-deprecating. He joked about how he smoked a joint on Joe Rogan's podcast and now everyone thinks he's a pothead.

He also told an O.J. Simpson joke ... that O.J. too had hosted twice "and he killed it."

Elon, who's 49, brought his mom, Maye Musk, on stage for a sweet moment that was also kinda funny.

Bill and Melinda Gates kinda shocked the world this week with their divorce, and Trump continues to be muzzled on Facebook. So we gotta ask ...