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Joe Exotic hopes his friendship with "90-Day Fiancé" alum Jesse Meester will get him sprung from prison with a pardon ... but Jesse's not so sure Joe Biden will grant the Tiger King's wish.

Joe shocked the Internet Monday when he posted a shirtless pic of his "amazing dear friend" Jesse, saying Jesse was going to help get the favor from Biden. Jesse commented on the post, "It’s sad that the backstabbing and lying has become the norm [in] this society. Time to unite and fight back to get you out."

Jesse, who dated Darcy and Jennifer on the TLC series, says he struck up a friendship with the Tiger King through a fan online, who saw his social media posts supporting Joe and connected them. He then made some friends in The White House a few years back after then-President Trump re-tweeted him and had hope for a pardon for Joe. With Joe Biden now in office, despite what Joe might believe, the pardon seems unlikely.

Jesse now thinks Joe's best shot of getting free is through the legal system ... based on all the new evidence he claims they've received. Jesse's now using his social media to help raise awareness and fundraise for Joe's legal expenses.

Yasiel Puig is clearly hoping he hasn't taken his last at-bat in the Major Leagues ... the former Dodgers superstar tells TMZ Sports he'd still like to return to the MLB following his current stint in Korea.

The 31-year-old, who hasn't played in an MLB game since suiting up for Cleveland in 2019, says he's very happy with how things are going in the KBO League -- but he said, candidly, "It's better to be in Los Angeles or in MLB."

Puig, though, knows he has to prove some things in Korea before he can get another look with an MLB team -- and he seems determined to make that happen.

"God put me in this spot to do the best I can to show people that I've changed from five or six years ago," the outfielder said.

Puig has been playing for the Kiwoom Heroes this season after signing with the team as a free agent this offseason, and he's been doing well, hitting .259 with 13 home runs in 85 games.

But, Puig admits some of his old issues are still cropping up on the diamond -- and he's trying his best to eliminate those so he can eventually get back in an MLB team's uniform.

Puig said if it takes another year in the KBO to ultimately show he deserves another shot in The Show -- he'd do it, telling us he's very grateful for the time he's had so far in Korea.

Before this golden gal with blunt bangs turned into one of Hollywood's newest and hottest upcoming stars, she was just swinging her bat, dressin' up for her t-ball banquet and growing up in Spokane, Wash.

This cute kid now stars in a popular TV show that first hit the big screen in 2019, and her career has continued to sore. When she's not memorizing lines, you can find her under the hood of her truck fixing up her Ford Bronco.

Need one more little nudge on guessing this cutie? Just ask her on-screen sister Maude Apatow.

Kim Kardashian has a million friends ... Jose Cuervo ain't one of them!!!

Kim was on a yacht with the fam celebrating Kylie Jenner's 25th, and what better way than with a round of shots.

Problem is ... the mom of 4 can't throw it back the way she used to, and she choked like Bill Buckner.

KK laughs it off ... at least it appeared so through the hacking fit. The woman clearly loved it. For the record, none of the others had any problem downing the spirits.

As for anyone watching this video who wants to drag Kim because she can't down a drink ... well, she's on a yacht, and you're not!!!

A bartender in Los Angeles allegedly laughed after being shown gruesome photos from the horrific Kobe Bryant crash scene, according to surveillance video screen grabs shown in court.

The Bryant crash scene photo trial continued Friday ... with Victor Gutierrez, a bartender at Baha Grill, testifying about the moments L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Joey Cruz showed bar employees and patrons photographs from the scene.

Gutierrez testified Cruz asked him if he wanted to see the Kobe pics ... and he said he did. When asked if he found the photos humorous, the bartender claimed he never laughed or found them amusing in any way.

That's when Vanessa Bryant's attorney showed the court still images from bar surveillance video where it appeared Gutierrez was laughing.

Gutierrez denied laughing ... saying you'd have to be psychotic to find those images funny.

The bartender also testified he believed the deputy showed the photos to unload the burden of the horrific crash.

The injuries to Kobe and the other people who died were described in court ... and it was ghastly.

Thursday is the second day of the trial ... which is expected to take about 10 days.

As we reported ... Vanessa sobbed in court Thursday during opening statements, with her lawyer telling the jury the 8 L.A. County Sheriff's deputies who snapped pics of Kobe and Gigi's bodies at the helicopter crash scene did it for personal use.

One Sheriff's detective said in a deposition he tried showing the photos to his wife, telling her they depicted "piles of meat." Another deputy is accused of showing the photos to a woman he met at a bar. Firefighters were allegedly shown the pics at an awards gala.

Vanessa's lawyer says she lives "in fear, anxiety and terror" of someday seeing the photos ... and she will be forever haunted by the deputies' actions.

In her lawsuit, Vanessa claims the deputies' conduct caused her severe emotional distress, saying the photos were an invasion of privacy. Lawyers for L.A. County say Vanessa's emotional distress is a result of the fatal crash, not the photos.

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, who was Kobe's agent, took the stand Thursday, and was barely able to speak when talking about his close relationship with KB.

Pelinka says he was in church when he was notified of the crash, rushing to meet Vanessa at an airport, and going with her and deputies to the crash site, where he says they were promised the area would be kept private.

Police say security footage of OnlyFans model Courtney Tailor getting physical with her now-deceased BF Christian Obumseli was from just months before his murder ... and her arrest warrant paints a gruesome picture of Christian's death.

According to the warrant, obtained by TMZ, the elevator security footage was taken in February ... in the video, it appears that Courtney is unable to select her floor, resulting in her punching the screen in frustration.

Christian appears to enter after her, and tries to calm her down, she then turns to him and begins hitting him. She continues to beat him and tug on his hair before he tries to hold her down and push her back.

As we reported, Courtney was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday in connection to Christian's death.

According to the warrant, "Courtney and Christian had a tempestuous relationship since Nov 2020, with multiple incidents of domestic violence from both sides over the period of the relationship."

The docs say Courtney was even arrested in July of last year in Vegas for domestic battery against him.

Cops say her mom confirmed she was on the phone with Courtney at the time of the stabbing and told officers she heard her daughter yelling at Christian to leave and saying he was "lying."

Michelle Branch is calling it quits with her husband, Patrick Carney, 3 years after the couple tied the knot.

The singer tells TMZ, "To say that I am totally devastated doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family. The rug has been completely pulled from underneath me and now I must figure out how to move forward. With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness.”

The news comes on the heels of an ominous tweet Branch posted last night, accusing Patrick -- the drummer for The Black Keys -- of cheating.

Patrick was Michelle's second husband, the two married in April 2019 in a ceremony in New Orleans. They have two small children together, including a 6-month-old daughter. Branch was previously married to Teddy Landau from 2004 to 2015.

It doesn't appear she's filed divorce docs at this time ... but if her statement is any indication, you can assume the papers will be coming soon.

Marshawn Lynch was dragged out of his car by the hood of his sweatshirt and forcibly thrown to the ground during his DUI arrest earlier this week ... new police video shows.

In the footage, which was captured shortly after cops had begun questioning the former NFL star on Aug. 9 in Las Vegas, you can see Lynch was leaned back in the driver's seat of a 2020 Shelby GT500 -- appearing to be uncooperative with cops who were asking him to get out of the ride.

The officers can be heard in the video asking Lynch repeatedly to step out of the car -- but Lynch refused continuously, asking over and over again why he had to leave the vehicle.

After officers told him he was "obstructing an investigation," one of the cops reached in and grabbed him by the orange sweatshirt he was wearing.

The cop then threw the ex-Seattle Seahawks running back on the ground ... and told him, "Roll over. Hands behind your back. No more games today."

Officers then can be heard on the video saying he smelled like alcohol.

In police documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, cops say when they got Lynch back to the station, he was uncooperative there -- and said they "had to use a restraint chair" to draw blood from him after obtaining a search warrant.

Lynch was ultimately booked on several charges, including DUI. He's due in court for a hearing on the matter in December.

The 36-year-old's attorneys, Richard A. Schonfeld and David Z. Chesnoff, released a statement on the matter Thursday afternoon ... saying, "Marshawn was not pulled over for a DUI. Rather the vehicle was safely parked and not in operation. We are confident that when all evidence is presented, this will not be a DUI under Nevada law. Marshawn appreciates and is thankful for everyone’s concern and support."

Anne Heche was not under the influence of alcohol when she crashed her car into a home last Friday, but she was under the influence of cocaine ... this according to law enforcement sources, and possibly fentanyl as well.

LAPD sources tell TMZ ... the department has tested the blood they drew after Anne was admitted to the hospital, and in addition to cocaine, they also found fentanyl. However, our sources say fentanyl is sometimes used as a pain med in hospitals, so they need to do more testing and investigation to determine if the fentanyl was in her system at the time of the crash.

We are also told Anne's condition is dire ... it has not improved since she was admitted to the hospital. As we reported, Anne has been fighting for her life and is in critical condition.

As we reported, Anne was driving her Mini Cooper at an extremely high rate of speed last Friday in a residential area of L.A. when she crashed into a car, a garage and then a house, igniting a fire that severely burned her.

Cops say Marshawn Lynch appeared to be completely wasted during his DUI arrest earlier this week -- falling in and out of sleep during questioning and reeking of booze -- while telling officers he had stolen the car he was in.

The allegations are all spelled out in new police documents, obtained by TMZ Sports on Thursday.

In the report, cops say they initially found Lynch at around 7:25 AM on Aug. 9 asleep at the wheel of a 2020 Shelby GT500 near the strip in Las Vegas.

According to officers in the docs, Lynch's car was beat up -- missing a tire and rim, while displaying "dents and dings" elsewhere. They also said roadway markings seemingly showed Lynch's car had slammed into sidewalk areas repeatedly before it had come to a stop.

Cops also say in the docs, when they were trying to speak to Lynch, he would talk, but would "then fall back asleep several times throughout the encounter."

Cops noted Lynch had just one shoe on, and claim the smell of an "alcoholic beverage" was coming out of the former Seattle Seahawks running back's car.

During the stop, cops say Lynch "stated that he was not drinking and he does not do drugs, but that he stole the vehicle."

Lynch then allegedly refused to get out of the car after officers asked him to exit the ride.

The 36-year-old was eventually arrested about half an hour after the stop was initiated ... but cops in the docs claim he continued to be uncooperative after officers had obtained a search warrant to get a blood sample from him.

"Lynch was not cooperative or willing to comply with the Search Warrant and corrections officers from the City of Las Vegas had to use a restraint chair to force a blood draw," officers wrote in the police report.

Lynch was ultimately booked on several charges, including DUI.

Marshawn's attorneys, Richard A. Schonfeld and David Z. Chesnoff, released a statement on the matter Thursday afternoon ... saying, "Marshawn was not pulled over for a DUI. Rather the vehicle was safely parked and not in operation. We are confident that when all evidence is presented, this will not be a DUI under Nevada law. Marshawn appreciates and is thankful for everyone’s concern and support."

Britney Spears' lawyer is going scorched earth on Kevin Federline ... ripping him for yapping about her relationship with their boys and posting videos of family matters.

Attorney Mathew Rosengart says ... K-Fed's decision to post old footage of Britney arguing with boys Sean Preston and Jayden James was cruel, bottom-the-barrel behavior.

Britney's lawyer says in doing so, K-Fed violated the singer's privacy and dignity, undermined the children, demeaned himself as a father, and violated societal norms ... and now Rosengart is threatening legal action, suggesting a criminal cyber-bullying statute may have been violated.

Remember ... Britney and K-Fed are going back and forth in public over her relationship with the kids, with Kevin posting the videos and giving an interview to DailyMail, while Britney fights back with social media posts.

Rosengart says he's not about to let Britney be bullied like she was during her conservatorship ... and tells us he's working with Instagram to turn up the heat on K-Fed.

Britney's attorney says Kevin should keep their family matters private. In fairness, Britney also went public about her children Wednesday in her own IG post, calling the kids "hateful," and suggesting K-Fed's house is a marijuana den.

Britney Spears has not seen her 2 kids in 5 months, because they feel uncomfortable around her and have received some very upsetting texts from her ... this according to Kevin Federline's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan.

Kaplan spoke with Kevin after Britney posted her lengthy account of her relationship with Sean Preston and Jayden James ... and says his client has never trash-talked her to their kids ... he says the boys have made their decision to stay away from her on their own. Kaplan says they have not had a single overnight with Britney in years.

Kaplan says based on Kevin's discussions with his children and other evidence, Kevin was not comfortable having the boys go to Britney's house unsupervised. As Britney said in her post, a person acting as a monitor was present when the boys were there.

Kaplan adds Kevin believes the boys love their mom, but they're angry at her. Kevin doesn't believe he has any power or influence over 15-year-old Jayden or 16-year-old Sean Preston. They ultimately make their own decisions, and they have elected not to see their mom, at least for now.

Kaplan also says this ... Kevin is annoyed Britney said, referring to Kevin's house, "I can guarantee you, that house has more weed than Ludacris, 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Puff Daddy combined!!!!" Kevin's response, Kaplan says, was that neither Britney nor any outsider would have any basis in fact to make such ungrounded statements.

And there's this ... we're told Kevin believes Britney's recent posts about their kids, especially Wednesday's -- where she called them hard to deal with and "there's being rude then there's being HATEFUL" -- Kevin says the children are in fear they could be put in danger from overzealous Britney fans.

We're told Kevin believes Sam is a "stabilizing influence" on Britney and has no ill feelings toward him.

Tommy Lee went FULL frontal on Instagram ... leaving some fans who never saw "that tape" aghast!

The 59-year-old doesn't have a shy bone in his body ... uploading the snap Thursday while chillin' in a tub.

It's unique ... most people who see pics of Tommy first notice all the tats, but the eye can drift in situations like this, right?

Pam Anderson's ex captioned the pic, "Ooooopppsss." Yeah, we're not buying that either.

There were lots of comments ... his wife, Brittany Furlan, responded, "OH MY GOD," while comedian Ryan Sickler replied, "Does the camera add 5 lbs?"

Dating app Grindr jumped on the train ... "Wrong app, babe."

There was, of course, criticism ... some fans were disgusted, asking him to take it down. It's been 86'd from IG ... unclear whether he did it or the platform took action. The pic is still on Facebook.

Tommy had a follow-up ... with a pic of an elephant looking at a male model, with the caption, "How do you breathe through that little thing??"

Kevin Federline has had enough of Britney Spears' public attacks on their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, and now he wants to show the world just how contentious he says Britney's relationship has been with the boys for years.

Federline posted a series of videos Wednesday night, saying, "I can not sit back and let my sons be accused in this way after what they’ve been through. As much as it hurts us, we decided as a family to post these videos the boys took when they were 11 & 12. This isn’t even the worst of it. The lies have to stop. I hope our kids grow up to be better than this."

In the first video, Britney's engaged in a bedtime argument with the boys, exclaiming, "This is my house, if I wanna come in here and give you lotion for your face cuz it is coarse, and all you tell me is "it's fine, it's fine" NO it's not fine." She continues, "You better all start respecting me, are we clear? And when Robin calls ... even Robin is a f*****g kid."

It's not clear which Robin Britney is referring to, but Robin Greenhill was the Tri Star exec who was heavily involved in Britney's life ... so it's possible it's her.

The video ends with a pissed-off Britney saying, "You all need to start treating me like a woman with worth. I am a woman, ok? Be nice to me. Do you understand?"

A second video, filmed during a car ride, is seemingly an argument stemming from Sean Preston not wearing his shoes, or exposing his feet in public. You can hear the boys, clearly on the same team, argue with Britney over the fact she took Sean's phone.

The convo then takes a turn to discuss possibly going ice skating.

Federline's posting comes on the heels of an attack Britney posted to Instagram earlier in the day Wednesday where she called her 15 and 16-year-old boy's conduct "hateful" ... saying they never wanted to spend time with her when they'd visit.

An Iraqi actress is irate over a story about "fat" women -- a story that used a photo of her to illustrate a point -- so she's suing.

Enas Taleb is a big deal in Iraq ... and she's publicly fuming over the story in the Economist titled, "Why Women Are Fatter Than Men in the Arab World."

The Economist went on to say men often gravitate toward women with "curves" and used a photo of her to make the point. According to the article, "Iraqis often cite Enas Taleb, an actress with ample curves, as the ideal of beauty."

The 42-year-old TV personality says she's going to sue the newspaper ... this according to New Lines mag.

She believes the pic was photoshopped and also says the newspaper had no authorization to run it. That said, it seems her lawsuit will go deeper ... she said, "I am demanding compensation for the emotional, mental and social damage this incident has caused me."

Her grievance goes beyond herself ... calling the story an “insult to the Arab woman in general and Iraqi women in particular.” She asks why the Economist “takes interest in fat women in the Arab world and not in Europe or the USA."

Huge victory for Lamar Odom -- the ex-NBA star is finally in possession of his own Instagram page again ... after claiming his former management refused to give him access.

Odom shared his relief on the social media platform on Wednesday ... saying, "I'm back! Got access to my account thanks to Instagram."

Odom -- who was without his IG since late July -- was fighting like hell to get his account back. In fact, he literally went to the IG headquarters in California to get it handled this week.

It was an awful experience for LO, especially because his former management was desperately posting to get clout or make a few bucks right up until he regained control over the page again.

"Anything you saw posted in my story or on my page was not me posting or commenting from this page," Odom said.

The former hooper also praised his NEW management in the return message ... thanking Gina Rodriguez for her efforts in making things right.

Remember, Odom ripped his old team last month ... saying, "my social media is not yours! If I chose to leave, that's the decision I make. Your decision shouldn't be to highjack my social media."