TMZ.com Home

Before this picture-perfect pip-squeak was dunking on the competition, he was just another grinning guy growing up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

This happy young man made a name for himself in sports when he was a first-overall pick in the 2009 NBA season. In his first year playing for a California team, he showed off his talents to win Rookie of the Year.

After taking up an interest in comedy, this cute kid performed stand-up for multiple special events including a Comedy Central 'Roast' and also made an appearance on the hilarious sitcom "Broad City."

There were no eleventh-hour surprises -- Amy Coney Barrett got the votes she needed to be confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States, which is now staunchly conservative.

President Trump's pick to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed by the Senate Monday with a final tally of 52 to 48 ... with Senator Susan Collins as the only Republican to join every Senate Democrat in voting no.

The confirmation comes just 8 days before Election Day and after Barrett's nomination was fast-tracked despite an outcry from Democrats, who think the American people should have a say in the makeup of the highest court in the land.

Senate Democrats huffed and puffed while unable to halt Barrett's confirmation ... and when all was said and done, a majority of the Senate overlooked recent precedent and determined ACB was deserving of a spot on SCOTUS.

Justice Clarence Thomas is expected to swear-in Barrett at the White House during tonight's outdoor ceremony.

As you know ... Barrett's confirmation gifts conservatives a 6-3 majority on the High Court, where she's likely to serve for decades as she's only 48 years old.

Get ready ... abortion rights, the Affordable Care Act, LGBTQ rights, voting rights and tons of other fundamental issues and policies are now squarely in the crosshairs of the justices.

The 17-year-old who got dragged across the pavement by an arresting officer -- despite being handcuffed and compliant -- says he forgives the cop for doing him wrong, but he'd appreciate an apology.

D'Angelo Chapman tells TMZ ... even though Officer Jordan Moore's actions are inexcusable, he's not one for holding grudges. He knows what the cop did has his family and his community in Mansfield, Ohio justifiably upset ... but he feels Moore's paid suspension for the dragging incident is fine, even if others disagree.

The teenager tells us he doesn't want the officer to get fired because he'd be without a paycheck for his family, and says as long as Moore learns from his mistake, and takes the training necessary before returning to his job ... he's okay with that.

D'Angelo says he'd be down to speak with Moore too ... as long as the officer is prepared to make a genuine apology.

Though his reaction to the incident is noble, D'Angelo has been feeling negative effects from it. He says he's lost trust in police and gets anxiety now when he sees cop cars ... something he never felt before.

He also tells us the attention he's been getting is a bit overwhelming, but he does appreciate the support.

As we reported ... Moore's suspended with pay until January 11. The Mansfield police chief said, "Moore’s response was found to be improper which resulted in the misapplication of force used on a person that was handcuffed, in custody and offering no resistance."

Jamie Foxx says his heart's been shattered into a million pieces after his younger sister, DeOndra Dixon, died.

The actor/singer penned a touching tribute Monday, saying her passing has "left a hole in my heart." They were super close, which was obvious in the series of photos he shared of DeOndra and himself.

In a moving post, Jamie wrote, "Anyone who knew my sis... knew that she was a bright light... I can’t tell you how many times we have had parties at the house where she has got on the dance floor and stolen the show... even gave her boyfriend @chrisbrownofficial a run for his money."

He added, "well I know she is in heaven now dancing with her wings on...tho my pain is unbelievable I smile when I think of all of the great memories that she left me... my family... and her friends."

Back in 2018, Jamie credited DeOndra for always reminding him of what's really important in life -- "You see this girl over here, 'I just want to live. I want to dance. I want to love.' So, she brings you back down to what life is."

He said some of the fondest memories of his sister included DeOndra being named Ambassador for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation in 2011 and her dancing in his "Blame It" music video.

DeOndra was 36.

Trouble may be just around the corner in this volatile election/pandemic year, because businesses coast-to-coast are starting to board up in anticipation of election unrest.

Washington D.C. is starting to shutter itself ahead of what might turn out to be a violent day and/or night. Check out these photos taken Monday in the business district of Downtown D.C. -- just a stone's throw from the White House. As you see, lots of different buildings and shops in the area are nailing up wooden boards to cover windows.

Construction crews are on hand doing their thing as passersby look on at an ominous scene -- folks don't usually do this unless they expect people to break in, like in a riot, for example.

D.C. isn't alone. Beverly Hills is bracing for unrest and the pricy shops on Rodeo Drive will also be boarded up ahead of November 3rd.

Britney Spears' father doesn't buy her lawyer's assertion that he's the only one who can speak for her ... and he's using the upcoming election to try to prove his point.

Jamie Spears filed new legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- in Britney's ongoing conservatorship case which fire back at her attorney, Sam Ingham, for recently likening her to a comatose patient who lacks the capacity to sign declarations.

Spears says his daughter's conservatorship doesn't mean she's stripped of all of her rights -- for instance, she still has the right to vote -- and he notes she's testified at deposition and multiple times in court during the conservatorship.

According to the docs ... Britney's dad claims Ingham does not have the unlimited authority to be her "exclusive voice" -- she has the right to be heard.

We broke the story ... the reason this all came up in the first place is because Ingham told the judge earlier this month that Brit does not want to perform again. Jamie's side called that hearsay, because it was coming from Ingham and not Britney herself.

The judge asked why Britney had not filed a declaration about her career intent -- and Ingham said that's because she lacks the mental capacity to do so ... like a person in a coma.

Here's reason #1,000,001 why The Rock is tougher than you ...

Dwayne Johnson suffered a pretty gnarly gym injury Monday requiring stitches to close a wound on his face.

But, instead of cryin' about it -- he tasted his own blood and went right back to work!!!

The former WWE superstar said he suffered the wound throwing around some heavy weights -- and in a video, he revealed his eye was swollen and bloody.

But, in true tough guy fashion ... The Rock licked the blood off his face and said, "That's good. That's real good. Back to work."

!!!!!!

Johnson later explained he got nicked up tossing 50-pound chains ... and said the wound was so bad, he needed stitches.

Though the 48-year-old said he didn't go under the needle and thread until AFTER the workout was done ... 'cause, duh.

"We ain't playing tiddlywinks and we ain't reciting nursery rhymes," Dwayne said ... before later writing, "Taste your own blood, keep working out and stitch up later - rules of the house."

Who's ready for leg day now?!

Phil Collins is still NOT feeling Donald Trump's rally playlist ... he wants the Prez's campaign to quit pumping "In The Air Tonight" through its PA speakers.

Here's the deal ... Trump's campaign blared Phil's hit song at his Des Moines rally earlier this month -- and at several others since then -- and the singer is royally pissed.

Phil's legal team fired off a cease and desist letter to Trump's camp, obtained by TMZ, claiming the song choice makes it seem like Phil's fully onboard the Trump train, which he's not.

In the legal doc, Phil says he wants no affiliation whatsoever with Trump or his campaign ... and he rips the President for seemingly making light of the coronavirus pandemic with the song choice.

Phil says he doesn't condone trivializing COVID-19 and says he's worried Trump's gonna stain his reputation if he keeps playing the song at rallies.

He also claims Trump pulled the same stunt back in June at the infamous Tulsa rally, and didn't respond to an earlier cease and desist.

The late Chadwick Boseman put his John Hancock on a copy of the first "Black Panther" comic -- which has skyrocketed in value, and is primed to fetch a pretty penny at auction.

Nate D. Sanders Auctions is putting the rare autographed book up for grabs on Oct. 29, with the opening bid starting at $8,000 -- but it's expected, we're told, to reach anywhere in the ballpark of $25k when it's all said and done.

The reason ... other than Chadwick's signature, Stan Lee himself signed this variant of 'BP' #1, not to mention 'Black Panther' director Ryan Coogler. So, yeah, there's a trifecta thing happening here -- and with Chadwick's recent passing, and Stan's in 2018 ... the comic is worth even more now.

You might notice the cover is different from the OG cover of the first stand-alone "Black Panther" comic from 1976 -- from which this iteration is derived, but with a modern cover. It's also vastly changed from Black Panther's first appearance ever in Fantastic Four #52 ('66).

The one for sale is the Middle East Comic-Con variant -- which got its own art whipped up and featured Stan next to T'Challa. For those of you in the know ... It's been certified a 9.8 rating with the CGC Signature Series rating system. That means it's REALLY valuable.

Big Boi is looking out for some fearless Atlanta poll workers braving the pandemic to help folks cast their ballots early ... he hooked 'em up with free grub.

The Outkast rapper made sure poll workers weren't serving their community on an empty stomach, teaming up with Postmates and World Central Kitchen to serve them over 150 hot meals.

As you can see, Big Boi used the food delivery app to send over several trays full of pan-seared chicken and shrimp tacos. It looks like a pretty nice reward for working the polls, a much higher risk task this year than ever before.

As you know, the coronavirus pandemic is making it tougher for polling locations to find poll workers, but these fine folks are helping keep our democracy running.

Humans are going back to the moon for the fist time in a long time ... and this time a woman will be leaving her footprint on that giant rock in the sky.

NASA just announced a new space mission they're set to embark on over the next few years with the intent of getting boots on the lunar ground by 2024 to study water they discovered recently, and see if it's usable.

The thinking is the H20 -- now found could be a sign of life, 'cause that's technically what an organism on Earth would need to thrive. Then again, it could just be mutant space water, so that's what they're gonna check out.

NASA hasn't announced the crew members' names yet.

There's more to this trip than just agua ... NASA says not only is it going to study the water, but the new U.S. moon missions -- dubbed Artemis -- will also try to establish a long-term presence there by the end of the decade, and use it as a springboard to our neighbor ... MARS, baby!!!

BTW, if you're wondering why we haven't been back to the moon more regularly -- the last time we set foot there was in '72, during the Apollo missions -- the space agency has chalked it up to politics, support and funding, or a lack thereof. It wasn't because they couldn't do it.

In total, humans have been to the moon 6 times. Get ready to put another notch in our space belts.

President Trump's setting up the Black community for success, but they've gotta pull themselves up by the bootstraps ... that's basically what Jared Kushner's now suggesting.

The president's aide, son-in-law, made the remarks Monday morning while discussing Trump's campaign working with Ice Cube. On "Fox & Friends" he claimed Cube was an example of the "groundswell of support" for POTUS in the Black community.

Kushner attributed that support to Trump's policies "that can help people break out of the problems that they're complaining about."

The word "complaining" is already pretty objectionable phrasing. But, then he added this ... "He [Trump] can't want them to be successful more than they [the Black community] want to be successful."

In other words, if Black folks aren't doing well, that's on them ... not the President.

Kushner went on to claim the Black community is realizing Trump is working for them and delivering results, and they want to get on board.

Lil Pump is taking a cue from 50 Cent, and throwing his support behind President Trump ... saying he doesn't wanna pay a dime more in taxes, as Joe Biden's proposing.

The rapper chirped up this weekend in pretty clear terms, posting a pic of him shaking hands with DT -- clearly photoshopped -- and a ringing video endorsement.

As for why ... it seems to be in line with what Fiddy voiced just last week when he endorsed Trump as well -- they're not down to fall into a new tax bracket under Biden's plan. If he wins, JB has said he would try to upend Trump's tax law and get folks who make more than $400k to chip in their fair share -- way more than what they're paying now.

Of course, both 50 and Pump fall into that category, and neither seem willing or eager to give up any more of their wealth to Uncle Sam.

It seems 50 didn't mean it after all -- or he's on the fence. He later said "F*** Trump" when his ex, Chelsea Handler, called him out on 'The Tonight Show.'

She said she'd be willing to give him another go in the bedroom if he changed his tune ... and sure enough, he did. When it comes to LP, though, he sounds a little more serious.

Here's another thing ... Pump is actually catching a ton of flak right now for his endorsement, but more so for his use of the n-word in his video (and in general).

One down, 8 to go for this cat after it jumped out of an apartment that was intentionally set on fire ... and it escaped with not a second to spare.

The cat's harrowing escape -- fully captured on camera -- went down this weekend in Harlem ... as it was clinging to the ledge as the flames intensified right behind it.

Cops were waiting on the ground trying to catch it, but the cat was hesitating until the flames became too intense. With the back half of its body smoking, the cat finally made the leap and managed to land on its feet, of course.

It was quickly corralled, so paramedics could take a closer look.

Cops say the fire was started by a man wanted on domestic violence charges -- he barricaded himself in an apartment on the second floor and set it on fire.

Voters in Philadelphia turned waiting in long lines to cast their ballot into a fun experience ... by mixing in some "Cha Cha Slide."

The good times went down in Philadelphia, as a large group of voters waiting for early voting in the city Saturday passed the time with some group dancing ... moving in unison to the hit by DJ Casper usually reserved for wedding receptions.

The viral video's more than just a random feel-good moment though -- it's part of the work being done by Nelini Stamp of the Working Families Party, who's also the campaign director for Election Defenders.

Nelini and the nonpartisan coalition's goal is to assure that voters are "staying safe and healthy outside of polling places across the country and bringing them some joy."

More importantly, it's aimed to combat voter suppression and intimidation by bringing "Joy to the Polls" ... which kicked off this weekend in Pennsylvania for the inaugural Vote Early Day.

Chilling in the yard with your dog is different, and dangerous, in Alaska -- where an aggressive moose can show up and charge at man's best friend!!!

Brody is the pooch in this video, and you can hear his owner was shocked to see the giant moose suddenly nose-to-nose with Brody ... and frantically tried to back away. Make no mistake, the moose seemed pissed about something.

Check out the clip ... the moose even charged at Brody, which only made the owner yell even harder for the dog to get the hell back. The owner's repeatedly yelling at Brody to get inside.

Dogs in Alaska appear to be too brave for their own good, but Brody and his owner did manage to retreat inside their garage without catching a face full of moose.