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Childish Gambino's "This is America" is a blatant ripoff of a track that sounds similar, has a similar name and was all over the Internet almost 2 years before the rapper's smash hit was released ... so claims a musician in a new lawsuit.

Emelike Nwosuocha, a rapper who performs under the name Kidd Wes, is suing Childish Gambino, AKA Donald Glover, claiming he ripped off his song, "Made in America."

According to Kidd Wes ... he created his track on SoundCloud in September 2016 and released it on YouTube a couple months later, where people could listen to it for free. He says he also registered the song with the U.S Copyright Office in May 2017, and it was set to be the lead single on his upcoming album.

As you likely know ... Gambino's "This is America" was released in 2018, became incredibly popular and went on to win Grammy for Record of the Year.

According to the docs ... Kidd Wes claims the chorus, or hook, of "This is America" is "unmistakably substantially similar, if not practically identical" to his "Made in America."

Wes claims Gambino's "flow" is also substantially similar to his, and points to key lyrics in "Made in America" being similar to the hook's refrain in "This is America," for example:

"Made in America / Flex on the radio / Made me a terrorist / Pessimistic n***as / You should just cherish this"

Compared to this: "This is America / Guns in my area / I got the strap / I gotta carry 'em"

Kidd Wes claims there are also scientific similarities in the 2 tracks, and alleges it's not a coincidence -- he believes he was intentionally ripped off, and he wants major damages.

He's suing Gambino, the co-writers of "This is America," the record labels that put it out, Roc Nation, and even Young Thug ... who sings backup vocals on the track.

The mother of the Florida 6-year-old paddled by her principal had the tables turned on her -- as investigators grilled her kids about alleged neglect at home.

The family's attorney, Brent Probinsky, tells TMZ ... the little girl and 2 of her siblings -- plus a cousin for whom the mom cares -- were yanked out of class Tuesday by officials with the Florida Dept. of Children and Families, and questioned one by one.

Probinsky tells us this was done without the mother's knowledge, and he only learned about it after the fact when the Dept. came to him seeking to talk to the mom.

As for what all the fuss was about -- we're told the kids were asked if their mother is abusive in the home ... to which the children said no. Probinsky says the investigators then told him they wanted to follow up with the mother to ask why she didn't step in and intervene during her daughter's paddling.

Apparently, investigators were acting on a tip about the mom allegedly being neglectful -- but so far, there doesn't appear to be any evidence of that. Probinsky says it's an outrage law enforcement would come after the mom, when the real culprit's on camera in the paddling video.

As Probinsky previously explained -- there's a number of reasons the mom didn't step in ... for one, she's undocumented and was afraid of repercussions.

There was also a language barrier, and the mother didn't know what was about to happen.

Pfizer is pledging to donate thousands of doses of its COVID vaccine to inoculate Olympic athletes in the hopes of saving the Games ... this, in the wake of a new movement in Japan to call the whole thing off.

The pharmaceutical company -- along with its German partner, BioNTech SE -- announced Thursday its plan to get the vaccine to all athletes participating in the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

Vaccinations would begin ASAP in the hopes all athletes would receive their 2nd of 2 doses BEFORE they arrived in Tokyo for the Games, which are set to kick off on July 23.

FYI, the CDC website suggests a 21-day interval between the 1st and 2nd doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The issue ... the AP reports a new petition picking up steam in Japan calling for the games to be canceled out of fear of an outbreak,

The petition, which sports the headline, "Cancel the Tokyo Olympics to Protect Our Lives," reportedly already picked up tens of thousands of signatures in just a few short days.

The concern, obviously, is people flying in from all parts of the world could turn the Games into a super-spreader event and lead to a spike in COVID infections and deaths.

The Pfizer vaccine effort -- if effective -- should help ease those concerns ... but it all boils down to the athletes actually taking the shot.

IOC President Thomas Bach commented on the Pfizer donation -- saying it's "another tool in our toolbox of measures to help make the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 safe and secure for all participants."

Johnny Depp's relationship with George Jung went far beyond their "Blow" connection ... and it's on display in a new docuseries about the late and infamous drug smuggler.

In this clip, obtained by TMZ, Depp calls Jung, AKA Boston George, "one of my favorite people instantly" ... describing their first meeting as the actor was preparing for his role in the film inspired by Jung's life.

Chris Chesson, Executive Producer of "Boston George: Famous Without the Fortune," says they began working on the 5-part series in December 2016, right as a parole violation sent Jung back behind bars for 8 months.

Chris says full production began in July 2017, and the crew filmed with Depp in May 2019. The rights to the completed documentary were purchased by 123 Go Films, which is shopping it to networks and streaming services.

Based on this exclusive clip, and the trailer, it seems like there should be some takers ... especially on the heels of Jung passing away.

Kamaru ain't the only member of the Usman family making noise in the MMA world ...

Meet Mohammed Usman -- Kamaru's younger brother -- who's set to compete in the PFL's $1 million heavyweight tournament ... and turns out, fighting talent runs in the family.

32-year-old Mohammed is 6'2", 265 pounds -- and previously played defensive end at the University of Arizona.

Now, he's focused on MMA -- he's 7-1 as a pro and currently on a 4-fight win streak.

Usman will step into the cage to fight Brandon Sayles on Thursday -- and hopes to score a win to advance to in the $1 million tourney.

Mohammed says he knows his brother's rise to superstardom makes him more of a target -- but he loves the pressure and can't wait to show the world he's a legit contender.

"I'm at a point in my life and my career that I'm a complete fighter," Usman tells TMZ Sports ... "So, I'm gonna go out and put pressure and everything that I want to happen will happen."

Kamaru -- the UFC's reigning welterweight champ -- also believes his bro is the real deal.

"The thing is Mohammed ... he was just a raw, athletic specimen and I’ve got him to commit to it. He’s really putting in the time and the effort right now."

Mohammed says he's got a friendly competition with his big bro when it comes to knockouts ... and since Kamaru obliterated Jorge Masvidal in the 2nd round of their fight, Mo is gunning for a 1st round KO on Thursday.

Los Angeles local Emily Schulman was only 8 years old when she shot to stardom after she landed the role of the curious little girl next door, Harriet Brindle -- who was always getting in the family's business and even fancied Jamie -- in the robotic '80s family sitcom "Small Wonder."

Emily shared the small screen with some iconic actors including Dick Christie and Marla Pennington as the parents, Ted and Joan Lawson, Jerry Supiran as the older brother, Jamie Lawson ... and of course Tiffany Brissette as the adorable android, Voice Input Child Identicant ... also known as Vicki.

Conan O'Brien says non-professional comedians like Elon Musk make perfect 'SNL' hosts ... and funny ones too, so he says viewers might be pleasantly surprised.

We got Conan Wednesday on his way out of the famous L.A. diner Swingers, and he gave us some insight on what Elon and the 'SNL' cast are going through right now. Remember, he was a writer on the show from 1988 to 1991. He revealed it's actually the non-comedians he considered "dream guests" back in the day when he was one of the show's writers.

Conan tells us the fact Elon isn't a comedian or an actor makes him a dream guest -- or at least it did back in his day. Not buying it? Well, watch the clip ... Conan explains his "fish outta water" theory for getting big laughs in sketches.

Our photog tried to get him to suggest some new material for Elon, but Conan's no fool ... and we can't afford his rate.

As for some 'SNL' cast members publicly grousing about Lorne Michaels' decision to have Elon host this weekend -- Conan says a lot sure has changed since his time there.

BTW, we also got Pete Davidson arriving at Rockefeller Center and the funny man sang Elon's praises. Seems he wasn't one of the cast members pissed about working with Elon.

Josh Duggar's friends and family told law enforcement he's dealing with a porn addiction ... according to the feds, who claim his computer was chock full of disturbing images.

The "19 Kids and Counting" star appeared over Zoom for a court hearing Wednesday in his child pornography case. During the hearing, an agent from the Dept. of Homeland Security said Josh's computer had more than 200 images involving naked minors and child sex abuse material. The agent said some of the children were as young as 5.

The feds say witnesses, including friends and family, brought up Josh's alleged addiction to porn in interviews with law enforcement.

However, Josh's defense asked the agent if there's evidence Duggar had looked at the alleged images, and the agent said he hadn't "directly" seen Josh checking out child porn.

TMZ broke the story ... Josh was hit with charges of receiving and possessing child porn following last month's arrest by federal agents in Arkansas. He's pled not guilty.

In Wednesday's court hearing, the feds claimed authorities identified a computer with videos and photos of child porn in May 2019 -- a few months later they claim they connected Josh to the computer using the IP address.

Remember, the Springdale, Arkansas car dealership where Josh works was raided by the feds in November 2019.

DHS agents seized a computer from Josh's office, plus his iPhone and a MacBook from inside an RV during that raid, and the feds say child porn was on the HP computer.

Josh, who is facing up to 20 years behind bars and fines of up to $250k on each count, wants to be released from jail, on bond, pending a trial ... claiming he's too famous to be a flight risk. The judge has yet to rule on that request.

If Mark Zuckerberg thought he could dodge the big decision on whether Donald Trump gets back on Facebook, its independent panel's essentially saying not so fast, Zuck ... according to a leading tech journalist.

Kara Swisher, once dubbed Silicon Valley's most powerful tech journalist, joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday and broke down the decision by Facebook's oversight board to uphold Zuck suspending Trump from the social media platform.

Kara says the board's decision only says Zuckerberg's initial call to ban Trump was fine, but as far as banning him permanently -- it's kicked that decision right back to Zuckerberg. Essentially, they're not gonna do the dirty work for him.

The board's given Facebook some time to sort this out -- but Kara says the mission for Zuck is to establish the companies "rules of the road" when it comes to speech ... for Trump and all politicians. She says only then can the panel decide if FB's rules are fair.

Remember ... it was Zuckerberg who banned Trump from Facebook in the wake of the Capitol riot ... saying it was too great a risk to America for Trump to remain on the platform.

Bill Gates lined his estranged wife's pocket with nearly $2 BILLION the very same day she filed for divorce ... and this revelation is a sign they were working out the property settlement long before the divorce announcement.

The transaction went down like this ... an investment firm controlled by Bill transferred millions of shares in two companies to Melinda Monday, the same day the billionaires announced the end of their marriage.

Bill's investment firm, Cascade Investment LLC, sent Melinda more than 14 million shares of Canadian National Railway Co. and more than 2.9 million shares of AutoNation Inc ... according to docs obtained by TMZ.

Based on Wednesday's stock prices, the shares are worth north of $1.8 billion ... including about $1.53 billion in Canadian National Railway shares and about $310 million on AutoNation shares.

As we first told you ... Melinda filed divorce docs that make it clear there's no prenup.

They signed a separation agreement ahead of the divorce filing, and the stock transfer indicates they are already down the road in dividing assets.

It'll be interesting to see how Bill and Melinda divvy up their assets ... and the billion-dollar stock transfer is the first clue.

Trey Songz walloped a bartender with his fist at a concert, then went right back to watching the show ... so the bartender claims in a new lawsuit.

The singer's being sued for battery by a man who says he was tending bar around midnight at the Hollywood Palladium on May 9, 2019 ... and claims Songz was part of the crowd.

According to the legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the bartender says Songz jumped on the bar to sit and watch the show ... which the bartender insists is against the venue's policy.

The bartender claims Songz ignored his warning that he wasn't allowed on the bar ... so he put his hand on Songz' back to get his attention, and tell him to get down.

That's when Songz allegedly turned around and struck the bartender in the head with a closed fist, looked at the other bartenders blankly, then continued watching the show ... according to the docs.

We did some digging and it seems like Songz was at the Palladium that evening for a Cardi B concert put on by Fashion Nova.

The bartender claims he suffered physical pain and emotional and psychological injury as a result of the alleged attack, and he's suing for damages. We reached out to Trey ... no word back yet.

Tommy Lee's got a new place to call home sweet home ... and it sure is a beaut.

The Mötley Crüe drummer dropped a cool $4.15 million for a new pad in Brentwood. The Japanese-inspired modern estate has 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and it features Zen-like indoor-outdoor living space.

The 4,266-square-foot house offers picturesque canyon views and, talk about rock star livin' ... the swimming pool comes with waterfalls. There's also a koi pond, dining deck, fire pit, BBQ island and garden room

Tommy's kitchen features antique Japanese tansu custom cabinetry and Brazilian mahogany countertops. It's one helluva place where Tommy can relax and unwind, for sure.

Though, it's safe to say that fresh off buying a new property, THIS is still on his mind. Yes, his Calabasas crib is still on the market.

George Jung -- the prolific cocaine smuggler portrayed by Johnny Depp in the movie "Blow" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... George died Wednesday morning at home in the Boston area. The cause of death is currently not known, though he had recently been experiencing liver and kidney failure.

We're told he had been in home hospice care since this past weekend and died with his girlfriend, Ronda, and friend, Roger, by his side. We're told he will be cremated.

George's Twitter account tweeted a quote from the film Wednesday, “May the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face, and the winds of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars. 1942-2021."

"Boston George," as he was known, served 20 years in prison for running drugs. He was released in 2014, but ultimately landed back behind bars just 2 years later for violating his parole by failing to inform his parole officer he would be hitting up San Diego.

He was famous for being part of the Medellin Cartel and helping Pablo Escobar smuggle planeloads of cocaine into the U.S. That was a big deal because, at the time, Escobar's cartel was responsible for distributing 80% of the world's cocaine -- and about 15 tons of blow reportedly came into the U.S. per day ... for a weekly haul of $420 million.

Theater fans rejoice ... Broadway is set to reopen at 100 percent capacity on September 14 after a year and a half closure, so says New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo just made the surprise announcement days after revealing Broadway was not in the state's May 19 reopening plan. He'd stated theaters would need more time to properly get folks back in seats due to the logistics of producing shows at the venues ... but now he says they'll be back in business before fall.

By Sept. 14, it will be 18 full months after Broadway shut down on March 12, 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic became a harsh reality in America.

Both Gov. Cuomo and The Broadway League had previously targeted September as the reopening month ... but now there's an official date.

The Derek Chauvin trial juror who was photographed at an MLK rally last year -- wearing a shirt with the words "Get your knee off our necks" -- will absolutely be a key factor in Chauvin's attempt to get a new trial ... TMZ has learned.

As you know, Chauvin's defense attorney Eric Nelson filed a motion Tuesday requesting a new trial. The docs made no specific mention of the juror, Brandon Mitchell, but did use the words "jury misconduct."

Sources familiar tell us the Mitchell issue is on the table and WILL be addressed during arguments in court to support the motion for a new trial.

If you missed it, Mitchell -- one of the only jurors from the trial who has since spoken out about the guilty verdict -- went to a BLM-organized rally last August in D.C. to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington. Mitchell was photographed there wearing a shirt with MLK's photo and the words ... a pretty clear reference to George Floyd's killing.

Also highly relevant is the fact George's family members spoke at the rally. Now, here's why this could be problematic.

Mitchell told the Star Tribune he answered "no" on the early jury questionnaire when asked 2 questions about attending demonstrations against police brutality -- one specific to Minneapolis, and one asking generally.

Now, Mitchell defended his answers, saying the rally was NOT a protest against police brutality, per se, or even in support of George Floyd, but more so geared toward MLK.

He told the Star Tribune, "I'd never been to D.C. The opportunity to go to D.C., the opportunity to be around thousands and thousands of Black people; I just thought it was a good opportunity to be a part of something."

That's his side of the story, but Chauvin's defense will certainly see it differently -- that Mitchell was an activist who had very clear bias when he became a juror.

Remember ... Mitchell has been very outspoken since the all-guilty verdict came in -- a verdict he says that he and his fellow jurors reached fairly easily ... once they sorted through some legal jargon in the instructions. He also said there was no pressure to vote guilty.

Britney Spears is itching to talk to the judge in her conservatorship case next month, but not to end the conservatorship ... it's all about giving her dad his walking papers.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Britney does not feel trapped in the 13-year-old conservatorship. As one source put it, "She has 99% of the freedom she'd have if she weren't in a conservatorship, and the only thing she's prevented from doing are crazy things, like buying 3 cars at a time [something she tried to do back in the day]."

Our sources say Britney has been free to travel -- she goes to Hawaii fairly often -- and lives her life in L.A. without real restrictions.

We're also told Britney is aware her life was out of control before the conservatorship was put in place, and it created a structure and also replenished her dwindling assets. As one source put it, "She's taken care of and she knows it."

Britney's problem is Jamie. We're told the two don't even speak anymore, and she's been angry at him for a long time over business issues and certain people Jamie embraced on the team ... people Britney doesn't like because she feels they were motivated not by her self-interest but theirs.

We're told Britney wants Jamie out as the co-conservator of her estate, managing her business affairs, and that's what she wants to talk to the judge about. She has no problem with the current conservatorship of her person. As we reported, Jodi Montgomery is now the permanent personal conservator of Britney, and the two get along.

Britney has said she will not perform again as long as Jamie is part of the conservatorship. That said, she's given no indication she wants to go back on stage and, in fact, has said she has other priorities.