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Jake Paul says he's deadly serious about becoming a champion boxer -- and believes he's destined for a showdown with Canelo Alvarez.

Now, don't expect that to happen in the next few months ... Jake knows he's got serious work to do before he's ready to try and step in the ring with the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

But, Paul says he's taking the sport seriously, training hard -- and believes he's on a trajectory to be "the most disruptive boxer in the history of the sport."

Of course, before he fights Canelo ... Paul needs to get through former UFC champ Tyron Woodley when they throw down on August 28.

Jake tells TMZ Sports ... he would like to add another MMA legend to the fight card that night -- Anderson Silva.

Paul says he was incredibly impressed with the 46-year-old's performance against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. ... and would love to see him face off against Roy Jones Jr.

We're told Paul's camp has reached out to both fighters in the hopes of getting them to agree to fight on his undercard. We'll see what happens there.

And, get this ... we're told if those guys agree to a fight, Paul would considering fighting the winner at a future event.

Jake has taken the combat sports world by storm -- he's 3-0 as a pro with knockout victories over MMA star Ben Askren and ex-NBA star Nate Robinson.

Jake says the plan is to continue to take on "more serious opponents" and earn respect as a legitimate boxer. A victory over a respected fighter like Woodley would be huge for him.

As for Canelo, he just broke his last opponent's face -- and possibly ended the guy's career.

So, yeah ... he's not one to be taken lightly.

Canadian triplets Gerry, Leo and Myles Fitzgerald were only 5 years old when they were cast as the scientifically created super baby Sly -- and then Sly's long-lost twin brother Whit who was raised in the real world -- in the 1999 kid comedy "Baby Geniuses."

Gerry, Leo and Myles stuck around Hollywood for a few years for the "Baby Geniuses" 2004 follow-up film "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2" as the potion drinking hero kid, Kahuna.

The stud siblings, who no longer work in the entertainment biz, still live north of the border and play hockey and golf together regularly.

Vanessa Bryant has settled her wrongful death lawsuit against the company that owned the doomed helicopter in the crash that killed Kobe, Gigi and 7 others.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Vanessa's legal team filed a notice of settlement with the court ... but the terms of the settlement are confidential. The court still needs to sign off.

TMZ broke the story ... Vanessa sued Island Express back in February 2020, blaming the helicopter company for the fatal crash that killed her husband and daughter.

In her suit, Vanessa claimed the weather conditions -- an extremely low, blinding fog -- were not conducive to flying ... and she claimed the pilot, Ara George Zobayan, failed to properly assess and monitor the weather before takeoff and during flight.

As you know ... the crash tragically killed Kobe, Gianna, Alyssa Altobelli, John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Payton Chester, Sarah Chester, Christina Mauser and the pilot.

It's not Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers ... no, the NFL player with the top-selling jersey over the last 24 hours is none other than Carl Nassib!!!

According to the ultra-popular fan gear website Fanatics, Nassib's #94 Las Vegas Raiders jersey has been flying off the shelves ever since the D-lineman announced Monday he's gay.

It's unclear the total number of Nassib jerseys that have sold so far on Monday and Tuesday (we're working on it) ... but as the #1 jersey seller in America's most popular sport, it's safe to say A LOT of Nassib units have been moved in the last 24 hours!!

Of course, the support for Nassib since he made his announcement has been overwhelming ... everybody from Saquon Barkley to Roger Goodell to even O.J. Simpson has praised the 28-year-old for coming forward.

In fact, the NFL was so moved by Nassib's announcement and simultaneous charitable donation to The Trevor Project -- an org. established to help prevent suicides in the LGBTQ community -- it agreed Tuesday to match the pass rusher's $100k.

As for Nassib's head coach, Jon Gruden also threw his support behind his player Monday evening ... telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "I learned a long time ago what makes a man different is what makes him great."

Macy Gray says what went down on January 6 is the main reason why she wants to redesign the American flag, because she feels the insurrection violated Old Glory and turned it into a symbol of hate.

The "I Try" singer joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday to elaborate on her controversial call to update the U.S. flag in a way she believes is more inclusive ... including adding 2 stars for D.C. and Puerto Rico and changing the star colors from white to the shades of the melanin scale.

Macy says after the U.S. Capitol was breached on Jan. 6 by Trump-supporting insurrections who used the flag as "their badge and symbol," she feels differently about it ... and thinks many others do too.

For that reason, she seems certain the time is right for an Old Glory overhaul ... and points to the fact that it's already been redesigned 26 times in our nation's history.

Macy says she's never seen the country transform as much as it has the past 2 years -- and not in a good way -- so changing the flag to better represent everyone is her goal. She's hoping the government hears her cry for unity and inclusion.

As we reported ... Gray penned an op-ed last week in which she said the American flag has replaced the Confederate flag as a hate symbol ... due to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

IKEA is under fire after one of its stores in Atlanta allegedly listed fried chicken and watermelon as menu items for its employees to supposedly honor Juneteenth.

The furniture giant reportedly sent an email to employees last week alerting them that "to honor the perseverance of Black Americans and acknowledge the progress yet to be made" it was also going to roll out a special menu.

And that's where IKEA dropped the ball BIG TIME ... because the so-called special menu -- again, for a holiday commemorating the end of slavery -- included fried chicken, watermelon and mac n' cheese ... some of those items, of course, perpetuate racial stereotypes.

An employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told CBS46, "You cannot say serving watermelon on Juneteenth is a soul food menu when you don’t even know the history, they used to feed slaves watermelon during the slave time."

The outrage led to 20 employees calling out from work. Word that workers were furious quickly began to spread at the store and it ultimately reached the store manager ... who sent out another internal email apologizing. The menu was ultimately altered to include cornbread, mashed potatoes and meatloaf.

An anonymous employee reportedly said none of the coworkers who sat down to create the menu was Black, but we reached out to IKEA and a spokesperson refutes that ... saying there were Black co-workers involved, but it offered no further details.

The spokesperson added, "We value our co-workers' voices and changed the menu after receiving feedback that the foods that were selected are not reflective of the deeply meaningful traditional foods historically served as part of Juneteenth celebrations. We got it wrong and we sincerely apologize."

Losing a bunch of money on Dogecoin?? Here's a new investment opportunity -- an autographed ticket from Kobe Bryant's last NBA game is hitting the memorabilia stock market ... and it has the potential to go to the MOOOON!!!

The late NBA legend played his last game on April 13, 2016 ... putting up an iconic 60-point performance against the Utah Jazz.

Now, a ticket stub from that memorable night -- signed by the Black Mamba himself -- is making its way to the Otis investment app ... and folks can get a piece of the history for $10!!!

The ticket is valued at $31,700 and has a PSA VG 3 grade -- only 4 other tickets have ever been graded higher ... so, that's pretty good!!

Bryant memorabilia has skyrocketed in value since his heartbreaking death in Jan. 2020 ... with collectors paying up to 20x more for items in the days following the tragedy.

As we previously reported, the Otis app works just like the stock market -- the ticket will go up for trading once all the shares are sold ... and shareholders will be able to keep or sell their shares.

Tristan Thompson appears to be headed for a legal win in his libel suit against the woman claiming he fathered her child ... the court is leaning toward awarding him a chunk of cash.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the court says it's leaning towards granting the NBA baller a nearly $53k default judgment against Kimberly Alexander.

TMZ broke the story ... Tristan sued Alexander for libel last year and wanted the judge to hit her with $100k in damages, claiming allegations he fathered her child potentially cost him endorsement deals because brands and companies viewed him as a troubled athlete.

According to the docs, the court is leaning towards awarding Tristan around $50k instead of the $100k he was seeking because the judge said he hadn't offered any evidence of losing any specific endorsement deals due to Alexander's allegations.

Tristan's tentative legal win comes on the heels of his latest split from Khloe Kardashian ... as we reported, they called things off after another round of cheating allegations, this time from a woman named Sydney Chase.

Damon Dash is taking the L -- at least for now -- in his attempt to auction off Jay-Z's "Reasonable Doubt" album as an NFT ... but he's not likely to give up just yet.

A source close to the case tells us the court ruled in favor of Roc-A-Fella Tuesday by ruling Damon's prohibited from selling the NFT of Jay's debut studio album, and any planned auctions to do so must be halted.

Of course, the ruling is only temporary, but we're told the federal judge said Jay and Roc-A-Fella's arguments were "deemed credible and correct." That being said, more filings are almost certain to come in the future from Dash's side.

We broke the story ... Roc-A-Fella sued Dash -- one of its cofounders -- claiming he did not have rights to sell "Reasonable Doubt" because the company owns it.

RAF -- repped by powerhouse attorney Alex Spiro -- claimed Damon was trying to cash in on the NFT craze, so they took him to court to stop any potential sale and make him turn over any NFTs he'd already minted.

But, Dash told us the lawsuit wasn't going to stop him and clarified he wasn't just trying to sell Jay's album, but his ENTIRE stake in Roc-A-Fella. Dame claimed Jay-Z lowballed him with an offer to buy out his 1/3 stake in the company ... so he's shopping around.

Chris Brown is under investigation for battery ... and the alleged victim told cops he smacked the back of her head so hard her weave came off!!!

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... police responded to the singer's San Fernando Valley home over the weekend, where a woman claimed Breezy slapped her.

We're told the woman claimed the slap made part of her weave come out ... and police took a battery report and named Chris as the suspect.

Our sources say the alleged victim had no injuries, aside from the allegedly dislodged weave, and no arrests have been made.

It's the second time in as many months cops were called to Chris' pad ... the first being his massive birthday bash in May, which LAPD broke up early in the AM.

We reached out to Chris' camp about the latest incident ... so far, radio silence.

T-Pain says Usher summoned him some years back just to casually let him know he had torpedoed the music biz by popularizing autotune ... which T says sent him into depression.

The 'Buy U a Drank' singer recently told the tale on Netflix's new docuseries 'This Is Pop' -- detailing what he claims was a seriously cold-ass encounter in 2013. Watch how T-Pain describes the alleged put-down ... apparently, they were both flying in the same airplane on the way to an award show, when T says he was called to Mr. Raymond's seat. They exchanged pleasantries, and then T-Pain says Usher laid in.

According to T, Usher believed T-Pain had tainted professional singing for guys (like Usher) who use their natural voice, and he supposedly said it with a straight face.

T-Pain says he was shocked and that, before he knew it, he realized he'd fallen into a depression, which he says lasted 4 years -- something he seems to be attributing to the Usher moment itself. It's a wild story.

Of course, people are jumping to T-Pain's defense in light of this, assuring him he not only did NOT ruin music, but might've actually revolutionized it ... considering every other famous rapper/singer these days uses some form of autotune.

And, for argument's sake ... even if you agree with Usher's sentiment, why break it to someone in that manner, and so randomly??? Seems like a jerk move -- on its face, anyway. We'll see if Usher offers a different version of the story.

Britney Spears doesn't seem to be stressing over her highly anticipated court appearance this week ... she just keeps on dancing.

Just days after Brit told her fans she has "no idea" if she'll ever take the stage to perform again, she busted out some serious moves in a silver bodysuit ... grooving to Prince's "Sexy Motherf***er."

She posted that she was going on a boat for dinner Monday night and asked her followers if she should wear the bodysuit or go with a dress. Spears also revealed she just took a trip to Maui with her boyfriend, Sam Asghari, and didn't want to leave.

Britney had to leave though, because she's due in court Wednesday for her conservatorship case ... where she's planning to testify before the judge, instead of letting her lawyers do the talking.

As we've told you ... Britney's made it clear that she won't be on stage again until her father, Jamie, is no longer in control of the conservatorship, so it's interesting she's answering fan questions about it on IG.

She said, "Will I ever take the stage again? I have no idea. I'm having fun right now. I'm in a transition in my life, and I'm enjoying myself so, that's it."

It's unclear what she means by that, but our sources say as recently as a few weeks ago Britney was not making any moves to launch a tour or plan a show or anything.

Michael Sam -- the first openly gay football player to be drafted by an NFL team -- is supporting Carl Nassib, saying he can't wait to finally see an openly gay NFL player compete in a regular-season game.

Remember, Sam was selected in the 7th round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams after being named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2013.

Despite his talent and potential, Sam didn't make the Rams' regular-season roster -- and was later cut by the Dallas Cowboys. He never played in a regular-season NFL game.

Many have wondered if the roster decisions were more about Sam's sexual orientation than his skill on the football field.

In fact, in 2014 Sam told us straight up he believed he wasn't in the league because he's gay.

"I think I was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year last year," Sam said at the time ... "So, I don't think it had to do with talent."

Now, Sam -- who retired from football in 2015 -- is praising Nassib for coming out publicly and also for his $100,000 donation to The Trevor Project.

FYI, The Trevor Project focuses on suicide prevention in the LGBTQ+ community.

"Carl Nassib thank you for owning your truth and especially your donation to the @TrevorProject," Sam said early Tuesday morning.

"LBGTQ people are more likely to commit suicide than heterosexuals."

Sam continued, "I hope and pray people will take note to this. Thank you again Carl and look forward to seeing you play on the field."

"Friends" star James Michael Tyler -- who famously played Gunther -- says keeping silent about his stage 4 cancer diagnosis during the reunion show was the right thing to do for the show's fans and his costars.

James explains he chose to join the HBO Max special by Zoom, instead of sitting on the couch with the rest of the cast, "because I didn't wanna bring a downer on it, you know? I didn't want to be like, 'Oh, and by the way, Gunther has cancer.'"

The beloved actor also revealed Tuesday on "Today" that his prostate cancer -- diagnosed back in September 2018 -- has, unfortunately, spread to his bones and left him paralyzed from the waist down.

James says the producers of the show have known about his diagnosis for a long time -- but it sounds like the cast didn't know during the taping, but said they know now.

When asked what he would have done differently ... James says he would have listened to his wife and gone in earlier for a medical checkup, and maybe it could have been caught sooner.

James choked back tears ... imploring viewers to get a basic exam and ask for a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test. He says when caught early, it's 99 percent treatable. He shared the same message with the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

James, of course, had a memorable run on the show -- he appeared in 150 episodes as the super sprung yet witty barista at Central Perk.

Billie Eilish is both apologizing for and clarifying a recent video that surfaced of the singer using an Asian slur and seemingly mocking Asian accents ... saying the clip isn't entirely as it appears.

Eilish came under fire last week after a TikTok showed her mouthing the Asian slur "c***k" as she sang along to Tyler, the Creator's song, "Fish." The song's entire verse is, "Slip it in her drink and in the blink, of an eye, I can make a white girl look c***k."

The mashed-up video then shows Eilish speaking gibberish, which many believed to be her mocking an Asian accent.

In an apology Monday, Billie said the video was from when she was 13 or 14, "I mouthed a word from a song that at the time I didn't know was a derogatory term used against members of the Asian community. I am appalled and embarrassed and want to barf that I ever mouthed along to that word."

She says the song was the only time she had ever heard that word, and it was never used by a member of her family or anyone else around her.

As for the second part of the clip, Billie says she was absolutely in no way mocking Asian accents, and it was simply a language she made up -- using it with pets, friends and family -- she says, "Regardless of how it was interpreted, I did not mean for any of my actions to have caused hurt to others and it absolutely breaks my heart that it is being labeled now in a way that might cause pain to people hearing it."

VP Kamala Harris didn't rip Nina Simone's family from her estate, as the late singer's kin claim ... at least according to a business associate of Nina's, who claims Kamala was ensuring Nina's vision for her trust was realized.

Here's the deal ... Nina's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, and granddaughter, RéAnna Simone Kelly, are ripping Harris -- then-CA Attorney General -- for allegedly icing them out of Nina's estate, but legal docs seem to tell a different story.

According to Nina's will, obtained by TMZ, Nina put the bulk of her estate assets into a charitable trust to benefit the musical education of Black African children from Ghana, Liberia and South Africa.

The docs show Nina named South African singer Miriam Makeba as the trustee, and if Miriam was unable to act as trustee, MM could appoint a successor to continue to run the trust for the benefit of Black African children.

As you know ... Nina died in 2003, and Lisa was ultimately put in charge of her estate and trust. Later, in 2013, she was accused of misappropriating funds tied to the charitable trust.

That's when AG Harris and her office got involved. In the end, they reached a settlement where Lisa relinquished the rights to Nina's work and stepped away from the role.

While Nina's descendants are ticked off, the way the icon's business associate sees it ... Kamala played it by the letter of Simone's will, and carried out her very clear wishes.