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Pop Smoke's tragic death came as a devastating shock to his family ... who are now heavily involved in trying to solve the who, what, why and how of the rapper's murder.

Family sources tell TMZ ... Pop Smoke's loved ones, who live in NYC, beelined it to the airport to fly to LAX and headed to the hospital after getting word he'd been shot.

We're told the family is at a loss trying to understand what happened -- nothing makes sense to them.

Our family sources say they had no clue that Pop Smoke had any enemies in L.A. They also don't believe someone would have followed him from New York to L.A. Since he spent so much time on the East Coast, if someone there wanted to harm him, they would have done it there.

Our sources say family members have personally questioned friends and witnesses, who were at the Hollywood Hills house before the shooting, to try to gather evidence ... and they want to see security footage.

We broke the story ... surveillance video suggests Pop Smoke's murder was a target hit and not a robbery gone wrong, a notion with which the family is struggling.

As far as the family knows, Smoke was in L.A. to focus on promoting his new mixtape which had just dropped, and to relax a bit before going on tour in March.

As we reported, he was killed Wednesday morning after multiple shots were fired inside his home and they only struck Pop Smoke, who was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Our sources say just like law enforcement ... the rapper's family is in full investigation mode, and won't stop until they get some answers.

John Travolta sharing a stage with Pitbull at a Latin music awards show definitely sounds like a dream, but pinch yourself, 'cause it really happened ... and it was kinda glorious to see.

The rapper emceed Premio Lo Nuestro 2020 Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami but playing host wasn't all he was up to that night. He also performed a medley of his greatest hits ... and among his performances included "3 to Tango."

Travolta, of course, stars in the "3 to Tango" music video ... which only shows the back of John's head most of the time until the big reveal at the end. So, when Travolta joined Pitbull on stage, the crowd naturally ate it up.

It wasn't quite "Saturday Night Fever" but Travolta still danced his ass off, and even stuck around and grabbed a mic for Pitbull's "Get Ready" performance.

Pitbull -- winner of 7 'PLN' awards -- also brought out Chesca and Lil Jon to perform "Cinco de Mayo."

Amanda Bynes' engagement ring is an Amazon bargain ... and her family is going to block her from tying the knot.

Sources close to the family tell TMZ ... Amanda will never legally marry her fiancee, Paul Michael, because her mother holds the keys to marriage and she doesn't approve of her daughter's engagement.

Amanda's mother is her conservator, and we're told Amanda cannot get married without her conservator's consent. Our sources say the family feels it's not in her best interest to be married -- they haven't met Paul -- so a wedding ain't happening.

As for the engagement ring ... our sources say Paul bought it off Amazon for $49, and Amanda is telling those around her the ring is NOT a real diamond and she's fine with a fake.

As you know ... Amanda met Paul in AA and they've only been dating for a few months. She introduced him to her fans on social media by calling him "drop-dead gorgeous" and the "best person on the face of the Earth." She also says they've both been sober for over a year.

Our sources say her family believes Paul doesn't have a job. Amanda had a boyfriend right before him, and we're told her family thinks he might be a rebound.

Vinny from "Jersey Shore" sure is a tease, but luckily for the ladies -- and fellas -- out there, he aims to please ... 'cause he's returning to his Chippendales gig to quench everyone's thirst.

The self-proclaimed Keto Guido will embark on a 7-week engagement beginning April 24 through June 7 at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. He'll perform 3 nights a week during that run ... and it's easy to see why they've scheduled him for multiple nights a week.

The self-proclaimed Keto Guido has been great for Chippendales' bottom line after not one but TWO sold-out engagements in 2019. Since his first performance, Chippendales has seen huge demand for him to return.

You'll recall Vinny let it all hang out in May 2019 in a steamy shower scene. He returned for a 6-week engagement later that summer. And, not long after he got Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino to get onstage himself ... but only as a judge. Baby steps.

Josie Canseco is back in the single lane ... she and Logan Paul broke up after about a month of dating, but not because of his "date" with his brother's ex, Tana Mongeau.

Sources close to the former couple tell TMZ ... Josie and Logan called it quits about a week ago, this after she completely stopped talking to him. Guys aren't the only ones who ghost.

It was a pretty short relationship ... as we first told you, Josie and Logan only started dating last month after years of running in the same friend circles.

Logan and Tana raised eyebrows this week by going on a very visible "date" in Los Angeles, but our sources say Jake Paul's ex is NOT the reason Josie stopped talking to Logan.

We're told Josie and Logan broke things off BEFORE photos of him with Tana surfaced, so she's no home-wrecker.

Our sources say Josie is telling friends Logan just wasn't the one for her, and she worries he simply used her for publicity. We're told Josie knows about Logan's photos with Tana and feels they are just hanging out as a publicity stunt and aren't actually into each other.

Josie's hunch about Logan and Tana is correct ... they just admitted the whole thing is a ruse. Expert trolls, those two. Remember her fake marriage to Jake?!?

Now, Logan joins a growing list of Josie's famous exes, along with Brody Jenner and Mike Stud.

Forget laying low on vacation ... Kawhi Leonard strolled around Cabo IN HIS OWN JERSEY during the NBA All-Star break -- and TMZ Sports has the pics!!

The L.A. Clippers superstar was down in Mexico this week hitting the town with his GF, Kishele Shipley ... and locals tell us the Finals MVP was cool as hell.

But, most importantly, they noticed his dope tank ... which featured one of his famous slogans, "Don't be mad" -- as well as his own jersey number AND name!

Yeah, pretty baller move.

We're told Kawhi was enjoying the Mexico sun ... and he even appeared to get in a little boating while in town!!

Of course ... Kawhi is no stranger to a good time on off weeks -- remember, the NBA star hit a floaty boat on the open seas near Barbados back in June after his Raptors championship.

But, it's back to reality this weekend for the 28-year-old ... the Clips play the Kings on Saturday afternoon at Staples.

This kid grew up to be a successful dancer, songwriter and rapper. He's also got an MTV Award but it's got nothing to do with any of what was just mentioned. A clue to his first movie would be a dead giveaway ... so here are some other clues to make this tougher:

This kid was born in Malibu to famous parents. He's 21 years old now and has a budding music career. He hasn't acted as of late, but it's his acting chops that burst him onto the scene. You probably remember him from "The Pursuit of Happyness" and the remake of "The Karate Kid."

Donald Trump is mocking the historic Oscars wins for "Parasite" ... and the movie studio is clapping back in epic fashion, calling the President illiterate!!!

The President just launched a sneak attack against "Parasite" during his Thursday campaign rally in Colorado, wondering how the hell a movie outta South Korea took home the Academy Award for Best Picture ... among its four Oscars wins.

It didn't take long for the studio behind the flick to fire back on social media. NEON says it can understand why he couldn't follow along with the English subtitles, because Trump "can't read." Sick burn!!!

Trump's scratching his head over Hollywood in general ... wondering when Tinseltown is gonna drop some movies like "Gone With The Wind." Seriously, he went there.

But, Trump's directing most of his frustration towards South Korea, ripping the Asian nation for giving the U.S. problems with trade and wondering why "Parasite" became the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture.

Corey Feldman allegedly tried to bring a Taser on an airplane in New York ... and he almost got arrested.

Sources close to "The Goonies" star tell TMZ ... Corey was detained Thursday at LaGuardia Airport, after going through a security checkpoint with a Taser.

We're told Corey always travels with a Taser ... which he normally puts in his checked luggage. He's taken it to England and Canada with no issues, but didn't remember he had it on him until it was too late.

Our sources say when Corey went through security, TSA swooped in and detained him. Newsflash for Corey, it's illegal to have a Taser in your carry-on.

Corey was in New York promoting his upcoming documentary, and after a visit to XM Radio HQ, he and his wife headed for LaGuardia.

The mix up proved costly for Corey, even though he wasn't arrested. We're told he had to buy some luggage to pack the Taser and check it, but he missed his flight.

Joaquin Phoenix didn't wait long to walk the walk after mentioning the plight of mother cows and their babies in his Best Actor speech at the Academy Awards ... and a mama and her calf are living happily together because of it.

The "Joker" star visited a slaughterhouse run by Manning Beef in Pico Rivera, CA the day after the Oscars to have a sit-down talk with Anthony Di Maria, president and CEO of the company ... and it led to something remarkable.

Though the 2 butted heads over the nature of the industry, Phoenix and Di Maria found some common ground ... and the actor helped LA Animal Save liberate a mother cow and her newborn calf, a daughter.

Joaquin's seen carrying the baby cow away from the holding area where she was born and onto a trailer with her mom. The bovine family will now be able to live and grow together at a Farm Sanctuary location in northern L.A. County ... and they now have names.

Phoenix named the mama cow, Liberty, and the calf, Indigo.

Joaquin says ... "I never thought I’d find friendship in a slaughterhouse, but meeting Anthony and opening my heart to his, I realize we might have more in common than we do differences. Without his act of kindness, Liberty and her baby calf, Indigo, would have met a terrible demise."

He adds that he and animal rights activists like him will continue to "fight for the liberation of all animals who suffer in these oppressive systems" ... but he's happy about this victory.

Liberty and Indigo are the fifth set of mother and child cows saved by LA Animal Save ... but they're aiming for many more.

This isn't a first for Phoenix either. As we reported ... he passed on the SAG Awards after-parties last month and instead headed to a slaughterhouse, where he comforted trucks full of pigs on their way to be killed.

Joaquin joined dozens of protesters who congregate there twice a week, calling their demonstrations "pig vigils." Of course, Phoenix also reportedly convinced the Hollywood Foreign Press to serve an all-vegan menu at the Golden Globes.

Forget elephants and donkeys, David Letterman says our choice for President could come down to this ... do we want a wealthy man who eats like a pig, or one who eats like a bird?!?

We got Letterman Thursday in Los Angeles after lunch at Canter's Deli, and our guy asks which presidential candidate is more fun to have dinner with, Donald Trump or Michael Bloomberg???

Dave knows both men well, and he tells us why Trump and Bloomberg are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the dinner table.

Sorry Mike, Letterman says you're coming up short as far as appetites go. You've seen Bloomberg eat ice cream, right?!?

It's pretty funny ... Letterman launches into one of his classic bits when we try to grill him about the candidate with the gift of gab ... but he's definitely down for our table talk.

One thing both sides can agree on ... hors d'oeuvres don't belong near a toilet!!!

Lauren London's making it perfectly clear she's NOT dating Diddy or anyone else for that matter ... 'cause it'll be her and Nipsey Hussle 'til the end of time.

Lauren took to Instagram Thursday and posted a picture of the late rapper and captioned it "Still His! King Ermias! Never Forget!" And, for those who didn't get the message the first time she took it a step further and said, "Stop f***ing playing with me and my name. Now let me get back to healing."

The actress felt compelled to quash rumors she and Diddy are dating after Diddy reportedly posted -- and then deleted -- a couple of black and white pics of him and Lauren.

Diddy initially captioned the Instagram pics "#lostfiles ... @laurenlondon❤️." The pics, BTW, were taken at Jay-Z's Roc Nation Pre-Grammy brunch last month. Reports started to surface not long after speculating Diddy and Lauren were a thing. But, Lauren's not about to have it.

She also posted on her Instagram Story to make it crystal clear ... it's her and Nipsey forever.

For the record, Diddy eventually re-posted his pic with Lauren on his Instagram Story and captioned it "More Lost Files ... Me & My Sister @laurenlondon at the @rocnation brunch."

WORST POLE VAULTING INJURY EVER?!!?! Maybe ...

"I could see right into my scrotum."

That's probably the last thing you wanna say after a pole vault training sesh ... but it's exactly how BYU athlete Zach McWhorter is describing his pole vs. balls injury.

The 21-year-old was having a pretty typical training session at the BYU track -- recording it to post on TikTok -- when disaster struck.

At first, it seemed like a standard jump ... but McWhorter's pole didn't fall the way it supposed to and essentially impaled his scrotum.

YOWWWCH.

McWhorter told BuzzFeed he was immediately rushed to the hospital by his dad/coach/urologist ... where he needed 18 STITCHES to get patched up.

Luckily, the dude says he only has a scar from the incident. As for any permanent damage, McWhorter says "One day, we'll find out if they function or not."

Ice up, Zach. And, maybe wear a cup from now on??

Sy Sperling -- the founder and president of Hair Club for Men known for his TV commercials in the '80s and '90s -- has died in Florida.

Sperling died in Boca Raton after a lengthy illness ... according to his spokeswoman, Terri Lynn.

Sy's career path began being forged in the late '60s when he was a balding swimming pool salesman in New York City who'd grown tired of wearing toupees.

So, he took $10k in credit card debt to open a Madison Avenue salon and used a hair weaving technique he learned from a stylist to implement a system where a nylon mesh cap was glued to a person's scalp ... allowing their hair to grow through it, then additional matching hair purchased from women was woven into the mesh.

Sounds pretty odd, but business took off ... just not to the point where Sperling wanted it to be. Enter, the TV commercials.

Sy began advertising his hair replacement system on TV and went national in 1982, with spots running 400 times daily on late-night TV. They reportedly cost $12 million a year but generated 10,000 calls a month.

The ads featured before-and-after photos of happy customers, but ended with Sperling himself proclaiming ... "I'm not only the Hair Club president, but I'm also a client." They became a cultural phenomenon almost instantly.

The company's now simply referred to as Hair Club and began offering services for women in 1995. Sy retired in 2000 after selling the company for $45 mil. It's helped more than 600,000 clients restore their hair over the years.

Sperling is survived by his wife and 2 kids.

He was 78.

Kevin Hart wants the judge to throw out his sex tape lawsuit ... just like he says the legal papers were thrown out of a car window and left on his driveway.

According to new legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the actor claims he was not properly served in the case filed against him by Montia Sabbag ... Hart's alleged sex tape partner who sued him for $60 million, claiming he and his friend conspired to tape their encounter.

Hart wants the suit dismissed because he claims the process server "simply threw a set of papers out of a car window in view of a security guard" outside the gate of his home.

The security guard's photos of the drive-by drop-off appear to show the legal papers lying on the ground outside the server's car. The security guard claims he doesn't live at Hart's residence, and wasn't authorized to accept service of a legal complaint.

Due to the improper service ... Hart wants the judge to dismiss the case.

We broke the story ... Sabbag sued Kevin back in September, alleging her 2017 encounter with him in a Vegas hotel room was all planned by Hart and J.T. Jackson -- his friend who was later charged for extortion.

JaVale McGee's music career has reached Justin Bieber status ... 'cause the L.A. Lakers star helped write and produce a song on the Biebs' new album!!

Yes, you read that correctly -- the 7-foot tall NBA center is a big-time music producer in his free time ... and officially got credit for his role in making Bieber's song, "Available," on his new project, "Changes."

Of course, McGee has dabbled in music for years ... and has worked with old Lakers teammates like Lonzo Ball in the studio in the past.

But, this is the first time McGee -- going by the pseudonym, "Pierre" -- has worked with someone on JB's level.

McGee has said in the past he's using his platform as an NBA player to push his music career ... and it's clearly working. It's Justin freakin' Bieber we're talking about here.

Pierre spoke about the opportunity, saying "I was blessed to write and produce on the song 'Available'! 2020 is about elevation and growth and following your dreams and this has always been one of mine to be a producer!"

As for the album ... it's well on its way top of the R&B charts after dropping on Valentine's Day.

McGee already has 2 NBA titles -- is a Grammy next?!?