TMZ.com Home

A surgeon, who's also a Delta Sigma Theta sorority member, is apologizing for posting pics from a patient's procedure ... all to plug a historic day for her sorority.

Dr. Nicole E. Williams ruffled a lot of feathers by sharing photos and info about the surgery she performed on January 13 -- she boasted about removing 22 fibroids from a patient who's a member of another sorority ... Alpha Kappa Alpha. The photos showed the fibroids on a table next to Dr. Williams who was making the Delta hand signal to rep her sorority.

That day also happened to be founders day for Delta Sigma Theta, so the good doc thought she'd show some pride -- but it totally backfired as she faced swift online backlash.

Dr. Williams has now deleted the original post and backtracked, saying ... "A terrible decision was made. I unequivocally and prayerfully apologize for any hurt I may have caused."

A lot of the outrage came from folks who felt she was violating a patient's privacy simply to promote her sorority.

She did provide a history lesson in the original post, pointing out the 22 members who founded DST in 1913 had broken off from Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

LeBron James is quickly getting over the Lakers' struggles and focusing on the positives ... by losing his mind over his wife's latest Instagram post.

The Lakers are below .500 with a 21-22 record so far this season, forcing the King to publicly apologize via social media on Sunday.

While LBJ's social media activity seemed like a downer, it got much better once Savannah posted a gorgeous look on Instagram Sunday night ... with Bron gushing multiple times over the shot.

"When you walked downstairs I said to myself 'GODDAMN!!! That’s MINE'🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥," LBJ said in response to Savannah's red hair and black outfit.

"SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL Queen 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍"

James didn't stop there ... he reposted the video on his own IG, saying, "GODDESS QUEEN 👸🏾!!"

"Lucky Black Man I am. SHEESH she’s BAD!!," he added. "It’s gone be a great week when you start it off with a Monday like this!"

Of course, LeBron and Savannah -- who were were high school sweethearts -- got married in 2013 and have three kids together ... Bronny, Bryce and Zhuri.

Vic Mensa's having a bad trip -- back from Africa, that is -- because U.S. Customs Agents have him in custody for allegedly returning with a stash of mushrooms ... TMZ has learned.

The rapper was taken into custody Saturday at Dulles International Airport outside D.C. ... where he'd just returned from Ghana. According to our law enforcement sources, Vic was pulled aside for a secondary search, and that's when agents found what they believe are shrooms.

We're told the feds are still testing the substance they allegedly found to confirm it is what they think it is.

Vic was booked for felony narcotics possession. Fun fact: Psilocybin (the scientific name for shrooms) remains a Schedule I substance under federal law -- although there's now a push in some states to legalize it ... and they've already been decriminalized in some communities.

Vic had been hanging in Ghana with Chance the Rapper and lots of people in high places. The duo posed for pics with President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The Chicago-born and raised artists had been traveling around Africa for a couple weeks to encourage tourism.

We've reached out to Vic's reps, but no word back yet.

Stick a fork in it -- Novak Djokovic's Australian Open vaccine drama is officially over for now ... as the tennis superstar landed back in Serbia after getting deported from Down Under.

34-year-old ND touched down in Belgrade on Monday and was met by a small group of fans ... with one sneaking in a selfie with the controversial player.

As we previously reported, the 9-time champ fought like hell to be able to defend his title in 2022 ... but his vaccine status eventually led to his one-way ticket outta Australia.

Now, as Novak was set to take the court on Monday ... he's back home and will be forced to watch from the couch.

While his AO hopes have disappeared, Djokovic now has the French Open to worry about in May. French officials recently announced a new law requiring the jab in order to attend sports events would not have exceptions ... meaning Novak could run into the same issue again.

Kylie Jenner got another layer of protection after a judge ordered an obsessed fan to stay clear of her for 5 years.

Kylie's been dogged by a guy who's been showing up at her Holmby Hills home over the last year. He was arrested in December after violating a temporary restraining order by going to her house and buzzing the gate.

Kylie's lawyer, Shawn Holley, filed legal docs to make the restraining order permanent, and the judge obliged ... so the fan is prohibited from going near Kylie or otherwise harassing her.

It's not the only obsessed fan Kylie's dealing with. Another guy showed up near Kylie's house, flowers in hand, to propose to her. He ended up on a neighbor's property by mistake and was arrested for misdemeanor trespass.

Until recently, you probably couldn't get your hands on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s handwritten draft of his book, but now things have changed ... if you have $225,000 that is!

That's right. Draft pages from the civil rights icon's book "Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story” are up for sale on momentsintime.com. They'd previously been a part of a private collection.

The book was first published back in 1958 when Dr. King was 29, and the handwritten pages are from chapter 3. Dr. King writes about the significance of the emerging civil rights moment, chronicling how Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama back in '55.

In the handwritten draft, King writes about the bus boycott ... the first large-scale protest against segregation. King wrote, "After a series of telephone calls back and forth ... they agreed that the Negroes should boycott the buses."

Fans from all over the nation are gearing up for what would've been Betty White's 100th birthday ... joining in on a challenge encouraging fans to spread the love to animals in need and donate to local orgs.

Brittany Vizcarra from Paw Works joined us on TMZ live to pitch the "Betty White Challenge." As you know, Betty was a fierce animal rights advocate who spent her adult life tirelessly working for animal rights orgs. Brittany says this challenge is about everybody doing more -- just like Betty -- by caring for abandoned and abused animals.

Paw Works is an animal rescue org that places unwanted animals in L.A. shelters into loving homes.

Since the Betty White challenge has taken off on social media, some orgs have seen an uptick in donations ... and with the help of people like Brittany, those donations are bound to pour in all over the U.S., as the 17th approaches.

Brittany says it's super simple to "be more like Betty" ... folks can volunteer, adopt, foster or find any other way to get involved.

The robe worn by Muhammad Ali in the leadup to his famous 1965 fight with Sonny Liston is up for auction ... and TMZ Sports has learned it's such a rare piece of boxing history, it could sell for over $500,000.

Ali donned the garment on his way to the ring in his rematch with Liston -- which many consider one of the most memorable fights ever.

Ali not only knocked out Liston in iconic fashion in the ring (you've no doubt seen the picture of the KO at this point) ... but the fight also marked the first time he had boxed under the name Muhammad Ali.

You'll recall, following his first match with Liston in 1964, Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay, calling it "a slave name." He never fought using the moniker again.

For the rematch with Liston a year later, just before he won in convincing fashion, Ali donned a white piece with "Muhammad Ali" emblazoned on the back in red letters.

Montana native Vann Gravage was only 7 years old when he was cast as the cute kid version of the mischievous younger brother Paul Maclean -- who lives a life of fly fishing and adventure-seeking alongside his older brother Norman Maclean -- in Robert Redford's Academy Award-winning 1992 film "A River Runs Through It."

The coming of age classic is packed with A-list actors including Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the young version of the big bro, Norman, Craig Sheffer as the adult Dartmouth grad who returns home, Norman Maclean ... and of course Brad Pitt as the hometown big fish and gambler and grown-up version of, Paul Maclean.

Novak Djokovic won't participate in the Australia Open after all ... he's finally been deported.

The tennis star got the boot Sunday after a 3-judge panel rejected his appeal to stay in the country after Aussie Immigration Minister Alex Hawke revoked his visa for a second time ... now under a "health and good order" rationale. He was scheduled to start playing Monday.

Djokovic left Australia on a plane to Dubai earlier in the day ... but it's unclear where his final destination lies. Serbia's Prime Minister called the decision "scandalous" ... and ND said he was disappointed as well.

One of Djokovic's arguments for being allowed to stay -- even though he's unvaccinated, which is a requirement for anyone traveling down under right now -- was that kicking him out would only fan anti-vaxx sentiments, antithetical to what the Aussie government wants.

The court wasn't buying that though ... and ruled against him. This, of course, comes after Djokovic was cut loose earlier last week when a judge found the government acted too hastily in revoking his visa/detaining him the first time ... but the government struck again under different reasoning the 2nd time -- citing public safety/interest.

Djokovic was given a medical exemption to begin with by two different tennis bodies, because he'd caught COVID in December -- but in the end, the Australian government overrode that ... pointing that, in and of itself, wasn't a loophole that could be allowed on their watch.

Leah Remini says her enrollment at NYU stands in stark contrast to the education she says she was afforded growing up as a Scientologist -- or a staggering lack thereof, rather.

The actress peeled back even more layers to the religion -- one which she says she used to be deeply involved in, starting from a very young age -- in a long Twitter thread Sunday ... which ended with gratitude for being able to break free and obtain proper schooling.

Leah starts by describing an old headshot she submitted at 16, explaining how she had to start working very early to support herself and her family ... which she insists was necessary due to her fam's affiliation with the church of Scientology.

She claims the church drained them of their time, attention and, most importantly, their resources. And not just that, but she alleges she was starved from a formal, normal education for years throughout her youth ... something she says is the direct result of the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard.

LR goes on to say her entire life revolved around Scientology ... down to her circle of friends, and even employers, including her first agent. As she's indicated many times over the years, she says she felt suffocated by the church ... and now says she had to get into showbiz merely to survive, which doesn't sound like it was easy.

Leah describes getting turned down time and again, until finally breaking through. Eventually, she says she was able to escape Scientology altogether, and now looks back as a current NYU undergrad in awe of what she's been able to accomplish without them on her back.

The 'King of Queens' star got accepted at the university last year at the ripe age of 50 ... and it would seem things are going well on that front.

Kanye West's Kardashian drama has folks eyeing something Amber Rose said years ago ... but she's here to speak for herself on the issue, instead of letting the past do the talking.

Ye's ex took to Instagram Sunday after a 2015 tweet of hers resurfaced this weekend and went viral ... one in which she wrote at the time, "@kanyewest I'll leave that up to the Kartrashians to humiliate u when they're done with u."

The harsh message was in response to a back and forth Kanye and her were having back then -- this after he dissed her on 'The Breakfast Club' by saying he had to take 30 showers to rid himself of her, well aura ... just to be able to move on and get with Kim.

In light of the nasty accusations flying amid Kanye and Kim's divorce today, the Internet gleefully pulled this old thing out of the grave ... and let the jokes fly, at the expense of Ye and Kardashians.

But Amber doesn't want anything to do with that ... so says the woman herself. She says while never got an apology for Kanye's mean showers remark, AR says she's not sulking in 2015 anymore ... and even acknowledges what she said about Kim and co. was wrong.

She says a lot of good came out of those bitter times, including the creation of the Slut Walk -- something she started to help women feel unashamed of their sexuality. Amber also writes, "Kim nor her sisters deserved that tweet and y'all shouldn't co-sign that either."

Prince and everything in his orbit at the time of his death is worth a pretty penny -- at least according to Uncle Sam, who's finally settled on a price tag ... and it's in the 9 digits.

The IRS has come to terms with the administrator of Prince's estate, Comerica Bank & Trust, after years of fighting about what exactly the late artist's pot of assets should be valued at ... and the figure they all landed at stands at $156.4 million -- per the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

This number is one that Prince's heirs -- surviving siblings and/or their families -- have also agreed to, BTW ... and not just that, but the Minnesota Dept. of Revenue also signed off.

Of course, $156M is helluva lot more than what Comerica had initially estimated the estate to be worth ... just $82.3 million, which the IRS pushed back on with ferocity in court -- as they argued it oughta be priced north of $160 mil, a figure that would've made taxes due back to them upon distribution balloon into the tens of millions.

In the end ... it appears the IRS was more right than wrong on their numbers, at least on the face of things. And, indeed, the taxes the estate has to pay out will be significant.

With that said, Comerica reportedly filed docs last week acknowledging the settlement was "fair and reasonable," but also insisted they would've prevailed at a would-be trial if the family wanted to press the issue ... but it seems they wanted this to be over and done with.

If you thought all this talk of digital goods and wealth was just some sort of nerdy fad, think again -- because the retail market space is going all in on VR ... including Walmart.

The big-box behemoth has reportedly filed a number of trademark apps in recent months seeking to gain exclusive rights to sell virtual goods on their digital shelves -- and we're not just talking about their website either. Sounds like Walmart is ramping up for a full-blown online experience, where their customers can actually own stuff ... within this dimension itself.

Per CNBC, 7 separate applications were filed of late ... and in addition to being able to hawk Walmart-related products in this forthcoming virtual reality, they're also apparently gunning to offer their own lines of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and even a unique cryptocurrency.

No word on what those tokens might look like ($5 DVD bin NFT, perhaps?) or when all this is supposed to be rolled out ... but it seems they're getting their 4D ducks in a row for what most everyone in Corporate America is scrambling for ... a seat at the metaphysical table.

Several different companies have been doing the exact same thing recently -- including other big shots like Nike (which is said to be developing a VR venture called "Nikeland"), Gap, Under Armor and even smaller outfits like Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie and Ralph Lauren.

Essentially, everyone took Zuckerberg's announcement about the metaverse last year and ran with it ... looking to protect their brand within this new frontier ... and to make money there too, obviously, if they can. So far, it seems to be a very popular/lucrative endeavor.

Funny enough, Walmart actually had a vision for what an augmented shopping reality might look like in their cyberworld about 5 years ago, when they commissioned a tech company called Mutual Mobile to create a demo of Walmart in the metaverse ... before that term was even a thing.

Farrah Abraham was arrested Saturday night, after allegedly slapping a security guard at a club ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources say, Farrah allegedly slapped a security guard at Grandmaster Records in Hollywood, where she and a friend were partying. An eyewitness tells TMZ someone in the club allegedly assaulted them ... someone described as a Farrah "hater."

Farrah allegedly got belligerent and was asked to leave the club but refused. At some point, she allegedly slapped the guard.

We're told initially cops weren't called. Rather, someone called for paramedics and when they arrived they say someone -- presumably Farrah -- was so belligerent they called the cops for backup.

Someone made a citizen's arrest -- we're assuming it's the security guard but we haven't confirmed. Farrah was taken into custody and released shortly thereafter.

No one was injured. No word on whether Farrah will be charged.

BTW ... it's not the first time Farrah was arrested for allegedly hitting someone who asked her to leave. Back in 2018, she was busted after allegedly striking an employee at the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She has been banned from there as a result.

A gunman has reportedly taken several people hostage at a synagogue in Texas, and his demands are simple ... free his sister, who was once suspected of terrorist activities.

According to ABC's Aaron Katersky, the armed man who wandered into the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville Saturday has allegedly been ID'd as Muhammad Siddiqui, whom he says is claiming to be the brother of convicted felon Aafia Siddiqui.

She was sent to prison in 2010 after being found guilty of attempted murder of a U.S. military officer in Afghanistan -- among a slew of other charges -- and is serving out an 86-year sentence in the Fort Worth area. She's alleged to have had ties with al-Qaeda over the years ... and has been placed on federal law enforcement terrorism watch lists in the past.

Per Katersky, the gunman is demanding her release. Other reports say the perp claims to be armed with bombs, among other weapons ... the full extent of which is still unknown. Local law enforcement has descended on the scene to negotiate, as has the FBI.

Even crazier ... there was apparently a bar-mitzvah going on when the guy busted in, which was being live-streamed to the synagogue's FB account ... a stream that has since been deactivated. Still, some of the snippets that were captured are now surfacing, and you can hear what is presumably the hostage-taker railing on America, and saying he's willing to die.

The fact this man crashed a synagogue for hostages is not lost on those who covered the Siddiqui case. She is reported to have had strong objections to Jewish people representing her in her defense. She also asked for Jews to be tossed from the jury pool at the time.

At the moment, the synagogue's rabbi and three others are believed to be among those being held captive. No word on injuries or deaths yet, but SWAT units have arrived.