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Oprah needed just 3 words to explain why she picked Apple TV+ over her OWN network for her new series with Prince Harry ... and it makes TOTAL sense.

We got O leaving "The Daily Show" Wednesday night in NYC ... where she was greeted by a throng of fans on her way out. It took a while ... but eventually, our guy asked Oprah what everyone wants to know ... why choose a fledgling streaming service over an established network with her friggin name on it?

Check out the vid ... she hints that Apple TV+ has a bigger reach than OWN, which was launched in 2011 in just over 80 million homes. And therein lies the answer ... OWN's reach is only in the millions.

As you know ... she teamed up with the Duke of Sussex to co-produce a new series focusing on mental health. It's slated to debut next year on Apple TV+. It's an issue that hits close to home ... so reaching a much bigger audience for such an important topic proved paramount.

Prince Harry is joining Oprah in Hollywood ... and it means Apple TV might have the heaviest hitters in town when it comes to executive producers.

The Big O and the Duke of Sussex are joining forces as EPs on a new series that will focus on mental health -- it's slated to debut next year on Apple TV. Harry and Meghan Markle made the announcement Wednesday morning on their official Instagram account.

Oprah and Harry have been working for months now on the multi-part docuseries, which they hope will inspire viewers to have more open, honest conversations about mental wellness.

Harry, of course, has been open about his mental health in the past. Back in 2017, he disclosed he'd been in counseling in his late 20s to deal with emotions surrounding the death of his mother, Princess Diana.

Oprah herself has talked about her experience with anxiety and depression. As she wrote in O Magazine ... she'd "come face-to-face with mental illness, as several people close to me were hospitalized with severe suicidal depression and manic and schizophrenic thoughts."

Nipsey Hussle's murder has rocked the music world, but it has also sparked new spins on his most beloved tunes -- 'cause the rapper is dominating the charts.

The Crenshaw rapper's music has soared on Amazon and iTunes in the wake of his fatal shooting, with a lot of his former projects jumping up in position by as much as 500%. Specifically, Nipsey's debut studio album, "Victory Lap," has skyrocketed to the #1 album on Amazon's Movers & Shakers list ... having risen by a whopping 504,766%.

That's not all though -- Nipsey's album and previous mixtapes actually occupy all four top slots on Amazon's Movers & Shakers list. "Victory Lap" has also jumped to #2 on Amazon's overall bestsellers in digital music.

Nipsey's making an impact on iTunes as well -- his studio album is ranked second on its album chart, and his mixtape, "Crenshaw," has climbed to #12 on the list.

For the record, "Victory Lap" was nominated for Best Rap Album at this year's Grammy Awards. It lost out to Cardi B's record, but it was still a major milestone for Nipsey.

TMZ broke the story ... Nipsey was shot and killed Sunday outside of his Marathon Clothing store in South L.A. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

He was 33.

Lil Uzi Vert's return to music is now shrouded in controversy ... his new single is getting yanked from digital music services because he freestyled over someone else's beat.

Lil Uzi Vert's new song, "Free Uzi," is no longer available on Tidal and Apple Music -- for streaming or purchase -- because of licensing issues and copyright concerns. The single features a beat that was previously used in a G Herbo song.

Our music sources tell us Lil Uzi's single isn't an original production -- and he didn't clear the sample -- so he can't make money off of it.

The timing is interesting, considering Uzi is beefing with DJ Drama and Don Cannon's label, Generation Now. However, honchos at the label tell us they weren't the ones pushing for the song to come down, and there's no bad blood between the two sides.

In fact, we're told Uzi decided to drop the song after Drama and Cannon said they'd support him releasing music ... it just backfired due to the copyright.

"Free Uzi" hasn't been completely scrubbed from the internet ... you can still listen to it on YouTube and SoundCloud.

His label, Atlantic Records, had no comment on the song being pulled.

A letter Madonna penned about her infamous appearance on David Letterman's show in the '90s is up for grabs, and the rant is likely to fetch big $$$.

Boston-based auction house RR Auction is putting Madge's handwritten note from May 1994 on the auction block at the end of the month. What's puzzling ... she apparently published the letter on her fansite ICON, but no one took notice.

As for what the letter said ... she wrote about "how sexist the world we live in really is" following her disastrous appearance on 'The Late Show,' when she dropped the f-bomb 14 times in an excruciatingly awkward interview with David Letterman. It made censorship history.

She rants in the letter that, had Andrew Dice Clay or Snoop gone on the show and done something similar, "no one would have given a f***."

She goes on ... "In this country you are not allowed to be a girl, look good, have a point of view and have a good time all at once. Need I say more."

The auctioneers say they expect the letter will fetch $2k-$3k ... but we know the drill. If the bidding gets hot, it will go way higher.

1:35 PM PT -- Apple's new watch is ruffling some feathers. The folks at Life Alert reached out to inform us they trademarked the famous phrase, "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up" ... which was our original headline. They weren't too happy because they feel like our post promotes a competitor's "similar feature" ... a violation of their trademark.

The seniors falling biz is serious stuff, y'all.

Apple's latest game-changing tech is essentially a Life Alert-like bracelet with a built-in heart monitoring system too -- all packed into a new watch.

Apple's COO Jeff Williams introduced a number of new features Wednesday for the company's Apple Watch Series 4, but none more fascinating than its new fall detection and electrocardiogram technology ... which could potentially save lives.

Williams says the new watch can detect when you've taken a hard fall, and automatically call emergency services if you don't respond to the alert. It'll also reach out to your emergency contacts.

Not just that ... but the watch's new ECG feature measures heart rate and will let you know if anything is irregular or potentially dangerous. Kinda like having an ER on your wrist. Apple says the FDA's signed off on all this new tech.

The watch's new capabilities certainly seem aimed at a new demographic that perhaps might've escaped Apple's clutches before ... senior citizens. The Series 4 watch will start at $399, and go up from there depending on the model.

Of course, Apple also unveiled 3 new iPhones -- the XR, XS and XS MAX. The XR's Apple's newly discounted iPhone that starts at $749. It comes in 6 colors including white, black, blue, yellow and red.

But, the bells and whistles are really with the XS and the bigger XS MAX, which comes with a 6.5-inch screen ... making it the biggest screen ever on an iPhone. It's also the priciest starting at $1,099. The XS starts at $999.

New camera features let you blur the background in photos AFTER snapping pics. There was also a cool moment during the event when newly-minted NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash hit the stage to pimp an app he's been working on -- Homecourt. The app -- with help from the camera -- tracks real-time shot science that measures release speed, time, speed and height among other cool things.

Nicki Minaj thinks Cardi B took a giant L in their war that almost erupted in hand-to-hand combat, because Nicki's business empire has gotten even bigger, her radio show has shot to #1 and all Cardi got was a lump on the head.

Sources connected to Nicki tell us the MC is ecstatic Cardi went nuclear at Friday night's Harper's Bazaar Fashion Show.

Nicki's podcast, "Queen Radio," was trending at the top of Twitter Monday and the show has been sitting pretty at #1 on Apple Music ... all the result of the publicity Nicki's getting off the fight. Sources say her listeners quadrupled last week from the week prior.

Not just that, but we're told Nicki believes her strong debut numbers for her new music video for "Barbie Dreams" is partially due to Cardi's antics. The video's already got over 5 million views after just one day of being released.

There's also this ... apparently, Nicki's been getting blown up a lot more for appearance requests and concert bookings in the last few days.

One last parting shot ... we're told Nicki believes Cardi's the one who's been made to look like a laughingstock after the shoe-throwing incident, especially after she walked away with a fat knot above her eye. She's been kinda getting the meme treatment ... no arguing that.

Besides, sources say Nicki feels like her friends in hip-hop and celebs in general are siding with her and praising how she handled the situation. Cardi, of course, feels differently.

We got Common in NYC Tuesday, who has a slightly different take ... he says he's got nothing but respect for both women and believes they'll resolve it all peacefully.

Nicki Minaj wants this on the record -- she F****** LOVES Kylie Jenner (but not Travis Scott) ... and will NOT be playing into a catfight narrative!!! GOT IT?! Got it, Nick.

The NY rapper cleared the air Thursday on her 'Queen Radio' show over a vid TMZ posted showing Kylie trying to avoid Nicki on the VMAs red carpet this week, saying Kylie's nothing more than an innocent bystander in this clear beef between Nicki, Travis and the music biz.

Nicki says Kylie is doing what anyone would do -- standing by their man. That's a bit of a flip from what Nicki tweeted over the weekend, blaming Kylie and Stormi for pumping up Travis' album sales. Now ... she insists they're all good.

Nicki Minaj can't top Travis Scott on the charts ... but she's got him beat when it comes to hosting a radio show.

Nicki WENT OFF on Travis during her Tuesday "Queen Radio" show ... giving the rapper the "Hoe N**** Of The Week" award and continuing to bash Travis and baby mama Kylie Jenner for what she says are unethical practices in promoting his new album.

Tell us how you really feel, Nicki!!!

Nicki is still SALTY about losing the no. 1 spot in album sales to Travis -- she's been griping about it all week -- and it doesn't sound like she'll get over 2nd place any time soon.

It's not all hate -- Nicki says she loves Kylie, Stormi, Kim and the rest of their fam -- but the Queen doesn't want to let Travis off the hook.

Nicki isn't afraid to air out dirty laundry ... even if other rappers are scared.

She's also been more than willing to stir up controversy this week ... 'cause she's now calling herself the new and improved Harriet Tubman.

Steve Wozniak went up against the real-life "Molly's Game" ringleader, but the look on his face says it all ... he can win the pot like the best of 'em.

The Woz and Molly Bloom spoke at the cryptocurrency convention, ChainXChange, at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, but had a meeting of the poker minds backstage before going onstage.

If you're unfamiliar with Molly ... she's a badass. Molly's the inspiration for Aaron Sorkin's first film as a director. He also wrote the script to the flick starring Jessica Chastain as Molly.

Molly ran a high-stakes poker game back in the day at the famed Viper Room in L.A. ... frequented by celebs like Ben Affleck, Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio ... and the freakin' Russian mob.

See, badass.

We're told the meeting between Wozzy -- an avid poker player -- and Molly played out more like a mutual admiration society. And, for the record ... no real money changed hands ... it was all in fun.

Kanye West's album, "Ye," is already crushing numbers ... and it's only been available for a few days.

Numbers for the 7-song project are astounding -- Kanye's filled the top 7 song spots on both Spotify and Apple Music -- and the album's already accumulated over 100 million streams total.

To add to those stats ...

-- #1 iTunes Album in 63 countries.

-- #1 Spotify global peak position.

-- #1 Apple Music album in 83 countries.

The crash of EgyptAir flight 804 into the Mediterranean Sea that killed 66 people was caused by a hot Apple product ... according to a new suit.

The families of several of the victims of the May 19, 2016 crash claim the tragedy was due to the co-pilot's iPhone 6S or iPad mini overheating in the cockpit and catching fire.

According to the docs ... an investigation revealed the device ignited and led to a bigger fire in the cockpit, which ultimately took the plane down.

It should be noted, however -- some industry experts have questioned this phone theory ... and believe the fire on the plane started beneath the cockpit in the avionics bay due to a short circuit or some kind of explosion.

Still, the families believe there's enough evidence to hold Apple responsible for the deaths of their loved ones ... so they're suing for damages. The airline is also listed on the suit.

Dolores O'Riordan's sudden unexplained death has made tidal waves in the music world -- just take a look at her sales online ... which are up over 900,000%.

Dolores' music both on her own and with her band, The Cranberries, dominated Amazon's music sales Monday after news broke of her death -- with one of The Cranberries' albums, "Something Else" surging at 913,350% in sales.

Her tunes also occupy the other top 4 slots for trending albums, which are up 147,552% ("Are You Listening?"), 107,520% ('Everybody Else is Doing It'), 93,781% ("To the Faithful Departed") and 77,096% ("Wake Up and Smell the Coffee"), respectively.

BTW ... her music sales on iTunes are also skyrocketing -- with Cranberries' albums dominating the number 3rd, 6th, 7th and 9th spots on their Top 10 Albums chart.

As we reported ... Dolores died Monday unexpectedly. Her bandmates sent out a message saying ... "We are devastated on the passing of our friend Dolores. She was an extraordinary talent and we feel very privileged to have been part of her life from 1989 when we started the Cranberries. The world has lost a true artist today."

Sources connected with the singer tell TMZ she had been "dreadfully depressed" in recent weeks.

She was 46.

Cardi B already said you couldn't f*** with her if you wanted to -- now that applies to her fiance, Offset, who got hacked this weekend ... 'cause Cardi's coming with legal fire.

Cardi's attorney, Scott Mason, tells TMZ that videos released over the holiday weekend of a nude Cardi, among other videos, were illegally obtained ... and that her team is doing a full investigation to find the culprits.

At least a couple different clips said to belong to Offset surfaced Friday -- the same day Cardi's new single "Bartier Cardi" dropped. One appears to show Cardi dancing naked, and rumor is that it's the beginning of a full-blown sex tape.

Another video shows a separate naked woman in a hotel bathroom, with Offset allegedly behind the camera. Lots of people speculated that Offset had cheated on Cardi before proposing ... but the couple put that to rest with their own parody sex tape.

Cardi didn't seem bothered by the fact her nudes were out in the public -- she's an ex-stripper, after all. But she's definitely not cool with the stealing part. Her lawyer says once they find who jacked the footage, they'll pursue all legal remedies under the law.

A group of violent robbers who were allegedly brutalizing Los Angelinos in a series of cellphone robberies has been busted ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, they were doing surveillance on 2 men -- Ricardo Rivas and Bryan Escobar -- because cops had evidence the pair was hunting for people walking down streets, eyes trained on their cellphones. The men would then allegedly point a rifle at them and commit the robberies. We're told some of the victims were attacked -- struck in the face with the butt of the rifle.

Our sources say the thieves were part of a ring that was stealing new models of smart phones and then sending them to El Salvador, Russia and Turkey for resale, where they could not be traced.

We're told the 2 men -- both in their early 20s -- also allegedly committed at least one carjacking.

Most of the robberies went down in the San Fernando Valley.

Our law enforcement sources say cops decided to move in Wednesday night when they saw the men load their car with a sawed-off shotgun.

We're told 3 men were arrested, but they didn't have the goods on the 3rd so he was released. They are still looking for another man they say was involved in the crime spree.

We're also told the D.A. will file felony robbery and carjacking charges against Rivas and Escobar as early as today.

Apple's admission to slowing down older iPhones isn't sitting well with one California man ... so he's going after the tech giant on behalf of all his fellow outdated iPhone users.

A new class action suit has been filed by Stefan Bogdanovich, an L.A. man who, like millions of other people, uses an iPhone ... but not an iPhone 8. He claims Apple's tactic of slowing down older iPhone models causes users to suffer -- specifically those with the 7 or 7s -- and take a hit to their wallets.

Bogdanovich claims Apple's decision to slow the operation of older phones to save battery life was never requested or agreed upon ... and it lowers the value of their phones. He also believes -- like many other users -- that it's just a ploy by Apple to get folks to buy the newest iPhone.

He wants Apple to stop slowing down older phones and get some payback for damages.