Megyn Kelly Out at NBC After 'Blackface' Scandal

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Megyn Kelly will NOT be back on the air at NBC after her blackface remark, barring a major miracle ... TMZ has confirmed.

"Megyn Kelly Today" aired a repeat on Thursday morning, 2 days after she uncorked the absurd comment that it's okay to wear blackface at Halloween. Sources connected to the network tell us unless a Hail Mary is thrown and caught at some point today ... Megyn is gone for good.

The split with NBC comes the day after Megyn's emotional on-air apology where she insisted she'd learned a lesson due to the backlash.

The mea culpa was clearly a case of too little, too late for the Peacock ... which, to be honest, had issues with Megyn's show even before the blackface blowup. Translation: the ratings were terrible. They'd dropped more than 30 percent, year-to-year, in her time slot.

Another NBC source tells us it didn't help that Megyn's co-workers "hated" being on air with her. One specific example was during coverage of Dr. Christine Ford's testimony -- Megyn was part of the panel with Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt, Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd.

We're told the other anchors and correspondents felt Megyn was way too bluntly conservative on air. Andrea eventually left the panel, mid-coverage.

The divorce -- which, we're told is more mutual than a firing -- isn't shaping up to be quick and easy. Daily Mail, which first reported Megyn's ouster, says she's hired high-powered attorney Bryan Freedman who's scheduled a sit-down with NBC ... no doubt to discuss the terms of her departure. She has a $69 million contract.

Megyn's talent agency, CAA, also dropped her.

NBC's already said it's airing another repeat of her show on Friday.

As for what happens Monday? Stay tuned ...

'Ray Donovan' Star Pooch Hall Pleads Not Guilty to DUI, Child Abuse ... Enters Rehab Program

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"Ray Donovan" star Marion "Pooch" Hall had a brief day in court, and pled not guilty in his drunken car crash case.

Hall was present, with his attorney, in L.A. County Superior Court Thursday morning and entered his pleas to felony child abuse and DUI. TMZ broke the story ... Hall was charged earlier Wednesday. As we first reported, witnesses saw Hall driving with his toddler in his lap, holding the steering wheel, when he crashed into a parked car.

He blew a .25, more than 3 times the legal limit and, miraculously, nobody was injured.

In court, Hall revealed he's entered a 60-day residential rehab program. The judge told him to continue and when that's done, ordered him to attend 2 AA classes per week and get outpatient treatment ... as a condition of his bail.

If convicted, Hall faces a maximum of 6 years and 6 months in prison.

Michael Jordan I'm an eSports Mogul Now! ... Buys Into Team Liquid

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Michael Jordan has teamed up with Magic Johnson -- buying an ownership stake in aXiomatic ... the company that operates the prestigious eSports franchise, Team Liquid.

Jordan was part of a new $26 million funding round -- joining other prestigious co-owners including Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Gruber, Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, and Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis.

Team Liquid is a FORCE in eSports -- with teams competing in games like League of Legends, Dota 2, Fortnite, CS:GO, Street Fighter, PUBG, FIFA and more.

In fact, the Team Liquid Dota 2 squad won the 2017 World Championship -- an $11 million grand prize!

Magic Johnson was an early investor in aXiomatic -- and Leonsis is stoked to reunite the 1992 Dream Team stars.

"Probably no other franchise has the championship pedigree as we do with now Michael and with Magic."

Team Liquid will be in direct competition in some games with 100 Thieves -- the eSports team founded by Nadeshot and now co-owned by stars like Drake and Scooter Braun.

Good luck!!

Viral Pizza Party Kid VIP Treatment at Suns Game

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Remember that kid who went viral for having NOBODY show up to his pizza party?? Joke's on his friends now ... 'cause the kid got the ultimate hookup at the Phoenix Suns game on Wednesday!!

6-year-old Teddy Bollinger's story *was* really sad -- he invited 32 of his closest friends to a pizza party on Sunday, just to have ZERO show up.

The picture of the bummed out kid made its way around the Internet like wildfire. The Suns got wind of the tragedy and quickly swooped in to give Teddy an awesome VIP invite to their game against the Lakers.

Not only did Teddy get to go to the game ... the dude got HOOKED UP -- from his own custom jersey, to meeting stars Josh Jackson and Trevor Ariza, to courtside seats to watch LeBron James play.

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MAKING HIS YEAR

See that, kids? That's why you don't bail on your friends. They'll replace you with NBA stars.

WWE Saudi Arabia Event 'Crown Jewel' Will Go On As Planned

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WWE isn't backing out of the upcoming pay-per-view event in Saudi Arabia -- saying they plan to "continue operations" in the country despite calls from politicians to at least postpone.

The event -- 'Crown Jewel' featuring Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman -- is scheduled to take place in Riyadh on Nov. 2.

Thursday morning, as part of a Q3 earnings report, the company announced the show will move forward as planned.

"WWE has operated in the Middle East for nearly 20 years and has developed a sizable and dedicated fan base," the statement said.

"Considering the heinous crime committed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the Company faced a very difficult decision as it relates to its event scheduled for November 2 in Riyadh. Similar to other U.S.-based companies who plan to continue operations in Saudi Arabia, the Company has decided to uphold its contractual obligations to the General Sports Authority and stage the event."

"Full year 2018 guidance is predicated on the staging of the Riyadh event as scheduled."

Of course, the "heinous crime" is the apparent abduction, torture and murder of former Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Some officials believe Khashoggi's death was ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- though the royal family has strongly denied that.

President Donald Trump recently referred to the Saudi account of the killing as the "worst cover up" in history ... after they tried to spin multiple BS stories about how Khashoggi could have died.

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KEEP PUSHING FORWARD

Recently, WWE star Randy Orton told TMZ Sports why he thinks it's important for the organization to do the show in Saudi Arabia ... and it sounds like his heart is in the right place.

MLB Commish On World Series Winner Visiting White House: What, Me Worry?

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred doesn't seem to think there will be any issues with the World Series champs visiting Trump's White House after the season ... despite all sorts of evidence to the contrary.

Here's what Manfred told the media before Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday.

"I think as an institution, Major League Baseball has always had the greatest respect for the office of the presidency. That doesn’t change, no matter who’s there."

He continued, "Often we’ve had situations where individuals, players, whatever, don’t agree with all of the policies of the individual that occupies the office. I think the important thing is respect for the office.”

Wishful thinking but probably not realistic ... as Red Sox manager Alex Cora has expressed displeasure with Trump just last month for "disrespecting" his native Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

"To be tweeting about 3,000 people [dying] and being efficient, it's actually disrespectful for my country," Cora said. "We see it that way. I know he probably doesn't feel that way."

On the Dodgers side, Magic Johnson HATES Trump -- and has previously compared him to a "dictator."

So, no drama? Yeah right ...

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TRUMP'S GOT A LOT TO LEARN

Zlatan Ibrahimovic Hits Perfect Floss ... I Can Do Anything!!

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Zlatan can run ... Zlatan can score ... Zlatan CAN DANCE!!!

The soccer legend went on "The Late Late Show With James Corden" and proved there's a lot of walk behind all his talk -- nailing a perfect floss dance right on cue.

In fact ... Corden was so impressed -- he wanted some lessons!!!

So, what was the reason for the night-time dance party?? James needed to figure out if Zlatan really CAN do anything.

The first test? Name three Kardashians.

The second test? Open a jar of pickles.

The third test? Hit the floss.

Done, done and BIG-TIME done.

Then, for good measure, he pronounced his full name with a mouth full of marshmallows. Impressive.

Ibrahimovic and the L.A. Galaxy next take the field Sunday for their regular-season finale with the Houston Dynamo ... and pretty sure we just found Z's new goal celebration.

'Modern Family' Character Gets Killed Off ... (SPOILER ALERT!!!)

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"Modern Family" fans wondering who the "significant" character was to be killed off this season finally had their question answered Wednesday night.

SPOILER AHEAD!!!

The ABC sitcom's co-creator Christopher Lloyd revealed one of the series' familiar faces would kick the bucket before the end of season 10. Many speculated it would be Ed O'Neill's Jay Pritchett or Stella, the Pritchett family pooch.

Turns out ... it was neither.

The character to kick the bucket was DeDe Pritchett -- played by Shelley Long -- who was Jay's ex-wife and Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen) and Mitchell Pritchett's (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) mom.

To say DeDe was a "significant" character through the show's 10 seasons is a stretch -- she only appeared in a handful of episodes -- but it was a loss none the less.

As for how DeDe dies ... it was rather anticlimactic ... in her sleep during a trip to Greenland.

Terrorist Attacks Bombs Sent to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton ... Trump Denounces Acts

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6:10 PM PT -- Authorities say they found a suspicious package addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters in a Los Angeles mail facility. The ATF says the package is similar to others mailed to high-level politicians.

It's the second time today Maxine has been targeted ... police previously intercepted another package addressed to Waters at a congressional mail facility in Maryland.

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TRUMP CONDEMNS THE ACTS

11:30 AM PT -- President Trump and Melania Trump just addressed the bombs sent to the Clintons, Obamas and others ... with Melania speaking first and condemning what she called "cowardly" attacks. Trump came to the podium next and issued an unequivocal denunciation over the bombs, saying ... "Acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States." He got a standing O for his remark.

10:12 AM PT -- NYPD and other authorities just held a news conference to discuss the device found at the Time Warner Center. Officials say a white powdery substance was also found in the package there.

They say all of the devices -- at CNN, the Obamas and the Clintons -- appear to be pipe bombs.

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I WAS TARGETED

Governor Andrew Cuomo said a potential explosive device arrived at his office, and police took care of it. However, our law enforcement sources tell us the device turned out to be a harmless flash drive.

A device was also sent to former Attorney General Eric Holder, who's expected to run for Prez in 2020 ... according to CNN. However, the package had the wrong address, and went back to Wasserman-Schultz' return address.

That appears to be the device that was found Wednesday morning at her Florida office.

8:55 AM PT -- All the packages reportedly have the same return address, which belongs to Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. She was chairperson for the Democratic National Committee from 2011 to 2016.

8:40 AM PT -- Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Florida office was just evacuated after a suspicious package was mailed there Wednesday morning. The bomb squad is currently on scene.

7:55 AM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the package sent to the CNN building was addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, who has been a frequent CNN contributor. The package was a manila envelope with 6 stamps.

7:55 AM PT -- It now appears the stories that a bomb was sent to The White House are incorrect. As far as we can tell right now, no such device was sent. That re-focuses the terrorist attacks and strongly indicates the targets were prominent Democrats who were highly critical of Donald Trump.

Also, Time Warner Center in NYC where CNN is located has been evacuated after a suspicious device was found in the mail room. That device, we're told, resembles a pipe bomb.

CNN abruptly went to commercial as employees filed out of their NYC studio. They came back on the air from their Washington, D.C. studios, and from the street outside Time Warner Center.

7:00 AM PT -- Authorities now say the devices sent to Obama, Clinton and Soros are "similar."

6:45 AM PT -- Federal authorities tell TMZ, they believe the same perpetrator(s) sent the bombs to both Soros and the Clintons.

A bomb was found near the home of Bill and Hillary Clinton ... and we've just learned a suspicious package was sent to the home of former President Barack Obama.

A technician who screens the mail for the Clintons found the device at a screening facility nearby their Westchester County estate in Chappaqua, NY. The device was discovered late Tuesday. Hillary was at a campaign event in Florida, but former Prez Clinton was at home.

The device was similar to the one found Monday at the home of billionaire philanthropist George Soros. As we reported, Soros is a staunch Democrat who has been extremely critical of Donald Trump.

The Secret Service says another suspicious package was sent to Barack Obama but intercepted in Washington, D.C. The device was sent by mail. The Secret Service has identified it as "a potential explosive device."

As for the device at the Clintons home ... the package was addressed specifically to Hillary. Authorities are reviewing surveillance video. They want to know if the package was delivered by mail or otherwise.

Utah Football Honoring Slain Track Star ... With Helmet Decal

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Lauren McCluskey -- the Utah track star who was brutally murdered on campus this week -- will be honored by the entire Utes football team when they take on UCLA Friday.

The school announced players will wear a black and white sticker featuring a winged foot with Lauren's name on it ... in remembrance of the slain student.

As we previously reported ... 21-year-old McCluskey -- a 2017 honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic -- was shot to death by her ex-bf on Monday after finding out he was a registered sex offender.

Utah announced in addition to the helmet decals ... they'll hand out a similar sticker at this week's women's volleyball and women's soccer games to remember her legacy.

For their part ... UCLA says it'll hold a moment of silence for McCluskey at the Rose Bowl.

R.I.P.

Michigan Gymnastics Coach Arrested For Banging Gymnast ... In Public

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An assistant coach for the University of Michigan gymnastics team was arrested earlier this month for having sex in public after officials say he nailed an 18-year-old member of the UM team in a car.

The asst. coach is 39-year-old Scott Vetere -- a former stud gymnast back in the day who was the 2000 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.

Officials say Vetere and a female gymnast were doing floor exercises in a car in the parking lot of an Ann Arbor apartment building on Oct. 8 ... when they were spotted by police and arrested for performing an indecent act in public.

The female gymnast was also arrested. Both parties are due back in court next month.

A rep for the University of Michigan confirmed Vetere was "immediately suspended" when the school learned of his arrest.

He later resigned from his position and no longer works for the University.

Story developing ...

Khabib Nurmagomedov To Get Half of $2 Mil Purse from UFC 229 ... For Now

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The Nevada State Athletic Commission has just approved a motion to release HALF of Khabib Nurmagomedov's $2 million purse from UFC 229 immediately.

The other $1 million will be held until Khabib's next hearing in front of the commission on Dec. 10 -- where the board will decide Khabib's ultimate punishment for the melee at the Oct. 6 incident.

Board members said during the hearing that they felt the $1 million they're still holding will cover all expenses related to the incident and is substantial enough to keep Khabib interested in the hearing.

Translation -- it's too much money for Khabib to blow off the commission.

NSAC officials noted that Khabib made roughly $5 to $6 million from the UFC 229 fight. It's interesting, considering Conor McGregor said he expected to make around $50 mil.

They also said had the board had access to additional video from the UFC 229 melee, they would have held Conor McGregor's purse as well.

As it stands now, both are due to appear in front of the Commission -- in person -- in December after the investigation is complete.

Denver Broncos Cut Chad Kelly ... After Bizarre Arrest

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The Denver Broncos have axed backup QB Chad Kelly from the team after he was arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly trying to break into a Denver-area home.

Broncos general manager John Elway was furious after learning about the arrest and decided it was best to get rid of Kelly ... according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Cops say Kelly broke into a home around 1:17 AM and sat down on the couch next to a woman who was holding her baby. Kelly was reportedly mumbling incoherently at the time.

Police say someone in the home chased Kelly out while striking him with a piece from a vacuum. He was ultimately arrested for criminal trespassing.

Kelly had attended Von Miller's Halloween party earlier in the evening ... and there are reports Kelly had to be escorted out after getting into a physical altercation with another guest.

Elway released a statement on the decision, saying, "Even though Chad's no longer part of our team, we've offered to help him however we can and are supportive of him in every way possible."

This leaves the Broncos with only 2 QBs on the roster -- starter Case Keenum and backup Kevin Hogan (who played at Stanford).

Megyn Kelly I Learned My Lesson on Blackface ... Apologizes After Al Roker Rips Her

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Megyn Kelly is getting torn to shreds, deservedly so, by her coworkers at NBC -- especially Al Roker -- who demanded she apologize to the country for her asinine blackface comments ... and she did.

Megyn began her show Wednesday morning with a 2-minute mea culpa ... insisting she had learned a lesson due to the massive backlash after she said it was fine to wear blackface for Halloween "as long as it's a character."

In her apology, she said, "It is not okay for that to be part of any costume. Halloween or otherwise. I've never been a PC kind of person, but I do understand the value of being sensitive to our history. Particularly on race and ethnicity."

Worth noting ... her apology drew a standing ovation from audience members -- many of whom were African-American.

It's unclear if her apology went far enough for Al, though. A few hours earlier, he blasted her on the air, saying ... "She owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country."

Other "Today" anchors called Megyn's comment ..."stupid and indefensible"

Yasiel Puig's Home Heavy Police Presence During World Series

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The Boys in Blue were looking out for the Boys in Blue during Game 1 of the World Series -- check out the heavy LAPD presence in front of Yasiel Puig's home on Tuesday!

As we previously reported, cops had reached out to several Dodgers players to help make sure their homes were protected during the series -- unlike last year when Puig's home was burglarized during Game 7.

Cops believe Puig -- and several other high-profile people -- were targeted by a burglary ring that knew when Yasiel (and others) would be out of their homes.

So, this time ... with Puig and the Dodgers in Boston, the LAPD sent a few units to Yasiel's house to make sure the bad guys know they ain't playin' around this time!

Law enforcement tells us ... it's not just Dodgers who are getting the extra protection, they're helping out anyone they feel could be a target.

Pro Skateboarder Neal Hendrix Accused of Sexually Assaulting 14-Year-Old ... Cops Investigating

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Former pro skateboarder Neal Hendrix has been accused of sexually assaulting a much younger female pro skater when she was just 14 years old .... and now cops are investigating.

25-year-old Julie Lynn Kindstrand Nelson -- known professionally as Julz Lynn -- went public with the accusations on Tuesday ... saying Hendrix "used his position of influence to pursue his own sexual ambitions, which included luring me to have sex with him" ... beginning when he was in his early 30s.

Julz told espnW ... Hendrix first met her at a skate park in 2006 and convinced her to come to his apartment for "sex lessons." She also claims Hendrix masturbated in front of her and took naked videos of her while she was underage.

Julz has reached out to the Costa Mesa Police Department in CA -- and has also called for other possible victims of Hendrix to come forward.

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COMING FORWARD

She's also pointing the finger at skate officials -- saying the International Olympic Committee and USOC "never cared to pay any attention or look into illegal inappropriate interactions with many underage athletes."

Julz says her experience with Hendrix took her innocence and destroyed her career ... and now she's "in the process of getting my life back together."

Hendrix -- now 45 -- won five X Games medals during his career ... and has been a TV commentator for big events like Dew Tour and X Games. He's also on the USA Skateboarding executive committee.

So far, Hendrix has declined to comment on the allegations.