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Rita Ora is taking tons of heat for lip-syncing her performance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ... but with freezing temps and technical issues, the deck appeared to be stacked against her.

Check out the clip ... Rita is standing on a float, doing her best to put on a show, but everything is totally out of sync.

Social media users were quick to blame Rita, but Macy’s blamed the hiccups on tech issues and apologized, saying the problems were out of the artist's control.

John Legend, who also performed in the record-low temps, quickly came to Rita's defense, explaining why lip-syncing was necessary for the parade ... and they both said vocals at their shows are 100 percent live.

Michael Avenatti will not face a felony in his domestic violence case ... according to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office.

The D.A. has referred the matter to the L.A. City Attorney's Office. The City Attorney will now have to decide whether to charge Avenatti with misdemeanor domestic violence.

TMZ broke the story ... Stormy Daniels' lawyer was arrested last week for felony domestic violence after his girlfriend, Mareli Miniutti, filed a police report, alleging Avenatti had gotten physically violent with her during an argument in their high-rise apartment in the Century City neighborhood of L.A.

Mareli also got a restraining order against Avenatti.

As soon as he got out of jail, Avenatti denied striking her -- and now says, "I am thankful that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has rejected filing any charges against me after a fair, careful and thorough investigation. I have maintained my innocence since the moment of my arrest."

Adrian Peterson says he still disciplines his children using a switch ... despite nearly going to jail for striking his infant son with one 4 years ago.

You'll remember ... the NFL superstar beat his then-4-year-old child with a switch so badly in 2014 -- the boy had bruises and lacerations on his lower back, buttocks and scrotum.

A.P. was charged with felony child abuse ... but was able to get that charge reduced to misdemeanor domestic violence after striking a plea deal in exchange for a no contest plea.

Peterson -- in addition to serving out a lengthy NFL suspension -- was sentenced to 80 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $4,000 fine.

Adrian said afterward he would find different ways to punish his kids, saying, "I won't ever use a switch again."

But ... fast forward to now -- and Peterson is singing a different tune, telling Bleacher Report he not only still uses a switch to discipline his kids sometimes ... he also recently used a belt too.

"I had to discipline my son and spank him the other day with a belt," Peterson said.

For his part ... A.P. says he doesn't take the punishments as far as he did back in 2014 -- claiming he uses the physical discipline only far enough to teach his children lessons he feels they need to learn.

The man who went viral thanks to a mugshot that showed off his massive neck just a week ago has been arrested again ... and the dude is still flexing what made him famous.

Charles Dion McDowell was busted Wednesday in Lee County, Alabama for allegedly eluding law enforcement, reckless driving, driving with a revoked license, improper lane usage and a 2nd-degree possession of marijuana charge.

McDowell's first mugshot -- from an arrest in Florida last week -- blew up on social media after it was posted to Facebook. During that arrest, he was booked for eluding, possession of cocaine, meth and marijuana.

The pic spurred an influx of memes, puns and social media shares.

Aaron Rodgers' bro says the QB is a fraud who ignored his own mother during the California fires -- while she was getting ready to evacuate.

Yeah, it's getting nasty again.

Aaron's bro is Jordan Rodgers -- you know him from "The Bachelorette."

After Aaron went public with his $1 million donation to wildfire victims near his hometown in Northern California on Wednesday, Jordan called the NFL star out on social media ... saying the whole thing "feels like an act."

"PLEASE DONATE, SPREAD AWARENESS & SEND LOVE," Jordan wrote ... but then it got nasty.

"But when your own Mom is home alone during the fires, car packed ready to evacuate, & you miss the fundamental first step of compassion; calling your parents to make sure they are safe...."

"Everything else just feels like an act."

Ouch.

The beef between Aaron and his family is well known -- they even played it up during Jordan's season on "The Bachelorette" -- and Aaron's ex, Olivia Munn, previously said there were jealousy issues with Aaron's father and brothers.

But, Munn also noted, "I don't think either side of the road is clean."

DeSean Jackson will wear Rodney King-themed cleats for the Bucs game Sunday ... featuring the words "Black Lives Matter" and a depiction of a police officer raising a baton.

For the next few weeks, the NFL is allowing players to raise awareness for causes they support using custom kicks as part of the league's "My Cause, My Cleats" program.

DeSean chose black-and-blue colored spikes for his cause ... a clear message he's trying to help end police brutality in America.

The cleats feature King's face ... the "Black Lives Matter" slogan ... Florence and Normandie street signs (a major point of the riots and where Reginald Denny was attacked) ... and a shadowy drawing of an officer raising his baton at 5 open hands.

What's interesting ... DeSean's set to debut the kicks against the 49ers -- the team Colin Kaepernick famously started his kneeling protests with to help raise awareness for social injustice in America.

This is amazing video ... Kevin Durant was on-camera the moment he was fined $25,000 for cussing out a heckler at an NBA game over the weekend -- and the reaction is incredible.

Durant was doing Chris Haynes' podcast for Yahoo Sports when the NBA reporter broke the news to him live on camera about the punishment for telling a Dallas Mavs fan to "shut the f**k up and watch the f**king game."

"I knew I was gonna get fined. How much they gonna fine me?" Durant asked.

Once he learned the number, Durant went off ...

"More fans should understand what that means ... Grown men can't come to a game and heckle grown men. That's corny and that's weak."

KD continued to mock the fan ... "You coming to a game to heckle another grown man, 'You soft. You weak. Draymond this, Draymond that. You a bitch.'"

"You going to sleep as a grown man doing that to another person."

As we previously reported, Durant approached the fan who sitting courtside at the Mavs vs. Golden State Warriors game on Saturday.

Witnesses told us the fan had been going off on KD for a while calling him names like "Cupcake."

The Warriors lost the game -- and now KD lost $25k -- which is really no big deal to him considering he's in the middle of a 2-year, $61 MILLION contract.

D.L. Hughley is a HUGE boxing fan -- so, when he saw the clip where Michael B. Jordan said he could hold his own in the ring with Roy Jones Jr., D.L. had some thoughts ...

"Roy Jones Jr. ain't what he was, but he'd still beat the sh*t outta Michael B. Jordan."

There's more ...

"Even though Roy Jones Jr. won't remember his name, he'll beat the hell out of Michael B. Jordan."

Michael B.'s been training like crazy for years ever since he took the role of Adonis Creed -- and clearly believes he's built up the skills to compete with real world class boxers.

In fact, multiple pro boxers -- including his "Creed II" co-star Florian Munteanu -- have vouched for Michael's hands ... which might be why MBJ was so confident when we spoke with him last week.

As for Roy, he's not interested in talking, he wants to FIGHT -- challenging Michael B to call his camp and set up a real bout ... where the actor can test his skills once and for all.

Patrick Mahomes has the perfect remedy for getting over the biggest loss of his career -- some quality time with his smokin' hot GF!!!

The Kansas City Chiefs superstar took a huge L on Monday night, droppin' an all-time classic, 54-51, to the Rams in what some are callin' a Super Bowl preview.

It didn't take long for Mahomes to turn to his longtime GF, Brittany Matthews, to tend to his wounds ... 'cause the two had an awesome date night Tuesday!!

Pat and Britt first hit the Texas Tech hoops game -- where Mahomes' alma mater smoked Nebraska -- and then went back to their Texas crib for some cuddles.

There was an adorable puppy ... and Britt even made him some eggs with his favorite topping -- KETCHUP (Gross)!

The two have been dating since high school ... and Britt's been supporting the guy despite her own booming career as a fitness model and pro soccer player.

Seems unlikely these pick-me-up date nights will need to happen often -- remember, Pat's got G.O.A.T. potential -- but nice for the QB to know he has this to turn to when they do!!

Robert De Niro and his wife, Grace Hightower, are breaking up after more than two decades of marriage.

The split was first reported by Page Six, who say the couple is no longer living together and could publicly announce their split in the coming weeks.

Robert and Grace tied the knot in 1997 after dating for over a decade. They have 2 children together, 20-year-old son Elliot and 6-year-old daughter Helen.

Robert and Grace have been down this road before ... Robert filed for divorce in 1999, two years into their union, but they never went all the way through with it.

The couple instead renewed their wedding vows in 2004, in front of a star-studded crowd including Meryl Streep, Ben Stiller and Martin Scorsese.

Ex-Michigan State president Lou Anna Simon has been charged with lying to cops to cover up the Larry Nassar scandal ... and now she's facing years behind bars.

The ex-prez has been charged with 2 felony and 2 misdemeanor counts after an investigation determined she lied about knowing of complaints against Nassar in 2014.

According to court docs, the felony counts carry up to 4 years in prison and the misdemeanors up to 2 years.

In the docs, Simon said she was aware of a review of allegations against a sports doctor, but didn't reveal she knew it was Nassar.

Simon resigned from her position in January ... shortly after Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexual abuse.

This is the 3rd school official charged as a result of the investigation into the Nassar scandal ... the school's former dean of Osteopathic Medicine, William Strampel, and ex-gymnastics coach Kathie Klages were also charged.

We all knew Steph Curry's clutch under pressure ... but the dude just took it to a whole 'nother level ... getting behind the needle and inkin' up his own personal tattoo artist!!

The Golden State Warriors superstar met up with the guy behind his body art -- Zebra Tattoo artist Nino Lapid -- on Monday night ... giving him one hell of a birthday present ...

A PERMANENT AUTOGRAPH ON HIS LEG!!!

Lapid is the same guy commissioned for a private tat sesh for the Curry fam after the Warriors beat up on the Cavs last year ... so they're a really tight group.

It's not every day you get tatted by a 2-time NBA MVP ... but that's not all that went down last night -- Steph's wife, Ayesha, and teammate Damion Lee got in on the fun too!!

Luckily for Nino ... it looks like Steph's hand was as steady as his shot.

Ray Rice was welcomed warmly by Baltimore Ravens fans almost 5 years after his infamous domestic violence incident ... with the crowd breaking out a "Ray! Ray! Ray!" chant.

It all went down Sunday ... when Ray was making his first appearance at a Ravens game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore since he was cut by the team in Sept. 2014.

The Ravens initially stuck by the star running back until TMZ Sports published video showing the Feb. 15, 2014 attack on his now-wife, Janay Rice, inside an elevator at an Atlantic City casino.

But now, it seems the two sides have made up -- Ray was invited to participate in the team's "Legends of the Game" ceremony along with stars from the 2008 Ravens team.

So, why the warm reception? Ever since he was cut, Ray has spent countless hours speaking with young athletes so they don't make the same bad decisions he did.

Ray's wife, Janay, praised her husband after the game -- saying, "It was a memorable day being welcomed back into our home of 7 years, M&T Bank Stadium!"

"I’m so proud of my husband for overcoming yet another hurdle in this journey and doing it with a smile on his face. Never once letting any circumstance change who he truly is."

Shareef O'Neal might not be on the court at UCLA this year but he's still finding a way to give the rest of the PAC-12 fits ... 'cause he's getting in early on a BLUE-CHIP L.A recruit ... LeBron James Jr.

14-year-old Bronny hit the UCLA game Monday with his brother, Bryce, and the rest of the O'Neal kids -- including his current Crossroads schoolmate, Shaqir O'Neal.

The whole crew was there to support Shareef -- a member of the UCLA team who's sidelined this season due to a heart condition. As we previously reported, he'll be undergoing surgery next month.

The O'Neals and the James families are REALLY close ... so all of this could just be a fun night out, but you have to wonder if hanging around Westwood is gonna give the Bruins an inside track on Bronny for 2023.

We can't be sure about that, it's too early to tell ... but we are 100% sure about one thing.

These kids are growing like beanstalks, seriously. We have to know what Shaq, Shaunie, LeBron, and Savannah are feeding these children.

Monday night was a GREAT time to be Sean McVay -- because after his Rams defeated the Chiefs, the coach's smokin' hot girlfriend went down on the field to celebrate!!

Veronika Khomyn and another attractive lady friend busted out the whole "Whose house? Rams' house!" thing on the field at the Coliseum.

When your man's the hottest coach in the NFL, you get an all-access pass after the game!

There was more ... Jay-Z got the VIP golf cart treatment to escape the post-game insanity after watching his Roc Nation Sports client, Todd Gurley, tear it up.

And, Taran Killam -- possibly the biggest Rams fan on the planet -- LOST HIS DAMN MIND after the game!

The Rams beat the Chiefs 54 to 51 in what some people are calling the greatest NFL game of all time.

And, if you had Jared Goff or Patrick Mahomes on your fantasy team, YOU BETTER HAVE WON last night!!!

Next up for the Rams -- the Detroit Lions on Dec. 2.

After that, we might see these teams meet up again ... in the Super Bowl.

Rams stars Jared Goff and Andrew Whitworth shared an emotional moment with victims of the horrific Thousand Oaks massacre after the L.A. win Monday night ... nearly coming to tears at midfield.

The QB and the left tackle passed on celebrating their epic 54-51 win with their teammates to meet with family members of those killed at Borderline Bar and Grill near L.A. earlier this month.

The players and the victims embraced for several seconds ... and the families couldn't thank Goff and Whitworth enough for their actions.

"I'll tell you what, you sometimes realize things are bigger than yourself," Andrew told reporters after the game.

"Coming off of a win, you realize quickly, man, there's a whole lot of things more important than football."

L.A. also hung up a banner with pictures of the victims and the words, "Together we mourn. Together we stand."

Family members of fallen Ventura County Sheriff Sgt. Ron Helus also lit the ceremonial torch pregame ... and Andrew donated his entire game check to the survivors.