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Team USA swimmer Nathan Adrian has announced he's battling testicular cancer ... but the gold medalist says the diagnosis will not derail his plans to compete at the 2020 Olympics.

The 30-year-old -- who was part of the 4x100 relay that won gold with Michael Phelps in 2008 -- made the announcement on social media ... saying he initially went to the doctor after "something didn't feel right."

After several tests, doctors discovered the disease and began treatment shortly after. Luckily for Adrian, he says the cancer was caught early and the prognosis is good ... which means he'll still be able to train for the Tokyo Olympics.

"I will be back in the water in a few short weeks with my sights fully set on Tokyo!" Adrian says.

"As I told my family, I’ll be putting my public health degree to work a little sooner than I planned! But in all seriousness, I am keeping a positive attitude as cases such as mine are curable."

Adrian says he will have surgery next week ... and will share his journey to bring light to men's health issues.

Florida Sec. of State Michael Ertel is learning the same lesson Megyn Kelly learned about blackface, but in a much harsher way -- he's stepping down after offensive Halloween pics of him emerged online.

Ertel had the audacity to wear blackface 14 years ago when he dressed up as a female Hurricane Katrina victim. His costume also included a headscarf and fake boobs.

Newly elected Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appointed Ertel, got wind of the pics Thursday morning after the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper obtained them. Shortly thereafter, Ertel resigned his post.

The photos were taken in 2005, 2 months after Katrina ripped through Louisiana, and while Ertel was serving as Seminole County's supervisor of elections.

Worth noting, Gov. DeSantis had his own racial controversy during his hotly contested campaign against Andrew Gillum. You might recall his "don't monkey this up" comment. If ya don't, here it is ...

Kelis wants to become a Colombian farmer, and she wants to take her son with her ... according to Nas, who says she's violating their custody agreement.

Nas is pissed off about a bunch of child custody issues -- the biggest being Kelis' plans to hightail to Cartagena. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Kelis already took 9-year-old Knight to Colombia last month. Nas says he was supposed to get their son on New Year's Eve ... but Kelis texted him to say the plan had changed. He says she didn't come back to the states until Jan. 14.

Further, he says Kelis has told him she and her new husband have a farm in Colombia and she intends to stay there. Nas says she's already withdrawn Knight from his private school in L.A. ... and he says Kelis is currently homeschooling the kid in Colombia.

Nas says the whole South America plan is a huge violation of their custody agreement, because she didn't provide the required notice about the travel.

Even when she's in the states, Kelis has been a nightmare when it comes to co-parenting, according to Nas. For instance, he says he didn't get Knight on Father's Day last year, and ditto for Halloween and Thanksgiving ... which Knight is supposed to spend with Dad on even-numbered years.

Marshawn Lynch has finally responded to Donald Trump's scathing attack on the NFL players who didn't stand for the anthem (he was one of 'em) -- and it doesn't get more Marshawn than this ...

"That mothaf*cker say a lot of sh*t."

The Oakland Raiders superstar appeared on "Real Time with Bill Maher" where he went off about POTUS -- essentially saying he doesn't know a DAMN THING about the real Marshawn Lynch.

"You call me unpatriotic but if you come to my neighborhood where I'm from you'll see me take the shirt off my back and give it to someone in less need. I mean, what would you call that?!"

Marshawn famously sat during the anthem during the 2017 and 2018 NFL seasons -- even after Donald Trump called for NFL owners to fire any "son of a bitch" who didn't stand.

Maher and Lynch also spoke about the work Marshawn does in the community -- he's become a legend in Oakland for helping low-income communities and fighting gentrification.

In fact, Lynch has his own way of defining gentrification -- "It's basically when ... it's a lot of white people come over to the hood and kick everybody out that's there."

Lynch says he's been a witness to it "since I was a small jitterbug."

10:07 AM PT -- Cook says he had a pair of Louboutin shoes, an additional pair of shoes AND some dress pants stolen -- ESPN's Dianna Russini reports.

7:36 AM PT -- A rep for the TSA tells TMZ Sports ... they've already launched an investigation into Cook's allegations and are hoping to get some answers ASAP.

We're told officials have reached out to Cook and are hoping to speak with him soon to get more information about the alleged crime.

Oakland Raiders TE Jared Cook claims TSA employees STOLE several valuable items out of his luggage at the airport on the way to the Pro Bowl ... and he's calling 'em out on video.

"The great folks at TSA went through my bag and stole my shoes and some of my clothes," Cook told Vegas Sports Daily at the Pro Bowl practice in Orlando.

Cook says the items were worth a "pretty good amount of money."

You can see in the clip Cook is pretty upset -- and he's blaming the alleged crime on the government shutdown.

"I guess when you're forced to find work or find money to come in from somewhere for your family, you take it out on the people that you serve."

He added, "When you don't feed your dogs, they go licking on your bones -- so that's what they're doing."

We reached out to the TSA for comment and we're told they're looking into Cook's allegations. However, TSA responded to Cook on Twitter saying, "This deeply concerns us. We take these allegations very seriously."

31-year-old Cook had a monster season in 2018 -- one of the few bright spots for the Raiders -- putting up 68 catches for 896 yards and 6 TDs.

Cook has made more than $37 million in his NFL career -- and is expected to sign a pretty big contract before the 2019 season.

So, even though it SUCKS to have your stuff get jacked (allegedly) ... at least he can afford to buy new gear.

Kevin Durant blew off practice with the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday -- BUT IT WAS FOR A GREAT REASON -- the guy just opened his new after-school facility in Maryland!

KD had made a $10 MILLION donation to the project last year -- to cover "construction and operating expenses" for the center in Prince George's County ... where Durant is from.

Durant had teamed up with College Track to create the facility. The mission is to help kids from low-income areas get the resources they need to get to college.

On Wednesday, Durant met with some of the kids from the inaugural 69-person class -- and everyone seemed super excited!

The NBA superstar talked about the project to the Washington Post ... describing it as the "full circle stuff that you dream about."

Hue Jackson was so furious after getting the axe from Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam after a Week 8 loss to the Steelers, he cussed at his boss and threw him out of his office.

This is all according to an explosive new ESPN report which says ... if you couldn't tell ... things were a MESS behind the scenes in Cleveland this year.

Haslam reportedly went to Jackson's office to deliver the news after the team had chalked up another loss -- sending their record to 2-5-1 on the season.

When Haslam told Jackson that the team had "quit" on him and the Browns were firing the head coach, Jackson reportedly said, "Get the f*ck out of my office."

So, why such anger in a moment EVERYONE saw coming?

According to the report, Jackson's position is that Haslam had given him a vote of confidence behind the scenes -- telling him the team would be firing offensive coordinator Todd Haley, not Jackson.

When Haslam decided to move on from Hue on October 29 ... Jackson didn't see it coming (despite an overall 3-36-1 record with the organization) and lost his cool.

The article also paints Haslam as a guy who's in over his head -- who was adamant on selecting Johnny Manziel in the 2014 NFL Draft over Teddy Bridgewater because "something about Bridgewater's handshake rubbed Haslam the wrong way."

Of course, Manziel flamed out of the league while Bridgewater ended up being a pretty solid QB (despite injuries).

Haslam also reportedly nicknamed ex-VP of football operations Sashi Brown, who is black, "Obama" because of his Harvard degree ... which made people in the Browns organization uncomfortable and came off as racial stereotyping.

Brown, however, did not find the nickname disrespectful.

Antonio Brown ... we mustache you a question -- what's up with the dental drapes, man??

The NFL superstar posted a selfie with his son, Auto, on Wednesday ... showing off a bright, new multi-colored dread look ... complete with a bleach blonde caterpillar above his upper lip.

Of course, A.B.'s no stranger to head-turning looks ... remember, he had the Nino Brown/Lego head 'do a few years ago ... and his fashion style is among the most unique in the league.

For a guy who dressed up as a hippo and sang "My Prerogative" in front of a bunch of people, we shouldn't be surprised.

Saints superstar Michael Thomas is STILL salty over the way his team's season ended ... posting a pic on social media Wednesday calling next week's Big Game, "Super Bowl LIE."

The entire city of New Orleans has been up in arms since the refs blew a potentially game-winning pass interference call at the end of the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.

In fact ... Louisiana congressman Steve Scalise tells TMZ Sports commissioner Roger Goodell should force the Rams to replay the Saints this weekend 'cause of the robbery.

Thomas clearly agrees ... 'cause he took to IG this week to post a meme that transformed the Super Bowl LIII logo into a "Super Bowl LIE" one.

Other Saints have been vocal about the controversial ending too ... tight end Ben Watson posted on his social media saying, "It’s not fair. I’m angry for a number of reasons. And we are all incredibly disappointed. But we will not be shaken!"

Lindsey Vonn ain't throwing in the towel just yet ... but she's close ... saying she's still holding out hope she won't have to retire from skiing after suffering another major knee injury.

Vonn pulled out of the World Cup super-G run at Cortina in Italy on Sunday due to pain in her knee -- the latest in a spectacular career riddled with injuries.

Now, the 34-year-old Vonn -- the greatest female downhill skier ever -- is opening up about the reality she might have to hang up her skis for good.

"After a lot of physical therapy and time to clearly think things through, we have come to some conclusions about my knee," Vonn said on Wednesday.

"First, we discovered the reason I had so much pain and muscle shut down in Cortina was due to an impact injury to my peroneal nerve."

Vonn says the pain got worse each day and by Sunday "my lower leg was in a lot of pain and my muscles had completely shut down."

"Now that we know the problem the next issue is fixing it. So far we haven’t found a solution and as a result I will not be able to compete in tomorrow’s downhill training run. However, since this is a new 'injury' per say, I remain hopeful that we can fix it."

"I’m taking things day by day and we will see what happens."

If you owned a major sports agency, wouldn't you travel to wherever the hell the #1 player in the country was at??

That's what Jay-Z did on Tuesday night -- flying out to Pittsburgh to watch the Pitt Panthers take on Zion Williamson and Duke at the Petersen Events Center.

For the record, it's not like this was some marquee matchup -- Duke is the #2 team in the country and Pitt isn't ranked.

So, why would Jay -- as busy as he is -- leave Beyonce and the kids to see a college hoops game?

Seems pretty obvious he's making a run at Zion -- like every other major sports agent on the planet.

Zion is expected to be the #1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft -- and it would be a huge score for Roc Nation which already has stars like Kevin Durant, Saquon Barkley and Todd Gurley on the roster.

In typical Zion fashion, he balled out in front of Hov -- dropping 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the 79 to 64 victory.

Also, Zion's teammate, R.J. Barrett -- who's also projected to be a Top 3 pick -- did well, posting 26 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Duke's #3 guy Cam Reddish had a decent stat line -- 15-6-4.

Jay had been planning the trip for weeks, according to Pitt coach Jeff Capel who told reporters, "His people reached out to me a few weeks ago about them wanting to come ... people from Roc Nation."

"Our athletic department and our ticketing people did an amazing job accommodating that. It’s great to have the greatest rapper ever in the arena.”

Guessing Jay can charge this trip to the company account -- like he's always said ... he's a not a businessman, he's a business, man.

5:45 AM PT -- A longtime Parisian criminal defense lawyer tells TMZ, Chris has effectively been arrested. Within 2 days he must either be released or appear in court, where a prosecutor can ask the judge to either keep Brown in custody pending trial or let him go free with "obligations." If Brown's released with obligations, we're told he could be required to surrender his passport to French authorities and would remain in Paris pending trial, which typically takes a year.

The lawyer adds Brown could be required to go to the police station every 2 weeks to ensure he's still in France.

Chris Brown and two members of his team have been arrested by French police after a woman claims she was raped by the singer in a hotel.

French authorities confirm to TMZ Brown has been detained and is in custody for alleged aggravated rape and narcotics offenses. Authorities went on to say he is being processed, which is the French version of being arrested and booked.

The woman says she met Brown overnight between January 15-16 at club Le Crystal and then headed back to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel with the singer where she claims to have been raped.

Investigators have two days to decide to file preliminary charges or to let Brown go.

Chris was spotted at Le Cirque Club in Paris Saturday night -- just three days after the alleged rape -- with Ammika Harris, a woman who he is reportedly dating.

Brown was prosecuted for felony assault and making criminal threats after he brutally attacked Rihanna in Los Angeles. The beating left Rihanna with visible facial injuries to her eyes and mouth which required hospitalization.

Brown later pled guilty to a felony and was sentenced to community service, 5 years probation and domestic violence counseling.

Brown was sued back in May by a woman who claimed she was raped at a party at the singer's home. The woman claimed Brown supplied party attendees with Molly, cocaine and weed and that it was one of his friends who raped her.

The LAPD investigated the woman's claim after she filed a report, but could not determine if the sex was forced or consensual. The lawsuit is ongoing.

Chick-fil-A is punting on the opportunity to score LOTS of potential cash by refusing to open up one very important location for Super Bowl Sunday.

Sources connected to the fast-food chain tell us the Chick-fil-A stand inside Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium -- where Super Bowl LIII will be played in a couple weeks -- will, in fact, remain closed on Feb. 3 ... just like every other Sunday before it.

We're told that although the MBS location won't be open, Chick-fil-A is still one of the corporate sponsors for the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee ... and our sources say CfA is happy to be there in spirit and through its donation to JFK Park.

Much to the chagrin of foodies everywhere, Chick-fil-A notoriously closes up shop on Sundays to give employees a much-needed day off to be with family or go to church.

That's why folks were thrown for a loop back in 2017 when a location sprung up inside MBS, where the Falcons play on Sundays. The operator has said there's tons of other events happening at MBS throughout the year -- enough so, apparently, to make it worth their while.

Just to give you a sense of how much of a cash cow Chick-fil-A is ignoring for this upcoming game -- it could be in the ballpark of half a mil, more or less. Probably more, though.

This guy says they've sold as many as 5,000 sandwiches in one night. Considering Super Bowl stadiums have hit 100,000-plus attendees in recent years ... that's a potential $409,000 Chick-fil-A is losing out on if everyone bought just one of their basic sandwiches.

Move over Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari ... there's a new king and queen of the bare-ass game -- Brooks Koepka and his smokin' hot model GF!!!

The PGA star and Jena Sims did their best Cutler-Cavallari impression in Maldives on Tuesday ... flashin' their asses for the camera in some tiny swimwear.

The caption? "Who wore it better??"

So far, Jena's leading the votes ... but it's close -- and yeah, easy to see why!!!

It's been a hell of an offseason for Koepka -- a two-time U.S. Open winner -- the dude's been hoppin' around with Sims in Vegas, Santa Monica, Abu Dhabi and now South Asia.

In fact ... it was a great REGULAR season for the guy too -- remember when Trump congratulated his "powerful mind" AND "powerful game" after winning the PGA Championship in August??

Bottom line ... it's GREAT to be Brooks.

Manny went for the handshake.

Floyd went for the dap.

The result was ... well, it was a mess.

Once again, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao came face-to-face at the Lakers game -- in what seems to be more shameless promotion for an upcoming rematch.

Floyd was sitting on the court at Staples Center in L.A. to watch the Lakers take on the Warriors (they lost) ... when Manny came up from behind to say "What's up."

The handshake greeting was a disaster -- but they got the point across.

The big problem ... Manny reportedly suffered an eye injury during his victory over Adrien Broner this past weekend -- which could throw a huge wrench in the rematch plans.

According to reports, Manny feared he suffered a detached retina in his left eye. Later, his manager said the eye was "fine" and he'll be okay.

Manny was wearing shades at the game -- so you can't see if the eye looks damaged on the surface.

As we previously reported, Manny and Floyd have been teasing a rematch for months ... and with both fighters looking pretty solid in their last fights, it seems a deal could be close.

The two originally fought back in 2015 -- with Floyd winning a unanimous decision in a pretty boring fight.

We recently spoke with Manny who told us he had a bad shoulder at the time -- and now that he's fully healed, he's confident he would whoop that ass.

No deal has been made at this point -- but we're guessing it's just a matter of time ... considering the money these guys could rake in.

There were other big stars at the Lakers game too -- including Halsey, Alexis Ren, Mahershala Ali, Jack Nicholson and LeBron James ... who was a spectator Monday night due to injury.

Get well soon!

Seems Ben Simmons is getting more serious about Kendall Jenner -- because he sat his girlfriend with his MOTHER at the 76ers game on Monday!

Check out Kendall rubbing elbows with Julie Simmons at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia -- where Ben and the 76ers beat up on the Houston Rockets in a 121 to 93 victory.

Ben's stat line wasn't spectacular -- only 9 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. And, he only hit 3 of 12 shots, which is bad for him (he usually shoots well over 50%).

But, who cares about individual stats when your team wins, right?

Plus, the most important question ... did Kendall and Mom get along?! Pretty well actually. The two were seen smiling and chatting. Good times.

It's not the first time they've kicked it together -- Kendall and Julie hung out at a game back in November 2018 and got along great then too.

Ben and Kendall have been dating on and off since May 2018. The next big question ... when does Julie get to come to L.A. to meet the rest of the Kardashians??