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Not a great look for UFC superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov ... who posed for a picture with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov just weeks after reports of another "gay purge" in Chechnya.

Khabib posted a caption along with the friendly photo which says, "Thank you for the hospitality of [Ramzan Kadyrov]. May the Almighty protect you and the entire Chechen people."

The issue ... just last month, multiple media outlets, including the BBC, reported that Chechen officials rounded up gay people and tortured them. At least 2 people died, according to the reports.

For his part, Kadyrov has denied the "gay purge" as "complete lies" -- mostly because he does not believe there are any gay people in Chechnya.

Seriously. He has said it multiple times on the record.

In fact, when asked specifically about the "gay purge," Kadyrov told a reporter -- "all those who defend human rights groups and the gays we supposedly have in the Chechen Republic are foreign agents. They've sold out their country, their people, their religion, everything."

Khabib isn't the first huge star to pose with Ramzan, who happens to be a huge combat sports fan -- he's also hung out with Floyd Mayweather.

The happiest people on Earth are now at the Happiest Place on Earth ... 'cause Tom Brady and Julian Edelman have made it to Disney World after winning the Super Bowl!!!

It's an annual tradition ... the big game's top players try like hell to fight off their hangovers and sleep depravity to make their way to Mickey's theme park to celebrate winning the Lombardi Trophy.

This time ... the Pats' MVP (Edelman) decided to bring his QB along -- and they're clearly having a freakin' blast!!!

The two have already hit up the Toy Story ride -- and had a great debate over who's Woody and who's Buzz Lightyear.

They also got a little lightsaber-training in ... and you'll never guess which guy chose the dark side's red saber!!!

Edelman and Brady will almost certainly be grand marshals in Mickey's parade through the Magic Kingdom later today as well.

How'd Kevin Hart get by Super Bowl security to party with the Patriots on Sunday??

Robert Kraft's son had to personally vouch for him!!!!

It all went down on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf after New England beat the Rams ... when the comedy icon was held up on his way to the confetti party.

The video is great ... Hart thinks security is just jokin' around not letting him through the gates -- when he suddenly realizes they ain't!!!

Kevin tries to crack a couple jokes to get through ... but still no dice!!!

Enter Patriots president Jonathan Kraft ... who rolls up to security to save the day -- telling everyone, "He's good! He's good! And, his wife!"

If this all feels familiar ... it's 'cause it is -- remember last year Hart was denied the chance to head up to the stage to celebrate the Eagles' Super Bowl championship???

For his part ... Kevin was able to joke about the whole thing afterward -- penning a social media post with a bunch of laughing emojis.

Kraft had the bling, Gronk had the booze ... and EVERYONE was having a great time at the New England Patriots victory party after the Super Bowl.

TMZ Sports has footage from inside the event -- where you can see billionaire Pats owner Robert Kraft turnin' up with a giant diamond chain around his neck that says, "Champions."

Rob Gronkowski was living his best life too -- sippin' on a bottle of booze somebody passed off to him ... and telling people, "I am big pimpin'."

Snoop was the main performer at the shindig at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta -- along with The Chainsmokers and Meek Mill.

After the show, Snoop told us Tom Brady personally asked him to perform -- and he obliged ... because you can't say no to the G.O.A.T.

The food at the party was also lit -- we're talking chicken and waffles, mahi mahi tacos and an OPEN BAR!

He tried. He failed.

A New England Patriots fan tried to sneak into the team locker room celebration after the Super Bowl by taking a security officer's jacket and trying to blend in ... but he got caught.

Several people recorded video as the ACTUAL security team realized there was a FRAUD in their midst.

You can see the real security team question the faker -- and demanding he fork over the jacket immediately.

Atlanta Police Dept. officers were called over to help as the man tried to explain himself -- saying someone had given him the jacket ... but he never ID'd his alleged accomplice.

At one point the man tried to walk away from the situation, but he was stopped by officials who were trying to identify the man. He was a wearing a badge so it shouldn't be too hard.

APD tells us stadium security handled the incident and they're not sure if the man was arrested.

We're working on it ...

Of course, the Patriots have had locker room issues in the past -- investigators found that former TV reporter Mauricio Ortega had been habitually stealing items from Super Bowl locker rooms for years ... including a game-worn Tom Brady jersey.

Conor McGregor is BACK in America -- this time, no violence ... just cuteness!!

The UFC superstar and his 1-year-old son, Conor Jr., just arrived at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, in matching purple suits ... and they're both STYLIN'!!!

Conor is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan -- he became with friends with Jerry Jones in 2018 -- but since they're not in the big game, unclear who Conor will be rooting for.

One thing's for sure ... Conor ain't missing an opportunity to flash his mug at the biggest sporting ever of the year!!

By the way, look at Conor McGregor Jr.'s designer kicks -- sweeeeeeet!!!!

The A-list stars are starting to arrive at the stadium -- Jon Bon Jovi, Kevin Hart and Ludacris are already there.

So is Rams superfan YG -- he's been a good luck charm for the Rams this season, this is good news for L.A.

Donald Trump -- the man who complained the NFL was eliminating too many big hits -- admits tackle football is "a dangerous sport" and he'd have a "hard time" allowing his son to play.

POTUS sat down with CBS News' Margaret Brennan who asked Trump if he would allow 12-year-old Barron play football if he wanted to.

"It’s very, it’s a very tough question," Trump said ... "It’s a very good question. If he wanted to? Yes. Would I steer him that way? No, I wouldn’t."

When asked to elaborate, Trump said, "I just don’t like the reports that I see coming out having to do with football -- I mean, it’s a dangerous sport and I think it’s really tough."

He added, "I thought the equipment would get better, and it has. The helmets have gotten far better, but it hasn’t solved the problem."

"So, you know I hate to say it because I love to watch football. I think the NFL is a great product, but I really think that as far as my son -- well I’ve heard NFL players saying they wouldn’t let their sons play football. So ... it’s not totally unique, but I would have a hard time with it."

Back in 2017, Trump complained that the NFL "ruining the game," by calling too many penalties on big hits.

6:00 PM PT -- Elliot Tebele, founder of F**kjerry, addressed the company's recent backlash a few hours ago, saying ... "Effective immediately, we will no longer post content when we cannot identify the creator, and will require the original creator’s advanced consent before publishing their content to our followers. It is clear that attribution is no longer sufficient, so permission will become the new policy."

He added ... "We want to apologize to anyone who feels we have wronged them in the past. We want to do the right thing by creators by seeking permission and giving them the credit they deserve."

11:00 AM PT -- Add Whitney Cummings to the list. She also posted an "Unfollow F**k Jerry" message and thanked writer Megh Wright for starting the movement.

Colin Hanks and John Mulaney are now at the forefront of a growing list of actors and comedians who are speaking out against the social media agency Jerry Media ... and are encouraging people to unfollow the incredibly popular @f**kjerry account.

Hanks and Mulaney both shared posts Saturday blasting FJ for stealing content and jokes from comedians and profiting from it. Mulaney urged his followers to "unfollow this garbage account" while Hanks went a step further, calling the Jerry Media honchos hustlers and con men.

Colin's comments stem from the recent duo of Fyre Festival documentaries, one of which (the Netflix one) was produced by the F**kjerry team. Since the release of the films, there's been a lot of public backlash against FJ for their role in the Fyre Fest scam ... and it's resulting in lost followers.

There's more -- on Friday, Comedy Central announced it was pulling its ads from the FJ account, saying it has "no plans to advertise with Jerry Media in the future."

For a company that reportedly makes thousands of dollars for a single Instagram post, a loss of advertisers would be a huge blow.

Move over Tiger Woods ... Amy Bockerstette is officially the biggest badass on the links -- 'cause the Special Olympian was invited to play a hole with PGA tour stars this week ... and she parred!!!

It all went down during a practice round at the Waste Management Phoenix Open ... where Gary Woodland and Matt Kuchar invited Amy to take a shot at the course's famous 16th hole.

Amy -- who has Down syndrome -- showed absolutely ZERO nerves off the tee box ... smashing her drive just short of the green in a bunker.

But, there were no worries about hittin' it fat from the trap ... 'cause Amy hit a shot outta the sand that woulda made Tiger himself jealous!!!

Then came the best part ... SHE BURIED THE PUTT FOR PAR!!!!

The crowd went nuts ... the PGA tour stars loved it ... and Amy shrugged it off like it was just another day at the range!!

Of course, Amy's certainly been in bigger situations ... she is, after all, the first-ever collegiate golfer to compete with an intellectual disability.

NBA superstar Anthony Davis says he never wanted his trade demand to go public ... but now that it's become the talk of the entire league, he's explaining why he wants outta NOLA.

AD's agent, Rich Paul, made the trade request public earlier this week -- which ultimately cost Davis $50k -- but, now we're finally hearing straight from the 25-year-old why he's ready to move on.

"I feel like it's my time," Davis told reporters on Friday. "I gave this city, organization, fans, everything I feel like I could."

Davis also refutes any reports claiming he requested to be moved to L.A. or New York.

"We never gave the Pelicans a destination."

Neal James -- known as "Banjo Man" on the popular Animal Planet series, "Call of the Wildman" -- has died ... TMZ has confirmed.

The Washington County Coroner's Office tells TMZ, James had been battling heart issues for years now. He died of natural causes at his Kentucky home.

James became a sensation on the reality show, due largely in part to his friendship with the show's star ... "The Turtleman" Ernie Brown Jr. He endeared himself to fans with his twangy voice, easy-going attitude, long beard and, of course, his banjo.

It wasn't long ago when James suffered a heart attack ... prompting him to take to YouTube and say he's "seen the other side" and it's beautiful, but he was in no hurry to get there. James thanked his friends, family and the medical community for helping him continue living.

Seems the ice has thawed between Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Donald Trump -- because Kraft just praised POTUS on live TV ... and thanked him for his support of the team in the Super Bowl.

Kraft appeared on "Fox & Friends" early Friday morning where was asked how he felt about Trump sending a congratulatory tweet to the Patriots following their big win in the AFC Championship game.

"We can use every fan who wants to support us from wherever they are in their standard of life," Kraft said.

When asked if he's spoken with Trump -- or gotten advice from the President -- Kraft continued to throw nice words Trump's way.

"I have a lot of people who give me advice and he's been very supportive and I know he's working very hard to serve the best interest of the country."

It's interesting considering the relationship between Kraft and Trump has been rocky over the past few years.

The two were VERY close for years but then clashed in April over Trump's handling of the Colin Kaepernick kneeling situation.

Remember, Trump called for NFL owners to fire any "son of a bitch" who doesn't stand for the anthem.

Kraft called Trump's statements "divisive" and "horrible."

But, it seems it's all water under the bridge now.

Makes us wonder if Trump is also repairing his relationship with Tom Brady -- who he was also very close with.

However, Gisele has become a very outspoken critic of Trump ever since he took office and Tom and Trump have seemingly had a falling out.

But now, with Trump publicly supporting Brady again ... it'll be interesting to see if Tom returns the love.

President Trump has been keeping up on the news about the Jussie Smollett attack, and says it's horrible.

The President spoke Thursday morning from the Oval Office and when a reporter asked him about the "Empire" star's case, he replied, "That I can tell you is horrible. I've seen it ... last night. It doesn't get worse, as far as I'm concerned."

It was a pretty brief response ... he didn't elaborate on any details of the case.

Remember, Jussie says his attackers yelled, "MAGA country" as they fled after beating him, pouring bleach on him and putting a rope around his neck.

Unfortunately, Trump was not asked specifically about the MAGA remark.

Julian Edelman was SO impressed with the way a 7th-grader handled being bullied by her classmates ... he straight-up gave her 2 tickets to this weekend's Super Bowl!!!

Dejah Rondeau is a badass 13-year-old who just so happens to play quarterback for her New Hampshire school's football team.

Problem was ... some of her classmates had an issue with a girl being their signal-caller -- and her parents say she was bullied over it.

"Some people don’t want to accept a female quarterback. She’ll have to put in 110 percent when others are putting in 50," Dejah's mother told Seacoastonline.com.

But, Dejah overcame it all ... and managed to thrive for her team -- and that caught Edelman's eye.

The Patriots and their star WR invited her to the team's facility last week for being so brave in the face of adversity ... and gave her TWO tickets to see them play the Rams on Sunday!!!

"My respect level for you is just through the roof because you just ignored all the noise and you played the game we all love -- and that’s football," Edelman told the girl.

Dejah's reaction??

"That was crazy! I never knew -- I never thought that would ever happen. I was just really excited to go!"

Artie Lange is back in custody ... and his latest mug shot is very sad and disturbing.

The comedian was in court Wednesday in Essex County, New Jersey. We're told he was taken into custody after his hearing after testing positive for cocaine and morphine.

Law enforcement sources say the mark under Lange's nose is a scab that started to bleed.

The same day he was sent back to jail, someone managing Artie's Twitter account announced he would be undergoing a long term treatment program, adding ... "He loves and respects his fans... updates coming soon.. and it’s time."

We broke the story ... Lange pled guilty to heroin possession at the end of 2017 and went to an inpatient drug rehab program after he got out of jail. He was later sentenced to 4 years probation.

The judge also ordered him to complete an outpatient drug program and complete 50 hours of community service.

Lange's latest bust will likely result in a probation violation ... so he's looking at more tough times ahead.

Originally Published -- 10:22 AM PT

11:46 AM PT -- Artie's attorney, Frank Arleo, tells TMZ Artie was "taken into custody so that the Drug Court could re-evaluate him and recommend a course of treatment. Once that is done, he will be released. Artie is committed to getting better."

Boston Celtics guard Jabari Bird appeared in court Wednesday to face new charges that he threatened to murder his GF multiple times during a violent altercation back in September.

As we previously reported ... Bird allegedly brutalized his GF at his Massachusetts apartment during a Sept. 7 incident -- allegedly choking and terrorizing her for hours.

Officials say Jabari roughed her up badly ... and she was only able to escape after Bird appeared to be having "seizure-like" symptoms during the end of the attack.

Jabari was arrested for assault and battery, strangulation and kidnapping ... and later pled not guilty to the charges in court.

On Wednesday, prosecutors tacked on TWO additional charges -- threats and witness intimidation -- alleging in court docs Bird told his GF he was going to MURDER her during the altercation.

"If you don’t stop talking I’m going to kill you," the victim alleges Bird said, according to court docs.

She added that Jabari also said while kicking her, “Tell anyone about this, I don’t care where you are, I’ll find you and I’ll kill you."

Bird appeared in Brighton Municipal Court Wednesday to face the new charges ... and once again pled not guilty.

Jabari is due back in court next month.

For his part ... Jabari released a statement shortly after the September incident saying, "I'm taking some time away from the team as I deal with my legal and medical issues. I apologize to my family, the Celtics organization, my teammates, the fans and the NBA for the unnecessary distraction that I have caused."