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10:16 AM PT -- The NHL has concluded its investigation and has determined Rielly did NOT use homophobic language ... although it was not revealed what he DID say.

"Following a thorough investigation, the National Hockey League has determined that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly did not direct a homophobic slur at referee Brad Meier during last night's game with the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena," Colin Campbell, Senior EVP of Operations said in a statement.

"League officials interviewed several of the participants in the game - including Rielly and Meier - and reviewed audio of the alleged incident. All of those interviewed adamantly denied that Rielly uttered a slur and the audio supported their statements.

The National Hockey League does not tolerate language or gestures that disparage anyone based upon their race, creed or sexual orientation and continues to work to ensure that our games are played in a welcoming atmosphere for all of our players, coaches, officials and fans."

The NHL has launched an investigation into Morgan Rielly -- after a hot mic seems to have captured the Maple Leafs star calling a referee a "f*cking f***ot" ... but there's a twist.

It all went down during Monday's Leafs vs. Tampa Bay Lightning game -- when Rielly got into a heated exchange with a ref ... and people watching on TV claim they heard the homophobic slur.

There's a debate over whether Rielly used the homophobic f-word or if he said, "F*cking rag it" ... a hockey term that essentially means to freeze the puck and waste time.

Either way, the NHL says it's investigating -- "The NHL is aware of reports that a homophobic slur was used during the Maple Leafs-Lightning game," the league announced Monday.

"The League is investigating the incident and will have no further comment until this investigation is completed."

Leafs GM Kyle Dubas also addressed the alleged slur, saying "The issue of homophobia is one the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club strongly condems and takes very seriously. We are in communication with the NHL and are cooperating fully with their office."

The 25-year-old was NOT penalized during the game for whatever he said ... but the league has handed down punishments from game suspensions to fines in recent incidents.

Rielly -- the 5th overall pick to the Leafs in the 2012 draft and one of the top scoring defensemen in the league this season -- has yet to address the incident.

Rielly seems to be a support of the LBGTQ community -- and famously posted a pro-gay rights tweet in August saying, "Happy pride day Vancouver."

"THEY BIT OFF MY FINGER!"

That's the woman who claims she was attacked by Dak Prescott's pit bull ... struggling to breathe and compose herself while calling 911 -- and the audio is intense.

TMZ Sports has obtained the call from the Feb 25 incident -- when two pit bulls belonging to the Dallas Cowboys QB escaped from his home in Frisco, Texas and went over to a neighbor's home.

One of the pit bulls, named Icon, attacked a neighbor's dog and then turned on Beth Taylor, the woman who tried to break up the scuffle.

"They've broken down my fence in my backyard and then they bit off my finger!" the alleged victim tells dispatch ... "The tip of my finger!"

"I don't know if it's completely off," the 50-year-old said of the fingertip that was bitten ... "There's something partially there. It's like from mid-finger nail. It's still there I think. It's just one half on."

Taylor pleads with the operator to send cops ... saying the dogs were still looming in her front yard even after she shooed them away.

Taylor also tells dispatch she believes her dog was "probably" injured in the attack.

As for Taylor's injury ... a neighbor described the wound to the operator as, "Her hand seems to be not shredded, but it is bleeding."

As we previously reported ... Icon was placed in quarantine following the incident and is set to face a hearing to determine if it will be, or should be, classified as a "dangerous dog."

If it is indeed found to be dangerous, a possible punishment includes the death penalty.

Cops tell us that hearing is set for March 20 at 8 AM PT at a Frisco courthouse.

He's already got a statue at Staples Center -- now Shaquille O'Neal has a restaurant right across the street!!!

The NBA legend opened up Shaquille's at L.A. Live over the weekend -- and tons of his famous friends showed up to celebrate ... from Adam Sandler to Julian Edelman and Tiffany Haddish!!!

It all went down after the Lakers game on Saturday night after Los Angeles took an L against their rival, Boston Celtics ... which happens to the last team Shaq played for!!!

The restaurant specializes in Southern cuisine -- featuring everything from Shaq’s famous fried chicken to shrimp & grits. People at the party tell us the food was delicious.

And, get this ... we're told a few of the Lakers even hit up the joint after the game ... including Kyle Kuzma and Rajon Rondo.

Boston's Jayson Tatum was there too along with Celtics legend Paul Pierce.

Other stars spotted at the party ... Diplo, E.J. Johnson, Jaleel White and Ross Butler.

Shawn Oakman is wasting no time proving he's serious about the NFL ... putting in some serious work in the gym just days after proclaiming his dream of playing in the league.

Oakman was found NOT GUILTY in his rape case last month ... and has since vowed to work his ass off and show teams he deserves a shot to play in the NFL.

Of course, Oakman was a projected 1st-round draft pick while playing at Baylor, but went untouched in the 2016 NFL Draft after he was arrested and charged with raping a woman at his apartment.

The 6'9" defensive end posted a recent sweat sesh for his followers over the weekend ... and it's clear he's trying to let people know he's serious about getting to the league.

"I want to play football at the highest level and just really finally get my chance,” Oakman told KWTX last week.

"I think God will set the right path for me but I don't feel like I have to beg for anything, it's not a begging matter. I don't want anybody to hand me anything. I want to earn it and everything I get."

Bill Belichick really does take days off ... and by the looks of this pic he snapped of his smokin' hot GF -- he's REALLY enjoying them too!!!

The Patriots head coach took a beach vacay with his long-time GF, Linda Holliday, after the NFL's combine ... and traded in his headset for a camera -- and we're all grateful for it.

Unclear where the two are -- all we know is it's a helluva lot warmer than New England -- but it seems it's been a pretty fun trip for the couple.

They've had some ice cream, played a little gin rummy by the ocean ... and even hit the links too!!

Bill and Linda have been together for years ... and they've been known to take some pretty dope vacations when Bill decides to put the hoodie away for a few hours -- remember Greece?!?!

Prodigy frontman Keith Flint hanged himself to death ... according to the coroner's report.

The Essex County Coroner's Office released its report Monday on the singer, who was found dead one week ago. The report confirms what Flint's bandmates said shortly after news broke he had died.

Prodigy founder Liam Howlett said Keith had taken his own life, leaving him, "shell shocked, f**kin angry, confused and heart broken."

The coroner is still completing toxicology testing, but is confirming there was no foul play involved in Keith's death.

Nikki Bella is now PDA official with her "Dancing with the Stars" partner, Artem Chigvintsev -- seemingly closing the door on a possible John Cena reconciliation.

The former WWE Divas champ was spotted at a romantic lunch with Chigvintsev at Joan's on Third in L.A. over the weekend ... where they held hands, strolled arm in arm and sucked a little face.

Nikki and Artem have been dating for a couple of weeks now after meeting on the set of 'DWTS' -- and it seems like the relationship is taking off.

We previously reported the two were spotted at a flirtatious day date in Bev Hills earlier this month ... but it's clearly evolved.

As for Cena, we're told Nikki and John are on good terms after splitting up last summer. They still talk every now and then ... but Nikki's clearly moving on.

Unclear how Cena feels about Nikki's new dude -- but one thing's for sure ... if they ever wind up in a dance battle, DON'T COUNT CENA OUT!!!

Check out this video of Cena getting funky during a workout session with The Rock ... he's no Derek Hough, but it's not terrible!

Klay Thompson thinks Warriors fans have been spoiled by their historic dominance ... grousing about Dub Nation's lack of support Sunday night after an embarrassing loss to the Suns.

The Warriors -- currently 1st place in the Western Conference -- just lost to the 2nd-worst team in the whole NBA ... and Klay's laying some of the blame on the fans. Yes, the fans.

"I expect our crowd to be a little more into it," Thompson said after the 115-111 loss. "I know it's not the playoffs, but it is our last go-around at Oracle (Arena)."

"Least you could stand up when someone makes a good play, especially in the beginning. We need that energy."

"We expect our fans to bring that from the jump."

There's been a lot to celebrate in Oakland lately -- 3 championships in the past 4 seasons, a 73-win season, and a starting lineup full of All-Stars.

Thompson's assuming all that success must get boring to the fans ... but as the Dubs make yet another run at a title, he makes it clear he wants more.

2019 is looking up for Michelle Wie ... the golf superstar is engaged to her boyfriend, who happens to be the son of one of the greatest NBA players EVER!!

Wie said "yes" to Jonnie West -- whose dad is Jerry West.

30-year-old Jonnie is the Director of Basketball Operations for the Golden State Warriors, where Jerry was an exec from 2011 to 2017.

Wie is clearly stoked about the engagement, posting photos of the proposal in San Francisco with the caption, "My person for life!!!!! #WieGoesWest."

Great to see Wie so happy after a rough February, when she pulled out of HSBC Women's World Championship after reinjuring her hand.

Of course, Wie had surgery on the same hand last year. Sucks.

Jed Allan -- another member of the "Beverly Hills, 90210" family and a soap opera legend -- has died, according to his son.

Rick Brown posted the sad news on Jed Allan's official Facebook fan page Saturday, saying Jed passed away peacefully while surrounded by family. He added, "Thank you for all who are part of this wonderful tribute to my dad on Facebook."

Jed played Rush Sanders on '90210' -- the father of Ian Ziering's Steve Sanders. Ian posted a tribute to Jed Sunday, saying, "So sad to hear we've lost another 90210 castmate. I had the pleasure of working with Jed Allan from 94 to 99. He played Rush Sanders, Steve's father. Such a great guy to work with, he will be missed."

Jed was perhaps more known for his roles on soaps like "Days of Our Lives," in which he played Don Craig, as well as the TV series "Santa Barbara," where he played C.C. Capwell. He had a very prolific career spanning 6 decades, having appeared on shows like "Lassie," "Columbo," "Adam-12," "Love, American Style," "CHiPs" and many, many others.

Jed had 64 acting credits to his name.

Of course, his death comes less than a week after Luke Perry's tragic passing. TMZ broke the story ... Perry died Monday after suffering a massive stroke the week prior. Doctors sedated him hoping he'd recover, but he never did.

Jed is survived by his three sons from his marriage to Toby Brown, who died in 2001. No doubt, a very tough week in TV.

R. Kelly's back on the streets after finally covering his unpaid child support.

The singer forked over the $161,633 he owes to ex-wife, Drea Kelly, and was released Saturday morning from Cook County Jail. As he walked out, Kelly said, "I promise we're gonna straighten all this out. That's all I can say right now. I love my fans."

Interestingly, he did have fans screaming for him outside ... including one woman who yelled, "Please touch my hand!"

Sources connected to Kelly tell us he scraped together the money with help from a "benefactor."

As we reported ... R. Kelly was arrested Wednesday when he missed the deadline to settle up his back child support. During his CBS interview, he blamed his ex for his failure to pay her ... claiming her "lies" about abuse are the reason he can't make any money.

He also claims he's trying to reconnect with his 3 kids, but sources close to the situation say that's BS ... he hasn't even reached out to his family in nearly 2 years.

Kelly's legal woes are just getting started. As you know, he's still facing 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse in Chicago, multiple federal investigations ... and new sexual misconduct allegations in Detroit.

As we've reported ... the feds are looking into whether R. Kelly violated the Mann Act, which prohibits transportation of minors across state lines for purpose of sex or debauchery. Attorney Michael Avenatti now says he has evidence to nail R. Kelly for that too.

Ex-MLB All-Star pitcher Esteban Loaiza just got sentenced to 36 months in prison after officials found him hiding 44 pounds of cocaine ... and he'll surrender next month.

As we previously reported, Loaiza -- who made more than $40 MILLION during his 14-year MLB career -- was arrested last year after cops say he was trying to move more than $500,000 in cocaine from a house located near a school.

Officials say Loaiza was using "sophisticated" smuggling devices to hide the 22 kilos of coke.

On Friday, the 47-year-old appeared in court in San Diego for his sentencing. He was facing life in prison -- but seems to be getting off easy ... with just a 3-year prison sentence.

Officials say he'll be deported to his native Mexico following his release.

The story about how he was caught is crazy.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Dept. says he was busted during a drug-smuggling sting by the Border Crime Suppression Team.

Loaiza was initially stopped by police during a traffic stop for a minor traffic violation -- but a search of his car led to the discovery of a "sophisticated aftermarket compartment used to conceal contraband."

Cops then got a warrant to search a home that Loaiza had been renting since early February -- located "steps away from an area preschool" -- and found roughly 20 kilograms of suspected cocaine.

Estimated street value -- $500,000.

Loaiza was initially booked into San Diego County Jail for 3 felonies -- Possession of Cocaine Over 20 Kilograms, Possession of Cocaine for Sale, and Transportation of Cocaine.

He later pled guilty to felony cocaine possession with intent to distribute.

Loaiza, the second-winningest pitcher from Mexico in MLB history, played for 8 different teams in his career -- earning over $43 million.

5:30 PM PT -- Jussie's attorney, Mark Geragos, just released a scathing response to the indictment, telling us, "The fact of an indictment was not unexpected. We knew that there is no way they would expose their evidence to a public airing and subject their witnesses to cross-examination. What is unexpected, however, is the prosecutorial overkill in charging 16 separate counts against Jussie."

Geragos continues, "This redundant and vindictive indictment is nothing more than a desperate attempt to make headlines in order to distract from the internal investigation launched to investigate the outrageous leaking of false information by the Chicago Police Department and the shameless and illegal invasion of Jussie's privacy in tampering with his medical records. Jussie adamantly maintains his innocence even if law enforcement has robbed him of that presumption."

2:45 PM PT -- We've now read the indictment, and it appears the grand jury hit Jussie with one count for EACH allegedly false statement he made during the 2 interviews with cops.

Jussie Smollett just got slammed by a Cook County grand jury, which has returned a 16-count felony indictment against him for filing a false police report.

Smollett was originally charged by the State Attorney's Office with a felony of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. The new indictments obviously take the case to another level.

As for why there are so many counts ... the grand jury reportedly handed up 2 sets of charges -- one for Smollett's initial report to Chicago PD, and the other charges are for Jussie's second interview with cops.

We're told Ola and Abel Osundairo told grand jurors Jussie hired them to stage the so-called "attack." The brothers were caught on camera buying a bunch of supplies before the incident ... including ski masks, gloves, bandanas, sunglasses and red hats.

Chicago PD has come out strong against Jussie ... making it clear they had a lot of issues with his version of events -- including the fact he took them to the scene and immediately pointed to a camera which he said captured the incident. Turns out, the camera was pointed in the wrong direction.

Abel and Ola told police they drove with Jussie in the days prior to the incident scouting a location and even rehearsed the "attack."

As for the hate mail sent to Jussie at Fox Studios in Chicago ... police say they believe the "Empire" star is behind that too. However, we know the FBI hadn't confirmed that when Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson blasted Jussie in his news conference.

We also know the brothers told police they had nothing to do with the letter, and only saw it in a photo on Jussie's phone.

Originally published -- 2:11 PM PT

What does Chris Pratt give his friends on their birthday? STOMACH PUNCHES!!

That's how he celebrated with his pal Adel "Kyokushin" Altamimi -- the pro-MMA fighter who Pratt walked to the cage at Bellator 214 back in January.

Pratt and Adel are close friends -- and to celebrate Adel's big 30th birthday, his training partners at Jay Glazer's Unbreakable Gym in L.A. handed out a flurry of body blows!

It's a birthday tradition at the gym -- hold the cage, flex your abs and everybody gets a shot!

Among the gift-givers ... Chris, Jay and ex-NFL player Nate Boyer.

As for the birthday boy, he's got a pretty amazing story -- he was born and raised in Iraq and was contracted as a convoy driver for the U.S. Marine Corps.

During his service, Altamimi was captured by Al Qaeda and was threatened with death -- until he was saved by a group of U.S. Marines.

After the rescue, Altamimi moved to the U.S. and began his MMA training -- where he became close with guys like Jay Glazer and Chris Pratt.

SHEEEED!!!!

Rasheed Wallace has a new gig -- he's been hired as the head basketball coach at Jordan High School in Durham, NC!!

The ex-NBA star was announced at a news conference (inside the school's library!) Friday morning ... donning a royal blue blazer and smiling from ear-to-ear.

"It's a great day to be a Falcon," Sheed said Friday.

Of course, Sheed has ties to Durham ... he was a superstar at North Carolina for 2 years, making the Final Four in 1995.

Wallace went on to have a great 16-year NBA career ... winning a title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 and making the All-Star team 4 different times.

It'll be a rebuild for Wallace .. he's taking on a team that went 7-17 this past season, according to MaxPreps.

Sheed had MANY memorable moments during his time in the Association -- who can forget BALL DON'T LIE?!?!?

Worth noting ... Wallace ranks in the top 5 in technical fouls in NBA history, so here's hoping he keeps his chill on the sidelines.

Whoopi Goldberg just revealed her bout with pneumonia was so severe she nearly died.

Whoopi appeared on "The View" Friday via a video update and said she'd been battling a bad case of pneumonia. She said, "Yes, I came very, very close to leaving the Earth. Good news, I didn't."

The comedian/co-host has not appeared on the panel since February 6 and, on Thursday, Whoopi reportedly skipped a benefit concert in NYC she was scheduled to co-host with Martin Short.

She said the illness was bad ... with pneumonia in both lungs. Whoopi says she's okay and moving around, and she thanked her fans for wishing her well.