Coronavirus

The stars of Brazil's 2021 Miss Bumbum competition are trying to draw attention to the importance of getting vaccinated ... by drawing even more attention to their assets.

The curvy candidates have tattooed their booties with "vaccinate here" as part of an initiative put in place by the organization running the contest.

Brazil, much like the U.S., has been a hot spot for COVID-19 cases and deaths ... along with accompanying protests of lockdowns and coronavirus policies.

So, the women vying for the title of Brazil's most beautiful butt are urging fans to get their shots, with one candidate saying, "We want our vaccine in the butt ... we want everyone to be vaccinated."

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the popular beauty contest -- which is, interestingly, still happening amid the pandemic -- with 27 contestants to start.

Marvin Hagler's wife is calling BS on unfounded conspiracy theories suggesting the boxer's death was caused by the COVID vaccine -- saying it's simply "nonsense."

"Marvelous" Marvin Hagler -- one of the greatest boxers of all time -- died on Saturday at his home in New Hampshire. He was 66.

Around the time of his death, Hagler's former rival Tommy Hearns floated a theory about Hagler's health in an IG post on his verified page.

"He’s in ICU fighting the after effects of the vaccine!” Hearns said in a post that has since been deleted.

Now, Hagler's wife Kay is firing back -- saying she was WITH Marvin all the way to the end and can personally confirm his death had nothing to do with the COVID vaccine.

"I am the only person that know how things went not even his family know all the details and I do NOT accept to read some stupid comment without knowing really what happen," Kay said in a Facebook post.

"For sure wasn't the vaccine that caused his death. My baby left in peace with his usually smile and now is not the time to talk nonsense."

Kay also notes how Marvin "hated funerals" and "therefore there will be no funerals or church celebrations."

"He wants to be remembered with a happy smile but I would be happy if each of you can light a candle for him."

Hagler's official cause of death has still not been released and likely won't be for weeks, possibly months.

Kay adds, "Thank you for your love, [Marvin] loved people so much, he loved you all he was happy when he read your comments he was a special person the most beautiful person i had ever met in all my life."

Hagler was 62–3–2 in his storied career -- with wins over legends like Roberto Duran, Alan Minter and, of course, Tommy Hearns.

The tournament hasn't even started yet ... and already the NCAA is down 6 referees for March Madness due to COVID.

The NCAA has confirmed 6 referees were sent home from Indianapolis -- where a controlled bubble-style environment has been set up in the hopes of limiting exposure.

The NCAA says 1 of the officials tested positive for COVID-19 on March 15 -- "and 5 other officials the person interacted with the day before were identified as exposure risks due to prolonged close contact."

"Based on tournament protocols and contract tracing with local public health authorities, these officials may not participate in the tournament."

Now, the ref who tested positive "must be placed in isolation, and the other officials must be placed in quarantine."

The tournament -- one of the most exciting events in sports -- is set to kick off on Thursday.

The NCAA had tapped 60 referees in total to work the tourney -- now, they're down to 54 refs to work the 63 total games.

The NCAA tourney has already felt the impact of COVID -- just ask the defending champs from the Univ. of Virginia.

Most of the Cavaliers players are still in quarantine after one member of the program tested positive for COVID. They're not expected to arrive in Indy until Friday, the day before their 1st-round game against Ohio.

The NCAA has a backup plan in case teams need to pull out -- they've booked 4 teams as backup squads  ... Louisville, Colorado State, Saint Louis and Mississippi.

The backup teams will only be on standby until Tuesday -- after that, a team that withdraws due to COVID will not be replaced.

Travis Scott went to work, literally, to make sure his new spiked seltzer hit local shelves ... but in the process, he caused a chaotic, and potentially dangerous, scene.

Scott hit up several grocery stores around Los Angeles Monday to promote his CACTI spiked seltzer. The rapper went inside a Pavillions in West Hollywood to check on his product and grab a pack of gum ... only to be swarmed by fans.

You can see the cashier and another customer get engulfed by the crowd as Travis signs autographs and tries to pay for his gum.

What's most upsetting about the video ... some fans aren't wearing masks, and every time he speaks, or yells, Travis pulls his own mask down ... defeating the whole point of wearing one.

Grocery stores have gone to great lengths to make sure customers can shop safely, and to see the safe practices like mask-wearing and social distancing completely ignored -- essentially over a pack of gum -- is sure to enrage store management.

Ted Cruz is liking what he's seeing with the country's vaccination rollout, and it's got him thinking about ballin' ... even though the court at the Senate gym sucks.

The Texas Senator was arriving at Reagan National Airport in D.C. Monday when he had a hopeful chat with our photog about returning to normal, putting the pandemic behind us ... and taking a member of his staff to the hole.

Sounds like Ted's got a case of March Madness, and even though he tells us the basketball court at the Senate's facility is terrible ... he's ready to "bang around a little bit."

If ya don't know, Cruz ain't bad when it comes to playing hoops ... at least compared to Jimmy Kimmel. He took down his late-night talk show host rival in a sweaty mess of a 1-on-1 match back in 2018. Thankfully, it was all for charity.

Clearly, Ted's itching to get back to the sport and says everyone's eager to get out of their houses after a year of dealing with COVID-19 ... and he's encouraged we're getting closer to normalcy.

The maskless Uber rider seen on video coughing on her driver and yanking his mask off finally surrendered to police ... and she's facing some serious charges.

According to the San Francisco PD ... Arna Kimiai turned herself in to authorities Sunday and was booked into the San Fran County jail that night.

She's been hit with charges of robbery, assault and battery, conspiracy and violation of health and safety code. She's still in police custody.

Cops say Arna and her friend, Malaysia King, got into a March 7 altercation with their Uber driver because they weren't wearing masks.

By now you've seen the video, which seems to back up what police say ... that Arna reached over the driver from the backseat and snatched his phone. The driver was also allegedly pepper-sprayed as the women left his car ... although we don't see that in the video.

King was arrested last week and is facing similar charges as Kimiai.

We broke the story ... along with these legal issues, Kimiai is also being sued for a 2019 car crash in which the other driver claims she was seriously injured.

A new video of Trey Songz oozing saliva into the mouths of two women is raising a lot of questions -- perhaps most important of which being ... how in the hell is this safe?!?

Check out this 13-second clip of a shirtless Trey on what appears to be a set of some sort, with two women kneeling in down in front of his junk (which luckily doesn't make an appearance) and licking each other's tongues, as TS stands above and spits on 'em.

The clip -- which doesn't have much context at this point -- is quite gross on its face, as the internet duly noted after it surfaced and went viral. It sure seems degrading, but the two women here appear to be more than active and willing participants.

It looks like Trey's being photographed -- which is leading some to believe he's doing a shoot, a music video or another visual project.

Someone set Selena Gomez's new song, 'Damelo To,' to this video -- kinda like folks do on TikTok or IG these days -- but there's no evidence this is being shot for her song or that she's involved at all. Besides, Trey's not featured in that track ... Myke Towers is.

Anyway, assuming Trey is, in fact, on a set here ... the question must be asked -- even if everyone involved agreed to partake, how is this even being allowed in the first place amid a pandemic? Sure, you can test and whatever else ... but this act alone feels like it'd be banned on any set anywhere right now (assuming they're actually following guidelines).

Arna Kimiai -- the woman who filmed herself driving 122 MPH last summer and who coughed on and attacked an Uber driver last week -- has another vehicular mess on her plate ... she's being sued over a 2019 car crash.

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... a woman filed a civil suit against Arna last month, alleging Kimiai made an unsafe turn and struck her vehicle in L.A.

The woman's accusing Arna of negligent driving and "failing to keep a proper lookout for other vehicles," claiming she suffered severe injuries and is dealing with pain and suffering to this day as a result of the wreck.

She's suing Arna for damages, medical expenses and loss of earnings.

As we've reported ... Kimiai's also facing possible criminal charges over the recent altercation with a Bay-area Uber driver, who recorded the incident showing Kimiai and her friend assaulting him.

Kimiai coughed on the guy and ripped his mask off, and she's expected to turn herself in to police for the incident. She was also banned by Uber and Lyft.

The Golden State Warriors benched rookie star James Wiseman for the first 3 quarters of Thursday night's game for blowing off a mandatory COVID test during the All-Star break.

The team has said 19-year-old Wiseman -- the #2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft -- simply "forgot" to show up to the team facility for testing ... a big no-no in the COVID-conscious NBA.

Wiseman was forced to miss practice on Wednesday due to COVID protocols but was eligible to get back on the court Thursday for the team's first game after the All-Star break.

But, Wiseman rode the pine for the first 3 quarters as the Warriors took on the L.A. Clippers -- presumably as a punishment for missing his COVID test.

He finally entered the game in the 4th quarter and balled out -- dropping 14 points and 7 rebounds in 12 minutes ... making 6 out of his 7 shots. The Warriors ultimately lost 130 to 104.

After the game, Wiseman talked about the incident -- and took full responsibility.

"I made a huge mistake and I most definitely will not do that again. I made sure I apologized to Coach. I was mad, so I had to make sure I just went out there and played hard."

Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr said the rookie had to be more responsible, but he liked how Wiseman responded after being benched.

"You’ve got to take care of your business. Everything matters. He responded exactly as I had hoped he would. He competed with energy and that bodes well."

Warriors superstar Stephen Curry had some advice for the rookie after the game -- "There are learning curves for everybody in this league."

UVA is out of the ACC tourney thanks to COVID -- which could keep them out of the NCAA.

Sick of acronyms yet? Yeah, same.

Here's the deal ... someone in the University of Virginia basketball program tested positive for coronavirus, forcing the team to withdraw from Friday night's ACC tournament semifinal game against Georgia Tech.

GT will now move on to the ACC championship game to face the winner of North Carolina vs. Florida State.

So, where does that leave UVA? That's a mystery at the moment.

The Cavaliers were the ACC regular-season champions -- and ESPN projected them to be a #4 seed in the NCAA tourney.

But, the COVID situation could force UVA into a mandatory quarantine that could conflict with the 1st round of the NCAA tourney, which is set to tip-off on Thursday.

Will UVA be out of the COVID protocol by then? If not, will the NCAA postpone the game? So many questions to be answered.

Bottom line ... we're still waiting for more info from the school and the NCAA -- but this could mean another solid team is OUT of the tourney before it even begins!!

If you're looking for a clear answer about Chris Harrison's future as 'Bachelor' host, it's not in New Mexico, where the upcoming 'Bachelorette' cast is quarantining ... with no Chris in sight.

Sources close to production tell TMZ ... the entire cast and crew arrived at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa -- outside Albuquerque -- for quarantine bubble time, but so far, Harrison's not among them.

We're told pre-production has already begun via virtual meetings and calls, and the plan is to begin shooting in late March ... but nobody knows for sure who will be hosting the show.

Our sources say the internal speculation is 'Bachelor' honchos want to wait and see how the 'After the Final Rose' show plays out with the fill-in host, Emmanuel Acho, before any decisions are made.

Harrison, meanwhile, spent some time this past week at a golf course in L.A., and sources connected to him tell us while he's not in New Mexico right now ... that doesn't mean he's been axed from the gig.

We're told there are still a lot of moving parts, and the network's not rushing its decision. Perhaps, as Acho recently said, it's trying to determine what's in the best interest of everyone involved.

The maskless Uber riders who cops say coughed on and attacked their Bay Area driver are paying a hefty price -- one's been arrested and another is surrendering to police.

The San Francisco Police Department says Malaysia King is in custody ... she's reportedly the woman wearing red in the viral video showing the riders coughing, and snatching the driver's phone and mask.

Law enforcement says another suspect, Arna Kimiai, told SFPD through her lawyer that she plans to turn herself in soon. Kimiai is reportedly the one who grabbed the phone and declared, "I got corona."

It's all over for Duke ... the school announced its 2020-21 season is OVER thanks to COVID -- thus ending the school's streak of 24 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

The Blue Devils basketball team was already having one of the worst seasons in recent years with a 13-11 overall record and 9-9 in the ACC.

Duke's chances of making the NCAA tourney were largely dependent on winning the ACC tournament, which would have given the school an automatic bid into the big bracket.

Duke won its first 2 games in the ACC tournament -- but a member of the program tested positive for COVID-19 following Wednesday's game ... which has forced the team to quarantine.

Because of the COVID situation, Duke has officially withdrawn from the ACC tourney ... essentially killing all chances of Duke going to March Madness.

Duke athletic director Kevin White says the situation will effectively "end our 2020-21 season."

"We wish every team still playing college basketball good health and the very best during the next few weeks."

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski -- who's been leading the program since 1980 -- said, "While our season was different than any other that I can remember, I loved the 2020-21 Duke Basketball team and was honored to be their coach."

"We have not asked more of any team in our history, and they deserve enormous credit for handling everything like the outstanding young men they are."

Coach K continued ... "We are disappointed we cannot keep fighting together as a group after two outstanding days in Greensboro. This season was a challenge for every team across the country and as we have seen over and over, this global pandemic is very cruel and is not yet over."

"As many safeguards as we implemented, no one is immune to this terrible virus."

Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter came together to encourage everyone to get COVID-19 vaccines ASAP ... just like they did.

The ex-Presidents say getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourselves, your loved ones and get back to normal living. They all talked about what they're most looking forward to once the pandemic is behind us.

For Bush -- a former owner of the Texas Rangers -- it's hitting up a baseball game with a stadium full of fans. Yeah, that sounds nice.

Then, 4 of the 5 living former POTUSes got their shots along with their former First Ladies. It's all part of a campaign by Ad Council to urge folks -- especially those on the fence -- to get vaccinated.

The timing of this powerful visual is interesting ... coming directly on the heels of LeBron James NOT saying whether or not he'll get vaccinated. Critics have said his silence could discourage many from getting the shot.

"You know I contracted COVID a little over a week ago ... and uh, s**t ain't been going f**king good for me."

That's UFC rising star Jamahal Hill explaining why his main event fight against Paul Craig has been postponed -- detailing a bloody bout with COVID-19.

The 29-year-old undefeated fighter (8-0) is coming off a big victory over Ovince Saint Preux and was slated to headline the big UFC on ESPN card on March 20 against the #14 ranked light heavyweight Paul Craig (14-4-1).

But, Hill revealed he was recently diagnosed with coronavirus -- and it's taking a heavy toll on his body.

"I started out with a fever and I've been dealing with all types of symptoms ever since then," Hill said in an emotional video posted Wednesday ... "Chest tightness, chest congestion, my breathing is off."

"Even as recent as yesterday, I was coughing ... I coughed up blood. I coughed up, spit some mucus out and it was blood inside of it."

Despite his condition,  Hill sounded off on Craig for the way he broke the news to his fans on social media ... when Craig said, "Fight has been cancelled due to Hill pulling out."

Hill felt Craig's description made it seem like he had a choice -- when in fact, the decision was out of his hands the moment he tested positive for the virus.

"It's my health," Hill said in his video ... "My health is in question. That's gonna get my undivided attention. That's my work. That's my job. My job is to make sure my body is okay and my body is good and able to perform and do what it does."

"So for Paul Craig to even sit up and say I pulled out and even make it seem like that like its any type of fear in my heart. That's disrespectful as f**k to me and you gonna feel that s**t. Real talk."

New York Yankees pitcher Zack Britton says he was ROCKED by COVID-19 ... revealing he lost 18 pounds in 10 days while battling the virus ... and he's still not fully recovered.

The 33-year-old southpaw says he contracted the coronavirus back in January ... and went into detail with reporters about his experience on Wednesday.

"I was surprised," Britton said. "I think I got it at the hospital when we were having our kid, so it was even worse."

"I was not expecting to be hit that hard by COVID. It wiped me out pretty good."

"The weight loss was surprising and just the after-effects I've been dealing with showed me how serious this can be, even for somebody that's healthy and how that can impact you months even after you've gotten over the roughest symptoms."

FYI -- Britton is 6'1" and reportedly usually weighs around 200 pounds ... in other words, he's in pretty good shape.

"It just wiped me out pretty good for about 10 days," Britton said. "Lost about 18 pounds, which could be good, I guess? But, I wasn't looking to lose 18 pounds and it happened quickly, so that's not good on your body and puts pressure in a lot of places."

Britton says the virus prevented him from throwing for about 3 to 4 weeks during the offseason ... but he's finally starting to feel like himself again.

But, COVID isn't the only health issue Britton's dealing with -- the 2-time All-Star is set to undergo surgery to remove a bone chip in his left elbow ... and is expected to miss several months of the season.