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The "Yanny" vs. "Laurel" debate has torn friends, families and the Internet apart ... and we finally have the definitive answer as to what the recording REALLY says.

** SPOILER ALERT BELOW THAT WILL END ALL ARGUMENTS **

Ok, enough debate. It's Laurel.

According to the guy who originally posted the audio -- Redditor RolandCamry -- he recorded the robotic pronounciation of the word "Laurel" from vocabulary.com. Roland says he recorded the audio off his speakers, which caused the distortion.

Roland tells TMZ ... he and a friend were simply surfing vocabulary.com when they came across the word. He says he heard "Laurel," but his friend heard "Yanny" ... and that's why they posted the clip online to spark a bigger conversation.

Audio experts have said the reason people hear it differently is because everyone hears frequencies differently. They also blamed the crappy quality of the recording for the distortion.

Jim Jones and his security team threw down with an angry mob, and it looks like the whole brawl started over ... selfies. Yes, selfies.

The Dipset rapper was taking pics with some fans, mostly female, early Sunday morning after he hosted at Club Zone in Springfield, MA. A crowd of dudes gathered and got into a standoff with Jim's security.

After a few tense moments of yelling back and forth ... one guy threw a haymaker, and then all hell broke loose! Police showed up, but everyone quickly dispersed. We're told no one was arrested, and no ambulances were dispatched -- but watch the video. Definitely looks like a few people could've used assistance.

Security did its job though -- Jim came through without a scratch. A source close to Jim says he was not involved in the fight, although someone in his crew had to hold him back at one point.

The source described the chaos as ... "Just an old-school brawl outside of a club."

A 27-year-old man was arrested Friday for sending a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver that essentially demanded Silver to let him play in the league ... or else.

"If you don't let me play, I'm going to come up there and kill you with my f*cking gun," David Pyant allegedly wrote in an email sent to NBA offices ... police sources tell us.

It doesn't appear Pyant has any real professional basketball experience -- but he does have a criminal record ... 13 prior arrests, according to the NY Post.

We're told Pyant was arrested on May 11 and charged with aggravated harassment. A judge granted a temporary restraining order requiring him to stay away from Silver.

Pyant was eventually released without bail.

James Shaw Jr. -- the man who heroically disarmed the Waffle House gunman last month and saved lives -- just met with a bunch of fellow young heroes trying to save many more lives in the future.

James shared a pic with Parkland student leader Emma Gonzalez Saturday, saying he met one of his heroes today. Fellow student activist David Hogg also shared a photo with Shaw, saying ... "Wow, just wow ... lots of work ahead but the young people will win. #YPWW"

Sources close to David tell us ... he and a group of Parkland peeps drove to meet with James because he's a hero. We're told they had breakfast together at Denny's in Miami, and they're all hopeful to work with him in the future if the opportunity arises.

That seems highly possible, especially since James says meeting with the young adults of the Parkland incident with "so much fire and inspiration in their eyes was a great joy."

Harrison Ford not showing up to the "Solo: A Star Wars Story" premiere would be like Ron Howard not showing up to anything remotely related to "Happy Days" ... so it begs the question -- where the heck was Harrison?

The entire cast and crew -- including Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover and Emilia Clarke -- were at the premiere Thursday in Hollywood. Not there, in an obvious way is Harrison, who burst to stardom after playing Solo in four 'Star Wars' films.

Sources connected to Harrison tell TMZ ... he's seen the flick and thinks it's "phenomenal." He didn't show up because he didn't wanna steal Alden's thunder.

5/11 -- TMZ has learned the lawyer who handles Britney Spears' conservatorship has just been named Semel's conservator. Adam Streisand repped Terry's son in court Friday.

Terry Semel, the former Warner Bros. Chairman and Yahoo! CEO ... once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, has been moved from his 13,000 square foot Bel-Air compound and warehoused in a 500 square foot apartment, and his son claims it's all the doing of Terry's wife.

Semel suffers from Alzheimer's and according to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Eric Semel says Jane Semel has been heartless, abusing her authority and not properly caring for his father.

Most concerning to Eric ... he says Jane has put Terry in the Motion Picture & Television Fund House, which he describes as "a retirement home intended for low-income entertainment industry members in Woodland Hills, CA."

Eric says Terry and Jane have homes in California, New York and London, and there is no reason "Mr. Semel should not be cared for and reside in a suitable, secured home that is accessible for his physical needs."

This is amazing ... ex-NFL running back Isaiah Pead hit the track in Oklahoma for his first running workout with his prosthetic leg -- AND HE KILLED IT!!

The 28-year-old lost most of his left leg in a Nov. 2016 car accident -- but he finally got a running prosthesis and on Monday afternoon, he decided to test it out.

You gotta watch the video ... Pead is nothing short of impressive.

Remember, Pead only got the new leg on Friday and could barely walk in it at first. Just a few days later he's running windsprints.

Yeah, he fell down during one of the drills (adjusting to a prosthetic leg ain't easy) -- but he got right back up and continued the drill.

We spoke with Pead who tells us it was great to get out there and run again. He acknowledged learning how to run with the new leg is challenging, but he's up to the task.

Pead previously told TMZ Sports his goal is to compete in the Paralympics and win some gold medals -- looks like he's off to a good start.

Corey Clement is #30 on the field, but his new body art is all about #23 ... 'cause the Eagles star got a freakishly realistic tat of Michael Jordan on his leg!!

Clement clearly ain't afraid of the needle ... he got tats honoring his Super Bowl win just days after the game -- with an eagle on his forearm and 'SBLII' letters on his neck.

But it's just the beginning for the young RB ... 'cause the dude's following Odell Beckham's lead and getting his whole leg tatted with his favorite legends -- starting with His Airness!!

TMZ Sports spoke with CC's tattoo artist, Dan Czar ... who says he did a private 5-hour tat sesh at Clement's New Jersey home on Thursday.

BTW -- Czar's been blowing up in the sports world ... he's done work on stars like Johnny Manziel, Jihad Ward and Sidney Jones.

Czar says Corey wants to cover his leg with all his inspirations ... and reveals Jimi Hendrix will be the next addition to the sleeve.

8:25 AM -- G-Eazy's been released from custody and he's free to leave the country. We're told he did not have to post bail ... it's not required in Sweden.

He'll have to pay about $9,000 in fines, as well as restitution to the victim.

The bouncer G-Eazy got busted for punching has been revealed, along with the rapper's favorite Benjamin -- as in the $100 bill he used to snort cocaine ... allegedly.

Cops in Sweden released pics showing the nightclub bouncer. They've focused on his shaved head, but it's hard to see any major injuries. TMZ broke the story ... G-Eazy was arrested after getting into a brawl in the club.

Our sources say he and his security were going after a fan who was taking pics in the VIP area, and Eazy ended up socking the bouncer by accident.

1:54 PM PT -- Roman's attorney, Harland Braun, tells us both he and Polanski were never notified about the expulsion. Braun says according to the rules, The Academy should have notified them and then granted them up to 10 days to argue the removal, but that never happened here.

Braun tells us he'd like to meet with The Academy to discuss the situation and take action from there.

Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski have been expelled by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after a vote by its Board of Governors.

Both Cosby and Polanski lost their Oscars memberships after the board met Tuesday night and decided to give them the boot "in accordance with the organization's Standard of Conduct."

According to the Academy ... "The Board continues to encourage ethical standards that require members to uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity.”

The once-legendary TV dad was found guilty of sexual assault last week and is facing up to 30 years in prison.

Polanski remains a fugitive from justice in Europe for raping a 13-year-old girl 40 years ago in the U.S.

11:03 AM PT -- We've learned Jackson -- who goes by J.T. -- was an actor and close friend of Kevin's for more than 15 years. Jackson was in "S.W.A.T.," "Naked" and even in Kevin's movie "Think Like a Man Too." The two have posted several photos together through the years and J.T. even attended Kevin's bachelor party.

Kevin tweeted, "Mind blown ... Hurt ... at a loss for words and simply in complete disbelief at the moment. WOW."

The man who allegedly tried to coerce Kevin Hart into paying him for a sex video has been charged with extortion.

Jonathan Todd Jackson faces 2 felony counts -- attempted extortion and extortion by threatening letter.

Jackson is accused of trying to extort an undisclosed amount of money from Hart, in return for keeping the video secret ... a video showing Hart with a woman in his hotel room in Vegas apparently having sex.

The liaison went down last summer. The video is 4 minutes and 47 seconds long and highly produced. As we reported, both Kevin and the woman claim they had no idea they were being filmed.

Eric Reid has followed Colin Kaepernick's lead and has filed a collusion grievance against the NFL ... and sources tell us President Trump's name is involved.

The 26-year-old safety has not been signed since his contract with the 49ers ended at the end of the 2017 season and many believe it's because he participated in Kaep's kneeling demonstration during the national anthem.

Reid is a former Pro Bowl safety who racked up 67 tackles and 2 interceptions last season -- and many believe he should have easily gotten a roster spot in 2018 based on his talent.

Bleacher Report had Reid ranked as the 10th best safety in the league in 2017.

A source with knowledge of the situation tells us ... Reid's grievance invokes Trump's name -- essentially claiming POTUS has intimidated owners into not signing players who kneel.

In fact, one NFL source described it as the "Bezos Effect" -- meaning owners are afraid if they cross Trump, he'll publicly attack them like he did to Amazon because he doesn't like Jeff Bezos.

Trump has regularly trashed players who took a knee during the anthem -- in fact, he just went after them during a rally in Michigan last week.

The NFLPA has issued a statement saying, "Our union is aware that Eric Reid and his legal representatives filed a collusion claim, which will be heard through the arbitration process as spelled out in our collective bargaining agreement."

Jimmy Butler can SAAAAANG!

Now that his Minnesota Timberwolves have gon' fishin' ... the NBA superstar took his talents back to Chicago where he decided to put his singing skills on display at PRYSM Nightclub.

The song? "Let Me Love You" by Mario ... and Butler didn't sound too bad!

In fact, the crowd loved it -- especially one female fan who got onstage and started dancing it out with the 28-year-old.

For the record, the headline performer that night was T-Pain ... but Jimmy Buckets stole the show!

We're told Jimmy's performance was totally random and unplanned -- and went down around 2:30 AM.

Of course, Jimmy's a fan favorite in Chicago after killing it with the Bulls for a few seasons.

Nice to see he's still getting love.

Finn Wolfhard is turning his "Stranger Things" fame into a big payday at the movies, too.

The 15-year-old who plays Mike on 'Stranger' is one of the leads in "The Turning" -- a horror flick based on the classic novel "The Turn of the Screw" -- and he no longer works for cheap.

According to Finn's contract, which is filed in court because he's still a minor, he'll be hauling in $150k for his base salary. He's also got some sweet bonuses if it's a box office hit -- such as another $50k if the movie hauls in $50 million. He could make another $125k on top of that if revenues hit $70 million.

His little costar's not doing too bad either. Brooklynn Prince, who played the adorable little girl in "The Florida Project," is making $100k base salary for 'Turning.'

Her bonuses could add another $50k, too. Remember, Brooklynn's just 7 years old.

Kanye West is doubling down with what he hopes will become a movement ... to allow people to recapture freedom of thought.

Kanye spent time Sunday with Candace Owens -- the woman who said African Americans "are focused on their past and shouting about slavery" while others are "focused on the future."

Yeezy loved the fact Owens spoke her mind and took the heat ... for him, it's all about the ability to exercise free thought. He believes social media and traditional media has created such intolerance -- with a shoot to kill mentality for anyone who "goes against the grain" -- that people are deathly afraid to speak their mind.

Kim Zolciak scored a deal for the same plastic Kylie Jenner uses, but at a much lower price -- and no, it ain't what you think.

The "plastic" we're referring to is an art piece from contemporary artist Beau Dunn -- a pink sign that literally reads PLASTIC. Sources tell us Kim bought one from Beau for $7,500 after seeing it on IG in January. She got it delivered in Feb., and installed it herself.

As you might recall ... Kylie bought a very similar neon sign from Beau just last year, only hers was slightly bigger (depending on how you look at it) and it ran her $10k. Kylie's sign is 48''x13'' ... and Kim's is a bit smaller at 32''x26''. For all intents and purposes ... same thing.