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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's East Coast weekend getaway is shaping up to be a ball ... of the pickling variety, specifically.

The couple is out in the Hamptons right now, where they seem to have settled in to ring the 4th of July -- but before the fireworks, it looks like they were in the mood to get active ... namely, by hitting up a public pickleball court in Sag Harbor and whacking away.

Check out this footage, obtained by TMZ, which shows Bennifer hitting a ball back and forth out in the open. This was in a public space, BTW, so they weren't trying to lie low.

As you can see -- they're on the side of the court ... and we're told there were two children on the other end who were playing with them. No word on whether it was either of their kids or not, but ya gotta figure it might've been ... the brood rolls together a lot these days.

Now, when it comes to their game ... well, let's just say Jen looked to be a little more engaged (and dressed for the occasion) than her hubby did. She's out there in straight-up tennis gear (pickleball is like mini tennis, FWIW) and Ben's in ... jeans and a tee.

He also comes across as a little more lackadaisical here, half-heartedly using his paddle -- but hey, they're playing against young'ns. Can't really knock the dude for takin it easy.

Remember, the two of them had just gone to Michael Rubin's White party the day prior -- so it's possible they're a little pooped and soaking in the holiday with a chill back-and-forth.

Washington, D.C. isn't skimping on this year's annual fireworks extravaganza at the National Mall -- and we've learned America's dropping a nice chunk of change to make it happen!

According to federal records, obtained by TMZ, the big fireworks show put on by the National Park Service will cost taxpayers $269,000 ... with Garden State Fireworks once again getting the honor of lighting up the D.C. sky.

But before ya start waggin' your finger at the 6-figure price tag, this is in the same ballpark as years past -- TMZ broke the story, the price tag was $278,500 back in 2021 for the patriotic bash.

Garden State Fireworks got a big bump -- we paid them $320K when former President Donald Trump wanted to beef up the show.

Adriana Chechik, the porn star who shattered her back after jumping into a foam pit, is reinventing her adult entertainment career in an unprecedented way ... with the help of artificial intelligence.

That's right, Adriana is collabing with Forever Voices AI to introduce the "Adriana Chechik AI Companion." Users will be able to have explicit conversations with a robot who sounds identical to Adriana ... and is personalized to their interests based on advanced algorithms and machine learning.

Adriana hasn't been in porn for months ... you'll recall, she broke her back at TwitchCon after leaping into a foam pit that was reportedly less than 2 feet deep.

We spoke with Adriana ... who tells us she's still recovering from her injury and doesn't think she's physically and mentally capable of doing porn anymore.

However, she's now looking to change the game by combining the sexiness of adult entertainment with the limitless possibilities of AI.

Adriana says her injury has been a wake-up call on the importance of having a constant connection with her fans ... she says a lot of them are online, some lonely, and this is a great way to maintain contact.

Vanilla, the chimpanzee, who spent 28 years in an animal testing lab before finally getting a new life, is touching people's hearts, and inspiring them to open their wallets.

Save the Chimps, an animal sanctuary in Florida shared a video on social media showing Vanilla being introduced to other chimps and seeing open skies for the first time in her life ... and it's sparked a huge wave of interest and donations.

A rep for Save the Chimps tells TMZ ... Vanilla's viral moment brought in $48,600 in donations in just 4 days, plus a wave of new social media followers.

For context, Save the Chimps tells us they got $2,700 in donations the week before Vanilla went viral ... so the bump really stands out.

Save the Chimps says part of the $48,600 comes from merch sales, and about $10,000 has been donated from people who are adopting chimpanzees living in their sanctuary, which is one of the largest in the world.

Volunteer numbers are up too, and they're joining some existing celebrity supporters ... like Pink, Paul McCartney, Jane Goodall, Alan Cumming, and Anjelica Huston.

The money's going to be put to good use ... Save the Chimps has 226 chimps, including Vanilla, and because these animals can live well into their 60s, care is not cheap. The sanctuary says donations are part of a $9 million annual budget that pays to maintain a 150-acre property with 12 islands where different groups of chimps live, plus daily meals, veterinary care, and more.

Magic Johnson may hate the show, but Larry Bird is gonna be THRILLED with the next season of "Winning Time" ... so says actor Newton Mayenge, who tells TMZ Sports he thinks the Celtics legend will love his portrayal in the project.

It's no secret -- some ex-Lakers superstars aren't too pleased with HBO's hit series that documents the Showtime era ... with Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar publicly ripping it to shreds.

We spoke with Mayenge -- who plays former NBAer Jim Chones on the show -- about the backlash from the OGs ... and while he says the WT actors would love their support and approval, they still have a job to do.

"It was a love story for them," Mayenge tells us. "If they don't necessarily see it that way, it's unfortunate, but we gotta continue to move forward."

Season 2 will focus on the Lakers' rivalry with the Boston Celtics, which means Larry Legend will play a huge part ... and Mayenge had nothing but praise for the guy tasked with the role.

"My castmate who plays him, Sean Patrick Small, he was born to play Larry Bird, first and foremost," Mayenge says.

"He freaking killed it. My personal opinion is Larry's gonna love it because once again, it's a love letter to him as well."

In fact, Mayenge even praises Small's hoop skills ... saying the guy "embodies" the Hall of Famer on and off the court.

Logan Paul's gotta feel relieved after getting engaged to his boo, Nina Agdal ... which has gotta be why he took his fiancée on a boat after the big question for some R&R.

Logan and Nina were spotted soaking in the sun Monday, leaving the shoreside Grand Hotel Tremezzo on Lake Como -- and it didn't take long before he planted a kiss on his bride-to-be.

Of course, the WWE star popped his shirt off while on the water ... and Nina's view of her upcoming hubby is one we're sure she doesn't mind, either.

As we reported, sources close to the couple confirmed Logan proposed to Nina Sunday while on their Italian vacation.

He appeared in London for some wrestling just the day before, so the likely-sore guy is probably loving every minute of their vacay.

Some boat racing fans got quite the spectacle over the weekend when one vessel rose completely out of the water and did a flip while traveling at close to 200MPH.

Check out the insane video, taken Sunday at the Madison Regatta in Madison, Indiana. The boats, part of the H1 Unlimited hydroplane racing league, took off down the Ohio River.

All of a sudden, the 40 boat, driven by Dustin Echols for Bucket List Racing Unlimited catches air, doing a complete rotation before landing right-side-up. Luckily, Echols was not injured during the crash in what could have been a much more scary conclusion.

From there, Echols’ boat was obviously out of commission ... rescue boats came to his aid to help tug the boat back to shore.

Britney Spears hasn't seen her kids in well over a year, a timeline that could grow even longer ... because TMZ has learned Kevin Federline won't force his boys to see their mom before taking off to Hawaii.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Britney and Kevin's boys -- Sean Preston and Jayden -- will make their own decisions on whether they'll say their goodbyes to their mom before the move in August. Our sources say the boys haven't yet decided what they'll do.

As for Kevin, we're told he is encouraging his boys to see Britney ... but he isn't going to make the decision for them, and won't force them to visit Brit if they're not up for it.

TMZ broke the story, Kevin's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan sent a letter to Britney's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, in May -- asking if she'd be willing to let the boys relocate to Hawaii with Kevin and his wife, Victoria Prince.

Kevin needed Britney's approval to take them off the mainland and even put a deadline on the response. Rosengart answered with a few days to spare, confirming Britney wouldn't fight the relocation ... giving them the green light for the move.

Claudia Jordan says there's plenty of money to go around on "Wheel of Fortune" to pay both incoming host Ryan Seacrest and mainstay Vanna White what they deserve ... and Ryan shouldn't have to give up salary to keep Vanna.

The TV and radio host tells TMZ ... she's not in the camp of people online who are calling for Ryan to take less money so the game show can pay Vanna what she's demanding.

Claudia says it's not like a pro sports team trying to stay under a salary cap ... she says there's tons of advertising money pouring in, and 'Wheel' has plenty in its coffers.

TMZ broke the story ... Vanna is fighting with Sony for a huge raise after only making $3 million a year for the last 18 years ... she wants half of Pat Sajak's current $15 million paycheck, or else.

Claudia's well-versed in the game show biz ... she was on "Deal or No Deal" and she says women like Vanna are just as important to the shows as guys like Pat and Ryan.

The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest might not be the toughest competition on Joey Chestnut's radar ... 'cause the greatest eater alive tells TMZ Sports he is down to go head-to-head with the Gronkowski brothers in an epic showdown!!

We spoke with the the 15-time champion ahead of the annual Fourth of July tradition ... and he says he feels healthy and ready to go as he looks to break his own world record of 76 franks.

"The goal is to win, but if the dogs are good, the weather is right, I feel like that record of 76 could definitively go down," Joey tells us.

In fact, Jaws says he's even broken 80 glizzys during preparation for the big event ... but notes that went down in "perfect" conditions, and anything can happen when it all goes down in Coney Island.

The last time we spoke with Chestnut, he said he was interested in taking on a fellow G.O.A.T. -- Tom Brady -- in an eating competition ... and while he didn't hear from the 7-time Super Bowl champ, his former teammate's fam wants to put him to the test.

"The Gronkowski brothers, they reached out," Chestnut tells us. "That might even be better, eating against the Gronk brothers, the Gronk clan. Those guys are beasts and maybe we can make that happen."

When we pitched the idea of Joey going up against Rob, Dan, Gordie, Chris and Glenn all at once ... he seemed 100% in.

"Those are big boys. That would be fun. I think that is gonna happen."

Jonathan Bennett is raising a glass to his Palm Springs estate ... he just sold the pad he dubbed Mai Tai Manor for seven figures.

According to property records the "Mean Girls" actor sold the home Tuesday for a cool $1 mil.

The sale price is a little under the listing price ... as we first reported, Jonathan put the home on the market back in March for $1.15 million, but the good news for him ... he bought it in 2020 for $625K. Nice job!

The home screams Palm Springs ... it's a ranch design built in the 1970s, and there's a pool with some colorful lounge chairs in the backyard, which is lined with palm trees and views of the mountains.

The place is 1,296 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms ... and it's where Jonathan and his husband, Jaymes Vaughan, got engaged.

Jonathan put the place up for sale because he and Jaymes were simply becoming too busy to spend enough time there to justify a second home.

Mai Tai Manor is famous in its own right ... the place has been featured in several publications, including "Celebrity Homes Unlocked" on The Design Network, plus MTV ... just to name a couple.

The NFL's full of blazing-fast guys, but there's one who's a little bit quicker than the rest ... and no, it's not Tyreek Hill.

That distinction belongs to 28-year-old Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Devon Allen ... who happens to be an elite-level hurdler. The 3x track national champ and NCAA football champ recently competed in a USATF event in NYC, where he clocked a 13.04, the fourth-fastest time in the world in 2023.

Days after the race (where Devon finished 2nd), TMZ Sports talked to the former Oregon track star and 2x Olympian ... and asked him if he was the fastest player in the league.

"I definitely am [the fastest]," Allen said matter of factly.

Of course, Hill (60m) and DK Metcalf (100m), two bonafide stars considered among the fastest in the league, also recently tried their hand on the track ... something Devon says he respects.

"I'm not gonna roast those guys because what they did was impressive. I raced Tyreek Hill when I was in high school. We raced and he smoked me when we were in high school and DK Metcalf ran a 10.3 a couple years ago is super impressive for a guy that's 6'4", 6'3", 225, but I think especially at the top level, top 5, top 10 in the world, there's a big gap in terms of just performance."

We also talked to Devon, who once ran a 12.84 in the 110m hurdles (the world record is 12.80), about his return to football ... after a 6-year layoff following college, when he focused solely on track.

"The first whirlwind for me was training camp, getting thrown into the fire, and realizing this isn't college anymore. I played at the University of Oregon, which is high-level ball, but the NFL takes it the another level," Allen told us.

Jaron "Boots" Ennis will be watching the Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence super fight with a VERY close eye this month ... because he tells TMZ Sports he feels he should be the one who gets to take on the winner.

"I believe I'm the best option," the 30-0 Philly fighter said. "I feel like everybody wants to see me versus Spence or me versus Bud. I don't think they want to see nobody else fight them."

Of course, there's a long line of boxers who feel the same way ... but Ennis told us he "definitely" deserves the shot first.

The mega fight is slated to go down on July 29 in Las Vegas ... but even if Boots is in the running to get a taste of either boxer -- Spence and Crawford reportedly have agreed to a rematch clause that could mean they'll be fighting one more time in 2023 before they open things up to challengers.

But, Ennis sure seems willing to wait regardless ... telling us an eventual fight with the victor is his goal.

Punk rock legend Johnny Rotten says he has an obsessed stalker in his midst who's been hitting him up on his phone and even coming to his house.

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... the Sex Pistols singer told L.A. County Sheriff's deputies a fan started harassing him last month by dropping letters in Johnny's mailbox -- and he says she picked up the pace, FAST.

Johnny said the woman took it to the next level by trespassing onto his Los Angeles-area property and strolling around his backyard. He says he even came face-to-face with her, and told her to scram.

That's when Johnny claims he started getting phone calls from her -- and that's when he decided to file a stalking report with the sheriff's department, which is now investigating.

A shindig Mozzy attended this weekend nearly turned deadly after a shooting went down -- which the authorities seem to think one of his crew members had something to do with.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the West Coast rapper was stopped by police in Wichita, KS Saturday night after gunfire erupted at a venue called City Nightz -- which we're told Mozzy hit up for an after-party following a performance he did at a neighboring club.

TMZ has obtained footage of Mozzy being placed in handcuffs and led away -- stemming from a traffic stop police initiated in the immediate aftermath of the incident, as our sources tell us cops were trying to vet as many people as possible in the area. While it looks like he's being hauled off to jail, we've been assured Mozzy was only briefly detained here.

We're told Mozzy was cut loose and isn't facing any charges in relation to the shooting.

The same can't be said for a buddy of his, however, who was rolling in the same vehicle. It's unclear which crew member of Mozzy's ended up getting taken to jail -- but we're told one of them was, in fact, arrested in connection to the shooting. Unclear what charge he was booked on ... but our sources say Wichita PD has reason to believe he may be a suspect.

Worth noting ... the investigation is in the preliminary stages. Other members in Mozzy's entourage were also detained, but nobody else was arrested besides this one guy.

Now, footage is circulating online showing not only the moment Mozzy and co. were stopped and ordered out of the car -- which our sources tell us happened after bullets started flying -- but of the actual shooting itself ... and it's quite a chaotic scene.

You can see a few people involved in some kind of scuffle, which starts to spill out even further and rope in more folks. Eventually, all hell breaks loose and loud bangs sound off.

There's even more video we've gotten our hands on ... and it shows the extent of the bloodshed, literally. You can see blood spilled on the floor as people rush for the exits.

In terms of injuries ... our law enforcement sources say a handful of people were hurt. We're told seven were shot -- ranging in age from 22 to 34 -- and their conditions are varied ... from minor bullet grazes to full-on gunshot wounds, and some are in critical condition.

Afroman and Young Buck were recently at odds -- and it got so ugly, hands were thrown ... leading to a full-blown brouhaha breaking out between their respective crews.

Sources with knowledge tell TMZ ... the G-Unit rapper got into it last weekend with one of Afroman's up-and-coming artists, Lil Sodi, at this place called The Zarati Shop in Abingdon, VA -- where Afroman and co. were scheduled to perform, and where YB was also performing.

We're told after Buck exited the stage and Afroman was getting ready to go out there ... some kind of altercation occurred in the VIP room that escalated into a brawl between Sodi and Buck -- and it required lots of people to help break it up.

Afroman took to social media to explain things from his POV. The guy claims Young Buck rolled into the VIP room -- where he and Sodi were -- and appeared to be intoxicated. Not just that, but Afroman says Buck was hurling profanities and being disrespectful ... especially to Sodi.

Afroman says they tried to get Buck to leave them alone, but alleges he kept at it ... and Afroman claims Buck actually smacked Sodi in the stomach ... which apparently set Sodi off.

As you see in our video, it took a while to separate the parties -- Afroman wasn't directly involved in the mix -- and tensions were high in the room. Afroman came down on the venue staffers, whom he said had a responsibility to manage Buck and the talent better.

Now, Young Buck himself had words for Afroman and co. after the fact ... continuing to taunt them and suggesting they could finish their business at another time, while also claiming he was just trying to come show them love and they jumped him.

It's clear Afroman doesn't wanna drag this out -- he posted a peace treaty and well-wishes.