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Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s Venice wedding festivities are hitting rough waters -- literally -- as local protests and security fears have their security team scrambling to adjust plans by the hour ... TMZ has learned.

Multiple Venetian sources tell TMZ ... the Amazon founder’s security team is making changes in real time to key locations for the billionaire bash, with several options being moved around at the last minute over concerns about unrest in the area.

We're told one of the main issues is Bezos’ mega-yacht is expected to dock in a lagoon -- which is now being eyed as a possible safety hazard amid ongoing protests in the area. The problem is, the yacht is so massive, it has limited docking options in Venice’s tight waterways. Our sources say Bezos' team may opt to keep the vessel far from the land and ferry guests in and out by tender boats instead.

R. Kelly's fiancée says her family's telling a bunch of lies about her ... insisting she's not a victim or sex slave despite their concern.

Joycelyn Savage released a video denying the claims Sunday evening ... hitting back at her family after they told us they don't support R. Kelly's pardon push 'cause he's never taken accountability for his actions, and she's still under his thumb.

Savage says she and R. Kelly have been together for 10 years -- engaged for the last three -- and, they want to get married and start a family together.

Ever wondered how Jon Jones goes about picking out his kicks?? Well, TMZ Sports actually ran into the former UFC heavyweight champion at the shoe store -- and you'll never guess the style he likes to rock!!

Jones popped up at an L.A. mall after spending some time filming a show in Thailand ... but he decided after living out of a suitcase for a while, it was time to splurge on himself.

To our surprise ... he doesn't opt for any eye-popping pairs -- he enjoys a dad-style look!!

Ja Rule says Fat Joe's "All the Way Up" amid his new legal headache ... telling us the rapper's in good spirits despite the claims of underage sex against him.

We caught up with Ja at Hot 97's Summer Jam concert in New Jersey Friday ... and, we had to ask him about how his friend and fellow New York-born rapper is doing after a man named Terrance Dixon filed a lawsuit against him this week.

ICYMI ... Dixon -- represented by attorney Tyrone A. Blackburn -- is suing Joe and alleging Joe had a sexual relationship with multiple underage girls. Fat Joe's attorney, Joe Tacopina, called the allegations "lies intended to damage his reputation and force a settlement through public pressure."

Lauren Sanchez does not want to sully her best outfits on some dinghy ... because we've learned for at least part of her big wedding week, she and Jeff Bezos will be staying at a super-swanky Venice hotel.

Multiple Venetian sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Bezos and the future Mrs. Bezos will be staying at the Aman Venice, a landmark built in 1550.

Furthermore, our sources say the Aman has been blocked out entirely from Wednesday, June 25, through Sunday, June 29. We're told wedding guests will also be staying at the hotel.

Former "Shahs of Sunset" star Lilly Ghalichi just filed for divorce -- for the fourth time -- from husband Dara Mir.

According to docs obtained by TMZ, Lilly filed the divorce docs on June 20 and listed the official date of separation as June 19. We guess she didn't need much time to think about it.

The two originally said "I do" in 2017, but the marriage has been anything but smooth. Dara first filed for divorce in 2019, they reconciled, but Lilly followed up with not one -- but two -- more filings in 2020.

Benson Boone brought some "Beautiful Things" onto the TMZ Tour Bus ... handing out cookies to the shocked riders in Hollywood.

The singer-songwriter is just the latest celebrity to ride along with the Thirty-Mile Zone ... pulling up alongside our bright red bus on the street, rolling down the window and giving a cheerful "hello" on Friday.

While seeing Benson Boone out and about on a trip to L.A. is already a treat in and of itself, the experience got a whole lot sweeter for the audience when he started handing boxes of Crumbl Cookies from his SUV to the bus.

Karen Read deserved to be acquitted after being put through the gauntlet -- twice ... so says a star witness in her case.

Brian "Lucky" Loughran -- the snowplow driver who testified during Read's two trials that he didn't see John O'Keefe's body lying in front of the house where the Boston cop was later found dead in January 2022 -- tells TMZ ... he's happy Read was found not guilty on murder and manslaughter charges.

Loughran tells us he always thought Karen was innocent ... and, going through last year's proceedings which ended in a mistrial, and this year's trial that ended in her acquittal earlier this week, means she "went through hell twice."

Shedeur Sanders is a household name in the football world, but at least one cop in Ohio couldn't recognize him earlier this month ... as new police video, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows an officer initially had no idea he was performing a traffic stop on Deion's son.

Check out the footage -- after cops pulled over Sanders in Medina County, Ohio, for allegedly going 91 MPH in a 65 zone ... the NFL quarterback handed over an out-of-state ID that perplexed one of the troopers who was interrogating him.

"What's with the Mississippi ID?" the cop asked.

Forget reasonable doubt, one of the jurors who voted to acquit Karen Read of a murder charge in her retrial says he felt she's completely innocent.

Juror No. 4, a man named Jason, joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked him what the feeling was like on the jury ... did they vote not guilty because of reasonable doubt, or due to a belief she was innocent?

Jason tells us he doesn't think Karen even hit her then-boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, with her car ... as prosecutors claimed. He pointed out that jurors were shown video where Karen's taillight was working just fine after the alleged collision.

DJ Envy’s got a few things to clear up -- mainly, his race -- and what better time to set the record straight than Juneteenth?

TMZ caught up with Envy, and he’s just as confused as everyone else about the chatter -- 'cause at the end of the day, he says he’s Black. Point-blank, no debate!

Catch the clip -- Envy breaks down his family tree, saying both his parents are Black, but his dad’s dad is from a lesser-known Caribbean island ... and that’s where folks might be getting twisted.

Aiden Kearney, the citizen journalist intensely focused on the Karen Read retrial, says he was ecstatic when he heard "not guilty" three times when the jury verdict was read yesterday ... and while the trial is finally over, he says his connection to Karen is not.

Aiden -- who lots of Read supporters know as "Turtleboy" -- joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, and we asked him how he reacted to the trial outcome ... seeing as how he was so involved in her story.

He says Karen getting acquitted of second-degree murder in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, is most meaningful for her family ... and he told us what it was like at her celebratory dinner after the verdict was read.

Wendy Williams is dragging her ex-husband for filing a lawsuit over her guardianship on her behalf ... she says she wasn't involved and didn't know about it, but says it's no surprise given his money-grubbing history.

The former talk show host called in to our morning meeting Thursday and told Harvey Levin straight up, she has nothing to do with the $250 million lawsuit Kevin Hunter filed this week in New York.

Wendy told us Kevin's just making a desperate money grab here ... and she has no clue how her name ended up next to his as plaintiff on a federal lawsuit.

The Karen Read documentary series -- which provided a BTS look at her first trial, and her preparation for the retrial for the murder of her Boston cop boyfriend -- was a big hit ... but TMZ's learned the creators won't be rolling the cameras on her life after acquittal.

Terry Dunn Meurer, who directed "A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read," tells TMZ ... her team has NO plans to follow Karen after the trial. Terry believes Karen's story has been told.

Terry tells us her documentary series will get a small update now that Karen's been found not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2022 death of Boston police officer John O'Keefe ... a text update card will be added to the end of Episode 5, explaining what happened during the trial and the jury verdict this week.

Former NFL superstar Adrian Peterson got into a fistfight with a poker player following a dispute over a hand ... and the tussle was all captured on video, obtained by TMZ Sports.

The shocking scene unfolded back on May 27 ... while Peterson and others were playing cards at JokerStars -- a social club in Houston, Texas.

Peterson tells us ... he and one of his buddies were involved in a disagreement while at a gaming table, "one thing led to another," and they squared up.

Cuba Gooding Jr. didn't mince words when asked about the escalating tensions between Israel and Iran potentially dragging the USA into war -- saying when you put everything in perspective, war is just flat-out ignorant.

TMZ caught up with the actor at LAX Wednesday ... he remarked on the brutality of war being propelled by men in powerful positions who are making decisions to wipe people off the planet, just to make their point.

Cuba points out how we're all constantly exposed to the anger and devastation from all corners of the world now thanks to the internet -- what used to be a one-sided view of heroes and villains has morphed into something far more personal.