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Taylor Swift would very much like to be excluded from this narrative ... she's making it clear she has "no role" in the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal battle.

In a letter obtained by TMZ and addressed to the judge overseeing the case ... attorneys for the Grammy winner clarify that Swift has NOT agreed to give a deposition in the "It Ends With Us" lawsuit saga.

Instead, her camp agreed to provide her availability ... only in the case she's forced to give testimony.

A lot of football fans were livid about "NFL RedZone" including commercials for the first time this season ... but the program's beloved host, Scott Hanson, tells TMZ Sports he's thankful fans are still loving the product after Week 1.

The commotion was sparked prior to the 2025-26 campaign ... when folks learned "seven hours of commercial-free football" was a thing of the past.

The reality -- a whopping one total minute of ads (four 15-second spots) sprinkled throughout the day of coverage ... proving the product largely remained the same.

Akon's wife has apparently had enough -- she just filed for divorce!!!

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Tomeka Thiam, who says she married the rapper/musician back on September 15, 1996, is pulling the plug on their marriage -- citing the usual irreconcilable differences.

Akon has been cryptic on how many "wives" he's had in the past, but Tomeka says she shares a 17-year-old child with Akon.

Discord was not used by Tyler Robinson to either plan the murder of Charlie Kirk or to hide the evidence ... TMZ has learned.

A Discord spokesperson tells TMZ ... "In the course of our investigation, we identified a Discord account associated with the suspect, but have found no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord."

The statement goes on ... "The messages referenced in recent reporting about planning details do not appear to be Discord messages. These were communications between the suspect's roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere."

Authorities say Robinson's roommate showed them Robinson had made "a joke" on Discord and then showed investigators the messages, which included "'Tyler' stating a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush ... and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel." Discord seems to be saying these communications were not on its platform ... rather on a note that Robinson had written, off the site, to his roommate.

BTW ... Discord says it has removed Robinson's account.

The person of interest in the Charlie Kirk assassination walked by several neighborhood cameras -- as the FBI said -- and TMZ has video that appears to show him walking toward the Utah campus where Kirk was shot ... while concealing his weapon.

TMZ obtained chilling video that shows a man dressed in all black matching the description of the FBI's person of interest hobbling down a residential street Wednesday in Orem, Utah at 11:49 AM ... heading toward the Utah Valley University campus just a couple of blocks away.

Remember, the FBI has said the individual arrived on campus at 11:52 AM.

After the shooting -- at 12:29 PM, just 6 minutes after Charlie was shot and as campus is being cleared -- you see students walking in the opposite direction, and in the background, in an unpaved area behind some homes, there's someone dressed in black running through a backyard.

Everyone else in the video is calmly walking down the paved road away from the scene.

Chanel West Coast and Dom Fenison celebrated their respective birthdays in style ... putting their love front and center at a joint bash attended by their celeb friends.

Check it out ... Chanel and Dom are serenaded with the "Happy Birthday" tune while waiting to blow out the candles on their shared birthday cake ... looking as in love as ever.

Though the celebratory dessert may've been more for Chanel, as it featured a shirtless Dom on the icing. We'd take a slice of that cake ... but we digress!!!

Brett Favre took in the Packers vs. Lions game on Sunday, and while he loved what his former team did on the field, he made it clear he was not impressed one bit by Detroit's play.

The Hall of Famer sat down with TMZ Sports a day after his ex-squad beat up its NFC North rival at Lambeau Field ... and he glowed about the green and gold's performance.

He told us he thought Jordan Love was "outstanding" in the 27-13 win ... adding that Green Bay "dominated every facet of the game."

Harry Jowsey is still hoping to work his way into Sia's "Elastic Heart" ... even though he's also "100 percent" committed to getting married on his new reality show.

We caught up with the Netflix personality at LAX airport on Wednesday, where Harry told us just how excited he is to find love on his upcoming show, titled "Let’s Marry Harry."

While Harry stayed tight-lipped on the specifics about the show -- claiming Netflix didn't trust him with the details due to his big mouth -- the "Too Hot to Handle" alum made it clear he's serious about tying the knot ... as he's ready to start a family with his wife, whoever that ends up being.

Charlie Kirk was loving every minute of his college campus tour, was in great spirits and never indicated he had any concerns about his personal safety ... according to a friend who talked to the conservative activist the day before he was fatally shot in the neck in Utah.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... Charlie talked to a buddy for about 20 minutes over the phone Tuesday, and during the call Charlie was looking forward to his upcoming Turning Point USA events and speaking opportunities.

We're told Charlie never voiced any concerns about his safety while on the road ... and in extensive conversations with his friend, Kirk had never once spoken about his personal safety, at a public event or anywhere else.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury says President Trump and top Republicans are working together to prevent the public from getting to the bottom of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

The Congresswoman from New Mexico joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and we asked her about the Trump references in the Epstein birthday book that was just released by Congress.

Stansbury, a Democrat, says Trump has known what Epstein's been about for decades ... and she says the President is now working to prevent the full release of all the Epstein files.

Jerry Jones still has one very large Cowboys fan in his corner despite his shocking trade of Micah Parsons -- Shaquille O'Neal!!!

The Big Diesel told TMZ Sports this week he still has Jones' back ... this despite the Dallas owner jettisoning his favorite team's best player to Green Bay late last month.

In fact, Shaq jokingly threatened to get physical with our Michael Babcock for even remotely implying that Dallas supporters should turn on the Cowboys' boss.

Kanye West is being ordered to sit down for a deposition in a lawsuit filed against him by a former employee at his Donda Academy ... and the judge set a strict deadline.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, a judge in Los Angeles on Tuesday ordered Kanye to appear for a deposition within 30 days ... and Yeezy has to show up in person to answer questions.

The depo is for a lawsuit a man named Trevor Phillips filed against Kanye in April 2024 ... in the suit, Phillips claims he worked for Kanye at Donda and says Ye frequently shared antisemitic views with staffers and once announced he wanted to shave students heads and intended to put a jail at the school.

Police in Texas can apparently turn a suspect into a human punching bag on camera and keep on working like nothing happened ... because that's what's playing out right now in El Paso.

Here's the deal ... officers in El Paso were caught on video beating the living daylights out of a man they arrested over the weekend, prompting a use of force review.

The El Paso Police Department tells TMZ ... no police officers have been placed on administrative leave in connection with this incident.

Lil Tay is speaking out against Sophie Rain who is claiming that Tay fibbed about the amount of money she has made on OnlyFans ... saying it's all just projection and if Sophie doesn't accept her $60mil offer to box out the beef, Bhad Bhabie is up next on the block.

We spoke with Lil Tay about why she thinks Sophie Rain is disputing her financial success and is refusing to fight her, and she seems to think Sophie is just upset her title of OnlyFans queen has been revoked.

Check the clip ... Tay tells us if the boxing match does ever come into fruition, she will knock Sophie out first punch ... so Sophie can say "whatever the f*ck she wants to say" because Tay is ready and waiting for her to step into the ring.

Nick Carter is showing off his heart of gold in Sin City … dropping by a local comic book shop to make a big difference for kids in need.

The Backstreet Boys star pulled up to Torpedo’s Comic Store in Las Vegas on Monday, Sept. 8, where he presented a generous donation to Child Haven — a Clark County shelter that provides safe and nurturing temporary care for children who can’t remain with their families.

Nick made the surprise appearance during the store’s community event, and the crowd erupted when he revealed he was making the donation. Fans cheered as he spoke about his passion for giving back to the Vegas community, where he’s called home for years.

D4vd was modeling hoodies, sweatpants and Crocs for Hollister ... until news broke that a dead body was found in his Tesla ... and now he's been sidelined as a Hollister model.

The Hollister website prominently featured D4vd Tuesday morning as a model for a brand new collab between Hollister and Crocs ... he was in photos and videos promoting the new clothing line ... but now he's been replaced by another model.

D4vd's removal follows headlines about a chopped up and decomposed body being found in a Tesla registered in his name that was sitting in a Hollywood tow yard.