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It turns out Ariana Grande's message to her viral look-alike is legit ... TMZ has confirmed its authenticity.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the message is real ... meaning Ari DID reach out to Paige Niemann, the girl who's made a name for herself by making herself up to look like the pop star.

As we previously reported, Paige shared the DM she got from AG in her new "Turning The Paige" docuseries.

Attorney Ben Crump seems to think the state of Mississippi is trying to sweep the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells under the rug ... and he's not going to let that happen.

Ben joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday ... and the attorney was adamant the contradictions in Nolan's case can't justify investigators ruling out foul play ... especially because of Mississippi's history of "racial killings where no one was held accountable."

Ben ... as well as Nolan's parents ... decided to have Nolan's body flown from Mississippi to D.C. for an independent autopsy ... wanting to distance the case from MS authorities ... with the parents saying they "are not trusting people who are affiliated with Mississippi law enforcement."

Taylor Frankie Paul is returning to "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" for its turbulent fifth season ... but her participation will be limited, TMZ has learned.

Sources tell TMZ ... TFP will be filming the intro credits over the next two days ... but she's not expected to film anything else ... meaning no final confessional from her.

This is a huge development ... production on season 5 was temporarily halted on the popular Hulu show in mid-March following a heated blow-up between TFP and Dakota Mortensen during filming.

Stefon Diggs’ male sexual assault accuser claims he turned over more than a hundred pages of text messages and other communications with the NFL star to back up his claims in court ... TMZ has learned.

In court docs, Stefon’s accuser, Christopher Griffith, claims he produced over 100 pages of communications -- including texts on iMessage and Instagram -- between himself and Diggs.

Stefon had claimed Christopher had failed to turn over Instagram messages ... but Christopher said Stefon has those messages himself. Stefon claims Christopher blocked him on Instagram and he can’t see their old messages anymore ... so he asked the judge to order Christopher to hand them over.

A photo making the rounds on social media has sparked rumors that Meagan Good is pregnant ... but TMZ has learned she's not expecting and the image has been doctored.

We're told the viral pic is an A.I.-altered image. The original photo is actually a paparazzi agency image from 2015 that was digitally manipulated to make it appear Meagan is showing a baby bump.

There are also some obvious signs the image was altered. Take a closer look and you'll notice what appears to be extra fingers on Meagan's hands -- a common giveaway in A.I.-generated or A.I.-edited images.

Phaedra Parks says Big Tigger's a really good dude ... and she says it's a bummer that one complicated allegation has put such a stain on his legacy.

We got the former "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star in New York City on Wednesday ... and our photog asked her about her longtime pal's recent legal issues with his estranged wife, Alicia Brown.

Phaedra says she doesn't know everything about the case, so she doesn't want to speculate ... but she's always known the radio host to be a "gentleman."

NBA star Anthony Davis has sold his home for a large sum of $32M ... and when you look at what the house offers, you'll understand why.

The Washington Wizards big man listed his 8-bedroom estate for $40 Mil last year and on Thursday the 7-footer closed on the sale.

The crib is in Bel Air Crest ... with the property spanning 17,254 square feet, with an elevator, theater, game room, wet bar, wine cellar, home gym, barber shop, tennis court, cabanas, outdoor chef's kitchen, batting cage, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool ... cause why not?

Savannah Guthrie's latest absence from "Today" has viewers wondering if it's connected to the kidnapping case involving her mom ... but TMZ has learned that's not what's going on.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Savannah is off for a few days to spend time with her family, and her absence has nothing to do with the investigation into the Nancy Guthrie abduction.

Savannah was absent from the NBC morning show for a second straight day Thursday, with Laura Jarrett filling in alongside Craig Melvin after Sheinelle Jones stepped in Wednesday.

Justin Baldoni is breaking his silence on his drawn-out legal war with Blake Lively ... and it all boiled down to one word for the filmmaker ... "Injustice."

The "It Ends With Us" director -- appearing alongside his wife, Emily -- says he was the one wronged in the whole saga, not Blake ... describing the fallout from her sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit over their 2024 film as an "injustice."

Justin says he and Emily intentionally stayed quiet throughout the legal battle because they didn't want to "add to the noise" ... saying too many "untruthful" things had been spoken over the last two years and they wanted to let the justice system run its course.

Courtney Clenney says she wasn't staying silent after allegedly catching beatings from boyfriend Christian Obumseli ... she was texting him about them ... and now she wants to use the messages in her criminal trial, in which she's accused of murdering him.

New court documents, obtained by TMZ, reveal the OnlyFans model wants to introduce a string of text messages backing up her claims she endured repeated abuse before fatally stabbing Obumseli in their Miami high-rise apartment in 2022.

According to the filing, one exchange came after Clenney claimed Obumseli punched her in the face in April 2021. Her attorneys say she immediately fired off a text accusing him of hitting her "in my face as hard as you could" ... while Obumseli allegedly brushed it off, responding he was only trying to move her hand and "really didn't mean to."

Clenney argues the messages show a pattern of him minimizing what allegedly happened.

The Los Angeles Lakers were busy this offseason ... but Kenny "The Jet" Smith doesn't think their new additions will fill the gap LeBron James is leaving behind, 'cause he tells TMZ Sports their new roster doesn't have enough to compete for a championship.

We caught up with the NBA champ and "Inside the NBA" analyst out at LAX this week ... and asked his thoughts on the state of the Purple and Gold.

The Lakers brought in Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes and re-signed Austin Reaves so far ... and Smith said Luka Dončić and the crew will definitely be a playoff team -- but that's about it.

Connor Murphy was in production on a documentary before his death ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the project tell TMZ ... the fitness influencer was actively working on the doc, which focused on "looksmaxxing" and "biohacking."

Looksmaxxing is the pursuit of maximizing physical attractiveness through methods, while biohacking centers on using diets, supplements, and other techniques to optimize physical and mental performance.

We're told Murphy and a friend in Thailand had become leaders in those fields, making them the focus of the film.

Andrew Gillum's legal troubles just escalated ... the Democrat who narrowly lost to Ron DeSantis in the 2018 Florida governor's race has now been formally charged following his Alabama arrest.

Newly filed court records show he's facing one felony and two misdemeanor counts.

According to the criminal complaint, obtained by TMZ, Gillum is charged with felony possession of a controlled substance -- specifically methamphetamine -- along with misdemeanor possession of marijuana for personal use and possession of drug paraphernalia. Prosecutors allege the offenses occurred July 2 in Baldwin County, Alabama.

Darrell Sheets' son wanted his dad's girlfriend booted from the "Storage War" star's house after the reality star took his own life ... and authorities had to get involved.

According to the Lake Havasu City Police incident report, obtained by TMZ, Brandon Sheets -- who co-starred with his dad on "Storage Wars" -- told cops he wanted Darrell's unidentified partner out of the Lake Havasu City house -- and wanted her trespassed. Police told Brandon she would need to be evicted or leave on her own since she'd been living at the residence.

The woman told police ... Darrell's son and his wife had accused her of stealing money from the reality star -- and that created a lot of tension and drama between the two men, with Darrell defending her.

How's this for A.I. slop ... Farrah Abraham is releasing a new sex tape ... and it's all made with artificial intelligence.

Farrah is making history with the launch of the first-ever celebrity sex tape featuring a virtual replica ... and she's calling her A.I. masterpiece, "Farrah's Backdoor."

It's now available via A.I. platform OhChat ... and at first glance, Farrah's virtual twin looks exactly like the real deal.

Ayzia J. Toledo -- an influencer who went by Ayzia J on social media -- was sober for months and rebuilding her personal brand before she crashed her car and died.

Ayzia's brother, Javeer Peterson, tells TMZ ... she wasn't out partying before the fatal wreck, and was traveling from one booking to the next when she lost control of her BMW and hit a tree.

Her brother says Ayzia was big in the streaming world -- collaborating with Kai Cenat and Blueface -- but she had taken a step back from streaming due to a bunch of drama ... and was working hard to rebrand herself.