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Zach Bryan came to the rescue of "Hawk Tuah" girl Haliey Welch before his Nashville show ... arranging the VIP treatment for her after she got worried about unwanted attention in the crowd.

ICYMI ... Haliey joined Zach onstage at Nissan Stadium, making a cameo during his encore performance of "Revival." Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... HW didn't end up onstage Saturday night just for a singalong, as Zach's team had spoken with people connected to Hailey before the show.

We're told Haliey has always been a major fan of Zach's and bought her ticket for the concert well before she became the viral sensation she is today.

Prince Harry's a humble, stand-up guy who blends in as just another fellow veteran, making him deserving of the Pat Tillman Award for Service ... a former recipient tells us amid the outrage over ESPN's decision to honor the royal.

U.S. Marine Jake Wood, who won the award in 2018, tells TMZ veterans who've interacted with Prince Harry through his Invictus Games efforts say he's as real as it gets. There's no air of superiority ... he just wants to sit, swap war stories, and ensure everyone's taken care of, he says.

No doubt in Jake's eyes, Harry's down-to-earth nature, on top of him devoting a large chunk of his post-military life to veterans, solidifies his worthiness for the award.

Sexyy Red losing out to Tyla at the 2024 BET Awards caused a big stir online with fans, but if ya let Druski and DJ Drama tell it -- there were no losers that night!!!

TMZ Hip Hop chopped it up with both star personalities at LAX, where they were kidding around about all sorts of topics the day after the award show let out.

They both attended the awards and agree with the convo online ... Sexyy was hands-down this year's Best New Artist!!!

Kendrick Lamar and pgLang continue to connect dots in Compton ... helping coordinate an electronics and sneaker giveaway that has kids screaming Christmas in July!!!

The event was a community team effort co-organized by Kai Cenat, 319 Music Group CEO Wacko and Tim Hinshaw's creative studio Free Lunch.

TMZ Hip Hop was also on the scene, and the energy created by K. Dot's Pop-Up Concert was still lingering throughout Compton.

Ray J really was going through it at the BET Awards, and now we have the video to back it up -- it's a full meltdown, with him threatening to make things "ghetto" after security allegedly denied him re-entry to the show.

The footage, obtained by TMZ, shows Ray pacing around Sunday night outside the award show at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles ... and he's getting more and more animated.

Ray appears to be arguing with some security guards and he's overheard complaining about not being let inside the show ... and things escalate to the point where he rips off his shirt and declares, "I didn't bring the ghetto to BET yet, but I'm about to!!!"

Cops know Kroy Biermann and Kim Zolciak's Georgia address by heart now -- they've been there enough -- but their latest visit wasn't for the couple fighting ... cops say the problem is their massive dog.

TMZ obtained a Milton PD report in which officers say they slapped Kroy with a citation Saturday due to a neighbor's complaint about his dog, Stone, getting loose and allegedly terrorizing a neighbor.

According to the docs, the neighbor called police after spotting the dog running free in the neighborhood, and claimed Stone had been "aggressive" toward her.

Prince Harry has key figures in his corner amid the outrage over ESPN's decision to honor him with the Pat Tillman Award for Service -- at least 2 former winners say Harry is definitely deserving.

Jake Wood, a U.S. Marine and former college football player who won the award in 2018, tells TMZ … the Duke of Sussex is a natural fit for the Tillman honor because of Harry's military service and his dedication to veterans.

Jake feels Prince Harry is a good choice because he's dedicated his life to serving and supporting the military and veterans -- Harry served 2 tours in Afghanistan -- and that should be commended because there are hundreds of different ways a British royal could live his life.

Dan Ige was planning on watching UFC 303 like the rest of us ... on the couch. But before the main card kicked off ... he found himself walking into the arena to take a fight against Diego Lopes on four hours notice -- and he tells TMZ Sports he would do it all over again!

We spoke with the 32-year-old fighter days after he saved the day for the UFC on its marquee card for International Fight Week. Ige said he is still riding the high of the entire saga.

"The last 24 hours have been an emotional roller coaster," he said. "I was preparing for a night in three weeks. Then, just getting the call on four hours notice and making that walk on such a huge event, saving the card, UFC 303 as the co-main event. 19,000 fans in the arena, getting a standing ovation. What a moment, what an opportunity."

Michael Rooker says folks are sleeping on Kevin Costner's new movie saga ... telling us the film is a throwback to classic Hollywood and a departure from the "crap" TikTok generation.

We got Michael, who stars in Kevin's new epic "Horizon: An American Saga -- Chapter 1," at LAX and our photog asked him about the film's poor box office opening.

Michael thinks one of the reasons Kevin's movie only grossed $11 million last weekend is because folks nowadays are used to short social media clips and 90-minute movies ... not real, quality films with deep characters and rich storylines.

President Biden's debate gaffes are ticking off some folks who work in the White House, because they've reportedly been kept away from him ... and now it's causing a divide among staffers.

Alex Thompson, the national political correspondent for Axios, joined us Monday on "TMZ Live," and broke down the disconnect happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Alex says lots of people who work with Biden are only given access to him between 10 AM and 4 PM when POTUS is at his sharpest, and that's why they were so shocked to see his slip-ups at Thursday's debate, which started at 9 PM ET -- a time when Alex says Biden is more prone to make mental mistakes.

Jim Pons -- the man who created one of the New York Jets' logos -- is now suing the team and the NFL ... demanding he be paid for their use of his design.

Pons filed the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, in New York on Monday ... claiming he made the now-iconic emblem way back in the 1970s, after he had been working for the team as a film and video director.

Pons says in '78, the Jets were looking for a redesign -- and when he submitted his logo that featured a jet plane above the letters "E-T-S" ... team officials loved it, and began using it.

Kanye West's former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, is slamming a new lawsuit claiming the rapper's wife, Bianca Censori, exposed Yeezy employees, including minors, to pornographic videos.

Milo tells TMZ ... he's been authorized by Bianca to stress the allegations against her are offensive, disgusting, abhorrent, and wholly false.

Milo is blasting one of the plaintiffs, Shemar DaCosta, as a "tragic, desperate, attention-seeking wannabe Yeezy staffer."

Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman's families are slamming O.J. Simpson's "In Memoriam" tribute at the BET Awards ... calling it entirely inappropriate.

Fred Goldman, Ron's father, tells TMZ he can't wrap his head around the O.J. tribute ... saying there was absolutely no positive spin on his inclusion in the segment, which was introduced as honoring Black excellence lost in the last year.

Fred insists, even though they probably won't, BET should issue an apology ... telling us, "I think they shouldn't include anyone of that caliber -- a wife beater, murderer … can't imagine why they would include someone like that."

Shekinah Garner's standing by her guy, who's getting raked over the coals for revealing his body count -- with Shekinah lamenting slut-shaming in this day and age.

We caught up with the "90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way" star in L.A. ... and had to ask about her future husband Sarper revealing on air he's slept with more than 2,500 women.

Check out the clip... Garner kicks it off by saying she thinks the slut-shaming's terrible -- before adding she doesn't think sleeping with so many women was a wise choice. That said, she also gives props to Sarper for his honesty here.

Kevin Dillon's Tesla apparently took an unplanned pit stop mid-carwash ... and cops say it caused a rear-end ripple effect for some unlucky cars in line behind him.

The incident went down last Monday at an L.A.-area drive-thru car wash ... where cars are typically left in neutral as they go through the wash. But, in Kevin's case, we're told he accidentally lifted up from his seat, which triggered the brakes ... bringing his car to an unexpected halt.

Our sources say this sparked a fender bender with the 3 cars behind him. Thankfully, we're told the damage was minimal.

Country star Brantley Gilbert is bidding adieu to his Georgia abode ... and looking to pocket some serious dough in the process.

Real estate sources tell TMZ ... Brantley built the house on the 12 acres of land he purchased back in 2010 ... but recently got a hankerin' for more and snapped up 300 acres of farmland nearby.

While Brantley clearly believes bigger is better ...  the 6-bedroom, 5-bath 8,446 sq ft property in Maysville, GA he's selling hardly suffers from size.