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NLE Choppa is flexing his knowledge of the United States government on Election Day '24 ... going hard for your presidential candidate is cool and all, but make sure you're tapped into your local representatives!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the newly minted movie director and his fellow visionary Ben Marc in Bev. Hills on Tuesday ... Choppa tells us he voted for God -- whether he wrote it on the ballot or it's a figure of speech is up in the air.

Choppa celebrated his 22nd birthday a few days ago with a screening of his and Ben Marc's "The Wash" film and shared some educational tips with his fellow Gen-Zers -- voting for your best interests locally will actually help your presidential pick thrive!!!

Diddy's not running his trademark "Vote or Die" campaign for the 2024 presidential election, in part because he's in federal custody ... but, he's still able to exercise his civic duty.

The Bad Boy Records founder is locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as he awaits his criminal trial ... but he hasn't been convicted, so he still has the right to vote ... and we found out how he could go about casting a ballot.

Honchos at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the agency that operates MDC Brooklyn, tell TMZ ... Diddy can vote in the 2024 election using an absentee ballot mailed from the federal jail.

Peanut the Squirrel's tragic fate is stirring emotions across the Internet, but at least one town leader in Chemung, NY -- where Peanut's owner lives -- isn't rattled at all, and seems over the whole ordeal.

Chemung Town Supervisor George Richter tells TMZ ... he has no knowledge of the squirrel saga exploding on his turf. Remember, Mark Longo and his wife, Daniela, claim 2 of their rescue pets -- Peanut and Fred the raccoon -- were unjustly seized last week, and killed over alleged rabies concerns.

While the story's gone viral, Richter says he has no plans to advocate on behalf of the late Peanut, nor Mark and Daniela -- making it clear he won't be speaking to Governor Kathy Hochul about the raid.

Gayle King's weighing in on Megan Thee Stallion's recent confession that she fibbed about not hooking up with Tory Lanez -- and honestly, she's not taking it too personally.

We caught up with Gayle on Tuesday, and she told TMZ that Megan's lie during her 2022 "CBS Mornings" interview about the July 2020 shooting is ultimately on the star herself -- but there are no hard feelings on her end, and she's still totally rooting for her.

Gayle dives deeper in the clip, explaining she initially wanted to give Megan space to share her side, especially since so many people doubted her story. Ironically, Megan still ended up lying to her -- but Gayle stands by her decision to give her the platform.

Peanut The Squirrel should be alive right now, because it's improbable the fully domesticated animal had rabies ... so says an infectious disease expert.

NY state officials killed the internet sensation last week in order to test Peanut for rabies, but a doctor well versed in rabies says authorities might have jumped the gun in impulsively testing for the disease.

Dr. Edward R. Rensimer tells TMZ ... the CDC's position is that squirrels are not considered to be carriers or spreaders of rabies and to his knowledge, there's never been a recorded case of squirrel-to-human rabies transmission.

Martha Stewart's criticism of Ryan Reynolds' "very serious" off-camera persona should be taken with a grain of salt ... given the fact the actor's been quite vocal about his past anxiety hurdles.

A source close to Ryan tells TMZ ... the actor has made no secret about his anxious and racing mind ... which means sometimes he shuts down around people.

As our source puts it ... Blake Lively's husband likes being quiet over being "on" ALL the time.

Dr. Dre admits using colorful language to chew out his ex-marriage counselor, but denies threatening him in any way... and says Dr. Charles Sophy only feels threatened because Dre is Black.

Doctor to doctor, Dre's officially responding to the lawsuit filed by his former Dr. Sophy -- who had counseled Dre and his then estranged wife Nicole, prior to their divorce. In the suit, Sophy claimed Dre fired off several threatening texts, accusing Sophy of turning Dre's kids against him.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Dre admits using crude language in some texts to Sophy, but says he never made any "credible threat of future violence" that would require Sophy to get a restraining order, which he did last month.

Kendrick Sampson is urging folks not to get stressed about the top-of-the-ticket choices on Election Day -- instead, he's encouraging voters to focus on local issues.

We caught up with the actor and activist ... and he tells us people often get distracted by the theatrics of the Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump showdown ... and forget they hold the power to change their local communities.

Check out the clip, 'cause Kendrick lists the ways people can make a real difference in what's happening right in their own neighborhoods, on their own streets.

Los Angeles County D.A. George Gascón is setting the record straight, saying his push to recommend resentencing for the Menendez brothers isn’t about public buzz or winning an election -- it’s about doing what he personally believes is right.

On "TMZ Live," Harvey didn’t hold back on grilling Gascón about all the renewed public interest playing into the Menendez brothers’ case -- saying the considerations of their case are purely based on the evidence.

Gascón shot down the hype factor, telling us his decision came down to what he feels is right -- and not because of public opinion, or an effort to win votes.

Kiké Hernandez's viral postgame interview of the team's "Don't give a f***" mindset took Dodger Nation by storm ... but the star utility player said it wasn't a spur of the moment comment -- 'cause that was L.A.'s motto throughout their World Series run!

TMZ Sports caught up with the newly crowned World Series champ as he worked an honorary shift at Raising Canes ... and he explained how the clubhouse didn't let any outside talk affect how they went about their business.

"We were gonna do whatever it took to win a game, to win a series," he said. "I think it showed throughout the whole postseason that we didn't really care about what anybody thought about us. We didn't really care about the outside noise."

Peanut the Squirrel's story hit hard for one New York State Assemblyman, who's now pushing for a law to stop future animal heartbreaks like the one that befell the social media star -- and he says a request for an investigation is falling on deaf ears.

Jake Blumencranz, repping Assembly District 15 on Long Island, has drafted "Peanut's Law: The Humane Animal Protection Act," which would impose a 72-hour wait before euthanizing any sanctuary animal. He tells TMZ the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Governor Kathy Hochul have been radio silent about an investigation into the matter so far.

Blumencranz, a big-time animal advocate, says all he's heard from authorities is that DEC officials were just following the rules when they seized Peanut from P'nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary. And, that's exactly why he's pushing for change -- because current protocols feel way too extreme and lack compassion for the animals involved.

A new witness in the Diddy criminal case says he has a manuscript belonging to Diddy's late girlfriend, Kim Porter ... but her best friend tells us Kim never tried to write a book.

Lawanda Lane, Kim's best friend and the caregiver of Kim and Diddy's twin daughters, tells TMZ ... she was best friends with Kim for 30 years, including 20 years living under the same roof, and there was never a manuscript written by Kim.

Kim's BFF tells us she was with Kim every day and Kim never wrote anything down ... and she says the family doesn't know who new Diddy witness Courtney Burgess is, even though the guy claims he's one of Kim's former associates.

Mark Longo says he's not using the tragedy and controversy surrounding Peanut The Squirrel to drum up subscriptions for his porn page.

Peanut's owner joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday and told us he thinks his OnlyFans is the reason his farm got raided in the first place.

Mark says authorities asked him if he had any cameras in his house ... a strange question to ask if they were there only because he broke the law by harboring 2 undomesticated animals in Peanut and Fred the Racoon.

Diddy's kids are still proving they're in his corner -- they banded together to wish him a happy birthday as he sits behind bars.

In an IG post, the disgraced mogul's 7 kiddos joined forces to sing happy birthday to Diddy as he turned 55 on Monday -- and they even let baby Love steal the spotlight for her own rendition of the song before Diddy gushed on the other end of the line how he couldn't wait to see them all.

At first glance, it looks like a sweet family moment, with the kids going all out in his honor -- complete with Love almost face-planting into the birthday cake they lit for their dad.

Freddie Gibbs just dropped a surprise album using Freddy Krueger's scare tactics and it's already winning over hardcore rap fans ... just ask one of the biggest, LeBron James!!!

TMZ Hip Hop recently linked with FG and his A&R, Norva Denton, at his pop-up shop for his new "You Only Die 1nce" album released on Friday ... after he plastered Hollywood with nightmarish billboards to resemble Elm Street right before Halloween!!!

Freddie's steadily getting praised for his rapping ability, and the first listen impressed LBJ so much he had to post on social media about it.

We spotted the promo a couple weeks ago and connected the dots ... Freddie says he called up FK actor Robert Englund, who happily obliged to do the voiceover and give Freddie's hip hop peers the same unnerving Krueger haunted him with as a kid.

Because of his reputation as a skilled MC, we also got Freddie's take on why the BET Hip Hop Awards cut out its biggest draw this year -- the rapping ciphers that have been going viral for many years.

Freddie tells us today's talent flat-out sucks at rapping, but he doesn't have that ailment, so here were are.

Peanut the squirrel’s heartbreaking story has tugged at the heartstrings of thousands nationwide after the rodent was seized and euthanized by authorities last week -- but a notable NYC Assemblywoman tells us despite it being a sad situation, human lives need to be prioritized.

Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the Majority Whip in the New York State Assembly, tells TMZ that while she’s an ardent animal-rights advocate and sympathizes with Peanut’s owner, Mark Longo ... she believes euthanizing Peanut was the only option, since the N.Y. State Dept. of Environmental Conservation's investigation revealed the squirrel bit someone.

Hermelyn explains to us DEC had no choice but to put down Peanut so they could test the rodent for rabies, which is deadly for 99% of humans who catch it. She also notes it's well-known there are no approved methods to test animals for rabies while they're still alive.