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Before Rotimi was starring as Dre on 50 Cent's first "Power" series, he was honing his musical talent in a singing group with Jay-Z's nephews!!!

As fate would have it, Jay saw great talent in the budding artist -- as an actor.

Rotimi was recently on the "TMZ Verified" podcast and says Hov ran him and 4 of his nephews through the ringer during their short-lived stint as singers in their group "NBH."

Now that the election is over, Plies is coming hard for his sisters-in-Kamala Harris -- filing a lawsuit against Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla, and Cardi B for copyright infringement!!!

And according to Plies, Soulja Boy can't claim "first" to using the beat on one of his big tracks ... which he says was taken from one of his old songs!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained legal docs filed by Plies on Wednesday claiming his 2008 track "Me & My Goons" first got jacked by Soulja Boy in 2010 on his "Pretty Boy Swag" anthem.

"Today" star Willie Geist is sharing his 2 cents on the 2024 Presidential Election ... acknowledging Vice President Kamala Harris' many celebrity endorsements didn't matter in the long run.

We caught up with the newsman in New York City Wednesday, where he reflected on the tight race between the VP and Donald Trump ... who emerged the President-elect after winning big in several swing states.

This outcome came after Harris tapped many big names -- including Beyonce, Cardi B, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Oprah Winfrey, among others -- to hit the campaign trail on her behalf.

John Hinckley Jr., the attempted assassin who shot President Ronald Reagan in the '80s, is now getting a barrage of heinous requests online ... asking him to do the same to President-elect Donald Trump.

The jarring posts popped up on X after Hinckley posted a link to his community website Tuesday, encouraging fans to check out his new music ... only to see a number of people respond with wishes for him to take out Trump hours after DT won the 2024 presidential election.

The comments are beyond troubling, with some telling Hinckley they've "got a job for [him]" and that the country needs him "now more than ever."

Michael Smerconish is breaking down the strategy behind Donald Trump's convincing win on Election Day ... and he says Trump pushed all the right buttons.

The political commentator and radio host joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and he told us there was a method to Trump's madness ... with Trump finding ways to speak directly to the people most likely to vote for him, and to get new voters off the couch and into voting booths.

Michael says Trump's behavior and dark comments in the weeks leading up to the election motivated his target audience ... even if Trump had voices in the media and Kamala Harris supporters questioning his tactics.

Jason Kelce has received both support and backlash following his viral phone-smashing incident ... but ex-NBA player Rashad McCants is undoubtedly in the future Hall of Famer's corner -- telling TMZ Sports he has no issues with how the Eagles legend dealt with the unruly Penn State fan this weekend.

Kelce's recent outburst has the masses split ... with those in opposition saying he crossed the line by repeating homophobic slurs a man made about his brother, Travis, prior to spiking the cell on the pavement.

The former North Carolina Tar Heels superstar shared his two cents while out in L.A. this week -- before Kelce himself addressed the situation on "Monday Night Countdown" -- and he said the instigator should be counting his lucky stars it didn't escalate further.

Go ahead and forget about Dre allegedly threatening his former therapist ... a judge says Dr. Dre's spicy texts aren't all that menacing after all.

The therapist, Dr. Charles Sophy, was in an L.A. courtroom Tuesday, asking the judge to sign off on a permanent restraining order against Dre -- Sophy was granted a temporary one last month, but at the hearing, he had to produce evidence.

Dre only appeared in court by Zoom, but Sophy was there in person and testified he feared for his safety due to Dre's knowledge of him, and his past behavior ... which Sophy claims is "consistent with the text messages" he received from Dre.

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.