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Peanut the Squirrel is officially in the clear, testing negative for rabies after his death, but get this -- it's also emerged that both he and Fred the Raccoon were set for the chopping block days before they were seized in a raid ... and their owner is absolutely livid over it.

Mark Longo didn't hold back, telling TMZ it's hard to stomach the bombshell revelation that 4 different agencies had already given the green light to euthanize his pets 7 days before they were even taken from his Upstate New York property on October 30.

The New York Post reports state officials advised the county to euthanize the animals a week before the raid was launched. This news contradicts the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's claim that Peanut had bitten an agent during the raid ... supposedly necessitating the rabies test. Animals must be euthanized to properly test for rabies.

Ben Foster is calling it quits on his marriage to Laura Prepon ... and we're told the estranged spouses are already living separately.

In the divorce docs obtained by TMZ ... Ben cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason behind his split with Laura -- and asked the court to enforce their prenuptial agreement from 2018. He noted September 9 as their date of separation.

This coincides with what sources tell us ... as they say the "Orange Is the New Black" actress and the 'X-Men' actor broke up sometime in the last few months, and that Laura is currently living in Tennessee while Ben resides in Los Angeles.

Megan Fox figures to have an interesting, and potentially challenging, family dynamic now that she's pregnant with Machine Gun Kelly's baby ... because things sound icy between MGK and Megan's ex-husband, Brian Austin Green.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ … Brian and MGK have no relationship whatsoever, which could lead to rough waters when it comes to co-parenting.

Megan has 3 kids with Brian and our sources feel MGK hasn't been involved enough in the sons' lives ... or even made an effort to be a father figure to them.

Liam Payne's death is putting a spotlight on the unseen struggles teen singers face when they put trust into stardom, even when it seems like they're thriving ... according to Jeff Timmons from 98 Degrees.

Jeff is just one of several boy banders opening up about the rollercoaster ride his group, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, New Edition, New Kids on the Block and many others endured for decades. They're all featured in the new Paramount+ documentary, "Larger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands."

On Tuesday's "TMZ Live," Jeff told us the sudden fame they all encountered -- mostly in the early 2000s -- was absolutely a blessing, but it was also impossible to prepare for everything that was thrown at them.

Fernando Valenzuela's cause of death has been revealed -- the Los Angeles Dodgers legend died of septic shock.

TMZ Sports has obtained the 1981 World Series champion's death certificate ... which listed decompensated alcoholic cirrhosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis cirrhosis as underlying causes.

The medical examiner also suspects Valenzuela suffered from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease ... a rare brain disorder.

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly’s baby news has everyone buzzing -- and we've learned she’s pretty far along in her pregnancy!

Sources tell us the actress is already 4 to 5 months along ... meaning she'll be due sometime in March. While the couple already knows the baby’s sex, they’re keeping it under wraps for now -- so no word yet on whether it’s a boy or a girl.

We're told Megan's feeling confident and healthy during this pregnancy, which is definitely a relief after the heartbreak of her miscarriage, which she revealed last year.

Two people directly connected to Jessica Simpson have spoken with 2 divorce lawyers in the last 2 months ... specifically about Jessica's marriage to Eric Johnson ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... late last month someone close to Jessica went to a Los Angeles divorce attorney and said Jessica was unhappy in her marriage and wanted to arrange a meeting with the attorney and Simpson. We do not know if this was done at Jessica's behest, but we're told the message to the lawyer was clear. We're also told up to this point Jessica has not made contact with the lawyer.

And, we've learned someone on Jessica's team made contact with another Los Angeles divorce lawyer regarding matters that were divorce-related. Again, so far we're told there has been no follow-through.

10:54 AM PT -- Diddy's attorneys tell TMZ ... "Ms. Tanea Wallace has no credibility and her claims about 'freak offs' and minors are completely and categorically false. As we've said before, Mr. Combs cannot respond to every new publicity stunt, even in response to claims that are facially ridiculous. Mr. Combs has full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that the accusations against Mr. Combs are pure fiction."

A woman who says she was at what she believes was a Diddy "Freak Off" says there were minors present ... minors surrounded by adults.

Tanea Wallace, an aspiring singer-songwriter, says she was invited to Diddy's party by a Saudi Prince who flew her from L.A. to Miami. She spoke with TMZ as part of our new documentary, "TMZ Presents The Downfall of Diddy: Inside the Freak Offs."

Tanea describes in vivid detail how she observed clusters of people having sex ... many of whom seemed high on drugs or alcohol. Mind you, she says this was at 7 AM ... Tanea says the party had been going all night.

Rachel Lindsay has shut the door on a possible return to reality TV to find love ... telling TMZ she will "never" do that again.

We caught up with the "Bachelorette" alum outside of Erewhon in Los Angeles Monday, where she gave an update on how's she doing amid her divorce from her husband, Bryan Abasolo ... who she met and got engaged to on season 13 of the ABC show.

As Rachel put it ... single life has "been great," as she's focusing on having "fun" right now.

Next year's Grammy Awards is stacked with competition from rappers of all shapes and sizes but hip hop podcaster/producer Rory Farrell thinks the running favorite is questionable -- Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us"!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the "New Rory & MAL" cohost at LAX this week ... and while his inner hip hop head won't allow him to crown the Grammys of the culture, he has no beef with this year's rap picks.

Doechii is up for Best Rap Album -- which would make both Kendrick and Rory happy, but he's also a big J. Cole guy.

9:13 AM PT -- Sources close to the situation tell TMZ that the woman seen with Mod Sun last night was "Love Is Blind" star Brittany Wisniewski.

The woman in the video with Brittany is her costar Alexandra Byrd.

Seems like Mod Sun is a big fan of 'LIB,' by the way -- he spotted Brittany in the crowd at a concert earlier this month ... and took time out of his show to call her out.

Mod Sun has moved on from Avril Lavigne ... 'cause we caught him canoodling with a hot blonde inside a Los Angeles bar.

Camryn Bynum is hoping to parlay his Raygun interception celebration into a meeting with the famous breakdancer ... telling TMZ Sports he's "1,000 percent" down to collab with her in some way this offseason.

If you missed it ... the Minnesota Vikings safety paid homage to the Olympics star in incredible fashion on Sunday afternoon -- after he picked off a Mac Jones pass to seal a win for his squad in Jacksonville.

Bynum got up from the endzone turf and immediately mimicked each one of the moves Rachael Gunn made famous during the Paris Games last August. It ended up being such a good impression, Gunn herself even gave her stamp of approval!

Alfonso Ribeiro may be on the mend following his ankle injury at Disney World ... but that doesn't mean he's happy his nasty spill made headlines.

Photogs caught up with the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" alum at LAX, where he assured everyone he was up and walking again after rolling his ankle on a trolley rail at the most magical place on Earth.

However, when asked how he was feeling after seeing his accident play out in the press ... he confessed it made him "pissed off" ... indicating he had no interest in reliving the drama.

Megan Fox’s ex, Brian Austin Green, is all smiles over her pregnancy news -- no drama here, just pure excitement.

Sources tell TMZ that Brian wasn’t blindsided by Megan’s baby news with Machine Gun Kelly -- she actually shared it with their three sons months ago, and they passed it along to their dad.

We’re told Megan and Brian chatted about it soon after, and it’s all good -- he’s totally happy for her.

One of Liam Payne’s homes in South Florida, where he was living before his death, is back on the rental market.

Real estate sources tell TMZ, a massive 5-bed, 6-bath mansion in Wellington, FL went back up for rent at the end of October for $9,950 per month. The former 1D star had signed a short-term lease for the property before ultimately moving out in July.

We’re told the place got a refresh with new paint, décor, and more since the original listing pics were taken -- so it's rocking a much fresher, renovated vibe.

Jason Sudeikis lived out his childhood fantasy (we suspect) this past weekend ... the "Ted Lasso" star dreamed he was Chuck D -- and woke up in real life performing with Flavor Flavvvvv!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained footage of Jason and Flav flawlessly nailing Public Enemy and Anthrax's classic headbanger "Bring The Noise" in Kansas City at the 8th annual THUNDERGONG charity concert inside Uptown Theater this weekend!!!

Flav gets credited as one of hip hop's greatest hype men, and Jason definitely held his own with full breath control all the way to the end of the track!!! Don't worry about Chuck ... he's still out here dropping lyrics louder than a bomb!!!