Pleasure P Pulled Celeb Card During Miami Bust Cop Fires Back: 'I Don't Care Who You Are!!!'

ARRESTED P
TMZ.com
UPDATE

9:13 AM PT -- Pleasure P tells us, "My name will be cleared in this insignificant matter. The bigger concern that I think myself and my brothers in Pretty Ricky can help the world right now is making new baby making music that you can quarantine and chill with your loved one while at home."

R&B singer Pleasure P tried to pull the ol' don't-you-know-who-I-am card on cops during his drive-thru arrest earlier this month ... and it completely backfired.

TMZ's obtained bodycam footage of the former Pretty Ricky member's arrest in Miami Gardens ... and it shows him combative with cops as they try to sort out the incident at a Checker's drive-thru that triggered his arrest for simple battery.

As you can see in the video ... cops make every effort to get PP to calm the hell down. At one point, you can see a cop approaching Pleasure P and you can hear the singer say, "I'm Pleasure P" before a cop fires back, "I don't care who you are."

The singer scoffed at the idea he'd be arrested because he said he had a lot to lose ... and for good measure, brought up the fact he's part of the Millennium Tour featuring tons of other 90s artists.

FLINGIN' FOOD
TMZ.com

At one point, you see the fast-food employee in question being interviewed by cops, and she gets into a shouting match with Pleasure P. Ya gotta watch the video until the end ... 'cause it's hilarious when, out of nowhere, an Uber Eats driver shows up, and cops weren't having it.

As we first reported ... Pleasure P allegedly shoved the employee in the chest with his bag of food through the drive-thru pickup window after a mix-up with his order. He denied throwing the food at her ... but according to the police report, cops say other employees corroborated their coworker's story.

Pleasure P insisted he was wrongfully arrested.

Justin Gatlin Not Retiring Before 2021 Olympics ... Inspired By Tom Brady

STAYIN' HUNGRY FOR 2021
TMZSports.com

Justin Gatlin vowed to retire after the 2020 Olympics, but the 38-year-old USA track star tells TMZ Sports plans change, 'cause he ain't quittin' before takin' another crack at gold ... thanks to some inspiration from Tom Brady.

We talked to the LEGENDARY sprinter -- who competed in the '04, '12, and '16 Olympics and won 5 medals including a gold in the 100M in 2004 -- and asked him straight-up, are you retiring??

Nope ... "The goal will be to compete in the 2021 Summer Olympics," Gatlin tells us.

"I think a lot of people think that time is against me or against older athletes in this situation, and it's far from the truth."

Fact is, almost no track athletes remain elite into their late 30s. Usain Bolt retired at 31 years old ... and lost to JG in is last race. So, Gatlin is a freak of nature.

But, does JG really believe with the Olympics postponed a year -- only months shy of his 40th bday -- that he can realistically compete for ANOTHER gold medal?

"My educated guess is yes, [I can win gold in 2021]."

Gatlin continued ... "It won't be that big of a difference from being 38 to 39. But, I always said, 'I'm not running 'til I'm 40.' I was so hard on myself with not running 'til I'm 40, and now it looks like I'm pushing close to 40, and I'm gonna still be running."

Speaking of athletes in their 40s ... we asked Justin if he'll retire after Tokyo, and he sure as hell doesn't sound like someone who's done -- thanks to some inspiration from a guy who is still pretty damn great on the football field.

"Uh, [retiring after 2021 is] a possibility, I'm gonna see," Gatlin says ... "All this Tom Brady news that's going on right now, it's giving me a lot of hope to say, 'Ya know, maybe a 40-year-old Justin Gatlin on the track won't be that crazy.'"

Inspired yet!?

Coronavirus Crushing Baseball Equipment Companies ... Jugs Takes Huge Hit

If you thought the quarantine would lead to more baseball families buying private batting cages to work on their swings at home (like we did) ... you thought wrong.

In fact, the baseball equipment industry is getting hit pretty hard by the coronavirus pandemic -- especially Jugs Sports, the company behind the famous pitching machines.

We spoke to a rep for the company who tells us March is usually the busiest time of the year for them -- they ship out machines to little leagues and other baseball and softball orgs around the country before the season kicks off.

But with the COVID-19 outbreak, we're told business has slowed in a big way -- a 30% to 50% DECREASE in sales from last year.

We spoke with other baseball equipment companies and they're also reporting a slow down in sales -- so far, it seems Jugs is having the toughest go.

Makes sense ... those Jugs machines ain't cheap -- they range from a couple hundred dollars for a basic model to a couple thousand dollars for the top of the line stuff.

Hopefully, business will pick back up once the pandemic is over and people go back to their normal lives ... but for now, this sucks.

Rob Gronkowski's Bro Gronk-Brady Reunion In Tampa??? ... I'd Be Shocked

MARCH 2020
Don't Bet On It
TMZSports.com

Sorry, Bucs fans -- Tom Brady almost certainly ain't bringing Rob Gronkowski to Tampa this season ... Gronk's bro tells TMZ Sports he thinks the TE is officially DONE with football.

"I can't say anything for him," Chris Gronkowski says. "But, I think that he might be moving on ... I would be surprised for sure."

Of course, rumors have flown about a possible Gronk-Brady reunion in Tampa this past week ... with some thinking, the move is in the best interest of both parties now that TB12 is the Bucs' new starter.

Remember, Gronk's had a year off to get his body right after retiring suddenly in March 2019 ... and he'd certainly be a big weapon for his old pal in the new Florida digs. Also, Chris tells us Rob DID use to own property in the area.

But, Gronk just signed a deal with WWE to be a part-time personality for the org. ... and when we spoke with Chris on Monday, he said he thinks that should officially signal the end of Rob's football days.

"Man, it looks like it after this deal," Chris says. "But, I'm not him, so I have no idea what he's thinking. But, as of right now, it looks like a pretty cool position that he's in."

As for how Chris thinks Gronk's Wrestlemania-hosting gig will go next month ... big bro has all the confidence in the NFL legend, telling us, "I expect good things."

"I think it's going to be entertaining and I hope he gets in the ring at some point as well."

Yeah, us too!!

Kobe Bryant Guardian Ad Litem Appointed for Daughters

Kobe Bryant's daughters have just been appointed new guardians to represent their interests in their father's trust ... TMZ Sports has learned.

According to new legal docs ... Erika Williams has been appointed guardian ad litem for Natalia and Bianka Bryant, and James Summers is repping for Kobe's youngest daughter, Capri.

Vanessa Bryant and Kobe's former agent Rob Pelinka, who are the co-trustees of Kobe's trust, have been instructed to pay any expenses for Erika and James' roles as guardians, using money from the trust ... according to the docs.

As we first reported ... Vanessa filed docs Friday asking a judge to appoint the guardian ad litem for Bianka and Natalia, plus another one for Capri. Vanessa said she wanted to get her legal affairs in order ASAP because of uncertainty surrounding the court system due to coronavirus pandemic and potential government shutdowns.

Remember ... Vanessa also filed other legal docs asking the judge to amend Kobe's trust to include Capri, who was born after Kobe last amended it. A judge will handle that at a later date.

Coronavirus Puzzles and Toys Flying Off Shelves ... Old School Fun!!!

The coronavirus pandemic has folks at home looking to keep their minds sharp and their kids busy ... and now puzzles and toys are becoming all the rage.

Honchos at Hasbro tell TMZ ... the toy-making giant is seeing a huge demand for Play-doh and Nerf, plus games for the entire family to play together ... but it's nothing like the attention being cast on Peppa Pig.

Hasbro's decision to scoop up the rights to Peppa Pig last August is already paying off big time ... PP is now officially the most-watched series on demand in the world, with more than 30 BILLION YouTube views, plus another 84 million downloads on smartphone apps.

Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.

As you know ... folks have A LOT of time on their hands now with "shelter in place" orders becoming commonplace in America and across the globe.

Puzzles are also making a dramatic comeback as a preferred choice for entertainment ... puzzle makers tell us their products are selling like hotcakes.

Serious Puzzles tells TMZ ... they're seeing record sales of jigsaw puzzles since March 13, when schools started closing due to the outbreak. We're told sales are up 300% and most folks are gobbling up 1,000-piece and 500-piece jigsaws. The top themes -- collections and collages, animals and birds, vintage nostalgia.

Puzzle Warehouse, the largest puzzle distributor in North America, tells TMZ ... they're setting new sales records every day, it's busier than Christmas time and half of their inventory has already been cleaned out. PW says sales are up 600% from this time last year and they hired about 20 workers to help out in the warehouse.

Here in Los Angeles, Miracle Mile Toy Hall says they're seeing a mad rush for puzzles, board games, Legos and art kits. They've already sold out of 1,000-piece puzzles, and they are down to their last few jigsaws. The big seller -- the eeBoo Women's March Puzzle.

And, how's this for another blast from the past ... FAO Schwarz tells us they've seen a sales increase for indoor toys across all categories.

Now, if we could just solve the coronavirus vaccine puzzle.

Christian Churches Services, Mass Move to Digital ... Body of Christ Streamed 👏🏽

The Lord has spoken -- he wants his followers to keep coming to church ... through their TV screens, phones and laptops. Coronavirus be damned, doggonit!

Yes, the Christian community (pretty much all denominations) is moving to digital church services and masses during the coronavirus pandemic -- and one company in particular that specializes in broadcasting the word of God says it's seeing a massive spike in the millions.

A rep for Life.Church tells TMZ ... their streaming feature, called the Church Online Platform, has been overloaded with users logging on and accessing different services all over the world. Literally, this company streams sermons from the U.S. of A all to the way to Israel, Korea and beyond. We're told this past weekend, a whopping 6.9 million unique devices were registered as using their platform ... up from 4.7 mil just last weekend.

It's safe to assume there were WAY more people actually watching through these various services, though, as we're told Christian families often tune in together. So, if these unique devices have at least 4 people watching on average -- that's about 27 mil pairs of eyeballs at a time, probably more.

The number of congregations that have signed up to partner with Life.Church is pretty stunning too -- around 40,000 total different churches are on board with the org ... and we're told a staggering 12,000 new congregations alone got signed up just over the past week.

BTW, there are several more companies that stream services outside of just protestant sects of Christianity -- Catholics (who are Christian too) exclusively have EWTN to watch mass throughout the week ... so you can only imagine what sorts of numbers they're raking in.

The cool thing about Life.Church, however, is that they encourage participation -- there's a live chat aspect they incorporate within their broadcast services ... where people can write in and have their specific questions answered. And, perhaps as expected, this is all free to use.

Just goes to show that folks are leaning in on their faith during these trying times -- and with Easter around the corner, more so than ever.

Old news is old news!
Be First!

Get TMZ breaking news sent right to your browser!