Family

Aside from his weight, James Gandolfini didn't have ANY underlying health problems before his death ... at least that his family was aware of, TMZ has learned.

Sources extremely close to Gandolfini's family tell us, the "Sopranos" actor never once mentioned that he was suffering from heart or other health issues -- and by all appearances, he was in near-perfect condition.

Gandolfini has admitted to having problems with cocaine and alcohol in the past -- and obviously struggled with his weight -- but we're told the family was utterly blindsided by his sudden death.

As we reported, Gandolfini passed away Wednesday from an apparent heart attack while vacationing in Italy. He was 51.

It's been 7 months since Kansas City Chiefs player Jovan Belcher murdered his girlfriend and then shot himself ... but now a judge has finally decided who will get custody of the NFL player's 9-month-old daughter.

A probate judge in Missouri has appointed Sophie D. Perkins as the legal guardian of Zoey Michelle Belcher. Perkins is Zoey's first cousin (once removed) on her mother's side.

Zoey's mother -- Kasandra Perkins-- was shot to death by Belcher on December 1st, 2012. Belcher then drove to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City ... where he killed himself.

Jovan's mother had tried to obtain custody of the child -- but the judge clearly felt Perkins was the better choice.

According to court docs, Zoey will inherit Jovan's estate -- which has been valued at $799,119.85. She's also reportedly set to receive at least $1,000,000 from the NFL ... plus $1.2 million from a life insurance policy.

James Gandolfini's shocking death happened in the middle of a "guy's trip" for the actor and his teenage son, Michael ... TMZ has learned.

Multiple sources tell us James' trip was for pleasure and business -- first getting to spend some QT in Italy with Michael, who just recently graduated from the 8th grade ... and then attending the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily.

We're told Michael's mom -- James' first wife Marcy Wudarski -- immediately flew to Italy on Wednesday to be with her son ... after she was told James had died.

James and his son were very tight -- Michael is a big hockey fan, and he and his father were regulars at L.A. Kings home games.

When Kim Kardashian first arrived to Cedars-Sinai to deliver her baby, she didn't get the fancy celebrity suite she had hoped for 'cause they were all in use ... and one of the VIP occupants was Dwight Howard's newest baby mama, TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the births tell us ... before Kim went into labor, she had made arrangements to stay in one of the fancy suites at the L.A. hospital. But the baby came 5 weeks early, and the fancy suites were all booked. So Kim was placed in another unit.

But while Kim was laid out in bed, Kanye roamed the maternity ward ... and bumped into NBA superstar Dwight Howard, whose lady was giving birth to his child.

FYI -- Dwight's a seasoned vet when it comes to the maternity ward ... he's reportedly fathered 3 other kids (with 3 different women).

We're told Kanye and Dwight got along great ... with Yeezy giving Howard a preview of his new album "Yeezus."

As for Kim ... we're told she's finally out of the hospital -- and mother and the baby are shacked up in a private location.

Paris Jackson told a creepy story about one of her former nannies and Michael Jackson ending up in bed together ... and she said it under oath during a deposition taken for the wrongful death suit against AEG.

Video of Paris' deposition was played in court Tuesday ... and the highlight was her description of Michael's relationship with ex-nanny Grace Rwaramba.

In the depo ... Paris explained to attorneys for AEG that Michael warned his children about Grace, telling them ... "She was sneaky. She wasn't an honest person, and she lied a lot."

Paris said she didn't know specifically what she lied about -- but then seemed to suddenly remember one freaky detail about Grace sneaking into Michael's bed while they were staying in hotels.

Paris starts out saying ... "This is gonna freak you out."

Cee Lo tells TMZ ... he feels terrible after being banned from a music festival in Chattanooga, TN for dropping too many f-bombs on stage -- and now he's begging for forgiveness.

It's a pretty crazy story ... the organizers of the Riverbend Festival blasted Cee Lo after his June 8 performance, claiming the singer completely ignored an agreement he made to put on a clean show for the "family" event. Instead, they say, Cee Lo cussed like a sailor.

Cee Lo also took heat for being late to the show ... though event organizers said there were delays at the airport that were beyond Cee Lo's control.

Still, when Cee Lo arrived to Playhouse nightclub in Hollywood last night, he had a message for Chattanooga -- "I apologize."

He adds, "Forgive me Chattanooga ... have me back, OK?"

Rapper J. Cole was basically extorted by a sick fan who tweeted a photo of a little girl with a gun to her head ... and claimed he would shoot her if Cole did not respond to his message.

The fan tweeted last night "@JColeNC retweet me and I'll buy Born Sinner. Don't retweet me and I'll kill my lil sister."

Shortly after the threatening tweet, which refers to Cole's new album ... Cole did indeed retweet the message.

It's unclear if the gun is real or where the twisted bastard behind the tweet actually lives. The account, which we're not revealing, claims to be out of Saudi Arabia -- but the truth is it could be anywhere in the world.

We reached out to police in North Carolina -- where J. Cole lives -- to see if they were investigating ... but they hadn't heard anything about it.

We also contacted Twitter headquarters ... a rep said the company doesn't comment on individual accounts to protect privacy

This morning J. Cole commented about the incident, saying ... "Wildest s**t I ever seen on twitter."

Former NBA superstar Allen Iverson has returned his kids to their mother ... and insists he was NEVER holding them hostage in the first place ... at least that's what A.I. claimed in court last week.

We broke the story ... Iverson's ex-wife filed court docs insisting Allen had all 5 of their kids holed up at an Atlanta hotel and refused to hand them over to their mother on the designated swap date.

But TMZ has learned ... Allen appeared in Fulton County court in Georgia last Wednesday and told the judge his ex-wife had full access to their kids during their stay at the hotel ... and therefore he wasn't doing anything wrong. We're told Tawanna also testified that she could have picked up the children from Allen but didn't want to drive 45 minutes to his location.

After A.I.'s testimony, the judge decided the former Philadelphia 76ers star didn't deserve to be thrown in jail -- despite his ex-wife's request before the hearing. The kids -- ranging from ages 3 to 16 -- were returned to their mother following the hearing.

In fact, sources connected to the case tell TMZ ... Allen and his ex have worked out some of their issues ... and she has already allowed Allen to spend more private time with the kids.

So far, no comment from either side.

It's the stuff that caused a war between Kobe Bryant and his parents -- a collection of the NBA star's tacky jewelry, shoes and jerseys -- and now it's officially up for auction.

A diamond-encrusted NBA Championship ring complete with the words "Bling Bling" engraved on the side ... prototypes of Kobe's shoes ... Bryant's high school jersey -- it's all up for sale.

As we previously reported, Kobe sued his mom to prevent her from selling the memorabilia ... claiming she had no ownership rights to the merchandise.

But Pamela Bryant -- along with her husband Jellybean -- fought back ... claiming Kobe had gifted the stuff to them over the years and they had every right to sell it.

Last week, the two sides hammered out a settlement agreement ... in which Kobe allowed his folks to sell off 10% of what they had originally tried to auction ... and the items are pretty interesting.

Former NBA star Allen Iverson has abducted his own children ... so says his ex-wife, and now she's begging the court to force Allen to give them back.

Tawanna Iverson just filed legal docs, claiming Allen recently asked for permission to take their five kids on a short vacation to Charlotte, NC from May 22nd-May 26th (and Tawanna agreed) but when May 26th rolled around, the children hadn't been returned.

The kids range in age from 3 to 16 years old.

In the docs, Tawanna says she tried to set up an exchange on June 4th at a neutral location -- a nearby Target store -- but A.I. never showed up.

Tawanna -- who has sole legal and primary physical custody of their children -- now believes Allen never took their kids to Charlotte at all ... and is currently keeping them at a Sheraton hotel in Georgia.

Tawanna claims she's especially concerned because Allen's an alcoholic who drinks around their kids.

She now wants the court to force him to return the kids ... and punish him as well, even suggesting the judge lock him up in jail.

It's not the first time she's tried to get Iverson locked up ... she had previously begged the court to send him to the pokey for allegedly not paying more than $40,000 in child support.

"Rage Against the Machine" drummer (and co-founder) Bradley Wilk has a solo in his future ... 'cause his wife just filed for divorce, TMZ has learned.

Wilk -- who's also beaten the skins for Audioslave and Black Sabbath -- had separated from wife Selene Vigil-Wilk just last Friday ... and 3 days later, she filed the paperwork in L.A. County Superior Court.

According to the documents, obtained by TMZ, the two tied the knot back in 2005 -- and have 2 young children together.

Selene is asking for joint legal custody ... but she wants primary physical, probably because he's a famous rock star ... and rock stars often go on the road. She's also asking for spousal support.

Calls to Wilk have not been returned.

Rachel Uchitel and hubby Matt Hahn decided to get divorced after an argument erupted over a bungled trip to the grocery store which then triggered allegations of kidnapping. We will explain.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... the morning Rachel called the cops on Matt -- she woke up only to learn her hubby hadn't gone to the grocery store like he had promised. So Rachel had to schlep to the store with baby Wyatt and the family dog. And when she got back, all hell broke loose ... name-calling on Matt's part and a little slapping on Rachel's.

We're told Matt called her a "dictator" for ordering him to perform chores on her timeline. It escalated to the point Rachel called 911, pleading with cops to eject Matt from the house.

When the cops wouldn't give Rachel what she wanted, Tiger's ex executed Plan B. She took her 1-year-old daughter to their hoity-toity weekend home in Connecticut and stayed for 5 days. That set Matt off, alleging she kidnapped their kid.

Matt moved out of their NYC, $8,000-a-month rental, and Rachel returned with Wyatt.

As TMZ first reported ... Matt alleged "cruel and inhumane treatment" in filing for divorce, but now it looks like they're ending the marriage peacefully.

The Cyrus women stick together -- a fact made clear when Miley Cyrus posted a "look how happy we are pic" with her mom and sister ... just days after her mom filed for divorce.

Miley tweeted the pic of herself, younger sis Noah and mom Tish Cyrus riding in the back seat of car sporting a peace sign and smiles, with the caption, "The baddest bitches in the world."

TMZ broke the story ... Trish pulled the plug on her 19-year-marriage to Billy Ray Cyrus earlier this week. That same day Miley angrily tweeted at her dad, "Since your text and email obviously aren't working would you like to talk like this?"

Bright side ... she did wish him a happy Father's Day, or in her words, "Happy daddy day."

Charlie Sheen won't be banging Farrah Abraham any time soon -- at least that's what he says. Lots of stars had lots of strife this week, so we gotta ask ...

Brooke Mueller isn't fit to get her kids back in the foreseeable future ... this according to Children Services, and TMZ has learned a court fight is underway.

Sources close to the situation tell us, Mueller wants her kids back when she leaves rehab -- probably in 60 days. But officials from the L.A. County Dept. of Children and Family Services have had it with Brooke's proclamations that she's cured -- something she's said after each of the nearly 2 dozen times she's relapsed.

Four-year-old twins Bob and Max are currently under the temporary custody of Denise Richards, after a judge ruled she's the one who can best care for the kids.

We're told Children Services has filed legal docs trying to block Brooke's attempt to get her children back when she comes back home. DCFS wants the status quo ... so Brooke can be monitored to determine that she's a fit and sober parent. And we're told DCFS thinks proof of Brooke's sobriety will take a long time.

You'll recall ... just before entering Betty Ford, Brooke was placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold after authorities found she was completely out of it, and apparently on drugs, while her kids were in the home.

Debbie Rowe is NOT at odds with Paris Jackson's guardians, Katherine Jackson and TJ Jackson -- and she will not try to wrestle guardianship away unless the situation changes drastically ... because she does not want to split up Michael Jackson's 3 kids.

Sources directly connected with the family tell TMZ ... Debbie has spent a significant amount of time at Katherine's house and "likes and respects" Katherine. We're told Debbie loves TJ, and worries he's taken on so much -- not only is he guardian to MJ's 3 kids, he has a family of his own to care for.

As for Debbie's relationship with Paris, we're told it's "intense." Paris calls Debbie "Mom" and the two interact as mother and daughter, with Debbie often correcting Paris and "laying down the law."

We're told as much as Debbie loves Paris and wants to be with her, she does not want to yank Paris out of the family house and away from her brothers, Prince and Blanket. We're told Debbie is especially worried about Blanket, who is vulnerable and feels abandoned after Michael's death.

Now here's the problem -- We're told Michael's brothers and sisters -- with the exception of Janet -- have been on a campaign against Debbie being part of Paris' life.

Not a big shock, right?