Family

Prosecutors in the investigation involving the death of Chris Daughtry's step-daughter, Hannah, say they are not classifying it as a homicide investigation -- at least not yet -- but as we reported, that's not what sources connected to the Daughtry family say what happened.

The 8th District Tennessee D.A. says, "This is a death investigation and any attempt to classify it as a homicide investigation at this time is premature and irresponsible."

As we reported, sources directly connected to the Daughtry family told TMZ ... detectives told the family Hannah's death was a homicide.

25-year-old Hannah was found dead Friday at her home.

The same day as her body was found, Hannah's boyfriend, Bobby Jolly, was arrested on an unrelated matter and is currently in custody. He has not been labeled either a suspect or a person of interest in Hannah's death.

Hannah and her brother Griffin, 23, are Deanna's children from a previous relationship. Chris, 41, and Deanna, 48, who met in 2000, also share twins Adalynn Rose and Noah James, 10.

The 9-year-old boy who was trampled at Astroworld Fest and left fighting for his life has sadly died from his injuries -- making him the 10th death from the festival.

Ezra Blount passed away Sunday at Texas Children's Hospital, after being on life support since Friday, November 5, when he was among the hundreds who were injured during Travis Scott's headlining show.

The family's attorney, Ben Crump, tells TMZ, "The Blount family tonight is grieving the incomprehensible loss of their precious young son. This should not have been the outcome of taking their son to a concert, what should have been a joyful celebration. Ezra's death is absolutely heartbreaking. We are committed to seeking answers and justice for the Blount family. But tonight we stand in solidarity with the family, in grief, and in prayer."

The kid was in attendance with his father, who's reported to have lifted his son up onto his shoulders once the crowd surge became unbearable. Unfortunately, Ezra's father passed out during the ordeal ... leaving young Ezra to fall to the ground during the chaos ... and be subjected to being crushed on by the panicked crowd around them.

He sustained serious bodily harm -- ones that left him with severe swelling of the brain and internal bleeding ... and since then, his family has been hoping he'd be able to recover.

Ezra's grandfather gave a heartbreaking interview to ABC13 in Houston ... recounting his son and grandson's harrowing experience at the festival. He didn't seem to lay much blame at Travis' feet, per se -- but rather, said police and security should've stepped in.

Like we said ... Ezra had been hospitalized since the horrific event, and was eventually placed in a medically induced coma -- with the hope that he would be able to heal enough to gain consciousness again ... but that never happened.

As we reported ... civil rights attorney Ben Crump was hired by the family and already filed a lawsuit alleging negligence on the parts of multiple parties -- including Travis himself, Live Nation and others involved in organizing the festival.

Crump said, "This young child and his family will face life-altering trauma from this day forward, a reality that nobody expects when they buy concert tickets."

Britney Spears is now a free woman, because the judge has swiftly ended her conservatorship ... effective immediately.

The judge terminated the conservatorship without requiring any further mental evaluation ... something Britney was adamant about.

The hearing started with Britney's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, quoting Britney's June testimony ... in which she said, "I just want my life back."

The judge then went around to all the lawyers and others assembled both in court and online, asking them whether they had any objections. Not a single person -- lawyers and all -- had a problem with ending the conservatorship.

Both the conservatorship of Britney's person and the conservatorship of her estate have been terminated, with minor exceptions. Rosengart wanted the estate conservatorship to remain solely to execute the necessary documents so the assets she has in the conservatorship can be transferred to a trust controlled by Britney.

The judge then read her order ending this saga ... and it took just around 30 minutes start to finish.

This doesn't end the dispute over the way the conservatorship was handled, because Rosengart has made it clear ... he wants a full accounting from everyone involved in the conservatorship, especially Jamie Spears and business manager Lou Taylor, to show how much money they have moved from the conservatorship to their accounts. Now all that said, Rosengart said ultimately it's up to Britney on whether she wants to pursue Jamie and Lou Taylor.

Rosengart did make one thing clear ... he said after the hearing, "This conservatorship was corrupted by James P. Spears."

Rosengart believes there has been misappropriation of assets by various people in the conservatorship, at the expense of Britney. As we reported, her estate is worth an estimated $60 million ... and Rosengart believes it should be much larger and would be but for lawyers, Jamie, Lou Taylor and others taking cuts and salaries from the estate.

As for Britney, she has her life back in full, and as you know ... the decks are now cleared for her to marry Sam, have a baby if she wants and to buy a new house -- something we know they want. We're told Britney has bad memories in the house where she's lived during the long-running conservatorship.

Rosengart has put in place what he calls a "safety net" so Britney gets support on both personal and financial matters.  Her personal conservator, Jodi Montgomery, has agreed to stay on and work for Britney, and Rosengart has put a financial manager in place to protect and grow her assets.

And, TMZ broke the story ... Britney wants to get back in the studio and record music, although she has not selected a producer or the material for a new album.

We're told she has no plans to perform again ... at least at this time.

The FreeBritney folks were front and center on the courthouse steps as the hearing began. They are going nuts right now ... elated with the decision.

Britney Spears is not playing her cards close to the vest ... in fact, she's wearing them on her t-shirt -- she wants out of her conservatorship, and it could happen today.

Britney and her fiance, Sam Asghari, mugs for the cam with the words, "#FreeBritney, It's a human rights movement" front and center.

It's no secret Britney wants the 13+-year conservatorship to come to an end at Friday's court hearing. That could happen, but it's by no means certain.

Terminating the conservatorship is squarely before the judge. Her attorney, Mathew Rosengart, has presented his case ... that it's incongruous for someone to be under a conservatorship who is also able to work and function day-to-day. He's also alleged a slew of misdeeds on the part of conservators and others, including Britney's dad, Jamie Spears.

The key to the hearing will be whether the judge orders a mental evaluation ... something that has been regularly done and evaluated every year of the conservatorship. Britney has made it clear, she does NOT want such an evaluation, and even Jamie Spears has done a 180 and said his daughter's conservatorship should end without such an evaluation.

The judge could still order a mental evaluation, but she's given no indication which way she's leaning.

One thing is clear ... Judge Penny is sympathetic to Britney. After the singer unloaded in court last June -- laying out in detail how the conservatorship has been torturous for her -- the judge complimented her bravery in speaking out.

The hearing is set for 1:30 PM and TMZ will be all over it.

Larry Hoover Jr. is trying to broker peace between Kanye West and Drake ... asking Drake to lower the temperature in their ongoing feud, and join forces in the name of freeing his infamous father.

LHJ, the son of the famous Chicago gangster, tells TMZ ... Drake has the power to help free Larry Hoover, IF he checks his ego and accepts Kanye's proposed peace offering -- a benefit concert starring both rap superstars.

As you know ... Kanye's been fighting to free Hoover, the former head of a major gang in Chicago who was convicted of murder back in the 1970s and sentenced to 6 life sentences. In a video, seemingly orchestrated by James Prince, Ye's already asked Drake to join him for the upcoming Free Larry Hoover Concert ... planned for Dec. 7 in Los Angeles.

Larry Jr. says he and his mother, Winndye, already met Drake at J. Prince's place in Texas a few months ago ... which is why he thinks it makes sense for them to put aside their differences and work together.

While Hoover was convicted of murder, lots of folks believe he has done more than enough hard time for his crime ... and Larry Jr. says his dad qualifies to be freed.

Dennis Rodman made a surprise visit to his daughter's soccer game over the weekend -- and she says it was a very emotional and shocking moment ... revealing the two barely speak to each other.

Trinity Rodman -- who went #2 overall in the National Women Soccer League draft in January -- explained on social media on Monday that the former NBA star popped up out of nowhere at her Washington Spirits game on Sunday.

In her post, she said it's the first time she's seen him in a very long time ... and called the reunion at the game against the North Carolina Courage "an extremely emotional one."

"Yes Dennis Rodman showed up to an Nwsl game, but also my dad, after YEARS surprised me at a big game in my career," the 19-year-old said. "I was shocked, overwhelmed, happy, sad, everything."

Trinity -- who shared a photo of the two at the game in her post -- says Rodman hasn't been in her life much ... and explained sometimes they go months without seeing each other.

"My dad doesn’t play a big role in my life at all and most people don’t know that, we don’t see eye to eye on many things," Trinity said.

"Being in spotlights has been hard for us, him and me. We don’t have the best relationship, but at the end of the day he’s human I’m human."

But, Trinity did say she hopes their emotional moment on the pitch will be the start of a better daddy-daughter relationship.

"He's my dad, and I’m his little girl that will never change," Trinity wrote. "I will improve and look forward everyday as I hope he does."

Dennis had Trinity and his son, Dennis Jr., with Michelle Moyer, who he met in 1999. They married in 2003, but Michelle filed for divorce in 2004. It was finalized in 2012.

"Here's the thing about my mom, she's a dumb, disgusting slut and everything she says is pretty much complete horse s**t. My father is an old irrelevant piece of s**t, and that's me putting it gently."

That's AEW Star MJF going scorched-earth on his OWN PARENTS -- the people who brought him into this world -- all because they recently insulted him at AEW Rampage.

Let's explain.

During the wrestling show, broadcaster Josh Shernoff interviewed a couple claiming to be MJF's 'rents ... as they held a sign saying "We're MJF's parents and we think he sucks too!"

Maxwell Jacob Friedman's mom and dad also apologized to the audience for bringing their son into the world ... and called him a "f***ing idiot" for good measure.

Savage.

MJF, one of the biggest heels in wrestling, doesn't turn the other cheek -- not even for mom and dad -- so when he recently sat down with Shernoff, he went in on his parents.

In addition to calling mom a "dumb, disguising slut" and dad an "old, irrelevant piece of s**t," the wrestler added the following, just in case the relationship with his folks wasn't totally beyond repair.

"I do not associate with them, they are clearly very money hungry and fame hungry and it doesn't shock me at all that they were willing to take you, a very dumb, very dumb interviewer, and convince you into showing them to the world so they could have all these people listen to them," MJF said, insulting FITE's Shernoff to his face.

The family of Tina Tintor -- the woman who was killed in the Henry Ruggs car crash last week -- received over $94k in donations after setting up a GoFundMe to help pay for costs associated with the 23-year-old's death.

The fundraiser was created over the weekend ... with the Tintor family receiving thousands of donations totaling over $94k, as of late Monday morning.

The initial goal was only $7,000.

Several kind-hearted people donated over $1k ... and one person even gave $5k.

The family is clearly grateful for the love and support. Her mom wrote, "Our lives were changed forever when Tina passed away alongside Max on the morning of November 2, 2021."

"Those who knew Tina know that she was a beautiful loving soul that always put everyone before herself."

"From our hearts to yours, we thank you for thinking of Tina and Max, and we really appreciate your support."

As we reported, the former Las Vegas Raiders' receiver Ruggs was driving his Corvette at 157 MPH just 2.5 seconds before smashing into Tintor's Toyota from behind early Tuesday morning.

Authorities say Ruggs struck her at 127 MPH causing the Toyota to burst into flames ... killing her and her Golden Retriever Max before help could arrive.

Ruggs -- who was released by the Raiders shortly after the deadly crash -- was arrested and hit with five charges, four of them felonies ... including DUI resulting in death, DUI resulting in substantial bodily harm and two reckless driving charges.

Saweetie says she wants children in her life -- and one Nick Cannon seems to be ready to deliver ... if she wants to take him up on it.

The rapper tweeted out her parental desires Saturday, writing ... "I want some babies." Short and sweet -- no real other context either, but on its face ... it sounds like she's ready to be a mom.

While there were a number of normies in her comments who offered up their services to get that done -- Nick actually stood out among the rest with a not-so-subtle offer of his own ... retweeting Saweetie's message and adding a few telling emojis.

There's a curious face emoji, a ninja emoji, a laughing emoji, and a guy raising his hand emoji. The hand-raising says it all ... NC seems to be down to provide, and as we know -- is very well-equipped to do so.

The man has fathered several children over the course of his life, including three just earlier this year -- his son, Zen, and twins Zion and Zillion ... the latter 2 having a different mother. He's got four more from previous relationships -- including a couple with Mariah Carey, a couple more with Brittany Bell.

He's talked about going celibate for a while, but seems to have backtracked on that ... indicated here in his volunteering -- not to mention what he told us the last time we got him out. Remember, Nick said he'll keep having kids ... just so long as the man upstairs keeps on allowing it.

No word from Saweetie yet if his proposition sounds appealing or not -- frankly, she probably has a lot of would-be suitors who'd be willing to give it a go ... and could have just about whoever she wanted for this mission.

Ex-NBA star Kenyon Martin says watching Carmelo Anthony play against his son, Kenyon Martin Jr., was dope -- telling TMZ Sports it's a testament to Melo's longevity.

Melo recently went toe-to-toe with his former teammate's son, KJ, when the Lakers played the Houston Rockets on Sunday and Tuesday.

The Lakers star said it was a special moment ... and, when we asked Martin how he felt a few days after, he says it was awesome, but odd at the same time -- praising Melo for still ballin' in the NBA at 37.

"It was dope," the 43-year-old tells us, "Strange feeling at first but testament to Melo for one."

"His longevity in his craft. Still playing at a high level."

Martin also gives kudos to his 20-year-old son -- from being a 3-star guard at Sierra Canyon to being selected in the 2020 NBA Draft.

"Childhood dream of his to play in the NBA," Martin said of KJ, "We here man and enjoying every minute of it!"

Of course, Martin played power forward for 15 season with the Nets, Clippers, Nuggets, Knicks and Bucks -- and made the All-Star team in his 4th year.

So, we asked if this will be a "like father, like son" situation for KJ's All-Star chances ... Martin tells us a long and healthy career is way more valuable than getting that recognition.

"Listen, being All-Star is great. Having a long, long career -- a healthy career I think is better than being All-Star. For you to play 15, 16, 17 years in the league is better.

"I played 15, able to be All-Star one year but it doesn't make or break your career."

Nick Jonas says he's learning lots of new things from wife Priyanka Chopra ... and he's getting cultured on Indian holidays and traditions.

Nick and Priyanka celebrated Diwali -- India's festival of light -- at their Los Angeles home Thursday ... capping things off with a mini fireworks show by the pool.

NJ says he's sending love and light to all, and adds ... "my beautiful wife has introduced me to so many wonderful Indian holidays and traditions. My heart is so full to be able to share this with our friends and family."

Earlier in the day, Nick and Priyanka rang in Diwali morning with the ceremonial puja ... a ritual offering flowers to an image of a god.

As you can see, Nick and Priyanka were dressed in traditional Indian garb, and they look great.

Priyanka says of the ritual ... "With the blessings of Goddess Mahalakshmi we invite Her grace and abundance into our home."

R. Kelly's enablers need to step aside so Joycelyn Savage can get a very important message from her family ... so say the parents of Kelly's girlfriend.

Joycelyn's parents, Timothy and Jonjelyn Savage, tell TMZ ... although Kelly's locked up awaiting sentencing, they're still being shut out from talking to their daughter, and the only way to reach her is through Kelly's camp.

Her parents say they've tried to tell her about a couple of deaths in the family -- a grandfather and most recently a grandmother who died this week from cancer, but they're getting radio silence.

As we've reported, the Savages have been trying to reunite with Joycelyn ever since September when Kelly was found guilty in his federal sex crimes trial, but they say there's still no improvement in their communication.

Remember, Joycelyn has decided to stick by Kelly through thick and thin, even fighting with his now ex-GF, Azriel Clary, once Azriel decided to leave Kelly and cooperate with the feds.

TMZ broke the story ... Joycelyn's mom approached her while she was leaving a court hearing for the alleged attack on Azriel, with Jonjelyn begging to talk to her daughter.

William Lucking, who starred as one of the staple characters in "Sons of Anarchy" has died at the age of 80.

Lucking, who played biker Piney Winston on the show died last month at home in Las Vegas. An obituary for the actor, written by his wife of 25 years, Sigrid, called Lucking a "giant of a man with the soul of a poet."

It's currently unclear how Lucking died, but "SoA" fans will remember his character, Piney, as the biker club's oldest member and most senior adviser. Piney carried an oxygen tank on the show, and had seemingly slowed down a bit as the series started.

Lucking's career started back in the late '60s, spanning both TV and film ... with roles alongside Faye Dunaway in "Oklahoma Crude" to the original Colonel in NBC's The A-Team in the 1980's.

Lucking leaves behind his wife, two daughters, grandkids and a sister.

His obituary requests fans "toast to his memory and celebrate his legacy."

Zayn Malik's confrontation with Yolanda Hadid -- the one that ended with Zayn pleading no contest to 4 criminal charges -- was all about boundaries ... boundaries he says she violated.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Zayn was at Gigi's home Sept. 29, where he was staying because he wanted to be close to his daughter. Our sources say on that day Yolanda "barged" into the house, without calling beforehand or even knocking at the door.

We're told this was an ongoing source of conflict ... Zayn felt Yolanda was acting like the house was hers and ignoring his position as the boyfriend of Gigi and father of their little girl. Our sources say Zayn made his feelings known once she entered, but Yolanda wasn't having it.

We're told Zayn typically works nights on his music and sleeps for part of the day, and Yolanda regularly disrupted his life by coming over as if she owned the place.

There were other sources of tension as well ... notably, Yolanda was posting photos of the baby, which pissed off Zayn because he felt privacy was vital.

TMZ broke the story ... Zayn was charged with 4 counts of harassment for allegedly berating Yolanda and pushing her into a dresser -- something he denies. He was also charged with harassing Gigi, who was in Paris at the time of the incident. And, he was charged with harassing the security guard, whom Zayn allegedly challenged to a fight. Zayn pled no contest, received a small fine and was ordered to take anger management courses.

Meghan Markle is lobbying hard for paid paternity leave -- an issue that could be a deal-breaker in the impending infrastructure vote on Capitol Hill -- and she's been cold-calling U.S. Senators ... but oddly, using her royal title.

Apparently, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand gave Markle the cell phone numbers of 2 key Senators -- Susan Collins and Shelley Moore Capito, both Republicans. Markle followed through with a phone call, which showed up as a blocked number.

Moore Capito told Politico, "I'm in my car. I'm driving. It says caller ID blocked. Honestly, I thought it was Senator Manchin, his calls come in blocked."

Moore Capito says she answered and the caller then ID'd herself ... "And she goes, 'Senator Capito?' I said, 'Yes.' She said, "This is Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex."

A similar call was made to Collins, who also answered. Collins said, "I was happy to talk with her, but I'm more interested in what people from Maine are telling me about paid leave."

Markle has been active behind the scenes, writing both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to push for passage of the bill. She wrote, "I'm writing to you at this deeply important time -- as a mom -- to advocate for paid leave ... on behalf of my family, Archie and Lili and Harry."

Joe Exotic's health is taking a major turn for the worse as the disgraced zookeeper remains behind bars ... telling fans he has "aggressive cancer."

The 'Tiger King' star says he recently had a biopsy performed on his prostate, and doctors let him know the results Wednesday. He says he doesn't want sympathy, instead, he wants his voice to be heard and for an immediate release so he can get treatment at home.

Joe's attorney, John Phillips, tells TMZ ... he plans to file a motion requesting compassionate release from his federal prison in Texas. It sounds like JE's condition must be pretty bad, because Phillips added that any delay in getting their motion before a judge could prove fatal.

While Joe is hopeful cancer treatment can help, it appears he's also acknowledging the outlook could be grim, noting if treatment doesn't work, he'd like to, "enjoy what life I have left with my loved ones!"

True to form, Joe also mentioned Carole Baskin on Wednesday, saying he's sure "Carole will have her own party over this!"

As we reported, Joe said he was "ready to die" in August after fears his cancer had spread to his pelvis and stomach.