Celebrity Health

Black Rob -- a rapper who was once part of Diddy's Bad Boy roster -- has died ... this according to his former labelmates.

Rob reportedly passed away Saturday while hospitalized in Atlanta -- this after he was apparently battling kidney failure for quite some time ... so says NYC radio personality DJ Self, who posted a video of Rob from his hospital bed speaking on DMX's death.

Of BR's passing, Self says ... "Lord knows i tried to get help ...... I’m sad to say RIP to Black Rob." Self had been with Rob in his final days, posting different clips of the former MC as his health was clearly deteriorating. In one such video, Rob himself explained that he'd been battling health issues for five years ... including several strokes and other ailments. It also sounds like Rob might have been homeless too ... going on to say he needed "rest."

It's pretty heartbreaking to watch ... especially since Rob didn't appear to have reps of his own toward the end. DJ Self made clear he wasn't representing Rob either, but simply getting his message out.

Another former Bad Boy MC, Mark Curry, also confirmed the sad news of Rob's passing ... posting a teary-eyed video Saturday saying he'd just gotten word, thanking everyone who donated to a GFM campaign in Rob's name -- while publicly asking Rob's children to get in touch with him ... presumably to make funeral arrangements.

Both Mark and Rob were featured on Diddy's famous track "Bad Boy 4 Life" ... with each contributing verses in the memorable music video, which showed Diddy and co. moving into a suburban neighborhood and drawing the ire of Ben Stiller. Rob had performed with several other Bad Boy affiliated acts ... like 112, Faith Evans, Mase and even Biggie himself.

Of course, Rob broke through with his own hit in 2000 ... the critically-acclaimed "Whoa!" which ended up making it on several music charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and others ... and ended up getting remixed several times over.

"Whoa!" stands as Rob's biggest hit to date -- but the man went on to churn out several albums ... even after leaving Bad Boy in the mid-2000s. He was reunited with his Bad Boy counterparts in 2016 when Diddy put together the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour.

Diddy doesn't appear to have commented on Rob's passing just yet. He was 51.

RIP

Alma Wahlberg -- the matriarch of the family and mother to Mark, Donnie and 7 other children -- has died.

Mark shared the news ... posting a photo of his mother, writing, "My angel. Rest in peace."

Back in July, 2020 ... Donnie had posted a message addressing his mother's health issues. He wrote, "I know that so many of you have asked how my mom Alma is doing. During my visit, she didn’t remember much, and was often confused, but somehow she was still Alma."

Donnie added, "She still lights up a room. She still made me smile. She’s still stubborn. And she still loves her baby Donnie. I thank you all, for your well wishes. Sending my heartfelt love, and sincerest wishes, to all those away from their loved ones."

Mama Wahlberg was heavily featured in the A&E series "Wahlburgers" ... which aired for 10 seasons as it followed Mark and Donnie's older brother's ambitions to create a burger joint that eventually became famous and expanded throughout the New England area.

Alma had 9 children ... Mark, Donnie, Paul, Robert, Jim, Arthur, Tracey, Michelle and Debbie. According to her A&E bio ... Alma was a hostess and greeter at her sons' burger joints but she had previously worked as a bank clerk and nurse's aid to help her family make ends meet. The entire family lived in a tight space while growing up in Dorchester.

Paul honored his mother when he opened an upscale Italian joint in Hingham, MA and dubbed it Alma Nove ... an homage to Alma and her 9 children.

Alma was 78.

Jeffree Star just posted photos of the Rolls-Royce that was crushed during his horrific car accident -- but turns out, this beast of a machine might've saved the guy's life.

The makeup mogul gave a health update Saturday from the Wyoming hospital where he and a friend were treated after slipping off the road near Cody ... and barreling into a snowbank as their vehicle flipped over multiple times.

After Jeffree was discharged from the hospital -- with a back brace attached, no less -- he went over to the tow yard where the Rolls was being stored ... snapping and posting photos of the wreckage and aftermath. Yes, it looks bad -- but it could've been much worse.

JS writes, "This was hard but I had to go see my car today. Thank God a #RollsRoyce is built with highly reinforced steel because it saved our lives 🙏 Time to heal and let my body repair."

Jeffree also shared more deets about what exactly happened on his IG Story ... confirming what we'd been told -- that he lost control of the car after hitting some black ice, which sent him and his passenger flying off the road. While he's leaving doctors' care, his friend, Daniel, isn't ... as he revealed he's dealing with some lingering colon issues.

While it's great to see both of them in high spirits following a life-threatening wreck ... it's not great to hear how people apparently responded to word that they were okay and alive. Jeffree says he and Daniel were sent incredibly hateful messages, wishing them death.

Britney Spears may have just sent the #FreeBritney movement a message ... LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!

Brit did a little Q&A on her Insta Friday, and the headline was surely assuring everyone she's OK ... and not just OK, but "extremely happy."

The 39-year-old singer, who's been under a conservatorship for 13+ years, seemed chill. Many fans tried decoding her penchant for red -- i.e., her red fridge -- thinking it might be a code red of sorts pleading for help. But, in a Freudian-like way, Brit said sometimes a red fridge is just a red fridge.

Britney says she's taking a break to enjoy herself, and there was rare, public evidence of that this week when she hit up the Malibu Country Mart for a little shopping.

Britney has said she didn't like the 'Framing Britney Spears' documentary, although she added she only saw bits and pieces of it.

A rabid bobcat attacked a North Carolina woman in her driveway and her husband jumped in and hurled the animal across the lawn ... and it's all caught in this wild video.

It went down in Pender County last week, when a guy is getting ready to hop in his car. As he prepares to get in, you hear the bobcat snarl and the woman screams for her husband.

The guy immediately recognized the type of animal and the peril, grabbing the bobcat and hurling it across the lawn. He screams for people to take cover and then says he's gonna get his gun.

It's unclear if he shot the cat, but authorities say the animal died and tested positive for rabies.

As you probably know, someone who gets bit by a rabid animal must undergo extremely painful rabies shots. We don't know if the woman was bitten, but judging from the screams it seems she was.

It's especially concerning because no one knows what contact the bobcat had with other people or animals. It could have bitten before it was killed, putting others in grave danger.

Really frightening.

LaMarcus Aldridge -- a 7-time NBA All-Star -- just announced he's retiring from the league after learning he played with an "irregular heartbeat."

The 35-year-old Brooklyn Nets star -- who dropped 12 points against the Lakers on Saturday -- made the shocking announcement in an emotional social media post Thursday morning.

"My last game, I played while dealing with an irregular heartbeat. Later on that night, my rhythm got even worse which really worried me even more," Aldridge said.

"The next morning, I told the team what was going on and they were great getting me to the hospital and getting me checked out."

Aldridge says he's "better now" -- but explains, "What I felt with my heart that night was still one of the scariest things I've experienced."

"With that being said, I've made the difficult decision to retire from the NBA. For 15 years, I've put basketball first, and now, it is time to put my health and family first."

Aldridge was the 2nd overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft -- and spent nearly a decade with the Portland Trail Blazers.

After that, he spent 6 years with the San Antonio Spurs before signing with the Brooklyn Nets in late March.

Aldridge says he's "thankful for everything this game has given me; the great memories, including all the ups and downs, and the friendships I’ve made and will keep with me forever."

"I thank Portland for drafting a skinny, Texas kid and giving him a chance. The city of Portland has given me some unforgettable years. They will always remain in my heart."

"I want to thank the Spurs for letting me into the family and giving me 5 fun years."

"Last but not least, I want to thank Brooklyn. You wanted me for me. In a game that’s changing so much, you asked me to come and just do what I do which was good to hear."

Aldridge ended his statement with this -- "You never know when something will come to an end, so make sure you enjoy it everyday. I can truly say I did just that."

Some poor excuse for a human performed a savage act on a foster dog ... stabbing and beating it purely out of vengeance, and now others are mobilizing to save the dog and find the scumbags who left it for dead.

Kari Whitman, the founder of the dog rescue org Ace of Hearts, tells TMZ ... a 9-year-old Dogo Argentino mix named Brodie had been under foster care in California City, about 2 hours northeast of L.A.

We're told late Tuesday night ... the foster mom, who had been living with her sister, got into an argument with her sister and at some point, Brodie was left in the yard of the home.

Sadly, when the foster mom returned she found Brodie with a stab wound down his spine, a broken leg and his hip was shattered in 4 places. Poor Brodie had previously been at a high-kill shelter before being rescued by Ace of Hearts ... and at this point, it's unclear who took out their anger on him.

However, the foster mom believes one of her sister's friends may have done it to get back at the foster mom for the argument.

Either way ... Brodie was taken to a local vet and later transferred to ACCESS Specialty Animal Hospitals in the San Fernando Valley. We're told he's currently fighting for his life there ... and sadly, may never walk again because he suffered major nerve damage.

Kari, whose org had been caring for Brodie before he went into the foster home, tells us anyone who wants to help Brodie can call ACCESS directly and donate.

Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari let their dangerous dog roam free when the cable guy came by for an install, and it allegedly took a bite out of his hand.

According to a lawsuit the cable guy, Nathan Beam, filed ... the exes are still the co-owners of 2 German Shepherds who were unrestrained at a Tennessee home in June 2020 when Nathan was there for the hookup.

Beam claims he completed the install and was ready to leave when one of the dogs -- he believes its name is Kona -- was in front of the driver's side door of his truck.

According to Beam ... as he bent over to pick up something off the ground, the dog bit him on his left thumb and fingernail and clamped down for several seconds.

He claims he did nothing to harass the dog, and afterward ... Cavallari's assistant came out, gave him a paper towel, and allegedly told him to leave immediately.

Beam's blaming Jay and Kristin for failing to keep reasonable control of their dogs while he was there, and also claims they knew the canines were dangerous ... based on old social media posts where she refers to the younger one, allegedly Kona, as a "#TrainedKiller."

He's suing for damages, claiming he suffered physical injuries and disfigurement along with mental anguish, and has lost wages because of the alleged dog bite.

A rep for Kristin had no comment. We reached out to Jay as well ... so far, no word back.

Jayson Tatum says his battle with COVID is STILL ongoing after 3 months ... telling reporters his breathing remains so messed up, he's been forced to use an inhaler before games.

The Boston Celtics superstar was diagnosed with the virus back in early January ... and missed nearly the entire month battling its effects.

The 23-year-old ultimately recovered ... though he said after the Celtics' win over the Trailblazers on Tuesday night that his lungs still have yet to bounce back to 100%.

"It's a process," Tatum said. "It takes a long time. Like, I take an inhaler before the game since I've tested positive."

"This has kind of helped with that and opened up my lungs, and, you know, I never took an inhaler before. So I think that's something different."

The good news? After roughly 12 weeks of fighting it, Tatum says he's closer than ever to getting back to normal.

"I for sure feel better now than I did a month ago," Tatum said.

Tatum's been a monster for Boston this season despite the COVID struggles ... he scored 32 points against Portland on Tuesday to lift the Celtics to a win.

The elderly OKC woman who is suing cops for breaking her arm says it's going to take her a long time to recover from the violent incident in her own home ... an ordeal that, 7 months later, still makes her tear up.

Ruby Jones and her lawyer, Damario Solomon-Simmons, were on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and the 74-year-old described the moment OKC officers entered her home ... even though Ruby claims they failed to produce a warrant to do so. She went through each painful moment of the August, 2020 interaction ... including when she alleges they broke her arm.

As disturbing as the video is, Ruby claims there was even more abuse, and says it felt like the cops simply didn't care about the pain she was experiencing.

As we reported ... Ruby's suing the OKC PD, the 3 officers involved and the City of Oklahoma claiming she suffered a broken right arm due to the officers' "use of excessive force" when they came to arrest her mentally ill son, Chauncey.

And, get this ... Solomon-Simmons claims Ruby was detained in the back of a squad car for about an hour -- however, she was never charged for any wrongdoing.

He credits Ruby for saving her son's life, but adds her case is one of several just this week that show if you're Black in America, some cops use that as an excuse to treat citizens with violence. He pointed to the Army Lt. who was pepper-sprayed 4 times during a traffic stop as another prime example.

The 5-year-old girl who was badly injured in the Britt Reid car crash in February is now out of the hospital ... but her family says she still has a long road to full recovery.

Ariel Young suffered catastrophic injuries after Reid -- a former K.C. Chiefs assistant coach and Andy Reid's son -- allegedly slammed his pickup truck into the back of a vehicle she was in on Feb. 4 in Kansas City.

Investigators say Young's brain was hurt badly ... adding she suffered a skull fracture and subdural hematomas, among other ailments, as well.

Young had been in the hospital since the accident trying to recover ... but her family said Tuesday she was taken home this week.

"Ariel is at home recovering," the family said in a statement, "we hope that her being in a familiar place will help her remember things."

"She is doing physical therapy but as of right now she still cannot walk, talk or eat like a normal 5 year old. Thank you everyone for your continued support."

35-year-old Britt was charged with one count of felony DWI on Monday over the wreck ... after officials say he had .113 BAC when measured around 2 hours after the crash.

Investigators also said Britt was going 83.9 MPH in a 65 MPH just seconds before the collision.

Britt surrendered to authorities and took a mug shot shortly after prosecutors announced the charge on Monday.

Bernie Madoff -- the one-time Wall Street financial adviser turned massive convicted fraudster -- died in prison ... TMZ has confirmed.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons -- the agency that oversaw Madoff while behind bars -- says he passed Wednesday while in custody at a federal facility in North Carolina. Federal law enforcement sources confirm Madoff died of natural causes and said it was not covid-19 related.

The man had been serving a 150-year sentence following his 2009 criminal case and subsequent conviction. Last year, he'd complained of health issues that he claimed were costing him his life ... specifically, Madoff said he was experiencing terminal kidney failure.

A judge shot down Madoff's request to be sprung from prison early, even under compassionate release grounds that Madoff was trying to invoke in his filing.

Of course, his lifetime sentence was imposed after a long-running Ponzi scheme he'd been operating for years finally came to light in late 2008 ... this after he'd lost billions of dollars from investors he'd swindled over several years, and the feds caught wind of the operation.

The scheme itself is quite complex -- but it essentially boiled down to Madoff taking cash (A LOT of it, BTW) from thousands of investors, via his securities firm, and depositing that money into a bank account ... which he ultimately used to pay off other investors.

He passed his investment strategy off as legit, and on the surface ... appeared to be making steady gains. But, upon a deeper dive, it was clear Madoff's numbers just weren't adding up -- something he was able to cloak for quite a long time ... that is, until the 2008 market downturn, which bulldozed his house of cards -- as he simply didn't have the funds a lot of his partners were asking for (and assuming he had at the ready).  Many people who trusted Madoff lost their life savings.

Madoff ended up pleading guilty to 11 federal felony counts -- including securities fraud, wire fraud and a whole lot more ... but the fact he played ball from the outset didn't help him much in the way of leniency. He got the book thrown at him with a massive sentence, plus a requirement to forfeit billions of dollars in assets he and his family held.

The Madoff Victim Fund was established not too long after his conviction -- and has racked up just a fraction of the money owed to investors, less than $3 billion among tens of thousands of investors.

Madoff's downfall has been depicted and covered in countless TV shows, movies and documentaries -- but most recently, a full-blown TV biopic of sorts was made with Robert De Niro playing Madoff, which was dubbed "Wizard of Lies." It premiered on HBO in 2017.

Madoff was 82.

Newly released body cam footage shows Oklahoma City cops taking a 74-year-old Black woman into custody, and according to her ... the officers fractured her arm in the process.

Ruby Jones' attorney, Damario Solomon-Simmons, released this disturbing footage Tuesday not long before filing a lawsuit against the City of Oklahoma City and the 3 police officers involved with the August, 2020 encounter at her OKC home.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Ruby claims she suffered a broken right arm due to the officers' "use of excessive force" when they came to arrest her mentally ill son, Chauncey.

The body cam footage shows the officers arriving with an arrest warrant for Chauncey, who officers alleged had called in a bomb threat at the Red Rock Behavioral Center. Cops said they traced the call back to Ruby's home.

But, in docs, Ruby claims she met the officers at the front door and they asked for consent to enter, but she refused. She also claims cops refused to provide proof of a warrant authorizing entry into her home.

You can see in the body cam footage ... cops threatened her with jail if she didn't get out of their way. When she didn't allow them in, they tried to handcuff her while screaming, "Let me see your f***ing hands."

According to the suit, Ruby pled with cops not to shoot Chauncey because he suffers from bipolar disorder and did not have a gun. In the video she repeatedly tells the cops Chauncey isn't armed ... but they tell her, "You're fixin' to go sit in the car."

When she refused to go outside, Ruby alleges they "grabbed her arm, and forcefully yanked her out of the bedroom." The video backs that up, and she also told the officers she suffers from heart disease. In the docs, she claims they broke her arm after throwing her against a mirror and handcuffing her.

A cleaning woman is taking Chris Brown to court, because she claims one of his dogs got a hold of her sister's limbs ... which sounds like one bloody mess in a lawsuit she's filed.

The woman's name is Patricia Avila, and in docs, obtained by TMZ, she explains she and her sister had been hired by Chris to clean his Tarzana home twice a week for a rate of $600 a day.

She goes on to say they were aware Chris had dogs in the house, but insists they'd always been kept in a separate part of the property whenever they came over to do their work. That is, until one day she claims one of them made its way to the backyard.

This is where things got violent, according to Avila ... who's alleging a harrowing dog attack from Chris' Caucasian Shepherd Ovcharka. In the suit, she claims the dog -- a very large breed -- has a history of being violent and aggressive toward people.

Anyway, Avila claims that her sister went out to the backyard to empty a vacuum ... and before she knew it, the animal was on top of her sister and tearing her body to shreds, ripping 3 to 4 inches of skin off her arm ... and allegedly bit her face and leg as well.

Eventually, she says they were able to get the dog off her sister ... and Chris was apparently the one who called 9-1-1. Avila says she thought her sister was going to die from the blood loss.

Avila says her sister was transported to a hospital and treated for several days ... undergoing at least a couple surgeries. Since then, she alleges the ordeal caused her a lot of emotional distress -- including PTSD, severe anxiety, and panic attacks.

Rachel Bush -- the wife of Buffalo Bills star Jordan Poyer -- just eviscerated the idea of a potential vaccine requirement at Buffalo games next season ... callin' the proposed plan straight-up "bulls***."

Erie County politician Mark Poloncarz announced Tuesday he wants to make it a rule at Bills and Sabres contests in 2021 that in order to attend games in person, ya gotta show proof of a COVID vax.

In his announcement, Poloncarz made it clear it's "the only safe way to have a full house" at the stadiums ... adding, "No Vaccine = No Entry."

Bush -- someone who's made it clear she's NOT getting the vaccine -- went ballistic over the idea ... going as far as to call Poloncarz a "moron" for wanting to implement the county rule.

"If Erie county wants to pull this bull s*** watch and see what happens," Bush said.

She added, "[Poloncarz] does know that you can still contract covid once vaccinated and pass it to others still too right? Buffalo you better speak up before you lose a whole lot."

Bush -- a regular at Bills games prior to the pandemic -- wasn't done there ... she fired off several more tweets defending her position, writing, "I would compare covid to the flu rather than a cold but couldn’t pay me to get the vaccine, especially after having it."

"It was bad. But not bad enough to turn myself into a lab rat for an experimental vaccine."

Bush continued, "So now my daughter is missing ANOTHER year of watching her dad play live in a very short lived career. Not even an option available to her since we already know kids can’t get the covid vaccine. How is that fair or acceptable. It’s not. FL and TX would never."

For the Bills' part, the team said in a statement it will follow Poloncarz's orders if still in place for the season ... explaining, "As we did last year, we will continue to cooperate and comply with all New York state and local government regulations regarding our sporting events."

The Bills are expected to open their season in September.

FYI, the CDC fully supports COVID vaccinations -- explaining on its website, "COVID-19 vaccination works by teaching your immune system how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19, and this protects you from getting sick with COVID-19."

"Being protected from getting sick is important because even though many people with COVID-19 have only a mild illness, others may get a severe illness, have long-term health effects, or even die."

"There is no way to know how COVID-19 will affect you, even if you don’t have an increased risk of developing severe complications."

As we previously reported, Russell Wilson and Ciara will be hosting an NBC special this weekend aimed at educating people about COVID vaccinations and debunking unsubstantiated claims.