Celebrity Health

Juvenile's the first to admit he was skeptical when a dating app reached out about collaborating, but that faded when he heard the end goal was educating his community about the COVID-19 vaccine.

The New Orleans rapper joined "TMZ Live" Thursday and explained how and why the collaboration with the dating app BLK came together. He tells us he was all in soon after hearing the dating app's mission to get users vaccinated before going on dates.

Enter Juvenile's "Vax That Thang Up" ... a remix to his 1999 classic, and still a club banger, "Back That Thang Up." The rapper thought the remix was a brilliant idea.

Juvenile probably didn't need too much convincing considering the staggering numbers. Remember, early on during the vaccine roll out there was serious hesitancy and mistrust ... with only 14% of African-Americans trusting the vaccine is safe.

New figures also show COVID cases (18%) and hospitalization rates (11%) jumped exponentially among African-Americans in L.A. County alone between mid-May and mid-June.

But, while vaccination rates have gotten better among African-Americans ... misinformation looms, which leads to hesitancy. But, as Juvenile says, he hopes the remix calms fears -- and, in fact, he told us how it's already impacted someone close to him.

There will be no fans allowed to watch Olympians perform in-person at the Games this summer ... spectators have now been banned from the Tokyo Olympics due to COVID-19.

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga just declared a state of emergency in Tokyo ... after people in the heavily populated area have seen a spike in coronavirus cases.

Suga said Thursday the state of emergency -- and the heavy restrictions that come with it -- will be in place through Aug. 22.

The Games are scheduled to run from July 23 to Aug. 8.

"The number of infected cases in the area including Tokyo has been increasing since the end of last month," Suga said.

"The number of severe cases and bed occupancy rate continues to be on the low level, but considering the impact of variants, we need to enhance countermeasures so that the infection will not spread nationwide."

The Tokyo Olympics had already been postponed from 2020 to 2021.

Olympics officials apologized Thursday to those who had tickets to the event.

Britney Spears has been pushing Jodi Montgomery, the conservator of her person, to help her hire a private lawyer to fight the conservatorship, but Montgomery says she's not equipped to handle this but has an idea on how it can be accomplished.

Montgomery's lawyer, Lauriann Wright, filed legal docs obtained by TMZ ... in which she says Britney has made it clear in private conversations with Montgomery ... she wants her own lawyer -- one that she chooses and not one who is court-appointed.

Jodi says 13 years ago, when the conservatorship was created, the court determined after a medical evaluation Britney was not mentally able to retain her own lawyer, which is why the court appointed Sam Ingham, who resigned Tuesday.

Montgomery says Britney wants to choose Ingham's replacement herself, without first getting a medical evaluation that she's competent to do it.

Jodi says she has an idea ... the court should appoint a guardian ad litem -- someone who squarely represents the interests of a person whose mental capacity is questioned -- to help find a replacement lawyer. The idea -- since the guardian would be there to represent Britney, there would be no need for a medical evaluation.

"Girl you look good once you vax that thang up, you handsome young brother once you vax that thang up" ... yes that's Juvenile remixing his famous song for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The New Orleans rapper just dropped a vaccine remix to his 1999 classic, "Back That Thang Up" ... teaming up with Mannie Fresh and Mia X to give folks yet another reason to get their shots.

Juvenile's even got a music video for "Vax That Thang Up" as part of a collab with the dating app BLK, pushing vaccines as the safest way to have sex in the pandemic.

"Dating in real life, you need to vax that thang up, feeling freaky all night you need to vax that thang up" ... well said, Juvenile.

The music vid's fun, the message is great and the remix flows perfectly ... so bravo to all involved.

For his part, Juvenile says he wanted to do something positive for his community and to show how much he cares about protecting not only himself but also his family.

Swae Lee's jumping the gun with a COVID prognosis for the country ... proclaiming, during an indoor concert, the pandemic is effectively dunzo, but he might wanna slow his roll.

The Rae Sremmurd rapper was performing at Vendome Nightclub in Miami Monday night when he took a brief pause to celebrate what he perceives as the coronavirus being "officially over."

His rationale seems to be ... everyone is "outside" (of the home) and close together again, so there's no danger -- but the audience didn't appear to be fully buying what he was selling. Watch for yourself ... major mixed reactions.

Of course ... he oughta be cautious despite declining rates compared to, say, last year. Florida COVID cases are somewhat on the rise again with the Delta variant going around ... reports say they're actually #5 across the nation with the quickest spread of the virus.

Ever the showman, Swae didn't linger on the topic for too long -- pivoting to a performance of his and his brother's hit, "Black Beatles," and the crowd unanimously loved that.

In his defense ... while COVID-19 cases spiked around 42% just last week, vaccinated folks are largely not needing hospitalization. In other words, science is working.

Britney Spears' personal conservator, Jodi Montgomery, will not be following the singer's longtime manager and lawyer out the door ... 'cause she has zero plans to resign.

Jodi issued a statement Tuesday confirming her plans are to continue supporting Britney in her role as personal conservator ... that is unless Britney states she wants Jodi out of that role. While Brit expressed some dissatisfaction with Jodi ... the statement reads, "Ms. Spears as recently as yesterday has asked Ms. Montgomery to continue to serve."

The news comes directly on the heels of Britney's longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, resigning after claiming he heard Britney intended to officially retire. Britney's lawyer, Sam Ingham, is also leaving his job. Bessemer Trust has already bowed out as co-conservator of her estate.

As we reported ... Jamie Spears handpicked Jodi, Brit's care manager, to replace him as temporary conservator of her person. The judge signed off on the request back in September 2019 after Jamie requested to relinquish his powers as her personal conservator due to personal health reasons.

Then, just last March, Britney requested Jodi remain in the role on a permanent basis. It should be noted ... when the court docs were filed in Britney's conservatorship case the singer also asked for Jamie to resign from his position for good.

Our sources connected to the case told us at the time Jamie had no objections to the change. But, that was then and this is now ... when there's tension between Jamie and Jodi, to say the least.

As we reported ... Jamie put Jodi on blast following Britney's claims he has taken away her freedom and even her right to marry. He says if there's anyone to blame ... it's Jodi.

Jodi didn't wait long to respond to Jamie's finger-pointing ... saying Britney's desire to get married and have a baby has never been impacted by the conservatorship while Jodi's been conservator of the person.

How's Joey Chestnut recovering from his 76-hot dog, 22,800-calorie 4th Of July feast???

MIXED GREENS AND VEGETABLES, BABY!!!

TMZ Sports got the planet's greatest eater out in NYC just one day after he put away a world-record number of wieners ... and he told us the key to recovery from here is simply salads and greens.

"I'm still bloated," the 37-year-old legend said. "If I start sweating, I'll smell like meat. But I go in knowing that it's going to take a couple days to recover."

"As soon as I can, I'm going to start eating a salad, greens and high fiber."

It's a miracle Chestnut can even consider eating again at this point ... 'cause the dude consumed about two weeks worth of food in 10 minutes at the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on Sunday.

In total, Chestnut plowed through 1,368 grams of fat, 1,824 grams of carbs and 836 grams of protein.

Chestnut obviously didn't feel wonderful -- at least physically -- outside of his hotel Monday ... and because of it, he seemed to hint that an ending to his eating career could be on the horizon.

"I tried pushing a little bit harder but I'll tell you what, last year I felt I recovered a little bit quicker," Chestnut said. "This year, I'm getting older and I don't know how much more I can push it while I'm getting older."

"It's like anybody. You have to be aware of your body.”

That said, Chestnut added, "As long as it’s still fun and as long as I’m healthy, I’ll be doing it. I hope I can keep making gains, but it’s going to get harder and harder. I can see that coming."

Britney Spears is hangin' up the mic and intends to retire from the music business ... so says her longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, who just submitted his resignation.

Rudolph sent an email Sunday night to Britney's personal conservator, Jodi Montgomery, and the conservator of her estate, Jamie Spears, saying, "It has been over 2 1/2 years since Britney and I last communicated, at which time she informed me she wanted to take an indefinite work hiatus. Earlier today, I became aware that Britney had been voicing her intention to officially retire."

Rudolph went on to say he's not part of the conservatorship and in the dark regarding lots of details, adding, "I was originally hired at Britney's request to help manage and assist her with her career. And as her manager, I believe it is in Britney's best interest for me to resign from her team as my professional services are no longer needed."

Rudolph's resignation comes on the heels of Britney's testimony in which she said she was forced to perform and never wanted to do the European tour.  TMZ broke the story ... sources connected to the conservatorship say it's the opposite -- she begged to go on the tour and there are allegedly emails and other communications to support that.

Nevertheless, if Britney is really retiring, there's no need for a music manager.

Rudolph ended his email with this ... "I will always be incredibly proud of what we accomplished over our 25 years together. I wish Britney all the health and happiness in the world, and I'll be there for her if she ever needs me again, just as I always have been."

Kate Middleton is in isolation after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID.

Apparently, Kate interacted with someone last week who had the virus. According to British rules, people who come in contact with someone with COVID should self-isolate for 10 days.

It doesn't seem to have affected her health, at least so far. A Kensington Palace rep said, "Her Royal Highness is not experiencing any symptoms, but is following all relevant government guidelines and is self-isolating at home."

Here's how tricky this becomes ... Kate showed up at Wimbledon Friday and met with the staff at the All England Club kitchens. She also interacted with people as she ambled through the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.

She also attended the England Euro 2020 match at Wembley Stadium with Princes William and George on June 29.

Kate was vaccinated in May, so the worst-case scenario if she contracts COVID is probably flu-like symptoms.

Pet owners might be able to rest easy soon now that a COVID-19 vaccine seems to be making its way to the animal kingdom ... as it's getting a mass trial run at a California zoo.

Oakland Zoo officials announced this week that they had received a substantial shipment of the experimental 'rona jab manufactured by pharmaceutical company Zoetis ... which presumably cooked their recipe up specifically for wild creatures, across the board.

We say that because OZ says it's already administered the vaccine to a good portion of their furry friends ... including their lions, tigers, bears and ferrets. Oh my, indeed!

The zoo was one of the first recipients of 11,000 doses Zoetis made (and tested) ... and apparently, more are being rolled out to other animal facilities in the coming weeks. This is a donation, BTW -- for this time around at least -- so very generous on Zoetis' part.

The USDA has said this vaccine -- which was reportedly first tested out on minks -- can be used on a case-by-case basis ... but it clearly works to a high degree, because Oakland is straight-up inoculating their animals seemingly en masse. It's unclear if more animal types will be included at some point -- but ya gotta figure they will be if the trial run goes well.

This is big news ... not just because different animals at zoos have contracted the virus -- including tigers and primates at places like the SD Zoo (which got a small shipment of Zoetis earlier this year to test on the latter) -- but it could have ramifications for dogs/cats.

NBC is running from its reality show "Ultimate Slip 'N Slide" ... after a bunch of folks on the crew experienced explosive runs themselves.

The network put the show on ice after members of the production staff experienced diarrhea ... apparently from some sort of parasite called Giardia.

The show was being shot in the San Fernando Valley and almost reached the finish line with 1 week of production left, but it was too much. After multiple crew members got sick, production was indefinitely shut down.

Neither of the hosts -- Bobby Moynihan and Ron Funches -- came down with the runs.

An environmental lab tested the water used in the competition, along with restrooms and other facilities, and initially results came back negative, but they got a positive result last month. So, with 7 weeks in the can (sorry) and one week left to go, the door was slammed shut ... this according to PEOPLE.

The show was set to premiere August 8 after the closing ceremony of the Olympic Summer Games.

Ben Simmons may not be getting shipped out of Philly after all, 'cause Sixers head coach Doc Rivers tells TMZ Sports he absolutely LOVES the hooper ... and wants him to stay put.

Of course, there's speculation the 24-year-old could be traded this offseason ... after Philly got booted from the playoffs in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the third time in four seasons.

Simmons was heavily criticized for his play throughout the playoffs after going 34% from the charity stripe ... and many believe the guy has to put in some serious work on his shot in the offseason.

On top of that, Simmons was ripped for passing up on a potential game-tying dunk late in Game 7 against the Hawks.

But, Doc is having none of that talk ... giving nothing but high praise for the former #1 overall pick.

"Ben's great," Rivers told us in Beverly Hills this week. "I want him back. He's terrific. He'll be great."

"I think he doesn't need a lot of fixing. He's gonna be great for us. He'll be great."

While Rivers is voicing his support for Simmons, it doesn't mean a trade won't go down ... but it's nice to see the coach stick with his guy.

Britney Spears is working out her many frustrations ... by watching her BF workout his muscles, while also attempting to play strength coach.

Looks like Brit and Sam Asghari are getting in some QT in the gym, although he's the only one sweating -- at least in the vid he posted. Sam was burning through a set of curls (for the girls) while his workout partner offered up some serious encouragement -- "Squeeze! Pump iron! Do all those things to make all those veins come out. Sexy man."

Okay, so she's more about admiration than inspiration. Whatever ... it's clearly working for both of them.

One thing we know for sure is that Sam's not shy about showing off his physique, and Britney's not shy about gushing over it. We're pretty sure the dude didn't pack a single shirt when they flew to Hawaii last week.

Unclear if they're still on the islands, but it is 💯 clear Brit sounds happy to be hanging with her man in the gym.

First responders who frantically tried to save residents in that Florida condo collapse, located a woman who was banging on debris as she begged them to save her ... but it was not to be.

Dispatch audio of communications with rescuers shows the desperation during the first 11 hours after the building crumbled to the ground.

You hear one rescuer say, "In communication with a victim who's saying that there's a total of 3 people that was in that apartment with her."

Apparently, the woman was in the apartment with her parents when disaster struck.

A first responder is heard saying, "She's stuck in between two beds right now. But her parents was also in the apartment. I don't hear them," adding, "She's banging on some debris. Seems like she's pretty close to us." You hear banging in the recording.

A first responder who was on scene told Local 10 news ... “Everybody that was there that’s what we’re trying to do get this lady out and comfort her. She was asking for help and she was pleading to be taken out of there. We were continuously talking to her…'Honey, we got you. We’re going to get to you.'”

The Fire Chief for Miami-Dade added, “We did hear audible sounds and they were searching for a female voice for several hours and eventually we didn’t hear her voice anymore. Everyone that’s here on scene is trying to do the best we can with these heroic efforts. But, yes, unfortunately we didn’t have success with that."

During the rescue, there were reports of a fire ... possibly from a burning mattress.  It's unclear if this is connected to the woman who was trapped.

Shawn Stockman is raising money to help families pay for all the expenses that come with raising an autistic child ... with the help of an awesome watch.

The Boyz II Men singer joined us on "TMZ Live" and told us about his charity, Micah's Voice, and how it provides hope and resources for families affected by autism.

Shawn says he found out firsthand how difficult it can be for average families to raise a child with autism when he and his wife, Sharonda, added up all the bills for their autistic son, Micah, and saw a staggering figure.

The pandemic only made things more difficult for families and autistic children, and Shawn's partnering with SEVENFRIDAY to create and sell a limited edition watch to raise money for families struggling to get their kids the care they need.

The financial institution appointed by the judge to become co-conservator of Britney Spears' estate is bowing out before it even gets started ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... Bessemer Trust has decided it does not want to get involved because it's become gun-shy over all the controversy surrounding the conservatorship.

As one source put it ... Bessemer feels the circumstances surrounding Britney's conservatorship have become a "hornet's nest" ... so it's bailing.

Our sources say Bessemer doesn't want to deal with Jamie Spears, but there's more. It has issues, we're told, with Britney's lawyer, Sam Ingham, along with all of the public outcry over her case ... especially after Britney's courtroom cry for help last week.

That means, at least for now, Britney's dad will remain sole conservator of her estate.

We broke the story ... the judge denied attorney Ingham's request to suspend Jamie from estate conservatorship duties back in November. However, the judge did approve Bessemer being made co-conservator along with Jamie, but it still hasn't taken effect yet because Ingham waited until a few days ago to file the necessary documents for that to happen.

It'll all be a moot point now ... because Bessemer's getting out.