Celebrity Health

Simone Biles made the right decision pulling out of Olympic competition, 'cause mental health's more important than winning, so says U.S. gymnastics legend Dominique Dawes.

"This young generation of athletes, they are trusting their inner voice and they’re speaking out and they’re saying, 'I am unhealthy,' or 'I’m feeling unhealthier, this environment is unhealthy for me,'" Dawes tells TMZ Sports.

The 3-time Olympian (1 gold, 3 bronze medals) continued ... "And, they’re making decisions based off of their overall long-term health. I think that is the wisest thing that this young 24-year-old could do."

Biles -- a 4x gold medalist -- ignited a firestorm of debate when she bowed out of the medal round of team gymnastics competition ... after saying she was dealing with immense stress in Tokyo.

Dominique says anyone who isn't buying the existence of pressure is flat-out wrong ... 'cause she literally lived it before competing in the Summer Games in Atlanta.

"You know, I feel for her and I feel for her teammates as well. I can definitely relate to the level of pressure that she was feeling. That’s what I felt going into the 1996 Olympic Games."

Dominque ended up winning a gold medal in the team competition ... but it was extremely difficult.

"I felt [pressure] and prior to marching out in the Olympics at the Georgia Dome, I had a little bit of a mental breakdown myself. I remember crying, I remember being overwhelmed and that’s something I went through a lot during my career."

But, Dawes says these games are different because of COVID. No friends and family means no support system for Biles -- who is scheduled to compete in the individual competition on Thursday.

Question is, will she feel well enough to perform? Dawes ... and almost everybody else sure hopes so.

"Hopefully if Simone is up for it and she’s capable mentally, physically, emotionally to get back there for all-around finals, you know, we’ll be there to cheer her on."

Rick Dennison will remain with the Vikings despite his COVID vaccine refusal ... though the team has announced he's been reassigned to a different role in the org.

The longtime NFL assistant coach had reportedly parted ways with Minnesota last week due to his decision to not get the shots.

Per NFL rules this season, if a coach isn't vaccinated -- he or she cannot have direct contact with players in meeting rooms and on the field, and therefore simply cannot effectively do the job of being an assistant coach.

ESPN had reported Friday that meant Dennison -- who was the team's offensive line coach -- was OUT.

But, the Vikings said Tuesday they've found a compromise with the coach ... moving him to a new senior offensive advisor role.

The team confirmed Phil Rauscher will step into Dennison's old offensive line coach spot.

"I'm not going to talk about Rick Dennison's medical situation," Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told reporters Tuesday. "I just know that Rick Dennison is an important part of this staff."

Spielman added the team is "excited" to still have Dennison on board ... though he declined to comment on what the 63-year-old's new role actually entails.

"The only people who are not vaccinated are just a**holes."

Charles Barkley is taking a strong stance on the COVID-19 vaccine ... saying the NBA -- as well as all other pro sports leagues -- should make it a requirement in order to compete.

As we previously reported, the NFL announced a policy that will penalize teams with potential fines and forfeited games if an unvaccinated player causes a coronavirus outbreak ... guidelines that had superstar DeAndre Hopkins tweeting about contemplating retirement.

The 58-year-old Hall of Famer says the virus is too serious to give people an option.

"Can you imagine if one of these guys that are not vaccinated, if they get one of these players’ kids, wives, girlfriends, moms and dads sick and they die over some unnecessary conspiracy bull****?," Barkley said, according to CNBC. "I think that would be tragic."

Chuck says players need to treat their careers like those with regular day jobs ... and there will be things they don't always want to do, but have to.

"There’s s*** you can’t do at work and there’s s*** that you have to do at work," Barkley added.

Actor Rick Aiello -- son of the late legendary actor, Danny Aiello -- has died of pancreatic cancer ... his family tells TMZ.

According to Rick's mother, Sandy ... he passed away Monday night surrounded by loved ones at a hospital in Warwick, New York. We're told he'd battled the illness for about a year and a half.

Sadly, Rick's brother, Danny Aiello III, also died of pancreatic cancer in 2010. Their father died in December 2019 from an infection related to a sudden illness he was being treated for ... as we first reported.

Rick followed in his father's footsteps as a veteran actor with more than 60 credits to his name, beginning in the mid-80s. He's most known for appearing in the same movie that earned his dad critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination -- Spike Lee's 1989 film, "Do the Right Thing."

Rick played Officer Long ... just like he did in Spike's "Jungle Fever" a couple years later.

He also had notable roles in "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" and made guest appearances on shows like 'Law & Order' and "Sex and the City."

Ricky is survived by his wife, Arlene Anne Urichich, and their 2 kids.

He was 65.

Wentworth Miller says he learned something about himself in quarantine ... he's autistic.

The "Prison Break" star just revealed he's been diagnosed with autism, something he says came as a shock but wasn't exactly a surprise.

Wentworth says he's approaching 1 year since he received his informal autism diagnosis, which was preceded by a self-diagnosis and followed by a formal diagnosis ... saying diagnosing autism is a "long, flawed process in need of updating," particularly when experts are diagnosing adults and not children.

He says being autistic isn't something he'd change about himself, because it's central to who he is and part of everything he's achieved in his career.

With his official diagnosis, Wentworth says he's not going to suddenly dedicate his celeb platform to autism awareness, because he doesn't know enough about autism.

Simone Biles has withdrawn from the gymnastics team finals in Tokyo -- the Olympic superstar is dealing with a "medical issue" that has forced her to back out of the event, officials say.

There are conflicting reports on what caused Biles -- quite possibly the greatest gymnast of all time -- to leave the competition. The 24-year-old appeared to suffer an injury early in the event, but the NBC's broadcast stated a coach claimed her withdrawal was due to a "mental issue."

USA Gymnastics released a statement Tuesday morning ... saying, "Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue. She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions."

Biles seemingly injured her leg after landing her vault attempt ... speaking with a trainer and leaving the floor before returning with her right leg wrapped.

It's crushing news for Team USA -- the Red, White and Blue were favorites to take home the gold for the third-straight Games.

Biles spoke out about the pressure to succeed after prelims on Monday ... saying, "I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times."

"I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn’t affect me but damn sometimes it’s hard hahaha! The olympics is no joke! BUT I’m happy my family was able to be with me virtually🤍 they mean the world to me!"

There's still hope for the 4-time gold medalist -- she could possibly be recovered in time for the all-around finals on Thursday.

Ben Crump just held a press conference further discussing the lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson ... and things turned emotionally quickly as he let some of the women in the National Council of Negro Women speak for themselves in heartbreaking terms.

The attorney pled with the company ... saying that instead of fighting the lawsuit, they should embrace it and do the right thing by the ladies he says are affected. Speaking of them, a few stepped up to the podium and delivered incredibly personal remarks.

One woman broke down in tears remembering her grandmother, whom she says died of ovarian cancer she claims was contracted after using J&J products. Another woman said her usage of the talcum-based J&J powder had started from a young age, and was something deeply embedded in her and her family's hygiene routine ... as a direct result of the advertising and literature she says they'd been fed over several years.

Based on how J&J has reacted thus far, though, it seems this case may go to court ... despite Crump's cry for understanding.

TMZ just obtained the lawsuit Ben Crump and his associates filed against J&J ... and, boy, did they deliver on the goods.

The suit is damning on its face, with claims of a mountain of evidence and studies dating back to the '60s and '70s (which apparently continued on through the '90s) clearly finding that talcum and talcum-like particles appeared to be naturally carcinogenic, easily mobile once in the body and most importantly, cancerous and dangerous to human health.

Crump cites over a dozen case control studies done by several different health orgs and science groups looking into how talcum was affecting women ... and, time and again, Crump says the studies often landed on the same conclusion -- namely, that talcum seemed to be linked to ovarian cancer that had developed in ladies who'd used talcum-based products.

He goes on to say these studies and findings were widely published and easily accessible, going on to further allege J&J were well aware of it ... and yet, continued to push Baby Powder and Shower to Shower powder -- both of which are talcum-rich.

Then comes the true bombshell ... and that would be a detailed accounting of what Crump describes as a calculated effort -- spaninng at least two decades, if not more -- to go after African-American women, who turned out to be one of J&J's largest consumer bases to use their talcum powder products.

Crump claims to have obtained internal marketing presentations, in-house data and even proposals drafted up between J&J and outside firms -- all of which he says conclude the same thing ... that Black and minority women were "highly important to business" and that company "need(ed) to maintain" their cash cow, while also allegedly acknowledging it was becoming “difficult to efficiently retain core AA consumer.” AA, Crump says, was how J&J referred to African-Americans amongst themselves.

He goes on to say that among their strategies for getting Black women to continue buying their talcum powder products was the continued tactic of stopping in at churches and salons in predominantly Black communities ... and handing out free Baby Powder samples. But it was more than just on the ground, person-to-person interactions, Crump claims. He also alleges J&J considered recruiting Aretha Franklin and/or Patti LaBelle to be a spokesperson for them in the mid-2000s, for the sole purpose of catering to Black women, and to have them continue being loyal customers.

Unclear if the Franklin/LaBelle idea ever materialized, but it's just one example of what Crump claims J&J were kicking around to keep their grasp strong. On top of that, he says they put out Baby Powder/Shower to Shower ads on radio stations with predominantly Black audiences. In short, Crump says J&J were well aware of who their main clientele was for their talcum goods, and they went to incredible lengths to push it on Black women by several different means.

Because of that, Crump says a countless number of African-American women, including women from the National Council of Negro Women, contracted ovarian cancer ... and endured pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and in many instances, their actual lives.

He's asking for a court to sanction J&J over the alleged targeted campaigns, by forcing them to design a system to monitor who's been adversely affected by their talcum sales, track their medical needs and to reimburse them -- not to mention new ads to address what Crump says J&J did to the Black community. Of course, he's seeking damages as well.

In response, J&J says they empathize with anyone suffering from cancer -- but deny their products are the cause of it, explaining ... "our products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer." They say the accusations against them in this suit are false -- adding that the idea they'd purposefully and systematically target a community with bad intentions is absurd.

Ben Crump is suing Johnson & Johnson for allegedly targeting Black women with a product he says has been linked to cancer -- and it sounds like they're going class action with this.

The civil rights attorney put on his personal injury lawyer hat Tuesday with a major announcement -- saying he and fellow attorney Paul Napoli are taking the pharmaceutical and packaged goods giant to court on behalf of the National Council of Negro Women.

Ben says it's all over an alleged decades-long campaign at J&J he says was angling to get African-American women to buy its famed powder products over the years with tailored advertising and marketing ... namely, talcum powder, (found mostly in their popular baby powder) which he says has been the subject of research and studies, with ties to ovarian cancer.

Ben insists he's got inside info -- including internal memos from the company -- that prove their efforts to get Black women to buy talcum ... which he says has caused irreparable harm to so many for too long. Ben claims to have data to support the suggestion that Black women were the focus of these talcum sales efforts -- and that, by and large, they worked.

More than just that ... Ben and co. are claiming J&J knew its product was poison for the body -- saying they betrayed that trust with their consumers ... and with the African-American community at large.

Now, he's inviting anyone who might've been affected to hop on ... presumably to get in on the suit, potential damages and/or any settlement that may come of this. Ben will be holding a press conference later in the day to get into the nitty-gritty of the lawsuit.

Stay tuned ...

Dua Lipa says she's "surprised and horrified" by DaBaby's anti-gay and sexist diatribe during his set at Rolling Loud ... she says it doesn't sound like the artist she thought she knew.

Dua Lipa, who worked on a song with DaBaby last year, just responded to his homophobic rant ... saying she can't believe he's spewing all that hate.

DL says "I don't really recognize this as the person I worked with" ... alluding to their 2020 collab on the song, "Levitating."

As we reported ... DaBaby told folks in the Rolling Loud crowd to put up their cell phone lights, encouraging them to do so in a very disturbing way by telling them ... "If you didn't show up today with HIV/AIDS or other STDs that'll make you die in 2-3 weeks" and "Fellas, if you didn't suck a n**** d*** in the parking lot."

DaBaby tried clearing up the vile comments following tons of backlash, posting a video where he claims the words weren't directed at his gay fans because his gay fans aren't "nasty gay n****s" or "junkies." In other words, he only made things worse.

Dua Lupa makes a clear distinction between her values and DaBaby's rant ... saying she stands "100% with the LGBTQ community" and calling on folks to come together to fight the ignorance and stigma around HIV and AIDS.

WARNING: This is NOT breakfast material ... so finish your eggs and toast now before we get into it.

Done?? Okay, good.

UFC star TJ Dillashaw is showing off the WILD cut he suffered during his return to the Octagon on Saturday ... and it's pretty damn gross.

Of course, TJ hadn't fought in more than 2 years after getting popped for PEDs in 2019 ... but showed no signs of ring rust after beating Cory Sandhagen in a split decision at UFC Fight Night on Saturday.

But, the former bantamweight champ didn't escape unscathed -- Dillashaw got a massive gash on his eyebrow that required quite the patch-up job.

The injury happened in the second round as Sandhagen punched TJ above his eye ... which immediately started to bleed.

Referee Herb Dean even had to intervene to let a doc check out Dillashaw's cut before resuming action.

Despite the gnarly sight, TJ was calm about the whole thing ... saying he's opened the same cut before, so it's no biggie.

Talk about botched ... Liziane Gutierrez is dealing with painful repercussions from a cosmetic facial procedure, and needed emergency surgery to avoid potential death.

The Brazilian model had to undergo the potentially life-saving procedure last week in her home country, because the filler she had injected in her cheeks and lips, back in 2019, was causing flare-up and grotesque swelling.

We're told Liziane's doctors believed she was at risk of an infection that could get into her blood and kill her -- so Dr. Laertes Thomaz went into her face to manually scoop out the filler.

Obviously, watch the footage at your own risk!!!

Her initial facial procedure might be the all-time worst return on investment. We're told Liziane paid about $3k for the botched Botox job back in 2019 -- which had already required multiple follow-ups -- and this latest surgery cost another $10k!!!

That's 5-figures to remove a tiny, but toxic, amount of filler.

And, don't forget, less than a year before she got the stuff injected into her face ... Liziane barely survived slipping into a coma after a liposuction gone awry.

Kyle Richards had quite the scary run-in with Mother Nature this weekend -- and by that, we mean she got stung up by a bunch of bees at her house ... which sent her to the hospital.

The 'Real Housewives' star posted a terrifying update to her IG Story Sunday ... saying she'd been sent to the ER the day prior after apparently coming across a full-blown hive at her home in Encino ... and the black and yellow buggers went after her in an attack.

Kyle actually posted surveillance footage from the episode ... and you can see her making a run for it across her backyard, with the bees apparently giving chase. She says they were in her hair, her face and literally stinging her. All the while, she was screaming for help.

We kinda buried the lede ... Kyle says she's not only terrified of bees, but she's allergic to them. So, this was truly a life or death moment ... as she says she couldn't get her EpiPen to work for some reason. In the end, she warded off the bees by hopping in her pool.

Kyle says she can laugh about it now(ish) because she ended up being rescued and attended to by the local fire dept., whose firefighters bolted to the scene when 911 was eventually called. Speaking of those guys, she made sure to give them a major shout-out the next day ... posting a photo she took with them, and offering her thanks for their help.

Cade Hudson -- one of Britney Spears' best friends and longtime agent -- is finally breaking his silence on her conservatorship sitch ... agreeing with what many have already demanded -- and that would be, #FreeBritney.

The career talent agent just posted a message on social media that is sure to give the #FreeBritney crowd a vote of confidence -- because he says it is, indeed, time to release her from the clutches of the conservatorship ... which he suggests has been a long time coming.

Cade writes, "I've kept my mouth shut for 12 + years on Britney. Enough is enough. After getting thousands of death threats, getting water bottles thrown at my head in bars from bystanders telling me I'm brainwashing her - Britney I'm now speaking up."

He goes on to detail what led up to Britney's breakdown back in '07 ... saying, "Britney who was accused of some errors as a new mom at 26 with 100 cameras in her face daily waiting to document any wrong move she did gets placed under a never-ending conservatorship?"

To that he says ... "Sexism at its best."

CH goes all in, writing ... "This is a violation of someone's basic human rights that were taken away. I've kept my mouth shut out of the fear of losing my job as her agent and losing the career I worked my ass off for 15 years to build, out of threats from the man we all know who, but I won't even dignify mentioning his name. I’m officially done being quiet."

He says he knows the real Britney Spears -- the one who's spent Xmas with him, who's volunteered at dance classes for underprivileged kids, and adds ... "The system and the public failed her. Her new attorney is the best of the best and knows that the work has just begun but it’s progress & hope and that’s all we can ask for now until action can be taken."

Cade finishes his thoughts this way ... "I'll end with a few things, one person who was in her life (again legally can't name names) was also silenced by the people around her. You silencers know who you are. This person has her best interest at heart."

It's unclear who exactly Cade is referring to here, but our best guess ... it may well be her longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, who has since resigned from his post.

Brit's BFF adds one more warning shot to people he considered against Britney. He says, "Even if people don't see it now, it will come out. To the ones who should be worried, you know who you are too. The nonsense needs to end, and the healing process needs to begin. The lord tends to pay those people back in his own ways. So for the first time I'm publicly saying #FREEBRITNEY."

He also says it's "Time to get my girl and best friend back" and caps it off with a plea to his old pal, writing ... "@Britneyspears it's your time - the world is listening and is on your side. The world NEEDS you freed and back."

'X-Men' star Alexandra Shipp is praising Sean Penn to the skies, saying she's down with his demand that no one be allowed on a movie set who is not vaccinated.

We got Alexandra at LAX Friday and asked about Sean refusing to set foot on any set where unvaccinated people are allowed in. She thinks Sean's a hero and is saving lives.

Sean has said he won't return to the set of his new production, "Gaslit," until the entire crew gets the shot. The movie is modern day version of Watergate ... Sean plays Attorney General John Mitchell, who played a pivotal role in the scandal.

Penn represents a growing number of people who are sick of the unvaccinated calling the shots. It's become infuriating for some that mask and other mandates have been imposed on the vaccinated because of those unwilling to get a COVID shot.

France has an interesting solution ... anyone who isn't vaccinated by September won't be forced to get a shot, but they'll be barred from restaurants, concerts and sporting events.

A snow leopard at the San Diego Zoo has COVID ... and zoo officials are worried about an outbreak among the cats.

A 9-year-old snow leopard named Ramil caught the attention of zoo staff Thursday, after noticing the cat had a cough and runny nose. The COVID test came back positive, confirmed by 2 labs.

They're doing another test, but the staff expects the result to be the same -- positive.

Here's the problem ... Ramil shared an enclosure with 3 other cats -- a female snow leopard and 2 Amur leopards, all of which have been exposed to COVID. So, the 3 big cats are in quarantine now, although real talk -- they're always in quarantine. In this case it means the public won't be able to go near.

Fortunately, Ramil's symptoms haven't gotten worse. Zoo staff is mystified as to how the cat caught the virus. Zoo keepers must wear masks if they're not vaccinated. Eight gorillas caught COVID in January, though none were symptomatic.

Scientists have known for months that cats can contract COVID. Most cases are not serious, but snow leopards are fast dwindling in population. Estimates put the number of wild snow leopards at 4,000 to 6,500.

Morgan Wallen explaining on 'GMA' his rationale behind using the n-word is gibberish ... so says the NAACP Nashville chapter president.

Sheryl Guinn tells TMZ ... she believes Morgan's sit-down with Michael Strahan is the result of Morgan being sorry not for what he said but for getting caught using the racial slur. She says it's a travesty Morgan never thought about the meaning behind the hateful word.

What's more ... Sheryl says his white privilege was on full display for never caring to learn the hurt that word causes. And, she's is dismayed by Morgan trying to contextualize the word ... saying he used it in a "playful" way.

Sheryl does believe Morgan can turn things around ... and she has a punch list.

According to Sheryl ... Morgan can make amends by addressing serious issues, like inequality. Morgan broached the subject a bit when he told Strahan "it would seem" country music has a race problem ... though he hasn't thought about it too much.

Sheryl says he can start in his hometown of Nashville ... where Morgan is hugely influential.

The NAACP honcho says while Morgan's at it, he should encourage his community to get vaccinated. Less than 40% of Nashville got the shot ... and it's devastating marginalized communities.

The revamped "Real Housewives of Miami" got its first dose of real-world drama this week when 911 was called due to a medical emergency on set ... and TMZ's learned it was for a brand new cast member.

Sources close to production tell us ... Julia Lemigova began feeling ill late Thursday morning after filming on the roof of an incredible home in Montauk, NY ... where they were staying during a cast trip.

We're told it's likely Julia got too much sun and was overheated, so someone inside the home called 911 because production felt it was best she get checked out by professionals.

According to the East Hampton PD report ... an EMT was called to the scene around 11:30 AM for a person who was feeling weak and nauseated. They were administered an IV, but did not require a trip to the hospital.

Our sources say cameras were rolling for the incident, as the ladies were all brunching to celebrate Larsa Pippen's jewelry line.

Julia -- a Russian former model who's married to tennis legend Martina Navratilova -- was not part of the original 'RHOM' cast when it aired on Bravo, but will be featured on the Peacock reboot later this year.

We're told after she recovered from her health episode, she carried on with the rest of the 'housewives' and kept filming the rest of the day and night.