Celebrity Health

Princess Love's marriage to Ray J might be ending for real this time, but she doesn't seem to be fazed by it ... in fact, she says she's doing better than ever!!!

Princess Love was loading up to leave LAX with her kids Friday when she was asked how she's doing following Ray J filing for divorce this week. Sounds like she's barely thinking about it ... and is focused on herself and her kids.

As for her estranged hubby ... she provided a bit of an update on his health, we think, saying he's "alive and well."

That's good to hear, because as we reported ... Ray was hospitalized this week with pneumonia, but for 2 days doctors thought he may have been dealing with COVID-19 too ... and even held him in the COVID ward.

Last we knew he was still struggling to fight it off, but according to Princess Love ... he's doing okay.

Of course, it's hard to really know what's going on with PL and RJ. As you'll recall ... his filing for divorce was the third time it's gone down between the couple. She did it first in May 2020, then they reconciled, then he did it again in Sept. 2020, followed but another reconciliation ... which brings us to now.

Don't count out Russell Wilson just yet -- Dr. Oz tells TMZ Sports he thinks there's a chance Seattle has its star quarterback on the field for its next game.

Russ injured the middle finger on his throwing hand in the third quarter of the Seahawks' loss to the Rams Thursday … but Dr. Oz says, from everything he saw on the broadcast, Russ could be back on the field in a matter of days.

Of course, if Wilson needs surgery, it's a whole different ballgame -- but Dr. Oz says it didn't look that significant to him.

"I didn't see a mechanism of injury that would usually -- a dislocation of a finger, ripped tendons, things that are more typically associated with needing to operate," Dr. Oz said.

So, according to Dr. Oz, if Wilson can manage significant pain while throwing the football ... he could very well be under center for the Seahawks' next game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 17.

As for how long until Wilson feels good again, Dr. Oz says it's usually a 4-to-6-week recovery process if no surgery is required.

"He might be able to brace it up, put some kind of splint on it and return to action in 10 days," Dr. Oz said.

Pete Carroll, meanwhile, has yet to say if Wilson will be available ... only saying after the game Thursday that surgery is a possibility for the former Super Bowl champ.

Dr. Oz also mentioned that he’s working with the NFL on a wellness challenge -- where retired players compete to get themselves in shape by eating a Mediterranean diet, intermittent fasting, getting daily activity and addressing stress.

Nicki Minaj showed up for the taping of "The Real Housewives of the Potomac" reunion, causing some folks to wonder if she's changed her tune on getting vaccinated ... but TMZ's learned her vax status is irrelevant.

As you know ... Nicki caused quite a stir last month when she tweeted some COVID vaccine misinformation -- specifically, that her cousin's friend in Trinidad and Tobago had a severe side effect resulting in swollen testicles. She also implied that she was still not vaccinated.

So, with her appearance on the 'RHOP' reunion set Thursday night -- something that came to fruition after she jokingly pitched guest-hosting to Andy Cohen in July -- fans believed she might have gotten vaccinated in order to get the gig.

But, we've learned that's not necessarily the case ... because being vaccinated was not a requirement for the reunion taping.

Instead, Nicki and the 'Housewives' and the rest of the crew only had to comply with local orders in New Jersey ... so in this case, getting a PCR test that came back negative for COVID.

Obviously, everyone who participated in the reunion taping, including Nicki, had a negative test ... but it's still unclear if the rapper's vaxxed or not.

Donald Trump ramped up his anti-immigration rhetoric on TV Thursday night ... telling Sean Hannity the thousands of Haitian migrants believed to be heading to America's border likely have AIDS.

The ex-President did his best DaBaby impression by spewing out ignorant claims about the disease, suggesting on "Hannity" that because Haiti has a "tremendous AIDS problem" ... accepting people from there is "like a death wish for our country."

What Trump's comments ignore, however, is that while there may be a large number of people living with HIV/AIDs in Haiti ... it's impossible to know if those trying to flee the country are afflicted.

Likewise, even if migrants with AIDS are admitted to the U.S. ... it does not equate to a "death wish."

Later in his chat with Hannity, Trump also alleged other countries are "emptying out their prisons into the United States."

Russell Wilson's middle finger might never look the same after the Seahawks' game Thursday ... 'cause he appeared to badly dislocate it after hitting it on a defender's hand.

Wilson was unloading a deep ball in the third quarter of Seattle's loss to the Rams ... when on his follow through, his hand collided with L.A. star Aaron Donald's.

In video of the throw, you can see the force of the impact caused the quarterback's finger to bend awkwardly -- and when he looked down at the digit, it was clearly out of place.

The tip of the finger had bent at nearly a 90-degree angle ... and Wilson immediately called for trainers to help.

The 32-year-old tried to stay in the game ... but he was later pulled in favor of backup Geno Smith -- and head coach Pete Carroll said after the game Wilson could need surgery.

"There is a lot of work to be done in assessing all of that," said Carroll, who called the injury a "badly sprained finger."

"Russell is one of the great healers of all time, and he'll do whatever he can to get back as soon as absolutely possible."

Wilson has not missed a single start in his 10 seasons in the NFL ... getting under center in all 149 of his career games.

The Seahawks have some time 'til they play again -- their next contest is slated for Oct. 17 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Olympic gold medalist diver Tom Daley says he was pressured to lose weight in order to perform better in 2012 ... claiming it was "hammered" into him that he was overweight.

The 27-year-old British diver opened up about his eating disorder this week ... saying he would make himself throw up and constantly weigh himself in order to maintain a smaller figure.

Daley -- who won bronze at the 2012 and 2016 Games before earning gold in Tokyo this summer -- says it's always been hard for him as a man to open up about his eating disorder, he revealed to The Guardian.

Daley says it's challenging as an athlete to talk about his struggle with body image ... because let's face it, most people would love to have his body.

"You have these body issues as an athlete. Lots of people would look at athletes and be like, 'What are you talking about? You’re an athlete, you’re in shape, you have nothing to worry about.'"

Daley says the pressure to lose weight didn't come from the media or Internet trolls -- it was his peers in the diving community.

"My body image [issues] came from within my sport – it was hammered into me that I was overweight and needed to lose weight in order to perform."

Eighteen ex-NBA players -- including Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Sebastian Telfair -- have been charged with fraud ... after officials say they swindled a small fortune out of the Association's healthcare plan.

Federal prosecutors announced the charges against the former hoopers, which also included Shannon Brown and Darius Miles, on Thursday ... accusing the men of ripping off the NBA Players' Health and Welfare Benefit Plan.

The scheme was not terribly complicated, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Of NY, which is prosecuting the case.

The ex-basketball players allegedly submitted "false and fraudulent claims for reimbursement" to the plan --- which has been set up by the NBA to help current and former players pay medical bills -- and then were wrongly reimbursed.

Officials say it all started in 2017, when the players would ask the plan for money to pay for medical care they didn't actually receive.

The feds say the men submitted fraudulent claims that totaled approximately $3.9 million ... and they received approximately $2.5 million "in fraudulent proceeds" from the scheme.

The prosecutors claim Terrence Williams, the 11th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, was the mastermind behind it all.

In addition to Davis, Telfair, Brown, Miles and Williams ... officials say Tony Allen, Jamario Moon, Tony Wroten, Melvin Ely and Ruben Patterson were also involved in the scheme.

Officials have scheduled have a meeting with reporters to further detail the alleged crimes later Thursday afternoon.

Tamar Braxton's got her sights set on returning to television after an admitted toxic relationship with the reality TV biz, but she says when she does ... she's choosing a different way to tell her story.

We got Tamar at LAX Wednesday and asked about her teasing her family's series, "Braxton Family Values," coming back to the airwaves ... but possibly on a new network.

As you'll recall ... Tamar was released by WE tv last summer following her suicide attempt and subsequent claims the reality TV industry and its "toxic, systemic bondage" drove her to want to end her life.

Despite that, "Braxton Family Values" still aired as planned, but now Tamar's suggesting she has a different type of family TV project in the works ... one that won't follow the conventional "reality" route.

Specifically, she says the show won't pry into her personal life, and will depict her family in a way she feels is fair.

Ndakasi, the orphaned gorilla photographed in an incredible selfie in 2019, has died in the arms of her caretaker ... according to a spokesperson at the national park were she lived.

The Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo broke the sad news of the passing of its beloved orphaned mountain gorilla, saying she died last month after battling a prolonged illness.

According to the park ... Ndakasi "took her final breath in the loving arms of her caretaker and lifelong friend, Andre Bauma."

Bauma had looked after the gorilla ever since she was found clinging her to dead mother's body and taken to the park's Senkwekwe Center, where she lived for more than a decade. Virunga says Ndakasi's mom was killed by armed militia in a series of gorilla slayings.

Bauma says, "It was a privilege to support and care for such a loving creature, especially knowing the trauma Ndakasi suffered at a very young age."

If you don't recall ... Ndakasi went viral in 2019 thanks to an amazing photo of her and another orphaned gorilla in a park ranger's selfie. Virunga National Park responded to all the attention it got at the time, saying ... "Those gorilla gals are always acting cheeky so this was the perfect shot of their true personalities!"

Bauma adds ... "I loved her like a child and her cheerful personality brought a smile to my face every time I interacted with her. She will be missed by all of us at Virunga but we are forever grateful for the richness Ndakasi brought to our lives during her time at Senkwekwe."

Britney Spears was diagnosed by medical professionals with a mental illness, but Jamie Spears and the business management team he hired felt they could free Britney from the grips of her mental problems with religion ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Jamie became a born again Christian after a stint in rehab early on in the conservatorship. Jamie knew Lou Taylor, who worked with Jamie Lynn as early as 2004 and also became a spokesperson for the family back then.

Taylor created a company called Tri Star Entertainment and in 2008 she and Jamie discussed making Tri Star the business manager in the conservatorship.

Taylor was also a fervent born again Christian ... something she talked about on the "Today" show in 2008. Taylor brought in Robin Greenhill, who worked for Tri Star, to have day-to-day contact with Britney ... helping manage her business affairs. But, we're told it went way beyond money ... Robin in particular was up in every aspect of Britney's life.

Our sources say for the first year, Jamie, Robin and Lou literally walked around with the bible in hand, proselytizing the word of God. We're told for a time they would only let Britney read religious material. And, we're told, there was a large measure of intolerance for anyone who wasn't a "good Christian."

Interestingly, Lynne Spears wrote in one of her books ... "Jamie was going to file for the conservatorship on January 22 [2008] ... but he and his business manager, Lou, felt God leading them to wait, fast and pray, despite the frustration of a phalanx of lawyers."

The religious push was on full display during the entire Circus Tour, we're told, but as the money cascaded in, religion sort of fell by the wayside and money became central to business management and the conservatorship ... so say our sources.

Tri Star was getting 5% of Britney's gross profits, and when she was performing that was an enormous amount of money. Fast forward to 2019 when Britney stopped performing. At some point, Taylor emailed Jamie and said the commissions had dwindled and she wanted a guarantee of $500,000 a year.

Some folks on the inside, including Britney's lawyer, Samuel Ingham, felt that was wrong, because when someone takes a percentage they tend to make more than they should for a certain period and less for other periods, but it evens out. People said some insiders felt Lou wanted it both ways. Jamie, however, didn't feel that way, and approved the $500k floor, which greatly upset some people involved.

Ray J is in bad shape, struggling to breathe as he battles pneumonia in a Miami hospital ... it was so bad he thought he was going to die.

Ray J's manager, David Weintraub, tells TMZ Ray went into the hospital 4 days ago and doctors learned from the jump he was battling pneumonia. David looped Ray in on the call and we spoke to him for several minutes, and it was apparent he wasn't out of the woods.

Ray told us ... when he was admitted doctors assumed he had COVID, so they placed him in the COVID wing of the hospital, which he said was frightening, telling us, "I thought it was over. I started praying and knew God is good so I just kept praying."

He says he was given 5 COVID tests, all of which came back negative, and after 2 days he was moved out of the COVID wing.

He's currently getting oxygen but he still has difficulty breathing and talking. He says when he wakes up at 6 AM he feels like he could go home, but by 6:30 things deteriorate and he fears the worst.

Ray says all he thinks about is getting better so he can see his 2 kids. Weintraub says Ray will hopefully be out by week's end.

Terrifying scene on the NHL ice Tuesday ... a referee needed to be taken away on a stretcher after he was hit in the head in an accidental collision with a player.

The scary moment all went down just before the Kings vs. Coyotes preseason game in L.A. ... when Arizona center Liam O'Brien ran into linesman Ryan Gibbons.

Video of the play showed O'Brien's shoulder went right into Gibbons' jaw ... causing the ref to immediately crumple to the ice in pain.

Gibbons stayed down motionless for several moments ... before trainers and medical personnel were able to get him on a stretcher and off to a nearby hospital.

According to The Athletic, Gibbons suffered a concussion ... but was, thankfully, discharged from the medical facility later in the evening.

It's unclear how long Gibbons -- who's been reffing games in the NHL since 2015 -- will be sidelined with the injury.

Bam Margera's struggles with substance abuse put himself and anyone around him in harm's way ... at least according to the "Jackass" franchise director.

Jeff Tremaine -- who's shepherded the "Jackass" movies for years now -- claims in new legal docs he loves Bam like a brother, but says he's had a front-row seat to Bam's vices and it hasn't always been pretty.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jeff says whenever Bam's intoxicated he's a danger to himself and others ... and he claims Bam's recent behavior has brought a dark cloud over the movie franchise.

Jeff's responding to Bam's lawsuit over his firing from the upcoming 'Jackass 4' ... as we first told you, Bam claims he was forced to sign an agreement that he claims amounted to psychological torture and got the boot when he didn't live up to the conditions.

In the docs, Jeff says Bam voluntarily signed the sobriety commitment agreement but stopped cooperating with his wellness program in July 2020 and began taking illicit amphetamines. Tremaine claims the "Jackass" fam tried to find a way for Bam to be in the movie, but Bam's wellness coach shut them down ... and Paramount Pictures ultimately dropped the ax.

As we've told you ... it's been a very rocky year for Bam, who has publicly beefed with the "Jackass" crew, with Tremaine even getting a restraining order against him.

BJ Penn knows what he wants to do with his life post-fighting career ... run the state of Hawaii, 'cause the UFC legend announced he's running for governor of The Aloha State!!!

42-year-old Penn -- a UFC Hall of Famer -- threw his hat in the proverbial ring (Octagon?) this week, and even laid out several policies he would immediately overturn.

"As soon as I step into Hawaii's Governor office I will remove all new federal and state mandates that have been hurting our economy, residents, and 'ohana," BJ wrote.

"We will get the best doctors, medicines, therapies, and health care the world has to offer to fight this pandemic and always keep Hawaii among the safest and healthiest states in the union."

Penn -- who last fought in the UFC in 2019 -- also vowed to ax the policy mandating people traveling to the state must be vaxxed, writing ... "We will get rid of all vaccine passports. Hawaii will be vaccinated with Aloha and unvaccinated with Aloha policy for everyone."

On masks? Similar deal.

"Same with the masks 😷. We will follow the constitution to the tee 👌. I am not here to fit in with the other politicians, I am here to get our freedoms back!"

Of course, BJ's had several run-ins with the law over the last few years ... but the MMA great isn't hiding from his past, addressing it head-on.

"I've made a lot of mistakes in my life but I would never run from a fight, or sell out my people."

Democrat, David Ige, is the current sitting gov of Hawaii. His term ends late next year.

Former NASCAR driver John Wes Townley attacked his ex-wife and another man with a hatchet just before he was shot to death ... this according to police.

It's all spelled out in new documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, which show cops say Townley showed up to his ex's house in Athens, Ga. on Oct. 2 and allegedly snapped.

In the docs, cops say Townley got to the home and attacked his ex, Laura Townley, and another man, Zachary Anderson, with a hatchet.

Police in the documents say, though, Anderson shot John in the altercation ... striking the former driver and accidentally hitting Laura, as well.

Cops say John was shot through the chest and later died from his injuries at a local hospital. Police added Laura was struck in the abdomen, but is expected to survive.

Cops say an investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

Police noted in the docs John and Laura had recently finalized a divorce.

Andrew Wiggins is making it clear -- he did NOT want to take the COVID vaccine ... telling media members Monday he felt like the NBA and the government "forced" him into getting the shots.

"The only options were to get vaccinated or not play in the NBA," Wiggins said. "It was a tough decision. Hopefully, it works out in the long run and in 10 years I'm still healthy."

The Golden State Warriors forward had fought tooth and nail to avoid getting the jab ... even at one point applying for a religious exemption with the NBA.

But, that was denied ... and with health officials in the Bay Area requiring anyone 12 or older to be fully vaxxed to attend indoor events -- Wiggins said he felt like he had no other choice but to take the vaccine.

"It's not something I wanted to do," Wiggins said after Golden State's preseason game Monday night. "But I was kind of forced to."

He added, "I guess to do certain stuff -- to work and all that -- I guess you don't own your body. That's what it comes down to. You want to work in society today, then I guess they make the rules on what goes in your body and what you do."

Despite getting the vax ... Wiggins told reporters he's hopeful others don't feel as much pressure as he did to take the shots.

"Hopefully there's a lot of people out there that are stronger than me and keep fighting and stand for what they believe," Wiggins said, "and hopefully it works out for them."