Health

Chumlee is a whole new man ... after practically losing an entire man's weight.

The guy from "Pawn Stars" tells TMZ ... he was tired of struggling with his weight, which constantly fluctuated 100 pounds at a time. He says it had been a years-long battle and he felt it was time to make a drastic change after getting all the way up to 350 pounds in January 2019.

That dramatic change started the following month when he went in for gastric sleeve surgery ... a popular weight-loss procedure in which a large portion of the stomach is removed to create a smaller stomach pouch.

This, of course, reduces the quantity of food one can eat while making them feel fuller even when consuming less food. The stomach size is brought down to about the size of a banana.

As you can see, Chumlee's looking slim at 190 pounds now. He says he went through the 160-pound transformation because he wanted to not only get healthy, but stay healthy ... unlike his years of yo-yoing.

Chumlee, who got the procedure done at Blossom Bariatrics in Vegas, says now that he's slimmed down he's committed to maintaining his weight by embracing a lifestyle change ... eating clean, healthy food and getting his sweat on.

The battle between Mark Cuban and Cole Beasley over the COVID vaccine is still going strong ... 'cause the Dallas Mavericks owner tells TMZ Sports he's still pushing for the NFL star to get vaccinated.

The two have gone back on forth on social media for weeks over Beasley's anti-vax stance ... and when we got Cubes out in NYC this week, he reiterated he desperately wants the Bills player to get the shots.

"Cole's a good guy, but, you know," Mark said, "getting vaccinated isn't just about you, it's about everybody else as well."

Cuban tells us he believes getting the vaccine is necessary to help protect at-risk people from contracting COVID-19 ... and he REALLY wishes Beasley would change his stance.

"There's 16.9 million cancer survivors in this country," Cuban said. "Three million-plus people who are immuno-compromised. And, when you don't get vaccinated, it's not just about you. It's about other people as well."

Of course, Beasley has dug his feet firmly in the ground on not getting the vaccine ... saying earlier this summer, "I may die of COVID, but I'd rather die actually living."

Beasley has been booed even at home this year in Buffalo over his comments ... but he's remained staunch in his beliefs regardless.

Adele is returning to the big stage after a 6-year absence from music -- and if you were wondering if she's still got it in the vocals department ... here's confirmation that she does.

The singer previewed a snipped of her new forthcoming single, "Easy On Me," on IG Live this weekend ... playing a good 40 seconds of what seems to be the first verse and almost the hook. She cuts it off before it gets any better ... but the consensus is, so far so good.

The track is laced with a piano melody -- and Adele starts talking about how there's no gold in the river she's been washing her hands, but how she still maintains hope.

The song is also sung in the same soulful, operatic style that Adele has carved out for herself ... as she goes low, high and everything in between. This, of course, comes before she dives into what sounds to be a crescendo that'll probably top what we've heard here.

In other words ... Adele's pipes are still intact after years of no new music. If anything, she sounds as good as ever -- if not better. That's something people often wonder about when artists take long breaks from the scene when it comes to new studio sessions. Rihanna falls into that category ... Bieber recently did too, before coming out with his latest album.

Now, it's unclear if Adele was supposed to play this before the song's out next Friday ... because she (jokingly?) said her phone was blowing up, and that she was gonna get in trouble.

She's probably kidding ... and the snippet is likely part of a bigger marketing campaign to get buzz. Not that she needs it, really -- but hey, there's no such thing as bad pub for Adele. Especially when the product is as top-notch as this almost certainly promises to be.

Adele also took some fan questions ... and weighed in on #FreeBritney, Lana Del Rey and Harry Styles. She supports the first, loves the 2nd and thinks the 3rd is a "very sweet boy."

Kodak Black's doctors believe it would behoove the rapper to spend the final 30 days of his treatment at a facility outside of Florida ... so he's asking the court for permission to do so.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Kodak's physician and treatment specialist believe he would benefit from a program outside Florida. The location and details were not provided in the public documents for security reasons.

But, Kodak's team makes it clear ... his doctors think that for Kodak to have a better chance of success, he needs to be in a different environment for a period of time.

The request comes on the heels of some very alarming tweets from the rapper that quickly had fans worried about his mental health. He's since deleted all of his social media accounts but some tweets included, "Sitting In My Room Crying Feel Like Killing Myself."

He also wrote, "So Lonely Depressed Sad & F***** Up ... Nobody Love Me Nobody Cares ... I'm Everywhere @ Once ... Friends Playin In My Head ... Girls Playin Wit My Heart ... Wish I Can Go Back To The Start I'll Never Be Famous."

Kodak's legal team is now asking for the court's permission to join an out-of-state residential treatment facility for the last 30 days of his court-ordered residential program.

Kodak's attorney, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ ... they'd love to move Kodak to a different state if and when probation agrees. He wouldn't say which state they have in mind.

We asked Cohen about Kodak's failed drug test and about Kodak's concerning tweets but he declined to comment.

As we first reported ... Kodak violated the terms of his supervised release in his federal gun case by failing a drug test. He was ordered to get treatment. He's currently in treatment now ... but his doctors want him to spend the last 30 days at an out-of-state facility.

The Brooklyn Nets are poised to win an NBA championship with or without Kyrie Irving this season ... so says Charles Oakley, who tells TMZ Sports the star's availability won't derail the team's title hopes.

Of course, Irving -- who is not vaccinated -- could miss more than half of the season due to COVID vaccine mandates in NYC and California ... which has folks like Shaq saying the Nets should get rid of him.

Oakley doesn't think KI's absence will be that big of a deal, though ... after all, it helps they still have Kevin Durant and James Harden.

"I think they can still win it with him playing this way," Oakley said on TMZ Live this week.

"You still have James Harden and KD -- 2 of the top 5 best players in the league."

Oakley -- who's coming out with his own cooking show, "Chopping It Up with Oakley," added, "They wasn't healthy last year, so you think if James Harden comes back healthy this year with KD healthy, they still can win it even if Kyrie play only half of the season."

Besides missing playing time, KI is gonna lose a TON of money -- $380k per game!

So, we asked the NY Knicks legend if he was on the Nets would he talk to the point guard about his decision ... he says he would but at the end of the day -- "he's a grown man."

"He knows he losing 300, 400 thousand a game and it's not about the money. We see that."

"He believe what he believe in."

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.