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Paul Pierce's run with ESPN is officially over -- the network is parting ways with the ex-NBA superstar just days after Pierce posted a racy twerk session with some scantily clad women on Instagram.

Unclear if the video is the reason for Pierce's departure ... but it drew a lot of attention over the weekend.

Also worth noting -- the timing of the move is interesting ... especially since the NBA season is far from over.

Pierce spent the past 3.5 years with the network ... appearing on "NBA Countdown" and "The Jump."

The ex-Celtics forward seemingly addressed the split on Twitter just minutes ago ... saying, "Big Things coming soon stay tuned make sure u smile #Truthshallsetufree"

PP also shared a 4-second video with the message ... showing himself laughing and smiling.

Pierce played 19 seasons in the NBA before joining ESPN ... he was a 10-time All-Star and won a title alongside Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in 2008. He was named NBA Finals MVP.

Britney Spears says there are no ghostwriters when it comes to her social media posts, contrary to a growing belief ... now she herself tells TMZ she writes the dang things herself!!!

The pop star is refuting claims made by one of her former makeup artists, Billy Brasfield, who alleged Britney personally told him she had no control over this week's Instagram post criticizing the 'Framing Britney Spears' documentary.

Britney tells TMZ ... "No, I’m not talking to him at all. I write my posts. I’m not sure who he is talking to, but I am not talking to Billy B."

Brasfield, who worked with Brit from 2012-13, said he texted Britney about the IG post and she responded right away, telling him she had no say in the caption.

As we reported ... Britney broke her silence on the 'Framing' doc Tuesday, writing she was "embarrassed by the light they put me in" and adding, "I cried for two weeks." Her post certainly took a lot of air out of the idea she was framed.

Lots of folks, including Brasfield, were quick to claim the post couldn't have been written by Britney ... and fans even went after her social media manager, Cassie Petrey, claiming she was the true author.

But, as we first told you ... the social media manager did NOT craft Britney's post about the Hulu documentary, and Cassie wasn't even aware of Brit's plan to express herself until the IG post went up.

Before you read this -- no, this ain't an April Fools' Joke!!

Golf superstar Brooks Koepka got on one knee and popped the question to his gorgeous GF Jena Sims ... and she said, "YES!!!"

... A MONTH AGO!!!

Of course, 30-year-old Brooks and 32-year-old Jena are known to have a good time and some lighthearted fun -- and their engagement announcement was no exception.

Living up to their steez, the couple decided to wait nearly a month to announce their plans to get hitched on the biggest "Fake News" day of the year -- April Fools' Day.

"Forever is no joke 💕," Jena captioned the photo of the proposal Thursday ... showing a huge diamond ring on ~that~ finger.

Sims revealed the actual date of the proposal on Instagram ... saying he popped the big Q in Jupiter, FL on March 3, 2021.

The current #8-ranked Koepka and Sims have been dating for around 4 years ... and their relationship burst onto the scene after he won the U.S. Open in 2017.

Britney Spears fans are coming for her social media manager's head because they think Brit's reaction to the new doc wasn't authentic ... but they have it all wrong.

Here's the deal ... the pop star broke her silence on 'Framing Britney Spears' Tuesday, criticizing the documentary ... saying she was embarrassed by the portrayal and cried for weeks, but some folks think Britney's social media manager, Cassie Petrey, is the post's real author.

However, sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Cassie did NOT craft Britney's statement about the Hulu documentary, and she wasn't even aware of Brit's plan to express herself until the IG post was published.

As you see, Cassie's catching lots of online heat ... with keyboard warriors calling for her to resign from Britney's team.

Our sources are adamant ... Britney wrote the caption herself and it was posted the day she wrote it. We're told Brit does indeed feel deeply embarrassed by the documentary, which she's made clear to those closest to her.

Our sources tell us no one on Britney's team prompted her to break her silence, and it was all her decision.

Hailey Bieber is learning how to unplug from social media, while silencing online trolls at the same time ... a process she says her hubby, Justin, is guiding her through.

Hailey was talking to Dr. Jessica Clemons -- a world-renowned psychiatrist -- about mental health and social media when she dished on how she navigates Instagram, Twitter and other apps these days ... while also processing vile comments from complete strangers.

For starters, Mrs. Bieber explained how she's actually come to limit her Instagram use ... swearing it off Monday through Friday and only hopping in on weekends. That's apparently helped drown out a lot of noise ... and so has completely nixing Twitter from her rotation.

Check it out ... she describes it as very toxic, and is realizing what a lot of users have about the bird platform in 2021.

There's more Hailey does to filter out unnecessary negativity on IG -- she explains how she limits her comments to just people she follows, from whom she knows she won't get any out-of-pocket/mean-spirited remarks just 'cause. She also says good old-fashioned therapy has helped her deal with relentless bullying.

Hailey also heaped praise on Justin for giving her great advice and much-needed perspective on how to look at these sorts of things ... seeing how he's been through this on the biggest stage.

Lindsey Vonn busts her ass in the gym ... so why not show it off on the beach?!

The Olympic skiing legend posed for a series of bikini pics taken during a recent vacation with some friends ... and she looks incredible.

"You can judge me if you want, but I’ve been working hard in the gym and taking care of me," Vonn said ... "So I’m going to post some bikini pics because I’m proud of myself."

36-year-old Vonn is still a gym-aholic, despite retiring from competitive skiing in 2019.

She's a regular client of celebrity fitness guru Gunnar Peterson -- who commented on the photos ... saying, "Oh Hell yes you are!!! Work work workED!!! Posting mine next!"

In fact, Vonn is such a fitness junkie, she posted a video working out in a beachfront gym from the same trip ... saying, "Working out on vacation. Doesn’t get much better."

Her pal and fellow gym nut Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson called her out for the lack of plates on her squat rack!

Britney Spears is going dark -- and "RED" -- with her recent Instagram posts ... but a disturbing black-and-white photo of a woman cradling a skull baby tops them all.

The singer's string of IG posts the past week has been baffling fans as she's been sharing photos of red objects -- lips, a refrigerator, gloves, and a kitten in a red drawer -- along with videos of herself dancing ... and captioning them "RED."

But, on Monday night she dropped this creepy Victorian era photo with a skull-faced baby and wrote ... "Devil is in the details."

She added ... "wouldn’t want this baby to hit me one more time!!!!" with some LOL emojis, an obvious reference to her 1998 hit, and one she found amusing.

Shortly afterward, Brit shared a dance vid of herself with the caption, "I'm an extremely wicked looking vampire but really that's the whole point !!!!"

In the vid, she's wearing the same outfit as similar RED-themed vids she's shared over the last 6 days.

The bizarre posts come as Britney fans are ramping up the #FreeBritney movement, and she's requesting changes in the ongoing legal battle over her conservatorship. She is NOT, however, requesting to end the conservatorship.

Some of her fans believe the posts are cryptic messages to the public about her life, while others believe they are simply indicators she's not well.

Abby Lee Miller says her dancing tip for Britney Spears was well-intentioned, and she thinks Brit would understand ... and Abby's offering more advice if she wants it!

The "Dance Moms" star tells TMZ ... she loves Britney and just wants her to be her best, which is why she critiqued the singer's video with "Close your rib cage!" ... a recommendation she says is pretty basic stuff in the dance world.

Abby explains she had much more to share, but decided to keep it simple because she knows Britney's going through a lot ... but she couldn't resist trying to help her a little bit.

Of course, Brit's fans didn't see it that way and went after Abby for her unsolicited advice ... but she insists she meant no harm.

The video seen 'round the world of a guy cruising on his skateboard and swigging Ocean Spray to Fleetwood Mac can officially (and digitally) be yours ... if you got the dough, and IF you're willing to do without one major component.

The guy who kicked off the 'Dreams' trend is Nathan Apodaca -- AKA Doggface -- and his manager tells us he's hawking his original 23-second long clip as a non-fungible token (NFT) on Rarible.com beginning Friday morning ... and he's opening the bids at a $500k minimum!!!

Here's the catch ... Nathan's video will be WITHOUT the Fleetwood Mac song that's now sorta the anthem to this video. He doesn't have the rights to sell that, so it'll just feature the original sound he shot on his iPhone -- which is ... kinda awk, but still cool we suppose.

The Ocean Spray logo will also be blurred for this sale ... 'cause Nate ain't got those rights either.

Still, if you want the footage all for yourself -- that's essentially what's up for grabs here. And, remember, NFTs are inherently valuable by nature ... they're one-of-a-kind assets that no one else has, so while half a mil might sound like a lot -- it could be worth the investment. Nathan partnered with CryptoCake to sell his NFT.

As for why he's doing this ... we're told the aftermath of him posting this video -- which has amassed tens of millions of views between TikTok and IG -- has been more than good to him ... as he's raked in big-time cash in merch and sponsorship deals, and he wants to spread the love by offering this clip to keep the good vibes going.

Here's Ben Simmons' best assist of the season so far ...

The Philadelphia 76ers star gifted his brother a brand new Audi for his birthday Tuesday ... and the pass off was so sweet, it brought big bro to tears!!!

Simmons recorded the whole thing on Instagram Live ... surprising his brother, Sean, in front of around 10,000 people who were watching on the live stream.

The video is super adorable ... Simmons walked toward his garage and told Sean, his older half-brother, "I got to show you something."

He then flipped around the camera -- and BOOM, brand-new Audi SUV!!!

"So, that's your car!" Ben told Sean. "I got you a car! It's yours, man! It's all yours, man!"

Sean was in complete shock ... and started laughing -- but a short time later, the tears started flowing!!!

"Why would you go and do something like that?!" Sean said, before thanking Ben over and over again.

The cutest part of the vid? Ben said he considered buying Sean a two-door, but got the bigger version to be "baby-friendly."

Simmons then joked about Sean's tears of joy ... screaming, "He's crying on the live!"

As for why Ben didn't hand-deliver the car himself -- the NBA point guard is currently under quarantine after he and teammate Joel Embiid reportedly came into close contact recently with someone who was COVID-19 positive.

Don't worry, Ben appears to be all good -- he's reportedly producing negative test results -- and could be back in time for Sunday's game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Britney Spears got some quality time in with her teenage sons ... and shared a rare photo of them all together as a memento.

Britney posted the pic Monday of her and her 2 boys -- 15-year-old Sean and 14-year-old Jayden -- standing in an open field together ... and she looks happy as can be.

She marveled at how big her kids are now and how time flies, saying ... "it's very hard for any mama especially a mama with boys seeing them grow up so fast !!!!"

Brit's also very proud of her sons, adding ... "I'm extremely lucky because my two babies are such gentleman and so kind that I must have done something right !!!!"

The singer says she hasn't posted any photos of Sean or Jayden in a while because -- well, they're teenagers -- but they let her post this one ... including an edited version with a more intense background.

As you know ... Britney's relationship with her sons -- who she had with Kevin Federline -- has been rocky at times, and Kevin has custody of them the majority of the time.

Rachel Lindsay has disabled her Instagram account because of what's described as a torrent of hate by members of Bachelor Nation.

As you know by now, Rachel's interview with Chris Harrison led to him stepping away from the show after he defended current contestant Rachael Kirkconnell over a photo taken 2 years ago where she attended an antebellum party.

Van Lathan, who co-hosts the 'Higher Learning' podcast with Lindsay, tore into her critics, saying "Y'all have got to get a f***ing life." As he puts it, "Rachel is not responsible for Chris Harrison, a 49-year-old man who can't read the room in these 2021 times."

Harry Styles is a rarity in Hollywood ... according to his director/GF Olivia Wilde, who's giving him props for gladly taking a backseat to female costars.

Olivia is applauding Harry for not trying to hog the spotlight in the upcoming film, "Don't Worry Darling." Olivia's directing it and explained, "Most male actors don't want to play supporting roles in female-led films."

Olivia added that Florence Pugh -- the lead in the psychological thriller -- gets to "hold center stage," and Harry was happy to let her do so.

The director says HS stands out because the industry raises guys "to believe it lessens their power (i.e. financial value) to accept these roles, which is one of the reasons it's hard to get financing for movies focusing on female stories."

Harry, who replaced Shia LaBeouf to play Jack in the 1950s flick set in California, is no stranger to championing women, in general. In a 2019 Rolling Stone interview, he credited growing up with women -- his mother and sister -- for his feminist values.

He also said he doesn't want credit for being a feminist ... but Olivia's happy to shout it from the rooftops for her guy.

Bam Margera acknowledged he needs help to treat his manic bipolar disorder ... one day after going on a "Jackass 4" boycott rant and opening up about suicidal tendencies.

The 'Jackass' star said he's visiting a bipolar specialist on Friday ... one day after, in his words, going "bat s**t bonkers f**king crazy." Bam said he didn't know for a year and a half whether he was going to be part of "Jackass 4" ... and it seems he got the answer he was looking for -- it's happening.

Bam said it's good news, for sure, and added that, in the end, everybody wins and there's no bad blood. This is a huge about-face after going on several rants Thursday morning ... from calling for a "Jackass 4" boycott to going into detail about having suicidal thoughts.

Bam posted 3 separate videos to Instagram, which have all since been deleted, claiming he had been shut out of "Jackass 4." Not the case, it seems.

Kim Kardashian is FUMING at folks questioning the authenticity of a painting she says her daughter made herself ... insisting it's the real deal, and people doubting it have way too much time on their hands.

KK is blasting critics of North's oil painting -- depicting a mountain, a river and a surrounding valley ... which drew comparisons of Bob Ross' artwork (and lots of jokes). But, there were also those who straight-up said North couldn't have done it on her own.

You can tell Kim's pissed from the get-go ... "DON’T PLAY WITH ME WHEN IT COMES TO MY CHILDREN!!!" Kim goes on to say North and her BFF have been taking high-skill oil painting classes lately, and just wrapped their art projects after weeks of hard work.

North's pal is Ryan Romulus, the daughter of Kim's good friend, Tracy Romulus. Tracy posted a photo of Ryan with her own oil painting of a wolf. Fans had zeroed in on Ryan's painting as well ... she also completed a nature landscape in the same class.

Anyway, Kim goes on to say this about "grown adults" who are taking shots at her daughter's ability ... "How dare you see children doing awesome things and then try to accuse them of NOT being awesome!?!?! Please stop embarrassing yourselves with the negativity and allow every child to be GREAT!!!"

JoJo Siwa and her GF are now IG official ... and just in time for their 1-month anniversary.

The YouTube star showed her GF, Kylie, on camera for the first time Monday with a series of pics and a video -- and to make it a proper introduction, she also tagged her in the post.

Now everyone can check out Kylie's Instagram, where she refers to herself as a "human golden retriever."

In her post, JoJo said, "After being my best friend for over a year, January 8th 2021 I got to start calling this exceptional human my Girlfriend." She added she's the happiest she's ever been and threw in an anniversary shout-out -- "Happy one month to my girl! I love you more and more everyday!"

As you can see from the pics ... it definitely looks like they enjoy each other's company, which apparently included a trip to Universal Studios on Christmas Day.