Kids

3:00 PM PDT: Peterson just sent a series of Tweets: "God Bless everyone and thank u so much. The NFL is a fraternity of brothers and I am thankful for the tweets, phone calls and text messages from my fellow players. Thank you to my family, my fans and fans of other teams for their support."

Adrian Peterson's 2-year-old son has died ... cops have confirmed.

Cops believe Peterson's son was severely beaten by 27-year-old Joseph Patterson, the man who was dating the mother of the NFL star's child.

As we reported, the mother of the child has decided to donate the child's organs to people in need.

The boy was on life support since 5:30 PM Thursday ... but his condition never improved ... so family members made the decision to take the child off the ventilator.

Sources tell TMZ .. Adrian was informed about the situation before the news went public.

We're told Peterson will be planning the funeral with other members of the boy's family.

Patterson was initially arrested in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for assault and battery of an infant -- and now, it's almost certain the charges will be elevated to murder.

Dear paparazzi: It may be okay to talk to Kanye West again ... at least based on this incredible video of KW chatting up photogs at a gas station.

What's amazing is that Kanye not only talked to a few paps ... he joked with them while filling up his Lambo today in Calabasas -- and then launched into an explanation for why he went ballistic on that photog at LAX back in July.

Yeezy claims Daniel Ramos set him up by antagonizing him ... and it just happened to go down right after he learned his grandfather was dying.

Kanye's been charged with criminal battery and attempted grand theft for the incident.

But there's a ton more he talks about ... like being fearful his daughter will have to deal with the media frenzy that follows him. He even tells the paps, "We in this together."

10:16 AM PT -- Multiple sources tell TMZ ... Peterson's son is currently on life support and hasn't had brain activity since 5:30 PM last night.

We're told the family is monitoring the situation closely, and if there is no improvement in 24 hours, the mother wants to remove life support and donate the boy's organs to people in need.

10:00 AM PT -- Adrian Peterson's father has confirmed ... the injured boy is, in fact, Adrian's son ... but it's NOT Adrian Peterson Jr.

The Pioneer Press spoke with Nelson Peterson ... who says, "All I can say is, we are asking for prayers and for respect for our family as we deal with this tragic situation."

8:41 AM PT -- Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell TMZ ... the injured child is Adrian's son, but it's not Adrian Peterson Jr., the child he's been famously photographed with in public over the years.

We reached out to Peterson's reps -- but so far, we have not heard back.

Adrian Peterson's 2-year-old son is currently in critical condition in a South Dakota hospital ... after he was allegedly severely beaten by the man dating the mother of his child, TMZ has learned.

The Minnesota Vikings running back immediately left his team to be with his son.

Officials tell us they've arrested the suspect, 27-year-old Joseph Patterson ... who's been charged with aggravated felony assault and battery of an infant.

According to law enforcement, emergency responders arrived to the apartment where Peterson's son was living at 5:46 PM on Wednesday ... and found the child unresponsive.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital and medical experts determined the injuries were consistent with abuse.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the child suffered severe head injuries.

Adrian Peterson just addressed the media ... and thanked everyone for their support in the wake of the terrible tragedy involving his 2-year-old son.

Adrian told reporters he's dealing with the situation privately ... but insisted he WILL be playing with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

We broke the story ... Adrian's 2-year-old was severely beaten by the boyfriend of the child's mother.

The suspect was arrested for assault and battery.

The Jenners are one big, happy separated family -- and Kris Jenner went out of her way to prove it by taking family pics at home Thursday night.

Bruce Jenner, along with his sons Brandon and Brody, grinned and posed for a pic with Kris -- which she promptly posted on Instagram with the caption, "Another amazing night."

Momager Kris made no bones about it ... the warm and fuzzy moment was engineered as a response to TMZ.

She concluded her Instagram post with a hashtag that read, "SorryTMZ got it wrong AGAIN."

Sorry Kris, you know we got it right.

As we reported, sources connected to the family say Brody and Brandon have been reconnecting with their father since he separated from Kris and moved to Malibu. We're also told the boys partially blamed Kris for the fact Bruce neglected them for most of the last 20 years.

In fact, things were so bad, Bruce often would not even call the boys on their birthdays.

Kris' IG caption continued, "Too fun I love you guys!!! Best hearts."

Brody also posted a pic. Eat your heart out Norman Rockwell.

Joe Scarborough -- host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" -- quietly divorced his wife of 12 years back in January ... TMZ has learned.

The 50-year-old former Florida congressman filed the divorce docs in Connecticut back in September 2012 ... seeking to end his marriage to Susan Waren, a former aide to FL Gov. Jeb Bush. The two were married in 2001.

The former couple have 2 minor children together -- a 10-year-old and a 5-year-old.

There have been rumors for years that Scarborough has a thing for his "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski (who is married btw). And the sexual tension between the two is so apparent, they addressed it during a media event in 2009 ... denying having any sort of romantic feelings for each other.

It's not Scarborough's first brush with divorce -- the conservative pundit ended his 1st marriage to Melanie Hinton back in 1999 after 13 years together. Joe and Melanie had 2 children together, who are now adults.

Bruce Jenner is a simple man who likes simple things, and Kris is the exact opposite, which is why, according to a very connected family source, Bruce finally said, "F**k this s**t" and he moved to Malibu.

Several family sources all confirm ... Bruce has always been "a simple man" who likes 3 things -- golf, racing cars and RC helicopters. He has always shunned the "Hollywood life" and it makes him extremely uncomfortable.

Kris -- in case you didn't know -- is ambitious ... some say to a fault. One family source put it this way: "She's on a freight train and Bruce finally wanted off."

We're told Kris wasn't the one who wanted Bruce to move out, because it wasn't good for the show or the Kardashian brand. It was Bruce who just got sick of it. It wasn't that he was bossed around or got into big fights with Kris -- it's just that he wasn't happy around her.

Aside from his hobbies, Bruce is now obsessed with re-establishing a relationship with his sons, Brandon and Brody, who were raised by their mom Linda Thompson and her then hubby David Foster. We're told Bruce and his boys now have "an adult relationship" and are finally getting along -- and that's what is making him happy.

Casey Kasem is mainly bedridden with advanced Parkinson's disease, only able to "shuffle short distances" and may have the early onset of dementia ... this according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ.

The docs were filed by Julie, one of Casey's 3 kids from his first marriage, asking a judge to create a conservatorship and give her and her husband the power to control Casey's health care decision.

Julie says in the papers that Casey's wife of 33 years, Jean, has isolated Casey from his kids. Julie says Jean won't even allow Casey's kids to talk with them by phone.

Julie claims she currently has a power of attorney to make health care decisions for Casey, and that should give more than enough authority to have contact with him.

TMZ broke the story ... Casey's kids claim Jean has not allowed them any contact with their dad for 3 months.

How do you know you're shopping for pumpkins in Beverly Hills?? When the pumpkin patch offers VALET PARKING ... just ask Halle Berry's husband.

With Halloween right around the corner (that came quick, didn't it?) Olivier Martinez took 5-year-old Nahla hunting for jack-o-lanterns yesterday at the fancy Mr. Bones' Pumpkin Patch in the B.H.

As for Halle, she didn't make the trek -- probably because she's still taking it easy after giving birth to her son Maceo on Saturday.

But Olivier didn't have to clumsily lug Nahla's pumpkin all the way back to the car like most people do -- they just had to wait in the valet line for someone to pull their car around for them.

Gotta love L.A. ...

Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez went back more than a thousand years to find a name for their new baby ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... Halle and Olivier named their son MACEO ROBERT MARTINEZ.

The name was popular in the 9th through the 14th century.

As for the meaning of Maceo -- Gift of God.

The name is Spanish in origin. Olivier's dad is Spanish. As for Robert -- that's the first name of Olivier's dad.

The current version of Maceo is Matteo or Matthew.

So bottom line -- the name is all about Olivier.

TMZ has obtained an EXPLOSIVE document in the mystery behind Johnny Lewis' alleged love child -- the birth certificate which shows the "Sons of Anarchy" star was listed as the kid's dad.

We broke the story ... Johnny -- who died following a murderous rampage back in 2012 -- believed he fathered a baby girl in 2010 with Diane Gaeta ... an actress who once appeared on "Sons."

But after he died, Johnny's father filed court documents DISPUTING Johnny's belief -- claiming Johnny had NO offspring and therefore his entire estate should be divided amongst his parents.

Now, TMZ has unearthed the birth certificate, which was filed in California -- and it lists Johnny as the father. The document was also signed by Diane.

The document could play a HUGE role in the division of Johnny's estate -- because, if the judge finds that Johnny is, in fact, the little girl's father ... his entire estate would go to her.

Stay tuned ...

Kylie Jenner, Lil Twist, and Diddy’s son, Christian are already rich and famous ... but they're set to become even richer --and famous-er -- thanks to Diddy's new television network.

Here's the plan. Kylie, Twist and Christian will become the centerpiece of the 24-hour music channel, called Revolt -- it's kind of old school MTV. They'll do promos, appear on the various shows and build up hype with social media.

We're told Diddy is also eying one of Quincy Jones' kids.

Diddy is actually copying what Oprah did with OWN, although that was kind of a pain in the ass for her.

So the rich get richer, and the famous get ... famous-er.

Here's Jack Osbourne's baby daughter Pearl on the left ... and the kid's grandfather on the right.

Neither one of them can form a complete sentence.

We're just sayin' ...

Olympic hurdler Lashinda Demus -- who won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics -- says her husband tried to strangle her and threatened to kill her ... and she's now desperate for protection ... TMZ has learned.

Demus just got a temporary restraining order against her husband, Jamel Mayrant -- who was arrested and jailed a couple of weeks ago for domestic violence. She claims the attack left her with bruises and a lump on her head.

The restraining order also protects their twin 6-year-old boys and her parents -- because she claims he threatened all of them as well.

Demus also claims her husband is trashing her and damaging her career, saying in court docs, "I'm a professional athlete ... so I need no derogatory emails, pictures, texts, phone calls released about me on the web or to other people."