Kids

Great news for Devon Still and his family -- the ex-NFL player's daughter, Leah, is IN THE CLEAR after doctors feared her recent medical scans showed signs of cancer.

BOOM!!!

You know her story ... Leah has bravely battled and "beat up cancer" ever since she was diagnosed with stage-4 neuroblastoma in June of 2014. She's been cancer-free for 4 years.

But recently, doctors found something suspicious during one of her checkups -- and ran several tests to see if her cancer had returned.

Devon had asked for prayers for Leah and the family -- and this week, they got the good news ... IT'S NOT CANCER!!

Still documented the whole process on his YouTube channel. It's a raw experience, especially when he asks Leah if she's willing to fight cancer again, to which she responds:

"Yeah, I will. It's just that I don't want to lose my life."

Leah was a champ throughout the entire MIBG scan procedure -- which, according to the Cleveland Clinic, is "used for localization of known or suspected neuroectodermally derived tumors."

The Stills got the best news this week ... and Devon let Leah adorably share the awesome update.

"Guess what, guys? We got good news. Uh huh! The scans were clear. Mhm! Thank you, everybody, for praying for me."

The man charged in the kidnapping of 13-year-old Jayme Closs and the murder of her parents showed his face in court Monday, as cops said he planned the crime for weeks.

21-year-old Jake Patterson appeared by video in a Wisconsin courthouse. He did not enter a plea and his bail was set at $5 million. According to the criminal complaint ... Patterson made up his mind to abduct Jayme when he saw her getting on a school bus.

According to prosecutors, Patterson said, "He knew that was the girl he was going to take." He allegedly went to the Closs' home twice before Jayme's parents were killed and she was kidnapped on Oct. 15. The last time was one week prior, and he was scared off because the family had several guests.

According to docs, Patterson shot Jayme's father at the front door while she and her mother hid in the bathroom. He eventually broke down the bathroom door, bound and gagged Jayme, then fatally shot her mother.

While she was held captive, Jayme says Patterson made her hide under his twin-sized bed if he had any guests. She said his father frequently visited. She also says Patterson threatened, "bad things would happen to her" if she let anyone know she was there.

Closs was able to escape her captor last week about 70 miles north of her Wisconsin hometown. She says Patterson told her he was leaving for 5 hours, and when he did, she pushed the barbells and weighted totes he used to keep her under the bed ... slipped on a pair of his shoes and fled his house.

As you know, a neighbor found her wandering and called police. Jayme was reunited with her aunt, and Patterson was arrested shortly afterward.

Jada Pinkett Smith says she fended off potential creepers from Willow at a young age -- and in light of "Surviving R. Kelly" ... she seems grateful she did.

Jada released another episode of "Red Table Talk" Monday, which continued a conversation with alleged R. Kelly victim Lisa Van Allen who explained why she gravitated toward the singer. She says the fact she was orphaned played into her embracing him.

It's just as emotional as their last segment, with tears being shed in recounting her experience.

At one point in the convo, Jada reveals she had to have some serious talks with Willow as a young teen -- Willow's now 18 -- to warn her about the dangers of the world, and people who might want to take advantage of her. She says she told Willow she couldn't be alone with certain people, no matter how close Willow thought she was with them.

Chrissy Teigen's throwing a birthday bash for her hubby John Legend tonight, and she's asking for help from her fans on what to wear ... for her son.

Chrissy shared a couple beyond adorable shots of the couple's 7-month-old son Miles in a black tuxedo and a white one, adding ... "need your help dressing mini-john. Which one!"

She also added a poll -- which as of now has nearly 400,000 votes -- and the baby white tux is ahead big time with 67 percent.

John's 40th bday was actually in late December, but the family's celebrating Saturday night ... and there's no doubt Miles' outfit will be a hit.

R. Kelly is rationalizing his daughter's powerful condemnation of his behavior -- he believes his ex-wife cooked it all up, despite the fact he's been estranged from their child for years.

Sources close to R. Kelly say ... the R&B singer isn't upset with Joann Lee Kelly for breaking her silence and calling him a "monster," because he thinks his daughter was only parroting her mother, Drea Kelly's views. We're told he feels Drea's brainwashed all 3 of their kids into hating him.

Although our sources say Kelly loves and misses his kids, he seems to be ignoring the reality -- that he has no relationship with them -- and hasn't for some time now.

Kelly did have a musical collab in 2015 with Joann, who is a talented singer -- but we're told he thinks Drea drove a wedge between them after that, because she was furious Joann had been in the studio with him.

We're told Drea brought their kids to an R. Kelly concert in Atlanta a couple years ago, but since then he's had little contact with them, and he has no clue why things switched up.

However, anyone who's seen "Surviving R. Kelly" knows exactly how Drea feels about her ex ... and it ain't good. Worth nothing, Drea told us earlier this month she's open to Kelly reaching out to the kids because they're all adults now and free to make their own choices.

North West is not your average kid ... she put on her Sunday best for a Friday night out at one of the glitziest restaurants in all of L.A.!

North joined Aunt Kourtney Kardashian and Grandma Kris Jenner in WeHo for a meal at Craig's. Check out what looks like a $1,000 Fendi tracksuit and $400 Fendi slides.

Corey Gamble, who's becoming a longtime BF of Kris, was also on hand but no sign of Kim or Kanye.

Tekashi69 is ghosting his kid since getting locked up -- making no attempt to reach out to her, according to the child's mother.

We got Sara Molina, 6ix9ine's baby mama, out in NYC and she says it's been radio silence since the feds took the rapper into custody, and he was indicted on racketeering charges. As we first reported, his 3-year-old daughter, Saraiyah, didn't get any Christmas presents from dear ol' dad.

That might be understandable -- since he's behind bars -- but Tekashi's GF, Jade, got to unwrap a G-Wagon. She also got a Rolex for her 22nd birthday. Sooo ... not a great look for him with the fam.

The fact he was all cozied up with Jade during a recent visit ... has also gotta sting for Sara.

You'll recall, just last October Tekashi seemed to be embracing his role as Saraiyah's papa. A lot's changed since then -- but still, Sara stopped short of trashing her baby daddy.

In fact, she has some advice for him on how best to use his time in lockup. Hint: It doesn't involve handsy photo ops with Jade.

R. Kelly's estranged daughter has broken her silence with a powerful statement condemning the singer ... and strongly implies she and her family have also been abused by him.

Joann Lee Kelly -- aka Buku Abi -- shared a long, thoughtful message on Instagram Thursday, apologizing for taking so long to say something, explaining she's been searching for the right words for days.

Abi expresses sympathy and devastation for all of the women who've been allegedly victimized by her father, and makes it clear that she, her mother and siblings don't condone any of his negative behavior -- past or present.

She also suggests for that reason, she and her family have not had any relationship with Kelly for years, saying ... "Going through all I have gone through in my life, I would never want anyone to feel the pain I have felt."

Buku adds ... "The same monster you all confronting me about is my father. I am well aware of who and what he is. I grew up in that house."

Kelly's daughter says she's chosen to stay out of the spotlight because it's better for her healing process, and the constant reminders of "how terrible my father is" aren't good for her ... so she has to do what's best for herself.

We spoke with Buku back in April about allegations against her dad -- and she didn't say much -- her attitude has clearly changed.

As you know, Kelly's surrounded by controversy and allegations of sexual abuse and predatory behavior in the wake of Lifetime's docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly."

Shaquille O'Neal says the shooting death of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes is such a sad tragedy, he couldn't imagine the family having to raise money for the funeral ... and that's why he stepped in.

"With something that terrible to have happened, I don't want people to have to worry about trying to raise a few thousand to pay for a funeral," Shaq explained.

As we previously reported, huge stars like Shaq and Houston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins opened their wallets to help out Jazmine's family after she was senselessly shot and killed during a morning drive with her family.

Jazmine -- along with her mother and sisters -- were going on a coffee run in Houston around 7 AM on Dec. 30 when two men in a pickup truck pulled up next to the car and opened fire.

Jazmine was killed. Her mother was shot but survived. Her sisters were wounded by shattered glass.

Jazmine was laid to rest on Tuesday at the Community of Faith Church in Houston in front of roughly 1,000 mourners.

Cops have arrested the two suspects.

By the way, this isn't the first time Shaq has reached into his pockets to help a family in need -- we've covered a bunch of stories over the years featuring the ex-NBA star using his own funds to help people.

It helps that he reportedly made more than $280 mil during his NBA career -- but also, he continues to work his ass off.

In fact, Shaq recently signed a deal to become the global ambassador for Zyppah -- a product that helps people who suffer from sleep apnea.

Tyrese's daughter is now allowed to bend it like Beckham, after a judge ordered that she can.

Tyrese and ex-wife Norma Gibson were in a fight over whether 11-year-old Shayla can enroll in her school's soccer program.

Tyrese had refused, saying her grades weren't up to snuff and she should focus on academics. Norma countered Shayla is "emotionally devastated" she's not allowed to play, adding her grades are good enough. Norma says it got to the point where Shayla "cries, feels humiliated and does not want to go to school."

The judge ruled Norma can enroll Shayla in the soccer program. When Shayla is in Tyrese's custody, however, the judge says he does not have to let her play.

The judge wants to hear more on the subject next month.

This isn't the first argument of its kind. Back in October, Norma wanted Shayla to play basketball but Tyrese refused. He eventually relented. Norma claims Tyrese also refused to let Shayla participate in a school play, saying it costs too much money. He agreed to let her do it when Norma agreed to pay half.

Tyrese says he never objected to Shayla participating in the school play, especially because it was within school hours. The sports programs, however, are after school and he wanted Shayla to spend that time with tutors.

And, there's more. According to Norma's docs, there was a school field trip to a downtown eatery and Shayla was on the bus when Tyrese had her taken off the bus.

DJ Khaled is steadily showing his kid the major keys of life and success -- one of which is exercise, and papa bear is happily demonstrating for his tyke.

The hip-hop mogul was spotted at his Miami home giving 2-year-old Asahd a lesson in health and wellness as they meditated and planked outside near their pool.

Granted, it looks like Asahd was a bit more interested in just good old-fashioned playtime ... but we'll give Khaled props for setting the example on alternative fitness techniques. The father and son eventually started kicking around a soccer ball in the grass.

We already know Khaled's about that fit life -- as he's shown us time and again on Snapchat and elsewhere -- so it's good to see him passing on good habits to his boy.

Layzie Bone's getting dragged to court in a new paternity case ... TMZ has learned.

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has filed a paternity complaint against the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rapper (government name, Steven Howse) on behalf of the baby's mother, Shateira Marketa Childress.

The baby's name is Sevyn Isreal Childress-Howse ... born in May 2018. The date of conception is listed as September 2017. The Department of Health and Human Services is looking to establish Layzie as the father in order to determine how much dough the rapper will have to fork over in child support.

It's interesting ... back in 2013, a different woman claimed in a paternity suit Layzie was the father of her one-and-a-half-year-old child, and it turned out she was right.

Chief Keef has a serious case of '90s nostalgia, and a high-priced way of dealing with it ... because the rapper just threw down a ton of cash to turn his home into a real-life comic strip.

We're told Chief reached out to Idiot Box Art owners Emily Bright and Tamara Martin over the weekend to purchase a bunch of art inspired by '90s TV shows -- specifically cartoons. The collection is an homage to "The Simpsons," "The Smurfs" and "Rugrats" ... and it's valued at $40k.

As you can see, Keef is hanging up some of the new art in his son's room ... and we're told his daughter's room is getting decked out too.

All the works are made of hand-cut wood, covered with acrylic paint and finished with a coat of resin. The pieces range in size from 2 to 15 feet high.

We're told Chief also commissioned a few cartoon versions of himself because ... why not?

Devon Still says he's rooting hard for Marvin Lewis to get another shot to coach in the NFL -- telling TMZ Sports he'll always be grateful to Lewis for helping to save his daughter's life.

Remember, it was Lewis who kept Still on the Cincinnati Bengals roster back in 2014 when his daughter Leah was battling cancer ... so she could keep the team health insurance coverage.

The story made national news -- and people from all over the country bought Still's Bengals jersey to show their support for Devon, Leah and the Bengals organization. It was an amazing thing.

The good news ... we got Still out in New York with 8-year-old Leah -- who's been cancer-free for 4 YEARS! It's an amazing story and Devon tells us he'll always be grateful for his former coach.

"He did a lot for me and my family during a time where I really couldn't do nothing for that organization," Still says ... "So, I definitely want to see him fall on his feet."

Lewis got the ax in Cinci last month after 16 years with the organization. The 60-year-old has suggested that he wants to continue coaching.

Still has chronicled Leah's battle in his new book "Still In the Game" -- in which he describes how he handled the pain and stress of watching his daughter fight for her life.

"I basically wanted to share my playbook that I taught my daughter how to beat cancer with, so people can overcome the struggles they're facing in their life."

A teenage girl who kicked cancer's ass 3 times got the surprise of a lifetime when Chad Michael Murray showed up unannounced during an interview she was giving ... and the meeting was super emotional.

Alex, who beat 3 different types of cancer by the time she turned 18, was flown out to Los Angeles right before Christmas to appear on the "Just Between Us" podcast with Bailee Madison and Kaitlin Vilasuso for an episode on real-life superheroes ... and Bailee surprised her guest by arranging for Chad to come through.

Alex had shared in the past that watching "One Tree Hill" helped her get through chemo, so Bailee recruited Chad to make his surprise appearance.

Check out the clip ... Alex is equal parts shocked and thrilled when Chad walks into the room. There are hugs, screams and lots of happy tears.