Kids

Michael Jackson put on a cheap disguise to go shopping for jewelry with a young boy back in 1989, and it turns out the child was James Safechuck.

Surveillance video from a Zales in Simi Valley showed Jackson wearing a costume that included a phony mustache, fake teeth and a wig. Security thought he looked suspicious and actually stopped Jackson, thinking he was going to rob the store. Several media outlets covered the story back then because it was Michael Jackson getting questioned as a potential thief.

TMZ has confirmed the boy in the video is Safechuck. No one knew that at the time, and the child was barely mentioned in any of the reports about Jackson being stopped by security.

A report from when the story first broke said Michael only purchased toys and some sunglasses that day.

It's interesting because in the HBO documentary, "Leaving Neverland" ... Safechuck talks about the "engagement ring" he says Jackson bought for him. We're told the purchase didn't happen during this trip to the store.

8:15 AM PT -- The hearing just ended, and R. Kelly's lawyer says there's been no change in child support yet. He says they're setting a new court date to argue the matter.

R. Kelly's back in a court of law, shooting his shot with the judge in his child support case.

The singer and his legal team made their way into the Chicago court Wednesday morning, hoping to score a reduction in his monthly payments to his ex-wife, Drea Kelly.

As you know, Kelly was arrested last week, and sat in jail until he coughed up $161,633 ... the back child support he owed Drea.

Kelly was supposed to be paying Drea $20,833 per month as of January 2009 but he fell way off schedule last year. Sources close to the singer told us he scraped together the $161k with the help of a "benefactor."

As we reported ... Kelly's camp says the singer got into a huge fight with Drea back in 2017 and, after that, she didn't allow their daughter and 2 sons to talk to him.

Drea calls BS ... saying Kelly cut her off as a means of controlling her when she spoke out publicly about him allegedly abusing her.

Ultimately, the child support is the lesser of Kelly's legal issues right now -- with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse in Cook County hanging over his head.

Lori Loughlin's "Full House" and "Fuller House" co-stars John Stamos and Jodie Sweetin are rallying around her ... in maybe the only way they can for now on the heels of her indictment in the college bribery scandal.

We got Uncle Jesse leaving Madeo Tuesday night in Bev Hills -- where our camera guy, of course, asked him about his TV love interest getting busted for allegedly committing bribery and fraud to get her kids into college.

John whipped out a "no comment" real quick, and even though he flashed a peace sign before driving off -- with a sweet doggy bag, BTW -- it's still clear Lori's castmates are concerned.

We got Jodie Tuesday afternoon right after she flew into LAX. She seemed even more upset than John when we asked if she was surprised by the news. Of course she is.

A lot of stunned silence from Lori's pals ... which is kinda how many of her fans feel.

2:15 PM PT -- Wade's attorney says the tweet that has Aaron so pissed off ... did NOT come from Wade. His lawyer tells us the Twitter account was a fake, and adds Wade has been targeted by "several fraudulent postings and hackings" since 'Neverland' aired.

Aaron Carter wants to fist fight Wade Robson for the allegations he's making about Michael Jackson in "Leaving Neverland."

Aaron was on "TMZ Live" Monday to defend MJ's legacy. Aside from the accusations Wade made in the documentary -- which Aaron passionately believes to be false -- he's pissed about a tweet that he says dragged him into the conversation.

It came from an account purportedly belonging to Wade and strongly implies Aaron was either molested by MJ, or knew he was abusing other children.

Aaron says nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to his own personal experience with Michael.

The two of them used to hang out quite a bit back in the day when Aaron was a teen.

Aaron tells us he too has slept in Michael's bedroom, but assures us nothing inappropriate ever happened. He feels the 'Neverland' accusers are lying -- especially Wade -- because they had every opportunity to come forward while Michael was alive, but didn't.

In fact, both Wade and James Safechuck have previously denied Michael Jackson abused them as youngsters. Wade continued to support Michael well into adulthood as well, even testifying on his behalf in MJ's 2005 criminal case.

As Aaron puts it, they're stomping on an icon's grave ... who doesn't have a chance to defend himself now.

2:58 PM PT -- The Harris County Coroner's Office just listed Foreman's death as "asphyxia by hanging."

George Foreman's daughter, Freeda Foreman, died of an apparent suicide -- and based on the evidence surrounding her demise ... it appears she hanged herself.

A spokesperson for the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office in Texas -- the same county where Freeda was found dead over the weekend -- tells TMZ ... early indications are that Freeda's cause of death was an apparent suicide.

A final determination on the cause of death will be made by a coroner, but law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation tell us that Freeda appears to have died by asphyxiation. Seeing how no foul play is suspected, all signs point to a hanging.

Unlike her father, Freeda had a short-lived boxing career ... having appeared in only 6 bouts and winning 5 of them. She retired with a 5-1 record after her first loss in 2001. George reportedly paid her to quit boxing 'cause he wasn't happy about her being in the ring.

Freeda is survived by her husband, two daughters, 3 grandchildren and 11 siblings.

She was 42 years old. RIP

R. Kelly is rationalizing his decision to stop paying child support -- claiming his ex-wife set the ball in motion by turning their children against him.

Sources close to R. Kelly tell us the singer was absolutely lashing out at Drea Kelly when he quit writing child support checks ... a move that ultimately landed him in Cook County jail.

We're told Kelly feels like he tried to maintain a relationship with his 3 kids, but he blames Drea for ruining any chance of that. He's said he thinks she brainwashed them.

Of course, Kelly's revenge move is incredibly warped logic -- punishing your ex by cutting off the money needed to help your kids.

We broke the story ... Kelly owes Drea over $160k in back child support, and he was begging the court for a reduction so he could get out of jail. Of course, Kelly coughed up the bare minimum -- $161,633 -- on Saturday and walked out of jail a free man again.

Sources close to the singer tell us he scraped the cash together with the help of a "benefactor." He assured his fans Saturday that "we're gonna straighten all this out."

As we've reported ... Kelly was supposed to be paying Drea $20,833 per month as of January 2009 -- but he fell way off schedule last year.

R. Kelly's camp says the singer got into a huge fight when he last saw Drea back in 2017 ... and after that, we're told she changed her phone number and didn't allow their daughter and 2 sons to talk to him.

Drea paints a much different picture. She told us Kelly cut her off as a means of controlling her when she first spoke publicly about him allegedly abusing her. She also insists he's the one who changed his phone number.

This should silence the Conor McGregor haters riding him for taking L after L ... 'cause he just won, arguably, his toughest fight yet -- a crying kid in the freakin' Everglades!

Conor and his GF, Dee Devlin, took Conor Jr. out for a swamp tour Saturday on those cool airboats. Probably seemed like a great idea for a family outing, but looks like the 1-year-old tyke wasn't having it.

Conor's kid burst into tears over something -- alligator, hunger or the blazing heat and humidity -- but rather than pack it in for the day, the Notorious One sprung into daddy mode.

Little sunscreen, pat on the head from Dad and Junior was good to go.

It's another 'W' for Conor, fresh off clearing up his criminal case in NYC. TMZ Sports broke the story ... Conor completed his community service by doing manual labor at 2 Brooklyn churches. Maybe he learned a little patience too.

In any event, McGregor's in a great mood. He joked he was "hunting gators today" before heading out on the bayou ... and got in a sparring session with his kid.

Luke Perry's loved ones -- including his ex-wife and his fiancee -- all came together Friday night, 5 days after his tragic death from a stroke.

Luke's son, 21-year-old Jack, had dinner in Studio City, CA with his mother, Rachel "Minnie" Sharp and Luke's fiancee, Wendy Madison Bauer. The blond woman in the hoodie appears to be a friend of Luke's daughter, Sophie. It's unclear if she was at the dinner.

The blended fam broke bread at a restaurant near to Luke's home.

The family, no doubt, discussed funeral arrangements. There are reports the '90210' and "Riverdale" star will be laid to rest in L.A. Forest Lawn Cemetery.

As we reported, Jack -- a pro wrestler who goes by Jungle Boy in the ring -- has taken a break from work to be with his family.

Sophie posted a tribute to her dad this week ... after she rushed back from Malawi to be by his side before he passed.

Luke and Rachel were married for 10 years before they divorced in 2003, and had joint custody of their kids. It was clear at the dinner that Rachel and Wendy -- who'd been with Luke for several years -- have a good relationship too.

Jack Osbourne won't pay spousal support in his divorce, but he is making a one-time payment of $1 million dollars to his ex, Lisa.

TMZ broke the story ... the judge finalized Lisa and Jacks's divorce earlier this week, but newly released docs reveal details of their settlement. For instance, Lisa gets the $1 mil settlement tax-free ... and Jack already paid her $300k. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, he loaned it to her last year to buy a house.

She also gets the ex-couple's 2017 Audi Q7 and full ownership of her companies, Raddestmom, LLC and Fancy Sprinkles, Inc.

And, it's clear Jack treasures his artworks. According to the docs, he will keep 17 pieces that were gifts from his folks, Sharon and Ozzy. The art includes 2 Banksys valued at more than $165k and 2 Andy Warhols -- including the Campbell Soup Apron -- worth nearly $49k.

Total value of the artworks is $346k. Beyond that, Jack also gets all of his production companies.

They're sharing legal and physical custody of their 3 kids -- and Jack will pay $7,000 per month in child support. Also, neither of them can post anything on social media about their relationship ... and they also can't write books, movies or TV productions about each other.

All in all, it's a pretty amicable split ... at least now.

Kylie Jenner's getting some love from her, no doubt, incredibly proud papa -- as they celebrate her huge financial milestone with a fancy dinner in Malibu.

Caitlyn Jenner hugged it out with her daughter Friday night outside Nobu. We're guessing they hooked up to raise a glass to Kylie for officially reaching billionaire status, according to Forbes ... at just 21 years old. Yes, she's also the world's youngest self-made billionaire ever.

The father-daughter dinner came complete with a third wheel -- Caitlyn's partner, Sophia Hutchins, and the loving family scene at the end of the meal raises just one question.

We've all been there ... that awkward moment when you're a working adult and go out to dinner with a parent. WHO picks up the check??

Y'know Caitlyn had to offer -- after all, her net worth is reportedly an estimated, and totally respectable, $100 mil. She's used to paying, but maybe juuust this once ... ya let the kid slap down her black card.

Rasheed Wallace is in for a world of annoyance at his new job as a high school hoops coach ... this according to his fellow ex-NBAer, Kenyon Martin ... who says kids don't listen to a damn thing nowadays.

Sheed was officially announced as the next head coach at Jordan HS in Durham, NC on Friday ... and when we got K-Mart at LAX, he had some slightly bad news for Wallace.

"It's gonna be tough, but I wish him all the best," Martin tells us.

Why exactly??? Kenyon -- whose son is a prodigy at Sierra Canyon in California -- has been around youngins since his boy has been playing ... and says they all have one thing in common.

SHEEEED!!!!

Rasheed Wallace has a new gig -- he's been hired as the head basketball coach at Jordan High School in Durham, NC!!

The ex-NBA star was announced at a news conference (inside the school's library!) Friday morning ... donning a royal blue blazer and smiling from ear-to-ear.

"It's a great day to be a Falcon," Sheed said Friday.

Of course, Sheed has ties to Durham ... he was a superstar at North Carolina for 2 years, making the Final Four in 1995.

Wallace went on to have a great 16-year NBA career ... winning a title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 and making the All-Star team 4 different times.

It'll be a rebuild for Wallace .. he's taking on a team that went 7-17 this past season, according to MaxPreps.

Sheed had MANY memorable moments during his time in the Association -- who can forget BALL DON'T LIE?!?!?

Worth noting ... Wallace ranks in the top 5 in technical fouls in NBA history, so here's hoping he keeps his chill on the sidelines.

R. Kelly says he's short on cash and running out of options, so he's going to try a new tactic -- beg the court to cut him a financial break.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ ... the singer planned to file a motion Monday to reduce the amount of money he owes his ex-wife, Drea Kelly, in back child support. Once filed, the judge would review the case and issue a ruling, but that could take several days. There's also no guarantee the judge would grant a reduction.

That was Kelly's initial plan. Plan B, we're told, is trying to scrape together the $161k through the assistance of others -- not unlike the woman who paid the $100k to bail him out last month.

If he can make that happen, there's a chance he could get out of Cook County jail on Friday.

As we reported ... Kelly was arrested Wednesday for failing to come up with the child support money. He's stuck in a jail cell until he can pay the ordered amount -- $161,633.

Kelly publicly blamed his ex for his failure to pay child support during his CBS interview, claiming her "lies" about his abuse are the reason he can't make any dough.

He also claims he's trying to reconnect with his kids, but sources close to the situation say that's BS ... he hasn't even reached out to his family in well over a year.

12:02 PM PT -- We've now learned Gloria Allred will represent the woman who made claims Kelly sexually abused her at just 13 years old in Detroit ... police are looking into the accusations.

The victim tells us, "Listening to R. Kelly's denials about what he did to underage girls like me was very hurtful. He needs to tell the truth and he needs to stop playing the victim. He was the adult and I was the child. He has no right to take advantage of me when I was only a 13-year-old child."

R. Kelly's ex-wife claims his abusive ways didn't end when they got divorced ... she says he tried to control her by cutting her off from child support.

A rep for Drea Kelly tells TMZ ... the embattled singer knew EXACTLY where to hit Drea where it hurt her most after she spoke out in June 2018 -- on a show called "Sister Circle Live" -- and alleged he'd been physically and mentally abusive during their marriage.

We're told the singer -- who has 3 kids with Drea -- had sporadically been paying child support, but lo and behold ... the payments completely stopped after her interview aired on TV.

Drea's team says her career took a hard hit after she had her first kid -- Kelly wanted her to be a stay-at-home mom, set strict rules for her and insisted she only work for him. When the marriage hit rock bottom ... she was a single mother without a job.

That control didn't stop after they split -- Drea says Kelly's unwillingness to take care of his kids was a form of control because he knew damn well she needed his financial support.

She says sometimes he would pay in full, sometimes late and sometimes nothing at all. Bottom line ... she never knew how much, if any, money they'd have to live on.

As for Kelly dumping all his problems on Drea -- she says that's a load of crap.

Although he ranted to CBS that he can't make money because of her abuse allegations, Drea points out the #MuteRKelly movement started well over a year before she spoke out.

Serena Williams says the pro tennis ranking system is "biased" against working moms -- and she's living proof -- claiming she took a HUGE hit for taking maternity leave and it's simply not right.

"When I returned to tennis from maternity leave, I was penalized for taking time off: my ranking dropped from #1 in the world to #453," Serena wrote in an op-ed for Fortune.

"That required me to face tougher competition earlier in the French Open, which led to a pectoral injury that forced me to drop out."

Serena gave birth to her daughter, Olympia, back in Sept. 2017 -- but there were complications which required Serena to undergo emergency surgery following the delivery.

Everyone is okay now ... and Serena returned to tennis 8 months after giving birth. The problem? Serena says the extremely low ranking the ATP and WTA gave her when she returned was super unfair and forced her to overcome obstacles she shouldn't have had to overcome!

"I fought hard personally, making it to the Wimbledon final shortly after, but I also fought hard publicly against the biased ranking system. We must stop penalizing women when they return to their careers after having children."

She added, "Women deserve to be given the same respect and opportunities as our male counterparts. We are entitled to the same open doors."

The good news ... the WTA announced back in December they recognized this very problem -- and vowed to give protection to mothers who return to the tour after giving birth.

The WTA says female players who give birth will be able to use their pre-maternity leave ranking to enter 12 tournaments over a 3-year period, which seems like a practical solution.

Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford's son, Presley Gerber, has officially been charged with DUI after being arrested for drunk driving earlier this year.

The L.A. District Attorney's Office filed charges Thursday against the 19-year-old model -- one count of DUI and another of driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 ... both misdemeanors. If convicted, Presley faces up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine ... but the judge will usually cut a first offender some slack.

TMZ broke the story ... Presley was arrested for DUI right after New Year's Day, when cops say they pulled him over early in the morning for speeding through Beverly Hills in his Tesla. Cops say he reeked of booze, and busted him after he failed a field sobriety test.

Seeing how Presley's only 19, California law is much more strict when it comes to drinking and driving. Anything at or above .01 will get ya arrested.

Presley's lawyer, Scott Spindel, told us at the time of the arrest that his client took the allegations seriously and would take the necessary steps to deal with them.

Although young, the kid has already made a name for himself in the modeling world -- having done campaigns for Calvin Klein, Dolce & Gabbana as well as Vogue.