Kids

Cassie and her husband, Alex Fine, have welcomed their baby girl to the world ... and the little one boasts one of the coolest names ever.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... Cassie gave birth Friday at an L.A. County hospital, and the couple named their first child Frankie -- Frankie Fine.

We're told their bundle of joy weighed in at 8 lbs., 4 oz and measured a smidge over 21 inches long.

As we've reported, Diddy's ex and Alex announced they were expecting in June, got engaged a couple months later ... then got hitched in Malibu in September.

If you recall ... there was some drama when the 2 began dating last year, because Alex was her former trainer. Any potential bad blood was washed away by the time they revealed their pregnancy news, though ... Diddy gave them a shout-out, wishing them nothing but love and happiness.

The well-wishes seem to be working. Congrats to Cassie, Alex and, of course, Frankie!!!

Caroll Spinney -- the guy who manned Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on "Sesame Street" for nearly half a century -- has died.

Spinney passed away Sunday at his Connecticut home after living with Dystonia for a while, according to Sesame Workshop ... the nonprofit org behind the hit children's television show. Dystonia is a movement disorder in which a person's muscles contract uncontrollably.

Incredibly, the longtime puppeteer worked on the show for 49 years ... and retired from 'Sesame' just last year. He had been on the show since its early days in 1969. Besides being the man behind Big Bird, Spinney also handled and voiced Oscar the Grouch.

The legendary Jim Henson brought Spinney on-board, and by most accounts ... he struggled bringing Big Bird to life at first and having him resonate with the audience. Eventually, Spinney said he turned BB into a "big kid" character -- and the rest was history.

He starred in thousands of "Sesame Street" episodes -- more than any other cast member -- and it was certainly no walk in the park controlling the 8-foot bird costume. Spinney said he would have to hold the 5-pound head up with his right hand and work the mouth and eyebrows on that end ... while controlling both arms with just his own left one.

There was a fishing wire that connected both extremities inside the suit, and Spinney would operate both by using just his left side. Oscar, no doubt, was much easier to work.

He's survived by his wife, Debra, and his three children. Spinney was 85.

Rosie O'Donnell firmly believes the Stanford Law Professor who name-dropped Barron Trump didn't do anything wrong and hopes the testimony helps impeach the President.

We got Rosie and her BFF Ally Sheedy Thursday night outside the "Jagged Little Pill" musical in NYC and asked her about the GOP outrage over Prof. Pamela Karlan's wordplay. Not shockingly ... Rosie's team Karlan, all the way.

She says Karlan made a fair point about POTUS, and it's being taken out of context to look malicious. Both Rosie and Ally think there was nothing mean spirited about it. Rosie thinks it's nice Karlan apologized but adds ... it wasn't necessary.

Rosie, of course, had her own controversy involving the President and Melania's son a few years back, when she posted a video questioning whether Barron was autistic.

She apologized to Melania for being insensitive and causing pain ... but clearly thinks Karlan's case is different.

As for the impeachment hearings, in general, Rosie admitted she's a total junkie. It's no secret she has a rooting interest and spells out the many reasons why she's on Karlan's side.

That's a wrap for Caroline Wozniacki ... almost!

The 29-year-old tennis star says she's officially retiring from the sport -- right after the Australian Open in January -- to focus on other aspects of her life, including growing her family.

"I've played professionally since I was 15 years old," Wozniacki says.

"I've always told myself, when the time comes, that there are things away from tennis that I want to do more, then it's time to be done. In recent months, I've realized that there is a lot more in life that I'd like to accomplish off the court."

Caroline says getting married to NBA star David Lee "was one of those goals" -- along with "starting a family with him while continuing to travel the world."

She also wants to focus energy on raising awareness for rheumatoid arthritis -- a condition she suffers from.

"So with that, today I am announcing that I will be retiring from professional tennis after the Australian Open in January," Wozniacki says.

"This has nothing to do with my health and this isn't a goodbye, I look forward to sharing my exciting journey ahead with all of you."

As far as her tennis accomplishments, Caroline was pretty damn good.

"With 30 WTA singles titles, a world #1 ranking for 71 weeks, a WTA Finals victory, 3 Olympics, including carrying the flag for my native Denmark, and winning the 2018 Australian Open Grand slam championship, I've accomplished everything I could on the court."

Not bad, right?

Wozniacki and her hubby recently took classes at Harvard Business School as part of a program that helps athletes build a second career outside of sports ... so post-tennis life has been on her brain for a while.

Congrats!

Jesse Williams will be allowed to be with his kid for her bday -- but he had to fight with his ex over it ... who tried positioning things in her favor with yoga.

The "Grey's Anatomy" star won his latest legal battle against ex-wife, Aryn Drake-Lee, after she refused to let their 5-year-old daughter, Sadie, be with her pops this weekend to celebrate her 6th birthday ... even though Jesse insisted it was his turn under their agreement.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ, Jesse argued that Aryn would still get to be with Sadie for most of her bday (Dec. 6), and all he wanted was for mom to drop Sadie off with him at 6 PM, like usual, and let Sadie hang out 'til he could drop her back off Monday. NBD, right?

WRONG ... at least according to Aryn, who argued in her own court docs that SHE actually deserved to keep Sadie this weekend 'cause she recently missed some mother-daughter time with her due to a work trip she recently had to take -- and wants to make up for it now.

Turns out, that work trip was a yoga retreat in India ... which Jesse lays out as something that's seemingly unrelated to work at all. He lists the classes attended -- like "Tea Break," "Tour of Dalai Lama's Residence" and "Finding Your Purpose" -- and calls BS on her excuse.

The reason he's so against Sadie staying home with mom on his weekend ... he says he had a full weekend of plans lined up for her birthday -- a Disney trip, a Nutcracker play, etc.

Welp, the court sided with Jesse. A judge wrote they couldn't see the connection between Aryn's yoga trip and work ... and insisted she could make up her time at another date.

Namaste ...

Chris Brown is now banned from monkey business -- like, real monkeys -- for the next 6 months ... after making a deal with the D.A. in his illegal pet case.

Chris' attorney was in court Wednesday morning, as the judge placed him into a diversion program for the case of the Capuchin monkey he bought back in 2017.

The terms prohibit Chris from buying any monkeys until June 6, 2020. He also has to pay $35,000 to the monkey retreat facility where his old monkey is now living. If he sticks with the program, all charges will be dropped after June 6. The judge also left it up to the monkey retreat to decide if Chris can have visitation with his ex-pet.

TMZ broke the story ... CB claimed he didn't own the monkey, Fiji. The L.A. City Attorney had charged him with 2 counts of having a restricted species without a permit.

Brown was adamant the video showing Royalty playing with the monkey was NOT taken at his L.A. home. He claimed the video was actually shot in Vegas, where the monkey lived with a relative who was the real owner.

As we reported ... Chris took major heat for posting the video of his then-3-year-old daughter playing with the exotic pet. People were freaking out that she was in danger because the monkey's a wild animal. Chris told everyone to take a chill pill.

Here's a video that'll hit ya in the feels ...

A little Saquon Barkley fan who was snubbed by a Dallas Cowboys superstar a couple months ago finally got to meet his NY Giants idol -- and the hangout brought the kid to tears!

If you missed it ... back on Sept. 8, 11-year-old Kamil Bautista tried to ask Demarcus Lawrence for an autograph after the Giants-Cowboys game in Dallas.

But, D-Law wasn't having any of it 'cause of the Barkley jersey Kamil was wearing ... and the Cowboys star straight-up told the kid as he was walking away, "Get the right jersey, son!"

The video immediately went viral ... and when Barkley saw the snub -- he flew Kamil and his family out from Texas to New York for a game!!

The Bautistas got the VIP treatment -- sideline passes, autographs and all the hook-ups -- but the best moment was clearly Kamil's first time hanging with Barkley.

Watch the vid, Saquon is SUPER nice ... and it actually makes Kamil cry!!

After the game, the two linked up again ... with Barkley signing a few things for the kid and taking a cool picture.

As for the outcome of the night, the Giants ended up losing to the Jets ... but Kamil's father tells TMZ Sports, "Our Giants are not doing that great this year but we support them 100000% all the time from South Texas!"

Criss Angel is sharing some somber news about his young son's dire medical battle ... the leukemia is back after a brief dip into remission.

We got Criss and his kid, Johnny Crisstopher, at LAX Tuesday, and the famous illusionist told us his 5-year-old will be going back to a hospital next week to restart treatment for a rare form of leukemia.

Criss says before Johnny's readmitted, he's going to make sure the little guy has the time of his life in SoCal. Sounds like dad's got some fun stuff on tap.

You'll recall, when Johnny was first diagnosed with cancer back in 2015 at just 21 months old ... Criss set out to make a documentary on his son's chemo treatments, and to raise $1 million for pediatric cancer research.

HOW AWESOME IS THIS?!?!?

LeBron James' son is such a superstar already that L.A. Rams running back Todd Gurley had courtside seats to watch him play in his high school game Tuesday night!!

And, get this, the kid didn't disappoint -- throwing down a MONSTER alley-oop!!!!

Bronny James got his first-ever start for Sierra Canyon against Granada Hills Charter in Chatsworth, Calif. ... and it didn't take him long to flash his insane potential.

Just a few minutes into the game ... LBJ's 15-year-old kid caught a lob and threw it down with authority!!!

And, eventually, Bronny's squad ran away with it ... routing GHC, 87-35.

Gurley seemed impressed with the King's kid ... and even posted a few highlights from his night on the hardwood to his social media page!!

Beyonce's dad, Mathew Knowles, says before there was Destiny's Child ... there was Girls Tyme -- which apparently had A LOT of pieces filling in around his daughter over the years.

Mathew came on "TMZ Live" Tuesday to give us the 411 on a new book and album he just released about the girl group he started nearly 30 years ago. You know about DC, obviously, but that success was built on Girls Tyme.

The book, "Destiny's Child: The Untold Story," and the album by the same name offer previously unreleased music, and a deep dive into the making of the group -- which Mathew says involved more than a couple dozen different members.

We've always heard about Bey, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson -- but, as it turns out, that was just the tip of the iceberg between Girls Tyme and the final version of DC.

Damon Dash and his baby mamas are cutting him out of the equation when it comes to settling up his hefty child support tab -- and instead, the dough will come straight from Lee Daniels.

The hip-hop mogul had a hearing Tuesday in NYC, where he and Rachel Roy and Cindy Morales came to figure out how to square the $950k he owes them in back child support. Their settlement plan involves a previous settlement Damon reached with Daniels. Stick with us.

Lee and Dame reached a settlement earlier this year over a $5 million lawsuit Dame had filed against him. On Tuesday, Roy and Morales' attorney Donnell Suares, and Dash's attorney Natraj Bhushan informed the court the child support will come directly out of the pot of money Lee owes Damon.

The deal calls for the women to be paid in installments of several thousand dollars per quarter until the total of $950k is paid in full.

Rachel and Cindy had this idea earlier this year when they sued Lee to get direct payments.

You'll recall, just last month -- in an entirely different legal battle -- Dash cried poverty, saying in court docs he couldn't pay off a $2,400 debt. You'll recall, cops arrested Dame about 2 weeks ago over the child support. When he got out he told us he'd paid what he owed.

Seems like he didn't, but at least they've now agreed on a payment plan. They just need the judge to sign off on the deal.

The legal battle between Casey Kasem's children and his widow, Jean Kasem, is finally over -- they've reached a settlement, but not everyone in the family's happy.

Casey's children filed docs requesting dismissal of their wrongful death suit against Jean. The court's signed off on the dismissal this week -- and a source connected to Casey's daughter, Kerri Kasem, tells us both sides agreed on a settlement.

However, we're told Kerri's upset about how it all came to an end. We're told she's "distraught and heartbroken" because she feels her sister and brother and 2 attorneys forced the settlement on her.

You'll recall ... Kerri, Julie and Mike Kasem sued Jean back in 2015, claiming she'd caused their father's death as a result of allegedly blocking him from seeing his kids before he passed. They also claimed she'd been abusing him while he suffered from dementia.

The children were accused of conspiring to kill him, but they were ultimately cleared of that ... with authorities calling BS.

Jean herself also dodged criminal charges for the same allegation, but the kids went after her in civil court ... and the case had dragged on for the past 4 years.

Casey -- the legendary radio DJ -- died in June 2014 from a combination of sepsis, UTI and a staph infection ... something the children claimed was exacerbated by an unattended bedsore Jean allegedly neglected.

Felicity Huffman and her daughter were on the same page this weekend, but in different books -- with mom focused on getting a fresh 'do, while her kid zeroed in on studying.

The actress was out with 19-year-old Sophia Sunday at a beauty salon in Bev Hills ... where they were both preoccupied with their own activities. Felicity intently scrolled through her phone getting her hair done, and Sophia had her nose buried in a notebook.

It also looks like she was crunching some numbers on a calculator. Unless she's getting an early jump on taxes this year ... she might very well have been cramming for an exam of some sort.

That's interesting, of course, because we know Sophia just graduated high school ... and didn't enroll in a university this past fall in the wake of her mom getting indicted -- and later convicted and jailed -- for paying $15k to fix Sophia's SAT score.

Lucky for her, the College Board is willing to give Sophia another bite at the apple with a legit SAT test in the future ... and she reportedly does want to attend college.

It's unclear if she was studying for an entrance exam -- but we checked, and there is an SAT scheduled for this upcoming Saturday.

John Singleton's daughter will be taken care of for now in the wake of her father's passing ... while his estate figures out how to distribute his multi-million dollar fortune.

21-year-old Cleopatra Singleton -- one of the late filmmaker's seven children -- just got what she'd asked for a couple months ago ... a monthly allowance of nearly $3,000, plus a one-time payment to cover her semester abroad. A judge signed off on it just this week.

Per the order, Cleopatra will receive $2,778 a month -- as well as a one-time payout of $4,150. It's exactly what she'd requested back in September, arguing that her father had taken care of her finances while he was alive ... and she needs the dough to hold her over.

As we reported ... John's estate is estimated to be worth upwards of $35 million, which still needs to be divvied up. The estate also recently came up on an extra $500k or so.

TMZ broke the story ... John died in April after suffering a massive stroke. His mother, Shelia Ward, was put in charge of his estate.

More fallout from T.I. saying he used to take his daughter in for virginity checks. Now, New York state could make the practice illegal ... if one congresswoman gets her way.

New York assemblywoman Michaelle Solages -- who reps parts of Long Island -- recently introduced a new bill that would outlaw what she describes as "virginity tests" in doctors' offices across the state. Her move appears to be in direct response to Tip's story.

After news of the bill being intro'd broke, Solages told the NY Post, "I was horrified to see this was happening. If a celebrity can impose his power to ensure his 18-year-old daughter gets checked, imagine what can be done in households across New York state?"

For clarification, Solages and other members of the New York State Assembly want to amend the current public health law ... specifically focused on hymen check-ups T.I. first described.

The language of the bill reads, "Section 1 of the bill adds two new sections ... to the public health law to forbid the performance of a hymen exam on women as a means to ascertain whether a woman is a virgin." A second section would address education law.

It goes on to say, "[T]he bill stipulates that if someone disregards these rules, it will be considered an act of professional misconduct." Solages wants to make this a class D felony, for which medical professionals could be charged with sexual abuse.

It should be noted that T.I. tried clarifying his comments with Jada Pinkett Smith, saying he was mostly speaking in jest ...  and adding the so-called virginity check-ups happened only twice, when his now 18-year-old daughter, Deyjah, was 15 and 16 years old.

He also said her mother was with them for these visits ... and that he himself was not in the room during the examinations. Still, he didn't deny being privy to the results.

Lori Loughlin's daughter, Olivia Jade, has officially broken her silence about the college admissions scandal ...  and basically says she can't talk about it.

The social media influencer posted her first YouTube vlog in a long time -- about 8 months, more or less -- and she titled "hi again." Her last post was on March 10 ... just a couple days before her mom and dad, Felicity Huffman and others were indicted by the feds.

OJ's mostly been off the radar online since then -- although she hasn't shied away from going out in public at all. Now, she's ready to talk about it -- and her first words are basically ... mum's the word on the case, which is still very much pending for Lori and Mossimo.

In her video from Sunday, Olivia says ... "Obviously, I've been gone for a really long time. And, as much as I wish I could talk about all of this ... it's really hard for me to say this, just because I know that it's something that needs to be addressed."

Unfortunately for all those who thought she was ready to spill the tea ... no dice.

She follows up by saying she'd been pondering when to make her YouTube comeback -- or whether to do it at all -- knowing she's not legally allowed to say anything about the college sitch ... even though it's obvious that's what everyone wants to hear talk about.

At the end of the day, though, Olivia says she wanted to come back to YouTube because she's passionate about it and missed her vlogging ... not to mention her fans.

Olivia says she's not trying to make this comeback about her and how she's coping with the legal case -- which could send her folks behind bars for a bit if they're convicted. More than anything, she says she wants to get back to normal and move on with her life.