Kids

Jennifer Hudson agreed to let David Otunga see their son again, but only because he's out of her house and no longer a physical threat to her ... according to sources connected to the singer.

The sources say Jennifer dropped the restraining order keeping Otunga away from 8-year-old David Jr., purely in the child's best interest. Although Jennifer's restraining order docs say, "I am now living in fear for my physical and emotional safety and that of my son" -- we're told she was referring to emotional scarring David Jr. would suffer if he saw his father threaten his mother.

She never accused Otunga of physically threatening their child. As we reported, Otunga's been removed from their home, and as a result, we're told Jennifer's satisfied as the emotional risk to their son is no longer present.

As for who's been the child's primary caregiver -- our Jennifer sources say she's always made mothering her top priority, even while working to support the family.

When she first went to London a year ago to shoot 'The Voice' ... she not only brought Otunga and David Jr., but she also paid Otunga's mom to tutor her grandson. She did the same during her 6-month Broadway run in "The Color Purple."

On the issue of custody going forward -- as we reported, David Jr. is with his father right now while Jennifer works in London. However, sources on her side stress David hasn't won anything. The judge hasn't ruled on custody yet, and neither parent's been deemed "primary" caregiver.

Al Franken's still Mr. Popular in D.C. ... at least to a group of students eager to take a picture with the Senator.

We got Sen. Franken on Capitol Hill Tuesday looking to be in good spirits as he posed for a photo with some happy students from Virginia. His smile faded away, though, as we tried to ask him questions about allegations against him ... and got rebuffed by one of his aides.

As we've reported ... 3 women have accused Franken of groping their butts during photo ops, which led Marco Rubio to dish out some advice on how to avoid that problem.

For the record, Franken was much less handsy in this photo op.

"Bad Girls Club" star Natalie Nunn claims an American Airlines employee insulted her daughter and kicked her out of first class ... but our AA sources tell us they're not to blame.

Natalie was flying back to Sacramento after visiting family in Indianapolis for Thanksgiving, but had a connection in Dallas. She went off on social media claiming she'd been thrown off her Indy-Dallas flight and during the fiasco, an AA agent insulted her 7-month-old baby's name ... which happens to be Journey.

Our airline sources say Natalie messed up since she changed her ticket but never paid the difference, so it was never confirmed. A supervisor eventually stepped in and Natalie got a first class seat on the flight she wanted and AA hooked her up with free wine, but when we spoke to her Monday it was clear she's still looking for an apology.

An AA rep says they've attempted to reach out to Natalie and are investigating the incident.

Josh Duhamel's still thinking turkey but his son's got his eye on the prize ... Christmas!!!

We got Josh and 4-year-old son Axl at LAX Sunday night where our photog greeted them with a good ol' "Merry Christmas." That puzzled Josh who still had Thanksgiving in mind after the long weekend.

That's too bad ... because Axl's laser-focused on his 2017 presents, and from the sound of it he's got a loooooooong list for Santa, who btw is TOTALLY real. Just ask Josh.

Super btw ... good to see Josh in great spirits. He and Fergie split back in September.

Teen star Ethan Wacker's Disney Channel sitcom, "Bizaardvark," should be called 'Cash Cow' ... as far as he's concerned -- 'cause the kid's in line to earn way more than half a mil off the franchise.

We got a hold of the 15-year-old's contract, filed in court because he's a minor, and for the first 2 seasons alone -- 41 episodes -- he's hauled in more than $375k. If the Mouse House signs up for 2 more seasons, with his raises, Ethan could earn more than another $400,000.

The contract also accounts for a potential "Bizaardvark" movie -- Ethan gets $150k for that. He'll bank $75k per movie if Disney opts to use him in any other flicks ... plus some bonus change -- $500 a pop for public appearances.

Terry Glenn's son says Tom Brady's touching tribute to his father meant the world to him ... telling TMZ Sports he got chills when he read the quarterback's message about the late NFL star.

We spoke with Terry Glenn Jr. about the outpouring of kind words he's received since his dad's fatal car accident Monday morning ... and he says Brady's words were "more than special" knowing his first career TD pass went to Glenn.

The 21-year-old says he'll always remember how his dad vowed to give him a better childhood than he had ... and how hard he worked to make sure he was taken care of.

As for Glenn's 83 Kids Foundation for foster children ... Terry Jr. revealed he was actually scheduled to travel to Texas to help work with his dad on Monday ... but says he's still committed to continuing his charitable cause.

Terry Jr. also shares his favorite memory growing up with his dad ... and it's an amazing story.

Daivd Otunga just won a big legal victory in his custody battle with Jennifer Hudson ... he gets their son for Thanksgiving.

TMZ has learned both sides squared off in court Tuesday and David made his case to spend the holiday with 8-year-old David Jr. TMZ broke the story, cops threw David out of the family home after Jennifer got an order of protection claiming she was afraid David would hurt her and her son. David says she's lying and vengeful because they were at an impasse over custody.

We've learned, according to the new order, David Jr. will be with his dad from Thanksgiving day at 3 PM to 7 PM the following day.

There's a hearing set for Monday where David will ask the judge to vacate the order of protection.

We're told David will also ask the judge on Monday to give him temporary custody of David Jr., claiming he's the primary caregiver. He also wants possession of the residence -- where he pays rent -- during the 2 weeks she'll be traveling for work -- between November 26 and December 8.

Chrissy Teigen has another baby in her belly, and she let her daughter, Luna, help announce it to the world.

Chrissy posted a video Tuesday and asked Luna, "What's in here?" referring to her stomach. Luna's a smart kid, and says it's a "baby."

She also captioned it ... "it's john's!" Rumors have been swirling Chrissy was preggo after showing what many called a baby bump earlier this month.

Her husband, John Legend, seemed to confirm the news on Twitter.

This is Chrissy and John's second child together. Congrats!

Jay-Z took a stand against sexism as he spotted a future POTUS in the middle of his Cleveland concert -- 'cause ya gotta vote for that face! Right?

Jay stopped between songs to address a young girl in the front row Sunday night -- sweetly reminding her she can grow up to be anything she wants. It was a super cute moment, as he delivered a serious message, telling fans sexism is a bigger problem in America than racism.

While that might be debatable -- no one was arguing with him about the young fan's potential to make it to the White House.

3:46 PM PT -- Trump is continuing to stoke the flames against the Ball family. He just elaborated on his earlier tweet about leaving LiAngelo in a Chinese prison, saying he should've gotten him on his next trip to China.

Donald Trump has a new enemy -- LaVar Ball.

POTUS is lashing back at the outspoken basketball dad after LaVar dissed Trump during an ESPN interview a few days ago. LaVar cast doubt on Trump's role in freeing his son from China after LiAngelo and 2 UCLA basketball teammates shoplifted.

Trump took to Twitter Sunday morning and said ... "Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!"

So far no word back from LaVar -- but we're sure it's only a matter of time.

As for LiAngelo and his 2 teammates ... all 3 thanked President Trump after returning to the United States last week.

Tyrese just scored a big victory in court after a judge denied his ex's request for a permanent restraining order which would have severely restricted the actor's access to his daughter, Shayla.

The judge ruled Tyrese and Norma Gibson will get 50/50 joint custody beginning in January. Until then, we're told both sides have worked out a visitation schedule that will allow Tyrese to see Shayla over the holidays.

After court, he didn't have much to say about the ruling ... but made it clear he will eventually.

As we reported ... Norma claimed Tyrese physically abused the 10-year-old, claiming he beat her 12 to 16 times. Tyrese says he only struck her once on the bottom, and that Norma is simply vengeful.

Over the course of the 3-week court battle, Tyrese has posted multiple videos chronicling his own personal turmoil.

Tyrese had an online meltdown that he blamed on a Rx drug he was taking for depression.

He also claimed Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith gave him $5 million to dig himself out of a financial hole, but that turned out to be false.

Nonetheless ... the restraining order is now history, opening the door to a renewed relationship between father and daughter.

Tyrese Gibson will finally find out today if the restraining order that's keeping him from his daughter will be lifted -- but on his way into court Friday he didn't sound horribly optimistic.

The operative words he used as he arrived at court ... "sacrificial lamb" ... and it was clear he thinks that's what he's going to be when the judge rules. He also went off about the medication he was prescribed ... which he blames for his recent emotional outbursts on social media.

As for what's happening in court ... the judge has dropped the restraining order keeping Tyrese away from his ex-wife, Norma Gibson. But what matters most to him is whether he gets to see his daughter, Shayla.

Stay tuned for that ruling ...

The folks who play deadly vikings on the hit History Channel show are actually softies at heart -- 'cause they turned a sick little boy into their fearless leader for a day.

Many members of the "Vikings" cast and crew helped grant the wish of a 7-year-old in Ireland this week who's got stage 4 cancer. His name is Max, and he's part of Aoibheann's Pink Tie foundation -- a similar institution to the U.S.'s Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Production folks tell TMZ Max was told he only has a few months left to live, and his dying wish was to be Ragnar for a day -- the main character on the show. Some cast and crew caught wind of this, and decided to help him out by bringing him on set.

Before long, Max was turned into a mini Ragnar -- with a whole "Vikings" costume and everything. We're told his makeup and hair were actually done by the show's crew.

Max got to hang with a lot of the big players from the series -- which is currently filming in Ireland -- while Skyping with others. He also got to kick some ass, viking-style.

Jesse Williams scored a victory in his child custody dispute with his estranged wife, Aryn Drake-Lee -- he's going to begin having overnight visits with his kids.

According to a new order in the case, Jesse will get their kids overnight if his scheduled visit with them falls on a weekend. In other words, Friday and Saturday night PJ parties at Dad's place!

In the docs, the exes also spell out a bunch of other terms:

Tyrese Gibson is not only on the ropes emotionally, but financially as well.

Tyrese submitted legal docs to the court in his ongoing war with ex-wife Norma Gibson, detailing his financials.

The actor pulls in $105,686 every month. That's sweet, except when you look at what he spends. Tyrese says his monthly nut is $107,576, which puts him in the red.

The docs say Tyrese has $884,658 in the bank. He also has real property worth around $1.7 mil.

Great news for Shaq's kids -- there are more MILLION DOLLAR PARTIES in your future, and this is coming straight from the man with the cash, dear old Shaq Daddy.

The Diesel has already thrown huge 7-figure blowout Sweet 16 parties for Shareef and Amirah -- renting out swanky Hollywood hot spots, with celeb performances and expensive cars.

So, when we saw Shaq in Bev Hills Tuesday -- we had to ask if he's already budgeted the additional cheese to fund more million-dollar bashes for his two youngest kids.