Kids

Stefan Karl Stefansson -- the actor who played Robbie Rotten on the popular children's show "LazyTown" -- will have a performing arts academy built in his honor ... TMZ has learned.

The Stefan Karl Academy & Center for the Performing Arts will be constructed and launched next year in Switzerland. It's the actor's dream project.

Stefansson died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer ... and we're told he was hammering away at curriculum details for the academy during his final hours.

The project will be a celebration of Stefan's life and contributions to the world of humor and human expression. The academy will focus on training young people in the history and skills of expression across multiple genres. The campus will include a theater, which will host live performances.

Stefan dreamed of opening a performing arts center for years. He envisioned humor as the center piece of the academy's mission.

Stefan's wife, Steinunn Olina, will provide creative leadership in opening the academy.

Aretha Franklin shockingly left no will behind ... which is surprising given her circumstances.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the singer died "intestate" -- meaning she had no will at the time of death.

It's especially surprising given that she has a special needs son named Clarence who needs financial and other forms of support for his entire life.

Aretha was ill for several years, but apparently did not see the end coming ... or possibly a will was low on the priority list.

According to Michigan law, Aretha's 4 kids will share equally in her estate.

Aretha died on August 16 at her Detroit home surrounded by friends and family after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. The Queen of Soul's death occurred on the same calendar day as "The King" Elvis Presley's ... albeit 41 years later.

As expected, Franklin's passing sparked an outpouring of emotion, sympathy, tributes and love from countless celebs ... including the Obamas, who said of Aretha -- "every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine."

Aretha's family has scheduled a multiple-day celebration of her life next week, beginning with an open casket memorial at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. Her funeral will then be held August 31 at the Greater Grace Temple -- just for close friends and family.

Post Malone just got a few more new tats on his mug, but says he isn't responsible for kids following suit and getting ink on their face ... although there is someone at fault.

We got the "Beerbongs & Bentleys" rapper Monday in NYC where he was explaining what goes into the decision to get tatted up on the kisser. Sounds like it's a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, usually on the heels of a ton of booze. Aren't the best decisions made that way?

We also ask if he thinks he's to blame for a bunch of kids getting face tattoos lately, but he's adamant he's not the one to pin this on. He says the first guy to do it has to take the fall.

It's unclear if KiKi loves Drake -- but one thing's for sure ... he definitely loved one little girl's "KiKi Challenge," 'cause he made a point to visit her in Chicago.

Drake stopped by the Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Monday to meet up with 11-year-old Sofia Sanchez -- who turned 11 on Saturday. Her birthday wish -- to meet Drizzy.

She got on Drake's radar after she posted an "In My Feelings" dance video ... weeks after undergoing open heart surgery and waiting for a heart transplant.

Sources close to the rapper tell us Drake saw the video and wanted to oblige, so he swung by the hospital to meet her.

We're told he spent an hour in her room and they talked about a lot ... from his music, her love of cheerleading and their shared interests (Bieber, owls, and basketball). They even touched on her GoFundMe page.

Billy Bush is willing to fork over spousal support, but he wants his estranged wife to budge when it comes to custody of their 2 minor kids.

In new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Billy says he wants joint physical and legal custody of their 13 and 17-year-old daughters. Billy's estranged wife, Sydney Davis, had wanted joint legal and primary physical custody, so it seems a battle may be brewing on that front.

As far as spousal support, Sydney requested it and Billy didn't fight it.

TMZ broke the story ... Sydney filed legal docs to end the marriage last month, citing irreconcilable differences.

Don't expect Cardi B to make a triumphant return to rap at the VMAs Monday, 'cause her appearance won't include a performance ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the production tell us Cardi will in fact open the VMAs Monday as has been announced, but she won't be rockin' the mic for MTV. We're told she will either do a monologue or partake in some sort of skit instead.

Many speculated the show would mark Cardi's first musical performance since giving birth to baby Kulture ... but it just ain't happening.

Speaking of Kulture ... we're told she won't be making the trek to the show with mom either.

It's unclear whether or not Cardi's gig will be in the flesh or a pre-taped segment ... but one thing's for sure, fans will finally get their long overdue Cardi fix.

Shaunie O'Neal says life at the ultra-exclusive Crossroads School in L.A. will be a breeze for LeBron James Jr. ... because her son Shareef O'Neal educated the institute on how to deal with a celebrity student.

Shareef transferred into Crossroads after his sophomore year in high school, and Shaunie thinks all the media coverage he got will help Bronny, who as the son of LeBron James will probably get more.

But, it's not just the media ... Shaquille's ex-wife thinks Bronny will also benefit from the fact that the school is now more equipped on how to get superstar offspring ready for college.

"When Baron was there the rules like NCAA rules were so drastically different then they are now, and it was fortunate but unfortunate that they were learning that process with Shareef ... They hadn't had a student athlete on that level since Baron."

BTW -- O'Neal's youngest son Shaqir is also currently at Crossroads, and at 15 he's already 6'3" according to Shaunie.

Gonna be a fun couple of years in Santa Monica (that's the rich-ass neighborhood the school is in).

Angelina Jolie's out and about with the kiddos again, and this time they're hitting up the theater.

Ang and 4 of her 6 kids -- Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne, and Knox -- were seen in L.A. Saturday heading to see a movie together ... flanked by a couple bodyguards.

Not sure what they're seeing, but they've got some good family options with "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation," "Christopher Robin" ... or maybe even the hit shark flick "The Meg."

As we reported ... Angelina returned to the U.S. with her children last week after being ordered to do so by a judge in her divorce case with Brad Pitt.

As for the divorce ... it's grown increasingly contentious and hostile the past couple months, so much so that Jolie's lawyer is quitting.

We've also been told Brad's been struggling to maintain a relationship with their 6 kids, with sources claiming she's not helping any.

NHL star Alex Ovechkin is still livin' the dream -- on top of winning his first Stanley Cup ... he's now welcomed his first child to the world.

The Washington Caps' captain is a new dad after his wife, Nastya Ovechkina, gave birth to a son Saturday ... and his name is Sergei Aleksandrovich Ovechkin.

He's reportedly named after Alex's uncle, who died when he was 10.

Ovechkin's kid was born in South Florida, meaning he'll have both Russian and American citizenship.

The Conn Smythe winner took to Instagram to post a pic holding his son's foot and thanking his wife, writing ... "Thank you my girl for the very best day of my life."

Kim Kardashian West is teaching her kids how to live it up in Miami ... which should always include some time spent on a luxury sea vessel.

KKW brought her oldest children -- North and Saint -- onboard Miami mogul David Grutman's yacht Thursday ... and had her finest hot pink, skin-tight Chanel catsuit on to chase 'em around.

North matched her mom with some pink shorts, and Saint looked absolutely adorable rocking a captain's hat.

Also on the yacht were family friends Jonathan Cheban, Larsa Pippen and her daughter Sophia.

Josh Gordon's off-season is WAY more complicated than we thought -- the Browns WR is in the middle of a nasty child support war ... and if he doesn't make things right, he could go to jail.

Christina Lockhart has been fighting like hell to get the troubled NFL star to fork over child support for their 3-year-old daughter for years ... but it's been a fight every step of the way. She clearly feels Gordon's screwing her over.

Lockhart recently got a court order forcing Gordon to pay $6,765 per month starting August 1 ... but her lawyer told WKYC she has NOT received the payment.

The child support figure is tied to Gordon's 2018 salary with the Browns -- $800,000 -- but there's a catch.

Gordon's attorney claims in court docs the WR won't get his first paycheck until September 9 -- Week 1 of the NFL season.

But, in court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, the judge clearly outlines the penalty for missing payments -- up to 30 days in jail for the first violation, 60 days for the second violation and 90 days for the third.

After multiple divorce filings, a failed reconciliation and claims of drug abuse ... Jay Mohr and Nikki Cox are officially done being husband and wife.

According to new legal docs ... their divorce became final Tuesday, but the terms of their settlement will remain under wraps. This means we don't know the custody situation of their 7-year-old son ... same for child or spousal support.

We broke the story ... Jay filed for divorce from Nikki in July 2016, claiming she had a serious drug problem and seeking full custody of their kid. However, he told us the 2 were "Very in love. Very happy and that's really all there is" ... and called it off 6 days later.

It didn't last, though -- Mohr filed for divorce from Cox for the second time in December 2016, and once again claimed Nikki had a drug problem that made her an unfit mother ... so he wanted sole physical custody of their son.

Angelina Jolie is not blocking Brad Pitt from seeing their kids, but sources involved in the case say she continues to drive a wedge between them and Brad.

Sources with knowledge of the case claim Angelina continues to exert influence over the former couple's 6 kids ... and it's been effective. We're told Brad is having trouble connecting with his children ... some of whom don't even want to see him.

We're told the 3 boys are the ones who have been influenced the most. The girls are more open toward Brad.

The divorce judge issued a report criticizing Angelina for not allowing the children to properly interact with their dad. The judge laid down a cell phone policy in which Brad can call and text the kids at will, and Angelina can't monitor the conversations.

As we reported, the kids are now all in L.A., per the judge's order, where Brad has significant custodial time with them. Our sources say Angelina has not blocked Brad's ability to see the kids, but they say Angelina continues to drive a wedge between Brad and the kids and it's had a significant impact on his ability to restore his relationship with them.

We reached out to Angelina's rep ... so far, no word back.

Blac Chyna thinks little Dream is a spitting image of her and not baby daddy Rob Kardashian ... but we gotta ask ... really???

We got BC Wednesday night heading into Project LA in Hollywood and she didn't hesitate on the issue of likeness -- Dream's a chip off the old mom block.

Rob's got a ton of recent photos of their almost 2-year-old up on social media, and her features are certainly starting to get much more defined. As for Chyna's claim ... we really can't say. Truthfully, Dream looks a little like both of them -- they each technically contributed half of themselves, after all.

How about we just stick to the custody deal in place here and call it 50/50? That ... or you can just weigh in for yourself. Either way ...

Scottie Pippen's 9-year-old daughter is already cashin' HUGE checks -- scoring an NBA-sized payday for "Dancing with the Stars: Juniors" ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Sophia Pippen has already signed her contract to compete against stars like Honey Boo Boo and Miles Brown from "Black-ish" -- and if she wins the whole thing, she takes home $130,000!!

Just like Boo Boo, Pippen will get $50k just for showing up -- and she gets more cash the further she advances in the competition.

- $5,000 per episode for episodes 2 & 3.

- $7,500 per episode for episodes 4 & 5.

- $10,000 per episode for episodes 6 & 7.

- $15,000 for episode 8.

- $20,000 for the finale.

FYI, Scottie reportedly made around $110 MILLION during his NBA career. Hopefully, like her famous dad, she gets paired up with the most dominant teammate of all time!

Can you spot the $30 BILLION man in this crazy video?

Salma Hayek can't -- because the paparazzi went so crazy for the actress and her daughter outside of Madeo, she lost her insanely rich fashion mogul hubby in the madness!!

FYI, Salma's married to Francois-Henri Pinault -- whose family is worth around $30 BIL, according to Forbes. The Pinaults own some of the biggest high-end fashion companies in the world, including Gucci and Alexander McQueen. He married Salma in 2009.

The gang went out for a family meal Tuesday night -- and Salma's daughter, Valentina, was a natural in front of the snappers ... busting out crazy poses while her famous mama joined in!

Fun Fact: Valentina is 10 years old ... meaning it's been a decade since Salma shared her new mom superpowers to breastfeed a baby in Sierra Leone after the kid's mom ran out of milk.

As for Pinault -- don't worry, he eventually found his way back to Salma (lucky him).