Kids

A black high school football player in Moline, Illinois was forced to sit in a locker stuffed with banana peels -- while a fellow player threatened to break both of his knees if he refused.

The incident was captured on video and published on social media platforms -- and now, the cops are involved.

The 11-second video was reportedly shot on Thursday night -- but in less than 24 hours, the footage had already made its way to the Moline Police Dept.

And, when the team returned from an away game on Friday evening, the cops were waiting at Moline High School to interview everyone who had a role in the disturbing incident.

"On the evening of April 9, 2021 the Moline Police Department became aware of a shocking viral video circulating on social media," Moline Police Chief Darren Gault said in a statement.

"The video depicted a disturbing racist scene involving a Moline High School football player in a locker room."

Chief Gault says detectives have identified "all athletes who were involved in the incident and the circumstances surrounding the video" -- and confirmed they are "fellow high school football teammates."

Cops note the players involved "are also individuals of both different and similar races to the victim."

"The students directly involved in the video are all friends."

"Regardless of these facts, we all agree that this is a disgusting way to treat a fellow teammate, a fellow human and most certainly a friend."

The MPD says the investigation is complete and the case has been submitted to the State's Attorney for review.

The Moline-Coal Valley School District has also been looped in. District officials slammed the "vile behavior depicted in the video" -- insisting it "does not represent our core values and has no place in our learning community."

The District also vowed to take "decisive action" following an internal investigation.

Jesse Williams and his ex-wife are still battling it out in court over custody issues in their nasty divorce ... and now a judge has ordered both to take a "high conflict" parenting course to right the ship.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the "Grey's Anatomy" star and his ex-wife, Aryn Drake-Lee, have been ordered to participate in an online program for "high conflict parents."

The order came down after Jessie tried and failed to modify previous court orders regarding custody and visitation of their 2 young children, Maceo and Sadie. They've been sharing joint legal and physical custody ... but it's been rocky.

The parenting course is a 6-session online program, providing strategies for reducing conflicts in co-parenting relationships.

TMZ broke the story ... Jesse and Aryn finalized their bitter divorce back in October, at least on paper.

As we've told you, Jesse's 3-year divorce saga has been extremely contentious ... he beefed with Aryn over child custody, lashed out over stories about him dating Minka Kelly and waged legal war over child support money.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is sending his love and support to "The Challenge" star Ashley Cain ... as doctors say his 8-month-old daughter only has days to live.

Ashley and his wife posted the video message Dwayne sent to them just days after they got the heart-wrenching prognosis for their baby girl, Azaylia. The Rock said, "Brother, I'm so sorry to hear this news. My heart breaks for you."

But, he also sent words of encouragement, saying ... "You tell that little lion I said, 'Let's go Champ, and to stay strong."

Ashley -- who was a UK soccer player before joining MTV's hit reality series -- and his girlfriend announced last week little Azaylia was battling leukemia and had tumors on several of her organs.

His fans, in Great Britain and the States, are showing incredible support. The family started a GoFundMe for Azaylia's medical bills, and it's already raised nearly $1.8 million.

The launch of Dolly Parton's new ice cream flavor had folks screaming for a scoop, but not quite enough to drop a grand on it ... despite the efforts of online hucksters.

Here's what's going down -- the country music legend teamed up with Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams to create her very own flavor, Strawberry Pretzel Pie, and it created pandemonium this week ... both on Jeni's website and at its actual store locations.

Because so many customers and Dolly lovers were clamoring for her new ice cream, those who apparently managed to get their hands on some tried to cash in ... by listing pints on eBay for $1,000!!!

Talk about rich ice cream!

As beloved as Dolly is, nobody was desperate enough for the Strawberry Pretzel Pie to shell out that kinda dough for ice cream in the mail (delivered on dry ice) ... but that didn't stop people from trying to hook a buyer.

That's not all -- other eBay users were hawking the "Specially made for Dolly Parton" ice cream posters from Jeni's ... but at a much more modest $35. Some of those actually sold.

ICYMI ... Dolly's flavor was released April 8 to benefit Imagination Library, a program she founded to gift free books to children from birth to age 5.

Justin Bieber's scheduled to begin touring again this summer, but it looks like he's already rehearsing ... to the delight of some lucky kids.

JB held a private mini-concert Thursday for students and teachers at an elementary school in L.A. ... performing a few of his latest songs, including "Holy."

Justin's wife, Hailey, was also in attendance ... it seems this was their fun daytime activity before hitting up the star-studded party in WeHo that night with their old pals Drake and Kendall and Kylie Jenner.

It's appears Biebs' school show was planned in advance for Baby2Baby -- a charity to help children living in poverty -- and the young crowd was definitely lovin' it. Talk about great timing to be back in school!

As we've reported ... Justin's been showing up at some unexpected places lately in L.A., including a visit to the California State Prison to spread the good word.

Paris Hilton is linking up with none other than Danielle Bregoli -- AKA Bhad Bhabie -- over an issue that's near and dear to both lately ... alleged abuse at troubled teen camps.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ, Paris has been in contact with Danielle recently about the prospect of teaming up and working together to spread awareness about Breaking Code Silence -- an organization advocating for survivors from these types of facilities.

We're told Paris DM'd Danielle shortly after DB released her own testimonial about what she claims she experienced at Utah's Turn-About Ranch -- a youth facility she went to after her time on Dr. Phil's show way back in 2016 ... which she described as a nightmare.

ICYMI ... Danielle claimed she was subjected to cruel treatment and what she describes as child abuse via alleged sleep deprivation, malnutrition, unsanitary conditions and more. Danielle went on to allege other teens went through similar issues at Turn-About, including a girl who filed a lawsuit claiming she'd been sexually assaulted by the staff.

Of course, Paris has been beating the same drum -- having partaken in a documentary alleging abuse at Utah's Provo Canyon boarding school, and recently testifying in support of a Utah state bill to ban mistreatment at youth facilities.

That bill was signed into law, and Paris was there for that as well. So, with that in mind ... it makes sense she'd want to get on board with Danielle's campaign too.

As for exactly how they're going to work together, we're told that's still being discussed. However, Paris is making it clear she fully backs Danielle, telling TMZ ... "I support all survivors who share their personal experiences within the Troubled Teen Industry and I am proud of Danielle for using her voice and her platform. It is wonderful to see more public voices take on this Industry."

Paris also supports Danielle's efforts to get Dr. Phil not to place kids at Turn-About Ranch. She says, "People look up to Dr. Phil and I want to make sure the show is accurately portraying these residential facilities to desperate families and not continuing to spread the false narrative that these places heal kids."

Phil addressed Danielle's claims a few weeks ago when he was on Ashleigh Banfield's show. He said if Danielle has an issue with her treatment at Turn-About, she should file a complaint with law enforcement. Danielle released a video Wednesday responding to Phil's interview.

"The Powerpuff Girls" have grown up ... and their sugar, spice and everything nice no longer comes in cartoon form.

The 3 leads of the upcoming live-action series -- Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron, and Yana Perrault -- were filming the pilot Wednesday in Atlanta ... along with former "Scrubs" star, Donald Faison, who plays their creator/father, Professor Utonium.

It's the first look at the 'PPG' stars in their full, colorful costumes ... with Bennet in pink playing Blossom, Cameron in blue as Bubbles, and Perrault in the green playing Buttercup.

At one point during the shooting of an action scene, Blossom went flying through the air as the other Girls ran past her.

Looks like they all have the Chemical X factor.

The CW is hoping to relaunch the popular Cartoon Network animated series from the late '90s, with the new version picking up with the titular superheroes as "disillusioned twenty-somethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime-fighting."

Can you imagine an NBA ref chasing down Zion Williamson for an autograph after a game??

That's pretty much what happened after a Champions League match on Tuesday ... when a ref ran after 20-year-old Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland -- and got him to sign his yellow card!!

The whole interaction was caught on video after Dortmund's 1-2 loss to Manchester City ... with assistant ref Octavian Sovre tailing the striker as he headed to the locker room.

In the footage, Sovre catches up with Haaland, whips out his card and a pen and asks for a quick John Hancock ... and the BVB star obliges!!

Of course, Haaland is regarded as one of the most promising young talents in the sport ... and all the top soccer clubs are lining up in hopes to sign the guy.

In fact, the Norwegian striker has 10 Champions League goals and 21 more Bundesliga goals.

While a Haaland auto is understandably in high demand, Sovre's move has been criticized as unprofessional ... and some folks are pissed.

But, Man City manager Pep Guardiola defended the ref ... saying, "Maybe he's a fan. Why not? The referees were brilliant, the game was not a problem."

"And after, maybe [the autograph] was for his son or daughter, I don't know," Guardiola continued.

"I've never seen it before but it's happened. Listen, they did a good job so that's it. Nothing happened."

Amazing stuff from Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers ... the NBA superstar and his team have committed to help build yet another all-inclusive playground in Oregon.

Portland's NBA squad has been heavily involved in funding fun, all-abilities play areas in the state for kids for the past 7 years ... and 2021 will be no different, the team announced Tuesday.

This year, the Blazers and Lillard say they're passing along $25,000 to the city of Astoria -- which is about 100 miles northwest of Portland -- to aid in the building of the new playground.

The place promises to be awesome ... it'll allow typical kids to play with others that might require wheelchairs or walkers without any sort of restrictions.

And, if you're unfamiliar, these kinds of parks are SUPER important to families with special needs children because they help break stigmas and include EVERYBODY.

You'll recall ... NFL star Drew Brees helped build a similar fully inclusive playground in the New Orleans area back in 2017 -- and it turned out GREAT!

Here's to hoping the same happens in Astoria.

Some of DMX's children have flown to New York to visit their dad in the ICU -- a visit that could be a final goodbye -- but it's been complicated by COVID.

Family sources tell TMZ ... a number of DMX's kids have touched down in White Plains, NY, and are now on the ground at the hospital to get time with their father -- this as we're hearing his condition remains unchanged and dire.

Our sources tell us his children will only be allowed to see X one at a time -- per COVID regulations. His fiancee, Desiree, and his mom have already been there with him. We don't know if the hospital has begun allowing some of the kids into the ICU, but that's the plan.

Unclear just how many of X's kids have arrived at this point -- remember, he has 15 children ... but it'd be safe to assume a good majority will get the chance to see him, especially those who are older and understand the situation.

As we reported over the weekend, X's chances of recovery are not looking good -- he's still on life support and there is little brain activity.

TMZ broke the story ... X overdosed Friday night, which triggered a heart attack. Despite resuscitation efforts, we've heard X was simply left without needed oxygen to his brain for nearly 30 minutes.

Titus Welliver can roar off into the sunset in the saddle of his motorcycle as the dust settles in his divorce -- and his ex-wife will be galloping away ... TMZ has learned.

The 'Bosch' star just finalized his divorce from Josepha Theodora Stemkens -- to whom he'd been married to since 2014 -- and the judge has now signed off on exactly who gets what in the division of their assets.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Titus gets to keep some property in Connecticut, some bank accounts, residuals and royalties from his TV and movie work. Now for the fun stuff -- he's taking some sweet rides for a cruise around ... including a Mini Cooper and a 2014 Harley Davidson.

As for Josepha ... she was also left with a pretty nice whip -- a 2017 Range Rover, and some equine mobility too. She's getting their 6 horses, named Kimba, Kid, Chief‚ Aslan, Jackson and Little Martha Grace.

She's also keeping her businesses and personal accounts, plus jewelry and furniture that's already in her possession.

Titus was also ordered to pay Josepha around $27k a month until the end of 2021, in addition to a lump sum of $50k to equalize the property split. The couple also came to terms on child custody -- Titus has a 14-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, and Josepha legally adopted her during their marriage.

Wanna own a piece of Cristiano Ronaldo history AND potentially save a child's life???

Good news ... the armband thrown by the soccer legend in a fit of rage last weekend is hitting the auction block, and the cash it nets will go to helping a 6-month-old who's battling a serious illness.

You'll recall ... Ronaldo threw a temper tantrum last Saturday after his apparent game-winning goal in Portugal's World Cup qualifying match with Serbia was disallowed.

The 36-year-old lost his mind ... he stormed off the field before the game had officially been called -- and spiked his captain's armband to the ground in disgust before he hit the showers.

Well, turns out a stadium worker at Rajko Mitic stadium in Belgrade picked up the piece, gave it to a charity group in Serbia ... and it now can be all yours for the right price.

Bidding on the piece is about $10,000 at the moment ... but the charity group behind the sale is hoping to raise far more than that.

The group says it's trying to come up with $3 million to help a 6-month-old baby get the treatment it needs to battle spinal muscular atrophy.

Here's the caption from the auction site (translated into English)

"The funds are intended for the treatment of a 6-month-old baby Gavrilo Djurdjevic from Kragujevac, Serbia, who was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy and needs 2,500,000 euros for the treatment that can save his life."

With the sports memorabilia market still ON FIRE combined with the fact the item was involved in a high-profile incident, don't rule out a 7-figure haul for the armband!

There are three days left to lock in bids ... good luck!!!

Schoolchildren across America are being scarred for life because of gun violence, but there are ways to fix the problem ... so says author John Woodrow Cox.

John hopped on "TMZ Live" Wednesday for a sobering conversation about the impact of guns on our nation's youth ... something he's as passionate about as he is knowledgeable.

John's new book -- "Children Under Fire: An American Crisis" -- chronicles the scope of the problem. For example, 4 million students were impacted by school lockdowns in one year, and these are not drills ... they're actually incidents involving guns on campus.

John says these lockdowns can really mess with kids' heads ... with many thinking they were going to die. He says he's poured over tons of text messages by children to their parents saying goodbye because they thought they were living their final moments.

While mass shootings subsided during coronavirus lockdowns, John points out there were two -- one in Colorado and another in Georgia -- as soon as restrictions were relaxed.

Cops are on the hunt for a woman who pulled a gun on a skateboarder during an argument in Maryland ... and the video is terrifying.

The Montgomery County Police Dept. claims it has obtained cell phone footage of the Jan. 16 incident which shows the suspect pointing a handgun right into the chest of an underage boy.

Cops say the "male juvenile victim" was skating around with friends around 2:25 PM "when he became involved in a verbal dispute with a passing motorist."

The female driver got out of her car and began arguing with the skateboarder, according to witnesses ... and a crowd began to form.

This is where things get crazy ...

Cops say two RANDOM women who just happened to be walking down the street at the time of the incident decided to get involved.

"One of the female suspects approached the juvenile victim and interjected herself in the dispute," cops say.

"The second female suspect went to a red Volvo that was parked in the area and drove it close to the dispute. She then gave a handgun to the first suspect, who used it to threaten the victim. Witnesses captured the incident on their cell phones."

In other words, the woman with the gun is NOT the same woman from the initial argument.

Fortunately, the woman did NOT fire the weapon and no one was injured,

Now, officials say they're looking for the gun-wielding suspect as part of an investigation into a possible 1st-degree assault with a handgun.

Cops are asking the public to help identify the suspects.

A couple of Maryland cops went overboard to send a message to a little kid who allegedly left school without permission -- a disturbing encounter that's just now seeing the light of day.

This bodycam video from the Montgomery County Police Dept. was just released, capturing an ugly incident that went down January, 2020 ... when they tracked down a 5-year-old boy who was off school grounds, and proceeded to berate him to no end on camera.

It's tough to watch this ... you see a male and female officer scream in the kid's face over and over, as they throw him in the back of a cruiser and escort him back to campus. Both say the kid deserves to be beaten and spanked by his mom.

Eventually, they end up back in an office of some sort at the school ... where the kid's mother is called in to deal with the situation. There, too, they continue to get in the boy's face and lecture him on how "bad" he's being ... the child screams and cries throughout the ordeal.

At one point, his mom shows up ... and the officers proceed to give her advice on parenting. It's a bizarre interaction -- definitely overstepping, to say the least. The icing on the cake is when they put cuffs on the kid ... presumably to "scare him straight."

That's what a lot of people are also saying after seeing this -- there are calls for the officers to be fired, not to mention for these school officials to be disciplined ... as they just stood by and let this unfold. Even some Montgomery County City Council members are decrying this interaction ... as has Montgomery County Public Schools, the district overseeing this place.

The mother of a 12-year-old student whose teacher went on a racist rant on Zoom against her and her son is now filing a lawsuit.

Katura Stokes was on a Zoom call with her teacher from Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Management Academy in Palmdale, CA, when the call ended.

Unbeknownst to the teacher, the mother was still listening when the teacher, Kimberly Newman, launched into a half-hour-long, despicable tirade about Black families, saying the student was lying and then zeroing in on the mom, "Since you've taught him to make excuses that nothing is his fault. This is what Black people do."

But, she wasn't done ... "I mean these parents, that's what kind of piece of s*** they are ... Black. He's Black. They're a Black family."