Kids

Nick Cannon is on a long road to healing following the death of his 5-month-old son, Zen, who died of a malignant brain tumor earlier this month.

The "Wild 'N Out" star told folks on the "Today" show that he relied on his faith to get him through this tough time, saying, "I'm optimistic in finding the purpose through all of the pain."

As you may recall, Nick broke the devastating news on "The Nick Cannon Show" at the beginning of this month, getting very emotional talking about the final days of his son's life. Prior to that, Nick and Alyssa Scott had kept their son's health issues private.

When asked how he's doing now, Nick says he is taking it only 5 minutes at a time... "I'm so used to being upbeat and outspoken ... this was probably the most delicate and the most precious thing I've ever had to talk about."

Nick says before his diagnosis, he initially thought Zen had a minor sinus problem.

As far as mama Alyssa, Nick says he is "in awe" of her strength while dealing with such a tough loss, after carrying the baby for 9 months. He says that he tries to be there for her, but sometimes all they can do is "connect through prayer."

As we previously told you, Nick got a tattoo of his son and says that's only the beginning of what he plans to do to make sure Zen is always by his side.

Jenifer Lewis is calling on Congress to open an investigation into the death of Kendrick Johnson -- a 17-year-old black boy -- whose body was found rolled up in a gym mat years ago.

"The Mother of Black Hollywood" author and exec producer of the Starz documentary "Finding Kendrick Johnson" joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and shared why she thinks his case is so important.

Jenifer told us, "This is the most important film I’ve ever worked on. What this family has gone through is unspeakable but we must speak it so the public knows the truth."

The controversial death was ruled "accidental" by the state of Georgia, although Kendrick's family hired a forensics specialist who said his death was caused by "non-accidental blunt force trauma." The case was closed, but reopened in March ... we're told the doc sheds light on new evidence in the case.

Jenifer's clearly outraged by the lack of action on the part of law enforcement, saying, "You know how much evidence the FBI has to have to storm somebody’s house with guns AK- 47s out? And then when they got in there and saw that it was an FBI agent, it was just pushed under the rug, just pushed under the rug. Another Black kid. So what?”

The actress also talked about her special connection to filmmaker Jason Pollock after his 2014 Michael Brown doc, since she grew up in a small town just outside of Ferguson ... and she now wants the people in Washington to do something about it.

The first athlete named to Michigan State's recruiting class Wednesday was not a five-star QB or a four-star D-lineman ... no, it was Tate Myre, who the Spartans honored following his tragic death in the Oxford H.S. shooting.

"We are honored to recognize Tate Myre as the first Spartan Dawg of the 2022 class," MSU football head coach Mel Tucker said in a video message on National Signing Day.

"A Spartan Dawg is defined not by the plays they make on the field, but by the character they exemplify, the leadership they bring to their team and their community, and for extraordinary individuals like Tate Myre, their heroism."

Tate was one of four people killed when a gunman opened fire in the Michigan high school on Nov. 30. He tragically died while trying to disarm the suspect.

Just days before the shooting, the Wildcats' two-way football player visited the Univ. of Toledo as a recruit -- but, growing up, he had made it known MSU was his dream school.

"He had a passion to one day play for Michigan State," Tucker said. "This passion was paired with an unstoppable drive and follow-through to get there."

"Tate's consistency on and off the football field elevated everyone who knew him. Tate is, and always will be, a Spartan Dawg."

Tucker added that the Spartans will continue to support Myre's family as well as the families of the other victims -- Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling and Madisyn Baldwin.

Candace Parker says she and her wife have a baby on the way ... revealing Tuesday her partner, Anya Petrakova, is pregnant!!!

The WNBA superstar shared the awesome news on her social media page ... gushing over Anya on their wedding anniversary while calling the pregnancy "surreal."

"I LOVE YOU🐞," Parker said in a message to Petrakova. "I appreciate you, I value you and what we have."

"We've always dreamed of growing our family...," Parker continued. "It's surreal that we now have a baby on the way!"

Of course, Parker has been a mother for 12 years -- she and Shelden Williams had their daughter, Lailaa, together back in May 2009.

And, Parker says Lailaa is fired up to welcome the new addition to the family, saying, "Lailaa is pumped to be a big sister!"

Parker added that she's grateful Petrakova has loved "Lailaa as your own" since the two got together.

"You couldn't be more beautiful!" Parker continued in her message to Petrakova. "Glowing, while understanding that I have to constantly love, kiss, and talk to your belly AND yes… play Jay-Z for the baby (Goose knows "Song Cry" already by heart😜!)"

"I can't wait to embark on this next chapter in life with you!"

Kylie Jenner is about to become mommy x2, but not before doing a little celebrating with her closest friends and family before the new bundle arrives.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Kylie's sister, Khloe Kardashian, held the bash at her new home (next door to Kris Jenner) over the weekend. We're told it was mostly low-key, attended by Kylie's family, including her nieces and nephews and a few close friends.

Khloe had a massage station set up, treats for attendees and a tent with tables for privacy.

While we don't know Kylie's exact due date, she's certainly getting close ... it was reported back in August she was expecting, but was already several months along.

No word yet on whether Stormi will become a big sister to a little brother or sister ... the baby will mark #2 for Kylie and Travis Scott -- who are very much a couple -- despite a recent report from W Magazine.

Unlike her pregnancy with Stormi, Kylie has certainly been more visible this time around, and embracing the love from her family.

Josh Duggar's sister, Jana, is sharing her side of her child endangerment case ... chalking it up to a babysitting mishap she says could happen to anyone.

Jana says the charge against her stems from one of the children she was babysitting wandering outside alone, with a passerby noticing the child and calling the cops.

Josh's sister says police gave her a written citation, but she claims a follow-up with child welfare concluded it was an accident and the child was unharmed. She claims child welfare "recognized it was a case of a child slipping out of the house when you turn your back for a moment."

Jana says everything unfolded very quickly and admits it was scary ... but she says she's "thankful it all ended safely." Still, she says she's upset at herself for what happened.

As we reported ... Jana, the oldest daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle, was cited back on September 9 and charged with endangering the welfare of a minor. She's due back in court next month.

Meanwhile, Josh was just found guilty on both counts by a jury in his child pornography trial ... though his legal team says they will appeal the verdict.

LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates just did their best Santa Claus impersonations ... gifting an entire room full of kids with brand new bicycles for the holidays!!!

The two Chargers legends hit up an L.A.-area school earlier this week for the sweet gesture ... and video of their surprise visit is AWESOME.

You can see in the footage, Tomlinson came out to the crowd of kids first with a new set of wheels and a Chargers helmet -- while Gates followed suit with a ride of his own shortly after.

It appeared the Bolts duo was only going to give out the two bikes -- but, when an official announced EVERYONE would be getting one, the kids lost their minds!!

Check out the vid, the youngsters clapped, cheered, and even high-fived the former star running back and tight end.

The Chargers -- who used to play in San Diego during Gates' and LT's time with the team -- tweeted out, "Oprah, this one's for u."

Of course, Gates and LT were teammates in San Diego from 2003-2011 ... and the two created magic on the field at their respective positions.

The dynamic duo worked well together -- leading the Bolts to the playoffs multiple times -- and this latest moment with the kids is further proof that chemistry is still going strong.

Elon Musk can read a room -- getting ahead of potential groans and eye-rolls over him being named TIME's Person of the Year by sprinkling some adorableness on the ceremony ... courtesy of his kid.

The Tesla and SpaceX chief popped in for a Q&A Monday night in NYC, not too long after it was announced he was TIME's number 1 person for the entirety of 2021. His entrance turned out to be a big fat father-son love fest, 'cause EM trotted out X Æ A-12 for the sit-down.

It's pretty hilarious ... as soon as Elon comes into the room with X in his arm, just about everyone lets out the expected "awwwws" that come in the presence of any toddler.

X's appearance definitely softened any would-be tension that might've existed among the reporters and spectators there ... 'cause, as you may have read or heard, not everyone was all that thrilled with Elon getting the huge honor.

Nobody probably would've made a scene or anything, but bringing X along for the ride is definitely a good PR move on Dad's part.

As for the actual interview itself, Elon talked about a lot of stuff -- including whether he considered cars or rockets more important, and whether he'd ever get his ass up into space like his billionaire rival, Jeff Bezos.

Meanwhile, young X was on his best behavior (for the most part) ... not really fussing too much, and listening to his pops chat it up in what was almost certainly a new environment for him.

Jim Bob Duggar's likelihood of winning a state senate race in Arkansas just went down, drastically, due to his son's conviction ... this according to another member of the Duggar fam.

Derick Dillard -- who's married to JBD's daughter and Josh's sister, Jill -- tells TMZ ... Josh's guilty verdict in his child porn trial puts his father-in-law in a tough spot politically, and not just because of the obvious association to his son ... but because of public past stances he's taken on sex crimes. In Derick's eyes, Jim Bob's track record won't help.

Take, for example, a policy JBD proposed on a now-defunct site of his when he ran for U.S. Senate in '02, which talked about what should happen to somebody who rapes a woman. As you can see, he called for executing the perpetrator and keeping the baby alive.

It's not apples to apples, comparing that to what Josh's conviction for possessing a ton of child pornography -- but in Derick's eyes, it makes Jim Bob look hypocritical ... because he doesn't think his father-in-law would take as hard a stance now, in light of what's happening to his own flesh and blood.

More relative to Josh's situation is a bill JBD helped sponsor in 2001 -- when he was in the state's House of Reps. -- calling for widening the categories of sex offenses to include "pandering or possessing visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child." Derick believes Jim Bob will get grilled on the campaign trail for that one.

Big picture ... Derick says Jim Bob's come across as less than transparent or credible due to vague statements he made while Josh was under investigation.

Of course, Derick's hardly a JBD fan to begin with. As you know, he and Jill have distanced themselves from the famous fam since 2017 ... when Derick accused his father-in-law of screwing his kids out of money.

Still, DD admits Jim Bob could gut out a victory, due to his TV fame and name recognition/wealth -- all of which could help him get past the PR nightmare of Josh.

Julianna Peña admits Amanda Nunes deserves an immediate rematch -- telling TMZ Sports she'll get it soon (after the "Venezuelan Vixen" goes to Disney, of course) -- this after the MMA fighter shocked the world at UFC 269.

We talked to 32-year-old Peña -- fresh off her decisive win over the G.O.A.T., Nunes -- and asked her about a potential rematch.

"[Amanda] was the champ for so long. She definitely deserves a rematch and she wants it. So, she wants it, and I want it, and I'm willing to give it. It looks like it just needs to be a matter of time before they set it up," the champ told us.

And, let's be honest ... if any former champ deserves to run it back right away, it's Amanda.

Before Saturday night, Nunes hadn't lost in 7+ years ... when Cat Zingano beat her via TKO at UFC 178 in September 2014.

Peña walked us through what exactly it was like to face Nunes ... and although she might've made it look relatively easy, it was anything but.

"I knew that I was going to be facing arguably the best women combat sports athlete ever. She came 100 percent. Her shots were amazing. Her leg kicks she threw with massive intent. It hurt, but I definitely knew that at the end of the day, if I could just keep my composure, that I would get my hand raised."

But first, Peña says she wants to celebrate her daughter's 4th birthday like many champs ... in style, at Disney.

"I've been grinding for so long, I just really think my daughter deserves a little bit of attention. Her birthday's coming up in January, I'd like to taker her to Disney World. And then, after that, I'm ready to go. So, whenever they decide, is probably gonna be good."

Something tells us Peña might again be the underdog ... but she surely isn't going to catch anyone off guard this time around.

Julianna Peña can fight her ass off ... and she proved it Saturday night.

Santa Claus can pass up Philadelphia ... Meek Mill's got his hometown covered for the holidays, as he gives away more than half a million bucks worth of some fire gifts!!!

TMZ has learned Meek's planning to hand out a massive sack full of gifts for families in need this weekend -- things like bikes, video game gift cards, laptops, tablets, dolls and much more.

The Philly-born and raised rapper's getting his friends to kick in too -- Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Sixers partner Michael Rubin and Meek's managers at Roc Nation are supporting the huge gift giveaway.

The event, set for this coming Sunday, will be a more up close and personal giveaway than Meek could pull off last year during the pandemic. You might recall this heartwarming moment -- he had gifts delivered, surprising the families ... but could only video chat with them.

No matter what you think about LaVar Ball's antics when it comes to his sons, you gotta respect it ... so says Matt Barnes who tells TMZ Sports at the end of the day, he got 'em all to the NBA.

Remember, LaVar has aways been his boys' official hype man for years -- praising Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo any chance he gets ... promising fans (and haters) they would all be in the big league.

LaVar ended up being right ... Gelo is on a G-league team, Zo is dominating with the Bulls and Melo has brought the Hornets back to life.

Barnes applauds LaVar for it, telling us he's a great dad for making sure his kids got to the top level.

Even if he did do a lotta trash talk.

"As far as him being a great dad and helping his kids to where they're at to succeed, I definitely salute him," the 41-year old tells us at LAX this week.

"The kids are very talented. Hope Gelo gets a real chance to make an NBA team but to have 2 kids in the league that are doing well and a hopeful third..."

"I can do nothing but respect that."

Nick Cannon is stoically dealing with the tragic death of his youngest child ... saying he will absolutely keep the infant's memory alive.

We got Nick leaving an endodontist's office where he had 3 root canals ... but he stopped on his way in and his way out to talk about Zen's passing. As we reported, Zen was only 5 months old when he died Sunday from brain cancer.

Nick got a tattoo of his son, and says that's only the beginning of what he plans to do to make sure Zen is in his thoughts and prayers.

Nick broke the news about Zen's death Tuesday on "The Nick Cannon Show" ... and his emotion was palpable.

He says Zen's mom, Alyssa Scott, is dealing with the tragedy as best she can, and he's doing the same. Nick and Alyssa kept Zen's health issues private during the cancer battle, so it was a real shock to hear the little boy had passed.

Nick spoke about Zen's passing several times during his show this week, thanking fans for their support and condolences.

Josh Duggar isn't the only person in the family experiencing legal issues, his sister, Jana, has been charged as well ... TMZ has learned.

Jana's been charged with endangering the welfare of a minor, a court clerk confirms to TMZ. The circumstances surrounding the charge are still unknown, but we're told Jana -- the oldest daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle -- was cited on September 9, 2021 ... she'll be back in court next month.

As we reported on Josh, the former "19 Kids and Counting" was charged with one count each of receiving and possessing child pornography ... one of the images was allegedly of a child younger than 12.

Josh was immediately taken into custody, though his legal team says they'll appeal the decision.

Nick Cannon just got tatted up again ... and this time, his newest addition is in honor of his late son Zen who died this week of a brain tumor.

The "Wild and Out" creator shared the angel tattoo of his son on his rib cage Tuesday on his show ... a tribute that comes just days after the 5-month-old's death.

"It was a lot of pain, but it was well worth it. I enjoyed every moment of the experience"... adding that now he will always have his son by his side.

Nick has been very vocal about his struggles with his son's death, and previously said that his baby mama Alyssa Scott was taking things "5 minutes at a time." Nick and Alyssa had kept Zen's health issues totally private until the tragic announcement that he had died.

Colts star Darius Leonard became the real Santa Claus for kids in Indianapolis ... by bringing them on a holiday shopping spree!!

Leonard teamed up with Walmart for his first "Shop With a Jock" event ... where 50 lucky kids from the Boys & Girls Club in Indy got to go shopping with the linebacker with $100 gift cards for the store.

The special moment was caught on camera -- Leonard walked down each aisle at the local Walmart with the kids who picked out gifts like clothes and toys.

After that, they got to eat Papa John's pizza with Leonard and his teammates!!

One kid told WTHR he was so surprised he was shopping with an NFL star ... saying, "A football player in front of my eyes!" ... How adorable is that?!?

Leonard loved every minute of it -- saying he knows what it's like not getting much during the holidays, so he wanted to make a difference.

"I knew what it was like as a kid not really having too much up under the tree so just being able to come out and just be in these kids' faces -- now, they can go out and just shop and get whatever they want."

Leonard added, "They gonna remember this for the rest of their lives. Just tryna make a change in this world."

Leonard -- who has 8 siblings and 2 children of his own -- has been with the Colts since 2018 and the 2-time Pro Bowler has made over $29 million.

"Seeing the smiles on these kids faces is the reason why I do what I do!"