RIP

The dog that died on an Air France-KLM jetliner bound for L.A. this week was a healthy, happy puppy heading for his new home ... according to the devastated family now demanding answers.

The family's attorney, Evan Oshan, tells TMZ ... the dog, a Central Asian Shepherd less than a year old named Bear, was recently purchased by the California family from Europe, and was en route to become their pet.

We're told Bear was chosen specifically because the breed is known for being strong and protective but gentle, and the family has 6 and 7-year-old children.

Oshan says the dog had no known health problems and was fine when he boarded the plane, and also doesn't have breathing issues like the French Bulldog that died on a United Airlines flight last year.

The family's now seeking more info from Air France, including surveillance footage of Bear and personnel files of anyone who handled him, incident reports connected to the flight, a flight manifest, cockpit recordings and KLM's protocol for stowing away animals.

In a letter to the airline, Oshan adds ... "We take the death of Bear very seriously and expect the protocol which you will follow will be consistent with the death of any passenger. Furthermore any attempt to veer from our requests will be viewed as obstruction of justice and dealt with as prescribed under the law."

We broke the story ... Bear was found dead Tuesday afternoon in L.A. in KLM's cargo hold after a long flight from Amsterdam. We're told the dog's body is still in the custody of the airline's investigator, and the family's efforts to have him returned to them have been ignored so far.

We're told the family wants the dog's necropsy done by an independent vet facility and to conduct its own investigation into the death.

A speaking event with Rep. Ilhan Omar is already attracting lots of attention, but the shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand has increased the focus ... for safety and security reasons.

TMZ has learned LAPD officers will be out in full force when the controversial new representative from Minnesota speaks Saturday at the Hilton in Woodland Hills, CA, at a fundraising banquet meant to empower Muslims living in the San Fernando Valley.

Protests are planned due to Omar's recent comments, which many view as anti-Semitic -- so, security was already going to be tight -- but law enforcement sources tell us the New Zealand mosque attack that killed 50 people required some adjustments to the overall protection plan for the event.

We're told LAPD will be adding plainclothes officers, police dogs and video surveillance to accompany uniformed cops on the scene. Every attendee will be required to go through a metal detector.

Our sources say the California Highway Patrol and L.A. Fire Dept. will also be lending support, and federal law enforcement will work with LAPD to monitor intelligence.

The Hilton also decided to beef up its security staff in the wake of the mosque shooting ... according to sources close to the Council on American-Islamic Relations event.

Chester Bennington can still attract a massive amount of people in the wake of his death -- just take a look at how many heads showed up to a pop-up gallery on his birthday.

Professional concert photographer Jim Louvau hosted a photo exhibit Wednesday night in the San Fernando Valley featuring shots he'd taken of the late Linkin Park frontman from over the years. It was aptly called Celebrating the Life of Chester Bennington.

The pop-up's date was no coincident either -- it fell on what would've been Chester's 43rd birthday ... March 20.

As you can tell, a lot of folks still care very deeply about Chester, as the event's first showing completely sold out ... forcing Jim to host a second showing, which also sold out. All proceeds are being donated to Chester's wife, Talinda Bennington’s suicide prevention organization ... 320 Change Direction.

TMZ broke the story ... Chester died by suicide in the summer of 2017. He hanged himself at his Palos Verdes Estates home, just outside Los Angeles.

3:11 PM PT -- Erica is continuing to post about his death, saying, "Please love me while I'm still here. Nothing is promised. Appreciate life."

1:23 PM PT -- Erica just posted a message about Dixon's murder, saying, "We all deal with so much. You dealt with a lot. I'm so sorry this happened, you didn't deserve this. Rest in forever peace. Watch over your blood sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and your mommy. I know they are so broken right now."

9:04 AM PT -- Cops now say Dixon had just arrived at the location and was standing in the parking lot when he was shot multiple times. Cops still haven't said where Dixon was hit. The death is being investigated as a homicide.

Cliff Dixon, ex-boyfriend of 'Love & Hip Hop' star Erica Mena, is dead after getting shot in Atlanta ... while out celebrating his birthday.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Cliff, a close friend of NBA superstar Kevin Durant, was partying at SL Lounge when an apparent lone gunman opened fire in front of the club around 1 AM Thursday. Cops are investigating but it's unclear if Dixon was targeted.

He was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

According to an incident report, obtained by TMZ, an officer says he was in his patrol unit outside the club when he saw a black male wearing all black with a black skull cap fire at the victim.

The cop says he saw the suspect take off as others gave chase but lost him. It's unclear how many times Dixon -- who earlier Wednesday posted video of himself singing in his car -- was shot.

Dixon's friends have taken to social media to offer condolences. One wrote, "Rest in heavenly peace bro. U ain't deserve what happen to u."

Erica and Cliff dated for about 10 months, but their relationship was undoubtedly rocky. You'll recall they both got arrested last October after getting into a huge fight. Erica ultimately moved on ... getting engaged to Safaree a few months later.

Cliff had been childhood friends with KD and was reportedly part of the hoops star's inner circle.

He was 32. RIP.

Boeing is getting sued for wrongful death over the Lion Air crash of a 737 Max 8 in Indonesia ... a disaster that killed everyone on board -- and signaled the start of Boeing's troubles with the model.

The federal lawsuit was filed by the estate of Rohmanir Pandi Sagala, one of the 189 souls lost when the flight went down last October. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the 737 Max 8's problems stem from a system called MCAS -- Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System -- which is supposed to stabilize the plane during flight.

However, in the suit, Sagala's attorneys say the MCAS on Lion Air's Flight 610 tilted the nose into a dive without any input from the pilot ... due to a faulty sensor. Sagala's estate claims the pilots fought to pull the nose back up, causing the plane to seesaw more than 2 dozen times before crashing into the Java Sea.

The lawsuit says Boeing failed to warn the public and pilots about the "dangerous and defective design" of the 737 Max 8. It also references the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines disaster -- another 737 Max 8 -- which killed 157 people, and led the worldwide grounding of the model.

For the record, investigators blamed the crash on the pilot overcorrecting the nose when a sensor indicated the danger of a stalled engine.

Sagala's lawsuit happens to come the day after Bloomberg published new details about the doomed Lion Air flight.

3/21 5:30 AM PT -- A spokesperson for KLM tells us ... "The dog's owner has been notified and we express our condolences. In cooperation with the local health authority in the US, the CDC, the dog was initially examined to ensure there was no immediately obvious public health threat. The dog was loaded correctly according to KLM's pet policy."

They concluded by saying they'll need to wait for the necropsy results to determine the cause of death.

2:14 PM PT -- A rep for PETA tells us, "Tragedies like this one are exactly why airlines must require that animals travel in the main cabin only. PETA urges Air France-KLM to join airlines such as JetBlue and Southwest in prohibiting companion animals from being flown in the cargo hold, where they endure noise, extreme temperatures and sometimes inadequate pressurization, before yet another sensitive animal suffers and dies, terrified and alone."

A dog that made a trip aboard an Air France-KLM jetliner that took off in Amsterdam ended up dead in L.A.

Airline sources tell TMZ ... the dog, which looks like a husky, was found dead Tuesday afternoon in the cargo hold.

One Air France employee with knowledge of the incident claims ... the dog was incorrectly loaded in the cargo hold and lost oxygen during the transatlantic flight. According to flight trackers, the flight time was 10 hours, 45 minutes.

We're told the dog's owner picked up her dead pet at Air France's LAX warehouse ... and as you can imagine, she was devastated.

We've seen pictures of the dead dog ... but the images are too disturbing to share.

As we've reported ... dead dogs on commercial flights are becoming all too common, and some deaths end up triggering criminal investigations.

Air France and KLM merged in 2004 to create Air France-KLM.

We've reached out to Air France for comment ... so far, no word back.

Clinton Portis ain't just shutting the door on Landon Collins' wishes to wear Sean Taylor's old No. 21 jersey with the Redskins ... he's BOLTING it down, saying, "f**k no" he can't wear it!!

"F**k no," the ex-Washington running back says ... "I don’t ever want to see nobody else in it."

Of course, Landon just inked a MONSTER 6-year, $84 MILLION contract with the 'Skins ... and since he grew up idolizing Taylor -- some suggested he should wear the late safety's jersey number.

But, that would rub at least one of Sean's old best friends the wrong way ... 'cause Portis says he's FIRMLY against that idea.

"21, that’s sacred. Why even play with people? Why even spark people’s memories? Retire that jersey," Portis told The Athletic.

"For an organization that don’t retire jerseys or don’t officially retire jerseys, you put that motherf**ker in the rafters, you retire it, and you make sure everybody knows, this is irreplaceable."

Portis and Taylor used to be best friends ... playing together both in college at Miami and in Washington.

In fact, when Sean tragically died in 2007 ... Portis says the Redskins asked him to wear the No. 21 jersey to honor the DB -- but he didn't even feel comfortable doing that back then.

"There was no way in hell I would put that pressure on myself or play with fans to believe that we have a chance of seeing 21 in this jersey again."

Good news for Collins? Sean also wore No. 36 with the 'Skins early in his career ... and seems Portis would be fine with LC honoring Sean by going that route.

But, 21? Portis says that's sacred.

11:48 AM PT -- According to the autopsy report -- obtained by TMZ -- St. John was discharged from a mental health facility just 2 days before his death. The report says he was admitted after threatening to hurt himself.

Kristoff St. John died from heart disease and alcohol abuse ... according to a report from the L.A. coroner's office.

The 'Young and the Restless' star's official cause of death is listed as hypertrophic heart disease and is categorized as accidental, according to the report obtained by TMZ. The disease makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood and often goes undiagnosed.

As for the "accidental" label -- that's because Kristoff was apparently on an alcohol binge at the time of his death.

We broke the story ... 52-year-old Kristoff was found dead last month at his home in the San Fernando Valley. Law enforcement sources say one of the actor's friends went to check on him and found his body. Police and paramedics responded, and we're told Kristoff was pronounced dead on the scene.

As we reported ... a source close to Kristoff tells us the actor checked himself into UCLA Medical Center in January for depression issues, and he had just been released a few days before his death. We're told Kristoff's depression was partially linked to his son, Julian's suicide in 2014. It also seems to be the likely trigger for Kristoff's heavy drinking at the time of his death.

As you know, around the 3-year anniversary of Julian's suicide in 2017, Kristoff allegedly threatened to take his own life with a gun ... and cops placed him under a 72-hour hold for psychiatric evaluation.

Kristoff had played Neil Winters on 'Y&R' since 1991 -- earning 9 Daytime Emmy Award nominations for the role. He also won 10 NAACP Image Awards.

Ariana Grande's still got Mac Miller heavy on her mind ... and she wanted to let her fans know exactly how much before beginning her world tour.

The "thank u, next" singer kicked off her Sweetener tour Monday night at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY ... but before coming onstage, Ariana rolled out some Mac tracks ... as a homage to her late boyfriend.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed by fans, who flooded social media. One fan wrote, "Ariana Grande is playing Mac Miller right before her opening song for sweetner tour rn and my heart can't handle it SO MANY TEARS."

Mac's "Dang!" was the final song to play before Ariana came out. No doubt it was an emotional night for Ariana, who told fans during soundcheck her setlist would NOT include "ghostin" or "imagine" because they would be "too heavy" to perform.

As you know by now ... those tracks seem to be about Mac Miller, who is also referenced in "thank u, next." Ariana's been mourning Mac since he died from an accidental overdose back in September.

She got this tattoo honoring Mac and remembered him on his birthday too.

Miley Cyrus was so overcome with emotion at the memorial service for one of her favorite 'Voice' contestants ... she couldn't fight back the tears.

Miley attended the Celebration of Life for Janice Freeman Monday at Mariners Church in Irvine ... where she poured her heart out and honored the former 'Voice' singer. You see Miley break down but she still manages to get a laugh when she says, "I was never her coach, ever. She was always mine."

Before surrendering the stage to her dad, Billy Ray, who led a rousing rendition of "Amazing Grace" ... Miley had some touching words for Janice, whom Miley was paired up with during season 13 of "The Voice."

Miley said, "I've learned more from her than anyone that I've ever gotten the honor to be in the room with, not just vocally, I should've gotten more lessons than I did, but she taught me everything that I know about love."

She went on to say, "And, to be here, and I had planned on singing a song for her, but just losing her is just too much for me. So ... my dad's gonna take care of this for me. But, I'll always be your sister, I'm here for you, and I'm here for your family, and Janice I'll miss you more than I could ever say."

Miley joined her dad in song.

6:35 PM PT -- The Beach Boys' co-founder, Brian Wilson, just sent a message of condolences to Dick's family in light of his passing. He tweeted Sunday, "I’m sorry to hear about Dick Dale passing. Dick’s guitar playing was a big influence on all of us, and we covered “Misirlou” on our Surfin’ USA album in ‘63. Love & Mercy to Dick’s family."

Dick Dale -- one of the most influential guitarists and rock 'n' roll artists of all time -- has died ... TMZ has confirmed.

Dick passed away Saturday, according to Sam Bolle, Dick's former live bassist. Sam tells TMZ, "He was an original, he always did things the way he wanted to do them ... his own way. Long before punk rock, he was doing that."

A pioneer in music -- who was known as the King of Surf Guitar -- Dick spearheaded the surf rock sound that became globally popular through the Beach Boys and other bands in the '60s. He had tons of solo records and also performed with a group called the Del-Tones.

Dick also made multiple TV appearances over the course of his career with performances on "The Ed Sullivan Show," "Hollywood a Go Go," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "Late Show with David Letterman," "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and others music-variety/talk shows.

He also acted in quite a few TV shows and movies -- often playing himself -- including on projects like "Beverly Hills, 90210," "An American Vampire Story," "Let's Make Love," "Muscle Beach Party," "Aloha, Scooby-Doo!" and lots more.

He released 11 LPs, 14 compilation and live albums, and had 11 singles over the course of his career. His iconic song, "Misirlou," was also used in the opening credits of Quentin Tarantino's cult classic film, "Pulp Fiction." The Black Eyed Peas sampled that track too for their smash hit, "Pump It."

Dick is credited with inspiring other legendary guitarists, like Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen. Oh, and every other surf rock band that ever existed -- them too.

Dick has said he's dealt with a number of health issues over the years, including battling back from rectal cancer twice, dealing with diabetes as well as damaged vertebrae. Despite all that, he continued to tour ... and even had shows booked for May and the summer.

He was 81 years old. RIP

T.I. is back on set and ready to move forward with his show in the aftermath of his sister's tragic death.

Sources connected to Tip tell TMZ ... he, Tiny and the rest of his family have resumed filming 'Friends & Family Hustle.' We're told they started production again about two weeks ago, after the funeral for T.I.'s older sister, Precious Harris ... who died last month.

We broke the story ... Precious passed away in late February after an asthma attack led to her slamming into a telephone pole while she was behind the wheel of T.I.'s Dodge Avenger. She died about a week later while in the ICU on life support. She was 66.

T.I. had halted production of his show as soon as heard Precious was in the accident, not wanting to continue filming without one of their own. It'd been on a hiatus since mid-February, but it's back in full swing now.

Our sources say T.I. and his fam recently filmed a kickball episode called "Team Family vs. Team Hustle." Looks like the games might've gone down in an indoor arena. It also seems like T.I. didn't choose sides either way ... as he's dressed in a neutral black outfit here.

Iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld is being remembered in France as one of the nation's favorite adopted sons ... and it's all spelled out in his death certificate.

We've obtained Karl's death certificate, issued last month in Paris, and it highlights the fact that the German-born designer was awarded the prestigious decoration, Commander of the Legion of Honor ... France's highest civil merit.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented the medal to Karl in 2010 ... well-deserved, because Karl spent 55 years designing in Paris, so the Parisians made sure the honor wasn't forgotten. Fun fact: Napoleon started the Legion of Honor in 1802.

As we reported -- Karl died February 19 in a Paris hospital -- the certificate lists 10:20 AM as the time of death.

The cause of death is not revealed ... though Karl was battling pancreatic cancer.

The certificate lists "artistic director" as Karl's profession. As you know, he was the toast of the fashion world for decades, designing for Fendi and Chanel.

The doc says Patrick Negri, the branch manager of a Barclays Bank, identified Lagerfeld's body ... if only Karl's beloved cat, Choupette, could talk.

Karl was 85.

3/15 -- Félicité's close friend just posted a heartfelt tribute to her, and he’s lamenting the fact they were rarely sober when they were together.

Lukey Storey, a musician, writes … “There aren’t words for how painful this is. I’m writing in a state of shock. She was one of the kindest, sweetest, purist people I’d ever met. A purity too rare for this world."

Lukey touches on substance abuse, writing, “I relapsed in my flat with only you there beside me, I saw in you what I carry too, I wish we had spent more time together sober, but we rarely were."

“Too busy running away from our demons. Keeping each others pain in perfect company: We were pain twins."

Sources connected to the family tell TMZ, authorities found NO drugs or alcohol in the house where she died.

Lukey also reveals, “the last thing you said to me was calling me ‘bubba’ that you were proud of me for getting clean again. I replied thank you my darling and what I asked of u the next day will haunt me to my grave."

“Today I wish I was right there with you. It could of been me, or anyone in our circle of maniacs. I think it should of been me."

“Felicite You graced my life in such a short time and I will now miss you forever. I know you’d want me to stay clean and stay creating so that’s what I’ll do until I come and look for you on the other side."

“Crying as I write this I have never been confused by so many feelings and I can’t identify what most of them are. My thoughts are with her family, anyone and everyone who knew and loved her. None of this feels real.”

Louis Tomlinson's teenage sister has died after suffering a heart attack ... TMZ has confirmed.

18-year-old Félicité Tomlinson passed away Wednesday at her studio apartment in London. She collapsed from a heart attack, and someone in the apartment called for an ambulance ... but after paramedics tried to revive her, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sources connected to the family tell TMZ, Félicité had absolutely no warning signs and they knew of no prior history of heart trouble. She did, however, suffer from sciatica.

Back in January, Félicité posted on social media she had stopped drinking and stopped smoking cigarettes.

Louis and Félicité were extremely close, regularly seeing each other when he was in London.

Félicité was a fashion designer and had more than 1 million followers on Instagram. It's apparent from her Insta, she was heavy into fitness. She was planning to publish a book of her own poetry.

She was one of 7 siblings; Louis is the oldest.

Louis has just pulled out of a performance on a BBC charity show, Comic Relief. The show was scheduled to air Friday night, but Louis obviously had to back out.

We're told Louis is with family right now and he's devastated. The One Direction singer lost his mother to cancer in December 2016 when she was only 43. He recently released a song called "Two of Us," about him and his mom. The lyrics include, "You'll never know how much I miss you/the day that they took you/I wish it was me instead."

RIP

Originally published -- 3/14 4:00 PM PT

Luke Perry was cremated and his remains were scattered on the place he most cherished ... his Tennessee farm.

Family sources tell us Luke's ashes now lay in the town of Vanleer, TN, where Luke had 380 acres. The "Beverly Hills, 90210" actor purchased the land in the '90s. He lived there on and off over the past 20-plus years.

TMZ broke the story ... Luke's death certificate lists his official cause of death as "ischemic cerebrovascular accident" -- doc talk for having a stroke. The cert revealed his body had been taken to Dickson, TN to a funeral home, but it was not more specific.

Vanleer is just over 13 miles away from Dickson, so it sounds like his family received Luke's ashes in Dickson and drove them north to the farm.

As for Luke's connection to the farm ... he bought it in 1995 during the '90210' run. He had just starred in the movie "8 Seconds" where he played a young rodeo champ and developed an interest in cattle raising. That's when he purchased the farm.

Our sources say a private ceremony for friends and family will be held for Luke in a few weeks.

As we first told you ... Luke was supposed to get married to his fiancee, Wendy Madison Bauer, later this summer. The date had been set for August 17, 2019, in LA.

Gianni Russo wasn't just in "The Godfather," he claims to have deep mob ties -- and tells TMZ there's NO WAY the hit on Gambino crime boss Frank Cali was carried out by the Italian mafia.

And why? Because Russo says the killer broke a SACRED mafia rule that no Italian mobster would dare to violate.

"I don't think it was an Italian hit or a Family hit because they shot [Cali] in front of his family's house. They don't do that," Russo explained.

Russo played Carlo Rizzi in "The Godfather" -- who famously betrayed the Corleone Family, only to be whacked in a hit orchestrated by Michael Corleone.

Russo also says he was an errand boy for the mob back in the day -- and had close mobster friends, including Gambino mob boss Paul Castellano, who was killed in 1985.

As for Cali, officials say the 53-year-old mobster was shot to death in a hit in front of his Staten Island home. The killers also ran over his body after the shooting.

Russo says Italian mobsters respect an unspoken rule that family homes are sacred -- and that's why he believes the shooting was probably motivated by money and drugs, and not mob politics.

Officials say they're investigating the shooting -- but so far, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified.