Sex

D.L. Hughley is clearly struggling with the idea of muting R. Kelly ... because he likes Kelly's music, but can't look past the actions of someone he calls a "talented pedophile."

We got D.L. Wednesday at LAX and he has a hard time saying he's never going to listen to R. Kelly's music again. He admits it's a "tough call." That said, he quickly adds he won't be buying any more of Kelly's work.

As for "Surviving R. Kelly" ... D.L. says no one should be shocked by the Lifetime series, considering most people already knew about the allegations surrounding the R&B star.

Cops paid a visit to R. Kelly's recording studio in Chicago, which has been featured on Lifetime's docuseries as an alleged "sex cult" base where the singer held girls captive.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... officers dropped by Kelly's westside music studio Tuesday evening, but it appeared to be vacant.

We're told there was no call to police that triggered the visit ... cops went to check out the spot because it's gotten so much publicity from "Surviving R. Kelly." The docuseries portrayed the location as a hub for Kelly's alleged sexual abuse of women.

Interestingly, there was reportedly a party there Tuesday night, on what was Kelly's 52nd birthday. Our sources say cops had no knowledge of the event. We're told officers will continue to patrol the area.

On 'Surviving' ... the parents of one of Kelly's alleged victims, Azriel Clary, go to the R&B singer's studio and throw rocks at it, trying to get her to come outside. The studio is currently listed for sale.

As we reported ... Chicago prosecutors are urging R. Kelly victims to come forward, and we're told at least one victim and the families of 2 others are doing just that ... and believe they have sufficient evidence to prosecute him.

Cristiano Ronaldo has called in his lawyers after a British reality star made serious allegations against him on social media this week ... and we're told CR7 adamantly denies all wrongdoing.

Jasmine Lennard -- a UK fashion model who starred on the British version of "Celebrity Big Brother" -- went off on Ronaldo on Twitter ... claiming they dated for 10 years, during which she was subjected to emotional abuse and threats.

Lennard claims she recently watched "Surviving R. Kelly" and was inspired to speak out against Ronaldo ... and feels compelled to help Kathryn Mayorga, the woman who is suing Cristiano for rape.

We're told the soccer star views Lennard's allegations as "false and defamatory" and his lawyers are already handling the situation.

As we previously reported, Ronaldo is being sued by Mayorga -- who claims Ronaldo raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room back in 2009. She had initially filed a police report describing the alleged crime -- but didn't identify Ronaldo by name.

In her lawsuit, Mayorga says she later accepted a $375,000 payment in exchange for her silence -- but now, she wants that agreement voided.

At least 1 alleged victim of R. Kelly and families of 2 other alleged victims spoke Tuesday night, planning to present Chicago prosecutors with what they believe is sufficient evidence to prosecute the singer for sexual abuse and other crimes ... TMZ has learned.

We're told a family member of one of the alleged victims was the leader on the efforts, and he will put together an evidence packet for the Cook County State Attorney. As we reported, State Attorney Kim Foxx said Tuesday afternoon she was "sickened" by the Lifetime docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly" and asked anyone who was a victim or has information about a victim to come forward.

An attorney for another alleged victim -- who does not live in Chicago -- made it clear she was going to contact the appropriate authorities on behalf of her client.

Those behind the efforts said they were fanning out to find other victims who would join their united front before presenting their cases to the State Attorney.

As of 6:30 PM Central Time, the State Attorney had received no calls from alleged victims. The phone number is (773) 674-6492.

Mario Batali will not be charged for 2 alleged sexual assaults in NYC ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

We're told the NYPD has closed both cases against Batali after investigators couldn't find any witnesses or evidence supporting claims made by the accusers.

We broke the story ... a woman filed a police report last March claiming she was raped by Batali on Jan. 29, 2004 at his West Village eatery.

NYPD was also investigating Batali for sexual misconduct after a woman came forward on "60 Minutes" claiming he sexually assaulted her in 2005 at his Spotted Pig restaurant.

Common is copping to turning a blind eye to the allegations about R. Kelly abusing women ... saying he and the entire black community should have put a stop to it long ago.

We got the rapper/actor out Tuesday at LAX where he said he's guilty of not coming to the rescue of Kelly's alleged sex slaves. He also calls it a systemic failure when it comes to how society values black women and makes no bones about it -- if the alleged victims were white instead of black, there would have been more outrage.

Common -- who's from Chicago, just like Kelly -- is done giving him a pass. As you know, there's been a ton of backlash since the "Surviving R. Kelly" 6-part series -- Tank blasted Kelly and Daymond John explained why he thinks Kelly should kill himself.

Add Common to the list of people who think Kelly needs to face consequences, starting right now.

Video of 3 women featured in the "Surviving R. Kelly" docuseries shows them front row at one of his concerts, but it's not necessarily what it seems.

TMZ obtained this footage from an October 2016 show in New Jersey. You can see Joycelyn Savage, Dominique Gardner and Azriel Clary standing next to each other in clear view of Kelly while he's onstage.

The women were dancing and cheering ... Azriel even gave Kelly a high five. The woman who recorded the clip shouts, "Tell your father come over here" ... because she thought the girls were young, we're told. FWIW, all of them were 18 or older at that time.

Loved ones for all 3 appeared on 'Surviving,' claiming Kelly held them against their will. Looking at the video, one could say they were thoroughly -- and voluntarily -- enjoying themselves at the concert.

However, one could also say it's textbook Stockholm Syndrome ... where victims develop a connection to their captor, but it's really a psychological defense to survive an ordeal.

If you watched 'Surviving,' you know Dominique's mother convinced her to flee from Kelly. Joycelyn and Azriel are still living with him.

Joycelyn has told us time and again on camera that she's fine. Meanwhile, Azriel's family has reported her as a missing person.

Kevin Spacey was allegedly molested by his father -- and it's something he first endured, but later enjoyed before becoming a monster himself ... at least that's what his brother is claiming.

Randy Fowler went on 'The Drew and Mike' podcast out of Detroit hours after Spacey appeared in a Massachusetts courthouse for arraignment in his sexual assault case.

Randy, Kevin's estranged older brother, says they were both molested by their dad. Randy says he was able to escape it in early adulthood but, apparently, Kevin didn't. Randy says Kevin stuck around the family home for years to come and claims he morphed into their father, who Randy calls the "creature."

Kevin pled not guilty to felony indecent assault and battery in the Mass. case.

As if the new 'Bachelor' didn't already know he was a virgin, his suitors (and the show at large) constantly reminded him during the season premiere ... and it got old fast.

Colton Underwood's journey got started Monday night, and as he was meeting the lovely ladies who'll be vying for his heart ...and apparently his crotch. His virginity was on the minds in the mouths of almost every girl. It was awkwardly charming at first, but quickly became a tired gag.

Even worse ... the virgin gimmicks quickly escalated from a chat to full-blown costumes just to land the joke. One girl popped a "cherry" balloon in front of Colton, another teased him with a real peach, and yet another took away his "V" card in a corny magic trick.

But, Alex D. of Boston took the cake (and the award for worst contestant thus far) by creeping out of the limo in a human-size sloth suit and lurching over to him in slow-mo ... staying committed to the whole sloth thing the entire way through.

It was cringeworthy to say the least. Fact is ... Colton's more than just his virginity -- here's hoping the producers of the show realized that before it's too late.

One of R. Kelly's alleged victims is putting out a challenge to the singer if he is, in fact, telling the truth -- take a lie detector test ... and do it live on national television.

We spoke with Asante McGee -- one of the women who made allegations against Kelly on "Surviving R. Kelly" -- and she tells us the first thing that needs to happen to save other girls she claims are trapped in his clutches is simple ... folks need to wake the hell up.

She says his longtime fans must stop supporting and pull the shudders back to see what's really going on -- and, after that, hold him accountable for his alleged crimes.

Then, Asante pivots to her big request ... that R. Kelly undergo a polygraph on TV, where the results can be seen live ... and no funny business can go down.

Remember ... Asante was one of the first targets of a now-defunct Facebook page, "Surviving Lies," which painted her as a liar with "evidence" it claimed proved she'd told conflicting stories about Kelly.

Facebook removed the page entirely, shortly after it went up.

R. Kelly really should off himself in the wake of the Lifetime docuseries, but he should wait until after he gets sent to prison ... so says Daymond John, who clearly has strong feelings about this.

In what might be the harshest take yet on "Surviving R. Kelly" ... the "Shark Tank" star absolutely tore into the R&B singer Sunday, tweeting Kelly should kill himself -- but not before being convicted for his alleged crimes. He joined us on "TMZ Live" to explain his anger.

Daymond, who has 3 daughters, tells us the docuseries struck a nerve, and he couldn't help but react in such a strong manner -- namely, suggesting Kelly take his own life.

According to Daymond ... the punishment fits the (alleged) crimes. He says based on what he saw on Lifetime, Kelly must've poured millions of dollars in covering his tracks for all these years. Daymond also says this is the final straw for Kelly in his eyes ... and he needs to atone one way or another.

Check out his take ... it's definitely one that isn't easy to swallow, which is something a lot of celebs are dealing with in the wake of the docuseries. Daymond touches on race here too, speculating on whether this alleged cover-up would've gone on for so long for white victims.

He also credits the #MeToo movement for spurring this outpouring of confessions, and encourages more people to come forward and share their stories.

For the record ... R. Kelly has denied all the allegations against him thus far.

Originally Published 9:26 AM PT

Kim Kardashian is making a huge difference in prison reform once again, playing a key role in helping to get clemency for Tennessee inmate Cyntoia Brown.

Cyntoia, imprisoned for 15 years for killing a man who was allegedly using her as a sex slave when she was 16, has just been granted clemency by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. She's set to be released on parole supervision Aug. 7.

Kim recruited her attorney -- Shawn Holley -- to help Cyntoia's clemency campaign, which started garnering tons of publicity after KK and other celebs like Rihanna, LeBron James and Snoop Dogg started bringing attention to her case.

Holley offered support, resources and called the District Attorney's Office on Cyntoia's behalf.

After being granted clemency Monday following a long legal battle, Cyntoia issued a statement saying, "I am thankful for all the support, prayers, and encouragement I have received.

I am thankful to my lawyers and their staffs, and all the others who, for the last decade have freely given their time and expertise to help me get to this day. I love all of you and will be forever grateful.

With God's help, I am committed to live the rest of my life helping others, especially young people. My hope is to help other young girls avoid ending up where I have been."

Kevin Spacey appeared in a Nantucket court to face the charge of felony indecent assault ... and interestingly he did not enter a plea.

Spacey has said in legal docs he was pleading not guilty, but the judge never asked him to enter a plea.

Spacey was ordered not to have any contact with the alleged victim or his family.

The actor's lawyer has said there are texts between the alleged victim and his girlfriend at the time of the incident and later as well. The alleged victim told cops his girlfriend didn't believe he was being assaulted by Spacey and he sent her a very short Snapchat video, showing a hand on clothes but not genitals

Spacey's lawyer asked the judge to preserve texts and cellphone records between the alleged victim and his girlfriend from July 7, 2016 to the present. Spacey's lawyer said he believes those texts were "likely exculpatory" -- translation, proof that Spacey didn't assault the then 18-year-old at a Nantucket bar.

His legal team requested he be allowed to skip the hearing, arguing it would "amplify the negative publicity already generated in connection with the case." The judge shot him down, though, and ordered Spacey to get his ass to court to enter his plea in person.

Spacey's lawyer claims the actor's contact with the 18-year-old was consensual, pointing to what he claims was 3-minutes of touching without the young man ever objecting.

1:27 PM PT -- The page has been pulled after posting alleged text messages between Kelly and one of the young females, where she repeatedly called the singer, "daddy." A spokesperson for Facebook tells us, "The Page violated our Community Standards and has been removed."

The rep continues, "We do not tolerate bullying or sharing other’s private contact information and take action on content that violates our policies as soon as we’re aware.”

R. Kelly is vowing to expose his accusers for what he calls blatant lies being spewed on Lifetime's docuseries -- and he's going down the list one by one ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Kelly tell us he and his camp are in the middle of launching a new website called survivinglies.com, which we're told will attempt to expose all of his accusers as liars as well as reveal their true motivations behind their allegations.

For now ... there's a Facebook page dedicated to the new cause -- the site itself is not live yet as of this post.

It appears R. Kelly's first target is Asante McGee -- one of the women who's spoken out and claims was one of Kelly's "sex slaves" ... but his team has put out a video that they say contradicts her story.

The Facebook page links to a YouTube video which claims Asante's daughter has debunked her mother's claims of sexual abuse and control at the hands of Kelly in a leaked phone convo with her BF, allegedly telling him she often raved of a luxurious lifestyle and the perks of being with him.

We have not independently verified the identities of either person in this audio -- this is just what R. Kelly's page is claiming. It also goes on to list Asante's previous arrests and claims she's in cahoots with Joycelyn Savage's father to extort the singer.

As we reported ... tons of celebs have spoken out against Kelly in wake of the six-part docuseries that aired last week. Kelly has denied all the allegations.

Regarding this new mission of his ... there are a lot of accusers to get through. Buckle up, folks.

Drake put the moves on a 17-year-old female fan -- including kissing her several times -- during a concert in 2010 ... and now he's being criticized for his actions, which many are calling inappropriate and creepy.

The clip's reportedly from a show at Denver's Ogden Theatre in May 2010. It starts with Drake on stage with the young fan, who he begins slow-dancing with ... before getting behind her and smelling her hair.

He then appears to caress her and kiss her on the neck, and says to the crowd ... "Y'all gonna have me get carried away again. I get in trouble for sh*t like this; how old are you?"

After the girls tells him she's 17, the crowd erupts ... to which Drake replies, "I can't go to jail yet, man! Seventeen? How do you look like that? You thick. Look at all this."

But he doesn't stop there -- he tells the girl he had fun with her and liked the way her breasts felt against his chest ... then goes in for more kisses, including on the lips.

It should be noted Drake was 23 at the time of the video, and age of consent in Colorado is 17 ... but that hasn't stopped many fans from skewering the rapper for his behavior.

R. Kelly allegedly kept a mother from seeing her daughter for years -- and the mother went on a hunt to track her down -- and it all happens on video for Friday's episode of Lifetime's "Surviving R. Kelly."

In the clip you see Michelle Kramer getting emotional as she tries to locate her daughter, Dominique Gardner ... tracking her down at a hotel and trying to bring her home.

The mother blames Kelly for keeping her family apart, saying any man who keeps a child from its parents doesn't have a heart. Dominique was with Kelly for 9 years, lived with him for more than 4, and eventually went missing from her family.

Kelly's legal team has adamantly denied the reports and information within the doc ... firing off a cease and desist letter to Lifetime, threatening a lawsuit if the documentary aired. However, Lifetime remained defiant ... airing it anyways.

In the clip ... Michelle finally tracks down Dominique at a hotel in Los Angeles ... and the Lifetime cameras were rolling when the family reunited.