Super Bowl

Prince wouldn't be pissed at Justin Timberlake for using his image and voice during the Super Bowl halftime show, at least according to Prince's sister ... who wants JT's haters to back off.

Tyka Nelson tells TMZ ... she was pleasantly surprised by Timberlake's performance, and even enjoyed his controversial Prince tribute. She and the rest of Prince's family knew he was planning to sing, "I Would Die 4 U," but says they weren't aware he was doing the video projection.

As for the backlash -- Tyka says everyone has their own idea of what Prince would have wanted ... so, it's an impossible position for Justin.

Tyka added her brother was outspoken, but wasn't one to hold grudges ... referring to the old beef between Prince and JT's beef over "Sexy Back." As she put it, "He said what he said and kept it moving."

Of course, one of the things he said was he hated duets between living and deceased artists. He called it "demonic" ... which doesn't sound like he'd be all that forgiving.

For her part, Tyka ain't trippin' ... and neither is JT, apparently.

Here he is ... the tight end who threw a PERFECT touchdown strike to Nick Foles in the Super Bowl -- and now he's telling TMZ Sports what was going through his mind when he got the call.

Trey Burton said the Eagles had practiced the play called, "Philly Special" -- but he didn't expect the team to run it at such a crucial time in the game.

But when it happened, Burton -- a former college QB -- said he was READY and executed like a legend.

The best part ... Burton says he was 100% confident Foles would catch the pass because he's a freak athlete who's made some incredible grabs in practice during the season.

The Eagles are a football team from Philly.

The "Eagle" is a common name for gay bars all across the world.

So, when a bunch of straight Eagles fans went to Minnesota for the Super Bowl and saw a watering hole called the "Eagle Bolt Bar" ... they didn't realize they were hitting up one of the top gay bars in town!

The good news ... it didn't matter for some of the patrons who stuck around and had a great time, according to Star Tribune's Eric Roper.

"I can confirm a number of Eagles fans here at @eagleBoltbar were drawn by the name. Including a guy from Hamburg, Germany," Roper reported.

Good news ... if they stick around, they can hit "Gear Night" on Saturday -- where patrons are encouraged to wear their finest leather & chain outfits (dress code enforced).

Nick Foles has gotta be the happiest man on earth at the Happiest Place on Earth -- the Super Bowl MVP is getting the royal treatment in the Disney World parade!!

It's a tradition that's been going on for years -- the winners of the Big Game get to send someone (usually the MVP) to Orlando to be the Grand Marshal in a parade through Magic Kingdom with Mickey Mouse!!

Foles got the honors this time around, and it looks like he's lovin' every second of it.

No, Super Bowl LII was NOT Bill Belichick's final game in the NFL ... at least according to John Harbaugh who's convinced the Patriots coach is coming back.

With rumors swirling that Bill and Tom Brady could finally call it quits after the big game ... especially with 2 key assistant coaches likely leaving and Rob Gronkowski pondering retirement.

But Harbaugh -- the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens -- just ain't buyin' it ... telling TMZ Sports both Brady and Belichick are super tight and neither one is ready to live the civilian life just yet.

For the record, Belichick and Brady are adamant they're coming back next year.

The Philadelphia Eagles are champions of the NFL ... and now they got the championship bling to match!

On the heels of their huge Super Bowl win, WWE exec Triple H got a custom world heavyweight championship belt done up for the Eagles ... a gold-plated replica of the strap belonging to current WWE champ A.J. Styles.

"To quote Zach Ertz, you’re 'the World Champions' .... so you need a World Title! Congratulations," HHH said.

The belt looks awesome ... but it's worth noting that HHH -- a native of the Boston area -- also got one made for the Patriots last year.

Guess there are no hard feelings.

Haley Joel Osment's Super Sunday is officially a very messy Monday after he got so pissed about missing a flight out of Las Vegas ... cops had to be called.

Haley was trying to get out of Sin City Sunday night, but missed his American Airlines flight ... so they put him on standby Monday morning. Emphasis on standby.

According to American ... Haley showed up Monday at 7 AM, but the flight was full, and he started going off -- yelling and swearing in the gate agent's face. Police were called, but we're told Haley left the gate area before the officers arrived.

Then came the sequel -- we're told Haley went back to the gate around 8 AM, and was even more aggressive. A witness says Haley yelled at the gate agent, "I'll destroy you!" Cops responded again, but again ... he'd fled the gate.

Little context, if you haven't been -- Vegas is nuts for the Super Bowl, and flights out are ALWAYS fully booked. Point is ... missing your flight is pretty much a guarantee you ain't getting home anytime soon.

Oh no, J Lo ... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

Here's Jennifer Lopez trying to cheer up a sad bunch of Patriots fans after the Super Bowl by bringing out her ex-Yankee BF, Alex Rodriguez, on stage ... and it went exactly how you'd think it would.

From the moment A-Rod hit the stage, he was welcomed with a massive amount of boos from the crowd of probably-Red Sox fans. The couple tried some cute banter ... but the boos didn't stop.

Gotta admit ... it took major cojones for A-Rod to agree to join Lopez on stage. Then again, it's not like he had any other option.

Eventually J Lo gave up and went back to her music ... 'cause Sox fans don't forget.

NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns made a political statement at the Super Bowl -- making sure everyone knew he was rooting for the Eagles ... and Meek Mill.

KAT, flanked by his smokin' hot GF, came to the big game reppin' a "Free Meek Mill" Eagles jersey -- a public sign of support for the imprisoned Philly rapper (and unofficial team rapper).

He wasn't the only one -- NFL studs Todd Gurley and Melvin Ingram also came through U.S. Bank Stadium rockin' Meek ... while LeBron shouted out the #FreeMeek movement on social media.

Of course, Towns was also PUMPED on the outcome of the game ... yelling like a maniac and proudly proclaiming, "I ain't never been so happy!"

Honestly didn't see this one coming ... a FOX News reporter made a friendly Super Bowl bet with CNN's Jake Tapper -- and the REAL winner is a charity for military vets.

We spotted FOX News chief political anchor Bret Baier at LAX and asked about the politics that surrounded Super Bowl LII.

That's when Baier revealed that he was rooting for the Patriots and made a bet with Eagles fan Jake Tapper. Winner had to donate $250 to the charity of the other anchor's choice.

Baier said Tapper picked a charity to help homeless military vets -- Homes For Our Troops.

The Eagles locker room was turnt to the max after winning the Super Bowl last night ... bustin' out a bottle of Hennessy and blasting the Meek Mill bangers to cap off the big win!!

Check out the players lettin' loose with "big shots" of cognac and getting cozy with their shiny new Lombardi Trophy while Meek's "Dreams and Nightmares" -- the team's unofficial anthem -- got the entire room jumping.

Thankfully, Bryce Treggs and Marcus Johnson captured the madness ... even the PUNTER was gettin' wild.

There's more ... Malcolm Jenkins went top shelf -- taking pulls of Johnny Walker Blue Label right out of the bottle.

Robert Kraft -- who's brought 5 championships to New England -- was all apologies after the Super Bowl ... telling fans, "Sorry we disappointed you."

The Patriots owner took center stage at the official team after-party in Minnesota -- telling fans they had planned a shindig as if they were going to win the game ... complete with A-list entertainment that included Jennifer Lopez, Gucci Mane and Florida Georgia Line.

Obviously, the loss affected the mood ... and Kraft poured his heart out on stage.

"I'm really sorry we didn't close it out tonight," he said ... adding, "We're sorry we disappointed you. We feel bad."

Forget the hologram drama, Prince fans are still VERY upset over Justin Timberlake's Super Bowl halftime performance ... and it all stems from an interview the Purple One did in 1998.

At the time, Prince sat down with Guitar World Magazine and was asked about the trend of live musicians using technology to duet with someone who had passed away ... think Natalie Cole's version of "Unforgettable" she did with her dad.

Here's what Prince said at the time ...

Guitar World: "With digital editing, it is now possible to create a situation where you could jam with any artist from the past. Would you ever consider doing something like that?"

Prince: "Certainly not. That's the most demonic thing imaginable. Everything is as it is, and it should be. If I was meant to jam with Duke Ellington, we would have lived in the same age. That whole virtual reality thing... it really is demonic. And I am not a demon. Also, what they did with that Beatles song ["Free As a Bird"], manipulating John Lennon's voice to have him singing from across the grave... that'll never happen to me. To prevent that kind of thing from happening is another reason why I want artistic control."

So, when Timberlake used Prince's voice and image to create a duet -- seems like JT did exactly what Prince didn't want.

There's more ...

Sinbad, the comedian, went off on social media about the drama between JT and Prince that started back in 2006 when Timberlake dropped "Sexy Back."

At the time, Prince joked that sexy never left ... and Timberlake responded with a diss verse in "Give It To Me" in which he said to Prince, "Don't hate on me just because you didn't come up with it."

Timberlake later pulled a stunt where he lowered the mic for Prince to mock his height at the Golden Globes.

Sinbad called Timberlake a "punk ass" for the performance -- and seems to want Timberlake to apologize.

Don't hold your breath ...

Hey Eagles, you just won the Super Bowl. What are you gonna do next?!

PARTY WITH DIPLO!!!

Everyone from coach Doug Pederson to running back LeGarratte Blount hit up the Minneapolis Armory after beating the Patriots to get their party on ... and TMZ Sports has the video.

Doug danced with the trophy ... but the place went CRAZY when Diplo -- one of the biggest DJs in the world -- bumped some Meek Mill, the unofficial rap artist of the Eagles.

Cardi B also performed -- the crowd loved her!

It's a different Gisele this time around ...

Instead of complaining that her husband can't throw AND catch the ball after the Super Bowl (like she did in 2012), Tom Brady's wife is congratulating the Philadelphia Eagles on winning the big game.

She's also reminding everyone her husband's the greatest of all time.

"Congratulations Eagles for winning the Super bowl, what a game that was," Gisele posted on Instagram.

"Congratulations Patriots for giving your best and to my love, we are incredibly proud of you because we are able to see ever day all the commitment, sacrifice and hard work that you have devoted to become the best in what you do. We love you!"

Well, this is disgusting ... an Eagles fan in a throwback Randall Cunningham jersey ate horse feces off the ground in Philadelphia last night.

Yup.

And why? Because he was happy ... we think.

By the way, it's not like people were trying to talk him out of it -- you can hear the crowd of fellow Philly fans cheering him on as he puts his face right up in the crap.

Cops insist nobody died in the crazy Super Bowl celebration ... so, Mr. Poo-Eater here clearly survived the stunt.