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Jeff Lowe is moving forward with his plans to auction off an "official" Joe Exotic NFT collection ... despite legal pushback from the 'Tiger King' himself.

Here's the deal ... Jeff and his wife, Lauren Lowe, recently announced an auction of non-fungible tokens featuring Exotic and the rest of the 'Tiger King' stars and it seems to have caught the attention of Joe's legal team.

Exotic's attorneys fired off a legal letter to Jeff and Lauren, obtained by TMZ, claiming the couple does not have legal standing to sell the NFTs ... and demanding they call off the auction or risk financial and legal ramifications.

Lauren tells TMZ ... she and Jeff are still pressing on with the auction despite Exotic's legal threats.

She says they will defend their position that they're the only entity in the U.S. that holds the 'Tiger King' trademark, which Lauren claims Joe signed over to them way back in 2016.

The auction goes live Thursday at 5 PM ET with the bidding running through 5 PM ET Sunday ... so the clock is ticking for either side to blink.

Jeezy and Jeannie Mai are gearing up for their wedding day ... or so it seems, because they just applied for a marriage license.

According to the Fulton County Court Clerk in Georgia ... the rapper and 'The Real' host came in Monday to get the documents required to become husband and wife.

The clock’s now ticking -- once issued, it means Jeezy and Jeannie have to tie the knot sometime in 2021, because in Georgia it's only valid for 6 months. They could re-apply after that, but who wants that hassle?

As you might know ... the couple started dating in late 2018, and announced their engagement in April 2020.

Gossip of the City was first to report the two were close to tying the knot.

For many couples, the wedding comes about a year after the proposal ... so don't be surprised if Jeannie's walking down the aisle sooner than later.

Addison Rae says she loves and respects all the TikTok dance creators who made up the moves she taught Jimmy Fallon ... and she hopes they can work together following the controversy she and Jimmy have sparked.

We got the TikTok star out in L.A. Monday ... in the midst of her catching flak for her 'Tonight Show' segment Friday ... which has been criticized for stealing from Black entertainers without giving due credit.

ICYMI ... Addison performed 8 popular TikTok dances to teach Jimmy how it's done, but people -- notably The View's Sunny Hostin -- took issue with the fact it appeared the moves were hers, when they were not.

Addison tells us this was definitely not her intention, and that proper attribution was given on the YouTube video ... just not during the show.

Taraji P. Henson says her little pup is in bad shape following a procedure -- so much so, he's apparently on the verge of death.

The actress posted the sad news Saturday, saying her French bulldog, K-Ball, is fighting for his life after some sort of surgery he just had ... which she says left him with complications. Taraji posted a photo of her pet with a tube up his nose, and he seems out of it.

She writes, "Mommy and team are praying Lil champ!!!! Keep fighting baby @kballhenson"

Taraji threw up a more official post with a bit more info, saying ... "I NEED ALL PRAYER SOLDIERS TO PRAY FOR MY BABY @kballhenson He is having some complications after his surgery. He is fighting and I am loosing my mind. PLEASE KEEP FIGHTING @kballhenson MOMMY NEEDS YOU!!!!!!!"

It's unclear what the pooch had to go under the knife for exactly, but it's known that Frenchies are prone to a number of health problems -- which can set in even at an early age. They can encounter breathing problems, mobility issues ... and a whole sort of others.

K-Ball appears to only be about 3 years old or so -- Taraji got him during Christmastime in 2017 when she says she got him as a baby. Get well soon, buddy ... hang in there.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had glowing things to say about the NAACP's contribution to America -- especially in the year of the pandemic -- as they kicked off the NAACP Image Awards.

The Prez and the Veep recorded their praise for the org at The White House for Saturday's event. Biden made it clear ... the NAACP has been a key player, if not THE key player, in the advancement of equality for more than 100 years.

Harris then talked about the contributions Black entertainers have made to the arts, but also to advance social justice in America. She talked about the advancements but then acknowledged a lot more has to happen to achieve true equality.

Chadwick Boseman won the Outstanding Actor Award posthumously for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." As we reported, Boseman died at 43 after fighting colon cancer for more than 4 years ... a condition he kept from the public until the end,

WWE star Brian James -- aka Road Dogg -- is bedridden in a hospital after suffering an apparent heart attack ... this according to his wife, who's asking for thoughts and prayers.

Tracy James broke the scary news Saturday, saying RD was having a number of tests done in the hospital to confirm what exactly had happened to him ... this after returning home from work Thursday night and feeling terrible from what she says was a likely heart attack.

She writes, "He has had test run and we’re currently waiting for the results.he has also seen a kidney specialist and will have a stress test done. He’s always been on bp meds for high bp. Just please pray all the test come back for something we can fix."

Tracy goes on to say she's a wreck, but trying to stay positive ... leaving it in God's hands to get her hubby back home safely. She also sent out a somewhat reassuring update.

Sounds like Road Dogg's kidneys are all clear, and a cardiac catheterization is scheduled for Monday to decide the next steps.

Road Dogg's perhaps most famous as part of the D-Generation X tag team collective from WWF's Attitude Era, which was also made up of guys like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Rick Rude, Chyna and others ... including RD's partner in crime in the ring, Billy Gunn, who helped make up one half of the New Age Outlaws with Road Dogg.

Road Dogg wrestled professionally in WWF/WWE until the early 2000s, at which point he went off and competed in other leagues until about 2011 ... never coming back into the WWE fold officially ... until he re-signed as a producer and a writer for them, that is.

He's reported as being behind the scenes for several 'WrestleMania' events and the head writer for other WWE shows, including 'SmackDown' and others. And, yes, Road Dogg is a Hall of Fame member too ... having been inducted as part of the Class of 2019.

Prince William is the hottest bald guy on this planet -- so concludes a new study that ranked where he lands on Google searches ... but the internet doesn't seem to be buying it.

A cosmetic surgery company named Longevita apparently did this "research" -- basically checking to see how many times certain bald male celebs were searched for in Google along with the term "sexy" -- and lo and behold, they say the Duke of Cambridge came out ahead.

Unclear what the parameters were for this deep dive of scalps -- like dates or times for which they searched -- but Longevita claims Billy here had been called "sexy" in blog and website descriptions around 17.6 million times ... again no other context beyond that.

As for who his runner-ups were ... Longevita says Mike Tyson came in second at 8.8 million search results (uhh, okay), Jason Statham 3rd at 7.4m (hmm), Pitbull 4th at 5.4m (really??), MJ 5th at 5.3m (fair enough) ... and other guys that followed included Floyd Mayweather, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Dwyane Johnson and Vin Diesel -- in that order.

Safe to say ... Twitter had A LOT to say about this, especially on behalf of "Criminal Minds" star Shemar Moore -- who was noticeably left off the list entirely. In tweeters' collective minds, that itself was a slap to the face. One user wrote, "Did Shemar Moore f***** die?"

Not only did some folks feel Shemar was totally snubbed -- did Longevita even search for him, we wonder -- but many more are outraged that The Rock or Vin Diesel aren't higher on the list ... as they're iconic for their hot bald looks.

Appears the (British) people have spoken -- we should note, Longevita is a UK-based company. Anyway ... move over, fellas, 'cause here comes cue ball Royalty.

Joe Exotic fought hard to keep his husband from throwing in the towel on their marriage, and his lawyer says it worked ... sort of.

Joe's lawyer, Francisco Hernandez, says he got an email from Joe late Friday, saying he had a heart-to-heart over the phone with Dillon ... this after Dillon expressed his desire to get a divorce from the man who still has 2 decades behind bars in his future.

According to the email, Joe says Dillon agreed to put the divorce on ice for now ... "Me and Dillon have talked and we are not going to get in a hurry and get a legal divorce. This has been tough on both of us and he is going to do what he thinks he needs to do and I prefer to stay married right now so things don't get complicated and if I live through this great we will figure it out then ..."

Joe has said Dillon has always been there for him ... "He still answers the phone three times a day and will continue to be my support." Dillon has also said he's always supported Joe and will continue to do so.

Joe didn't make it clear what Dillon will do, but think about it ... a young man in his 20's just sitting at home waiting for 2 decades is a near-impossible ask.

Joe and Dillon got married in 2017 ... 2 months after Joe's previous husband, Travis Maldonado, died after accidentally shooting himself.

Sharon Osbourne is done talking, at least on CBS' daytime TV lineup ... because she's leaving "The Talk."

CBS announced Friday Sharon decided to quit -- a move that comes on the heels of her recent on-air feud with co-host Sheryl Underwood. Things got heated on the March 10 episode when Sharon defended her friend Piers Morgan against claims his coverage of Meghan Markle was rooted in racism.

The argument left Sheryl in tears and sparked a network investigation into multiple allegations Sharon had made racist remarks over the years to co-workers

Sharon eventually posted an apology, but it apparently wasn't enough to fix all the damage.

Referring to the March 10 incident, CBS says Sharon's behavior toward her co-hosts "did not align with our values for a respectful workplace."

"The Talk" went on hiatus last week and CBS says it has been using the time off to have workshops and training about equity, inclusion and cultural awareness for hosts, producers and crew.

Find someone who's loyal to you like Jamal Crawford's loyal to his Blackberry.

Yep, in the age of iPhone and Android .. the 41-year-old NBA star still rocks a Blackberry device -- AND HE'S DAMN PROUD OF IT!!

The 3-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year was outed as a Berry-user during a Thursday interview with Candace Parker on "NBA on TNT" ... and once J.C. copped to the using the relic, Shaq and the rest of the crew came with the jokes!

"They still got BlackBerry?" one voice said while Shaq and Candace piled on.

So, why is Crawford so adamant about living in the past when it comes to his phone?!?!

"It’s the keyboard," Jamal said proudly ... "You know, I don’t gotta spend time erasing stuff. It’s the keyboard. It shows my loyalty. Once I switched over to Blackberry I never left."

Crawford’s loyalty came with a price … explaining his NBA teammates had to send him separate messages since he couldn’t join the group chats.

"With my teammates, I couldn't be on the group texts. They had to send me stuff on the side since I didn’t have [a smart phone] ... it was coming up green."

For the record, it looks like Crawford's rockin' a Blackberry Key2 -- which came out in 2018 and features a full QWERTY keyboard.

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend have had sex in public places A LOT, according to Chrissy, including in a restroom at the Democratic National Convention ... which she previously referred to as "that Obama thing."

The former Twitter standout felt the need to clear the air on James Corden's "Spill Your Guts" segment on 'The Late Late Show' when she was asked what's the strangest place she and her husband ever got intimate.

Chrissy revealed a DNC bathroom tops her list, but she says when she was asked this same question years ago at the Grammys ... she blurted out the "Obama thing."

To clarify -- Chrissy tells James that came out wrong and does not mean she and John had sex with Barack and Michelle or near them ... she simply meant they did it at the DNC. Then, Chrissy went on to reveal a lot more.

For those wondering which DNC they did the deed at, we did some digging ... and it seems like 2008. John not only performed at the event that year -- shortly before President Obama was elected -- but he brought his then-girlfriend Chrissy with him.

Demi Lovato admits the real reason she said, "yes" when her ex-fiance popped the question is she thought it meant her life would be completely stable -- something she quickly realized was NOT the case.

The singer opened up about her engagement to Max Ehrich, and how she rushed into what appeared to be a serious relationship with the 'Young and the Restless' actor. Remember, he proposed last summer after just 4 months of dating, and almost all of that was in quarantine.

Demi told Entertainment Weekly, the size of the ring made things real but "the second it was off, I was like, 'You know what? I'm good. I don't need that.' I just don't need an object on my finger to make me feel like I've got my s**t together."

She added, "It looks like stability, but it doesn't mean that it is. And, I don't actually grow through stability. I find that I like living not in chaos or crisis, but in fluidity. It's not [being] stuck and stagnant in an ideal or a tradition that was placed upon us by the patriarchy."

Demi even highlighted the fact that a year ago, she hadn't even met Max, and marveled at how much has changed in the last year. Demi and Max met in March, he proposed to her in July ... but they split by September.

Monaco's Prince Albert has Queen Elizabeth's back, or so it seems ... 'cause he's ripping Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for discussing Royal family matters on primetime TV.

Albert was asked for his 2 cents about Harry and Meghan's sit down with Oprah, and he told the BBC the CBS primetime special was the wrong time and place for them to be pouring out their feelings.

The Prince said he certainly understands the pressure Meghan and Harry must have been under ... but that being said, he says they should have kept their feelings private and held these conversations "within the intimate quarters of the family."

That's in line with the Queen's approach -- remember, Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying the Sussex's issues would be dealt with privately as a family. Perhaps not surprisingly, the head of Monaco's Royal family thinks that's the way to go.

As we reported ... Meghan and Harry are upset the Palace told them baby Archie isn't entitled to security because he doesn't have the title of Prince.

They also accused the Royal Family of shocking racism ... alleging one or more members of the Royal family expressed concern Archie's skin might be too dark when he was born.

Jessica Walter, known for her Emmy-nominated "Arrested Development" role and whose acting career spanned 6 decades, has died.

The actress died in her sleep at her NYC home Wednesday ... according to her daughter, who did not announce the cause of her death.

Jessica's best known, and beloved, for playing the devious alcoholic socialite Lucille Bluth on 'Arrested.' She appeared in all 84 episodes during the series, from 2003 to 2019, and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2005.

She won an Emmy in 1975 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series as the title character of the NBC miniseries, "Amy Prentiss." Jessica also got Emmy noms for roles on "Trapper John, M.D." and "The Streets of San Francisco."

True film aficionados will remember her role in Clint Eastwood's directorial debut in "Play Misty for Me." New school fans will recognize her voice as Malory Archer on the hit FX animated series "Archer."

Jessica is survived by her daughter, Brooke Bowman ... the Senior VP for programming at FOX Entertainment who said, "It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my beloved mom Jessica. A working actor for over six decades, her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off."

Bowman added, "While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class and overall joie de vivre."

The family's asking that, in lieu of flowers, donations are made to Guide Dogs for the Blind.

RIP

New York native George Hertzberg is best known for playing the villain, Adam -- who is ultimately slain by Buffy after she rips out his uranium power core with her bare hands -- in the early 2000s season of the OG action drama "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

While Hertzberg may have been the tallest actor on set standing at 6 feet 5 inches ... he was joined on the small screen by some HUGE stars including Alyson Hannigan as the slayer's sidekick, Willow Rosenberg, Nicholas Brendon as the BFF Alexander "Xander" Harris ... and of course Sarah Michelle Gellar as the Buff herself.

Alex Trebek's name will grace a new complex that's dedicated to putting a dent in an issue that was near and dear to him ... L.A.'s homeless crisis.

The folks over at Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission will honor the late "Jeopardy!" host by naming a brand new homeless shelter The Trebek Center. Alex and his wife Jean's $500k donation is the lead gift in Hope of the Valley's construction project, which is about to convert what used to be a 23,000 sq. ft San Fernando Valley roller rink.

The Trebek Center will break ground on May 15, and when the renovation is complete ... a 107-bed housing facility will serve as what's called "bridge housing" -- a bridge between the streets and permanent housing.

Hope of the Valley says the Trebeks' $500k was the cornerstone that helped them raise $2 million more from private donors like Beach Body and Shepherd Church. Plus, L.A. City Councilman John Lee spearheaded efforts to get another $6 mil from the city.

When it opens this December, Trebek Center residents will have access to a full array of onsite social services ... including mental health services, job training and placement and substance abuse counseling.

As we'd reported, Alex and Jean originally made the $500k donation for a facility dubbed Hope Center. That project still needs more funding, so Hope of the Valley got the Trebeks' permission, before Alex passed away, to redirect the half mil to the new shelter bearing his name.

Speaking of previous donations ... the Trebeks had also donated $100k to Hope of the Valley Rescue to build a bridge shelter in North Hollywood, which Alex and his family visited while it was under construction in June.