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Ben Stiller got dragged into a beef between tennis star Nick Kyrgios and a heckler at a famous tournament on Thursday -- and the scene was hilarious.

Here's the deal -- at one point during Kyrgios' match against Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells in California ... the Australian hit a serve that caused a fan to talk some trash.

Kyrgios fired back right away -- asking him straight-up, "Are you good at tennis!?"

When the fan responded, "No," Nick went off.

"Exactly!" he said. "So why are you speaking?!?"

Then, he brought Stiller -- who was sitting courtside with his wife, Christine -- into the equation.

"Do I tell him how to act!?!" he asked as he pointed his racket at the "Meet the Parents" actor. "No!"

Kyrgios went back to action on the court -- but broadcast cameras caught Stiller grinning over it all.

Kyrgios went on to lose to Nadal -- and then he continued his eventful day, by nearly nailing a ball boy with his racket in frustration.

Check out the clip -- Kyrgios shook hands with Nadal after the match, and then as he started to walk away, he wound up and threw his racket across the court -- nearly hitting the ball boy who was standing along the wall.

Fortunately for the guy, he wasn't hurt, but it was a close call and even drew gasps from the fans left in the stands.

Kyrgios, however, did make amends for his mistake ... and apologized for almost striking the guy.

"Hey bro! Sorry about my racket incident at the end! Complete accident, you all ok from it?" Kyrgios wrote in an apology he posted on Twitter.

Nick then offered to give the guy a tennis racket over it all ... saying he'd track him down if need be at the courts, so he could personally deliver him the gift.

"Sound all G?" Kyrgios asked the guy, to which he replied, "Perfect. Thank you so much!"

Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen Nick have a temper tantrum almost result in someone getting hurt.

An Indiana University cheerleader saved the day at an NCAA Tournament game Thursday night -- soaring high above a backboard to retrieve a basketball for players ... and the improbable rebound was EPIC.

The woman, Cassidy Cerny, jumped into action after a ball got stuck during the Hoosiers' opening-round game against St. Mary's.

At the beginning of the second half, a player missed a shot -- and as the ball rattled around the rim, it somehow got caught above the hoop and didn't come down.

Several players and a ref tried to get the thing to shake loose -- using a chair and a broomstick -- but nobody could knock out the ball.

That's when Cassidy sprang into action with Nathan Paris -- using a cheerleading stunt to get up to the top of the hoop. And, eventually, she got the ball down!!

Check out the footage of the fun moment, the crowd went absolutely nuts following her retrieval.

A short time later, she and Paris were interviewed about the heroic effort ... and she was cool as a cucumber about it all.

"That was nothing, really," she said.

Trevor Noah's response to Kanye West hurling a racial slur at him is filled with compassion for what he sees the rapper becoming -- a situation the 'Daily Show' host calls heartbreaking.

Trevor went right to the source, posting a comment on Ye's IG that seeks to deescalate their feud -- initially pointing out how much of a positive impact West has had on his life.

Then Trevor tugs at Ye's heartstrings, saying ... "You're an indelible part of my life Ye, which is why it breaks my heart to see you like this."

Trevor says he doesn't care if Kanye supports Donald Trump or roasts Pete Davidson, then adds ... "I do however care when I see you on a path that's dangerously close to peril and pain."

Keep in mind, Trevor left this comment on Kanye's since-deleted post where he called Trevor a "k**n" ... which Kanye posted in the wake of Trevor warning Ye's feud with Kim Kardashian and Pete could turn violent.

Trevor urges Kanye to understand there's a difference between fighting for his family, and simply fighting his family -- because he doesn't want to wake up one day to news Kanye did something terrible.

As we reported ... Julia Fox told us her ex-BF is harmless, and just expressing himself as an artist when he goes after Pete and Kim online. However, Trevor says he'd rather be the idiot who takes Kanye's words seriously and speaks out ... as opposed to staying silent and later regretting it.

Trevor also addresses the racial epithet, telling Kanye, "Don't ever forget, the biggest trick racists ever played on black people was teaching us to strip each other of our blackness whenever we disagree."

As we reported ... Kanye's attack on Trevor was part of the reason he's been suspended from using Instagram.

Trevor's comment ends with some comedy to lighten the mood ... he says Kanye's diss was actually funny and wishes Ye well, hoping they can laugh about the beef one day.

Violinist Vera Lytovchenko is opening up about her astoundingly brave performance in a Ukrainian bomb shelter, and despite deadly attacks in her hometown ... says she won't back down to the Russians.

Vera, a member of the Kharkiv City Opera Orchestra, joined us Thursday from Kharkiv, where 21 civilians had been killed earlier in the day. While Vera and most of her neighbors are sheltering, she's tugged at heartstrings around the world with a performance that's gone viral.

She told us on "TMZ Live" she got the idea to play music in her local bomb shelter from one of her violin students ... who did the same thing in a train station. Vera says she thought, "This young girl, 18 years old, is so brave. I can do something like this."

She hoped it could make a difference and keep people's minds off of the horrors of the Russian invasion ... and after posting some clips she found her comment section flooded with powerful messages.

Vera says she's been told her music is helping fellow Ukrainians who feel alone in these uncertain times.

The war literally hit too close to home for Vera recently when a bomb went off near her apartment. She's used social media to show the destruction.

Even in the face of that danger, she explained why she'll never leave Kharkiv. Saying her grandmother's grave is a few blocks away.

Vera is working with a friend to raise money for local musicians who've been affected by the war ... and says the money raised will help rebuild the music college, the conservatory and even go to struggling music students.

Justin Bieber was forced to take a seat Wednesday during his concert in the Mile High City ... but not because of the altitude ... because his concert went to crap.

It went down at Justin's Justice World Tour show in Denver at the Ball Arena.

JB was performing "Yummy" when the stage lights went out, video monitors went dark, sound equipment shut down, lasers went off, the large monitor behind him went out ... and only the pyrotechnics -- mini fireworks -- still worked.

Once things started to go sideways, Bieber stopped performing and just sat down on the side of the stage ... while technicians worked frantically to restore power.

JB was only a few songs into his set ... and it was no quick fix because JB didn't rise up for more than 15 minutes.

And, speaking of sitting, it didn't sit well with his fans, who plunked down hundreds of dollars and traveled miles. Making matters worse, the concert had already been postponed and downsized due to COVID.

The show resumed after a 30 min pause, but there were still tech issues. Justin powered through but didn't have all the bells and whistles, like some of the large video screens, lasers and stage lighting.

When he returned to the stage, Justin mentioned Hailey ... asking the crowd if they had "heard about my wife in the news, she's doing better." TMZ broke the story, Hailey was hospitalized last week in Palm Springs with a blood clot. As we reported, doctors at the time thought it was COVID-related.

Justin said, "Thank you for your patience, sometimes life throws you a curveball, not much you can do about it."

Well, 2 curveballs in a week are a bit much.

Karl-Anthony Towns wanted all the smoke Wednesday night ... savagely trolling Lakers guard Russell Westbrook over a horrible air ball he shot during the Lakers vs. Timberwolves game.

The funny exchange happened late in the fourth quarter of Minnesota's win over L.A. ... when Russ thought he lined up a corner three, but instead, came up with nothing but air.

Broadcast cameras caught Towns -- who was in perfect position to grab the "rebound" -- immediately making fun of the dude over the shot, looking to the sky as if to see what caused Russ to miss everything.

The Timberwolves broadcasters got a kick out of Karl's reaction ... with one saying, "KAT is looking where the wind is," before asking, "Did somebody open up a door?"

Wolves star Patrick Beverly then got in on the ribbing ... clowning the Lakers during Minnesota's blowout win.

Pat Bev appeared to mouth "trash" -- while making a gesture with his nose as if something stunk -- after intercepting a pass from Westbrook and starting a T-Wolves fast break.

A short time later, Pat was seen staring down LeBron James and flexing in his direction ... before going over to give the King a pat on the backside.

The Minnesota fans in the arena ate it up ... and Pat played to the crowd -- but Russ appeared to be furious over it all afterward.

When being interviewed by reporters after the loss, Russ said he won't pay any attention to Minnesota's trash talk because "Nobody over there's done anything in the league."

Beverly eventually responded on Twitter, saying, "Playoffs every year. 2 western conference finals with 2 different Teams individual stats or team stats? I thought it was a team sport??"

Arnold Schwarzenegger is using the power of his celebrity to reach Russian citizens and members of the military ... applauding the Putin dissenters from within and giving others the lowdown on what is REALLY going on in Ukraine.

Arnold posted a 9-minute video in which he praised those who are taking a stand against the Russian President, saying, "The world has seen your bravery. We know that you have suffered the consequences of your courage. You have been arrested. You have been jailed, and you have been beaten. You are my new heroes."

Schwarzenegger may have unique power to break through the modern version of the Iron Curtain ... he's such a massive, world star, his social media posts may seep through the cracks for his Russian fans.

Arnold has history in Russia ... he was the first Western star to film in Moscow -- in "Red Heat" back in 1988.

Arnold is urging Putin to "Stop this war." Putin won't care, but again, if Russian citizens hear this, they're gonna think twice about Putin's claim it's not a war at all.

Kevin Durant wanted no part of exchanging playful banter with a courtside fan on Wednesday -- telling a man bluntly, "Shut the f*** up and sit down."

The interaction happened at some point during the Nets' game against the Mavericks at Barclays Center in Brooklyn ... when a fan urged Durant to score more points during a small break in play.

"Kevin!" the fan shouted while the NBA superstar was hunched over just feet away. "You've got to take this game over!"

Durant took about a millisecond to digest the comment -- before he unleashed a savage response.

"You've got to shut the f*** up and sit down," he said, not even taking his hands off his knees to deliver the chirp. "Sit your ass down."

Durant did ultimately try his best to take over -- scoring 23 points and logging 6 rebounds and 10 assists -- but the Nets ultimately fell to Dallas, 113-111.

After the game, a man shared video of the incident with KD on Twitter -- and Durant actually ended up responding to it -- poking fun at the fact that a fine from the NBA was no doubt heading his way.

Here's the most unlikely reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- a "rapper" spitting bars in a TX city council meeting about killing Putin and riding hard for Zelenskyy.

Alex Stein, best known as internet comedian Primetimestein, heated up Tuesday's meeting in Plano, Texas by dropping some seriously anti-Putin lyrics to the council members -- and you can tell from their faces ... this wasn't the meeting they expected.

Armed with a Bluetooth speaker, Alex rapped ... "Gas prices are way too high, Putin’s got to die, put a bullet in Putin’s head."

The council members weren't exactly feeling it -- not a single head was bobbing, but Alex persisted for more than 2 minutes.

Alex wrapped up by thanking the council, and shouting out Sen. Lindsey Graham for calling on the Russian people to assassinate Putin.

As Graham put it earlier this month, "The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country and the world a great service."

D.L. Hughley just took the gloves off in his online battle with Kanye, and ... well, on a level it's hilarious.

For starters, D.L. mused, "Kanye do you know how horrible you gotta be to make a #Kardashian date a white man! #TeamDl."

D.L. wasn't done ... "Ye is at it again huh?? Welp at least I wasn’t crying on the phone about how big Pete’s Peter is! If you want her back instead acting up why don’t you try doing some d**k ups! #TeamDl"

D.L. was triggered by Kanye's comments Wednesday morning, when he posted a pic of D.L. in fatigues and said, "This grown ass man picked this outfit out himself Is he influential or under the influence???"

Now, here's where DL may have crossed the line a bit ... "Kanye how dare you talk about the way someone dresses, look at you!! All those people in your head and not one of em got a Macys card? #TeamDl"

As you know by now, Kanye has gone in hard on D.L., Trevor Noah and, of course, Kim and Pete. D.L. posted over the weekend, "You can tell when people surround themselves with real ones. REAL ONES in your corner would NEVER allow you to threaten a man or his family, especially in a public forum."

He went on ... "Kanye supposedly has all these goons who will kill for him, but not one of them will get his prescriptions filled?"

D.L.'s parting shots, "Kanye ain’t it funny how you can explain my jokes, but not your behavior? #TeamDl."

Pete Davidson wants things to be permanent with Kim Kardashian -- no matter how things turn out in the end -- he's gotten her name BRANDED on his chest ... not just tattooed.

Kim is set to appear on Ellen Wednesday, and in a preview clip, she and the talk show host talked about Pete's ink. It was over the weekend when some eagle-eyed fans noticed what they thought was a "Kim" tattoo on Pete's chest.

Turns out, Pete went above and beyond ... actually getting Kim's name branded with a hot iron on his body. Kim says Pete chose to make it permanent "like a scar" so he couldn't ever have it removed like regular tattoos.

Not only that, Kim also revealed Pete's got two other tributes to her on his body ... including one tattoo that reads, "My girl is a lawyer."

The gesture may seem dramatic, but Pete's got a lot of tats, and uses them to express things happening throughout his life ... so tributes to Kim make sense.

Of course, things have really heated up between the couple since we first saw them together last year ... and just this weekend, Pete stood up to Kanye, calling Kim a great mom and asking Kanye to meet face-to-face and talk about settling their beef.

Traffic jams happen in Costa Rican jungles too, or at least they do when a zip-lining kid suddenly crashes into ... a freakin' sloth!!!

Ya gotta see this video ... the kid hops on the zip line, and starts to pick up some serious speed, when about 12 seconds into his journey he slams into a sloth that's also moving down the cable -- but, naturally, at a sloth's pace.

The boy comes to a screeching and jarring halt in a head-to-head collision ... and the sloth hangs on for dear life.

Everyone looks a little shaken up, but no one appears to be seriously injured, though the sloth seems a little ticked off at the humans before slowly keeping it moving along the zip line.

The incident went down Sunday in La Fortuna, Costa Rica ... an area known for its zip lines and suspended bridges which offer views of lakes and volcanoes, and apparently up-close encounters with sloths.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his case to the United States Congress Wednesday for more aid in defending his homeland, and he zeroed in on the closest American equivalencies -- Pearl Harbor and 9/11.

Zelensky spoke by zoom to members who were not in the House Chamber -- where they usually have joint sessions of Congress -- they were all in the Capitol Visitors Center Congressional Auditorium. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced Zelensky with the same words she uses to intro our own Prez -- "It is my high privilege and distinct honor to present to you President Volodymyr Zelensky. She ended her introduction with "Glory to Ukraine." She tried to get members to chant the phrase, but they didn't.

Members were riveted as members heard Zelenksy's plea for aid. He presented a heartbreaking video of the toll the war has taken ... buildings bombed, civilians killed, buildings destroyed. It was difficult to watch, but it powerfully made his point.

Zelensky also invoked the name of Martin Luther King Jr., by quoting from the "I Have a Dream" speech.

Just a side note ... Zelensky's background in the entertainment industry can't be ignored. Presenting a highly-produced, emotional video with a solemn music bed.

Zelensky, who initially spoke in his native language, switched it up and spoke English, as he explained his country was fighting not just for its own freedom but for the freedom of Europe. He made the point freedom is not always internal ... it depends on what goes on around you.

He made it clear ... his people will not give up.

A college basketball cheerleader allegedly flipped off an opposing team and then stormed off the court ... after she says one of the players called her a "bitch" and told her to "shut the f*** up."

The bizarre scene all went down last Friday during St. Bonaventure's men's college basketball game against Saint Louis ... when Bonnies cheerleader Hannah Koning says Billikens starting guard Jordan Nesbitt talked trash to her.

Koning claimed in a tweet that Nesbitt "looked me dead in the eyes" and "told me to 'shut the f*** up b****.'"

In video filmed by the outlet Mid-Major Madness shortly after the alleged incident, Koning can be seen furiously walking away from the court while a woman, who appears to be Koning's coach, looked angry on the hardwood as well.

In the caption on the footage, the outlet claimed the cheerleader had thrown her middle fingers up to the Billikens bench just before the camera started rolling.

The outlet added, "Nesbitt had been chirping the Bonaventure cheerleaders all games, calling them disgusting names ... He came up at the end and said some more."

We've reached out to St. Louis for comment on the situation, but so far no word back yet.

A Russian TV producer who barged in on a live, state-run newscast with an anti-war protest is now MIA.

Human rights group OVD-Info -- which tracks Russian protests and detainments -- has been unable to locate Marina Ovsyannikova ... the TV editor who ran on set in the middle of a telecast with a "No War" sign.

During Monday's 9 PM news show on Russia's flagship network, which cranks out pro-Putin propaganda, Ovsyannikova ran behind the anchor who was in the middle of talking with her poster in hand which said, "Stop the war. Do not believe propaganda they tell you lies here. Russians against war." She was chanting, "Stop the war, no to war!"

The camera cut away to video footage ... and she was gone when they went back to the studio. Many believe Ovsyannikova was swiftly taken in by the authorities ... and now, nobody can find her.

There are differing reports on what happened to her and what's going to happen next ... a Kremlin spokesperson called her act "hooliganism" and insisted Channel One was dealing with it internally, and not the government.

In the meantime, local outlets are reporting an official investigation has been launched against her ... and Ovsyannikova may face criminal charges for criticizing the government.

As you might imagine ... her story has sparked lots of outcry, with different humanitarian and watchdog orgs calling for her safe release and freedom from persecution. Of course, tracking her down first would be a great first step ... she's vanished for upwards of 12-plus hours now.

Ovsyannikova actually posted a video before storming the set, noting she had Ukrainian family members ... while also calling the war in Ukraine a crime, and encouraging folks to speak out and demonstrate.

"Big Time Rush" star Stephen Kramer Glickman is going crazy over an offer from CeeLo Green, who wants him to be his opener for an upcoming gig ... and it's all thanks to TikTok.

Stephen tells TMZ ... CeeLo invited him to get the crowd warmed up at a charity event next month in Dallas, with the invitation coming his way after the Gnarls Barkley singer heard Stephen's rendition of the group's famous hit.

As Stephen explains, he went viral back in 2020 when he covered "Crazy" and posted it on TikTok -- singing with a green beard, by the way -- and tons of celebs noticed, like Lizzo and Addison Rae, but the biggest rush came when CeeLo shared the post.

Stephen says a charity based in Dallas, Face Forward, hit his line one day and told him CeeLo personally wanted him to be the opener for their upcoming gala. He says the offer blew his mind, and you better believe he's going!

The best part, Stephen says he's going to sing "Crazy" before passing the mic to CeeLo!!!