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Britney Spears told fans directly that she's fine and more than happy -- but they still don't believe her, suspecting she's being forced to say so.

Fans have been buzzing since Britney's video late last week in which she said herself she IS okay, and she's just taking some time off professionally as she enjoys herself.

You'd think that'd be enough for the #FB crowd -- but as it turns out, it wasn't ... 'cause folks were leaving tons of comments speculating she was reading a script or the video was edited in a way to mask some more insidious stuff happening behind the scenes.

Unfortunately for the conspiracy crowd ... that is NOT the case -- in fact, sources close to Britney say the exact opposite is true. Namely, the way the video is edited is actually all Britney's doing, and she edited the clip herself. There is NO longer version in existence.

And no ... our sources say Britney is not reading from a script. As for why she's "swaying" as many people noted -- we're told she's just shy and a little fidgety. That's it ... nothing else to it.

If you're wondering why Britney chose this time to address the "are you okay?" question -- we're told it's because Britney does, indeed, read comments left on her posts ... and noticed a lot of folks asking. So, she figured she'd assure everyone she's fine ... despite the concern.

Demi Lovato isn't backing down in her diet food war with a frozen yogurt shop -- she's now warning the store about messing with her ... but also walking back her comments a bit, saying she was having a really bad day.

The singer continued going back and forth with The Bigg Chill -- the fro-yo shop she attacked Sunday for its placement of sugar-free items -- by sending a DM to them, complaining about the "GUILT FREE" label on cookies in the store. TBC defended itself saying the pic was old.

Demi swatted back ... insisting they carried another, similar "diet culture" cookie -- and also warned TBC to stop fighting with her, and that they didn't wanna mess with her. She even dropped the ol' ... "customer is always right" on 'em.

However, Demi's apparently seen the some of the backlash against her, because she just went live on IG, and restated her initial complaint -- her visit to TBC seriously triggered her eating disorder issues -- but she hopes she's opened a dialogue with TBC about relabeling some products.

She added that she had a very bad day and weekend afterward, and feels like she needs a mental health day. Demi apologized if it seems like she's a big celeb using her power to take down a small biz.

Bryce Hall and his boys are getting sued for throwing down in a Mexican restaurant in L.A., and one of the owners thinks they swung on him because he's a Mexican immigrant.

Hernan Fernando is the co-owner of Cinco, and says Bryce and 3 other guys, including Bryce's pal Rory Fitzpatrick, came into the joint back in October and ordered a few rounds of shots and beers. All good, right?

Nope. Not according to the video TMZ obtained of the fight that broke out -- or according to Hernan, who claims in the lawsuit, Bryce and co. started vaping while seated at their table. He claims they blew off a warning from the bar manager to stop, and also a second warning from Hernan himself.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Hernan told his staff to close out Bryce's tab, and shortly thereafter a server alleges she heard Bryce refer to Hernan as a "wetback" and "the Mexican."

As you can imagine, things quickly went downhill after that -- in the suit, Hernan says Bryce blew vape smoke in his face, his pal Rory got physical when staffers tried to show them to the exit -- and then the fight erupted.

In the suit, Hernan claims he was repeatedly pummeled by Bryce and Rory, with Bryce allegedly trying to choke him ... until a Cinco staffer pulled him off Hernan.

They called cops and held Bryce's credit card so he wouldn't flee the scene. The Cinco co-owner claims Bryce popped off one more time while they were waiting, telling Hernan, "Who the f*ck are you? I"m from Bel-Air, and you're just a fat Mexican who works at a restaurant."

Hernan alleges there were a few more racial epithets hurled his way, and that he suffered a broken hand and lots of bumps and bruises from the punches. He's suing Bryce, Rory and their pals for assault, battery, emotional distress, and for attacking him based on his ethnicity.

Derek Chauvin's defense attorney says his actions as a police officer were reasonable if one takes into account the full scope of George Floyd's arrest ... not just the notorious 9 minutes and 29 seconds he held his knee on Floyd's neck.

That's the crux of attorney Eric Nelson's closing argument for Chauvin, who Nelson says had to take into account the 17 minutes of action that led up to the 9-plus minutes, upon which he claims the prosecution is unfairly focusing.

According to Nelson ... Chauvin used his training and instincts as a police officer to respond to the situation in a way that was reasonable, arguing that his use of force on Floyd was justified.

However, Nelson also delved into the difficulty of interpreting the rules regarding "use of force," telling the jury it's incredibly hard to analyze, and once again ... can't be limited to 9 minutes and 29 seconds.

Nelson argued Chauvin's case needs to be examined from the point of view of an officer who is human and therefore "capable of making mistakes in highly stressful situations."

He adds ... "In this case, the totality of the circumstances that were known to a reasonable police officer in the precise moment the force was used demonstrates that this was an authorized use of force, as unattractive as it may be."

During his attorney's closing argument -- which lasted more than 2 hours before the judge let the jury break for lunch -- Chauvin removed his mask for an extended period of time. It was a bit odd, considering he'd been masked up all trial.

As we reported, the prosecution gave its closing argument earlier Monday, and stated Chauvin "had to know" he killed Floyd ... and that it was not an accident.

Demi Lovato has a lot of people scratching their heads over this one -- she got mad that a fro-yo shop advertises "diet" options ... something she considers triggering and harmful.

The singer took to IG Saturday to call out a frozen yogurt joint called The Bigg Chill ... which apparently has low-sugar/low-fat/fat-free goodies positioned toward the front of one of their stores and/or checkout counters.

She writes, "Finding it extremely hard to order froyo from @thebiggchillofficial when you have to walk past tons of sugar free cookies/other diet foods before you get to the counter."

Demi went on to tell them to "do better" ... and hashtagged her gripe with #dietculturevultures. If you're confused about what the heck she's upset about ... you’re not alone.

However, she elaborated with another comment, saying she's gonna use that hashtag to call out "harmful messaging" from brands that she believes perpetuate a society that enables and also praises disordered eating.

What she SEEMS to be saying ... by this place putting these low-cal foods in people's faces like this, they're also gaslighting/shaming them, and making them feel bad for wanting a treat, which Demi sees as hurtful -- especially for those who have eating disorders and body issues.

TBC responded to Demi in her DMs, which she published. They explained they have those alternatives for diabetics, folks with Celiac disease, vegans and a host of others who might want (or need) the so-called "diet" options. Demi appears to have realized ... she jumped to conclusions and perhaps even overreacted, as noted in her response.

She recommends that they label things better to be more inclusive. 🤷🏽‍♂️

The NYPD made the point traffic stops can go south fast -- but in doing so, they appear to have confused H2O for a harmful substance ... that's what the Internet's saying, anyway.

The department's news division posted a video Saturday that shows body cam footage of an NYPD officer making a "routine traffic stop" as they dubbed it. The cop asks for license/registration, and then the man gets out of the car ... to the confusion of the officer.

Before you know it, the guy chucks some type of liquid into the cop's mug, who stumbles back ... clearly shocked by what just happened. You hear his partner seem to ask what it was he threw, but then the video cuts out before you can see what happens next.

Now, NYPD claims this suspect doused the cop with a "chemical" before fleeing, tossing a Molotov cocktail ... before finally being arrested. They add the officer wasn't hurt.

Internet sleuths quickly attempted to pick this apart, however, and pulled screen grabs from the moment this guy threw whatever it was into the cop's face ... and at first glance, they're saying it looks an awful lot like a cup full of ice water without a lid or top -- nothing more.

Unclear if that is, in fact, what it was ... but to us, it does look like agua. Technically, that is a "chemical" in that it's made up of elements from the periodic table ... but the police make it seem like bleach or something that was tossed here. The NYPD hasn't elaborated.

Folks are also questioning their "Molotov cocktail" description ... wondering if it was actually what you'd consider a traditional bottle firebomb, or if it was just the container seen in this video. The NYPD posted an additional photo of what they say is a Molotov cocktail recovered from a traffic stop, but they don't directly connect it to this suspect/sitch here.

We've reached out to the NYPD for clarification ... so far, no word back.

It's another small step for man and giant leap for mankind -- this on Mars, where NASA just pulled off the first-ever powered flight on another planet ... courtesy of a mini helicopter.

NASA flew the aircraft, dubbed Ingenuity, and beamed in the live stream first thing Monday morning. Sending it instructions all the way here (some 180 million miles away) ... this little chopper got up off the ground at about 10 feet!

It's a historic feat ... marking the first time we've ever flown something that wasn't a rocket on another celestial body in our solar system. Think of it as the Wright Brothers flying the first plane on Earth -- this is like that, only it happened on Mars, with no one aboard ... and slightly better video!

As for the specs of how NASA was able to make it happen ... it sounds like they just had to tweak a few things for Ingenuity to achieve liftoff on the Red Planet.

For starters, Mars' atmosphere is quite thin compared to ours -- only about 1% as dense -- and it also has less gravity than what we're working with here. So, to account for that, NASA built this thing with much bigger blades that rotate incredibly rapidly ... around 2,537 RPM.

Now that they know Ingenuity can indeed get some air ... the plan is to test its capabilities and see if it can help us navigate and explore the mysterious red planet some more.

Matthew McConaughey's chances at winning the Texas governorship look solid -- at least based on a random sampling of 1,000 or so registered voters who say they'd vote for him.

The actor stacked favorably against incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott in terms of winnability ... this according to a new poll conducted by The Dallas Morning News and The University of Texas Tyler, which found McConaughey raked in 45% of the people who were asked.

The team talked to 1,126 registered Texan voters -- slightly more Republican than Dems -- and when asked if they'd be more likely to support MMC over Abbott ... nearly half said they WOULD, while 33% said they'd back GA -- and 22% said they'd vote for someone else.

That's pretty incredible ... especially considering Matt's openly mused about the possibility of running, and even recently said "it would be up to the people" on whether he'd run or not.

As for what political party platform he'd potentially run on ... it's unclear. Matt hasn't said one way or another if he's registered to either the GOP or the Dems, and his views on issues are pretty nuanced -- but as for where he lands on its face, probably more centrist than anything.

McConaughey has said that the "left" of this country often goes too far in their approach to things -- especially when it comes to finding common ground with conservatives and being cordial.

Then again, he's made clear that those on the far-right can be just as extreme ... and has written off a lot of their beliefs as well. So, seems he's right down the middle somewhere.

Some Bakersfield cops had issues with a makeshift memorial for Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo, because they dismantled it, much to the dismay of some residents.

Bakersfield residents held a vigil Saturday night, and various memorials were created to make the moment. The video shows an officer removing parts of the memorial ... folding up cardboard signs. A woman walks up to the cop to express her disapproval ... this as the officer takes the signs and starts walking toward his cruiser. The woman repeatedly asks for his badge number, and he obliges.

She then asks the cop for the signs back, but he's not having it. The PD tells TMZ the cardboard and candles were yanked because they were a fire hazard, adding, "This would not be the first time a vigil went up in flames so things have to be removed to avoid a fire."

Marc Anthony fans just learned a hard lesson about virtual concerts ... they're just not the same as the OG.

Marc's fans were none too pleased when they paid for such a concert Saturday, but there were massive technical problems. Some of them waited 3 hours before Marc finally pulled the plug.

The concert was supposed to stream out to folks in 85 countries, but there wasn't a frame of video to show for it.

Marc posted his apology ... “I am deeply sorry for this technology failure that unfortunately was out of our control. You can rest assured that I am doing everything in my power to make sure that the people that spent their hard-earned money have the opportunity to see the show as soon as possible and will make it right for you all.”

Dr. Michio Kaku -- one of the stars of "Ancient Aliens" -- says the U.S. government's admission of a UFO means there are top-secret military weapons in use ... or aliens way smarter than us are really here.

The popular physicist tells TMZ ... the idea of extraterrestrial visitation is no longer exclusive to tinfoil hat-wearing crackpots and drunks -- it's something we all should accept as a real possibility.

But, here's the comforting or disappointing part ... depending on your point of view. Kaku says if the Navy pilot's UFO sighting was indeed an alien spacecraft, it means earthlings are totally useless to them.

You have to see him break it down, but it sounds like those of us who are scared of an alien invasion don't have to worry ... because they would have killed us all by now if that's what they wanted to do.

On the flip side, the author of 'The God Equation' believes humans WILL make contact with an alien civilization within the century due to our own advancing technology.

Jeffree Star just posted photos of the Rolls-Royce that was crushed during his horrific car accident -- but turns out, this beast of a machine might've saved the guy's life.

The makeup mogul gave a health update Saturday from the Wyoming hospital where he and a friend were treated after slipping off the road near Cody ... and barreling into a snowbank as their vehicle flipped over multiple times.

After Jeffree was discharged from the hospital -- with a back brace attached, no less -- he went over to the tow yard where the Rolls was being stored ... snapping and posting photos of the wreckage and aftermath. Yes, it looks bad -- but it could've been much worse.

JS writes, "This was hard but I had to go see my car today. Thank God a #RollsRoyce is built with highly reinforced steel because it saved our lives 🙏 Time to heal and let my body repair."

Jeffree also shared more deets about what exactly happened on his IG Story ... confirming what we'd been told -- that he lost control of the car after hitting some black ice, which sent him and his passenger flying off the road. While he's leaving doctors' care, his friend, Daniel, isn't ... as he revealed he's dealing with some lingering colon issues.

While it's great to see both of them in high spirits following a life-threatening wreck ... it's not great to hear how people apparently responded to word that they were okay and alive. Jeffree says he and Daniel were sent incredibly hateful messages, wishing them death.

Pharrell Williams now has his very own hotel where you let the good times roll -- and that's exactly what Hollywood's finest flew out to do ... with some of the biggest names in tow.

The singer/producer was on hand Friday in Miami with his biz partner, David Grutman, for the launch of their joint venture ... a little place they call the Goodtime Hotel, which is right by the beach.

It's been a long time in the making, but it officially opened for the weekend -- and not a moment too soon either ... Florida was already pretty open, but the flood gates for normalcy are just about at full capacity lately, and you could tell by the atmosphere.

Folks were out and about partying it up for the celebration ... including some major A-listers, like Kim K, Chris Rock, Vanessa Hudgens, Rick Ross, Bad Bunny, Cuba Gooding Jr., Maluma, Victoria Beckham and more.

Speaking of VB, word is the hotel launch was actually meant to be in conjunction with David Beckham's season opener for his Inter Miami CF pro soccer team. He's pretty tight with Grutman and co., so they threw down in honor of both momentous milestones.

It's been a while since we've seen so many stars come together like this -- of course, the vaccine rollout is in full flux ... so we might have to get used to this sorta sight again.

A massive police presence has converged on a mall in Omaha, Nebraska -- where another shooting just took place.

The details are scarce at this point, but one thing is clear ... Omaha PD is telling the public to steer clear of the Westroads Mall, where a legion of police cruisers and ambulances have arrived. OPD says there are 2 suspects at large, and that cops are doing a sweep of the facility out of precaution. So far, one person has been transported in critical condition.

Word of the shooting first started percolating on Twitter, where a local reporter said she saw people running for their lives ... but stopped short of saying she heard any shots herself. Another person confirmed people were barreling out of the mall, but with no obvious signs of a shooting just yet. Still, it's clear that one did, in fact, occur.

The mere fact officers were loading up semi-automatics in tactical gear and preparing for some type of gunfight indicates this might have been an active shooter situation at one point.

There has been a slew of shootings recently since restrictions have eased over the pandemic.

We're trying to get more details on what led up to the latest incident -- but haven't been able to get through to anyone. OPD says a press release will be sent out soon detailing the narrative.

A rabid bobcat attacked a North Carolina woman in her driveway and her husband jumped in and hurled the animal across the lawn ... and it's all caught in this wild video.

It went down in Pender County last week, when a guy is getting ready to hop in his car. As he prepares to get in, you hear the bobcat snarl and the woman screams for her husband.

The guy immediately recognized the type of animal and the peril, grabbing the bobcat and hurling it across the lawn. He screams for people to take cover and then says he's gonna get his gun.

It's unclear if he shot the cat, but authorities say the animal died and tested positive for rabies.

As you probably know, someone who gets bit by a rabid animal must undergo extremely painful rabies shots. We don't know if the woman was bitten, but judging from the screams it seems she was.

It's especially concerning because no one knows what contact the bobcat had with other people or animals. It could have bitten before it was killed, putting others in grave danger.

Really frightening.

A Polish woman's gotta be feeling pretty flaky about the panicked phone call she made to animal control to report a strange creature lurking in a tree ... that turned out to be a pastry!!!

Okay, before ya toast the concerned lady too much ... take a look at the mystery beast in a Krakow neighborhood.

If ya didn't know better, it could be a GIANT caterpillar-ish thing or something of that ilk. 🤷🏽‍♂️

The woman told animal welfare officers people were afraid to open their windows for fear the big puffy creature might scurry into their homes. After all, she said it had been stalking them, just sitting there -- all brown and buttery -- for 2 whole days!

When asked to described the "animal" ... she said it looked like an iguana. The officers were skeptical, but went to check it out, only to discover ... they shoulda brought coffee or a cup of tea. It was just a croissant.

The belief is someone threw it out of their window to feed the birds and it got stuck, setting off the hilarious chain of events. Animal control said it was a funny false alarm, but encouraged the public to err on the side of caution and report anything suspicious. Y'know, like a shady scone.