You Might Want to Rethink

The internet is ablaze with fury that Usher allegedly made it rain on strippers with fake ass money -- with his face on it, no less -- but take a breather, because that's not how it went down.

You might have caught wind of this today -- a dancer going by the handle @beel0ove on IG posted photos of three "Usher bucks" that came in $100, $20 and $1 denominations ... all with Mr. Raymond's face in place of the usual dead Presidents.

She posed the question ... "Ladies what would you do if you danced all night for usher and he threw this??" The insinuation was she actually got the bogus cash for services rendered, and called for Usher to be "blasted" for passing the funny money.

She kinda got her wish, based on all the Usher memes out there now -- BUT, turns out there's way more to the story ... according to people directly involved.

For starters, this all happened at Sapphire in Vegas -- and a rep for the club tells TMZ Usher did NOT tip the strippers with this fake money, and actually dished out authentic greenbacks, while also going on to tip the staff at large quite generously.

We're told Usher and co. ended up spending thousands on the dancers (REAL thousands, mind you) and also enjoyed bottle service ... which he definitely didn't cover with these Usher bucks. It goes without saying ... Sapphire tells us they'd love to host him again, anytime.

Now for some more intel on what the hell actually happened here -- sources close to Usher tell us that somebody in his crew (not him) left some stray Usher dollars behind on the stage as a bit of a gag ... both to be joke-y, but to also promote his new Vegas residency.

We've been assured by folks in the singer's camp that he did, in fact, tip the girls who danced for him ... and that the Usher bucks in question weren't used for payment AT ALL.

DMX's family is NOT strapped for cash, and is NOT asking the public to chip in for burial expenses -- and if you see anything online saying otherwise ... it's total bunk.

X's direct family members tell TMZ ... there's been a lot of unfounded rumors circulating after DMX's death last week, including a particularly absurd one -- namely, that his inner circle is raising money to help pay for his upcoming funeral.

This one's pretty easy to throw water on, because we're told family members are absolutely not raising money, and they actually want the public to know any campaigns suggesting the contrary are completely bogus, and not connected to the fam at all.

The family says it's aware there is any number of flat-out scammers out there soliciting money in X's name ... and they just want fans to be wary.

Here's another thing folks should be on the lookout for ... our sources say X's family is also NOT selling any DMX merch at this time, so if you're seeing stuff hitting the market now -- his family didn't authorize it, and they're not profiting from it.

One last wild theory that's been floating around -- you might've heard Jay-Z and Beyonce bought DMX's masters for a cool $10 mil with the idea of making sure his kids can reap the profits down the line. Yeah, the family's also setting that record straight, and ... it's BS.

The family says X's masters aren't in play with Jay and Bey at all. Yes, some are still under Def Jam control -- but not owned by Jay outright.

Thus far, X has been honored in a few unofficial ways since his passing -- fans created a makeshift memorial outside the hospital he was being treated, and there was also a prayer vigil held a few days before he died.

One of the most epic beards in baseball is no more ... Rougned Odor shaved his famous face sweater after being traded to the Yankees -- AND IT LOOKS WEIRD!!!

The 2nd baseman was jettisoned from the Rangers to New York last week ... and, in complying with the Yanks' no facial hair policy, he busted out the razor for the first time in YEARS.

And, check out the 27-year-old's new appearance ... he's damn-near unrecognizable -- even to his own 3-year-old daughter!!!

"It was weird. I feel weird,” Odor said of his newly shaved face. "Even my daughter, she didn’t even want to look at me. It is what it is. I’m happy to be here."

Don't worry ... Odor didn't lose any of his baseball magic after he ditched the follicles -- in fact, dude came in CLUTCH for the Pinstripes against the Rays in his 1st appearance with the team Sunday.

After starting the game 0-for-4, Odor knocked in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning with a single to centerfield. He later came around to score, too, helping NYY win 8 to 4.

Good luck in your new smooth-faced journey Rougned ... try not to punch anyone!

A so-called White Lives Matter rally is ending early in Orange County .... since way more people showed up to counter the group's message, and almost literally sent them packing outta town.

The march went down Sunday afternoon in Huntington Beach, CA, and several face-offs -- mostly verbal -- broke out, but this one came closest to getting physical. When 3 men there supporting the rally quickly found themselves surrounded.

The counter-protesters were outnumbering the WLM contingent all day ... even before the rally got off the ground. When marchers, like these guys, did show up they were greeted by chants like, "Go home Nazis."

The ol' strength in numbers theory was in full effect, though, as the huge crowd chased these 3 guys away from the action ... without laying a hand on them.

An SUV in California is rolling around with "ASN FLU" license plates, and people are enraged ... especially with Asian hate crimes on the rise amid the pandemic.

The SUV also sports a Trump 2020 sticker on the window.

Though the plates seem very 2020 -- given Trump's not-so-subtle attack on Asians by calling COVID "Kung Flu," among other things -- the California DMV says these plates were actually issued in 2006.

It's unclear why the owner wanted these plates or why the DMV approved them, because the application is no longer available. The agency also has no legal ground to revoke the plates, and the owner of the vehicle reportedly is not in any trouble.

The Rock may be blowing smoke about running for President in 2024, but it's looking increasingly like he's serious.

A poll shows 46% of the people surveyed felt he'd be a good enough Prez to gain their support. And, check out our own TMZ poll today ... very similar.

He said, "I don't think our Founding Fathers EVER envisioned a six-four, bald, tattooed, half-Black, half-Samoan, tequila drinking, pick up truck driving, fanny pack wearing guy joining their club -- but if it ever happens it'd be my honor to serve you, the people."

It's unreal how Americans assume an entertainer they like could pivot to the White House, but that's clearly the case. At a point there's going to be a disclaimer for candidates ... NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED.

Whitney Buha's recent cosmetic procedure was an eyebrow-raising failure, but she's not scared to try again ... because she says the pros of youthfulness outweigh the cons.

The life and style blogger from Chicago's still dealing with the effects of botched Botox injections from a month ago, which resulted in a droopy left eye and a wide-open right peeper.

ICYMI ... Whitney details in the vid what went down, and how the Botox clinic made her appearance far worse than before she came in.

Buha says on top of everything else ... she suffers from dryness in her right eye because it's open wider to compensate for her left eye, blurred vision and headaches.

The good news -- as you can see -- her eyes are returning to normal, and she says doctors have assured her this is all just temporary. Still, it's a pretty scary experience, so it begs the question ... will Whitney get Botox again???

She tells us it's very likely she will and offers a sensible explanation. One thing's for certain ... she won't be going back to the same clinic.

Whitney also says offers have been rolling in for free Botox from all over the country in wake of her ordeal.

Elon Musk's monkey officially has the power of mind control ... but so far, it's only using it to play outdated video games.

Still, it's a remarkable feat from Neuralink -- the company Musk founded that's developing implantable, artificial-intelligence-powered microchips to go in people's brains.

The company shared apparent proof of its neural tech in action -- video of Pager the macaque using his brain to play "Pong." Elon recently claimed the Neuralink chips had enabled a monkey to play video games with its mind, but this is the first time we're seeing it ... and it's pretty incredible.

According to the company ... 9-year-old Pager had a Neuralink placed in each side of his brain about 6 weeks ago. He's learned to interact with the computer by being enticed with a banana smoothie that gets delivered through a straw.

When Pager moves the joystick correctly, he gets some smoothie, and all the while ... the Neuralink chips are recording his brain activity for analysis of what his brain does when he moves his hand.

Then, the joystick's unplugged ... and the monkey's technically controlling the game with his mind, even though he's still moving the joystick out of habit.

Neuralink says its goal is to enable a person with paralysis to use a computer or phone with their brain activity alone. As you can see, Pager eventually stops using the joystick ... and he's a pro at "Pong" with no hands.

Get Kevin Holland a new nickname ... 'cause "Big Mouth" won't be running when he fights Saturday night, telling TMZ Sports his sole focus is whooping Marvin Vettori's ass.

28-year-old Holland received an onslaught of criticism -- from fans to Dana White -- for the nonstop crap talk during his unanimous decision loss to Derek Brunson only 19 days ago.

Holland's stepping up on short notice to fight Vettori -- the 27-year old, 6th-ranked UFC middleweight -- and we asked if he was gonna press pause on the trash talk.

"Yeah, I mean ultimately, I go in there and get the job done and then we'll see what happens after that, but it's like a whole lot of talking that night, I don't see that happening. Go in there, get the job done and then we can talk about it after."

It's an interesting dilemma ... MMA fans loved Holland's brashness when he was winning (he fought and won 5 times in 2020!!) -- but turned on him when he talked and lost.

So, moral of the story for Kevin? Win. This. Fight.

"I just got a job to do. The job is to put Vettori away in a nice fashion."

As for any bad blood with White ... Holland says everything's cool with the UFC honcho.

Geraldo Rivera has seriously pissed off his fellow Fox News pundit Leo Terrell by challenging his cred in the Black community -- and they just went HAM on each other!!!

Geraldo and Leo were on Bill Hemmer's "America's Newsroom" Thursday to talk about race and policing, particularly in St. Louis. That city's Mayor-Elect Tishaura Jones -- a Black woman -- questioned the "lived experience" of white allies in leading a population that is nearly 50 percent Black.

That remark got Leo all hot and bothered, and as he started going off on Mayor-Elect Jones ... Geraldo jumped in with, "Hey, Leo! When was the last time you were in the ghetto?"

Explosion in 3, 2 ...

Leo -- a famed civil rights attorney for several decades -- damn near jumped through the TV screen in his rage at Geraldo. Both men exchanged inner-city resumes, barking out their hometowns. FYI, Leo's reppin' the West coast, and Geraldo the East.

You gotta see the fireworks. Far as we can tell, the only real winner is Fox News' ratings. We doubt Geraldo and Leo will be breaking bread anytime soon.

The prosecution in the Derek Chauvin murder trial is trying to poke major holes in his defense ... with a doctor's powerful testimony that any healthy person would have died if treated like George Floyd.

Dr. Martin Tobin, a physician specializing in pulmonology and critical care, took the stand Thursday and ripped into the heart of Chauvin's defense -- that Floyd allegedly died from a drug overdose and not by Chauvin's knee on his neck.

The doc goes into pretty deep detail on why, in his expert opinion, a healthy person would not have been able to survive a knee to the neck for 9 1/2 minutes.

Dr. Tobin testified that, by his calculations, Floyd lost all of the oxygen in his body about 3 minutes BEFORE Chauvin lifted his knee off George's neck. Tobin's being called the prosecution's star witness, as his testimony's been one of the most powerful moments in the courtroom, so far.

The doc went on to say George died from a low level of oxygen causing his heart to stop, essentially attributing his death to him being handcuffed face down on the pavement with Chauvin's knee pinned to his neck.

Remember ... Chauvin's defense attorney Eric Nelson told the jury last week Floyd "put drugs in his mouth" when confronted by cops and said the autopsy found meth and fentanyl in his system.

But, Dr. Tobin's testimony is clearly the prosecution's attempt to blunt that OD theory.

Ron Paul's proving that age is just a number ... at least when it comes to wearing a tight pair of Daisy Dukes.

The 85-year-old former Congressman and Presidential candidate accidentally revealed his interesting wardrobe Wednesday night in the final seconds of his YouTube interview ... when he backed away from the camera a little too soon.

The well-known Libertarian was discussing the future of personal liberty on Zoom with Doug Casey, and turns out he took some liberties with his interview outfit by matching his suit jacket and dress shirt with a pair of short jean shorts.

What's interesting is ... back in 2015, Ron's Senator son, Rand Paul, was running for Prez himself when he ruffled some GOP donor's feathers by wearing jeans with a blazer to a major fundraising event.

Paris Hilton is linking up with none other than Danielle Bregoli -- AKA Bhad Bhabie -- over an issue that's near and dear to both lately ... alleged abuse at troubled teen camps.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ, Paris has been in contact with Danielle recently about the prospect of teaming up and working together to spread awareness about Breaking Code Silence -- an organization advocating for survivors from these types of facilities.

We're told Paris DM'd Danielle shortly after DB released her own testimonial about what she claims she experienced at Utah's Turn-About Ranch -- a youth facility she went to after her time on Dr. Phil's show way back in 2016 ... which she described as a nightmare.

ICYMI ... Danielle claimed she was subjected to cruel treatment and what she describes as child abuse via alleged sleep deprivation, malnutrition, unsanitary conditions and more. Danielle went on to allege other teens went through similar issues at Turn-About, including a girl who filed a lawsuit claiming she'd been sexually assaulted by the staff.

Of course, Paris has been beating the same drum -- having partaken in a documentary alleging abuse at Utah's Provo Canyon boarding school, and recently testifying in support of a Utah state bill to ban mistreatment at youth facilities.

That bill was signed into law, and Paris was there for that as well. So, with that in mind ... it makes sense she'd want to get on board with Danielle's campaign too.

As for exactly how they're going to work together, we're told that's still being discussed. However, Paris is making it clear she fully backs Danielle, telling TMZ ... "I support all survivors who share their personal experiences within the Troubled Teen Industry and I am proud of Danielle for using her voice and her platform. It is wonderful to see more public voices take on this Industry."

Paris also supports Danielle's efforts to get Dr. Phil not to place kids at Turn-About Ranch. She says, "People look up to Dr. Phil and I want to make sure the show is accurately portraying these residential facilities to desperate families and not continuing to spread the false narrative that these places heal kids."

Phil addressed Danielle's claims a few weeks ago when he was on Ashleigh Banfield's show. He said if Danielle has an issue with her treatment at Turn-About, she should file a complaint with law enforcement. Danielle released a video Wednesday responding to Phil's interview.

Kris Jenner is gonna love this ... Kim Kardashian says her family will have even more members joining the triple comma club in the future!!!

We got Kim at The Grove in Los Angeles Wednesday and our photog asked about her latest accomplishment, making it onto Forbes' official list of billionaires.

Kim says she's feeling blessed to have finally reached the milestone, thanks in large part to her KKW Beauty and SKIMS brands, and she sounds pretty confident she and Kylie Jenner won't be the only billionaires in the fam when the dust settles.

Kim was at the outdoor mall, btw, promoting SKIMS ... so, she's not taking her foot off the gas just because she's got a billie in the bank.

We asked who she thinks will be next up in the club for the Kardashian-Jenners, and she gave it some good hard thought. We suggested her mom, Kris, or maybe Kendall Jenner -- but Kim's thinking bigger, and says the bucks won't stop with those two!!!

No pressure or anything for Khloe, Kourtney and Rob. Not to mention North, Saint, Chicago, Psalm and -- well, we're not gonna run down ALL her nieces and nephews too. You get the point.

The rank and file within the Capitol Police are not feeling very reassured following last week's car-ramming attack that left one of their own dead -- and the reasons are startling.

Sources familiar with the day-to-day goings-on at the department tell TMZ ... there's been little to no communication from leadership over an action plan to help prevent this from happening again, which has left a lot of their officers fearing for their safety.

Fact is ... we're being told there simply hasn't been any type of formal gathering to specifically address the tactical breakdown that cost Officer William Evans his life Friday, when authorities say Noah Green slammed his car into a barricade outside the Capitol, and proceeded to try and slash the cops ... before ultimately being shot and killed.

Speaking of that, our sources say the positioning of officers that day has been called into question by lower-ranking members of the department -- namely, that the officers were stationed outside of the delta barrier, as opposed to inside, which is much more strategic and safer all around.

We're hearing officers who have been assigned to stand guard since Friday have now been pulled inside the barrier, but this change was not talked about at large ... just more evidence of what our sources say is the hush-hush nature of upper management.

Our sources say nothing else has been communicated regarding the attack other than what was discussed at a roll call meeting on Saturday -- where we're told a deputy chief provided a general apology for Friday's disaster, and told the 60 officers that day to "keep an eye out" going forward. A hands-off approach like that isn't cutting it for many of the ground -- contributing to an already growing sense of unease and a desire to book it for good.

The building workers who stood idly by in the lobby as an Asian woman was brutally attacked on the sidewalk are out of a job ... they've been fired.

The Brodsky Organization, which manages the building in question in New York City, tells us the doormen were canned for not following emergency and safety protocols ... in other words, doing nothing while the beatdown was carried out in front of them.

As we reported ... surveillance video captured the violence in Midtown Manhattan, where a 65-year-old woman who was on her way to church last month was viciously beaten by a complete stranger, who cops say is 38-year-old Brandon Elliot.

The beatdown was appalling, and so was this ... video shows the doormen taking in the action from a few feet away without lifting a finger, other than to close the door when the attacker bolts.