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The 25th SAG Awards is in full swing, and if you take a peek behind the scenes ... you'll see everyone was dressed to the nines and beyond for this thing.

Tons of actors were on hand Sunday for the award show honoring folks in the SAG-AFTRA union, and nobody skimped on the swank -- including Michael B. Jordan (who wore a colorful Louis Vuitton harness over his tux), Lady Gaga who dazzled in a white gown, Viggo Mortensen who killed it with maroon ... and lots and lots of other stars who brought out their best outfits.

Some other standouts ... Chris Pine in the classic all-white tux, Sandra Oh who donned a gorgeous red gown, Darren Criss who sizzled in silver and, frankly, the entire "Black Panther" cast ... who looked absolutely incredible together in the front row.

Michael Jackson's family is destroying the media and "vulture tweeters" who buy into the molestation claims put forward in "Leaving Neverland" -- a documentary they consider a "public lynching."

The family says "We are furious that the media, who without a shred of proof or single piece of physical evidence, chose to believe the word of two admitted liars over the word of hundreds of families and friends around the world who spent time with Michael, many at Neverland, and experienced his kindness and global generosity."

In the statement, the family never mentions the men featured in the documentary -- Wade Robson and James Safechuck -- by name, but only refers to them as "the two perjurers." That echoes statements from Jackson's estate which dismissed Robson and Safechuck as "admitted liars."

The family points out Michael's home was raided by cops, and when he went on trial he was "found to be COMPLETELY INNOCENT."

They add ... the documentary is not journalism because the filmmakers had an agenda and "were not interested in the truth."

Lolo Jones and Tamar Braxton came thiiis close to throwing hands in the "Celebrity Big Brother" house ... after the Olympian called Tamar a "bitch" during a heated confrontation.

Tensions had been building between the two houseguests for days -- but things finally "popped off" Saturday morning when an argument exploded into real smack talk ... and threats of physical violence.

Tamar -- wearing a weird "Back to the Future" mask -- did NOT back down from Lolo ... telling her, "I am from Baltimore. You do not want that problem."

When Tamar got into Lolo's face, Jones flexed on Tamar and said, "I'm right here."

In a moment captured on the 'Big Brother' live feed -- you can see Tamar saying, "The next time somebody calls me a bitch, I'm just gonna' start yankin'."

Lolo hears the threat and responds, "Then do it."

Tamar replied, "Then say it."

The good news -- the women didn't ever come to blows ... but they're both still in the "Big Brother" house.

Question is ... who wins if they REALLY do fight?? The world-class Olympic athlete or the battle-tested Baltimore brawler??

Mark Consuelos has mastered the double life ... living it up on vacay with his wife AND mistress.

The "Riverdale" star is down in Mexico with his wife, Kelly Ripa, who will costar alongside him later this week on the hit CW show when she plays his TV mistress, Mrs. Mulwray. It's a role Kelly said she's excited about because it was "23 years of auditioning for a role I was born to play."

Know what other roles they were born to play? Making all of us jelly of their ridiculously hard bods ... in matching white swimwear, no less.

Ray J is already making a bunch of cash after selling off his Scoot-E-Bike brand ... stocks for his new venture soared 300% in just two days.

TMZ broke the story, Ray signed a 7-figure deal Wednesday to turn Scoot-E-Bike over to Canadian company LOOPShare. Our sources say as part of the contract, Ray got close to 19 million LOOPShare shares, and will remain as a consultant to help the biz grow.

It didn't take long for Ray's touch to start making a difference -- LOOPShare stock opened at $.05 Wednesday and closed at $.16 Friday -- a 300% growth ... and some serious dough in Ray's pocket.

As we reported, LOOPShare and Scoot-E-Bike will aim to take down ride share giants like Bird Scooters with a plan to supply users with 3 types of scooters to get around town.

We're told Ray has turned down a ton of TV gigs over the last year to focus on his future as a businessman.

"The Sopranos" prequel movie's on the way, and fans are stoked James Gandolfini's son will play a young Tony ... but perhaps none more than the show's very own "Big Pussy."

We got actor Vincent Pastore, who played Salvatore Bonpensiero on the series, leaving Papa John's Deli in the Bronx ... and he's over the moon about 19-year-old Michael Gandolfini landing the role his dad made famous in the upcoming film, "The Many Saints of Newark."

Vincent tells us the casting choice is beautiful, and his old pal Jimmy is looking down from heaven and smiling. He points out this isn't a case of Hollywood nepotism ... "little Michael" won the role after an extensive interview process.

Pussy says the timing of the news is perfect too, with 'Sopranos' recently celebrating its 20th anniversary. He's still close with his former castmates and tells us they just got together for a reunion ... and he's clearly happy to add Michael to the family.

As for who might play "Little Pussy" in the prequel, Pastore has a couple ideas. They might not be up for the challenge, though.

Remember when a bunch of jerks burglarized Rob Gronkowski's home while he was playing in the Super Bowl last season??

His big bro says there's no way in hell that happens again next week ... 'cause Chris Gronkowski tells TMZ Sports the Pats superstar has beefed up his home security system!!!

Actually ... Chris says the reason Rob's Boston-area pad was broken into last year was because some of Gronk's roommates forgot to set the alarm.

But, Chris tells us that mistake won't happen again ... and even if it does -- Gronk's beefed up his security with a brand-new camera system.

"That place will be on lockdown for sure now."

FYI ... the 3 guys who broke into Rob's place last season and stole an Apple Watch, a Rolex, 2 rare coins and multiple firearms -- were all caught and arrested.

Now, Chris is warning the same thing will happen to anybody who tries it again, saying, "They're definitely going to get caught."

We also asked Chris about his Ice Shaker business -- the one A-Rod and Mark Cuban have famously invested in -- and ya gotta hear why he's banking on J. Lo to give the company a huge boost!!

Fetty Wap's baby mama was beaten and left with a busted-up car after a massive brawl, but the reason she got arrested was her potty mouth.

According to the police report ... cops talked to Lezhae Lowder last week after they were called to a New Jersey White Castle over a vicious fight. They say when they showed up there was no fighting but noticed there had been a car accident ... and Lezhae said the whip was hers.

Cops claim she became irate while they were investigating and began yelling vulgarities. She allegedly told one of the officers ... "Suck my f***ing d***."

At that point, she was placed in cuffs and arrested for disorderly conduct/improper behavior.

We broke the story ... the melee was caught on video, and appears to show a group of people attacking Fetty's BM and her friends. Lezhae's seen on the ground covering herself at one point, before someone floors it in her vehicle and crashes into the fast food joint.

The violence erupts again after that, as the crowd rushes the car and smashes it to hell.

The fighting allegedly stemmed from a tiff earlier in the night at a bar ... between Lezhae and Fetty's other baby mama, Alexis Skyy.

Erykah Badu and Taraji P. Henson were way out of line with their initial public reactions to the R. Kelly scandal ... so says one of the first celebs to speak out on R. Kelly's alleged abuse.

Sparkle, who collabed with R. Kelly on her 1998 hit song, "Be Careful," has major issues with the way Erykah and Taraji initially seemed to come to R. Kelly's defense ... because Sparkle says weak responses like theirs prevent other victims from coming forward.

Sparkle, who is featured in "Surviving R. Kelly," says the black community needs to show R. Kelly some tough love ... NOT the unconditional love Erykah offered.

As for Taraji comparing the number of people using the #MuteRKelly hashtag with the number of people using similar hashtags for Harvey Weinstein ... Sparkle says the comparison is stupid because abusers are abusers. Period.

6:20 PM PT -- Lang's lawyer, Glen T. Jonas, tells TMZ, "The 'male' that called 911 was absolutely not Adam Perry Lang. Mr. Lang will be cleared of any wrongdoing. He was fast asleep with his ringer off. He immediately cooperated once he was notified of the commotion."

3:15 PM PT -- We've learned Lang was booked on making felony criminal threats and his bail was set at $50,000. Now this is interesting ... according to the cops, when they arrived at the house they tried for "several hours" to make contact with Lang. When they finally did, a police official tells us the crisis team "made telephone contact with the male who ultimately agreed to exit the residence." The word "ultimately" could be telling ... it makes it sound like Lang was not immediately willing to exit.

2:30 PM PT -- Hermosa Beach police just told us they are not calling this a swatting situation. One officer said, "There is a reason we arrested him [Lang]. There is evidence detectives are now processing." This is in contrast to what we were told by Jimmy's people. A rep for Jimmy tells us Kimmel was told specifically by a lieutenant they believed it was a case of swatting.

A beach house owned by Jimmy Kimmel was the scene of a massive police presence Saturday just before midnight ... in what may be a swatting situation ... TMZ has learned.

Eyewitnesses tell us a slew of cops swarmed Kimmel's Hermosa Beach home -- a house that is not his primary residence. We're told Jimmy and his family were not there. A friend of his -- Adam Perry Lang -- was staying at the house and sleeping. Lang is a chef and best selling author.

Police helicopters were flying above, and there was also at least one police-operated drone. We're told houses adjacent to Kimmel's corner lot were evacuated as a precaution. Cops tell us they were there for 8 hours before they were able to establish contact with Lang.

TMZ has obtained dispatch audio of cops explaining ... a male called 911 saying he had two explosives in the home and he'd assaulted his girlfriend with a rifle.

We've learned one person was taken into custody -- Lang, who apparently woke up, walked outside and was escorted to a police car without incident.

Jimmy went to the Hermosa Beach Police Department Sunday at around noon and bailed his friend out. We're told cops have not yet formally cleared Lang.

Cops found no explosives, weapons or any evidence of a shooting inside the house.

Tom Brokaw is offering a half-ass apology for going on national TV and expressing some pretty xenophobic thoughts on the Hispanic community.

The iconic news anchor was on "Meet the Press" Sunday with a group of panelists, who were discussing what it would take to unite the country at this point. The convo weirdly went from the U.S. standing up to Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to Brokaw offering his take on how the GOP is grappling with a rising Latinx electorate.

Brokaw said one of the issues that's affecting the GOP these days -- according to people who confide in him, apparently -- is that they're worried the U.S. is becoming flooded with Hispanic voters, who by and large register as Democrats.

Then the xenophobia ... Brokaw said conservative folks have expressed fear of having "brown grandbabies" due to interracial couples. He piggybacked on that sentiment with his own two cents ... saying the Hispanic community should "work harder" at assimilating in this country -- namely, by speaking English and making everyone else comfortable.

The backlash was swift on social media ... and Tom followed up later Sunday by saying he felt terrible if part of his comments offended anyone in "that proud culture," adding that he's worked hard to knock down false stereotypes over the course of his career.

He finished by reiterating his point about both sides needing to work to find common ground -- but a lot of people took his statement as a de facto non-apology.

Lil' Kim's legacy is alive and well, even during a funeral ... just check out "Love & Hip Hop" star Dream Doll's living tribute to her hip-hop idol.

The 'L&HHNY' MC recently did a photo shoot recreating many of Kim's iconic looks as part of a music video she's doing for her new track, "Funeral," which features Lil' Kim.

Check out the pics -- they're a dead-on impression of some of Kim's most stunning shoots and visuals, including her blue outfit and wig for the "Crush On You" music vid, Kim's "Got D***" campaign from '03, her "How Many Licks" album cover, her 1999 Interview Magazine Louis Vuitton cover shoot, and more. Lucky for DD, there was no shortage of inspiration.

Dream Doll's manager KD McNair tell us production for the photo shoot and the music video -- which is still in the works -- ran her team upwards of $10,000 and took 12 hours to complete. We're told DD looks up to Kim and wanted to pay homage to her in this project.

Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts is sitting out a visit to the White House to celebrate his team's World Series win.

According to the Boston Globe, Betts was asked about the trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Saturday night -- which is currently scheduled for May -- and he reportedly said, "I won't be going there. I decided not to." He didn't elaborate beyond that, but he joins at least one other Sox player skipping it ... third baseman Rafael Devers also said he'd be a no-show.

FWIW ... Betts is the American League MVP, and arguably the best player on the Sox's roster. It's kind of a big deal in baseball if one of the best of the best doesn't wanna meet with President Trump.

Three other Red Sox players are reportedly on the fence, but the rest of the team has expressed interest in meeting with the Prez. The team was supposed to head out there in February, but it was pushed back to May because of the government shutdown.

Red Sox President Sam Kennedy said he didn't feel it was appropriate to be celebrating at the White House while so many federal employees were going without a paycheck and struggling.

9:00 AM PT -- R. Kelly's attorney Steve Greenberg tells us, "Mr. Kelly has not violated the law. Certainly not the Mann Act. The story has flawed factual predicates. Beyond that, we remain unaware of any investigation, anywhere."

R. Kelly allegedly arranged a coast-to-coast trip for Azriel Clary when she was underage, and the FBI is now looking into the trip to see if R. Kelly committed a federal crime ... TMZ has learned.

Azriel, one of the women featured in "Surviving R. Kelly," was flown from Palm Springs to Phoenix to Orlando on May 25, 2015. She flew US Airways, leaving Cali at 6:57 AM and eventually landing in Florida at 4:09 PM.

A source connected to Azriel's family tells us the flights were arranged by a woman who was R. Kelly's assistant at the time.

Here's why it's potentially a big deal. Azriel was only 17 at that time and that means R. Kelly could have violated the Mann Act -- the federal act that makes it illegal to transport a minor across state lines for purposes of sex, debauchery or prostitution.

We're told the FBI just learned about the flights within the last week. As we reported ... the FBI has also been in touch with Joycelyn Savage's father multiple times in the last 18 months -- so it's clear the feds are taking the R. Kelly allegations seriously.

R. Kelly sources tell us the singer believes he did nothing wrong because he claims this signed note from Azriel's mom, Alice ... gave Kelly's assistant consent to care for Azriel.

It's not a great defense, because you can see it's dated Sept. 21, 2015 -- but Azriel made the trip back in May 2015. However, we're told R. Kelly's camp thinks the note shows her parents were generally willing to let Azriel travel with him.

He might end up having to make that point in court. Stay tuned.

Tom Brady and the Patriots have really convinced themselves they're the underdogs in Super Bowl LIII ... which couldn't have been more obvious than at their send-off rally.

The Pats' QB was center stage Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA for one last hurrah before the team heads out to Atlanta ahead of the big game against the Los Angeles Rams. With Blue Man Group on hand to warm up the crowd ... Brady finished 'em off by starting a battle cry that screams of defying the odds ... "WE'RE STILL HERE!!!"

The only problem ... the Patriots are heavily favored to win, so they're not underdogs at all -- even if they and their die-hard fan base truly believe they are.

In case you missed it, Tom and co. had a nice little mantra going among themselves last weekend when they beat the Chiefs in overtime ... "You're/I'm too old." But, Julian Edelman probably said it best on the sideline ... "YOU'RE TOO F***IN' OLD!!!"

This will be Tom's ninth trip to the Super Bowl with the Pats, and it'll be a chance to win his sixth SB ring. Considering they've been here time and again with young buck teams like the Rams ... something tells us they'll be just fine.

Whatever works for you guys, though.

Meanwhile, in LA ... Rams fans stood outside the still-to-be-completed L.A. Stadium at Hollywood Park, where they did their best to match the Pats' energy. They got spirit ... we'll give them that.