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R. Kelly just surrendered to police in Chicago ... turning himself in after being charged with sexual abuse of 4 girls, at least 3 of whom were minors.

The embattled R&B singer turned himself in Friday night at a Chicago police station.

As we reported ... prosecutors in Chicago hit Kelly with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse Friday morning, and 9 of the 10 counts involve alleged victims ranging in age from 13 to 16 years old. There are 4 alleged victims in total, and one of them is the subject of 4 different counts.

According to the criminal complaint, the allegations include oral and vaginal sex with a girl between the ages of 13 and 17 ... and the allegations are extremely graphic.

Michael Avenatti says he's representing at least 1 of the alleged victims in the Kelly indictment ... and he says the new sex tape he turned over to prosecutors shows R. Kelly engaging in sex acts with a 14-year-old girl -- vaginal sex, oral sex, anal sex and urination.

Avenatti says he's planning to go after R. Kelly's enablers -- lawyers, managers, agents and others whom he says stood idly by and protected the singer as he sexually abused young girls. Avenatti's mission ... bringing them to justice.

Avenatti also claims Kelly's 2008 trial -- in which he was found not guilty -- was rigged by threats and payoffs.

This is absolutely shocking ... Senator Dianne Feinstein tried to shut down some schoolchildren who were imploring her to do something about climate change and STAT ... essentially telling them to shut up because she knows better.

The kids showed up at the Senator's San Francisco office Friday, pushing the Green New Deal and telling her the clock is ticking on Planet Earth and if nothing is done in a dozen years it will be too late. Feinstein tells the students it ain't gonna happen.

The California senior Senator gets on her high horse, telling them she's been in the Senate for 30 years so, please ... like they can tell her what to do.

Jussie Smollett might have gotten the idea to stage his own attack after Lee Daniels talked about his cousin getting assaulted because he's gay ... at least that's what some members of the "Empire" cast think.

Sources close to the "Empire" production tell TMZ ... some cast members think Jussie's gears started grinding in his head days after Lee posted a video on Instagram on January 10 calling out homophobia. In that same post, the "Empire" creator captioned it, "This past week my cousin was beat up for being gay and I am sick of hearing these stories."

Our sources say Lee then showed up to the set and shared more about the story. Everyone was visibly upset that Lee's family had gone through this horrific ordeal. The sources now say this might have been where Jussie got the idea to take matters into his own hands ... and become an LGBT hero.

The Chicago PD Superintendent says Jussie's motive was money -- he felt he was underpaid on the show. Interesting ... because Lee Daniels is the guy in charge of the cash register.

As you know by now ... cops say Jussie's "attack" was a hoax and allege the actor paid 2 Nigerian brothers $3,500 with a personal check. Jussie's been charged with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.

Halsey and Yungblud looked like the happiest people on the Happiest Place on Earth!!!

The couple hit up Disneyland Friday for a super fun date. In addition to hopping on the carousel in Fantasyland, Halsey posed with Minnie Mouse. They also jumped on the Buzz Lightyear ride and then took a ride on the Matterhorn.

But, wait ... there was more. When they were done with rides, they dined at the Blue Bayou restaurant.

Quincy Jones says a lot even when he just speaks a little ... scoffing at people who were surprised by the R. Kelly scandal and roasting Jussie Smollett.

We got Q Friday night in WeHo at Ysabel restaurant, where he hit up Common's Toast to the Arts party for Oscar's weekend. He said the turn of events with R. Kelly is "nothing new," pointing to the singer's marriage to 14-year-old Aaliyah.

Charles Barkley seemed crestfallen Friday night over Jussie Smollett, lamenting how he betrayed the black and LGBTQ communities.

We got the famed commentator at the 1818 Club in Atlanta on his way out of Ric Flair's 70th birthday party, and he had some sobering thoughts about the "Empire" actor ... whom he calls talented but also someone who lost his way, causing "immeasurable damage."

Charles was much more serious than he was Friday, when he joked about Jussie on "Inside the NBA," when he suggested if the Jussie really wanted to be a hate crime victim, he should have just gone to Liam Neeson's neighborhood.

3:45 PM PT -- Jerry Springer disagrees about R. Kelly having no shot at a fair trial, and for a case in point ... he says look no further than the O.J. Simpson trial.

Springer admits it might be difficult to find 12 impartial jurors -- and R. Kelly's lawyers will probably push for a change in venue -- but says the judicial system is set up the way it is for a reason.

R. Kelly's maintaining his innocence despite being charged with 10 counts of sexual abuse, but he thinks he's screwed anyway ... because he's already lost in the court of public opinion.

Sources close to the singer tell TMZ ... he believes it will be impossible for him to get a fair trial in the aftermath of Lifetime's docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly," and nonstop media coverage -- especially in Chicago.

As one source put it ... "There isn't a person in Cook County who hasn't heard all the hateful things said about him."

We're told R. Kelly believes ... even if he presents evidence proving his innocence, the jury will still find him guilty. Our sources say he's moved on from panic attacks and has been in a depressed meltdown for days.

As we reported ... Cook County prosecutors hit R. Kelly with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse Friday morning. There are a total of 4 alleged victims, 3 of whom were between the ages of 13 to 16.

Attorney Michael Avenatti also released images from the video he submitted to the State's Attorney, showing what appears to be R. Kelly. He says the video shows the singer having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Avenatti blasted R. Kelly's enablers as well -- lawyers, agents, managers and others whom he says stood idly by as the singer sexually abused girls -- and says he won't stop until they're all brought to justice.

What a week ... Jussie, R. Kelly, Bob Kraft, Jordyn Woods -- So, we gotta ask ...

If Robert Kraft would have paid for sex acts in Nevada instead of Florida (allegedly), he wouldn't be facing criminal charges ... and now one of the biggest legal brothels in the country is inviting him over.

The women at Sheri's Ranch Brothel in Pahrump, Nevada are offering to work with Kraft -- because they don't think prostitution is a bad thing ... when it's done legally.

The brothel says ... because the sex industry is regulated in Nevada, human trafficking isn't an issue with the working girls -- unlike in Florida.

By the way, the Ranch spokesperson is Jeremy Lemur -- a former NFL Films staffer who was a previous member of the NFL's Diversity Council.

A rep for Sheri's also says, "Legal prostitutes are tested weekly for sexually transmitted diseases. No customer of Sheri’s Ranch has ever contracted an STD or HIV as a result of an encounter."

And, with officials in Florida saying they have surveillance footage of Kraft inside the illegal parlor -- Sheri's says there's no risk of being captured on police video at their place because "none of our patrons are committing a crime."

Sheri's is also offering prostitution consultation services to NFL owners and players -- essentially educating them on how to legally pay for sex.

The Jussie Smollett "attack" has enraged millions of Americans, but for Killer Mike, it's no big deal.

We got the rapper Friday at LAX, and his take is very different from most. He says, after all, Jussie's an actor and actors assume roles. Here, he just allegedly assumed the role of a liar.

Killer Mike acknowledges Jussie screwed up but says a mea culpa will do, and after that, we all need to get a life and move on.

Tristan Thompson, listen up ... Nick Young is giving away one of his secrets for getting over a massive cheating scandal!!!

Of course, Swaggy P is an expert in what TT's currently going through ... the ex-Lakers star famously cheated on Iggy Azalea when the two were dating in 2016.

So, when we got Nick leaving Pretty Little Things on Wednesday night ... we asked how Tristan should deal with his latest Khloe Kardashian drama -- and Young delivered!!!

There's more ... Nick also spoke with us about Zion Williamson's shoe-blowing incident against North Carolina -- saying the play showed Z-Dub is legitimately like the Hulk!!!

Nike and Zion Williamson are gonna be just fine ... AFTER about 80 million apologies ... so says Dan Le Batard, who thinks ZW's shoe explosion is gonna lead to a money explosion.

Williamson's left Nike disintegrated in the first MINUTE of the much-ballyhooed matchup between Duke and North Carolina earlier this week, injuring Zion, and embarrassing the company.

It was a PR disaster for the shoe giant, prompting a company-wide freak-out, and making some wonder if they'd blown their shot at landing Zion for an endorsement deal whenever he decides to go pro.

We got Dan at LAX and he thinks things between the Swoosh and prodigy will be A-okay ... after the dollars come into play.

"When they give Zion Williamson the $80 million sneaker contract they'll try and make good by him."

Interestingly enough, Dan actually thinks Nike's #1 employee is to blame for Zion's shoe disaster, telling our guy Michael Jordan was the mastermind behind it all, and giving us reasons.

Don't let these two almost identical images of KJ Apa ruff you up ... bark up this tree and see if you can figure out the differences between these two super similar snaps.

If R. Kelly wasn't about to surrender to police, he might end up in jail anyway ... because a judge is fed up with his failure to pay a ton of child support to his ex-wife.

A Cook County judge found R. Kelly in contempt earlier this month -- according to docs obtained by TMZ -- because he owes Drea Kelly $169,996 in support. The court says he was supposed to be paying her $20,833 per month as of January 2009 -- but he's obviously fallen off schedule in the last year.

The court order states R. Kelly needs to pay up by March 6, or he'll be locked up in County Jail. Obviously, the singer may see that as a moot point ... after he was hit with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse on Friday. As we reported, Kelly is expected to surrender Friday night.

Make no mistake, it's no longer just raining ... it's an all out downpour in his world.