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Cool moment at the Vanity Fair party after the Oscars ... when Caitlyn Jenner and Kobe Bryant spotted each other on the way out of the event and stopped on the red carpet to hug it out.

Kobe has been a Caitlyn supporter for YEARS -- the NBA legend was one of the first big stars to throw his support behind Caitlyn getting ESPN's Arthur Ashe award at the ESPYs back in 2015.

Remember, there was controversy surrounding the award at the time with many people claiming there were other people far more deserving.

At the time, Kobe told us he appreciated Caitlyn for educating people about being comfortable being themselves -- "Doesn't matter what walk of life you're in man, you gotta be comfortable being you."

Kobe was at the party with his wife, Vanessa -- who's pregnant with their 4th child.

Other huge stars at the party -- Odell Beckham Jr., Russel Wilson and Ciara.

Kobe is no stranger to the Oscars -- he won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Animated Short for his film, "Dear Basketball."

The flick was based off a poem Kobe wrote to announce his retirement from the NBA back in 2016.

There's no host at this year's Oscars ceremony, but everything looks to be going off without a hitch as the presenters gave hugs and kisses to the nominees behind the scenes.

Tons of A-listers were congratulating each other Sunday as nominees accepted their statuettes, including folks like Samuel L. Jackson, Glenn Close, Regina King, Angela Bassett, Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Rami Malek, Spike Lee, Ryan Coogler, Constance Wu, Awkwafina, Chadwick Boseman, Sam Elliott and many, many more.

We gotta say ... the no-host thing is really working out. The show is moving along at a brisk and efficient pace ... and a lot of the presenters have turned out to be pretty damn funny.

Austin Rogers -- the "Jeopardy!" sensation who captivated America in 2017 with an impressive 12-game winning streak -- is clapping back at anyone blasting the show's All-Stars format ... calling those hating-ass haters a bunch of losers.

We got Austin on the horn after fans voiced their anger on social media following the show kicking off its All-Star series earlier this week and he tells TMZ ... people need to get over it. The usually jovial and hilarious "Jeopardy!" champ wasn't pulling punches in defending the show.

For the uninitiated, "Jeopardy!" is trying its first-ever All-Stars series by pitting previous winners and fan favorites against each other in 6 teams of 3. It's a 10-episode tournament ... which got off to a rough start after the long intros and explanation meant airing only a single round of competition.

Check out the vid ... Austin says people are always hesitant to change, and adds anyone who's not feeling the All-Stars series can watch any of the nearly 300 regular episodes. Or, take a chill pill.

Boxing star Gervonta Davis is the subject of a police investigation after an alleged physical altercation with police, TMZ Sports has learned.

Davis -- Floyd Mayweather's top protege -- was at an upscale mall in Virginia on February 17 when he got into it with another man at an ATM machine.

One witness tells us ... Davis began shouting at the man and cops were called to the scene. When officers arrived, we're told Gervonta acted hostile toward the cops.

One person we spoke with says he watched Gervonta shove one of the officers while screaming obscenities while his friends were desperately trying to restrain him.

We spoke with the Fairfax County Police Dept. who would only confirm there was an "interaction" and/or an "encounter" with Davis ... and that an investigation is ongoing.

Cops also tell us Davis was not formally arrested.

Davis is 21-00 as a pro fighter -- and is already a 2-time super featherweight world champ. Mayweather recently told TMZ Sports he's got big plans for Davis as a fighter ... with a potential superfight on the horizon with rising star Ryan Garcia.

Unfortunately for Davis, he's no stranger to police drama ... he was arrested back in September after allegedly getting into a fist fight in the streets in Washington D.C.

According to the police report, Davis and another man duked it out -- "punching each other with a closed fist about the upper body."

Several people tried to break it up but the two guys tried to flee -- until cops swooped in and picked them both up.

Spike Lee finally won an Oscar on Sunday, but the big takeaway from his acceptance speech was the renowned director telling voters to "do the right thing" in 2020.

Spike took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for his film "BlacKkKlansman," which won him a huge round of applause after many years of being snubbed by the Academy.

He came up and made an impassioned speech that touched on African-American history dating back to 1619, when Africans were first brought to Jamestown, VA as slaves. His thoughts were a bit all over the place as he thanked his family, but he came through very clear at the end when he said the 2020 presidential election was around the corner.

Spike said, "Let's all mobilize, let's all be on the right side of history." He continued, "Make the moral choice between love versus hate. LET'S DO THE RIGHT THING!!!"

BTW, Spike did not mention President Trump's name once, but his message resonated with the audience who gave him a standing O. That's one helluva way to ring in your first Oscar ever.

Congrats, Spike.

6:14 PM PT -- It looks like Tyga has made peace with whoever he was beefing with Saturday night, including the security guard who dragged him out of the Sunset Room.

He posted a photo on his IG story Sunday with a group of guys, which he suggests were the ones he got into a scuffle with. You can see the security guard who yanked him out standing right next to him ... no hands on him this time around.

Tyga captioned the photo, "No rap cap. Real street s***. Sat down face 2 face & spoke, & turned it into some real men s***. All love. Back 2 the bag."

It's still unclear what exactly happened to kick all this off, but at least it had a happy ending.

Tyga was dragged out of Floyd Mayweather's birthday party Saturday night by his neck ... and during the melee, he reached for a gun.

Tyga was at the Sunset Room in Hollywood, celebrating Floyd's 42nd, when someone in the crowd got into it with the rapper. It's unclear what they were beefing about, but whatever it was, security wanted Tyga out, and he was grabbed by the neck yanked out of the club.

Once outside, it escalated and at one point Tyga reaches for a grabs his security guard's gun.

The security guard knew trouble was brewing and made sure it never left his holster, so Tyga never actually took possession of the firearm.

It took a while for things to calm down, but eventually, Tyga and his crew left the club.

By the way ... we asked about the latest drama with Khloe, Jordyn Woods and Tristan Thompson -- wondering if Khloe and Jordyn could reconcile -- but he had other things on his mind.

3:29 PM PST -- Senator Cornyn just tweeted out a clarification on his Mussolini quote, agreeing with a Texas-based reporter who speculated he appeared to be "warning us against an overly powerful central government." Cornyn replied, "You nailed it, Bud. Since so-called Democratic Socialists have forgotten or never learned the lessons of history, and how their ideology is incompatible with freedom, I guess we have to remind or teach them."

Texas Senator John Cornyn quoted fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in a bizarre tweet that seems to scream anti-democracy ... which he has yet to delete.

Cornyn posted the tweet early Sunday, with a translated quote Mussolini delivered in 1929 roughly saying ... "We were the first to assert that the more complicated the forms assumed by civilization, the more restricted the freedom of the individual must become."

It's unclear why Senator Cornyn tweeted this, or what the context might be here. He followed this up by retweeting posts that were pro-ICE and anti-Nicolas Maduro ... Venezuela's own embattled dictator. As of this writing, Cornyn has not deleted the tweet.

In case you're unfamiliar with history, Mussolini was one of Hitler's allies during WWII ... and he eventually scrapped democracy in Italy while he ruled as Prime Minister.

The Oscars are about to get underway, but heads are already turning for Billy Porter on the red carpet ... who's wearing a tuxedo-gown to this year's award show.

The Broadway performer and gender-fluid artist showed up Sunday wearing a velvet outfit designed by Christian Siriano ... which amounts to one-half tux (up top) and one-half dress (on the bottom). It's certainly a fashion statement, if there ever was one.

What's interesting is that a lot of women have shown up to award shows like this wearing tuxedos over the years, but men conversely doing the same thing hardly ever happens. In fact, actress Elsie Fisher -- who killed it in "Eighth Grade," -- is wearing a tux right now.

As for Billy ... he's known to for his extravagant style and always ends up as a red carpet show stopper at whatever award ceremony he attends. He was donning a pink-lined cape at this year's Golden Globes.

Alfonso Cuaron is keeping his cards close to the vest as to whether he thinks he's a lock to win big at this year's Academy Awards ... but he's (somewhat) prepared if he does.

We got the renowned filmmaker at the Independent Spirit Awards Saturday in Santa Monica and asked him if how much we should put down on odds that he cleans up during Sunday's award show. Alfonso is up for Best Director, and his film, "Roma," is expected to take home a lot of prizes -- including, potentially, Best Picture. Needless to say, he could easily sweep.

Alfonso won't tell us one way or another if $100 would be a good bet, but he does play the hypothetical game here. He also tells us how he'll celebrate if he does take home some statuettes this year ... even if he doesn't have an acceptance speech prepared quite yet.

BTW ... we also spoke with Rosanna Arquette -- and lots of other stars -- at the Spirit Awards Saturday, and she told us that award show was much more progressive than the Oscars, based on which directors were nominated for each respective ceremony.

This ain't a shot a shot at Cuaron by any stretch of the imagination -- he wasn't nominated for Best Director at the Spirit Awards, FWIW -- but it's an interesting commentary on gender parity in the biz.

Meek Mill now has an official holiday named after himself in Houston -- and the honor appears to be tied to his work in criminal justice reform.

The Philly-based rapper was performing Saturday night to a packed house at the Revention Music Center as part of his Motivation Tour -- his final stop. At some point in the night, he was awarded an official city proclamation dubbing February 24 as "Meek Mill Day."

Meek put up photos of the proclamation, which he seems to have accepted either after the show or, perhaps, backstage. The entire proclamation isn't shown in full view, but based on what we can see ... it looks like Houston appreciates his advocacy work.

Sources close to Meek tell us the honor is, in fact, a nod toward his efforts to retool the criminal justice system -- a cause he now has a lot of backing for from titans in the sports and music world.

You'll recall ... the mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, gave Travis Scott his own day as well last year, declaring Nov. 18 as "Astroworld Day."

2/24/19 -- Sources connected to R. Kelly tell us the singer could be behind bars until at least Tuesday, if not Wednesday. The reason ... the slow-moving wheels of bureaucracy. We're told R. Kelly's lawyers plan on heading to the Child Support Bureau on Monday to figure out exactly how much their client owes in back pay. Once they do that, they'll head to the bank, pull out the necessary funds and pay off his bail and child support payments in one shot. That technically would lift the hold on his bond, but our sources say it could take 24 to 48 hours to process the paperwork. In other words ... Kels might be sitting in a jail cell 'til mid-week.

7:30 PM PT -- R. Kelly reportedly failed to post the $100k bond by the cutoff time of 9 PM in Chicago, so he'll have to spend the night in jail.

2:10 PM PT -- We're told until R. Kelly makes bail, he's being held in a holding pen by himself because the jail doesn't want him interacting with other inmates for safety reasons. R. Kelly's considered a "high profile individual," and if he doesn't bond out tonight he'll be placed in his own cell.

TMZ's also obtained video of Joycelyn and Azriel leaving the courthouse. Neither woman had anything to say about Kelly's case or their relationship with their parents.

1:15 PM PT -- As we told you ... Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary were both in the courtroom for R. Kelly, and were reportedly sitting in the first row reserved for friends and family during his hearing. The women are allegedly the singer's "sex slaves," but both have denied that. They were seen holding hands entering court together.

12:25 PM PT -- TMZ's obtained a courtroom sketch of R. Kelly and his lawyer, along with the State's Attorney, in front of Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr.

12:00 PM PT -- R. Kelly's lawyer just had a heated exchange with a reporter, who called him out for allegedly misquoting one of the victims. The lawyer shot back and accused the guy of trying to sell books, and that's when it got really testy ... and an F-bomb was dropped.

Greenberg also says R. Kelly should be able to bond out, but it might take a while because his financial situation is complicated ... and it's Saturday. As far as R. Kelly's defense, Greenberg says he's not ready to divulge info about that yet because he's in the process of reviewing all the evidence.

He did raise eyebrows at the end of his Q&A, though, when he said about R. Kelly -- "He's a rock star, he doesn't have to have nonconsensual sex."

11:35 AM PT -- Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx just gave more details of the alleged sex crimes to the press outside the courtroom, and says 2 of the 4 alleged victims turned in physical evidence -- shirts with R. Kelly's semen on them -- to prosecutors.

Avenatti also spoke to reporters and started by blasting R. Kelly's lawyer, Steven Greenberg. Avenatti says Greenberg has referred to all of the alleged victims as "liars" and insists the new sex tape is the same as the one from 2008, which Avenatti says is a lie.

He also claims R. Kelly's handlers were at the courthouse to keep Azriel Clary's parents away from her and believes Azriel has been brainwashed.

R. Kelly just appeared before the judge, who set his bail at $1 million ... meaning the singer can be released -- but only if he can afford it.

Prosecutors laid out the details of R. Kelly's 4 separate indictments Saturday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Cook County, and requested the R&B singer not be granted bail ... but the judge disagreed and set bail at $250k for each indictment.

The judge also ordered Kelly to surrender his passport.

R. Kelly's lawyer reportedly said the singer's finances are a mess, so he can't bond out just yet. However, a source close to Kelly tells us he'll be able to gather up $100k soon and post bail. If he does, he'll be released from jail ahead of his trial.

As we reported ... R. Kelly surrendered to police in Chicago Friday night, turning himself in at a police station after being charged with sexual abuse of 4 girls, at least 3 of whom were minors.

Prosecutors hit R. 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 according to the criminal complaint ... the graphic allegations include oral and vaginal sex with a girl between the ages of 13 and 17.

Attorney Michael Avenatti -- says he's representing at least 1 of the alleged victims in the R. Kelly indictment -- was on hand for Saturday's court hearing. He arrived with the parents of Azriel Clary, one of R. Kelly's alleged sex slaves.

Both Azriel and Joycelyn Savage -- another one of R. Kelly's alleged sex slaves -- were inside the courtroom for the hearing ... but it's unclear if they had any contact with their parents.

As we reported ... Avenatti also claims the new sex tape he turned over to prosecutors shows R. Kelly engaging in sex acts with a 14-year-old girl. He released images from the video Friday, showing what appears to be R. Kelly.

Kim Kardashian West has been a ball of fire this past week sticking up for her little sister, Khloe -- and she completed that transformation this weekend by turning into a smokin' hot flame.

Kim was leaving a photo shoot Saturday at Milk Studios in Hollywood, where she was dressed in a body-hugging, red leather outfit designed to look like some sort of fire ... complete with a matching 'do for good measure.

She looks great -- per usual -- but the timing of her new look is nothing short of perfect, considering how she's been torching people in defense of Khloe after learning about Tristan's latest bout of alleged infidelity ... including one Jordyn Woods.

To recap ... Kim posted (and then deleted) a video Thursday that seemed to shade Jordyn, in which she and Khloe's BFF, Malika Haqq, sang along to Nivea's "Don't Mess With My Man." She also batted off a troll who questioned why Khloe showed face in public right after the cheating scandal ... and she savagely shut down 'Bachelor' creator Mike Fleiss when he claimed Khloe would be the next 'Bachelorette.'

Wade Eastwood -- one of Hollywood's unsung heroes in charge of stunts -- thinks it's time Oscar started acknowledging his field, 'cause there's no movie magic without the action.

Wade has been a stunt coordinator, as well as a stunt man, on a number of projects over the years -- including 'Mission Impossible' flicks and other blockbuster films -- so we asked him Saturday at LAX how he felt about the Academy snubbing stunt work ... again.

He says it's kinda nuts that Oscars are handed out for just about every other behind-the-scenes category contributing to a film -- makeup, costume design, etc. -- but stunts continue to go unacknowledged year after year ... even though they're arguably responsible for the biggest moments of any given movie, especially action ones.

That said, Wade tells us he's not "an awards crazy guy," so not being recognized by the Academy doesn't bother him all that much. He suggests it would be nice, though.

Taylor Swift shocked the hell out of a group of people who were celebrating an engagement, by strolling in with her guitar and serenading them.

Alex Goldschmidt and Ross Girard invited friends to Sycamore Tavern in Hollywood Saturday night, when Alex said he had a friend who would help them memorialize the night. He said her name was Taylor, but no one had a clue what was coming.

Taylor came out, people were stunned, and she performed "King of My Heart" from her Reputation album.

Jussie Smollett has hard evidence to support his claim the Chicago Police Superintendent got it wrong when he told the media the actor paid $3,500 to Abel and Ola Osundairo to stage an attack.

TMZ has obtained documents that on the surface back his claim the $3,500 check he wrote to Abel was for training. The check was written to Abel on January 23, 2019, six days before the "attack." The memo line reads, "5 week Nutrition/Workout program Don't Go."

Sources connected to Jussie tell us, the reference to "Don't Go" is a song for which Jussie was going to shoot a music video ... featuring himself shirtless. The sources say Jussie had gained weight -- he was 192 lbs and needed to lose 20 pounds for the shoot, and that's why he hired Abel ... whom he says he calls "Bon."

There are various texts starting from January 20 between Jussie and Bon. On January 28 -- the day before the "attack" -- Bon wrote, "I know you're traveling today, make sure you get at least 45 mins of cardio."

Another text on January 20 outlines a menu for the day, including chicken thigh, StarKist Tuna, Eggs and Smucker's peanut butter. And, a text on January 25 reads, "This is the meal plan and the breakdown of macronutrients. Also includes projected fat loss."

You also see a text showing a calendar where February 23 is marked "Don't Go." The sources say that's the date of the music video shoot.

There's another screenshot from Sept. 27, 2018, presumably showing Jussie has paid Ola in the past. It's a Venmo payment of $100 to Bola (Abimbola aka Abel) for "Training."

Sources connected to Jussie say the $3,500 breakdown is as follows -- $600 a week for the workout plan for 5 weeks, and $100 a week for the nutrition plan for 5 weeks.

As we reported, Ola and Abel also told the grand jury the payment was for training.

This is not proof the attack wasn't staged, but in a trial, all the defense has to do is create reasonable doubt, and we're told the Police Superintendent's pronouncement will become a defense weapon if the case goes to trial.

The Police Superintendent also said during the news conference Jussie himself sent the racist letter 8 days before the attack. Federal law enforcement sources tell us they have not concluded who wrote the letter ... at least not yet.