TMZ.com Home

R. Kelly's racketeering and sex trafficking case is underway in NY ... he's set to appear and officially hear the charges and enter a plea.

Kelly's lawyer, Steve Greenberg, tells us the singer will plead not guilty at the arraignment. No major surprise ... Kelly has continued to battle the mounting charges and cases against him, denying all the allegations. Kelly flew to New York Thursday for the hearing.

Just like in his federal case in Illinois, Kelly's 2 girlfriends -- Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage -- are there for moral support. As we told you, they flew from Chicago to attend the arraignment ... and stuck to their phones as they walked in.

Azriel's phone itself is a symbol of her support. Take a close look -- the case is a collage of various photos of Kelly.

There's also a group of Kelly supporters that have gathered outside the courthouse ... one wearing a "Free R. Kelly" t-shirt.

As we reported ... the feds slapped Kelly with a 5-count federal indictment ... which includes racketeering and kidnapping. This is separate from the 13-count indictment in Illinois federal court. The indictment out of the Eastern District of NY also includes several violations of the Mann Act and allegations of forced labor.

Kelly denied the allegations ... blasting his alleged victims as "disgruntled groupies," this according to docs in which he asks the judge to release him pending trial. He's been behind bars since he was denied bond.

According to the federal indictment ... Kelly and others engaged in a scheme to coerce minors to participate in sexually explicit acts on camera. The feds say the purpose of the scheme was to "promote R. Kelly's music and the R. Kelly brand and to recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with Kelly."

The feds also allege "Kelly and his crew traveled throughout the United States and abroad to recruit these women and girls." Further allegations include Kelly made "threats of force and physically restrained the women" to obtain their labor and services.

BTW ... the Mann Act prohibits the transportation of anyone across state lines for illicit sexual purposes. Four of the 5 counts against Kelly are violations of the Mann Act.

Honey Boo Boo is in the dog house with her big sister after pretending to do a line of cocaine -- a shocking move that comes as her mother, Mama June, battles drug addiction.

HBB went live on Facebook Thursday evening to answer questions from her fans, but at one point the 13-year-old got extremely agitated and yelled at her sister, "Tell me what's f**king next right now!" Then she picked up a plastic knife and said she would need to take a break.

That's when she mockingly lined up something on the table, and started snorting it ... and a woman we believe to be her older sister, Pumpkin, went off.

She yelled, "Alana quit f**king doing ... dont' even f**king mimic that on f**king live!!!"

As we first reported, Alana's now living with Pumpkin, and has been since shortly after June and her BF, Geno, were arrested earlier this year for crack possession.

The video's especially troubling since Honey Boo Boo was so distraught during her family recent attempt to have an intervention for June.

One way to view this is Alana trying to mock or shame June for her ongoing drug issues. You'll recall, we got video of June and Geno outside their home right after he crashed his truck into their garage ... and he was so wasted he couldn't stand.

Four men who unfurled a Trump 2020 banner at the Orioles game in Baltimore on Thursday were escorted out of the stadium while fans chanted, "Take it down" -- and it was all captured on video.

It all went down in the 8th inning of the Orioles vs. Blue Jays game ... after most of the fans had left Camden Yards because the Blue Jays were beating the hell out of the home team.

The men displayed the "Keep America Great" banner from an upper deck railing behind home plate -- and it hung for about 10 minutes before stadium officials took action.

You can see cops order the men to pull their sign up, which they do -- while basking in the boos from other pissed off fans.

FYI, the Orioles have an anti-banner policy at the stadium ... prohibiting fans from displaying ANY signs during the game -- especially if the team feels the signs are in "bad taste."

The men were eventually escorted out of the stadium -- but they didn't seem to care at all. In fact, it looks like they LOVED the attention.

Of course, Baltimore and President Trump have been in the news all week long ... POTUS called the city a "rodent-infested mess" and opinions from both party lines have gushed in ever since.

Trump supporters like Johnny Damon have said the President ain't wrong, telling TMZ Sports that toward the end of his baseball career, he found the city to be "scarier."

Donald Trump's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, will be front and center at Saturday's big UFC fight, and ESPN will show their mugs on TV ... but there are a few strings attached.

Sources connected to the Disney-owned network tell TMZ ... there has been no pressure to keep them off camera to avoid controversy. It's a particularly sensitive time, with Trump's latest attacks which have a huge swath of the country calling him racist. The UFC community -- both fans and fighters -- is diverse, and the presence of the Trumps is a powder keg.

Nevertheless, we're told UFC honcho Dana White is calling the shots on who gets on TV, and we're told the Trump kids will get as much air time as other big celebs at the Prudential Center in Newark. Not to say Dana's directing, but he gives broad directives, and there is no Trump ban.

Now ... we're told the commentators have been told ... NO POLITICS -- and that's squarely in line with ESPN's directive.

Eric and Donald Jr., along with his GF, Kimberly Guilfoyle, were invited to the fight by Colby Covington, who's headlining the main event against Robbie Lawler. Covington is a staunch Trump supporter who's rarely seen without his MAGA hat. POTUS even invited him to the Oval.

And, Dana himself is a die-hard Trump supporter, who even spoke at the RNC. Dana has famously said he will NEVER say anything bad about Trump, who was one of his first and biggest supporters in the early days of the UFC.

Josie Canseco came thiiiiis close to losing a fight with the Pacific Ocean on Thursday ... holding on to her thong for dear life during a beach day in Waikiki.

The Victoria's Secret model is out in Oahu for the opening of a KITH x Coca-Cola pop-up shop (she's modeled for them in the past) ... but decided to take a break to frolic in the sand. The pics are straight fire.

But, during her dip, the tide got a little aggressive ... and nearly took her down her bottoms. A struggle for the ages ensued.

The good news for Josie, she was able to save herself from a public pantsing -- and went back to enjoying paradise.

The 22-year-old model -- who's the daughter of MLB legend Jose Canseco -- famously dated rapper Mike Stud ... but they broke up earlier this year.

Nicki Minaj is about to change her identity -- adding her beau's last name to her own -- and officially making her Petty.

Nicki and Kenneth Petty marched into a Beverly Hills courthouse earlier this week and got a marriage license. Sources close to the couple tell us Nicki -- whose real name is Onika Tanya Maraj -- will be known as Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty.

As for the wedding, it's a mystery ... but there are clues. Several of her close friends flew into L.A. Tuesday, the day after she and Kenneth got their marriage license. The friends stayed in town for less than a day and flew out again. They were all staying at 2 swanky WeHo hotels.

It's possible the wedding went down that day, but we're not sure. It's also possible they could get hitched this weekend. Her mentor, Lil Wayne, has a couple days off from his Blink-182 tour and our sources say he plans to be in L.A. Saturday and Sunday.

Cardi B's worldwide stardom will put her in a precarious position when she sits for a deposition next week -- and that's why she wants the judge to keep the whole matter confidential.

Cardi is in a legal dogfight with her former manger -- he sued her, then she sued him -- and in new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, her attorneys say her monumental achievement as a world-renowned rapper makes her vulnerable to a feeding frenzy from both the public and the media.

Her team says if the video of her deposition, as well as the transcripts, get out to the public, it could harm her case ... and expose private details about her life and finances.

Additionally, they've got serious Internet meme concerns. As they put it in docs, if the material gets out "it is highly likely that any such video will be reproduced and edited (and possibly manipulated) into out-of-context video clips and GIFs of her testimony."

As we first reported ... Cardi's ex-manager, Shaft, claims he transformed her from an Instagram wannabe to a global celebrity. Shaft sued Cardi for $10 million in April 2018 ... and then she countersued him for $15 million.

One of Shaft's more significant claims -- he says his contacts and personal team of writers and producers are responsible for her first massive hit, "Bodak Yellow."

Dog the Bounty Hunter is fuming after his Colorado store was burglarized ... but making matters worse was items belonging to his late wife, Beth Chapman, were also stolen.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the incident went down Thursday night in Edgewater, CO. We're told the store's front door was shattered. Some of the jacked items include a bunch of "Dog" merchandise but, most importantly, Beth's personal bounty hunting gear.

Dog was told about the incident early Friday morning and took to Twitter to blast the suspects, whom -- as you'd imagine -- he fully intends to track down.

The incident comes just weeks after Dog held a touching memorial service for Beth in Colorado. Family, friends and loved ones gathered to say goodbye for the last time.

As we reported ... Beth died last month in a Honolulu hospital, days after being placed in a medically-induced coma.

Bre Tiesi is moving on from her marriage to Johnny Manziel ... and to show she's serious, she's having the QB's initials laser removed from her body.

Back when they were still a couple, Johnny and Bre hit the ink shop to memorialize their love for each other in tattoo form. She got his initials, "J.M." along with another special tattoo.

Johnny also had a special tat inked on his body for Bre -- though it's unclear if he plans to keep it.

As for Bre, the model announced she was leaving Johnny back in March -- after accusing him of breaking their wedding vows. She never got specific with the details but you can put 2 and 2 together.

So, this week Tiesi hit up the Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Group to have the "J.M." laser erased from her hand ... and our sources tell us she can't wait to have a clean slate.

Bre still isn't spilling the beans on exactly what happened in her marriage -- but we're told there's about a ZERO PERCENT CHANCE for a reconciliation.

Instead of dancing in the dark, Bruce Springsteen's son has chosen a career of battling blazes ... among lots of other heroic stuff.

Sam Springsteen just became a firefighter in Jersey City, New Jersey ... according to his mom, Patti Scialfa. She shared the cool news on Instagram, saying ... "You followed your dreams…JC firefighter… Stay safe .. love your brave heart."

Of course, Patti peppered in some heart and flexed biceps emojis ... along with a "CONGRATULATIONS" and a fire emoji.

Sam is the youngest of Bruce and Patti's 3 kids at 25 years old. He has an older brother named Evan and an older sister named Jessica. None of them have followed in their dad's footsteps and become Jersey rock icons ... but they're all doing very well for themselves.

Sam was reportedly ranked 42 out of 961 on the Jersey City FD civil service in March, which qualified him to join the new class of firefighters.

The fatal crash that killed Grant Thompson -- creator of YouTube's popular "King of Random" series -- was all caught on camera ... and though we're told it'll never see the light of day, it's helped investigators determine exactly what went wrong.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... authorities have reviewed footage from a camera mounted on Grant's paramotor, and it appears a change in the updraft caused the parachute to malfunction. It's unclear if the parachute twisted ... but we're told Grant died on impact, less than 4 seconds after the problem surfaced.

The video makes it apparent ... Thompson immediately knew something was wrong but couldn't recover because he lost altitude in rapid fashion. By the time he deployed his reserve parachute, it was just too late. We're told the reserve chute did in fact deploy, but not in time.

We're told authorities are adamant the video will never be released to the public ... it would be gratuitous, gruesome and painful for his family.

TMZ broke the story ... Grant died after a paramotoring accident in Utah. The Washington County Sheriff's Office had said a report came in Monday of an overdue paraglider who had gone off the radar near the Sand Hollow State Park. His coordinates were pulled from GPS data and a helicopter located his body.

Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy's granddaughter is dead after suffering an apparent drug overdose while staying at the family's famous Hyannis Port estate.

Saoirse Kennedy Hill was already in cardiac arrest Thursday by the time paramedics arrived at the Kennedy compound ... around 2:30 PM. She was rushed to a hospital, but doctors could not resuscitate her, and she was pronounced dead there.

Multiple reports said the cause of death appears to be an overdose, but there's no official word from police or the family.

Saiorse's death is the latest in a decades-long string of tragedies for the Kennedys. The family released a statement saying, "“Her life was filled with hope, promise and love. She lit up our lives with her love, her peals of laughter and her generous spirit. We will love her and will miss her forever."

Her grandmother, Ethel, added, "The world is a little less beautiful today."

Saiorse studied communications at Boston College, and before that attended the Deerfield Academy private boarding school in Massachusetts. While she was there, she wrote an article for the school paper about battling depression and attempting suicide.

Her parents are Courtney Kennedy -- Ethel and RFK's 5th child (out of 11) -- and Paul Michael Hill.

Saiorse was 22.

RIP

Michael Blackson got his wish ... he says Eddie Murphy's offering him a role in the "Coming to America" sequel ... and you already know Michael is ready to jump right in!!!

We got Michael on the Sunset Strip and he had some career-changing news to share ... telling us he finally got the formal offer he was dying to get.

The comedian could barely contain his excitement ... he's been dreaming about this day ever since Eddie told us back in April he thought Blackson was funny, and wanted to bring him on board.

Akon should be getting a big thank you from Michael. Remember, he got the wheels in motion when he sent Eddie a message -- through our camera guy -- telling him to cast real Africans this time.

Michael, who's from Ghana, says the opportunity means the world to him ... and he's also got some words of encouragement for all aspiring actors from Africa. Good stuff all around.

The new gig hasn't sunk in yet though, but he told us when it really will.

None. Zip. Zero.

That's the number of complaints AAU tournament director Gary Charles says he received about LeBron James after the NBA superstar went crazy celebrating on the court at Bronny's game.

Of course, the media went WILD over the footage ... with some people saying Bron was acting inappropriately over the weekend and taking the attention away from the kids. Some people suggested any other parent would have been reprimanded.

But, Charles, who runs the Big Time Tournament in Vegas, says the overall sentiment from people at the tourney was ... THEY LOVED IT!!!

"I thought it was awesome," Charles tells TMZ Sports ... "The way he went out there and showed pure joy."

"But what I loved about it was that I was watching a father rooting for his son's team."

By the way, Charles ain't just blowin' smoke -- he's a legend in grassroots basketball and he's worked with a TON of famous players and parents from Kobe Bryant to Lamar Odom, and others.

Charles says he was with LeBron and the family all week -- and was impressed with the way Bron not only showed love for Bronny's team, but ALL of the kids who played in  the tourney.

"I watched that family all week. They were first class every single day. I watched LeBron the way he handled himself, how he was so enthused when these kids were playing."

Charles says LeBron's energy is infectious and he's obviously welcome back to EVERY one of his events.

Before this brushin' baby became a chart-topping artist and actor, he showed great musical talent from an early age. Growing up in Manhattan, he starting banging on pots and pans in his parent's kitchen, using them as drums. By the age of 5, he knew he wanted to be a musician and he started playing guitar.

His family moved to Los Angeles when he was 10, and he joined the California Boys Choir and was first introduced to rock music.

Now, his resume is incredible ... winning the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance 4 years in a row from 1999 to 2002.

HERE'S THE RUNDOWN