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8:40 AM PT-- Hackenberger just announced he is stepping down as Director of the zoo ... but still proclaims his innocence.

Bowmanville Zoo owner Michael Hackenberger, the trainer PETA filmed whipping a tiger, has been charged with 5 counts of animal cruelty by Ontario's SPCA.

The SPCA filed the charges Wednesday after thoroughly reviewing the Bowmanville Zoo, which he owns and where he trains his animals.

The charges against Hackenberger are based on the video which surfaced 4 months ago, and include causing the animal distress by striking it with a whip handle, repeatedly striking it with a whip, and pushing his thumb into the animal’s eye.

He was also charged for failing to comply with the animal care standards required by law. In Canada, the SPCA has the right to remove animals and file charges. For now, it's only closely monitoring Hackenberger's zoo.

Coachella is gunning for anyone who bought a VIP pass to rub elbows with the likes of Axl Rose or Slash ... because it might be illegal and the cause of a lawsuit.

Goldenvoice, the company that puts on the fest, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against events company Particle, and its owner Denise Kozlowski, for deceiving people it was authorized to peddle a package including a VIP, guest, or artist pass.

Coachella says it's the only one who can sell tickets for the fest -- and it can't have third parties scalping those tickets because it creates a huge safety risk for performers.

Cyndi Lauper will absolutely play her upcoming concert in North Carolina, but she's also joining the fight against the state's controversial HB2 law by forking over her profits.

Cyndi tells TMZ she will donate all profits from her June 4th show in Raleigh to Equality North Carolina -- an organization fighting to get HB2 overturned. She says, "I think the best way I can do my part is to turn my show into an entire day to build public support to repeal HB2." Her manager and agent will also donate their commissions.

Cyndi recently told one of our photogs that unlike Bruce Springsteen, who canceled his NC concert last weekend, she feels it's important to play for her LGBT fans there.

But she seems to be making it clear she has no beef with Bruce's strategy. She says "we all have to include ourselves in the effort" to build an inclusive society, but each person should do it the best way they know how.

A woman is so infatuated with John Cusack, she showed up at his house multiple times, and even threatened to do a little "black" magic on his boners ... according to the actor.

Cusack filed docs requesting a restraining order against Marieretno Subali ... who he says showed up at his house, uninvited, 3 months in a row -- but John was never home.

Cusack believes the woman is monitoring his travel through social media, and fears she'll be waiting for him one day when he gets home.

He says Subali's reached out to his family as well ... sending a couple of creepy emails to his sister-in-law. In one, she says Cusack came to her in a dream, and called him her favorite actor from the movie, "Serendipity."

Another email was much darker -- in it, he says Subali threatened to perform a "black candle spell on him," which, according to her, would make him impotent ... for life.

Katt Williams busted out a couple of canes and threatened to shoot a trucker ... at least according to the 911 caller who dropped a dime on the "little short black guy" he called a "gang banger."

The alleged incident went down late Monday night at a Flying J truck stop in Georgia. A store clerk said Katt and a trucker got into a heated argument, and then Katt and 3 women whipped out sticks or "canes."

But you gotta hear the retired Dallas cop who called 911, claiming Katt threatened to shoot the trucker. In the caller's words, "These people are a real pain in the ass and something needs to be done about 'em."

When cops arrived, the trucker was gone. Katt claimed the trucker was harassing him for being a celeb. Since the cops didn't witness anything, and there was no evidence of a crime ... no one was arrested.

Post Malone put his hands around Justin Bieber's throat and choked him in front of a club full of people, but there was no bad blood ... as some reports suggest.

The Saturday night incident inside Houston's Cle nightclub might've looked like a fight ... but we're told the guys were just messing around and went back to laughing once Post loosened his grip.

Sources close to Malone tell TMZ the choke was Malone's revenge for Bieber using his arm as an ashtray earlier that night.

Boys will be boys.

Johnny Manziel was a passenger in a car that allegedly hit a light pole and fled the scene in Hollywood this weekend ... and the person who picked him up after the crash was Josh Gordon.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Manziel was interviewed by LAPD about a crash that occurred on the Sunset Strip around 10:45 PM on Saturday night.

Ray J is deep in the car game, so deep he's having trouble keeping track of all his whips ... and now a car company's suing to get back a Rolls-Royce.

According to docs obtained by TMZ, Midway Rent A Car sued the singer after he allegedly stopped making payments on his 2010 Rolls Ghost back in October. By the way, Midway says the car's worth $202k, and it wants to repo the ride.

Sources close to Ray J tell us he's already working out a deal to become current on the payments. We're told Ray J lost track because he subleased the Ghost, but understands he's legally responsible and will pay ... to avoid a visit from the repo man.

How does one lose track of a car payment? One gets too many cars! Ray says he's made deals for 20 cars this year -- including 3 Ferraris, 8 Range Rovers and 3 Benzes.

1:45 PM PT -- Debby just took to Twitter about her arrest, saying, "Over the last few days I have had the chance to think about my actions, and I wish I had used better judgement. I recognize that I am a role model and have always worked hard to set a good example for my millions of fans. I am so sorry to disappoint everyone."

Debby Ryan, one of Disney's biggest stars, was arrested for felony drunk driving ... TMZ has learned.

The star of "Jessie" was driving in L.A. last week at around 11 PM when she made a left in her 2016 Audi and slammed into a Mercedes. Our law enforcement sources say the driver claimed injury.

Cops came, gave the 22-year-old actress a field sobriety test and promptly arrested her for felony DUI. It's standard operating procedure for cops to arrest for a felony when there's injury.

Debby got a break ... authorities decided to bump it down to a misdemeanor because the injury was minor and she blew a .11 ... not that much over the .08 legal limit.

Debby -- who's out on $100k bail -- has been charged with 2 criminal offenses ... driving under the influence and driving with a .08 blood alcohol level or higher.

We reached out to her reps ... so far no word back.

Jason Momoa's raw strength is so breathtaking ... it even left former Mr. Universe Lou Ferrigno in awe.

The 'Incredible Hulk' star tells us the regime of the former "Game of Thrones" star is especially impressive because of his size -- 6'4" 230 lbs.

Pulling yourself up with 3 big plates attached to your waist ... amazing.

Future's firing back at Ciara's $15 million defamation lawsuit ... saying he couldn't possibly have damaged her rep, since she's currently lacking one.

In his counter lawsuit ... Future flat out says his ex-fiancee's career has been expired for a few years. He does call her fan base "reasonably large" -- but also refers to her last album as a "flop" ... and says she hasn't won many awards since 2013.

You'll remember, Ciara sued Future over a series of rants -- on Twitter and in his music -- where he bitched about her and their child custody battle. She also claimed he was just trying to hype up his music career.

Future wants the court to force Ciara to stop bad mouthing him, and he wants her to cover the legal fees he's incurred fighting her lawsuit.

The story was first reported by the Jasmine Brand.

Blue Ivy's fairy princess-themed 4th birthday party looks like it ran up a tab worthy of a celebrity wedding ... but that's just how Jay Z and Beyonce roll.

Blue turned 4 in January, but Bey just uploaded the pics from inside the shindig. Looks like the celebration included some Hunger Games-styled bow and arrow practice, and teepees ... for those serious 4-year-old sit-downs.

Hired entertainment? None of mom and dad's singing or rapping pals -- TWO fairy princesses!

Megan Fox is pregnant and estranged husband Brian Austin Green is the father, we've learned ... but we've also learned she has no plans to drop her divorce.

Sources connected to the couple tell us the pregnancy just kinda happened ... it wasn't planned. As we reported, Megan and Brian have been close even after she filed her legal docs last August ... and now we know just how close.

There would be big consequences by pulling the divorce. Megan's the breadwinner, so all the money she's earned since her separation is hers, including the loot for her latest 'Ninja Turtles' flick. 86ing the divorce would change all that.

There are also consequences by not withdrawing the divorce petition. Brian will almost certainly be entitled to more child support for the 2 and soon-to-be 3 kids.

Cardell Hayes is a HERO -- who saved MULTIPLE LIVES by shooting Will Smith before he could get to his gun ... so says the passenger in Cardell's car.

Lindsay Lohan's engagement ring is so damn powerful it got her parents to share the same air without a single call to police.

Lindsay showed off the huge rock -- looks to be an emerald in a diamond setting -- while hanging with Michael and Dina Lohan in Brooklyn at Tuesday's Duran Duran concert. Her fiancé, Egor Tarabasov was there as well ... conspicuously behind LiLo and her parents.

TMZ broke the story ... Lindsay got engaged over the weekend to the 22-year-old Russian heir after 5 months of dating.

Lindsay got onstage briefly -- she's featured on DD's "Danceophobia" -- and shouted out her sister Ali Lohan ... who's trying to start her own singing career. She might wanna rub that ring 3 times and make a wish.

#Romancingthestone