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Pras says he doesn't know why the Dept. of Justice is putting him at the center of a scheme to help a Malaysian financier funnel millions into the country -- but he's got a hunch it's due to his skin color.

We got the Fugees rapper at LAX where we asked him about this crazy new civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. DOJ. He's accused of conspiring with Jho Low in 2017 to sneak tons of cash into U.S. bank accounts. Allegedly, Low's intention was to bribe DOJ officials to influence a criminal probe into his alleged misuse of international dough.

The feds filed suit to recover some of those funds -- but Pras is not listed as a defendant. He's mentioned because of his business dealings with Low. The DOJ's still investigating and says criminal charges against Low and/or Pras could be coming.

Complicated, right? That's how Pras reacted to the allegations, but he did have one possible explanation for the suit ... they're pointing at him because he's black. At least that's the "vibe" he's getting.

Low has been tied to other celebs he lavished with gifts, which are now being seized by the feds. Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly received Marlon Brando’s 1954 Oscar from Low, as well as a Pablo Picasso painting, and supermodel Miranda Kerr was gifted jewelry and a see-through grand piano.

Kathie Lee Gifford is saying sayonara to the "Today" show ... after she reaches the 11-year mark.

Kathie Lee unveiled her play Tuesday on the show, and she and her co-host, Hoda Kotb, immediately dissolved into tears.

Kathie didn't say why she's leaving, but it's gotta be a blow to NBC. The 10 AM hour of "Today" was one of the most profitable shows for the network. It was doing consistently well, although it suffered a drop in rating during the Megyn Kelly tenure.

It's pretty remarkable ... Kathie was a phenom with Regis Philbin on their morning show, "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee." After leaving that show in 2000, she took a break. It's almost impossible to recreate magic in a bottle, and there were doubters when she went to "Today," but she proved them wrong ... really wrong.

Her last day will be her 11-year anniversary on April 7, 2019 -- and she is leaving to pursue music, movie and TV opportunities.

Kathie started her career as the "singing girl" on "Name that Tune" in 1977.

Nicki Minaj has a long history with her new boyfriend, because she first fell for him when she was a teenager -- and she feels he's changed since his checkered past.

Sources close to Nicki tell TMZ ... her first relationship with Kenneth Petty happened when she was a 16-year-old living in Queens, and she calls him one of her first loves. As they say, what's old is new again ... she's been showing him off in pics from a romantic getaway for her 36th birthday.

We're told Nicki understands Kenneth has a troubled past -- he's a registered sex offender convicted of attempted rape -- but she's confident he's matured since his time in NY state prison in the late 1990s. Nicki believes in second chances and has faith he'll be good to her.

As we reported ... Petty was convicted of first-degree attempted rape in April 1995, when he and his victim were both 16. Sources close to Nicki say the full context of the crime is Kenneth was dating the victim -- and her mother filed the charges because she didn't approve of him.

Our sources say Nicki and Kenneth still have great chemistry, despite all the years between their relationships. We're told she was very stressed out before they got back together, but she's much happier since rekindling their romance.

Imitation is NOT a form of flattery when it comes to these wax creations, allegedly depicting Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

The fake Duke and Duchess of Sussex were unveiled Tuesday at Madame Tussauds in Berlin. You're not looking at wax statues -- those are real people wearing wax masks. Kinda like they do in 'Mission Impossible' ... except these are deeply disturbing and inaccurate.

The couple's been roaming the streets of an outdoor Christmas market -- 'cause nothing puts you in the holiday spirit like the sight of creepy, unblinking royals. As you know, Harry and Meghan are actually very attractive people ... so, we can't figure out how the masks got so screwed up.

Maybe Madame Tussauds hired Cristiano Ronaldo's infamous sculptor?

Anyway, check out the video of Meghan and Harry waxing 'round town ... and good luck getting 'em out of your nightmares.

The campus of Cal State Northridge is bracing for the worst after a 2nd eerily specific threat of a mass shooting on December 12.

The latest threat was a menacing letter found Monday night in Sierra Hall of the SoCal campus. The letter says, "I'm killing as many motherf***ers as I possibly can." It specifically targets teachers and professors "for making students depressed and giving us bulls**t work."

The writer also claims to have co-conspirators who will open fire that same day at nearby Northridge Academy High School.

Last week there was graffiti found in the same building -- a swastika and the words, "Mass shooting in Sierra Hall 12/12/18" were scrawled on a wall. Additionally, a bunch of swastikas and the Dec. 12 date were found in multiple campus buildings ... with no specific threat.

CSUN administrators say the campus will be open Wednesday, but with increased police presence.

Is Ben Simmons secretly the sweetest, sappiest boyfriend ever???

Maybe ... 'cause Kendall Jenner posted a SUPER romantic, handwritten love letter on social media Monday (but blacked out the name of the sender) ... and signs point to the 76ers point guard.

The letter begins, "Dear Kendall, We may be miles apart but my love for you grows stronger by the minute. My innermost feeling is of pure love for you."

"I will love you until death separates us. Right now this separation is killing me, but in my heart I know that nothing would come close to separating us."

It continues, "We are united into one forever, body and soul and I want you to know that I love you from the deepest part of my heart."

It's signed with, "Love," but Kendall blocked out the author ... which begs the question -- IS IT REALLY FROM BEN?!?!

Seems it could be ... the two have gotten super serious the last few weeks, ice skating, grabbing bites to eat and hanging out after Sixers games.

Plus ... Philly WAS just on a road trip in Toronto and then Detroit ...

So, is Simmons the author?? Here's a look at his handwriting -- you be the judge.

12/11 2:00 AM PT -- The judge issued the TRO. Courtney's lawyer, Howard King, tells TMZ, "The escalating verbal harassment and threats of Sam Lutfi left no choice to Courtney and her family but to seek protection. The Cobains are grateful for the anti-harassment order issued by the Los Angeles Superior Court against Mr. Lutfi and the powers it provides law enforcement to assure that Mr. Lutfi terminates all contact with the family."

Courtney Love has broken in a big way with her ex-manager, Sam Lutfi, and she's just filed to get a restraining order because she says he's harassing her and her family unrelentingly.

We've learned Courtney has just filed legal docs saying Lutfi has been demanding money from her for services he says he rendered ... and he is now so pissed off he's incessantly harassing her with emails, texts and phone calls.

Courtney also wants the judge to prohibit Lutfi from harassing her daughter Frances Bean and Courtney's sister.

The judge has yet to rule.

BTW ... both Courtney and Sam are being sued by Frances Bean Cobain's ex-husband, Isaiah Silva, for allegedly orchestrating a break-in at his house and trying to steal Kurt Cobain's famous 'MTV Unplugged' guitar ... which is in Isaiah's possession.

The sober streak is over for Dennis Rodman -- the NBA star admits he fell off the wagon and had started drinking again ... but now says he's still focused on cutting booze out of his life.

Rodman entered rehab after a DUI arrest back in January -- and has openly talked about the difficulties of going sober.

He slipped up in the past 2 weeks and hit the bar scene in Newport Beach, CA -- but tells TMZ Sports it was a mistake and he's now going back to AA meetings in the hopes of staying sober.

Rodman says he had stopped going to meetings because they got boring -- hey, at least he's honest.

But, after he started drinking again, Rodman reached out to his agent, Darren Prince (who's also battled substance abuse but is now going on 10 years sober) and his AA sponsor and asked them for help.

Rodman says he was ultimately convinced to go back to the meetings and already feels like he's making progress.

"It's a long process and it's gonna take time to get over the hump," Rodman says.

Rodman has been to rehab before -- once in 2014 ... and he was also featured on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" back in 2010.

We spoke with Rodman's agent, Darren Prince, who tells us, "Dennis is the king of rebounds and he'll rebound from this too."

Kodak Black got down on one knee and gave a lucky woman a ring ... though it's unclear if he's engaged. Let us explain.

It went down Sunday night at Santa's Enchanted Forest in Miami. The 21-year-old rapper and the chick, Yung Miami from Miami-based rap duo City Girls, were near a concession stand when, out of nowhere, he kneeled ... presumably to ask her to marry him.

You see the crowd congratulate the couple after he puts what appears to be a purple Ring Pop on her digit. Yeah, a candy ring. Another giveaway it's a fake proposal ... Kodak places the ring on Miami's right hand.

Whatever the case ... you know Kodak's really into her.

BTW ... check out Kodak's outfit. Pretty shweet.

A lot has happened to Meek Mill since he allegedly sent goons to jump Safaree Samuels more than a year ago -- and that's exactly why Safaree says it's all water under the bridge.

Our Raquel Harper chopped it up with Nicki Minaj's ex about her other ex, Meek, whom Safaree accused of orchestrating the would-be jumping that went down during the BET Awards last summer ... which Meek, of course, denied.

Welp, Safaree's changed his tune since then ... saying he's seen just how much Meek's been through and how much he's grown as a person since walking out of prison. He even tells Raq they were recently in the same vicinity and things were copacetic.

Funny how petty stuff like ex-girlfriends and verbal jabs fall to the wayside when s**t gets real. Also ... time sure does fly, right?

Lil Xan briefly left his rehab facility to prepare for his post-rehab living arrangements ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the rapper tell us ... Lil Xan left rehab Saturday in order to go sign papers for a new house he bought in his hometown of Redlands, CA. The new crib is where he'll set up shop once he's completed in-patient treatment. We're told he'll have round-the-clock staff monitoring him to keep him on the straight and narrow.

Xan wasn't allowed to fly solo for the house mission ... we're told a nurse from the rehab center accompanied him. After signing the house documents, he headed back to rehab on Sunday.

Remember, he just checked himself in last weekend to begin treatment, and our sources say he'll be there about another week. After that, he'll shift to outpatient treatment at home. We're told his new place has a studio, so he'll be able to work on new music. His album "Be Safe" -- inspired by his hero, Mac Miller, is set to drop next month.

Xan had told us in mid-November he was immediately heading to rehab -- but he didn't begin until December. His camp says a scheduling mix-up with the facility caused the delay.

Someone get Ted Cruz some Charmin ... 'cause the senator from Texas just took a big ol' dumparoo on the NFL over the way the league handled the national anthem demonstrations.

Ted had touched down in D.C. when we asked if Congress should look into overseeing the way the league handled investigations ... in the wake of the Kareem Hunt situation.

But, Cruz pivoted during the conversation and brought up the national anthem demonstrations -- and important to note, he's been strongly AGAINST players like Colin Kaepernick who took a knee.

"I think it has been amazing watching the NFL do unprecedented damage to their brand and the way they handled the anthem protest I think was spectacularly harmful to professional football," Cruz said.

So, we asked if Congress should have stepped in and gotten involved (outside of President Trump's public critiques) ... to which Cruz replied, "At the end of the day, I trust the fans to exercise the appropriate check."

Trump had called for the league to fire players who repeatedly took a knee. Instead, the league has imposed no penalty for kneelers.

President Trump didn't fork over hush money to Stormy Daniels to keep their sexual liaison from his wife, because Melania knows his "history" with women ... so says U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge.

The Ohio congresswoman scoffed at the notion Trump might argue his motivation for the Stormy pact was saving his marriage. As for whether it was a cover-up for election purposes ... Fudge says it's not definitive one way or the other.

For the record ... Trump has denied all of the affairs alleged by women since he was elected.

Meghan Markle's dad is catching flak for bringing up his daughter in a new interview -- but the tell-all was aimed at clearing his name, and not tarnishing hers ... TMZ has learned.

Friends of Thomas Markle tell us the interview he did with Daily Mail over the weekend was set up for the purpose of disproving false rumors he faked a heart attack earlier this year ... right before Meghan and Prince Harry got hitched.

Thomas revealed medical receipts for his heart surgery. As we first reported, he got 3 stents implanted. Our sources say Thomas keeps tabs on what people say about him on the Internet, and was offended to read haters claiming he faked the medical emergency.

Of course, while defending himself ... Thomas described Meghan as "demanding but never rude." He was attempting to squash British rumors about his daughter being difficult to deal with and feuding with Kate Middleton.

We're told he didn't intend to bash Meghan, and he doesn't want to say anything that could harm her. In fact, we're told that's why he's been under the radar for several months.