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Ezekiel Elliott was involved in an altercation with a HUGE celebrity DJ in Vegas early Monday morning -- with the DJ going off about the incident on video after the fact ... and it's intense.

But, sources connected to Zeke tell us ... the Cowboys star is adamant he wasn't the one in the wrong.

Here's what we know for sure ... Zeke and Dak Prescott were partying at Drai's After Hours at The Cromwell Hotel and Casino where DJ Franzen was hanging out.

DJ Franzen is a huge force in hip-hop -- he's tight with guys like Jay-Z, T.I. and Big Sean ... and Drake even gave him TWO shout-outs in TWO different songs ("The Motto" and "Elevate").

Sources connected to Franzen tell us ... he walked over to say hi and that's when Elliott and some of his crew got aggressive and things started to pop off.

One Franzen source tells us ... Dak walked over to the DJ and attempted to smooth things over -- but it was already too late ... Franzen felt disrespected and decided to go off on social media.

"Can you believe Ezekiel Elliott tried to pick a fight with me?!" Franzen said in an IG video first spotted by SportsGossip.com ... "Man, F*CK THE COWBOYS!!!"

"Get the f*ck up out of Vegas man," he added ... "You are never allowed in my section again, you little bitch."

He finished with this message -- "If y'all know Ezekiel Elliott, you tell em DJ Franzen said 'F*ck you ... you little bitch ass motherf*cker.'"

Our Zeke sources tell a different story ... claiming Franzen came over in an aggressive manner and was talking trash about the Cowboys.

One source put it this way, "He was trying to provoke Zeke."

1:35 PM PT -- The store owners tell us Chris sent them a check on Monday for the full amount he owed them. And yes, this time they made sure the check cleared before informing prosecutors.

Chris Hansen is off the hook for allegedly bouncing checks -- which got him arrested in Connecticut -- because prosecutors dropped the charges ... TMZ has learned.

The former host of "To Catch a Predator" came up with the nearly $13,000 he owed to a mom-and-pop shop in Stamford, CT ... according to the court. As a result, prosecutors decided to drop the whole matter.

As we've reported ... Hansen was arrested and booked for larceny after allegedly bouncing 2 checks to the store owners.

Hansen’s attorney, Philip Russell, tells TMZ … Chris was in court Wednesday for a hearing, but he didn't have to plead to any charges after paying his debt in full.

As for when Hansen settled the tab, we'd assume he paid up after his arrest -- but when we posed that question to the court clerk we got a "no comment."

Chris Brown is stepping out in public for the first time since being arrested for allegedly raping a woman in a Paris hotel -- something he called total BS -- but today he's spreading a message of love.

Brown was leaving the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Paris Wednesday -- the same place where the alleged rape went down -- and he had just a few simple words to share, "I love everybody."

As we reported ... Chris was arrested Monday night by French police on possible rape and narcotics charges. The alleged victim told Closer Magazine Brown brutally and violently assaulted her for 25-30 minutes in a dressing room after a night of partying.

Although prosecutors initially told us Chris would have to answer in court and possibly surrender his passport, he was released the same day of the arrest with no conditions. He still has his passport and is free to return to the U.S.

Sources familiar with the Parisian legal system tell us there are signs the case fell apart.

Photos from inside R. Kelly's alleged "sex cult" recording studio in Chicago have just been released ... showing proof of code violations and plenty of evidence someone may have been living there.

The photos were taken by Chicago officials when they raided the building on suspicion the unit may be used as a permanent residence. Check out the gallery ... it's a completely bizarre scene inside the studio that was heavily featured in "Surviving R. Kelly."

During one point in the documentary, the family of one of Kelly's alleged victims showed up at the property to try and rescue their daughter.

BlocBoy JB is following suit with a lot of other artists by filing his own suit against the creators of Fortnite for allegedly stealing a dance he popularized ... TMZ has learned.

BB JB just sued Epic Games -- the company behind Fortnite Battle Royale -- for allegedly ripping off his dance the "Shoot" and throwing it into their game with a different name ... the "Hype" dance.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, BlocBoy claims he's the creator of the dance, and that Epic Games didn't get permission to use it in Fortnite. Once again, he claims that while he hadn't registered a copyright on the dance when Fortnite used it ... he says he's in the process of locking it down now.

He's being repped by David L. Hecht and Sandy Lal.

Lots of other rappers and social media figures have filed similar suits -- including one Alfonso Ribeiro, who's got beef with the "Carlton" dance being used in the game, as well as Backpack Kid, who claims the game creators stole his move, "The Floss" -- and they all seem to have the same claim ... we popularized a dance, and therefore its ours.

Good luck, fellas.

Busta Rhymes' New Year got off to a heated start -- he came pretty close to blows with a guy who was not down with Busta hitting on his wife ... so we're told.

Witnesses at the scuffle tell TMZ ... the rapper was sitting in his car in Times Square in the wee hours of New Year's Day when a man and his wife walked by. We're told the wife said "hi" to Busta, but the husband didn't like Busta's response -- he allegedly invited her to hang with him in his ride.

We're told the man had words for Busta, who got out of his car and began arguing with him ... which is where the video picks up. Things escalated pretty quickly, and the guys got face-to-face and grabbed each other before Busta's security broke it up.

Everyone eventually walked away, but we're told cops showed up and talked to the man who got into it with Busta. There are no signs any arrests were made during the incident.

We've reached out to Busta's rep, but no word back yet.

Confrontations like this are nothing new for Busta. We broke the story ... he snapped on a dude in Miami in October 2017 and looked ready to brawl before his crew stopped him.

There's also his infamous gym freakout in 2015 ... where he threw a protein shake at an employee.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft ain't mincing his words -- saying Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL ... period.

Of course, there were reports last week that Brady walked into the Patriots practice facility and declared himself the "baddest mother f*cker on the planet."

So, when we saw Kraft leaving John Jay College in New York we had to ask for his thoughts.

"We're lucky to have the greatest quarterback in history," Kraft said with a smirk on his face.

Earlier in the day, Kraft had teamed up with Jay-Z, Meek Mill and 76ers owner Michael Rubin for an event to launch the Reform Alliance, which is focused on overhauling the probation and parole system in America. The goal is to free 1 million people over the next 5 years.

And, since he's become tight with Meek, we asked if the Pats would be playing Mill's hit, "Dreams and Nightmares," if they win the Super Bowl this year ... to which it sounds like he says, "Of course."

The issue with that ... "Dreams and Nightmares" was essentially the theme song for the Philadelphia Eagles last season (when they beat the Pats in the Super Bowl).

Anthony Scaramucci's time on "Celebrity Big Brother" ended up being even shorter than his White House tenure but still ... he says it still helped him feel like an Average Joe.

President Trump's ex-White House Communications Director -- for a now infamous 11 days -- made a surprise appearance in Switzerland Wednesday after mysteriously exiting the 'BB' house. The Mooch appeared on Tuesday night's episode ... but it was clear from the online live feed he had left sometime on Monday.

We know from the episode he wasn't voted out by housemates, but Mooch is keeping tight-lipped about his exit after just 6 days. In true reality star fashion ... he dropped a "make sure you tune-in" line.

There's a silver lining though -- Scaramucci says signing up for 'Big Brother' brought him down from his ivory tower of snobbishness and elitism ... and got him back in touch with his blue-collar roots.

He's not great at keeping a job, but at least he's entertaining about it!

Kendra Wilkinson and Chad Johnson have moved on from their exes ... and are hooking up with each other.

Hugh Hefner's former famous GF and the "Ex on the Beach" star -- best known for being the villain on JoJo's season of "The Bachelorette" -- were spotted together leaving Rocco's Tavern in L.A. Monday night ... hand-in-hand with big smiles on their faces.

We're told they were inside for about an hour on what looked like a date night, and it appeared to go pretty well.

We broke the story ... Kendra's having a difficult time getting officially divorced from her estranged husband, Hank Baskett. The court rejected the judgment docs early this month because there was an error ... for a second time.

As for Chad, he's doing the reality show thing again on the MTV series ... which also features his ex, Maddie Sullivan.

Looks like Chad and Kendra are both down with a fresh start.

United Airlines pilots had to deal with a shattered windshield at 40,000 feet, and although the airline said bird strike caused the emergency ... one passenger claims there was a massive cover-up.

United's flight 931 left Chicago bound for London on Oct. 27, 2018, and about 3 hours into the trip the pilot announced the windshield was splintered and they had to land immediately ... according to a passenger named Theodore Liaw.

In his lawsuit against United, Theodore says he and the other passengers aboard the damaged 767 had to "white knuckle" it for 30 minutes ... while the pilot and co-pilot rapidly went from cruising altitude to Goose Bay Airport in Newfoundland, Canada.

Theodore claims United's customer support agents told them a "bird hit the windshield," but he calls that a big fat lie, and claims he got the truth straight from the pilot during 8 hours on the ground. According to the suit, he asked the pilot and co-pilot if they'd hit something, and they "chuckled" and said that was impossible because "there's nothing alive at 40,000 feet."

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Theodore says the pilots openly confessed it was most likely caused by a mechanic over-tightening windshield bolts. They also admitted 2 of 3 layers of the glass were destroyed and they were nearly sucked out of the cockpit ... according to the suit.

Theodore is suing United for negligence. He says he hurt his back in the emergency landing and he's suffered horrible plane crash nightmares ever since the flight.

Skylar Gaertner wanted to be one of the kids solving mysteries in Hawkins, Indiana, but he ended up being the son of a drug dealer in the Lake of the Ozarks ... and he's glad!

We got the "Ozark" star at LAX Tuesday. He plays Jonah Byrde on the show, but tells us that wouldn't be the case if he had not been rejected for another crazy popular Netflix's original series.

Skylar says he actually auditioned for 2 roles on "Stranger Things" -- back when it was called "Montauk" -- but didn't get them.

Silver lining -- he's on another mega-popular show now ... which is also entering its third season.

Jay-Z, Meek Mill and a coalition of powerful voices have formed a new organization that they say will "fight different" for criminal justice reform ... and they've got $50 mil between all of them to get it started.

The rappers joined forces with the likes of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, Nets co-owner Clara Wu Tsai, Van Jones and others to launch Reform Alliance Wednesday, which they say will fight to get at least a million people out of jail over the next five years with a focus on probation and parole.

Meek kicked things off by recounting his harrowing story of being jailed for 5 months on a petty probation violation, and says there are countless people caught up in the system who are voiceless ... for whom he now wants to speak and fight.

He did an interview on The Breakfast Club last month, and outlined the parameters of what his support would look like.

The group announced Van would lead the effort as the CEO, and he gave a poignant speech saying Reform Alliance would amplify the social activists who've been pushing for this reform for decades now. He made clear that RA was not a bank, that it wasn't just going to hire a bunch of lawyers for people and that it wouldn't be reinventing the wheel of criminal justice reform.

On the contrary, Van says the org aims to change fundamental laws that are unjust and ass-backward, which incarcerate men and women for absurd lengths of time ... and cost taxpayers millions of dollars unnecessarily.

Jay also spoke on why he joined the board, saying that the issue of criminal justice reform affects everybody in one way or another. He also highlighted what a complete family unit can achieve even under the hardest conditions when education is at the forefront.

As you know, Meek has become a symbol for criminal justice reform following his 2-4 year prison sentence for probation violations in 2017, and he's been championing the cause ever since his hard-fought release on bail.

The movement's already been effective ... President Trump signed the First Step Act into law, earning huge praise from CNN's Van Jones.

T.I. is standing firm in defense of Chris Brown in the wake of a rape allegation, and he says it's because he still values "innocent until proven guilty" ... unlike most folks.

We got T.I. at LAX Tuesday and asked whether he believes the French woman who went to police this week alleging Chris raped her in Paris. It's a firm no from T.I. -- he says he's siding with Chris (for now) since he knows CB and doesn't have any reason to doubt him.

Moreover, T.I. says there are no facts that have surfaced to support the woman's claim ... and he's not about to jump on the bandwagon of condemning someone without giving 'em their day in court. For the record ... Chris has vehemently denied the charge.

Check out T.I.'s take. He touches on what he describes as a new culture of assuming guilt based on a mere allegation ... which he strongly disagrees with. While he supports real victims of abuse coming forward to share their stories, T.I. warns us of opportunists looking to capitalize on the climate with false accusations.

He notes that he's not necessarily saying that's the case with Chris, but it's clear he's got his suspicions ... and will wait to pass judgment until a jury does their job.

As for Chris, he's been released from police custody without bail ... and is free to leave France. Some legal experts in Paris tell TMZ, the fact that authorities released Brown without any conditions is evidence there's a problem with the case.

Justin and Hailey Bieber are having a hard time finding the perfect day to celebrate their union, because we've learned the couple is postponing their second wedding ceremony ... AGAIN.

Sources familiar with the planning tell us some of the 300 guests who received JB and HB's "save the date" were notified Tuesday that their second round of nuptials is being rescheduled ... for the third time.

We're told the Biebers got some regrets back from certain loved ones who couldn't make it to Los Angeles for the weekend of Justin's birthday at the beginning of March, as was originally planned, so it's back to the drawing board.

We're told Justin and Hailey initially panicked and started to scramble for another date, but then it dawned on them -- THEY'RE ALREADY MARRIED, so there's no rush.

Our sources say the wedding will not be anytime soon ... they want to properly plan it this time with plenty of warning for guests. We're told they're now thinking they may want to do a destination wedding, knowing that would pare down the guest list considerably.

We know some of the guests Justin and Hailey had invited include Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott, Chris Brown, Drake and Odell Beckham Jr.

4th time's a charm?

The MAGA hat-wearing student who faced off with a Native American Vietnam-era vet says his smirk seen 'round the world wasn't out of smugness ... just peaceful defiance.

Covington Catholic High School junior Nick Sandmann appeared on "Today" Wednesday with Savannah Guthrie, who grilled him on a number of topics -- most importantly ... why didn't he just walk away, and what was up with that smirk on his face?

Sandmann says, in hindsight, he wishes he would've just walked when Nathan Phillips came up to him drumming. That said, he explains that, in the moment, he felt leaving or making any sudden movement would've escalated the situation.

On that smirk ... Sandmann says it was just him smiling with the message of, "[T]hat is the best you're going to get out of me, you won't get any further reaction of aggression and I'm going to stand here as long as you want to hit that drum in my face."

Sandmann further explained people who have come to judge him based on one expression they saw have jumped to harsh conclusions based on mere assumptions.

Alec Baldwin just got a great result in his criminal assault and harassment case, after prosecutors realized the surveillance video created huge problems for them.

Baldwin appeared in an NYC courtroom Tuesday and prosecutors revealed they were willing to not only lower the charge to harassment in the 2nd degree, but they also cut a deal in which Baldwin would take a few anger management courses and the whole thing would just go away.

The case involved a parking dispute back in November between Baldwin and another man outside the actor's NYC apartment. Baldwin felt the guy underhandedly swept in and took his spot. The guy claimed Alec punched him in the jaw and filed a police report.

TMZ broke the story that the surveillance video did not show Baldwin punch the guy. Rather, it showed the 2 men shoving each other, which is consistent with mutual combat.

Prosecutors told the judge after reviewing the surveillance video and speaking with witnesses, a lower charge was appropriate.