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Lori Loughlin, her hubby and all the parents involved in the biggest college admissions scam in U.S. history should NOT do any time behind bars ... so says Steve Madden.

We got the famous shoe designer, and ex-con, Tuesday in NYC ... and who better to ask about Lori and Mossimo Giannulli 's case? Remember, Madden did 2 and a half years in prison for money laundering and stock fraud.

He joked Lori might need some help at the prison commissary soon -- but then got serious about what she's facing.

As we reported ... a Federal Grand Jury indicted Lori and Mossimo with an additional crime of "conspiring to launder the bribes" on top of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. The new charges could mean nearly 5 years in prison, at minimum, if they're convicted.

Steve, who admits he knows Mossimo, thinks a prison stretch is absurd in this case. Watch the video ... he calls their $500k plan to get their girls into USC, "misguided, for sure" -- but adds it doesn't warrant incarceration.

The Weeknd is gunning for eSports supremacy -- buying an ownership stake in one of Canada's biggest gaming franchises, TMZ Sports has learned.

The singer is now a part-owner of OverActive Media -- which has teams competing in League of Legends, Overwatch, Call of Duty and more.

In fact, OAM's Overwatch team, the Toronto Defiant, is one of the top-ranked teams on the planet. OAM also owns Splyce, which competes in LoL.

"As a big esports fan, I am really excited to be involved in this project," The Weeknd said in a statement ... noting he will collaborate with OAM in "unique and innovative ways."

The Weeknd is just the latest mainstream star to buy into an eSports franchise -- following Michael Jordan, Drake, Magic Johnson and Rick Fox.

The big question now ... when are these guys all gonna pick up the sticks and compete against each other?!

A$AP Bari would probably do great on "Deal or No Deal" ... after scoring a hell of a deal in his drug case.

The Northampton County D.A.'s Office in Pennsylvania tells TMZ ... the rapper recently showed up to court and pled guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of possession of weed. Under the deal ... we're told A$AP will only be fined four thousand bucks. No jail and no probation. So, that's it ... case closed.

Huge ... considering Bari had originally been charged with 2 felonies for possession of a controlled substance and intent to deliver. He'd also been slapped with 5 misdemeanor charges ... including possession of drug paraphernalia.

Carson Kressley seems to be ecstatic an openly gay man will likely run for POTUS -- but don't get it twisted ... that ain't gonna be the deciding factor for him in the voting booth.

We got the OG 'Queer Eye' cast member leaving LAX Tuesday and asked him about Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who's been leading South Bend, IN since 2012 and who's picking up major momentum in the quest to take on Trump.

Our question ... will gay people vote for the guy just because he's gay?

Carson says he certainly hopes not. He says Pete checks all the boxes for him on his merit and experience, and that should be the standard for supporting any candidate.

That said ... Carson says he gets why some gay people might automatically be Team Pete. It's a huge deal to have someone repping the LGBTQ community at this level.

The Milwaukee Bucks' owner's daughter is on board with Giannis turning down a role in LeBron's "Space Jam 2" ... 'cause Mallory Edens tells TMZ Sports she thinks it's a GOOD thing!!!

"If you think about it right now, LeBron is Giannis' peer," Mallory says ... "I don't think he should idolize him in a way like a normal basketball fan [would]."

Of course, Giannis just told ESPN he's all OUT in the sequel to Michael Jordan's mega-hit ... saying he doesn't want to take time away from summer training to film a movie with the King.

Mallory -- who's also a model -- says she's just fine with that ... explaining to us she LOVES the idea that Giannis ain't trying to be super friends with LBJ.

"That's his competitor. That's his peer. It's somebody he wants to beat. I don't think he needs to be, like, buddy-buddy with him and run around and shoot a movie with him."

In fact, Mallory says she loves the original "Space Jam" so much -- and despises sequels that much more -- she thinks it's going to be tough for Bron to find ANY NBA superstars to join him on set.

Free tickets to Nipsey Hussle's public memorial service were gobbled up within minutes, and now the scalpers trying to profit from the slain rapper's death are being shut down.

Tickets for Thursday's service at Staples Center were being hawked for as much as $500 a pop on the secondary market ... but Craigslist is flagging the sales ads and yanking them from its website.

AXS, which handled ticket distribution, tells TMZ ... the memorial service's entire ticket inventory was completely cleaned out Tuesday morning within minutes after being made available to the public.

But, anyone trying to make a quick buck off the memorial is out of luck ... AXS tells us it's cracking down on scalpers and ticket fraud because tickets are being distributed through the company's mobile app and are non-transferable.

Nipsey's memorial starts Thursday morning at 10 AM sharp, and anyone traveling in a group must enter together. Tickets were distributed to California residents only, with a max of 4 per group.

The rules didn't stop scalpers from trying to take advantage of people who missed the boat ... but Craigslist ads have been removed or flagged for removal throughout the day.

TMZ broke the story ... Nipsey's family and Staples Center honchos met Wednesday to plan logistics for how to honor the Crenshaw rapper at the 21,000-seat venue. LAPD officials were also there, helping plan for security and safety.

Nipsey was gunned down March 31 outside his Marathon Clothing store and his alleged killer, Eric Holder, was charged with murder.

After the memorial service, Nipsey's funeral procession will embark on a final victory lap around the city.

Magic Johnson just dropped a bombshell before the Lakers play their final game of the season ... announcing he's stepping down as the team's president of basketball operations.

Magic held court with reporters before the Lakers took on the Portland Trailblazers, and in a stunning move he revealed he's walking away from the role he held for 2 years.

The decision totally blindsided everyone ... Magic says he hasn't even informed Lakers owner Jeanie Buss that he's stepping away from the team.

As for why he's stepping down from his influential role ... Magic says he wasn't having fun running the Lakers, and he was happier before he took the job.

William H. Macy's fully focused on getting a fresh start ... around his house, now that Felicity Huffman's agreed to strike a plea deal.

The actor was seen leaving an L.A. home improvement store Tuesday with a couple of brand new hoses in each hand. William looks to be in full-on dad mode to knock out some household chores -- something he probably didn't give a crap about while he and his wife weighed her legal options.

As we reported ... Felicity agreed to plead guilty for her role in the college admission scandal -- in which she was accused of paying $15k to have her daughter's SAT scores rigged. She pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

While her sentence will ultimately be up to a judge, prosecutors have recommended she get off relatively light ... with around 4 months in prison. Felicity, however, is reserving her right to argue for 0 days behind bars. The judge will get the final call.

Either way, Felicity has fully accepted responsibility for cheating the college system, and she apologized for it. She's still feeling the fallout though ... Netflix has shelved a rom-com she's in that was set to come out later this month.

Lori Loughlin, meanwhile, still hasn't come to the plea deal table and just got slapped with more charges because of it. A federal grand jury indicted her Tuesday for money laundering -- which could mean nearly 5 years in prison even if she cops a plea.

Now, this is a buzzkill ... Patagonia's pissed Anheuser-Busch jacked its name and slapped it on a beer ... according to a new lawsuit.

The famous winter clothing company claims the King of Beers somehow convinced the U.S. Trademark Office to give A-B the rights to use "PATAGONIA" on beer. As you can imagine, Patagonia insists the beer meisters should never have been granted that right, because its been using the name since the '60s.

Translation: We're working this corner. Beat it!

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Patagonia says Anheuser-Busch is confusing consumers into thinking the clothing company is in bed with the beer giant. For starters, the beer logo is eerily similar to the clothing line -- "PATAGONIA" lettering beneath a mountain silhouette.

According to the suit, A-B's causing even more confusion by recently launching Patagonia beer at ski resorts in Colorado ... served up by a sales team dressed in black jackets with "PATAGONIA" on the chest. They also handed out clothing -- beanies, scarves and t-shirts -- with the beer logo.

R. Kelly is still making easy money in his home state -- he raked in $22,000 to show his face at a nightclub and hang out for only an hour -- despite facing charges of sexual abuse.

As we reported ... Kelly came out of hiding Saturday for a paid club appearance at the Dirty South Lounge in Springfield, Illinois, where he interacted with the small crowd and belted out the opening line to his hit song "Bump N' Grind."

Sources with knowledge of Kelly's deal tell TMZ ... the embattled singer was paid $22k for his 1-hour appearance. We're told Kelly pocketed $20k, and paid his booking agent $2k.

Kelly didn't even have to sing ... we're told he picked up the mic just for fun.

The crowd inside the club was super small, only about 50 people showed up for Kelly. We're told he rolled up at 10:30 PM and didn't come out to greet fans until 2 AM.

Kelly went on Instagram before his paid gig, asking the media to take it easy on him when he's seen in the club drinking and partying. He made it clear he's just showing up to collect a check.

Carson Kressley thinks it's a BEAUTIFUL thing that Dwyane Wade's family took his 11-year-old son to the Miami gay pride parade this weekend ... because families should support each other.

As we previously reported, Gabrielle Union took 11-year-old Zion Wade to the massive festival on Sunday where they danced and celebrated at one of the largest LGBTQ events in the country.

Dwyane was on the road with the Miami Heat but posted messages of support and said, "We support each other with pride."

There has been some blowback from haters who think Wade's kid is too young to attend a pride parade -- but Kressley immediately shot that down and said those people don't understand what Pride is really about.

"I would say [to those people] come to a gay pride [event] and you'll see how beautiful and embracing and how diverse and how wonderful it is ... and kids should be there to see it!"

He added, "It's a beautiful thing. It's great when parents bring their kids."

The new Netflix series "Our Planet" is pissing off some viewers distraught about graphic images of walruses falling to their deaths -- but the studio is standing behind the filmmakers and the disturbing scene.

In case you haven't heard, Netflix dropped the multi-episode series Friday. It documents the effects of climate change on wildlife around the globe. One episode focuses on Russian walruses that are dying off due to receding ice levels.

In covering the epidemic, filmmakers recorded several walruses scaling rocky cliffs near the ocean, and some of them fell over the ledge ... leaving them seriously injured or even dead from the impact.

The scene left tons of viewers traumatized.

Some critics accuse the producers of emotional manipulation and twisting facts ... and that includes some zoologists and prominent environmentalists, who claim the walrus scene is out of context.

For instance, Dr. Susan Crockford went public this week saying the walruses filmed for this scene were falling off the cliff to escape polar bears ... not because climate change is reducing their natural icy habitat. Patrick Moore, the co-founder of Greenpeace, backed that up too.

Worth noting the clip doesn't show any polar bears, and you also don't see any of the walruses attempting to flee a predator.

Netflix is standing firm behind what they say is a documented fact -- that walruses are being forced to gather on land because there's less ice available ... which leaves them in unfamiliar, dangerous territory.

Additionally, Netflix tells us the "Our Planet" team worked with a seasoned Russian biologist who's worked on that stretch of coastline -- and with those walruses -- for 35 years.

TMZ Sports has obtained pictures of the injury a Houston Astros fan allegedly suffered when the team's mascot "shattered" her finger with a t-shirt cannon last summer ... and they're gnarly.

A woman claims she was at a 'Stros game last July 8 when Orbit -- Houston's furry mascot -- fired t-shirts at her and her family at a rapid pace from his "bazooka style T-shirt cannon."

The woman -- who filed a lawsuit against the team for the incident this week -- says one of the t-shirts caught her square in the hand ... and mangled her left index finger.

You can see in the photos, her digit was severely swollen and bruised ... and needed TWO screws to help stabilize it.

In her lawsuit, the woman says she had to have multiple surgeries to fix the issue ... and claims she still has little range of motion in the finger.

Now, she's suing the team for $1 million ... saying the team failed miserably to protect its fans.

10:35 AM PT -- Well, prosecutors did exactly what we reported early Tuesday morning. Since Lori did not cop a plea, the U.S. Attorney went to a Federal Grand Jury to get an indictment, adding charges of money laundering. This now DRASTICALLY increases the amount of time Lori and her husband would get as a minimum recommended sentence.

Specifically, the U.S. Attorney says, Lori, her husband and 14 others will now be charged with the additional crime of "conspiring to launder the bribes and other payment in furtherance of the fraud by funneling them through [Rick] Singer's purported charity and his for-profit corporation."

The money laundering charge alone carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.

This means if Lori and her husband now want to plea bargain their cases, instead of a minimum range of 2 to 2 and a half years in prison ... prosecutors would recommend to the judge a MINIMUM RANGE OF 4 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS UP TO 5 YEARS AND 11 MONTHS.

There's also a very technical rub. Theoretically by charging CONSPIRACY to money launder, the minimum sentence could go even higher -- way higher.

Short story ... prosecutors are out for blood.

Lori Loughlin and her husband are in a way worse position than Felicity Huffman ... because the huge amount they allegedly paid in bribes to get their daughters into USC could land them in prison for 2 YEARS MINIMUM ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the case tell us ... all of the parents in the college cheating scandal have been offered plea deals, but prosecutors will only accept pleas with prison time attached.

As we reported, Felicity copped a plea Monday, along with 12 other parents. The remaining 37 individuals charged -- including Lori and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli -- have been offered plea deals, with varying recommendations for prison sentences, largely determined by the amount they paid in bribes and whether they accept responsibility for what they did.

Felicity's plea would enable her to serve as little as 4 months in prison. The problem for Lori and Mossimo is that they paid $500,000 to allegedly bribe the crew coach, and the amount raises the MINIMUM PRISON SENTENCE IN A PLEA DEAL TO A RANGE OF 2 TO 2 1/2 YEARS.

Our sources say prosecutors have given all defendants an ultimatum ... reach a plea deal QUICKLY or else they will go to a Federal Grand Jury and add charges, including money laundering, which significantly raises the low end of prison time.