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A 12-year-old might very well be on his way to becoming this country's next major inventor -- 'cause he cooked up a little homemade machine to help people social distance.

The kid's name is Keashon, and his dad posted a video of him showing off his new invention ... he calls it S.A.M. (Social Awareness Machine) and it's pretty simple as far as what it does. According to Keashon, the machine beeps when there's something closer than 6 feet to you.

We don't know exactly how it works -- looks like a simple built-in sensor system -- but the point is, this young'n built it himself from scratch ... at least that's the way it seems from what his dad described on social media.

And hey, if it works as well as it seems to in the video ... it could potentially save lives. That, or annoy the hell out of people. Either way, it appears effective in keeping folks at bay.

Kelsey Grammer's daughter, Spencer, got cut up by a man who started swinging a knife in NYC -- all because the restaurant she was at was about to close and wouldn't let him in.

Law enforcement sources confirmed the scary incident went down late Friday night at a place called The Black Ant in the East Village -- which was about to close up shop right before midnight as some guy -- whom witnesses described to cops as seemingly drunk -- walked up and demanded entry ... only to be turned away by the staff.

We're told that sent the guy into a rage, because he whipped out a blade and started hacking away in a full-on brawl with guests and employees. During the mayhem, we're told Spencer and a friend of hers were 2 of the victims who got slashed as the man raged.

Our sources say Spencer and her friend were actually among some of the people trying to pry the maniac off people, and as a result they suffered gashes ... Spencer to her arm and the friend to her back. They were taken to a hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

We're told the man fled by foot and cops are investigating. BTW, in case you're unfamiliar with Spencer -- you probably know her voice ... she plays Summer Smith on 'Rick & Morty.'

Just another crazy day in the time of 'rona -- and it goes to show ... even celebs and their kin can fall victim to the madness. The New York Post broke the story. Get well, Spence.

The final goodbye to John Lewis, the civil rights icon who helped change America, just took an emotional turn as his casket was taken over the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

After a short memorial outside the Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, the processional traversed downtown Selma and then reached the famed bridge, where 25-year-old Lewis and others were championing voting rights back in 1965. They were brutalized by cops and Lewis sustained serious injuries, including a fractured skull.

Lewis frequently returned to the bridge, marking each anniversary of the confrontation.

Lewis said later in his life, "I gave a little blood on that bridge. I thought I was going to die.  I thought I saw death."

The bridge has become a symbol of the civil rights movement. President Obama marched on the bridge at the 50th anniversary of the brutality.

The crossing is part of a memorial spanning 5 cities that mark the life of the man his colleagues called the conscience of the Congress. The tributes began in Troy, Alabama Saturday, where Lewis was born.

We are on the brink folks ... the latest is a couple that thought it was a good idea to make their point by going to a Minnesota Walmart wearing masks with Nazi swastikas emblazoned on them ... and thankfully, other shoppers called them out in a big way.

The 59-year-old man and 64-year-old woman say they're not Nazis, but rather they are warning people what will become of America if Joe Biden is elected. So, in other words, telling people to wear a mask in their book is equivalent to genocide ... INSANE.

Well, they got schooled plenty, as shoppers tore into them, calling them un-American.

Cops were called and showed up Saturday, and the officers slapped the couple with a trespass notice, prohibiting them from shopping at Walmart for a year.

In the video, the swastika-wearing duo is confronted by bystanders offended by their use of imagery associated with Nazi iconography employed during WWII.

Marshall PD says they responded to the incident around noon on Saturday, on reports that the couple's masks were causing a disturbance.

As for Walmart, they said ... “What happened today at our store in Marshall, MN is unacceptable. We strive to provide a safe and comfortable shopping environment for all our customers and will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment in any aspect of our business."

The statement went on ... "We are asking everyone to wear face coverings when they enter our stores for their safety and the safety of others and it’s unfortunate that some individuals have taken this pandemic as an opportunity to create a distressing situation for customers and associates in our store.”

Kanye West's last-ditch effort to make the presidential ballot in his home state worked ... but it cost him a nice chunk of change.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Kanye's campaign team hired a third-party vendor called Let The Voters Decide to collect the 2,500 signatures to make the ballot in Illinois.

Thing is ... Kanye did it with only a little more than a day to spare ... before the 5 PM Monday deadline.

We're told the group got to work right away, deploying 45 people who hit the streets in various parts of the state and racked up enough signatures ... all in 24 hours.

Our sources say they were paid handsomely for their efforts ... Kanye dished out $10-12 per signature, and they produced 3,178 signatures. Do the math -- well over $30k.

One of the signature collectors, Kenny Mister, tells us he got hit up Sunday to petition for Kanye. He says he was in Detroit, but dropped everything to get to Springfield, IL by Monday, worked for 3 hours ... and got 56 signatures at 10 bucks a pop.

Kenny says he went door to door, asking folks if they'd support Kanye getting on the ballot, but adding it didn't mean they had to vote for him.

BTW, if you're wondering if $10 per signature is a lot ... it is. Rickey Hendon -- a former Illinois State Senator who now works as a campaign consultant -- tells us the standard rate is closer to $1-3 per signature.

Rickey also says Kanye's team reached out to him a couple days before Let the Voters Decide ... but he declined.

It all might be a moot point ... Kanye missed the deadline to file in other states, and he seems like he's focused on other matters at the moment anyway ... many other matters.

Mick Jagger, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, turns 77 Sunday, and the occasion wasn't lost on his bandmates.

Keith Richards marked the occasion by posting a pic of them, saying, "Mick, Wishing you a Happy Birthday! Love, Keith."

Ronnie Wood piled on ... "Wishing @mickjagger a very happy birthday!"

It's remarkable ... Mick and co. have been together for 6 decades, and they're still a group. There have been a million ups and downs ... feuds between Mick and Keith, tell-all books ... but in the end, they are brothers joined at the hip, and there's a lot of love between them.

The band 86'd its No Filter Tour back in March ... this because of the coronavirus. They did, however, perform a virtual concert for "One World: Together at Home Concert," and it was fabulous.

Mick's had some health issues recently ... last year he underwent heart valve replacement surgery, but it only sidelined him for a short period of time ... he was back on stage doing his thing.

Happy Birthday, Mick!!!

Mary Kay Letourneau's full legal name is recorded as Mary Katherine Fualaau on her death certificate -- it's just one of the signs she and estranged husband, Vili Fualaau never completed their divorce.

According to the doc ... Letourneau's marital status was "married,' and it also shows Vili as her surviving spouse. This is interesting ... considering they legally separated back in 2017, though it's now clear they never followed through.

As we reported ... despite the separation, Vili had previously revealed Mary Kay's stage 4 cancer diagnosis when he posted a photo of himself wearing a medical mask with the caption, "Praying for a miracle." Mary Kay had been in hospice care for the last month ... and Vili was by her side much of that time.

She died July 6 at 12:01 PM at the Des Moines, Washington home where she lived for 3 years. The doc lists her cause of death as widely metastatic colorectal cancer which she was diagnosed with several years ago.

Mary Kay was cremated on July 13 in Seattle.

As you know, the former teacher was imprisoned in 1997 after pleading guilty to raping her then 6th-grade student, Vili. They eventually married in 2005, and had 2 kids together.

Mike Ditka says anthem kneeling protests are unpatriotic ... and the NFL legend tells TMZ Sports if he had it his way, he wouldn't allow the demonstrations in his new women's football league.

The Hall of Famer is slated to be the chairman of the X League -- a women's tackle football org. that was previously known as the Legends Football League -- and when we asked him if he'd be OK with protests during the national anthem, he straight-up said no.

"If you can't respect our national anthem, get the hell out of the country," Ditka said. "That's the way I feel. Of course, I'm old fashioned, so I'm only going to say what I feel."

Colin Kaepernick and others have said the kneeling protests have nothing to do with military or the flag ... they've continuously claimed the demonstrations are all about raising awareness for social justice and police brutality in America.

Some high-profile people like Drew Brees have changed their stance on the anthem in light of recent events -- including the death of George Floyd.

But, Ditka says he's sticking to his guns -- claiming he views kneeling as a slap in the face to the red, white and blue.

"You don't protest against the flag and you don't protest against this country who's given you the opportunities to make a living playing a sport that you never thought would happen," Ditka says. "So, I don't want to hear all the crap."

Ditka says he does NOT have the final say when it comes to the league's national anthem policy -- these are just his personal feelings.

As for the league itself, Ditka believes it has HUGE potential -- featuring a bunch of truly talented female athletes "knocking the crap out of each other."

Ditka's new league, which will feature 8 teams in major markets like L.A., Chicago and Seattle, is slated to kick off in April 2021.

"These women are pretty and good looking and want to knock the crap out of each other -- we'll see how it works!"

Disney princesses are returning to work in the middle of the pandemic ... but they're not going back to Disneyland ... they're hitting the road to do social distancing gigs for kids.

Here's how the folks who dress up as children's favorite Disney characters are earning a living these days ... performing from 6-feet away, and traveling with a social distancing enforcer!!!

Check out this video of a mermaid-themed birthday party in Tustin, CA for 6-year-old Summer ... the family hired Ariel, and she's singing from behind a velvet rope and hitting the notes from under a mask.

The 'Little Mermaid' was booked through a party company that we're told is charging an additional $50 for a "distance friendly" staff member to tag along. Ariel, by the way, charges $135.

Ariel's coronavirus bodyguard makes sure everyone at the party socially distances from the mermaid, enforcing distancing during everything from song and dance to photo ops.

As we reported ... Disney princesses and characters were hit hard at the start of the outbreak, but now it looks like they've figured it out and adjusted to the new normal. Oh, and the "distance friendly" staffer is a textbook definition of job creation!!!

This tale has a happy ending ... we're told the kids loved Ariel even though it wasn't a typical party folks are used to.

Take that, Rush Limbaugh, young folks really can adapt to the coronavirus!!!

The war between Mike Tyson and Don King is officially over -- so says Don King who tells TMZ Sports the two have finally made peace after decades of animosity.

The beef between the two men is legendary -- Tyson had accused his former promoter of bilking him out of millions of dollars during his boxing heyday.

In fact, Tyson famously sued King for $100 MILLION in 1998 -- but ultimately agreed to settle for $14 mil.

Tyson has bashed Don publicly over the years -- even calling him a "wretched, slimy, reptilian motherf**ker."

And, who could forget when Tyson threw water on Don King for touching him without permission during a 2018 boxing event.

But, GOOD NEWS ... Don says despite all of the drama, they're back on speaking terms!

"I love Mike Tyson," King tells us ... "I have never had anything negative to say about Mike Tyson."

"I just talked to him on his birthday on June 30th -- him and his beautiful wife and I wished them a happy birthday. "

King says the two men had a "substantive call" -- and he's excited about the way it went down.

"I'm just very very happy to be able to still see Mike around."

As for Mike's upcoming fight against Roy Jones Jr., Don danced around the question when we asked him to pick a winner -- but it's clear he still thinks Tyson is as dangerous as ever.

By the way, King is still VERY involved in pro boxing -- he's promoting a huge fight between undefeated heavyweights Trevor Bryan and Christopher Lovejoy on Sept. 26 for the WBA interim heavyweight title on the Impact Network.

88-years-old and still going strong -- only in America!

This week's Summer Hot Shots is coming from the land of Oz where IG goddess Stefania Ferrario teamed up with her bunny Bambi, a pair of pretty pink sunnies and a barely-there fluoro yellow bikini to take some awwwwwe inspiring sexy photos while in her garden in Australia.

When this Melbourne-based model isn't baking eyeballs with her hot shots on her Instagram she can be found whipping up spaghetti, rocking riffs on the guitar and taking a plunge in her personal pool ... if you don't believe us check out the gallery for some breath-taking underwater images.

That's one lucky rabbit!

This year’s Summer Hot Shots are coming to you a little differently … we have teamed up with smoke shows from around the world to create some eye-popping photo galleries with a DIY flare (social distancing, duh!) for you to enjoy.

A source connected to Kanye and with direct knowledge tells TMZ, he went to the hospital for anxiety, but there were lots of people inside, he got uncomfortable and left. His people then arranged for an ambulance to come to the ranch. Ye apparently calmed down ... EMTs checked his vitals -- heart rate and blood pressure -- and determined he was not in danger.

Kanye West showed up at a hospital near his Wyoming ranch Saturday, and a short time later an ambulance arrived at his property ... TMZ has learned.

Kanye entered the E.R. door of the hospital in Cody Saturday afternoon, and stayed inside for about 10 minutes. We're told he returned to his ranch and a short time later an ambulance arrived on the property.

This comes just an hour or so after Kanye went public to apologize to Kim for his hurtful comment -- presumably about abortion. She has been desperately trying to convince her husband, who is in the middle of a serious bipolar episode, to get help, but he had shut down her efforts.

We've also learned Kanye had flown from Wyoming to San Francisco. It's unclear why he went, but he returned to Wyoming earlier on Saturday.

It's unclear why Kanye went to the E.R. and why an ambulance showed up. The big question ... did he go for help?

And, we just found out the ambulance left without Kanye. He's currently on the ranch riding his ATV.

Story developing ...

One of the final goodbyes to Rep. John Lewis -- one of the great civil rights icons in American history -- just wrapped up in Selma, Alabama ... and it was incredibly powerful to watch.

The Celebration of Life ceremony Saturday evening -- which went down the historic Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church -- was the second of several that are taking place this weekend and next week. The 'Selma Salutes Congressman John Lewis' memorial helped kick off a 6-day, 5 city tribute, began in Troy, Alabama, the city where Lewis was born in 1940 to parents who worked on a cotton farm.

The service featured several different speakers -- including local and state elected officials, as well as fellow marchers who stood with John Lewis and others during the Bloody Sunday march  1965, and they all had remarkable things to say about the late Civil Rights leader.

Lewis was right there with Martin Luther King, Jr., marching, protesting and getting brutalized by cops ... sometimes so horribly he could have died. But, a cracked skull would not stop Lewis, who sometimes smiled when his mug shot was taken after being arrested ... saying he smiled because he knew he was on the right side of history.

Speaking of MLK Jr., his son -- Martin Luther King III -- gave one of the more powerful eulogies of the night ... as he reminisced on what John stood for, and how he truly lived his own father's legacy through action and civil service. MLK III also stressed the need to vote and to end voter suppression -- something Rep. Lewis long fought for in his career.

After the ceremony, his body was set to lie in repose for some hours for the public.

Other ceremonies happening this weekend and early next week include some in Montgomery, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.

Lewis died earlier this month from pancreatic cancer. He fought the disease for 7 months but never slowed down. The man served Georgia's 5th Congressional District for 17 terms. He was often referred to as the "conscience of the Congress."

Once again ... rest in peace to an American hero.

Regis Philbin has died ... TMZ has learned.

The iconic TV host, actor, singer and all-around media personality who was once dubbed "the hardest working man in showbiz" passed away this weekend -- this according to a statement from his family.

They told People, "His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him – for his warmth, his legendary sense of humor, and his singular ability to make every day into something worth talking about. We thank his fans and admirers for their incredible support over his 60-year career."

A source tells TMZ Regis died early Saturday after suffering a heart attack at his home, possibly the one in Connecticut -- although, we have not confirmed that with the family at this point.

We know he'd been battling heart disease for a while now -- even having an angioplasty done in the '90s, not to mention a triple bypass surgery in 2007. Up until last year, Regis had said he was feeling relatively healthy in retirement.

In light of his death, we must say ... Regis was a star among stars, and had a storied career.

Regis got his start in Hollywood back in the '50s while working on "The Tonight Show," under which he served as a page. He went on to work in local news for a bit and even had his own show before getting more network exposure in the '60s on "The Joey Bishop Show."

From there, the ball kept rolling -- he went on to replace talk show host Steve Allen on his own show, but fell short up against Johnny Carson's strong ratings. Regis then bounced around in media, but stayed on with hosting gigs ... everything from radio shows, variety shows, game shows, lifestyle shows, talk shows and more. The guy was getting airtime.

In the late '80s, he perhaps got his biggest break by landing a co-hosting gig with Kathie Lee Gifford, which most know as "Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee" -- a nationally-syndicated morning talk show that has continued to this day, with other hosts filling in over the years ... perhaps most notably, Kelly Ripa, who replaced Kathie Lee when she left her hosting gig.

Regis co-hosted the show until 2011, when Michael Strahan replaced him. But, even during all those years in between, the man stayed busy -- as game show fans might already know.

Of course, Regis is also super well known for being the original host for the uber game show, 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' -- which he hosted from 1999 through 2002 ... as well as a couple different special event series spinoffs in '04 and 09. He hosted other game shows as well throughout the 2000s, not to mention the first season of "America's Got Talent."

Regis has worked on countless TV series and shows over the years as a special guest, guest host, co-host or just cameos in general, including recurring appearances on "Today," 'Rachael Ray,' "The Talk," "The Meredith Vieira Show," 'The Tonight Show,' "Entertainment Tonight," "The View," "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," "Late Show with David Letterman," "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," "Good Morning America," "Wheel of Fortune," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "Jeopardy!," "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," and on and on.

Regis is survived by his wife, Joy, his three children as well as his grandchildren. His son, Danny, died in 2014.

He was 88. RIP

President Trump's latest guest on the golf course is someone many people probably didn't expect to see ... one Brett Favre, who recently voiced admiration for Colin Kaepernick.

The former QB and 45 hit the links Saturday, and even posed for a photo together that the White House later threw up online. They're both in golfing attire, and seem pretty chummy standing next to one another, with DT flashing the thumbs up and Brett with his arm on the Prez's back.

Up until now, we hadn't heard much from BF on his political leanings, especially as it pertains to Trump. Not that golfing with the guy indicates anything either, other than the fact that they're friendly. Still, though it's interesting -- especially when you bring Kap into the equation.

Remember, Brett told TMZ Sports that he considered Kaepernick in the same vein as Pat Tillman -- the former NFL player who enlisted in the armed services back in the 2000s, and then later died while at war ... a hero, in other words. Brett seemed to compare Kap to Pat.

He later clarified his comments, saying they weren't completely alike -- obviously, Pat made the ultimate sacrifice with his life -- but he noted they both sidelined their football careers for a cause bigger than themselves. Still, the sentiment was more or less the same.

With that in mind, you gotta wonder if CK was brought up during this outing. Of course, Trump has vocally criticized Kaepernick in the past, as well as any other players who take a knee during the National Anthem -- but he hasn't been so down on the guy these days.

A sign of hope ... Kanye West has just apologized to Kim Kardashian for a flurry of public jabs ... asking for her forgiveness.

Ye took to Twitter Saturday with the apology, writing ... "I would like to apologize to my wife Kim for going public with something that was a private matter."

He continued, "I did not cover her like she has covered me. To Kim I want to say I know I hurt you. Please forgive me. Thank you for always being there for me."

TMZ broke the story ... Ye had been giving Kim the cold shoulder as she tried to reach out to him to get him the help he needed -- this after he lapsed again into a serious bipolar episode, hurling a barrage of disparaging tweets that took aim at her, her mom, Kris Jenner, and others in the family. He even said he'd been trying to divorce her for a while now.

What's confusing ... specifically which comment he's apologizing for, since the mea culpa is in the singular -- "something that was a private matter."

Ye said a lot, but it would seem the most hurtful comment was last Sunday in South Carolina, when he said he wanted Kim to get an abortion but she would not and had the baby anyway. There were other things too -- allegations of cheating, etc., but it sure seems the abortion talk was the most hurtful, and one thing we know ... Kim's protective of her kids.