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Chester Bennington's family wants to keep his funeral a close family and friends affair.

Sources close to the late Linkin Park frontman tell TMZ ... the family wants to keep the memorial intimate -- and while they're aware fans want to pay their respects ... the plan, for now, is a private ceremony. We're told the family just hasn't figured out how to give fans their moment to honor Chester.

As for Chester's final resting place -- we're told the family's not jumping at the offer to take the plot next to Chris Cornell at Hollywood Forever Cemetery because it's in such a public space.

The couple that sings together, blings together ... if you're Offset and Cardi B.

TMZ has learned the Migos rapper dropped 6 bands on his girl's new chain, which is blanketed in diamonds ... right down to the digits.

We're told Cardi was a huge fan of Offset's recently purchased pieces, including his $100k raindrop pendant, so about a month ago they hit up his guys at Avianne & Co Jewelers in NYC.

Cardi wanted something original so she handled the design and had him replicate her ILY hand gesture. Dip the whole thing in 20 karats of diamonds, plus 15 more karats on the chain and BAM!

Nice icy teamwork.

This is the student becoming the master -- we got video of Drake in studio with up-and-coming singer Tone Stith ... who's trying to kill it on the road, just like Drizzy does.

Drake met up with the 22-year-old singer Monday during a rehearsal in Houston. You can see Champagne Papi dropping some wisdom. Tone recently dropped his debut album, "Can We Talk," and starts a 40-city tour this week with August Alsina.

The 2 men have a lot in common. Jas Prince, the music mogul who discovered Drake, already signed Tone ... and he's the one who set up Monday's meeting.

Tone also got a big social media bump when Drake posted video of Tone covering "Madiba Ridim."

Lil Wayne once took Drake under his wing. Wonder how Tone feels about a Drake tattoo?

William Shatner had a buck of a scare when his horse got spooked, and tossed him from the cart it was pulling.

Shatner was participating in a horse and buggy competition Wednesday at the Mercer County Fair & Horse Show in Harrodsburg, KY ... where he was entered on the amateur level.

As he turns a corner on the track, the horse suddenly reared up for seemingly no reason. The cart, called a sulky, Shatner was in flipped and he ate it. Sources at the event tell us Capt. Kirk and his steed were both uninjured. Bill didn't need medical attention, and even with the spill, took 1st place!

As a young star fleet Capt. once said ... hang on tight and survive, and then win.

8:10 PM PT -- MJ's estate says the judgment is "too much" and "unfair to Michael Jackson's heirs."

Attorneys Howard Weitzman and Zia Modabber tell TMZ, "While the jury denied Quincy Jones $21 million –- or more than two-thirds of what he demanded -- we still believe that giving him millions of dollars that he has no right to receive under his contracts is wrong."

"This would reinterpret the legal language in, and effectively rewrite, contracts that Mr. Jones lived under for more than three decades, admitted he never read, referred to as 'contract, montract,' and told the jurors he didn't 'give a damn' about."

"Any amount above and beyond what is called for in his contracts is too much and unfair to Michael’s heirs. Although Mr. Jones is portraying this as a victory for artists’ rights, the real artist is Michael Jackson and it is his money Mr. Jones is seeking."

Weitzman added, "Mr. Jones says it's not about the money, but it's ALL about the money."

Quincy Jones suddenly has 9.4 million reasons to go off the wall ... after scoring a victory over MJJ Productions and Sony.

The jury handed down its thriller of a decision Wednesday in Quincy's legal battle for unpaid royalties on Michael Jackson's three mega hit albums. Quincy argued accountants for the defendants screwed him out of dough he was owed for producing those records.

He was asking for around $30 million, so he didn't get exactly what he wanted -- but still not a bad payday.

After the verdict, Quincy said, "This lawsuit was never about Michael, it was about protecting the integrity of the work we all did in the recording studio. I view it not only as a victory for myself personally, but for artists' rights overall."

You can say this about Q -- he really didn't stop until he got enough.

Kim Goldman, sister of Ron Goldman -- who was killed by O.J. Simpson -- is so terrified of her ex-husband's threats and attacks on Ron's name ... she's demanding court protection.

Kim divorced Michael Hahn in 2007, but says he's emotionally abused her ever since. In court docs, obtained by TMZ, Goldman says Hahn has sent her a series of threatening emails over the years -- even invoking her late brother, Ron, and father Fred.

According to Kim, one particularly violent text said, "Your not a victim. Your a piece of shit that will burn in hell next to your scum bag brother who got what he deserved."

Rapper Z-RO was arrested after allegedly beating his ex-gf in an assault that lasted over 2 hours ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the ex, rapper Just Brittany, reported the incident Monday to Harris County cops, but said it actually happened back in April. It's unclear why she waited 3 months to report it, but we're told Brittany played cops recorded audio of the alleged incident.

Sources say cops wrote up a report and immediately sent it to the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which determined it was enough to arrest the Houston icon Wednesday and charge him with felony aggravated assault. He's being held without bond.

Just last year, the couple recorded the now interestingly titled track, "Mama Should've Told Me."

Marcia Clark says O.J. Simpson has served his time ... once, anyway, out of 3 huge court cases -- but she's not exactly welcoming him back to society.

We got the famed former L.A. Deputy District Attorney -- who prosecuted O.J. in the double murder trial -- and asked what she thought of him getting paroled for the 2008 armed robbery conviction.

Marcia bit her tongue, hard, at first -- but eventually opened up about whether she thinks Simpson is square with the law after 9 years in prison.

Let's just say she takes things on a case by case basis.

Reps in the gym can make you healthy, but so can good food and champagne, according to Diddy's ex, Kim Porter, who says he's the picture of health.

Diddy suffered some dad bod shaming when pics of him on a yacht surfaced last week, but his ex is flipping a switch saying the haters got the images all twisted -- they just don't recognize the good life when they see it.

Kim, who has 3 kids with Diddy, also says this particular dad's outgrown the need for a 6-pack to impress chicks. He's got $820 mil, after all.

Young Buck is trying to clear his name when it comes to the vandalism and domestic violence charges that led him to surrender to cops in Nashville.

The G-Unit rapper turned himself in last week after an arrest warrant was issued stemming from a 2016 altercation with his girlfriend where he allegedly kicked in the door at his home.

We spoke to Young Buck a week after he sprung himself on a $10k bond, and while he admits he might have gotten violent with the door, he says -- as a father of 4 girls -- he'd never put his hands on a woman. His real beef is with the District Attorney.

Justin Bieber's religious lifestyle is the complete opposite of his life on the road ... and that's why he chose it over the Purpose tour ... TMZ has learned.

Sources at Hillsong Church tell us Justin worships in total peace, and at least feels he's treated like a regular person ... not a superstar while he's there. We're told he enjoys not being the center of attention and the feeling of community. As one source put it ... "Everyone's there to help everyone."

We're told taking photos or video is frowned upon, and that's a big deal for Justin. Remember, Bieber's long complained that fans snapping pics makes him "feel like a zoo animal."

As we first reported ... other church sources say JB canceled Purpose after he "rededicated his life to Christ" -- that's the "unforeseen circumstance" in the official cancellation statement.

Publicly, Justin has said he just needs a break ... but we're told it's much deeper than that.

Former 'Biggest Loser' host Alison Sweeney just got permanent protection against a guy who she says has been harassing her nonstop ... for the next 3 years, at least.

A judge extended Alison's temporary restraining order against Jon Christopher LuVisi Wednesday after she came to court earlier this month claiming he'd been trolling her on social media endlessly for 9 months.

We broke the story ... LuVisi allegedly tried extorting Alison for thousands of dollars by saying he had photos of her genitals and would send them to her husband unless she paid up. She says he also started making threats after she blocked his multiple accounts.

Snoop Dogg is all about the Cali life ... and a judge agreed -- tossing out a lawsuit against him because the other side sued him in the wrong state.

You'll recall Snoop -- along with Wiz Khalifa and Live Nation -- was sued by 17 concertgoers claiming Snoop and Wiz incited a stampede after imploring fans to "bring your ass down here." The front row railing at the New Jersey concert collapsed as fans fell 10 feet onto a concrete floor.

At least 40 people were hurt ... including a fan who says he suffered a fractured spine. They sued.

Problem is ... Snoop's side argued he lives in Cali -- not Pennsylvania where the suit was filed -- so he has no business being caught up in this legal mess. The judge said fo shizzle -- clearing Snoop from the suit.

Wiz and Live Nation are still fighting the suit.

"American Idol" is getting closer to assembling a full squad -- the show's zeroing in on finalists to join Katy Perry on the judges' panel.

'Idol' sources tell TMZ ... Lionel Richie's still a favorite to fill one of the 2 remaining seats, and singer Charlie Puth has emerged as a front-runner for the other one. We're told show execs will meet with ABC this week to finalize their choices and make offers.

There could be a country curveball, though ... our sources say Luke Bryan is in the mix because he impressed producers in early discussions. Also, if things don't work out with 2 of those 3 ... we're told Keith Urban is an 'Idol' vet who could slide in as an alternate.

Katy and Ryan are anxiously waiting to see who joins 'em.