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Selena Gomez looks happier and healthier than ever on the set of Woody Allen's new movie ... but that's understandable after her kidney transplant news.

Selena was seen back on set Thursday for Allen's new untitled flick, in which she has a role, and she was cheesin' wide after news broke she had gotten a kidney transplant earlier this summer.

The grin is probably coincidental, but in light of the announcement -- it also speaks volumes to how badly she needed the procedure to keep doing what she does best ... entertaining the world.

Frank Vincent won't get to play his final movie role, but he'll still be all over the project ... through the names of the film's 2 lead characters.

Frank was one of those leads in a movie called "Asbury Park." Krannel Pictures CEO, Dawn Krantz tells TMZ ... he was going to play Jimmy Two Shoes. The movie hasn't been shot yet, but Dawn says Frank was just starting to prep for the role. The other lead was named Big Mike.

Dawn says they've decided to change Jimmy's name to Frank, and Big Mike's to Vincent .. to honor their late star. She says there's no getting around recasting Frank's role -- the NJ native was such a big part of the film ... which is about '70s rock n' roll in Jersey.

As we reported ... Vincent died Wednesday after complications following heart surgery. He was 80.

Selena Gomez was scared, as anyone would be, as she dealt with failing kidneys and Lupus, but her faith in God is what gave her the strength to handle it ... sources close to the singer tell TMZ.

Our sources say God has become the most important thing in Selena's life, and as scared as she was, she was resigned to the fact that her fate was in God's hands.

Selena, we're told, prayed a lot but also knew she had the power to heal herself by aggressively seeking a transplant. As we reported, Selena was on a kidney transplant list and ultimately received the life-saving organ from her best friend, Francia Raisa.

Chris Hardwick doesn't have a problem with J.J. Abrams being back at the helm for "Star Wars: Episode IX" ... 'cause he's proved he can do it, and deserves another shot.

We got Chris, certified comic and sci-fi nerd, Wednesday in Bev Hills, and asked what he thought of Disney tapping Abrams again to direct another 'Star Wars' flick ... instead of going with someone new. In other words: is the Mouse house playing it safe?

Selena Gomez's kidneys were failing long before she received her transplant ... TMZ has learned.

We've learned when Selena was in Chicago for The Weeknd's concert back in May she was rushed to the hospital because of kidney failure. Abel was right by her side.

At that point Selena was already on a kidney transplant list.

She took a break from touring last year to deal with her lupus diagnosis. It's a chronic disease that attacks the body's immune system and the kidneys. She was suffering serious effects from the disease.

Selena now has a new kidney after a transplant this summer, thanks to her donor/best friend Francia Raisa.

Selena Gomez underwent a kidney transplant this summer, and the donor was her best friend.

Selena posted this pic post-surgery of her and kidney donor Francia Raisa. She said, "I'm very aware some of my fans had noticed i was laying low for part of the summer and questioning why I wasn't promoting my new music, which I was extremely proud of."

Selena goes on ... "So I found out I need to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering. It was what I needed to do for my overall health."

And then she thanks her friend ... "There aren't words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa. She gave me the ultimate gift."

Madonna withered under oath recently as she was grilled over her allegation that a former close friend and art consultant stole her panties, a letter from Tupac and other stuff.

TMZ has obtained a transcript of Madonna's deposition in the case where she's suing Darlene Lutz, claiming Lutz is a panty thief. As we reported, the auction house Gotta Have Rock and Roll was poised to sell Madonna's stuff until the singer got an emergency order blocking the auction, claiming the goods were stolen.

In the deposition, lawyers for Lutz asked Madonna, "Do you have any good-faith basis to allege that my client, Darlene Lutz, took these underwear from you?" Madonna replies, "I do not."

The lawyer pounded away, making it clear all Madonna had was an unsupported hunch.

Madonna also admits that she gave the worn undies to former boyfriend Peter Shue. She then makes a tortured argument that she mailed them to Shue but doesn't know if he actually received them so technically she still owned them.

The lawyer asked, "You're not claiming in this lawsuit that those underwear are still your property, are you?" She says, "It depends." Lawyer: "What does it depend on?" Answer: "Whether he actually received them." Peter actually told TMZ he did indeed get the panties.

And there's this ... it seems Madonna may have a thing for sending people her panties. Lawyer: "In addition to Peter Shue, how many boyfriends have you sent panties to?" Her lawyer says, "You don't have to answer that," and Madonna jumps in, "I couldn't."

There was also a brush that the auction house wanted to sell and represented it contained Madonna's hair. The lawyer asked about the locks, "And that's grossly offensive to you?" Madonna responded, "Well, it is my hair. It's creepy."

Alki David, the Greek tycoon who famously created Tupac and Michael Jackson holograms, forced his employees to watch videos of him having sex with his wife ... this according to a new lawsuit.

A guy named Grant Zimmerman worked for Alki and says he booked Chief Keef to be the subject of a new hologram, and was promised a piece of the action, but got stiffed. He's suing for that money and, in the lawsuit ... Zimmerman claims Alki's workplace was rife with sexual harassment.

Zimmerman says Alki would show the staff pornography, including the famous "Two Girls, One Cup" -- as well as personal videos of Alki and his wife, a former model, having sex.

Zimmerman also says he saw Alki touch a female employee's breast, and also enter the women's restroom while employees were in there. He's suing Alki, and several of his companies, for unpaid wages, hostile work environment ... and wants more than a million bucks in damages.

You'd think there was a Jennifer Lopez convention going on -- Marc Anthony, Casper Smart and Alex Rodriguez were all chilling in Hollywood and WeHo Wednesday night.

J Lo's exes -- Marc and Casper -- were actually at the same restaurant, Viva Hollywood, checking out some "f**king dope" music ... as Marc put it. Meanwhile, A-Rod did dinner at Craig's just a few miles away.

Jennifer wasn't around -- probably less drama that way -- but she was the hot topic. We asked the exes if Jenny and Alex get married -- as rumored -- would they be down to attend the wedding? One is a definite yes ... but the other not so much.

A-Rod tried to dodge all topics ... as you'd expect from a groom-to-be. Kidding. Sorta. We think.

One of the biz moguls on "Shark Tank" thinks Apple's latest iPhone is priced ridiculously ... but it's still gonna sell like crazy and it will make him a bloody fortune.

We got Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary Wednesday at LAX and he says the reason the iPhone X is gonna be so damn expensive at $1,000-plus is 'cause Apple has become a luxury brand, and more than that ... it's turned into a lifestyle.

Migos is officially bringing Cardi B into the family ... No, Offset's not putting a ring on it, but a collaboration is definitely happening.

We got the group arriving at LAX Wednesday and we asked Quavo -- has Cardi B broken the mold for reality stars who wanna get in the rap game? Cardi, of course, has blown up since "Bodak Yellow" dropped back in June.

Check it out ... Quavo ain't got nothing to say about that, but that's OK because he gives us a much juicier nugget -- Offset's girl is gonna be featured in Migos' third album!!!

Cardi B featured Offset in "Lick" and she's even opened for Migos before.

But this just got real.

If Donald Trump doesn't wanna be called a "white supremacist," he shouldn't do so many white supremacy things ... so says Marlon Wayans.

The "Marlon" star made it clear he stands with Jemele Hill after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested ESPN should fire her for a series of anti-Trump tweets.

Hill has since issued a statement ... saying, "My comments on Twitter expressed my personal beliefs. My regret is that my comments and the public way I made them painted ESPN in an unfair light."

ESPN also weighed in ... "Jemele has a right to her personal opinions, but not to publicly share them on a platform that implies that she was in any way speaking on behalf of ESPN."

"She has acknowledged that her tweets crossed that line and has apologized for doing so. We accept her apology."

Jennifer Lawrence's self-appointed producer role on the 'Real Housewives' franchise is just that, according to the franchise's honcho Andy Cohen.

We got Andy at LAX Wednesday where he called J. Law more of a 'Housewives' enthusiast than anything else. She told Jimmy Fallon on 'The Tonight Show,'  she gives Andy "a lot of advice" on the series.

Andy says it's true, although it sounds like it's more than just friendly suggestions.

In fact, his description of Jennifer's influence makes us think Lisa, Kyle, Bethenny, Ramona, Sonja, Phaedra, Kenya, Vicki and the rest of 'em ... might want to start kissing her ass.

Anthony Weiner says he's turned a corner in his recovery, and he's asking a judge to show leniency when he's sentenced for sending obscene material to a minor.

Weiner fired off the letter to the judge in his case, saying, "I am 345 days off my destructive behaviors and have a daily practice to help me never return to them." Those behaviors include his multiple sexting scandals ... the last of which involved his lewd online communication with a 15-year-old. Weiner pleaded guilty, and will be sentenced Sept. 25.

The letter, obtained by TMZ, contains repeated references to his treatment and deep regret for continually humiliating his wife, Huma Abedin, and crushing her aspirations -- a clear reference to her role as Hillary Clinton's longtime aide.

Weiner also describes how he plans to explain his actions to their toddler son when he gets older. He writes, "I'll tell him I was a guy who did a very bad thing to a young person I never met. I'll tell him I put his amazing mother through years of trauma and broke her heart."

Huma filed for divorce the day Weiner entered his guilty plea. There's no talk of reconciling with her in the letter, but he sounds determined to mend fences with her.

The judge could give Weiner a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, although sentencing guidelines recommend 21 to 27 months.

Kathy Griffin's photo of a fake, bloody Trump head has would-be buyers chomping at the bit to have it hanging in their living rooms ... but the photog has his price, and it's mighty steep.

Sources close to Tyler Shields -- who took the shot of Kathy holding the fake, bloody head resembling President Trump -- tell us he's already gotten over 1,000 offers from folks interested in buying a print of his controversial art piece ... many reaching 6 figures.

We're told an art collector offered Shields $150k for an original print, but we're told he passed ... 'cause he wants more to put it in ink. He has a print size in mind for anyone interested -- 72" x 52" ... a one size fits all type deal.

O.J. Simpson's actually got some misgivings about his impending release ... he feels a bond with his comrades in lockup and is finding it hard to say goodbye.

O.J.'s lawyer, Malcolm LaVergne, tells TMZ ... Juice has been bored and sad in his current situation -- in an isolated cell for his own safety since he was granted parole in July. He says the decision was bittersweet for Simpson, because he's developed close friendships during his 9 years behind bars.

LaVergne says O.J. actually "loved being in general population" because he's super social and feels most comfortable around other people, and he even misses his prison jobs ... like being commissioner of the softball league.

Still ... LaVergne says O.J.'s ready for a return to normal life, and there's a chance he'll get to say goodbye to his prison buddies.

LaVergne tells us O.J. is working on paperwork to get himself moved to Florida to be with his family once he's released ... which he expects to be the second week of October.