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Casey Affleck is backing out of presenting at the upcoming Academy Awards ... TMZ has learned.

The Academy tells us ... Affleck notified them he won't be presenting the Best Actress award at the Oscars on March 4, which is traditionally always presented by the Best Actor winner from the previous year.

According to our sources ... Casey has a lot of respect for the Oscars, and doesn't want the Best Actress category to be about him presenting. We're told he wants the attention to be focused on the nominees ... and doesn't want his presence to impact the winner's special moment.

As you'll recall ... Casey won at the 2017 Oscars for his role in "Manchester by the Sea," despite controversy surrounding past allegations of sexual harassment against him.

1:48 PM PT -- A rep for Weinstein tells us, "Mr. Weinstein categorically denies these claims and his lawyers will respond in the appropriate legal forum with evidence proving they are untrue. The evidence will show these claims for money are in the realm of a science fiction movie."

Harvey Weinstein is being sued by a woman who claims a variety of terrible things, including that Weinstein allegedly forced her to take dictation while he was naked.

Sandeep Rehal claims in a new lawsuit she started working for Weinstein as his personal assistant in 2013. She says among other things, he made her get him clean underwear, and when she would sit in his SUV with him he would rub between her thighs.

She says he would press himself against her while they walked and would use sexist and profane language, including calling her a c*** and a p***y.

She says on numerous occasions he said, "What's wrong Sandeep, is the tampon up too far today?"

Rehal says Weinstein would often brag about his power, saying, "I am Harvey Weinstein and you are at Weinstein University. I decide whether or not you graduate."

She also says she would facilitate his sexual liaisons, maintaining a list of available women and manage his stock of Caverject shots for erectile dysfunction.

And there's this ... Rehal says she had to clean up semen on Weinstein's office couch and pick up used condoms on a regular basis.

She's suing both Weinstein, The Weinstein Co. and Bob Weinstein for unspecified damages.

It's official ... Vince McMahon is bringing back the XFL -- and Tim Tebow already has an invite to play.

The WWE honcho made the announcement Thursday afternoon ... saying the new XFL will launch in 2020 and will focus on more exciting football with zero political distractions.

That means players will be required to stand for the National Anthem.

Vince says the league will launch with 8 teams -- 40-man rosters -- and nobody with a criminal background will be eligible to play. Vince says the quality of the individual matters as much as the quality of the play.

When asked specifically about 3 players -- Johnny Manziel, Tim Tebow, and Colin Kaepernick -- Vince danced around Johnny and Colin ... but extended a casual invitation to Tebow.

McMahon insists there will be no crossover between the WWE and the XFL -- which means completely different announcers.

Vince also says he will not be the face of the league and will hire an accomplished people to run the XFL.

As far as the length of the game, Vince says he's gunning for 2-hour games.

Vince says he's confident the league will succeed this time around, 'cause the team has a 2-year runway ... and will be listening closely to what the fans want.

He even asked fans to submit ideas to the league office.

"Little Women: LA" star Briana Renee will not join the cast for season 7 ... TMZ has learned.

Production sources tell us Renee -- who has been on the show from its start -- chose not to sign back on at the end of season 6. We're told Bri already knew she'd be filing for divorce from husband Matt Grundhoffer, and she didn't want it to play out on camera.

Our sources say Bri will take the time off to focus on herself, her kids and her music career.

We're told producers won't replace Bri, and have already started production with the other 6 principal cast members.

H-Town's Solomon "Shazam" Conner just got arrested, and it should teach him an important lesson -- if you're gonna knock boots, you better pay for the kids you might end up having.

Conner was busted Wednesday in Texas for failure to pay child support ... according to court docs. It's his second arrest for this. He and his twin brother founded the R&B group H-Town back in the '90s.

It's unclear how much Conner allegedly owes this time around -- but when he was arrested in 2015 for back child support, he'd racked up a $170k tab.

Floyd Mayweather Sr. adamantly denies attacking a woman after the Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez fight ... pleading not guilty to a battery charge in a Las Vegas court.

In case you missed it ... cops say Sr., 65, got into a heated confrontation outside T-Mobile Arena after the fight. They say Sr. grabbed the woman before punching her in the leg.

Sr. was charged with battery and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Floyd turned himself Tuesday ... and the warrant was canceled. On Thursday, Sr.'s attorney appeared before a Vegas judge ... and pled not guilty on Mayweather's behalf.

As we previously reported, FM Sr.'s rep told us he's totally innocent ... and never laid a hand on the alleged victim.

Christina Aguilera can't be bothered to use her 2 feet when she has 4 perfectly good wheels to get her around ... even if she's only going just 200 feet or so.

Christina made the rounds in WeHo Wednesday night, hitting up at least 3 places with her entourage. The last 2 were The Roger Room and The Nice Guy ... hot spots that are practically next door to each other.

Well, the 'Voice' coach took a pass on strutting the 272 feet between the establishments ... 'cause that's what normies do. Instead, Christina made the journey in Christina-Freaking-Aguilera style.

Diva's gotta diva. Also ... sweet beret!

STOP THE PRESSES ... a pregnant Kylie Jenner's been spotted out in the real world for the first time since September!!!

TMZ's obtained a shot of Kylie walking with her best friend, Jordyn Woods, and Kris Jenner following closely behind. The trio went to a construction site in Hidden Hills around noon Wednesday.

Check out the video ... it looks like she labors a bit as she gets into her SUV to leave.

As we reported ... Kylie showed her face this week for the first time in months in a Calvin Klein ad with her sisters, but kept her baby bump under wraps.

Sources close to her say she's due soon and, as we reported, baby daddy Travis Scott revealed to friends they're having a girl.

The cruise line on which "Storm Chasers" star Joel Taylor died of an apparent OD this week does not allow illegal drugs on the boat ... which raises the question -- how did they ignore a river of drugs on board?

Royal Caribbean International tells TMZ they have a "zero tolerance" policy when it comes to drugs. If the crew finds them, they confiscate them.

So the question ... multiple passengers tell us drug use was out in the open ... flagrant and notorious. The parties were drug-fueled and, as we reported, Taylor was so out of it he fell into unconsciousness on the dance floor and had to be carried to his room after allegedly consuming GHB.

As we reported ... we're told several passengers suspected of drug possession were stopped after drug-sniffing dogs zeroed in on them at the Ft. Lauderdale port where the ship departed.

TMZ broke the story ... the FBI is now investigating Taylor's death and has already spoken to folks at the cruise line to find out what went down on board.

Katy Perry can breathe a sigh of relief -- the 37-year-old man who said he'd "do whatever it takes" to be with the singer is getting booted from the country ... TMZ has learned.

We broke the story ... Pawel Jurski from Poland was arrested in Miami last month after trying to bum-rush the stage at Katy's concert. Cops determined he'd been to at least 6 of Katy's shows over 20 days, and tried to contact her at each show.

Jurski was found guilty of felony aggravated stalking, misdemeanor loitering and resisting arrest ... according to prosecutors in Miami-Dade County.

Disney star Adam Hicks has been arrested for armed robbery ... TMZ has learned.

Hicks, who has starred in "Zeke and Luther," "Pair of Kings" and "Lemonade Mouth" allegedly committed 4 or 5 armed robberies ... this according to law enforcement sources.

Our sources say 25-year-old Hicks and his girlfriend would go up to people walking in the San Fernando Valley area, stick a gun in their face and demand money, cellphones and other items.

We're told 2 of the victims are elderly women in their 70's.

SWAT went to a home Wednesday afternoon where Hicks was staying and arrested him for armed robbery.

We've learned Hicks has 2 prior arrests on his record, both last year in Los Angeles.

In July, he was busted for firing a gun, and in September for a battery. The D.A. rejected both cases for insufficient evidence.

There are 2 ways to see Gregg Sulkin's latest date -- totally awesome or risky business -- 'cause he's getting cozy with Sylvester Stallone's 19-year-old daughter.

Gregg and model Sistine Stallone had a lunch date Wednesday in Bev Hills. Gregg, of course, used to bang Bella Thorne ... before jumping to this girl and that girl. That's all fine and dandy, everyone's got a past, but dude ... this is Sly's little girl.

We know he has some experience with boxing gloves, but he ain't Rocky. We're sure it won't be an issue though.

Warren Miller -- the iconic director behind dozens of legendary skiing and surfing films -- died Wednesday night in Washington state.

Miller's family announced he died of natural causes on Orcas Island. For more than 60 years, Miller's legion of fans were treated to his films in cities across the U.S. and around the world to kick off ski season.

Miller took his cameras to exotic locations to film extreme skiing and snowboarding ... and set the standard for adrenaline-fueled sports footage.

Miller produced more than 500 films and wrote 11 books. His films featured an elite roster of skiing legends ... including Otto Lang, Billy Kidd, Jimmie Heuga, Hannes Schneider and Stein Eriksen.

Miller was born in Hollywood, played basketball at USC and served in the Navy during World War II ... before devoting his life to adventure sports. He was 93.

#RIP

The apparent drug overdose that led to the death of a "Storm Chaser" star on a cruise ship has triggered an FBI investigation ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

TMZ broke the story ... "Storm Chaser" star Joel Taylor had been doing GHB late Monday night going into Tuesday morning, dancing during a wild party, when he lapsed into unconsciousness. Taylor was carried into his cabin and left there. He was pronounced dead later that morning.

We're told there were huge quantities of party drugs on board the ship, including cocaine, Ecstasy and GHB. Our sources say several people were arrested before the ship left the Ft. Lauderdale port.

After Taylor died, the boat docked in Puerto Rico and passengers tell us there was a lot of commotion involving drugs on board the Royal Caribbean ship, Harmony of the Seas.

Passengers tell us, the night Taylor apparently OD'd, drugs were flowing freely among many of the partygoers.

We're told the FBI is investigating the circumstances of Taylor's death, how the drugs got on board and who supplied them.

Taryn Manning got a sweet deal on her SAG Awards outfit -- but she's pissed off, and wants a piece of the stylist who dared to deck her out in a ... wait for it ... $200 dress!

Taryn was still fuming about the gown Wednesday at LAX. Our photog tried to congratulate the 'OITNB' star on scoring the ensemble that most critics loved ... for the look and the price.

Well, talk about different perspectives. You gotta see what happened when we tried to give her props. Taryn's happy everyone else can go buy her dress -- Adrianna Papell at Macy's and Bloomingdales, btw -- but strongly believes she deserves better.

Hell hath no fury ...

Jen Selter brings out the thirst in all of us -- which is fitting ... 'cause it looks like she's a little thirsty herself.

The famous fitness model was seen poolside in Miami drinking from what appears to be some sort of fancy drink from a giant wine glass -- with lots of straws to suck from.