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Shonda Rhimes hasn't had a misstep in her career, which is more than can be said about a world-renowned physician who tripped and fell in front of her house, and now the good doc is suing her.

Dr. Kuo Chao claims in a new lawsuit, he was jogging past Shonda's Hancock Park mansion in L.A. back in June 2017, when he tripped over a buckling sidewalk in front of the 8,400 square foot home.

He says he broke his wrist, damaged cartilage and lost range of motion and function in his wrist and arm, which has caused limited mobility and loss of strength and stamina. He also says he has lost "fine motor skills." He says he was unable to work for a long time and it still affects his ability to work.

Dr. Chao says he is a prestigious interventional neuroradiologist -- he treats stroke and aneurysm patients. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Yale.

As for why Dr. Chao says Shonda's responsible, he says she had an obligation to fix the sidewalk, which buckled due to pipes, tree roots and botched repairs. He's also suing the City of L.A.

Dr. Chao is asking for unspecified damages.

Ben Affleck's latest sighting shows all the signs of a bachelor lifestyle, which has us wondering ... has he broken up with GF Lindsay Shookus?

Ben was spotted Thursday night leaving Nobu Malibu rocking a very casual single-guy look -- loose jeans, jacket, t-shirt with a cig in hand -- after having dinner with a very hot blonde who's not Lindsay.

The chick is Playboy's Miss May 2018, Shauna Sexton.

It's interesting -- Affleck celebrated his bday Wednesday with his kids, and had a dinner date with Shauna last night ... but no sign of any celebrating with Shookus.

Ben and Lindsay haven't been photographed together in nearly a month. And, what's also interesting ... there was a moving van in front of Ben's home on August 9. We don't know if someone was moving in or moving out of his $19 million Pacific Palisades mansion.

We reached out to the "Justice League" star to see if perhaps Batman went through a pre-birthday breakup ... so far, no word back.

How's this for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T? One of Aretha Franklin's favorite joints paid tribute to the late singer with a gigantic banner making it crystal clear ... she'll never be forgotten.

Hollywood's famous Pink's Hot Dogs has good reason to bow to The Queen ... Aretha loved her some Pink's, in particular the spicy Polish dog -- loaded!

Simple, yet mouthwatering -- mustard, chili and onions. Aretha loved Pink's so much, she had it brought to one of her shows in downtown L.A. and chowed down during intermission. When she came back onstage she wore a ballgown and a Pink's hat for the rest of the show!

And Pink's traveled for Aretha ... for one of her birthday celebrations in Detroit, she flew out a Pink's staffer to serve up the famous dogs.

BTW ... Aretha was not alone. Sometimes the line for Pink's stretches for more than a block. She was a taste-maker with good taste.

Aretha Franklin died as the result of pancreatic cancer ... according to her death certificate.

The doc says the Queen of Soul died at 9:50 AM on August 16, 2018.

The death certificate also says Aretha will be entombed at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit, the same place Rosa Parks is buried.

The document lists her occupation as Singer/Song Writer.

As we reported ... Aretha passed away in her Detroit home Thursday surrounded by friends and family. She'd been in failing health for many months and was under hospice care.

Her family is planning a 4-day celebration of her life with an open casket public memorial at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, followed by her funeral at Greater Grace Temple just for close friends and family.

The President of ESPN says the network will NOT air the national anthem -- and the drama that goes along with it -- during the 2018 season of "Monday Night Football."

"We generally have not broadcasted the anthem and I don't think that will change this year," ESPN prez Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement reported by Axios' Sara Fischer.

"Our plan going into this year is to not broadcast the anthem. Again that could change. It's unpredictable what could happen in the world but as of now, we're not."

Obviously, the anthem has become a hot button issue -- with player demonstrations becoming such a big issue, everyone from team owners to the President of the United States have weighed in.

1:37 PM PT -- A rep for Miss America tells us, "The Miss America Organization supports Cara. It is disappointing that she chose to air her grievances publicly not privately. Her letter contains mischaracterizations and many unfounded accusations. We are reaching out to her privately to address her concerns."

The reigning Miss America is railing on the org, saying they have silenced and ignored her and instead focused all of their attention on former Miss America and Chairperson of the Board of Directors Gretchen Carlson.

Cara Mund is outraged that the Miss America CEO as well as the chair of the org "have silenced me, reduced me, marginalized me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America."

Mund claims she's been told she's "not important enough to do big interviews, and that the major press is 'obviously' reserved for Gretchen." She's certainly strongly insinuating ... either Gretchen or her allies at Miss America are pushing her and the #MeToo movement and that's all they care about.

Mund says she's been disrespected, belittled and literally erased from Miss America ... her photo was even removed from a fundraising website page and replaced with a past winner.

She believes the org is pushing the #MeToo movement and the message it all started with Gretchen revealing abuse at the hand of FNC head Roger Ailes. FNC was ordered to paid Gretchen $20 million.

Mund says she's been banned from posting comments on social media. She says she's been told she's "bad at social media" and that's why sponsors have dropped out of the Miss America org.

She even says she's been sabotaged ... told to show up at the wrong locations so the org could paint her as flaky.

Max Lomas -- the close friend of Bobbi Kristina who found her lifeless in a bathtub -- has died and suffered the same fate as her -- a drug overdose ... TMZ has learned.

A law enforcement source in Mississippi tells TMZ Max was at a friend's home Wednesday and went to use the restroom. We're told his friend became concerned after Lomas didn't come out for a while, and went to check on him.

Our source says Lomas was found unresponsive on the floor in the bathroom with a syringe near his body. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died.

As we reported, Lomas played an big part in the mystery surrounding Bobbi Kristina's death. Lomas was the person who found Whitney Houston's daughter on the brink of death in her bathtub, and spent a significant amount of time with Bobbi and her boyfriend, Nick Gordon, in the days leading up to her death.

Lomas was thought to be a drug dealer who got drugs for Bobbi Kristina and Gordon, something he denied. He was at Bobbi Kristina's home in the hours leading up to her death.

No charges have been filed in connection with Bobbi Kristina's 2015 death. The family won a civil suit against Nick Gordon for $36 million.

Stevie Wonder choked back tears during an interview in which he revealed his last words to Aretha Franklin before she died.

Stevie joined "CBS This Morning" Friday and almost immediately got emotional when asked about his last real conversation with the Queen of Soul, which was about 2 months ago. Stevie -- who said Aretha couldn't talk when he visited her Tuesday -- said he told her to "say hello to my sister."

Stevie's sister died earlier this year. Reports say her decomposed body was found in her home.

Stevie revealed there were plans to do some music together ... including a duet with Aretha for a song he'd written. Aretha and Stevie were incredibly close. She covered Stevie's 'Until You Come Back to Me' and they performed it together at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards in 2005.

Stormy Daniels is persona non grata in the UK ... 'cause she's getting torn to pieces after bailing on "Celebrity Big Brother" after allegedly demanding and not getting more dough, but her lawyer's calling BS.

Stormy was supposed to make her reality TV debut with Thursday night's launch, but she was a no-show. There's a report out in the UK saying Stormy wanted an additional $125k on top of the $950k she was reportedly scoring from the show. 'CBB' producers supposedly balked and Stormy walked.

President Trump's alleged mistress was supposed to appear on the UK's biggest midday talk show Friday but also never made it outta the green room. One of the show's panelists said Stormy told her there was a development in her custody battle with her estranged hubby, Glendon Crain.

Stormy's attorney, Michael Avenatti, tells TMZ ... the money dispute's a joke and insists the reason his client bailed is because producers wanted Stormy to stick to a script, but she was not gonna play that game. As for the custody development ... Avenatti says it did play a factor in Stormy pulling out.

Bethenny Frankel's late boyfriend, Dennis Shields, was able to utter a few words to EMTs and police before he died -- and they paint a clearer picture of how he passed.

Sources say Dennis told the responding EMTs and cops he'd taken some of his prescribed oxycodone as well as Vicodin and a sleeping pill ... all to ease the pain from a back injury.

Doctors warn that opioids should never be taken with sleeping pills or other sedatives. Opioids slow respiratory function and sleeping pills do the same. The two combined can have a dangerous, synergistic effect that could result in death.

As we reported, Dennis' assistant had administered 2 doses of Narcan before authorities arrived. They administered an additional dose of Narcan, but Dennis could not be saved.

Our law enforcement sources say police also found numerous prescription bottles scattered throughout his apartment ... although no illicit drugs nor drug paraphernalia were uncovered.

Bethenny attended Dennis' funeral service earlier this week and dissolved in tears. She paid tribute to both Dennis and her deceased dog, Cookie, on IG.

8/17 -- The celebration will be a 4-day event. Her body will lie in state for 2 days at the Charles H. Wright museum, and her funeral will be held at Greater Grace Temple on August 31 -- just for close friends and family.

8:39 PM PT -- Family sources tell us the viewing will be an open casket. And, there will be singing ... lots of singing.

Aretha Franklin's family knows a massive turnout's expected to honor the legendary singer -- and a church just won't cut it -- so they'll hold her public viewing at a much larger venue ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the family tell us ... the memorial for the Queen of Soul will be held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. We're told the location was chosen to accommodate the thousands expected to show up. Aretha was also a frequent visitor.

As of now, no date's been set ... and it's unclear if it will be open casket.

Our sources say Aretha's family determined a traditional church service for her viewing just wasn't an option because of the projected turnout.

The museum was also the site of Rosa Parks' viewing in 2005.

As we reported ... Franklin died Thursday at her home in Detroit surrounded by friends and family after a long battle with cancer.

5:48 AM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell us as they were leaving, a member of Thug's crew ran into a police cruiser, prompting the vehicle search which uncovered the weapons.

Young Thug was busted by cops after they allegedly found the rapper and members of his crew in possession of multiple weapons.

Thug held a party at Dave & Buster's Hollywood Thursday for the release of his new album, "Slime Language," that also was serving as his 27th birthday party. In a video shot outside the venue, officers can be seen escorting the rapper in handcuffs to a waiting police cruiser.

YT was booked just after 3 AM for carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle ... a felony.

He's currently being held on a $35,000 bond.

Wesley Snipes took a crack at his favorite Aretha Franklin tune and it was ... super entertaining.

We got the action star Tuesday night leaving Hyde nightclub on the Sunset Strip ... where he paid tribute to the Queen of Soul. Wesley bowed down to her and then exercised his pipes.

Our photog asks Wesley to take us out with an Aretha song. He finds it "impossible" but quickly changes his tune with "Mary, Don't You Weep."

Elon Musk lost it during an interview as he talked about Ambien use, exhaustion and isolation.

Musk boomeranged from laughter to tears during an interview with the NY Times. He acknowledged using Ambien, saying, "It is often a choice of no sleep or Ambien." Members of the Tesla Board of Directors have worried Elon doesn't sleep after taking Ambien ... he tweets, and it has caused the company problems ... most recently when he tweeted he wanted to take the company private.

The Times went on to claim some board members believed Musk occasionally used recreational drugs.

He went on to say he's constantly exhausted because of his workload and it's compromised his health. He claims he works up to 120 hours a week and has not taken more than a week off in 17 years. The last time he was off the clock for more than a week ... 2001, when he had malaria.

Musk, who turned 47 in June, said he spent the entire day and night of his birthday at work ... "All night -- no friends, nothing."

Ariana Grande did something she did not want to do today, but powered through in honor of Aretha Franklin and then broke down in tears.

Production sources tell us Ariana was scheduled to appear on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" Thursday ... but she was only going to do a comedy skit. She was not going to sing.

When she arrived on set, producers asked her if she would perform an Aretha song in honor of the late singer. Ariana told them she couldn't do it ... she was just too emotional in the wake of her death. She said Aretha was one of her heroes.

We're told Questlove then approached Ariana and convinced her it would be awesome for her to perform an Aretha song with the Roots.

Ariana changed her mind and opened the show with 'Natural Woman.' It's the first thing you'll see if you watch the show. Ariana brought the house down and got a standing O.

We're told when Ariana left the stage she broke down in tears.