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Kanye West has taken the high road in the raging feud between him and Drake, apologizing and at the same time explaining he never gave Pusha T intel about Drake's secret son.

Ye posted a series of tweets early Wednesday AM, all directed at Drizzy ... saying, "Sending good energy and love to Drake and family and crew. I haven’t seen the show in person but the images look incredible online I understand where the confusion started."

Kanye goes on to apologize for releasing his throwaway track, "Lift Yourself" -- where he rapped nonsense like "poopity scoop" -- without featuring Drake even though he said he would.

Finally, Ye sets the record straight over the Pusha T beef that blew up their relationship ... saying he should have intervened after Push's initial diss ... but Kanye insists he never gave his labelmate info on Drake's baby son, Adonis, like lots of people thought when Pusha's 2nd diss song dropped.

Mr. West ends by saying he's got love for both Pusha and Drake, and promises to be at one of Drake's upcoming shows within the week. This, of course, comes after Kim Kardashian West herself had to squash rumors that Drake might've slept with her.

Serious moment from "Botched" star Dr. Paul Nassif ... who believes Colin Kaepernick should STAND for the national anthem before he's rewarded with endorsements from Nike.

The Bev Hills plastic surgeon -- who's appeared on everything from "Dr. 90210" to 'Real Housewives' -- explained that he seems to be on the same page as President Trump when it comes to the anthem.

"When the Pledge of Allegiance, the songs of this country, anything is played -- we should be standing up. Hand over our hearts. Saluting, if you're in the military ... That's the way I feel about it."

"And, that's what I think everybody should do including all the NFL players."

Nassif added, "So, do I think that Nike should be doing something with him? No, I don't."

Damien Dante Wayans has a job in mind if his acting career ever falls on hard times: working at Trader Joe's.

We got Damien Tuesday at Sunset Plaza in Los Angeles and asked about former 'Cosby Show' star Geoffrey Owens being job shamed for his side gig at Trader Joe's. Damien showed his support and said he's not above bagging groceries or cleaning aisles.

Damien doesn't get people trying to belittle Geoffrey by bashing his TJ's gig ... and describes this generation of haters as being Internet "sick."

Let's be real, there are worse things out-of-work actors could be doing for money, Damien says, like robbing banks.

Damien also joins Tyler Perry on the growing list of celebs offering Geoffrey a role.

Kim Kardashian West was serious when she said she was going to make prison reform her thing, because she's trying to free another inmate who is serving a life sentence for drug possession.

Kim was on the podcast 'Wrongful Conviction' and said her new cause is freeing a guy named Chris Young, a 30-year-old man who is just under 10 years deep into a life sentence for cocaine and weed possession.

Kim says she spoke with Chris on the phone and now seems to be trying to do for him what she did for Alice Marie Johnson, who was freed after Kim lobbied Donald Trump.

She also says she's in regular touch with Jared Kushner, whom she calls "passionate" about prison reform.

Younes Bendjima double-crossed Kourtney Kardashian by tipping off the paparazzi that she was having a secret meeting with him in a Malibu parking lot ... sources close tell TMZ.

We're told Kim and Khloe have solid reasons to believe the secret rendezvous photo -- obtained by TMZ -- was staged by Younes to squeeze out the last drops of his 15 minutes.

We broke the story ... Kourtney was in the passenger seat of her Range Rover outside of a Malibu sushi joint Monday night, sparking rumors they were back together. Sources close to the exes quickly let us know that wasn't the case -- their chat was all about closure.

We're told Younes made the call to drive to that sushi spot -- a place the 2 had never been -- to park and have a talk. So, it seems awfully suspicious to the sisters that a photog was on scene.

Our sources say the Kardashians believe Younes frequently tipped off paps while he dated Kourt ... because they would show up at random places where the 2 were hanging out, and there's no way they would have known in advance.

We're told the sisters think Younes knew his relationship with Kourtney was over ... and this was his Hail Mary for the last bit of publicity.

Our sources also say ... the girls are more than happy Kourtney has moved on.

How does LeBron James feel about Nike's new deal with Colin Kaepernick?

"I stand with Nike ... every day, all day."

It's a huge statement from the biggest athlete in the world -- as Colin and Nike continue to get blowback from people like country star John Rich, UFC star Tim Kennedy and others who have vowed to boycott Nike.

But Tuesday night, as LeBron accepted the Icon 360 Award at Capitale in NYC ... he ended his remarks with a statement on Nike (though he didn't mention Kaepernick by name).

"Last but not least, I stand for anybody that believes in change. I stand for anybody that believes in a positive attitude and a positive matter ... and I stand with Nike every day, all day."

Of course, LeBron is a Nike athlete who reportedly signed a $1 billion lifetime deal with the company. But, it seems he's genuinely proud of the company.

As for the award, the Icon 360 was presented for Bron's contribution to fashion and philanthropy.

During the ceremony, LeBron also thanked his wife and daughters and said, "I believe African-American women are the most powerful women in the world."

Before she became the Notorious R.B.G. ... Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a high school twirler who also played for the school orchestra!

Turns out, a TMZ staffer's grandfather went to high school with Ruth at James Madison High School in southeast Brooklyn back in the day (class of 1950!) ... so we dug up the yearbook and found the Supreme Court justice back when she was an over-achieving teen!

According to the yearbook, Ruth had a busy extracurricular schedule -- which included being the treasurer of the Go-Getters club (a student pep group) and playing in the school orchestra.

She was also part of the "Twirlers" (guess that means baton twirling) and was the Secretary to the English Dept. chairman. She was also the feature editor of the term newspaper.

Pretty impressive for a high school senior -- and a prelude of big things to come for Ruth.

Jaden Smith loves Colin Kaepernick and the movement he's leading ... but his new ad isn't gonna make Jaden go on a Nike shopping spree any time soon.

We got Jaden at LAX Tuesday and asked him about the "Just Do It" push with Kaep. At first, Jaden was silent on any Nike praise, but he gave props to Kaepernick as a person, and what he's done to bring awareness to police brutality.

Ex-UFC star Tim Kennedy -- who's also a Green Beret -- says he's boycotting Nike in the wake of their Colin Kaepernick ad ... and says his special forces buddies feel the exact same way.

Kennedy is currently participating at a military school course at Fort Bragg in North Carolina -- where he told us he feels the ad is disrespectful to the flag and to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.

"When I walked into the team room this morning, there were some people who were fuming," Kennedy tells TMZ Sports ... "I'm not gonna speak for them, but there was no one happy about it."

Kennedy's got a huge problem with the words in Colin's Nike ad -- "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything."

Tim says every member in this special forces team room has lost at least 10 friends who died while serving their country ... and he finds it offensive that Colin would describe what he's been through as "sacrificing everything."

"I'm talking about REAL heroes and I'm surrounded by a bunch of them right now."

O.T. Genasis says Eminem should stand down in his latest beef with Machine Gun Kelly ... 'cause Marshall's just too good to get deeper in the gutter with the kid.

We got the "Too Blessed" rapper Tuesday at LAX where he weighed in on the surprise feud that erupted over the weekend, when Em dropped a surprise album and took shots at MGK for talking about his daughter in 2012. Kelly promptly fired back Monday with "Rap Devil."

Kelly's song was met with a lot of praise in the hip-hop community, and some say he's got the upper hand in the war of lyrics for now. Naturally, a lot of folks are wondering if Slim Shady's gonna pull a Pusha T and go for round 3 ... but O.T. advises against that.

Farrah Abraham's getting ready to fight Nicole "Hoopz" Alexander, but first she's gonna hit you ... with a damn-near naked training session!

The ex-'Teen Mom' star is partnering with porn camming site CamSoda to webcast her Wednesday night training for the celebrity boxing match. The hook, as ya probably guessed, ain't watching Farrah work a speed bag ... it's watching her do it in skimpy workout gear.

Sources at CamSoda tell us Farrah will slip into 4 outfits during the workout, and whoever tips her the most during the camshow ... will win one of the sweat-drenched items. For example, we're told she'll be wearing this little number, as well as a see-through version.

As we reported, Farrah agreed to fight Hoopz for a celebrity boxing match going down on November 10 in Atlantic City. Drita D'Avanzo wanted to fight Farrah, but Farrah turned her down.

Bow Wow flew into a destructive rage while shooting his TV show because his girlfriend called to tell him about a dispute she had with the production crew ... TMZ has learned.

Production sources tell us the rapper's GF was venting about the disagreement she had with a crew member on the set of "Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta." What's more ... we're told Bow Wow was told he was being set up by crew members to start fights with people on set.

We're told the rapper had been pretty chill last Thursday, but went absolutely ballistic after the phone call. As we first reported, BW shattered tons of equipment to the tune of nearly $300k, and attacked anyone who tried to stop him.

Vic Mensa is excited about the future of Chicago now that Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced he won't be running for re-election ... because he says the guy wasn't fit to lead his home city in the first place.

The Chicago rapper tells TMZ ... Emanuel is a corrupt, dishonest career politician who has always been about power and not the well-being of the people. Vic calls Rahm a "slimy dog" with no morals, no spine ... and no true connection to the city.

Mensa also fires off a list of examples how he feels Emanuel has failed Chitown ... including closing schools and mental health facilities, and the mayor's alleged role in keeping police footage of the shooting of Laquan McDonald from the public.

Vic is hopeful that Emanuel's successor will be someone with roots in the city and the background needed to fully understand the problems that have plagued Chicago ... and do whatever it takes to fix them.

Mensa's love of this city runs deep ... just last week he gave away thousands of free shoes in the Englewood neighborhood in response to cops planting "bait trucks" loaded with sneakers earlier in August in hopes of catching people in the act of stealing.

Asia Argento says Jimmy Bennett -- who had sex with her when he was 17 years old -- is lucky she didn't file charges that HE sexually assaulted and then extorted her.

Argento's lawyer, Mark Jay Heller, tells TMZ, his client's text messages that TMZ posted tell the real story about what went down at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Marina del Rey, CA. The text in question read, "The horny kid jumped me ... I had sex with him it felt weird." She goes on to say she was "frozen" when he was on top of her.

Heller says, "Asia chose at the time not to prosecute Bennett for sexually attacking her."

As for her statement after the story broke -- "I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett" -- Heller says she was being honest because it was a one-time only encounter and not a relationship.

Heller goes on to claim Bennett smelled a payday and tried to extort Argento, especially when he found out she was dating Anthony Bourdain. He says Bennett "chose to intrude on that relationship and demand financial payment from Bourdain in consideration for not embarrassing Asia and indirectly Bourdain ..."

Heller says Anthony chose to protect Asia by agreeing to pay $380k even though she did nothing wrong.

And, Heller says, Bourdain paid $250k up to this point, but Argento will not pay the balance.

Heller ends by attacking Bennett, saying, "Asia does not intend to prosecute Bennett for his conduct and recognizes that his unfortunate past, his stalled acting career, and a lawsuit against his own parents for allegedly misappropriating more than a million and a half dollars from his account might explain his desperation to seek money from Asia and Bourdain for this falsely alleged incident that took place more than 5 years ago."

The attack against Bennett is odd ... because Argento has spoken out against shaming alleged victims in sexual assault cases.