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Paul Whelan ain't happy that he's still behind bars in Russia ... saying Thursday he's "disappointed" with Joe Biden and his administration after he wasn't included in the Brittney Griner deal.

Whelan spoke with CNN from a penal colony in Russia just hours after the U.S. successfully swapped arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner ... and he expressed angst that he's still behind bars -- while the WNBA star is on her way home.

"I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four year anniversary of my arrest is coming up," said Whelan, who's been locked up in Russia on espionage charges since 2018.

"I was arrested for a crime that never occurred," he continued. "I don't understand why I'm still sitting here."

It should be noted, Whelan is obviously a prisoner ... and certainly could've been coerced into expressing disappointment in Biden.

The retired Marine did, according to CNN, say he was "very happy" for Griner ... but he noted the conditions he's in, and the way he's being treated by Russian authorities, couldn't be further from ideal.

"It's quite obvious that I'm being held hostage," he said.

Whelan added that he hoped the Biden administration "would do everything they could to get me home, regardless of the price they might have to pay at this point."

"My bags are packed," he said. "I'm ready to go home. I just need an airplane to come and get me."

Whelan is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence.

Biden said Thursday that Russia would not budge when the U.S. tried to include Whelan in the Griner swap ... but he insisted that he and his administration are doing everything in their power to get him back.

Brittney Griner's on her way back home ... and plenty on U.S. soil are celebrating her freedom -- including Barack Obama, the NBA and the WNBA.

All three released statements following the news of the 32-year-old's release from Russian custody -- with Obama saying he's "grateful" ... while praising Joe Biden for helping facilitate the trade.

"Kudos to @POTUS and his administration for the difficult diplomatic work involved to make it happen," Obama said. "We’re looking forward to having Brittney back home."

The commissioners of the NBA and WNBA, meanwhile, both said they, too, are "thrilled" with Thursday's prisoner swap.

"The WNBA is grateful beyond measure to the Biden Administration, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, and all those who played a role in bringing BG home today," Cathy Engelbert said.

Added Adam Silver, "We thank the members of the NBA and WNBA community who never wavered in their efforts to raise awareness of Brittney's unjust circumstances."

Griner had been detained in Russia since February ... after authorities accused her of having hashish oil in her luggage as a Moscow airport. She was slated to remain in a Russian prison for the next nine years -- but after the U.S. agreed to trade arms dealer Viktor Bout, she was allowed to return home Thursday.

Biden said he spoke with the WNBA star after making the trade, saying she was "in good spirits." Her wife, Cherelle Griner, said she felt like her family is now "whole" again.

Kyrie Irving and Hillary Clinton were among other celebs, athletes and politicians who shared their joy over the news on their social media pages Thursday.

Not all, however, have been thrilled with the prisoner swap -- with some, including Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons, upset that wrongfully imprisoned Marine Paul Whelan was not included in the deal.

But, Biden and other U.S. officials said Thursday they're still working tirelessly to bring him home ... with the president saying in an address to the nation, "We are not giving up. We will never give up."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell Netflix documentary isn't just a shot at the royal family over racism -- it also reveals her perspective, as she says, people didn't treat me like a 'Black woman' before moving to England.

In episode 2 of "Harry & Meghan" ... she says she never thought race would play such a big part in her marriage with Harry -- because growing up in L.A. as a mixed-race woman, being different had not been an issue for her.

Meghan says, "Now people are very aware of my race because they made it such an issue in the UK."

She added that before that, "most people didn't treat me like a Black woman," and as a result, she and her parents never had "the talk" about racism in America ... as most Black parents do.

The couple also got candid about their engagement in November 2017 ... saying the proposal was anything but natural, with Meghan laughing about the "orchestrated reality show."

On a much more serious note, Harry addresses his infamous costume -- he dressed up as a Nazi for a 2005 party -- and calls it the "biggest mistake in my life.”

He details the steps he took to learn from that moment, but admits there was a chance he could've mistakenly ignored all the criticism.

After nearly 10 grueling months behind bars in Russia, Brittney Griner is finally heading back home.

U.S. officials said Thursday they've struck a deal with the foreign country ... agreeing to a prisoner swap to free the WNBA star.

It's a 1-for-1 trade ... with the U.S. slated to send over Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout -- AKA the "Merchant of Death" -- in the swap.

President Joe Biden revealed Thursday morning that he personally spoke with Griner after executing the trade, adding, "She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home."

Griner has been detained in Russia since February -- after she was accused of bringing hashish oil in her luggage to a Moscow airport. In August, she was sentenced to nine years in prison. An appeal of that ruling was denied in October.

Last month, the 32-year-old had been moved to a prison in Mordovia ... where experts said she was facing homophobia, racism and 16-hour work days.

At the time, reps for Griner said she was "trying to stay strong."

At a news conference Thursday morning, with Griner's wife, Cherelle, at his side, Biden told the nation, "I'm glad to be able to say that Brittney is in good spirits. She's relieved to be finally heading home."

Cherelle added, with a big smile on her face, "Today my family is whole."

As for Paul Whelan, another American who the U.S. has classified as wrongfully detained in Russia, Biden confirmed Thursday they are still actively negotiating for his release.

"We are not giving up," he said. "We will never give up."

Pete Davidson is back on Instagram, but there's a catch ... it's a joint page with Eli Manning!!

Yes, the former Giants star quarterback and comedian joined forces to launch the IG page together ... debuting the account Wednesday night with an IG video in Davidson's apartment.

"Hello Instagram," Davidson said on his Giants-themed bed, "I have decided to come back, but only with the GOAT."

"Stay tuned for more photos on the gram!"

The duo shared a video and a couple of photos, including a pic of Davidson's small helmet tattoo. Eli captioned the post, "confirmed ... Pete's a Giants fan."

The guys also worked on one-handed catches (a la Eli to Odell Beckham Jr. vs. the Dallas Cowboys) ... and Davidson has hands!

Fans loved the idea of the joint account ... they flooded their comments with support, with one saying, "lmfao the link up I never knew I needed 🐐".

FYI, Pete -- who's been MIA from IG since 2018 (he occasionally returns before deactivating again)  -- and Eli already have over 17k followers, as of Thursday morning.

Kyrie Irving gave the middle finger to Nike with a message on his signature shoes Wednesday night ... covering the swoosh logo and etching "I am Free Thank You God I am" on a patch of tape after his breakup with the sneaker giant.

Irving hit the court at Barclays Center for the first time since becoming a shoe-free agent on Monday ... and while he decided to keep wearing his own kicks, he made sure to distance himself from his former partner.

Irving rocked the Nike Kyrie 3 PE in the "Raygun" colorway for the matchup against the Charlotte Hornets ... but if you look closely, the side logo is covered with black tape.

Kyrie switched kicks mid-game -- which is not uncommon for NBA players -- and the second pair also had the Swoosh scribbled out with black marker.

You'll recall ... the brand suspended its relationship with Kyrie after he tweeted a link to a film containing antisemitic content ... saying there was no place for hate speech at Nike.

Irving, however, continued to don Nike sneakers during games ... though it's unclear if he was contractually obligated to or if the decision was a personal choice.

Right after news broke that the Kyrie era was over at Nike, the 30-year-old tweeted out a GIF that read, "There's nothing more priceless than being free."

ABC is diving deeper into Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes' relationship to make sure the 'GMA3' co-anchors haven't violated any company policies during their whirlwind romance.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... ABC's human resources and legal departments are working together to look into all aspects of the high-profile co-workers hooking up. The goal is to determine if Amy and T.J. did anything to breach their contracts -- such as using company resources, like vehicles or drivers, to meet romantically ... or pressuring staffers to keep the relationship on the DL.

We're told some people at the network were upset about ABC News' President Kim Godwin's comments on Monday morning's editorial call -- when she said the couple did not violate company policies -- because the network hadn't yet taken a closer look.

Our sources say the review started to heat up internally last Friday when news broke of an alleged affair T.J. had with a former 'GMA' producer years ago.

We're told Godwin worked through the weekend with other executives before deciding to pull Amy and T.J. from the anchor's desk.

As we reported, Amy and T.J. were taken off the air Monday after Godwin called the situation an "internal and external distraction."

That part is clearly true, but again, other execs feel she went too far in telling the team there were no company policy violations -- we're told it was just too soon to know.

Celine Dion is coping with a serious disorder that makes people unable to talk or walk -- and as a result, she's forced to postpone her European tour once again.

The singer was very emotional early Thursday morning as she revealed her diagnosis, telling fans about the extremely rare neurological disorder called stiff-person syndrome.

Celine says it's the reason she's been suffering spasms lately, and it's affected "every aspect of my daily life" -- and it's made it difficult for her to sing at her full ability.

Celine then breaks the tour news to fans ... before adding she's got a team of medical professionals working on getting her back into performance mode, but it hasn't been easy.

Stiff-person syndrome only affects about one in a million people, and it can cause frequent muscle spasms due to heightened sensitivity to things like touch, emotional distress or noise. It can leave some unable to walk or, in severe cases, speak.

Celine's concert was set to kick off February in the Czech Republic -- but it's now slated for March 2024, according to her site. A handful of other shows were canceled, too.

Tia Mowry and her estranged husband are coming back together ... at least for the holidays, 'cause they'll be spending them together as one happy family.

We caught up with the "Sister, Sister" star and asked about her holiday plans this year ... now that she's filed to divorce her estranged husband, Cory Hardrict.

Tia tells us, she and their 2 kids, Cree and Cairo, will absolutely be spending the holidays with Cory -- because, no matter what, they'll always be family.

We gotta say ... she was wearing a huge smile as she spilled the deetz.

TMZ broke the story ... Tia filed for divorce back in October ... pulling the plug on their 14-year marriage. Soon after, she made it clear she and Cory would remain friends.

It was the kinda thing lots of divorcing celebs say, but now it looks like Tia and Cory are walking the walk. As she told us, "Family is family" and that's super important to her.

The holiday plans might not be a complete shock -- the last time we saw Tia, it was evident there's still a ton of love between them. She said they were doing "amazing" with co-parenting and she had no complaints.

As for reconciliation ... back then she said she was "taking everything a day at a time."

Seth Rogen had no problem letting the jokes fly as he took part in a ceremony to honor women in showbiz ... taking a playful jab at Kim Kardashian for missing the occasion.

Seth took the stage Wednesday during The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Breakfast -- and true to form, he cracked a few jokes about folks in the audience.

A source with direct knowledge tells us, "The wrong event date was given to Kim’s team several weeks ago. The error was realized only on Monday and unfortunately, her schedule could not be moved around at the last minute due to a prior work commitment. She was incredibly disappointed to not be able to attend since she never cancels."

He joked, "Are we going to talk about how Kim Kardashian didn’t show up?" He continued, "I have seen every episode of ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ I know she doesn’t have anything more important to do than this."

He made it clear it was all fun and games ... telling folks she was probably going through a lot and had good reason to skip.

Chelsea Handler also joked about the 'SKIMS' founder missing the event ... saying the extra security at the event wasn’t for Kim cause she didn’t show up.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is under investigation for possible ethics violations ... and there's speculation it's all about her infamous Met Gala appearance in 2021.

The U.S. House Committee On Ethics formally announced the probe Wednesday, saying the matter was brought to them in June and their findings will be disclosed sometime next year. The Committee didn't release specifics about what prompted the investigation.

AOC's rep says, "The Congresswoman has always taken ethics incredibly seriously, refusing any donations from lobbyists, corporations, or other special interests. We are confident that this matter will be dismissed."

Now, going back to last year ... conservative groups had filed 2 ethics complaints against AOC after she attended the Met Gala, claiming her gown was an "impermissible gift" and Instagram had purchased special access for her.

You may recall, the New York Democrat famously wore a white dress emblazoned with the phrase, "Tax The Rich."

If she received free tickets it could be a violation of House rules, so that's why some people think that's what the Committee is digging into now.

Chris Kattan is hospitalized after a scary health situation forced him into emergency surgery ... and as a result, he'll miss some upcoming dates in his comedy tour.

Sources connected to Chris tell TMZ he recently came down with Streptococcus Pneumoniae, an extreme case of pneumonia, and on Sunday was rushed to the hospital. From there, he needed emergency surgery, but thankfully the operation was successful.

We're told as long as things continue to go well, Chris will be released from the hospital Friday, and can hopefully return to work sometime in the near future.

Unfortunately, Chris had a show lined up for this Friday in Valparaiso, IN ... which we're told will have to be rescheduled, along with some other upcoming tour dates.

As you know, Chris stayed out of the limelight for a while, but is back to doing standup.

Of course, he had an 8-year run on "SNL" where he was featured in some iconic sketches, playing Mango or boppin' his head with Will Ferrell during "A Night at the Roxbury."

BTW -- we got Chris at LAX earlier this year telling us how he was champing at the bit to revive the 1990s cult classic comedy -- he said he'd wanted a "Roxbury" sequel for years, and had ideas about how to bring it into the 21st century.

Bobby Wagner's miserable 2022 season just got at least somewhat brighter ... TMZ Sports has learned he won't face criminal charges for tackling a field invader earlier this year.

A spokesperson for the Santa Clara Police Department tells us ... after investigating the Oct. 3 "Monday Night Football" incident, police "did not file charges with the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office."

Cops had initially launched the probe on Oct. 4 ... after Alexander Taylor claimed he was assaulted by Wagner after running onto the field during the L.A. vs 49ers game at Levi's Stadium.

According to a police report, Taylor said he suffered a headache, a concussion and a burn on his inner right bicep following the altercation with Wagner.

The Rams and their star linebacker never seemed overtly concerned over the report ... with Wagner saying he took down the man because "you never know what that person got in they pocket, in they hands, whatever."

Head coach Sean McVay added, "We all know where Bobby's intentions were, and I support Bobby Wagner."

American actor Ben Weber was 26 years old when he was first cast as Skipper Johnston -- the nerdy website wiz and Miranda's on-and-off-again boyfriend -- in HBO's sitcom "Sex And The City" back in 1998.

Ben shared the screen with Sarah Jessica Parker as the sex newspaper columnist, Carrie, Cynthia Nixon as the attorney and Skipper's love interest, Miranda, Kim Cattrall as the sex-positive public relations specialist, Samantha, Kristin Davis as the conservative art gallerist, Charlotte and Chris Noth as the wealthy financial analyst and Carrie's boyfriend, Mr. Big.

Ben was a part of the 'SATC' cast for two seasons.

Cops in Idaho want to speak with whoever was driving or a passenger in a white Hyundai Elantra that may have been in the neighborhood on the night 4 college students were killed.

Moscow PD says they've received tips about a vehicle that matches this description -- the model year being between 2011 and 2013 -- near the crime scene in the early morning hours of November 13. They have not released a license plate number.

Investigators are also unsure how many people may have been inside the car, but in any case, they say they're seeking them out -- as they feel they might have more info.

Cops are not saying whether they suspect the occupant(s) of the vehicle is directly involved in the murders -- but it feels like a solid lead after weeks of dead ends, with no one in custody.

As we reported ... frustrations have mounted in the community after many conflicting and retracted statements from law enforcement. At first, it was labeled a targeted attack against the victims, then saying it was maybe just the house was targeted ... later correcting that too and saying they just didn't know.

Cops have also ruled out an alleged stalker of one of the victims as a possible lead -- and don't seem to have moved much further beyond square one in terms of answers.

A Deion Sanders mural at Jackson State University was defaced -- but not by the student seen in a viral video circulating online ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A rep for JSU tells us the mural depicting Coach Prime in a Jackson State hoodie and hat was recently messed with, though it's unclear when it exactly happened -- and the culprit remains unknown.

The school rep says the student seen wiping Deion's mural, which initially went up for football season/Homecoming around October, was trying to clean it up ... and received permission from the university to do so.

We're told it's unclear if police are investigating the mural's initial defacement.

The video of the student wiping the Sanders tribute made rounds on social media this week ... in the aftermath of the coach announcing over the weekend that he was leaving JSU for Colorado.