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Taylor Swift hosted some special guests at her Sunday concert in Brazil … the family of the woman who recently died attending her Rio de Janeiro show.

Video posted to X showed five relatives of Ana Clara Benevides Machado enjoying Taylor’s performance from inside a VIP tent at Allianz Parque stadium in São Paulo last evening.

The kin were all sporting t-shirts emblazoned with Ana’s face, including her dad, Weiny.

A source told People magazine Taylor invited the family to her Sunday show and took a group photo with them. The picture was later posted to X.

As we reported, Ana was attending Taylor's concert at Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium in Rio on November 17, when she began feeling sick during a heat wave. The 23-year-old fan was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

8:23 PM PT -- TMZ has confirmed Jean passed away Wednesday, and we've confirmed the authenticity of the press release circulating on social media ... which we're told comes from her family. Her publicist also tells us Jean died from natural causes.

Her family released a statement, which notes her long storied career which started at JetStream Records and eventually jumped to Stax Records ... and all the tunes she produced in between, ending with her starting her own label (Comstar).

The statement ends ... "Jean Knight's legacy is not just a musical one; it is a testament to the enduring love between an artist, her hometown, and the fans who adored her. As we bid farewell to this iconic soulstress, New Orleans and her global fan base join together in gratitude for the indelible mark she left on the world." The family requests privacy at this time.

Jean Knight -- most famous for her hit 'Mr. Big Stuff' -- has died ... this according to reports.

An unattributed press release purporting to be the soul singer and New Orleans native's obituary is making the rounds online -- and if it's to be believed ... it says JK passed away last Wednesday, although the circumstances surrounding her death are unclear for now.

Knight's 1971 song is easily her biggest claim to fame, but it's a huge contribution to music and pop culture. 'Mr. Big Stuff' not only performed incredibly well on the charts when it came out -- including five weeks at #1 on the Billboard Soul Singles chart, and peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 -- but it ended up being featured in numerous films and TV shows.

Just a handful of series that used 'MBS' ... 'Family Guy,' 'black-ish,' 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,' 'Everwood' and 'The Deuce' -- just to name a few. On the movie front, it got played in Will Ferrell's 'Semi-Pro.' Beyond that ... the track got remixed/sampled a ton over the years.

Some of that notable acts who flipped this gem ... Heavy D & The Boyz, Eazy-E, TLC, Queen Latifah, Everclear, Girl Talk, Beastie Boys and John Legend. 'Mr. Big Stuff' had also been covered a handful of times ... famously by Precious Metal, Lyn Collins and many others.

Jean had recorded lots of other songs throughout her career ... but none ever reached the success of 'Big Stuff.' Some of her other notable singles ... "My Toot Toot," "You Think You're Hot Stuff," "Carry On," "Helping Man," "Do Me," "Jesse Joe (You Got to Go)" ... and more.

She was 80.

RIP

Joe Biden's age has come under scrutiny as 2024 approaches, but a fellow Dem is going to bat for him ... none other than Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Mayor Bass -- who served in Congress before her current gig -- told us Wednesday, all the haters who suggest JB is way too old to give the White House another go need to look no further than what he's already done for the country.

According to Bass, his record speaks for itself ... and she's not sure what else he can do to convince people he's fit to extend his tenure.

Frankly, it's no surprise Bass is backing Biden -- that's the party line, and just about every Democrat will say the exact same thing with a camera in their face. Behind the scenes, however, many Dems are singing a different tune. The polls are ominous ... Trump's beating Biden and the President's approval rating has sunk to 39%.

The mayor's playing good good soldier for her party and President, and when we brought up the prospect of Gavin Newsom coming up to the plate ... she says she won't even talk about that until 5 years from now.

Here's a crazy story -- Dominique Wilkins opened a pack of old NBA cards recently ... and as luck would have it, he pulled his own rookie card!!

The whole thing was documented on video ... when the Hawks legend joined OTIA Sports CEO Jason Koonce to break an unopened batch of 1986 Fleer basketball cards in hopes of finding a Michael Jordan rookie in the pack.

FYI -- the '86 Fleer set is filled with a ton of rookie cards of that era ... including MJ, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and, of course, Dominique Wilkins.

The pull was pretty cool -- the Human Highlight Film reminisced about playing against several players as he revealed the deck ... which featured big names like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Bill Walton.

Once Wilkins came across his own face, the group of guys started freaking out ... with Koonce swearing up and down the card was not planted.

"This was sealed, this was not planned," Koonce said in the video. "That is insane."

"On my kid's life, that was not set up!"

The card could be pretty valuable depending on its condition ... some in great shape are currently listed online for thousands of dollars!!

Before this blonde kiddo bundled up in her beanie and purple jacket turned into a singer and actress, she was just braving the winter weather in Bainbridge Island, Washington with her older sister and shining bright as a child star!

Her claim to fame was on Disney's "Liv and Maddie" where she starred for four seasons, and, now a brunette, she showcases all her glitz and beauty to her 48 million Instagram followers. In 2016, she played Amber Von Tussle on "Hairspray Live".

You may have seen her in the 'Marvel Rising' franchise.

Ludacris performed at the Atlanta Falcons game this weekend -- and it looks like he took a page out of Lady Gaga's playbook to make an entrance ... descending from the heavens.

The rapper was the hired talent Sunday at Mecedes-Benz Stadium ... but weirdly enough, he didn't put on a halftime performance -- but rather, did a quick set after the third quarter ... which definitely took everyone by surprise.

The reason ... the dude literally rappelled down onto the stage below from way up toward the top of the facility -- and he did it kinda slowly, partially rapping a song in the air.

Looks like he was doing 'Move Bitch' on his way down ... and he was hyping up the crowd too, who ate it up. Unclear if he did a whole set once he touched down or not (there was a game going on, after all), but he got a little shine regardless.

The whole point of this was to celebrate 50 years of hip-hop in the ATL ... of which Luda has been a huge contributor over the years -- not to mention countless other acts from the area.

Kim Kardashian is jumping from Hulu to Netflix -- at least for movies, anyway -- 'cause she sold a forthcoming comedy she'll star in to the streaming giant ... this after a ton of interest.

Deadline broke the news Sunday ... a new flick called "The Fifth Wheel" just got sold to Netflix after an apparent bidding war to snap up the rights among 5 different studios. In the end, Netflix made the winning offer ... although it's unclear how much they shelled out.

This film isn't written or shot yet ... Kim K and the 2 co-writers who came up with the concept -- Paula Pell and Janine Brito -- simply sold the idea ... and now they'll actually make it. Kim's gonna play the lead ... a "fifth wheel" among an ensemble of female actors.

The rest of the plot deets are being kept under wraps ... but word is, Pell and Brito immediately thought of Kim for this and pitched her. After she came aboard, they started hitting the town as soon as the actors' strike ended and collectively shopped it around.

Deadline says Kim's been present at a lot of the meetings, and her involvement spurred a lot of studios to open their doors and take the movie under consideration. BTW, she's not only gonna act in this thing ... but she'll produce as well, alongside Pell and possibly others.

Pell is a well-known and established TV comedy writer ... as is Brito. Pell's got a lengthier resume, with tons of 'SNL' credits. She also wrote the Amy Poehler/Tina Fey movie "Sisters." Paula also notably EP'd Judd Apatow's 'This Is 40.'

Considering Pell's extensive history with 'SNL' stars ... you can probably expect that same type of mid-2010s humor for this new movie -- just with a little Kim K star power twist.

Of course, the bigger takeaway here is the fact that Kim's diving further into the acting pool. She already had a run on 'AHS' this year ... plus all the other smaller roles she's done in the past. This would be an even greater flex, though ... her straight-up leading a comedy.

We'll see how it turns out ... Deadline says this got picked up by Netflix's "mid-budget" team -- and according to reports, Netflix is aiming to spend between $30-$80 million on those.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck bought a palace of a home earlier this year, but even all these months later ... they still appear to be trying to furnish the place, or so it seems.

The couple went shopping Saturday, hitting up a furniture/interior design store in L.A. ... and plopping down on one of the display couches on the floor to test it out a bit. They were photographed from outside, and it looks like they did a bit more than just sit and chill.

Take a look for yourself ... Jen and Ben were feeling a little romantic, smooching one another as they cozied up on the model sofa -- and chitchatting a bit here and there too.

Unclear if they ended up making a purchase or not -- whether it was the couch or otherwise -- but it looks like they're the type of people who like to see and feel what's gonna be in their house ... as opposed to just blind online catalog shopping, which they could easily do.

Again, J Lo and BA purchased their new estate way back in May -- throwing down $60 million for a huge property in Bev Hills ... which they started moving into right away. Based on pics of that whole process at the time, it seemed they each had a fair amount of stuff.

The pad itself has a lot of space to fill -- so snapping up extra furniture, even now, isn't all that crazy. Their mansion has 12 bedrooms, plus a ton of other rooms for lounging and whatnot. Safe to say, it takes time to deck it out ... especially if they're in-person shoppers.

What's funny ... Jen and Ben are just like the rest of us in this regard. The only difference is that most folks are hitting Ashley -- and they're swinging by an upscale decor showroom, with prices that quickly run up into the 5 figures and beyond.

Tom Brady is on dad time right now -- taking his kids out to sea ... just a few days after their mom, Gisele, flew 'em out to Central America with that jiu-jitsu guy she's always with.

The retired NFL quarterback posted a bunch of photos of him and his little ones Sunday, where they're on a boat and diving into the ocean with snorkeling gear on. He captioned his post, "I did Michigan and Massachusetts winters for a long time. Let me have this."

The pics he threw up are super cute ... but he definitely added one thirst trap, which features him facing the camera and completely shirtless. Yeah, the dude's ripped here.

No sign of his eldest son, Jack ... but we can see his other 2 kids -- whom he shares with Gisele -- front and center and ready to dive. There was another little girl in the mix too, but it's unclear who she is. In any case, if you peep his IG, looks like lobster's for dinner.

Now, what's interesting about this excursion is the fact that Gisele took these same children on a trip just earlier this week. They were photographed down in Costa Rica enjoying a vacation ... with none other than Joaquim Valente tagging along as well.

Gisele and Joaquim have been on a lot of getaways together this year ... and at times, her and Tom's children have joined them. It seems like that's becoming a regular thing now.

Despite the obvious appearance of Gisele and Joaquim being a couple ... she's denied any such thing, saying he's simply a close friend of the family who coaches them all up.

Hard to say if anyone's really buying that ... frankly, nobody tends to jet set with their jiu-jitsu instructor for intimate family outings like this, month in and month out. Whatever though ... right now, it's Tom's time with the kiddos -- and he's making the most out of it.

Beyoncé's daughter, Blue Ivy, has been a fixture at just about all of her "Renaissance" tour concerts this year -- and she's upped her onstage game ... all thanks to the haters.

In the wake of her concert film's premiere this weekend, the NYT reviewed the film and quoted Queen Bey as saying ... BI's involvement with the tour was meant to just be a temporary, one-off deal ... but became a regular thing after her kid pushed back.

They add, "Though she finally relented, Beyoncé was dismayed when Blue Ivy read comments on social media that criticized her lackluster moves. But it thrilled her mother that instead of quitting, she decided to put in the work and train even harder for future stops."

This news has caused quite a stir on social media ... half of Twitter is outraged that so many people were brutally criticizing the 11-year-old early on in the tour, but others are using this as proof that Blue Ivy's resilient/talented -- 'cause she's a way better dancer now.

Footage from her May outings in Europe has been making the rounds online ... and yes, you can see a major difference in how she performed then compared to recent shows.

The debate now is whether the harsh assessments of her skills at the time were warranted or not -- some think BI 100% deserved the flak she got, arguing that if she steps into the spotlight (next to her mom, no less) it's fair game. Others think the girl deserved a break.

Jillian Barberie almost experienced a would-be home invasion this weekend when her front door nearly came crashing down in the dead of the night ... and she filmed it all, too.

The former TV host and FOX personality -- who used to work on "Good Day L.A.," among other telecasts -- documented the terrifying aftermath of what she says was a loud bang in the wee hours of Sunday morning ... which left the entryway to her apartment crushed.

Watch ... Jillian jumped on IG Live right after it happened and was spurred by her followers/fans to call the police -- something that apparently didn't occur to her right away.

Later, Jillian explains she was still pretty out of it ... but while this was all unfolding -- she took her audience on quite a ride, showing off how she was barricading the door with what supplies she had ... and even demonstrating how she planned to defend herself.

She didn't have a gun or anything, but pepper spray will do in a pinch, we suppose.

Anyway, she ultimately did call 911 at 2:15 AM and filmed that encounter too. The officer who showed up had her file a report and told her to talk to maintenance in the AM. The weird thing is, when they examined the door damage ... there was no footprint on the outside, seeing that's what JB (and just about everyone else) suspected it was -- namely, somebody kicking it in.

Jillian's been posting a ton of updates on her social media pages ... and reveals that a friend came to stay with her until the management team crew came by to make the repairs.

Strangely, there's still no clear explanation for what it could've been. Jillian still thinks this was human-caused -- and believes somebody might've just slammed their whole body into her door and bolted. But an investigation is underway and they're looking for the culprit.

Pretty freaky stuff, obviously -- and what's crazier is that Jillian appears to live in a swanky apartment building out in Ventura ... which is usually considered a pretty decent area.

No evidence suggested anyone entered the residence. Detectives are investigating.

Another miss from Disney at the box office -- the studio's latest original animated movie bombed with moviegoers over the holiday break ... marking just the latest flop for 'em.

Of course, we're talking about "Wish" ... with Ariana DeBose as the main character and Chris Pine as the big bad and a bunch of other cute side characters. Unfortunately, none of them were enough ... 'cause "Wish" only made $31.7 million through the 5-day "weekend."

Ticket sales were getting counted as early as Wednesday, but come Sunday ... "Wish" had underperformed by a lot. Projections had it pegged at $45-$50 mil over the same 5 days.

It didn't do great internationally either, pulling in just $17.3M overseas ... bringing its total worldwide haul to about $49 million. In layman's terms, the film flopped -- and it ended up coming in third place behind 'Napoleon' (#2) and the 'Hunger Games' prequel (#1, again).

This is not good news for the Mouse House ... which usually dominates the Thanksgiving window. Up until last year -- when their other original animated feature "Strange World" performed abysmally -- Disney had put out hits around this time of the year ... including "Encanto," "Coco" and others, all of which made a crap ton of money right out the gate.

What's strange is that "Wish" actually got good reviews and great audience reception ... so it's unclear what exactly the problem was. It's possible the SAG strike hindered promotion of this movie ... but it also ended well before its release date, so it's a bit of a mystery.

Beyoncé brought out the old and the new Saturday night ... unveiling her new 'Renaissance' flick, and bringing together the group that launched her career.

Bey hosted the debut of her film at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Bev Hills, and Destiny's Child was front and center. Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams showed up, along with founding members of the group, LaToya Luckett and LaTavia Robertson.

There was a slew of celebs to watch the film ... Janelle Monáe, Lori Harvey, Lizzo, Gabrielle Union, Halle Bailey, Marsai Martin, Laverne Cox, Niecy Nash-Betts, Tina Knowles, Tyler Perry, Tia Mowry, Kris Jenner, Corey Gamble, Issa Rae, Andra Day and that's just a partial list.

There was a big star MIA from the event ... Taylor Swift. As you know, Bey showed up for Taylor's 'Eras' flick and even had a sushi dinner with Taylor beforehand. Taylor, however, has a good excuse -- she's in Brazil for her concerts.

Video has now surfaced of a brutal brawl the day before Thanksgiving in Saugus, Massachusetts.

Someone used a glass bottle as a weapon during the bloody fight, as patrons duke it out and blood flows freely. Some fighters either ripped off their shirts during the brawl or had them ripped off during the melee.

One man is seen bleeding profusely from his head as 2 other patrons hold him down.

It went down at a family-friendly joint, Kowloon Restaurant. What's a little weird ... there were 6 officers working at the restaurant -- it's unclear why a restaurant needed this kind of police presence. The officers were able to calm things down.

Cops interviewed several people in the fight but no arrests have been made. The PD does say the person who used a bottle as a weapon could be arrested and charged with a felony.

Tiffany Haddish got up in front of a crowd to crack jokes less than a day after getting arrested for DUI -- and when she was asked about it point blank, she leaned on comedy.

As we reported ... TH was scheduled to perform at the Laugh Factory in Long Beach Friday -- this after a set she'd done the previous night in L.A., before getting busted by Beverly Hills cops the following morning -- and TMZ obtained audio from part of that Long Beach show.

Take a listen to how Tiffany responded when an audience member asked about what happened "last night" ... obviously referring to her getting led away in handcuffs Friday AM.

Tiffany doesn't really cop to anything -- including the alleged DUI -- but she does say her prayers for a man in uniform were certainly answered ... something the crowd ate up. In other words, she rolled with it and made the whole thing into a well-delivered punchline.

Like we told you ... Tiffany left her Long Beach gig in the backseat of an SUV Friday evening, and it looks like she had some friendly company with her. What's interesting is that earlier in the day, she was in jail after getting taken in and booked earlier that same morning.

Tiffany is alleged to have been found asleep at the wheel in Bev Hills -- and cops say they found probable cause to take her in on suspicion of DUI ... and her arrest is on video.

Outside of this set, Tiffany hasn't talked about the DUI arrest publicly.

The mysterious illness that has caused dogs in more than a dozen states to get extremely sick may -- just may -- show promise of containment.

A 5-year-old golden retriever named Ike got sick during a dog road show, and this was way back in September.  The owners rushed Ike to the vet, and he was diagnosed with the disease that has dog owners in a panic -- canine infectious respiratory disease complex.

Ike was taken to a vet hospital and quarantined. Dogs can quickly go from a cough to life-threatening pneumonia with this disease.

The dog was given a "last-resort antibiotic," called chloramphenicol, which fights bacterial infections. The family of the dog told ABC7, within hours his breathing was no longer labored.

The owner, Becky Oliver, said, "It's a very, very strong last-resort antibiotic, but it's what saved him. Otherwise, he would not be here."

So far, officials, officials have not commented on the efficacy of the antibiotic.

The disease has been spreading ... it's been found in California, Oregon, Indiana, Illinois, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and in various states around the Northeast.