TMZ.com Home

This is both frightening and interesting ... Germany is putting thousands of volunteers in harm's way in the middle of the pandemic, to see if indoor events -- like concerts --can resume.

The research study -- sanctioned by the government -- solicited 4,000 folks between the ages of 18 and 50 ... all of whom are healthy. They have agreed to attend one of 3 concerts performed by singer Tim Bendzko.

The stated purpose of the concerts ... "to investigate the conditions under which such events can be carried out despite the pandemic."

The volunteers will get face masks and they will have tracking devices to determine if they have socially distanced and if not ... how close they got to others. They are also using some sort of electronic device which is supposed to show how aerosolized particles spread.

The first concert went down Saturday in Leipzig, Germany, where 2,000 people showed up.

The Minister of Economics and Science said, "As long as there is a risk of infection, major concerts, trade fairs and sporting events cannot take place. This is why it is so important to find out which technical and orginisational conditions can effectively minimise the risks."

Machine Gun Kelly has mad skills on a wakeboard ... as he proved Friday on a famous Utah lake.

MGK and his daughter were vacationing at Lake Powell, and Dad showed off his moves behind a boat that created a respectable wake.

He's up for a while before eating it, but he definitely wins bragging rights. It's pretty impressive.

It's unclear if MGK's GF, Megan Fox, joined him and his 11-year-old daughter on the trip. BTW, if you haven't been to Lake Powell, put it on your list. The scenery is indescribable.

A Black man was fatally shot and killed by cops -- shot 11 times -- as he walked away from them, and it was all caught on video.

The man was at a gas station in Lafayette, Louisiana when someone called police to report a disturbance. At least half a dozen police arrived, and according to the eyewitness --who shot the video -- he appeared to be holding a knife.

You hear cops order the man on the ground, but he continues to walk. The woman who shot the video says she saw police tase him, but he was still upright.

As the man reaches the door of the gas station convenience store, shots ring out -- 11 shots, and the man is dead.

A spokesperson from the Louisiana State Police says the man was involved in an altercation in an intersection. It's unclear from police reports, but it appears cops may have followed the man for half a mile before the fatal encounter at the gas station.

The officers have all been placed on administrative leave with pay pending an investigation.

California is on fire ... and these images show the panic, desperation and sheer scope of the tragedy.

Check out this dash cam footage from the Hennessy fire in Northern California's Napa County, which has burned around 200,000 acres and is only 7% contained.

The car is barreling down the road, flanked by flames that are almost licking the vehicle as the driver tries to escape.  Among the dangers ... trees toppling to the ground after being engulfed in flames.

There are around 560 flames burning in the state ... many started by some of the nearly 12,000 lightning strikes.  There are thunderstorms all around Northern Cal and sweltering temps, making firefighting next to impossible.

The scope of the fires is unprecedented, and, as Governor Newsom said during the DNC ... it underscores the climate crisis.

Kendall Jenner and Devin Booker were out again Friday night, making it hard to believe it's just a friendship thing.

They looked super stylish leaving the super exclusive Giorgio Baldi restaurant in Santa Monica.

They've been out on the town since Devin left the Orlando bubble a week ago. His first stop -- Nobu in Malibu with ... Kendall Jenner.

They were also seen on the beach in the 'Bu this week, and it looked pretty cozy.

With road trips, dinners, beach excursions, even ordinary things like taking Devin's dog to the vet ... not that tough to connect the dots.

John Travolta paid homage to his late wife, Kelly Preston, Friday, with the help of their daughter.

John and 20-year-old Ella hit the dance floor ... something John says was Kelly's favorite thing ... dancing with him.

As we reported, Kelly died last month after a 2-year, very private battle with breast cancer. She was only 57 when she passed away. She and John were married for nearly 29 years.

John posted, "My daughter @ella.travolta and I dancing in memory of momma. One of Kelly's favorite things, dancing with me."

John and Kelly had 3 kids together ... Jett, Ella Blue and Benjamin. Jett died tragically in 2009, after suffering a seizure.

TikTok star Bryce Hall is owning his mistakes because he says squarely ... he wishes he would never have thrown the wild party that pissed off L.A.'s Mayor so much, the power to the house got shut off.

Bryce was leaving BOA restaurant in WeHo Friday night when our photog asked about the rager he threw that was packed with people who weren't wearing masks or social distancing.

Bryce, who threw the bash to celebrate his 21st birthday, told our photog he didn't need time to reflect ... he knew it was wrong when it was happening.

Mayor Eric Garcetti was enraged, saying, "This house has turned into a nightclub in the hills, hosting large gatherings in flagrant violation of our public health orders." The house went dark Wednesday.

It appears the house was not owned by Bryce ... it was a party house that the owner rents out. Not anymore ... at least for now.

A passenger on a commercial airliner was booted off the plane, but not before making a bizarre exit. With the parting words, "racism at its best."

It's unclear why the woman and her daughter were removed from the flight, but judging from the video it would appear it's because they weren't wearing masks. It looks like the woman has a mask on her arm, but she and her daughter are both maskless when they de-plane.

Now the weird part ... she screams, "racism at its best" in the direction of a woman who is videotaping her. The woman shooting video is white, so it's puzzling. Then again, trying to make sense of this woman may be a futile task.

Her daughter stops as shes being removed to blast the videographer, saying, "Don't talk to my mother like that."

Kanye West may have missed another important deadline in his presidential run, and this one certainly suggests his campaign is on the rocks.

Kanye, the presidential candidate, is required by FEC rules to file a financial report if he raises or spends $100k on his campaign.

The filing deadline was August 20, but according to an FEC official ... the agency hasn't received it.

So this means one of 2 things, and neither is good for Kanye -- either he missed the filing deadline or he didn't raise $100k ... and how do you run for Prez if you can't raise $100k?

As we reported, Kanye really ramped up his campaign in late July after his off-the-rails rally in South Carolina, hiring a third-party group called Let the Voters Decide to help get him on the ballot in several states.  He's also hired a team of political advisors.

Ye spent at least $30k to get on the ballot in Illinois ... but it didn't pay off.

The SoCal lake where Naya Rivera was found dead after drowning is open to the public again, but her tragedy is having an impact on operations there.

TMZ's learned Lake Piru reopened Thursday, 43 days after the "Glee" star went out for a day of boating and swimming with her son. The man-made reservoir had been off-limits since Naya went missing. After authorities recovered her body, the lake remained closed as the COVID-19 pandemic intensified in L.A. County.

Now that the public can return there are restrictions. For starters, swimming is absolutely banned. Lake officials say that's due to COVID-19, but locals tell us they believe the ban is really about Naya's drowning.

As we reported ... more than 12,000 people signed a petition demanding more effective warnings to swimmers about debris under the water's surface.

As for boating on the lake ... that's back in full swing, along with picnicking, hiking and fishing.

However, the pontoon Naya rented on the night she went missing has been taken out of the fleet and it's been placed in storage.

Remember ... locals had reason to be concerned. Naya's drowning is the 9th death at Lake Piru since 1994.

The Dems had some strong moments this week ... Lori Loughlin, on the other hand, has definitely had better weeks. So we gotta ask ...

Ex-NBA player Gerald Wilkins allegedly punched a woman and a man at an Atlanta gas station around 3 AM -- and that's why he was arrested for battery, TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story ... Gerald Wilkins -- younger brother of NBA legend Dominique Wilkins -- was arrested on August 18 and faces 3 criminal charges, including battery.

Now, we've obtained the police report which spells out the allegations against him ... and it's not great.

Wilkins told cops he got into an argument with a female rideshare driver who refused to let him inside her car unless he ordered correctly through the app.

The driver claims Wilkins got so heated, he punched her in the shoulder -- and that's when 2 male witnesses jumped in to break it up.

One of the male witnesses claims he was punched in the face by Wilkins during the melee.

A 3rd witness, who was pumping gas at the time, seemed to back up the female driver's story ... that Wilkins was the instigator.

Wilkins says he called 911 and claimed to be the real victim -- telling the operator he was attacked.

But, cops didn't believe Gerald's story -- and ultimately arrested him.

Records show he's facing 3 criminal charges -- 2 counts of misdemeanor simple battery and 1 count of misdemeanor criminal trespass.

Nikki Bella's spent barely 3 months in her dream home living next to her sister ... but the dream's over 'cause she's putting the house on the market.

The "Total Bellas" star listed her 5-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom pad for $1,995,000. It sits on a 10,000-square-foot lot inside an exclusive, 16-home gated community.

Anyway, the crib's what you'd expect from a WWE star, who designed it from start to finish. The house is really nice ... huge wood-beamed ceilings, a sub-zero and Wolf appliances, 3 fireplaces and a custom wine/sitting room.

Now here's what's interesting ... this season's "Total Bellas" centered around Nikki building her dream house, hoping twin sister, Brie would become her badass neighbor, which is exactly what happened. They joked if they got on each other's nerves, Nikki could just up and sell the house. No word if that's what happened here.

It's more likely Nikki and her fiance, Artem Chigvintsev, just need more room for their new baby boy. She gave birth to the couple's first child earlier this month. Movin' on up!!!

"I'm going in there hoping to kick his ass pretty quick!"

That's Pat McAfee laying out his gameplan for beating Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver XXX ... with the ex-NFL punter telling TMZ Live he thinks he's got a real shot to win!!

Of course, McAfee's never professionally wrestled in his life ... but he's had a serious bone to pick with Cole ever since the wrestling star blew up on him on his show last month.

If you missed it ... the scene was crazy -- Pat made a comment implying Cole had used other wrestlers to grow his status -- and Adam WENT OFF!!

Cole got in McAfee's face, yelled and screamed ... and even pushed one of Pat's coworkers!!

The two have since had some dust-ups in the NXT ring ... with Pat legit PUNTING Cole in a confrontation two weeks ago!!

But, most believe as a pro wrestler ... Cole's got Saturday's official matchup in the bag -- although McAfee says he feels he's got destiny on his side!!

"My entire life," McAfee says, "I always thought that I was born for the professional wrestling world."

Pat tells us being an athlete with a huge personality has set him on this path ... and he's hoping to lay the hammer down quickly on Adam in the squared circle.

"I'm getting an opportunity to put up or shut up," Pat says. "And, I'm excited to see how it goes."

Do not let these two almost identical images of Josephine Skriver trip you up ... Stay focused and see if you can spot the switches that have been made to this tricky pic!

The hot model was seen on the job, during a shoot in New York City, earlier this week ... and we made a few changes to this sneaky snap! Take a really good look around these two pics and see if you have what it takes to figure out the differences between the two super-similar snaps!

Grab your swimsuits and your floats cause it looks like everyone is headed to the pool for this heatwave! The stars have been coming out for this one and are making the most of it by enjoying some family fun in the sun!

Celebs such as Nev Schulman, John Legend, and Eric Decker are just a few of the stars to name that are taking full advantage of the warm weather and heading out with the kiddos!

Dive into our gallery of celebrity families' pool fun to see all the other famous faces making a splash this summer!