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Alec Baldwin hopped on cam to deliver a holiday message ... thanking people who have supported him in the wake of the fatal shooting on the "Rust" set, saying it's been a rough road for him.

Baldwin expressed gratitude to people who reached out to him with messages of sympathy and support ... "I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all the people who sent me such kind words and best wishes and strength and hope and prayers, thoughts and lots of encouragement. I got hundreds, hundreds of emails from friends, family and colleagues and people I haven't heard from in quite a while to send me strength and good wishes and so forth. I'm really grateful to them."

Baldwin talked about his desire to put the tragedy behind him, and at the same time acknowledged the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins will never be forgotten ... "I'm looking forward to some aspects of this being behind me, of course. For everyone who is involved in this, it'll never be behind us because someone died so tragically. I never lose sight of that, not a day goes by I don't think about that."

He then talked about the center of his life ... "It's true, I only care about my wife and my kids and moving forward with my life and trying to get through a tough time, a really tough time."

"Outer Banks" star Chase Stokes seems to have moved on from Madelyn Cline ... because he was partying it up with some buds Thursday night and clearly feeling no pain.

Chase was at the Robinson Cafe & Cocktail Lounge in Orlando, Florida. The video was shot around 11:30 PM. Chase and 2 pals ordered a bottle of 1942 Don Julio tequila -- always a good choice -- and a line of women were coming up to him for ... a chat?

Chase seemed happy dancing by himself ... at least in the video we got.

As for Madelyn ... well, looks like she's put Chase in her rearview. She and DJ Zack Bia have been hanging out recently. They were together last Sunday for a dinner in Santa Monica, and earlier in the month Madelyn and Zack -- who once dated Madison Beer -- were together for Madelyn's 24th birthday party. They also hit up a Lakers game.

As for Chase and Madelyn ... they started dating back in April 2020, after appearing together on "Outer Banks." They took a page from the script ... the 2 were romantically linked in the show.

Oprah knows how to celebrate the birth of a child ... with a pretty awesome chant right out of "The Lion King!"

Oprah, Stedman and various loved ones perched themselves on the front porch of her Montecito estate to welcome Gayle King's 3-month-old grandson, Luca. Among the chants ... right from the opening song of "Lion King" ... "The Circle of Life."

As the group stretched their vocal cords, Gayle's daughter, Kirby Bumpus, and her hubby Virgil Miller walked a long stretch with the infant and then presented him to O.

You hear Oprah greet the kid ... "I know you've been waiting. You've been waiting to see me. I've been waiting to see you." She kisses Luca on the hand with glee.

Gayle, curiously, was absent. All Oprah said was her BFF didn't meet all the rules for her COVID Xmas. Oprah said, "Everyone who is spending Christmas at my house has to be vaccinated, boosted, tested, and quarantined." It's unclear on which element Gayle fell short.

It looks like Gayle will be there belatedly, because Oprah said, "This was release day for our bubble and we knew we had to throw a welcome celebration for Baby Luca, who none of us had met yet!" Then she added ... "missed his grandma @gayleking but she'll join us once she completes the policy!"

Kris Jenner is no threat to Mariah Carey for sure, but she did a respectable job with her rendition of "Jingle Bells," with an assist from her future son-in-law.

KJ posted her version of the Xmas staple, as Travis Barker, who produced the tune on "Kravis Records," kept the beat on his drum set. Not bad to have Blink-182 as your backup.

Kourtney Kardashian contributed by playing the song's title.

As for the art on the album cover ... well, it's a back-in-the-day photo, and a good one at that.

It's not the first Kris Jenner release ... back in '85 she recorded "I Like My Friends" to the tune of Randy Newman's "I Love L.A."

Jeff Bezos and GF Lauren Sanchez live a fancy-schmancy life ... nevertheless, they like circulating in public, which is exactly what they did when they grabbed some grub in St. Barts.

Don't get us wrong -- St. Barts ain't exactly Venice beach, where all are welcome. It's a super-exclusive Caribbean island where lots of rich people go during the Xmas holidays and compare the size of their yachts (FYI, that's not code).

So, that's where J&L landed, and these pics are from a local restaurant called Gyp Sea Beach. Jeff and Lauren broke bread during lunch with about 8 others at the table.  There are 2 kids in the party -- unclear whose they are.

With all the crap going on in the world, you'd think Jeff might be otherwise occupied, but he casually spent around 2 hours relaxing, eating, drinking and conversing.

No PDA during the lunch ... a stark contrast to their romantic hike earlier in the week.

Enes Kanter Freedom is no longer a free man in the dating world... because TMZ has learned that he has made things official with Carl's Jr. model Emily Sears!

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Emily and the Boston Celtics player have been dating for a couple of months. It's unclear how they met ... but meet they clearly did.

Emily recently raised suspicions that the two were an item after she posted a pic from Boston with the hooper on IG, writing, "Bravest person I know" and tagging the NBA star.

We're told Emily's still living in LA and Enes is currently in Boston... that's always a struggle, but so far we're told it's not a real issue.

Kyle Kuzma and Winnie Harlow are back on ... and they wasted no time letting the world know it this week -- holding hands on a romantic date in NYC.

The couple -- which broke up back in August but rekindled their romance just recently -- hit up Carbone on Kuzma's NBA off day Wednesday, and looked as lovey-dovey as ever.

The Wizards star, who was in NYC for Washington's game against the Knicks, held Harlow's hand on the way to dinner -- and you can see in the pics, the supermodel was very happy.

Harlow looked to be in great spirits, smiling and waving before heading in -- and, yeah, it's clear the power couple is officially back.

As we previously reported, the two originally got together during the pandemic ... after Harlow says Kuzma successfully slid into her Instagram DMs.

They spent nearly all of quarantine together -- but broke up right around the time Kuzma was traded from the Lakers to the Wizards.

Hollywood is go big or go home when it comes to decor ... and Christmas is their time to shine like the star on top of the tree!

Some of your favorite stars -- like Kim Kardashian, Nia Vardalos, and James Charles -- are putting the extra in extravagance with their best holiday displays. A few are soaring to new heights with branches touching the sky while others are decking them out with the brightest lights.

The good news is Christmas isn't about who has the most decorations ... you can still impress Santa with all the holiday cheer you share with loved ones!

Mike Rowe says he's delighted to relaunch "Dirty Jobs" series after a 10-year hiatus ... this time, he plans to take on pandemic-related jobs.

The TV host joined us on "TMZ Live" and talked about the journey to the show's triumphant return.

The series made a comeback earlier this year for a limited run, and Mike says over the last year he got hundreds of letters from loyal fans imploring him to reboot the series.

So why now? Mike's simple answer -- COVID. During the lockdown, essential workers became headline news ... the relaunch seemed like a good idea to remind people of the kinds of essential jobs that make life work, especially during the pandemic.

Now get this ... Mike also rightfully gloated about his side hustle -- singing! His song,  "Santa's Gotta Dirty Job" with Country music singer John Rich was released in early December ... and boy, it was a hit!

No, really ... the song hit #1 for a week on Country Music charts, #1 on iTunes for 4 days -- and even took the top spot on the Billboard digital song sales chart.

As for profits, John and Mike are splitting it even steven and giving all of the proceeds to non-profit orgs.

New York native Bobcat Goldthwait (real name Robert Francis Goldthwait) gained fame while in his mid-twenties after he parlayed his successful stand-up career into big-screen acting gigs while keeping his signature squawky voice on iconic '80s movies.

BG's recognizable roles include the zany Zed on "Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment," Fred Chaney on the talking horse hit "Hot To Trot," Egg Stork on the seasonal romantic comedy "One Crazy Summer" ... and of course Eliot Loudermilk on the 1988 Christmas classic "Scrooged."

The truck driver whose 110-year sentence outraged millions of Americans doesn't deserve ANY prison time at all, because the fatal crash was purely an accident ... according to justice reform activist Jason Flom.

Jason, who's on board of the Innocence Project, says Rogel Aguilera-Mederos getting such a severe sentence -- one even a Colorado prosecutor wants to be reviewed -- is purely about revenge, instead of justice.

As you probably know, Aguilera-Mederos was found guilty on 27 charges for the fiery interstate crash caused by his 18-wheeler smashing into multiple cars. 4 people were killed and more than a dozen more seriously injured.

Still, when Jason joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" he said, "If I were the governor I would sentence him to community service.”

His reasoning is Aguilera-Mederos had no intent to harm anyone that fateful day in 2019 -- the truck driver said his brakes had failed, and there was nothing he could do to avoid the tragedy.

The judge seemed to believe him, and after giving him 110 years -- the minimum under Colorado law -- said, "If I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence."

More than 4 million people, including Kim Kardashian, signed a petition for the case to be reconsidered. Jason says the justice system is flawed -- "Doubling down on the tragedy by destroying this young man’s life -- I believe he is a father as well -- how does that serve anybody’s best interest?"

Travis Scott and his foundation are working around the clock to make sure kids in his hometown of Houston don't go without a little something to bring home some holiday cheer.

TS and The Cactus Jack Foundation will distribute toys to more than 5,000 kids in Houston who come from struggling families. We're told the gifts will be pushed out across 6 Houston neighborhoods throughout the city before Christmas Day.

We've obtained pics of all the presents and toys for the kids, plenty of dolls, golf sets and even keyboards for the aspiring musician.

Families flocked to the distribution locations throughout this week, and if the kid's smiles were any indication, you can tell the gifts were well appreciated.

The massive donation comes on the heels of an effort Travis is spearheading to make sure a tragedy like what happened at his Astroworld Festival never happens again. TMZ broke the story, TS is working with government officials and music honchos to create a safety plan for cities interested in holding large events in the future.

It was a few weeks ago when Travis sat down with Charlamagne tha God and expressed he felt a responsibility to fix things moving forward and figure out what led to the deaths of 10 of his fans.

Tis the season of giving -- just ask Tory Lanez -- who put $100,000 to work, buying toys and clothing for single moms and their kids.

Donning a Santa hat and mask Wednesday, Lanez was busy giving out the items in Broward County, Florida area as vehicles pulled up to his distribution station. Lanez handed out bikes, Barbies, lightsabers, legos and more ... even passing out snacks and taking the time to chat with those in need.

In all, we're told Lanez spent about $100,000 on the event, telling us, "We’re still battling a pandemic that’s left so many people between a rock and a hard place. I’m just happy I can be a blessing to others and help them safely bring some joy back during the holidays."

If there's one thing Chevy Chase's Clark Griswold character in 'Christmas Vacation' inspired, it's lots of holiday shenanigans ... just ask one man who created a decoration prank based on the movie's most popular scene.

In a now viral TikTok, the decoration's creator shows how he constructed the homemade decoration to look like Clark dangling from his roof as he hung Christmas lights. The prank even comes complete with audio, making it sound like the struggling man is shouting for help.

In another video, you see the local fire department racing to the scene -- seemingly to help out the fake decorator -- though it's unclear if they were part of the gig as well.

James Franco admitting he slept with students at his acting school is a total sham, designed to make it look like he's apologizing when he really isn't ... at least according to the attorneys who sued him over the sexual misconduct.

Franco seemed to spill his guts during a SiriusXM interview this week, telling Jess Cagle ... "Look I'll admit I did sleep with students. I didn't sleep with anybody in that particular class, but over the course of my teaching I did sleep with students, and that was wrong."

It's also BS, if you ask attorneys at 2 different law firms -- Valli Kane & Vagnini, LLP and Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai, LLP -- which filed lawsuits on behalf of students, including Sarah Tither-Kaplan, who'd attended Studio 4 ... Franco's school.

A rep for the firms tells us, "In addition to being blind about power dynamics, Franco is completely insensitive to, and still apparently does not care about, the immense pain and suffering he put his victims through with this sham of an acting school.

During the interview, Franco denied having any "master plan" to have sex with students -- he claims he had no role in selecting them for his class, and didn't start the school intending to bed his students ... and that's infuriating to women like Tither-Kaplan.

Her lawyers' statement continues, "It is unbelievable that even after agreeing to a settlement he continues to downplay the survivors’ experiences and ignore their pain, despite acknowledging he had no business starting such a school in the first place."

As for why Franco's coming forward now ... 10 months after he settled the class action lawsuit for $2.2 million, and nearly 4 years after the women first came forward -- the attorneys believe the interview was intentionally timed to avoid making headlines.

Josh Altman says there's no competition between 'Million Dollar Listing' and "Selling Sunset" ... but it's not the nice gesture it might sound like at first glance.

The 'MDL' star joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked him if there's any competitive fire between his group and the folks on 'SS' ... because we know how fiery L.A. realtors can be.

Josh ripped a page outta Jay-Z's playbook, telling us the 'Sunset' folk aren't even in the same conversation as his show, because the 'Million Dollar' team's doing way bigger deals than anyone over at Oppenheim.

While Josh brags about the massive dollar figures over on his side -- and there are some really BIG numbers -- he does give the Netflix show some credit, but mostly for fashion.

He's got a new spinoff, "Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles: Josh and Josh" premiering tonight on Bravo. It costars his frenemy-turned-BFF Josh Flagg, and while there's been plenty of friction between them -- Altman acknowledges 'Sunset' might have 'em beat in the drama department, but NOT if you're talking bottom lines on a sales ledger.

The funny thing is Josh told us, "I'm not trying to start a fight" with that other cast.