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Director Edward Buckles Jr. is taking a unique look at the lasting effects of Hurricane Katrina ... looking at the disaster through the lens of children who were traumatized by it.

The film's director and New Orleans native joined us on "TMZ Live" Friday and talked about the lingering trauma that is highlighted in the doc, "Katrina Babies."

Edward says PTSD is a real thing with folks who are now in their 20's and 30's but were children when the vicious storm hit 17 years ago. He also sees a connection to the violence today among young people in New Orleans.

He has personal experience ... Edward was just 13 when Katrina hit, and although he was able to make it out, some of his cousins did not.

Edward says the government's poor response to the hurricane has also had a lasting impact ... creating cynicism and anger among young people.

Richard Simmons is feeling the love, more than 8 years after he disappeared from the public eye, thanking fans for their support and well wishes on the heels of TMZ's documentary about his life and his disappearance.

Simmons, who hasn't posted a message directly from himself on Facebook in years, broke that streak Wednesday, saying, "Thank you, everyone, for your kindness and love! ❤️ Love, Richard."

Richard's post comes just a couple days after the premiere of "TMZ Investigates: What Really Happened to Richard Simmons" on FOX and Hulu. An in-depth look into Richard's life, his success and his disappearance from public life.

We're told Richard watched the special and is extremely moved by the reaction of thousands of his fans who have sent well wishes.

While Richard's official Facebook account regularly posts old clips and workout vids -- usually getting a couple hundred comments -- the direct note from Richard clearly had fans excited, with close to 5,000 comments in less than 48 hours.

AEW star Darby Allin is known for his death-defying stunts in the ring -- but this time, he's reached new heights OUT of it ... pulling off a 96-foot jump over his home in a Jeep!!

"Sketchiest stunt I ever did!" Allin wrote on social media.

In the video, Allin's Jeep gains some speed as it zooms up a makeshift ramp and launches into the air ... and man, was it close to the roof of his home!!

At one point, the Jeep's right back tire skids off the side of it ... but Allin, somehow, was still able to nail a sick landing into a bunch of trailers.

No word on how fast Allin was going or what led him to try the stunt ... but the 29-year-old pro wrestler naturally has a penchant for defying the norm.

You'll recall ... during a match against Jeff Hardy in May, Allin took the meaning of extreme to another level when he hit Jeff with his signature Swanton Bomb finisher off the ladder.

Hardy -- who's no stranger to pulling off jaw-dropping stunts inside the squared circle -- went crashing into 8 steel chairs set up directly behind him ... and the whole crowd lost it!!

As crazy as that Swanton Bomb was, it's not shocking for Allin ... who has a reputation for defying gravity and pushing his limits.

The Justice Department just released a redacted version of the Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit in which it claimed to have probable cause to search the estate and seize classified information that the former President allegedly unlawfully maintained.

According to the affidavit, the FBI believed it had probable cause based on documents Trump had previously provided to the National Archives. A review of those materials showed Trump had taken with him from the White House "highly classified records," including 25 documents marked "TOP SECRET." The FBI claims Trump produced many of the documents "unfoldered, intermixed with other records."

The FBI believed, however, based on information obtained from witnesses that there were significant additional documents he had not turned over. The names and information provided by those witnesses are redacted from the affidavit that's been released publicly, so it's impossible to know exactly what information the FBI acted upon.

Since the Mar-a-Lago raid, The DOJ and Trump had been duking it out publicly over the release of the search warrant affidavit, which laid out the government's case for probable cause that a crime was committed.

Trump initially told the media he supported the DOJ release of the warrant -- unredacted. Trump's lawyers, however, never made the argument in court, instead remaining mum on whether or not the affidavit should be released.

In his court order Thursday, Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the affidavit released, but sided with the DOJ allowing it to redact significant portions of the affidavit because "disclosure would reveal the identities of witnesses, law enforcement agents, and uncharged parties."

Dozens of FBI agents executed the warrant on August 8, descending on Mar-a-Lago and carting away dozens of boxes of potentially classified documents Trump took from the White House after losing the election.

Court documents revealed the boxes contained 11 sets of classified records -- some marked top secret and "sensitive compartmented information". Trump blasted the FBI on his Truth Social platform, grousing that during the search, agents had broken into his safe and searched Melania's closet, leaving it a "mess."

The day he left office, 45 took the boxes of sensitive materials with him back to Mar-a-Lago. Since then, he and his lawyers have been in a tug of war of sorts with the National Archives and Records Administration over the return of the documents to the government.

Britney Spears has made one of the most remarkable comebacks ever in music ... exactly one year ago she was locked in a contentious conservatorship -- one year later she's shot to the top of the music charts in spectacular fashion.

Britney's collab with Elton John -- "Hold Me Closer" dropped Friday and immediately shot to #1 on iTunes in the U.S. The song is #1 in 35 countries, including England.

Britney shared her feelings about the release on Twitter and said, "Okie dokie … my first song in 6 years 🎶 !!!! It's pretty damn cool that I'm singing with one of the most classic men of our time … @eltonofficial 🚀!!!! I'm kinda overwhelmed… it's a big deal to me !!!"

It's Britney's first release since the termination of her conservatorship in 2021 ... with heavy involvement by her former agent and current manager, Cade Hudson. She hasn't released music in 6 years.

It's also a brilliant move on Elton's part ... as you know, he released "Cold Heart - PNAU Remix" with Dua Lipa a year ago which was also a monster hit. He's found a way to take some of his amazing songs and put a spin on them with younger artists, and it's clearly working.

Sources with direct knowledge of the process of making "Hold Me Closer" tell TMZ, Britney was "all over the song," heavily involved in the sound and the mixing. There was a little drama during the post-production, but all worked out.

Britney's conservatorship lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, tells TMZ, "It's been a privilege working with her. She's been thorough a lot. Regardless of what comes next for her and what she chooses, I am so very proud of her."

A wild fight broke out in the stands at a high school football game in Mississippi Thursday night ... leaving one man bloodied, and the chaotic scene was captured on video!!

It all went down during a football game between the Wayne County War Eagles and the Quitman Panthers ... when two men began screaming at each other during the contest.

In the clip, a man wearing a blue Heidelberg football shirt stood up and told the other guy, who appeared to be wearing a navy shirt, "I'll whoop your ass," as the two went back and forth.

The video shows the guy responding by saying, "Come on out to the parking lot. Come whoop my ass" ... and that's when all hell broke loose!!

The guy in the Heidelberg football shirt walked down the stadium stairs, and that's when the guy in the navy shirt attempts to pick him up and unloads a series of punches.

It's unclear how many punches were thrown, but the fight left one guy bloodied ... as spectators nearby tried to separate the two parties and restore some semblance of peace.

We reached out to Wayne County H.S. and Quitman H.S., and they tell us they have no reason to believe either individual seen fighting in the video was affiliated with either H.S.

The Chief of Police with Wayne County School District's Police Department told us he had "no comment" at this time.

Sylvester Stallone is still showing up for work, and putting on a face that seems to hide the fact his wife just pulled the trigger on ending their 25 years of marriage.

Sly surprised a bunch of excited fans Thursday at a special screening for his new movie "Samaritan" ... popping up at the AMC Empire 25 theater in New York. Some folks whipped out their cameras to snap the moment, while others clapped and greeted him with smiles.

And, despite it being a difficult time, he seemed to be in pretty good spirits. At one point he grabbed the mic and gave a guy in the audience a warm embrace.

As we reported ... his now-estranged wife Jennifer Flavin filed for divorce a week ago, and in the docs, she claims he's been moving around marital assets to hide them from her and her attorneys -- although Sly denies that.

There's been a lot of back and forth about what might have caused the divorce -- much of it centering on Sly's new Rottweiler, Dwight, which Stallone got tatted on his shoulder ... OVER Jennifer's face!

While sources connected to Sly said an argument about the dog triggered the divorce ... Sly himself tells us that wasn't it.

He says he and Jennifer "just went in different directions," and adds he was totally caught off guard by her filing divorce papers.

Interestingly, though, Jennifer was out in WeHo in early August, and wasn't wearing her wedding ring.

Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson's finally ready to flaunt an amazing makeover -- delayed for months due to a possible cancer discovery -- and he's truly looking like a new man!!!

As you can see, Honey Boo Boo's father got a massive overhaul, which included a hair transplant, botox, and dental surgery ... according to his manager, Gina Rodriguez.

This was no SuperCuts job either, Sugar Bear's new 'do required a visit to Jacques Abrahamian at LA FUE Hair Clinic in Pasadena ... where he got more than 3,500 FUE grafts to restore the top half of his scalp.

The procedure, which takes individual follicles from other parts of the body to the scalp, can set someone back $30K.

Sugar Bear also hit Bev Hills for 75 units of Botox from Dr. David Saadat, who injected his eyebrows, forehead and those pesky crow's feet.

As for the new pearly whites ... Dr. Joseph Goodman of Beverly Hills removed 20 teeth and replaced them with top and bottom snap-in dentures -- normally a $35K procedure.

This makeover was a long time coming for SB ... TMZ broke the story, he started the process to get a makeover in May this year after going through his recent divorce from Jennifer Lamb.

The procedures were put on hold after a dentist discovered possible cancer in his gums.

One bald eagle's giving its own wings a break, and hopping a commercial flight instead -- but even being the U.S. national bird won't get you through TSA any faster.

This particular screening eagle, named Clark, was boarding a flight in North Carolina earlier this week ... and as you might imagine, Clark caught a lot of eyes in the airport. Eat your heart out Bennifer!

While he might seem like an unlikely passenger, TSA said the airline made them aware ahead of time that Clark would be a passenger, and agents handled biz as they would for any other animal.

No favors for this guy, either. You'd think being on the cover of every U.S. Passport might get you some celeb treatment, but Clark and his handler still had to wait in line and go through TSA screening. Like everyone else.

Apparently, the eagle is trained to spread his wings on command. TSA agents tweeted about the cool moment ... saying the eagle "showed off a bit during screening" and flapped his wings briefly.

According to the World Bird Sanctuary, Clark is "one of only four bald eagles who travel to fly at different venues throughout the United States”. It's up to each airline to decide which animal is allowed on a plane ... per the FAA website.

Fake Drake is missing out on his big celebrity turn with Lamar Odom, and he's blaming real deal Drake for sabotaging his money bag!!!

Fake, Izzy, whatever ... that guy was a recent guest on the WeInMiami podcast, where he got candid about his recent encounter with Drake … who allegedly cold-shouldered Frake and team when approached about the nixed celebrity boxing match with Lamar Odom.

Champagne Papi seemed fine with coexisting with his clone in the past, but lately, he's got no patience for the whole scene. During the podcast, Fake Drake claimed the megastar rapper threatened to pull up to the fight and slap him ... free of charge.

Frizzy also accused Drake of paying off LO to stay out of the ring, but sources involved in the celebrity boxing deal tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Drake cashing out the ex-NBA star is false, and LO simply backed out on his own.

Speaking of fights, one almost broke out during the podcast taping when Sparkling Cider Papi's new opponent, YouTuber M2thaK, promised to remove all signs of Drake … with his fists.

The fight is scheduled to happen in October, and should be worth the price of admission … especially if real Drake shows up to get in a few shots. Hey, we can dream.

Shia LaBeouf is back from the brink of a terribly dark place, and he's crediting his latest project, "Padre Pio" ... saying the role and God pulled him back to the light.

Shia revealed he did some serious studies on Catholicism for his upcoming film ... talking about his journey to meet with Bishop Robert Barron of the Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

He says he even prepped for the role of the Franciscan Capuchin friar by living in a monastery with other friars.

Shia admits he went into production at a rough point in his life -- as we reported, he was sued by his ex, FKA Twigs, in 2020 for sexual battery, and claims he felt suicidal. He says he told the Bishop, "I had a gun on the table. I was outta here. I didn't want to be alive anymore when all this happened."

However, he thinks his studies made him a lot more grateful to be alive, saying ... "It was seeing other people who have sinned beyond anything I could ever conceptualize also being found in Christ that made me feel like, 'Oh, that gives me hope.'"

He believes God was behind his whole realization, claiming he was "using my ego to draw me to him."

Meek Mill said there was no bad blood with Jay-Z when he left Roc Nation management … and now, Jigga is backing that sentiment in a new track.

Jay is one of many major guests on DJ Khaled's "GOD DID" album, and doesn't mince words when talking Meek on a track also titled "GOD DID."

"Me and Meek could never beef, I freed that n**** from a whole bid, Hov did," Jay raps .... referencing the 2018 "Free Meek" campaign he helped orchestrate where he spent millions of dollars and even wrote an op-ed in the New York Times.

The song also features Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend and new singer Fridayy, but Jay clearly got the bigger piece of the pie ... rapping for nearly 4 minutes straight.

Meek was signed to Jay's RN imprint in 2012 -- up until just a month ago when he departed and eventually signed with WME -- sparking drama rumors.

It's a classic case of out with the old, and in with ... some cold hard cash for "90 Day Fiancé" star Andrew Kenton, who's selling off the ring he gave his ex on the show.

Andrew tells TMZ ... he moved to California earlier this year, and left the ring and wedding band with his family before deciding to put them up for sale.

He says the ring holds a lot of old memories and is a sad reminder of his past with Amira Lollysa, his ex-fianceé. While he has no need for it, he figures selling it is a golden opportunity for any superfans of the TLC hit show.

Andrew has listed the ring on eBay with an opening bid of $1k, but says it's worth $7,300 ... at least, according to the appraisal he got back in 2019.

Whoever snags the bling will get a shiny white 14k gold ring made by Neil Lane. It's princess cut and has an emerald that sits on top of the crown of diamonds.

You might remember Andrew from season 8 of the series where he and Amira, who's from France, met online and eventually got engaged in Las Vegas in 2018.

The couple faced major hurdles with getting a visa due to the pandemic and split on the finale before getting married. When they broke up Andrew asked for the ring back, and claimed he had to send Amira nearly $300 in Kim Kardashian makeup to get her to return it.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jake Fraley was so pissed with Phillies fans on Thursday night, he straight-up screamed at the guys and eventually told them to "shut the f**k up!"

It all went down at Citizens Bank Ballpark during the Reds' tilt with Philadelphia, when at some point during the contest, Fraley had clearly heard enough from chirping Phils fans.

Video from the scene shows Fraley and a man wearing a navy blue shirt that read Philadelphia Fire Department jawing back and forth with each other, exchanging cuss words.

Then, after Fraley told the guy he didn't want a problem with him ... he said to the group of people in the seats, "Shut the f**k up!" before he walked away from the situation.

The fans kept telling Fraley he got the wrong guy, with one man repeatedly yelling, "It wasn't me!"

Jake, however, clearly wasn't buying the explanation, and seemed infuriated over it all. Luckily for all parties, cooler heads prevailed before things escalated.

Gavin Rossdale took his kids on stage during his latest show for some birthday celebrations ... making longtime fans wonder where the hell the time has gone?!?

The Bush frontman brought out 14-year-old Zuma and 8-year-old Apollo at Wednesday night's show at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Chicago ... Zuma's birthday was over the weekend and Gavin wanted the entire crowd to join in the celebration.

The singer called to the wings for 16-year-old Kingston to join them, but the kid was a no-show ... but Zuma still got a huge "Happy Birthday" from the audience, and got to blow out his candles in front of everyone.

Gavin's band is currently on tour with Alice in Chains and Breaking Benjamin -- talk about a rockin' birthday!!!

The little kids ain't so little anymore -- as you know, Zuma, Apollo, and Kingston were the talk of the town growing up ... of course, a lot of that had to do with Gavin's marriage to Gwen Stefani.

Gwen wished her middle child a happy birthday in a sweet Instagram post over the weekend.

The sculptor who made the iconic Kobe and Gigi Bryant statue that was placed at the crash site earlier this year has made several replicas of the tribute ... and he tells TMZ Sports he's giving them out to fans in honor of Mamba Day.

On the 2nd anniversary of Kobe and Gigi's death, Dan Medina made a 160-pound bronze statue of the NBA legend and his 13-year-old daughter ... and brought it to the Calabasas location on January 26.

That monument was only temporary (since the city of Calabasas told us a permanent one won't be installed anytime soon) ... but Medina created four miniature ones just like it for a special giveaway that started on 8/24 -- AKA Mamba Day.

"I will be giving away 4 Bronze sculptures in the near future," Medina tells us.

"The designs are 12 inches tall and are an exact replica of the larger design I displayed last January 26."

The replicas all sit on black granite and each one has a different finish -- bronze patina, polished gold, Black Mamba patina and stainless steel.

"I'm genuinely humbled by my opportunity in keeping their legacy alive," Medina says. "The world needs this."

To be eligible, Medina fans have to donate $24 or more to the Mamba and Mambacita Foundation starting on Mamba Day ... and after following instructions from his Instagram account, he will randomly pick 4 winners by January 2023 -- which marks the third anniversary of the tragedy.

"My plan is when anyone donates a specified dollar amount they will need to input an email that puts them in a pool, then I will randomly choose a winner," Medina said.