TMZ.com Home

Weather Channel reporter Mike Seidel looks like he deserves a raise -- he's working on the ground, in the winds of a category 4 hurricane ... and the videos are scary.

Mike threw on a rain jacket and trudged out into the thick of Hurricane Ian as the storm's eyewall made landfall Wednesday on Florida's Gulf coast ... and as you can see, the 84 MPH wind gusts are giving him a hard time.

With Ian's wind and rain bearing down on him and waves crashing at his feet, Mike admits live on the air he and his crew are getting hammered by the storm ... but the show goes on.

Mike's still out in this mess ... doing more live shots even as Hurricane Ian intensifies for folks in the Fort Myers area.

The wind is only going to pick up, and the water will continue to rise ... but so far, it looks like Mike can handle whatever comes his way.

These Florida men, who decided to go swimming off a pier in the area, also seem to think they can handle the storm. We're not as sure about their safety as we are Mike's.

MacKenzie Scott did not have chemistry, apparently, with her science teacher husband ... because the former Mrs. Jeff Bezos is ending her second marriage.

MacKenzie beelined it to a Washington state court Monday and filed to divorce Dan Jewett a little more than a year after they got hitched ... according to the NY Times.

She walked away from her marriage to Jeff with nearly $37 billion, pledging half to charity, so it's a good bet MacKenzie and Dan had a prenup.

MacKenzie's author page on Amazon already scrubbed all references to Dan, who used to be proudly mentioned, and her giving pledge page no longer features his name.

As we reported ... MacKenzie and Dan, a chemistry teacher at her kids' private school in Washington state, announced in March 2021 they had tied the knot. They did not have any children together.

MacKenzie was married to Jeff from 1993 to 2019 ... and she was the first to remarry after their divorce. Now, she's also the first to divorce again.

Ernest Hemingway's famous home in Florida is a mess with debris after Hurricane Ian winds whipped it, but there's some really good news ... the 59 cats who live there are safe and sound.

Alexa, a rep for the Hemingway house in Key West, tells TMZ ... the estate is dealing with the hurricane aftermath, with staff cleaning up all the tree and leaf debris caused by the category 4 storm.

Fortunately, the structures from the 1930s home don't appear to be damaged ... and we're told the 59 cats who call the property home are all accounted for, and feline fine.

The Hemingway Home, where Ernest wrote roughly 70 percent of his published works, was well prepared for the hurricane ... we're told the cats were sheltered on the property before the storm hit, with some staff members staying on site to tend to the felines.

The cats are a famous part of the Hemingway house ... Ernest started the cat colony back in the day when a sailor gave him a six-toed cat, and some of the cats who live there now are direct descendants ... and all 59 cats are of the six-toed variety.

R. Kelly's not just going to prison for his sex crimes in New York, but it also looks like he'll be ordered to pay a fortune to some of his victims ... including picking up the tabs to deal with their STDs and their psychological trauma in the aftermath.

There was a restitution hearing in Brooklyn Wednesday, where a judge weighed in on what Kelly will have to cough up, money-wise, to a couple of his victims in that case ... in which he's already been convicted and sentenced to prison.

For a victim named "Jane," the judge indicated Kelly will be ordered to fork over around $300K to cover treatment related to herpes, as well as psychological care that she apparently requires. Ditto for another victim in that case named "Stephanie," although a firm number hasn't been decided in her situation just yet ... the judge put a pin in it and will circle back later.

A 3rd victim, "Sonja," was denied restitution. So, at this point, it looks like Kelly will be on the hook for hundreds of thousands ... and possibly more.

Remember, Kelly's already been handed down a sentence of 30 years behind bars in this case -- where he was alleged to have committed federal sex crimes.

He was also recently convicted in his federal case out of Chicago -- in which he was accused of similar crimes -- and there could be restitution in that case, as well.

A fan at Tuesday night's Nationals game got so upset with a stadium usher that he hit the man in the face -- before biting him.

The wild altercation happened at Nationals Park during the ninth inning of the Nats' loss to the Atlanta Braves ... when several venue staffers appeared to try to boot a fan from his seat.

A video shot by a bystander shows fans near the guy chanting, "Get him out!" over and over again -- but the two staffers were having trouble getting him to leave.

Eventually, another usher came to the area to nudge the man away from his seat ... and that's when things took a violent turn.

You can see in the footage, the fan elbowed the usher in the face two times -- before he seemed to bite the man's hand.

Thankfully, two police officers arrived and separated the men before the situation escalated further.

Video shows the fan suffered a bloody head in the skirmish. It's unclear if the usher was injured.

We've reached out to both police and the Nationals for comment on it all, but so far, no word back yet.

Kanye West has hired yet another divorce lawyer, this time tapping into the same attorney who represented Melinda Gates in her multi-billion dollar divorce case with Bill Gates.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Ye's retained Robert Stephan Cohen of Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich LLP as his sixth divorce attorney in the back and forth with Kim Kardashian. Interestingly enough, Cohen is based in New York, and the Kim divorce is in Los Angeles, so Ye's also bringing on Nicholas A. Salick of Salick Family Law Group, APLC as his counsel in California.

Not only has Cohen represented Melinda, but he's also had clients like Rupert Murdoch, Chris Rock, Athina Onassis and more.

TMZ broke the story, Kim filed for divorce in November, and a judge declared her legally single back in March, after she filed docs stating, "I very much desire to be divorced." The couple still has to iron out custody and property details.

We know Kim and Kanye already had a prenup in place, so property shouldn't be an issue. As far as custody, that seems to be settled too, as Kanye recently said Kim's got the kids about 80% of the time and mostly raises them.

Two men have been charged in connection with an alleged armed robbery that took place in the middle of a church service which was stopped short while two men allegedly jacked some jewelry from the bishop during their live stream.

2 men from Brooklyn -- Juwan Anderson and Say-Quan Pollack -- were charged with armed robbery for their roles in the July 24 incident ... according to Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday.

Peace's statement reads, "As alleged, the defendants brought guns into a place of worship, stealing from two members of the clergy, and terrifying the congregation in the process" ... adding, "to commit such an act during a religious service is incomprehensible."

Peace notes a 3rd suspect is still at large.

The incident was caught on camera during the service's live stream ... showing Bishop Lamor Whitehead stopping mid-service and quickly getting on the ground -- as two men begin to take items off his person.

Whitehead tells TMZ ... "Today is the start of healing. We will let the justice system continue to work as I continue to do what God has called me to do."

LAPD is naming a suspect in the murder of PnB Rock ... he's still on the loose, and should be considered "armed and dangerous."

Cops announced Wednesday morning, Freddie Lee Trone, is the guy detectives have fingered as "a person involved" in the Sept. 12 slaying of the rapper as he sat in a Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles.

They've released this photo of Trone, but haven't yet said if he's the only person they're seeking in the case. You'll recall, police said there was a getaway car waiting outside the L.A. restaurant after PnB was shot and killed.

The killer fled with several gold and diamond chains the Philly MC was wearing as he ate lunch with his girlfriend.

Police are urging the public to contact 911 if you see Trone or have any info on his whereabouts.

Dana White was so touched by the story of a Muay Thai fighter who's trying to make a comeback to the ring after losing his legs in a tragic work accident last year, he opened up his wallet and donated $10,000 ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The fighter's name is John Esposito -- and back in December 2021, his life changed forever while he was doing his job as a road worker.

Esposito says he was filling in potholes on the side of a highway, when a car sped into the work area and hit him from behind, pinning him against a trailer. The 30-year-old said the amputation of his legs "happened on the spot."

"Halfway through the flight on the medivac, I flatlined," Esposito said recently while recalling the incident. "They were able to resuscitate me, though, and bring me back to life."

John -- who fought regularly prior to the accident -- has worked tirelessly the last nine months to get back in between the ropes ... hitting mitts from a wheelchair while he learns to move around with prosthetics.

After hearing of his journey, Liam Tarrant, founder and president of The Muay Thai Project, alongside friends Chris and Sarah Romulo, started a GoFundMe to help Esposito on his road to recovery.

And, after Tarrant appeared on UFC fighter Angela Hill's "Ceremonial Weigh-In" podcast to speak about it all ... White ended up donating $10K to the cause.

Tarrant tells us thanks to White's generosity -- as well as other donors -- the GoFundMe has already exceeded its initial goal ... and is approaching $30,000.

Tarrant says the cash will ultimately go toward Esposito's recovery costs "in the coming months & years."

Hailey Bieber is clearing the air about the fan-fueled notion she stole Justin Bieber from Selena Gomez -- saying that couldn't be further from the truth.

Her appearance on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast dropped Wednesday, and they got right into the subject -- with host Alex Cooper directly asking if there was ever any overlap between Justin and Selena's relationship and Hailey's with Justin ... especially right before they got married.

Hailey flatly denies it ... essentially saying she's not a homewrecker and was never romantically involved with JB while he was with another person -- Selena or otherwise.

She goes on to say she's aware the timing of things -- especially from the outside looking in -- might appear like there was a quick succession of romances, from Selena to Hailey, but she insists she waited.

And, this part will interest Selena fans ... Hailey suggests Selena and Justin 2.0 wasn't as serious as the rest of us thought at the time!

Just to clear up the timeline here ... Justin and Selena were hanging out A LOT in late 2017 and seemed to rekindle their relationship through early 2018, until they abruptly split. Soon thereafter, Hailey entered the picture, and before long they tied the knot.

Based on what Hailey's saying here, it sounds like there's more to the dynamic (Justin and Selena's, that is) than the public knows, but again ... she's firm on never having double dipped with Justin while he was with other women.

One more interesting tidbit from her -- she says Justin and her getting together might've actually been the best thing to help him move on from Selena ... even if it looked somewhat quick to the outside world. She also addressed the toxic fandom.

Selena stans have long gone for Hailey's neck over the idea she swooped JB, but Hailey says those fans simply have it wrong, and hopes they understand that the person they're hating on from behind a screen is a regular human with emotions.

When asked if Justin or anyone in their circle now has ever asked Selena to try to put an end to the hatred her fans are dishing ... Hailey says no -- adding Selena doesn't have to, as she doesn't owe her anything and that there's no personal beef between them whatsoever.

She ends by saying she's spoken with Selena since marrying Justin, and that she respects Selena. HB also finishes by noting, she and Justin know the truth ... and they're at peace.

Hilaree Nelson -- a world-famous ski mountaineer -- has tragically been found dead after she fell from a mountain following an avalanche in Nepal this week.

She was 49 years old.

According to the New York Times, Nelson and her partner, Jim Morrison, were attempting to ski down Manaslu -- the eighth-highest mountain in the world -- on Monday when she was knocked off course by a massive snowslide and went missing.

Authorities say they immediately launched a search for her -- though bad weather hampered their efforts. Finally, on Wednesday, government officials said they located her body.

Sachindra Yadav, an expedition liaison officer, confirmed Nelson's death to the New York Times.

"Her body has been brought to Kathmandu for autopsy," Yadav said. "It's intact but covered with snow."

Nelson was a legend in the extreme skiing sport, The North Face -- one of her sponsors -- called her "the most prolific ski mountaineer of her generation."

Her bio on her personal website said her "expedition career has led her to many 'firsts' in the world of ski mountaineering including linking two 8000m peaks in one push, first ski descents in Baffin Island, a first American ascent and ski descent of Papsura peak in India and a first ski descent of the 4th highest peak in the world, Lhotse."

The mother of two was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2018.

The prosecutor who put Jeffrey Dahmer behind bars is pushing back against the narrative Netflix puts forth in its new show -- namely, that cops ignored obvious clues because the case involved gay and/or Black people.

Former Milwaukee D.A. Michael McCann -- who personally prosecuted Dahmer in the '90s -- tells TMZ ... the notion that MPD officers turned a blind eye to Dahmer's victims because of their race or sexual orientation is ludicrous, despite what "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" portrays.

The true crime drama is getting a lot of buzz right now, and while McCann says he hasn't seen it yet ... he's aware of how Netflix and co. are playing things -- very anti-cop and leaning into perceived racial and homophobic bias throughout the episodes.

McCann is flatly denying that characterization, saying neither race nor sexual orientation had influenced how police investigated Dahmer. He insists if they'd known they had a serial killer in their midst, they would've moved in immediately to put a stop to it ... regardless of the victims' backgrounds.

He explains Dahmer's M.O. simply didn't allow for them to discover the truth any sooner than they did in 1991 -- when one of his victims escaped and brought cops to Dahmer's apartment.

McCann notes Dahmer didn't leave a lot of obvious evidence lying around, and covered his tracks well.

He also thinks there's something to the fact that Dahmer's victims were men -- saying women who went missing back then were investigated by assuming the worst. On racism and homophobia generally, he acknowledges it's been a problem historically in law enforcement ... but is still adamant that it played no role in how officers went about handling Dahmer.

Of course, not everyone will buy what McCann's selling here ... especially seeing how Glenda Cleveland -- played by Niecy Nash -- alerted Milwaukee PD to Dahmer's behavior many times before he was eventually captured. Many suspect cops wrote her off because she was Black.

Lizzo's making musical history with a damn near ancient instrument -- she's now the first person to play a crystal flute that once belonged to one of America's founding fathers!!!

The singer unveiled the big surprise during her show Tuesday night in D.C. -- the ultra-rare flute was made in 1813 and used to belong to James Madison ... AKA U.S. President #4.

She was pretty nervous about even holding the flute, much less playing it, and told the crowd ... as only Lizzo could, "Bitch I'm scared."

Lizzo played her first note and the crowd went WILD -- she followed it up by twerking while playing some more. Take that, Madison!!!

She shared her excitement online after the show, too ... telling her followers she's the "first and only person" to play this flute. She adds, "I WILL NEVER BE OVER IT."

Lizzo got an invite from Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden earlier this week to visit "the largest flute collection in the world" while in town ... and the singer took her up on it, adding "I'M PLAYIN THAT CRYSTAL FLUTE!!!"

Cara Delevingne is looking incredible as she gets back to work showing off a new fashion collection -- and that could be a heartening sight for friends who've been worried since a couple weeks ago when they say she was in a very bad way.

Cara was out at a Paris Fashion Week party Tuesday for her Cara Loves Karl collection ... a gender-neutral line she announced last month, inspired by her close friendship with the late designer Karl Lagerfeld.

The model posted a similar fit on Instagram Tuesday -- also from the collection -- and got a ton of love from her fans in the comments.

Of course, this outing comes after one of Cara's closest pals, Margot Robbie, was visibly distraught earlier this month shortly after leaving Cara's home.

Sources with direct knowledge told TMZ ... Cara's been struggling for a while -- initially with mental health issues, but now the people closest to her believe she needs rehab, too.

We're told Margot and other friends have been advocating for her to get into a treatment program.

Katie Couric, a TV icon, is battling breast cancer.

The 65-year-old former "Today" show anchor just revealed she was diagnosed in June. Cancer is no stranger to Katie ... she lost her first husband, Jay Monahan, to colon cancer in 1998. Her sister died from pancreatic cancer and her mother-in-law died from ovarian cancer. She said, "My mood quickly shifted from disbelief to resignation. Given my family's history of cancer, why would I be spared? My reaction went from, "Why me? to Why not me?"

Katie said, "Every two minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. On June 21st, I became one of them. As we approach #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth, I wanted to share my personal story with you all and encourage you to get screened and understand that you may fall into a category of women who needs more than a mammogram."

She went on to describe her struggle ... "I felt sick and the room started to spin. I was in the middle of an open office, so I walked to a corner and spoke quietly, my mouth unable to keep up with the questions swirling in my head."

Katie underwent surgery back in July. She started radiation treatment early this month.

Navy SEALs are apparently using performance-enhancing drugs en masse -- a phenomenon under the microscope after a recent death -- and now ... the branch is cracking down.

This all came under increased scrutiny after 24-year-old SEAL trainee Kyle Mullen died suddenly earlier this year while he was participating in the training program ... specifically, during Hell Week, where would-be SEALs are put through extreme conditions.

While Mullen's mother denies her son was on any type of steroid/PED that could've adversely affected his health -- paraphernalia found in his car shortly after his death has caused concern among Navy brass, spurring them to request more testing to detect this stuff.

There's a list of banned substances -- including PEDs -- that the Navy doesn't want its recruits using ... even though, in reality, it seems many of them are. Mullen's mother told CNN that her son relayed this to her while he was alive ... that more often than not, prospective SEALs were juicing up for competitive advantages in the elite program.

Officials believe this problem goes beyond just human growth hormone, BTW -- the PED problem is said to be rampant and wide-ranging ... which is obviously worrying, seeing how much this stuff has been found to be bad for the average person's health, increasing heart rate and blood pressure levels beyond normal -- and that can lead to death.

After Mullen's death, other cadets were ordered to undergo urinalysis to test for PEDs, but the Navy wants blood testing approved (and funded) because they believe this issue needs to be weeded out and strictly forbidden.

A Naval senior officer told CNN ... there is "beyond a reasonable doubt that a significant portion of the candidate population is utilizing a wide range of performance-enhancing drugs."