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An actor in Alec Baldwin's "Rust" movie is on board with resuming production after Halyna Hutchins' tragic death ... thanks to now having her family's blessing.

Douglas Stewart, who plays the town father in the western flick, tells TMZ ... the biggest hurdle in finishing the movie was knowing whether Halyna's family wanted it done, and having her widower involved is what the cast needed to hear to move forward.

As we reported, Matthew Hutchins announced this week he's dropping the wrongful death suit against Alec, the producers and others ... having reached a settlement.

Alec is now going to finish in his lead role, alongside the OG "Rust" cast, with Halyna's widower becoming an executive producer on the movie.

Douglas says he has mixed feelings about completing the flick because of the tragedy, but says as a working actor who has a family to care for ... he ultimately feels it's the right move given heightened safety precautions and Matthew's involvement.

The civil settlement is not affecting the criminal investigation -- authorities say some of the folks involved, including Alec, could be charged -- but Douglas says he doesn't think it will have an impact on finishing the film -- completing the film and any criminal case are separate issues.

A comedian who was in the middle of performing in New Jersey was met with a handsy heckler -- who kept his hands to himself ... but let his beer fly in her direction.

Ariel Elias was recently doing a set at Uncle Vinnie's Comedy Club Point Pleasant Beach -- and while she was in the middle of a bit ... a woman from the crowd interrupted her to start talking politics ... specifically, musing on who she voted for and landing on Joe Biden.

Things were definitely tense, but Ariel kept her cool and rolled with the punches ... shutting the lady down by clowning her -- which somebody else nearby didn't take very well.

Unclear who exactly did this ... but someone straight up threw a semi-full beer can up onstage and in Ariel's direction -- which only barely missed her head ... splattering against the wall and hitting the ground. She was shocked, as was just about everyone else.

You can hear what sounds like a man saying he's never coming back again, and what seems like a staffer telling him he can't do that. Then, Ariel picks up the beer ... and pounds it!!!

There's more to the story ... whoever threw that beer is apparently going to pay for it, because Ariel says the club is pressing charges against him. Unclear if cops were called that night and if he was arrested, but it appears Uncle Vinnie's isn't letting this one go.

As you can imagine, AE is getting a lot of kudos from those in the comedy world for how she handled this. Not only did she turn a crazy situation on its head, but she did it with so much humor ... even in the face of violence.

Ex-NFL star Jamal Lewis says Tua Tagovailoa needs to be very, very careful with his health going forward after suffering a concussion last week ... telling TMZ Sports effects from similar head injuries that he's experienced in the past have lingered "for years."

"This is a silent creeper," Lewis said of post-concussion symptoms, "that can haunt you for the rest of your life slowly."

Lewis, unfortunately, knows all about head trauma -- the former Baltimore Ravens running back sustained several concussions in his career ... including one in 2009 that he says was a horrifying experience.

The ex-tailback says he was knocked out during a game, and didn't feel quite right following the hit for months. At one point while trying to recover, he says he "woke up not really recognizing myself."

The 43-year-old -- one of only eight people to ever rush for more than 2,000 yards in an NFL season -- is now telling Tagovailoa to use him as a cautionary tale ... and truly take care of his head before returning to the field.

"You gotta be more smart and understand that you might have a family," Lewis said, "that you have other people that are more important than this game."

Tagovailoa appeared to suffer a head injury initially against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 25.

After telling docs it was his back, not his head, that bothered him, he was allowed to return to the game and then play again four days later against the Cincinnati Bengals.

In that game, he was slung to the ground and knocked out for several moments. He was rushed to the hospital, and has since been away from the Dolphins recovering.

"Shahs of Sunset" star Mike Shouhed is no longer facing a domestic violence charge for allegedly roughing up his fiancée ... that is, if he follows through with a few classes, including a gun safety course.

According to court documents, Mike cut a deal with prosecutors that got a slew of misdemeanor charges dismissed from his domestic violence arrest. Most notably, domestic violence, battery and unlawfully attempting to dissuade a witness were all dropped.

Per the docs, prosecutors agreed to let Mike enter into a diversion program to close out his case -- meaning he won't have to plead to any charges as long as he successfully completes the terms of the program.

Mike agreed to take anger management and parenting classes, along with performing community service and completing a gun safety course.

Mike was also facing a handful of weapons charges -- including criminal storage of a loaded firearm and possession of an assault weapon -- so another condition is he's now barred from owning or possessing any weapons during the 2-year diversion program.

As we reported ... Mike was arrested back in March for allegedly getting physical with a woman during a fight, who was later identified as his fiancée, Paulina Ben-Cohen.

Mike and Paulina, who have been engaged since 2021, went to Los Cabos for a getaway only a few weeks after his arrest ... with Mike showing tons of affection to Paulina's kids during a day on the beach.

Mike's attorney, George Mgdesyan, tells TMZ, "In this case, the DA didn’t bring this case because they saw the facts like I did. If this case was brought to trial, the prosecution would not be able to prove it. All my client’s guns were legal, in his bedroom that was locked with a keypad. No one was allowed in the master bedroom."

He continues, "It was unfortunate that there was one weapon registered to my client before laws changed, and it was a technical violation. However, the City Attorney’s Office charged him with gun charges. In light of the offer, he was not convicted and will earn a dismissal that’s in his best interest because the domestic violence charges were dismissed. If the domestic violence charges were not dismissed, we would proceed to trial. It was a no brainer."

American actor and comedian Dave Sheridan was 33 years old when he was cast as Doofy -- the assistant at a local sheriff's department who disguises and keeps his bad boy image under wraps ... only to end up being the main antagonist -- in the OG comedy and parody film "Scary Movie."

Sheridan shared the big screen with Anna Faris as the sweet and innocent, Cindy, Regina Hall as Cindy's upbeat and animated best friend, Brenda, Marlon Wayans as Brenda's not-so-responsible older brother, Shorty and Shawn Wayans as the jock and Brenda's boyfriend, Ray.

Arnold Schwarzenegger may be the most expensive personal trainer in the land, because Sunday he worked out 2 crews that each plunked down $150,000 ... all for an incredible cause.

Arnold was at Gold's Gym in Venice, which he made world-famous, and made good on a charity auction at his home Saturday night.

Morris Flancbaum from Florida and his fam bid the $150k to get a good pump under Arnold's tutelage. Morris and his sons got pointers from The Terminator as a crowd formed to watch. Another $150k auction winner was there as well, getting fit with Arnold.

The charity -- After-School All-Stars -- is fantastic. Arnold created it 30 years ago to benefit school kids around the country. It provides after-school programs and exercise for 100,000 kids in 60 cities.

This time around folks donated $5.2 million, of which $1.75M came from the auction. In addition to a training session, Arnold auctioned off clothes, humidors, art and a ride in his tank!!!

Guests paid $50k a head to attend the event. Sylvester Stallone, Danny DeVito and Dolph Lundgren, along with the costars of Arnold's new Netflix show, "FUBAR," all showed.

And this part's amazing ... the charity just opened a school program in Uvalde, Texas, at the request of the City. It only took 45 days to get the program up and running.

A Hooters in Texas came under intense assault this week -- with a group of youths going crazy on the establishment and their customers ... supposedly, because of some candy.

Video from the altercation first surfaced on Thursday -- when the incident appears to have happened -- but started making the rounds this weekend ... and the footage is absolutely wild. You see a bunch of young guys, some of whom are shirtless, losing their minds.

They're beating up what appear to be patrons in the vestibule of the restaurant ... wailing on one guy in particular who falls to his knees. Some of the employees -- including at least one Hooters girl -- also seem to get roped into the action ... with complete chaos unfolding.

One person filming says something to the effect of ... "all over chocolate," and you even see a chocolate bar on the ground at one point. Welp, as it turns out -- that's exactly what allegedly sparked this whole thing ... according to a Hooters manager who spoke to TMZ.

We're told these guys are door-to-door salesmen and that they came around that night trying to hawk their goods, only to be turned away over a no-soliciting policy Hooters has -- which is apparently what set them off.

There weren't more details provided, but the Hooters manager says they've resumed business and that a criminal investigation is ongoing.

We've reached out to the local authorities, including Plano PD, to see if anything further came from this ... so far, no word back.

William Shatner called Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space flight a profound experience upon landing back on Earth -- but now, he's saying ... it was actually a huge bummer.

The 'Star Trek' OG has a new book coming out -- titled "Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder" -- and Variety obtained an excerpt this week ... which sheds light on how WS actually felt as he was shooting up into the great beyond above our stratosphere.

Here's the quote everyone's mentioning -- it starts off with Will saying he thought rocketing into space would be a huge catharsis and illuminating ... thanks to Hollywood's portrayals.

Instead, however, Captain Kirk had the exact opposite feeling -- saying, "I discovered that the beauty isn't out there, it's down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound."

There's more ... William says his space flight made him incredibly distraught with sorrow. He says, "It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness." He says the idea of us humans destroying that filled him with dread.

Will adds, "My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral."

Remember, Will was visibly emotional when they touched down ... but as he was trying to relay something to JB, the dude sorta interrupted his thought by popping some champagne.

Later, Will certainly made it seem like it was a positive moment -- calling the Blue Origin flight "profound" and "extraordinary."

Marty McFly and Doc Brown are tearing up the space-time continuum again -- and it's just as emotional as ever ... especially all these years later.

Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd reunited Saturday in the Big Apple during a 'Back to the Future' panel at New York Comic Con ... and when the two former costars met onstage, they greeted each other with a big hug, which got thunderous applause from the fans.

Check out the clip ... you see MJF out there by himself at first, taking a seat on the couch then he pops back up when Chris walks out, and wraps him up with open arms.

It's a super cool moment, and you can tell it meant a lot to both of them -- especially by the way Mike went in for the embrace. Afterward, they sat down and chopped it up ... reportedly going on to tell old stories about the trilogy, but particularly about Pt. 1 (the classic).

Michael reportedly said at one point ... "You guys have given me my whole life," adding a poignant nugget about his Parkinson's. Mike said, "The best thing that happened in my life was this thing. Parkinson's is a gift. I've said to people it's a gift and they say, 'You're nuts.' I say, 'Yeah, but it's the gift that keeps on taking.' But it's a gift and I wouldn't change it for anything ... It's not about what I have, it's about what I've been given."

Lizzo acknowledged the fact Kanye West name-dropped her on primetime television to decry obesity -- but it sounds like she's taking the high road ... straight to Canada, apparently.

The singer was performing at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena Friday when she stopped at one point in the show to address Ye's comments about her during his appearance on Tucker Carlson's show this week -- and her response was to seek refuge there up north.

Lizzo says everyone in America has something to say about her, this while she just minds her business. She prefaced that with "fat, Black, beautiful" to hit her point home.

She then asks if she can stick around, to which the audience cheered. Lizzo openly wondered if she could marry someone for dual citizenship ... and got a good laugh.

She didn't mention Kanye explicitly ... which is a similar approach she took when Aries Spears recently trashed her. There, too, she didn't really lay into him ... but simply said she'd let her success do the talking -- despite people wanting her to "clap back." Ditto for Ye, it seems.

Remember, Kanye used Lizzo to make a point about folks supposedly booing the notion of bettering themselves through weight loss ... something he called "demonic" and the "genocide of the Black race."

Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo look like they've put his sexting scandal in their rearview, at least it looks that way on the surface after eyeballing these beach pics.

Adam and Behati took their kids on a bike ride to the beach Saturday and they were all cuddles and smiles.

The kids tried their hand at surfing near their home in Oprah Country, AKA Montecito, CA.

Adam wore a Rolex Daytona Cosmograph rainbow on the sand, which goes for more than $400k!

Behati, who's pregnant with their 3rd child, was all smiles ... which has pretty much been how she's looked since the scandal erupted 2 weeks ago.

As we reported, Adam and his band, Maroon 5, performed at Shaq's charity fundraiser in Vegas last weekend, to thunderous applause.

Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were among the mourners at a socialite's funeral, and one thing that's hard to ignore ... funeral fashion.

It was actually a Celebration of Life for J.R. Ridinger, a 63-year-old Miami socialite and co-founder of Market America. He died from a pulmonary embolism about a month ago while sailing in Croatia on his yacht.

At the event, held at Faena Forum in Miami Saturday night, Kim was dressed to the 9's in a Balenciaga gown with matching bag and shades.

J Lo and Ben were more traditional, arriving with interlocking hands and her 13-year-old child Emme in tow.

J Lo actually performed ... taking the mic with Alicia Keys playing the piano as they sang.

Actor Ray Buffer is being accused by a San Diego comic book store of stealing some pricey comics ... and the store says security footage appears to show him stuffing 'em up his shirt.

Southern California Comics in San Diego alleges it has Ray on video stealing $600 worth of comic books, and the store filed a police report with SDPD and is handing over evidence to police, including their security footage.

SDPD tells TMZ police took a report for petty theft and are investigating the incident.

The comic book store says it got even more evidence -- which it will be turning over to police -- after warning other stores about Ray in a Facebook post before he had been identified.

The owners tell us Metropolis Comics in L.A. sent them some eerily similar security footage from when Ray was there. In that video, the owner confronts him after seeing him pull the same move, and this time he puts the comics back and leaves as the owner threatens to call police.

Ray, who has appeared in TV shows like "ER" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," deleted all of his social media accounts after the comic book store posted the video online.

Bookstores are always on edge about this kind of theft, because some comics are worth a lot of money -- we've reported about rare comics getting auctioned off for large sums. That's why most stores have such great security cameras.

Tom Cruise apparently thinks fighter jets are for chumps, because for his next flick he wants to go nose-up into space.

Cruise is in the process of making a deal with Universal Films Entertainment Group with an idea ... shoot a movie on the International Space Station. Of course, that would require Tom and others to be rocketed up there.

The idea's actually been talked about for years, but it was shelved during the pandemic.

Tom's got lots of power these days to make things happen ... 'Top Gun' receipts have gone north of $700M in the domestic box office, and $1.4B on planet earth.

Universal seems to be on board, with Chairman Donna Langley saying, "I think Tom Cruise is taking us to space, he’s taking the world to space," adding, "That’s the plan. We have a great project in development with Tom … Taking a rocket up to the Space Station and shooting."

The general plot is predictable ... a dude on earth is going to space, as Langley says, "to save the day."

Now here's the deal ... not only would Tom be the first actor to shoot a movie in space, but the hope is that he'll also be the first to do a space walk!

The sister of the longtime Wendy's employee with Down Syndrome who was recently unceremoniously canned is lashing out at the franchise.

Dennis Peek worked at a Wendy's in Stanley, North Carolina for 20 years, was fired without notice a few days back, and now his sister claims managers at the fast food joint told her Dennis couldn't do his job like a "normal" person.

Dennis's sister, Cona Young Turner, wrote on Facebook, "I am heart broken to say they have fired him ... They told me was unable to perform the duties of a normal persons job."

She went on ... "His dream was to retire from there some day and he was looking forward to a huge retirement party, we may just give him that party and tell him he has retired because he does not understand being fired."

She now says Wendy's has offered Dennis his job back, but he's not biting. She also says she's looking into filing a wrongful termination lawsuit of a special needs worker.

Cona says Dennis was deeply hurt by the firing, but she's gonna throw him a big retirement bash.

'SNL' decided to tap into all the s**t that's going down in the U S of A with a game show called, "So You Think You Won’t Snap."

The game is all about temptation ... hurling problematic news stories to mild-mannered, chill contestants and seeing if they reach a breaking point ... and there are stakes!

Contestants who are off the bottle are challenged with a big glass of wine. A flight attendant becomes a potential human punching bag, and a hot iron sits on a table ready to scorch a man's face. In other words, high stakes.

Watch for yourself ... from Biden to Kanye and everything in between -- it's just too much to bare.