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"Simpsons" writer and producer Mike Reiss says he was super relaxed during his journey to the Titanic wreck aboard an OceanGate submersible -- but also scarily aware he might die down there.

Mike joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live," and detailed his experience on the Titan ... the sub that went missing this week in the Atlantic Ocean while attempting the exact same journey he made last summer.

For Mike, his trip included a few bumps and some technical difficulties ... but he says he kept his cool inside the cramped sub, even getting some shut-eye on the 2.5-hour descent to the ocean floor.

He says they stumbled upon the wreck and only had about 30 minutes to check it out from the tiny viewport ... but he got his pictures.

Mike was able to keep calm even in the face of some challenging conditions ... as he tells us, it's pitch black 2.5 miles under the surface and the sub creeps along in the dark looking for the wreck, usually without much help from the navigators back on the surface.

Plus, there's the fact Mike says the waiver he signed before the expedition made it very clear death was a possible outcome.

It's interesting ... Mike says he was actually comforted by the relative simplicity of the sub, including the video game controller steering the Titan.

As you know ... the Titan went missing Sunday during an expedition to the Titanic and a search and rescue effort is underway ... the clock is ticking and time is running out.

Our conversation with Mike is super interesting and insightful ... and he tells us why he went down there in the first place, and under what circumstances he'd actually go back again.

The writers' strike has no sign of slowing down, as a massive swarm of folks turned out for a rally more than a month and a half after members of the WGA decided enough was enough.

Thousands of writers gathered at Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles Wednesday ... with a ton of them carrying their picket signs and donning their blue WGA strike shirts.

In case ya forgot, the big strike started back on May 2 -- and while the bigwigs in Hollywood are holding their ground as projects are now missing a writing staff, it seems the creatives aren't backing down either.

As we reported, there have been a ton of good times being had at picket lines throughout Los Angeles ... accompanied by a bunch of food donated by celebs like Jimmy Fallon, Snoop Dogg, and even Flavor Flav!

Speaking of celebs, a lot of A-listers have been spotted carrying picket signs left and right during the strike -- folks like Tina Fey, Bob Odenkirk, Susan Sarandon, and Pete Davidson.

We've even seen musical performances popping up at the various studios, including ones from Weezer and Imagine Dragons' Dan Reynolds!

Things are starting to look very grim for the 5 people trapped inside the submersible meant to explore the Titanic ... but that's not stopping the stepson of one of the missing men from shooting his shot with an Onlyfans model.

Hamish Harding is a British billionaire among the passengers inside OceanGate's Titan -- the submersible that lost communication 2 hours into its dive Sunday. Harding's stepson Brian Szasz has been very active on social media as the story has blown up around the world.

Brian was back on Twitter Wednesday, first asking his followers to continue to think of his family, writing, "Please keep my family in your prayers!🙏🏽♥️"

However, about 30 minutes later, his attention shifted to streamer and Onlyfans model Brea -- who posted a pic of herself in a bikini with the caption, "can i sit on u."

Brian, clearly into the pic, reposted it and replied, "Yes please!🥰"

Of course, Brian's comment section started to pop off following the post. One user wrote, "Lmao quote tweeting a thirst trap while your stepdad is lost at sea is wild business 😅" Another added, "This guy loves blink- 182 and having ladies sit on his face and he’s not afraid to let the world know."

As we reported, Brian's the same guy who announced he was going to a Blink-182 concert in San Diego as rescuers scrambled to look for Harding. Brian posted a photo outside the concert Monday night, clearly aware it was going to come off the wrong way and defending his attendance at the show as a way to cope with a tough situation.

Guess everyone handles stress differently.

Riley Gaines is taking her fight to keep transgender women out of women's sports to our nation's capital ... testifying for a Senatorial hearing about her encounters with lightning rod athlete Lia Thomas.

The former collegiate swimmer -- who competed for the University of Kentucky, and who also raced against Lia on the NCAA level -- described to U.S. senators what it was like having to change in the same locker room as Thomas ... who's a transgender woman.

She describes seeing Thomas' male genitalia and how jarring it was for her and others, saying nobody ever asked for their consent or input -- they, the NCAA, just let it happen.

In Gaines' eyes, this was a clear violation of their right to privacy, and she went on to pose the question -- what does this trend mean for women's sport? And, more importantly, does anyone care how it impacts cisgender women? By letting Thomas compete with them, she argues the powers that be have proven they don't.

Interestingly, Gaines says she's not advocating for trans athletes to be banned from sports altogether. On the contrary, she says they can and should be athletes -- but it sounds like she's suggesting they have their own classification and not be lumped in with cisgender competitors.

Now, as far as how the lawmakers reacted ... it pretty much fell along party lines. Dems pushed back on her characterization -- and Republicans, by and large, embraced her.

Willie McGinest has been sued yet again ... this time, a man is alleging the ex-NFL star and three other people beat the hell out of him during a dispute over weights at a gym two years ago.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, the altercation happened back on June 21, 2021 ... inside of a 24 Hour Fitness in Long Beach, Calif.

The plaintiff, Andrew Cortez, claims he was using the bench press ... when someone walked up and took one of his plates.

Cortez says he told the person he was not done with the weight ... but he claims McGinest, the former New England Patriots pass rusher, overheard the exchange and said "the f*** you mean?"

According to the lawsuit, McGinest then socked Cortez in the face with a closed fist.

Cortez alleges three other men then jumped in ... and, along with McGinest, proceeded to strike him in the head and back "30 to 40 times."

According to the suit, 24 Hour Fitness personnel eventually separated the parties -- though Cortez claims he was left bloodied and injured.

Cortez says he's been suffering from emotional distress since the attack ... and is still reeling from the wounds he sustained.

He's asking for unspecified damages in his suit.

Search crews desperately looking for the five people trapped inside a submarine that vanished in the Atlantic Ocean might have gotten their first break -- after hearing possible signs of life coming from the vessel.

According to CNN, citing an internal U.S. government memo, the crews detected banging noises in 30-minute intervals over their sonars emanating from inside the North Atlantic Ocean Tuesday after the submarine disappeared two days earlier while on a tourist exploration to see the Titanic wreckage.

The internal memo said additional sonar devices were also deployed Tuesday, picking up even more banging, although it was unclear how long the second batch of sounds lasted.

"Additional acoustic feedback was heard and will assist in vectoring surface assets and also indicating continued hope of survivors," CNN reported, quoting the internal document.

What's more ... a Canadian P-3 military aircraft reportedly spotted a white rectangular object in the ocean, but the potential lead has yet to be investigated because crews were too busy probing the banging noises.

The U.S. Coast Guard tweeted ... the P-3 aircraft shared information about the rectangular object with the U.S. Navy "for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans."

As everyone knows by now ... the authorities are in a race against time to find the submarine and save its five passengers, who began with 96 hours of oxygen when they launched the voyage Sunday.

By Tuesday, that number was cut by more than half to 40 hours. Now it's Wednesday and the clock is still ticking.

Former Coast Guard Captain Andrew Norris told us on "TMZ Live" ... the submarine passengers would need an unprecedented miracle to survive this situation.

Bebe Rexha is thankin' the Lord for getting through her most recent performance without taking a cell phone to the face ... getting emotional onstage just days after getting clocked.

The singer bounced back to performance mode at The Fillmore in Philly Tuesday night while still donning a bandage above her eye. As the show was coming to a close, she jokingly announced, "No phones in the face, thank God."

Bebe then started one of her hits, "In the Name of Love," but doesn't get very far -- stopping after getting emotional in front of the crowd.

To be fair, it's been a wild few days for Bebe -- it was during her show Sunday night in Manhattan when a rogue phone hit her in the face, taking her to the ground.

Bebe's fans were outraged at Nicolas Malvagna, the alleged attacker -- but his lawyer Todd A Spodek told us he chucked the tech towards the singer in hopes of getting her to take a pic with it.

Looks like Bebe's doin' better -- and that's good news!

We covered it all on the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Larry Myers Jr. -- who appeared on Season 10 of "My 600-Lb. Life" -- has died in Texas.

Family spokesperson Sonya Hines-Hall tells TMZ ... Larry -- nicknamed "Mr. Buttermilk Biscuits" on the TLC show -- died from a heart attack at his Houston home last week while mourning the death of a friend.

Larry's relatives announced his passing on social media ... and set up a GoFundMe page to pay for his funeral costs. They also remembered Larry as a talented gospel singer who didn't let his struggle with weight dim "his drive to show love and kindness to all he met."

When Larry appeared on the TLC show in an episode that aired in January 2022, he was bedbound and tipped the scale at a whopping 940 pounds.

Larry underwent weight-loss surgery back in the day, but he gained 400 pounds after the procedure ... leading to his appearance on 'My 600-lb Life."

He was 48.

On the heels of the Bebe Rexha incident ... another performer, Ava Max, is feeling the brunt of an overzealous fan -- and this time the guy jumped right onstage with her.

The singer was doing her thing during a live show Tuesday night in L.A., when all of a sudden some clown rushed the stage and swiped at her, making contact with her forehead.

You can see he manages to slap her, even as security was dragging him off the stage -- and while Ava played it off well in the moment, she later explained she suffered an injury ... a scratch to her eye.

Of course, this follows the much uglier incident in NYC with Bebe -- where she took a harder hit from a tossed phone ... and ended up with a black eye and stitches.

That perpetrator was arrested and criminally charged -- and, for what it's worth, he's apologized.

Cardi B is going off on the stepson of the British billionaire aboard the Titanic submersible, saying he pulled a wildly inappropriate move by going to a live show amid the drama.

The rapper sounded off on Brian Szasz for recently going to a Blink-182 concert in San Diego -- something he proudly touted and defended online, but Cardi sees it the way many others online have ... which is to say, that's messed up dude.

Of course, she says it the way only Cardi can ... asking the rhetorical question she figures Brian might have asked himself before deciding to go see Tom DeLonge and co. in the middle of a family crisis -- uh, should I really be doing this???

According to her, the answer is obviously no ... as she believes the dude oughta be at home crying and saying his prayers for his stepfather -- who, by most experts' accounts, has a slim chance at survival with less than 24 hours left of oxygen in the deep-sea vessel.

As we've reported ... Hamish Harding is one of the 5 people inside OceanGate's Titan. Brian acknowledged the family link online -- and then proceeded to let the world know he was ready to rock with Blink-182, arguing his family would want him to enjoy himself.

While he certainly seemed comfortable with the excursion, a lot of folks in the Twitter-verse were giving him an earful ... and calling him out for what they perceived as insensitivity.

And, of course, there were even some callous jokes cracked that Brian might be stoked to know he's got a fortune of inheritance coming his way soon.

As for CB, she's got a unique final takeaway.

In a nutshell, better to be poor and loved, than uber-rich and seemingly uncared for ... so sayeth, Cardi.

Originally Published -- 6:42 AM PT

Gross moment at Pierce Brosnan's house ... police say a man urinated and defecated in his neighbor's yard ... then got on the actor's property and used the laundry room to wash up.

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... L.A. County Sheriff's deputies rushed to Pierce's Malibu estate Monday afternoon after getting reports of a man on his and his neighbor's properties.

Deputies say the guy was seen using the neighbor's backyard as his own personal bathroom ... dropping a deuce and rocking a piss ... before rummaging around the garbage and then moving over to Pierce's place.

Cops say the man walked around Pierce's backyard before heading to the front ... and then he made his way inside a laundry room, apparently using the Brosnan's water to clean himself.

We're told the guy took off when cops rolled up, heading down toward the beach.

The guy didn't get far ... we're told a Sheriff's helicopter found the dude hiding in the rocks along the coast ... he was taken into custody and booked for burglary ... for stealing Pierce's water.

Cops say Pierce's wife, Keely, was home during all the commotion ... but it's unclear if the 'James Bond' star was there too.

Actor Ioan Gruffudd has put his ex-wife Alice Evans on blast in new legal documents ... claiming she set up fake Twitter accounts to bash his new relationship, and allegedly threatened him with a "Johnny Depp and Amber Heard" ending.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Ioan says his time with Alice was nothing short of a nightmare -- starting with the claim that "a number of anonymous social media accounts" on the bird app would label Ioan and his girlfriend Bianca Wallace as "child abusers."

Ioan says Alice has "slipped up a number of times on these accounts," allegedly making it clear she's the one behind the harsh tweets.

BTW, their 13-year-old daughter Ella filed for a restraining order against Bianca earlier this month ... claiming she slammed a car door on her head and arm -- something Ioan's denying.

It doesn't stop at social media taunts, though ... Alice allegedly would scream at the actor -- even in front of Ella -- calling him an "abusive c***" and a "f***ing abuser." He says she even dumped milk on his and Bianca's bed -- writing "f***" over it with mustard.

Ioan even claims she threatened him by saying, "I'm going to tell my lawyer that you punched me last week. It's going to be like Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. It's not going to end well for you!"

For those unaware, Ioan filed for divorce from Alice in 2021 after the couple tied the knot back in 2007 ... although Alice later claimed he had a 3-year affair with Bianca while they were together.

Ioan went on to get a restraining order against Alice in 2022, claiming she was threatening to spread lies about him and destroy his career if he ever left her. The new docs say Alice has repeatedly broken the restraining order, however.

Pharrell Williams is getting tons of love from Hollywood -- even across the pond -- as the new men's creative director for Louis Vuitton ... his debut show was packed with some huge stars, from A to Z.

Ya gotta see who all showed up for Pharrell's Tuesday night show at the famed Pont Neuf in Paris ... we're talking Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, Kim Kardashian, Naomi Campbell, Megan Thee Stallion and more.

The show was for LV's Men's Spring-Summer 2024 Collection exposé and it also drew the likes of Anitta, Zendaya, Maluma, Offset, Coi Leray, Tyler, the Creator, Willow and Jaden Smith, J Balvin and his girlfriend, Valentina Ferrer.

Pharrell also got support from the sports world ... with LeBron James and wife Savannah coming through as well as Lewis Hamilton.

Jay-Z and Beyonce were in the house too as they continue their vacation in France ... and they were jamming out to a new song that played from Clipse.

After the show, Pharrell and HOV performed for the crowd.

Pharrell, of course, is the long-time producer for Clipse ... and Pusha T and No Malice walked the runway for their buddy.

Pharrell even brought a choir from his hometown all the way to Paris ... and it looks like a great time was had by all.

Mod Sun is not looking for a second shot at love with Avril Lavigne now that she's single again, as he feels that ship has sailed for him ... but the feeling is mutual.

Sources close to Mod Sun tell TMZ … he's moved on from Avril and has no interest in getting back with her.

Remember ... Mod Sun and Avril got engaged last year, but she dumped him and went public with Tyga in March -- a move Mod called a full blindside -- but, as we first reported, that whirlwind romance has now run its course.

However, Avril certainly isn't looking for a reconciliation either, as a source close to the star tells us, "Avril has been extremely busy working on new music and is excited about the future.  She has no intention of looking back at things that didn’t work for her previously."

While Mod Sun was initially devastated by Avril calling off their engagement, our sources say he's now in a good place in his life and doesn't want to get back with her.

In fact, Mod Sun is on the European leg of his tour, where he's teasing some new songs inspired by his breakup with Avril.

We're told the rocker used his pain to create new music, and he refuses to let himself go down a road of hurt and lies again.

As for Avril ... TMZ broke the story, she and Tyga split after a few months together -- but our sources are adamant -- the two remain super close friends and both are working in the studio separately on new music.

Al Pacino's newborn son won't be pressured to follow in his famous father's footsteps ... the child's mother says the kid is free to pursue pretty much anything he wants.

We got Al's girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, Tuesday in Los Angeles and our photog asked if she's going to put their kid into acting.

Noor tells us her baby boy "can do anything he wants" ... so it sounds like he's going to have some say in his future, which is a good thing.

Al's much younger baby mama also told us she's excited for motherhood ... as we first reported, she recently gave birth to a boy they named Roman Pacino.

Of course, Al is 83 ... which means he will be 101 by the time Roman turns 18.

Trippie Redd is taking celeb yacht parties to the next level by combining 6-figure jewelry and a very unique delivery service ... all to help ring in his 24th birthday.

The red-haired rapper did it big recently, surrounding himself with plenty of friends, and water, as they celebrated his latest trip around the sun aboard a yacht -- but, in true Trippie fashion, he took things up a notch.

His guests watched a jet ski cruise toward the yacht, carrying a famous jeweler flaunting some new bling to float Trippie's boat!!!

Celebrity jeweler Alex Moss tells TMZ Hip Hop ... he and Trippie brainstormed together to design the new piece -- a layered spikey heart, which became 3 separate chains after it was all said and done.

After deciding on the style, Alex says he incorporated amethyst into the chain at Trippie's request and created the pendant with 14k white gold, VVS diamonds. While he was at it, he threw in some custom-cut mother of pearl to match the stones in the chain.

Trippie loved the finished product so much, he copped mini versions for his girlfriend, Skye Morales, and his younger sister ... with rubies and pink sapphires respectively coloring the center hearts on their pendants.

Alex tells us making the trip via jet ski to personally surprise Trippie with all the bling was a memorable experience, to say the least.