TMZ.com Home

Jussie Smollett has a lot of balls in the air ... at the same time he's appealing his conviction in his hoax hate crime case, he's also directing a new movie with a big star, who just so happens to be one of his biggest supporters.

Jussie was in his element Thursday in Orange County on the movie set for "The Lost Holiday," an upcoming film starring Vivica A. Fox.

As you see, Jussie and Vivica worked closely together on set ... adding another layer to their long-standing working relationship.

Remember ... Jussie and Vivica both starred on "Empire" back in 2019 when Jussie was allegedly attacked in Chicago ... a claim that police said turned out to be a hoax and ultimately led to the conviction he's now appealing.

If the appeal fails, Jussie will have to spend 5 months behind bars. The appeal has been continued 5 times, and the court said no more ... the hearing is set for December.

Vivica has staunchly stood by Jussie's side throughout the entire saga ... telling us in 2021 she wanted to work with him again ... and now she's getting her wish.

Jussie had a huge smile on his face on set, though it's unclear if he's getting in front of the camera for this project or just directing.

As for his case, Jussie is appealing and his legal team is arguing the conviction should be overturned because his due process rights were violated.

Beyoncé seems to be feelin' the power of the dark side ... cuz she's lookin' really 'Star Wars' villain-ish while traveling through Europe with her family.

Queen Bey -- or Darth Beyder, as she might prefer to be called -- touched down Friday in the south of France with her hubby Jay-Z, and their kiddo Blue Ivy in tow.

Her fam might be feeling Beyonce's force while cruising through the airport, though ... because she was completely bundled up with a pitch-black cloth covering everything but a sliver of her face.

Might remind ya of a certain big bad space villain called Darth Vader ... the younger version, anyway. Think hooded Anakin Skywalker from 'Episode 3' -- or maybe the all-powerful baddie, Emperor Palpatine from the same saga.

FYI, Bey's currently on the European leg of her Renaissance World Tour ... next stop is Saturday in Frankfurt, where she just might declare, "I am your mother."

Terry Price -- Texas A&M's defensive ends coach and former player from the Aggies "Wrecking Crew" -- has sadly passed away, the university confirmed to TMZ Sports on Friday.

He was 55.

Price has been coaching his alma mater since 2012, after successful stints with Ole Miss and Auburn.

Besides coaching, Terry was also known as a great recruiter who brought several stars to TAMU like Myles Garrett and Daylon Mack. Price was ranked as one of the top 25 recruiters in the nation by Rivals.

Prior to his coaching career, Price played on the Aggies' defense from 1986 to 1989, under coach Jackie Sherrill and R.C. Slocum.

Price was part of the infamous "Wrecking Crew" and captured two Southwest Conference championships between 1985 to 1987. He also led the defense in tackles during his junior and senior years.

Price was drafted by the Chicago in the 10th round of the 1990 NFL Draft and played two seasons with the Bears and Dolphins before returning back to school to finish his undergrad in sociology.

Price is survived by his wife and two sons, Alexander and TAMU receiver Devin, who recently graduated from college last month.

In fact, Price's last tweets were dedicated to his sons ... and how proud he was of their accomplishments.

Retirement looks REALLY good on Tom Brady ... 'cause the 7-time Super Bowl champ ditched his top during his yacht getaway in Greece -- and the dude looks pretty shredded!!

TB12 and his kids have been living it up on the luxurious "Madsummer" boat this week ... enjoying all kinds of watersports as they soak in some vitamin D.

But it hasn't just been Ben, Jack and Vivian testing out their skills in the water -- the 45-year-old daddy even showed them he's still down to partake in the fun and games ... getting out there and killing it while waterskiing!!

Brady rocked a wet suit for the occasion ... but once he was back on the yacht, he popped the top off to reveal he hasn't missed a step after hanging up the helmet earlier this year.

The former quarterback has been making the most of his extra time ... even questioning his parenting skills as he let the young ones ride around on handheld jet skis.

Lots of folks' hearts are going out to the five people who died aboard the Titanic-bound submersible ... because they're playing Celine Dion's beloved "Titanic" theme song -- a lot.

Celine's track from the 1997 Oscar-winning movie, "My Heart Will Go On," is seeing a huge bump on streaming platforms in the wake of the sub tragedy ... with over 500,000 streams since the rescue of the missing sub came to an end.

The numbers are pretty incredible ... Spotify listeners have played the song 522,864 times since Thursday ... with Friday bringing even more streams.

As you know, the OceanGate sub set out for the Titanic shipwreck early Sunday morning but then it lost all communications, prompting a multinational, days-long search and rescue effort.

The search ended Thursday when a debris field was found on the ocean floor ... it appears the sub imploded Sunday morning during its dive down to the Titanic.

It's a sad and captivating story, and it seems folks are turning to music to cope with the tragic loss of more life in the Atlantic.

Victor Wembanyama's sister had a hilarious moment caught on a hot mic during the French superstar's big night at the NBA Draft ... when she asked out loud if she was suffering a wardrobe malfunction!!

The whole thing unfolded on Thursday's ESPN broadcast ... as the Wembanyama family was being interviewed shortly after the 7'5" phenom was selected by the San Antonio Spurs.

Eve -- who was wearing a low-cut blazer for the event -- looked down at her chest as she sat on the couch in between Victor and their brother, Oscar ... and openly asked in French, "Es qu’on voit mes seins?"

FYI -- in English, that translates to "Can they see my breasts?"

Oscar laughed at the inquiry ... and decided to help out by pulling Eve's blazer closer together.

Luckily for Eve, it appeared she was able to escape the situation without a nip slip.

OceanGate Expeditions is on the receiving end of even more scrutiny following the death of 5 in its Titanic-bound submersible ... because a job posting for a pilot was apparently live as the crew was MIA.

The internet's been blowing up with screengrabs of a now-deleted job posting by the company for a Submersible Pilot/Marine Technician to join the team ... looking for someone to "manage and operate our fleet of manned submersibles and support vessels."

It says OceanGate's seeking someone who can perform maintenance on the subs and operate the systems that deal with its dives -- calling it an "excellent opportunity for a high-energy professional."

The listing's since been scrubbed, but it's unclear when it was posted ... however, online records show the page being live from Monday to Thursday -- the days after Titan went missing in the Atlantic Ocean.

As you know, the 4 passengers -- along with CEO Stockton Rush -- died after the vessel apparently imploded near the Titanic wreckage.

Carson Wentz may be panned for his accuracy on the field, but not so much off it ... the NFL free agent QB took down a black bear with a bow and arrow, before posing with the animal.

As you might expect, reaction was ... umm, mixed.

The former Super Bowl champ showed off his kill on Friday with a photo of a black bear and his Hoyt Archery bow on a grassy field in the Last Frontier.

"Got the opportunity to spot and stalk black bear in one of our new favorite places on earth— Alaska!" Wentz wrote in the caption.

"Incredible trip and an incredible animal!"

Despite the hunt being totally legal in Alaska, the photo didn't sit well with a lot of people, who expressed their frustrations in the IG comments.

"Bro come on man. How can you take a living animal’s life like that? Ridiculous," one fan wrote while others said they were going to unfollow the former Eagles and Colts quarterback on Instagram.

Fans of Wentz will know this isn't his first kill. Carson grew up hunting in North Dakota. In fact, the 30-year-old hunted a deer in Indiana a few months ago and shared the footage on his YouTube page.

Wentz isn't the only NFL pro who enjoys hunting ... Jay Cutler, DeAngelo Williams and Derek Wolfe, who took down a mountain lion that was a threat to a local community earlier this year, are also avid hunters.

Starbucks baristas are preparing to go on strike at more than 150 stores in protest over allegations the coffee giant banned Pride decorations in some locations.

Union leaders for Starbucks workers announced the strike plan Friday, saying 3,500 workers will walk off the job next week all across the country.

The union is demanding all Starbucks locations allow workers to use Pride decorations to show support for the LGBTQ+ community ... and there's a new union contract they want Starbucks to recognize.

While the union claims Starbucks banned some stores from putting up Pride decorations and asked other locations to take down existing decor, the coffee company denies that, and is accusing the union of spreading a false narrative.

One hotbed for controversy is Oklahoma City ... where one store manager reportedly told union workers to trash Pride decorations as a result of a decision made at the regional level.

James Cameron's harsh criticism of the imploded OceanGate submersible, and its CEO Stockton Rush, is pissing off OceanGate's co-founder ... who says Cameron's just guessing what happened to Titan, and has no actual knowledge.

Guillermo Söhnlein is pushing back on the "Titanic" director's assertion the submersible was "too experimental to carry passengers" ... saying it's impossible for James to know all the details.

Guillermo went on Times Radio Friday in the U.K., and defended OceanGate and Stockton, saying ... "It's impossible for anyone to really speculate from the outside ... I know from firsthand experience that we were extremely committed to safety and risk mitigation was a key part of the company culture."

Remember, James is blaming the tragedy on Stockton -- who was piloting Titan when it imploded -- claiming he ignored warnings from the industry about the safety of Titan's design, and then made matters worse by taking tourists aboard the vessel.

James, who made 33 dives to the famous shipwreck, said he and others in the submersible community voiced concerns about the Titan submersible, but Stockton pushed forward, undeterred -- kind of like the Titanic captain who went full steam ahead into an ice field.

Guillermo says James' views are not gospel -- he says there are differing opinions and views within the industry about every aspect of deep ocean dives and submersibles ... and, most importantly, he says James wasn't involved in the design, engineering, building, testing or diving on Titan.

Despite the 5 deaths aboard Titan, Guillermo says this isn't the end of OceanGate ... he says the company needs to investigate what went wrong, and apply those lessons moving forward.

Conversations continue between Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Dana White ... and while the billionaires are itchin' to get their hands on one another, there's is an issue preventing the fight from being made official -- Elon's weight advantage.

Our sources tell us the guys are still serious about fighting in an Octagon, and as the UFC president told us yesterday, he's absolutely down to put on the fight ... but, Zuckerberg's size disadvantage has become an issue.

In fighting, size matters, a lot. Elon is 6'1", and reportedly weighs between 185 and 200 lbs. As for the Facebook founder, he's just 5'7", and reportedly weighs around 155 lbs.

Significant differences ... Elon has a 6-inch height advantage, and somewhere around a 30 to 45 lb. weight advantage.

To put that into perspective, Zuck would be a lightweight in the UFC. Musk would be a middleweight or light heavyweight ... a 2-3 weight class difference.

Typically, exhibition fights ignore weight classes ... Floyd Mayweather has fought a much bigger Logan Paul, for example.

But, just because the fight could technically be made doesn't mean Mark isn't hesitant to give up a sizeable advantage to his foe.

On Thursday, White joined "TMZ Live" and revealed he'd actually been having conversations with both men, who Dana says are "absolutely dead serious" about fighting in an Octagon.

The document the 4 passengers signed before getting in the ill-fated submersible could prevent their families from filing a wrongful death lawsuit, but there's one big exception.

The relevant jurisdiction according to the contract is the Bahamas. Bahamian law adopts many provisions of United States law, and in most U.S. states a company can absolve itself of liability for injury or death even if it was negligent, provided it fully discloses the risks to the participants.

There are other factors to consider, including lopsided bargaining power and the clarity of the language in the waiver. In this case, the passengers were all well-to-do and sophisticated, with access to counsel.

In short, even if OceanGate negligently constructed or operated the submersible, the families could very well be out of luck if they sue for wrongful death.

Now there's a big exception ... if a court were to determine OceanGate was "grossly negligent," the liability waiver would not be enforceable. Gross negligence is defined "a lack of care that demonstrates reckless disregard for the safety or lives of others." In short, a company cannot enforce a waiver if it engaged in reckless conduct.

That will be for a judge and/or jury to decide -- whether issues of design, materials, and operation crossed that line.

Some of the Louis Tomlinson fans pulverized in a hail storm are revealing the gnarly injuries they suffered ... and it ain't pretty!!!

Videos/photos of concertgoers' painful wounds were posted to social media after Tomlinson's Wednesday night performance came to a screeching halt due to the brutal weather conditions. One fan's back was covered with massive welts. 😱

Nearly 100 attendees suffered injuries as they were rushed out of the Red Rocks Amphitheater.

The footage shows one fan with golf-ball size red blotches on her back...another person with gashes to her fingers and a third individual whose leg looks like it was beaten with a club.

According to the fire department ... 7 people were taken to a hospital to be treated for cuts and broken bones while 80-to-90 others received medical attention at the venue.

As the balls of ice were falling, fans tried to seek refuge anywhere they could and many later wrote about their harrowing experiences on Twitter. One even called the ordeal the "scariest night of my life."

Louis says they're gonna give fans full refunds, or do a make-up show -- it hasn't been determined yet.

Hidden Hills isn't big enough for Nicki Minaj and her convicted felon husband ... at least that's what some of Nicki's neighbors think ... and they want the couple out pronto.

There's a petition circulating online from Hidden Hills residents worried about Nicki and her hubby, Kenneth Petty, moving into the fancy neighborhood ... and hundreds of folks have signed on.

The petition, which was started by Hidden Hills resident Beverly Bardan, takes issue with the fact Kenneth is a registered sex offender after being convicted in New York of attempted rape back in 1995 in a case that landed him in prison for more than 4 years.

As for why the new attention on Petty, he recently filed new legal docs changing his address on the Megan's Law website, so you gotta imagine the neighbors took note.

Nicki and Kenneth bought a mansion in Hidden Hills back in December, and as we first reported ... Kenneth is currently serving one year of home detention for failing to register as a sex offender in California.

The way Beverly seems to see it ... the mere presence of Nicki and Kenneth in Hidden Hills would hurt home values and create safety concerns.

Beverly is encouraging Nicki's neighbors to warn residents about Kenneth ... and she wants folks to sign the petition to "SHOW that you are against sex offenders in our Hidden Hills neighborhood!"

The petition, titled "SAY NO TO SEX OFFENDERS IN HIDDEN HILLS," was launched shortly after Nicki dropped $19.5 million on her estate ... but it's gained a lot of traction lately, with over 100 signatures in the last few days, bumping the number to 862 and counting.

Hidden Hills is becoming the new Beverly Hills ... other celebs with homes in the area include Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Kris Jenner, plus Will and Jada.

Originally Published -- 12:20 AM PT

James Cameron is putting the U.S. military on blast in the aftermath of the Titanic submersible disaster ... saying he knew right away the vessel imploded, and so did the military -- yet somehow, the search dragged on for days.

The "Titanic" director told CNN it didn't take him long, back on Monday morning, to gather all the facts about the missing OceanGate Titan sub -- saying it immediately had all the markings of something "catastrophic," like an implosion, had occurred on Sunday.

James says he knew it would have to be something like an implosion for the submersible's communications and navigation systems to go out at the same time -- plus, the U.S. military's microphones had picked up a sound right around the same time the sub lost contact.

While he doesn't directly call out the U.S. military ... the fact is, the U.S. Coast Guard was coordinating the search and rescue mission -- an operation James calls a "prolonged nightmarish charade" that did nothing but create "false hope."

As we reported, James also took the opportunity Thursday to point blame at the late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was the pilot for the fatal voyage ... drawing a grim comparison between the recent trip and the Titanic's tragic one-and-only travel.

Jack Harlow is learning the hard way that even a #1 single has an expiration date ... even for a track catchy as his "First Class" hit!!!

The superstar rapper got the deer-in-the-headlights treatment last night while doing his environmental duty as part of the star-studded lineup for Global Citizen's Power Our Planet concert in Paris.

Jack tried to hype up the crowd by rapping the "First Class" opening lyrics in hopes they finish the bars for him.

You know the part that goes, "I've been a 'G' throw up the 'L'..." before going on to spell "glamorous."

Or maybe you don't -- the French crowd sure didn't seem to know what Jack was trying to accomplish, and kind of left him high and dry.

Lucky for Jack, the beat drop of the Fergie sample jolted the crowd's memory.