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Think twice about getting the dip and callin' the bros for The Big Game ... L.A. county health officials are now warning people NOT to party for the Super Bowl, saying it could lead to the spread of COVID.

Coronavirus experts in Los Angeles made the announcement this week ... saying if people host large gatherings for the Chiefs vs. Bucs next weekend, it could be dire.

"Don’t organize a party at home," L.A. County public health director Barbara Ferrer said. "Don’t go to a Super Bowl party."

Ferrer added, "It will be tragic if the Super Bowl becomes a super-spreader of coronavirus."

The COVID numbers in L.A. are some of the worst in the nation ... with over 1 million people having been diagnosed in the county throughout the past year.

And, despite positivity rates finally starting to slowly decline, Ferrer and the rest of the county's health officials are urging people to not let their guard down -- even if it's just for a few hours to watch football.

"Each of us needs to make very careful choices about what we do," Ferrer said. "Please don’t resume socializing with lots of people not in your household."

If a social gathering is an absolute must ... Ferrer did lay out some guidelines -- explaining the event should consist of only one or two households that have been stable and safe.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to reach across the aisle to fix the Robinhood investors controversy -- as long as she doesn't have to work with Sen. Ted Cruz, who she says he tried to get her killed.

AOC blasted Cruz on Twitter after he agreed with one of her Thursday tweets questioning Robinhood's trading halt amid the GameStop stock surge ... she says he needs to sit this one out or resign because of his role in the failed coup.

In her scathing response, AOC says Cruz "almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago" during the insurrection ... and she's happy to work with "almost any other GOP that aren't trying to get me killed."

Remember ... AOC said she thought she was toast when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in search of lawmakers, detailing her harrowing experience in an eye-opening video.

A man with a major investment in BlackBerry options claims his finances are taking a dive due to Robinhood halting trading on his stock ... a move he believes was made to protect Wall Street's hedge fund bros.

Richard Joseph Gatz of Illinois is going after the financial services company, after it stopped allowing individuals to buy stock in companies at the center of the current battle between Reddit investors and hedge fund managers ... including GameStop, AMC, BlackBerry and Nokia.

According to the legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Gatz says he owned 2 option contracts for BB, and when trading was halted Wednesday night he claims the value of those options decreased by nearly 200 percent.

Gatz claims the halt of retail trading for these stocks has caused irreparable harm to his bottom line, and accuses Robinhood of manipulating the market so that he's "unable to get fair market value for his options."

According to the docs, Gatz alleges Robinhood made the move "to protect institutional investment at the detriment of retail customers." He's suing for big damages.

As we reported, Robinhood's trading halt amid the GameStop stock surge has pissed off customers who believe it's siding with the Wall Street establishment -- i.e. hedge fund managers -- and screwing the little guy.

A school resource officer used a Taser on a female student who cops say was involved in a fight with another student, and severely resisted when the officer got involved.

According to the police report ... the cop approached the girl as she was going after a male student in the cafeteria of Eustis High School in Central Florida. The cop says he tried to stop her, but she attacked him by punching him several times in the head.

The deputy claims he tried to talk her down, but it didn't work and she allegedly punched him in the face. Videos shared on TikTok show the violent struggle the cop had with the student as he tried to restrain her.

The deputy says he warned her he was going to Tase her if she didn't stop resisting. When she ignored that, he fired the Taser and she went down hard.

The girl was transported to the Lake County Jail without further incident, and later released to her guardian on home detention.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office tells us ... the deputy documented at least 18 strikes he took from the student before he fired his Taser. We're told the use of force was reviewed, and the officer was found to have acted lawfully and within agency policy.

This is the second disturbing video to come out of Florida this week in which a school resource officer's seen using force on a Black female student.

As we reported ... the Osceola County Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday that their deputy who body-slammed a female high school student is on administrative paid leave pending an investigation.

Two men accused of having gay sex in Indonesia were savagely beaten with canes after neighbors reported them to police, and the punishment -- under Islamic law -- is tough to see.

The men, both in their 20s, were flogged 77 times each by Sharia police in the country's conservative Aceh province, where a huge crowd gathered to watch the lashing ... carried out by officers wearing robes and masks.

Pleas for mercy and cries of pain could not save the men ... and the lashes continued even after one officer's cane shattered on impact with one man's back. Sharia police only paused the punishment to allow the men a drink of water ... then the caning resumed.

Both men were arrested back in November, when police say officers, tipped off by locals, broke into a rented room and found the pair having sex. They served 3 months in prison, so their original 80-lash sentence was reduced by 3.

The Aceh province is the only part of Indonesia where gay sex is illegal ... and public flogging is a common punishment in the province, which started using Sharia law back in 2001.

The students of Liberty High -- where a teen was body-slammed by a resource officer -- say the cop has no business being on campus anymore, because he's a menace.

Students at the Florida school tell us ... the sentiment among classmates is pretty much universal ... Officer Ethan Fournier must be fired -- or at the very least, permanently removed from duty at Liberty.

We're told lots of the kids no longer trust campus cops and they feel their safety is in jeopardy. We're hearing some students and their families are considering transferring out because of the incident ... that's how rattled everyone is.

Take senior Trey'vion Telfair ... who tells TMZ he used to think Officer Fournier was a good guy. He says Fournier participated in police brutality seminars for Liberty's Black Student Union back in September, and seemed genuine ... saying he stood with them.

Telfair now thinks it was all an act. Ditto for junior Daijah Watts, who says she remembers Fournier as a relatively chill dude ... but does recall one time when he allegedly went too far.

Watts claims she saw Fournier use pepper spray on a group of kids who were fighting 2 years ago. She now thinks the whole department is suspicious. Speaking of Liberty brass, we're told the school's offered up mental health resources for their kids and teachers alike ... making school psychologists, counselors and social workers available to anyone who needs to talk.

Rita Ora went to expensive extremes to hold her 30th birthday soiree during lockdown in London -- paying almost $7,000 to make it happen ... TMZ has confirmed.

The British singer was already in hot water for the November event she held at Casa Cruz because it violated London's lockdown, but this new detail's coming out because of an upcoming court hearing.

According to law enforcement ... one of Rita's reps offered a manager at Casa Cruz $6,829 for the joint to host the party. The manager told police he wanted to "facilitate" the occasion because he was "greedy" after his staff had been furloughed.

The manager also told police only 7 guests were supposed to show up ... according to The Sun, which first reported the story.

Of course, we already know almost 20 showed up for the bash ... which became a PR nightmare for Rita. As we reported, she eventually apologized for breaking the country's COVID restrictions, admitting it was a "serious and inexcusable error of judgement."

A local government official tells us there's a hearing scheduled to decide whether the restaurant's license will be revoked or if other measures will be taken against Casa Cruz following the incident. They are NOT investigating Rita's payoff.

Keith Walker -- the Atlanta homeless hero who saved 16 dogs and cats from a burning animal shelter -- is one step closer to leaving homelessness behind him ... thanks to the generosity of a local org.

Darlene Schultz, CEO of the Atlanta-based org, Georgia Works!, tells TMZ ... Keith is slated to enter her program. The goal is to make him a self-sufficient person ... and that includes teaching him occupational skills and money management.

We're told Georgia Works! -- whose goal is to take chronically homeless men and help them overcome their obstacles -- has been working with organizers of the GoFundMe set up to help Keith. The fundraiser, so far, has raised almost $90k since Keith became a hit for his bravery and love of animals.

As we reported ... Keith risked his own life last month to save dogs and cats from a burning shelter where, BTW, his own dog was being temporarily boarded. Georgia Works! will provide housing at its downtown ATL facility and Keith will visit his dog, which is now at another facility.

Keith will also get 3 meals a day plus access to a licensed therapist who is on duty 24/7 and staff that helps the men attend AA meetings and various job-readiness classes.

The feds are putting the entire country on high alert ... warning of a looming domestic terrorism threat from groups pissed about President Biden's victory and several other issues.

For the first time, the Dept. of Homeland Security issued a federal bulletin about Americans plotting to attack Americans, saying there's a potential threat of "ideologically-motivated violent extremists."

The feds feel these domestic terrorists may be emboldened by the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol -- and say threats across the country are likely to persist in coming weeks motivated by several issues ... including anger over COVID-19 restrictions and the 2020 election results.

For example ... there's a full-on manhunt right now for a person who left pipe bombs intended to be detonated at the Democratic and Republican headquarters in Washington just days after the insurrection.

Most recently, a Napa man was arrested after authorities were tipped off about a huge stockpile of firepower at Ian Benjamin Rogers' house and business. They found more than 50 guns, 15,000 rounds of ammo, several pounds of gun powder ... and text messages in which Rogers said he'd like to blow up a democratic building.

COVID-sniffing dogs are now a thing in America ... and the pups are getting their first whiff of action at an NBA game in Florida.

The Miami Heat debuted the virus-sniffing dogs at Wednesday's game at AmericanAirlines Arena, with our four-legged friends screening fans before they could be allowed inside the building.

As you can see, a trainer walks a dog down a line of socially-distanced fans under a big tent and the canine takes a big sniff before moving on to the next person. The dogs are taught to sit if they detect the virus, and the process looks quick and efficient.

The dogs are being used because the Heat are opening the arena up to fans for the first time this season, and it's just an added level of virus protocol in addition to a health questionnaire and mask mandate.

As we reported ... the dogs are being trained at nearby Florida International University, and Dr. DeEtta Mills, who is leading the program, told us how the canines could soon be deployed in airports across the country.

Shaquille O'Neal thinks the usual Super Bowl pre-game coverage is super lame -- so he's created his own event with a ton of his famous friends ... and he's calling it, "The Shaq Bowl."

Superstars like Tim Tebow, Ezekiel Elliott, Diplo, The Miz, Anthony Anderson, Nelly, Offset and more are all booked to compete in various crazy events at a custom-built Shaq Bowl stadium in Tampa on Feb. 7.

All of the action will happen leading up to the Super Bowl game -- and it'll be live-streamed across more than 20 platforms including LiveXLive, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and Twitter starting at 3 PM ET.

"With everyone home this year, we're gonna do something that's fun and entertaining for the people," Shaq tells TMZ Sports.

"I got a crazy lineup, bunch of my close friends -- it's gonna feature athletes, celebrities, superstar-artists across 2 teams competing in fun and viral challenges."

Shaq tells us the event, officially titled "Mercari Presents the Shaq Bowl," will have strict COVID protocols in place ... and they WILL be enforced.

"We're gonna hire a professional well-known staff and they're gonna do what they do," Shaq says ... "Shaq does not mess around."

As for why he decided to go up against the big network Super Bowl pre-game show ... Shaq didn't pull any punches.

"Look, all the Super Bowl pre-game stuff is kinda boring ... so we're gonna change the game."

Southern California actress Theresa Russell was in her early 40s when she took on the role of the head-turning widow Sandra Van Ryan -- who has a secret relationship with her daughter's high school counselor and her super dreamy "deckhand" -- in the skin-filled '90s film "Wild Things."

Theresa Russell shared the silver screen with some awesome actors including Denise Richards as her trust-lusting daughter, Kelly Van Ryan, Matt Dillon as the double-crossing counselor, Sam Lombardo ... and of course Bill Murray as the insurance-scamming lawyer, Ken Bowden.

Russell can also be spotted in "Spider-Man 3" and "Bad Timing."

Chad Wheeler's girlfriend told police ... the NFL player had stopped taking his medication for bipolar disorder in the days before he brutally attacked her -- and had "snapped into a bad place" on the night of the incident.

It's all spelled out in the police report, obtained by TMZ Sports, in which the alleged victim attempted to explain why she believes the Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman violently attacked her.

The Kent Police Dept. in Washington say they first received a call from a friend of the victim around 9:45 PM on Jan. 22 -- saying the woman was locked in a bathroom after a physical fight with her boyfriend.

Soon after, the victim called 911 herself and told the operator she was being "killed."

When cops arrived at the scene, officers say they "could hear a female screaming from inside the apartment" and forced their way inside. They also forced their way into a locked bathroom where they found the woman with blood all over her face and Chad standing behind her.

Cops detained Chad, who was not being cooperative, and he began to repeatedly yell, "sorry" while crying out, "I don't beat women," according to the police report.

The woman was transported to a nearby hospital where she told cops she had been dating Chad for 6 months without any notable issues.

She also explained, "Chad suffers from bipolar disorder and is medicated but has not been taking his medication recently."

According to the police report, the woman said, "Chad had a rough week and had a manic episode this evening. She said it was not provoked by an argument of any sort."

The woman says Chad "snapped into a dark place" out of nowhere and told her to bow to him -- which she refused. And that's when he beat her up, according to the police report.

The woman told cops Chad strangled her "with both his hands for some time" -- and continued his attack even after she fought back.

The woman says she lost consciousness -- and when she came to, Chad said, "Wow you're alive?"

That's when the woman says she ran to the bathroom, locked the door and called cops and family members.

Bam Margera's Bentley had one helluva ride ... a thief stole the car and crashed into someone's front porch during a wild police pursuit ... and it's on video.

The "Jackass" star says his expensive whip was stolen Tuesday night in Vista, CA, where he had stopped to charge his phone and get gas on his way to his shaman's house.

Bam says he looked out a store window to discover his car was missing, and then suddenly a bunch of cop cars swarmed and police helicopters appeared overhead and the chase was on.

BM says the high-speed chase ended when the thief crashed his whip into a house ... and video shows the Bentley stopped on someone's front lawn, right up against a house, with tons of police on the scene.

The only good news here ... sources close to Bam tell us the car was NOT totaled, but it's been towed to a dealer and needs some repairs.

Oh, and the icing on the cake -- Bam says his phone ended up in someone else's hands too!!!

We think he summed it up best while talking to his buddy, Danny Way ... "I can't write this s*** dude!!!"

Cloris Leachman -- the incredibly talented and hilarious actress and comedian, who starred in some of the biggest movies and TV shows ever -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Leachman passed away of natural causes Tuesday night at her home in Encinitas, California, with her daughter, Dinah, by her side ... this according to her son.

He tells us ... "She had the best life beginning to end that you could wish for someone." He adds that she was at peace, and "she left everyone with a lot of love."

Cloris' career in showbiz began shortly after she competed in the 1946 Miss America Pageant, when she made her debut on the 'Actors Studio' TV series.

After years of landing small roles on television, Leachman had her breakthrough playing the landlady, Phyllis, on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in the '70s ... which led to her own spin-off.

She won 2 Emmys for the role, and a Golden Globe for Best TV Actress for "Phyllis."

In film, Cloris is best known for 2 movies she made during the same time period -- "The Last Picture Show" in 1971, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress ... and 1974's "Young Frankenstein."

She'd go on to star in another popular Mel Brooks' film in 1981, "History of the World, Part I."

But, that's not all -- she was also racking up Emmys for "A Brand New Life" and "Cher" in the '70s, "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" in the '80s, "Promised Land" in the '90s ... and most recently, "Malcolm in the Middle."

With 22 Emmy noms, she's the most nominated actress in history, and her 8 wins is the most of all time ... tied with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Her other notable roles spanning over 7 decades include "The Twilight Zone," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "WUSA," "Yesterday," "Spanglish," "Raising Hope" and the "Mad About You" reboot.

Cloris also voiced characters on several projects, including 'The Croods' films and "Bob's Burgers."

When we last saw her in 2017, she joked about her faux feud with Betty White, and accepted a duel ... on the dance floor.

Cloris was 94.

A new video from the Trey Songz saga shows he had a good excuse to take off his mask at one point during the Chiefs game -- but it won't help his case with cops.

As you can see, Trey's face mask was in chin strap mode as he chowed down on a cup of french fries. While masks were required for all fans, the stadium does allow an exemption for eating and drinking.

However, we're told this was about 10-15 minutes before the KCPD officer came over -- backing up 3 visits from stadium security -- demanding Trey pull up his mask.

The other interesting element to this new video is that you can see there are at least a couple other fans watching the fight who didn't have their masks up.

It does make ya wonder if the singer was being singled out ... whether it be by other fans or security.

Of course, the video police released Tuesday clearly shows Trey throwing the first punch during the interaction with the officer -- so, the french fry excuse only goes so far in explaining what went down.

As we reported, Trey also posed for a masked up pic with a security guard at some point prior to the fight. Worth noting ... he did appear to have the mask down during each of the 3 visits from security.