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Alec Baldwin clearly doesn't believe the conditions on the set of "Rust" were chaotic or unsafe leading up to the fatal shooting -- he's shining a light on at least one crew member who insists the film had normal hiccups ... and one major accident.

Baldwin just reposted a long message from a woman claiming to have worked on the film, who's attesting to safety meetings and normal working hours on the set -- as well as defending the hiring of armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

The post reads, "The story being spun of us being overworked and surrounded by unsafe, chaotic conditions is bulls**t." As we reported, the film's camera crew had walked off set just days before the accident after complaints of long hours and no provided hotel accommodations.

The crew member Alec reposted claims the crew had hotels, they just didn't think they were "fancy enough."

As for Gutierrez, the post says, "Was she the most experienced person? No. Were her qualifications typical for a Tier One? Yes ... But how do you supposed anyone will get that experience? We all had a first and second job at one point or another."

Finally, the reposted crew member speaks to what she wishes she had done differently that could have saved Halyna Hutchins' life. She says, "I'd call out an AD who was handing a gun to an actor. Not because that's my job, but because I never want to lose someone I love to this again."

Baldwin spoke with photogs over the weekend in Vermont, telling them the Hutchins accident was "one in a trillion" and that the "Rust" set was tight. He also said the Santa Fe Sheriff's Department warned him NOT to speak about the case.

While Alec himself isn't providing this account of the "Rust" set ... he's at the very least cosigning on it by reposting, which could tick off investigators.

Two of the families whose loved ones perished in the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash just agreed to settlements with L.A. County over the alleged sharing of crash site photos of remains -- but Vanessa Bryant is still at war.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved $2.5 million to be split between the families of Christine Mauser and Keri, John and Alyssa Altobelli ... according to docs. Mauser's husband, Matthew, gets $1.25 mil, and the Altobelli's 2 surviving children get the same.

According to the L.A. Times, which first reported the settlement, counsel for the county suggested settling with the families would be the best route as they continue to deal with Vanessa's lawsuit, and one from Chris Chester ... whose wife and child died in the crash.

The outlet says the lawsuits have already cost L.A. County an estimated $1.29 million in legal fees.

Meanwhile, Vanessa and Chris' suits are still playing out in court ... and could be headed for trial in the near future. Speaking of them, a judge denied L.A. County's motion seeking psychiatric evaluations of Vanessa and Chris, ruling it came too late in the case.

The county argued that the psychiatric evaluations would help determine if their emotional distress was actually related to crash photos that she and the public have never seen.

There's a new Hollywood twist to the Britney Spears conservatorship ... turns out the judge on the case is the mother of a famous producer, and now he's breaking his silence on death threats aimed at his mom.

Prentice Penny is an executive producer on the HBO hit show "Insecure," starring Issa Rae ... and he recently jumped on the "Clay Cane Show" to talk about his mom, The Honorable Judge Brenda Penny.

TMZ broke the story, Judge Penny faced online death threats after she decided against immediately suspending Jamie Spears from the conservatorship back in August. However, Prentice says it wasn't only death threats his mom got, but racist attacks as well.

While he didn't want to get into specifics, because Judge Penny is still on the case, Prentice told Clay, "I think it’s sad that whomever would use it as an excuse to espouse racist names and ideas, feels sad and it feels unnecessary."

Nonetheless, Prentice says his mother can absolutely weather the storm from pissed-off Britney fans. As he put it ... "My mom's a black woman in America, she's a tough lady."

Of course, there's a big decision coming from Judge Penny next week when she could decide if Britney should be let out of the conservatorship or not -- and whether that decision will include a mental evaluation for Britney.

Tennis legend Mardy Fish says he might not be alive if it weren't for his wife ... crediting her with getting him out of a really bad place with his mental health struggles.

Mardy joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and got real with us about some of his bouts with anxiety, which became so overwhelming at one point he pulled out at the last minute from a big U.S. Open match with Roger Federer .... years before professional athletes opened up about their mental health struggles.

The way Mardy tells it ... his better half, Stacey Gardner, was able to pull him out from a dark place and change his perspective with some sage advice at a moment when he was having panic attacks every single day. The epiphany gave him the strength to withdraw from the 2012 U.S. Open match he was supposed to play. Instead, he faced the media and was candid about his issues.

Mardy went on to champion mental health and how it affects athletes in particular, who traditionally were trained to bottle up their emotions because it was viewed as weakness.

Mardy, who was diagnosed with severe anxiety disorder, is now mentoring young tennis players dealing with some of the same issues he went through ... and there's a new Netflix documentary on his journey, "Untold: Breaking Point."  He's also the captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team.

Kal Penn says his ol' White House boss gave him props for announcing his engagement in a new book -- but it sounds like Barack and Michelle Obama had the tea long before the rest of us.

The actor and now-author shared some inside political baseball Tuesday on "TMZ Live," telling us the Obamas have, indeed, congratulated him on all the news from the past week ... including his coming out, and the fact he's engaged to Josh, his longtime partner.

Kal says he actually got some facetime with BO last week, while he was campaigning for NJ Gov. Phil Murphy ... so it sounds like they're still very much in touch, even all these years later.

Anyway, watch how Kal explains the kudos he got from the former Prez and First Lady -- it's quite clear they've been in the loop on this for a good while, and have even met Josh. KP even reveals he's been on the road to marriage for a couple years now ... we're all just learning about it now through his book, "You Can't Be Serious."

Speaking of wedding bells, we had to ask if Kal's introduced his hubby-to-be to his extended family in India. Yes, he has ... but turns out the fam is grilling Kal just as much as the media for details on the actual ceremony.

Brian Laundrie took his own life before the nationwide manhunt ... at least that's what cops in Florida are saying.

Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman told folks in town Brian "went out there and by all accounts probably committed suicide and he was right out there where we thought he was" ... TMZ has confirmed.

As we reported ... Brian's remains were found Oct. 20 off a Florida trail near his notebook and backpack, ending a 5-week manhunt after he disappeared in the wake of his fiancée, Gabby Petito's death.

The FBI positively identified the bones found as Brian's, thanks to dental records, but the coroner could not determine a cause of death from Laundrie's remains ... and the bones were sent to an anthropologist for further examination.

Police say the area where Brian's remains were found had previously been under 4 feet of water ... one reason why he was not found sooner.

Britney Spears' lawyer says Jamie Spears has done an about-face -- now urging the judge to end the conservatorship -- to save his own hide from what might come out in a deposition.

Mathew Rosengart filed legal docs essentially calling out Jamie, arguing he's done a reversal over the conservatorship for selfish reasons. He suggests Jamie is trying to immediately end the 13-year-running conservatorship to avoid answering questions under oath ... in particular allegations he bugged his daughter's bedroom.

In the docs, Rosengart is demanding "all documents and communications relating to any recording or listening device in the home or bedroom of Britney Jean Spears, including all documents and communications relating to the decision to place any such recording or listening device and the records of any such recording."

Rosengart is also demanding "all documents and communications relating to the electronic surveillance, monitoring, cloning, or recording of the activity of Britney Jean Spears' personal telephone, including but not limited to the surveillance, monitoring, cloning, icloud mirroring, or recording of calls, emails, text messages, internet browser use or history, and social media use or direct messages on social media."

As for Jamie's deposition, Rosengart cites an email dated October 22 from Jamie's new lawyer, which says, "As far as Jamie is concerned, the conservatorship is done and can be terminated immediately ... So it is said in no uncertain terms my client has no interest in continuing the conservatorship and I will join in any effort to terminate immediately ..."

As if Texas' football season couldn't get any worse -- a monkey belonging to Longhorns special teams coach Jeff Banks' GF is being accused of attacking a young trick or treater on Halloween ... but the woman says it's all the kid's fault.

A report late Monday night claimed the white-faced capuchin "seriously hurt" a boy during Halloween festivities ... with the monkey's jaws having to be "pried" open to free the child.

Banks' GF, Danielle Thomas -- AKA "Pole Assassin," a professional pole dancer once featured on "Jerry Springer" -- admitted something happened, but quickly defended her monkey ... claiming she was hosting a haunted event at her place, and the kid went where he wasn't supposed to.

"I had a haunted house on one side gated off/ he had no permission to go pass the gate i had no idea he went in my back yard," Thomas posted on Twitter before scrapping her account.

Thomas also claims she had no idea her monkey bit anyone until a local doctor told her about a "small bite."

Thomas says the kids were told to turn around when they came to a set of balloons ... and an "11/12" year old should be old enough to follow the rules and not venture off in someone's yard without permission. She even posted a video detailing the kid's assumed walk to the monkey cage ... with a sign that reads "Do Not Enter, emotional support animal, no touching."

"How could she viciously bite someone if they don't stick their hand in there where they don't belong?" Thomas said in the video.

We've reached out to law enforcement ... so far, no word back.

Kim Kardashian was browning out in NYC -- where she received honors for being a trailblazing entrepreneur ... at an event where she and her team also had to think on their feet.

KK was in the Big Apple Monday for the Wall Street Journal Magazine's 2021 Innovator Awards, which was honoring her -- among others -- for her SKIMS line ... something for which she actually wore SKIMS on SKIMS to accept, and which actually helped her out during a fashion snafu.

On the way into the Museum of Modern Art -- where the festivities went down -- Kim showed off a mocha leather dress that covered her curvy figure ... an outfit that's actually part of her upcoming SKIMS line with Fendi.

She looked great, of course, but it sounds like there was a wardrobe malfunction while seated at her table. One of her zippers came undone, and required some relinkage courtesy of her designer, Kim Jones ... plus others, like Demi Moore, who were on hand to assist.

Once Kim got to the podium ... she acknowledged the hiccup, saying thank god she was wearing SKIMS undergarments underneath -- otherwise this woulda been a different kind of show. Pretty funny -- once again proving Kim's got some comedy chops.

She posed with Demi, Lewis Hamilton and others who were also got awards that night -- and on her way out, she signed autographs for fans who were waiting for her.

There were paps on the scene as well, but it doesn't appear too many people were asking the one burning question on everyone's mind ... what's up with Pete Davidson???

As you well know ... she was seen hanging out with Pete -- plus a bunch of other friends -- in L.A. over the weekend, where they were riding rides and having a ball. She also held hands with Pete at one point, and seemed to be partnered with him during a lot of their coaster trips.

We've been told they're just friends, but the fact is ... she's now back on his turf in New York. Might be mere coincidence for what she was there to do, but it is interesting timing, no doubt.

When it rains it pours ... as Alec Baldwin reels from the fatal shooting on the "Rust" set, his wife just revealed a member of their family is MIA.

Hilaria Baldwin just posted, "We can't find our cat, Emilio. If anyone sees him, please help him get home. We are all so upset. He's microchipped but no collar."

Last week, Emilio was put in a car with the Baldwin kids and belongings and sent to Vermont where the Baldwins have been staying since the fatal shooting last month that left Halyna Hutchins dead.

Alec and Hilaria got Emilio for their 8-year-old daughter, Carmen, back in April ... when Emilio was just a kitten.

Emilio is an exotic-looking feline ... a Bengal cat to be exact. The cats are actually created by breeding domestic cats with Asian leopards. The kittens run between $1,500 and $3,000.

Turns out Alec is allergic to most cats, but Bengals are hypoallergenic.

No word on how the cat got away, but Bengals have a rep for having behavioral issues.

As we reported, Alec is heartbroken over the death of Hutchins, so this is just one more source of grief.

Jason Momoa is killing time as he quarantines after contracting COVID-19 -- but he at least has some good (and skilled) company that'll flip his wig ... not to mention flipping a board.

The "Aquaman" star is isolating at his crib -- this after coming down with the virus following the premiere of his newest flick, "Dune," in London a couple weeks ago. He's got an update for fans ... he's doing alright, and his quarantine buddy is totally shredding.

It looks like Jason is hunkering down with pro skateboarder Erik Ellington ... whom he refers to as his roommate. He threw up a video of the guy doing a kickflip inside the residence ... going from the top of one step down to the kitchen floor, which impressed JM.

Unclear why exactly they're sheltering in place together -- presumably Erik also caught the 'rona while in Jason's company -- but in any case ... they're keeping each other entertained.

BTW, Jason also knows how to shred the gnar ... guy's a seasoned skater himself, and was hitting half pipes during the pandemic last year.

Anyway, check out this video ... besides the sweet tricks going down at his pad, Jason also seems to be ready to roll out a new sneaker he's been working on that's environmentally friendly.

Britney Spears wants to get married, buy a house and have kids ... but those plans are all on hold until the judge in her conservatorship case decides if it should end ... TMZ has learned.

Britney and Sam Asghari are engaged, but sources with direct knowledge tell us they have not made any wedding plans because of the impending court hearing. Ditto the prenup ... there's been no movement. And, TMZ broke the story ... they want to buy a house together, but that's on ice as well.

All signs point to the 13-year-long conservatorship coming to an end, but it's not guaranteed. The wild card -- whether the judge orders a mental evaluation. Britney, Jamie and others have urged the judge to end it without such an evaluation ... in fact, so far no one involved in the conservatorship has suggested otherwise.

Nevertheless, with 13 years of mental evaluations on file with the court, it's up to the judge whether to cut Britney free without another one. The judge has an easy out given the parties don't want it, but given the various diagnoses over the years, the judge may want to hear from psychiatrists and other doctors before making the decision.

As for all her plans, Britney is living her life ... hanging with Sam, going on vacation and posting stories about her life on social media.

Nick Lachey says he's not the least bit curious about what his ex-wife, Jessica Simpson's written about their time together -- but hints her memory of it is far different from his.

Nick seems to be warning readers of Jessica's "Open Book" that the chapters about their marriage -- and subsequent divorce -- might not be accurate ... in his eyes, at least. Nick was on Andy Cohen's SiriusXM show when Andy asked if he's read the book, which was released earlier this year.

The 98 Degrees singer says it's a hard pass for him, dawg. As Nick put it, "I lived the book. I know what the truth is, so I don't need to read someone's version of it in a story."

Jessica and Nick were married from 2002 to 2006, but based on the book ... she took it pretty hard when -- less than a year after their split -- he started dating Vanessa Lachey, who he later married. Jess wrote, "So, Nick, you're with another already? Seems that you forgot the love you spoke to me."

She added, "I'm saddened beyond belief. Alone in the dark, with no one to call my own."

Of course, Nick says he didn't read it, so we don't know specifically which part he isn't buying.

Anyway, Jessica's busy celebrating a personal milestone. On Monday, she posted a pic from Nov 1, 2017 with no makeup, and looking pretty hungover. She says that was the morning she realized she needed to stop drinking.

Scott Disick is processing Kourtney Kardashian's engagement with a little QT with his eldest son -- and also by navigating choppy waters at ludicrous speed... literally.

Papa bear was out with his kid, Mason, Monday in Miami -- and at some point he went cruising in a vessel out in the ocean blue. It's unclear if Mason was onboard, but what's clear is ... SD put the pedal to the metal!!!

By that, we mean the guy was going super fast -- upwards of 115 MPH, which you can see in a video Scott posted with the caption, "115 with room to go," later adding ... "Gotta love Miami." It appears Scott's pal, graffiti artist Alec Monopoly, was the one recording the video.

Scott and Mason were later seen on land, with the former wrapping his arm around his boy and looking caj. Ditto for Mason, who had his hands in pockets as he stood by his old man.

This may well just be some good old-fashioned father-son bonding -- but it could also be a good way to get his mind off of his baby mama's recent news - namely, that she's set to marry Travis Barker ... something she was never willing to do with the Lord.

Rev. Jesse Jackson is back in the hospital -- though this time not COVID-related -- instead, for a nasty fall.

Jackson was visiting Howard University in Washington D.C. Monday when his team says he fell and hit his head as he entered a building on campus. Jesse was rushed to a local hospital for a myriad of tests, including a CT scan ... his rep says all results came back normal.

Nonetheless, doctors decided to keep Jackson at the hospital overnight just to be safe.

The 80-year-old has faced some significant health problems as of late. Both he and his wife, Jacqueline, were hospitalized with COVID back in August. Once Jesse -- who was vaccinated -- was released from the hospital, he entered a rehab facility to deal with his Parkinson's disease.

Superman's bisexuality is having real-world consequences -- outraged fans targeting the folks behind the new comic series ... and cops stepping in to make sure things don't escalate.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD officers were recently dispatched to patrol the homes of some of the illustrators/production staffers who created the latest iteration of Superman. The extra protection comes after major backlash that included some so-called fans making threats.

We're told the pissed-off comic book readers inundated the studios to voice their displeasure with the character's newly-announced sexuality.

Our sources say the studios called LAPD, requesting for patrols to keep an eye out -- both at the private residences of some artists, and at the studio itself.

While nothing legitimate came from the threats, our sources say cops still patrolled out of an abundance of caution -- and that the situation has since settled down.

Still, pretty scary and crazy ... considering Superman (and everything about him, including his bisexuality) is pure fiction -- and yet, some seem to have taken it very personally.

As we reported ... DC announced its new Superman, Jon Kent -- son of Clark and Lois Lane -- would be starting a same-sex relationship with a friend in forthcoming issues, and released drawings of them kissing.