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George Clooney is speaking his piece on the fatal shooting that claimed Halyna Hutchins' life -- and he's torching the entire "Rust" crew over the tragedy, especially the assistant director.

The legendary actor weighed in while he was on Marc Maron's 'WTF' podcast and he didn't hold back one bit ... lighting up AD Dave Halls, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and the producers at large, who he says clearly skimped.

GC's biggest gripe is the gun that was handed to Alec should never have been handled by Halls ... but rather, Hannah herself or the head prop master.

George says there's been strict protocol for gun use on every set he's been on, and notes ... the protocol was grossly violated on "Rust," going on to say he's never even heard of the term "cold gun" -- while labeling the whole saga "insane" and "infuriating."

Now, while Mr. Clooney stops short of criticizing Alec Baldwin directly -- whom he says he doesn't know well -- he does make a stark comparison in how he's dealt with guns on set, and how AB apparently did.

George explains that anytime he's used a gun on camera, he's always checked it himself -- and does so extensively too ... saying he opens it, examines the chamber, shows it to whoever he's pointing it too and even fires six times at the ground as a final safeguard.

According to Santa Fe authorities, Alec didn't do any of that -- and ended up pointing the gun at Halyna and director Joel Souza during a blocking setup, and firing.

There's more George touches on -- including the producers of this film allegedly cutting crucial corners that allowed for an unsafe environment to fester, which is unfathomable to him considering the tragedy that killed Brandon Lee in the '90s.

The prosecutor in the Kyle Rittenhouse case is drawing fire for pointing an AR-15 directly at the jury ... and critics are comparing his conduct to the fatal shooting on the "Rust" set.

Assistant D.A. Thomas Binger was in the middle of his closing argument Monday, when he tried to stage a re-enactment of the scene captured on drone video, just before Rittenhouse opened fire ... killing 2 and wounding a third.

Binger was trying to show the jury how ominous the 18-year-old defendant was on the streets of Kenosha back in August 2020 ... by grabbing the gun in open court and pointing squarely at the 18 people in the jury box ... 12 of whom were selected to decide the fate of Rittenhouse.

Binger violated the first rule of gun safety ... don't point the weapon at human beings just for show. As you know, one of the protocols broken on the "Rust" set was just that ... Baldwin was pointing the gun at the Assistant Director and the Cinematographer.

The demonstration drew the ire of a bunch of folks on social media ... "Rittenhouse prosecution DA points a gun at the jury, finger on the trigger, to give an example of what it looks like working with Alec Baldwin on a movie set."

Another wrote, "Binger and Alec Baldwin need to attend a firearms safety class taught by Kyle Rittenhouse." And, there's more ... "Prosecutor in Rittenhouse case aimed a gun with his finger on the trigger at the jury while saying someone was reckless with his gun."

Karl-Anthony Towns got a dope surprise for his 26th birthday -- a party and a $13,000 custom Louis Vuitton bag from his girlfriend, Jordyn Woods!!

The Timberwolves center went out to celebrate his cake day after his game against the Suns on Monday ... but was not aware that a surprise bash was waiting for him.

You can see the 6'11" All-Star and Woods walk into what appears to be a restaurant, when a big crowd screamed "SURPRISE" -- and KAT was in complete shock!!

The fun didn't stop there ... KAT, Woods, friends and fam took the party back home as you can see Towns in his PJs and flops enjoying his birthday cake.

Then it was gift opening time -- Woods hooked her man up with a leather Louis Vuitton Alzer 80 bag ... which comes with a removable interior tray, lock with key and protective cover.

This bag comes with a $13,000 price tag before the custom artwork Woods had done on it ... which features "4:13" on one side and "KAT" on the other.

BTW, 4:13 is a bible verse, "I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me." It also has the date Towns' mother, Jackie, died from COVID (April 13, 2020).

There seems to be a bit of a trend -- Woods also got him an LV bag featuring his mother's name with a halo and angel wings for his birthday last year.

Alec Baldwin is being made a scapegoat in the fatal "Rust" shooting because of political views ... at least according to his brother.

Daniel Baldwin appeared Monday on "The Domenick Nati Show" ... and during the radio hit, he said his brother should NOT be taking the blame for the fatal incident on set.

The way Daniel sees it ... Alec is being scapegoated because he's the big star with outspoken political views, making for an easy target.

Daniel says ... "You know Alec's got the name though doesn't he, so let's go ahead and take Alec for his political views and the many, many wonderful things he's done for different charities and people and his wife and let's see if we can't sensationalize this and go after Alec."

DB adds ... "This is what he faces because he's opinionated and he's strong-headed and he has really staunch views on certain things and those people who don't like him will take advantage of him and persecute his wife. He's a target."

While Daniel doesn't go into Alec's political views, it's no secret Alec did not like Donald Trump, often imitating the former President on 'SNL,' and endorsing Barack Obama back in the day.

Remember ... one of the first to publicly pile on Alec was Donald Trump Jr., who posted t-shirts reading, "Guns don't kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people."

While it seems Don Jr.'s actions support Daniel's scapegoating theory, it's worth noting the District Attorney investigating the case in New Mexico, Mary Carmack-Altwies, is a Democrat.

Instead, Daniel says the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is responsible for the death of Halyna Hutchins ... along with assistant director Dave Halls.

In Daniel's eyes, Alec is exonerated by the fact folks on set told police Halls announced the gun he handed AB was "cold," meaning it did not have live ammunition.

As you know it was a fatal mistake ... the revolver in Alec's hands turned out to have live ammo.

Daniel says the buck stops with the armorer, but he's wondering why Halls said it was a "cold" gun if Halls didn't verify it ... and he thinks it's clear rules weren't being followed on set.

Daniel says Alec really liked Halyna and had spent some time with her family ... and we saw Alec with the family in the wake of the shooting.

No charges have been filed and no arrests have been made ... but Daniel believes when the dust settles AB won't be the one going to jail.

Wyclef Jean was inadvertently strumming one man's pain with his fingers -- or rather, with his shoulders ... and that guy, crazy enough, was the head honcho of a major auto company.

The Fugees rapper was on hand Monday night for the Range Rover Leadership Summit -- a one-day event where bigwigs from Jaguar Land Rover North America gave speeches, touted their success and made product announcements ... and, naturally, partied their faces off afterward.

That's where this video kicks in ... you see Wyclef -- who'd been hired as entertainment for the festivities -- raging with none other than CEO and President Joe Eberhardt.

They were part of a big group that had moseyed over to the Edition Hotel in WeHo, where Jaguar Land Rover hosted its after-party -- this following the main action at the Academy of Motion Pictures earlier in the evening. Safe to say ... Wyclef and co. got a little carried away.

Check out this wild scene ... you see WJ spinning Eberhardt on his freakin' shoulders, and the guy's digging it -- that is, until they both go tumbling to the ground ... head-first.

It wasn't too hard a fall, or didn't seem to be anyway -- but it's clear JE was left a little rattled by the drop, and we're told he had to leave early and was slightly hurt. Wyclef, meanwhile, looked embarrassed by the whole thing.

Miles Teller feels a little bullied by Taylor Swift fans who called him out for shooting a music video with TS and allegedly risking her well-being by being unvaxxed ... but Miles is calling BS.

Miles had a starring role in Taylor's video, "I Bet You Think About Me," with Blake Lively behind the cam in her directorial debut. Swift's fans were apoplectic ... one saying, "Why are so many people happy that Miles Teller is in the music video when he is a selfish jerk that isn't vaccinated?" Another groused, "Why would Taylor use Miles Teller? Isn't that dude a big anti-vaxxer who caused a movie set to be shut down because he refused to get vaccinated and then got f***ing COVID?"

Miles decided to shut them all up, saying, "Hey guys, I don’t usually feel the need to address rumors on here but I am vaccinated and have been for a while. The only thing I’m anti is hate."

Rumors had surfaced back in September, when Teller was shooting "The Offer," a series about the making of "The Godfather." Production was shut down after someone tested positive for COVID, and several media outlets claimed it was Miles, citing a source on the set. Teller's publicist said the reports were bogus, but never addressed who caught the virus.

There will be two Guardians in Cleveland after all ... the MLB team formerly known as the Indians just announced it's settled its lawsuit with a local roller derby squad -- and both will use the "Guardians" nickname going forward.

The baseball-playing Guardians made the announcement Tuesday ... revealing both sides reached "an amicable resolution" this week after the roller derby team had filed a lawsuit in late October.

In the suit, the roller derby team accused the MLB org. of trying to bully its way into jacking the roller-skating squad's longstanding nickname -- and wanted to put a stop to it all.

The derby team claimed the baseball team ripped off parts of their logo -- and then, according to derby team owner Gary Sweatt, offered "likely no more than fifteen minutes of annual team revenue" when settlement talks initially began.

But, the MLB team said in a statement things have changed in the last few weeks ... and both parties are now happy with each other.

"Both organizations will continue to use the Guardians name," the MLB org. said in its statement.

Terms of the settlement, however, were not revealed.

Clippers center Ivica Zubac's Los Angeles area home was burglarized Friday night ... and the 7-foot tall big man interrupted the burglary, TMZ Sports has learned.

Unfortunately, the 2 assailants were able to escape ... according to our law enforcement sources.

The 24-year-old, 7-foot tall Croatian hoops player -- who's averaging nearly 10 points and 8 boards a game with LAC -- left his home around 8 PM Friday night ... before returning around midnight.

When he arrived back at the crib, Zubac -- the 32nd overall pick of the Lakers in 2016 -- noticed a ladder was placed against his home, leading to a second-floor balcony.

Ivica then witnessed two men bolt from the area, hopping a fence and booking it from the property.

The big man called the police ... and the cops responded and cleared the home, ensuring there were no more bad guys inside.

We're told Zubac's place -- which was locked and had a working alarm system -- was ransacked and at least one piece of expensive jewelry, a Rolex watch worth over $20K was gone.

Affion Crockett is taking steps to ensure another "Karen" can't step on his stage during a comedy set.

We got the comedian at LAX Monday and asked about the woman who rudely interrupted his stand-up act ... and what he's doing to make sure it never happens again.

Affion is chalking the incident up to booze and the age of social media ... but he says it was still alarming for someone from the crowd to get so close to him, so he's beefing up his security moving forward.

As we reported ... Affion was performing Friday at the Comedy Zone in Jacksonville, FL when a woman barged on stage and tried ripping his material.

Affion says he tried to get an explanation out of the woman, but says she was too drunk ... and still doesn't know what set her off because he was harmlessly joking about sex.

Yella Beezy allegedly forced himself on a woman during a first date -- and even after she told him to stop, proceeded to rape her ... this according to what cops in Texas say the woman told officers.

TMZ has obtained the arrest warrant and probable cause affidavit from Yella's sexual assault case out of Collin County -- and the story's pretty straightforward. According to the docs, an unidentified woman came to the ER to report an alleged rape in April.

Per the docs, the woman says Yella contacted her on Instagram in late April ... asking if she was looking for a new friend. After some back and forth, she says he asked her out -- and they eventually made plans to grab a bite in Dallas, and for some bowling afterward.

The alleged victim told police everything was going smoothly ... that is, until she says he invited her back to his apartment while they waited for their bowling reservations at 10 PM -- a two-hour window after they'd wrapped dinner. She agreed, and they went back to his pad.

Once there, the woman claims they played cards and talked ... until she says Yella asked for a massage while he was shirtless, which she says she gave him. Once she finished, she says she sat down next to him -- and that's when she claims he pounced on her.

The woman claims Yella started forcibly kissing her and pulling up her dress. She claims, despite her saying "no" repeatedly, Yella inserted his penis into her vagina.

Eventually, the woman says she was able to break free and make a run for it. She claims Yella essentially tried to gaslight her into making her think she'd initiated the sex by kissing him. The next day, she went to the hospital ... which is when the authorities got involved.

As we reported ... Yella was booked on not just the sexual assault charge, but others too ... including felony abandoned endangered child and misdemeanor unlawful carrying a weapon.

Unclear how those charges came about -- but the affidavit obviously sheds light on the sexual assault charge.

We reached out to Yella Beezy's team ... so far, no word back.

Chicago born actor Gary Cole has had incredible success in the film and television industry ... but he's best known for his quirky role as the monotone manager, Bill Lumbergh -- who smoothly slips in extra work days on the weekend over at Initech -- in the classic 1999 Mike Judge movie "Office Space."

There was plenty of other funny characters in the Initech headquarters including Ron Livingston as the hypnotized TPS reports slacker, Peter Gibbons, Stephen Root as the stapler-obsessed arsonist, Milton Waddams ... and of course Jennifer Aniston as the flair-loathing Chotchkie's server, Joanna.

GC's other notable roles include the fast-driving father, Reese Bobby, in 'Talladega Nights' and the foul-mouth strategist, Kent Davison, on the political comedy "Veep."

Vanessa Bryant will have to share some of her medical records with L.A. County -- the judge says the documents are fair game because she's raised the issue of her "emotional distress."

Kobe Bryant's widow had sought to block the County from access to her medical records, citing doctor-patient privilege as it relates to her visits with a psychotherapist. As you know, Vanessa is suing L.A. County over Sheriff's deputies sharing crash site photos that included remains of the victims.

She's said the knowledge the photos were out there was causing her "constant fear and anxiety" ... and she's had trouble sleeping and been depressed.

Defense attorneys for the County requested Vanessa's medical records because they wanted to determine whether her trauma was caused by the alleged photo leak, or the tragic helicopter crash itself.

It's now clearer why DaBaby was recording DaniLeigh while they argued -- cops who responded to his home say she assaulted him ... on Sunday, and then again on Monday morning.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg PD says DaniLeigh was charged with 2 counts of simple assault after officers made 2 visits to the rapper's home. The first came on Sunday night ... after DaBaby had gone live on IG, showing DaniLeigh as she was feeding their 3-month-old child. Cops say DaBaby accused the singer of striking him, but police left without making an arrest.

That changed though when they went back to the house on Monday around 9:30 AM, responding to DaBaby's second claim of domestic abuse. This time, cops say their investigation found enough evidence to cite her for 2 misdemeanor assaults -- one for Monday and Sunday's alleged incidents.

During the Sunday night incident, DaBaby said, "I gotta record you for my safety. You ain't fitting to bring this Black man down."

It would appear the alleged assault had already happened, and DaBaby was recording DaniLeigh out of fear she might claim he had hit her.

On Monday, he posted a video seemingly accusing her of using their baby for Internet clout. He never mentioned anything about her allegedly hitting him. He did, however, vow to take care of their child ... despite all the drama between DaniLeigh and himself.

Hundreds of people honored Tina Tintor and her golden retriever, Max -- who were both killed in the Henry Ruggs car crash on Nov. 2 -- by having a special dog-walking event in Las Vegas this weekend.

The "Pack Walk" happened in the Town Square shopping center in Vegas on Saturday -- just two days after the 23-year-old was laid to rest.

About 200 people -- including Tintor's family -- showed up for the tribute with their canines, dressing the dogs up in white bandanas to symbolize peace.

Tintor's family brought Tina's other dog, a 3-year-old husky named Bella, to the event.

"Las Vegas is a large community of dog lovers and knowing this unfortunate event brought so many feelings," one of the organizers said.

"We need this. We need the family to know the community is here for them as well."

Tintor was also honored with over 2,000 donations to her GoFundMe that was launched a few days after her death. In total, over $103,000 was raised.

As we previously reported, Tina was tragically killed after officials say Ruggs struck her Toyota from behind with his Corvette.

Cops say Ruggs was going 127 MPH at the time of impact, causing Tintor's car to burst into flames and ultimately killing her and her dog.

Joe Exotic is getting a helping hand from somebody he once considered a mortal enemy ... and that would be Jeff Lowe, who says he's back on Team JE.

Jeff and his wife, Lauren, came on 'TMZ Live' Monday ahead of the premiere of 'Tiger King 2' -- which comes out Wednesday on Netflix -- and they told us a lot has changed.

For starters, Jeff says the GW Exotic Animal Park they operated out of Oklahoma will, indeed, be moved to a new location -- but he claims he's in the process of getting all his animals back from the feds.

You'll recall the government raided the park, confiscated the animals and evicted the Lowes, based on allegations of mistreatment and not having the proper paperwork.

Jeff claims the whole federal investigation was based on BS peddled by none other than Carole Baskin -- and as a result, he insists the feds are about to drop all charges against him.

The next step ... firing off their own lawsuits! Jeff and Lauren told us they're going after Carole, PETA and others he considers responsible for prompting the federal raid. What's even crazier is that he's recruiting Joe's attorneys to help him.

Travis Scott's latest Nike collab won't be hitting the shelves anytime soon -- the Swoosh has decided to postpone the "Air Max 1 x Cactus Jack" release due to the Astroworld festival tragedy.

The Baroque Brown kicks were slated to go live on December 16 at 7 AM ... but just minutes ago, Nike announced it will not go through with the drop.

"Out of respect for everyone impacted by the tragic events at the Astroworld Festival, we are postponing the launch of the Air Max 1 x Cactus Jack," Nike said Monday.

The decision comes as 9-year-old Ezra Blount became the 10th concertgoer to lose their life as a result of the chaos at Astroworld.

As we previously reported, the Houston Rockets also scrapped a promotional event featuring Scott last week -- replacing "Travis Scott Night" with a moment of silence for the victims.

On top of that, Fortnite elected to remove the Travis Scott emote from its game.