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Sen. Chuck Schumer is one of a handful of lawmakers signaling a major shift in the U.S. government's approach to UFO reports -- further evidence people in power believe the truth needs to be uncovered.

The third part of the docuseries event, "TMZ Presents: UFO Revolution" examines who's leading the charge in Washington, DC, why they're doing it ... and what it means to the public.

Schumer and Sen. Mike Rounds introduced bipartisan legislation last year -- the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) -- to increase the government's transparency on reports of UAP activity, and it was passed last month.

Another critical voice in the fight for disclosure is Stanford Professor Dr. Garry Nolan, and he says the very public involvement of prominent lawmakers, particularly Schumer, proves UAP (or UFOs) are no longer a fringe issue.

As Garry puts it in episode 3, available now on Tubi, Schumer wouldn't sponsor the NDAA and risk reputation -- especially in a presidential election year -- if he didn't believe there's something behind it.

Schumer was also a close friend of the late Sen. Harry Reid -- one of the trailblazers of the UFO movement -- and that's another reason he's pushing for transparency.

Filmmaker and journalist Jeremy Corbell, who's been leading our investigation, says getting DC "pit bulls" on board could potentially take this search for answers to places he never before thought possible.

The designer who created the bodysuit that Jake Browning's girlfriend made famous at a Bengals game this past weekend says business has been boomin' since the 'fit went viral ... telling TMZ Sports she's now "overwhelmed" by requests!!

Stephanie Niles rocked the hell outta the all-white look while she cheered on her man at Paycor Stadium on Sunday ... and so many were obsessed with it, Taylor Damron of Elle and B Creative says she now has people beating down her door to get similar pieces made for them.

The designer -- who actually happens to be Niles' cousin -- says sales for the one-piece have been non-stop since the cameras spotted Niles in it.

"We never thought it would blow up like this," Damron said. "I'm overwhelmed with requests for similar bodysuits."

Damron -- who ended up making three Bengals bodysuits exclusively for Niles -- said the high demand is mostly coming from female gamegoers who want a similar look. She also said socialites have been hitting her up too.

Damron says the pieces take about an hour each to make ... and she's hoping one day Taylor Swift might be a customer.

"I would faint making one of Taylor," Damron said. "Maybe I'll slide in her DMs."

American actress Michelle Trachtenberg was only 14 years old when she first started playing Dawn Summers -- as Buffy's immature and klutzy younger sister -- in the TV version of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' from 2000-2003.

Michelle was part of an ensemble cast including Sarah Michelle Gellar as the friendly and ultimate vampire slayer, Buffy Summers, Alyson Hannigan as Buffy's shy and nerdy friend, Willow Rosenberg and Nicholas Brendon as Buffy's funny and brave pal who does not have supernatural abilities, Xander Harris.

Michelle also starred as Jenny in the comedy/adventure film "Euro Trip."

A prominent Hollywood editor is getting the cold shoulder, professionally, due to his recent arrest for child endangerment -- and despite speculation he'll continue working on a big-time Amazon Prime show ... TMZ can confirm he's out.

Thirty-nine-year-old Christopher Charkowski was arrested in L.A. County last week on a felony charge of willful cruelty to a child causing possible possible injury or death -- and a video is circulating online allegedly showing him brutalizing a kid inside of a house.

Law enforcement sources tell us this clip -- home surveillance footage that's been making the rounds on social media -- has been submitted to authorities as part of their investigation of the case. Court records list the date of the alleged offense as June 2022.

The case was filed back in November, but Charkowski wasn't hauled in and booked by law enforcement until Jan. 4. What's depicted in this video is disturbing, to say the least, and could be a key piece of evidence as this case proceeds.

In the clip, you see a man losing his mind and going after what appears to be a little boy. You can see him putting his hands on the kid, throttling him and possibly even throwing some punches.

It's unclear what the relation might be between the adult and child here, but on its face, it appears law enforcement had enough reason to believe it's Charkowski in the video.

BTW, he's been released on bail -- and future court dates are scheduled.

Now, as far as who Charkowski is in showbiz ... he's worked in post-production for a lot of big TV shows. Most recently, he edited video for "Jury Duty," which was the talk of the town last year, and was even nominated at last weekend's Golden Globes.

Charkowski is listed as part of the editorial department for that series -- and after this video got out, people have been clamoring for Amazon to drop him ASAP. Welp, a source with direct knowledge tells TMZ that Charkowski is no longer affiliated with the studio.

We're told his role on "Jury Duty" -- which spanned 8 episodes -- came and went once they wrapped production nearly a year ago, and our sources say he was an outside contractor on the show, not a permanent employee of Amazon/Freevee.

Since then, our sources say he hasn't been employed at Amazon whatsoever -- and safe to say ... he won't be back.

Another show he's worked on for a long time is Bravo's "Below Deck Mediterranean," but a production source points out to TMZ .... he hasn't been with them for about 2 years now.

Robert Downey Jr.'s joking about Robert De Niro's reaction to RDJ's win at the Golden Globes and hooking us up with a great soundbite -- even just for the sake of being glib.

We got the "Oppenheimer" star Wednesday outside "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and our photog asked him about De Niro mistakenly standing up when the winner for Best Supporting Actor was being read. It was a quick little mix-up on Bob's part -- but people definitely noticed.

In case you missed it ... RDJ and RDN were both up for the same award -- Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture -- which went to "Robert ... Downey Jr." When De Niro heard "Robert" though, he started to stir in his seat ... almost as if he'd won ... only to be let down when a different last name followed.

RDJ's having fun with it all here, telling us ... "Nothing's better than losing."  Mind you, he was doing this in the middle of signing autographs and shooting the s*** a bit.

He's joking, of course, and the reason we know that is because we asked what he meant -- with Downey Jr. adding ... "I just wanted to give you a good quote." Indeed, it was!

Looks like RDJ's still in good spirits after the big win for his role as Lewis Strauss in "Oppenheimer" ... he didn't just bless us, but he also gave autograph hounds what they wanted too. He also walked away with a big fat peace sign for the whole gang.

Lil Nas X's claim of being accepted to a Christian college was a fib of biblical proportions -- at least according to the higher ed institution itself ... who says they've never heard of him.

A spokesperson for Liberty University tells TMZ Hip Hop, "We can confirm that Liberty University did not issue the Montero Hill 'acceptance letter' posted yesterday to social media, and we have no record of Montero Hill applying to the University. Liberty University exists to glorify God by equipping men and women in higher education in fidelity to the Christian faith expressed through the Holy Scriptures."

"We continue to pray for America and for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed across this land. We welcome all to apply and join us at Liberty University."

LNX posted the phony placard as part of his new song rollout that's hellbent on convincing fans he's not the devil-worshipping dandy that Dave Chappelle made him out to be in his newest Netflix special.

Many people noted the letter he posted was edited/old ... 'cause the ex-Prez whose John Hancock is on there died a long time ago -- so it was easy to spot the fake. Still, now we got LU officially shutting it down ... and sending prayers Nas X's way too to boot.

Of course, this stunt is just the latest LNX has pulled over the past few weeks to plug this new single of his -- 'J Christ' -- which is very much the opposite of his devil song from a few years ago ... "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)." Now, he's trying to seem holier than thou.

Speaking of this new track ... Lil Nas X dropped a teaser of the music video for it on Wednesday -- and there's a bunch of celebrity lookalikes heading up to the pearly gates.

Funny enough, we saw photos of these same actors a couple months ago doing a shoot -- and while we didn't know what this was for at the time ... we certainly do now. You can take a peek and check out the photos yourself to see what was happening behind the scenes.

Montero may not be a holy roller on campus next semester but he's still pumped to take his fans on a divine journey ... judging from his upcoming "J Christ" music video that spoofs several celebrities walking up the stairways to heaven.

We got a hold of some pics from the shoot ... doppelgängers of everyone from Taylor Swift to Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson, Kanye West -- even Queen Elizabeth can be seen Nasing it up!!!

It's true ... the NBA is better with Draymond Green on the basketball court, according to Charles Barkley, who tells us the 4x champ is at a crossroads, and it's time to knock off the "antics."

TMZ Sports caught up with the Hall of Fame hooper in NYC Wednesday morning ... where we asked Chuck about 33-year-old Green's return to the Warriors following last month's squabble with Suns center Jusuf Nurkic.

“It's great to have Draymond back, great to have him back," Barkley said.

"He's a very good player, he's good for the NBA. I hope he gets rid of the antics because he’s a very good player and a good dude, but like I said, he's got to stop putting himself in bad situations."

Of course, aside from the 4 rings he won with Golden State, Green is a 4x NBA All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year ... but, there have also been a handful of ugly incidents, many occurring on-court during games. There was also the Jordan Poole punch.

In fact, before the Nurkic hit, Green was suspended five games for putting Rudy Gobert in a headlock during an in-game fight with the Timberwolves.

Because of all that, Charles says Draymond must keep his nose clean going forward.

“Obviously, two big suspensions are a big deal. He’s got to walk a straight and narrow line. He’s just not been fair to himself and to his team.”

FWIW, it sounds like Green has gotten the message ... recently speaking about how he's grown during his month off.

There's more with the NBA legend ... we also talked to Barkley about NBA vet Dennis Schroder finally explaining how he fumbled an $84 million bag a few years back.

Michael Lohan -- father of Lindsay Lohan -- underwent a cancer procedure today on his hand ... TMZ has learned.

Michael tells TMZ ... he's been fighting skin cancer for a while, being diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma about 4 years ago and "recently had a suspicious lesion on my hand" that prompted doctors to do a biopsy.

Things changed Tuesday night when he got a call regarding the biopsy and that he needed to get the patch removed ASAP -- and Wednesday, that's exactly what happened.

He tells us the cancer had "deep roots" and needed a lot of digging, but we're told they thankfully were able to get it all out.

Michael admits the type of cancer he has is "aggressive" and he's constantly monitoring it ... adding it likely will return at some point.

Lindsay's father posted about his new scar on Instagram Wednesday, writing, "A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed, you endured the pain, and God has healed you."

BTW, we're told his son, Michael Jr., was the only one who knew about his medical situation -- and Michael tells us he didn't want Lindsay to worry or affect her work, which is why she was unaware.

Taylor Swift will have to walk herself through a winter wonderland if she wants to watch Travis Kelce play on Saturday ... 'cause Arrowhead Stadium is already covered in snow -- and the forecast for the weekend isn't looking much warmer at all.

The Chiefs shared photos of their home field in Kansas City on Wednesday afternoon ... and as you can see, it's already looking awful chilly three days before their postseason kicks off.

And, according to meteorologists ... it's going to stay that way for the Dolphins game Saturday night, with temps expected to hover right around 8 degrees Fahrenheit.

There's been no official word yet if Swift will indeed make the trek through the snow to catch Kelce's playoff game ... but given that she's been to most of his tilts since September, it seems she'll find enough coats to stay warm while watching her man.

Kelce and the Chiefs, meanwhile, are 4.5-point favorites for now ... though considering the Dolphins play an up-tempo style of ball in weather that's normally closer to 70 degrees -- that number could certainly rise by the time the two squads clash.

Chris Christie has officially bowed out of the race for President ... but just before he did, he was caught talking trash about Nikki Haley.

The former New Jersey Governor was picked up on a hot mic Wednesday ahead of announcing he's pulling out of the presidential race ... talking to someone about who can potentially hold their own in the primaries.

You can hear him say, "She's gonna get smoked" and "She's not up to this," referring to Haley.

This was Christie's 2nd attempt at the White House. BTW -- he went up against Donald Trump in 2016, but pulled out after his approval rating was simply anemic.

This time around, he went up against Trump, Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy -- and things got heated between the candidates on the debate floor.

Vivek fat-shamed CC in December, shutting him down on the topic of foreign policy by saying, "Just walk yourself off that stage, enjoy a nice meal, and get the hell out of this race."

While Trump was absent from all debates, Christie let him have it nonetheless -- calling him Donald Duck, citing how often the former President was "ducking" the debates.

Legendary college football coach Nick Saban is calling it a career ... he just told his Alabama players and staffers he is officially retiring, according to reports.

72-year-old Saban is undoubtedly the most dominant to ever grace the college sidelines ... winning seven national championships over the course of his career.

Saban joined the Crimson Tide program in 2007 ... going 206-29 and winning national championships in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020.

He also had massive success at LSU ... leading the Tigers to a title in 2003.

Saban briefly took his talents to the NFL in 2004 ... joining the Miami Dolphins for two seasons, where he struggled to have the same results at the professional level.

Most recently, Saban led the Tide to a 12-2 record before losing to Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Over the course of his college coaching career -- which spanned from Toledo to MSU, LSU and Bama -- Saban led several high-profile players who went on to exceed in the pros ... including Trevon Diggs, Jalen Hurts, Najee Harris, Tua Tagovailoa, Amari Cooper, Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, Joseph Addai, Michael Clayton, Andrew Whitworth, Marcus Peters and many more.

Bama honored Saban with his own statue at the Walk of Champions outside Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2011.

Selena Gomez is heading to the big screen to play one of the biggest music icons ever in Linda Ronstadt. -- with a personal sign-off from the legend herself ... TMZ has learned.

The speculation got kicked into high gear Wednesday after SG posted a photo of herself reading Linda's 2013 memoir, 'Simple Dreams' ... without much context or anything at all. That was enough to get folks to wonder if they were collaborating, or if Selena was teasing a future acting gig. Mind you, this was around the same time she said she was taking another break from social media.

Anyway, sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ that Selena has, in fact, been tapped to portray Linda in a forthcoming biopic -- although, we're told it's in the very early stages ... and the rest of the deets about other cast members and a studio being attached are hazy.

With that said ... what we do know is that Linda personally approved of Selena herself, and we're told she's happy that SG is attached to the project -- feeling like she's the perfect fit. In fact, our sources say Selena actually met with Linda a couple months ago at her home where they spoke privately.

We're told Linda and her team are directly tied to the production -- so they'll oversee this ... with our sources noting the plot will revolve around her book ... which was optioned.

Of course, people are losing their minds about this news for a couple different reasons -- one, Selena certainly feels like great casting for something like this ... 'cause she does have a passing resemblance to Linda. Plus, they're both of Mexican descent -- so there's that.

Naturally, there's also the singing element -- Linda's got a unique, robust voice ... and Selena is obviously a trained professional singer herself. So technically, she can pull this off.

With Selena's casting, ya gotta figure this is gonna be a splashy film with some major talent ... and with biopics like this in the recent past -- there may even be awards buzz around it.

Life's coming fast for Danielle Bregoli AKA Bhad Bhabie -- she's about ready to pop with her first child and also unveiled her very first movie role to kick off 2024!!!

The upcoming film "Drugstore June" rolled out its official trailer on Wednesday, which billed BB under her real name and joined an ensemble cast.

The film reunites BB with her longtime director Nicholaus Goossen, who primed her for the bigtime shooting a bunch of her star-studded videos in the past ... including "Gucci Flip Flops" with David Spade and "Trust Me" with Bella Thorne, Theo Von and Ty Dolla $ign.

Danielle plays a girl who works at a smoke shop and the cast is rounded out by Bill Burr, Beverly D’Angelo, Esther Povitsky, Miranda Cosgrove, Haley Joel Osment and many more.

Celebrity chef Curtis Stone says foodies should be wary of McDonald's' new Double Big Mac ... and he thinks the mega burger should come with its own freakin' warning.

Curtis joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" to talk about the Golden Arches' super-sized creation, which Australians have been chowin' down on for a while, and is about to return to the U.S. for a limited engagement.

According to Curtis, this 4-patty beast is an eat-at-your-own-risk kind of situation, and should have a health warning attached to it ... but his concerns don't stop at the caloric intake -- which is around 740 calories, for the record.

Curtis thinks McDonald's has often provided a lack of food information to its customers -- namely the "100% beef," which could be a mixture of all kinds of meat cuts -- and folks should always know exactly what they're ingesting.

He also thinks companies like Mickey D's dominate the country by adhering to peoples' cravings, but Curtis tells us why that's doing a lot more harm than good.

Jonathan Majors is explaining why he keeps bringing Coretta Scott King's name into his relationships ... telling us Martin Luther King's widow is an inspiration.

The actor invoked Coretta's name in his first sit-down interview since being found guilty of assault and harassment, drawing the ire of Coretta and MLK's daughter ... and now he's responding to pushback.

Jonathan tells TMZ ... "My intention was to convey my utmost respect for Coretta Scott King, her achievements, and both her personal legacy and the one she shares with her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King."

In his ABC interview, Jonathan praised girlfriend Meagan Good for sticking by his side ... saying, "She's an angel ... she's held me down like a Coretta. I'm so blessed to have her."

As we reported ... Dr. Bernice King seemingly called out Jonathan online after the interview aired, posting ... "My mother wasn't a prop."

Now, Jonathan tells us Coretta "is a great woman, a very important figure in American and world history, and someone both Meagan and I are inspired by and deeply admire."

Jonathan's trial also included audio clips where he's telling his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari to be more like Coretta and Michelle Obama. Jabbari's the woman he was convicted of assaulting and harassing.

Aaron Rodgers' time on Pat McAfee's show is done -- for this football season, at least -- after the ESPN host announced Wednesday morning that the 4x NFL MVP would NOT be returning to his normal Tuesday morning time slot during the playoffs.

"So, Aaron Rodgers Tuesday, season 4, is done," McAfee said Wednesday morning, despite the fact Rodgers was reportedly supposed to join the show for several more weeks.

Pat continued ... “There will be a lot of people who are happy with that, myself included to be honest with you. The way it ended, it got real loud. I am happy that he’s not going to be in my mentions going forward, which is great news.”

Sources tell TMZ Sports this wasn't a network decision -- we're told Pat determines which guests appear on the show -- but ESPN is on board with the move from what we're told.

In other words ... this was McAfee's call.

Of course, the Rodgers spot on "The Pat McAfee Show" has become the most can't-miss segment on the ESPN airwaves, but it's also brought with it a ton of controversy, especially over the last two weeks when AR seemingly linked Jimmy Kimmel to Jeffrey Epstein.

Rodgers later clarified his comments, saying he wasn't implying the late-night host was a pedophile.

But, that didn't stop Kimmel from taking even more jabs at the quarterback Tuesday night.

Perhaps this indicates the war between Aaron and Jimmy is over ... as the Jets signal caller won't have Pat's massive platform to respond.

Rodgers, who has appeared on Pat's show for years, is usually a guest through the playoffs ... but that won't be the case this season.

As for whether the Rodgers spot is back for season 5 ... there's been no indication either way.