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"Oppenheimer" making nearly $1 billion, and now winning Best Picture, doesn't mean it's immune to criticism, especially from the real-life people harmed by the atomic testing -- but in the wake of the Oscars, some are willing to forgive ... though, not forget.

Maybe the only bad thing uttered about the Christopher Nolan-directed flick has been that it glosses over the long-lasting radiation exposure and cancer cases generations of New Mexico locals have endured following the July 1945 nuclear bomb test.

Despite the omission, one of those victims, Wesley Burris, tells TMZ he doesn't have any ill will about the film being cemented as "the best" of the year. He says it's unlikely the cast or filmmakers were aware of the victims' backstories ... let alone that there were victims at all, starting nearly 80 years ago.

Remember, the explosive test took place amid thunderstorms over White Sands Missile Range, resulting in toxic debris falling back to Earth in the ensuing rain. It contaminated the landscape, water supplies, the food chain and exposed NM residents to harmful radiation.

Wesley reflected on the event that changed his life when he was just 5 years old. He described the detonation as being so bright, it was like looking at the sun, and the force blew him outta bed.

The medical fallout for his whole family's been devastating -- Wesley got skin cancer, his brother had radiation cancer, his sister had breast cancer and her daughter was born with leukemia. He also had friends who died from cancer they attributed to the atomic test.

Wesley acknowledges the government might not have known what the outcome would be, but failing to inform residents about it ahead of time was messed up.

In fact, he says they were all in the dark about what went down for a while, only to be told years later it was a nuclear test.

As for the movie, he says he paid money to go and watch it and thought it was good. But, he still thinks people should know what really happened in the aftermath, and realize people are still dying from it.

Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, joined us last week on "TMZ Live" ... to share how the nuclear testing is still affecting NM families -- including her own who lived 15 miles from the blast.

Tina's less forgiving than Wesley ... as she believes the literal and figurative fallout was intentionally left out of the film -- just as NM residents were left out of 1990's Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which provided compensation to residents living near nuclear testing sites. But, only those in Arizona, Utah and Nevada.

Puka Nacua put his hoops skills on full display at the NBA's All-Star festivities last month ... and he tells TMZ Sports if he ever needed basketball to pay his bills, he could probably get it done professionally overseas!!

The Rams wideout put on the show on Feb. 16 at the All-Star Celebrity Game in Indianapolis ... scoring 16 points while throwing down two highly impressive dunks. It was so eye-opening, many wondered if the football player could actually transition just fine into the sport if he wanted to.

So, when we got him out at LAX this month ... we asked the question -- and he didn't say no!!!

While he was sure he could never get it done in the NBA, the 22-year-old didn't rule out other pro leagues across the pond ... telling us, "Maybe in another country!"

Nacua, however, doesn't seem interested at all in pursuing another career anytime soon -- telling us straight up, "I'm a lot better at football, that's for sure."

Of course, there's really no reason whatsoever to even explore at this point. The former BYU standout just had one of the greatest rookie seasons in NFL history, catching 105 passes for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns.

It's Tuesday, and we're off and running to start the week at TMZ ... especially on TV!

Let's start with 'TMZ Live,' where Harvey and Charles discussed the latest wave of scandal at Kensington Palace -- all thanks to a doctored photo depicting Kate Middleton with her children ... which she has now come out and admitted she edited herself, to the suspicion of many.

The Royals keep digging themselves a deeper hole with all this ... and it's getting spooky.

Next up, we got 'TMZ on TV' ... where the gang talked John Cena's nearly-naked stunt at the Oscars -- which practically saw him in his birthday suit on stage, and national television.

As it turns out, he wasn't nearly as naked as we all assumed -- but pretty damn close.

Finally, 'TMZ Sports' ... where Babcock and Mojo discussed a big Kobe Bryant misspelling.

Check your local listings for when TMZ is on in your area or catch up on past episodes!

American actress Abigail Breslin was just 9 years old when she played Olive Hoover -- the shy kid who loves her waffles 'a la mode' while on a wild adventure to win a beauty pageant -- in the comedic film "Little Miss Sunshine" back in 2006.

Breslin shared the big screen with Paul Dano as Olive's older brother and an aspiring Air Force pilot, Dwayne, Alan Arkin as Olive's loving grandfather and drug addict, Edwin and Toni Collette as the stressed out working mother, Sheryl.

She also starred as "Little Rock" in "Zombieland" alongside Emma Stone and Bill Murray.

Eric Carmen -- famous for being the frontman of the Raspberries, and for multiple solo hits through the '70s and '80s, including "All By Myself" -- has died ... this according to his family.

The sad news was posted to the singer's own website, with a message posted from none other than his wife, Amy. It reads, "It is with tremendous sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Eric Carmen."

It goes on ... "Our sweet, loving and talented Eric passed away in his sleep, over the weekend. It brought him great joy to know, that for decades, his music touched so many and will be his lasting legacy."

Amy adds, "Please respect the family’s privacy as we mourn our enormous loss." No further details were shared about the circumstances of his death ... Eric had no known or reported ailments of late.

Obviously, it's a huge blow to the music industry -- as Eric was a staple in pop culture in the late 20th century. Not only was his hit 'ABM' a massive success ... but he went on to churn out several others well into the next decade ... including "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again," "She Did It," ''Hungry Eyes" (from the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack), and "Make Me Lose Control."

Other great songs of his included ... "Go All the Way," "Love Is All That Matters," "I'm Through With Love," "It Hurts Too Much," "The Way We Used to Be," "I Wanna Hear It From Your Lips" ... and many, many more.

In addition to 4 albums he put out as the lead singer of the Raspberries, Eric released 6 studio albums solo ... and he went on to become a phenomenon in the music biz. He's survived by his wife and two children. Eric was 74.

Dak Prescott claims a woman is threatening to go public with false sexual assault allegations against him if he doesn't pay her $100 million ... and now, he's suing to try to put a stop to it all.

The Dallas Cowboys superstar filed the lawsuit in Collin County, Texas on Monday ... alleging the woman, Victoria Shores, spelled out her extortion plot in a letter to him and his representatives back on Feb. 13.

Prescott claims Shores alleged in her letter that he assaulted her in Feb. 2017 -- just after his rookie season with the Cowboys had concluded. He said in the suit that if and only if he paid her $100 mil, she'd stay silent about it all.

The quarterback's attorneys, however, said emphatically in the lawsuit Monday, "Mr. Prescott has never engaged in any nonconsensual sexual behavior with anyone."

In fact, they wrote, "the timeline of events and [Shores'] actions in the years since the alleged assault are consistent with being involved with only consensual actions with Mr. Prescott."

"The fact that Mr. Prescott did not hear a single negative thing about this supposed interaction from nearly a decade ago is truly telling of" Shores' motives.

Prescott is now suing the woman and her lawyers for defamation, slander, civil extortion/duress and more.

Prescott's attorney, Levi McCathern, wrote in a statement to TMZ Sports on Monday evening, "Lies hurt. Especially, malicious lies. We will not allow the Defendant and her legal team to profit from this attempt to extort millions from Mr. Prescott."

A whistleblower who was at war with Boeing died last week -- and investigators say it appears he took his own life, this while he was embroiled in a lawsuit against the company.

John Barnett was discovered dead on Saturday out in Charleston, SC -- where cops say his body was found in his truck in a hotel parking lot ... with him suffering an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. No word on if foul play is suspected -- but police are investigating.

Barnett's attorney, Brian Knowles, called the passing of his client "tragic" ... and went on to express explicit doubt about the circumstances of his death, making sure to call the self-inflicted gunshot wound cops are citing as "alleged."

What's more startling is Barnett was literally in the midst of a whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing -- his former employer of 32 years -- as he was alleging retaliation for sounding the alarm on what he characterized as cutting corners on assembly lines for their planes.

This is a drum Barnett had been beating for a long time -- and he even came on "TMZ Live" recently to address issues that Boeing's 737 Max aircraft had been experiencing lately.

Of course, the one incident that comes to mind is a door blowing off a 737 flight mid-air in January ... which left the passengers clinging to dear life as the plane tried to land safely.

Barnett -- a former quality manager at Boeing -- spoke with us and said he wasn't surprised by the mishap ... alleging he'd seen Boeing turn a blind eye to safety concerns for years. He also told us that Boeing's 737 Max aircraft being given the green light to fly again so soon after the Alaska Airlines incident was alarming ... suggesting it might've been unsafe.

Fast-forward to last week ... when Barnett was in the middle of depositions in his case against Boeing. The company released a statement and said it was saddened by his death.

He was 62.

Diane Warren lost again at the Oscars this year -- a years-long tradition that she says she's gonna break next year with her next Best Song nomination ... which makes us very curious.

We ran into the legendary songwriter Monday at LAX -- this after she was shut out at Sunday's ceremony yet again for her song "The Fire Inside" featured in "Flamin' Hot." Nothing new there ... Diane stays getting screwed at the Oscars, a whopping 15 times mind you.

You can tell DW ain't letting it get to her ... 'cause she's a good sport, and more importantly -- she's pretty confident too, telling our photog that she thinks her 16th nom will see gold.

Check it out ... Diane says she's already got another hit cooking, and believes she'll be back at next year's Academy Awards as well. Only this time, she thinks she'll make it on the stage!

Kinda makes us wonder what sorta banger she has waiting in the wings ... Diane's already got a lot of great tunes under her belt as it is. In fact, our camera guy picked his faves.

In case you've forgotten ... Diane has written some of the most iconic songs heard in film, probably ever.

Just a few that our photog thought could rank among her best ... "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," "Because You Loved Me," "Til It Happens to You" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now."

Michelle Yeoh had an awkward moment at the Oscars when it came to handing Emma Stone her Oscar -- something some perceived as racism ... but which Michelle is now clarifying.

Super weird hand-off Sunday when ES went up to accept her award for Best Actress -- Michelle and a bunch of other previous Best Actress winners from years past were onstage as well ... and MY was the one holding the statuette to give to Emma.

As Emma went to receive it from her ... Michelle held onto it, and tried passing it to Jennifer Lawrence before giving it to Emma -- who was standing right next to her ... and clearly not ready to help in the exchange. Like we said ... very weird, and Emma was taken aback.

Unfortunately, for Emma ... the whole thing ended up making her look bad, as some took this as her being rude to Michelle, and a handful of people accused her of her racial bias.

Now, Michelle's clearing the air (sorta) with an explanation. She wrote on IG, "Congratulations Emma!! I confused you , but I wanted to share that glorious moment of handing over Oscar to you together with your best friend Jennifer!!"

Michelle added, "She reminded me of my Bae Jamie Lee Curtis ♥️✨ always there for each other!!" We're not sure that really answers the question of what happened, but there ya go.

In any case, Emma didn't let the little mishap put a damper on things ... she gracefully accepted her award and gave a moving speech, where she seemed shocked she'd won. Afterward, she hit the town with everyone else and celebrated the honor at some after-parties.

As for her and Michelle ... seems like they're all good now, sharing hugs right afterward.

Millie Bobby Brown's explanation that her accent changes based on her surroundings is getting some serious support from experts -- including a guy who worked with Austin Butler.

Hollywood dialect coach Erik Singer -- who helped Austin master his Elvis Presley voice for Baz Luhrmann's flick about the King of Rock 'n' Roll a couple years back -- has come to the defense of the British actress ... telling TMZ people need to relax, 'cause MBB's 100% right.

Singer says ... "I really wish people would lay off of actors, and most especially that they'd lay off of criticizing people's accents."

He goes on to tell us it's entirely normal for people's accents to change depending on who they're talking to -- and he would know, since this is literally his job. ES says this phenomenon is called "accommodation" or "conversation" convergence.

In his experience, Singer says just about everybody does this ... especially actors.

Singer goes on to piece some things together about Millie's backstory and history -- including having grown up in both the U.K. and the U.S. -- and says that it's completely understandable that she might have a dual accent, and that different flavors come out in different times. In fact, he suggests Millie might be bi-dialectal ... which is a thing!

Short story long ... Singer says there's nothing surprising about MBB's accent flip-flopping.

Singer finishes by saying ... "If there's anything odd or wrong it's the fuss around it, and the insinuation that there could be anything wrong or odd about it!"

Millie did a pretty good job of defending herself last week -- saying she's living in NYC with her fiance, Jake Bongiovi, and that her accent changing based on where she's at/who she's with is something that happens all the time. Singer, it seems, would agree.

Erik's fierce defense of Millie isn't entirely shocking ... as his client Austin received backlash after he struggled to shake his Elvis impression.

Steve-O is siding with Jimmy Kimmel after the late-night host poked fun at Robert Downey Jr.'s past substance abuse issues during his Oscars 2024 monologue.

Check out our chat with him above ... where he stood by his fellow comedian, arguing people take jokes way too seriously these days. He told TMZ ... "Let comedians tell jokes!"

Despite overcoming addiction issues himself -- the "Jackass" star felt it was totally within JK's rights to call out RDJ on his troubled past.

Not only did the 49-year-old call hosting a "thankless job" ... he also reminded us that people who are sober regularly discuss their sobriety journeys, like at AA and NA meetings -- so why does it matter if Jimmy chimes in?

So ... it wasn't surprising when Steve-O declared Jimmy does not owe Robert an apology. Though, he made it clear he won't be following in Jimmy's footsteps, explaining he likes to make himself the butt of a joke.

Steve-O's stance comes a day after Jimmy sparked awkward laughter at the Academy Awards after calling "Oppenheimer" one of the highest points in Robert's career ... alluding to his previous court-ordered rehab stay in the early '00s.

Robert -- who has been sober since 2003 -- was a good sport about the dig ... making an "on the nose gesture" when the cameras panned to him. He also called out his struggles in his Oscars acceptance speech -- thanking his entertainment lawyer Tom Hansen for "trying to get [him] insured and bailing [him] out of the hoosegow" over the years.

A teenage girl has been arrested after video surfaced showing her pounding another girl's head into the ground during a fight, and we've learned prosecutors may try her as an adult.

The footage is shocking ... you can see 2 teens in the midst of a nasty brawl Friday near Hazelwood High School in Missouri -- with one of the girls gaining ground over the other, grabbing her head and slamming it into the sidewalk repeatedly once she's on top of her.

The girl getting pummeled appears to go unconscious almost instantly ... and other students around continue to scuffle. It looks like the girl on the ground starts to have a seizure too.

The girl whose head was slammed into the ground is reportedly in the hospital in critical condition. And now we're told cops have arrested the girl they believe did it to her on a first-degree felony charge ... and her case is being handled by the St. Louis County court system.

The D.A.'s Office has said the case isn't on their radar just yet ... because the perpetrator is a minor, and her case, for now, is being dealt with in the juvenile court system.

However, a rep for the St. Louis County Courts' 21st Judicial Circuit tells TMZ -- the minor in custody at the moment has a hearing in a couple weeks ... which will decide if she can be tried as an adult. We're told this could all happen by later this month.

We're told there's a lot of moving parts that would go into that decision -- including what ultimately happens to the girl in the hospital -- but if things take a turn for the worse ... this could be a much bigger deal than the charges she's currently facing.

In the meantime, the Hazelwood School District says that bullying and fighting are key community issues that need to be addressed for the sake of local children.

CJ Perry and Miro have called it quits on their marriage 7+ years after tying the knot ... and unfortunately for the two wrestling stars, this isn't part of an AEW storyline.

TMZ Sports has learned the famous, now-former couple -- who also play a married couple in the ring -- broke up once and for all in winter 2023 ... after years of an on-again, off-again relationship.

The couple said their "I dos" in July 2016 ... a couple of years after they began dating.

We reached out to Perry, formerly known as Lana in WWE, who confirmed the split.

"Miro and I have made the difficult decision to separate after many wonderful years together,  and have decided to move on as friends, and hopefully onscreen characters somewhere down the road," CJ told us.

As for what went wrong, our sources say there wasn't an explosive fight or cheating ... they simply grew apart over the years.

In fact, we're told Perry and Miro, known as Rusev in World Wrestling Entertainment, remain friends and still plan to work together in the future.

It's likely music to the ears of the executives at All Elite Wrestling -- where both are employed -- as the wrestling stars have portrayed themselves as a married couple going back a decade to WWE, through present-day AEW.

CJ and Miro, a former AEW TNT and 3x WWE United States champion, were last photographed out together in public in late 2022... and it's been a couple of months since they've wrestled together on TV.

Neither Perry nor Miro have yet filed for divorce.

Suzanne Somers' omission from the Oscars' "in memoriam" main segment left many fans livid ... but her husband is saying he's all good with the Academy's decision to leave her out.

Alan Hamel explains his POV to TMZ ... saying, "Last time I checked, we still had a First Amendment. I respect the Academy's decision to not include Suzanne In Memoriam. Frankly, the outpouring from millions of her fans, was the kind of In Memoriam Suzanne would have lovingly embraced."

He adds, "She adored and respected her Fans and similarly enjoyed a beautiful relationship with the Media and Paparazzi who elevated her career to heights rarely seen. She debuted on Carson in 1973 with her first of 27 books and remained active and relevant until her passing. God bless Suzanne Somers."

In addition to Somers, actors Lance Reddick, Treat Williams, Ron Cephas Jones, and Burt Young were also overlooked during the main event ... as were screenwriter Norman Lear and British filmmaker Terence Davies.

Suzanne's name was only included in the last slide of the segment, but it was written in a small font along with the names of other late stars. She wasn't shown as one of the main stars who were honored with their faces shown.

As we reported ... Suzanne -- famous from "Three's Company" and a bunch of other TV shows/movies -- passed away after a long battle with cancer at her home in October.

The legendary actress was first diagnosed with melanoma in 2000 ... and developed breast cancer shortly after which she battled on and off for years. It fully returned in the summer of 2023 ... months before her tragic death.

Al Pacino had a very awkward moment at The Oscars -- and it happened at the biggest possible moment in the night ... something he now says wasn't really his fault.

The legendary actor tells TMZ ... "There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the Best Picture award.  I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony."

He adds, "I was honored to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented."

Al finishes by saying he feels bad for any of the nominees who weren't mentioned before he announced the winner, saying ... "I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful. I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathize with those who have been slighted by this oversight and it’s why I felt it necessary to make this statement."

If you didn't see it ... Al sorta stumbled his way to the Best Picture winner, which ultimately ended up being "Oppenheimer." The way he announced it, though, was very anticlimactic.

You could tell everyone was taken aback by the way Al spilled the beans -- even the "Oppenheimer" crew themselves weren't quite sure if he'd actually named them as the victors.

Zita Vass says she's open to pivoting her views on wanting to say the n-word at concerts -- 'cause it sounds like she's just not aware of how or why people would possibly be upset.

We talked to the Guess model Monday on "TMZ Live," and she defended her take online from this past weekend ... where she expressed a desire to be able to say the derogatory racial slur in live music settings, especially if she was just repeating lyrics from an artist.

Zita's whole thing here is this ... if there's no hate in her heart, what's the big deal???

Welp, we tried explaining to Zita why some -- especially Black people -- might take offense to hearing her use the term ... and after a lot of back and forth, it sounds like she finally might've started to understand.

She admits there may be some ignorance on her part -- and the bigger takeaway is that she's willing to learn ... which is refreshing to hear. Of course, some just wanted to dump on her -- and that's exactly what a good amount of people did in her Instagram comments.

This conversation we had with Zita is definitely worth a watch -- it's almost like she's learning about racism (or perceived racism) live for the first time ... and seems pretty genuine about it too, surprised that some might not be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.