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Alec Baldwin wants to be let off the hook in the "Rust" manslaughter case, because he claims prosecutors stacked the deck against him with the Grand Jury that indicted him.

The actor and his attorney Alex Spiro filed new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, where he seeks to have his criminal case completely tossed ... arguing the grand jury process was completely rigged by the Santa Fe County D.A.'s office -- alleging they trotted out 7 witnesses who were incredibly biased.

Specifically, Alec says 3 of the witnesses were on the D.A.'s "payroll," 2 of them were from the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office, one was already suing him in a separate civil case -- and yet another publicly blamed Baldwin for Halyna Hutchins' death days afterward ... even though Alec says this person wasn't working on the production at the time.

Another eye-popping allegation in the docs involves the FBI testing of the pistol used in the scene. Alec claims the D.A. failed to present all the evidence from that testing ... which he alleges showed the revolver did, in fact, fire without the trigger being pulled when all 6 rounds were loaded, just as they were on the day of the tragedy.

Remember, up until now ... we'd heard the opposite -- that the FBI testing proved without a doubt the gun could only fire if the trigger was pulled. This is crucial, because Alec has always maintained he did not pull the trigger.

For all these reasons, Alec's asking a judge to drop the involuntary manslaughter charge. As we reported, he already pled not guilty in this second go-around ... this after the D.A. dismissed their charges the first time.

Meghan Markle's kicking off her new lifestyle brand, and it looks like she's got a few ideas about what she wants to do with it ... including potentially selling a variety of products.

The Duchess of Sussex's company applied to lock up the rights to something called American Riviera Orchard in early February -- which she officially announced Thursday online -- submitting trademark applications in a bunch of different categories.

Among the items she might end up selling under the new venture -- assuming the trademarks get approved, that is -- are cookbooks, tableware, coffee and tea services, jellies, jams, tablecloths, cookbooks, servingware, cutlery, spreads of all kinds ... and lots more.

It seems she's expecting things to move smoothly in that direction ... 'cause, like we said, she just launched both the ARO website and an Instagram page dedicated to the new venture.

So far, the IG page only shows the company's logo ... but a short clip on the page's story shows Markle baking while Nancy Wilson's "I Wish You Love" plays over it. The page already has 199k followers BTW -- safe to say, people are very excited for whatever Markle's got cookin'.

While it's unclear exactly what MM plans to do with the new site, tons of fans online are speculating it'll be an updated version of The Tig -- Markle's lifestyle blog from before she married Prince Harry.

The Tig also featured recipes, personal essays and advice from Markle, all of which could factor into American Riviera Orchard's offerings. We'll just have to wait and see, we suppose -- Meg hasn't announced when she's gonna pull back the curtain, but there's a waitlist open.

After the royal couple's somewhat turbulent 2023 -- including a Spotify deal that fell through and a rumored Dior partnership that never came to fruition -- this seems like Meg going back to basics, and to her lifestyle roots.

Time will tell if this Orchard bears fruit.

Chelsea Blackwell is staying tight-lipped on whether she's officially back with ex-fiancé Jimmy Presnell -- despite their recent hookup in Florida, she's not ready to publicly declare a romantic reunion.

The "Love is Blind" star -- who just appeared on the Season 6 reunion -- joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live," where she tried to play it cool when it comes to the subject of Jimmy.

While Chelsea says she's trying to keep the current status of her relationship under wraps ... she was beaming as she hinted at more information to come on ... perhaps on the "Love Is Blind: After the Altar" special. So yeah, she got the showbiz plug thing down pat.

She did confirm the 'LIB' reunion was filmed 3 weeks ago ... so a lot's clearly happened between now and then. Remember, we got video of her and Jimmy getting very cozy last week in Fort Lauderdale -- and Chelsea did spill some tea about why they were down there together.

She made a not-so-subtle reference to Jimmy's "party animal life" -- which might have been more of a dig at him than anything else.

During this 'LiB' season ... Jimmy's partying was a contentious topic for the couple, and definitely played a role in them breaking up before they even got to the altar.

That being said, Chelsea says she and Jimmy are in a good place now and enjoying each other's company -- unlike some of their other castmates.

Yeah, we're looking at you, Trevor!

She also reminded us she's got a day job as a flight attendant, and it's time to get back to her normal life ... outside of showbiz.

She'll be back on flights starting Friday, and is already anticipating some big changes when it comes to her interactions with passengers.

Steve Wynn seems eager to unload his gigantic Beverly Hills mansion ... because he's once again slashed his asking price, and did so by quite a bit ... TMZ has learned.

The casino mogul's estate -- which was relisted in January for $75 million -- was just recently slashed by $10 million on Thursday. It's now listed for $65 million ... $60 million less than its first asking price of $125 million in April 2021.

And $65 mil sounds like a steal for this property ... as the home boasts 11 beds, 16 baths, over 27,000 square feet of living space, and three acres of land. Not to mention, it also features a family room with a bar, an outdoor lanai and oversized pool, a wine cellar, a state-of-the-art screening room, a resort-sized gym and a massage room.

The amenities are never-ending on this property ... there's even a championship tennis court with its own pavilion. Oh, and we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the outdoor kitchen.

The mansion is also centrally located ... you'll find it seated on a private road off of Los Angeles' famed Sunset Blvd. Here's hoping someone snatches up the property this time around -- because it's clearly worth every penny.

Steve isn't the first celebrity seller to slash an asking price on a mega-mansion. Last year saw an influx of celebrities unloading luxe properties amid Los Angeles' mansion tax -- which is now imposed on property sales above a certain amount.

Not everything is bigger in Texas it seems ... 'cause the porn selection just got a heck of a lot smaller -- with Pornhub blocking access to would-be users in the Lone Star State.

The porn giant's not allowing users to hop on its site because of a new age verification legislation signed into law in Texas Thursday -- which went into effect immediately ... and, as a result, Pornhub.com is no longer available if users have a Texas IP address.

Thing is ... it's not because of the state -- Pornhub themselves are responsible for blocking out their site entirely.

The bill requires people to prove they're over 18 years old before watching explicit vids ... but Pornhub is petty -- instead of just complying with the new regulation and demanding people prove their age, they opted to shut down access to people in Texas altogether.

A new message appearing on the site to people in Texas says the company believes age verification infringes on the rights of adults to access protected speech, and the overly restrictive measure isn't a real solution. Therefore, the company says it made the difficult decision to completely shut down access to the site. So ... no porn for anyone!

Pornhub's team expressed fear in its statement that users would hop over to sketchy sites that don't check age verification ... clearly not practicing safe porn surfing, from their POV. From the outside looking in, it would appear they're punishing all Texans for what their lawmakers have enacted ... which probably sucks for all the horny people wanting to watch.

As for how the public's taking this ... obviously, the reaction's pretty split. Some people are happy it'll be harder for kids to access material they deem harmful while others are calling out Texas lawmakers like Senator Ted Cruz and Governor Greg Abbott over the new law.

In any case, the issue's got lots of people tense ... for a variety of reasons, we suppose.

Drake Bell's abuser, Brian Peck, had an army of A-list support behind him during his 2004 sentencing -- and we got a hold of the letters they all wrote, including ones from James Marsden, Taran Killam and Alan Thicke ... who spoke glowingly about the guy.

TMZ has obtained a total of 41 letters written to the judge in Peck's criminal case, and while there were scores of Hollywood types lending their voices in support of the convicted child molester -- all defending his character and asking for leniency -- these 3 are the biggest names.

Marsden's letter is the longest, and he details his extensive personal history and friendship with Peck, saying he'd known him for 14 years (mind you, he wrote this in '04, so they go way back apparently) and generally vouching for his character.

JM writes, "My name is James Marsden and i am very proud to say that i've been a close friend of Brian Peck's for about 14 years now. I am from Oklahoma originally and i met Brian through an actor friend ... Brian believed in my talent as an actor and encouraged my decision to move to Los Angeles and pursue this dream i had."

Marsden goes on to say he and Brian remained close over the years, saying BP mentored and coached him -- all free of charge -- and that they formed a very close bond, with Brian serving as a role model and instilling upstanding character traits.

Marsden says based on what he knows about Brian, he "couldn't breathe" when the charges came down. He says he had lived at his house for months and had shared hotel rooms with Brian -- and he says he never felt uncomfortable or compromised being around him.

He finishes by writing, "Brian is a good person with a very healthy fear and respect for the law and, i assure you, what Brian has been through in the last year is the suffering of a hundred men. I don't want to victimize Brian, nor would he ever wish that, but i do feel compelled to shed light on the fact that (he) has learned his lesson."

Taran -- who worked on the "The Amanda Show" and who also knew Brian very well -- was equally praising in his own letter of support to the judge presiding over the case, calling him his "co-worker, my friend" and saying he's not someone who belongs in jail.

TK writes, "When I found out about Brian being arrested I was shocked. Brian is the last person I would expect to be charged of criminal activities. My first thought was 'this is a mistake.' I know many of our mutual friends had similar thoughts. It is too out of character."

Finally, there's the late Thicke ... whose letter was much shorter but just as supportive of Brian, commenting on their days together on 'Growing Pains,' a period in which Alan says Brian was a "highly professional and nurturing mentor of the young people on our television set." Thicke says BP was never inappropriate.

There are dozens of other letters by people who went to bat for Brian -- including "Boy Meets World" stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong, "Growing Pains" star Joanna Kerns and 'Suite Life' directors Rich and Beth Correll ... whose show Brian worked on briefly, post-conviction.

You can see their letters here in full too ... but there are even more, filed by actors like Ron Melendez, James Marshall, Kimmy Robertson and other showbiz players.

As we reported ... Drake is set to detail exactly what he says Brian did to him before he got his own show on Nickelodeon on the new documentary 'Quiet on Set.' "Quiet on Set' premieres across 2 nights on ID, starting at 9 PM on March 17 and 18.

Amber Rose had nothing but love to share about her former flame, Machine Gun Kelly ... whom she says is the only ex-boyfriend to apologize for treating her badly.

The model/reality star gave MGK a major shout-out to MGK during Wednesday's episode of "The Jason Lee Show" ... where she explained that she and the rapper/singer remained friends in the aftermath of their brief relationship in 2015.

As AR describes it ... aside from her ex-husband Wiz Khalifa -- Kelly was the only one to acknowledge what a great girlfriend she was. Apparently, he said as much in an apology.

Amber has dated a lot of celebs ... having previously been with Kanye West , 21 Savage, Monte Morris, Terrence Ross, MGK, Alexander 'AE' Edwards and, of course, Wiz too.

Speaking of AE -- who's currently dating Cher, and seemingly in love -- Amber has thoughts on him too ... taking somewhat of a shot at him, and sounding happy he's off her plate.

She told Jason that she's very happy for the couple -- crediting the music legend for creating stability at home for her and AE's son, Slash. AR says their kid actually goes to Cher's house often ... and she's grateful AE has someone who can hold him down and be a good model.

As you know ... Amber and AE were together for 3 years, dating between 2018 and 2021.

While we're sure Amber could spill all sorts of tea on her A-list exes ... she revealed that she has purposefully chosen to stay tight-lipped for the sake of her kids. She reminded Jason ... her kids are old enough to Google.

As for her repeated history of dating rappers, Amber kept it coy ... defending that she is "not out looking for it."

Pierce Brosnan just took a plea deal in his hot springs hiking case out in Idaho ... this after initially entering a not-guilty plea just two months ago.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ ... Pierce pled guilty to one of two charges brought against him -- namely, one count of foot travel in all thermal areas and within Yellowstone Canyon confined to trails -- after he allegedly wandered into a delicate hot spring at Yellowstone National Park in November 2023.

In exchange, the other charge was dismissed. Brosnan's guilty plea lands him with about $1,540 in fines and other court costs.

Remember ... 007 appeared to post a couple pics from an off-limits area in the park -- areas that are closed to tourists for both the safety of the springs and the safety of hikers.

Those pics got picked up by TouronsOfYellowstone -- an IG page that highlights the tourists/morons who break hiking rules in the gorgeous national park.

Shohei Ohtani just finally revealed his lovely wife -- it's Japanese basketball player Mamiko Tanaka!!

The Dodgers superstar -- who got the largest contract in sports history this past offseason -- recently announced he married "someone from my Native country of Japan who is very special to me" ... but did not disclose her identity.

Ohtani and his team put an end to all the speculation on Thursday ... sharing a photo of the newlyweds on their way to Seoul, South Korea for the Dodgers' season opener on March 20th.

The woman was quickly ID'd as Tanaka, a 27-year-old basketball player who played for Waseeda University and the Women's Japan Basketball League's Fujitsu Red Wave.

The 5-foot-11 forward/center averaged 7.8 points and 6 rebounds per game ... so they're really quite the athletic couple!!

Ohtani said he and Tanaka have known each other for three to four years ... but their actual wedding date is unknown.

He also said she had no impact on his decision during free agency ... but pointed out Tanaka has a great understanding of his profession.

Patrick Mahomes is connecting with Travis Kelce for another off-field highlight -- the pair of Chiefs superstars are getting in the restaurant industry once again with a new steakhouse in Kansas City.

The hot spot is named 1587 Prime (a nod the duo's jersey numbers) ... but their business partners over at the Noble 33 hospitality group say their involvement goes far beyond that.

Entrepreneur Tosh Berman -- who runs several popular restaurants with Noble 33 -- says Mahomes and Kelce have been "instrumental" with input about the place's concept ... and have shared cool, original ideas to bring to the business.

The two-story, 10,000-square foot eatery -- which will be located inside the Loews Hotel in downtown -- is slated to open in early 2025 ... and it sounds super fancy, with a meat display as the focal point of the whole thing, as well as "hyper-subtle" nods to the Super Bowl champions' on-field accomplishments.

There will also be a massive wine collection, which will be one of the largest in the state.

Mahomes -- who also teamed up with his favorite target by investing in Chicken N Pickle -- spoke about the decision to join forces with Kelce again ... saying, "Travis and I have become frequent visitors of Noble 33 restaurants in other cities so it only made sense to bring something special to our own community in Kansas City."

Kelce added ... "We're excited to be a part of this journey with Noble 33 to create a one-of-a-kind dining experience, and what better place to start than our very own, Kansas City."

The guys are essentially attached at the hip both on and off the field ... and now they got the perfect place to double date with Brittany Mahomes and Taylor Swift!!

Danny DeVito's getting back together with his onscreen twin -- saying he and Arnold Schwarzenegger are set to team up once again ... in a totally new project.

The actor spoke with Fox News Digital Wednesday -- days after his surprise appearance alongside The Governator at Sunday's Oscars ceremony -- and said he and AS have plans for a silver screen reunion.

In fact, Danny says this isn't just some hopeful whim -- he says a script is actually in the works, and Warner Bros. is involved ... so, it seems like this thing is really happening!

"Twins" fans shouldn't get too excited though ... 'cause DD says this is an all-new flick, not a sequel to the hit 1988 film starring Danny and Arnold as fraternal twins.

Danny said that his and Arnold's friendship stretches even further back than "Twins" saying they'd see each other every so often ... but -- as Danny joked -- they weren't pumping iron at the gym together!

Ultimately, Danny says they're hoping to start production next year ... and, he's keeping his fingers crossed the project won't be delayed.

Arnold's got a whole bunch of projects on the way according to IMDb FWIW ... and Danny's gonna be featured heavily in the 17th season of his hit show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," so the two guys are gonna have to work around busy schedules.

Aaron Rodgers is attempting to clear up his position on Sandy Hook, a day after a scathing report claimed the superstar QB denied the horrific shooting ever happened, saying that's simply not true, calling it "an absolute tragedy."

"As I’m on the record saying in the past, what happened in Sandy Hook was an absolute tragedy. I am not and have never been of the opinion that the events did not take place," 40-year-old Rodgers tweeted from Costa Rica.

"Again, I hope that we learn from this and other tragedies to identify the signs that will allow us to prevent unnecessary loss of life. My thoughts and prayers continue to remain with the families affected along with the entire Sandy Hook community."

The statement comes after CNN published a report on Wednesday citing two people who claimed AR was adamant the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, CT was fake, attributing the following quote to the 4x NFL MVP.

"All those children never existed. They were all actors.”

Rodgers tweet seems to directly contradict the CNN story ... but not all of it. The network also reported Aaron believes, or at least did in 2013, that the shooting was an "inside job" perpetrated by the United States government.

The Jets signal-callers message does not address whether he ever claimed the shooting was an inside job.

The Kate Middleton saga continues -- in light of Kensington Palace choosing to keep their fake photo of her up on Instagram ... the platform is now warning people, this is fraudulent.

IG has officially slapped the Mother's Day picture seen 'round-the-world -- which has since been revealed to be heavily edited -- with a flag that explicitly lets people know the picture ain't authentic ... and that users would be wise to be cautious with it.

The disclaimer on her post now reads, "Altered photo/video. The same altered photo was reviewed by independent fact-checkers in another post."

A further description of their decision to label her picture with this explains that the fact-checker found the photo had been edited in a way that could mislead people, but not because it was shown out of context. Translation ... this thing was cooked up in the lab!

The third-party fact-checker that IG (Meta) is relying on for this conclusion is a company called EFE Verifica -- which is a Spanish org that specializes in this sorta thing.

BTW, Instagram is not the only company that's distancing itself from Kate's pic -- French news agency AFP (a well-respected player) came out publicly this week to say that they do not consider Kensington Palace a trusted source.

AFP's global news director said they were going to heavily vet anything that Kensington sends their way going forward ... and a notice has been sent to their teams globally.

It's a big hit to the reputation of Kensington Palace, no doubt -- and the fact that they still have this doctored image up is astounding ... especially with all the backlash, conspiracy theories and speculation that has followed on Kate's whereabouts and condition.

Of course, this head-in-the-sand approach -- remember, the Palace has yet to address more questions about this, despite everyone having reached out for further comment -- seems to be spearheaded by Prince William himself, who's continuing on like nothing's happened.

In fact, Bill was on hand Thursday for more Royal duties with the OnSide Youth Zone -- who help disadvantaged kids -- and here, he was seen making cookies with youngsters ... and he actually alluded to Kate, saying his wife was the "arty" one as he botched icing decorations.

He's been doing a bunch of work-related stuff all week, and has yet to address head-on what's up with Kate ... frankly, it's unclear if anyone's even asked him.

If his attitude here -- namely, to ignore and power on -- is any indication ... it seems the rest of the Kensington Palace team is following his lead, but Kate-Gate ain't going away.

UFC legend Mark Coleman is breathing on his own and talking to his family ... just days after he was airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries sustained while rescuing his parents from a house fire.

Coleman's daughter, Kenzie, shared an emotional clip on Mark's Instagram ... just 2.5 days after the MMA great suffered smoke inhalation while saving his mom and dad from a giant blaze.

"I had to make a decision," Coleman said about the house fire from his hospital bed, "It was already horrible! I couldn't breathe!"

"I'm the happiest man in the world. I swear to God I'm so lucky! I can't believe my parents are alive!"

Unfortunately, his dog, Hammer, passed away ... and Coleman -- who retired from MMA in 2013 -- is completely devastated.

"I couldn't find Hammer!" Coleman said as he cried with his family.

A GoFundMe was set up for Coleman's loved ones as his daughters will take time off work to help him during his recovery. As of Thursday, over $68K was raised.

Regina King is finally opening up about her son Ian's suicide ... saying through tears she respects his choice to take his own life and touching on her own experience with grief.

The actress/director sat down for an interview on "Good Morning America" where she delved into Ian's tragic 2022 death ... and touched on her difficult journey in the aftermath.

RK says she thinks of grief as love without anywhere to go, and she's trying to celebrate her son for everything he is -- she even uses the present tense because she says Ian is always with her. King adds she hasn't really had time to simply sit with Ian's decision ... which she says she understands -- because it's clear to her he didn't want to be here anymore.

Regina says her favorite part of herself was being Ian's mom, and ultimately she simply has to respect the journey despite also asking herself questions about what she possibly could've done better as a parent.

As we reported ... Ian Alexander Jr. -- the only son of King and her ex-husband Ian Alexander Sr. -- took his life back in January 2022 on his 26th birthday.

At the time, Regina said, "Our family is devastated at the deepest level by the loss of Ian. He is such a bright light who cared so deeply about the happiness of others. Our family asks for respectful consideration during this private time. Thank you."

Ian was a regular guest of Regina on the red carpet, even calling King a "Super Mom" on the 2019 Golden Globes red carpet and posting a heartfelt tribute to her on her 50th birthday in 2021.

It seems Regina is taking the next big step in her journey ... although Ian is clearly never far from her mind.

There's still time for Jake Paul to reconsider ... 'cause Mike Tyson just shared footage of his first day of training for their upcoming fight -- and the dude looks like he's still packing a ton of power!!

The 57-year-old boxing legend proved his hands haven't slowed down all that much on Wednesday ... hitting the mitts with his coach Rafael Cordeiro.

Tyson also went shirtless to show off his impressive physique ... saying the fun is just getting started, but it's clear he's taking this fight seriously.

The big question when the fight was announced was if Iron Mike -- one of the most feared fighters to ever wear a pair of gloves -- still had it ... and it's safe to say we have answers.

Of course, former UFC champ Chuck Liddell pointed out to TMZ Sports last week that power is the last thing to go in an aging fighter -- and once Tyson makes contact with Paul, the fight will be over.

As for Jake, he's up to the challenge ahead ... and addressed rumors of tag teaming with Logan in the event and the use of headgear.

The Problem Child said it's all BS ... and anyone believing the "reports" is straight-up too dumb to be allowed to vote or drive.