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Before this boy in his pastel collared shirt and wide-brimmed bucket hat turned into an actor and stand-up comedian, he was just a spiffy 3-year-old boy looking cool on a park bench, living most of his childhood in Hong Kong before graduating from Beverly Hills High School.

Perhaps he's best known for starring in HBO's comedy series "Silicon Valley," but he also garnered wide attention with his role as Dr. Chan Kaifang on Netflix's "Space Force." And, don't underestimate his list of famous friends ... like his "Crazy Rich Asians" costar Michelle Yeoh.

Luke Bryan's Nashville bar is alleged to have overserved a Missouri college student who went missing last week -- and now a state agency has launched an investigation into it.

The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission -- the licensing authority for manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of booze beverages in the state -- tells TMZ ... while there's no specific rule that dictates a business escorting out intoxicated patrons, let alone providing assistance to said patrons, there are laws about providing too much alcohol to someone.

We're told Tennessee law prohibits serving alcoholic beverages to someone who is visibly intoxicated -- and any violation of this is considered a class A misdemeanor.

As it pertains to claims that Riley Strain, who's still missing, was overserved ... we're told the TABC has opened an investigation to see if any violations have occurred in this matter.

Remember, it was cops who suggested Riley might've been overserved Friday when he and some friends hit the town and ended up at Luke's 32 Bridge -- where the 22-year-old was reportedly kicked out ... and where he got separated from his party and went off on his own.

As the story goes ... Riley apparently told his friends he'd meet them back at their hotel -- but he was nowhere to be found when the rest of the guys showed up. As of Thursday, there's still no sign of him ... despite an extensive search effort throughout the city.

Crews have scoured the streets, and the search for Riley has even extended to the riverbank nearby -- as some suspect he may have gotten lost and perhaps fallen into the water.

Remember, surveillance footage of Riley stumbling along the streets of Nashville has surfaced ... and he looks out of sorts, and possibly under the influence too. It's eerie video, no doubt.

Luke himself spoke out on the story, asking for prayers. He also noted his bar was cooperating with law enforcement and providing any surveillance video of their own that could help find him. We reached out to them on this latest update, but they had no comment.

Nashville PD also gave an update Thursday on where they were in the case ... noting they were scouring through tons of tips, and said they might bring in state and/or federal help if they feel they need it. For now, it sounds like it's just them handling things internally.

Riley's family has said they're living through a nightmare as they continue to look for him. Riley had apparently FaceTimed his mom earlier in the evening, and she said nothing seemed amiss then, even though they knew he was bar hopping.

The basketball community is rallying around Toronto Raptors player RJ Barrett ... after it was revealed his brother, Nathan, recently passed away.

Nathan's former youth basketball coach, Chris Stewart, confirmed the tragic news on Thursday ... saying the athlete was special to the program.

"Nathan was only with us for a short time in grade 7 before he moved to Florida but whenever he was back in Mississauga the boys connected," Stewart said.

"No parent should ever have to bury a child, hug your kids today a little longer. You will be missed Nathan, RIP ❤️🏀🙏🕊️"

Details surrounding his death have not been revealed at this time.

Nathan -- a 6-foot-1 guard -- played at Montverde Academy, just like RJ. He had dreams of becoming a pilot.

"In my family, we’re very competitive," RJ told SLAM in 2018. "Everyone is always trying to beat each other. Everyone is an athlete, so that’s where I get all my competitive drive."

RJ spent one season at Duke University before going 3rd overall in the 2019 NBA Draft. He played for the Knicks until he was traded to the Raptors in December.

Barrett -- who did not play in Wednesday's game against the Detroit Pistons -- has been ruled out of Friday night's contest against the Orlando Magic ... and understandably, it is unclear when he will return to the court.

The Barrett family released a statement on Nathan's death ... saying he passed away surrounded by his loved ones.

"While our family is devastated by this great loss, we will continue to cherish the memories and time spent together. Nathan was a God-fearing young man of strong character. He was thoughtful, kind, loving, compassionate, creative, admirable and driven."

"Though his time with us was brief, he will live forever in our hearts."

The father of Michigan high school shooter Ethan Crumbley, has been found guilty on all 4 counts of involuntary manslaughter ... just weeks after his wife Jennifer saw the same verdict.

The jury reached the decision for James Crumbley Thursday after 1 day of deliberations. His sentencing is scheduled for April 9, the same date as his wife.

With this verdict, Crumbley was found to be negligent for disregarding warning signs exhibited by his son that could have potentially prevented the devastating event. Prosecutors said he even purchased a gun for his son just days before he used it to open fire at Oxford High School in the Detroit suburb of Oxford Township, MI, in November 2021, killing 4 students.

The verdict comes a few weeks after his wife Jennifer's conviction -- which marked an historic moment, as it's unprecedented for a parent to be criminally charged in connection with their child's involvement in a mass shooting.

Jennifer's testimony during her trial had shed light on the role she says her husband, James, played in the tragic events ... saying he had purchased the gun their son used in the shooting and was the one responsible for hiding it.

She also testified she was aware her son was struggling but had no inkling he was capable of carrying out a mass shooting ... saying if she had known, she'd done the whole thing differently.

17-year-old Ethan was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole back in December.

Carlos Alcaraz's tennis play is sweet like honey ... and clearly, some bees thought so too -- 'cause a huge swarm forced him off the court!

The second-best men's player in the world took the court Thursday to take on Alexander Zverev during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, but ended up contending more with a cloud of the dastardly drones when the match was tied 1-1.

Check out the video ... Alcaraz tries to simply swat a few of the irksome creatures away from his face before realizing his bug problem's a whole lot bigger than he thought.

CA keeps his cool for a bit while the sideline official explains the situation to the audience ... but the bees buzzing around his head proves to be too much for the Spanish star.

Carlos starts swinging his racquet around wildly before running toward the tunnel away from the court. He also pulled up his shirt over his face to protect himself -- and let's just say, it was quite a sight ... like something out of "Sleepy Hollow."

In the end, it sounds like Carlos took some damage from all this -- his agent says he got stung on the forehead during the melee, although it's unclear to what extent he was hurt.

Ultimately, it seems like everyone ended up relatively OK ... 'cause play continued just after 5 PM PT with Carlos soldiering through his injury -- after a totally unprotected individual went around and vacuumed up the insect swarm on the camera, all by themselves. Bold!

6:35 PM PT -- A rep for A+E tells TMZ ... "We look forward to the unsealing of our papers as well, as they tell a very different story."

Wendy Williams' guardian sued unsuccessfully to block the release of the new documentary following her struggles ... and now the lawsuit's unsealed -- and it gives an inside look at Williams' day-to-day.

Here's the deal ... the former talk show host's temporary guardian Sabrina Morrissey sued back in February to stop the “Where is Wendy Williams?" doc from coming out -- an attempt that ultimately failed, as we now know.

Those legal docs were originally sealed ... but now, they are available for anyone to peruse -- and they provide a look into both Morrissey's argument and her description of Williams' recent condition.

In the paperwork, obtained by TMZ, Morrissey argued Williams was incapable of handling her own business affairs when she signed the documentary contract. Same goes for her executive producer role -- Morrissey says Williams wasn't able to handle such a job effectively ... including not being able to properly shape how she was portrayed.

SM said WW's ability to care for herself has deteriorated since beginning the guardianship too ... and she says now Wendy needs constant daily supervision to "ensure her safety, well-being, and comfort, and to preserve her dignity."

Morrissey claimed she was originally told the doc would present Williams' comeback story, ultimately showing Wendy in a positive light -- and Morrissey said she was under the impression she would get to see the finished product before it was released.

Sabrina added she was totally blindsided when the trailer came out ... because she said she never saw a final cut of the doc.

Of course ... days before the doc came out, Wendy's team revealed she was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia last year, and she entered a treatment center to deal with her health issues as well.

The creative team behind the documentary said they never would've made it had they known about the diagnosis ... though it seems hard to believe they had no indication of her health struggles given the kind of care Morrissey detailed in her suit.

Bottom line ... the story behind "Where is Wendy Williams?" just got a whole lot murkier.

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!!