TMZ.com Home

"Will & Grace" star Eric McCormack is stepping up to defend straight actors who play gay characters on screen -- pointing out that taking on roles different from oneself is the whole point of being an actor.

The actor, who is straight IRL and also famously portrayed gay protagonist Will in the hit NBC sitcom, told ITV's "Good Morning Britain" ... it's all about casting the best person for the role, regardless of their personal identity.

Eric's drawing on his own experience in the industry, saying he didn't become an actor just to play versions of himself -- rather, he's always embraced roles where he's portraying someone entirely different from who he is.

He says, "It's part of the gig. And, I've always said, if gay actors weren't allowed to play straight actors, Broadway would be over."

Even though Eric's roles might not directly mirror his own life, that doesn't mean he skimps on the research. When it came to portraying Will, he brought his A-game by drawing on his theater background and the fact that many of his closest friends were gay ... channeling their spirit into the role.

Worked out pretty damn well ... "Will & Grace" -- costarring Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally -- ran for 8 seasons from 1998 to 2006, and added 3 reunion seasons from 2017 to 2020.

Jake Gyllenhaal says he suffered a nasty injury while shooting the new "Road House" movie with Conor McGregor ... revealing he cut his hand right open during an intense fight scene -- and ended up with a staph infection.

The Academy Award nominee and UFC superstar opened up on working together on set during a recent episode of "Armchair Expert" with Dax Shepard ... and while they both praised each other's professionalism, there was a bit of bad blood involved.

Gyllenhaal -- who plays former MMA fighter Elwood Dalton in the flick -- explained he was shooting an intense showdown with Conor's character, Knox ... and the scene involved a ton of breakaway glass.

As it turns out, it didn't matter if it was real or fake ... 'cause when Gyllenhaal put his hand down on the bar in the middle of the take, a piece went right through his mitt.

But, there was no quit in the lead actor -- he said he trucked through the shot and finished the scene because they had already run through it several times and he knew this take was a good one.

Once the director called "cut" -- shoutout irony -- Gyllenhaal said he looked down at his hand and noticed his whole arm had swelled up ... and he later found out it was a staph infection.

Of course, staph can be a real pain in the ass ... but it can also be deadly in some cases if it goes untreated.

Luckily, Jakey G is still kickin' ... and he said that was really the only injury he had while filming the Prime Video flick.

Conor ain't the only big-name non-actor in the project -- Post Malone also showed off his acting chops ... and based on BTS pics, the musician got pretty bloody, too.

Looks like Barbra Streisand's complaints are ringing loud and clear -- Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch will not be adding the RBG Award to their trophy shelves after all.

In fact, the uproar over the pair snagging the prestigious leadership award named for late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was so intense, the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation decided to pull the plug on the entire ceremony.

ICYMI ... Barbra, herself a former RBG Award recipient, didn't hold back when she slammed the organization's decision to honor the polarizing billionaire and the FOX Corp. founder.

Barbra took to IG to join forces with the Ginsburg family in denouncing this year's honorees ... saying she had the honor of rubbing elbows with RBG herself on multiple occasions, and she seriously doubts the late justice would give a nod to these particular awardees.

For those who don't know, the Org rolled out the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Leadership Award back in 2019, originally aimed at honoring accomplished women. But, in a move toward gender equality, they switched gears in 2020 and started including men in the mix.

The pendulum swung pretty far the other way this year with 4 out of the 5 honorees being men -- billionaire philanthropist Michael Milken, actor Sylvester Stallone and Martha Stewart were to be honored along with Murdoch and Musk.

Barbra's denouncement came hot on the heels of RBG's daughter Jane speaking out, saying ... "The justice's family wish to make clear that they do not support using their mother's name to celebrate this year's slate of awardees and that the justice's family has no affiliation with and does not endorse these awards."

The backlash hit its peak when the foundation Chair, Julie Opperman, finally stepped up and announced the April ceremony was canceled... adding that offending RBG's family and friends was the last thing they wanted to do.

Garrison Brown was negatively affected by social media before his death -- and it impacted his own sense of self-worth ... this according to one of his siblings.

The "Sister Wives" star's actual sister, Madison Brown Brush, hopped online to post an emotional video reflecting on her brother's untimely passing -- and she spoke a lot about his mental health struggles, while also acknowledging pointing to mental health convos at large.

Maddie explains her brother was battling issues internally -- and even says he felt he wasn't doing enough with his life ... using social media as a comparison point.

She also says something pretty poignant ... namely, social media isn't real.

Maddie goes on to explain how she and the rest of the family have been dealing with Garrison's suicide -- describing how difficult it's been finding a new sense of normal.

She urged her followers to remember that social media is just a snapshot into someone's life -- it doesn't show everything. Remember, Garrison's loved ones say he seemed perfectly happy online ... having just adopted a new cat days before he died by suicide.

Maddie goes on to say that she's going to continue putting a spotlight on mental health ... and sends a message to people who might be battling demons -- telling them that if they're not feeling fulfilled with how they're spending their time, they gotta change that ASAP.

We broke the story ... Garrison was found deceased in his Flagstaff, Arizona home earlier in March. Flagstaff PD told us that no foul play is suspected, as Garrison appeared to have suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

He was only 25.

Drake Bell is blasting other Nickelodeon child stars for making light of his abuse -- specifically, going after the 'Ned's Declassified' crew ... who seem to find some humor in it.

Devon Werkheiser, Lindsey Shaw and others who used to work on their old Nick show were recording a TikTok Live Monday -- this as the second half of the 'Quiet on Set' doc aired on ID -- and they appeared to be cracking jokes at Drake and others' expense.

One of the jabs Devon and co. dropped while discussing the 'QOS' doc included him impersonating a tyrant, presumably Dan Schneider, saying "give me your holes."

Devon acknowledges right after that they shouldn't joke about the topic -- and DB himself certainly agreed ... taking to X to call him out. Drake quote-tweeted the vid, adding ... "Ned’s Declassless…this is wild…laugh it up guys…laugh it up…”Give me your h*les?!!” Really?!"

Devon does attempt to be serious at one point in his IG Live ... noting that what happened to Drake is terrible -- acknowledging it's crazy it stayed under wraps for as long as it did.

He also says that their set from 'ND' was not in any way like what was described in the doc from child actors who worked under Schneider's reign. Still, he continued to giggle with his old costars ... which didn't sit well with Drake, and definitely not with others online.

It's understandable that the 'Ned's' camp is getting trashed right now ... frankly, what Drake and co. revealed on the doc is extremely serious -- not to mention downright disturbing.

In addition to Drake's abuse at the hands of Brian Peck -- several other former child stars claimed they were mistreated while working at Nick ... and others suggested the showrunners and writers were often attempting to sexualize a lot of the kids in not-so-subtle ways.

There are a lot of sketches and costumes -- not to mention slime gags -- that are resurfacing now that come across as wildly inappropriate ... even though DS has denied wrongdoing.

Nickelodeon commented, saying ... "Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct."

They add, "Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience."

King Charles is alive and well despite what some Russian propaganda might have some believing this week -- proven by the fact the guy was photographed out and about.

HRH was seen doing his duties Tuesday in and around the London area -- including meeting with Korean War vets at Buckingham Palace ... where he hosted and chatted with the heroes, and later in the day, swinging by Windsor Castle ... where he was spotted exiting.

As you can see by the pics ... Chuck is very much so still with us, and the reason that's significant is because several Russian media sites and blogs floated a wild story about him supposedly kicking the bucket all through the weekend -- something that clearly isn't true.

These false reports were so rampant, in fact, that a BS statement being attributed to Buckingham Palace made the rounds -- which appeared to announce his sudden passing.

The cause these fake Russian sites were referencing was cancer complication -- and it got so out of control, the British embassy in Moscow had to issue an official clarification on the record ... noting that the King was not 6 feet deep, and instead going about his business.

He's just the latest senior Royal to face wild conspiracy theories -- remember, Kate Middleton has been in the crosshairs of tinfoil hat types for several weeks now ... that is, until she surfaced herself in the flesh over the weekend in what's an obvious and clear sighting.

The Princess of Wales was out and about Saturday, walking on her own two feet and looking relatively health -- this after being sidelined for a few months following a surgery she had in January, which involved a procedure in her abdomen area. Unclear what exactly it was for.

In any case ... she's been subjected to a barrage of jokes and gossip, just as her father-in-law has in the past 48 hours.

British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson is stepping into the suave shoes of James Bond ... or at least they've reportedly been offered to him, and the ball's in his court!

Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has apparently got her eyes set on the 33-year-old for the next 007 adventure, The Sun reports -- which would bring an end to the super long wait to find the seventh actor to take on the iconic role since 1962.

So, here's the deal ...the publication reports nothing's set in stone yet, but word on the street is that Bond is Aaron's gig if he wants it. The formal offer is sitting right there on the table, with producers waiting to hear back from him.

But, Eon, the production company behind JB, is pretty darn sure that Aaron's gonna scribble his name on that contract any day now.

Just last week, Aaron was keeping it low-key when folks started buzzing about him playing Bond, telling Numero, "I find it charming and wonderful that people see me in that role. I take it as a great compliment."

Classy move. Keeping things cool until everything's official ... very Bond.

IYDK, Aaron's last film was "Bullet Train" alongside Brad Pitt, and he'll be appearing in 3 films this year, "The Fall Guy," "Nosferatu" and "Kraven the Hunter" ... the fifth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe -- so he's been keeping busy, but looks like he'll soon be adding a whole lot more to his plate.

Goes without saying, the quest to find the next 007 has been one heck of a ride, with some seriously heavy hitters in the mix, such as Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, and Henry Cavill ... just to name a few. But, as for now, it looks like it's ATJ's role to lose.

Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez are officially divorced ... something a judge just signed off on this week, TMZ has confirmed.

On Tuesday, the pop star's marriage to Dalton came to an end in the books -- with their previously agreed-to settlement taking effect ... and making them unattached legally, ending their nearly three-year marriage, according to legal docs obtained by TMZ.

There wasn't much they needed to do other than wait for this one -- it'd already been signed, sealed and delivered for a while ... the wheels of bureaucracy just had to take effect.

As we reported ... Ariana filed to dissolve their marriage in September 2023 after the former couple separated eight months earlier. About a month later, she and Dalton had settled up -- one of the fastest celebrity divorces on record. The pair had a prenup and no kids.

We broke the story -- per their agreement of their settlement, Ariana had to cough up a single lump sum payment of $1,250,000 to Dalton and split the sale of their L.A. home. She will also throw Dalton $25,000 for his lawyers’ fees.

You may recall ... Ariana hooked up with Dalton during COVID in 2020 – and, at first, everything was going swimmingly. But, once the COVID restrictions were lifted, their relationship quickly went downhill as Dalton, an L.A. realtor, was taken aback by Ariana's celebrity and other lifestyle changes. Plus, she got busy again as an A-list star.

French tennis player Arthur Cazaux suffered a terrifying health scare during his match Monday -- collapsing on the court as medics rushed to his aid.

Cazaux was waiting to return serve from Harold Mayot in the third set of their game at the Miami Open when he suddenly crumpled to the ground while the TV cameras were rolling.

Check out the video ... Cazaux was laid out on his back with his body twitching and his stiff arms pointing to the sky before they went limp.

Paramedics and the chair umpire dashed over to help Cazaux, while Mayot also came by to check on his opponent. Cazaux was eventually rolled off the court in a wheelchair.

Cazaux, who is ranked No. 74 in the world, retired from the match as he led 2-1 in the third set. Mayot and Cazaux split the first two sets, 6-4 and 7-5, respectively.

The umpire announced that Cazaux was throwing in the towel due to an illness without offering specifics.

According to weather reports, the temperatures reached the upper 80s to low 90s in Miami yesterday so that may have played a factor.

Dr. Jenn Mann has advice for Elizabeth Hurley -- keep your clothes on around your grown son ... 'cause it goes beyond the pale of what she considers a healthy parent-child dynamic.

The "Couples Therapy" doc tells TMZ ... even though the actress' 21-year-old son Damian is a consenting adult, the fact that he's directing his mom's sex scenes is a major boundary breach between parent and child -- at least from her POV, anyway.

With two best-selling parenting books under her belt -- "SuperBaby: 12 Ways to Give Your Child a Head Start In the First 3 Years" and "The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy, Confident Kids" -- the renowned psychotherapist is speaking from experience when she advises against simulating sex in front of your kid. In her eyes, it's just not the best way to operate.

Jenn does acknowledge that this is a Hollywood thing -- calling out the biz for its lack of boundaries ... noting that Damian directing his mom's sex scene for her upcoming erotic thriller "Strictly Confidential" really blurs the lines ... presumably between voyeurism and art.

She also tells us she finds it downright bizarre that Hurley felt liberated by her son witnessing her being intimate on-camera ... adding the only reason she'd understand EH's empowerment is if she was merely boosting his directing career. Aside from that ... she doesn't get it.

Jenn's not shy in pointing out that Liz and Damian's relationship seems to push boundaries that might be crossing into taboo territory, violating cultural norms ... and she gets why others, like herself, would have a negative reaction to the whole situation.

JM says she thinks Liz and Damian might be best suited for therapy -- and lucky for them, she's a wiz in that field.

As we reported ... EH told Access Hollywood her son Damian made her comfortable during an intimate scene where she wears some seriously skimpy clothing while getting steamy with another woman.

While most others would recoil at the idea of seeing their parents in such a scene ... Liz says she enjoyed it so much, she'd be totally down for a little more mother-son collaboration in the future.

Kanye West and Bianca Censori went to some business meetings on Monday -- and they were dressed to impress ... depending on what type of ventures they're chasing, that is.

The couple hit the town again to kick off the week, and they first started out by hitting up Bev Hills -- going into office buildings for what we're told appeared to be formal chats with powerbrokers and shot-callers ... and if they did, they were ready to knock some socks off.

By that, we mostly mean BC, who outdid herself yet again with another eye-popping, body-hugging 'fit that was squeezing her up tight -- and barely holding her upper half together.

Just when we thought we'd seen everything ... Bianca trotted herself out in this little number -- rocking a revealing pink tube top, showing off major cleavage, and neon nylon stockings.

Ye, of course, was just rockin' his usual all-black getup -- and it looks like he was styling Bianca in one of the buildings at one point. Unclear if he was pulling her stocking bottom down or up -- but here, it looks like her booty is very much so revealed, on purpose.

After their business meetings in BH ... Ye and Bianca went to The Grove and hit up a bunch of the shops -- and we're told they even went to Cheesecake Factory at one point. As you can see ... they were having a ball in each other's company, laughing it up/holding hands.

Of course, this outing follows another one the night prior ... when they were up in Burbank strolling around, where there too Bianca was letting it all hang out -- quite literally.

That 'fit of hers was more color-coordinated than this latest one appears to be -- but hey, Spring is upon us ... and perhaps she was feeling a little festive in the daytime and wanted to reflect the mood with her highlighter-esque colors.

Daisy de la Hoya is breaking her silence after "90 Day Fiancé" stars Mariah Fineman and Tom Brooks accused her of stalking ... denying that she even cares about the couple.

Daisy tells TMZ ... the allegations made by Mariah and Tom are inaccurate -- as she claims that none of what they stated in their police report happened, at least not the way they described it anyway.

DDLH says she's unfamiliar with Mariah and Tom ... and so she definitely didn't declare her love for Tom, as they claimed.

However, she does say she did believe -- amid a mental health episode, as she describes it -- that they worked for her celebrity crush, Tom Cruise. She states that she didn't even know Tom shared the same first name as the A-lister. So, when Daisy was declaring her love for "Tom," it was about the action star ... not the reality TV personality.

We broke the story ... Mariah and Tom hit Daisy with stalking allegations in a recent police report -- in which they stated the fellow reality star had been harassing them since January.

Now, Daisy does admit she climbed into Tom and Mariah's car -- explaining that incident occurred during her episode ... which she is now getting help for at a treatment center.  While Daisy says she feels badly ... she's hurt that her mental health struggles were filmed.

Paul Pierce is just the latest celebrity to fall prey to Los Angeles' burglary epidemic ... the former NBA superstar's home was broken into Friday night, and the perpetrators got away with luxury watches and over $100k in cash.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports the 46-year-old 10x NBA All-Star's pad was hit when Pierce wasn't home, and a mind-boggling amount of personal treasure was stolen.

Amongst the burglarized items were expensive watches, 6 figures in cash, and a safe ... which police are currently trying to track down.

As for the criminal investigation, we're told cops have been combing through video from the scene, hoping to find a critical piece of evidence that'll crack the case.

No arrests have been made.

While he's the latest, he's not the first big-named star to have their personal spaces violated, and their belongings stolen ... it's been an issue in the City of Angels for years.

Post Malone, Bella Thorne, Yasiel Puig, Rihanna, Quentin Tarantino, Drake and so many other stars have fallen victim.

In fact, the LAPD recently talked about "burglary tourists" from South America who travel to Los Angeles solely to target luxurious mansions.

Police say the rings sometimes use high-tech equipment like jammers to bypass security systems.

It's unclear if one of these rings is behind the Pierce burglary.

It's Tuesday, and let's just say we started the week strong here at TMZ ... especially on TV.

Kicking things off on "TMZ Live," we actually broke a big story in publishing the first video of Kate Middleton out and about and on her own two feet since December -- which hopefully puts all the rumors to rest, especially now that we can see she seems to be doing just fine.

The footage shows her looking relatively healthy and happy. So ... much ado about nothin'?

Next up, we have "TMZ on TV," where the gang talked about Ben Affleck's latest reason to be sad -- namely, the fact that he and Jennifer Lopez's car suffered a flat tire this weekend.

It was pretty funny to see them deal with it ... and even funnier to talk about on the show.

Finally, we land on "TMZ Sports" ... where Babcock and Mojo talked about wrestler Bully Ray.

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

American actress Amanda Peet was 28 years old when she played Judith -- the beautiful and intimidating psychologist who manipulates her boyfriend -- in the classic comedy film "Saving Silverman" back in 2001.

Amanda shared the big screen with Jason Biggs as Judith's boyfriend and the caring social director at the retirement home, Darren ... and playing Darren's two childhood best friends was Jack Black as J.D. and Steve Zahn as Wayne -- both who were trying to prevent Darren from marrying Judith in order to hook him up with his high school crush.

11:35 AM PT -- Nashville PD has released the latest evidence they have of Riley Strain being seen on the night in question -- and it comes courtesy of none other than bodycam footage from a police officer.

In the body cam video -- which was rolling while the officer was checking out a burglary call on a vehicle -- you can see Officer Reginald Young interact with Riley who casually strolls right by him ... they even exchange a brief hello, and RS looks fairly normal and put together.

Nashville PD says this appears to be the last sighting of him on camera before he vanished.

A major clue has been uncovered in the disappearance of Riley Strain ... as authorities discovered the missing college student's bank card Sunday near a river in town.

According to Nashville Police, Riley's bank card was found on the embankment between Gay St. and the Cumberland River -- where surveillance video is said to have last captured Riley. No other update was issued ... except that the search for Riley continues.

This update comes after Nashville's Office of Emergency Management had the dive team search for Riley in the Cumberland River on Saturday. As the OEM put it to FOX17 ... the search plan included taking several boats along the riverfront where Riley was last seen.

Based on indicators from search K9s onboard, sonars were used to locate areas where divers could look more thoroughly. Saturday's search reportedly resulted in no conclusive findings. Additionally ... the outlet says police do not currently suspect foul play.

However, a local eyewitness claimed to FOX17 Riley was not alone after leaving Luke's 32 Bridge Friday evening. A homeless man detailed that he and his wife, who live by the riverbank, heard a commotion and allegedly saw Riley almost stumble into the river.

He added ... "I never seen anybody stumble that hard before," while claiming RS looked very intoxicated.

The man claims he didn't explore the situation further, claiming someone was apparently already there with Riley, who assured him Riley was just drunk. No word on who that person might've been, or any description of them. The FOX17 report didn't elaborate either.

Remember ... the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission is currently investigating whether Riley was overserved at Luke Bryan's Nashville bar. While the establishment is cooperating with authorities, they defended themselves in a recent statement that they only served Riley one alcoholic drink (and two waters) before asking him to leave.

The country superstar himself also spoke out on Riley's disappearance, calling the whole thing scary and asking for prayers.

For anyone who may have reliable information on Riley's whereabouts, cops encourage you to call 615-742-7463.