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New footage from a bank robbery earlier this year shows just how delicate the situation was ... with one police sniper taking a seemingly impossible shot to rescue hostages.

Officers for the Lee County Sheriff's Department surrounded a Fort Myers Bank of America after a 36-year-old man attempted to rob the establishment in February. The culprit took 2 hostages inside the bank ... using them as shields while communicating with a negotiator.

The Sheriff's Department released video of the standoff -- with a sniper steadying his aim onto the suspect while right outside ... balancing his gun on another deputy's shoulder.

A red Ferrari that once belonged to Cher just sold to the highest bidder ... and the new owner shelled out over half a mil for the vintage sportscar.

The singer's former 1972 Ferrari 246 Dino GTS changed hands Monday, going for $568,000 at auction. Cher bought the Ferrari brand new in '72, and she owned it for a couple years before it was acquired by a famous racer, Chris Cord.

The specs on this set of wheels are pretty cool ... it's painted a custom shade of red, Rosso Chiaro, with a Nero leather interior and a 2.4-liter V6 engine.

Rihanna was spotted in the Big Apple rocking her natural hair -- this just a week after announcing her new hair care line ... and it's possible the two things may be aligned.

The billionaire beauty mogul was spotted rockin' her own curls Sunday -- ditching her extensions and wigs to flaunt her short, blonde-dyed locks in all their curly glory while out and about.

RiRi has sported short hair looks before ... but going completely au naturel with her hair is a bit of a rarity. But, as you can see, it totally suits her and only further cements her beauty icon status.

Sydney Sweeney is wasting no time enjoying all the finer things her new oceanfront estate in Florida has to offer ... slipping on a bikini and riding all sorts of things on the water.

The actress kicked off her weekend at her new place down in the Keys, hopping on an inflatable banana boat Friday and riding the toy in some skimpy swimwear.

As you can see, Sydney's working on her tan, and her amazing body ... getting some exercise paddling around on a paddle board ... with a super cute dog in tow!!!

Donald Trump clearly isn't afraid of Swifties ... expressing a fearless stance on Taylor Swift's physical appearance and political beliefs -- which seem to have the guy conflicted.

The ex-Prez discussed the pop star with Variety Co-Editor-in-Chief Ramin Setoodeh for his new book, "Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass" -- and DT had nothing but kind words ... for Taylor's looks.

In the interview, which took place in November, Trump noted ... "I think she’s beautiful -- very beautiful! I find her very beautiful. I think she’s liberal. She probably doesn’t like Trump. I hear she’s very talented. I think she’s very beautiful, actually -- unusually beautiful!"

Maren Morris has shared a major life update perfectly timed for Pride Month ... announcing some very personal news with her fans online.

The country singer took to Instagram Sunday and shared a series of photos from her "RSVP Redux" tour stop in Phoenix, Arizona -- where she proudly waved a Pride flag at one point during her concert.

Maren confirmed she was a member of the LGBTQ+ community, writing in the caption ... "happy to be the B in LGBTQ+ happy pride 🌈."

Meghan McCain says Jennifer Lopez is getting bad-mouthed and dog-piled these days -- which is odd ... 'cause she just threw some extra shade herself with an ugly anecdote.

The ex-talk show host didn't have very nice things to say about J Lo on her most recent podcast episode -- recounting a time when Jen was on "The View," and claiming she was "deeply unpleasant" ... and, allegedly, not a very nice person -- at least according to MMC.

Take a listen ... Meg doesn't specify what year this all happened, but says that during a time when Jen was a guest on the show, she just wasn't all that sweet -- and didn't fake it either.

Ariana Grande's making sure fans know "the boy is mine" ... stepping out with Ethan Slater for a rare date night out.

The "Wicked" costars attended the 2024 Stanley Cup playoff game Saturday at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL, where they cheered on the Florida Panthers ... a team Ariana grew up watching as an FL native.

While Ariana and Ethan tend to keep a low profile -- he is still in the middle of a divorce -- the duo's been stepping out more together lately. Last week, Ariana went to Ethan's week-long residency at Cafe Carlyle in NYC.

A bull went on a wild rampage at an Oregon rodeo over the weekend, charging out of the arena and crashing into two people while hurling them into the air -- and injuring a total of four victims in the end.

Various witnesses captured Saturday night's eye-popping incident with their cell phone cameras at the sold-out 84th Sisters Rodeo in Deschutes County about 20 miles from the city of Bend.

Check out the footage ... everything seemed cool at first as the bull named Party Bus rushed in circles around the arena with cowboys on horses trying to lasso the mammal.

John Leguizamo is pleading with the Television Academy to stop whitewashing award shows -- taking drastic action to get his message across by taking out a full-page signed ad.

The actor begged Academy members to start recognizing people of color for their contributions via an ad he took out in The New York Times -- just in time before voting kicks off for the Primetime Emmy Noms June 13.

He writes, "Dear Hollywood, please let this be the year we finally embrace change. The year we truly find equity and see artists of color represented across not just one category but ALL categories."

Usain Bolt -- the fastest man to ever walk the planet -- ruptured his Achilles during a charity soccer match on Sunday.

The injury happened at the 2024 Soccer Aid for UNICEF match at Stamford Bridge in London, a yearly charity game that raises money for children in need worldwide.

The retired Jamaican sprinter, a captain in the game, was playing center-back for the Soccer Aid World XI team ... and during their match against England, Usain went down after attempting to play defense.

Another day, another mid-air fiasco -- this time, an Austrian Airlines plane lost its cockpit nose after a hailstorm pounded the aircraft up in the sky.

Check out the pic ... the commercial jet's nose was smashed during its trip from Mallorca, Spain to Vienna, Austria after flying through a "thunderstorm cell" ... wrecking not only the nose, but also the cockpit windows, and some coverings.

In fact, a mayday call was made because of the damage -- especially because the severe weather the crew faced never showed up on the cockpit's radar.

George Lopez used baseball rules at his recent comedy show ... giving his fans three warnings to stop interrupting before storming offstage -- in new footage obtained by TMZ.

The new clips show the comedian at Eagle Mountain Casino Friday night in the middle of a marijuana bit when the ruckus kicks off ... upsetting George who's clearly trying to get through his set.

Watch the clip ... it's all going fine until a fan yells out something that isn't just a cheer ... though it doesn't necessarily sound like heckling. GL's frustration shines through and he ominously says, "That's one."

The alleged villain covered in Netflix's 'Dancing for the Devil' was the subject of two previous criminal investigations, but neither resulted in any charges ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us two sexual battery cases were filed against Robert Shinn and reported to LAPD in August 2023 -- which tracks with what was covered in the doc ... with some of his accusers coming forward and noting they'd gone to cops.

We're told one of the cases was filed by former 7M member Kylie Douglas, whose story was featured in the doc. Our sources say the LAPD conducted an investigation, and the case eventually landed at the L.A. City Attorney’s Office.

Chris Hansen's not supporting surgically castrating child predators ... arguing he's not sure it'll put an end to their criminal acts -- or if it'll stand up in a court of law.

We spoke with the "To Catch a Predator" host earlier this week and asked him about the controversial bill passed in Louisiana allowing judges to impose surgical castration on certain child predators ... and, he tells us he's pretty leery of the whole thing.

Hansen says he's met a ton of alleged predators over the years -- on 'Catch' and his new show 'Takedown' on streaming platform TruBlu -- and, he doesn't think surgically castrating them will stop them from abusing children.

The Caitlin Clark racism narrative is largely fake news ... so says Dan Dakich who tells us the hate towards the number one overall pick is pure jealousy!

Clark's been gettin' beat up since her WNBA debut last month -- we all saw what Chennedy Carter did to the Fever superstar last weekend -- so we asked Dakich, a former Indiana Hoosier player and coach, if it's just basketball ... or something else.

"Of course, she's being targeted," Dakich, host of Outkick's "Don't @ Me" told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (prior to the Olympic team snub).