Titanic Rescue Brit. Billionaire Passenger's Stepson ... Attends Blink-182 Show During Rescue Mission
The clock's ticking for rescuers to find the 5 people missing on a sub aimed at exploring the Titanic wreckage ... but that's not stopping the stepson of one of the passengers from enjoying his favorite band, Blink-182.
British billionaire explorer, Hamish Harding, is among those onboard OceanGate Expeditions' Titan, a carbon-fiber submersible. Harding's stepson, Brian Szasz, posted about Harding's disappearance on Facebook Monday ... writing, "Hamish my stepdad is lost in a submarine thoughts and prayers that the rescue mission will be successful."
Just a few minutes after posting about the rescue mission, Brian revealed he was attending a Blink-182 show in San Diego, posting a pic of himself outside the venue.
Clearly recognizing some people might take it the wrong way, Brian writes, "It might be distasteful being here but my family would want me to be at the Blink-182 show as it’s my favorite band and music helps me in difficult times!♥️🙏🏽"
As we reported, OceanGate lost communication with Titan almost 2 hours into its journey down to the wreckage. The submersible has a 96-hour emergency supply of oxygen onboard -- which has likely dwindled to about 40 hours remaining.
It's not yet known where the Titan is, or whether the 5 on board are even alive.
We covered it all on the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.
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Grand Canyon Man Falls to His Death from Skywalk
Grand Canyon emergency rescue teams were put to work after one man went over the edge at the popular Skywalk ... falling to his death.
The incident happened last Monday at the attraction, officers from the Mohave Co. Sheriff's Search and Rescue team responded around 9 AM with ropes specialists and a helicopter.
Unfortunately, the team determined the man, a 33-year-old, was deceased from the fall.
While it's unclear exactly how he went over, officials just say he "went over the edge," a Facebook release from the search and rescue team also featured a message about suicide prevention and urged those struggling to call the National Suicide Prevention Line.
The identity of the man who fell has still not been released.
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Mark Zuckerberg Kicks Ass In Jiu JItsu Tournament Wins Gold, Silver Medals!!
Mark Zuckerberg's putting his martial arts training to good use -- the Facebook founder won gold and silver medals at a local jiu-jitsu tourney in Northern California ... his first time competing!
38-year-old Zuckerberg kicked ass at a tourney on Saturday in Redwood City, CA -- about 10 miles from Palo Alto -- where he put his new skills on display, competing in both Gi (jacket) and no Gi.
It's super impressive for a guy who has only been training for a short amount of time. In fact, Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan last year that he began practicing martial arts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite Mark winning most of his matches, the day wasn't without controversy. During one fight, Zuckerberg became visibly upset with a ref. It's unclear why Zuck was upset, but after a short, but rather heated convo with the official and his opponent, everyone shook hands.
But, all in all ... Zuck was awesome.
And, some of the biggest stars in MMA congratulated him on the medals ... with guys like Israel Adesanya, Brandon Moreno, and Alex Volkanovski heaping praise on the billionaire.
"Wow congrats 👏👏," Moreno, the UFC flyweight champ wrote.
Volk, the UFC featherweight champ commented ... "Legend! Love the shorts mate"
"When the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world gives you shorts, you wear them" ... Zuckerberg responded to Alex.
Somebody call Dana White ... let's get this guy a contract!
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Jada Pinkett Smith's 'Red Table Talk' Canceled
11:35 AM PT -- Jada Pinkett Smith just commented on the cancelation on Instagram. She said, "We are so grateful to have had such a beautiful partnership with Facebook Watch and we are sorry to see the entire team disband. We wish everyone well in their new journeys to come."
She concluded, "We at Red Table are in talks of finding a new home and we'll see you soon."
Jada Pinkett Smith's breakout hit on Facebook, "Red Table Talk," has come to an end ... getting canceled by the social media giant.
Deadline was first to report Facebook's parent company, Meta, is shutting down their FB Watch originals, which includes the Daytime Emmy-winning talk show hosted by Jada ... featuring her daughter Willow Smith and mother Adrienne “Gammy” Banfield-Norris.
"Red Table Talk" became hugely popular since it first launched in 2018, streaming 129 episodes over 5 seasons. The show also netted about 11 million followers on social media.
The series had some memorable and news-making interviews over the years, including Jada's "entanglement" with August Alsina and Jordyn Woods' first sit-down since the drama with Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson.
Jada also used the platform to address the moment her husband infamously slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.
In addition to "Red Table Talk," Steve Harvey's talk show “STEVE on Watch” is also getting canceled.
The series, produced by Westbrook Studios -- cofounded by Jada and Will -- is said to be looking for a new home.
Originally Published -- 7:38 AM PT
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NBA's Andre Drummond Speaks Out On Mental Health Struggle ... Quitting Social Media
NBA player Andre Drummond is going off the grid to improve his mental health ... saying he's quitting social media and changing his phone number to free his mind.
The Chicago Bulls center was open with his struggles to his 840k Twitter followers on Tuesday ... calling on anyone battling similar issues to seek help -- just like he is.
"Deleting all my social apps my Management will take over," Drummond said. "also changing my number .."
"Time to focus on my mental health. If you too are struggling with your mental health, you are not alone 💙 it’s okay to ask for help."
Andre -- who is averaging 6 points and nearly 7 rebounds a game for the Bulls this season --- has spoken out about mental health awareness previously ... and shared his path to wellness in a video with the National Basketball Players Association last year.
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Drummond said at the time he used to focus on the wrong parts of life and allowed his daily experiences to stress him out ... but once he started to take time for himself, he saw positive changes.
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Ray Liotta Facebook Account Hacked ... Team Trying to Wrestle Back Control
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Ray Liotta's Facebook account is no longer posting celeb death hoaxes and sending out weird links to fake news ... at least that's what his team's hoping, but seems like the mystery hacker isn't giving up that easily.
Here's the deal ... the late actor's Facebook account started posting a ton of strange things last week, like death hoaxes, news links and fake stories about Ellen DeGeneres, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger -- all of which confused and alarmed fans who followed the late "Goodfellas" star.
Late this week, a rep for Ray's team told TMZ they'd finally resolved the issue by reaching out to Facebook and working with them to address the problem.
Or, so they thought. Shortly after we were told the account was secured ... another bizarre post -- for Ray's page, at least -- went up promoting a porn scene. It has since been removed.
We've reached out regarding the porn post, but no word back yet.
I wish the guy who took over Ray Liotta’s Facebook page either remove himself OR dissociate Ray Liotta out of it and rename it to something else. These posts do so much disservice to his memory. Because it is filled with so much junk and nonsense. Ray himself would dislike these!
— plain.AI.me (@plain_AI_me) March 23, 2023 @plain_AI_me
While his team told us they believed the account was back in good hands ... that doesn't seem to be the case.
The troubling part is it seems a mystery as to who's been hacking his page and how these posts keep ending up on his feed. All the old phony posts have been deleted, but it's clear someone is still using his account with ill intentions.
Despite the scary security breach, Ray's camp says Mark Zuckerberg's company has been "an amazing partner in resolving the issue."
As you know, Ray died in his sleep last May, when the 67-year-old was filming a movie in the Dominican Republic.
While he's now resting in peace ... his Facebook account is not.
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Mark Zuckerberg We're Following in Elon's Footsteps ... Pay to be Verified w/ Meta!!!
Mark Zuckerberg is going the way of Elon Musk -- and by that, we mean he's rolling out a similar subscription plan that'll allow people to be official and legit on his platforms.
The Meta honcho announced a new verification program that the social media company will be rolling out soon. He writes, "Good morning and new product announcement: this week we're starting to roll out Meta Verified -- a subscription service that lets you verify your account with a government ID, get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you, and get direct access to customer support."
MZ adds, "This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services. Meta Verified starts at $11.99 / month on web or $14.99 / month on iOS. We'll be rolling out in Australia and New Zealand this week and more countries soon."
For those worried that Facebook/Instagram would fall into the same problem Twitter has suffered since the launch of Twitter Blue -- i.e., fake accounts and impersonators -- Meta says it's already considered that ... and will take active steps to combat imposters and jokesters.
For starters, they're saying they're going to make people submit government IDs to help match them up to their own profile before handing out any blue checkmarks to the normies. Meta also says they'll be actively monitoring for BS accounts that might spring up.
As for all the public figures who were verified before ... Mark and co. say they're going to leave them be with their already-established verified status -- unlike Elon, who says he'll phase out legacy blue checks (regardless of who they are) and make people pay $8.
🤣
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 19, 2023 @elonmusk
Elon has already caught wind of this news, BTW, and seems to be rolling his eyes. In response, he simply replied ... "Inevitable" and reacted to some memes about it too.
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Donald Trump Facebook & IG Suspensions Ending Meta Promises to Monitor
Donald Trump is now allowed to make a comeback to social media -- Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, is ending his suspension -- but it'll come with some rules.
Meta made the announcement Wednesday, saying the accounts will be restored in the coming weeks -- noting it believes users should be able to hear what politicians have to say in order to make informed decisions.
Meta continues, "The suspension was an extraordinary decision taken in extraordinary circumstances. The normal state of affairs is that the public should be able to hear from a former President of the United States, and a declared candidate for that office again, on our platforms."
However, the reinstatement comes with words of caution, "But that does not mean there are no limits to what people can say on our platform. When there is a clear risk of real world harm – a deliberately high bar for Meta to intervene in public discourse – we act."
As you know, Trump was kicked off a handful of social media apps and sites back in January 2021 after companies concluded he used the platforms to incite the violent insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on Jan 6.
You'll recall -- he was booted from Facebook/Instagram and others, including Pinterest, Shopify Twitch, Snapchat, Reddit and even TikTok.
Remember, Twitter -- which seemed to be his fave -- made the call to permanently ban the ex-prez ... claiming he was too dangerous for its app, but Elon Musk has reversed that decision. Trump has not yet sent a tweet since he was suspended, instead using Truth social.
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Bryan Kohberger Ex-FBI Agent Thinks He Talked About Student Murders ... In Online Chat Groups
The man charged with slaughtering 4 Idaho college students may have joined online chat groups to discuss some of the facts of the brutal slayings with Internet sleuths.
Bryan Kohberger might have been the person or persons making claims about the quadruple homicide case, using the Facebook and Redditor handles "Pappa Rodger" and "InsideLooking," respectively, according to former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer.
Coffindaffer, who was tracking both accounts, says many of the allegations made by the individual(s) turned out to be factually accurate, causing her to think it could have been Bryan.
In two of the postings, the person/persons offered a correct timeline for the murders and mentioned the knife sheath left at the crime scene BEFORE police publicly released those details.
One spot-on message read: "Committed murders and exited sliding door. One knife according to corners [sic] statement. Time of murder approximately 3:20am - 3:40 am according to car fleeing scene and on camera on highway 8 approximately 3:45am. Vehicle left skid marks upon exit."
In another factual post, the user wrote: "Of the evidence released, the murder weapon has been consistent as a large fixed blade knife. This leads me to believe they found the sheath." Other members in the chat group were so alarmed they accused the person of talking "like a serial killer."
As we reported ... Kohberger was arrested Dec. 30 and charged with the fatal stabbings of 4 University of Idaho students: Kaylee Gonclaves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. Kohberger, a graduate student at Washington State University, denies any wrongdoing and is fighting the charges.
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Univ. of Idaho Murders Ex-BF of Victim Struggling ... People Think He's the Killer
The Idaho University murder investigation has been frustrating and heartbreaking for the families of the 4 victims, but it has also taken its toll on the ex-boyfriend of one of the victims, whose life has been upended in suspicion.
Jack DuCoeur dated Kaylee Goncalves for 5 years and called her the love of his life ... this according to his aunt, Brooke Miller, who spoke to the NY Post. Miller believes, although Kaylee and Jack had broken up, they would have eventually married.
Kaylee had broken up with DuCoeur 3 weeks before the murders. Miller says the split was amicable, although she concedes her nephew was sad that the relationship had ended.
DuCoeur was on the radar of cops shortly after the murders, especially because Goncalves and Madison Mogen called him 10 times in the hours before the murders. Cops investigated and cleared DuCoeur, but that didn't remove the specter of suspicion. Miller says "half of America" thinks her nephew may be the culprit.
The Internet has not been kind to DuCoeur, pointing the guilty finger at him.
BTW ... Goncalves' family has supported DuCoeur, saying he was not involved in her death. Miller told the Post ... “We all know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there’s no way that Jack would ever do anything like that to anybody.”
It's been 6 weeks since the murders and, at least publicly, the murders are still a mystery.
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Vanderbilt University Football Coach Sidelined ... Over Pro-Kanye Post
A Vanderbilt University assistant football coach has been temporarily relieved from his duties ... after he wrote out a social media post that appeared to be defending Kanye West in wake of the artist's recent antisemitic remarks.
Dan Jackson, the school's defensive backs coach, initially posted the comment on his Facebook page -- saying in it, "Kanye is two steps ahead of everyone." He added in the post, "He's not crazy."
Jackson later apologized for it all, calling his wording "careless."
We are extremely concerned to see Vanderbilt University's Assistant Football Coach - Dan Jackson - defend Kanye West's antisemitism on a Facebook thread, stating people need to wake up.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 4, 2022 @StopAntisemites
Wake up to what exactly? Kanye's ongoing peddling that Jews control the world?! pic.twitter.com/473Dr6p8Ww
"I accept full responsibility for my words and will learn from this experience going forward," Jackson said.
But, the Commodores announced almost immediately after the post was discovered that they were investigating it all ... and on Monday night, athletic director Candice Lee said the coach will be sidelined as the probe pushes forward.
"Coach Jackson and I have agreed that he will step back from his responsibilities with the team," Lee said in a statement ... adding, "To be clear, Vanderbilt rejects antisemitism, racism and discrimination in all its forms."
Jackson is in his first year at Vanderbilt. He previously coached at Northern Illinois and South Dakota State.
The Commodores -- 3-6 this season -- play next against Kentucky on Saturday.
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Lamar Odom I Can't Access My Facebook!!! ... Khloe Post Wasn't Me
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Lamar Odom says he had nothing to do with the post on his personal Facebook page about missing Khloe Kardashian ... 'cause as it turns out, he hasn't had access to that social media account in YEARS.
A recent update on the ex-Lakers superstar's verified page made rounds this week ... with many assuming the 42-year-old was publicly expressing his prolonged feelings for his ex-wife.
"Missing my best friend #memories for life," the post read alongside a throwback pic of the couple cuddled up together.
The account also went on to defend the post ... saying, "Didn't know we not allowed to miss someone regardless if mistakes were made. I'm human just like everyone else but I get it I let people down and I will pay for it forever and that's okay too."
Lamar's current rep, Gina Rodriguez, tells TMZ Sports an old manager is actually behind the Khloe posts ... as well as anything else popping up on his page.
Lamar Odom Gets Instagram Back After Showing Up At Headquarters
As we previously reported, Lamar fought like hell to regain access to his socials after cutting ties with his old management ... but his Facebook is the last one he still hasn't gotten back.
Someone get Mark Zuckerberg on the phone.
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Tennessee Football Help Us Pay For Goalpost!!! ... After Wild Alabama Win Celebration
The Tennessee Volunteers football team is seeking help to replace the goalpost fans tore down after their upset win over Alabama on Saturday ... by starting a fundraiser for the cause.
They're serious, too -- the Vols shared a link to their campaign via Twitter ... one day after Tennessee fans threw the goalpost into the river to celebrate the victory.
"Y'all remember how we tore the goalposts down, hauled em out of Neyland and dumped em in the Tennessee River? Yeah that was awesome," the team said.
Tennessee fans tear down the goal post. pic.twitter.com/OSdxt26lyU
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) October 15, 2022 @AaronSuttles
"Anywho, turns out that in order to play next week's game, we need goalposts on our field. Could y'all help us out?"
FYI, Tennessee will need that goalpost to play their Oct. 22 home game against UT Martin.
The team even found a way to troll the Crimson Tide on the donation page -- including using the final score as a dollar amount.
"Give $52.49. Final score of the breathtaking game."
There's also a $16 option -- the number of seasons since Tennessee beat 'Bama -- and a $1,019.15 choice ... which is the number of fans who sold out the Vol's stadium.
The Tennessee goal post went on the journey of a lifetime yesterday 😂pic.twitter.com/YCn8OhN9Lq
— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) October 16, 2022 @PointsBetUSA
Of course, many ripped the team for the launch ... one person saying, "Is this real? You have a $130,000,000 budget. Get a new set. Problem solved. Good win."
As of Monday morning, the fundraiser has already received over $75k -- half of what they need -- from over 1,911 donors.
BTW, the fans also cost the Vols $100k for storming the field. Sheesh!!!
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Boosie Badazz & Freddie Gibbs Social Media Addiction's Ruining Us!!!
Some big rappers are starting to rail against the very social media platforms that boosted their celebrity -- a move that comes as Kanye West is flaming out on Instagram and Twitter.
"Drink Champs" has been teasing their Boosie Badazz episode for days, and the latest clip finds the Lousiana rapper clearly blaming IG for wrecking marriages and relationships.
Boosie says before social media, men and women had limited access to other people's lifestyles and arrangements, but now they're more tempted than ever to cheat ... given the number of opportunities at their fingertips.
Not to be outdone, Freddie Gibbs tackled social media's impact while on "The Breakfast Club," and said he doesn't believe in monogamy, so his polyamorous relationships are in good order.
On the other hand, he says social media culture makes people abandon their true character for clout. The Gary, Indiana-born rapper compares social media addiction to crack.
In fact, Freddie's new album, "$$$" has a track called "CIA" -- an acronym for "Crack, Instagram and AIDS" -- and says he aimed to showcase detrimental things in the Black community with this record.
Freddie also rivals Boosie for the title of rapper with the most Instagram accounts being banned ... so it's understandable they're calling for a changing of the guard.
Interesting that they're dropping these warnings amid Kanye getting restricted on social media for posting anti-Semitic remarks ... which included accusing Diddy of being controlled by Jewish people.
As we reported, LeBron James' just axed an episode of "The Shop" he shot with Ye due to the rapper allegedly spewing "dangerous stereotypes" during their convo.
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No telling if he thinks he has a social media addiction or not ... but in response to IG and Twitter putting the clamps on him, Ye's revved up his Facebook account.
Can't stop, won't stop???
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Pro Fishing Scandal Champs Accused of Cheating ... Stuffing Weights in Walleye
Trouble on the waterfront in Ohio -- a couple of fishermen have been accused of cheating to make their catches seem heavier than they were ... and the video proof is damning.
Chase Cominski and Jake Runyan -- both locals -- were apparently caught stuffing their walleye with weights and other debris ... with things coming to a head on Friday as their fish were being weighed, and then cut open to expose the truth on Lake Erie.
As you can see, tourney officials started pulling out these little metal balls from the insides of the fish that Cominski and Runyan had up for consideration -- some are saying they're made of lead, but in any case ... they seem to have been jammed in for extra poundage.
There are also slices of what some claim are fish fillets -- in other words, these guys are alleged to have cut pieces of other fish and stuffed them inside as well, clandestinely.
Some outlets are reporting that these two fellas were actually the frontrunners of this tournament -- dubbed the Lake Erie Walleye Trail in Cleveland's Gordon Park -- but that obviously came to a screeching halt when everyone caught wind of what had happened.
You can hear the utter outrage from people on the ground ... they were screaming at these guys, demanding answers and even threatening to call the police. Runyan was asked on camera if he had anything to say for himself -- but he stayed silent and just looked on.
— Billy (@Billyhottakes) October 1, 2022 @Billyhottakes
There are reports of the fisherman going on to win other contests in and around the area -- and now, all of the accolades (and prize money) they've racked up are coming into question.
The official event page on FB had a harsh statement, calling out these gentlemen as straight-up cheaters. They write, "Disgusted guys and gals, I’m sorry for letting you down for so long and I’m glad I caught cheating taking place in YOUR LEWT at the same time."
They add, "I can’t think enough to post results, but congrats Tsczyko and French and TOY Hendricks and Ulmer. Same goes to the yak and open winners. I hope you know now that when I say ”you built this LEWT and I will defend its integrity at all costs”, I mean it."
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MARK ZUCKERBERG SIGNED LITTLE LEAGUE CARD SELLS FOR $120K
Mark Zuckerberg's Little League "career" is worth a lot of money to some folks ... because a baseball card from when he was a kid sold at auction for six figures!!!
The Facebook honcho's autographed Little League card from back in the day hauled in $120,750 in a fierce, five-day long auction.
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The folks at ComicConnect.com started the bidding at $1 ... so the final sale price shows there was a ton of interest in the card.
The anonymous buyer told the auction house the Zuckerberg card would join a collection already featuring rookie cards for MLB legends Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, plus an Action Comics #1 ... summing up Zuck as "the Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Superman of social media rolled up into one."
The signed card -- which is from 1992 -- was also sold as an NFT, and that went for $1,345.
Mark played Little League in Westchester County, NY ... where the trading cards were a novelty offered to families.
The card previously belonged to Mark's former camp counselor, Allie Tarantino, and Zuckerberg signed it when he was 8 years old. Allie says he sold the card to help pay for his kids to go to college.
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Mark even posted about the card last month on social media, fueling speculation he might try to swoop the card for himself. The buyer is anonymous, but as far as we know, Zuck doesn't own Babe and Mantle cards ... so, seems like someone else got it.
The $120k sale price is pretty eye-catching, and here's some other interesting numbers ... Zuck had a .920 batting average in his 1992 Little League season, with 23 hits and one home run.