Famous Food

Another one of NutriBullet's customers claims the machine damn near turned her into a smoothie mess when it exploded ... and did some serious damage to her body.

Folana Jackson filed legal docs claiming she barely used a NutriBullet 900 blender for 1 minute before the thing went haywire ... resulting in gnarly injuries that required surgical repairs, and then Oxycodone to treat her pain.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jackson says she was preparing a juice in May 2020 -- garlic, ginger, sliced lemons and water ... if you're curious what she was whipping up. But, in the suit, she alleges friction and heat from the spinning blades caused a pressure build-up in the canister.

She claims things went south when the blender made a weird noise, and she turned it off -- as she placed her hands near the bottom of the canister, it allegedly separated from the blade and exploded off the motor base.

According to the suit, the still-spinning blades came in contact with Jackson's left hand ... causing severe, deep, lacerations. She claims it got even worse when the contents of her juice splashed onto her breasts, neck and arms ... causing serious burn injuries.

Jackson says she went to the ER for treatment and claims she needed surgery to repair lacerations and torn ligaments in her left ring and pinky fingers ... both of which now have limited mobility and constant nerve pain.

She claims NutriBullet has known about the defective devices for years, and that the blenders have caused more than 100 burns and lacerations since 2014. At the very least, we know Jackson is far from the first to sue the company over such gruesome injuries.

She's suing for unspecified damages. We've reached out to NutriBullet, so far no word back.

Ron Popeil, the Renaissance man who created the Pocket Fisherman and Hair in a Can, has died ... TMZ has learned.

Family sources tell TMZ, Ron experienced a severe medical emergency Tuesday and died early Wednesday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. He was surrounded by his family.

Popeil created the famous Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ and coined one of the most iconic catch phrases ever -- "Set it and Forget it!!!" The product grossed more than $1 BILLION in domestic sales, shattering QVC and other sales records.

Ron was born in New York City in 1935. His first entry into business was with his dad at his manufacturing facility in Chicago, where they sold kitchen products. It obviously made an impression on him, because Ron learned and then perfected the art of kitchenry.

Ron created the famed Chop-O-Matic in 1959 and it sold like crazy -- 2 million units. He followed that up with the Veg-O-Matic and another great catchphrase ... "But wait, there's more!!!" And that one's become an infomercial industry standard ... reused by product after product.

Popeil also created the Rhinestone Stud Setter, which later became the Bedazzler. And, it doesn't end there ... he created Mr. Microphone and the Inside the Eggshell Egg Scrambler.

Popeil formed his own company -- Ronco -- in 1964 and marketed hundreds of products to global TV audiences.

He also made dozens of cameos in TV and film ... and was famously parodied by Dan Aykroyd on 'SNL' in 1976.

The last time we got Ron on camera was 2017, when he talked about the new fad, Fidget Spinners.

Ron amassed a fortune estimated at $200,000,000.

Ron had a collection of friends and they referred to themselves as "The Rontourage."

Ron is survived by his wife, Robin, 4 daughters and 4 grandchildren.

Ron was 86.

R. Kelly is facing new allegations in his criminal case out of Chicago -- which is about to go to trial next month -- including claims that he sexually abused a male minor ... whom he's said to have met at a McDonald's.

Prosecutors in Kelly's federal sex trafficking case filed the bombshell Friday, seeking to enter new evidence they say supports their accusations of a slew of new crimes they insist Kelly committed ... including alleged abuse of a male under the age of 18 in the 2000s.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Kelly met a 17-year-old boy in 2006 at a McDonald's ... whom they say Kelly then invited to a party at his Chicago residence. The kid went with his parents, but the feds say Kelly told him to swing by next time by himself ... and, apparently, the 17-year-old did -- at which point, things allegedly turned sexual.

The feds say that upon returning visits to Kelly's place -- and under the guise of trying to help jumpstart the boy's singing career -- Kelly began a sexual relationship with him. Soon after that, prosecutors claim the 17-year-old intro'd Kelly to yet another minor male -- who was either 16 or 17 at the time -- and they say Kelly sought to sexually abuse him too.

It wasn't until years later, it seems, that something materialized between the second John Doe and Kelly, so say the feds. They say Kelly did, in fact, begin a sexual relationship with him as well -- but that he allegedly would command the guy to have sex with women in his orbit ... and allegedly filmed a lot of those encounters. There are new Jane Does sprinkled in the filing as well, BTW ... on top of the ones he's already alleged to have trafficked.

The McDonald's thing is interesting ... we know he's a fan of the Golden Arches. He went there for after posting bail and (temporarily) being sprung from jail more than 2 years ago.

Anyway, there are even more accusations the federal government wants permission to support with new evidence it says it's obtained ... including the claim that someone on R. Kelly's team successfully bribed a Cook County official for inside info on the case back in 2019.

Allegedly, that CC official took $2,500 from this Kelly team member ... as well as a burner phone so they could communicate. The official is said to be a clerk ... but is unnamed.

A judge has yet to rule on what Uncle Sam wants -- namely, to submit this new evidence they say they have, to have it looked over, which they hope leads to even further charges filed against the singer. This trial is supposed to get underway in about 4 weeks.

R. Kelly has other legal trouble in other states ... but the federal case seems to be the one that'll get started first. He's been given more time to secure and confer with new attorneys in the wake of much of his old legal team jumping ship in the past several months.

Shaun Weiss, the goalie in the 'Mighty Ducks' movies, got all nostalgic celebrating his graduation from a drug court program ... chowing down at a diner that's special to him.

Just days after getting his certificate of completion from the D.A.'s Office in Yuba County, CA ... we're told Shaun and his good friend, Drew Gallagher, hit up the super-popular Brent's Deli in the San Fernando Valley.

Why there? Well, for starters the pastrami is to die for ... but also, we're told the deli's the first place Shaun went when he was released from jail in August 2017 during one of the worst points in his life.

Shaun's had several stints in jail after that, but in going back now, he wanted to reminisce on all the progress he's made ever since.

His pal Drew practically rolled out a red carpet ... showering Shaun with congratulatory balloons and a hearty meal of matzo ball soup.

TMZ broke the story ... The D.A.'s Office was super complimentary of Shaun for staying on the straight and narrow -- and that good behavior prompted prosecutors to dismiss the burglary case against him.

Besides getting sober, Shaun also got a new set of chompers.

Ben & Jerry's decision to stop selling ice cream in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is its prerogative, but it also means people can decide to stop buying B&J's ... so says Senator James Lankford.

The GOP Congressman from Oklahoma made headlines this week calling for a boycott of the famed ice cream brand in his state due to its boycott of Israel ... but he tells us the company actually did this to itself.

As he explains ... Oklahoma has a law in place that says if companies boycott Israel, the state won't do business with them. Taking it one step further, though, Lankford's suggested the general public should also give up Ben & Jerry's.

What's interesting ... Sen. Lankford doesn't consider his call to cancel B&J's a "cancel culture" situation -- instead, he says it's a human rights issue.

However, you gotta see his response when we bring up the very similar situation with Chick-fil-A. As you know, some states want to ban the fast-food chain because of its owner's track record on LGBTQ+ issues -- which most would say is also about "human rights."

Olympic athletes are gonna eat GOOOOOD during the Tokyo Games ... 'cause USA volleyball player Erik Shoji gave an official taste test at one of the dining halls this week -- and it looks delicious!!

Of course, Shoji is staying in the Olympic Village ... and says he has two dining options -- main and casual.

For Tuesday's dinner, Shoji picked casual -- which is all Japanese food -- and shared his experience on TikTok ... warning viewers, "watching me eat is CRINGE."

Shoji stuffs his face with teriyaki beef, grilled pork, seasoned corn, okonomiyaki, somen salad and fruit for dessert ... giving a big thumbs up to each course of his meal.

"It's pretty good!!!" Shoji says as he scarfs down the grub.

No word on how good the "main" option is -- but we're sure it's full of American favorites to help the athletes feel at home.

It's a huge sigh of relief to know the athletes don't have a Fyre Fest situation on their hands -- remember the "sandwiches" staff were left eating during that crap show??

The 31-year-old also gave Olympics fans a tour of where he's staying during the Games -- "This is our little living room. Kinda small," Shoji says. "But, the best part is our balcony view!"

There's also a fridge, microwave and snacks -- but no stove.

But, with OV dining like that ... who needs to cook?!

Forget porterhouse steaks and fancy champagne ... Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrated his NBA title with Chick-fil-A -- and his run to the fast-food joint Wednesday was absolutely EPIC!!!

The Bucks superstar -- fresh off dropping 50 points in Milwaukee's NBA finals-clinching Game 6 win over the Suns -- documented his whole trip to breakfast on social media, and it was seriously amazing.

Giannis made the trek to the food spot with the Larry O'Brien trophy and his NBA finals award in his lap ... and he stopped to celebrate with plenty of happy fans along the way.

At one point, the dude even let a guy reach into his ride to touch his championship hardware!!

Once Giannis got to the Chick-fil-A line ... he ordered a feast -- first, requesting 50 (not 49 and not 51) nuggets to celebrate his points total from Tuesday night's game.

Then the 26-year-old added some burritos and a half Sprite/half lemonade drink!!

Giannis then tried to score some free Chick-fil-A for life ... making a deal with workers that if he went back-to-back next season, he'd never have to pay for the place's chicken again!!

"Hey," Giannis told his followers on IG Live. "This is why I love Milwaukee. This is why I chose to stay because we celebrate together. It's been like this since Day One. And I love this."

Fans then surrounded Antetokounmpo's whip -- chanting "Bucks In 6" and "M-V-P" -- before Giannis signed off to go home and eat his meal.

Joe Burrow ain't the only one who thinks Skyline Chili is "trash" ... 'cause Mets announcer Gary Cohen UNLEASHED on the Cincinnati delicacy in an epic rant ... calling the dish straight-up "disgusting."

Of course, the chili chain is as polarizing as they come ... with Cincy folks swearing the stuff is good, and others wishing it ceased to exist.

The Bengals' superstar QB even shared his take before getting drafted in 2020 ... saying, "Cincinnati's gonna hate me, but I hate that stuff."

Cohen decided to pile on the hate while calling the Mets vs. Reds game at Great American Ball Park on Monday ... and it's absolutely hilarious.

"This is the local delicacy known as Skyline Chili," Cohen said.

"The 5-Way with the spaghetti and the beans and the cheese — first the disgusting chili gravy ... After the onions comes the cheese, and that’s what makes it the 5-Way."

"There’s the cheese — they put like 10 tons of shredded cheese on there ... And this is supposed to be food that you actually eat."

When his partner Ron Darling admitted he's never tried the grub, Cohen explained why it's a must.

"You need to try everything once. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Try it once, and then you’ll never eat it again," Cohen said.

"Cars, clothing, shoes" -- that's the type of sponsorships UCLA hoops star Johnny Juzang wants after the new NCAA rule change ... telling TMZ Sports, he's excited to make some deals!

The NCAA announced earlier this summer that athletes can now make money off their name, image and likeness ... and when we got Juzang out at Ocean Prime in Beverly Hills this week, he told us he's ready to start negotiating.

Juzang told us he wants to rep things that he aligns with ... which, of course, includes vehicles and swag!!

"I love cars, clothing, shoes -- all that type of stuff," the 20-year-old said. "Should be some cool opportunities."

The 6-foot-6 guard tells us he's also interested in food brands -- specifically healthy ones.

"I eat healthy," Juzang said. "So, different brands that’ll align with that -- it’ll be interesting, man."

He added, "It’ll be a cool way to share a little bit about myself. It’s going to be exciting, man."

Juzang -- who averaged 16 points per game last season -- became a star after leading the Bruins to the 2021 Final Four -- their first appearance there in 13 years.

JJ declared for the 2021 NBA Draft shortly after, but he withdrew before the deadline and is now back in Westwood for his junior season.

And, he says he's hoping the Bruins can make another strong run for the title in 2022!

Popeyes is gearing up for the release of its chicken nuggets in more ways than one ... because it desperately wants to avoid the violence that came with its sandwich chaos.

Who can forget the nationwide madness in fall 2019 when folks were scrambling, kicking and even punching to get the restaurant's new chicken sandwich. Long lines were the least of their troubles, as multiple fights got out of hand ... and there was even a fatal stabbing.

Nearly 2 years later, a rep for Popeyes tells TMZ ... the sandwich release problems are still fresh in their minds, and "across the system, franchisees have worked to increase staffing to better meet the demand for Popeyes new Chicken Nuggets."

We're told corporate execs are visiting locations all over the U.S. in person to "identify ways first-hand the brand can quickly meet the excitement and interest from our guests of our new product."

Likewise, Amin Dhanani -- President of Popeyes Operations for Dhanani Group -- tells TMZ it's staffing up at all of its roughly 300 franchises and insists employees will be ready for the high demand for nuggets.

He says everyone was caught off guard by the 2019 sandwich craze, but now they know what to expect and will be more properly equipped to handle it. Dhanani is a bit concerned about running out of supply when the nuggets roll out July 27, but Popeyes is reportedly already stockpiling ... just in case.

Macaroni and cheese and ice cream -- 2 great tastes that, apparently, go great together -- because the, umm ... unique flavor sold out in just 60 minutes!!!

Here's the deal ... Kraft and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream joined forces to create a limited-edition mac and cheese ice cream flavor and the demand was so great for the dessert debut, the website crashed within 9 minutes and the entire 2,000 pint inventory was wiped out online within the hour.

The ice cream launched Wednesday on National Mac & Cheese Day -- yes, that's a real thing -- and, in addition to online sales, they hawked it in Van Leeuwen's brick-and-mortar shops nationwide. Well, for a brief period, anyway ... we're told it took only 3 hours to sell out of their 9,000 scoops.

"Holes" star Khleo Thomas was one of the lucky ones to get their hands on the $12 pint ... and ya gotta see his reaction to his first bite!!!

Khleo says Van Leeuwen totally nailed the Kraft Mac & Cheese flavor, something he says he wasn't expecting.

For those who missed out, don't worry ... Kraft is launching an online sweepstakes with the chance to win 2 free pints.

IT WORKED!!!!

USA track star Christina Clemons now officially has a deal with Doritos -- just weeks after she raced in Cool Ranch earrings ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The 31-year-old hurdler wore the little snack bags on her ears at last month's U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Oregon ... and she balled out in the pieces, earning a spot on Team USA's Olympic roster after an amazing 12.53 finish in the 100-meter hurdles race.

The delicious jewelry ended up going viral ... and Clemons told us at the time she was hoping all of the shine would ead to some sort of deal with the chip company.

And, on Monday, she announced it did!!!

"Now I’m OFFICIALLY Cool Ranch Clemons 🥳," the track star said. "Thank you Doritos for making it official!"

The brand confirmed the deal to us, saying, "Doritos has entered into an official partnership with Christina Clemons."

"More to come on how the partnership will come to life -- Christina is a little busy over the next few weeks!"

We're told Doritos hooked her up with some new custom-made Cool Ranch bling to "celebrate our partnership and wish her luck."

SharkNinja's products are supposed to blend ingredients, not flesh -- but a California woman claims one of its blenders did a gory number on her fingers.

Nicole Guttormsen's suing the kitchen appliance company over its Nutri Ninja BL480 blender, which she alleges is a defective and dangerous product ... and she says these pics of the bloody mess support that.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Nicole says she was blending ingredients in the Nutri Ninja when the canister shot off the base ... leaving the spinning blades exposed and causing significant injuries to her hand and fingers.

We'll say this ... her alleged photo evidence ain't for the queasy.

You can see 3 of Nicole's fingers suffered gnarly injuries. While it's not spelled out in her lawsuit, it sure looks like some of the cuts went to the bone.

In any event, Nicole claims the blender's defective because it generated an excessive amount of pressure and the threads that are supposed to secure the canister onto the blade assembly don't work properly.

George Lopez's Chingon Kitchen turned into George Lopez's Car Crash Kitchen ... when a pickup truck smashed into the comedian's restaurant, leaving behind a huge mess!!!

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a driver ran a stop sign Tuesday outside The Brews Hall in Torrance, CA, hitting another car, causing it to spin out of control and sending it crashing into George's joint.

We're told the drivers of the 2 cars were injured, as well as a passenger and a pedestrian ... all 4 were taken to a local hospital with moderate injuries. No one inside the restaurant was hurt.

As you can see, there's lots of broken glass, busted frames and smashed-up storage racks from where the car crashed into the front entrance, making for a pretty big cleanup job.

How's Joey Chestnut recovering from his 76-hot dog, 22,800-calorie 4th Of July feast???

MIXED GREENS AND VEGETABLES, BABY!!!

TMZ Sports got the planet's greatest eater out in NYC just one day after he put away a world-record number of wieners ... and he told us the key to recovery from here is simply salads and greens.

"I'm still bloated," the 37-year-old legend said. "If I start sweating, I'll smell like meat. But I go in knowing that it's going to take a couple days to recover."

"As soon as I can, I'm going to start eating a salad, greens and high fiber."

It's a miracle Chestnut can even consider eating again at this point ... 'cause the dude consumed about two weeks worth of food in 10 minutes at the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on Sunday.

In total, Chestnut plowed through 1,368 grams of fat, 1,824 grams of carbs and 836 grams of protein.

Chestnut obviously didn't feel wonderful -- at least physically -- outside of his hotel Monday ... and because of it, he seemed to hint that an ending to his eating career could be on the horizon.

"I tried pushing a little bit harder but I'll tell you what, last year I felt I recovered a little bit quicker," Chestnut said. "This year, I'm getting older and I don't know how much more I can push it while I'm getting older."

"It's like anybody. You have to be aware of your body.”

That said, Chestnut added, "As long as it’s still fun and as long as I’m healthy, I’ll be doing it. I hope I can keep making gains, but it’s going to get harder and harder. I can see that coming."

Joey Chestnut is again a hot dog eating-champion, breaking his own record for a stunning 76 wieners ... something that would've been great to see, but made impossible by ESPN.

The annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was held once more Sunday -- a 4th of July tradition now -- and JC was gunning for an even higher count than last year's haul ... which clocked in at 75, a new world record at the time. In 2021, he surpassed it by one.

Joey was scarfing down dogs on camera, but when the crucial moment arrived for hot dogs 75 and 76 ... the broadcast glitched up big time, and a still shot of Joey stayed frozen on screen for a good few seconds. Moments later, time had jumped ... and everyone missed it.

As incredible of a feat it was for Joey, his performance was unfortunately outshined by the technical issue ... which is going more viral than even Joey is right now. Some folks captured the flub live and reposted it on the internet ... and yeah, it's as bad as they're making it out to be.

Anyway ... congrats to Joey for taking the big prize (again) and holding on tightly to the belt. It's not an easy task, especially when you're pretty much tasked with one-upping your own stomach year after year ... something he's done successfully for quite a long time now.