Holidaze

Times are tough for "90 Day Fiancé" star Jon Walters ... so he's making extra Christmas cash as Santa Claus.

Check out Jon's brand-new look for his Santa side hustle ... as you can see, he dyed his beard white and he's hawking video messages from jolly old Saint Nick ... for a price.

Jon's selling his Santa videos on Direct Me, a social media platform connecting celebs with fans ... it's kinda like Cameo. He's marketing video calls for $75, but if you don't wanna stick around for a chat he'll personalize a message for only $35.

And, here's a big plot twist -- this particular Santa isn't just a giver, he's happy to take too. He's seeking cash gifts of $12, $25, $50 and $100. Christmas 2020 ... kinda figures.

One of the most famous Santa impersonators says COVID-19 has run lots of his jolly-bearded pals back to the North Pole ... 'cause they couldn't make the virtual pivot.

TMZ spoke to Santa-for-hire Ed Taylor -- founder of the Worldwide Santa Claus Network, with more than 3,000 members -- and he described for us just how he and his red-suited comrades have had to make do this COVID-riddled year.

Lots of folks are hesitant to bring their kids to malls for some face time with Santy -- despite plexiglass ideas we've seen rolled out -- while many others still don't have the option of going to a mall at all ... 'cause they ain't open.

Ed gets into all of that with us -- detailing how difficult it's been -- but he also talks about how Santas-for-hire have had to get creative just to get by ... meaning personal Zoom-like bookings through sites like Jingle Ring and others.

Fortunately for Ed, he was able to hop on the technology train early and adjust well enough in time. BUT, not every Saint Nick was able to catch that sleigh ride this year ... Ed says a lot of 'em couldn't hang (perhaps because of age, or 'cause their elf IT department sucked) and decided to skip Xmas 2020 entirely 😢.

Tiffany Haddish rattled off a list of things she's thankful for in life, and they're all very relatable ... except the part about the Grammys.

The comedian and actor put on a Thanksgiving Day show outside Hollywood's Laugh Factory -- accompanied by "The Office" star Craig Robinson on the keys -- to provide a little levity during this most unusual holiday season.

She also served up turkey with all the fixins for folks who didn't have a meal or a place to go.

Tiffany sings about how she's thankful for so many things, but she keeps it pretty basic -- food, shelter, health ... with a little bathroom humor mixed in.

But, to top it off, Haddish thanks all of her fans who watched "Black Mitzvah" on Netflix ... which helped her score a Grammy nomination for Comedy Album.

It's actually her second nom -- she got her first a couple years ago for the Spoken Word Album, "The Last Black Unicorn" -- but as she points out ... neither have been for her singing voice.

Donald Trump got in a few holes before his Thanksgiving dinner, but it went about as well as the election for him ... and he was VERY vocal about it.

Trump was playing Thursday at his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, and he got teed off after he teed off and the ball went in the drink.

You hear Trump grouse, "Oh s**t," and it's clear he had a history with this particular hole, and it ain't a good one. As he watches the ball disappear in the water, he mutters, "I hate this f**king hole!!!"

You'd think he'd change the configuration of the pesky hole ... after all, he owns the course. He doesn't even need to be President to do that.

Maybe Trump was off his game because he's still so pissed off about the election. He was tweeting up a storm, again claiming he won the election, saying, "Just saw the vote tabulations.  There is NO WAY Biden got 80,000,000 votes!!! This was a 100% RIGGED ELECTION."

Alex Trebek left a Thanksgiving message behind ... a message of faith and hope as he valiantly fought his battle with cancer.

As we reported, Alex filmed his show almost to the end -- he was hosting "Jeopardy!" just 10 days before he died, and one of his final acts was to record a message that will air on Thanksgiving day.

The folks at "Jeopardy!" are eternally grateful ... the show's twitter page has a new post which reads, "High on our list of things to be thankful for this year:  Alex's Thanksgiving message from today's show."

Alex, whose voice was raspy and was suffering from the pain and exhaustion of stage 4 pancreatic cancer, tried to comfort viewers, telling them there are "many reasons to be thankful."  His optimism shone through, talking about the various acts of kindness that have emerged from COVID times.

His message -- "Keep the faith. We're going to get through all of this, and we will be a better society because of it."

Producers earlier aired another posthumous message from Alex, recognizing World Pancreatic Cancer Day.

TMZ broke the story ... Alex died earlier this month after a long battle with cancer. He became an effective spokesperson for the cause and helped an untold number of people in the process. By urging people to get tested, he may also have saved many lives.

We miss you, Alex.

Amazon's buying lots of love this year ... by giving away $500 million in holiday bonuses to its frontline workers.

The shipping giant announced Thursday the one-time bonus will go to frontline employees in the US of A working the holiday season during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full-time staff working during the month of December will each get $300. Part-timers will get $150.

The news comes just days after Amazon veteran staffers grew furious over new hires getting as much as $3,000 in signing bonuses to work the holiday season ... while vets got measly turkey vouchers worth about 10 bucks.

This is the second time Amazon has rolled out a one-time bonus ... back in June it doled out another $500 million to its U.S. workforce. It's bittersweet, really. Remember ... Amazon's caught a lot of flak for reportedly overworking employees during a pandemic.

Making matters worse ... many workers said they did NOT feel safe from the virus. At the time, Amazon declined to disclose how many of its workers had been infected by the virus ... before finally revealing in October nearly 20k employees were either presumed or confirmed to have contracted coronavirus.

Amazon honcho Jeff Bezos crossing the $200 billion net worth has also riled up his critics. You'll recall protesters targeted his D.C. home back in June ... with a guillotine.

President-Elect Joe Biden says he's celebrating Thanksgiving 2020 the way he's urging others to celebrate -- with a small group of folks who are part of his bubble.

Joe and Jill Biden went on camera to wish everyone a happy turkey day, saying, "I know this isn't the way many of us hoped we'd spend our holiday. We know that a small act of staying home is a gift to our fellow Americans. Yes, it's a personal sacrifice that each of our families can make and should make to save somebody else's life. But, it's also a shared sacrifice for the whole country."

Dr. Biden added this ... "This has been a year filled with heartache and loss. Yet, there's still so much to be thankful for. We're thankful for the millions of Americans who've been working on the frontlines throughout this pandemic. Those who care for our sick, who helped put food on our tables, who teach our children and who have put on a uniform to serve our nation and the families who loved them as well. We're thankful for everyone who met this moment with kindness, bringing groceries to neighbors or asking, How can I help."

The Prez-in-waiting was optimistic, saying "I know better days are coming."

Mike Tyson is gearing up for his big Thanksgiving weekend fight -- BY EATING ROY JONES JR'S HEAD!!!

Sure, it's a cake "head" -- but Mike went straight for his favorite part, THE EAR ... and the video is hilarious!!!

The 54-year-old fighter got his own adorable kids to take part in some Turkey Day trash talk directed at Roy -- warning the fighter to watch his lobes, or he'll get the Evander Holyfield treatment when they clash on Saturday night!

In the clip, Mike starts off by acknowledging he has a lot to be thankful for this year -- like the reported $10 mil he's scheduled to make from the Roy Jones Jr. fight -- before taking some shots at his opponent.

"It's a turkey," Mike says while revealing the cake of Roy's head.

Once he slices off Roy's ear, Mike jokes, "Tastes so much better than Evander's!"

Mike and Roy have said it's all fun and games until the bell rings on Saturday night -- with both guys telling TMZ Sports they'll both be trying to KNOCK EACH OTHER OUT.

The fight is technically an exhibition match, but Roy and Mike -- who's planning to walk to the ring with the song he created with EDM group Tiki Lau -- have each said they're approaching the event like a pro ... and want to put on a violent show for everyone spending money to watch. (It's available on PPV via cable and satellite, and PPV streaming at Triller).

The National Dog Show is giving us some sense of normalcy in 2020 ... COVID be damned.

The Kennel Club of Philadelphia kept the Thanksgiving Day tradition alive with its annual dog show ... though things did look a little different out there, and understandably so. There was no crowd to cheer on the pooches prancing and strutting their stuff on the floor.

The winner this year -- a Scottish Deerhound named Claire. Congrats to the doggie!!!

And, without a crowd, it looks like the KCP borrowed a page from pro sports teams ... using cutouts of dogs and their owners to fill the seats. Those who bought cutouts were also supporting a great cause ... with proceeds going to the AKC Pet Disaster Fund.

The show -- which aired on NBC after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade -- complied with COVID-19 safety protocols to pull off the show, which is remarkable in and of itself.

The humans wore masks. As for the dogs ... there's usually around 2,000 competing, but this time around only 600.

Donald Trump is clearly angry -- enraged -- which is the only explanation for the revenge he seems to want to exact on the American people, because he's goosing his followers to expose themselves to COVID, and the Supreme Court has just facilitated his wish.

Trump's Thanksgiving message ... "I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings."

It's as breathtaking as it is reckless ... as doctors and scientists have PLEADED for people to either cancel 2020 Thanksgiving or keep it within quarantine-safe limits, Trump is subverting the message. It's especially heartless given his personal knowledge ... that large events like his Amy Coney Barrett South Lawn event became a COVID superspreader.

Trump got some backing from the U.S. Supreme Court, with decisive help from his latest SCOTUS pick. Amy Coney Barrett was the deciding vote Wednesday night in a 5-4 decision, ruling that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's restriction on religious services violated the First Amendment. Just last May and July, the Court ruled by a 5-4 vote -- with RBG still on the court -- that such restrictions were constitutional, but things have now clearly changed.

ICYMI ... we are heading into what most everyone believes will be the deadliest period during the pandemic -- precisely because people are gathering indoors.

A homeless woman was forcibly removed from her home on Thanksgiving Eve by the California Highway Patrol, and it has enraged folks who say the move is especially heartless during Thanksgiving 2020.

The woman appears to be hog-tied as she's carried out of an abandoned home, as a number of protesters expressed great displeasure.

The officers were there to remove a number of people who broke into some homes that had been boarded up. 170 homes were supposed to be demolished as part of a plan to expand a local freeway. That plan was abandoned after neighbors rose up and complained.

A group called Reclaim and Rebuild Our Community appealed to California Governor Gavin Newsom, saying the families who were squatting in the homes had mostly been living in their cars and are now "sheltering in place" in the abandoned homes.

The group's message ... "We feel that amid the global pandemic it is irresponsible and inhumane for our state to be hoarding over 170 homes."

It seems the government is unmoved, an official said their plan was to "remove trespassers so that properties can be re-secured and boarded up."

Joe Exotic is making a plea to Americans -- enjoy Thanksgiving, and then tell your rep in Congress to pressure the Prez to spring him from the big house.

Joe wrote a long Thanksgiving message, telling folks to enjoy Thanksgiving Day but on Black Friday ... " ... please think about the last 3 holidays I have spent in here while all the people that lied to put me here and the people that made money off of films, products and so on with the people that put me here under false pretense enjoy their freedom and their families during the Holidays."

That said, Joe then makes his pitch ... "Please pick up a phone on Monday and call your congressman and ask everyone you know to support asking President Trump to sign my Pardon and make this right so I don’t have to miss another Christmas without my loved ones just as you wouldn’t want to. I would love for some of you that has the power to pick up a phone and contact some pretty influential people to do so, so I could go home before something happens to my father or Dillon."

TMZ broke the story ... Joe's legal team traveled to D.C. recently to file their pardon application, and the team leader, Eric Love, says they've been getting encouraging words back from folks in the seat of power.

Trump's in a pardoning mood ... he just spared Michael Flynn from serving his prison sentence.

Eric says he's grateful to Trump and even suggests he and Joe have a lot in common ... he's asking for a pardon, and stat.

America's most notorious prisoners will sit down for a Thanksgiving like the rest of us in 2020 ... complete with turkey and the fear of catching COVID-19.

Lori Loughlin, Mossimo Giannulli and Harvey Weinstein are spending their first turkey day behind bars, and they're about to discover what Bill Cosby, Kodak Black and Bobby Shmurda know all too well ... the prison meal sounds better than it tastes.

We did some digging and found out what these famous convicts will be eating on Turkey Day ... here's a breakdown of their spreads, which are hopefully limited to food and not virus.

Lori at California's FCI Dublin:

• Herb-roasted turkey with pan gravy, honey glazed country ham, garlic mashed potatoes, baked potato, candied sweet potatoes, savory cornbread dressing, southern style green beans or steamed green beans, cranberry sauce, fresh dinner roll with honey apple butter
• If Lori wants to avoid the bird and the pig, she can choose the no-flesh entrée ... tofu stir fry with glazed chickpeas and stuffed bell peppers.

Mossimo at California's FCI Lompoc:

• Turkey roast, baked turkey ham, soy chicken patty, mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken gravy, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, pumpkin pie

Kodak at Illinois' USP Thomson:

• Turkey roast or tofu stir fry, mashed potatoes, corn, cornbread dressing, turkey gravy, dinner rolls, pie or cranberry sauce

Weinstein at New York's Wende Correctional Facility:

• Roast turkey with gravy, bread dressing, whipped potatoes, steamed carrots, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls and margarine, ice cream sundae

Shmurda at NY's Clinton Correctional Facility:

• Same menu as Weinstein

Cosby at Pennsylvania's SCI Phoenix:

• Roast turkey or garden burger, whipped potatoes, bread stuffing, green peas, gravy, dinner rolls, margarine, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie

A$AP Rocky's not one to forget where he came from ... which is why he personally delivered 120 meals to families at a homeless shelter where he and his mom once used to live.

The rapper personally turned himself into a Postmates delivery guy on the eve of Thanksgiving Day to deliver 120 hot meals from one of his favorite joints in Harlem ... Amy Ruth's Restaurant.

The two-time Grammy-nominated rapper delivered the grub to the Regent Family Residence ... a homeless shelter on the upper west side serving 83 families, including 111 kids. The org's part of the Volunteers of America - Greater New York ... which has provided affordable housing assistance since 1896.

Don't worry ... Rocky adhered to all COVID-19 safety protocols to contactlessly deliver the meals. This selfless act for this shelter, no doubt, tugged at the rapper's heartstrings ... he and his mother, Renee Black, stayed at the shelter back in the early 2000s.

No turkey, stuffing, mac and cheese, green bean casserole or pumpkin pie will be consumed by Jake Paul on Turkey Day ... 'cause the social media star tells TMZ Sports he's too busy cutting weight for his big fight against Nate Robinson!!!

The YouTuber-turned-boxer gave us an inside look at what his Thanksgiving is gonna look like -- and considering he's 2 days from his bout with the ex-NBA star on the Tyson vs. Jones Jr. card, it's not so fun.

"We're going into the bubble on Thanksgiving," Paul tells us. "I'm just gonna be watching people eat."

That SUCKS ... but Paul -- whose goal weight is 189 for the event -- says it was even worse for his fight against AnEsonGib in January, which made him miss out on all the fun surrounding Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's AND his birthday.

"So, only having to give up one holiday for this fight is not bad at all."

Jake gave an inside look on talks between his brother, Logan, and Floyd Mayweather ... but won't say 100% it's gonna go down.

Looks like Michael B. Jordan and his new sexiest man alive crown will be breaking bread with Lori Harvey ... 'cause they arrived together in her hometown just in time for turkey.

Lori and the 'Black Panther' star touched down in Atlanta Wednesday onboard a Delta flight from L.A., but it looks like they got the celeb treatment, as they exited down a staircase to the tarmac. No crowded jetways for this duo.

They both had their face masks on and hoodies up, but photogs saw enough of their faces to know it's them. Lori does live in the ATL, so makes sense they'd head there on Thanksgiving eve.

They threw their luggage in a waiting car and rolled away together ... leaving us all to wonder if Michael and Lori are a hot new couple.

This is the first time the celebs have been linked together one-on-one like this -- there were reports they crossed paths at Nobu earlier this year while in a large group of friends. Lori was still with Future back then, but he's been out of the picture since August.