Holidaze

Santas of all varieties -- malls, town squares and backyards -- are back to putting smiles (mostly) on kids faces, thanks to the COVID vaccines, but with omicron creeping ... it's still not as jolly a gig.

While last Christmas hit while the pandemic was still raging ... 2021 is our first with the advent of mass vaccination, and several Santa orgs tell us that means they can get back to doing what they do best.

For instance, Santa Jim in central NJ tells us he is fully vaccinated, and when doing private events at homes ... he looks for customers who are willing to be temperature checked and masked. That's the adults, anyway, but for the kids ... it gets a little tricky.

As Santa J pointed out ... most tikes under 5 haven't gotten the shot ... so, it falls on the Santas to try to keep everyone -- including himself -- as safe as possible, and how they choose to do that is as individual as Santa's reindeer.

One Philly Santa, aka Chuck Gill, tells us there are 2 kinds of Santas -- standing or sitting. The standing ones, like himself, mostly do meet and greet photos with kids. Chuck says, at his events, he requires them to be vaxxed and masked -- and while he's aware of other Santas doing the more traditional sit-down thing, he says they're also requiring vaccinations and face masks.

In the Midwest, things are a bit different ... according to Owen Davenport from the Indiana Santa Claus Society. He says he's not wearing a mask, nor does he require it of the kids sitting on his lap. Yeah, he's the sitting kind and, clearly, feels safe.

Owen says he's had 3 shots, and his crew of elves are all vaxxed too -- but he will mask up if a family requests it. Still, unless a family says otherwise ... Santa Owen only takes mask-free photos.

Down in Texas, HireSanta.com CEO Mitch Allen is back to sending out Santas to malls, tree lighting events, parades and more ... but he stresses they do not ask about children's vaccination status because that's a state and county government issue. Plus, he knows most of the really young kids just aren't eligible for a shot.

What they are doing is social distancing ... often putting Santa on his throne while kids sit on a bench about 4-6 feet in front of him. It still allows for a good photo, while keeping everyone safe. Interestingly, his company doesn't require vaccination for Santas -- hey, it's Texas -- but he says they hire both vaxxed and unvaxxed in order to meet demand.

He adds that the omicron variant has meant more calls from customers requesting fully vaxxed Santas for their events. Mitch says the Santa biz has been hard hit by the pandemic -- many choosing to retire, which has slashed his roster by around 10 percent compared to the good ol' days of 2019.

Chrissy Teigen thinks she was being tricked by our photog, who asked if people at her XMAS celebration would be wearing masks, but the fact is ... it's a legit question in the middle of this pandemic, and the irony is -- what she said is the exact right answer.

Chrissy tweeted, "TMZ just asked me if I'd be wearing a mask at my family Christmas and I said no? and now I feel like I've been tricked into a story about how I won't wear a mask this Christmas. just know I am pro mask but don't really wear one inside with my husband and kids I guess?"

There's no trickery ... Chrissy made it clear, she'll only have 8 folks around the table for Christmas dinner, and everyone is vaccinated except Miles, who is only 3. Now it's true ... with the Omicron variant even fully vaccinated people may be spreaders -- especially if they haven't been boosted -- and she wasn't specific about that. Nevertheless, there's no hard-and-fast rule if everyone's vaccinated except a small child -- a lot depends on testing and how careful the others have been.

Fact is -- Chrissy's an influencer, so what she does will register with others, and she made it clear the only ones who were invited are immediate fam and everyone who can get vaccinated did.

Sure looks like Cheryl Hines just got Jennifer Garner-ed ... her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is passing the buck on who suggested their holiday party guests should be vaccinated, and the blame's falling at her feet.

The backstory here is RFK Jr. is an established anti-vaxxer -- or at least anti-vaxx mandate -- for children, so some guests were shocked to see invites to his and Cheryl's shindig included a recommendation attendees should be inoculated ... according to Politico.

Kennedy's explanation to Politico was, "I guess I'm not always the boss at my own house."

🤔

Well, he didn't call Cheryl out by name, but  ... the insinuation's pretty clear.

Kennedy also said his guests weren't carded at the door -- it was more of an honor system type thing.

The Rockettes are canceling the rest of their 2021 performances because COVID is once again causing havoc in NYC.

The Radio City staple says they just can't continue their Christmas Spectacular due to "increasing challenges from the pandemic." Those challenges include a COVID outbreak among the production team, plus musicians in the orchestra ... including a swath of breakthrough cases.

The Rockettes had a big show scheduled for Friday night, but after it got the ax folks outside the venue in Midtown Manhattan were reportedly crying, and now the whole season is 86'd.

The Rockette's Christmas Spectacular is a holiday tradition in the Big Apple, where COVID cases are reaching daily highs and breaking records even though we are nearly 2 years into the pandemic.

While things seemed to be getting back to normal in the entertainment world, events are getting scrapped left and right and professional and college sports teams are dealing with outbreaks that are messing with their game schedules.

Carson Wentz just made sure his O-linemen won't go hungry (or thirsty) for Christmas ... 'cause he just gave them all a grip of meat, booze and coolers ahead of the holiday!!

Colts guard, Quenton Nelson, and tackle, Matt Pryor, showed off the goodies on social media on Thursday ... revealing their quarterback dropped off the presents right in their lockers this week.

In total, the gift baskets for the big fellas included two Yeti coolers, a Yeti water bottle, bourbon and some meats from "The Wagyu Shop."

No word on the final price tag of it all, but since Wentz has made over $100 MILLION in his career, we're pretty sure none of it was cheap.

As for the guys' reaction to the presents, both Nelson and Pryor seemed pumped for the early X-mas gifts ... thanking the QB in their comments.

Gwen Stefani rocked the mic for Spotify's huge end of the year bash -- singing hits from her solo career and time with No Doubt ... and TMZ has the video.

The Spotify celebration, dubbed "A Totally Normal Party for 2021," went down Tuesday at an event space in Los Angeles ... with Gwen stealing the show.

Gwen performed for 45 minutes and her set featured some of her most famous songs ... including "Just a Girl," "Hey Baby," "The Sweet Escape," "Spiderwebs," "Hollaback Girl," "Don't Speak," "It's My Life" and "Rich Girl."

The first act on stage was the USC Trojans marching band ... but Gwen was the big draw here.

Spotify's year-end party comes on the heels of their 2021 Wrapped unveiling ... you've definitely seen people share their top Spotify songs and artists on social media ... and at one point, Gwen joked about hearing she was a top Spotify artist.

Cincinnati Bengals star running back Joe Mixon is giving kids an awesome surprise for the holidays ... by handing out brand new bicycles!!!

Mixon partnered with Strikes for Kids for the special event ... hooking up 28 youngins at the local Boys & Girls Club with some wheels just in time for Christmas.

TMZ Sports is told ... the kids were taken to Main Event Entertainment Center in West Chester, where they enjoyed two hours of unlimited games, pizza and Icees.

As they had tons of fun, they were surprised with new bikes and helmets ... as the 25-year-old posed for pics with them.

Of course, the kids couldn't wait to try out their new wheels ... moving around inside the event space to get in a quick ride.

Mixon spoke about his decision to help out ... saying, "This community has embraced me and become a second home for me, so to be able to give back and inspire these children is the least I can do."

Mixon's kind gesture comes on the heels of notching yet another 1,000 yard rushing season -- the third time the RB has done so in his career.

It's clear he's a difference maker for the Bengals -- on and off the field.

LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates just did their best Santa Claus impersonations ... gifting an entire room full of kids with brand new bicycles for the holidays!!!

The two Chargers legends hit up an L.A.-area school earlier this week for the sweet gesture ... and video of their surprise visit is AWESOME.

You can see in the footage, Tomlinson came out to the crowd of kids first with a new set of wheels and a Chargers helmet -- while Gates followed suit with a ride of his own shortly after.

It appeared the Bolts duo was only going to give out the two bikes -- but, when an official announced EVERYONE would be getting one, the kids lost their minds!!

Check out the vid, the youngsters clapped, cheered, and even high-fived the former star running back and tight end.

The Chargers -- who used to play in San Diego during Gates' and LT's time with the team -- tweeted out, "Oprah, this one's for u."

Of course, Gates and LT were teammates in San Diego from 2003-2011 ... and the two created magic on the field at their respective positions.

The dynamic duo worked well together -- leading the Bolts to the playoffs multiple times -- and this latest moment with the kids is further proof that chemistry is still going strong.

Santa Claus can pass up Philadelphia ... Meek Mill's got his hometown covered for the holidays, as he gives away more than half a million bucks worth of some fire gifts!!!

TMZ has learned Meek's planning to hand out a massive sack full of gifts for families in need this weekend -- things like bikes, video game gift cards, laptops, tablets, dolls and much more.

The Philly-born and raised rapper's getting his friends to kick in too -- Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Sixers partner Michael Rubin and Meek's managers at Roc Nation are supporting the huge gift giveaway.

The event, set for this coming Sunday, will be a more up close and personal giveaway than Meek could pull off last year during the pandemic. You might recall this heartwarming moment -- he had gifts delivered, surprising the families ... but could only video chat with them.

"Home Alone" star Devin Ratray -- who played Buzz McCallister in the flick -- had a spat with his girlfriend that got so bad ... someone called the cops to get things under control.

Law enforcement sources tell us they were called to a Hyatt near downtown OKC earlier this week for a domestic dispute between Ratray and his girlfriend.

Ratray's rep says the two got into a verbal argument, nothing physical, and things were so nasty the two broke up. The rep would not say what the argument was about.

Cops tell us things were sorted out once Devin and his gf decided to go their separate ways for the night -- she got a separate room -- and no one was arrested.

Of course, Ratray will live in classic Christmas movie infamy as Buzz, who tormented his little brother Kevin (played by Macaulay Culkin) for years to come. The actor recently revealed to People that there was a possible "Home Alone" reunion in the works ... but unclear if this hiccup will derail that project.

For what it's worth, "Home Alone" fans looking to relive their childhood fantasies can participate in an upcoming raffle to stay a night in the famous McCallister home thanks to Airbnb.

Jingle Ball 2021 did not disappoint ... lots of big stars showed up, but COVID reared its ugly head after the show.

Nick, Joe and Kevin -- aka the Jonas Bros -- performed, along with Dixie D'Amelio, Ed Sheeran, Saweetie, Bazzi, Tate McRae and Kane Brown. It was super glitzy and as far as what happened on stage ... it seems flawless. But, the virus took its toll, sidelining one of the big stars of the night.

Jimmy Fallon hosted the shindig at Madison Square Garden.

Lil Nas X performed some of his biggest hits including "Industry Baby," "Old Town Road," and "(MONTERO) Call Me By Your Name." Shortly after the concert wrapped, Capital's Jingle Bell Ball shared the upsetting news that Nas and Coldplay will no longer be performing at their scheduled shows. Someone on both of their crews tested positive for COVID. Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran will be playing extended sets on their respective nights.

ArrDee and Tom Grennan will also perform in place of Nas and Coldplay this weekend at the London event.

This news comes after Doja Cat announced that she will no longer perform at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball stops in NYC and Boston this weekend after members from her production team tested positive for COVID.

"We recently learned that a few members on my production team have tested positive for Covid 19 and are now on quarantine," reads the message posted on her socials.

Sleighbells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening ... and these stars are a beautiful sight and happy to be bundled up tonight!

Chilly celebrities -- like Nina Dobrev, Kendall & Kylie Jenner, Martha Hunt and Khalid -- are sharing their favorite freezing photos while taking a walk in a winter wonderland this season!

Celine Dion, Donald Faison, and Chelsea Handler are just a few other frosty faces sharing their fresh powder pics!

So, before you turn down building a snowman, click through this gallery of stars stuck in the snow making the best of being left out in the cold!

Colts star Darius Leonard became the real Santa Claus for kids in Indianapolis ... by bringing them on a holiday shopping spree!!

Leonard teamed up with Walmart for his first "Shop With a Jock" event ... where 50 lucky kids from the Boys & Girls Club in Indy got to go shopping with the linebacker with $100 gift cards for the store.

The special moment was caught on camera -- Leonard walked down each aisle at the local Walmart with the kids who picked out gifts like clothes and toys.

After that, they got to eat Papa John's pizza with Leonard and his teammates!!

One kid told WTHR he was so surprised he was shopping with an NFL star ... saying, "A football player in front of my eyes!" ... How adorable is that?!?

Leonard loved every minute of it -- saying he knows what it's like not getting much during the holidays, so he wanted to make a difference.

"I knew what it was like as a kid not really having too much up under the tree so just being able to come out and just be in these kids' faces -- now, they can go out and just shop and get whatever they want."

Leonard added, "They gonna remember this for the rest of their lives. Just tryna make a change in this world."

Leonard -- who has 8 siblings and 2 children of his own -- has been with the Colts since 2018 and the 2-time Pro Bowler has made over $29 million.

"Seeing the smiles on these kids faces is the reason why I do what I do!"

Dak Prescott is one of the best QBs in the NFL and apparently one of the best teammates, too -- 'cause he just gifted his squadmates with pairs of sick, Cool Grey Jordans!!

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jabril Cox revealed the present on his social media page ... showing off the feet heat while thanking his team's signal-caller.

"Bless you 4Dak," Cox said while opening the box.

In the note on the shoes, Prescott -- who signed a deal mega deal with Jordan brand this offseason -- wrote to his teammates, "Thankful for you this holiday season." He also autographed the paper.

Of course, the gift is going to be well received in the locker room -- the Jordans have yet to be released to the public, and they'll no doubt be hard to obtain when they eventually drop this week.

The shoes will retail for $225 -- but they'll almost certainly go for way more than that on resale sites ... so, dope gift for sure, Dak.

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas -- a very smoky one -- after someone torched the tree outside the FOX News building ... and cops already have a suspect in custody.

NYPD arrested a homeless man they believe acted alone in setting the 50-foot tree ablaze early Wednesday morning. No one was injured, and FDNY put out the fire pretty quickly, still ... we're told smoke filled the office building.

The tree had been decorated with 10,000 ornaments, and its 100,000 lights were just turned on Sunday during an on-air lighting ceremony.

The flames damaged three other nearby trees decorated with Christmas lights ... but luckily, there were no injuries reported.

Crews are already taking down what's left of the burned-out tree, and FOX has plans to install and decorate a new one ASAP.

Not today, Grinch ... not today!!!

Chad Johnson did his best Santa Claus impression last weekend ... gifting a $1,000 tip to a single mother waitress -- and the gesture was awesome.

TMZ Sports has learned the ex-NFL star was dining at Bar Louie in Tampa, Fla. back on Nov. 26 -- and after piling up a $102 bill, he decided to get super generous.

The former Cincinnati Bengals wideout added a $1,000 tip to his total ... and when his waitress, Kayla Ashby, went back to him to make sure it wasn't a mistake, we're told he revealed to her it was no joke.

Ashby, we're told, thanked Chad ... and said afterward that she and her son, Zaith, are going to have a wonderful Christmas thanks in part to Johnson's generosity.

Of course, Chad's done this many times in the past ... the 43-year-old is known for leaving big tips every now and then.

As for the message he left to Ashby, Johnson wrote alongside the big tip, "Merry X-mas early. You can catch the Black Friday sales."

Johnson added, "'I love you.'"