News

One of Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous houses is off the market after a mystery buyer dropped a fortune on it ... making it the most expensive sale of a home designed by the legendary architect.

The Ennis House, which is located in the foothills of the L.A. neighborhood of Los Feliz, was built by Wright's son in 1924 for Charles and Mabel Ennis and is known as a unique masterpiece ... made almost entirely of granite blocks.

The property's been a hot spot for Hollywood filmmakers over the years, appearing in countless shows and movies ... including 1982's "Blade Runner."

The home has been through some hardships -- after suffering structural damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, it was neglected and deteriorated until it was purchased in 2011 and restored by supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle.

Burkle bought the place for $4.5 mil but pumped nearly $17 million into it to bring it back to a state of pure beauty, which means the new buyer actually got quite a bargain at the $18 mil purchase price ... especially since the asking price was $23 mil.

As for the specifics of the Ennis House ... it's over 6,000 square feet including the detached guest quarters, 3 beds, 3.5 baths and the main house features a gorgeous marble floor linking the various rooms.

There are hardwood floors and leaded glass windows throughout ... along with a fireplace, a vintage kitchen, a media room with a wet bar, a swimming pool, a koi pond and one hell of a view of the city.

The sale easily broke the previous record for an FLW house set by the Storer House in Hollywood Hills ... it went for $6.8 mil in 2013.

Kim Jong-un might be on the verge of some major policy shifts, 'cause he just Paul Revere'd his ass to a snowy mountain ... where he traditionally likes to sit and think.

The Supreme Leader/dictator released some interesting photos this week, showing himself galloping on a gorgeous white stallion through the snowy grounds surrounding Paektu Mountain -- an active stratovolcano on the Chinese-North Korean border.

The mountain is said to be a sacred getaway, with tons of symbolism and mythical history to a lot of Koreans. For this guy specifically, Kim has previously visited Paektu before major decisions for his country ... so a recent visit could mean he's up to something.

Of course, the horseback outing is hilariously similar to Russian President Vladimir Putin's ride through the mountains of Siberia in 2009 ... when he famously went shirtless.

Eddie Van Halen has been flying between the United States and Germany to get treatment for throat cancer ... and we've learned he's been doing it very quietly for years.

As for how Eddie developed the cancer ... we're told he believes it's from a metal guitar pick he used more than 20 years ago. Seems Eddie would cradle the pick in his mouth, and he's been told that could well have been the source of the cancer, despite the fact he was a heavy smoker. Back in 2000, shortly after he was diagnosed, doctors removed around 1/3 of his tongue.

Eddie was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago. Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... over the years there were times some of the cancer cells migrated down to his throat, and doctors would scrape them out.

Our sources say ... Eddie has flown to Germany for 5 years to get radiation treatment, and for the most part it's worked to keep the disease in check.

As for his current condition ... there are lots of rumors, but people who know him say he's seems to be doing okay -- at least on the surface.

A Hard Rock Hotel that was under construction collapsed this weekend, leaving at least 1 dead and several others injured.

The implosion happened Saturday morning in New Orleans, when the upper deck of the hotel started to crumble in on itself ... apparently, after a crane fell from up above. The rubble slid off the side of the building in crazy video captured by onlookers in the street.

NOLA officials say at least 1 person is confirmed deceased while at least 18 others were injured and sent to the hospital. The city's fire chief says at least 3 people are unaccounted for -- all of whom are reportedly contractors who were working on-site.

Another hanging crane is said to be unstable at the moment, and more of the building could collapse -- so police and the fire department have cleared neighboring streets and evacuated surrounding buildings. A search-and-rescue operation is currently underway.

Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge achieved an historic milestone -- becoming the first person to run sub-2 hour marathon ... EVER!!!

Kipchoge completed the monumental feat Saturday in Vienna, running a 26.2-mile path that was specifically charted for this attempt, and as such ... isn't technically viewed as a sanctioned marathon course. Because of that, this new time won't be recognized as a world record --  but still, the guy can say he did it ... clocking in at 1:59:40.

BTW, he holds the official world record for a marathon time at 2:01:39, which he set in Berlin just last year. He came up short on this very same challenge -- dubbed the INEOS 1:59 Challenge -- a couple years back, finishing at 2:00:25.

Kanye West took his Sunday Service on the road again, this time landing at Howard University ... and it's interesting -- one of his lyrics, "13th Amendment, Gotta end it, that's on me."

Kanye, Kim Kardashian, along with North and Saint, showed up at the historic, African-American college Saturday for an 8 AM show, and it did not disappoint.

Grammy-award winning R&B singer Tony Williams led the service, which was complete with a brass band and a choir.

The performance dovetailed with Howard's homecoming, called Yardfest. The University did not announce Kanye's appearance until hours before the event, but that was enough time for students and others to swarm to the quad for the service.

Kanye's making the short trek later today to George Washington University in D.C., where another Sunday Service will go down.

A terrifying species -- known as the snakehead fish (yes, it's as scary looking as it sounds) -- has Georgia fishermen on high alert, and they've been ordered to KILL ON SIGHT!!!

Georgia wildlife officials put out the word about the killer fish because it's been spotted in a pond, and just one is enough to cause a panic. Here's why -- the snakehead devours everything in its path. According to officials, the adult snakehead is a voracious predator of other fish, frogs, small reptiles ... even birds and small mammals aren't safe.

Perhaps most terrifyingly, the fish -- which can grow up to 3 feet long --  can breathe on land! The only good news ... they don't eat humans, so this won't be a 'Sharknado' situation.

Brooke Nevils, the woman accusing Matt Lauer of anally raping her, is now blasting him for "bullying" her with his open letter -- but pics of her in NYC show she's also moved on to a new relationship.

Brooke and her BF, President of a political strategy company, shared a kiss Wednesday as they parted ways in NYC. Brooke hopped in a town car afterward and headed for dinner at Nobu. She only responded with a "no comment" when reporters and photogs asked her about the Lauer allegations.

It was a big day for Brooke because Ronan Farrow's book was released. In "Catch and Kill," she goes public with her claim Lauer anally raped her during a 2014 encounter in his hotel room while they were covering the Sochi Olympics for NBC.

Justin Trudeau's mea culpa over his blackface scandal continues, but this time he's saying sorry face-to-face ... to a much younger audience.

The Canadian Prime Minister was a guest on a Facebook Watch show called "New Mom, Who Dis?" where he was asked questions by a small group of school children ... including a couple uncomfortable questions from black twin girls.

One of the twins first asks Trudeau why he painted his face brown, and he responds by admitting it was the wrong thing to do because it hurt people ... and he's learned that now.

But, then the other twin asks a follow-up -- "But, did you paint your nose and your hands brown?"

Trudeau says "yes" and repeats it was wrong and hurtful, and apologizes to all the kids and people he hurt. He also says he's used this as a teaching moment for his own kids ... urging them to be respectful toward each other and not tease or discriminate.

Christina Aguilera got emotional talking about her experience with domestic violence ... and hailed a women's shelter as heroic for the work it does to help survivors like her.

The singer was accepting a "Community Hero" award Thursday in Las Vegas at a gala for The Shade Tree Shelter, but she paid tribute right back to the organization ... as she shared her personal account of escaping domestic abuse growing up.

Christina told the audience if it wasn't for her loving grandmother, she would have ended up needing a place and a resource like The Shade Tree -- which provides safe shelter to homeless and abused women and children in crisis.

Corey Lewandowski had a little bit too much wine at dinner before hopping on TV for an interview about President Trump and the whistleblower ... at least that's what the show's host suggested.

Lisa Kennedy Montgomery -- AKA Kennedy from MTV -- had Trump's former campaign manager on her FOX Business show Wednesday night and quickly became suspicious of his blood alcohol level as he appeared to struggle with a few words.

Take a look ... Kennedy's brow furrows as Lewandowski alleges the White House whistleblower is someone who "hates this president more than they love their country."

An endurance runner was struck by lightning and DIED less than a quarter-mile from the finish line of a 50k race, officials confirmed.

The man, 33-year-old Thomas Stanley, was running in the FlatRock 50k race at Elk City State Park in Kansas on Saturday, when a storm broke out.

Witnesses say runners and officials raced over to Stanley and attempted to revive him, but they were unable to save the runner.

He's survived by his wife and 3 kids, none of whom were at the race that day.

Event organizers issued a statement, saying, "Thomas' family says that the chances of being killed by a lightning strike are about one in a million, and Thomas was truly a one-in-a-million guy."

Thomas' wife, Ashley, talked about the tragedy with KWCH 12 ... saying it's been a difficult situation to explain to her kids ... especially their 6-year-old daughter.

"It's been hard to hear from her ... she's already drawing conclusions very quickly. She has already said, 'If daddy didn't do the race, he would still be here, right?' I said, 'yes.' She said, 'I wish daddy didn't do that race,' and I said, 'me too.'"

A GoFundMe page set up for the family has already raised more than $65,000.

Moviegoers in NYC will notice a hefty police presence when they go see "Joker" on opening weekend ... cause the NYPD's not taking any chances on someone acting out.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ...  the NYPD doesn't want a copycat crime of what went down in Aurora, Colorado 7 years ago and is taking a "precautionary measure" by dispatching uniformed police officers to every theater across NYC screening the film.

We're told officers will be patrolling in front of theater entrances, though the public should be aware police have not received any specific "credible threats" to the Todd Phillips film starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker.

"Unbelievable" star Kaitlyn Dever is using her platform as a star on a hit Netflix show to get Congress to eliminate a backlog on rape kits ... before it's too late.

We got Kaitlyn out at LAX Friday and asked her about her recent trip to Capitol Hill. She was there to push Congress to reauthorize the Debbie Smith Act, which provides federal funding to sort out hundreds of thousands of unanalyzed rape kits. The bill, first passed in 2004, is set to expire Monday.

Kaitlyn, of course, portrays an 18-year-old who survives sexual assault in Netflix's new true crime limited series. Her efforts aren't just limited to pushing lawmakers on the Hill ... she's taken her cause to social media urging fans to hound their representatives to act ... stat.

She's tagged Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others, to get moving. She ended her caption with #EliminateTheBackLog. No doubt Kaitlyn's taken on one helluva cause.

Jason Momoa says we can't wait any longer ... the time to address the climate crisis is now, and he's calling on all world leaders to quit "half-assing it" and go all in.

The "Aquaman" star and ocean activist addressed the United Nations Friday on behalf of small island nations, and made a direct and sobering plea for delegates to take a stand to save the planet.

The actor began by describing how his background has shown him how different places can be "oblivious to another" ... but by abusing the environment, we are all hurting each other.

Momoa runs through a depressing list of the Earth's current issues -- rising sea levels, vanishing ecosystems, devastating plastic pollution -- largely placing blame on the emissions and corporate greed of first world countries.

He says small island nations are suffering the most from this disaster, but they are just the beginning ... and warns we are at the "critical tipping point" that could lead to the death of our planet.

The woman who went on a racial tirade against black people at a Los Angeles CVS is a Hollywood costume designer ... and some celebs are rightfully calling her out.

Heather Lynn Patton is the woman dropping n-bombs and screaming that she wants to kill black people in this viral video. Her racist rant, which went down Tuesday at a CVS in Eagle Rock, sparked outrage online and left some famous people she worked with stunned.

Audra McDonald reacted on Twitter, with the actress writing, "Wow. Apparently she worked on Private Practice. I don't remember her but apparently if not for the law she would've killed me and Taye? Harsh."

Patricia Arquette says the woman worked with her on the NBC series "Medium" for 2 seasons and says one of her friends from the set told her, "This is really sad. Holy s**t. Wow I'm actually shaking. This was not who she was at all ... It's like I'm watching a person that has completely come undone."