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Clint Eastwood is apparently a dear to work with ... so says the director's latest leading man, Paul Walter Hauser.

We got the actor Saturday in NYC, and he dished on what it was like working with Clint on his new movie "Richard Jewell" -- which documents the scandal surrounding the real-life security guard who found a bomb ... and then got accused of being the drop man.

PWH says he had a great time on set with with Clint, telling us the dude's a straight up sweetheart -- an ego-less one that. Plus, he's a freakin' icon ... that's a given.

We also ask Paul if it was intimidating to work with someone of that caliber, and surprisingly ... he says it wasn't, even if it should've been. That's interesting, considering what more seasoned actors have said about CE, which is pretty much the exact opposite.

Tom Hanks famously said in 2016 that Clint "treats his actors like horses" in the sense that he wrangles everyone up as needed, and was seemingly a bit of a hard ass on set.

Saweetie is all about silver linings after she and Quavo were grounded by some serious issues with their private jet, and she got a painful reminder ... someone's always got it worse.

The rapper was leaving Nice Guy Friday night when we asked her about the fuel leak from her private jet that had the fire department rushing to the tarmac Thursday night -- and also prevented her from getting to a scheduled Bay Area gig.

Saweetie told us she was disappointed, especially for fans expecting to see her and Trey Songz perform -- but she was happy she and her Migos BF avoided tragedy.

Our photog helped cheer her up, though. Watch the clip, 'cause you gotta see the look on Saweetie's face when he told her about ... SCORPIONS ON A PLANE!!!

TMZ broke the story ... a United passenger claims a scorpion somehow got into her pants during a flight from San Fran to ATL and stung her multiple times.

The actor who played the husband in what some see as a "sexist" Peloton ad is afraid the backlash he's getting from keyboard warriors will have a negative impact on his career.

Sean Hunter is the man in the infamous holiday ad who gifts his wife a Peloton bike. When he's not acting he's an elementary school teacher ... and he's defending himself, and the controversial ad, in Psychology Today .. of all places.

Sean says initial reviews of his Peloton gig were mostly positive, but everything changed when the ad went viral. Now, his take is, "My 5 seconds of air time created an array of malicious feedback that is all associated with my face."

He adds, "My friend texted me today declaring that I’m ‘a symbol of the patriarchy' ... As my face continues to be screen shot online, I wonder what repercussions will come back to me."

Sean says he's "grappling with the negative opinions as none of them have been constructively helpful."

If it makes him feel better ... at least some of the memes about the ad have clearly been in jest -- and even comedian Sherri Shepherd had a laugh over it.

Anyways, the criticism is clearly doing a number on Sean, and he posed a laundry list of questions. "As I continue to reflect on the commercial, I consider these thoughts: Why are people creating so many additional narratives to the story? Am I allowed to view the commercial positively after receiving such negative feedback? If recognized on the street, what will people’s first opinions be of me?"

He also wonders if his "wife" in the ad is going through the same thing he is. For what it's worth, she's chosen to remain silent since all the buzz over the ad.

Guess Sean ain't buying Peloton's company line that folks actually like the ad.

George Zimmerman is going after Trayvon Martin's family, claiming they defamed him and created a conspiracy in an attempt to convict him of murder.

Zimmerman's suing Trayvon's parents, along with prosecutors and a book publisher, for $100 million in damages. In the suit, he alleges false evidence was used against him during his trial and cites a documentary that accuses the Martin family of engineering a phony testimony.

As you'll recall, Trayvon was visiting his father in Sanford, Florida on Feb. 26, 2012, and was returning from a store with candy when he was killed by Zimmerman, who had reported him to cops as suspicious.

According to the docs, Zimmerman claims the Martin family and prosecutors lied about the true identity of the woman Trayvon was talking to on the phone at the time of the shooting, In his suit, Zimmerman alleges they presented Rachel Jeantel as the witness during the trial, but he claims it was actually Brittany Diamond Eugene on the phone.

Of course, Zimmerman was eventually found not guilty in 2013 of second-degree murder in the 17-year-old's fatal shooting. Still, he's suing for defamation and conspiracy. He's also suing the state of Florida for malicious prosecution.

The shooting of Trayvon remains a lightning rod, as Zimmerman has maintained he was attacked by Martin and was defending himself ... but police, prosecutors and much of the general public viewed it as an unjustified killing of a kid in a hoodie.

Zimmerman's named Harper Collins and author, Ben Crump, as defendants due to their recent release of "Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People."

Nate Bain says his family is absolutely STUNNED at the $150,000 in donations he's received since Stephen F. Austin State upset Duke ... and he's telling us how the money will be spent.

Of course, Bain's story went viral after the Duke game -- his family home and church in the Bahamas were destroyed in Hurricane Dorian -- and people raced to his GoFundMe to help them rebuild.

The good news ... Bain tells TMZ Sports his family home is covered by insurance, so the GoFundMe cash (currently around $150k) will be used to help the scores of people who need help the most.

"That money is to help other families within the church and on the school," Bain says ... "It's going to help a whole lot of families."

In fact, Bain had this special thank you message to everyone who contributed ...

"To those people who are watching right now or you’ll see this later, just thank you so much! You have no idea how [many] folks you’re helping. How [many] families and lives you’re gonna change ... because there’s still folks back home without constant water, without shoes, without clothes that this money is going to go towards."

"You’re making an impact inside a little kid’s life, you’re changing somebody’s life for the better. Shows there’s still great people inside this world, still humane people that are still thinking about others so I just wanna say THANK YOU! My whole country thanks those who are still contributing!"

As for the basketball team, Bain says they've become rock stars on campus since the upset -- but they're not looking to slow down any time soon!

"The whole campus has been loving on us! But, the season isn't over!"

SFA is 6-1 and taking on Arlington Baptist University on Monday night -- and after beating Duke, they're expected to win big!

Rosa Parks was memorialized in the city where she was once arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person ... and where a statue of her now stands tall.

The bronze life-size figure was unveiled Sunday in Montgomery, Alabama with the help of Mayor Steven Reed -- who recently became Montgomery's first black mayor -- as well as Alabama's governor, Kay Ivey. There were other important people there too, though.

Mary Louise Smith was on hand for the unveiling as well -- she's one of the original plaintiffs in the Browder vs. Gayle case that ultimately desegregated buses in Montgomery a year after Parks was arrested. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision after the city of Montgomery and the state of Alabama appealed the original ruling, declaring segregated buses were unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

On Dec. 1, 1955 ... Rosa Parks refused to follow a city bus driver's order to surrender her seat -- which was already in the "colored section" -- to a white passenger because the front part of the bus was already full. She stood her ground and got taken to jail for it.

Her refusal and the subsequent arrest sparked the Montgomery bus boycotts, which lasted for a whopping 381 days ... and severely hurt the transit companies' bottom line. The city eventually changed its segregation bus law once SCOTUS weighed in the following year.

Rosa died of natural causes in 2005 at the age of 92. She remains a central figure in the civil rights movement of this country.

Colombian superstar J Balvin properly addressed the political unrest plaguing his native country ... taking the opportunity to do it in his own hometown to a packed house.

The reggaeton singer was performing Saturday night in Medellin, where he hosted tens of thousands of Colombians in the city's Atanasio Girardot Stadium -- which looked quite full.

He's on an international tour right now, and it's clear he wasn't about to pass up the chance to speak on the nationwide protests that have broken out down there over the last week or so ... which has left at least one student dead and several others injured.

The anti-government protests are in response to President Ivan Duque's policies, which many feel are stymieing economic opportunity, access to higher education and better healthcare. Violence is also a major issue. It's a dense topic, but people have taken to the streets.

Enter J Balvin, who's caught a bit of criticism for throwing up sympathetic social media posts on the situation ... but not actually using his voice and clarifying his opinion.

Welp, he didn't shy away from it this weekend -- making it crystal clear where he stands. J Balvin sides with the frustrated citizens (especially the youth) and made a plea to the government ... which got a resounding cheer from the crowd. It's pretty powerful.

Speaking in Spanish, he asked President Duque's administration to listen to people, because if they're demonstrating like they have been ... there's obviously something wrong that needs fixing. He went on to request peace, love and understanding from both sides as well.

President Trump couldn't give Conan, the ISIS-killing dog, a real Medal of Honor ... so U.S. Special Forces just cooked up a new award so DT could present it to the four-legged hero.

We've learned U.S. Special Operations fashioned a one-of-a-kind medal for Conan -- the Belgian Malinois canine credited with helping off ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi earlier this month in a U.S.-led raid -- which 45 gave the pooch during Monday's visit to the White House.

A U.S. Special Ops spokesperson tells TMZ ... the award has no specific name, and it was created specifically to recognize the dog for his contribution to the al-Baghdadi operation. We're told Special Ops created the award specifically for Trump to present to Conan.

As you know ... Conan wasn't eligible for the actual Medal of Honor, because those only get dished out to humans.

Just because it's Black Friday, doesn't mean Jane Fonda and her growing army of climate change activists are taking the week off ... and another celeb got arrested for the cause.

Comedian Paul Scheer was taken away in handcuffs from the demonstration outside the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. He's the latest member of the club to be arrested in the Fonda-led "Fire Drill Fridays" protest for climate change.

As we reported ... Diane Lane, Piper Perabo, and Amber Valletta were added to that list last week. We're told Scheer was one of 37 people to be arrested Friday.

Also joining the force this week -- the 11-year-old star of "Young Sheldon," Iain Armitage. Iain spoke at the event about climate change's threat to farmers and the world's food supply ... as did Scheer.

Fortunately for the kid, he wasn't arrested like Paul. Like he says ... he's a little too young for a criminal record.

For the fourth straight week, Jane also avoided being cuffed by D.C. cops. As we've told you ... she's already been arrested 4 times, and the folks behind her movement are making sure she avoids her 5th arrest because it could result in serious consequences.

Freeclimbing legend Alex Honnold -- the star of "Free Solo" -- is being hailed as a real-life hero after rescuing a fellow climber Sunday who fell off a famous rock formation in Yosemite.

Honnold was at El Capitan -- the epic 3,200-foot formation he impressively climbed WITHOUT ROPES in his documentary -- when something went terribly wrong.

33-year-old Emily Harrington -- a 5-time sport climbing champ -- lost her grip and fell from the formation while attached to her climbing rope ... suffering injuries in the process.

"I took a bad fall and pinballed a bit then somehow hit the rope w my neck," Harrington explained.

That's when Honnold and his pals sprung into action ... getting to Harrington quickly and stabilizing her while emergency personnel arrived.

90 minutes later, Harrington was transported to a nearby hospital where she was treated and is now recovering.

Harrington's boyfriend, Adrian Ballinger, has since thanked Honnold for "calmly maintaining spinal immobilization on the wall, getting things ready for an evac, and telling stories and keeping her talking throughout.”

Ballinger says Harrington is in good spirits, praising her "warrior mentality" and expects her to resume her climbing career ASAP.

Heart-breaking news in the search for Aniah Blanchard ... cops believe they found the 19-year-old's body in a wooded area in Alabama.

Cops have been searching for Aniah ever since she was abducted from a Chevron station on Oct. 23. Blanchard is the step-daughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris.

Days after her disappearance, officials had found Aniah's car, which was covered in blood ... and believed she had suffered a fatal injury during the kidnapping.

Cops hunted down Ibraheem Yazeed -- the prime suspect -- who was seen at the gas station with Blanchard in the moments before her abduction. He was arrested in Florida after leading cops on a pursuit and suffered a busted eye during the apprehension. He's since been charged with 1st-degree kidnapping.

Now, terrible news ... cops say they found human remains in Macon County, Alabama and they believe it's Aniah.

"I can confirm that human remains have been found in Macon County on County Road 2 and we have good reason to believe they are that of Aniah Blanchard," Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes said.

Officials say the remains were found in the area between the Chevron Station in Auburn where she went missing and the spot where her car was discovered in Montgomery.

A second suspect in Aniah's disappearance was arrested on Friday -- Antwain "Squirmy" Shamar Fisher -- who's also been charged with 1st-degree kidnapping.

Story developing ...

President Trump might not be giving Conan, the ISIS-killing dog, the Medal of Honor, but he did settle for a pat on the head in front of cameras at the White House.

DT brought out Conan -- the Belgian Malinois canine who's credited with helping take out ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi a few weeks ago in a U.S.-led raid -- and introduced her to the press in the Rose Garden ... going on to say he'd given the pooch a medal and plaque.

Of course, she wasn't eligible for the actual Medal of Honor -- those don't get dished out to nonhumans -- but it sounds like 45 wanted to honor Conan properly nonetheless.

He went on to explain Conan has recovered nicely after being injured in the raid, and apparently ... she's already gone on to do other missions for us. Trump also said that she's at peak age, and nowhere near retirement. These dogs go strong for around 6 years.

VP Mike Pence had the honor of petting the pooch through much of the announcement, and Conan certainly appeared to like it. She was calm and collected the entire time.

The Netherlands appears to be reaching a crossroads on a longstanding, controversial Christmas tradition of dressing in blackface -- with some cities halting the practice, while others keep it going amid growing protests.

Of course, we're talking about the Sinterklaas parades that take place throughout the European country each year ... which has been going strong for at least a century. If you're unfamiliar, people take to the streets dressed as Zwarte Piet -- AKA, Black Pete.

He's supposed to be a helper for their version of Santa Claus, and he's always depicted in blackface -- with white folks all over the Netherlands donning the dark makeup.

Over the past few years though, more and more protesters have been taking to the streets decrying the tradition ... calling it insensitive, outdated and racist. The parades got started nearly a week ago, and most of them have been met with demonstrators ... as seen above.

As far as we can tell, only one major city thus far has yanked its plans to put on an official Sinterklaas parade -- that would be in the city of Utrecht -- but most haven't pulled the plug yet. Cops have been on standby to make sure things stay peaceful.

Interestingly enough, Amsterdam usually hosts a Black Pete pageant to judge who can put together the best version of the fictional character. However, as of this year ... they're not sponsoring one, making it the second year in a row that they've refrained.

Jane Fonda's seventh straight "Fire Drill Friday" climate change protest has led to more arrests ... and some new big names have been added to the list.

Diane Lane, Piper Perabo, and Amber Valletta joined Jane's force of environmental protesters in Washington D.C. Friday for a demonstration at the Supreme Court building ... and got hauled off in cuffs after refusing police orders to move.

Before they were taken away, Diane and Amber told us it was their first time being arrested ... number 2 for Piper. "The Good Place" actor Manny Jacinto was also on hand but didn't get arrested.

Neither did Fonda -- for the third straight week. As you can see ... she scurries away when she starts feeling the heat from police.

As we reported ... Jane's been arrested 4 times, but last Friday when the cops moved in she moved to higher ground and chanted with her comrades from a balcony in the Capitol.

We're told the folks behind FDF with Fonda are making sure she avoids her 5th arrest because it could result in serious consequences ... and they want her to be able to remain the weekly face of the movement.

The D.C. Attorney General's office declined to charge her for her previous 4 arrests ... but the 5th could be the one that lands her some significant jail time.

Jeff Bezos must be licking his wounds today because he's now only the second richest person on planet Earth.

Yep ... the Microsoft stock climb has allowed Bill Gates to reclaim the top spot. At the close of business Friday, Bezos' net worth was $108.7 billion ... close but no cigar next to Gates, who came in at $110 bil.

Microsoft's been on a roll this year. The stock value has increased by 48%, and that was enough to get bragging rights ... at least today. Amazon's stock took a tumble Friday ... enough for Bezos to lose top position.

An active shooter situation is going down at a high school in California ... and at least 5 people have been injured, according to the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Department.

Authorities in Los Angeles County responded Thursday morning to reports of shots being fired at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita ... and an Asian male suspect wearing all black is still at large.

Saugus HS was placed on lockdown -- along with all schools in the district -- as at least 2 reported shooting victims have been loaded into ambulances and taken to the hospital. Various reports say as many as 7 people have been injured.

A video does show some students being evacuated with an armed officer.

Cops are still on the hunt for the suspect.

Story developing ...