News

The 10th Democratic Presidential debate's just moments away from kicking off and a long list of celebs are already backing their horse before the first issue is raised on stage.

We did a little digging ahead of Tuesday's South Carolina debate, and Federal Election Commission filings reveal one candidate flexed his muscles most ... when it came to celebrity donations in January -- Pete Buttigieg:
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson ($2,800)
- Chloe Grace Moretz ($500)
- Thomas Lennon ($500)

He got another $3,000, BTW, from Thomas last year.

As for frontrunner, Sen. Bernie Sanders:
- Simon Helberg ($1,500)
- Rashida Jones ($1,000)
- Danny DeVito  ($100)

Danny's a serious Bernie Bro too ... he also gave him $2,700 last year and even appears in one of his campaign ads.

Repping for Sen. Elizabeth Warren:
- Sally Field ($1,000)
- Lily Tomlin ($275)
- William Baldwin ($200)
- Yvette Brown ($328.56)

Honorable mention: Adam Scott and Elizabeth Banks didn't plunk down anything in January, but each donated $2,800 to Warren's campaign in December.

Not to be forgotten, Joe Biden got donations from Jean Smart ($340) and Josh Gad ($250) -- while Sen. Amy Klobuchar got some love from Sarah Jessica Parker ($250).

The monster is back in Jesse James' garage ... he's returning to reality TV after a 14-year hiatus with a reboot of his hit show.

Jesse is coming back to Discovery Channel with a brand new season of "Monster Garage" ... and he's coming in hot too. We're told the garage will be filled with upgrades, including some cutting-edge technology ... and a renewed passion for creating mind-blowing vehicles.

In the 14 years since "Monster Garage" ended, Jesse's been traveling the world, expanding his skill set in forging and blacksmith work -- learning from some of the best in the biz -- and now he's ready to unleash his new talents.

The first run of "Monster Garage" went like this -- Jesse and his 5-person team would modify vehicles into multi-tasking machines. For instance, there was a PT Cruiser that doubled as a wood chipper, a school bus that turned into a pontoon boat, and a police car that could morph into a donut shop.

It was cool stuff back then, but now Jesse says he's excited to step back into the garage to push the limits even more by showing what his team can do when they refuse to quit.

The reboot premieres later this year ... get ya popcorn ready!!!

"The Batman" isn't all work and no play -- as you can see he takes a load off whenever possible, and lets Hollywood magic do the rest. Case in point ... cool-guy stuntman A.

Matt Reeves' upcoming superhero epic about the early years of The Dark Knight is in the middle of filming right now out in Scotland -- and on Saturday ... the crew got some shots of Batsy riding around on his motorcycle. Well, sorta ... they got a close-up of his arm.

Check it out ... you see the stuntman -- doesn't really look like Robert Pattinson under there -- sitting next to the Batbike which is on top of a moving platform being pulled by a truck. The dude's got the Batsuit on, but he's not rockin' the cowl, 'cause there's no need.

Looks like this shot is just of the hero's arm gripping the handlebars, so the stunt double's chilling with a beanie on and a pair of shades as they run through it a couple times.

This mild shoot day isn't nearly as involved or complete as the one from a few days ago when what appeared to be another stuntman was doing a complete motorcycle ride through a graveyard, complete with a mask and some falls off the bike. Bat-mode, initiated!

Of course, this all comes about a week or so after Matt showed off what Pattinson's gonna look like in a sneak peek test shot (more or less), which already had fans squawking.

As for this latest look ... we're getting Caped Ski Bum vibes.

Donald Trump's Beverly Hills fundraiser guests -- at least some of them -- say they are totally grossed out by the fact appetizers from the function were left sitting out by a toilet.

TMZ broke the story .... hors d'oeuvres from Trump's campaign fundraiser at The Montage this week ended up in a small bathroom, stashed between the john and a bathtub. Yuck!!!

Guests who attended the fundraiser tell TMZ ... it's disgusting the swanky hotel would store food in a bathroom, especially considering the fact some of those in attendance plunked down six figures to dine with the President.

What's not clear ... what was food doing in the bathroom? You see some appetizer trays that appear to have already been passed around, so the leftovers could have simply been stored in the bathroom. But check out the food warmer. You see the light on, which means the oven is on, and you see trays of untouched empanadas and other hors d'oeuvres. We have repeatedly called the hotel for days, trying to find out if this was the staging area. So far, no response.

The guests say they would've never expected this kind of behavior from the Montage, and they're left wondering if hotel employees did this on purpose as a middle finger to Trump?!?

You don't need to be a health inspector to know it's dangerous to expose food to the bacteria present in bathrooms ... but the guests tell us they are even more freaked out because it's a dangerous time in the world with the spread of coronavirus!!!

But, laughter is the best medicine, and the guests are trying to laugh this off ... jokingly telling us, this might explain why the appetizers during cocktail hour tasted like liberals. Sick burn!

This one's actually funny though ... one guest says the restroom meatballs still aren't as nasty as this infamous image of one guest's plate filled with meat and fish ... now forever known as "meatfish."

This is NOT what the saying "grin and bear it" is all about -- but a bunch of Southern California residents seem to think so -- coming face-to-face with one of nature's purest killing machines.

This fairly beefy-sized bear is taking a leisurely Friday morning stroll through driveways, front yards and streets of Monrovia, CA -- which is a little northeast of L.A. -- and the neighbors are giving him the paparazzi treatment.

FOX11 LA's camera people are pretty brave to capture these images, but at least they get paid -- unlike the locals who are getting dangerously close to what we think is a black bear.

Officials suspect this is the same bear that was spotted outside an elementary school on Thursday ... but now it's getting even more comfortable in the 'hood.

So far, it's walked right up to several front doors, and even nearly came nose-to-nose with a dog. We're happy to report no people or animals have been harmed yet. Bear sightings are common in this part of SoCal, but we don't usually see them linger this long and take this much interest in just about everything.

So far, this guy doesn't seem aggressive -- probably just seeking a picnic basket or 2 -- but still, he's got huge claws!!! Those too-curious humans are not nearly as big or as fast.

Just sayin' ...

Sy Sperling -- the founder and president of Hair Club for Men known for his TV commercials in the '80s and '90s -- has died in Florida.

Sperling died in Boca Raton after a lengthy illness ... according to his spokeswoman, Terri Lynn.

Sy's career path began being forged in the late '60s when he was a balding swimming pool salesman in New York City who'd grown tired of wearing toupees.

So, he took $10k in credit card debt to open a Madison Avenue salon and used a hair weaving technique he learned from a stylist to implement a system where a nylon mesh cap was glued to a person's scalp ... allowing their hair to grow through it, then additional matching hair purchased from women was woven into the mesh.

Sounds pretty odd, but business took off ... just not to the point where Sperling wanted it to be. Enter, the TV commercials.

Sy began advertising his hair replacement system on TV and went national in 1982, with spots running 400 times daily on late-night TV. They reportedly cost $12 million a year but generated 10,000 calls a month.

The ads featured before-and-after photos of happy customers, but ended with Sperling himself proclaiming ... "I'm not only the Hair Club president, but I'm also a client." They became a cultural phenomenon almost instantly.

The company's now simply referred to as Hair Club and began offering services for women in 1995. Sy retired in 2000 after selling the company for $45 mil. It's helped more than 600,000 clients restore their hair over the years.

Sperling is survived by his wife and 2 kids.

He was 78.

President Trump's Beverly Hills fundraiser featured a fire menu as far as appetizers are concerned, but hopefully they weren't prepped in a bathroom ... 'cause that's where they ended up!

TMZ's obtained video of the aftermath of some of the hors d'oeuvres served at the Montage hotel Tuesday night, and for some reason ... they were stashed in a small bathroom -- between the bathtub and the toilet.

The appetizers and drinks menu for the pro-Trump event is posted on the catering food warming cabinet -- which is also in the bathroom -- and along with the leftover lamb meatballs and mint yogurt sauce seen in the vid ... looks like there were delicious options.

The hors d'oeuvres list also includes burrata with roasted tomatoes and garlic croutons, poached prawns, chicken empanadas, miniature crab cakes and truffle mushroom risotto balls.

Seems like they must have been quite a hit, because there's not much leftover ... unless more food was stored away in another bathroom. But ... check out the trays of food that do not appear to have been passed around yet. What we don't know ... was the bathroom used as a staging area before serving guests?

We broke the story ... Trump not only raised a bunch of money at the fundraiser, but he used it as an opportunity to mock Bernie Sanders, the current front-runner to challenge him for the presidency.

Jeff Bezos is putting his money where his mouth is ... he's committing to spending $10 BILLION of his own cash to fight climate change.

The Amazon honcho, who is worth around $130 billion, announced Monday he's launching the Bezos Earth Fund ... a global initiative he says will fund scientists, activists and non-government organizations that will spearhead efforts to protect the earth.

Bezos said, "Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share."

He's adamant, "We can save Earth. It's going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals." Bezos said his fund will begin issuing grants this summer.

Valiant effort, for sure. This past year has seen some global catastrophes ... from major flooding in Italy to ravaging fires throughout Australia. Most recently, Antarctica hit near 70 degrees ... the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth's coldest continent.

Bezos -- who in the past has been blasted for poor working conditions and low wages at Amazon -- has ramped up his philanthropic efforts as of late. Just last November, his Day One Fund gave away nearly $100 million to 32 organizations fighting homelessness.

Emilio Estevez is slipping on his ice skates once again ... he's back coaching hockey in a 'Mighty Ducks' reboot and is already in character as Gordon Bombay!!!

Disney just released the first images of Emilio and the rest of the cast for its 'Mighty Ducks' TV series ... and Esteves looks right at home on the ice, with a hockey stick in hand.

Filming is already underway for the 10-episode TV series, which Disney says is set in present-day Minnesota and features the Mighty Ducks as an ultra-competitive, powerhouse youth hockey program.

Emilio's gonna reprise his role as Coach Bombay and guide a ragtag group of misfits as they discover the joys of playing for the love of the game. In other words, it's pretty much the same plot as the 1990s trilogy.

Starring alongside Emilio is "Gilmore Girls" star Lauren Graham and rising child actor Brady Noon ... and like any good hockey production, it's being filmed in Canada.

Unfortunately for 'Mighty Ducks' fans, Goldberg isn't getting in on the reboot ... he's kinda busy with rehab.

Quack, quack, quack!!!

Big Wave pro-Alex Botelho was hospitalized after suffering a serious accident in a surfing tournament ... and the video of the crash is absolutely wild.

The 29-year-old Portuguese surfer was participating in the Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge when he had a scary wipeout and had to be saved by a Jetski pilot.

The situation got much worse when a massive whitewater wave rushed towards them and knocked the 2 people off the Jetski.

But, then things took an even worse turn when another wave came through and sent them flying through the air.

Botelho appeared to be unconscious by the time he washed to shore ... with emergency rescuers sprinting into the water to help out.

The surfer was taken to a nearby hospital where he's currently recovering ... and thankfully, the World Surf League says he's stable and conscious.

"A heartfelt thank you to the safety and medical teams for their quick response. We are wishing Alex a full and speedy recovery," the league said in a statement.

Justin Bieber and Quavo are helping shine a light on a good cause ... and their new music video is helping a shelter for homeless women.

Here's the deal ... the music vid for Justin and Quavo's collab, "Intentions," tells the story of a group of women in search of a better life in Los Angeles. The women are all living out of Alexandria House, a shelter for homeless women and homeless women with kids.

The video wraps with a special shout-out to Alexandria House ... Justin and Quavo say they donated $200,000 to the non-profit... and viewers are directed to a link where they can lend a helping hand.

The response has been pretty amazing ... since the video dropped at midnight Thursday, we're told the shelter has received more than $10,000 in donations.

It's pretty cool ... the money is flowing in from all over the world -- Italy, Romania and China, etc. -- and many of the donations are small, as in the $1 and $5 denominations. There've been a few large donations of $1,000 and $5,000, but it's mostly people chipping in what they can afford.

Alexandria House tells us its website is also seeing a huge influx of traffic ... as in, an 800 percent increase in traffic compared to the day before the video dropped.

Justin and Quavo spotlighted 3 women in the video, and we're told some of the funds are going towards their tuition and after-school programs for their kids, plus a one-woman show for the lady who does poetry.

The rest of the money, we're told, will aid the 30 current residents and some 200 former residents ... so they can buy textbooks, furniture for their new homes and even car repairs.

Ah, the power of Bieber and Quavo.