News

Richard Simmons may be living life out of the spotlight, but he's still impacting people's lives in a profound way ... telling TMZ he's regularly communicating with fans who need help.

An emotional Richard told us by phone ... he's returning as many as 200 emails a day -- in addition to making 15 to 20 personal calls ... all to people who are struggling.

The fitness guru says he has gotten an overwhelming response to his "Daily Richards" ... noting he's never seen people in such a desperate state.

When it comes to Bill Maher, you can bet your bottom dollar he's not shy about diving into the chaotic mess that is America's deeply divided society -- abortion included.

Bill swung by "TMZ Live" to break down a quick snippet from his new book, "What This Comedian Said Will Shock You" ... where he mentioned understanding some folks' POV of seeing abortion as murder -- but he also made it clear he was still okay with the procedure.

He mentioned how he thinks abortion should be legal up until the third trimester -- quipping it's not necessarily because he's gung-ho about his pro-choice stance, but mainly because he's just not a big fan of kids.

The raid on Sean Kingston's house came after months of investigation ... and, new photos show one of the items cops went looking to find -- a massive LED screen.

Attorney Dennis Card -- who's representing a company suing Sean for allegedly not paying for a $150k home entertainment system -- says he was present when the raid went down and took photos of technicians slowly dismantling the system.

Check out the pics ... you can see the front of the huge screen's totally stripped down, one panel at a time. In other shots you can see custom sports jerseys framed on the wall, as well as a pic from outside the home.

Tragedy struck in Mexico Wednesday when high winds ripped through a presidential campaign rally, collapsing the stage and taking the lives of 9 people.

The terrifying moment happened on camera as candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez campaigned in a city outside Monterrey -- and as he and several supporters got the crowd chanting, a sudden gust of wind tore down a large video screen at the back of the stage.

Álvarez Máynez and his team were seen scrambling in different directions to take cover as the scaffolding and screen came crashing down onto the stage.

7:30 PM PT -- Boeing is denying the most troubling parts of the Daily Mail report. The company says, "This story is misleading and reckless. It makes incorrect connections and sensationalizes the standard regulatory process that has helped ensure air travel is the safest form of transportation. This is not an immediate safety of flight issue."

The Boeing spokesperson continues, "There are multiple redundancies designed into modern commercial airplanes to ensure protection for electromagnetic effects. The 777 fleet has been operating for nearly 30 years, and has safely flown more than 3.9 billion passengers."

BTW, a source familiar with FAA procedure tells us the agency's March memo regarding potential "electrostatic discharge" was a Notice of Proposed Rule Making ... which is a description of a proposed rule, and NOT a final rule.

A New Zealand man thought it would be a brilliant idea to body slam a killer whale -- but the stunt was not only dumb but also seriously irresponsible, and he's now paying the price.

Check out the clip -- the man goes full WWE ... launching himself off a boat near the coast of Auckland and landing inches from an adult orca and its calf.

As you can see ... the 50-year-old daredevil, who hasn't been identified, yells out in delight he touched the orca and eagerly asks his boatmates if they caught his wild encounter on camera.

A local news crew in Milwaukee captured a brutal hit-and-run on camera ... and the viral moment happened totally by chance.

As TMJ4 journalist Kaylee Staral shared with her followers on X, she was in a Milwaukee neighborhood following up on a shooting in the area ... when a silver sedan came barreling down the street.

Check it out ... the journalist and a bystander are chatting on a sidewalk when a loud screeching sound is heard off-camera. The silver sedan avoids crashing into an SUV, but seconds later drives head-on into a parked minivan.

10:45 AM PT -- Boeing just released a statement saying, "We are in contact with Singapore Airlines regarding flight SQ321 and stand ready to support them. We extend our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one, and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew."

A Singapore Airlines plane took a 6,000-foot drop after running into some nasty turbulence ... leaving 1 person dead and over 30 hurt.

Check out the clip -- you can see the food and debris left behind after the Boeing 777-300 jet hit bad turbulence when flying to Singapore from London Tuesday ... forcing it to make an emergency landing in Bangkok at 3:45 PM local time.

There are 40 fewer flamingos in India after a disastrous airstrike -- the exotic birds were taken out by an Emirates airliner coming in for a landing in Mumbai, and the carcasses were scattered around the airport.

Flight EK 508, carrying 300 passengers from Dubai, sustained some damage but safely landed moments after colliding with the flock -- and images of the aftermath, and subsequent cleanup, are graphic.

Residents from nearby Ghatkopar alerted wildlife groups about the mutilated remains of the birds ... which you can see in the video as the Forest Department recovers the carcasses. Officials are reporting broken pieces of wings, claws, and beaks strewn all over the area.

11:30 AM PT -- A source familiar with the situation tells TMZ … Cam'ron's rep was fully aware and briefed about the segment and topic ahead of his interview on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip.

9:53 AM PT -- Cam'ron isn't apologizing for his behavior during last night's wild CNN interview.

On his "It Is What It Is" sports show he cohosts with former Bad Boy rapper Ma$e, the Harlem rapper said CNN only contacted him to talk BS, so he gave them just that -- a BS interview!!!

Peloton is swearing off Diddy's music for all future workouts -- this after the horrifying 2016 clip of the rapper beating his ex, Cassie, emerged.

On its private member's Facebook page, the fitness company stated, "We take this issue very seriously and can confirm Peloton has paused the use of Sean Combs' music, as well as removed the Bad Boy Entertainment Artist Series, on our platform."

They add, "This means our instructors are no longer using his music in any newly produced classes. Again, thank you for sharing your concerns and thank you for being a member of our Peloton community."

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is imploring his fans to send their prayers Brian Battie's way ... revealing Monday the Tigers running back has been put on a ventilator after he was involved in a shooting over the weekend.

The football player was initially wounded at around 3:30 AM on Saturday ... after gunfire erupted in the Tallywood Centre Plaza parking lot in Sarasota, Fla.

According to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, one person, Battie's brother, Tommie L. Battie IV, was killed during the incident. Several others, the SCSO said, needed to be transported to nearby hospitals to address their injuries.

Red Lobster is officially in Chapter 11 bankruptcy -- a move that comes days after they shut down dozens of their restaurants amid financial distress, but it's one that will keep its remaining branches afloat ... for now.

The nation's biggest seafood chain confirmed the news Sunday night, meaning it's succumbed to burdensome leases, high labor costs, and, of course, its iconic all-you-can-eat shrimp deal -- which, in hindsight, seems a bit too generous!

RL revealed in court filings it has more than 100,000 creditors with estimated assets and liabilities both ranging between $1 billion to $10 billion.

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court is gunning for Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Hamas leaders ... accusing each side of crimes against humanity in the ongoing war.

Karim Khan -- who's heading up this effort -- broke the news Monday ... saying his office is now applying for arrest warrants for each side of the conflict -- a couple for Israeli's Prime Minister including its Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, and three on the Hamas side too.

For Hamas ... the ICC wants to arrest and charge leader Yahya Sinwar and two other high-ranking officials -- Al-Qassam Brigades and Ismail Haniyeh. All are accused of war crimes.

Oprah Winfrey's got nothing on Robert Hale Jr., a telecom billionaire, who didn't hand out car keys to UMass Dartmouth grads ... but, instead, handed them cold hard cash -- for themselves and others.

You could say Hale spiced up his commencement speech to the graduates when he announced that each of them would be getting $1,000 when they came onstage to get their diplomas ... but there was one important caveat.

Hale, who founded Granite Telecommunications, told them Thursday they'd be getting 2 envelopes ... one with $500 to keep for themselves, and a second one with a $500 check they had to donate to someone in need, or a charity.

Gayle King is dishing on how she got cover ready for her photo shoot with Sports Illustrated ... giving cred to the very company her pal Oprah Winfrey just ditched, at least professionally.

We caught up with Gayle in NYC, where the CBS News anchor shared she never dreamed of being an S.I. Swimsuit cover model ... but hinted she really doesn't hate all the attention that comes with it.

She kinda said it all when she admitted, "I am still floating."