Reality TV

Josh Seiter says he didn't correct the fake death post about him for a full 18 hours because his priority was figuring out who hacked into his Instagram account ... it's all very puzzling.

The ex-'Bachelorette' star appeared on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and we peppered him with questions about the long, long period of radio silence ... both from him and his family.

Josh says he was trying to manage a ton of texts and calls from concerned friends/family, which raises the question ... why didn't someone he called tell media outlets -- including TMZ -- the death post was a hoax?

Fact is ... we called Josh just after the death announcement was posted, but didn't get a call back until the next day. We also called family members, and they either hung up or said "no comment."

He recognizes he's going to get scrutinized, but he says he handled it the best way he knew how and is standing firm -- he was hacked.

Kim Kardashian isn't keepin' up with her former hubby, Kanye West ... because we've learned she isn't the least bit concerned about his recent wardrobe malfunction overseas.

Sources close to Kim tell TMZ ... she isn't staying up to date on Ye and his personal business -- unless, of course, it's on the topic of co-parenting.

For those unaware, there were reports Kim was embarrassed and disturbed after Kanye's naked butt was exposed while on vacation with his boo, Bianca Censori ... but our sources say any talk about Kim being concerned is simply untrue.

We're told she sees Ye's crack slip as an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, but sources note Kim wishes him and Bianca the best as they continue to enjoy their Italian getaway.

As we reported, Kanye and Bianca were on a water taxi in Venice on Monday when he likely felt a breeze from behind ... but he didn't seem to care, because he wasn't doing a lot of adjusting while taking a ride.

Kim Zolciak is, at least publicly, acting like there's hope she and Kroy Biermann can resolve things, and he'll pull his divorce docs again, but he's not seeing it that way at all ... TMZ has learned.

We heard from Kim -- who was still wearing her wedding ring -- Monday at LAX, and she gave off very optimistic vibes when asked if Kroy might have a change of heart about his second divorce filing.

Well, we asked Kroy's legal team if he had any plans on pulling the divorce ... and they didn't mince words. Kroy's attorney, Marlys A. Bergstrom, tells us, "No, at this time, he is still moving forward with the divorce action."

It's likely a devastating blow to Kim, and unless Kroy's holding back information from his lawyer ... the estranged couple is definitely not on the same page about their future.

TMZ broke the story, Kim and Kroy filed separate divorce petitions back in May, but eventually worked things out and decided against the split in July.

However, s*** hit the fan for the couple this month, prompting Kroy to file for divorce once again.

If Tom Brady ever wants to add another ring to his collection, he's a perfect candidate for "The Bachelor" ... so says the dating show's host, Jesse Palmer, who tells TMZ Sports the G.O.A.T. would be a "legendary" lead.

The former NFL quarterback and Season 5 star of the ABC series believes there are actually a couple signal-callers who could go from throwing the pigskin to handing out roses -- Brady, Justin Herbert and C.J. Stroud.

In fact, Palmer says the handsome Chargers standout would be a "producer's dream" ... 'cause they could pay for all the dates and trips throughout the season with help of his $262 million contract!!

"You actually could not script a better setup," Palmer says. "That would be incredible for ratings, and also amazing for our budget."

Herbert has kept his dating life pretty private ... and despite a few rumors, he hasn't gone public with anyone during his NFL career.

Same goes for Stroud ... so Palmer thinks the No. 2 overall pick to the Houston Texans could also thrive in finding love as he kicks off his NFL career.

Brady has gotten back in the dating game after his divorce from Gisele Bündchen was finalized last October ... and was recently spotted enjoying his time with model Irina Shayk.

But Palmer says the 7-time Super Bowl champion gets his stamp of approval to be on the show ... as long as Irina gives the go-ahead as well.

"There is the Irina Shayk issue," Palmer adds. "But if she's willing to kind of just chill out for a couple months of filming, I think we're solid."

Palmer says the show could film at any of Brady's houses ... which would also be a huge positive.

"Again, very budget-friendly. Tom Brady would be good."

We also talked to Jesse about College Colors Day coming up on Friday ... and he breaks down how fans and alums can show school pride ahead of the new season, and score a chance to win tickets to the national championship game in the process.

Jenelle Evans is dealing with every parent's nightmare -- her son Jace has gone missing twice in the last two weeks -- getting cops involved to help track him down.

Jenelle's manager, August Keen, tells us 14-year-old Jace left Jenelle's North Carolina home Monday to roam around their extensive property. After several hours without contact, Jenelle became worried and couldn't find her son ... forcing her to get the police involved.

Fortunately, we're told, Jace was located at a gas station about 10 minutes from Jenelle's home. However, we're told it's unclear if Jace was with friends or just wandered solo.

TMZ broke the story, cops were on the hunt for Jace earlier this month after he left school and couldn't be found. He was later located safely ... and Jenelle said the whole thing happened because she took Jace's phone away after he acted up in school.

Erika Jayne used Secret Service agents and American Express to extort money from a Hollywood designer, ruining his life and career in the process ... so says a new lawsuit.

The 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star and two Secret Service agents are among those being sued by Chris Psaila, who claims Erika corrupted the agents and had them prosecute him over her claims that his costume company fraudulently charged her over $800,000.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Psaila claims Erika gave him and his store, Marco Marco, permission to charge her card for costumes and services he designed, created and provided for her performances ... and he says Erika's estranged husband, Tom Girardi, was the account holder and she was an authorized user.

Psaila claims he started working with Erika in 2014 and everything was kosher until she falsely claimed Psaila had racked up $800k to $900k in fraudulent charges on her credit card from 2015 to 2016.

Psaila insists Erika got every piece of clothing and services from these charges.

In the docs, he claims Erika and Tom weaponized the Secret Service to maliciously prosecute him ... believing the former couple bribed agent Robert Savage, then the head of Secret Service's Los Angeles office, to criminally investigate Psaila and ultimately charge him with crimes.

Psaila also claims AMEX accepted Erika's false statements of unauthorized charges and refunded Erika and Tom over $787k without giving the designer an opportunity to dispute her claims ... and he says AMEX told the Secret Service Erika was a victim of his fraud.

In his suit, Psaila claims Tom and Savage had a cushy relationship ... and he says Savage had his own "history of falsely billing for advance Presidential location scouting trips" that eventually forced him out of the Secret Service.

Psaila claims Tom bribed Savage to investigate him by agreeing to represent Savage in a lawsuit against Volkswagen, while also promising to pay Savage $100k when the investigation in Psaila started.

The designer says Tom and Savage's relationship was not disclosed when he was facing prosecution and says the criminal case against him was ultimately dismissed nearly 5 years after it started ... but he says he suffered extreme emotional distress, financial harm to his business, plus extreme emotional, psychological, and physical injuries as a result of the ordeal.

Psaila is going after Erika, AMEX, Savage and others for at least $18.2 million.

A rep for AMEX tells TMZ ... "In late 2016, federal law enforcement contacted American Express regarding its investigation into fraud by Mr. Psaila. While it is our policy to not comment on the specific activity on an individual Card Member’s accounts, we followed our regular processes and procedures throughout this investigation as we dealt with law enforcement. We did not initiate the investigation, nor did we proactively contact law enforcement, and the information law enforcement requested from us was typical in fraud investigations. We did not play any role in the criminal investigation of Mr. Psaila or his business other than responding to inquiries from law enforcement."

We reached out to Erika ... so far no word back.

A truly bizarre series of events surrounding "Bachelorette" contestant Josh Seiter, as the former reality star is actually alive, claiming his Instagram account was hacked ... after a full statement was posted announcing his death.

Seiter just posted a video, proving he's alive and well ... telling his followers he'd lost access to his Instagram account for 24 hours.

It was Monday afternoon when a lengthy statement was posted to Josh's Instagram saying, in part, "It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share the tragic news of Joshua's unexpected passing. As all who knew him can attest, Joshua was an incredibly bright light in an increasingly dim world." That post has now been deleted.

Josh says whoever hacked his account was playing a "cruel joke" and mocking his previous struggles with mental illness. He apologizes for the pain the alleged hacker caused ... and says he and his team are working to determine who posted the message.

What Josh doesn't make clear is why it took him 20 hours to address the hack, as multiple outlets across the globe published the story based on the statement.

Seiter -- who was eliminated on the first week of Kaitlyn Bristowe's season of "The Bachelorette" in 2015 -- has been open and honest about his struggles with his mental health over the years -- including bouts of depression and anxiety.

Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann might be in the middle of yet ANOTHER divorce, but you wouldn't know it by looking at her hand and listening to what she's got to say.

The ex-'RHOA' star and her daughter, Brielle Biermann landed at LAX Monday and were asked all about Kim's pending case -- after Kroy recently re-filed divorce docs.

Check this out, 'cause it's interesting -- when KZ is asked if she and Kroy are truly dunzo -- she makes sure to flash her wedding band, which Brielle explicitly points out as still "on."

Kim says she already knew Kroy was going to file again, but indicates she's not really worried about it ... and that, perhaps, he'll pull the docs.

The photog presses Kim on some underlying issues that seem to be affecting her marriage -- like finances, for instance -- and the matriarch says those sorts of weigh on all matrimonies.

Brielle's also got some financial issues of her own -- TMZ was first to report she's on the wrong end of a lawsuit from a credit card company -- but she says that's been handled.

One last thing that stands out in the chat ... Brielle pitches a potential new Bravo show that she thinks could benefit all the 'Real Housewives' kids -- and if Andy Cohen was receptive to it in a recent meeting Kim says they had ... she could be back on reality TV one day.

Lots to digest with this one -- we'll see how it all shakes out, but Kim sounds optimistic.

Paul Pierce is opening up on the most terrifying experience of his life ... revealing his near-fatal stabbing in 2000 shaped him into the man he is today.

The Celtics legend reflected on his past in an emotional conversation on Monday night's episode of Fox's celebrity competition show, "Stars On Mars" ... explaining the Boston nightclub incident -- in which he was stabbed 11 times -- completely changed his point of view.

"I've showed endurance in my life because I never gave up," Pierce said in the clip. "I kept going and going."

The Truth added he was at the "lowest point in my life" when he got in the altercation ... saying, "I was like 23 years old, living my dream, and then all of a sudden I'm fighting death."

But, instead of letting the stabbing derail his journey, Pierce said it made him want to work even harder.

"Not only was it a low point, it was a high point for me, too. It changed my thinking, it changed my mindset, it changed how I lived."

Pierce compared the stabbing to his experience on the show ... as he spent the first few days struggling to gain any ground, but persisted and made it to the very end.

"It's kinda been my life, starting at the bottom and rising up."

Pierce went on to play every game of the 2000-01 season ... eventually bringing a championship to the Celtics in 2008.

This grandfather is lookin' his best and achieving celebrity status while he's at it ... because he's gained quite the following remaking iconic looks from a bunch of A-listers.

77-year-old Alojz Abram has garnered 1.7M followers on Instagram through the page of his grandson, Jannik Diefenbach, and fans are convinced gramps -- who emigrated from Slovenia to Germany more than 55 years ago -- is drowning in some serious drip.

Alojz and his grandson have made some near-perfect replicas of fashion choices by the likes of Kanye West, Kylie Jenner, and even Bernie Sanders' viral inauguration look from 2021.

The fashionable duo tells TMZ ... they've been doing these popular pics since Christmas 2016, and the followers started rolling in not long after that. We're told they pick and choose between celebs they're both into, as well as whoever's big at the moment.

Jannik does a lot of the research and prep -- finding the outfits and the right poses to recreate -- but it all goes to Grandpa for final approval.

Jannik says they've gotten DMs from celebs as their online presence continues to grow, and even got an invite to the DIOR x Travis Scott show at Paris Fashion Week ... which they say was their "favorite show ever."

Metallica is in town -- performing in the City of Angels -- and Hollywood's biggest stars made sure they were front and center to catch the all action ... including a rowdy Jason Momoa.

The legendary rock band stopped off in Los Angeles Friday night for one of two concerts they're doing here at SoFi Stadium -- with Pantera and Mammoth WVH opening -- and it looks like JM wanted to be among the people as they head-banged and jumped for dear life.

Watch ... there's footage circulating showing Jason in a mosh pit as Pantera was performing, and the dude was thrashing around with all the normie fans who scored good tickets.

As you can imagine, it was a pretty surreal scene -- but the dude's super down to earth, and he was certainly being embraced by the metal-head Angelenos ... perhaps even being bumped into a bit! He's a big guy, so he can hold his own.

Jason was far from the only famous face on the scene there at SoFi -- TONS of other celebs attended ... and they were all trotted out in none other than Pantera drummer Charlie Benante's IG, where he posted a lot of photos with stars who made their way backstage.

Among the A-listers who were craving rock and roll and feeling snap-happy ... John Travolta, Tom Sandoval, Adria Arjona, John 5, Tommy Lee and others. JM was in the mix too.

It's cool to see so many celebs coming out for an older group like Metallica ... these days, it feels like folks will only pack a stadium for the likes of Taylor Swift, Drake or Harry Styles -- but this just goes to show, there's still a lot of fandom for the great acts of the 20th century.

Like we said, Metallica's got another concert on Sunday ... we'll see who shows out for that.

Courtney Stodden says folks shouldn't be spending money on Chrissy Teigen's new child wagon ... and she'd never support someone who told kids like her to take a "dirt nap."

We got Courtney in L.A. and asked what she thought about folks bagging on Chrissy's new stroller wagon, given the toxic history ... and while she claims to have moved on, she had some stern words for anyone looking to buy.

Courtney tells us she's gone through hell over the years, thanks to Chrissy -- and the irony is blinding ... selling a children's product when she was an online bully to kids.

BTW, we ask Court if folks need to move on, or if Chrissy's review-bomb is fair game ... check out her response.

As we reported, Chrissy's collab with Wonderfold has been flooded with 1-star reviews ... and many of the reviews are all about the celeb attached to the product.

One wrote, "To sell a product with its purpose to be used with CHILDREN, you chose a "woman" who told a CHILD (Courtney Stodden) to kill herself?!"

You'll recall, Chrissy had a bit of a mean streak in the past, especially with Courtney, who was a teenager at the time. Chrissy tweeted, "Go. to sleep. forever," and "I hate you."

The barbs came at the time Courtney was married to actor Doug Hutchison, tying the knot when she was 16 and he was 51.

Foodgod, AKA Jonathan Cheban, is taking a Korean BBQ sauce company to court ... claiming one of the glass bottles burst into shards, slicing his hand clean open.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jonathan says he bought a glass bottle of San-J’s Korean barbeque sauce from a grocery store in Florida in October 2020 -- putting it in his fridge at home -- and taking it out a few hours later while making dinner.

However, Jonathan, repped by attorney Levi McCathern, claims the bottle "inexplicably exploded" in his hand when he took it out of the fridge, with one of the big shards causing quite the gash on his hand ... allegedly causing "significant blood loss."

Jonathan says he has the pictures included in the lawsuit showing he never even opened the bottle before it burst -- insisting the twist cap's seal was still intact after his hand got sliced open.

He also says he had to get numerous stitches and suffered nerve damage and ongoing pain in his hand ... and he claims the cut was just inches from "major arteries in his wrist."

Jonathan claims he's suffered losses like the "ability to use his hand in his social media posts, in his advertisements, and in his ability to sponsor various food items."

He's now suing the manufacturer of both the sauce and the bottle, as well as the distributor and the store he bought it from ... and is asking for a whopping $20 million for the big slice.

For what it's worth, pics from what would've been days after the alleged incident showed him in pretty great spirits ... dressing up as Joe Exotic with Kim Kardashian and her kiddos.

It seems Bianca Censori isn't just inspired by Kim Kardashian's taste in men, she's a big fan of Kim's style too ... channeling a classic Kim K look for her latest public appearance.

Censori was out and about in Italy Thursday in a very SKIMS-esque outfit complete with a nude bra, leggings and pair of heels.

While we can't say for sure whether or not the brand Bianca's wearing is actually Kim's SKIMS company ... it looks super similar.

Of course, the style has only grown in popularity over the years, so it's possible she scooped it from somewhere else.

However, it's hard not to draw a comparison between a look Kim's shown off in the past and what Bianca chose to wear in Italy.

Kim posed for a few mirror pics in an identical style and color during a personal photo shoot at home, so maybe Bianca had the look archived to try and pull off on her own.

More financial woes for Kim Zolciak, a credit card company is going after her for more than $150,000 ... filing a lawsuit the same day Kroy Biermann filed for divorce.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, SAKS/CAPITAL ONE claims Kim was issued a card with a $115,000 limit. The company says her last payment was back in September 2022 for $4,179.

The documents state Kim owes $156,080.64 in total on the card -- in both charges and credit that have all added up over the last several months.

Of course, Kim's facing a bunch of other money problems, including the more than $1 million the IRS claims she and estranged husband, Kroy Biermann, owe. The couple also had their Georgia home foreclosed on, though that issue seems to be resolved ... at least for now.

Kim was also sued back in June for a Target credit card she allegedly had with a $2,482.24 balance.

Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann seemed like a couple on the mend from the outside -- but were fighting nonstop behind closed doors -- before one fight sent Kroy over the edge, causing him to file for divorce once again.

Sources close to the estranged couple tell us ... Kim and Kroy had been arguing for several weeks about money before Thursday's filing ... and things had gotten "nasty." As for specifics ... we're told each has been on the other's case about not paying various bills. They blame each other for their serious financial mess. As one source said, "They've gotten ridiculously petty over who hasn't paid bills. They're counting down to pennies."

We're told Kroy was regularly threatening to file for divorce. However, it was during a fight Thursday morning when Kroy threatened once again to file for divorce, Kim dared him ... so he did.

TMZ broke the story ... Kim and Kroy filed separate divorce petitions back in May,but had a change of heart in July -- pulling their divorce filings.

At the time, we were told they still really loved each other and could work things out -- leaning on religion to help get them through -- but clearly, things soured.

Kroy's asking for sole legal and physical of their 4 minor children as well as child support, alimony and attorney's fees.