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Melissa Barrera says her firing from the 'Scream' franchise won't silence her ... and she says she's not antisemitic.

The actress responded to her "Scream 7" ouster with a statement on her Instagram story, explaining why she's been so vocal about the war in the Middle East.

Of course, it was Melissa's IG stories that got her booted from the movie in the first place ... after the production company behind "Scream 7" deemed her comments hate-inciting and antisemitic.

In response, Melissa says ... "Silence is not an option for me."

She starts out by condemning antisemitism and Islamaphobia ... and speaks out against hate and prejudice against all people.

Melissa says her Mexican heritage makes her feel a responsibility to use her platform to "raise awareness about issues I care about and to lend my voice to those in need."

She adds ... "I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism."

Remember ... Melissa got fired from "Scream 7" for her posts about Israel and Palestine, including one where she seemingly alluded to a long-standing trope about Jewish people controlling the media. In another post, Melissa compared Gaza to a concentration camp.

Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind her firing, says it showed her the door because ... "We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech."

President Biden's lighting up the Internet with his fiery birthday cake poking fun at his age -- but that won't get him over the electoral hump with the young'ns ... so says a seasoned journo.

Technology reporter Taylor Lorenz -- who covers all things digital for the Washington Post -- weighed in on Joe getting a little cheeky this week to celebrate his 81st birthday ... with a jokey post that ended up fueling endless memes online.

Everybody, it seems, made cracks ... some were light-hearted, others were a little more serious -- but according to Taylor, none of it really helps the Prez in the long run for 2024.

As she put it on Tuesday's "TMZ Live," Biden and his staff are missing the mark on how to connect with Gen Z -- mistakenly thinking that viral content and memes alone will be enough to get a full base of potential voters to pull the lever for him come next November.

Lorenz says that's not gonna do it, unfortunately -- and that Joe needs to connect with young people on a more fundamental, serious level ... through policy that helps their lives.

There are a number of issues she thinks JB's out of touch with when it comes to this specific demographic -- everything from the economy to housing and healthcare ... and even the war between Israel and Hamas. On that topic, too, she says Joe's not reflecting their view.

Of course, there are also the Biden stumbles and fumbles that happen all too often -- including recently mixing up Britney Spears and Taylor Swift -- that Lorenz says aren't serving him well.

Bottom line ... TL thinks Joe's gotta sharpen up and engage 20-somethings with substance, if he wants to rely on their support at the polls ... 'cause right now, the gimmicks aren't cutting it.

Donald Trump was once infamously alleged to have watched prostitutes pee on a bed in a "golden showers" show -- and even all these years later ... he continues to insist it ain't true.

The ex-Prez was at a campaign event in Fort Dodge, Iowa Saturday night -- and while he was hyping up his crowd ... he waded back into this very old news, just to reiterate his denial and to once again explain why it couldn't possibly be true.

Take a listen ... DT retells the story as it was alleged in a secret dossier -- which claimed he and some "hookers" were at a hotel in Russia back in 2013, and that DT watched these ladies urinate on a mattress that Barack and Michelle Obama had apparently once slept in.

Trump denied this way back in 2017 when the story first started to surface -- and he's doing the same here in 2023 ... this time roping Melania into it, and saying she totally believes him.

As he noted way back when ... he's a total germaphobe, so there's no way this can be true -- something he says the former First Lady also apparently agreed with when he tried to reassure her it was bunk.

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter -- who'd long been married to former President Jimmy Carter -- has died ... according to the family's foundation.

The Carter Center broke the news Sunday, writing ... "Our co-founder, former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia." In a lengthier statement, they went on to explain that she passed peacefully at home with her family by her side.

The news comes just a couple days after Rosalynn entered hospice care -- which her husband had actually entered as well earlier this year. She'd also recently been diagnosed with dementia.

Rosalynn served the country well while Pres. Carter was in the White House in the '70s -- and her legacy stands as someone with astute political intuition ... not to mention fine work for the American people while in office, especially in regard to mental health awareness.

By most accounts, she was one of the modern First Ladies to truly step into a public role and help shape an administration -- something all First Ladies have continued since.

Of course, her and Jimmy's humanitarian work post-presidency has been widely praised as well -- she and her hubby were the longest married presidential couple in U.S. history.

She's survived by President Carter, their four children and her grandchildren. Rosalynn was 96.

Bill Maher has an interesting take on us Americans -- we have way too many opinions on stuff that doesn't matter, and maybe we should all shut the f*** up.

The 'Real Time' host made people think Friday night -- think back just a few decades when we could consume news without making every story a battle cry about something we know little or nothing about.

Bill's got a point ... take Kylie Jenner, who posted she stands with the people of Israel and then almost immediately took that post down. As Bill says, that's kinda the opposite of standing with.

Get this -- 59% of us buy or boycott products based on the company's political or social views ... views that have nothing to do with the product itself. Just ask Anheuser-Busch or Target.

Bill says there's virtue in having NO opinion because the more we draw lines in the sand, the more divided we become.  As BM grouses, Thanksgiving has become a time when family and friends can gather together and fight about Donald Trump.

The new Speaker of the House dropped a huge batch of videos recorded inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 -- and some conspiracy theorists will, no doubt, say they prove confirmation bias.

Speaker Mike Johnson just released a massive cache of surveillance footage from inside the Capitol that was shot on that fateful day -- and you can imagine, it shows varying moments of activity as demonstrators broke in and stormed the premises.

Yes, there are instances when rioters are casually strolling through the grounds once they get inside ... and in some cases, they're actually walking right past police officers and other security personnel -- which, obviously, isn't a great look for law enforcement.

You can even see some elected officials shuffling through the halls ... and they're not necessarily sprinting as they're being escorted by armed guards. Par for the course -- a ton of conservative personalities are latching on to this as evidence Jan. 6 wasn't actually an insurrection ... but rather, a peaceful protest that's been blown out of proportion.

While those conservatives might think their point is made in this video dump -- fact is, there's even more video -- which we've all seen -- depicting the utter chaos and violence that actually unfolded.

There are countless videos of rioters squaring up and fighting cops outside -- with batons being swung, and mace being sprayed. Also not in dispute, Capitol Police officers lost their lives in the line of duty that day ... and one protester, Ashli Babbit, was shot and killed inside. So, this wasn't some kumbaya get-together.

It's interesting that Rep. Johnson -- who's known to be very Donald Trump-friendly -- was the one who ended up releasing these. Previous Speaker Kevin McCarthy had a lot of pressure on him to do the same before he was ousted, but ultimately never did.

Rosalynn Carter, the former first lady and wife of former President Jimmy Carter, is in hospice care at the family's Georgia home.

Rosalynn is 96 years old and earlier this year she was diagnosed with dementia. It's been a rough year for the Carters ... back in January, the 99-year-old former Prez also started receiving hospice care.

In a statement Friday, the Carter Center says Rosalynn and Jimmy "are spending time with each other and their family. The Carter family continues to ask for privacy and remains grateful for the outpouring of love and support."

The Carters live in Plains, Georgia ... where they were both born and raised.

Rosalynn and Jimmy have been married for 77 years, they got hitched way back in 1946 ... and she served as First Lady from 1977 to 1981 during Jimmy's 4 years in the White House.

Dwayne Johnson is changing his tune after endorsing President Biden's 2020 campaign -- instead, he's now distancing himself from POTUS in a very public way ... on Joe Rogan's super popular podcast.

The Rock and Rogan were bemoaning the fact most Americans pick their friends based on political affiliation, these days -- but the actor said he doesn't discriminate, and has Trump-lovin' pals and friends who support Biden.

But when Joe asked him if he really does have Biden-backing friends, Dwayne clarified he meant he had buddies loyal to the Democratic party. Basically, he's no longer aligning himself with Joe's leadership!

Dwayne has clearly been making quite the impact in politics ... recently divulging on Trevor Noah's Spotify podcast that last year he was approached by several political parties to see if he would run for President. That's following a 2021 poll revealing 46% of Americans would vote for him.

While he said those numbers make him confident that if he were to go down that road, he could be a real contender -- however, he added there's a lot about politics he "hates," and right now he just wants to spend time with his kids.

Dwayne did say he'd reconsider running in the future -- and Wednesday in D.C. he looked every bit like a politician.

He spent the day meeting with several Senators, on both sides of the aisle ... including Chuck Schumer, Jon Tester, Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins.

President Joe Biden seems to be setting up Gov. Gavin Newsom for a White House run -- that is, if his words here about the CA chief are any indication .. and they sure might be.

JB was in San Francisco Wednesday night for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference, which is being hosted by Cali ... and featuring the guest of honor in Chinese President Xi Jinping, who's in town to talk about his country's relationship with the U.S., etc.

While Joe was onstage ... he explicitly shouted out the Gov. with some flattering words -- and based on what he said, a lot of people think he sees him as a would-be successor.

Check it out ... 46 says Newsom's been doing a helluva job for the Golden State, and then added -- "Matter of fact, he can be anything he wants. He can have the job I'm looking for."

Of course, what Biden seems to be referring to here is the presidency itself ... for which he's currently running as he seeks reelection. Joe hasn't signaled he's bowing out for 2024 -- so, presumably, what he means here is that Newsom is primed to run in the near future.

We know Gov. Newsom's ambitious and there's been tons of rumblings in the Democratic Party that he has presidential aspirations -- so Joe confirming that is pretty telling.

BTW, this little get-together they were at yesterday ended up being high-level entertainment ... 'cause Gwen Stefani stopped by to serenade the crowd -- belting out a couple songs and even giving the Prez a hug in front of everyone.

Donald Trump may be thinking about going head-to-head with the other Republicans who are challenging him for the presidential nomination because we've learned the Secret Service has already scoped out the venue.

The next debate is scheduled for December 6 at the Moody Music Building Concert Hall at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The debate will be carried live on NewsNation. The network announced last Thursday it will host the debate, and sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... that same day Secret Service agents came to the venue and walked the premises ... inside and out.

The only candidate who has Secret Service protection is Donald Trump, who, as a former President, will be shadowed for life by the agency.

Trump has passed on the previous debates this year and there has been no obvious evidence he'll change course, given he's light-years ahead of the other candidates in the polls. But the Secret Service walk-through suggests he's thinking about showing up.

What's especially interesting ... one of the 3 moderators of the debate is Megyn Kelly, who famously sparred with Trump during a Republican debate back in 2015. The ratings went through the roof for that debate, and Trump is obsessed with ratings, so who knows?

Dwayne Johnson's getting acquainted with Capitol Hill, and while he's not not running for president -- or any other office, yet -- he IS taking meetings with U.S. senators to talk football and the military.

The Rock was in D.C. Wednesday for a sit-down with several top lawmakers, reportedly chopping it up about boosting recruitment in the Armed Forces, and the XFL ... which he owns.

Dwayne met with Senators Susan Collins, Dick Durbin, Lindsey Graham, Mark Kelly, Jon Tester, Tammy Duckworth and Todd Young ... along with his XFL CEO Dany Garcia.

Sen. Tester is the mastermind behind the meeting, and he told reporters Dwayne will advocate for folks to join the military. Sen. Collins had no qualms about fangirling out ... as she gushed about The Rock's following, and admitted she wanted to get a ton of pics with the movie star.

Dwayne's visit to Capitol Hill also saw him shake hands with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer ... and he took a photo with Capitol Police officers.

The Army, Navy and Air Force are reportedly falling short of their recruitment goals ... and it sounds like some senators believe The Rock has the influence to convince more young people to enlist.

Dwayne's visit also comes on the heels of him saying he's been approached by political parties about a potential run for president.

For now, Dwayne says he's staying on the political sidelines -- he's open to reconsidering in the future -- because, right now, he wants to spend time with his kids.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in the middle of a heated debate around the viral photo of him walking barefoot on an airplane, and his response proves he's keeping 10 toes down on his stance on this issue.

The presidential candidate sent a video response to TMZ -- after seeing the controversy bubble up in our newsroom -- and he tells us it's "inexcusable" for politicians to go barefoot on an airplane and promises to never repeat the same foot faux pas.

Ya gotta see RFK Jr.'s video ... once he finishes his "apology" the camera pans away to show the naked truth -- and while he's not midflight in the video, he is sitting in an airport terminal. 😂

As you know ... the photo going around the internet shows RFK Jr. walking barefoot down a messy airplane aisle. The image was snapped earlier this month on an American Airlines flight from Portland to Dallas when RFK Jr. was sitting in first class.

Conservative commentator Justin Haskins took the now-viral photo, and on his "In The Tank" podcast Haskins claimed there was a bunch of food and debris on the floor as RFK Jr. walked barefoot to the airplane bathroom.

The gloves were off as a fistfight nearly broke out between Sen. Markwayne Mullin and Teamsters General President, Sean O'Brien, on Capitol Hill Tuesday ... resulting in a stern scolding from Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Tensions erupted when ex-MMA fighter Mullin read out tweets by O'Brien following a previous heated congressional hearing, in which he was labeled a "clown and fraud," among various other insults.

With his damning gaze firmly on his opponent, Mullin warns of a "time and place to run his mouth" ... and as "two consenting adults," they could "finish it here."

The duo urges each other to "stand their butt up" to duke it out leaving an agitated Sanders to keep the peace and remind Mullin of his responsibilities as a United States senator.

"God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress," Sanders says, clearly pissed about the showdown that was about to unfold.

Unrelenting, Sen. Mullin -- an Oklahoma Republican -- goes on to taunt his rival for "going quiet" ... only for O'Brien to hit back by likening him to a 12-year-old for challenging him to a cage match. Ouch.

Donald Trump's older sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, has died at her home in Manhattan.

The exact circumstances surrounding her death are not clear right now, but Maryanne's body was found Monday morning ... according to multiple reports. No foul play is suspected.

The elder Trump was a longtime attorney, and even served as a federal judge in New Jersey before she retired in 2019.

She was reportedly a close confidant of Donald's back in the day, and some have suggested he once took her advice and counsel very seriously -- that is, until they had an apparent falling out once he was elected President in 2016.

This all came to light in 2020 when Don and Maryanne's niece, Mary Trump, started trashing her famous uncle ... not to mention releasing tapes that appeared to show Maryanne also dogging her younger bro.

In some of those recordings, she could be heard accusing Donald of "lying" and having "no principles." Maryanne was one of Donald's 2 last living siblings -- his brothers Fred and Robert had already died.

Now, he just has his other older sister, Elizabeth, who's still alive.

Maryanne was 86.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. let it all hang out during a flight nearly two weeks ago -- and by that, we mean from the ankles down ... where he got very acquainted with a messy aisle floor.

The presidential candidate -- who's running as an independent -- was on an American Airlines plane on Nov. 2 ... where we're told he was traveling from Portland to Dallas for what appears to have been official political business, during which this eye-popping pic was snapped by conservative commentator Justin Haskins.

Haskins -- who works for a think tank called The Heartland Institute -- took this photo of RFK Jr. getting up and walking to the bathroom ... only he did it completely barefoot!

Indeed ... it's a bit surprising, considering the ground he's treading on isn't all the clean -- at least that's what Haskins said when he and his buddies talked about this on their "In The Tank" pod on Friday. According to him, there was a bunch of food and debris down there.

Listen to how Haskins puts it ... sounds like he was pretty surprised to see Bobby pull this as nonchalantly as he did, and he jokes this might even torpedo his campaign prospects.

Bill Burr's wife doesn't seem to be a fan of Donald Trump's -- that is, assuming this middle finger she fired off was for him ... and it very well may have been.

Nia Hill accompanied her comedian husband to the UFC 295 event Saturday night at NYC's Madison Square Garden -- and during one of DT's on-camera moments on the jumbotron ... she flipped the bird, which many have taken to be directly targeted for Trump.

Frankly, it's hard to tell if this F-U was, in fact, intended for The Donald or not. It looks like Trump is in the same aisle as them, but slightly angled ahead of them as they're seated.

Nia throws up two single-finger salutes right at the UFC team pans to them ... but it seems like she's perhaps doing it straight to the camera itself, as opposed to DT who's to her right. Whatever her intention was, right-wing Twitter certainly took it as an insult to the ex-Prez.

As a result, he's getting a ton of hate from conservatives ... 'cause they see his wife's would-be gesture toward Trump as a reflection of his own politics -- even though he holds that pretty close to the vest.

Burr occupies this nebulous comedy space ... at times, he comes out swinging against "wokeness" but also rails on right-wingers just as much. Dude's an enigma, for sure -- and more importantly, there aren't many interviews he's done where he straight-up craps on DT.

Now, he's in the crosshairs of MAGA loyalists ... who are still very much with 45. The UFC crowd also appeared to welcome his presence ... as he rolled in with Dana White, Tucker Carlson and Kid Rock.