Category: Breaking News

Andre Braugher passed away following a battle with lung cancer, TMZ has confirmed.

Andre’s rep tells us the Emmy-winning actor was diagnosed with the disease a few months earlier … and he passed away Monday at age 61.

Andre was a beloved member of the TV community … having starred in all 153 episodes of the police comedy series, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”

His costar Terry Crews thanked Andre for his advice, kindness, and friendship in an emotional tribute after the tragic news emerged.

Andre was also known for his work on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street” and comedy-drama “Men of a Certain Age” — while his movie roles included “Frequency,” “The Mist,” and “City of Angels.”

The Julliard alum bagged 2 Primetime Emmy Awards during his celebrated career — and on the personal front, was husband to Ami Brabson and their 3 children.

Even Oprah, the bonafide queen of TV, needs some comforting now and then … she says she was totally down for Drew Barrymore‘s caressing, even if some fans were cringing.

We got O Tuesday morning as she headed into the Empire State Building, and she told us she enjoyed the personal touch she got on “The Drew Barrymore Show” … saying it actually provided her some solace.

In fact, you could say Drew put the pressure on Stedman Graham — Oprah told us she’s now demanding the same arm-stroking treatment from her longtime partner!

Oprah adds she thought it was endearing, and loved Drew for always being herself.

While she didn’t mind Drew being all over her … it was too much to handle for some viewers who criticized the host for creepily invading Oprah’s personal space by propping her hand under her chin and holding it there.

Cecily Strong did not feel comfortable playing Rep. Elise Stefanik in the ‘SNL’ sketch about the “genocide of Jews” hearing in Congress … and ended up bowing out right before the show started.

The former “Saturday Night Live” star was supposed to return as a guest star in the cold open skit, and she went through a dress rehearsal as Stefanik. But, she “was uncomfortable with the sketch” … according to a NY Post report.

The sketch tackled last week’s explosive hearing on Capitol Hill, where Rep. Stefanik grilled university presidents about antisemitism on campuses … leading to some cringeworthy responses and a resignation at UPENN.

Instead of Cecily making her first ‘SNL’ appearance since December 2022, when she left the NBC show after 11 seasons, she was replaced on air by Chloe Troast.

The report also cited sources claiming the writing of Saturday’s cold-open sketch was slightly rushed … and that Cecily backed out for “a variety of reasons.”

It’s unclear if her issue was the bit’s obvious political slant in mocking a staunch Donald Trump supporter — namely, Rep. Stefanik — or its lack of humor. Kenan Thompson really had the only decent laughs in the skit.

Cecily might have seen the bullet coming, and decided to dodge it — the sketch is getting terrible reviews and Chloe is getting dragged for her role in it.

Kim Zolciak y Kroy Biermann tienen un montón de problemas, y ahora el juez en su caso de divorcio está tomando medidas enérgicas, ordenando a la mediación en un intento de llegar a un acuerdo.

De acuerdo con los nuevos documentos legales, obtenidos por TMZ, a Kim y Kroy se les ordena completar una sesión de mediación antes de la fecha límite del 31 de enero.

El juez dice que Kim y Kroy tienen “numerosos problemas sin resolver” y cree que podrían beneficiarse de la mediación a través del programa de resolución alternativa de disputas del condado.

Obviamente, la mediación no siempre funciona ni garantiza que Kim y Kroy resuelvan sus problemas, pero el tribunal al menos los está obligando a intentarlo.

Como te hemos dicho, Kim y Kroy se están divorciando en medio de toneladas de problemas financieros y ha habido varias visitas de la policía a su casa de Georgia por peleas explosivas.

Kim y Kroy también tienen cuatro niños pequeños, por lo que resolver los problemas de custodia a través de la mediación puede no ser pan comido.

The man convicted in the murder of Drew Carey‘s ex-fiancee was just sentenced to spend the rest of his days behind bars … more than 3 years after she fell to her death.

Gareth Pursehouse was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Wednesday after he was convicted of killing Dr. Amie Harwick … where a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder with a special circumstance allegation after a trial in September.

Prosecutors alleged he broke into Harwick’s home in February of 2020 and waited for her to return before attacking … and ultimately threw her off a third-story balcony.

The prosecution said his crime stemmed from not being able to get over their prior relationship — which had ended years ago. Interestingly, Harwick had apparently expressed fear to friends and confidantes over Pursehouse not long before she died.

Pursehouse’s defense team acknowledged in court he had, in fact, illegally entered Harwick’s house that night — but argued that he never intended to kill her … claiming Harwick might’ve climbed over the balcony herself and fell on her own, noting the prosecution hadn’t definitively proven their client was the one who threw her off. Obviously, the jury disagreed.

TMZ broke the story … Pursehouse was arrested quickly after Harwick’s death, and investigators pinpointed him as the prime suspect with the help of surveillance video.

Sofia Vergara skipped out on paying a contractor more than $1.7 million for a huge renovation of her luxurious home in Beverly Hills … or so the contractor claims in a new lawsuit.

According to the suit, obtained by TMZ, the actress hired Reside Custom Homes in April 2022 to perform construction work on her $26 million mansion located in the Beverly Park neighborhood.

RCH claims Vergara agreed to pay for the work plus the contractor’s fee, but claims she never followed through once the work was done.

RCH says the project was substantially completed by December 2022, but then Vergara allegedly asked for significant extra work beyond the scope of the agreement, which ended up extending the job until March 2023 … when Sofia finally moved back into the home.

According to RCH, Vergara asked the contractor to install clay plaster in 3 powder rooms, an office, the dining room walls, the cabana bathroom and the guest house living room. She also wanted the company to remove and replace a flight of stairs.

RCH says it fronted the money for the additional work in order to finish the improvements and claims Vergara promised to pay the bill … even allegedly telling RCH she’d approved one of the invoices for nearly $900K and “already” gave directions to her money manager to pay the bill.

But RCH says Sofia never followed through and now owes the company a whopping balance of $1,700,492.64.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are ready to live closer to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood … our sources say they’re eyeing a move to Los Angeles.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … Meghan and Harry have been discussing a move to L.A. after deciding to no longer look for a home in Malibu.

We’re told Meghan and Harry are taking interest in different L.A. neighborhoods, though they haven’t toured any houses yet … other than the $8 million plot of land in the ‘Bu they checked out back in September, which they’ve decided to pass on.

Meghan and Harry live up the coast in Montecito, and a move to L.A. makes sense … they’ve been attending lots of Hollywood events, and while Malibu is way closer than Montecito, they feel it’s still too far from where they want to be.

Our sources say privacy and community are at the top of the list for Meghan and Harry … which is one reason they soured on that estate in Malibu.

After TMZ broke the story of Meghan and Harry touring an estate off Pacific Coast Highway, we’re told the property became a magnet for paparazzi and news coverage … which created safety concerns for them and ultimately steered them away.

Meghan and Harry have lived in the Los Angeles area before … and were able to fly under the radar at first.

You may recall … Meghan and Harry lived in Tyler Perry‘s mansion in Beverly Ridge Estates for several weeks back in 2020, going mostly undetected … and our sources say they want to move somewhere similar, where neighbors share concerns about privacy and security.

Meghan and Harry gushed over Tyler’s place in their docuseries … with Harry describing his time there as “bliss because no one knew we were there … We were there for six weeks, and no one knew. My family still thought I was in Canada.”

Eventually, the media caught on and figured out where Meghan and Harry were living, forcing Tyler to secure the property with a fence to stop paparazzi from snapping photos.

Tyler says he and his neighbors lived privately for years and had never seen anything like the media blitz over Meghan and Harry … claiming once the word got out there were drones and helicopters flying over the home 24/7, and people sneaking onto the property and cutting holes in the chain link fence.

Double whammy for Wayne Brady … he got into a car accident in Malibu, and then ended up in a heated argument that turned physical, and now cops are involved.

Law enforcement tells TMZ … Wayne was driving down Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu Sunday night when another car hit him.

We’re told Wayne and the other driver, a 51-year-old man, pulled over and things got heated … in the form of an intense argument escalating into a physical altercation.

Cops say Wayne called 911 after the fight, and the other driver got back in his car and took off down PCH. We’re told Sheriff deputies ultimately found the guy and ended up arresting him for battery, DUI and hit-and-run.

Wayne’s got a rep for being one of the nicest guys in Hollywood — outside of that hilarious “Chappelle Show” skit — so it’s pretty incredible someone allegedly got physical with him.

We’re told the fire department responded to the scene, but Wayne was OK and didn’t need to be taken to a hospital.

Brandi Mallory died in a bizarre manner that, for now, remains a total mystery — although one piece of the puzzle has been answered … she died after a dinnertime food run.

TMZ has obtained the police report pertaining to the “Extreme Weight Loss” star’s death — and it’s fairly shocking to see what cops say preceded her sudden passing. Per the Atlanta PD paperwork, Mallory was last seen alive while buying some grub from a local Chipotle.

The report notes that Mallory’s vehicle was spotted in the parking lot of a strip mall early on Nov. 9 — this while the owner of an adjacent deli noticed it just sitting there all by itself.

The deli owner told cops he also saw a female inside who appeared to be asleep — but the alarm bells started ringing when he says he saw the car there much later in the day … which signaled to him something was wrong. As it turns out, there was … BM was found deceased.

The police report says cops reviewed surveillance footage that showed Mallory pulling into the lot the night prior around 5:53 PM … at which point, she went into the Chipotle, came out with her food, and then went into her vehicle — but never left or came out after that.

The cops note there’s no sign of foul play, and her exact cause of death is still under investigation. We should note … there’s no evidence her Chipotle meal had anything to do with her death.

Marlon Wayans says his eldest child is transgender, and now identifies as male with a different name … changes Marlon says took some getting used to on his part.

The comedian made the revelation on “The Breakfast Club” … telling the crew that his new comedy special, “Rainbow Child,” was going to tackle this exact topic, in hopes of helping other parents who have trans kids.

Marlon explained last week that 23-year-old Amai goes by Kai now … and MW calls him his son. You can tell it’s still fairly new, because he accidentally mis-genders Kai while discussing him.

It’s pretty eye-opening, but it’s clear Marlon has embraced the change with open arms — although, he admits it’s been a learning process … and took quite a bit of education, on his part, to come around to love and acceptance.

As he explains here, Marlon was in “complete denial” for a while — but now says he has nothing but unconditional love for Kai. It’s unclear when exactly the transition happened — but Marlon’s been photographed with Kai and his other son Shawn in recent years.

Barbra Streisand‘s life didn’t just inspire her hits — it apparently led to others reaping the benefits of chart success … including Aerosmith, which rode the coattails of her pillow talk.

According to Barb’s new memoir, ‘My Name is Barbra,’ Steven Tyler and co. have her to thank for their hugely popular single “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” … ’cause she says the inspiration from the song actually came from something her husband once told her in bed.

The way BS tells it … she and her then-BF James Brolin were laying next to each other one night (sometime in the mid-’90s) not long after they’d first met/started hooking up.

She says they were staring at each other, when JB said … “I don’t want to fall asleep.” She asked why and he replied, “‘Cause I’ll miss you.'” Barb adds … “What a beautiful, poetic thing to say. And it captured a moment of complete bliss… physical, emotional, spiritual.”

About a year after that, in 1997, Barbra says she was doing an interview with Barbara Walters on “20/20,” during which she recounted that sweet moment … something Diane Warren was also watching from home when this episode aired, so claims Barbra.

One thing led to another, and DW eventually wrote Aerosmith’s first #1 hit in ’98 … which went on to be used in “Armageddon” and be nominated for an Oscar that year too.

After seeing how much success the song garnered, Barbra writes … “It was so gratifying to see so many people responding to Jim’s words. Well, no wonder… so did I!”

Halloween is huge in Hollywood … and celebs from all corners of the industry are showing off their costumes on social media … setting the bar super high.

Mariah Carey‘s slaying as Jessica Rabbit … Kylie and Kendall Jenner are getting creative as Sugar and Spice … and Barbie Ferreira‘s getting in the spirit as a ghoul nurse.

Ariana Grande turned back the clock to 1995, dressing up as Elizabeth Berkley‘s character in “Showgirls” … with an assist from her friend, Elizabeth Gillies.

Elvira Mistress of the Dark is always a popular — and sexy Halloween pick — and this year we’ve got Lexy Panterra tipping her cap to the cult horror film.

The Kardashians always go all out for All Hallows Eve … and this year Kim and North West dressed up as Alicia Silverstone and Stacey Dash in “Clueless” … which came out way before North was born. As if!!!

Over the weekend, stars hit up parties as Paris Hilton did her best Katy Perry impression and Demi Lovato went all Disney princess, and Kate Beckinsale revived Barbarella.