9:05PM PDT  Amanda's face was covered by a wild platinum blonde wig as cops transferred her from the precinct to night court ... where she'll face a judge in the morning. We'll be posting video shortly.

8:40PM PDT  An NYPD source says a building official called police after spotting Amanda in the lobby with a joint. When police arrived she was in her apartment, but let officers in when they knocked.

We're told officers saw a bong, and that's when Amanda tossed it ... and then got arrested.

Sources confirm Amanda was briefly taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation before she was booked.


Amanda Bynes was arrested in her NYC apartment tonight for marijuana possession ... TMZ has learned.

According to law enforcement sources ... police found the weed when they responded to a call for a disorderly person at Bynes' apartment building.

A source close to Amanda tells us police were called because the troubled actress was behaving erratically ... doing things like talking to herself.

We're told Amanda went ballistic during the arrest, yelling ... "Don't you know who I am?"

Our law enforcement sources say she's been booked for criminal possession of the pot, as well as reckless endangerment and felony tampering with evidence.

The endangerment and tampering occurred when Bynes allegedly threw a bong out of her apartment window.

Charlie Sheen has decided he's WAYYY too Caucasian to star in the new "Machete" movie -- so he's channeling his Latino roots and changing his name back to Carlos Estevez ... at least for now.

TMZ obtained a screengrab from the upcoming flick ... which shows Sheen will use his birth name in the new Robert Rodriguez joint. It's the first time in his professional career he won't be billed as Charlie Sheen.

It makes sense ... Rodriguez films often celebrate Latino pride (think "El Mariachi," "Desperado," "Machete") so Sheen is just getting into the spirit of the campy thriller about a rampaging Mexican assassin.

A little history ... Charlie Sheen’s dad Martin Sheen was born Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estevez, from his Spanish father's side. He made up "Martin Sheen" to get acting jobs but never changed it legally ... passing "Estevez" to all 4 kids.

Martin has said he regrets not sticking with his real name ... so this TOTALLY counts as a son-redeems-the-father story, right?

Sad ...

  

Jose Canseco's ex-GF tells TMZ ... she believes J.C. is COMPLETELY INNOCENT ... and claims the woman accusing the former MLB star of rape is nothing more than a lying publicity whore.

We spoke to Leila Knight -- who dated Canseco for more than 4 years -- and she tells us she's spoken with Canseco at length about the sexual assault accusations that have been made against him in Las Vegas.

"I've been talking to him all day ... it's obvious that it's a publicity stunt, I mean -- the girl's an aspiring actress," Knight says.

Knight also says Canseco is a "gentle person" who always tells the truth -- "If anything, he's too honest."

For his part, Canseco has denied any wrongdoing ... despite the fact he's named as a suspect in a sexual assault investigation stemming from an alleged incident on May 10.

An internationally-known MMA fighter ... claims a gel that is supposed to enhance sexual performance has ruined his ... claiming he now has a bum penis that can't ejaculate.

Waylon Lowe claims in a new lawsuit ... he bought a tube of Kama Sutra Pleasure Balm Prolonging Gel at a Philly sex shop -- which is supposed to desensitize the penis and enhance stamina.  He lathered the gel on his junk and then covered it with a Trojan Magnum latex condom and began having sex with his fiancee.

The sex didn't last long, because their baby started acting up in the next room.  While the fiancee tended to their daughter, Lowe claims he began experiencing excruciating pain in the penis.  He removed the condom and says he was horrified to see a significantly swelled penis.

Lowe says he ended up in the ER and has suffered "catastrophic and permanent damage" to his penis.  Among his many beefs:

-- permanent scarring and disfigurement
-- permanent loss of sensation
-- permanent loss of functioning
-- permanent nerve damage
-- loss of life's pleasures
-- inability to ejaculate

Lowe is suing for a minimum of $50k ... we're guessing he wants a lot more.

Lowe strongly insinuates in the lawsuit ... the damage was caused by placing the condom over the gel, despite the fact that the label gives users the green light to wrap it.

The Kama Sutra Company tells us the lawsuit is BS, claiming the product has worked safely without incident for 40 years.

Besides having tons of money, a ridiculously rich husband and a sick Malibu mansion, "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Yolanda Foster also has a model child.

Yolanda supervised as her gorgeous 17-year-old professional catwalking daughter Gigi Hadid rocked a bikini and a pair of Roman gladiator sandals on a photo shoot in L.A. on Wednesday.

Fun fact: Yolanda is currently married to music mogul David Foster, but Gigi is her daughter with ex-husband Mohamed Hadid ... the celeb real estate contractor who just settled a huge lawsuit with Sylvester Stallone over alleged shoddy home renovations.

Foxy Brown is FURIOUS over reports she trashed Jay-Z ... telling TMZ she NEVER referred to Hova as a gonorrhea-infected "tranny chaser" ... and now she's threatening to sue.

Brown is referencing reports which say Foxy recently went to a baby shower and started dishing about Jay-Z's sex life to one of the guests -- saying he secretly engages in gay sex ... and that she lost her virginity to him when she was 15 and he was 27.

There's more ... including allegations of a robbery, sex tape and STDs.

But Foxy says the report is complete BS, telling TMZ ... "The atrociousness of this story sickened me to my stomach. Any and everyone involved will be contacted by my attorney."

Foxy says, "In all my years in the music industry, these are the most disgusting and disrespectful allegations I've ever experienced. This fictitious story ... with NO audio, visual or written interview, clearly was concocted with malicious intent."

"Jay has only been wonderful to me and my family, a great friend throughout all the years I've known him and we had nothing but great success as a team."

She continues, "Beyonce, his wife, has always been gracious and sweet to me ... I will NOT let any undercover hater create discord and disrespect my name and reputation."

"This disrespect will NOT be tolerated."

Evelyn Lozada has a message for Chad Johnson ... wait, no she doesn't ... 'cause she doesn't ever wanna speak two words to her ex-husband ever again.

The "Basketball Wives" star had just arrived at LAX yesterday when we asked if she had spoken with Chad since Monday's arrest ... stemming from the time he attacked her last year.

But Evelyn -- who immediately divorced Chad after the incident -- told TMZ ... she doesn't want anything to do with the ex-NFL star ever again.

No relationship. No communication. No nothing.

She DOES say she wishes him the best. Sure she does.

Eva Longoria had an interesting Wednesday night ... she GRADUATED from a master's program at Cal State University Northridge ... and TMZ has the video!

First off ... this was NO honorary degree -- 38-year-old Eva quietly busted her ass for the past 3 years (taking classes IN PERSON) to earn a master's degree in Chicano and Chicana Studies from CSUN.

A rep for Longoria tells us ... Eva began the program while she was still working on "Desperate Housewives" and found time to complete her schoolwork on the set.

We're told Eva's thesis was titled, "Success STEMS From Diversity: The Value of Latinas in STEM Careers." FYI -- STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

After the ceremony, Eva celebrated like any other student -- she went out to dinner with her parents!


She also tweeted about the graduation yesterday -- writing, "Big day today!!! Very excited to graduate for my Master's degree in Chicano Studies! You're never too old or too busy to continue your education!"

Has anyone ever told you ... "Hey, you look just like Ryan Gosling?"

We didn't think so... but if you do think you are the spitting image of a famous face -- you're in luck!

Simply Email in your doppelganger image for our Celebrity Look-Alike Contest -- Stolen Identities and your carbon copy picture could score you the $250 prize and some great gifts from TMZ!

**CLICK HERE for contest rules and regulations!**

Big brother is ALWAYS watching you ... and taking pictures ... just ask Soulja Boy, whose red Bentley was impounded by the LAPD thanks to incriminating photos taken by a secret network of police cameras stationed around L.A., TMZ has learned.

Our story begins on January 9, when a motorcyclist T-boned a red Bentley in Hollywood  ... leaving the biker seriously injured ... but the driver of the Bentley -- who caused the crash by making a reckless turn -- fled the scene. 

We're told a witness -- the victim's friend -- was so pissed off, he went back to the scene of the crime a few days later and nosed around, asking people if they knew who was driving the red Bentley.  He struck gold at Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles ... when a valet told the guy he knew the car well ... it belonged to Soulja Boy, who frequented the area.

The witness went to police with the info ... and that's when things got Orwellian.

Turns out, the cops have access to a super-database of photographs taken by thousands of hidden cameras stationed on police cars, buildings and private vehicles all over L.A..  There are private companies that make money off the City by getting citizens and businesses to mount cameras for the database.

One law enforcement source tells us the cameras are constantly taking photos of cars all over the city -- and the average car is shot AT LEAST 1,000 TIMES PER DAY!!!

So ... the cops got the license plate number of Soulja Boy's Bentley, ran it through the database and BINGO ... a bunch of photos popped up showing the Bentley with damage that corresponded to the accident.

Soulja's Bentley is currently damage-free.   Law enforcement sources tell us the operating theory is that the rapper had the car repaired on the sly to cover up incriminating evidence. 

So cops got a search warrant and a judge agreed there was probable cause to believe the Bentley was involved in the accident, so cops went and impounded the car.

You're probably as shocked as we are about the cameras ... cops tell us they solve hundreds of crimes with these secret photographs.  So even if you're a law abiding citizen, you probably still pick your nose, so heads up.

Cops would still like more evidence, so if you happened to be eating a delicious chicken and waffle combo on January 9, and witnessed the accident, give LAPD West Traffic a call.

Wade Robson is getting paid big money to destroy Michael Jackson's reputation with child abuse allegations ... so says MJ's dad Joe Jackson.

Joe was at the airport in L.A. Wednesday when we asked about Wade's claims against the MJ estate -- that the singer sexually abused him as a child for years -- but Joe doesn't buy Wade's story for a second ... and he's not placing the blame entirely on Wade's shoulders either.

Joe's got his own conspiracy theory about who's REALLY behind Wade's allegations ... and whoever it is has a massive wallet.