Amanda Bynes was arrested in her NYC apartment Thursday night for marijuana possession and throwing evidence out the window ... TMZ has learned.

According to law enforcement sources ... a building official called police after spotting Amanda in the lobby with a joint, acting erratically and talking to herself.  We're told when cops arrived they knocked at her door and she let them in. 

Our sources say when police saw the bong Amanda quickly tossed it out the window ... which fortunately didn't hit anyone on the street below.

Amanda, who was wearing a platinum blonde wig, was placed under arrest and went ballistic, yelling, "Don't you know who I am?"

She was booked for criminal possession of pot, as well as reckless endangerment and FELONY tampering with evidence.

Our law enforcement sources say Amanda was briefly taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation and then taken to the station for booking. 

But the cop shop wasn't the last stop.  A cuffed Amanda was then taken to night court just before midnight.  She's still there in a holding cell, waiting for a judge.  She should get a hearing sometime this AM.

Amanda's behavior has become increasingly bizarre over the past year -- with numerous arrests, a complete physical transformation and crazy tweets.

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!"

Jose Canseco is under investigation in Las Vegas after a woman filed a report accusing the former MLB star of sexual assault ...  but Jose says it's all BS, TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement tells us ... the 48-year-old retired baseball player has been named as a suspect in a police report filed with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.

We're told ... the person who filed the report says the incident went down on May 10.

Canseco went to his Twitter page moments ago and said, "[The accuser] told police that I druged [sic] her and then raped her. hmmmmm. lets find out what really happened."

The accuser appears to be a fitness instructor who lives in Vegas.

Story developing ...

Make it stop ... "Teen Mom" star Jenelle Evans is officially a wanted woman AGAIN ... after blowing off a court date today in North Carolina.

The 21-year-old MTV reality star was supposed to appear for a hearing in her cyberstalking case, but Brunswick County court officials tell TMZ, she no-showed. The judge then issued a warrant for her arrest.

As we reported, Evans was arrested back in 2012 for allegedly cyberstalking an old roommate/ex-boyfriend.

Jenelle's arrest history is legendary ... just last month she was busted for heroin possession and assault.


2:10 PM PT -- Jenelle just posted $1,000 bond and has been released.

1:25 PM PT -- Jenelle turned herself in about 20 minutes ago.

2:44 PM PT -- NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France just commented on Trickle's death ... saying, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Dick Trickle on his passing today."

"Dick was a legend in the short-track racing community, particularly in his home state of Wisconsin, and he was a true fan favorite.  Personalities like Dick Trickle helped shape our sport. He will be missed."

2:28 PM PT -- We're told ... Trickle's body was removed from the cemetery and has been transported to a nearby hospital.

2:17 PM PT -- Multiple sources who knew Trickle tell us he had been sick for a while and depressed.  We're not sure what kind of illness Trickle had been suffering from.

1:51 PM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Trickle did leave a suicide note at the death scene. The contents of the note are unclear at this time.


Former NASCAR driver Dick Trickle is dead ... apparently having taken his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  He was 71 years old.

Cops in North Carolina say Trickle shot himself at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Lincoln County at 12:02 PM today.

Officials say they received a phone call before the shooting in which the caller said there would be a dead body at the cemetery and it would be his.

Operators scrambled, trying to place a return call, but there was no answer.

When emergency responders arrived, they found Trickle's body near his pickup truck.

Trickle was a fan favorite in NASCAR -- often smoking cigarettes while he raced.



Dick won the NASCAR "Rookie of the Year" award in the Winston Cup in 1989, when he was 48 years old. 

Trickle was also beloved by the gang on "SportsCenter" -- Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick used to almost always report his race results -- no matter how poorly he finished -- just because they were amused by his name.

Olbermann just tweeted ... "No sports figure Dan + I had fun with took it more graciously. In fact, gratefully."

He added, "Trickle helped mainstream NASCAR coverage on @SportsCenter We gave prominent attention to him, then his races, then ALL races."
 

TNA wrestler Austin Aries was hit with a "severe fine" by the organization this week after he went off the script during a recent live event and shoved his man bits into a female announcer's face, TMZ has learned.

The unscripted crotch-thrusting went down earlier this month on "Impact Wresting" ... when Aries became upset at announcer Christy Hemme for calling him the wrong name during his ring intro.

Hemme was clearly upset during the junk attack ... and afterward, she even tweeted about the incident ... calling it "unacceptable."

But sources tell us ... Aries -- real name Daniel Solwold, Jr. -- reached out to Hemme and privately apologized, acknowledging he crossed the line.

TNA also came down hard on Aries and slapped the wrestler with a fine -- it's unclear how much cash Aries will have to fork over.

As for Hemme, we're told she has spoken with TNA officials and told them she was "satisfied" with Aries' apology.

Wrestling ... it just got REAL, SON!!

Kanye West is having a bad month -- his $750,000 car just crashed into Kim Kardashian's gate.

Kanye's Lamborghini Aventador was being delivered to Kim's L.A. house after getting serviced.  We're told the driver pulled into the gate but didn't make it all the way in before the gate closed on both sides of the car.

Kanye's in NYC, healing from his run-in with a sign in Beverly Hills.

As for the damage, we're told a very nervous repair shop has sent a detailer over to see if the damage can be buffed out.

Buffed out or snuffed out.  Kidding!

Ben Affleck was a victim in one of largest poker scandals in history, but TMZ has learned his reported losses are being way overstated.

According to a new report, Ben was one of hundreds of players who lost money on a website called Ultimate Bet during their infamous cheating scandal a few years back. 

The scandal went like this -- one of the owners of the site would play in high stakes games and use the ability to see other players' cards to help him win. Millions of dollars were refunded to players as a result.

The report, which comes from leaked files from another of the site's former owner claims Affleck lost close to half a million dollars to the site ... but sources close to Affleck tell TMZ that is nowhere near the case.

We're told Affleck did "lose" some money back in 2003, but since the money was "won" through cheating, it was refunded.

Diddy's baby mama has pissed off ANOTHER nanny ... who claims Kim Porter treated her like crap and stiffed her out of some serious dough ... and now the ex-help wants Diddy's company to foot the bill, TMZ has learned.

Nanny #2 Amanda Jansen has filed a lawsuit in L.A. County Superior Court, claiming Porter hired her in 2011 to care for Diddy's children ... but her job quickly turned into that of a full-service round-the-clock housekeeper.

In addition to caring for the kids, Jansen claims she worked well over 100 hours a week doing all sorts of chores -- without ever being given a proper break.

Jansen -- who claims she was hired as live-in help -- also claims she was never given a room with a working lock ... had no furniture other than a bed and a computer desk ... and was forced to live out of a suitcase.

In the suit, Jansen claims she eventually complained about her crazy schedule -- and was fired as a result. Now, she's suing for overtime, wrongful termination, and more. Sources tell us she's looking for a 6-figure payout.  

So why is Diddy involved? Jansen claims she was paid directly by Diddy's company, Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment ... and therefore, the company should be on the hook.

You'll recall ... this is the second time Porter's been sued by a nanny in the last month. The previous lawsuit accused Porter of doing drugs around the kids, an allegation Porter denied.

Ja Rule is finally a free man ... TMZ has learned, the rapper was released from prison today after serving out his sentences for attempted illegal gun possession and tax evasion.

Mr. Rule -- real name Jeffrey Atkins -- was released from Ray Brook Federal Prison in New York this morning. A source close to the rapper tells TMZ, his wife picked him up around 10AM and drove him straight home, where he'll remain on home confinement until July 28th.

The rapper was hit with the 2-year sentence in 2010 when he pled guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon -- stemming from a 2007 incident in which cops found a loaded semi-automatic handgun in his sports car. He turned himself in to authorities in June 2011.

In July 2011, Ja Rule was also sentenced to 28 months behind bars for tax evasion, after failing to pay taxes on more than $3 million in earnings from 2004-2006. Ja Rule served the tax evasion sentence concurrently with his gun possession sentence.

He was originally set for release in July ... but he got out early.


1:59 AM PT -- Ja's spokesperson, Melanie A. Bonvicino, tells TMZ ... "My client Jeffrey Atkins (aka Ja Rule) was released this morning from the Raybrook Correctional Facility in Upstate New York to serve out his federal time obligation due under the terms set forth in accordance with home confinement which were secured by his attorney Stacy Richman."

"At present, he looks forward to spending some time with his family while he completes his memoir."

This may be the most disturbing thing you see in the month of May ... a deadly snake bit a TV producer in the foot ... and the damage is bone-chilling -- literally and figuratively.

WARNING:  If you have a weak stomach ... DO NOT CLICK HERE.

The zombie foot belongs to Steve Rankin ... a producer on the upcoming Discovery show "Naked and Afraid," which drops 2 nude survivalists in remote locations and films their struggle to stay alive.  

Rankin tells TMZ ... "I was scouting locations in Costa Rica ... As I was traversing through some deep jungle I was bitten on the foot by a Fer-de-Lance. It's one of the deadliest snakes in the world and the fangs went right through my boot."


Rankin says his team hustled him for 2 miles on a makeshift stretcher, drove to a helipad and had him airlifted to a San Jose hospital ... where he got antivenom and antibiotics. But things went horribly wrong ...

"About 5 days later the flesh in my foot had started to rot," he said ... surgeons in Costa Rica had to cut away a serious chunk of it ... he was then rushed back to L.A. for skin grafts. He says he's recovering nicely now.