TMZ.com Home

The Superdome caught on fire Tuesday morning ... with thick smoke and flames billowing out of the famed New Orleans arena's roof.

It's unclear what caused the issues at the Saints' stadium ... authorities so far have only told us "the fire is not burning anymore."

We're working to get further details.

As we previously reported, the Saints have relocated out of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Ida -- moving their Week 1 game against the Packers from the Superdome to Jacksonville.

The team -- which beat Green Bay in the opener but lost to the Panthers in Carolina on Sunday -- is not currently scheduled to play in the N.O. stadium until Oct. 3 against the New York Giants.

No decision yet has been made regarding the location of that game.

The hunt for Gabby Petito's fiance, Brian Laundrie -- who's believed to be the last person to see her alive -- may have broken wide open ... because someone thinks they spotted him about 500 miles from his Florida home.

Sam Bass says a man fitting Brian's description was seen on his trail camera set up in the wilderness in Baker, FL early Monday morning ... and he's alerted the authorities.

Bass' deer camera footage shows a man with a backpack trekking through the woods, and he certainly resembles Laundrie ... who was reported missing by his family after being named a person of interest in the disappearance of Gabby.

Folks were quick to point out Baker is about 450-500 miles away from Laundrie's home in North Port -- which would be quite a journey on foot over 4 days -- but the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed it's actively looking into the footage ... but there's no confirmation it's Brian yet.

People have also pointed out that the man's backpack is similar to Laundrie's, and his parents told authorities he left with it on a hike Friday and never came back.

As we've reported ... the story of Gabby and Brian -- who were on a cross-country trip this summer and documenting it on social media -- garnered national attention when he returned to his Florida home without her on Sept. 1.

Gabby was reported missing 10 days later by her family, who claim Brian was not cooperative at all in trying to locate her, and the feds believe they found her body at a national park Sunday in Wyoming ... a place she was believed to have visited with her fiance.

There was also a domestic dispute between the couple in mid-August in Utah, but the authorities released them with no charges or arrests. A 911 caller from that incident said they had observed Brian physically attacking Gabby ... she went missing sometime after that.

On Monday, FBI agents tore up Brian's parent's home in Florida, searching for evidence and leaving with several boxes.

A makeshift memorial has already been set up at the site where the remains believed to be hers were found, though the autopsy confirming it's her has not been disclosed yet.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro is unvaccinated, but somehow got a pass to attend a United Nations meeting, but NYC restaurants literally kicked him to the curb.

Bolsonaro, a staunch anti-vaxxer, and several of his cabinet members were relegated to chowing down pizza on a sidewalk Sunday night, because NYC is one of the few cities that's not allowing anyone -- world leader or not -- inside restaurants without proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

It was Bolsonaro's first night on the town ahead of Tuesday's address to the UN General Assembly ... where he was the first world leader to speak.

Yes, the COVID-19 skeptic who still ignorantly believes the virus is nothing more than a "little flu" wore a mask inside the UN's NYC headquarters ... but he also broke the UN "honor system."

The U.N.'s General Assembly president, Abdulla Shahid, had previously sent a memo to its 193-member states stating that its COVID-19 vaccination honor system would continue to be in effect for presidents, prime ministers and diplomats attending the meeting ... meaning the UN was NOT going to require proof of vaccination.

Nevertheless, many world leaders elected to stay away and instead sent a video message. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio also warned Bolsonaro not to bother coming to the Big Apple if he wasn't vaccinated.

Bolsonaro clearly defied de Blasio, but get this ... British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday asked Bolsonaro during a briefing if he's vaccinated ... to which the prez replied by laughing and saying, "No. Not yet."

A cross made of stones is serving as a makeshift memorial for Gabby Petito in Wyoming ... on the exact site where cops believe they found the missing 22-year-old's body.

As we reported, the feds announced Sunday they'd found the remains of a young woman at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest ... where the van used by Gabby and her fiance, Brian Laundrie, was spotted days earlier.

An autopsy is scheduled Tuesday to confirm the body is Gabby's, but the stone cross memorial is already set up right where investigators searched for her in Spread Creek.

As you know ... Gabby's story became national news when Laundrie showed up back at his Florida home without her on Sept. 1, even though they had taken the cross-country trip together and were documenting it on social media.

However, Gabby's family claims they lost touch with her in late August and Brian allegedly refused to give them any info on her location or what happened between them.

The family reported her missing on Sept. 11, and Laundrie was named a "person of interest" but never arrested.

Shortly after that, it was revealed the couple had a domestic dispute in Utah on Aug. 12, and even though a 911 caller alleged Brian slapped Gabby ... an official police account of this entire incident reportedly claimed "no one reported that the male struck the female."

Nevertheless, the couple was eventually released with no arrests in mid-August, and Gabby went missing sometime after that ... though it's still unclear exactly when.

The man who allegedly pulled a knife on Ariana Grande's security and got arrested at her home has been a menace for months, and now we know how ominous it was, because the guy threatened to kill her.

Ariana filed legal docs to get a restraining order, and in it she explains Aharon Brown has terrorized her for 7 months. Things escalated to a crisis level on the evening of Sept. 9, when Ariana was at home. Brown showed up again and this time allegedly brandishing a large hunting knife. When security asked him to leave, he became combative and screamed, "I'll f**king kill you and her."

Police were called and Brown fled on foot. He was ordered to stop multiple times but failed to do so. He was eventually taken into custody.

A law enforcement officer also filed a declaration saying he feared the alleged stalker would be released from jail and therefore the restraining order was essential. We checked, and he's still in custody, charged with 2 felony counts of making criminal threats.

Kym Whitley was trying to get her green thumb on, but instead, ended up badly bruised -- so she claims in a new lawsuit against a plant shop.

The comedian filed suit against a place called Green Thumb Nursery in L.A.'s Canoga Park neighborhood ... where she says she went a couple years ago to do some plant shopping.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Whitley claims she pulled up to the store, parked and then tried strolling through an alleyway adjacent to the facility, before tripping on what she says was a "broken, defective, poorly maintained section of asphalt."

She says the stumble turned into a tumble ... making her land face first into the ground, and busting her mug up pretty badly -- she claims she broke bones and gushed blood. Whitley claims the nursery staff helped her up, and the manager said, "I told them to fix that!"

KW posted videos of the aftermath, showing just how badly banged up the fall left her. Her attitude seemed pretty chipper at the time ... writing, "Had a little boo-boo today. One minute you’re fine and the next minute you could be in the bed with your girlfriend @jackiefabulous talking about can you please bring me some ice."

A Chargers fan was socked in the face repeatedly by Dallas Cowboys supporters in a wild, violent brawl Sunday ... and the insane scene was all captured on video obtained by TMZ Sports.

The crazy fight began in the parking lot area of SoFi Stadium following the Cowboys' win over the Chargers ... when two women got into a heated argument.

You can see in the footage -- the two screamed at each other ... and then nearly came to blows.

As the scuffle was escalating, though ... one Cowboys fan screamed to a man trying to break up the tiff to "control your bitch."

That's when the L.A. supporter lost it -- calling the man a bitch as well, before charging at him and yelling, "F*** you!"

Complete chaos then ensued ... with several Cowboys fans rushing the man and whaling on him.

At one point, you can see in the clip, a man in a Troy Aikman jersey brutally tagged the Chargers fan in the face with a flurry of punches.

Eventually, the combatants separated ... and witnesses tell us the aftermath was bad, with blood all over one car -- while another car's side mirror was busted.

We're also told despite bystanders calling for cops and security ... nobody showed up until the fight was long over.

The brawl was far from the only altercation at the stadium following Dallas' big win ... with one scrap escalating so heavily, it ended up with people inside the stadium's water feature.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's rekindled relationship has been a captivating storyline for nearly half of 2021, and somehow ... they've seemingly done it all without following each other on social media, and no one noticed until now.

That's right, Bennifer 2.0 has been hot and heavy since the spring -- not long after J Lo split with Alex Rodriguez -- and managed to grab all the headlines with their public outings and PDA without even clicking follow on the other's Instagram accounts.

In fact, looking back several months ... it seems the only social media connection between the 2 before J Lo made them IG official on July 24 with her birthday post, was her liking a photo of Ben on a fan account earlier that month.

Other than that, there's no evidence they've ever followed each other, liked any of each other's pics or tagged the other one in any posts ... they're just living the couple life IRL.

They've certainly had other ways of showing their love. TMZ broke the story ... Ben was texting J LO incessantly beginning in February ... telling her he would own her with his pen ... a reference to the fact she loves the way Ben writes.

And, of course, they've been on full display pretty much around the world, making out in full public view in the United States and abroad.

Lil Peep and XXXTentacion straight-up jacked another artist's original guitar riff for their hugely successful collab, "Falling Down" ... so claims the artist in a new lawsuit.

Richard Jaden Hoff -- who used to go by the stage name K.R.i.O. -- is suing the late rappers claiming the guitar riff in his June 2018 Soundcloud track "Under My Breath" was sampled in Peep and XXX's track that dropped just 3 months later without his permission.

Specifically, Hoff claims his guitar riff in "Falling Down" is looped, sped up, filtered and equalized. He says that while Peep and XXX altered the riff, it remained substantially similar to the guitar part in "Under My Breath" and a blatant ripoff."

"Falling Down" quickly gained commercial success ... with over 20m plays on Spotify and over 21m views on YouTube. The single also hit No. 13 on Billboard's Hot 100.

The track ultimately landed on Lil Peep's second studio album, "Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 2."

There's some weird timing here -- XXX was shot dead 5 days after Hoff dropped his track on Soundcloud. Lil Peep had already died following an overdose in November 2017 -- so, "Falling Down" was a posthumous hit for both rappers.

What's really odd is Hoff's lawsuit, for copyright infringement, is written like Peep and XXX are still alive. He's NOT suing their estates and refers to both of them in the current tense and says they're residents of California. Might be time for a Google search, Hoff.

Tarek El Moussa has COVID-19, which means his TV show is pausing production, but it's also making waves for his fiancee, Heather Rae Young's hit show on Netflix.

The HGTV star's rep tells TMZ ... Tarek came back with a positive result recently, and after consulting with his doc -- he's decided to quarantine and take a break from filming his series, 'Flipping 101.' After his quarantine period, he'll return to the show.

We're told Tarek will quarantine with Heather, who hasn't tested positive, but will also be taking a break from "Selling Sunset." BTW, they're both fully vaccinated -- and the rep says Tarek isn't experiencing any symptoms at the moment.

Production sources say filming for 'SS' was halted this past Friday -- and that everything is going on standby out of an abundance of caution. Both stars want to do things as safely and responsibly as possible.

There's also this ... we're told there's suspicion Tarek's result was a false positive. We're told he's had multiple negative tests since the positive one, but has stepped back from production ... just to ensure everyone around him remains healthy.

Rihanna's apparently had enough of her home that sits high above L.A.'s famous Hollywood Blvd. ... so it's back on the market for the second time.

RiRi bought the 6-bed, 9-bath mansion back in 2017 for a cool $6.8 million, but after a year of strife in 2018 that included 2 break-ins at her pad that was part of a string of celeb burglaries ... she listed it for $7.5 mil in December 2018.

Nothing came of that, so the Fenty founder took it off the market and turned the 7,000 sq-ft palace into a luxury rental home with a $35k per month price tag.

The neo-Mediterranean home comes with a movie theater inside, a fully equipped gym, a fireplace, a billiard room, a guest house plus a pool and a huge yard -- so it's probably worth it -- but Rihanna has several other residential properties in the area ... so it's time to part with this one.

Tom Ford's husband, the longtime fashion journalist, Richard Buckley, has died.

Richard died on Sunday night at his L.A. home with Tom and their son, Jack, by his side. According to Tom's reps ... Richard died of natural causes after a long illness. The type of illness was not disclosed.

Tom and Richard were together for 35 years. Richard met Tom at a fashion show in 1986 on an elevator ride. Tom has said it was love at first sight. They tied the knot in 2014 following the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Even though it took them nearly 3 decades later to say "I do" ... Tom has said he knew the moment he laid eyes on Richard that it'd become something special. He had once said, "Our eyes locked and within a month we were living together."

Tom and Richard welcomed Jack in 2012 via surrogacy. Richard was a giant in the fashion world. He started his career in fashion journalism at New York Magazine in 1979 and later would go on to work at Women's Wear Daily and Vanity Fair.

Richard -- born in Binghamton, NY and raised by a military family that traveled the world --- would later move to Milan and ultimately find himself at the top of his journalistic career when he became the European editor of Mirabella magazine in 1990. At the same time ... he was also a contributing editor at Italian Vogue while Tom was on the design staff at Gucci.

Richard and Tom later relocated to Paris so Richard could take on the role of editor-in-chief at Vogue Hommes International. He held on to the top editor position from 1999 to 2005.

He was 72.

The 50th anniversary of the Congressional Black Caucus was off the hook, thanks to the host -- Vice President Kamala Harris -- and her menu did not disappoint ... not by a longshot!!!

We got Congressman Gregory Meeks on the Hill Monday, and he could not be prouder of the event ... an event hosted by a former CBC member at the Naval Observatory, the Vice President's residence. Meeks says it's significant because the Veep understands the issues that top the CBC's agenda.

Now, as for the meal ... well, Meeks says it was amazing -- hors d'oeuvres, fish tacos, lamb, avocado rolls, and on and on.

The Packers' big win over the Lions didn't come without a heavy price tag for Aaron Jones, who says he lost a pendant containing his dad's ashes on the field in the victory.

The Green Bay star -- who scored FOUR touchdowns in the Pack's 35-17 drubbing of Detroit -- told reporters after the game he believes he lost the necklace at some point during one of his endzone runs.

Jones, though, was far from torn up over losing his dad's ashes ... in fact, he seemed to be at peace with it -- saying if he was going to lose it, he's sure glad it was in a touchdown scamper at Lambeau Field.

"If there was any place to lose it, that's where my dad would have wanted me to lose it," the 26-year-old running back said. "I know he's smiling."

Jones got the pendant -- a small black locket in the shape of a football -- sometime in the past few months ... following the tragic death of his dad, Alvin Jones Sr., who passed away in April at 57 years old from COVID-19 complications.

Aaron and Alvin were VERY close ... and in an emotional press conference back in May, Aaron revealed he was dedicating the rest of his football career to his pops.

Aaron said Green Bay's grounds crew was helping him look for the jewelry after the game had ended ... though as of Tuesday morning, it still hadn't been found.

Aaron, though, reiterated to reporters he's sure his father would've been grinning ear-to-ear following his huge game regardless.

"Just go home and tell him, 'I did it, Dad,'" Jones said of what he would've told his father after the game if he were still alive. "Went out there and played at a high level and gave it my all."

Patty Perez -- AKA, "Goddess Patty," who made a memorable cameo in a 'Jackass' film -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

The actress and Internet sensation's daughter, Priscilla, tells us ... Patty passed away last Friday at a hospital in Reno, where she lived -- and where she was being treated for complications related to her type 1 diabetes, which she'd been dealing with since birth. BTW, this wasn't COVID-related

Priscilla says her mom's kidneys were failing -- the result of a lifelong struggle with her health and weight that she'd endured for years and years.

Patty lived her life out loud despite her health concerns. She ended up becoming featured in 'Jackass 2' back in 2006, as well as "Jackass 2.5" the following year -- portraying herself in a hilarious skit they filmed with Jason Acuna, AKA Wee Man ... and gaining notoriety from it.

It was a segment of the film that they called "Magic Trick" in which they'd make WM disappear. The means for that, as it turned out, was having Patty jump onto him while lying on a bed ... and her body practically enveloped him. Johnny Knoxville shows up at the end, cracking up and asking where Wee Man went -- it's pretty hilarious.

Patty went on to star in one episode of "My Big Fat Fetish" ... where they showcased her sitting on guys who wanted to pay for that type of pleasure. There are other clips of her on the Internet, in which everyday activities are seen as a struggle for her.

Her family has set up a GoFundMe to help cover funeral and other expenses -- for now, they have a $6,000 goal. Priscilla also tells us, "We want to express our immense gratitude for the love and kindness everyone has shown to our mom." She adds, "Being able to entertain and bring light and happiness to people was the highlight of her life. She was so proud of the work she did in the film industry."

Patty's survived by her four children, her mother and her grandchildren. She was 57.