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Operation Warp Speed is a misnomer, according to a Johns Hopkins doctor ... the frustrated doc says it's more like Operation Turtle Speed.

Professor Marty Makary is angry the FDA hasn't gone the route of Great Britain by approving the COVID vaccine and injecting its citizens.

Dr. Makary says he can't believe the FDA is still reviewing the efficacy and safety of the 2 promising vaccines -- courtesy of Pfizer and Moderna.

He says, "FDA regulators are wasting precious time in greenlighting a COVID vaccine as more than 2,000 Americans are dying each day and the pandemic continues to starve American society."

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday, most Americans who are not in high-risk groups will probably have the vaccine available to them by April. Fauci had said he believed England cut corners in approving the vaccine and that the FDA was the gold standard and would be more thorough. He apologized for his comment the next day, presumably because it undermined confidence in the vaccines.

Fauci's feelings don't sit well with Dr. Makary, who shot back ... the FDA could have approved the vaccine within 24 to 48 hours without cutting any corners. He does not explain why he thinks the FDA process could be accelerated without rolling the dice on safety.

The sad reality is this ... there are now models suggesting more than half a million Americans will be dead from COVID by late April. The country is now in the grip of the virus ... more than 100,000 people are in the hospital and on Friday more than 2,600 died.

Well, it looks like some people will get that shot this month, and Dr. Fauci is hopping on the Biden train. So we gotta ask ...

Jax Taylor and his wife are out of a job ... the costars have been canned from "Vanderpump Rules."

Jax and Brittany Cartwright announced Friday they'd been given the ax ... and honchos at Bravo confirm the couple won't be returning to the show.

Jax was one of the reality show's OG cast members, carving out a bigger role over the past 8 seasons, and Brittany has been featured for the last 5 seasons.

While Jax and Brittany's fates are sealed, the future of 'Vanderpump Rules' as a whole is unclear, because restaurants in Los Angeles are still shuttered due to the worsening pandemic.

Sources close to production tell us execs haven't yet determined when the show will return.

Jax and Brittany are the latest 'VR' stars to be shown the door ... as we reported, back in June the show 86'd Stassi Schroeder, Max Boyens, Brett Caprioni and Kristen Doute ... due to racist behavior and comments that came to light.

The Kardashians are getting outdoorsy ... with a rustically elegant alpine estate.

Sources tell TMZ ... the fam bam stayed at this stunning cabin in Lake Tahoe for a few days, and they brought company too. We're told a production crew was also there to document what will eventually air in the final season of 'KUWTK.'

The private compound's pretty damn breathtaking. It features a main residence and a guest house ... with a whopping 17 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms. The house is 17,000 square feet strong. The pad's even got a name -- the Gunbarrel Lodge -- after the Heavenly Ski Resort adjacent to the 15-acre property.

The scenic driveway takes guests to a hillside perch, which leads into a grand porte-cochere entry. The house has phenomenal lake views and a huge deck for chilling and sunbathing.

The decor includes melded timbers and rugged reclaimed materials -- like masterful stonework -- that seamlessly create an indoor/outdoor flow.

When the Kardashians recently pranked some of their family members and close friends -- including Justin Bieber, Dave Chappelle and Travis Scott -- one of the pad's stone beams and walls was prominently featured in the background.

Morgan Wallen has a plan to make sure he's not booted from his second crack at 'SNL' ... but his strategy already has some gaping holes of his own doing.

We got the country music star in New York City Friday and our photog asked him how he's planning to stay COVID safe ahead of his big 'SNL' performance.

Morgan tells us he "ain't leaving the damn hotel" ... as he's literally walking out of said hotel.

As you know ... Morgan is getting a second chance at 'SNL' 2 months after the show axed him from an earlier, planned gig. He got the boot after he was seen taking shots in a crowded bar and kissing women during some maskless partying down in Alabama. Y'know, stuff that's NOT COVID safe.

Morgan's thanking the Lord for another shot -- at 'SNL,' not the bar -- and says he'll do things differently this time. As for leaving the hotel, maybe he's going to 30 Rock for rehearsals.

Good on Morgan for wearing a face-covering as he climbs into a waiting SUV with his masked-up team.

The show should be pretty funny, with host Jason Bateman already in fine form.

Jake Paul admits he's seriously wrestling with the idea of taking a boxing match against his older brother Logan Paul -- but says he's 100% certain he'd whoop that ass if they do!

"I sort of change my mind on it every day," Jake said about fighting his brother ... "One day I'll do it, the next day I'm like 'I don't think I should do that.'"

Remember, Jake called out Logan -- along with Conor McGregor and others -- following his KO victory over Nate Robinson on Saturday ... leading many to wonder, would he REALLY fight his own bro?

Now that he's had time to think about it, Jake says it's come down to this -- "I would just do it to prove people wrong."

Jake says he's sick of hearing everyone praise Logan as the superior fighter -- saying, "I'm like a 10-times better boxer."

"I've had 2 fights and I've been in the ring for a total of 7 minutes and I've knocked down my opponents 6 times in that 7 minutes."

Jake previously told us he's dead serious about pursuing a boxing career -- and wants to take on some bigger names.

Since then, athletes like ex-boxing champ Antonio Tarver and NHL star Evander Kane have called out Jake.

Bottom line ... he doesn't HAVE to fight Logan -- he's got options.

Elizabeth Taylor didn't make the cut in "The Chanukah Song," but she famously converted to Judaism in 1959, and now ... a couple mementos of her faith are hitting the auction block.

Two menorahs belonging to the iconic "Cleopatra" star will be on display for the upcoming Jewish celebration at the J Greenstein Gallery in New York ... then will go up for grabs in January.

We're told the menorahs were originally purchased after her death at the Julien's of Hollywood estate sale when they sold her property.

The larger one is expected to fetch $15,000 - $20,000 at the auction, with the smaller one expected to go for up to $8k.

If you aren't aware ... Taylor was one of the biggest movie stars in the world when she converted, and not just because she married a Jewish man. She was reportedly very devoted to her faith for decades until she passed in 2011.

She wasn't the only celeb at the time to famously become Jewish either -- Marilyn Monroe and Sammy Davis Jr. did as well.

You might have to do a double-take with the way these celebs are taking us back in time with their photos from the past -- from school portraits to family photos -- it seems like these celebs have been showing how Hollywood history is really repeating itself!

Stars like Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Katherine Heigl, Joanna Gaines, Kelly Ripa ... and a ton more ... have been proudly posting some time-warping throwbacks and recreating the old school shots on social media!

Join these celebrity reboots in this trip down memory lane by scrolling through our gallery of celebrities remaking classic photos from the past and see which stars are serving up some serious déjà vu!

Nothing like a Christmas tree to get the office in the spirit, but an Alabama Sheriff's Office is decorating its tree with mug shots ... and lots of people aren't merry about it.

The Mobile County Sheriff's Office has hung what it calls "Thugshots" -- mug shots of all the people it arrested this past year. The office posted a photo Thursday of the tree -- which also appears to have jail-issued sandals as the star.

The FB post starts with "HAPPY THUG THURSDAY MOBILE," adding ... "We have decorated our Tree with THUGSHOTS to show how many Thugs we have taken off the streets of Mobile this year!"

Right off the bat, the liberal use of the word "thug" rubbed some people the wrong way.

The post goes on to offer a Christmas special for "ALL MOBILE COUNTY THUGS" ... they can come to the property room, pick out some stolen goods ... then get hauled off to jail. They also joked about free COVID tests for all prisoners, along with a "custom fitting" for a holiday jumpsuit.

Of course, in a year in which police brutality has been a lightning rod issue and the relationship between cops and citizens is more strained than ever ... critics called the Sheriff's post insensitive, unprofessional and as one person put it, "pretty trashy."

BTW -- the controversial post comes about a year after 2 cops in the same county posted a separate Christmas-themed photo of a "homeless quilt" made out of panhandler signs.

Colin Kaepernick's jersey from his NFL debut with the 49ers just sold for a whopping $128k ... the highest price an NFL jersey has EVER fetched at auction.

The jersey is from Kap's rookie debut on October 2, 2011 -- when he came in for Alex Smith for one snap against the Philadelphia Eagles ... which is why the jersey is so clean!

Kap handed the ball off to Frank Gore -- and then went back to the bench. The 49ers won the game 24 to 23.

Of course, Kap's career took off the following season -- he started 7 games and then became the full-time starter in 2013. The rest is history.

Kaepernick signed the jersey from his rookie debut -- inscribing it with the message "2011 game worn rookie jersey" -- and then gifted it to family friend and reporter, Aaron Prince, who put it up for auction in 2019.

The item made its way to Julian's Auctions in 2020 -- where it sold at a high profile event for $128,000 to a buyer whose identity has not yet been revealed.

Julian's claims it's the highest price ANYONE has ever paid for a game-used NFL jersey, EVER.

As we've previously reported, Kap memorabilia has been HOT in with collectors over the past few years ... a combination of interest in Kap as an athlete AND as a social justice icon.

There were more cool items at the auction -- including the NBA jersey given to Michael Jordan on the day he signed with the Bulls in 1984 ... that went for $320,000.

And, a high school basketball jersey worn by Barack Obama in 1979 at Punahou School in Hawaii sold for $192k!

By the way, Obama's jersey number -- 23!

Boosie Badazz is taking his beef with Mark Zuckerberg to court ... he says Instagram banned his account because he's Black, so now he's suing over it.

The Louisiana rapper claims he was the victim of racial discrimination when IG put him in social media timeout back in August, and he says he's suing the multi-billionaire Facebook and IG owner for $20 million.

Boosie told Vlad TV the IG ban caused some of his business ventures to tank. He says the $20 million figure is what he lost when his original account was deactivated. It doesn't appear he's actually filed the suit yet.

Remember ... Boosie made a plea to Mark "Zuckinberger" this summer when his IG shut him down for repeatedly violating certain policies. If you followed Boosie on the 'gram, you know his old page was bootylicious ... although IG's never said exactly why it deleted his account.

Boosie thinks Zuck might be holding a grudge and trying to get revenge because he mispronounced his name in an epic rant.

As for the racial element ... Boosie claims he's being discriminated against because of his skin color, saying there's a lot of other folks -- presumably white -- who got their Instagram pages back after being banned for way worse stuff.

Whitney Collings -- one of the early members of TV's "Bad Girls Club" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Whitney's mom revealed the sad news on Facebook, writing ... "I am completely broken and will never get over this. Life is so unfair. She was kind with a big heart."

We don't yet know what caused Whitney's death, but we're told she passed Thursday morning in a hospital near Boston ... her hometown. The medical examiner currently has Whtiney's case and will determine the cause and manner of her death.

Being from Boston was a big part of her persona on 'BGC' back in 2008-09 when she appeared on Season 3 of the show ... as you can see.

She was only 21 when she was on the reality series, and was known as a straight-shooter with a temper ... but also for her sense of humor.

However, her time as a "bad girl" was cut short after she was kicked out of the house due to a physical altercation.

We're told Whitney was 33.

NBA legend Paul Pierce is being sued over an alleged marijuana deal gone bad -- accused of screwing over the guy he hired to build and run his grow house!

"The Truth" is being sued by Kenneth Johnson -- who's been described as a "master grower" when it comes to cannabis.

In his suit, Johnson claims Pierce hired him back in 2016 to "design and develop a warehouse to cultivate cannabis from inception to completion."

Johnson claims Pierce offered him $10,000 per month -- and required him to move out to L.A. ... not a bad gig, right!?

But, soon after they got started, Johnson says Pierce cut his pay to $4,000 -- claiming they couldn't afford the full rate until after there was product to be sold.

Johnson claims things got worse from there ... claiming Pierce and his company "cut corners" and didn't even get the weed plants into the warehouse until late 2018.

Even then, Johnson claims Pierce refused to pay him his promised $10,000 monthly rate -- insisting they wouldn't have the funds until after the first marijuana harvest.

Things finally came to a head in Nov. 2019 -- Johnson claims he still wasn't getting his full pay so he left the company ... while Pierce's operation still owed him more than $42k in unpaid wages!

Now, Johnson's suing for back pay -- plus unpaid overtime, missed meal period violations and more.

The weed biz ... it ain't all fun and games!

Kylie Jenner says a man who was recently busted for burglary in her gated community has it out for her ... and she's run to court to get protection.

Kylie beelined it to court Friday and filed legal docs seeking a restraining order against a man named Justin Bergquist. Law enforcement sources tell us Bergquist allegedly broke into a home in Kylie's neighborhood last month, left without taking anything -- but came back and tried to get inside the gates again.

We're told security stopped him the second time and called the cops, and he told officers he was there to see Kylie.

Our sources say it's unclear if Bergquist mistakenly thought the first home he allegedly broke into was Kylie's ... but in any event, he was arrested for burglary and trespassing.

Court records show Bergquist was charged with burglary, and he's due back in court next month after pleading not guilty in his criminal case.

Disgusting moment at a high school football game in Texas -- where a top player violently exploded on a referee AFTER he had already been ejected ... and the whole thing was caught on video.

It all went down Thursday night right after Edinburg High defensive end Emmanuel Duron was ejected from the game following a late hit penalty against an opposing player in the 2nd quarter.

After the ref announced Duron was disqualified from the game, Duron -- wearing #88 -- sprints back on the field and blasts the ref with a full-speed blindside tackle, sending the official crashing to the ground.

Multiple Edinburg High coaches and players had raced out to try and stop Duron's attack, but they were too late.

The ref was in obvious pain -- and remained on the ground for several minutes. He was later evaluated in an ambulance, according to The Monitor's Andrew McCulloch, who was reporting at the game.

Several police officers escorted Duron off the field -- but it's unclear if he was formally arrested and booked for a crime.

We're reached out to cops and the school district for information -- we'll let you know when we hear back.

Duron is a junior defensive tackle and all-around top athlete. He's scored a rushing TD as a running back and also kicked a 51-yard field goal earlier this season.

He's also a high school wrestling star, whose coach had said to reporters back in March that he's among the best in the state and a clear favorite to win a state title.