Kim Kardashian and Kanye Westhave lots to discuss during their tropical island getaway geared at trying to save their marriage, but one topic is off the table -- politics.
Sources close to the couple tell TMZ ... Kim and Kanye aren't going to hash out any political differences while working out their family issues in a remote Caribbean location with their kids. In fact, we're told the couple hasn't talked politics in a long time.
Our sources say Kanye has made it clear to Kim he's continuing his bid for The White House ... and although there are lots of reasons (e.g., South Carolina rally) she may have problems with his run, it's a non-negotiable issue.
FACT: There is clearly a political divide between the 2 -- Kanye's pro-life, while Kim's worked for years with Planned Parenthood. Remember, Yeezy took some shots at Planned Parenthood in his bizarre Forbes interview and got strong pushback from PP.
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So, despite politics being a source of conflict between the two, they will not resolve differences in that department as they work to repair their marriage.
As we first reported ... Kim and Kanye are holed up in an island fortress far away from the paparazzi as they try to salvage a marriage that seems to be on the ropes.
This video is incredible ... a guy on a jet ski captured the moment the entire city of Beirut shook after a massive explosion killed at least 135 people and injured 5,000.
The perspective is different from the video captured on land. The ferocity of the blast nearly capsized the jet ski as the driver reacts in panic.
Lebanon's prime minister believes the cause of the explosion was 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that was just sitting for years in a warehouse. To put this in perspective ... it's 1,000 times more powerful than the Oklahoma City bombing.
Damage estimates from the blast are now upwards of $5 billion, and that figure is expected to increase.
Jake Paul hasn't been low-key about showing off his weapons, and a casual display of 2 firearms in a recent video may have been a factor in the massive response by the FBI during the raid at his home.
In the vid, the YouTube star got pranked by his pal, Tanner Fox, who hung up a bunch of photos of Jake's exes in his room. As you can see in the vid posted last month ... 2 large guns are clearly shown hanging on the wall at the 7:48 mark.
TMZ.com
These guns look very much like the ones the FBI seized from Jake's Calabasas home Wednesday, as officers were spotted walking down his driveway with several weapons in hand.
As for the intense raid at his home ... the guns could very well explain why truckloads of agents in protective gear descended on the home. If the FBI feels things could get dangerous ... they suit up.
We've also learned the raid is somehow in connection with Jake getting arrested in Scottsdale during a George Floyd protest. The FBI says it's "investigating allegations of criminal acts surrounding the incident at Scottsdale Fashion Square in May, 2020."
As we reported ... Jake was in the mall and arrested for trespass and later charged with a criminal misdemeanor. However, the City Attorney has dropped the case -- apparently at the behest of the FBI -- and the more serious investigation has taken precedence.
This includes a second raid that took place around the same time as Jake's, about 300 miles away in Las Vegas at the famous Graffiti Mansion said to be owned by Armani Izadi, one of Jake's friends.
TMZ.com
We got video of some people being led out of the mansion in cuffs, and law enforcement sources tell us the 2 raids are connected. However, it doesn't appear Jake or Armani were arrested.
Jake's attorney, Richard Schonfeld, stated after the incident ... "We understand that a search warrant was executed at Jake's Calabasas home this morning while Jake was out-of-state. We are still gathering information and will cooperate with the investigation."
LeBron Jamessays the NBA won't miss Donald Trumpas a viewer -- essentially telling POTUS not to let the door hit him on the way out!
"I really don't think the basketball community are sad about losing his viewership," James said after the Lakers lost to the OKC Thunder on Wednesday ... "And, that's all I got to say."
SPOILER: That wasn't all he had to say.
Of course, Bron as reacting to comments Trump made earlier that day -- when he blasted the NBA kneeling protests as "disgraceful" during an interview with "FOX & Friends."
LeBron and the overwhelming majority of people inside the bubble have been kneeling during the national anthem before games while wearing Black Lives Matter shirts.
Trump no likey.
"When I see people kneeling during the playing and disrespecting our flag and national anthem, what I do personally is turn off the game," Trump added.
When asked about the comments, LeBron said he didn't want to get into another public social media spat with POTUS ... but followed up by essentially calling for people to vote Trump out of office in November.
"I think our game is in a beautiful position and we have fans all over the world and our fans not only love the way we play the game, we try to give it back to them with our commitment to the game."
"But also respect what else we try to bring to the game and acknowledge it -- what's right and what's wrong," James said.
"And I hope everyone, no matter the race, no matter the color, no matter the size, will see what leadership that we have at the top in our country and understand that November is right around the corner and it's a big moment for us as Americans."
"If we continue to talk about, 'We want better, we want change, we have an opportunity to do that."
"But the game will go on without his eyes on it. I can sit here and speak for all of us that love the game of basketball: We could [not] care less."
LeBron knows what will likely happen next -- Trump tweet in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... ??
Kanye West's egalitarian community is being resurrected -- or so it seems, 'cause the guy wants to lock up the rights on a name for it ... which is in line with his Presidential campaign.
Ye's company, Yeezy LLC, just filed legal docs declaring his intention to snag the exclusive rights to a phrase for his dome-like structures -- which Ye and co. actually call shelters in the paperwork. Ya ready??? Looks like he's gonna call them ... "2020Vision."
We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States 🇺🇸! #2020VISION
It's not the first time Kanye's used that phrase -- if you'll recall, he dropped that same verbiage when he announced his presidential campaign about a month ago. At the time, Ye wrote ... "We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020Vision."
Kanye's team also reveals more details on how they plan to use "2020Vision" -- saying he intends to use the name on permanent metal and non-metal dome shelters, as well as actual construction and engineering services that'll be used to make them a reality.
Remember, Ye already erected a number of these dome structures on his Calabasas property not too long ago -- only to see them get torn down when the City came knocking after he failed to obtain the proper permits ... not to mention pissing off his neighbors with the noise.
At the time, it seemed like Kanye was putting the project on pause -- and it wasn't clear if he was going to try again in the same area ... or try rebooting elsewhere, like on his Wyoming properties.
Now, it seems like he's ready to revamp the project and get it going. The question ... will he use his dome plans as part of his presidential campaign? Time will tell.
President Trump says his threat to ban TikTok is about China stealing data, but that's just a cover story ... at least according to TikTokers who think he can't take a joke, and simply wants revenge.
TMZ spoke with Mary Jo Laupp -- AKA TikTok Grandma -- and DeJuan Booker, a couple of proud TikTok trolls who've been on a mission to derail Trump's presidency along with his businesses ... and they think he's striking back with the potential ban.
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Mary Jo made the original TikTok encouraging people to register for Trump's Tulsa rally and then not show up -- a battle cry that spread like wildfire among teens and K-pop fans. She thinks believes he's still miffed about how it affected his rally, and all his vigor toward banning TikTok is just a grudge.
Laupp says even if he does go through with the ban, it was worth it to show how Gen Z'ers can impact politics -- and hopes it motivates them to hit the polls in November.
Meanwhile, DeJuan -- the leader of "Gen Savage" and creator of multiple Trump pranks -- says Trump's revenge plot won't work, because his community will simply move to other platforms if the Prez bans TikTok.
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And, he adds ... you better believe they'll keep speaking out against 45.
DeJuan acknowledges his Trump pranks may be seen as petty, but tells us the whole purpose is to let Gen Z know their voice matters and when they come together ... they can make a difference.
As we reported, Trump says TikTok has until Sept. 15 to sell it's U.S. operations to an American company or else ... so still plenty of time for TikTokin' trolls to do their thing.
Larry Flynt's Hustler Club is putting strippers back to work, but the strip joint is gonna look a whole lot different in its grand return ... because everything will be virtual.
With Las Vegas strip joints still shuttered due to COVID-19, the Hustler Club is moving over to Only Fans, where it can virtually entertain folks stuck at home during the pandemic ... and it's getting an assist from Too Short!!!
The Hustler Club tells us it's going virtual with live, uncensored content on Only Fans every Saturday in August, trying to give folks as close an experience to the real thing as possible -- private dances, strippers on stage, live celeb performances, virtual bottle service and the option to buy drinks or send tips to the exotic dancers.
The strip club is debuting it's new format Saturday at 8 PM PT with a soft opening, featuring a surprise set from a celeb guest ... and the following weekend will see Too Short rock the virtual mic.
"You're talking about grown men, 85% of them single and you have them locked up at Disney World?!"
That's ex-NBA starGilbert Arenas raising some issues going on inside the NBA bubble ... insinuating players are reaching their breaking point after going weeks without sex.
Look, it's a fair point -- the players entered the bubble at the beginning of July ... and so far, officials have restricted families and girlfriends from joining them.
When we saw Arenas out in Calabasas on Wednesday, he told us he's been speaking with some of the guys on the inside -- and gave us the update on how they're holding up.
"[They're] primadonnas right now," Arenas says ... explaining they're used to living a fun, party lifestyle -- but that all changed when they stepped in the bubble.
Now, they're restricted to their confined space at Disney World -- and it's starting to take a toll.
Arenas is also calling out Lou Williams -- and saying his excuse about hitting up the famous Magic City strip club for chicken wings during his time out of the bubble is complete BS.
"I would never eat at a strip club. I don't go to the strip club to eat wings," Gilbert says.
"I can go to Wing Stop for some wings. I go to the strip club to see strippers."
Bottom line -- Arenas suggests the longer the guys are kept celibate, the tougher it will be to keep the bubble intact.
Brooklyn-based singer and actor Ellen Greene is best known for her role as the blonde-bob babes and shop assistant, Audrey -- who is the love interest (and meal interest) of the skid row plant shop -- in the plant-based 1986 musical, "Little Shop of Horrors."
Ellen Greene was cast alongside an epic group of actors in the film adaptation of the broadway botany hit including Steve Martin as the nitrous huffing boyfriend and dangerous dentist, Dr. Orin Scrivello ... and of course Rick Moranis as the alien plant feeding florist and Audrey's forever love, Seymour Krelborn.
YouTube stars Alan and Alex Stokes are in very real trouble for allegedly faking a series of bank robberies ... they've each just been hit with a felony charge.
Authorities say the twin brothers, who have 4.81 million subscribers on their Stokes Twins YouTube page, staged a pair of fake bank robberies in Irvine, CA back in October, one of which resulted in an unsuspecting Uber driver being held at gunpoint by police.
The twins have each just been charged with one felony count of false imprisonment plus a misdemeanor count for falsely reporting an emergency.
The Orange County District Attorney says the twins pretended to rob a bank, dressing in all black and wearing ski masks while carrying around duffle bags full of cash, and called for an Uber while their videographer filmed from afar.
Officials say when the Uber driver pulled up, the twins climbed in the vehicle, but the driver refused to drive them and was unaware of the prank. The D.A. says a bystander called police, believing the two men had just robbed a bank and were attempting a carjacking.
Video of the prank shows the twins getting out of the car ... and the D.A. says when Irvine police arrived they ordered the Uber driver out of the car at gunpoint. He was released after cops determined he was not involved in the prank.
The video shows the twins getting a warning from an officer ... but the D.A. says 4 hours later the brothers pulled the same kind of prank on campus at the University of California, Irvine, and police again received emergency calls about a bank being robbed.
The D.A. is not laughing ... calling the alleged fake robberies "some kind of twisted attempt to gain more popularity on the Internet by unnecessarily putting members of the public and police officers in danger."
If convicted on all counts, the twins face a maximum sentence of four years in state prison.
Donald Trump says he's not pulling strings to help Kanye West get on state ballots for the presidential election ... but he's got lots of good things to say about Ye and Kim Kardashian.
Trump denied claims he's encouraging Republicans to help Kanye get on the ballot for prez in swing states. He was asked by a reporter during a Wednesday press conference if he was encouraging several Republican operatives who allegedly were helping Ye ... he said no.
POTUS says he likes Kanye very much. He did not seem to know about Kanye's recent struggles with mental illness but said Kanye has always been nice to him.
That paled in comparison to his praise for Kim, whom Trump largely credited with convincing him to release several inmates, including Alice Johnson.
As you know ... Trump and Kim have worked together on presidential pardons.
ICYMI, Meg took to IG Wednesday to post a photo of her and MGK, both in towels ... posing for a steamy mirror selfie ... with the gushing caption, "Achingly Beautiful Boy... My heart is yours."
Awww -- good for her, right? Not in Brian's book!
Megan's post seemed to have BAG feeling some sorta way, based on his blistering public response. He posted 4 photos of his sons -- three of them being Megan's -- Bodhi, Journey and Noah, but his caption was the dagger.
He added the same "achingly beautiful" line, but said his heart belongs to his sons. It's an obvious shot with the not-so-subtle message being (we think) ... don't forget you got kids who deserve your love and attention too.
3:06 PM PT -- It appears almost certain Wednesday's raids in Calabasas and Vegas have to do with Jake's Scottsdale arrest. Armani Izadi -- a longtime collaborator and former friend of Jake's -- owns the Vegas home that was raided by the FBI. Izadi was also arrested with Jake in Scottsdale.
2:08 PM PT -- The FBI has just played its hand -- partially -- and revealed the raid is somehow in connection with Jake getting arrested in Scottsdale during a George Floyd protest. The FBI tells TMZ, "The FBI is investigating allegations of criminal acts surrounding the incident at Scottsdale Fashion Square in May, 2020."
Jake was in the mall and arrested for trespass and was charged with a criminal misdemeanor, but the City Attorney has dropped the case -- it appears at the behest of the FBI -- and the more serious investigation has taken precedence.
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12:37 PM PT -- It appears the FBI have seized weapons from Jake Paul's Calabasas home -- firearms, specifically ... this based on aerial footage of the scene from ABC 7.
Law enforcement officials were spotted walking down Jake's driveway, with what appear to be rifles and perhaps shotguns in hand -- two per person, from what we can see here.
BTW, a second raid happened nearly 300 miles away from the one that was just executed at Jake's Calabasas home -- in Sin City no less ... at a house that's tangentially connected to JP.
TMZ.com
Federal agents descended upon the famous Graffiti Mansion in Las Vegas Wednesday, which is said to be owned by Armani Izadi ... who -- at one point -- was good buddies with Jake. In fact, the two of them were seen hanging out as recently as early July, getting into shenanigans together.
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We got video of some people being led out of the mansion in cuffs -- hard to tell who they are, but it doesn't appear like Aramani or Jake are among them in this clip. Our law enforcement sources also tell us this raid is in connection to the L.A. property search.
12:21 PM PT -- Jake's attorney, Richard Schonfeld, tells TMZ, "We understand that a search warrant was executed at Jake's Calabasas home this morning while Jake was out-of-state. We are still gathering information and will cooperate with the investigation."
9:01 AM PT -- Whatever the feds were looking for at Jake Paul's home apparently required a lot of backup and manpower ... because a small militia left his pad in armored trucks.
Check out this footage we got of federal agents and the vehicles they arrived in rolling out after they completed their business -- it looks like a mini military parade, with several guys wearing SWAT and/or tactical gear hanging off the sides ... in addition to whoever was inside.
By our count, there seems to have been at least 20 people or so on the ground executing the search warrant -- which makes ya wonder what the hell Jake might be mixed up in, if anything at all.
Still, no word if arrests were made or if any property or evidence was seized. We're working on getting some answers as to why all this firepower was sent.
TMZ.com
Jake Paul's L.A.-area home is the scene of an early morning FBI raid ... TMZ has learned.
Law enforcement sources tell us ... Jake's house in Calabasas is currently being searched by the feds -- and that a search warrant has been issued to do so. We don't know why or what the authorities are looking for, but we do know agents are on the ground, taking a look around.
We know Jake draws a lot of attention with his YouTube stunts, which are often documented on camera -- some of which have landed him in hot water, legally before. The raid isn't a prank gone wrong though ... we know it's real this time.
Ya don't buy a car without checkin' under the hood, right?
And, if you're Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez, ya don't buy a pro baseball team without checking out the stadium!
That's what J-Rod did on Wednesday -- getting a VIP tour of Citi Field in Queens as part of their plan to buy the team.
J Lo -- sporting a flowing white sundress -- led the charge with A-Rod and a few other businessy-lookin' dudes.
As we previously reported, the power couple has been gunning to buy the team for months -- and recently linked up with some rich partners to add to their ownership group.
The most recent addition to Alex and Jen's team is Mike Repole -- who co-founded BodyArmor and Vitaminwater. He's rich and also a life-long Mets fan.
There are two NBA stars in the group as well -- Washington Wizards beast Bradley Beal and Denver Nuggets center Mason Plumlee.
J Lo and A-Rod had previously tried to buy the Mets for around $1.5 billion -- but it didn't exactly work out since the Wilpon family (which owns the team) was hoping to get around $2.5 billion.
Hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen was the front-runner to buy the team -- he's loaded and has already made a $2 billion bid, according to the NY Post.
But, ESPN says the Wilpons would prefer to sell to Lopez and Rodriguez if they can come closer to the top bid.
Clearly, they're fighting like hell to make it happen -- don't count 'em out!!!
A mom and daughter in England are not loving their McDonald's Chicken McNuggets -- they claim the little girl bit into the food and got a mouthful of face mask!!!
The not-so-Happy Meal was reportedly served Tuesday at a McDonald's in a London suburb. Laura Arber, the upset mother, claims her 6-year-old daughter, Maddie, started making choking noises after chowing down on the McNuggets.
Laura claims she put a finger down her daughter's throat to make her throw up the food, which she says was speckled with blue. Mom says she did some more investigating, puzzled by what her daughter was eating, tearing into the Chicken McNuggets with her fingers to discover parts of a blue surgical face mask.
Laura posted video showing what appears to be more blue face mask parts inside other Chicken McNuggets her daughter had not yet eaten ... and it's really gross.
McDonald's corporate office has since apologized for the incident ... and mom says her little girl is fine.
12:09 PM PT -- 8/5 NBC has announced it has severed ties with Drechsel in wake of the allegations. The network said, "We are shocked and disturbed to learn about the charges alleged against Drew Drechsel. 'American Ninja Warrior' is a family show that has inspired countless people, and we will not let the actions of one contestant tarnish the hard work and amazing stories of so many."
"Moving forward, the 'American Ninja Warrior' brand will sever all ties with Mr. Drechsel, including his appearance on future seasons of the show."
Drew Drechsel, the reigning "American Ninja Warrior" champ, is now facing federal charges for luring an underage girl for sex.
Last year's 'ANW' winner allegedly began a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl in New Jersey back in 2015 ... according to legal docs, obtained by TMZ. Drechsel, nicknamed the Real Life Ninja, was arrested Tuesday at his home in Saint Cloud, FL.
The feds say the alleged victim contacted cops in NJ in June 2019 and told them she started having sex with Drechsel when she was 15 and he was 26. She claims they first met in 2014 after an 'ANW' contestant event, exchanged numbers and began texting each other.
In the docs, the alleged victim claims Drechsel invited her to his gym in Hamden, CT as a 15th birthday present, and they had sex after his girlfriend left the gym. She told police she informed her mother about the encounter the very next day.
The mother alleges Drechsel didn't deny having sex with her daughter when confronted, but claimed he did not know the girl's age.
According to docs, the alleged victim also told cops she met Drechsel multiple times outside a NJ gym and had sex with him when she was 15 to 17 years old.
The feds say she told them Drechsel frequently asked her to Skype him while she was naked, and they allegedly found child pornography on Drechsel's cell phone ... along with his requests for her to delete their text messages.
Drechsel -- who won $1 million on 'ANW' -- remains in custody after a judge found him to be a flight risk and danger to the community. U.S. Marshals are transporting him from Florida to NJ, where he'll stand trial.
