TMZ.com Home

2 Chainz is having a little trouble at the office ... one of his ATL restaurants is closed again -- shut down by cops for violating COVID-19 guidelines.

The rapper's popular joint, Escobar Restaurant & Tapas, was ordered to close its doors just Monday night after Georgia State Police paid the restaurant a visit. According to a police report, obtained by TMZ, officers say they drove by and "noticed that the location was rather loud, busy, and occupied to be operating as a restaurant at that time of night."

As you can see from some of the videos posted to the Escobar Instagram account, the place was PACKED. You can see people dancing, ordering bottle service, smoking hookah with virtually no social distancing happening. As the night continued, you can even see a long line start forming outside the entrance.

Cops say police arrived and "spoke to the manager before shutting the location down as it was violating executive orders regarding protocol issued due to COVID-19."

As we reported ... 2 Chainz initially said his restaurants would open when Georgia allowed limited-service back in late April. But, the rapper changed his mind -- opting to feed the homeless instead -- and said they'll wait it out a little longer before bringing back his staff.

Several weeks later, Georgia updated its restaurant reopening guidelines ... limiting dine-in service to 10 patrons max per table and allowing 10 patrons inside per 300 square feet of public space. This is all in addition to social distancing too.

Hundreds of Muslims from a mosque in Germany came together for a holiday prayer while maintaining social distancing ... thanks to their friendly neighborhood IKEA.

Muslims all over the world spent the weekend celebrating Eid al-Fitr -- AKA the "Festival of Breaking the Fast," which marks the end of Ramadan -- but for obvious pandemic reasons, gatherings and group prayer for the holy day were more challenging to do safely.

So, a mosque in Wetzlar asked the local IKEA if it could use the store's currently unoccupied parking lot as a community spot for physical-distancing-safe congregating ... and got the green light.

The photo is awesome and proves that old adage ... where there's a will there's a way. Folks online called the event "beautiful," "uplifting" and a "gorgeous sight."

It's also a good lesson for churches here in the U.S. that are trying to convene for services under quarantine rules.

Jennifer Lopez finally dished on a mystery people have been trying to ID for weeks now -- revealing the creepy floating face that popped up in one of her latest gym selfies.

She made the revelation on a recent appearance on 'The Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon, eventually getting past the pleasantries and asking what America wanted to really know ... WHO THE HELL WAS THAT GUY WITH A HAND OVER HIS MOUTH?!?

The answer's not as salacious as some might've expected -- J Lo says it was just a dude her fiance, Alex Rodriguez, was talking to on Zoom on the other side of their gym window.

We'll let Jen explain for herself here, but basically ... with the way they have their gym set up, and where they have one of their laptops perched for Zoom chats, the two just happened to overlap and captured this guy A-Rod was chatting up in a very scary pose.

She doesn't know for sure who exactly it was -- other than the fact that he's in real estate -- or why he had his hand over his face (might've been a sneeze or a cough) ... but the good news is that it wasn't some rando creepin' on Jennifer from behind. That's low-key what some folks thought it was at first, and thank God that didn't turn out to be the case.

Britney Spears went through 2 weeks of full isolation in order to see her boys, Jayden and Sean -- self-quarantining for 14 days at Kevin Federline's behest.

Sources with knowledge of the situation tell TMZ ... Britney returned to L.A. from a trip to see her family down in Louisiana at the end of April. When she got back, she wanted some QT with her sons, but Kevin insisted she quarantine for at least 2 weeks before seeing them.

Our sources say Kevin has been homeschooling Jayden and Sean since the middle of March, when schools closed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

We're told Britney had no issues obliging Kev's request and gladly quarantined after her trip down South -- and she's since seen their boys twice at her home, with each visit lasting only a couple hours.

Two alligators violently fought it out on a South Carolina golf course ... and the footage of the two beasts locking jaws and tossing each other around is INSANE!!

Check out video posted by The Golf Club at Hilton Head Lakes in Hardeeville, SC ... where two gators were caught in a crazy tussle right on one of the fairways.

According to course officials, the action all went down last week on the 18th hole ... when one golfer captured the wild scene.

You can see in the vid ... the two gators bit into each other's faces -- and wouldn't let go, even after they violently twisted!!!

And, if the action caught on video wasn't crazy enough for you -- a witness says the battle went on for roughly 2 HOURS!!

Thankfully, nobody was hurt during the on-course action ... but it's unclear if golfers' scores survived the melee as well.

Jason Derulo is losing teeth and adding stacks of cash thanks to TikTok ... and he says you don't have to be a famous singer or mess up your grill to start raking in the dough.

The "Cats" star and "Swalla" singer tells TMZ ... anybody can make a killing off the video creation app, as long as you create your own space and find a niche.

Jason's certainly found his TikTok calling ... and we're not just talking viral music trends.

If you haven't discovered his page, it's full of funny videos of Jason in quarantine, which usually end with some missing chompers.

While JD says TikTok is running the music industry -- the most popular songs on the app are also the most popular songs in the world -- he's not ready to ditch his singing career and focus only on TikTok.

There is NO bad blood between WWE and Ronda Rousey -- so says Triple H who says he'll welcome her back in a heartbeat ... "as soon as she's ready."

"Of course, we want her. Of course, we do! One of the greatest performers for us ever," Triple H tells TMZ Sports.

It seemed Ronda pulled the ripcord on her WWE career back in April saying she refused to dedicate her whole life for some "f*cking ungrateful" fans.

Ronda also complained about the grind of being a pro wrestler -- and then seemingly took some shots on Twitter at WWE stars, Alexa Bliss and Lana.

That's a wrap, right? Not so fast ...

We spoke with WWE exec Triple H who tells us he's definitely NOT closing the door on reconciliation with Ronda ... but understands she needs a break.

"I think Ronda's in a place in her personal life where she's figuring some things out," Triple H says.

"But, the thing with Ronda is you never know what she is saying. Is she attacking the business really or is she attacking the business because she knows that's what will light up the fans that love the business?"

Triple H went on to RAVE about Ronda's skills and work ethic -- telling us she picked up pro wrestling faster than ANYONE he's ever seen ... including Kurt Angle.

Bottom line ...

Texas child actor Ike Eisenmann was only 13 years old when he shot to stardom after taking on the role of the harmonica playing orphan alien, Tony -- who uses his psychic abilities and cunning kid smarts to find his way home -- in Disney's 1975 fantasy film, "Escape to Witch Mountain."

Ike Eisenmann was cast alongside Eddie Albert as the helpful dude with an R.V., Jason O'Day ... and of course, Kim Richards (yes, the one from "The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills") as the telepathic sister sidekick, Tia.

Ike went on to act in the 1978 sequel, "Return from Witch Mountain," and can even be spotted in the 2009 remake, "Race to Witch Mountain," featuring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

It looks like business as usual at one airport in North Carolina ... where passengers are PISSED, and it has nothing to do with no one social distancing.

This is the scene right now at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina on Memorial Day, where long lines have wrapped around the lobby just to get through TSA. A reporter there says the travelers are getting furious over missed flights.

Based on the video, you wouldn't think the country's in the middle of a pandemic right now. If ya look closely, you can see it's about a 50-50 split on people wearing masks or not.

Most of the major airlines have said they will attempt social distancing by underbooking flights -- but doesn't seem like that's gonna be possible tonight in Charlotte.

You'll recall a UCSF scientist snapped a pic earlier this month showing his United Airlines flight packed like sardines ... a situation that made many customers uneasy.

Every row was packed to capacity ... including the middle seats.

Point is ... if ya think they're restless in Charlotte now, it could be getting a lot hairier once they actually get onto a flight.

An Asian man was attacked in Seattle by a guy who slapped, shoved and spit on him ... and it was all out of revenge over the coronavirus, and now cops are on the hunt.

As awful as it is, it's actually even worse because cops say the culprit has been threatening Asian residents all over the City.

The man allegedly told the Asian couple "it's all your fault" ... clearly referring to the coronavirus pandemic and the fact it originated in China and the government was hyper-secretive.
Cops say this is the same guy who was harassing Asians at Golden Gardens Park.

In one attack, police say the man approached an Asian woman in her car, knocked on her window, asking, "Where are you from? Where is your ID?" Cops say the man was also taking pictures of the victim's car and yelling, "Chinese disease ... they bring it here!"

Ellen DeGeneres is no masked singer ... but she's definitely singing her wife's praises as a stellar photog.

Ellen got flirty with her wife, Portia De Rossi, while grabbing dinner Sunday in her hometown of Montecito. The TV host rode shotgun in Portia's souped-up Porsche convertible ... then went inside the restaurant to order food while Portia waited in the car.

Elections are about choices, and 2020 is shaping up to be an imagery choice -- do you like your President with or without a mask?

Trump paid tribute to fallen heroes Monday at Arlington National Cemetery and later Baltimore's historic Fort McHenry, and he was true to form -- no mask. He's made it clear ... he's not going to wear a mask in public -- as he put it, he doesn't want to give reporter that satisfaction -- but he was seen once at a Michigan Ford plant wearing a mask behind a curtain.

Meanwhile, Joe and his wife, Jill, ventured outside for the first time since the shelter-at-home orders were implemented and his presidential campaign came to a screeching halt. The former VP and Jill laid a wreath during a visit to a veterans memorial in Delaware.

Joe, Jill and even his secret service detail all wore black masks.

Although a mask is a scientifically-based precaution, it's also become a political symbol. Trump clearly is telling his supporters NOT to wear them ... almost as if it's a sign of weakness. Biden clearly begs to differ.

Joe Exotic's husband and Bryce from "Too Hot to Handle" got together for one helluva soirée.

Joe's husband, Dillon Passage, partied with Bryce on Bryce's boat Sunday in Marina del Rey, where witnesses tell us they hung out with Bryce's crew to celebrate his 30th birthday. Huge milestone, for sure. We're told Bryce had his boat parked and had only 15 people at a time every 2 hours. The rest of the partygoers hung out on the dock and beach area.

The obvious question ... how'd Bryce and Dillon even meet? We're told after "Too Hot to Handle" streamed on Netflix, Dillon hit up Bryce to show some love and say he really enjoyed the series. We're told they stayed in touch, and when Bryce planned his birthday party he invited Dillon.

And, how's this for a birthday wish ... we're told Dillon and Bryce each downed a couple of shots and Bryce wished for Joe to be freed from prison. The party -- which included several other "Too Hot to Handle" cast members, including Harry and Matthew -- went pretty late. Actually, pretty early. We're told it lasted till about 5 AM.

The lawyer for Ahmaud Arbery's family says the federal authorities met with them last week and said they have launched a criminal investigation into the conduct of 2 district attorneys and members of the police department that allegedly covered up Ahmaud's killing.

Lee Merritt appeared Monday on "TMZ Live" and said the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia informed the family they were looking at both civil and criminal action against the officials.

Merritt also talked about the text message the police sent to a homeowner, telling him if there was "action" on his doorbell he should call Gregory McMichael, one of the accused murderers.

Merritt worries the police conduct may have effectively deputized the elder McMichael, such that the citizen's arrest laws don't apply and he would be treated as a law enforcement officer. As you know, McMichael's son, Travis, is the one who fired the shots, but Merritt says it could still be a problem given what the police did.

To mask or not to mask -- Staten Island shoppers are beyond debating that issue ... instead they're just shouting rule-breakers right out of stores.

It was straight-up mob justice when a woman went shopping for groceries this weekend without wearing a face covering. You can see in the video, she tried to stand her ground. Tried.

Eventually, a handful of her very loud fellow shoppers -- who were wearing masks -- let the woman know what time it was ... time to get the hell outta the store.

No Karens needed here to call cops, cause you can tell ... Staten Island doesn't play. For the record, NY Gov. Cuomo ordered face masks to be worn in public in all places where social distancing is not possible. That includes stores, public transportation and even busy sidewalks. Makes sense as NY state was the epicenter of COVID-19 ... with more than 23,000 deaths.

As the Governor put it, "How can you not wear a mask when you're going to come close to a person?"

It's really frightening ... a 2nd Amendment Kentucky rally the day before Memorial Day turned into an insane display of Governor Andy Beshear being hung in effigy.

It makes no sense, other than some gun-toting fanatics wanting to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Around 100 people swarmed the Governor's mansion to celebrate constitutional rights, as they packed heat.

It was billed as a Second Amendment rally ... "what it really means to be FREE."

Pastor Cliff Christman then launched on the Governor's coronavirus restrictions, grousing, "This has been one of the biggest shams in world history ... Grown men have been hiding in homes nearly wetting their pants over this invisible enemy that nobody sees. Where is it at?  Let it come out and face us."