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Sam Haskell Jr. apparently couldn't stomach the gore depicted in a horror movie -- something he told a pal earlier this year ... even though he's accused of being a butcher.

TMZ has obtained IG DMs from May 2023 that Samuel -- the son of Hollywood super-agent Samuel Haskell Sr. -- sent to his ex-personal trainer Troy Piedade ... which touched "The Forever Purge," a flick that SHJ said made him queasy 'cause of the dismembered bodies.

Take a look at the back-and-forth between them yourself ... it's pretty eye-opening.

As you see, Sam brings up 'The Purge' and writes ... "Forever purge was a little different fools really be getting chopped up in Mexico for real it's hard for me to enjoy a movie about it, I'm down with purge 2 anarchy." He then goes on to say that he wants to make a movie with Troy.

We talked to Troy, who now tells us that over the course of the 14 years that he knew Sam ... he sensed something a bit off when he started actually training him in 2009 at Bally's in Encino.

Troy says that he feels Sam was very troubled, claiming that the guy would go out of his way to mess with people at the gym ... because he knew he (Troy) would protect him.

Despite his odd behavior, though, Troy tells us he never thought his former client would go as far as murder ... something the authorities in L.A. County have alleged against Sam.

Troy says he and Sam kept in touch over IG after he left the gym, where they regularly discussed topics such as horror movies and fitness ... including this brief chat about chopped-up bodies, which Sam said were too much for him. FWIW, law enforcement sources tell us the LAPD is aware of Sam's interest in horror movies and they're looking into it.

On Monday, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón announced that Haskell Jr. was hit with 3 counts of murder in the death of his 37-year-old wife, Mei, and her parents ... 72-year-old Gaoshan Li and 64-year-old Yanxiang Wang.

Of course, this came after we published video that appears to show Sam dumping what very well may have been a body. A homeless person found a human torso at the same dumpster the very next day.

There's more video that appears to show Sam giving/receiving other bags ... which day laborers alleged contained human remains. Seems like the cops believed them.

Dana Carvey is showing his gratitude to everyone who's been reaching out to support his family after his son Dex's fatal OD.

The actor and comedian thanked his well-wishers Saturday on Instagram, saying he and his wife, Paula, were overwhelmed by their love, compassion and personal stories they shared.

Dana wrote, "We received so many beautiful messages from people who knew Dex. These touched us more than we could ever express in words."

He went on to say he would be taking a break from work and social media during the grieving process as he, Paula and their other son, Thomas, figure out "what life looks like now that we are a family of 3."

Dana vowed to "heal the best we can and carry on" because their "darling Dex would have wanted it that way."

TMZ broke the story ... Dex passed away Wednesday after his girlfriend called 911, and first responders found him unresponsive in the bathroom of an L.A. home. Paramedics tried unsuccessfully to bring him back to life.

On Thursday, Dana said Dex died of an accidental drug overdose. He also wrote an emotional tribute to his son, praising his musical talents and calling him a "beautiful person."

Jimmie Allen's marriage to his estranged wife, Alexis Gale, might not be lost after all ... 'cause his lawyers want to pull out of the divorce case, believing the couple is trying to work things out.

According to new docs, obtained by TMZ, Jimmie's attorneys filed a motion in court last month asking to withdraw as his counsel in the divorce case -- claiming they've "lost communication" with their client.

That's not all ... his lawyers say they're under the impression Jimmie and Alexis "are attempting to reconcile," and they call the potential to keep representing Jimmie "unfeasible."

The judge is set to hear the motion next week.

TMZ broke the story ... sources close to the estranged couple told us they came to the decision in April to separate, following months of being very on and off. She was pregnant at the time with their 3rd kid, too ... and she had Cohen Ace James at the end of September.

Patrick Dempsey's looks have been SERVING for years!

Here is a 39-year-old version of the "McDreamy" star taking his enchanting looks to the lens during the ABC Upfronts back in 2005 (left). This was THE year he started playing and slaying as Dr. Derek Shepherd on "Grey's Anatomy."

And, 18 years later the handsome actor was looking suave on the streets of NYC where he was recently doing press for his current starring role in "Thanksgiving" (right) ... Dempsey plays the town's hot sheriff alongside Addison Rae.

Giving thanks to ALL the good looks PD continues to bless us with ...

The question is ...

WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick is raising hell, calling out prosecutors involved in Kevin Porter Jr.'s assault case ... saying the District Attorney continues to push a "false narrative" despite the fact she's repeatedly denied her ex-boyfriend attacked her.

TMZ Sports spoke with Gondrezick this week ... and she claims the Manhattan D.A.'s office's handling of the September incident has "compounded my trauma even more than the actual experience."

The 26-year-old tells us she gave officials a statement one week after Porter was arrested and explained the original criminal complaint was nowhere near what happened. Now, she wants the D.A. to publicly acknowledge her side of the story ... that she fell and hit her head after KPJ abruptly woke her up after a night out. She's adamant he never struck her.

As we previously reported, KPJ was accused of hitting Gondrezick multiple times and putting his hands around her neck -- resulting in a fractured neck vertebra and a laceration above her eye.

It was later revealed the neck ailment was NOT Porter's doing, as it was a pre-existing injury.

As for the laceration, Gondrezick says it was the result of the fall, and a makeup smear on the hotel room wall backs up her story.

KPJ was arrested for assault and strangulation ... but one charge was dropped due to "insufficient evidence."

Gondrezick says she is opening up to protect herself -- not KPJ -- as she does not want authorities to silence her. She's also calling on officials responsible for pushing the current narrative to be held accountable.

Gondrezick's attorney, Bobby Altchiler, also weighed in ... and he claims his client has been receiving death threats due to the mishandling of the case -- calling it unethical and immoral to not correct the information that is already out.

Bottom line -- Altchiler reiterated exactly what Gondrezick wants.

"Just be honest, for God's sake."

KPJ is due in court later this month.

Hollywood's biggest stars are flying high these days ... eschewing commercial air travel for a more luxurious and lavish experience ... in their own private aircrafts.

Big-time celebs like Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, John Travolta, Lady Gaga, Kylie Jenner, Rick Ross, Drake and Floyd Mayweather are among those who own their own jets ... and they get around.

For starters, Kim's private jet is a $150 million G650ER aircraft ... the same model Jeff Bezos owns.

Kim's customized her jet to her liking ... she calls it "Kim Air." She likes to serve her guests waffles, among other in-flight goodies.

Kylie, meanwhile, dropped $72 million on her private jet back in 2020 ... it's decked out with a master suite, closet, entertainment suite, two bathrooms and has her initials embroidered on the seats.

Like her big sister, Kylie calls her jet "Kylie Air" ... and the in-flight menu includes salads and pasta, plus cocktails and wine.

Beyonce's not only the Queen B, she's also the queen of the skies ... her private plane is huge, with room for 15 to 19 passengers aboard the Bombardier Challenger 850.

Bey bought the plane way back in 2012 for $40 million as a Father's Day gift for husband Jay-Z ... and it's been whisking their family around ever since.

Taylor's got a fleet of private jets at her disposal ... which she put to good use during her 'Eras' tour.

T-Swift has two multimillion-dollar planes, which she's used for over 100 flights this year alone ... with more trips likely on the way as her tour goes overseas.

Behind this "freaky deaky" image is a California native and entertainer who grew up admiring Eminem and Lil Wayne (whom he eventually signed with). He keeps his followers guessing his car's next paint job, but can you guess the man underneath this puckered-up celebrity portrait?

Not only has this super stylish star been mixin' it up in the music biz since the mid-2000s, he's also dabbled in other entertainment ventures ... He played Jamal on the horror series "Scream" alongside Keke Palmer.

Jackson Mahomes was partying his face off to kick off the weekend ... and he had the best seat in the house to watch a DJ do his thing.

Patrick Mahomes' little brother was front and center Friday night at Mosaic Ultra Lounge in Kansas City, MO -- where James Kennedy was handling music for all the club-goers ... and putting on a pretty good set, if Jackson's reaction here is any indication.

Check it out ... in footage obtained by TMZ, you can see the 23-year-old influencer raging as Kennedy spins his records, and even got on his feet at one point and cheered JK on.

Looks like Jackson was also making it rain behind James too ... with confetti, that is.

JM might've been having a blast here, but he's got some very serious issues to deal with in the near future ... including a preliminary hearing in his sexual battery case.

Michael B. Jordan is set to direct another 'Rocky' franchise installment with the next 'Creed' movie -- this despite the fact that Sylvester Stallone has major beef with a key producer.

The announcement was made by Irwin Winkler at an event in L.A. Saturday -- where he confirmed that not only is 'Creed IV' happening ... but saying Mike would be back in the director's chair, and obviously starring of course.

According to Deadline, Winkler said they'd start circling the project sometime in 2024 -- with him explaining, "We have a really good story [and] a really good plot. We got a little delayed because of the strikes, but about a year from now we’re going into pre-production."

Considering how much of a moneymaker "Creed III" was, this is great news for MBJ ... but probably hits a nerve with Sly -- who's slammed IW and his handling of the 'Rocky' rights.

As we reported ... Stallone has called on Winkler to give him an ownership stake in the IP -- of which he has no control over, apparently, after having sold the rights to the OG script years ago. Sly's POV is ... he's the creator of the character/story, so he should have a cut.

It goes without saying ... Rocky himself was not featured in the latest film -- and Sly said he just didn't like direction Mike and Irwin were taking things ... although he did wish 'em well.

Sly's love of his baby ('Rocky') actually just got a renewed focus thanks to a great Netflix doc on the man himself, "Sly" ... which touches heavily on how the Oscar-winning film came together. If you watch it, you'll see all things 'Rocky' are still very near and dear to SS.

Interestingly enough, Sylvester doesn't address Winkler in the doc (directly or indirectly) but he's made his feelings about the issue very clear. For now, it doesn't appear he's going to be involved with 'Creed IV' ... although MBJ left the door open in interviews earlier this year.

Hulk Hogan's son, Nick Hogan, found himself in a jail cell early this weekend -- 'cause he got arrested for DUI ... and the location is notable.

According to online records, Nick got busted Saturday morning just before 4 AM in Clearwater, FL -- where cops booked him on suspicion of driving under the influence ... noting he allegedly refused to submit to sobriety testing.

The exact circumstances that led up to the arrest are unclear for now, but they're logging this as a misdemeanor -- and they had Nick pose for this mug while he was being processed. As of this writing, he hasn't been released from custody.

On its face, it's a simple DUI arrest ... which, while serious, wouldn't normally be all that big a  deal -- especially if nobody got hurt. However, Nick had previously been involved in a scary car accident way back in the 2000s when he was just a teen ... also in Clearwater, FL.

It was a well-documented saga at the time ... Nick was driving with a Marine friend of his -- John Graziano -- who suffered a serious brain injury from the wreck ... but survived.

Nick, who was 17 at the time, ultimately pleaded no contest to reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. In the lead-up to that plea, cops had alleged alcohol was involved. Nick went on to serve an 8-month sentence behind bars in the aftermath.

Of course, the Graziano family also sued the Hogans over the accident ... and they settled out of court.

Nick doesn't appear to have any reps at the moment -- so we reached out to Hulk's camp for comment ... but no word back yet.

Megan Thee Stallion appeared to accuse her ex-boyfriend, Pardison Fontaine, of cheating in a recent track of hers -- and now, the guy's firing back ... with his own diss song.

The rapper/writer dropped a new song called "THEE PERSON" ... and it's obviously aimed at Meg -- with the lyrics explicitly mentioning her by name, plus a ton of other jabs at her character that he says he's observed in the aftermath of their relationship.

You can check out the song for yourself ... but basically, he suggests Meg's somewhat of a troubled person -- at least as he knew her -- saying she should look at herself in the mirror.

Pardi appears to reference MTS's time with Tory Lanez -- before the 2020 incident -- as well as other guys he heavily implies she might've slept with ... despite her telling him she hadn't to his face. In other words, Pardi's getting into some alleged bedroom tea of his own.

Of course, this comes after Meg dropped her single, "Cobra," just a couple weeks ago -- where she claimed she'd caught Pardi creeping with another woman while they were together.

They quietly broke up earlier this year ... with Meg recently hanging out with a famous soccer star ... but it seems there are still some harsh feelings over 2 years of them as a couple.

Taylor Swift is postponing her second show in Brazil this weekend after a fan died the day prior and amid scorching temperatures there in the city that she deems too dangerous.

The pop star announced the decision Saturday, not long before she was scheduled to take the stage there at Rio de Janeiro's Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos -- where she had just performed Friday ... and where a young fan lost her life ahead of curtain call.

Taylor says she's hitting pause for her performance tonight -- which would've marked night #2 of a 3-show stop there in Brazil -- and says her fans' safety comes first before anything.

She says, "I'm writing this from my dressing room in the stadium. The decision has been made to postpone tonight's show due to the extreme temperatures in Rio. The safety and well-being of my fans, fellow performers, and crew has to and always will come first."

No word on whether she's going to proceed with Sunday's show -- for now, it looks like Rio's expecting a high of 84 degrees ... whereas it's in the 90s today, and hit 88 with high humidity yesterday.

Of course, she's being praised for this move ... as many were wondering how she could possibly go forward after the tragedy from Friday night, which Taylor obviously addressed as well. She said she was heartbroken over it, but also said she wouldn't talk about it onstage.

The fact that she was apparently just going to proceed with her regular show and not address the fan's death in person -- despite already having done so online -- didn't sit well with some -- and it seems Taylor/her team realized that ... wisely opting to stop down.

It appears that even before Taylor became aware of the fan's death -- which has been speculated to be over a heatstroke of some sort -- she already suspected something was wrong. There's footage of her at Friday's show demanding that the fans be handed water.

Elon Musk says he's suing a media watchdog over a report he says is misleading advertisers to flee X ... and it sounds like he'll try taking 'em for every penny they're worth.

Here's the deal ... Elon and his new social media company have been in the crosshairs of controversy over the past few days -- and it mostly has to do with a story Media Matters published that suggested pro-Nazi ads were running alongside organic content from users.

Of course, that sounds scandalous ... and it dovetails with accusations of antisemitism that Elon himself faced this exact same week -- this after a Twitter response he fired off.

The Media Matters thing, though, is what EM is now squarely focused on in this epic warning. He took to X Friday night to announce he was hitting the courthouse first thing Monday morning in a plan to sue Media Matters over what he claims is misleading reporting.

Elon says, "The split second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company." He added, "Their board, their donors, their network of dark money, all of them."

There was also an attached explanation to Media Matters' report -- which, again, suggested Nazi propaganda was somehow popping up on X ... and which seems to have spurred HUGE companies to either pause or outright suspend X advertising over the last 24 hours.

Those brands include Apple, Disney, WB, IBM, Lionsgate and others ... and that, of course, hurts Elon and X's bottom line. So, he's trying to rectify it all now with what he says is forthcoming legal action.

It's been a bumpy week for the guy ... but hey, at least his SpaceX Starship rocket got successfully launched today. That is, before it self-destructed after about 10 minutes or so.

The guy who called 911 to report finding "Extreme Weight Loss" star Brandi Mallory in her car, told dispatchers he was keeping his distance ... 'cause he doesn't mess with dead folks.

TMZ obtained audio of the 911 call and you hear the dispatcher ask the caller if he's with Brandi ... prompting him to quickly reply, "Nooo, she's in her car. I don't do dead people."

The audio also includes the caller, who owns a nearby deli, describing Brandi as being motionless and unresponsive in her car, which was in the parking lot of a strip mall where he runs his biz.

TMZ broke the story ... cops say Brandi was last seen alive Nov. 8 when she parked her car, went into a Chipotle to grab food, and then returned to her car and never drove off or exited the vehicle.

The deli owner told cops he realized something was off after noticing Brandi's car sitting in the parking lot for hours on end ... and that's when he checked on her and decided to dial 911.

Aubrey O'Day isn't down with the way the justice system worked in the Diddy-Cassie lawsuit settlement -- and AOD's letting everybody know it!!!

The singer -- who was signed to Diddy's label "Bad Boy" in the 2000s -- weighed in on Instagram about Friday's stunning settlement after Cassie sued Diddy in federal court one day earlier, claiming he had raped her and engaged in human trafficking over the years.

O'Day wrote, "Money > accountability. Every time. Welcome to another chapter of the system is well in place."

In other words, O'Day is saying that the system didn't work because Diddy likely shelled out big bucks to put the suit to bed. Details of the settlement have not been disclosed.

After Cassie filed the bombshell suit, O'Day took to IG to give Diddy a shot, writing, "Been Trynna Tell Y'all For Years." The New York Post also spoke to O'Day, who threw her "complete support" behind Cassie.

In the past, O'Day has given several interviews in which she alleged Diddy made unwanted sexual advances -- which she would always rebuff -- and he was involved in shady business practices.

For example, she accused Diddy of offering the publishing rights back to her group, Danity Kane, with an NDA attached, which she found annoying and never signed. It wasn't clear what ultimately happened with the deal.

Diddy has not addressed O'Day's claims, but he released a statement after the settlement with Cassie became official, saying, "We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love."

Taylor Swift is grieving over the death of a concertgoer in Brazil ... saying the tragedy has left her devastated with a "shattered heart."

The pop star took to Instagram and posted a heartfelt letter after her Friday night "Eras' tour show at Estádio Olimpico Nilton Santos stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Taylor wrote, “I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show. I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this."

She then said there was little information about what happened, except that her admirer was female and "so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”

Taylor also pointed out that she would not speak about the death when she hits the stage Saturday night because she is “overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it.”

Taylor wrapped it up by saying her heart breaks for the fan's family and friends, noting this tragic event was the last thing she wanted to bring to Brazil.

Meanwhile, during Friday's 3-hour performance, Taylor made sure all of her so-called "Swifties" in the crowd were given plenty of water to keep them hydrated in the 100-degree heat.