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Mariska Hargitay revealed this week that she's a survivor of sexual assault -- something a number of orgs advocating on behalf of victims are singing her praises over, for good reason.

The actress penned a gut-wrenching piece for People this week detailing her experience -- which detailed what she says was an outright rape committed by someone she considered a friend in her 30s. She doesn't specify when it happened, but she does remember it vividly.

She says, "I tried all the ways I knew to get out of it. I tried to make jokes, to be charming, to set a boundary, to reason, to say no. He grabbed me by the arms and held me down. I was terrified. I didn’t want it to escalate to violence. I now know it was already sexual violence, but I was afraid he would become physically violent. I went into freeze mode, a common trauma response when there is no option to escape. I checked out of my body."

Afterward, Mariska says she erased this incident from her narrative and tried forgetting it -- although, this issue is still very clearly near and dear to her heart ... evidenced in the fact that she founded the Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at helping SA survivors.

Of course, there's also the fact she's been playing Det. Olivia Benson on 'Law & Order: SVU' for years now ... and her character is constantly out to catch predators of this nature as well.

Mariska has been getting praised for sharing her experience, but there are some advocacy groups in this space that wanna show her more love and appreciation ... including the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network and the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Reps for all 4 orgs tell TMZ that Mariska coming forward continues to strip away the stigma of victims feeling afraid or ashamed to come forward and speak their truth ... noting what she's doing here is helpful to countless other people out there in the world.

Scott Berkowitz of RAINN says, "Mariska Hargitay has already done so much for survivors of sexual violence through her career and her foundation. To now share her personal story is another brave and important act, and we stand by her and all survivors who take this step."

All the groups here tell us just about the same thing -- that Mariska's recounting echoes so much of what victims go through collectively ... and that talking about it encourages others to do the same. With someone as high-profile as her speaking out, it helps pave the way.

Todd and Julie Chrisley are locked up, but still making some dough in real estate -- TMZ has learned they unloaded their Tennessee mansion months after starting their prison sentences.

Property records show the Chrisleys sold their 13,279 square foot Brentwood, TN property for $5.2 million in April 2023. The place was sold off-market, which is why the sale has flown under the radar for so long... but, even on the down-low, the buyer picked a fantastic spot.

Todd and Julie's former property comes with an indoor sports court, a professional chef's kitchen, a sprawling pool with a jacuzzi, and gorgeous architecture throughout.

It's the same place Todd spent his days on house arrest in 2022 following his guilty verdict for tax evasion and bank fraud ... while he was awaiting his sentencing.

Remember, Todd and Julie were sentenced to a combined total of 19 years in prison at the end of 2022, starting their prison time about a year ago.

BTW, they bought the huge home in 2019 for $3.375M ... so, they likely made a bit of a profit, but it doesn't look like they're pocketing any of that cash.

As part of their sentencing, they were also ordered by a judge to cough up $17.2 million in restitution for their crimes ... so this likely was to start paying down their debt. They also have another home in Nashville, but it's unclear if they sold that property as well.

Asante Samuel is sending a message to NFL owners looking into hiring Bill Belichick ... warning them, under no circumstances, do NOT give him general manager powers!!

Samuel tells TMZ Sports given the way it all ended in New England ... Belichick's next employer shouldn't even remotely entertain the idea.

"If any owner would give Bill Belichick that power again," the former Patriots star said, "that would be crazy."

Belichick, of course, held both the head coach and GM roles for New England during his 24-year tenure in Foxborough ... and despite some of the greatest success ever during that timeframe, things ultimately flamed out recently.

Samuel made it clear he believes it all shows Tom Brady was the reason for the winning in New England ... telling us straight up, "One man, one player determined your success."

And, he says that's exactly why if Belichick ends up on a new sideline next year ... he shouldn't have a GM hat, too.

Samuel also continued his questioning of Belichick's legacy ... asking just hours after it was revealed Belichick and Robert Kraft had broken up, "How does a coach fall off?"

"Here's my thing," he said. "You're a coach. You don't have to be fast. You don't have to be strong. You don't have to be agile. All you have to do is use your mind like you always been doing and coach. So if you're so great of a coach, how do you fall off? You didn't lose anything!"

Before this kid chillin' in the snow -- with his beanie and scarf in tow -- turned into an actor and television host, he was just tap dancing at age 3 and growing up with his sister in Chula Vista, California.

He is one of the OG's of "Dancing With The Stars" ... partnering up with pro dancer Cheryl Burke back in 2006 and finishing 2nd place. When he's not in front of the camera he's either boxing in the gym (showing off his buff physique) or making TikTok vids with his kids!

Need one more clue? A.C. Slater!

Horrifying sight in L.A. during one of those wild police chases -- as the suspect was speeding away from cops, he tossed a small dog out his window!

This piece of crap was wanted for vandalism, and led CHP officers on a high-speed chase Thursday afternoon on several different L.A. freeways ... before exiting onto surface streets in the suburb of Pomona.

The guy didn't appear to slow down at all when he shockingly threw the dog out of his vehicle, forcing the pursuing police units to swerve around the poor animal.

Unfortunately, it's unclear if the pup even survived the fall from the truck.

As for the jerk behind the wheel ... he went on to hit 2 other vehicles during the chase -- the second one being a head-on 60 mph collision that brought the pursuit to an end.

Cops quickly surrounded his truck, and shouted instructions, but he would not get out on his own. Officers eventually used non-lethal rounds to shoot out his window, and then dragged him out and arrested him.

OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney was in an explosive, physical argument with her boyfriend less than 2 months before she stabbed him to death, and TMZ has the never-before-seen video.

Courtney and Christian Obumseli were at an OnlyFans content trip in Aspen back in February 2022, when she went ballistic after she got wind Christian was flirting with other women on the trip.

You hear her go off on him and then she begins hitting and pushing him. It was enough of a scene that other models stopped in their tracks to watch.

The video, which was just unsealed by prosecutors, is part of the murder case against Courtney. She stabbed him in their Miami apartment on April 3, 2022, and prosecutors plan to use the Aspen video to show she was volatile and violent.

Courtney is claiming self-defense ... she says Christian was violent toward her and the day he died she was afraid he would kill her.

Courtney told cops she threw the knife at Christian in self-defense, but the Medical Examiner testified at her bond hearing it would have been almost impossible for someone who is not an expert knife thrower to throw and knife that plunged into someone's body.

The defense begs to differ, and has produced a video of a pig carcass where someone throws a knife at it and it does indeed stick.

Tinder's co-founder, Sean Rad, has put his fat L.A. mansion on the market -- and you might be a match for it ... that is, if you're someone who's got an extra 8 figures lying around.

The dating app guru has his 10,000-plus square foot home for sale again, with a whopping asking price of $28.5 million -- and as you can imagine ... the 5 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms aren't the only perks of the place.

There's a lot of amenities that come with this 3-story pad -- including a pool, a full chef's kitchen, a cobblestone driveway, a full speakeasy bar, 2 fireplaces, a covered patio, a wine cellar, a gym, a library, and a private theater ... just to name a few.

BTW, Sean's estate -- being listed by some notable people in H'wood ... "Selling Sunset" stars Jason Oppenheim and Mary Fitzgerald ... in case you're a fan of the show.

Sean put his home on the market back in July, asking $32M for the spot -- this after originally buying the not-so-humble abode in 2018, picking it up from Kurt Rappaport for $26.5 mil. Now he's looking for a couple mil to line his pockets.

Hunter Biden has pled not guilty to all charges in the DOJ's case accusing the President's son of tax evasion.

As we reported, President Joe Biden's son was indicted last month on 9 charges, including failure to pay taxes, evasion of assessment, filing false or fraudulent tax returns ... and more.

Hunter made his first appearance in the case Thursday ... appearing before Judge Mark C. Scarsi, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, at the federal courthouse in downtown L.A.

He faces up to 17 years behind bars if convicted.

Special counsel David Weiss brought the case after an investigation involving Hunter's business dealings overseas.

Prosecutors claim Hunter spent millions on an extravagant lifestyle instead of paying his taxes.

As we reported, Hunter was indicted on separate gun charges back in Sept ... originally getting a plea deal for both the federal tax case and the gun situation.

Blac Chyna a.k.a. Angela White's mother Tokyo Toni is sneaking behind her back hoping to get into her daughter's ex-boyfriend's pants ... at least that's what these leaked DMs suggest.

Chyna and rapper Lil Twin Hector dated for a couple of years before breaking up in 2020 but on Thursday he confirmed his claims that Toni was sending him explicit DMs on Instagram -- by posting the explicit DMs on Instagram for all the world to see.

Very nasty work on display ... Toni initially hit up Twin, apparently threatening to take a flight just to beat up her daughter, which prompted Twin to send her a passionate message asking to fill her heart with love.

It turned out to be bait for a thirst trap ... Tokyo swore up and down Chyna was jealous of her natural body and then bared it all in the DMs in an attempt to arouse Twin.

The breaking point for Twin came when Tokyo sent him a clip of her while covered in blankets ... and pounding on her poom-poom.

Hector was so disgusted that he made a diss track/video titled "Ms Toni" and included the DMs as visual evidence.

Jelly Roll says he was part of the drug problem in America -- but is hoping to be a part of the solution now ... taking a powerful stance against fentanyl in front of Congress.

The country singer/rapper was on Capitol Hill Thursday -- where he gave testimony about his own experience in this department ... going over his history as a drug dealer, and detailing how he came out the other side.

Jelly says his troubled past actually makes him the perfect person to throw his support behind the anti-fentanyl legislation that was being discussed here ... listing heartbreaking examples of how his life's been personally affected by the spiraling problem.

JR explains that he's attended more funerals for his loved ones than he cares to share ... fearing one day, he'll have to tell his teen daughter her drug addict mom has become a national statistic -- which sits at 190 people dying from an overdose daily.

JR -- who had 40 prison stints before the age of 22 -- says he thought selling drugs was a victimless crime ... and never thought America's drug epidemic would spiral from crack cocaine to opioids/OxyContin, and now fentanyl. Now, he's acknowledging how deadly fentanyl is ... and vowing to do everything he can to eradicate it, hence his words today.

George Carlin's daughter is not laughing at a new AI-generated comedy special aiming to bring her famous father back to life ... 'cause she says the project straight up lacks soul.

Kelly Carlin-McCall joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked her about the new AI special, "George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead" -- which features a robot version of her father doing standup in what's being called a whole new set from the man himself.

George's daughter says the AI program has her dad's name, but that's about where the comparisons end ... she says the computer botched her dad's comedic cadence, and just doesn't capture the magic like he once did.

The AI show is available on YouTube but Kelly says her bone to pick isn't about money ... pointing out GC has tons of shows available to stream for free.

For George's daughter, the big issue is more about completely removing the art form's human element.

Kelly says the program drew on George's old jokes to try and form him opinion on contemporary topics -- Donald Trump, technology, transgender people, reality TV -- but she says it's basically a soulless exercise.

Dudesy is the AI platform behind the show, and Tom Brady's already successfully gotten his own AI-generated comedy special removed from the internet. Kelly says she's considering legal action and might pick the brains of TB12's lawyers.

Kim Kardashian's Range Rover from about a year and a half ago is all of a sudden hitting the open market all the way across the country -- and it looks like it's been in an accident.

The listing featuring her old ride -- a silver 2022 model that was pimped out with custom rims and all -- popped up on a Carfax listing this week ... and as you can see, it's pretty smashed up from front to back. The bumpers are off, and the airbags are deployed.

Aside from the similar look to the car Kim once drove, the actual license plate matches up too ... and TMZ checked DMV records as well on this, and she's listed as a previous owner.

Now, it's being sold all the way over in Florida by a company called Elite Motor Cars of Miami -- which is using Carfax to unload this thing (damaged and all) and they're asking for a bundle ... listing it for just under $100k. That's right ... you can take it as is for that price!

Now, as for how the hell KK's whip ended up on some random lot in Miami -- we have answers for that too. Sources with direct knowledge tell us the vehicle had been driven by a former Kim K staffer who got into an accident at some point last year ... driving solo.

We're told nobody was hurt, but that in the aftermath of that ... Kim and co. sold it to a 3rd party who took it over -- and who is now apparently trying to flip it.

Remember, Kim has driven this thing pretty consistently all over L.A. throughout the past year and change. She received it as a birthday gift from her mom, Kris Jenner, in Oct. 2022 ... and then got it customized by a place here in town called Platinum Motorsports.

At the time, reports had this thing pegged in value at about $125k. Looks like it's still worth quite a lot even after getting wrecked -- at least that's how the new owners feel, anyway.

Tom Brady is weighing in on Bill Belichick's departure from New England ... saying he's thankful he was able to play for the greatest NFL coach of all time.

TB12 shared his thoughts about the huge Patriots news in a lengthy Instagram post on Thursday ... saying Belichick was "a great leader for the organization, and for all of the players who played for him."

"We accomplished some amazing things over a long period of time, many of which will be hard to replicate."

Brady and Belichick were one of the greatest combos in NFL history -- they led the Pats to 19-straight winning seasons and 17 division titles during their time together.

They also appeared in nine Super Bowls ... taking home the Lombardi Trophy six times.

"He worked every day to help us achieve the ultimate goal, in the ultimate team sport," Brady continued. "And, although we were successful, some of the greatest lessons, I learned, were in the moments where we faced the most challenging adversities."

"I could never have been the player I was without you Coach Belichick. I am forever grateful. And I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose next."

It seems to put an end to any speculation there could still be bad blood between the two ... as many believed Bill played a large role in Brady's departure to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.

Brady also had BB's back during the season ... saying the Pats' struggles were not his fault.

Belichick also poured his heart out at Thursday's press conference ... saying he's grateful for the 24 years in NE, the coaching staff, players and especially the fans.

"Fans here are amazing," the 71-year-old said. "So many memories of fans, the send-offs, the parades, the Sundays."

"Stranger Things" star Gaten Matarazzo was spotted filming the final season of the Netflix hit ... and ya gotta admit, he's sure as hell not looking like a teenager anymore -- despite them trying to keep the illusion alive.

Gaten was on set Thursday in Georgia, chatting it up -- seemingly about his scene -- in between takes ... wearing the iconic Hellfire Club shirt in front of a grave for Eddie Munson, the loveable misfit played by Joseph Quinn who died last season.

Eddie and Gaten's character Dustin Henderson were thick as thieves in the show, BTW ... so you can bet this will be a pretty emotional scene -- and on another note, GM's grown his hair out too ... very Eddie-like.

Now, addressing the elephant in the room ... Gaten doesn't look like the kid he was when this whole thing premiered in 2016 ... the dude's 21 now, so keeping him as a teenager on the show is tricky -- and yet, that's exactly what they're trying to sell here.

We should note ... the entire cast looks much older than their character's ages -- and fans have been pointing that out for a while ... but it's unclear if this final season will involve a time jump of some sort, or will pick up where season 4 left off. Time jump would help make this go down easier in terms of buying the characters' matured appearances.

BTW, Gaten's made a huge name for himself following his 'ST' breakout -- he was in the movie "Honor Society," appeared on Broadway in shows like "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Sweeny Todd," and hosted/executive produced the Netflix series, "Prank Encounters."

Kali Uchis and Don Toliver are the latest musical couple expecting a bundle of joy -- the R&B stars popped the lid off their baby-making secret with an IG reveal on Thursday.

The soon-to-be parents both shared a heartfelt video that not only chronicled their baby's journey in their womb but also included footage of them both as children.

Kali capped off the vid with a loving message to their newborn ... "Starting our family❤️‍🩹 don’t take too long to get here little pooks, mom & dad can’t wait to share our life with you."

The two began dating in 2020 and are also frequent in-studio collaborators with one another.

More mysterious video of what appears to be super tall human-like beings walking among us ... and this time, folks are claiming there are 10-foot tall "aliens" down in Brazil.

Ya gotta see these videos from Ilha do Mel, an island off the coast of Brazil ... where locals claim they saw at least two tall and mysterious figures standing on a hilltop. It's hard to gauge how far away these clips were shot from -- but whatever's out there sure looks big.

The so-called "aliens" here in the videos seem to be surveying the land below from up on the hill ... moving around, gesturing and seemingly walking through the landscape.

It's pretty crazy ... the woman who took the video says it's pretty much impossible for humans to reach the part of the hill where the "creatures" are ... and she says the beings are way bigger than people. At one point, you start to see them on the move -- walking around!

The sighting comes only days after an incident in Miami ... where conspiracy theorists claim video shows a tall "gray creature" walking through an outdoor mall in the middle of a massive police response.

As we first told you, cops in Miami said that video doesn't show a creature but rather a human shadow ... and the cops were responding to a huge fight.

The Brazilian government is going a different route to brush this incident off ... posting on social media, "Surreaaaaaaal what happened on Ilha do Mel!!! Verão Maior Paraná is another story and even 'strange beings' came to check it out. 😱 And you, will you be left out? 🤔"

In other words, they're trying to play this off as a hoax ... or not what people think it is.

Eye of the beholder, we suppose -- we'll say this though ... these sightings are becoming more frequent. And at some point, someone might get something on camera that's impossible to deny as much ado about nothing. Until then, here are more breadcrumbs for the unknown.