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"Cocaine Bear" producers might have a sequel ... 'cause a man was allegedly caught using another creature to smuggle blow -- and underwater sequences are all the rage.

Zacharie Scott was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport International Airport in NYC Friday for allegedly attempting to smuggle coke inside bags of frozen jumbo shrimp.

The 22-year-old -- who lives in Guyana but holds U.S. citizenship -- allegedly hid bricks of the drug inside shrimp bags, essentially covering up the substance ... making for a very different kind of cocktail party.

Feds said they did a field test ... revealing traces of cocaine -- and all together, the drugs allegedly weighed more than 40 pounds! Authorities say they talked to Scott ... and he confessed to agreeing to smuggle the drugs for cash.

Scott appeared in Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday to face charges brought by Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York who's spearheading the case -- and Scott's being detained until his bail hearing on Tuesday ... if convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

We've reached out to Scott's attorney for comment ... so far, no word back.

The relationship between Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco is so serious that she's now introducing him to her fatherly figure TV costars Steve Martin and Martin Short.

TMZ obtained these photos of Selena and Benny interacting with Steve and Martin on the red carpet at the 75th Annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles last Monday.

As you may know, Selena, Steve, and Martin all star in the hit Hulu show, "Only Murders In The Building," which was up for 11 Emmy Awards, but snagged only one statue for Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Program (Half-Hour).

Eyewitnesses tell us ... the meeting between the four celebs occurred just prior to the kick-off of the gala event. Selena was first to approach Steve and Martin on the red carpet, giving them big hugs before chatting with them a bit.

Our sources say she then introduced her record producer boyfriend, Benny, to her costars, while the three men shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.

Sources tell us everyone got along great and it seemed as if Selena was presenting her new beau for the first time to a couple of fatherly figures in her life. Of course, we can't be sure if they had ever met before this encounter.

After talking amongst each other for about five minutes, the foursome left the red carpet to go inside the theater for the awards show.

Justin Timberlake hit the stage in his hometown of Memphis Friday night to showcase his new song "Selfish" -- and the packed crowd went wild as videos of the concert surfaced on social media.

The Tennessee-born actor/musician performed for 90 minutes in front of over 1,800 fans at the Orpheum Theater in great anticipation of the release of his upcoming sixth record called "Everything I Thought It Was."

As we reported, Justin filed docs to trademark the album name, signaling fresh music was on the horizon.

As for the performance ... check out the footage of Justin dancing out onstage to the band playing his music. After taking a swig from his water bottle, Justin starts grooving to the sounds with the audience members who are shooting cell phone videos of him.

At one point, Justin turns to a fan who appears to be having some phone trouble and helps him out with his glitch. In another clip, Justin sings the song everyone's been waiting for -- "Selfish" -- while his face is dripping with sweat.

Justin ended the show by thanking the Tennessee crowd and waving goodbye before walking offstage. At the end of the concert, Justin's camp posted a trailer for his sixth album, which was narrated by actor Benicio Del Toro.

Just a little background ... speculation had run rampant recently that Justin was about to drop some fresh tuneage before he announced last week the Orpheum concert, which he dubbed, “One Night Only."

Well, this is crazy ... just days after Richard Simmons seemed pissed Pauly Shore was doing an unauthorized biopic on his life, RS now seems to be giving the thumbs up to the project.

TMZ obtained this video from the Sundance Film Festival Friday night, where Pauly got onstage to introduce the short film that will eventually become the full movie version of Richard's life.

He began by telling the crowd Richard texted him earlier in the day, wishing him "good luck" with the screening. The audience gave its rousing approval.

It's a total about-face ... just a few days ago, Richard wrote on Facebook, "You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this movie. So don't believe everything you read."

To say he never gave his permission is as much as saying DON'T DO THIS!

If Pauly is putting yesterday's text in full context, maybe Richard had a change of heart.

The Wolper Organization, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. that's developing the film, told us -- "While we would love to have him involved, we respect his desire to privacy and plan to produce a movie that honors him, celebrates him and tells a dramatic story."

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West showed up for their son Saint's basketball game Friday night – and the former couple came together and did their best to hide the multitude of issues between them.

Kanye arrived separately from Kim and their daughter, Chicago, at the sporting event in LA Friday night. While rooting on Saint during the match-up, Kim and Kanye had an interaction, which was photographed by paparazzi.

Check out the images, obtained by TMZ ... Kim is standing beside Kanye with Chicago between them, talking to the rapper about something. What they discussed is anyone's guess.

Other pictures captured the exes sitting in the same row but several chairs apart with Kanye texting on his phone and Kim chatting with Saint. Their other kids -- North and Psalm — did not attend the game.

As we reported, Kim and Kanye finalized their divorce in 2022 after 7 years of marriage and have been co-parenting ever since. The pair have reunited before at various gatherings, but only in support of their children.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... behind the scenes there have been problems with various child-rearing issues ... where Kim and Kanye don't see eye to eye. And, we're told, Kim is super upset over Kanye's latest torrent of antisemitic rants, praising Hitler and the Nazis.

1/20 10:23 AM PT -- Rick Harrison posted a tribute to Adam on his Instagram saying "You will always be in my heart! I love you Adam. 💔"

Fans and celebs left supportive comments on his post, including Donald Trump Jr., who stated "I'm so sorry man."

And, his brother Corey also took to Insta to post a sweet message with a pic of the two in the tub together as kids.

6:46 PM PT -- The Harrison family tells TMZ ... "Our family is extremely saddened by the death of Adam. We ask for privacy as we grieve his loss."

Rick Harrison's son Adam has died under tragic circumstances ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for the 'Pawn Stars' reality star tells us Adam recently died from a fatal overdose ... and we're told the family only just found out today. At this time, it's unclear where Adam was exactly when he passed -- and the specific circumstances are also unknown at this time.

Las Vegas Metro PD tells us they're investigating the case.

Adam is one of Rick's three kids -- all boys -- and he's been mostly off the radar in terms of Rick's show and store. Word is ... Adam helped out at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop once upon a time -- but has since stepped away to do his own thing.

He doesn't appear to have been featured in any of the episodes from what we can see.

Rick had two kids with his first wife Kim ... Corey and Adam -- and he also had a son, Jake, with his second wife, Tracy.

While Rick's oldest son Corey is heavily involved in "Pawn Stars," first appearing on the reality show way back in 2009, Adam mostly remained out of the spotlight.

With Adam never really getting involved on the show, there's not a lot known about him ... though some folks have claimed he made a living as a plumber. We've heard he worked professionally in some kind of trade, but no word on what kind of job specifically.

Adam was only 39.

RIP

Logan Paul was once in the crosshairs of a man who seemed obsessed with him -- and who even broke into his home -- but he didn't realize the man took his own life ... until now.

We sat with the YouTuber-turned-boxer for a conversation about this dark chapter in his life -- namely, back in 2018 when a guy named Tahj Deondre Speight allegedly trespassed by making his way into Logan's house without authorization, which led to a confrontation.

LP ended up detaining Speight -- and he was ultimately arrested, charged, prosecuted and eventually jailed ... but at some point, he died -- and it appears it was via suicide.

Harvey actually broke this news to Logan in our interview ... and it's clear he was not aware of this development -- with the update hitting him hard on the spot. We ask the question ... did the system fail Speight by not getting him the help or resources he needed?

Logan gives an honest answer, and somewhat surprisingly ... he says he has empathy for the man he once wrestled to the ground. It's an emotional response, and a heartfelt one too.

His full chat is part of a new show called 'TMZ Investigates: Obsessed and Dangerous: Hollywood’s Stalker Crisis' -- the start of a weekly series that hits FOX Monday at 9/8c.

Pauly Shore's Richard Simmons short dropped last night ... and Simmons stans will recognize the moment it's based on -- plus get an idea of what the feature film's gonna be like.

PS premiered "The Court Jester" at Sundance, and he went full Simmons for the role -- he looks a ton like him with the hair, tank top and thigh-high shorts ... and on top of that, Shore picked a viral moment from Richard's life. While the screening took place during the festival it was not an official Sundance selection.

The short -- not the full-scale biopic he's making -- opens with a production assistant backstage of a show hosted by a woman who looks and sounds like Ellen DeGeneres ... when Richard is called onto the stage.

Pauly's Richard comes out with a ton of energy, running around in front of the audience, sweat dripping down his forehead ... a clear reenactment of Richard's appearance on "Ellen" more than a decade ago.

Check it out ... Richard jumps around so fast cameras can barely keep up, pushes the same DVD and even pretends to be a workout machine Ellen can use -- art imitating life taken to the extreme!!!

Pauly's also showing off his acting chops in the more low-key moments too -- having a heart-to-heart with the PA from the beginning of the short while chowing down on a sprinkle donut.

Shore's clearly trying to be pretty respectful of Richard ... backing him with an angelic light while he drops knowledge on the young "Ellen" crew member -- though at this point, Richard's probably not coming around to Pauly's upcoming biopic

As we reported ... Richard -- who doesn't speak publicly much anymore -- came out and blasted Pauly's movie ... basically saying he didn't give his permission or blessing to Shore's project.

When we talked to Pauly about it ... he said he's holding out hope Richard comes around, but he's going forward with the project whether he gets the fitness guru's thumbs up or not.

A Pennsylvania man is dead because his loud snoring kept waking up his fed-up neighbor, who stabbed him to death to get him to stop.

The bizarre, real-life tale began last Sunday evening in Upper Moreland Township, where police responded to the home of Christopher Casey after receiving a 911 call from him to report a stabbing.

When they arrived, the cops discovered Casey's neighbor, Robert Wallace, about 50 feet from the house with two knife wounds in his body. Casey also had been stabbed in the right thigh. Police found blood inside and outside the residence.

Both men were rushed to a local hospital, where Wallace died, and Casey was treated for his non-life-threatening injuries.

Investigators were able to piece together that Wallace went over to Casey's home that night and stepped onto his porch to detach a screen from one of the windows.

Casey, who was eating dinner, was somehow alerted and confronted Wallace, getting into a heated argument.

During the verbal altercation, Casey produced a military-style knife, plunging the blade into Wallace twice. It was not clear how Casey suffered his wound. Police recovered the knife at the crime scene.

Perhaps the most stunning element of the story came when detectives learned the motive behind the attack ... the neighbors had been involved in an ongoing beef over Casey's loud snoring, which could be heard through a wall shared by their connected homes.

Bill Maher is back for a new season, and he came out swinging against both the left and right extremes, saying both sides are so crazy they meet the standard for involuntary commitment.

The "Real Time" host bore down on both extremes Friday night, proclaiming 2024 as the year of sanity. He says enough of the extremes getting all the attention. And then, he gave them some attention, but clearly not the kind they want.

Bill went in hard on the right, noting the leading Republican candidate is kind of dictator. On the left, he noted 3 university presidents could not bring themselves to squarely condemn calls for the genocide of Jews. As BM says, "Can't anyone say f**k no?!?"

He scoffs at folks who are supporting Hamas, especially those Hamas would kill because of their views, race, sexual orientation, etc. Bill says people who are supporting causes that would ultimately kill them meet the standard for involuntary commitment ... i.e. a danger to themselves.

And speaking of extremes ... a Lululemon employee was fired for getting a shoplifter arrested, and Trump wants to shoot shoplifters. As Bill says, why can't we just find a middle ground?

Prince Harry gave a shout-out to his late mother Princess Diana Friday night as he accepted an award in LA for his time in the British Army as a copilot and gunner.

The Duke of Sussex strolled out on stage at the "Living Legends of Aviation" event in the Beverly Hills Hilton to receive the honor from actor John Travolta, who draped a medallion necklace around Harry's neck. As you may have heard, Harry spent 10 years in the British military, ascending to the rank of Captain.

During his acceptance speech, Harry traveled back in time to Travolta's 1985 meeting with Diana at a White House dinner attended by then-President Ronald Reagan.

Harry said, “I was just a one-year-old when you danced with my mum at the White House and now look at us,” referring to Travolta.

Recalling the moment, Travolta responded, “Now I see you again under a new circumstance, on a new stage.”

Harry replied, "The only thing left to do is… not dance together but fly together," a clear reference to Travolta also being a pilot.

The two then exited the stage, presumably to make plans to go flying together.

The ladies of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" better thank their lucky stars NeNe Leakes isn't a Bravo producer ... cause a bunch of them would be out of a job if she was.

We got the former 'RHOA' star at LAX Wednesday, and she didn't take it easy on the show that made her famous ... saying quite easily that the dip in ratings means showrunners need to blow the damn thing up!!!

NL says it's a bad look for the show to keep running out the same cast over and over, and she thinks some fresh blood might be good for the 15-year-old program.

Now, she's not talking about a total reset (a la "The Real Housewives of New York" after season 13) ... but Leakes says she thinks "at least half" the girls have to get the boot.

She's not talking about anyone in particular though -- since NeNe doesn't even watch the show anymore! Instead, Leakes says she sees the clips via social media ... adding it's simply "not the same" as it was back in the day.

NeNe adds she could definitely help with the show's ratings ... but she doesn't seem super interested in coming back -- saying she has no message for Andy Cohen or the 'Housewives' team ... remember, she's got a pretty fraught relationship with the show after accusing executives (and Kim Zolciak) of racism in 2022.

A reunion isn't the craziest idea in the world though -- NeNe's clearly gotten over her issues with KZ, talking her up a ton during the same convo with our photog ... maybe she's ready to mend a couple more fences?

Leakes' final advice to producers ... keep the fans in mind while making the show -- the biggest priority should be to please the audience.

Kanye West is supposedly going to apologize for being an antisemite before his album drops, yet he's wearing clothes with pics of neo-Nazis, and Noah Schnapp's getting dragged for his support of Israel. So we gotta ask ...

Don't count out Larry Merchant ... the legendary boxing announcer tells TMZ Sports he's on the mend after a bout with vertigo that put him in the hospital!

We broke the story ... 92-year-old Merchant was rushed to the emergency room just days before Christmas, and things appeared bleak for the former HBO Boxing commentator.

But, Larry himself tells us he's on the mend!

Merchant says he was diagnosed with vertigo, but after receiving treatment, he was sprung from the hospital after just a few days. He's now recovering at home, and he says he's doing well.

According to WebMD, "Vertigo is a sensation of feeling off balance. If you have these dizzy spells, you might feel like you are spinning or that the world around you is spinning."

Merchant says he "appreciated the outpouring" of support, and even joked it was like witnessing his funeral.

Merchant, who worked alongside fellow greats like Jim Lampley, George Foreman, Roy Jones Jr., and Harold Lederman, laid down his microphone in 2012 ... and is widely regarded as one of the greatest commentators in the history of the sport.

These toasty stars are fired up for the chilly season -- getting cozy by the fire -- and let's face it, nothin' beats sittin' by a fresh fire and hearing that crackle-pop! Well, these flame-fueled photos from the stars have been comin' in HOT non-stop!

Sparkin' some major hotness ... Saweetie turned up with a nice glass of red in front of her marble-lit fireplace, Sam Asghari's washboard abs almost put the fire OUT in his neck of the woods, and leave it to Kourtney Kardashian to sip, sit and look fire-hot in Calabasas.

'King of Kong' star Billy Mitchell is keeping score after Twin Galaxies reinstated his historical records ... after a multi-year dispute over cheating allegations.

Billy tells TMZ ... he's satisfied and relieved with the recent resolution in his defamation case against the video game database ... nearly 6 years after they suggested he fabricated his Donkey Kong record through an emulation software, banned him, and wiped his scores from their site.

He tells us when the investigation and claims began in 2018, his first order of business was going back to the arcade and beating all the scores, which he did.

For some people this wasn't good enough, so now that his name is cleared, he is going to get back to what he enjoys doing, which is playing games, breaking records, attending events, and being an ambassador for competitive gaming.

Billy's happy his history has finally been restored -- but doesn't get why people were trying to rewrite it in the first place ... especially 'cause Twin Galaxies ain't as relevant as it used to be, according to him.

"The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" was a 2007 documentary about competitive arcade gaming that followed Steve Wiebe attempting to take down Billy's high score record in Donkey Kong. Following the success of the documentary, he was told there was talk of a feature film with Tom Cruise and Jim Carrey being eyed as the lead.

As for now, Billy's taking the onslaught of movie offers his way seriously ... after putting them on the back burner while his defamation case raged on.

Billy's lead counsel, Anthony Ellrod tells TMZ... “This was an extremely hard fought case, and I am happy that the parties were ultimately able to resolve it. Cases like this where an individual’s credibility and veracity are at stake are very difficult to resolve short of trial. I credit the hard work of all parties and counsel in reaching a settlement.”