TMZ.com Home

The famed author Clive Cussler -- whose 1992 adventure novel "Sahara" was adapted into a film and starred Matthew McConaughey -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Cussler died Monday, according to his son. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Cussler wrote more than 2 dozen novels, including "Raise the Titanic," in his series of Dirk Pitt novels. It became a movie in 1980. By the way ... Dirk is also his son's name, and Cussler's last 3 books were co-authored by Dirk.

"Sahara" was the highest-grossing movie that was adapted from his novels. It grossed $122 million.

In all, Cussler sold more than 100 million books, and he's been published in more than 40 languages.

Cussler was internationally recognized as an expert in shipwrecks. He founded the National Underwater and Marine Agency ... an homage to naval history. One of his books, "The Sea Hunters," was so deep in knowledge, the Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State of New York, gave Cussler a doctorate and did not require a thesis -- the book was enough.

Clive Cussler was married nearly 50 years. His wife died in 2003. Cussler leaves behind 3 children. He later got remarried to Janet Horvath.

Cussler was 88.

Harvey Weinstein's got prison officials in NYC thinking twice about how to deal with him behind bars -- because their biggest fear is another Jeffrey Epstein-like suicide.

High-ranking officials at NYC's Department of Corrections tell TMZ ... there's anxiety running through the ranks about another "Epstein Incident" and the scrutiny that would follow if HW offed himself on their watch, which is why an action plan is in place.

For starters, we're told one possibility is that Weinstein will be housed in a private section of Rikers Island's North Infirmary Command, which is for high-profile inmates or guys with health issues -- Harvey fits both. He could land in the "ANNEX," with the other dudes falling apart.

Once he's there and all checked in, our sources say HW will probably get his own cell with round-the-clock surveillance cameras watching his every move. And, when he's out walking around, we're told he'll have DOC officials escorting him. There's a reason for that.

You'll recall ... Epstein's death was put under a magnifying glass when he hanged himself in his cell, while guards were supposed to be checking in periodically. That whole thing's still being investigated right now, but in any case ... officials don't want that with Harvey.

In fact, we're being told people at NYC's DOC don't even want Harvey as a prisoner -- we're told he's seen as a huge risk, and there are talks of trying to ship him elsewhere.

In the meantime, though, we're told Weinstein's milking his stay at the Bellevue Hospital he was taken to this week after complaints of chest pains. Sources tell us he's got his own room there, and that the conditions are much nicer than what's waiting for him at Rikers.

Of course, if they can't get the guy off their hands ... DOC might have to look after HW for the next several years. He's facing a minimum sentence of at least 5 years after Monday's conviction.

Lamar Odom says he REALLY misses Kobe Bryant -- because Kobe would often act as a life coach for Odom, who admits he could really use Bryant's wisdom right now.

Odom and Bryant weren't just teammates -- they were incredibly close friends. Remember, when Odom suffered his 2015 overdose in Nevada, Kobe was one of the first people who rushed to the hospital to be by his side.

Now, Odom says he's adjusting to life without his brother -- and admits the whole situation sucks.

"I'm alright," Odom told us outside of Staples Center on Tuesday ... "I miss my guy though. Real talk."

Odom says he relied on Bryant to advise him through tough situations -- and he's currently in the middle of one right now -- admitting he's getting criticism from fans who are unhappy that Odom pawned his 2008-09 and 2009-10 Lakers championship rings.

"First, I would ask him how do I get these fans to forgive me for pawning those rings?"

As we previously reported, Odom pawned the rings several years ago during his drama with Khloe Kardashian.

Clearly, Odom wants them back -- but it'll cost him. The rings recently hit the auction block where they were expected to sell for around $100,000.

There's more ... Odom says he reconnected with some of his old Lakers teammates during Tuesday night's game against the New Orleans Pelicans and they reminisced about Kobe.

George Clooney's vowing to take action after an investigation linked child labor to farms used by Nespresso ... the coffee brand he's been the face of since 2006.

Clooney says he was "surprised and saddened" by the story -- which will air soon on the British program, "Dispatches," on the U.K.'s Channel 4 -- and promises "work will be done" to improve conditions.

The troubling news was reported by journalist Anthony Barnett after he and a crew were given access to remote Guatemalan farms -- which allegedly supply Nespresso, and had children working the fields. The coffee company claims to source all of its beans ethically.

In response to the report, Clooney says ... "Having grown up working on a tobacco farm from the time I was 12 I’m uniquely aware of the complex issues regarding farming and child labor."

He adds ... "That’s why I joined the Sustainability advisory board of Nespresso seven years ago along with the Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade International, and the Fair Labour Association among many others with the goal then, as it remains to this day to improve the lives of farmers."

Clooney says they've made great progress, but adds ... "With that in mind it is also imperative to have talented investigative reporters showing the board where they have yet to succeed ... Clearly this board and this company still have work to do."

Future says his alleged baby mama's treating her baby girl like an ATM to squeeze money out of him, and he even claims she's given the child a nickname ... "check baby."

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the rapper claims Eliza Seraphin has referred to the 9-month-old little girl by that phrase. Future's lawyers define the term as "slang terminology describing a child conceived solely for the purposes of extorting monies from the father of a child in the child support setting."

Translation: Future's claiming Eliza got knocked up just to get money out of him. TBH, it's a claim he's made before, but now he's claiming even Eliza cops to it.

In the docs, the rapper claims one of her friends alleged, during an online interview, Eliza had gone as far as researching the amount of child support Future paid to his other baby mamas ... just to see what she could get out of him.

What's more, Future claims that friend also said Eliza started taking fertility pills to increase her chances of getting impregnated by Future.

He says the kid only needs around $450 per month -- a number he based on a financial affidavit Eliza filed in court, detailing her monthly expenses. Anything above that is a money grab, in Future's eyes.

Jussie Smollett says the truth will set him free -- literally -- as he ramps up for a second round of fighting criminal charges in Chicago.

The ex-"Empire" star was leaving LAX Tuesday when a photog ran into him and asked to see how he's holding up. His lawyer says he's a tough cookie, but Jussie laughs it off -- it's pretty clear he's going through it, and seems to think at least that much should be obvious.

Of course ... we're talking about Jussie getting re-charged for allegedly lying to cops about the hate crime he claims was perpetrated against him by MAGA-hat wearing thugs -- this after the State Attorney's Office dropped the original 16 charges against him almost a year ago.

He's pled not guilty again, and his legal team has filed a motion for the case to be dismissed over double jeopardy -- which basically means you can't prosecute someone over the same offenses twice. Jussie and his lawyer talk about that, plus other possible defenses.

The photog asks point-blank ... which is it gonna be, JS -- telling 'em you didn't do it, or hope double jeopardy saves ya? Watch ... Jussie says there's only one thing he can count on.

A tennis legend is calling it quits ... Maria Sharapova just announced she's done with the sport for good.

"Tennis -- I’m saying goodbye," Sharapova wrote Wednesday.

"Tennis showed me the world -- and it showed me what I was made of," the 32-year-old added. "It's how I tested myself and how I measured my growth."

"And so in whatever I might choose for my next chapter, my next mountain, I'll still be pushing. I’ll still be climbing. I'll still be growing."

Sharapova was a former No. 1 player in the world ... and won five career Grand Slams -- including Wimbledon in 2004 when she was just 17 years old.

Of course, Sharapova also gained a ton of fame from her rivalry with Serena Williams ... which was more of complete and utter dominance than actual competitiveness.

In 23 career matchups ... Serena won 20 of them, including 18 in a row at one point!!

Maria, though, still won the U.S. Open in 2006, the Australian Open in 2008 and the French Open twice in 2012 and 2014.

But, Maria's career didn't come without controversy ... she tested positive for a banned substance in 2016 and was ultimately suspended from the game for 15 MONTHS.

In fact, the test caused such a backlash in the tennis world ... Genie Bouchard straight-up called her a "cheater" who deserved a lifetime ban.

Sharapova -- who battled numerous shoulder injuries throughout her career -- said Thursday of all the ups and downs in her career, "I realize that tennis has been my mountain."

"My path has been filled with valleys and detours, but the views from its peak were incredible. After 28 years and five Grand Slam titles, though, I'm ready to scale another mountain -- to compete on a different type of terrain."

Jenelle Evans says she's not back together with David Eason, but they're still doing a lot together ... like buying new pet supplies, including a dog bed.

The former 'Teen Mom' star was spotted Tuesday shopping at a Walmart in Leland, NC -- where she was leaving the big box store with whom we're told was none other than her baby daddy, DE, and a couple of her kids tagging along. As you can see, they had their hands full.

One of the kids is holding what appears to be a doggy bed or pet bed of some kind. We're also told by eyewitnesses, their bags had dog food inside as well.

In case we have to remind you ... David killed their last family dog, which led to their kids being temporarily taken away. Since then, they've gotten the kids back ... and they've also welcomed a few new animals into their lives, including at least 2 dogs and a goat.

It's unclear if they still got the hounds running around the yard, or what these supplies might be for exactly ... but when ya buy new dog stuff, you probably have a new dog around.

As for whether they're actually a thing again in the wake of their split, we'll let you decide. If it looks like a relationship and walks like a relationship, it's probably ... ah, you get it.

A few of the women on "Little Women: Atlanta" got super-mad at each other while cameras were rolling ... and they put on quite the rowdy show.

Production sources for the Lifetime reality series tell TMZ ... they were filming recently at Nouveau Bar&Grill near Atlanta for the launch of a new eyewear line by one of the cast members, Ms. Juicy.

At some point during the event -- after guzzling some alcoholic drinks -- we're told the twins on the show, Amanda and Andrea Salinas, got into an argument with Abira. Our sources say the trash-talking escalated until finally, as you can see ... a drink gets thrown at the twins.

One of the twins fires back ... and all hell breaks loose. Though the twin who threw her drink gets carried away, the other one goes on the attack and appears to trade blows with Abira.

It looks like Ms. Juicy gets caught up in the mayhem and may have been struck as well. The fight's broken up pretty quickly after that.

Kristen McDow (maiden name Kristen Rodeheaver) got a glimpse of the limelight when she was cast as the teen crush in a striped shirt -- who JB falls for during the synchronized dancing and pool-splashing teen party ... complete with silly string fights -- in the music video for Justin Bieber's 2009 single, "One Time," on his debut album, "My World."

McDow isn't to be confused with Jasmine V who played the bowling and breakdancing crush in the 2010 follow-up music video, "Baby."

Since it's creation, the pop music video has racked up over 600 million views on youtube!

The 10th Democratic Presidential debate's just moments away from kicking off and a long list of celebs are already backing their horse before the first issue is raised on stage.

We did a little digging ahead of Tuesday's South Carolina debate, and Federal Election Commission filings reveal one candidate flexed his muscles most ... when it came to celebrity donations in January -- Pete Buttigieg:
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson ($2,800)
- Chloe Grace Moretz ($500)
- Thomas Lennon ($500)

He got another $3,000, BTW, from Thomas last year.

As for frontrunner, Sen. Bernie Sanders:
- Simon Helberg ($1,500)
- Rashida Jones ($1,000)
- Danny DeVito  ($100)

Danny's a serious Bernie Bro too ... he also gave him $2,700 last year and even appears in one of his campaign ads.

Repping for Sen. Elizabeth Warren:
- Sally Field ($1,000)
- Lily Tomlin ($275)
- William Baldwin ($200)
- Yvette Brown ($328.56)

Honorable mention: Adam Scott and Elizabeth Banks didn't plunk down anything in January, but each donated $2,800 to Warren's campaign in December.

Not to be forgotten, Joe Biden got donations from Jean Smart ($340) and Josh Gad ($250) -- while Sen. Amy Klobuchar got some love from Sarah Jessica Parker ($250).

If you've ever wondered how Amazon can get packages to people so damn fast, get a load of this ... it might just answer your question.

TMZ got footage of a remote location just east of L.A. where the online retailing giant stashes hundreds of delivery vans ... literally at the ready in a hillside dirt parking lot. Check out the clip, it's an impressive sight ... rows upon rows -- each at least 100 deep -- of vehicles parked side-by-side.

BTW, this isn't Amazon going rogue and plopping its fleet in a random open space -- like much of L.A.'s real estate lately ... Jeff Bezos is paying for this space. Although, he didn't buy this one yet ... Amazon's just renting.

Ya gotta figure Amazon has similar hidden storage spots all over the country.

Naturally, that might lead to more criticism of Bezos himself, who's been grilled lately for not being quick enough to offset Amazon's massive carbon footprint on the environment. Ya still gotta give him credit for recently starting a new Earth Fund with billions of dollars of his own cash.

Another parent involved in the college admissions bribery scandal is going to be locked up for a while ... this time it's an heiress to the Hot Pockets fortune, who pled guilty to trying to cheat her daughters' way in.

Michelle Janavs was just sentenced to 5 months in prison for paying $100,000 to the scheme's mastermind, Rick Singer, to help her 2 daughters cheat on college entrance exams ... and agreeing to pay another $200k for one of her daughter's to be set up to look like a beach volleyball recruit to get admitted to USC.

Before hearing her sentence, the judge made it clear Janavs had caused harm to the U.S. system of higher education ... and prosecutors blasted her, claiming she held an "attitude that she is untouchable" and "no one could stop her." Her lawyers asked for no jail time, but the judge wasn't buying it.

Prosecutors didn't get nearly what they wanted ...  they recommended 21 months, calling her one of the "most culpable parents" charged in the case who refused to accept responsibility for her actions until months after she was busted. Unlike other parents who pled guilty right away, she was also hit with a money-laundering conspiracy charge.

Her defense team went to bat for her, though, arguing for more than 45 minutes that she's a "generous and selfless" person who's "the rock of her family." It also mentioned a time she dressed up as "The Candy Monster" while visiting kids to talk about childhood hunger.

Janavs' lawyers had previously suggested she's just a loving and devoted mother who fell victim to Singer ... and pointed to her history of philanthropy and devotion to her family in urging the judge to not send her to prison.

In the end, however ... it didn't work.

The Hot Pockets heiress now joins several other parents to receive time behind bars in the scandal, including Felicity Huffman ... who got 14 days in her deal. Others have received sentences ranging from probation to 9 months behind bars.

Post Malone proved he can read a crowd ... busting out an awesome custom tee honoring his late pal, Mac Miller, which got concert-goers on their feet and 100% amped.

The singer was performing Monday night at the PPG Paints Arena in Mac's hometown ... and he came out wearing an oldie but goodie that was custom-made to pay tribute to the rapper -- who tragically died of an overdose about 2 years ago.

It's a white T-shirt that's been decked out to read "RIP Mac Miller" with super-dope designs and airbrush lettering. Post originally started wearing the shirt shortly after MM passed.

Sounds like it was a good move to don it yet again in the Steel City, 'cause we're told the audience went crazy -- the energy in the place exponentially jumped, especially when Post and his shirt got splashed across the big screen monitors behind him.

The crowd was definitely into it -- you can hear them helping Posty sing along to his own tune ... even though it doesn't appear he attempted to cover a Mac Miller song while up there. Probably better that way, no one could do it quite like the man himself.

Grammy-winning singer Duffy is emerging from years of obscurity to make a startling revelation -- she's been trying to recover after getting drugged and raped.

The "Mercy" singer said she was finally ready to discuss her virtual public disappearance since 2011 when she'd released her second album. She says, "The truth is, and please trust me I am OK and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days."

Duffy, who had not posted anything on IG since 2017, doesn't lay out exactly when the crime happened or where. But, it sounds like more details will be coming shortly.

The singer says she discussed the ordeal with a journalist, and the interview will be coming out in the following weeks. Duffy said, "If you have any questions I would like to answer them, in the spoken interview, if I can. I have a sacred love and sincere appreciation for your kindness over the years. You have been friends. I want to thank you for that."

Duffy, of course, won the best pop vocal album Grammy for "Rockferry" in 2008. That same year she was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Mercy."

As for why she didn't express her grief through music -- Duffy said, "You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, 'How can I sing from the heart if it is broken?' And slowly it unbroke."