Alcohol

Matt Brown of "Alaskan Bush People" fame is feared dead by his family -- as police where he lives in Washington state are searching for an unidentified male.

Matt's brother, Bear Brown, posted a TikTok video on Thursday, expressing fears that Matt may have taken his life.  

In his TikTok video, Bear said witnesses said Matt was seen around a river and, at some point, was floating in the water. He said that he could not confirm the information, but all the signs point to it possibly being him.

Matt Brown, one of the stars of Discovery's "Alaskan Bush People," allegedly spiraled during a disturbing YouTube livestream recently ... and now members of his family tell us this is exactly the kind of behavior that led them to distance themselves from him years ago.

Matt appeared nude and allegedly intoxicated while wandering through a public park in Washington state Tuesday, livestreaming himself as he rambled incoherently around town. At one point, he appears to be carrying a gun while continuing to broadcast live to viewers.

Now, family sources tell TMZ ... most of the Brown family cut ties with Matt roughly five years ago after late patriarch Billy Brown ultimately decided the family could no longer support him because of his ongoing alleged struggles. Matt has been public about his battle with alcohol issues.

5/15 -- 7:48 AM PT -- Ben Williamson, Assistant Director for Public Affairs at the FBI, responded Thursday to the AP's reporting ... writing, "The AP is attempting to spin an invitation from the Commanding General of Indo Pacom to a military base as a party or vacation, which is so stupid."

He continued, "The DoW routinely does these engagements with interagency partners - to include this one - and when he was Chief of staff for DoD in Trump 1, Patel offered the same event for many partners that came to visit. It's a historical tour to honor heroes who died on the USS Arizona - not a party."

Kash Patel went to Hawaii last year for what the FBI said was a work trip and definitely not a vacation ... though unless he was checking on the FBI office underwater, it's hard to say why he needed to go snorkeling.

According to the Associated Press ... new emails show government officials referring to a "VIP snorkel" on an exclusive excursion near the U.S.S. Arizona -- the ship sunk during Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Snorkeling and diving are generally not permitted near the wreckage of the battleship ... but the U.S. Navy and National Park Service have allowed some visiting dignitaries to dive around the site.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul's son has issued an apology after he unloaded on New York Congressman Mike Lawler with an antisemitic and homophobic tirade Tuesday night.

William Paul went off on his drunken rant at a D.C. bar ... when he butted into a conversation the Republican lawmaker was having with someone else, the New York Post reports.

Lawler told the Post ... William began by asking if he was Jewish ... and from that stellar start, he brought up the Iran War, reportedly saying ... "This war, it's all about the gays and the Jews, and I hate them both, and I don't care if they die."

FBI Director Kash Patel is suing over claims he's been drunk on the job ... but he reportedly admitted in the past to twice being arrested for alcohol-related offenses around 2 decades ago.

When Patel worked for the Miami-Dade County Public Defender's Office back in the day, he wrote a letter elaborating on a couple disclosures from his Florida Bar application, which related to his past arrests ... and The Intercept obtained a copy.

Patel wrote he was arrested for public intoxication in February 2001 when he was a junior at the University of Richmond. He said he was under 21 years of age at the time and had two drinks before getting booted from the crowd at a Richmond basketball game for "excessive" cheering. He said he paid a fine.

1:00 PM PST -- Frederick Alfred Jr. has been dropped by the Chainsaw Caucus just weeks after their endorsement. They tell TMZ ... "We take child safety and parental responsibility extremely seriously, and these allegations are inconsistent with the standards we expect from candidates we support. We have no further comment at this time."

A Republican running for a state senate seat in Colorado was arrested in Florida ... after cops say his daughter started drowning in a pool when he left his kids unattended while going to the bar for some booze.

Frederick Alfred Jr. was arrested Monday in Key West on two counts of felony child neglect without great harm.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, cops say his 4-year-old daughter began drowning in the pool, became unconscious, started foaming at the mouth, and eventually needed CPR from someone at the pool.

Kash Patel is suing a magazine and a journalist for defamation over a story claiming the FBI director has "alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences."

Patel filed suit Monday against The Atlantic and the woman who wrote the article, Sarah Fitzpatrick ... and he's going after them for $250 million in damages.

The story was published Friday with the headline "Kash Patel's Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job" ... and in Patel's lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, he takes issue with what he claims are "numerous false and defamatory statements of fact."

Disgraced ex-congressman Eric Swalwell is catching heat again -- this time for allegedly running up a boozy tab on his own campaign’s dime.

Swalwell’s campaign allegedly racked up more than 100 alcohol delivery charges over a four-year period starting in 2020 ... with booze bills reportedly tied straight to congressional campaign funds instead of his own wallet, according to a NY Post report.

Yeah … you read that right. Campaign cash -- the kind donors fork over to win elections -- allegedly being used for repeated liquor store runs.

FBI Director Kash Patel is firing back at The Atlantic, threatening to sue after the mag published a bombshell report accusing him of boozing too much and acting paranoid.

Patel announced his intentions Friday night, telling The Atlantic and its journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick he'll see their "entire entourage of false reporting in court."

He then egged them on, adding ... "But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up."

He also shared an apparent screenshot of Assistant Director for Public Affairs at the FBI Ben Williamson's initial response to Fitzpatrick's request for comment, in which he called her allegations "absurd" and slammed her for giving him a 2-hour deadline.

The manager of the nightclub where Ruby Rose says she was allegedly sexually assaulted by Katy Perry more than 15 years ago is weighing in on the claim.

A former manager of the since-closed Spice Market nightclub in Melbourne, Australia told the Herald Sun that he never saw the alleged incident ... but confirmed Ruby and Katy were at the establishment that night and both "had way too much to drink."

As we reported ... Ruby posted a series of messages Sunday on Threads, claiming Katy had "rubbed her disgusting vagina on my face" while they were at a nightclub in Australia. Ruby, who is 40, said she was in her early 20s at the time and vomited during the alleged sexual assault.

Jennie Garth is getting brutally real about a dark chapter in her life ... admitting she drank and popped pills so heavily at one point, she landed in the hospital getting her stomach pumped.

In her new memoir, "I Choose Me," the "Beverly Hills, 90210" star reveals the spiral kicked in after her split from Peter Facinelli in 2012 ... turning to booze and pills to cope with the fallout.

Jennie wrote it got so bad she ended up at Canyon Ranch Rehab after the stomach-pumping, trying to unlearn the self-medicating that had taken over.

Dominiq Ponder -- a quarterback at the University of Colorado -- had double the legal limit of alcohol in his system when he was involved in a fatal car crash that took his life last month in Boulder County.

According to the medical examiner's autopsy report, obtained by TMZ Sports, Ponder's blood-alcohol content was recorded at .167 g/100 mL -- the legal limit in Colorado is 0.08.

The medical examiner also listed his cause of death as multiple blunt force injuries the 23-year-old suffered as a result of the crash.