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Kirstie Alley -- who made a name for herself on both television and film -- has died after a private battle with cancer.

Her family announced Monday, "We are sad to inform you that our incredible, fierce and loving mother has passed away after a battle with cancer, only recently discovered."

They continued ... "She was surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with a certainty of her never-ending joy of living and whatever adventures lie ahead. As iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother. We are grateful to the incredible team of doctors and nurses at the Moffitt Cancer Center for their care."

Her two children wrote in the statement, "Our mother's zest and passion for life, her children, grandchildren and her many animals, not to mention her eternal joy of creating, were unparalleled and leave us inspired to live life to the fullest just as she did."

Alley became a household name as Rebecca Howe on "Cheers" from 1987-1993 … a role that netted her both an Emmy and Golden Globe in 1991. She went on to snag her second Emmy for her role in "David's Mother."

Fans will also remember her for her leading role in the 80s flick "Look Who's Talking," the films "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," "It Takes Two" and many others.

She's survived by her two kids, William True and Lillie Price.

She was 71.

RIP

Elon Musk is doing a new file dump that he says reflects Twitter's alleged efforts to suppress stories about Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020 ... causing a lot of outrage in right wing circles.

The Twit in Chief is set to follow up with another day of #TwitterFiles Saturday, which took the bird app by storm over the past 24 hours ... this after the initial batch detailed alleged correspondence between former Twitter staffers and execs, suggesting they were censoring negative HB news.

Specifically, the internal emails cited by journo Matt Taibbi show how Twitter's ex-head honchos apparently went out of their way to hide links to a story by the New York Post.

Published about a month before the election, it was touted as a bombshell report -- which purported to describe messages the NYP says it retrieved from Hunter's forsaken laptop ... and one of those seems to indicate Ukrainian gas bigwigs were trying to meet President Biden via his son, who was in business with these folks at the time (around 2015 or so).

When this went live in 2020, any attempts to tweet links to the story were barred en masse on Twitter ... and now, these #TwitterFiles pretty much seem to confirm it was, in fact, a coordinated effort in-house. The more troubling part, though ... some of the emails appear to imply that Twitter was actually in touch with Biden's campaign team ... and conceding to their requests to kill the story, as they claimed the information had been hacked/stolen.

Twitter obliged, citing its terms and conditions to justify the move -- not to mention the fact the info discussed hadn't been independently verified -- but since then ... a majority of the materials on the laptop were authenticated as legit. The laptop was also deemed abandoned property after somebody turned it into a shop in 2019 ... eventually finding its way into the hands of conservative operatives who ran with it and publicized its salacious contents.

In the end, however, the Hunter Biden chatter really amounted to nothing in the big picture.

There's been a lot of handwringing in and around the GOP over this for a full two years -- but now that these apparent revelations are coming to light ... many are calling for congressional hearings and investigations into what they characterize as corruption/election interference. Basically, their argument is ... Twitter blocked something that could've, perhaps, swung the election in Trump's favor -- and they're calling on POTUS to answer for it.

Former Nebraska Cornhuskers interim head coach Mickey Joseph was arrested for strangulation and domestic assault after an alleged altercation on Wednesday ... Lincoln Police announced.

LPD says officers responded to a domestic service call from Joseph's home in Lincoln around 2 PM ... and after an investigation, the 54-year-old was arrested at a separate location and taken to jail.

Nebraska's athletic director Trev Alberts released a statement on Joseph's arrest ... announcing he has been placed on administrative leave.

"I was made aware of the charges against Coach Joseph and given the nature of the allegations and based on University policy he has been placed on administrative leave," Alberts said. "We will have no additional comment at this time."

Joseph took the reins for the Cornhuskers after Scott Frost's firing in September 2022 ... going 3-6 as interim head coach.

Matt Rhule was announced as Frost's replacement on Saturday ... and had high praise for Joseph, who's slated to be Nebraska's wide receivers coach and associate head coach under the new regime.

Before he got into coaching, Joseph was a standout running back. He was Louisiana's Gatorade Player of the Year in 1987 and a First Team Parade All-American.

He played for legendary Nebraska coach Tom Osborne in Lincoln ... where he started 9 games, rushing for 1,091 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Danny Masterson was all smiles after leaving the courtroom, holding hands with his actress wife, Bijou Phillips, who was also grinning.

The actor was peppered with questions about the trial as he walked away from the courthouse, but he just smiled and kept it moving.

Danny and Bijou had a pep in their step ... and he clearly looks happy with the trial result.

His trial attorney Philip Cohen tells TMZ ... "l am so thankful for the incredible care and commitment that the jurors showed in this case. This trial was about nothing other than the credibility of the three accusers and that credibility could only be determined by comparing, contrasting and focusing on the ever evolving statements given by the women."

He adds, "The vote count says it all and it is a true testament to our justice system that the jurors were able to see through all the inflammatory noise and focus solely on what was truly important."

Danny Masterson's rape trial has come to an end ... a judge has declared a mistrial after a hung jury.

Masterson was in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday waiting to hear a verdict, when the jury announced it deadlocked. The judge then declared a mistrial.

The jury began deliberations 2 weeks ago after 4 weeks of testimony from alleged victims. They had a break because of Thanksgiving, and two jurors were replaced on Monday with alternates after testing positive for COVID.

It's unclear if prosecutors will decide to try the actor again.

He was facing a maximum sentence of 45 to life behind bars if found guilty of the charges.

As we reported, Masterson was charged back in 2020 with 3 counts of rape, with the alleged victims claiming the incidents occurred between 2001 and 2003 ... right in the middle of the run of his sitcom, "That '70s Show."

Masterson's former attorney, Tom Mesereau, told TMZ at the time ... "Mr. Masterson is innocent, and we’re confident that he will be exonerated when all the evidence finally comes to light and witnesses have the opportunity to testify."

The actor pled not guilty to the charges ... and while he never testified in his own defense, he and his legal team maintained that the incidents either didn't happen or were consensual.

Christine McVie, the co-lead vocalist and keyboardist of Fleetwood Mac has died.

A statement from Christine's family released reads, "She passed away peacefully at hospital this morning, Wednesday, November 30th 2022, following a short illness. She was in the company of her family. We kindly ask that you respect the family’s privacy at this extremely painful time, and we would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally."

One of her bandmates, Stevie Nicks, expressed her pain after the loss of her "best friend in the whole world" ... saying she had no clue Christine was sick until this past weekend, and wanted to be with her, but was told to wait.

Stevie says the song "Hallelujah" by HAIM has been on her mind ever since she found out Christine was ill ... saying "I always knew I would need these words one day." She finishes her letter, "See you on the other side my love. Don't forget me."

Christine joined the group in 1970 -- they formed in 1967 -- and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Fleetwood Mac in 1998.

Christine also announced in 1998 she was leaving the band -- citing a fear of flying and panic attacks as part of the reason she needed to stop. She was somewhat retired for several years before releasing a solo album.

Luckily for fans, Christine rejoined the band before the On with the Show tour in 2014.

The group released a statement shortly after the announcement of her death, "There are no words to describe our sadness at the passing of Christine McVie. She was truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure. She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life. We were so lucky to have a life with her. Individually and together, we cherished Christine deeply and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. She will be so very missed."

We talked to Christine in 2019 in NYC about the future of the band and if they'd ever get back together.

Christine was 79.

A 27-year-old Iranian man was reportedly killed by state security forces Tuesday night after he was shot in the head for honking a horn in celebration of Iran's defeat in the World Cup.

According to multiple reports, including from the Iran Human Rights NGO, Mehran Samak was killed by government agents after he joined dozens of other demonstrators on the streets in Bandar-e Anzali, a city in northern Iran, in protest of the regime's abysmal human rights record.

Samak was sitting in a car next to his fiancée when a security officer walked up and shot him, according to Iran International.

After he was hit, Samrak was reportedly rushed to a local hospital, but was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.

The United States beat Iran in a thrilling 1-0 game on Tuesday ... slamming the door on the middle eastern nation's hopes of advancing to the knockout stage.

Despite the Iranian regime's oppressive nature, protests have steadily broken out since September ... when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died three days after being arrested in the nation's capital of Tehran for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code.

The protests quickly broadened to include the general rights of the country's citizens. Over 400 people have been killed for participating in the protests, according to a human rights org.

Mehran Samak was reportedly laid to rest Wednesday morning. BBC Persia posted a video the outlet says is from the funeral service. Mourners were heard yelling, "You are the filth, you are the immoral, I am a free woman," a phrase BBC says has been used frequently during the unrest.

Given the tense situation inside the country, the players -- caught in between the government and its citizens -- have faced incredible pressure.

Prior to Iran's first W.C. match against England, players didn't sing the national anthem. But, that lasted just one game after the players were reportedly threatened by the government, where players were essentially warned ... sing or face possible retribution.

Cristiano Ronaldo's debut with his next team will be pushed back a bit -- the soccer superstar was just hit with a two-game suspension for smashing a fan's phone after a game in April.

The Football Association announced the news on Wednesday ... saying the org. did a thorough investigation into the incident prior to finalizing the punishment.

On top of the two-game ban, Ronaldo will pay a £50,000 fine.

As we previously reported, the altercation went down after Manchester United lost to Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park on April 9 ... when Ronaldo was caught on video smacking a phone out of a teenage fan's hand.

CR7 -- who was injured toward the end of the game -- alleged the kid was recording video of his bloody leg as he left the pitch ... and claimed he only acted out of concern for his safety.

But the FA didn't buy his excuse ... resulting in the suspension and fine. He was also under police investigation, but was cleared after paying £200 in compensation.

Ronaldo apologized after the incident ... and invited the fan to a future Man U game.

Cristiano Ronaldo's time in Old Trafford is over -- the soccer superstar and Manchester United have decided to part ways effective immediately.

Man U announced the move just minutes ago ... saying, "The club thanks him for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford, scoring 145 goals in 346 appearances, and wishes him and his family well for the future."

"Everyone at Manchester United remains focused on continuing the team’s progress under Erik ten Hag and working together to deliver success on the pitch."

The move comes just one week after CR7 claims he felt "betrayed" by coach Erik ten Hag and other higher-ups at the club ... admitting he didn't feel wanted the past two years at Man U.

Ronaldo went off on ten Hag ... saying, "I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me. If you don’t respect me, I’m never gonna have respect for you."

This was Ronaldo's second stint with Man U -- he previously played for the Red Devils from 2003-09 ... before rejoining the club in 2021.

Another massacre at a gay club has left 5 dead and at least 18 injured.

A gunman opened fire at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. The shooting occurred just before midnight Saturday, when authorities began receiving a barrage of 911 calls.

It appears the gunman is in custody. According to the Club's Facebook page ... "the quick reactions of heroic customers ... subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack."

A police official confirmed they apparently got the gunman ... "They did locate one individual who we believe to be the suspect inside. At this point in time, the suspect is being treated, but is in custody."

Police have not discussed or revealed motive, but the club itself has already called this a hate crime.

Club Q was hosting musical acts Saturday night, including its weekly Diva Drag Show.

The FBI is on the scene, and nearly a dozen ambulances rushed there to treat and transport the injured.

The club posted on its page, "Club Q is devastated by the senseless attack on our community. Our thoughts are with all the victims and their families and friends. We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack."

This is far from the first attack in gay clubs. Perhaps the worst ... back in 2016, when a gunman opened fire at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, killing 49.

This is the latest in a slew of mass killings in America this year -- more than 500 -- snuffing out the lives of more than 2,700 innocent people.

Ticketmaster is spelling out what went wrong with their Taylor Swift tour sales -- and the justification for the fiasco was basically chalked up to ... a necessary evil to defeat bots.

The Live Nation company posted an explainer Friday night, giving an in-depth breakdown of why so many people had such a hard time buying tickets to TS's 'Eras Tour' during the presale window this week ... and it consisted of both an apology and a defense of the chaos.

For starters, Ticketmaster acknowledges what TayTay said ... that she was told they were anticipating an unprecedented amount of traffic and were prepared. However, TM adds that despite this ... when the digital doors actually opened, their expectations were exceeded.

Ticketmaster posted a graph that shows just how many people (and not-real-people) flooded their site ... even though they had a rigorous registration system in place to make sure real, authenticated fans were able to buy tickets, as opposed to spammers who would otherwise snap them up in bulk and hawk them on the resale market with massive markups.

Regardless of this seemingly airtight system being in place -- consisting of 3.5 million users successfully preregistering/confirming their IDs -- Ticketmaster says that on the day of the sale, even more unregistered fans and bots came flocking in ... partially crashing the site.

To resolve this record amount of traffic while simultaneously taking care of the folks who should've been guaranteed a chance to buy passes ... Ticketmaster says it started staggering queues, the result of which ended with longer wait times and, inevitably, frustrated users.

Ticketmaster says they know this caused confusion -- and in some cases, people to lose their spots outright -- but insists it was the best option under the circumstances. TM also proudly touts the fact 2.4 million tickets were, in fact, ultimately sold to authenticated fans ... and that less than 5% of the tickets sold ended up for resale, a W in the site's book.

Ticketmaster says it regrets the fact some were left empty-handed, but also adds this perspective ... it's unfeasible to please everyone, especially at this level of interest.

TM says, "[B]ased on the volume of traffic to our site, Taylor would need to perform over 900 stadium shows (almost 20x the number of shows she is doing) … that’s a stadium show every single night for the next 2.5 years. While it’s impossible for everyone to get tickets to these shows, we know we can do more to improve ... and that’s what we’re focused on."

A truck that had malfunctioned during a parade route in North Carolina hit a young woman in a freak accident ... only to have been stopped in its tracks by a group of brave men.

This incident went down Saturday morning near downtown Raleigh, where the annual Christmas parade was being held. Around 10:25 AM ET, a lifted pickup truck that was pulling one of the floats failed to slow down as it was trailing a dance group full of young people.

The driver was reportedly blasting his horn and shouting at people to clear the lane, as he had lost control of the vehicle and couldn't stop. It seems the brakes may have failed.

Videos of the truck wading through is absolutely terrifying, as no one seems to know what's going on or if it's part of the parade or not. It definitely wasn't ... and the truck rolled on and began picking up speed. Some of the dancers were reportedly as young as 5 years old.

Reports say the truck started to hit a downhill area just after the intersection of Hillsborough Street and Boylan Ave. -- and after the crowd realized what was happening ... cops and other bystanders sprung into action, running in front of the truck and pushing back on it.

About 6 men, including 2 cops, halted the truck to a standstill ... at which point the driver was able to exit. Some damage had already been done though -- at least one girl, who was with the dance troupe, was struck and hospitalized. The extent of her injuries are unknown.

The rest of the parade was canceled and an investigation is underway.

The Bills and Browns won't be playing inside of a snowglobe this weekend after all ... TMZ Sports has confirmed the NFL is moving the game to Detroit to avoid the massive storm that's set to hit Buffalo this weekend.

The contest had been lined up to be played at Highmark Stadium at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday ... and it was slated to be must-see TV, considering the area is expected to get pelted by roughly six feet of snow in the next few days.

But, league sources tell us the NFL put the axe to that idea on Thursday -- clearly believing the weather wouldn't make it possible for fans, essential personnel and maybe even players to attend the contest safely.

Detroit's Ford Field is open for use on Sunday -- as the Lions are playing against the Giants for a road game in New Jersey. It'll be the first of two games the Bills play there this month -- as they're set to play the Lions in the Motor City on Thanksgiving.

Playing in copious amounts of snow is not unprecedented for the Bills -- back in Dec. 2017, they played in a blizzard against the Colts, and won, 13-7, in overtime.

But, seems like 4-6 feet is just too much to cope with this weekend.

Aaron Judge's 62nd home run ball could be yours -- the record-setting baseball is about to hit the auction block -- after the fan who caught the historic piece of memorabilia turned down a whopping $3 million offer!

The ball will soon be on the block at Goldin Auctions ... one of the most prominent online sports sellers in the world.

As we previously reported, Cory Youmans caught the baseball on October 4th ... while he was seated in the outfield for the Yankees vs. Rangers game in Texas. The Yanks tried to convince the fan to give up the ball that night, but the fan refused to part ways with it.

In the weeks since, Youmans -- who's been living it up -- has received increasingly larger offers for the ball ... culminating in a massive $3 million offer.

Clearly, the fan believes he can make even more at auction ... and he's got company.

“The ball has the potential to become the highest-priced baseball ever sold,” Ken Goldin said, adding ... “Three million plus would be my estimate.”

Of course, Judge set the NY Yankees and American League single-season home run record this season ... topping the 61 HR mark set by former A.L. MVP and Yanks star, Roger Maris, in 1961.

If the baseball is to set the record, it'll need to sell for at least $3,005,001 ... in order to surpass the sale price of Mark McGwire's 70th home run (the slugger played in the National League), which he smashed during his historic 1998 season in which he went toe-to-toe with Sammy Sosa.

Nancy Pelosi is stepping back from leading her party in the House of Representatives ... she says she will NOT seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress.

The Speaker of the House made the big announcement Thursday at the Capitol, in the wake of Democrats losing control of the House to Republicans in the midterm elections.

Nancy says instead of serving as House Minority Leader, she will serve as a member of the House representing San Francisco ... explaining it's time for the party to move boldly into the future with a new generation of leaders.

Pelosi, the first woman to ever lead a party in Congress, was swarmed by her colleagues after her speech ... sharing hugs and shaking hands on the House floor, and getting emotional.

First elected to the House in 1987, Nancy rose to become the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House ... and she says she's proud to see more women and minorities among the House ranks, increasing from only a dozen when she started to nearly 100 now.

During her speech, Nancy mentioned landmark legislation accomplished with former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden ... while snubbing Donald Trump, who she staunchly opposed when she was the House Minority Leader during the Trump administration.

Nancy, who grew up in Baltimore as the daughter of a politician, started her speech by recalling the first time she laid eyes on the Capitol when she was 6 years old ... cementing how she knew politics would be her future.

Pelosi was previously reelected to serve as House Speaker in January 2021, only three days before the January 6 riots.

As we previously reported ... CNN obtained video shot inside the Capitol on January 6, as Pelosi's Chief of Staff tells her Trump won't show face to turn back the angry mob because Secret Service didn't have the resources to protect him.

Nancy wasn't having it, angrily declaring she was ready to throw hands with Trump and saying ... "I'm gonna punch him out, and I'm gonna go to jail and I'm gonna be happy."

Celebrated lyricist Denzel Curry jumped out in front of the inevitable "Grammy snub" convo as noms came out Tuesday, and with just a few exceptions ... he says the Recording Academy missed again.

Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, DJ Khaled, Jack Harlow and Future were all nominated for Best Rap Album but aside from the first 2, Denzel insisted he could name 10 acts more deserving of slots in the category -- and then he did!!!

He cited fellow MCs Freddie Gibbs, Joey Bada$$, JID and Smino as clear-cut snubs, and said he feels the Grammys care more about money, mainstream acts and "half-ass s**t" than actual culture.

Denzel's acclaimed 2022 "Melt My Eyez See Your Future" also didn't earn any nominations ... which seems like the real reason he was pissed, but the Florida rapper says his rant was bigger than himself.

If the Academy cares, DC did have one more positive note -- giving GloRilla her just due as her "FNF (Let's Go)" hit is up for "Best Rap Performance." Baby steps?

Former MLB superstar Yasiel Puig is facing up to five years in prison ... after he agreed to plead guilty to lying to the feds during their investigation of an illegal gambling ring.

Federal prosecutors announced the plea deal on Monday afternoon ... saying the ex-Dodgers outfielder intends to make a guilty plea to one count of making false statements at a court hearing later this month.

The charge, according to the feds, carries a maximum sentence of five years behind bars.

Puig -- who's now playing baseball in South Korea after seven seasons in the MLB -- had been accused by officials of placing bets through an illegal gambling business beginning back in May 2019.

Officials say in a matter of weeks, he racked up $282,900 in gambling losses -- and then cut two separate $100K checks to the operators of the illegal gambling biz to pay off his debts ... and continue to make bets.

Authorities say following the payments, he went on to make an additional 899 more bets on the sites from July 2019 to September 2019 on tennis, football and basketball games.

According to officials, Puig was ultimately interviewed over it all -- and they say he lied through his teeth ... prompting the federal charge.