Coronavirus

Kevin Spacey has delivered his 3rd annual Xmas Eve message, and this one is about people who have reached out to him contemplating suicide.

Spacey, who's had his own troubles with alleged sexual misconduct, starts his message on a park bench and then begins walking and talking about folks who he says have contacted him this year, fed up with life during COVID times.

He explains how he reassured them that things get better ... he believes that, he says, from personal experience.

Spacey's annual message began in 2018, with a super weird message delivered as Frank Underwood, his character from "House of Cards." He said he was owed due process before people judged him.

Spacey followed up in 2019 with an encore from Underwood, but this message was lighter ... saying he's made big changes to his life.

Shemar Moore has come down with COVID-19 ... and he's hoping this will be the end of a really bad year-and-a-half for him.

The "S.W.A.T." actor said when he started feeling lousy, he thought it was just food poisoning. The test he took Wednesday showed otherwise ... he had the 'rona.

As for symptoms, well, pick one -- chills, all-day aches. Shemar can still smell and taste, so he's not suffering the worst.

Shemar isn't doing that bad ... he's at home wrapping presents.

Shemar was fatalistic about his illness ... "I have to accept test results... I feel fine now...but I have to be responsible!!!! My Xmas n New Years is clearly not gonna be the best... my last year and a half has not been the best... but I WILL BE OKAY!!!!"

Tom Selleck is all about silver linings because he's figured out how to crack a smile in 2020 ... with a 2020 tip.

The "Blue Bloods" star chowed down at Elio's restaurant in NY where he chowed down to the tune of $200. So, multiple that by 10 and then some, and that was Tom's tip -- $2,020.

ICYMI ... this has become a thing. People challenging friends to plunk down a generous tip to support struggling restaurant staffers. Tom credited his co-star, Donnie Wahlberg, by saying, "I am honoring my friend Donnie Wahlberg's 'tip challenge' with my sincere hope for a better 2021."

Tom made Donnie proud, saying, "I found out that my TV dad #TomSelleck has generously accepted the #2020Tip Challenge at Elios Upper East Side! Love ya dad. I didn't start it but I'm proud to be part of it. To those who gave even the smallest extra amount this year -- THANK YOU."

Tom joins a long list of celebs who have jumped on the bandwagon. Donnie himself donated $2,020 at an IHOP. James Corden and Adele are others who have plunked down cash.

In-N-Out's famous for its burger spread, but there's a new spread at the fast-food joint -- COVID.

At least 80 employees have tested positive for coronavirus at 2 franchise locations in the Centennial State ... Colorado Springs and Aurora. Yep, it's the same Aurora joint that recently made headlines for its 12-hour wait after the grand opening.

Colorado health officials revealed 60 positive cases at the Colorado Springs location ... while the Aurora joint had 20 positive cases. Hold the calculator -- that's 80 cases. And, there are another 25 probable cases that have not been confirmed at the 2 locations.

The restaurants remain open, but all employees who tested positive were sent home to quarantine.

Taraji P. Henson revealed something shocking ... she seriously flirted with the idea of suicide for 2 days during the pandemic. She was thinking about opening her home safe, grabbing her gun that was inside, and ending it all.

Taraji was on her "Peace of Mind" show on Facebook Watch, when she opened up about 2 nights of dark thoughts. She said she was in a bad place and started thinking about suicide for 2 nights in a row. She said she was thinking about getting the gun she had in the safe, but never actually opened it.

She tried to talk herself out of it by thinking about her son, but she figured he was an adult and would get over it.

Taraji said she woke up after the second night and called a friend, blurting out she was thinking of killing herself. The "Hidden Figures" star said she felt it was important to tell a friend because if it remained secret, it would become a plan.

Taraji was speaking to Dr. LasShonda Green and her co-host, Tracie Jade.

The actress had lots of changes this year. She turned 50 and ended her engagement to Kelvin Hayden.

Psychiatrists warn suicide is a real problem during these times ... even with successful people who seemingly have it together.

Dr. Anthony Fauci not only got a surprise birthday party for his big 8-0 ... he is also the recipient of his very own day in the nation's capital!!!

Dr. Fauci's wife, Dr. Christine Grady, threw a surprise, zoom birthday party for the good doc, who became an octogenarian on Xmas Eve, and Fauci says it was truly a surprise.

Dr. Grady, a bioethicist who also works for the NIH, got 15 of Fauci's closest family and friends on the call, including their 3 daughters who are scattered around the country. They have always spent the holidays together, but not this year.

Fauci said, "Because I have been telling the country to limit travel, and I don’t want to be one of those health officials who tells the world to do something and then they go out and have a party themselves."

It wasn't an easy feat ... Fauci's security detail had to wrangle him from his work at the National Institutes of Health and get him home by 5:30 Wednesday for the shindig.

Now, Fauci told The Guardian, "[My wife] is a genius at fooling me. I mean, it's very tough to fool me. But she threw surprise birthday parties for my 50th, 60th and 70th birthdays."

Well, maybe he should have figured this one out ahead of time, but in fairness, it's not easy to throw birthday parties these days.

Joe and Jill Biden wished Fauci a happy birthday with the traditional song, which was almost on key! And get this ... as he was leaving work, Fauci was serenaded. The doc was truly touched ... and he decided he couldn't leave without first taking a pic with the crew that sang him "Happy Birthday." He also took the banner with him.

As for the cherry on the top, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser proclaimed Xmas Eve to be Dr. Fauci Day.

Santa is super busy today traveling here and there, so it's good to know he's being COVID-safe.

Our intrepid team analyzed the NORAD Santa website ... which allows millions of kids to track Saint Nick's progress as he traverses the globe. He's already visited the International Space Station. BTW ... he's traveling at 10,000 mph, less than half the speed of that asteroid headed for Earth.

Well, this year something's a little different -- Santa's all masked up!!!

In case you're wondering, at 9 AM PT Thursday, Santa was in the Maldives, near India. Estimates are Santa has delivered more than 2 billion presents already! Important to note, we don't think Santa has a deal with Amazon, so Bezos won't get any richer.

As we reported, Dr. Anthony Fauci said this past weekend he gave Santa the Pfizer vaccine, so he's Santa safe.

Britney Spears' boyfriend, Sam Asghari, contracted COVID, but he believes his insane health and fitness regimen helped him easily beat it.

Sam says he knew early on he was infected and chose to immediately self-isolate from friends and family ... and that included Britney.

Sam says he's fine now, and his lifestyle made all the difference ... "I only had 1 day of common cold symptoms day 2 after testing positive but 24 hours later I was perfectly normal. I continued my workouts and clean nutrition at home as usual. 10 days later I was no longer contagious, and tested negative twice and was cleared by doctors to end quarantine and return to my loved ones."

Sam says, "Living a healthy lifestyle has Helped and shaped my life in many ways," adding, "I spend a lot of time cleansing and thinking about how important our health is in general even outside of Covid, at the end of our lives one of the most important things will be health, I will continue to do my best and inspire you guys to also live a healthy lifestyle."

Don't be fooled, though, because some healthy, young people who contracted the virus have become very sick and some have died.

Dr. Susan Moore is dead from COVID-19 after claiming she was mistreated at an Indiana hospital simply because of the color of her skin.

Dr. Moore, who is Black, died Sunday ... according to her family.

Dr. Moore, a physician herself, was diagnosed with COVID-19 back on Nov. 29 and was hospitalized at Indiana University Health North Hospital in Carmel, where she claimed hospital staff made her beg for a CT scan and meds.

Dr. Moore posted video earlier this month claiming doctors at IU Health tried sending her home despite her positive COVID diagnosis ... and she said hospital staff made her feel like a drug addict even though they knew she was a physician.

When Dr. Moore finally got a CT scan, she claims doctors discovered damage to her lungs ... but she says that didn't stop them from withholding pain medication for hours on end.

Dr. Moore believed she would have received better treatment if she were white. BTW ... she didn't buy a nurse's story about marching with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Now, she's dead at 52.

We reached out to IU Health. So far, no word back.

RIP

The NBA has postponed the Houston Rockets vs. OKC Thunder game set for Wednesday night -- because the Rockets don't have enough players available to field a team due to COVID restrictions.

An NBA team needs at least 8 players to compete -- and the Rockets don't have enough guys.

Here's the deal ... the NBA says, "Three Houston Rockets players have returned tests that were either positive or inconclusive for coronavirus."

Unclear which Rockets players returned the positive or inconclusive COVID tests.

Additionally, the league says 4 more players are quarantined due to the league's contact tracing protocol.

Rockets superstars John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are 2 of the players in the contact tracing protocol, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

Plus, there's more drama including James Harden, the NBA says the superstar is also unavailable due to "violation of the health and safety protocols."

Harden was spotted partying this week without a mask. Some people claimed Harden was at a strip club but Harden says he was just showing his "home girl love" at a private event.

So, that's a total of 8 guys unavailable for the Rockets -- which leaves them without enough players to field a team. Crappy way to kick off the season.

The Rockets vs. Thunder game was supposed to be one of the NBA's marquee opening night matchups to kick off the 2020-21 season.

It has been 9 days since that emergency on a United Airlines flight where a passenger with COVID apparently lied about his symptoms and later died ... yet we've called passengers who were in close proximity to the man and they have still not been contacted by the CDC.

We have obtained new video of the incident as you see the man getting CPR. One of the passengers who is hovering over the man giving him chest compressions is Steven Chang, who was administering first aid for 45 minutes.

Chang has been tested and so far he's negative, but he's had COVID symptoms. We contacted him Wednesday morning and he has NOT been contacted by the CDC. This, despite United telling us they passed on the flight manifest and the CDC would be getting in touch with passengers in close proximity.

Ditto for 2 other passengers who were near the man who died. BTW, the medical examiner confirmed he died from COVID.

As we reported, United has not contacted any of the passengers to warn them. Remember, the man's wife said during the emergency her husband had lost his sense of taste and smell, and he was experiencing shortness of breath. United could have contacted passengers -- especially since many were going home to family for XMAS -- urging them to exercise caution, but United told TMZ it's the CDC's job to do that, not theirs.

Short story ... 9 days in the CDC apparently hasn't gotten in touch with any of the passengers we could find.

So, exactly how safe is it to fly?

Donald Trump has stunned everyone by blasting Congress for the relief bill they finally agreed on ... saying $600 checks are disgracefully low, and he wants a drastic reduction in the bill's extraneous spending.

This seemingly came out of nowhere. Trump was on the sidelines, silent as Congress negotiated the package. In fact, his aides said as late as Tuesday Trump would sign the bill.

Now, he wants $2,000 for individuals or $4,000 for a couple ... amounts that were never on the table. It took Congress months to reach an agreement, and if Trump is serious about vetoing the bill there's no way relief is coming to Americans until after January 20.

However, in announcing his contempt for the bill, Trump called out Congress for filling the COVID-relief package with billions in relief to foreign countries and domestic programs that have nothing to do with pandemic losses.

For instance, $134 million to Burma, $85.5 mil to Cambodia, $1.3 billion for Egypt, $2.5 mil to count amberjack fish in the Gulf of Mexico, $3 mil in poultry production technology, $566 mil for FBI construction projects and on and on and on.

Trump's point ... spend less on that stuff, and give more to American citizens, restaurants and other small businesses.

Dems jumped on this -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said they'll bring the $2,000 direct payments to the floor Thursday for a vote by unanimous consent.

Kirk Cameron took his anti-mask Xmas caroling on the road again, but this time he encountered protesters who were enraged by the flaunting of COVID precautions.

The "Growing Pains" star got around 100 people to descend on The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks -- just outside of L.A. -- and there was no social distancing and hardly any masks in sight.

Some folks who saw the display voiced their displeasure in their cars and on foot, some confronting the carolers.  It looked tense as the carolers got in the face of at least one protester.

Kirk gets on the megaphone and tells the crowd, "We live in a free land, regardless of what they are trying to do. The liberty we have from Christ that no one can take away."

The message is a little complicated. We know Cameron has been railing on Governor Gavin Newsom's COVID shutdowns -- something that has caused a lot of head-scratching in determining why certain businesses were ordered shut while others remained open.

But, as for the masks and social distancing ... well, if Kirk thinks that's an assault on democracy, he's gotta bone up on history because there are an untold number of restrictions on "liberty" for health and safety reasons.

There was a stand where carolers were handing out "mask exemption badges." It's theatre, but given the explosion of COVID cases and deaths, it ain't funny.

The folks who run The Oaks said this ... "We continue to share our community's concerns over these irresponsible - yet constitutionally protected - events and have law enforcement on property. We reached out to the organizer to ask that the event be moved."

Travis Scott is making sure kids in his old neighborhood have a safe and happy holiday ... hooking them up with toys, Christmas trees, food and more.

His Travis Scott x Cactus Jack Foundation held a holiday toy drive Tuesday at Sunnyside Park in Houston -- where Travis grew up -- giving away 2,000 toys to 1,000 elementary school students.

Travis' foundation really put the "drive" in toy drive. In order to keep it COVID-safe ... families, residents and school teachers drove through for the free toys, food, blankets, PPE gear and yes, even Christmas trees.

Sounds like no expense was spared ... the toys were from Mattel, and local celeb hot spot Turkey Leg Hut provided the free grub. Travis also had a special little helper, Stormi was there to make sure things were running without a hitch.

2,000 folks chowed down on the grub ... Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Reps. Al Green and Sheila Jackson attended, along with a couple City Council members.

Santa Scott!!!

Several passengers who were on the same United jet where a passenger fell ill and died of COVID now fear they may have COVID themselves, and they're thinking about legal action.

Francois Montinat tells TMZ ... he's suffering from strong nasal and head congestion, and it's freaking him out because he had COVID back in May and those were 2 of the many symptoms he experienced.

Adding to his worries ... he can't get an appointment for a COVID test and he feels like crap and doesn't want to stand in a first-come-first-served line for hours. Montinat says he thinks United's safety protocol is deficient and he's pondering legal action for emotional distress.

Megan Hubbard and Cameron Roberts were also on the flight and they tell us ... Cameron's been experiencing symptoms since landing in L.A. He says he's developed a persistent cough and suspects he's come down with COVID.

Megan's not experiencing symptoms but the anxiety for both has reached a breaking point ... she says she's seeing a shrink to help her deal with it.  Megan feels someone should pay her medical expenses ... and you can guess who.

The man who went into cardiac arrest on a United flight 8 days ago had COVID, but the airline still hasn't notified passengers and says it's not their responsibility.

As TMZ reported, the Jefferson Parish Medical Examiner in Louisiana determined the 69-year-old man had COVID and died of respiratory failure. During the medical emergency on the flight from Orlando to L.A., the man's wife was heard saying her husband was suffering from COVID symptoms -- shortness of breath and a loss of taste and smell. He apparently didn't tell the truth before boarding and didn't disclose his symptoms.

United has still not notified the 179 passengers on board. A spokesperson for the airline tells TMZ they are not medical professionals so they can't make COVID determinations. The spokesperson said they have been in touch with the CDC and given them the flight manifest. The spokesperson says it's up to the CDC to contact passengers who may have been exposed.

We asked why the airline wouldn't immediately tell the passengers someone on the plane had COVID symptoms and, since he was in distress for nearly an hour before the emergency landing, wouldn't it be advisable to tell passengers so they could make decisions like staying away from elderly relatives during the Christmas holidays. The response ... they're not medical professionals so it's not up to them.

The spokesperson said they didn't know for nearly a week the passenger had COVID so they couldn't make any determination, but they clearly knew the guy had symptoms.

Many private companies notify their employees directly when they suspect someone in the office might be COVID-positive, so why not the airlines?