Crime

SZA wasn't about to relive Astroworld Fest all over again -- which is why she brought her latest concert to a dead halt ... just to make sure a fan who'd passed out was okay.

The singer was performing in Salt Lake City Thursday at the Union Event Center -- when at some point during the show ... she pumped the brakes on everything after noticing someone had apparently fainted out in the audience, and may have needed help.

This video was captured by a TikTok user and posted the next day ... and it shows SZA addressing what happened just last weekend in Houston, where she performed earlier in the day ... before mass casualties started to go down during Travis Scott's headlining set.

SZA says people passing out in crowds is quite common -- but what is abnormal is people dying ... and she says that's gotta change going forward, starting right then and there.

She actually forces stagehands to bring out water to the person in distress, and anyone else who may need to rehydrate. In a second video ... SZA starts to get flustered when nobody working in the venue promptly attends to the person who'd fallen unconscious -- and the crowd is fully behind her in her indignation.

It's pretty astonishing to see ... and as SZA alludes to herself, it may start to become the norm at live shows going forward, regardless of the crowd size. She seems to be saying that the artist should take responsibility if they see something ... and ditto for concert-goers.

As we reported ... a total of 9 people have died since the concert last Friday -- with one more on life support right now ... 9-year-old Ezra Blount, who was trampled in the chaos.

Sounds like SZA is putting her foot down on fans walking the line of life and death on her watch ... and won't let people fall victim to that, not as long as she can help it.

Sean Kingston allegedly punched and pulled a firearm on a music video director who had been staying in his home ... and we're told cops are now involved.

The music video director, who works under the handle GXDLIKE, tells TMZ ... he had been working and living at Sean's Los Angeles-area home for about 3 months when Sean allegedly assaulted him.

The guy claims Sean summoned him from the downstairs area of the home around 2 AM on Nov. 5 and wanted him to film something for the singer, but he says his phone was dead. He claims he then went downstairs to grab his camera and returned upstairs, but couldn't remember the name of the app to transfer the files.

The music video director alleges Sean got frustrated and punched him in the face, then dragged him into the hallway and pulled out a firearm ... telling him to pack up and get out. Law enforcement sources confirm that GXDLIKE has filed a police report with the LAPD for the incident.

The director claims the alleged attack left him with cuts on his face, but no major injuries.

Travis Scott has locked himself away in his Houston home, still devastated by the events that took place one week ago ... according to his attorney.

Ed McPherson joined "TMZ Live" Friday to talk about Travis and what happened at Astroworld. While McPherson says there's still a lot of work to be done in terms of the investigation, he remains adamant Travis had no clue as to the dire circumstances -- 8 people dead -- continued to perform.

McPherson tells us Travis is devastated, especially because the tragedy happened in his hometown of Houston, and he has not left his home there since.

Travis was supposed to perform in Vegas this weekend -- a show he's since canceled -- and a petition is growing online to stop his headline event at Coachella next Spring.

Ed says performing is the last thing on Travis' mind right now. He wants to give the families of the victims time to grieve, and has set up an email account through his team for them to reach out to him when they're ready. He's promised to pay funeral costs for the 9 people who died as a result of the show.

Travis Scott and his team were oblivious to the mass casualties in the crowd at his show while he continued to perform, so says his attorney, who claims emergency workers never relayed the message ... and Travis didn't know the scope of what happened until the next day.

Ed McPherson was on 'GMA' Friday, saying there's still a lot to do in investigating exactly what went wrong last week, but he insists his client was in the dark.

McPherson says Travis was clueless about the calamity in the crowd because he had an earpiece blaring music, blinding lights and no one gave him a heads up. As we reported, Travis even left after the concert and hit up Dave & Busters for an afterparty ... unaware that people had died and hundreds were injured.

McPherson points out the now-viral video of Travis stopping the show to get a fan help who had passed out. He also says it was hard for Travis to determine that at one point there was an ambulance in the crowd ... saying it looked more like a golf cart with lights.

When pushed as to whether or not Travis was inciting his audience to get aggressive by telling them to "rage" -- a phrase he's used for years -- McPherson says that was simply Travis trying to get his crowd into the show and have a good time.

TMZ broke the story, Houston cops were seen taking photos and videos while Travis performed 25 mins after the event was considered a "mass casualty event." McPherson says this is further evidence Travis didn't have a clue what was happening. The lawyer points out, if the cops didn't know ... how could Travis?

On Thursday, 22-year-old Bharti Shahani succumbed to her injuries suffered during the show, she was allegedly trampled during a crowd crush, suffering multiple heart attacks and being declared brain dead.

Mark Davis was one of about 100 people who attended the funeral services for Tina Tintor on Thursday ... paying respects to the woman who died in a car crash that authorities say his former player, Henry Ruggs, caused.

The Las Vegas Raiders owner showed up to the somber ceremony in a black suit, white-collared shirt and a tie ... and sat in a pew at the local church where the services for Tintor went down.

Davis stayed for the entire hour-long event ... and did not speak with media members afterward.

As we previously reported, Tintor died along with her dog, Max, after cops say Ruggs crashed his Corvette into the back of their Toyota on a street in Las Vegas on Nov. 2.

Officials say Ruggs had been speeding prior to the wreck -- going 156 MPH just seconds before the crash -- and claim the former Raiders star was drunk at the time, too.

Ruggs has since been hit with five charges over the incident -- including four felonies -- and prosecutors say he's facing over 50 years behind bars if convicted on all counts.

As for Tintor and her family, her attorney said in a statement following the crash that they're "devastated" over the loss of the 23-year-old.

"Family was everything to Tina," the lawyer said, "and she was the light of her parents' life."

A police investigation into allegations that Dalvin Cook beat up his ex-girlfriend is NOT currently underway ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Despite domestic violence allegations against the NFL star in a new lawsuit filed by Cook's ex, Gracelyn Trimble, this week ... the Inver Grove Heights P.D. tells us it has not been contacted by any alleged Cook victims -- and therefore, has not launched a probe into the football player.

But, the Inver Grove Heights chief of police, Melissa Chiodo, said that all could change if someone does file a report.

"At this point in time," Chiodo said, "we have not been contacted by anyone for police assistance or that would like to file a police report."

"When anyone does contact us we will be responsive, we are only a phone call away for any citizen or visitor to Inver Grove Heights or they can come in person to our police station to file a report or ask for any police assistance."

As we previously reported, Trimble -- in her lawsuit -- claims Cook punched, hit and threw her violently during an altercation in Inver Grove Heights, Minn. in Nov. 2020. She says she was left a bloody and bruised mess.

She claimed at one point during the incident, Cook held a gun to her head and told her she was going to die. She also said the Minnesota Vikings player held her against her will for hours -- before eventually letting her go.

In her suit, Trimble never said she went to cops over it all, but we've reached out to her attorney to see if she now has plans to -- but so far, no word back.

As for Cook, he's maintained he was the real victim, saying Trimble broke into his home and held him hostage at gunpoint. Dalvin's reps claim the accusations are nothing more than an attempt to extort the football player.

It's worth noting, police also tell us they are NOT investigating Trimble, either.

"I just want everybody to know I'm the victim in the situation," Cook told reporters earlier this week. "The truth and the details about the situation will come out at a further time."

22-year-old Bharti Shahani has died ... making her the 9th casualty from Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival.

Shahani, who was a senior at Texas A&M University passed away Thursday after injuries sustained at the event Friday night in Houston ... according to a family attorney.

As we had reported, Shahani had previously been declared brain dead, and was on a ventilator. She had gone to Astroworld with her sister and cousin, but the two got separated during a crowd surge. Bharti had reportedly suffered several heart attacks after the crowd crush and was rushed to a local hospital.

In an emotional press conference Thursday, a rep for Bharti's family confirmed she was the woman in a video -- obtained by TMZ -- that was dropped on her head as she was carried out by first responders. The rep says they want justice for Bharti and her family ... and for whoever put profits over safety to be held accountable.

Bharti marks the latest victim in the tragedy, and it's possible more could come. As we reported, 9-year-old Ezra Blount is still hospitalized and fighting for his life. His family, with the help of civil rights attorney Ben Crump, sued Travis and Live Nation for injuries they say were caused when Ezra was trampled.

Travis has vowed to pay for the funeral costs of the show's victims and to provide mental health services to those impacted by the events.

A rep for Travis tells us, "Over the last week, Travis Scott and his team have been actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons. He is distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to them as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family’s wishes on how they'd best like to be connected."

The judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial did something that, on its face, seems pure and patriotic -- but, arguably it could also, unjustly, impact the outcome of the trial.

Judge Bruce Schroeder opened proceedings Thursday in Kenosha, WI by saying he wanted to take a moment to recognize Veterans Day. He asked if there were any military vets on the jury, or anywhere in the courtroom.

Only one person responded ... John Black, a member of Rittenhouse's defense team. Judge Schroeder then asked everyone in court to applaud Black for his service, which they did.

Now, it's Veterans Day and no one's saying Black doesn't deserve the respect. The issue here is ... because Black is the defense's use-of-force expert, should the judge solicit applause for him???

The questionable move by Judge Schroeder comes a couple of days after he ripped into the prosecutor for raising the fact Rittenhouse was silent after his arrest to jurors ... which they could read as a sign of guilt.

To be fair ... anyone with a passing knowledge of law knows you have a right to remain silent, so the prosecutor earned that tongue-lashing.

Even though Kyle Rittenhouse didn't seem to shed any actual tears on the stand, D.L. Hughley is convinced the jury will believe his "performance is real" ... and it very possibly could lead to his acquittal.

The comedian/activist's review of Rittenhouse's emotional testimony is pretty blunt -- worst acting since Stacey Dash -- but Thursday on "TMZ Live" he said it will be good enough to sway jurors because a "white dude crying with a haircut is very sympathetic."

Jokes aside, D.L. joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" to discuss what he sees as clear biases, both in and out of the courtroom, surrounding Rittenhouse's case. First off, he says the right wing's financial support of the teenager's defense is evidence it believes "whatever you do for your cause is justified."

He also said our judicial system needs sweeping changes, and he proposed one overhaul to remove jury biases -- namely, not allowing jurors to see the defendant. That sparked an interesting debate about how our system is supposed to work ... versus how it actually does.

As for why these changes are needed -- well, D.L. believes too many people in power lack the principles to do what's right ... regardless of how it will affect them.

Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee says she was a recent target of anti-Asian hate ... claiming she was pepper-sprayed and had racist slurs hurled at her.

18-year-old Lee detailed the altercation in an interview with Pop Sugar released this week ... saying she was waiting for an Uber with her friends -- all of Asian descent -- after a night out, when a car sped by and yelled phrases like "ching chong" and "go back to where they came from."

Lee -- the first Hmong American Olympic gold medalist -- says one person even sprayed her arm with pepper spray before speeding off.

The "Dancing with the Stars" contestant opened up on the incident -- which happened a week before the interview -- saying, "I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off," she told the outlet.

The number of hate crimes directed at Asians in America has risen in recent years ... with a study at California State University, San Bernardino reporting a 150% increase in 2020.

"I didn't do anything to them," Lee added, "and having the reputation, it's so hard because I didn't want to do anything that could get me into trouble. I just let it happen."

Hours after Kyle Rittenhouse broke down on the stand and cried in front of a packed courtroom ... LeBron James trolled the 18-year-old, accusing the Kenosha shooter of putting on a show.

"What tears?????" the L.A. Lakers superstar said in a social media post. "I didn't see one. Man knock it off!"

The NBA player then took the mocking one step further ... adding three laughing emojis and writing, "That boy ate some lemon heads before walking into court."

Rittenhouse was on the stand trying to convince a courtroom that he acted in self-defense when he shot at people during an Aug. 2020 protest in Wisconsin.

The teenager -- who's been hit with multiple criminal charges, including two counts of homicide -- said, "I didn't do anything wrong. I defended myself."

Yet at one point during his testimony, he got so emotional trying to explain his actions ... he began sobbing and couldn't get words to leave his mouth.

Rittenhouse broke down in front of the microphone -- forcing a short break in the proceedings -- but James clearly believed it was all a ruse to try to draw sympathy.

The rest of Rittenhouse's hearing, meanwhile, also featured some drama ... with the judge in the courtroom admonishing prosecutors over the way they questioned Rittenhouse.

The officials had asked Rittenhouse about an incident that the judge had previously ruled would not be permitted as evidence ... and after Rittenhouse's attorneys objected, judge Bruce Schroeder exploded.

"You know very well that an attorney can't go into these types of areas when the judge has already ruled without asking outside the presence of the jury to do so," the judge said, accusing the prosecutor of "getting brazen" with him.

"So, don't give me that."

Rittenhouse's attorneys asked for a mistrial over it all.

Dalvin Cook is innocent until proven guilty ... and NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe says people need to remember that as the Minnesota Vikings running back faces serious allegations of domestic violence made by his ex-girlfriend.

As we previously reported, the 26-year-old is accused of assaulting and threatening to kill his ex, U.S. Army veteran Gracelyn Trimble, in 2020 ... but he claims he's actually the victim.

TMZ Sports spoke with Sharpe about the situation, and he says the masses have to reserve judgment until Cook goes through the legal process ... but they won't.

"Man, this is really tough because my heart goes out to all abused," Sharpe tells us. "But, I mean, now we just don't even get a chance to prove innocence or nothing. We just automatically assume."

"Everybody says, 'I hear that.' We should have our day in court and we should have this. But, that's not what we do. We automatically rush to judgment."

Sharpe adds he hopes the allegations made against Cook aren't true.

"I'm just not trying to convict people in the court of the public opinion without them having their due process," he added.

As for Cook, he told reporters "the truth will come out" and he fully intends to play on Sunday ... but Sharpe would be surprised if that happens.

TMZ Sports has obtained multiple 911 calls made moments after Henry Ruggs allegedly caused a fatal car crash ... with one witness telling an operator she believed a person was trapped in the burning truck.

A female caller who said she lives near the scene of the accident claimed she was in bed when she heard the crash, and when she looked at the crash site, all she saw were flames.

"It's almost all gone," she said of the fire-engulfed vehicle, continuing, "and I think someone is in it."

The woman is clearly panicked ... and pleading with the 911 operator to get help to the scene.

The woman also said she heard what she described as "kids just yelling for help."

But, she said the flames were so high "you can't get near it."

In the second call, a man, who heard, but didn't see the crash, told authorities, "I want to say the [Corvette] was probably speeding. I mean, I heard loud revving, loud noises, and then a big collision."

The man horrifyingly said he also thought he heard yelping coming from a dog inside of the burning vehicle.

Of course, in addition to 23-year-old Tina Tintor dying in the wreck, her golden retriever, Max, also perished.

The second caller also speculated that he suspected Ruggs and his GF were under the influence ... though he didn't elaborate why he suspected they were impaired.

As we previously reported, 22-year-old Ruggs was hit with 5 charges including 4 felonies for his role in the crash.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed -- the armorer for "Rust" -- is doubling down, claiming she was targeted for sabotage and she thinks she's now being framed ... this according to her lawyer.

Gutierrez-Reed's attorney Jason Bowles tells TMZ ... "We are convinced that this was sabotage and Hannah is being framed." This is a step beyond what Bowles said earlier in the week ... he alleged sabotage, but didn't say it was targeted at his client.

But, Bowles wasn't done ... he added, "We believe that the scene was tampered with as well before the police arrived."

It's interesting ... this comes hours after the D.A. scoffed at the sabotage claim, saying no such evidence has surfaced.

Hannah's lawyer says his client met with Santa Fe County Deputy Sherriff's Tuesday, providing a full interview and continuing to cooperate.

Her legal team says more info keeps coming out that the D.A. needs to investigate, and they want the D.A. and FBI to get to the bottom of what happened with the live rounds they claim ended up in the "dummies" box.

Of course, there's another explanation ... that someone was target practicing during the lunch break and failed to take the live ammo out of the chamber.

A teenage girl was leveled by a sucker punch in the middle of a basketball game Sunday ... and the violent swing was all captured on video.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the incident went down during a youth basketball game in Garden Grove, Calif. -- after a 15-year-old had bumped into a girl following her jump shot.

In footage of the play, you can see as both girls got back to their feet after the collision -- someone from the crowd appeared to yell, "You better hit her."

That's when the girl in the all-black uniform swung a massive left haymaker that connected with the other girl's throat and face area.

Immediately, the girl crashed to the floor in pain ... and we're told the game was stopped and then eventually canceled over the incident.

The punch victim's mother tells us the girl was injured on the play -- and is suffering from the after-effects so much, she still has yet to return to school.

The girl's mom also tells us she went to cops over it all ... though it's unclear if a criminal investigation is underway.

The key gaffer on "Rust" is now taking legal action against Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Dave Halls ... suing them over the fatal shooting that killed Halyna Hutchins.

Serge Svetnoy just filed suit against the above-mentioned individuals -- as well as others -- claiming the defendants' alleged negligence caused him severe emotional distress in the aftermath of it all.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Svetnoy claims the bullet that struck both Hutchins and director Joel Souza actually zoomed by and nearly hit him too. Not just that, but the gaffer claims he was one of the first people on hand to tend to Halyna while she was profusely bleeding ... attempting to comfort her and keep her conscious.

As for why he's suing Baldwin, the suit claims he "owed a duty to the Plaintiff and other crew members and actors on the 'Rust' set to handle the Colt Revolver provided to him by defendant Halls with reasonable care and diligence for the safety of 'Rust' cast and crew." It goes on to say, "This duty called for Defendant Baldwin to double-check the Colt Revolver with Halls upon being handled to ensure that it did not contain live ammunition."

And, it goes on ... "This duty further called for him [Baldwin] to handle the Colt Revolver as if it was loaded and to refrain from pointing it at anyone." In other words, the suit claims negligence on Baldwin's part.

And, there's this ... according to the lawsuit, the scene Baldwin was rehearsing did not call for him to pull the trigger. According to the lawsuit, the scene called for Baldwin to draw the gun and point it in the general direction of the camera, but, "the scene did not call for Defendant Baldwin to shoot the Colt Revolver."

The suit also claims Baldwin was negligent as a producer on "Rust," saying, "... they attempted to save money by hiring an insufficient number of crew members to safely handle the props and firearms ..." It goes on to claim there were other lapses on the set, including violating industry norms, declining requests for weapons training days, failing to allow proper time to allow for gunfire, failing to send out safety bulletins and spreading the staff too thin.

The suit also claims the target practice that was going on shortly before the tragedy was "outrageous."

Svetnoy says he'd known Halyna for 5 years and considered her a good friend.

The ordeal was absolutely traumatic, so says Svetnoy, and has since left him in utter mental anguish ... to the point he feels he might not ever be able to get over it.