Current Events

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden died by suicide inside the San Diego federal building where he worked ... TMZ has learned.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office tells TMZ ... Haden hanged himself inside an office at the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building in downtown San Diego.

The California Post first reported the news.

Haden's body was discovered last Wednesday after San Diego police received a report he was possibly missing. Officers responded to the federal building and found him dead inside an office.

The biological mother at the center of the McKenna West surrogate baby battle broke down in court Tuesday ... accusing West of trying to steal her child.

Nausheen Gilkar sobbed as she testified in Dallas ... saying West is now trying to claim the baby she and her husband hired her to carry.

As TMZ previously reported ... the baby -- whom West calls Gabriel and the biological parents call "Rumi" -- was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and is in critical condition after heart surgery.

Porn Star Christian Styles' death is now under police investigation ... and cops say his family contacted them to respond to his Michigan home, TMZ has learned.

Canton Township Police Chief Joseph Bialy tells TMZ ... officers went to Christian's residence on Saturday afternoon after receiving a report of a "non-responsive adult male." Bialy wouldn't say who found the body, but he did confirm Christian's family called police.

The chief also said his department launched a death investigation with the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office to determine how Christian died. The Medical Examiner took possession of his body to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.

3:19 PM PT -- Brittany Romano responded to the developments with a lengthy message on Instagram ... saying in part, "I am a credentialed, freelance journalist, and Vanity Fair allegedly told TMZ they revoked my access over the smile, which is absurd, since I never had a contract with them for a piece to begin with."

The Vanity Fair reporter who went viral for her unsettling grin and wink during the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has to find something new to smile about ... because the outlet has called off the essay from her they planned on running.

A spokesperson for VF's parent company, Condé Nast, tells TMZ ... "We were interested in the prospect of a personal essay by Brittany Romano about her experience growing up with Lindsay Clancy. Yesterday, after clear conflicts with our editorial standards and processes, we informed Romano that we were not moving forward with her essay and informed the court that she is no longer credentialed by Vanity Fair."

Romano went viral on Monday, when a camera panning the courtroom caught her in the front row of the gallery ... she mugged for the camera, with a super creepy smile ... and even freaking winked.

Three juveniles and an 18-year-old are in a heap of legal trouble after going on a joyride in a stolen SUV and crashing into another vehicle, killing a grandmother and her longtime partner, according to New Jersey prosecutors and media reports. 

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office tells TMZ ... Nayshaun Brown, 18, and his three juvenile cohorts allegedly stole the SUV last Saturday morning and took it for a spin in Mays Landing, NJ. NJ.com reported that the four were trying to elude police at the time of the crash.

Prosecutors say the suspects got into a head-on collision with another vehicle carrying Robert Barr Jr., 54, and Alice Stilwell, 67, both of whom died. Stilwell was reportedly a grandmother who was Barr's "long term partner."

The Vanity Fair reporter who went viral for her unsettling grin and wink during the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has an explanation for her expressions ... and it's unusual.

Here's the deal ... Brittany Romano stole the show Monday, when a camera panning the courtroom caught her in the front row of the gallery ... she mugged for the camera, with a smile meant for a horror flick ... and she added a wink for good measure.

A streamer caught up with Brittany in the parking lot and asked her why the heck she was grinning ear-to-ear in a setting that was anything but joyful.

Her answer ... she "grew up with Lindsay" ... and also she was mugging for her dad.

A Mexican bull-running festival turned deadly over the weekend ... with two people killed and 11 others injured as raging bulls tore through the streets.

Video circulating online shows one man being relentlessly trampled by a bull ... and in another clip, a bull roughs up a woman, throwing her onto her back.

The man had to be dragged from the street ... and the woman somehow managed to escape on foot.

21 bulls were released in the streets ... and the powerful animals killed 29-year-old Juan Manuel Filomeno Herrera and another man.

A former Catholic school teacher is accused of sexually abusing two teenage boys nearly 40 years ago ... with one claiming she behaved like she was "in a Sabrina Carpenter video."

Sally-Anne Bowen, now 65, was in her mid-20s while teaching chemistry at an all-boys Catholic school in North London ... and she allegedly had sex with one boy 20 to 30 times when he was 14 or 15, according to The Telegraph.

The accuser was referring to Carpenter's controversial "Feather" music video ... which featured the pop star dancing inside a Brooklyn Catholic church and sparked outrage from church officials.

Sam Altman and his sister are going back and forth in court over her submitting to a medical examination over her claims of childhood abuse ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, Ann Altman is opposing the upcoming exam scheduled for August 26, claiming the conditions and scope of the exam were disclosed less than a week beforehand.

She said she never agreed to talk about anything other than her claims of suffering from PTSD, but says the doctor set to examine her is planning to assess "any mental disorder."

Machine Gun Kelly made an unexpected appearance at Lil Durk's federal trial ... showing up at the courthouse to listen in on the proceedings.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... MGK showed up to a downtown Los Angeles court Monday and sat in an overflow room, where he listened to the trial as it unfolded.

We're told MGK's appearance was unexpected, though he and Durk have some history together ... MGK joined Durk onstage during his 2023 Amazon Music Live performance in Los Angeles, playing guitar as Durk performed "The Voice."

An Uber driver in Texas had a couple of unexpected passengers during a late-night shift ... a couple out-of-shape Houston Police Department officers ... and he helped them track down a suspect.

Anthony Baines was stopped at a corner when his dash cam caught a shirtless man running from two female HPD officers. The dude was way ahead of them, and the cop who was dragging behind stopped running and got in Anthony's car, telling Anthony to drive after the perp.

The officer is still trying to catch her breath as she orders Anthony to pick up her partner ... and then they spend a few minutes driving around the neighborhood until they find their suspect.

James Lew, the Hollywood stuntman and martial artist who appeared in dozens and dozens of action and kung fu films over his career, is dead ... TMZ has learned.

His wife, Jordanna, tells TMZ ... James died Sunday in Los Angeles.

We're told he was battling unspecified health issues ... and his cause of death was not disclosed.

James did fight stunts in several classic flicks, including "Big Trouble in Little China," "Rush Hour," "Action Jackson," "Time Cop," "Lethal Weapon 4" and "Star Trek."

The case of a New York City grandma who's been missing for two weeks in Las Vegas took a sad turn Thursday ... and TMZ is learning more about what happened to the 63-year-old.

Alisa Goods was visiting a friend in Sin City, and she left their home on August 8 to go shopping at CVS and vanished. Days after she disappeared, someone began messaging from her phone, asking her family for bitcoin. She was found dead Thursday near Harry Reid International Airport.

Las Vegas Metro PD tells TMZ ... surveillance from the airport shows a woman, believed to be Goods, falling down an embankment -- getting back up and then collapsing on August 8.

A Newport Beach police officer wasn't going to waste any time when he saw a group of dogs baking in a car ... and he quickly busted out a window to save the pooches.

Check out the footage ... as you can see from the cop's body cam from May 18, shared today by the department as a serious reminder of the danger ... the dogs were clearly distressed, with the window only slightly cracked ... while some were in cages.

The pooches were checked out by a vet after they were saved ... and all had body temperature levels that can be deadly for dogs.

One of Lindsay Clancy's supporters says the Massachusetts mom shouldn't be on trial for murdering her 3 children ... she says the mental healthcare system failed Lindsay.

Renee Kimball joined us on "TMZ Live" Friday ... and we asked her what justice looks like for her.

She says Lindsay deserves to get the help she begged for and to be able to move on with her life and help others who are going through postpartum psychosis.

Renee organized Thursday's rally at the Massachusetts courthouse where Lindsay is on trial, and tells us her group's support for Lindsay is not meant to justify the deaths of her children.

The case of a New York City grandma who's been missing for two weeks in Las Vegas -- while a stranger used her phone to ask for bitcoin -- took a sad and bizarre turn on Thursday ... when she was found dead near the airport.

Here's the deal ... Alisa Goods was visiting a friend in Sin City, and she left their home on August 8 to go shopping at CVS and vanished. Days after she disappeared, someone began messaging from her phone, asking her family for bitcoin.

Sadly, police say they discovered the 63-year-old's body on Thursday near Harry Reid International Airport -- a development that raises so many questions.