Discovery

Tristan "Mack" Wilds is sick and tired of the way the media and others unfairly profile black males, and he wants to blow these misconceptions to smithereens in a new Discovery+ show.

Tristan, who starred in "The Wire," joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday to talk about the false stereotypes that have been attached to Black males ... false stereotypes like Black fathers leave their families, and they devalue Black women.

Tristan knows of where he speaks, growing up as a Black male in America and dealing with these damaging presumptions people make.

The Discovery+ show is executively produced by none other than Tina Knowles-Lawson, who had a strategy to get her message out. The strategy -- don't sell the show to a predominately Black network. Her reasoning is that white people are the ones who need education, so Discovery+ fits the bill.

It's interesting ... Tristan thinks the way the media has unfairly characterized Black men has spilled over into the problems of police officers profiling Black men -- the cops learn from the media and then perpetuate the false narrative.

The docuseries premiered earlier this month, and new episodes will air on Discovery+, every Saturday.

Car sales go down every day, but how often can you say you bought a tank from Kanye West???

Kanye struck a deal with the Diesel Brothers to sell them his Ripsaw EV2, and this thing's insane!

Dave 'Heavy D' Sparks tells TMZ ... the partnership between Ye and the two friends (not real brothers, BTW) started a few years back. West's team reached out to them to get some work done on his trucks, but unfortunately, the timing never lined up.

Fast forward to last October, when someone from Kanye’s team reached out once again, looking to see if they’d want to buy the Ripsaw he was trying to unload. It was a no-brainer because the waiting list to get one is around 3 years, so they rushed down to his ranch in Wyoming to pick it up.

It was reported that Kanye bought it for $500,000. 'Heavy D' wouldn’t say how much change they handed over to seal the deal … but he did say Ye gave them a sweet deal. Kanye posed with the vehicle for a GQ photoshoot back in 2020, and featured it in his “Closed on Sunday” music video.

One odd thing -- the DVD player's built into the dash. Heavy D says for whatever reason, it only plays a K-Pop music video on a loop. We don’t know if Ye is a BTS fan, but they can’t figure out how to turn it off without ripping the player out entirely.

The Diesel Brothers made it big when their YouTube videos caught the attention of Jay Leno, who brought them on his show. Since then, they’ve started their own TV show on Discovery and even kicked it with the Paul brothers recently.

Autopsy results are in for Lance Waldroup, the late reality TV star from Discovery's "Moonshiners", and they show his heart gave out ... TMZ has learned.

Lance's official cause of death is listed as congestive heart failure ... according to the autopsy report TMZ obtained. It also shows cardiomyopathy -- which makes it harder for the heart to pump blood -- and morbid obesity (he was 580 lbs.) as contributing factors.

In the docs, the medical examiner notes the famous bootlegger had a history of high blood pressure, suicidal thoughts and was a recovering opioid addict.

Last February, the 30-year-old "Moonshiners" star went outside to smoke, went back inside his home, played video games and was later found unconscious on the bed, by his mom Lynn.

A couple of Suboxone pills -- prescription meds used to treat opioid addiction -- were found in the room, along with crushed white powder. Narcotics are not listed as contributing factors in his death, but the M.E. did find evidence of drug abuse in his body.

Darnell Ferguson has come a long, long way to become a Food Network star and big-time restaurateur -- success not a lot of people would've predicted when he was living out of his car.

The man best known as SuperChef joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" to break down his new competition show, "Tiny Food Fight." No, contestants aren't throwing raisins at each other, they're cooking real food, but on a nearly microscopic scale. It's freakin' wild, and DF says it takes a ton of skill.

The new show -- streaming now on Discovery Plus and hosted by comedian Mamrie Hart -- pits contestants facing off in tiny food-themed challenges. The winners take home $5k and a trophy. A tiny one, at that.

Darnell's no stranger to food and food competitions ... having won Giada De Laurentiis' "Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge" and Guy Fieri's "Tournament of Champions."

They don't call him SuperChef for nothing!

'Tiny Food' is just the latest success for Darnell who told us what it took for him to overcome homelessness to launch his own culinary empire ... starting with a breakfast pop-up joint he almost seemed embarrassed to operate.

Watch the video ... SuperChef explains why it was so humiliating, and also reveals how he got himself outta several bad decisions and into really good ones.

To say the "Jackass" star known as "Poopies" had a crappy time filming a "Shark Week" special is a huge understatement -- a shark attacked him, and although he survived ... it's taken a huge emotional toll.

Sean McInerney got bit while attempting a dangerous stunt -- a wakeboard jump over shark-infested waters -- for Discovery Channel's collab with the "Jackass" guys. It's clear from this footage, and Poopies' own words, he came terrifyingly close to death.

Poopies knows it, for sure -- watch him relive the frightening ordeal he went through as his jump came up short, and he landed in the shark pit. He says a Caribbean reef shark almost immediately clamped down on his hand.

Poor guy broke down crying as he remembered feeling this was gonna be the end for him.

Fortunately, the nearby safety medic sacrificed his own safety, and Poopies is sure that's the only reason he's alive to tell the tale.

"Jackass" is jumping the shark -- like, for real -- by joining Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" spectacle, and based on this first look ... we'd say someone's bitten off more than they can chew.

Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius and a couple new jackasses are returning to TV later this month for the "Jackass Shark Week Special," and as you can see ... they are up to their same old antics.

Steve-O's said the guys "went all out" for the special, adding "there were consequences" for doing so, and based on our sneak peek, those consequences were pretty severe.

Check it out ... a new 'Jackass' member named "Poopies" appears to get attacked by a shark after a jump attempt. Someone's heard yelling for medical assistance and a tourniquet as the teaser ends.

Yikes.

If you've ever wondered who hunts down poachers and pirates in international water, and brings them to justice ... you're looking at him, and he has a crazy story to tell.

Captain Peter Hammarstedt joined "TMZ Live" Friday to give us the inside scoop on his crew's chilling, high-stakes mission to track down an illegal fishing boat called Thunder. He says they spent more than 100 days in dangerous, iceberg-filled water, and their efforts are the subject of the new documentary, 'Chasing the Thunder.'

The Captain explained why his organization, the Sea Shepherd Society, was after "the most notorious poaching vessel in the world" and details the extreme conditions his ship, Bob Barker, battled to keep up and try to capture it.

The pursuit crossed 3 oceans and covered more than 10,000 nautical miles ... and you gotta see Captain Pete's reveal of how it ended. It's absolutely wild, and shows you the kind of people he was up against out there.

The pesky murder hornets that made it to North America last year are NOT all dead and gone -- in fact, a battle's being waged to contain the danger.

We spoke to renowned Washington state beekeeper Ted McFall Tuesday on "TMZ Live" about the new Discovery Channel documentary, "Attack of the Murder Hornets." He says enough have made it over here now to the point that different nests have developed.

Pros like Ted are addressing the crisis now ... however, he fears if they don't get it under control quickly, the U.S. honeybee population could be in serious jeopardy -- which eventually impacts our food supply too.

You might not realize it, but honeybees are a HUGE part of what keeps a lot of our crops growing at the rate they do. Murder hornets can easily wipe out colonies of bees, and that's why they're such a menace.

You'll recall, scientists in Washington state set out on a weeks-long mission late last year to snatch up as many murder hornets as they could find in one woodsy section of Washington, right on the Canadian border.

They thought they'd gotten them all in that one fell swoop, but had to go back later to retrieve a lot more of these hornets ... including hundreds of queens!

Turns out, those weren't the only ones out there -- and now, a black (and yellow) cloud hangs over the area.

Billy Brown -- the Brown family patriarch featured in 12 seasons of the hit series "Alaskan Bush People" -- has died.

Billy died Sunday following a seizure. His son, Bear, wrote on Instagram the family is "heartbroken to announce that our beloved patriarch Billy Brown passed away last night after suffering from a seizure."

Bear added, "He was our best friend - a wonderful and loving dad, granddad and husband and he will be dearly missed. He lived his life on his terms, off the grid and off the land and taught us to live like that as well."

A spokesperson for Discovery tells TMZ ... everyone at the network is devastated and said Billy's been "part of the Discovery family for years - a trailblazer, a lovely man and most definitely one of a kind. Our heart is with his family and those that knew him and loved him as they deal with this devastating loss."

Billy was an avid hunter and a pretty brilliant commercial fisherman in the North Pacific. He grew up in Texas and when he was 16 he suffered a tragedy -- his mother, father and sister died in a plane crash.

After meeting his wife, Ami, in Texas, they decided to move to Alaska where they raised their family of 5 sons and 2 daughters.

Billy was 68.

"Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro is getting back to work just over a month after impaling his hand in a gnarly freak accident ... but he won't be getting his hands dirty.

So here's the deal, Buddy's very first event since the horrific bowling injury is scheduled to go down Friday with Goldbelly CEO Joe Ariel. They're teaming up for an event dubbed Halloween Goldbelly Live! ... where they'll teach, via Zoom, how to make "Frankencakes."

But, sources connected to the event tell TMZ ... the "Cake Boss" will ONLY be instructing and not actually doing any of the decorating or whatever else goes with making the Frankenstein cake kits. We're told someone from Buddy's team will be doing the actual decorating while Buddy mostly oversees the production.

BTW, Buddy's still got a long recovery process. Buddy's returning to the air on November 22 when the Food network airs "Buddy vs. Christmas." If you're wondering ... this special was filmed before his accident. And, speaking of the accident ... TLC will air a 2-hour special on December 23 about the accident with footage captured immediately after the accident.

Just days after the accident, Buddy gave his account of the freak bowling accident. He said his long road to recovery's largely because of severe tendon, nerve and muscle damage to his right hand, which just recently had its third surgery.

Carole Baskin wrote that she would have killed her first husband to get out of her marriage in an old letter to Don Lewis' first wife, but despite that seemingly shocking reveal ... Carole says it desperately needs context.

The ID channel is airing a special on Joe Exotic and all his related 'Tiger King' craziness this weekend, including ongoing speculation Baskin played a role in Don's 1997 disappearance.

We got a sneak peek of one piece of evidence the show's investigators claim lends credence to the speculation -- a long letter Carole sent to Don's wife, Gladys, in August 1990 ... while in the midst of having an affair with him.

The letter seems to detail her relationship with Don, but includes a disturbing line about her first husband, Michael Murdock. Carole wrote ... "I had to get out of my marriage and would have eventually killed my husband to do it."

Baskin confirms with TMZ that she wrote those words, but adds ... "I only meant it in the context of self-defense as Mike Murdock was physically abusive to me to the point of causing me to fear for my life."

Carole has previously claimed numerous times that Murdock -- who she wed in 1979 and is the father of her daughter, Jamie -- was extremely abusive.

Nevertheless, retired homicide investigator Jim Rathmann says he finds the letter very interesting ... and points out it was written just 7 years before Don went missing.

Carole and Don both divorced their first spouses and married in 1991. Baskin has recently insisted -- yet again -- she had nothing to do with his disappearance and claims she was the only person trying to get him mental health help before it happened.

Larissa Lima says she's out of the '90 Day Fiance' universe for good -- but it's not because she wanted to leave ... it sounds like she's accusing the network of giving her the boot.

The Brazilian reality star made the announcement Saturday, which seemed to tie up a rocky week-and-a-half-plus she and her current boyfriend, Eric, have gone through ... ever since she raised a boatload of cash with a camgirl sesh, with a Kylie-esque makeover to show off.

Of course, shortly after that good fortune ... Larissa and Eric tried getting outta Dodge for the Rocky Mountains -- they said they were leaving Las Vegas and moving to Colorado Springs, presumably to start fresh. Their plans for '90 Day' were a bit unclear at the time.

Now, they're crystal clear ... because Larissa says she's out, and supposedly -- it's because TLC, which airs the series as well as its spinoffs, released her from her contract.

Larissa writes, "Dear Friends and Followers, I want to make a statement for you, I am no longer a cast member of the show '90 Day Fiance.'" She goes on to say, "Because of my show with CamSoda, I was released from my contract with TLC by phone the day before ICE arrested me." Larissa says she'll continue producing her own content on her own platforms.

As we reported ... Larissa dropped a small fortune -- upwards of $72k -- for a handful of cosmetic surgeries, all with the goal of looking as close to Kylie Jenner as possible. It would appear the investment paid off -- because we've heard her cam show raked in more than $100k for the one hour it was on. Assuming Larissa received anywhere north of half of that in her agreement with the porn company, she likely made her money back, and maybe some.

That might all be for naught, however, because we also learned ICE might be gunning to deport her after her brief detainment a week ago.

Joe Exotic thinks the walls are closing around Carole Baskin ... and he's hoping her missing husband's family finally gets some answers and justice.

The 'Tiger King' rips his longtime nemesis in a phone interview from jail, and says Carole's about to pay for years of what he sees as bullying.

A source close to Joe tells us the interview was recorded long before Carole started "Dancing with the Stars" -- back when he was behind bars in Grady County Jail Oklahoma -- but it's clear he's all for Don Lewis' family putting renewed attention on his mysterious disappearance.

During the call, part of a new Discovery ID special, Joe says it's high time Don's fam finally finds out what really happened to him.

As you know ... Carole's always maintained her innocence in Don's case, but the Lewis family recently put out a $100,000 reward -- and during a commercial aired during 'DWTS' they asked, "Do you know if Carole Baskin was involved?"

As for his case ... Joe's still insisting he was set up, and also offers an explanation for why he put down 5 tigers at his infamous zoo.

Jim Belushi says cannabis is a better way for all people to manage and heal from our internal traumas ... but he really thinks legal weed will greatly impact our homeless folks, especially veterans.

The actor joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and told us all about his legal marijuana farm in Oregon, the subject of his new Discovery Channel show "Growing Belushi," and what he's doing to help people who are struggling on the streets.

Jim says he encounters lots of homeless vets with psychological problems on the streets of Portland, plus other desperate people dealing with all sorts of problems, and he's convinced cannabis is a better way for them to treat their issues -- certainly better than alcohol or prescription pills.

Just listen as he describes the epiphany he had while observing a homeless woman.

Jim's lucky ... he can skinny dip or use cannabis to take a load off, but he understands not everyone has access to CBD and its healing effects ... so he's planning to open a pop-up dispensary in Portland offering free cannabis to homeless and low-income people.

It's a pretty interesting conversation ... and Jim also tells us how an Iraq war veteran changed his whole perception on the benefits of cannabis.

Jesse Goins -- best known for appearing on the Discovery show "Gold Rush: Dave Turin's Lost Mine" -- has died.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Jesse was on set in Colorado Tuesday night during filming. His job on the show is to work in the gold room, where he separates and cleans the gold. We're told someone from the crew found him unconscious just outside the gold room. A medic on-site administered CPR and EMTs then arrived and rushed Jesse to the hospital, but efforts to revive him proved unsuccessful.

We're told it appeared to those on the scene ... Jesse suffered a heart attack, although the exact cause of death has yet to be confirmed.

Jesse's brother, Larry, posted on Facebook saying, "Heaven will never be the same!! My brother Jesse went home to be with his Father, Lord and Savior. He will be missed dearly. Love you brother."

'Lost Mine' premiered in March 2019 and took place near Prescott Valley, Arizona. The second season kicked off earlier this year from February to April and largely centered in Marysville, Montana.

Jesse appeared in 15 episodes of the "Gold Rush" series spinoff. In 'Dave Turin's Lost Mine' ... Jesse worked alongside Turin as they visited abandoned gold mines around the western U.S. They then decided which mine they'd get up and start running again ... in the hopes of turning a profit.

Jesse, who was 60, leaves behind a wife.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's love of Shark Week could not be contained -- even as she was about to speak to the DNC -- and now she's got a new catchphrase with some bite ... with the Discovery Channel's stamp of approval!

The Guv was about to deliver her live speech Monday night in support of Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for president when she decided to let her Shark Week flag fly, saying ... "It's not just Shark Week, it's Shark week *mouths expletive for 'mother f*****s'*"

Her joke drew big laughs from the room as she acknowledged she knew her mic was on. The way it seems to us ... she was warming up the crowd -- comprised mostly of auto workers -- and it worked.

The moment didn't air on live TV ... but thanks to the magic of live streaming, it's gone viral, already garnering merchandise production in her home state.

Not only has the Governor's remark resonated with Shark Week fans and her constituents, but our sources at Discovery tell us the channel is thrilled at Gretchen's hot mic moment.

Of course, Shark Week 2020 just ended ... but it's never too early to hype up 2021.