Drugs & Alcohol

Legendary trainer Bob Baffert has just been SUSPENDED by the Arkansas Racing Commission ... after 2 of his horses tested positive for a banned substance.

Of course, Baffert is a Hall of Famer in the sport ... and his horses have brought home the Triple Crown in 2015 (American Pharoah) and 2018 (Justify).

The 67-year-old was just hit with a 15-day suspension by the racing org. on Wednesday ... after 2 of his horses tested positive for lidocaine, a banned numbing agent.

Both horses had just won races at Oaklawn Park recently ... and the owners now have to forfeit their prize money.

Charlatan -- which won a division of the Arkansas Derby back in May -- earned $300,000 in prize money ... and Gamine's owner received a $36,000 check after placing 1st in another race earlier that day.

Baffert argued that the banned substance was transferred to the horses by accident ... after an assistant trainer applied a medical patch to his back after breaking his pelvis.

UFC fighter Mike Perry believes he has a problem with alcohol abuse -- and says he will seek professional treatment immediately ... following a violent altercation at a Texas restaurant.

As we previously reported, Perry punched an older man in the face -- and allegedly struck 2 more people -- during a crazy incident Tuesday night at the Table 82 restaurant in Lubbock.

Witnesses told us Perry had been ordering berry mojitos before things got violent.

Now, the UFC has issued a statement about the incident -- with several interesting points about Perry.

"UFC is aware and troubled by the video that was released last night concerning Mike Perry."

"The conduct displayed by Perry is not reflective of that of our organization," UFC said in a statement first reported by ESPN's Brett Okamoto.

The UFC says Perry has apologized for his behavior and acknowledged he was disappointed with himself that his actions may have reflected poorly on UFC.

"He further acknowledged that he believes he has some issues related to alcohol abuse and is informed UFC that he has committed to immediately seek professional treatment, including substance and behavioral counseling."

"At this time, UFC has informed Perry that he will not be offered a bout, and the parties have agreed to evaluate next steps for Perry following the completion of this treatment program."

Dan Bilzerian fired a whistleblower who sounded the alarm on strange spending patterns at Dan's cannabis and CBD company ... at least according to a new lawsuit.

The popular playboy poker player and cannabis sector CEO is being sued by Curtis Heffernan, who claims he was fired from his job at Dan's weed company, Ignite, after noticing some company funds were being spent on things that seemed personal ... and then blowing the whistle.

According to the lawsuit obtained by TMZ ... Heffernan, who was Ignite's Executive VP, claims he flagged tons of purchases to the company board, such as lavish spending on a $75,000 paintball field, $40k on a rock climbing wall, $60k on a 'Star Wars' gun set, $31k on pool renovations, $50k on a bed frame, $15k on a ping pong table and $88k on a vault.

In the docs, Heffernan claims Dan's company was also burning tons of money on luxury yacht rentals, plus transportation for hot models ... and he says he found other "business expenses" that turned out to be charges for groceries and various household items.

According to the suit, Heffernan claims he told the board at Ignite the company could not afford to keep spending money in the same manner during the pandemic, and in response, Dan falsely accused him of doing drugs and he got canned.

Heffernan is going after Bilzerian for damages.

We reached out to Dan ... no word back, so far.

Shaun Weiss -- famous for playing Goldberg in "The Mighty Ducks" -- is doing well on his road to recovery following his most recent meth bust ... but he could still use a little help in one area.

Shaun's at a sober living facility in Woodland Hills, where he's staying clean and going to outpatient meetings 5 days a week ... but he could use some new pearly whites, because they're all gone.

His good friend, Drew Gallagher, set up a GoFundMe to help get Shaun a full set of teeth ... and he's trying to raise $25,000 for some much-needed dental work and his ongoing sober-living.

As you can see in this latest pic of Shaun ... he's looking much better and happier. He was having breakfast this week with Drew when the picture was taken ... a meal celebrating 170 days sober.

It's another milestone for Shaun, who finally went to rehab in March after getting out of jail and completed a 90-day program at Quest 2 Recovery in Lancaster.

As we first reported ... Shaun's buddies were desperate to get the troubled child star help before it was too late -- he was dealing with a slew of life-threatening issues and was at one point, living on the streets before January's meth and burglary arrest.

Shaun keeps looking better and better ... so hopefully, he keeps getting the help he needs, including some new teeth.

Here are the faces of a Beverly Hills doctor and his girlfriend, who allegedly stole $52 MILLION in an elaborate scheme that preyed on sober living patients to bilk insurance companies.

Dr. Randy Rosen and his GF, Liza Vismanos, were arrested earlier this week and have been charged with a staggering amount of felonies in 2 separate cases connected to the alleged scheme.

Rosen's facing 88 felony counts in connection with recruiting and hiring numerous body brokers to find and pay patients to have medically unnecessary implant surgeries, cortisone shots and other medical testing and procedures ... according to the Orange County D.A.'s Office.

Vismanos is facing 56 felony counts as Rosen's alleged partner in the scheme. She's also the owner of the Lotus Laboratories in Los Alamitos, CA ... which Rosen allegedly used for unnecessary drug testing for his patients.

Four others have also been charged in connection with identifying and recruiting potential patients for the bogus medical procedures.

According to prosecutors ... several insurance companies were then billed for these unnecessary procedures, but not informed that patients were being trafficked and paid for these procedures. The D.A. claims the insurance companies were fraudulently billed approximately $600 million and paid out approximately $50 million.

OC D.A. Todd Spitzer says of the case ... "Vulnerable sober living patients who were trying desperately to battle their addictions were treated like human guinea pigs just to make a buck."

NFL rookie Jermiah Braswell's time with the Arizona Cardinals is over before it even began -- the wide receiver has been cut after allegedly drunkenly driving his Camaro into Lake Erie.

The 23-year-old ex-Youngstown State star -- who signed as an undrafted free agent in April -- was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated in Put-in-Bay, OH on Saturday ... after cops found him in the driver's seat trying to move the vehicle out of the water.

According to witnesses, the Toledo native was traveling at "a very high rate of speed" on the road before the crash ... driving onto grass, off an embankment and into the water.

When cops spoke with Braswell, they claim he was slurring his speech and had no idea how he ended up in the lake ... and decided to conduct field sobriety tests.

Braswell also took a breathalyzer test, which reportedly showed a BAC higher than the Ohio limit.

The NFL transaction report shows the Cards decided to part ways with the rookie on Monday ... ending his short stint with the team.

"Mr. Elliott will not tolerate slanderous conduct and intends to take the appropriate legal action to address it."

When Ezekiel Elliott said he was "low-key faded" during a Twitch stream Sunday night ... HE MEANT ON BOOZE, NOT WEED!

That's according to the Dallas Cowboys running back himself who says he's pissed people are accusing him of being lit on the wrong substance.

"Bro, I'm low-key faded, bro," Elliott said before realizing his stream was still live.

"Oh no, I didn't even end my stream yet," he said shortly after.

Some assumed "faded" meant high on marijuana -- and Sports Illustrated even ran an article saying Zeke "admits to being high."

Zeke went to social media Monday to set the record straight and he sounded pretty upset ... even threatening legal action.

"Actually I was referring to the few drinks I had which I said during the live stream. Doesn’t that make this defamation? You guys will be hearing from my lawyers @SInow."

Sports Illustrated has apparently taken the article down.

Elliott's had a rough couple of weeks -- he recently tested positive for COVID-19 but says he's mostly recovered and should be cleared to workout with the team again soon.

Hydrate, bro, it's good for a low-key hangover.

It's been 3 years since Larry Sanders stepped foot on an NBA court ... but the 31-year-old says he's FAR from done -- telling TMZ Sports he wants another shot at getting back in the league.

Remember, Sanders had a solid career with the Milwaukee Bucks from 2010-2015 ... before failed drug tests and battles with mental health kept him out of work.

L.S. briefly had a comeback with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017 ... but reportedly struggled with keeping up with his responsibilities.

We spoke with Sanders about his career ... and he makes it clear he's not ready to hang up the sneaks yet.

"I think with things shifting a bit, me still young, I feel like I'm in the prime stage, I can definitely contribute."

"I would just love to contribute to a team and help them win and give my knowledge, give my defensive presence and just being able to play basketball."

"That's ideal for me. That sounds like heaven."

But, as for what Sanders has been up to OFF the court, he tells us he's working with a spray cannabis company called CLICK ... and says it's perfect for someone with his athletic lifestyle.

"It's super discrete, super cool and sleek and I just fell in love with it because for me, it's healthier."

Jon Jones says there's a silver lining to his March drunk driving arrest -- "it set me free in so many ways" -- and now he's focused on staying clean.

"It embarrassed me, it reality-checked me," Jones said on Steve-O's "Wild Ride" podcast ... "I've never been on camera drunk for the public to see like that."

"It was humiliating, and somewhat of a bottom for me -- and I'm ready to snap it into high gear."

As we previously reported, Jones was arrested around 1 AM on March 26 after cops responded to reports of gunfire in the Albuquerque area.

When cops found Jones alone in his Jeep, he appeared intoxicated and admitted to drinking earlier in the evening.

32-year-old Jones later plead guilty to DWI and was sentenced to 1 year probation, ordered to house arrest and forced to wear an ankle monitor.

During Steve-O's podcast, Jones said he's been thinking deeply about his life ever since his arrest ... and he's trying to cut out the bad influences who have led him astray in the past.

Jones also says the COVID-19 pandemic is helping him learn how to stay away from the party scene -- "detach from the nightlife."

"The coronavirus really helped though -- it helped me learn how to stay home on Fridays and Saturdays."

"Before the world got put on hold, I had this fear of missing out ... and coronavirus helped me realize 'Jon you're not missing anything out there.' And, anything that really matters is happening during the day time with your wife and kids."

Jones also talked about his work with the C.A.R.E. project -- which is raising money and support for communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in NM.

Post Malone is adding digital bartender and sommelier to his ever-growing resume ... because his new line of French wine is already a huge hit!!!

The "Better Now" rapper officially released his own French rosé, Maison No. 9, and it's already in high demand ... we're told Posty sold 50,000 bottles in 2 days during its pre-sale, wiping out the first round of inventory in a flash.

Post's fans sure are thirsty ... we're told Vivino, the sales platform hawking the booze, crashed on the first morning of the pre-sale because it couldn't handle the flood of orders.

The rosé is flying off the shelves at $21.99 a bottle ... it's named after Post's favorite tarot card (yes, he has one), the Nine of Swords. This is no cheapo novelty wine, either ... the drunk good folks at Wine.com rated it a 90 overall.

If you missed the pre-sale rush, chill. Post's rosé will be available online Monday in almost all states.

As if Post needs another reason to pop bottles. Cheers!!!

Danielle Bregoli -- AKA Bhad Bhabie -- is returning to her regularly scheduled program in the music biz, 'cause she's out of rehab and ready to get back to work.

Sources close to Bhad Bhabie tell TMZ ... the 17-year-old rapper was released Wednesday after completing a 30-day rehab program. We're told she feels great and is happy to be back out and about. We're told her main focus now is her music.

Danielle took to Instagram Thursday and posted a mirror shot, and she looks great ... like rehab really did her well. She also went live to say a little about her time in treatment -- saying she had a lot going on in her personal life and needed to separate herself from some people.

Josh Gordon's lawyer says the NFL receiver's most recent drug relapse was sparked by his brother's tragic death ... but has gotten the help he needs and is back on the right path.

The troubled 29-year-old was indefinitely suspended from the NFL back in December 2019 after failing another drug test ... adding to the long list of drug penalties since 2013.

But, Gordon is ready to prove he's back to 100% ... reportedly filing for reinstatement on Thursday.

While details surrounding Gordon's suspension weren't made available at the time, his lawyer, Adam Kenner, has revealed the devastating event that triggered the slip-up.

"Josh had a lapse because of his brother's death," Kenner said via Tom Pelissero. "That set him back. But since that time, he has realized how important it is for him to take the right steps, do what's proper, and understand how to manage these issues."

"He's installed the right team around him to make sure he's on the right path. He understands he's been given every chance. He looks forward to making the most of this."

Details on Gordon's brother's death weren't made public ... but Josh addressed his passing in a since-deleted Instagram post shortly after his death in November, saying, "Can’t put it all into words just yet, but today was one of those harder days to face."

"I love you big bro. I’m gonna miss you. This win was for you, thank you for being the best older brother any kid could have."

Meanwhile, Josh had been training like a maniac recently and posting the photos to IG.

One thing's for sure ... he still looks like he's in stellar shape.

Allen Glover -- the man allegedly hired by 'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic in his failed plot to kill Carole Baskin -- is in trouble of his own now ... he got busted in Oklahoma.

Glover was arrested by Valley Brook police Sunday morning on a DUI-related charge. We're told Glover was parked in a private parking lot and someone called the cops. When officers responded, we're told Glover was in the vehicle and alert but ended up blowing a .26. We do not yet know if the vehicle was running.

He was booked on the DUI-related charge of actual physical control (APC). In Oklahoma, you can get hit with the charge for simply sitting in your vehicle with a BAC higher than .08. An APC charge is more commonly known as a non-driving DUI.

As you may recall ... we interviewed Glover about his role in Exotic's murder-for-hire case a couple months back, and he clearly suggested he had a vendetta against Joe.

Allen told us he wished he could do more to hurt Joe as payback for, as Glover said ... all the misery he caused people and animals. Glover, of course, testified that Exotic paid him $3k to kill Baskin, and his testimony was critical in Joe's conviction.

However, what he told us possibly demonstrated a bias in the case ... but so far it hasn't resulted in Exotic getting freed from prison.

Josie Harris -- Floyd Mayweather's ex -- died from the result of an accidental overdose of Rx medication, TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story, Harris was found unresponsive in her car in front of her Valencia, Calif. family home back in March.

We were told despite lifesaving efforts from emergency personnel ... Harris passed away on the scene at 40 years old.

An autopsy was conducted, which included toxicology, and we're told the family has now been informed the official cause of death is listed as an accidental overdose.

We spoke with Josie's attorney, Dan Friedlander, who issued a statement on behalf of the family.

"The family is aware the medical examiner has released the report and they are thankful for the closure. Josie will be remembered as a truly kind and giving person and loving mother. She was loved and will be missed."

Floyd dated Harris in a famously up-and-down relationship from 1995 until 2010 ... and after her death, he called her "a great woman" and "a great person."

As we previously reported, Floyd was so rocked by the passing of Josie, as well as his Uncle, Roger Mayweather, he decided against making a return to the pro boxing ring in 2020.

Former Playboy Playmate Ashley Mattingly -- a domestic violence survivor at the hands of Lane Garrison -- took her own life with a gunshot to the head ... according to her autopsy.

The Travis County Medical Examiner's Office says Ashley put a handgun in her mouth when she pulled the trigger. The rest of the report reveals graphic, and quite frankly, obvious details we don't need to get into here.

The ME's report, obtained by TMZ, also includes toxicology results that show Ashley had opiates and benzos in her system when she died.

TMZ broke the story ... Ashley died back in April at her home in Austin, Texas, leaving a suicide note. Her family told us Ashley was struggling with substance abuse and alcohol abuse.

While they acknowledge she had many demons, they also say she was trying to get her life back on track.

Ashley was 33.

Charlotte Hornets player Malik Monk -- who was suspended for violating the league's anti-drug policy -- was reinstated during the league's COVID-19 hiatus, the team announced on Monday.

22-year-old Monk was suspended without pay on Feb. 26 ... and the reason behind the punishment was never made public. All we know is he violated the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.

Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak revealed Monk's suspension has been over for "a while" during his end of the year conference call with the media ... saying the guard has been back with the team and training at the practice facility.

"That’s been a while now,” Kupchak said on Monday. "He went through his program, and my understanding was he was reinstated as soon as possible."

"He has been in our facility and participated in all team activities."