Drugs & Alcohol

David Koechner might not be too different from the guys he plays in movies -- because the dude spent New Year's Eve in a cell for drinking and driving ... this according to cops.

The 'Anchorman' and 'Office' star was busted for suspected DUI and hit and run Friday in Simi Valley, CA -- where he got picked up by the local cops around 3 PM PT ... well before midnight. Koechner was booked into Ventura County Jail around 5 PM PT ... and his vehicle was towed.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... police got a call for an erratic driver, which a patrolling officer located -- only to find David behind the wheel. We're told he was given field sobriety tests, which he didn't do well on ... and got hauled in for drunk driving and allegedly hitting a street sign with his car.

Per online records, he was released early the next morning ... around 5 AM PT. He's got a court date in March to answer for this arrest.

There's no question it's Dave here. All his info lines up with what we know about him publicly ... same DOB, same height (6'2"), from Missouri, occupation as an actor, etc.

Of course, David is known for playing party animals ... especially when portraying Champ Kind, or even Todd Packer from "The Office," both of whom are known for boozy adventures.

DK hasn't had any other run-ins with the law that we're aware of -- this seems to be his first DUI, at least in Cali. We've reached out to David's camp ... so far, no word back.

MTV's Darrell Taylor has been busted for public intoxication, after someone called cops complaining of a very drunk man lying in an apartment hallway ... TMZ has learned.

It all went down earlier this month in Burbank ... when someone in the apartment complex called cops about a man who was allegedly stumbling around and ringing doorbells.

When officers arrived, they found 42-year-old Taylor – a multi-time winner of MTV’s "The Challenge" – flat on the ground in front of one of the units -- so drunk they had to take action to protect him.

Cops arrested Taylor, and he was later booked on a charge of public intoxication and later released.

Darrell tells us he was trying to get back to his hotel and got lost. He says he went down the wrong street and apparently ended up at the apartment complex by accident.

Katy Perry is the queen of hip hops ... because she opened her Vegas residency with her own brew ... and you gotta see how she did it!

Katy was performing Wednesday night at Resorts World when she started yapping with a giant COVID mask about this and that ... and then had a hankering for a beer.

So, the 37-year-old mother of 1 was super resourceful, using the can attached to her dress to lactate a glass of Corona, and the crowd loved it.

At one point during the show, Katy popped out of a neon toilet.

It's interesting that Katy actually made COVID a theme in the concert, as you can see from the video.

She'll be doing 32 shows through March of next year. She'll also receive a Queen's ransom for her efforts ... reportedly $168 mil! It's not unprecedented ... Celine Dion and J Lo also made a fortune during their residencies in Sin City.

Armie Hammer has resurfaced after months of rehab ... he's back in the Cayman Islands with his kids.

Armie looks relaxed in a bathing suit and t-shirt, strolling poolside with his son.

It's the first time we've seen him since he left the rehab facility where he's been receiving treatment for more than half a year.

As you know, Hammer has been accused by several women of sexual abuse. The L.A. County D.A. is reviewing a file involving an alleged 2017 rape, but law enforcement sources tell us the case will not likely be filed. Hammer has denied the allegations.

Hammer had been dating a dental hygienist from the Caymans ... it's unclear if they're still together

Jubilee Sharpe won't end up having a DUI blemish on her criminal record -- but she sure is being treated like someone who got convicted for it ... this as her case comes to an end.

The ex-'Bachelor' star pled guilty last week to 2 counts -- willfully refusing to sign and accept a summons or citation, and reckless driving causing injury to property or person. Her actual DUI charge was dropped by prosecutors in Palm Beach ... and only the reckless driving charge will show up on any future background check, per the State Attorney's Office.

As a result of her plea deal ... Jubilee's facing 12 months of probation. As part of the deal  -- according to court docs, obtained by TMZ -- she'll have to complete a DUI education course, attend a victim impact session, do 75 hours of community service ... and pay hundreds in fines.

Jubilee will also be without her car for over a week, and when she does get it back ... it'll have an ignition interlock device, to make sure she isn't boozing and driving.

As we reported ... Jubilee was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving 2 years ago after a cop found she'd crashed her car. He described her as looking smashed -- noting she failed all the field sobriety tests ... then refusing to blow for a breathalyzer.

Former NFL star Vincent Jackson died of chronic alcohol use, autopsy results -- obtained by TMZ Sports -- revealed.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's office released the findings Wednesday ... calling the manner of death "natural."

As we previously reported, Jackson was found dead in a Florida hotel room on Feb. 15, 2021. He was just 38 years old.

His wife, Lindsey Jackson, said last week that Jackson had been suffering from memory loss and mood swings before his passing ... and revealed that a study on his brain had shown he was suffering from stage 2 CTE.

Lindsey also said Vincent had been drinking heavily before his death, explaining that he had told her it helped him "feel calm."

He would have turned 39 years old in January.

Vincent was a big star in the NFL for years, recording 9,080 receiving yards and 57 TDs in his 12-year career. He was selected to three Pro Bowls.

Cardi B wasn't the only one to shower Offset in gifts for his 30th birthday -- LeBron James also sent some dope presents to the rapper to celebrate the big night!

The King signed a pair of all-white Air Force 1s and shipped them over to Offset's bday bash in Los Angeles on Tuesday, and they're pretty awesome.

The Lakers superstar put his autograph on both sneakers ... and added a happy birthday message to one of the shoes as well.

James also gifted Offset with a custom bottle of his Lobos 1707.

Offset clearly loved the presents -- he shouted out LeBron on social media, thanking the NBA player for the swag.

Of course, the gifts were great, but LBJ had a ton of competition to win the night's best present award.

A bunch of celebs showed up to celebrate Offset at the bash, with most coming baring gifts -- including Cardi B, who handed over her man a $2 MILLION check.

Yeah ... LBJ's signature is great, but hard to beat cash!

Prosecutors tell TMZ Sports they believe Aldon Smith was driving with a BAC of greater than .20 before he was arrested for a DUI earlier this month.

Smith was booked back on Dec. 6 after cops say he had driven drunk in San Mateo County and then got involved in a two-car accident -- and, on Monday, prosecutors formally filed charges against the 32-year-old over it all.

Court documents show Smith was hit with two felony DUI charges ... and, in the docs, prosecutors revealed they believe Smith was HEAVILY intoxicated at the time of the incident.

In the docs, prosecutors say Smith had a BAC of greater than .15 ... and when we spoke with the San Mateo County District Attorneys Office on Monday afternoon, a spokesperson told us they believe Smith actually had a BAC of greater than .20.

The DA spokesperson noted they're waiting on further test results to reveal the final number. Of course, the legal limit in California is .08.

Prosecutors also allege in the docs that Smith had an open container of booze in his car at the time of the crash ... and they also claim he had weed in an open container in the vehicle as well. They added that the other person involved in the accident suffered minor injuries.

Smith is facing up to three years in prison if he's convicted on the charges, prosecutors say. He's due in court for a hearing on the matter on Tuesday morning.

We've reached out to Smith's attorney for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

As for Smith's NFL career ... he balled out for the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, but he's currently a free agent after he was released by the Seattle Seahawks before the 2021 season began.

Trevor Moore died as a direct result of the fall he suffered at his home -- a drop that L.A. County officials are saying was an accident ... which may have been caused by booze.

The "Whitest Kids U Know" star's cause of death was revealed to be blunt force head trauma, this after falling from his second-story balcony ... which the L.A. County Medical Examiner's Office has deemed to be an accident.

Per the autopsy report, obtained by TMZ, Moore was also heavily intoxicated at the time of his death ... with his BAC coming back as high as 0.27 among 3 different samples taken -- more than three times the legal limit to drive.

TMZ broke the story, cops discovered open bottles of booze scattered about when they arrived at Moore's home back in August after the accident.

The Medical Examiner also notes ... they watched security camera footage to help make the determination that TM's death was not a suicide.

As we reported, the guy was found unresponsive in his backyard where he was pronounced dead. Law enforcement sources had told us at the time -- it appeared he'd fallen from a balcony out there ... and that it was just him, with no foul play suspected.

Trevor is most famous for helping launch the WKUK comedy sketch group. He was 41.

Kodak Black is clean and sober -- the rapper just successfully completed 90 days of drug rehab, and now he's turning his attention to his career ... prepping to get back on the road.

Kodak had a court hearing this week to reinstate his supervised release -- now that he's out of rehab -- and his lawyer, Bradford Cohen, says the judge was happy with Kodak's progress.

As we previously told you, the rapper and producer was ordered to a rehab facility a few months back after failing a drug test ... a violation of the terms of his supervised release in his federal gun case.

But, now he seems to be turning things around for the better and we're told he's taking his sobriety seriously.

He's already hit the stage too -- Rolling Loud California was his first live performance since his release ... after which, he headed back to Florida.

Cohen says Kodak is looking forward to making good music, and is going to try to stay away from people, places and things that would put him in harm's way, or trigger him to use again.

Fetty Wap made a trip to the airport that ended with handcuffs after police allegedly got an alert about his ankle monitor.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Fetty was at Newark Liberty airport Friday, when for whatever reason, cops got an alert about his ankle monitor. We're told after officers spoke to FW and ran his info, they discovered he had a warrant out for his arrest.

Details about the warrant aren't exactly clear, but we know it was for public nuisance out of North Bergen, NJ.

We're told Fetty was arrested and booked for the warrant, but will be able to make bail and get released.

It's not the first run-in Fetty's had with the law lately, he was taken in by the FBI back in October. The feds claimed Fetty and his associates helped to distribute over 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine across Long Island and New Jersey.

Agents say the investigation yielded $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, 2 kilograms of heroin, fentanyl pills, pistols, handguns and a rifle.

Fetty was able to come up with his $500,000 bail for that arrest, so it's possible that's why he had the ankle monitor.

Carson Wentz just made sure his O-linemen won't go hungry (or thirsty) for Christmas ... 'cause he just gave them all a grip of meat, booze and coolers ahead of the holiday!!

Colts guard, Quenton Nelson, and tackle, Matt Pryor, showed off the goodies on social media on Thursday ... revealing their quarterback dropped off the presents right in their lockers this week.

In total, the gift baskets for the big fellas included two Yeti coolers, a Yeti water bottle, bourbon and some meats from "The Wagyu Shop."

No word on the final price tag of it all, but since Wentz has made over $100 MILLION in his career, we're pretty sure none of it was cheap.

As for the guys' reaction to the presents, both Nelson and Pryor seemed pumped for the early X-mas gifts ... thanking the QB in their comments.

The 10 people killed at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival all suffocated to death in a crowd surge that crushed their lungs, according to the medical examiner.

The info, released more than a month after the Houston tragedy lists each of the ten victims' cause of death as "compression asphyxia." The report states each victim was pronounced dead at local hospitals. Only one of the ten had a "contributory cause" to his death of the combined toxic effects of cocaine, methamphetamine and ethanol.

Of course, the investigation of what failures led to those deaths continues. As we reported, the Astroworld stage started to be torn down Wednesday, 40 days after the concert ended.

As you know, Travis, Live Nation and other promoters are facing billions of dollars in litigation for negligence and wrongful death.

TMZ broke the story, Travis has teamed up with government officials over the last few weeks to organize a safety report for city officials across the country to use moving forward when planning large-scale music events.

Families of the victims from the show have mostly positioned their anger toward Travis, refusing his help even after he and his team had offered to help pay for funeral costs.

Ben Affleck says his feelings are hurt because his remarks about blaming his ex-wife for his alcoholism were taken out of context from his Howard Stern interview -- although, he's not explaining what he really meant.

Ben was on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" when he addressed the blowback he's getting after his 2-hour long chat with Howard, during which he says he stressed how much he and Jennifer Garner love and respect each other.

But, he's pissed because the only thing that got headlines was this statement ... "Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped. I was like, 'I can't leave because of my kids, but I'm not happy, what do I do?' And what I did was like drink a bottle of scotch and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution."

That's verbatim -- you can hear the unedited audio above.

However, Ben told Jimmy all the stories about that comment made him look like he "was saying the exact opposite of what I had said” ... and was the "worst, most insensitive, stupid, awful guy."

Ben says during the full interview "we talked a lot about my family, divorce and alcoholism … and how you have to be accountable and loving" for the kids.

All of that is true, and the full context of the interview was that he and his ex are on great terms now -- but, Ben's upset because he doesn't want his kids to think he'd ever say anything bad about their mother.

As we told you ... his current GF, Jennifer Lopez, showed up with him at Kimmel's studio -- and her smile made it seem they were unfazed by the backlash.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez don't seem the least bit fazed by all the backlash for him laying, at least, some blame for his bouts with the bottle on Jennifer Garner -- in fact, he's getting ready to talk even more.

Bennifer 2.0 looked happy as clams Wednesday on Hollywood Blvd as they strolled into the El Capitan Entertainment Centre ahead of his talk show appearance tonight with Jimmy Kimmel.

Ben and Jen were holding hands, flashing those pearly whites and showing no signs of strife after his controversial radio hit with Howard Stern ... where Ben blamed his ex-wife, Garner, for helping kickstart his alcoholism.

As we reported ... Ben went on Howard's show this week and said he felt "trapped" in his marriage with JG -- because of their kids -- and he started drinking to cope, saying the feeling made him turn to booze.

Ben's comments rubbed a lot of people the wrong way online ... in part because Garner was very supportive during his struggles with alcohol, famously taking him to rehab in 2018.

J Lo's not a scheduled guest on Kimmel, so looks like she's just there for support. It'll be interesting to see if Ben addresses all the flak he's catching for the Garner remarks -- but at least publicly, his new boo is standing by him.

Ben Affleck says his marriage to ex-wife Jennifer Garner helped kickstart his alcoholism -- claiming he turned to booze to cope with feeling "trapped."

The actor -- who's now with Jennifer Lopez -- didn't hold back while talking to Howard Stern about his drinking problem and his time with JG, which he made sound pretty damn miserable.

He says if they would've stayed together, they would've been "at each other's throats," and not just that -- but he even speculated if he was still married to her, he'd still be boozing.

Here's another telling quote from the Tuesday interview ... "Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped." He adds, "I was like, 'I can't leave because of my kids, but I'm not happy, what do I do?' And what I did was like drink a bottle of scotch and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution."

On the surface, it's a pretty galling statement for Ben to make, considering how supportive Garner was through his bouts with the bottle. She famously took him to rehab in 2018, and remained a pillar for him.

Which is why Ben's comments are NOT being well-received online. A lot of people are slamming him for even trying to connect his personal demons to her individually, noting Jen has time and again been there for him when he's relapsed.

Ben added that despite their best efforts, they simply couldn't salvage their relationship and didn't want that to be the model of marriage for their children.

Ben also mentioned their kids while talking about rekindling things with J Lo, telling Stern he thought twice about getting back with her -- all because he feels his kids are his highest responsibility and was concerned about the inevitable headlines.

One last thing ... while it might sound like Ben totally trashed his ex-wife, he ended on somewhat of a sweet note, saying ... "We did our best. I knew she was a good mom, and I hoped she knew I was a good dad. I had to get sober, and I acknowledge that."

Anyway, as we said ... it sounds like he and his ex are on good terms now, and have been for a while. Even with J Lo around -- which she was for Halloween -- there doesn't seem to be much animosity there these days.