NFL Email Scandal NFL's Lead Atty & WFT Prez Secretly Claimed Players Too Lazy to Vote
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The NFL's General Counsel Jeff Pash & then-Washington Football Team Prez Bruce Allen took a cheap shot at NFL players -- claiming almost none of them bother to vote.
Allen fired off the diss to his buddy Pash in an email TMZ Sports has obtained. Sources confirm the email exchange is among the more than 650,000 emails presented to the league during its 2020 investigation of the WFT organization -- and it says a lot about how the 2 high-ranking league officials felt about players.
In the 2018 email, Allen says, "I just got a phone call reminding me to vote in the Virginia primary before 7pm today (which I'm going to do). If NFL rules permitted NFL employees to gamble, I would bet $20.00 that less than 1% of NFL players voted in primaries this year."
Pash, who's been described as Commissioner Roger Goodell's right-hand man, replied, "Maybe even take the under" ... meaning, he'd bet even less than 1% of players votes.
Couple things to keep in mind -- this was the summer of 2018, less than 2 years after Colin Kaepernick and several other players were kneeling during the National Anthem to stand against police brutality and social injustice. So, suggesting players weren't interested in politics seems, at the very least, tone-deaf and misguided.
And, here's the bigger point ... according to our sources, the NFL had this email -- and the thousands of others -- more than a year ago, and yet took no action to discipline anyone involved. As you might know, in the wake of Jon Gruden's racist and homophobic emails (sent to Allen, BTW) ... there are calls for Goodell to release all of the emails. As of now, he has not.
The fact the league's own lead attorney and a team exec are on the record making distasteful remarks about players certainly isn't a good look -- and, perhaps, speaks to why the league's sitting on that mountain of emails.
For the record, WFT owner Dan Snyder fired Allen in December 2019, although there was no mention of the emails at the time.
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Chuck Liddell Files For Divorce ... Days After Domestic Violence Arrest
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Chuck Liddell has filed for divorce from his wife of 10 years ... just days after the UFC legend was arrested for domestic violence in Los Angeles, TMZ Sports has learned.
51-year-old Liddell filed for "dissolution w/ minor children" from his wife Heidi on Friday at a courthouse in L.A.
We broke the story ... Chuck was arrested early Monday morning at his Hidden Hills home after police responded to a call for a domestic disturbance.
When cops arrived, they spoke to Chuck and Heidi ... and determined a verbal argument turned physical.
While Chuck was taken to jail ... he's adamant he was actually the victim, and volunteered to go with cops so Heidi could remain at their home with a minor child who was in the house.
"I was the victim of the incident last night at our family home, as details of the case will reveal," Liddell said in a statement the day after the arrest.
"The deputies informed me that my wife would be arrested, as I did not respond to her assault while I sustained bruising and lacerations. I volunteered to go in her place."
Heidi was cited on the scene, but not taken into custody.
Chuck and Heidi have been together for over a decade ... engaging in November 2010. They have two children together.
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'AGT: Extreme' Horrific 911 Call ... Stuntman Close to Death
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10/14/21
The horrendous accident on set of "America's Got Talent: Extreme" had crew in a blind panic, and you can hear just how serious it was by listening to the 911 call from the set.
We've obtained the emergency call made by a woman -- an on-site medic -- who describes the stunt gone terribly wrong. She says the stuntman, Jonathan Goodwin, is "agonal and posturing" ... a term used for patients close to death, struggling to breathe and making unnatural movements.
The caller tells dispatch they need rescue and a helicopter STAT. Goodwin missed the airbag on which he was supposed to land, and hit his head on the ground, suffering a neurological injury.
At the time of the 911 call, CPR had not been performed, because Goodwin had a pulse. A show source tells us he was responsive when taken to the hospital, but his current condition is unknown.
The Sun was first to publish the 911 call.
TMZ broke the story, Goodwin was supposed to free himself from a straitjacket and land on an air mattress below before two cars on either side -- hoisted by cables and swinging back and forth -- collided and sandwiched him in between. The collision caused a massive explosion.
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David Ortiz Don't Blame Boone For Yankees' Woes ... 'Managers Don't Play'
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David Ortiz has a message for all of the Yankees' fans blaming Aaron Boone for their disappointing season -- STOP IT.
TMZ Sports got the Boston Red Sox legend out in Beverly Hills this week to talk about his old rival's team ... and he made it clear, Boone is not to blame for New York's early playoff exit this year.
"Managers don't play, man," Ortiz said. "Managers just make moves."
Instead, Ortiz said if the Yankees want to be successful, they just need to work on "chemistry."
"If you don't have chemistry, it doesn't matter if you have talent," Ortiz said. "They have the talent, they just need to work on their chemistry. I think they'll be all right."
Many New York fans would disagree ... Pinstripes supporters have been clamoring for the team's brass to fire Boone ever since the Yanks disappointingly dropped the AL Wild Card Game to the Red Sox.
Boone has been safe for now ... which Ortiz appears to think is the right call in New York, despite what fans may believe.
As for if former Yankees great Alex Rodriguez would make a good replacement for Boone if the guy is canned ... Oritz said he could see it, though he ain't sure A-Rod would want it!
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Katey Sagal Hit by Car in L.A. ... Taken to Hospital
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10:07 AM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the accident happened at 11:40 AM. We're told she was at a crosswalk when a Tesla making a left turn apparently didn't see her and tagged her.
Our sources say cops issued no citations and no arrests were made. There were also no drugs or alcohol involved. The incident remains under investigation.
Katey Sagal got hit by a car while crossing the street and was taken to the hospital, but thankfully ... she's going to be okay.
The "Sons of Anarchy" and 'Conners' star was struck by a car as she was crossing the street as a pedestrian Thursday in L.A. ... a source close to the actress tells TMZ.
We're told the driver of the car did stop to help Katey, and she was transported by ambulance to a local hospital and treated for her injuries. Our source says they're not serious though, and she's expected to be released sometime Friday.
It's currently unclear if the driver has been cited for the accident.
Along with her award-winning performance as Gemma Teller on 'Sons' ... Katey also sang several songs featured on the show. Here's one to enjoy, as we say get well soon!!!
Originally Published -- 9:18 AM PT
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Erika Jayne Not Watching 'RHOBH' Reunion Not Reliving the Drama!!!
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While millions are tuning in to see the 'RHOBH' reunion, one pair of eyes won't be -- those belonging to Erika Jayne, who is not looking to re-experience all that tension and drama.
Sources tell TMZ ... Erika has no plans to watch the 4-part special because what she went through while shooting it was grueling enough. If she were to watch, she knows that would mean going through the roller coaster of emotions again ... and she's just not up for it.
Instead, we're told she'll keep busy by working on a couple of business ventures and, overall, staying in a good headspace.
Erika, of course, spent an entire day filming the reunion on September 10. She was in the hot seat amid allegations her estranged husband, Tom Girardi, stole money intended for families of those who died in the 2018 Lion Air Flight 610 crash in Indonesia.
During Part 1 of Wednesday's reunion ... around 1.5 million viewers tuned in to watch host Andy Cohen grill Erika about the legal woes. She took the opportunity to address people accusing Girardi of siphoning millions, saying the biggest misconception is "that I'm cold and have no sympathy."
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
Erika added that she wants anyone who was wronged to be whole again, and that it's important that the alleged victims hear that from her.
As for what's keeping her busy ... we're told some of the new business ventures include a beauty-related project and a big social media project. But, while she's trying to move on ... 'RHOBH' might not make it easy to do so.
As we reported, producers are looking to capitalize on Erika's personal tumult. Remember, besides Girardi being accused of stealing ... Erika's also being sued for allegedly hiding their assets in a "sham divorce."
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Tyga Still a Go for Rolling Loud CA ... Despite Dom. Violence Bust
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Tyga's dodging cancel culture -- at least to this point, because TMZ's learned he has NOT been yanked off the Rolling Loud CA lineup on the heels of his domestic violence arrest.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Rolling Loud is not pulling the "Rack City" rapper from his scheduled performance in December. The festival's position is noteworthy when you consider several music festivals were quick to remove DaBaby earlier this year, following his homophobic rant at Rolling Loud Miami.
In fact, Tyga was on a stage Thursday night at a club in Orange County ... just 2 days after LAPD booked him for felony domestic violence.
10/12/21
Our sources say Tyga felt he had an obligation to perform the club gig, and had a bunch of friends and family members on hand to support him. We're also told Tyga will continue to show up where he's slated to perform and hold his head high despite the allegations.
As we reported ... he voluntarily turned himself in to the LAPD following allegations his ex-GF, Camaryn Swanson, made against the rapper. Swanson claimed he roughed her up during a dispute at his house earlier this week.
10/11/21
Sources close to Tyga say Camaryn showed up at his house around 3 AM Monday and acted belligerent at the door -- but after Tyga let her inside, things allegedly turned physical.
Camaryn filed a police report, claiming Tyga struck her, and she later posted video showing her alleged injuries. A rep for Tyga tells us, "The allegations you have been reading about our client the past few days are false and will be disproven."
We reached out to officials at Rolling Loud, and they had no comment.
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Rascal Flatts' J.D. Rooney My DUI Bust ... Oh Deer, Lemme Explain!!!
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Joe Don Rooney -- lead guitarist for the country music trio Rascal Flatts -- allegedly told cops a wild story about what led to his DUI bust. Literally, wild.
According to a police affidavit, obtained by TMZ, cops say Rooney told them he was driving his BMW in Williamson County, TN back in September at around 4 AM when a deer ran out in front of him.
Cops say Rooney blamed the deer for causing him to veer off-road and crash into some trees, which deployed his airbags. Cops say Rooney smelled like booze ... and that he told them he played golf earlier before going to a friend's house for drinks. The officer says he admitted to "one more than I should have."
What's more ... cops say Rooney bombed several field sobriety tests. As we reported ... he was ultimately arrested and taken to county jail where he was booked on a misdemeanor DUI charge. He was later released after posting $2,500 bond.
Rooney -- a founding member of the group -- is due back in court next month.
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Rosario Dawson C'mon 'SNL' Give My BF His Props!!!
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Rosario Dawson says "Saturday Night Live" needs to give BF Cory Booker his due the next time 'SNL' impersonates the Senator ... and she's got a few ideas for the stars to workshop.
We got the actress leaving ABC Studios in New York and asked what she thought of the show's impersonation of her boyfriend.
Rosario doesn't seem too impressed ... she says she's yet to see anyone nail Cory's true personality, and she explains why he's like the Fred Rogers or Ted Lasso of the Senate.
The 'SNL' skit mocking the recent Facebook hearing in Congress featured tons of politicians, but the Cory jokes were mostly centered on him dating Rosario.
Next time, Rosario says, the show should instead give her man props for everything he's doing for his State, from cannabis to police reform.
It sounds like Rosario and Cory weren't offended by the 'SNL' skit ... but she's got a few pointers for Chris Redd.
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Becky Lynch To Ronda Rousey Post Baby Advice ... Don't Come Back to WWE!!
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Becky Lynch has some heartfelt advice for Ronda Rousey -- IF the WWE Superstar wants to return to the wrestling ring after giving birth to a beautiful baby girl ... DON'T!!
Of course, The Man and Rowdy Ronda have major beef ... but they also have something in common -- they are new moms.
Lynch -- who relinquished her title when she went on maternity leave -- gave birth to a baby girl in December with hubby Seth Rollins. She recently returned to the ring ... and is already SmackDown champ.
TMZ Sports talked to Becky and we asked her if she had any advice for Rousey, who also gave birth to a baby girl with husband Travis Browne in late September ... and she did, sorta.
"Don't [come back], cause I'm still on top, Ronda, you won't like it. That's my advice."
We also asked Lynch -- who has a huge match scheduled against Sasha Banks Friday night on a special 2.5 hour SmackDown on FS1 -- about her return to the squared circle ... following the baby.
"It's been crazy, Mike. It went from zero to 100 real quick. Coming back, and coming back on top after not wrestling for a year and a half. It's been wild, but it's been amazing. And, my baby comes along everywhere with me."
There's more, Lynch also talked about WWE's Crown Jewel event, going down October 21 in Saudi Arabia ... and how she intends to inspire young women and girls in the country.
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Barstool's Dave Portnoy Frozen Pizza Business Is Boomin' ... Nearly 250k Sold!!!
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Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has turned his pizza obsession into a money-making machine ... revealing his One Bite frozen pies are flying off the shelves -- with nearly a quarter-million sold in just weeks!!
Of course, Portnoy became an extreme pizza savant about 5 years ago ... after a debate with a coworker over what food they could eat every day for the rest of their lives.
To prove his side of the argument, Portnoy started consuming pizza daily ... which led to making popular videos ranking 'za joints all over the country.
"El Pres" joined Harvey and Charles on "TMZ Live" to discuss his decision to join the pizza industry himself ... saying Stoolies have been asking him to start his own brand for years.
"When you're doing it organically for 5 years, you start to build trust," Portnoy said Thursday. "I don't want to say it was a logical step, but a lot of people were like, 'Hey, you should do your own frozen pizza.'"
"So, it was a while in the works. We finally got it out, and I don't want to say anything surprises me, but I think last call about a week and a half ago we sold close to a quarter-million of these things throughout Walmart. They're flying."
Dave also shares his favorite flavor of the bunch -- cheese, pepperoni, 3 meat and supreme -- and reveals his honest review of his own work.
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Kamaru Usman Wants To Make Superfight W/ Canelo Alvarez ... Says Mgr Ali Abdelaziz
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"Conor McGregor, a guy who can't even beat guys in the UFC, went 10 rounds with Floyd Mayweather. You have to tell me Kamaru cannot go 12 rounds with Canelo and beat him?"
That's Ali Abdelaziz, Kamaru Usman's manager, telling TMZ Sports he wants to answer the question, who's really the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, by boxing Canelo Alvarez, the best pugilist in the world.
And, he believes his guy can, and will, win.
The 34-year-old welterweight champ is rematching Colby Covington at UFC 268 in November, but after that fight, Ali has his sights set on 31-year-old Alvarez.
"Let's get the pound-for-pound king in boxing vs. the pound-for-pound king in MMA. We're not into this fake fight, gimme fight," Abdelaziz says.
"If you think you're the pound-for-pound king, Kamaru is the pound-for-pound king. Let's have 2 kings fight each other. No takedowns allowed."
FYI, Canelo-- the super middleweight champ -- hasn't lost in 8 years ... since his fight with Floyd Mayweather in 2013.
But, beating Alvarez isn't all Ali has planned ... he says he then wants his fighter to go to 185 lbs. (from 170 lbs.) and fight Israel Adesanya.
"After [Canelo,] I've always said it, I want Kamaru to go up a weight class and fight for Middleweight title. I believe that today Kamaru can go up and be 2 division champion."
It's a tricky fight to make ... Usman and Adesanya have been resistant to even talking about a fight against each other because of their shared connection to Africa. Both men were born in Nigeria.
First, Usman has to beat Covington, again ... and then, super-fight?
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Mohamed Hadid Ordered to Fork Over $2.8M to Neighbors ... In Mega-Mansion Lawsuit
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Mohamed Hadid's pockets could get a lot lighter soon ... he's been ordered to fork over almost three million bucks to neighbors in his mega-mansion lawsuit.
According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, a jury came to a verdict and decided Mohamed's neighbors John and Judith Bedrosian and Joseph and Beatriz Horacek suffered serious damage when Mohamed tried to build his doomed Bell-Air mansion dubbed the 'Starship Enterprise.'
The jury awarded the Bedrosians $300k and the Horaceks more than $2.5 million for their mental suffering, anxiety, emotional distress, annoyance, inconvenience, and other damages.
The neighbors sued in 2018 over Hadid's massive project on a hillside ... claiming thousands of cubic yards of soils were removed from the hillside without proper permits, which created a dangerously steep slope.
A third-party was appointed to demolish the property and remedy the soils and hillside stability issues. That order came in January 2020 but the structure's still standing.
A judge has now ordered the demolition to go forward. As we reported ... prosecutors also charged Mohamed over the ordeal. He pled no contest and ultimately got 3 years probation, community service and fines.
Case closed, but damn ... it's an expensive case for Mohamed!
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Dog the Bounty Hunter Ripped by Laundrie Family Attorney ... He Just Wants Publicity!!!
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Dog the Bounty Hunter and John Walsh are getting hammered by the Brian Laundrie family attorney, who says both men are inserting themselves in the Gabby Petito case purely for attention.
Steven Bertolino represents the Laundries and tells TMZ ... "Dusty relics like that Dog and John Walsh need a tragic situation like this so they can clear the cobwebs off their names and give their publicity hungry egos some food."
10/3/21
As we've told you ... Dog joined the manhunt for Brian last month, trekking through some rugged terrain in remote sections of Florida and even injured his ankle in the process.
The search has gotten him a lot of attention, and Dog's seen TV offers start rolling in, with multiple networks showing interest in resurrecting a show with him.
OCTOBER 2021
We also asked Bertolino if he feels Dog is impeding the official investigation, by showing up unannounced at Brian's sister's house ... and he said, "That's for law enforcement to determine."
As for John ... the "America's Most Wanted" host has a new TV special about the Petito case and the search for Brian.
The Laundrie family, or at least their lawyer, doesn't seem to be fans of either celeb.
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Matthew Mindler Suicide from Sodium Nitrate OD Family Warns of Danger
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Matthew Mindler killed himself with an easily accessible substance he picked up online ... and his mother wants everyone to know about the extreme danger of the compound.
The Lancaster County Medical Examiner's Office tells TMZ ... the former child star's cause of death was sodium nitrate toxicity. According to the M.E., the OD was intentional and as such his death was ruled a suicide.
If you're unfamiliar ... sodium nitrate is an oxidizing agent -- one often used to preserve foods, like meat -- that causes hypotension and limits the flow of oxygen in the body, which can result in death.
While sodium nitrate deaths are often accidental, Matt's was anything but ... this according to his mom, Monica, who says she discovered a harrowing trail Matthew left behind.
Monica tells us she looked up Matt's recent Internet search histories, and it turns out ... he was looking up information on this lethal compound as it pertained to suicide, and ways to obtain it and take it for the ultimate effect of ending one's life painlessly.
We're told she had no clue this was something he'd been exploring prior to his body being found by school officials near his university in Pennsylvania -- but more importantly, she wants this to serve as a cautionary tale for others.
Monica hopes someone else's life can be saved if folks know what warning signs to look for ... as this is a fairly cheap product Matthew seems to have ordered on Amazon with relative ease, at just $15, which Monica says was enough to kill 4 people.
In other words ... awareness is everything, and she hopes Matthew's story serves as a wake-up call.
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NJ Cemetery We Didn't Bury Body Over Another One Denies Viral Video's Claims
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The cemetery accused in a viral video of burying bodies on top of each other insists there's no nefarious tale from the crypt going on, because it's not what it looks like on camera.
Here's the deal ... a woman visiting her sister's plot at Laurel Grove Cemetery in New Jersey posted a video showing what appeared to be a fresh mound of dirt over her loved one's grave. She blasted the cemetery, accusing it of doubling up, and using the plot for someone else too.
Jessica Tawil, who posted the video that's making the rounds on TikTok, says the incident happened Monday, and she claims there was an extremely foul odor coming from the pile of dirt on her family's $12,000 plot, which she believes had been disturbed.
However, Laurel Grove Cemetery tells TMZ ... the video really just shows their process for routine maintenance on plots -- soil gets placed on the area before it's leveled, covered with topsoil, seeded and then covered with hay to protect the seed.
The family isn't buying that, and says they're exploring legal action and want to get the gravesite formally inspected. They claim they filed 2 reports with cops.
Laurel Grove says it's unaware of any police reports. It's also adamant there were no additional burials or disturbances at the plots in the video, and they've explained that all to the family.