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Spencer Pratt is Karen Bass’ biggest threat in the race for Los Angeles mayor ... at least according to the Bass campaign’s own internal pollster.

An email sent Thursday by Bass campaign advisor Douglas Herman to “Interested Parties” -- including endorsers and supporters -- states that the campaign’s internal pollster, Binder Research, currently shows Pratt in position to make the November runoff.

The letter -- obtained by TMZ -- also takes direct aim at Nithya Raman, the L.A. City Councilmember and progressive who entered the race late and is widely viewed as a key challenger.

"Sinners" star Omar Miller was riding high after the Actor Awards -- especially over Michael B. Jordan’s Best Actor win -- gushing to TMZ that you can’t keep a good man down.

We caught up with Omar -- who played Cornbread in the movie -- after Sunday’s ceremony ... and he made it clear how proud of Michael he is with the huge win. Even with that BAFTA slur drama hanging in the air from last week, he says the moment echoed the trauma and themes baked into the film itself.

Check the full clip -- Omar gives props to Michael for how he handled it all, standing tall next to Delroy Lindo and dealing with it like a true champion.

The USBL is going to bat for Jontay Porter -- telling TMZ Sports the league believes in “second chances” as it welcomes the banned ex-NBA big man.

Porter, who was banned for life from the NBA in 2024 following a gambling scandal that torpedoed his career, signed last week with the Seattle SuperHawks in the relaunched United States Basketball League.

While some leagues might shy away from the baggage, the USBL is leaning in.

Kimora Lee Simmons looks like she wants to make her life simple ... because she's looking to officially drop the last names of a couple of her exes, including Russell Simmons.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Kimora filed paperwork to change her name from Kimora Lee Simmons-Leissner to Kimora Lee.

The reasoning ... Kimora says she wants the change for "consolidation of records and names used in different documents."

If ya thought Michael Irvin's signature "belt to ass" celebration was going away after Miami's championship hopes came up short, think again ... 'cause the Hurricanes legend tells TMZ Sports he'll be doing the move after every game next season.

Irvin went viral throughout the 'Canes' playoff run this past campaign ... where he'd remove his accessory from his waist and hit a water cooler with it to cement every Miami win.

Despite how things played out against the Indiana Hoosiers in the College Football Playoff Final, Irvin is already guaranteeing perfection in Coral Gables.

3/2/26, 6:40 AM PT -- Marathon Burger tells TMZ ... "The opening was a huge success with strong community support. The incident being reported was NOT connected to our event and the event continued. The opening itself proceeded safely and without issue. The restaurant remains open and customers are still flowing in and out with excitement."

The opening of a new Marathon Burger -- the restaurant chain founded by the late Nipsey Hussle -- was marred when shots were fired near the event ... TMZ has learned.

The incident took place in downtown Long Beach Sunday around 3:30 PM PT ... and video is now circulating online which shows cops picking up a person and placing them in the back of a squad car.

Snoop Dogg and YG attended the event, but were gone long before the shooting began.

1:11 PM PT -- The NYPD tells TMZ ... cops responded to the 911 call just after 5 PM on Thursday -- and found King unconscious. He was unresponsive, and EMS pronounced him dead at the scene.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is looking into his cause of death.

Eugene Thomas King Jr. -- the convicted bank robber who held a gun to Paula Deen's temple in 1987 -- has been found dead in New York City ... TMZ has learned.

Family sources tell TMZ ... King was found dead Thursday inside his Brooklyn apartment. It's currently unclear what caused his death.

We've reached out to the NYPD, FDNY and the NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner for more.

The man who held Paula Deen at gunpoint died from cardiovascular disease, a natural cause ... TMZ has learned.

Eugene Thomas King Jr. died from hypertensive and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the New York City Medical Examiner's Officer tells us.

According to the Mayo Clinic, hypertensive and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease is caused when high-blood pressure damages the arteries and causes plaque to build up. This is considered a natural cause of death by the M.E.

Rapper J.I The Prince of N.Y helped rescue a stranded nurse during the dangerous snowstorm that slammed the Northeast last weekend after spotting her partially buried car along Interstate 95.

TMZ has obtained exclusive video showing Rivera and his team stopping along the snow-covered highway and digging the woman's vehicle out as heavy snow blankets the roadway.

The Brooklyn-born recording artist had just wrapped a weekend of performances in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. On Monday afternoon, after checking out around noon, Rivera and his team began driving back toward New York in near white out conditions on largely unplowed roads.

Things appear to be very serious between Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton because TMZ has learned the two were on vacation together in Arizona over the weekend.

TMZ has obtained video of Kim and Lewis Saturday evening near Lake Powell, taking in a breathtaking desert sunset, where we're told they were seen snapping a cozy selfie together.

The pair was seen off the beaten path at the secluded spot of the major vacation destination on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona. The quiet, upscale boating destination is where wealthy travelers typically go for private trips.

The World Cup is the biggest sporting event of 2026 ... but Inglewood's not sweating being one of the host cities -- thanks to names like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

We spoke with Mayor James Butts Jr. this week as the city gears up to welcome soccer fans at SoFi Stadium this June ... with folks from all over the globe expected to travel to the area for games.

Mayor Butts said federal presence will be added to the city's already "robust public safety matrix" ... which already exists thanks to massive names like Swift and Bey having tour stops in the area in years past -- as well as the Super Bowl -- with countless spectators flooding the city for those events.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, Butts said having the World Cup is like hosting several Super Bowls in one month ... which is pretty bonkers to think about.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. is officially off the market … but don’t expect the Yankees star to be knee-deep in seating charts and floral arrangements.

TMZ Sports caught up with Jazz and his fiancée, Ahnalys Santiago, earlier this month in West Hollywood and asked the happy couple how they're doing post-engagement … and when it comes to wedding planning, the MLB slugger made it clear he’s taking a backseat.

“He’s barely a part of it, but it’s coming along, though,” she teased.

Jazz didn’t argue.

“I’m letting her do it. That’s her wedding,” he quipped -- before Ahnalys quickly corrected him: “It’s ours.”

Chisholm popped the question to Ahnalys, a singer and influencer better known as Ahna Mac, on Christmas under the Northern Lights in Finland. And they said (almost) married life has not changed much -- at least not between them.

This Major League Baseball season will be different than any in the league's 120+ year history, 'cause a computer will, in part, call balls and strikes ... but is it a good thing?!

That's the question we posed to longtime MLB umpire Jim Joyce, who worked 30 seasons in the Big Leagues, including three World Series, and was widely regarded as one of the best umps in the game.

"As with any new technology, there has to be a sounding out system," Joyce told TMZ Sports ... "I hope they have done due diligence in that part of it."

Britney Spears' Iranian American ex-husband Sam Asghari is applauding America for joining forces with Israel and striking Iran Saturday ... even saying he's glad the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead.

The actor and model didn't hold back to photographers as he reflected on the massive military mission launched Saturday ... saying his home country's government being wiping out is "justified."

And he doesn't hesitate to applaud Khamenei's death specifically, saying it was "deserved" and that he deserved a larger punishment than death alone.

A group at a Washington D.C. restaurant was talking openly in the bar area Friday afternoon about a national secret that was about to literally explode hours later -- the bombing of Iran.

Attorney Mark Geragos was at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab at around 3:00 PM ET, getting something to eat and preparing to do the "2 Angry Men" podcast with Harvey Levin ... from his seat in the bar area.

Just before 3:45, Mark overheard people at the next table in the bar area talking about Iran. There were 4 men sitting at a high-top table, and 2 women were standing next to the table. The men were dressed in business attire ... sports coats and collared shirts. Mark says one of the men said in a voice loud enough for him to clearly hear ... the U.S. was going to bomb Iran "today."

Mark's not sure who these guys were, but Joe's is .2 of a mile from The White House.

Don Lemon has had a lot of things to stress about lately, but his 60th birthday isn't one of them ... he told us he's celebrating the milestone with the ultimate way to relax!

The big day isn't until Sunday, but the journalist tells TMZ ... he started the festivities Friday night with a dinner at a friend's house in Beverly Hills. Then, it's on to the NAACP Image Awards tonight, where he's being honored with 4 awards, followed by dinner with husband Tim Malone.

And on the actual day? He tells us it'll be a "spa day in a beach town."

Can't blame the guy for wanting to just kick back. His birthday comes on the heels of him being named in a lawsuit by an alleged parishioner of The Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota for allegedly disrupting a service last month.