Family

The employee found dead in a freezer at an Arby's restaurant got trapped inside, and beat her hands bloody trying to escape ... according to a new lawsuit from her family.

The manager was Nguyet Le and now her family members are suing Arby's and the company that owns the franchise location in Louisiana.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Nguyet was temporarily managing the Arby's in New Iberia ... and it was her own son who discovered her lifeless body in the walk-in freezer.

The family claims Nguyet was dropped off for work the morning of May 11 to open the restaurant alone when she got trapped in the freezer.

The suit says the latch on the freezer door had been broken since August and the restaurant operators neglected to fix the issue even though they knew about it, leaving employees to resort to using a screwdriver to open and close the door, which was often propped open with a box of oil.

The family claims company policy called for the freezer to be kept to at least -10 degrees if not colder ... and police investigators found the inside of the freezer door bloodied, leading them to conclude Nguyet panicked once she realized she was locked inside and beat her hands bloody trying to escape or get someone's attention.

Ultimately, the suit says the widow and mother of 4 collapsed into the fetal position face down on the frozen floor and died from hypothermia.

It's tragic ... the suit says her body was discovered by her son, Nguyen, who also worked at the restaurant and was coming in to work his shift.

The family is going after Arby's and the franchise owner for damages.

Joe Giudice is back in the 'Real Housewives' universe after his cameo in the New Jersey reunion ... where he was looking for a surgical consultation, of all things!

The 'RHONJ' alum called his ex-wife Teresa on the phone just as the first of the 3-part reunion kicked off with host Andy Cohen. Teresa and the other housewives -- Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs, Dolores Catania, Jennifer Aydin, Rachel Fuda and Danielle Cabral -- seemed surprised.

As Teresa answered the phone, she said, "Look who's calling me: Joe Giudice," who has been living in the Bahamas since 2021 after leaving Italy following his deportation from the States.

Joe had an important question for Jennifer's plastic surgeon husband, Bill, who was not present either, so he addressed it to Teresa. Joe said, "Tre, ask Jennifer's husband, Bill, if he does bags under your eyes," while everyone chuckled.

Andy then snatched the phone from Teresa and asked, "Giudice, are you looking to get your eyes done?"

Hell no!! Joe said he was just researching the procedure for his uncle and pointed out, "[Mine] aren't baggy yet."

Besides all that ... we learned Joe has a few girlfriends in the Bahamas, and he never watched 'RHONJ' -- not even while he was in prison.

After everyone said their goodbyes, Andy hung up and remarked, "Wow, unexpected." Not so sure about that, but anyway ... it was a moment.

As we reported, Joe was convicted in 2014 of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and served 41 months in federal prison. A judge ordered him to be deported to his native Italy, and he was eventually booted from the U.S. after losing several appeals.

Elizabeth Holmes has traded in her customary black turtlenecks for prison fatigues ... 'cause she just surrendered to authorities at a federal lockup.

The disgraced former Theranos CEO arrived Tuesday at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, where she will serve her 11-year sentence after her 2022 conviction on four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy resulting from her phony blood testing scheme. She made several requests to stay free while appealing her conviction, but the judge denied her each time.

During her incarceration, Holmes will be far apart from her family ... making the prison experience that much harder.

Her husband, William Evans, lives in California with their 1-year-old son and 3-month-old daughter, which could make visiting Holmes a challenge.

On the flip side, Holmes will be in close proximity to another familiar face ... "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Jen Shah is serving her 6.5-year sentence at the same facility for running a fraudulent telemarketing enterprise. The two will have plenty of time to get to know each other.

As we reported, Holmes was indicted for telling investors her company -- Theranos -- created a one-of-a-kind machine to streamline a full range of clinical tests using blood samples. But, her promise of conducting cheaper and easier blood testing was all just a ruse to get her investors to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars. A judge has ordered Holmes to pay $452 million in restitution to the victims of her scam.

Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson are essentially operating as one parental unit, but that doesn't mean they're romantic again ... despite growing speculation online.

Sources close to the two tell us they're still operating as they have been for months -- as co-parents -- but Tristan lives near Khloe's place, so they're spending a lot of time together. Remember, they now have two young kiddos, and we're told it's important to Khloe that the kids get to spend as much time with Tristan as possible.

Another clue that things are good between Khloe and Tristan -- she was spotted driving around in one of his vehicles last Tuesday -- so they're sharing keys too. Our sources say the two are in a great spot as friends.

What's more, we're told Khloe let Tristan and his younger brother stay with her in the immediate time following the funeral for Tristan's mom. At the time, Tristan was getting work done on the roof of his home after some water damage ... so Khloe opened up her doors.

TMZ broke the story ... it was back in January when Khloe boarded a private jet to be with TT in Toronto after his mom's sudden death. At the time, our sources told us Khloe wanted to be there as a source of support and comfort for Tristan -- Kim and Kris eventually came too.

Clearly, the family bond hasn't broken between anyone ... as we continue to see the Kardashian family support Tristan, even sitting courtside to cheer him on with The Lakers.

Ralph Yarl, the Black teen who was shot in the head after walking up to the wrong house last month, was at a charity event for a good cause ... helping others who have ended up in situations similar to his in one of his first outings since the near-death experience.

The 17-year-old Missouri student was at the “Going the Distance for Brain Injury” run-walk event in Kansas City Monday -- the same city where he was shot 2 times -- including in the head -- just over a month before by 84-year-old Andrew Lester.

Ralph's mom, Cleo Nagbe, told local outlet KMBC she's extremely grateful for the outpouring of support she's been receiving for her son. In regards to the event, she says, "Socially it’s still hard for him. So, I’m glad he was able to overcome this. I pray that he will overcome most of his social hurdles after doing this."

You'll recall, Ralph was attempting to pick up his siblings when he mistakenly approached Lester's home, resulting in Lester shooting the teenager twice ... he's since been dealing with a serious brain injury but is luckily alive after the terrifying incident.

Lee Merritt, attorney for the Yarl family, told TMZ the part of Ralph's brain that deals with emotion and stress was damaged, so his doctor didn't give him the green light to return to school due to all the social interactions.

Ralph also got an invite from Ahmaud Arbery's mom, Wanda, to join her at a 5K race earlier this month, but his fam didn't think the time was right to be in a social setting, especially after the school denial.

Benedict Cumberbatch's home was subject to a terrifying break-in ... as a man wielding a knife was destroying his property and shouting at the actor and his family while they all feared for their lives inside.

According to Daily Mail, 35-year-old chef Jack Bissell kicked his way through the front gate of Benedict's $3.5 mil North London property -- shouting "I know you've moved here, I hope it burns down" while the actor, his wife, and their 3 kids could hear him just outside their doors.

Bissell, who formerly worked at the Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair, reportedly yanked out one of their plants and threw it against the garden wall ... and also spit on their intercom before ripping it off the building.

The chef fled the scene before things could escalate further ... and luckily, police found his DNA on the intercom, leading to his eventual arrest. He was slapped with a fine and a 3-year restraining order from the Cumberbatch family.

During this month's trial, prosecutors said Bissell bought 2 packs of pita bread at a nearby store before the incident, telling the shopkeeper he was going to break into Benedict's home and burn it down.

Bissell pled guilty and was sentenced on May 10, although specifics surrounding the date the incident occurred haven't been revealed. According to DailyMail, details of the case could not be reported until they "successfully challenged blanket reporting restrictions this week."

It's unclear what the connection is between Bissell and Cumberbatch.

LeBron James has tons of free time now that he's out of the playoffs, including family time -- which he soaked up this weekend with yet another graduation drop-in.

The Lakers superstar attended Chaminade High School's ceremony Saturday in West Hills, CA -- where his "nephew," Auston Mims, was all set to walk across the stage in a cap and gown as part of the Class of 2023. Mims played football there, and LBJ is close with the kid ... having attended games of his in the past. Although it's unclear if they're actually related.

Auston appears to be the son of LeBron's longtime friend and business partner Randy Mims. In any case, Bron was front and center to watch Auston receive his high school diploma.

Check out these videos, obtained by TMZ, where you can see the King is trying to lay low as the names are called, checking out his phone and keeping his head down. In these clips, he seems to be alone ... but eyewitnesses tell us he was actually there with family and friends.

Of course, he totally stands out -- at about 6'9", no less -- so, eventually, he parked it and had a seat. That didn't stop people from approaching him and fanning out a bit, though.

At one point, a young guy walking by spotted him ... and tapped him on the shoulder for a little handshake -- which Bron obliged and reciprocated. There was even an adult who came over to say hello ... but it kinda seems like LBJ just wanted to keep to himself here.

Anyway, this is the second graduation (that we know of) that LeBron's gone to in recent weeks. Remember, he was just at his own son's Thursday ... and was one proud papa.

The backdrop of all this is the question of whether he's going to hang it up on the court and retire from basketball. He suggested he might in his Game 4 loss presser ... noting he had a lot to think about in the offseason. Stuff like this might be at the forefront of his thoughts.

Fact is, if he was still playing ... it's possible he might have missed these types of moments. Certainly possible, but if a game was scheduled to be played on a Saturday ... it'd probably be tough to do both. Lucky for him, he was able to catch all the big days this year.

Paul Walker's memory is truly living on ... thanks to his brother Cody.

Cody Walker and his wife, Felicia, honored Paul by naming their third son after the late 'Fast & Furious' star, who died in a car crash nearly 10 years ago.

After the baby was born April 30, the couple quickly decided on the name, Paul Barrett "Bear" Walker.  They posted an Instagram photo of the baby held by his 2-year-old brother, Colt Knox Walker.

Cody told PEOPLE ... "This November will mark 10 years since we lost my brother, Paul, and I just felt now was the appropriate time (to honor Paul)."

Turns out Cody is the second member of the Walker family to celebrate Paul's memory. Their older brother, Caleb Walker, and his wife, Stephanie, named their 5-year-old son Maverick Paul Walker after the actor.

In the latest F&F installment "Fast X," which was released this month, Paul is briefly seen in a flashback at the beginning of the film.

Britney Spears says she's patched things up with her mom Lynne after a long stretch of bad blood between them!

The pop icon took to IG Thursday night and provided an update, writing, "My sweet mama showed up at my doorstep yesterday after 3 years ... it’s been such a long time … with family there’s always things that need to be worked out … but time heals all wounds !!!"

Britney continued, "And after being able to communicate what I’ve held in for an extremely long time, I feel so blessed we were able to try to make things RIGHT !!! I love 💕 you so much !!!"

She ended with this ... "Psss … I’m so blessed we can have coffee together after 14 years!!! Let’s go shopping afterwards!!!"

TMZ broke the story ... Lynne flew to L.A. Wednesday to see her daughter. They spent about a half hour together before Britney and Sam drove off ... our takeaway at the time was that the rather short convo must have been difficult because Britney bolted in short order, and it seems that's exactly what happened.

The part when she says she was able to say "what I've held in for an extremely long time," suggests she vented and it was tough, but she got it all out and that cleared the path for a reconciliation.

What a turnaround! As you recall, Britney couldn't see eye to eye on anything with her family as she fought to end her conservatorship in 2021. In fact, things became so strained Britney threatened to sue her family to get out from under the 13-year conservatorship.

Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and his pregnant wife will be adding a couple more players to their roster at home ... turns out they're about to have -- of all things -- twins!!!!

The MLB skipper's bae, Allie Baldelli, shared the exciting, and wildly ironic, news on Thursday ... using pics of their dog and their young daughter.

In the images, you can see the couple's toddler holding ultrasound images of the unborn Baldellis around her head.

“BOY TWINS," Allie captioned the pics. "due in september 🤍🙃🤍🙃."

Baldelli currently has his baseball Twins in first place in the American League Central ... but in a matter months, he'll have a whole new set of twins to manage -- and we're sure he's fired up for the task.

Britney Spears' mom flew to L.A. Wednesday to see her daughter ... and Britney was receptive enough to let her inside her home and spend some time catching up.

Lynne Spears arrived at LAX in the morning and was driven to the home of Britney's manager, Cade Hudson. She then took an Uber to Britney's home.

We're told Britney didn't know exactly when Lynne was coming, but she knew her mom was in town to see her.

When Lynne arrived at Britney's home, the singer let her inside and the 2 spent around 30 minutes chatting. We're told Sam was also present.

Our sources say the ice between mother and daughter is thawing ... they've been texting recently and Lynne knew the path was clear enough to make the trek from Louisiana to L.A.

As you know, Britney was on a tear at the end of the conservatorship and afterward, saying her mom and the rest of her family betrayed her. This is a pretty clear sign there's a chance of reconciliation.

After Lynne left, Britney and Sam got in her car, drove around for a bit and then returned home.

How much does Travis Kelce hate the NFL's new kickoff rule? Well, in an epic, one-minute rant about it this week, he called it everything from "dumb" to "stupid" to "wack" to "boring!"

The Chiefs star held nothing back on his and his brother, Jason Kelce's "New Heights" podcast on Thursday -- calling the league's new regulation that will allow teams to fair-catch kickoffs in exchange for receiving the ball at the 25-yard line one of his least favorite rules ever.

"I think this is absolutely stupid," the Kansas City tight end said.

"I don't think this is making the game safer. I think it's making it more boring and taking a lot of excitement out of the game's opening play. This is wack."

Travis' biggest gripe with the rule is it'll essentially incentivize players to never return a kickoff again -- unless it's a horrible kick.

Jason agreed, saying he predicts it'll all feel just "ceremonial" now.

"We're just getting closer and closer to removing special teams," the Philadelphia Eagles star said.

"We're just going to have guys, 'Hey, I'm going to run 80 yards for no reason and then we're going to start the drive!'"

"It just deflates the excitement of like the first kickoff," Travis added.

The guys are not alone in their feelings -- Travis' head coach, Andy Reid, also ripped the rule this week ... worrying it might eventually lead to taking contact out of the game altogether.

Patrick Mahomes is breaking his silence on his little brother's arrest ... saying Wednesday, "It's kind of a personal thing that I'm going to keep to myself."

The Kansas City Chiefs star met with media members for the first time since Jackson Mahomes was hit with three aggravated sexual battery charges stemming from an alleged February encounter with a woman ... and it wasn't hard to see the quarterback did not feel comfortable speaking about it all publicly.

He told a reporter twice that he wanted to keep his feelings on the matter private ... saying he's going to do his best going forward to separate his family matters from his football career.

"At the end of the day," the QB told the media member, "I come here to play football and try to take care of my family, at the same time."

"So," he continued, "just kind of keep it to myself and just go out there and play football when I'm in the building."

The 27-year-old was then asked a broader question about how he'd balance it all going forward.

"It's your family," he said, "but you have to come in here and do a job. And that's what I try to do every day."

As we reported, Jackson was arrested on May 3 ... after a restaurant owner alleged he grabbed her and forcibly kissed her multiple times at her Kansas establishment three months ago. The younger Mahomes was also accused of shoving a male member of her wait staff earlier in the evening.

Jackson appeared in court for a hearing on the matter on May 16 ... but he's yet to issue a plea on the charges.

The social media star's attorney, though, did say at the time of the initial allegations back in February that Jackson had done nothing wrong.

"Our investigation has revealed substantial evidence refuting the claims of Jackson's accuser including the statements of several witnesses," Brandan Davies said. "We have reached out to law enforcement to provide the fruit of our investigation so that they may have a complete picture of the matter."

Tom Petty's family is ripping the auction house that's selling his wardrobe to the highest bidder ... claiming the items are stolen!!!

The late singer's family tells TMZ ... "We believe RR Auction, headquartered in Boston, is offering stolen Tom Petty memorabilia with a completely false provenance inaccurate to fact and in complete denial of clear evidence they have been presented. They will not disclose the cosigner who has provided these items or how they were acquired. But they are clearly stolen, there is no other word for it."

As we first reported ... RR Auction says the items are from Tom's former home in Encino, CA and the collection includes hats, jackets, shirts, shoes and more.

Tom's family is "pursuing swift legal action" against the auction house ... their goal being to get Tom's gear returned to the family.

The Pettys also say they firmly believe the auction items have "been outright stolen from a secured archive based on prior knowledge, staff observations and documentation."

RR Auction is already auctioning the items off, but the bidding doesn't end until June 22 ... so it seems like there is time for this to be resolved.

In the meantime, Tom's family is asking fans and collectors to "refrain from participating in this auction until the matter is settled to avoid getting further involved in this legal action."

Bottom line for the Pettys ... "These items have irreplaceable sentimental and educational value for the family and legacy of Tom Petty and we look forward to their safe return."

We reached out to RR Auction ... so far no word back.

Jonathan Majors and his new boo Meagan Good kept things lowkey on their latest date ... quietly slippin' in and out of Red Lobster with some of her family for some grub.

The "Creed 3" and "Harlem" stars were spotted at the seafood chain Tuesday in Woodland Hills -- spending 3 hours with Meagan's mom and her sister while they all chatted and went to town on some seafood.

Looks like Jonathan got flowers for Meagan, her momma, and her sis -- unclear if it was his first time meeting the fam, but we're sure he got some bonus points for the classy move.

As we reported, JM and MG landed at LAX Saturday ... coming from New York and holding hands as they walked down the tarmac and into their ride -- a pretty sweet perk for celebs like them.

Of course, their rumored romance comes on the heels of physical abuse claims against Jonathan by his ex-girlfriend.

You'll recall, he was arrested in March on assault and aggravated harassment charges, but he and his lawyers have profusely denied all of it -- even pointing to a clip of the alleged victim having fun at a club after the supposed incident went down as proof.

For years, fans believed all 3 members of the Migos rap group were related, but Offset is laying out the truth ... saying he's not related to Quavo and Takeoff at all.

Offset recently sat down for a new interview with Variety, where he confirmed Quavo is in fact Takeoff's uncle ... but the long-believed notion Offset was Quavo's cousin just isn't true.

Still, Offset's got a strong bond with Quavo and Takeoff ... Offset was a classmate of Quavo's when they were growing up in Georgia, with Offset hanging out with Quavo and Takeoff when Offset was in the sixth grade. They all became thick as thieves and ultimately formed Migos.