Fired

The Houston cop at the center of a viral racist rant video is officially off the force ... because the department says her behavior was beyond the pale.

The Houston Police Department announced Friday it has terminated Officer Ashley Gonzalez ... saying in a statement she is "no longer an employee of the department" following an internal investigation into the shocking viral clip.

According to HPD, Gonzalez was immediately relieved of duty once the department became aware of the video ... and officials say they moved "as fast as legally possible" under state civil service laws to complete the investigation.

Police Chief J. Noe Diaz, Jr. didn’t mince words either ... calling Gonzalez's conduct "abhorrent, disgusting, and entirely unacceptable."

Pam Bondi could be on the outs as Donald Trump's attorney general ... a new report reveals.

According to the New York Times, four people "familiar with the conversations" say Trump has "discussed" sacking Pam because he's "frustrated with her leadership."

NYT's sources -- who "spoke on the condition of anonymity" -- say Trump has toyed with the idea of replacing Bondi with Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin ... if she does get the boot.

"Saturday Night Live" went straight for the jugular, opening with a brutal send-up of President Donald Trump's decision to boot Kristi Noem from her post as Homeland Security secretary.

Colin Jost played Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a mock press briefing, casually informing reporters that Noem had been "reassigned under the bus." Moments later, Ashley Padilla strutted in as Noem to set the record straight.

"I just want to make it clear that I didn't get fired," she insisted. "I self-deported."

Kristi Noem was a terrible Homeland Security chief who cared more about her looks than doing her damn job ... so say Meghan McCain and Tomi Lahren.

The conservative commentators bashed Noem shortly after President Donald Trump announced she would no longer run DHS ... instead moving her to the position of "Special Envoy for The Shield of Americas."

First up, McCain questioned the massive $220 million advertising campaign DHS paid for ... pointing out an episode of "Game of Thrones" cost HBO far less to produce -- and federal investigators should look into where that money went.

President Trump sounds like he got to say his two favorite words ... "You're fired!" ... and the person on the receiving end this time is Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Trump is firing Noem and replacing her with Oklahoma GOP Senator Markwayne Mullin ... according to a Trump post on his social media platform Truth Social.

BTW ... if you wanna know what kinda swagger Mullin's bringing to DHS, he's the same guy who challenged Teamsters Prez Sean O'Brien to a fist fight.

Yeah, this really happened a couple of years ago right in the middle of O'Brien's testimony on Capitol Hill.

Before moving on from Noem, POTUS had been asking aides and Republicans in Congress for a list of potential replacements for Noem, according to the WSJ ... and it sounds like the deciding factor here was Noem's fiery hearing Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

David Del Rio has resurfaced on social media ... in a wholesome family holiday picture months after being fired from "Matlock" over sexual assault allegations made by his co-star.

The actor's wife, Katherine Del Rio, posted an Instagram Story Saturday, sharing a sweet snapshot of herself, David, and their daughters, Lilliam Kellie Wallace and Coco. The family smiled alongside an inflatable gingerbread man.

She captioned the post, "Belated Thanksgiving fun! Deeply thankful for my family  who always show up for the girls and I.” David looked relaxed and in good spirits ... a noticeable shift, considering he's been off social media since his abrupt exit from the CBS show.

The N.Y. Giants need a coach, and former star RB Brandon Jacobs believes he's got the guy who will return the G-men to their Super Bowl-winning ways -- Antonio Pierce!

TMZ Sports talked to the former Giants running back, as the team begins its hunt to replace Brian Daboll ... after their eighth loss of the season on Sunday.

Jacobs says his former teammate, Pierce, with whom he won Super Bowl XLII, is the ideal choice for the high-pressure gig, believing AP's grit and toughness are exactly what the Giants need.

No surprise here -- the New York Giants released kicker Jude McAtamney after he missed two crucial extra points on Sunday ... and Big Blue fans didn't hold back when reacting to the news.

The G-Men made the roster move on Tuesday following their 33-32 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday ... with McAtamney's errors proving costly in the result.

This, of course, was just a few weeks after NY activated the undrafted kicker from the practice squad.

4:30 PM PT -- A rep for Wendy tells TMZ ... "Contrary to recent media reports, Dr. Wendy Osefo was not terminated from a faculty position at Wesleyan University. She formally submitted her letter of resignation prior to any public announcement made by the university."

They added ... "Dr. Osefo made the voluntary decision to step down from her role. This decision was made independently and communicated directly to the university before any external reports surfaced."

1:23 PM PT -- Wesleyan University now tells TMZ that Wendy resigned from her position at the university.

More bad news for "The Real Housewives of Potomac" star Dr. Wendy Osefo ... she and her husband Eddie were booked on fraud charges Friday ... and today TMZ has learned she's also lost her job.

Wendy had been a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Sociology at Wesleyan University, but the school released a statement to TMZ Tuesday, writing simply, "Wendy Osefo is no longer an employee of Wesleyan University."

In addition to Wesleyan in Connecticut, Wendy also taught at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland before resigning in 2024. She has degrees from Temple University and Johns Hopkins, and a Ph.D. in public affairs and community development from Rutgers.

Garry Chapman -- Dog the Bounty Hunter's son -- has been fired following the high-speed crash which killed a teenager and put six others in the hospital.

WHNT -- a local news outlet -- reported the Priceville Police Department in Alabama let Chapman go in connection to the tragic car crash ... though Chapman’s attorney, Scott Morro, told them Chapman plans to appeal the decision before the town's city council.

Morro tells TMZ ... the loss of life in this incident is tragic -- and, Garry is mindful of the young man's family and friends, but the suspect in this situation is really the one at fault.

Rachel Bilson's reflecting on how her past comments about her sex life got her dropped from an acting gig ... and it looks like she's placing some of the blame on the production company's politics.

FYI, the actress made her remarks while appearing on the "Women On Top" podcast back in 2023, and the conversation got pretty spicy, as she admitted she liked being "manhandled," among a few other NSFW comments.

The thing is, she subsequently revealed her commentary resulted in her being fired from a job on an episode of her "Broad Ideas" podcast, and claimed it was the first time she'd been dropped from a gig over something she'd said.

MSNBC has cut ties with political analyst Matthew Dowd ... following his controversial on-air remarks moments after Charlie Kirk was shot at Utah Valley University, TMZ has confirmed.

ICYMI ... Dowd was asked about "the environment in which a shooting like this happens" -- and he pointed to Kirk, saying, "He’s been one of the most divisive ... who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions."

He went on to say ... "You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place. And that’s the unfortunate environment we are in.”

OnlyFans was a double-edged sword for former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow and his wife, Carmen Wilson ... their adult content got him fired from a cushy job, but it gained them tons of new paying subscribers.

Joe and Carmen joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and detailed how their pornographic home videos got him sacked from his university chancellor job.

The middle-aged couple says everything changed when they uploaded their OF videos to Pornhub ... a less restrictive website than OF. They say someone reported their videos to his university and he got fired as chancellor ... over email.

Howard Stern’s keeping his lips sealed for a bit longer -- his SiriusXM comeback got yanked today, so those cancellation rumors? You’ll just have to sit tight until next week!

"The Howard Stern Show" teased fans Tuesday ... posting that Howard won’t speak out until Monday, Sept. 8 ... even slapping an X over today’s date and telling everyone to "stay tuned."

With his $100-million-per-year, 5-year SiriusXM deal set to expire at the end of 2025, Stern already tried to get ahead of the cancellation chatter last month ... dropping a promo that totally leaned into the drama.