Fired

The American Airlines passenger who was duct-taped to a chair couldn't get up from his seat, but he could run his mouth ... so he fired off an insult about a dude's junk while immobilized ... and it's all on video.

A new angle from 67-year-old Arthur Layne Lundeen's epic meltdown features him reportedly telling someone else in first class, "You have a little tiny d***."

Not super creative ... but this insult is tried and true.

The Tucson real estate agent who allegedly went on a wild tirade aboard an American Airlines flight -- ending with him duct-taped to his seat -- has now lost his job.

The 67-year-old man, identified as Arthur “Layne” Lundeen, was fired by Long Realty following the September 3 incident aboard American Airlines Flight 618 from Dallas-Fort Worth to Newark, according to KVOA.

As TMZ previously reported, Lundeen allegedly became belligerent during the flight, directing racial and anti-gay slurs at passengers and crew before the situation turned physical.

Jim Thornton's Facebook account has gone dark hours after he was fired from "Wheel of Fortune" ... and TMZ has learned the former announcer has also been scrubbed from the game show's social media channels.

Thornton's Facebook page was no longer publicly accessible Friday evening. It was active earlier in the day and featured behind-the-scenes photos and videos of Jim on the popular game show set.

The page also included photos of Jim making school appearances, along with more personal shots of his wife and son.

Timbaland is being dragged to court by a DJ who claims he was fired from the Timbaland and Missy Elliott tour shortly before it was scheduled to start ... and the DJ says he believes nepotism is at play.

TMZ obtained the lawsuit filed by DJ E Feezy against Timbaland and his company, Mosley Touring ... and he claims he was fired to clear the way for Timbaland's son to replace him.

The DJ said he was invited in 2024 to perform as a DJ for the Timbaland/Missy Elliott tour scheduled to take place between July 2024 and August 2024.

Waffle House fired viral employee Rockstar Riley for "repeated violations" of company policy, TMZ has learned.

As you know, RR's viral video about the restaurant chain blew up on social media ... but Waffle House tells TMZ he got the axe for filming content at work.

The company told us in a statement ... "Waffle House ended its employment relationship with Mr. Riley following repeated violations of Company policy prohibiting unauthorized filming of promotional media content on Company property."

Sid Wilson appears to be making his Slipknot exit Instagram-official ... changing a key line in his bio following the band's split with its longtime DJ.

Wilson's Instagram bio previously identified him as being with the Slipknot "gang since 1997." Now, the wording has been changed to "1997-2026" -- a pretty telling update following his departure from the band.

The change comes just weeks after TMZ exclusively reported that Sid is permanently booted from Slipknot.

The viral Waffle House employee who laid down a track as sweet as the company's syrup says he's now been fired ... and he's asking fans for help.

Here's the deal ... Rockstar Riley -- who made headlines for rapping a song about Waffle House -- has set up a GoFundMe ... telling fans he was fired from his job after 20 years.

Riley says he poured everything into the gig ... and calls management's decision "painful, disappointing, and honestly hard to process."

Riley tells TMZ ... he was contacted by the area manager a couple days after sitting down for an interview with us and shooting a music video for the song -- and he was told to delete all the content he did on social media while wearing his Waffle House uniform.

08/14/2026 6:29 PM PST -- Slipknot released the deleted statement on their music festival Knotfest's Instagram.

Sid Wilson's officially out of Slipknot ... or at least he was for a hot minute -- before the band deleted their social media post announcing the news.

Here's the deal ... the group's official Instagram account put up a simple black and white post which reads, "Effective immediately, Slipknot will no longer be associated with Sid Wilson. We wish him the best in his future endeavors."

Then, for reasons unknown, the band took the post down a short time later ... so it's unclear where they stand with Sid.

Miss North Carolina USA winner Brittany Boltinhouse says she isn't sorry about using the n-word in the past ... even if she had to cough up her crown.

In a new interview with Daily Mail, the scandalized pageant queen was asked if she thought she should apologize for using the slur, but she doubled down, saying ... "No. Not at all."

She told the outlet she felt like she was "unfairly targeted," saying ... "It's a constitutional right, it's your First Amendment right to express yourself ... and I feel like I was ripped of that as a proud American."

Ryan Clark is pushing back on the idea he wasn't forced off the air after learning ESPN had fired him ... saying he asked if he should be done for the day and was flatly told, "Yes."

The former NFL star clarified Wednesday how his final "NFL Live" appearance ended while quoting a TMZ Sports post about his abrupt exit, writing ... "I wasn’t forced? 'I ask, should I be done now?' The answer was 'yes.'"

As we reported ... Clark learned during a commercial break Monday that he was part of a mass layoff at ESPN -- and he never returned to the broadcast.

Ryan Clark was let go by ESPN yesterday in the middle of a live show ... and TMZ has learned how it all went down.

A source with direct knowledge tells TMZ ... Ryan was going to be notified on Tuesday that he was part of a mass layoff, but on Monday ... the network was made aware that a report was about to drop about the former NFL player being laid off. The report was going to be published while Ryan was filming "NFL Live" and a call had to be made ... how should he find out?

We're told ESPN honchos decided to get ahead of the news and tell Ryan during a commercial break, rather than him see an alert on his phone.

Ryan did not come back on the air after being informed he was being let go ... obviously, the news rattled him, and we're told both Ryan and ESPN agreed it was better not to return.

Cam Newton is out at the World Wide Leader ... the latest casualty in a round of cuts that claimed the jobs of some of the most prominent figures in sports media.

The former NFL MVP was laid off this week, according to TMZ Sports' sources ... a surprising move from the powers that be in Bristol.

Newton was only with ESPN for a few years -- he signed on in late 2024 -- but found success opposite Stephen A. Smith during the NFL season, where he was SAS' main debate partner on "First Take."

Newton was elevated into the premiere spot after Shannon Sharpe parted ways with ESPN last year.

Ryan Clark is sending some words of encouragement to all his coworkers getting axed from ESPN ... saying he hopes they all land on their feet -- while admitting he knows exactly what they're going through.

The former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back and ex-ESPN talent went to X to share his kind message on Tuesday ... saying, "Sending prayers and love to all those laid off today by ESPN."

"So many of you have poured your life into that company, & I know how you’re feeling right now. My hope is as this door closes another opens for you all. God bless!"

Ryan Clark was doing his job when he found out he no longer had one -- the NFL player-turned-ESPN analyst disappeared from "NFL Live" mid-show after a report was published stating he was impacted by a round of layoffs at the network.

The Athletic dropped the news on Monday, stating the former Steelers defensive back was being let go ... but there was one problem -- the network wasn't planning to break it to Clark himself until Tuesday morning.

With the cat out of the bag and Clark's phone likely blowing up over the development, producers elected for a lengthy commercial break.

Scott Pelley is opening up about his dramatic exit from CBS News ... and he’s not holding back on the emotion, comparing his firing from "60 Minutes" to his spouse being murdered.

In a new interview with The New York Times, the longtime news veteran became visibly emotional while discussing how he is feeling after being axed from the network last week -- saying at an emotional level, "it's like your spouse was murdered."

The news of Pelley's termination followed a sweep of lay-offs, which he refers to the internal shake-up as a "Black Thursday" moment ... saying the sudden departures of longtime colleagues -- many of whom he’s worked alongside for decades -- left him devastated.