Celebrity Health

Magic Johnson just took another big shot -- this one off the court -- to get vaccinated for COVID-19 alongside his good friend, Arsenio Hall and another L.A. icon, Danny Trejo.

Magic got his first shot of the Pfizer vaccine Wednesday at the USC vaccination site. The NBA Hall of Famer says he's been looking forward to inoculation for a while, because he wants some peace of mind after a year of stringent handwashing and mask-wearing.

Danny's getting the first dose of the Moderna vaccine ... and he's got a message for the tough guys on the block who think they don't need a shot. Danny says anyone on the fence should take the plunge for their loved ones.

Arsenio's going one and done with the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine ... and he says his mother is the driving force behind his vaccination. The comedian says he doesn't know what's in the shot, but as his mom points out, he doesn't know what's in her cooking either. Advantage science.

Arsenio made another funny and interesting point before he got pricked ... Barack Obama and Donald Trump don't agree on anything, but they both got vaccinated.

Brett Favre says his rock-bottom moment came right after winning the Super Bowl in 1997 ... admitting his addiction to painkillers nearly cost him his life.

The NFL Hall of Famer opened up on his battle with pills on "Bolling With Favre" on PodcastOne with guest Dr. Phil this week ... saying he first got addicted in 1994 after suffering an injury.

Favre started taking 2 pills a day ... which led to teammates helping get him more and more painkillers "to a point where I was basically taking in 2 days, a month's prescription, which is crazy."

Favre says he even suffered 2 seizures due to complications from his increased pill intake in 1995, which forced him to come clean with his addiction.

Despite a 75-day stint in rehab, Favre's addiction didn't end until after winning 3-straight MVP awards AND the Super Bowl in 1997 ... when he "was as low as I could possibly be."

That's the moment he knew he had to kick his addiction for good, saying "I said it's one of two things -- I die, or I flush these pills down the toilet."

"I sat by the toilet for two hours," Favre said. "Eventually, I dumped the pills in the toilet, flushed them and I almost wanted to kill myself because of doing that."

"I could not believe that I've actually done that and I was so mad at myself because now what was I gonna do?"

Horror at the Wilkesboro Dragway in North Carolina over the weekend -- where a car lost control and crashed into spectators, leaving a woman with serious injuries.

22-year-old Amber Garner was at the track with her family on March 20 when a purple Mustang spun out and went careening into an area where fans were watching the action.

You can hear a woman scream, "Oh god!"

Amber was struck by the car -- and quite honestly, it's a miracle she's alive.

"As soon as it did hit me, I guess I fell on the ground -- I blacked out, so I don’t know exactly," Amber told FOX 8.

Medical personnel raced over to provide first aid -- including securing her neck in a stabilizing brace.

She was later rushed to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for treatment on her badly broken right arm.

"Her arm is broken in four places and broke her knuckle," Amber's sister explained on a GoFundMe page she started to help with medical costs.

Garner is expected to undergo at least 2 surgeries to repair the damage -- but again, it's amazing she wasn't more seriously hurt.

As for the driver of the Mustang, that person is reportedly fine -- suffering no injuries in the wreck.

Miya Ponsetto now has a civil lawsuit on her hands -- this on top of the criminal charges she's already facing -- for her infamous "SoHo Karen" hotel confrontation.

Keyon Harrold and his family are suing Miya claiming she falsely accused his teenage son of stealing her phone, and then proceeded to pounce on the kid ... much of which was captured on cameras.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the Harrolds say what happened to their son was blatant racial profiling -- and they're now alleging assault/battery, false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress and other loss on behalf of their son ... whom they say was emotionally scarred by the incident and incurred medical expenses.

The family is also suing the Arlo Hotel -- where this nasty face-off went down -- claiming it failed to provide a safe environment for guests ... while also hiring crappy staff who the Harrolds say didn't do a good job in de-escalating when Miya went after their son.

You'll recall ... what appeared to be a hotel supervisor actually asked Keyon Jr. to hand over his phone for inspection when Miya started hurling the baseless accusations -- which his dad was flabbergasted about at the time the original video was posted.

As we reported ... the family detailed the aftermath following their scary run-in, telling us Keyon Jr. was left asking awful questions that his folks had to address ... like why he had been targeted.

Of course, Miya has since been arrested and criminally charged over this. Once her identity became known, we learned she'd been arrested for multiple other incidents in 2020.

We've reached out to Miya's attorney for comment ... so far, no word back.

The guy who says he found shrimp tails and other disturbing objects in a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch is going coast-to-coast to answer the burning question -- what the hell did he eat???

Jensen Karp, husband of "Boy Meets World" star Danielle Fishel, tells TMZ ... labs across the country are offering their services to figure out what exactly was in his box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, including one here in Los Angeles and another in New Jersey.

Jensen tells us he struck out 3 times Tuesday in L.A. -- trying a diagnostics lab, a hospital and an emergency room to test the black objects from his box of CTC. However, he says a NJ-based company is stepping up to test the substance ... which he fears might be rat poop.

Sending it cross country will take a little more time, so Jensen's gonna have to wait longer than he hoped to solve the mystery. He's on edge because he says he ate one bowl before noticing the strange objects ... but so far, he says he's showing no ill effects.

Meanwhile, Jensen says folks at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County are setting him up with a company pledging to pay for DNA testing on the alleged shrimp tails.

Remember, CTC's initial response on Twitter was that Jensen didn't find shrimp tails, but "an accumulation of the cinnamon sugar that sometimes can occur when ingredients aren't thoroughly blended."

We're told the DNA tests will not only tell if it is indeed shrimp but where the shrimp is from specifically. Millions of CTC lovers are on the edge of their seats, just like Jensen is.

Demi Lovato says she should have died weeks before her near-fatal overdose, because she was using a frightening list of hard drugs when she relapsed in 2018.

Demi reveals the night she ended 6 years of sobriety, she began experimenting with drugs she'd never tried before ... including meth, and she mixed it with molly, cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and oxycontin. That's all in one night.

She says, "That alone should have killed me." But it didn't, and Demi says weeks later she was introduced to heroin when her dealer didn't have her usual "Coke and Xanax" cocktail for her.

Eventually, Demi says she was "physically dependent" on the drugs, while also abusing alcohol and hiding it all from the people around her.

It all led to her OD on July 24, 2018, which as we've reported ... left her 5-10 minutes from death.

Demi says she was smoking heroin that night, not injecting it, which added to her surprise when she woke up in the hospital. However, she admits she had used needles in the past too ... just not that night.

As you know ... heroin and fentanyl-laced painkillers likely caused Demi's OD, and in her new docuseries, "Dancing with the Devil," she and her family detail how a team of doctor's saved her life.

In fact, her stepdad says if not for Demi being placed on a dialysis machine ... she likely wouldn't be here today.

LaMelo Ball is officially on the mend after undergoing surgery to fix his fractured right wrist on Tuesday ... with the Charlotte Hornets rookie stepping out in NYC with his arm in a sling hours after going under the knife.

The youngest Ball brother flew to the Big Apple to have the procedure performed by Dr. Michelle Carlson at the Hospital for Special Surgery ... which will keep him sidelined for at least the next month.

19-year-old Ball was spotted leaving his hotel in NYC Tuesday afternoon in his Puma shirt and shoes ... as well as a pair of $1,100 Chrome Hearts sweatpants.

Of course, Melo went down with the injury on Saturday against the L.A. Clippers ... and the team initially feared he would miss the remainder of the season.

But, there's now hope the Rookie of the Year frontrunner could still return in 2021 ... depending on how quickly he heals up ... and if the Hornets can reach the playoffs (they're currently the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference).

Ball tweeted shortly after the surgery saying, "extremely blessed" ... which is great news all around.

President Biden is apparently an even bigger believer in dogs than we all previously thought ... he says man's best friend might be able to help cure cancer!!!

The Prez showered dogs with tons of praise Tuesday during a visit to Ohio State University’s James Cancer Hospital, saying ... "Dogs may help cure cancer. Not a joke."

Biden's statement immediately raised a lot of eyebrows around the country, because even if ya love dogs -- CURING cancer??? Watch the clip, because the President did say something 100% factual ... which is that dogs can smell cancer, and some have been trained to give patients and/or doctors a heads-up.

But, that's really detection, stretching it out to curing cancer ... seems far-fetched. Sorry, Fido.

Biden's remark harkens us back to a time last summer when another POTUS suggested ingesting bleach would be a great way to combat the coronavirus. He's always claimed he was joking, but c'mon ... we all saw the news conference.

Of course, some are defending Biden's statement by pointing out early detection is key to a patient starting treatment ... and therefore, giving them a better shot at remission. We guess one could make that argument.

Demi Lovato is celebrating the release of her highly anticipated docuseries, and getting support from friends like Kim Kardashian ... who attended the drive-in-themed bash.

The singer's guests pulled up in their rides Monday night outside the Beverly Hilton Hotel to watch the first 2 episodes of Demi's "Dancing with the Devil." You can see Demi and Kim K got together for a quick snap, keeping things safe wearing face coverings.

While everyone got to see the gripping documentary on a huge screen, they also got another treat ... Demi performing live on stage. When she wasn't singing, Demi watched the doc from the comfort of her hotel's balcony with close friends by her side.

The docuseries, of course, follows Demi's life leading up to, and after, her near-fatal heroin and fentanyl overdose in July 2018. As we've reported, Demi says she only had 5-to-10 minutes to live had she not been found by someone in her home that night.

The first 2 of 4 episodes are out now on YouTube and throughout the series, Demi bravely opens up about the depths of her addiction and losing control of almost every aspect of her life.

The Easter Bunny's making a comeback of sorts, and this time it doesn't just mean Spring is sprung, it's a sign Americans are getting ready to celebrate Easter like it's 2019 ... for better or worse.

The bellwether in this case -- bunny costume sales, and they're super hot with Easter less than 2 weeks away. A rep at HalloweenCostumes.com, the world's largest costume retailer, tells TMZ ... its Easter category sales are up over 75% year-to-year.

For instance, this time last year -- as the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns were beginning -- the retailer had sold just 49 bunny costumes. This year, with COVID cases flat or dropping in most places, they've sold 171 ... and expect to sell out before Easter, which is April 4.

The easy explanation for biz boomin' is two-fold -- the decrease in cases and the increase in availability of COVID-19 vaccines. Not to mention the loosening of restrictions in many states, and total lack of them in others.

What's more ... the CDC also recently said vaccinated people can visit indoors with unvaccinated people of a single household without masks or social distancing if unvaccinated people are in the low-risk category. Great news for grandma and grandpa heading into the holiday!

Important to note, though, that if no one in your family's been vaccinated, the CDC is still recommending keeping celebrations within your household, and gathering virtually with others. And, of course, outdoor gatherings, if weather permits, are most ideal.

Marco Rubio says Miami Beach looks "unsafe" with all the spring breakers, but he still wants folks to come and have a good time ... as long as it can be done without violence.

We got the U.S. Senator at Reagan National Airport in D.C. Monday and asked him about the state of emergency for Miami Beach, which is struggling to maintain law, order and COVID safety ... amid a flood of partygoers.

Marco admits the videos of spring breakers flooding the streets and breaking the 8 PM curfew is not a good look and unsafe. As he put it, "It's never a good look when you're throwing chairs and tearing the place up" -- but he's also blaming that chaos on just a few bad apples.

Despite thousands of arrests, including 2 men busted for allegedly drugging and raping a woman who later died in a hotel ... Marco says people should still spend their spring break dollars in Miami, if they can do so without getting out of control.

As for a possible super-spreader event -- which Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has said is a concern -- Sen. Rubio's brushing that off, and told us why he thinks most of the South Beach revelers won't get sick.

Not sure about his logic, but what's clear is the Senator is trying to walk the line between health and economic concerns in his constituency.

Krispy Kreme is offering a sweet reward for folks who get vaccinated against COVID-19 ... free donuts!!!

The nationwide donut chain says folks with valid COVID vaccination cards can snag a free Original Glazed donut just by showing proof of the shots ... and the offer's good every day for the rest of the year.

Think about it, a free donut every time you step into a Krispy Kreme with your vaccination card ... this may be a more effective way to get people vaccinated than celebrity endorsements.

Remember, former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter joined forces to encourage Americans to get COVID-19 vaccines ASAP ... but they weren't offering free donuts!

Krispy Kreme says the freebies are good at all of their 369 shops across 41 states with no purchase necessary ... ya just gotta visit the store in person or drive-thru.

Demi Lovato says her life was so out of control during addiction she couldn't make big decisions -- about her finances -- or even little things, like what she ate.

Demi made that revelation on CBS "Sunday Morning News" while talking about her documentary film, "Dancing with the Devil" ... and she admitted, "I didn't control any of my life at that period of time. But yes, I also needed to grow up and take control."

The singer says it's really only in the last 2 years that she's changed that, and much more. Demi adds, "I'm now in control of my finances, I'm now in control of the food that I eat, how often I work out."

Demi said things got so bad with her food intake ... every time she was in a hotel room her phone was taken away from her so she wouldn't order room service.

She also opened up a little bit about her recovery, and interestingly she says she's what they call "California sober." Demi didn't dig into what that means for her -- and explained why she didn't want to say -- but that's a phrase that commonly means someone who uses a little marijuana.

As we reported ... Demi told Smith she was about 5 to 10 minutes from death after her 2018 overdose.

Dez Bryant says he's still devastated by the death of ex-NFL star Vincent Jackson -- and wants to do everything in his power to save other NFL players from suffering the same fate.

So, how can Dez help?

The 32-year-old wide receiver tells TMZ Sports he has a plan to become a mentor/life coach for struggling athletes ... with a focus on tending to their mental health.

"Depression and anxiety, all that s**t is real, man," Bryant told us during a recent outing in L.A.

"Look at Vincent Jackson and God rest his soul. Look at some of our brothers we've lost. These young brothers [are] in their early 30s, 40s ... it don't make sense."

Jackson -- a 3-time Pro Bowl WR who played 12 seasons in the NFL -- died alone last month in a hotel room at the Homewood Suites in Brandon, FL.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Jackson likely died from issues connected to "chronic alcoholism."

Kent Taylor, the man who founded the wildly successful Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, has taken his own life after experiencing severe, post-COVID side effects.

Taylor suffered from tinnitus -- ringing in the ears -- which his family says greatly intensified in the last days of his life and ultimately became unbearable. At its worst, tinnitus can sound like a jet engine roaring inside the ears.

The family said, "Kent battled and fought hard," but ultimately the suffering became too great.

Kent was a master businessman, who founded Texas Roadhouse back in 1993. He came up with the idea on a cocktail napkin and brought it to life with the first restaurant located in Louisville, Kentucky. The plan took hold, and eventually, there were 537 Texas Roadhouses in 49 states, with 10 international locations.

Kent got national attention last Spring when he earmarked his entire salary to help support frontline workers during the pandemic.

He suffered from tinnitus, but it apparently flared up in a big way after he contracted COVID.   There's data indicating tinnitus is exacerbated by coronavirus.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said, "He was a maverick entrepreneur who embodied the values of never giving up and putting others first."

Kent was 65.

Try telling a bunch of Spring breakers they have to pack it in by 8 PM ... it doesn't work.

Huge crowds of partygoers filled the streets after curfew ... oblivious to or contemptuous of Mayor Dan Gelber, who tried putting the brakes on celebrations out of fear it would become a breeding ground for COVID.

The video tells the story ... it could be March 2019 from all appearances, because the crowd was wild.

The logic behind the curfew -- people drink as the evening wears on and getting increasingly unsafe.

The good news and the bad. First, the bad ... COVID cases in Florida have now topped 2 million. The good news ... despite the warnings that opening Florida too early would result in disaster, it hasn't materialized so far, and in fact, the state is doing better than states like New York and California which have much more rigid COVID restrictions.

Cops arrested at least a dozen partygoers for violating curfew and other misdeeds.