Holidaze

If there's one thing Chevy Chase's Clark Griswold character in 'Christmas Vacation' inspired, it's lots of holiday shenanigans ... just ask one man who created a decoration prank based on the movie's most popular scene.

In a now viral TikTok, the decoration's creator shows how he constructed the homemade decoration to look like Clark dangling from his roof as he hung Christmas lights. The prank even comes complete with audio, making it sound like the struggling man is shouting for help.

In another video, you see the local fire department racing to the scene -- seemingly to help out the fake decorator -- though it's unclear if they were part of the gig as well.

Picture, meet 1,000 words ... because this mega-line shows the depth of the problem getting tested for COVID.

This is not a packed-to-the-gills airport parking lot ... it's a line Wednesday at a Miami testing site, filled with folks who wanted to know if they're COVID positive.

This is not a one-off ... there are massive lines all around the country with people struggling to follow the CDC's advice to get tested before traveling or sitting down at the XMAS table.

Miami-Dade is testing somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 people every day. Some of the sites are operating 24/7 to keep up with demand.

Fact is ... there aren't nearly enough tests out there. In many areas, they're almost impossible to get and the wait time is sometimes 5 days and even longer. Given the rapid spread of Omicron, that doesn't cut it because as people wait for results they can and probably will infect others.

Making sure his O-linemen were happy for the holidays didn't come cheap for Kyler Murray ... 'cause TMZ Sports has learned the golf gifts he gave to his teammates this week cost $5K apiece!!!

The Arizona signal-caller shelled out the goodies to his personal protectors on Monday -- partnering with True Spec Golf to give them each a custom bag and custom clubs.

The package was sweet -- the bag featured every O-lineman's name and number and came complete with 13 total clubs -- including a driver, woods, hybrids, irons and wedges.

A rep for True Spec Golf tells us every players' clubs were properly fitted to them ... and in its entirety, the gift cost over $5,000 per bag.

Don't worry, the guys all appeared to love the presents from Murray ... smiling ear to ear while tagging balls at the True Spec Golf location in Scottsdale.

"It was a privilege to host Kyler Murray and his teammates at True Spec Golf," said the President of True Spec Golf, Ryan Richardson. "Similar to our everyday customers, some of the guys came in with years of experience and others were brand new to the game."

"It was great to show them how our data-driven, brand-agnostic approach at True Spec can improve anyone’s game regardless of skill level.”

At the moment, it's unclear if Murray -- who's previously gifted his O-linemen with scooters and paintings in the past -- will make this a yearly tradition, but we're told he will be coming back for a club fitting of his own following the season.

Buzz McCallister is probably gonna be the one who's home alone for Christmas this time around -- because he got arrested for beating up his girlfriend ... and is already out of jail.

'Home Alone' star Devin Ratray was booked on domestic violence charges Wednesday after turning himself in to the authorities in Oklahoma City -- this after a warrant was issued for his arrest ... stemming from an alleged altercation with his now-ex from 2 weeks ago.

Ratray was booked for domestic assault and battery by strangulation, a felony, as well as misdemeanor domestic assault and battery. Ratray was released on $25k bond within 15 minutes after posing for a mug shot.

As we reported ... the alleged victim filed a police report on Dec. 10, claiming Buzz had gotten violent with her in a hotel room after a night out on the town. She told cops he'd pushed her, punched her in the face and pressed his hands against her throat and mouth.

There's more disturbing detail in the probable cause affidavit -- obtained by TMZ -- which says Ratray allegedly told her, "This is how you die." The GF also told police Ratray was really drunk -- downing upwards of a dozen drinks -- and then got pissed at her for giving autographed photos of him to fans for free.

The cops note the alleged victim appeared to have multiple injuries from the dustup, including bruises and marks on her face.

Mariah Carey's classic Christmas jingle is the gift that keeps on giving ... to her bank account, that is ... we've done the math and she's scored millions of XMAS $$$.

Our music industry sources tell us Mariah still pulls in big bucks on licensing and commercial deals for the classic. While we're told she's only making a fraction of a cent every time someone streams "All I Want For Christmas Is You," the fractions add up to seven figures and counting, considering the popular Xmas track has over 1 billion streams just on Spotify.

One source who manages artists tells us singers typically make between .003 to .004 of a dollar per single stream ... and in Mariah's case, that would work out to between $3,249,600 and $4,332,800 just on Spotify alone ... and the figure will only grow.

Mariah's 1994 song is hugely popular around the holidays and as another source put it ... "Mariah can sit on her a** for the rest of her life and ONLY promote AIWFC and still be a millionaire."

What's more, the numbers don't even take into account streams on other platforms, including Apple Music. We reached out to Apple for an all-time count on 'AIWFC' streams ... so far no word back.

Streaming platforms weren't around when Mariah first launched the song, and it's pre-streaming days when she would've made the most money in sales ... but that doesn't mean today's numbers translate to chump change.

Shaggy does his Christmas a little different than most of us, which is why he's dropping new holiday tunes to spread some holiday cheer ... Jamaican style, of course!

The singer was on "TMZ Live" Wednesday to reveal how he's spending this Christmas at his island home, and it sounds like the best party you can imagine. In fact, Shaggy says those festivities inspired him to release a deluxe version of his "Christmas in the Islands" album.

Yes, the record includes his reggae-flavored covers of classics like "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "Silent Night" ... but it also has originals that reflect the way he and his family have always spent Christmas.

The difference between what he's singing and Nat King Cole's takes -- tons of reggae and dancehall. Shaggy admits his holiday traditions might not be exactly the same as the typical ones in America, and that's why he's out to blend cultures for everyone's get-togethers.

Luka Doncic may be a Dallas Maverick, but he's clearly never forgotten where he's come from -- 'cause he just sent a bunch of gifts to kids at a hospital in his Slovenian hometown.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the NBA All-Star just directed a special delivery to the Children's Hospital of the University Medical Center Ljubljana -- surprising almost 200 kids with all kinds of goodies to brighten up their holidays.

The shipment was filled with toys -- like LEGOS and dollhouses -- as well as headphones, Jordan sportswear, and gift cards.

We're told Luka also sent each kid an autographed photo and a sweet note from the NBA star ... plus he recorded a video message that everyone got to watch from their hospital bed.

"These children are going through so much," Luka said in a statement. "I just hope this gives them a little bit of happiness during these difficult times."

"I hope they feel better soon, so they can get back to doing what they love. I'm thinking of them and I wish the children and their families a happy New Year in 2022."

Of course, this isn't the first time Doncic has given back to his Slovenian roots ... in 2020, he launched a program with Slovenian athletes Jaka Bijol and Robert Kristan to help the country's healthcare system during the pandemic.

The 22-year-old has also donated to the city of Dallas during the pandemic -- gifting 100 pairs of Jordans to healthcare workers at UT's Southwestern Medical Center.

Doncic also partnered up with Mark Cuban, Dwight Powell and the Mavs' Foundation to donate $500k to the same medical center and Parkland Hospital.

Shaquille O'Neal came through with the gifts -- and the jokes -- this holiday season ... giving back in a huge way for more than 500 kids in Atlanta ... and roasting Charles Barkley in the process!!

The Big Aristotle joined Charles and Babcock on "TMZ Live" to talk about his 20th annual Shaq-A-Claus event that went down on Monday ... which included hooking students up with backpacks, Walmart gift cards, toys, clothes, haircuts and more.

On top of that, the extravaganza came with BBQ, DJ music and games.

The Hall of Famer says he first started the yearly holiday bash back in 1992 when his mom asked him to help kids at the local Boys & Girls Club ... so, he went to the nearest Toys "R" Us and bought out the store.

O'Neal loved helping out so much, he decided to do it every year.

"This is all about making the kids happy," Shaq said. "But, more importantly, it's all about making my mother happy ... for her to see her baby boy doing good things like she taught him to do, that right there is one of the best feelings."

"Today is a special day," he added. "I saw a lot of happy kids."

Now, considering Christmas is a time when people tend to put on some holiday weight, we also had to ask how Shaq keeps off the extra pounds -- and naturally, he had to make fun of his "Inside The NBA" co-host.

"I always said to myself, I don't want to have the C.B.O.T.B.B. -- that's the Charles Barkley Over The Belt Belly," Shaq joked. "I never wanna have that, so I just try to eat right and try to stay slim."

Cases of COVID-19 are ramping up again in the United States -- and the omicron variant has firmly planted roots -- but that doesn't mean things will slow down on the Las Vegas Strip, which is set to go buck wild for NYE.

We've spoken with club sources across Sin City who all tell us the same thing -- their hyped-up party plans to ring in 2022 aren't changing a bit. In fact, Vegas might become an even bigger party destination for the big night if other cities start to shut down.

As for some of the bigger events ...
- The Chainsmokers will be at XS Nightclub
- Zedd at Zouk Nightclub
- Lil Jon at JEWEL Nightclub
- Rick Ross at Drais
- Steve Aoki at Omnia

Almost every party still has tickets available online, meaning venue capacity can still hold more people.

However, we are told casinos and clubs will continue to adhere to the mask mandate put in place by NV Governor Steve Sisolak. The mandate asks patrons to wear masks while inside indoor spaces unless eating or drinking, but as you can imagine, there will be plenty of drinking on NYE.

Of course, those government regulations could get much stricter if the situation worsens -- but as of now, it's full steam ahead.

Santas of all varieties -- malls, town squares and backyards -- are back to putting smiles (mostly) on kids faces, thanks to the COVID vaccines, but with omicron creeping ... it's still not as jolly a gig.

While last Christmas hit while the pandemic was still raging ... 2021 is our first with the advent of mass vaccination, and several Santa orgs tell us that means they can get back to doing what they do best.

For instance, Santa Jim in central NJ tells us he is fully vaccinated, and when doing private events at homes ... he looks for customers who are willing to be temperature checked and masked. That's the adults, anyway, but for the kids ... it gets a little tricky.

As Santa J pointed out ... most tikes under 5 haven't gotten the shot ... so, it falls on the Santas to try to keep everyone -- including himself -- as safe as possible, and how they choose to do that is as individual as Santa's reindeer.

One Philly Santa, aka Chuck Gill, tells us there are 2 kinds of Santas -- standing or sitting. The standing ones, like himself, mostly do meet and greet photos with kids. Chuck says, at his events, he requires them to be vaxxed and masked -- and while he's aware of other Santas doing the more traditional sit-down thing, he says they're also requiring vaccinations and face masks.

In the Midwest, things are a bit different ... according to Owen Davenport from the Indiana Santa Claus Society. He says he's not wearing a mask, nor does he require it of the kids sitting on his lap. Yeah, he's the sitting kind and, clearly, feels safe.

Owen says he's had 3 shots, and his crew of elves are all vaxxed too -- but he will mask up if a family requests it. Still, unless a family says otherwise ... Santa Owen only takes mask-free photos.

Down in Texas, HireSanta.com CEO Mitch Allen is back to sending out Santas to malls, tree lighting events, parades and more ... but he stresses they do not ask about children's vaccination status because that's a state and county government issue. Plus, he knows most of the really young kids just aren't eligible for a shot.

What they are doing is social distancing ... often putting Santa on his throne while kids sit on a bench about 4-6 feet in front of him. It still allows for a good photo, while keeping everyone safe. Interestingly, his company doesn't require vaccination for Santas -- hey, it's Texas -- but he says they hire both vaxxed and unvaxxed in order to meet demand.

He adds that the omicron variant has meant more calls from customers requesting fully vaxxed Santas for their events. Mitch says the Santa biz has been hard hit by the pandemic -- many choosing to retire, which has slashed his roster by around 10 percent compared to the good ol' days of 2019.

Chrissy Teigen thinks she was being tricked by our photog, who asked if people at her XMAS celebration would be wearing masks, but the fact is ... it's a legit question in the middle of this pandemic, and the irony is -- what she said is the exact right answer.

Chrissy tweeted, "TMZ just asked me if I'd be wearing a mask at my family Christmas and I said no? and now I feel like I've been tricked into a story about how I won't wear a mask this Christmas. just know I am pro mask but don't really wear one inside with my husband and kids I guess?"

There's no trickery ... Chrissy made it clear, she'll only have 8 folks around the table for Christmas dinner, and everyone is vaccinated except Miles, who is only 3. Now it's true ... with the Omicron variant even fully vaccinated people may be spreaders -- especially if they haven't been boosted -- and she wasn't specific about that. Nevertheless, there's no hard-and-fast rule if everyone's vaccinated except a small child -- a lot depends on testing and how careful the others have been.

Fact is -- Chrissy's an influencer, so what she does will register with others, and she made it clear the only ones who were invited are immediate fam and everyone who can get vaccinated did.

Sure looks like Cheryl Hines just got Jennifer Garner-ed ... her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is passing the buck on who suggested their holiday party guests should be vaccinated, and the blame's falling at her feet.

The backstory here is RFK Jr. is an established anti-vaxxer -- or at least anti-vaxx mandate -- for children, so some guests were shocked to see invites to his and Cheryl's shindig included a recommendation attendees should be inoculated ... according to Politico.

Kennedy's explanation to Politico was, "I guess I'm not always the boss at my own house."

🤔

Well, he didn't call Cheryl out by name, but  ... the insinuation's pretty clear.

Kennedy also said his guests weren't carded at the door -- it was more of an honor system type thing.

The Rockettes are canceling the rest of their 2021 performances because COVID is once again causing havoc in NYC.

The Radio City staple says they just can't continue their Christmas Spectacular due to "increasing challenges from the pandemic." Those challenges include a COVID outbreak among the production team, plus musicians in the orchestra ... including a swath of breakthrough cases.

The Rockettes had a big show scheduled for Friday night, but after it got the ax folks outside the venue in Midtown Manhattan were reportedly crying, and now the whole season is 86'd.

The Rockette's Christmas Spectacular is a holiday tradition in the Big Apple, where COVID cases are reaching daily highs and breaking records even though we are nearly 2 years into the pandemic.

While things seemed to be getting back to normal in the entertainment world, events are getting scrapped left and right and professional and college sports teams are dealing with outbreaks that are messing with their game schedules.

Carson Wentz just made sure his O-linemen won't go hungry (or thirsty) for Christmas ... 'cause he just gave them all a grip of meat, booze and coolers ahead of the holiday!!

Colts guard, Quenton Nelson, and tackle, Matt Pryor, showed off the goodies on social media on Thursday ... revealing their quarterback dropped off the presents right in their lockers this week.

In total, the gift baskets for the big fellas included two Yeti coolers, a Yeti water bottle, bourbon and some meats from "The Wagyu Shop."

No word on the final price tag of it all, but since Wentz has made over $100 MILLION in his career, we're pretty sure none of it was cheap.

As for the guys' reaction to the presents, both Nelson and Pryor seemed pumped for the early X-mas gifts ... thanking the QB in their comments.

Gwen Stefani rocked the mic for Spotify's huge end of the year bash -- singing hits from her solo career and time with No Doubt ... and TMZ has the video.

The Spotify celebration, dubbed "A Totally Normal Party for 2021," went down Tuesday at an event space in Los Angeles ... with Gwen stealing the show.

Gwen performed for 45 minutes and her set featured some of her most famous songs ... including "Just a Girl," "Hey Baby," "The Sweet Escape," "Spiderwebs," "Hollaback Girl," "Don't Speak," "It's My Life" and "Rich Girl."

The first act on stage was the USC Trojans marching band ... but Gwen was the big draw here.

Spotify's year-end party comes on the heels of their 2021 Wrapped unveiling ... you've definitely seen people share their top Spotify songs and artists on social media ... and at one point, Gwen joked about hearing she was a top Spotify artist.

Cincinnati Bengals star running back Joe Mixon is giving kids an awesome surprise for the holidays ... by handing out brand new bicycles!!!

Mixon partnered with Strikes for Kids for the special event ... hooking up 28 youngins at the local Boys & Girls Club with some wheels just in time for Christmas.

TMZ Sports is told ... the kids were taken to Main Event Entertainment Center in West Chester, where they enjoyed two hours of unlimited games, pizza and Icees.

As they had tons of fun, they were surprised with new bikes and helmets ... as the 25-year-old posed for pics with them.

Of course, the kids couldn't wait to try out their new wheels ... moving around inside the event space to get in a quick ride.

Mixon spoke about his decision to help out ... saying, "This community has embraced me and become a second home for me, so to be able to give back and inspire these children is the least I can do."

Mixon's kind gesture comes on the heels of notching yet another 1,000 yard rushing season -- the third time the RB has done so in his career.

It's clear he's a difference maker for the Bengals -- on and off the field.