Kids

Kanye West's Donda Academy is officially toast ... the rapper just shuttered the doors to his school ... at least for now, as his troubles mount following his antisemitic remarks.

The school's principal, Jason Angell, fired off an email to the parents of students, informing them that "at the discretion of our founder, Donda Academy will close for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year effective immediately."

Kanye himself weighed in on social media in a since-deleted Instagram post ... "Here's the clout you're looking for. My school is being shut down." Hollywood Unlocked was first to report the closure.

In his email to parents, Angell insisted the school plans to reopen in September 2023, adding ... "we are confident that our scholars will continue to advance as the creative innovators, influencers and academic leaders of the next generation."

An unaccredited Christian institution, Donda Academy required parents to sign non-disclosure agreements before their children could become students. There were only about 100 students in total, with half on scholarships from Kanye and friends of the rapper.

Parents whose kids didn't get scholarships had to cough up $15,000 per year for their kids to attend. Students wore designer uniforms by Balenciaga and Ye's own clothing line, Yeezy.

The star players on Kanye West's Donda Academy basketball team will not be able to showcase their talents on one of H.S. hoops' biggest stages this year ... and it's all because of Ye's controversial antisemitic comments.

The Scholastic Play-By-Play Classics announced Donda has been scrapped from this season's schedule ... claiming West's "words and actions violate our values as a company and a country, and what we seek to ensure at all of our events -- a spirit of diversity, sportsmanship, inclusion, equity and mutual respect."

The tournament -- which has five national locations -- is a huge deal at the high school level ... and has hosted future NBA superstars like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant in the past.

Donda was originally slated to compete at the December 11 event in Louisville.

It's a huge bummer for the whole roster of kids -- including five-star guards Robert Dillingham (who's committed to Kentucky) and AJ Johnson ... as well as the other players on the squad who are also ranked nationally.

Scholastic Play-By-Play feels for the young athletes ... adding, "While we are firm in our reasoning for this decision, it does not diminish our heartache and regret for Donda's hardworking athletes who will lose out the most as a result of Kanye's actions."

"Unfortunately, we cannot in good conscience host an organization founded and directed by Mr. West at our events."

A Missouri radio anchor had to go live on the air to report on the St. Louis school shooting this week -- while knowing her daughter was inside the school, and being uncertain she was alive.

St. Louis-based reporter Debbie Monterrey -- who works for KMOX news -- received alarming texts from her 17-year-old, Caeli, who's a senior at the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience ... notifying her there was an intruder on campus and she was hearing loud bangs.

Her texts read ... "OMG THERE’S AN INTRUDER IN THE BUILDING," while a couple others said, "OMG IT’S NOT A DRILL," and "OMG THE ALARMS ARE GOING OFF."

This was all happening while Monterrey was live on the air covering this exact incident as it was unfolding -- and she says there was actually a period of silence while she composed herself before she finally spoke again to continue her job ... keeping it together.

It sounds like she got through it, because later ... Monterrey recounted the surreal experience, saying she had to maintain her composure best she could in the moment ... adding she started crying when they cut to commercial, because she'd just learned her daughter was safe.

The 19-year-old gunman used an AR-15-style weapon to shoot and kill a student and a teacher ... while reportedly injuring seven others. He was ultimately killed by police during an exchange of gunfire.

Before this cutie patootie entered the fast lane and turned into a sought-after actress, she was hitting the stage as a little pageant girl, looking up to her big bro and growing up in Long Beach, CA.

This cool kiddo basically ran the 9-0-2-1-0 zip code back in the '90s, and you probably saw her walking up and down Rodeo Drive with gal pals Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth. She took a pause from her television series in the mid-'90s to star in the horror/mystery film "Buried Secrets."

If you're still stumped ... it's alright, 'cause you're saved by the bell!

American actor Jimmy Workman was just 11 years old when he was cast as Pugsley Addams -- the oldest Addams child who isn't necessarily the sharpest tool in the shed -- in the fantasy/comedy film "The Addams Family" back in 1991.

Jimmy shared the big screen with Anjelica Huston as the positive mother who sees the best in everyone, Morticia Addams and Raul Julia as the father and patriarch who loves a good sword fight Gomez Addams.

He reprised his role of Pugsley in "Addams Family Values" in 1993.

The Mississippi day care workers who put on horror masks to scare children deserve hard time for the pranks ... so says one of the children's mother.

Katelyn Johnson's 2-year-old son is one of the kids in the viral video showing day care workers scare the living crap out of toddlers, and she tells TMZ her boy and his classmates are all traumatized.

The parent says her son's too young to be able to communicate what he's feeling, but he's showing trauma by his actions ... Katelyn says the little guy's having a hard time going to bed at night and is regressing in potty training, which she blames on his strong reaction to the horror mask.

As we reported ... upset parents pushed hard for the day care workers to be hit with felony child abuse charges, and Katelyn tells us she agrees the charges are appropriate.

Katelyn says she wants the 4 women hit with felonies to serve between 6 and 12 months ... saying the video is just a tiny peek into what she says was a regular occurrence.

Katelyn says she's not considering filing a lawsuit, because she thinks the women won't ever be rehired and won't be able to pay a damage award. But, she says other parents want to wait and see what happens with the criminal case before deciding on legal action.

Katelyn says she's trying to help her son heal through positive reinforcement. She says she's using a sound machine and night light to try and help him sleep, reassuring him their home and their family are a safe place.

Katelyn says they're back to square one with potty training ... telling us her boy almost had it down before the trauma set him back.

Gavin DeGraw was forced to pull the plug at the last minute on a show for the Boys & Girls Club -- his team says he was sick as a dog, but he's already planning to make good.

Sources connected to the fundraiser tell TMZ ... Gavin was booked to perform last weekend at the 2022 "Enchanted Masquerade" Chrysalis Ball for the Boys & Girls Clubs in Collin County, TX.

The club serves upwards of 5,000 kids, and Gavin's performance was the first big in-person event they'd planned since COVID shutdowns. So, that's why organizers were so bummed when Gavin had to cancel on the very day of the event.

Our sources tell us the singer's team notified the Boys & Girls Club that Gavin had fallen so ill, he had to be hospitalized ... and wouldn't be able to make it to the event.

We're told event organizers had already spent $20k in production costs, and they ended up using the band originally booked for their after-party to replace Gavin.

It is unclear what Gavin's illness was -- our sources say his appearance fee will be returned, but the Club won't get the production and rider costs back.

Understandably, there were some disappointed folks at the fundraiser.

DeGraw's team says he's since made a full recovery, and while he regrets having to cancel ... he hopes to come back and support the organization soon.

Adam Sandler's daughters are starring in a new movie about a bat mitzvah ... and they're taking home a paycheck big enough to make most bat mitzvah gifts seem, well, lesser.

Sadie and Sunny Sandler scored roles alongside their famous father in Netflix's "You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah" ... and their minor's contracts lay out their compensation.

According to the contracts, filed with the court and obtained by TMZ, Adam's teenage daughters are each earning $65,000 for the flick ... and they're gonna be paid in weekly installments during filming.

Adam's got to be loving it ... because it's almost like an allowance for his kids.

The Netflix feature film is putting Fiona Rosenbloom’s beloved coming-of-age novel on the big screen ... and Sunny is playing Stacy Friedman to Sadie's Ronnie Friedman.

Sadie and Sunny's contracts also call for them to get first-class accommodations if they have to film more than 50 miles from home, including swanky hotel rooms, business class plane tickets and car service, plus a $60 per diem and their own trailer on the movie lot.

Adam's daughters could be in for a bigger payday down the line ... there's a follow-up book in the series, and if Netflix makes a sequel the girls are each set to earn $162,500.

Pro surfer Bethany Hamilton -- who lost her left arm in a horrifying shark attack in 2003 -- has found yet another way to be an inspiration to the world ... she's authored a new children's book aimed to help kids get past their fears!

The athlete's new work, fittingly called "Surfing Past Fear," dropped earlier this month -- and it's all about an otter named Olivia who faces her fears after she breaks her arm while surfing.

Olivia gets help from her friends Mobi -- a one-armed bear -- and a flamingo named Abby -- and Hamilton says the whole point of the book is to teach kids how to overcome adversity.

Of course, she would know how to do that as well as anybody ... following her terrifying encounter with a tiger shark when she was just 13 years old, she went on to become one of the best surfers in the country.

Now, she says she's hoping her new book can not only help kids learn from her -- but also aid parents who are trying to get her message across to their children.

"I feel like I'm kind of a mix of the two characters," Hamilton said. "I'm Olivia, in like I had the accident and also how she has her comeback."

"I'm also kind of like Mobi, the bear who's born without an arm and he encourages Olivia to overcome her fear and seek a more positive truth-filled thought process."

Hamilton, a mother of three, says she's not planning on stopping with this one book either ... telling us she'd love to pen more similar works in the future.

But, right now, she's enjoying time with her family and surfing ... and has even helped her son step into the boarding world.

Proud Bay Area rapper Mistah F.A.B. is now a certified Oakland legend … having been bestowed the key to his beloved hometown.

F.A.B. tells TMZ Hip Hop he mentally prepared for the moment his entire life … first manifesting the key in his early rap lyrics, and later watching R&B star Keyshia Cole receive a key a few years prior.

He was initially shocked when the mayor contacted him for the distinction, but says Keyshia instilled inspiration from the weight of her career -- and he plans on doing the same for any “desolate minds” ... as he puts it.

Thursday's event marked the first annual Love Life Day where community leaders from The City get their just due.

F.A.B. was honored -- alongside several other activists and educators -- by Mayor Libby Schaaf, citing the veteran MC for his annual holiday giveaways and extensive aid to cancer and domestic violence survivors.

The crowd sang along to his 2005 hit “N.E.W. Oakland" with reverence for all the years he’s been active on the hip hop scene ... locally and nationally.

While F.A.B. says he’ll never abandon rapping, he nods to his booming businesses -- his Dope Era clothing store and nail salons throughout the city.

There's also the opening of a Bay Area museum around the corner -- á la T.I.’s trap museums in Atlanta -- with planned exhibits for Too $hort, Mac Dre and others.

Turns out the day care workers facing felonies in Mississippi for terrorizing little kids in a horror mask weren't the first to do so ... but their penalty is certainly much more severe.

Check out this resurfaced clip from Shirley's Victorious Learning Center in Florida from 2016 when someone dressed as Freddy Krueger torments a group of youngins. The kids scatter, screaming and crying ... as someone else, presumably an employee films the whole thing.

While the old clip might deliver the same scare as the clip out of Mississippi, the owner of Shirley's told WJAX-TV parents knew it was going to happen, and no complaints were filed.

As we reported, the 5 day care workers in Mississippi weren't so lucky after a clip of one of them in a Halloween horror mask scaring kids went viral.

The parents whose children got the crap scared out of them by Mississippi day care workers pushed hard for those adults to get hit with serious crimes, and it ultimately worked ... according to law enforcement.

Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook, who is spearheading the criminal investigation, tells TMZ ... 3 sets of parents ran to the County Courthouse to demand felony child abuse charges. They made it clear they thought the behavior was too egregious for misdemeanor charges.

As we reported ... 4 women are each facing 3 counts of felony child abuse over the video showing at least one worker terrifying kids from behind a scary mask.

Crook says child abuse was the only felony charge under state law that seemed to fit the allegations.

A fifth day care worker is facing 2 misdemeanor charges -- failure to report abuse and simple assault -- and the day care owner has reportedly fired all of the employees involved.

Crook says folks in the community alerted cops to the videos by forwarding links, and after viewing the footage ... he assigned an investigator to begin a criminal probe.

Halloween is now super scary for the 4 daycare workers who scared the crap out of children at a Mississippi childcare facility ... because they're now facing felony charges and possible prison time.

The 4 women are facing 3 counts each of felony child abuse. As you see in the video, which has exploded online, one of the women in a horror mask terrifies the little kids -- who look like they're 3 or 4 years old. The kids understandably lose it ... screaming and crying.

Another daycare worker is facing 2 misdemeanor charges -- failure to report abuse and simple assault.

All of the employees were fired by the daycare owner.

What's interesting ... whether the parents of the kids will sue for infliction of emotional distress.  Seems like kind of a layup.

Before this Miami native made her way out west to Los Angeles to be a model and movie star, she was putting on her most beautiful blue dress and posing for pictures in Silver Lake, CA.

It wasn't "2 Fast 2 Furious" for this gorgeous gal to make her way back to Miami where she was in Will Smith's "Miami" music video. This cute kid had some hard training days to accomplish everything she has, and that includes playing alongside Denzel Washington in two big movies.

A few thriller movies she's starred in include "Ghost Rider," "Lost River" and "Urban Legends: Final Cut."

Kevin Spacey just scored a big victory in the sex abuse lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp ... because he's been found not liable.

The jury reportedly took less than an hour to deliberate Thursday after a 2-week trial.

As we reported, the "Star Trek: Discovery" actor sued Spacey for $40M in 2020 ... claiming he met the disgraced actor in 1986 while performing on Broadway in "Precious Sons."

Rapp said Spacey invited him, 14 at the time, to a party at his home on the East Side of Manhattan. Rapp alleges Spacey, without consent, made an unwanted sexual advance -- allegedly grabbing his buttocks, lifting him onto a bed, and laying on his body.

Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was so moved after seeing a classroom full of elementary school students lose it after he smashed a playoff home run, the big leaguer went to the classroom and hung out with the kids!

25-year-old Raleigh visited Cascade View Elementary School in Snoqualmie, WA, where he spent time with a group of fifth-graders who recently went viral for their reaction to Raleigh's dinger.

Mr. Rooney, a teacher at Cascade, posted video of his students going nuts after Raleigh blasted a homer in the wild card round of the playoffs against the Blue Jays.

And, the kids had reason to cheer. Raleigh's two-run blast in the first inning off Jays' ace Alek Manoah propelled Seattle to a 4-0 victory that day.

Seattle ended up sending the Jays home, but then lost to the Houston Astros in the ALDS.

Little did Rooney know ... Cal got wind of the video, and decided to show his appreciation for the youngsters by spending quality time with them.

Raleigh -- who hit 27 home runs in his second season with the Mariners -- posed for pics with the kids, who were all smiles throughout the day, and he even answered questions, too.