Movies

An animated film festival in L.A. just kicked Kobe Bryant off the festival jury over backlash stemming from his 2003 rape case.

The Lakers legend was set to be part of the jury at the Animation is Film Festival this weekend at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood ... but event organizers announced Wednesday that ain't happening.

“After discussions with the various stakeholders of Animation Is Film, the decision has been made to remove Kobe Bryant from the 2018 jury” ... event honcho Eric Beckman says.

Kobe, of course, won an Academy Award for his "Dear Basketball" short ... and seemed to be completely embraced by Hollywood. Kobe says he's even dished out movie-makin' advice to Barack Obama.

But last week, a petition popped up on Change.org demanding Bryant be dropped from the event -- and apparently, that was the thing that pushed festival officials to remove Kobe.

"This is an urgent time to say NO to toxic and violent behavior against women,” the petition reads ... "Keeping Kobe Bryant on the jury sets a precedent of lenience for sexual criminals and further undermines the visibility and respect that victims of harassment and assault deserve.”

The petition only got 159 signatures -- but clearly, it was enough to make an impact.

President Barack Obama is turning to one of the greats to help him launch his Hollywood career -- KOBE BRYANT!!!

The Lakers legend was out in D.C. when we asked if he'd been helping his friend, Barry, launch his new Netflix projects and Mamba replied like De Niro in "Goodfellas" ... "Little bit."

Remember, Barack and Michelle recently signed a deal with Netflix to produce scripted and unscripted content along with documentaries and features through their company, Higher Ground Productions.

So, who do you turn to for advice on how make an immediate splash in Hollywood? An Oscar winner.

And, since Kobe's got the hardware thanks to his short film, "Dear Basketball" -- the Obamas clearly feel confident enough to hit up Mamba for some coaching.

George Lopez had a terrible time at Hooters, thanks to one giant boob who goaded him into a fight ... and TMZ has the video.

The incident went down Sunday night in New Mexico, where George had spent the week filming the movie "Walking with Herb." As you can see ... the guy was lying in wait for George when he started recording.

That's when you hear the guy say, "Here comes my boy, George," and then all hell breaks loose. You get a glimpse of George grabbing the back of the guy's neck.

A source close to George tells TMZ the guy had been in the comedian's face all night, making pro-Trump comments and yelling "MAGA." George finally had it and went HAM.

Margot Robbie's been in full Sharon Tate mode while filming Quentin Tarantino's new Manson flick ... and shots like these show just how strong a resemblance she bears to the '60s actress.

QT's leading star for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" was on set Monday in L.A. getting ready to shoot a scene, decked out in a black turtleneck, white skirt and matching go-go boots.

We don't have to tell you how much she looks like Sharon, we'll just show you. Here's a photo of Sharon with her husband, Roman Polanski, in 1968 ... a year before she and 4 others were brutally murdered by the Manson family.

Sharon was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time she was killed in '69. Margot's already shot scenes with her faux pregnancy belly.

If her acting is anywhere near as spot-on as her look is -- and Sharon's sister indicated to us earlier this year that it is -- then we're almost certainly in for some Oscar-worthy work.

Former "90210" star Trevor Donovan is saving lives in a much hotter zip code now -- he rescued an exhausted puppy in Lake Havasu ... TMZ has learned.

We got this video, shot Thursday on the lake bordering Cali and Arizona ... and you can see Trevor dive into action. We're told the dog -- a 4-month-old golden retriever named Shadow -- belonged to one of the crew members on the movie Trevor's shooting out there.

The pup had apparently swam out too far, and was tiring as it tried to get back. Trevor busted out his best butterfly stroke and helped the dog back to shore.

Trevor's shooting a jetskiing movie called "Hot Water" ... which he's described as an homage to '80s and '90s comedies like "Caddyshack" and "Ski School."

Talk about perfect timing -- for him and the dog -- Thursday happened to be Trevor's birthday. He can't say it wasn't a happy one.

Dwayne Johnson is getting a raw deal from people who think he's not black enough to play John Henry ... according to Roger Aaron Brown, who had the role back in the '90s.

Roger played John Henry in the 1995 movie 'Tall Tale,' and tells us he doesn't have a problem with The Rock stepping into his shoes. He tells us there's way more to the role than being African-American, so complaints Dwayne's skin isn't dark enough are nonsense.

As Roger sees it, Dwayne has the acting chops and physical stature to play John Henry -- the railroad worker worked himself to death, according to folklore.

The Rock is clearly thrilled about his upcoming movie, "John Henry and the Statesmen," and his lifelong passion for the story is enough for Roger to get on board.

A crew member on the set of Tom Hanks' upcoming Mr. Rogers movie died after suffering a heart attack and falling off a balcony.

James Emswiller, who won an Emmy in 2015, was taking a smoke break when the coronary struck as he stood on the second-story balcony.

Hanks was on set Thursday night in Lebanon, PA when Emswiller fell ... during the filming of "You Are My Friend," the Fred Rogers biopic.

James was alone on the deck when other crew members heard what sounded like someone falling from the balcony.

After James hit the ground, a nurse on set tried assisting ... apparently to no avail. By the time EMTs arrived, Emswiller was in full cardiac arrest.

James was taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital and was pronounced dead 3 hours later.

Emswiller won an Emmy for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series for HBO production of "Bessie."

James was 61.

The American people deserve an FBI investigation into President Trump's taxes because where there's smoke, there's often fire ... according to Ron Howard, who says there's only one reason it hasn't happened yet.

The beloved director, producer and actor was at LAX when he raised a topic he and millions of other Americans find intriguing: why The New York Times bombshell on Trump's alleged tax evasion totally fell flat. Ron told us it's all about the source.

Watch the clip ... he strongly suggests 45 has poisoned the public against the media -- aka the "fake news" -- and the only solution is to get law enforcement on the job.

To be clear, Ron's not saying he's SURE Trump is guilty of anything, but he is sure America needs to know its President isn't a tax cheat. He says reporters got the ball rolling, but law enforcement should finish the job ... and quickly.

David Arquette is 47 YEARS OLD -- and flying off the top rope!!!

Check out this footage of Arquette wreckin' shop at Border City Wrestling’s 25th Anniversary Show in Ontario, Canada over the weekend ... it's realley, really impressive.

Arquette was teamed up with his former nemesis RJ City (their tag name is Arquette City), and they took on Halal Beefcake ... two guys who came out in "Scream" masks to taunt Arquette.

The video is great -- Arquette gets double-crossed, takes a middle finger to his face ... and then jumps off the top rope, all captured in footage airing Nov. 9 on Global Wrestling Network.

Remember, Arquette was the WCW Heavyweight champ back in the day -- but that moment is widely regarded as one of the low points in pro wrestling history.

Recently, Arquette went to Mexico to train with luchadores and perfected some pretty advanced wrestling moves.

Not bad, Mr. Arquette ...

This is NOT a figment of Truman Burbank's imagination ... the house where Jim Carrey filmed "The Truman Show" was smack in the path of Hurricane Michael's 155 mph winds, but somehow dodged disaster.

Exteriors for the 1998 flick were shot at this home in Seaside, FL and, despite the approaching category 4 storm, the owners tell us they did very little to protect the house. They trusted the fact it's sitting on a solid foundation, and hoped for the best. However, the town was under mandatory evacuation, so they got out of harm's way ... not knowing if the home would make it.

Truth is, the odds weren't in their favor when Michael made landfall. As a barometer, Panama city -- just 35 miles west of Seaside -- was decimated.

As it turns out, the hurricane ended up skirting Seaside ... and the only real damage suffered at the house was limited to some branches coming down.

The owners know they got super lucky this time around.

Did you know super producer Mike WiLL Made-It is the guy doing the "Creed II" soundtrack?

It's true ... and Mike tells TMZ Sports it's gonna blow your mind.

FYI, Mike is one of the heaviest hitter in hip-hop -- he just won a Grammy for the work he did on Kendrick Lamar's hit single, "Humble."

Now, Sylvester Stallone has charged Mike with overseeing the music to his beloved franchise -- and Mike says he's ready for the moment.

"The soundtrack is crazy," Mike says ... "Every song has that gut feeling, that feeling that you're gonna fight through something."

Mike says he wanted the music to be as compelling as the movie itself, which comes out Nov. 21 -- "I don't want it to be a typical soundtrack."

Verne Troyer's estate is getting a cold, harsh reminder there are no free rides, because it's being asked to cough up the dough for his ambulance ride to the hospital.

The Los Angeles Fire Department slapped Verne's estate with a $1,547 invoice for his emergency transportation. We broke the story ... the 'Austin Powers' star was rushed to a hospital after cops got a call he was suicidal.

Verne eventually died in the hospital a few weeks after that ambulance ride. He was on life support during much of his hospitalization.

7:30 AM PT -- The judge released a letter from the D.A.'s office to Weinstein's lawyer, which says in part the witness in question said, among other things, Weinstein offered to give Evans cash if she exposed her breasts to him and that Evans told her Weinstein promised her an acting job in return for oral sex. The upshot -- the witness says Evans was not forced to perform oral sex.

According to the letter, the detective told the witness she had no obligation to cooperate with prosecutors and "less is more."

Harvey Weinstein just scored a huge victory in his sexual assault criminal case ... a judge just threw out one of the 3 cases in which he was charged.

The judge said the case involving then-actress Lucia Evans was dismissed ... this after prosecutors jumped the gun and asked the judge to 86 the charge of sexual assault.

TMZ broke the story ... the lead detective in the Weinstein cases is under investigation after allegedly tampering with a witness who claimed Evans admitted to her she voluntarily engaged in oral sex to score an acting role. Evans claims Weinstein forced himself on her, but the witness says otherwise.

The detective allegedly hid information about the witness in dealing with prosecutors and allegedly cajoled the witness into not disclosing what she knew.

Weinstein's lawyer, Ben Brafman, asked the judge to review all of the detective's work on the case. The judge did not say whether he'll do that.

There are still 5 criminal charges against Weinstein involving 2 other women.

Originally published 7:04 AM PT

Taylor Swift certainly talked a big game by endorsing 2 candidates in Tennessee, but a bunch of other celebs are doing more than talking -- they're paying to support their fave Democrats.

We did some digging into 2018 Federal Election Commission filings to find out which A-listers are donating, and how much they're throwing down heading into the midterms. Out of the group we found, Eva Longoria actually donated the most -- a little more than $40k just since the spring.

Most of her cash is supporting Missouri incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill. Here are the other big spenders:

-- Susan Sarandon ... $29,574 to Democratic PACs supporting NY, WV, HI and TX candidates

-- Rosie O'Donnell ... $29,243 for NY, IL, MA and IA candidates

-- Jimmy Kimmel ... $26,701, mostly for NV Congresswoman Jacky Rosen's Senate run

-- Matt Damon ... $10,800

-- Ben Affleck ... $6,270

Kimmel fans will notice, he's got his nemesis, Damon, beat again. The saga continues.

As for T-Swift, we know her vocal support for 2 Dems in her home state spurred hundreds of thousands to register to vote ahead of Nov. 6 -- a crucial contribution to the electoral process.

Verne Troyer's death has officially been ruled a suicide ... TMZ has confirmed.

The L.A. County Coroner's Office released an autopsy report Wednesday saying the 'Austin Powers' star died of "sequelae of alcohol intoxication" ... basically alcohol abuse. Shortly after his death, the Coroner's Office "deferred" Verne's cause of death ... pending an investigation. The Coroner's Office has now determined alcohol abuse is what killed the actor.

As we reported ... Verne struggled with alcoholism for years and had been to rehab many times. In early April, Verne had been rushed to a hospital after cops got a call that he was suicidal. We were told he was being treated for alcohol poisoning because his BAC was triple the .08 limit.

He'd been on life support ever since -- but, as TMZ first reported, he died a few weeks later. He was 49.

Things got nasty on the set of the upcoming "Joker" movie over the weekend ... we're told extras were locked on a subway car for more than 3 hours, and it got so bad some people started peeing on the tracks.

Sources on set tell TMZ ... extras for the movie were filming a scene in a Brooklyn subway station and they were locked in a train car and denied their break after 2 hours of work ... leading to a sticky situation.

The extras started banging on the subway doors asking to be let out because people needed to use the bathroom, but they were kept inside and eventually resorted to pissing on the tracks through the small spaces between cars.

We've learned SAG received a complaint about a break time violation and they sent a rep to the set to resolve the situation ... and SAG will continue to follow up and monitor the set.

Warner Bros. tells TMZ they're looking into what went down on the tracks.