Movies

The guy who's third in line to be Commander-in-Chief of this country is also well-equipped to hit the Bat-signal every now and again ... because he's got quite the movie resume.

Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont -- who was recently voted to become the new president pro tempore of the Senate, replacing Chuck Grassley -- has made cameos in a whopping FIVE Batman movies over the years, even in roles you might vaguely remember.

His appearances date back to 1995, when he first showed up in "Batman Forever," and the hits kept on coming from there ... he starred in 1997's "Batman & Robin," 2008's "The Dark Knight," 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises," and 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

Sen. Leahy also did some voice acting in the Batman animated series in the '90s, so the guy definitely has his spot reserved in Gotham's HOF. He often played politicians in his portrayals, which makes sense. That's kind of his day job.

As for how he got into it ... apparently, his son (an actor) told some Hollywood bigwigs back in the day that his dad was a HUGE Batman fan, so they hooked him up with a cameo ... and the rest is history. All his earnings from the films have been donated to charity.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' inauguration playlist is taking Brooklyn rapper Kota the Friend's career to new heights ... and he's also giving thanks to Lupita Nyong'o.

Kota the Friend's camp tells TMZ ... the independent rapper was blindsided when his track, "Lupita's Interlude," was the first song in the official inauguration playlist, and now he's reaping the benefits of a presidential shoutout.

Ever since Kota was included on the 46-song playlist alongside the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Led Zeppelin and Stevie Wonder, his collab with Lupita has enjoyed a huge spike in listeners on Spotify and Apple Music, with streams increasing over 90% to 2.5 million total.

Not bad for a Kota song that doesn't even feature his vocals ... it's just 1 minute of Lupita reciting a spoken word poem about things that mean everything to her. The track's the interlude to Kota's 2020 album, "Everything."

Kota's reps say he's also getting lots of eyeballs on social media ... over 10,000 new Instagram followers, over 11,000 new likes on his Facebook page and over 13,500 new followers on Spotify.

Hey, it helps to have a ticket with 81 million votes on your side.

When Emma Roberts' baby boy arrived he was brought into this world by a doctor who did the same for Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner's kids.

Emma and actor Garrett Hedlund's son, Rhodes Robert Hedlund, was delivered by Dr. Thais Aliabadi ... according to the birth certificate, which also shows he arrived at 5:07 PM on December 27.

The birth certificate, obtained by TMZ, says Dr. Aliabadi delivered Rhodes on familiar turf ... L.A.'s famed Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. We say it's familiar because it's the same place where Stormi Webster was born.

You'll recall ... Dr. A flew from L.A. to Ohio to deliver True Thompson for Khloe and Tristan.

TMZ broke the story ... Rhodes weighed in right around 9 lbs on the day he was born. It's Emma and Garrett's first child. During her pregnancy ... Emma wasn't shy about showing off her baby bump, as she was seen out and about town frequently.

DJ Spinderella just went off on Lifetime's Salt-N-Pepa biopic ... a project she's got nothing to do with, and she's pissed about the level of disrespect.

S-N-P's former DJ blew her top Friday, one day before the movie debuts, saying she was disappointed to learn "a decision was made to move forward with a Lifetime biopic that wrongfully excluded me from every aspect of development and production all the while using my image throughout, given that I played an integral role in the group's story and success."

Spinderella said she felt compelled to speak out because "too often, Black women who have made meaningful contributions in their industry are left out of historical narratives." She's especially mad because she says S-N-P was all about empowering women, so she "could not have dreamed that this same group would one day disempower me."

It's not all bad news ... Spinderella changed her tune near the end of her tweets to say she's in the final stages of writing her memoir, which she calls "a personal journey navigating through life, relationships, and the industry that raised me. 30+ years is a lot of content and I'm ready to share."

Christina Ricci says quarantine's been a dangerous time in her household, because her husband's allegedly beaten her multiple times, and now she fears for her life and their son's.

The actress filed Wednesday to get a restraining order against James Heerdegen, who she claims started abusing her in December 2019. In her court filing, Christina claims he beat her, spit at her and made pig noises in her face. She says that incident, during which she suffered multiple bruises, convinced her she needed to leave him.

Christina says she told James she wanted a divorce, but that was derailed when the COVID-19 quarantine began in March, and she "found herself trapped in a house with a violent abuser."

In docs, she claims Heerdegen attacked her twice in June, while still in lockdown ... chasing her around the house, trying to prevent her from calling 911 after an argument. He allegedly dragged her by her wrists into their yard and threw her into a fire pit ... leaving her cut and bruised.

During the second attack, she claims he spit on her and threw coffee and a chair at her -- all while their 6-year-old son was watching.

Christina filed several photos with the court, showing injuries she claims to have suffered at Heerdegen's hands.

Christina filed to divorce him after those alleged incidents, and her attorney, Samantha Spector, was in court Wednesday to file the restraining order.

According to those docs, obtained by TMZ, Christina also fears Heerdegen's abuse could turn deadly. During a car ride in late 2019, she claims James "said something that made me think that [he] could kill me. He said the only way he could feel sorry for me is if I were dismembered into small pieces."

Christina says she immediately hid all the knives in the cabin where they were vacationing.

Late Wednesday, the judge granted a domestic violence restraining order ... which requires Heerdegen to stay 100 yards away from Christina and their son, and have no contact with them.

Christina claims Heerdegen leaves the dog leashed to his living room coffee table when he has visitation with their son -- and under the terms of the restraining order he has to stay away from the dog too.

Although he's already moved out, Christina wants a formal court order blocking James from returning.

And, there's this ... Christina is afraid her estranged husband -- who she married in 2013 -- will release private audio and video of her to "humiliate and embarrass" her, or use it to extort her. She wants the court to block him from releasing it, and force him to turn it over.

Heerdegen's attorney, Larry Bakman, tells TMZ they will file for their own restraining order against Christina "detailing her abusive conduct fueled by alcohol and substance abuse. His papers will also include documentation that Ms. Ricci advised law enforcement in December 2019 that there had been no prior incidents of domestic violence between the couple, thereby calling into question her credibility."

Arnold Schwarzenegger just got the shot needed 'round the world -- and he was happy to play up some of his best Hollywood lines to make it all the more familiar.

Arnold posted video of himself Wednesday, which shows him pulling into Dodger Stadium to receive his vaccine for COVID. You see him sitting passenger-side in an SUV as a medical staffer sticks with a needle and injects the serum ... Arnold, of course, didn't flinch.

It's funny ... he dropped two famous movie lines of his during his vaccination -- a well-known one from "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and a more obscure one from "Jingle All the Way." If you're a die-hard Arnold fan, you know both off the top ... but it's unclear if his vaccine giver did.

He tells her to "put that needle down!" as she's injecting him, which is a reference to 'JATW' when he told his schmucky neighbor, Ted, to put the cookies down that he was salivating over. The woman doing the deed didn't seem to respond to it, though 😅

Then came the more iconic Arnold line in the aftermath ... "Come with me if you want to live," which is what the Model 101 Terminator told Sarah Connor in the legendary sequel.

That quote is probably more relevant, but in any case ... AS gives a ringing endorsement of the vaccine, and invites everyone who's eligible to come get one ASAP.

Amanda Bynes is now in the rap game ... or so it seems, after she dropped a snippet of her new track.

The "She's the Man" star posted a new track on Instagram dubbed "Diamonds" ... in which she raps for around 12 seconds --- "Diamonds, Diamonds on my neck, on my wrist" and so on. The track is only the second thing she's posted to her 505k followers on Instagram.

She's also got a rapper by the name of Precise on the track. It's unclear when Amanda recorded the track or how serious she is about getting into the rap game, but back in June she rapped along to A$AP Rocky's "A$AP Forever."

Los Angeles native Jenna Boyd was only 12 years old when she gained fame after landing the role of Bailey -- who helps Tibby film her documentary while battling leukemia and sadly dies while in the hospital -- in the 2005 denim drama "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

Jenna Boyd shared the big screen for the trouser-based film with some big names including America Ferrera as the father-feuding, Carmen Lowell, Alexis Bledel as the love-struck, Lena Kaligaris, Amber Tamblyn as the suckumentary filmmaker Tabitha "Tibby" Tomko-Rollins ... and of course, Blake Lively as the soccer camp crush, Bridget Vreeland.

The proverbial honeymoon phase is over for Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, because they've split up ... TMZ has confirmed.

The two actors called it quits recently, with Ana apparently being the one to break it off with Ben. Word is the uncoupling is amicable, and there are no hard feelings. A source connected to the couple tells TMZ ... Ben is in a good place with his family and career, and not hanging his head over the split.

ADA and Ben were getting along swimmingly for almost a year ... first being linked together back in March of last year, and showing PDA all over town in different settings. Ben even introduced Ana to his kids, and she appeared to have moved in with him too.

The pair met while shooting a movie they were both starring in, "Deep Water," and eventually took a vacay to Ana's native country, Cuba. Things got serious pretty quickly -- not only did Ben integrate her into his family life, but they were regularly walking their dogs together.

The last time Ben and Ana were seen together was this past November.

Steven Spielberg can breathe a sigh of relief ... a judge granted a permanent restraining order against the woman who's been threatening to kill him.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... 48-year-old Sarah Char must stay 100 yards away from Steven, his wife and his daughter for the next 3 years.

Char's also prohibited from harassing, intimidating or threatening Steven, she can't contact or tag him on social media ... and must stay away from his home, job and workplace. And, there's this, which sounds odd, but she's been ordered not to impersonate Spielberg.

TMZ broke the story ... Steven sought protection against Char after claiming law enforcement told him the woman tried to purchase a gun to kill him.

The famous director also said he got a Twitter message from Char telling him ... "If I have to personally MURDER people for stealing my IPs‚ I WILL. Get me?"

Liv Tyler has had a terrifying 2021, which began with a COVID diagnosis that left her in physical and emotional turmoil.

Liv said she found out on New Year's Eve she tested positive for the virus ... "Suddenly on The morn of the last day of 2020 ... boom it took me down. It comes on fast, like a locomotive, Owchie." She goes on ... "With it Feelings of fear, shame and guilt swirling through you, who could you have gotten it from and who could you have infected ... Terrifying. Luckily the rest of my family and bubble were negative."

And, then there are the symptoms ... "It F's with your body and mind equally. Everyday different. Being isolated in a room alone for 10 days is trippy to say the least."

The 'Lord of the Rings' star, who has 3 kids, says, "I missed My babies beyond but they visited my window and called up to me and I watch them play outside. Such a gift. They sent little messages and drawings under my door. Reminders of what's on the other side. What to get better for."

What's interesting -- and scary -- Liv took all sorts of precautions. In fact, she bowed out of returning to film "9-1-1: Lone Star" last year because she was so concerned about COVID.

Liv has now been reunited with 4-year-old Lula Rose, 5-year-old Sailor Gene, and 16-year-old Milo William, posting a pic of her embracing the 2 youngins, with the caption, "Reunited with my loves ... what a wild 2 weeks."

Famed breakdancer Adolfo "Shabba-Doo" Quiñones will be remembered by his family in a private service -- but scores of his friends in the biz will also get a chance to honor him.

A rep for the family tells TMZ ... the star of the 1984 film, "Breakin'" will have a memorial service Saturday at an L.A. church, but due to COVID only immediate family -- his 2 kids and siblings -- will be able to attend.

But, because Shabba has such a large number of extended family and close friends, there will also be a virtual stream of the service ... which will include a few speakers, and they will sing, "He Will Call" to honor Shabba.

When the service ends ... we're told another website will go live where all of his friends in the entertainment world can leave video and photo tributes to Shabba. The memorial live stream and website will only be accessible to people invited by the family.

As we reported ... Shabba-Doo died unexpectedly last month ... one day after he posted that he'd felt sluggish, but was improving. The medical examiner listed his cause of death as arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease ... or clogged arteries.

Shabba-Doo rose to fame back in the '80s and became one of the most well-known and legendary breakdancers on the West Coast. He instantly became a heartthrob and sex symbol after starring in "Breakin'" and "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo."

Donald Trump is no Theodore Roosevelt ... instead of carrying a big stick, Trump wields the hammer of Thor!! Who knew?

Check out what was just carried out of the White House ... a large, silver hammer engraved with the President's last name. We don't know if it's Marvel-issued, but it's a dead ringer for Thor's fave toy.

We all know Trump loves putting his name on buildings, so the engraved movie prop seems par for the course.

Hard to fault him for coveting this memorabilia, though ... even the dude from the National Archives and Records Administration who's hauling it away seems more than happy to be hauling it out.

It's been super interesting to keep an eye on Trump's trinkets being taken away from The White House this week ... like the mini baseball bat in storage containers marked "Presidential Library Gifts," and the bust of Abraham Lincoln.

Macaulay Culkin has just one word for the petition calling for the removal of Donald Trump's scene in 'Home Alone 2' ... SOLD!!!

Macaulay, best known as Kevin McAllister in the insanely popular 1992 Christmas comedy, says he's most definitely on board with leaving POTUS on the cutting room floor ... after last week's deadly insurrection at the Capitol.

The petition calls for Trump's cameo to be digitally replaced by 40-year-old Culkin, and when Macaulay posted his one-word response ... that was all the green light one fan needed. They took it upon themselves to make the edit ... albeit in amateur fashion.

Good enough for Macaulay, though ... who responded with, "bravo."

If, for some awful reason, you don't have "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" in your Christmas movie rotation ... Macaulay runs into Trump at the Plaza Hotel in NYC and asks him for directions to the lobby.

Funnily enough ... Trump told him it was to the left.

'Home Alone 2' director Chris Columbus has said Trump, who owned the Plaza from 1988 until 1995, told them they could use the location (for a fee) ... IF they wrote him into the movie. He says audiences cheered when they screened the film ... so Chris told his editor, "Leave him in the movie. It's a moment for the audience."

Armie Hammer is leaving a movie he was supposed to star in opposite Jennifer Lopez, and it's all over a scandal involving alleged DMs of his ... which he's now addressing.

The 'Social Network' star tells TMZ ... "I’m not responding to these b******* claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for 4 months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic." Armie adds, "Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I’m grateful to them for that."

The flick Armie's referring to is "Shotgun Wedding," which was supposed to start filming ASAP. A source close to the production tells us Armie's role will be recast.

As for what this is all about ... it has to do with alleged messages from his Instagram account that were leaked this past weekend, which appear to show Armie messaging women in very graphic and explicit sexual terms, while also discussing cannibalism.

We won't post any here, but there's a lot of talk about drinking blood, eating body parts, and a bunch of stuff like that. The posts -- which have NOT been confirmed as authentic -- also portray Armie as domineering, demanding these women call him "daddy" and repeatedly mentioning rape, biting and "marking" in very raunchy sex talk.

A separate exchange that was captured and posted by the person who first spread these alleged DMs appears to show she made the whole thing up, but it's hard to tell if she's talking the Armie posts, or something unrelated. Frankly, it's all speculative.

Tommy 'Tiny' Lister was all in for the movie that made him famous -- namely, Ice Cube's cult classic "Friday" -- because he legally changed his name to pay homage to his unforgettable character.

TMZ has obtained Tommy's death certificate, and while a cause of death hasn't yet been officially determined ... there was one very interesting nugget we noticed. His full name reads Tommy Debo Lister, very different from his reported birth name ... Thomas Duane Lister Jr.

It's interesting for a number of reasons. Obviously, Tommy is most famous for portraying Deebo in the "Friday" franchise -- and, no, we didn't spell that wrong ... but it appears Tommy did. In any case, it's quite clear he loved the character -- so much so, he actually made it part of his real-life identity ... opting for that instead of "Tiny," his longtime public nickname.

His manager, Cindy Cowan, tells TMZ he made the change in an L.A. court about 6 months ago -- because he felt his fans and the public at large simply knew him from "Friday."

Like we said ... Tommy's cause of death is pending right now -- it's listed as "deferred" on the doc, which just means they're still doing tests.

Remember, though, many in Tommy's immediate circle believe it was COVID-19. He was incredibly sick in his final days -- evident in several different videos he participated in -- and he'd already caught the virus earlier this year.

While the medical team works on getting closure on that front -- there's one last thing we should note about Tommy's death certificate. It says he was married to Felicia Lister.

If you know, you know ... gotta love it.

TMZ broke the story ... 62-year-old Tommy died suddenly last year at his L.A.-area home. When paramedics arrived, he was pronounced dead at the scene.