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Sean Penn's going full Sean Penn on a pair of anonymous whistleblowers who say they're part of his nonprofit helping in L.A.'s vaccination drive ... and are getting worked to the bone.

The Oscar-winner reportedly sent a 2,200-word internal letter to his CORE employees this week -- which was leaked to the L.A. Times -- and in it he unloads on them for remarks in the comments section of a recent NYT article about Penn/CORE's efforts at Dodger Stadium.

Penn reportedly went in on the 2 alleged CORE staffers who claim the work conditions at the stadium are exhausting, and possibly illegal ... as they allege they're barely getting breaks and grinding through near 24-hour shifts.

The Times says he referred to their comments as "shameful entries" and "obscene critiques." That was the kindest part, because Penn added ... "And to whoever authored these, understand that in every cell of my body is a vitriol for the way your actions reflect so harmfully upon your brothers and sisters in arms. I have taken counsel and here will refrain from using the words with which I would otherwise choose to describe the character of your actions."

Penn might have censored his language, but you can tell there's a Tom Cruise-esque rant simmering inside of him.

He did acknowledge some CORE workers might have been working longer hours lately, saying these are unprecedented times that call for extra manpower... and it was his call.

He also added this for any of his employees who are "predisposed" to complaining or "whining" ... "It’s called quitting. Quit for CORE. Quit for your colleagues who won’t quit. Quit for your fellow human beings who deeply recognize that this is a moment in time. A moment of service that we must all embody sometimes to the point of collapse."

Hal Holbrook -- the longtime, award-winning actor known for playing Mark Twain for more than 60 years -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Hal's son, David, tells us ... his father passed away of old age at his Beverly Hills home on January 23. We're told he had a number of medical conditions and was having trouble swallowing, but he did not have COVID-19 ... it was simply his time.

Holbrook's career began in the '50s when he developed and starred in the one-man stage show, "Mark Twain Tonight!" which earned him critical acclaim. He would go on to win the Tony for Best Actor in 1966, get his first Emmy nom in 1967, and played the famous American novelist for more than 6 decades ... and in over 2,200 shows.

Playing historical figures on stage -- along with TV and movies -- was a staple for Hal. Throughout his career, he also performed as Abraham Lincoln -- which won him an Emmy in 1976 for the miniseries, "Lincoln" -- and John Adams in the 1984 miniseries, "George Washington."

Most famously though ... Hal gained international stardom for playing Deep Throat in the 1976 classic, "All the President's Men," in which he uttered the famous phrase, "Just follow the money."

Holbrook more recently played Republican congressman Francis Preston Blair in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" as well.

Along with all his historical roles, Hal also racked up 12 Emmy nominations and 5 wins. He was married to Dixie Carter until her death in 2010, and had a recurring role on her hit show, "Designing Women." He also directed a handful of episodes.

Hal also appeared in popular TV shows "Evening Shade," and "The West Wing" and starred on both "The Event" and "Sons of Anarchy" when he was in his 80s.

Then, in 2008 at age 82, he became the oldest person ever nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor at the time ... for his role in 2008's "Into the Wild."

Holbrook's other notable credits over the years include the miniseries "North and South," and films such as "Julia," "The Fog," "Wall Street," "The Firm," "Hercules" and "Men of Honor."

Hal was 95.

Kevin Hart isn't letting that horrific 2019 car wreck hold him back from one of his passions ... he's about to add another souped-up whip to his collection, and it's a BEAST.

Sources familiar with the deal tell us Kevin recently bought a new muscle car from SpeedKore in Wisconsin, dropping several hundred thousand dollars on an old Dodge Charger that's been completely revamped.

SpeedKore calls the car the "Hellraiser" and it looks pretty sick, under the hood alone.

We're told Kevin's getting it delivered next week, so keep an eye out for the full unveiling. Unclear how much horsepower this one will be packing, but we know Kevin likes 'em fast.

As we first reported, Kevin was in the passenger seat, and a friend was driving, when they crashed in the Malibu Hills. Kevin's 1970 Barracuda was totally mangled. Ditto for his back ... KH needed spinal surgery, but fully recovered after a lengthy rehab.

West coast actor Madison Eginton was 10-years-old when she was cast as the adorable daughter Helena Hartford -- who is the naive little kid of the lust-torn couple Dr. William and Alice Hartford -- in Stanley Kubrick's final film "Eyes Wide Shut."

Eginton is accompanied in Stanley's sex-filled flick with some big named stars including Nicole Kidman as Helena's erotically day-dreaming mom, Alice Hartford ... and of course Tom Cruise as Helena's orgy attending escort-hiring physician father, Dr. William Hartford.

Madison Eginton went on to be cast on TV shows like "ER" and "Touched By An Angel."

Chucky abducted his son and is on the run while wielding a huge kitchen knife ... is what some Texans were led to believe after a faulty Amber Alert was released.

The Texas Department of Safety accidentally sent out the alert Friday morning ... featuring the "Child's Play" horror series character and his "Seed of Chucky" son, Glen Ray.

The Amber Alert blared this out ...  the "Abducted Child" Glen -- all 2'3" of him -- was last seen Thursday morning in Henderson ... and the 28-year-old "Suspect" Chucky was wearing blue denim overalls and was carrying a knife.

Clearly ... it was just a horrific mistake.

The Texas DPS tells TMZ ... "This alert is a result of a test malfunction. We apologize for the confusion this may have caused and are diligently working to ensure this does not happen again."

Torrey Pines looked more like the set of "Happy Gilmore" on Friday ... 'cause Brooks Koepka hit a tee shot that landed INSIDE a shoe -- and it had everyone wondering, should he have to play it as it lies?!?!?!

The wild scene all went down during the 2nd round of the Farmers Insurance Open, when Koepka smashed a drive down the right side of the fairway that crash-landed into the back of a golf cart.

As Koepka strolled down the North Course's 16th hole ... the 30-year-old quickly realized the ball actually came to rest IN a shoe that was sitting on the back of the vehicle!!!

EVERYONE was immediately reminded of the scene in "Happy Gilmore" ... where Shooter McGavin lost his mind after having to hit a ball "off Frankenstein's fat foot!"

But, fortunately for Koepka, golf's rules actually allowed him to take a penalty-free drop and continue on.

The issue, though? Koepka did NOT want to retrieve the ball from the camera guy's shoe ... saying straight-up, "I ain't sticking my hand in there. You can grab it out of your nasty-ass shoe."

Koepka eventually got everything squared away and he was able to save par.

The bad news ... Koepka's round is currently sucking -- and he's now in danger of missing the cut.

Wendy Williams is beaming about Lifetime's movie and documentary covering her life and career, and not only because they're helping her get revenge on her ex-husband.

The talk show host joined "TMZ Live" Friday and in true Wendy fashion was not afraid to throw equal amounts of shade -- for Kevin Hunter -- and praise ... for the cast of her biopic.

Wendy tells us she developed a friendship with Ciera Payton -- the actress playing her in "Wendy Williams: The Movie" -- and says she really put her all into the role. Same goes for Morocco Omari -- who Wendy says she hand-picked to play Kevin.

As you know ... Kevin and Wendy were together for more than 20 years, have a son together and worked together, but things ended very bitterly. Actually, as she explained, it was bitter long before the end.

"Wendy Williams: The Movie" and the companion documentary, "Wendy Williams: What a Mess!" premiere Saturday night on Lifetime -- and yes ... she'll be watching.

Brian Williams put his dry-wit on full display to troll House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's meeting with Donald Trump -- and viewers never saw it coming.

The longtime anchor teed up the gag by earnestly telling his guests -- Baratunde Thurston and Bill Kristol -- that he'd obtained exclusive video of the highly criticized Thursday meeting between Rep. McCarthy and Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

What he ended up rolling, though ... was an iconic clip from the Oscar-nominated film, "Jerry Maguire."

The clip alone would've been funny, given the context, but Williams -- who clearly has late-night talk aspirations -- continued to sell the joke with his deadpan style ... claiming he thought it was going to be a vid of the meeting, and "someone’s gonna be, of course, in big trouble."

Trouble is a good word to describe how many anti-Trump folks feel about the Mar-a-Lago meeting between the former President and the House Minority Leader.

McCarthy's taking heat because 2 weeks ago he criticized Trump for inciting the Capitol riots, but now appears eager to work with him -- a sign Trump still has major power with the GOP.

Cicely Tyson, who forged a path for scores of Black actors on Broadway and in Hollywood, has died.

Tyson was a force in entertainment for decades, but in her early years she had few role models because there were few people of color who were at the top of the Hollywood game.

She won 2 Emmys for Lead Actress in 1974, for "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman." The year before she was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for the movie "Sounder."

Tyson started her career as a model in NYC. She was on the covers of Ebony, Jet, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. Still, her mom was none too pleased, telling her she couldn't live in the family house if she pursued entertainment. Her mom didn't speak to her for several years.

Younger audiences would know Cicely from "The Help" and "Fried Green Tomatoes."

She also made her mark on Broadway and won a Tony for Best Actress in a Play in 2013's "The Trip to Bountiful." That made her the oldest recipient ever of a Best Actress Tony.

President Obama bestowed a Presidential Medal of Freedom award to Tyson in 2016, saying, "Cicely made a conscious decision not just to say lines, but to speak out. Cicely's convictions and grace have helped for us to see the dignity of every beautiful member of the American family -- and she's just gorgeous."

Earlier in her career, Cicely starred in a play called "The Blacks." It was an off-Broadway play in the '60s and some of her co-stars were Maya Angelou, James Earl Jones and Louis Gossett Jr.

Cicely was 96.

Southern California actress Theresa Russell was in her early 40s when she took on the role of the head-turning widow Sandra Van Ryan -- who has a secret relationship with her daughter's high school counselor and her super dreamy "deckhand" -- in the skin-filled '90s film "Wild Things."

Theresa Russell shared the silver screen with some awesome actors including Denise Richards as her trust-lusting daughter, Kelly Van Ryan, Matt Dillon as the double-crossing counselor, Sam Lombardo ... and of course Bill Murray as the insurance-scamming lawyer, Ken Bowden.

Russell can also be spotted in "Spider-Man 3" and "Bad Timing."

Cloris Leachman -- the incredibly talented and hilarious actress and comedian, who starred in some of the biggest movies and TV shows ever -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Leachman passed away of natural causes Tuesday night at her home in Encinitas, California, with her daughter, Dinah, by her side ... this according to her son.

He tells us ... "She had the best life beginning to end that you could wish for someone." He adds that she was at peace, and "she left everyone with a lot of love."

Cloris' career in showbiz began shortly after she competed in the 1946 Miss America Pageant, when she made her debut on the 'Actors Studio' TV series.

After years of landing small roles on television, Leachman had her breakthrough playing the landlady, Phyllis, on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in the '70s ... which led to her own spin-off.

She won 2 Emmys for the role, and a Golden Globe for Best TV Actress for "Phyllis."

In film, Cloris is best known for 2 movies she made during the same time period -- "The Last Picture Show" in 1971, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress ... and 1974's "Young Frankenstein."

She'd go on to star in another popular Mel Brooks' film in 1981, "History of the World, Part I."

But, that's not all -- she was also racking up Emmys for "A Brand New Life" and "Cher" in the '70s, "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" in the '80s, "Promised Land" in the '90s ... and most recently, "Malcolm in the Middle."

With 22 Emmy noms, she's the most nominated actress in history, and her 8 wins is the most of all time ... tied with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Her other notable roles spanning over 7 decades include "The Twilight Zone," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "WUSA," "Yesterday," "Spanglish," "Raising Hope" and the "Mad About You" reboot.

Cloris also voiced characters on several projects, including 'The Croods' films and "Bob's Burgers."

When we last saw her in 2017, she joked about her faux feud with Betty White, and accepted a duel ... on the dance floor.

Cloris was 94.

Tim Robbins has filed for divorce, which comes as a surprise ... because we didn't know he was even married.

The "Shawshank Redemption" star filed legal docs Wednesday in L.A. to divorce Gratiela Brancusi ... who he'd been rumored to be dating for about 3 years now.

The 2 were first linked publicly when he brought her to the premiere of his HBO show, "Here and Now," in February 2018, but they attended several more events together in 2019 ... including a family outing at a hockey game in Dec. 2019.

It's unclear when they got hitched ... but he's seeking a dissolution of their marriage now. According to his filing, they don't have any kids together.

As you know ... Robbins was previously with Susan Sarandon. The famous Hollywood couple began dating in the late '80s after meeting on the set of "Bull Durham" and were together for 2 decades, until their split in 2009.

Shaun Weiss -- famous for playing Goldberg in "The Mighty Ducks" -- is damn near unrecognizable again, but in a great way ... and that's because he's now 1-year sober.

His friend, Drew Gallagher, tells TMZ ... Shaun officially hit the milestone yesterday. He says Shaun chose to delay his Christmas as part of the celebration ... waiting to open presents on the day he celebrated his sobriety.

There's more good news ... remember the full dental sponsorship he got back in September to address his need for new teeth? Well, his permanent pearly whites -- top and bottom -- are almost done. He's wearing temporary dentures for now.

Shaun, who is still at a sober living house in Tarzana, CA, is getting ready for his next steps in life. We're told he's working on his comedy chops and doing some scriptwriting.

Elliot Page, the star of "Juno," has filed for divorce after just 3 years of marriage.

Elliot just filed the legal docs in Manhattan seeking the dissolution of his marriage to Emma Portner, whom he married around January 2018.

The couple had announced their surprise wedding on Instagram, with Page writing at the time ... "Can’t believe I get to call this extraordinary woman my wife." Page began sharing photos with Portner in summer 2017.

Emma, a dancer and choreographer who teaches at the Broadway Dance Center in NYC, was also featured in Justin Bieber’s “PURPOSE: The Movement” music videos and tour performances.

The rich and powerful are skipping to the front of the line to get the COVID-19 vaccine ... and Hollywood's elite are going to great lengths to get the shots.

Tinseltown's titans are using every trick in the book to get vaccinated ... private and boutique physicians, concierge health services, private flights to Florida for vaccine tourism ... and those are just the legal avenues, according to Variety.

In Beverly Hills, Dr. Robert Huizenga claims his practice is getting offered five-figure bribes from folks desperate to get the shots, including power players in the entertainment industry. The doc also told Variety people are trying to skip the vaccine lines by dubiously getting hired in the healthcare industry.

There's also allegations of big-time hospital donors trying to twist arms for early access to vaccines, and wealthy clients pressuring concierge docs to find the hookup.

The mad dash for vaccines in California are partly a result of the state's slow rollout and eligibility requirements ... to get a shot, you need to work in healthcare or be at least 65 years old.

Still, a few celebs are getting shots just like everyone else toiling on the waiting lists, with no funny business involved. 73-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger waited in line at Dodger Stadium's mass vaccination site, while 78-year-old Harrison Ford reportedly booked his own appointment last week and waited in line for 2 1/2 hours at an LA-area community college.

Some of the loopholes are closing ... Florida's cracking down on vaccine tourism, with people now being required to show proof of residency to get a shot. However, the rich and powerful are now said to be pulling the same stunts in Hawaii.

We've told you about some of these issues before ... like COVID vaccines going to non-priority people, even though it was actually a good thing for L.A.

Long before he was known to the world as toothless, butt-whipped Stu in "The Hangover" ... Ed Helms drove this Honda motorcycle to auditions, and he's finally parting ways with it.

The actor/comedian is selling his 1976 Honda CB750F motorcycle ... and while the price is pretty modest at a mere $4,800, the bike does have tons of sentimental value. The new owner should know ... it's the bike he used to drive to his auditions when he lived in NYC.

He had it shipped to L.A. when he moved. Pays to have a bike ... to zoom in and out of traffic on the 101 and 405.

The bike has 13,591 miles and it's in cherry condition. It was stored at Atlantis Motor Garage in L.A. for some time now. We're told he decided to take it out of storage, spruce it up some and sell it.