News

Big Wave pro-Alex Botelho was hospitalized after suffering a serious accident in a surfing tournament ... and the video of the crash is absolutely wild.

The 29-year-old Portuguese surfer was participating in the Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge when he had a scary wipeout and had to be saved by a Jetski pilot.

The situation got much worse when a massive whitewater wave rushed towards them and knocked the 2 people off the Jetski.

But, then things took an even worse turn when another wave came through and sent them flying through the air.

Botelho appeared to be unconscious by the time he washed to shore ... with emergency rescuers sprinting into the water to help out.

The surfer was taken to a nearby hospital where he's currently recovering ... and thankfully, the World Surf League says he's stable and conscious.

"A heartfelt thank you to the safety and medical teams for their quick response. We are wishing Alex a full and speedy recovery," the league said in a statement.

Justin Bieber and Quavo are helping shine a light on a good cause ... and their new music video is helping a shelter for homeless women.

Here's the deal ... the music vid for Justin and Quavo's collab, "Intentions," tells the story of a group of women in search of a better life in Los Angeles. The women are all living out of Alexandria House, a shelter for homeless women and homeless women with kids.

The video wraps with a special shout-out to Alexandria House ... Justin and Quavo say they donated $200,000 to the non-profit... and viewers are directed to a link where they can lend a helping hand.

The response has been pretty amazing ... since the video dropped at midnight Thursday, we're told the shelter has received more than $10,000 in donations.

It's pretty cool ... the money is flowing in from all over the world -- Italy, Romania and China, etc. -- and many of the donations are small, as in the $1 and $5 denominations. There've been a few large donations of $1,000 and $5,000, but it's mostly people chipping in what they can afford.

Alexandria House tells us its website is also seeing a huge influx of traffic ... as in, an 800 percent increase in traffic compared to the day before the video dropped.

Justin and Quavo spotlighted 3 women in the video, and we're told some of the funds are going towards their tuition and after-school programs for their kids, plus a one-woman show for the lady who does poetry.

The rest of the money, we're told, will aid the 30 current residents and some 200 former residents ... so they can buy textbooks, furniture for their new homes and even car repairs.

Ah, the power of Bieber and Quavo.

Lori Harvey is lucky she escaped a sneak attack in a parking structure -- and if not for her quick-thinking skills her car might have been jacked ... TMZ has learned.

Steve Harvey's daughter had just parked her 2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan at an apartment complex in Atlanta Wednesday night ... and made her way to the trunk to grab some stuff. That’s when the suspect crept up and ran to jump in the driver's seat.

According to the police report -- obtained by TMZ -- Lori told cops the suspect was a young black guy who tried to steal her ride. We’re told Lori actually ran toward him and struggled with him as he was sitting in the SUV ... but he pushed her away.

Lori told cops that's when she realized she could just walk away with the key fob to thwart the attempted auto theft -- because it can't be put in drive without it. We’re told she simply walked away nonchalantly.

As she did, a second suspect pulled up in a getaway car, hopped out, ran to the back of her Rolls and grabbed a red duffel bag. Both he and the first suspect jumped in their vehicle and fled.

Clean getaway, but according to the report they didn't get much. The duffel bag was the only item stolen, and it only contained some clothing.

Cops say Lori didn't complain of any injuries and refused medical treatment. She told police she was returning from Whole Foods, so cops are looking to see if any surveillance cameras may have captured the suspects tailing her into the lot.

Louis C.K. just called off 4 shows at the Houston Improv and is offering refunds to everyone who bought tickets ... or they can wait for him to reschedule.

TMZ's learned the comedian postponed the gigs -- starting tonight and going through Sunday -- due to an "unforeseen family emergency." Those who were planning on attending have been informed they can keep their tickets and exchange them for the rescheduled dates in May, or return them and get their money back.

According to the email sent to ticket holders, anyone who bought tix to Louis' postponed shows will also score a free ticket to see the replacement act this weekend -- comedian Joe Machi. Even those who chose to get a refund can take advantage of this offer.

It's unclear what family emergency C.K. is dealing with.

As we've reported ... Louis has been back on the stand-up circuit for the past several months, making a comeback of sorts after admitting in November 2017 to years of sexual misconduct and abusing his power in the comedy world.

His return has been met with a mix of criticism and support, but one thing he hasn't stopped doing is offending people.

Jeff Bezos just added BILLIONS to his massive fortune -- which is nothing new for him, but what's new this time ... it only took a few strokes of the clock to make that increase.

Stock for the Amazon honcho's company surged 12 percent in a matter of 15 minutes Thursday afternoon, which equaled an astounding 11-digit increase to his bottom line.

The astronomical math? Bloomberg says Jeff added $13.2 BILLION just from the surge, which raises his net worth to about $129.5 billion. Forbes was a wee bit more modest, reporting Bezos added $12.8 billion to his portfolio, with a new net worth of $128.9 billion.

Either way ... ya get the point. Bill Gates feels like a panhandler right now.

On an even grander scale -- the stock boost pushed Amazon's market cap north of $1 TRILLION!!! That's a lot of zeroes.

Oh, and Bill ... JK, buddy. The world's second-richest man is still worth about $110.8 billion. Said another way ... about one Laurene Powell Jobs (Steve's widow) less than Bezos.

Damn, these people are rich!!!

Firefighters are pulling off daring rescues from a 25-story high-rise inferno in Los Angeles ... where several residents are trapped by the smoke and flames.

Helicopters and fire trucks are swarming around the building near L.A.'s Brentwood neighborhood. Flames are billowing out of the 6th floor, and at least one man was clinging to the side of the building ... waiting for firefighters to reach him.

They eventually did get to him as they extended a rescue ladder up to the 6th floor. Other residents made it to the roof, where rescuers dangling from helicopters were able to airlift them to safety.

Team Roc, Roc Nation's philanthropic arm, is releasing video it says graphically illustrates the inhumane conditions inside a notorious Mississippi penitentiary ... as Yo Gotti continues fighting for federal assistance.

These videos and photos were shot by inmates using contraband phones, according to Team Roc. The images include what looks like a knife fight between 2 prisoners, gruesome injuries and horrific filth inside a cell.

TMZ broke the story ... Yo Gotti, with Team Roc's support, is taking legal action over the conditions seen in the video. Most recently, they've filed for an emergency protective order in federal court -- on behalf of dozens of inmates -- and they've now added some of these photos to that filing.

The pilot of the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, his daughter and 6 other passengers got in big trouble with fog -- they seemed to abort the trip and tried returning home, barely clearing one mountain range, but never slowed down ... this according to the flight tracker and several experienced helicopter pilots in the L.A. area.

As we reported, the pilot had to circle near the Downtown L.A. area -- near the L.A. Zoo -- for 15 minutes because of bad weather ahead. As we reported ... the LAPD had grounded its helicopter fleet because of fog at around the same time Kobe's helicopter took off.

The pilot was following a visual flight plan and was cleared by the tower to proceed north, toward Thousand Oaks where Kobe was taking his daughter for a basketball game. When he got to the Calabasas area, the fog became blinding.

As we reported, the pilot was way too low --  at 1,250 feet. The pilots we spoke with say it's clear based on the abrupt change on the flight tracker ... the pilot panicked and quickly ascended to 2,000 feet. We're told he cleared a mountain range by 100 feet, and the pilots we spoke with say he was so low he almost certainly saw the tops of the mountain.

Andy Dick was inconsolable, and understandably so, after a man walked into his art studio and shot himself in the head.

The tragic incident went down Monday around midnight inside Andy's downtown L.A. art gallery ... which opened late last year. Witnesses say the man had been waving a gun around before heading inside, where Andy and someone else was working.

Once inside, the man fired the shot. Witnesses say it appeared to be an accident.

It's unclear if Andy witnessed the shooting, but he was visibly shaken as LAPD and paramedics responded to the scene. The victim was transported to a hospital, and according to one source, he's currently on life support.

The video shows a traumatized Andy explaining to police what he'd seen.

Justin Bieber is singing, smiling and dancing again ... putting in the work for another new music video with his buddy and Migos rapper Quavo.

Biebs was spotted in L.A. Friday outside of a daycare facility, he also had a photo and video crew in tow. It's unclear if the visit was planned or a surprise ... but Justin had a bunch of people join him on the steps in front of the cameras.

It's hard to tell exactly what's playing on speakers set up around the crew, but there's definitely music and we're told it's a new single for the Beliebers.

Rapper Quavo from Migos was also there -- the two have collabed before -- so it makes sense the pair have another single on the way.

Meghan Markle grew increasingly fed up with the media and the Palace as she fought for privacy for her son, Archie ... and this is one of several reasons she and Prince Harry decided to bail on the royals.

Sources close to the Duchess of Sussex tell TMZ ... she obviously knew she'd be world-famous when she married Harry, but underestimated how little control she'd have over the day-to-day media coverage ... and how much scrutiny she'd get for everything.

Things really began to sour, we're told, when baby Archie was born. The Duke and Duchess tried to be very private with him ... which irked the UK press.

There's no ignoring this elephant in the room, especially because he's taking over multiple rooms ... in a hotel!!!

Ya gotta see this unbelievable video of a wild elephant roaming around the Jetwing Yala hotel in Sri Lanka. As you can imagine, it gets a wide berth upon entering the joint ... no one's rushing him at the check-in line. Yes, he packed his own trunk ... and as you can see, used it to poke around the place.

Best of all, the full-grown Asian bull elephant, -- named Natta Kota by locals -- is a repeat customer!!! The hotel says he's been wandering in from time to time since 2013, spending days napping in the shade and stomping through the resort's walkways.

The pachyderm used to be a seasonal visitor, according to the hotel, stealing fruit from vehicles and grub from the kitchen -- but now he's got a permanent residence at Jetwing and he's left in peace.

No word if he's racking up rewards points, but he's definitely a bull (elephant) in a china shop. Someone's gotta pay for that lamp!!!