News

The body of a swimmer was found on a secluded beach in Northern California over the weekend … after she disappeared during a swim in the ocean amid reports of a shark attack.

The woman -- identified as 55-year-old Erica Fox -- went missing on December 21, the same day a shark was reportedly seen off the coast in Santa Cruz, feasting on a human body.

Fox had reportedly been separated from members of her swimming club, the Kelp Krawlers, and a person driving in the area contacted the Coast Guard to report that they saw a shark with a human body in its mouth.

Bad news out of the boxing world ... renowned heavyweight fighter Anthony Joshua was reportedly injured in a deadly car wreck in Nigeria -- just 10 days after he knocked out Jake Paul in the ring.

The accident occurred on the congested Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Ogun State in southwest Nigeria on Monday, when Joshua's vehicle "collided with a stationary truck," according to media reports, citing a police statement.

Joshua was a backseat passenger in the vehicle with 3 other people -- two of whom were killed, according to the reports. The boxing superstar was reportedly taken to a hospital for treatment after suffering minor injuries

Videos posted on social media show Joshua sitting dazed inside the car moments before being pulled out by Good Samaritans.

One person is dead and another injured after two helicopters crashed into one another above New Jersey on Sunday.

Police Chief Kevin Friel of Hammonton, NJ told media on Sunday ... officers responded to reports of a crash around 11:30 AM ET ... with police and fire crews immediately going about quenching the flames of the crash.

According to the Washington Post, the Federal Aviation Administration has described the crash as a midair collision between an Enstrom F-28A helicopter and Enstrom 280C helicopter above Hammonton Municipal Airport.

Melanie Watson Bernhardt -- an actress known for her role on the hit TV show "Diff'rent Strokes" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Robert Watson -- Melanie's brother -- tells us ... Melanie passed away Friday in Colorado Springs.

We're told Melanie -- who was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a disease where a person's bones fracture easily -- had been in the hospital after suffering some issues with bleeding, where she quickly deteriorated.

Chad Ollinger, who appeared on Discovery Channel's "Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch", is facing a murder charge after his cellmate was found dead inside a Las Vegas jail ... TMZ has learned.

According to the Las Vegas Metro Police, corrections officers conducting routine checks at Clark County Detention Center Friday discovered a male inmate "lying motionless inside a cell." Officers entered and observed the inmate had apparent blunt force injuries.

The inmate was pronounced dead at the scene.

A deadly mass shooting rocked Chicago early Sunday, leaving one man dead and three others fighting for their lives.

According to Chicago Police, the shooting happened around 2:35 AM as a group of men were getting into a car in the city's River North district. Police say four unidentified suspects approached the victims on foot, pulled out guns, and opened fire.

A 34-year-old man was hit multiple times and rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Three others were critically wounded ... a 36-year-old man shot in the chest, a 43-year-old man shot in the back, and a 35-year-old man who suffered multiple gunshot wounds across his body. All were transported in critical condition.

A Salvation Army bell ringer got drunk during his volunteer shift and attacked the manager of a Florida Publix he was collecting money in front of on Christmas Eve.

The rogue "Santa's Helper" -- 63-year-old Steven Pavlik -- was "belligerent" and "aggressively confronting people walking by" during his shift, which is when the store's manager got involved, the Martin County Sheriff's Office says. When the manager came outside to speak to Pavlik, "he became violent" and allegedly "attempted to impale" him with the donation kettle tripod.

He then fled the scene, but deputies tracked him down to his residence, where he was cuffed and then transported to the Martin County Jail. He has been charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest. He has since been released, online records show.

More Epstein files were released, Nicki Minaj has gone full MAGA, and Jake Paul's got fatherhood on the brain. So we gotta ask ...

Ashlee Buzzard -- accused of killing her 9-year-old daughter Melodee Buzzard -- has pleaded not guilty to the crime.

The 40-year-old entered her plea in a Santa Barbara, California courtroom Friday ... and prosecutors confirmed they'd pursue a life sentence against Buzzard, but not the death penalty. Her next hearing is January 7.

As you know ... Ashlee was arrested for Melodee's murder Tuesday after her daughter initially went missing in October. Authorities say Melodee's body was found earlier this month in Utah in an area where she and Ashlee allegedly traveled together.

2:45 PM EST -- Tea Tyme -- who is accused of killing a man while live-streaming while driving her vehicle in November -- is allowed to walk free ahead of her trial, an Illinois county court determined at a hearing Friday. She was arrested for the incident on Tuesday ... and although she will no longer be held in a cell, there are conditions to her release.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ ... she will have a curfew and will be barred from driving and using social media outside her home.

A preliminary hearing for the trial will take place on June 27.

Prosecutors don't want Tea Tyme -- the TikToker accused of killing a pedestrian while live-streaming back in November -- to be allowed back on the streets prior to her trial ... arguing she poses a threat to public safety.

The Lake County State's Attorney submitted the document to the court Friday ... laying out the allegations against Tea Tyme -- real name Tynesha McCarty-Wroten.

According to prosecutors ... Tea Tyme was live-streaming to 14 people when she ran a red light and struck 59-year-old Darren Lucas.

12 sick men from New Jersey ended up on Santa's extra naughty list after they were busted for trying to meet up with a minor for sex earlier this week.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone announced the successful mission called "Operation Bad Santa" took a dozen dudes aged 23 to 65 years old -- including a middle school teacher and youth program coordinator -- to the slammer after they traveled to a residence expecting to find an underage child for sexual activity. During the multi-agency effort, officers posed as minors on social media and messaging apps, and persuaded the men to meet them at the undisclosed Middlesex address ... where they were consequently cuffed.

The operation involved several police departments, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI Newark. It took place between December 8 and December 15.

Here's an easy way to find yourself on the naughty list ... a man in Seattle is in police custody after stealing a patrol car from a Washington State Patrol lieutenant ... and only TMZ has video of the suspect shoving the cop to the ground and taking off in her car.

We obtained footage showing a man casually crossing a busy Interstate-5 in Seattle when a WSP patrol car shows up ... the guy stops in his tracks, paces around, then goes up to the driver side door and yanks the cop out of the car. He pushes her to the freeway pavement, then gets behind the wheel and speeds off.

That's where our wild video ends, but the story doesn't end there ... because an intense police pursuit ensued ... and it ended with WSP officers pinning the car and taking the guy into custody.

Good news, bad news for President Trump ... the bad news is the Kennedy Center Honors award show he hosted saw its TV ratings tank with him at the helm ... but the good news is this means he won't be quitting the presidency to become a full-time M.C.

The ratings are in for this weeks Kennedy Center Honors on CBS ... and it's bad.

Preliminary data from Nielsen shows CBS had "its smallest ever audience" for the Kennedy Center Honors with an estimated 2.65 million viewers ... a sharp, 35% decline from 2024 when the show had 4.1 million viewers.

Obviously, the big difference here is Trump ... he was the first first president to host the awards show.

A cop in Ohio almost ended up on Santa's naughty list after pulling over Santa and Mrs. Claus for speeding ... and the hilarious traffic stop is all on video.

The Fulton County Sheriff's office shared video of one of their deputies pulling over an elderly couple dressed as Santa and Mrs. Clause over the weekend for "flying a little too fast."

When the deputy realizes he's talking to Father Christmas he exclaims, "Santa!!!"

Jolly old Saint Nick was packing heat too ... he told the deputy he had a concealed carry weapon and the deputy replied, "Santa has a CCW? Times are rough!!!"

President Donald Trump's controversial name change of the renowned Kennedy Center has really ruffled some feathers ... a Christmas Eve jazz concert was cancelled in protest at the performing arts center.

Chuck Redd, the host of the Christmas Eve concert, told the Associated Press that he pulled the plug on the event because he was pissed Trump switched the venue's name from the John F. Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center.

Redd said, “When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert.”

Alaska Airlines doesn't give in to purr-pressure -- that's what Alexandra Compton found out on a recent flight home for the holidays ... and she told TMZ it might be because they're dog people.

Alexandra -- a 35-year-old bartender now known as '2 Cat Karen' -- got into a standoff with airline staff in Las Vegas when they refused to let her board with her 2 cats in the same carrier.

She tells TMZ ... on December 21 she was travelling from Vegas to Portland to go back home for the holidays on a flight with her cats Phoenix and Blaze. According to Alexandra, the airline caused a fuss over the cats being in the same carrier, but she's travelled with Alaska Airlines in the same carrier many times before.

"A man in charge came down from an office and didn’t even look at the cats," Alexandra told us. "He made the decision I needed to book another seat and get another carrier or I couldn’t fly with them. Because he didn’t look at the cats, it made me think he was a dog person. It was giving he had a golden retriever at home."