Sandra Lee's ex-fiancé Ben Youcef is speaking out on their split ... and his message is all about gratitude, respect, and moving forward.
Through his rep, Brandon Cohen of BAC Talent, Ben tells TMZ ... "Over the past 5 years Sandra Lee and I shared a beautiful chapter together. We traveled the world, created unforgettable memories and experienced life in a way I will always be grateful for. She is an extraordinary person and I will always have nothing but respect and admiration for her."
He adds ... "Presently I am focused on building my acting career and raising my 10-year-old twins who are my pride and joy. I wish Sandra all the happiness and success the world has to offer."
David Wilcock's final moments are even more tragic given what he was dealing with behind the scenes ... 'cause cops tell TMZ he was battling serious financial and health problems leading up to his death.
Law enforcement tells TMZ ... Wilcock made a disturbing 911 call Monday morning, telling dispatch, "I need to leave" and "I will be to the left of the house," while also opening up about ongoing money troubles and health issues. He refused to say whether he was armed or planning to hurt himself.
In dispatch audio obtained by TMZ, authorities are heard in real time explaining the situation ... announcing the call as a "potential suicide" and breaking down the moments they arrived on scene.
We broke the story ... the "Ancient Aliens" regular and bestselling paranormal author died after deputies responded to his Colorado home and found him in a mental health crisis.
Authorities tell TMZ ... deputies approached cautiously, staging nearby until backup deputy arrived due to the unknown threat level.
The FBI says it plans to dig into possible connections between the disappearances and/or deaths of at least 10 scientists and government workers over the last few years ... but their family members say it's all a bunch of baloney.
The House Oversight Committee announced Monday they're probing any possible connections between 10 cases dating back to 2023 ... but family members of Melissa Casias, Carl Grillmair, Michael Hicks and Jason Thomas all say there's no way they're linked -- and some have proof.
Melissa was an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico who vanished in June 2025. A family member, Paul, tells TMZ ... he believes Melissa wanted to go MIA and "does not want to be found."
10 people were injured in a mass shooting at the Mall of Louisiana Thursday, and police were still searching for shooting suspects in the afternoon.
Baton Rouge Police said the shooting looked a "targeted" incident "between two groups of people." Police said an argument broke out between the two groups, and people began "shooting at each other" ... but police clarified there was "no more active shooting going on."
Some of the victims may be innocent bystanders not involved in the altercation, according to police. At least six victims were hospitalized, according to WAFB-TV ... two people were listed in critical condition.
Authorities said the shooting happened near the food court at the Baton Rouge mall, and a video circulating on social media appears to show someone lying on the floor near a Sbarro. The mall was immediately evacuated.
A California man was charged with murder Thursday in the stabbing death of a beloved Burbank 1st-grade teacher earlier this week.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is charging Sergio Fraire with murder, with a special circumstance of lying in wait, for allegedly attacking and killing Arti Varma in a Burbank, CA home early Monday morning.
Arti’s daughter -- identified by neighbors as 25-year-old mental health activist Meera Varma -- was also stabbed in the attack ... she was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
On top of the murder charge, Fraire has also been hit with one felony count of attempted murder and one felony count of first-degree residential burglary.
Ali Leiniö, a Finnish vlogger who posted videos of himself hiking, appears to have died doing what he loved ... because he was found dead in the wilderness.
Ali's body was found in Lapland, Finland earlier this month ... after suffering a fatal seizure while hiking the Käsivarre Wilderness area ... according to Helsingin Sanomat, a Nordic newspaper.
His remains were recovered April 10 ... a little over a week after he uploaded his final YouTube video to his nearly 88,000 subscribers.
The American people aren't the only ones who think Congress is doing a terrible job ... turns out members of Congress are also believers.
Rep. Jim Himes didn't argue with Charlie, who said straight up ... school children get less time off than members of Congress. Members have just left for a 4-day weekend and will have another week off at the beginning of May -- the same time DHS will run out of money to pay federal workers. And remember, they just came off a 2-week Easter break.
The congressman from Connecticut said Congress is getting ZERO accomplished, so it was kinda depressing to hear him, except for the Australian joke he road-tested on our favorite Aussie.
Ditto for Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett, who says gutlessness is a tradition in Congress, which he finds "repulsive." Burchett says if your congressman or congresswoman likes the way D.C. is working, then he's all for the TMZ battle cry ... Out With Their Asses!!!
A Trump Administration counterterrorism official has reportedly been put on ice after she allegedly scammed her ex-boyfriend out of $40,000 during their 3-month romance.
Julia Varvaro was placed on administrative leave from the Department of Homeland Security and removed from her lofty position as a Deputy Assistant Secretary, according to a DHS statement.
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Her ex-lover -- identified only as Robert B. -- filed a DHS complaint, saying he spent $30,000 to $40,000 to take Varvaro on lavish vacations and shower her with expensive jewelry, the Daily Mail reports.
Celeste Rivas' family says they're "devastated" by newly released autopsy findings ... and confirm they won't attend an upcoming hearing for D4vd, who's charged with her murder.
The Rivas Hernandez family, through their attorney, tells TMZ ... they're suffering "profound emotional pain" after reviewing the report into their daughter's killing ... describing the details as "horrible and gruesome." They're now asking for privacy, understanding and patience as they process the tragedy.
The family also says Celeste's parents, Jesus and Mercedes, will not attend D4vd's hearing scheduled for Thursday.
We broke the story ... the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner had actually determined Celeste's cause and manner of death months ago -- back on December 9 -- but the findings were kept under wraps due to a court-ordered security hold requested by LAPD during the investigation.
Now that the info is public, L.A. County M.E. Dr. Odey Ukpo is speaking out ... saying it's "unfathomable" the grieving family had to wait so long for answers.
Ukpo emphasized transparency is critical not just for accountability, but to help communities understand and prevent future tragedies.
The M.E.'s report ultimately ruled Celeste's death a homicide caused by multiple penetrating injuries from unspecified object(s).
As we reported ... authorities arrested D4vd last week. He's now been charged with Celeste's murder.
Congress may be throwing elbows on Capitol Hill ... but once the suits come off, some lawmakers are apparently more focused on jump shots than cheap shots!
Our TMZ DC crew caught up with Rep. Shomari Figures and a few other congressmen, including Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick, in the aftermath of the Congressional Basketball Game Tuesday night ... where Democrats and Republicans hit the court together in a rare display of bipartisan teamwork.
Check out the clip ... Figures tells us the game came down to the wire and he gave props to fellow Representatives Suhas Subramanyam and Blake Moorefor balling out.
But when we asked what it’s like sharing the court with members of the opposing party amid all the political chaos in D.C. ... the Alabama Democrat pushed back on the idea that lawmakers are constantly at each other's throats.
D4vd and Nick Reiner are sharing a roof over their heads ... they're locked up in the same Los Angeles County jail.
The singer -- who is charged with murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas -- has been transferred to Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Downtown Los Angeles ... according to online records.
Our law enforcement sources tell us D4vd was transferred there because authorities want him under better supervision because he's a celebrity inmate at the center of a high-profile case.
Prosecutors say Jonathan Rinderknecht -- the man who allegedly started the horrific Pacific Palisades Fire -- shouldn't be allowed to introduce evidence and argue about the Los Angeles Fire Department's response to the wildfires to get himself out of trouble.
Here's the deal ... prosecutors say Rinderknecht's attorneys are trying to bring up alleged incidents of the department's supposed ineptitude to protect their client and reframe the case around the response to the January 2025 fire to distract from his alleged role in starting it.
One example Rinderknecht is arguing is that one member of the fire department apparently wasn't alarmed by seeing smoke. But prosecutors say brush fires commonly smolder after firefighters put them out ... something they say this particular firefighter knew, and explains the lack of concern.
Prosecutors list a series of examples they say are just like this ... insisting Rinderknecht's attorneys are grasping at straws and attempting to "transform his trial into a misguided and much lengthier trial about the LAFD."
MrBeastenabled a sexist culture at his company ... this according to a new lawsuit filed by an ex-staffer on Wednesday. A rep for MrBeast's company adamantly denied the claims.
According to court docs obtained by Bloomberg, Lorrayne Mavromatis -- who says she was hired by Beast Industries in 2022 -- is suing the content creator’s company for wrongful termination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and more … saying she was let go shortly after returning from maternity leave.
Mavromatis claims the company expected her to work through her parental leave … and even felt pressured to join a call from the delivery room.
The company strongly denied she was pressured to work while on maternity leave.
TMZ has obtained an alleged Slack message sent to her by a coworker on March 31, 2015, stating, "Amazing! I've moved our meeting 30min as it coincided with our team meeting. But let's connect to discuss the idea you had as well." Lorrayne responded, "Hey Frank, I'll need to cancel and postpone. I'm actually in labor at the hospital as we speak." Her coworker replied, "You shouldn't even be checking Slack now LOL. Sending a big hug and lots of success! Enjoy the most amazing experience of our life."
In another message, dated May 15, 2025, Lorrayne wrote, "Despite being on maternity leave, I feel like it would be extremely valuable to go with you to make sure everything works out smoothly and to have a Brazilian citizen on the ground with yall for any last-minute things that may arise -- specifically with his team. How would the logistics work through? Would there be a seat available on the jet for me?"
In her suit, the former staffer also alleges in the complaint that she told her manager she was pregnant and needed to go on leave … but claims the company had no parental leave policy and her supervisor never told her about her FLMA rights.
Celeste Rivas' cause of death has just been revealed ... and the medical examiner in Los Angeles says she was killed by multiple penetrating injuries with unspecified objects, and her death was ruled a homicide.
The M.E. says there are "2 penetrating wounds of the torso with smooth edges that may represent sharp force injuries. The wound -- [3/4 inch length and 1.5 inches deep] -- on the upper abdomen penetrates the liver, and the wound on the left chest -- [9/16 inch length and 2 inches deep] penetrates one of the left intercostal spaces, with disruption of the adjacent ribs' cortical surfaces."
It's interesting that the M.E. uses the word "may," which is something the defense will jump on.
It should also be noted that the M.E. says there were "multiple superficial linear abrasions on the right dorsal hand." It does not say whether or not these could be defensive wounds.
The M.E. also says that her left ring and pinky fingers were amputated, but the body diagram shows that her right pointer finger with the "Shhh" tattoo was intact.
Rep. Troy Downing's trying to figure out if Grindr's inaugural event before the White House Correspondents' Dinner is all about meaty sausages. Yes, we mean that literally.
Our TMZ DC crew caught up with the Congressman from Montana who is clearly not up to date on dating apps, because we asked him for his thoughts on this weekend's party organized by the popular gay dating platform ... and, he had no clue what we were talking about.
4/23/26
