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Ashlee Jenae’s fiancé Joe McCann tried reaching out to her family after her death ... but the communication basically hit a wall immediately afterward.

Joe's lawyer, Edward Andrew Paltzik, tells TMZ ... Ashlee's mother Yolanda texted Joe asking what happened on April 9 shortly after Ashlee died in Tanzania ... and despite being completely crushed by her death, Joe responded promptly and appropriately.

But according to Joe's side, Yolanda never replied back -- and he says he hasn't heard from the family since.

A former inmate who was Jeffrey Epstein's suicide-watch companion in a New York jail says the convicted pedophile definitely killed himself ... telling TMZ the guy in the cell next to Epstein heard him ripping up bedsheets to hang himself.

Bill Mersey -- who was locked up with Epstein back in the day at the since-shuttered Metropolitan Correctional Center -- joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, and we asked him about the alleged Epstein suicide note, which was just released.

Bill spent hours talking to Epstein in lockup and says he watched Epstein lose all hope after being denied bail. He also says Epstein worried about what life in prison would look like and how he could stay safe from other inmates, particularly Black people.

Several Disney cruise ship staff members were reportedly arrested in April as part of a larger federal investigation into child sexual abuse material (CSAM) crimes.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents boarded 8 cruise ships in San Diego as part of an ongoing Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) enforcement operation between April 23 and April 27, a CBP spokesperson tells TMZ. One of the cruise ships belongs to Disney, the California Post reported.

After boarding the vessels and interviewing 26 suspected crew members from the Philippines, one from Portugal, and one from Indonesia, officers determined 27 of the 28 people were involved in either the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or viewing of CSEM, the CBP spokesperson tells TMZ.

Jeffrey Epstein's former cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione was NOT the one who penned the suicide note allegedly left by the late convicted pedophile in their jail cell ... according to NT's lawyer, despite a slew of online speculation.

Tartaglione's attorney, Bruce Barket, tells TMZ ... his client "didn't forge" the suicide note and "there's no debate" over it -- even though skeptics can be found all over social media and on TV talk shows like "The Ingraham Angle."

One critic on Reddit even pointed out the note appears to be written by someone else when comparing it to Epstein's confirmed handwritten letters.

A British ex-cop is speaking out after becoming the first identified passenger hauled off the hantavirus-riddled MV Hondius this week.

Martin Anstee was evacuated Wednesday -- and speaking from a hospital in Amsterdam, he said he's thankfully not feeling too bad right now ... though doctors are still running tests while he remains in isolation.

Martin told Sky News doctors should have a much clearer picture of his prognosis in the next few days -- so, for now, signs seem positive. Still, his wife Nicola admitted the whole ordeal onboard felt deeply traumatic.

Oz the Mentalist had a hunch White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt would name her child Viviana ... and he was very close to being right!!!

Karoline announced Thursday she'd given birth to a girl named Viviana ... but it looks like Oz predicted as much last month at the doomed White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Footage from just before the shooting shows Oz entertaining President Donald Trump, Melania and Karoline ... and he shows Karoline a piece of paper with what looks like "Viviane" scribbled on the page. He spoke to Jonathan Karl after the event and said he predicted "Viviane."

The deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is causing serious panic worldwide ... and now video has emerged showing the ship captain announcing the first death onboard.

Travel content creator Ruhi Çenet had been on the ship before debarking after the first death, on April 11 ... he later hopped on IG to share video of the captain addressing passengers in a communal area, revealing one guest had died the night before.

The captain also said the ship doctor believed the illness wasn’t infectious ... but just one day later, the dead passenger’s wife also died -- and Ruhi says things only got worse after he left, with the ship's only doctor fighting for his life. So far, there are three reported deaths.

Karoline Leavitt has added another member to her growing family ... and it's a baby girl!!!

The 28-year-old White House press secretary -- one of the most visible faces in President Donald Trump's administration -- just announced on Instagram that she welcomed her second child, Viviana, AKA “Vivi,” with husband Nicholas Riccio.

Leavitt was showered with pink gifts and well-wishes in March at a lavish baby sprinkle held at Trump's golf club in northern Virginia ... where nearly 50 White House staffers and Trump-world insiders celebrated the incoming arrival.

President Donald Trump's latest Truth Social post looks like political fan fiction on steroids ... turning the Biden White House into an A.I.-generated circus.

Take a look ... the caricature Trump posted Thursday morning shows a pajama-wearing Joe Biden passed out in the Oval Office while Barack Obama wheels in a box labeled “AUTOPEN” and Hillary Clinton lurks nearby, overseeing the chaos. Meanwhile, it appears Hunter Biden is sprawled across the Resolute Desk ... snorting what looks like cocaine next to a giant melting tub of ice cream.

Trump captioned the image, “A highly accurate depiction of the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration. Tremendous damage done but, WE’RE BACK!!! President DJT” ... once again pushing claims that Biden’s team relied on autopen signatures and allegedly hid his cognitive decline while others pulled the strings behind the scenes.

Rudy Giuliani's health is on the mend, as the former mayor of NYC and President Donald Trump's personal attorney is out of the ICU ... but will remain in the hospital.

Ted Goodman, a rep for Rudy, said via X ... the former Trump adviser will remain in the hospital for some time as he continues to recover, adding ... "He's winning this fight." Goodman asked for continued prayers.

It's still not clear exactly why the 81-year-old was in the hospital ... but for a moment, it sure sounded like the prognosis was bleak.

The unidentified man suing female JPMorgan Chase exec Lorne Hajdini for sexual harassment is pleading for his name not to be revealed … TMZ has learned.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, John Doe asked the court to keep his name a secret and not force him to name himself.

Doe said he has seen multiple medical professionals since leaving his job at the bank. He said he was diagnosed with PTSD due to suffering recurrent nightmares, intrusive flashbacks and the inability to eat or exercise.

Dr. Oz had a front row seat as federal agents from the DEA and LAPD officers busted a bunch of alleged drug dealers in an "open-air drug market" in Los Angeles.

Oz, President Trump's Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, cheered on as agents rounded up over 25 suspected drug dealers.

The massive bust went down Wednesday in L.A.'s MacArthur Park neighborhood.

The race for the next mayor of Los Angeles is heating up ... with the top three candidates, including reality TV star Spencer Pratt, taking the debate stage ... and Spencer didn't hold back.

Pratt just went hard on L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman and incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in a debate at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles ... ripping them and their performance.

Bass is nearing the end of her first term as mayor of the city, after being elected in November 2022 ... she beat out real estate developer Rick Caruso back then, following her time serving in Congress and the California State Assembly.

It looks like Jeffrey Epstein may have left a suicide note inside the New York jail where he died.

A federal judge released the alleged suicide note Wednesday ... it had been sealed as part of a criminal case involving Epstein's former cellmate.

The note says ... "They investigated me for months -- FOUND NOTHING!!!"

A man secretly recorded a woman performing an intimate solo sex act on camera and then sent the video to her daughter ... at least according to a new lawsuit.

A California woman named Crystal Merrill is suing a Nevada man named Frank Harris, claiming they were having cybersex over Facebook Messenger in 2022 when he secretly recorded her without her knowledge or consent.

Crystal claims Frank ultimately sent the intimate visuals to her daughter via text message and email in 2023 ... and she says he then contacted her and threatened to upload the footage to Instagram, Pornhub, Facebook and TikTok.

Ashlee Jenae's fiancé Joe McCann has experienced racism and received online threats after her tragic death ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Joe tell us ... ever since Ashlee died while on a trip to Tanzania in March, Joe and his family have received an overwhelming number of death threats and messages of hate.

We're told this situation is particularly hard on Joe ... because the insinuation that he had anything to do with her death hurts him deeply.