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An art-world influencer known for roasting the rich and powerful was found dead in Brazil after going under the knife ... and police have opened a suspicious death investigation.

Hilde Lynn Helphenstein -- better known online as "Jerry Gogosian" -- was found dead Sunday inside her hotel room at the 5-star Rosewood São Paulo, where she'd been recovering from plastic surgery.

The cause of death is unclear ... and it sounds like cops think something stinks here.

According to reports, the influencer's plastic surgeon discovered her dead body after becoming concerned when she stopped answering her phone. Investigators reportedly discovered an empty vodka bottle, a broken glass, and unidentified pills in the room.

Tom Steyer spent the final hours before Election Day making one thing clear ... he's not backing down ... and he used karaoke and drag queens to make his point.

TMZ obtained video of the California gubernatorial candidate taking the stage Monday night at GYM Bar WeHo, where he grabbed a microphone and belted out Tom Petty's classic anthem, "I Won't Back Down," alongside drag performers.

Roll the tape ... Tom appears right at home under the lights ... smiling, singing, and working the crowd. He sticks close to the song's defiant message, tailor-made for a candidate heading into a crucial primary.

Freedom 250 performers keep dropping like flies ... and now Milli Vanilli's Fab Morvan is backing out.

Fab says he was all about performing for his country at first, but as he explained to CNN, things changed, and the event is no longer what he signed up for.

Fab says he started to get cold feet when he saw Young MC pull out ... he was worried the "Bust A Move" artist knew something he didn't.

A South Carolina convenience store owner has been cleared in the shooting death of a Black 14-year-old boy back in 2023, after a jury found him not guilty of murder.

ICYMI, Asian business owner Chikei Rick Chow shot and killed Cyrus Carmack-Belton in June 2023 after he allegedly stole from his store. Prosecutors alleged Chow chased the teen 130 yards from his store and sent a bullet through his back in an act of rage after he wrongly assumed he had taken four bottles of water, according to reports.

Chow's defense lawyer said he fired at the teen because he allegedly pointed a gun at his son. Carmack-Belton was confirmed to have a semiautomatic pistol at the time of the incident, but it fell to the ground during the chase, according to prosecutors. He allegedly never threatened anyone with it.

Mackenzie Shirilla is mocking her hometown as she rots in prison ... ripping the good folks of Strongsville, Ohio.

TMZ obtained audio from a prison call between Mackenzie and her mother, Natalie, mocking the community she once called home.

Give it a listen ... Mackenzie is heard complaining about residents of the Cleveland suburb ... describing Strongsville residents as "sad and depressing."

Mackenzie and her mother even suggest folks back home are spreading false information about Mackenzie online ever since she was arrested and convicted of murdering her boyfriend Dominic Russo and his friend Davion Flanagan.

Mackenzie Shirilla's dad was in full damage-control mode after her arrest ... repeatedly warning police not to question his daughter.

Body cam footage, obtained by TMZ, shows Steve Shirilla arriving at the Strongsville Police Department shortly after Mackenzie was arrested in November 2022 in connection with the crash that killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and friend Davion Flanagan. Check out the video ... Steve yells about cops supposedly not being allowed to question his daughter as he demands to see her immediately.

At one point, an officer reminds him Mackenzie is legally an adult and can speak for herself. Steve's response? "Yeah, but she's a dumb 18-year-old."

Mackenzie Shirilla says she's bored to tears behind bars ... but she might want to get used to it, considering she's serving 2 concurrent life sentences.

TMZ obtained audio from a prison phone call between Mackenzie and her mom, Natalie, where the convicted killer complains about how slowly time is passing in lockup.

You can hear Mackenzie's annoyance ... she doesn't have access to her commissary and complains about having one book she doesn't want to keep reading over and over.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass isn't pulling any punches on the eve of Election Day ... taking direct aim at challenger Spencer Pratt and questioning whether the reality star has ever held a job outside of being on TV.

We got the mayor Monday at Pann's Restaurant, where she framed the mayoral race as a choice between governing experience and reality TV fame.

Bass rattles off what she considers key accomplishments from her time in office before brushing off Pratt as a "reality TV star villain" who doesn't understand how city government operates.

The mayor also seemed to draw a comparison between Pratt and President Trump ... arguing celebrity status alone isn't a qualification for public office.

George Floyd's family members are trying to wrap their heads around what they view as an "insane" move by Minnesota Republicans to honor Derek Chauvin ... and they suspect the Kevin Hart roast played a role here.

Travis Cains, spokesman for The Gianna and George Floyd Foundation, tells TMZ … the family sees the Minnesota GOP's moment of silence for Floyd's convicted killer as a shocking display that piggybacks off those who shrugged off Tony Hinchcliffe's firestorm-creating quip at Kevin's roast.

We're told the Floyd family feels like Tony's joke "opened up doors for more racism" ... and they're seeing that play out in Minnesota.

Travis says ... "To put a guy on the pedestal and hold a moment of silence for him is insane. The whole world knows that the public lynching of George Floyd was tragic." He adds the foundation and family work to spread a peaceful, positive message.

President Donald Trump is abandoning plans to hand out nearly $2 billion to his allies -- including J6 rioters -- on the heels of judges blocking the so-called anti-weaponization fund.

TMZ has confirmed the Dept. of Justice is opting to abide by the federal judges' ruling that it could not "under any circumstances" proceed with handing out money to people who believe they'd been targeted by the DOJ.

One source told Axios, which first reported the news, "It's dead for now."

The Minnesota GOP is catching serious heat after delegates at the party's state convention held a moment of silence for Derek Chauvin -- the former Minneapolis cop convicted of murdering George Floyd.

According to multiple reports, convention proceedings kicked off Saturday morning with a 10-second moment of silence for Chauvin ... just days after the sixth anniversary of Floyd's death.

Chauvin, of course, was convicted in 2021 of murdering Floyd. Video showed Chauvin, a Minneapolis cop at the time, kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes during a 2020 arrest. The footage sparked massive protests across the country, fueling calls for police reform and renewed scrutiny of racial justice issues in law enforcement.

A North Carolina police officer is out of a job after shocking doorbell camera video captured a violent arrest that sparked outrage in his community.

The footage -- recorded outside a home in Shelby, NC -- shows an officer struggling with a woman before taking her to the ground and repeatedly striking her during a confrontation. The video has since spread across social media ... fueling protests and calls for accountability.

The woman in the video can be heard questioning why she's being detained and insisting there's no warrant. Moments later, the situation turns physical ... with the officer appearing to throw multiple punches.

Hasan Piker and his uncle, Cenk Uygur, have been blocked from entering the United Kingdom ... and they say it's because they criticized Israel.

The left-wing commentators and progressive activists had their visas revoked just days before multiple speaking engagements across the pond.

Cenk says he found out as he was trying to hop on his flight. He posted on X ... "I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel. Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!"

Karmelo Anthony, the Texas teen charged with stabbing a high school football player to death at a track meet, has a big day in court ... his murder trial starts today, and the first order of business is jury selection.

Anthony's raised a whopping $600,000 for his legal defense fund ... he's claiming he acted in self-defense when he allegedly stabbed Austin Metcalf to death at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas. They were both 17 years old during the April 2025 altercation.

Anthony told police Metcalf got physical with him after he warned Metcalf not to touch him. Anthony allegedly pulled a knife from his bag and plunged it into Metcalf's chest. He was placed under arrest and later indicted by a grand jury for murder after Metcalf died from his injuries.

The official Instagram account for the Obama White House started posted some strange content Sunday ... with someone claiming the White House is under Shiite control ... and it turns out it was the work of a hacker.

Barack Obama has his own personal page, but the hack happened with the @obamawhitehouse IG account ... the official account for The Obama White House.

There were some posts that went up that raised eyebrows ... including an A.I.-generated image with a caption that translated to, "The White House is under Shiites' control."

David Rush, the longtime CIA officer who was arrested for allegedly hoarding $40 Million in gold bars at his home, has been linked to President Donald Trump's No. 2 man at the Pentagon.

Rush used to work with billionaire Stephen A. Feinberg ... according to NBC News and The New York Times ... and that's notable because Feinberg is now Trump's Deputy Secretary of Defense.

A CIA officer for 17 years, Rush held a senior position inside the agency's Directorate of Science and Technology ... and he appears to have first come into contact with Feinberg during Trump's first term, when they were both reportedly on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.