Reality TV

"Mob Wives" star Drita D'Avanzo wants the judge in her husband's federal gun case to cut him a little slack come sentencing, and she fired off a handwritten letter to make her case.

Drita wrote to Judge Kovner, pleading with him to show leniency on Lee D'Avanzo because he's a caring family man who needs to come home to his wife and kids.

In the handwritten letter, obtained by TMZ, Drita says Lee is an amazing father to their children who "never missed a soccer game and was very involved in our kids school work and any activities they were involved in. He is a family man and is missed!"

Drita adds ... Lee "has a family that is fully supporting him and hoping he comes home soon!"

Lee pled guilty to gun possession charges in March after the NYPD raided the family home and allegedly found 2 loaded handguns. Drita was eventually cleared of all charges.

Acting Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Seth D. DuCharme prosecuted the case against Lee, and the sentencing hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

The felony charges against NFL receiver Kenny Stills and 'Real Housewives' star Porsha Williams stemming from a Breonna Taylor protest in Kentucky have been dropped ... prosecutors say.

But, they're not in the clear just yet.

Stills and Williams were just 2 of the 87 people arrested on Tuesday for demonstrating on the front lawn of the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

The group was chanting for justice for Taylor -- they want the police officer who killed her to be arrested and charged with crimes.

All 87 people were initially charged with felony intimidating a participant in a legal process -- and 2 lesser misdemeanors.

The felony charge is a big deal -- if convicted, people face a minimum of 1 year behind bars ... and up to 5 if the judge wants to make a point.

But, on Friday, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell says he is DROPPING the felony for all 87 people, effective immediately.

"After careful review of the law, I am dismissing the felony charge of Intimidating a Participant in the Legal Process against the protestors arrested on Attorney General Cameron's property on July 14, 2020."

"While we do believe the LMPD had probable cause for the charge, in the interest of justice and the promotion of the free exchange of ideas, we will dismiss that charge for each protestor arrested this past Tuesday."

The bad news for Stills, Williams and the 85 other people -- O'Connell says the misdemeanor charges are still in play ... at least for now.

"We continue to review the misdemeanors and violations for prosecution at a later date."

Carole Baskin ... what the fudge is this??

The 'Tiger King' star's been cashing in doing Cameo vids for a bit now, but her latest submission -- a birthday shout-out to a fan named Charlotte -- is ... well, priceless.

Carole -- joined by her husband Howard -- kicks off the video message with her tagline, "Hey all you cool cats and kittens," before saying they're "here with the crip mates" to wish Charlotte a happy bday.

And, then it gets REALLY interesting.

Watch for yourself ... pretty sure 50 Cent's "In Da Club" has never been done like this. And it probably shouldn't be ever again.

Porsha Williams was on the front lines Tuesday of a Breonna Taylor protest in Louisville ... and left handcuffed in the back of a police van.

The 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' star was arrested during a massive demonstration outside the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who has yet to file criminal charges against the Louisville cops involved in Breonna's death.

As you can see ... Porsha was hauled away from Cameron's home, with her wrists in zip ties, as protesters chanted Breonna's name. Louisville PD tells us Porsha was cited for criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and intimidating a participant in legal process.

Porsha was one of hundreds of people arrested at the protest, along with 'Love & Hip Hop' star Yandy Smith and reality TV star and activist Tamika Mallory.

As you know ... Kentucky's AG has been under fire for posting pictures of his engagement party instead of drilling down on the case. With no arrests or charges in the case ... protests have continued in and around Louisville.

It's been more than 4 months since 3 Louisville cops served a no-knock warrant -- at the wrong address, mind you -- shooting and killing Breonna in her own home.

Tyra Banks is moving from judging the catwalk to hosting in the ballroom ... the OG top model is taking over MC duties for "Dancing With the Stars."

Just a day after ABC dropped Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews leading into season 29, TMZ has learned the former supermodel is strutting her way into that role.

In addition to smizing in front of the camera, Tyra will also be an Executive Producer of the show. We've learned she was in talks with the network long before ABC cut ties with Tom and Erin.

On Monday, Tom announced the show would be continuing without him, and said his 15 years hosting were the "most unexpected gift of my career." ABC and BBC released their own statement about Tom and Erin's departures ... saying the show is embarking "on a new creative direction."

Sources close to Tom tell TMZ the news came as quite a shock to him, and he was only informed of his departure this week.

The pair had been co-hosting together since 2010, after Erin was a contestant on the show -- but now, as Daily Mail first reported, the "America's Next Top Model" creator will be stepping into that glittery, disco-balled arena.

Nick Cannon's under fire for comments he made about melanin, white people and why they became "savages" long, long ago -- and some are even calling him a "black supremacist."

"The Masked Singer" host has recently been accused of spewing anti-Semitism on his podcast, "Cannon's Class," but now it's this brief clip from his June 30 episode with Professor Griff -- formerly of Public Enemy -- that has people riled up.

Nick said that the power of melanin -- or lack thereof -- made white people "a little less" than darker-skinned people ... and claims this deficiency leads to fear.

He was speaking anthropologically -- meaning the very first white people in modern-day Europe -- but went on to say white people's fear made them lack compassion and ultimately ... become evil.

Nick then referred to these white people of the past as "savages," "barbaric" and added ... "They're the ones that are actually closer to animals, they're the ones that are actually the true savages."

Now, some people are calling him out for the remarks, including black British rapper Zuby, who tweeted, "Nick Cannon has gone full black supremacist. This is 100% certified racist."

Cannon's controversy comes on the heels of allegations of being an anti-Semite and spreading anti-Jewish theories on his podcast ... so rough week so far.

Kanye West has a snowball's chance in hell to win the presidency, because his first poll numbers suck ... but he could definitely play spoiler -- question is, for whom?

Redfield & Wilton Strategies -- a consulting firm that does polling and market research -- released results from a poll it did last week ... and when Ye's included as one of the candidates, he only clocked in at 2%. That's out of 2,000 people polled.

Granted, the other third-party candidates from the Libertarian and Green Parties aren't polling much higher than he was either -- both also hit the 2% and 1% each, respectively.

Now, here's the really interesting thing -- while you'd think the rapper and producer getting in the race might hurt Joe Biden (that's how Chance the Rapper and others see it) ... it didn't. In fact, it actually hurt Trump!

According to R&WS, the sitting Prez got dinged, going from 40% to 39% when Kanye is factored into the race. Biden stays firmly in the lead in either scenario, sitting pretty at 48%.

The prevailing thought is Kanye would splinter the Democratic vote -- especially young and black voters -- and possibly sabotage Biden in the process.

Still, let's all chill when it comes to polls ... especially this early in the campaign. Just ask Hillary Clinton about those 2016 numbers.

Some of Joe Exotic's most prized possessions, like his crown and penis pump, are now in Zak Bagans' hands ... and the 'Tiger King' memorabilia is heading to a haunted museum.

Zak was at the original 'Tiger King' zoo, now owned by Jeff Lowe, over the weekend to film an episode of his show, "Ghost Adventures," and he left with a treasure trove of Joe's old things -- a gift from Jeff.

Some of the items in Zak's hilarious -- and possibly haunted -- haul include Joe's infamous jeweled crown, pill bottles, flashy clothing, wedding trinkets, penis pump and Travis Maldonado's glass pipe.

Zak's also heading back to Sin City with the park's original 'Exotic Animal Park' signage, complete with some super cool tiger imagery, and a section of an art mural wall featuring a bullet hole from Travis' suicide.

The memorabilia is the centerpiece of an upcoming 'Tiger King' exhibit at Zak's Haunted Museum in Las Vegas ... and an October "Ghost Adventures" episode will feature ZB's eventful trip to Joe's stomping grounds, which included cadaver dogs searching for human remains.

In the meantime, click through the gallery to see what Joe left behind for Zak.

The woman Kanye West has pegged for his Vice President describes herself as a "Biblical life coach," but she also has a mental health background, and some of her past statements on the subject are ... interesting.

Michelle Tidball is the "obscure preacher from Wyoming" Kanye named as his running mate in his instantly infamous interview with Forbes, and though not too much is known about her ... here's her talking about mental illness.

TMZ obtained audio of Tidball, which has since been removed from her Yarash.org website, in which she states a key to handling mental illness ... is doing house chores.

In the clip, listed as from a Bible study session from June 2017, Tidball suggests ... "If you would get up every day and make your bed and do your dishes -- you would be better." She adds that in her 10 years working with the mentally ill ... none of them made their beds or did their dishes.

According to Tidball's bio -- which has also now been pulled from her site -- she has pursued God since she was 6 months old and was "slipping away into a crib death." She says she remembers God visiting her in the hospital and she made the decision at 17 to follow him for life.

She claims she has "various degrees in mental health and criminal justice." We've confirmed she earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wyoming in 2003.

Michelle says she worked as a mental health therapist for 10 years before transitioning to life coaching to help people get "unstuck" in their lives "using biblical principals and wisdom."

According to her site, she offers life-coaching sessions for the "suggested donation" of $65 for 50 minutes.

Michelle hails from the city of Cody, which is where Kanye has spent a great deal of time the past few years ... though he made no public mention of her until the Forbes interview.

Her background in mental health is obviously interesting ... as we told you, we're told Kanye's going through a serious bipolar episode right now.

Something's rotten at the original "Tiger King" zoo, now owned by Jeff Lowe -- 2 cadaver dogs have zeroed in on what their trainer believes are human remains ... TMZ has learned.

We're told the dogs were brought in as part of an episode of Zak Bagans' "Ghost Adventures." Our sources say the dogs picked up the scent Thursday ... in the alligator pit.

The local sheriff's deputies are on the scene right now, and we're told they're currently discussing a method to determine if remains are there ... and, if so, how to dig them up safely.

The zoo, in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, was originally Joe Exotic's baby ... before he partnered with Jeff, and then got convicted in federal court for murder-for-hire and various animal abuse charges. He's currently serving a 22 year sentence.

Sources connected with Joe tell TMZ ... Joe has said there are ashes of 4 people buried on the property as a memorial --  people who chose to make the zoo their final resting place. The sources did not identify whose ashes were there.

Kim Kardashian West is leading a renewed call for justice in the death of Stephon Clark, who was shot and killed by police officers in Sacramento, after being contacted by his sister.

Kim is calling on her 179 million Instagram followers to sign a petition pressuring Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert to bring charges against the officers who fatally shot Clark back in 2018 in his grandparent's backyard.

KKW sprung into action after getting a series of Instagram DMs from Clark's sister, Tiana Parker, a model for KKW Beauty who approached Kim with her brother's story and her family's failed quest for justice.

A father of two, Clark was killed when he was just 22 years old after cops fired 20 rounds at him while responding to a call about someone breaking car windows in the night. Police said they believed he was armed, but investigators later discovered he was only holding a cellphone.

Kim responded to Tiana's cry for help ... telling her she was in contact with folks on the ground in Sacramento and promising to bring attention to Clark's death at the hands of police.

David Ruprecht wants in on the new "Supermarket Sweep" fun, but with a different J-O-B -- the former host says he's is in the running to be the announcer.

David, who hosted 'Sweep' from 1990 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2003, tells TMZ ... he auditioned with honchos at ABC for an announcing position and says he's still on the short list for the role.

If ya hadn't heard, the new host is former 'SNL' star Leslie Jones -- but David says he'd love to carry on the classic game show's legacy by putting on a new hat for the reboot. He even gave us his announcing pitch.

It sounds like he's in game shape ... ready to share play-by-play of shoppers running around grocery stores throwing hams and turkeys into their carts.

While David hosted the show for almost 10 years, he doubts his wealth of experience will help Leslie. While she hasn't reached out to him for hosting tips, he knows she doesn't need it because she's already a pro.

"He's gonna be a target. He's got a target on his back. Wait and see."

That's "Shark Tank" star Barbara Corcoran warning Patrick Mahomes that with giant fortune comes giant scammers trying to take your money!

But, if you know anything about Barbara, you know she's a gangster when it comes to finance ... and she's dishing out some sage advice for the QB so he can STAY RICH for the rest of his life.

So, what should the KC Chiefs QB do with the $500 mil he's expected to make over the next 12 years?

"First of all, it's not $500 million," Barbara says ... "Remember, he has an Uncle named Sam. He's gonna have to pay him $250 million so he really only has $250 million. Bear that in mind."

Corcoran explains, "The first thing he should do is put it in the bank. Not do a thing! I know because when I sold my business, every creep came out of the woodwork with a $10,000 problem. Everybody is after your money and you can't trust anybody."

Barbara says it took her at least a year to realize how to turn people down effectively -- and the key is to hire a "bad guy" to tell people "no."

"The most important thing is before he buys that big house and a big jet ... he's gotta figure out how much money he needs to live on."

"He's a kid but he's gonna live a lot of years! So for every $25 million he puts away, he's going to get a $1 million income for the rest of his life"

"He should figure out, I need $1 million? I need 2 million? I need 5 million? And put that money aside. That's what he's gotta do."

Corcoran says Patrick should spend some time with her "Shark Tank" pal Alex Rodriguez -- who has become a major real estate investor.

That's saying something considering A-Rod reportedly made more than $441 million in MLB contract money!

There's more ... Corcoran also has a business strategy for Patrick -- and it's pretty damn smart! Watch the video and if you have the money, you might wanna take her advice!!

She also offered this final warning to the 24-year-old NFL superstar ...

"Let me tell you something, the more money you make, the more creeps you attract. The more people dressed in fancy suits, and not some fancy suit, friends or family -- all come out and are after your money."

Netflix's revival of "Unsolved Mysteries" might need to change its name to "Case Closed" -- because the team's getting inundated with new leads that may very well crack some of these cases.

The show's original creator, Terry Dunn Meurer, is once again heading up the rebooted series ... and she tells TMZ that skyrocketing popularity and renewed interest has yielded some actual tips she and her team believe could lead to more clues -- or, in some cases, arrests.

Terry says 'Unsolved' has received upwards of 1,500 tips over their 6 new episodes up on the streaming service -- and of those ... she tells us about 50 were flagged as possibly legit and forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

And, get this ... she says the one that is most likely to get buttoned up first is the case of Alonzo Brooks ... who disappeared from a Kansas party in the early 2000s.

If you're unfamiliar ... 22-year-old Alonzo and a group of friends went to a party in rural Kansas, where he ended up being the only black guy there among what's described as a bunch of rednecks and cowboy types ... with one of whom he almost fought.

His pals eventually dispersed -- and Alonzo never made it home. A month later, his body was found in a creek. He'd been murdered.

The killing was considered a hate crime, but investigators could never link it to anyone -- the case went unsolved for years. Terry, however, says that could change soon -- as her crew has forwarded names to the FBI ... which recently reopened his case.

Here's another thing -- one uber-popular installment in the new 'Unsolved' series chronicles the supposed suicide of Rey Rivera ... whom many fans speculate might have planned and carried out his own death after the '90s flick, "The Game," and its famous rooftop jump scene.

"Big Brother" is coming back this summer with an All-Star cast for Season 22 ... coronavirus pandemic be damned.

Every year, "Big Brother" shoots during the summer, but due to COVID-19, there was lots of speculation 'BB' would be another casualty of the virus ... but we've learned the reality show is still ON.

Production sources tell TMZ ... "Big Brother" was in the middle of casting for its next season when the coronavirus outbreak hit. We're told casting was completely shut down in May, leaving execs to change the format to an All-Star edition instead.

Our sources say an All-Star cast made the most sense, because those contestants are already familiar with the show and have already been vetted by network execs ... plus it would have been difficult to cast fresh faces for a new season in the middle of a pandemic, a process we're told would have dragged on for weeks.

The coronavirus isn't preventing another season, but it is delaying things a bit ... we're told contestants were supposed to head to Los Angeles at the beginning of July to begin testing and quarantines, but the timetable is being pushed back to the end of the month.

Our sources say, contestants, who are flying in from across the country, will be tested for the virus and then quarantined for 2 weeks before being cleared to enter the "Big Brother" house.