Reality TV

Carole Baskin doesn't like the fact Joe Exotic could potentially get out of prison early, but she says there's something he could do that WOULD warrant an early release -- snitch!!!

We got Carole this week on Capitol Hill and asked about Joe having his 22-year sentence in his murder-for-hire conviction vacated because of trial error.

As we reported ... Exotic's original sentence is being tossed, and the case is getting sent back to a lower court, where he'll likely receive a shorter sentence in the range of 17-21 years. His original sentence was 22 years behind bars.

The 'Tiger King' star says Joe belongs in prison, but if he really wants to get out early, Carole thinks he should rat out anyone who allegedly conspired with him to put a hit out on her.

As we first told you ... Joe's super optimistic about going home earlier than expected, and he's confident his lawyers will prove his innocence once and for all.

Carole seems to think Joe could get a very light sentence if he snitches, but doubts he will pull a Tekashi69.

Lamar Odom has been ordered to pay his ex nearly $400,000 ... after a judge ruled the former NBA star hadn’t pay a cent of support in over a year.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, a New York judge ruled Odom had stopped making payments to his ex, Liza Morales, in June of last year, despite a 2015 settlement agreement requiring the NBA legend to pay thousands of dollars per month for the benefit of the former couple’s two kids.

In all, the court hit Odom with a $380,549 tab, including $91,220 in outstanding child support, $88,117 in missed rent, $161,305 for their children's college funds and expenses, and nearly $40k for her legal fees and expenses.

Morales had sued Odom back in May, claiming the former basketball player had missed all the payments he agreed to make since June 2020.

In the court's ruling, the judge noted Odom did not show up for a key hearing in the case in June "despite due notice."

'Bachelorette' star Ali Fedotowsky just got very personal with her followers, revealing why she's been hiding her face recently on social media, sharing she's been diagnosed with shingles.

Ali admits she's been using sunglasses and even her own hair to cover up patches of the painful rash in photos lately, saying, "I don’t really know why I wanted to hide it. I think it’s mostly because I didn’t want the added stress or pressure of the Internet while I was trying to rest and heal."

The reality star acknowledges that while she's young compared to other people who are diagnosed with shingles (50's/60's) -- she believes it was brought on by stress in her life -- and wants to help other young people detect it early for better treatment options.

Ali posted a series of videos, showing the early spots she got on her forehead and describes those first symptoms as itchy and tingly. The spots eventually worsened, swelling and impairing her vision.

Ali first appeared on season 14 of "The Bachelor" in 2010 was later named the lead of season 6 of "The Bachelorette." She accepted a proposal from Roberto Martinez, but the two called it off a year later. She went on to marry Kevin Manno in 2017, they have 2 kids.

Lindsie Chrisley is waving the white flag on her marriage with Will Campbell ... she filed for divorce and is demanding child support.

Todd Chrisley's daughter filed divorce docs Monday in Georgia, claiming her 9-year marriage to Will is "irretrievably broken." According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Lindsie is demanding temporary and permanent child support for their 9-year-old son, Jackson.

In the docs, Lindsie says she and her estranged husband "are currently separated are living in bona fide state of separation" ... and she says she wants a shared parenting plan for their kid.

Lindsie and Will got hitched back on January 3, 2012 after a few years of dating.

She announced the split Tuesday on social media, saying the decision to end their marriage was "mutual" and adding ... "While one door closes, another opens."

Chris Harrison doesn't seem to be holding a grudge after he was cut loose from "The Bachelor" -- if anything ... the dude's let it all go, and looks happier than ever.

We got the franchise's longtime host out Tuesday night leaving The Gallery restaurant in Westlake Village, with his GF, Lauren Zima, in tow. They were hand-in-hand ... and some congratulations were in order, 'cause CH had just turned 50 the previous day.

He tells us they were, indeed, out keeping the festivities going ... and when we asked how he was doing following his abrupt exit from 'Bachelor' nation, he seemed to have processed it and let it go.

Watch this clip ... Chris seems at peace with the way things turned out, and one reason lies in the fact that he can have one of his crucial weekdays back to himself for once in nearly 20 years. That's a good thing for him in 2021, 'cause the big 5-0 landed on said day.

After some pleasantries, our photog got right into the heavy ... namely, by asking if Chris felt any type of way now that Matt James ended up staying with Rachael Kirkconnell in the end anyway -- this after she was accused of racism and he lost his job for defending her.

It's the million-dollar question that everyone has for Chris ... but check out how he answered it with us. No harm, no foul, it would appear -- he wishes the couple all the best and says it's all water under a bridge.

Todd Chrisley's daughter had the cops called on her after allegedly throwing a drink at one of her brother's friends -- but she says the guy was getting in her and her friends' faces.

Lindsie Chrisley -- who's appeared on her parents' show, 'Chrisley Knows Best' -- is under the microscope of the Atlanta PD after a pal of her younger brother, Chase, filed a report this weekend following an altercation that went down Saturday night in the ATL.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, a guy named Austin Duriez claims he was at a bar in town where Lindsie also happened to be. He says, for some unexplained reason, she threw a glass with a drink at him -- which he says hit him in the head. He says he flagged down a bouncer and had her removed.

He says after she was bounced, Lindsie made a scene -- so he decided to leave. Austin called the cops the next day ... he wasn't sure if he wanted to press charges since Lindsie is his friend's sister. There's body cam footage of his interaction with cops -- and this all seems to harken back to the 2019 drama.

You'll recall ... the Chrisleys faced tax evasion charges at both the state and federal level -- mucked up further by allegations of an affair Todd claimed Lindsie had started with a tax official, which is what he believed led to the authorities getting the dirt they needed.

It was a whole ordeal, and essentially left Lindsie estranged from a good chunk of the family, including Chase.

As for what she has to say about all this ... her attorney, Musa Ghanayem, tells TMZ, yes, Lindsie may have gestured toward Austin as if to throw the drink ... and that if any liquid made contact, it was a tiny bit. The real perpetrator though, according to the lawyer, is Austin.

Ghanayem says Austin accosted Lindsie and her group at their table ... and then started to harass and intimidate them, to the point one of her friends had to push him off her. He also claims Austin was trying to snap pictures of them, and made them feel uncomfortable.

The revamped "Real Housewives of Miami" got its first dose of real-world drama this week when 911 was called due to a medical emergency on set ... and TMZ's learned it was for a brand new cast member.

Sources close to production tell us ... Julia Lemigova began feeling ill late Thursday morning after filming on the roof of an incredible home in Montauk, NY ... where they were staying during a cast trip.

We're told it's likely Julia got too much sun and was overheated, so someone inside the home called 911 because production felt it was best she get checked out by professionals.

According to the East Hampton PD report ... an EMT was called to the scene around 11:30 AM for a person who was feeling weak and nauseated. They were administered an IV, but did not require a trip to the hospital.

Our sources say cameras were rolling for the incident, as the ladies were all brunching to celebrate Larsa Pippen's jewelry line.

Julia -- a Russian former model who's married to tennis legend Martina Navratilova -- was not part of the original 'RHOM' cast when it aired on Bravo, but will be featured on the Peacock reboot later this year.

We're told after she recovered from her health episode, she carried on with the rest of the 'housewives' and kept filming the rest of the day and night.

The bizarre tale of 2 former "Big Brother" winners who once worked together in the "chill town" alliance before one was found guilty of stalking the other has seemingly come to an end ... with the convicted stalker being ordered to pay significant restitution.

Mike "Boogie" Malin -- who won Season 7 of the reality series -- has been ordered to pay Season 2 winner, Dr. Will Kirby $23,219 plus 10 percent interest. He must also pay Kirby's attorney to the tune of $20,745.

ICYMI ... Malin was found guilty of felony stalking his former 'BB' buddy last month, after pleading no contest. Boogie was sentenced to 2 years probation.

Kirby got a restraining order against Malin in 2019 after the 2 were tapped to go on another reality show as a duo. When Kirby declined, it meant Malin could not participate, and that's allegedly when he began sending threats to Kirby and his family.

Jen Shah's fraud case just went from bad to worse, because the feds have lumped her into a group of suspects with "greater culpability" in the telemarketing scheme that allegedly targeted elderly people ... and accuse her of being one of the leaders of it.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star is one of 6 people in the U.S. Attorney's "Tier A" category for the alleged crimes.

The prosecutor claims these people -- 2 of which have already been sentenced to 78 months and 60 months in prison in the case -- were more "senior participants" in the scheme and continued to participate in it even when they knew criminal charges could be coming.

The U.S Attorney says the Tier A suspects were "responsible for orchestrating the broader scheme" and that Shah specifically "obtained leads directly from lead sources and provided them to, among others, coaching sales floors operated in Utah and Nevada."

Shah and her assistant, Stuart Smith, are also accused of owning and operating a sales floor in Manhattan that was a major part of the alleged telemarketing scheme ... and Smith is in Tier A as well.

As we reported ... Shah was arrested in late March for allegedly targeting and scamming people -- "vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people" -- out of their money.

She pled not guilty and was released on strict conditions.

We reached out to Jen's attorney ... no word back.

No, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner did NOT apply for unemployment benefits ... but some goon in Michigan managed to defraud the state out of thousands of dollars using the famous names.

So, check this out ... someone filed a couple of unemployment claims back in May 2020 under "Kimberly Kardashian" and "Kylie Jenner" with an address in Traverse City ... four hours northwest of Detroit.

Thing is ... nobody checked if the claims were legit before paying "Kimberly" and "Kylie" some 8 weeks of backdated unemployment pay ... to the tune of more than $7,000 each.

The payouts, BTW, hit the bank accounts just days before the state's fraud management software flagged the claims because the agency needed additional ID verification. But by then it was too little, too late.

Apparently, the unemployment agency's been rife with fraud. As the Detroit News first reported ... the agency approved thousands of claims at the height of the pandemic well knowing nearly 10% would be fraudulent claims.

So, why approve all the claims? Because if the agency had to sort through it all and ID fraudulent claims it would have held up thousands of legit claims.

And that's how this "Kardashian" and "Jenner" got paid ... not to mention some other goofball's fraudulent claim ... which included copies of a fake ID with a photo of "The Office" star John Krasinski.

"American Pickers" will remain a one-man show for the foreseeable future ... 'cause TMZ's learned it has no plans to bring back Mike Wolfe's ex-cohost Frank Fritz, and it has nothing to do with their fallout.

Sources close to the production tell TMZ ... Frank stepped away from the show a while back to deal with health problems that required back surgery. This, on top of already dealing with Crohn's disease. Frank hasn't appeared on the show since a March 2020 episode.

When Frank stepped away, we're told the show had to go on. They continued filming with just Mike at the helm.

Frank had been a staple on the show since 2010, but recently said he hasn't spoken to Mike in 2 years ... and his old cohost didn't reach out after the surgery. Frank's since lost nearly 70 pounds through exercising in an effort to have a better handle on his Crohn's battle.

It's no secret the ex-'Pickers' duo hasn't gotten along for years, but our sources say Frank's only off the show because he left to tend to his health. Although, he recently said he'd like to be back, we're told producers feel the show's doing fine with solo Mike.

Frank's speculated Mike's angling to get his own brother, Robbie, as a cohost -- he has been on the show lately -- but we're told that's not happening either.

The only replacement Mike's made in his life so far is with his new girlfriend ... after his wife filed for divorce.

Sheree Whitfield's in talks to rejoin the cast of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" after a few seasons away, but only if she's guaranteed lotsa screen time ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to production tell us she's been communicating with 'RHOA' producers over the past several weeks about coming back, but reports that she's 100 percent confirmed to return are inaccurate.

We're told it's looking good, but she only wants to be part of Season 14 if she's cast as a regular housewife again ... and won't sign on the dotted line unless producers are on board with that.

You might recall, Sheree was a full-time housewife during seasons 1 through 4, but returned in season 8 as a "friend of the show." She regained full-time status for seasons 9 and 10 before leaving once again.

As we first told you ... Sheree got back together with her old BF, Tyrone Gilliams, earlier this year after he was released from prison. Our sources say her relationship with him will be a major storyline if Sheree returns, and that she wouldn't have even considered coming back if he was cut out of the picture.

Tyrone was sentenced to 10 years in 2013 for wire fraud, but got sprung early due to COVID. He's still on home confinement in Philadelphia, so he'd only be featured when Sheree's visiting.

"Songland" winner Greg Scott is baffled and justifiably upset the Jonas Brothers' new track is replacing his song as NBC's Olympics anthem ... but even worse, he says he's heard nothing but crickets from the Peacock.

We got the season 2 "Songland" winner Friday outside Mastro's in Bev Hills, and wanted to get some clarification on why his song "Miracle" -- the track that won NBC's songwriting competition show -- got shelved in favor of the Jo Bros.' "Remember This."

In short, Greg's confused about the ordeal and adds nobody at NBC has reached out to clear it up. In fact, he says he found out about the 'ol switcheroo on Twitter. Oof.

ICYMI ... "Miracle" was selected by Bebe Rexha as the winner of the series back in April 2020. Bebe said she would cover the track and it would then be used to promote the summer Olympics on the network. It should be noted, the episode was taped before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2020 Games to be postponed.

Clearly, Greg was under the impression the song would still be used to promote the Games in 2021, and NBC suggested as much when "Miracle" was used in a commercial confirming the games were pushed to 2021.

Fast forward to now ... Greg says he's bummed because the promotion could have been a life-changing achievement.

We asked if he thinks it's a coincidence the J Bros. track emerged as the chosen anthem last month ... and one month after NBC announced a new competition series featuring the brothers.

Greg has strong feelings about that, and while he isn't shading the Jonases -- he does wish the network stuck to what he'd been told.

Ramona Singer's apprehensive about the 'Real Housewives of NYC' reunion taping, because she believes Eboni K. Williams is going to try to make her look racist ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to production tell us ... Ramona recently went to 'RHONY' producers to express her concerns about potential racial talks during the reunion -- specifically, that Eboni might attack her and frame her as a bigot.

We're told Ramona attempted to negotiate terms in order to avoid topics such as race during the Bravo special, but producers shot that down and said they'd never agree to that.

Our sources say Ramona accepts that, and has no plans to dodge the reunion -- she just wanted producers to know how she feels.

Of course, there's been a lot of drama surrounding the reunion already ... as it was scheduled to film in early August, but got bumped to September. Fans are speculating it's either due to low ratings or strife among the cast, but we're told it's simply due to "scheduling conflicts."

We broke the story ... Eboni fired back at those blaming the ratings slide on her race convos, saying it's on producers to decide what makes the final cut.

Eboni also appeared to throw shade toward her fellow housewives Thursday, when she posted a photo of her and Crystal Kung Minkoff -- the first Asian-American housewife on 'RHOBH' -- and wrote, "These deranged bigots are just mad AF that their days of dominance are coming to an end."

She included the hashtag #TimesUpOnWhiteSupremacy too, but didn't call out anyone by name.

Musical heavy-hitters Alanis Morissette and will.i.am are teaming with Grimes and FOX to reinvent the singing competition show ... as they all serve as judges on "Alter Ego."

Elon Musk's GF is making a rare TV appearance for the new series, which will have aspiring singers trying to wow the judges -- like most singing shows, but this one's got a twist. They won't perform as themselves ... but as their dream avatars.

The idea is "Alter Ego" will give singers a chance to show how they've always wanted audiences to see them ... with the help of motion capture technology.

98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey will also be on the judges' pane, and Rocsi Diaz is set to host.

If the premise sounds a little out there, well ... that's what folks thought about "The Masked Singer" too. For that matter, the same has been said about Grimes and Elon ... but they don't seem to mind.

Caitlyn Jenner is between a rock and a hard place, but she's trying to make the most of it -- appearing on Australia's 'Big Brother' while still trying to become Governor of California.

Sources close to Caitlyn tell TMZ ... her trip Down Under to participate in "Big Brother VIP" will in no way stop her current campaign. Critics are ripping her decision to shoot the series, claiming it shows she's not focused.

We're told she made the commitment to do 'BB' before deciding to run for governor ... so she's simply honoring her contract.

Meanwhile, some Aussie's are also not happy with Caitlyn flying to Sydney to take part in the reality show ... while the country's current COVID flight restrictions limit locals from traveling.

Many have expressed their outrage, feeling Caitlyn got special treatment to fly to the country while Aussies desperate to fly to visit loved ones aren't able to do so.

Jenner has reportedly begun her mandatory 14-day quarantine before filming begins for "Big Brother VIP." We've reached out to see how long she anticipates filming, and when she plans to return to the U.S. ... no word back yet.