TMZ Live

Steve Shirilla is pushing back on the firestorm surrounding Netflix's documentary about his daughter ... insisting his comments about marijuana were twisted and people have misunderstood what he was trying to say.

Check it out ... Steve joined us on “TMZ Live” after being placed on paid leave from his Ohio Catholic school teaching job following backlash over "The Crash" ... centered around his daughter, Mackenzie Shirilla, who was convicted of murder in the 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend Davion Flanagan.

A major point of controversy has been Steve's remarks in the doc about Mackenzie smoking marijuana as a teenager ... but he says that interpretation is off base ... telling us the filmmakers condensed days of interviews into a few short sound bites and left out important context.

We want you to be a part of TMZ, so every weekday, between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM PT, we take you inside our newsroom via live stream.

You never know what you're gonna get ... a big story that breaks, an argument erupts in the room, or someone's just joking around.

Your comments are a big part of the stream, and the staff spends a lot of time speaking directly to you. Every day is different!

We want you to be a part of TMZ, so every weekday, between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM PT, we take you inside our newsroom via live stream.

You never know what you're gonna get ... a big story that breaks, an argument erupts in the room, or someone's just joking around.

Your comments are a big part of the stream, and the staff spends a lot of time speaking directly to you. Every day is different!

We want you to be a part of TMZ, so every weekday, between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM PT, we take you inside our newsroom via live stream.

You never know what you're gonna get ... a big story that breaks, an argument erupts in the room, or someone's just joking around.

Your comments are a big part of the stream, and the staff spends a lot of time speaking directly to you. Every day is different!

We want you to be a part of TMZ, so every weekday, between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM PT, we take you inside our newsroom via live stream.

You never know what you're gonna get ... a big story that breaks, an argument erupts in the room, or someone's just joking around.

Your comments are a big part of the stream, and the staff spends a lot of time speaking directly to you. Every day is different!

We want you to be a part of TMZ, so every weekday, between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM PT, we take you inside our newsroom via live stream.

You never know what you're gonna get ... a big story that breaks, an argument erupts in the room, or someone's just joking around.

Your comments are a big part of the stream, and the staff spends a lot of time speaking directly to you. Every day is different!

Comedy veteran Sheryl Underwood says the surprise "r-word" joke from Dwayne Johnson during Netflix’s "The Roast of Kevin Hart" worked because roast comedy plays by a different set of rules ... and she says audiences understood the context.

Underwood stopped by "TMZ Live" on Monday and told us she thought The Rock’s appearance ultimately brought the room together ... especially after years of discourse surrounding his identity and public image.

Watch the video ... she tells us true roast comedy is not for the mainstream -- acknowledging that some viewers may bristle at moments, but roasts have always been built around pushing boundaries.

We want you to be a part of TMZ, so every weekday, between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM PT, we take you inside our newsroom via live stream.

You never know what you're gonna get ... a big story that breaks, an argument erupts in the room, or someone's just joking around.

Your comments are a big part of the stream, and the staff spends a lot of time speaking directly to you. Every day is different!

Jeremy Corbell is encouraged and optimistic about the first batch of alien and UFO files being released by the government ... he says the transparency here is a long time coming.

The UFO expert and filmmaker joined us Friday on "TMZ Live," and we asked him about the Pentagon releasing photos, videos and files on aliens and unidentified aerial phenomena.

Jeremy tells us the White House has told him more files will be released as part of a "slow burn" ... and he hopes that means they are easing people into the information. On the other hand, he says a slow rollout could mean President Trump didn't get the good stuff.

The hantavirus scare is giving some people COVID flashbacks ... but this virus apparently doesn't have the same bite.

Dr. Ashish Jha -- the former White House COVID response coordinator -- stopped by "TMZ Live" to tell everyone to exhale a little over the deadly outbreak aboard the MV Hondius ... because while he's worried about people exposed on that ship, he tells us this thing is NOT shaping up to be another COVID-style nightmare.

Check it out ... he assures us, "This is not gonna be a pandemic. That's not how this virus is going to behave."

We want you to be a part of TMZ, so every weekday, between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM PT, we take you inside our newsroom via live stream.

You never know what you're gonna get ... a big story that breaks, an argument erupts in the room, or someone's just joking around.

Your comments are a big part of the stream, and the staff spends a lot of time speaking directly to you. Every day is different!

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.

We want you to be a part of TMZ, so every weekday, between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM PT, we take you inside our newsroom via live stream.

You never know what you're gonna get ... a big story that breaks, an argument erupts in the room, or someone's just joking around.

Your comments are a big part of the stream, and the staff spends a lot of time speaking directly to you. Every day is different!

We want you to be a part of TMZ, so every weekday, between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM PT, we take you inside our newsroom via live stream.

You never know what you're gonna get ... a big story that breaks, an argument erupts in the room, or someone's just joking around.

Your comments are a big part of the stream, and the staff spends a lot of time speaking directly to you. Every day is different!

The man who pulled a car with his penis is explaining why he went with the fiery hat on a hat for his recent stunt ... revealing he's not the first person to use his Johnson to jerk a car.

John Stephenson stopped by "TMZ Live" to talk about his recent dong-defying feat -- he pulled a car weighing two tonnes 131 feet using only his member ... and, he explained he wanted to do a truly original stunt to raise awareness about prostate cancer.

The Brit explains he -- like us -- figured pulling the car would be enough ... but, it turns out another dude's already whipped it out and yanked a whip down the street, so he needed another layer.

Stephenson immediately jumped to the idea of flames -- a pretty extreme measure -- to add his own flair to the situation ... and, the stunt will now live on forever in the One-Eyed Wonder Hall of Fame (patent pending).

Justin Baldoni's high-powered lead attorney, Bryan Freedman, says his client is the clear winner in his drawn-out legal war with Blake Lively.

Bryan joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday after Justin and Blake's camp announced Monday they had settled her legal claims against his production company.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but when we asked Bryan if this was a win for Justin, he told us why he felt it was a "huge victory" for his client.