Today in TMZ History

Anderson Cooper has revealed ... he's gay and he's proud.

Cooper made the announcement in a letter to Andrew Sullivan, who was doing a story for TheDailyBeast.com about the social impact of famous people who come out as gay.

Sullivan reached out to Cooper for his thoughts, to which Anderson replied with a letter.

"There continue to be far too many incidences of bullying of young people, as well as discrimination and violence against people of all ages, based on their sexual orientation, and I believe there is value in making clear where I stand," Cooper wrote.

"The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."

"I have always been very open and honest about this part of my life with my friends, my family, and my colleagues. In a perfect world, I don't think it's anyone else's business, but I do think there is value in standing up and being counted. I’m not an activist, but I am a human being and I don't give that up by being a journalist."

11:05 AM PT -- Katie filed the papers -- and Tom was "blindsided." Katie wants sole legal custody and "primary residential custody" of Suri.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting DIVORCED ... after 5 years of marriage.

Katie's attorney, Jonathan Wolfe released a statement saying, "This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family."

TMZ has learned Katie filed the docs in NYC ... and wants SOLE custody of Suri.

We're told Tom and Katie have a prenup. The net worth of both Tom and Katie is around $275 mil, but clearly Tom raked in most of that.

For what it's worth, Katie did not attend any of the "Rock of Ages" premieres.

Tom and Katie have one child together, Suri, who is 6-years-old.

49-year-old Tom has 2 children from his previous marriage to Nicole Kidman. He was also married to actress Mimi Rogers from 1987 to 1990.

Cruise and 33-year-old Holmes were married in November 2006 in a lavish ceremony held at an Italian castle. The split was first reported by People.com.

Tom has been spotted in Iceland this week where he's been shooting a movie called "Oblivion."

Katie and Suri have been spotted in NYC all week. Katie was still wearing her wedding ring.

Update #1 -- Sources tell TMZ ... Scientology was a major factor in Katie's decision to pull the plug on the marriage.

Update #2 -- Tom and Katie were HOLDING HANDS in Iceland just 2 weeks before Katie filed for divorce ... more proof Tom was truly "blindsided" by Katie's decision to end the marriage.

Snoop Dogg was detained at an airport in Norway this morning after customs officers discovered ... wait for it ... SNOOP WAS PACKIN' WEED!!!

The Agder Police Department tells TMZ ... Snoop was stopped at customs at the Kjevic Airport in Kristiansand ... where officials discovered 8 grams of weed.

According to the cops, anything less than 15 grams is merely punishable by a fine -- and in Snoop's case, the violation ran him 12,000 Norwegian Krone ... which converts to roughly $1,980.13.

We're told Snoop was cooperative ... and quickly took care of the fine ... because he probably carries that kind of money in his back pocket.

FYI -- Snoop is in the country to perform at the Hove Festival at 10:30 PM local time ... which still gives him a few hours to find some replacement weed.

Terrell Owens has great hands ... just ask Terrell Owens ... who's now at the center of a XXX photo situation involving some VERY graphic images featuring himself ... with himself.

TMZ has learned ... someone is shopping several pictures to various media outlets ... but no, you won't be seeing them here.

The woman shopping the pics claims the two met on Twitter ... and after several conversations, the two went to Skype, where they engaged in a cyber-sexual relationship ... and apparently, the women snapped a few action shots for good measure.

It's unclear if the woman has received any offers on the photos ... but one thing is certain -- when T.O. famously said "I love me some me" ... he meant it.

4:35 PM PT -- A rep for Travolta has issued a statement ... saying, "The lawsuit filed by Robert Randolph is absurd. The suit is based on a privileged communication, and it will promptly be thrown out by the court."

The statement continues, "To evaluate the credibility of Robert Randolph and his ridiculous lawsuit one need look no further than his own statements published on his website stating that he sustained 'permanent brain damage' and had to 'retrain' his brain."

"Mr. Travolta will aggressively defend himself against this lawsuit and expects to be fully vindicated when this meritless case is dismissed."

Travolta's attorney, Marty Singer, also released a statement ... saying, "This is a ridiculous lawsuit. It is based on our letter which was completely privileged under the law. We intend to sue the attorneys for malicious prosecution after the court promptly dismisses this baseless lawsuit.”

John Travolta is being sued by an author who claims Travolta spread lies about his mental health in order to diminish his credibility ... while the author was trying to sell a book in which he claimed he personally witnessed Travolta engaged in gay sex at various bathhouses.

The man behind the lawsuit is Robert Randolph -- who wrote a book entitled, "You'll Never Spa in This Town Again" ... detailing Travolta's alleged sexual exploits with other men, including Randolph.

In his suit, Randolph claims ... as he was releasing his book, Travolta and his high-powered attorney Marty Singer (pictured above) unleashed a P.R. attack ... in which they falsely claimed Randolph had mental issues and spent time in a mental institution.

Randolph claims the attack was concocted to persuade the public that he's an unreliable source ... and they should NOT buy his book. Randolph claims Travolta's plan worked ... and retailers were deterred from selling his book.

Randolph is suing both Travolta and Singer for unspecified damages.

After flashing her nipple in Turkey the other day, Madonna continued to strip down on the latest stop of her body part peep show tour by showing off her mother-of-four butt in Italy on Tuesday.

While performing her hit song "Human Nature" again, the Queen of Pop unzipped her pants and exposed her lacy thong-clad 53-year-old taut backside to the crowd at Rome's Stadio Olimpico.

Amanda Bynes has officially been charged with DUI after her arrest back in April -- when she sideswiped a cop car and allegedly attempted to flee the scene.

Bynes has been charged with one count of misdemeanor DUI -- and the D.A. has sought a sentencing enhancement because the actress refused to take either a breathalyzer or a blood test.

Bynes has not been charged with hit-and-run.

If convicted -- with the sentencing enhancement -- we're told Bynes faces a minimum of 48 hours in jail ... and a maximum of 6 months.

But because of jail overcrowding, it's unlikely Bynes will ever serve longer than a few hours.

Justin Bieber was knocked out cold after running into a wall of glass during a concert in Paris.

We just spoke with Justin, who said he was performing on stage, and in between songs he walked backstage and hit the glass. He says he was disoriented, but went back on stage and finished his set.

As he walked to his dressing room he passed out cold, for around 15 seconds. Doctors say Justin suffered a concussion but he'll be ok.

This is not the first time Justin has had a run-in with blocks of glass. Check out the video.

UPDATE -- Bynes took to her Twitter page Sunday night to deny the story, writing, "I cant help but laugh at all of you writing fake stories about me. I was not in any hit and runs. I don’t drink so the DUI is false."

Amanda Bynes slammed into a car on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley on April 10 ... then fled the scene -- according to the victim who told cops the troubled actress was the culprit.

The culprit was driving a 5 series BMW at the time of the accident. The victim gave chase, got off the freeway, but the culprit blew a red light, never to be seen again. The victim was able to write down the license plate number. She only got a profile view of the woman driving the BMW.

CHP showed up, ran the plate and determined it was a rental vehicle. Officers told the victim the culprit was driving an Enterprise rental car. The victim then contacted Enterprise, who told her the person who had rented the car was Amanda Bynes.

The victim then showed up at a CHP substation and ID'd Amanda from a photo lineup. And get this ... the photo of Amanda was taken just 4 days earlier -- it was her mug shot from a DUI arrest. Amanda was driving in West Hollywood on April 6 when she clipped a cop car and was immediately popped for DUI.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the case was referred to a filing officer at the L.A. City Attorney's Office who immediately rejected it because there was no independent witness fingering Amanda as the phantom driver.

Clint Eastwood's daughter must have waaaaaay too much money to blow, 'cause the reality TV star just lit a $100,000 Birkin bag on fire ... all for the sake of a photo shoot.

19-year-old Francesca Eastwood -- who stars in the E! show "Mrs. Eastwood and Company" -- and her celebrity photographer boyfriend Tyler Shields decided to drop some major cash on the Hermes hand bag ... just so they could DESTROY IT!

If you don't know, the luxury-item bags range from $9,000 to $150,000 a pop (this was the $100k version) which apparently made no dent in the duo's wallet, because they sliced it in half with a chain saw and then let it burn -- all while the camera captured the fashion murder on film.

So we gotta ask ...

Sharon Stone's former nanny is suing the actress, claiming the actress repeatedly went on a tear against Filipinos, calling them stupid people.

Erlinda Elemen claims in her lawsuit ... Sharon would not cut her a break, berating her for her religion, even forbidding her from reading the Bible in her own room in Sharon's house.

Elemen, a Filipino woman, claims Sharon ordered her NOT to speak to the kids because she did not want them "to talk like you."

Elemen also claims Sharon bagged on Filipino food.

The former nanny claims Sharon tried to take back the overtime she was paid. Elemen says after she challenged Sharon on the OT, Stone repeatedly verbally attacked her for 3 weeks in front of guests, staff and others, and then fired her in February, 2011.

Kanye West's rap prodigy 2 Chainz was arrested at LaGuardia Airport in New York today ... after cops say he was packin' brass knuckles in his carry-on bag ... TMZ has learned.

2 Chainz -- real name Tauheed Epps (who also goes by the name Tity Boi) -- was entering the Delta terminal to fly to a show in North Carolina ... when the TSA discovered brass knuckles in his bag.

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... police were called to the scene ... and 2 Chainz was taken into custody for misdemeanor possession of a criminal weapon at 1:45 local time.

2 Chainz -- famous for his hit song "Spend It" -- is still in police custody.

A rep for 2 Chainz tells us ... his team is "handling the situation."

Will Smith just slapped a Ukrainian reporter across the face at the Moscow premiere of "Men in Black 3" -- and it was all caught on tape.

The Ukrainian reporter tries to kiss Will on the lips on the red carpet and the actor angrily pushes him away and then backhands him across the face.

You can clearly see that Will is incredibly pissed that the guy showed overt affection toward him.

After Will slaps the guy, Will says, "He's lucky I didn't sucker punch him."

We're told the dude who kissed Will is a television reporter who often kisses celebrities -- it's his schtick.

For the record, Will just came out in support of gay marriage.

A source on scene tells TMZ, the reporter's mouth brushed up against Will's and that's why the actor reacted so violently. Despite the incident, Will stayed positive ... and happily continued to sign autographs for fans and do red carpet interviews.

Simon Cowell finally announced what we all knew was coming ... Britney Spears is joining "X Factor" ... and so is some other girl.

Cowell just tweeted a photo of himself with Britney, L.A. Reid and the show's 4th judge Demi Lovato (pictured hovering awkwardly over Simon's shoulder).

Simon included a message with the pic -- "Can't believe it's finally happened. Very exciting!"

FOX just made the announcement at the Upfronts in NYC -- where advertisers vie for commercial airtime on TV shows "up front" ... several months before the shows actually premiere.

As we reported, negotiations between Britney and "X Factor" honchos went right down to the wire. Britney's conservators -- her fiance Jason Trawick and her dad Jamie Spears -- signed the $15 million deal on her behalf.

A sex tape which is said to feature male supermodel Tyson Beckford is being shopped around the adult entertainment community ... TMZ has learned.

Sources tell us ... the seller insists the 45-minute tape shows the former Polo model pleasuring himself during a recent Internet video chat with a female model.

We're told ... during the chat session, Tyson makes references to some of the movies he's appeared in ... and talks about some of his co-stars.

Sources say Beckford also reveals one of his pet peeves -- being mistaken for Tyrese Gibson.

The Jessica Simpson baby countdown is finally over -- because she just gave birth to a bouncing baby girl ... who weighed 9 pounds 13 ounces and measured in at 21.75 inches!!!

The kid's name is Maxwell Drew Johnson -- which is pretty normal by celebrity baby naming standards.

Jessica and her fiance Eric Johnson decided to use the name Drew because it's Jessica's mother's maiden name.

Jess just released a statement on her website ... saying, "Eric and I are elated to announce the birth of our baby girl Maxwell Drew Johnson."

"We are so grateful for all of the love, support and prayers we have received. This has been the greatest experience of our lives."