TV

Oscar nominated actress Shohreh Aghdashloo is applauding the LAPD for treading lightly with Muslims, but knows the San Bernardino massacre is making their jobs much harder.

Shohreh -- best known for her roles in "24" and the movie, "House of Sand and Fog" -- is an Iranian born celebrity who has a strong opinion about racial profiling.

We talked to her about the story TMZ broke -- that LAPD brass wants officers to avoid approaching Middle Easterners unless they're doing something to "arouse real suspicion."

But the Emmy winner's real issue is with Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik -- she explained how their act screwed up thousands upon thousands of lives.

Side note: Shoreh was so good in 'Sand and Fog.'

Disney star Tiffany Thornton's husband Chris Carney -- a musician and TV star -- was killed in a single car accident in his home state of Arkansas.

Carney and another man, Ezekiel Blanton, were pronounced dead on the scene. They wrecked early Friday morning when their car flew off the road while going around a bend and slammed into a tree. At least one was ejected from the car, which was driven by Blanton.

35-year-old Carney was on the MTV reality show "twentyfourseven," and was the lead singer of the group Prom Kings. Chris and Tiffany -- star of "Sonny with a Chance" -- have been married since 2011. Just last year they moved back to Hot Springs, AR ... where Chris' mother is mayor.

Melvin Williams -- the Baltimore drug dealer whose life inspired the classic television show "The Wire" -- died Thursday in Maryland. He was 73.

Williams was a powerful drug dealer in the '70s and '80s and served several years behind bars for trafficking. He was profiled for the Baltimore Sun in 1987 by David Simon, who went on to create "The Wire."

Williams -- who had a small role on the show as Deacon -- is believed to be the inspiration for the show's Avon Barksdale character, played by Wood Harris.

"Orange Is the New Black" creator Jenji Kohan got a violent threat from the same guy who's made super creepy comments to Laura Prepon -- now they both have court-ordered protection from him.

The 'OITNB' star and Kohan filed separate restraining orders against William Austin III. Kohan says Austin threatened her on Instagram last week with an audio recording that said, "Get ready, violence is coming."

Prepon's docs don't mention any specific threat, but we've seen several bizarre tweets from Austin. One of them said, "Here is a recent picture of LauraPrepon my Wifey and Friend." It includes gun and knife emojis.

A judge thought there was enough of a threat to sign off on restraining orders for both. Austin must stay 100 yards away from them and their families.

The guy who famously co-starred with Shia LaBeouf in "Even Stevens" is sidekicking for someone else now ... Santa!

Yes, Steven Lawrence -- best known as his character Beans from the Disney Channel show -- is working about 300 miles away from Hollywood ... posting up in Santa's workshop at the Sunvalley Mall in Concord, CA.

Photos from mall goers posing with Lawrence -- who's now 25 -- have started popping up on social media lately.

A Sunvalley Mall employee tells us Lawrence is currently employed in Santa's photo booth.

We're also told the standard rate for spreading holiday cheer in that position is about $9/hour.

"Everybody Loves Raymond" star Madylin Sweeten claims she was the victim of a classic Hollywood bait and switch, and she's suing to get her money back.

According to a new lawsuit, Sweeten says Bryan James -- star and creator of an Internet soap called "Youthful Daze" -- approached her to appear in the new season, but also invest some cash into it as well.

Sweeten -- who played daughter Ally on 'Raymond' -- says she wasn't crazy about the money part of the deal, but eventually agreed to fork over $28,020 if James gave her a say in all show decisions.

She says he agreed, but simply blew her off ... making casting and filming decisions without her consent. Sweeten says James later admitted he never intended to hand her the reins. She's looking to get her investment back, plus damages.

We're looking for anyone who's seen "Youthful Daze." Anyone?

Another job offer for Kobe Bryant ... this time, one of the stars of "Empire" says he'll help the Mamba get a role on the show ... if the NBA star is really interested.

We got Bryshere Gray -- aka Hakeem Lyon -- who says it's a "tragedy" that Kobe's gonna hang 'em up after the season, but says he's down to throw his Hollywood weight around to help the guy transition into his next career.

Emily Bett Rickards swapped her hacker gear for a bikini while vacationing with friends in Maui -- and we're sure "Arrow" fans hope she never switches back.

Of course, Emily plays computer expert Felicity Smoak on 2 CW hit shows -- "Arrow" and "The Flash" -- which gives her instant street cred with the Comic-Con set. This bikini gives her cred with the breathing set.

We smell a wardrobe change when she gets back to work.

Bindi Irwin has no worry she'll get the money she's owed for winning "Dancing with the Stars" ... despite the fact a judge still hasn't approved her contract.

The 17-year-old was leaving LAX when we asked her about the contract, and sure she'll get the money -- more than $300k, but there's a hitch ... she answers to 2 tax men, not just one. But anything left won't go in her pocket ... she's got a cause.

And Bindi clears the air over the mysterious fart noise during the competition.

Showtime's "Twin Peaks" revival will tackle one HUGE unanswered question -- whether Kyle MacLachlan's character, Dale Cooper, is still possessed and doing evil.

Ok, here's your spoiler alert ... because our sources on the set have found some big hints.

When the series ended nearly 25 years ago, Agent Cooper was possessed by Laura Palmer’s killer, the evil spirit BOB. We're told Kyle was on set recently shooting scenes for a plot line where Agent Cooper is arrested and jailed for crimes.

For all you Twin Peaks sleuths ... here are the on set clues:

- Cops find evidence in Cooper's car ... a dog leg, a kilo of cocaine and a machine gun

- Cops interrogate Cooper in a prison cell

It’s still unclear if possessed Cooper or the real deal is behind the crime or crimes. And whether his crimes include murdering Laura Palmer … we’ll have to wait and see.

Also, can we pleeeeease finally find out how the hell Annie's been???

'Hangover' actress and former 'Real World' cast member Jamie Chung got flooded with some seriously threatening emails -- and it got so bad, the LAPD had to track down the sender.

According to law enforcement Chung received 100 harassing emails from two separate Gmail accounts ... all in just one week, back in August. They ranged from simply "annoying" to threats to kill her.

Cops believed both accounts were owned by the same person because the emails were identical. Using the email info, cops tracked the sender and obtained a search warrant.

"NCIS" star Michael Weatherly ended up on the other side of the law when LAPD busted him for DUI.

Law enforcement sources tell us Weatherly was stopped for speeding earlier this month around 1 AM in Hollywood. We're told officers suspected he'd been drinking and after running tests, determined his BAC was well above the legal limit. Weatherly spent nearly 15 hours behind bars.

The L.A. City Attorney charged him with two counts of DUI last week and if convicted, Weatherly faces a max of six months in jail and $1,000 in fines -- though jail time's highly unlikely since it's his first offense.

Ads for Amazon's new series, “The Man in the High Castle,” came off like Nazi propaganda to some New Yorkers ... so the ads are getting yanked.

Seats on NYC subway cars were wrapped in flags featuring the Nazi eagle and iron cross as well as Japan's rising sun. If you haven't 'High Castle' imagines what the world -- especially the U.S. -- would be like if the Axis powers won World War II.

While the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) told us Monday they received only 1 complaint and wouldn't be taking them down ... it seems Amazon wanted to avoid controversy.

Probably because the show is already getting rave reviews.

Hey, at least it wasn't me ... is what we imagine "Teen Mom 2" star Jenelle Evans is saying after her ex-husband got busted by cops. Again.

Courtland Rogers, who was married to Jenelle for a whopping 18 months, was arrested in North Carolina for failing to appear in court to face a slew of charges ... including heroin possession and 2 counts of probation violation.

In 2013, Rogers and Evans were arrested together for domestic violence and heroin -- 5 months into their marriage. They divorced about a year later.

In related news, Jenelle has a streak going -- no arrests since August!

Harry Styles knows when you're onstage you're supposed to give performers a hand ... which may be why he grabbed Jimmy Kimmel's ass.

Harry and the rest of One Direction were guests on Kimmel's show Thursday and it all looked kosher from the front. What viewers didn't see was the ass grab from behind.

The performance was pretty epic BTW ... Hollywood Blvd was shut down for all the 1D fans ... one of whom snapped the butt pic.

Looks like Kimmel's reflexes kicked in pretty quick ... he kept a straight face.

2:10 PM PT -- The Taxi & Limousine Commission says it's giving the cab driver 2 options: pay a $500 fine or have a hearing where he could possibly have his license suspended up to 30 days.

The same cabbie already paid a $200 fine in May for refusing to pick up someone ... according to the TLC. Al tells us, "I appreciate the TLC's prompt attention to his matter and look forward to a proper resolution."

Al Roker was racially profiled by a NYC cab driver and got so PO'ed about it ... he filed a report with the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission.

Roker says he and his 13-year-old son Nick were trying to hail the cab when it passed them up for a white guy standing on the next block.

The “Today” weatherman vented on Twitter about how painful it was to explain to his son why the cabbie dissed them. He added ... not all NYC taxi drivers are bad, but he wants to "weed out the bad apples.”