TV

Gotta hand it to Karrueche Tran ... girl dreams big -- on the heels of getting a tiny taste of Hollywood's award season she's already eyeing an Oscar-winning career.

Karrueche was leaving a party for "The Bay" -- the online soap opera she's on, which just got a Daytime Emmy nomination -- and we asked where she saw her career going.

KT replied, "I wanna be like Halle Berry."

Mind you, Karrueche did NOT get an Emmy nomination, only the show did -- still that's not stopping her from aiming high. And this is weird ... but Karrueche's not even sure Halle's her fave actress.

You can feel the emotion as you watch Bruce Jenner process Diane Sawyer's interesting question, inviting Bruce to become her for a moment and fire off a question that would elicit a revealing answer.

Watch the video ... Bruce thinks for a moment -- as if he's processing the answer he'll give -- and then sounds off.

The Kardashian klan is saying nothing about Bruce Jenner's special which airs tonight, and they chose to say nothing at a place known for the highest concentration of paparazzi in L.A.

Kris, Khloe, Kourtney, Kylie, Kendall and Scott all showed up at Craig's in West Hollywood, arguably the most popular restaurant in the city.

All the photogs asked about the special but lips were glossed and sealed.

Kim and Kanye didn't join.

Sawyer Sweeten -- one of the twins from "Everybody Loves Raymond" -- committed suicide Thursday morning, according to his sister.

19-year-old Sawyer reportedly shot himself while visiting family members in Texas. His older sister Madylin Sweeten -- who was also on 'Raymond' -- confirmed the death to TMZ, saying ... "This morning a terrible family tragedy occurred. We are devastated to report that our beloved brother, son, and friend took his own life."

Sawyer played Geoffrey Barone -- one of Ray Romano's twin boys -- on the series from 1996 to 2005. He not only co-starred with Madylin, but also his real life twin brother Sullivan.

His 20th birthday was just a few weeks away.

Madylin posted on Facebook on Thursday afternoon ... "At this time I would like to encourage everyone to reach out to the ones you love. Let them have no doubt of what they mean to you.”

Dalton Gray -- the actor who played Master Mike on "American Horror Story: Freak Show" -- was nearly blinded after an alleged drunk driver plowed into a car he was riding in last weekend.

According to his rep, Dalton -- who also played young Harry in "Dumb and Dumber To" -- was a passenger in his friend's car late Saturday night in Katy, Texas ... when another vehicle t-boned them. 17-year-old Dalton shattered his hip/pelvis and his femur. He also suffered horrific cuts to his face, and some serious eye trauma.

The damage was so bad, doctors had to reconstruct the right side of his face and remove glass from his eye but we're told his vision will recover. Police arrested the alleged drunk driver and as of now, he's currently still in jail.

Gray is the 2nd AHS cast member to be struck by a car in the last few months. Ben Woolf was struck by an SUV while crossing a street in February ... and eventually died from his injuries.

Bruce Jenner is making a lot of decisions these days, but it's not as if he knows where he'll end up.

ABC released a new promo for the Diane Sawyer special Friday night, and this time you get a sense of Bruce's journey.

Mila Kunis is calling chickens**t on the Ukrainian woman who claims the actress stole her beloved chicken, Doggie, a quarter century ago back in the old country.

With a little prompting from Ashton Kutcher, Mila says she was "devastated," and "weeping" after finding out Kristina Karo was suing her for $5,000 for emotional distress and therapy bills.

Mila and Ashton hilariously question the timing ... Karo is filing suit as she tries to hawk a music video.

For her part, Mila's contemplating a countersuit because the music video 'burned her eyes and hurt her body.'

If the judge would make the countersuit a class action, we'll gladly join.

By the way ... you should check out Karo on TMZ Live, unless you're chicken.

Brace yourself, Chris Brown ... the chick previously best known as your ex-gf just upgraded her title to ... Karrueche Tran -- star of a hit Emmy nominated show.

Karrueche's budding acting career just got a boost when her most recent gig for "The Bay" -- an online soap opera -- got nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding New Approaches Drama Series.

KT joined the cast last year ... taking over the role of Vivian Johnson -- who mysteriously returns to her hometown. She beat out 100 other actresses for the role, and so far has only appeared in 6 episodes -- but we're told she's getting a beefy story line for Season 4.

So, while Chris is off playing daddy ... Karrueche's working on getting her own 4 pound baby -- dipped in gold.

'Love & Hip Hop' couple Mendeecees Harris and Yandy Smith might be honeymooning in a federal prison ... because the groom just plead guilty to running a drug ring in upstate NY.

Harris struck a plea deal in the case, and will now face 5 to 40 years in the federal pen, and/or a fine of $5 million. The feds nailed him for a drug trafficking operation that shipped cocaine and heroin to Rochester for 7 years.

Harris will remain free on bail until his sentencing in August -- good thing for him ... since he and Yandy are getting married next month on "Love & Hip Hop Live: The Wedding." By the way, he also has to surrender all his paychecks from 'LHH.'

If looks killed, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian would have been booked for slaying Amy Schumer right on the red carpet of Time's fancy 100 most influential gala.

Amy went for a quick laugh Tuesday night as Kimye cruised into the event -- faking a fall right in front of them as they posed for pics. Now, every comic knows a good pratfall gets a laugh every time ... UNLESS you're playing to an audience of 2 who ain't having it one bit.

Yeezy and KK's faces said it all ... 100% pure unimpressed shade.

As for where Amy got the ridiculous idea it's fun to upstage people? Who knows ... maybe Taylor Swift and Beck have a clue.

Kris Jenner was in the dark about Bruce's desire to become a woman during their entire marriage ... this according to sources directly and closely connected to Kris.

Our sources say Kris says Bruce did speak with her 25 years ago about his feelings, but she says he talked about his "tendency" to dress like a woman ... not to become one.

We're told Kris insists the subject never came up again during their entire marriage. She also says she never saw Bruce dressed as a woman during their entire relationship.

Our sources connected with Bruce tell a different story ... that she knew full well he was very conflicted about his gender.

Kris tells our sources the subject of sexual transition did not come up until after they were divorced. In fact our sources say Bruce told the girls about it before Kris.

One other thing ... we're told reports that Kris might take legal action against Bruce if he speaks negatively about her are untrue.

Charles Barkley has been called a lot of things ... a lot of which we can't publish here ... but now he can add "incredibly good looking guy" to the list ... thanks to NBA commish Adam Silver.

Silver -- who was honored as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People -- is also a proud follically challenged man ... so we asked him to pick the best bald head on the set of "Inside the NBA."

That's when Silver began to gush about Sir Chuck ... explaining that Barkley is more than just a guy with a GREAT bald head, he's also one of the best looking guys in the sport.

Ben Affleck is owning up to coercing "Finding Your Roots" producers to omit the fact one of his ancestors owned slaves -- and admits he was embarrassed by the discovery.

Affleck copped to lobbying the PBS show to hold the slavery -- which it did -- because "the very thought left a bad taste in my mouth." In the apology, posted on Facebook, he says participating in the show makes you vulnerable ... and he assumed it would not "include things you think would embarrass your family."

The cover-up only came to light when WikiLeaks posted hacked Sony emails between Ben and show execs.

Jameis Winston says he's NO CRAB LEG THIEF -- claiming the only reason he walked out of the grocery store without paying for 'em was because he THOUGHT an employee had "hooked him up."

Winston's explanation was featured on ESPN's "Draft Academy" ... a documentary-style show which followed the QB into a meeting with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.

During the meeting, Winston says he wasn't so much stealing ... as much as he was blatantly violating NCAA rules by accepting free stuff.

"Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" chicks are best known for getting ratchet on cam -- and now cast member Karlie Redd can fuel those fights with her own line of rum.

We've learned Redd signed a deal with Local Choice, the booze bottlers behind Tiny's Tequila (as in T.I.'s wife). Spokesperson KD McNair says they first approached Redd with the plan to create a custom liquor -- but going the rum route was all her idea.

Our 'Love & Hip Hop' sources say Redd's getting a 25% ownership stake in her brand, and will be very hands-on. We're told she'll weigh in on everything from bottle designs to testing new flavors -- a dirty job that can get sloppy... if done right.

No word on a product name yet. One suggestion: Redd Rum -- it's murdder.

Ok, the tagline needs some work.

The party has gotta end sometime ... and for the sport of volleyball, it's LIGHTS OUT ... so says C. Thomas Howell -- who starred in one of the most famous volleyball movies ever!

Howell -- who starred in "Side Out" twenty five years ago -- was leaving LAX when he told us the sport bit the dust in the '90s ... along with Walkmen and pagers.

BTW, Howell's "Side Out" co-star Peter Horton went on to become a big deal in Hollywood ... producing a ton of stuff ... including "Grey's Anatomy."

Dig that.