TV

Whoopi Goldberg's comments about race and the Holocaust just got her benched.

ABC Prez Kim Godwin just announced, "Effectively immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments. While Whoopi has apologized, I've asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments."

She went on ... "The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities."

Whoopi got in trouble on the show Monday, when she said, "Let’s be truthful about it because Holocaust isn’t about race. It’s not about race. It’s not about race. It’s about man’s inhumanity to man."

Ana Navarro challenged Whoopi, arguing ... "But it’s about white supremacists going after Jews."

Whoopi's response ... "But these are two white groups of people. The minute you turn it into race it goes down this alley. Let’s talk about it for what it is. It’s how people treat each other. It doesn’t matter if you’re Black or white, Jews, it’s each other."

She tried a make-good Tuesday, saying ... "Yesterday on the show I misspoke. [The Holocaust] is indeed about race, because Hitler and the Nazis considered the Jews to be an inferior race. Now, words matter, and mine are no exception. I regret my comments and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people."

It'll be interesting to see how the suspension impacts live, opinion-based TV shows.

Tommy Dorfman's husband apparently has some reasons why they should end their marriage ... because the "13 Reasons Why" star's spouse just filed for divorce.

Peter Zurkuhlen beelined it to a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday and filed divorce docs after more than 5 years of marriage to Tommy ... according to online court records.

Tommy and Peter were first introduced through a mutual friend way back in 2005, and they eventually got engaged in April 2015 before walking down the aisle in November 2016 up in Portland, Maine.

As you know ... Tommy, who played Ryan Shaver on '13 Reasons,' came out as a transgender woman back in July, and also announced she had "redefined" her relationship with Peter, explaining they would become friends rather than romantic partners.

Sharon Stone says Joe Rogan's new approach to discussing COVID-19 is empty lip-service if he continues spreading misinformation, and adds there's only one thing he needs to disclaim.

The actress and activist held nothing back when we saw her Tuesday in Bev Hills, and brought up Rogan's podcast.

We pointed out several celebs had come out in support of Joe, but Sharon's not buying his and Spotify's new policy -- namely, adding a disclaimer at the beginning of episodes, and offsetting controversial COVID viewpoints with a "mainstream" take as well.

Sharon tells us the only "disclaimer" she wants from Joe is for him being an "a**hole." Watch the clip (pardon the soft focus due to equipment snafu) ... but, in a nutshell ... she says it's too late for Rogan's new balanced approach.

In her mind, his interviews and COVID theories have already cost people their lives. Might sound harsh, but that's her POV, which she says it's based on doing significant work in the field of infections diseases.

SS lays out her creds, particularly on HIV ... seeing the horrors of deadly viruses while working with leading doctors and scientists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci.

And when it comes to COVID, it's personal for Sharon. You'll recall, the virus killed her grandmother and godmother ... and her sister and sister's husband were both hospitalized because of it.

Steve Kornacki certainly knows his way around stats, but says a poll asking if we should get back to normal -- as it pertains to COVID -- isn't as clear as the numbers make it seem.

We talked to NBC's go-to data journalist at LAX about a recent Monmouth University poll which posed the question: "Time to Accept Covid and Move On?" The responses were somewhat surprising.

The overall consensus seems to be yes, we oughta just learn to live with COVID and start getting back to normal, but as SK points out to us here ... that means different things for different people.

While Monmouth's poll indicates a majority of Americans agree with that general sentiment about the virus, Steve notes it's a bit ill-defined as to what folks might consider "normal" these days. He even suggests a more precise poll question would net further splintered results.

As you might know, there's a growing chorus of opinions that we should do away with all 'rona-related mandates -- masks, vaccines, etc. -- and literally go back to how we lived our lives pre-2020 ... which has been echoed by the likes of Bill Maher and his guests.

Of course, there are just as many people who continue to be wary and insist we're still very much in the midst of a deadly pandemic.

Ellen DeGeneres is following in Dian Fossey’s footsteps ... especially now that her section of a gorilla sanctuary is open to the masses.

The talk show host has her own campus in Fossey’s Gorilla Fund in Rwanda -- a massive area dedicated to the protection of gorillas there — and on Tuesday, Ellen’s wing of the sprawling grounds got an official grand opening that’s been years in the making.

Portia de Rossi gifted Ellen with a gorilla fund in her name -- which was incorporated into Fossey’s larger org -- 4 years ago to celebrate her wife’s 60th birthday, and after a lot of work and construction ... the place is finally available to guests.

The whole purpose of the fund is to help gorillas survive poachers and other deforestation activities that might otherwise wipe out their species entirely, and lo and behold ... it’s been doing its job by keeping these apes going strong for decades now, with hundreds of gorillas thriving thanks, in large part, to Fossey’s conservationist efforts.

Ellen’s too, for that matter -- her campus is said to be a game-changer with cutting-edge tech and resources.

Covering several acres, the campus has state-of-the-art lab facilities and hundreds of thousands of native plants. There’s also custom-designed furniture the gorillas can use as they spread out and make use of the new environment. Gorillas like lounging too, bro!

Ellen seems stoked about her campus seeing the light of day, saying ... “To see my name alongside hers on the walls of this beautiful campus, and to know I'm doing my part to protect endangered gorillas and continue Dian's legacy, is simply amazing.”

Hall of Fame QB now ... Emily Cooper's new love interest next?!?

Peyton Manning says that might just be his path ... telling "The Tonight Show" on Monday that after his hilarious "Emily In Paris" skit over the weekend, he could be getting a huge role in the next season of the hit show.

The NFL legend broke it all down for Jimmy Fallon ... explaining the reaction to his "Saturday Night Live" appearance has been so great -- it could lead to him rubbin' elbows with Emily on Netflix in France soon.

"I think I'm going to be asked to be in Season 3," Manning said. "Like, a big part."

Manning wasn't being entirely serious with the prediction -- but it certainly wouldn't be farfetched given the response to his "Emily In Paris" jokes on Saturday.

If you missed it ... Manning hilariously told Colin Jost that he missed NFL playoff games because he was binge-watching Season 2 of the Netflix show instead.

Manning fired off punchline after punchline about the show -- and even broke out a telestrator to explain it all. It was laugh-out-loud funny.

The wildest part about it all, though? Manning told Fallon on Monday he's actually never watched an episode of it!

Moses J. Moseley, famous for playing one of Michonne's zombies in "The Walking Dead," has died at just 31 years old ... and cops are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.

A family member tells us the police found Moses' body Wednesday in the Hudson Bridge area of Stockbridge, GA ... the bridge covers a freeway. We're told there's currently an active investigation into how the young actor's body ended up in the area -- and whether or not foul play was involved.

A family member tells TMZ, they hadn't heard from Moses since Sunday of last week. They called around to hospitals, to no avail. On Wednesday morning, they filed a missing person's report. They then contacted OnStar which tracked the car and that's where his body was discovered.

The family member tells us Moses died of a gunshot wound, but investigators are working to find out who pulled the trigger.

Moses got his big break on "The Walking Dead" from 2012-2015 as one of Michonne's zombies that followed her around. He also made appearances on "Watchmen" on HBO and was in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" in 2013.

Andy Cosferent – the assistant coach and star of Netflix's "Cheer" – noticeably disappeared in the middle of the second season ... causing viewers to wonder if the fan-favorite was axed from the show. Andy tells us ... that simply wasn't the case.

Andy says there were a few reasons why he vanished in the middle of the season ... one being that his main job kicked back up when things started opening after the pandemic began subsiding.

Andy explains he isn't just an assistant coach for the Corsicana, TX team ... he also works for a company that helps coordinate cheer camps, and when things opened back up, there was a huge demand for him to get back to work.

The other reason is he was secretly spearheading "Cheer Live" -- which will be a live cheer tour across the country involving cheerleaders from both Navarro and Trinity Community College. Andy says he's working with Monica Aldama behind the scenes to organize the tour, so any rumors about bad blood between the duo are just nonsense.

Canadian-born actor Sara Canning was in her early 20s when she shot to stardom after being cast as the fun-loving aunt Jenna Sommers -- who becomes the parental figure for her niece and nephew Elena and Jeremy Gilbert -- on The CW's drama "Vampire Diaries."

Canning shared screen time with some big stars including Ian Somerhalder as the bloodthirsty, Damon Salvatore ... and of course Nina Dobrev and Steven R. McQueen as the older sister Elena Gilbert and kid brother Jeremy Gilbert.

Sara can be spotted most recently on "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" and "Nancy Drew."

Chris Massey is ready and willing to help smooth things over between Jamie Lynn Spears and Alexa Nikolas ... but he wants some help from the rest of the "Zoey 101" cast.

We got Chris at the Dream Hotel in Hollywood and asked if he wants to step in and help Jamie Lynn and Alexa squash their beef.

Chris says he's definitely down to arrange a meeting between his former Nickelodeon peers ... and wants all of the OG "Zoey 101" cast there so everyone can get on the same page.

As you know ... Jamie Lynn and Alexa are beefing over Jamie Lynn's new book, "Things I Should Have Said," where she claims she had a falling out with Alexa back in the day after Alexa became jealous of her friendship with Kristin Herrera and started spreading rumors about her on set.

Jamie Lynn claims big sister Britney Spears even came to the set one day and exchanged harsh words with Alexa.

But, Alexa's calling BS on Jamie Lynn's narrative ... claiming JLS is "lying up a storm" in her memoir and calling her the real bully.

Chris says neither side should be hurling nasty accusations in these times ... and thinks a reunion with the "Zoey 101" stars will do everyone some good and mend fences.

Howard Hesseman, best known as Dr. Johnny Fever on "WKRP in Cincinnati," died Saturday in Los Angeles.

Hesseman’s wife, Caroline Ducrocq, tells TMZ he was at Cedars-Sinai in L.A. for colon surgery last summer … but when it resulted in complications ... that’s when things started to go south.

Caroline says he was hospitalized January 5 due to complications from that surgery. It got worse 5 days later when he had trouble breathing. He began experiencing breathing difficulties and ended up in ICU. Caroline says that was the beginning of the end.

Howard first appeared under a fake name -- Don Sturdy -- on the show “Dragnet” in ‘68, playing a hippie editor of an underground newspaper. He then appeared in shows such as  "The Andy Griffith Show," "Boston Legal," "That '70s Show," and "The Bob Newhart Show." He appeared on the final season of "One Day at a Time," marrying the star character played by Bonnie Franklin.

His movie roles are vast ... "Halloween II," "The Sunshine Boys," "Silent Movie," "The Big Bus," and "The Other Side of Midnight."

Howard's breakout role was the hilarious Dr. Johnny Fever on “WKRP." Hesseman prepared for the role by working as a DJ in San Francisco at KMPX-FM for several months leading up to the production. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy.

To show you how times have changed, he was jailed for 90 days back in 1963 for selling a single ounce of pot. And he was fired from a $100,000-a-year radio gig for using the word "booger."

Caroline was with him by his side, holding his hand when he passed. He was surrounded by other family members.

He was 81.

Peyton Manning KILLED on 'SNL' Saturday with an absolutely hilarious breakdown of the NFL's season playoffs, and how it paled by comparison to "Emily in Paris."

Manning joined Colin Jost at the Weekend Update desk ... presumably to talk in part about the incredible season playoff games last weekend and the reported retirement of Tom Brady.

Well, Peyton had the best of intentions to watch the games, but an hour before he decided to kill some time by watching the first episode of 'E.I.P.' Season 2.

Peyton said at that point it was football, schmootball ... because he was hooked and watched the entire season, missing all the games.

You gotta see how Peyton uses the telestrator to show Emily's playbook. It's super funny.

Peyton also thinks "Emily in Paris" is the secret reason Tom Brady will retire.

Dr. Oz drew on his medical background for a medical emergency at a political meeting ... jumping in to help a man who fell unconscious.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... Oz was next in line to speak at Saturday morning's Pennsylvania Republican Caucus Meeting outside Pittsburgh when suddenly a state committee member collapsed.

We're told Dr. Oz rushed over and quickly lowered the man to the ground ... tending to him while he appeared to suffer a seizure and lost consciousness.

Our sources say Oz also helped move the man to a flat surface outside the meeting room, where another seizure-like episode occurred.

We're told EMS eventually arrived and transported the man to a local hospital, and the guy was conscious and conversing with Oz as EMS took him away.

Our sources say Dr. Oz went on stage for his scheduled remarks after the incident ... and following the caucus, he got in touch with the man and learned he's in stable condition at a hospital.

As you know ... Dr. Oz is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, switching gears to politics after a successful career as a TV doctor.

Dr. Oz tells TMZ ... "I am a doctor first and always will be, so I responded immediately to a call for help when a nearby man collapsed. Following the lessons learned from a life in medicine, I did my job until EMS arrived to transport him to a nearby hospital."

Bill Maher says he's finding himself in a weird position these days ... a hero on the right and a villain on the left.

Maher, a libertarian who has been a reliable Democrat, skewered the Dems Friday night on "Real Time" for what he called "goofy s***," but he says it's not about embracing Republicans ... he says it's about teaching Democrats how to effectively fight them.

He seems amused members of George W. Bush's Administration -- which helped get him fired back in the day -- are now suggesting he run for President.

The message was laced with hilarity ... "I am still the same unmarried, childless, pot-smoking libertine I always was. Let's get this straight. It's not me who's changed, it's the left who is now made up of a small contingent who've gone mental and a large contingent who refuse to call them out for it, but I will."

And, then he did ... "People sometimes say to me, 'You know, you didn't use to make fun of the left as much.' Yeah, because they didn't give me so much to work with. The oath of office I took was to comedy. And if you do goofy s***, wherever you are in the spectrum, I'm going to make fun of you because that's where the gold is. And the fact that they are laughing at it should tell you something. It rings true."

Maher made his case by calling San Francisco "a shoplifter's paradise." He called out members of Congress who have advocated canceling rent and mortgages ... members who believe "capitalism is slavery."

Bill didn't mince words ..."It's not my fault that the party of FDR and JFK is turning into the party of LOL and WTF."

Rob Riggle claims his estranged wife kept a watchful eye on him during their divorce, by secretly recording him with a hidden camera planted in his home ... and now he's suing.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Rob says he started to feel as if he was being watched shortly before his wife, Tiffany, filed for divorce.

In the docs, Rob claims the couple was trying to save their marriage by "nesting" -- staying in separate homes and taking turns living with the kids in the family home -- and he got the sense Tiffany was surveilling him because she seemed to have info about his whereabouts and private messages.

Rob claims he discovered a substantial amount of money missing from a lockbox in his home office shortly after Tiffany filed for divorce ... and he says he confronted her about it because she had access to the home, but claims she denied knowing anything about the missing cash.

Not long after, Rob claims Tiffany hacked into his Apple account and downloaded his texts, contacts, photos and emails ... and then he says things got even more disturbing.

Rob claims Tiffany somehow had knowledge of private conversations he'd had in his home with his girlfriend and assistant, and Tiffany -- or other anonymous sources -- would email or text them referencing the private convos.

As a result of the alleged leaks, Rob claims he and his GF devised a misinformation scheme, planting false info to test whether any of it would leak out ... and he claims his suspicions were confirmed.

According to the suit, Rob had his home electronically swept for devices ... and he claims a hidden spy camera was discovered in a smoke detector above his desk in his home office.

Rob says the device had a memory card with over 10,000 videos with sound on it, and the device appeared to be installed in August 2020 and was transmitting or recording all video and voice activity in the home for at least 7 months.

What's more, Rob claims there is an image on the device showing Tiffany standing on a ladder and installing the spy camera, plus another showing her sitting on the floor of his home office counting cash, which he thinks is the missing money from the lockbox.

Rob's going after Tiffany for damages ... and he wants an injunction barring her from recording him and forcing her to turn over all recordings and copies.

Tisha Campbell is pissed off about a scary run-in with men she believes were sex traffickers, and she's got a warning for any others in the town where she's currently working.

A source close to Tisha tells TMZ the incident went down in Brownsville, Texas, about 10 minutes from the Mexican border ... where Tisha is working on an independent film.

We're told someone from a hotel she was staying at gave her a number to call for a taxi -- as Tisha explains, there weren't any Ubers available in the area. But, when the taxi pulled up, Tisha alleges a man hopped out of the backseat, and barked at her to get in the vehicle ... and that's when she knew things were very sketchy.

The "Martin" star explains she told the guy "no", but he and the driver kept demanding she get in their ride. She never did.

Our sources say Tisha's been working a project with sex and human trafficking expert Toni Rivera on trafficking ... so she was hyper vigilant for just such a situation. Tisha says she eventually told both guys to "f***off!" before going back to the front desk.

Apparently, the lady working there had no idea why Tisha was given that number to call a cab -- she tried asking who the driver was, but that's still unclear.

Tisha didn't contact cops, as we're told the employees at the hotel made sure she got out of there safely.

We still don't know who gave her the number or if they believed she was being set up ... but Tisha is sure about one thing. As for the alleged traffickers, she says ... "They got me f***ed up. I ain't Gina bitch!!!"