TV

Jacob Stockdale, whose family was featured on "Wife Swap," allegedly tried to mount a great escape from a mental hospital ahead of his upcoming murder trial.

Stockdale, who pled not guilty by reason of insanity to the murders of his mother and brother and is set to stand trial next month, failed twice in his attempts to escape the institution ... according to his treatment staff.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ, during a hearing on Stockdale's competency to stand trial, the staff noted Stockdale's first escape attempt occurred in November 2019, when he allegedly tried hiding between book stacks in the mental hospital's library, leaving staff concerned he was trying to find a way to exit the building.

Stockdale allegedly tried to escape again a month later ... the staff says this time he tried blending in with a group of people who were on their way out the door.

Ty Graham, one of Stockdale's attorneys, tells TMZ ... Stockdale was not charged with attempted escape.

As you know, Stockdale's case is gruesome ... back in 2017, he was arrested for shooting and killing his mother, Kathryn, and his younger brother, James. Stockdale then shot himself in the head, but he survived and underwent months of reconstructive surgery.

The Stockdale family appeared on "Wife Swap" way back in 2008 ... and they're remembered for living by strict rules and being extremely religious.

Actor Noah Jupe is super fond of three-letter connections ... as in HBO = ATM.

The kid, fresh off nailing the role of Henry on the HBO hit, "The Undoing," is back to work for the network again ... this time starring in the HBO Max film, "No Sudden Move." The cast is not too shabby ... with the likes of Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro and David Harbour, and it's being directed by Steven Soderbergh no less.

Noah's clearly not intimidated by Hollywood giants ... Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant played his parents in "The Undoing." And, once again, he's getting paid handsomely ... around $840k total, plus a bunch of perks.

In the minor's contract that was filed with the court, the 15-year-old gets 2 roundtrip business class tickets for him and a family member, a 3-bedroom apartment during filming and a daily $100 per diem. They're the same perks he got for "The Undoing."

As for the flick ... it's a heist thriller set in 1950s Detroit. The film -- first working title "Kill Switch" -- once included George Clooney before he had to drop out. Ray Liotta and Jon Hamm are also in the cast.

'Real Housewives of Dallas' star D'Andra Simmons is bedridden in a hospital due to COVID-19 -- the first cast member from the Bravo shows who's gotten this ill.

Simmons' condition was first announced by podcast host Kate Casey, who says ... "Just heard from D’Andra and she is asking for your prayers. She’s in the hospital and struggling."

A rep for D'Andra has confirmed she's in bad shape.

The rep says D'Andra's been admitted into the COVID ward at UT Southwestern Hospital. It's unclear when she contracted the virus, or how long she's been at the hospital ... but her team says her oxygen levels have been borderline, and she's starting Remdesivir.

That's one of the anti-viral drugs President Trump was given when he came down with COVID -- part of the cocktail of therapeutics he says helped him recover quickly.

Simmons' diagnosis and health status is noteworthy -- as she appears to be the only 'Real Housewife' who's had to get checked in and treated for coronavirus. Others have had it -- including 'RHOBH' stars Kyle Richards, Kathy Hilton and Dorit Kemsley, but none required hospitalization.

As we've reported ... Bravo production crews have taken several steps to help keep the different 'Housewives' sets as safe as possible. They're requiring masks on everyone who isn't on-camera, they're doing temp checks, they're mostly shooting outdoors ... and everyone's encouraged to spread out. Still, despite that, some stars and others on set have caught it.

Kenya Barris -- the creator of "Black-ish" and other spinoffs -- is asking a judge to step in to force his sister to keep her distance ... because he claims she's cashing in on his name, and threatening his kids.

The wildly successful writer, director, actor and TV producer just filed for a restraining order against Colette Barris -- his own sibling, who teaches professionally and also writes books -- because of fears Kenya has that she's going to harm his kids ... in one way or another.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Kenya documents years of alleged incidents in which he claims she piggybacked on his name and their familial relationship to hook herself up with opportunities in Hollywood. But, after failed attempts to get her own projects off the ground -- either because meetings went nowhere, or because Kenya refused to help her -- he claims he now worries that Colette will take out her anger against him on his six children.

Due to that, he's now asking a judge to enforce a court-ordered shield of protection -- even if temporarily -- so she has to stay away from him and his family and cease communication.

Kenya says he's had a rocky relationship with his sis for years, all because he claims she insists on cashing in on the family name and using him for her own prospects ... not to mention allegedly demanding he take care of her and their extended fam with cash.

Kenya describes several alleged episodes in which he says Colette has procured meetings with big shot studio executives to pitch TV show ideas of her own ... all under what Kenya calls false pretenses, using his name and fake support to cozy up and secure face time. In some instances, Kenya says things actually got rolling for her ... all because some execs felt pressure to help Colette due to pending projects with him.

There's also this ... Kenya alleges Colette recently sent him a legal demand letter, saying he MUST fund a movie project of hers in the amount of $4 million (based on a novel of hers). He also claims that she's told him if he doesn't do what she says ... she'd go public.

Nick McGlashan, a 7th generation fisherman who starred in "Deadliest Catch," has died ... TMZ has learned.

The Medical Examiner and family tell TMZ ... Nick passed away Sunday in Nashville. The cause of death has not been determined.

Nick appeared on the show for years ... from 2013 - 2020, in 78 episodes.

Nick's family has a storied tale of the sea. His great uncle worked on the first boat in the U.S. crab industry. Two of his aunts were crabbers ... one of who was lost at sea after the boat sank.

As for Nick ... he started crabbing at age 13. Nick quickly earned his stripes and up piloting the Cape Caution ... eventually upgrading to the Summer Bay.

Nick was an unrelenting figure on the boat. Nothing could stop him ... not pain, nothing. He never gave up ... even when the boat had perilous mechanical problems.

He struggled for years with addiction to alcohol and drugs ... it got bad enough he was suspended from part of Season 13 and ended up in rehab. It got so bad he said he was drinking a half-gallon of vodka and shooting up with one gram of meth and 2 grams of heroin in a single day. He tried hard to stay sober and said he was trying to inspire others to get clean.

The show has had its share of tragedies. We broke the story ... deckhand Mahlon Reyes died back in August after suffering a heart attack.

Nick was 33.

Ice-T had just one worry about appearing on "The Masked Dancer" ... busting his ass!!!

The 'Law & Order: SVU' star joined "TMZ Live" and said everything was fine and dandy when he agreed to do the new FOX show. It was only one day of filming for him, he said, and the choreography also was a breeze. But then ... he got into costume.

The actor/rapper told us after putting the 20-pound head on his body ... he struggled to even lift his foot. He said his only focus at that point was simply not crashing to the ground.

Ice was super worried, not just about falling, but -- even worse -- becoming a  meme loop.

Ice-T was confused about the show when his manager called him -- all he knew about was "The Masked Singer." But, his 5-year-old daughter, Chanel, was a fan of the show and that was enough for him.

As for why Ice only taped one day -- he was first to be eliminated. It doesn't sound like he was too upset with the judges' decision.

John B, Sarah, JJ and the rest of the gang from Netflix's "Outer Banks" aren't figments of the creators' imaginations -- they're ripped straight off the pages of an existing novel ... so claims the novelist in a new lawsuit.

A man named Kevin Wooten has sued the streaming giant as well as 'OB' creators Shannon Burke and Jonas and Joshua Pate ... claiming the whole lot ripped off the plot of his book, "Pennywise: The Hunt for Blackbeard’s Treasure!" almost beat for beat.

In his suit, obtained by TMZ, Wooten says in 2016 he published his book, which documents the story of 4 young adults who stumble upon a local legend who leads them to buried treasure from a fabled shipwreck along the outer banks of North Carolina.

Wooten says he sold a bunch of copies, including hard copies in the city of Wilmington ... where he claims the Pate brothers spent a significant amount of time, and where they've publicly said they got the inspiration for their new hit show.

That's no coincidence ... according to Wooten, who claims it's likely the Pates stumbled across his novel and used it as the basis for "Outer Banks." KW alleges there's striking similarities you just can't deny ... right down to the structure and characters.

Wooten claims the archetypes of his protagonists and those of the show are almost identical, and so are the villains -- namely, a rich benefactor and a corrupt cop. He also says the plot is virtually the same ... including clues they find and places it leads them to.

Wooten wants damages, but also wants to see a title card in credits reading, "Story by Kevin Wooten, based upon the novel Pennywise: The Hunt for Blackbeard’s Treasure!"

Shemar Moore has come down with COVID-19 ... and he's hoping this will be the end of a really bad year-and-a-half for him.

The "S.W.A.T." actor said when he started feeling lousy, he thought it was just food poisoning. The test he took Wednesday showed otherwise ... he had the 'rona.

As for symptoms, well, pick one -- chills, all-day aches. Shemar can still smell and taste, so he's not suffering the worst.

Shemar isn't doing that bad ... he's at home wrapping presents.

Shemar was fatalistic about his illness ... "I have to accept test results... I feel fine now...but I have to be responsible!!!! My Xmas n New Years is clearly not gonna be the best... my last year and a half has not been the best... but I WILL BE OKAY!!!!"

Taraji P. Henson revealed something shocking ... she seriously flirted with the idea of suicide for 2 days during the pandemic. She was thinking about opening her home safe, grabbing her gun that was inside, and ending it all.

Taraji was on her "Peace of Mind" show on Facebook Watch, when she opened up about 2 nights of dark thoughts. She said she was in a bad place and started thinking about suicide for 2 nights in a row. She said she was thinking about getting the gun she had in the safe, but never actually opened it.

She tried to talk herself out of it by thinking about her son, but she figured he was an adult and would get over it.

Taraji said she woke up after the second night and called a friend, blurting out she was thinking of killing herself. The "Hidden Figures" star said she felt it was important to tell a friend because if it remained secret, it would become a plan.

Taraji was speaking to Dr. LasShonda Green and her co-host, Tracie Jade.

The actress had lots of changes this year. She turned 50 and ended her engagement to Kelvin Hayden.

Psychiatrists warn suicide is a real problem during these times ... even with successful people who seemingly have it together.

Dionne Warwick is getting her wish ... Teyana Taylor wants to play the iconic singer on the small screen in a potential series!!!

Here's the deal ... Dionne's latest Twitter fun involved pitching Netflix on a series about her life and career, and she made clear she would only want to see Teyana cast as her. Next thing ya know ... the 2 singers were hashing it out.

Our sources tell us Dionne reached out to Karen Civil, a member of Teyana's team, and Karen connected them by phone. We're told DW and TT spoke for a while about Dionne's biographical series ideas, and Teyana expressed her desire to play the part.

Teyana not only wants to play the starring role, we're also told she and DW discussed producing the series through TT's production company, "The Aunties Production."

With Teyana on board, our sources say Dionne and her son, Damon, feel like TT is just like family now.

For now, we're told Netflix has expressed interest in a potential series ... but Dionne's fam is still working out logistics. Recruiting Teyana was their first priority, though.

If it comes to fruition, it will be a milestone for both women: Producing-wise for Teyana, and for Dionne ... her first biopic series.

Just over a month after "Impeachment: American Crime Story" started filming ... TMZ's learned it's been shut down due to COVID-19.

Production sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... 'Impeachment' halted its production this week because members of the cast and crew tested positive for the virus.

The exact number of cases is unclear ... but we're told it's "multiple." We're also told there's not yet a return date to resume filming.

It was just last week when we saw Sarah Paulson and Beanie Feldstein's remarkable transformation as Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinski respectively for FX's political drama.

And, this is interesting. We contacted FilmLA, the org that monitors and facilitates movie shoots in Los Angeles and asked if they knew about the shutdown over the virus. They told us they had no idea ... no one had contacted them.

The news of 'Impeachment' shutting down comes on the heels of "Shameless" production going into panic mode after initially thinking it had a COVID outbreak on its hands. But, as we first reported, a massive lab screwup was to blame for 18 false-positive tests.

Connie Chung just went scorched earth on some huge names in news ... saying working with Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer was "not unlike what Tonya Harding did to Nancy Kerrigan."

Chung was on "The Originals" podcast for L.A. Magazine and dished about her time as an anchor at ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN. She said, "When I got to ABC news, I joined with Both Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer there and I thought, "Oh, this is going to be great. It'll be three women who get along."

Chung says it couldn't have been further from the truth, claiming her fellow anchors big footed her out of the best interviews ... per ABC news execs.

She was famously paired with Dan Rather as co-anchors of the "CBS Evening News," and says teaming up with Rather was right out of "Psycho."

And, there's more. Connie, who's been married to Maury Povich since 1984, frequently appeared on David Letterman's show. There was a lot of chatter they were flirting with each other, although Connie says, "I had this thing for him, and he had a thing for me, and I really think it was inexplicable in that respect." But, then she went on to say, "And yet, I really didn't have a thing for him. Do you know what I mean?" Sorta.

She went on to say Dave's "a dark, unhappy sort of, I don't mean he's unhappy. He is a kvetch ... He's anti-social is what he is."

Chung also had harsh words for Hugh Grant ... she had a cameo in "The Undoing." She says, "He was not very friendly. I had interviewed him right after 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' for his next movie. So when I saw him I said, 'Oh hi. I interviewed you ... do you remember? And he said, 'No."

We reached out to reps for Dan, Diane, Barbara and Dave ... so far, no word back.

Phew! That's the operative word after "Shameless" had to deal with a massive COVID-19 outbreak scare following tons of false-positive results on set ... TMZ has learned.

Production sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell TMZ ... the set went into full panic mode after recent COVID tests revealed 18 positive results. We're told production feared it had a massive outbreak on its hands.

Our sources say there was a lab screw up ... and bottom line, those 18 positive results were not positive at all. This does not appear to be a flaw in the testing method ... we're told it was a lab error.

It's also unclear if production shut down to deal with what was initially thought to be an outbreak ... which our sources say went down in the last week. The show recently shot large scenes with as many as 200 extras.

We're told they had also been shooting on location across various parts of L.A. as well as on the Warner Bros. lot.

When production resumed, the show's executive producer, John Wells, revealed the pandemic would be weaved into the 11th and final season of the hit Showtime series.

Scott Van Pelt -- one of the best sportscasters on the planet -- has been diagnosed with COVID ... and his wildly entertaining ESPN show is now on pause indefinitely because of it.

The 54-year-old made the announcement Thursday ... saying he can't smell or taste anything.

Fortunately, SVP said he has no fever, and otherwise feels "fine."

"Won't be doing shows for a bit after a positive Covid-19 test," Van Pelt said ... "I will hunker down and hopefully can be back at it before too long."

Van Pelt -- a longtime ESPN talent -- took over the midnight edition of "Sportscenter" a few years ago ... and his personal touches on the show have made it must-see, late-night TV.

Specifically, Van Pelt's "One Big Thing" and "Bad Beats" segments have become viral sensations on a weekly basis.

Faith Stowers -- the former Black cast member on "Vanderpump Rules" -- is glad Bravo isn't cutting checks for Jax Taylor ... and she says he needs to bone up on Black culture.

We got Faith outside of BurgerRock Media in Downtown Los Angeles and asked her reaction to Jax and his wife, Brittany Cartwright, leaving the show amid tons of controversy.

Faith, who has a long history of beef with Jax, says he's not a good fit for Bravo and she's glad the network finally agrees.

Remember, Jax accused Faith of stealing, and ripped her on the show and off-air. He's the latest 'Rules' star to leave, following Stassi Schroeder, Max Boyens, Brett Caprioni and Kristen Doute out the door ... that foursome was 86'd after racist comments and behavior surfaced.

Faith tells us what Jax and Stassi did is not in line with what Bravo stands for ... and she thinks folks who watch the network are also glad they're gone.

There's some debate about whether Bravo fired Jax or they mutually decided to part ways ... a source close to him told us he wasn't fired ... but Faith thinks Jax was probably canned, and says he got what he deserved.