TV

"General Hospital" actor Johnny Wactor's employer is addressing his death -- and the internal outrage over alleged safety concerns  ... meanwhile, we got a big update on the criminal case itself.

Level 8 -- the bar where Johnny worked in downtown Los Angeles before he was shot and killed this weekend following a shift -- posted to Instagram Friday ... remembering him as a beloved coworker and cherished team member who was lost to a senseless act of violence.

Right after this tribute, though, Level 8 went on to tackle a growing chorus of employees and associates who've been blasting them over Johnny's death -- with claims that the bar hadn't done enough to protect their workers -- and they say they're going to delve into this issue.

The woman who was with Johnny Wactor the night he died just went on camera to describe exactly how his murder went down -- and it sounds tragic ... not to mention dramatic.

Anita Joy -- Wactor's coworker who was walking to his car with him Saturday morning in DTLA before he was shot and killed -- went on 'GMA' Friday to break down what happened ... including the moments right before his death, and the moments after he was gunned down.

Check it out ... she says they approached his vehicle, which was partially up on a jack -- they came upon a group of guys whom they thought were tow people taking the car.

Khloe Kardashian slimming down had an effect in a unique way -- 'cause she says dropping pounds trimmed those hard-to-reach areas as well -- including her freaking vagina.

The reality star opened up about losing weight on Thursday's episode of "The Kardashians" on Hulu ... and she says ever since she's lost weight, she's lost her close friend "Camille" -- the name she gave to her camel toe.

Watch ... what starts out as a lovely conversation about micro-penises between Khloe and her half-sister Kylie Jenner, takes a personal turn when KK uses the term "microp***" -- before admitting she wishes she had a smaller hoo-ha herself.

Natalie Portman and Paul Mescal are not romantic despite their sighting across the pond earlier this week that sparked speculation they may be dating ... TMZ has confirmed.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us the Oscar-winning actress and the Irish star are just pals -- and have been for a long time now -- even though they were looking pretty damn friendly this week in North London.

While we're told they're not romantically involved, Natalie and Paul have clearly struck up quite the friendship ... in fact, our sources say they've known each other for a while.

Tavaris Williams knows he is the butt of a lot of jokes after his recent gaffe on "Wheel of Fortune".... but he's ready to turn lemons into lemonade... or should we say, ass stuff.

As you'll recall ... Tarvaris was a contestant on 'Wheel' featuring a phrase puzzle with letters popping up one after the other. After a few appeared, Tavaris buzzed in with the now TV-iconic "Right in the butt!" guess. He was wrong, of course ... yet the moment was so right.

Anyway, now ... Tavaris tells TMZ that he's ready to cash in on the moment and be a spokesperson for any and all butt services and/or products that might wanna hire him.

Sofía Vergara is open to trying most plastic surgery procedures ... except, oddly enough, for one very popular treatment among Hollywood's elite -- which makes lips look plump.

The "Modern Family" alum addressed her stance on plastic surgery in a new interview with Allure, in which she boasted about her future plans to go under the knife ... something she says she's eager to do, and remorseful about not having been able to approach earlier.

She says ... "I feel like I'm going to do every plastic surgery that I can do when I'm ready. I wish I had more downtime; I would've done stuff already. [But] because I'm in front of the camera, it's not like I can do something and then sit in my house recuperating for weeks."

Jennifer Lopez may know what "orange drink" is, but no one else does ... so, the singer had to finally explain it to the world ... capping off a viral trend about her old bodega order.

J Lo set the record straight in a new interview with Harper's Bazaar, in which she confessed she doesn't have a brand name for the now-viral drink -- which she mysteriously referenced a full year ago in a Vogue interview -- but she described it in extensive detail.

Jen says ... "It’s just a plain orange drink. It came in a little plastic container with a little bit of aluminum foil over it. And it wasn’t called anything except orange drink or grape drink or whatever. There was an orange, a grape, and a fruit punch."

8:22 AM PT -- A rep for the Trump campaign tells TMZ ... "This is a completely fabricated and bull*** story that was already peddled in 2016."

They add, "Nobody took it seriously then, and they won’t now, because it’s fake news. Now that Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats are losing the election, they are bringing up old fake stories from the past because they are desperate."

Rumblings about Donald Trump allegedly saying the n-word have circulated for years -- but now, an ex-producer on "The Apprentice" is definitively claiming ... yeah, he said it.

The female coworker who was with Johnny Wactor the night he was fatally shot is speaking out and calling his killer a "coward" while also claiming the "General Hospital" star died in her arms.

In a lengthy message posted Wednesday to Instagram, Anita Joy opened by saying she needed a few days to collect herself before sharing Johnny's story.

Joy then described the murderer as a "coward who reacted without care of the gorgeous life he was taking." She said she's angry and sad, but most of all she wants justice for Johnny – her friend of 8 years.

We're just getting over the hump in the week, but we're still rolling with some fire TV takes.

Let's start out on "TMZ Live" ... where Harvey and Charles discussed the latest development in the Diddy saga -- namely, the fact that a grand jury has been convened in the ongoing federal investigation ... and that prosecutors are apparently bringing in witnesses to talk.

Jill Biden is promising some semblance of decorum for the first 2024 Presidential debate ... teasing how the moderators will put a stop to any rambling with the hit of a switch.

The First Lady stopped by "The View" Wednesday morning, where FLOTUS promised the audience -- and a concerned Sara Haines -- that Pres. Joe Biden and Donald Trump's mics will be turned off during the forthcoming debate to prevent the candidates from talking over one another.

She says this was a key point in the debate agreement, as she noted ... "They've built that in where they're gonna turn off those mics so that somebody can't ramble, or scream at somebody. Not that my husband would be the one doing that."

Kim Kardashian's making waves in Hollywood -- 'cause she's on Variety's latest "Actors on Actors" series, which also features Jon Hamm ... who once took a nasty shot at her.

The reality star has been paired up with Oscar-nominated actress Chloë Sevigny for the show -- which highlights the who's-who of the acting biz ... and interestingly, Jon is on the lineup as well ... albeit, talking to a different actor, Kristen Wiig.

Still, his shared presence on 'Actors on Actors' with Kim has many remembering him talking s*** about her way back in the 2010s ... when he labeled her stupid, and a "f***ing idiot."

Jerry Seinfeld's calling for the grand return of dominant masculinity -- even though, he ironically acknowledges he's not exactly the poster boy for that trait himself.

On the "Honestly with Bari Weiss" podcast, Jerry admitted his comedy career's taken him on quite a childish journey instead of his desire to embody traditional masculinity. Still, he's not backing down on his ideas about what it means to be a "real man."

JS gave examples ... reminiscing about the icons of masculinity who wowed him during his childhood -- names like John F. Kennedy, Muhammad Ali, Sean Connery, and Howard Cosell, guys who grew up admiring and aspiring to be like -- all of which he says are gone.

Selena Gomez says she was prepared to adopt children if she didn't have a partner by her mid-30s -- a plan that seems to be out the window now ... since Benny Blanco has arrived.

The singer talked about this with TIME Magazine -- where she opened up about her getting used to being alone ... this after being single for upwards of five years, and her coming to terms with the fact she might have to be a parent all by her lonesome.

As a result of that possibility ... SG admits she was ready to bring a kid into her life, even if she didn't have a man to do it with. She even had a time frame for this ... age 35.

A TV news anchor in Boston appeared to swallow a fly live on the air -- but rather than cough up a storm or make a big fuss ... she just downed it and kept on going.

Check out this wild clip that shows Boston 25 News reporter Vanessa Welch leading a newscast late last week when something seemed to fall right into her mouth and down her throat in a flash ... which, of course, happened to be caught on camera.

On its face, it looks to be a bug of some sort -- likely a fly if it was in fact an insect -- but some have suggested it was something else entirely ... maybe an eyelash.

Jenna Ortega has voiced her support for Palestine ... 6 months after her "Scream" costar, Melissa Barrera, was fired from the franchise for doing the same thing.

The actress -- who played Melissa's little sister in 2022's "Scream" and 2023's "Scream VI" -- took to her Instagram on Tuesday, sharing her stance on the Israel-Hamas war after airstrikes hit Rafah and reportedly killed at least 45 people.

The "Wednesday" star wrote ... "Masses debating over a ceasefire while thousands upon thousands of children continue being slaughtered. Where is the humanity."