Vacations

NASCAR star Kyle Busch says he was detained by authorities in Mexico last month ... after he says they found a handgun in his bag at an airport.

Busch said it all happened following the conclusion of his vacation with his wife, Samantha, in late January.

According to the 37-year-old driver, he was going through airport security screening ... when he realized he accidentally brought his firearm in his luggage.

Busch claims he has a valid concealed carry permit for it -- but its discovery still alarmed authorities, who detained him over it all.

"I was not aware of Mexican law and had no intention of bringing a handgun into Mexico," he said in a statement on his social media page Monday.

"When it was discovered, I fully cooperated with the authorities, accepted the penalties, and returned to North Carolina."

Prosecutors in Quintana Roo appeared to address the incident in a statement released over the weekend. Officials said the defendant, ID'ed only as "Kyle Thomas 'B'" from the state of Nevada, was detained following the discovery of a firearm on Jan. 27. They noted that following an investigation, he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison as well as a fine.

Busch made no mention of a prison sentence in his statement Monday.

"I apologize for my mistake and appreciate the respect shown by all parties as we resolved the matter," Busch said. "My family and I consider this issue closed."

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott may well be dunzo, but she's keeping her wits about herself -- heading down to the Caribbean for a little R&R ... and a lot of made-ya-look.

The beauty mogul was down in Turks and Caicos Sunday, where she hit the beach in a black two-piece bikini for what looks to be a solo outing where she caught rays and waves all at the same time ... and all for the camera's benefit, too, of course.

KJ walked up flaunting her toned physique, with a green wrap covering her lower body as she set up shop on the sand. Eventually, the makeshift skirt disappeared ... and her derriere was out in full view. A friendly reminder that she is, indeed, Kardashian-adjacent.

There's much to marvel at here ... a spray down in the shower, and then a dip in the ocean. There's even a nice shot of a tattoo she's got inked on her booty, which reads "sa-nə-tē" ... the phonetic pronunciation of "sanity." She's said it keeps her grounded.

Of course, Kylie hasn't really exposed her bod like this in quite a while -- not so out in the open, anyway. It makes one wonder if the split rumors about her and her baby daddy are true.

A Polish tourist in Mexico got a crash course in Mayan history after climbing a sacred pyramid ... locals were waiting for him when he got down, and one beat him with a stick.

The wild scene, which was captured on video, played out over the weekend at the famous Chichén Itzá archaeological site in Mexico's Yucatan.

In the viral footage, you see the tourist coming down the Kukulkan pyramid's steps ... and when he gets to the bottom, he's confronted by an angry mob ... including a shirtless man with a huge stick who bonks the tourist on the head as others show their displeasure.

The issue for locals ... the Mayan temple is considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and it's illegal to climb the pyramid.

The tourist is reportedly from Poland, and was arrested Saturday and released after 12 hours in custody.

Adding insult to injury, the tourist was also slapped with a fine of $5,000 pesos ... but the stick to the head's gotta hurt worse.

Yung Gravy is excited about his 2023 music career trajectory, especially because he says he's getting ready to drop a pair of album collabs ... with Quavo!!!

Gravy was out Monday night in West Hollywood, and disclosed he'd just gotten back from Tibet, of all places, where he and the Migos rapper created 2 albums worth of material.

The Asian country is renowned as a place of mediation and peace ... so, it seems likely Quavo was there decompressing his mind after being front and center when Takeoff was fatally shot in November.

Gravy says fans can expect the new music to drop in the next 2 months -- which would mark Quavo's first full-length release since dropping the joint album "Only Built For Infinity Links" with Takeoff last year.

He recently cut a tribute song -- the somber "Without You" -- but Gravy seems to be stoked about their upcoming tunes.

Deshaun Watson's out of the NFL playoffs, but don't feel too bad for the guy ... the quarterback is now on a tropical vacation, cozying up with his smokin'-hot girlfriend, Jilly Anais.

While the league's last remaining teams are duking it out for a spot in Super Bowl LVI, the Cleveland Browns star's mind couldn't be further from a football field ... as he hit a boat on Monday with Anais in an exotic location -- and clearly enjoyed the free time.

In video that Anais shot and posted on her social media page ... you can see she and Watson got really close on the ship's deck -- sippin' what appeared to be some champagne while soaking in the warm weather.

The two also got some up-close-and-personal time in the water ... when Anais hopped on Watson's back while he was cruisin' around in the ocean on an underwater sea scooter.

The couple seemed to be wearing some matching bathing suits, too ... and at one point, Watson even got close to Anais' bikini bottoms with a bottle of Veuve.

The vacation is a much-needed one for Watson, who had a rough season. After serving an 11-game ban following allegations he was inappropriate with female massage therapists, he came back rusty, completing just 58.2 percent of his passes while throwing five interceptions in six starts.

While most of the world is back on the grind and working on their resolutions, Hollywood's hottest celebrities just wanna have fun sun. That's right, the stars are hitting tropical beaches like it's their day job, giving them quite the sunny start to 2023.

Alessandra Ambrosio was a total beach babe under the Mexico sunset, and Bella Hadid has been soaking up the new year by reading and lounging beachside. And, as for the gents ... Toddy Smith was hyped AF consuming large doses of vitamin sea, and DJ Khaled opted for anotha' massage right on the Caribbean shore.

SZA is riding high with her new album "SOS" -- which has topped the Billboard 200 for 3 weeks in a row now -- so it's only right she's taking a lavish vacation with the guy who helped her make it.

The "Kill Bill" priestess was spotted out in Hawaii, grinning ear-to-ear with producer ThankGod4Cody, who's credited on 7 songs on the history-making R&B album.

SZA and Cody have been collaborators for years, but appear to be closer than ever ... judging from the video he posted of SZA taking a scantily clad dip in the Pacific Ocean, fueling the situation for fans even further.

SZA also took to Instagram to put her body-ody-ody-ody on display ... after shocking fans with her plastic surgery revelation the moment they pushed play on the album!!!

On the titular track, SZA crooned "So classic, that ass so fat, it look natural, it's not" and successfully put audiences into a frenzy with her honesty.

"SOS" was certified Gold just days after it was released and owned the biggest streaming week ever for an R&B album!!!

Leonardo DiCaprio continues to be one of the most eligible bachelors in Hollywood, spending time on a luxury yacht surrounded by a ton of hot women in bikinis.

A shirtless Leo was spotted in St. Barts Monday while getting some serious vitamin D and chatting it up with multiple models on board before taking a dip and then laying in the sun.

Unclear who all of Leo's female friends are ... but one of the bikini-babes was Madison Headrick, Leo's pal Joe Nahmad's fiancee.

Of course, Leo recently ended his relationship with Camila Morrone, after several years together.

He's been linked to several others since the split, including Gigi Hadid and more recently has reportedly been spending time with 23-year-old actress Victoria Lamas.

Dana White and his wife got physical with each other on New Year's Eve, stunning onlookers in a crowded Cabo San Lucas nightclub ... an incident Dana says was, regretfully, fueled by booze.

The UFC honcho and Anne White, who've been married for 26 years, were celebrating Saturday night with friends in El Squid Roe ... but things took a turn shortly after they all welcomed in 2023 at midnight.

The couple and their group were in a VIP area above the dance floor, and when Dana leaned over to say something to Anne ... she reacted by slapping him across the face. Dana immediately slapped her back in the face, before friends jumped in and pulled them apart -- and it all played out in plain view of patrons down below.

Eyewitnesses in the club tell TMZ Sports ... Dana and Anne both seemed heavily intoxicated prior to the violence, and the video seems to bear that out, because things went from zero to 100 in an instant -- seemingly for no reason. Further, we're told the conflict was all over in less than a minute.

We spoke to Dana about the incident, and he admits he and Anne had been drinking heavily -- but quickly adds that's no excuse for him getting physical. He told us, "You've heard me say for years, 'There's never ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman,' and now here I am on TMZ talking about it."

He says he's embarrassed by this "horrible" incident, and he and Anne have apologized to each other. He says they're "good," but their biggest concern now is for their 3 kids ... with whom they've already discussed the fight.

Mark Wahlberg is all sun, smiles and muscles this holiday season -- hitting the beach with his family in tow.

Mark and his wife, Rhea Durham, were spotted in Barbados this week getting a little rest and relaxation before hitting the water to cool off. The two seem to be recharging before 2023 -- and what better spot to do it than on the Caribbean island.

Always a health junkie, the 51-year-old recently revealed he's altered his workout routine ... now waking up at 2:30 in the morning instead of 3:30 to complete his daily exercise.

Jeff Bezos and his boo Lauren Sanchez are living their best lives this holiday season ... tacklin' the slopes in the snow as a couple!

Jeff and Lauren strapped on some ski boots and took to Aspen, CO Tuesday -- enjoyin' each other's company, no doubt ... as they tried their luck on some of the many slopes in the area.

We're told the couple was on the slopes for about an hour and a half before comin' back down around lunchtime. JB and LS were also a part of a big group with an instructor -- unclear if any of Jeff's high-profile pals tagged along, though.

As you know, Jeff and Lauren have been inseparable for the last 3 years, traveling the world and essentially living together. Lauren even revealed she's planning on blasting into space on Bezos' Blue Origin rocket next year, and it's gonna be an all-female crew.

It's that time of year, when your favorite celebs kick back, relax, or even get the hell outta town to enjoy the holidays ... and we got a sneak peek of where some of 'em are headed.

Alessandra Ambrosio was down in her hometown of Rio de Janeiro ... while Taylor Lautner got some Vitamin D and loads of views in Punta Mita, Mexico.

Ashanti made sure to flick it up beachside in UAE ... as did Max Ehrich, who spent some time near the water in Costa Rica.

Olivia Culpo popped out in Paris, and played tourist while posing in front of the Effiel Tower.

Ross Butler jet-setted to Egypt ... taking in some pretty cool sights and stopping for a photo op in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree -- and in Gwyneth Paltrow's case ... we mean that literally, especially after seeing these shots of them hitting the beach for the holidays.

The actress flew down to Barbados just ahead of Christmas this week, and it seems she and her brood are enjoying a sun-kissed winter season in the Caribbean -- perfect for taking a dip, which she and the rest of the crew did ... 18-year-old Apple Martin included.

GP's one and only daughter was tagging along with mom ... and just like Gwyneth, Apple was also rocking a two-piece bikini for their splash-fest in the water.

Gotta say ... both Gwyneth and Apple look really good, from the front and the back! Definitely better than what a lot of us can say around this time of the year -- when the eggnog is flowing and the stuffed turkey is making its way around nonstop.

Now, there were other people in their group that we can't quite identify -- including an older man who was with them, but definitely wasn't GP's hubby, Brad Falchuck. It might be grandpa or something ... but in any case, it looks like a sweet vacation getaway.

Barack Obama is staying warm while most of the country is dealing with extreme weather .... hitting up a golf course in Hawaii ahead of the holidays.

The former prez was spotted getting in a Round of Golf in Hawaii on Thursday ... sporting a pink shirt, white shorts and a pair of sunnies.

Barack appeared to be with pals, but still had his game face on ... as he set up his swing. Unclear if the whole family is in Hawaii, but they're certainly known to spend time there.

You'll recall, Barack and Michelle Obama had a mansion built on the island of Oahu back in 2015 after dropping $8.7M on the property ... but it came with some pushback from environmentalists over a seawall.

The Obamas seem to be enjoying the place they can now call home ... and it very well could be where they plan to spend their retirement years.

Britney Spears isn't missing, in trouble or dead as growing fan theories might suggest -- in fact, it's quite the opposite -- TMZ has learned.

Britney fans have been on high alert in the last several weeks, monitoring her social media posts and even the movement of her family members around the country. There's also concern someone took over Britney's Instagram as fans believe it's only posting old content.

Britney even told her fans she was traveling to NYC, which raised red flags when there were no paparazzi photos from her alleged visit to The Big Apple.

Sources close to the singer tell us ... she only said she was going to NYC to throw people off -- she and her hubby Sam Asghari were actually vacationing in Mexico. Not to mention, our sources say the shower video posted on Brit's IG last week was shot in Mexico, and wasn't old or recycled content.

Fans also became concerned when both of Britney's parents arrived in Los Angeles last week -- wondering if maybe something had happened to the singer. Our sources say Jamie and Lynne Spears were in town because Britney's niece (her brother Bryan's daughter) was in a Christmas production -- "The Nutcracker" -- and they just came to see her perform.

So things are OK on the Western Front.

Dozens of people were injured during a Hawaiian Airlines flight that required medical transport of at least 20 individuals -- this after several passengers were rocked in the air.

The scary news was announced Sunday and confirmed by the airline themselves. They say HA Flight 35 -- which was flying from Phoenix to Honolulu this AM, with 288 people onboard total -- experienced major turbulence that reportedly sent people flying every which way, including upwards toward the ceiling.

There are photos and videos circulating online right now that show some of the upper luggage compartments crushed ... presumably due to bodies crashing into them.

All in all, 36 people suffered injuries ... and 20 needed to be taken to the hospital, with 11 of them being listed in serious condition. There's video of some of these passengers being attended to on the ground -- you can see them in neck braces, getting gurneyed away.

The turbulence is reported to have hit about 30 minutes before the plane landed -- it's unclear what exactly caused it. A mix of passengers and crew members are said to have been harmed -- and the youngest of the bunch is reported to have been just 14 months old.

The plane was obviously able to land in the end, and HA says they're keeping tabs on everyone affected. They add, "Medical care was provided to several guests & crewmembers at the airport for minor injuries while some were swiftly transported to local hospitals for further care. We are supporting all affected passengers & employees and are continuing to monitor the situation."

The injuries sound intense, especially for the 11 who were utterly thrashed. They're described as bruises, lacerations, head injuries and even loss of consciousness for some. EMS workers responded to the incident as a "mass casualty emergency" upon touchdown.