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Disney's newest animated movie -- which features an openly gay character -- got crushed at the box office ... and the LGBTQ crowd is worried this might've been the plan all along.

We're talking about "Strange World," which came out this weekend to abysmal ticket sale numbers -- raking in just $18.6 million over the 5-day weekend, starting Wednesday. That's well behind projections ... where 'SW' was supposed to be coming in between $30-$40 mil.

According to reports, the film is expected to end up in the red long term -- somewhere in the ballpark of at least $100 million, considering the $180M budget and marketing expenses.

It's that same marketing, however, that's got allies upset at the Mouse House ... they feel like there wasn't a peep about this flick pre-release, and that it's no wonder it tanked. In fact, some are going into conspiracy mode -- suggesting Disney was banking on a failure.

Here's the theory ... Disney could use the poor performance as rationale to not include LGBTQ characters going forward -- pointing to this new character, Ethan, as evidence to back the would-be decision. Out there, we know, but that's a legit convo taking place right now.

Of course, there's no evidence to support this ... at least not yet. Still, some are floating it anyway and think Disney was looking for an excuse for less representation on-screen.

Naturally, there's another side of this discussion -- the "Go Woke, Go Broke" faction, who've been thumping their chests about Disney's efforts to include more diversity in its characters of late ... which they think is the real reason for flops like this and 'Lightyear,' among others.

A man suffered a medical emergency Friday and fell onto train tracks in NYC -- but he and a police officer were miraculously saved moments before they were crushed under the wheels of an oncoming subway.

Dramatic NYPD bodycam footage captured the moment 2 officers and a Good Samaritan jumped onto the tracks to help the injured man to safety inside the East Harlem station. The cops were originally on the southbound platform and ran over to the northbound side after seeing the man take a tumble.

Video shows the trio lifting the man and rolling him onto the platform. The good sam and one of the officers then climbed back onto the platform. But, the other cop got stuck on the tracks as his belt was briefly caught under the platform's ledge.

Moments later, the train rolled into the station, but, thankfully, the good sam grabbed the officer's arms and hoisted him onto the platform before he was struck.

The hotel featured in the second season of "The White Lotus" is as gorgeous in real life as it is on TV -- something Americans are itching to see for themselves.

A rep for San Domenico Palace in Taormina -- a 5-star Four Seasons Hotel & Resort on the eastern coast of Sicily -- tells TMZ, ever since the new season of 'WL' hit HBO last month, management has seen a tremendous spike in traffic from U.S. markets.

We're told there's been a 70% increase in searches/site visits since Season 2 dropped.

Even though there's high interest, there hasn't been a measurable boost in reservations. And, the timing isn't great ... the resort, which opened just a little more than a year ago, is just about to close for the season.

A judge in Colombia famous for posting provocative pictures of herself just got suspended from her lofty judicial position for showing up to a virtual court hearing HALF-NAKED!!

You heard it right. Justice Vivian Polania decided to preside over a recent Zoom hearing for a criminal case, wearing sexy lingerie and puffing a cigarette. She also posed for the camera on her bed while listening in on the alleged car bombing case. When she did speak, Polania would slur her words. At one point, she shut off the camera for nearly an hour, apparently aware of her crude behavior.

The judge's X-rated escapades reportedly violated multiple administrative regulations, and Columbia's judicial disciplinary commission handed down a 3-month unpaid suspension, citing her lack of respect for her judgeship. The commission launched its investigation after the video of the hearing went viral.

For her part, Polania reportedly denied being half-naked, claiming she was in bed during the hearing because she had low blood pressure and an anxiety attack. She also blamed other judges for bullying her over the way she provocatively dresses.

Balenciaga is getting MAJOR backlash for its bondage-inspired kid's clothing campaign ... and celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Bella Hadid are even feeling the heat because of their connection to the company.

The luxury fashion brand rolled out the shocking ads for its spring 2023 collection. The photos depicted children gripping teddy bears clad in S&M gear, and quickly started going viral. Almost immediately, people responded with outrage on social media, demanding a boycott of the company.

Balenciaga executives quickly pulled all the ads Tuesday and issued an apology. Their statement read, "We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms."

The execs went on to say they plan to take legal action against the creators of the ads, which they claim were "unapproved." They added, "We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children’s safety and well-being.”

But, people on social media were still pissed and took their rage out on Kim K and Bella Hadid for their association with the company. Kim, as you know, is the founder of SKIMS, which has long worked with Balenciaga. Bella is one of Balenciaga's supermodels.

One fan wrote, "When are you going to respond Kim?! Your reputation is on the line here."

Another said, "Celebrities like Bella Hadid are quick to jump on the BLM and misgendering bandwagon but happy to promote Balenciaga's child porn campaign. These people have been compromised, they're satanic and are promoting the devil's work. It's evil."

One man is lucky to be alive after suffering a brutal beatdown in the parking lot after an Elton John show ... and new video from the attack shows just how violent things got.

The extended video, obtained by TMZ, shows a man in blue repeatedly beating the victim in the Dodger Stadium parking lot Thursday night -- the victim puts his hands up before getting kicked back down to the ground.

A different attacker wearing black then lands a violent blow on the man's face, seemingly knocking him out. One of the attackers calls the victim a "fat f***ing f*****" a couple of times before they take off.

The man in black was so eager to get his licks in, he can be seen violently pushing a female friend out of the way and to the ground. You also see him charge a bystander filming, appearing to snatch the phone out of his hand and shove him.

As we reported, 1 arrest has been made so far in the gruesome attack ... although the suspect hasn't been identified.

LAPD told us it all stemmed from a fender bender between 2 different parties ... which escalated into the violent beatdown seen in the most recent video.

Elon Musk's Content Moderation Council will be nothing more than a paper tiger, because the Chief Twit himself told his staff ... the ultimate power on what goes on the platform and what doesn't rests squarely with him.

New video obtained by TMZ shows Elon talking to bird app staffers Saturday in a company Zoom chat. At one point, EM touched on the Council he promised late last month.

Watch ... Elon says there will, in fact, be a Council -- but he makes it clear it's advisory only ... he will pick the members and can either accept or reject their advice ... he'll make the call.

Since announcing the Council -- which was seemingly meant to calm the waters with folks concerned about misinformation/hate speech on the platform -- Elon has made A LOT of sporadic decisions about how Twitter will work, and who gets to tweet.

He's suspended users and then reinstated them, seemingly on a whim. Over the weekend he asked users to vote on whether Donald Trump should be reinstated -- a slim majority turned thumbs up and Elon gave the green light for his return.

Two points -- first, Elon never said he'd adhere to the will of the majority ... and that's consistent with his view of the Council. Second, Trump has said he'll decline the invitation, but the reality is ... he'll almost certainly return because that's where he can reach voters.

A man was caught on camera chucking a brick into the window of a gay bar in New York City ... and it's reportedly been the 4th attack on the spot in a week.

The clip shows the unknown man walking up to VERS located in Hell's Kitchen Saturday night -- after hurling the brick at the window, he runs off as people nearby quickly turn their attention to the building.

Oddly enough, the guy appears to come back to the scene ... and it looks like he's trying to blend in -- he even points down the street, seemingly directing people toward the assailant.

This attack was the 4th in the past week ... according to owner David DeParolesa, who told the New York Post shatterproof glass windows were installed when he bought the place back in July -- anticipating anti-gay attacks.

He calls the string of attacks "unnerving," seeing it as "yet another manifestation of hate against our community."

The video appears to have been shot the exact same night as a gunman opened fire at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs ... as we reported, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich was taken into custody -- and reportedly 5 victims have died, with another 25 injured.

Aldrich had a troubling rap sheet, BTW -- getting arrested back in June 2021 after allegedly making a bomb threat against his mother.

Donald Trump is no longer persona non grata on the bird app ... all thanks to Elon Musk, who just made the decision to bring him back into the fold.

The announcement was made Saturday by EM himself, who wrote ... "The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei." He also linked to the results of a poll he posted Friday, which posed the question of whether DT should be allowed to return.

The results were pretty close, but ended up being in favor of letting Trump back on Twitter ... with 51.8% of the more than 15 million people who voted saying "Yes." 48.2% were opposed.

Elon was pretty impressed by the numbers on his own question ... saying earlier in the day that it was fascinating to see the results pour in, and later noting that at least 134 million had viewed the poll -- seemingly referencing some internal data he has access to.

Now, while Trump's account is, in fact, accessible again to the public -- this after being nothing but a blank page for well over a year now after being permanently banned post-Jan. 6 -- it doesn't appear Trump has tweeted anything yet ... and possibly might not at all.

Reports say he was quoted on Truth Social last month, saying he was going to stick to his own platform and that he was done with Twitter ... even amid the prospect of EM ownership.

His last public tweet dates back Jan. 8. Interestingly, DT's follower count took a nose-dive into the hundreds of thousands, but it's steadily climbing right now. Trump was once one of the most followed Twitter accounts at his peak, and "the people" clearly want him back.

A brutal assault of an older couple leaving the Elton John concert at Dodger Stadium this week was captured on camera -- as were the alleged assailants ... and TMZ has the video.

This incident has been going viral on social media the past couple days, and for good reason ... a man and a woman, both in their 60s, were senselessly attacked Thursday night by what we're told were a group of at least 4-6 people, this while trying to exit the parking lot.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the older couple, who'd gone to the concert by themselves, were getting ready to leave when a woman allegedly punched their sideview mirror, causing the husband to get out, confront her and and seek an explanation.

We're told the woman then tried to swing on the older man, who blocked her. At this point, our sources say the gentleman was mobbed by at least two men who started wailing on him ... part of which is on video. This footage is graphic, but you can see him being pummeled.

Sadly, it wasn't over yet ... we're told the wife hopped out to help her husband, only to allegedly be body slammed to the ground as well by some men in the group. She was knocked unconscious, and both of them were left there helplessly as people stood around.

Our sources say bystanders filmed it, but not much else to help these poor folks. As the group tried to walk away from the scene, one man followed them and recorded ... only to apparently be attacked himself when the guy in black noticed him and pounced.

Eventually, we're told the couple was helped back into their car and the wife came to. Our sources say they were waiting for EMS to show up ... but that it took far too long for any first-responders and/or stadium security to arrive. After some time, the wife felt okay enough to drive both of them to the hospital ... where we're told the husband was admitted.

At some point, somebody recorded what we're told was one of the women who was allegedly involved being questioned by what looks like a cop. Our sources say the officer didn't realize she was one of the people who was allegedly in the mix ... and was cut loose.

The children of this couple -- who were not present during the night in question -- are now desperately pleading with the public to come forward with any information to identify the 6 people they claim thrashed their parents, and have filed a police report to boot.

As you can imagine, they want justice for their family ... as their parents could've easily been killed, and as of now -- the alleged attackers have seemingly gotten away with it scot-free.

Our law enforcement sources tell us the LAPD is aware of the incident and are investigating. No arrests have been made. We've reached out to Dodger Stadium ... no word back yet.

CBS has started what could be a devastating ripple effect on Twitter ... hitting the pause button, indefinitely, on posting new tweets amid uncertainty under Elon Musk's stewardship.

The network's news division, CBS News, announced Friday it'd be suspending all Twitter activity from its official profiles as it continues to monitor things. CBS News says it's doing this out of an abundance of caution and in light of all the tumultuous updates.

Word of CBS News' decision was first reported Friday during that night's broadcast of "CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell," during which reporter Jonathan Vigliotti seemingly announced the move on behalf of the entire company. CBS confirmed it shortly thereafter.

Vigliotti was reporting on the rumored chaos at the bird app's HQ ... where a majority of employees are said to have quit recently, leaving Twitter as a bare-bones operation and at risk of completely shutting down. That hasn't happened quite yet, but the fear is there.

CBS News's last original tweet links to a story about ex-WH Press Sec. Jen Psaki's failed effort to quash a subpoena she's been roped into. The account also retweeted a TV segment discussing the DOJ's new special counsel investigating Trump. Both of those were posted almost a full 24 hours ago, and CBS News hasn't tweeted anything new since.

Ditto for local affiliates, it seems. KPIX -- the Bay Area's CBS News arm -- hasn't tweeted anything since yesterday either ... and that policy seems to apply to most, if not all, of CBS's stations across the country. We should note, they're still posting stories to their home pages.

The reason this is a big deal -- assuming it carries on for an extended amount of time -- is because Twitter has become the go-to source for news ... not just for users, but for news organizations themselves. A lot of outlets rely on Twitter to get news out quickly, not to mention the traffic captured as one of the key social media sites and the wide reach it carries.

CBS News refusing to tweet is a major statement, and if it catches on among other big publishers ... it could make Twitter even less relevant, sparking a true mass exodus.

A truck that had malfunctioned during a parade route in North Carolina hit a young woman in a freak accident ... only to have been stopped in its tracks by a group of brave men.

This incident went down Saturday morning near downtown Raleigh, where the annual Christmas parade was being held. Around 10:25 AM ET, a lifted pickup truck that was pulling one of the floats failed to slow down as it was trailing a dance group full of young people.

The driver was reportedly blasting his horn and shouting at people to clear the lane, as he had lost control of the vehicle and couldn't stop. It seems the brakes may have failed.

Videos of the truck wading through is absolutely terrifying, as no one seems to know what's going on or if it's part of the parade or not. It definitely wasn't ... and the truck rolled on and began picking up speed. Some of the dancers were reportedly as young as 5 years old.

Reports say the truck started to hit a downhill area just after the intersection of Hillsborough Street and Boylan Ave. -- and after the crowd realized what was happening ... cops and other bystanders sprung into action, running in front of the truck and pushing back on it.

About 6 men, including 2 cops, halted the truck to a standstill ... at which point the driver was able to exit. Some damage had already been done though -- at least one girl, who was with the dance troupe, was struck and hospitalized. The extent of her injuries are unknown.

The rest of the parade was canceled and an investigation is underway.

Shanquella Robinson's mysterious death in Mexico smells like a set up to her father ... he tells TMZ he believes his daughter was attacked as part of a diabolical plan.

Shanquella, who was from North Carolina, was found dead last month in her room in Los Cabos ... where she was vacationing with a group of friends. Her parents say the friends told them the 25-year-old died of alcohol poisoning.

However, her parents now say Mexican authorities have told them Shanquella died from blunt force trauma to her neck and spine -- and a brutal new video does indeed show a woman beating up Shanquella while she was naked in a room.

Her dad, Bernard Robinson, was very emotional as he told TMZ ... his daughter was not the fighting type, so she would never get into a physical altercation, leading him to theorize this was a planned attack.

At the very least, the video supports Bernard's point about his daughter's temperament -- Shanquella was not fighting back during the assault. He says it all feels like a set up to him, because her friends back home would never have let this happen.

He suspects her attackers left her body in the hotel room for a housekeeper to find.

The video is hard for anyone to watch, but that's especially so for Bernard ... who said it hurts to know others were in the room idly watching as his only child was attacked. He hopes those responsible are arrested and sentenced to life in prison.

Taylor Swift is sorry for her fans who feel they were screwed by Ticketmaster in trying to score tickets for her tour ... blasting the company for failing to deliver on its promise for a smooth rollout.

The singer just broke her silence on the concert ticket disaster, with a lengthy statement on her Instagram Story where she's royally pissed at Ticketmaster ... echoing the same feelings from her legions of fans.

Taylor says she's extremely protective of her fans and adds, "It's really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse."

TS also says, "There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I’m trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward."

She's pretty pissed at Ticketmaster, explaining ... "I'm not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could. It's truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them."

As we reported, there were tons of issues and delays with the Ticketmaster presale, and the ticket giant even canceled the public sale, and now the resale market is seeing sky-high price tags.

Taylor ends with a message to the fans who didn't get lucky enough to score tickets ... saying, "My hope is to provide more opportunities for us to all get together and sing these songs. Thank you for wanting to be there. You have no idea how much that means."

Taylor Swift fans lucky enough to get their hands on presale tickets could cash in for tens of thousands of dollars now -- the resale market is absolutely exploding in the wake of Ticketmaster canceling the public sale.

We've checked out seat maps on StubHub in some of the biggest cities Taylor will hit next year on her Eras tour, and the pricing is insane. Mind you, Taylor's doing multiple shows in each city -- so, the following astronomical costs are PER ticket for Saturday shows (typically the most popular) in each city.

Fans hoping to score tickets for Taylor's SoFi Stadium in L.A. show will fork over a minimum of $400, and that's behind the stage ... while the most expensive seat is currently listed at $4,549.

You can score some nosebleeds for $765 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, or shell out $11,475 for the floor.

However, those prices pale in comparison to the $22,500 you'll pay to see Taylor from the front row at Gillette Stadium in suburban Boston, and the "cheap" seats are $675. There's also Soldier Field in Chicago, where you can sit in the nosebleeds for $800 and land a floor seat for around $5,000.

As we reported, Swifties spiraled this week after Ticketmaster seemingly botched the presale -- causing millions of fans to wait online for several hours to secure seats to Taylor's first tour in years. Turns out they're the lucky ones.

Far more fans got zippo, and will now have to pay through the nose. Honestly, they'll be the ones singing "Look what you made me do" ... to Ticketmaster!!!

Things got so bad, Ticketmaster announced Thursday the general public on-sale, scheduled for Friday, was canceled "due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand."

What's more ... the attorney general in Tennessee announced Wednesday he'll be investigating the ticketing giant for possible antitrust law violations.

Elon Musk will tell ya the reports of Twitter's death are greatly exaggerated -- in fact, although news spread quickly the app's on the verge of shutdown, Elon says it had one of its best days ever.

Thursday night, while #RIPTwitter became the number 1 trending topic in the U.S., the Chief Twit himself tweeted, "We just hit another all-time high in Twitter usage lol ... let that sink in."

That tweet came after hundreds of his employees reportedly quit ... following his demands for people within the company to work "long hours at high intensity" or get booted.

The deadline for jumping ship or staying aboard was reportedly Thursday at 5 PM ... and it looks like a good amount were fine with saying goodbye.

The reported mass jump prompted millions of tweeters to take it as a sign of the end for the bird app ... although the surge to which Elon referred might have a lot to do with people using the "dead" platform to talk about its death.

Pretty damn meta (not you, Zuckerberg).

FYI -- a pretty cold projection popped up on the company's HQ in San Fran Thursday night, during this "all-time high" ... calling Elon a slew of names that just gets more and more brutal.