Viral

NASCAR speed demon Ryan Preece is lucky to be alive after his car wildly flipped over nearly a dozen times during a race in Florida.

Preece was zooming around the track in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs stock car race at Daytona International Speedway Saturday night when he ran into some serious trouble.

Check out the video ... with just six laps to go, Preece's car suddenly cuts across the track and goes airborne before tumbling over 10 times and coming to a stop in the infield.

A medical team responded, helping Preece out of his mangled car, which appeared to be on fire. Preece was placed on a stretcher and rushed to a local hospital for treatment.

It's not clear what caused the accident in the 16-car race, which was won by Chris Buescher. As a result of his loss, Preece was eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

The "Riverdale" series finale left viewers puzzled, putting the show's main characters in a four-way relationship ... a decision that's really pissed off the polyamorous community.

If you didn't catch the episode, it was a strange one -- which became par for the show -- but the "shocking twist" included a sequence where Archie, Betty, Jughead and Veronica were part of a quad-relationship.

Reactions were mixed, but many fans felt show creators only used the relationship for a "wow factor."

We spoke to Brett Chamberlin, Executive Director, OPEN (Organization for Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy) who tells us, though "tempting to celebrate every portrayal of non-monogamy in popular media," it needs to be done both responsibly and from a place of understanding.

He continues... "It's frustrating that Riverdale used its characters' non-monogamous relationship as a 'shocking twist' rather than engaging with an authentic portrayal of non-monogamy as simply being part of people's identities."

Chamberlin continues, "We didn't see or hear anything about why these characters practice non-monogamy, what it means for them, the substance of their relationship agreements and communication practices, or any of the other underlying motivations and work that makes relationships of any type function."

Steve Harvey asked fans which comedian they thought was the worst , and it sounds like word of that just made its way back to the man himself ... 'cause he's apologizing.

The veteran comic and jack-of-all-trades host hopped online with a personal video Friday -- showing that he's out in nature -- and he addresses a recent tweet posted by his personal account. A simple question was posed ... "A Comedian you don't find funny at all?"

Steve says he's got official social media people handling his accounts, and insists it wasn't him who posted it ... going on to lament the tweet as mean-spirited and downright negative.

It's unclear what sorts of names people responded with ... but the fact Steve felt he needed to clarify his/his team's intent suggests it got some traction on X.

A screenshot of the since-deleted tweet shows that it was viewed at least a million times, so folks definitely saw it.

Anyway, Steve says the explanation he got from his handlers was that they were just trying to get some engagement ... but he adds they're gonna be needing new employment now.

Nicki Minaj fans are on the hunt for "Stephanie Bell," who has a warrant for arrest after allegedly swatting the rapper, but lots of folks with the same name are getting caught in the crossfire.

Here's the deal, Stephanie Bell just isn't the most unique name, and ever since Nicki name-dropped her alleged harasser ... everyone with that name is taking it on the chin, at least on social media.

Some of the Stephanies are coming forward to air their grievances.

One wrote, "I've never been so angry at another Stephanie Bell. You're f***ing it up for all of us.." and another said, "Why y'all still in my inbox."

For what it's worth, some Stephanie Bells online know all about Nicki, but not about her swatting issue ... so, they're pretty confused about why the Barbz are swarming.

BTW, it doesn't sound like anyone getting dragged is the real Stephanie in question ... at least, not yet.

As we reported, law enforcement sources told us Bell, who Nicki put on blast Wednesday, is facing 2 charges of deliberately reporting a false emergency.

We also confirmed there is, indeed, a warrant out for her arrest, as Nicki claimed.

TMZ broke the story, cops told us the attempted swatting occurred in June, with an anonymous caller claiming child abuse was going down at Nicki's L.A.-area home.

Miguel put on a spine-tingling performance at his album party Friday night ... getting hooks inserted into his back before he was hoisted high up in the air by suspension equipment.

The singer hit the stage at Sony Studios in Los Angeles for a 4-song set to promote his upcoming album, VISCERA, after the crowd was told beforehand Miguel would be putting on an innovative, "boundary-pushing" show.

And the dude wasn't lying. Check out the video ... Miguel, shirtless, parked himself on a sitting cube as three assistants stuck two metal hooks through temporary piercings in his skin on either side of his back.

The hooks were then connected to a suspension machine, which lifted Miguel off the ground and close to the ceiling as he belted out his tune, "Rope."

After hovering for about 4 minutes, the machine lowered Miguel to the stage, where his assistants removed the hooks from his back.

The audience loved it and wildly clapped at the end.

We're told Miguel prepped for this event for months, doing test runs with his team of experts who specialize in body suspension.

President Joe Biden rubbed salt into Donald Trump’s wounds Friday, chuckling about his rival's now infamous mug shot while making a snarky remark.

JB poked fun at DT after he walked out of a Pilates class in South Tahoe, California, and answered a few questions from a gaggle of reporters waiting outside.

Biden was asked if he saw Trump’s booking photo and he started laughing, saying he caught the image on TV.

POTUS then mocked Trump, calling him a “handsome guy, wonderful guy.”

Some observers didn’t take kindly to Biden's remarks and booed him, showing the deep divide between voters and just how ugly our politics have become.

And Trump is in the middle of it with his myriad of legal woes stemming from the last presidential election. As you know, the 45th President has been indicted on state and federal charges in four jurisdictions around the country.

This past week, Trump posed for his historic mug shot at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia, where he stands accused of trying to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Huge bummer for Daniel Ricciardo -- the AlphaTauri driver will not compete in the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend ... after breaking his wrist in practice.

The accident went down during the second round of laps on Friday ... when McLaren's Oscar Piastri crashed into a barrier, which led to Ricciardo wrecking his car as well.

The 34-year-old -- who was visibly in pain -- was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment ... and it was later revealed he busted his wrist in the crash, forcing him to back out of this weekend's race.

Liam Lawson will take Ricciardo's seat for AlphaTauri ... which elected against bringing back Nyck de Vries, who started the season on the grid for the organization.

Ricciardo was slated to make his third start of the season ... and has yet to score a point for AlphaTauri.

DR is beloved in the sport ... and many fans were thrilled when he returned to competition in July. He's racked up eight wins and 32 podiums throughout his career.

Steve Irwin's bizarre and tragic manner of death nearly played out again ... this time on a Florida beach where a stingray's venomous spine missed killing a woman by mere inches.

Kristie O'Brien was on Apollo Beach, South of Tampa, on Tuesday, and when she waded into the water she says she immediately felt a searing sting ... although she didn't know what was causing it.

It wasn't until she turned to walk out of the water that her husband -- who was on shore -- saw the live stingray hanging from Kristie's back ... with the barb on its tail buried about 4 inches into the skin near her right shoulder blade, just missing her lungs.

Kristie says she tried to stay calm, but felt like she was certainly going to die. She says Steve Irwin's death-by-stingray instantly popped into her head.

Paramedics arrived and used shears to cut off the stingray at the base of its tail, leaving the barb impaling Kristie. She was rushed to a hospital, where doctors carefully removed the animal's tail ... and started treatment to counter the stingray venom.

She's still hospitalized, but just to make sure there's no bacterial infection from the water. Kristie says she still has waves of pain at the puncture site, but insists she'll go back in the water.

Donald Trump's now infamous mug shot was not the only hot topic burning up the Internet Thursday ... there was a HUGE debate over 45's physical attributes on his booking form.

As everyone already knows, the ex-POTUS surrendered to authorities at the Fulton County Jail last night after he was criminally indicted for allegedly trying to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

DT posed for his scowling mug shot, which was then beamed around the world. Then something else caught the public's eye ... on his booking sheet, Trump's hair was described as "Blond or Strawberry," and his height and weight were listed as 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds.

Many people -- mostly on the left -- weren't buying DT's physical description and took to "X," the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to weigh in on the matter.

Film Director Rob Reiner wrote, "215 pounds. No f**king way!"

Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett insisted, "There is ZERO chance Trump is 6'3 and 215 pounds."

NFL reporter Scott Kacsmar posted a side-by-side photo comparison of chubby Trump and muscled football star Larry Fitzgerald, each with nearly the same physical characteristics. The caption read, "LIKE HELL."

ABC News noted Trump's height and weight were pre-reported to the jail to speed up the booking process ... giving skeptics even more ammo to think the numbers don't add up.

Carlos Santana fans hoping to hear the legendary musician play some of his hits got that and more at a recent show ... as the guitarist went off on a bizarre anti-trans rant.

A viral clip, reportedly recorded at his concert in New Jersey last month, Santana says, "When God made you and me, before we came out of the womb, you know who you are and what you are. Later on, when you grow out of it, you see things, and you start believing that you could be something that sounds good, but you know it ain’t right."

He continues, without mincing words, "Because a woman is a woman and a man is a man. That’s it. Whatever you wanna do in the closet, that’s your business. I’m OK with that.”

Santana then went on to say he and Dave Chappelle -- who got in trouble for his anti-trans remarks -- were on the same level and shared the same views.

Chrissy Teigen's got 4 young kiddos of her own, so her latest collab on a wagon with Wonderfold would seemingly be a hit ... but that's not how customers are seeing it, review-bombing the product's online page.

Chrissy's limited edition W4 Petal Pop Stroller Wagon retails for $999 with a pink flowery design. The product was released Wednesday, and was an almost immediate sellout ... but the internet trolls still had their way, flocking to the comment and review section to attack.

At the time of this post, 40 of the wagon's 46 reviews were 1-star ... and it's got an overall rating of 1.5 out of 5 stars.

As for why the nastiness, some just don't like the design, while other people are still bringing up Chrissy's past incidents of online bullying. One review reads, "There is no way this company purposefully chose such a vile person to work with. To sell a product with its purpose to be used with CHILDREN, you chose a “woman” who told a CHILD (Courtney Stodden) to kill herself?!"

Another writes, "I would never use a wagon with her name on it. Even if it wasn't cheap and tacky looking," there's also, "The colors are not great.. looks like cotton candy threw up on an ice cream cart. That price?! Absolutely insane! Don’t even get me started on collaborating with someone so vicious and horrid as Chrissy T… in such poor taste! Wonder gold shame on you!! Lost my business!"

A bizarre scene in Seattle as a burglary suspect decided to chug from a can of gasoline as cops moved in for his arrest.

The footage is wild, you see a guy sitting inside a truck parked in a garage as cops shout commands for him to get out of the vehicle. The guy takes a swig of the gasoline, as officers inform they're about to break a window, which doesn't really phase the alleged crook.

Once the glass is broken, the dude takes another gulp before officers wrestle the gasoline away from him, drag him out of the truck and into handcuffs.

Unclear what the alleged burglar thought he'd accomplish with the stunt, though at one point during his arrest it sounds like he says, "Shoot me" ... so it could've been an attempt at self-harm.

As for how the whole thing started -- a spokesperson from the Seattle, WA Police Department says they got a call from a 17-year-old girl Friday about a man trying to break into her parents' home.

In the body cam footage, you see officers force entry into the home, search for the girl and eventually find the suspect in the garage ... where the gasoline scene unfolds.

You can't see Angel Reese on the court OR in class -- the LSU superstar says she's so popular on campus these days, she has to handle all her academics online!!

The Tigers forward revealed the adjustment in a new interview with Teen Vogue this week ... saying she wasn't expecting to blow up the way she did after the women's hoops team won its first-ever championship back in April.

"I didn't think I was going to be on Shade Room every time I post something," Reese said.

Reese -- who went viral after making John Cena/Tony Yayo's famous gesture all up in Iowa baller Caitlin Clark's face -- explained the attention she got in Baton Rouge became a little bit too much for the 21-year-old student-athlete.

"I don't feel like I'm a celebrity, but I think a lot of people look at me as a celebrity now because of the impact I've had on not just women's basketball, but sports in general, and Black women," Reese said. "Things have changed for me."

Her money has also changed -- Reese signed several NIL deals worth up to $1.6 million since becoming a star, but she's not letting the money and fame distract her from what's most important to her.

"School's first, basketball is next," Reese said. "I wouldn't be here without school and basketball, so that's my priority."

Once she's done with that, Angel said she plans to play in the WNBA ... and hopes to retire her mom ASAP.

"My mom is my rock," Reese added. "Everything I do is just for her and my brother."

Peso Pluma and Eslabon Armado’s "Ella Baila Sola" is officially crowned the global Song of the Summer by Spotify -- a massive hit, reportedly collecting 367 million streams throughout the season!!!

"Ella Baila Sola" has made history since being released in March ... it was the first regional Mexican song to grace late-night television when Peso performed on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" in May, and the first of its kind to top the Billboard Global 200!!!

Variety first reported the news, along with the complete list of Spotify's Top 20 Songs of the Summer which includes heavyweights Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny and Olivia Rodrigo, but there's a glaring lack of hip hop representation -- mirroring the complaints several artists have had over the lack of quality this year.

UK rappers Dave and Central Cee's blockbuster duet "Sprinter" is the only actual rap song to make the list, and Latto is the only American rapper -- having gone No. 1 with BTS Jung Kook a few weeks ago with their "Seven" collab.

Hot 97 DJ and Apple Music exec Ebro Darden recently claimed record labels are now prioritizing African and Latin music over hip hop -- indicative of Spotify's summer results and this week also marked a full year since rap reigned supreme on the Hot 100.

YouTuber Fousey had a frightening interaction with cops while live streaming ... cussing out officers and being taken in for a mental health evaluation.

Fousey was streaming on Kick Tuesday night at the InterContinental Miami hotel -- you can hear him screaming at a police dispatcher on the phone as someone from his team tries to get him to calm down.

Fousey tells the dispatcher someone's been harassing him, or possibly even threatening to kill him ... and in an attempt to get cops to hurry to his hotel room, he tells them he has a gun pointed at his head and is begging officers to speed over there.

Cops eventually arrive and end up cuffing Fousey after all the ruckus -- and as he calls them "dumb as f***."

Miami PD tells TMZ ... cops did not arrest Fousey, but determined he needed to be brought to the hospital for a mental health evaluation. Sources close to the situation tell us he's been the victim of constant harassment, threats, and swatting -- and it's taken its toll.

The claim of constant harassment seems to be supported, as at least one other streamer was live around the same time and calling the cops on Fousey -- telling dispatch he's armed.

For those unaware, Fousey's fans have been concerned about his mental health lately ... after freaking out when he said the n-word on a live stream marathon earlier this month while rapping along to J. Cole's "Love Yourz."

He claimed it was an accident, and sat down with us on the "TMZ Verified" Podcast, telling us all the reasons why he deeply regretted saying the racial slur.

He also told his followers earlier this month he was going to go to the doctor after his close friends and family wanted him to get a mental health evaluation.

Ya gotta give this Little League World Series player an A for effort -- one kid tried to shrink the strike zone as much as possible during an at-bat on Tuesday ... by practically sitting in the box!!

It all went down during Mexico's matchup against Venezuela ... when second baseman Santiago Hernandez stepped up to the plate in the top of the 5th inning.

With a 1-0 count, Hernandez crouched down until he was basically in the dirt ... but unfortunately for him, his master plan didn't go according to plan, as Venezuela's pitcher threw a strike.

The announcers got a good laugh out of it ... wondering if the young athlete had practiced the stunt in the past.

As it turns out, the Little League rulebook specifically addresses this sort of thing -- stating a batter's strike zone is determined based on their normal stance ... displayed when they swing at a pitch or take a practice whiff.

In other words, Hernandez's crouching didn't change his strike zone one bit ... resulting in a called strike.