Weird News

Here's something you probably didn't know: the stars of "Duck Dynasty" are hardcore Christian evangelists who frequently preach at their local church ... and TMZ has video of some of last weekend's sermons.

A ministry assistant at White's Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, LA tells TMZ, Phil Robertson and his family have been active at the church for more than 30 years.

We're told Phil regularly gives fiery sermons -- but last weekend, the entire family joined in, when the church celebrated Duck Commander Sunday ... a yearly tradition where the entire Robertson family preaches to the congregation in full camo (not kidding).

Funny... we're told the Duck Commander Sunday tradition existed long before the A&E reality show.

Anthony Weiner isn't just an a-hole to Brits and women and school teachers ... he's also a prick to Jews -- and today in NY, he screamed at one inside of a Jewish bakery.

Weiner was being his typical unlikable self ... when a voter made a comment about why he thought the habitual self-dong photographer should fold his campaign.

Weiner, unhappy with the comment, called the guy a jackass ... and went off on another condescending attack ... proving, once again, he's the worst campaigner of all time.

Happy Rosh Hashanah everybody.

9/5/13 -- Turns out, the guy Weiner was screaming at had talked smack about Anthony's wife right before the eruption ... and it was all caught on tape.

In new footage, you can hear the Jewish man tell Weiner, "You're a real scumbag" .... and, "You're married to an Arab."

That's when Weiner lost his cool.

So, now that we know this information, do ya blame Weiner for going ballistic on the guy?

Dave Chappelle is lashing out about the people who heckled him in Hartford, CT last week ... calling the crowd a bunch of "young, white alcoholics" and saying he wanted to pull a "reverse Kramer."

Chappelle took the stage at a show in Chicago last night ... and immediately went off on Hartford -- where he engaged in a nasty stand-off with the crowd after several loudmouthed fans heckled him during his set.

"I don't want anything bad to happen to the United States," Chappelle said ... "but if North Korea ever drops a nuclear bomb on this country, I swear to God I hope it lands in Hartford, Connecticut."

Chappelle then called the crowd "evil" ... and described them as a bunch of "young, white alcoholics."

"I wanted to pull a reverse Kramer and call them all crackers or something crazy like that."

Chappelle was obviously referring to the TMZ footage of Michael Richards during his insane N-bomb tirade at the Laugh Factory back in 2006.

In the end, Dave says the crowd in Hartford was lucky to see him "freak out" that night -- explaining, "That s**t's like being at a f**king tiger show the night Sigfried and Roy got their throats bit out by the tiger ... you don't go to see somebody be safe."

John Cusack has been haunted for years by emails, letters, tweets, and voice mails from a woman who claims angels told her she and Cusack are supposed to be together -- the very same woman who was arrested at his home yesterday.

As TMZ first reported ... Cusack requested, and was granted, a temporary restraining order against Elizabeth Pahlke, on August 30 ... which requires her to stay 100 yards away from the actor and his security guard.

In his filing, Cusack says Pahlke has been blasting him with every form of communication under the sun for the past 3 years -- but the last straw came Aug. 29 when she left a letter at his house, and then waited for him outside.

Cusack says when Pahlke followed him as he left the house ... he called cops, and she was arrested and placed on a 5150 hold.

In the docs, Cusack says Pahlke "claims that the angels told her that we were together in a previous life, and that she needs to be with me now in order for me to remember how special she was to me."

Law enforcement sources tell us Pahlke was informed of the TRO yesterday -- and shortly afterward went straight to Cusack's house.

As we previously reported ... she was arrested for felony stalking and burglary. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department was at the house today ... dusting for fingerprints.

Suri Cruise is on the mend after breaking her arm recently, rocking a badass plaster cast in NYC yesterday filled with signatures and doodles from friends -- including some mysterious words of advice ... "no butt smacking with this."

We don't know who would write "no butt smacking" on a 7-year-old's cast, OR WHY, but Suri should probably listen.

Luckily, Suri looked in good spirits despite the busted limb, holding on to her mama's hand.

Ex-beauty queen Shanna Moakler knows all about quick weight loss ... because she just had 2.5 liters of fat slurped right out of her ... and TMZ has the photo to prove it.

Shanna stopped by Elite Body Sculpture in Beverly Hills on Tuesday for some quick body work -- a procedure called Airbrush Laser Liposculpture.

According to the EBS website, the doctor doesn't use a scalpel, but rather a circular-shaped device that leaves a scar that's smaller than a pencil top eraser.

We're told Shanna wanted some extra help tightening up her stomach ... because she's had a tough time getting back into pre-baby shape after birthing 3 kids.

After the procedure, the doc gave Shanna a jar of the removed lard -- which measured out to 2.5 liters of the fat stuff.

For all you metrically-challenged people -- 2.5 liters is equal to 84.5 ounces ... which is almost 3 Big Gulps.

The best part -- after Shanna lost the fat, she raced straight from the doc's office to Boa Steakhouse on the Sunset Strip and woofed down a big ol' juicy steak ... 'cause why the hell not?

JOEY CHESTNUT IS BACK!!!

The greatest competitive eater on the face of the planet returned to form this weekend at the rib cook-off in Reno, NV and took FIRST PLACE ... edging out the guy who beat him in the Gyoza championships last month.

Like Magic vs. Bird or Ali vs. Frazier ... Chestnut bellied up to the table next to rival Matt Stonie and put down 13.76 pounds of ribs in 12 minutes at the 8th Annual Nugget World Rib Eating Championship at John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino Resort.

21-year-old Stonie -- who many consider the future of competitive eating -- came in a close 2nd with 11.2 pounds of rib meat.

Both men crushed the previous record of 9.8 pounds ... which was set in 2008 by, you guessed it, Joey Chestnut.

Thanks to our friends at Getaway Reno/Tahoe for the rib footage.

Enough is enough ... Russian President and alleged Super Bowl ring snatcher Vladimir Putin needs to get that ring back on U.S. soil ASAP ... so says Senator John McCain.

Our photog caught up with Sen. McCain in Georgetown Sunday and broke down President Obama's chances of resolving the greatest threat to US-Russian relations since that thing in Cuba.

McCain -- a true American war hero (just sayin') -- says he's outraged and makes it clear ... the SB bling Putin took from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft ... belongs back in the U.S. of A.

FYI --- Putin denies stealing the ring in 2005, his people say it was a gift. Riiiight.

So, can Prez O -- who's heading to Russia this week -- get it back? Check out JMC's take.

Kanye West raked in MILLIONS of dollars this weekend to play a gig in ... wait for it ... waaaaait for it ... KAZAKHSTAN!!! Very nice.

Our Central Asian sources tell us ... Kanye was invited by President Nursultan Nazarbayev to perform at his grandson's wedding Saturday night in Almaty at the Hotel Royal Tulip. Very nice.

We're told Kanye was paid a hefty sum -- in the neighborhood of $3 mil -- to perform his big hits, including "Can't Tell Me Nothing". One of the wedding guests posted this video of KW on stage.

FYI -- Kazakhstan's prez is reportedly worth billions, and is considered by some to be an ardent dictator who rigs elections. In 2011, Sting backed out of a paid gig for Nazarbayev due to alleged mistreatment of oil workers in the country. Not so nice.

Justin Bieber was bum rushed in a Canadian nightclub by an over eager partier who tried in vain to tackle him -- and TMZ has the pics.

It all went down at 3 am today at a Toronto nightclub. Sources on scene tell us JB left his safe VIP section to mingle with the regular folk -- and that's when a male clubgoer charged at him, got hold of his shirt (which he was wearing) and attempted to take him down, but failed.

Which makes sense ... have you seen Bieber's abs? Of course you have.

In the pics ... you can see security rushed in stat (below) and managed to pull the guy off Bieber -- successfully taking him to the ground. In the midst of the chaos we're told JB was seen trying to defend himself, unleashing a fury of kicks.

The attacker was escorted out of the club. Police were never called.

Here's 44-year-old "The Life Aquatic" star Cate Blanchett at her movie premiere in Paris earlier this week (left) -- and an old scrap of fishing net filled with sea debris (right).

What knot to wear.

Ted Nugent's wife says she carried a loaded handgun through airport security this week BY ACCIDENT ... a gun she owned because of death threats she had been receiving ... this according to the police report stemming from her arrest.

TMZ broke the story ... 51-year-old Shemane Deziel was busted Thursday morning at Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport for bringing a gun into the terminal.

But according to the police report, she didn't just bring the gun into the terminal ... she actually left it in her carry-on bag to bring it onto the plane ... and it was LOADED.

TSA screeners said they spotted the Smith & Wesson 38 special revolver on an x-ray monitor, and when police inspected Deziel's luggage, they noticed it was loaded with 5 rounds of ammunition with an additional 10 rounds packed in a side pocket of her bag.

Shemane said she had forgotten the gun was in her bag, but stated she had a concealed handgun license in Texas.

After Shemane was placed under arrest, she told police she began to carry the gun for protection after receiving death threats. She didn't specify where the threats were coming from or why she was receiving them. The gun and ammo were seized as evidence.

Dave Chappelle went off on an angry crowd in Connecticut last night -- refusing to perform his material and telling the the audience to BOO THEMSELVES after he was heckled during the show.

Chappelle had only been on stage for a few minutes when he started to become irritated with some loudmouthed people in the crowd. As an act of defiance, Chappelle reportedly sat on his stool and with his mouth shut for several minutes.

Eventually, Chappelle grabbed the mic and told the crowd: "I f**ked up when I left my show, you know why? 'Cause my show only has to be 22 minutes of television. I could've went on television, I could've read the phone book for 22 minutes and I would've got $50 million dollars."

"I shoulda done that sh*t but my ego wouldn't let me. Tonight is different. Tonight my contract says 25 minutes and I have 3 minutes left. and when my 3 minutes is up, my ass is gone."

When people started to boo the comic, Chappelle responded, "You're booing yourself."

After the show, dozens of pissed off fans demanded a refund.

People seem to be divided over Chappelle's reaction -- with comics like Patton Oswalt blaming the crowd: "Dear Dave Chappelle's fans: He's one of the best comedians working, & you're not letting him do what he loves. Stop being a**holes."

Someone call the coroner ... because "Fox & Friends" host Gretchen Carlson just murdered the twerk on live TV ... and we mean that in the worst way possible.

Barely a month after his Loch Ness monster mission failed, Charlie Sheen is back on the hunt for crazy mythological creatures ... this time in snowy, snowy Alaska ... Charlie's favorite.

Charlie tells TMZ, he flew up to Sitka, AK on his private jet last week in search of the mythic Kushtaka, which loosely translates to "Land otter man."

Stories about the elusive Kushtaka originated among natives in Southeastern Alaska ... and according to Charlie, it's "a shape-shifting trickster who is half man, half otter. It lures one away from the campsite with the mimicked sounds of a crying baby, then kills you, takes on YOUR form, and returns to the scene for more suckers or prey."

Charlie says he embarked into the wilderness with some friends in order to find the creature ... but just like on his Nessie mission, he returned empty-handed. Sheen has since flown back to civilization.

Charlie tells us, "It obviously knew our group was far too skilled to be snowed in this fashion so it stayed hidden like a sissy."

Yeah, that's what happened.

Now we know why things have been so quiet in Calabasas ... turns out, Justin Bieber's been on vacation with his pal Lil Za in the Bahamas... where they splashed around with an entire shiver of sharks and TMZ has the pics.

Fun Fact -- a group of sharks is called a "shiver" ... like a "murder" of crows or a "pod" of whales. Weird, right?

Anyway, Bieb and Za stripped down to their swim suits (Za appeared to be in his undies) and played in the turquoise water at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club ... where they hung out with some local Nurse sharks.

Don't worry ... there was no real danger -- while Nurse sharks can grow up to 14ft and weigh over 700 lbs, they generally don't attack humans ...

... unlike some other people we know.