Weird News

If ya can't get the recipe for Popeyes' stupidly popular chicken sandwich, here's the next best thing -- a tasty loophole to get around the national shortage, and all ya need is some buns, hun!!!

The chicken joint tells us it's really simple to recreate the taste of their sando, which became a cultural phenomena when it debuted last month. We're told if you stop by a Popeyes with a bun of your own, order a 3-piece tender. Put 'em in between the bread and ... voila!!!

Think BYOB ... for buns.

The guys who got millions of people hyped about storming Area 51 this month are telling their tinfoil hat-wearing followers to STOP -- and just get weird with them in Downtown Vegas, instead.

We spoke to Matty Roberts and Frank DiMaggio on "TMZ Live" -- they're the original Facebook event planners who are now organizing a free music festival instead of an illegal raid -- and the two of 'em explained why they had to change up their viral plans.

ICYMI, Matty's Facebook page amassed over 2 million people, who said they were down to break into the mysterious military facility come September 20. Of course, they were going to be met by the heavy hand of the law if they did ... so the chiefs reconsidered.

Instead of an assault on the premise, Matty and Frank decided to bring people together over music instead -- initially planning a festival in neighboring Rachel, Nevada.

Well ... those plans fell through too. MR and FD say the people they thought would be providing infrastructure in the middle of nowhere had gone AWOL, so they wisely decided to relocate closer to the Earthlings(ish) of Sin City. You can tell in this clip they're trying to avoid becoming Fyre Fest 2.0 ... Mojave Desert edition!

PGA Tour stud Paul Casey nearly had one less trophy on his mantle this week ... and it's all 'cause he struck a bug with his golf ball on a routine putt!!

Here's the deal ... Casey was playing in the European Tour's Porsche European Open in Germany last week -- when he lined up for a short putt on one of the holes.

Casey pulled back his club, struck the golf ball ... and he sank the shot no problem!

BUT ... turns out, there was a small issue -- video replay showed Casey's ball had struck a tiny bug on its way to the hole.

And -- as every no golfer knows -- hitting a bug on the green is giant no-no ... and could have resulted in a huge penalty!!!

Per golf rules, when a ball hits a person, animal (including bugs!) or movable obstruction on the green, the stroke is NOT supposed to count.

But, since Casey did not KNOWINGLY hit the little critter ... tournament officials let it slide -- and the 42-year-old ended up winning the event by two strokes.

As for the bug, we're pretty sure it survived the brutal assault.

The U.S. Coast Guard is on a search and rescue mission for four missing crew members of a cargo ship that completely flipped over off the shores of Georgia.

The 656-foot long vessel -- which was carrying a bunch of vehicles and leaving a major port near Brunswick, GA very early Sunday AM -- was said to be tipping to its left side shortly after it started moving. Eventually, it completely capsized, and the CG was dispatched.

Reports say that a fire broke out on-board after it started tipping over, but eventually the billowing smoke ceased. Of the 23 crew members and one pilot on the ship, all but 4 have been accounted for so far, according to the military branch. Their search continues.

It's unclear at this point what exactly caused the cargo ship to begin to tip in the first place -- and the Coast Guard won't say definitively if Hurricane Dorian had anything to do with it.

It'd be strange if Dorian did affect this somehow -- as the hurricane made brief contact with Georgia last week, but it has since moved north and been downgraded significantly.

Some witnesses say the cargo ship was passing another vessel that was coming into the port as it started heading out, and suggested that might've had something to do with causing the tip. That hasn't been confirmed though by the Coast Guard.

Whatever it was ... it was a force strong enough to completely flip over this giant machine. Scary stuff, no doubt.

Antonio Brown might wanna watch his back ...

O.J. Simpson is pretty upset with the Raiders WR -- claiming Brown's drama in Oakland is really putting a damper on his fantasy football team.

"I've been in tears," the convicted felon said in a new video ... "What's going on, Antonio Brown?!"

"I drafted Andrew Luck and 20 minutes later he retired. I drafted you, Antonio, because I admire your game."

Simpson even laid a GUILT TRIP on Brown -- saying thousands of people are depending on AB to take the field.

"Look man, play ball. Cash them big-ass checks that you're getting and move on, man. Stop with all of this drama."

George Washington's real-life hair is hitting the auction block -- and the people selling it think it'll go for tens of thousands of dollars ... can't lie, that's nuts.

That's right ... the first President of these United States is having a thick lock of what's been presented as his actual hair sold at auction next month though RR's online auction house -- which we're told is expected to fetch upwards of $50k, maybe more.

Our sources tell us this particular lock of white hair -- measuring in at 4 inches -- was cut by one of George's relatives while he was serving as Prez in 1790. It was memorialized with a handwritten "letter of provenance" (like a certificate of authenticity) in 1889 as it was passed to different parties, including the man who introduced caramel candy to America.

The letter reads, in part ... "This lock of hair was cut from the head of George Washington, about the year 1790, by a relative of his. It was presented by this same relative to Capt. Samuel Butman of Newburyport, Essex County, Massachusetts; with whom the aforesaid relative made several trips from Alexandria, Va, to the port of Newburyport."

It goes on to say that Captain Butman's widow gave the relic to someone named George M. Elliott, who went on to gift it to the guy who finally gave it to C.F. Gunther ... the caramel guy.

Wanna know something even cooler? GW supposedly didn't wear a wig -- like many of his contemporaries -- and actually powdered his own 'do. It's possible he might've had grey or white hair in 1790 (he was about 58), but George was naturally a brownish-redhead.

If you think $50k is kinda steep for old musty follicles, welp ... history's been written, and we're just paying the price. And, guess what ... it ain't cheap.

A legless Juggalo -- one of the devoted fans of the hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse -- took a wasted joyride on a golf cart and plowed into a guy ... according to a new suit.

A man claiming he attended the 20th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos at a park in Indiana this summer is suing Ninjas in Action -- the company that ran the event -- for negligence leading to his injuries. For the record, the plaintiff is NOT a Juggalo, he was there shooting a documentary.

According to the legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the Juggalos' gathering was supposed to have a rule prohibiting golf carts, four wheelers or motorized vehicles, but it was not being enforced.

The man claims around 1 AM on August 3, he was riding a motorized bike around the park when he saw a golf cart with its lights off barreling down a hill toward him. He claims he pulled over and hopped off his bike, but the cart's driver -- Alexander "Less Legs" Perkins -- lost control and smashed into him.

The plaintiff's attorney, Brandon Smith of Morgan & Morgan, alleges Perkins -- a well-known Juggalo -- was operating the golf cart pedals with a baseball bat ... due to the fact that Less Legs is missing both his legs. The man also claims Perkins was under the influence of drugs and/or booze.

Perkins claims it's all BS. He tells TMZ ... he had permission to use the cart because of his disability, and the alleged victim -- who he says was riding a motorized bike without permission -- actually ran into him. He admits he was using a bat to operate the pedals, but adds ... he was stone-cold sober.

Less Legs also claims the guy was going the wrong way on a one-way road and slammed into the front of his cart. He claims he was ejected from the cart and sustained injuries, as well.

The alleged victim says he suffered serious and permanent bodily injury, and wants money to cover past and future medical bills. He's suing the Indiana park along with Ninjas in Action, but not Perkins.

This is bonkers -- a woman whipped out a grinding saw to break into a Botox clinic this past weekend ... and it was all caught on camera.

It went down in a Houston burb Friday night at the Botox RN MD Spa, where police say a lady pulled up, tried opening the doors after hours ... and upon realizing they were locked shut, went back to her car and busted out the power tool to get inside.

The surveillance video shows the entire thing play out, and it's as wild as it sounds. The woman -- a petite blonde who appears relatively young -- is cool, calm and collected the entire time ... even as she saws her way through the entry and crawls inside.

Now, you might be thinking ... did she really need a dose of Botox THAT badly? Well, maybe. Cops say she stole an undisclosed amount of anti-aging products, and made a clean getaway after riding off in her whip.

Sugar Land police are looking for the lady, and asking the public for any help in ID'ing her. She was driving a grey Mercedes SUV, probably has zero wrinkles or crow's feet ... but lacks ability to show facial expressions.

Post Malone was practically speechless after witnessing a scary version of Russian Roulette, involving a fish hook, 4 strings and a trick that grabbed PM ... hook, line and sinker.

The impromptu magic show went down Saturday night at the Reading Festival in the UK, where Post was performing. While hanging backstage with Tyla Yaweh, local illusionist Ryan Tricks gave the "Beerbongs & Bentleys" rapper a chance to inflict some serious pain.

Here's how the trick works -- Ryan puts a fishing hook into his mouth, which has four strings looped through it ... but only one of them is actually tied and firmly attached.

Now the queasy part ... Post was tasked with yanking on three strings (his manager, Dre London, ended up helping in the end) to see if he could pick the string that wasn't knotted.

You gotta watch this -- it's totally reminiscent of Christopher Walken and Robert DeNiro in 'Deer Hunter' -- except this is REAL LIFE. Honestly, we can't tell if this was a trick or just Ryan getting super lucky.

Post didn't seem too sure either, but he was more than happy to celebrate with the guy. Beers, of course ... what else???

Phil Mickelson nearly missed his tee time due to his hotel catching on fire from a lightning strike -- but hey, at least he lived to tweet about it.

The golf legend documented the scary incident on Twitter Sunday morning, saying he and a bunch of other guests were evacuated near Medinah, IL -- where Phil's participating in the BMW Championship as part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs -- after their hotel got hit by a lightning bolt ... which apparently sent part of the facility up in flames.

Phil wrote, "How’s this for crazy? My hotel was struck by lighting, I was on top floor,we were evacuated and the place is on fire(only thing of mine on fire this week.) I can’t get back into my room and may miss my tee time because I am without clubs and clothes."

His fourth-round tee time (with Brooks Koepka and Dylan Frittelli) was scheduled for 11:52 AM ET, and he was being shuffled out of his hotel a little more than an hour before that.

Luckily for him, Phil reportedly made it to the tee just in the nick of time -- and was later escorted back to his room and was able to retrieve his gear. Phil shouted out the EMTs who helped, writing ... "EMT's were awesome! I'm going to make it. Turns out my clubs acted as a fire retardant. Lucky me."

Now, the bummer ... Phil isn't doing too hot in the tournament right now -- he's in 47th place as of this writing ... and it'll be an uphill climb to break into the top 30 he needs to be in to move on.

Also important ... it doesn't sound like Phil notified his family of the emergency, including his ma -- which his sister, Tina, made him well aware of on Twitter.

Art really does imitate life -- the "Empire" crew is firing up its cameras pretty much exactly where their former star, Jussie Smollett, insists he fell victim to a racist and homophobic attack.

FOX had a bunch of crew members from the show setting up a shot Tuesday in Chicago ... literally within a stone's throw from where Jussie says the Osundairo brothers gave him a clobbering, poured bleach on him and left a rope around his neck.

The set is literally in the shadow of Jussie's apartment building ... it's the high-rise with the reflective windows.

There are only stand-ins in these pics, but it's clear "Empire" is getting ready to shoot something. No word whether they're incorporating elements of Smollett's real-life drama into the show -- but this can't be a coincidence ... they've gotta know the significance of the location.

You'll recall ... Jussie said he got jumped around 2 AM on his way home from grabbing a sandwich, just near his apartment building on the 300 block of East North Water Street.

That's where the "Empire" team had set up camp. To give you a visualization ... here's a side-by-side of the block where the attack allegedly happened, and where production trucks are now parked.

Of course, Jussie was eventually accused of lying and making the whole thing up, and got indicted by a grand jury too. He was cleared of all criminal charges though in a tit for tat with Cook County State Attorney's Office -- but he's not out of the woods yet.

The City of Chicago is suing him for the cost of the investigation and then some, and Jussie's currently in the middle of trying to fight it.

Paris Hilton body art is a thing of the past for her ex-fiance, who replaced a tattoo of her name with something more primal ... or at least, primate.

Chris Zylka -- who was engaged to Paris for about 10 months or so last year -- popped into Chronic Ink Tattoo Shop in Markham, Ontario Sunday for a big project ... covering up his Disney-themed "Paris" tat that was spread across the bulk of his left forearm.

We're told Chris -- who's up north shooting a new Netflix show -- explained to the tattoo artist, Winson Tsai, that he wanted to cover up his "Paris" ink before he finishes his shoot by the end of the week ... while also admitting it was time for him to ditch the tat.

Welp, they definitely got the job done -- and in record time too, it seems. Chris' arm, which also featured a lion tat, now has a full-blown gorilla on it ... with leaves, for added effect.

Our sources say the work took about 6 hours total to complete, and that for this type of detailed tat ... it can run folks upwards of $1,300. It's unclear if Chris paid that though.

As for why he opted for an ape -- we're told it's because Chris felt it's a nice, peaceful animal, and his favorite one as well. RIP to that lion (and Disney "Paris" for that matter ) ... those tats are long gone from his arm now.

The Empire is striking back again, but not in a galaxy far, far away ... Darth Vader's in action high above the Clifton Suspension Bridge in the UK.

The hot air balloon is repping the Dark Side on the first day of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta in Bristol, England. The event is Europe's largest annual gathering of the big-ass gasbags, attracting more than 130 hot air balloons from around the world.

Clearly, Vader stands out among the pack ... and has us clamoring for many more 'Star Wars'-themed balloons to battle it out in the sky.

It looks like that's not going to happen, though ... so we'll settle for the other cool hot air balloons in the shape of bears, owls, and koalas.

But, we all know who their father is ... and Mark Hamill agrees.

Prisoners near El Paso are holding a bake sale for the victims of the mass shooting this weekend -- and by bake ... we actually mean baked potato.

The Otero County Prison Facility -- which is in Chaparral, New Mexico, about 30 minutes North of the Texas town -- is putting on an event Friday on its grounds, where inmates will be selling loaded baked potatoes to prison staff ... in an effort to raise money.

Nissi Jimenez, an Otero County Prison official, says the facility wanted to help their neighbors in any way possible ... figuring it would be a great way to help the grieving community with an in-house effort. All proceeds will be given to the El Paso Community Foundation, which is facilitating donations for the victims and their families.

As for how it'll work ... we're told the prison bought around 150 potatoes for the event, and plan to have 15 inmates working the kitchen to hand out the stuffed snack at $6 a pop, plus charging extra for add-ons.

Their goal is to raise $1,000 in baked potato sales ... but the facility is also taking straight-up check and cash donations in addition to potato profits. It'll all go down in the front lobby, where hundreds of prison employees are expected to attend.

There are more ways the prison plans to contribute -- Jimenez says there are extracurricular clubs in which prisoners participate, and 4 of them have committed to donating money toward the event ... upwards of $1,000 has been pledged so far.

Might sound like small potatoes, but at a time like this ... every penny counts for hospital bills, medical procedures, and other costs.

If you looked up over the English Channel Sunday you might have seen what looked like a flying skateboard, and the dude who was riding it just broke a record!

French inventor Franky Zapata traveled nearly 22 miles, 60 feet in the air, to become the first person ever to use a flyboard to traverse the English Channel.

Zapata dissolved into tears after he landed, immodestly saying he didn't know how big a deal it was and whether it would go in the history books.

He failed last week to cross the Channel, but second time was a charm.

The story arc of the famous oak tree from "The Shawshank Redemption" is complete ... it's now being used to honor the actors for the 25th anniversary of the 1994 classic.

TMZ's learned some of what's left of the movie tree -- which as we've told you, was cut down in 2016 after falling victim to severe storm damage -- has been turned into gift plaques to present to the stars of the film ... including Tim Robbins, who played Andy, Morgan Freeman, who played Red, and director Frank Darabont.

The plaques feature a photo of the actor's character engraved into the wood along with a notable quote. For instance, here's a closeup of Warden Norton actor Bob Gunton's plaque ... with the line, "Put your trust in the Lord, your ass belongs to me!"

The actors will get their gifts later this month as they all reunite at the 25th anniversary event in Ohio, which includes the Shawshank Hustle 7k on August 17 at the Ohio State Reformatory, where the movie was filmed.

Along with the big stars, 'Shawshank' alums Mark Rolston, Gil Bellows, Neil Giuntoli, Frank Medrano, Alfonso Freeman, Renee Blaine, Scott Mann and Claire Slemmer will be in attendance.

We broke the story ... the tree's been transformed into several different collector's items and 25th anniversary souvenirs already, along with being made into a bougie table for one superfan.

For those who are at least 24 years late ... the tree is where Andy left his note for Red before hightailing it South of the border. Good stuff.