Weird News

Prince Harry is just fine making runs for his own grub -- now that he's a Royal outsider -- because he's about the only person who smiles this much during errands.

Here's how the Duke of Sussex spells Sunday fun day -- we got this shot of him bolting out of a grocery store on Vancouver Island, where it appears he picked up a couple sandwiches to go. Somebody was hangry -- Harry or Meghan Markle -- based on his grin.

His average Joe transformation continues ... Harry rocked a baseball cap, light jacket and some jeans, and wasn't trying to hide his face. Nothing to see here, just a former heir to the throne picking up sandwiches.

This might have been his last time ordering out as a Royal. Queen Elizabeth II reportedly ordered Harry and Meghan to cease using the word "royal" in their online branding -- which royally screws their "Sussex Royal" website and Instagram.

Still got a couple sandos to show for it, Harry. Chin up!!

Fun Fact: Sandwiches are named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich in 18th Century England. Far as we know, he kept his title. Smart.

Just when you thought technology couldn't get any crazier, Dubai turns the corner in the jetpack game ... and their latest gizmo's got us thinking superheroes here.

The Crown Prince, Hamdan Mohammed, linked to a video Monday morning showing off a sweet flight path taken by pilot Vince Reffe --- referred to as Jetman Dubai -- who flies around the city with an incredibly advanced jetpack that lets him zip around like Iron Man.

Check it out ... the dude doesn't just hover (which we've seen before). He actually reaches high-level altitudes here -- supposedly, as much as 1,800 meters in the air. And, BTW, this thing is pretty damn fast ... he reached these heights in a matter of seconds.

Not only that, but the pilot even does some light aerobatics up there before eventually using a parachute to come safely back down. There's a GoPro-like camera attached to the wings of the jetpack, so you get an up-close-and-personal look at his journey. It's wild.

Akon's plan to bring a futuristic city to his childhood country of Senegal is getting closer to coming to fruition, and he's going to show it off soon ... a 3D rendering anyway.

The singer was at LAX Wednesday when he gave us an update on "Akon City" ... which he says is 7 years in the making so far, and he's still cutting through the red tape.

Akon confirms what he announced last month -- he's finalized an agreement for the city and secured the land ... but adds he's now working on a partnership with the government to implement tax-free policies and incentives he wants to attract business.

He says he's dead serious about his city resembling Wakanda from "Black Panther" -- with all the latest and most progressive technology -- and believes it's in the perfect geographical location to make it happen.

Akon drops some more facts about West Africa to paint a picture of what Akon City's going to look like ... and says he'll drop a YouTube video soon to share his vision.

Ever wanted to put your seemingly useless talents to good use -- AKA, getting ca$$$h??? It's your lucky day, 'cause TMZ's got the dough, and we're ready to dish it out for some video.

Welcome to the "Show Us Your Talent" contest, where all you gotta do is capture your unique skills on camera and submit it here before Feb. 25 by 11:59 PM. TMZ will take a gander at all of the submissions, and whoever we like best will get $5,000. CASH. How 'bout that?!

What's more, we'll also get you some face time over the airwaves and put you on our show, "TMZ on TV." If you want an idea of what we're looking for, check out the vid above.

We got some of our own crew members to juggle, blow into a giant horn thingy, hula hoop and even tell weird jokes and recite facts. You can do better than that though, right??

Now, just to give you some quick basic parameters -- we're looking for a video no longer than 90 seconds, and also ... something we can broadcast without getting fined by the FCC. So keep it clean, people. Anything nifty, neat, clever or awe-inspiring will do just fine.

JaVale McGee is getting in on the newest Internet craze, the #BroomstickChallenge ... which is dope and all, except for the fact it's all a bunch of hogwash!!

The trend started sweeping (ha) through social media on Monday ... with word spreading that NASA claimed February 10, 2020 was the only day a broom would be able to stand on its own due to some sort of gravitational pull mumbo jumbo.

Despite no real word coming from NASA ... the challenge took a life of its own, with folks like Future and Tory Lanez trying it out with success.

The Lakers stud got in on the action before his game against the Phoenix Suns ... and couldn't believe his eyes!!

"That's crazy," McGee said as he proved the broom wasn't being held up by anything else.

If you don't believe it, JaVale ... give it another try today. Considering the whole thing is a hoax and this can happen 365 days a year.

Manu Ginobili has turned into a straight-up SUPERHERO in retirement ... 'cause the NBA legend sprang into action and helped rescue a grandma who fell down a sand dune!

Here's what went down ... Twitter user @almumansi (who goes by AM) says her grandmother was at the beach in Blanca Bay, Argentina when she decided to try to climb a sand dune, but fell.

That's when 2 men -- including 42-year-old Manu -- sprinted to help the lady, picked her up and carried her to safety.

AM says by the time she got to the scene, she noticed her grandma was taking a pic with one of the heroes ... and realized it was MANU FREAKIN' GINOBILI!!!

Of course, Manu is from Argentina and spends a lot of time in his home country during retirement.

Ginobili was a helluva ballplayer during his career ... and is a shoo-in for the basketball Hall of Fame. But, stories like this are much better than any highlight on the court.

Was NBA star Aaron Gordon baked out of his mind when he appeared on the "Inside the NBA" pregame show???

Judging by the video of Shaquille O'Neal making a bunch of "high" jokes at Aaron's expense ... it sure seems the Big Diesel thinks so.

Here's the deal ... Gordon appeared on the show Tuesday night via satellite ... but something seemed a little off.

Shaq took notice and started making jokes about how "high" Gordon and Zach LaVine jumped during the Dunk Contest in 2016 ... and kept hammering the point.

"They were so high ... I was like 'Damn, these boys are high!' Man, these boys are getting HIGH as hell!"

The jokes continued ... cohost Adam Lefkoe ended the segment by advising Gordon to go out there and keep "smoking the competition."

Elon Musk really can do it all -- he'll be the first to tell you -- including write and perform his very own EDM song ... that's fittingly all about self-confidence.

The Tesla CEO -- who's going by E "D" M on Twitter these days -- has apparently been working hard in the studio on his new track, which is titled "Don't Doubt ur Vibe."

Musk dropped it on Soundcloud late Thursday night on his Emo G Records stream, saying ... "I wrote the lyrics & performed the vocals!!" Those lyrics consist of the title followed by "because it's true" ... which is alternated with, "because it's you," and repeated.

Genius.

The making of Elon's 4-minute EDM song must have been quite the journey, because when he first mentioned it on Twitter Thursday he said, "Just wrote a song called “Don’t doubt yer vibe" ... with a different spelling of "ur." He also stated, "this song is hard."

Finally, to make things as Musky as possible ... the Soundcloud artwork features his Cybertruck.

As you may recall ... the tech honcho also released a rap song on Soundcloud back in March -- a goofy autotune track about Harambe and Bombay gin.

Clearly, he's kicking things up a notch higher.

The graffiti artist dubbed "Penis Man" could be facing hard time after a SWAT team took him down in Phoenix ... potentially ending a looooong string of vandalism. Yes, crime size matters.

Cops in Tempe, AZ say 38-year-old Dustin Shomer is behind the "Penis Man" spree -- the words have been tagged all over Arizona State dorms, local businesses, municipal buildings and even the famous "A" landmark above the campus ... dating back to November.

Shomer was arrested last weekend, and charged with 16 counts of aggravated criminal damage, 8 counts of criminal damage and 1 count of criminal trespass in the first degree.

The suspect says he was taken in a pretty ballsy raid -- 25 heavily armed SWAT officers swarming his apartment complex before arresting him at gunpoint.

However, the alleged "Penis Man" says he's getting the shaft ... because he claims he's just a copycat, and the REAL "Penis Man" is still at large.

He told the Phoenix New Times, "I'm not the original. There are hundreds of copycats with very distinctively different handwriting."

Translation: Cops grabbed the wrong penis, man.

Lee Harvey Oswald -- the man some believe acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy -- never cashed his final paycheck ... on account of being dead, we're assuming.

Oswald's check from the Texas School Book Depository is now up for auction ... and it's likely to fetch a lot more money than what it was originally worth to him.

It was issued to Oswald on December 3, 1963 -- 11 days after he killed JFK, and 9 days after he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby.

As you can see, it's handwritten other than the stamped amount of "$43 and 37 cts" and includes a note at the bottom left that reads, "4 Days. Lee Harvey Oswald for Nov '63."

This implies he was paid for 4 days that week, but not a fifth day ... possibly Friday, November 22, the date of the assassination. Of course, Oswald was seen working at the book depository that morning ... before climbing into a 6th-floor window, and taking aim at Kennedy's motorcade in Daley Plaza.

Oswald fired 3 shots at 12:30 PM.

The check ended up in the possession of Marina Oswald's lawyer, John Thorne. He apparently paid Lee's wife the cash in order to keep the check, which he obviously realized would become historic memorabilia.

When Thorne died, it was transferred to his widow ... who's passed it along to Heritage Auctions to put it on the block. We're told it could haul in thousands, as it's comparable to checks signed by John Wilkes Booth ... which can sell for up to $10k.

The Philadelphia Flyers say they found NO evidence to prove team mascot Gritty assaulted a 13-year-old boy in Nov. ... but now cops are investigating.

The Philadelphia Police Dept. has confirmed they're looking into a claim that the person inside the official Gritty costume punched a kid in the back at Wells Fargo Arena (where the Flyers play) during a Nov. 19, 2019 photo shoot fan event.

Chris Greenwell -- the father of the alleged victim -- told the Philadelphia Inquirer his son had "playfully patted" Gritty on the head after taking a picture ... but Gritty responded with real violence.

Greenwell claims Gritty "took a running start" and “punched my son as hard as he could" ... injuring the child.

The boy went to a chiropractor for treatment where he was diagnosed with a back bruise, according to Greenwell.

Greenwell says he attempted to remedy the situation through communication with officials from Flyers ownership ... but after talks soured between the two sides, he went to cops.

A Flyers spokesperson has issued a statement saying, "We took Mr. Greenwell’s allegations seriously and conducted a thorough investigation that found nothing to support this claim."

When reached by TMZ Sports on Wednesday ... Greenwell told us he's NOT considering a lawsuit against Gritty, adding, "I'm letting the police handle it."

Dr. Oz doesn't get testy when it comes to TikTok's latest so-called "Taste Challenge" ... he just laughs it off for what it is -- RIDICULOUS!!!

We got the doc out Wednesday in NYC and wanted to get his take on the new craze taking over the social media platform ... where guys are -- we're not kidding -- dipping their testicles into soy sauce to prove whether testes have taste receptors.

You gotta see Dr. Oz's reaction ... it's what you'd expect from any decent human being, especially one with a medical license. In fact, the good doctor dropped some knowledge on us about the dangers of pulling off the stunt. He also clowns whoever came up with the idea.

A grown-ass man was arrested Saturday after he attacked his son's high school wrestling opponent during a match ... and footage of the incident is INSANE.

The violence all went down during an event between Southeast Guilford H.S. and Hickory Ridge H.S. in Kannapolis, N.C. ... when a dad was so upset with the way his son's match was going, he bum-rushed the mat.

You can see in video of the incident ... the man charges his son's 17-year-old opponent, hitting him square in the back and knocking him to the floor. It looked like a Goldberg spear straight out of WWE.

A WILD brawl ensued ... with parents rushing to grab the guy -- and, eventually, the man was taken down by police and arrested for simple assault and disorderly conduct.

Cops identified the suspect as 54-year-old Barry lee Jones and processed him at the Carraburrus County Jail. He was later released on $1,000 bond.

A family fell through the ice of a frozen lake in Big Bear this weekend, and the rescue footage is pretty wild.

The scary moment happened Saturday on Big Bear Lake, where a throng of ambulances, fire trucks and police cruisers blocked off traffic to save a family of 3 that had somehow made their way onto the frozen surface ... and fell in after the ice gave way.

We're told it appeared the group -- which we're told comprised of a mother, a father and their young daughter -- had apparently wandered out there despite signs clearly saying to stay off the ice. It's unclear how long they were immersed in the freezing water.

Luckily, they were all pulled to safety -- but the way it happened is nothing short of dramatic. Ropes with small flotation devices were tossed across until each one could catch it and be dragged to shore. The child was first, the mother 2nd and eventually the man.

Tyler, The Creator is the new owner of a stylish pair of sunglasses ... after buying them off a passerby's face on the streets of the Big Apple.

Here's how the transaction went down ... a woman was walking down the block in Chelsea when someone breezed by and yelled, "Your glasses are FIRE!!!"

The lady hardly noticed -- she was wearing headphones -- and she kept moving until she felt a tap on her shoulder. The woman spun around to find a large man -- Tyler's bodyguard -- asking to buy her glasses for $50. She politely refused, but when Tyler's muscle upped the ante to $100 ... she couldn't turn it down.

As it turns out, she'd actually found the shades in a thrift store for $10 ... so she was turning a pretty sweet profit.

Pornhub has shut one man out of enjoying his favorite naked vids to their full potential -- and violating federal law in the process -- so he's filed a class-action lawsuit.

Yaroslav Suris is suing the popular porn site claiming it's denied the deaf and hearing-impaired access to its videos that others can easily enjoy. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Suris says a lack of closed-captioning violates their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In docs, Suris says the deaf and hearing impaired can't understand the audio portion of videos on the websites. Some of the titles Suris says he watched but was completely lost on dialogue -- "Hot Step Aunt Babysits Disobedient Nephew," "Sexy Cop Gets Witness to Talk" and "Daddy 4K -- Allison comes to Talk About Money to Her Boys' Naughty Father."