Weird News

A North Carolina woman who recently went viral for going on vile, racist rants -- and was later arrested for assault -- is now fighting for her life after a bizarre accident involving a fire truck.

Rachel Dawn Ruit was struck by an Asheville Fire Department pickup truck Monday afternoon after stepping out in front of traffic ... according to a witness.

Asheville PD says Ruit is "suffering from life threatening injuries" and is at the hospital in critical condition. The accident is being investigated.

Ruit is, unfortunately, otherwise known for appearing in multiple videos in downtown Asheville spewing racism ... and for her July 4 arrest for allegedly attacking both a woman in a hijab and a Black teenager.

Ruit allegedly ripped off the woman's head covering and grabbed the teenager in the groin. She was arrested and charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct and second degree trespassing.

Before her arrest, Ruit made news after people posted videos of her from June 13 and July 1 going on racist tirades. During the July 1 incident, witnesses claim she tried to attack a child and cops were called several times ... but never showed up.

Some of Joe Exotic's most prized possessions, like his crown and penis pump, are now in Zak Bagans' hands ... and the 'Tiger King' memorabilia is heading to a haunted museum.

Zak was at the original 'Tiger King' zoo, now owned by Jeff Lowe, over the weekend to film an episode of his show, "Ghost Adventures," and he left with a treasure trove of Joe's old things -- a gift from Jeff.

Some of the items in Zak's hilarious -- and possibly haunted -- haul include Joe's infamous jeweled crown, pill bottles, flashy clothing, wedding trinkets, penis pump and Travis Maldonado's glass pipe.

Zak's also heading back to Sin City with the park's original 'Exotic Animal Park' signage, complete with some super cool tiger imagery, and a section of an art mural wall featuring a bullet hole from Travis' suicide.

The memorabilia is the centerpiece of an upcoming 'Tiger King' exhibit at Zak's Haunted Museum in Las Vegas ... and an October "Ghost Adventures" episode will feature ZB's eventful trip to Joe's stomping grounds, which included cadaver dogs searching for human remains.

In the meantime, click through the gallery to see what Joe left behind for Zak.

Here's yet another example of just how crafty bears can be in their never-ending search for human food -- which, if you leave out, WILL attract these beasts almost every time.

Check out this black bear effortlessly breaking his way into a Canadian home in Ontario, opening the front door with its paws and sauntering in like it's nobody's business. Luckily, no one seemed to be in this part of the house ... could've spelled big trouble.

Anyway, it was pretty clear what the creature was after as soon as it was inside -- PIZZA!!! You can see there are three boxes left out on the floor, and sure enough ... the bear here gets to work rummaging through them to see if there's any leftover scraps.

He/she comes up short on any extra pies -- but it just goes to show that even an empty pizza box (which might've been there for who knows how long) can still be detected by a bear.

Black bears are said to have an incredible sense of smell -- about 7 times that of a bloodhound, which is already nearly 1,000x greater than that of a human.

Back to the bear here ... it goes out the same way it came in, but seemed to have some trouble with an extra spring-y door. No worries though -- one good push, and it was on its way.

A gorilla got into a nasty fight with its sibling at a zoo, and as a safety precaution -- docs gave him a coronavirus test ... which they documented in some incredible shots.

This is Shango, a 31-year-old, 433 lb. lowland gorilla who lives at the Miami Zoo -- and earlier this week, he got into a brawl with his brother, Barney ... suffering some injuries in the process. Shango was bitten and scratched up -- so to be safe, they got him 'rona tested.

Looks like a team of vets put Shango under to do the procedure and to also attend to his wounds. As you can see, he's got a deep gash on his hand after apparently being bitten. As far as the COVID test, the ape got the best of the best that's out there ... a nasal swab.

According to the zoo staff, Shango's test came back negative -- but it just goes to show ... animals can contract the virus, which has been a thing zoos have had to grapple with of late. And, of course, seeing how primates are close cousins of ours ... they're susceptible too.

Now, can we talk about how wild it is to see just how big this creature is up close? Absolutely massive -- he takes up the whole table -- and completely majestic all at the same time.

Two kangaroos got into it on camera -- and by the looks of how the bout went ... one of them was Tyson Fury, the other was Deontay Wilder, and one got his ass kicked.

These fully-grown marsupials were going at it in a (sorta) hardcore boxing match down on a farm in Australia -- and while they both seemed to be in the same weight class and have the about the same reach, one of the 'roos certainly had the upper hand ... and the upper jab!

For funsies, let's just call these fellas Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa (from Part I), where the former was delivering a serious beat-down, but the Stallion just kept coming back for more.

That's kind of what's happening here -- the more proficient boxer of the kangaroos gets tons of clean hits in ... and a few hard kicks to the body too, while balancing on its sturdy tail. Apparently, anything goes in the animal kingdom -- it's almost like a UFC Octagon out there.

It's also just wild to see these creatures in action, 'cause they clearly do this type of thing all the time, and they look almost human-like as they rumble.

Victoria Justice just got a bold marriage proposal from someone who wanted to tell the world they are hopelessly in love with her ... thing is, she has no idea who's behind it!

The actress was the recipient of a super romantic banner that was being dragged above Santa Monica -- with the help of an airplane -- with the message ... "I LOVE YOU VICTORIA JUSTICE ❤️ WILL YOU MARRY ME?"

Whoever did this paid a pretty penny -- planes ain't cheap. Thing is ... a rep for Victoria says she's in no position to accept the proposal for all sorts of reasons. First, she's not dating anyone seriously and she's definitely NOT engaged. And, there's this ... she has no idea who the heck is in love with her!!!

We're told the "Zoey 101" star would like to know -- if only as a matter of  -- who admires her to the brink of marriage.

Whoever it is ... they wanted to make sure she saw it, because the banner flew over the beaches of Santa Monica 5 times.

While Victoria's secret admirer struck out this time ... sounds like they still have a shot at love. After all, getting a girl's attention is half the battle!!!

If you think Joey Chestnut is ready to wind down his competitive eating career after setting a new hot dog record -- YOU'RE WRONG!!!

The greatest eater in the history on mankind tells TMZ Sports he'll be back ... as long as his doctors give him the green light.

Of course, Chestnut woofed down 75 dogs in 10 mins to set a new world record at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on the 4th of July. He also held the previous record of 74.

But, despite having ZERO rivals who truly pose a threat -- the Michael Jordan of wieners says he's still passionate about his sport.

"Oh my God, I still love it," Chestnut says ... "I love the whole thing, pushing myself, the prep, even the recovery."

"I love knowing I feel like garbage and then the next day I feel better. And now, naturally, I'm ready to go, I'm ready to eat something big."

He adds, "I'm addicted to it and as long as I'm healthy, as long as my doctor keeps saying that I can keep doing it and I'm not hurting myself, you can count me in!"

"I'll be back next year and we'll see where it takes me."

This summer job is the s**t ... a bidet company is offering $10,000 for one lucky person to spend their summer testing a toilet paper alternative, and sharing the journey with all.

Here's the dookie deal ... all ya gotta do to get the dough is be able to poo, analyze and document your daily bowel movements, and share your fecal findings on social media.

The $10,000 gig comes with an exec title -- Vice President of Fecal Matter -- that'll definitely stand out on your resume. Now, it's not for everybody ... ya gotta have at least 21 years on-the-job John experience, and a very open-bathroom-door policy.

The 3-month consulting position is with TUSHY, which fashions itself as a modern bathroom brand revolutionizing the way people poop with different kinds of bidets.

All applicants must submit a video and, we gotta say ... good luck matching Ashley K.'s skills. Still, we're told applications are already pouring in ahead of the company's July 10 deadline. Makes sense ... much like opinions, everyone's got one.

It ain't just straight poop, though ... the VP will also be tasked with interviewing others about their toilet habits, testing TUSHY products against the competition, and prodeuce-ing video content for social media.

Good luck and remember, ya gotta be #1 to talk ✌🏽!!!

A little COVID fallout didn't stop hot dog eating champ Joey Chestnut from breaking his own record this year -- despite the fact there was no crowd -- 'cause the guy did just that and then some.

JC took top honors (again) Saturday at the annual July Fourth Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest -- which saw the dude down 75 dogs in 10 minutes ... beating his own previous benchmark of 74 from last year. It's his 13th title total ... so basically, a G.O.A.T.

During the festivities, he also hit another food vacuum milestone -- his 1,000th career dog! The feat wasn't without its hiccups (damn near vomit fests), but he held off 'til the end.

BTW, Joey wasn't the only making history this weekend -- there's a women's champ too ... the one and only Miki Sudo, who downed 48.5 franks ... which easily beat the competition.

This year's event was unique in that there were no ticketholders or spectators (aside from the eaters' own teams, of course) ... which made for a somewhat muted performance. There was also plexiglass between the competitors -- so pretty distance friendly we'd say.

The only downside to Saturday's dog chugging event was that Joey did NOT live up to his promise to TMZ Sports earlier in June, when he said he'd hit 77 dogs no problem.

It's a bird, it's a plane ... it's a super crazy sighting of a giant bird carrying what looks like a shark, high above the ocean!!!

This video has the Internet buzzing Thursday -- a large eagle-like bird making off with some large prey ... shot by a drone last week in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Clearly the bird had a successful fishing trip, but everyone's debating what it caught ... to many that's a small shark in the bird's talons. At one point, the sea creature started flopping wildly in an attempt to get free, but the bird's clutches were too strong.

Upon further inspection ... it seems the bird is an osprey -- AKA sea hawk -- which is a fish-eating bird of prey. And, though many believe the raptor is carrying a shark, we've learned that it might be a large Spanish mackerel instead. The fish is common in the waters along the Carolina coast.

Either way, the clip has people thinking it's a sign of the next calamity of 2020 ... because it's exactly how "Sharknado" began.

Even the SYFY channel just tweeted ... "We always knew this day would come. #Sharknado"

It's been real, world.

A guy who went swimming with the fishes and lived to tell the tale is now priority number one for police in Bossier City, Louisiana -- we're kidding ... but the guy is still kinda in trouble.

Check out this doofus who thought it'd be cool to walk into a Bass Pro Shop store ... and then take a dip in their giant aquarium in the middle of the floor. That's exactly what this dude did this past week, which was all recorded by shocked (and amused) bystanders.

He does a solid lap through frantic fish that try to swim around him -- and once he reaches the end, this free diver calmly lifts himself out and jumps down soaking wet. BTW, he went in fully clothed, shoes and all. It's like he did this on a weird dare or something.

Anyway, before he could get scolded by the staff -- looks like an employee was making his way over to him -- the guy gets a nice little jog going and scrams ... exiting the store before he could be stopped. Harmless enough, right??? WRONG!!! So says the shop itself.

The store filed a complaint with police, because they incurred costs by having to empty out the tank, clean it and refill it again because of possible contamination he'd left behind.

A Championship league soccer team is backtracking big time after they used a cardboard cutout of Osama Bin Laden to fill seats at a game this week ... yeah, BIG PROBLEM!!!

Leeds United had banned live fans from attending games during the COVID-19 pandemic ... but welcomed supporters to send in photos which they would place in the seats to simulate a crowd.

Someone sent in Bin Laden -- and NO ONE CAUGHT IT.

So, when Leeds took the field to play Cardiff City at Elland Road stadium on Sunday ... there was the world's most hated dead terrorist sitting right in the front row.

A spokesperson for Leeds United told BBC the team "will ensure there are no more offensive images" used in the future.

And, to add insult to embarrassment, Leeds lost the game 2-0.

Of course, the real OBL was killed by U.S. Navy SEALS during a raid on his compound in 2011.

Barcelona's Liceu opera is back in business after more than 3 months of silence, but its return concert leaves a lot to be desired ... mostly, a human audience.

In a truly bizarre sight, the musicians for Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu opera put on a show for nearly 2,300 nursery plants placed in the seats instead of people.

Organizers of Monday's concert say the goal was to raise awareness of how important audiences are in post-lockdown life, and to reflect on the absurdity of human life amid a pandemic. Check and check!

As an added bonus -- all the plants will be donated to frontline health workers.

The Concert for the Biocene comes one day after the end of Spain’s state of emergency. The country has been one of the hardest hit by COVID-19, at least in Europe, with more than 28,000 deaths.

The Liceu says it hopes the show reaffirms the value of art, music and nature and paves the way for returning to normal activity.

Not only is the coronavirus still here, but guess what ... ditto for murder hornets ... and Animal Planet's Forrest Galante says the clock's ticking to eradicate them before it's too late.

The Animal Planet star tells TMZ ... murder hornets are such a threat to our environment, biologists are literally hunting down the invading species. It's no joke ... biologists may as well be called the Ghostbusters 'cause Forrest says they're hunting the hornets with sniffing dogs, heat sensing technology and all kinds of tools to track their whereabouts.

So, why's it important to find them? Forrest tells us the murder hornets are detrimental to the environment if they're roaming and foraging all across the U.S. of A. He says there's still a murder hornet population in Washington.

BTW, timing's huge, too, if biologists are going to find the hornets. Check out the video ... Forrest explains why NOW is the prime time to find them and get rid of them. And, that's just one of the obstacles biologists are dealing with.

Elon Musk and Grimes really followed through with their outta this world baby name ... but they had to play a little ball to comply with California law.

According to the newborn's birth certificate, obtained by TMZ, Elon and Grimes named their first child, X AE A-XII Musk. Seriously.

Mom and Dad had to get a little creative -- as if the kid's name wasn't clever enough -- to make their tyke all legal and stuff. As you know ... Elon and Grimes' baby boy was born last month, and they wanted to name him X Æ A-12 Musk.

As it turns out, the aeronautic name didn't fly in Cali, where birth names must be limited to the English alphabet -- no numbers or special signs.

The result, as you can see, is a first name X, middle name AE A-XII ... and last name Musk. See? Roman numerals ARE good for something besides Super Bowls!

If ya missed it, here's a breakdown on little X's handle: X stands for an unknown variable, AE is like artificial intelligence or AI, and A-XII is the name of a 1960s USAF spy plane.

The pronunciation goes like this ... X like the letter, AE is pronounced "Ash" and then your standard A-12. As in, X-ash-A12. Duh!

That'll be fun on the playground.