You Might Want to Rethink

Erin Brockovich -- the famous paralegal turned activist who helped a massive PG&E scandal in the '90s -- has seen the aftermath in East Palestine ... and according to her, it's grim.

We got Erin at LAX Friday, where she'd just arrived from a visit in Ohio ... meeting and helping folks while surveying the damage and assessing the needs of the community. As she put it to us flatly, the situation is dire there ... and residents are without clear answers.

Based on what EB's seen, she says the area -- including groundwater and residential wells -- is very much contaminated ... despite government agencies and other politicians trying to tell the folks living there otherwise. Erin says there's contradictory information flying all over.

She even describes some symptoms of sickness she says she felt just by being in East Palestine for an extended period of time -- and it sounds very hazardous and dangerous.

So, on the question of next steps ... Erin says a lot of people living in the town have already lawyered up, which is her specialty. Apparently, there are massive class action lawsuits in the works, and it sounds like Norfolk Southern -- the company whose train derailed -- might have to pay out the nose for damages these people are alleging ... assuming they settle.

King Charles has officially extended an olive branch to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle -- asking them to be among his guests at the Coronation, but the couple's saying ... eh, maybe.

His Royal Highness fired off the invite Saturday ... this according to the Times of London, which broke the story. It appears Buckingham Palace got word to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shortly after Harry's televised sitdown with Dr. Gabor Mate earlier in the day.

No word on what exactly the invitation said, but the message was clear ... roll through!

Here's the kicker, though -- Harry and Meghan are holding their cards close to the vest on their plans. Their rep says ... "I can confirm The Duke has recently received email correspondence from His Majesty's office regarding the coronation. An immediate decision on whether The Duke and Duchess will attend will not be disclosed by us at this time."

In other words, it sounds like they have to think about it ... as there's been a lot of updates since their Netflix doc and Harry's book. Of course, they recently got word that they were getting evicted from Frogmore Cottage (although there are reports Charles is offering a full-blown flat on the palace grounds as a replacement). Plus, Harry just spilled more of his guts.

Harry took some roundabout shots at his family in the Mate interview ... saying he didn't receive enough love and affection as a child, and that he now suffers from PTSD. He also said that Meghan had "saved" him from his Royal life ... and suggested his family was out of touch and insensitive. Plus, Harry clearly said Royal life was inherently inauthentic.

PH didn't address the Coronation or where things stand between him and his brother/father ... but it was clear he feels the relationship is strained. Despite this, he also made sure to note that he felt what he was doing (sharing his story/problems) was worth it big picture.

In spite of all that, Charles sent the invite anyway -- right in the mix of more headlines and drama. It's fascinating timing ... and kind of a power move, no? Ball's in their court!

Rolling Loud got off to a somewhat choppy start this weekend with stop-and-go performances by some big-time talent ... including Travis Scott, who had his set end early.

The rapper was the headlining artist Saturday for the L.A. music fest, and while everything seemed to be going smoothly through his performance ... the dude's background tunes started to fade as he was in the middle of running through his hit song "Goosebumps."

Then, everything just stopped ... and Travis came on the mic soon afterward to say that "they" were making him cut things off early. No further explanation was offered.

There's rumblings that Travis was late for his gig, which may explain the strict time limit -- but, on its face, it feels like the Rolling Loud promoters might've not wanted things to get too crazy ... a la, Astroworld. It's hard to say ... the RL crowd didn't look to be in danger.

Anyway, that's far from the only technical issue that went down ... another huge star, Nicki Minaj, also had to deal with missing backing tracks and audio -- which she actually addressed in the moment as well. Frankly, she was pissed about it ... calling out the DJ.

It was pretty harsh ... she kept saying "kill the DJ" and was firing off death stares as the guy continued to struggle playing the right song behind her. Also awkward ... Lil Wayne -- her former mentor -- was standing right next to her, as he'd brought her out as a special guest.

Nicki was none too pleased with the screw-up ... and she seemed to take it personally.

In lighter news (maybe) ... Justin Bieber popped up at Rolling Loud too, which took a lot of people by surprise. Obviously, the crowd was super pumped when he rolled up next to Don Toliver (who was scheduled to perform) and helped sing their joint song "Private Landing."

Thing is though ... his cameo appearance here comes on the heels of the Biebs canceling the rest of his world tour, without a proper explanation. You'll recall -- JB pulled the plug on tour dates spanning all across the globe, including several counties in Europe.

Most assume it's because of his health struggles -- which have forced him to hit pause in the recent past -- but this time ... he didn't speak on it at all ... just kinda threw in the towel.

Now, here he is onstage looking just fine ... which might raise an eyebrow with his fanbase. If he can do this ... why not come on the road for us? It's interesting for sure. Justin, meanwhile, didn't seem to bat an eyelash over it at all ... he was in the zone and chillin'.

Elsewhere at Rolling Loud ... more artists hit the stage, and most everything else appeared to go pretty well. Rappers like Kodak Black, Tyga, Playboi Carti, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, 2 Chainz and looootttts of others performed, and by most accounts ... it was all gravy in Los Angeles.

"Vanderpump Rules" star Tom Sandoval is speaking out amid his cheating scandal that led to his break-up with longtime girlfriend and castmate Ariana Madix, but he's not apologizing...to her, at least.

Instead, Sandoval only showed sympathy for his friends and family in a statement released Saturday on Instagram after his affair with ‘VR’ cast member Raquel Leviss leaked out and became headline news.

Sandoval said, “Hey, I fully understand an deserve ur anger & disappointment towards me, but please leave Schwartz, my friends and family out of this situation."

He continued, "Schwartz specifically only found out about this very recently, and most definitely did not condone my actions. This was a very personal thing.”

What's more, Sandoval and Schwartz co-own LA-based Schwartz & Sandy's Lounge, which has been flooded with terrible reviews ever since the scandal broke, prompting Yelp to pause any more write-ins.

In his IG response, Sandoval said, “Also, Schwartz & Sandy’s might have my name on it, but also there are 3 other partners and 20 employees, who especially rely on the restaurant for income for them and their families."

He added that he's a "small part of a much bigger thing and to "direct ur anger towards me and not them," pointing out, "They did nothing wrong.”

Then Sandoval apologized -- not to Madix -- but to his business partners and employees for all the controversy surrounding him.  He also promised to take a "step back & taking a hiatus out of respect for my employees & partners.”

As we reported...Sandoval blew up his nearly 10-year relationship with Madix last week after a series of sexually charged text messages surfaced, revealing his affair with Leviss. We're told Madix read the messages, leading to an ugly confrontation with Sandoval.

Armie Hammer got thrown under the bus at the Spirit Awards this weekend -- courtesy of the show's host, Hasan Minhaj ... who roped in AH's old costar, Timothee Chalamet, too.

The comedian was firing from all cylinders Saturday to open the show -- one meant to honor indie filmmaking, which was streaming on YT -- by taking shots at A LOT of people ... including Armie, whom he didn't mention by name, but did allude to by reputation.

He brought up Timmy's flick from last year, 'Bones and All,' where the dude plays a cannibal who falls in love with another cannibal ... an easy layup to tie in the Armie scandal.

Hasan said Hollywood's gotta stop making movies where TC falls in love with flesh eaters ... 'cause it's getting old. Of course, he's referring to 'Call Me By Your Name,' where Tim/Armie play lovers. The joke didn't land all that well, it seems, as many in the audience audibly groaned. It doesn't appear as if Timothee himself was actually in attendance either.

Hasan didn't harp on it beyond that ... but it served as a reminder that the whole Armie saga still lingers, even now, and has left a bad taste in people's mouth throughout the biz.

You'll recall ... Armie was swept up in a criminal investigation for alleged rape for quite a while now, which doesn't seem to be going anywhere. He's denied raping anyone, but did admit he was emotionally abusive to women he'd been with ... touching on all his leaked DMs where he described horrific fantasies and leaned in on cannibalistic fetishes.

Since then, he's said that was just BDSM stuff he was into, and not meant to be taken literally ... and while some have called all the cannibal cracks at his expense "kink-shaming" -- it doesn't sound like H'wood is easing up on making him the butt of their jokes.

Travis Scott is under fire for yet another incident that unfolded just minutes before he allegedly punched a sound engineer in the face -- this time, he's accused of tossing a fan's phone ... and a lawsuit could be coming soon.

In video obtained by TMZ, you can see Travis behind the DJ booth at Nebula in NYC as he performed a surprise DJ set. Already agitated, it appears Travis doesn't appreciate a man with a cell phone filming while he spins.

That's when Travis snatches the phone -- the video is murky at that point, but the phone's owner tells us Travis tossed it -- striking him in the head and cracking his screen.

The man tells us reps for Nebula offered his table a free bottle of booze for his troubles, but he turned it down. However, he tells us he's lawyered up -- with plans to file both a police report and civil lawsuit.

As we reported, it was around 3 AM Wednesday when cops were called to Nebula after the rapper allegedly punched a sound engineer at Nebula in the face before allegedly destroying $12k in video and speaker equipment.

The sound engineer spoke with Fox 5 News Thursday from the hospital, claiming to have suffered neck injuries.

Chris Brown is totally cool with giving his fans a complimentary lap dance onstage, as long as they don't film it ... as one fan found out the hard way.

CB was in Berlin Wednesday where he invited one lucky gal up for a lap dance for the entire audience to see. Nice gesture from Chris, and the fan wanted to film it ... bad idea.

Instead of being in the moment, she proceeds to keep trying to film herself, Chris, and his backup dancers -- after a while, Chris clearly is over it -- hurling the phone into the crowd.

Fans went wild ... and lucky for the woman, she allegedly got the phone back.

As we reported, Chris has been at the center of controversy recently -- after Chloe Bailey got dragged for collabing with him, with many bringing up his past domestic violence case with Rihanna.

Cheetah Girls & 3LW singer Kiely Williams called Chris out for his past, tweeting "I am swatting the f***ing air rn. Garbage." Chris clapped back, making fun of her lisp while calling her broken.

Maybe that phone on the stage was the straw that broke Breezy's back.

Top NFL prospect Jalen Carter -- the potential No. 1 overall pick in next month's draft -- turned himself in to police on Wednesday night ... posing for a mug shot -- before quickly being released.

The former Univ. of Georgia star defensive lineman was booked at 11:33 PM, according to jail records -- just hours after the Athens-Clarke County Police Department issued warrants for his arrest for his alleged role in a January car crash that killed two people.

The records show Carter was released just 16 minutes after he was initially booked. He's facing misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing.

In his mug shot, Carter -- wearing a white tank top -- appeared to be emotionless and stoic.

As we reported, cops have accused Carter of racing UGA staffer Chandler LeCroy in a 2021 Jeep Trackhawk ... before LeCroy's 2021 Ford Expedition veered off the road and crashed into power poles and trees.

Police said in a statement Wednesday morning, an investigation into the crash showed both Carter and LeCroy "switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel" -- adding that LeCroy reached speeds of 104 MPH before the accident.

Carter, who was at the NFL's combine in Indianapolis when the arrest warrant was made public, immediately left the league's scouting event to head back to Georgia. He later said in a statement, "There is no question in my mind that when all of the facts are known that I will be fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing."

Chris Rock is finally ready to talk all about the infamous Oscars slap -- he'll address it during a live comedy special ... which, coincidentally, comes just as Will Smith accepts an award for the first time since that night.

The comedian's Netflix special will be live-streamed Saturday night, and The Wall Street Journal reports when Chris did a set to prep for the event ... he opened up about Will's infamous attack.

Chris said, "The thing people want to know ... did it hurt? Hell yeah, it hurt. He played Muhammad Ali! I played Pookie!" -- referring to each of their respective roles in "Ali" and "New Jack City."

Of course, it's unclear how much of those specific words will end up in the final product, because Chris is performing his set live ... but even Netflix says he'll talk about the incident.

Talk about odd timing -- as promos for Chris' special are everywhere, Will was on stage Wednesday night in Beverly Hills for the African-American Film Critics Association Awards. He accepted the Beacon Award with "Emancipation" director, Antoine Fuqua.

Will made no reference -- joking or otherwise -- to the Oscars incident, and instead spoke only about playing the escaped slave, "Whipped Peter," and said it was the "most difficult film of my entire career."

The sound engineer who Travis Scott allegedly attacked in an NYC club says the rapper flipped him the bird and socked him in the head, landing him in the hospital with injuries.

Identifying himself only as Mark, the engineer spoke with Fox 5 News from his hospital bed after the alleged assault at Club Nebula in Manhattan early Wednesday morning.

Mark said he can't turn his head and "My neck is f**ked up. My arm is tingling. I have pins and needles going down it."

He also described the events that led to the violence, saying Travis was playing the DJ music so loud the sound was distorted. When Mark tried to lower the volume, he said Travis flew into a rage.

Travis "stuck his middle finger in my face," Mark said, adding, "So I lowered the monitor a little bit so I could talk to him, and that’s when he ran around the speaker and attacked me."

As we reported ... Travis made a surprise appearance at the club Tuesday night to perform with his protege, Don Toliver.

After Travis had his meltdown in the DJ booth, he purportedly attacked the sound engineer and caused $12,000 in damage to a speaker and video screen, before leaving the club.

The NYPD now wants to question Travis after a police report was filed alleging that he committed assault and criminal mischief.

Travis' lawyer, Mitchell Schuster, told us the incident was "a misunderstanding being blown out of proportion by clickbait and misinformation."

Schuster also said he's working with the venue and law enforcement to resolve the situation and believes Travis will be "cleared of any wrongdoing."

"Real Housewives of Potomac" star, Michael Darby is taking Candiace Dillard Bassett to court for defamation ... after she claimed he offered up cash to have sexual relations with another man.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Ashley Darby's hubby is suing Candiace over comments she made during the latest season of the reality series -- where she didn't hold back during one of her many arguments with Ashley.

On the show, Candiace tells Ashley, "Your husband likes to leave you and go to a man named [censored]'s house and suck his ****." She never says who the guy is, but Candiace later claimed Michael paid for sex.

Michael's calling BS on all of it ... adding he sent her a cease and desist earlier this year regarding her comments -- but claims she has yet to retract any of her allegations.

He wants $2 mil in damages to make things right.

Fans of the show know Candiace and the Darbys have had long-standing beef ... with her calling Michael and Ashley out numerous times. Looks like the latest incident took things too far, though ... at least according to Michael.

Travis Scott is the suspect in a police investigation into an alleged assault at a NYC nightclub ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us around 3 AM Wednesday the rapper got into it with someone at Nebula, a club on 41st Street. We're told Scott allegedly punched that person and damaged property -- possibly a cell phone.

At this time, cops want to talk to Travis and his reps, but the official report is for an assault and criminal mischief.

As for why he was in town, it appears Don Toliver had a show in NYC Tuesday night, bringing out Travis -- much to the delight of fans.

Travis is set to headline Rolling Loud California in Los Angeles Saturday night ... unclear if that appearance will be impacted at all because of the investigation.

We've reached out to Travis' team ... so far, no word back.

Jordyn Woods is riding with Selena Gomez in a feud that really has nothing to do with her -- well, except for the fact it's Selena vs. Jordyn's ex-BFF, Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber.

Jordyn didn't exactly make a declaration of war, but she did the next best thing when she showed off a lip liner she says she loves -- one from Selena's makeup brand, Rare Beauty.

She followed it up with a closer look at the liner, for anyone who wanted to know the color ... and it's ironically called "Kind Words." The timing of her #TeamSelena post seems pretty obvious the week after Kylie allegedly started beef with SG -- because, as we all know, there's been no love lost between Jordyn and Kylie ever since KJ cut her off back in 2019.

What's hilarious here is that this has all been sparked by that ever-divisive issue ... eyebrows.

ICYMI ... Selena posted on social media last week, showing off her eyebrows that she said she accidentally laminated too much.

Kylie then shared a pic of her own eyebrows the next day, saying "this was an accident?" She followed it up with a screenshot of a FaceTime call with Hailey ... focusing on their brows, of course.

That was enough for fans of all 3 women to read between the brows and start sniping back and forth about who's shading who.

Selena and Hailey's camps were already on the outs because Justin Bieber started dating Hailey -- and the couple got engaged -- shortly after he and Selena called it quits years ago. Although there was an apparent peace treaty between them last year -- it all started coming up again last month when Hailey posted a now-deleted TikTok many thought was calling out Selena.

FYI -- Selena announced she's taking a break from social media last week amid all the noise ... saying she loves who she is while adding, "This is a little silly."

Not silly enough for Jordyn to sit quietly on the sidelines ... as she's now chosen to oppose her friend-turned-nemesis, Kylie.

The Montana hunter who killed and skinned a husky -- apparently thinking it was a wolf -- is getting off easy after copping a plea.

Amber Rose Barnes just pled no contest to misdemeanor animal cruelty ... and the judge gave her a 6-month deferred sentence, meaning the whole case will go away if she meets a few requirements.

Part of her checklist to get this wiped from her record -- Barnes will have to take an online hunter safety class, and she's not allowed to use her hunting rifles for half a year.

As it turns out, that's not much of a punishment when you consider hunting season doesn't come until the fall ... so, it's not like she's missing out.

Remember, Barnes was hit with the animal cruelty charge back in October after the horrific September incident. At the time, she bragged on social media she'd taken down a wild wolf ... but it was just a domesticated husky that was out in the woods.

Not only did she shoot and kill it, but Barnes also took the dog's hide as a trophy ... which she also posted on social media, drawing the ire of the public. Barnes insisted the animal was acting aggressively when she encountered it and claimed self-defense.

The woman accused of beheading her boyfriend who attacked her lawyer in court two weeks ago has a new attorney representing her now ... go figure.

Taylor Schabusiness was appointed a new public defender Monday in her Wisconsin murder case -- this after her original attorney, Quinn Jolly, withdrew. You'll recall ... he was the dude who came under her wrath in court in a wild attack.

A judge signed off on his request, reportedly saying ... "I am satisfied based upon the assertions and obviously I was here in court for the last hearing, I saw the events that transpired." She added, "[M]akes a great deal of sense to me.”

As for what exactly Jolly cited when filing to take his name out of the mix ... he called it an "irretrievably broken state of the attorney-client relationship" after the Valentine's Day mishap.

It's unclear what exactly set Schabusiness off at the time. Jolly was actually successful in buying her more time before she went before a jury on murder charges -- after allegedly mutilating her boyfriend during sex -- and having her mental competency tested.

As soon as a judge agreed, she lunged at Jolly and deputies had to get involved.

Like we said, the presiding judge had no issue letting Jolly out. She also concurs that the swap won't adversely hurt his one-time client's chances at a fair trial. The judge says, "My understanding is that by that time, the new attorney the public defender is appointing will have a chance to meet with Schabusiness and be ready to give the court some direction as to when they will be ready to move forward."

Maino is maintaining his now viral throat grab of YouTuber Buba100x was completely planned ... and, in fact, he says his theatrical performance should be his big break in Hollywood!!!

We caught the BK-bred lyricist fresh off his guest hosting gig on Angela Yee's 'Way Up,' and he tells us Buba100x intentionally failed to post the choke out ... in order to make folks think it was authentic. No one would flaunt themselves getting genuinely beat down ... right?

The incident happened a couple of weeks ago during the most recent Daniel's Leather fashion show ... Maino is seen slowly losing his temper as the vlogger continues pressing him to try on his chain, only to see the rapper grab him firmly by his throat!!!

Maino says jaws were dropping at the party because he and Buba100x sold it so well.

Social media users haven't reacted kindly to Maino's actions -- prank or not -- but he assures us he's not worried about backlash because that's what the internet does ... no matter what.

What Maino's not opposed to, is extending his stay on 'Way Up' to a more permanent situation.

He says Angela called him an on-air "natural," and having that kinda finesse is vital for a radio career.