You Might Want to Rethink

Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly revealed the late Jeffrey Epstein had secret videotapes of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton ... now detailed in a new book, claiming to have heard it straight from her mouth.

Former CBS producer Ira Rosen gave the alleged first-hand anecdote in his book, 'Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes,' which just hit the market this past week. According to folks who have reviewed it, Rosen claims he duped Maxwell into spilling the beans.

At some point before the 2016 election, Rosen asserts he arranged a meeting with Maxwell and put on his best poker face to get her to admit there were secret tapes of Trump -- but apparently coming to find out Epstein was in possession of alleged tapes of Clinton too.

He says he told her, "I want the tapes. I know he (Epstein) was videotaping everyone and I want the tapes of Trump with the girls." To that, Rosen claims Maxwell responded she didn't know where they were, to which Rosen emphasized the prospect of Trump possibly winning the presidency if the alleged tapes didn't come to light.

He claims Maxwell then looked him dead in the eyes and said the following -- "I am the daughter of a press baron. I know the way you people think. If you do one side, you must do the other. If you get the tapes on Trump you have to do Clinton."

Rosen claims Maxwell then said it was all pointless, because Hillary was way ahead in the polls at the time, so there was no need for the story to come out. Beyond that, he claims she told him Epstein never disclosed to her where those alleged tapes were, so she couldn't even get to them if she wanted.

Of course, both men have ties to Epstein, and have been pictured with him many times over the years. Clinton has downplayed their friendship, and denied ever flying on Epstein's private jets ... while Trump has also distanced himself from Epstein, and denied any impropriety.

Huge pieces of a plane started raining down from the sky and onto the front yards of a handful of Colorado residents, but luckily ... everyone seems to be okay.

Check out these photos that were captured and posted out in Broomfield, where police shared images of massive chunks of debris from what appears to be the turbine engine and other parts of the plane laid scattered about on the lawns of folks in neighborhoods below.

It's pretty freaky ... but it sounds like, for now, nobody was struck by any of this stuff falling from the sky -- which appears to have broken off from the wings and other parts of the aircraft.

Broomfield PD is instructing folks not to touch the debris and to leave it where it landed, so that the National Transportation Safety Board -- the federal agency that investigates situations like this -- can come out to take a look, and determine what's what.

BPD posted more photos of other parts of the plane, which seem to have landed at a park ... on a turf field, no less. Again, it's a miracle no one was hit by any of it -- just about anything falling from that high of an altitude could easily kill someone who wasn't paying attention.

It sounds like if you were in the area and outside, you couldn't have missed this ... because people captured footage of the plane when it first started going up in flames -- and it apparently made a loud boom noise. You can see a huge cloud of black smoke it left behind in the air too -- and it certainly disrupted neighbors in the area.

BTW, people on the flight itself caught some of the malfunction live ... and it looks terrifying. Imagine being on board and having to wait for this to be resolved ... not being able to do a thing about it.

This story has a happy ending ... the plane -- a United flight -- is said to have landed safely at Denver International Airport -- where it had departed on its way to Honolulu. Investigators are looking into what caused the engine failure.

Jim Henson's sense of humor is getting a shout-out on the heels of his beloved series hitting Disney+ -- but as we look back, it's clear his puppets weren't always made just for kids.

The 'Muppets' creator used to work on TV commercials for Wilkins Coffee back in the day (from the late '50s through the early '60s) in which he used early versions of puppets he had to peddle java for the food brand. Millennials are just discovering them ... and are in awe.

One guy wrote, "can't stop laughing at these early jim henson commercials where one guy just kills another for not liking wilkins coffee." Yep, that's the gist of these throwback spots -- it's basically one Henson puppet murking another puppet who refuses to drink the Wilkins.

Some of the pranks are harmless, like kicking the puppet off a tree they're both resting on -- but as you watch on ... you'll see some of the sketches become increasingly violent.

In some of the ads, the stockier puppet gets shot at with a gun, bonked over the head, cut with a razor, electrocuted, boiled alive, tossed off buildings and hot air balloons ... and a lot more. It's all in good fun -- but many are pointing out just how graphic they seem to be. Somebody uploaded a full 14-minute clip of all the Henson Wilkins ads, and it's eye-opening.

Henson also had a stint of doing ads with Claussen's Bread -- in which Kermit himself appeared -- and they too are pretty damn dark ... albeit somewhat watered down.

Of course, "The Muppets" is laced with a ton of adult humor too -- so it's no surprise, really, that some of Henson's material with his prized creations pushed the envelope. Just check out this early 'Muppets' toy commercial, where the dolls threaten violence onto the viewers if they don't buy them.

A lot of this stuff aired in the '50s, '60s and '70s ('Muppets' have been around a long time) ... so something tells us Henson and co. could get away with edgy scripts back then. By the time the '90s rolled around, though, 'Muppets' underwent major rebranding ... to be more kid-friendly.

Anyway, most episodes of "The Muppet Show" are now available to stream -- and folks are remembering the genius who brought it all to life. Henson died of pneumonia in 1990.

He was 53.

Metallica tried rocking out in front of millions of viewers watching their virtual concert -- but the platform hosting their set got cold feet ... and muzzled them to cover their own ass.

This is pretty hilarious (and educational) ... James Hetfield and co. were performing earlier Friday for BlizzCon -- a gaming convention put on by Blizzard Entertainment ... which often uses Twitch to host its festivities. Metallica was booked for a pandemic-friendly gig.

When it was their time to shred ... it appears the admin team at Twitch played it safe, and muted their set for a bunch of people who were streaming it from their website. Instead of 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' ... a lot of people heard some cheesy, generic 8-bit folk music ... which had the exact opposite vibe Metallica was trying to communicate -- low key and chill.

Based on different users who were monitoring the set live, it appears the concert was heard just fine as is through Blizzard's official YouTube and Twitch page, but on Twitch's homepage ... you only heard Zelda-esque tunes. Twitch reportedly dubbed over Metallica's entire performance ... and what's being speculated is they did it over copyright concerns.

In case you hadn't heard, A LOT of Twitch gamers and streamers have been getting hit with DMCA takedown requests ... because they were playing parts of songs they didn't own the rights to, or the whole thing. It's been a big Twitch issue throughout 2020.

The irony is ... Metallica was instrumental in forming the current DMCA laws in this country ... due to lawsuits they spearheaded against Napster and other file-sharing services from the early 2000s. It was a big thing back then.

A man who allegedly attacked and injured several New York Transit officers was wrestled to the ground and pummeled ... and the takedown was captured on video.

The incident went down Tuesday in a subway station. Cops say Alex Lowery was smoking a cigarette which is a violation of MTA rules. They approached him and escorted him out of the station, but as they walked up a flight of stairs to the exit, Lowery allegedly spat in an officer's face.

Lowery began to struggle with the cops, and allegedly punched one of them in the face and head-butted another officer. Cops say Lowery and one of the officers tumbled down the stairs and Lowery again punched a cop in the face.

The Transit cops subdued Lowery, and when he was on the ground an officer threw 11 punches at his head.

Several officers were injured. One had lacerations to his head and injured his knee. Another officer injured his elbow in the struggle.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump went on the attack, saying, "What we're seeing all over America is EXCESSIVE abuse of power by police! Regardless of what happened, NOWHERE in police procedures does it say to punch a suspect in the face multiple times! Police need to be held accountable for their actions, not just when someone is killed!"

Ted Cruz is back in the frigid cold, but his family doesn't have a lot of time to fret over the Senator's boneheaded move, because they're clearly enjoying fun in the sun in Cancun.

A bikini-claded Heidi Cruz is soaking up the sun on the beach with their kids ... you know, the ones their dad blamed for the trip.

Cruz's family clearly isn't letting the patriarch's troubles ruin a perfectly good vacay.

As you know, Senator Cruz did a quick turnaround after the s*** hit the fan, although he tried a lame excuse at first, suggesting this was just a quick turnaround to take his daughters south of the border. His suitcase tells the story -- hardly an overnight bag.

As if things couldn't get any worse ... Cruz also left behind Snowflake the family dog in their freezing home. The security guard was taking care of the pooch, but Heidi made it clear to friends in text messages before the family hopped on a plane ... their house was an icebox.

Hillary Clinton is piling on Sen. Ted Cruz for leaving his poor pup behind in his "freezing" Houston home during his infamous trip to Cancun ... she says it's a huge red flag for voters.

The former Secretary of State took a not-so-thinly veiled shot Friday at Cancun Cruz, tweeting ... "Don't vote for anyone you wouldn't trust with your dog." Zing!!!

HC has clearly seen the sad New York Magazine photo of the Texas Senator's pooch, Snowflake, who was left behind in the same home Cruz's wife said was "freezing" after a lengthy power outage from the deadly winter storm.

Cruz quickly hightailed it back to Texas after tons of backlash, and now admits he made a huge mistake by flying south during the Texas crisis back home ... but he's been mum on Snowflake.

A couple of Florida women tried to pull off a "Bosom Buddies"-esque ruse -- except they dressed up as old ladies -- in order to get vaccinated ... but it didn't work, at least not this time.

According to Dr. Raul Pino -- the health administrator for Orange County, FL -- the 2 women showed up at a coronavirus vaccination site this week "dressed up as grannies" in an attempt to get a shot.

Pino says their get-ups included granny glasses, but the women were only 34 and 44 years old ... and you have to be over 65 to be eligible for the COVID vaccine in the state.

Here's the thing, though -- Dr. Pino says the women presented valid Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cards indicating they HAD received their first vaccine doses, adding ... "I don’t know how they escaped the first time."

The health administrator claims there was another recent instance of a man trying to pretend to be his father of the same name in order to get a shot, and warned of people "faking it" in order to skip the line.

The 2 granny impersonators were not given the vaccine but were also not charged with any crime ... though they might be issued trespass warnings.

Sen. Ted Cruz's big mistake in jetting off to Cancun wasn't leaving his constituents suffering in a deadly cold, it was forgetting how to play the political game ... according to Texas GOP brass, anyway.

Warren Norred, a member of the Texas State Republican Executive Committee tells TMZ ... the Senator's only guilty of political tone-deafness, and he's not surprised.

Norred claims Ted's not a natural politician, and therefore didn't think like one ... who would understand taking a trip in the middle of a crisis tends to draw outrage from voters.

Frankly, that rationalization doesn't hold water, because Cruz has repeatedly blasted Democrats in D.C. -- especially President Obama -- for, in his eyes, sleeping on the job during crises.

Jack P. Barcroft, another TX GOP Exec. Committee member, isn't laying blame on Cruz, but on his staff. He says someone in the Senator's office is dedicated to optics and media relations, and failed Cruz by not blocking his Cancun getaway.

Barcroft also thinks Cruz caved when he flew back, and should've just followed through with his trip. He believes the Senator could have effectively led from down there.

Late Thursday, once back in Texas, even Cruz admitted the trip was a mistake. Earlier, he claimed he always intended to come back Thursday, and was merely dropping off his daughters to visit with friends.

Of course, his wife also went and, presumably, could've done that on her own.

The Texas Democratic Party definitely isn't buying what Cruz is selling.

If Dolly Parton doesn't want a statue of herself at the Tennessee Capitol, then that's exactly what should happen ... according to the politician who suggested it, and already has a plan B.

Tennessee State Rep. Jeremy Faison brought up Dolly's name in 2019 as the best replacement for the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue at the Capitol, and last month another state rep introduced a bill to make it happen.

As we reported though, DP politely turned down the honor, saying she didn't want to be put up on a pedestal. Faison says it's up to the TN General Assembly to honor her wishes, and though the bill is still technically on the table ... he believes his colleagues will rightfully nix it.

He tells us he's not at all disappointed by Dolly's request -- in fact, he admires her even more for it, and says it just proves she's a Tennessee treasure.

The Congressman also suggests there's an overlooked historical figure who would be a great statue replacement -- Anne Dallas Dudley.

Anne was a prominent women's suffrage activist in the early 20th century who founded the Nashville Equal Suffrage League ... and helped women get the right to vote.

Sen. Ted Cruz is back in Texas after his quick getaway to Cancun was seemingly shortened by the outrage over his timing -- amid the statewide emergency -- and now he has police protection.

Officers escorted Cruz as he deplaned in Houston to head to customs. Sounds like he's in a pretty chipper mood for a guy who pissed off millions of people in a matter of hours.

As we reported ... Cancun Cruz and his family boarded a United flight Wednesday night to begin a tropical getaway as millions of his fellow Texans are literally freezing and dying due to the winter storm-induced power outages.

The Senator quickly hopped on a flight back to Houston Thursday afternoon, hours after the backlash. He was reportedly trying to get an upgrade to business class, but as you can see he rode back in economy -- and passengers weren't shy about chatting him up.

Cruz says he only took the trip to be a "good dad" and chaperone his daughters to Cancun. He claims he had always planned to return today, but that seems suspect ... considering his wife was on the trip, and could've handled babysitting duty on her own.

Oh, and he had a pretty big roll-on bag too for a 24-hour trip. 🤔

There's only one Texan who's warm right now, and that's Texas Senator Ted Cruz ... who bolted to Cancun with his family while millions in his state suffer.

Photos show the Republican Senator hanging out in the United Club lounge and boarding a flight to Mexico with his family  ... an incredible sight as people are literally dying in Cruz's state just trying to stay warm.

But, it's true ... while millions of his fellow Texans are without power and water and are literally freezing during a winter ice storm, Ted's off to a Cancun resort for some fun in the sun.

Cruz was already facing criticism this week during the Texas power outages as a tweet resurfaced of him mocking California's "failed energy policies" when it experienced outages last August.

As for his own state's power outages, Cruz threw in the towel, tweeting ... "I got no defense. A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down. Not good. Stay safe!"

Ted might want to start working on a defense while he's poolside in Mexico.

Demi Burnett -- a 'Bachelor' alum who appeared on Colton Underwood's season -- is saying she's sorry for wearing a controversial Yeezy jacket ... with a symbol of hate plastered on it.

Demi posted an apology video Tuesday night, in which she claims she just thought she was wearing a cool jacket made by Kanye West ... and didn't even think about the Confederate flag emblazoned on the arm.

She says ... "I just wore it for that one night, it was a Yeezy jacket, I thought it was so cool, I was like, 'yeah, Yeezy!' And, I didn't even like, pay attention to that. That's ignorance."

Demi adds she didn't realize how harmful the symbol is to people, and says ... "I am so f***ing sorry. Like, I'm disgusted with myself. I'm embarrassed. It doesn't even matter how I feel. I'm just so f***ing sorry because that is not what I stand for, that is not what I'm about. And, I'm really mad that I ever wore it."

She claims the jacket was a gift from the father of her ex -- musician Slater Davis -- and he shared the pic on his Instagram story ... so it seems it was taken last year before they split.

Demi's jacket scandal comes amid a much larger race-related controversy in 'Bachelor' nation ... as host Chris Harrison's stepped away from the show for allegedly excusing historical racism -- and specifically for defending the past of current 'Bachelor' contestant, Rachael Kirkconnell.

A mayor in Texas has thrown in the towel after going on a heartless rant ... calling residents lazy and crybabies as the state suffers from massive power outages in frigid temps.

Tim Boyd said he's resigning as Mayor of Colorado City, Texas ... just hours after he posted a lengthy rant on Facebook, grousing, "no one owes you or your family anything" and that "the city and county, along with power providers or any other services, owes you NOTHING!"

The diatribe came as most of the Lone Star State has gone without power and water for at least 3 days. Texas and much of the South is being slammed with a once-in-a-generation snowstorm ... resulting in at least 5 deaths.

But, even as the weather brought Texas to a halt and sent residents literally running for warm cover ... Boyd called the dire situation a "sink or swim" moment for residents. He also said he's "sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout."

Eli Manning has officially completed his transition from NFL star to clumsy dad ... the dude just WIPED OUT trying to ski and film his kids at the same time, and the vid is hilarious!!

Unclear which mountain the 2-time Super Bowl champ was riding on Tuesday ... but as he was going down it -- he decided getting some footage of his kids cruising would be fun.

SPOILER ALERT: It wasn't -- at least not for the 40-year-old ex-QB.

Eli caught an edge with one of his skis as he was filming and tumbled to the ground.

Don't worry, Manning was OK ... which makes the clip hilarious -- especially because you can hear him begin to scream "Oh shoot!" right before he fell!

In the video, Manning told a concerned witness he was fine ... and he later wrote as a caption on the clip, "This is what happens when I try to ski and film my kids at the same time."

A popular blogger has been calling Tessica Brown -- aka, 'Gorilla Glue Girl' -- a bold-faced liar who made the whole saga up and scammed the world ... but Tessica is now saying the blogger better shut it, or risk getting dragged into court.

An attorney repping Tessica's management team fired off a cease and desist letter to the person who appears to run the IG and Twitter accounts @gossipofthecity_ -- telling them to stop spreading the claim TB hustled everybody into thinking she sprayed Gorilla Glue into her hair.

The account has been posting about it for several days now, including messages and videos to both accounts -- which have close to 610,000 combined followers -- insisting Tessica is a liar and that she pulled a fast one ... especially on those who donated money to her.

The account even re-posted a 15-minute video from another woman who claimed to have sprayed Gorilla Glue in her own hair, trying to debunk Tessica's account. The post read, "Salute to this sister who actually deserves the money y’all donated to that liar. #girlbye."

To that, Tessica's lawyer says her predicament was neither contrived nor a joke, and to suggest otherwise is wrong. Her attorney, Jeffrey Klein, says Gossip of the City is defaming Tessica and warns the account's operator that they're on thin ice.

You can read the letter for yourself ... it's clear that a lawsuit could be filed if the account keeps it up. We're told this letter was sent last Friday -- yet, most of the posts still seem to be live as of now.

@gossipofthecity_ even acknowledged the cease and desist in a separate post, calling it a fake. We've been assured by Tessica's team, though, that it is very much real ... and they mean business.

Now, Tessica herself detailed the pain, embarrassment and agony she was going through with us directly on 'TMZ Live' -- and insisted this was as real (and unfortunate) as one could imagine. Remember, she went to the ER over this, and even flew out to Cali for a procedure to remove the adhesive.