TMZ.com

The ruby red slipper theft has been solved ... with a confession from a mobster!

Terry Jon Martin has copped to stealing one of the most iconic items in movie history -- Dorothy's ruby red slippers from "The Wizard of Oz."

Terry Jon now admits ... he's the guy behind the smash and grab back in 2005 ... he used a hammer to obliterate the display case that was supposed to protect the slippers.

JJM says he was under the mistaken impression the shoes were bedazzled with real jewels. The reason he thought that -- the shoes were famously insured for $1M.

The shoes were recovered in 2018 and Martin was arrested and pled guilty to the theft.

The 76-year-old will not go to jail ... he's suffering from a serious illness so the judge showed him mercy. He's in hospice care and is only expected to live another 6 months.

Too Short is feeling himself these days, with a new film that just debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, and he felt confident enough to conquer the slopes!

Short and his manager, David Weintraub, were at the Festival to unveil their new film, "Freaky Tales," starring Pedro Pascal and Tom Hanks and directed by Capt. Marvel writers/directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. TS co-stars in and narrates the flick.

The movie has shades of Taylor Swift ... it's inspired by Short's albums.

As for the challenging slopes of Dear Valley, Short passed on the diamonds and ventured out onto the bunny slopes for 3 hours. He eventually graduated to the blue square runs.

Jacob Elordi took over the reins at 'SNL' Saturday night, and his monologue predictably began with THAT "Saltburn" sex scene.

SPOILER -- Jacob's character, Felix, dies and Barry Keoghan's character has sex on his grave.

Jacob got straight to the point ... "If you saw the movie, thank you. If you saw the movie with your parents, I'm sorry. If you saw the movie with your girlfriend, you're welcome."

The Aussie actor, who kicked off the first "SNL" of the year, took questions from the audience/cast, including one where he was asked about that "gross" scene in his movie. Poor Jacob thought it was about "Saltburn," but she was actually referring to "The Kissing Booth."

No sign of Olivia Jade during the show ... but she was spotted at an afterparty ... the two've been dating since the end of 2021. She was there during rehearsals.

Jacob's on quite the run ... aside from "Saltburn" and "Kissing Booth," he starred in "Priscilla" last year. He also stars in "He Went That Way," which was released earlier this month.

Well, this is crazy ... just days after Richard Simmons seemed pissed Pauly Shore was doing an unauthorized biopic on his life, RS now seems to be giving the thumbs up to the project.

TMZ obtained this video from the Sundance Film Festival Friday night, where Pauly got onstage to introduce the short film that will eventually become the full movie version of Richard's life.

He began by telling the crowd Richard texted him earlier in the day, wishing him "good luck" with the screening. The audience gave its rousing approval.

It's a total about-face ... just a few days ago, Richard wrote on Facebook, "You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this movie. So don't believe everything you read."

To say he never gave his permission is as much as saying DON'T DO THIS!

If Pauly is putting yesterday's text in full context, maybe Richard had a change of heart.

The Wolper Organization, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. that's developing the film, told us -- "While we would love to have him involved, we respect his desire to privacy and plan to produce a movie that honors him, celebrates him and tells a dramatic story."

Pauly Shore's Richard Simmons short dropped last night ... and Simmons stans will recognize the moment it's based on -- plus get an idea of what the feature film's gonna be like.

PS premiered "The Court Jester" at Sundance, and he went full Simmons for the role -- he looks a ton like him with the hair, tank top and thigh-high shorts ... and on top of that, Shore picked a viral moment from Richard's life. While the screening took place during the festival it was not an official Sundance selection.

The short -- not the full-scale biopic he's making -- opens with a production assistant backstage of a show hosted by a woman who looks and sounds like Ellen DeGeneres ... when Richard is called onto the stage.

Pauly's Richard comes out with a ton of energy, running around in front of the audience, sweat dripping down his forehead ... a clear reenactment of Richard's appearance on "Ellen" more than a decade ago.

Check it out ... Richard jumps around so fast cameras can barely keep up, pushes the same DVD and even pretends to be a workout machine Ellen can use -- art imitating life taken to the extreme!!!

Pauly's also showing off his acting chops in the more low-key moments too -- having a heart-to-heart with the PA from the beginning of the short while chowing down on a sprinkle donut.

Shore's clearly trying to be pretty respectful of Richard ... backing him with an angelic light while he drops knowledge on the young "Ellen" crew member -- though at this point, Richard's probably not coming around to Pauly's upcoming biopic

As we reported ... Richard -- who doesn't speak publicly much anymore -- came out and blasted Pauly's movie ... basically saying he didn't give his permission or blessing to Shore's project.

When we talked to Pauly about it ... he said he's holding out hope Richard comes around, but he's going forward with the project whether he gets the fitness guru's thumbs up or not.

7:53 AM PT -- A BAFTA spokesperson tells TMZ ... "We were very sorry to hear of Roy Battersby’s recent passing - he was a renowned and trailblazing director. Roy Battersby was awarded the Alan Clarke Award in 1996, a BAFTA Special Television Award. We confirm he will be honoured in our forthcoming BAFTA Television Awards in May, and on the In Memoriam Section on our website."

Kate Beckinsale says the folks running BAFTA can't make any promises when it comes to honoring her late stepfather -- which she thinks is outrageous ... and she may be right.

The actress tore the British academy a new one Thursday in an IG post -- in which she alleged producers for the annual award show (basically, the UK version of the Oscars/Globes) told her the recently late Roy Battersby might not be recognized in their program.

KB posted a pic of her stepdad receiving a lifetime achievement BAFTA award years ago for work he'd done in television across the pond, and Kate went on to air her frustration.

She writes, "Today BAFTA told me they ‘could not guarantee’ he would be included in their “in memoriam” tribute , to honour the industry members we have lost. So a man dead less than a week somehow has to audition in front of a committee after a decades long career (in which he has been awarded from said organisation the highest accolade they have) to decide IF his death is worth mentioning."

As if that wasn't scathing enough, Kate adds ... "I am paralysed ,sick and sickened and I will honour him and his work every day of my life." She went on to say her mother, Judy Loe, has been quietly battling cancer behind the scenes too ... making this perceived snub worse.

One last final dig at BAFTA from Kate ... "[T]hanks again , BAFTA for your horribly cold email." Oof, talk about honest -- something tells us Roy will make it in there after all.

Jacob Elordi's new movie "Saltburn" has a bathtub scene that has many stomachs turning, while others are pending money to smell his bathwater ... and now the actor himself's getting a big whiff!

He came face-to-wick Thursday night on 'The Tonight Show' as Jimmy Fallon whipped out a very distinct scented candle. If the marketing can be believed, the candle smells like JE's scent -- mind you, it's fan-made.

Jacob said he was already aware of the candles, thanks to his "Priscilla" costar Cailee Spaeny -- but, he says he's not seeing a dollar off the product.

Of course, he couldn't leave without taking a big old sniff of himself ... and even got his mouth involved a la Barry Keoghan's character in "Saltburn."

We won't give away too much, but all ya gotta know is BK's character, Oliver, slurps up some very spicy bathwater after Jacob's character, Felix, does much more than just soak in it.

Like we said, stomach-turning!

As for how well the candle captures Jacob's essence -- the Australian actor seemed a bit unimpressed, noting it smells more like laundry detergent than him.

"Saltburn" is taking the world by storm right now, racking up nominations this awards season ... and Elordi's stayin' busy too with an 'SNL' hosting gig coming up Saturday.

Malia Obama has come a long way from her childhood days in the White House ... 'cause she's now walking the red carpet at Sundance as a straight-up filmmaker.

The 25-year-old daughter of former president Barack Obama made her debut on the red carpet at the Park City, Utah annual event Thursday night.

Malia looked just stunning in her light blue button-down shirt, gray overcoat, gray scarf, black pants and shiny brown boots.

The former first daughter showed up for the premiere of her new short film, "The Heart," which she wrote and directed under the name Malia Ann. Turns out that Ann is her middle name, which appears in the credits.

Malia has said the movie is about "lost objects and lonely people and forgiveness and regret, but I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things."

Sounds like a winner to us! Let's hope the Sundance jurors and audiences think so, too, when they go vote for their favorite flicks in each category.

As a side note ... Malia was just 10 when she moved into the White House during her dad's 8 year tenure as the 44th President of the Unites States from 2009 to 2017.

The cast of "The American Society of Magical Negroes" all seem to be in agreement that white people shouldn't say the title in full -- and that goes for our own camera guy too.

David Alan Grier made that perfectly clear in a walk-and-chat we did with him Thursday at LAX -- where he was on his way to Sundance to screen his and Justice Smith's new dark comedy ... which is sort of a goofy spin on 'Harry Potter,' but with historical racial tropes.

Just watch the trailer to get the gist of what it's actually about -- it's pretty self-explanatory -- but on the issue of saying this film's title in full ... DAG is on the same page as Justice. Namely, he also thinks whites should steer clear of letting it come out of their mouths.

You'll recall ... JS -- who's the lead star of the flick -- told us exactly that yesterday at the airport, although you can tell he's totally joking. Ditto for Dave ... or so it seems?!?

Check out this back-and-forth he has with our photog ... let's just say, it's a bit awkward.

Richard Simmons made very clear this week that he doesn't approve of Pauly Shore making a movie about him/his life -- but Pauly thinks he'll win the guy over ... eventually.

The actor touched down at the Salt Lake City Int'l Airport Thursday, where he's in town for the Sundance Film Festival that's going down this weekend in neighboring Park City. Right off the bat, photogs on hand were ready to pepper him with questions about this film of his.

Of course, the big one being ... do you think it's right to proceed with this Richard Simmons biopic -- even though the man himself hasn't given his blessing ... explicitly so.

Check out Pauly's take here, 'cause he touches on a few different things. For starters, he thinks RS might be singing this tune today ... but could well be feeling completely different about it by tomorrow. More importantly, though, he thinks intention is everything with this.

From Pauly's view, he's not coming from a vindictive place -- and he vows to do Richard justice in his portrayal of him. He also says straight up ... build it, and they'll come!

Pauly goes on to explain that he genuinely believes once Richard can see this new short film of his -- on which the forthcoming biopic will be based -- RS will come around to seeing his things his way, basically suggesting the work will be good ... and it'll be done right by Rich.

Bottom line for Pauly here ... people love Richard, and they also love him -- and he says folks are itching to see both of them make a comeback in a big way.

His question is ... what's wrong with giving the people what they want?!?

1:44 PM PT -- Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ that Arnold Schwarzenegger's prized Audemars Piguet watch found a buyer at the auction today -- and the price it went for is pretty staggering.

We're told the timepiece ended up going for 270,000 euros ... which translates to about $293k in greenbacks. Remember, this thing was valued at around $100,000 or so -- and you gotta wonder if Arnold's escapade with it in Germany boosted its value among bidders.

They raised a total of 1.3 million euros at the fundraiser -- which is a record for the org!! This is especially big because the fundraisers in Europe don't generally raise as much as they do in the U.S.

In any case, it's all going toward a great cause ... the cash goes toward Arnold's Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative. You're welcome, Mother Earth!!!

Arnold Schwarzenegger's customs detention was a serious matter that held him in Germany -- but now that he's where he needs to be ... the dude's cracking jokes, kinky ones too!

The Terminator finally made it to his big auction in Austria Thursday -- where he took the stage at the famed Stanglwirt Resort ... where he was hosting a bidding war on behalf of his Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative, with that pricey watch being one of the items.

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ, where AS is intro'd and comes out to address everyone in the room. The dude dives right into what happened to him at the Munich airport.

He was in a real fun mood -- 'cause Arnold basically did a couple minutes of stand-up comedy here ... joking about the fact he'd been handcuffed the day prior, but noting it had nothing to do with the customs thing. Instead, he pins it on a hot night with his GF. 😅

Yep, he's in full dad-joke mode here ... and the hits just kept coming. Arnold went on to say that the guys in customs were actually looking for a 2nd watch in their search of his stuff -- but they never found it, and he suggests it's because he put it where the sun don't shine.

Arnie got some laughs, for sure ... and he was working the room like a seasoned comic. BTW, we're told this event was packed -- upwards of 350 people were there, and he ended up talking for a total of 8 minutes, not entirely about the Germany incident of course.

Unclear if Arnold ended up selling off the Audemars Piguet watch in question -- which, BTW, had a starting bid of 50,000 euros! -- but at least he rattled off some good one-liners.

Gotta love Arnold, man ... dude knows how to tell a good story.

Richard Simmons is apparently pissed off enough at the unauthorized movie about his life that he's broken his silence for only the second time in 10 years.

Richard posted Wednesday, "You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this movie. So don't believe everything you read."

We had Pauly Shore on "TMZ Live" recently and he said he was pumped about the possibility of a doc on Richard and hoped the fitness guru would be on board. Clearly he is not.

As you know, Richard disappeared from public view more than a decade ago, and aside from a few fleeting glimpses, he hasn't been seen since.

TMZ produced a documentary in 2022, "What Really Happened to Richard Simmons," and our conclusion was this -- Richard left the public eye in part because he was experiencing physical problems -- particularly with his knees -- and he was also just exhausted from his unrelenting missing to help just about anyone he came in contact with.

Richard said in Wednesday's statement, "I just try to live a quiet life and be peaceful."

The Wolper Org, which is producing the biopic with Warner Bros., told TMZ, "While we would love to have him involved, we respect his desire to privacy and plan to produce a movie that honors him, celebrates him, and tells a dramatic story."

Justice Smith's proud of his new movie that features a prominently Black cast ... but he's warning white people to avoid using the movie's full title -- or else they're getting side-eyed.

We got the actor out at LAX Wednesday and asked him about his new comedy titled "The American Society of Magical Negroes" ... and he (jokingly) recommended whites shorten the title to simply 'American Society' ... although, again, he's totally kidding around.

If you haven't heard about the movie yet, here it is in a nutshell ... a man named Aren (played by Smith) joins a secret society of Black people who use magic to keep white people happy -- and therefore docile. "The Color Purple" star David Alan Grier and Nicole Byer from "Good Burger 2" also star in it with him ... among others.

Funny enough -- JS' joke matches one his character says in the film's trailer ... when he tells his mentor they should consider changing the name of their org to "The American Society Of Magical Black People." Life imitating art, baby!

Anyway, Justice tells us there's a certain level of truth to the satire that's depicted in his flick ... and he says it pokes fun at the "magical negro" trope that's pervaded films depicting Black characters through the years. If you don't know what it is ... see the trailer above.

Smith says he'll be doing a ton of traveling for the new movie ... including going to the Sundance Film Festival where the movie's set to premiere. In fact, Justice's got two movies premiering there this year ... 'American Society' and "I Saw The TV Glow."

"The American Society Of Magical Negroes" gets its wide release on March 22 ... but maybe buy your tickets online instead of shouting the name at the ticket window.

1:13 PM PT -- The Wolper Organization tells TMZ ... "While we would love to have him involved, we respect his desire to privacy and plan to produce a movie that honors him, celebrates him and tells a dramatic story."

They add, "We know he is deeply private and we would never want to invade that, how ever he is an amazing person, that changed millions of peoples lives and the effect he has had on the world needs to be recognized."

Richard Simmons wants to make it crystal clear he has absolutely NO involvement in an upcoming biopic starring Pauly Shore -- which is now officially in development and coming to a theater near you soon ... TMZ has learned.

Richard's rep reiterated to us Wednesday that Pauly's project -- which just recently got the green light -- isn't authorized, and notes Richard might not even be aware the movie's on the Hollywood conveyor belt at this point.

We're told Pauly and Richard's team spoke last year about PS portraying him in a film, but Richard's people told the comedian the timing wasn't right for Richard to get on board.

We already knew Pauly didn't have RS' blessing for this project -- something Pauly really sought -- and now ... we know Richard's position hasn't changed, though his rep says there will come a time when Richard wants to tell his story. Pauly's thing just ain't it, though.

Remember ... Pauly told us in September he was getting a pitch ready for Richard, and now Deadline is reporting a biopic is being developed over at The Wolper Organization, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The rest of the deets on who else might be coming aboard to help make this thing a reality are unclear for now -- but Pauly says he's "excited."

Pauly is also portraying Richard in a short film called "The Court Jester," which is premiering this week at The Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Richard has not been seen in public for years -- but, in 2022, TMZ released "TMZ Investigates: What Really Happened to Richard Simmons" on FOX and Hulu ... which drew a huge response and resulted in Richard posting a rare message to his fans.

Pauly and Richard have some connections ... they've known each other for decades, and Richard also knew Pauly's late mother, Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore ... but, so far, they're not connecting for this flick.

We'll see what comes of it in the end, and whether Richard changes his tune once it's actually out. Considering his incredible story, it also sounds like an Oscar waiting to happen.

Avantika Vandanapu may wear pink on Wednesdays, but Tuesday is for work ... because she showed up for a shift at Raising Cane's looking totally fetch.

The actress/singer, who plays Karen Shetty in the new "Mean Girls" movie, hopped right into the line of fire at a New York City Cane's location ... taking orders and filling up drinks for hungry customers.

AV revealed she loves the lemonade at Raising too -- though she admitted the hardest part of the gig was getting the lid on a cup of it -- and called out an order of hot fresh chicken for Emilia before heading back to make some of the restaurant's famous Texas Toast.

The starlet seems to be following Regina George's lead too ... gobbling down a couple pieces of the delicacy (a little all-carb diet anyone?!?) dipped in a little Cane's Sauce.

Avantika's not exactly the new kid in school when it comes to this whole acting thing either ... she's got credits for Rebel Wilson's movie "Senior Year" and the Disney Channel Original "Spin" ... though it'd be fair to say "Mean Girls" is blowing those flicks out of the water.

But Vandanapu's not big-timing anyone ... giving all the normie Raising Cane's employees the OK to sit at her lunch table and taking a group pic with the gang!!!

Nicole Kidman says size matters ... at least she used to think so when she went in for auditions.

The Oscar winner shared she used to lie about her height during a recent interview with the "Radio Times Podcast" ... admitting she'd shave a half-inch off her stats when casting directors asked.

NK says despite being 5'11" she used to tell CDs she was 5'10" and a half ... not much of a difference, but a lie nonetheless.

The Australian star says people called her "stalky" when she first arrived on the acting scene, and was told a tall woman like her wouldn't have a career.

However, that's changed in recent years with Kidman saying, "Now, I get, ‘You’re so much taller than I thought,' or men grappling with how high my heels should be."

Another interesting anecdote ... NK was nearly turned away from an audition for the musical "Annie" when she was a kid, because she was 2 inches above the 5'2" cutoff line.

Kidman says she's trying to impart courage and resilience to her kids -- she has 2 with Tom Cruise and 2 with Keith Urban -- teaching them how to react when they hear the word "no."