TMZ.com

A fitness instructor is being accused of tearing down a poster of kidnapped Israeli kids outside a popular Los Angeles gym  ... and he says he's "proud" to be doing it.

The incident went down Wednesday outside the iconic Gold's Gym in Venice -- the man crumpled up the poster and chucked it in the trash. He's asked about why he ripped it down, telling the man filming he's proud of himself, before adding "Get the f*** away."

The man in question has been identified as model and fitness trainer Zaid Shaat -- his social media profiles say he's a "Lifetime Natural Athlete," and that he loves to "motivate people to live a healthy lifestyle. I am passionate about helping people achieve their goals and dreams."

Worth mentioning that Joe Gold, the founder of Gold's Gym, was Jewish ... and folks online have been letting Shaat have it over what he did outside the L.A. hot spot.

As you know, Hamas first attacked Israel on Oct. 7 killing thousands and taking more than 200 civilians hostage -- all of which sparked war as Israel retaliates.

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta made sure to design Facebook and Instagram so they are super hard to quit, and the result has been bad for society ... at least that's the allegation from Tennessee's Attorney General, and 41 other AGs.

Jonathan Skrmetti, the Volunteer State's top cop, joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" to lay out why 41 states -- and Washington, DC -- are suing Facebook and Instagram's parent company for allegedly harming our nation's youth.

He says the social media apps are intentionally designed to take advantage of the way we're all wired -- making the platforms extremely addicting with features like infinite scrolling, reminders and notifications, just to name a few.

Skrmetti says Meta is fully aware the apps are hard to quit and bad for folks -- he says they cause sleep deprivation, anxiety, ADD, depression and potential suicide.

In his eyes, there's only so much parents can do to stop their kids from getting hooked on social media, and it's at a point now where the government needs to step in to make changes.

Tons of Hollywood stars are banding together to pressure Hamas to release all hostages taken by the terrorist group in Gaza ... and they're asking President Biden to help make it happen.

Tiffany Haddish, Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake, Chris Rock, and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the big names who signed an open letter to Biden, which calls on Hamas to set all prisoners free.

The open letter is part of a new campaign out of Hollywood, led by Jewish celebs and executives, called #NoHostageLeftBehind.

It's a truly extraordinary number of Hollywood honchos who have signed on, and it's clearly well-intentioned ... but what's clearly lacking is how the letter brings Hamas hostages home ... not that we're expecting celebs to figure that out.

Seems Hollywood is looking to the White House for a hand here ... the letter also thanks Biden for his leadership in bringing home two American hostages Friday ... though the celebs say their "relief is tempered by our overwhelming concern that 220 innocent people, including 30 children, remain captive by terrorists, threatened with torture and death."

Hamas also released two Israeli hostages on Monday, but their spouses still remain in captivity.

Donald Trump allegedly once asked his wife, Melania Trump, to strut her stuff in a two-piece to entertain some dudes he was hosting ... this according to a new secret recording.

The story comes courtesy of NYT/'60 Minutes Australia' -- which just aired a segment citing conversations that Aussie billionaire Anthony Pratt claims to have had with DT while he was in office ... and some of his anecdotes about 45 were apparently captured on tape.

In one of the audio clips, you can hear Pratt recount a time he claims went down sometime in 2019 -- when Trump was apparently hanging with him and some other business big shots during a dinner. Pratt says Trump told them about once asking MT to walk around a pool in her bikini ... so that all the other men there could get a look at what they were missing.

Unclear when exactly Trump might've made this request or where -- but from the sounds of it ... he said it sometime during his presidency. In any case, Pratt says Melania fired back at her husband ... allegedly saying, "I’ll do that when you walk around with me in your bikini."

It's not all that surprising Trump might say something like that -- but what's somewhat shocking is that he potentially said this while he was serving as POTUS and her FLOTUS.

Of course, Melania comes from a modeling background ... something DT has always taken pride in. But to hear that Melania took his odd request and turned it on her hubby is pretty wild too -- especially when you consider they don't seem to be all that close these days.

Anyway, there are larger bombshells in this report ... including claims Pratt made about DT allegedly spilling state secrets to him very casual-like. The bigger takeaway that the Times notes here is special counsel Jack Smith has talked to Pratt as part of his probe into DT.

The Prime Minister of Italy is pretty clearly not into threesomes, because she just broke up with the father of her child after he apparently floated the idea to another woman.

PM Giorgia Meloni said she was dunzo with Andrea Giambruno, her partner of 10 years, writing on Instagram ... "I thank him for the splendid years we spent together, for the difficulties we went through, and for giving me the most important thing in my life, which is our daughter Ginevra."

Giambruno was involved in numerous shenanigans, reportedly musing about having a "threesome, even a foursome."

He also reportedly asked a colleague of his, "Can I touch my balls while I talk to you?"

And, according to Italian media, he was caught on a hot mic asking a woman, not his partner, for sex.

He's made many outrageous comments, including a warning to women not to get drunk if they wanted to avoid rape. BTW ... the PM co-signed on that thought.

As for Meloni ... she said, "I will defend what we were, I will defend our friendship, and I will defend, at all costs, a seven-year-old girl who loves her mother and loves her father, as I was unable to love mine."

President Biden is urging Americans to support the war efforts in the Middle East and Ukraine ... he says we all have to come together to help defeat terrorists and tyrants.

The Prez just made his case for Congress to approve billions more in military aid to help Israel fight Hamas and Ukraine fight Vladimir Putin ... selling Americans on the battle between good and evil.

In a rare speech Thursday from the Oval Office, Biden says Americans must put their petty differences aside and unite against the bad guys ... he says if the U.S. gives up the fight in Gaza and Ukraine, it will only embolden our enemies across the globe.

POTUS says he's going to ask Congress to approve more military aid to help fight wars overseas ... while reiterating he won't send American troops to fight Russia.

We haven't seen a lot of rah-rah speeches from Biden in office ... and he's pretty animated here, at least by his standards.

The Prez says it's all part of keeping up with America's calling as a global leader ... and he says the world is watching and counting on us to save the day.

Historian Peter Kuznick fears for the fate of humanity ... warning of a third world war and a nuclear winter if conflicts across the globe continue to escalate.

The author and American University professor joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, and we asked him just how close we are to World War III, given the war in the Middle East.

Peter says things were already trending towards a doomsday scenario as a result of the war between Ukraine and Russia and the situation in Taiwan ... and he fears recent developments in Gaza may push things over the edge.

The way Peter sees a nightmare situation unfolding -- Israel invades Palestine, forcing Hezbollah to join the war -- and then other countries are drawn into battle.

From there, Peter says it's an all-out world war ... and it's pretty much guaranteed nuclear warheads will be used.

Peter explains how even a small number of nukes would create a nuclear winter capable of killing 2 billion people across the globe ... telling us it would be worse than ever imagined.

President Joe Biden is siding with Israel over the bombing Tuesday that killed hundreds of people in a Gaza hospital ... claiming it was not Israel that unleashed the weapon.

Israeli intelligence officers said Tuesday's rocket attack on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital was the work of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) -- an independent Muslim paramilitary organization. They said the jihadists were launching rockets at Israel and one of them misfired and came crashing down on the medical center.

Coupled with the footage, Israeli officials released a purported audio clip of two Hamas terrorists talking about the deadly explosion and blaming PIJ. Hamas, which controls the Palestinians in Gaza, has a tense relationship with PIJ, but the two groups sometimes work together.

In the audio clip, one alleged terrorist says, "They are saying (the rocket) belongs to Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It's from us?"

The other responds, "It looks like it. It misfired and fell on them... God bless - couldn't it have found another place to explode?"

However, the Palestinian Health Ministry issued a statement, saying Israeli airstrikes were responsible for the bombing at the medical facility, which was housing thousands of displaced people from the war.

Death tolls from the hospital blast ranged from 200 to 500 people, depending on which side you asked.

Major protests throughout the Middle East flared up as a result of the hospital attack. Hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators took to the streets in Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.

A Palestinian-American child was stabbed to death by his landlord -- this according to law enforcement, who says the boy's Muslim background was the motivation for the crime.

71-year-old Joseph M. Czuba has been charged with first-degree murder in the Chicago area after he allegedly knifed 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume over the weekend ... with cops saying the kid was stabbed upwards of 26 times at his apartment over the weekend.

Wadea's mother, Hanaan Shahin, was also stabbed a dozen times during the attack, per officials, but she survived her ordeal and is expected to live. For her injuries, Czuba is also being charged with attempted murder ... not to mention two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

The feds are involved in this case now ... as law enforcement has claimed that Czuba shouted "You Muslims must die" during the alleged killing. Officials believe Czuba did this as a direct result of the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict in the Middle East.

As far as how this happened ... cops say Czuba -- who apparently had no issues with these tenants in the past -- knocked on their door out of the blue, and when Hanaan opened it ... he allegedly pounced on her, attempting to choke her ... and went on to use his knife.

State officials have since said this was an isolated incident and that no credible threat of terror attacks beyond this has manifested in the community. The death of Wadea has spurred outcry nationally ... with President Biden condemning his killing in a statement.

'Tis the season to get spooky, and one collegiate professor thinks nothing's scarier than American politics ... which is reflected in his awesome Halloween home decorations.

Check out what Matt Warshauer has done to his West Hartford property out in Connecticut ... where his crib has essentially turned into a carnival-style fun house that's completely D.C.-inspired -- and touches on all the hot-button issues in the U.S., including Trump!

Take a look for yourself ... Warshauer's place is decked out and then some with creative constructions -- like the panel of skeleton Supreme Court justices, meant to show that America's trust in SCOTUS is dead, at least from his POV.

There's another featurette with even more bags of bones -- which are crafted to depict Ron DeSantis' fight with Disney over LGBT issues. This is part of a rotating merry-go-round-style stage ... and each "scene" portrays what he considers a frightening political scene.

And yes, there's a DT clown reference, too ... his painted-on caption here says it all.

The name of this neighborhood attraction, as Warshauer describes it, is "United States Fun House" ... and while it might, perhaps, turn off certain adults (depending on their actual politics) -- it's undoubtedly a head-turner, and something people are flocking to see.

BTW, this is more than just a standing spectacle ... it's actually interactive, as the home-owner looks to have incorporated built-in games into the decorations on his front lawn.

Here's a chance to get your hands on a historic item from the Guinness World Records Book ... a letter signed by 14 U.S. Presidents is hitting the open market ... and it's on sale for 6-figures.

It's the only document in the world with 14 presidential signatures ... and it's been autographed by basically every president from Herbert Hoover on down, save for John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden.

The record-setting presidential parchment is going up for sale through Moments In Time ... with a $175,000 price tag.

The story behind the letter is super cool ... as reported in the Amarillo Globe-News ... it all started in October 1932 when a Texas man named Richard C. Corbyn wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt about a potential campaign stop in Arizona. FDR wrote back and signed his autograph at the bottom.

Corbyn was 18 years old when he got FDR's response in the mail, and 30 years later in 1962 he realized the letter would have even more value if he could just get other presidents to leave their John Hancock on the same piece of paper ... and he set out to get more signatures.

The second to sign was Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1962 ... and in 1963 the letter added signatures from Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson and Hoover.

Corbyn tried to get JFK's autograph ... but the Kennedy assassination derailed those plans ... and he went 12 years before getting another signature until Gerald Ford signed in 1975 while in office.

Jimmy Carter signed in 1976; Richard Nixon signed in 1978; Ronald Reagan signed in 1980; George H. W. Bush signed in 1988; Bill Clinton signed in 1993 and George W. Bush signed in 2002.

Barack Obama proved to be a little more difficult ... it took the Corbyns 7 years to get Obama's signature ... finally getting him to sign in November 2015.

Judge Mathis is applauding California's new Ebony Alert for missing Black children and women ... he says it's long overdue, and he's glad Gov. Gavin Newsom got it done.

We got the TV magistrate Friday at Via Alloro in Beverly Hills and asked him about the state's new system to report and find missing Black kids and women, which Newsom just signed into law.

Judge Mathis says missing Black girls are the most underserved group of people, and he thinks the Ebony Alert will go a long way towards righting that wrong.

Remember ... there was a ton of outrage earlier this week when the Ebony Alert was announced, with some folks saying it was modern-day segregation because it's completely separate from the longstanding Amber Alert.

Judge Mathis isn't buying that argument ... he says that's just not the way society operates, and until there's a true level playing field for all, special programs like the Ebony Alert are needed for marginalized groups.

The author behind the bill, California State Senator Steven Bradford, previously told us the new system was needed because law enforcement was doing its job when it came to missing Black folks, and there weren't enough resources either.

Rep. George Santos went toe-to-toe with a civilian Friday on Capitol Hill over the war between Israel and Hamas -- and it got heated enough, Capitol Police had to separate the men.

The Congressman from NY charged through a hallway in the Capitol and started shouting at a man he accused of getting in his face over Israel's policies regarding Gaza and the treatment of Palestinians there. Santos went from zero to 100, quickly pointing out the man to cops.

When the man, reportedly a Jewish D.C. resident, asked Santos what he was doing about Israel's oppression of Palestinians ... Santos yelled back at him, "What about the terrorists you tried to defend in this building? It's abhorrent that you are in this building stepping up for terrorists!!!"

The man kept his hands at his side as Rep. Santos waved and pointed a finger in his face until cops stepped in between them ... but even as he stormed off, the legislator continued yelling.

At the other end of the hallway, he continued shouting -- now at reporters -- "What is happening to the people of Israel should not be defended!!! No one defending Hamas has any business in this building whether you're elected, whether you're a civilian."

The boyfriend of a missing Israeli woman who fled the Hamas-attacked music festival made a tough last-minute call to not attend the concert with her ... and his decision is tearing him apart.

27-year-old Ohad Malul told the NY Post his 27-year-old girlfriend, Shani Kupervaser, went to the Supernova music festival near the Gaza Strip over the weekend -- Malul said he decided to skip the event, because he'd just returned from a Paris trip and was exhausted.

However, Malul now says he feels like he "needed to go and be there with her. Maybe I could have done something different" -- adding, "It’s killing me inside that I am not with her."

He says she told him she wouldn't go to the festival for long and that "Everything is going to be OK." The tone changed when Kupervaser sent him a message while at the festival, claiming she saw rockets flying overhead.

From there, she fled with 3 of her friends, but came under gunfire and hauled it on foot to a roadside bomb shelter with people waving them in to come take cover.

The shelter turned out to be a horrifying trap ... Malul says according to those who made it out alive, the 30 people inside seeking refuge were met with Hamas terrorists throwing grenades inside of it.

Malul says 2 men inside the shelter -- including one of Kupervaser's friends -- bravely started catching the grenades and chucking them back at the terrorists ... but he has no clue if his girlfriend is alive, kidnapped, or dead.

As we reported, German artist and festivalgoer Shani Louk was one of many kidnapped from the event ... and was paraded and spat on by Hamas terrorists in the back of a truck.

There's at least half a dozen American citizens who are unaccounted for in Israel following deadly attacks from Hamas ... including a mother and daughter visiting from Illinois.

President Joe Biden says 14 Americans have already died in the Hamas terrorist attack, with the death toll already standing at 1,700 and counting.

It's unclear if the six Americans reported missing in Gaza are dead or alive, but their families are holding out hope for a safe return ... and Biden says more Americans are likely among those who have been taken hostage by terrorists.

In addition to the Illinois mother and her teen daughter, there's also a 23-year-old who was at the music festival where Hamas attacked and took hostages; a soldier with the Israeli Defense Force; a 35-year-old father of two; and a 66-year-old grandmother.

Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Raanan traveled from their Chicago-area suburb to Israel last month to visit relatives, and they were reported missing during Saturday's attack and are feared to have been kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen, their family told ABC 7 Chicago.

Natalie graduated from high school this past spring and their Illinois synagogue is praying she and her mother are safe.

Hersch Goldberg-Polin was at the desert music festival that became a target for Hamas terrorists ... and his parents told the Jerusalem Post he texted them Saturday morning saying "I love you" and "I'm sorry" before going radio silent.

Hersch was born in Berkley, CA before moving to Israel with his family in 2008 ... he had just celebrated a birthday before going to the rave, where Hamas killed hundreds of festivalgoers.

Itay Chen's a 19-year-old dual citizen serving in the IDF and he's been "missing in action" from his post in Gaza since Saturday, his father told CNN.

Chen's father says his son basically vanished along with his military unit and the family is hopeful he surfaces in time to make it to his younger brother's upcoming Bar Mitzvah in Italy.

Adrienne Neta, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, is thought to have been taken hostage by Hamas ... her family told Fox News they think she was kidnapped from her home, where she's lived for decades since moving from Fresno, Calif.

Neta's family says they were on the phone with her when terrorists entered her home ... and they heard her screaming.

Sagui Dekel-Chen, a father of two with another baby on the way, was among those in his neighborhood who fought back against a terrorist onslaught before going missing.

12:10 PM PT -- The man behind the new "Ebony Alert" in California is defending the new law in the face of tons of online backlash ... telling us disparities and a lack of resources for missing Black kids forced lawmakers' hands.

California State Senator Steven Bradford joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and told us the law was necessary because law enforcement wasn't doing its job when it came to issuing alerts for Black youths who go missing.

Bradford says young Black kids make up 38 percent of the state's missing persons, despite Black people only making up 13 percent of the state population ... pointing to the data as another example of why he feels an "Ebony Alert" is needed.

There's a media component to this too ... Bradford says missing Black kids don't get nearly the amount of coverage, pointing to 2021's Gabby Petito case.

As for questions about oversight, Bradford tells us how the new system will be monitored.

The Golden State is rolling out a new system to report and find missing Black children and women ... it's completely separate from an Amber Alert and it's already causing backlash.

Folks in California are outraged over the new statewide alert system -- dubbed the "Ebony Alert" and backed by State Senator Steven Bradford -- reacting to the first-of-its-kind law as another form of segregation.

Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill into law creating the "Ebony Alert," which goes into effect Jan. 1 and will be used for Black people between the ages of 12 and 25 who are missing, plus young Black women who are reported missing.

The "Ebony Alert" is similar to the Amber Alert ... as it calls for local law enforcement to notify the California Highway Patrol if they need help finding lost children ... with lawmakers saying it also encourages media to report on missing Black people.

Problem is ... the reaction on the internet is there should NOT be separate alert systems for missing children based on race, with some saying folks claiming the change is "a way for authorities to decide how fast they want to respond" and others saying some groups will straight-up ignore "Ebony Alerts" altogether.

California lawmakers are being ripped for not thinking this through, and there are people wondering if there are going to be other alerts for different races too ... with one user proposing "the 'Juan Alert' for the Hispanic people that go missing."