TMZ.com Home

Don't worry about David Geffen, the multi-billionaire is staying as far away from the coronavirus as possible aboard his personal escape raft ... that just happens to be a $590 million yacht.

Yes, the media mogul is aboard the "Rising Sun" cruising the Caribbean Sea, where, unfortunately for him, he has WiFi, and decided to drop a pretty tone-deaf anecdote to the world ... considering the pandemic and all.

Geffen posted a glorious wide-shot of his vessel with the caption, "Isolated in the Grenadines avoiding the virus. I'm hoping everybody is staying safe."

Under normal circumstances, the Internet would just hate him for flaunting his wealth. But, there's a new normal in town ... so now the Internet is ripping him for bragging that he's NOT quarantined with 3 screaming kids, a spouse and one in-law in a tiny 2-bedroom apartment in Queens ... while terrified of COVID-19.

Hard to argue against that backlash. Fact is, Geffen's been filthy rich so long, he probably only thinks of his famous and wealthy friends looking at his IG -- and forgets there are 7 billion other aggressively-less-wealthy people who will eventually see it too.

On the other hand, the guy gives a lot of his wealth to charities -- so, hopefully this becomes a teachable moment and we all move forward.

We will say this -- pretty impressive if Geffen truly is isolated on that thing. It's usually packed with A-list celebs, business titans ... and their girlfriends.

Jon Bon Jovi's already got some winning song lyrics to his finish-the-story type community song -- and he might wanna consider hiring some of these folks ... 'cause they're good.

The rocker picked out three verses to finish out his made-up tune called "Do What You Can, Our Story" -- which he kicked off last weekend with a verse of his own and the chorus. Welp, people heard his call loud and clear ... JBJ says he's received countless submissions across several different platforms. Some performed it, others just wrote their lyrics.

The three submissions Jon played out live on camera were incredibly well-written and, obviously, topical to the coronavirus outbreak everyone's dealing with right now. Our particular favorite ... Jeffrey Baron, via YouTube, whose verse sounds like it's from Bob Dylan's songbook or something. Well done.

The whole venture's pretty neat -- because Jon set up the rhythm and cadence of the song fairly easily in his first post ... it's relatively easy for people to plug in their own verses seamlessly. Jon sings off their verse, and then weaves in his own hook right after.

He says he's gonna keep it going and keep singing people's lyrics, so he encourages more submissions and more participation. Unclear if he'll eventually pick a few verses as his favorite and deem the ultimate winner, but for now ... it seems like there's a lot he likes.

Miami's first COVID-19 related death was a guy who went to an annual beach party only weeks ago -- tragically, the national alarms didn't fully sound off in time to warn him.

Israel Carreras is the 40-year-old man who passed due to complications he developed after contracting coronavirus. He died in a Miami-area hospital Friday night after developing a severe cough, which reportedly left him mute ... with extreme breathing difficulty.

Earlier this month, Israel and his boyfriend, Franco, attended the Winter Party Festival along the shores of Nikki Beach, South Beach and others between the dates of March 4 and March 10. Thousands of people attend each year, and 2020 was no different, as you can see.

People packed the beaches, and were pretty much crammed in like sardines. Practically nobody was practicing social distancing at that point, and the danger of coronavirus spreading as fast as it ultimately did hadn't quite registered like it did the week after WPF ended.

The week of March 8 started seeing multiple events being shut down, canceled, postponed in droves -- and even scheduled sporting events and entire seasons were getting scrapped outright. But, for events like Winter Party, it was already in full swing by then ... clearly not everybody got the message or understood the importance of staying away from crowds as of early March.

As for Israel, his partner says the positive diagnosis came down just this past Monday ... and his condition quickly deteriorated. He says he couldn't even see his boyfriend in person, and could only FaceTime ... at which point they were signing because Israel couldn't speak.

At least 9 other people, so far, who attended Winter Party Festival have reportedly contracted COVID-19 as well.

RIP

The Detroit Pistons are taking a huge step in helping out their community amid the coronavirus outbreak -- offering health officials a massive space they own and operate to be used for anything and everything COVID-19 related.

The Athletic's James Edwards III broke the news Saturday, saying Pistons brass are willing to put their new performance center facility, which opened in October, on the line for scientists and doctors in and around the Detroit area for "whatever best use" they see fit.

James notes ... that could be for testing, hospital patients starting to overflow the local medical facilities or even for medical staff who might need a neutral, clean place to sleep.

He also says nothing is official yet, but discussions are ongoing and the team has made clear they are down to help out however they can, including lending the space ... which is a 185,000 square foot state-of-the-art building that normally encompasses all sorts of businesses in a one-stop-shop type of setting. It's massive, and would certainly go a long way right now.

See's Candies -- perhaps the most iconic chocolatier in America -- is facing a bittersweet ending (for now) ... halting production because of coronavirus, which makes it a historical pause.

See's made the announcement this weekend, saying it was temporarily closing up shop and suspending production of its famous chocolate sweets across the country. In their words, they say, "Given the current events with COVID-19, and our concern for the health and safety of our employees, we have made the decision to initiate an interruption once again."

They continued, "We will work to keep you updated as we develop plans to safely resume operations." The official See's website won't even let customers place any new orders at this point -- explaining it has also put a stop to shipping of any new candy.

See's hasn't closed its doors or stopped working since the 1940s, when it interrupted production back then because ... well, the global war that was going on, and rationing provisions placed on the country. Since then though, it's been up and running ... until now.

They've been in business since 1921, opening up their first location in Los Angeles and going on to establish multiple locations across the U.S.A. -- with the Bay Area becoming their HQ. The See family follows the age-old recipe of their matriarch, who's also the kind, old face you see on every See's box of chocolates ... Mary See.

See's has been channeled in and out of pop culture for decades -- perhaps most famously through 'I Love Lucy' and the chocolate factory conveyor belt scene that became iconic ... as Lucy and Ethel tried their hand at wrapping and packing chocolates in hilarious fashion.

Of course, there's also 'Forrest Gump' and its own legendary references to boxes of chocolate. The list goes on and on -- See's has always been there either directly or indirectly.

Desperate situations require desperate measures ... and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just unveiled a new, albeit crude, ventilator that may fit the bill, but he says it's "an unacceptable situation."

The Guv held his daily news conference Saturday, and demonstrated how the device -- called a Bag Valve Mask -- would work. Regular squeezes could keep a patient alive. Problem is ... you need someone to squeeze it 24/7. Cuomo made it clear ... he prays it won't come to this.

Cuomo also revealed an insane problem over ventilators. The cost when the pandemic began was $25,000 a pop. Now it's closer to $45k, because the various states are bidding against each other to snag the equipment. Bidding wars, Cuomo says, in the middle of a pandemic, are ridiculous.

As for New York, Cuomo says the feds have shipped 4,000 ventilators but none are in use yet ... he says they need the equipment because the spread of the virus will get a lot worse before it gets better ... and NY hospitals are already pushed to the limit.

Churches in New York are steadfast in keeping their doors closed amid the coronavirus pandemic to continue slowing the spread ... despite President Trump's plan for an Easter revival.

TMZ has spoken with 9 NYC church leaders, and all of them are standing firm in vowing to keep their places of worship empty on April 12 holy day.

Reverend Peggy Clarke of Community Church New York tells us ... she considers Trump's push for Americans to attend church together in a couple weeks "stunningly unethical," adding "Easter is a celebration of love and victory over death. The best symbol of that will be empty churches on Easter Sunday."

Rev. James Ross Smith of The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin says while he's incredibly sad about not opening his doors on Easter, he shares Rev. Peggy's sentiment. Smith says ... "It is our responsibility and duty to take care of each other, and one of the ways we do that is by listening to the health experts."

Another leader we spoke with, Pastor Patrick Thompson of New City Church, has been personally affected by the pandemic -- he tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday after experiencing symptoms of a fever about a week ago, and is in self-quarantine.

Thompson says ... "We are focusing on our new reality. Church isn't just about gathering, it's about sending people out. Even if we get a go-ahead from the federal government, we will not meet in person on Easter for safety purposes."

The pastor tells us he was distributing meals to homeless shelters and senior centers with members of his church just days before he began feeling symptoms of the coronavirus. Thing is ... they were wearing masks and gloves, so it highlights how dangerous it would be for church members to congregate too soon ... especially with NYC being the epicenter of the COVID-19 onslaught.

All of these churches -- along with Church of St. Francis Xavier, Grace Church, Trinity Church Wall Street, Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, Church of the Incarnation and Holy Family Catholic Church -- agree that Trump's push for a public Easter celebration isn't going to affect their decision to remain closed.

They may be preaching to the choir in NYC, but in other parts of the U.S. ... the President's goal to business as usual on Easter is gaining traction.

God help us.

Drew Brees did way more than just write a $5 million check to Louisiana ... he's also doing the research to guarantee that money helps the state's battle against coronavirus the way he intended.

The New Orleans Saints quarterback tells TMZ ... it hurts his heart to see people losing their jobs and their livelihoods across the state and the nation -- so he and his wife, Brittany, knew they needed to do something in a time of such uncertainty.

As you know ... Drew and Brittany committed $5 million to the state. He explained why they specifically wanted to address the nutritional needs of children and the elderly during the pandemic. You can tell the Brees fam did their homework.

Drew says he knew people on the front lines treating COVID-19 patients in hard-hit Louisiana -- and New Orleans, especially -- would need all the support they could get. Ditto for the state's normally thriving hospitality industry.

Honestly, the guy is amazing and has a very focused mission: "Putting people's mind's at ease that, listen, we're gonna find a way to get through this together and take care of one another."

We have so much more with Drew on Monday's "TMZ Live" ... including his bond with the people of Louisiana, and NBC's Hoda Kotb.

An E.R. doctor who dared to sound the alarm his hospital did not have enough PPE's to protect hospital staff has been fired ... according to the doc himself.

Dr. Ming Lin says he was given his walking papers from PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Washington, after he pled with folks on social media and other outlets for the hospital to get more gloves, masks and other items that protect doctors and nurses from contracting the coronavirus. As you know, the disease has hit Washington state with a vengeance.

Dr. Lin, who worked at the hospital for 17 years, says he was unceremoniously fired by a supervisor who told him, "You've been terminated."

Dr. Lin reportedly took it in stride, telling the Seattle Times, "It's a blow to my ego more than anything."

Lin had been very critical of the hospital, saying it wasn't protecting the staff. He claimed on social media the hospital would not screen patients outside the facility for COVID-19 ... so when they got in the E.R. safety became a crapshoot.

It's hardly worth saying at this point, but the coronavirus does not care if you're a royal or a pleb ... because the first member of a royal family has died from the virus.

Princess Maria Teresa, a member of the Bourbon-Parma Royal Family in Spain, died Friday at age 86. She had tested positive for the virus and her younger brother announced the news she died from COVID-19.

Spain has been rocked to its core by the coronavirus. 5,690 people have died from the virus ... with no end in sight. 832 people died in the last 24 hours alone.

Well, at least a few things haven't changed ... because Tyler Cameron is fueling rumors he's dating Hannah Brown like he's hanging on to his 15 minutes for dear life!

Tyler, Hannah and Jacob Laham were answering questions from fans after their weekly Instagram workout sesh ... held at the direction of fitness model Phil Fit.

Of course, Tyler's asked if he's dating Hannah, and his response ... "Me and Brown Bear are dating, yes."

Well ... Weird nickname for her, but ok. Besides, you see Hannah nod in the background.

Turns out ... we're told Brown Bear is Jacob's nickname. So, he didn't say yes and he didn't say no.

Brody Jenner does not disappoint ... he's apparently self-quarantining with the help of a very attractive UCSB grad.

Brody and his UCSB alum made a food run Friday, ending up at Erewhon market in Los Angeles. They shopped, and then beat a hasty retreat in Brody's pickup.

Brody's been a busy dude. He was dating Josie Canseco, but that ended in October. Before that, he called it quits with Kaitlynn Carter after a year of "marriage." It actually was never a real marriage ... they had a ceremony in Indonesia, but never made it official.