TMZ.com Home

Conflicting reports have come in about what Iran plans to do about its "morality police" -- who are said to be responsible for the death of a woman who wouldn't comply with the hijab law.

Iran's Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was quoted as saying that the country's Guidance Patrol would be abolished going forward ... and that their rules on women having to wear hijabs in public would be placed under review -- this per local media.

A state media agency, however, refuted this ... suggesting Montazeri had spoken out of turn, and that any disbandment of the morality police falls under the jurisdiction of the interior ministry -- not the judiciary or parliament. No official word from that department so far.

The news of a potential shift in the nation's strict regulations against women were taking as a huge win after months of protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September, who died as a result of injuries she sustained while being detained in September.

There has been massive protests and civil unrest both there in Iran and elsewhere around the world as people rallied together to show solidarity for Iranian women in the wake of Amini's passing.

The Griffith Park Pony Rides and Petting Zoo operation is closing its doors for good, it seems after the City cut ties -- and the owner is blaming activists who've been on his ass.

Steve Weeks -- who's been running the place for years now -- broke the news this weekend on Facebook, writing ... "It is with much sadness that I announce that Griffith Park Pony Rides will be ceasing operations December 21, 2022. I have received a letter from Los Angeles Recreation and Parks stating that our contract will not be renewed."

He adds, "After 74 years serving the children and parents of Los Angeles, this iconic institution will be closed forever by order of the City."

Weeks says this is a direct result of extremists who've been protesting his establishment for months, explaining ... "You have all followed our fight against these few radical animal rights activists. Despite our year long fight to answer the untrue statements of these individuals, our efforts were not heard. This was the city decision and not the pony rides choice."

As for what's to become of all the animals there -- which entail way more than just the ponies themselves -- Weeks says he's attempting to relocate them now. He writes, "In the days ahead I will be attempting to find forever homes for our many ponies. I am determined to find homes for our ponies with qualified horsepeople who will care as much about our ponies as I do. If you are interested in [providing] a home please message me."

GPPR has been open since 1948, and was a staple attraction for Los Angeles-area families for a long time. Kids could ride their ponies around their stables and track -- and they were able to get up close and personal with other livestock, like goats, sheep, bunnies, etc.

In recent months, the establishment has been under siege by demonstrators and other parties who've accused the owners of mistreating the animals by forcing them to give rides in extreme heat during the summer -- among other claims of alleged animal abuse ... all of which Griffith Park Pony Rides has denied.

Al Strobel -- an actor famous for his work in the "Twin Peaks" franchise -- has died.

The news came down Sunday courtesy of producer Sabrina Sutherland, who's worked with David Lynch on a lot of projects over the years. She took to Facebook to write, "I am sad to have to post that Al Strobel passed away last night. I loved him dearly."

No cause of death was provided, nor were any other details offered.

Strobel is best known for playing the one-armed man during pretty much every "Twin Peaks" installment -- including the original TV show from the early '90s, the spinoff movie thereafter and the reboot from 2017 ... for all of which he always reprised his role as Phillip Gerard.

Gerard was a traveling shoe salesman who'd occasionally get possessed by a spirit known as Mike -- who used to work with another shady character (also dead) named Bob ... the entity that inhabited Leland Palmer, who ultimately killed Laura Palmer -- the central character.

His character comes in and out of the plot a lot throughout the full 'TW' saga ... and was oftentimes featured in bizarre dream sequences that Kyle MacLachlan's character, Agent Cooper, would find himself in ... all in an effort to unspool the big murder mystery.

Through it all ... Strobel always nailed it in his performances, which were kinda campy -- but so good too. He was an amputee in real life ... having lost his arm in a car accident.

In addition to his "Twin Peaks" role, Strobel also acted in films like "Megaville," "Sitting Target," "Child of Darkness, Child of Light," "Ricochet River" and more.

Elon Musk is above doing autographs at this point in his life -- something the paparazzi learned the hard (and cold) way while trying to catch the dude out in the wild.

The Twitter chief landed at Dulles International Airport Saturday night -- just outside of D.C. proper -- and while he was getting into a waiting Tesla with a security detail in tow ... he was greeted by a swarm of photographers outside who apparently wanted his John Hancock.

You gotta watch this, 'cause it's pretty hilarious ... all the paps are begging EM for him to come over and give them the time of day, explicitly noting -- but sir, it's CHRISTMAS! 😂

Despite their pleas ... Elon tells 'em -- sorry, fellas, no more signings. When he's asked if he means ever again, he confirms. So, yeah ... a little Scrooge-y for sure -- but hey, the guy's super busy these days and his celebrity has increased ten-fold over the past 6 or 7 years.

It's pretty interesting, as Elon normally tends to hold court with paps and shoots the s*** with them, offering off-the-cuff answers on a number of issues -- including crypto, 'SNL,' and his own companies. His MOTS interviews have always been light-hearted and chill, too.

In the span of a year, though ... he's acquired Twitter, and become a lightning rod figure -- and it seems he doesn't wanna be hit with harder questions than he's ever faced before.

Our own photog, who was in the crush, was trying to ask about politics -- but Elon clearly doesn't wanna play ball anymore ... and made a new rule. Makes sense if you think about it ... especially seeing how, on Saturday night, he told a group of Twitter Space listeners that the risk of assassination was a legit threat facing him these days.

When you reach that threshold as an A-lister ... the move is to snub and keep it moving.

Kanye West has reportedly shed at least one alt-right figure from his inner circle -- but it's not necessarily the guy you might want to see go first from the outside looking in.

Per Daily Beast journo Will Sommer, Milo Yiannopoulos has been fired from Ye's campaign team -- this following his crash-and-burn interview with Alex Jones earlier this week, not to mention a bunch of others that have gone up in flames and made KW look bad.

Sommer says Milo was booted after "a series of disastrous media appearances that saw the candidate praising Hitler." He adds that in an email, Milo wrote that there was a mutual conclusion reached that he oughta step away ... and it sounds like he has.

So, the question ... what about Nick Fuentes, the self-proclaimed white nationalist who's had Ye's ear for several weeks or so? Sommer reports his status in the Ye camp isn't quite as clear, but suspects the dude's probably safe ... for now.

Fuentes was alongside Kanye during the InfoWars interview, whereas Milo wasn't ... which seems to suggest this change happened over the past few days. Then again, we got video of NF at an In-N-Out just 2 days ago, without Kanye in sight, so who knows what's going on.

As for Milo ... well, it's probably for the best. Despite his efforts to get Kanye on different conservative-leaning podcasts of late -- a lot of them crumbled, like when he walked off the set of Tim Pool's podcast earlier in the week after some pushback on his antisemitism.

No word if Ye was holding that against Milo -- as opposed to, you know, himself -- but in any case ... it sounds like Kanye wants to pursue the presidency without him (and yes, that does in fact seem to be a thing again, YE24).

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have a large staff handling their day-to-day, but one chore is strictly hands on -- going shoppin' for an XMAS tree!

Ben, Jen and their brood hit up a vacant lot in Santa Monica Saturday ... littered with Douglas and other firs.

So many to choose from! The fam got downright pensive and they inspected various options. It's an important one for sure ... it's their first tree as a married couple.

They spent quite a bit of time at the lot, eventually settling on what looked like a balsam fir -- a huge one -- that they tied to their SUV as they beat it.

Everyone seemed to have a voice in the choice ... including Max, Emme, Seraphina and Samuel. Looks like Violet was MIA.

There's another big twist in the unsolved Idaho quadruple murder case ... a mysterious discrepancy in the way at least 2 of the victims were killed.

Steven Goncalves, the father of slain Univ. of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves, said Saturday night, the fatal attacks on Kaylee and Madison Mogen, her best friend, were mysteriously different in nature. He said on "Lawrence Jones Cross Country," ... "I'll cut to the chase. Their means of death don't match."

He wasn't specific, but did say, "Their points of damage don't match."

What's especially odd ... authorities say Kaylee and Madison were sleeping in the same bed at the time of the attack, yet according to the father the stabbings were somehow different.

Four people were stabbed to death in the house, and authorities seem stumped. They have given conflicting information about the attacks ... going back and forth on whether it was targeted and if the rest of the community was at risk.

Kaylee's mom has wondered why certain people were cleared "very fast."

Keke Palmer made a big reveal during her monologue Saturday night on 'SNL' -- the buzz is real ... she's having a baby!

Keke's having her first kid with BF Darius Jackson, and she didn't just say it ... she showed it!!!

She said, "There's some rumors going around, people have been in my comments saying, 'Keke's having a baby, Keke's pregnant,' and I wanna set the record straight ... I am!"

Not sure how far along she is, but judging from the bump, she's well down the road. She confessed she has lots going on right now and wanted to keep it a secret for as long as she could.

The most hilarious part ... she said, "Even though some people feel a little weird about me having a baby cause I was a child actor, I just wanna say, look, I'm 29, I'm grown, I have sex, I own a home, I stormed the Capitol on January 6, you know? Things adults do."

It's a horrifying video ... someone is walking down an NYC street, minding his own business, when an attacker pulls a bat out of his pants and clobbers the victim in the back of the head.

It seems like this may have been a targeted attack. You see the attacker train his eyes on the victim before pulling the bat out and swinging. The attacker is clearly enraged ... screaming at the 47-year-old victim as he lay on the ground.

Before the attack, it seems the assailant -- who attempted to disguise himself with a hooded sweatshirt -- was tailing the victim.

What's more ... as the attacker sets his sights on the victim, another pedestrian appears and the attacker turns away. It seems he waits for the bystander to leave the area, and when that happens the assailant makes his move.

The attacker walks away, then comes back and begins screaming at the victim and it looks like he stomps on him, then leaves.

The victim was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital with a laceration and bruises. He's in stable condition, according to cops.

Travis Scott was the show to watch Saturday night during Art Basel weekend.

Travis hit the state at E11EVEN nightclub in Miami. Celebs were out in force watching ... including Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan ... so they're still a thing.

Lots of celebs in town, including Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Serena Williams, who went club hopping Friday. night. Unclear if they hit up the Travis concert, but it's a good bet they did.

Leonardo DiCaprio was in town, cavorting with lots of beautiful women on a superyacht. Miami mogul David Grutman was in the middle of it all ... he owns just about every hot spot in the city.

Kanye West has unveiled his bigoted views to the world, yet there's still a market for Ye24 merch as he noodles on another run for president.

A quick search on eBay and Amazon reveals dozens of listings, with everything from shirts and hoodies to hats and flip-flops ... all with either Kanye's imagery or his Ye24 slogan. It's unclear exactly who's selling the stuff ... whether it's Kanye or 3rd parties. Pricing ranges from $20-30 for hats, up to $50 for hoodies and flip-flops, plus shipping.

While we've yet to see any designs of Kanye with a swastika or anything Hitler-adjacent, some merch includes Ye holding a cross, and another where he's standing next to Iron Man.

As for the resale value of Yeezy shoes, those have remained shockingly unchanged -- despite Kanye's proclamation of loving Hitler and giving props to Nazis.

Remo from Walk Like Us, a digital marketing company working with resellers, tells us one of the more popular Yeezy designs -- the 2015 Turtle Doves which retailed for $160 -- are still reselling at an average price of $793.

Aaron Carter's family members are all on the same page when it comes to the late singer's fortune ... and his mom, at least, believes this will avoid any fighting over Aaron's assets.

Jane Carter tells TMZ ... the family's wish is to have everything from his estate -- which probate docs value at $550K in real estate and personal property -- go to 1-year-old Prince, because they want to make sure the child's taken care of as he grows up.

As we previously reported, that's how things would legally work anyway, given that Aaron was unmarried and died without a will.

Jane says this isn't going to turn into a nasty legal situation ... noting she thinks Aaron would've wanted everything to go to his son, and the family doesn't need the money, anyway.

Jane says she and Aaron's siblings still haven't met Prince -- the mother of Aaron's ex-fiancée, Melanie, currently has custody. She adds, however, the fam would really like to have a relationship with Prince and Melanie.

For those unaware, Aaron's twin sister Angel filed a petition this week to serve as administrator of Aaron's estate, and Jane tells us she asked Angel to take on that role.

Akon is still backing Kanye West, even after the guy proclaimed his love for Hitler and Nazis -- going so far as to say, he isn't offended ... 'cause the remarks aren't aimed at him.

The singer sat for an interview with Sky News this week ... during which he said he supports Ye's right to speak his mind and say whatever he wants to say, regardless of how much it might piss off society -- which is apparently how he's framed this saga in his mind.

While Akon says he would make sure to give KW his own POV against Ye's argument about liking Hitler -- in a debate, it seems -- he still doesn't like the idea of shutting the dude down and smothering out his speech just because what he's saying is objectionable to some.

That last part is incredibly telling, and something the journo caught onto -- asking Akon if it troubles him that Kanye makes objectively horrid comments, period ... with Akon responding, "Not really, because those comments don't really affect me personally."

In other words ... not my group, not my fight. That certainly seems to be the vibe Akon is projecting here -- and, as you can imagine, he's getting torn to shreds on Twitter over it.

AEW star Saraya says she always had dreams and aspirations of competing in the ring again after suffering a career-threatening neck injury in 2016 -- but admits she never expected it would happen.

"I wasn't expecting to wrestle at all," Saraya told Mojo during a recent interview on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs daily on FS1).

"That wasn't in the back of my head. I always wanted to go back into wrestling, but with Edge and Stone Cold, they waited years before even trying to think about getting back in the ring."

The 30-year-old former WWE Superstar says she received the green light to compete in the squared circle from a renowned doctor in L.A., paving the way for her to return to in-ring competition after a five-year hiatus.

"Halloween, I went in there, and the doctor was straight-up like, 'Let's get you an X-ray,'" Saraya said. "He checked the X-ray and was like, 'These are pretty good, but you can't trust the X-rays. You have to go in with the MRIs and the CT to triple-check.'"

Saraya says she told AEW exec Tony Khan she was interested in competing during the negotiation process with the promotion ... in addition to being an on-screen personality, which she was relegated to in her waning years with WWE after the injury.

Saraya admits when she first debuted in AEW, she was concerned the fans wouldn't be as receptive to her since they were familiar with her character, Paige, in WWE, but she was pleasantly surprised with how much support she received.

"That was the biggest pop I ever got in my whole career," Saraya said. "I was like, 'Oh, my gosh! And I'm Saraya. And I'm trending for the first time in my career as Saraya,'" she continued.

The World Cup is a HUGE deal -- the most watched event in sports next to the Olympics -- which explains why fans are on pins and needles watching the tournament!!

There have been a mixture of easy wins, upsets and close contests throughout the matches so far ... and understandably, all the backers have let their emotions out while cheering on their beloved teams in the stands.

Japan fans were glued to their seats and TVs as they watched their team pull off a stunning 2-1 upset over World Cup favorite Spain ... cementing their spot in the round of 16.

However, that wasn't the case for fans of Iran ... who were teary-eyed after watching their guys fall to the United States.

South Korea punched its ticket to the knockout stage for the first time since 2010 after defeating Portugal 2-1, and its fans were visibly emotional following the big win.

Madonna's MTV VMA for one of her iconic '80s hits will be sitting on a lucky -- and probably wealthy -- fan's shelf soon.

RR Auction tells TMZ ... Madonna's Moonman -- AKA MTV Video Music Award -- for her 1986 song "Papa Don't Preach" is now on the auction block with an estimated price tag of $60K.

It's a cool part of pop history ... the song was released as a single from her album "True Blue," and it became Madonna's 4th number one hit.

The track's all about dealing with teen pregnancy and abortion which, as you can imagine, stirred up plenty of controversies back then.

That also fueled buzz for the song which earned Madge 3 VMA nominations and a Grammy nom for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

If ya can't get your hands on the Madonna memorabilia, there's other cool stuff on this particular auction block -- including a Nirvana signed "In Utero" CD booklet, which is going for an estimated $12K!!!

Tom Hanks' military uniform worn on-screen in the 1994 flick "Forrest Gump" is also up for grabs in the auction, which ends December 7.