TMZ.com Home

"Ray Donovan" actor Marion "Pooch" Hall put his kids in danger with some questionable behavior behind the wheel ... months before his shocking DUI arrest.

We did some digging and found a video Hall recorded and posted May 11 on Instagram. It shows him joking around with his boys in the backseat and recording them ... but he's doing it WHILE he's driving. The footage is even more unsettling on the heels of Hall's DUI.

TMZ broke the story ... Hall was busted Wednesday night in Burbank, CA when he had his 2-year-old son on his lap, and at the wheel, when he hit 2 parked cars. Cops say Hall's BAC was .25 ... more than 3 times the limit. Witnesses were horrified to see Pooch's child crying in the front seat while the child's car seat was laying uninstalled in the back seat.

In the IG video, you can see one of his kids standing in the back seat clearly not wearing a seat belt. His toddler son is at least in a car seat this time. Hall's older daughter is in the passenger seat. It only looks like she's in the driver's seat because the phone's selfie mode flips the image.

Michael Jackson fans could soon be moonwalking to a whole lotta new songs -- at least that's the hope -- 'cause the late singer's estate is renewing it's logo for tons of merch, and the hope among fans is that it could be the prequel to a possible release of new tunes!!!

According to docs obtained by TMZ ... Michael's merch firm, Triumph International, recently filed renewal paperwork for its logo -- an interlocking MJ with a crown on top -- so they can continue to splash it over phone accessories, merch, CD cases and ... music recordings!

It's got us thinking ... is the King Of Pop's estate preparing to open MJ's music vault? Because that would be so, so awesome! Sadly, our sources say no new music is being released because the vault is empty.

Former O-Town member Ashley Parker Angel says he suffered an injury that kept him from making big bucks on Broadway, so he's asking a judge for a break ... according to new legal docs.

Angel claims he severely hurt his back in May while working on the famed musical "Wicked," so he lost his role and was not earning his normal paycheck for nearly 2 months. He says his injury resulted in a financial loss of more than $26,000 ... so he can't afford his monthly child support payment of $1,836.

On top of that, Ashley says the custody situation with his 12-year-old son, Lyric, has changed. He says he now splits custody with Lyric's mom, Tiffany Lynn Rowe, 50/50 ... but is still paying custody like she has him 90 percent of the time.

Angel adds the nature of his acting work is very fickle and with all of his other expenses, he pretty much lives paycheck to paycheck ... especially since he's unemployed after losing his "Wicked" gig.

Rowe calls B.S. though -- according to the docs -- claiming Angel has other sources of income than the musical ... including from a supplement company he launched last year. She also accuses him of treating child support as optional, and says it's his own fault he doesn't save money for the downtimes in his employment.

Brett Favre wouldn't allow it ... neither would Barack Obama, LeBron James and Adrian Peterson -- but Eric Decker WILL let his kids play football when they grow up -- so says his famous wife.

We got Jessie James Decker out in NYC this week when she didn't seem to have one bit of concern over letting her sons strap on the pads.

"I'd be alright with it," the country singer tells TMZ Sports.

There is a catch for the Decker's kids -- a 4-year-old girl, a 3-year-old boy and a newborn baby boy -- Jessie tells us her ex-Broncos star hubby HAS to show them the way first.

A lot of celebs seem to disagree ... everyone from Obama to LBJ to even Rodney Peete have said they'd be hesitant to let their kids play the sport 'cause of the long-term health effects.

But, Jessie tells us she's banking on Eric's 8-plus years in the league to help prevent those.

"[Their] daddy knows enough to help [them] through the process of what's healthy and what's not."

No pressure ...

Kanye West is turning to Big U -- one of L.A.'s most successful community activists -- for advice on how to improve life for Chicago's youth ... an issue Ye thinks Barack Obama ignored.

The gang prevention leader tells TMZ ... he had a long convo with Kanye recently, in which the rapper expressed disappointment in Obama for not following through on important topics they discussed. Big U hints that's one reason Ye's been supportive of President Trump.

More importantly, Kanye wanted to learn how Big U's been able to spearhead gang intervention in South L.A. with his organization, Developing Options. He says Kanye's planning to do something similar in Chi-Town.

Kanye also met with some of the kids involved with Developing Options last week, and U says he's serious about taking what he learned from them back to his hometown.

As we reported ... Kanye announced he's moving back to the Windy City and wants to heal the community.

Greg Hardy believes he can be a 2-sport athlete -- and says he's convinced he's exactly what the New England Patriots defense needs to get back to the Super Bowl.

In fact, Hardy -- who's been dominating in MMA -- is making his case to Bill Belichick as to why the organization should take a chance on him.

"Mr. Belichick, I would be under your regime, boss man. Following orders, doing whatever you need me to do, baby. I'm the ultimate team guy!!"

Hardy's NFL career was sidelined after his 2014 domestic violence case. His conviction was overturned but many people believe he got off on a technicality. Hardy has maintained his innocence.

He hasn't played in the NFL since the 2015 season -- but insists he's ready to go RIGHT NOW.

30-year-old Hardy says he's had a major impact on every team he's played for -- and he'd do the same exact thing for the Pats.

He also believes Tom Brady could use the help on the other side of the ball -- and wants to prove he's worthy of another shot in the league.

Kanye West has done it before and now he's done it again ... he's deleted his Twitter and Instagram.

Ye went dark around 1:45 PM PT Saturday without warning or any announcement as to why. However, his social media disappearance comes after a controversial week in which he tweeted that the 13th amendment should be abolished ... which he later clarified, saying he meant it should be amended.

He's also received a ton of backlash for voicing his support of Donald Trump and wearing his red #MAGA hat ... after last week's "Saturday Night Live."

Not saying his knack for landing in hot water because of his social media activity is why his accounts are now down ... but it's a possibility.

There's is another possible explanation, though -- Kanye told us he's traveling to Africa soon to record music and complete his latest album. So, maybe he's on his way and just doesn't want any added distractions.

But, who knows.

Kanye deleted his social media in May 2017 and stayed off for almost a full year until April, but since then he's been pretty active ... especially in spurts.

Amber Rose's 4th annual SlutWalk is underway, with hundreds of women -- and men -- taking to the streets to march against rape culture ... with no shame to their game.

Amber arrived for her women's rights event in Downtown L.A. rocking a white wedding dress, and was joined by fellow SlutWalkers in some very interesting costumes -- or lack thereof -- with plenty of signage speaking out against slut-shaming.

Attendees this year are also big on advocating for body positivity and to decriminalize sex work. Some of the notable signs include "Jesus Died for Strippers Too," "Sex Work is Real Work" and "Sex Workers are the Healers of Society" ... and many more.

Amber's event's taking some heat online for the mixed messaging, with people saying the original intent of her Walk 4 years ago was to protest rape culture ... and now it's lost focus.

But, Amber tells TMZ ... there are a multitude of issues facing women today, and they're trying to face as many as they can in a positive way.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, protests to Brett Kavanaugh being confirmed to the Supreme Court are happening ... and Rose says she wishes she could bring her Walk to D.C. to join the fight.

That cop who got busted taking a photo of a woman's ass wasn't serving or protecting anybody ... and Juice WRLD's not afraid to clown him for it.

The Chicago rapper -- who's blowing up right now for his track "Lucid Dreams" -- has words for the Houston cop who got caught taking a booty pic while working the Drake and Migos concert last week ... don't perv out on the clock, bro!

Juice also wonders how many officers are using body cameras to secretly record women for their personal collections, which we have to admit ... we never thought of before.

But, then a guy in the rapper's crew drops the line of the day -- it might as well become the new "To Protect and To Serve."

3:20 PM PT -- Kavanaugh has reportedly been sworn in as the 114th Supreme Court justice in a private ceremony at court.

1:45 PM PT -- Trump congratulated the Senate on "confirming our GREAT NOMINEE" ... and says he will sign Kavanaugh's Commission of Appointment and swear him in later today.

There were no last minute surprises or curveballs -- Brett Kavanaugh got the votes he needed to be confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States ... but just barely.

President Trump's pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy was confirmed by the Senate Saturday with a tally of 50 to 48 ... including crucial "aye" votes from Senators Jeff Flake, Susan Collins and Joe Manchin.

Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski was set to vote 'no' on Kavanaugh, but as a favor to Montana Senator Steve Daines ... she voted 'present' to offset his 'yes' vote so he could attend his daughter's wedding. It really didn't matter anyway.

The confirmation comes after weeks of drama and controversy stemming from allegations made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party in the early '80s when they were both in high school.

Ford's claims led to a Senate hearing where both she and the judge testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee ... and a brief follow-up FBI investigation authorized by the Prez.

But, when it was all said and done, a majority of the Senate -- all but one Republican plus Manchin -- determined Ford's allegations were not corroborated and Kavanaugh was deserving of a spot on the highest court in the land.

If recent history with Neil Gorsuch is any indication, now that Kavanaugh's been confirmed ... he could be sworn in as early as Monday.

Before the Senate vote, Kavanaugh wrote a letter admitting he was overly emotional and said some things he shouldn't have during his testimony. However, he insists he'll be a "pro-law judge" who won't let partisan politics or public pressure influence his decisions.

Many people -- including Amy Schumer -- aren't buying it ... and have been consistently protesting Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court in D.C. this week.

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino's pals from 'Jersey Shore' aren't going to leave him hanging now that he's been sentenced to hard time.

JWoww, Pauly D, Ronnie, Vinnie, Angelina, Deena and Snooki all showed up at Sitch's apartment in Long Branch, NJ Saturday to show him some love and support ... just like they did Friday outside the courthouse in Newark.

We got video of the cast -- sans Mike -- leaving the complex to go their separate ways ... but not before a round of hugs. Although ... JWoww says they won't be apart for long.

As we reported ... The Situation was sentenced to 8 months in prison in his tax evasion case, along with 2 years of supervised release. His attorney told us, "Mike accepts the Court's judgment. He is looking forward to marrying his college sweetheart, Lauren Pesce, next month and moving forward together after he serves his sentence."

Situation's brother, Marc -- who was also indicted at the same time on tax fraud charges -- was sentenced to 2 years and a $75k fine.

Mike responded to the sentencing on social media, saying they're happy to put this behind him.

Killer Mike says he can forgive Bette Midler for her racially insensitive and offensive tweet about women, but if she really wants to make up for it ... she needs to do more than talk.

We got the Atlanta rapper and activist at LAX and asked him -- despite Midler's very poor choice of words -- if there's truth to what she said about the struggles of women.

Mike says yes, Bette makes a solid point backed by history ... but he emphasizes that no group of people are treated worse than black women. He thinks if she really considers herself on their side like she says ... it's time for her to step up and do more.

As he puts it -- Midler needs to be a co-conspirator with black women, not just an ally.

Mike gives some suggestions on how she can get started too ... and even gives an example of how he learned to be an advocate for the cause from Jane Elliott, a white woman.

Ryan Lochte has clearly been spinning out of control because after his drunken door kicking incident on the West Coast, he caused a bad car crash on the East Coast the very same day ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Lochte was driving in Gainesville, FL Thursday at around 9:45 PM when he rear ended a car.

Lochte had just landed in Gainsville after flying from Orange County, CA, where he drunkenly kicked in his hotel room door at around 3 AM. Cops were called, came to the hotel but no arrests were made. Lochte settled up with the hotel and smoothed things over.

As for the car crash, according to the police report, Lochte was driving his Porsche to his home when he realized he was about to hit the car in front of him and slammed on his brakes at the last minute ... to no avail.

The driver of the car Lochte hit was taken by ambulance to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Lochte was okay and cited for "careless driving." There's no mention of alcohol in the police report.

Lochte's lawyer, Jeff Ostrow, told TMZ Sports Friday, "Ryan has been battling alcohol addiction for many years and unfortunately it has become a destructive pattern for him." Ostrow says Lochte realizes he needs professional help and will seek it.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have reached a custody agreement, but it is vague for an obvious reason ... Ben's issue with alcohol.

As we have already reported, the couple long ago agreed to joint custody of their 3 kids. There are 2 elements to the agreement -- legal and physical custody.

Legal custody is simple ... they will jointly agree on decisions that affect the kids, such as education and various activities.

As for physical custody, that's where it gets tricky. As we reported, the divorce was held up for a long time because Ben was on and off the bottle, and Jennifer didn't want to strike any custody arrangement until he was sober and stable.

We're told the physical custody agreement is vague ... it doesn't outline any specific division of time with the kids. But, we're told, at least at the beginning, Jen will get the lion's share of custodial time, and when Ben has the kids he will have a monitor to ensure he's sober and the kids are safe.

There's another factor -- their kids are older now -- 12, 9 and 6 -- and they may be conscious of Ben's problem with alcohol and how it's affected their family, and they will have a voice as well.

Remember in January, when Hawaii residents received a terrifying text about an inbound ballistic missile with instructions to seek shelter immediately, but it turned out to be a false alarm?

Well, don't worry -- that's not going to happen with President Trump's new nationwide presidential alert texts ... it's a FEMA guarantee.

A spokesperson for the Homeland Security agency tells TMZ ... it has an infallible multi-step process in place to ensure the text system does not result in a major warning fail like what happened in Hawaii.

We're told for sending national alerts, the process begins with a special authentication procedure to make sure the person requesting to send it has the proper authority.

After verified approval, a 2-person "integrity check" procedure kicks in to ensure the alert contains the appropriate message and the info is properly formatted.

Finally, we're told the alert is only sent when BOTH of these alert operators have validated the content and format and hit the send button.