Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and their dog’s mysterious deaths have authorities searching for answers … and they’ve confirmed they’re not ruling out carbon monoxide poisoning.

Santa Fe fire officials spoke on “TODAY” Friday, stating that while their meters didn’t detect anything amiss during searches, that doesn’t mean carbon monoxide poisoning is off the table — especially since the bodies may have been there for days or even weeks.

They pointed out Gene and Betsy’s New Mexico home had natural gas … and a leak could have dissipated by the time their bodies were discovered.

Authorities also aren’t entirely ruling out foul play, even with little evidence to support it. They say the toxicology report — which could take up to 3 months — will be key in determining the causes of their deaths and guiding their investigation.

But as for carbon monoxide poisoning, Gene’s family strongly believes it’s the cause.

Blake Lively and her legal team need to narrow their request for Justin Baldoni‘s communications … so says a federal judge who ruled on the motion.

In a new order issued Friday, a federal judge ruled on Lively’s request for cell phone communications of parties named in a sexual harassment lawsuit, including Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and Jennifer Abel, among others … partially granting part of the subpoena, while rejecting part of it.

Basically, the judge finds the subpoena simply too broad — calling the subpoenas Lively’s side wants from Wayfarer Studios “overly intrusive and disproportionate to the needs of the case.”

The judge points out that Lively and her team are asking for more than two years of communications — beginning in December 2022 … even though Lively has argued the alleged smear campaign against her didn’t begin until August 2024 — so, the judge says it’s hard to justify the need for all those records.

However, the judge is granting part of the order … allowing subpoenas or requests seeking the phone records of non-parties to the lawsuit even though Wayfarer claimed such a subpoena infringed on their clients’ privacy.

Justin’s attorney Bryan Freedman tells TMZ … “The Court must put a stop to Ms. Lively’s egregious attempt to invade our clients’ privacy. This is a big win. No matter how the Lively Parties may try to spin this decision, the Court saw their efforts for what they really are: a desperate fishing expedition intended to salvage their debunked claims long after they already savaged our clients’ reputations in the New York Times.”

As we told you … Lively made the request for phone communications earlier this month in hopes of finding a “smear campaign” smoking gun. Freedman called out the subpoenas for being too broad at the time, too. BTW … Lively already amended the subpoenas in an attempt to make them less broad — though a judge clearly thinks she didn’t go far enough.

A rep for Lively tells TMZ … “What is Bryan Freedman hiding? After promising to release all the ‘receipts,’ Freedman ran into court to keep secret the phone records of who Baldoni, Heath, Sarowitz, Nathan, Wallace and Abel were calling during their retaliatory campaign.”

Nepo babies are all over Hollywood …. and, we’ve got a few sexy snapshots of one superstar’s offspring — can you guess who it is?

This celebrity kid is all grown up … and showing off every inch of her tanned bod to the camera — and, it’s clear she’s hitting the lens with her best shot.

Just like her mother, this mystery woman joined the music industry … dropping new songs, including her track “Reputation,” last year.

Her hottest shots are certainly drawing a ton of eyes — and, could lead to a whole lotta fans fighting for her love … on a battlefield.

Zendaya‘s diving into the swamp … ’cause she’s just been cast in “Shrek 5,” bringing some more star power to the ogre-filled franchise.

Zendaya’s taking on the role of Shrek and Fiona’s daughter Felicia in the beloved animated series — and Universal’s already teased her appearance with a sneak peek in the cast announcement vid.

Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz are returning to their roots as Shrek and Fiona — who they’ve been playing since the first film in 2001.

And don’t forget — Eddie Murphy’s back as Donkey, ready to bring the laughs with his signature sass!

Zendaya will no doubt sprinkle some fresh green magic on the swamp, ’cause her casting will likely reel in a whole new generation of viewers to the beloved franchise.

But if you think Zendaya’s casting is random, she actually manifested back in ’17, when she posted about how she watched “Shrek” way too much as an adult!

Jessica Alba‘s just like a lot of regular people getting out of a long relationship … she’s making some big life choices — including putting a permanent art piece on her body.

Daniel Winter — a popular tattoo artist better known by the moniker Winterstone — tells TMZ … Jessica came into his private West Los Angeles studio for a tattoo. While Winterstone wasn’t supposed to work that day, he came in on his afternoon off to personally ink the star.

The actress got the quote “Life is transformation is life” tattooed on her arm in cursive … running from her wrist to right around her elbow.

Basically, Jessica’s new mantra is all about life revolving around change — and, she seems ready to live despite all the major changes in her life.

We’re told Alba came in with this particular tattoo idea, and Winterstone wrote it in several different fonts that she got to choose from. The one tattooed on her body was obviously her favorite.

Daniel says Jessica’s a very spiritual person — which given the way she celebrated Kerry Washington‘s birthday isn’t totally a shock.

Winterstone has done tattoos for other celebs too … like John Legend, Lady Gaga and Demi Lovato. We know mutual friends introduced Jessica and Winterstone — unclear if they were any of these Hollywood heavyweights.

As you know, Jessica and her longtime husband Cash Warren announced they were splitting last month … and she filed for divorce a few weeks ago. Despite not having a prenup, we’re told the split is super amicable.

BTW … our “TMZ on TV” crew talked all about Jessica’s tattoo on the show — and, they gave their honest thoughts on the tat.

10:55 AM PT — Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … Michelle Trachtenberg’s body may have rejected the liver transplant she received within the last year, causing complications. We’re told Michelle’s mother found her.

Michelle Trachtenberg, known for her roles in “Gossip Girl” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” has died.

Police sources confirmed the shocking news to TMZ, though the exact cause of her death remains unclear. We’re told police and paramedics responded to a call for a woman in cardiac arrest, and found Michelle unresponsive. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

A separate source tells us the actress had received a liver transplant recently … meaning within the last year. At this point, police reportedly believe she died of natural causes.

We’re told Michelle was out with friends Thursday night of last week at Sartiano’s in NYC.

In recent months, she had posted photos where fans felt she appeared gaunt and frail.

Michelle defended her appearance, calling out “haters” and saying, “Explain to me how I look sick.” She also reminded followers, “Did you lose a calendar and not realize I’m not 14. I’m 38. How sad for you to leave such a comment.”

In another post, she made it clear she never had plastic surgery, and was “happy and healthy.”

Michelle rose to fame as a child star in “Harriet the Spy” — later becoming a household name in her role as Dawn Summers on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” then took on the Upper East Side as Georgina Sparks in “Gossip Girl.”

A rep for Michelle tells TMZ … “It is with great sadness to confirm that Michelle Trachtenberg has passed away. The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time.”

The NY Post was first to report her death.

Michelle was 39.

Former actor Gideon Jacobs was just 11 years old when he played Aaron — the smart young camper who gives Gail, played by Molly Shannon, advice about men — in 2001’s satirical comedy, “Wet Hot American Summer.”

In addition to acting alongside Molly Shannon, Jacobs shared the big screen with Michael Showalter as the cheesy comedian from the Catskills, Alan, Paul Rudd as the cool counselor at Camp Firewood, Andy, and Amy Poehler as the choreographer for the camp’s talent show, Susie.

Today, Aaron writes for publications like The New York Times and The New Yorker.

Sylvester Stallone‘s not just the “Tulsa King” … he’s the king of giving too — ’cause an experience with Sly and a couple luxury sportscars donated by a local dealer made a heavyweight stack of cash for a great cause.

The veteran Hollywood actor partnered with Nick Dossa of Vegas Auto Gallery — a luxury dealership in the city — to donate some high-priced items for the Power of Love Gala.

Dossa donated two cars — the 2024 Lotus Emira — to the auction … a high-performance sports car that retails for close to six figures. While he originally planned to donate just one car, the bidding got so competitive he felt compelled to give one to each of the top two bidders.

It’s easy to see why the cars had so much interest … ’cause Stallone added a little something extra to the package, offering the two lucky bidders for the cars the chance to meet and spend the day with him on the set of his hit show “Tulsa King.” Winners also got signed bottles of his signature vodka, Carbonadi, for their money.

To be clear … Dossa donated the cars while Sly donated the on-set experience and the vodka — they just packaged all of the items together to sweeten the pot.

Stallone couldn’t make it to the event … but a video of the star played before the auction — and, he encourages people to be generous with their bids.

Nick Dossa tells TMZ… “I was so honored on behalf of Vegas Auto Gallery to be able to support Larry Ruvo’s incredible charity foundation, thanks also in part to Mark Shunock. Since Lotus’ are extremely hard to get right now we knew this would be an in-demand car for the auction to raise the most money possible and be able to give back to the community. And with the legend Sylvester Stallone’s affiliation of course, it brought this auction to another level of greatness.”

Each car and VIP visit went for $500K total — so, Sly and Nick were able to raise $1 million for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. The Lou Ruvo Center researches diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and more. Larry Ruvo — the man who founded the Power of Love Gala — has been a friend of Stallone’s for years.

Timothée Chalamet now has the elusive Hollywood award he couldn’t seem to get, winning for his role as Bob Dylan — and his record-setting victory came after his SAG Awards night got off to a rough start.

TC was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor for “A Complete Unknown,” Sunday night, and he joined his costars Elle Fanning, Edward Norton and Monica Barbaro early in the evening to introduce clips from the film … but reading the teleprompter was, apparently, harder than playing a legendary songwriter.

After flubbing his line and laughing at himself, Timothée joked … “Shoulda done a rehearsal.” It was a pretty smooth recovery, and he got to redeem himself again later in the night.

Timothée was up against some stiff, and veteran, competition — Adrien Brody, Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Craig and Colman Domingo — so, ya can’t really blame him for saying, “I was not expecting this at all,” when his name was announced as the winner.

At just 29 years old, he’s the youngest to ever win the category, and it’s clear how much it means to him, as he said … “I know the classiest thing would be to downplay the effort that went into this role and how much this means to me. But the truth is, this was five and a half years of my life. I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist Mr. Bob Dylan, a true American hero.”

This is the first of the major Hollywood acting awards Timothée’s won. You’ll recall, he openly mocked his many, many losses when he hosted ‘SNL’ last month — but, last night he told the crowd he plans to take home several more — “I know we’re in a subjective business, but the truth is I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats. I’m inspired by the greats here tonight. I’m as inspired by Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando and Viola Davis as I am by Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, and I want to be up there.”

BTW, Kylie Jenner wasn’t at this award show — she attended the Golden Globes with him last month — but, instead, Timothée’s mom Nicole Flender was by his side … and, naturally, she got a shout-out in his speech.

Don’t mess with Alec Baldwin when it comes to the “Rust” case … a Donald Trump look-alike just learned that lesson the hard way.

Baldwin was loading luggage into the back of his SUV in NYC when the Trump impersonator walked up to him on the street and started needling him about everything from the 2024 presidential election to his criminal case.

Check out video posted Monday to X, which shows The Donald doppelgänger — known as Jason Scoop — throwing zingers at Alec, who tries to ignore the dude while dealing with his bags.

The annoying troll doesn’t let up for a moment and you can see Alec getting more and more pissed.

At one point, Scoop rubs Alec’s nose in Kamala Harris‘ loss to Trump in the election. Of course, the famous actor voted for Kamala and did his own mocking impressions of Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”

Then Scoop has the audacity to bring up the “Rust” case in which Baldwin was acquitted of manslaughter at trial after fatally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set of the movie.

Scoop talks about Baldwin not wanting a pardon for “murdering that woman in cold blood,” going so far as to say Hutchins is “looking down on me right now” and thanking Scoop for confronting Baldwin over her death.

That pushed Alec over the edge and, in classic Baldwin fashion, he got right up in Scoop’s face.