"Glory Road" actor Al Shearer wants to be called Black instead of African-American -- and a heated newsroom debate reveals almost everyone's got issues with labels. God, PC is exhausting!

R+B singer Erykah Badu is no stranger to crazy outfits or hairdos, but it was her white stiletto ice skate boots that stole the show in Hollywood on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, the 40-year-old will not be competing in any fashion Olympics.

Deion Sanders' aunt Laura Jones just gave a SHOCKING blow-by-blow to her violent altercation with Pilar inside Deion's Texas mansion Monday -- admitting she grabbed Pilar's hair ... and beat the holy hell out of her.

49-year-old Laura -- who's married to Deion's uncle -- called in to Dallas K104 this morning, claiming she stopped by Deion's house to take care of some housekeeping items (a job Deion pays her to do) and Pilar flipped.

According to Laura, Pilar objected to her being in the house, and demanded she "get the f**k out." The argument escalated quickly, and Laura says Pilar brushed against her in a threatening way ... so Laura responded by grabbing Pilar's hair and hitting her.

This is where it gets NUTS -- Laura says Pilar then ripped Laura's dress clean off during the melee, leaving her practically naked, and tumbled backwards down the staircase. Laura says Pilar then grabbed a bunch of knives from the kitchen, and brandished them while she called 911.

Right then, Laura says Deion came downstairs to see what the ruckus was about -- and Pilar yelled at the dispatcher, "My husband is attacking me!!!"

According to Laura, the cops showed up minutes later -- and Pilar refused to put away the knives ... so they cuffed her and threw in the back of a cruiser. Laura says the children were present the entire time.

But Laura claims charges were never filed against Pilar because Deion intervened -- and got Pilar off the hook.

Laura also submitted an alleged audio recording of the fight -- claiming she acquired it during her brawl with Pilar ... who's allegedly been recording everything in the house to use as leverage in her divorce.


Pilar's lawyer Larry Friedman tells TMZ -- "Pilar was not booked, charged, or arrested by Police. She acted appropriately in response to an intruder in her home."

Rodney Atkins can rest easy on that pillow he allegedly tried to suffocate his wife with ... because the country star just struck a deal that will keep him out of the slammer ... if he stays out of trouble for the next 12 months.

TMZ broke the story ... Atkins was arrested back in November after his wife claimed Rodney tried to suffocate her with a pillow after a night of hard boozing and arguing.

Atkins maintained his innocence ... but he struck a deal with prosecutors in Tennessee, in which they agreed not to prosecute him ... because he completed anger management, drug and alcohol evaluations. Atkins also promised to complete 30 hours of community service and keep his nose clean for the next year.

Assuming he keeps his end of the bargain, the case will be dismissed and the charge will be expunged from his record.

Atkins released a statement to The Tennessean saying, "I am so thankful for all those that chose to withhold judgment while keeping my family and I in their prayers. God Bless. Onward and upward.”

The wife of the creator of "Homeland" and "24" just pled no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and will not serve jail time.

Cambria Gordon, wife of Howard Gordon, was driving in Santa Monica last July when her cell phone fell from the center console to the floor. She became distracted as she tried to retrieve it and her car struck an 83-year-old pedestrian, who later died.

Cambria was charged with manslaughter with gross negligence, but under the deal the charge reduced to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence.

Cambria, who was not in court today, was placed on 36 months informal probation and she must perform 360 hours of community service. The judge said the community service should have an educational component related to distracted driving.

Blair Berk, Cambria's lawyer, read a letter from Cambria prior to sentencing, in which she expressed "deep sorrow and sincere remorse over the accident," adding "not a day has gone by since July 20, 2011 that I haven't thought about and prayed for Mr. Smerling and his family."

The letter ends with this: "Although I cannot presume to ask for forgiveness, I only hope that the Smerling family understands how immeasurably sorry I am."

The victim's family has filed a civil suit against the Gordons. That suit is pending.

Sasha Grey insists she had nothing to do with a "pathetic" porn company's attempt to donate proceeds from its new film "Anal Artists" to Read Across America -- telling TMZ, the company's trying "to capitalize on Read Across America, controversy, and my name."

Assence Films announced it was donating proceeds from the film to Reading Across America in support of Sasha's "recent efforts to expose children to the world of literature" -- but Sasha says she's never even heard of the company.

Sasha tells us, Assence is exploiting her by trying to "re-package and re-sell an outdated, previously-available scene by touting it as one of my last scenes."

But Sasha doesn't know what's worse ... "the fact that people are now misled to believe I’m personally selling this movie with salacious marketing, or the fact that the [National Education Association] won’t take donations from this pathetic company."

Sasha adds, "There’s little money for education in this beautiful country, and as a pro-education advocate, it’s heartbreaking to hear this."

TMZ broke the story ... Grey -- who once won a Best Oral Sex award for her role in "Throat: A Cautionary Tale" -- participated in Read Across America at Emerson Elementary School in Compton, CA back in November.

Sadly, Sasha says the program has since been shut down at the school "because of one lone disgruntled fan who harassed my parents, the school district, the media and me, for my involvement in such an important program."

Ray J's bodyguards did NOT attack two drunk guys in Hollywood last month, leaving one man knocked out cold on the sidewalk -- this according to the singer's rep.

A rep for Ray J tells TMZ, neither Ray nor any member of his team "had anything to do with the incident that is being reported" -- when two men who appeared to be intoxicated approached Ray's car on the street, and got their asses handed to them.

The rep adds, "Ray J was working on the set of his new TV show and he had off duty police officers protecting him. After filming, they escorted him to his car and he left without incident."

TMZ posted a video of the incident this weekend ... in which Ray J is quickly escorted to his Rolls Royce while a man lies unconscious on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, a guy yells, "Ray, I got this ... Ray, get in the car!"

It's unclear what connection the attackers have with the singer -- if any -- but Ray's rep insists ... they are NOT employed by the singer.

Gary Busey -- who's starred in more than 70 movies -- has less than $50,000 to his name ... and more than $500,000 in various debts ... this according to official documents obtained by TMZ.

67-year-old Busey filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in California yesterday. Busey checked the box showing he has less than $50,000 in assets ... and somewhere between $500,000 and $1,000,000 in various debts.

In the docs, Busey indicates he might owe money to everyone from the IRS ... to various lawyers ... UCLA Medical Center ... Wells Fargo ... L.A. County Waterworks Districts ... and a storage company.

He also notes that he might owe money to a woman named Carla Loeffler, who sued Busey for allegedly attacking her at a Tulsa airport back in May.

Interestingly, we shot Gary out in Malibu on Monday -- a day before he filed -- and he didn't seem all that fazed by the whole bankruptcy thing ... dancing his face off in a parking lot.



A rep for Gary tells TMZ, "Gary's filing is the final chapter in a process that began a few years ago of jettisoning the litter of past unfortunate choices, associations, circumstances, and events."

Russell Brand is entitled to approximately $20 million of Katy Perry's fortune ... but TMZ has learned he will not take a single penny of it.

Russell's lawyer filed final divorce papers Tuesday ... although the judge will make the divorce official on June 30, because there's a 6 month waiting period.

Informed sources tell TMZ ... Russell and Katy did NOT have a prenup. As a result, everything they earned during their 14-month marriage is community property -- which means they're each entitled to 50% of the pot.

Katy made $44 million between May, 2010 and May, 2011 -- according to Forbes. The couple married in October, 2010, so Russell could have scored a fortune if he exercised his community property rights. 

But here's the deal. As one source put it, "This divorce is as amicable as it gets, and Russell was a mensch (Yiddish for a good person)." He doesn't want Katy's money. He's happy to walk away with the money he earned -- which is far less than what Katy raked in.

So we gotta ask ...

Deion Sanders "orchestrated" a violent attack on his wife ... designed to physically force her out of his Texas mansion ... this according to a new lawsuit filed by Pilar Sanders.

In a fast and furious legal response to the altercation at the home this week, Pilar filed suit against Deion and a woman named Laura Jones, the woman accused of carrying out the attack.

According to the documents, Deion summoned Laura -- his "fake aunt" -- to help him physically remove Pilar from the home on Feb. 6 so Deion could change the locks and bar her from returning.

Pilar claims Jones is legally banned from entering the home ... but she entered the place anyway ... so Pilar says she demanded that the woman leave immediately. Instead, Pilar claims, the woman "squared off and took a swing at [Pilar] hitting her in the eye."

Pilar says Laura "continued to hit, slap, punch, choke, push and kick" her ... causing various injuries. Pilar says she was so scared, she grabbed a KITCHEN KNIFE and prepared to defend herself until cops arrived.

Now, Pilar wants a judge to issue a restraining order against the woman ... and she wants Deion to fork over a check for the mental and physical pain.

After the incident, Deion claimed Laura was only at the home to fix his phone system and said Pilar's account is completely untrue.

Call him Mitt "Love Glove" Romney ... 'cause TMZ has learned a condom company has officially launched a line of special rubbers dedicated to the Republican candidate ... despite not having Mitt's approval.

The condom company launched a website this week, offering the political jimmys for roughly five bucks a pop.

TMZ spoke with the owner of the company -- which also famously launched Obama condoms a while back -- who tells us he KNOWS his operation is perfectly legit because a State Supreme Court judge previously ruled his products are protected under his First Amendment right to free speech.

The owner tells us he's marketing the product to anyone with an "elitist penis" ... and states, "Romney Condoms are tax free so even the poor can afford them."

Ben Stein thinks it's pretty MESSED UP that Honda ran a "Ferris Bueller" spoof commercial during the Super Bowl ... and didn't put him in the ad -- and now he wants a NEW CAR to make up for the diss.

Stein was at LAX yesterday when we asked him about the new spot -- which featured Matthew Broderick -- and Ben told us, "They had a guy imitating my voice, they should've had me in it."

But Stein says Honda can make it up to him ... "Just my humble opinion, but since they used my voice ... they should give me a top of the line Honda."