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Nothing like a Christmas tree to get the office in the spirit, but an Alabama Sheriff's Office is decorating its tree with mug shots ... and lots of people aren't merry about it.

The Mobile County Sheriff's Office has hung what it calls "Thugshots" -- mug shots of all the people it arrested this past year. The office posted a photo Thursday of the tree -- which also appears to have jail-issued sandals as the star.

The FB post starts with "HAPPY THUG THURSDAY MOBILE," adding ... "We have decorated our Tree with THUGSHOTS to show how many Thugs we have taken off the streets of Mobile this year!"

Right off the bat, the liberal use of the word "thug" rubbed some people the wrong way.

The post goes on to offer a Christmas special for "ALL MOBILE COUNTY THUGS" ... they can come to the property room, pick out some stolen goods ... then get hauled off to jail. They also joked about free COVID tests for all prisoners, along with a "custom fitting" for a holiday jumpsuit.

Of course, in a year in which police brutality has been a lightning rod issue and the relationship between cops and citizens is more strained than ever ... critics called the Sheriff's post insensitive, unprofessional and as one person put it, "pretty trashy."

BTW -- the controversial post comes about a year after 2 cops in the same county posted a separate Christmas-themed photo of a "homeless quilt" made out of panhandler signs.

Colin Kaepernick's jersey from his NFL debut with the 49ers just sold for a whopping $128k ... the highest price an NFL jersey has EVER fetched at auction.

The jersey is from Kap's rookie debut on October 2, 2011 -- when he came in for Alex Smith for one snap against the Philadelphia Eagles ... which is why the jersey is so clean!

Kap handed the ball off to Frank Gore -- and then went back to the bench. The 49ers won the game 24 to 23.

Of course, Kap's career took off the following season -- he started 7 games and then became the full-time starter in 2013. The rest is history.

Kaepernick signed the jersey from his rookie debut -- inscribing it with the message "2011 game worn rookie jersey" -- and then gifted it to family friend and reporter, Aaron Prince, who put it up for auction in 2019.

The item made its way to Julian's Auctions in 2020 -- where it sold at a high profile event for $128,000 to a buyer whose identity has not yet been revealed.

Julian's claims it's the highest price ANYONE has ever paid for a game-used NFL jersey, EVER.

As we've previously reported, Kap memorabilia has been HOT in with collectors over the past few years ... a combination of interest in Kap as an athlete AND as a social justice icon.

There were more cool items at the auction -- including the NBA jersey given to Michael Jordan on the day he signed with the Bulls in 1984 ... that went for $320,000.

And, a high school basketball jersey worn by Barack Obama in 1979 at Punahou School in Hawaii sold for $192k!

By the way, Obama's jersey number -- 23!

Boosie Badazz is taking his beef with Mark Zuckerberg to court ... he says Instagram banned his account because he's Black, so now he's suing over it.

The Louisiana rapper claims he was the victim of racial discrimination when IG put him in social media timeout back in August, and he says he's suing the multi-billionaire Facebook and IG owner for $20 million.

Boosie told Vlad TV the IG ban caused some of his business ventures to tank. He says the $20 million figure is what he lost when his original account was deactivated. It doesn't appear he's actually filed the suit yet.

Remember ... Boosie made a plea to Mark "Zuckinberger" this summer when his IG shut him down for repeatedly violating certain policies. If you followed Boosie on the 'gram, you know his old page was bootylicious ... although IG's never said exactly why it deleted his account.

Boosie thinks Zuck might be holding a grudge and trying to get revenge because he mispronounced his name in an epic rant.

As for the racial element ... Boosie claims he's being discriminated against because of his skin color, saying there's a lot of other folks -- presumably white -- who got their Instagram pages back after being banned for way worse stuff.

Whitney Collings -- one of the early members of TV's "Bad Girls Club" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Whitney's mom revealed the sad news on Facebook, writing ... "I am completely broken and will never get over this. Life is so unfair. She was kind with a big heart."

We don't yet know what caused Whitney's death, but we're told she passed Thursday morning in a hospital near Boston ... her hometown. The medical examiner currently has Whtiney's case and will determine the cause and manner of her death.

Being from Boston was a big part of her persona on 'BGC' back in 2008-09 when she appeared on Season 3 of the show ... as you can see.

She was only 21 when she was on the reality series, and was known as a straight-shooter with a temper ... but also for her sense of humor.

However, her time as a "bad girl" was cut short after she was kicked out of the house due to a physical altercation.

We're told Whitney was 33.

NBA legend Paul Pierce is being sued over an alleged marijuana deal gone bad -- accused of screwing over the guy he hired to build and run his grow house!

"The Truth" is being sued by Kenneth Johnson -- who's been described as a "master grower" when it comes to cannabis.

In his suit, Johnson claims Pierce hired him back in 2016 to "design and develop a warehouse to cultivate cannabis from inception to completion."

Johnson claims Pierce offered him $10,000 per month -- and required him to move out to L.A. ... not a bad gig, right!?

But, soon after they got started, Johnson says Pierce cut his pay to $4,000 -- claiming they couldn't afford the full rate until after there was product to be sold.

Johnson claims things got worse from there ... claiming Pierce and his company "cut corners" and didn't even get the weed plants into the warehouse until late 2018.

Even then, Johnson claims Pierce refused to pay him his promised $10,000 monthly rate -- insisting they wouldn't have the funds until after the first marijuana harvest.

Things finally came to a head in Nov. 2019 -- Johnson claims he still wasn't getting his full pay so he left the company ... while Pierce's operation still owed him more than $42k in unpaid wages!

Now, Johnson's suing for back pay -- plus unpaid overtime, missed meal period violations and more.

The weed biz ... it ain't all fun and games!

Kylie Jenner says a man who was recently busted for burglary in her gated community has it out for her ... and she's run to court to get protection.

Kylie beelined it to court Friday and filed legal docs seeking a restraining order against a man named Justin Bergquist. Law enforcement sources tell us Bergquist allegedly broke into a home in Kylie's neighborhood last month, left without taking anything -- but came back and tried to get inside the gates again.

We're told security stopped him the second time and called the cops, and he told officers he was there to see Kylie.

Our sources say it's unclear if Bergquist mistakenly thought the first home he allegedly broke into was Kylie's ... but in any event, he was arrested for burglary and trespassing.

Court records show Bergquist was charged with burglary, and he's due back in court next month after pleading not guilty in his criminal case.

Disgusting moment at a high school football game in Texas -- where a top player violently exploded on a referee AFTER he had already been ejected ... and the whole thing was caught on video.

It all went down Thursday night right after Edinburg High defensive end Emmanuel Duron was ejected from the game following a late hit penalty against an opposing player in the 2nd quarter.

After the ref announced Duron was disqualified from the game, Duron -- wearing #88 -- sprints back on the field and blasts the ref with a full-speed blindside tackle, sending the official crashing to the ground.

Multiple Edinburg High coaches and players had raced out to try and stop Duron's attack, but they were too late.

The ref was in obvious pain -- and remained on the ground for several minutes. He was later evaluated in an ambulance, according to The Monitor's Andrew McCulloch, who was reporting at the game.

Several police officers escorted Duron off the field -- but it's unclear if he was formally arrested and booked for a crime.

We're reached out to cops and the school district for information -- we'll let you know when we hear back.

Duron is a junior defensive tackle and all-around top athlete. He's scored a rushing TD as a running back and also kicked a 51-yard field goal earlier this season.

He's also a high school wrestling star, whose coach had said to reporters back in March that he's among the best in the state and a clear favorite to win a state title.

The Queen is down to just one dog after the passing of her dorgi named Vulcan.

Queen Elizabeth's dog died at Windsor Castle -- according to Buckingham Palace -- where she and Prince Philip have been staying amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 94-year-old British monarch is known for her love of dogs, and Vulcan was one of the 4 that appeared with her in a set of portraits shot for her 90th birthday by famed photog Annie Leibovitz.

Vulcan's death leaves her with just Candy, another dorgi, after a lifetime of owning multiple corgis and dorgis since she was gifted a corgi named Susan for her 18th birthday.

Though her last purebred corgi that was a descendant of Susan died in 2018, the Queen reportedly engineered the dorgi mix -- corgi and dachshund -- years ago by breeding her corgis with her late sister Princess Margaret's dachshunds.

Bottom line -- the lady loves her pups and has been photographed enjoying their company for decades. However, in 2015 she stated she didn't want to get any more dogs for fear of leaving a young pooch behind ... so Candy might be her last pet.

Sadly, news of Vulcan's death comes just weeks after Prince William and Kate lost their family dog too ... a cocker spaniel named Lupo.

Warner Bros' plan to stream new movie releases will not only rock the theater industry, but also impact the U.S. economy ... according to Daymond John.

The "Shark Tank" star joined "TMZ Live" Friday to break down Warner's game-changer -- streaming its blockbuster 2021 films on HBO Max, while also releasing them in theaters. He says it's a big win for movie buffs and distributors like WB.

But, he can already see how it will shift the economy as a whole because he's lived through it. Remember, "Trolls World Tour" was released on demand, and in theaters earlier this year -- and you gotta see how that ended up costing him $200. He explains why the cash is spread out to more companies when ya go to a theater, as opposed to staying home to watch a new movie.

No more how ya slice it, though ... It's bad news for movie theater owners.

The man who busted into a woman's home while she was recording on her TikTok is now in custody of immigration officials ... TMZ has learned.

The suspect, Angel Moises Rodriguez-Gomez, was hauled off by ICE agents from the Baltimore Field Office, and authorities let Hannah Viverette know her intruder was back in custody Thursday ... Hagerstown PD tells TMZ.

As we reported ... Rodriguez-Gomez was hit with 2 counts of burglary, second-degree assault, stalking and malicious destruction of property, but he bailed out of jail after his arrest and currently lives in the woman's building.

Hannah told us she's frightened to live in the same housing complex as Rodriguez-Gomez and is desperate to find a new home. Fortunately, the company managing her building tells us she can break her lease with no penalties.

She can also rest a little easier knowing the guy's in ICE custody and not roaming free, but it's not clear if he's getting deported.

Teyana Taylor's had it up to HERE with the music biz making her feel "super under appreciated as an artist" ... so she's announcing her retirement.

Teyana made the surprise announcement Friday while touting Spotify's year-round stats feature dubbed "2020 Artist Wrapped" ... praising fans for playing her music all over the world but also railing on the music industry.

Teyana didn't pull punches ... saying she received "little to no real push from the machine, constantly getting the shorter end of the stick" and "being overlooked." She said the list goes on and on, but then tried to keep things positive.

The "Concrete" singer added, "I’m retiring this chapter of my story with the comfort that I can depart with peace of mind seeing that all the hard work & passion put was indeed loved & supported somewhere in the world!"

It's unclear what Teyana's got planned for the future ... but something may be percolating 'cause she says, "Don't worry y'all know all hustlers have the understanding that when one door closes another will open...either that or I'm pickin da locks."

Teyana released 3 studio albums -- "VII," "K.T.S.E." and "The Album" -- with GOOD Music and Def Jam. She also collaborated with tons of other artists ... perhaps most notably when she set the internet on fire appearing in Kanye West's "Fade" music video.

Justin Bieber is slamming a Selena Gomez fan as a "sad excuse of a human" after she shamelessly called on other SG fans to bully his wife, Hailey.

The Biebs actually put the woman on blast, reposting a snippet of the so-called Selena Gomez fan begging people "to f***ing bombard" Hailey's Instagram Live comments section and bully her by saying "Selena is better" and "Go after her, please. Let's all go after her."

JB didn't let it slide, saying ... "This sad excuse of a human just encouraged people on video to literally go after my wife telling people to say that my previous relationship was better so on and so [forth]. I just wanted to share this so people get an idea of what we face on a day to day."

The singer also made a dig at the woman saying, "After watching that I could easily let it steal my joy, but then I think about her life and how miserable she must be to want to spend her life trying to make others feel small."

On the one hand, ya gotta admire Justin going all out to defend his wife, but on the other -- he did just give a troll the biggest platform she's ever had, and she's probably thrilled about it. It's a double-edged sword for the Biebers.

Hailey added her own feelings, saying ... "I would never in a million years wish for someone to be treated this way and I will never condone this kind of hateful behavior."

"Black Panther" star Letitia Wright says she was just trying to raise her concerns about a potential coronavirus vaccine by sharing a video made by a vaccine skeptic ... but she raised a major controversy instead.

Wright, who plays T'Challa's sister, Shuri, got a ton of backlash after posting a link to a baseless anti-vaxxer video Thursday night on Twitter ... and then tweeting her apparent support of its message.

In the vid, the presenter questions the safety and efficacy of vaccines in general, and gives fact-free opinions on what's possibly in the COVID-19 vaccine and why it could be dangerous. Letitia included the prayer hands emoji with her post.

Soon afterward, she began engaging angry Twitter users who called her out for spreading misinformation ... and explaining it away by claiming she was just asking questions.

After some more arguing, she tweeted ... "if you don’t conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself....you get cancelled."

Don Cheadle, a fellow MCU star, got involved in the online war of words because angry fans tagged him about Wright's tweets -- and after watching parts of the vid she posted ... he seemed pretty upset with her himself.

He wrote ... "jesus... just scrolled through. hot garbage. every time i stopped and listened, he and everything he said sounded crazy and fkkkd up. i would never defend anybody posting this. but i still won't throw her away over it."

Wright has since backtracked a little from the message in the anti-vaxxer vid, and tweeted a half-apology Friday morning.

The founder of Luminar Technologies -- a potential major player in self-driving cars -- is snatching the crown Kylie Jenner once wore ... now that he's the world's youngest self-made billionaire.

Austin Russell's only 25, but he's worth a whopping $2.4 BILLION after his company's stock market debut Thursday ... which saw its share price soar to $22.98, giving the company a market value of about $7.8 billion.

Russell owns about a third of that, so do the math ... and yeah, the dude's balling. Forbes dubbed him the world's youngest self-made billionaire, and his wealth is expected to climb even more Friday along with Luminar's stock price.

As you'll recall, Forbes had previously given Kylie that title in August 2018, but earlier this year -- after some forensic accounting -- determined she actually came up about $100 mil short.

Of course, Kylie's "self-made" status was also called into question, but that doesn't seem to be the case for Russell ... who dropped out of college in 2012 to start Luminar.

AR's company's pretty cool ... it makes a device called lidar scanners that use lasers to give autonomous cars a 3-D view of the road and surroundings. The company's already struck deals with Volvo, Daimler Truck and Intel’s autonomous vehicle unit ... and is projected to start raking in billions annually.

Sasha Obama already comes from a very influential family, but if she ever decides to break out on her own as an influencer ... the sky's the limit.

That's what the CEOs of 2 leading influencer-marketing agencies believe anyway, telling TMZ the former first daughter could amass 1-2 million followers on TikTok in her first week ... if not her first day.

Joe Gagliese of Viral Nation tells us, Sasha would be an overnight success story if she joined the popular social platform ... and could reach 10 million followers in a year easily if she posted content consistently.

He also says he could see her making $5-8 MILLION per year -- just off endorsements -- if she signed on with his agency, but they haven't tried to recruit her ... yet.

Joe says they'd be stupid not to try to get her as a client though, because she presents herself in a very "brand-friendly" and classy way ... which he says leads to better business deals. To top it off ... Gagliese believes the youngest Obama clearly has a lot of talent.

Likewise, Mae Karwowski of Obviously tells us, Sasha could rake in a few mil a year with the right brand deals, and she'd be able to charge top-dollar -- six figures immediately -- for pretty much any brand of her choosing.

Mae says Sasha has a cool, mysterious cache because she's kept such a low profile ... so she thinks there's a lot of pent-up interest in her that would result in high demand if she gets on TikTok.

As we reported ... Sasha's not on TikTok yet, but sent the internet into a tizzy this week just by appearing in one with her college friends.

Karwowski points out Sasha may not be ready for attention like that, or even want to seek out the limelight that comes with being an influencer ... it's her call to make.