Congresswoman Maxine Waters is like the Sheriff to the Sheriff, because she just happened on a traffic stop involving a black man and stopped to make sure cops stayed in line.
The legendary representative was driving in her district this weekend when she saw an L.A. County Sheriff patrol car. She saw the officers in the process of detaining a black man and that's all the info she needed. MW hit the brakes and jumped out.
Apparently, she was not particularly well-received, because the Congresswoman says the deputies told her she parked illegally, so she was in danger of getting a ticket.
Looks like Sheriff Waters was effective. Otherwise, there'd be video to the contrary.
Al Sharpton thinks President Trump joking about renaming a military base after him is more of the same old song the man has played time and again ... think Song of the South.
We got the Reverend Sunday in NYC ... not too long after Trump's interview with FOX News' Chris Wallace aired earlier in the morning. The Prez was asked about threatening to veto a military spending bill that has bipartisan support ... all because it also seeks to rename national military bases named after Confederate generals, like Fort Bragg.
DT challenged Chris to come up with a new name .. and then he name-dropped Al out of nowhere.
Welp, the good Reverend has some thoughts on that ... telling us it's hard to make sense of what Trump's getting at, because he says the dude's so nonsensical. Still, in Al's eyes ... he finds it crazy that Trump's so stuck on defending the Confederacy as a heroic cause.
It obviously wasn't, as he points out -- the rebels were traitors, and definitely on the wrong (and losing) side of history.
Rev. Sharpton has been on Trump's case for decades, from the Central Park 5 to the racism spewing out of the President's mouth, so Sharpton's not surprised Trump got snarky on him.
Kanye West's first presidential rally just wrapped up and he stirred up lots of controversy by discussing Harriet Tubman, abortion and the possibility of divorcing Kim Kardashian West.
Ye held his first event as a candidate Sunday at the Exquis Event Center in North Charleston, SC -- and right off the bat ... it was unorganized and rowdy. He didn't even have a podium or a microphone to address the crowd, which was right up in his face.
At any rate, Kanye rambled through a number of topics -- oftentimes incoherently -- but one thing he said that came through crystal clear ... him suggesting that Harriet did NOT free slaves in her day, but just siphoned them off to other oppressive white folks.
That line drew jeers and groans from the crowd almost instantly -- we gotta say, it seriously reminded us of his "slavery was a choice" moment at TMZ a few years ago.
There's more. At one point, Ye launched into a rant about abortion, a woman's choice, etc. -- and he got incredibly emotional recounting a story about his then-girlfriend (now wife) Kim once telling him she was pregnant and how they considered not having the baby.
Kanye broke down sobbing while telling the story, saying that it hurt him because he confessed he did not want to have it ... which reminded him of his own father, who apparently didn't want him either when his own mother, Donda West, was pregnant.
It was a very personal thing to share, and Ye seemed to acknowledge as much when he followed up by saying it's possible Kim might wanna divorce him after this. He continued that train of thought, saying if she ever did ... he'd be thankful for her delivering North.
Ye went on to touch on a number of other subjects, including the fact that there weren't enough Black people in true positions of power -- including at Adidas, where he says he wants to sit on the board of directors, or else. Of course, he also talked about God and Jesus.
During the chaotic rally, Ye tried fielding questions from onlookers -- all of whom had to wear masks, but hardly any of whom were socially distanced -- but it mostly turned into a shouting match between himself and the rambunctious crowd. It was all hard to follow.
Probably not the greatest start for the Birthday Party campaign, but Kanye doesn't seem to mind ... he said he doesn't care if he wins the presidency or not. Why run then, right?
Anyway, up until today, Kanye seemed pretty serious about his presidential bid. TMZ broke the story ... Ye has filed docs with the Federal Election Commission, and he's also filed docs to get on the ballot in Oklahoma.
He tweeted Saturday, "Hi guys please sign up to put me on the ballot in South Carolina at any of these locations," and he went on to list various places, in addition to his 2020 website.
The first poll shows Kanye is pulling 2% of the vote. What's unclear ... between Biden and Trump, who gets hurt more and who benefits the most? What's also unclear ... if Ye's gonna go the distance after the train wreck that just occurred.
A volcano in Italy known for blowing its lid every now and then just did it again -- only this time, it was captured on camera at night ... which made for some scary fireworks.
This went down early Sunday morning on the Italian island of Stromboli, which has a very active volcano right in the middle of it that erupts from time to time -- sometimes killing a person or two, at least of late, but mostly just wakes people up and freaks 'em out.
Fortunately, this latest explosion was more of the latter ... the volcano starting going off around 3 AM, but didn't cause any injuries and/or deaths, and no significant damage either. Looks like most of the activity stayed closer to the crater and vent (the peak, basically).
However, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology's observatory near Mt. Etna -- there appeared to be some debris and lava seeping down the slope ... where hikers sometimes visit during the day. So, yeah ... it could've been bad.
In any case, it's crazy to see the thing blowing up and throwing out lava bombs on camera -- webcams that are set up near the top of the volcano caught some of the action. According to reports, the whole thing lasted about four minutes before things settled down.
Scientists say that Sunday's eruption was strong, but not nearly as strong as a couple that happened last summer, which killed one person and sent other tourists running for the sea.
First a pandemic, 7.1 earthquakes, and now this ... when are the locusts coming?
11:44 AM PT -- A new angle of the black bear run-in proves one thing ... the lady who was nearest to the creature has ice in her veins, 'cause she fired off a selfie when Bongo here was too close for comfort.
Check it out ... the bear gets up on its hind legs and is pretty much right up against the woman, who doesn't fret ... in fact, she calmly whips out her phone and snaps a shot, almost like they were hiking buddies or something. Meanwhile, a man filming from a distance is trying to shoo the bear away like it was a household pet. Looks like it worked -- the bear eventually got back and down and crept away slowly.
This may be the scariest video of the month ... a super curious bear spotted a few women, approached them, sniffed them, got on its hind legs and seemingly hugged them, and they lived to tell about it!!!
It went down Saturday in Mexico at the Chipinque Ecological Park. You see the bear at one point putting its paw on one of the women, almost nuzzling her.
As most people know, bears often attack when people panic or run, and how can you not when a bear is all over you?!!?
Well, these folks are amazing. They remain clam -- and pretty much still -- as 2 men in the background try to scare the bear away by talking loudly.
The bear eventually has had enough and leaves, and boy ... you can only imaging the heart rate of those women.
So here's what authorities say about black bears that get too close ... "Stay calm, never stand between a baby and its mother, do not go near or feed them, take shelter and watch it, avoid photographing it or taking selfies."
The NFL's biggest stars are speaking out days before they're set to report to training camp for another season -- and they're all saying the same thing ... THIS ISN'T SAFE YET!!!
On Sunday, studs like Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, J.J. Watt, Odell Beckham Jr. and several others expressed similar sentiments over having to boot back up again in the middle of a pandemic -- namely, that the league hasn't laid out a clear action plan.
It's pretty simple ... these guys say they're just a couple months or so from having to get back onto the gridiron, but claim there's been no guidance or direction from NFL's top honchos on how to keep the players safe, and what the protocol will be. It's alarming.
I am concerned. My wife is pregnant.@NFL Training camp is about to start..
And there’s still No Clear Plan on Player Health & Family Safety. 🤷🏾
We want to play football but we also want to protect our loved ones. #WeWantToPlay
Russ, for example, made it clear that his family's safety is potentially at risk if the league doesn't get its act together, saying ... "I am concerned. My wife is pregnant. @NFL Training camp is about to start. And there’s still No Clear Plan on Player Health & Family Safety. 🤷🏾 We want to play football but we also want to protect our loved ones."
He, along with all the other high-profile players who chimed in, ended with the hashtag ... #WeWantToPlay. J.J., for his part, laid out crystal clear demands on what he and his teammates were looking for with a bullet point list. Sounds like the NFL's way behind schedule on these very basic precautions and procedures to handle positive tests.
Once again in the interest of keeping everyone (players & fans) as informed as possible, here is an updated list of what we as players know and don’t know as the first group gets set to report to training camp tomorrow.#WeWantToPlaypic.twitter.com/xQcjs33zgM
J.J.'s list -- which called for more clarity on whether players would be tested/how often, standards on how to handle a player if they got sick, etc. -- made it clear that the league has the power here. He says the way their agreement is set up, the NFL can make them go to training camp and play games ... even if players want to opt out for safety concerns.
Of course, if the players hold out and refuse to play unless their demands are met ... that could mean an either truncated season -- like in the MLB and NBA right now -- or perhaps no season at all. Ball's in the NFL's hands at this point 😬
Nick Cannon seemed to have contemplated suicide ... calling 2020 the most "f***ed up year I've ever witnessed," talking about his friend who he says took his own life, adding, he was in "dark contemplation of continuing my physical existence on this planet," and admiring his friend who "had the balls to do it."
It's an alarming message, but not totally surprising. Nick's been called out from all sides, it seems, this week, after his anti-Semitic comments he made on a podcast, for which he apologized. Although Nick says he's trying to educate himself as he meets with rabbis and others, he's now being attacked for apologizing. On top of that, Viacom fired him from 'Wild 'n Out.'
Nick recounted the story of his friend, Ryan Bowers -- an up-and-coming rapper who Nick signed to his label -- who was shot in his own home last year by a San Diego cop. Nick says Ryan was in a coma for months and Nick was by his side. Cannon says his friend fought hard, re-learning basic functions like walking.
Nick says on the surface, Ryan seemed to rebound ... returning to perform to sold-out crowds. But, behind the veneer, Ryan was hurting, whispering to Nick, "Everything still hurts."
Nick says, "I can't help but think if I wasn't so engulfed in my own bulls*** I could've been there for you when you finally took your life after several attempts ...F*** this place!! #CantWin#ForLosing🙏".
We have checked and the Medical Examiner tells us a Ryan Bowers died Saturday.
Nick said on Thursday, "I hurt an entire community and it pained me to my core, I thought it couldn't get any worse. Then I watched my own community turn on me and call me a sell-out for apologizing," adding, "Goodnight. Enjoy Earth."
Orlando Bloom is inconsolable over his dog that went missing several days ago, saying he's a broken man.
Orlando's poodle, Mighty, disappeared earlier in the week in the Santa Barbara area and he sent out a plea for its return, to no avail.
The despair is palpable, with Orlando saying, "I don't recall a time in my life where I've been so broken or wide open. The rawness I have felt over these past few days and sleepless nights at the idea of my little man being lost and scared, with me unable to do anything to protect him, is a waking nightmare."
He went on ... "The bond between Mighty and I shows devotion in ways I have not truly understood until now. I am a devoted father & partner, still, there is a reason why they call them 'man's best friend.' I miss him."
Orlando ends with this ... "Send out a prayer for my little strong and Mighty boy to find his way back to his family."
WE'VE LEARNED MIGHTY HAS MEDICAL ISSUES. IF YOU FIND HIM ORLANDO WANTS YOU TO TAKE HIM TO A VET. AGAIN, THE DOG IS IN THE SANTA BARBARA AREA.
Roger Stone called a Black radio host a "negro" during a contentious interview.
It went down Saturday on Mo Kelly's show on KFI radio, after Stone claimed the conviction and sentence -- which Trump undid -- was unfair, because, as he put it, "It was a jury of my political opponents."
Mo shot back that it was actually the reverse ... that Stone benefited because he's tight with Trump. Mo then doubled down, saying, "There are thousands of people treated unfairly daily. Hell, your number just happened to come up in the lottery," adding, "I'm guessing it was more than just luck, Roger, right?"
Then there's a pause, and you hear Stone mumble, "I don't really feel like arguing with this negro." It's hard to know, but it seems Stone is saying it to someone he's with.
Mo is clearly indignant, repeatedly asking Stone what it was that he called him.
Stone goes radio silent for a long while, before speaking again and denying he called Mo a "negro."
Mo tweeted afterward, "I'm nobody's NEGRO."
Stone was found guilty of lying to Congress on 7 felony counts. Trump granted him clemency.
If you wanted to get into a bar in downtown Nashville over the weekend, good luck, because they were packed to the gills, and no one was social distancing and almost no one was wearing masks.
The lines to get inside snaked around the block as everyone partied liked it WASN'T 2020.
What's especially revealing ... it seems like authorities are just backing away and not enforcing the law. The City's issued an order requiring people to wear face masks in public spaces -- both indoors and out.
On top of that, young people in Nashville -- especially in the 25-year-old range -- are contracting coronavirus at a higher rate than older people. No shock here, based on the video.
The Mayor ordered bars to close until the end of July, with an exception. Bars can stay open if they make the majority of their money from food, but only at half capacity. The video does not seem to sync up with the law.
Toward the end of the video, you see police cars, but not much, if anything, by way of enforcement.
Twitter has removed a video Trump retweeted, with the group's song, "In The End." The original tweet was from the account of Dan Scavino, the White House Media Director.
The video vanished Saturday, replaced with this message -- "This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner."
Trump has drawn the ire of Linkin Park before, and they underscored their contempt for the President Saturday, saying, "Linkin Park did not and does not endorse Trump, nor authorize his organization to use any of our music. A cease and desist has been issued."
Apparently, Twitter heard them.
Chester Bennington, who fronted Linkin Park until his death in 2017, vehemently opposed Trump, declaring, “Trump is a greater threat to the USA than terrorism!! We have to take back our voices and stand for what we believe in.”
The choice of the song, "In The End," is curious, with lyrics that include this ... “I tried so hard / And got so far / But in the end / It doesn’t even matter.”
Pop Smoke's alleged murderers were tracked down by LAPD detectives the old-fashioned way ... there were no shortcuts or easy breaks.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the big break in the case leading to the arrests of 4 men allegedly connected to the rapper's death didn't come from a tipster, but instead from LAPD detectives pounding the pavement and knocking on doors.
We broke the story ... Pop Smoke was gunned down back in February by at least 4 masked gunmen after what appeared to be a home invasion robbery at his rental property in the Hollywood Hills.
Detectives went back to the basics because, as we reported, they hit a roadblock back in February when potential witnesses wouldn't cooperate, and combing social media turned out to be a bust.
Sources also tell us cops believe Los Angeles street gang members were involved in Pop's murder, but they say the case doesn't appear to be a gang hit or an East Coast-West Coast beef -- Pop was from NYC.
Instead, police believe the tragedy was a robbery gone wrong after the alleged killers saw Pop's posts on social media in the hours before the fatal shooting. Pop shared his address, and flexed with huge wads of cash.
We're told, even though the arrests have been made, the case remains under active investigation as detectives search for more evidence.
Master P has a simple, but controversial, solution to Nick Cannon's problems ... and firmly believes he should not have apologized for his anti-Semitism.
The No Limit mogul was in Bev Hills when we asked him about the fallout from Nick espousing the anti-Semitic remarks made by Professor Griff and Minister Farrakhan. Master P repeatedly took a pass on addressing the "hurtful and divisive" words Nick admits he used -- but did say, "I hate that Nick Cannon apologized. He shouldn't have did that."
His explanation for that is, basically -- Nick wouldn't have to say he's sorry if he didn't have to worry about losing jobs. Watch the clip. That's what he says.
Of course, that dangerous theory suggests anyone who owns their own business or TV show, should be able to say anything they want ... without consequence.
Remember, Nick said Griff was "speaking truth" when he said, back in 1989, Jews were responsible for spreading most of the world's wickedness -- and even Cannon now acknowledges that stance was horribly anti-Semitic
As you know ... the backlash against Cannon began when he made anti-Semitic remarks on his podcast, got called out, and then dropped by ViacomCBS. About 24 hours later, he changed his tune after speaking with Rabbi Abraham Cooper and issued a seemingly sincere apology to the Jewish community.
Interestingly, the 'Masked Singer' host says that move resulted in Black people turning on him ... calling him a sellout for taking back his comments and deleted that episode of his podcast.
Master P says if Nick's a good person who has good intentions, there's no need to apologize.
Again, that's not how Nick feels, but this vid is a clear illustration of what he said about his own community giving him flak.
The man who squatted on several potential new names for the NFL's Washington franchise says he's reached out to the league to offer up the trademarks for free ... and he's got the emails to prove it.
Martin McCaulay -- aka the "trademark hog" (that's what he calls himself) -- came under fire from Washington fans when it came out that he obtained the trademarks for a bunch of possible replacement names ... including the Washington Monuments, Americans, Veterans, Red-Tailed Hawks, Federals and more.
Most people assumed he would try to shake down the franchise for a big payday but McCauley says that's B.S.
In fact, McCauley tells us he reached out to the NFL via email on July 4 offering his 10 trademarked names for no charge!
"My email was dated July 4th, 2020 to the NFL trademark attorney and said 'free trademarks,' a list out of all my trademarks saying, 'you can have these for free' and they didn't respond."
"I didn't know how to reach anybody. I'm on Twitter, at the NFL, at the NFL commish. Take my trademarks, please! What do I have to do to get you to take these trademarks?"
As you know, Washington is on the hunt for a new name after FINALLY dropping "Redskins" ... following a scathing letter written by the National Congress of American Indians, an organization that reps over 5 million Native Americans.
So, Martin -- who believes the name change is long overdue -- even hired a lawyer to help pass along his registered trademarks.
"They won'ttake my offer of free trademarks so I hired an attorney to facilitate the transaction. His name is Darren Heitner," McCaulay says.
"He wrote a letter to Mr. Snyder with my offer, making it clear that I was trying to facilitate the name change. I do not want to be an obstacle. Please. If you want one of Mr. McCaulay's trademarks, or me, 'trademark hog,' as I like to go by, then just let us know what does he need to do to get out of your way? What is it?"
Unclear why Washington hasn't responded -- but in their defense, they've been a little busy the past few weeks.
Mark Wahlberg dropped a fat stack on a new set of quarantine wheels ... a custom 3-wheeler that's eco-friendly AND street legal!!!
Marky Mark's newest ride is an Arcimoto FUV -- Fun Utility Vehicle -- which retails for just under $20,000 ... and it's super cool.
Sources connected to the deal tell TMZ ... Mark was one of the first people to test drive the FUV last year, when Arcimoto had a small junket in Los Angeles showing off the new electric whip. We're told Mark liked it from the jump and he finally pulled the trigger while in quarantine.
Our source says Mark's environmentally sustainable ride comes with a custom paint job promoting his health company, F45, and MW feels the FUV is perfect for zipping through his compound and getting around on set.
The FUV sounds pretty fun to whip around ... it tops out at 75 MPH and comes with heated seats and steering grips, Bluetooth speakers, removable doors and a panoramic roof.
"I've offered him a shot! I said, 'Hey if you want it, it's yours, you got it' and he was silent."
That's UFC champ, Kamaru Usman, telling TMZ Sports he TRIED to make a fight with Conor McGregor happen earlier this year ... but the Irishman was all talk.
"If Conor wants to put my name in his mouth, then come get some."
Kamaru is on a TEAR right now -- running through some of the top fighters in the welterweight division including Tyron Woodley AND Jorge Masvidal.
Conor -- who's won UFC titles at 145 lbs and 155 lbs -- has flirted with the idea of fighting for that 170 lb welterweight belt, but Kamaru says when push came to shove, Conor didn't want the smoke.
"[A Conor fight is] just a lost cause," Usman says ... "because we both know Conor -- the only time Conor gets up to the welterweight division is if he's able to pick and choose lightweights with double-digit losses that he can pick off and not have to cut weight to get down to lightweight."
"If Conor wants a piece at welterweight, he knows who the king of the division is. I'm not going anywhere! I'm right here!"
There was also talk about a possible Conor McGregor vs. Masvidal matchup down the line ... so we asked Usman who would win that fight.
"Honestly, I don't know and truthfully I don't really care. At this point in my career, I'm just worried about me."
Usman says his focus is on getting back into the Octagon and fighting the best in the world -- noting he's still hoping he can lure Georges St-Pierre out of retirement!
"Yeah, I would love to test myself against a guy like that. But, as far as Conor, if he wants a piece, he can come talk to the king. Those aspirations to becoming a welterweight champion, severely turn into nightmares when you step inside that Octagon with me."
