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Landon Donovan's pro soccer team straight-up walked off the field in protest Wednesday ... after a member of his squad claimed an opponent used a homophobic slur on the pitch.

Donovan's San Diego Loyal team was playing against Phoenix Rising FC in a USL game in San Diego ... when one of Landon's players said a verbal insult was hurled his way just before halftime.

The player, Collin Martin -- an openly gay man -- reportedly claimed Junior Flemmings called him a "batty boy" ... which is known in Jamaican dialect as an anti-gay slur.

Donovan, Martin and the whole Loyal team were livid over the alleged comment ... and demanded referees or Phoneix Rising FC's coach remove Flemmings from the game.

In video of the argument between Donovan, the refs, and the Phoenix coach ... the U.S. Men's National Team legend can be seen and heard animatedly explaining his team's outrage.

"We need to get this out of our game!" Donovan said. "We need to get this out of our game!"

Donovan continued, "It's homophobia!"

When Flemmings was not removed at the start of the 2nd half ... Donovan's Loyal team took a knee and then left the field -- forfeiting a game it was leading 3-1.

Afterward, Donovan explained that since one of his players had been racially abused in a game just a week ago ... they weren't going to stand for any kind of insensitive comments or actions on the field going forward.

"We went through a really hard incident last week in the L.A. match and we made a vow to ourselves, to our community, to our players, to the club, to USL, that we would not stand for bigotry, homophobic slurs -- things that don’t belong in our game."

The USL says it's investigating the incident, adding in a statement, "Foul and abusive language of any type has absolutely no place in our society and will not be tolerated in USL matches."

For Flemmings' part, he denies ever saying the comment ... writing in a post on social media, "At no point did I say a homophobic slur towards Collin Martin."

"I do not know Collin personally, but I respect all of my opponents equally, Collin included."

Shia LaBeouf allegedly transformed into a bully and thief over the summer ... and now he's being charged over it.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the "Honey Boy" star and a man got into some kind of verbal altercation that turned physical back in June in L.A. Our sources say after the dust-up was over, Shia took off the man's cap and left the scene with it.

It's unclear what led to the altercation or where exactly it went down but we’re told there were no major injuries to either guy. We're told the man filed a police report and cops investigated ... determining Shia was the aggressor.

The L.A. City Attorney ultimately charged Shia earlier this month with battery and petty theft, both misdemeanors. It's the first time in a while Shia's run into trouble with the law. You'll recall several incidents -- from his drunken arrest to his scuffle in NYC -- in 2017 that got him in hot water.

We've reached out to Shia's rep for comment, so far no word back.

John Wayne Bobbitt -- yes, that John Wayne Bobbitt -- is facing the very serious reality of losing another body part ... this time, his left foot.

If you need a reminder -- Bobbitt's name became notorious in 1993 when his wife Lorena cut off his penis while he was asleep and threw it out her car window. He got it reattached successfully, but for more on that story ... look it up.

As for his current foot problem ... John tells TMZ he was working construction in Buffalo in 2013 when he stepped on a nail, which went through his boot and punctured a toe on his left foot. He says it became infected a couple months later.

Bobbitt says he got treatment at 2 different hospitals, but a doctor later diagnosed him with osteomyelitis -- an infection of the bone in his left foot.

We're told John has been aggressively treated with antibiotics, but the infection never fully healed. Now, he says he's back in a hospital in Las Vegas, and as you can see for yourself ... it doesn't look good!!

Bobbitt says doctors are telling him the bone is so infected they need to determine whether or not to amputate.

JWB's got his fingers crossed for the left foot decision, especially because -- get this -- he already lost a toe on his right foot last year! He says that little piggy was also infected after an accidental cut.

We don't believe in curses, but ... damn.

Brad Williams says he wouldn't trade his life and take a drug that could make him taller, but he understands why others would, and adds ... he and his wife are considering it for their daughter.

We got the comedian at a Starbucks in L.A. Wednesday and got his take on the controversial new drug, Vosoritide, which has been shown to restore nearly average bone growth rates of children with achondroplasia ... the most common form of dwarfism, which Brad has.

Brad lays out the potentially significant impact of the drug and how it can improve the lives of kids with dwarfism, but on the flip side ... he's well aware giving it to a child creates an ethical conundrum.

He even gives us a personal example demonstrating how difficult this decision might be for little people ... and that sets up his larger point. Brad says no matter what a person thinks about the drug ... it should be left up to those actually affected by dwarfism to make the call.

As for Brad's 9-month-old little girl ... he shared a video a while back showing off one of her special attributes due to her dwarfism.

Before this smiling sweetheart was a well-known activist and actor with numerous award wins under his belt, he was just another cute kid laughing in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

This grinning guy has shaken audiences across the globe with his undeniable talent in critically acclaimed films. One musical role landed him a Grammy Award while another villainous character sent him home with an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series.

Since being in the industry as a child, he has been vocal about his animal rights activism -- he has even been a vegan since he was 3 years old!

REFORM Alliance -- the criminal justice reform org launched by Jay-Z, Meek Mill, Michael Rubin and others -- is celebrating its first major victory with CA Gov. Gavin Newsom signing a new bill into law.

Newsom just put pen to paper on AB 1950 ... legislation which will drastically reshape Cali's probation system and give hundreds of thousands of Californians a better shot at exiting the criminal justice system for good.

Specifically, the new law limits adult probation sentences to a maximum of 1 year for misdemeanor, and 2 years for felony offenses. The theory is that will greatly reduce probation violations. REFORM campaigned hard for the bill, generating more than 3,000 emails to Newsom's desk.

As you know, Meek knows personally how probation violations can unjustly derail someone's life, and his experience is part of the origin story of REFORM.

Meek's pal, and 76ers partner, Rubin says ... "This is exactly why we created REFORM -- to change laws and create a smarter criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation and redemption all while keeping communities safe."

He adds ... "We’re grateful for Governor Newsom and Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove’s commitment to making such meaningful change in California and we hope it sets a necessary precedent for state leaders across the country."

Mariah Carey is opening up about her first sexual experience with Derek Jeter ... going as far as to detail his "honey-dipped skin."

Carey spoke out about their romance in her new book, "The Meaning of Mariah Carey", saying she met the MLB legend at a dinner party back in 1997 ... but she admits they didn't hit it off right away.

It wasn't until they shared their experiences about being biracial that Carey saw Jeter as a "Prince Charming" ... and they started to get serious feelings for each other.

The two began to secretly talk ... and shared "a warm, slow, intoxicating kiss" on Jeter's roof (which inspired her song, "The Roof") ... but they never took it further because "Neither of us had wanted to cheapen our romance by cheating on my marriage."

Once her divorce with Sony music exec. Tommy Mottola was complete, Carey says she wasted no time and flew to Tampa to do the deed with Jeter.

"Everything was so new and sweet, down to the smooth texture of his honey-dipped skin. It was how it was supposed to feel," Carey says, according to TooFab.

Carey called the experience "so sensual" ... and admitted he was only the second guy she had slept with.

As special as it was, Carey knew it wasn't going to last ... saying they were both huge stars and could not "live up to each other's fantasies," but they both fulfilled each other's needs at the time.

LeBron James just copped at $36 MILLION Beverly Hills mansion -- and it's loaded with drama ... daytime drama.

The previous owner is soap opera royalty -- Lee Phillip Bell -- who co-created two of the most iconic soaps in history ... "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "The Young & The Restless."

Bell passed away earlier this year at the age of 91 and her estate put the 2.5-acre property up on the market to see if any rich people wanted it, asking $39 mil. The listing was held by Richard Hilton and Jeff Hyland of Hilton & Hyland.

Well, LeBron -- who already owns 2 massive properties in Brentwood -- swooped in and made the deal for a cool $36.75 mil, which closed on Wednesday according to The Real Deal.

Fun fact -- LeBron made roughly $37 million this season just from his NBA contract with the Los Angeles Lakers alone.

So, yeah ... he can afford it.

The place is insane ... the main home is 9,100 square feet. The property also comes with 2 guest homes.

It's got a screening room (LeBron's got a big movie deal with Warner Bros.) along with a swimming pool, tennis court, motor court, fountains and one of the sickest views in the entire city.

LeBron won't be able to move in just yet ... since he's still in the NBA bubble in Orlando to play the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.

And, yeah, the house has plenty of space for a championship trophy ...

Congrats!

Congressman Dwight Evans says President Trump was out of line with his jab at Philadelphia, and thinks that lashing out is gonna backfire on him come Election Day.

The U.S. Representative went to bat for his home district -- which includes West Philly -- when we got him in D.C. Wednesday. Evans blasted Trump for disrespecting the City of Brotherly Love during the debate by saying, "Bad things happen in Philadelphia."

Trump was specifically talking about an alleged poll watchers controversy when he made the comment, but Rep. Evans believes the dig goes deeper than that ... and shows POTUS doesn't value Ben Franklin's home turf.

The Congressman also claims Trump has zero support in Philadelphia as it is, and suggests the Prez might have sealed his fate in the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with the diss.

As for Philadelphians ... it seems they're embracing Trump's hate, even as his campaign threatens to sue the city over allegations poll watchers were banned.

A security guard filed a lawsuit against Kris Jenner and Kourtney Kardashian, claiming they sexually harassed him with sexual comments and overtures ... but Kris and Kourtney call it "fabricated and false fiction" by a disgruntled ex-employee.

Marc McWilliams claims he was hired in 2017 as a security guard to watch over Kris and the fam. He claims in May 2017, he became subject to "a pattern of unwanted and unwelcome sexual advances and other harassing misconduct" from Kris. Among his claims ... comments of "an overt sexual nature," comments about his physical appearance, comments about his sexual activities, and comments that he engage in a sexual relationship, among other things.

McWilliams claims, among other things, Kris massaged his neck, shoulders, arms and back without his consent, caused her hand to rest on his thigh and groin, caused her pelvis to rub against his back and/or rear end, and claims she exposed portions of her body to him. He also claims she made "lewd suggestive, sexual, sexist, racist, homophobic and otherwise discriminatory comments at him and his co-workers."

He claims Jenner then engaged in a pattern of conduct "involving non-consensual physical contact" with him. He says he complained to the H.R. dept. of his security company but the complaints were ignored.

Kris' lawyer, Marty Singer, tells TMZ, "Kris categorically denies ever behaving inappropriately toward Marc McWilliams. The security guard worked outside the house and he never even went into Kris' house."

Singer goes on ... "Kris had very little interaction with him. After the guard was repeatedly caught sleeping in his car while on the job, the security company was asked not to assign him to work there in the future."

As for why he's suing Kourtney as well ... he claims she was also responsible for what he claims is retaliation.

Singer goes on to say ... "The guard never made any complaints to his employer about Kris until contriving this ludicrous claim." He adds, "Although Kourtney is named in the suit, she is not accused of doing anything improper with the guard, nor did she do so."

There's also this ... McWilliams was a founding member and a close friend of R. Kelly. The two founded the music group MGM in the late '80s and McWilliams was also listed as a part of the "Surviving R. Kelly" series.

As for Singer, he ends by saying ... "It is outrageous that anyone can sue anyone in America and believe there is no recourse when pursuing fictional and meritless claims. When Kris and Kourtney defeat this ridiculous, frivolous lawsuit they intend to immediately sue McWilliams and his attorneys for malicious prosecution."

"Tarzan" star Ron Ely is blaming the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department for his wife and son's deaths ... claiming deputies didn't attempt to save their lives and neglected his wife after she was stabbed and he was shot.

The Ely family deaths occurred in a bizarre and violent manner on October 15, 2019 -- Ron's son, Cameron, stabbed Ron's wife, Valerie, in the family's home. Deputies responded, but in a new lawsuit, Ron claims deputies on scene did not call for medical personnel to help Valerie.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Ron claims he requested emergency services after Valerie suffered stab wounds to her chest and lung. He claims several deputies showed up to the scene around 8:15 PM, but failed to check if Valerie was still alive.

Ron also claims deputies obstructed fire department medical personnel from entering the home to provide treatment. In all, he claims Valerie went without treatment for 30 minutes ... and was pronounced dead at 8:42 PM.

As for Cameron's death ... Ron claims his son was unarmed on their property later that night when deputies found him. According to the suit, Cameron was unarmed and had his hands up when the cops opened fire, hitting Cameron 22 times. Ron claims Cameron also went without medical assistance for at least 13 minutes, and was left to die in the driveway.

As we reported ... cops had said Cameron posed a threat when they found him, and as a result, 4 deputies opened fire. Ron insists Cameron didn't pose any threat.

He's suing the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department and the city of Santa Barbara for wrongful death and unspecified damages.

President Trump is walking back his ominous message to the far-right group, Proud Boys ... and now says he doesn't even know who they are.

Trump fielded questions on the South Lawn about the "stand back and stand by" remark he made when debate moderator Chris Wallace asked if he would denounce white supremacy.

He told the White House press corps ... "I don't know who the Proud Boys are" and asked reporters for a definition of the group -- which has been widely labeled a neo-fascist, male-only, politically violent organization.

The President added, "Whoever they are, they have to stand down -- let law enforcement do their work."

Interestingly, though, he was again asked straight-up if he denounces white supremacy. Watch how he dances around the question before finally responding ... but without ever saying the words, "white supremacy." Trump finally mutters ... "I've always denounced any form, any form, any form of any of that, you have to denounce."

The Prez then pivoted to attack the liberal left and Antifa instead, much like he did during the first presidential debate.

As we reported ... the debate has been widely panned as a disgrace -- or much worse -- and the ratings were way down from 2016. That could be the result of voters turned off by the nastiness or voters who've already decided just not watching.

Either way, it could be too late for this kinda damage control

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department has identified the man who allegedly opened fire on 2 of its deputies during an ambush, and he's now been charged with attempted murder.

The District Attorney's Office charged Deonte Lee Murray with 2 counts of willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder of a peace officer ... as well as possession of a firearm by a felon, carjacking, second-degree robbery and assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Most of those charges stem from a separate September 1 incident where Murray allegedly shot a Compton citizen and stole his vehicle.

The 36-year-old suspect was found and arrested on September 15 ... 3 days after he allegedly walked up to Sheriff's deputies while they sat in their car outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Transit Center and fired at them.

Murray's expected to be arraigned Wednesday, and prosecutors are recommending bail be set at $6.15 million. If convicted, he faces a possible maximum life sentence in state prison.

As we reported ... the deputies -- a 31-year-old woman and 24-year-old man -- were in critical condition after they were shot from point-blank range. The female deputy's credited with saving her partner's life by applying a tourniquet to his arm. They've since been discharged from the hospital and both are recovering.

President Trump refusing to condemn white supremacists and continuing to undermine confidence in the election has Rev. Al Sharpton concerned about division and voter intimidation.

Sharpton was on "TMZ Live" Thursday to address the President's ominous words -- "Stand back and stand by" -- for alt-right group the Proud Boys ... and his apparent encouragement of supporters to take to the streets if he's dissatisfied with the election.

According to Rev. Al, the message is clear -- Trump stands by white supremacy, and gave a hate group his stamp of approval Wednesday night.

Sharpton believes this could have dire consequences and deliver a blow to our democracy if voters are intimidated to go to the polls ... something he suggests is Trump's motive.

Demi Lovato was clearly frustrated that her ex-fiance was going ham about their breakup, because she blindsided her team by dropping her new breakup song on Twitter, sending them into a frenzy to get it on platforms so her fans can buy the tune ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

We're told Demi wrote her new single, "Still Have Me," a while ago with friends. Our sources say she kept the hook but changed the lyrics to reflect her split with Max Ehrich.

Sources connected to Demi tell us she became so frustrated with Max's recent antics -- the most recent, somehow comparing Demi and the breakup to Jeffrey Epstein -- that she didn't want to wait to release the song. We're told, her team is scrambling to get the single on streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify so that fans can purchase it and streaming numbers can be collected.

The song's lyrics certainly paint a picture of heartbreak, "I'm a mess and I'm still broken ... I don't have much but at least I still have me ... and that's all I need."

Demi also sings, "All the highs and now just lows. But it doesn't even matter, cause I'd rather be alone. All my life disappeared and I'm laying right here while the silence is piercing ... and it hurts to breathe."

As we reported ... Max has said he learned about their breakup when he read about it in the tabloids while filming on set. Demi, of course, reportedly disputes Max's account ... her people say she and Max spoke, she told him it was over and about to come out in the media. Max also took aim at Demi's manager, Scooter Braun, claiming he was trying to silence him.

Americans are preparing in droves to get outta Dodge after the disaster that was the first presidential debate ... or so it seems based on the line to get a passport.

The passport office in Times Square drew a flock of customers, all lined up Wednesday morning less than 12 hours after the debate ... or as CNN put it, the "s**tshow."

The NYC crowd played like a response to the head-to-head war of words between President Trump and Joe Biden, because fleeing the country is one of those things ya hear people -- on both sides -- say when they're pissed about politics.

We're told the folks in line were waiting for appointments with the Dominican Republic Consulate.

After last night, virtually everyone's unhappy. As we reported ... some lowlights of the chaotic debate included Biden referring to the President as a "clown," and Trump refusing to denounce white supremacy.

There were plenty of other disturbing comments and verbal attacks, and it's all resonating with the public.

As many viewers and pundits have said ... to hell with the candidates, the American people lost last night.