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Jewish NFL star Julian Edelman says the anti-Semitic slur uttered by Meyers Leonard is the result of "casual ignorance" ... and he's offering to educate the NBA player on Jewish history so he doesn't make the same mistake twice.

Edelman says he's never met Leonard before -- but he's clearly caught up on the scandal surrounding the Miami Heat player, who used the anti-Semitic K-word to attack an opponent during a video game live stream this week.

Leonard later issued an apology -- claiming he was not aware of the hateful history of the word and vowed to educate himself about it.

"I'm sure you've been getting lots of criticism for what you said," Edelman said in an open letter to Leonard ... "Not trying to add to that, I just want to offer some perspective."

"I get the sense that you didn't use that word out of hate, more out of ignorance. Most likely, you weren't trying to hurt anyone or even profile Jews in your comment. That's what makes it so destructive."

Edelman continued, "When someone intends to be hateful, it's usually met with great resistance. Casual ignorance is harder to combat and has greater reach, especially when you command great influence."

"Hate is like a virus. Even accidentally, it can rapidly spread."

Edelman ended his letter with an offer to Leonard -- "I'm down in Miami fairly often. Let's do a Shabbat dinner with some friends I'll show you a fun time."

Lyft's not waiting around for an attack to go down in one of its cars -- it's banning the maskless rider who coughed on and attacked an Uber driver.

Lyft hilariously dissed the woman who vowed she'd only use Lyft after Uber banned her. The app said it made a preemptive decision to ban the rider permanently ... citing her disrespectful behavior.

As we reported ... the woman and the Bay Area Uber driver got into a dispute over a mask policy last weekend that quickly escalated when she coughed on the driver and ripped off his mask. Cops say the woman and her 2 friends also attacked the Uber driver with what they believe to be pepper spray.

Of course, Uber banned the rider ... and shortly after the ban, she posted a video excusing her behavior. She did apologize for pretending to have COVID-19 during the incident -- admitting "that was disrespectful as f***."

However, she added she's going to sue Uber, cursed out the driver ... and said, 3 times, this is why she takes Lyft.

Jamie Spears and his legal team say Reps. Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan have it all wrong when it comes to Britney Spears' conservatorship -- telling us it only works to protect Britney -- and saying anything otherwise is flat out wrong.

Jamie's attorney, Vivian Thoreen, says since the beginning, the conservatorship has been a system of checks and balances with annual accountings, reviews and expert opinions. Not only that, Thoreen tells us Britney and her own legal team have been a part of the decisions involving the conservatorship over the years.

She continues by laying out the structure of the conservatorship, saying, "Britney’s Conservatorship of the Estate was co-managed by a private professional fiduciary and her father until early 2019. At that time, Britney requested in court papers that her father be the sole conservator of her estate. Her Conservatorship of the Person is not managed by her father but by a private professional fiduciary"

Gaetz and Jordan called Jamie's motives "questionable" in a letter obtained by TMZ Tuesday. Thoreen clearly takes issue with that too, telling us, "Jamie Spears has diligently and professionally carried out his duties as one of Britney’s conservators, and his love for his daughter and dedication to protecting her is clearly apparent to the court."

Not only that ... Thoreen points out the fact that in 13 years Britney and her legal team have NEVER filed a petition to end the conservatorship.

As we reported, Gaetz and Jordan sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler asking for a hearing to discuss conservatorships and guardianships ... using Britney's case as a prime example.

Meghan Markle's frozen yogurt shop shoutout is bringing a business boom to her first employer ... and now she's getting honored with her own special flavor.

Meghan mentioned her first job during her interview with Oprah, she says she served froyo at Humphrey Yogart in Los Angeles when she was 13 years old, and now the place is getting overrun with customers.

Check out the scene at the last remaining Humphrey Yogart ... there's a huge line, and we're told the shop served more than 200 folks the day after Meghan's interview aired. We're told a normal Monday sees 50 or so customers, so the Meghan bump is real.

Meghan didn't even work at this location, tucked inside a Gelson's grocery in Sherman Oaks, but that didn't stop fans from taking pics in front of the stand and snatching up all the merch.

FYI ... Meghan used to work at the Humphrey Yogart on La Cienega, which is now closed, just like every location aside from the original.

While the owners of Humprey Yogart tell us they don't even remember Meghan working for them, they're still honoring her and Prince Harry with their own limited-edition flavor, called "Banana Royale."

The special flavor is a blended combo of banana and peanut butter ice cream with chocolate chips mixed in ... we're told it's inspired by Meghan's love of chocolate chip banana bread and Harry's love of PB&J.

Naya Rivera's father called out Ryan Murphy for allegedly failing to come through on promises he made after her drowning death ... but Murphy says he's still committed and working on it.

Naya's dad, George, went off on the "Glee" co-creator Tuesday night on Twitter, saying ... "Everyone needs to know what Ryan Murphy really did … or didn’t do !!! I’m about to blow up this story …. and make sure he’s knows that I know …."

George was responding to a tweet from July in which a woman said she had "so much respect" for Murphy and the other creators of the show for setting up a college fund for Naya's son, Josey.

According to George ... that hasn't happened, and he also seems pissed Murphy hasn't been in contact with him because he tweeted, "Broken Promises..... fake outrage .... hollow gestures ..... no phone call."

Naya's dad added ... "Promises made in public, only to fade with time and excuses .... even in a unexplainable tragedy ..."

Murphy caught wind of George's outrage, and quickly tweeted a response -- "Myself, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan have committed to create a college fund for Naya Rivera’s child Josey through the Naya Rivera Estate Trust. We have been in repeated conversations with the appropriate executors of her estate."

Apparently, those executors don't include George.

Rob Gronkowski will not be riding off into the sunset after his latest Super Bowl win ... the future Hall of Famer tells TMZ Sports he's FOR SURE coming back to Tampa next season.

"I'm back, man!" Gronk says ... "I will be back playing football, man. I love the game of football. I loved playing last year. I had a great time."

In fact, Rob tells us training for 2021 has already begun ... the tight end says he took three weeks off after the Super Bowl, but he just got in 4 straight workouts to begin season prep this week.

"Let me tell you, I was a little bit sore first day of training but it bounced back like that," Gronk says. "I'm feeling good."

The words are music to the Buccaneers' ears ... there had to be at least SOME worry Gronk might hang up his spikes this offseason.

You'll recall, he retired abruptly in March 2019 ... saying his passion for the game just wasn't there.

Tekashi 6ix9ine says he banked $20 million since his release from prison last April, and his massive hit "GOOBA," his first cash cow, was a highly irregular ripoff ... this according to a new lawsuit.

BEATDEMONS, a TX-based producer group, is suing Tekashi, claiming "GOOBA" is a mirror image of its song, "Regular."

According to the suit, the similarities are eerie -- from the melody, to form, to structure and function. In other words, they say "GOOBA" is a "Regular" steal.

BEATDEMONS claims "Regular" was released in 2018 and a video of the song scored 152,000 views. So they're saying Tekashi or his people must have heard the song and got so inspired they crossed the line and ripped BEATDEMONS off.

The stakes are high, because "GOOBA" was a massive hit ... it has 700M views on YouTube and charted #1 on Billboard's Streaming Charts. The song also went platinum.

BEATDEMONS wants the profits from "GOOBA," which amount to a king's ransom.

A soccer journalist was smashed by a falling wall on the set of a live TV show Tuesday ... but somehow, the guy miraculously escaped without injury.

The analyst's name is Carlos Orduz ... and just seconds into his appearance on ESPN FC Radio -- he was blindsided by a piece of the set that clearly hadn't been secured properly.

In video of the incident, you can see the wall fell on Orduz with so much pace ... his face lurched straight into his desk.

His colleagues, who were trying to move on with the show professionally, expressed immediate concern -- and the network cut straight to commercial to check in on Orduz.

Fortunately, the sports reporter says nothing major happened to him as a result of the accident ... in a video update, he explained, "I want to tell you that I'm fine."

"They've already checked me, absolutely nothing happened apart from the scare."

Orduz added after further medical checkups Tuesday night, he suffered no fractures and nothing more than bumps and bruises.

"I must tell you that I am fine," Orduz wrote on Twitter. "Thank God."

Cesar Millan says President Biden's dogs getting a time-out from The White House is unacceptable, because he thinks it's time for some group learning -- humans included -- and he can be the teacher.

The famed dog trainer is concerned about the canine situation at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, where the First Pups were recently sent away after some aggressive behavior and a biting incident involving the 3-year-old German Shepherd rescue, Major. The older dog, Champ, also got the boot.

Cesar suggests this is a textbook example of dogs not being accommodated to feel safe and comfortable in a new environment, and says more training or disciplining for the Biden's pets isn't the answer ... the solution falls on the 2-legged folks at the WH.

"The Dog Whisperer" tells us in order to remedy this problem, EVERYONE working around Major and Champ needs to be trained on how to properly interact with the pooches. He says there's a formula to everything ... but we'll let him explain that.

Millan says his team has reached out to the Prez to offer his services ... but he already has some competition for the job.

When the mural gods close one door, they open another ... at least for Taylor Swift, who's about to get an upgrade in Nashville after being removed from an iconic piece of art.

You may recall ... Taylor was replaced in the "Legends Corner" mural back around Christmas time by the Nashville honky-tonk bar of the same name, but the artist who did it is now working on another mural -- just for Swift.

Tim Davis tells TMZ ... he began designing Taylor's solo mural right after he replaced her with Brad Paisley at Legends Corner, and says it will have a stained-glass look reflecting her country music roots and her crossover into pop.

If ya don't know, Swift's venture away from country was the reason cited for her removal from the iconic Music City mural ... but that didn't sit well with her fans.

So, Davis has launched his own campaign to get her a mural of her own, and he says he already has the new spot locked down ... on a wall within a block of the Legends mural.

Tim says the owner of the wall wants to remain anonymous until the mural goes up, but the artist says it's going to happen -- just as soon as he raises the funds to start painting.

Before this cool kid was taking a ride to the top of the music charts, he was just another pipsqueak posing for the camera in Austin, Texas.

This model man became well-known when he released one of the most popular R&B songs to date ... this hot track still remains on the US Billboard Top 100 All-Time chart. This multi-faceted star has also made debuts in acting -- such as on the big screen alongside Adam Sandler and on a comedic parody series.

You might know him by his single stage name, but he was born Cornell Iral Haynes Jr.

Meyers Leonard is in some seriously hot water -- the Miami Heat center appeared to use an anti-Semitic slur during a recent video game stream this week ... and it was all captured on video.

The 29-year-old was playing "Call Of Duty: Warzone" on his Twitch channel -- which has nearly 70,000 followers -- when he seemingly says the following: "F***ing cowards, don't f***ing snipe me, you f***ing k*** bitch."

Yeah ... it's bad.

The comment was met with awkward laughter by other gamers on the stream ... but Leonard seemed to brush off the situation and kept playing.

Leonard has yet to address the incident -- he was actually still streaming on his channel early Tuesday afternoon -- but it's only a matter of time.

ML could now face punishment from Twitch -- the streaming service has a strict policy against hateful conduct and harassment based on race, ethnicity, color, caste, national origin, religion, sexual orientation and more.

Leonard's alleged comments come just months after NASCAR driver Kyle Larson was suspended after using the n-word during an iRacing event in April.

Fellow NASCAR driver Hailie Deegan also faced criticism after using the r-word during a virtual race in January.

FYI -- Leonard was one of the few NBA players who chose not to kneel for the national anthem during the season restart in Orlando.

He explained his decision to stand in a tweet earlier this year, saying, "I STAND AGAINST bigotry, racism, and hate."

We've reached out to Leonard's reps, the Heat, the NBA and Twitch for comment ... so far, no word back.

Johnny Damon got in a scuffle with cops, appeared to bomb field sobriety tests, and even brought up his Trump support during his arrest last month ... and the wild scene was all captured on police video obtained by TMZ Sports.

Damon and his wife were pulled over at around 1:23 a.m. on Feb. 19 in Windermere, Fla. after cops say he was swerving on the road and driving erratically.

Once a cop stopped Damon ... body cam footage captured the 47-year-old ex-Yankee and Red Sox outfielder admitting to drinking before getting behind the wheel.

Then, an intense standoff between the officer, the ex-MLB star and the baseball player's wife ensued.

In the video, you can see the officer ordered Damon and his wife, Michelle Mangan-Damon, to stay in the car, but neither complied ... and a pushing and shoving squabble broke out.

At one point, the officer grabbed Mangan-Damon's wrist ... before Johnny got involved to separate the two.

The bumping and pushing got so heated, the officer's body camera was actually knocked to the ground.

Fortunately for all parties, backup arrived, and officers were able to settle down the scene.

Damon and his wife repeatedly talked about their support for cops, mentioning over and over, "Blue lives matter."

And, at one point, Damon brought up his affinity for Trump to a cop, saying "Hey, bro, I'm a good f***ing guy. I know people are trying to target me because I'm a Trump supporter."

Damon was then asked to complete some field sobriety tests ... but you can see on the video, it doesn’t look like he exactly passed any of them with flying colors.

Damon was ultimately arrested and booked on multiple charges, including driving under the influence and resisting arrest without violence.

A police report later showed cops said Damon's blood-alcohol level was .30, nearly FOUR TIMES the legal limit.

Damon's wife was also arrested after the stop, and booked on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence.

Court records show Damon pled not guilty to his DUI charge last month. He's due back in court in May.

Justin Bieber's on cloud 9 right now, and letting everyone know he was able to snag a pair of Kanye West's sold-out new shoes.

The Biebs showed off his Yeezy 450 in Cloud Whites while running errands Tuesday in Beverly Hills. The kicks are pretty easy to spot, what with the unique profile and all.

Of course, the shoes were pretty much impossible to get your hands on ... as we reported, Kanye's latest offering sold out Saturday in a matter of seconds during a mad scramble on the Adidas app and YeezySupply.com, with most folks walking away empty-handed.

Justin has the best sneaker hookup -- likely getting 'em straight from the source.

Remember, JB and Kanye are super tight these days. Ye even hosted Justin and Hailey at his Wyoming ranch when the couple was tooling around in an RV.

The Yeezy 450 in Cloud Whites retail for $200 and folks are reselling them for around $500.

President Biden's dogs just got the old heave-ho from the White House ... sounds like they were too aggressive for 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

The Bidens' 2 German Shepherds, Major and Champ, were shipped back to the family home in Delaware last week following some un-doglike (or maybe doglike) behavior at the White House, including a biting incident.

Major, the 3-year-old pooch Biden adopted from a Delaware animal shelter in 2019, reportedly got his chompers on a member of White House security.

Major's also said to have been pretty agitated around the residence ... allegedly charging, jumping and barking at staff and security.

Champ, meanwhile, seems to be getting the short end of the stick ... he's been sent back to Wilmington too ... even though he's about 13 years old and has slowed down considerably due to his age.

With the German Shepherds out of the White House, the place is going back to how it was under Donald Trump ... a no-pet zone.

Unclear if Major and Champ are banished to Delaware for good, or if they're just in timeout.