Controversial S#!T

Andrew Yang is questioning the FBI raid on Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort ... he says the feds better find some compelling dirt on the former President, or it's a horrible look.

The former Presidential and NYC Mayoral candidate joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and we asked him what we makes of the FBI's unprecedented move against Trump.

Andrew says the only way this turns out well for the FBI is if agents seized some really strong evidence against Trump, who is under investigation for allegedly removing boxes of classified documents from the White House and taking them down to Florida.

Yang says if the FBI raid turns out to be a big nothing burger, it looks like a political attack on Trump ... and he thinks most Americans agree it would create some really bad optics.

TMZ broke the story ... the feds waited until Trump was away from Mar-a-Lago to raid the place. In the aftermath, Trump has ripped the FBI, claiming agents ransacked Melania's closet while looking for the docs.

Andrew, who is leading the charge to create a new political party called the Forward Party, says the FBI raid might even help Trump become the GOP nominee in a 2024 rematch against Joe Biden, an outcome he says most Americans do NOT want.

The way Andrew and the Forward Party sees it ... a Trump vs. Biden sequel would push even more voters away from the two-party system in search of other choices, to the Forward Party and others.

Frank Gore grabbed a naked woman by her hair and dragged her across a hotel room's hallway during an altercation in Atlantic City, N.J. last month ... according to new, bombshell court documents obtained by TMZ Sports.

Cops say the incident between the NFL legend and a 28-year-old woman happened in the early morning hours of July 31 on the 59th floor of the Tropicana Casino's Havana Tower.

According to the docs, Gore "forcibly" gripped the woman by her hair ... before "violently dragging her nude person along the floor of the 59th hallway."

As we previously reported, Atlantic City Police said officers were initially called out to the scene at around 8:11 AM on the 31, but did not make any arrests after they said the woman "did not exhibit signs of injury."

Gore, though, was ultimately charged days later with simple assault after cops said they further investigated the allegations.

Gore, according to records, is due in court for a hearing in the case in October.

He's yet to publicly comment on the accusations.

Donald Trump exercised his right against self-incrimination Wednesday ... taking the 5th in a civil deposition ordered by the New York Attorney General, claiming she's corrupt.

Trump showed up at A.G. Letitia James' office Wednesday morning, fist raised and defiant. He issued a long statement, saying, "We cannot permit a renegade and out-of-control prosecutor to use this investigation as a means of advancing her political career."

James is investigating Trump's business empire for alleged illegal practices.

Trump went on to claim James has campaigned on the promise ... "Get and Destroy Trump."

As for taking the Fifth, Trump said, "I once asked, 'If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?' Now I know the answer to that question. When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice."

Trump added, "I did nothing wrong, which is why, after five years of looking, the Federal, State and local governments, together with the Fake News Media, have found nothing."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell didn't hold back when talking about Deshaun Watson on Tuesday ... calling the Browns' star quarterback's behavior "egregious" and "predatory."

Reporters talked to Goodell on Tuesday at a meeting to approve the sale of the Broncos ... with the commish being asked why the league is appealing Watson's six-game suspension.

“Because we’ve seen the evidence,” Goodell said.

“[Judge Sue L. Robinson] was very clear about the evidence," Roger told reporters, adding ... "There were multiple violations here, and they were egregious and it was predatory behavior."

The commissioner continued ... "Those are things that we always felt were important for us to address in a way that’s responsible," the statement read.

Of course, the NFL announced Wednesday they were appealing the 6-game suspension handed down to the former Texans QB.

The NFL Players Association has been critical of the decision to appeal ... saying the league should respect the ruling. But, Goodell flat out says the appeal is their right, so they took it.

“As you know, it’s part of the CBA that two parties had the right. Either party could certainly challenge and appeal that, and that was something we thought was our right to do, as well as the NFLPA," Goodell said.

"So we decided it was the right thing to do.”

As an independent artist, Russ is always looking to maximize his results … including spending a whopping $1 million on his feature record with Ed Sheeran!!!

Russ released the video to his “Are You Entertained” collaboration with Ed back in July … and hopped on TikTok on Tuesday to break down a little Music Industry 101.

For Russ, the decision to drop big money into the song’s promotion was simple, Ed Sheeran is the biggest artist in the world, towering over The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Harry Styles for most Spotify listeners at over 81 million a month!

But Russ says money still doesn’t equal hit records … claiming some of his platinum records had $0 financial backing while he wasted money on others.

For Russ' $1M, he says it put $300K into the music video shot in London while the other $700K went into Spotify, radio and other social media campaigns.

The video is doing well, at 17 million views on YouTube, and Russ says the pairing was organic -- having casually met Ed at a restaurant in London before becoming fast friends.

Last time we spoke to Russ, he was adamant about how artists should bank on themselves and should cut record labels out of their career equation.

Sesame Place has heard all the outrage over alleged racist snubbing at the hands of some of their mascots -- and now, they're rolling out a major plan of action ... with specific steps.

Park leaders announced comprehensive initiatives Tuesday to address what much of the public has perceived as intentional discrimination as it pertains to Black children ... some of whom have filmed not-so-nice encounters with costumed characters.

Among things Sesame Place says it's going to implement ... an overall racial equity assessment to review what their current policies demand of staffers, plus new standard operating procedure for workers as well.

The assessment, they say, will be done by internal and external stakeholders -- including noted leaders in the field, who'll see this through to completion to make sure SP stays on track -- and there'll also be mandated anti-bias training and an education program meant to make all guests feel welcome, included, seen and treated equally regardless of race.

Sesame Place says this training is going to be thorough and thoughtful, and that it'll become part of the onboarding of all new employees going forward. Worth noting -- SP had already told TMZ they were going to be diving head-first into this, and now ... the follow-through.

One last thing Sesame is committing to ... ushering in what they call a best-in-class diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) program with some heavy hitters overseeing things. Some of the names they're bringing on are Debo P. Adegbile, Joseph West and Sadiqa Reynolds -- all of whom have decorated resumes stacked with experience lending to their expertise here.

Longtime Oklahoma assistant Cale Gundy -- who's been helping coach the Sooners football team for over two decades -- has resigned ... after he says he uttered a "shameful and hurtful" word during a team meeting last week.

Gundy explained the situation in a lengthy statement on his social media page Sunday night -- saying he inadvertently used the word while reading off a player's iPad in a film session.

"I instructed my players to take notes," said the 50-year-old, who had just been tapped this offseason to coach the Sooners receivers this year. "I noticed a player was distracted and picked up his iPad and read aloud the words that were written on his screen. The words displayed had nothing to do with football."

He continued, "One particular word that I should never -- under any circumstance -- have uttered was displayed on that screen. In the moment, I did not even realize what I was reading and, as soon as I did, I was horrified."

Gundy did not say which word he used, but he did say it was "shameful and hurtful."

"The unfortunate reality is that someone in my position can cause harm without ever meaning to do so," Gundy said. "In that circumstance, a man of character accepts accountability. I take responsibility for my mistake. I apologize."

Gundy -- whose older brother, Mike Gundy, is Oklahoma State's famous head coach -- leaves his position with the Sooners after having coached the team in some capacity every year since 1999.

The former OU quarterback initially joined Bob Stoops' staff in '99 as a running backs coach. In the ensuing seasons, he held multiple different roles -- and had just been retained by new OU head coach Brent Venables this offseason.

"It's with sadness that I accept Coach Gundy's resignation," Venables said Sunday night. "He's dedicated more than half his life to Oklahoma Football and has served our program and university well."

"We're thankful for that commitment. We also acknowledge that in stepping aside he's placed the program and the welfare of our student-athletes first. In coaching and in life, we're all accountable for our actions and the resulting outcomes."

Ex-Sooners star Joe Mixon took to Twitter following the news and defended Gundy -- saying the coach "is not a racist in any way nor has a racist bone in his body, mind, or soul."

L'Damian Washington will now serve as the interim receivers coach.

A Bills Mafia member took things way too far while trying to get a Josh Allen autograph out at Bills camp this weekend -- and the QB was so mad over their attempt to get him to sign a football, he screamed at them.

The incident with the Buffalo superstar was all captured on video ... when the 26-year-old signal-caller was jogging into the locker room after practice on Sunday.

You can see the Pro Bowler was waving at fans -- when a football still in its original cardboard packaging was thrown at him.

Allen didn't have time to swat it away, and it caught him square in the groin. Immediately afterward, he stopped in his tracks, and scolded the fan who appeared to hurl it his way.

Allen, while pointing into the stands, called the fan "disrespectful" repeatedly.

Stefon Diggs ran into a similar incident while out on the field Sunday as well -- as several fans threw jerseys and footballs at him to try to get his John Hancock.

The 28-year-old wideout was stunned by what he saw, but he kept signing anyway.

This ain't the first time we've seen fans go over the top for pro athletes' autographs this year ... just last month, a grown man was seen on video getting pushy with kids at the MLB All-Star game while trying to get a few things signed.

Intentional or not, Kourtney Kardashian's one-upping her kid sister by traveling like the masses and doing better by the environment ... just as a bunch of celebs -- including her kin -- catch heat for huge carbon footprints.

Kourt and her husband, Travis Barker, flew commercial on Alaska Airlines for a trip from LAX to Spokane, Washington earlier this week. We're told Penelope and North were also on board.

They appeared to keep the whole thing lowkey, putting on their masks and hoodies. We know they have a home in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Spokane is the nearest airport. So, it's likely they'll be spending some time there.

Of course, commercial cruisin' isn't exactly her family's M.O. lately. Remember, a recent report by Yard, a marketing agency, called out celebs polluting the air by taking private jets.

Kim Kardashian and Travis Scott were among the celebs to make that list -- and, as we reported, Kylie Jenner's carbon footprint has also been a hot topic after she posted a shot of her and Travis with his and her private jets.

She also got flak for reportedly using her PJ to go shopping less than 30 miles from home ... just to dodge L.A. traffic.

The NFL's appeal of Deshaun Watson's six-game ban is really bad news for the QB ... so says former Browns GM Michael Lombardi, who tells TMZ Sports he now expects the suspension to increase significantly.

The league announced on Wednesday it was appealing the ruling Sue L. Robinson handed down on Monday -- but it has yet to publicly specify the punishment it truly thinks Watson deserves for his alleged sexual misconduct with female massage therapists.

But, Lombardi tells us he believes Roger Goodell and the league will be looking for at least 12 games ... and is almost certainly targeting a full-year suspension for the 26-year-old Cleveland star.

"I know the league wants a year," said Lombardi, who was the GM for the Browns in 2013. "They've made that pretty clear to all people that they leak information to. They're negotiating off a year -- we know the Players Association wants six games. Do they settle on 12? I don't know. I think a lot of this comes down to the simple fact, who's going to win in federal court?"

Lombardi tells us based on Robinson's ruling, the NFL will likely win in court -- which means The Shield has most of the leverage here ... and should ultimately get what it wants.

As for how the Browns' org. should feel about it all -- Lombardi says it can't have buyer's remorse ... because it had to have known what it was getting into.

"I mean, it was out in the open," he said ... "The key in scouting and being in the front office is to learn more about the player before you acquire him than after you acquire him and if they didn't do that, then shame on them."

Kevin Federline is spilling the alleged tea about his kids' relationship with their mom, Britney Spears -- saying their boys don't want to see her right now ... for myriad reasons.

The singer's ex-husband -- with whom she shares two boys, Jayden and Sean -- did a wide-ranging interview with DailyMail ... portions of which are apparently going to be aired on ITV this coming week. Still, some juicy quotes surfaced in the print version of their story.

For starters, Kevin says their sons are deliberately choosing to avoid Britney right now. He doesn't give a clear-cut reason or explanation in DM's post -- but there are hints that they might wanna keep their distance over a number of things, including Brit's behavior of late.

He says, "The boys have decided they are not seeing her right now. It's been a few months since they've seen her. They made the decision not to go to her wedding," going on to add that they were happy for her and that they still wish their mother the best.

One possibility for why they're keeping her at arm's length ... it's actually Britney's constant social media posting -- her nudes, specifically -- that have caused her teenagers embarrassment. KF says he's tried to explain it away, but it's hard on them regardless.

Kevin goes on to say the very public nature of the conservatorship battle has been difficult, generally speaking, and he's tried to shield them from it/the spotlight as best he can ... despite their constant questions about it over the years, some of which he couldn't answer.

He also says Jamie Spears "saved her life" -- and that he'd welcome their grandfather back into his and their life at large, despite the drama that's gone down between them recently.

Anyway, back to Britney. Kevin also had this to say ... while the boys would visit Britney amid her conservatorship, they saw things that made him (and presumably them as well) fairly uncomfortable, but he declines to go into detail with DM.

In light of that, though, as well as her recent lashing out on social media ... he says Sean and Jayden have reached their decision -- and that choice, for now, is to stay away.

Kevin adds, "They tried to give her the benefit of the doubt but at the same time, I can tell that sometimes, it hurts to be in that position. So, I made sure all my kids can come to me at any moment and discuss anything. The boys -- all my kids -- know that they come to me and to my wife and discuss anything."

Travis Scott is back in a big way -- the guy headlined his first big solo show since the Astroworld tragedy ... making his official comeback across the pond for Britons.

The rapper is performing an arena concert Saturday at London's O2 -- where he's doing two shows this weekend -- hitting the stage at around 9:30 PM local time. No introductions were needed ... TS just dove right into his set standing at the top of an elevated platform.

Trav was decked out in some futuristic costume with shades on ... and almost immediately, he cranked the energy level in the room up to 10 -- like he normally does for his shows.

After running through a couple songs up there, he made his way down ... where he kept the hype up. The audience seemed to be rocking with him all throughout. BTW  -- the place is absolutely packed, including in the nosebleeds ... and everyone looks to be vibing so far.

So far, nothing too crazy is going on. Yes ... Travis is screaming/jumping around, per usual, but he doesn't appear to be encouraging anyone to lose their minds beyond what they're already doing. He's literally just performing and staying in his element -- so it's all kosher.

Also ... Kylie Jenner and their daughter Stormi are present for Travis' big day. Trav just dedicated a song, "Mamacitas," to her, saying he knew she was there in the building.

Like we said, this is Travis' first solo performance of this scale since last November. He's obviously performed publicly since then -- in smaller venues and even via cameos at music festivals here in the U.S. -- but this is a big deal ... 'cause it's billed as strictly a Travis gig.

He's going to be headlining some other major events later this year -- including a festival in South America -- and he even has a Vegas residency all set up for him too next month.

James Franco has been cast as Fidel Castro, something John Leguizamo says is an outrage ... but the film's producer's punching back, albeit with an explanation that's a bit confusing.

The news was announced this week that JF would be playing the late Cuban dictator, who came to power in the '50s and ushered in Communism. It sounds like James is going to portray a somewhat younger Castro ... and, of course, it's gotten some double takes.

Leguizamo was perhaps one of the most vocal critics, writing ... "How is this still going on? How is Hollywood excluding us but stealing our narratives as well? No more appropriation Hollywood and streamers! Boycott! This F'd up!"

He adds, "Plus seriously difficult story to tell without aggrandizement which would b wrong! I don’t got a prob with Franco but he ain’t Latino!"

So John's beef seems to be with the fact that a dramatized film about Castro can't help but humanize him, which he thinks is wrong considering FC's notoriously harsh regime ... but more importantly, James is a white dude. So the casting is already off to bad start, per JL.

Welp, he's just plain wrong on this one ... so says a producer of the film, John Martinez O'Felan, who tells THR that John's missing the big picture. What that larger point is, though, doesn't really come through all that well in JMOF's explanation, to be frank.

He says, "A guy like John Leguizamo has historically been looked up to by Hispanics as one of America's earliest actors of Latin descent since the 90s and I've always admired him as a fellow underdog. But his comments are culturally uneducated and a blind attack with zero substance related to this project."

O'Felan goes on to say ... "The reality of the ignorance piece falls within his statement suggesting his personal view on being 'Latino,' because a land mass or living area does not determine a person’s blood history or genetics."

He continues by saying Jon's words are "a great talking point because they represent the same confusion and identity crisis in Hollywood right now within the Hispanic community in America who are arguing that we should only identify as Latin, which is mostly because of the falsehoods being spread by the actors who are supposed to be representing us, but instead create division amongst their own people." Uhhh, what???

Yeah, it's a word salad of a response -- but from what we can gather ... he just doesn't have an issue with James being white, maybe 'cause Castro had Spanish roots. It opens a can of worms on whether Latinos can be considered white racially ... and yes, they technically can.

And for those pissed about the inauthentic casting here, that argument is sorta deflated now with the casting of Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe, another iconic historical figure, but on the American side. ADA still maintains traces of her Spanish accent in her performance.

Travis Scott is just hours away from performing his first major solo show since Astroworld ... and he's got some important people there to support him as he takes the stage.

Kylie Jenner and the couple's daughter, Stormi, have been in London with TS all week -- doing some shopping, dining and spending some time together. The show is a big deal for Travis, so you gotta imagine he's enjoyed some family time leading up to it.

Unclear if Kylie and Travis' 6-month-old son made the trip, but he's old enough to fly ... so it's possible he's just been staying with nannies while mom, dad and big sister hit the town.

Travis is scheduled to perform two sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena Saturday and Sunday night ... a venue that holds about 20,000 people. A source close to Travis tells us he's, "excited to deliver for his fans in London by being back, thriving on stage."

We've seen Travis pop up at nightclubs and perform a song or two during other artists' sets, but the O2 shows will mark his first solo shows since November at Astroworld.

Travis has taken a lot of heat for the 10 deaths that occurred at the festival, and is fighting a mountain of litigation ... but has seemingly been greeted with open arms by music fans and those hoping to score some of his merch and collabs he's released since the tragedy.

PETA is putting Zac Efron on BLAST after appearing in an ad campaign with a bear that has spent its entire life in captivity.

The org is urging Zac to "come down to Earth" and recognize that bears belong with their families, not on screen ... according to Debbie Metzler, PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Welfare.

She thinks Zac, who's been named Chief Brand Officer for Kodiak Cakes, forgot to ask Tank the bear an important question in his latest ad for the company -- "How wrong is it to use a captive bear to promote 'keeping bears wild'?"

BTW -- 27-year-old Tank was born in captivity and was taken from a breeder at just 6 weeks old ... he was featured on the Discovery+ Show, "Man Vs. Bear."

Kodiak Cakes is running a limited-time collab with Zac, where a dollar-for-dollar match of their "Keep It Wild" merch will go directly to the Vital Ground Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the preservation of wild grizzly bear habitats.

PETA, however, clapped back at the promo saying ... “It’s hypocritical to exploit one animal to potentially help another. No true conservation group would ever force captive animals to perform tricks for the camera in order to raise awareness about their wild counterparts.”

The hits keep coming for lyin' Alex Jones ... a jury just ordered him to shell out $45.2 million to the parents who lost kids in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.

The money is for punitive damages ... and it's on top of the $4.1 million a jury in Austin, TX already ordered the "InfoWars" founder to pay to plaintiffs Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin.

The same 12-person jury came back with the $45.2 million figure Friday, and it includes $20.5 million each to Lewis and Heslin for mental anguish caused by Jones claiming the shooting was a hoax.

The remaining $4.2 million in punitive damages is for defaming Heslin in 2 reports where Jones questioned the father's account of holding his dead son.

The trial's been full of drama ... like when an attorney for the parents revealed Jones' own lawyers accidentally sent them all of his text messages, catching AJ in an apparent lie.