Controversial S#!T

The Weeknd is getting involved with the military conflict in Ethiopia -- donating a million dollars, which will provide food for people who need it there.

The singer, who is of Ethiopian descent himself, partnered with World Food Program USA -- a UN World Food Programme affiliate -- to send over a million bucks toward relief efforts in the North African country ... which has been mired with bloodshed and chaos for months.

Specifically, Abel's money will provide the equivalent of 2 million meals for citizens there who have been caught in the middle of the feuding factions ... many of whom are running out of resources, like food.

TW says, "My heart breaks for my people of Ethiopia as innocent civilians ranging from small children to the elderly are being senselessly murdered and entire villages are being displaced out of fear and destruction." He goes on to encourage others who can to donate as well.

If you haven't heard, Ethiopia has been embroiled in a bitter battle with its own people since November -- when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered an attack on the Tigray People's Liberation Front -- the ruling party in the northern part of the region.

The PM accused them of attacking a government military base and attempting to steal weapons and artillery. Keep in mind, this all came to a head after tensions had been brewing between the two groups for quite some time, and as the country had been fully attempting to transition into a democratic system of government. Safe to say ... it's complicated.

Tina Turner's new documentary on HBO has revved up fans who are incredulous she's not already in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist ... but there's something they can do about it.

Since "Tina" premiered in late March -- and even before -- many of the legendary singer's fans have expressed outrage she's only in the RRHOF as a duo with Ike Turner ... her abusive and manipulative ex-husband and musical partner.

Tina and Ike were inducted way back in 1991, but she went solo in 1984 so that's further infuriated people ... because it means she'd been eligible for HOF induction for years but only got on the ballot this year.

Long story short -- fans are pissed and have been letting it out on Twitter the past week, but Greg Harris, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum tells us ... if fans want to help Tina's chances they can -- with the RRHOF fan vote.

The way it works -- fans can vote for the top 5 among the Class of 2021 nominees, which along with Tina includes Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Foo Fighters, Carole King and Rage Against the Machine. The top vote-getter among those 5 will win the official "fan vote."

Now, RRHOF voting is notoriously cryptic and secretive, but we're told the fan vote will be one of 1,000 votes from artists, historians, journalists, and members of the music industry.

That may not sound like much, but if fervent Tina fans vote her in ... ya gotta think it'll inspire others to follow suit.

Plus, it helps that she's beyond deserving.

Fan voting lasts until May 7, so if you're among those incensed TT's not in ... now's your chance to let your voice be heard.

Cher is not backing down from a comment that got her dragged online ... that George Floyd might be alive if she'd have been there.

The 74-year-old singer had first tweeted, "Was talking with Mom & She Said 'I Watched Trial Of Policeman Who Killed George Floyd, & Cried ... I Said 'Mom,I Know This Is Gonna Sound CRAZY, But.. I Kept Thinking ... Maybe If I'd Been There, ... I Could've Helped."

People went crazy, criticizing her and calling the post a show of the "white savior complex."

Cher was not silenced, and posted again, saying, "Wrestled With This Twt,  Because I Thought some ppl wouldn’t understand, Or Believe an Entertainer Could have Honest emotions about a human Being,suffering & Dying,even if It’s Only Shown On tv. You Don’t Know What I’ve Done,Who I Am,Or What I Believe.I CAN,I HAVE,& I WILL..HELP"

What's unclear ... even if Cher truly believes she would have stepped in, exactly what would she have done with multiple officers there who were clearly keeping the crowd at bay as Derek Chauvin had his knee planted on George Floyd's neck?

Cher seemed to absorb the criticism, adding, "I Just got off phone With Friend Karen.Told her what Happened,& Realized,You Can Piss Ppl Off,& Hurt Them By Not Knowing Everything That’s”NOT Appropriate”To Say.I know Ppl Apologize When They’re In a Jam,BUTRaised back of handTO GODFolded hands,IM TRULY SORRY If I Upset AnyOne In Blk Community.I Know My (heart)"

While Pepe Le Pew's "rape-y" behavior was apparently deemed too problematic to include him in the 'Space Jam' sequel, a group of actual onscreen rapists is set to cameo.

The first official trailer for "Space Jam: A New Legacy" dropped this weekend -- and it shows LeBron James descending not just into the Looney Tunes world for a do-or-die basketball game ... but in a world full of classic movie characters, hand-drawn or otherwise.

In the new teaser, you see LeBron and co. on a basketball court in a stadium-like setting -- which is full of real-life human cameos from the likes of Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson and Diana Taurasi, but there's also pantheon greats from the cinematic universe sprinkled throughout ... like 'Batman' characters, 'Mad Max' characters, 'Scooby Doo' characters, 'GOT' characters ... and strangely, "A Clockwork Orange" characters too.

Yes, we're talking Alex and his gang of Droogs -- famous for their all-white outfits and their bowler hats. And, even more famous (or infamous) is their brutal rape scene in the 1971 Kubrick film, which is depicted in graphic detail ... and definitely NOT family-friendly by any stretch.

A lot of people quickly noticed the Droogs' presence ... and questioned why they were even in the film at all, considering the nature of their scripted backstory. There doesn't seem to be much of an explanation at this point, other than 'Space Jam' cramming as many memorable movie characters into the plot as possible ... "Ready Player One" style.

Of course, the inclusion of the Droogs makes ya wonder ... if they're in, why is Pepe out?

You'll recall ... Pepe's grabby approach toward Penelope Pussycat was recently put under a microscope and was even likened to perpetuating rape culture, which drew mixed reactions. Interestingly enough, it was reported that Pepe ended up getting axed from the new 'Space Jam' script entirely after some consideration. It's unclear if the "rape" criticism had anything to do with it directly ... but it seems likely WB execs might've already been thinking that.

Paul Simon will be a forgotten name in the history books when scholars look back on 20th-century music and see only Bob Dylan and The Beatles standing tall -- that's the polarizing take of one NBC writer, anyway.

Jeff Slate -- a NYC-based songwriter and journalist -- penned a controversial piece for NBC Think ... titled, "Paul Simon sold his catalog to Sony for millions. He'll still end up a historical footnote to Dylan." Indeed ... it is triggering.

His subheading reads, "He was a prolific songwriter with a lucrative catalog any corporation would happily monetize. But there are only a few names our descendants will ever learn."

We know, we know ... you're fuming already. That's exactly what the internet is doing as well as it jumps to PS's defense.

You can read Slate's take in full for the big picture -- which is all about how Dylan recently sold his catalog of music and the rights to it to UMG for a reported $400 million, and how Simon followed in his footsteps by doing the same with Sony for his rights -- but the gist here is ... Paul Simon will be an "also-ran" compared to BD when it's all said and done.

In Slate's view, Dylan will perhaps be alone with John, Paul, George and Ringo and as the standout folk/rock acts of the '60s/'70s -- and that artists like Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and others will fall by the wayside, especially among younger, average-Joe listeners.

That seems to be what Slate's getting at -- and of course, A LOT of people disagree ... with some arguing Simon is just as prolific and culturally impactful as Dylan ever was. We don't have to get into a pissing contest ... both guys have scores of songwriting credits and hits under their belts. Of course, you could argue Dylan is perhaps the better-known of the two.

Jen Shah has pleaded not guilty to the charges in her telemarketing scam case ... and it seems she prepped for it by getting her hair done.

"The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star appeared in a federal court in Manhattan on Friday via video conference call with her lawyers, and entered not guilty pleas to both charges -- conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

As we previously told you ... Jen was released on strict conditions after her arrest, and on Friday the judge granted her continued release on a $1 million personal recognizance bond.

The judge said there is a flight risk with Shah but gave her 2 weeks to fork over a $250k secured bond in cash or property in order to remain out of jail until her trial ... which is set for Oct. 18.

In other news ... Jen apparently spent the evening before her arraignment getting her hair silk-pressed and just chilling out.

BTW -- Shah's assistant Stuart Smith, who was arrested with her and is facing the same charges in their alleged fraud scheme, also pleaded not guilty and was granted continued release on a $1 mil personal recognizance bond.

No word if he got a fresh cut or style for court.

The NBA has finally decided to take action against Kevin Durant for the homophobic and misogynistic insults he used in a private Instagram conversation with Michael Rapaport -- fining the guy $50,000.

"Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant has been fined $50,000 for using offensive and derogatory language on social media," the NBA announced on Friday.

"Durant has acknowledged that his actions were inappropriate."

As we previously reported, Rapaport posted screenshots of recent DM conversations with Durant which the actor felt crossed a line.

"I receive threats and disgusting messages DAILY, but never in my wildest dreams did I think [Durant] would be among them," Rap said.

In the messages, Durant used crude homophobic and misogynistic slurs to attack Rapaport.

KD has said the messages were not supposed to see the light of day -- and said he was "sorry that people seen the language that I used."

"That’s not what I want people to see from me. Hopefully I can move past it."

Durant has yet to publicly acknowledge that what he said is offensive -- or apologize specifically for the words he used.

The Midsummer Classic will no longer go down in Atlanta this year ... MLB announced Friday it's relocating its 2021 All-Star Game after Georgia passed its new voting law this week.

League commish Rob Manfred just made the surprising announcement ... explaining he and the MLB do not agree with GA's new law that many believe suppresses the voting rights of minorities in the Peach State.

"Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views," Manfred said.

"I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft."

Manfred continued, "Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box."

Georgia's new law imposes more red tape for those looking to vote absentee, it cuts the number of drop boxes for ballots, and it reportedly will allow government officials more power to intervene in elections.

The law also makes it illegal for members of the public to hand out food and water to people waiting in line to vote.

Opposers of the law have claimed all of the new rules and regulations are designed to make it more difficult for minorities to vote in the state ... and President Joe Biden made it clear this week he shares the same opinion.

Biden spoke with ESPN on Wednesday night and ripped the new law ... calling it "Jim Crow on steroids." Biden also said he'd support MLB officials if they decided to move the ASG out of the state over it all.

Manfred said Friday it's unclear where the game's new location will be ... but he added, "We will continue with our plans to celebrate the memory of Hank Aaron during this season’s All-Star festivities."

"In addition, MLB’s planned investments to support local communities in Atlanta as part of our All-Star Legacy Projects will move forward."

Britney Spears says there are no ghostwriters when it comes to her social media posts, contrary to a growing belief ... now she herself tells TMZ she writes the dang things herself!!!

The pop star is refuting claims made by one of her former makeup artists, Billy Brasfield, who alleged Britney personally told him she had no control over this week's Instagram post criticizing the 'Framing Britney Spears' documentary.

Britney tells TMZ ... "No, I’m not talking to him at all. I write my posts. I’m not sure who he is talking to, but I am not talking to Billy B."

Brasfield, who worked with Brit from 2012-13, said he texted Britney about the IG post and she responded right away, telling him she had no say in the caption.

As we reported ... Britney broke her silence on the 'Framing' doc Tuesday, writing she was "embarrassed by the light they put me in" and adding, "I cried for two weeks." Her post certainly took a lot of air out of the idea she was framed.

Lots of folks, including Brasfield, were quick to claim the post couldn't have been written by Britney ... and fans even went after her social media manager, Cassie Petrey, claiming she was the true author.

But, as we first told you ... the social media manager did NOT craft Britney's post about the Hulu documentary, and Cassie wasn't even aware of Brit's plan to express herself until the IG post went up.

Donald Trump loves him some McDonald's, but ain't so keen on paying for it ... at least according to a former bodyguard who claims he's still $130 in the red, thanks to DT.

Kevin McKay says he worked as Trump's bodyguard for 5 years ... and one time in 2008, after visiting one of his golf courses in Scotland, their convoy of 6 Range Rovers hit up Mickey D's before flying home.

Thing is ... McKay says Trump didn't have any UK currency, "so he asked me if I could front him the cash." McKay says he did, and ordered 20 cheeseburgers and fries and around 10 to 15 Cokes.

McKay told the Daily Mail ... Trump ate his usual fave -- 2 cheeseburgers with fries and a diet coke. McKay says $130 at the time was kind of a big deal to him, especially because he only made around $2,700 a month while working for Trump.

McKay says he should have asked for the money, but kept blowing it off ... and Trump never brought it up either. Trump's McDonald's obsession is widely known. You'll recall he served a McDonald's buffet to Clemson and North Dakota State after they won football national championships.

Bam Margera insists he tried everything he could to appease "Jackass 4" producers and stay on the project, but claims what they wanted almost killed him ... and he has no choice but to take legal action now.

The 'Jackass' star was out in Hollywood Thursday when we talked to him about getting kicked off "Jackass 4" after another stint in rehab ... one he says made his life much worse.

Bam claims Johnny Knoxville and others had strict terms for him, including a 90-day rehab stay for alcohol and Adderall. The problem, according to Bam, is he came out with a laundry list of 18 different pills the rehab folks wanted him to take. You gotta watch ... he actually names them all, and believes that's what led to his suicidal thoughts.

On top of that, he accuses Johnny -- or as he sarcastically called him, "Dr. Knoxville" -- of ordering him to stay off 2 drugs his own doctors had prescribed for him.

Ultimately, Bam says all those pills rehab put him on left him feeling like he was gonna die from an overdose or suicide ... which made a huge payday for 'Jackass' totally meaningless.

He's blaming producers for the whole situation, calling their treatment "torture" ... and he's very upset that something he's wanted to do for 10 years to honor his late friend, Ryan Dunn, has come to this.

We broke the story ... Margera got booted from the upcoming 'Jackass' film in February for not abiding by contractual conditions related to his addiction issues. Bam suggests to us that it was due to his continued use of Adderall.

His firing came shortly after Bam's troubling online rant in which he called for a boycott of "Jackass 4" and talked about suicidal thoughts.

WNBA star Angel McCoughtry is insulted by Draymond Green's claim that female athletes have only "complained" about the pay gap and haven't taken any real meaningful action ... and she's ready to educate him.

The 5-time WNBA All-Star says she's personally been in the trenches trying to get powerful sports leagues, production companies and sponsors to spotlight more women's sports ... but she keeps getting shut down.

McCoughtry even called out Lebron James and Steph Curry -- saying she's brought female athlete-centric projects to their production companies, but no one is pulling the trigger.

The 34-year-old -- 2-time Olympic gold medalist -- even invested in the PlayersTV network with the hopes of bringing more female athlete stories to the masses.

So, when she saw Draymond saying he's "really tired of seeing [female athletes] complain about the lack of pay" and suggesting they take more action ... it really rubbed her the wrong way.

"Draymond, have you done your research?! Have you asked us questions," Angel said Thursday during a USA Basketball training camp news conference.

"Don't you think we've tried to do that kind of stuff?! No, he hasn't done his research! That's my only thing with Draymond!"

Angel continued, "We want to get our stories out. I created a TV show about these kinds of issues, its a dramatic comedy called 'Fair Game.' I've gone to Springhill Entertainment, I've gone to Sony where Steph Curry's people are. We got turned down! 'Oh, we don't want a show about the WNBA.'"

McCoughtry says she's happy Draymond is keeping the women's pay issue in the headlines -- but suggests he "talk more to the women before just thinking he had a bright idea."

One of the TikTok dance creators who didn't get credit last week in a controversial 'Tonight Show' bit has mixed feelings about what went down ... and her mom does too.

Mya Johnson tells TMZ ... she was initially excited to see her "Up" challenge -- which she choreographed with her friend Chris Cotter back in February -- made it all the way to Jimmy Fallon's show.

But, Mya says she also couldn't help but wish she and Chris would have been invited on TV to perform their dance ... instead of Addison Rae.

As we told you ... Fallon and Addison are catching flak for their segment where she taught Jimmy how to do 8 popular TikTok dances, none of which she created.

People are upset 'The Tonight Show' didn't give proper attribution to the Black creators of the dances. Addison told us they definitely deserve the credit and she supports them, but her response has left people unsatisfied as well.

One of those people is Mya's mother, Candice Rangel, who says Addison's comments came off a bit insincere. However, she also doesn't believe Addison had bad intentions ... and offers suggestions for how she can make things right.

No, the NBA should NOT punish Kevin Durant for the homophobic insults he used in a private IG convo with Michael Rapaport ... so says P.J. Tucker.

"Of course not, he did nothing wrong," the Milwaukee Bucks player told us in Beverly Hills on Wednesday before taking on the L.A. Lakers.

"He didn't do nothing wrong."

Not everyone agrees with Tucker -- some people are VERY upset Durant used crude homophobic and misogynistic slurs to attack Rapaport in a private DM conversation the actor made public earlier this week.

Rapaport posted screenshots of recent conversations with the Brooklyn Nets star and said, "I receive threats and disgusting messages DAILY, but never in my wildest dreams did I think [Durant] would be among them."

"[Duant] himself is now threatening me, bringing up my wife and wants to fight. This is supposed to be America’s sweetheart right?"

The question now ... will (and should) the NBA get involved and take action against Durant, considering the league's recent push against hateful language directed at any minority group.

Remember, the NBA took action against Meyers Leonard who used an anti-semitic slur during a video game live-streaming session ... suspending him for a week and hitting him with a fine.

Sure, Durant's comments were intended to be private ... but fact is, they're public now.

For his part, KD has only commented once about the Rapaport convo -- saying, "Me and mike talk CRAZIER than this on the regular and today he's pissed ... My bad mike, damn!!"

Mike Yastrzemski says he will NOT kneel for the national anthem this season after taking a knee for the song last year ... the MLB star told reporters Thursday he feels he's already made his statement.

The S.F. Giants outfielder, who's the grandson of Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski, began demonstrating during the Star Spangled Banner after the MLB came back from its COVID delay last summer.

At the time, the 30-year-old wrote a powerful message on social media explaining his decision to kneel ... saying, in part, "By kneeling last night, I wanted to hold myself, and hopefully others, accountable that something needs to change."

He continued, "and I am willing to be part of the change because we all deserve the freedom that our veterans and active members have sacrificed their lives for."

Yaz, though, says the kneeling will end when the Giants kick off their season Thursday night.

According to The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly, Yaz explained to reporters, "he knelt last year to spark conversation and awareness and let people know where he stands on racial justice and feels he's made that statement."

Saweetie has broken her silence two days after TMZ posted video showing her and her then-boyfriend, Quavo, in an altercation inside an elevator.

Saweetie tells us, "This unfortunate incident happened a year ago, while we have reconciled since then and moved past this particular disagreement, there were simply too many other hurdles to overcome in our relationship and we have both since moved on."

As for the other hurdles ... when the two split last month, Saweetie accused Quavo, very publicly, of cheating. Quavo replied to the allegations with a tweet that read, "I had love for you and disappointed you did all that. You are not the woman I thought you were. I wish you nothing but the best."

TMZ broke the story ... the surveillance video, from inside an apartment complex elevator shows the former couple in a struggle over a box containing a video game console. Saweetie appears to take a swipe at Quavo first before he grabs her by the arm, knocking her against the back elevator wall and both hitting the floor.