Controversial S#!T

Mike Richards has one incredibly influential celeb in his corner despite leaving "Jeopardy!" amid a shroud of controversy ... and it's his old pal Drew Carey.

We got Mike and Drew Thursday in L.A. after they wrapped up a power breakfast of sorts -- we're told they broke bread for 2 hours at Swingers on Beverly Blvd.

The old pals obviously have lots to catch up about after Mike got the boot -- first as "Jeopardy!" host, and then as its executive producer -- and they presented a very united front as they walked to their cars.

First, we asked Mike himself if he felt like he'd gotten a raw deal. Remember, he was fired over 8-year-old comments -- things he'd said to his female co-host on their podcast. Watch ...  he took the high road, and refused to say anything disparaging about his former employers at Sony.

As for Drew ... we also asked him about Mike's ouster, and he pled the Fifth. However, he'd already said plenty just by being out in public with Richards.

"Jeopardy!" won't be going back to its revolving door of guest hosts after the quick exit of Mike Richards -- TMZ's learned it'll be Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings for the rest of 2021.

Sony production sources tell us the quiz show is going to keep it semi-consistent from here on out -- at least for this year -- with Mayim on hosting duty for more than half of the episodes, and Jennings shooting a few weeks worth of episodes.

We're told execs have not decided about next season yet, but are still searching for a full-time, permanent replacement for Alex Trebek, and as we've told you ... Mayim still seems to be the frontrunner.

When Richards stepped down as host, he suggested -- in an internal memo to staffers -- "Jeopardy!" would return to a series of guest hosts. However, he was also ousted as Executive Producer less than 2 weeks later ... so it's clear his plan no longer carried weight.

As you know ... Richards was tapped to replace Trebek on the syndicated daily version of the game show, but controversial comments he made years ago on his podcast resurfaced shortly afterward, and he quit after shooting just 5 episodes.

Similarly, while former champ Jennings is still guest hosting, we're told he's not seen as a real contender for the permanent gig ... due to past controversial tweets.

Meanwhile, LeVar Burton's still out there ... but Sony honchos already decided he's not their guy.

Nicki Minaj's tweet about her cousin's friend becoming impotent and getting swollen testicles has really blown up ... to the point where she's getting chided both on American soil and beyond.

Trinidad and Tobago Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh blasted the rapper Wednesday, calling her claim about one person's alleged side effect of the COVID vaccine on the Caribbean island bogus.

The health minister said the reason it took his department a couple days to respond is because they were looking into Minaj's comments, adding ... "Unfortunately, we wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim."

As you know ... Nicki's received major backlash ever since she tweeted about why she's hesitant to get vaccinated, which included the anecdote about her cousin's friend in Trinidad.

It led to senior health officials like Dr. Fauci condemning her unscientific claim, but Nicki later claimed she was invited to The White House to speak with medical experts and get educated on the vax.

However, a WH official later clarified that it did NOT extend an invite for Minaj to visit, but simply offered to hop on a phone call to discuss questions about the safety and effectiveness of the COVID vaccine after her tweets.

Nicki has not taken too kindly to this clarification, and responded with a 14-minute Instagram video claiming she was invited ... and suggesting she's being made out to look like a liar.

For what it's worth, Nicki also claimed her Twitter account had been suspended, but the company denied taking any action against the account.

Jessica Alba's Honest Co. is being sued by shareholders who claim the company misled them by failing to disclose so many parents stocked up on diapers and other Honest products at the beginning of the pandemic that sales in subsequent quarters tanked.

The shareholders claim in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, they bought Honest stock after the company went public in May, 2021 because the financial reports from 2020 showed gangbuster sales. They figured, hey, this company is on the rise so let's get in now.

Just 2 months later, Honest released a report saying they lost $20 million in the second quarter of 2021, and stock prices plummeted nearly 43% from the public offering price.

The shareholders claim Honest hid an essential fact ... that consumers had stockpiled diapers, wipes and other wellness products because of the pandemic, and by the time the company went public Honest knew sales were falling in a big way.

Now the shareholders do concede ... Honest disclosed that COVID was a driver of high sales and there was no assurance that would continue. But, the shareholders says Honest actually KNEW sales were declining but didn't ante up the info.

The player union representing the U.S. Women's national soccer team is speaking out AGAINST the U.S. Soccer Federation's "identical deals" proposal ... saying the whole thing is nothing but a publicity stunt.

The USSF recently announced its plans to unite the men's and women's squads under the same collective bargaining agreement by offering identical contracts.

"U.S. Soccer firmly believes that the best path forward for all involved, and for the future of the sport in the United States, is a single pay structure for both senior national teams,' the USSF said Tuesday.

"This proposal will ensure that USWNT and USMNT players remain among the highest-paid senior national team players in the world, while providing a revenue sharing structure that would allow all parties to begin anew and share collectively in the opportunity that combined investment in the future of U.S. Soccer will deliver over the course of a new CBA."

The women's team is now breaking its silence on the matter ... calling BS on the deal, claiming it's anything but fair.

One of the issues ... World Cup prize money. The women -- who won the WC in 2019 -- receive about $40 million for winning the world's biggest soccer tourney.

Meanwhile, the men make around 10 times more ... raking in over $400 million.

So, you see why the women are calling the fairness offer nothing more than a publicity stunt.

Now, it's important to note that it's not the U.S. Soccer Federation entity that sets the World Cup prize money.

FYI, the women's team filed a $66 million lawsuit against the governing body in 2019 for gender discrimination ... but the suit was dismissed. The women are currently appealing the decision.

Star player, Megan Rapinoe, also spoke out demanding for equal pay at the White House back in March.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Met Gala dress looks like a carbon copy of one designer's own brand -- at least according to the designer, but she doesn't want a fight ... just a collab.

An IG user who goes by the Velvet Bandit posted photos of AOC in her "Tax the Rich" dress stacked up against some artwork she claims to have designed ... and says something looks a little too familiar. Specifically, she's talking about the font and typeface of the words themselves.

VB writes, "@AOC stepped out at the Met Gala wearing a dress designed by @aurorajames that looks hella similar to my design. 😳"

Velvet continues by saying her own "Tax the Rich" thing went viral on TikTok after putting her work up all around Sausalito, CA, and she adds ... "This dress bears the same likeness as my handwriting." Sounds ominous, but she simmers down.

The street artist doesn't seem particularly litigious ... saying she admires both AOC and the designer of her dress, Aurora James, and would like nothing more than to work with them.

She says she's a lunch lady and a single mom, and doesn't have the time or influence to try to reach out to famous people for gigs.

Instead, she's asking people to tag and/or share this with the congresswoman and her designer, adding ... "They need a female street artist working on their team, dontcha think? It would be an honor. Obviously they have fabulous taste." Well ... (de)escalated quickly. 😅

As more and more states adopt laws making it illegal to make racially biased 911 calls ... a noted author and comedian -- who's called out so-called "Karens" -- is praising the move as a literal lifesaver.

Tyler Merritt jumped on "TMZ Live" on Wednesday and explained the importance of the Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-emergencies Act (or the CAREN Act) ... a law passed by San Francisco last year, and just recently in Santa Cruz, CA too.

Tyler has no doubt the legal change will save lives ...  mostly for people of color who are being prejudged by people whose unfounded fear triggers them to call 911.

He says the danger is the caller ends up passing their false perception on to cops responding to the scene -- and, as we've seen, that can lead to tragic outcomes.

Perhaps the most famous case went down just last year ... when an NYC woman, Amy Cooper, was caught on video calling 911 and pretending a Black man was attacking her in Central Park. Christian Cooper, a frequent bird watcher, had only asked Amy to leash her dog.

Tyler -- the author of the new book, "I Take My Coffee Black" -- says a 6-foot-2 black man like himself already has a strike against him in society because he's Black ... let alone the added fear that he's being misperceived based on a phone call rooted in ignorance.

Julianne Hough's blackface scandal is resurfacing ... some 8 years later as she faces new criticism over her role on a new CBS reality show that has her judging real activists.

The dancer and actress addressed the backlash Tuesday, saying many people are just now becoming aware she wore blackface in 2013 when she dressed up as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren from "Orange is the New Black" for Halloween.

She said, "Wearing black face was a poor choice based on my own white privilege and my own white body bias that hurt people and is something I regret doing to this day."

The renewed backlash stems from Julianne's role -- alongside Usher and Priyanka Chopra Jonas -- for a new reality competition series, "The Activist" premiering next month, where she judges 6 activists competing to bring attention to their causes.

The show was slammed as tone-deaf ... and Julianne addressed the concerns head on. She said, "I heard you say that the show was performative, promoted pseudo-activism over real activism, felt tone-deaf, like Black Mirror, The Hunger Games, and that the hosts weren’t qualified to assess activism because we are celebrities and not activists."

Julianne said that with some people only now finding out about her blackface scandal ... it "only further added insult to injury."

Octavia Spencer is saying sorry to Britney Spears and Sam Asghari ... she acknowledges her prenup comment on their engagement announcement wasn't funny.

The Oscar-winning actress says she was just trying to make a joke when she left a comment on Britney's social media post saying, "Make him sign a prenup" ... and she says she's since privately apologized to both Britney and Sam.

Octavia says her "intention was to make them laugh not cause pain" ... and now she hopes to "restore just a smidge of happiness they were robbed of."

The actress wasn't alone in telling Britney to get a prenup ... and as we reported, Sam told fans almost right away he would sign a prenup alright ... joking the prenup would be designed to protect his Jeep and shoe collection.

Octavia's singing a different tune in the wake of her apology ... she says she's thrilled for Britney and thinks the singer has found happiness after going through a lot of pain.

But, here's the real story ... Britney IS getting a prenup, because our sources say literally a day after she got engaged her team was on the case.

No word if Octavia's getting a wedding invite.

"You f***ing a**hole, Jimmy Kimmel. Honestly Jimmy, f*** you. bro."

Logan Paul just went scorched-earth on Jimmy Kimmel for dissing him last week ... saying the late-night host is "so f***ing lame" for making him the butt of a joke.

In case you missed it, Kimmel name-dropped the YouTube superstar during one of his opening monologues ... when he made a reference to former President Donald Trump's wildly expensive appearance at Triller Fight Club.

"Between Logan Paul and Donald Trump, boxing is once again the top source of income for the very worst people," Kimmel joked.

But, LP ain't laughing ... in fact, he's calling out the host for bashing him after he was a guest on the same show just 3 years ago.

"F*** you, Jimmy Kimmel. F*** you," Logan said on his "Impaulsive" podcast Tuesday.

Paul has received similar treatment recently -- he was mentioned in Bo Burnham's song, "That Funny Feeling," during his popular Netflix special, "Inside" ... which LP says he was cool with.

Paul also takes aim at Kimmel's staff ... saying, "Your writers are so lacking content and creativity they had to do some lame-ass Paul joke??"

Britney Spears giveth, so she can also taketh away -- which is exactly what she just did -- 2 weeks before her monumentally important court hearing.

The singer deleted her IG page Tuesday ... with a generic "Sorry, this page isn't available" message that appears if you click on her handle.

There was no heads-up from BS either, but, we've got an explanation as to why -- sources with direct knowledge say she wanted a break from social media ahead of her court hearing later this month.

As it was put to us, Britney wants to keep a low profile. As for why, our sources say there was concern in Britney's camp that she was too "out there" with some of her posts, especially the topless ones, and that might not sit well with the judge.

At the risk of possibly reading a little too much into the latest twist, the only thing Britney has on the table for the Sept. 29 hearing is to remove her dad from the conservatorship. Her social media posts shouldn't affect that decision. You gotta wonder ... will she formally make a play to end the conservatorship as well? That would be a more direct reason to 86 her social media account.

Still, it's a little bizarre ... because she'd just announced a couple days ago she's getting married to her BF, Sam Asghari.

Here's hoping she comes back soon.

Nicki Minaj is fiercely defending herself after letting it be known she won't be getting the COVID-19 vaccine until she's done enough research.

Nicki responded to tweets practically all of Monday night after she'd posted an explanation for her absence from the Met Gala, which required all guests to be vaccinated. She declared, if she gets vaccinated "it won't [be] for the Met. It'll be once I feel I've done enough research. I'm working on that now."

Then, about 20 minutes later, she dropped the tweet that still has social media fired up today. Nicki said her cousin in Trinidad won't get the vaccine cuz "his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen." She added that "his friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied."

Nicki isn't pleased that anecdote is the one grabbing headlines. She's pointing out her critics are purposely ignoring her prior tweets encouraging people to get vaccinated, wear masks and be safe.

She also shared a screenshot of news headlines and called them all lies. Nicki wrote, "3 lies in a row from huge news platforms. I cited my young child as why I didn’t want to travel. But notice how NONE of them mentioned that? Ask yourself why that was."

Nicki also shared that she came down with COVID while preparing for this year's VMAs ... and she feared passing it to her son, who was born last September.

She tweeted, "Do u know what it is not to be able to kiss or hold your tiny baby for over a week? A baby who is only used to his mama?"

Apparently, Nicki's now satisfied with her research -- she relented she will eventually get the vaccine, because she'll have to travel and go on tour.

Billie Eilish had just one condition if she was going to wear an Oscar de la Renta gown to the Met Gala ... the company had to stop selling fur. And, it obliged.

The "Happier Than Ever" singer gave the company a shout-out for the "BEAUTIFUL dress" she wore to Monday's highly-anticipated event in NYC. She particularly thanked ODLR for "bringing my ideas and vision to life."

Those ideas and vision? She wanted the brand to ditch fur -- not just for her gown, but for the whole label. She said, "It was an honor to wear this dress knowing that going forward oscar de la renta will be completely fur-free!!!!"

She added, "I am beyond thrilled that ... the entire team heard me on this issue, and have now made a change that makes an impact for the greater good, not only for animals but also for our planet and environment too. i'm honored to have been a catalyst and to have been heard on this matter."

Billie, who is vegan and an animal rights activist, reportedly had a meeting with the label about all of this and, in the end, the company's chief executive, Alex Bolen, agreed.

It should be noted ... the company hasn't used fur for its runway designs for years but fur products were still available in stores. According to the New York Times, de la Renta's own widow, Annette, has said the practice of selling fur products is "barbaric."

"Jeopardy!" awkwardly fired up its new season Monday with short-lived host Mike Richards ... and it's evident from watching the clip -- the editors hacked away the opening pleasantries.

You gotta imagine ... when the episode was shot and Richards was expected to begin a long run as Alex Trebek's replacement, he had some words for the audience ... we're guessing something to the effect of, "I'm honored to have this job" ... something like that.

There was no such pronouncement ... Mike got right down to business. There's an odd shot of announcer Johnny Gilbert, and it looks like he was used for the edit ... hacking out any flowery intro that followed.

Before Mike came out, there was a tribute to Alex. His family was on hand as the show unveiled a plaque, dedicating the stage to the longtime, beloved host who passed last year.

As you know for Richards, he lasted a week before giving up the hosting gig in the wake of some old social media posts that didn't sit well with Sony. A short time later he gave up his Executive Producer job as well after the staff groused about him.

Clay Helton is getting the axe -- the University of Southern California has fired its head coach just 2 games into the season.

The 49-year-old had a 46-24 record with the Trojans ... but a 42-28 loss to Stanford on Saturday appeared to be the last straw for fans, boosters, alums ... and now, school officials.

USC AD Mike Bohn released a statement Monday ... saying, "This afternoon I informed Clay Helton of my decision to make a change in the leadership of our football program."

"Clay is one of the finest human beings I have met in this industry, and he has been a tremendous role model and mentor to your young men. We appreciate his many years of service to our university and wish him nothing but the very best."

USC legend Keyshawn Johnson tweeted his frustrations with Helton on Saturday ... saying, "I’m so pissed, I can no longer FIGHT ON for Him ….. Period  embarrassing."

But, it wasn't all bad for Helton's Trojans -- he led USC to a 2017 Rose Bowl win over Saquon Barkley and the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The Trojans won the Pac-12 South 3 times in Helton's time with USC.

So, why uproot the program early into the season?? Bohn says he felt interim HC Donte Williams is the best coach for the team this season.

"Donte is an experienced and well-respected coach is renowned for this ability to develop relationships with student-athletes, and I appreciate his willingness to take on this challenge."

Bohn says the decision puts 1-1 USC one step closer to winning a national title ... which is the ultimate goal for the organization for years to come.

"With our storied history, our talented young roster, and the major investments we've made in the infrastructure of our football organization, I'm optimistic that we are better positioned right now than we have been at any other time in the past decade to recruit the best and right leader for us."

Dr. Oz says the coronavirus pandemic is proof most Americans desperately need to improve their outlook on personal health -- especially when it comes to weight loss ... and insists he's not fat shaming.

The doc joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" to reveal the new focus for his upcoming 13th season on the air ... and it's all about folks taking their mental and physical health up a notch.

Dr. Oz says a lot of the problems facing the country in the COVID era are due to people being overweight, and he says it's not fat shaming to encourage people to exercise.

Oz understands it's still important to isolate due to COVID, but he says that doesn't mean walling yourself off from friends and family ... he wants folks to be more social, but in a safe and virtual way.

The doc says you don't even have to leave your house to get in better shape, and he's got a few simple tips on what you can do ... while watching TV.

Bill Maher has long been saying fat shaming needs to make a comeback ... but Oz says it's time for someone other than a comedian to carry the torch.