Controversial S#!T

R. Kelly got put in a really bad spot by guards at the Chicago prison where he's locked up, and then they ignored his concerns of being in danger before he got attacked ... according to his legal team.

The disgraced singer's attorneys, Steven Greenberg and Nicole Blank Becker, tell TMZ ... a lot of the animosity toward Kelly within the Metropolitan Correctional Center is due to some of the prison guards telling the inmates that they had to go on lockdown because of protests outside the facility for R. Kelly.

Kelly's legal team suggests it's strange for guards to make such announcements, and believe this caused the other prisoners to become upset with him.

We're told, 3 weeks before Kelly's attack, he overheard his alleged attacker -- a fellow inmate -- outside his cell talking on a phone and saying things indicating he might attack the singer.

According to Kelly's side ... he expressed his concerns the next day to a prison guard when Kelly had to ride in the same elevator as the allegedly menacing inmate, saying he didn't trust him. We're told they had to ride together anyway.

A few days later ... Kelly allegedly told a doctor from medical he wished guards would stop telling everyone he's the reason for lockdowns because the other inmates were getting mad.

The singer claims he also told at least 2 other guards he feared for his safety in the 2-3 weeks leading up this his attack ... but says they didn't take his concerns seriously.

We broke the story ... a pissed off inmate allegedly walked into Kelly's cell and began kicking him. The fight didn't last long and Kelly didn't suffer any major injuries, but the altercation shows he's not immune to being a target of violence.

Cardi B and Candace Owens are in an epic feud, with Candace calling Cardi an "illiterate rapper" who isn't worthy of interviewing Joe Biden ... thing is, Owens just doesn't get it.

Owens blasted Cardi for her recent sit down with Biden ... specifically, Cardi's question about what Biden would do about Black men dying in America. Owens thinks Biden should have fired back that, according to her, most Black men don't die at the hands of cops but rather other Black men.

Apparently, Owens doesn't think there's an issue with systemic racism in police departments, nor does she address the long list of Black men and women who have died at the hands and knees of cops ... sometimes over minor offenses and sometimes over no offenses at all.

Owens just can't wrap her head around Cardi interviewing a Presidential candidate ... she just can't understand why Biden didn't, as she put it, sit down with "intellectual" black people.

Here's what she's missing. Cardi has a huge following and can do more to get out the vote that the people Owens mentions, including herself. On top of that, she may not care for Cardi's interview, but lots of others did. Maybe she thinks Cardi was just too effective.

At one point during the back and forth, Cardi posted a vid from the Hamptons of her sister, Hennessy, getting harassed because she and her friend are an Afro-Hispanic gay couple.

Owens says Cardi is "uneducated when it came to politics." For her part, Cardi says Trump supporters have gone after her, encouraging people to set her house on fire.

2020 politics ... it ain't pretty.

President Trump once hired a Black actor to impersonate Barack Obama, just so he could get him in his office and fire him "Apprentice" style ... and the whole thing is on video.

The scene was reportedly filmed around 2013, and was supposed to air during the 2016 RNC -- but it never saw the light of day ... until just recently, that is. It's cringey -- you see Trump bring his "Faux-Bama" into his office in Trump Tower, and belittle him to no end.

Check it out ... in the clip, you see the actor who is no doubt supposed to be Barack sitting there and just taking Trump's disparaging comments -- which range from bashing his job rates numbers, criticizing how he's handled the economy ... and mentioning how often he golfs.

In the end, DT, sure enough, dishes out his signature slogan ... and BO is sent on his way.

It's awful, frankly, but apparently ... this is something the RNC seriously considered running. At any rate, it's just an example of how much disdain Trump has for Obama ... so claims his ex-attorney, Michael Cohen, who recounted this anecdote in his new book.

The book -- 'Disloyal: A Memoir' -- also included a photo of Trump filming the scene with the Black actor he hired ... simply to humiliate on camera. In other words, yeah ... this happened.

Cohen's book is set to be published for the masses Tuesday, and it reportedly contains several other damning stories about the President, including alleged racist remarks and other sordid comments.

A woman who briefly escaped the custody of two undercover officers in San Diego had a seizure as they chased her down ... a wild scene that played out on camera.

It happened Saturday during protests near the San Diego County Jail. At one point, you see an unmarked, civilian-style car posted outside a gate to get inside ... when all of a sudden, a lady springs out from the back seat in shackles and makes a run for it.

She screams for help as she tries to escape, and people around her are clearly confused before they put it all together. Two men in plain clothes -- who are presumably law enforcement agents -- run after her and eventually catch up just a few yards away.

As they begin to apprehend her, a crowd forms around all of them with most everyone's camera whipped out and recording. Some people try yanking the men off of her, and at one point ... she's literally being pulled by the leg and hair in mid-air. It's horrifying to watch.

It gets worse though ... the woman goes into a full-blown seizure during all the chaos, and the two guys eventually give up and start walking back to their car. Everyone's asking them to identify themselves, but they refuse ... and simply leave the scene, hand on gun too.

A group of mostly Trump supporters went on a verbal tirade against a group of Black Lives Matter protesters in Prescott, Arizona, and it's an ugly scene.

The hecklers called the protesters "losers" and implored them to just "go away for good."

Some hecklers called the protesters "trash" ... as others had guns strapped around their chest.

Vehicles passed by with occupants furiously waving the American flag as there were competing chants -- "No Justice, No Peace," vs. "All Lives Matter." It doesn't appear things turned violent, but it was plenty bad nonetheless.

Byron Scott thinks top NBA players should take a more active role in advocating for Black coaches ... just like Kobe Bryant did for him back in the day.

59-year-old Scott says he likes and respects Steve Nash -- but couldn't help but feel disappointed when he saw the Brooklyn Nets hired Nash as head coach over other well-qualified Black candidates.

"My first thought was why didn’t Mark Jackson or some other African-American guys who have coached in this league at least get an opportunity to coach with the Brooklyn Nets?"

Fact is, Scott says ... "We don't get jobs that are that set and that good -- where you got 2 stars like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant."

Scott believes Black coaches usually get opportunities with teams that are in pretty bad shape ... unlike Nash and the stacked Nets.

Scott says his opinion is based on his OWN experience -- he took over the Hornets when they were only an 18-win team and New Jersey coming off a 20-win season.

"We don’t get those jobs where there is built-in superstardom guys on that roster right away."

"We get the kind of jobs where you have to make something out of nothing and when you don’t or you’re not able to do it, they’ll say, 'Well, we gave him the opportunity.'"

So, what's the solution? Scott says he wants to see more powerful NBA players go to bat for Black candidates.

"Our players don’t do a good enough job for advocating for Black coaches and that's just something that we need to change as well."

Jacob Blake has finally spoken to the public from his hospital bed where he lies paralyzed from the waist down -- and his message is simple ... don't take life for granted.

A video was posted this weekend by Blake's family attorney, Ben Crump, which appears to have been filmed by a friend of his named Mike. It shows Jacob lying in his hospital gown and addressing the camera -- sharp, alert and precise with his words.

We'll let the man speak for himself, but to sum it up ... he says the things we take for granted in life -- like walking, for instance -- can be taken from you in a flash, and he wants all the young'ns and old cats who might be listening to take notice -- and take advantage.

He tells anybody who might not be living right to turn things around, as he assures them they don't wanna end up like him ... with unbearable pain, which he documents in great detail. He also addresses the African-American community at large -- and it's pretty uplifting.

What's astonishing ... the guy appears to be in relatively good spirits -- his physical condition notwithstanding -- and not only that ... his first words to the world are inspirational ones, spreading nothing but positive vibes and advice. Jacob's been through hell, but here he is preaching unity, gratitude and good deeds. No mention of the cop who shot him.

Kanye West's campaign has spent millions trying to get his name on ballots from a bunch of states -- and most of the loot has gone to companies specializing in just that ... but which also have tangential ties to President Trump.

Ye's campaign filed its first financial report Friday with the FEC, and if you tally up his disbursements (what he/his campaign have spent personally) ... it comes to just under $6 million. If you go into the raw data, you can see exactly what he's spent and on what.

Between July and August, Ye and co. spent a little over $4 million on ballot access services -- sending hundreds of thousands to a handful of orgs that ... well, help someone get on a ballot (and quickly). There are three main LLCs he's gone to repeatedly, and some are headed up by guys that either used to work for Trump's campaign ... or were trying to.

One of the ballot companies Kanye hired is Fortified Consulting -- which, according to the Washington Post, has the same address of a consulting firm called the Lincoln Strategy Group ... run by a dude named Nathan Sproul, who worked on DT's 2016 campaign.

Here's another ... Ye dished out about a mil to a company called Atlas Strategy Group -- which is led by another guy named Gregg Keller ... who interviewed to be Trump's campaign manager in 2016. Interestingly, one other BAS company he used was one recently used by Pete Buttigieg ... Millennial Strategies based out of NYC. So ... not total bad optics, right???

Fact is, the money trail appears to lend at least some credence to the theory Kanye has allowed his campaign to be infiltrated by GOP operatives ... Trump ones, at that.

New York's top prosecutor is taking the Daniel Prude case out of the local jurisdiction's hands and putting the decision of whether to bring charges squarely with the people.

Attorney General Letitia James says she'll be convening a grand jury soon to review the case and see if any crime had been committed by the Rochester police officers ... who put a spit sack over Prude's head earlier this year, which ultimately lead to his death.

As we reported ... Prude's brother called 911 for help after Daniel was acting erratically. He was intercepted in the snowy streets, completely naked. While complying with officers' demands at first, Prude eventually tried standing up ... and was pinned to the ground.

With a knee to his back and a hood over his head, Prude eventually lost consciousness. He was placed on life support and died 7 days later. His death was ruled a homicide by complications of asphyxia while being restrained, plus other contributing factors.

Empaneling a grand jury essentially takes the power to charge anyone out of a prosecutor's purview and puts it with grand jurors, who'll take a look and be presented an argument one way or another by the lead investigative office -- in this case, the New York Attorney General.

Safe to say, if the AG is making this move ... it's because she wants impartial people to judge what happened and then determine if charges should be filed. So far, seven of the cops have been suspended with pay, but no charges have been filed.

Rochester's mayor, Lovely Warren, decried Prude's death this past week ... claiming ignorance over the true nature of his detainment. Not everyone is satisfied with that explanation, especially since Prude died 6 months ago.

Rihanna appeared bruised and battered as she made a quick pit stop in L.A. -- turns out she's the latest victim of the electric scooter.

RiRi rolled up to Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica Friday night, where she was trying to lay low in her Escalade while some staffers brought out food and drinks to her curbside. At one point, she removed her sunglasses ... and paps captured her looking the worse for wear -- a black eye and some swelling in her face.

Several media outlets posted the photos and suggested she'd been in some sort of physical altercation ... remembering the Chris Brown beating back in 2009. Not the case -- her rep tells us Rihanna was on an e-scooter a few days ago and ate it after the scooter flipped over, smacking her in the face and forehead.

We're told it looks worse than it is and she's healing.

It's not a wonderful day in Mister Rogers' neighborhood, at least not when Donald Trump's in it ... so says his widow, who's got some choice of words for the President.

Joanne Rogers ripped Trump a new one after he decided to host his latest rally in Fred's hometown of Latrobe, PA -- which reportedly broke COVID-19 protocols by hosting more people than the legal limit set at 250 ... instead, the crowd was 7,000 strong.

She tells the Daily Beast she thinks Trump's a "horrible person," adding that she'd probably go into mourning if he's re-elected come November. Joanne says Trump's such a liar she can't trust anything he says, even the smallest thing.

Then comes a scathing line ... "This man is pathologically ill. Mentally ill." BTW, Joanne is a big Biden fan -- saying he's not too old at age 77 (she's 92), adding any gaffes Biden makes while speaking in public are probably a result of a stuttering issue he had when he was younger, rather than any mental ineptitude, as the Trump campaign has often suggested.

The internet is abuzz at the fact that there's actually a high school team called the "Cotton Pickers" -- something a local reporter made public, and which he now regrets.

KIII 3 Sports' Chris Thomasson tweeted a video Friday of the Robstown High School football team taking the field for their season opener against the London High School Pirates near Corpus Christi, TX ... but he also dropped Robstown's team name, the Cotton Pickers.

The guy's tweet got picked up and spread like wildfire, with many people aghast and outraged there could actually be a team with such racist connotations -- especially in Texas, no less. Their mascot isn't very subtle either -- it depicts a cotton plant, straight up. And yes, there are Black players on the football and other sports team ... so, what gives?

That same reporter followed up and said he didn't mean to stir the pot by dropping the full name -- he says he never says the full thing on air and usually just refers to the team as the "Pickers." He also provided context ... saying "Cotton Pickers" is something the school board there recently voted to stick to after consulting the community, which is apparently predominantly Latino. Many of those folks do, in fact, pick cotton and don't view it as a slur.

There are some local reports of residents there even being proud of the name -- as they view it as honest work steeped in local tradition and heritage ... from their POVs anyway.

That said, Thomasson acknowledges it's probably time to change the name, adding he's advocated for that for years. Fact is, the history of cotton picking in this country usually conjures up just one thing for most -- AKA, slavery -- and that alone should be reason enough to pivot.

A university professor who posed as a Black woman for years had her own family completely in the dark about her double life ... and now, they're utterly ashamed.

Jessica Krug -- who says she publicly identified as North African, African-American and of Caribbean descent through most of her adult life -- outed herself Thursday in a Medium post, saying she'd been living a lie ... since she isn't Black at all, just a white Jewish woman.

Krug apologized for what she described as being a "culture leech," saying she'd finally seen the error in her ways ... and that her appropriation was, in fact, anti-Black and colonial.

While it's somewhat commendable she didn't go the route of Rachel Dolezal -- who, more or less, stuck to her guns on identifying as Black -- the damage was already done. George Washington University, where she taught African and Latin American Studies, announced she won't be teaching this semester ... this after her own department tore her a new one.

Not only that, but Krug's own family came out this week and said they were utterly oblivious to the fact she'd been lying about her race. Granted, it sounds like she's estranged.

Her sister-in-law -- who spoke to CNN -- says her husband (Krug's blood brother) hadn't spoken to Jessica in 20 years ... but went on to confirm that she is certainly not Black, going on to call her "white as snow white" and establishing her Kansas City upbringing.

A potentially big development in the Breonna Taylor killing ... at least one of the cops who raided her home appears to have been wearing a body cam, raising questions about the police department's earlier statements that there was no body cam video of the shooting.

Officer Tony James is seen in this photo clearly wearing a body cam. The photo was obtained by VICE news, and it contradicts the police chief, who said after the shooting the officers involved are in divisions that don't require body cams.

What we don't know ... was the camera operational during the shooting? If it was, it could be the critical piece of evidence to determine exactly what happened inside Breonna's home.

A second officer -- Myles Cosgrove -- was also photographed with a body cam mount, but a camera was not attached.

Breonna, who was shot multiple times in the raid, and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were sleeping on March 13 when cops came to execute a search warrant involving her ex-boyfriend. They used a battering ram to gain entry and Walker fired a warning shot from inside.  He says cops never identified themselves ... police say they did.

Walker's shot hit a cop, and officers responded with 35 rounds. One officer blindly fired 10 rounds. When cops wrote up their report they said Breonna was not injured.  That was a lie.

As we reported, local prosecutors tried to squeeze a plea deal out of Breonna's ex-boyfriend, telling him if he would say Breonna was dealing drugs they would cut him a sweet deal -- possibly probation instead of 10 years in prison. Cops have no evidence Breonna was involved in drugs and the family says it's a shocking case of trying to smear Breonna's name in order to protect the cops who killed her. The ex-boyfriend rejected the deal.

Donald Trump is denying that he declined to visit a military cemetery because he reportedly said, "Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers."

Trump blasted The Atlantic for its story, claiming Trump made repeated disparaging remarks about soldiers who were killed or injured during battle.

The mag also claimed Trump called the 1,800 soldiers who died during a famous WWI battle "suckers" for getting killed.

Trump claims the reason he skipped a visit to the military cemetery was because his helicopter couldn't fly because of bad weather and the Secret Service didn't feel it was safe to drive there.

As you know, Trump had incredibly harsh words for Senator and military hero John McCain, saying he wasn't a war hero because he was captured during the Vietnam War.

Trump had harsh words for McCain even after the Senator died of brain cancer.