Controversial S#!T

A death row inmate Kim Kardashian has been advocating for finally got a major break in his fight for freedom -- the guy got the green light, albeit partially, to maybe walk out one day.

There's a recommendation to commute Julius Jones' death sentence to life with the possibility of parole. The recommendation is from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board... which now means his fate lies with Gov. Kevin Stitt, who'll decide whether to follow the suggestion.

Stitt's office says he takes his role in this process seriously, and will carefully consider what the Board has recommended here -- as he does with all cases.

Jones isn't at the end of the tunnel yet ... but he's closer than he ever has been before. The decision came down on a 3-1 vote -- with one of the members recusing themselves after calls from the D.A.'s office to do so ... and allegations of bias and conflict of interest.

Alex Weintz -- one of the reps for Julius’ family -- tells TMZ … "We are overjoyed," with the rec, while adding, "Although that recommendation means he will not be walking out a free man as soon as we hoped, Julius would be able to spend his days inside prison no longer on death row and, in the future, be eligible for parole."

Weintz says the entire team is praying Gov. Stitt rules in their favor so Jones can return home for the first time in over 20 years.

As we reported ... Kim visited Julius on death row back in November of last year, meeting with his family and working behind the scenes to help out. She became interested in his case after watching Viola Davis' docuseries, "The Last Defense" ... which spotlighted Jones.

Talk about a 9/11 memorial that misses by a mile ... in an incredibly disrespectful display, a parade in Porter County, Indiana featured models of the Twin Towers with smoke billowing from each.

The float in question was built by the Valparaiso Republican Party. You hear a few people in the crowd sounding off their disbelief as they watched the float tool down the street.

The float was part of the 40th Popcorn Festival which was held on Sept. 11.

It's apparent the Republicans were taking heat for the display ... they limited comments on Facebook, in which folks almost certainly expressed their outrage.

Rudy Giuliani was unhinged on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 -- going on a berserk rant where he called a U.S. military general an "a**hole" ... and denied being cool with Prince Andrew.

The former NYC mayor was attending an annual dinner in Manhattan Saturday, and when it was his time to speak on the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 ... he instead pivoted to a variety of unrelated topics ... including Queen Elizabeth, Gen. Mark Milley and China.

As it relates to Her Royal Highness ... RG was recounting what QE2 said to him and his handling of 9/11 and all the aftermath that followed. Remember, Rudy was head of the city back then -- and has often been commended for how he dealt with Towers coming down.

However, in this re-enactment of the convo, he says they had ... Rudy imitated the Queen, and did it poorly -- putting on a terrible British accent while explaining he turned down a knighthood that she and the Monarchy apparently extended to him. Then, it's on to Andrew.

He says he knows the Duke of York is suspect these days -- and then insists he never hung out with him other than on a couple of occasions where they met briefly. It's ... weird.

In another clip that was captured of his remarks, Giuliani goes off on Gen. Milley -- talking about his stars and how he wants to shove them down his throat ... all while mocking his military decisions with an air base in Afghanistan, getting back to the chaotic withdrawal.

A Subway worker bravely defended herself while getting robbed at gunpoint -- even successfully disarming the dude and getting him to leave ... and all she got was suspended.

The woman's name is Araceli Sotelo, and she was working at a Rockford, IL Subway location last weekend when a guy brazenly entered and flashed a gun at her, demanding she give him the money on hand in the store ... an encounter that was partially caught on video.

The surveillance cameras in the store were running, and somehow ... the footage got leaked to the local Rockford Scanner -- which watermarked the clips and threw them up on FB.

The footage is wild -- you see Sotelo yelling at the guy to leave and to stop, and then she starts to scuffle with him behind the counter ... and actually gets the upper hand during the confrontation. They spill out into the dining area, and Sotelo amazingly knocks the gun loose.

She rips the robber's sweater off too, and then gets a hold of the firearm ... knocking him upside his head! He flees with just her purse in hand. So, she fended for herself well.

Sotelo says that she was contacted by her manager after this entire ordeal, and was told she wouldn't be working or paid until this video was completely scrubbed from the internet ... something Sotelo says is virtually impossible now. She also denies sending it out in the first place -- although, she has since posted an unwatermarked portion of it on her own TikTok.

Still, the idea that she's being punished for protecting herself (and the store by extension) is being seen as BS by many. She's out of a phone (which got broken in the fight), and everything in her purse, including credit cards and her ID.

Ashton Kutcher was invited to an ESPN set this weekend to share his thoughts on college football -- but all he got in return from the crowd was some harsh advice on his hygiene.

The actor got tapped by the network to be the guest prediction picker ahead of Saturday's slate of games, especially the big Iowa matchup later today between Iowa State and the University of Iowa -- with the latter being Ashton's alma mater.

As soon as AK touched down by jet and was revealed as the big surprise for the broadcast, he got torched by the college crowd that were standing by at Jack Trice Stadium.

They were chanting "Take a shower!" pretty damn loudly ... which the mics on set were picking up and broadcasting while Ashton was being intro'd. Doesn't seem like he heard it right then and there, but don't sweat ... the Cyclone fans had another go at it.

Not too long after, Ashton eventually plopped down on his chair for the pre-game panel ... where he was talking football and charities of his -- and there, too, the "Take a Shower!" chant picked up again. This time, it was way closer ... and Ashton probably heard.

He didn't flinch ... acting as if it didn't bother him. And, who knows ... maybe it doesn't. The guy already made fun of himself over the whole bathing fiasco earlier this summer.

ICYMI ... Ashton and Mila Kunis revealed back in July that they didn't really wash their kids daily, and only threw 'em in the shower as they saw fit, or if they saw noticeable dirt. It sparked a huge debate about kids and cleanliness -- but the Kutchers took it in stride.

Rayshard Brooks' widow wants someone to pay for his shooting death ... so she's suing the City of Atlanta and the 2 police officers involved in the incident that killed him.

Tomika Miller just filed a lawsuit on behalf of Rayshard's estate ... claiming her late husband's shooting death in a Wendy's parking lot on June 12, 2020, was "senseless and unjustified."

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Tomika claims Rayshard remained "calm, polite, cordial and cooperative" with cops during a 41-minute interaction until officer Garrett Rolfe began handcuffing Brooks to arrest him and threw him to the ground.

In the suit, Tomika claims the other cop, Devin Brosnan, then threatened Rayshard with a Taser while he was on the ground ... even though she claims Brosnan had not completed the police department's mandatory Taser certification course.

Tomika claims Rayshard stood up while being threatened and gained control of Brosnan's Taser ... and that's when Rolfe grabbed his own Taser and shot Rayshard with the Taser darts.

In the docs, Tomika claims Rayshard turned his back on the cops and started running away after being tased, with Rolfe chasing after him and firing 3 bullets from his gun, 2 of which struck Brooks in the back and caused him to crumple to the ground.

Tomika claims the cops didn't give Rayshard medical aid after shooting him, and instead, Rolfe went over and kicked Brooks.

In her suit, Tomika claims Rolfe acted with actual malice and an intent to injure Rayshard by using deadly and excessive force.

Rayshard's widow claims the officers acted with deliberate indifference by not rendering medical aid after shooting him.

Cam Newton says his "aura" -- his hairstyle, the way he talks, the way he dresses and the way he dances -- is the reason Bill Belichick cut him last month.

The quarterback made the claim in a sit-down interview with his dad this week ... saying he believes his personality is so big, the Pats were forced to shove him off their roster despite his willingness to stick around and be Mac Jones' backup.

"The truth of the matter is this," Cam said. "[Mac] would've been uncomfortable. He would've."

Newton says because he's such a huge figure -- he believes New England thought Jones wouldn't have been able to flourish while constantly looking over his shoulder at the high-profile QB.

"[My aura] is my gift and my curse," Cam said. "When you bring a Cam Newton to your facility -- when you bring a Cam Newton to your franchise -- people are interested by mere fact of, 'Who is he?'"

"'Why does he wear his hair? Why does he talk? Why does he perform? Why does' -- all these questions."

Newton, though, said he's "not bitter" about how it all went down ... and made it clear he thinks he's still one of the best 32 quarterbacks in the world.

As for Cam's dad, Cecil Newton, Sr., he wasn't exactly pleased with Belichick's decision ... saying cutting the QB was a "sucker move."

There's more ... Cam also ripped the Pats and the NFL for the way they handled his COVID testing situation while he was away from the team in August -- explaining he felt "bamboozled" when they forced him to sit out five days after he returned from a trip home in training camp.

"I'm like," Cam said, "'Y'all told me to go!'"

Larry Elder is the victim of a hate crime -- that's how L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva is viewing a woman's attempt to egg the gubernatorial candidate, and he's calling out "woke" politicians over the incident.

Villanueva hopped on the Sheriff Dept.'s Twitter account to sound off about Wednesday's campaign trail incident ... wondering out loud how it's not a hate crime?

If you missed it, Elder -- the conservative talk radio host-turned candidate -- was in Venice Beach when a white woman wearing a gorilla mask with pink hair threw the egg (she missed) and punched one of Elder's security staffers.

The Sheriff answered his own question, tweeting ... "'woke privilege' means a white woman can wear a gorilla mask and attack a black man without fear of being called a racist."

He also, mockingly, wondered why all the normally outraged politicians aren't speaking up in Elder's defense.

Villanueva clearly thinks it's hypocrisy, and there's no outrage purely because Elder is a conservative, who's also the leading Republican candidate in California's recall election.

As we reported, someone also fired a pellet gun Wednesday, hitting one of Elder's staffers. No one was injured, but cops are searching for that suspect as well as the egg tosser and a bald man ... also seen striking one of Elder's staffers.

We spoke to Elder at his next stop, and he chalked up the incident to folks being angry about the homeless situation. He also shaded Newsom.

Shaquille O'Neal is goin' at Ben Simmons yet again -- this time, the Big Diesel is putting the Sixers star on blast for requesting a trade out of Philly.

"Ben Simmons, you're not that good," the Hall of Famer said on The Big Podcast with Shaq.

"You're not great," he added ... before saying, "To be great, you have to work on your game. Don't be putting pictures on your Instagram of your Ferrari or what actress you're hanging around with."

Simmons has been heavily criticized -- including by Shaq himself -- ever since his performance in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, when he scored just 5 points in a Game 7 loss.

In fact, things have gotten so bad, Simmons has reportedly requested a trade ... something Shaq clearly despises.

"When you play for a town like Philadelphia, Boston, L.A., Miami -- a hard-working town -- they don’t give a s*** about none of that," O'Neal said. "They want you to come, work hard and play hard."

Charles Barkley agreed with Shaq ... saying he, too, has been disappointed by what he's seen from Simmons over the past few months.

"When you give somebody $200 million to dribble a stupid basketball," Barkley said, "and the only thing you ask him is be better as a player, and their first response is, 'I don't want to play here anymore,' that disappoints me as a player. It disappoints me as a fan."

Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp's relationship is under a microscope in Ryan Murphy's 'Impeachment' series -- and the journalist who first got the real-life story says there's no way to soft-pedal how Monica was stabbed in the back.

Author and journalist Michael Isikoff joined us Thursday to recount his 1997 meetings with Tripp ... which led to him uncovering the fact an independent counsel was investigating Bill Clinton's affair with the then-22-year-old White House intern. He said it was clear to him Linda was betraying Monica's confidence ... something he calls "indefensible."

Those of you alive back then will recall Tripp secretly recorded her conversations with Monica about Clinton -- and now a whole new generation will see those meetings play out in "Impeachment: American Crime Story."

Isikoff says Monica, who's a producer on 'Impeachment,' deserves the opportunity to tell the scandal from her perspective. As he puts it, Linda's treatment of Monica was "dicey" from an ethical standpoint.

Speaking of ethics, Isikoff -- who wrote the book, "Uncovering Clinton: A Reporter's Story" -- also told us why he turned down Tripp's offer to steal Monica's infamous blue dress and hand it over to him.

Of course, Tripp eventually turned over the dress, with Clinton's semen stain on it, to independent counsel Ken Starr, along with her recordings of Monica.

Tiffany Haddish has strong feelings about the Texas abortion law -- saying men who wanna control women's bodies should experience pregnancy, but she put it in much more, umm ... vivid terms.

We got the comedian at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood where she hosted an event for her She Ready Foundation (more on that in a bit), and asked her about the Texas law outlawing abortion after the first 6 weeks of pregnancy ... even for rape victims.

As a rape survivor, Tiffany's fuming because she believes most of the TX legislators have no idea what it's like to be penetrated, to be a woman or to be pregnant, but she's got a solution -- "Well sir, you carry a watermelon in your pants ... in your balls for a few months!!!"

Watch the video, because she got way more colorful and, frankly, emotional about the topic.

As we reported ... Sarah Silverman also had strong feelings about the new law, calling it a declaration of war on poor people. Tiffany says she's pro-life but also "very much pro-MY life."

Translation: let women decide what they want to do with their own bodies.

On a lighter note ... Tiffany couldn't be more ecstatic to be celebrating the first graduating class of her foundation's summer interns.

She said they all came from foster care or probation departments, and have aspirations of making it in the entertainment industry.

Tiffany says growing up in foster care and moving from house to house and carrying her clothes in trash bags made her feel like garbage. She said everything changed for her when someone gave her a suitcase.

Donald Trump is doing way more than calling a fight this weekend ... he's bragging about making an outrageous amount of cash for the gig, and his deal has a crazy perk.

Multiple sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Trump says he's making an "obscene" amount of money providing "live, alternative commentary" on the Evander Holyfield/Vitor Belfort fight. We're told Triller, the media company behind the event, is paying a fortune ... millions and millions for his blow-by-blow analysis, though our sources would not be more specific.

And there's more. Trump says Triller is providing him with a G-5 jet to take him back and forth. What's unclear ... Trump lives in West Palm Beach, a stone's throw from the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida where the event is taking place. So that's a car drive, not a plane ride.  It's possible Trump's going to New York City earlier in the day to commemorate 9/11.

We don't know what Triller is paying Don Jr., who will join his father providing commentary.

We're told the deal was sealed over Labor Day weekend ... a deal Trump just couldn't refuse.

Our sources say not everyone connected with the event is pleased, and some are downright angry.

Howard Stern laid it all out on the table ... f*** everyone who refuses to get a COVID vaccine.

Stern went on a rant this week, arguing vaccines should be mandatory. He railed on the holdouts, in particular 4 radio DJs who refused to get the shot and ended up dead. He bristled that one who expressed regret he didn't get the vaccine ... expressed it on his death bed.

Robin chimed in ... she has trouble drumming up compassion for those who refuse to take precautions and help themselves.

As Howard says, schools have required measles, mumps, polio shots, and on and on, so what's the difference?

His parting words "When are we gonna stop putting up with the idiots in this country. F*** em, f*** their freedom. I wanna be free to live."

Bill Cosby will NOT be hitting the road anytime soon to tell jokes ... because he's got more legal woes to deal with first, and his team is convinced the media will skewer him during a tour.

Cosby's rep, Andrew Wyatt, tells TMZ ... the comedy tour Cosby was planning to launch is officially on ice -- with no resuming date in mind just yet -- and he says the reason they're hitting pause is Judy Huth's civil lawsuit.

Huth sued Cosby way back in 2014 for sexual assault, alleging he pounced on her at the Playboy Mansion in the '70s, when she was just 15. He's denied the allegations, and the suit stalled while Cosby faced the Andrea Constand case -- but now, a trial date's been set for Spring 2022.

Wyatt says Cosby wants to avoid going on tour for the moment because he doesn't want this dark cloud hanging over his head ... as he seems to think the case would become all the media talks about while he toured.

Performing onstage could also be risky for Cosby because Huth's lawyers might potentially try to use his own words against him in the case. We asked Wyatt if that was a concern, but he says Cosby's team is most worried about unfair treatment in the media.

While they're focused on the media, the reality is Cosby will almost certainly face scores of hecklers and protesters wherever he performs ... regardless of current or pending lawsuits.

Wyatt adds they're not pulling the plug due to lack of interest -- he claims about a dozen promoters approached Cosby for gigs.

Joe Rogan returned to his hosting gig 8 days after testing positive for COVID-19, and addressed his use of the controversial medication, Ivermectin, insisting he took a human version of the drug that was prescribed by a doctor.

"I literally got [Ivermectin] from a doctor. It's an American company. They won the Nobel prize in 2015 for use in human beings," Rogan said at the beginning of his first 'JRE' pod since beating the virus.

Remember, 54-year-old Rogan recently announced he tested positive for COVID on Sunday, August 29 ... and threw the proverbial "kitchen sink" at the illness -- taking everything from monoclonal antibodies, antibiotics, vitamins, Prednisone AND Ivermectin.

Discussion around the drug -- which can be used in animals and humans to treat parasites -- has ignited a white-hot debate ... and the CDC has expressly advised Americans NOT to take the medicine for COVID.

However, Rogan is adamant several physicians instructed him to take the med.

"Multiple doctors told me to take it," Joe said, later continuing ... "What [the media] didn't highlight is that I got better! They're trying to make it seem as if I'm doing some wacky s*** that's completely ineffective."

Of course, Joe's been a lightning rod for COVID controversy for almost as long as the pandemic has been around ... often running sideways of the advice of Dr. Fauci and the government experts.

Paul Pierce is NOT sorry for posting a bunch of booty-shakin' women on his Instagram Live earlier this year ... saying he was just having some harmless adult fun.

The 43-year-old NBA legend posted a kinda NSFW video from inside a friend's home after a night of drinking and smoking back in April ... showing a group of barely-clothed ladies twerking and dancing.

The video went viral on social media ... and ESPN parted ways with The Truth shortly after.

Now, Pierce is opening up on the days following the incident ... saying his agent recommended he apologize -- in case it would affect Hall of Fame voting -- but he elected not to.

"Come on, I didn’t do anything illegal," Pierce told Sports Illustrated. “These motherf***ers in the Hall of Fame, some did [cocaine], f***ing battery. What the f*** did I do? I was just having a good time."

"All the people coming after me, half you motherf***ers do the same s***. You’re just hiding it. And, you all are married while you’re doing it. I’m divorced. I’m retired. I’m having fun."

Of course, the vid had zero impact on getting Pierce into the Hall -- he's set to be enshrined alongside Chris Bosh and Chris Webber this weekend -- but if it did, he says it would have been "the biggest stiff job in Hall of Fame history."

Pierce had previously told us he's poised to make a BIG comeback ... but as for now, he's remained off the TV.