Controversial S#!T

Amy Cooper -- who was branded Central Park "Karen" after calling cops on a Black man -- is taking her former employer to court, saying they painted her with a broad, racist brush.

Cooper is suing investment firm Franklin Templeton, where she worked before this whole mess, alleging defamation, negligence, infliction of emotional distress and racial discrimination.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Cooper claims FT fired her prematurely and without having all the facts. She goes on to say the honchos jumped on the bandwagon that was spreading across the country ... to portray her as another "privileged white female 'Karen.'"

She says they painted her as a racist when they announced they were cutting her loose in the days that followed ... saying they did not "tolerate racism of any kind," which Cooper believes wrongly labeled her, and helped ruin her life and future prospects.

Not just that, but Cooper says Franklin Templeton's claim of doing a full investigation -- which only lasted a couple days or so before they canned her -- wasn't up to snuff, and she claims they failed to review the entirety of her 911 calls for context.

Adding insult to injury ... Cooper claims FT didn't bother pulling notes from the New York City Park Board Meetings -- which she claims would've shed light on unproven allegations Christian Cooper, the guy with whom she had beef, had been noted as a pest in the park.

AC claims what was really going on that day is that Christian targeted her in a supposed ongoing feud between himself -- an avid bird watcher -- and dog owners in Central Park. She says she didn't call 911 out of racism, but out of genuine fear.

The Brooklyn Nets are heading to Boston to continue the playoff series with the Celtics ... and Kyrie Irving REALLY hopes the fans can cheer without being racist.

Yep. You read that correctly.

Of course, Kyrie spent 2 seasons with the Celtics from 2017 to 2019 and is pretty familiar with how the fans roll over there.

So, now that his Brooklyn Nets are heading to TD Garden for Game 3 of their NBA playoff series on Friday, Irving is hoping the fans in Boston -- which has a reputation for being one of the more racist cities in America -- will find something other than race to fuel their trash talk.

"It's not my first time being an opponent in Boston so I'm just looking forward to competing with my teammates and hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball," Kyrie said.

"There's no belligerence or any racism going on, subtle racism and people yelling s**t from the crowd. But even if it is, it's part of the nature of the game and [we're] just gonna focus on what we can control."

When asked if he's heard racist trash-talking in Boston in the past, Kyrie responded -- "I'm not the only one that can attest to this but it's just, you know -- it is what it is!"

Meghan McCain and Joy Behar's latest on-air blowup is prompting the new "sheriff" at ABC to step in and demand all of the 'View' co-hosts cool it with their personal attacks.

Production sources tell TMZ ... following Monday's heated exchange between Meghan and Joy over anti-Semitism, ABC News President Kim Godwin called a last-minute meeting with 'View' talent and producers, trying to improve the culture behind the scenes at the show.

We're told ABC was getting flooded with pleas to fire Meghan over her latest tantrum and attacks on Joy, and that's what sparked the virtual meeting.

Our sources say Godwin -- who just took the helm at ABC earlier this month -- told everyone things are getting too personal on TV lately, not with the issues they're debating ... but with the attacks between co-hosts.

Godwin told everyone it's coming off as toxic to the audience, and it's not the direction she wants for the show.

Remember, their competition over at "The Talk" just had to blow up their show, firing Sharon Osbourne after her very personal on-air battle with Sheryl Underwood -- however, we're told Godwin didn't mention CBS specifically.

It sounds like her message was not well received by MM, though -- we're told she stormed out of the meeting before it ended because she felt like she was being "attacked."

A couple of L.A. radio vets are getting yanked off the air after they broadcast a horribly racist skit where they pretended to interview an Asian woman ... complete with a stereotypical accent.

KFI AM's Tim Conway Jr. and his executive producer, Sheron Bellio, have been suspended without pay this week for the stunt they pulled in early May. Bellio pretended to be Yuko Sakamoto, the wife of local sports radio personality Vic "The Brick" Jacobs.

What followed was a 5-minute skit that was more than just cringe-worthy -- seeing as how they did it as AAPI Heritage month was beginning, angry listeners demanded the station take action. KFI's parent company, iHeartMedia, sent both of 'em home for a week, and condemned their antics as "unacceptable."

As for the content itself ... it included a caricaturized Japanese accent, with Bellio blurting out words like "Hiya!," and they added karate sound effects for extra poor taste. Bellio also laid it on thick, saying "brought to you by Subaru" a few different times.

Bellio and Conway have also apologized ... with each admitting their suspensions were warranted.

The EP, especially, seemed embarrassed and said, "My words tonight will never convey the shame that I’m feeling because of my actions and I just -- I really want to apologize." Ironically, she'd just been named employee of the month!

There will be another Dallas Cowboys player in the #9 jersey in the post-Tony Romo world after all ... linebacker Jaylon Smith has just acquired the number -- and fans are PISSED.

The Cowboys hadn't let anyone use the digit since Romo retired after the 2016 season ... but Smith was just assigned it this week, and the outrage has been palpable.

While Dallas has NEVER officially retired a jersey number, Troy Aikman's #8, Emmitt Smith's #22 and Roger Staubach's #12 haven't been given out since their retirements ... and many thought Romo would get the same treatment.

But, the Cowboys let the #9 go on Tuesday ... and with Smith being one of the biggest disappointments for Dallas in the 2020 season, it hasn't exactly been a welcome sight in Big D.

Fans have blasted Jaylon and the team on social media for making the change ... but the 25-year-old sure seems happy as hell to have the number regardless.

It's meant a lot to him -- he wore it in high school and in college at Notre Dame -- and with the NFL adopting new jersey number rules this season ... he jumped at the chance to take Tony's old uni.

It's unclear how Romo -- who went 78-49 in his 13-year career with the Cowboys -- feels about the whole situation ... but it all might not even matter come September.

The Cowboys took two off-ball linebackers in last month's draft -- including 1st-rounder Micah Parsons -- and some believe it could lead to a Smith trade or even a Smith cut before the season begins.

An upscale Atlanta-area restaurant is now vowing to change its dress code policy and implement diversity training ... after Dominique Wilkins put the place on blast over the weekend.

The NBA legend said he was turned away from Le Bilboquet in Buckhead, GA. on Saturday ... claiming it was all due to the color of his skin.

The restaurant had initially said it had nothing to with race, but rather the designer casual clothing that Wilkins had worn to the place.

Now, though, after days of drama surrounding the incident, the restaurant is reversing course ... apologizing to The Human Highlight Reel and promising sweeping changes in the wake of the controversy.

In a lengthy statement, Le Bilboquet officials said, "We sincerely apologize to Dominique Wilkins for the events that occurred on May 22."

"No patron of our restaurants should be made to feel unwelcome or less than, and for that we are deeply sorry. It was never our intention to make Mr. Wilkins -- or anyone else for that matter -- feel that way at our restaurant."

Restaurant officials continued, "As an upscale, white table cloth, fine dining restaurant, we have a dress code in place to provide an experience that meets both our brand standards and our clientele’s expectations. While we will continue to have a dress code, we realize our current policy is subject to interpretation and can be unintentionally demeaning and divisive."

“Accordingly, we are immediately making changes."

The restaurant says it will now "provide diversity, equity and inclusion training to all current employees" as well as update their dress code policy to eliminate "any ambiguities that may lead to misunderstandings."

Restaurant officials added, "We will not tolerate implicit or explicit bias. We have done and will continue to do the work to ensure our restaurant is a place where all feel welcome."

Kevin Spacey booking a new acting gig is not sitting well with one of his sexual assault accusers.

Mark Ebenhoch, who claims he was solicited on a movie set to have sex with Spacey, tells TMZ ... Kevin's new role in an Italian film, playing a cop investigating a man wrongfully accused of sexually abusing children, smacks of what he calls arrogance and irresponsibility.

Ebenhoch alleges Spacey had young male crewmembers working on 1995's "Outbreak" solicit him for sex with the actor, but he never brought his claims to police or filed a lawsuit.

As we reported ... Kevin is starring in an upcoming Italian movie called "L'uomo Che Disegno Dio," directed by famed Italian actor-turned-director Franco Nero.

Spacey's accuser tells us when he first learned the actor found work again, his first thought was, "What the hell?!?" Ebenhoch says he finds Spacey's casting "absurd," given an alleged history of sexual misconduct and the fact the movie deals with the same subject matter.

While Ebenhoch says he's still waiting for Spacey to publicly apologize and take full responsibility for his alleged misconduct, he hopes producers made sure Kevin's changed his ways and prays Spacey's alleged escapades with young men are a thing of the past.

The WNBA has suspended Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller over an "offensive" comment he made about an opposing player during a game ... when he complained to a ref that she weighs "300 pounds."

The player he was talking about is Las Vegas Aces star Liz Cambage -- who says she weighs 235 pounds and was deeply offended by the comment.

Here's the backstory ... Cambage -- the #2 overall picking the 2011 WNBA Draft -- claimed Miller crossed the line when complaining to the refs about her during Sunday night's game in an effort to get a call against her.

Cambage claims she overheard Miller saying something like, "C'mon, she's 300 pounds!"

Cambage unleashed a fiery post on social media ripping Miller -- saying she's "very proud of being a big bitch" ... and "I will never let a man disrespect me, ever, ever, ever, especially a little white one."

Miller apologized Monday morning -- saying, "I made an inappropriate and offensive comment in reference to Liz Cambage's height and weight. I regret what I said in the heat of the moment and want to sincerely apologize to Liz and the entire Aces organization."

He added, "I understand the gravity of my words and have learned from this."

Now, the league has dished out punishment -- issuing a 1-game suspension against Miller and tacking on a $10,000 fine.

If revenge is a dish best served cold, then The Weeknd has himself some well-chilled hardware from the Billboard Music Awards, which gave him what the Grammy heads didn't.

Abel walked away with the most wins at the BBMAs Sunday ... racking up 10 total at the end of the night (the most out of any artist nominated) with many of the statuettes among the top honors given out, including Top Artist, Hot 100 Song and more.

In other words, Abel made up for lost time at the Grammy Awards and then some ... which completely shut him out from this year's ceremony with zero nominations.

As you know ... The Weeknd's on a campaign of sorts to call out the Recording Academy as corrupt, crooked, outdated, out of touch, you name it. Interestingly, though, he refrained from any Grammy talk during the BBMAs ... and kept it classy.

Franky, he didn't have to say much, because the wins spoke for themselves -- as did his performance later in the show of his hit, "Save Your Tears," which he performed in a parking lot with some sweet coordinated car choreography ... one of the highlights of the night.

As for his postshow celebration, The Weeknd was one of several celebs to hit the Billboard party at The Nice Guy.

Justin Bieber's nest of a hairdo is in the history books -- at least for now -- because the guy's got a fresh cut on his hands, but the question remains ... what caused the change???

We caught the Biebs and his wife, Hailey, leaving Voda Spa in WeHo Sunday, where JB was flashing a whole new look from the shoulders up ... namely, his was much shorter than what we'd seen of late. And yes, that means he's lost the so-called dreadlocks he was rockin'.

Of course, our photog had to ask what inspired the drastic clip -- and if it, perhaps, had anything to do with the criticism he was getting over his recent hairstyle (more on that later).

Unfortunately, Justin didn't seem to be in too chatty of a mood. Instead of answering, the mister and missus hopped into their Tesla and drove away. It sounded like he might've said something in response, but it appears that was just his bodyguards, who were close behind.

As for that backlash ... well, some felt Justin was misappropriating Black culture by rocking the locks with impunity. He had also tied his hair up in pigtails at several points throughout most of this past month ... but never really addressed the elephant in the room.

Maybe it was just a Must-Not-Cut-Hair May type of thing.

Of course, folks weren't necessarily losing sleep over this either. Considering all the different celebs over the years who've been accused of rocking hairstyles that aren't technically in their ethnic wheelhouse, the outrage over Justin's go wasn't nearly as loud in comparison.

Morgan Wallen continues to rake in success, despite using a racial slur -- the guy just nabbed multiple wins at the Billboard Music Awards ... even though he wasn't allowed to show.

The country singer was among several winners who were announced before the broadcast -- which starts at 5 PM PT -- and lo and behold ... he ended up taking three awards home, after being nominated for six total.

MW won for Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist and Top Country Album -- for his sophomore project, "Dangerous: The Double Album," which has continued to stream incredibly well in recent months. This in spite of the fact that he hurled the n-word in February.

Dick Clark Productions had already said Wallen would NOT be involved in the BBMAs this year in any capacity because of the epithet he said ... saying his behavior didn't align with their values. That said, they acknowledged he'd move forward as a finalist nonetheless, which was based solely on his music numbers and his charting.

DCP said they'd reevaluate his progress in the near future and decide if they want to invite him back for next year. Of course, Wallen doesn't appear to have done a whole lot outside of basic apologizing ... as we've reported ourselves.

A Florida high school is getting dogged for editing yearbook photos of female students whose outfits were deemed too revealing ... and now, they're having to face the music.

Bartram Trail High in St. Johns County caused utter outrage among dozens of families who realized their daughters' yearbook headshots had been horrendously altered after the fact ... all in an apparent attempt to cover up their upper chests and/or slightly exposed cleavage.

An investigation undertaken by News4Jax revealed that a whopping 80 of these yearbook photos had been edited in post, with what appears to be Photoshop. And, yes, you guessed it ... all of the changed photos are from girls. Not a single boy's pic was changed.

It's interesting ... because there are reportedly several guys at the school who are featured in the yearbook wearing skimpy Speedos, but none of those photos were touched up.

News4Jax reports that once the yearbooks were out -- and purchased by scores of students, including many whose photos were changed -- the kids themselves saw their pics had been butchered ... causing their folks to demand answers, not to mention $100 refunds.

Turns out, the yearbook coordinator is the one who made the call for the cover-up ... this per the St. Johns County School District, which confirmed their HS had, in fact, cloaked what they considered scantily-clad young women, some of whom were as young as 14.

Their rationale ... instead of nixing these girls' photos from the yearbook altogether for violating the school's dress code -- what would normally be their regular practice, they say -- officials wanted to try and include everyone this year, so they did some digital scrubbing.

The weird thing is that some of these students claim they'd gotten mixed messaging on their outfits -- including the same ones they wore for picture day. One student claims she wore the same top another day on campus, asked if it was okay ... and was given the a-OK.

As a result, BTHS now says parents who are upset can get their money back if they want -- they just gotta return the yearbooks they bought, which aren't cheap, fully intact.

One of the members of the winning band for this year's Eurovision stands accused of taking a bump during the live broadcast ... but he's denying it, saying it's not what it looks like.

Damiano David -- the lead singer of Maneskin, which took top honors at the singing competition -- could be seen at one point during the broadcast in what looked to many like a compromising position. In the now-viral video of the bizarre moment, you see him leaning down face-first toward the table in front of him, hovering for a bit ... and surfacing again.

There's a giant bowl blocking the camera from seeing what's right below in that shot -- but many saw it as it happened live Saturday, and immediately thought he was doing drugs.

Yeah, at first glance ... it does look like he might be doing a line. But, then again, it's hard to tell what the hell's actually going on down there. Some have also noted there are no visible signs of drug residue as he comes back up -- namely, white powder ... aka, cocaine.

The European Broadcasting Union -- which organizes the Eurovision show -- has said it's aware of the video, and that they're looking into the matter with an investigation of their own. Apparently, they tried getting an on-the-spot drug test done for David right then and there, but weren't able to get it together in time before the band flew out for the night.

However, David and his bandmates say they're more than willing to submit to voluntary drug tests ASAP ... as they insist there was zero drug usage by the singer or anyone else nearby.

Kevin Spacey is easing back into acting again -- but his first job ain't even here in the States ... dude's heading all the way over to Italy to get back to work.

The disgraced actor -- who has faced a mountain of sexual assault allegations since 2017, and essentially been exiled from mainstream Hollywood -- booked his first acting role since the accusations came to light ... this according to ABC News, who confirmed it.

Spacey is set to star in an Italian film called "L'uomo Che Disegno Dio," which will be directed by famed Italian actor-turned-director Franco Nero ... the guy who played the OG Django waaaay back in the '60s. The title translates to "The Man Who Drew God."

The synopsis says it's about a blind artist who has the God-given ability to draw portraits of people by just listening to their voice ... who then skyrockets to fame and becomes a TV star. It's unclear what role Spacey will play, but he'll be opposite Nero's wife, Vanessa Redgrave.

Of Spacey's casting, Nero tells ABC ... "I'm very happy Kevin agreed to participate in my film." He adds, "I consider him a great actor and I can't wait to start the movie."

KS hasn't been on camera -- besides his own weird home movies, that is -- since he parted ways with Netflix's "House of Cards" in late 2017 ... which revamped the entire final season, killing his character off from the outset and pushing forward with just Robin Wright.

Martin Bashir -- the journalist who infamously interviewed Princess Diana and just got trashed for it -- says he didn't do anything wrong or deceitful in nabbing the sit-down ... despite what an independent report has concluded.

Bashir made his first public comments about the scandal to the Sunday Times ... denying any nefarious behavior he and the BBC are alleged to have engaged in back in '95, when Diana agreed to talk to him on camera about her relationship with Prince Charles.

It almost sounds like an apology, but it ain't ... because Bashir straight up says he played no part coming up with alleged fake docs and/or bogus phone calls placed to Diana. He says, "Even in the early 1990s, there were stories and secretly recorded phone calls. I wasn’t the source of any of that."

He goes on to say the idea the interview was somehow something Diana didn't want, or that it was framed in a way that harmed her afterward is simply not true ... regardless of what her boys, Prince William and Prince Harry, might be saying now ... nearly 30 years later.

Bashir says, "Everything we did in terms of the interview was as she wanted, from when she wanted to alert the palace, to when it was broadcast, to its contents," while going on to say he and his family loved the Princess, and they remained close even after the interview aired.

MB goes on to say this, "I don’t feel I can be held responsible for many of the other things that were going on in her life, and the complex issues surrounding those decisions." He went on to say Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, squarely putting the blame of Diana's death on his shoulders was "unreasonable and unfair" -- while also explaining he gets the grief.

After the report came out affirming the BBC had, in fact, undertaken deceptive methods -- including made-up bank statements purportedly showing Palace staffers accepting payment for stories about her -- PC and PH both slammed the outlet, and Bashir by extension.

A punk rock band made of four ethnically diverse girls is on its way to producing its first professional record -- 'cause they just got signed ... this after a kickass performance.

The band is called The Linda Lindas, and it features four pre-teen/teenage girls -- aged 10 to 16 -- who describe themselves as "Half Asian/Half Latinx" ... and who rocked the house so hard earlier this month at the L.A. Public Library that landed them a deal with a major label.

Variety confirmed The LLs had been signed to Epitaph Records -- which has had quite the repertoire of rock acts in its roster over the years ... including Green Day, Weezer, Rancid, The Offspring, Pennywise, Bad Religion and scores of other legendary punk bands.

Now, the Linda Lindas are part of that mix -- although the details of their contract aren't out yet. In any case, it's a helluva achievement ... and it's all due to a set they put on in early May as part of AAPI Heritage Month, which got tons of love and famous fanfare.

ICYMI ... the Linda Lindas performed a number of original songs at the library, including one called "Racist Sexist Boy" -- the origin of which they explained had to do with the increased Asian hate that's been rocking the nation of late. To vent, they came up with this banger.