Controversial S#!T

"To me, Alabama was the best team but they aren't gonna be playing in the championship."

That's legendary college football coach Lou Holtz telling TMZ Sports he believes the BEST team in the country will NOT be playing on Jan. 13 ... and it all comes down to luck.

Unclear why Holtz believes The Tide got unlucky during the 2019 season, but it seems pretty clear he thinks they're the most talented squad.

Bama finished the season with an 11-2 record ... losing to LSU and Auburn.

When they played LSU, star QB Tua Tagovailoa was playing with a banged-up ankle, but the team as a whole simply got outplayed.

As for the Auburn game, Tua had suffered a season-ending hip injury before that game ... and Bama was playing with their #2 QB Mac Jones. They lost 48-45.

Bama went on to crush Michigan in the Citrus Bowl in a 35-16 shellacking.

So, is Holtz saying a healthy Tua gets Bama to the Natty? Maybe ... since Bama played in the National Championship game last season and won the title with Tua the year before.

There's more ... Holtz also talks about why he thinks Joe Burrow will go #1 in the NFL Draft and reflects on why his former Notre Dame star WR Rocket Ismail could be considered the greatest college football player he's ever seen.

The United States Marine Corps is taking action against an emerging threat from China ... by keeping its wildly popular app, TikTok, away from Marines.

If you didn't know ... both the Army and Navy have banned soldiers from using the Chinese-owned video-sharing service on government phones because it's been deemed a cybersecurity threat by officials.

The Marines are following suit, TMZ has learned, for the same reason. Capt. Hector Alejandro of the Marine Forces Cyberspace Command tells us TikTok has also been blocked from its government-issued mobile devices.

He adds ... "This decision is consistent with our efforts to proactively address existing and emerging threats as we secure and defend our network."

The crux of the issue -- TikTok's Chinese ownership has politicians and military officials concerned that it could be used to gather intelligence on Americans.

Because of that, the Defense Department sent a message to employees in mid-December instructing them to "be wary of applications you download, monitor your phones for unusual and unsolicited texts etc., and delete them immediately and uninstall TikTok to circumvent any exposure of personal information."

We're told the branches of the military made the decision to block TikTok shortly afterward.

Ricki Lake's sporting a huge grin just one day after revealing her struggle with hair loss and depression ... and it's all thanks to a flood of support.

We got the "Hairspray" star and former talk show host Thursday at LAX to get her response to her revelation on New Year's Day, about struggling with hair loss for most of her adult life.

You'll recall Ricki posted a picture on Instagram and revealed the new buzz-cut hairdo. The story behind the new hairdo was both heart-wrenching and inspiring. As we reported ... Ricki said struggling through decades of hair loss was "debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing" and "lonely." It got so bad ... Ricki says she felt suicidal over it.

Damon Dash says Aaliyah wanted absolutely nothing to do with R. Kelly after they pulled the plug on their controversial marriage back in the day.

TMZ's obtained this clip of Damon's interview on the soon-to-be-released Lifetime documentary, "Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning" ... and the music insider makes some bombshell revelations about Aaliyah's life after Kelly.

Damon famously dated Aaliyah after she split from R. Kelly ... and now he says the singer wanted to keep Kelly "the f*** away" from her following the annulment.

As we've reported ... R. Kelly's former tour manager, Demetrius Smith, says he unwittingly and regretfully helped Kelly and Aaliyah tie the knot, by getting the 15-year-old a fake ID the day before the wedding ... a claim R. Kelly just denied in court.

Damon says it's disgusting Kelly would marry a child.

Not much is known about Aaliyah's feelings regarding Kelly -- she died way too young -- so Damon's claims are pretty shocking.

BTW ... the new doc drops Thursday on Lifetime.

Nick Gordon -- the boyfriend of Bobbi Kristina Brown who was found legally responsible for her death -- has died in Florida ... TMZ has learned.

Nick's brother, Jack Walker Jr., shared the news Wednesday by writing, "GOD WHY I DID I HAVE TO LOSE MY BROTHER ON NEW YEARS," and adding ... "All I can do is cry." He later shared a tribute post with several photos of himself with Nick.

It appears Gordon was hospitalized for a short time before his death ... Walker says he was at his brother's bedside and spoke to him in his final moments. Reports say Gordon died of a suspected drug overdose.

As you'll recall ... Gordon and a friend found Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's daughter face down in a bathtub on January 31, 2015, and she was placed in an induced coma. Brown suffered irreversible brain damage and remained unresponsive, and passed away in hospice care on July 26, 2015.

John Boyega is leaving 2019 in a blaze of glory ... defending himself to the death after he was accused of being sexist over a joke he cracked about his female costar, Daisy Ridley.

The 'Star Wars' actor responded to a ton of mega fans Tuesday after a screenshot of a comment he recently left on someone's Instagram post went viral -- which shows him saying, "it's not about who she kisses but who eventually lays the pipe. You are a genius."

His comment was in response to some rando who made light of the fact John's character, Finn, doesn't get the girl at the end of 'Rise of Skywalker.' If you haven't seen it, this is a spoiler ... Rey kisses/falls for Kylo Ren and Finn's apparent love for her goes unrequited.

After his pipe joke, JB got blown up (metaphorically speaking) on Twitter, with people calling him misogynistic, sexist and bitter over Finn's fate and the end of the franchise. He's been hitting back, though, making fun of everyone who's taking it so damn seriously.

He even put up a meme mocking Rey and Kylo Ren's "romance," which mostly shows them fighting and Rey in complete distress. It appears to be in good fun, but folks are still coming for him over what many perceive to be a remark made in bad taste and harmful.

Still, he kinda doubled down on his pipe line, but later suggested he was just talking about the characters in a joking manner, and didn't mean for it to translate to real life. In response to one user, he wrote ... "i was talking about Rey from Star Wars. When did I speak about women in general? Where did I even mention holes? ... Bye now."

People have noted John doesn't have any more 'Star Wars' obligations, and that might be why he's speaking so freely. Either way ... the guy obviously doesn't care about Reylo shippers, or those easily offended as the decade comes to an end.

DJ Paul says he and his rap group partners aren't pivoting away from talking drugs in their songs -- and to the kids who take their word as gospel ... he's telling 'em to wise up.

We ran into the Three 6 Mafia MC Monday at LAX -- this just a few days after his label mate, Juicy J, said T6M were hitting the road for a new tour in 2020 ... while, in the same breath, apologizing if he ever inspired anyone to do drugs in the wake of Juice WRLD's death.

DJP confirmed the gang was getting ready to head out on tour soon after a handful of shows this year, but on the subject of drugs ... he was less remorseful than Juicy was on Twitter.

According to Paul, people will do whatever they want regardless of whether a song hypes up drug use or not -- and, of course, Three 6 Mafia's no stranger to the topic in their music. Still ... DJ Paul says just 'cause T6M's talking about it, it doesn't count as a cosign, per se.

He actually acknowledges if one can stay off drugs ... that's obviously the best way to go. Our camera guy pushes back a bit though, noting the group does appear to glorify drugs, and by extension ... have probably nudged a lot of young fans in that direction as a result.

Check it out ... Paul fires back with a pretty interesting analogy to that argument, saying he sees a lot of his favorite actors doing crazy s**t on screen all the time. That doesn't mean he's about to start copying them out of sheer fandom, though -- hear that, kids?

Harvey Weinstein's embroiled in multiple court cases that could land him in prison, so maybe it's not surprising he's focusing on the simple things in life ... like a bowl or 2 of ice cream.

The former movie mogul was at the Molly Pitcher Inn in Red Bank, New Jersey Saturday looking low-key in a grey hoodie. He sat alone, eating not one but 2 ice cream sundaes as he perused some paperwork.

An eyewitness tells us Weinstein used a walker as he got to his feet and left. A source close to Weinstein tells us he was at the hotel for a vacation and to get some rest and relaxation.

TMZ broke the story ... Weinstein got back surgery earlier this month, a procedure called a bilateral laminectomy. We're told the whole thing lasted around 3 hours. The surgery -- better known as decompression surgery -- enlarges the spinal canal to relieve pressure on the spinal cord or nerves.

As we reported ... Harvey could barely walk on his own when he got to court just days before his surgery ... we're told the hope is he'll be fully recovered in a few more weeks.

You'd think Rudy Giuliani would wanna be as far away from anything Ukrainian right now, but even amid Trump's impeachment ... he's coyzing up with one and talking business.

The President's personal lawyer was spotted Sunday at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, where eyewitnesses saw him chatting it up with a couple dudes in suits who appeared to be pitching him on something, seemingly related to shipping, transportation and logistics.

Rudy and a woman he was with were flipping through literature pertaining to CDL 1000 -- a Chicago-based company that specializes in freight transport and tracking technology.

No biggie, right? Of course not, except for the fact that at one point in the presentation, Rudy was shown a slide that clearly read "Disrupt Global Trading." Nothing fishy about that!

What makes the meeting all the more intriguing is that the guy showing him this stuff comes from Ukrainian heritage himself. His name's Andrew Sobko, and he's the CEO of CDL 1000 -- he's also the son of a former Ukrainian boxing champ ... per past interviews he's done.

We called up Andrew and he said he was simply seeking Mr. Giuliani's legal advice on a business matter. However, it's also no secret Rudy's been traveling to Kyiv recently to drum up intel he hopes will clear his boss's name ahead of a looming impeachment trial.

Kanye West had a lot to reflect on a year after starting his Sunday Service -- and he did that and then some in a place you might've never thought you'd see him ... Skid Row.

Ye was in DTLA this weekend holding a Sunday Service at the Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row, which is a homeless shelter that offers food and spiritual guidance for the needy. While there with his usual choir, he got on the mic at one point to do some preaching.

He got into a lot of different topics -- including how Sunday Service itself saved him since it began a full year ago. He also talked about the homeless crisis in L.A. and elsewhere ... going on to say he's had a vision for a worldwide solution. That sounds familiar, doesn't it?

At one point, Kanye also ranted a bit about "Devil-approved" and "God-approved" subjects -- and he seemed to allude to T.I.'s highly scrutinized comments from earlier this year about how he once brought his daughter to the gynecologist to make sure she was a virgin.

Ice Cube's gone back to the drawing board with the fourth installment of "Friday" ... and he's clearly pissed.

The N.W.A. rapper revealed there's been some major beef between him and the film's production studio New Line Cinema ... for dragging its feet on green-lighting "Last Friday." The rub and possible deal-breaker ... John Witherspoon -- who plays Mr. Jones, Ice Cube's father in the film -- has died.

So, when we got Cube Friday at LAX, we asked if he'd ever considered using CGI in the film -- since Carrie Fisher's fam was okay with a Princess Leia CGI in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" -- and he could not have been clearer.

"Last Friday" is the fourth and final installment of the 'Friday' franchise that kicked off in 1995. It's been about 18 years since the last 'Friday' film, and Cube says, "It's all on New Line, man." He's especially pissed cause, if New Line Cinema didn't take its sweet time, they easily would've been able to put Witherspoon in the flick.

Back in May, Cube revealed he wanted to release the film on April 26, 2020 ... but that's clearly not happening now ... if ever.

FaZe Selkoe -- aka the president of the famous FaZe Clan -- says Esports stars ain't making NFL player money yet ... but he tells TMZ Sports it could eventually happen.

And, why? The 44-year-old says their business model is just perfect for today's society.

Selkoe tells us because fans can watch and interact with players during tournaments AND in practice sessions, he says the potential for the growth of gamers' wallets is HUGE.

"They'll have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people watching them play and interact," Selkoe says ... "It's really this amalgamation of pop culture, actual sports and classic entertainment."

Of course, some gamers are already pulling in the hefty checks ... Esports star FaZe Banks is reportedly worth around $3 MILLION, while gaming legend Ninja has said he makes roughly $500,000 A MONTH.

New York Giants legend Ottis Anderson belongs in the Hall of Fame ... so says the ex-running back himself, who tells TMZ Sports, "One day they'll figure it out."

"If you check my credentials, I think I earned the right to be considered [a Hall of Famer]," Anderson says.

Ottis sneakily has a solid case for the honor ... the 62-year-old rushed for 10,273 yards and 81 TDs in his 14-year career, and he added 3,062 receiving yards as well.

Plus, the dude IS a two-time Super Bowl champion ... something plenty of Hall of Fame tailbacks can't say themselves right now.

"Put me in," Ottis says ... "One day they'll figure it out and, until then, we'll just keep on enjoying what I accomplished as a 14-year vet."

As for the current Giants, Ottis clearly doesn't love what they're up to these days, saying, "We suck right now" -- but he says he is optimistic about the future.

There are new perils for Mickey, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck ... patrons at Disney World are grabbing them, and in Minnie's case ... the assaulter had allegedly done it to other characters at the park.

The 36-year-old woman who plays Minnie says she posed for a photo with a man and his wife earlier this month, and as they were taking the pic he groped her chest 3 times. She filed a police report against the 61-year-old man but ultimately decided against pressing charges.

Turns out the guy has a history at Disney World. He had an 'inappropriate interaction' with another cast member the day after his interaction with Minnie. The incident occurred at the Magic Kingdom, but Disney would not give specifics, except to say the man -- who was a member of the Disney Vacation Club -- is now banned from the theme parks.

There were other incidents as well. A woman who plays Mickey Mouse claims a woman patted her on the head 5 times, and apparently the shock caused her to endure neck strain.  The patron says she barely touched Mickey.

As for Donald Duck ... the 18-year-old in costume says a female patron repeatedly touched her on the arms, chest, belly and face.

Ring and Amazon allegedly ducked for cover when their surveillance devices got hacked, but some of their customers are now firing back ... you can run, but you can't hide.

Ring and Amazon, which owns the security system, are now at the wrong end of a class-action lawsuit, claiming the companies were negligent by not providing "robust" security to fend off hackers.

The named plaintiff -- John Baker Orange -- claims last July someone hacked into his outdoor security cameras and started commenting on his kids who were playing basketball ... encouraging them to get closer to the camera.

Of course, there's the now-infamous video of a hacker talking to a little girl in her bedroom ... telling her he was Santa Claus.

President Trump has been 86'd from 'Home Alone 2' by Canadian TV ... but the reason the network is giving for the omission is ... well, sketchy.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation removed Trump's cameo in the classic Christmas movie. The CBC claims it cut out the 10-second cameo in order to make room for commercials. We're not buyin' what they're sellin'. Trump has famously disrespected our neighbors to the north ... from the Canadian PM on down.

Hawk-eyed viewers first noticed that the scene -- which shows Trump giving Macaulay Culkin directions in the then-Trump-owned Plaza Hotel -- was nowhere to be seen and they immediately took to social media -- some voicing approval while others were irate. Someone tweeted, "Just watched 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' recorded of @CBC and they edited out the @realDonaldTrump scene. God bless us EVERYONE!"

Others called the move "Orwellian." Either way ... Trump's probably not gonna like the move, especially given what he said Tuesday during a call with overseas troops. The Prez bragged about his cameo saying, "Well, I'm in 'Home Alone 2' and a lot of people mention it every year, especially around Christmas."