Controversial S#!T

Enes Kanter says he won't be bullied into silence by the President of Turkey -- saying jail threats against him and his family are only inspiring him to be MORE critical of Recep Erdogan.

The NY Knicks star is doubling down on his decision to remove himself from a team trip to the U.K. -- claiming he's more susceptible to Erdogan's hit squad overseas.

"If I'm in America, I'm safe. I feel very safe," Kanter told CBS News. "But, if I step outside of America, it will be a very dangerous situation."

Kanter says he's been under fire from Turkish officials for years for insulting Erdogan publicly -- even calling the guy the "Hitler of our generation."

Other U.S. officials, including Rep. Peter King, have told TMZ Sports ... Kanter's fears are warranted because Erdogan is a bad dude and runs Turkey like a police state.

Kanter has been labeled a terrorist for his comments -- and says officials have even locked his father as retribution.

"If you speak out against Erdoğan, that means you're a terrorist. If he cannot put you in jail, then he will take your family away and put them in jail and say, 'if you don't stop running against me, then I'm gonna keep your family in jail.'"

"That's what he's trying to do, did that to me, that he tried to put my dad in jail, so he thought that I was gonna stop talking, that made me even talk about this more so the world can see it."

As we previously reported, ex-NBA player Hedo Turkoglu -- who's also from Turkey -- ripped Kanter on social media ... saying his claims against the President are baseless and reckless.

Even R. Kelly's longtime friends are turning on him, like hip-hop icon Grandmaster Flash, who says you won't hear him play a single Kelly hit song from now on.

We got Flash Thursday at LAX and asked him if DJs, in general, should join the #MuteRKelly movement. Little did we know that Kelly and Flash are pals. The Bronx legend told us, "I've been knowing him for a very long time."

Still, he didn't hesitate to say, "I can't play his music." Now, the question Flash really wrestled with was ... what happens the next time he sees his "friend?"

Despite his stance on Kelly's music, Flash says he wouldn't turn his back on him, personally. He has some thoughts on what kinda help Kelly needs.

Now, taking a photo with Kelly??? Grandmaster Flash says that's a different story.

Former NFL All-Pro Arian Foster is facing a force more devastating than any defense he ever ran through ... ANGRY TUPAC FANS ... who are all over Arian, for giving a controversial Pac take.

FULL DISCLOSURE ... Arian is a rapper himself (he's really good) and a HUGE 2Pac fan, so much so that the name of his debut album is "Flamingo & Koval" the intersection where Shakur was fatally shot.

Arian says he named the album that because of how deeply Pac's music has affected him, but when he sat down on "Van Lathan's The Red Pill" podcast, he offered something most 2Pac fans don't, a critique.

"Pac is my favorite artist of all-time, but to pretend his music was just out of this world intellectually deep ..."

Arian's point was that rap has evolved since Pac was around, and when compared to some of the artists dealing with super cerebral topics now, Shakur's topics were more simple.

Welp, that's not how the WORLD saw it, and now Foster has been taking major heat from fans who still have a ton of California love for Pac.

Here are some of the best responses ...

"55 seconds of Arian Foster proving why NFL needs better helmets. Lmao. STFU dude."

"Yeah, I'm cancelling him before I even hear his music. I'm petty when it comes to Pac."

"Arianfoster your comment about Tupac is Kanye West-level crazy wrong."

BTW ... we should say, there were also A LOT of people who agreed with Foster, and a debate is happening. But, they were much more polite in their comments.

So, right now, it seems like it's just Arian against the world. Listen to the full episode of "Van Lathan's The Red Pill"

R. Kelly might have been creepy when Destiny's Child recorded with him in 1998, but Beyonce's dad says no one in the music biz cared about his personal life, because he was killing it professionally.

Mathew Knowles tells TMZ ... every artist back then was judged by their talent and NOT their personal misdeeds. In Kelly's case, that meant giving him a pass for reportedly marrying 15-year-old Aaliyah in 1994 ... and settling a lawsuit with a woman claiming he had underage sex with her.

Mathew says creative genius trumped all back then.

If you didn't know ... Destiny's Child -- Bey, Kelly Rowland, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson at the time -- recorded a song with Kelly, but it never made the final cut for a DC album. Bey was 17 at the time, and Mathew makes it clear ... he and Tina Knowles never lost sight of the girls during the session.

Despite the #MeToo era, Mathew thinks the music industry hasn't made much progress when it comes to artists working with dubious characters -- because, for many, it's still just business.

How dope would a 1-2 punch of Julio Jones and Antonio Brown look in Atlanta?!?!

Not that dope ... according to Julio himself -- who tells TMZ Sports he and the Falcons actually don't want to see that at all.

"Nah, man. We tight over here. We good over here."

Of course, the pairing will be possible in what appears to be a matter of days ... seeing as A.B.'s antics have pretty much ended his time in the Steel City.

But, don't expect Julio to openly recruit the stud wideout to the Falcons once that happens ... 'cause when we got Julio out in L.A. -- he seemed to want no part of it.

Why?? Sure seems like Jones thinks the baggage Brown would bring to the locker room wouldn't be worth his insane production on the field.

As for the guys currently on Julio's team ... Jet spoke with us about Steve Sarkisian's firing and what he expects to see from new OC Dirk Koetter.

Just the possibility of President Trump's impeachment was enough for the Escobar family to collect millions upon millions of bucks ... according to Pablo's bro, who's pissed GoFundMe censored his cause.

Sources connected to Pablo Escobar's brother, Roberto, tell TMZ ... his ByeByeTrump GoFundMe campaign had raised upwards of $10 mil while the page was still live ... for just 10 hours.

The crowdfunding site yanked the page to investigate where the money was going. A screenshot of the page prior to it getting shut down shows a balance of $10,786,980.

We broke the story ... Roberto and the rest of Escobar Inc. started the campaign in an effort to impeach the U.S. Prez. They were gunning for $50 million to finance "intelligence research, lobby firms and lawyers" they said would help get Trump impeached in the States.

In response, GoFundMe pulled the page pending more clarification on the funds' use and purpose. Our sources say the Escobars responded to GoFundMe with the info they wanted ... but the page was still down as of Thursday.

We've reached out to GoFundMe to confirm that $10 mil total ... but so far, no word back.

A rep for Escobar Inc. -- the holding company dedicated to the late Colombian drug kingpin -- tells us that it plans on taking its impeachment efforts to another site, where they'll be accepting cryptocurrency donations instead of government regulated funds.

We're told the Escobars believe the U.S. government (and Trump himself) got involved in derailing their efforts ... but insist they won't be deterred.

R. Kelly's estranged daughter has broken her silence with a powerful statement condemning the singer ... and strongly implies she and her family have also been abused by him.

Joann Lee Kelly -- aka Buku Abi -- shared a long, thoughtful message on Instagram Thursday, apologizing for taking so long to say something, explaining she's been searching for the right words for days.

Abi expresses sympathy and devastation for all of the women who've been allegedly victimized by her father, and makes it clear that she, her mother and siblings don't condone any of his negative behavior -- past or present.

She also suggests for that reason, she and her family have not had any relationship with Kelly for years, saying ... "Going through all I have gone through in my life, I would never want anyone to feel the pain I have felt."

Buku adds ... "The same monster you all confronting me about is my father. I am well aware of who and what he is. I grew up in that house."

Kelly's daughter says she's chosen to stay out of the spotlight because it's better for her healing process, and the constant reminders of "how terrible my father is" aren't good for her ... so she has to do what's best for herself.

We spoke with Buku back in April about allegations against her dad -- and she didn't say much -- her attitude has clearly changed.

As you know, Kelly's surrounded by controversy and allegations of sexual abuse and predatory behavior in the wake of Lifetime's docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly."

Antonio Brown's time in Pittsburgh appears all but over ... 'cause Steelers owner Art Rooney II doesn't expect the NFL superstar to be on the team next season.

A.B.'s been at the center of controversy in Steel City after getting into heated exchanges with teammates, skipping practice, getting benched for a crucial game during a playoff push AND reportedly requesting a trade ... just to name a few incidents.

Rooney says the team will NOT cut Brown, but made it very clear the Steelers aren't afraid to move on from their top receiver ... and said it would be "hard to envision" he's with the team come training camp in July.

"There’s not much we can do right now. We have time to make a decision,” Rooney told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“We’ll look at all the options. We’re not going to release him, that’s not on the table. But I will say all other options are on the table."

Rooney isn't completely shutting the door on reconciling with Brown ... he thinks making up is possible, but unlikely.

Police have a connection from a member of R. Kelly's entourage to a shooting threat made during a screening of the "Surviving R. Kelly" docuseries ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... NYPD has Donnel Russell listed as a person of interest for the incident that went down last month in NYC. We know Russell is a business associate of Kelly. We're told police want to speak to him about the threats that were phoned into a theater as it was showing the Lifetime docuseries.

As we reported ...  someone called the NeueHouse just 20 minutes into the screening, and warned someone in the audience would start shooting up the place if the program continued. The venue was immediately evacuated.

Cops tracked the number down to a man with a Chicago-based 773 area code. We're told police have connected that number to Russell, and have attempted to make contact with him, but have had no luck thus far in reaching him directly.

Interestingly enough, the father of Joycelyn Savage, one of Kelly's alleged sex slaves, filed a police report last week in Georgia claiming a guy by the name of Don Russell texted him threats right before 'Surviving' aired on TV.

Our law enforcement sources tell us they believe that "Don" is the same Donnel Russell the NYPD is trying to contact.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter thinks the meteorologist who used a racial slur while saying her father's name deserves a shot at redemption ... but only after some rehabilitation.

Dr. Bernice King tells TMZ ... the recent firing of Rochester, NY weatherman Jeremy Kappell went too far. If you haven't seen it, Kappell referred to a park named for MLK ... "Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Park" while he was on air last week.

Shocking, but still ... Bernice believes there's a better way to handle the situation than 86ing the guy.

Bernice says, in this instance, Kappell's racial slur seems to be a one-time flub ... so the station should have cut him some slack. She agrees there needs to be repercussions -- along with an apology -- but suggests it doesn't do anyone any good to just fire the guy.

She told us what she think the better course of action would have been.

As for Kappell, he issued a public apology with his wife on Facebook, insisting he accidentally jumbled his words and didn't do it with malice. He also criticized the TV station for letting him go and not supporting him, adding ... "I would never intend harm that way to anyone."

Speaking of intent, we asked Bernice about that too, and she tells us someone who says "coon" publicly has probably heard it frequently in private or even said it in the past, which is why rehabilitation is so important.

And, for what it's worth -- maybe the most famous meteorologist, Al Roker, is on Jeremy's side.

It's gonna take a minor TRAGEDY to get Carmelo Anthony back in the NBA -- so says Jalen Rose who thinks Melo's pro hoops career is over unless a team loses a player to injury.

34-year-old Anthony hasn't played in the league since parting ways with Houston earlier this season -- but there have rumblings he'll team up with LeBron James on the Lakers before the All-Star break next month.

Rose ain't holding his breath ... unless an NBA team loses a player to injury and they could plug Melo in to fill the role. Still, Jalen explains why it's complicated.

"He can still contribute. It's just ... finding the right opportunity is tough because unless there's a major injury, a contender team probably wouldn't add him. And then, a lottery team is probably looking to 'Stop tryin' for Zion,' so they're tanking in a lot of ways."

"Maybe an injury happens and he gets back in the league."

Rose says Melo is a surefire NBA Hall of Famer -- and he really doesn't want to see his career end after a less-than-memorable 10-game stint in Houston.

Cristiano Ronaldo claims the former U.K. "Celebrity Big Brother" star who publicly accused him of emotionally abusing and threatening her is lying ... insisting he's never even met the woman.

As we previously reported, fashion model Jasmine Lennard went off on social media this week -- claiming she had secretly dated Ronaldo for a decade and was subjected to all sorts of disgusting behavior, including death threats.

Lennard even posted audio clips she claimed captured Ronaldo making offensive comments -- but there's one huge problem, Ronaldo claims the voice on the tapes is NOT him.

"Mr. Ronaldo has no specific recollection of meeting Ms. Lennard 10 years ago or at any point," his legal team tells TMZ Sports.

"He has not had a relationship with her and he has not had any contact with her, whether in the last 18 months as Ms Lennard suggests, or otherwise."

"The voice notes posted by Ms Lennard on social media are not of Mr. Ronaldo. Mr. Ronaldo will take appropriate legal action in due course."

Acclaimed director Peter Farrelly is apologizing to Cameron Diaz and others for repeatedly flashing his penis on movie sets back in the day, which he now calls a poor attempt at humor.

Peter's public apology comes after Cameron's interviews from 20 years ago resurfaced. The actress, who starred in his '98 hit, "There's Something About Mary," said Peter flashed his genitals on set and during her audition.

Peter told The Hollywood Reporter it's all true, saying, "I was an idiot. I did this decades ago and I thought I was being funny and the truth is I'm embarrassed and it makes me cringe now. I'm deeply sorry."

Worth noting, when Cameron talked about the 'Mary' audition incident, she said she wasn't appalled. As she put it back then, "When a director shows you his penis the first time you meet him, you've got to recognize the creative genius."

Lady Gaga's sorry she ever worked with R. Kelly, saying she's going to pull their 2013 track from iTunes and other streaming services as an act of solidarity with the women he allegedly abused.

Gaga spoke out against Kelly early Thursday morn, saying the claims against him are "absolutely horrifying and indefensible" ... and she stands behind the women 1000%.

She says her single with Kelly, called "Do What U Want (With My Body)," came at a dark time in her life -- when her thinking was "explicitly twisted" because she was dealing with the trauma of being a sexual assault survivor herself.

Lady Gaga says she's grown and gotten help since then, and vows going forward to "continue to support women, men and people of all sexual identities, and of all races, who are victims of sexual assault."

She plans to remove the 2013 collab with Kelly online and adds ... "I'm sorry, both for my poor judgment when I was young, and for not speaking out sooner." Interestingly, since posting her plan to pull the track, it's been purchased and streamed way more. Seems like people are getting their last licks.

As you know ... Gaga's statement comes on the heels of major controversy involving Lifetime's docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly," in which he's accused of sexual abuse, pedophilia and predatory behavior.

She'd been mum on the subject until now and taken some heat for it ... especially since she's very much in the public eye right now with all the awards season buzz for "A Star is Born."

Ne-Yo doesn't think allegations against R. Kelly are comparable to allegations against Michael Jackson -- they're worse.

We got the R&B singer Wednesday night at LAX ... and he jumped on the comparison, noting, unlike R. Kelly, there was no video evidence of Michael Jackson abusing anyone.

Ne-Yo also claimed some of Jackson's accusers recanted after the singer's death. He did not mention that Jackson paid $20 million to settle the sexual assault lawsuit filed by Jordan Chandler's parents.

Ne-Yo says he never looked at the video of R. Kelly urinating on a minor when he toured with the singer. He just assumed the vid wasn't real. He now regrets it and says he sees things differently now that he has a daughter.

MJ is the subject of a new documentary premiering at Sundance detailing his alleged sexual abuse of little boys, something that has enraged the Michael Jackson Estate.

R. Kelly is still being booked for concerts in the wake of Lifetime's docuseries -- but don't go looking for him onstage in the U.S. of A. ... 'cause, as of now, they're only lining up for him in Germany.

Kelly is scheduled to perform in Ludwigsburg this coming April. Tickets are currently going for $115 and up, as of this post. He's even offering a meet and greet -- yes, even now -- which will cost fans about $355, if they're so inclined.

Sources close to Kelly tell us the singer also just locked down shows in Hamburg and Oberhausen. What's interesting about those dates is ... they were sealed in the last few days, AFTER "Surviving R. Kelly" aired.

A rep for the venue in Ludwigsburg tells TMZ ... the promoter is fully aware of what's happening with Kelly in the States, and is monitoring to see how things unfold. The rep says, "You can be assured that we are carefully following the situation and, if necessary, will act accordingly."

The rep's clearly referring to the open investigation in Fulton County, GA and any potential criminal cases in Illinois. We also reached out to Belaire -- a listed sponsor on a promotional flyer for this event -- and they told us they had no connection (direct or indirect) to Kelly.

Remember, Kelly's American concerts were getting canceled left and right back in 2017 when BuzzFeed first posted a bombshell report about the alleged sex cult. The airing of 'Surviving' has turned up the heat and spiked public outrage against Kelly.

For now, though, #MuteRKelly doesn't translate well in German.