Controversial S#!T

WNBA coach Todd Troxel is off the hook in his domestic violence case -- and says he and his fiancee are "moving on with our lives."

Troxel was an assistant coach for the Phoenix Mercury back in November when he was charged with assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly attacking his fiance after a Phoenix Suns game.

Troxel severed two arteries in his arm during the incident -- in which he allegedly punched through a glass window at his home during a heated argument with his fiancee. Troxel has maintained he never laid a finger on his fiance.

In the initial police report, cops say Troxel claimed he suffered the injury as a result of an accident while putting up Christmas lights ... but while at the hospital, the fiancee told a nurse a different story.

Cops investigated and Troxel was charged with 2 misdemeanors -- but now, TMZ Sports has learned the case was officially thrown out in part because the victim refused to cooperate with prosecutors.

Troxel has issued a statement ... essentially viewing the dismissal as a victory and says he and his fiancee are together and doing just fine.

"My fiancé and I are thrilled to have this situation behind us and look forward to moving on with our lives," Troxel said.

"I cannot thank her enough for her support, love and friendship always."

"I regret getting into an argument with my fiancé the night of the incident, but I never assaulted or hurt her in any way."

Troxel's fiance Lauren Helt issued a statement saying, "I am so glad to have this nightmare behind us. It’s unfortunate that this situation was blown out of proportion. Todd has never hurt me and should never have been charged in this case. He is and has always been a loving and supportive figure in my life and I look forward to moving on with our lives together."

The Mercury publicly severed ties with Troxel after its own investigation -- but now Troxel says he's focused on getting his coaching career back on track.

When it comes to any future deals with the Kardashians, Jordyn Woods is gonna have to mind her own business ... and we mean that literally, 'cause she's getting cut off.

Sources familiar to the situation tell TMZ ... Jordyn has effectively been excommunicated on the business end of things when it comes to partnering up with the family for some dough. Short story long ... they don't plan to work with her ever again.

That's a shame for Jordyn, considering she had a healthy working relationship with the Kardashians prior. She has a joint makeup line with Kylie and even had her own page on Khloe's Good American fashion site ... where she modeled jeans and was part of the #goodsquad.

Her entire Good American page has been removed from Khloe's site, and our sources say Jordyn has ruined any potential opportunity for future ventures. We're told her betrayal by fooling around with Tristan is unrecoverable.

Jordyn's on the outs with Kylie too. Our sources say her security clearance has been revoked from Kylie's gated neighborhood, so she can't come and go as she pleases anymore. As we told you ... Jordyn moved out and is back living with her mom.

Here's what interesting though ... we're told Kylie seems to be leaving the door somewhat open for a possible reconciliation with Jordyn ... and we're told the sisters are saying they wouldn't be surprised if Kylie outright forgives her down the line, but she'll never go back into business with her.

Even if they do become friends again, our sources say, Jordyn will never get back in with the family.

If "Empire" money was Jussie Smollett's motivation to allegedly stage an attack, he certainly never showed his cards to the people who could actually make it happen.

"Empire" production sources tell TMZ ... none of the brass -- producers or EPs -- heard even a whisper from Jussie grousing he was underpaid. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Jussie staged the "attack" to raise his profile and get more per episode.

Our sources say, if Jussie was upset about his salary, he kept it to himself. He was in the middle of a long-term contract and the executives, who are in a position to bust the deal or sweeten the pot, say neither Jussie nor his reps ever asked.

Jussie was pulling in a reported $125,000 per episode. We're told that's on par with actor Bryshere Y. Gray, who plays his brother, Hakeem. Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard reportedly make $250,000 an episode.

We're told Jussie's main focus recently was the release of new music. He was upset his first album didn't do well and was stressed out over the debuts of his new songs and music videos.

Samuel L. Jackson says Donald Trump was spot-on when he bragged he's done more for African Americans than Presidents past ... and it's all thanks to Trump's massive "plantation."

We got Samuel L. Monday at LAX and asked him about Trump's shot at Spike Lee in which Trump said, "Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres!"

Jackson shot back ... essentially calling Trump a slave owner.

R. Kelly is a free man again -- it was total pandemonium as he walked out of jail -- and he'll have to pay off a 6-figure child support tab almost immediately if he wants to avoid getting locked up again.

Kelly's $100k bond -- 10% of his $1 million bail -- was finally posted Monday after he appeared in court and entered a not guilty plea to all 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse. As he walked out of jail, wearing his blue down coat, Kelly was swarmed by photogs and reporters.

There also seemed to be a number of protesters yelling at Kelly, calling him a pedophile and asking how he'd feel if someone urinated on his daughter -- but they used more colorful language.

Sources in Kelly's camp tell us he paid the bond with a bank cashier's check ... so, there won't be any issues with his check clearing.

Although Kelly's out, he's staring down another deadline. TMZ broke the story ... he has to pay about $160k in back child support to his ex-wife, Drea Kelly, by March 6. If he doesn't, it's right back to County lockup.

The Kelly sources tell us he plans to make arrangements to pay the child support by next week, so he can focus on his criminal defense ... and avoid jail.

It's possible he could be facing additional charges after attorney Michael Avenatti dropped an additional bombshell -- a NEW tape showing Kelly having sex with the same 14-year-old girl from the other tape. Avenatti has now turned over both tapes to Cook County prosecutors.

5:05 PM PT -- R. Kelly made a pit stop after leaving jail, stopping off at McDonald's for some quick eats.

We're told Kelly ordered a quarter pounder meal with BBQ sauce on the side, washing it down with a soda and some coffee. We're told Kels got cream and sugar with his coffee, but he went back to the counter and asked for more.

We're told the singer sat down and ate with his team inside the fast-food restaurant for about half an hour, and they left after a small crowd began to gather.

10:10 AM PT -- Avenatti spoke Monday morning at the courthouse, claiming the race of R. Kelly's alleged victims played a huge role in the delay of justice -- calling it R. Kelly's "reign of abuse and assault." He has now turned the tape over to the State's Attorney.

Prosecutors are about to get another sex tape in the R. Kelly case, and sources tell us it is even more shocking than the most recent one.

Sources familiar with the case tell TMZ ... attorney Michael Avenatti will turn over a 55-minute VHS video Monday to Cook County prosecutors. We're told the video shows R. Kelly having sex with the same 14-year-old girl depicted in the first video Avenatti obtained, which was shot in 1999. This second video was shot around 2000.

We're told, just like the first video, there are multiple references to the girl being 14 years old. Our sources say R. Kelly is repeatedly "coaching" the girl through various sexual situations.

At one point, we're told R. Kelly is seen choking the girl while having anal intercourse. Our sources also say there's a part where he takes some sort of lotion and "sprays" it all over her face. We're told he then chokes her, mounts her from behind and turns her face to the camera for a reaction shot.

We've also learned Avenatti is in the process of procuring a third tape showing R. Kelly with a different girl -- who, at the time, was somewhere between 13 and 16 years old. Our sources say Avenatti's team has identified the person in possession of the video and is attempting to get it.

Jason Brown -- the head football coach featured on seasons 3 and 4 of "Last Chance U" -- has resigned after sending texts to one of his players saying, "I'm your new Hitler."

The scandal broke last week after the Montgomery County Chronicle newspaper published text messages Brown sent to freshman Alexandros Alexiou, who was born in Germany.

Brown's controversial career at Independence Community College in Kansas has been documented on the Netflix series "Last Chance U" for the past 2 seasons ... where he often used strong, explicit language to chew out players.

Regarding Alexiou, Brown had reached out via text to scold the player for racking up more "points" in the team's disciplinary point system -- in which players get dinged every time they violate team rules.

"410pm on field u German f*ck," Brown texted to Alexiou ... “u have 17 points toward your 25 points. U got an extra point for not hanging the lion poster as instructed."

"I’m your new Hitler," Brown added ... "Figure out your life.”

The school launched an investigation into Brown last week -- but on Sunday, the coach announced his resignation.

"It is with strong emotions that I announce my decision to resign as Head Football Coach at Independent Community College," Brown said in a statement.

After listing his accomplishments, Brown said ... "The events of the past few weeks has led me to resign."

"Given what has most recently been allowed to transpire, it is clear, that it will be nearly impossible to stay here."

"More plainly, the Montgomery County Chronicle has greatly diminished my ability to do my job, and has set this football program back significantly, and the cumulative effect of all these detrimental factors I believe clearly constitute a constructive discharge of my employment."

Brown added, "I urge all the naysayers on campus and in town to really look at yourself in the mirror and do a self-evaluation of yourself before so harshly judging others."

Brown has coached at ICC for 3.5 years.

Terrence Howard had a complete meltdown on the set of "Empire" after Jussie Smollett was arrested for allegedly staging his "attack."

Sources on the "Empire" set tell TMZ ... Thursday was a complete disaster on set after Jussie turned himself into Chicago Police. Terrence was so upset he refused to come out of his trailer for most of the day.

A source close to Terrence tell us ... the actor didn't believe Jussie's account from the get-go, he felt the story never added up. We're told Terrence grilled Jussie periodically as holes began to emerge.

Tensions between Terrence and Jussie boiled over after the 2 Nigerian-American brothers who allegedly helped Jussie stage the attack, Abel and Ola Osundario, were detained by police ... we're told Terrence confronted Jussie once again, screaming at him to come clean.

Further illustrating his disdain for Jussie ... we're told Terrence was nowhere to be found Thursday night when Jussie addressed the cast and crew.

Terrence was not alone in his feelings ... we're told many others on the cast and crew felt Jussie was lying and ultimately that's why producers decided to remove Jussie from the set for the final 2 episodes ... it was just too disruptive.

Interestingly enough, Terrence posted a video Saturday that was seemingly in support of Jussie. The clip shows Jussie playing with Terrence's son ... and a caption that read, "All your lil homies got you... We love the hell outta you."

Nevertheless, it doesn't take away from what we know happened on Thursday.

Austin Rogers -- the "Jeopardy!" sensation who captivated America in 2017 with an impressive 12-game winning streak -- is clapping back at anyone blasting the show's All-Stars format ... calling those hating-ass haters a bunch of losers.

We got Austin on the horn after fans voiced their anger on social media following the show kicking off its All-Star series earlier this week and he tells TMZ ... people need to get over it. The usually jovial and hilarious "Jeopardy!" champ wasn't pulling punches in defending the show.

For the uninitiated, "Jeopardy!" is trying its first-ever All-Stars series by pitting previous winners and fan favorites against each other in 6 teams of 3. It's a 10-episode tournament ... which got off to a rough start after the long intros and explanation meant airing only a single round of competition.

Check out the vid ... Austin says people are always hesitant to change, and adds anyone who's not feeling the All-Stars series can watch any of the nearly 300 regular episodes. Or, take a chill pill.

Spike Lee finally won an Oscar on Sunday, but the big takeaway from his acceptance speech was the renowned director telling voters to "do the right thing" in 2020.

Spike took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for his film "BlacKkKlansman," which won him a huge round of applause after many years of being snubbed by the Academy.

He came up and made an impassioned speech that touched on African-American history dating back to 1619, when Africans were first brought to Jamestown, VA as slaves. His thoughts were a bit all over the place as he thanked his family, but he came through very clear at the end when he said the 2020 presidential election was around the corner.

Spike said, "Let's all mobilize, let's all be on the right side of history." He continued, "Make the moral choice between love versus hate. LET'S DO THE RIGHT THING!!!"

BTW, Spike did not mention President Trump's name once, but his message resonated with the audience who gave him a standing O. That's one helluva way to ring in your first Oscar ever.

Congrats, Spike.

3:29 PM PST -- Senator Cornyn just tweeted out a clarification on his Mussolini quote, agreeing with a Texas-based reporter who speculated he appeared to be "warning us against an overly powerful central government." Cornyn replied, "You nailed it, Bud. Since so-called Democratic Socialists have forgotten or never learned the lessons of history, and how their ideology is incompatible with freedom, I guess we have to remind or teach them."

Texas Senator John Cornyn quoted fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in a bizarre tweet that seems to scream anti-democracy ... which he has yet to delete.

Cornyn posted the tweet early Sunday, with a translated quote Mussolini delivered in 1929 roughly saying ... "We were the first to assert that the more complicated the forms assumed by civilization, the more restricted the freedom of the individual must become."

It's unclear why Senator Cornyn tweeted this, or what the context might be here. He followed this up by retweeting posts that were pro-ICE and anti-Nicolas Maduro ... Venezuela's own embattled dictator. As of this writing, Cornyn has not deleted the tweet.

In case you're unfamiliar with history, Mussolini was one of Hitler's allies during WWII ... and he eventually scrapped democracy in Italy while he ruled as Prime Minister.

Jussie Smollett has hard evidence to support his claim the Chicago Police Superintendent got it wrong when he told the media the actor paid $3,500 to Abel and Ola Osundairo to stage an attack.

TMZ has obtained documents that on the surface back his claim the $3,500 check he wrote to Abel was for training. The check was written to Abel on January 23, 2019, six days before the "attack." The memo line reads, "5 week Nutrition/Workout program Don't Go."

Sources connected to Jussie tell us, the reference to "Don't Go" is a song for which Jussie was going to shoot a music video ... featuring himself shirtless. The sources say Jussie had gained weight -- he was 192 lbs and needed to lose 20 pounds for the shoot, and that's why he hired Abel ... whom he says he calls "Bon."

There are various texts starting from January 20 between Jussie and Bon. On January 28 -- the day before the "attack" -- Bon wrote, "I know you're traveling today, make sure you get at least 45 mins of cardio."

Another text on January 20 outlines a menu for the day, including chicken thigh, StarKist Tuna, Eggs and Smucker's peanut butter. And, a text on January 25 reads, "This is the meal plan and the breakdown of macronutrients. Also includes projected fat loss."

You also see a text showing a calendar where February 23 is marked "Don't Go." The sources say that's the date of the music video shoot.

There's another screenshot from Sept. 27, 2018, presumably showing Jussie has paid Ola in the past. It's a Venmo payment of $100 to Bola (Abimbola aka Abel) for "Training."

Sources connected to Jussie say the $3,500 breakdown is as follows -- $600 a week for the workout plan for 5 weeks, and $100 a week for the nutrition plan for 5 weeks.

As we reported, Ola and Abel also told the grand jury the payment was for training.

This is not proof the attack wasn't staged, but in a trial, all the defense has to do is create reasonable doubt, and we're told the Police Superintendent's pronouncement will become a defense weapon if the case goes to trial.

The Police Superintendent also said during the news conference Jussie himself sent the racist letter 8 days before the attack. Federal law enforcement sources tell us they have not concluded who wrote the letter ... at least not yet.

This is absolutely shocking ... Senator Dianne Feinstein tried to shut down some schoolchildren who were imploring her to do something about climate change and STAT ... essentially telling them to shut up because she knows better.

The kids showed up at the Senator's San Francisco office Friday, pushing the Green New Deal and telling her the clock is ticking on Planet Earth and if nothing is done in a dozen years it will be too late. Feinstein tells the students it ain't gonna happen.

The California senior Senator gets on her high horse, telling them she's been in the Senate for 30 years so, please ... like they can tell her what to do.

Jussie Smollett might have gotten the idea to stage his own attack after Lee Daniels talked about his cousin getting assaulted because he's gay ... at least that's what some members of the "Empire" cast think.

Sources close to the "Empire" production tell TMZ ... some cast members think Jussie's gears started grinding in his head days after Lee posted a video on Instagram on January 10 calling out homophobia. In that same post, the "Empire" creator captioned it, "This past week my cousin was beat up for being gay and I am sick of hearing these stories."

Our sources say Lee then showed up to the set and shared more about the story. Everyone was visibly upset that Lee's family had gone through this horrific ordeal. The sources now say this might have been where Jussie got the idea to take matters into his own hands ... and become an LGBT hero.

The Chicago PD Superintendent says Jussie's motive was money -- he felt he was underpaid on the show. Interesting ... because Lee Daniels is the guy in charge of the cash register.

As you know by now ... cops say Jussie's "attack" was a hoax and allege the actor paid 2 Nigerian brothers $3,500 with a personal check. Jussie's been charged with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.

Quincy Jones says a lot even when he just speaks a little ... scoffing at people who were surprised by the R. Kelly scandal and roasting Jussie Smollett.

We got Q Friday night in WeHo at Ysabel restaurant, where he hit up Common's Toast to the Arts party for Oscar's weekend. He said the turn of events with R. Kelly is "nothing new," pointing to the singer's marriage to 14-year-old Aaliyah.

3:45 PM PT -- Jerry Springer disagrees about R. Kelly having no shot at a fair trial, and for a case in point ... he says look no further than the O.J. Simpson trial.

Springer admits it might be difficult to find 12 impartial jurors -- and R. Kelly's lawyers will probably push for a change in venue -- but says the judicial system is set up the way it is for a reason.

R. Kelly's maintaining his innocence despite being charged with 10 counts of sexual abuse, but he thinks he's screwed anyway ... because he's already lost in the court of public opinion.

Sources close to the singer tell TMZ ... he believes it will be impossible for him to get a fair trial in the aftermath of Lifetime's docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly," and nonstop media coverage -- especially in Chicago.

As one source put it ... "There isn't a person in Cook County who hasn't heard all the hateful things said about him."

We're told R. Kelly believes ... even if he presents evidence proving his innocence, the jury will still find him guilty. Our sources say he's moved on from panic attacks and has been in a depressed meltdown for days.

As we reported ... Cook County prosecutors hit R. Kelly with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse Friday morning. There are a total of 4 alleged victims, 3 of whom were between the ages of 13 to 16.

Attorney Michael Avenatti also released images from the video he submitted to the State's Attorney, showing what appears to be R. Kelly. He says the video shows the singer having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Avenatti blasted R. Kelly's enablers as well -- lawyers, agents, managers and others whom he says stood idly by as the singer sexually abused girls -- and says he won't stop until they're all brought to justice.