Controversial S#!T

Michael Jackson's wax figures at Madame Tussauds locations around the globe are NOT getting the #MuteMichaelJackson treatment ... despite renewed public outrage due to "Leaving Neverland."

A spokesperson for Madame Tussauds tells TMZ ... "The figures on display at Madame Tussauds reflect profiles that have had an impact on popular culture and that visitors expect to see. Michael Jackson has been and is currently a feature of Madame Tussauds attractions around the world."

The spokesperson added, "We regularly monitor our choice of figures on display based on external events and visitor feedback. It will be kept on display for the foreseeable future."

As you know, HBO's doc, "Leaving Neverland," triggered an outcry to drop MJ's music. Some followed suit -- including Drake and "The Simpsons" ... though not everyone agrees with that sentiment.

The documentary's had more serious ramifications ... like Paris Jackson attempting suicide due, in large part, to the fallout from 'Neverland.'

However, she seemed okay Tuesday night as she spent time with her godfather, Macaulay Culkin.

Daniel Caesar's drunken attempt to defend a white woman who bashed 2 African-Americans is royally backfiring on the singer.

The recent Grammy winner pondered "Why are we being so mean to white people right now?" He posed that question in reference to online personality Julieanna Goddard -- aka YesJulz -- while he was on Instagram Live and essentially said it's a problem when black people can't take a joke.

Full picture here ... Daniel admits he's drunk during the video. As for what triggered the "Best Part" singer -- YesJulz, who's been repeatedly called out for appropriating black culture, went on the "Easily Offended" podcast and threw shade at TV personality Scottie Beam and host Karen Civil.

Julz got scorched for her comments, and Daniel jumped to her defense. Now he's catching the flak. One user responded to Daniel's rant saying, "You have culture vultures and you have enablers." Another user tweeted this:

Check out the video ... Daniel mentions how he caught himself being "very sensitive" after a short but tense exchange with Dave Chappelle during a recent episode of John Mayer's Instagram show, "Current Mood."

"If any f*g, punk ass n**** come run up on me, trying to touch me on all that gay sh*t, I'm letting you know right now -- if I ain't got my gun on me, I'm knocking you the f*ck out."

Adrien Broner is now threatening to attack -- and even shoot -- gay people in a vile new "PSA" video posted to his social media account Tuesday night.

"If I got my gun on me, I'm shooting you in the f*cking face, and that's on God and them. I'm not playing with none of these n****s. I don't like gay sh*t."

It's the latest in a bizarre exchange with social media star Andrew C. Caldwell -- the famous "I'm Delivert" guy.

Caldwell has accused Broner of flirting with him. Broner claims Caldwell is lying ... and claims it's Caldwell who's been shooting his shot in Broner's DMs.

"[Andrew C. Caldwell] if you don't get out my inbox before I punch the testosterone out yo GAY ASS," Broner wrote.

Clinton Portis ain't just shutting the door on Landon Collins' wishes to wear Sean Taylor's old No. 21 jersey with the Redskins ... he's BOLTING it down, saying, "f**k no" he can't wear it!!

"F**k no," the ex-Washington running back says ... "I don’t ever want to see nobody else in it."

Of course, Landon just inked a MONSTER 6-year, $84 MILLION contract with the 'Skins ... and since he grew up idolizing Taylor -- some suggested he should wear the late safety's jersey number.

But, that would rub at least one of Sean's old best friends the wrong way ... 'cause Portis says he's FIRMLY against that idea.

"21, that’s sacred. Why even play with people? Why even spark people’s memories? Retire that jersey," Portis told The Athletic.

"For an organization that don’t retire jerseys or don’t officially retire jerseys, you put that motherf**ker in the rafters, you retire it, and you make sure everybody knows, this is irreplaceable."

Portis and Taylor used to be best friends ... playing together both in college at Miami and in Washington.

In fact, when Sean tragically died in 2007 ... Portis says the Redskins asked him to wear the No. 21 jersey to honor the DB -- but he didn't even feel comfortable doing that back then.

"There was no way in hell I would put that pressure on myself or play with fans to believe that we have a chance of seeing 21 in this jersey again."

Good news for Collins? Sean also wore No. 36 with the 'Skins early in his career ... and seems Portis would be fine with LC honoring Sean by going that route.

But, 21? Portis says that's sacred.

Nelly's had it up to here with allegations by the attorney for his accuser in the UK assault case ... and is now lashing out at her.

The rapper's firing back at the lawyer for the anonymous Jane Doe ... the lawyer who made claims Essex Police engaged in misconduct by treating the alleged victim as a suspect.

Nelly tells TMZ ... "It is time for me to personally speak up against this! I have remained quiet and haven’t said anything or done anything other than fully cooperate on every level of the investigation to allow law enforcement to do whatever they need to get to the bottom of these accusations."

Nelly insists he's remained quiet and fully cooperative with UK law enforcement's investigation, adding ... "In spite of my complete cooperation, this same lawyer in both cases against me, is claiming the police in two different countries 'won’t help her clients', 'are incompetent' and is consistently painting a picture that I am 'bullying the police' in two different countries to not do their job."

He believes the lawyer is going to the media for her own personal gain, and it's only doing harm to real victims by creating an idea that cops won't have their backs.

Nelly says, "Not only is this attorney continuously damaging my reputation to forge ahead with civil suits to get money, she is doing a severe disservice to women and true victims that need a safe system to report assaults against them with claims like 'police won’t help' and 'botched the case,' 'clients are being treated like suspects by the police' leaving real victims to feel like reporting would be of no help."

Paris Jackson is being encouraged by people very close to her to go to rehab, but she's resisting.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... those close to Paris suggested rehab after what law enforcement says was a suicide attempt over the weekend, landing her in the hospital. We're told the attempted suicide shows some serious underlying problems ... they say Paris is dealing with all sorts of emotional issues as well as substance abuse issues.

Our sources say Paris' team had help ready to spring into action Sunday, but she refused.

TMZ broke the story ... Paris slit her wrists and was rushed to a hospital early Saturday morning, where she was placed on a temporary 5150 hold. We're told she's been distraught ever since "Leaving Neverland" began airing.

As to why Paris was released just hours after she was hospitalized, our sources say she told the hospital that had admitted her that her lawyers were taking her to UCLA Medical Center, and the hospital let her go with the attorneys, but she never ended up at UCLA.

Paris is almost 21 -- she's an adult, and therefore the decision to check into rehab is hers and hers alone.

Wade Robson says he's received an outpouring of support since "Leaving Neverland" was released, but he doesn't care if people still listen to Michael Jackson ... because this is about way more than that.

We got Wade Monday evening at LAX where he wanted to make it clear -- he's not the moral authority on muting MJ ... it's up to everyone individually to decide how to deal with the disturbing allegations against the singer.

Wade says he hopes his story makes people question who they worship ... more than question whether they play certain songs. He does reveal his personal decision on Jackson's music.

As for his doubters -- from members of the Jackson family to Aaron Carter -- Wade's pretty mum. He tells us people will believe what they want to believe ... and sometimes it takes time.

'Love & Hip Hop' star Spice was apparently feeling pressured by the music industry about her "look," which might be why she went full white face to promote new music ... or so it seems.

In an exclusive clip teasing season 8, obtained by TMZ, Spice is being told by an artist development agent that her appearance is sub-par, which sends her barreling into a doctor's office as she starts to consider whether she should potentially bleach her skin.

It's pretty dramatic ... the doc even tells her she should get a psychological evaluation before pursuing any bleaching. It sure looks like Spice didn't appreciate that.

The trailer captures just part of the convo that seems to have sent Spice down the rabbit hole of questioning her "look," but VH1 released the full thing. The guy, Von, doesn't say anything about lightening, but suggests her current image might not work in the U.S.

As we reported ... Spice definitely went full white face as part of the rollout for her new mixtape, "Black Hypocrisy," which shocked the hell out of everyone and their mothers.

Interestingly enough, Spice later said publicly that she had not, in fact, bleached her skin ... and that the photo was aimed at raising awareness of colorism among black people.

That's definitely not how the new trailer plays it here, but it sounds like folks will have to tune in to see what really went down. Season 8 premieres on March 25.

Former Disney star Kyle Massey is vehemently denying allegations he sent sexually explicit photos to a 13-year-old girl ... claiming the lawsuit against him is a clear and simple case of extortion.

We broke the story ... the "That's So Raven" star is being sued by a teenage girl who claims he sent her images of his erect penis, along with sexually explicit text messages. She's suing for at least $1.5 million.

Kyle's lawyer, Lee Hutton, tells TMZ his client couldn't be clearer ... "No child should ever be exposed to sexually explicit materials and I unequivocally and categorically deny any alleged misconduct."

Kyle says it's all just a money grab ... he claims earlier this year the accuser's legal team demanded $1.5m threatening to go public to destroy his career if he did not comply. Hutton says his client told the accuser to pound sand.

Mikey Garcia is in "good spirits" after that crushing loss to Errol Spence over the weekend ... but that doesn't mean he's looking to do it again any time soon.

We spoke with Mikey's brother, Robert Garcia -- who also trains the boxing star -- and he told us everyone is still sad for Mikey because they were expecting a legacy-defining victory.

Obviously, that's not what happened ... Mikey lost nearly every round to Spence -- who proved to be the superior fighter in just about every way.

So, what's next for Mikey? He's got options ... and just about all of them include fighting someone not named Errol Spence.

Robert says he thinks it's best for Mikey to drop down from 147 pounds to the 140-pound weight class and take some big fights there.

Some of the top guys fighting in (or around) that weight class include stars like Terence Crawford and Vasyl Lomachenko.

2:15 PM PT -- Anthony Comello's attorney, Robert C. Gottlieb, tells TMZ that his client has waived extradition Monday and will be arraigned in a Staten Island court next week. Gottlieb also tells us that Comello has been placed in protective custody after receiving "serious threats," where he will remain while his case is pending. Gottlieb adds that Comello's family cannot believe the accusations against Anthony, and promises to get to the truth of the matter.

The man suspected of killing Gambino crime boss Frank Cali came to court with a message on his hand ... "United We Stand MAGA Forever."

Anthony Comello faced a New Jersey judge Monday and displayed his left palm with words written with a blue ballpoint pen. A court officer scoffed at Comello -- who was arrested and taken into custody over the weekend -- asking him why he was waving his hand to reporters. His response ... "Why? I'm handcuffed," suggesting he couldn't do any harm by showcasing his palm.

Our law enforcement sources said cops believe Comello may have murdered Cali because the mob boss was blocking him from dating Cali's niece.

You'll recall, domestic terrorism suspect Cesar A. Sayoc pledged allegiance to Trump ... festooning his van with tons of pro-Trump stickers and allegedly sending pipe bombs to CNN, President Obama and others.

Then there's Florida shooter Nikolas Cruz, who wore a MAGA hat during target practice just months before killing 17 people at his former high school.

Michael Jackson was sexually attracted to women -- according to his former bodyguard, who says he and the King of Pop shared lots o' locker room talk.

Bill Whitfield -- MJ's ex-security guard of two years, who wrote a book about his time with Michael -- insisted in a new interview on the podcast "Hidden Truth Show with Jim Breslo" that his client was absolutely heterosexual ... saying they discussed ladies plenty of times.

Specifically, Bill says they talked about women Michael found "very attractive" during long drives they'd take together.

Bill even gets into a story about a college girl they approached in the street once, adding that a bashful MJ copped her number and talked to her at least twice.

But, Breslo asks the obvious question ... was it just talk, or did MJ actually hook up with any women on Bill's watch? Bill says he isn't gonna put Mike's private sex life out there, but he assures Breslo that MJ did spend time with women privately, leaving it at that.

The interview comes on the heels of the allegations made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck in "Leaving Neverland," which all but suggest Michael would exclusively prey on young male victims.

Bill claims he knows that not to be true. As you might know ... Michael was once married to Lisa Marie Presley and had 2 kids with his second bride, Debbie Rowe. His third kid, Blanket, was conceived via surrogate.

Johnny Football's back!!!!!

Just a few weeks after being cut from the entire Canadian Football League ... Johnny Manziel is out on the field with another pro football team -- and his new squad seems damn proud of it!

The Alliance of American Football league's Memphis Express inked the embattled QB to a contract Sunday ... and immediately put him out on the practice field Monday.

JFF was rockin' his familiar no. 2 ... and, of course, had his famous swagged-out visor screwed into his facemask.

No word yet on how he looked throwing during his first day on the job ... but his new league seemed STOKED to hire him over the weekend.

"We are pleased to welcome Johnny Manziel to the Alliance of American Football, which we’ve always described as a league of opportunity for talented players to launch or revitalize their pro football careers,” cofounder and head of football for the Alliance, Bill Polian, said.

Added Express GM Will Lewis, "I’ve always viewed him as a viable option, so we’ll look into that situation and see how that works out for us.”

Of course, Manziel was just booted from the CFL on Feb. 27 after the league says he violated the terms of his agreement.

But, it doesn't appear that's fazed the AAF ... 'cause they say they did "extensive background work" on the QB -- and think it's fine for him to play in their league.

As for Johnny's future with the Express ... their starting QB, Zach Mettenberger, just injured his ankle -- so immediate playing time is available.

Sooo ... does that mean #ComebackSZN is officially on again?!?!

You come at the king, you best not miss ... and Ice Cube thinks Walt Frazier missed HARD when saying LeBron James doesn't care about the Lakers ... telling TMZ Sports, "that's bullsh*t."

Frazier went OFF on LBJ during Sunday's game between the Knickerbockers and L.A. ... saying, "when you’re the face of the NBA, you should be more a part of your team."

"No matter what is going on. In the public, you gotta be a part of the team. Maybe in the locker room you’re not, but you have to exude that type of togetherness in public, folks," Frazier added.

"And right now, we see he doesn’t really care."

Cube says the Hall of Famer is WRONG -- "LeBron cares, that's bullsh*t."

The rap legend doesn't deny there might be some issues in the locker room ... he actually thinks everyone is trade bait at this point.

Not everyone wants James Dolan to sell the Knicks ... and if ya don't believe us, here's ex-NBA player Chris Copeland telling TMZ Sports he LOVES his old boss!!

... but Copeland's friend?? Not so much.

We shot the ex-NBAer outside Madeo over the weekend and asked straight-up what the Knicks need to do to get back to relevance.

Copeland's friend had a few suggestions -- which would've gotten him BANNED from MSG if he had said it at a game -- but the hooper shuts down any of that talk and praised the team owner.

"I love Dolan, Dolan's my guy," Copeland tells us. I love Dolan, love the Knicks."

It's been the trend to tell Dolan off at Knicks games recently -- but it comes with a price.

As we previously reported, fans have been getting 86'd from Knicks games or any other events being held at MSG for heckling him ... as we've seen with at least 2 different occasions in recent years.

The woman accusing Nelly of sexual assault in the UK thinks cops who've been investigating have royally screwed things up to the point she doesn't care if they finish the probe or not.

In a letter obtained by TMZ, the attorney for the anonymous accuser -- who goes by Jane Doe -- put the lead detective of the Essex Police on blast, claiming he'd completely botched the investigation by treating her client like a suspect instead of a victim.

The lawyer outlines what she says were the sequence of events in the case over the past year as the Essex Police looked into Jane Doe's claims -- namely, that Nelly allegedly masturbated in front of her and forced his penis in her mouth after one his concerts in 2017. Nelly says her story is BS.

In her letter, Jane Doe's lawyer claims the police have asked for the alleged victim's phone records, including all of her pictures, texts and emails between herself and the attorney ... who points out that violates attorney-client privilege under U.S. law.

Not only that ... the attorney says the police have asked Jane Doe to do a follow-up interview to the one she's already done, showing up to her house unsolicited and trying to coax her into coming to the police station again. Meanwhile, the attorney notes that they took an entire year to get Nelly to come out to interview with them, dragging their feet the whole time.

Jane Doe's attorney says the Essex Police are probably intimidated by Nelly and his high-powered lawyers, and accuses them of being completely incompetent in coming to a resolution.

She says that because Jane Doe has already filed suit against Nelly over the alleged assault, they will no longer be participating in the Essex Police's probe.

Originally Published -- 6:40 AM PT

9:06 AM PT -- The Essex Police tell TMZ, "We can confirm we have received communication from a solicitor regarding the case and will be reviewing this investigation and engaging with both parties in due course."